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 😎