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Working Wednesday, September 25, 2024

I have been working my ass off on about a million things and I’m still behind. But I’m getting there.

What did you work on this week?

113 Responses

  1. I have a busy week at work, which makes it go quickly.
    It’s been rainy here, so not much yard work is getting done. Inside the house is looking good, though.
    We have two separate out-of-town guests coming this week, so that’s going to keep us busy, too.

  2. I still feel insane about my day job. One of my coworkers gave notice on Monday and her last day will be right before the changeover. I knew she wasn’t happy with the job, but the timing is very hard for the rest of us as we will be running short on the new system for at least two weeks, of not a month after and then I will have to train someone new on a system that I don’t know yet. Ugh. She is the third person to do this and I have asked to not train the other replacements, but rather that they be sent to a quieter branch with one of the people who trained the rest of us.

    In more positive news, I am still drawing cats and am trying to think of a name for the collection. I like Furry Little A$$h@les but I don’t really want to use a swear word, even though I am very cussy. Furry Little Monsters is the working title at the moment, but it lacks zing. Open to suggestions!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/DAVt1gkJHot/?igsh=MW14ZGpsZWhrYm05OA==

      1. My father used to call the family pet a “dog of the worst water.” I suppose a cat could easily merit the title, although it would suggest it was a diamond of the animal world, even if of the lowest grade. That would not be my own opinion.

      2. Thank you! I often use monster face, worstest Bot-Bot ever, Bestest Kiki and other embarrassing monikers. Needless to say, my cats have no idea what their names actually are. It’s Murderbot and Kikimora. Our previous cat was Wendigo. Apparently my husband believes that all cats should have bloodthirsty names.

    3. Those cats are great! Maybe a nod to the medium–Sticky Cats, or PostKits.

      Good luck with the job situation.

      1. Thank you! Our cats were covid babies and give us a lot of joy, but oh my goodness, Bot-bot is the dumbest cat I have ever had. His sister Kiki is just fine.

    5. I’m assuming there are more than one of these cat drawings, but that’s all I can see, not being on Instagram. It’s cute!

      1. Thanks! I shared one last week for Working Wednesday and have been doing them at work to keep my sanity intact. I have quite a few so far.

    8. I’m not coming up with any title for the cats, but I feel that Screaming into the Void ought to be the title of SOMEthing, and your drawing should be the cover art.

      2. Not a half-bad idea. Given my preference for sf, I’m for somehow literalizing the metaphor, but in some unspecified but more sophisticated way than the Kzinti or than victims of the monsters of the Alien series.

  3. Another person leaving?? Wtf??

    I love these cats so much. How about Furry Little Sulks? Sorry, creativity not my area.

    1. This is good! I am writing them all down and letting the subconscious chew on them.

      And yes, I am more than a little sore about this one. She is one of the 20 somethings that I trained and I put a lot into trying to push her and encourage her. And she is leaving for a job she hadn’t even gotten an interview for yet. She asked to rearrange her lunch schedule yesterday to do the preliminary phone interview. I try really hard not to be negative about the younger generations because I think that they take a lot of flack, but she may just make my head explode.

  4. I’m on day two of liquid diet to prep for a colonoscopy tomorrow. Can’t say it’s a diet I’d recommend.

          1. No no – the correct wish is: may you be completely knocked out during the procedure and unaware of any of it.

          2. May you experience the sleep of a two month old puppy.

            I think that is the right age for deep and instant sleep…

    3. Day two? They must have changed the protocol. I just had to drink disgusting kool-aid the day before.

      1. Yes, other people have said that. I must need more…flushing than other people. Don’t even dare comment on that.

        1. I had to do a soft-food diet then liquid diet before the prep. May it go well so you don’t have to do it again for a few years.

    4. Ick, colonoscopy prep is an absolute nightmare. Sending lots of strength and supportive hugs for both prep and procedure!

      1. I had one a couple of years ago and it was four days – two days of very restricted food, one of liquid only and one of the prep stuff. Wasn’t great but not as bad as I expected.

