The Cantina Staring Back At You From The Abyss

[E.F.B.]

Morning, Cantina. Today is an at-home day. I was going to try to write some but Dad is up early with low blood sugar (with the TV on, of course strike that, he just announced as I was typing that he's going back to bed now that he's eaten breakfast and his blood sugar isn't low. He only slept for 5 hours, so he definitely needs to sleep a bit longer. Maybe I'll get some non-TV noise writing in, after all! I also want to watch an educational live stream at noon, so I better consider the next half hour a word sprint.

 

[Cobalt Jade]

Septum bone spur!? I didn't even know that existed. Damn, that sounds horrible. Sympathy. I hope it gets sorted quickly and painlessly.

Sorry, I meant septal bone spur -- it's a little different. It's inside your skull. not on your septum, which is made of cartilage. But it still presses into your nasal passages. This wonder of nature would never have been discovered if not for a dog's paw. But unfortunately the consultation with the ENT is months out, at the beginning of September. This seems to be the new norm for medical non-emergencies at least in my main medical system, which I want to stick to because it's the best in my state. But it's also prudent of me to find another one before then.

The infection is making me very tired. There's not a lot of pain, just a lot of blaaah and even walking up and down the driveway is exhausting.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for low blood sugar and infection fatigue!

Friday, just after dinner (chicken pot pie soup, which came out pretty good if I do say so myself), and it's clouding up as promised. At least I got to lounge outside for a bit earlier. Even saw dragonflies, which I usually don't see around until summer proper.

Work existed. Had to monitor again, but it was an understaffed and looong day. Tried extra-hard not to zone out; I learned from my days working the polls that slow days are the days where you're much more likely to frell things up just because you zone out from boredom.

Played a couple picture book stories off YouTube (audio part only) for Dad after dinner, which he enjoyed. Then I switched over to the music channel, so I don't have to hover and click through ads. (You have no idea how hard it is to find a storytime YouTube channel that just reads the danged story without silly extras. Yeah, I get that's a plus for wiggly little kids who might need extra incentive to listen to a story, but my target here is a nonagenarian with dementia whose attention span is roughly picture-book-story length at this point. And I wound up going to YouTube because Libby is always luck of the draw with what's available, though I still plan to do that now and again.)

--

And wrappin' up Friday. Dad enjoyed hearing his music channel again. We really need to do that more often... (Malarkey also seemed to enjoy it, whistling away. Probably good for him, too.)

I had thought I wouldn't have to wake up early tomorrow, but sibling has an extra-early shift, so I set my alarm to be sure she's up in time. (We've had Issues before when she's had to go in extra-early... would rather not hear the howl if she oversleeps and nobody nudged her.) But at least I should be able to crawl right back into bed again... in theory...

Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to logo stuff, dang it. Let it slide far too long and it's already May.

--

Late morning Saturday, cloudy and damp outside as promised. A good day to sit and work on logo thumbnails.

Right, brain? It's a good day to sit and work on logo thumbnails.

*glares at brain*

*brain glares back*

*tries not to think about the dire implications of being able to see one's own brain to glare at it, let alone how said brain can return a glare*

--

Saturday afternoon, and I managed to rough out four thumbnails. I will now set them aside to look at tomorrow and decide which to try taking to a full-scale drawing. (Already have a favorite and a runner-up, but that could change in the execution.)

Also managed a load of laundry that is now in the dryer. And washing some dishes.

Dad's very tired today; could be the weather shift.

Anyway, currently waiting until sibling gets home before I start dinner (tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich night), because she has a way of monopolizing household attention and I need to keep an eye on dinner once it gets going. If she's not home soon I need to get started anyway.

--

Sunday morning at the post recycling center, drizzly and cool, though next weekend's supposed to hit 80F last I checked.

May just can't make up its mind about anything, can it?

Dad got some music time in last night, which he enjoys even when he dozes off. Trying to show Mom how to use the tablet so she can set him up on her own one of these days (in the off chance she'll ever do that); she can use her Fire tablet, she should be able to use an Android, dang it.

Anyway, later today I need to get to work on a full-scale logo sketch, though I have one or two other thumbnails I sorta want to doodle out and see how they come out before I commit. (This is not procrastination. It's part of the Process. Besides, better to spitball now at the thumbnail stage than later when I have a logo half-drawn...)

Also probably should bite the bullet and drag out the scale, see how far I've slipped since I got too depressed and stopped. I need the incentive of a number to get back to exercising as much as I know I should.

