quigonejinn | Reading

Well. I'm not dying of heart failure. (Currently, or in the foreseeable future.)

Day 1 of the new contract.

I do wish the agent had negotiated a day or two off. I could do with a break. Everything is mad crazy busy around here.

And we're trying to acclimatise the Tweety Sweeties right now, but don't really have anywhere to put them right now, so they're in a cage on the front porch during the day (with water, food, dustbath, and perch) and get brought in at night to sleep safely.

That should be Nien-go on the left, and Jima-wu on the right. They are, once again, named after food: nien go is the palm sugar and glutinous rice new year cake, and jima-wu is black sesame.

The sole exception to this chicken naming standard has been the 'Lockdown Ladies', Gladys Berechicklian (named after the NSW Premier - like a US state governor - during the early part of the pandemic) and Dr Kerry Chant (named after the NSW Health Minister at the time). I don't know why we landed on those, but it seemed funny at the time, and Gladys Berechicklian always gets a good laugh out of people!

I have political thoughts about Australia and everything that's going on in the world, but will post them another time. *sigh*

I genuinely do not know how to process the last three days.

I was having feelings of ................................ today and then I remembered that I accidentally fell asleep early last night and missed my evening meds. One of which is my anti-anxiety medication. Also, it is shark week so everything is x11. Plus I had coffee. It's like I was setting myself up for failure just because I was sleepy.

Any who.

I am currently craving a tomato-y red sauce with linguine and a burrata appetizer with a basil pesto dip. Sadly, my body would throw an absolute shit-fit if I attempted any of those. (I do have the knowledge and ability to execute this meal!) The last time I had two pieces of Giordano's tavern style pizza (their sauce is very tomato-forward), I had indigestion for two days and my mouth felt like burning for a further two. I've officially hit the "nope" section of my tomato sensitivity and would prefer to avoid acid reflux and/or GERD.

I just need to make roasted tomato sauce with the yellow and orange tomatoes mom grows me next August. It will not taste AS amazing, but it should still be yummy. I did a roasted tomato soup with those last year and it was delightful for the two grilled cheese and tomato soup meals I made with it.

Ahh, middle age. I've been looking forward to you.

In other news, I am going to work on de-cluttering some this weekend. I've committed to refreshing my living room this year in that I want to buy a couch that will double as guest space. The cats have officially killed my recliner (and it's deeply uncomfortable at this point) and I've notified The Mother that I won't have room for the cedar chest by Labor Day. It's all in the planning stages right now, but clearing out some clutter is never a bad thing.

Side note, if anyone here wants a full range of Sims 2 expansion and stuff packs, lmk. I'll ship them to you. I have a ton of Sims 3 stuff and Stardew Valley, so I'm set on that front.

Current Mood: hungry

tielan

So, I was reading a Thread where a guy was warning about old drives, and how they might not last very long anymore because of degradation of the components used in them.

So, while looking for a mouse this morning, I dug up 2 old HDs (circa 2010?) and two external HDs and figured I'd kick them started and see if they worked.

And I just found the MOTHERLODE of photos!

Dating back to 2011! Including ones of my old cat, and the parentals' old cat, and friends' children as babies! WOW.

And old trips! Including a few that I thought I'd lost forever!

(Apparently, I have always taken lots of photos of builidngs!.)

Also, boy was I skinny!! Either that, or the camera made me look skinny. Oh, younger me, why did you not realise? XD

tielan

Finished Draft 2 of The Nullifae: And If I Rise. Had to rewrite a whole section in the middle, then cram in a sequence where they meet the Oracle, who's a Fae.

There's still some stuff to be done - I need to rewrite the opening scene so it's more happening, less infodumping. And I think I want to write a snapshot at the end where Jenna is getting more or less fired from her job. Do I write her getting fired from her work, or do I just show her in the doghouse before she calls the Director of Crossover who gave her his number if she decided she wanted a change of scenery?

Choices choices.

It's about 60K finished, which isn't huge but isn't small potatoes either.

I am very tired of not feeling well.