  6. Sorry, that comment was on the cat drawings!

    For work, I’m scrambling to get a last proofread of my next book done so I can at least have a proof copy when I go to the Manteca book fest. Which is entirely arbitrary, since I might sell no books at all.

    Also my one boss was supposed to be out half the day yesterday, but took the whole day due to an emergency, so I was dropped back into figuring out/remembering complicated Medicare rules. And it looks like I’ll be back in there more often, thank goodness and yikes.

  7. A lot of my non-working time this past week was taking care of a co-worker’s kitties. She was on a 10 day vacation, so DH and I tag teamed going over there for breakfast and dinner / happy fun time (that was DH – he likes using the laser to tease them)

    I did persuade DH to help me clear some vegetation from the other side of the fence. It fronts a major road, but is technically our property, so we occasionally go over there and hack at the bushes. We came back with a bin and two huge bags full of debris – and I know there is more waiting over there. I usually dread the process, so I make myself do it first thing. Of course, then I’m wiped out for the rest of the day!

    For my personal creativity, I sewed together the rows of the Tesselating Tabbies quilt. The next step is to trim it to straight sides and put borders on it. But it’s looking great so far

    And I put some effort into making more squares of the Bullfinch blanket, so that is coming along. No work on the Islands blanket, so no progress picture.
    https://www.instagram.com/p/DAV1be5pAYO/

    My girlfriends and I are going to the quilting cabin again this weekend, so I’m hopeful I’ll finish the Tabbies, and make some progress on other projects.

  8. I am finishing off a crocheted wrap I “designed” myself. I love the yarn and it has a wonderful drape, though it may be heavier than I anticipated. When it’s done I’ll post a photo.

    On the writing front, I have finally got the box set of my later-in-life romance series ready for pre order. Now I have to stop procastinating on the next book.

  9. I’m madly trying to make progress on the current Llewellyn book which is due in less than 2 months (gulp) and is not nearly as far along as I’d like it to be. Also having a number of discussions with my agent about other author business stuff.

    Having my desktop computer replaced, since it has been getting increasingly temperamental…that means taking the old one to my computer guy to get cloned onto the new one. I keep going to sit down at the desk and check emails, and then remembering that there is nothing attached to the monitor. Thank goodness I’ve got a laptop too.

    Working on trying to get my cranky body to be less cranky. With minimal success, as usual. So far this week, chiropractor and acupuncture. Leaving in a few minutes for PT. I’ve got a great team, at least.

    On the bright side, I am looking forward to having a Zoom chat this afternoon with an author friend I mostly lost touch with since the pandemic (although we still follow each other online, we haven’t emailed or messaged, and we used to meet up at the RWA National Conference, which neither of us goes to anymore). I’ll be happy to catch up, and she might be a good source of suggestions for how to deal with rereleasing books, since she’s done that quite a bit.

      1. Does it still exist? I thought it filed for bankruptcy and tried to blame Courtney Milan (when it was their racism so boo) , but I don’t know if they were using the reorganizing version or the go out of business version.

        1. It does still exist, Debbie, although it is much reduced from its earlier days. I’m still a member (although very quietly, and not at all active as I used to be, but supporting them hoping they get their sh*t together again for those following in my footsteps), but many, many people left. They appear to have worked hard on their issues, and they are still holding national conventions, but I think many of the online chapters (some of which I belonged to) left and reformed as independent.

  10. I am working on the book review from hell, which keeps boomeranging back for more revisions. This morning I wrote my letter of resignation, intending to wait until they pay me before sending it. Very proud of the restrained tone I managed.

  11. First, a belated happy birthday to you, Jenny!

    Working on recovering from (first time) covid. Next time we take a trip, I’m getting a better souvenir.

