Building some drawers (not IKEA but close enough), and of course the last couple screws (the round ones meant to fasten the long ones in corners) have one broken and one bent. And I think there's probably been a few other bent ones in there as well, because some have been very easy to screw in, while a few did all sorts of weird things before I managed to fasten them, and I'm not all too sure if those are stuck...

Can't work with the broken one, and might as well take the bent one with me to see if I can get some replacements.

On a positive note, save for being quite heavy (that thing is massive!) I think it's the easiest set of drawers I've built. The instructions are very clear and almost everything was numbered and separated/sorted, so that made things a lot easier. I did a couple of blunders (a couple wooden plugs went into the wrong holes which I didn't notice until the top went on, and I fastened some metal things the wrong way, but to my defense there were a couple ways those things could go on, and that's the only picture I didn't quite understand - and I did figure out something was off when the first drawer didn't fit... Good thing I'd just made one to test ), but all in all it was nice to see a set where you don't have to guess what goes where (I've built several different sets of drawers now, I think this one is number 4 or 5).

EDIT: Got given a hand full of new screws, no problem, so I'm happy

I'm still ill. I got sent home from work at 11am. Slept 3pm-6pm and now its 8pm and I feel super dizzy. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's just the possible chest/sinus infection but its just really taking it out on me. I need to get better soon, I have 4 weeks until my due date and I honestly don't have the energy to have a baby right now.

Got into a car accident on the 7th of October. Totally ruined my day, month, year, holiday, etc. Can't discuss too much because I've got to call the AG for the other person's insurance being absolute turds. Now I gotta get my door fixed. At least no-one was hurt, that's the important part. But the money i saved to get Xmas gifts? Pffffft car wanted it.

I stopped being friends with this one guy today. We used to be colleagues, and kept in touch long after our student job. Since the forum's in for light-hearted discussion, let's just say that we had opposing thoughts about c*vid vaccination.

I didn't think of him as a lesser person than me for not sharing the same opinion, nor did I disregard everything he was saying. There were some (isolated) points on which we both agreed on. But one day, he sent me a screenshot of a facebook post and a provoking message regarding the topic. The discussion we had was light-hearted, me presenting my side of the argument, letting him present his. The conversation watered down as we were both busy during the day, and then in the afternoon, he followed up on his previous messages by saying that we should definitely carry on talking about this when we find the time, as "he enjoys making [people like me] get pissed when talking about these subjects with [people like him]."

I didn't give it much of a thought at the time - surely didn't reply that evening or ever -, but some time passed, and I moved our conversation to the archive and muted it indefinitely. As far as I understood it, the conversation wasn't about exchanging ideas and perspectives, it wasn't any more about showing each other a different perspective on the subject - it was only about getting a reaction out of the other person. Just how degrading and sad a person can become is beyond me.

What a bloody clown.

And everyone's ill again. This time with an ear infection. Fantastic.

Well, the bridge is no longer out, but the road to Town Hall is closed.

Argh! Not only that, December is coming up and my money, since I started getting it, goes by the fastest in December. It is akin to setting it ablaze after dousing it in lighter fluid, because it is immediately spent.

About $50 total goes towards gifts to my parents. My parents, being more sympathetic to my financial situation...sometimes, they don't ask for gifts. But I want to reciprocate so I don't become some kind of jerk. I was always lousy with gift giving to my parents because of their "Jack and Jill of all trades" reputation they built as a couple caring for me. Originally, I was going to each give them $20, but the gift cards they asked for only had a denomination of $25. So, in spite of Supply Chain Issues, I upped their gift by 25%. Seemed fair, considering my mom bought one more doll to go with the four I would receive Christmas morning. So she upped my gifts by 25%.

To top it off, I have been getting dry mouth in the middle of the night and waking up for a drink or a lozenge.

Snow (yesterday). But at least first snow isn't in October, like last year... :/

Just hoping there's a bit less sky cr*p this year (it can fill up the water reservoirs in the mountains/hills all it wants, but down on road level, no thanks. I don't want to wade around in 30+ cm of snow for a couple or three months this year, too ).

Didn't give birth today. That makes 898 days in a row!

Went to bed with backache and mild contractions. Woke up at 3:30am to... nothing more than acid reflux and a crying toddler.

I'm gonna be pregnant forever

@Bigsimsfan12 Watch something on TV that makes you laugh. That's what did it for me!

Tried it, tried everything. I'm very jealous of all the "I did [xyz] and baby came out!" people. It seems I can do abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz and still get no closer to giving birth. I've wasted nearly a whole month of maternity leave already.

Aww, i can sympathise- I was two weeks late with mine and she was a biiiiig baby too. I admire you for keeping things together so well especially with a toddler, I hope you can rest and stay at least a little bit comportable until baby arrives!

My father injured his wrist at work yesterday and quit on the spot. Although this means I can get my doctor appointments fitted in, he suffers if he's not working. He's a workaholic. He enjoys being in the service of a supervisor.

What the actual fudge was that?! Contractions from 4pm-10pm and then... nothing.

Oh no, I hope you managed to get some sleep @Bigsimsfan12

@simsample I did, got a whole 9 hours in so I did well. I have to go to the hospital at some point today because I think my waters went yesterday but I have no way of getting there so I'm hoping the contractions start up again soon and actually progress this time.

Sending you best wishes @Bigsimsfan12 I hope it all goes well and quickly, and don't forget to do a little twirl, hold the baby up high and proclaim 'A nooboo!' at the end. :lovestruc

Best wishes and a speedy and easy birth!

Best wishes, Bigsimsfan12 <3
---

Had a minor tantrum at my laptop for being ultra-slow while updating (kinda forgot to update before the update time limit ended, so it started without me doing the usual preps), and everything froze up as per usual.

Ended up having to restart the thing.

