And then, there's a bearded fetus.

Sweet memories will last a long, long time

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:38:40 GMT

Why, you may ask am I up at 3 am? I will give you one guess, and her name starts with an L and ends with izzy.

But wait, let me rewind. Yesterday, we left at 7am to head up to Hershey to pick her up from Cocoa Kitties. Google maps took us a weird way, but eventually we made it to their new Catio. It's a place you can go and get a coffee and sit with the kitties for an hour and play. It's a lovely place, and I think when we're visiting Hershey for the Weird Al concert, we might go visit again. They were setting up for their grand opening when we got there. People carrying in tables and chairs and setting up tents. Sounds like they made a great little event out of it, with an ice cream truck and all.

We headed in, and met with her foster mother, who was very nice. We had brought some donations, including Churus, wet kitten food, and a big box of paper towels. The foster took us to the cage that had Lizzy and her three remaining kittens (who were also set to be picked up today). Upon opening the cage, she immediately came over to get love. She was rubbing her face all over Jess and I. Two of the kittens were interested in nursing, and she totally head blocked one out of the way so she could continue to get attention. The other found a nipple and she sighed and flopped down with a very "fuck my life" face. You could see that she was 100% over these kittens.

She went and grabbed a bite to eat, but the kittens continued to harass her, so she came back over to talk to us.

May I just say that she is a tiny cat. Her 8 week old kittens were almost the same size as her. Being barely a year, she may grow a little bit more, but she is always going to be small. Her head is about the size of a larger one of the little "Cutie-style" oranges. Just so little! Though her spay certificate says that she weighed 7lbs. (That's still a pound less than Cece.)

We agreed that she needed to be our baby, and signed the paperwork and forked over the adoption fee, plus a little extra for the rescue. She went into the carrier like a perfect angel and we took her to the car.

For about 20 minutes, she was chill. Then, she decided to throw a little riot about being in the carrier. I think there was a mosh pit in there somewhere. We talked to her, and sang to her on the way home, and Jess reached in half a dozen times to unhook her claws from the mesh. She didn't make a ton of noise, just a few sad meows, but she did make sure that we knew that this was not a thing that she liked. She also let out a righteous fart that just stunk up the whole car.

Finally, we got her home, and marveled at the little holes she made in the carrier. They're all little ones, and the carrier is still good to be used, but she definitely made her mark. Then, we opened up the crate and let her stroll out. She went under the bed for about 3 seconds, and then came out and began exploring.

About two minutes later, she was back on the bed demanding more attention. Then, we gave her some food, and she devoured it like we were going to take it back. I don't think the kittens have been letting her eat as much as she'd like, because before she'd been here an hour, I could see the bottom of her kibble dish.

She would want love for a few minutes, and then would walk away, only to come back. By hour two, she had discovered the cat tree and decided that she liked it.

Hour three, we discovered the drawback to this particular cat--Hazmat level poops. That fart int he car was just an appetizer. Good lord, they smell SO bad. Our former cat, Gracie, had hazmat poop, but I think Lizzy has her beat.

She sat in the top basket of the cat tree next to Jess during our game and fought sleep, but finally succumbed.

After the game, Jess and I laid down with her, and she came trotting up between us to get some attention, and then laid at the end of the bed and fell deeply asleep.

We had dinner, and I slipped her two scraps of cod from mine. She loved it, and shook it to snap it's neck thoroughly.

After dinner, we went back in for more love, and to relax before bed. She continued to make the rounds for attention and devoured another can of food.

We went to bed, and she didn't bother us at all during the night that I know of.

I finally got up to hit the bathroom at about 3am, and when I came back, there was a kitty waiting for me. She demanded SO many pets and love. Turns out, once she's settled for a bit, she gets very excited and will nip you in that excitement. Since Boodle used to do that, I was even more smitten. Then, I laid down, and she climbed on my chest for more love. That was it, my heart exploded. Once she was done, she stepped over to my nightstand, and knocked the (sealed) bottle of water over. I love her so much.

Then, she wandered off, and dropped the most vile, toxic poop that I can imagine. When I tried to breathe through my nose, I gagged. I didn't want to wake Jess up, and it was pitch dark, so I wasn't sure I could find the poop to put in the trash can, so I got up.

Today, we shall have another game at noon, where hopefully, she'll again spend the time in the cat tree basket next to Jess. They like that. Aside from that, today shall be all Lizzie all the time. She'll get her three cans of food to see if we can get her a little less thin. She's not skinny, but being a nursing mother definitely will burn a lot of calories, so she has a little bit to make up for. She doesn't seem to be a huge fan of the treats we have, so we may need to get some different kinds. She's focused on her kibble and her wet food and doesn't have time for the rest.

I'm so glad we chose her. She's just such a sweet cat, but with a little bit of rotten in her. Currently, the few times she saw Yoda, and the first time he barked, she poofed up like a little Halloween kitty. It was kind of adorable. She didn't hiss, just seemed very startled.

Yoda is being such a good boy. He'll lay outside the room, but doesn't bark, just waits for us to come out. The times that he's seen her, he hasn't barked, just looked at her like "okay, hi." I'm so very proud of him. We're trying to give him extra love so that he won't feel jealous.

Tomorrow, she gets introduced into our routine. I wonder if I'm going to get extra love in the morning again? That was nice. Having her sit on my chest was one of the things I was most hoping that she would do, and she did it within the first 16 hours. I fully expect in a week for her to start waking us up for attention.

She's such a good baby for us. I made her a Google Photo Album should anyone want to follow the adventures of her little beauty blogger self. She has perfect eyeliner after all. I also have a TikTok for her, and may make her an instagram for her beauty pictures.

In a while, I'll brave the toxic poo and go in and get more love from her. Hopefully, she doesn't wake Jess up with either a paw to the face, or the toxic poo. How something that cute and small and adorable can produce something that smells so bad...damn. Just damn.

I fully expect that by the end of the weekend, her album will have over 80 pictures in it. She's so very photogenic. She's also a bit of a perpetual motion machine, so it can be challenging to get good posed shots.

This week, she shall be stuffed back into the carrier and go to her vet visit, so she can be checked out. They can look at her scar, and at her milk production and make sure everything looks good. She's had all her shots, and ways spayed this past Wednesday, so it's strictly a visit to establish care. Yoda has an appt for his vet visit on Tuesday, so I'll try to schedule hers later in the week, or even next Monday would be okay. I don't foresee any problems between now and then.

She's gone in the closet and sniffed the new bed that we got her, but so far she has not graced it with her presence. That's okay. She likes the cat tree and that's what matters. I did order her a new cat fountain to see if she'd like that. She sticks her foot in the water to make it move, so she might like running water. Or, she may stick her head in it and make a huge mess. That's fine too.

So, in summary, she's an adorable, sweet and lovely cat, and I love her so much already. I'm loving the personality that's starting to come out, and I can't wait to see how that evolves.

I may go try to nap a little more, seeing as it's only 4am. Or, I might wait and nap after game for an hour or two. Or even before game. We'll see. Everyone have an amazing Sunday!

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I think I lost my way, getting good at starting over--how do I begin?

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 09:59:58 GMT

I am super sleepy this morning. But also super excited! In just 2 short hours, we'll be leaving to get the kitty! And in 4 hours, we will be meeting her! I can't wait. I must pet her.

As the song says, I have to have you! I have to touch her little ears and tell her she's pretty. I'm hoping that she likes us. I need to call on Monday to make her follow up vet visit. But for today, we do the dance of new kitty!

I noticed that Yoda has a little bump on his neck. Probably just a fatty deposit like the rest of his issues, but he has an appt this week, so I will make sure they check it out. Hopefully, he behaves for the visit. He threw a little shitfit at his tech visit about being lifted onto the table. He really hates it. Jess and I refuse to do it any more, because he rattles one so hard with that ear splitting yelp. But really, as Jess pointed out, this week, Yoda? You had to do this during this week?

In just two hours, I shall be on my way to Hershey, or actually the town next door, Palmyra, to go meet a kitty. And soon after, we shall be on our way home with precious cargo.

Did I tell you that the other night, we made a Lizzy playlist on Amazon Music? just stuff to listen to on the ride home. Nice chill songs that make us happy, much like her. It definitely includes "Whiskey in the Jar," which was written and originally performed by her namesake Thin Lizzy. We have the Metallica version, but that'll have to do.

I'm looking forward to seeing the catio that this rescue has built. We'll be back up in Hershey fpr the Weird Al concert on 7/31-8/1, so we could certainly go for a visit. Maybe take them more supplies. We're taking wet kitten food, and churus and some paper towels for them. The towels, they had put out a request on Facebook back on May 30th, so they may be full up. But they'll use them. The kitten food is something that they asked for. And every cat needs churus. They're one of those finer things in life.

Will Lizzy want to take churus from the bag, or will they need to be on a finger, or in a bowl.

We got the last few things last night, and we are pretty much all set up for her. The new litter box and cat bed came. Everything has been cleaned to within an inch of it's life and her carrier is ready to go. Churus, we already had. Along with so much food. SO much food in a bunch of different brands. We still have some Fancy Feast Primavera from Boodle. We got Purina pro plan for Cece as well as Tiki Cat (3 styles of food). We also have Fancy Feast Petite's (her current food_ plus the bougie food from Smalls. She has plenty of food y'all. I hope she's a good eater.

Once we get home, she'll have time to get to know us from 12-2, and then Jess'll be in there playing our D&D game. I'll be in on breaks to talk to her. Then, we'll let her be to have dinner, and the, my sister will get a little quality time while Yoda's on his nightly walk.

Tomorrow, we have a game at 12, so more quality time with Jess, and then the rest of the day, her wish is our command. Hopefully, she isn't too traumatized by the long drive, and she comes out quickly to get love. Snuggles would be amazing. We're going by something Jess found called the rule of 3. It takes 3 days for them to acclimate to where they are. Three weeks to unsderstand that this is their turf, and three months to really feel like it's home. So if she needs to hide, we'll understand. But I'm going to need her to come out more than Cece did for attention. Otherwise, I'll be anxious.

I wonder if any of her kittens are in the Catio. I know some of them have been adopted out, but I think Jethro Tull and Lynryd Skynryd are still waiting. The Catio is their new shelter/cat cafe. It's grand opening is at noon, and I'm kind of sorry we won't be there for it. If I had time and energy, I'd have made a package for them to add to the raffle. They'll just have to life with practical things.

Lizsy's adoption fee is a grand total of $100. My sister has already sent it to me. She feels bad that we spent os much money on Cece's ill fated adoption and subsequent medical care. Though we did get more than half of the deposit we'd paid for Cece back, which was substantial. Emergency vet care is no joke. We had to put down a deposit of $4,000 for her to stay overnight. We have it, but I still nearly choked when I got the text with the estimate of $4,000-$6,000, but I paid it. I guess they found the cancer and congestive heart failure before they did a ton.

I'm going to stop at Chase on the way out and get out her adoption fee, plus a bit. I know rescues frequently run on a shoestring budget, and I don't think $100 pays for everything that they did for her.

She's going to be so loved, y'all. I already love this cat, and I've only seen pictures. Her foster was perfectly nice, but not warm and fuzzy, so there haven't been cute little videos and pictures. What we got off of petfinder is what we got. That's okay, she doesn't have to be warm and fuzzy, as long as she took good care of our future baby.

And she is just a baby. She was our little teenage mother. Now she's 1 year old, and the kittens are ready to stand on our own. Now she gets to reinvent herself as a lady of luxury and leisure. I can't wait to see what she's like with toys once her spay is all healed. Jess says that once she's away from the kittens, she'll turn into a little howler monkey. Like good parents, we'll tell her she can be anything she wants to be. Including a howler monkey.

I did make a photo album for Lizzy's paparazzi shots on google photo and I'll be updating the tiktok channel I had for Cece to be for Lizzy. I'm going to wait a few days before I start putting pics up on there, though. And of course, I'll be posting some pictures here. I'm debating on getting her an instagram, as well.

At some point this weekend, we do need to put together the new hamper. It's a soft hamper, with a metal frame, which requires some assembly. The directions are more complext than the dresser we put together, so it should be fun. I will pit my "I worked for Ikea for 8 years? muscles and figure out how to do it. I talked people through building full closets, I can do this.

Okay, going to go get dressed. Only 1 hour til it's time to leave! Every one have a superb day!

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She's so New York, and then LA and every town along the way. She's every place that I've never been

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 09:19:49 GMT

Wow, we made it to Friday! It's been a busy week. Not necessarily a good week, but busy.

To continue that trend, the phones again went batshit yesterday, and we ended up yanking people to do various tasks. I ended up doing the inbox as well as calling patients and trying to work with the schedules.

While I was doing that, Jess was working like a dervish in the hopes of getting Lizzy soon. And sure enough, her foster finally texted me, and we have a meeting set up for 9am tomorrow! Theoretically, it's a meet and greet. In reality, I'm about to catnap this girl. Unless she absolutely hates us, she's coming home. We did also get some supplies for the rescue--paper towels and some wet kitten food and churus.

Her foster was very complimentary about the little girl, telling me what a sweet little love she is, and how good she's being post spay. Not that her bio hadn't told us about how sweet she was already.

We've got a couple of more things coming today--a new litter box, a cat bed and a new hamper. The last one is because Cece liked to love against the cloth container it was in, and you can't really sterilize that.

Technically, we probably didn't need to do all that--the FELV virus only lives for 2-3 minutes outside the body, but we wanted to be 100% sure. Jess used the carpet steamer to clean the closet where she spent most oer her time, and also by the litter box. Then, in the evening, we cleaned under the bed and sterilized her bowls and plates.

Once the Amazon packages come, we'll have everything we need to bring Miss Lizzy home. Which is just in the nick of time, since we're going to be leaving at 7am to drive up to Hershey to get her.

I posted her petfinder pictures in one of the D&D servers, and they said with her pretty eyeliner, she looked like a beauty blogger.

I can't say they're wrong. She does take a really good picture.

Only 28.5 hours till we can meet her!

As Jess mentioned on Bluesky, I feel kind of bad moving on so quickly from Cece, but she reminded me how much I love having a cat in the house, and after her chill energy, I really don't want to be without. We weren't planning on getting a kitty so soon, but we were sadness scrolling, and found this little girl and fell in love. (Especially my sister, who actually sent me money towards her adoption fee.)

Once we get her, I'll schedule her an appointment with the new vet for a check up, and we'll be good. I want to meet her so much. I want to see if she has bunny fur, or if she's a little more coarse. I want to hear her meow. I want to touch her little paw pads. And I want to see this gentle spirit and (maybe) have a cuddle with her if she's willing.

I hope she likes her new home and her food and toys. Though she will have to wait on the toys for a bit until she's healed from her spay on Wednesday. Fortunately, they used liquid sutures, so she can't chew out any stitches. And her foster said she's doing really well with not licking them, so she may not need a cone of shame.

Today, more work, including the weekly bitchfest meeting. With the way the phones have been, and the clinic worker who removed a behavioral alert, it should be lively. Or, we'll all sit there like we're having collective PTSD. One of the two.

I'll be fine. I may have a bit of trauma from this week, but overall, I'm okay with it. Cece was incredibly stressful, and broke my heart at the end, but I'm not sorry to have known her. I'm fully at peace with the decision of letting her go before she started really suffering. I'm sure she was uncomfortable and didn't feel well, but she hadn't started having the really bad symptoms from either the lymphoma or the congestive heart failure, and we kept it from getting to that. It was 100% the right thing to do, and I'm glad we were able to be there for her. Her foster said that Cece waited until she found her forever home and was loved before she let herself show that she was sick. She waited to feel that love, and then she let go. I like the idea that she trusted us to take care of her.

I'm really looking forward to having that cat energy again. Boodle was kind of a ghost in those last few months, something I'm only seeing as I look back. She was hiding how she felt, but she was quieter and didn't come out as much. Her, I have some guilt over. I know the vet said she too was just uncomfortable, but not in pain, but I feel like I should have figured out something before we did.

All we can do is move forward and do better. I feel like Cece was a tiny bit of redemption for Boodle. We caught her discomfort quickly and got her help. And we're going to be so up Lizzy's shit. If she starts acting the slightest bit different, we'll be taking her to the vet right away.

