Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female.

My car doors were frozen shut this morning. I know, I know, the weather in March can be all over the place, but I DON’T CARE FOR IT.

And I’m missing an hour and I don’t care much for that either. But I will give it up if we don’t change the damn clocks again this fall. Maybe this will be the year we stay on EDT. (I’m not holding my breath, but maybe?)

And thanks to having to work yesterday, I am fuck all behind on getting shit done around the house. My to-do list is a mile long and my motivation is nil. I am half tempted to just check everything in Tody as done and start with a clean slate. I mean, sure, I could get up just get things done, or I could sit here and…not.

At least I have tomorrow off. Granted, offset by working yesterday, but it was still worth it to knock out 4 hours of testing yesterday to not have to show up tomorrow. Granted, my head is 100% messed up by all this and I keep thinking it’s Saturday, not Sunday…

OK, time to go try and get a few things done today.

It’s snowing on March 12 and I have to work today, and I’m genuinely not sure which offends me more.

On the work front, I am bouncing between “yeah, it sucks, but there was a cascade of dumb things this week and it happens at times” and “GODDAMMIT SO MUCH WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN WHEN I HAVE PTO?”

Yesterday’s half day became work-dentist-work-break for 6PM build-work. The thing that needed to be done by yesterday but wasn’t ready to test until last night – a couple quick post-build tests show it’s working, which is good. But it also means I finish it off today, or I work on Monday – and I don’t want to work on Monday. (Had it still been broken, it wouldn’t be ready to retest until Tuesday, but dammit, my developer fixed it on the first go.)

But it will get done, I’ll drop a note in Teams letting everyone know it’s done and to not be looking for me on Monday. (And let them go, “oh shit, that’s right, she had Monday off, it was on the schedule and everything.”)

It’s a good thing that I genuinely like the work I do. But I do think I’m going to bring my work laptop downstairs and work in front of the TV in a nod to the fact that it’s the weekend.

The snow…yeah, I know, it’s March, this also is one of those things that happens, but jeez. It’s very pretty, but the wind is really crazy and I don’t like that.

As I bounce all over the place mentally this morning – I saw Free Guy last night. What a cute and fun movie! Bit of a combination of the Lego movie, Tron, and Groundhog Day. It’s just fun and silly and Taika Waititi is hilarious as the villain. And I definitely think there are bits that anyone in the games industry will see and go, “Oh, yeah, my boss had us do that dumb thing, too!” It’s a fun two hour escape, and lord knows we could all use that.

OK, time to go bring the laptop downstairs and knock out some testing so I can enjoy the rest of my long weekend.

You have a fantastic weekend!

Another last minute request this morning “um, this thing that we said wasn’t due until next week and the dev only checked in yesterday, um, can you have it done by COB tomorrow?” FFS. Said I’d do what I could, but no guarantees. I managed to at least get it started this evening – and I shit you not, the first damn test run fails. It definitely ain’t gonna be done by tomorrow now.

And I’ve got another thing that also needs to be done tomorrow – and the fix won’t be ready until after tonight’s build – and if tomorrow was any other half-day Friday it would be fine, I’d just not worry about early quitting time and finish it – but I have a dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon. (Just a cleaning, but it’s half the afternoon out the window.)

So guess who is going back upstairs after the build is done to try to get as much out of the way tonight as possible? Yup.

And the jigsaw puzzle I ordered to have something to do where I couldn’t be doomscrolling? It arrived today, AND I HAVE TO FUCKING WORK LATE.

And doomscrolling and whatnot – but I am SO bad at that. I’ve actually ordered a fucking JIGSAW PUZZLE to force myself to do something where I am not holding my phone. (Yes, I also have a fuckton of stitching projects I could work on as well, but ADHD brain doesn’t want to do those right now.)

And I don’t know about you – but I had zero idea that we were regularly buying Russian oil, and that fucker in Moscow is muttering about changing that being an act of war and fucking over Germany for it. Like, why the fuck were we doing that in the first place? It seems really fucking weird to me given that I don’t feel like we have ever had a decent relationship with them, even in the Glastnost times.

But, what the fuck do I know, we have a President who has gotten on a “get back to the office” tear and I guess we’re gonna need that oil so folks can be miserable and waste time and money commuting to offices again cause we gotta prop up that commercial real estate and make downtowns all booming again. Or – we could work on converting those buildings into affordable housing. I think a downtown would be very booming if it was filled with people who lived there.

Watching Zelenskyy these past two weeks – holy shit. How is it when it comes to politicians who had been in the entertainment industry, Ukraine got Zelenskyy and we got Reagan and 45? One man who has stepped up to the task at hand and isn’t making it look glamorous or fun, and two twats who desperately wanted to play act at war.

