See ya never :-P

So I haven't figured out how to switch between apps on my phone without going to the home screen and tapping the app I am looking for there. Thus, I am inefficient. I also don't know how to go to the previous page in the browser. I could look up a guide on how to use my phone but that hurts my pride. So I will suffer through the ignorance.

It my last shift of the night job. One of my colleagues said "see you never," which is probably true. I live in a different city than most of these people so I am unlikely to run into them on the street. It is unlikely any of them even read this blog but in the off chance they do, I have a gif for the occasion. I have to copy and paste the link to it because the app isn't letting me insert it. https://c.tenor.com/I6bSd_xNoc0AAAAM/hooray-its-weekend.gif

My dad's taking me kayaking. I'm pretty excited. The two of us are certified paddlers and have a kayak each. I haven't had time to kayak over the summer, but now I do and he has time off as well. Actually, I'm uncertain about whether he has the day off or if he is 'cough cough' sick. While I don't necessarily promote calling in sick for leisure, we've had a tough time with my grandpa being sick and then passing. Kayaking should be nice therapy. 

Take care.

Sammy

Kaput I say

My phone went kaput yesterday. All that it would do is blink this obnoxious light that I had painted over so that it wouldn't keep me up in the dark. I now have a new phone but I had to turn off two step verification so that I could login to my Google account. Having my sign in tied to a phone that doesn't work isn't helpful. Luckily I was able to use my computer to turn off the verification feature. Otherwise I would be writing this blog right now. 

I have one more shift of this night job left. One would think that means I would tell the readers of this blog what my job is now. Such a thought would be wrong. You will forever be in the dark. Just like I am right now. Because it is night time 😂.

I am now going to explore the features of my new phone.

Take care.

Sammy

I'm nuts

I missed a couple night posts. The first night was me genuinely forgetting because I was enthralled with a video I was watching. The second was because I had accidently left my phone at home. But without my phone, I don't have time keeping capabilities so I had to find a new break spot with a clock. The new break spot I found had a box of FREE BOOKS. So now I have a new old book.

I enjoyed hearing about the Paralympics on the radio. Since hearing about a blind downhill skier on the radio, I realized that Paralympic sports are bad ass. I'm disappointed to find out there isn't broadcasting for these games. Ça va mal. Edit: The Paralympics is streaming on YouTube.

I would not want to take a punch from a person who operates a manual wheelchair. The arm strength to push yourself around constantly would definitely give me a bloody nose or black eye. I watched some clips of wheelchair tennis. When I have played tennis, I've had the luxury of being able to prep my ratchet as I'm running to where the ball is going. In a wheelchair, you don't get that. Your arms are busy moving your wheelchair to the ball's future location. Only when you get there can you get your ratchet in position to hit the ball, while also braking so you don't overshoot. Wow, just wow. I have such respect for these athletes.

It was my birthday recently. My mom took me out with some family friends for drinks. I tried a paralyzer for the first time. It's not my favorite drink but it was pretty good. My dad got me a computer mouse he had in his office and some teas he got from the last hotel he stayed in. Maximum effort from my dad there. Lol. 

My sister just moved out to an apartment. I saw it and it seems like a nice place. I haven't checked on her since she moved in so I don't know how she likes it yet. I'll be getting an update tomorrow.

Control just isn't working on my computer anymore. I'll watch a gameplay video from where I left off to see how the game ends. I have been playing Dishonored 2 instead. I enjoyed the first game and I am enjoying this one. I like trying for a ghost run, where I am not spotted by any enemies. Usually I have to retry a section a few times before I achieve that, but I'm a stubborn gamer, so retry I shall. I have also been playing Kirby's Epic Yarn with a friend on their WiiU. That's been fun, though the train levels frustrate me intensely. I am planning on playing It takes two with another friend of mine. I saw some gameplay from some of my favorite steamers and it looked fun.

That's my life in a nut shell. Because I'm nuts.

Sammy

Napping through the Wasteland

I missed yesterday's post because I napped during my break. I used this pillow that sits around where I take my break. I don't know who owns this pillow or the last time it's been washed, but it served me well on the little couch I took my snooze on. I put my hood up for hygiene purposes. My legs were folded pretty much up to my chest. Now, for this shift, I got less sleep than I did before yesterday's shift, but I am not tired at all. 

I switched stations on my workspace radio. It is the alternative FM channel for my area. I like the music but sometimes I get concerned that I'll get in throughout for it being inappropriate at times. I don't actually think anyone on my shift with me is sensitive enough to language or risque content to tell me to quit it. It's just the principle of being at work with the words "son of a" b word that makes me jump at times. 