I also got a thing that I saw Facebook. I was thinking about Cece and her labored breathing, and I was flipping out a bit that had she done that in the house, we couldn't have done anything for her. And then I saw an add for Pawprint Oxygen, and I kinda jumped at it. So now we have 45 minutes worth of oxygen and masks for either animal. I may get a slightly smaller mask for Yoda, but we could work with what we have. I hope never to need to use it, but I feel better having it in our bathroom cupboards. It arrived yesterday, so that's good.

Jess has a few boxes that they want to take out today, but otherwise, we're just waiting for the litter box and catbed to get everything ready. Her new carrier came yesterday. It's a very pretty royal purple soft sided carrier. Same type we'd gotten for Cece, just a different color.

Hopefully, the steamed carpet has dried, so we can put the bed in there. I wonder if she'll bother to use it?

Once all that's done, we shall settle in for our Brindlewood Bay game tonight--I'm sure that Jess and I will both be a bit scattered for it, but we'll try to focus.

Tomorrow, we have a game at 2pm. We're meeting Lizzy at 9, and Hershey is about 97 minutes, so that should get us back by 12pm. To be fair, I may not be at my finest for that game, either, but again, I'll try. I've got two hours to watch Lizzy and get to know her before game, and Jess'll be in there with her, so it'll be good. Then, after 5pm, I'll be back in to more Lizzy watching.

I'm hoping she's not too traumatized by the drive, and will let us pet her when we get home. Or, she can hide. Either is fine. We'll let her be our guide.

At least the weather is supposed to be not bad tomorrow for the drive. We're getting there a bit early because the rescue is having their grand opening for their new catio. You can pay $10 and go sit with the kitties for an hour. That opens at noon, so we'll be out of there before we get in anyone's way.

I want it to be tomorrow! Fridays are overrated. Lets skip to the good stuff.

Okay, to end it, one last picture of Lizzy, posing like the beauty influencer she's meant to be.

Everyone have an exceptional Friday!

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You spin me right round like a record baby, round, round, round round.

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:25:50 GMT

Yesterday was a day of downs and ups.

( TLDR, we had to let Cece go yesterday. )

So the morning kind of sucked. Once we got home, I cooked my breakfast and hopped online, getting to work only 15 minutes late.

On my first break, I mentioned that after having a kitty again, I hated being without, and we agreed to do some preliminary browsing on Petfinder. In the meantime, I reactivated our application with Cocoa Kitties in Hershey. They called me right back. Unfortunately, the kitten we'd been looking at was taken, but they have a ton of other cats and kittens.

We browsed the kittens and found a few possibilities, but the we looked at the cats and found one named "Thin Lizzy," after the band. She is a year old, and just finished weaning her kittens and was getting spayed today. She's a rather small cat, so I don't know how she managed to have so many kittens (like 6). Most of them have already gone, but no one wanted a momma cat.

She's described as sweet and gentle and a snuggle bug. Our application has already been approved from before Cece, and we just kind of fell in love with her little face. The rescue was so happy when we said that she was the one. They just kept saying that we made their day, because she's such a sweet cat, and after getting pregnant on the streets, she deserved a good home.

Jess immediately began cleaning the room. Even though the FELV virus can only live for 3 minutes outside the body, we're going to give it a good clean, and disenfect the areas Cece was, like the closet and our bed. We had actually gotten a new comforter, so we stripped the bed and put the new comforter on. I've got some veterinary strength disenfectant to wipe everything else down with, and we're going to throw the pad from the cat tree (where she sat for 15 seconds) into the wash and dryer.

We threw out the litter box and the drinking fountain, as that would be hard to sterilize. The bowls can be washed and run through the dishwasher on nuclear to take care of them. We'll vacuum under the bed and maybe spritz the carpet with the disenfectant. One bed, that she laid behind is gone and a replacement ordered. We also ordered a new cat carrier, which will be here tomorrow.

More cat toys were just delivered. We're throwing away all Cece's toys to be safe, and I've gotten a bunch of springs, and a laser pointer and a ribbon dancer. We also have some still boxed toy mice with catnip that she can have.

Basically, she can have anything she wants. Once we get her, I'll make an appointment with the new vet and we'll take her for her checkup and an FELV vaccine.

It looks like the new vet does some in-house testing, unlike the one we have currently, who always has to send out the blood. I'd like answers in real time from here on out, thank you.

I'm waiting for her foster to reach out to me, so that we can make sure she's comfortable with us, and hopefully set up a time for us to get her. I'm thinking Saturday morning (assuming she's recovering from her spaying okay, that is).

We do have a game Saturday, but it's not til 2, so if we leave at 8, get to Hershey by 10, and then head home, we'll probably get home about 12:30-1pm. That gives time for decompression and preparation, and I'll be good to run the game. That'll mean Jess will be sitting in the bedroom for 3 hours to help get her used to us.

I have so many questions about the little girl and what she'll like and what she'll want to do. They said she's a snuggler, so I'm hoping she'll sleep with us, and maybe even lay on us sometimes. Will she sit next to Jess while we game? What does her meow sound like? Is it tiny and polite like Cece or is she more like Boodle where she screams loudly when she needs something. These are things I must know!

Work took forever and a day, and I was not entirely focused. I still managed to get a few things done between surfing cats on Petfinder. Today will be better.

My boss put out a note reminding people that their screens are always recording, and that we could see when they go into aftercall and their mouse doesn't move for 5 minutes. Surprisingly, after that, people actually worked. The calls weren't bad for most of the day, and they kept mostly on top of them. I think the max number of people holding at once time was 10, which is a far cry from the 69 (nice) of the day before.

I feel bad for her. As the big boss, she always gets to play the heavy while the deputy manager and team managers skate by. The PAS 3's tend to get some shit, too, as we're the ones going to people and being like "Is everything okay? You've been in aftercall for 5 minutes."

That'll be me on Monday. I'm sure I'll be popular. I need to double check what my schedule will be for the two days I'm working for them. I know on Monday it's probably a 10 hour day, which will be exhausting. But I'm not sure about the 25th. I'll mention that to my manager today so I can prepare accordingly.

Last night we had steak, and it just did not taste good to me. It was like being back right after I had covid with "this steak tastes rotten." My sister and Jess' steaks tasted fine, so it was definitely a me thing. I had a slice of pizza instead. Tonight, I shall bake those lobsters. I wanted to give Cece some, but I didn't get around to it, and they need to be used tonight or tomorrow, so I can't wait for Lizzy. I'll just have to get another pack once she's here.

I hope the lobster tastes right for me. That would suck otherwise. Seafood was usually good, even when I was in the land of Covid, so I think it'll be okay.

I don't know whether to bother making baked potatoes with the lobster. I just don't know if people would have room to eat it. We've got enough for two tails each with two left over, so people may not have room for them. Then again, the lobster tails are pretty small, so I think I'll give it a try.

Aside from that, I'll just be jumping on any calls today with a number I don't recognize, hoping it's the foster. I want to assure her that they're making the right decision in letting us adopt, though after the glowing reference that poisontaster wrote, they probably already think we're the modern equivalent of St Francis of Asisi!

I feel like she got us this cat. I hope she likes us.

And on that note, I believe I shall go forth and get myself ready for work. Everyone have the very best Thursday!

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I'd rather hurt you, honestly, than mislead you with a lie

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:27:41 GMT

I am thoroughly wiped this morning. Despite the antinausea meds, Cece still refused to eat, so we took her up to the emergency vet last night. It was a long night, and she is such a good cat. She's mildly-moderately anemic, but not enough to jump in and transfuse, but since she hasn't been eating, they decided that they'd keep her overnight to keep an eye on her and see if they could better manage her nausea and also to give her some antibiotics. FELV cats are prone to infection, so we're going to see if that's part of what's causing the nausea. Also a shot of some B Vitamins to help her perk a bit. Once the labs come in this morning, the ER will get them sent over and then we'll figure out more about her situation. We dragged in at about 10:15 and almost immediately crashed as that is a long way from my 4am wakeup call.

The little room they had us in had an AC set at 74. That's a little high for yours truly, who was honestly wilting. All in all, we got there at 4:45, and we walked out about 5 hours later, and I was exhausted. The chairs also are not particularly comfy.

Fortunately, I seem to have slept a lot of the pains I had when I crawled into bed have eased up.

But through it all, Cece was a rockstar. It may be the anemia or not feeling well, but even the tech was appreciative of her overall chill nature. She was exceptionally good and calm while they took blood and checked her over.

Today, we'll see what the day brings. Maybe, if we're lucky, we can go get her early-ish, Best case, the rest of her labs are okay, they start her on steroids and that and the antibiotics and anti nausea meds help her to eat more, and the anemia fixes itself, or improves some. Second possible is that she needs a blood transfusion to help stabilize her.

Worst case, there's something else wrong with her and we need to euthanize. It's all about what's best for Cece. If treatment will buy us some quality time, we'll go for it. If her quality of life will be shit, then we need to consider things more fully.

It's hard. On one hand, I don't want to piss off the rescue if we have to euth. They fought so hard for her, and it's not their fault that this was bubbling under the surface. Cats are notoriously good at hiding how they're feeling. Honestly, if we weren't so laser focused on her, we might not either. We might have chalked it up to being new. The foster offered to send us money because she feels so bad. On the other hand, I already love her so much. She's such a dainty lady that it's impossible not to love her. I fell with the videos her foster sent before we ever met her. And now that I have met her and petted her head, I love her even more. I really want to see what her personality is like when she's not sick. So, if we can get another little while with her, my tendency is to try.

This is so unfair. She's such a good little cat, she deserves to have a long and happy life. But I'm not sure that's in the cards for Cece. We'll have to wait and see if we can get her over this hurtle.

Today, I will work, and try not to think about Ms Cece. Hopefully the vet calls early and I can maybe pick her up on lunch.

The vet was very hesitant to suggest keeping her overnight due to the lack of knowledge, but she seemed to think that they could do some good, so we went with it. Hopefully she had a good night.

Jess has therapy today. This should be fun. At least they won't have to come up with a topic to discuss!

I really need to get to the pharmacy, since I used my last lisinopril this morning. I meant to go at lunch yesterday, but I was so worried about Cece that I forgot to. If we don't pick up Cece at lunch, I'll go then.

The phones at work have been insane lately. Pretty much since we switched to the new phone system, our calls have been out of control, to the point that at times yesterday, we had 69 (nice) calls in queue. I haven't taken the brunt, though I have been taking calls when I can to try to help.

I'm on the brand new recognition committee and we're struggling on how to reward the team. We're going to set up a meeting when we can take an hour and hammer out what we've got to work with. I think they're going to be doing extra break time and maybe hour lunches. It'll impact the call volume, but one person isn't going to make or break things when we're 50+ calls deep.

I'm getting trained on how to use other tools ahead of me subbing for the other PAS IIIs in the next two weeks. It could be bit hectic, but I'm up to it. The dude who got me on the site we use to document errors forgot to put me on the email list for those errors, so that needed to be fixed. Also, I don't have the capability to check on coworkers who have been idle for a while. I don't know if I'll get that in time or not. I might have to ask the first tier managers to do it if I encounter someone in aftercall for a while.

When I sub, half my day will be on Teams answering questions, and half will be on all the admin stuff like errors and other admin stuff. None of it seems particularly difficult, just time consuming. It will not be a day when I get to check my phone much.

The first day that I'm subbing is on Monday, June 15th, so that's coming up fast. I need to double check what people's schedules are so that I can come in at the appropriate time. I think the other is Thursday, June 25th.

Hopefully, Cece will have settled down by then so I can actually focus.

Also, I had not realized how lazy some of my coworkers are. I assumed, since they started before me and knew their shit that they were good. But now that I have access, I know that a lot of them are not that good. They're hanging out in aftercall for minutes upon minutes on end, fucking around and just not acting like adults with a job. I mean, I get it, the queue sucks, the patients are irritated about waiting and then we don't have appointments in the near future and they don't like that, either, but that's the job..

Also newly finding out how shitty some of the specialist's offices are. Yesterday, one removed a behavioral advisory from a chart hoping that the scheduler would schedule at one of our outpatient sites instead of needing to be scheduled at the hospital. She wasn't even stealth about it. She just removed it in the middle of the call and thought that would get her way. Those alerts are there when the patient is a danger to others and/or themselves. I hope that gets addressed, because that is just shitty to do to the site that she's trying to schedule at and the patient. The hospital based site can provide security and an RN with sedation if need be, where as the other sites might have one aging security guard and no access to meds.

Tomorrow, Cece depending, Yoda has a grooming appt. We'll see how things are going as to whether I reschedule.

I have games every day this weekend. Two that I DM and one that I play in. I need to do a little bit of work on the ones I'm DMing. The one, I just need to read the module, and look at the notes. It's been long enough that I barely remember what happened. The other, I just need to source some maps, and prep the next few encounters. One is ready, but I kind of expect them to make it to another one or two, so I better have it ready just in case. So far the campaign has been going pretty well, with good player engagement, so that's always fun to get to work with.

The other has engagement, but it's also an incredibly complex module, and not very well coded. I'm frequently scrambling to find character sheets and what not. The module itself is very good, but it's also one that requires the DM to do some heavy lifting. Due to schedules, we're still in the early part of the module, and things are still kicking off. It's also a large party, which slows things down a bit.

For now, though, I'm going to drink some coffee and relax and in a bit, I'll call to check on the Princess Cece and see how her night went. Everyone have a stupendous day!

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These people want to sell you the same old crap but you want new, you want bigger, you want brighter

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:29:53 GMT

It's Tuesday! We survived Monday!

Yesterday was a bit of a slog! Knowing that we had Cece's vet appt kind of made the whole day blah. By the time I got off work, I was definitely over it. I took a fair amount of calls because we were psychotically busy as usual for a Monday. And there just weren't the openings to work on getting some STAT patients in. I did manage to get two in, so that was something. I'm a little pissed with the one site. I had grabbed 2 hours on an MRI machine. I took 30minutes of it. After that patient had been scheduled, they came back and asked if I was using it. I assumed it was the 90min they were asking abotu, as the pt was already scheduled. No, they wanted all of it. They wanted me to move this pt, who has a new scary diagnosis, to 6/15 instead of 6/10. I'm trying to find somewhere else to put her, but she didn't answer when I called with one for today. I'm incandescently angry at them for doing this and annoyed that they've put me in the situation. I'm hoping I come in to some nice cancellations that I can use when I log on.

After work, we tucked Yoda in my sister's room, and took the Princess for her appt. She had been very quiet all day, and not eaten much, so we were a little concerned. Let me tell you, the cat I thought was possibly lethargic? Yeah, she threw the biggest, most polite tantrum. It involved telling us how unhappy she was with our choices in her tiny polite voice, and then flinging herself down dramatically with a delicate little yell. Once we got into the vet, she continued flopping and yelling and added in trying to claw her way out. Fortunately, she's not very bright and was kicking places that would do nothing to aid her.

Verdict, she's a litlte underweight, and her gums and other mucous membranes are a little pale. Aside from that, she seems like a healthy cat. We did get her fluids, and we also had them give her an anti-nausea shot called Cerenia, which will hopefully also act as an appetite stimulant. She got a ton of labwork drawn, including a FELV PCR test which will tell us where she is in her infection. They should be back by Wednesday, and the PCR by Friday.

Once that was done, we took her home and let her get into her closet to hide from her traumatic experience. Then, we flopped on the sofa, feeling like we ran a marathon. The vet was running late, and their waiting room is really busy. It was making me massively overstimulated. I was just so overwhelmed and I wanted to cry.

Later, I kind of snapped at the dog for barking and then took myself to bed, as obviously the overstim hadn't worked it's way out.

When I woke up at about 1 to use the bathroom, the kitty was out of the closet exploring. I asked her if she wanted to come up and sleep with us, and she did jump up, but did not stay for any length of time. Eventually, she wanted to do some more poking around. Hopefully, she at a little something now that the nausea med is in her. If not, I'll ask more about appetite stimulants. She can have some kitty weed as a treat.

Today, I have a virtual doctor appt to discuss Mounjaro and why I hate it and won't be taking it any more. We'll need to see what we can put in it's place. I'm thinking either Jardiance or Trulicity. What I really want is those stem cell treatments in China that can make your own pancreas work again. I know it's still in trials, but goddamn, I'd like that. Maybe in a few years down the road.

The rest of the week is pretty chill. On Thursday, Yoda has his day of beauty, which is good, since he has a few dingleberry's clinging to his butt. Not bad, just fragments of poop. He seems to be perking up from his shot, much less itchy, though he's still scooting his butt a bit.

