Y10 D5

You know what's really fun? Three introverts and me locked in a room all day. That's essentially what my day was yesterday. For 8 hours. It's one thing when I have a large group and one or two people are unresponsive. It's another when I have 3 students and not one of them engages. It's literally me talking to myself for the entire day. So much fun!

Ugh.

Got through it. Cleaned a bit after work. We are a little over a week out from leaving and B is starting to stress. She doesn't realize she is stressing, but she is. She is getting antsy and anxious. Followed by depressed and overly tired. Oh boy another week of this!

I just realized my boss hasn't given us a class schedule for 3rd quarter. This worries me. Not what I need right now.

Y10 D4

When I took the bandage off yesterday, it was still bleeding. Mostly because we used cotton pads since we had no gauze in the house and the wound start to cauterize over the cotton pad. When I pulled off the dressing, it pulled off the wound. Yes, I went to the store and bought gauze pads to avoid that. Last night when I changed the dressing again, it appears the bleeding has finally stopped. But man, I wasn't joking, I really tore out a piece of thumb. I don't think it will ever heal back fully. I managed to go 49 years with all my pieces but looks like part of me stays behind.

I did nothing yesterday. Timesheet, expense report, nothing. These light days are annoying. I wish my trip was this weekend. I would just take thursday and friday as part of it. Oh well.

Made baked burritos last night. They came out really good. I was impressed at the recipe I used and how well they ended up being. Sometimes you get lucky.

Watched some tv, went to bed around 10.

Three students today, ONE a paying real student. The other two are internal and can kiss my ass.

Y10 D3

I am in a massive amount of pain this morning and am struggling to type this. I have lost the use of my right thumb at present due to a mandolin injury. I sliced off a good chunk of it while shredding sweet potatoes last night for dinner. I have to take the bandage off in a little while and see if it finally stopped bleeding. If it hasn't, I may need to go to the ER. This was a serious chunk I julienned off. It was still bleeding an hour afterwards.

We had a mellow, stay in the house kind of holiday. The kind filled with naps and movies. Was very enjoyable. Made pork chops with sweet potatoes and human flesh for dinner.

This week I only have one class unfortunately. I was supposed to have three but no enrollment for Thurs/Fri. So I just have one tomorrow. Today is timesheet, expense report day. Or hospital. We will know soon enough.

Y10 D2

Man did I get the sleep! Slept from 11 until now. Most sleep I have had in a while. Happy Monday holiday to me. We had a pretty busy day yesterday. Went grocery shopping in the morning, then after B woke up, we went and got some stuff we needed for the trip, including a new pair of jeans for me. I really only have one pair and I wear them everywhere. Normally when I travel it's not an issue as I wear slacks most days. But for this, I want two pairs of jeans to swap. The new ones are darker and more dressy looking in case we go anywhere.

Speaking of going places, we looked at a bunch of sites yesterday to see where we might want to go eat, or sightsee. We did it now in case we have to pre-purchase any tickets. We will be buying tickets for the zoo and the botanical gardens. We also tried to find some place to have a birthday dinner for me.

I must admit, I am a bit sad that no one will be around for my birthday. I wouldn't mind a decent dinner with friends and family but alas, there's just not a whole lot I can do.

We made bbq chicken flatbreads for dinner. It was a blue apron style box from the local store. Meh. Not worth $8 per person if you ask me. It was more appetizer size than dinner size.

We watched some tv, played some games, and went to bed.

No big plans for today. I am refusing to do things like my timesheet until tomorrow just to be a dick. I only have one day of classes this week which kind of sucks, but it is what it is. This is a rough time of year for us always. Vacations, budget issues, it always happens. Not much I can do. But I am ready with a resume in case of the worst happening. Be prepared.

Y10 D1

Want to see how year 10 is starting? It's been a very long, long time since I added a picture to my posts, but this one is worth seeing. Remember how I was saying one of the things I was proud of in the last year was how much I have been working towards raising my credit score and getting my finances back in order? Check this:

Not too fucking shabby eh?? I saw this last night as I got an email that there had been a change to things and I cried a bit. No fucking joke, I really did. I had been hoping for a 20-33 point jump, not 67 on one of them. But look at that. I finally have excellent again. It's taken a lot of work, a lot of life changes, but damn. I am proud of myself.