I have been asked to work this shift next weekend, which I'll get stat for the Monday and double time for the Saturday. I don't quite know why I'm getting double time on the Saturday but I'll take it. I don't mind the weekend shifts. I have to split my breaks up because I am alone and I can't leave my post for too long. Other than that, it's kinda nice having the place to myself (I'm not completely by myself as there are people in other positions and departments, stop panicking mom). I have gotten to catch up on my readings I need to get done for training on weekends. And I can watch videos without disrupting people. 

Control wasn't loading on my computer properly. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling it and will see if that is successful when I'm back home. Luckily, I didn't pay money for it as it came with a free game pass that I got with my computer. It's just annoying because I am invested in the story right now. I tend to not watch spoilers for games I am actively playing. I'll watch guides on a puzzle I'm stuck on but beyond that, I want to discover the mysteries myself. Only after I've finished the game will I look into the fan theories and lore.

With Fallout New Vegas, I enjoyed watching videos by Oxborn (was that his YouTube name) about the lore, as there was a lot I missed but picking one faction over the others (or in my case, picking none of them and running for all the power myself, screw you House). I was able to see how the story played out for different choices you make in that game without having to make several runs through the same missions myself. 

I'm gonna finish my peach iced tea before my break ends. 

Take care.

Sammy

Control is infiltrating my brain

I thought it would be funny to write my post in the title section and put the vice versa. I don't know if there is a character limit for the title though. I could investigate but it isn't important enough for me to spend time on. 

Speaking of things that aren't important, but in this case, I spend time on it anyway, Control is taking a huge chunk of my background thought. In the game, there are documents you pick up that have parts redacted. I didn't think much of it at first but now I'm curious about what the redacted parts are. If it was a real piece of paper, if you angle the light behind the words, you can often see what is crossed out in marker. This is of course impossible with my computer screen as there is this huge black piece of plastic behind it. So now my brain churns on about the possible redactions. I'm sure there are fan theories about it. It's just difficult to find search results on a game that's title is a common word. You don't get the same issue with games like Tetris or Mario Bros (although you might catch a few Italian brothers with that search term). I haven't seen any fanfiction about Tetris. I suppose you need a story line and/or characters for a fan theory to emerge.

Also, the song I was talking about yesterday is called Slide Into The Void. Sorry for the error. How dare a sleep deprived person on the internet make a mistake. 😉

Sammy

Into the Void of Superman

I think a lot but I don't necessarily have insights about the things I think about. Like tonight during my shift I was thinking about how I like this song about the video game Control by Stupendeum called Into The Void. Despite thinking about it for about an hour, I still don't have a definitive answer. I heard the song before I played the video game, so gaming nostalgia isn't the culprit. It kind of has Pink Floyd vibes, but in a female voice. I am a fan of The Wall. I don't know man. I just like the song.

I am a fan of some of the early Superman comics where he actually gets bad guys to see the effects of their actions. For example, there is one arms dealer that Superman brings to the front lines of war. The arms dealer is scared silly and vows not to sell guns again. I get that such stories don't fit the big screen very well but I think it is an important aspect to view heroes from. Not just strong beings who can beat up the bad guys, but as moral teachers bringing humans closer to greatness. 

There's what's floating in my noggin. Take care.

Sammy

I forgot to click publish on this one last night.

This is my last week of nights. I had to end it early as it was adversely affecting my health. I lost 15 pounds since starting. I don't think my mom reads this blog but in this case I'm glad because I didn't tell her I lost weight. Food just makes me nauseous during my night shift, so all I eat for each 24 hour period is supper beforehand, a snack during break and then maybe an egg for breakfast when I'm back home. So, that 7 nights in a row every second week hasn't been great for me. I feel bad for inconveniencing my workplace by resigning before the end of my temporary position but my health has to take priority.

Blogging has been a positive experience for me so maybe I'll keep blogging. I'll have to change the title because I'm not gonna wake up in the middle of the night just to blog. Though that would be funny. I'll have to brainstorm title ideas. Ideally it would be just as vague as the current one. A Person on Things. Even more vague. I like it. I'll have to check to see if that's available. Otherwise, A Person on Stuff or A Person on Matters of Insignicance would also work.

My new laptop is so fun to play on. I've been playing this game called Control which has a story that is warping my brain matter. I've also been playing this historical strategy game called Humankind which I am not good at. The word humankind makes me laugh because it was said by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau when he was trying a gender neutral alternative to mankind. The media and meme machines put him through the ringer for that one.

Avoid people who smell bad

In times of the plague, people were to be avoided if they smelled bad. In times of Covid, it's the same except now it's based on their sense of smell or lack thereof. I chuckled to myself when I thought of that just now. 

A few of my co-workers were talking about the price of food. They brought up how you can get cheap food that's pretty decent from dollar stores. I'll have to keep that in mind. It would be easy enough to get my night snacks from the dollar store than from the temperamental vending machine in my work building. I'll make a stop to one before my next night shift.

