Oriolegirl's Nest

Went to the audiologist this afternoon as it was time for another hearing test. I hate hearing tests. But things are pretty much the same as two years ago, so that's good. Got off the bus a stop early and took the very very long way home.

As frequently happens after visiting the parents, I came home and have been watching TV. I've now seen both seasons of Ridley, on PBS Passport. I watched the first ep of the Lynley reboot on BritBox. I don't like the original TV series (my mother really likes it) and I didn't care much for the books, either. I wasn't sure about the reboot for about the first half hour or so, then it started to get interesting and I was disappointed that the next ep isn't out until Thursday. Last night I watched all four eps of BritBox's adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence, which in the end was rather creepy and twisted.

I've not been on Tumblr in about 3 days. It wasn't intentional. I just didn't get to it as I was reading the new JD Robb and am still making my way through Women in Whitecoats. But I've not missed it too much and I'm certaingly not going to be able to catch up at this point, so I think I'll just extend my break for a few more days. Once I get through the women doctors, I'm going to start the new biography of Luis Alvarez, Collisions.

I made it home in one piece and *knocks on wood* without getting sick. My niblings are growing up - 7, 5, and 3 1/2! - and are becoming such very interesting little people. They're still a little loud but I think the youngest might grow out of that soon. Maybe. I hope.

I got my flu shot yesterday. Then in the evening I got an email from one of my state reps saying that our state had just changed its rules about the vaccine advice that determines which ones pharmacists are allowed to give and that insurance companies are to cover - basically everything that was allowed until the CDC started imploding. So first thing this morning I made an appointment for the new covid vaccine and went back to the pharmacy this afternoon.

Holy cow, it's the 30th anniversary of 2131 on Sunday! That's the night Cal Ripken broke Lou Gherig's streak of 2130 continuous games played. I vividly remember watching it on TV and I admit I cried.

The wall hanging actually arrived on Saturday and I promptly put it up. The white void is no longer and I noticed that right away. I've been sitting in my office for a couple of hours and no white void, no looming bookcase. Amazing! Awesome!

After the week of I just can't, I'm having a week of I totally can.

Monday was the nutritionist and adventures with ZipCar.

Tuesday I finally did the student loan paperwork I've been procastinating on for several months. And after an hour of freaking out about how the hell I'll pay the new montly payment amount, I realized that I'd mathed incorrectly. I generally like getting paid every other week, but sometimes it makes things complicated.

Wednesday I saw the therapist and we talked about the week of I just can't, and came up with a list of things to do to try to get out of that next time it happens, as well as a list of things not to do. Then I went to a TIAA webinar, similar to the one I skipped last week. Nothing really surprising there, and I'm meeting with my TIAA guy next week.

Today, after almost a year and a half, I finally put together the last bookcase I got at Ikea. And then I moved all of my books from the living room and put them on the shelves. Now all that's left is all the library books. Still, it's so much better. I did skip the student loan webinar I'd signed up for as I did do the paperwork yesterday so I didn't really need to hear about it. I'm sure there'll be a recording or something.

And tomorrow is Friday! I have three hours in a row of chat first thing, ugh, but then it's a pretty light day. And the weather should be cool enough and less humid enough that I'll be able to open all the windows! Truly something to look forward to. But there should also be a deluge of packages. I had carefully scheduled things to arrive over the course of three days but tracking says everything is coming tomorrow. Multiple trips up to the lobby to pick it all up, including the awkwardly large package and the stupidly heavy package. Gah. Still, windows open! Perhaps even a walk before the sun goes down.

No webinar today. Late last night, I was thinking about getting up in the morning and sitting on chat for three hours and couldn't stand the thought. So I decided to take a mental health day. I almost always set an alarm, even on days I plan to sleep in, but although I thought about it last night, I apparently didn't actually do it. I woke up about 10 minutes before the webinar. Ahahaha.

Of course, now my entire day is fucked up. I live with a carefully balanced schedule of vitamins and supplements, meds, and meals. Super duper multivitamins and iron have to be taken at least 2 hours apart from the (3x/day) calcium chews, and need to be taken with food. I woke up so late that there was no breakfast which meant having to rearrange things so I could still take my vitamins and iron with lunch and get the breakfast calcium chew in with a snack, which I had after coming back from a haircut and long walk.

The temperature is rather nice and there's a lovely cool breeze. Alas, it's so effing humid that my clothes were sticking to me and I had to take a quick cold shower when I got home. *sigh*

There's a new edited volume just out about women in quantum physics. One of the essays is about someone I came across in Seaborg's journals. My copy arrived today, so I'm hoping to read that this evening.

This morning dragged. I had 3 consecutive hours on chat, which was most decidedly not hopping. Then I had to quickly make lunch because I had a webinar a half an hour after chat.

It was a TIAA retirement webinar which was not at all what I was expecting as it had very little to do with saving for retirement. (I guess the market update webinar is in a couple of weeks.) It was more about how to take care of yourself - mentally, physically, emotionally - in the lead up to retirement and during retirement. It was actually rather thought-provoking and I will probably (re)watch parts of the recording, when they send it.

I finished (re)reading a fic and then hopped back on the question queue to see if there was anything going on. Not really. I was contemplating logging off when someone emailed asking if anyone could cover chat for a half an hour. So now I'm sitting on chat, where I began my work day. 10 minutes to go...