He's been such a good boy about the kitty. He sniffs the door, but doesn't bark or paw at it. Just sniffs and looks confused. With Boodle, we used this thing that went over the handle, and then a piece slotted into the hole where it would latch, keeping the door open just enough for Boodle to get in and out, but not Yoda. It looks like this, except in black. It's an ingenious little device. Boodle made full use of it, coming to bug us whenever she wanted fresh water.

Cece doesn't seem to like the fountain, so that may be going in the trash. I'll give her a few more days to see if she changes her mind as she comes out more, but if not, it goes. She also wants to be fed under the bed, which makes sense, as it's safeer feeling for her. If it stays that way, then I'll finally be able to put up our second dresser. Which would be awesome, because we have a lot of clothes. Just my underwear alone needs two drawers, though I want to go through them and start discarding some of the older pairs. I have another whole bag that I brought for vacation that's in the top of my closet, because I really didn't need it.

We could also move the socks out of Jess' desk, which would also be good, because we have a lot of those, too. I went a little bugfuck prepping for vacation, it seems. Then, I could move some of the leggings and bike shorts as well. Maybe fold up some of my t-shirts instead of hanging them. Have a drawer for jeans! I only have a few pair, but they take up so much room!

Maybe I'll try to do that this weekend, though we do have some games to play. On Saturday, it's not til 2 for Odyssey of the Dragonlords and on Sunday it's at 12pm.

I put in to work a couple of Saturdays in July. I hadn't worked any in May or June. May because of vacation, and June because the sign up came out while I was in Juneau, and I wasn't checking my work mail. We'll see if I get both or just one. I'd prefer just one, if I'm being honest. I like the extra money, and this would be a nice extra, though I don't know how much. It'll be the first time I've worked a Saturday since my promotion.

I'm also working 7/3, which because the 4th of July is on a Saturday, is considered a holiday. As such, I will get time and a half, plus 8 hours of Holiday PTO to be used as I see fit. Plus, it'll probably, maybe be quieter. Fridays are usually not bad, and with the holiday, I can hope things stay calm. That will also be a nice little bump. The 8 hours PTO is choice though. Normally, they'd pay out the 8 hours from our holiday bank to compensate for the day we were closed. But in this case, since we work it, we just get that 8 hours. So really, it's like getting double time and a half. I'm looking forward to it.

Tonight, I believe I'm going to make the steaks I bought, or possibly the lobster tails. They're the little ones, so I got two boxes. Add to that a baked potato and I think it's a good dinner. The steaks could go in the freezer and come out on Friday. Yoda has a vet appointment next week, so that will be fun. I'm hoping they're not quite as crazy as they were yesterday. Yoda would not have been a fun addition to that mess yesterday. He would have been barking at all the dogs and choking himself trying to go meet them. It's never a good time, but that was intense.

He'll need all his vaccines to be updated, so that he's good to go for daycare on 6/20 while we go see the Rocky Horror in NYC.

For today, I will try to get some people in, and do my work. There's a couple of dates coming up that I'm going to be covering for the other PAS III's, so I'll be busy those days at least. I think one is next week and the other is the week after. I need a crash course in what I need to do, but I don't think it'll be a problem. I appreciate the trust.

I'm hoping the insane call volumes lately will convince the powers that be that we need more phone people. We've got one position that's soon to be posted, but that's been delayed a dozen times. What we really need is like 5-6 good people who can move calls, because yesterday at times, we had 50 calls waiting in queue. It's just been brutal. And even if we all sped up our calls, there's no way we can get to them in a timely manner. We could really use the help.

And it would help if they fixed the thing that verifies the patient's insurance. Sometimes, it takes forever to verify, and you're stuck between clicking through it and moving the call along, or waiting forever and having to small talk the pt, or getting off the phone, and then having to wait in aftercall for it to finish. Either way, it's not good. We get a report card of how many times we bypassed the verification. But on the other hand, we're getting killed. Also a problem is our Financial Team. Theoretically, they're there to ask questions and get answers while the pt is on the phone. In practice, it can take them upwards of 10 minutes to reply, assuming they do at all. It's another thing that drags out our call length and lets that volume build even more.

Add on to it, is that sometimes we have to send emails to financial or to leadership for various questions or to request authorizations, which takes time, and I'm really not sure what they expect. We have complex jobs that require us to use complex tools to schedule appropriately, and that takes time.

I feel for both the people who are primarily taking calls, and also the bosses, who are getting pressure because of our shitty service level. We're going to be doing a recognition committee soon, so I'm hoping to at least make people feel a little more appreciated.

And since you made it to the bottom, here's your moment of Cece Zen.

Everyone have an awesome Tuesday!

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And who am I to judge you on what you say or do? I'm only just beginning to see the real you

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:30:29 GMT

It's very early. We ended up playing our 5:30pm game at 7pm, wso I'm a little but tired. I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. I will muddle through.

I will wake up with the application of lots of coffee. I need all the bean juice. Today I have work, then I will take the little princess to the vet to be checked out. She's been a little bit quiet, so I wonder if she's having some depression, or even a little FELV flare. Jess said her gums are a little pale, so she might need a fluid bolus, or an iron shot, or eve a blood transfusion. Never having had Cece, we don't know how pale her gums are normally, thig pale, or if she needs some support. I'm a little bit worried, but we'll give her whatever support she needs.

Just a couple of little pictures of her today. After starting the day on the bed, she spent a lot of the day in her little area in the closet, only coming out lorn enough to say hello a few times.

Portrait of a brave girl on the bed.

A little gargoyke sutting by the desk

The rare sighting of the closet cryptid.

I'm a a little worried about the vets, but it could just be that we haven't figured out the little cryptid's konami code yet.

She was very sweet while she was circulating through the room. I gave her the tiniest peice of duck and she scarfed it down, going so far as to shake her head and breaking her prey's (nonexistent) neck. It was super cute and endearing. I may pull her out some chicken breasts and cook them for her. If we need to feed her salmon oil and chicken, that'w what we shall do.

She does get judgy sometimes. It is also cute. When the dog barks, she kinda looks at the door like ""stinky dog." She'll turn it on us when the food and snacks don't seem to meet her standards, though we did get her to eat a few bites of I and Love and You Xoxo's Whitefish and tuna, so that was good.

Then, she fucked off to the closet, and I ran up to the local crab shack because I wanted a crabcake and some steamed shrimp. The crabcake was sadly very mid, so I might have to consider getting a crabcake dinner from one of the good restaurants, just to get what I want.

Then, with game snacks in hand, we settled in to play Marchen. It went really well, but I think the plot may have been over complicated. A few people lost track here and there, so I will try to make future plot points more straight forward. It did lead to the best exchange of the day, though so I am not at all sorry for it.

The total asshat of a ruler in this land asked if the werewolf his wife had just killed was the beast. One character said yes, and one said no. No firm plan had been decided, and it's super like this party to contradict each other. Honestly, had they not mentioned it, I would have just assumed that it wasn't a particularly masterful bit of roleplay.

They do have wrap up of the current country, but after that, they can move on to the next country, with minimal interruptions on the way. Sadly, we don't play again until the 27th, schedules being what they are. Though the 14th seems to be open, so I did ask about that in chat just to make sure that there was actually sometihng else on that date.

After game I determined that I wanted dim sum for the next game and put in an order.

The second game got pushed back from it's normal 5:30pm time to 7pm, as I mentioned, so during the afternoon, we got stuff done. We napped. That was what we got done. Then, I heated up some dim sum and peking duck, and prepared for game. It was very tasty and sustained me through the three hours. *g*. I went to bed stuffed.

The game was also fun. We're going to kill some hags, but first we got waylaid by displacer beasts. This is the campaign that I play the slightly pyromaniac Bladesinger wizard. Sadly, his fireball was not useful. However, Steel Wind Strike kicked ass. I love it when I get to cast it. It's a multiple enemy attack that does massive damage if it hits. He was about 50/50 on whether it hit, but that still meant that he hit them like 6 times over both uses of the spell. He's only got one more high-level spells left, so hopefully the hag fight isn't too bad.

I woke up at 6 and the

Had a really good day yesterday. I didn't do that much, but it felt stuffed with fun things. It was actually a pretty good weekend.

Today, I shall call the new vet and see if they would be able to see Cece today. IF not, we'll do one visit at the current vet, and then move onto the new.

I'd rather go with the new vet from the start, but I also want the baby seen today (especially since I already took two hours off of work).

Yoda has a grooming appt at 10:30am that Jess will take him to. Depending on when he's finished, either Jess or I will pick him up, and then it will be off to the vet for Cece.

He's been such a good boy about the new cat. He'll sniff at the suddnely closed door, but he doesn't bark or growl. He's just curious. I'm very proud of him. Of course, she's also been her dainty very quiet self. Even her meow isn't very loud.

I did posit a question to the bigger server. I had donated capital to a group of potential new builders. And they were building cabins in the Western Mountains of Maryland. They started construction recently, and tomorrow, it is time to book your stays. I asked if people would be interested in doing a D&D weekend where we all went up to this three bedroom cabin and have two and a half days of D&D. It wouldn't be like playing through. Good lord, I'm 53, I don't have that kind of stamina. But like four-6 three hour sessions. We could play a mini campaign in that amount of time. I think it would be a lot of fun, and people have agreed, so I guess tomorrow, I'm putting in for a cabin next summer/fall. We don't have to choose dates right now, it's just making the statement of intent that I would like to book for this number of days and paying a deposit. In August, we'll chose dates and book the cabin.

I definitely want to allow time between sessions, because these are going to be luxyry modern cabins complete with a hot tub, a sauna and a cold plunge pool. The interior looks amazing. A full kitchen, plus outdoor grill. They'll even do your grocery run for you and have it waiting, or have meals waiting for you. We'll probably pack in our own groceries. I don't want to stomp on people's food choices after all. A quick trip to Sam's Club and we'll be good to go.

I think it'll be a lot of fun! I do enjoy playing in person, and these would all be my people, so it should be awesome.

And now, I shall drink some more coffee and try to wake up. Everyone have the best Monday you can Monday.

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I am brave, I am strong, I may be afraid, but I will go on

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 10:31:34 GMT

Well, this morning started out on a high note. I woke up, went to get my coffee, realized I hadn't take my inhaler, and went back into the bedroom only to see a smoll kitty on the foot of our bed with us.

Princess Cece has been mostly hiding in the closet, coming out once in a while for love, so this is a bit step. She chose to come out and sleep on the bed with her new humans! She's so brave! She's adjusting a little bit at a time, but she doesn't seem to be having the stress reaction her foster was afraid of. When she was left at the vet to be euthanized, she needed a saline bolus to help her, so we've been watching her like a hawk. But she seems to be okay.

( A handful of pictures of the baby. )
I'm not sure her vision is very good, because she wouldn't follow the little string toy at all, though if I let the feather brush her, I got a paw. But she's still a bit traumatized, so we'll give her a little while and try again.

I was thinking there was no chance that she'd sit with Jess during game, but now I'm just not so sure. She might come over and sit.

So far, this is the sweetest natured, most polite cat in all of existence. She is nothing but love. Yesterday, she wanted ear rubbed so badly that she shoved her head and my hand down to the floor so she could get maximum pressure on my scritches. I'm going to have to grow my nails again so she can get the good stuff.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm kind of in love.

Yesterday was mostly spent with her. We'd cycle in and out of the room, even while she was hiding and talk to her to help get her used to our voices. When she'd come out, we'd sit with her and give her all the love and tell her how brave she is.

But she spent most of the day in the closet, so I wasn't expecting her to be on our bed this morning. I'm so happy.

She went on a little hunger strike yesterday that was apparently "I want my kibble." She wouldn't eat any of the wet food we were giving her more than a little nibble, and we were getting concerned. We were told that she was a picky eater, but she wasn't eating anything. The vets I've found online say to give a wet food diet, because it increases hydration, but Celeste had a different opinion. Jess gave her kibble and she immediately ate half a bowl. Then she drank some water. So that made us feel better.

Having a FELV cat shouldn't always be so high stress, it's just sometimes when they're stressed, they can have a little crash. But she's doing really well!

Sorry for babbling about her so much. She's my new special interest.

I did go out for lunch with a work friend, which was nice. I had some things I'd gotten for her from Canada/Alaska, so it was good. I had cream of crab soup and meat lasagna, both of which were really good, but good lord, my stomach made me pay. I had such nausea and stomach cramps afterwards. Fucking Mounjaro getting in it's last licks.

One thing I have noticed is that if I'm really nauseous after a heavy meal, sometimes eating something light can help ease it some. So a few hours later, I had sushi and miso soup and that seemed to settle things down.

Hopefully, the Mounjaro will work its way out of my system in the next few days, and this will all be a thing of the past.

Today, we have two games, Marchen at 12pm and Nine Omens at 5:30pm, depending on traffic for one of our players who's coming home from down south. It's all down to DC and Baltimore traffic. Which probably means the game is doomed, because our beltways do not fuck around, even on the weekend.

I'm looking forward to both very much, so I'm hoping that things behave.

We're reconsidering whether we want to take Cece to our current vet. Jess doesn't like driving and the current vet is on a busy road, and can be difficult to get in and out of. If it looks like she's going to be going regularly, it might be worth it to switch her to a new, more easily accessible place. Also, this was the place we've been going, so it's about a 20 minute drive to get there, which might stress her out. So we're thinking on it. I'll call the vet we're looking at tomorrow early and see if we could get her in there in the near future for a check up.

We have an appointment at the old vet tomorrow, so if the new one doesn't have one right away, we can always go there and then switch. The new vet is about 9 minutes away and not on a main road, so Jess would be able to take her by themselves if they want to see her more frequently for weigh ins and what not. (They found a few people online whose vet wanted to see their FELV+ cat monthly, so we're preparing for that. Other's just do every 3 or 6 months, so we'll see what they say.)

I'm so glad I called out of work so that we could get her on Friday. Today would have been very difficult and she'd have had less support from both of us. This way, we can keep an eye on her and give her love when she wants it, and just be there to enjoy the new baby. Tomorrow, I'll go to work and spend a little time with her on my breaks and lunch, and then quality time in the evening.

I'm still debating on going to Sam's Club today. It'll be the 7th circle of hell, but we do need toilet paper and I really want to get Cece some lobster to try. She probably won't want it, but I'd like to see. We have some portions of halibut that are in the freezer, so I may pull them out and make them tonight so she can taste that. I may just order the four pack of little frozen lobster tails and have them delivered. They're not quite as tasty as the fresh, but Cece won't know the difference. Or if I want to make something simple, we have a fisherman's pie that is basically like a halibut pot pie. I've wanted to try it, so maybe we'll put one of those in. That would be an easy dinner between games. I'm not sure how it'll be, but I'm willing to try it. If it's not to my taste, I still have half a portion of lasagna.

And now, I believe I shall drink my coffee and go back in and pet a kitty some more. Everyone have an outstanding Sunday.

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If you want it, just take it, the world's yours, don't waste it, go make the stars align

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:12:29 GMT

Well, that didn't go anyhow near I had planned it. In the best possible way.

I went to work as usual yesterday, and then I got the bright idea that I could just take a half day of work, put Yoda in the bedroom and we could go to get the Princess Celeste. Jess nixed that one, because they didn't want to leave Yoda alone for that long. But then I came up with another option. We could move his allergy shot up earlier, and then leave around 5:30, which would only leave him alone for a max of 30 minutes. Jess agreed and the foster was up for it, so I called the vet, and moved Yoda's shot appointment up a bit.

Yoda did not enjoy his allergy shot. He yelped like they murdered him when they lifted him onto the table. Little dog HATES being picked up. But he got it and should be feeling much less itchy soon. Then we had a bit of time to pet and praise him until he settled down, and then it was time!

The drive to York wasn't bad at all. Aside from some traffic right around our house, we managed to miss everything, and pulled into the parking lot of the Petsmart right around 6:35pm. Our appointment was at 7, so we chilled for a little while.

On the way down the street to the store, there were people in chairs and on the back of pickups lining the street. IT was technically for a parade of street rod cars. but it felt like these people were here to cheer us on as we went to meet little Celeste.

She and her foster arrived a few minutes later, and we went to a room to let her out of her carrier. Needless to say, she was a wee bit overwhelmed and shy. But oh my lord, she's cute. After a little while, she got brave, and came out and sniffed around the room, gracing me with a rub against my calf and giving Jess the all important head newf and laying next to them for a few moments.