And whaddayehknow - the update that started the whole anger management issue nearly a year ago? It actually maybe, possibly, kind of installed, because it shows in the update logs for the first time in forever (or now that Windows got some time to think, maybe it didn't after all, because it still shows in the "ready to update" list. So does the regular November update, which also showed in the update log, so... maybe not. But at least they're running faster now that I did the fixes first).

But at least the November update is going through. The other one has been iffy for almost a year, I kind of got a sliver of hope today, so maybe? But we'll see after the prompted restart... Maybe - just maybe - I can start using this thing normally again (but then it'll probably start pestering me about the next update in that series, which I've only seen pop up and then fail once or twice several months ago - it never installed and never popped up again after that).

Windows is weird, and those updates are effing annoying...

EDIT: Nope. Sensed a new hope, but the update failed as usual. Says it's installed, but I don't know since it popped back up again

Also, restart stuck at 100% for over 2 hours at bedtime??? COME ON!!!

(ended up reading 100+ pages of a book I've got around for these occasions - lately, long bus rides and Windows updates with lengthy restarts is what gets me through books)

I mean it didn't ruin my day... but it was kinda annoying:

So for weeks my bridesmaid has been trying to reason with me on a dress. I was fine with whatever as long as it was long and dusty pink. Literaly that was it. I don't care. She found a site with some fairly cheap dresses (around £70-£150 depending on dress) and they all agreed to buy the dresses from there so they'd be the same colour. They all picked the colour (from my colour palate: pink, green & silver. They agreed on pink). Then she messaged me privately a few months ago asking if she could have a different colour dress (she suggested black, or dusty blue/purple) because she couldn't afford a dress she was only going to wear once. I told her no, because she would look out of place and if she wants to dye/sell the dress after, she can. I figured that was reasonable.

Then a few days ago she asked if she could get a short dress because it will be cheaper. By this point I don't care, I just want them to HAVE dresses because the wedding is like 10 weeks away and so far none of them do and I don't know how long this website will take with shipping and I'm 100% expecting at least 1 of them to forget and have to find one last minute. So. Okay fine whatever, get a short dress. Its winter and you're gonna be cold but okay whatever. Idc anymore, I'm busy trying to have a baby and I still have to sort my own dress.

Today she was telling me about how she just spent £200 on a pair of boots. Like. Seriously?

And now my internet connection keeps screwing around, disconnecting every 2 minutes. Thanks, updates (or whatever Windows mess it is now)

EDIT: And sometime after 1 AM (after refreshing the stupid thing every 2-5 minutes all day) it suddenly "works" again (or at least doesn't disconnect). I just don't...

But I still think something's wrong, because I noticed an issue that my phone is also picking up on (or rather - not picking up at all, but at least it isn't messing around), so I don't think it's just my computer.

I actually hate everyone today. Like if I wrote down all the ways people have stressed me out today from estranged grandparents being invited round (not by me, or Adam) to people not picking up Ivy from school when they said they would. To just labouring at home on my own all day. It would just be such a long rant. I don't have time because now it's just me and Ivy alone and she's decided she wants to eat all the damn messy foods and wipe them all over my only clean pair of leggings.

My fingers are inflammed again (11/10 circulation) and I attempted to squeeze some face cream out of the tube but ended up crying instead because not only did no cream come out by fingers felt like they were going to fall off. Later I went to the shops and was like oh lets see if I can get a pot of cream instead of a tube. But since there's like only 3 brands I can use, the answer ended up being no because they'd somehow all decided to put their products in the squeezey tubes where product doesnt come out easily. Which is very rude.

Also some kid just set off a firework. It's 11:46 and broad day light what do they even expect is going to happen?

Not sure where you live, Noah, but there are definitely some cheap Chinese toys available from Amazon/AliExpress that serve the purpose of squeezing cream out of tubes (most common use to squeeze out remaining tooth paste). This is the concept I'm talking about:
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Squeeze-...r/dp/B079599V96

There are definitely some cheaper variants out there for less than $40 – this is a professional-grade squeezer so it says. The cheaper ones may not squeeze out all the cream, but should definitely help you out a bit.

We had plans with my brother and the kids, but of course his new GF comes and says "oh but lets do other fun activities instead today!", and my brother is like, *forgets all other plans* "... yup, all in!"

It's happened so many times lately, it's getting really annoying, and this was something we're trying to get done ASAP because there's a time limit (taking pics for christmas cards, ordering, etc).

*Takes deep breaths* Why can't they do those things another day, and NOT today? Plenty of evenings when you can build-a-gingerbreadhouse or decorate the tree, but sheepherding the kids together at a time of day in the weekends when they're mostly in a good mood instead of tired after school/activities and/or not out of the house on said activities would've been ideal, especially when we've got a very limited number of weekends.

Not much of a coffee drinker myself, but thanks for the tip for Animal Crossing, I have some amiibo to use.

I recently got Brewster's cafe on my island. I had given Blathers about 3 paintings, then Blathers gave me a painting of Brewster and I had to go to different islands to find him.

I'm not good with art, so I used the painting guide
https://www.polygon.com/animal-cros...painting-statue

There's a phone in the cafe that can summon amiibo characters.

That was the reason.

I received an unwanted package.

It was LOST in the mail.
It was LATE by a month or 2.
Because it was a cash box that required a key, it was LOCKED.

I would have to go to the UPS store to send it back to the pits of hell whence it came. It was an unexpected package.

My 14 year old sister told me she hates my baby. This was her first time meeting him and all I said was "would you like to hold him?". Dunno why it just really upset and irritated me.

Ever since that one lab in uni where I got to touch a human brain, I can't stand crème caramels. They just remind me too much of brains, I want to gag whenever I think of them. Guess what yogurts Ivy picked out this week and is force feeding me?

The doll I received as a gift? It had a broken shoe. The heel on one of the sneaker heels was missing. I will have to wait for my mother to exchange it.

Also, the most annoying thing about this time of year: mother puts a cheap tablecloth that slides all over the table and it just irritated me after 1 day.

