Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female.

Just everything was dumb. Thing 1, broken. Thing 2, not broken but it took me fucking forever to figure out that it was actually working right, because I am apparently an idiot.

Thing 1 has been a thorn in my side for a couple weeks now – the dev trying to fix it is in over his head (but getting help from a senior dev) – and we have just been going back & forth repeatedly on it. The worst part is that it’s not a bug – a big client wanted a change because they didn’t like the functionality, when it wouldn’t be an issue if they were maintaining their data properly… But we’re changing it.

Thing 2… I’d tested it, then got an email from the folks on the other side of the world saying “hey, here’s some more scenarios” – which is fine, I know I can’t think of everything. But this handful of “this switch on, this one off” items came out to nearly 300 permutations to test…

I was able to consolidate some of them but, yeesh – and then wasting a bunch of time beating my head into the desk, well, awesome.

Ah well, at least the day is over.

Oh, and I saw this on Twitter yesterday and I can’t stop watching it, and I think it will make you smile, too. It’s only 6 seconds and just trust me on this. (Unless you have issues with bats, then, maybe don’t click play.)

And some snaps from January 26s that weren’t quite as stupid.

It’s noon and I’ve gotten everything on the around the house to-do list ticked off. Pretty damn pleased with myself on that front. Who would have thought a leaky valve would get me on track around the house? And yet, here we are. (As a whole, the house is still a disaster, but there are many spots that are NOT disastrous, which is definitely something.)

Our county case numbers continue to drop, which is good to see, but I’m left wondering if winter surges are going to be a thing forever – I really hope not, cause I’m pretty fucking tired of all this. (I know, everyone is.) But if we can’t get our shit together after two years and we have to just hope every surge will just burn itself out – well, it doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, they’re locking down again and PM Jacinda Ardern has canceled her wedding, cause she’s a fucking team player.

But it is what it is, and all I can do is keep on keeping on.

Oh, January 23 we were dealing with a blizzard…

It looks so gorgeous out there – bright and sunny! And it’s 28 degrees! 🥶

But it’s Saturday, I had a very ridiculous sleep in this morning, and I’ve got a very large cold brew next to me, so it’s all good.

Just got this push notification from BBC News on my phone: Kamala Harris one year: Where did it go wrong for her? You know, I don’t remember anyone giving a shit about a VP’s approval ratings before we had a VP who was a black woman. I mean, I’m perpetually pissed off at this administration, but I kinda don’t care about the VP unless they’re doing something really egregiously awful.

Some good news here on the pandemic front – I think we may be past our Omicron peak here in the county!

I’ve still moved my hair appointment to the end of February and I’ll get in touch with the dentist’s office on Monday – I’d like things to be a smidge lower before doing anything besides my dash through the grocery store or in & out at Starbucks – but it’s a good trend and I really hope it continues – we just can’t take this level of infection for much longer.

And I’m still glad I ordered the test kits from the government. There are lots of good reasons to order them, one being to prove to the government that there is demand for it, cause you know damn well they didn’t want to do this in the first place. My personal reasons are super petty – I want some of my damn tax money back in a tangible form. Yes, roads and bridges are great, but I’d like a benefit I can actually put my hands on that is just for me, LOL.

Stay warm, friends.

January 22nd wasn’t a big day for pictures it seems…

You made it! Good job!!

And the new laptop arrived last evening and it’s all up and running. Apple’s little Time Machine backup is so awesome – all my files transferred over with a legit couple clicks of the mouse. (And some time. There were a lot of files.) It was far easier than any other time I’ve had to upgrade a laptop.

It’s very nice – the “e” key works consistently and I don’t have to worry about it going into sleep mode and not wanting to wake up, and the sound quality on it is pretty amazing. I did have to switch over to Office 365 (weird that Office 2011 isn’t supported, LOL.) And Turbo Tax is happily downloading its updates.

While I didn’t want to dump a bunch of money to start 2022, I knew this was coming and it’s a good investment. Also, major props to Apple for getting it to me in 24 hours.

You have a great day!

Apple and UPS swear that my laptop will be here *today* – of course the USB-C to USB port connector will not be here until the 24th, LOL.

