melworks

*sigh*

So, last weekend we got snow. I live in the South and we're not used to snow. Or, at least, my neighbors aren't used to it. After living in Alaska for 16+ years I was more than used to it, I was sick of it.

I still am.

We got about six inches, I think, and the roads turned to sheets of ice. The Store closed on saturday and Sunday, and I was stuck in the house until today. I went to the grocery store and was just glad to get out of the house.

Then, I came home and discovered a post by Neil Gaiman. It's been AGES since he's posted anything, not that I blame him, and this post was to a Substack investigation into the allegations made against him about two years ago. There is a LOT in the substack neilgaimanisinnocent but its worth the read. Gaiman also announced he's working on a new book, which I am totally there for.

Today has been a glorious day.

I slept in until 12:30, then got up and got dressed and went to the grocery store.

Came home and washed sweaters, then had supper and have been rewatching the first season of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. I'd forgotten how crazy the second half of that show gets, during the First Class Magic Examination.

I've got four eps left to go before I finish the first season and then I'll check out the second season, but I really want to wait for the dubbed eps because that's how I watched the first season.

I had a birthday. Yay? I guess. I dunno. I'm 56 now and feeling every bloody year sometimes. LOL.

Didn't do much for the birthday. Just went out and bought some shoes and clothes, treated myself to Chinese takeout and a slice of carrot cake and a bottle of champagne. It was a very chill birthday. The beach trip did not happen, but I can't say I'm too sad about that. I talked myself out of it.

Was surprised when I went into the Store on Saturday and Jorg gave me a little fruit tart he'd bought. "Can you guess why?" he asked, grinning like a Jack-o-Lantern. "Because I'm a little tart?" I asked. He just laughed and nodded, leaving me wondering if he meant in the sense of me being slightly bitter or sexy? Or both? Hmmm. I suppose I'll never know.

Today, the weather has done a 180 degree flip. It was almost 80 degrees yesterday and today we've got a high of 56 degrees. That wouldn't be too bad, but there's a fierce wind blowing as well. I feel sorry for anyone caught out in it for an extended period.

Sadly, when I came into the Store this afternoon, I found a homeless person set up on the side of the building with their life unfolded around them. Had to roust 'em out, as I'm not letting the building become a supposed safe haven for the chronic homeless. I did feel sort of bad for the person, even though they left their stuff here last night and called a cab to take 'em somewhere else. And my question is if you've got the money for a cab and a cellphone, why don't you get a cheapo hotel room for the night?

I don't know. I have no answers, just knee-jerk responses.

Hope y'all are having a good day.

I'm at the Store and some guy asks to look at a figure. I pull it out and show it to him and he pulls out his phone and starts checking prices online, then tries to lowball me saying it's going for $30 on this one website, blah blah blah. I told him I could go down to a certain point and he immediately countered with a diferent that's still lower than I said I could go.

I mean, the guy is just passing through. He's not a regular customer or anything, so why the hell did he think I was going to bend over backwards and let him have a figure for cost?

I hate fucking people like that.

My roommate/landlord, Lance, had four cats when I moved in over a year ago: Nick, Harvey, Clint and Junior.

Sadly, Nick was killed by a band of dogs roving the neighborhood.

Junior, who was an outdoor cat, simply vanished one day. I hope he's still alive somewhere, and happy wherever he is.

After Nick was killed, Lance got a kitten named Roma a.k.a. Devil-Child a.k.a. Little Bit a.k.a. 'You little shit!' She has made life in the house "interesting." Especially for poor Clint, whom she views as her personal toy.

This morning, Lance helped rescue an abandoned cat from a tree. It had been left behind by its owners and got itself stuck. He and a neighborhood lady called the Fire Department to rescue the cat. Once they got it down, they sort of dumped it on Lance.

So, to make a long story short, Lance now has four cats again. Heh.

I haven't met the new one but Lance says he is super chill. Apparently, his previous owners had a ton of dogs and cats. We'll have to see how he gets along with the others.

Oh! And he's not fixed either. Neither is Roma. Anyone wanna bet Lance is gonna be a cat-grandaddy in the future? LOL!

So, I'm writing again which is hella fun.
But I don't really want to discuss details in case I jinx it.
Still, it's so good to be doing this again.
:)

Oh fucking hell.
Six months ago I made a mistake with a credit card payment, which resulted in me having a lot of credit on this one card. At first, I was going to have them reverse the payment, but they wanted me to jump through so many freakin' hoops I just decided to leave it there and just use the credit.
Well, I finally decided to use it tonight to pay for something, and went to my email to get a verification code I'd been sent. And I noticed an email from the credit card company.
They are sending me a check for the credit on that card.
I'm having this Mrs. White moment from 'Clue' where it's like flames, flames on the side of my face....
Morons.
Pheh!

Today, I went and had an eye exam at Lenscrafters in the Mall. I have to get my license renewed this January and suspected I needed glasses, so decided to get in front of it.

I have to say that the eye exam process has changed a LOT since the last time I had one. I was taken into a little room and did the traditional eye test, then sat in front of a machine that did more tests. After that, the optometrist sat me down in front of another machine and asked me to read letters and then choose between the clearer of two versions.

It was very quick. I think all the tests took less than fifteen minutes.

No surprise that I do need glasses for reading. The doctor suggested a pair of reading glasses and a pair of computer glasses, since I spend a lot of time staring at screens.

What did surprise me was the revelation that I have cataracts in both eyes.

I know that cataracts are a common development as people get older. My mom has cataracts. Her friend, Donna, had cataracts and got surgery done to replace the lens.

It never occurred to me that I would have cataracts. The doctor didn't seem too worried about them. He just advised that I wear sunglasses outside and come in for a checkup in a year so that he can check.

Ugh.

So, of course, as soon as I hear I've got cataracts I start worrying about how much the surgery is going to cost me. According to Google, it would probably be between $4000 and $6000 dollars, per eye.

Ugh. Again.

Getting older wouldn't suck so much if it wasn't so expensive or if we had free health care in this country. *sigh*

So, I'm trying not to fall down a worry-hole about the eventual cost of the surgery and everything else it will entail. It is, hopefully, years away.

Maybe by the time I need it, they'll have created some eyedrops or something that can treat it. Solution 29, I'm looking at you!

So, bit drpressed. Bit unhappy. Medicating myself with donut holes and some cherry Pepsi.

At least I got to pick out some cute frames for my glasses.

Followed up with Andy via text but he never got back to me, so I'm just going to assume that everything's okay with his mom, heart-wise. IYKYK.

In other news, August has been deliciously cool and a bit damp so far in my neck of the woods. We've had overcast skies and highs in the low 70s since the beginning of the month. Sadly, I probably won't be able to see the Full Moon tomorrow, but que cera, cera.

Work has been good. The drama between John and Jorg was rectified and now we have Dayne helping out on Saturdays as well. Honestly, we've got so many people on-board right now, just working for credit and stuff, that Jorg's scrambling to find stuff fof them to do.

Finally got the last issue of The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt the other day. The ending was a bit lackluster, to be honest. This month should see the last issue of 'I Was A Fashion School Serial Killer' come out as well. Then I'll have to find something else to add to my subscription.

Been playing around a bit with ChatGPT and Gemini over at talkai.info. Their neutral to upbeat responses are incredibly irritating and many times they fail to give correct answers to questions, but will give you related information which is irrelevant to your question. It is good, however, for generating basic bitch lists. I'll give 'em that.

Still watching a ton of anime. My favorite this season? Season 2 of 'My Dress-Up Darling.' It caught me completely by surprise and I look forward to new episodes every week. :)

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