Today I had to run into The Big City so I could drop off some work. It was a quick trip, but I made the most of it by picking up some groceries and then getting some gas as I drove out of town.
It sounds like such a simple thing. But the truth of the matter is that it was not. Partly because the heat makes it miserable to go anywhere and do anything... but mostly because people can be such huge assholes who care about nobody but themselves.
This was made most clear to me when I stopped at the gas station.
All the stalls were full, which is not a big deal. My car is air conditioned and I wasn't in a huge hurry. It was then I noticed a person pull up and head into the mini mart. I assumed that they didn't want (or didn't have) a credit card and needed to pay inside. But that wasn't what happened. Turns out they parked at the pump... went in for a drink and some snacks... then came back and paid at the pump before filling up. WHILE THREE CARS WERE WAITING TO GET GAS!
I was more than a little pissed off, but assholes will be assholes, so what can you do?
But then I noticed that other people were doing this same damn thing. Rather than getting gas then moving to a parking spot so somebody else had access to the pump... people were getting gas and parking at the pump while they went inside for some shopping.
Who does that when there are people waiting?
Assholes.
And you just know that these same people would be laying on their damn horn if they had to wait while somebody went inside for a Big Gulp (or whatever).
I tell you what... I am THIS CLOSE to just doing whatever it takes to avoid people completely. Getting a job that allows working off-site. Staying at home and only venturing out after midnight where I will shop exclusively at businesses that are open 24 hours. Ordering crap via mail order whenever possible. — Because my being assured that I will run into far fewer assholes than have to be endured during daylight hours is a heck of a temptation.
I begged my doctor for an appointment to deal with this non-stop cough. His office took pity on me, and worked me in tomorrow. Thank heavens. Because three hours of sleep each night is not sustainable.
Something else that's not sustainable?
Housework.
I am so busy with work and everything else in my life that finding time to clean up my pit of despair (AKA my home) is almost impossible. Usually this is a task for my weekend, but it just hasn't been possible so I've been doing a little bit here and there when I get home from work during the week.
MY CATS DO NOT LIKE THIS!
Tonight I decided to deep clean my downstairs. That's when I pull out the corded vacuum (which is far more powerful than my cordless) and steam clean everything. This is something I do once a month because I have cats wandering around. And while they are actually very clean animals, they also dig around in a litter box and shed everywhere.
So I turn on the vacuum and the cats go bolting upstairs to flee the noise. I then pull out the steam floor cleaner, which my cats hate even worse because of the hissing sound it makes. I have separate pads that I use on it... one for the kitchen, one for the cat feeding station, one for the living room and guest room, and one for the bathroom. That way I'm assured that I'm actually cleaning instead of transferring filth from one place to another.
In-between changing pads, Jenny comes marching downstairs... meows at me... then runs right back upstairs.
I guess this was her letting me know just how mad she is about my need to have a clean house.
But hey, I'm not exactly thrilled about it. I just wasted hours on housework that I could have spent doing something I enjoy.
Though then I'd be freaking out because I hadn't done a deep clean and probably wouldn't have enjoyed myself much anyway. So I guess it's a wash.
So to speak.
Today was a long, long, very long day at work. I started at 5:30am, finished at 1:15am, and only stopped to each lunch and dinner (plus bathroom breaks). So... nineteen hours, give or take.
I think it might actually be tolerable if I was able to get some sleep, but for the past three weeks my allergies have been in overdrive, which means I'm coughing my fool head off most of the night. Interestingly enough, my cats have become so accustomed to it that they don't even flinch when I'm hacking up a lung. Quite a change from the days when they would dart under the couch or run upstairs and hide if I were to so much as clear my throat.
As if the coughing and lack of sleep wasn't bad enough, I seem to have been locked out of my bank account somehow. Which is to say that I'm effectively without funds. My credit/debit/ATM card is "frozen" and when I try to login to see what's going on I can't get in that way either. Tomorrow (=ahem later today) I will have to call my credit union and find out what the heck is going on. Hopefully it's not because somebody has hacked my account and taken all my money... that would really suck. Though perhaps bank and credit union accounts are insured against that kind of thing? I have no idea.
But I bet you I will real soon now!
I've counted out money from my change jar just in case I need to have that exchanged for real money. I could have sworn I had a $20 bill tucked away in my wallet, but I do not. Apparently I spent it and forgot about it. Entirely possible given how I almost never use cash any more.