No major issues on my trip home yesterday. First flight was good, had an upgrade. Got a snack. Only an hour flight so I didn't sleep or even try. Had a few hours in between and made sure to fill up in the lounge. I knew I wasn't getting my upgrade on my second flight and needed to not be hungry. Boarded at 8:30, left at 9:20 thanks to the longest fucking taxi ever, landed at 11. B picked me up because it was Saturday and traffic wasn't too bad.

We stopped for some lunch on the way home, came home, unpacked, etc. She took a nap. We went for some dinner and then came home and watched a movie together. I went to bed around 10.

Groceries today and that's about it. Holiday weekend and don't want to deal with too many humans to be honest. Just want a nice quiet day.

Y9 D365

Here it is - the end of another year! We enter year 10 as of tomorrow. Let's do a quick recap shall we? Life isn't bad. Yep, that's it. Life isn't bad. Five years ago I was drinking, depressed, and had $200 in my savings account on a good day. Now I have $6500, am close to paying off all my debt, and in the last six months have had one glass of wine. Not fucking bad. I have a wife who actually loves me. I am fat, but fat and happy sometimes go together, don't they? I brought my credit score from 500 to 680. Something must be working right.

It's 2:45am and I am waiting for airport security to open. Leave here at 5CDT, dallas, then land at 11am PDT. Should be home by noon.

Yesterday wasn't bad. The class went fine and no issues there. The hotel though? Ugh. Friday at a family friendly hotel on a holiday weekend. Fuck that. I was annoyed most of the night. But I managed to get 4 hours of sleep. I don't have any upgrades but I should be able to sleep at least 2 hours from Dallas to home. We shall see.

You know, I am pretty happy. It's been a rough 9 years at times, but it could be worse. I could be dead.

Y9 D364

I'm not sure what I ate, but man I don't feel good this morning. Have been up for a while but have been in the bathroom the whole time. Stomach is not doing well today. I think it may be the chinese food from Wednesday night. Not something I can afford to deal with flying home tomorrow so this needs to pass as quickly as possible. Ah good times.

Taught my group. Not a bad group. Pretty sharp on the ball which is nice. 14 people total. The room is less than ideal, but the students are making up for it. I can handle one more day of this.

The hotel on the other is annoying. To be fair, the hotel itself is not the problem, it's the guests. In addition to being very family friendly, this is a huge military area. There must be something going on as the hotel is packed with them. And what appears to be their families. Like it's a graduation or something. Plus it's a holiday weekend which just adds to the cacophony. I am right above the pool and it's 90+ degrees outside. Soldiers, heat, pool, alcohol. Good times.

I managed to fall asleep around 10 luckily even with all the outside shenanigans. I tossed and turned a bit due to the heat. The worse part is around 2, I dropped my pillow and rolled over to pick it up, only to slam my cheek into the edge of the nightstand. I am worried it's going to bruise. That will be a great look.

A little over two weeks until Australia. In the home stretch.

Y9 D363

It's hot here. Like unnaturally hot. I got off the plane in San Antonio and melted a little bit. 93. Blazing sun. Fuck this shit.

Nothing exciting yesterday. Left for the airport at 4, had an hour between flights, didn't get my upgrade, got a pickup truck for a car. Hotel is okay. I am right next to SeaWorld so the hotel is full of small children which so far hasn't been a problem. Friday will probably be worse. Luckily I leave early enough on Saturday they shouldn't bother me too much. One can hope.

I have been thinking a lot about Adjustment Day lately. The more I read the news, the more I wonder if we need a culling like that. The end results weren't pretty in the long term, but short term it made a difference. Go read it if you haven't.

Got to find the client this morning. Going to leave early to make sure I get there okay. Two weeks until Australia.

Y9 D362

Taught my class yesterday. 15 people, one of whom really didn't belong. They slowed everyone else down, didn't have the minimum system requirements, nor the minimum skill requirements. Useless. But otherwise, things went fine. After class I had some adventure though.

Around 1 I started getting these emails and texts that my car was ready in San Antonio. Um, my reservation isn't until Wednesday. So I had to call Avis and try and figure out what the fuck. At the same time, the bank called and my money was in. Had to get to the bank before they closed, get my AUD, and make sure someone wasn't stealing a car under my name. That was annoying. Still don't know what the fuck happened at Avis but if I get there today and there's an issue I am done with them for good.

Ordered a pizza for dinner so B could have the leftovers. Went with a new place. Pricey, but good. I forgot how cheap domino's is compared to other places but then again, their pizza, while convenient, is shit compared to other places.