--

Sunday after dinner, and I started penciling on the full-sized logo design.

And it's already fighting me, so I have a backup started.

But I don't want to overdo things so I decided to pause for now and get back to it tomorrow afternoon.

At least I started...

(Also did the scale thing. Not great, but surprisingly not as bad as I feared.)

And in news-I'm-sure-is-a-prelude-to-something-truly-terrible-because-it's-not-sucky, I just learned what's going into a long-vacant spot in town.

A Barnes & Noble.

We lost ours round about pandemic time (for reasons unrelated; Costco's been gobbling up all sorts of land around here and B&N was in the way). From corporate response, we were sure they'd written our city off as "close enough to the nearest store" to not bother with.

And me without a lunch budget, let alone a book budget... guess I have until fall to scrape together that extra income stream I needed to scrape together anyway.

Oh, and read down the massive backlog.

First up, though, it's garbage and recycling day tomorrow so I need to get the bins ready to wheel down the road this evening.

 

[E.F.B.]

Morning, Cantina. I had a fairly quiet weekend. While my elbow bruise from having fallen in the backyard last week is finally fading, my pulled rib muscles are doing what pulled rib muscles do and taking longer. I also seem to have slept on them in such a way on Saturday night that I irritated them a little and... ow. During the day, they feel better, but at night it's just the whole thing of twisting around in bed to get comfortable and then turning or putting pressure on them the wrong way and it hurts. And then the morning stiffness doesn't help (or the current PMS moodiness). Mom helped me put some Icy Hot with lidocane on today and that's helping a lot. I probably should use it right before bed tonight. I hate sore ribs. Ugh.

In better news, Mom and I ordered the security cameras yesterday afternoon. We have another free trial of Prime going right now and were able to get them overnighted for free, so they're already here. We'll be reading instructions and all that and figure out how and where to install them this week.

In even better news, my church has found a couple who can take Mom to her surgery in June. They're even willing to stay and bring her home, though we will let them know that it could be quite a wait. But taking people to appointments and surgeries is apparently something they like to do to help, so they may be okay with it. If not, Dad and I can get there to take her home, it's just the getting her there and then sitting for 6 hours while I haul Dad in a wheelchair that's the problem, so at least that is taken care of.

Today, Dad has an appointment, so I better get busy getting some writing stuff done until then.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for pain!

Hooray for possible rides!

Monday morning, and sitting in the waiting room for Mom's appointment.

On the way up here, the car did a disturbing lurch/RPM dip at a light.

If it does it again we go straight to the shop.

I *knew* there'd be a backswing. There's *always* a backswing... and it's *always* worse than whatever good thing preceded it...

--

Monday afternoon, skies just openin' up, and I'm waiting for drier weather to unload the car.

For the record, the car made it through shopping and got us home fine... though I was very careful about idling on hills. Once again, nose up on a hill...

I already knew I couldn't swing new glasses this year. This sorta confirms it, though it has to repeat before I can go back to the shop. (I will be emptying as much as I can from the car and trunk pre-emptively, though. Fuel pump access means back seat and/or trunk access.)

--

Monday evening. Dinner existed, dishes existed, etc. Dad's listening to his music; his head's under the blanket again, but his toes ar tappin' along.

Am thinking of calling the shop tomorrow to see if they want to see my car again now or if I have to wait for it to repeat (or actually die)... I'd rather get rental stuff sorted when it won't interfere with getting to/from work (or eat another of our three free AAA tows for the year), if it's all the same to them.

Mergh. Always something...

I need to get back to logo stuff but I'm having a really hard time mustering the oomph.

 

[CMBright]

Tornado siren went off a little before midnight. Nothing close enough to be inbound where we live, though there was a touchdown in a nearby town. MiL (who lives ~45 minute drive away) has lost power, so there is definitely damage storm damage in central Oklahoma.

Hopefully, there isn't too much damage and no harm to people, pets or livestock.

 

[Friendly Frog]

The many rains of last night means I once again have (a little) water in the basement when I'm home alone to deal with it.
It sucks because there is a solution but dad just doesn't want to do it. I've learned to pick my battles and this wasn't one, so I was happy to foist the mopping on him but of course now he's not home.

Luckily the other leaky places held because there are FIVE potential leak hazards in this house during heavy rains and tending to all at the same time on your own (like I had to two years ago) is mind-destroying.


