melworks

So, the Summer has arrived and the show season has also arrived. Jorg went off to a show this past week which necessitated me working at the Shop for five days in a row.

Oy vey.

It's been a while since I worked, like, a regular week and, let me tell you, it is not something I really care to go back to doing. I quite like being semi-retired, sleeping in until about noonish, then piddeling about the house before I go out to get lunch or run errands. By the time the weekend rolls around, I'm more than happy to go into the Shop and interact with the public.

Went and saw the Momster today and she made me so mad. Last week, a cypress tree fell in the yard, blocking her driveway. Instead of calling me to come down and help her, she just goes out there and cuts the thing off with her chainsaw so she can get out the yard. Did I imention that my mom is in her seventies? I love her to pieces, but sometimes she just makes me crazy, 'cause she doesn't seem to realize she's not as young as she used to be! She doesn't need to be out there, at her age, using a chainsaw.

Then, apparently, one of the busybody neighbors stopped by and, without even asking if it was okay, went ahead and cut up the rest of the fallen tree and drug it out to the street. Idiot didn't realize it's too big for the town to pick up on trash day. Ugh.

The Solstice was nice. I spent it at the Shop but it was busy and I felt productive. Didn't watch the sunrise over Stonehenge like I did last year, but it's online and I may get around to it if I feel like it.

Other than that? Life continues. Hope y'all are doing well. Stay cool. - xoxo Mel

I went back to the doctor's today to follow up on my visit a few weeks ago. As I said in an earlier post, the dizziness has improved but lately I've been having some disomfort in my right ear. It feels a bit like I've got water in that ear and it just doesn't want to come out. Which makes sense as according to my NP, I probably still have fluid in the ear. They suspected my eustacian tubes might be compressed, adding to the problem, so advised I use FloNase twice a day for three days. He also said he'd write me a perscription for antibiotics, which I'm surprised he did because he said my ear doesn't look infected.

So, I guess I'm just playing a waiting game at this point.

On another matter, my blood pressure was ridiculously hight: 160/105. Jeebus! That's high, even for me! I usually over about the 140/95 mark. I'm wondering if a combination of factors didn't lead to it being artificially inflated: a large meal the previous night with a lot of salt, an energy drink and then lack of hydration today? I don't know, but I guess I have to start walking again to see if I can get the damn numbers down to something better.

I went to bed at 1230 last night and didn't get out of my physical bed until 1 PM this afternoon. I was awake for a while, but just didn't feel like getting out of the bed. I just lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling and listening to my roommate doing his weekly meal prep downstairs.

Eventually, I got up and went to the bank. Then I went by The Store, because it's Flip Day. Flip Day, for the uninitiated, is the last Monday of the month. It's the day I go in and flip all the displays so they look new. It helps stuff sell.

After finishing at The Store, I went by the grocery and grabbed some food for tonight, which included a very large slice of carrot cake. Because, well, it's the end of the month and I want fucking cake. That's the only reason I need to give. Right?

And tomorrow is a brand new day and a brand new month.

Tonight, after work, I met the lovely Hannah for supper at Inakaya Watanabe. It's been about a year since we've seen each other face-to-face, and she looked amazing. She'd lost wait and was less stressed and seemed genuinely happy. I'm very happy for her.

I'd never been to Inakya before. The atmosphere was a bit dark for my taste. I had to turn on my phone's flashlight to reach the menu. The food was good and the waitstaff was friendly.

They accidentally brought me the wrong entree, so I got free food. Yay! Didn't do any sake as I was driving home, and sake tends to hit me like a sledgehammer. I did have a glass of white wine.

Hannah and I talked for about two hours. She told me about her new boyfriend, who she's been with for about a year now, and who she's been living with for a few months(!!!). I had no idea. She told me about her business and her plans to diversify her client base.

We talked a bit about Jorg, as he is the reason we know each other, but she's pretty much over him.

When we left the restaurant, we promised we'd get together again without another year passing.

Here's hoping we can do it. :D

I really want to start walking again, but I really hate my nightborhood. It's just nothing but hills and dead ends, with minimal sidewalks. And I don't want to drive anywhere to walk, as I would rather just be able to leave my house and go whenever I feel like it.

*le sigh*

I'm trying to do better. I really am. But sometimes I feel like the universe is sabotaging me.

Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse. :(

I've been doing some writing lately. Nothing particularly deep or profound, but personally enjoyable. And kinda porny, which should not come as a huge surprise to anyone who really knows me.

Now, if I could only use my writing powers for good, not evil. Ha!

In other news, I continue to watch a lot of anime. Currently, I am watching:
Shangri La Frontier, Season One
Our Happy Marriage, Season Two
The Rising of the Shield Hero, Season Two
Ubel Blatt, Season One
I Left My A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths!
Solo Levelling, Season Two: Arise
The Apothecary Diaries, Season Two
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnted!
The Daily Life of a Middle-Aged Online Shopper in Another World
Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time
Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Season Three
Flower and Asura
I'm A Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might As Well Try Mastering Magic!
The Faraway Paladin: The Lord of the Rust Mountains, Season Two.

Yeah, that's a LOT of anime. I have definitely fallen down the isekai hole.

Also, I got a couple of new TTRPG books! Yay!

The Break!!! TTRPG is 400+ pages of goodness. Its inspired by classic video games and anime, and every page in the book has some kind of art on it. Great book. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something tonally different from standard fantasy TTRPGs like D&D or Pathfinder.

Punk is Dead is a new TTRPG from the guys at Mork Borg. It was, I admit, an impulse buy, and I haven't had a chance to really sink my teeth into it, but it's a Mork Borg product so just the internal art was enough to justify the purchase. :)

Finished reading 'Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands' the other day and have a couple of other books waiting in the wings: Liberty by Garrison Keillor and Yarrow by Charles deLint. Looking forward to sinking my teeth into both of them.

I think my laptop of seven years is about to crash on me.

I've got a ton of stuff on this thing that I would like to keep.

I'm gonna have to start saving stuff on my memory stick and go look for a new computer tomorrow I guess. :/

I went and saw 'Love Hurts' in the theater today. It was kind of meh. I like Ke Huy Quan, but I just didn't buy his performance in this movie. Actually, I sort of pulled my phone out multiple times during the movie to check the time, because it sort of dragged.

I have given up on trying to read 'Slewfoot' by Brom. It's just not working for me, so it will be going to the Store tomorrow to be put on the shelves for sale to a new home.

Went by the grocery store after the movie and bought a bunch of fruit: grapes, strawberries, bananas. Came home and had a sun-nut butter sandwich and a banana. I will probably grab some grapes sometime later this evening.

Didn't use any points today. Hurrah!

Points: 98

It's 75 degrees here right now.

Crazy weather.

I'm about to go out into it.

Wish me luck. LOL.

If anyone out there has ever worked retail, I'm sure you've had That Customer who spends a lot of money, but doesn't seem to have a lick of sense. I got one of those today at the Store and was glad to see the back of him. The rest of the day was just kind of 'Meh.'

After work, I went by the grocery store and picked up some staples for the week: bread, mayonaise, pimento cheese spread, chicken salad, sun-nut butter, egg salad and a couple of sausages. I'll supplement them, as need, with fresh fruit and veg over the week. And, technically, I've still got a 'staple spot' open.

Did not spend any points today.

Points: 112