      1. Thank you, Deb! I’m at the two week mark and feeling pretty close to normal. Being very careful about resting.

  12. I had a fun week, changing out the door wreath to Fall, and the other places where I decorate for the season- the brass bowl on the dining table, and the tall milk can on the etagere. Then I dug out the Halloween decor, and staged it on my front patio. That cheered me up a lot. I have a Dachshund and cat growling at each other, a bronzed skeleton in a lawn chair, petting a Chihuahua skeleton, another skeleton in a chair, holding its mermaid toy skeleton, and a snake skeleton about to chomp a duck skeleton. A skull, a Raven skeleton, and owl, are looking on.

    I saw a Praying Mantis on the grass clump in a tall vase on my porch! It blended right in.

    Then, I re-treated the bare spots in the front yard with cutworm killer and watered it in. Many of the spots are growing grass very sparsely, again. The back needs re-treated, too, but that is Kali’s stomping ground, so it has to be done when it will dry out quickly. We’ve had much-needed rain lately, so things are still damp.

    2. Halloween decor is the best. There is a whimsy to it that makes me smile that I don’t really find in other holidays.

  13. I would like to say a non-work: today is the first day of school at my old hell job. Two weeks of nightmare commences for the perennially short-staffed. AND I DON’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH A LICK OF IT. HAHAHAHAHAH I AM FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

    Other than that: re-doing a flow chart, going through procedures at work, having a nice quiet time instead of being on the phones all fucking day wishing for death. After work, more rehearsal, and yarn as usual.

    1. Jennifer, this makes me unbelievably happy for you. I’m so glad you don’t have to be there anymore.

  14. And I am also cleaning out all the Harlequin romances I saved from the ’80’s! Am donating to the little library down the street. Kept one for sentimental reasons.

    1. I offloaded mine a while ago but I kept 3 – also for sentimental reasons.
      I reread one recently and it had withstood the test of time so it gets to stay. 🙂

      1. Which one was it? Mine was Charlotte Lamb’s Possession. Withstood the test of time for a heroine who stood her ground and for a long, slow build of romance and sexy tension. Did not withstand the test of time for a hero who was sulky, at his worst, and actually starts to spank her in one scene, not sexily but to punish her for being difficult. Gross. I’ll just skip that part from now on.

        1. The keeper is Smoke in the Wind by Robyn Donald. You’ll be surprised to hear that it is pretty angsty. 😁 The heroine has A Past and puts on the persona of a hard-boiled woman of the world and has an affair with the hero only to watch him fall in love and marry her Good Girl cousin. Complications ensue…
          The other two which I kept and which I will now reread since they’ve been brought to mind were Daphne Clair’s The Wayward Bride. Angsty as well as I recall.
          And Charlotte Lamb’s Stranger in the Night. Second chance for an actress with a Traumatic Past.
          Not sure how these last two will do in the test of time scale.

          1. I read a lot of Robyn Donald back in the day but I don’t remember that one at all! Some Daphne Clair and hey Charlotte Lamb was always my favourite and I definitely read that one.

          2. Hi, Daphne’s DIL here. I’ve rung her to cheer her up with the news that she is still being read and enjoyed. Robyn and Daphne both have dementia. Robyn is further along the dementia trail. Daphne is happy and touched that her books are still bringing someone happiness. Lots of gratitude from New Zealand.

          4. I liked Karen Van Der Zee A Secret Sorrow. That’s a Harlequin keeper for me. And some of the Sarah Morgan’s—she did a lot of mountain rescues that were interesting.

    2. I loved those books. I remember Nora Roberts, Flora Kidd Violet Winspear. My brother giving me such a hard time for reading “crap”.

  15. I’d been very productive on a number of fronts until the middle of last week, when I hit a pollen wall, which pretty much put a stop to everything except bare necessities. So, just plugging along, nothing memorable accomplished. Looking forward to a hard freeze to end allergy season, but NOT looking forward to heating bills. Not sure which is worse, the allergy symptoms or the heating bills for a 200-year-old house.

  16. I’ve been very productive in and out of the house this week — the change of seasons and the prospect of hockey season just days away (not counting pre-season games) has spurred me on. So today while I am stuck on an endless zoom call, I will black out the video and listen, while I work on my double-knitting project which has been plaguing me. I’m new to double-knitting and it has been driving me nuts, but I believe I have finally broken the code and I can see where I kept going wrong before, so I’m hoping to make some progress!