In other news, Shy Kitten has caught his first mouse. Yeay! Except not yeay, since it was underneath the couch (!) I was sitting in. And of course he ran off with it before I realised he wasn't chasing a fly as I had asumed. The mouse never even squeaked. So I had to chase him all around the house to catch him, take away the dying mouse and find a secure door to toss it outside.

But that also means the mice have an un-cat-assisted way into the house and I have likely been slandering Senior Cat (RIP) for years. (Sorry Senior Cat, your mom is a dummy, as you undoubtedly already knew). He had the tendency of bringing caught mice indoors for dismemberment and dinner for one. But he also sometimes lost it in the process, as occasionally witnessed, so it was fair to assume any mouse in the house had come in by Senior Cat Travel Agency. Apparently we were wrong.

This is a old house with plenty of nooks and crannies and it's stuffed to the gills to boot. We are never going to find that mouse highway, darnit.

 

[CMBright]

Morning. I woke up from a good sleep with the thought that we're still here.

In three decades of living in Oklahoma, there has only been one tornado that caused significant fear in the moment. The May 5th tornado back in the very late 90s. That one was barrelling through several towns and left a LOT of devistation in its wake right towad where I was living at the time before turning several miles away from us. In the aftermath, the meteroligists decided it needed a higher classification than existed, it was that bad.

Most of the time, when the tornado siren goes off, it has all the emotional impact of a school fire drill. We go to our safe space, a central hall, but other than the Kid, there is no anxiety, no fear. Spouse might turn the TV on and watch the storm trackers. When Spouse does that, I'll listen to the weatherperson calling out the spottings. Oh, that's south of the next town, that's east, and so on when I recognize the roads.

 

[E.F.B.]

Boo for tornadoes, mice, and cars acting up! When we had a mouse invasion years ago, they were coming in through a small gap in the back of the house where the wire from the AC unit comes in. Mom sealed it with some of that easy cement stuff and no more mice in the house since.

Morning, Cantina. I think my rib muscles are better today. I was really careful not to strain them further yesterday and they're less painful now than yesterday.

Mom's got the first of her four infusion appointments today. It's a potentially 6 hour thing, so Dad and I just stay home. I say potentially 6 hours, because some nurses will speed up the drip a little and get her out a little sooner, but last time, she had this one nurse who genuinely seems to dislike her for no reason at all (she's friendly with other people but cold to Mom and Mom never did a single thing to her) and won't speed it up, claiming she'll lose her medical license. She even gaslit Mom and told her she wasn't there as long as she thought she was. Uh, no, lady, the people waiting for her at home can confirm that 6 hours are passing. Don't gaslight my mother.

Anyway, because Mom is out of the house, Dad is up early and going to watch the TV the whole time she's gone because anxiety. So, I've got my earplugs in to try to focus and get some things done.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for mice! (Might be time to call in a specialist; they can squeeze through unbelievably small openings... sometimes if you do a circuit around the house you can spot them, but not always.)

Tuesday morning, and I can best sum up my day so far with

Didn't even have my showers or my PJs off when sibling comes up to complain about her toilet not flushing right... so guess who has to run the snake down the thing.. in PJs...

(And do you think it helped, gentle reader? No, it did not... Plumber's coming out between 12 and 2.)

Called the shop about the car's warning lurch. Could they please take another look? Oh, gosh, they can't do a thing if they can't replicate it and they'd hate to charge me if it wasn't the fuel pump or anything... So, basically, drive a time bomb to work and tow it back if it dies, sucks to be you.

And my experiment of running the air cleaner all night to help with eye gunk didn't seem to do much. So my eyes are still gunky and itchy. Maybe I can switch to the other allergy meds? Again:

Now, I think I need to help clean up for the plumber.

I am so, so tempted to call out of work tomorrow because enough with All The Things...

--

Plumbing update:

It's not the septic tank.

It's not the toilet.

It's an actual crack and shift in the line that feeds from the toilet to the tank. So they have to dig it up to fix. Which involves jackhammering concrete.

Up to $4800 (and climbing)...

Sounds like it is not uncommon; older houses, settling foundations/shifting...

Pumping the tank would've been cheaper...

--

And they're wrapping up.

Apparently, the septic tank is full and needs pumping, but that wasn't the specific problem that was just fixed...

Total cost was roughly what they estimated, so there's that.

We may be doing IHOP for dinner because we are all just done with effort today.

--

IHOP for dinner existed. Tasted better than it should have.

Sibling is still whining about her toilet; we told her it wouldn't be totally normal until we got the tank pumped, dang it... and we have to wait at least a day we figure for the concrete to set.

