not a minimalist, aliens among us

Thursday was technically my last day of spring break.  Friday, I worked in testing, which 'never' takes a break. Since I filled in for Test Boss on Monday, I had but 3 fun-filled days of spring break. No girls-gone-wild here, but I enjoyed not having to be anywhere at anytime.

Tuesday, I hauled a donation to the thrift store - always a fun time. I browsed the bargains for a while. A few months ago, I was in there on another Tuesday and learned that Tuesdays are Senior Discount day. Then I was smacked in the face with the realization that I'm eligible for the Senior Discount. Egads, when did that happen?!

While I love a good declutter, I've slowly come to the realization that I actually no longer identify as a "minimalist". A while ago, I perused some discussion boards around "minimalism" and "simple living". I sensed a common theme among many participants. 

It wasn't just that they didn't have much "stuff", but they also steered clear of obligations, responsibilities, employment, relationships...

And I thought, well, that's not me.

Recently, I was at the joyful Happy Whisk blog, where she was enjoying a good declutter. I asked her how her hobbies, of which she has many, meshed with her minimalism. She affirmed that she was not a minimalist, but rather

 "I make room for what I love to do".

Marvelous! So THAT'S what I'm doing when I declutter! Hadn't really put it in those words, though.

In work updates, we have a new coworker. "Daffodil" started in late January. She's fitting in nicely, and I enjoy working with her. Other than Boss and Blossom, we are all part-timers. Since I just work one shift a week now, I've not had much time to get to know Daffodil, but I worked with her both Monday and Friday this past week, plus we were a little less busy than usual since the students weren't around.

She is in her late 20's, moved here recently with her boyfriend, and no kids. I'm not sure why she wanted a part-time job, but maybe just took what was available from jobs that interested her. Yesterday, she wore a skirt, and I noticed a tattoo peaking out between the top of her sock and the hem of her skirt, so I asked her about her tattoos. 

She showed us the one I'd seen peeking out - a roses-and-dagger design - and one higher up on her thigh. The one on her thigh is a triangle, similar to [The Eye of Providence], but not exactly. She explained that she and her best friend got that tattoo together based on their interests in "alien conspiracy theories". 

Well all righty then. I'm honestly curious to hear more from her thoughts on that 👽

that's cool

I worked this morning at the testing center. Pretty uneventful day, and I'm not complaining. 

Then I bicycled home. It was a hot one, but nothing unbearable. In "new stuff" news, we bought a second portable AC unit. Our house doesn't have central air, and we've just suffered through it until now. A couple of years ago, we got a unit for the bedroom, which is on the second floor, while the rest of the house melted.

Our house has a pretty open floorplan, so we hooked up the new unit on the main floor and Aaah, shoulda done it sooner!

It's the type of unit that has an exhaust hose that blows out the window, so I did a bit of rearranging to the front room to accommodate it. I rather like the new layout, it's good to switch things up once in a while.

We had this old evaporative cooler. We bought it when Meego was about a month old and we lived in hot, dry Utah. It worked great in Utah, then it worked okay in Colo. Springs. Now in Fort Collins, where it's a bit more humid, it worked so-so. After getting the new PinguinoⓇ, I so-so-sold the old cooler.

Marketplace is one of the main reasons I still have a f4cebook account. I listed the cooler, not caring about the money. But I've heard that if you list things for free on Marketplace, all kinda weirdos respond. So I listed it for cheap and got just a good handful of weirdos.

Glammin' it up for Marketplace

I arranged to meet the buyer at the nearby HS parking lot, and when he showed up, I learned he didn't speak a lick of English. He also wanted to pay with the Zelle app which I don't have, and he had no cash. 

We conversed over google translate:

"Puedes tener el enfriador gratis" (You can just have the cooler for free)

He was gracious and a little apologetic, but I figured I

1. didn't want the money, just wanted to be rid of the old cooler
2. didn't care to fart around uploading yet another questionable app
3. was the one who didn't clarify cash or venmo only
4. saw he was driving a POS Prius and could probably use a free 25-year-old cooler

I tried to communicate how to fill it with water ("AGUA  EN  AQUI" plus flagrant gesticulating) and preferrably place it in front of an open window. Welp, his now.

In other comforts, I was at work yesterday with Blossom and Kitty. A woman stopped by and said there was a going-away luncheon for one of the advisors with much leftover cake at the conference room around the corner.

Not ones to ever turn down cake be party poopers, we partook.

There were two sheet cakes, one of them had the message "Best Wishes in your New Adventures"

My portion puts the "ew" in New.

Trash

 A good declutter, how I love thee.

One of this week's highlights: we went to the dump. We had a few items that we'd gathered over the years that needed the heave-ho. They weren't useful to donate and were too big for the weekly trash bin. It was time.

The last time we'd been to the dump was probably about 5 years ago after we'd lived here for a few months. Back then, the fee was 9 or 10 dollars. The current fee is $35, so the price has increased, but it's still bargained-priced therapy if you ask me!

We backed the truck up to the designated spot and tossed that garbage with reckless abandon. Afterwards, I felt like Nicole Kidman in that famously supposed "divorce photo" after her divorce from Tom Cruise.