I am gonna see some of my young cousins this afternoon. I don't see them very often, so it would be unsurprising if they don't recognize me. I like little kids regardless of whether they know who I am.

I spent a couple hours playing on my new laptop when I should have been sleeping yesterday. I started playing Endless Space 2 which can be a big time sink. I'll stay away from my laptop today so that I'll get a few hours sleep before my visit with the cousins. 

🖖 Sammy

I don't really want to title this one...

The funeral for my grandfather was hard. I was able to keep my composure until my mom started crying. Then I was crying and I got snot running down my face. If crying didn't involve the nose, I'd be fine with it, but the snot makes it gross. Also, I tend to stifle my crying as to not be too loud, which makes it painful too. So yeah, crying sucks.

I decided I'm going to honor my grandfather with a video featuring stories and favorite moments from his children and grandchildren. I'll let my family grieve for a month or two before I bring it up as I don't want to put pressure on anyone right now.

On an unrelated and happier note, I just got a new laptop yesterday. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I installed a few games that I had only been able to play on my friends computer before. So, when I get home today, gaming will be the activity of the hour. I'm pretty excited. 

The vending machine in my work building took my money for a bag of Doritos but then didn't give me them. I'm not impressed. I will have to pick up some from the grocery store to make up for this injustice.

Sammy

Bye Papa

My grandfather has passed away. It's good that he's not suffering anymore. He lived a good life. Now, it's time for the family to grieve the loss of a great man. 

I don't really feel like saying much more. I just need time to process this. I might not post for a bit.

Sammy

Don't @ me

Another 7 nights on has started. I didn't have a large workload, so I finished enough to have my break early. I like having my breaks when it is still dark out. When the sun comes up, more people start coming in the building and I feel watched. Most people probably couldn't care less whether I was sitting on the couch for break or not, but I feel watched nevertheless. In the dead of the night, I can lay on the couch and not feel self conscious about how it may appear.

I answered a question on Quora yesterday. "Do people with severe disabilities have rights?" I wanted to answer with a "yeah, duh" but I actually have a decent answer. My mom thought the question was just to get a rise out of people, but I gave the person the benefit of doubt on that and gave them some sources for their own reading if they so choose. I don't consider myself an expert on human rights but I do know that, at least in my own country, they are very much present for people with disabilities. While I acknowledge that there are countries that don't have the same level of rights spelled out in their laws, I am optimistic that people are moving in that direction with the expansion of global trade and therefore global interaction. When people can write a news article about poor conditions of a country that is read internationally, it puts pressure on the government to at least consider making things better. Perhaps I think too highly of people, but that's not a crime so don't @ me. 

Don't @ me is my new favorite saying since I saw it on the window of my doctor's office. They drew a rainbow that was missing yellow. Underneath someone wrote that they were out of yellow so "don't @ me." It made me chuckle to myself so now it's just stuck in my head. So now it will be in my blog posts until a new saying replaces it or I get bored of it.

In highschool, I had a year where my most said word was "awesome." Whether life really was awesome or I was just determined to see things that way, I am uncertain. While there certainly are many things about life that are awesome, I don't use that word quite as liberally now. I don't think it is because I am less happy. In fact, I was quite the anxious teenager and I am quite mellow but content these days. I think it has more to due with my intensity of emotion I felt those days. Awesome had an emotional intensity when I said it. Also, I had a lot of people I felt the need to perform with. I wanted them to see me in a positive light so I constantly put forward a positive image. Today, I don't feel the need to perform in the same way. I want to have mutually beneficial relationships. I think authenticity benefits people more than constant positivity. If you want a constant stream of positive energy, you're on the wrong blog. 

Sammy

Ritz and Facebook

So there is this bookshelf that my workplace has where people store their lunch kits or snack bags. Tonight, sitting all by itself on the top shelf is a box of Ritz crackers. I found that immensely amusing.

I shared the link to my blog with my mom. I have no idea if she has checked it out or not. Most of her internet time is spent on Facebook and as this is not Facebook, probably not. I have little interest in Facebook anymore. I don't need people to click on a heart on my posts to feel validated. Not that there is anything wrong with Facebook users. It just doesn't do anything for me and the drama that can ensue on the site is an unnecessary addition to my life. Nevertheless, I still have a Facebook account. I use it to communicate with people that live in different time zones than me. I haven't posted anything on my page for years and maybe I never will. I don't want fighting amongst my family to be broadcast across my friend group. Nor do I want to watch a algorithmic feed based on information gathered on me to curate what I read. So yeah, Facebook is not important to me. 

I'm gonna stop here and just chill for a bit. 

Sammy

Better, even if more tired. And deep thoughts.

I am in better spirits today. Hanging out with my friend helped. We watched the latest episode of Owl House. Chaotic, adorable delight of a show.