I guess my spare change savings is all I got, apparently.
Maybe I should think about trying to find my checkbook? That would be a big help right about now.
Today was so exhausting that my brain feels melted. Like I could remove my skullcap, dig in with an ice cream scoop, and pull out a delightful warm pink sauce to go with a nice sponge cake.
Bet you won't see that on the next season of The Great British Bake Off.
Unless Hannibal Lecter is hosting as a guest judge.
"I like what you've done with the brains here, but your sponge could have used a little more time in the oven."
Ugh. I need a vacation.
I had a very long work day today... 14 hours. Which wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that I got no sleep last night. Just as I was nodding off around midnight, somebody lit up some fireworks, at which point I was wide awake. Even if I were to manage to fall asleep with the noise, the cats tearing off my bed and running into the closet would have been enough to cancel any attempt at slumber.
My watch tells me that I finally fell asleep at 3:30am.
So... 3-1/2 hours sleep then.
It would be nice if I could get at least half the amount of sleep that I end up working in a day.
My internet is out.
This doesn't happen very often. I'm blessed with highly reliable internet service, and this is something I truly feel blessed to have. I know friends who are not so lucky.
Fortunately, I have internet on my phone that I can use as a hotspot. Except I burned through my high-speed data alotment in five minutes, at which time I barely had internet at all...
No big loss... except my smart home is now a stupid home, I can't watch television, and my security cameras are in meltdown.
I'd say that it's time to read a book, but I'd rather just go to bed.
The fact that time passes so quickly when you're having fun and so slowly when you're not is one of life's most cruel twists. And, yeah, I understand that it only feels that way, but isn't that enough?
I ended up working only a little bit this past weekend, which meant that I had some time to set up my wood shop in my garage and get started on some projects (mostly involving my art studio, which has been gutted so I can build something new that actually functions how I need it to).
On Saturday, it was just past 11:30pm before I realized how late it had gotten. I went to check the clock to make sure it wasn't too late to run my miter saw (I try to never make noise after 9:00pm) and had no idea that I had been happily working away for over nine hours. I honestly expected it to be around 8:00pm when I looked. On Sunday I ended up cleaning house all morning and working until late into the night... losing track of time. Again.
Meanwhile on my Monday I thought my day was near over only to find out that it was only 2:00. And even that seemed as if I had been in the office for an eternity.
It's a darn shame that I need to work to pay for building materials.
And pay for my mortgage and food and stuff, of course.
Today I had to leave the office early so I could get home and finish up some stuff that I had left on my home computer. But first I decided to make some bread because I ran out.
It's pretty much a science at this point. Take out the SourJo starter and let it warm up for 30 minutes. Mix together the first half of the ingredients and let rise for 45 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it rise for 45 minutes. Deflate it, shape into loaves, then let it rise for 45 minutes. Then bake for a half hour.
At this point you're supposed to let it cool, but I never have that kind of patience...
Yes. It tastes every bit as good as it looks.
And smells even better than that.
I'd bake it daily if it didn't take three hours to make. And I could eat unlimited carbs without consequences.
Every morning it happens.
Call after call after call of people I don't know popping up in my notifications. Except my phone doesn't ring through for unidentified callers, so it has zero effect on me. I turned THAT feature on the minute my mom died and I no longer had to wait for doctor calls or emergencies that might have come up.
I don't want to talk to people I know on the phone... but people I don't know? That's a hard pass. If it's critical, they can leave a voicemail...
Interesting to note that they are making several calls at once, because most phones allow you to have multiple calls from the same number break through your unknown caller blocking.
But not me, baby.
Anybody I care about getting through to me is in my contacts.
A common plot device to many science fiction stories (and more than a few comic book story arcs) is one of an alternate timeline. Something happens... usually involving time travel... which causes established events to veer from their intended path, thus creating a new timeline.
One of my favorite uses of this is in Back to The Future:
Classic.
Lately I've been feeling like I'm trapped in an evil alternate timeline where somebody has changed the path that we're all supposed to be on. And do you blame me? The amount of horrendous shit happening in the world just keeps escalating, and there really doesn't seem to be any end in sight.
Alas, something tells me that Marty McFly ain't going to show up and magically fix everything this time.
Atom Entries Feed Comments Feed
