Good news / bad news
This has been a very ambivalent week -- a lot of bad news followed up by mitigating factors.
Such as, the thing where our AC is now what doing what the heat was doing last winter -- choking and failing to work until we shut it off and rest it for an hour or so. (There is actual ice visibly forming on one of the pipes. I think Mom is pouring water into it to thaw things out, the way we were doing last winter.) Failing AC fills me with distress in a way that having the heat intermittently functional last winter (the coldest we've had that I can remember) did not. Not for myself -- Mom and I are Dallas natives, we can cope with heat over 100 F (high humidity or a dry heat -- we get both kinds of summer here). Strip to shorts and skimpy tops, open the living room window and put a box fan in it, and just lie around hydrating ourselves. No problem -- for us.
Rabbits, unfortunately, have little tolerance for heat past the mid-80s, and keeping them from getting heat stroke is a concern. They've been getting misted with a spray bottle -- or captured and placed in the bathtub or kitchen sink for getting properly doused -- far more often over the last few days than they're pleased with. I don't have any liter bottles to fill with water, freeze, and set in the cage for them to lie against, but yesterday I tried putting ice chunks into a ziplock bag for Willow to lie against. (Don't know if she eventually figured out the appeal or not -- she wanted it well away from her at first.) Stilinski has been spending a lot of time lying on the tiles in the front entry way, as flat as he can get.
Last night I got the house cool by leaving the window open with the box fan going while it was cooler outside than in the living room, and then by turning the AC back on after a few hours' rest and not shutting the window. The cool air coming from inside and out eventually got us down to the 70s, and so far the AC seems to be functioning well enough.
The really good news is that we've got storms and cooler temperatures due to arrive on Thursday. And we may in fact be pretty much done with the worst of the summer by this point...
Here's Squeaky, one day last week, sitting on the back of the loveseat next to me. Within easy petting distance, but not trying to get onto my lap -- moderately sociable, without really demanding attention.
And then there's the thing where last week I was having gut trouble to the point where Friday night I was briefly contemplating calling in sick to work and perhaps even going to the emergency room. I did neither, hoping that I would be fine a few hours into my shift. Turned out I felt awful all through my shift but was mostly okay a few hours after getting home the next morning -- so I really wish I'd at least taken the night off to stay home and baby myself. (I currently have two weeks of leave accrued that I'm not sure how to request -- need to get a particular login renewed, apparently.) I was still a bit uncomfortable during Saturday night's shift, and though yesterday I was feeling pretty well recovered I still called my doctor's office to see about getting a referral to a gastrointestinal specialist to get checked out. (I was told I'd be called back to set up an appointment and still haven't heard back from them.)
So the upshot is that I feel fine now but I'm not going to let this slide. October seems to be a good month for getting personal maintenance dealt with -- last year was a check up, a dental cleaning and getting a big mole removed. This year it looks like I'm going for a colonscopy instead of to a dermatologist.
First one bound off yesterday, second one begun. I got all the toe increases done, joined the main yarn, and dealt with all the loose ends -- like the first sock, I had a black free end to start with, so there's not an obvious transition from the toe to the main yarn. The main yarn on the first sock ended with bright green, so I can point to the very stitch where it shifts back to the toes-and-heels plain black -- but that's the point that'll be most covered by my pants (or possibly a costume skirt) anyway. So now I'm on the fifty plain stockinette foot rows and can work on this project while reading -- or while in a movie theater...
Oh, and my sister is not only back with the ex my parents showed up with cops and a moving van to get her away from, but this time they've set a wedding date. (October 26th. A Sunday, so it won't interfere with my work schedule, but I'm going to be very tired.) I am less swayed by the boyfriend's apparent new leaf than my mother is, but eh, well. Lauren's going to live her own life.
At least for now Lauren has a car, a job, and a trade. (She graduated beauty school a few weeks back and just needs to get her licensing exam done. She's already got a position in a shop, though -- I should go to her and get my hair bleached one of these days.) And at least she hasn't said anything to me about being a bridesmaid. (I've never been a bridesmaid, but I gather it involves more time and money and effort than just buying a gift and showing up at the wedding. I'm lazy, antisocial, not especially fond of my sister, and have not ruled out the possibility of things going spectacularly wrong with the relationship in question in the next few years, so I'd just as soon not be asked to exert myself for the wedding festivities.)
I really did like the effect of adding extra stripes to some fingers the previous week, so I repeated it. Happily, it looks pretty good on shorter nails as well as longer ones. The blue is China Glaze "Dorothy Who?" which I was trying out for the first time. The white was very pleasing -- Pure Ice "Pretty 'N Patriotic" turns out to be what I wished China Glaze "White on White" was, being a plain flat white that goes on opaque in just a coat or two and yet doesn't dry so quickly that it goes lumpy or preserves brush strokes. And then add a coat of China Glaze "Frosty" over the top to add the subtle glitter of a snowfield.
I simply love the effect of the two whites layered together, which is why I'm doing it again for today's base. The plan is to stripe all the way down, doing a gradient of bright purple and plum and at least one lighter shade of pink that I haven't selected yet. I'm probably going to save the stripes for this afternoon, once I'm back from the gym -- but at least that should be the only item left on my "to do" list for the afternoon, aside from showering and going to bed.
I had a very unmotivated Monday with a lot of things being let slide till late in the day -- or today. I didn't get my grocery run dealt with till this morning around 5am, and didn't deal with the vacuuming till past 9am. But at least I got a text from my aunt last night saying not to bring Grandma lunch today because my aunt's taking her to the dentist today and she'll take care of it. So I can finish up everything I need to do on the computer before leaving the house (without feeling guilty about how late I'm leaving), and then come home from the gym with nothing left to do but finish up my manicure before bed...