That tiny accessory is kinda required to connect the laptop to the backup drive. Looks like there is a trip to Staples in my future to their little Apple section for that.

And the old laptop is still trying to update. I don’t have the heart to turn it off.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my little laptop will not upgrade.

The signs of age have been there for a while, and a new laptop had been on the 2022 list, and I’ve placed the order for a replacement.

But, it could be worse. I could have not backed everything up. I could have discovered this on April 13 with taxes due in 2 days. I could be in a position where I couldn’t afford to replace it.

The new one could be here as early as Friday – and I wouldn’t be shocked, as Apple usually has a really good turnaround time. But it also could be as long as next Tuesday… Really hoping for that 21st side of the 21st to 25th delivery range, though.

Now, watch me come downstairs tomorrow morning to find the upgrade completed, LOL.

Had to upgrade the OS on the MacBook Air to get the latest version of Turbo Tax to work. Started last night. It’s still going this morning.

Google says if it gets stuck, it’s OK to reboot, which I did before bed last night. It went right back into the update, which I felt was a good sign, but 6 hours later, still updating is probably not great.

I rebooted again this morning, and it went back to updating again. If it’s still going at lunch, I don’t know if I should be scheduling a drop off at the Apple store or just ordering a new laptop. (This one is 9 years old, so no shame in its game and all that.)

The good news is that I backed everything up before starting this whole technical escapade.

HEY, WHILE I WAS TYPING THIS ON MY IPAD IT FINALLY WENT FROM “ESTIMATING TIME” TO “24 MINUTES REMAINING”!!!

And fuck, back to estimating time remaining…

Well, guess we’ll see where it is at lunch.

*sob*

Today and not today:

Slept in until 930 this morning (“late” given that I’ve been up by 8 the last two weekend days) and then hit the driveway & sidewalks real quick. Pretty much just slush after the post-snow rain, but my god that is so tiring. Folks who do manual/physical labor for a living do NOT get paid enough, whatever they get paid. And folks on Nextdoor cry about the lack of teens about shoveling snow on the cheap.

But, got it done so anyone out dog walking has clear places to walk. Roads are in fine shape, got my Starbucks and I guess we really didn’t have to worry about not being able to get out and about today, but I’m glad we don’t have to anyway. Another good day to hunker down and eat cookies.

Lily is good with this strategy.

On this January 17, we have evidence of the before times and being in a bar! And the late, great Carmenator being adorable. I still miss her.

Or at least in an hour or so. And I can sit back and enjoy it. Housework is done. There are leftovers in the fridge. I’ve taken a nice long, hot shower and washed my hair. I am seriously relaxed and this is nice.

The only plans I have left for today is to sit on the couch, watch the snow, binge watch TV, play pokemon, and eat cookies and/or things covered in melted cheese.

An excellent afternoon is on tap/

5 years ago today, my old Jeep hit 100K!

And a long weekend to boot. If you’re wondering what you can do for Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday – how about supporting a black-owned business and telling our elected representatives to DO BETTER? We have 50 senators + the VP and a Democrat in the White House thanks in no small part to black organizers – to say it’s getting old to ignore them outside of election season is an understatement.

On the Covid front – Walgreens has Binax test kits back in stock.

And Amazon has the 3M Aura N95s back in stock! (Seriously, these are the best N95s I’ve found, and I’ve tried a bunch.)

And my dumbass wasn’t paying attention to the expiration dates on my tests and I discovered I had 2 that are expiring next month and I have no “must test” situations between now and then – I was able to give them to one of the baristas at Starbucks this morning, so I am starting my day with some warm fuzzies being able to help someone. (I still have a couple in my stash, so I’m good if anything comes up.)

And the grocery store got their milk delivery!! We had ~1/3 of a gallon in the fridge, which is iffy as to whether or not it will last until Tuesday once the weather is done (there are cookies in the house) so I snagged a couple quarts of ultra-pasteurized so if we *don’t* go through the open milk right away, we’re not rushing to use up the rest of it before it expires, and if we do – we have milk! So, bring on the cookies!

Stay safe and warm this weekend.

January 15 in pics!