  18. My summary would be much like Jenny’s, except that “working my ass off” would instead be “working about as hard as I could.”  That was not full-out, thanks to tiredness and mental slow-downs probably from multiple causes including stress.  However,  barring the unforeseen, I’m done with medical appointments and such for 3 weeks.  Yesterday I went in for blood work at a relatively new location for the lab chain that my insurance uses.  I had a bit of trouble finding it, but there turns out to be a medical office building in a rather obscure location with a small lab branch among other facilities.  It’s more convenient and less trafficked than the location that I had been using,  so I hope it stays open:  I was the only patient there at the time. But I might have merely made an appointment for a slow period.  Considering that the worst that has ever happened to me in a lab visit was having to wait a long time in an uncomfortable environment (and even that happens less often since the lab chain introduced appointments), it was odd how stressed I got.  But anything medical seems to do it.

    The game plan for today is to de-stress and to chip away at home chores, with a view to being more ambitious tomorrow. I had thought write up reviews for GBTh, but on checking for candidates, I find that the pickings are slim. Even if I today finish something else (and I’m getting close in several books and audiobooks) , I may not get it written up, given other priorities.  I’ve been reading, but for various reasons much less is getting finished.  (But I did, come to think of it, listen to some podcast episodes that might qualify.  And I found something else too.  I’d still better do some chores first; today is getting off to a very slow start.)

    1. Speaking of podcasts (not something that usually appeals to me), I was wondering if there was any way to find out how successful (how much reach) a niche podcast has. I’m thinking of proposing a topic to one (VERY niche podcast), and was wondering if there’s any way to find out if their audience numbers in, say, the hundreds versus thousands versus tens of thousands. They’re definitely not reaching in the millions, and they wouldn’t be on any “top podcast” lists. Anyway, since you mentioned listening to podcasts, and tend to be very analytical, I thought you might have an idea or two.

      1. Gin, I suspect there is a way, but I’m not enough into the technical side to know what it would be.

        1. Thanks. It seems to be complicated, and I wondered if I was missing something obvious, that you’d know immediately. Apparently not, so that’s good to know.

    2. It’s now possible for a patient to get an electronic look at the blood work report, and I probably made a mistake by looking at mine from yesterday’s tests, since the deviations from “normal” can probably be ascribed either to known disease or the therapy I’ve had for it so far. But my first reaction was to stress out over whether something there was going to throw off my scheduled outpatient operation. I’ll probably hear soon, if so. But I was probably better off in blissful ignorance!

  19. Last week my son brought home two par-cooked pizzas. On purpose. We were experimenting on having right out of the oven pizza and finished baking them ourselves. One we put in the refrigerator for later (which was last night) and the other we added our own toppings. Liability from the shop would not supply the meat toppings and that was OK. I added sliced sausage hot and sweet, green peppers, onion and mushrooms. It would have been better if I had already cooked the fixings that way it all could have baked together. I wanted to make sure the sausage cooked. Another lesson learned. A bit on the dry side. Next was the cheese pizza last night. That was no fuss no muss. No doubt about it there is a big difference between a pizza oven and an at home oven. This morning, I realized what was missing. You now when you take that first bite thinking it is cooled off and burn the roof of your mouth, even though it was an official pizza, it was missing that feature.

  20. I mowed the leaves that had fallen in my back yard. I have a mulching mower so it works very well on the early fallen leaves. I also cut down the butterfly bush that had been planted too close to the house (previous owners really didn’t know what they were doing planting wise); it was drooping right up against the siding leading to green stuff growing on the siding underneath it. I did wait for the flowers to be done blooming first. I also washed the green stuff off the doors of the shed. I should have done it last year but I am really good at procrastinating…

    Today I have started infusing white pine in honey. It smells and tastes wonderful when it is done. I use it in my tea and elderberry syrup all winter.

