Five on Friday #211

EINS - Random Shit

I can't post this on my neighborhood page without getting judged but I considered it...

It's about ducks. FUCKING DUCKS. AND fucking geese! How do I run off ducks and geese?

Truthfully, I don't overly mind the fowl in our neighborhood.. eeeeexxxxcceeeeppptttt thattttttt... when I walk the dogs, we ALWAYS, without fail, come across the flock of geese or ducks and Meri loses her shit and Pax is like, "WUTT, Meri is losing her shit? OH SHIT DUCKS. DINNERS, MAHM? TASTY DUCK TREATS FOR MERI AND I?! PLS, MAHM????" Our first walk since Pax's incident, Meri was SCREAMING like I was beating her within an inch of her life to get to the ducks. I was mortified, but I knew that when anyone looked out their window to see what the commotion was, they'd see me, facing the opposite direction of 2 fowl-crazed beasts, gently trying to tug them towards the direction of our house, AWAY from the fowl flock.

I AM that crazy lady who runs out the door yelling at the ducks when I seem them in my yard because I do NOT want their poop all over my yard/sidewalk/driveway. But how do I run them off from the house 4 doors down? I mean, besides the obvious: let my dogs chase them and they get a treat... Except, I can't do that since I can't run as fast as Meri on the hunt and I won't let them off leash since we don't live in a gated area.

PS.  There are no ducks or cats when you walk at 8:30 at night.. but there are still plenty of things for both of my dogs to be SUPER interested in that distract them and cause them to walk like drunkards..

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My least favorite part about summer is the pressure changes that come with hot air and conflicting pressure systems.  I mean, other than the perpetual swamp ass/yeast factory situation and the being hot and sweaty when you open the door, maybe #BarometerHead is actually why I hate summer.  No one knows.

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After much neglect, I finally updated my books post this week.  It will post in October since I do book posts quarterly.  I could probably do monthly posts again, but the quarterly level of effort really suits me right now.

For some of the books, I had to read the synopsis to even remember what the book was about.. so that tells you how my reading life has been going.  That said, I'm currently listening to A Woman Is No Man and reading The Ragged Edge of Night and I'm loving on both and cannot get enough, much to the detriment of my homework situation.  More on that in the next blurb....

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It is absolutely no surprise to anyone reading this that I'm an overachiever.  I've talked a lot about my self-inflicted school stress and this semester (all 5 days that we've had class so far, thanks, Hurrication), I've been doing very good about not running myself into the ground.  And you're like, it's like 3 days into the semester, how could you possibly be running yourself into the ground already... AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM.  I could be, but I'm trying to check that this year.

In fact, PITA professor that I have for 3 classes gives a quiz every.class.  And this year, I've embraced a more "come what may" attitude about it.  In his former classes, the homework and the quizzes were the same, so to do the homework meant being prepared for the quizzes.  This semester that isn't true, so rather than stress myself out over trying to know absolutely everything and torturing myself with never being able to know everything, I study for a bit and then when I am no longer focused or get tired, I walk away, prepared or not.  Sometimes before class, I'll skim the notes and hope for the best, but... come what may.

I do not plan to fail any of my classes and while I would like to keep my Dean's List streak going, there's no way that C's could mean I don't graduate, sooooo C's get degrees, Gentle Readers.

Someone please remind me of this entire section in December when I'm having a mental breakdown about exams and final projects/papers.  Kthx.

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I arrived to school around 0700 on Wednesday and proceeded to my dungeon.  Since some "can you complete this in the next 2 hours before our Sprint ends" tasking came in, I spent my lunch time in my dungeon... Then, my afternoon class.  All said, I was in that room for 6.5 hours.  I only left to pee and heat up my lunch.  Few things are more depressing than thinking of this.

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I tried the Dropps laundry pods.  I always want to be more environmentally friendly and shit.. but I also always want my laundry to smell delightful.  The Dropps pods did not provide that smell I need for proper laundry motivation.  Seriously.  If my laundry doesn't smell good when I take it out of the dryer, it's less likely to get done and Lord knows I need all the motivation I can get to get the Laundry Fairy to come out of hiding.

