You're welcome.
I was in a positively foul mood pretty much all day yesterday, so you're welcome for not posting then.
The reason for the foul mood started with an infuriating episode on morning walkies.
In order to avoid a barky dog across the street, we walked down a sidewalk bordered on one side by large shrubs and a few feet of grass on the street side. I was wearing a mask, and the girls were walking slowly and stopping periodically to sniff in the bushes. I'm usually pretty good about keeping tabs on where other people are in relation to us, since Clara has been known to snap and/or bark at strangers who get too close to her, but even moreso now. So I spotted a pair of bare-faced women in workout gear who had possibly been running but were clearly walking in cool-down mode when they were still half a block away. I mentally willed them to cross the street to avoid us, since there was no traffic and no other pedestrians, but nope, they kept coming.
The dogs kept up their sniffing-all-the-things pace, and the women kept walking towards us at a fast pace, chatting with one another, oblivious to the stink-eye I was sending them through my mask and sunglasses. I could see that they didn't even have masks with them, they made no show of slowing or diverting, but the dogs were focused on their own thing. Sure enough, they barely steped off the freaking sidewalk to get around us (note: I was still trying to stand between them and the dogs in case Clara got nippy). As they passed, I said angrily. "That's not six feet." They ignored me. I commented sarcastially, "Nice masks!" at their backs. They still ignored me, didn't even look back. I yelled, "YOU'RE WELCOME"at them as they continued down the street, continuing to pretend I wasn't there. They'd passed me so closely that I could have easily reached out and clocked their faces with the extendable leash handles as they went by, and I was practically shaking with anger from the experience. My mask protects them, not me, and those selfish assholes couldn't be bothered to move a few feet closer to the street to keep me safe?
I just don't even know what I could have done to actually keep the dunderheads 6' away from me. Said calmly, "You're getting too close, please move away?" When? They didn't even slow down from their brisk pace and I was trying to ensure the dogs were under control. Yell profanity at them? Tempting. Try to physically intimidate them as I yell at them? Also tempting.
I never had these issues with neighborhood joggers before stay-at-home orders. And to be fair, the majority of joggers ARE good about avoiding slower pedestrians by crossing the street, diverting into the street, wearing masks, and otherwise not being total douchecanoes. I'm convinced a goodly number of the shitgibbons spewing droplets heedlessly are a subset of gym people grudgingly forced to make do. Either way, that was a miserable way to start the day and I am stll angry about it (though no longer incandescent with rage, so yay progress?).
It didn't help that the news and coverage thereof had me in a rage-anxiety-despair cycle for most of my work day. I had a pleasant lunchtime respite watching a Cartoon Voices virtual panel that Mark Evanier, who always hosts that panel at SDCC, put together. One of the artists has some technical issues for the first 20 minutes or so, but it was still fun, even though it's of course hard to read the room when there isn't a room. However, it kept getting interrupted by real life (and my anxiety-fuelled need to keep up on social media, apparently), so I actually found myself actually feeling worse when it was over. After doing some work emails, I took a guitar break, which kinda-sorta helped in a cathartic way (I choked up singing The Indigo Girls' Close to Fine, particularly the sing-along shouted line "stand up for the lookout"). After an excellent canyon walk with the girls, I had a snack and warmed up for Heavenly Choir zoom with a some music practice, which also helped.
Unfortunately, not even Heavenly Choir could keep my foul mood at bay (we gathered last night to rehearse the Zoom anthem we're recording on Thursday, which was written to be performed sequentially). Unfortunately, when it was my turn to contribute, I got distracted by how the director wanted to do the muting (apparently I have to approve of having the host turn on my mic, that was new to me), which resulted in like five people "helping" me find the pitch I already had, and I finally said "I know the pitch" in an attempt to get them to be quiet so I could sing, but they kept humming it and singing my part (and in one particularly annoying case, playing it on a wind instrument), which brought my foul mood roaring back. I know, this is why we rehearse. But oh man, I had to unload some grump afterwards. Bless Mr. 42 for letting me vent and being sympathetic.
So yeah, I eventually lowered my level of dudgeon by settling down with a glass of lovely schwartzbier and watching the first half of Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker on Disney+. I had some small things spoiled for me, but I'm mostly enjoying it, even though I'm keenly aware of how a character I like was deliberately sidelined and some fairly important stuff from the last film that I really liked have sort of been retconned. But in spite of the existence of the putrid prequel trilogy, watching this iteration of Star Wars feels like coming home, and I am enjoying it. Hopefully Mr. 42 and I will be able to watch the second half tonight after tonight's Zoom meeting, in which I'm helping a friend write a Zoom musical for his church's summer music camp. I have ideas.
Speaking of which, yesterday's high dudgeon also kept me from doing some things I said I would, so today is for catching up on those things and hoping to get in a creative mindset. *nods firmly* Maybe I can reward myself for taking another stultifyingly bad video e-course for work with fiddling with words?
Oh thank goodness, a friend posted a terrible book ad on Facebook and the comments made me laugh 'til I cried. I needed that.
