64 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, August 12, 2020”

  1. I tell myself this every morning but unfortunately, my success rate is about 1%. Not sure what it says about me, that I keep trying, over and over again, even though it rarely works.

  2. I’ve just finished the initial edit on my current job; just need to write a really tactful email to the author tomorrow. I don’t think he’s going to appreciate my nit-picking: he’s incredibly slapdash. I dutifully asked for a follow-on (must keep earning), but am happy there’s nothing immediately. I really want to do my accounts, which I haven’t touched since last year. Plus lots of jammier things, but the accounts are a real black cloud.

    Plan to take a couple of gardening days next, and try to fill the gaps in my borders and get rid of the plagues of greenfly and cabbage white caterpillars in the front garden. Meanwhile, I’ve just posted my first ever videos on Instagram – a mini tour of my back garden:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzDhrknl6c/

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzEitrHrEp/

  3. Sometimes quiet contemplation is just as important as organizing things 😉
    My younger son has started summer school (100% online) and it going better than expected although it’s still not his favorite. It’s only a half school day, 4 days a week and honestly it’s about perfect for us.
    He is already getting bored and antsy by lunchtime, so hopefully activities are more spread out with breaks when it’s a full day.
    It’s been good for me b/c I’ve been trying to be not too far away during class time without hovering over him or pulling out my phone or laptop (b/c if I seem like I’m spacing out, he starts to space out). Which means I spend a lot of time puttering in nearby rooms so our living room and kitchen are now very clean!
    My older son, well. He’s on the autism spectrum and they didn’t set up any summer classes for his class. I’ll just say I’m disappointed, but not surprised and leave it at that for now.

    1. I keep wondering: what about the kids who don’t have computers, who can’t afford computers? Have they simply been left out since the stay-at-home rules began?

      1. Our school system let anyone who needed technology for this school year fill out a request form and a basic laptop was provided, free. They also were giving away wi-fi spots if you needed it. Last spring, some people managed to improvise cell phones or tablets, depending on the platform. But we’re just one school district and I suspect a lot of children are going to be left behind . . .

        1. Yep, we picked up our daughter’s Chromebook last week. We got her schedule and it’s similar to Jill’s son’s. She starts on MOnday.

          My son doesn’t start until after Labor DAy and we’re just starting to get the emails about Chromebooks.

          Same school system but different schools – 1 middle school and 1 grade school.

          1. All of the school systems near me–where I live and where I work and the adjoining counties to both of those–arranged laptops and wifi hot spots when they closed this spring. The same arrangement continues this fall.

  4. I finished a proposal for a new cozy mystery series, and my agent liked it and is getting ready to send it out. Fingers crossed, and I’d be grateful for positive vibes. I’m really enjoying this project, so I’d like to be able to actually sell it!

    Other than that, I’m pretty much not doing anything except hiding in the a/c as soon as my writing is done for the day. Too hot to do housework (which I don’t mind skipping) and too hot to quilt or garden (which I do mind skipping).

  5. Lies I Tell Myself?
    Tomorrow I’m going to break out the clippers, trim my beard and hair, what’s left of it.
    Tomorrow I’m going to gather all the gently used Rubbermaid containers and give them a wash in the tub.
    Tomorrow, I’m going to remount a working fan on the wall over my bed in place of the one that died. I have three (3) replacements still in the box.
    Tomorrow I’m going to learn at least three features of my amazing CoolPad cell phone and start carrying it with me and keeping it charged. Else why own it?
    Tomorrow I will take out the recycling to the big rolling trash can with the green lid. The can is next to the garage. I live in the garage. The cardboard pile has been growing for weeks.
    Tomorrow I will gather the tiny stack of bills that can’t be paid online and write the checks. Both of them. Eventually I will mail them.

    Nice list. A T’Do list, if ever I’ve seen one. I should print it out and post it on the fridge and check them off as I complete each item. I’m going to do that. Tomorrrow.

  6. Ooh. Nice one. My lie wad I’m going to wake up at 5am.

    I did some organising, tho. Dealing with headaches from self sabotage.