    I was going to go for a walk, but tuxedo kitty (Pippin) decided he wanted to take a nap on my lap. Miri is snoozing on the cat post right next to us; she’s not much of a lap kitty.

    1. Ooh, the infusion sounds fascinating. When I was researching to write the Bourbon B&B mysteries (located in bourbon country in KY), I learned that what makes bourbon special is the flavor from the charred oak barrels. Probably everyone but me knows that, but I’m not a drinker. And then I heard about a distillery in Vermont that skips the barrels (for sustainability reasons) and instead reverses the process, by infusing charred wood bits (not just oak) into the whiskey. Made me wish that I did drink! https://www.splitspirits.com/

      1. Gin, the infusion is really simple. You just chop up white pine needles and small twigs and place in a jar, cover with honey and put over a double boiler on low until the flavor is infused in the honey. I usually give it a couple of days since I turn the burner off when I am away from the house, or in bed for,the night. You can also just let it sit in a dark place for a couple of weeks instead, if you prefer. Strain when done and enjoy!

    2. I have been doing a LOT for a Sept 30 day job deadline. And I keep getting interrupted. I hope I can get some actual writing done after a call today.

      I’m also working on our taxes —we took an extension for reasons. One reason was I had so many health problems last year (all resolved) that I needed more time on the health files. That’s done.

      Also my accountant and I worked on the home office deduction. Which turned out to be time consuming but good because we had to figure out what we paid for this house. Which involves the original purchase price, donating all the pieces to a charity when we tore it down 20 years later, all the things we paid for when we built the new house (and I paid all the workmen and supplies directly and had a project manager)… it was a project in itself although I kept good records.
      But I’ve known for 10 years I needed to do it because we will need this number if we sell the house (as opposed to if we die and our kids sell it) and now it’s done! I actually had a monthly reminder in my calendar that I can remove ! Very exciting for me.

      Also, I’ve been working on the election. Donations and phone calls.
      I’m very intrigued by the Nebraska independent who might beat the Republican Senator (and would probably caucus with the Dems). The last poll had him one point ahead .

  21. Working on packing for our trip to Toronto tomorrow. I’m attending Harlequin’s 75th Anniversary celebration. I can’t wait to meet up with fellow authors. I miss in-person meetings now that no one attends RWA anymore. My husband is going so he can go to the Hockey Hall of Fame and a pre-season game if the flight lands in time. We managed a good deal on the flight out of Nashville but the catch is checked bags cost nearly as much as the flight so I’m doing my best to cram everything into a carryon bag. Luckily it’s just for the long weekend Friday-Sunday but I am a chronic over packer. My husband keeps reminding me that civilization doesn’t end at the border so if I forget something or need something, I can easily buy it once we get there.

    We’re heading out early for Nashville tomorrow morning hoping to avoid driving the entire way in the rain from Hurricane Helene.

    1. Everyone I know (slight exaggeration) is going to Toronto tomorrow, but it’s for a medical convention — the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research’s annual meeting. It includes the people who research my rare disorder (as well as osteoporosis, which accounts for most attendees), which is why I’m aware of the event. They call themselves bone-heads (like cheese-heads), so don’t be surprised if you encounter people on the plane who are sporting skeletons of one sort of another. Wish I were on my way to Toronto! I went to … I think it was Bouchercon there one year, and it’s a great city to visit. If you’re on Twitter, there’s a thread somewhere under the #ASBMR2024 hashtag with suggestions by locals for places to visit if you have some free time while you’re there.

  22. I suppose my work this week could be called “book binding.” Or eBook binding. I mean, suppose you have an eBook that is perfect (as a book) in all respects except the cover does not display in your library software. That can be fixed, with the right software.

    The library is Mobipocket Reader. The repair software is Mobipocket Creator. Sometimes, the repair software is Calibre, which is an essential tool in any case. From there, it all depends on the source document.