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.
Such as, the thing where our AC is now what doing what the heat was doing last winter -- choking and failing to work until we shut it off and rest it for an hour or so. (There is actual ice visibly forming on one of the pipes. I think Mom is pouring water into it to thaw things out, the way we were doing last winter.) Failing AC fills me with distress in a way that having the heat intermittently functional last winter (the coldest we've had that I can remember) did not. Not for myself -- Mom and I are Dallas natives, we can cope with heat over 100 F (high humidity or a dry heat -- we get both kinds of summer here). Strip to shorts and skimpy tops, open the living room window and put a box fan in it, and just lie around hydrating ourselves. No problem -- for us.
Rabbits, unfortunately, have little tolerance for heat past the mid-80s, and keeping them from getting heat stroke is a concern. They've been getting misted with a spray bottle -- or captured and placed in the bathtub or kitchen sink for getting properly doused -- far more often over the last few days than they're pleased with. I don't have any liter bottles to fill with water, freeze, and set in the cage for them to lie against, but yesterday I tried putting ice chunks into a ziplock bag for Willow to lie against. (Don't know if she eventually figured out the appeal or not -- she wanted it well away from her at first.) Stilinski has been spending a lot of time lying on the tiles in the front entry way, as flat as he can get.
Last night I got the house cool by leaving the window open with the box fan going while it was cooler outside than in the living room, and then by turning the AC back on after a few hours' rest and not shutting the window. The cool air coming from inside and out eventually got us down to the 70s, and so far the AC seems to be functioning well enough.
The really good news is that we've got storms and cooler temperatures due to arrive on Thursday. And we may in fact be pretty much done with the worst of the summer by this point...
Here's Squeaky, one day last week, sitting on the back of the loveseat next to me. Within easy petting distance, but not trying to get onto my lap -- moderately sociable, without really demanding attention.
And then there's the thing where last week I was having gut trouble to the point where Friday night I was briefly contemplating calling in sick to work and perhaps even going to the emergency room. I did neither, hoping that I would be fine a few hours into my shift. Turned out I felt awful all through my shift but was mostly okay a few hours after getting home the next morning -- so I really wish I'd at least taken the night off to stay home and baby myself. (I currently have two weeks of leave accrued that I'm not sure how to request -- need to get a particular login renewed, apparently.) I was still a bit uncomfortable during Saturday night's shift, and though yesterday I was feeling pretty well recovered I still called my doctor's office to see about getting a referral to a gastrointestinal specialist to get checked out. (I was told I'd be called back to set up an appointment and still haven't heard back from them.)
So the upshot is that I feel fine now but I'm not going to let this slide. October seems to be a good month for getting personal maintenance dealt with -- last year was a check up, a dental cleaning and getting a big mole removed. This year it looks like I'm going for a colonscopy instead of to a dermatologist.
First one bound off yesterday, second one begun. I got all the toe increases done, joined the main yarn, and dealt with all the loose ends -- like the first sock, I had a black free end to start with, so there's not an obvious transition from the toe to the main yarn. The main yarn on the first sock ended with bright green, so I can point to the very stitch where it shifts back to the toes-and-heels plain black -- but that's the point that'll be most covered by my pants (or possibly a costume skirt) anyway. So now I'm on the fifty plain stockinette foot rows and can work on this project while reading -- or while in a movie theater...
Oh, and my sister is not only back with the ex my parents showed up with cops and a moving van to get her away from, but this time they've set a wedding date. (October 26th. A Sunday, so it won't interfere with my work schedule, but I'm going to be very tired.) I am less swayed by the boyfriend's apparent new leaf than my mother is, but eh, well. Lauren's going to live her own life.
At least for now Lauren has a car, a job, and a trade. (She graduated beauty school a few weeks back and just needs to get her licensing exam done. She's already got a position in a shop, though -- I should go to her and get my hair bleached one of these days.) And at least she hasn't said anything to me about being a bridesmaid. (I've never been a bridesmaid, but I gather it involves more time and money and effort than just buying a gift and showing up at the wedding. I'm lazy, antisocial, not especially fond of my sister, and have not ruled out the possibility of things going spectacularly wrong with the relationship in question in the next few years, so I'd just as soon not be asked to exert myself for the wedding festivities.)
I really did like the effect of adding extra stripes to some fingers the previous week, so I repeated it. Happily, it looks pretty good on shorter nails as well as longer ones. The blue is China Glaze "Dorothy Who?" which I was trying out for the first time. The white was very pleasing -- Pure Ice "Pretty 'N Patriotic" turns out to be what I wished China Glaze "White on White" was, being a plain flat white that goes on opaque in just a coat or two and yet doesn't dry so quickly that it goes lumpy or preserves brush strokes. And then add a coat of China Glaze "Frosty" over the top to add the subtle glitter of a snowfield.
I simply love the effect of the two whites layered together, which is why I'm doing it again for today's base. The plan is to stripe all the way down, doing a gradient of bright purple and plum and at least one lighter shade of pink that I haven't selected yet. I'm probably going to save the stripes for this afternoon, once I'm back from the gym -- but at least that should be the only item left on my "to do" list for the afternoon, aside from showering and going to bed.
I had a very unmotivated Monday with a lot of things being let slide till late in the day -- or today. I didn't get my grocery run dealt with till this morning around 5am, and didn't deal with the vacuuming till past 9am. But at least I got a text from my aunt last night saying not to bring Grandma lunch today because my aunt's taking her to the dentist today and she'll take care of it. So I can finish up everything I need to do on the computer before leaving the house (without feeling guilty about how late I'm leaving), and then come home from the gym with nothing left to do but finish up my manicure before bed...
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.