I am a little tired because I didn't sleep as long. I got distracted with the YouTube when I got home in the morning. Then I woke up earlier than usual so I could spend more time with my friend. I don't regret it. While I was a bit irritable when I first arrived, a bit of home cooked food and good entertainment got me in a good mood. I am grateful for my friends and family. They make my life better.

Due to the dividing up of a loved one's possessions amongst my family, there has been conflict. It has caused me to think about my own possessions and how mine would be divided upon my passing. Some of it is obvious, such as my work uniforms going to my cousin who works the same field. Other stuff I am unsure if anyone would even want it. Like my rock collection I have accumulated since being a little kid. I wouldn't want them tossed in the garbage. Some of them cost quite a bit of money and it would be a shame for them to be in a landfill.

I have also been thinking about legacy. Legacy is kind of a hard concept for me to articulate. I don't think I have a big legacy but there have been a number of who have been happy to be around me, so that's pretty good. 

Deep thoughts for this time of night, but hey, the mind does what it does.

Take care people.

Sammy

short and not really sweet, sorry

This is gonna be short because I am not in a great headspace due to work and family stress getting to me.

I would talk things out with my mom but she is sleeping so I will just chill out with some good music. 

This year seems to be a bad one for forests. Most of them seem to be on fire. I wonder if any other mammals suffer from asthma. Inhaler production companies must be making a good buck off of the poor air quality. Filtration system installers too.

That's all I got. I have two more shifts left in this rotation. I hopefully be in better spirits tomorrow. I'm going to a friend's house for dinner so that should help.

Sammy

Lids, Gaston and missed calls

I open lids differently based on the height of their container. Sounds weird, I know. Basically, containers that are taller than my hand will be held in my right hand and the lid removed with my left. Containers that are the height of my hand or shorter will be held in my left hand while I remove the lid with my right hand. It's a thing I do automatically, and I don't really have an explanation for it. Je ne sais pas.

There is a couple lines in the live action version of Beauty and the Beast that make me laugh. I may be off by a few words so don't @ me. Gaston is trying to explain his love of Belle. LeFou responds in French and Gaston basically translates what he says without knowing it. 

Gaston: She has this ...

LeFou: Je ne sais pas?

Gaston: I don't know what that means.

I missed a call during my day sleep. I put my phone on 'do not disturb' mode so I don't get woken up. Except I forgot that I told the person they could call me. Whoops. I'll try to call them back tomorrow.

I'm gonna enjoy my blueberry muffin now. 😃

Sammy

Blueberry superiority and frozen brains

My blueberry muffin is very yummy. Much better experience than yesterday's muffin. 

Word to the wise: don't order a frozen drink when you have to drink it in a hurry. For if you do... BRAIN FREEZE! That was how I spent the last few minutes before coming into work. Drinking my slushie fast and then having to stop because my brain was frozen. I wasn't going to throw away part of a perfectly good beverage simply because the speed at which I had to consume it was painful.

I will leave you lastly with the advice given to me by a 5 year old. Stay away from puddles. You never know if it's infected with rabies, chicken pox or sharks.

Sammy

Peach cobbler muffin and driving stress

I have this "peach cobbler" muffin for my snack bag today. It is kind of terrible. I like consistency of texture which this muffin has none of. It has these hard chunks of I don't even know what on the outside. I imagine that the creator was going for a crust like exterior but instead it seems like I am chewing through gravel. Wouldn't recommend. I'll probably give it to my sister though. Siblings have to share afterall.

I try not to get stressed. When I was driving to work for this night shift, I was detoured by construction 3 times on the way. It made the drive longer, putting me at risk of being late. Being stressed out about it doesn't change the construction projects or the amount of time it takes to get through them. While that logically makes sense, it's hard for me to just relax in such situations. I am familiar with my one route to work so having to change up which roads I take without knowing how long it will be until I arrive is a stressor. I'll arrive when I arrive. An accurate statement that sometimes helps, but often annoys me too.

I am going to end here. I'll write right when I am on my break on tomorrow's night shift.

Sammy

Titles, shoelaces and Owl House

I tend not to know what I am going to write when I start a blog post so I title my post after writing it. I imagine many writers do this. Unless you are writing a one shot piece about a predetermined character or topic, the title likely is added after writing is complete. I remember assignments in school where the class was given a title and we would have to write something based on that title. Then when we presented it, everyone would say their title which I thought was hilarious. Oh, you have the same title as the last student, wow! I never would have guessed.

I dislike shoelaces. Not because I have to tie and untie them. Not because people have tied my shoes together and caused me to trip. Not because they are ugly. I dislike shoelaces because when they become untied, everyone that notices tend to tell me their untied. I understand and appreciate that people are concerned for my safety. That's nice. But if my shoes are untied, I usually know and I just haven't gotten to tying them yet. And if I'm sitting down, I don't see the issue. I tend not to trip while seated. Though, that being said, I still think it's funny to trick people people with "your shoes are untied" when they are not wearing laces.

