Coolness abides
In more ways than one, yo! It is absolutely frigid here. Someone said it was something like -22 F while I was waiting for the bus this morning. I just know that I was bundled up to my eyeballs and didn't have to wait for more than 10 minutes or so, yet my toes froze - even with thermal socks.
Work has been stressful, but we received our annual bonuses this week, allowing me to catch up on some past due stuff. Yay for no more collection calls! There's not going to be a lot left over, after buying groceries and other necessities, but enough for a treat or three ;) I'm just delighted to be caught up. I guess that's what it means to be a grown-up. I don't resent not being able to blow the whole wad on something indulgent. I'm just pleased to be financially solvent again. The stress of being behind on bills, etc. really wears on me unduly. Triggers all my anxiety points.
I also had to visit my Dr. today, just to get new prescriptions for the new drug plan at work. Turns out that my Doc is a Trekker and was delighted to meet a 'Gater, as he announced to his staff. Showed me all his cool Trek toys and everything. Far from thinking I'm too 'out there', he thinks it's great that I have fannish friends, etc. It was great to see my Doc geek out over his Trek goodies. And we squeed about wormholes! How cool is that?
On the way home from work I stopped at Barnes & Noble and bought the newest Stargate/Atlantis magazine. Haven't read it yet, but will get around to it over the weekend. I also bought 4 new CDs! I actually rarely buy CDs, but both Nickelback and Foo Fighters have sort of been impressed upon me by different fan mixes & vids. Yeah, I'll d/l music, but if I like an artist or band enough, I'll buy a couple of their CDs. I think it's really only fair. Are CDs overpriced? Hell, yeah! But I also understand that the artists really only receive a fraction of the total CD price. So, yeah, I'm supporting The Man. But without The Man, we'd never hear of these bands at all, so... I'll shell out for the Real Thing if I can possibly afford to. It was one of my little splurges.
I do have one rant, however. CD packaging. Seriously, it took me close to 20 minutes to unwrap each CD. And several fingernails! The cellophane overwrap is annoying, but I can deal with it. The stupid, sticky-yet-fragile tape they use to seal the jewel case? I. Hate. It. I hate it even more on DVDs where it's on 3 sides! I'm one of those anal types who must have all the tape off, even if it means picking at it for 15 minutes. I honestly think it's why I don't buy more CDs. I do understand why they do it. Sort of. To prevent people from buying CDs, burning them and then returning them. But, if I'm not mistaken, most places don't let you return opened CDs anyway (except for exactly the same thing). So what gives? Please, in the name of all that's holy, stop with the crappy sealing tape on the jewel cases. Or at least make it more user-friendly. Fortunately, one of the four CDs I bought was in a paper case, rather than the traditional, plastic jewel case. It didn't have tape on it, thank God, because by then I'd lost all patience.
Okay, so. I have funds and will do some diet-friendly shopping this weekend. It's colder than shit outside, so my outside time will be minimal. I held steady and didn't bring home any work this weekend (I might regret it later, but... whatever). I'm hoping to get some fic-writing in and perhaps just a little home clean-up, now that I have more than 30 minutes free.
Yeah, I'm happy ;)
Work has been stressful, but we received our annual bonuses this week, allowing me to catch up on some past due stuff. Yay for no more collection calls! There's not going to be a lot left over, after buying groceries and other necessities, but enough for a treat or three ;) I'm just delighted to be caught up. I guess that's what it means to be a grown-up. I don't resent not being able to blow the whole wad on something indulgent. I'm just pleased to be financially solvent again. The stress of being behind on bills, etc. really wears on me unduly. Triggers all my anxiety points.
I also had to visit my Dr. today, just to get new prescriptions for the new drug plan at work. Turns out that my Doc is a Trekker and was delighted to meet a 'Gater, as he announced to his staff. Showed me all his cool Trek toys and everything. Far from thinking I'm too 'out there', he thinks it's great that I have fannish friends, etc. It was great to see my Doc geek out over his Trek goodies. And we squeed about wormholes! How cool is that?
On the way home from work I stopped at Barnes & Noble and bought the newest Stargate/Atlantis magazine. Haven't read it yet, but will get around to it over the weekend. I also bought 4 new CDs! I actually rarely buy CDs, but both Nickelback and Foo Fighters have sort of been impressed upon me by different fan mixes & vids. Yeah, I'll d/l music, but if I like an artist or band enough, I'll buy a couple of their CDs. I think it's really only fair. Are CDs overpriced? Hell, yeah! But I also understand that the artists really only receive a fraction of the total CD price. So, yeah, I'm supporting The Man. But without The Man, we'd never hear of these bands at all, so... I'll shell out for the Real Thing if I can possibly afford to. It was one of my little splurges.
I do have one rant, however. CD packaging. Seriously, it took me close to 20 minutes to unwrap each CD. And several fingernails! The cellophane overwrap is annoying, but I can deal with it. The stupid, sticky-yet-fragile tape they use to seal the jewel case? I. Hate. It. I hate it even more on DVDs where it's on 3 sides! I'm one of those anal types who must have all the tape off, even if it means picking at it for 15 minutes. I honestly think it's why I don't buy more CDs. I do understand why they do it. Sort of. To prevent people from buying CDs, burning them and then returning them. But, if I'm not mistaken, most places don't let you return opened CDs anyway (except for exactly the same thing). So what gives? Please, in the name of all that's holy, stop with the crappy sealing tape on the jewel cases. Or at least make it more user-friendly. Fortunately, one of the four CDs I bought was in a paper case, rather than the traditional, plastic jewel case. It didn't have tape on it, thank God, because by then I'd lost all patience.
Okay, so. I have funds and will do some diet-friendly shopping this weekend. It's colder than shit outside, so my outside time will be minimal. I held steady and didn't bring home any work this weekend (I might regret it later, but... whatever). I'm hoping to get some fic-writing in and perhaps just a little home clean-up, now that I have more than 30 minutes free.
Yeah, I'm happy ;)