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Sunday, March 17, 2024

Things That Bug Me Today

Things that bug me on any given day are legion. Some of them are major issues, but some are very minor, even by my own definition. So I decided to share a random sampling of such things.
Bitmoji Cartoon of a woman with
dark hair in a topknot,
rolling her eyes.

  1. This is a big one, although it seems fairly petty until you look deeply, and I think I've mentioned it before. People who feel the need (especially on social media) to insert their own opinion (especially when they express it as though it were fact) into every. single. thing they see. Examples:
    1. My state governor expressing sadness at the death of a Supreme Court Justice and half a dozen people jumping on him about his covid masking policies.
    2. Random American Jewish-Orthodox women showing interesting ways to cover their hair or eat Kosher, and getting horrible replies holding their simply being Jewish as equivalent to the behavior of the Israeli government.
    3. Similarly, the assertion that anybody non-Christian is evil, oppressed, or both.
  2. I have also mentioned this one before: just because something squicks you does not mean it's a crime against God or nature or anything else.
  3. The left lane on the freeway may be For Crime (the crime of speeding according to many people I love and respect) but the GoodToGo lanes are not. I'm going 60mph (the speed limit) in a government vehicle (school district sedan) and folks get mad at me for going too slow. The students in my car don't need to see your rude gestures or hear your horn as you pass me like I'm not moving.
  4. Written about this one as well: just because you play a company's game or watch a person's video does not mean that you have the right to dictate content. If you don't like the content, get out.
    1. On this note, American First Amendment rights do not apply to random YouTubers; your freedom of speech means that the U.S. Government can't tell you what to say (aside from bombs in airports or fire in a crowded theater, etc). It does not give you the right to be a complete asshat to content creators on social media without consequences. Today I saw someone shouting But Muh Rights because they weren't allowed to be a transphobic jerk on a Facebook page run by a Canadian.
    2. The need to be right about everything is not something I understand, hence my recent posts about staying the hell off controversial topics on Facebook.
  5. Cognitive Dissonance hurts my brain.
  6. Not everything is about your pet cause. Or mine. Or anyone else's.
  7. I'm going nondairy (usually I allow myself a single serving a day, generally a serving of yogurt for breakfast) for the duration of Tree Sex Season.
  8. I wonder if the “Royal Experts” are self-styled folks who talk a good game or if they actually work/live/hang with royals. Either way, they irritate me, because I just wanna look at the pretty dresses and fancy outfits. So strange to have someone whose actual job it is to give opinions on what’s going on in famous people’s lives. I mean, there's a category called "Royal Expert." Can anyone be one? Is there a union? The royal equivalent of press credentials?
  9. Having written this out, I feel less annoyed. This is par for the course. And my intent.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Random Post Number XXXXXXX

A Bitmoji rendition of me, a chubby
brunette woman with her hair in a messy
topknot, wearing blue and rainbow tye-dye,
shrugging and looking confused.
Honestly, I have no idea what ADHD garden path we're going to walk down in this post. I guess we'll see when we get there.

Work breaks are weird because they disrupt my comfy neurodivergent routines. I spent Tuesday feeling anxious because I hadn't made a to-do list for the week, Wednesday rather less so because the list was made, and Thursday/Friday contented except that my neighbors (not my immediate neighbors in the actual neighborhood, just people in my area) are being absolute NIMBYs.

Heh - my ND is full of NT NIMBYs.

Many of them are also awfully I've-got-mine-so-screw-you types or the open-schools-now types. I have mentioned those before.

I'm kind of dreading Monday morning because it's supposed to snow and that may well start another round of "my house across the street from the school is clear so why can't we open?" bullshit. Probably with extra who-will-plow-my-street from one batch of people, and everything-I-don't-like-is-socialist from the other side.

A picture of a snowplow with the 
legend "A socialist snowplow just
went past my house.
Will this tyranny never end?"
Arg.

Deep breaths, Jenn.

Evidently I'm still a trifle grumpy.

Hibernation season, or perimenopause. Or both.

Oh! My mom had a milestone birthday last weekend and it was kind of epic. Such a fun weekend and a great party. Even the kids enjoyed themselves. We had some deep talk and some really lighthearted stuff and great food and awesome gifts and funny party favors for the elders, provided by the birthday girl.

And Lizzy finally got to give Grandpa and step-Grandma the Christmas present she got for them the week after we celebrated the holidays with them. That was nice.

Abby was accepted to her university of choice! There wasn't any real doubt, but it was still great to find out for sure. Funny that she got the acceptance email while she and I were having our taxes done.

That's a Good Thing. Tax refunds are in the offing. Yes, I know I don't have to give money to the federal government to hold for me until March each year. No, I don't want to change it. This is one of those iPhone vs Android issues and I'm not discussing that today. Don't bother.

It's been a year since The Knee Injury. I can walk without trouble now, but if I've just come from a physical therapy session or I know I'll be walking for a long time, especially on uneven ground, I still bring the cane with me. It's more moral support than physical at this point.