On a side note, I learned that Ex Mrs. Tom Cruise denies the photo is her celebrating the divorce, but I didn't care enough to dig further. 

Speaking of Nicole Kidman, we've been watching the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. Anyone else? 

I gotta say, it's not doing much for me. We watched the first season, which was okay, but pretty forgetable - as I realized I'd mostly forgotten it. But so far, I'm finding the second season almost embarrassingly bad. A f&cebook friend says it gets better after episode 4. Well, we watched episode 5 last night, and it's still not doing much for me.

Heading into the week ahead, there are only 3 weeks remaining for summer classes. It's a densely packed timeline, and the tutees are feeling it. Hopefully, they'll all be celebrating like Nicole soon.

checkup and chopping

Last week, I was feeling rather without purpose after the abrupt end of the semester. Now, one week later, I'm all, "I could get used to this!"

I do still have a couple of shifts per week in the testing center, so I'm not a total slug.

I've checked off many of the things I had back-burnered until this point. For one, I had my annual eye exam last week. Eyes haven't changed all that much, so no need for new glasses.

Eye doctor did confirm that cataracts are still stalking me. "You've got a few years", she says. I recall when she first told me I had signs of cataracts forming, and I was thinking, "B-b-but cataracts are for old people". Oh... yeah.

Meego and I went for a nice hike over the weekend. Wolfgang is out of town and Magnum had a case of what I deemed the "Oompah Loompah Virus" because, whatever it was, it made his voice all gravelly. Maybe the latest iteration of covid? So anyway, Meego and I had an enjoyable time - sort of a Meego's birthday/ Mother's day thing. 

And I've checked off two tasks from my list this week. (1) give my mountain bike some TLC and a good cleaning - not because it's dirty from riding, but because it's dirty from sitting around doing nothing - and (2) chop up an old crappy mattress. Ugh, that was a task.

We have a futon in the living room, which naturally has a futon mattress. When the old one wore out, I bought the crappy one off amazon. It was NOT as advertised and was this big thick lumpy thing that didn't work well with a futon frame. 

After dealing with it for a few months, I gave up and ordered a more suitable replacement. Meanwhile, I'd chucked the lumpy thing out to our back porch, a.k.a "catio". 

Well, the cat loved it. This full sized big cushy lump. I finally got around to unstuffing it and bagging the remains. Really, I hate sending it to the landfill, but it was truly unfit for human consumption.

As expected, the cat was a bit miffed and went all Karen on me upon inspection of the now spacious floor, insisting on speaking with the manager.

I suppose we'll get some peace offering for him, but good riddance to that lumpy POS mattress.

And I did finish "reading" an audio book while butchering the mattress. The book was Small Game. Coworker Kitty was reading it for her book club, and it sounded interesting.

It was okay. I'll give it 3.5 stars out of 5. It made the tedious mattress work go faster. Audiobooks are handy for such things.

Makes me wonder. Will there come a time where people no longer read? It seems to have already begun.

warning: dad jokes

 Knock Knock

*who's there?*

Oswald

*Oswald who?"

Oswald some bugs

Another delightful late summer bicycle ride this morning. Rather buggy along the waterways. I helped decrease the bug population, however. I find it difficult to bicycle with my mouth closed.

I did do a bit of decluttering this weekend. Nothing major. At this stage I'm more of a *kaizen* mindset (small, continuous improvement) rather than epic makeover needed. I do have a tote of items to donate that I may run out to the thrift store later today because I don't feel finished until stuff's out of the house.

On my last post, [Liz] asked, "What does 'Chatgpt did me a solid' mean?", when I blogged about my new sparkly shoes. I had turned to Chatgpt AI to give me suggestions for new running shoes. Usually, I hunt around the internet, reading or watching a bunch of Youtube reviews, to help me make an informed choice.

But I've used Chatgpt for a few queries lately, so I got lazy and thought I'd give it a try with the shoe hunt. I put in my preferences, and *BOOM* had a list of 7 or so potential candidates in about one second. I chose the top recommendation, googled a couple of reviews, bought them, and they're great. "did me a solid", I understand from today's youth means "was helpful".

That's not to say that it's always correct. I've played around with it with math problems and have caught mistakes. This from a recent "conversation"

Me: what is [math question]

Chatgpt:  *blah*blah*blah*blah*blah... the answer to [math question]  is [wrong answer]

Me: step 3 is incorrect

Chatgpt: Let's correct step 3 and accurately simplify the expression...  the answer to [math question]  is [correct answer]

I tried to get Chatgpt to tell me why it "lied" with the first attempt, but it just mumbo jumboed, stating how mistakes are generally made when solving math problems. What I should've asked was "Why was Chatgpt wrong?"

Next time.

Plus, he/she/they is just so friendly to talk to. Anyone else tried? For example, I told it my bug swallowing joke just now for an experiment:

So... did Chatgpt get the joke? I mean, they laughed, right? But then... did I squash them? Well, I swallowed them. Am I overthinking it? Maybe I should ask Chatgpt...

Then again...

 Knock Knock

*who's there?*

Axolotl

*Axolotl who?*

you Axolotl questions

become young

Another nice week down. This was a nice one because it was relatively uncluttered, and we know I don't like clutter.

