jurys_out

It's Thursday, let the games begin! I'm up a little early today, but it was my own body that did it. Which is annoying since it's going to be a bit of a late night with game. I & my coffee cup shall deal.

Tonight is one that was delayed from right around New Years due to the cold of doom. It's going to be a Monster of the Week game about the Gävlebocken, the straw goat that they put up in Sweden for the holidays. Arson attempts are booming, and it seems like a sinister group has it in for the Gävlebocken. Can the hunters delve into who wants the goat to burn and why?

Yesterday was pretty busy. I took a lot of calls in the morning, and then my afternoon was filled with making calls to fill up the brand new cardiac slots in our Columbia office. They're only doing certain diagnoses, so I've been combing through the slots to see who we have that might move to the new site. I've gotten like four of the days filled. Today I'm going to reach a little further out and see what I can do to fill the other three days. I like juggling schedules and playing Sherlock Holmes to see if people are a good fit for Columbia.

After work, I ran down and got my hair cut. It was getting really long, especially the sides, which had developed a bit of a problem where they stuck straight out. Now i'm back to buzzed on the sides, short in the back and longer on top. I desperately need to color my hair, but the dye didn't come yesterday, so I probably won't have time to put it on, unless it comes today and I get up super early tomorrow. Hopefully, the hair dye comes in. We cut out most of the color on the sides and back, so that's just straight gray.

The dept head has been keeping me up to date on the new position. It has to be posted, and I have to apply, but I don't have to worry about not getting it. I don't know if I have to interview or if they'll spare me that. I'm hoping that it's posted today or tomorrow, but sometimes HR is a little slow. Mostly I want it posted so I can see the pay band.

I thought about it, and I'd like to get to at least $63k a year. Anything more than that would be gravy. That would add up to $30/hr. If I can get to $33 an hour I'll defintely take it, but I'm not really expecting it.

nilchance is making inroads on writing their gay fantasy novel. I'm very proud of them. 2k words in one day is a lot. I really enjoyed what they sent me, so I'm excited.

Tomorrow shall be more of the same, with Vecna at the end of the day. Then the Saturday of doom-work, Odyssey of the Dragonlords and then Crooked Moon. I'm really looking forward to Crooked Moon. It's only our second session, but the first one went very well. Yet again, my players thoroughly understood the assignment for a horror campaign and gave me awesome, juicy backstories and hooks.

I don't know what the proposed turn around time their is for the job. Obviously, it needs to be posted, so I an apply, but beyond that, I'm not sure when I'd start. Something to ask, I suppose. Hopkins can move slowly sometimes, and I'm not very patient. Still, knowing that it's coming is helpful. For now, it's enough to know that very soon, I'll be a Lead. It's a step down from manager, but that's for future me, maybe. I think my lack of College Degree is going to hamper me from going any further than that.

I've thought about going back to school, but it's so expensive and I'm 53. By the time I finished, I'd probably be nearly 60, since I'd only be taking 1-2 classes a semester. I do have $5200 tuition reimbursement, though. I think about it now and then. Maybe I'll look into it a little more. The community college and some of the local universities do virtual classes.

I'm kind of bouncing between subjects, then bouncing back. Obviously the ADHD meds are still kicking in. Sorry about that.

in 2 weeks, we're meeting the pet sitter for the first time. Fingers crossed it goes okay. Looks like the temps will be up in the 40s, so maybe this snow will finally melt the rest of the way. I'm tired of only being able to walk the dog in certain places. It's a real bitch to get him to do his business while we're out. He doesn't necessarily like the little spots where there's grass. Oh well, he has puppy pads, so if he doesn't go outside, he can go in here. I'm just not fussing about it.

The Relaxing peppermint tablets continue to work well for sleep. Even last night while Jess was playing a game they're in that I'm not, I slept pretty well. I woke up a few times, but I went right back to sleep.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. I hope everyone has a stellar Thursday!

We survived Monday!! We've made it to Tuesday! It was a busy day, but we managed. I spent most of the day on the phone, taking calls, and then calling to fill in one of the FOUR cardiac CTA slots that opened up around noon. I filled them relatively quickly. Not a ton of callbacks, but of course, I left early for my psych appt, and right before I signed off, a bunch of emails came in, so I know what my morning is going to be like.