    Take Tales From the Mermaid and Tiger by Karen C Evans and Kevin H. Evans. I can download that story from Baen Books in .MOBI, .EPUB, .HTML, and .RTF formats. The .MOBI format has never displayed the cover in my Mobi Library. Of course, I can read the book in three (actually seven) other formats but my Library doesn’t look as pretty with no cover art thumbnail for ALL the books. Bah. Humbug. [mutter mutter mutter]

    Mobipocket Creator can take MS Word, HTML, text, or PDF files as source files to create a PRC file output. .PRC = .MOBI.

    Long story still long, that’s what I’ve been doing this week.

  23. Belated happy birthday, Jenny! Made me happy to read you had such a good time!
    I’m still chugging away at the same old same old, no changes here medically except now the GP is (FINALLY!) on it to kick specialists butts, so we hope he’ll get around to that this…century. Today I’m exhausted to the point of tears, feeling very much like laying down on the floor and scream. This very likely will not happen. But it’s tempting. And I DO NOT WANT TO DO THE GROCERIES. Save me. In-store shopping is a nightmare, but ordering online is a hazzle too, at least for me. I. Don’t. Wannnaaaa!
    Went to the vet with the kitts today for claw trimming. Matcha went well, but Trip was so angry and stressed *despite* having had a sedative that the vet’s assistent refused to trim hers. She and I agreed we didn’t wanna traumatize her by wrapping her up in towels or similar for claw-trimming only, so I’ve now made a new appointment for her for next week and got two sedatives; one for the evening before, and one for same morning as appointment. Sigh. I just managed to score a pet-nail file, so maybe I can take care of it myself if I’m very careful. It should drop in tomorrow. I dare not try my hand at a cutter.
    My little brother and his girlfriend are expecting a little one come February, so I’m
    trying to knit baby blankets and baby bathrobes and other baby-things all in one go. I just finished a blanket, but the bind-off is a bit tight, so… I feel unsure whether I should give it away or not. Have asked on Ravelry if I can still loosen it, since I haven’t woven in any ends yet.
    What’s this whole trend with browns and beiges for babys, by the way? Anybody have a clue? Seems like everyone wants brown right now.
    Started guitar lessons about 1.5 month ago, but have only had 3 so far because I managed to cut myself in two different fingers at two separate occasions… anyway, it’s fun. My teacher is one awesome lad. He makes me laugh a lot.
    And knitting makes me happy. Wanted to finish on a positive note!

    1. Brown for babies? The only reason I can think of is it doesn’t show poop, which…er, um.

      1. Your guess is as good as mine. I asked: “Have you decided on a theme or colours for the little one?” The answer was: “My girlfriend says brown and beige is good.”
        This other person that I’m trying to get to know better, whom is also expecting a baby (in 1.5-2 months) also wants brown and beige. In her case I think it’s because she wants a bear-theme, AND the baby is sharing her room, which has brown, beige and ecru curtains, bedclothes, furniture etc. I have bought so much brown yarn now that I never want to see brown again after this. Ever. Secretly I want to rebel and knit everything in NEON-colours now, but let’s not go there. Besides, this first blanket is already knit.
        My sib said there looks to be a trend now where they take “normal baby colours” and then put some gray in to mute them, and that’d fall better into combinations with brown and beige. A more…grownup kind of baby-colours.

        1. Brown and beige? The poor kid.
          There are some really wonderful browns out there, but when I went to recommend them, they were all discontinued, so never mind.
          Maybe you could mix a color with the brown? I love blue and brown together.
          But not brown and beige. Shudder.

    2. Shass, this may sound like a stupid question, but does the cat really need to have her nails trimmed? Most of my cats are pretty good about me doing it (pretty good ranging from “sitting mostly still for it” to “you can do three and then I’ll try and kill you, come back later for the rest”) but Lilibet, who was in a shelter for 3 years before I got her, and therefore not accustomed to having them done, really doesn’t like it. So for the most part, I just don’t bother. She doesn’t scratch the furniture or the other cats, so other than occasionally getting caught on something it isn’t much of an issue.