Love you all and hope you're well!
Mun42
The reason for the foul mood started with an infuriating episode on morning walkies.
In order to avoid a barky dog across the street, we walked down a sidewalk bordered on one side by large shrubs and a few feet of grass on the street side. I was wearing a mask, and the girls were walking slowly and stopping periodically to sniff in the bushes. I'm usually pretty good about keeping tabs on where other people are in relation to us, since Clara has been known to snap and/or bark at strangers who get too close to her, but even moreso now. So I spotted a pair of bare-faced women in workout gear who had possibly been running but were clearly walking in cool-down mode when they were still half a block away. I mentally willed them to cross the street to avoid us, since there was no traffic and no other pedestrians, but nope, they kept coming.
The dogs kept up their sniffing-all-the-things pace, and the women kept walking towards us at a fast pace, chatting with one another, oblivious to the stink-eye I was sending them through my mask and sunglasses. I could see that they didn't even have masks with them, they made no show of slowing or diverting, but the dogs were focused on their own thing. Sure enough, they barely steped off the freaking sidewalk to get around us (note: I was still trying to stand between them and the dogs in case Clara got nippy). As they passed, I said angrily. "That's not six feet." They ignored me. I commented sarcastially, "Nice masks!" at their backs. They still ignored me, didn't even look back. I yelled, "YOU'RE WELCOME"at them as they continued down the street, continuing to pretend I wasn't there. They'd passed me so closely that I could have easily reached out and clocked their faces with the extendable leash handles as they went by, and I was practically shaking with anger from the experience. My mask protects them, not me, and those selfish assholes couldn't be bothered to move a few feet closer to the street to keep me safe?
I just don't even know what I could have done to actually keep the dunderheads 6' away from me. Said calmly, "You're getting too close, please move away?" When? They didn't even slow down from their brisk pace and I was trying to ensure the dogs were under control. Yell profanity at them? Tempting. Try to physically intimidate them as I yell at them? Also tempting.
I never had these issues with neighborhood joggers before stay-at-home orders. And to be fair, the majority of joggers ARE good about avoiding slower pedestrians by crossing the street, diverting into the street, wearing masks, and otherwise not being total douchecanoes. I'm convinced a goodly number of the shitgibbons spewing droplets heedlessly are a subset of gym people grudgingly forced to make do. Either way, that was a miserable way to start the day and I am stll angry about it (though no longer incandescent with rage, so yay progress?).
It didn't help that the news and coverage thereof had me in a rage-anxiety-despair cycle for most of my work day. I had a pleasant lunchtime respite watching a Cartoon Voices virtual panel that Mark Evanier, who always hosts that panel at SDCC, put together. One of the artists has some technical issues for the first 20 minutes or so, but it was still fun, even though it's of course hard to read the room when there isn't a room. However, it kept getting interrupted by real life (and my anxiety-fuelled need to keep up on social media, apparently), so I actually found myself actually feeling worse when it was over. After doing some work emails, I took a guitar break, which kinda-sorta helped in a cathartic way (I choked up singing The Indigo Girls' Close to Fine, particularly the sing-along shouted line "stand up for the lookout"). After an excellent canyon walk with the girls, I had a snack and warmed up for Heavenly Choir zoom with a some music practice, which also helped.
Unfortunately, not even Heavenly Choir could keep my foul mood at bay (we gathered last night to rehearse the Zoom anthem we're recording on Thursday, which was written to be performed sequentially). Unfortunately, when it was my turn to contribute, I got distracted by how the director wanted to do the muting (apparently I have to approve of having the host turn on my mic, that was new to me), which resulted in like five people "helping" me find the pitch I already had, and I finally said "I know the pitch" in an attempt to get them to be quiet so I could sing, but they kept humming it and singing my part (and in one particularly annoying case, playing it on a wind instrument), which brought my foul mood roaring back. I know, this is why we rehearse. But oh man, I had to unload some grump afterwards. Bless Mr. 42 for letting me vent and being sympathetic.
So yeah, I eventually lowered my level of dudgeon by settling down with a glass of lovely schwartzbier and watching the first half of Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker on Disney+. I had some small things spoiled for me, but I'm mostly enjoying it, even though I'm keenly aware of how a character I like was deliberately sidelined and some fairly important stuff from the last film that I really liked have sort of been retconned. But in spite of the existence of the putrid prequel trilogy, watching this iteration of Star Wars feels like coming home, and I am enjoying it. Hopefully Mr. 42 and I will be able to watch the second half tonight after tonight's Zoom meeting, in which I'm helping a friend write a Zoom musical for his church's summer music camp. I have ideas.
Speaking of which, yesterday's high dudgeon also kept me from doing some things I said I would, so today is for catching up on those things and hoping to get in a creative mindset. *nods firmly* Maybe I can reward myself for taking another stultifyingly bad video e-course for work with fiddling with words?
Oh thank goodness, a friend posted a terrible book ad on Facebook and the comments made me laugh 'til I cried. I needed that.
Love you all and hope you're well!
Mun42