• I had the usual shifts at the testing center, but no tutoring as the semester officially ended on Monday. Then Thursday was a short day because we closed early for commencement. No political upheavals to affect the ceremonies. 

The only "unrest" I've been aware of at our campus was when the Student Life department installed menstrual product dispensers in all the bathrooms, including the men's rooms. Apparently some of the fellas either were offended or thought the products were funny, so engaged in some sort of retalitory vandalism. 

• Chaco called us Friday night to have us go out and look for the Northern Lights.  It was cloudy where he was, but we had clear skies. The lights were apparently visible here, but too much light pollution to see anything from our neighborhood. 

Magnum took a photo with his phone, which can apparently see better than we can, and this is the best we got from our neighborhood.

I'll have to take the word of the locals who trekked out to the boonies

• These last few weeks seemed to be cluttered with various appointments - my physical therapy sessions as well as getting all the pets examined and vaccinated. I've managed to wrap all those up for the time being. I also had my annual blood screen this week, and am glad to report that everything came back green for go. 

• I'm glad I did the physical therapy bit. I received good care and information and am running again and doing better. It really is all connected like that song we learned when were were kids... "foot bone's connected to the leg bone, leg bone's connected to the..." Throw in muscles, ligaments, tendons, and it's a busy place!

• On that note, I'm sort of thinking about taking EMT classes at the college. I have no desire to be gainfully employed as an EMT or paramedic, but it seems like it would be good knowledge to have. I know of others who have done so, or who have completed a CNA course to care for a family member.  I'll check for "employee discounts" if any and consider the time commitment.  Now that we're fully staffed again, maybe I can fit the classes in.

I thought I would get in some sketchbook action this week with the extra time available, but that time got filled up with more responsible things. 

"It took my whole life to learn to draw like a child"
                                                    ~ Picasso

I'm working on it, Pablo.

the heat

I'm off of work and scheduled a furnace tune for today. It's supposed to happen "sometime between 8am and noon". It is now a little after 9am. So I wait. I guess I'll do this little mid-week debrief exercise:

1. Name one new thing you learned this week

I learned that dogs should NOT eat grapes/ grape products. Who knew??

Someone on NextDoor posted that her dog ate a grape. She was quite worried, wondering what to do on the weekend since her vet office was closed. And I was all, "Dog ate one grape? What's the fuss?"  Well, now I know!

2. Acknowledge someone for a job well done.

I'll give a shout out to Work Study - our student employee at work. She's a military veteran who now gets paid by the VA to go to school. She admittedly is not passionate about being a student, but realizes it's probably the right thing to do, plus it pays the rent. 

In the meantime, she's trying to figure out what to be when she "grows up" while taking general classes. She comes in to work a few hours each week and is a total people-person - has a way of engaging people in conversation and taking their minds off of the stressful testing environment.

3. Describe a good idea you heard.

I didn't actually "hear" this idea, it's something that I discovered while decluttering. So maybe I heard it from some decluttering angel? 

Anyway, here's my tip: I used to keep shoes I didn't wear regularly in their respective boxes in my closet. Dress shoes, winter boots, summer sandals, etc. I decided to get a small shoe shelf and chuck the boxes. In so doing, I unboxed shoes I realized I didn't want anymore. Keeping them in boxes was outta sight, outta mind, and I'd forget I had them. 

Once I shelved them, I saw I had redundant / unwanted shoes that went into the donation box instead. I mean, now many pairs of black business casual shoes or casual canvas sneakers does one need?! 

4. Describe a feeling you experienced.

Sarge told us a story about a time earlier in his life when he briefly worked as a repo man for a rental center. The worst repo he ever did:

They were sent to a home to repossess a large entertainment center, complete with big screen TV and gaming console. When they got there, young kids were sitting there, holding their game controllers and crying. It was right after Christmas.

The mom made a dramatic scene in front of the kids about how she hadn't received her child support check that month, so all that new stuff from Christmas had to go. Sarge said it was almost as if she'd planned the whole thing - buy all that stuff on credit only to have it repoed in order to make the dad out to be the Grinch. 

I doubt the dad was innocent in the whole thing, but Sarge's story just gave us so many feels, and not the good kind. Disgust, anger, sadness, blech. Some people.

5. Describe something that pushed you outisde your comfort zone.

I've not done anything particularly "uncomfortable" lately. After covid precautions lifted enough, I transferred to a local [P.E.O.] chapter, and shortly after that, they asked if I would serve as chapter president when this next year rolls around. I said, "uh, okay?". The P.E.O. year ends/ starts in March, which is coming up. My turn at prez is right around the corner. Uh, okay?

6. How will you apply what you've learned?

Be careful with the grape-dog combo!

places to go, people to see

Work was closed yesterday because of the weather. There were no classes scheduled because of the holiday, but "other stuff", including us, had to shut down.  I snagged this pic of my neighbor clearing snow with his leaf blower as seen through our frosty front window.

The sub-zero temperatures make for very fine, very powdery snow, so a leaf blower works quite well as a snow blower. I went out a little while later and cleared our snow the old fashioned way - shovel.