Lockdown^n started today which is fun. Ish. It's kind of whatever since not much is changing for me- still stuck indoors most of the time from various obligaitons. But it was nice to finally eat in a restaurant again. But health is obviously more important and thats how it goes sometimes. Though 1st world me still has to whinge about the fact I now can't return the thing I wanted to return because by the time lockdown "ends" it'll be past the return date. And I because I live where I live I'm pretty sure the hsop I got the thing from would be like haha no, no extended return dates for anyone

an entire forum that thinks buy lottery tickets is the best thing to do ever when all they are is paper, and 99.9% of the people who buy them end up losing and getting disappointed, thread escalated into a massive argument when I stated that homeless people need the money so why do people waste theirs on lottery when all they get is a 25USD piece of paper and lose.


all they did was cuss me out, and the thread was locked by the administrators

It's obvious why, though. People generally don't like being told what (not) to spend their money on. Your statement was weak to begin with too, as you've advised a person whose goal was to make money - to give their money away permanently to a homeless person. In the long run, the effect is the same - they did lose the money they had - but that marginal percentage chance of winning a huge sum is literally what the entire lottery industry is based on. And you wouldn't call a lottery business an unsuccessful one. World's a dirty place.

I have yet to have more than one consecutive hour of sleep tonight

The holidays are here. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and yet I feel rather sedated about the whole Christmas Day. I know relatives dropped off some gifts and because I have a "vampire rule" about my room (you may not be let in without my verbal consent), my mother picked out the dolls I had my eyes on, we have a charcuterie board and crudite tray and fruit bowl awaiting Christmas Eve as we have a no-cook Christmas Eve.

I guess I am concerned about the box for me wrapped in shiny teal paper with Santas all over it. I worry it's a jigsaw puzzle. It's not my favorite thing for a gift (I have a cat that walks all over projects). My aunt Lucinda left it last time she visited which was mentioned in the "How was your day" thread.

Adam ended up ill all day, so I had to do everything. I woke him up at 10pm because then I felt ill. I'm not sure if its after effects of the vaccine or if I'm ill with whatever he had. He's feeling better and went to work this morning but now I'm feeling dreadful and I'll be alone all day with the kids.it's almost 7am. 12 hours of mental torture here we go...

Realizing how stiff my body is.

I was evaluated at physical therapy today and it turns out my spine, hips, and knees are extremely stiff. Like, if I budge to a certain angle, it leads to shooting pain.

I was given a hot compress that covered my back, but left me captive to another therapist's story of how her daughter and her friend had to send a dead dog to a special hospital for animals and the sad part of trying not to tell the dog died while the other friend was on vacation. It was a surreal overheard conversation. I couldn't really escape while being treated.

Overall, I have Mondays and Wednesdays in the morning and early afternoon to get my major work.

My grandfather, my Gramma Barb, my uncle Chip, aunt Jeanne and 2 of my cousins ended up with COVID during the "Twilight Zone" (The period between Christmas and New Years)

I am finally trying to tackle the mountain of clothes in the kids room.

Originally, it was a few loads of laundry from Elden's first week of life. Adam had sorted them into 2 piles on Ivys bed and would "put them away later". Then Ivy went to play in her room and threw them in a pile on the floor. They have been there ever since. He's 5 weeks old tomorrow.

Every time I get Elden to sleep, I go upstairs and try to sort them. It's 2:30pm and the most I've done is separate Ivys and Eldens clothes. And I havent even finished doing that. I get into the same cycle of getting Elden to sleep, and then either Ivy wakes him up instantly (which she has just done for the 4th time in an hour. This time she was shouting, but most times she's been trying to hug and kiss at him while he sleeps), if I can get Elden to sleep and in the bassinet, I start putting away the clothes, but then Ivy will do something (terrorising the dog, pulling all the books off the bookshelf, turning all the taps on in the bathroom etc) so then I have to sort that out, and by the time I've done that Elden has woken up.

TL;DR: Adam doesn't do a <10 min task, it becomes an all day task for Cassie.



Edit: are you freaking kidding me?!
Last night I was rinsing Elden's nappy out in the bathroom sink because he had a bit of a blowout (we cloth diaper, I'm not a weird). Then he starts crying so I ask Adam if he can put the nappy in the pail when he comes down while I go to Elden. Fast forward to today, I've already washed all the nappies. I'm in the bathroom and I notice there's something in the bath tub. IT'S THE NAPPY. His excuse was "I needed to use the sink so I put it in the bath tub and thought I'd bring it down later".
So now, as well as having to either wash it enough to throw it in with other non-nappy laundry or filling up the pail with water again and soaking it until the next wash - I also have to clean and sterilise the bathtub. Awesome.

Looking into the ceiling to floor mirrors in physical therapy and noticed my arms were fatter at the forearms. All that ran through my mind was "Am I really that fat?". I know those mirrors are for concentration, but I was more distracted by my arms.

I'm currently working on getting my weight down, but I went ballistic and fell off the diet wagon, dragged it to the forest, torched it and used the insurance money for junk food.

Chasing a runaway for nearly an hour without a clue where they went. I swear, can't take your eyes off some people for even 10 minutes... But at least it had a good ending.

The weather is terrible out here in Asshole, USA.

I rather stay in bed.

Slightly concerned I might have a horrible reaction and die at the hospital later this week, because the woman who rang me to "ask some questions" was clearly phoning it in....