After a bit, the foster asked what we thought, and we immediately said yes. Of course there was paperwork, but only one sheet. Her adoption fee was only $75. I gave them $140, because that was ridiculously low, and they do good work, taking care of bottle babies and sick kitties, so they can put that towards the next cat who needs extra TLC.

Then, we drove home. Cece was mostly quiet the whole drive, to the point that we kept peeking to make sure she was stil in there. Every once in a while, she gave a very tiny polite mew to let us know that she wasn't sure she liked being stuck in the carrier. I, who was braced for the full on yowling song of her people, wasn't sure what to do with such a sweet girl.

Then we got her home, and sat her carrier on the bed, and opened it up. She was again tentative, but eventually came out. I offered her some treats which were scarfed, and she ate a little food before going under the bed. When we looked for her before bed, she had disappeared thoroughly, and wherever she went is where she stayed. Hopefully, today she'll come out and investigate a bit.

The happy family.

As a result, we cancelled most of our plans for the weekend. I am still going out to meet with a riend for lunch, but Jess has a phone call scheduled with their brother, so they will be hanging out here with kitty. When I come back, Jess will get a little break, and I will sit in with her. If she seems to want company, we'll just stay there. She has water and food under the bed, so if she doesn't want to come out just yet, she doesn't have to. If she wants more quiet time, maybe we'll go to the movies this afternoon, but we'll see.

Tomorrow, we have games planned, so we'll be at home all day for her, and Jess will be in the bedroom at their desk, which apparently is something she's enjoyed with her fosters. The husband played video games, and she would sit on his lap or right next to him. We're hoping she does that for us as well.

All in all, this weekend is about baby.

She's so soft and pretty. She has the tiny pale ring around her eyes like little spectacles, and the softest fur, and the tiniest little meow. (That will probably change once she settles in.).

She'll go to the vet on Monday and get more info on her health and see what her FELV status is. Hopefully we get good news, but if not, we'll take care of her whatever comes.

From what we've seen so far, she is the most chill, laid back cat on the planet. I'm looking forward to seeing if that holds, or if she'll be a little shit once she settles in.

Now that the sun is coming up, I may take her some fresh food, and see if I can spot a baby. We gave her the familiar food last night, but today I may mix in some of the bougie food to see if it will tempt her. She's apparently a picky eater who likes to graze instead of eating the whole can in one sitting, so we'll be watching to make sure she eats enough. We also have enough treats and toppers to give her variety. My favorite is the krill mix that has tiny little shrimps in it. I've slipped Yoda some shrimps and he loves them.

I also would like to get to Sam's Club and get some lobster tails, so I can cook them up for us, and then see if Cece would like some tidbits. She's going to be so very spoiled, even if she doesn't know it yet. (I also need coffee creamer, so I'm not just going to get lobster for the cat!)

I just cant even with her little face. I want to do all the snuggling, and I have to wait for her to feel comfortable. Hopefully she'll come out today and let us shower her with all the affection. And pictures. As soon as pictures are obtained, more will be forthcoming.

For now, I will drink my coffee and let both her and Jess rest.

I know my brother in law will be over this afternoon to meet her, but we'll see if Ms. Celeste would like to make an appearance.

But, hey y'all, we have a cat again. I need to scan her vet records in for both our vet and also the apartments, so I can formally add her to the lease, so that'll be sometime this weekend. No rush.

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And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:50:00 GMT

It's finally Friday! I think the next few days are going to be busier than my average workday, tbh. I'm going to get to Monday and be like "What do you mean the weekend's over. I had not weekend." It's good stuff, but there's a lot of it.

Today is a good example. I've got work, including the hour+ manager's bitch-athon meeting, which is always good entertainment. Then, during lunch break, it's off to go get the pills from the pharmacy. After work, we have to take a very itchy dog to the vet to get his Cytopoint shot, so he'll feel better. Then, we have the Amazing Digital Circus finale at the movie theater this evening. Fortunately, that's not supposed to have any previews, so we should be out right around 8:30pm. Then it'll be off to bed at a reasonable hour.

Saturday, it's up early to take Yoda to his summer camp so that everyone can do stuff and he won't be stuck at home moping. Then it's back to load up the car for a later trip to the storage unit. Then, we're off to the movies again, this time for He-Man. We all know that I am here for a campy sword and sorcery movie. Then, we come back, I go to have lunch with a friend while Jess catches up with their brother. Once I'm back, we'll be taking more stuff to the storage unit, and then coming back to finish preparing the house for our new overlord.

Sunday, we have a little time in the morning, and then we're going to have game at 11, and as soon as we finish, we're on our way up to York, PA to meet with her fabulousness. Then, providing that she likes us, we head home with Celeste, or as I've been calling her, Princess Cece. Once we get her back and settled, we may have another game, depending on another player's travel speed.

Then it will be bedtime and we will see if our little princess lets us sleep at all. I'm braced.

Yesterday, I had work, then at lunch I built a cat tree that came with absolutely no instructions. Years of IKEA had prepared me, and I had it together in about 20 minutes.

It's not enormous, but I think it'll be a good height. The top piece is just above Jess' desk, so if she wants to cuddle during games, she can just hop over to pester them. We were told that she liked to sit on the foster's lap while she gamed, which would be awesome. More importantly, it seems like it would be an easy one to get up on, just stair steps to get to the cushy top. I hope she likes to use it to lounge in the sunbeams. We get pretty strong and warm morning sun, so it's a good place to bask.

I also got her a new drinking fountain, which I got set up.

We were told that she eats the tender bit kibble and then wet kitten food. She's very picky, but the rescue is operated on a shoestring, so they can't get terribly adventurous with her food. It's strictly donations or the cheap stuff.

I did get some of the cheap stuff that she likes, but I also got her some good food, with premium toppers and then a sampler of the seriously bougie fresh food, so we'll see what she likes. I would really like to see her gain a couple of pounds.

And I'm excited to occasionally slip her people food, when we have good stuff. Boodle loved the occasional bits of lobster tail or halibut or cod, and I wonder if Celeste will like it.

You'll notice in that picture that she's got a lot of bowls already because of the uncertainty of what she'll eat. But, everything I've looked up says that FELV+ cats should be on entirely wet food diets for the hydration and the higher fat content, so we might go in that direction.

We've got a few more things coming today, and I believe that is it for what Princess Celeste shall need. A new litter box, a scooper, and a mat for that water fountain. and the two bed/caves. One shall go in the closet, and one under the bed, so that baby will have places to feel safe.

Are we overcompensating for the knowledge that we might only have a little while with her? Maybe. But that's okay. She deserves all the love and spoiling after what the prior adopters put her through. She's going to be our little princess for as long as she lives, be it one, two, five or ten years.

In looking up FELV, I've discovered that the median age to survive after diagnosis is about 4 years. But, I found that other cats lived 7, 10 or the oldest, 22 years after being infected as a kitten.

I'm 100% behind 15+ years with Princess Cece.

Right now, I'm just impatient. I want to know everything about her. I want to know what her full meow sounds like. So far, we've heard a little mew and some chirps, but I want to hear that Siamese yell. I want to know if she's a polite kitty, or if she likes to knock things off tables. I want to know what her fur feels like, and if she likes being kissed on the top of her little head.

I especially want to know how she likes to be loved. Is the belly a trap? I got her a handful of new toys, including a water play mat. We'll see if she likes that. Is she going to get zoomies in the middle of the night? Should I expect to be run over repeatedly at 2am? I want to know everything about her.

Monday, I'm leaving work early to take her to her vet appt. I'm nervous about it, but also have a "what will be, will be." philosophy.

It's kind of adorable. When I started browsing Petfinder, Jess wasn't sure they were ready for a new kitty. I showed them some pictures, put in a couple of applications. But when they responded about Celeste, Jess got excited. Now they're as all in as I am. Just ride or die for this little cat we've only seen pictures and video of. They are participating in preparing to spoil a baby.

I don't wanna wait another 2 days to go get her! I want her now. And then I want the day off to spend time with her. I'm thinking about taking Monday off. I've got the time, and it might be nice for her to have both of us. Plus, then I could have a day to crash. I'm pretty sure I've got the time, so I might ask my manager about that. I need to put in another hour of PTO for the week after next as Yoda is due for his vaccines and needs his checkup, so I'll have to double check my time.

I was going to do both vet appointments next week, but then that seemed like a lot to deal with.

He's going to seriously whine about being left behind on Monday while we take her to the vet. I didn't want to deal with taking him the very next day.

I'm debating on what we're doing for dinner tonight. With taking the dog for his allergy shot, I won't have a ton of time to cook, so it'll probably be snacks at the movie and my sister will be on her own. Maybe I'll order something for 3:30, so we can have an early dinner.

I've also got to make Yoda's food today and find time to bag and seal it. They didn't have some of his meat in stock, so I'm going to have to use some ground goat instead of chunks. I don't know what kind of gravy that'll make, but we'll see. Next time, I'll just make sure to indicate that if they don't have lamb, it can also be goat meat.

I've also got the cat's bougie food that's supposed to come today, though as it is currently showing New Jersey, I doubt it. It'll probably come tomorrow.

Same, sadly for our coffee. We're getting low on Tim Hortons, and might have to use some of our inferior coffee. It was supposed to come today as well, but also appears to be in NJ. Maybe Fedex can do it, but we'll see.

The few other pet things we ordered should be coming today, at least. The more set up I have things, the happier I am. It looks like her collar and dress are going to be coming next week sometime, which is fine. It's not a deal breaker. I believe she comes with a collar, and I have a little harness coming for when she goes to the vet's office. She's going to be in her carrier, but I believe in being doubly safe.

Oh, and then on Tuesday, I get to have a virtual visit with my primary care doctor to discuss why I'm going off Mounjaro and what the next option shall be. I'm leaning towards something like Trulicity or Jardiance. I know some of them have the same issues, but hopefully not to the same extent.

Okay, I need to put in an order for something for breakfast for me. I forgot to get eggs, so I can't make myself breakfast. I'm debating between putting in an order for eggs to come today, or waiting til tomorrow and making a quick stop at Sam's Club, since it's right by the storage unit. I could get some meat, and maybe even a few lobster tails so that the princess can try a little taste.

Okay, time for me to get myself together. Everyone have a most excellent Friday!

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Cause feeling pain's a hard way to know you're still alive.

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:37:55 GMT

Happy Thursday!

I'm so glad that the only places I need to go today are both air conditioned. They're not up to my levels of frosty, but but it's better than nothing. Today, unlike yesterday, I will not be sitting outdoors for over 2 hours int the heat. But more about that later. I have two things to do today. 1. go get our pills, and 2. take some stuff to the storage unit so kitty will have more room. The pharmacy is important, but the storage unit is vital. We've got winter clothes, and suitcases and a Christmas tree to get out of the house. We want the good Princess Celeste to have plenty of room.

When I expressed frustration that we had four more days until we got to meet her, her foster mama offered to meet tonight. It's tempting, but we're not ready. Plus we have a lot going on this weekend, and I'd hate to leave her the first full day.

So, Sunday it is. How can I possibly wait to pick up this baby?

I love her foster mother. I had asked if she had any video or audio of her talking. which she's sent. But she's continued to send photos and video of her. They're adorable, and I appreciate it so much.

We got more info on her background. She was adopted in 2022 by what was assumed to be a lovely couple. They passed all the background check and vets and references. They had her for 3 years, before she tested positive for FELV. They immediately wanted to euthanize, but the vet worked with hte shelter, and let them know. They hurried over, and she was saved. (The people have since turned to backyard breeding to make some cash, so they're not great people in general.) She's been back with them for 8 months, so she'she's about 4 years old. I was already grumpy at these people when I thought they'd surrendered her. But no, instead they were going to euthanize a perfectly healthy cat who may never show signs of FELV. Also as presumed, they got the cheap test, which has a 40% fals positive on healthy cats.

I mean, maybe on Monday, our vet will say "yes, she has it." It's what I'm expecting on the PCR test. Then, we'll make plans on how to keep her as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

I went insane on buying. Princess Cece got like four packages yesterday. Chewy is doing little backflips, I swear. Also Petco and Amazon. She's got a ton of food, meal toppers, treats, churus. And more coming today, I think. She has her bougie food coming and her cat tree, and maybe a fountain to drink out of and her princess dress (which I repeat: if she doesn't want to be a cat who wears clothes, she certainly doesn't have to.

Even her foster was saying that they're kind of limited to what's donated and what's on sale food wise, so she's going to be in for a bit of a shock at the level she's to be spoiled. Last night, I ordered two cat bed/caves for her to hide in if she needs to. They're both very nice and she can curl up in either and feel safe. One is a cute felted orb. The opening is kind of high on the side, so she'll be able to either peek out or snuggle down out of sight. The second is made like a cat food can, with the top just a tiny bit raised for the best hiding places. She's going to be SO spoiled. And hopefully, Ms. Picky Eater will find her groove and become spherical kitty!

We'll keep it within reason, but we're going to make this cat round.

Yesterday was a busy day. I worked from 8-12, then went over to the Patient Access Picnic. Last year, our table was behind the speaker, this time in front of. Even though we were about 50 feet away, good lord it was loud. You could barely hear yourself think, and to talk to someone, you had to yell, so that made it even louder. I came home with a screaming headache. The company was lovely, including a couple of my old IKEA friends, J and M. I helped M get hired in Radiology. I have kept in touch via facebook messenger, but it was really nice to see her. The food was okay. Hamburgers and hot dogs, BBQ chicken, pasta salad, corn and baked beans. The chicken was a little dry, but the sauce was good, so that was something. I was severely nauseous when I left, but the Mounjaro did not make anything return to sender, so that's good. All in all, glad I went, to see M if nothing else, but lord, I wish they'd turn the music down. Of course, next week I'm going to be in another loud overstimulating environment, taking a turn at the Hopkins Pride booth.

After the picnic, I'd planned on getting the pills, but the beltway was backed way up on both sides. I think I'll probably try to go at lunch. I got home a little after 3. Of course, being me, I'd offered to work the last two hours of the day in case we were crazy. (Which we were.). It was a lot of fun with the headache, but I got through it.

I got a certificate from the Head of Radiology in the Hospital for always being willing to help out with problems. It came with points, so soon I'll be able to buy some other silly, useless thing.

Tomorrow, we have to set up the cat tree. (Unless it gets here early and we do it tonight) We should also test the fountain (Depending on when that arrives). Oh, and probably make another trip to the storage unit. We have a lot of shit between the 3 suitcases, a big cooler, Christmas stuff and winter clothes. It'll be nice to have the big suitcases out, since we won't need any of them for 5 months. I'm pretty sure the overnight trip at the end of July can be handled in the Nomade Lane carry on and maybe my tiny kid-sized rolly bag. The beginning of October might need a rolly bag for each of us, since the con lasts 3 days. And CONfab will definitely need a rolly bag and maybe a big bag.

Saturday, we have to drop the puppers off for his day care. We have He-Man in the morning at 10, Im going out to lunch with a friend after, and then we shall work on getting anything else ready for the princess. We'll change the sheets. Shame the new comforter hasn't come. I'll vacuum, and wipe things up, just so there's a little less Boodle hair on things.

Sunday, we have game at 11-2, then we're driving up to York, PA to meet Miss Celeste. And as long as she doesn't hate us, we're coming home with a kitty. Her foster has made it clear that she's ours if we want her. So that's good. We were both a little worried that the foster would hate us, but we've been texting and she's decided that we're good people. So yay!

I'm a wee bit nauseous this morning, but we'll see how it goes through the day. I will nudge Jenn about the PTO I put in for both Celeste and Yoda's appointments this week. Celeste is Monday and Yoda's is Wednesday. I may call today to see if we could nudge his cytopkine shot up to today or tomorrow, because he's been itching something fierce and I don't want him to get an infection.

All in all, the beanside/nilchance house is all in for this kitty. I'd say the kitty talk will drop off when we get her, but I'd probably be lying.

One thing they did mention about her is that she loves to sit next to you or on your lap while you game. Jess is so excited about that. Boodle would lay on the cat tree next to her desk, or on the desk while Jess played D&D. Depending on one of our other group member's travel plans, we may have a game right after we get her home, so she'll get her chance pretty quickly, though it might take a couple of weeks for her to get that comfy.