Today, the college is on a delayed start, so I have an extra hour this morning before heading in. The university and school district are both fully closed for the day. So much for peer pressure. 

I got the automated call last evening about the delayed start, the robotic voice stating,

All campuses will be on a delayed start for Tuesday 1/16/1924...

and I'm thinking what the heck kinda automated messaging service are we using that, 24 years into it, doesn't realize we're in the 2000's now?!

I think I was pretty productive despite all the cabin fever. After my big winter break declutter, I got going on a digital declutter - cleaning up and organizing files and getting rid of old crap. It was, strangely, nearly as cleansing as clearing the physical stuff.

My laptop's telling me that it's -14F and partly sunny. I'll leave the house in about an hour and the outlook then is for -3F. But by the time I get off work, we will hopefully be in the mid-20s. Above zero!

That sounds downright balmy!

Let you go

I've taken today and yesterday off of work since I'm still dealing with this dang cold. I feel okay, actually. I'm sure I could perform my "job duties as assigned" just fine, but I'm still a bit congested and scratchy and don't want to sicken my coworkers. Our work setting is an open "corral", so not much for social distancing. I explained to Boss that I wasn't quite fit for humanity just yet.

As such, I've been feeling a bit restless while holed up at home. But The Great Declutter of 2024 has been going quite well.

On Monday, I tried to drop a couple of bags of donations at ARC,  but they had stopped taking donations by the time I got there. Fine, I drove over to Goodwill, which turned out to be closed for New Year's Day.  So I came back home and scheduled a pickupplease.org truck. They're coming next Wednesday.

In the meantime, I've been working on filling up more stuff for the truck. I think I've gathered about all I care to donate right now, and the rest of the crap is going in the trash, unworthy.

I'd thought myself a minimalist, but still had much to answer for. For example:

• Handfuls of panty hose?? I rarely wear panty hose. Much of it must have been from my corporate working girl days 27+ freaking years ago. I've been schlepping that along each time we've moved?
• Extension cords. So. Many. Extension cords.
• Cinch sacks - from employee orientations and road race paraphernalia, cinch sacks are/were the handout of choice for so many. Be gone!

I also happily sold a couple of items through Marketplace: a fully waterproof backpack we hardly ever used and a double-wide computer monitor I haven't used since downsizing to just a laptop. Both items sold quickly and went to, I believe, good homes. 

• I met with a young "dude"  at a pizza place downtown to exchange the backpack. He plans to use it for rafting - perfect.
• A young dad met me in a nearby parking lot for the monitor. He said he has the same model already, so now he'll have double-double! 

Everybody's happy.

Lastly, I've been chipping away at this 1000-piece puzzle from step-MIL that we started on Christmas. Claude Monet. 

So much sky. So much water. So many pieces look alike. I hate/must finish it!  

Damn you, Monet!

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up with [John] for Mama Kat this week for the prompt:

1. Share something that you worked on this week.

lingering boss, veep, and fresh starts

Is this the day where we all b*tch about the time change?

I, for one, didn't realize it was spring forward weekend until Magnum mentioned it last night at bedtime. Welp, too late to plan accordingly at that point. Here we are in MDT.

Another good week in the books. Spring break for the college is this coming week, and it's been a  bit busier than usual. I'm looking forward to a more mellow week ahead? Hopefully? 

Boss told us that his move-out date has been moved to summer semester, so June. Ha! At this point, I'll believe it when I see it and am not holding my breath. I have heard through the grapevine that someone or two at another campus aren't happy with Boss's new position and don't particularly like some of the changes he wants to make. I say, "Just wait 'til they have to spend a whole shift with him!"

But that's the way it is. Not surprisingly, Boss was the only one who applied for the position.

Speaking of bossing, I was installed as VP of my P.E.O. chapter this week. As I stood up there saying my "I will", "I do", etc. I was thinking how I am still struggling to learn names of most of the members of this new chapter.  But they asked, so I said, "uhm, okay?"

I have a year as veep, so guess I'd better start learning some names and stuff. I figure this will be good for me to feel more committed after covid lockdowns took a lot of the fun out of P.E.O., and it took more of a back burner for me. 

Speaking of fresh starts, I have a tutor student who was struggling with an annoying cold/flu virus for a couple of weeks. He texted me on one of the days we were scheduled to meet:

"I'm at urgent care, and I doubt I will make it..."

And I was all, "WHAAAAT?!"

"...in time for tutoring", he continued.

Oh sheesh.

So we rescheduled once "the antibiotics kicked in!". He showed up, still a bit sniffly, but in a fresh new collegiate t-shirt and stylish haircut. Said, after the virus kicked his ass for two weeks, he was ready for a fresh start after feeling a bit better from the meds.

I thought, good idea. Periodic fresh starts are good things. So this week, I purged a few things from my closet, retired a pair of running shoes well past their prime, organized some computer files, and made an appointment at the hair salon 'cause I'm due. *satisfying exhale*. No annoying virus necessary.

Today, I'm on dog duty as Chaco dropped of his pooch, Ella, and he and Magnum went out to do some guy things. I might take the dogs for walks, I might not.
Schrödinger's dogs.

iced, joyous, brokenhearted

It's a thankfully clear sunshiney morning as I sit for this weekly wrap-up post. There is a lot of snow and ice hanging around from this week's storm. We rely a lot on the sun for taking care of these things, and the sun's been slacking.