Finished Adjustment Day finally. I don't know why I hadn't finished it before now, only had about 100 pages left. Some fucked up shit right there.

Went to bed around 8 so I could be up at 2 and off to the airport at 4. I get to Texas today around 4 local time. Long ass day.

Y9 D361

We did the coolest thing yesterday! If you follow me on twitter you've already seen it, but we got to do something at the zoo that was so much fun. The zoo offers these 'animal encounter' events where small groups get to go behind the scenes and spend time with different animals. The group size ranges from 6-10 depending on the animal. They have a penguin encounter, macaws, turtles, sea otters, and the one we did yesterday, the porcupine. The porcupine encounter is supposed to have a maximum of 10 people and you get to spend like 40 minutes feeding, learning about, etc. Well, because we went on a Monday pre-summer, guess who had Bebeto all to themselves? That's right, we ended up with a 100% private encounter. No kids, no annoying people, just us, the handler, and Bebeto the South American prehensile porcupine. We got to spend extra time, we got to ask whatever questions, we fed him, I took 11,000 pictures, and it was fucking awesome. We're going to do the penguin one next on a Tuesday. It only has a max of six and while we probably won't get as lucky as we did yesterday, it will still be fun.

It was also a good chance for me to test out both the new camera and the camera bag. Both passed with flying colors. The bag is a good size without being too bulky or heavy. The camera did well but I may get an extra lens before we go to Australia. It came with two lens and while they work, there is a gap between them. Nikon makes a lens for about $160 that fills the gap. It will mean less swapping out which will be good.

We had cheap Mexican food for dinner, watched some tv, and I went to bed at 9:30 as I have a 6am class today. I need to check in for my flight and hotel soon too. Can't forget that. No upgrades but that doesn't surprise me because I booked so late. Oh well.

Y9 D360

I just saw the first impact of my doing that personal loan. Since these banks take their sweet fucking time reporting GOOD things (fucking bastards), it's taken a while for the fact that I paid off balances to hit my credit report. One of the smaller ones reported the payoff and I jumped TWENTY ONE POINTS. I am so fucking close to being back in a reasonable, realistic place. I am mere points away from the difference between a 4% loan and a 20% loan. By the end of the month I am hoping that the remaining ones will have posted and after many long years I can not be ashamed or worried. Got what a long strange trip it's been.

I got up, did some grocery shopping. Then I headed over to the music shop. The kid has been looking for a particular CD and there's a used shop in town. I have never been there and decided to check them out and see if they had it. They did not, but now I know where to go if I want used music.

Came back, did some stuff around the house. B had a group meeting yesterday. It's the first time she's gone since they switched from Tuesday nights to Sunday afternoon. They also switched from weekly to monthly and she was not happy with the change. It's a shame because she got a lot out of those sessions. She has been missing and needing it. I cleaned while she was gone. For dinner we cleaned out the leftovers in the fridge. I leave in two days and we didn't want to have a bunch of stuff just sitting in there. Probably do the same tonight.

We watched some tv, relaxed, and I went to bed around 10:30. Today I am taking a personal day since I have to travel on Saturday. We're going to the zoo. It will be a good opportunity for me to try and my new camera.

Tomorrow I have a private group from 6-2, then off to San Antonio for four days. Fun stuff.

Y9 D359

Two days in a row where I got things accomplished? Oh no. This might go to my head. Shall we try for a 3rd? Scary kids.

Got up early and went to Fry's. It's a bit of a drive from here and it was a Saturday. We got there right before they opened at 9 and were one of the first people in the door. Since it's a place we don't go to often B and I discussed before we left that I wanted to walk around and that if she got tired she agreed to sit down. I didn't want to feel rushed and she didn't want to overwhelm herself. No matter what I may grumble about, I am very lucky to have a partner with whom I can talk about things. Like adults. Like people in a committed relationship. Go figure.

Our main goal was a camera bag to bring on the trip with us. I was able to find one thank goodness. A small enough backpack that it will smush into my luggage but big enough it holds everything and will be a good day bag while we are there. Mission accomplished. We also got some other random stuff like pens B has been looking for. We done good. On the way home we stopped at a game store where we found this cool tabletop game called Suspend. All about center of gravity. It's neat. We had a nice lunch. Then we stopped at Target. B needed some stuff and we managed to get what we needed there too. Another successful trip.