One thing they have me do is call back patients who misscheduled either on mychart on tbeir own, or were scheduled incorrectly, and then I have to tell them that someone fucked up. It's not my favorite part of the job, but it's okay. I just hate being the bearer of bad news. But I usually can find a way to get them in quickly, so they're normally pretty chill.

I went to my psych appt, and we decided to take my Azstarys to the next dose up. I'd like it better if it would last a little longer, so we're going to see if more=extended effects.

I swear, Fedex is of the suck. They used to be pretty good, but now I cringe when I see a package is coming via them. I had orered these really cute weighted ponchos with hoods. I thought they would be good to soothe me when I'm feeling overstimulated. They've taken forever to get here because the small retailer got slammed over the holidays, but they finally reached the local fedex office on Thursday to be delivered on Friday. Except it never went out, Friday or Saturday. Then Sunday it was out for delivery and they failed to deliver. Then yesterday it was out for delivery with an expected time of 10am-3pm. It finallly arrived around 9pm, and they didn't bother to bring it into the apartment building, just left the box on the outside steps in everyone's way, and sent the least useful picture of all time. It was an extreme close up of what looked like a white shipping bag, but the ponchos came in a box.

When I finally got them in, they were lovely. I really like them, and am wearing mine as I type. I've got two more things coming via fedex, so we'll see how that goes. I'm not sure which of the big three delivery people I hate more. Fedex sucks, but UPS isn't a whole lot better. DHL is much better in our area. At least stuff comes when it says it will.

With going to the doctor, I ordered dinner last night, but tonight, I will actually cook. I got some gorgonzola and will make a little bit of sauce with it, to go over noodles and steak tips.

It should be delicious. I hope.

The rest of the week is going to be busy with games. We've got games that I'm running on Thursday, Friday, and 2 on Saturday, then one I'm playing in on Sunday.

We're down to 93 days til we fly out for Seattle. It's creeping closer and I'm in the frustrating part where there's nothing to be done til we get closer. I can't pack until things get a little bit closer and I know what the weather's going to be like. I cant plan any more, because I've planned everything. Now I just need to relax and let things happen. Not my strong suit.

I'm happy with what I've planned, mind you. One excursion per port, with plenty of time to explore. The only big question mark is Juneau. We're there from about 1pm til 10pm. We've got a whale watching expedition at 6, that'll get us back about 9. That gives us from 1pm til 6pm to sightsee. Do we just piddle around in the city, or do I rent a car and go to the Mendenhall Glacier? It's a tough decision. On one hand, beautiful and inspiring. On the other, it just receded enough that it's no longer touching the water, which is sad. We'll see how it goes. The local bus drops you off a mile away, so we're not doing that, but do I want to rent a car? We'll see.

Our spring and summer are very busy, even before you add Rocky Horror into the mix. I'm excited for all of the things we have planned.

My sister had a busy/bad day at work yesterday. She found out that they're moving records away from her site and into New York. Supposedly, she's not losing any people, but they do want her to go up to NY later this month and train people for a week. Which will be a week that I have to sleep witht he puppy instead of Jess. I'll deal, but it's annoying. They want her to do more management and less records. We'll see how it goes. She is losing one of her remote people, which is going to suck. She says that if she loses her person in the office, she's going to be looking for a new job.

Okay time for me to hop off and get myself together. Everyone have an excellent Tuesday!

A little bit of zydeco adjacent to start your Sunday morning.

I discovered rather annoyingly that I'm on book 3 of a 5 book series, but 4 and 5 have not yet come out. And I just finished book three. I am bookless now. I'm going to have to go on the hunt for more books that I'd like. I also have to see if the author who wrote Crazy Rich Vampires has put out any new ones. That would be nice. The next Ursula Vernon book is a little way off. I haven't read John Scalzi's last book, so I may try that. Or, I may do a reread of Feed by Mira Grant, as that is probably my favorite book every. We shall see. I liked reading again, so I'm going to see if I can keep the momentum. I will be taking my kindle on vacation. I have hopes of sitting on the balcony watching the snow capped mountains go past, and reading my book.