My less than 2-mile walk to work on Thursday was like crossing Donner Pass in parts, but I will give a shoutout to the parks department for promptly and thoroughly clearing the bike paths. Getting to and from the bike paths is another story. Good thing for spikey shoes. 

Speaking of clearing, I've started reading Marie Kondo's second book, Spark Joy. The "master class" follow up to her first book on tidying. 

The first book helps readers get rid of clutter, this book aims to help organize the remains. I think I have more clutter to get rid of first. It's not as joyous around here as it could be.

And speaking of clutter, things are still being sorted at work regarding much restructuring. Duties will likely shift a bit in my department once Boss fully moves into his new position, but no one knows when that will be and what precise shifting is to happen.

In the meantime, I've been training a new coworker whom I will call Gomer (he's an ex-Marine). Nice guy, catches on fast. He's confided in me on a couple of things regarding Boss, wondering if it's only happening to him, Gomer. 

"No", I assured him. "He does those things to all of us, and we are all annoyed by them" - mainly Boss's penchant for talking too much about himself and butting into business where he doesn't know the full story. It's embarrassing really. He's fine if he stays in the office doing Boss things, but whenever he comes out to deal with a customer or student, we all brace for the uncomfortable impact. Can't wait for him to move to his new location.

And speaking of annoyances, I was out enjoying a lovely run this morning. I'm thankful to still enjoy running at my age. No complaints from the various joints. But honestly, I've been sucking wind a bit ever since I had covid last June/July. 

Nothing terrible, and maybe "sucking wind" is a bit harsh, but I'm a little off and just don't have the same pace and stamina of pre-covid me. 

I've visited some discussion threads on the topic, and it seems recovery time for sucking wind is all over the place. So... patience.

As long as I can still beat the mayor.

day one, digout, and dishes

 

Looks like we've made it to the first of January. Congratulations, everyone.

The revelry at our house was pretty non-existent. We were up at midnight, having watched a weird movie. So I was up and not awakened by fireworks, brushing my teeth at the magic hour.

The movie we were watching was Sorry to Bother You, and it was strange. Had its moments, but then went totally off the rails for about the last third. Can't recommend it. Seems to me it was someone's drug trip/ dream turned into a movie.

We took Chaco back to his house on Friday, our dogs moping around because they miss him and Ella. He lives at what is typically a little over an hour's drive away in Westminster. Dang, they got about a foot of snow there last week from the storm that dropped around 4 inches here. 

Chaco's still in the sling and doing very light PT for another couple of weeks before the bigger PT kicks in. This to say that Magnum and I had some snow shoveling to do at Chaco's.

Otherwise, it's been a nice week of being off of work. I readied some items for donation and scheduled a pickup. Good to start off the new year with a little purge of the old.

We're scheduled to receive our 2nd new dishwasher this week. The first crapped out after a couple of weeks - got stuck in an error mode and couldn't be brought back to life, even after all the troubleshooting. We've been washing dishes by hand for a while now, and it's not all bad.

But in honor of Josephine Cochran, I will accept the new dishwasher - different brand than the first dud - with fingers crossed.

You go, Jo!

escapism

When we were in Steamboat Springs, I realized I'd forgotten my Kindle. I've been meaning to read more, and I love how I can carry "shelves" of books on one small device. But there I was... bookless. 

I do have the Libby app, which I'd forgotten about 🙄. I don't like reading books on my phone, but it would've done in a pinch. And as I mentioned earlier, I chucked instagram from my phone - so nice to not have that time waster anymore!

While we were browsing Steamboat's downtown, we came across a local bookstore selling used and new.  Nothing really spoke to me, though, so I remained bookless. The things we take for granted.

So this week, I was glad to get back to my reading. I finished Stoner, which is actually not about a pothead. Honestly, if it was about a pothead, I might have found it more engrossing?

It's a story of a young farm boy who goes off to college to learn about farming, but ends up loving and making a career as an English Lit professor instead. Written in 1965, it spans his life from around 1900 to the 1950s.

It's touted as a "classic", but I don't think I'm the right reader for this one. I gave it three stars out of five⭐⭐⭐✖✖  mainly because I appreciated the introspection, and it felt wrong to be any harsher on a "classic".

But at the same time, geesh, the man was SO passive, and it's really a 2 or 2.5 for me. This cover illustration really gets the mood of the whole book. 

"Oh, there's a war? Welp, I'm just gonna go to classes. My wife's a basket case? I'll just hang out at my office.  ho hum...

I found the story, the narration, and certainly Stoner himself to be so very flat and passive. At about the halfway point, he seems to rise up a bit, but then quickly returns to his rather lifeless life. Again, I think I just wasn't the right reader for this book. I mean, so much seemed to be about him being an English professor. I get it... he's an English professor. 

While I didn't purchase anything from that little bookstore, I perused one from a prominent shelf display and thought it might be worthwhile. 

With Teeth is about a woman struggling with her son and his issues - whatever those might be - from his toddler days into the teen years. I downloaded a sample to my kindle, and I couldn't even get through that. I can't properly review a sample, but it was just really bad IMO.