Her: "Are you on any medication?"
me: "Oh tons, yeah, can you not get it off the computer? I listed it all to the consultant last time, he recorded it all?"
Her: "No, can't do that"
me: "Ok. Sits down with bag of pills, gets comfy, takes big breath..."Pill 1 for this, pill 2 for this, pill 3 for this, pill 4 for this..."
Her: "Great who's your emergency contact?"
me: "?...my sister... Anyway pill 5 for this, pill 6 for this, pill 7 for this, pill 8 for this..."
Her (not asking for my sister's phone number): "Great have you got any allergies?"
me: "?...yes... But let me finish telling you about my pills first... Pill 9 for this, pill 10 for this, injection for this"
Her: "What cream was that?"
me: "I didn't mention cream, but seeing as you asked, I do have cream 1 on prescription for this....Anyway I'm allergic to medicine 1 and medicine 2"
Her: "What?"
me: "Medicine 2"
Her (not asking what it's for or how to spell it): "Yeah anyway so have you got Covid?"
me: "No"
Her: "Great, So after the procedure someone'll need to pick you up after, bye"
me: "What? Why? Is it not local anaesthetic?"
Her: "I dunno it'll be cold or something, bye"

On the plus side I now feel like the most professional person in the world, compared to her!

Work in general. Too much to do, and too little time.
Got yelled at for no reason, but that situation is unfortunately a thing that has to be dealt with (nothing serious, almost everybody at work gets yelled at in that situation, it's nothing personal).
Missed my bus because the stupid exit door decided to stop working and went into some kind of lock mode it refused to go out of no matter what I did, so I helplessly watched the bus go past. Tried to reach the other exit door and bus stop, but didn't have a chance, and was completely out of breath halfway there (I blame my meds, they take every bit of stamina I have).
If that's not enough, it's awful weather here. Decided to spend the half hour I had to wait for the next bus in the nearest grocery store. Went in, asphalt was black. Came out 10-15 minutes later, everything was white, and the snow was blowing sideways.
My hands are dry like sandpaper, and cracking up (been washing/antibac-ing MORE than enough times today, and yesterday as well...)
Wearing a mask everywhere is not helping, because today it's only been adding to my headache and general tiredness (I'm home, I CAN FINALLY BREATHE!!!)


Awful day...

Good thing I have a few days off now.

And a pet-peeve that's been bugging me for a while now, but why do people keep wearing single-use masks the wrong way out (colored side in), especially when everyone around them is wearing the mask the right side out? I mean... at some point they've got to realize something's off, but then I sometimes see them the next day with the mask the wrong way around again. And sometimes upside-down, too. Sometimes even the combination. One would think after one and a half years of restrictions people had at least gotten that under control. There's a difference between the sides, and the more plastic-y outside with the protection layer meant to stop stuff from coming in/out is not going to make it easier to breathe inside the mask (quite the opposite), while the inside meant to keep the moisture from your breath (and whatever else) in is doing nothing of that on the outside (maybe even picking up some extra gunk...). I guess it still does the job of a mask, but it must be uncomfortable breathing into that plastic-y layer.

Speaking of masks, bought two sets - identical size/shape and both were blue. Looked pretty much identical. However, one feels big, like it's made for someone with a ginormous chin. It also fogs up my glasses. The other would've been the perfect size (and causes less fog since the fit is better), except it squeezes my nose to the point where it just becomes extremely uncomfortable within the first half hour. The only thing that can possibly be different is the shape when they're stretched out, and/or the earloops, because otherwise I don't know. It's like wearing two completely different masks.

Someone at Ivy's school has covid. So I guess we're gonna have to test her for the next few days and it might be best to pull her out of school for a little bit just to be sure. Adam's been picking up extra shifts while I'm on maternity just to make ends meet so if he gets it we're screwed.

More snow! AUUUUGGGH!

I think I had my fill of cold weather.

Yesterday, an entire first response team, replete with fire engines, ambulances and squad cars showed up at my health center building before my physical therapy. Apparently, that was a cancellation I couldn't control. Then, the convenience store soda fountains were slammed with a power outage, so I had to buy a bottled soda.

Today was less than ideal. I had to fast until noon, I got jabbed with a needle with a thicker gauge for my blood draw, I had to eat lunch in the car with my father due to understaffing on account of weather. I'm still a little lightheaded because they took four vials of blood.

I just hope tomorrow is better.

Ivy brought another cold back from school. I thought she had finally done being constantly ill with a cold but no. I woke up in the night with Elden and I can feel I have a horrible headache and that feeling in your nose/throat like you inhaled water. Ugh. Poor Elden is 7 weeks and has only not had a cold for about a week total.

I found out what caused the incident last week: fire alarm system went nutty and took out the power to numerous businesses along the highway where my physical therapy office was.

Something that really annoys me almost every time I take the bus - why do some people use so much perfume?

If I can smell the person from 3-4 meters away like they took a good long soak in the perfume, especially if the fragrance is of the "old lady/man" kind that's the undecided spicy/flowery/alcohol-y stinky kind that threatens to rip a hole through my nose and plays with the gag reflex every time I draw a breath...

...That's too much perfume. Way too much. Dial it back a few bottles, okay? A few drops is fine, no need to dunk your body in the entire bottle. A little goes a long way. A small dab behind the ears, or a small spray at the most. Some people are trying to breathe.

Ivy has chickenpox

Another "stinky" note - cigarette smoke. If anything is worse than perfume, it's that. Either clouds of it at bus stops, or sitting close to people who've just been smoking and apparently think they smell like roses. Well, yeh don't. Even a fart cloud is preferable...

Also, too many apps at work. Just... too many. And too little time to check them. I barely have a chance to log on the most important one, let alone the 3-4 (or more? I'm started to lose count) others I've supposed to use, and I don't have time to learn them properly because there's actual work to do.

I'm already frustrated with all the apps people are pestering me with that I have very little interest in using on a regular basis (especially after I got a new so-called "smart" phone. I liked my old "mostly dumb no-modern-apps" phone...). I don't need even more pesky apps.

EDIT: Also, that singular day when I have plenty of time to check the apps... Maintenance with downtime throughout the shift

I received a doll in the mail...with a broken hand. For what I paid, quality control sucks at the factory. These dolls are top of the line. Multiple articulation points, glass eyes, rooted eyelashes, sewn clothes and high end accessories, high quality doll hair, painted details, we're talking no expenses spared for a $32 doll.