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As the only person who ensures that there are spare rolls of toilet paper in all the bathrooms (unless I specifically tell someone else (Teh German, duh) to take care of it, I feel validated to leave just a "is that going to be enough?" amount of paper on the roll for the next person (also, mostly likely Teh German), so they have to change it.  #NotSorry 🤷

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I have been planning to make enchiladas for dinner for over a week.  It was on the menu.  I did not have any refried beans, so I made my own from canned black beans I keep on hand.  Then, when I went to assemble said enchiladas, I realized.. I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ANY TORTILLAS.

WHAT THE FUCK, MEGAN?  Is this how you adult, really?  No.
Thankfully, Teh PT Wife saved dinner and donated a pack of tortillas to our cause and we had enchiladas for dinner.  Whew.

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Pax had his foot check up on Wednesday.  Since I was bringing one in already, I rescheduled their toes did appointment for the same day, which meant wrangling 2 dogs alone.  Always fucking chaos an adventure.

Pax's stitches were removed with only minor difficulty.  I was right, the stitches didn't really hold well and the wound was still pretty open, but it had completely scabbed over, so that's good.  The doc said if it doesn't close up, maybe more stitches, butttt this Mom says probably not.  We did get 2 more weeks of antibiotics since it's still open, which is fine.

Both dogs got their nails cut and I made an appointment for October, because I'm serious about getting these nails under control.

Both dogs HAD to be by me, and since that's where they were, that's where the techs decided to remove Pax's stitches.
Yes, please crowd me in this tiny corner.
That's my favorite thing.
Siiiigh.
Please note that Meri is hiding behind me.

Pax pitched a fit when he was muzzled and crated and gave himself a nose boo-boo.
The scab fell off yesterday and now he's got this sexy scar.
Silly goose moose.

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We had an opportunity to go to Disney World before Thanksgiving with some friends, but after some consideration, we're not going.  I discussed this decision with Teh German this week and he understood.  We've not been to Disney together since he proposed and we'd both like to go, butttt I'd rather plan our own trip than be thrown into someone else's plans, especially if there isn't a stellar financial incentive (aka, cheaper) to go with friends.

Siiiiiigh.  Adulting is the worst.
This also means that I don't have to juggle a lack of PTO and trying to take time off/teleworking.  #SilverLinings

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List of languages that I'm dealing with this month/at this time:
Java
Kotlin (knowing of it, not writing it)
Ruby
AsciiDocs (for work)
command line instructions
made up language for a class

List of languages I'll have to deal with before the end of the semester:
C++
Bash
Haskell
+ the ones listed above

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One of my fave parts of this week: Me talking about how I wanted it to be cooler and Teh German posting Denver temps.  We might not always get along, but lawd he gets me when it comes to the cold.

Please also note that Teh German has Denver's weather saved as a favorite location in his weather app.  So if you think I'm serious about CO, Teh German is MORE serious.

PS.  Our Denver friend commented that it actually snowed in CO this week.  Another friend commented that maybe I should move out of the South and I explained to her that we're stuck here for at least another 238 days (see last section for what is in 238 days, if you don't already know).

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Things that make me (ir)rationally angry:

-The fucktards at school who drive these big ass dually trucks (these people are probably actual military individuals who teach at/go to The Citadel) and park right behind the building taking up 1.5 parking spaces and then people who drive normal cars can't fit in the 3/4ths of a space they leave between each other.  #RAAAAGGEEEEE (I snapped about this one morning and one of the drivers saw me.  #NotSorry MFer.)

-When the sweet tea runs out.  This doesn't really make me angry so much as disappointed.  Unless, of course, I asked for light ice and they fill the cup with ice then I'm out of tea that much quicker.

-Convenience/etc fees when you buy something online.  Essentially a fee for more than the product that isn't tax because the website is providing a service.  Think Ticketmaster or online race signup fees.

