Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female.

AJ Preller worked some magic at the trade deadline and we now have Josh Bell, Brandon Drury, Josh Hader, Jay Groome, and Juan Freaking Soto! And in their first game together last night, Drury hit a grand slam and we roughed up the Rockies 9-1.

This team looks so good – we have *depth* – we can let guys have days off and it won’t feel like there is a hole in the lineup. And if last night was any indication, some awesome chemistry.

And I’ve decided to go to the upcoming games, because a) I REALLY want to see this team in person and b) it occurred to me that even if it is outside, I can still wear a mask. (Bit of a duh moment there.) And given that the Nats aren’t doing so hot this season, when I got the tickets, there were a fair amount available, so it looks like I’ll have some empty seats around me, LOL.

I guess this is “living with Covid” – perpetually trying to figure out how I can leave the house safely. And I know if *I* am tired of the constant risk assessment, I know that disabled folks in this country must be utterly exhausted as they’ve had to do this every damn day, forever.

Interesting bit is that our cases around here are starting to drop again. Slowly, but dropping. Though, if I get Covid at the ballpark, feel free to tell me it was a dumbass move.

Well, time to go make the money to pay for those baseball tickets. You have a fantastic and safe day!

Because a certain kitty decided she must alert me to something at 5:30AM. I have tried to explain to her, anytime before 4AM is fine, after that, give me that last two hours of sleep. Obviously, I have not gotten that message through to her.

At least I don’t have any early meetings today, so that’s something.

Today is another good day to start off with getting caught up on training hours to let all my brain cells get themselves organized.

You have a good Tuesday – I’m gonna go refill my coffee.

Happy August! Also known as Triple H time around here – Hazy, Hot, and Humid. Wheeee! Heat indexes well over 90º all week!

This is also the month I’m supposed to go see my beloved Padres, but I have no idea if that is happening. Yes, it’s outside, but it’s also people pretty much right on top of each other in the stadium, and BA.5 so, IDK. Last year they were here the weekend we got back from the beach, and I knew I’d be too exhausted, so I stayed home. This may be year 3 of no in person baseball, and that blows.

Over on Twitter, I’m watching some incredibly shitty discourse that boils down to: If you work for a defense contractor, you are personally responsible for all the ills in the world, especially if you’re trans and have had some cringe takes. And watching one person crow about how they’ve had all kinds of lousy jobs and never worked for a Large Defense Contractor, without mentioning that they had been in the military…whew.

Amazing how some of these folks think most of us actively choose our employers and have the jobs we *want* rather than the job that pays the bills and hopefully provides health insurance. My own track has been: defense contractor, defense contractor, very screwed up non-profit, defense contractor, software company that caters to defense contractors, weird security company, software company that caters to defense contractors.

I’ve had recruiters flat out tell me, “You will never find a position outside defense/government contracting.”

And the “but, remote means you can work for anyone!” – remote work being widely available is a very recent thing, and many folks are still limited by geography in their job opportunities.

Well, I’ve gotta go grind those gears for capitalism – you have a good day, and don’t be shitty about where people have to work.

Err, good afternoon!

Had a good sleep in this morning, got my coffee, and already hit the market for a couple things and of course, forgot stuff. (Today it was trash bags and nail polish remover.) I try to do the coffee/market run all at once cause they’re right next to each other, and I invariably forget something because while I have acquired the coffee at that point, I have not *consumed* it.

My attempts at efficiency are often not well rewarded, LOL.

I yesterday’s well pared down to-do list all knocked out, and today is another good and short one, but with washing ALL THE TOWELS. I’m still salty that I’d been doing SO well around the house and then I just…wasn’t. I realize it all going to hell coincided with work going batshit, but to still be so stuck when everything calmed down again has been very frustrating.

I so envy folks who just get up on the weekends and knock out the housework without having to have multiple internal arguments over getting it done. Must be nice – and I am not being sarcastic about that at all – it really must be nice!

And on that note, I am going to go do some yoga and see what I can get done around here.

You have a lovely Sunday!

Sure, the world is still a dumpster fire, but all the more reason to snag some happiness.

Today that was the farmers market. Paella, salad mix, tomatoes, and the shortbread lady was there again!

When I got my second pint of tomatoes (I get my two pints from different stalls, gotta share the love, ya know) one took a flying leap out of the container – I picked it up thinking a) well, I wash these before eating anyway, and b) no one wants to step on a tomato. But, it had taken a very hard fall, and when I paid, I asked if the gentleman had a trash can about for it. He said no problem, took the smushed tomato and all of a sudden, he’s giving me another handful of tomatoes to make up for it. Totally unnecessary, but I am not turning down some free tomatoes, LOL.