Got home and the kid pinged me. She had a surprise for me if I didn't already have it. She managed to find me a signed Chuck arm. Nice! It's my father's day present. Works for me.

Took a nap, then made coconut chicken for dinner. We had bought a bunch of snacks at Fry's and had a nice movie night. We watched Kingsman because B had never seen it and I could watch it 1000 times. Went to bed around 11:30.

Not a bad Saturday. Today I am going to the music store to find something the kid has been looking for and then B has group. Yes, they started back up and yes she is finally going. Should be good for everyone today.

Y9 D358

FINALLY a day where I felt like I accomplished something useful. I did a lot yesterday. I went grocery shopping, I went to the bank (more on that in a minute), I took care of our Australia visas (approved and paid for thank you for very much), got a tattoo touched up, got B out of the house, had a decent dinner out - just a useful day.

So the bank was fun. I went in to ask them to order some AUD for me. The branch I went to doesn't usually deal in foreign currency, and when I pulled out my bag of other currencies I wanted to convert, they got all excited because they could practice. See, we have this big jar that has been filling up with different monies. I decided I was going to cash it all in for use on this trip. I had Euro, GBP, CAD, HKD, Singapore dollars, Pesos, and Rupiah. Oh and not to mention $85 in rolled coins. We had a blast looking up all the currencies and figuring out the exchange rate. It really was fun. In the end, I ordered $500 AUD which was $395 USD but I had $150 in exchanges. My out of pocket was $245 for $500. Not bad.

After that I came home, applied for our visitor visas and had no issues with that. I appreciate when countries make it easy. Even Canada the first time I went in for work was not easy. So much paperwork. This was one simple online form that is saved in their database for a year.

In the afternoon we drove to the tattoo shop to get our Bob's tattoos touched up. We both had a chunk of blue that needed some more fill in. You ever have a fresh tattoo touched up? Don't. It fucking hurts. Trust me.

We had dinner out, came home, and B was exhausted from doing so much after doing so little. She fell asleep at 10. Of course, she is up now because it's her. Whatever. I want to go to Fry's today so we shall see.

That's all. I am feeling better because I got stuff done.

Y9 D357

357. The most powerful handgun. No wait. That's a 44 Magnum. Either way. Feel lucky?

Only the old people will get that reference. Oh wait. We're all old.

And we're all dying in that Sylvia Plath sort of way.

Finished my stuff yesterday. No thanks to the ever constant cacophony of noise outside my window. Neil Diamond once called it a Beautiful Noise. Him and I have very different opinions on that.

Another week survived.

Y9 D356

8 days and this blog rolls over to another year. Sweet bejeebuz. That's a lot of writing. That's a lot of shared emotion. I should just print it all out, hand it to a psychiatrist and go 'here, have at it'. Publish a paper or two off this people.

Managed to get ALL of the slide audio laid down yesterday. Just leaves me the demo. The sucky part is if there was no noise or retakes needed due to my own screw ups, I literally could get through all the demos in about 4 hours. But I know the truth. It's going to take me the next two days because even more than the noise is me fucking up. When I am doing regular classes, saying the wrong thing isn't a big deal. I can flub a word or say no don't click there, my bad. But when recording, you don't get that flexibility. So you redo and redo and redo. Until 4 hours of work has turned into two days. Sigh. I have to get as much done as possible today though. Running out of time.

B is finally starting to do better. This has been a hell week for her. Thank god it hit her now and not in two weeks. I am not trying to deal with a sick person on a 15 hour flight. Fuck that noise. I have been popping airborne like a crazy person to avoid problems. So far so good. Knock on wood. Burn some sage. Whatever it takes.

Had tacos for dinner. We have even gotten back to normal dinners. We watched John Mulaney's new special last night. Dear god was that funny. One of the funniest stand up bits I have watched in a long time. I strongly recommend it.

Went to bed around 10 because exhausted. Is this week over yet?

Y9 D355

My frustration with noise hit a whole new level yesterday morning. I ended up going to home depot at 6:30 and buying wall insulation foam panels and lined the window frame with them. I took the noise level from 52db down to 31db. While I reduced the noise level, I increased the heat. So now I am sweltering during recording sessions and have to break after a good run and go into the other room. But I did manage to get the base tracks done on 7 out of 11 modules. Today's goal is to get all of the remaining slide audio down leaving me just the demos for tomorrow and Friday. I think I can do it. I am slowly starting to come out of whatever cycle I was in. Not fully mind you, but I can feel it ebbing the other direction.