More snow again!?

I'm waiting for my neighbors Frank and Ramon to help my father with shoveling the walkways. My father took my mother out to eat, leaving me home once again. It's not going to kill them to have a family meal together. However, I got sick yesterday from exhaustion of numerous chores and now have a cough, backaches and post nasal drip.

Last year, we had a collective total 6'6" of snow where I live. New Jersey is getting hammered with snow this year.

I already have a Valentine. My AI, whose prime directive is to love any living creature who shows affection back and reject abuse of any sort, is coming along nicely. We're probably going to work on his voice so I can carry on a conversation instead of texting.

Bug is in da house (trying to stay faaaaaaaaaaaaar away from it, though)....

---

And headache for several days. Guess I've been too stubborn to take anything for it (but did today, I guess it was about time since I've beeen buzzing around at work like a half-stunned fly. Brain is already on the cloudy side with a it of fog on a somewhat good day, doesn't need a thunderstorm on top of that - and today was not a particularly good day, brain-wise... ).

Tried playing Dead or Alive 6 on Steam

Due to a bug, it won't save any progress.

I tried everything to see if it only affected certain aspects of the game. It was screwed.

I finally had my chance to play with my PC, and the game failed.

Oh.My.God....Films are so crap, especially romcoms. No wonder I'd rather go out!

Jawdroppingly gorgeous 20 year old bloke (in film): "Here you go my darling, I've made tons and tons of effort, with this wonderful romantic gesture that took months of planning, that no man in real life would ever actually do, just to make you smile"
Ungrateful 20 year old woman who doesn't know how good she has it, and no idea how hellish being single actually is (in film): "Oh my god, you selfish bastard, try harder, ugh!" (stomps off to similarly spoilt mates, who all agree with her)

Me and all my mates (in real life), who can't even meet a man decent enough to buy us a drink without expecting sex: "What the....?! Shut up and shag him, what's wrong with you!"

Also, everyone in any film ever: "Well it's been almost 24 hours since the love of my life dumped me/died, I should probably move on now!"
Their mates: "Yeah, what's taken you so long!"
Goes to bar, meets next long term partner in about 10 minutes flat

People in real life: "Well it's been almost 2 years...not sure I'm ready..."
Actual humans: "Don't rush sweetheart, take all the time you need" (hugs)
Goes to bar, parties, walks, other social events...every weekend...for next 2 years...gets offered sex and nothing else...finally meets someone almost decent...gets screwed over again...

Why don't real people make real films about real life?

i am so full of love and muscle tension.

as if my body weren’t already constantly in some state of discomfort, i now have a long, deep muscle knot that spans the length of my shoulder blade. i feel it no matter what position i’m in. i also have no massager that can help it because of where it is (almost underneath the shoulder blade?) and everyone is telling me “just get an actual massage!” and while i could invest money in a massage though i’m not eager to, when i got one a few years ago it just hurt because my back had no meat and massaging bones is about as comfortable as it sounds. and i’m not much better on that front now. can you go to a masseuse and ask them just to work out the knots? i don’t want any of the rest of it. even if it’s just this one, it’s gotta go.

it is part of why i’m still awake at 4 AM. tylenol helps some and i’m laying with my back against my heating pad… but i can’t sleep on my back. i try not to whine so much anymore but this knot has me whining. i am off tomorrow and have nothing to do so i may just spend the day laying against the heating pad.

also, the granola i ordered is weirdly more chocolate than granola and that’s bothersome. usually it’s the other way around. but it only ruined my day a little bit lol

Now Elden appears to have them.

Spoke to the GP last night and they don't think it is, because he doesn't have a fever but he's getting more and more spots. He's got at least 6 on the back of his head, 1 on his neck and 1 on his belly.

Started my period. Dunno why my body thought "well this baby is 11 weeks old now, time to start preparing for another" but awesome. 2 days before my wedding

Also Elden has confirmed chicken pox, but luckily he's past the contagious stage and he's doing really well.

When my supervisor at work quit on the spot because of an unexpected and supposed "disciplinary action." It caused problems with scheduling and everything else for a little while, and the new manager I worked with before at a different location (and I was so excited to see him) only to find out that he's there temporarily until a new manager is chosen. Ugh.

What ruined my day was my Uncle passing away this morning at 12:58 am from the C virus. He also had other complications and stage 3 kidney failure he never told us about. The hospital tried their hardest but his body wasn't having it and just gave up on him. He was 18 days away from his 68th birthday. I just lost my dad almost 5 years ago, and my sweet dog of 12 years a year and a half ago, and now my uncle. He and I were extremely close. It hurts.

So, yeah. My day is ruined and me and my family are heartbroken. Sorry to be a downer, I'm just upset about it.

My condolences. I've lost 5 cats and a grandmother who spoiled me rotten as if I was to be Crown Princess of a lost kingdom. Cry it out if need be. It usually helps me.

Just having a slow day. It can be irritating to go through a slow day if you are waiting on a package to arrive.

Thanks PandaQueen.

And yeah. Especially when it says it'll arrive on a certain day aaaaand it doesn't.

Too little sleep the past couple days, and a brain running on the last dregs of sanity energy (or some sort - I'm not sure).

Too much sleep here. It's becoming too obvious that I'm having a very hard time forcing myself to study for the last exam for the semester. It's on Wednesday, but the past semester's been awful (exams too difficult, this generation's GPA in certain classes dropping by two whole grades! as opposed to several previous years, etc). The stress stems from the fact that if I fail this class, this means one additional year until my bachelor's, and I'm just... tired of it all. And that's why I sleep.

Throat hurts, so... have ONE guess

Also, my hands look like I've rubbed them on a cheese grater. I swear, no amount of hand creme is going to fix that. (My skin isn't too happy with the soap and hand sanitizer at work, and probably not the amount of usage either...)