From the few pages I was able to get through, it seems to be about a woman who neither wants to be a mother nor has any business being responsible for the upbringing of a child.  Then she whines about it. A lot.

Funny thing, I read some reviews - they ranged from awful to great - and many said similar things 

"She's an awful mother, not one likeable character - five stars!"

To each their own.

I also checked out a copy of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. I've been doing a lot of decluttering and organizing lately, so thought I'd see if this book had much to offer.

It's a cute book and probably insightful for those who live among lots of clutter, but didn't have much to offer otherwise. Basics: get your crap pared down and in order so someone doesn't have to do it for you later. Certainly a good message... thinking of my oldest brother having to go through my parents' house.

Lastly, in other fictional escapism, we've been watching Outsiders on Hulu. It's about an Appalachian Mountain clan in Kentucky having it out with a coal company that wants to kick them off and mine their mountain down to nuthin'. 

There's only two seasons, and we're about at the last episode. I think it's well cast and well written. I'll miss these hillbillies when it's over.

wannabe nobody with my thoughts in my room

My office/ studio/ space is the smallest room in the house - not counting the bathrooms.  I liken it to Harry Potter's bedroom under the stairs

but it's really not that small.  I don't have exact measurements, but I'm sitting in it now, and I'd guesstimate it to be about 10 feet by 8 feet.  And there's a nice big window looking into our back yard. 

It was feeling cramped and cluttered, so this week, I've been giving it the Marie Kondo treatment. It's not quite to my liking just yet - mainly because I'm sitting here typing about it instead of finishing off the decluttering and organizing - but it's got potential.

Happy first day of May.  I guess I have a "spring cleaning" bug.  I've already done smaller Kondo-izing with some kitchen cabinets and my clothes closet.  

In other organizing news, I had my annual blood screening this week.  Results came back all green, no yellows or reds, so we're keeping that drive alive.  Prior to my appointment, the website and confirmation emails stressed their mask requirement.

I arrived on time, properly masked (almost forgot) only to find none of the employees were masked.  Okay.  Similar thing happened a couple of times I rode the university transit buses recently.  Masks are still "required", but hardly a mask in sight - even on the drivers.  I wonder what airplanes are like?

Personally, I don't feel a need for a mask as long as I feel fine and carry little likelihood of spreading anything.  I only wear one when required... but find myself the odd one out in those situations.  I guess I'm not the rebel I thought I was.

We'll probably go out for a coffee walk soon.  I'll make sure to jaywalk at some point.

party and spice

My work friend - the one who gives me her too-small clothes?  Firstly, I'll give her a blog name.  She shall be known as Partygirl.

Partygirl actually gave herself that nickname one day when she selected nicknames for everyone at the workplace. I will note that, since that day, the nicknames rarely surface if at all.  Probably the most used is Boss "Grumpy Bear" because it suits him.  My bestowed nickname, by the way, is "Sporty Spice". 

Anyhoo, the workload had been relatively light at the beginning of this month before students returned to campus.  One day, Partygirl mentioned finding an email from an old boyfriend and subsequently catching up with him (Partygirl is married, no hanky-panky related to old boyfriend email), and I asked how old the found email was.

"From the beginning of time?", she guessed.

I didn't understand, and so she explained that she's been going through her personal email and cleaning out her inbox.  At that point she was down to about 5,000 items as she showed me her brimming inbox.

"WHAAAAAT?"

Yeah, she'd started with around 15,000 items,  so had made quite a dent.

Okay, I know plenty of people don't clean out their email inboxes.  I am not one of those people.  I strive to have my inboxes (I've more than one email, do you?) empty - the only things in there at any given time are items I need to either act on or delete.  I have a few folders for storing things I need to keep, but the inbox itself is typically clear.

My phone offers some sort of graphic when the gmail inbox is empty.  This is what it looks like now - a red flag raised above some cubbies?  

Note:  I took the screenshot, emailed it to myself to load into this blog post, then promptly deleted it from the inbox...

So I asked coworker Bu-chan (Japanophile) the state of his inbox.  Turns out he was also a non-deleter.  Thankfully, we do have a shared email for the office that is routinely sorted and cleared out.  *Whew*.

So I pondered.  Why do I empty my inbox?  Well, it's the same reason I organize my desk or my kitchen or my underwear drawer, right?  It makes things I need to find so much easier to find.  It's Marie Kondo for email.  Plus, I'm a clutterphobe since before Marie Kondo.  Electronic clutter is still clutter.  It's not OCD... It's not OCD... It's not OCD...

I've mentioned here that we've begun asking non-student customers of the testing center for proof of COVID vax or recent negative test.  The bouncing has been going quite smoothly - save for one suspected "'roid rager", but that's another story...  The process often goes something like this.

Me:  May I see your COVID vaccination card or negative test result?

Them:  Yep, I'll just pull it up on my phone

*proceeds to spend what feels like an hour swiping, typing, swiping, typing, swiping, typing, digging through their email or gallery to get the damn image up on the phone*

Me:  *inaudible*  omigod.

So I'm curious. 

Keeper or Deleter?