B is starting to feel better. We didn't hear back from anyone on the results of her chest x-rays because that would just be logical. Her appetite is returning as well. These are good signs. She has no voice and is still having trouble breathing though. Bad signs.

I really haven't done much this week except for work on these CBTs and take care of B. I did book a trip yesterday. Next week I have to go to San Antonio. Weds-Saturday. Not a horrible trip, but not fun either. Mid-week trips are always off-putting to me. But I can use the miles and hotel stay for sure.

Did laundry yesterday. First time in a while. Downside of it being hot and me not doing anything substantial has been a complete lack of wanting to wear clothes. I have worn the same t-shirt and shorts all week. But with having to book a trip I needed work clothes which meant laundry needed to get done.

Plus we had a real dinner for the first time in days. I think these small things are helping my overall mood. People without depression or BPD symptoms sometimes don't understand the importance of routine in keeping people steady. Having a regular set of things to do keeps you grounded focused. Disruption to things can cause big issues.

That's it. That's like the most I have written in days. The fog is starting to life. I can feel it.

Y9 D354

I was going to get up at 2:30 again but when my alarm went off I was too fucking tired. It didn't help that we spent the better part of the afternoon and evening once more shuttling between multiple hospitals and clinics because health insurance is a fucking joke. Oh not me this time, but little miss sickie who it seems might have fucking pneumonia. Yeah. 3 weeks before Australia. Seriously? We went to one place who sent us to another who sent us to another who sent us to one building who sent us to another. Such fun.

Hopefully I can still get some work done even with the lost hour. My bigger issue yesterday was the room started getting too hot for me to work without fan or AC but I couldn't afford the noise of them and had to suffer through.

Goddamn it. I have a sore throat this morning too. This fucking AC and fan blowing in the bedroom because it got up to 90 something yesterday is fucking me up.

I am so done.

Y9 D353

I am up at 2:30am so I can try to record audio before the idiots get out there with their cars and noise and the neighbors start slamming doors and their kids start yelling and blowing their floofloovers and banging their tartookkas! They blow whohoopers and bang gardookas! Then they will spin trumtookas and slam slooslunkas! Me and the Grinch man, we fucking hate all of you noise makers.

Is yesterday over? Can you take your made up bullshit holiday and stuff it away for another year?

Got another tattoo yesterday. Don't care. Cover me up.

Goddamn it there's a truck already outside.

It was hot. Really hot. Going to be hot again. I can't wait to be in Australia only for the simple fact we're going in the winter. Bring on the rain and cold. Everyone will think we're nuts but we don't care.

B still sick. Like bad. She's not easy to deal with right now. I empathize. I wasn't exactly a fucking picnic.

Time to use my window before it gets too hot and noisy.

Y9 D352

"Anybody here? Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute. It's about time we had a little talk. I know I'm a pretty evil fellow... killed people in the war and got drunk... and chewed up municipal property and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much... but even so, You've got to admit You ain't dealt me no cards in a long time. It's beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can't never win out. Inside, outside, all of them... rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in? Old Man, I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it's beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now? Right. All right. On my knees, asking. Yeah, that's what I thought. I guess I'm pretty tough to deal with, huh? A hard case. Yeah. I guess I gotta find my own way."

Yeah. That's how I feel too.

Y9 D351

I'm doing a little better. Not great, but a little bit more stable.

We have ants in the bathroom it would seem. Wake up to a 2:45am rant about ants. Lovely.

This is why I struggle.

Got a new t-shirt and CD yesterday. Because old people.

Taught day two. Was horrible.

Have to go to the store now.

Y9 D350

Yesterday was bad. Really bad. One of my whopping 3 students called me rude, condescending, and said I moved way too fast. Well maybe if she actually listened, stopped trying to use Edge, and responded when I asked if everyone was following, she wouldn't have that fucking problem.

and I can feel one of my turns coming on...

Just so fucking tired right now. I am done. Tired of humans. Tired of decisions. Just fucking tired. Haven't had enough sleep in ten years.

I'm angry. I'm sad. I'm confused.

I'm done.

Y9 D349

Had a dream last night where I was supposed to be working in a regular office setting. We were in some company meeting (forced fun) and one of my coworkers was trying to leave for some family thing but the CEO wouldn't let them leave. He kept saying "party after meeting, you must go" and I got so pissed off I told him "you can't force him to stay for an optional meeting asshole".  And this is why I can't work in a regular office.