Today, no real plans until 5:30, when we shall play Prophecy of the Nine Omens. poisontaster does an excellent job of bringing the module to life. Last session, we all came pretty close to being dead, but for some lucky shots. Depending on things, we should be making it to my character's ancestral home, where his disapproving father and possibly poisoned brother wait. IT's going to be super fun.

Until then, we shall relax.

Yesterday, we actually went out. I saw a thing about a Chinese restaurant called NiHao that has a Friday-Sunday brunch Friday-Sunday, and I figured why the hell not? It's downtown, but I was up for the drive. (I thought.) My lord, people were driving like total idiots. Lanes were more of a suggestion, and they were in a hurry. And downtown, thanks to the snow, parking is like we've slipped into Mad Max territory. There were cars snug against the curb, where they obviously took time to shovel. There were some that were parked like they cleared enough space to get out, but not enough to get back in, so they were at a 45 degree angle jutting out from the curb. One particularly daring small Uhaul truck was at about a 90 degree angle, forcing you to cut into oncoming traffic to get past.

Finally we got to the restaurant, and actually found decent parking. The restaurant is very small, with three floors of dining. We started ordering food. The first round was the duck egg rolls, the pork soup bao and the char siu bao. The duck egg roll may have been my favorite thing of the day, and there was a lot to love. The soup dumplings were delicious. And the char sui was filled with chunks of pork belly swimming in Szechuan bbq sauce. So good. Then, we moved on to the puffed scallion pancake, and I had some egg and scallion rice. Next round was kung pao chicken and green beans. The kung pao was rather spicy, so Jess ate most, same for the green beans, which were a little salty. Both had a good flavor, but they weren't my favorite. The Pan Fried pork dumplings were much more to my liking. Then, for dessert, we had a an egg yolk sesame ball (not bad) and a creamy walnut bao (excellent, will get again.). By the time we finished, we were both super full. Jess ate more, but I'm on a GLP-1, Rybelsus, which means I get full faster. All in all, A+, will do again.

The rest of the day was quiet. I finsihed my book, while Jess watched a friend play video games and chatted. Then dinner, attempted puppy walk (he got angry that I wouldn't let him eat something on the ground near the door, and immediately turned and sulked in.)

I ordered some Royal Rivera Pears from Harry and David. A friend was talking about how she'd gotten some, and how good they were, and so when I saw that the organic pears were on sale, I jumped at them. I also ordered some Cara Cara oranges that will arrive in March. No scurvy for us!

Then, soon after, it was off to bed. The relaxing peppermints continue to knock me out, which I appreciate. We'll see how they do tonight, when I sometimes get anxious about needing to wake up for work on Monday.

Maybe we'll go out today. I don't know. We could definitely afford to go to lunch again, as I did have OT this week. We'll see how it goes.

For now, I bid you adieu. Everyone have a tres bon Sunday!

It's finally Friday! I am so glad to see this weekend go fuck it self. Not that it's been a bad week. Just busy and occasionally stressful. But it's all good. It's Friday and should be relatively quiet.

The PET scanner is down again at our one site. It's kind of a mess. That's like 10 cancer patients per day that we have to find another way for. It's a lot. Mostly they're handling it outside of us, but sometimes we catch a stray call, and those are never fun. For those counting, this is the second time it's been down in a month.

I busted my ass at work yesterday. There were a TON of openings and people to slot in them. Three cardiac MRIs, four cardiac CTs, and a slew of MRIs. I got them all filled, though. I was a goddamn superstar. By the end of it, my brain hurt. Some of it involved playing tetris. Like "On this day and this day we have half an hour openings. I have someone who needs a full hour. Lets see if this patient would want to come in a little bit earlier." Or hey, I need a cardiac MRI in Bethesda for a STAT patient. I also have two openings in Columbia for cardiac MRIs. So, looking for patients who went to Bethesda, but would be closer to Columbia. But, right now they're only accepting certain diagnosis, and I needed to make sure we had insurance that we could get authorization in time. Basically, I was looking for a goddamn unicorn of a patient. I found 2, and can give my STAT patient their choice.

