Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

I have tomorrow off and next week is back to five day work weeks. The cold snap is getting extended into next week now which is just tons of fun.

Here is a good one, tonight/tomorrow morning, without the windchill, it will be -50c/-58f. With the windchill it will be -60c/-76F. Uhhhhhhh, anyone want some winter?

*insert something about cold, working Saturday, and being tired*

There, can I stay home today and pretend it doesn't exist?

We had snow earlier this week. Now it's just bone chilling cold. During the day it's bright and clear but absolute freezing.

Totally not jealous of you right now...

Today is just one of those days where I feel like I am questioning my life decisions that lead me to this point. Right now it is -36c/-33f without the windchill. With the windchill it is -46c/-51f. Not only am I voluntarily leaving my semi warm apartment this morning but I am doing so to go to a colder builder, than my apartment, to count parts all day. Just why am I doing this instead of hibernating? Why am I going outside when I could stay curled up with my blanket reading books and taking naps?

It's not often I can relate to a child but this morning I felt this kids hysterics on a deep level. I'm heading downstairs to meet my coworker for a ride to work. On the way down the stairs mom comes out dragging her kid who is bawling his eyes out because he doesn't want to go outside because it's to cold. I just couldn't help but relating to that kid for a brief moment. I to don't want to go outside because of how cold it is and neither of us has a way to say no to what is happening.

That's rough Cee, and I can relate. Hopefully you can find some slower and more quiet times in the next few days.

Thanks guys, I know it's only temporary but it's a lot of little things all at once. Right now I'm just focused on getting through this week and then next week will be a fresh new start and things will be a bit better. Then it's just a matter of taking it one day at a time.

Nope, things don't really shut down for the cold around here. If you are working outside you will be on some sort of rotation depending on the company policy. Something like work 15 minutes and then be in a heated environment for 30 minutes. As for vehicles, they will run but not all vehicles will be happy about it. Things like block heaters help. Here at work the guys will go out and fire up their vehicle a few times during the day just to keep them warm. It's a challenge when things get that cold.

We were sitting about -1 last week as well. That is why this is even more disgusting this week. I know that there is also that one brutal cold snap in January but the transition into it this year was really rough.

Anyone want some winter? Nice and cold winter, all yours for the taking. Saturday morning, when I have to go work is forecast to be -42c or -44f without the windchill. With the windchill it will be pushing -50c or -58f. Just last week we were barely below freezing and then this happened.

Today felt like a mental fortitude check

(view spoiler)[
Everything in me just wanted to stay home and not have to deal with people. Any one or two of these things by themselves wouldn't be so bad but it's just a lot of small things.

-My big sick last week has just knocked me off center. It's hard to explain but basically I don't get sick often so when I get knocked on my ass for a week plus it messes with my head.

-I have recovered from the big sick but now I have some acid reflux issues. Nothing major and I can get it back under control I just need to make some lifestyle changes for a couple days.

-Winter has returned with a vengeance. We've had a extremely mild winter so when it drops into below seasonal cold in less than a week it's a lot to adjust to. Top that off with a healthy dusting of snow making everything a slog to get through and it's just a bit to deal with. All the extra clothes, the cold, the snow, the difficulty in getting around, etc.

-Work is slow/busy. It's inventory week and we are basically in a holding pattern until inventory starts on Friday which makes for a very long and boring week. Top that with trying to adjust to returning to work after nearly a month off and it's a bit of a challenge.

-I'm just tired. Some of those life style changes to help with the acid reflux issues results in me not getting the best sleep at night. I'm feeling extra tired this morning between my crappy sleep and the slog to get to work.

It's just one of those days where it feels like there is more stick than carrot and I want to just stay home and not deal with any of it. (hide spoiler)]

I know I rant and rave every time I read another Karin Slaughter book but there is just something about her writing that crawls inside your head and sets up residence. I'm reading Criminal currently and it was a bit of a slow start honestly. It's setting up two different time lines and two different cases. There is just this subtle and ominous vibe that is growing the more I read and I just want to know what happened. I have this feeling that we are going to get some pretty horrible truth bombs dropped on us in this book and I'm both excited to learn more but concerned about what we will learn.

There is a part of me that is horrified but not really surprised by the situation. There are a lot of things from before my time that were not done "properly" shall we say. We've found most and have dealt with them over the years but every once in a while we stumble across a surprise like this.

As for the flu, I'm definitely on the other side of it now. I still have a bit of a cough but I think that is more linked to acid reflux caused by the flu then the actual flu itself.

Well this has been an interesting start to the day.

On the funnier side. When I was at home dying from the flu my coworker was at work dying from the flu. Yup, we both somehow came down with the flu at roughly the same time.