It’s going to be yet another one of those days where I just shake my head, cause I don’t know what else to do.

70s yesterday, could hit 80 today – and then we’ll be back down in the 50s for the rest of the week, but it’s trying to get here. Heat didn’t even come on last night or this morning, much to Lily’s dismay. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can put the humidifier away for the season.

Just heard on the BBC that the Russians want the Ukrainians to change their constitution as one of their demands. Fuck that shit. And they’re calling for humanitarian corridors that only let people evacuate to Russia. Fuck that shit, too.

These are some of the bravest people I’ve seen. Right up there with the folks in every other country that Russia has fucked with in my lifetime. We need to sit down and think about why we’re seeing so much more coverage of Ukrainans than we did about the Syrians. (I mean, I know why, but we need to talk about it.)

This crap finally broke my brother and he went up to the bar last night just to get out of the house cause he was climbing the walls. I don’t blame him and the place was dead cause it was a Sunday night with no major sporting events and he texted me about having a 10′ bubble around him. If that damn nuclear power plant that was getting shelled Friday night had exploded or melted down, I know I would have just headed to the bar…

I know for myself, just going to work in the midst of all this feels really – IDK, disrespectful, dumb, sad, indifferent…something. Not that I can do anything about a land war in Eastern Europe, but it just feels shitty.

And in the midst of all this, Biden is calling for people to get back to work in person. Talk about a fucking unforced error there. I’d like to think that a Warren/Castro administration wouldn’t have pulled this dumb shit.

Well, my “don’t lose track of time while you’re drinking your coffee and writing” alarm has gone off, so it’s time to grind those gears for capitalism.

Take care of yourself.

The trucknuts are here in town – spent yesterday in Maryland claiming that there was “a trap” in DC – weird way of saying “I don’t know how to drive in DC” but OK. So, they’re gonna drive around the beltway until their “demands” are met. Mind you, Covid restrictions have been dropped left and right, so they’re just being petulant assholes.

And on NextDoor, some Karen is bitching about vet offices still doing curbside pickup. They’re trying to protect their staff from people like you, idiot.

These are the same people that consider Red Dawn a documentary and think they would be as brave as the Ukrainians in the face of true crisis, but all they’ve done is prove they can’t handle even the slightest inconvenience.

The Ukrainians…may whatever gods or goddesses that may be out there bless them. I wouldn’t wish what they’re going through on anyone except possibly Putin himself and several members of the US Republican party. Having a madman living next door is terrible.

And the rest of the world…I mean, I understand why they don’t want a no fly zone. It’s easy to think that it’s something that is mutually agreed upon as a “cooling off” mechanism, but it’s not, and is something that has to be enforced – and if we can’t even get a ceasefire for evacuations – someone would definitely have to shoot down a Russian plane. And it doesn’t help that fuckface keeps saying basically that any help would be considered an act of war, but we have got to figure out how to do more.

Sanctions sound great, and I love seeing yachts getting seized, but on the whole, they don’t hurt Russian leadership. I suppose it could cause the regular people of Russia to try and overthrow Putin, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he just killed his own people, he’s that much of a monster.

I just feel very helpless and angry.

And right now, that is especially impressive considering we went to bed last night with everything looking a bit shaky and potentially radioactive. As a child of the cold war, I really thought we were done with this shit. And to top it off, we’ve got the damn idiot truckers coming through this weekend – why, I don’t know, there aren’t any fucking Covid restrictions anymore.

So, if you’re feeling more stressed than usual – and our stress levels have been pretty high these last 2 years – you’re in good company. I know I’m still worried about Covid, about the people in Ukraine, about everyone *around* Ukraine, and what it all means for the rest of us.

I won’t lie – it sure seems from here that Putin has lost his damn mind, and that is scary as shit.

And I don’t know about the rest of the world, but here in the US we’re all expected to just get up and go to work and pretend like nothing is happening, just like with Covid. Plague? World War? You’d best get your shareholder value on.

Oh, if you’re struggling with “things you can do” – if you head over to Etsy and search for digital works from sellers in Ukraine and find something you like – it gets them money, and you get something. I have a few new cross stitch patterns today.

Hang in there.

It’s a “oh no early morning meeting” Wednesday, but I have the day off! (And the meeting was canceled anyway, but still, I definitely enjoyed sleeping in today.)

I did not watch the SOTU last night – I find them to be far too long, the applause breaks drive me up a wall, and inevitably there is something that enrages me, no matter how much I may like whoever is in office. But, I did sit down and read the transcript this morning.