      So unless there is a specific reason, maybe just skip the trauma for you both?

      1. There are no stupid questions! It’s a very valid one at that. I decided on trimming now because even when just lying on my lap, Trips claws keep pricking me, even when she’s not exactly extending them. She is also an occasional swatter, both at us if she’s annoyed or at Matcha, and the points are TURBO-sharp. But the file should come in today, so I might be able to remedy that, and if so, I’ll cancel the appointment indeed. I very carefully tried to file down a little bit with the head of the electrical trimmer I have (not turned on, feels a bit too scary for me), and she was okay with that, so I think(!) this might work.
        In Matcha’s case, I notice when she’s bothered by her nails because she’ll start getting stuck in things and has trouble freeing herself again. Since her balance isn’t exactly topclass, this is sometimes hard for her. She also starts grabbing onto my clothes if I pass by, and can’t get free, so it’s happened a few times that she’s dragged off the couch because she got stuck in a blanket or my pants or blanket hoodie when I passed by, and potentionally can ruin fabrics at that. She also starts messing with furniture a bit. She even once got stuck in the plushy edge of the cat-tree. She’s not a fan of having them trimmed, but she’s manageable, so if I can’t file her nails, she can still go to the vet. If I don’t need to bring Trip unless it’s vaccination time or other, that’ll indeed be ahuge relief for everyone involved.

        1. Shass, I trim both my cat’s nails; if I don’t, they destroy anything they scratch (including human skin). Pippin has a very annoying habit of clawing at the quilt on my bed at about 4 in the morning when he thinks he needs me to get up and feed him (he has dry food in his dish, he just wants my attention). My sister made the quilt for me and as much as I love my fur kids, I will not let them annihilate it. The vet used to trim them for free whenever they went in for an appt but the new owners started charging $8 per cat to trim their nails so I do it myself.

    3. Brown and what I call ‘dead’ colours are really fashionable for weddings, flowers, etc. My theory is there’s a lot of depression about.

      1. This certainly gave a new dimension to it…. I’m seriously considering sending all unopened yarn back to the shop. Babies should have live colours, not dead ones.

        1. Totally agree. Maybe a compromise would be to go for secondary colours rather than primary ones – apricot, pale turquoise, willow green, and so on? I’m probably going to have a similar challenge since my niece is expecting, and she went for brown, burgundy and beige at her wedding. (I was really looking forward to photographing the flowers, but was really uninspired by them.)

        2. FWIW, if you do go for a different color scheme, at least as of last year, green was a popular baby-stuff color. Gender-neutral, and a refreshing break from all the pink or blue (if the gender is known). My niece asked for green stuff in her baby registry, because she didn’t want everything to be pink/blue (and she was resisting revealing the gender, at least when I started the baby quilt). She said another pregnant friend had recommended it to her, so it wasn’t just her individual preference.

    4. Shass, I’m sorry that there has not been more progress medically, but I had been thinking that I hadn’t seen you here for a while and am glad to have news.

      I have to pick up a prescription soon and since the pharmacy is in a supermarket, I should finally get around myself to some of the grocery shopping that I have been putting off. Too much of the unused food still around at my place either is high in saturated fat or requires more effort to cook than I presently feel like making.

      1. Patrick, thanks for your kind words! I was happy to read that you have a few weeks off of medical things. I hope you get to recharge your batteries a little and do things you enjoy. Was the grocery adventure successful? We figured out that we still have enough food for another couple of days, so we moved our delivery date to Sunday. I hope to feel more fit to handle it then.

    5. Lots of browns, beiges and neutrals on the younger folk in general, I think. As a maximalist who is inordinately fond of novelty prints, I can’t relate.

      And laying on the floor and screaming and crying is a perfectly valid survival strategy. I have used it a few times myself. Take care!

      1. Lupe! Thank you so much for the validation! Knowing I’m not the only one feeling it, and that others are even DOING IT(!) is incredibly comforting. Then I know, should it happen, that it’s okay, and I’m not alone. Thanks. <3

    6. Good to hear from you!

      The best that can be said about browns is they are earth tones. But I love to see babies in creative bright patterns and do not get it.