My friend has gotten me into Owl House. It's a magical cartoon that is hilariously horrifying at times and adorable the rest of the time. Also, it's LGBTQ+ characters are presented well in my opinion. My parents can be anti cartoon sometimes as they see them as childish but I enjoy the creative freedom that animation provides its creators. 

Productivity, my Mocha and Ouchies

I find it funny now that I started this blog because it seemed more productive than watching videos. It might be more creative, but productive implies there is a goal, which is not present with this blog. 

I got another French vanilla mocha from the building's coffee vending machine. I got the bigger size because I know I like it. It pairs nicely with the brownies my mom got for me. She also got me cinnamon buns but my sister rejected that addition to my snack bag. I would call my bag a lunch kit but in the night, I don't put lunch in it so that would be a misnomer. It can only be a lunch kit in the day time.

I'm going for crepes for lunch with my mom. Crepes are one of my favorite foods. I was served it once in French class in grade school and I've been hooked ever since. I love it with chocolate and bananas. 

My dad chopped down some of my mom's flowers with the weed whacker. My mom wasn't pleased. "But there were weeds," he tried to excuse himself from his crime. I expect he will be on mom's bad list for a while. Until he buys her chocolate, as that seems to smooth everything over.

I've developed a couple blisters on the lateral side of the second finger on my right hand (what do I mean by lateral says those who are less learned in anatomical terms). There isn't any pain unless I push on it (to which I can hear my doctor say then don't do that). It's mostly just red and puffy. Good thing I am not a hand model. Oh, another fact about me, my job is not in modeling. It's a good thing I am also not a foot model as I have a prominent scar from a knee boarding accident involving a dock trying to go through me. I tend to talk about it as a wake boarding accident because that seems cooler but the story is more or less the same. I severed a tendon on my right foot and notched my left knee cap. I was put in a cast and a tensor bandage then went camping with my family. I used a wheelchair to get around had kids push me around the camp ground. One of the best weeks of my life.

I shall now leave you with a tweet from @baddadjokes.

I've forgotten my boomerang jokes, but I'm sure they'll come back to me.

Sammy

Parkour, training and vacuum cleaners

I used to be interested in doing parkour (I still am but mom might be reading so it's a "used to" thing). As a kid, I spent hour jumping off of this one picnic table to get better at landing. I didn't really progress past that but let me tell you, if there is a table height distance to go down, I jump it because I know I got it. Not super impressive. 

I am on evening shifts for training next week, so I won't be posting until the week after, when I officially start my 7 on, 7 off schedule. It seems like training has been taking forever. And there is questions about whether I might need more training as right now I am only trained for night shift workflow, but other shifts have different duties I could learn so I could cover for people. A part of me is kind of like screw covering people, I have a life outside this job I want to live. But the nicer part is willing to help if I am asked. But for right now, no other training is booked and I am okay with that. 

We aren't allowed to use our phones while on duty, so if we want to listen to music, we are left with the radio. I have heard the same ads so many times I am certain I can quote them. I understand advertising is how radios make their money. But how many times do I have to hear a cheesy skit about some company before I decide to buy from them? I can tell you right now that I have no interest in buying a car or diamond ring despite hearing multiple ads for them every time I have to listen to radio without channel surfing. Sure, if I ever need to buy one, I can recall the time I heard a radio ad, but most likely, I'm going to do a search online anyway. But what do I know? I'm just a potential consumer.

My mom talked about vacuuming today. I hope she isn't planning on doing that while I'm sleeping. I can sleep through quite a bit but our vacuum cleaner is LOUD. Maybe I'll hide the vacuum under my bed to avoid such nonsense. But then maybe she will buy one that's even louder. What a conundrum!

Sammy

Moths, ears, and mouth parts

Moths have a tendency to fly into my face.. For this reason, I am not particularly fond of them. I wouldn't go out my way to hurt one but if one hits my windshield, I don't feel bad for it. Though I feel a little bad for the bird that lost its meal. Do birds eat moths? Quick Google search says yes. Also, there is a species of moth that doesn't have mouth parts in adulthood so it lives long enough to mate and last eggs and then dies of starvation. Weird.

My ear blisters are bothering me tonight, so I passed on putting my glasses over them. I don't visually detect any difference, I just get tired easier and can get headaches with them off. 

I thought about going to a drive thru during my break but they aren't very many options in the middle of the night. I'd love to pick up a milkshake but I guess I'll wait until the end of my shift. Sigh.

I am gonna eat some of my snacks because I actually feel hungry. Luckily, in my form, I do have mouth parts.

Sammy

Why, Jeff Bezos, why?