    Is there anyone here who also has the “read-through-a-novel-to-the-end-in-one-sitting” problem? I have it. And I have to not read at bedtime. But recently I did. Hence no sleep, and more headaches. Has anyone here stopped this with a clever strategy?

    I cooked today. And there’s a QiGong post where I didn’t realise that the top would be cut off so you can’t see my added text. Lol.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDs6BfsAMeU/?igshid=n65qj26q0tgr

    1. +1 for uncontrolled staying up all night (or spending the whole day ignoring everything) to finish a book. Yes, please share any tricks for stopping.

    2. I often lie awake reading when, I think, I’ve been wound up at bedtime – trying to solve a problem/going online window shopping/reading the news late at night. Quite often I’ll be finishing a book I’m not really enjoying (especially because I’m wound up).

      I always read at bedtime. I think it’s the run-up to it that determines whether I can put my book down and get to sleep.

    3. Try putting the book in another room, part of the whole reading at bedtime is you can reach it or see it from your bed, tempting you

      I’ve stayed up till 3 a.m. reading on work nights, because of new books, totally worth it, but only in moderation.

      1. When I had to take public transportation across town twice a week I really had to be careful about not staying up too late. But now that it is Zoom at 4pm, there is little or no deterrent. I have stayed up until 7am once the library reopened.

        And putting the book in the other room doesn’t work because I start on the couch and finish in bed.

    4. I don’t read all night any more but I often read till I can’t keep my eyes open and sometimes that’s 4am. I use my phone as both an ebook reader and alarm clock, so I can’t leave the book in another room. I know separate alarm clocks exist, so it’s not an unsolvable problem. I just don’t much want to solve it. And I’ve been reading before bed every night since I could read for myself; I feel deprived and have trouble going to sleep without reading.

    5. I really, really fall into that trap. So much so that I only reread very familiar books at bedtime, and only read new books on the weekend. I do have to be careful that I’ve read the book I’m rereading recently enough or I’ll treat it like it’s new and devour it.

      As a trick/strategy, I’ve found it works pretty well, and cues my brain that it’s time to wind down.

    6. If I don’t finish the book in one day; I probably don’t love it. I will race ahead and miss major parts, (and stay up until 3 or 4). I start rereading the next day.

    7. You are all wonderful. Thank you for answering.

      I think I may need to do non-fiction at night. And do the “not read in the bed” thing.

      Maybe since I need more vitamin D, I must try to read in the sun. That might help.

    8. Yes, me too. Two ideas that work sometimes. First, if you read on your phone, I recommend an app called help me focus, which allows you to block selected apps for specific times, with various levels of impenetrability. Second, it’s one of the few times that audio books work for me, because it’s harder to stay awake to read when my eyes are closed.

    9. Mostly I try to read only fairly boring books before bed, or things with tiny chapters so I have lots of opportunities to stop. Something like a collection of Nora Ephron essays is great. Anything with a gripping plot and I’ll still be there at 2am thinking “just one more chapter…”

    4. Wow. I love that sweater. Is there a pattern I could bribe one of my friends to make for me? (I tried to learn how to knit multiple times. It did not go well.)

      2. I see Carol already gave a link to the pattern. Good luck with the bribing! My daughter lives in dresses and this struck me as a really cute cardi to wear with a dress. Thanks for the nice comments, all!

      1. ETA: You inspired me to send off something that had been gathering dust since the lockdown started.

  8. I convinced the DH to come help me tame the shrubbery in the front yard – and even to get started on it before 10 am on Saturday. (I was out there at 9;30, but he caught up with me). It really does look nice, but I was wiped out about 3/4 of the way through (he was manning the trimmer and I was raking up the debris). I’m glad we did it, but I think I’ll avoid this kind of craziness this coming weekend!!