I was really tired and brain dead when I finished, but I also really enjoy it. It appeals to the side of my brain with excellent spacial relations and the one that always liked the "If-then" kind of tests.

Today, I'll probably be making more Tetris moves, plus my counterpart is out so I'll be getting all the emails.

Afterwards, we have a game, which was moved from last night due to headaches. (not mine for once--I had one, but I was okay to play. But 3 others had migraines. The game is a Monster of the Week game that was delayed from NYE due to the cold of doom. It's about a bunch of monster hunters being called in to protect the Gävlebocken. They will quickly find that things are not what they're expecting and may face tough choices. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm still pissed that this cold wiped out one my heaviest weekends of games. Stupid thing. It's almost gone now, thankfully.

One cool thing! Jess and I looked at the cast of the Rocky Horror on Broadway in NYC and decided that we had to go. We're going at the end of the run, on 6/20 with a friend. I am very excited about my Broadway forays. I need to add things to my countdown app, so that I'll be able to see how close it is and get excited. Seriously, the cast looks fucking amazing.

Tomorrow, we have nothing planned, which is nice. Maybe we'll go out and get lunch or something. Mostly, I plan to be a lump, though. Unless I decide to cook. We'll see. We have a game on Sunday, but it's at 5:30, so I'd have time to play during the day.

This literally made me lol. Long and short of it is that ghost played the Kia Center in Orlando and the next night, the Orlando Magic got just decimeated in their next game. Immediatly some yahoo on the internet begins blaming Ghost for cursing his team with their Satanic powers. It was great. Sadly, not satire, but the internet's reaction is hilarous.

Okay, time for me to maybe take a bath and get ready for work. Everyone have a stellar Friday!

It's Wendnesday morning and today is going to be a better day than yesterday!

Actually, yesterday wasn't horrible, just frustrating. First up, my sister went to get her car out for work, and couldn't. She's stuck half in and half out of the spot. Jess went out to help her clean up, but even with them pushing, it would go nowhere. I tried again at lunchtime, and still no luck.

Work was fine. I did a lot of filling in slots and wheeling and dealing to make room for other things. Mostly I was successful, so I was actually pretty pleased with myself.

In the morning, I put a message out for someone to help us dig our cars out. And a guy answered, so I gave him the info and we agreed on a price. Needless to say, he no-showed and has ghosted me. I think my sister got the number of a dude who one of the BIL's family used, so we'll try him this morning.

Then, since I was unable to get the car out, I Ubered over to the pharmacy to get my inhalers. And the pharmacy was closed. No clue why. Just locked up and no one there. I'll have to call them today and hope that they're open, otherwise I will need to call the doctor and beg them to switch my meds to another pharmacy, because I am down very low on my rescue inhaler. This of course, will mean that they won't have my new prescription in, because they had to order it, and they weren't there to receive it, apparently. I'm beginning to panic about how low I am on albuterol. It's really not great, especially seeing that I still have a bit of a cough. Hopefully, they're in today and I can just take an uber over on my lunch break to pick it up if the cars haven't been dug out.

Like I said, hopefully today will be less frustrating, and hopefully, our cars are freed tonight so I can run to the dispensary. I'm also out of my sleepy pills, though I used Jess' relaxing mints, and those work really well, possibly better than the ones crafted for sleep.

Work will either be really quiet or it'll pick up today. We'll see which it is. If nothing else, it's payday and that's exciting. All of my overtime comes in on today's check, so that'll be lovely. It looks like it's about $300 extra. Definitely will have to think on what I want to with it. Definitely a nice lunch or dinner this weekend, but something else as well.

They're talking about a possible snow this weekend as well. Probably not like this, but some. We'll see how the forecast goes. Right now, its only a 40% chance. Hopefully, it stays the hell away.

We're now down to 99 days til the cruise! Double digits!

Okay, time for me to get myself together. Everyone have a lovely Wednesday!

(I can dream of springtime at least.) The great Weather Event is over for the weekend! We got about 11" of snow and sleet, but we kept power!