Still not happy. Having a rough time of it right now. Just too much going on. Two more days of teaching. Not sure how well that's going to go.

Y9 D348

One thing this apartment is good at is holding heat. In the winter that's nice. In warmer times it's a fucking bitch. It's stuffy in here all the damn time. Both of us slept like shit on Monday night as a result. So guess what we pulled out already? An AC unit. But to do that, we had to rearrange the bedroom because it can only go in one window. Such fun. Rearranging furniture, having to teach, oh and then having a wife with a 102 fever. Yesterday fucking sucked. Life fucking sucks right now. Not happy. And there's ants. Fucking hate ants.

Y9 D347

Yesterday was a bit rough. I left here at 3:45 and got to the train station at 3:50. The signs posted at the train station about the delays were confusing and didn't make any sense. A train arrived at 4:13. Got on and luckily since it was such an early train it was pretty empty. I took the early one on purpose to minimize the frustration level. We got to the end of the line where we needed to transfer to shuttles. Again, thankfully it was a small group and we all fit fine on the shuttle. I got to my next destination at 5:10. Okay not so bad. I walked towards the client's offices with the plan of eating at Denny's. Guess what? I apparently live in the only town where Denny's isn't 24/7. WTF? They don't open until 6am. Bah.

I managed to get inside the lobby where I needed to be and was able to wait until 6. Went back, had some breakfast. Went back to the lobby about 6:40. Luckily my contact also worried about being on time and ended up arriving 5 minutes later. We got into the room, got setup and waited for 2 hours for the rest of the students to arrive.

Taught class. Unfortunately the manuals for this class were the wrong ones. Lovely. Nothing says professional like not having the right materials. We got sent the materials for the NEXT session we're doing with that group. Oh well. This client is notorious for being late and like clockwork (all puns intended) half didn't show until 8:45. Fucking dicks.

Got through the material and managed to get out of there by 4:45. The train back was a little rougher. Mostly the cramped shuttle ride. Lots of people not knowing what was going on. I didn't get home until after 6. We ate leftovers and such. We were both so tired we crashed at 9:30.

Today I have to do some audio work then a 10-2 class. No biggie. I will enjoy the break.

Y9 D346

You didn't help my buddy out. I am sad. Go help him. He needs it.

And yes I am up at a stupid time. They are doing some bullshit construction on the train stations and I am going to be delayed and have to take a shuttle and blah blah fucking blah so yeah I am up at 2:30 so I can take a 4am train so I can be downtown by 6:30. Fuck my life.

Not happy this morning if you can't tell.

I woke up about thirty minutes ago feeling like I was going to throw up. That was fun.

I went to a local camera store yesterday because they offer to take trade-ins on camera equipment. Yeah. Mine is "too old", thanks for wasting my time. I drove all the way out there. Waited 40 minutes because I thought that they opened early than they did. Just to be told my stuff is too old. Okay bye.

Had noodles for dinner. Went to bed at 9. My life sucks.

Y9 D345

First off, my buddy needs help, help him:

https://www.gofundme.com/oral-surgery-for-a-veteran

Good. Now back to other stuff.

B has been working on getting up earlier and it paid off yesterday. She got up early enough that we were able to take a drive to the fancy mall where the container store is located. That mall is about 30 minutes away on a good day, but if you try to go past noon, forget it. We got there 9 minutes before opening and when we left a couple hours later, not a parking spot to be seen. We needed to go there because B wanted some specific containers for our trip that she wanted to see and touch so amazon was out and no one else seems to carry them. Whatever.

While there we had lunch at a plant based restaurant that was really good. If it didn't cost so damn much to do at home, I really would eat more meatless meals. To that end, we later took a ride to whole foods to look at stuff and ended up spending $40 on one bag of stuff. Ridiculous.

We had pork chops for dinner as it were. Hey, I already had taken them out. Back off.

Went to bed around 11. Tomorrow is a VERY early onsite. I am taking the train and need to be at the train at 4:45. I need to enjoy today while I can. But I also need to iron. And pack stuff up. okay. no rest for the wicked.

Y9 D344

Yay it's Saturday! No wait. Boo it's Saturday! That means there will be more people out in the world if I try to do anything. Give me a good Monday where I can go to the store and be alone.

Worked on some CBT stuff yesterday. Got the scripts written and just need to lay down the audio tracks. That was my whole day.