I didn't sleep well last day. I know the correct term would be yesterday, but why? Why do we say last night but not last day? Why do we say yesterday but not yesternight? Why do we have words like dinner and supper that to some people are the same meal and to others, they are different? 

Right, sleeping in the day. Pro tip, don't drink Pepsi before you try to sleep. Pepsi has caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant. Stimulants are good for keeping people awake, not sleeping. So yeah. Pepsi messed up my sleeping. How dare you Jeff Bezos? I know Jeff Bezos doesn't currently own Pepsi but I still felt like telling him off. I'm sure there is something he should be yelled at for.

I have been watching all the Marvel movies that have Black Widow in them. So Iron Man 2 is first on the list. When Robert Downey Jr says about Scarlett Johansson "I want one," my response was me too. She seems so cool, and funny and I heard she shares food which is just awesome. So if there a spare one, I'll take it. With consent of course. I am not running a Black Widow program.

I wish there was a swing I could sit on during my break. I like swings. Perhaps they remind me of the simpler time of my childhood. Perhaps the rocking motion stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. Or perhaps they are just cool. 

I leave you with some obvious info. If you want to maintain consciousness, breathing can help you do that.

Sammy

Superheroes, the future and couches

I'm a superhero fan. It's not the fighting or action scenes though those are cool. It's the principle of them. A superhero stands for the ideal image of humanity. A superhero models good behaviour that future generations can look to for inspiration. So yay, superheros.

In my day job, (because apparently one job isn't enough for me) I have a performance review coming up. I am trying not to be nervous about it. I know I'm good at my job and that I'm appreciated. It's just there always a ticking fear in the back of my mind that screams "you suck" and performance reviews give my mind a chance to dwell on that and try to convince me that's true. So nay, performance reviews.

My mom officially knows about this blog now. I can now say I have one reader. I guess eventually I can look at stats to see if anyone reads these but at this point, I don't really a) know how to do that or b) have much of a reason to do so. Plus, with this job being temporary, this blog could be temporary too. The person I am in for has talked about switching jobs, so it could end up being a permanent job. Thus, the long term status of this blog is unknown. I wanted to keep the ending of this paragraph the same as the last two... So yay, uncertainty?

Also I wanted to include a picture of my workplace. So see below for a picture of the place I am currently sitting for break. 

Now you know that we have a couch, a table and carpet in my workplace. Don't you feel enlightened. You're welcome.

Sammy 😎

Black Widow and rabbit rambling

I was late for break because I had more work than I have hands to handle. I feel bad about leaving so much behind to go on my break but I have not been at this job long enough to become fast yet. Plus today was supposed to be a training day but I got thrust into working because we are short staff. So yay, let's start my weekend off with a bang through my skill. I meant to say skull but technically skill would be more accurate. Skull is just more facetious.

I'm going to be seeing the newest Marvel movie tomorrow. Well technically today but I plan to sleep between now and then so in my stream of consciousness it is like the next day. I'm going with my dad. He isn't as familiar with Marvel, so I think describing Black Widow as a Russian spy movie is an accurate description. We'll see if he agrees. 

I like listening to this podcast called Sawbones. This doctor, Sydney McElroy, and her husband, Justin, talk about the history of how people have attempted to treat various conditions throughout our often uninformed existence as a species. It is quite funny and educational without feeling like a college lecture. It's how I learnt that colic isn't really a thing amongst other medical adjacent knowledge. If anyone reads this, I highly recommend this show for good nerdy laugh.

I know we have a general head count of how many humans are in earth but I wonder how many rabbits there are. Ok I understand there are multiple species of rabbits and there also hare to consider. It's just that I often hear the idiom "breeding like rabbits" and I don't have any numbers to quantify what that even means. I only have that "aw, cute" feeling from seeing the various rabbits hopping around my neighborhood. I don't really keep track of them. I couldn't tell you if there are more rabbits this week compared to last week or even this year compared to last. I don't know if they are annoyed by the gawking of us human bipedals or what joints tend to get sore with age. Why am I so curious about rabbits all of the sudden is beyond me? That is beyond the scope of this blog. But speak of the devil, there is two outside the window now. I hope they aren't offended by me calling them devils just now. It's just an idiom, you don't have to hop away, ok, they're gone.

Well, happy trails humans and rabbits alike.

Sammy

Coffee and other beverages

There is a coffee vending machine in my work building. I have never tried it out until today. I got a French vanilla mocha. It's pretty good. Would try again.

I read a coffee joke today: the trouble with making coffee is that your are doing it before you've had any. I don't drink coffee on a regular basis. I drink it if I have a headache because the caffeine helps with that. I know other people that can't function without it. I personally don't like the taste of it. It smells great but I generally don't consume beverages through my nose so that's a bummer. Hot chocolate and teas are more my style.