Or, maybe she will be one of those cats who just settles right in with no fuss, I have no idea. It's all up to her.

Okay, going to stop babbling and drink some coffee. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

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The flesh and the fantasies, all coming back to me

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:39:35 GMT

It's Wednesday, and I have a freaking work picnic in 83 degree weather. Oh joy. I do want to go, it's just gonna be hot and sunny and my stomach is Mounjaro pissed.

I think I'm done with the Mounjaro. I spent 20 minutes praying to the porcelain god yesterday because it got pissy. It was not fun, and I've come to the conclusion that it was just not sustainable. This was the lower dose, and it still made me puke. I just cant do it any more. There's a few other meds we can try, so hopefully one of them doesn't make me sick. Next stop Trulicity or Januvia. I put a somewhat less strong note to my doctor, but when she replies, I think I'll let her know that I won't be taking more Mounjaro on Sunday. It's just too much. I can't spend 5 out of 7 days so nauseous that I'm functionally useless. By the time I get through work, I'm to tired to do anything. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to my family. I have a friend who's on the same dose as I am, so it won't go to waste. I'll just put it in a cooler and take it to the picnic to give her.

So yeah, yesterday sucked, aside from getting a couple of videos of the kitty. First one was of her very little meow. The second is of her little chitters.

She's been sunning herself in the warm sun, so she has that little ring around her eyes, because Siamese have color changing fur--lighter in the warm, darker in the cold.

From what I've gotten from her foster, this meeting is a formality. As long as we're not axe murderers, this is our kitty. The only thing that could be a problem is if she doesn't like us. I've already gone in and ordered supplies--food, treats, toys, a cat tree that'll put her just above Jess' desk for easy access. We were told that she likes to be close especially when you're gaming or at the computer, so that way she can be close, and if she wants, it's an easy hop to bug Jess. I also may have bought her a pretty velvet collar and a tiny dress. If she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to wear it, but I figured we'd see.

Yesterday the first bit of things for the princess arrived. She now has food bowls, and a plate for the wet food. Still to come is her big drinking fountain. If it doesn't come in time, she can use Boodle's bowl for a little while until it shows up. It's going to be hard waiting for Sunday. I really just want to meet her now and bring her home. But we need to wait for everything to get here and get set up, and that won't be til Thursday.

Yesterday was a clusterfuck at work. The managers were all down at a meeting at the hospital, so the Island of Misfit Toys (including me) were left in charge. I was very busy, and the nausea didn't help. I ended up leaving about an hour early. I'll make it up today, since I'm working a couple of hours of OT. Plus I went in at 7:30 yesterday to help out.

I think I did a reasonably good job. I got all my stuff done, so that's good. Today should be slightly less insane. We'll head out at noon to go to the picnic. It's only about 10 minutes from our house, so I can take my time and change my clothes before I go, since the picnic technically doesn't start til 1. I'll probably get there early and claim a table in the name of Radiology. Only one of my fellow IKEA denizens is coming, but it'll be good to see her. It's been a few years.

Then, home to work another 2 hours. They didn't have many people coming back after the picnic, so I offered to leave a few minutes early and come home and finish the day til 6. It's usually not too bad during that time frame, but we'll see. Afterwards, I shall open packages, and see what more things have come for the princess. Today her food, litter and carrier should be arriving.

I think the cat tree comes tomorrow. Jess finally took Boodle's cat tree out to the dumpster. I know that was hard. That tree has lasted through so much. But it was time for a new one for a new princess. I'll try to put it together tomorrow. It doesn't look terribly difficult (Famous last words), so hopefully we'll get it up without any major issues.

Then, we'll just have two and a half days to wait through to get to the kitty. On Friday, we've got Amazing Digital Circus, and Saturday we have the He-Man movie, which is looking promising. I've seen lots of reviews calling it "silly fun." That sounds like my kind of movie.

Since we settled on Celeste, I've been doing a ton of research on FELV. When we take her to the vet on Monday, I'd like to get a PCR test, to definitively tell us whether she's got abortive, regressive or progressive FELV. She's a healthy kitty for the moment, and the most common test has a 40% false positive rate, so we'll see. Not getting my hopes up, but it would be awesome. The PCR is more expensive, so I'm kind of assuming that owners who returned her would be doing the cheaper test. The big thing is to keep her indoors so she doesn't pick up any infections and to minimize stress.

Whatever she has, we'll love her very much while she's with us, no matter how long that is. She'll be pampered and given the best of food, and loved. Hell, I already love her. I'm definitely taking a churu to the meeting to facilitate a good introduction. "Hello, we have food."

I went in yesterday and ordered some fresh food from Smalls. We've been told that she's a super picky eater, so I figured I'd see if fresh food would make her happier. Even if I just use it as a topper for the rest. Why shouldn't she be just as expensive as Yoda's food?

The fountain says it'll be here today, but I'm betting tomorrow as it's still in shipment created status. So I can puzzle through that while I'm busy figuring out the cat tree. I think we'll set it up right away, so we can get used to the running water noise before she arrives.

Sunday will be busy! First, we have game at 11, then right after, we shall be heading up to Petsmart to meet her. Then, it's back for a another potential game. I figure it's not a bad idea for her to be introduced to her room and then left alone with just Jess while they game. It gives her a little bit of time to settle in. Of course, we're going to have a little bit of time when we first bring her home to introduce her to my sister, but once that's done, she can have some quiet time. That'll lead directly into bed time, so more low key time. I'll wake up at 4, and see if she's interested in some love and give her food, but again, it'll be low key. Then Jess will spend most of the day in the room on Monday, so she'll have company and hopefully start to bond. I'll take their place at 4:30 for my own bonding time.

Can you tell I'm a little excited for this girl? I want to get my hands on her plush fur and love on her. I want to hear that little meow in person. I've missed having a cat. I don't know how Yoda is going to do with her, but we'll work through it. Boodle mostly stayed with Jess during the day, and then had the run of the house at night, so we might try that. I want to see if she's the kind of cat who will knock things off tables! Is she a little shit baby?

Okay, done babbling, though I'm sure I'll come up with something more soon.

Time for me to start getting myself together. Everyone have an outstanding Wednesday!

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To the sound of the end of day mesmerized, the assembled sway, black candles burn, all minds aligned

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 08:50:03 GMT

We survived Monday! It was a busy day, but not terrible. It was busy, but we got a lot of people in, and started working on my new project, which required a spreadsheet. I'm always down to make a spreadsheet about it. There's something empowering about conquering data manipulation on Excel. I don't do it enough for it to become routine.

My stomach held off til the end of day to really start getting upset. It meant that I was able to eat my eggs in the morning, plus something for lunch. Dinner was pretty much as washout.

So I know I mentioned yesterday that I've started applying for kitties. Well, we got a bite back yesterday about a kitty named Celeste. She's a special needs cat who has Feline Leukemia, but is in remission. She could live 2 years, she could live her whole life without symptoms, it's a toss up.

I wasn't sure I was ready for a special needs cat after Boodle, but she needs us. Her previous family had her for 3 years, which is where she got FELV. Once they found out, they returned her to the rescue, where she's been for 8 months. There was something about her sweet little face in this picture that hooked me.

We were told that we should come and meet her, and then see how it goes, and that we should bring a cat carrier in case it went well. So, of course, I have no gone on Chewy and ordered half the site. She needed new Water and food bowls, and a new cat tree! And a new carrier!

Hopefully, things will go well. I've already set up an appt with our vet for a checkup right after we get her. We'll need to assess her heath, and then make a plan to keep her as healthy as possible, so we can have her for as long as possible.

Today, I shall see how my nausea does. Hopefully, I'll be able to eat some good things before the nausea hits. Yesterday, I learned that while plain eggs are good, an omlette with cheese and bacon is not. That made me nauseous. Go figure. I ended up tossing the omlette and making plain scrambled eggs instead. With sourdough bread. If I'm feeling exceptionally creative, I'd slice to pieces of bread and make toad in the holes.

Today, my two big bosses are down at the main hospital, and I've been put in charge of emails and the STAT list while they're gone, so the day should go quickly. I will need to be extra organized today.

This is going to be a busy weekend. Friday night, we have the Amazing Digital Circus finale. I've been spoiled about the ending, and I gotta say, choices were made. They may not have been the choices I would have made, but I'm looking forward to it anyway. Then, Saturday morning we drop Yoda off for a day of fun, and have the He-Man movie. It looks stupid and fun, so I'm there. My sister has something going on, so we thought it might be good for him to have a day at his camp. Afterwards, we'll have to decide what we want to do. We don't have to pick up the dog til 6, so we'll have a few hours. Some of it will be putting together the new cat tree, I imagine.

Then, Sunday, we have a game, and then we meet the baby.

Okay, time for me to hop off and go forth. Everyone have an terriffic Tuesday!

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Oh my fair North Star, I have held to your dearly. I have asked you to steer me

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:05:49 GMT

Happy Pride Month! It's a really shitty time to be GLBTQIA+ these days. So it's more important than ever that those of us who can show up and be our authentic selves and show off our Queer joy for those who can't or aren't safe to do so. I haven't seen anything from the Office of Diversity this year about working either Pride or Trans Pride, so I'm going to have to go looking.

We were discussing a campaign playlist for Marchen, and there's a lot of lovely fucked up songs on there, because the characters are almost all feral to some degree or another. So there's a lot of really cool music with some darker themes. Absolutely awesome. And I came out with my top song for how I'm approaching things, and it was much less dark and more hopeful. It's kind of my endgame song.

It's not dark by any stretch. Instead, it's gentle and hopeful, and talks about surviving no matter the odds. We have quite a way to go to get there, but it is where I'm looking. Redemption for the party, and if not peace, a rest. I mean, it is a fairy tale land, so there's got to be some happily ever after. It also reminded me how much I like Dar Williams.

I took my Mounjaro shot yesterday and today I feel kind of assy. I didn't sleep well, and now I'm nauseous as fuck. I hate this fucking medication. I'm so tired of feeling sick. I guess I'll be going on Ubereats and ordering a couple of quarts of Matzo Ball Soup from the Jewish deli. It's one thing I can eat all the time without worrying that it's going to fuck things up more. At this point, I should fucking own this deli.

I'm just so over this. I've got a new glucose meter coming today, because the one I got died, so I'll be interested to see if this is doing anything for my glucose levels. The dying one didn't think so, but seeing as it wasn't a good one to start with, I figured I'd get a decent one. I sure as shit hope this is worth it.

Yesterday, we didn't do anything. Jess woke up with a bit of a cough (probably allergy), so we decided to skip the Greek Festival. Instead, we did nothing but relax. Which was probably a good thing. We had some good food, as I sprung for the good sushi after the shitty stuff we had the day before. Also Fish and Chips. Both were excellent and made me happy. They weren't quite as good as what I had in Alaska, but the fish was not coming directly off the boat. Also, it was cod, not halibut. I like cod. But halibut is my favorite.

The food was excellent, and made up a little bit for the week of Mounjaro bland food.

We did watch a few videos. I mostly focused on food videos, and found a few more places that I might like to try. Disney food is looking mostly like a washout. They don't seem to have a lot off good food at the west coast parks. Definitely nothing like the cheeseburger eggroll they have in Disney World. I'm still going to eat and drink there, but I'll be very picky.

I watched a couple of videos on the hotel we're staying at in San Diego. It's called the Lafayette Hotel, and it is very much the House on the Rock-level accommodations. It has multiple restaurants and bars, each with a different theme. The main lobby bar looks like it's something out of New Orleans. Then, you move to another hallway and htey have a 50's diner, and beyond that is Quixote, the Mexican restaurant that was created to look like a Mexican church. All dark wood and stained glass and the beautiful painted tiles. There's also a games bar with two bowling lanes, and a Jazz supper club. The rooms are hideous. They're tacky and overblown, with clashing fabrics and dark wood, and I absolutely love it.

Just to give you a little glimpse of the rooms. It looks like it should be fun. Probably way more than we need, but we'll give it a go. The horrible tackiness brings me joy.

Today, I shall have to take some calls and do some work, and then on WEdnesday, we'll have our PAS picnic. I don't know how much I'll feel like doing that, but I will for the sake of call center unity. I have to go digging on our shelves, so I can find my badge. A lot of people are coming directly from work. I'm coming from work, but my work clothes are a little different.

At some point this week, we're going to go up to the guy and sign up for a 3 day pass to see how we like it and if we think we could stick with it. I really like the pictures of their therqpy pool. I would love to have a heated indoor pool that I could do gentle exercise to try to settle my knees down. Maybe my back as well.

Merrit, which is closer to us actually have a therapy pool, but they're also considerably more expensive by about $35/month. They have a class called Aih Chi on Sundays that might be good. Low impact excercise. I'd like to get a little more in shape before the big vacation next November. It's probably going to be at least as much walking as Alaska, possibly more once you include the four days between Disneyland/California Adventure and San Diego. Then, you add in Ensenada, Mexico and San Francisco. We're going to be using Uber and public transit as much as possible, but that's still going to be a lot. The hard stretch will be Anaheim and San Diego, since there's not really a break in between. We arrive in Anaheim on Monday, and will hit the parks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday night, we're taking the train down to San Diego, and hitting that on Thursday and Friday. Honestly, embarcation on Saturday may be relaxing after all that. At least now, I know the drill for the most part. It's a different port, so it might be slightly different, but we'll see.

It won't be as smooth as the first time, as we won't have aa concierge to walk us through everything, but we'll make it work.

I'm very excited about this trip. It's like another bucket list brought to life. I'm going to see most of the major cities in California. We might even do a little tour of Los Angeles, though I'm 99% sure that it's not really my scene. Anaheim will be more my thing as I ate up that Disney bubble shit. Then, San Diego looks so cool and chill, and I'm all about that. Then, onto Mexico and San Francisco. San Francisco doesn't seem my vibe, but it looks cool to visit.

I really want to go back to bed, but I'll give it a little while. I have some cheese and chopped prosecute to put in my eggs this morning if my stomach is up to it. Hopefully, my loaf of sourdough bread comes early. I want to have that with the eggs, and maybe have a bit of the olive tapenade that I ordered out of an abundance of hope that I wouldn't be sick as a dog.

I'm really missing Boodle right now. I love Yoda, but I also want a kitty, too. I started looking at pictures on petfinder, and found a kitten named Panini. She's a beautiful gray Maine Coon who was surrendered by the breeder because she had chronic constipation. The rescue got her cleaned out and medicated her, and after a month or two, she grew out of it. Perfectly healthy cat who just had a little bit of poop problem. I don't know if we're actually ready to get a cat. Yoda's still an asshole and I stll miss Boodle horribly. Not sure if I'm ready for a replacement. But I'd like to meet her and see. It's possible it won't even get that far. She may already have been adopted or the rescue doesn't think we're a good match, but we'll see.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get dressed and shit. After work, I'm going to. pick up everyone's medication for the month. But first, a probably busy day at work.

Everyone have the very best Monday possible!

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Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?

Sun, 31 May 2026 10:50:09 GMT

It's Sunday! I managed to sleep until five, which, since I was awake at 4 is surprising. But I managed to doze back off, which is hardly ever the case. Later, we'll make a decision on the Greek Festival. I'm doing okay right now, but we'll see how I feel then and how Jess is doing today.

If they're up to it and I'm up to it, I could fuck up some Dolmades and souvalki. Maybe even a Loukoumades or two. If we do, I have to remember to take a bag to bring my sister goodies, and to stop at the ATM, since I'm not sure if they accept credit cards.

Yesterday was a chill day. I got up ad had a massage, which was very nice. She didn't go so hard that I'm huring today, and I appreciate that. The joys of having fibro is that if the massage goes too deep, I will feel bruised and hurt for days. I've very much had to put down very careful directions with the Massage Therapist, because their instinct seems to be to really work that knot out. And my knots are not workable. This one went a little deep at times, but they were fleeting swift strokes, and she didn't stay in the same place for long. She might come back to it, but that seemed to work well. All in all, it was good.

The massage place just opened this location up by us, the other is downtown and doesn't have great parking. This one is in the poshest gym I have ever seen. It was gorgeous. They do have a therapy pool, so I am tempted. With the promotion, I could totally cover it, but will I go often enough to make it worth the cost. It's always the question. I will think on it and see what Jess thinks. They like to take long walks and it's getting hot out, and the fitness center in the apartments is tiny and always at least 80 degrees, winter or summer. So it could be a possibility.