We went out for dinner. Went for Italian. We have been eating out more lately and it's just because neither of us has been in the mood to cook. We need to stop. Tonight I want us to eat leftovers and readjust.

Just over a month until Australia. Two months until my birthday. That is all.

Y9 D343

Bought my birthday present yesterday. Nikon D5600 camera with two lenses. Why did I buy it early? Two reasons - first, I was going to get it online and they didn't have prime shipping. I wanted it here before we leave on our trip and was looking at their estimated shipping and didn't want to take chances. But as I started looking at the place from where I was going to get it, I started doing some more research into them. Turns out, they are considered a 'grey market' seller and not an authorized Nikon dealer. That's probably why their price was so much lower than the others I have found. Add to that, that their 'bundle' was mostly stuff I already have or stuff I would never use. So, disappointed I started looking at other vendors, including Best Buy. Turns out BB was having a sale. A significant sale. $300 off body and lenses. It meant I would have to purchase a flash separately, but that's okay. I also found an adaptor that lets me (possibly) use my existing lenses on the new body. If I can't, I plan to sell them on eBay. I can make a few hundred dollars doing that. Knock down the camera cost that way. In the end, I got my birthday present early. I went and took some sample pictures last night and am very happy. 24.2 effective mega-pixels but also a good white balance, color reproduction, etc. Now I just need to decide on how it's getting to Australia. Do I put it in my suitcase or try to find a camera bag. That's the next decision.

I didn't get shit done for work yesterday and need to work double today. I just couldn't get into it. My own fault. It's been a rough week. I did manage to get another 10 classes for Prudential on the calendar between now and August. Job security. All are remote, but it's more proof that I am a needed member of the team.

B had a phone call last night to try and find a new therapist. Looks like she may have found one and they will be having a pre-call today to see if it's a good match. She needs one and I hope this works out.

She made us meatloaf for dinner. Watched some tv and went to bed around 10.

Y9 D342

Finished the office. Pretty much took me all day. From breakdown of the old desk, to the moving and setting up of the new stuff. I also used the opportunity to throw things away. Filled an entire garbage bag full of junk. A lot of instruction manuals for things we don't have any more. Cables to devices that no longer exist. That sort of thing. I am very happy with the office at this point. I need to get a couple of bins to store two of my Disney statues. We decided to put them away until such time that I can truly display them properly.

Finally talked to my boss and got some work. Making CBTs. Whee. That's how I will be spending the next two days.

It was a bit warmer yesterday but not horrible. Low 70s. Window open, fan on kind of day. I can handle that. I like that. Anything hotter and I would be sweating, colder and I would be wrapping up. So it was a nice day. A day back in my beach town. Sigh.

Made shrimp fettuccine for dinner. Not shabby. Making meatloaf tonight.

Tomorrow I am supposed to get my bonus money. Let's see if that happens. Ha.

Y9 D341

Had a more adventurous day than Monday that's for sure. Went to Goodwill in the morning because I have been looking for a new desk so we can rearrange and try to clean up the office. Didn't find anything useful there for desks, but did find a perfect chair for $10. Like one of the nice Serta office chairs with the high back and the think cushion seat.

A fan we bought the other day ended up breaking and I have to take that back today. That was fun to deal with.

Our real adventure came when we decided to go to IKEA at 4pm. Yep. IKEA here is out next to the airport. It was like driving to the airport at 4pm on a Tuesday. Not the smartest idea. But we made it. We had a nice cheap dinner there, shopped around, and found exactly what we were looking for in a desk. All totaled we spent $200 on a desk, file cabinet, bookcase, and some odds and ends. Not too shabby. I think it's unfair how in the states we mock IKEA. In other countries it's okay to have stuff from there especially apartment dwellers. Here we're just mean.

Updated my resume yesterday. Haven't decided if I am sending it in to the position in ID but it's ready if I want. We shall see.

Starting putting stuff together last night but didn't finish. Left it as today's project.

My new Chuck book came last night. Saving it for Monday when I have to be onsite for a local client and will be sitting doing nothing for hours.

Yep. That's it.

Y9 D340

Back to the regular weekday boredom and tedium. Got up, did stuff, waited for stuff, sent stuff. Timesheets, expense reports, etc.

Highlight of the day is I grilled a couple of steaks for dinner and they came out wonderful. Add some baked potatoes and some sliced tomatoes and bam, dinner good.

Watched some tv. Went to bed around 10.