    Sunday, I put together the basketweave blocks from a couple of weeks ago. I need to put the border on, but Wendy thinks it is fine so far.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDzSniwhkMR/

    I’ve also been half-heartedly knitting a shawl. I was so very good about putting it out of harm’s way, but then left it unattended for 15 minutes while I checked on the computer in the other room. When I got back, Wendy had it on the floor, the ball disconnected from the project and about 5 yards of it down her gullet. I managed to pull that out (and wash the slime off it ew!) and put it away for the night. I knitted past that the following day after everything was dried off. Luckily, I could pull it out without it breaking off, and having to take her in for emergency surgery!! I don’t need to go through that again!

    1. I’m glad (well, I’m not but I just feel like not so much of a bad mama) I’m not the only pet parent with a mishap. Glad Wendy is okay. Honestly, if we didn’t love them so damn much…

      1. Yep, I’ve got two string eaters here. One took the thread off my sewing machine and raced with it around the house (taupe thread, beige carpet – just a tripping hazard you can’t see). He also swallowed a good bit, and couldn’t pass it, so he had the surgery. We took Wendy in when we found a bit of curling ribbon (from a package) coming out of her butt. Luckily, that passed without any undue measures!

        I’ve had to change my habits because it was pretty clear neither of them was learning a lesson from their mishaps.

        Glad yours are okay!!

        1. I once found Bob, my old (now gone) male cat, with a hotdog plastic wrapper (like the kind you find on bulk hot dogs) coming out of his butt. Removal was traumatic for both of us.

          2. I can just imagine!

            The vet told us not to tug on strings coming out, it could cause issues with the intestines. We ended up looking for gold in the litter box (linked by some ribbon).

          3. Nancy, I had heard that so I didn’t tug on it, I just, well, there was olive oil and a syringe involved (not a needle, just a syringe).

  9. On the weekend I turned a bunch of fruit and berries into jam and preserves, there were 20 lbs of peaches and about 12 lbs of cherries, as well as some raspberries from our bushes last year.

    On Monday I made banana muffins and put raisins in them. That was a huge mistake as Fred the dog got into them when my back was turned and ate a dozen!!! Cue the induced vomiting (in all 3 dogs just to be safe) and a panicked trip to the vet yesterday for blood tests because grape/raisins/currents can cause kidney failure in dogs. He goes for a second set of blood work on Thursday when I go to the optometrist. So far his kidney function numbers look good but the vet wants a second set just to make sure that he’s going to be okay now they they have processed through his system. There will be no more raisin muffins anywhere near where beasts can get at them. Fred’s 28″ at the shoulder so counter surfing is not a hardship for him.

    That was my week so far.

    1. My parent’s dog helped himself to a baking sheet full of raw roll dough that my mother was letting rise in preparation for cooking. He topped that off with half a bag of individually wrapped Rolo candy (chocolate with caramel center). Luckily, he ralphed most of that up in the middle of the night, but we did see tin foil decorated poops in the yard for a day or two afterwards. I don’t think he suffered too many ill effects. Hopefully Fred will be as lucky!

      1. Fred must be a twin to my Oreo who ate a package of Rolos not so long ago. She is little and we spent a few hours at the emergency vet. You may remember that story from here a year or two ago.

  10. Slowly continuing on with the lap throw. Nothing else but cleaning. I slept in after monitoring our county council meeting; it went on forever (after 10pm).

  12. Oh this post made me laugh!

    Yes, I will use this quarantine to learn new skills and overcome my panic disorder. And I certainly won’t overeat unhealthy foods while shaking with anxiety.

    And other lies I tell myself.

    But, I did give myself a haircut that I like and I did get more of my very colorful crocheted flower blanket done. I guess I’m about 1/10 finished with it.

  13. On the same page. One day…
    A lot of half finished jobs lately which annoys the whack out of me.

    I bought more plants because:
    a) soil is eroding, need a slow growing, low spreading, not too big
    b) found exactly what I wanted at 3$ a plant
    c) bought 30
    d) happy, now must finish planting what is now a shade/rock garden

    My cutting flower garden is beautiful. It did not start out as one, a happy accident.
    Who knew this year I would make a garden to match my mother and aunt’s gardens.