Had a lovely weekend and was all set for a normal, boring week. Woke up yesterday morning to a skull-piercing migraine that lingered for the entirety of the day.

I just really want to have a few normal months of feeling generally ok.

Current Mood: tired

tielan

I need to sit up, no slumping.

Still no contract.

I wonder if the HR manager has pushed back against the client group manager...

ETA 2 hours later: Apparently they are renewing me, but they're changing the payroll company they're paying me through, and I'm not sure what's going on with the rate, or how much longer the contract will go for.

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Also, per my icon: you should do a search on "political" quilts at QuiltCon '26. There are a bunch of conservatives with their panties in a knot because "suddenly" the quilts are "political"...

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We have two new chickens. Babies, 6 weeks old. We're keeping them inside for the moment, in a cage, mostly because the coop we'd put them in needs repair and I won't have proper time until Sunday (but am stealing lunchtimes and after work). We're also trying to get them used to cuddles.

Cracked open my Battleship dvd, dusted off the dvd player and had myself a movie night. Fuck, I love this stupid movie. The entire cast is fantastic, the plot is very stupid but makes sense if you pay attention to the first 5 minutes, and the last 1/3rd of the film is a legit banger of an action film.

Is the premise stupid? Sure. But it spends 90+ minutes dunking on the mediocre white, male lead while showcasing how fucking amazing the tertiary non-white characters are and even begrudgingly giving wml some growth. And they fridged his BROTHER. I remain assured that this is my favorite trash and I cradle it to my chest in delight. I might reread the novelization. Which I do own.

I've had a couple conversations about food with relatively young humans in the last little bit. It's reminded me how far I've come when it comes to eating, learning about, and cooking food. Big props to

annieeats for being a regular new-cuisine companion or introducer over the last ~20 years.

I note any of this because the most recent conversation about food I had was with a young person who has been very limited in what they eat and/or cook. And while they want to learn more, they've got a range of 'safe' foods that it's tough for them to deviate from. Also, they're limited in funds (like most young people and, lbr, everyone right now), so trying or adding new things to their comfy food list is complicated. Food sensitivities and poverty are hard fucking rivers to navigate. Add in that they have limited experience with cooking at all, and I'm thrown back to my early 20's. Woof.

I guess I'm just really kind of grateful to my parents and friends for making food interesting and exciting rather than intimidating. But I'll also give myself some grace and space for being willing to try things I've never eaten before. 20-yo me would be pretty intimidated by stuff I eat regularly now. But good for her for eventually getting here!

Current Mood: awake

I love my girls. I can unequivocally say that they've stabilized my mental health for years. That said, I recently sat down and did the math about how expensive they currently are.

Here is my current regular maintenance budget (per 30 day period) for the girlies:

Wink (wet) food: $150-180
Tea (wet) food: $25
Tea (dry) food: $15
Treats (both): $5-10
Cat litter: $36-55
Meds (Wink): $7

Total: $238-292/30 day period.

With mathing that is fudgy, this is a larger than 10% chunk of my monthly budget. That's not including vet trips or separate purchases or cleaning supplies.

And like, I knew it was a significant portion of my budget, and I'm not actually mad about it? I made the commitment to care for these two in a healthy and engaged way. And YES, Wink's wet food bill is insane, but she's got some medical shit going on (she's almost 16? Is 16? Adopt a rescue for uncertainty!) and tolerates this food and this food alone. Both for her nutritional needs and for her willingness to eat it. Royal Canin wet food owns my ass until this girlie passes and I've just given up and tried to find coupons.

Also, Tea's her own worst enemy in that she has to be deeply drugged if she goes to the vet. Like, it's on her file. Wink's a damn delight (legit, there's not been one regular vet appointment where she hasn't been dubbed 'best behaved'), but Tea Had A Bad Experience and is taking it out on the universe now. Luckily, 3-year vaccines are a thing now, so I just haul her in for an eye-wateringly priced teeth cleaning, and they just give her jabs while she's unconscious. Just. SIGH.

This is 100% me just venting but. *stomps foot* I am definitely not getting another pet after Tea passes. I just can't afford it.