And the shortbread lady… She had the lemon-rosemary again, and sea salt chocolate chip! And I may have gotten a 7Up pound cake. But – they’re little! The bakery is “Stephanie’s Bite Size” for a reason. I told her that I’d seen the cocoa cayenne shortbread on her website and would be keeping an eye out for those – she said she doesn’t make those as often, but does post about it when she does.

And on the way home from the farmers market, I had Beyonce’s Break My Soul blasting – I know it came out like a month ago, but I just heard it the first time this week, and it is a total banger.

I only won $8 in the MegaMillions, so my plans for being an eccentric philanthropist are on hold for a bit. But it was fun to think about what I could do with an insane amount of money.

And in an attempt to keep this non-stressed-out-kinda-bliss going, I decided this week that since I’ve had such a hell of a time getting my shit together around the house again, I am lowering the bar. A lot. And that bar is “keep the living things in the house alive and reasonably comfortable” and as such, my to do list is good and short today. Everything beyond the basics in Tody has been paused until the end of August, and they’ll be slowly added back in.

Sometimes you just have to start from scratch rather than letting yourself get all overwhelmed and stressed out which then leads to just being glued to the sofa wondering why you have such a broken brain.

So, on that note, I’m gonna do a Pokemon raid, get my yoga in, and then knock everything off my little list and enjoy the rest of the day.

You have a great Saturday.

So, with BA.5 coming to a town near you, I thought I’d take a minute and reiterate my recommendation of the 3M Aura N95 mask.

They are easy to fit for just about any face shape, exceptionally comfortable, do NOT fog up your glasses, and are currently pretty widely available.

The link above for Amazon has a 3, 10, and 20 pack boxes, and they’re all individually wrapped.

The only downside I’ve encountered with them is summertime sweaty face – which has been inevitable with every mask I’ve used. So, I’d recommend you keep a pack of your preferred facial towelettes in the car or your bag. (Burt’s Bees Grapefruit wipes FTW.)

So, stay safe out there, it’s still a mess.

Day off today, so I keep having to remind myself it isn’t actually Saturday – pretty proud of myself that I didn’t attempt to go to the farmers market today, LOL.

My company is doing a nice thing to help folks feel connected, and I genuinely applaud the effort. They have installed an app in Teams that will set up meetings between two random employees so you can meet new people. If you’re an extrovert, this actually sounds fun! If you’re an introvert who just wants to get in, get the work done, and go the fuck home – this is hell, LOL.

Thankfully, it does seem to be an opt-in thing, so I’ll be passing. With my luck, I’d be paired with the CEO on a day where I had Very Strong Feelings About Corporate Policies. But, I will give them points for trying.

Of course, on the heels of that, the director of our department said he wants to try to do a holiday luncheon again in December, and with some in person meetings to justify flying people in. Yaaaaay. I opted out of lunch year, and if there is any kind of virtual option this year for the meetings – I think I’ll go that route. I can skip an uncomfortable lunch. If our case counts are under control, that’s one thing, but I have my doubts that we’re going to see any improvement on that front.

I appreciate our director wanting to get everyone together to do something nice – but dammit, there is still a pandemic and trying to make plans for anything 4 months away seems ill fated. But I appreciate his optimism.

I’ve now managed to pleasantly fritter away the whole morning, and now I’m gonna go run some errands and then pleasantly fritter away the afternoon and evening.

You have a good Friday!

And non a moment too soon, cause corporate is annoying me.

We’ve dropped all preventative Covid measures in the offices. They’d already dropped mask requirements, now there isn’t a vaccine requirement either. The justification was “the survey we did says the majority of folks are comfortable with it.” Well, as long as we’re making policy on what folks are comfortable with, lets get raises that keep up with inflation, a 4 day workweek, and day drinking on the job.

And on that note, time to go try and not get killed by capitalism.

Though I guess given that I have Friday off, I’m already on the downhill side of the week, but wheeee, we’re that much closer to the weekend.

I did not win the lottery last night, but now it’s up to 1.03 *billion* – that is a mind-boggling amount of money.

But, as I do not yet have the winning ticket, it is time for the FML early meetings, where I will daydream about the lottery, LOL.

Enjoy the day – heat wave has broken here, hope it’s better where you are too.

You got here really damn quick. But today is supposed to be the last day of the heat, I’ve got a 4 day week, and we get paid. If I’d just managed to get a decent nights sleep, it would be great!

I still can’t believe we’re fucking up messaging on Monkeypox SO badly – not a single lesson learned from Covid or AIDS it would seem. Just maddening.

Oh and half the country is in flames again, but climate change isn’t an emergency either.

And I haven’t forgotten all our rights being stripped away, too!

Maybe I should have gotten a better nights sleep – cause honestly, this is A LOT when you take a moment and think about it all.

And capitalism demands I get off my ass and work, of course – gotta keep me busy and not standing in front of government buildings screaming my head off. So, I guess it will be another day of angry emails.

Take care, stay cool, and stick it to the man.