  14. The leaves are so dry they are falling to the deck with a crunch. Lack of rain will do that, I’m not sure what the schedule is for watering the lawn. It’s usually the opposite of what I think anyway.

    We had a critter visit the other night, probably a racoon looking for snacks. He got into a couple of barrels, one was for recycled soda bottles and one wasn’t.

    Today the AC is cranked so it a good day for stuffed peppers otherwise I wouldn’t make them in the summer. It is a good way to use up leftover rice.

    I started to read 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand only to be stopped by the dedication to Dorothea Benton Frank. I had no clue she had passed away. Last September when I googled her name. And here I’ve been checking for anything new.

    It’s not all doom and gloom. We finally have a VP pick. I know I’ll never live to see the day when a person is chosen without female, black, Asian or LBGT or any initial before or after their name just a qualified candidate.

  15. The leaves are so dry they are falling to the deck with a crunch. Lack of rain will do that, I’m not sure what the schedule is for watering the lawn. It’s usually the opposite of what I think anyway.

    We had a critter visit the other night, probably a racoon looking for snacks. He got into a couple of barrels, one was for recycled soda bottles and one wasn’t.

    Today the AC is cranked so it a good day for stuffed peppers otherwise I wouldn’t make them in the summer. It is a good way to use up leftover rice.

    I started to read 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand only to be stopped by the dedication to Dorothea Benton Frank. I had no clue she had passed away. Last September when I googled her name. And here I’ve been checking for anything new.

    It’s not all doom and gloom. We finally have a VP pick. I know I’ll never live to see the day when a person is chosen without female, black, Asian or LBGT or any initial before or after their name just a qualified candidate.

  16. In my busiest work week of the year, I awoke gasping from a nightmare in which I was trapped in a snowdrift and a plow came along and buried me.

    My subconscious is not subtle.

  17. My big project this week is teaching Nourene to space her company out over the week. I went over there yesterday because she had 2 days when nobody was due to visit. She called today to thank me and suggested that I return on a day when her aide would be there because the aide would be working and, thus not much company. I reminded her that that would leave her totally alone on another day of the week and encouraged her to take another look at her calendar. She probably won’t master the skill before she dies, but since I will be with fewer resources than she has if I live to be 94, I am trying to help her make the most of what she has. I don’t have the emotional resources to give her more than 1 day a week, but I don’t want her to get any lonelier than she already is. She is in many ways a very lovely woman, but I can’t listen to her racism more than once a week.

  18. I tell myself the ‘I will give a f**k about the yard’ lie every week. Today the forecast is giving me two weeks off from that lie; it’s ‘extreme heat,’ which means the very most I will do is go outside at twilight to water things, at intervals that may be slightly longer than the plants would like, but they should know by now that they are not getting serviced regularly.

    Speaking of which, my car battery actually died from lack of use. The husband hooked up a trickle charger and resuscitated it, and it now taking my car instead of his once a week or so to see clients.

    As to work: I have work. Glad of it. When not working, I’ve been binge-reading M/M romance novels and working on another one of my own, the sort-of-structured one. It’s going well.

  19. Today I was going to start on my painting (I’ve already done some sketches). Of course, I was going to start it yesterday and the day before also. I am telling myself that really this is only the first study I am doing so if I botch it up no big deal. There will be at least another one – or two- after to apply what I learn not to do. But so far – nothing on canvas. Oh well. I also need to finish updating my will and I am not doing that either.

    I have posted a picture of the neighbor’s cat who has spent the last 2 years explaining to me that his people are not taking enough care of him and he is sure we can work out a deal where he lives with me where there are no small children and dogs and he can just ignore Lindy. He really is a sweetheart but I asked and his people would not dream of parting with him even though he is almost always at my house. Of course, Lindy hates the idea and when Aubrey was alive it wasn’t to be even considered because Aubrey made it clear that any cats other than Lindy in his house were going to be destroyed.

    1. I need a trip to Trader Joes but no going across the border and will be for quite a while. I did get Effie’s biscuits shipped to me. So, yeah! A very good biscuit with anything.