Gonna be a long rest of the week... and an expensive rest of the week...

 

[E.F.B.]

Boo for cracked toilets! Yay for IHOP!

Morning, Cantina. My ribs continue gradually improving. I was able to sleep on that side all night last night. I may need to move my alarm clock closer, though, because pushing up with that arm and stretching all the way across the bed to reach it is still a bit owie. Sneezing is also owie. Pro tip: try not to sneeze with pulled ribs.

Today is new phone day. Mom has an appointment first and then we can head to the phone store nearby and get me one that isn't cracked. Gotta make sure it has good memory and good camera, too, since my phone is my business tool as an Etsy seller.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for recovering ribs and new phones! (FWIW, I've never been sorry I got my refurbished Samsung Galaxy S8, but there are plenty of good ones out there.)

Wednesday morning, and I wound up calling out from work because Mom was having a minor meltdown over dealing with the septic tank. But someone has been called and they'll be here 10ish-11ish, can't remember specifics.

Already got the hose hooked up (they said they'd need a hose). Going to move the sibling's car across the way in a bit, then maybe pull up excess paving stones. And we're counting down the minutes until the sibling melts down over it not being done already.

The fun just don't stop around here...

--

It's almost 9, and the septic tank people are supposed to be here in 20ish minutes; their first appointment apparently cancelled, so they called to be sure it was okay if they showed up early. Yes, yes it's okay (though we do appreciate them checking and not just showing up).

--

Septic stuff done, draining fine now, and the guy was leaving round about the time he originally estimated he'd be arriving.

So that's done.

Now I can take my shoes off...

 

[E.F.B.]

Samsung is my preference too, though I've never gotten a refurbished one. My old one was an S11. I went for the new one that folds out so you have an optional bigger screen, which I'm hoping will help save my eyeballs when I need to do stuff for extended periods on the phone. I'm pretty pleased so far. One issue is that I think the store failed to give me a charge cord (unless they make you buy them separately these days...), so I'm going to have to go back for that on another day. Thankfully my old cord still works. One other gripe is that, dang it, they don't put headphone jacks on their phones anymore. So now I have to bite the bullet and get wireless ones. And dang it, I don't wanna. But I hafta or I won't be listening to any audiobooks or videos anytime soon. Grrr. I wish I'd realized that while we were still at the store, but I didn't think a thing about it. At least all the rest of the phone works.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for intentionally-foldable phones!

Boo for lack of cords or audio jacks! (Mine has a jack, but for work I use bluetooth/wireless, the kind with the hook over the ear, which I find stay put better than just earbuds and doesn't cause the binding issues I was getting with the kind with the connecting cord between them - the way I work it kept pulling against my work shirt collar and tugging one or the other ear bud off.)

Creeping towards noon, and I should use this unintentional extra day off to make some logo progress, I suppose. Maybe after lunch...

--

After lunch, pausing during logo work, and mostly popping in to add a link to a YouTube video discussion between Ty "half of James S. A. Corey" Franck and Daniel "other half of James S. A. Corey/standalone author" Abraham on Fear in Artistic Endeavors (YouTube link, an hour and fifteen minutesish, some adult languange)

--

Windin' down Wednesday evening.

The 1940's music station's server is apparently down, so I wound up streaming a 1940's dance mix via the YouTube app. Dear gods, does that app hoover battery life... I know it does when I use it on my cell phone, but it also apparently does on tablets. But Dad got to hear some nice tunes (and a couple silly tweaked fairy tale picture book stories before that), so he was happy. I found an alternate streaming source for oldies that I might try tomorrow if that server's still out.

Also got Dad's latest batch of eggs boiled up and dyed (so they're easier to see; his vision's not that great these days), and right now I'm cooking up a batch of frozen chicken wings for his nightly meals.

Later I need to remember to nuke a dinner for the sibling, as it was a nuke-your-own night.

Hope work happens tomorrow (car willing and the creek don't rise)...

 

[E.F.B.]

Mine has a jack, but for work I use bluetooth/wireless, the kind with the hook over the ear

I'm glad you mentioned this because I usually only see people use the kind without any hook that fall out constantly. That would annoy the heck out of me, so I made sure to search online specifically for the kind with the hook. They are now ordered and supposedly will get here tomorrow. I hope they work okay. I definitely see how wireless can be helpful as far as not yanking out constantly, though I don't like that it's just one more technological thing that can break (not to mention having to make sure it's charged in order to use it.)