After that, I came back for game time, after stopping at a grocery store for some Thai sweet chili sauce. That and the bag of kimchi were the best things I got. The sushi and saladsI had for game snacks weren't good. So that was a wasted $50 of slightly better than gas station sushi.

Then, it was game time! Despite subpar snacks, it was a blast. Whole lot of roleplay, and an awesome job of not piling on a character who had omitted some information and gone down because of it, and potentially put the party in danger. They handled it very carefully, and so the player didn't feel dunked on. Really good work. They manage to avoid a confrontation with some quick thinking and good use of spells, so that was really cool and smart. They finally got to the first of the capital cities, and as told to, presented themselves at court. They got a better reception than they expected, and picked up a healer/spy who will accompany them on their sidequest, and maybe beyond. IT was awesome. Backstories are starting to come out, and the party is slowly gelling. I love all the characters so much. All the players gave me such great and detailed backstories, so I have juicy tidbits to hurt their character with.

This group are a little less risk-averse than some of my other players. Some are very big on plan optimization, and that can get a little bit much. By the end of it, they've flip flopped on the plan so much that sometimes I need to ask for a summary of the plan they decided on. Not all my players, just a few, but it can slow down the game sometimes and knock you out of the flow.

This group will make the move that they feel their character would, which sometimes is not optimal. But, if it fails, it lets you introduce a consequence and maybe a new alley to go down, and that's fun, and lets me drop lore.

We're just sliding into another sidequest that could get them a big lore dump that might be useful. That depends on how the next few things go, though. If they go a different way, then they might not find that info out. Maybe later, they'll get some of it, but probably not all of it. So it'll be interesting. I need to make another character sheet just in case things go off the rails.

I continue to really love homebrewing. Though if people saw my notes, they'd be either impressed or horrified. I keep adding scenes that I'd never planned on, because it seemed like fun. They're not always plot related, but that's fine. Not every single thing has to advance the mytharc. Some can just be a fun diversion, or a new side villian. So far, they've racked up two side, and one major villan, who will be showing up again later. The major villian was just added in the last week, making the baddies a bit of a power struggle. I'm sure our heroes won't get caught in the middle of that, no.

After that, we mostly watched videos on food and the like in San Diego. It looks like such a beautiful place, with such diverse food. I fear that when I get there, I won't want to leave.

I hate Guy Fieri, but sometimes, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives can be useful. I definitely added another option to our places to eat in San Diego, so that was cool. I've got so many places there. Only a couple in San Fran, but a ton in San Diego--much more than we can do in 3 1/4 days. Once you add on that one day, we'll probably be eating lunch at the Zoo, so we're going to have to narrow it down.

And I'm going to need to pick a couple more for San Francisco. The city is known for it's food, so I need to find some good stuff. Other than Chinatown and the House of Prime Rib. I have a couple of other snacks I'd like to try, but no other meals. We dock in San Francisco as well. A lot of what I've seen so far in San Fran is the elevated fussy food. I like a good meal as well as the next, but I don't need it to be that fussy. I like food that tastes good, has pleasing textures, in a decent restaurant or food truck. Fine dining is okay, I just want the food to be recognizable.

We're debating on where to go for Chicago. I need to make a group chat to see when people are coming in, and how long they're staying. Programming goes Thurs Night to Sunday at lunch, so Thursday or late Sunday is possible. Then, it's deciding what we should do. If we do it on Sunday, we could totally go to the Drake for tea. If not, there's so much good food we could hit up!

After I mentioned that I had an idea for the Monster of the Week, I immediately sat down and wrote it out. So I'm covered to run a Monster of the Week game at CONfab.

Our other things are coming up quickly. Next weekend we're going to the movies twice, once to see Amazing Digital Circus and the other is He Man. I'm a sucker for a stupid action or fantasy movie. Especially ones that don't take things dead serious. (I mean, I also like some that are serious (hello, Lord of the Rings.) but that's rarer. Then, in 20 days, we head up to see the Rocky Horror on broadway. After that, a little bit of a break until we go to see Weird Al in Harshey. Then, another bit of a break for August and September, and then we have the little cascade of things, starting in October wiht the Animate convention to meet the Hazbin Hotel and Amazing Digital Circus actors, and then CONfab. Almost immediately after, we have the Undertale symphony in November, and Much Ado About Nothing on broadway in December.

So far, nothing planned for next year, but we'll see!

Tomorrow, I shall deal with the big boss' little flip out. I'll probably let my boss handle it, but I may chime in, just to point out that while I have ideas, I would not try to implement them without prior approval. Then, I'll probably be on the phones part of the day. I also have our end of year party, which will be fun. I'm not sure why htey bother to invite us to it, since we're only nominally under the Patient Access umbrella. We're the black sheep that they only keep so that they can do quality audits on us. Otherwise, we'd be out so fast your head would spin. But, a bunch of us are going, so it should be a good time. I'll be in full Mounjaro nausea, so not sure how much I'll eat, but I'll try.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. If the Greek Festival wasn't on offer, I'd go down to the Farmers Market, but I don't think my knees would accept that much walking. They've mostly recovered from vacation, but they're still tender, so I shall not push my luck. Everyone have a most excellent Sunday!

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There were moments of gold and there were flashes of light

Sat, 30 May 2026 11:44:14 GMT

In honor of our subject line, I give you Broadway star (and Hazbin Hotel's Lucifer) Jeremy Jordan whipping it out and laying it on the table.

It looks like a lovely day today. Sadly, aside from the morning, I shall be inside most of the day. We play at noon, and then we shall be dog watching while my sister goes to a birthday party. We'll probably watch some videos and have dinner, then we'll probably go to bed witht he dog. He can leave whenever his real mama gets back from the birthday wars.

This morning, I'm hoping my stomach takes a cue from yesterday and just takes it easy. I've got a massage this morning at 11, because I've been feeling so utterly shitty from the Mounjaro and my knees that I wanted to do something good.

Yesterday was the first day since Sunday that I wasn't severely nauseous, which was lovely. I was able to eat a fair amount a little at a time all day. Today, the nausea will hopefully be even less, and better still tomorrow, since I don't take my Mounjaro stab til the evening.

I'm holding fast, but good lord, I'm tired of the side effects. For most people, it lasts for 6-8 weeks. The problem is that I'm going to be on the lower dose for 5 weeks, and then I go up to the next dosage, and the clock gets to start all over. So realistically, it'll be 11-13 weeks of straight up nausea. It's like a reverse morning sickness. I don't really start feeling sick til later in the day.

Yesterday I wasn't horribly nauseous. Every so often, I'd have a wee rush of nausea, but even it was more passive. Tuesdays nausea moved in like a robber standing there holding the gun sideways to look more intimidating. It sucked. As a result, I ate non stop yesterday. Most of it was chicken, but for game, we did get game snacks. Peking Duck might have been pushing my luck. I'm a tad queasy this morning, but still not really full on nausea. More of a "eat something that doesn't have roughly all the grease on it and we'll be good."

I will go find something mild in a bit.

It was a busy day yesterday, as I had not only the weekly bitchfest meeting, but also one about a new project for me. The JH cardiologists down in Bethesda and DC and Upper VA are all bitching because their patients can't get in for cardiac CTAs and MRIs months on end. So, we're starting a new service where their patients will have slots held just for them. It's going to be a clusterfuck. And it's all my cluserfuck.

I also sent out a new process to the team, which just after I left, the big boss questioned in a somewhat snotty and aggro way. I have a bad habit of checking my email wheh I'm off work. I'm just going to ignore it, and let our dept head sort it out, since she's the one who gave me the scripting and asked me to do it.

No word on the Columbia cardiac meeting yet. I'm hoping to get notes on Monday.

Oh, and the new phone system that has been nothing but glitchy got another upgrade. When someone picks up when we call out, a recorded voice announces us, and informs the person that they're being recorded. Which is fine. Legally appropriate. In practice, however, what the agent gets is a ring or two, then a 7 second silence while it does its thing. Then, we get an open line with no clue whether it's a person or voicemail. It's AI, but not that bright. It listens tot he greeting, and won't intterupt, so its listening out the voicemail greeting. So we just get that open line and no clue. We've tried to explain the problem with this (ie, we sound fucking stupid.) but so far we've just gotten "how to differentiate between when the AI is talking vs you've got something on your line. I hate it so much.

Tomorrow, we're leaning towards the idea of going downtown and hitting up The Cathedral of the Annunciation's 54th Greek Festival . I could really go for some Greek food. It sounds very tasty, and is usually made my the church grandmothers using their grandmother's recipe. I want.

If we're feeling like maybe not, they do have a thing where you can order online and pick up a slightly smaller menu, so that's possible. I wouldn't get some of the tasty things, but I could deal if we're not up to going.

I feel really bad, because with the nausea, I haven't really been cooking aside from the dogs food, and I feel like I'm letting my family down every time I open the Uber Eats app. I should be cooking them healthy meals, but I really just want Matzo Ball soup. I normally get a couple quarts at a time and have it for a couple of days. By the time the Mounjaro nausea goes away, I should own Attmann's Deli.

I'm starting to watch my prices for air fair for CONfab. So far, they are not impressing me. I'm going to keep an eye on it. Usually the sweet spot is somewhere 3-6mo out, so it should start improving soon, I hope. I've already put in the hotel reservation, so that's good.

I am feeling a little more positively about it now. I put out the call on the server to get together for a meal or tea while we were in Chicago. We'll also do a meet up for the other server, as we'll have 4 out of five members in Chicago. I'll need to decide on a good game to run for the con. Do I want to do Monster of the Week, or D&D? I'm leaning towards a Monster of the Week, it's just easier to run. Plus, I just came up with a really cool mystery that I could do. It's a reskin of one that I've been planning, but I think I can do it as a one shot and still make a mini campaign out of it for the server. I think it would be a fun, though possibly very fucked up game.

I'll also have to decide whether I'm doing a pannel this year. I usually do a TTRPG panel of some sort. I think I might see if poisontaster wants to co-run a session on DMing. Hoe you prepar for a game, premade games vs homebrew. Service top vs Power Bottom? Running a one shot vs a campaign. If you decide to have a session 0, what does that look like. Trigger warnings. Running the campaign and what to do when your players go in a direction you hadn't planned for. Contingency plans! Improv. The difference between Actual Plays and a home game. Yeah, that could work.

Okay, now I'm a bit excited about it.

I need to get pants on, so I can go for my massage. Everyone have a stellar Saturday!

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I'm deep in your bonesm I hate how I love it when you're losing control

Fri, 29 May 2026 10:00:08 GMT

IT's finally Friday! Time for the weekly bitch session at work, aka the Manager's Meeting. What bitching and moaning will today be about? I'm very soon to find out.

The other III's and I are really courtesy adds. We're a step removed from actually having to deal with manager backend bullshit. Me, though, I love getting the deets. It does not look like I'm going to be in the Cardiac MRIs at Columbia meeting, which is kind of annoying. I was hoping to elucidate the difficulties that we're currently having, which is that the templates limited diagnoses are making it difficult to schedule the new June protocols. Which, since June is next week, is kind of a problem.

I'm hoping that meeting is in the morning, and I can derail the bitchfest enough to get the detais.

And of course, I'm waiting to see how much Mounjaro will fuck with me today. I actually slept, so maybe I won't have the exhaustion that hits around 3pm. That's usually when I start getting dizzy, and nauseous. It can vary from just queasy, but I'll have dinner all the way down to "Going to bed, no food for me." Last night was a bit rough with the nauea. IT didn't help that we ordered from a really bad Chinese restaurant. I ordred soup and egg foo young, as well as some scallops. It all should have been good. They had a 4.7 rating out of 5 stars!

It was horrible. Of everything we'd ordered, only Jess liked theirs enough to save it. I ate three bad scallops and gave up. I had a bite of egg foo young, even though I was going to save it til today, and no bueno. It was just all around not good. I gave the restaurant a 2 star rating, which I never do.

I said that after that, I was definitely ordering game snacks for tonight from NiHao. I will have some good Chinese food, dammit. Even if my stomach isn't great, I will eat some peking duck and some shrimp dumplings and soup dumplings. The strong flavors overwhelm the nausea while I'm eating.

My sister actually didn't like her entree, which is unusual, and ordered kebabs for the family. They were very good, even though I only had 1 piece of chicken and saved the rest for breakfast.

In other related disappointing news, BJ's Wholesale Club cancelled my order at the last minute, so I have no eggs, which have been my normal stomach-tolerated food. I'm putting in a Costco order today, but that won't be here til at least 11am, so no eggs this morning for me. Hopefully the chicken is okay.

I have been procrastinating in making the steaks that are in the fridge. I think I need to move them over to the freezer for the moment. I'll probably make game snacks dinner tonight. I always overbuy and we have way too much food. Most of the reason is the nausea. It doesn't sound good at all to be cooking beef. In a few days I'll be making more dog food, and that's torture. It stinks so badly! But he'se eating it, and losing weight and seems happy with his food, so that's good.

So I might freeze them for a few days. Sunday might not be bad, since it'll be exactly a week since the last Mounjaro dose. I can always stab myself after dinner. So that might be the day for both Yoda's food in the morning and a steak dinner that evening. I also have some frozen aallibut portions that I want to cook. I just have to decide what to do with them. I could bake them, or fry them or bread them and make fish and chips. More work, but tasty as fuck. Or I could try to replicate the fried halibut bowl I had in Ketchikan's Alaska Fish House. That was seriously delicious.

We got our phote prints back from vacation. They look very nice. I was just testing to see how things looked in print instead of on my phone. This afternoon, the big canvas shows up. I'm a little worried that it's going to seem grainy. When I tried to do one on Big Canvas, it told me the resolution would be bad. Google didn't tell me anything of the such, so we'll see if they're better, or if they just don't care.

With feeling kind of crappy so much, I've not been doing much. If I walk to the mailbox, it's an achievement. If I'm going to have this for the next 8 weeks, I need to toughen up. I can't keep ordering food. Some nights I just feel so nauseous, though. It makes it difficult when you're afraid that your sense of smell will make you gag.

I've been doing my Disney research as a thing to make myself feel better, but at the same time, I am making myself ambivalent about all our trips for the next 6 months. We've got so many overnighters coming up, culminating in our Chicago trip for CONfab, which I am also dubious about. I'm only in TTRPG fandom, so a lot of the panels are lost on me. I'll go to a few, but mostly, I'll be found having coffee. I want to see all my people. As far as I know, a good chunk of them from the OG server are coming, and three from the Marchen campaign will also be present, so that'll be good. I'll probably run a one shot on Friday night, which will be cool.

I'm just waffling about it because it seems much less fun than Disneyland, San Diego and San Francisco and another cruise all at once. As poisontaster said, I will have a lot of fun when I get there, I've just been hyperfocusing, which is an ADHD thing. It's my special interest, what can I say?

I counted, and I will have 10 pay periods before confab. Which means that I should have 70 houea of PTO before CONfab. I only need 32 hours. I'll be off Wed-Mon, so not that long. Wednesday, we'll settle in and relax, maybe have lunch with other early-commers. Thursday is outing day. I need to see if the server peeps are interested in having lunch somewhere. The Ukranian tea room was pretty delicious last year, so maybe we could have that again. Or somewhere else. Chicago is lousy with good restaurants.

I will have 38 pay periods before the cruise next year, which will give me 25 days of PTO, once you subtract CONfab. I only need 11, so I'm thinking we should plan a weekender sometime. I don't know where we should go, but we should do something, maybe in the early spring? No clue where we should go. Somewhere either within 3-4 hours driving distance or a 2 hour plane ride. There's so many options! We could leave on Thursday and come back Monday or something. Just a little vacation, as a treat. I'm trying to think of possible destinations. That leaves a lot of possibilties. Boston, Niagra Falls, Toronto, Chicago, or via driving there's Western MD, Philadelphia, Rehoboth Beach. If the mounjaro actually does give me weight loss (it's doing it's best on that front) than maybe a theme park. There's Hershey Park or Busch Gardens within driving distance. Right now, I don't think I could fit on any rides that I'd care to do, but maybe in 9 months, I could do that. I know that in Busch in the spring they have a food and wine festival, and in April, Hershey has a spring preview.

Things to think upon. So far, this year of saying yes has worked out pretty damn well, so I may extend it into next year and continue to have some fun.