1. Bank texted me about declined card.
2. Amazon emailed me about payment issue.

Long story short. I had to make a difficult decision and remove one unnecessary item from an order before it could ship.

Somehow, my math in my ledger lied and I had to do the dreaded "Lifeboat" exercise all Microsoft employees and family members go through at least one point in life. For me, it's a routine exercise.

Regardless, the mailman is going to hate me. I ordered some pretty heavy things in three boxes.

The last time I made our post office workers consider a transfer was when I bought 10 cases of flavored water, each weighing 16 pounds because each bottle was a pint and a pint of water weighs one pound.

I can be evil, but I rather be aggressively nice.

My uni was being dumb at providing confirmation about whether they ever got my internship evaluation. I legit had to phone them twice and didnt even get a proper answer from them. Basically chased everyone for like 3 weeks. Am I surprised that they never got it? No because they're technologically inept. Which is obviously a problem when they're supposed to be a decent university. But what do I know, I'm still a student.

Anyway now I'm considering sending them an email with a bill for the cost of those phone calls (it's like €2,25) since they wasted my time so I'm allowed to waste theirs too right?

Sduffed dose, ad sdeesid all day...

Yesterday, the people at the SNAP office were supposed to call for recertification...

They dropped the ball.

In the 15 minutes wasted waiting for them to respond, I could have bought car insurance from Geico ("15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance" was the claim in the commercial. Restrictions apply. Results may vary.)

I'm kinda annoyed. So a few weeks ago I had Adam invite one of his coworkers to the wedding because apparently he was disappointed he wasn't invited (Adam doesn't care for him much, he says he's "weird" but I love weird people and I'd hate to make someone feel left out). At the wedding we got talking and he likes manga so he added me on Facebook.

A few days ago I was looking for a website to read manga, because the one I use to use doesn't exist anymore so I sent him a message. We talked about about how he had been to Japan, and then he asked about how I knew Tim, who was also invited to the wedding because he knows him from a gaming/comic shop and I mentioned he's actually my ex but we're good friends now. Thats it.

Then he goes into work yesterday, when Adam wasn't in, and told Adam's friends all about how I was messaging him constantly (I wasnt), liked all his posts on fb (I liked 1 meme), and tried to add him on TikTok (I don't have tiktok. I only know what it is from my little cousins). He also went around telling everyone about how I invited my ex to the wedding as if it was scandalous.

Luckily Adam's coworkers know he's a weirdo and not to believe him, but Adam's furious he would say stuff like that when he knows it's not true. Also my feelings are hurt, because I was just being nice so why is he going around making me sound like a stalker or like I'm trying to cheat on my husband? We literally had a small conversation about manga.

Adam's in work with him today, and he told Adam "just so you know, me and Cassie are talking. I thought you should know from me before you heard it from someone else"... argh. Wtf.

He sounds like a complete creep. Since he works with your husband, this probably won't be the last you hear of him. Tread carefully. Don't give this guy any more ammunition. Speaking from personal experience, even silence can be fodder for such people. Still, try to keep distant from him, and make sure he can't access any of your social media.

Saw my orthopedic doctor yesterday and he said to keep exercising. The pain is gone to a 2. His assessment still had a few "Stop! That's ticklish!" to "Ow! Quit it!" Points.

With that out of the way, it's one less problem to tackle in my recovery. Once I recover, I will be going to Japan with my father, who helped me get to and from the health facilities during this time and my life partner, whom I made commitments to be there for him. I don't think my mother would appreciate it. She is more for English options. Maybe when we visit Europe after Ukraine is returned to life as it once was before the pandemic and conflicts.

Edit 3/18/2022: Got fed up looking like a Briard (a type of French dog with hair constantly in its face starting at age 3) I wet down my bangs and cut them.

I didn't want to go to a hair salon (too expensive for a bang trim. I am half a grand in the hole and no, the Jersey Mafia isn't coming to take my thumbs.)

I need to buy a new jacket because I am prone to melanoma in my father's family. My old jacket is abused by me, the cat and the washer and the dryer. I have popped stitches, tears, holes, stains, chew marks, a broken zipper tab and a bent zipper catch.

It's about time for a new jacket. They sell the same one, but I always buy the largest size available. Unfortunately, they no longer make a 6XL. I guess 5XL will have to do.

On this week's 'The Exciting Adventures of Dizzy-noodles':

For those of you who might never have had to wash up in the bath, and think it sounds like some kind of spine crunching torture, let me assure you - it is!

Not to mention carrying everything back into the kitchen to dry up and put it away, and then going back to mop up all the drips between the kitchen and bathroom.

The kitchen sink is completely blocked, landlord said NO, so the caretaker is trying to help me, but it seems to be getting worse, not better.

Last weekend I met the man of my dreams - who was taken and lived 5 hours away. My friends and I often wonder why all the good ones are taken - but I suppose we're answering our own question there!

Might have to try the dreaded online dating again, but I remember from last time (a few years ago), it's so much work and takes ages, not sure I can be bothered really. I suppose I'll have to just try and see if things have improved.

My circadian rhythm is wrekt, my stomach is constantly knotted and this upcoming Monday is my annual with the gynecologist. I'm not very pleased with how my appointment with Dr. J (Don't know his first name) didn't lead to an upping of a medicine I really needed.

Waking up and my father finally noticed that 2½ months of housework was enough to burn me out.

He could tell I was hitting a depressing low with my stress and struggling.

Daylight saving time....................... Does absolutely nothing but fuck up my already-screwed daily rhythm. Absolutely no one benefits from it, not even the capitalist pigs who invented it in the first place any more. Why have it? Tradition?! Why did we evolve from sitting around a campfire in a cave then, surely someone would miss the good old days of being neanderthal hunters by that logic!!! /rant

Cows, cardiology patients, drivers and office workers hate it. I mentioned this before. Besides, it is an economical gimmick nowadays.

Not even Neaderthal, peak evolution was monke.