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: curious

mix tape

Hey, it's been a week!  Time for some reflection?

Firstly, I can say that I have had no more hives show up since last week's visit.  Maybe it was booster vax, maybe it was something else entirely.  Whatever, they haven't returned.

Speaking of returning, students started classes last week at the college where I work. Proof of full COVID vaccination or agreement to do weekly testing is required for on-campus classes and events this semester, thus making my job feel even more bouncer-like than before.

Most are easily compliant as they've had plenty of warning. A couple of non-student testers did refer to us as "communists", however.  We're thinking of designing a flag for ourselves.

We had us an ice storm here on Wednesday.  Strange thing for Colorado, and things were quite the mess for the day.  As I slip-slided my way across campus, a guy walked by wearing a pair of spikes over his shoes, and I was all,

"Damn, I have two pairs of those things.  Lotta good they're doing me inside the closet at home".  

Maybe the ice storm was to remind me of things forgotten over the summer?

And so far, the only bug I've caught is the tidying bug.  Ever notice how organizing and rearranging  often prompts the need for more organizing and rearranging?  I became frustrated that all our tools and such seemed to be distributed in about 4 or 5 different places, so we bought a tool chest to complement our little tool box and set to consolidating.  Ah, so much better.

I discovered that we have absolutely no shortage of tape.  Scotch tape, duct tape, electrical tape, plumbers tape, packing tape... Multiple rolls.  All now occupies an entire drawer.  Anyone need some tape?

That's my January so far:  messy weather, slow days at the bouncer station, a tidy house.  woohoo.

we could spend some conversations

I've been in a tidying mood for some reason. Finally started dealing with a bit of clutter in a clutter magnet corner.   When we moved into this house, it was to be only a temporary stay, but we ended up buying the place.

We were looking for a house, the landlord wanted to sell, the stars aligned.  The place needed and still needs some TLC after having been a rental for several years.  We've made baby steps - literally starting with new interior stairs, and then adding a new exterior paint job. Windows are half paid for and supposedly going to happen in January.

 On Friday, we got a new garage door opener as the other decrepit one finally gave up the ghost.  Such joy from a new garage door opener.  Now, about these appliances...

All that tidying and home improvement aside, I am looking forward to the upcoming winter break.  This is the last week at work, and we are closing early on Thursday.  Last Friday, my four coworkers and I managed a quick white elephant gift swap during a short lull in business.  I ended up with a dartboard?  I'm tempted to leave it at work so we can use it there to vent our frustrations.

So I'll have a little over a week off.  Last year, when I was working at the nursing home, there's  no break in the action.  Many residents didn't know one year from the next, let alone holidays.  I miss some of them and some of my coworkers there, but I don't miss the 24/7/365 of the place.

No major plans for the time off other than  to get together with our grown kids on Christmas day.  

I'm sure we'll think of something, but I'm looking forward to some lazy days and days lost to the sketchbook.

Did this sketch yesterday thinking about the upcoming downtime.  It's generally agreed that, when drawing people, the most difficult parts are feet, face, and hands.

See what I did there?  Strategic avoidance.

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Linking up (late) with Mama Kat for the prompt:

1. Tell us about something you are looking forward to.

chase the cares away?

I came across this article a few days ago with tips for quickly increasing happiness, particularly in the middle of a pandemic.  Oddly specific, yes, but certainly relevant these days.

In summary, the recommended five quickie activities are:

• Organize your errands (having a plan reduces stress)
• Message someone important (today's "socializing")
• Check your vacation day balance (visualize good times)
• Watch relaxing nature videos (increase in amusement and curiosity)
• Write a journal entry (gain control of your emotions)

Okay, nothing earth shattering.  

I'm pondering how much of this stuff I already do.  For instance, yesterday, I organized my errands, sort of.  I was a bit bored and decided to clean my office. Woopy doo.  But, in doing so, I decided to post my old vacuum cleaner for sale.  The vacuum cleaner had a new owner, and I had some fun money within an hour.  Win!

Message someone important?  Hmmm, well I read some blogs and commented.  Does that count?  I say, "yes", because blog friends are certainly important!  Win!

Check my vacation day balance?  I haven't specifically checked my available paid time off, but I have been pondering a little COVID-safe getaway to Arizona.  I've never been to Arizona, but it sounds so warm right now.

Watch relaxing nature videos?  Well, I do take video-watching breaks, but not necessarily relaxing nature videos.  I actually like to watch action-y videos in natural settings like skiing or snowboarding videos, mountain biking and other extreme things I don't do well.  While not necessarily relaxing, they do increase my amusement and curiosity ala, "how do you even do that?!" and/or "how many bones did THAT break?!"

Lastly, writing a journal entry.  Well... yah.  This counts, right? Win!

SOURCE

Additionally, I did another of those Tortoise and Hare races on Sunday.  This  month's was a 5-miler.  While it was a bit chilly and windy, conditions were much better than last month's slip 'n' slide.

In perusing the event photo gallery and "finding myself" in one photo, I found it ironic that I look so alone. The main reason I do these things is to get out with the other runners while managing the virus spread.  

Photographer dude musta had a zoom lens.  I swear, there were other runners.