So many things are happening this year. There's movies and concerts, and broadway musicals and shows, and even a symphony. And that's not including the broadway show in April or the cruise! It's a busy schedule!

Hmm, looks like August is free. Going to have to come up with something to do then. Maybe a weekend getaway to Philly.

Tomorrow, I've got a massage in the morning and then we shall have Marchen. As that's finishing, we'll be on puppy sitting duty, as my sister is going to a birthday party. Maybe Greek Festival on Sunday, we'll see how we feel and how parking is. I may get up and say fuck it.

Okay, time to get myself together and make a couple of confab posts. Everyone have an excellent Friday!

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And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more.

Thu, 28 May 2026 08:53:56 GMT

It's Thursday, creeping towards the weekend one day at a time. It's been super busy at work (Which sometimes happens after a holiday weekend. Lots of add on patients who are divas and want to be seen on the first Thursday with a full moob at precisely the point that the moon rises. Little fuckers have been difficult lately. Our STAT list is overgrown right now. I'm trying to decide if we have more patients or if people just aren't cancelling appointments? I'm leaning towards the former, as at about 4pm yesterday, we somehow had 50 calls in queue.

I actually slept last night, and of course I'm more tired than yesterday. Tomorrrow, I will hopefully feel less tired. I've got a game on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I need to be awake for both of them. We've only got two this weekend, which is fine. On Sunday, we may head down to the Greek Festival. I could go for some tasty food.

One nice thing about the insomnia. Thanks to all the videos I watched while I couldn't sleep, I've figured out a couple of things about vacation. At Disneyland, we're staying in the Westin Anaheim Hotel in a suite that faces the theme park view. San Diego, we're going to stay at the fabulous Lafayette Hotel.

There was a point yesterday where I looked what I was going to be able to save before trip, and it ended up being a lot of money. More than double our current cruise. And I wondered if we should rent the Pinnacle Suite again and just upgrade from the Neptune suite. After calling holland america and getting a quote of $2000 difference, which I did not realize untill this morning was probably a quote for one person, and the other would be another 2k.

While it would be amazing to stay there again, I think we'll stick with cheaper, and maybe upgrade our hotel rooms instead. Thus where I came to the Westin and Lafayette, Bot cheap, but compared to $4,000 for the Pinnace Suite it's a minimal cost.

I need to plot our strategy for Disneyland, but a thing Disney is doign is now a moot point. Before, we schemed and planned and plotted for the best way to get the most out of Disney World. I had plans of attack for every park. We used a combination of their Disability pass and Lighting lanes. It was intense. Lighting Lanes is a thing where at Disney, you can pay to request to use the fast lane getting on the ride. You are prioritized and have a special lane that is less crowded and you get prioritized, so you get on pretty quickly.

Now, they've introduce the Premiere Pass. Which is very much like the lightning lanes, but with no time requirement. No fussing on your phone to get a good time, you just walk on the ride when you want. OF course, this comes with a premium price. But as a result, I'm not feeling the need to know where everything is in the parks. I think we're just going to grab a map and wing it. Eh, who am I kidding, I'll watch some walkthroughs.

With the Mounjaro nausea, I have been slacking in my "best restaurants" viewing habits. I have found a couple in both San Fran and San Diego. I don't think that we're doing anything in Mexico or Santa Barbara. I'm just as happy to go back to the boat for lunch. Their food is amazing/. I've got a day of food in San Francisco. China town for lunch and House of Prime rib for dinner.
I need to get cracking to find at least 1 more place to eat whie we're there.

Okay, time for me to go forth and consider clothes. Everyone have a transendent Thursday!

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Blood and tears and bone--Maiden, Mother, Crone

Wed, 27 May 2026 08:54:59 GMT

I am riding the struggle bus today. Yesterday night, I was having full on Mounjaro nausea and vertigo, and I was not happy. I took my pills early, and couldn't get to sleep. Finally, around midnight, I got up and watched some videos on youtube. On the plus side, I think I know what hotel we're staying at in San Diego. On the other, I got just about 2 hours of sleep. I may lay back down in a bit if I start flagging. Sometimes an extra hour will get me through the day. We'll see.

I really hate Mounjaro right now. I know the nausea will probably ease up in a few weeks, but right now, it sucks. I'm vaguely queasy until I eat something, then my stomach is not happy. I mean, I'm going to see how it goes with my A1C. If it's doing it's job, I might have to butch it out.

I'm hoping it eases up before CONfab. I really don't want to be socializing while I feel like ass.

Yesterday was as expected, a complete terror. I took calls in the morning, but the queues went bugfuck, and I needed to try to fill in some appts, so I abandoned the inbound calls and started seeing it anyone wanted the spots.

Good lord, some of them are ungrateful little fuckers. I have the time for you, and you've told us that the doctor wanted it done STAT. But the spot I have is a location that's slightly farther, or has paid parking, and now you want us to find you a unicorn. And even when I do, you don't want it. It's infuriating.

In between work, I did some homebrewing on the Marchen campaign and even came up with more lore about the elves and some other things for the future. Jess was stressing a bit about an upcoming scene, but I think everyone made it clear that if they needed to pause or tap, it was all good.

Today will hopefully a bit better work wise. I'd like to have less than 35 calls in queue, but we'll see.

I'm not really planning anything major until Friday when we have a one shot. Then on Saturday, I have an early morning massage, and then I'l be at home while my sister is out and have another game. Sunday will be a quiet day.

Next week, on Wednesday, we have our company picnic. I'll be going to that for a few hours, then I've agreed to come back and work for a couple of hours to help cover some of the call volume. We only had like 3 people to take calls from 4-6. They're actually closing our queue so that as many of them can come to the party as would like. That'll be from 1pm til 4pm. We'll restart our phones at 4 and answer til 6pm.

For now, though, good introvert time. I'm still recovering from the cruise where I was "on" and masking for most of the time. I need some serious quiet hibernation.

On that note, I think I'm going to go nap for two hours. I hope everyone has an amazing Wednesday!

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Twenty-five years and my life is still tryin' to get up that great big hill of hope

Tue, 26 May 2026 08:51:56 GMT

I really enjoyed that three day weekend. I'm totally going to pay for it today when we get slammed at work but it was nice. Especially yesterday, since I had to take my Mounjaro on Sunday and now I feel kinda bleh. It's not horrible nausea, but it's definitely there. By last night, all I wanted was matzo ball soup, but my normal hook up was closed for the holiday, and the replacement was not good. So I will order some for lunch from the good place. I don't know that I strictly need to, I'm not feeling as queasy today, but from a "I wanted something and didn't get it," I do need it.

I did very little yesterday. I relaxed and felt queasy and vertiginous and was annoyed with my body. Apparently, there's something called Mal de Debarquement Syndrome that can cause you to have vertigo for a while after the cruise. I'm wondering if it's something like that. Or it could just be that the vertigo I had a few years ago has been waiting for its time to strike, and this was an eaxy target. Though, the Mal de Debarquement Syndrome apparently hits women between 30-60 (85% of the sufferers), and hits people who have migraines more frequently, too. So basically, I was fucked. Don't care, it's totally worth it.

Looking back, it still seems like a dream. It was 10 glorious days of being pampered, having everything you wanted at your fingertips, ad seeingt he most beautiful and exciting sights. Standing at the foot of the Mendenahll, and looking up at it's bookends of Mount McGinnis and Bullard Mountain is etched into my soul. Even with several thousand of my closest friends, it just had this amazing stillness and majesty. It was huge and beautiful and sacred. Even though the sheer scope was overwhelming, I could have stayed their forever, and just stared.

I didn't see an orca, but that's okay. Just means I need to go back. Maybe to do a cruise/land tour, go up to Denali and see some moose, too.

But for now, we shall look to the California Coast. I'm very excited about the cruise, but I'm equally excited about the whole trip. I continue to research. At this point, I've got lunch and dinner plans for San Diego and San Francisco. I've got a list of snack and food to get at Disneyland. I've watched videos about the rides at Disneyland and at Disney's California Adventure to start working out a plan of attack.

Disneyland is going to be our first park, and we have about 11 rides that I might like to ride in it. Disney just introduced the Premire lightning lane. Normal lightning lanes, you can book into a ride and get a return time, where you'll come and get in quicker. It's good, but it can lead to you having to criscross the park repeatedly. Some attractions will say come in 10 min, some will say come back in 6 hours. Not useful when you've only got one day in the park. Instead, this one you just show up whenever and are put int he lightnign lane line for quick access. It's pricey as fuck, but for the time we're spending there, it might be worth it to be able to ride what we want when we want, without having to go around the park 80 times.

It annoys me that the cruise is the only thing I can lock in right now. The rest won't open til later this year or even into next year. I want to book everything and have it all locked down, but alas.

Instead, I shall plan for Confab this October, which I can make plans for. Jess has indicated tht they would like to go this time, since we have a place to put the dog while we're gone, so that's exciting. I will probably book the plane tickets when I get paid next week.

For now, I shall gird my loins for battle and get ready for work. Everyone have a terrific Tuesday!

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I'm worse at what I do best and for this gift, I feel blessed

Mon, 25 May 2026 11:19:08 GMT

Well, I managed to sleep until 6:30am! It's foggy as hell out side. It's a good thing that I don't need to go out, because it looks icky.

My body is supper annoyed with me for sleeping weird. I don't know exactly what I did, but good Lord it's pissed off. So I'll be taking it easy on that for the moment. I'm sitting on the couch with a pillow and some blanket and I still am hurting. Another good reason I don't need to go out.

I am going to get my burger today. I want a greasy burgery more than anything today. So Red Robin it is. Yesterday I got ambitious with my brand new steamer pot. I made two packs of shrimp and ate the shit out of them. (Each pack is 8 oz, so it was only a pound.) I ate a tiny bit more than 8 oz and handed off the rest to my sister, as Jess doesn't like the texture of shrimp. It was very tasty, though I should have used more Old Bay in them. Ah well.

Aftere that, we relaxed until it was time to leave for the Mandalorian and Grogu. Really cute movie. Was it good? Absolutely not. Was it fun? Yes. Did Mando blast the bad guys real good? Absolutely. And last, was Grogu adorable? 100%. I came out happy. Jess came out with a wicked headache. We still had dinner/late lunch, but alask it did not help the headache, so we came home and she laid down.

I had planned to go watch some vieos, but Yoda was a little asshole and wanted me to go to cuddle him on my sister's bed. I declined and went into my own room and promptly fell asleep. I woke up a couple of times, ad wet out to the living toom. My sister immediately began telling me everything on her feed, and had her phone volume set on low-ish, so all I could hear waa a constant whispering. It wasn't bad, but when combined with her talking, it was too much. I went back into the bedroom and just laid there until it was bedtime. I did do the grown up thing and take my Mounjaro like a good oerson.

Today, mostly I shall relax. Order my burger and try to soak up that last bit of relaxation that can.

Tomorrow, it's back to work, on what'll probably be a busy day. I'll probably spend most of the day on the phones, since it's going to be pycho with the holiday weekend, but we'll see.

I did watch a tiny bit of a video and it made me think that the two restaurants I saw Would both be great add ons for our vacation. One is the House of Prime Rib in San Fran. It looks super tasty. The second is a Polynesian restaurant called Bali High in San Diego. Both sound really good.

And on that note, I'm going to put on some videos untill the dog wakes up and yells. Everyone have an outstanding Monday!

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When the moon is round and full, gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your mind

Sun, 24 May 2026 10:50:25 GMT

It's Sunday, and the second day of my three day weekend. We have a few plans today. We're going to go see the Mandalorian and Grogu, and then maybe go grab a burger. I've been craving a Whiskey River BBQ burger from Red Robin, and some of their fries. Of course, I could also do an Asian Buffett. So we'll see which sparks joy closer to the time. Right now, I could honestly do either.

Tomorrow, I have my monthly psych appt, whoo. I do need to get my meds, so that'll be helpful. I probably won't pic them up for a few days, but I always like to get my crazy pills. Don't want to run out of crazy.

Yesterday, I did a whole lot of nothing. I'm not complaining about it. We had our Marchen game which was super fun. And the lovely poisontaster gave me a really sweet compliment about my DMing, which is always awesome. I really do love doing homebrew D&D. I'm able to put the group into meaningful situations that bring out something about their characters. Teasing out tiny hints of backstory with every encounter. It's fun for me, and I think the players as well.

I love my player so much. It's set in a world of fairy tales, so they're familiar with those stories, but they play the scenes like it's the first time they've heard it. Case in point, they were dealing with Rapunzel, but they treated it like a standard thing until the wickded stepmother tipped her hand. Apologies to the amazing Drag Queen Courtney Act who I used for Mother's token. I just found a picture where she was serving total C U Next Tuesday, and it was perfect.

After that, I just relaxed. We had an early dinner, and then we had video time. I found a few good videos with suggestions for San Diego food. They didn't go to just the trendy places. I'm sure hte trendy places are lovely, but I can go to a Japanese or Korean bakery right here. We've got a proliferation. I also don't know that I'm going to a town near the Mexican border that is right on the Pacific Ocean to get pizza or burgers. There's a really interesting Sushi restaurant that looked nice. There's an italian place in their little Italy that's right by the hotel we're considering. There's SO many taquerias. I'm having to whittle them down to decide which one we shall do. We've got two full days, so 7 meals in San Diego. Maybe 8, if we need something to eat Wednesday night when we're coming down from Anaheim. We'll see how it goes.

I'm in it for some good stuff. California cuisine, Mexican, and any other specialty food. We did find a breakfast cafe that has souffle pancakes, so we'll probably go there one day.

I did realize that tomorrow morning, I will need to make Yoda's food. I'm getting low on that. So that'll be something I need to do tomorrow.

Tonight, I may watch more videos. I have so much that I need t figure out in the next 18 months.

I did discover that at Disney, there's a lightning lane premium that lets you decide when you want to get on most rides, and lets you go in the lightning lane to do it, which means faster lines. I will probably do that, but I can't get it until 7 days before our trip. It would help us immensely for not having to circle the park repeatedlly. It'll be a bit pricey, but it's Disney. Everything is pricey.

I did decide that I'll book Disney and the hotel separately. If I book with Disney, the only choice is a king bed vs 2 queen beds. If I book through the hotel, I can book a fireworkds view room, and get to see those, since we rarely are energetic long enough to see them. If I can make it til 3pm, it's a freaking miracle.

Tomorrow, I'm going to relax and enjoy the day. If I don't get Red Robin today, it'll definitely be tomorrow. I need a greasy burger in my life.

Next weekend is mostly open. My sister has a birthday party on Saturday, and we have another Marchen game set, which will be awesome. Some of our games are difficult to schedule, because people have lives, but this one is only four players, so it's usually much easier.

I wildly over prepared for yesterday's game. I've got so many maps uploaded, and we made it through one of them. So that's less I need to do next Saturday. I've got like five things set up. Some combat, some roleplay and some exploration. Some of the combat is negotiable, it could be roleplay, but it is against one of our Ranger's favored foes, so we'll see how that goes.

Last session they had a roleplay with a kindly old woman who gave them shelter for the night, and then dealt with Rapunzel's tower, which was being attcked by enemy soldiers. Then when the battle was done, they had to deal with Mother, who was holding Rapunzel prisoner. All in all, it was fucked up, and kinda awesome. Jess is playing a pacifist half elf, so he spent most of the time trying to persuade the soldiers (of which he had been one of) to surrender and turn from their evil ways. He got two of them to turn and another just left, so not bad odds. In the process, he got his ass kicked and went down to 0 hit points. Fortunately, the bard reluctantly healed him, so he got right back up. The bard, who is a plague doctor Pied Piper with some serious issues, was less than thrilled.

The ranger reached her breaking point and shifted halfway into a wolf so she could bite a bitch, which the party had never seen, so that was some fun friction. And then the thief, who's children were kidnapped, was all on Mother's side until she slapped Rapunzel. It was great watching her go through that. All in all, I love the characters and I love the choices they're making.

And now, I believe that I shall watch the videos I watched yesterday and pull the names off some of the restaurants that looked interesting. Everyone have a sensational Sunday!

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Glitter burned by restless thoughts of being forgotten

Sat, 23 May 2026 10:03:30 GMT

It's Saturday! And of course, I was up at 4:06am. Go team me? Yeesh, I wish my body would let me sleep in on the weekends.