ZWEI - Money Shit

-I invested in Company's investment program.  It's weird since we're an LLC, but whatever.  Does it get more adult than investing?  I think not.  Well.. maybe if you actually clean your toilets on a regular schedule yourself...
-Sam's club stock up.
-New shoes x2.  The Merrell lady still gave me the 50% off discount even though I only bought one pair since they were sold out of the shoes I came in looking for.  #SorryNotSorry.  And I also finally broke down and bought the Brooks I've been drooling over.  Not sure if I'm going to keep them or not, but we'll see.
-Power bill
-Bojangles 1 time ONLY.
-Cocoa Cup 5k
-Dog nails
-Dog bully sticks
-Dog toys (because I have no self-control, but I did use my remaining rewards dollas, so I only paid $4.)
-New earbuds after I lost mine on Monday, because that's how my life is now.
-New muzzle for asshole dog, I mean Pax, since he decided that he didn't want to be in his crate after his incident.
-Wendy's for lunch, after I forgot my lunch today, even though I realized I forgot to pack my lunch when I was putting my stuff in the car and then promptly forgot to pack it after I told myself to grab lunch.  FML.

DREI - From My Phone Shit

I've been killing the "thrown together" dinners this month.

People in Dubai don't like the Flintstones, but people in Abu Dhabi do.

Translation faillllllllllll.
Please also note: only for white skin. LOOOL
Also, how can skin be ruddy and shiny?
So much fail.

VIER - From the Internet Shit

This applies to anything that has a dark mode, but people leave it in the default light mode and I'm blinded by the light.

Your lowest moment will not hinder you from reaching the heights you have been called to.
-MHN

You are about to enter depths you have never entered before,
and you might brave moments where you are not sure if you have the strength for this.
And I hope it is in those moments you are able to remember that even though this is different,
you have had to be strong before,
and those moments prepared your heart to carry on all the more.
-MHN

Your successes do not define you...
And neither do your failures.
-MHN

1. Be kind to yourself.
2. Take care of yourself.
3. Challenge yourself.
MHN

FÜNF - Things that made me happy this week

1. A thawing of the frigid season that has been going on between Teh German and I.  I can't really explain it, but we've been more gentle with each other in the last few days, after several weeks of tension and bickering between us for no real discernible reason (with the exception of some occasional discernible reasons).
2. School not being difficult yet.  AKA, I don't feel like I've been beaten into submission yet.  I'm sure it's imminent.
3. A tropical storm in the Atlantic.  Look, Gentle Readers, I don't want storm damage to occur or for people to die.  I just want it to rain and be cooler outside.  I want less humidity and to not have to experience air that is so thick that you can almost part it with your hands or you need gills to breathe or your car windows fog up in the morning because your hair is wet and it's so hot outside (#FirstWorldProblems, I know).
4. Graduation application submitted.  238 days, people.  That's 34 weeks.  That's 7.5 months.  That's less time than it takes to fully gestate a human baby.  If a woman can host a baby for 9 months, I can survive 7.5 more months of college and programming languages and Cadets and driving downtown and homework.  Maybe.
5. Pax having his stitches removed.  His laceration has scabbed up but the stitches didn't really do much for him since the wound was so gnarly.  Thankfully, he's not bleeding all over the place, despite the scab being opened up when they removed the stitches.  I think he'll be fine.  I'm ready to get back to our normal operations (to include walkies, which are good for the beasts AND for me).
6. A "normal" week for me.  Routine is so hard to get into when everything is always crazy.
7. Good books.  It feels like it's been such a long time since I've been completely enraptured by a good book.
8. Getting to spend some time with Teh NY Chef on her birthday.  
9. An absolutely stellar chiro visit where I'm 95% certain I grew 2 inches.  Sooo good.
10. New school shoes.  I know this seems silly, but we always got new school shoes to start the school year (and usually new school clothes).  Now, I buy clothes all the time, but I don't buy shoes all that often and I like having new school shoes for whatever reason.  I purchased Merrell shoes last weekend and my Brooks that I ordered online arrived today.  I can now purge the shoes I have, if necessary, or rotate through some running/workout shoes.  I'm undecided.  #FirstWorldProblems, I know.

Happy Friday, Gentle Readers.