I was moderately productive yesterday. After I hopped off here, I made Cinnamon rolls. They weren't the best ones I've ever made, but they weren't horrible, either. The icing, as usual, pulled it through. Then, I relaxed, then I cooked dinner.

All the other things I thought we might do like watching media just didn't happen. Instead, I had a nice quiet day and relaxed. Then later in the day, I picked up my Kindle and started working on the first of the Fourth Wing series. Is it wish fulfillment? 100%. Is it a bad book? Nope, it's not. It's an easy book to read. The protagonist is definitely a chosen one archetype and because it's a female character who gets to be the specialist of the special, People shit on it. I spent a couple of hours just reading, which is rare. Normally, my ADHD will let me read something for a little while, and then move on. This was at least 2 hours worth. Apparently, it's going to be a tv series, so I guess I need to work through the books before that comes out.

Towards the afternoon, I got a text from my boss asking if I would be able to come in at 7:30am, so that we have a little more coverage. Today is going to be 100% hell. Everyone is going to cancel, and they're going to be pissed that we don't have openings next week for them. We have a thousand or more patients scheuled today, and I'm betting that all of them call this morning. I of course, agreed. My alarm is set at 5, and I'm usually up before it. Starting at 7:30 is no big deal.

We tried to take Yoda out into the weather twice. Both times, he stopped, turned around and noped his little ass back inside. The second time, I wasn't sorry about it. I was having trouble staying upright. The snow was all powder and it shifted weirdly when you stepped into it. He has pee and poop pads inside, so he'll have to work with that.

We'll try again when maintenance shovels the walk this morning. I know they were trying to keep up yesterday, but it was just coming down too fast. They'll have to work on it this morning and see what they can do. I'm so grateful that I don't have to do it. There have definitely been some adjustments living in the apartment, but this is one of those things that makes me happy.

For dinner we had a lovely roast from our stash from Evensong Farm. Good lord, that was ridiculously tasty. Not sure what I'm going to have tonight. I told my boss that I would be happy to stay late if needed, so I don't know what time I'll be finishing up, so it needs to be something simple. I will think on it.

I am very tired this morning. I didn't sleep well, and then a cat kicked me awake at 4:15. I'm currently having difficulty keeping my eyes open, but coffee will fix that, I hope.

I think that nexxt weekend we are gameless on Saturday and a late game on Sunday. I could bake again. I would very much like to make bagels again. I might try making an egg bagel for a change. They're my favorite.

I have one game this week, on Thursday and then there's one that poisontaster is running on Sunday.

It's less than usual, but it'll give me time to bake if I feel up to it.

Oh, speaking of which, I needed my inhalers refilled, so I set up a virtual appt with a PA for yesterday. She was lovely, called in both so I can pick them up today or tomorrow, depending on when we get plowed. But then I coughed, and she asked how long that had been going on. I said 37 days, and she was like "Yeah, I'm giving you Doxycycline, too. I think you may have a sinus infection that's making it drag out." So I guess I'll be taking that once we make it to the pharmacy. It's just kind of a WTF, since only the last two people I've talked to actually did anything useful. I saw two doctors, who only gave me steroids. I saw a nurse practitioner who gave me codeine cough syrup, which was very useful and then I had this PA who was actually concerned for me. The difference is pretty stark. Both doctors basically patted me on the head and acted like I was crazy for coming in. The NP was very nice and told me to check back if it hadn't resolved. We decieded to wait on a chest xray, because I didn't feel like it was in my lungs. The PA was so sweet. I wasn't even there for that. I just happened to cough, because that's what I do right now. And she zeroed in to see what she could do to help me. Y'know, the way medicine should be.

I'm bracing for the onslaught we're going to have at work today. It's going to be bugfuck, and we all know it. And patients are not going to understand why we can't "work them in" later this week or next week. The plan was for us to open at 10am, but I don't think that's happening. And even if it does, most people are going to cancel. Of course, if we do close, there's bound to be some asshole who is like "I can get there in my Hummer, what do you mean you're not open?!?"