Yesterday was fairly steady. I did a lot of work, and managed to get six patients off the STAT list, and then worked a miracle for a doctor who wanted a STAT cardiac MRI. It took me all of 20 minutes to work said miracle, which may be a record for me. But now everyone is happy. Patient, doctor and of course, Peg. I love Peg, but I also never want to be on her bad side, and when I make her happy, she stays off my managers' asses some. Yesterday, I came into an email asking me how I work Cardiacs from Peg. It was sent at like 7am. She basically wanted to know if I was using the Work Queue. I tried to find a way to say "No, the WQ is an overgrown mess. If we could wholesale clear it out and start over, it would be awesome, but as it is, it's just useless, even with careful filtering.

There's nothing that'll get the blood pumping in the morning like seeing an email from your big boss.

I was very pleased with myself. Some of the people I scheduled required some appointment Jenga, but I got all six in at times that worked for them. And now, I have three glorious days off.

I have game today, Marchen, and then nothing the rest of the weekend. I think on Sunday, we may go grab lunch and see the Mandalorian and Grogu. I haven't seen the last couple of seasons, but I'm going to assume I can follow along. Monday, I have nothing planned. I'm just going to be a giant lump and probably watch videos. I need to know all the really good places to eat in all the cities we're going to be in. This is a very ambitious trip, and we'll need places to eat in Anaheim, Disneyland, San Diego and San Francisco. Fortunately, I love research.

I'm still in preliminary research. Right now, it's looking at hotels for Anaheim and San Diego, and checking out what rides they have at Disneyland and California Adventure that I want to do. I can't book anything for at least another 3 months, at which point Disney park reservations and hotel accommodations open up. Who knows when the San Diego stuff will open.

I did create a document to jot things down and add in the things we might want to do and where we might stay.

I will probably do a bit more research, and then start coming up with an itinerary

We already have a preliminary oen, I just haven't put it down in text yet.

Something to do this weekend, maybe!

When we got the vow renewal photo package on the Koningsdam, the level package we got provided a photo album with some of the best shots, an 8x10" photo in a leather folder that also included a copy of our vows, and the toast the cruise director gave. It also gave us the USB of the photos (cute little thumb drive in the shape of the ship) and 30x20" metal portrait to hang.

At the time when we bought the package, they said the metal portrait would take 6-8 weeks. So imagine my shock when a large flat package showed up on Wednesday.

It's a lovely picture, and I really like it. . As I've said, the dude is a wizard or a miracle worker. There were photos of us where Jess and I both liked our picture. I normally hate having my picture taken. I'm fat, my hair chooses violence more days than not, and I have bad teeth, so smiling can be a challenge to look happy without showing teeth. But Zam got the shots, over and over again.

I printed out some of them with the 35 vacation photos I ordered. We need to look at some of the pictures and see which one we want to blow up into a canvas for our living room wall. There's a few good contenders. Or, I may do a collage of our travels. That might be even better. I know they have the big collage frames. That could be cool. I shall look into it.

Okay, it is time for me to go forth and get ready for Marchen today. Everyone have a fabulous Saturday!

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I want to make you proud, and you always said you knew what I could be

Fri, 22 May 2026 09:22:00 GMT

It's been just under a week since our cruise ended. We got off on Saturday morning, but it seems so much further away. It seems like a lifetime since we walked the halls of the Koningsdam, or strolled through Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Since I stood looking up at the Mendenhall glacier, stretched between the impossibly large peaks of Bullard and McGinnis Mountains and felt a mix of awe and vertigo. It was like a cathedral to nature, and we'd all come to witness and worship. I felt something shift inside my chest and head. I would forever be the person I'd been before Alaska, and the one post Alaska. The whale watching with the whale who obliged us with a fluke shot was not the consolation prise.

Or the White Pass train in Skagway, which was a monument to man's stubbornness and ingenuity, and breathtaking in it's own way. I took a deep breath of the mountain air and stepped out to the platform to watch nature rush by beneath my feet. I'm not a heights person, and we were about 2,000 feet up, winding along the side of the mountain. And I looked down the mountain at the sheer drop while the train swayed, and it was amazing. Soon after, we passed into Canada, and reached the summit of the White Pass, snow still piled along the sides of the tracks. And I remember thinking "Is this really my life? Am I really a person who is in Alaska?

And then the tour we weren't meant to do in Ketchikan. While we were supposed to be eating our weight in crabs, we chose to just do our own thing. We'd have to have to killed ourselves to make the crab feast, since the boat docked late, so we just didn't. Instead, we took the sketchy cash-only tour, breaking every safe tourism rule in existence. And we saw such beautiful things. The waterfall, the taste of salmon berries. The totem poles and another ode to mankind's ingenuity, the Salmon Ladder that allows salmon to safely traverse upstream to spawn. It was amazing, and we nearly missed it.

And the ship! I love that ship. We had so many great moments. Some amazing meals, a decent massage, some time in the thermal spa. And of course, our vow renewal, which was amazing in a different way. After 26 years, I got to walk down the aisle and recite some very beautiful vows to the love of my life. They were the vows that are standard for Holland America, but they were perfect. Relaxing on the balcony and watching the waves and scenery slip by. So many enormous mountains raising to craggy, snow covered peaks, and the Dawes glacier right off our ship, where we sat with our hot chocolate (in Holland America mugs) and watched in wonder at another beautiful glacier. And of course, our amazing suite, which was opulent and a comfortable home for 7 days.

And of course, the most important thing, the staff. The hard working steward, Yusuf and Dov, the waiters who remembered our names and were happy to stop and talk with us for a few minutes, checking on on how we were enjoying our cruise. And of course, our concierges Sheryl and especially Rachel. I wanted to keep Rachel, so that she could sort out my life for me. She felt comfortable enough to tell us about her daughter, and made sure we got where we needed to be as first time cruisers. She walked us onto the ship, and went over everything that we had planned, and let us know what came with the suite. It was a little daunting. And then, she walked us to the gangplank for the first port in Juneau, so we'd know where to find it. And she walked us to our vow renewal, and took my camera to take so many pictures and videos, like the one linked above of our vows.

And now I'm back in the land of cardiac appointments and so many patients needing sooner appts, and no way to schedule them. It barely feels real, like a wonderful dream, but it happened and it mattered.

And now I can't wait for our California Coast cruise. It's 18months away, and I know it won't have the same magic as Alaska, but I'm hoping it'll have it's own magic. We're going so many new places. Disneyland (The Happiest Place on Earth) and San Diego. And then back on the Koningsdam for another amazing cruise with interesting ports. Ensenada, Mexico, Santa Barbara, and the jewel, two days in San Francisco. I've always wanted to go to San Francisco. And maybe we'll do a quick tour around Los Angeles before we head up to Disneyland. I'd like to see the La Brea Tar pits, and maybe the Hollywood sign. I don't really need much more than that in LA, I don't think. I wouldn't mind doing a studio tour, but I don't need to. I'd rather save my knees for Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure and San Diego and San Francisco. It will be the week after daylight savings ends, so we'll probably get to see everything at night, which will be cool.

I've got an appointment in July to see an Ortho about said knees. They won't do knee replacement on anyone over a BMI of 40, so I'm hoping some cortisone shots and maybe some gel cartilege could be slipped in, because even at my skinniest, my BMI was still 42.

So, we'll see what kind of shape I'm in come November of next year. If I need to, I'll rent a scooter for Disney and also in the San Diego Zoo. I plan to uber in the cities to minimize walking, so I think I'll be okay.

I might come home with my knees fucked up again, but it'll be worth it, just like it was this time.

I do need them to settle down, because in 2 weeks, we have our company picnic, and I do want to go, and I'd rather not need a cane. Last year, it was fun, though hot as balls. This year, the temp is supposed to be 81, which is still warmer than I'd like, but I'll manage. I need to look for my work ID so I can wear it and look official. Of course, it's an ID that states my old job, but I'm not willing to go get a new one done, since that would mean driving to the hospital in the city.

Got work today, then game tonight, a long postponed one. It should be fairly short since they're close to the final battle, but it was just enough that we couldn't get it in last session. Then tomorrow shall be Marchen. Sunday, we may go out to brunch to celebrate Jess' birthday. We did have Indian food delivered last night and cupcakes, but they deserve all the celebrations.

In that time, I'd like to start moving stuff into our storage unit. I took a half day off to spend mostly with Jess, but I did go over to the storage unit and get my keys. I did not realize when I rented it that it's in a row of two tier units. They're each about 3.5 feet high, and ours is on the top, which is going to suck, since we're going to have to lift our stuff into it. Not ideal, but we'll work with it.

After I got back, we watched a youtube video ranking all the rides in Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. It was actually really useful, and knocked a few rides I had been considering out of the list. What I've currently got is 8-10 rides in Disneyland and 6-8 in California Adventure.

I have a few non-negotiable ones, like Indiana Jones and the Matterhorn. I'm also thinking about Space Mountain. It's set up slightly differently than the one in Florida, which we didn't do because all accounts said it's difficult to get out of. This has a different car, which is not as bad, so I think I'd like to try it. And of course, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion and the former Splash Mountain (Tiana's Bayou Adventure) I know we did them in Disney World, but these are the OGs. And at California Adventure I must do the Incredicoaster and the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout. I know Jess loves them a good drop tower, and having survived the Tower of Terror in Disney, I'm game for it.

And now, I shall step out of vacation planning and reminiscing mode and get myself ready for work. Everyone have a most excellent Friday!

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And I walked off you, and I walked off an old me.

Thu, 21 May 2026 09:00:04 GMT

It's Thursday, according to my computer. I'm still all screwed up on days since getting back. It's a short week, but somehow it feels like it should be Friday.

And seeing as it is now 5/21, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my beloved spouse, nilchance . I hope you had an amazing birthday cruise, and I love you so much. The good Indian food shall be yours today. *hug*

It was another very busy day at work. I spent most of it checking appointments for the one coworker. There weren't as many issues as previously, but there still were some. Apparently they'd gotten WAY behind on checking, as I was doing ones for the beginning of April all the way up to current. IT took me til about 2pm, but I got us up to date. In between, I was calling patients, trying to fill in some slots.

The Columbia Cardiac MRI template hasn't been updated to the new diagnoses yet, so I have been stubbornly unable to work on them. With June coming in 2 weeks, I've had to just start blocking off appointments to be moved when I'm actually able to schedule them.

So I dod that for a while, too. I got scheduled for the first half of June, and I'll work some more on it today as well. For someone who was supposed to be on the phone part time, I'm not spending much time answering calls. Once in a while, maybe 5-9 calls per day? It's not much.

My boss has told me how much they missed me while I was away. Things just weren't getting done. (I can tell!)

There's a meeting next week about the cardiac slots in Columbia. I have no idea if I need to attend, but I trust if not, I'll get all the details. It would be nice if they have me there, since the entirety of the scheduling rests on my shoulders. I know a lot of it would be above my paygrade, but some of it might be useful.

The apartments are getting rid of our storage units, just after we started putting things in there. I've got to go over to the Extra Storage place and get the key to our new unit. We rented a small site for suitcases, winter clothes, and holiday decor. I think I can fit most of that in there. We'll see. But since it's doubtful that I'll need a suitcase til next November, I'm going to just store them rather than having them in the closet. It should be helpful. I may need to get some stacking boxes for the clothes to minimize the amount of space they'll take. That will also clear up some closet space. I'll keep a handful of the regular leggings out, but the fleece ones are going in the storage. I'm going to be wearing shorts for the next 5 months.

Work should be a little less busy tomorrow. I'll see what I have to do, but I might mostly be taking it easy. I'm still recovering from the cruise. I'm functional, but still tired, and with a hint of jetlag.

My knees have improved a bit since returning. It no longer hurts just to stand or walk all the time. Once in a while, they'll give me a little jabbing pain, but it's not constant anymore. We were averaging about 3 miles of walking a day, mostly on uneven streets, but also sometimes on a rocking ship. None of that was good for me, apparently. I've made an appointment to get them looked at, but since the ortho won't do joint replacement on anyone over a BMI of 40, I don't know how much they can do.

If I have to, next year, I'll rent a scooter for Disneyland.

I've been looking at my options. It seems like if we want a direct flight, we're going to have to fly into LAX, and uber or train up to Anaheim. We also can't fly out of our home airport, instead going down to Regan or Dulles airports. I'm not averse to that, but it'll make coming home a little bit of a pain, since we'll be driving home in the dark. Or I suppose I could get a ride home. God knows, the dude who has driven us would be thrilled, since he lives down that way. That might be the better option.

Right now, of course, the pricing I'm doing is for this November, as the airline calendars only go out so far. Hopefully, next year, it's a wee bit cheaper.

I'm also pricing out hotels for Disneyland and San Diego. Needless to say, San Diego is a lot cheaper. Also has better rated hotels.

Between park tickets and hotel, we're looking at about $1,200 for three days, two nights. Which does not include food and Ubers while we're there. The other option would be to do the club level at one of the Disney hotels and pay more, but get some food options. I'm leaning towards the Marriott Courtyard, which has decent ratings. I was looking at two others, but one had a few shitty youtube reviews about being dirty and uncomfortable, and the other has exterior entry. To me, that's a motel, not a hotel. It gets amazing reviews, but I'm not comfortable with exterior corridors as a woman and a non binary person.

For San Diego, I'm looking at a hotel on the Pacific Beach, where I could walk out in the morning and touch the Pacific Ocean. I sailed in it, but I'd like to put my feet in it as well.

I'm so excited to have another vacation to plan. I've already planned what needs to be planned on the ship, so now it's just figuring out what to see and do in Disneyland/Grand California Adventure, San Diego and San Francisco. SO many youtube videos to watch.

I was slightly worried about Disneyland and how fat friendly it was, but thanks to the magic of youtube, I'm 95% sure that I'll fit into every ride I want to do. Or at least this dude who looked about my size fit easily. The only ones that might be tight, I don't want to do. It looks like California Adventure has more rides I'd like to do (9-10), so that'll probably be first day. Then Disneyland the next day, since that only has about 5-6 rides that I want to do. I probably won't get to ride everything I want to, but I'll get as many as I can. If I can't do the legacy rides like Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean or Jungle Cruise, I'll be okay, since I rode them in Orlando. But the Incredicoaster and Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout are definitely on the list. Maybe the Matterhorn.

San Francisco, I'm looking at all the videos, trying to see where to go in Chinatown for the best Dim Sum. Our excursions are both over by 1pm, so one day I definitely want to go to Chinatown, especially since we didn't make it to the one in Vancouver. We'll have two full days there, so I plan to see some sights and do some things in the city. I wonder if we'll sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. Seems like we might. That'll be super exciting. I'll definitely be on the verandah taking pictures.

Then again, that's the theme of our vacations. Lots of pictures. I wonder which crew we'll make friends with this time? I know they probably won't be the same people, since crew only work 8mo contracts at a time. But maybe. I would be so excited if Rachel is there as concierge. We're not Pinnacle Suite for this, but we are still Neptune, so we'll get the concierge and the lounge.

I know it's still 18mo away, but I'm so excited to get to do everything. It's funny, I'm not fond of Disney as a company right now. They've fucked over their people, the LGBT community, and their fans, but I still love the parks. I am looking forward to the Happiest Place on Earth.

I'm wondering if I could get a car service to take us around LA a touch, then drive us to Anaheim. I'd like to see the Hollywood sign, and maybe the La Brea Tar Pits, maybs past the Chinese Theater. I'd really like to see the Tar Pits. I love dinosaurs, and that could be fun, and mean that we'll get to our hotel when our room would be ready, since we're coming in early in the morning. GoodleMaps says it's only about 40 minutes to Anaheim, so we'd be getting there way before the hotel is ready for us.

We'll see. Its possible by next year, the nonstop flight times will have changed and that won't be an issue. The weather looks like it could be good, ranging from 80 degrees in Ensenada, Mexico to about 64 in San Francisco. San Fran does get 5 days of rain in November, so we may be taking ponchos, but that's fine. We'll be good no matter what.

Right now, the plan is for it to be 11/9/2027-11/22/2027. 2 days in Disney, train to San Diego, two full days there, and then a 7 day cruise. Back to San Diego for 1 day, and then home.

Sorry, yet again, you're going to be getting a lot of vacation babble. I use my journal to sort out my thoughts and right now my thoughts are on plotting and planning this vacation.

But for now, I will hop off and maybe grab a shower. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

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