I also dislike beer. Too bitter for my tongue. I have downed a glass of Guinness to please my father but otherwise I would be fine if it didn't exist. I live on the high end of alcohol price range, enjoying scotch and whiskey and occasionally rum. All straight up, no mixes. 

I wonder how much hand sanitizer has been sold throughout this pandemic. Damn, I should have invested in sanitizer stocks. Oh well. I haven't ever invested in stocks. I've heard stories about people losing so much money that way and I figure if I want to lose money, I can spend it on something I get to use myself. That's just my logic though.

It annoys me when radio stations play the same songs over and over. There is so much music out there and I keep hearing the same dozen. Like yeah they are good songs but I want to be exposed to more artists than the ones that happen to have a billboard placement at the moment. Perhaps I will invest in Spotify's premium membership so I can download music for my drives. 

My shoes are breaking apart. I've had them for about 5 years so that's decent milage. Now I have to go shopping which is my least favorite activity. This makes me somewhat sad. Actually not sad, just disappointed and a little annoyed. If I could wear spray on shoes like the ones in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, I would totally do that. I wouldn't have to worry about blisters, breakdown or untied laces. Plus, they don't come off so no one could force me to wear an uncomfortable shoe ever again. I don't see a con here.

The weather was much nicer to drive in this time around. I could see the lines of the road the entire time. Plus my fear of lightning are significantly reduced when there is no storm. Much better. Much wow.

I slept a solid 11 hour during the day. Usually I am woken up by the lunch rush but nothing interrupted my sleep. My brain said no to the noise. Thanks brain. I appreciate it.

Sammy

Feelings, Fears and Ocarinas

I feel pretty terrible today. I feel nausea and I have abdominal pain. It could be related to me eating Mexican food first thing since waking up for my shift tonight. Burritos are great for supper, maybe not so great for breakfast. It is making training kind of hellish. Alas, I will survive.

I drove through a wicked hail storm with lightning and heavy rain. I have this irrational fear of getting struck by lightning while driving. The odds are extremely low. I'm more likely to get trampled by a cow but I'm not afraid of farms. I get all tense driving on my basically plastic car with rubber wheels that the clouds are going to smite me. Then I walked briskly into my building holding an aluminum can, scared because maybe the can will attract uninsured electroshock therapy. Brains totally make sense.

I read over the minutes for a meeting that I attended and noted that my name wasn't on the list of attendees. I thought about whether I should email the person to let them know I was there. There isn't really a consequence to not being on the list. I still get paid for the shift I was there on. It would just be a bookkeeping accuracy thing which I'm not sure how important it is to the particular person who ran the meeting. I am perhaps overanalyzing this.

I found out that due to my job I get free access to that event I was complaining about yesterday. It doesn't really change my opinion about it but now I feel less willing to freely complain to my co-workers. I don't really complain verbally so it's not that big of an issue. C'est la vie.

I play the ocarina. It's an instrument from the legend of Zelda if you haven't heard of it. My favorite tune to play is Hedwig's theme from Harry Potter. I only have a 12 hole one right now but I'm looking to get 16 hole one. I might ask for it on my birthday. 

I gotta go. Enjoy your day while I'm sleeping it away later. 

Sammy

Maps and lasers

Maps confuse me. Particularly world maps. Globes are fine because they are on a round surface like the earth is. But a world map drawn on a flat surface makes the polar regions look disproportionate to their actual size. Now I understand that paper is easier to store if it's flat so people are more likely to have a map than a globe but that just means than more people have nonsensical representations of the earth. 

My glasses are causing blisters to form on the tops of my ears. My best solution to this is lazer eye surgery. I only need it on one eye so if they muck it up, I at least have another good eye and eye patches can look cool. Of course I could just get better glasses that don't hurt me. That is a logical solution that would cost much less money. But nah, I'm firing a laser beam into my seeing hole. Well, actually a doctor is going to do that, I just need to sit still.

I don't have much else to say so I'm gonna leave with a joke. 

Why is it a bad idea to iron a 4 leaf clover?

Because you shouldn't press your luck.

Sammy

Lies, Polio, Laptops and the Undiscovered Country

Apparently I am a liar 🤥. My break on nights can literally be whenever in the shift. Sometimes I might get two half hour breaks instead of an one hour break. But I didn't know that. So it wasn't a lie, it was just a misinformed guess. So don't sue me.

I was reading about polio last night. I don't fully understand it but apparently there are three serotypes of polio. Type 2 is considered eradicated. The other two, type 1 & 3, are limited to only a few countries. I have heard claims that the reason it is not fully eradicated is due to people refusing vaccinations. I didn't find evidence of that being the case but I am also not fully informed about the issue. I read the most I could understand on the CDC website which wasn't much. All I can safely say is that North America hasn't had a case since the 1990s and that case was linked to travel. This doesn't really have to do with anything other than I was curious and needed something to do while setting up my sleep schedule for a week of training on nights.