Good stuff:

• Acknowledging that burn pits have caused a fuckton of problems for veterans.
• Protecting Roe v. Wade. (My dude, you can say the word abortion.)
• Protection for our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors.
• DARPA for health sounds pretty cool.
• Helping Ukraine.
• Infrastructure – not sexy, but I like my bridges to stay intact.

“Unity Agenda” gave me some serious eyerolls, but the underlying goals are fine.

Then the “Oh FFS” bits.

• More money for police. They’re fine, they don’t need more damn money.
• “Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, COVID-19 need no longer control our lives.” I’m sorry, what now?
• “We’re leaving no one behind or ignoring anyone’s needs as we move forward.” – the fuck we aren’t leaving anyone behind, how about the elderly, disabled, immunocompromised, and kids under 5?
• “It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again.  People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.” Fuck yoooooooooou. Gas prices are going through the roof and you want folks to start commuting again? You want folks to have to deal with shitty anti-mask & anti-vax coworkers in person? ALSO, THERE ARE TONS OF FOLKS WHO NEVER STOPPED WORKING IN PERSON AND FUCKING PAID THE PRICE.
• Zero mention of student loan relief.

This garbage with the updated CDC guidelines making it seem like Covid over – get the fuck outta here with that shit. This idea that it’s fine if everyone gets Covid as long as they don’t end up in the hospital? JFC. When I went into Starbucks this morning – all the seats were filled, folks were shoulder to shoulder like everything was fine. Idiots putting themselves and the folks working there at totally unnecessary risk for a coffee and gossip session.

In my county, since our first cases emerged, we have had 55 days where our community transmission levels were “low” – out of 725 days. And the last time we were at those levels was JULY OF LAST YEAR. Moderate levels? Haven’t seen those since August of last year. We only just dropped back into “Substantial” last week – sure, let’s just throw all non-vaccination mitigation out the damn window. (I know, they recommend ventilation improvements – who is actually doing that? No one.)

I want to be able to go have a nice sit down lunch somewhere as much as anyone – but wishing doesn’t make it so. And for every asshat that thinks that people like me who don’t want Covid or Long Covid want to “extend the pandemic forever” – goddamn, you’re stupid. These folks definitely failed the marshmallow test.

Now that I’ve vented my spleen yet again over the chucklefucks at the CDC, I’m gonna try to do something with my day off that doesn’t involve being all pissed off.

And let me tell you something kids, being 50 is REALLY FUCKING WEIRD. 20 was boring cause 21 is the cool birthday. 30 really bothered me. By 40, I didn’t give a flying fuck. (Pretty great, TBH.) But 50 – it’s just really, really weird and I am having a hell of a time processing it. I’m not really bothered by it, I just can’t get my head around it.

Didn’t ever expect to be living through a whole damn plague. And I really thought we were done with Russia being huge dicks, but here we are.

And now I’m at the point where I have to be thinking about retirement. (I always have been, but it’s really on my mind now.) Is it practical to try to get old in this house? (Probably not.)

But there is cool shit, too. I have a computer that fits in my damn pocket that has more processing power and storage that my first desktop computer. I have a goofy cat and a good brother. There is cake, eclairs and cookies. There is going to be Outback takeaway for dinner! (Though I admit to being a bit salty that on the rare year the weather isn’t frozen shit, there is still a plague to keep me out of a restaurant.)

And the birthday coupons are rolling in! $10 off at IHOP. Got my birthday Starbucks this morning. 20% off at Hallmark. Mini set from Sephora. Pretty sure I’ve got a free pastry or something from Panera, too.

It’s certainly weird, but not all bad.

And it’s important to remember that in the midst of *waves arms* all this.

Went to the market and this CDC change has been met with basically the same reaction as when the state dropped the mask mandates last May, and that reaction is, “Fuck that noise.” (Granted, we still have a problem with folks thinking that covid stops at the entrance to restaurants, but I think that’s a lost cause.)

The grocery store had Grapefruit Smashes back in stock! Gotta say, this canned cocktail trend is surprisingly good. Devil’s Backbone also makes Orange & Lemon smashes – orange is a touch bland, but the Lemon one is great, as are their Margaritas. (I get fancy with the margaritas and actually put them in a glass with a salted rim.)

And somehow a bag of Honey Graham M&M’s ended up in my basket – they’re new and I am definitely intrigued, and not waiting for Easter to try these.

I also realized that I am sure that the leftover chicken tikka would be excellent added to a salad, and the leftover curry & rice means I don’t have to cook tonight.

Hang on to the small things.