      Do you have a scratching post ? It might at least reduce the need for vet trips.

      I think you should be able to undo and redo the bind off.

      1. Seeing your name always makes me happy!
        Yeah I really would prefer to knit in colour, but I don’t want a horde of angry parents chasing me down the street because I defied their chosen colour theme. Boo. I’m still seriously considering sending all unopened yarn back though, brown makes me sad.
        I have one cat-tree that’s taller than me and one that’s about 5 feet (both with several scratching posts), a couple of cardboard scratching mats, a small scratching post that’s about the cats’ height and a few other scratching-possibilities. Trip scratches enough that one’d think she’d have no claws left, but still I’ve had to get them trimmed every 2-3 months. I really don’t get it. I get it in Matcha’s case, because she doesn’t dare to get up on her hind legs to scratch vertically because of her wobblyness (hence the mats), but Trip? Oh and we also have a climbing bag/sack hanging from the stair railing that Trip uses nine times out of ten to climb up instead of walking the stairs. It’s that kind of thing that’s a sisal carpet rolled around cushons to form a sort of….bag. She loves it.
        I’m convinced she sharpens her nails on these things rather than wear them down.

    7. Parents can get weird, especially for the first little one. But I figure if I ask, I should probably try to work with the request. If I don’t ask, I can make whatever I want! So far, none of the baby blankets I’ve given has been refused. In fact I often see them in baby pictures later on. (One friend tells me that her teen still holds onto that baby blanket in times of stress.)

      The one thing I do try to ensure is that the blanket can be washed. Babies can create all kinds of mess, and I don’t want anyone to stress out about having to hand wash a blanket.

  24. Getting work scheduled for the new house and movers booked and beds bought. Oof. I’ll be so glad once we are moved in. 😊

  25. I’m trying to get more done, but as usual falling behind. Wet weather means I’m editing photographs, but when there’s a break I really want to sort my gardens out – there’s loads to clear on the allotment and plants to move around in both gardens. Also need to chase workmen and rights of way researchers: I’m fed up with people not getting back to me. Oh, and do my accounts and tax return.

  26. Well, just the usual stuff and the press conference before the county council meeting.

    The press conference was to state our displeasure in the removal of drop boxes for the upcoming election. It was attended by several people on the pro drop box side and an equal number of men from Citizens Advisory. One of the had a bull horn. They proceeded to heckle and other wise drown out our speakers which included three citizens and a couple of state reps and a state senator. We persevered.

    Good points is that the Republicans must not be as confident as they make out or they would have just ignored us. Also, I’m not sure our reps were aware about just how nasty these people are. They know now. And maybe this will get through to the general public what’s at stake.

    Of course, at the council meeting, one of the group made a comment suggesting that we were the divisive element. Not much we can do but refuse to be silenced. Good times.

    I did get my COVID vax today and I’ll be back at registering and educating voters tomorrow.

  27. I finally managed to get someone to help me with filming video demonstrations for my fencing techniques manual. Now I need to edit it into short clips.

  29. It’s been a bad couple of months at work. New big boss with Ideas, one of which was to give the job I’ve been acting in to my work nemesis. I don’t mind working with him, but I do not want to work for him. The whole thing has been handled really badly, and it’s pretty much destroyed my willingness to go the extra mile. Of course, I had been working like crazy to cover three jobs for a couple of years, which in retrospect was not the smartest move. However, I had a team to take care of, so I can’t completely regret it.

    But my misery in August caused me to investigate the potential of retirement, and it turn out that if it all becomes too much, I can walk away. It’ll be better if I walk away next year, but if I have to go now, I can. It was a revelation. I have zero fucks to give!

    1. KarenB — sorry to hear about the work drama. I’ve been in that same position before and it’s no fun. It’s great to know that you can walk away if things cross a tipping point, though here’s hoping you are able to walk away when it is right for you, rather than because things have become too much.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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