Oh, and I found out via making a phone call that the store didn't forget to give me a charge cord. They've decided that they don't automatically give you a new charge cord with your new phone (and don't tell you about this change and ask if you need to buy a new one!). You either buy a new one separately or you share one with everybody on your plan. Because the environment, apparently. (It's totally them being thoughtful, not attempting a money grab). They're saving the world one separately purchased charge cable at a time! /end sarcasm


Morning, Cantina. It's been an... interesting one so far. My lower back decided to get stiff from bending down differently yesterday to avoid irritating my ribs (which continue to get better, but reaching down to pick up something on the floor with the arm on that side is still sore.) so that made me cranky. Then da lab mix came in my room while I was getting dressed, which usually makes me happy, but then I realized she smelled like . The side of her face was wet and stinky so I figure she went out back and tried to roll in a dead earthworm or something (she loves those) and there happened to be some poop nearby. GUESS WHO'S GETTING A BATH TODAY.

I'm using one of those air-activated stick-on heating pads on my back and that's helping it loosen up. Moving around helps, too. I'm just annoyed because it seems like one thing starts to get better but then I make something else sore compensating for the part that's healing, and then I have to wait for the new thing to heal too.

Well, today is an at-home day and I have beta reading to do, so I better go get on to that.

ETA: I think the wrens under the porch have fledged their babies. I keep seeing floofy borbs with baby spots in their feathers and the parents are flying around singing their heads off.

 

[tusenord]

I'm suffering from DistractaBrain. I want to do something like reading, or writing, or something similar. But I can't focus. Nor can I sit and just watch TV, because my brain is itching. I even tried to be good today and be physical and creative with my hands to let my brain rest so I'd have some mental energy. And I went to bed early last night! But no... still all scattered.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for "canine cologne", busted backs, and meandering minds!

Hooray for warbling wrens!

Thursday afternoon. The car behaved (knock on wood, plywood, particle board, plastic, and anything knockable within reach, including the little stuffed dragons and plastic fire tiger by the computer), and seemed happier with a full tank of gas. My current plan is to play off the likely-superstitious idea that the fuller the tank, the happier the car and not let it drop below 3/4 full if I can at all manage it.

Work was light enough I didn't get my audiobook finished, and it's going to take effort to tune in tomorrow and finish it off. Not bad per se, but meandering and somewhat wallowing and there's a sameness I can't quite put my finger on but which is making me less interested as things go on. (Knew I should've gone with my gut and just downloaded another silly Pals in Peril story for today... they're highly entertaining and short enough I would've finished before we got done with the load.)

On the plus side, I spent some time in deletes so a couple books followed me home.

Dad's station is still down, so I have a YouTube loop going. I have another option - an online place I can play more oldies radio stations through, though none solely dedicated to the 40's which is Dad's "sweet spot" for music - that I might try later. (I now have a long enough charging cord I can keep the tablet plugged in while it runs the YouTube app, which I hope helps with the battery drain Issue. I seriously do not understand why it's so draining; I have games that don't eat as much power as that thing...

--

Thursday evening, and it's borderline summery out there. Supposed to hit the 80s (F) for the weekend, then drop back to 60s for Monday.

Dinner existed. Tried the other online radio option but it didn't like playing for long stretches without poking and the app is supposed to be very ad-heavy, so we went back to YouTube and found more 1940's playlists. (The one we're playing now leans British, like many seem to. It also had the lyric version of "In The Mood", which I'm so used to as an instrumental that I didn't even realize there were lyrics... at least, lyrics that weren't chickens clucking... )

Got a laundry going, but that's about it in the productivity department. Should do more but I just don't wanna.

 

[E.F.B.]

Evening, Cantina. The stinky dog got her bath, which she needed even more my lunchtime because Mom sprayed a natural weed killer (it has vinegar and dish soap and such, so totally non totally non toxic, but it kills the plant) on some poison ivy just inside the edge of the backyard fence and... wait for it... the lab mix, who has never rolled in that stuff before, rolled in it. Which meant that she rolled on the poison ivy too, of course. A fence was placed around the poison ivy and the dog was immediately washed and now she's clean and not stinky or poison ivied anymore.

Other than that, I did get beta reading done and Mom and I got the doorbell cam and security cams installed. Women with power tools, ftw! They seem to be working fine and they picked up the Amazon delivery driver who came late in the evening.

Tomorrow is another at home day and I will do moar beta reading.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for power tools!