I managed to pass more tortoises than hares passed me, thus adding a little to my point count.  All in all a fun time.

I'm thankful these little races are a thing, in this time of so many canceled things.

What are you doing to get/stay happy?  (PG-13 version)

 

do you do it?

One day a few years ago, I was sitting at my computer, checking things off in a paper register.  Wolfgang asked me what I was doing.

"I'm balancing the checkbook", obviously.

"Whaaaat?", he looked at me like I was creating hieroglyphics.  

Yes, he was aware of what "balancing the checkbook" meant, he just never saw a reason to do it.  It was something only old people do.

So I was all, "how do you know how much is available in your account??"

And he was all, "I just check my balance in the app!"

And I was all, "What about stuff that hasn't cleared??"

He wasn't concerned.  I think at the time, he was finishing up college and living in our house, so no real bills to check off.

I never write checks anymore, but there are automatic recurring payments, direct deposits, venmo transactions, occasional debit card activities... I wanna know where we're at and make sure I'm not forgetting an impending payment.  Plus I like knowing what each transaction was about - something the bank app doesn't always clearly describe. Has it become an obsolete activity?

I'm thinking about this because I was "reconciling the checking account" (maybe I should say that instead of "balancing the checkbook") this morning and found it's about time for a new register for penciling in the entries.  Maybe that's the real thing Wolfgang was poking fun at - keeping a pencil-paper record.  

Do you do it?

I do have a spreadsheet I update, but I like to be able to just open a physical register and see what's what.  Since I'm about to run out, I went to amazon to order more.  Out of curiosity, I read a few of the reviews because what's to review about a checkbook register?

One reviewer stated that he has registers he's kept for the past 30 years.  He likes to go back and see what he was spending/receiving, "like reading old journals".

OMG, now THAT seems like an old person thing to do.  Or maybe I just equate "keeping stuff" with "old people" because my parents had a hard time throwing anything away, and I've gone totally to the other side by being a clutterphobe.  

Nope, once I fill 'em up and everything's cleared, they're gone.  So there's that.  

Do you keep a physical checking account register?  Do you regularly reconcile it?  If so, how long do you hold onto the old ones?

Old people want to know.

comfy?

I'm realizing that I'm quite comfortable with change, actually often crave it.  Moving has been a nice experience in that regard.  I'm liking the smaller house in the smaller city and exploring new places, and it's good to get out of old ruts and see things with fresh eyes.

It's got me considering some things that make me uncomfortable, though.  In  no particular order...

Loud people
I had to go to a UPS store to return our old internet modem/ router.  One of the customer service people was so LOUD.  He was a young guy - early 20s I'd say - and just filled the whole place with his loudness.  Why?  I don't know.  He was friendly and competent, but my god.  On a similar note,

Long Stories
Don't get me wrong, I love to read anecdotes - on blogs or memoirs or wherever.  Listening to them, though?  Not so much.  You ever have someone just go on and on with some narrative, including irrelevant details,  without coming up for air?  I even get uncomfortable when I see someone else being subjected to another just droning on.   Also similarly,

Giving lots of details
I guess since I don't like listening to people's long drawn out tales, I'm typically very succinct when speaking.  I wonder if it's typical of people who blog to not be overly chatty?   A conversation should not be a monologue, and I like listening to responses and wait to be asked for more detail.
Also, as a tutor, I've been trained that, "the student should do 75% or more of the talking", so I ask a lot of questions while tuting.  Students learn to not expect a lecture.  On that note,

Guilt
Well I think guilt, by definition, is uncomfortable, but it's something I've been thinking of recently.  One thing about moving is that Magnum's sister is the sole point of contact in Colorado Springs for her and Magnum's mom and stepdad.  They're in their 80s and living in a senior living community with their needs quite well taken care of, but they do need assistance once in a while.  SIL and her husband already do a lot for them, and I was feeling like we should shoulder more of that load... and then we moved.  Times like this, I could stand to speak up  more (see above).

Clutter
It's not news here that I dislike clutter.  Moving is great for getting rid of clutter, but also a great way to expose it all.  Downsizing just makes it seem even bigger.  My anxiety has been triggered this past month 😱.  Seriously, I've had no desire to watch Marie Kondo's Netflix show, although I'm a fan.  Just watching the trailer with the "befores" gave me the shakes.  But on the contrary,

Silence
I don't like loud or incessant talking, but a little background chatter is nice.  I'm typing this at the public library because I'm not good at being a homebody.  And lastly,

Forgetting to get confirmation
I took my commuter bicycle to a nearby shop yesterday for a tune-up.  The shop gets great reviews, is close to where we live, and the staff person was very friendly.  So I dropped the bike off after giving my name and contact info, then left with no copy of any work order or anything.  He typed stuff into the shop computer and said it should be ready today or tomorrow, but I've got nuthin' to show for it or prove that it's my bicycle.  The shop is smaller and much less busy than the one I was used to, not surprisingly.  I always got a copy of any work orders at the last place, and didn't really think of it this time.  Hopefully, Ariel and I will be reunited.  Fingers crossed.

What's something that makes you uncomfortable?  I'm listening.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
5. List 7 things that make you uncomfortable