I did cut back on my iWatch goals several weeks ago, because I had bronchitis. I'm fine now (and the goals are back up), but still have a little bit of residual cough-wheeze and my stamina is down.

I should buy more masks. This is also not up for debate. Me wearing a mask does not hurt you in any way so just don't.

Wow, this post is extra ranty. I didn't know I was in such a pissy mood. Usually writing this down helps, as it did on Tuesday with the lack of a list, but evidently not today.

I'm going back to laundry/reading/videogames until I can safely interact with other humans.


Saturday, February 10, 2024

Profound and Yet so Simple

Despite how important books are in my life, I don't usually write actual book reviews.

But that was before I read Lessons in Chemistry. Note: the Amazon description does not do it justice.

It had been in my library queue for ages - in audiobook form because I spend a lot of time in the car alone after I drop my students wherever they are going - so when it popped up as available, I grabbed it.

I listened to the first two chapters and then texted my mom that it was hilarious and thanks for the recommendation. "Well," she said, "It is hilarious, in the same way that the Barbie movie was hilarious."

And she was right. It is. In a laugh-because-we-dare-not-cry sort of way, about the awfulness that is the world we live in.

I know not everyone - even other women - feels this way about Barbie, but I sure did. 

Anyway, I finished Lessons in Chemistry on Thursday, it is now Saturday, and I've been processing it in the back of my mind for two days now. This may not have been enough; I'm still unable to articulate everything I loved, hated, identified, related, etc., about it.

I know there's a series or a movie, but I don't currently have AppleTV and I've only seen clips. I'm not sure whether a film or series could do it justice any more than the Amazon description did, but I'll find out eventually.

There were laugh-out-loud spots, especially of the rueful-because-of-patriarchy sort, and one line something like, "Harriet exhaled loudly in a mixture of wonder and irritation," that more or less summed up every conversation I've had with my own younger (and AuDHD) kid since she learned to talk (about 15 years ago). 

My mom said she felt the same way, except that when Lizzy got here, she already had decades of experience in this, because of me.

We are a neurodivergent bunch over here, after all.

See? How many tangents are in my last few lines? That would be the ADHD.

And also, evidently, delayed processing, because I am still trying to figure out how to say the important things I felt/observed/identified-with while reading this book.

However, one of the things - that may seem unrelated to those who haven't followed me down my ADHD garden path here - that it made me realize/remember is that my own mental health is strongly affected by little things. In this case, the little thing that popped up was the page design of my blog, which has been indicative of Dreary Seattle Winter for a few years now. It has always been my go-to background (because I live in Dreary Seattle Winter and because my favorite color is blue), though I have switched it up a bit now and then.

This time I switched it up a lot. Brighter colors, easier-to-read text, etc.

It's like the blog equivalent of getting a new hair color or buying new clothes. 

Maybe that'll hold me through the rest of Hibernation Season.

Most of the characters in the book - as well as likely being all over the color wheel that is the autism spectrum - do not enjoy particularly good mental health. Some of this is the setting - extra-super-duper-awful-patriarchy-of-1954-through-1962 - and some is intrinsic to each person. But given the stated reason for living in a given area in the book, seasonal depression is also a factor. Hence the personal blog color change.

I could move these paragraphs around to make them more linear instead of the winding garden path.

But in an effort to be true to how Lessons in Chemistry made me feel, I think I'll leave it this way: scattered, meandering, but still finding profound meaning in simple things.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Random Thoughts on a Random Day Off [now with updates!]

My neighborhood is not the one that caused the entire school district to close. Our roads are bare and wet here. But it's not the same in the entire district and I'm kind of thrilled to get the day off.

I'm also annoyed that I couldn't get back to sleep after they called it.

Yeah, yeah, Seattle wimp-drivers. I know. Been there, done that, wrote the Vocal article.

Because while I am well enough to go back to work (I am recovering from bronchitis), yesterday was just about enough for me. 

Lizzy (because big forks are the only ones clean) is just about as annoyed as I am about the inability to go back to sleep.

Our water pressure is low today. Just us, as far as I can tell, but it's not a trickle like it would be if our pipes froze and burst. Lizzy posits that maybe they're partway frozen, leaving a narrower channel.

Lizzy was incorrect because as I typed this, a neighbor came to tell me that she could hear lots of water moving around under my house. I went to find the shutoff and slipped on the wet (icy?) stairs and down I went. Did not reinjure my knee (yay!), but I have some very interesting scrapes and bruises on my arms from catching myself.

And, you know, no water.

This is not the way to make me less irritable, universe.

Well, this blog post has taken quite a turn...

I'm waiting on a call back from the plumber. I don't know why we had no trouble with the water during the actual cold snap; we did the usual bits of responsible homeownership like wrapping outdoor faucets, leaving things on at a trickle at night, etc., and the water was fine.

Until today, so who knows?

Was this really necessary?

[UPDATE] Well.

We have water, yay! 