Friday afternoon, got out of work a bit early but didn't bother shopping my way home.

In a bit I'll be setting up some music or such for Dad. And later I'll decide whether it's turkey taco night or turkey sandwich night.

I also have a tail end of an audiobook to finish off because work was short. (I did finish off the one I started yesterday, but I'm still considering what I think of it. It was more Literary than I usually go, sort of a linked story collection, and as in many collections I found it a mixed bag.

 

[E.F.B.]

Yeah, that seems to be the nature of a lot of story collections that they're mixed bags. I consider them a success if I like more than I dislike.

Evening, Cantina. I did indeed get more beta reading done today. There's a book I'm reading before bed that I'm not really enjoying, so I'm debating replacing it with the beta read to get some extra pages in. (And tbh, I'm enjoying the beta read more than that other book.)

My wireless earbuds came today and I've tested them out. I can tell it will be weird to adjust to no cords, but they work perfectly well and I'm pretty pleased with them. Here's hoping they last well.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Hooray for earbuds and good betas!

Thursday evening, and finishing up dinner (turkey sandwich night, for the curious). Need to prep stuff for the sibling's dinner in a bit; it's too warm to leave sandwich fixings on the stove for long, so I'll put it out just before she comes home. Or maybe when she pulls into the driveway... it's mid/upper 70's F in the house right now, and I don't want the potato salad going off.

Got one audiobook review written up, and a second to go that I might put off until tomorrow.

 

[MaeZe]

Tonight was a failure on several levels. Aye yi yi.

I was keeping the bedroom dark so I could see out the window, watching for a decent aurora. Normally I leave a small light on and my dog is not used to 'very dark'. He dozes off under the bed or on top of it.

He started growling, usually a false alarm but I got up with him anyway, we both needed to pee. As we were getting back into bed there was a very distinct noise. Could have been rats on the patio or any number of other small critters outside, or???.

I grabbed my cell phone and he went under the bed. ...

As that sound resolved into nothing I turned the small light on and called Dexter to sleep on top of the bed. False alarm or not he does bark when he hears noises. He rolled on his back instead of jumping on the bed. He didn't fight but good grief, he accidentally scratched my paper-thin skin with those nails of his and before I could get a bandage on it to stop the bleeding a large oval of blood was there on the sheet.

Sigh ...

Still no sign of the aurora but I'm reluctant to turn all the lights off again. Dexter is furiously licking away at the blood on the towel. I'm not letting him lick the blood on the sheets.

Yes, MaeZe is an odd duck.

 

[CMBright]

Eep. Only a week and a half till summer vacation? Where does the school year go?

Kid will be happy about that. The splash pad at the park near the house is already running, we saw water running there while we were out and about yesterday.

 

[Brightdreamer]

Boo for nocturnal noises and blood ovals!

Hooray for splash pads!

Saturday morning, sunny day on tap, and I think I may have seen aurora last night, but I didn't know about the cell phone trick to "really" see them (cell phone lenses apparently are often better at picking up aurora lights than human eyes). What I did see was very faint and sort of milky like thin cloud wisps, not really glowing, but they didn't seem to drift and dissipate like cloud streaks and when you turned your head they remained where they were (or I would've dismissed them as optical trickery). May try again tonight but the odds are lower.

Mergh.

Today's plans involve the usual room tidying, some logo work, and hopefully a little weed whacking (though that may happen tomorrow).

 

[Cobalt Jade]

I'm suffering from DistractaBrain. I want to do something like reading, or writing, or something similar. But I can't focus. Nor can I sit and just watch TV, because my brain is itching. I even tried to be good today and be physical and creative with my hands to let my brain rest so I'd have some mental energy. And I went to bed early last night! But no... still all scattered.

It's all the solar radiation!

Maeze, did you see any aurora? Tiredness took me over and I went to bed early, aurora or not. I think here, you need to be away from city lights and on a hill facing north. Unfortunately, I can't think of any such place a short drive from here that meets those specifications. I did hear sunspots were visible on the sun, as long as you used eclipse glasses, but my eyes are still bad and I couldn't see them for sure.

My left eye is getting better with antibiotics -- a sinus infection has to do with its wonkiness -- but though much improved, it is still not back to normal. I'm afraid that when the antibiotics run out it'll get all wonky again. I have a followup with neuroopthamologist on Thursday but I doubt hel'' have any great insight other than "You need to see an ENT." I got the medical bill and oy oy oy.