  20. Had an unexpected day off and actually got things done! 4.5 hours of creating spreadsheets for a freelance client, got caught up on some niggling data entry, worked on database for BIL until I had to stop until I get questions answered. Also went out and bought 40 pounds of sunflowerseed (you’re welcome birds, squirrels and suspected others). I also ate much sugar as I was at home with it all day.

    Tomorrow’s unexpected day off hopes to contain burdock killing, more databasing and a trip to Trader Joes. It could happen.

  21. Today is elder shopping, so I was up at the crack of dawn, dressed, and headed to the kitchen to prepare a quick breakfast. To my complete surprise the kitchen table had been removed (to the back yard) along with a lot of clutter. I still had to do the shopping, so I nuked a breakfast from the freezer and left the house. Returned after a successful trip with most of the groceries I had on my list, the month’s prescriptions, and a flu vaccination (normally August would be a little early, but the nice folks at the pharmacy pointed out that the line would be very long if I waited, and we had an agreeable dissing of vaccines released without adequate testing). Once the groceries were put away, I spent the rest of the morning providing a good spot for a cat to nap and Polka Dot and I were eventually interrupted by my brother, who wanted to know what I thought of the surprise rearrangement of the kitchen?

    (Actually, this is clearly the moment to channel Marie Kondo, but I also want the table back as a place to park and use an Instant Pot and possible a Thermomix.) Some compromise will clearly be reached.

    Any annoyance I might be feeling about this surprise is greatly modified because we now have a VP pick. I am looking forward to the debate . . . .

  23. You mean lies like “I will exercise every day” and “I won’t overeat at dinner because I’m too hungry and tired to care although I hate that I have gained lots of weight during Covid”?

    It has been a week of frustrations–all relatively minor, but I have clearly reached the straw that breaks the camel’s back point, because every single one of them is close to pushing me over the edge.

    And I was finally hitting my stride with the second cozy mystery (which I am behind on, thank you Covid) and the copy edits for the first one just landed in my in-box.

    If you want me, I’ll be in the corner weeping.

    But yay for the VP pick.

  24. I took a load of stuff to Goodwill, filled up the car with another load, and found new homes for still other things, so the great pre-move clear-out continues. I’m at the point where there are empty shelves, so finally there’s visual progress! But still lots to get rid of. If only I could go back and tell my 30-year-old self to buy less stuff!

  25. My bank sent me new credit cards saying they should be here in 5 to 7 business days. It took 12 business days. I am in a blue state with vote by mail that has always worked very well but with this new guy in charge of the post office, it is clear that a real effort is being made to interfere with mail delivery. We are planning on taking our ballots to a dropbox when we vote and not use the post office. I am also going to check to see when the ballots are mailed out so I have a reasonable idea when to expect them. This is something we all probably need to look into. Also I am not sending anything through the mail that I can possible avoid doing since the post office is engaged in a massive slow down.

    I am not quite sure what else to do. Maybe place a call to my Senators and Representative telling them of my mail delivery problem.

    1. That’s a good start, but ask at your local post office, too. I used to have the worst mail delivery imaginable, but talking to my carrier helped improve some things.They know the system better than we do.

      1. I have lived here for 36 years and have had the same carrier for the last 5 years. Our previous carrier was with us for 15 years. Our mail is delivered to our house at the same approximate time everyday except Saturday when we have a different carrier. This has not happened before.

  26. We have all but 1 board of the picture railing up in my daughter’s room. This project started 4 months ago. I made her pick a mural/wallpaper and paint. Then picture railing. Wait, a night sky on the ceiling, (look up many how-to you tube videos).

  27. Help! I still seem to be stuck in moderation – because I included links to two Instagram videos of my back garden.

  28. Lies I tell myself:

    Every year I pretend I will weed the grass out of my flower bed all the way around the side of the house. Every year I get about an 1/8th of the way.

    The same with summer exercise. Winter is easier with the exercise bike in front of the TV.

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