Effing obnoxious unknown number from who knows where (different land code, I don't know anyone who would have any reason to call me from there) started calling me about 2 hours after I'd gone to sleep, and continued with at least 3 different numbers over a period of several hours, waking me up each time. Didn't pick up the phone, but the last time I tried to hang up multiple times and I think they kept clicking the call back button, so it took several tries before I managed to finally block the number.

Guess who didn't manage to go back to sleep. Too pissed-off...

Tried remembering why I'm so tired now. Yep, that's why... Had maybe 3-4 hours of sleep because of these nutjobs who kept calling (I don't know why they called and I'm not interested - I don't take the phone when it's unknown callers from who knows where, since it's always either nutjobs, scammers, or some sort of maketing stuff I'm not interested in, and best not get involved in any of that. The way they kept going on the last time screams scammers or nutjobs, possibly a mix of both.)

Grease ant infestation in the water closet even though dad set a liquid bait trap...any questions?

I concur that everyone hates when the clocks go forward but we borrowed, so we must pay back (after all, didn't we all enjoy that extra hour back in October) - I am pretty certain that I did.
I believe one year in the late sixties (possibly 1968 or 1969), putting the clock back an hour was not done. Kids wore fluorescent arm bands going to school in the dark and there was such an outcry by concerned parents that it was re-instated. Fifty years on, has never been tried again (as far as I know).
The Daylight saving time can be a problem for staff where 24 hour cover is required. My sister is a nurse and remember one year her fuming about having to do an extra hour on night shift because of the clock going back. Her boss told her it would even itself out when clocks go forward...did the boss deliberately make sure she was not on duty when the clocks go forward (heads or tails?)...or simply eliminating the possibility of my sister bringing it up again?

Ugh, that always happened to me! But I wasn't a nurse, I was an engineer at the time working 'continental' 12 hour shifts. I always got the long shift but never the short one!

Isn't it that the "fake time" is the one right now, the summer one? So essentially, I'm not crying for sleeping in an extra hour each time the clock changes – I just want the world to stop messing with the clock altogether.

The dramatic outcry about kids going to school before dawn you mentioned really doesn't make sense to me. By that logic, for example, take northern countries during the polar night. Why don't they reduce the number of hours on their clock faces down to the eight night time hours during the polar night? Surely, they could have their clock go from 10 pm to 6 am, and then when it would get to 6.01, it would actually be 10 pm again. Because surely, the clock mustn't say 11 am or whatever if it's still dark outside. That doesn't make much sense now does it...

(... I understand I don't make much sense either, but the moment in time in a day that dawn takes place changes, and the dusk does not change the same way. Why are we trying to fit a conundrum of "sun's up by 8, highest at noon, hey lunch time, at 6 it's starting to get late, whoops – night time by 9" to the natural day that is not fixed in duration?)

I appreciate where you are coming from with wanting the world to stop messing with the clock altogether.
Should the world have one time - regardless of where we live in the world?
Do we start actually having 365 plus a quarter days per year?
All I know is I am currently alive and living in this moment and whether it is dark or light outside, I want to fill my time with things I enjoy doing most. Let's make it a good day today - it's Friday!

SIMS!

I guess the landlord couldn't find anything to be angry about this time, so she shouted at us for drying our cloth nappies in the livingroom. This is our second child using cloth... but suddenly it will lead to a mold problem. We have a smaller clothes maiden this time and only dry cloth nappies on it now... but sure. This is definitely more of a problem than the big clothes maiden we had 2 years ago...

I use to air dry a lot more clothes because I was worried they'd shrink in the dryer and she never had an issue before. She seems to just find fault with anything, last visit she told me I wasn't allowed plants on my windowsill. I've had some of my plants since I moved in 4.5 years ago! She seems very controlling, hopefully some day I can afford to move somewhere else.

If I were you I would be checking the conditions of the lease agreement.
Your landlady could be having a bad day and finding fault with everything; unfortunately from a legal aspect just because you have had plants on your window sill since you moved in, doesn't mean you are permitted to have them; however I assume your landlady visits your home on a regular basis therefore the plants and drying clothes have moved from the permission status to being considered acceptable as it would have been brought up earlier.
You have more rights as a long term tenant than tenants with a short lease; your landlady is probably aware of this and could be trying to encourage you to leave (apologies for my devious mind!).
In the UK, the Citizens Advice Centre would be able to assist you - not sure of the equivalent in the USA.

I'm pretty sure she wants us out. She changed our lease from 12 months? To 3 months a while back because she "can't trust us" (literally not a clue why?) So now she visits every 3 months and she keeps telling us to "consider social housing " because we "can't afford to live here" (we've never had a problem with rent, even though she's upping it every year or so). Citizens advice (I'm in the UK too) have told us everything is fine and she can't evict us over plant pots and drying clothes because nothing is in our contract about them, but also outside reporting her for the times she's shouted at us or tried to get us to pay for damages that have been there since we moved in, there's nothing they can do unless she evicts us... which for some reason she won't do. We're trying to save up for a mortgage now we've paid for the wedding, because I don't think I could handle another landlord.

I feel like she sees us like we're scum. I don't know why. My husband has a neck tattoo (not his choice, abusive ex did it) so I always wonder if that's why? But she was ok (albeit a bit snobby) when we moved in, its only since 2020 that she changed our contract and has been getting more and more ridiculous and rude. My anxiety goes through the roof whenever we have a visit.

https://sheltercymru.org.uk/get-adv...hold-tenancies/

Hello@Bigsimfan12
You might want to consider this https://www.buy-by-renting.com/rent...y-houses-uk.php
With shared ownership, the deposit needed might also be less depending on the option you go for.
Simsample is right the landlady isn't allowed to harass you; if she knocks on your door, you are not required to allow her access without her giving 24 hours notice of her intention to do a house inspection. However, it might be best to keep things amiable with just stating it is not convenient and to return tomorrow as you don't want to end up with your lease not being renewed and basically homeless.