In short, I need to wear my patience pants. My patience pants are fleece lined leggings. I broke them out yesterday to take Yoda out, and wore them the whole day. They're very nice and snuggly and I love them. I immediately went on Torrid and ordered a few pairs more for Jess, my sister and me.

Okay, time for me to get myself ready for work, and maybe finish Fourth Wing before I have to start. I've only got 14% left. I should be able to get through that in an hour. Everyone have an exceptional Monday!

It's Saturday, so why am I up so early? I'm glad you asked, let me tell you.

I was sitting at work, taking calls, making calls, doing my thing and my boss' boss comes to me and asks if I'd be willing to work on Saturday. They're concerned that the weather is going to screw us up, and they'd like extra hands on deck. But, also, they need someone to be the head of radiology's liaison. And she asked for me. As boss' boss was saying, "If you can't, you can't, but if you can, it's a really good spotlight." Since I didn't have any plans that I couldn't move, I accepted. What being P's liaison means, I have no clue. I'm just going to go in and do whatever is needed.

I don't know what is going on, but I feel like they're planning something to do with me, and I want to know what it is now. First the Dept head telling me that a potential pay bump is coming rather soon, and now this. I don't know if this is a dry run or what? I'm going to just do my best either way, but it's strange to feel pieces you can't see yet moving around you. I hope whatever it is, it comes soon. The anticipation and curiosity are killing me and I am not a patient person.

So that changes up what I'm planning for the day. Now it's work, then game, then Jess and I may go to the World of Pets Expo for a few hours. Get some toys and treats for the Boodle and the Yoda, and maybe pet a ferret. We went about 10 years ago, and it was super fun. I'm hoping maybe not as highly crowded as last time. Everyone is hopefully out preparing for the snow, or getting an early start on hunkering down.

Maybe we'll grab dinner afterwards? I have no idea. Depends on what time we finish up.

Tomorrow will be for watching the pretty snow and the slightly less pretty ice, and maybe baking cookies. I thought I had a game at 1, but it looks like it was cancelled, so I might be ambitious and bake something that needs to rise. We'll see how I feel.

I've really want to make some cinnamon rolls, so we'll see if maybe we can do that and make me and the rest of the family happy. I might cut the recipe in half, just because the regular makes 12 rolls, and I don't know that we need all that. Or, I might say fuck it and do it anyway. Extra baked goods for the win! I'm pretty sure that I have some cream cheese for the icing. If the Boodle gets me up early, I could conceivably make them for breakfast/brunch. (And lets be real, the cat hasn't let me sleep past 6am in months.)

Maybe tomorrow, we can also watch a little more tv. Either Heated Rivalry or the rest of Great British Bake Off. Or something else. We'll see how it goes. I know I want to keep my phone charged, so that if we lose power I've got something. I need to charge the power bank for my phone as well. It's currently in my sister's room, so it'll have to wait til after work to grab it and plug it in.

I think they've decided that we're getting between 7 and 12 inches of snow with some ice on top which is much less than the original 24 that I saw forecasted. That said, if the coastal system hits harder than expected, that could still change. I figure I'll believe the total when I wake up Monday and see what's there. Sadly, with working from home, I won't be getting Monday off. My commute will be clear and snow free.

The other thing right now is that it is cold as fuck. It is currently about 8 degrees, with a high of 20. I am not amused. As I'm aging, I don't do as well in the cold as I used to. I get cold easier, and my asthma hates the cold air. When we come in, I have to sit for a couple of minutes to catch my breath if the puppy has wanted to go fast. Plus we usually try to hurry him up the steps so no one comes out from their house while we're out there, so that's another bit of running. I need to start increasing my stamina. I was doing really well before I got the cold/cough/flu at New Year's. That has completely blown my walks. I was going around the block with the dog, and now we're just walking out in front. I'll work on getting myself back in semi-shape once the brutal cold is done.

Okay, time for me to hop off and do a little prep for our 12:30 game. The party is in a sticky situation, and I'll be interested to see how they get out of it. I have a few decisions as far as what I'm going to do with the baddies next turns. Thinky thoughts! Everyone have an excellent Saturday and stay safe and warm!