I'll take a walk later, probably after dinner as I'm starting to feel hungry. The temperature starts edging upwards again tomorrow - mid-to-upper 70sF with scattered rain - before hitting the 80s on Sunday and then probably another heat wave. Oh joy.

Things are heating up. I had hand therapy on Thursday and it was too hot. And I have another hand therapy appointment on Tuesday afternoon; every time I check the forecast, the projected high creeps up. Last I looked, it was 104F. As I told lurksnomore, I think I'm suddenly developing a meeting... And truthfully, there is a department staff meeting, albeit earlier in the afternoon, for which we received a somewhat ominous email saying the the department head's boss wants to come to the meeting to discuss "organizational updates." Fun times.

I ventured out in the heat today for the PokemonGO Community Day meetup, with my 24oz water bottle and a small bag of grapes. We did wander around outside for about an hour before our fearless leader decreed it was time to head inside to the air conditioning. I stuck around for another half hour or so. Then almost everyone headed back out. I also went out but I walked home rather than roaming around again. I think I managed to avoid getting sunburned anywhere. Nothing looks terribly pink and it's been 12 hours so I think I'm good.

You may recall that the nutritionist was all gung ho about getting an air fryer. I finally did buy a small one. I used it (twice!) for the first time tonight and I'm rather impressed. Pre-heat and cook times were significantly less than the oven, and the kitchen didn't heat up. I think I need to shorten the cook times by a couple of minutes, though. Things were slightly crispier than I expected. Not at all burned, and totally edible, just a little crispy.

A couple of days ago, I started eating a half salad once a day and that's going well. I'm very happy to be having salad again. I'm also eating Greek yogurt every day. I kind of hate Greek yogurt (it's a texture thing) but I discovered a couple of brands that have mix-ins. Chocolate chunks and crispy bits make everything better.

I've also been very good about exercising every day, aside from going out for a walk. Fitbit is now constantly complaining that I've exceeded the recommended cardio load for the day and I should take it easy. Whatever, Fitbit.

BritBox is dropping eps of their new series Outrageous, about the Mitford sisters. The first two were out Monday, with four more (I think) to come. I enjoyed it, though I did spend quite a bit of time yelling things like "don't do it" and "oh honey no." Then I had to go to Wikipedia to make sure the one sister didn't stay married to that jerk (she did indeed divorce his ass).

I Zoomed with conference!roomie on Sunday. We have future plans to go out to Hanford in a couple of years, once they've finished working on the B Reactor. Assuming, of course, there's still a national park to visit.

Late yesterday afternoon, my psych messaged to ask to reschedule our appointment to today. And the only times she had available were, gosh darn, during the department end of the semester get together. Due to budget cuts, it was bring your own lunch and they'd bring games. I was very glad to have a legit excuse to not go.

I ordered groceries this afternoon, but apparently radishes were out of stock by the time they packed my order. So now I have these 2 turnips which I will have to find something to do with. I'll cut up and roast one of them. I'm not sure about the second one. Mashing is always an option but that doesn't sound appealing right now.

I'm currently off salad, for reasons no one probably wants to hear about, so I'm in search of non-starchy vegetables to have instead. Hence the turnips (and someday the radishes). It's a really big pita because the starchy ones are so good. And salad made it really easy to get servings of veggies and fruit in one easy to eat package. *sigh*

I should be boarding my flight home right now. But I got sick yesterday. Throwing up, etc. That was fun times. At least I'm visiting the parents and not stuck in some hotel room. I got my flight changed to Friday. I'm feeling ok today, though very tired. And my face hurts because I missed about five doses of various allergy meds yesterday. I should have at least taken the nasal sprays, but I felt so awful it didn't really occur to me.

I'm short on some of my medications, but I'll just have to live without a couple of things. I was able to order overnight delivery of one of my allergy meds and an OTC version of one of my prescription meds, albeit in twice the strength I usually take it but it'll be fine for a couple of days. It's one I don't want to miss as missing a dose almost immediately causes my chronic cough to return; not great for traveling! I parsed through what I've got this morning and made some decisions about what to take on the days I have left. At least it's only a couple of days and none of it is life-threatening if I miss a couple of doses. I haven't not taken my depression meds since I started taking them eons ago, so that could be interesting. I'm saving those, my ADHD med, and my bp med for Friday, my travel day.

ETA: Woot, remembered my mother has the same depression meds though a slightly lower dose!

I'm visiting with my sister, brother-in-law, and niblings for a couple of days.

This evening, while the girls were getting ready to be put to bed, my nephew and I went for a walk to catch Pokemon together. It was pretty awesome and we'll probably go again tomorrow evening. He's already trying to wheedle money out of his parents so we can buy some "food," or really popcorn, or possibly something else he shouldn't be having so close to bedtime.

Also tomorrow, I get to go to the dentist with my youngest niece. Sure to be a fun time, that.

Saw the last ep of this series of Brokenwood Mysteries on Monday. They really outdid themselves with the stupid. It was mildly amusing. Not one of the better eps, imo.

The parents are watching The Chelsea Detective from the beginning, so I've been rewatching with them. Still a good show.

I think I need a Pokemon icon. It's been so long, I'm not sure if I remember how to make icons anymore. I'll figure it out at some point.