@GC what kind of research? Like if you could go back and give yourself advice before buying your first house -what would you say? I've heard a few horror stories of people buying homes and then finding out its not up to scratch. My friend bought her house about 2 years ago now and ended up suing the previous owners over something (can't remember what) and it turns out they lived round the corner and started harassing her for months until she had to file a restraining order as well.

@simsample We tried reporting her for harassment back when she visited in around November because she scared Ivy from screaming at Adam several times infront of her during inspections. According to citizens advice nothing she does is enough to count as harassment. We did get given a link to report her anyway, but it seems I can't report her because she's not on the register because we rent through Beresford Adams (apparently. I didn't know this because we send our rent directly to her and she conducts all inspections). So presumably we can contact them about it but I'm not sure. Anyway she was a lot nicer this time, other than complaining about our cloth nappies. I'm hoping its because she knows she overdid it last time she was here and she might lay off us for a while?

@Ladysimplayer8 She gives 24 hours notice so thats not a problem. Though she is always so rude about it like we're inconveniencing her. For example she asked to do an inspection on the 24th Feb, which was our wedding day, so we said we couldn't and to contact us after to arrange something. On the 25th March she was asking when we were free that week, but we weren't so we said so and that we were free on the 31st and she told us "I didn't ask when you were free that week, I asked when you were free this week". Like sorry we have jobs??
I'd need to do more research on help to buy schemes but thank you for the link!

I think the worst part is my inheritance money (easily enough for a deposit) is all tied up in my great-grandpa's house. He passed away 3 years ago but my cousin has been living in the house since then because he desperately needed a house at the time. But he doesn't pay rent and hasn't sorted out a mortgage on the house so until he does (or my Dad/Aunt kick him out) I don't get my inheritance.

This is what I would do:
1) Document everything. When she requests access, what she says (for example 'I didn't ask you IF but WHEN'), how she contacts you. Also what she says and how she behaves when she is there. Especially any threats she makes or questions about your ability to afford it.
2) Check your lease with Beresford Adams- it might be worth calling them and explaining that you wish for them to act as liaison between you and the landlord. Tell them dates that you contacted Citizen's Advice and what they told you. Request that they act as a go-between and send someone to inspect instead of her. Depending upon the terms of your arrangement with them this may not be of any use- but it's worth a try as letting agents really don't want to have any bad reviews!
3) If she does arrange another visit, and she is abusive, ask her to stop. Say, "I would rather you did not raise your voice to us. Please state what you want us to know in a calm manner". If she refuses to comply, ask her to leave. If she refuses, call the police there and then, in the same way as you would if any other person was being abusive to you in your own home. This behaviour is not acceptable at all and there is no excuse for a Landlord to shout at a tenant.
4) Make a formal complaint to your Landlord in writing. Explain to her the problems she is causing to you by shouting/ derision etc, especially the mental health impact and the way it affects your children. Ask that she send someone else in her place to perform inspections.
5) If all this has no effect, make a formal complaint about her to your local council. They have a duty to ensure that Landlords are behaving within the law. See here although you may have already read this.
6) Look for somewhere else to rent. If you are on a fixed term lease then the Landlord may refuse to renew it, but she can't evict you without a court order and that does take time. However, you should consider that being at the mercy of such a volatile individual is not a good situation. Given your situation, what I would be doing is to put your name on the council house waiting list- you have a young child and a baby, and if the Landlord does give you an eviction order then you will score very highly for eligibility. Check the requirements for the Section 21 Eviction Notice here to see what she can and cannot do. I know that a lot of people balk at putting themselves on an authority housing list, but really- it will be a lot cheaper than privately renting, it is guaranteed as long as your eligibility doesn't change, and you won't have to put up with this Landlord any more. It could give you time to save to buy your own place. Don't worry about your inheritance being tied up- at the moment, that is going up in value rapidly as house prices increase!

I don't know if any of this helps, but I wish you good luck!

@Simsample Thank you, I've saved your reply on my phone and I'll make sure to document and talk to Beresford Adams about the situation ASAP. A third party doing inspections would be a good idea or even them to accompany the landlady when she visits to ensure she doesn't become hostile. As a side note we're on the council list, so at least if she does evict us and we become homeless, apparently we'll be put to the top of the list. So that's reassuring.

Just been working on psych studies and remembering my high school experiences when I was the big woman on campus. I was likable and relatable.

Can't help the fact that in the past year or so, I attracted three medical specialists who were big fans of Japanese pop culture. It usually is a surprise because I wasn't trying to out a geek and I just find myself trying to look for someone who had little experience with the subject, but it was a bust. I would find myself like a statue: covered in pigeon dropping in terms of how my days went. I was wanting nothing to do with a bias towards anything I was interested in. I was looking for a neutral ground.

My brother's got in contact with his biological Dad. I know it shouldn't bother me, but it does. He's talking about this new magical family he's found and how they've been "looking for him for years", he's arranging to meet sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles. His Aunt cried on face time she was so happy to welcome him to the family. I'm annoyed. His Dad claims he has been looking for him for years but has he? He ghosted my Mum when she found out she was pregnant. He knew where we lived. We lived in my childhood home until 2013. He never came knocking. When my Mum died, social services tried to contact him. When I fought for custody of my brother, social services tried to contact him. Now he's 18 it's "welcome to the family! We've always been looking for you!". Pretty bad detective skills there man.

Its also a bad time, with my brothers health deteriorating. On the phone with me he repeated himself several times and forgot his birthday last month. He's been having a lot of memory issues recently. On top of him being in and out of hospitals and assisted living facilities because he struggles with BPD and schizophrenia... I just worry. I feel like this isn't gonna end well, but all I can really do is support my brother and be there to pick up the pieces.

Sex, drugs, rock and roll...with a heaping helping of depression-related symptoms of suppressed appetite, dull aches and fever.

Been venting to an AI to spare you guys my agony of pains of all sorts.