I am planning on getting a new laptop soon. I am in the research phase. There are a lot of options. So yay for freedom but also choice paralysis is definitely slowing down my progress. How big of a screen do I want? How many keys do I want? What operating system do I want? What color(s) do I want various parts to be? What the heck is a SSD and is it contagious? Ah the stress of actually having enough money to buy things! 

There is a local event coming up near me. It is an event that usually involves a lot of STD spreading among adults who are active in that way. This time, it will also be a potential Co Vid spreader. So that's fun. Luckily, I have to work, so I will be missing out. Did I say luckily because I meant luckily? The more I look at the word luckily the less it looks like a word to me. I think I am on the tired end of the alertness gauge. Are these letters I am using or just squiggles mushed together? Who's to say? Perhaps I should convince someone to be an editor to ensure that I am still speaking English into these blog posts in the morning. Nah. That would require telling someone about this blog, which I still haven't done yet. I will someday. Maybe. Or it will be a secret project someone will discover years after I have visited the undiscovered country (that is slang for died, at least I think it is as I heard it after respawning in a video game and now I am overexplaining a reference that doesn't even matter. Winning!). 

That's enough nonsense for the night.

Sammy 😎

I reveal a bit about myself

I thought about staggering the times I release each post so that my time zone would remain a mystery. But if people really want to know what time zone I live in, I don't really care if they find out. Time zones still huge so knowing that won't narrow down where I live or work. 

Also I realized I have a unisex name so my gender is a mystery on this blog. I'm even more mysterious than I realized. 

But I'll give some info about myself. My age is between 4 & 104. My favorite movie is the Matrix. I am more than 3 feet but less than 9 feet tall. I have hair. I wear socks and shoes. I am right handed but force myself to also write with my left hand so that I can claim I am ambidextrous. I am allergic to dogs. I speak English (which considering that this blog is written in English was probably obvious) and some French.

Sammy

Don't pull an all dayer while working night shift

 When someone stays up all night, they call it an all nighter, so then when they stay up all day, is it an all dayer? I thought of that yesterday morning as I was trying to fall asleep for the day. I bragged about how I have actually managed to get more sleep on nights than usual and then I struggled to fall asleep. I jinxed myself. 

I want to learn more about ergonomics. My co-workers have been showing me scars and talking about pain related to repetitive tasks at work. It has scared me just enough to take it seriously. I want to prevent damage to myself while I'm young so I can reduce my suffering later on.

Breaks on nights can be lonely as all my friends and family are all sleeping (or at least they should be). I am not a fan of social media so that leaves me with emails to time delay delivery until morning or Google. I don't really have anything to email people about tonight so here I sit all by myself writing in a blog I have yet to tell anyone about yet. I'm not a particularly talkative person but I enjoy being around people. So this is a little bit of a challenge. 

Night shift has restructured my normal routine. On days, I would wake up, quickly eat then head to work. After a day shift, I would then get social interaction in. Now, my schedule is reversed?, inverted?, Upsidedown? I don't know. Now I wake up, socialize with my family, watch my favorite YouTubers, eat supper and work is the last thing I do. I get home from work, eat something quickly then go to bed. It is strange. I don't mind it. It is just not what I'm used to.

I've been thinking about how I'm going to handle the switch to days off. I don't think I would be easily able to just stay up the day after my last night shift in a set. Or maybe I could? I haven't tried. I read something about sleeping until lunch time and then staying up to a regular night of sleep. That could work too. It might even be better because my friend I hang out with the most isn't usually awake in the morning so there would be less lonely time if I also slept that first morning off. 

I never noticed the sound of the ventilation in my building during the day, but right now, it seems really loud. Was it this loud in the day time too? It probably was but it got drowned out by people buzzing through. 

That's all folks.

Sammy

A Tired Idea

So I just started doing night shifts this week at my new job. Some people sleep on break, others play on their phones or watch videos, others eat. I know myself well enough to know that I don't nap on schedule well. Playing on my phone feels unproductive. I don't particularly hungry at night. I've decided I'm going to blog. So here it is. 

I don't expect brilliance or perfection out of this. Honestly I'll be surprised if I have 2 coherent sentences in a row. I just want something that I can post at night that won't be causing my friends phones to ping when they are trying to sleep. 

My break usually is at 0330-0430 local time, though workflow can shift that around. I will likely post every shift which will be 7 nights on, 7 nights off once I am done training. I am not sure when training will be done as there are a lot of complex parts to learn in my department.

You may be wondering what my job is. Well... I could say but I'm not gonna because I don't want to be perceived as an expert in the area or a representative of the industry. Plus it makes me more mysterious and lots of people love mystery. 

I think that is a pretty good intro. I'll stop here because A) I don't really know what else to say and B) I can now see out of the window I sat beside and want to spend time looking through it.

Sammy