It took most of the day, numerous phone calls,  two plumbers (man, are they busy this week, because I assure you we are not alone in our doing-things-right-but-still-freezing-pipes), quite a lot of money, two showers and a few bathroom breaks at grandma's house down the road, most of my patience, and a short bout of situational anxiety. 

School is closed again today due to icy road conditions, both for us and for most of the surrounding school districts. I have to go out at some point today for a prescription but that can happen after noon when some ice has melted. The knee is fine, but the arm-bruises are stiff and sore.

On the other hand, Lizzy received a replacement not-LEGO piece that she was missing from one of her Christmas gifts, so she's pretty happy just chilling at her LEGO table.

So now we're okay again.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Move Redux

A Bitmoji rendering of me,
a chubby, fair-skinned, brunette
woman with a tie-dye shirt, blue
shoes, and black pants & jacket.
It has been a year, folks. 

A year since I wrote my last blog post on the topic, which you can read by just clicking the link.

I don't really have objections to working on the same resolution goal single word as last year, except that I might slack off a bit (through sheer repetition) and I'm determined not to.

Determination does not always equal motivation here at Chez GamersBabes; there are neurospicy quirks to contend with, and these (especially that executive dysfunction) are often obstacles to Getting Things Done. Yes, even things that we want to do.

Anyway.

So I have to come up with a word, preferably an action verb, along the same lines as move, but with more oomph. Something that will keep me motivated to Do The Thing even when I don't want to.

I didn't get derailed by a knee injury. 

I have closed my rings for 365 days straight (plus a couple, as it was one year on December 27).

I've got this. 

And I'm a writer, so off to the thesaurus we go.

Act? seems too theater-y.

Go? too vague.

Walk or run or climb? too specific; I can walk. I can't climb or run (at least not in the literal sense).

Progress? Proceed? too passive.

You know what? Forget synonyms for move, much less action verb synonyms. I'm going to go with...

MOTION.

After all, my doctor may have said (regarding the knee injury) "Movement is medicine" but my physical therapist said, "Motion is lotion."

Same thing, really.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

We Did It!

A photo of Puget Sound (aka the Salish Sea) from
the deck of the Washington State Ferry Spokane.
Photo taken by Lizzy Kirkland
Our weekend at "the beach" (excuse me; it's not the beach unless the swimming pool is open, which is only in the summer so our weekend at "Grandma's Condo") was nice.

It was also one of those weekends where nothing calamitous happened but lots and lots of minor inconveniences did. Lots.

We forgot our toiletries bag (we left it in the bathroom at home), which also included our meds (except those I keep in my purse anyway, like a rescue inhaler and ibuprofen.). Now, none of us will die in a day and a half without said medications, but there was some concern over the ease of getting to sleep and digestive aids and so forth.

Ferry traffic was insane. We left the house at 12:30 hoping to make the 1:30 boat, but we were prepared to wait for the 3:15 sailing if needed (they only have one boat on the route right now, though it's a busy one). On the way down we got stuck behind someone who broke down in the ferry lane, and finally made it onto the 3:15... which left the dock at 3:35. My knee was super stiff and swollen after the car ride over there (although I drive for a living, even I don't generally drive for five hours at a time, and certainly not without getting up and moving around more than I did here). On the way back we were the sixth car on the 11:05 ferry because we were so close to boarding when the 9:35 sailed.

We stopped at a local grocery store for quick food and toothbrushes, grabbed some bottled water (the water there is really really hard and makes our skin and hair feel nasty), and went on to the condo. We checked in around 5:30 (we had planned for a couple of hours earlier, but, well, ferry traffic). Warmed up some of the food from the grocery store, sat down to watch a movie, and found that the batteries in the remote for the firestick we brought with us were kaput.

Some days (or weekends) are just like that.

So instead, we fiddled with the TV settings and availed ourselves of the DVD version of the Best Movie Ever (ting ting swish!) which lives up there. Lizzy does not remember seeing the Best Movie Ever before, but since it is also the Most Memeable Movie Ever, she enjoyed it greatly.

I always forget how hard it is to get into the high bed at Grandma's Condo, and had never done it before with a bum knee and the CPAP, so that was an adventure. Getting out was easier, though.

Saturday was fun; we met Lizzy's peninsula-side bestie in town and sent them (16 and 15, respectively) loose on Port Townsend while Abby and I did a little more sedate shopping (toy store, general store, lunch, ice-cream-and-candy store). Lizzy helped her friend with Christmas shopping and bought them both lunch, then they hung out at the park and the Marine Science Center (I think) until the friend's mom came back for pickup.

Another day, another episode of forgetting to buy batteries. The DVD for this one was Gremlins.

And back home, with the aforementioned ferry wait. A little motion sickness on Abby's part but that's not unusual, especially with a ferry in the mix.

Anyway, the point here is that Lizzy and I (and to a much lesser extent, Abby) are prone to losing our sh!t when things go wrong, no matter how minor. Since one of those things was the lack of medications to help us regulate that tendency (because we left the toiletries bag at home), the fact that we didn't lose our respective minds is a positive.