On the scarier side we discovered something important about one of our electrical outlets. We've got this one wall outlet that we use for high voltage assemblies. We are talking 220, 480, and 600 volt assemblies. For as long as I've worked here I've been told that the wall socket was 220 and we would use a transformer to step it up if needed. We discovered that it's actually 600 volt straight from the wall and the transformer was to step it down. That means we've been casually plugging and unplugging things into a 600 volt socket with no safety cut off device or anything. Needless to say we are getting that fixed and a cut off device installed.

I don't know what the better option would be. Being super busy so the day goes by quick but I'm not used to the pace or being super chill where I can ease back into things.

Today is the day I return to work and I am not ready for this. It's cold, my sleep schedule is messed so I am tired, and I'm just not ready mentally for the grind. This will be the first time seeing some of my coworkers in a month.

We got a dusting of snow but the worst part right now is just the drop in temperatures. It's peaking today about -15c or 5f which isn't to bad for this time of year but it is so cold compared to how mild this winter has been so far.

Time for that first update of the year. Not a super amazing update as I was still sick most of the week. It kind of worked out though as I had a backlog of audiobooks to work through and little mental capacity for actual reading. There was a lot of audiobook while playing Power Wash Simulator this week. Don't judge.

Bookshops & Bonedust -5 Stars
Man I was looking forward to this book so much and as you can tell by my rating it delivered for me. As much as I love and appreciate things like Lord of the Rings or other high fantasy with their epic and sweeping worlds there is just something fun about low stakes fantasy like this. I'm so glad the the original book blew up like it did and we are starting to see more and more of these cozy type fantasies. This book here is a prequel going all the way back to the start of Viv's career as an Adventurer. She gets injured and has to sit out the campaign in this small town called Murk. While there she discovers summer love and a love for reading. This book was just so much fun and seeing a more headstrong Viv was so much fun. The side characters in this book were also amazing and I don't know about anyone else but I wanted to crawl inside this book and go exploring. The other thing I want to heap some praise on is the narrator who is also the author. He has a great voice and it just elevates the book in my opinion.

The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash (Light Novel) Vol. 1 -3 Stars
Speaking of cozy fantasies here is another chill, slice of life, fantasy series. It's another isekai but the isekai elements were pretty light in my opinion. We never got to see their life in our world and their past experiences don't seem to have much impact on this world. Basically our MC goes through the ceremony where they discover what their blessing in this world will be. Turns out they don't have much in the way of skills and is shunned by basically everyone in their village. When the chief and their father plans to off the MC they escape and start living on their own. They survive by living off the land and off of garbage found in dumps outside of villages. There is not a whole lot in this book that is ground breaking or revolutionary but it is entertaining. There is enough here that I requested the second book and we will see where it goes.

The Hobbit -5 Stars
This was the other audiobook that I listened to this book and I was listening to the Rob Inglis version. This is not my first time reading this book but it is my first time listening to the audiobook. Rob Inglis had a great voice that just added so much to the experience. There was just this... richness to his voice that just made this book so comforting. I love the feeling of adventure that this book has and the narration just added to the fun of this book. This book will always be a favorite of mine and I am now curious about the Rob Inglis version of the Lord of the Rings. I've requested the first one and is usual with so many things right now with the library I'll see it in about 5-6 months.

Love in Winter Wonderland -DNF
My first DNF of the the year. I snagged this for a group read and I had no expectations heading into this. I figured it might be a cute YA romance that I sometime like. I read about 30-35 pages and just tossed it. I just couldn't stand the male lead and after reading some comments and some reviews there is no redemption for him and I just didn't feel like struggling through this.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 13 -4 Stars
This marks the end of Kevin Eastman's involvement with the IDW Turtles and this does feel like an end to a story line. I'm not the biggest fan of how it was handled but I can appreciate it. I felt that this was a story line that should have been dealt with sooner as one of the players just kind of vanished from the series when the authors focused on other things. The character then suddenly drops back into the story to have this story line and it just kind of feels a little odd. There was also a section towards the end of this story line that looked really pretty but felt like a whole lot of philosophical rambling that went on for way to long. Overall it was interesting and I wonder where the next author will take things.

Up next I've got a few things on the go.

Untethered Sky
Clown in a Cornfield
These are the two audiobooks I have on the docket for this week. I'll be starting with Untethered Sky before moving over to some killer clowns.

Criminal
I have to get this novel done soon so I can get it back to the library before it expires. It's Karin Slaughter so it's some nice, light, feel good reading...

Katie❄️ wrote: "I know a lot of libraries have the Spy X Family digitally.

Oh man Gord. One Piece? That is so long. I’ve wanted to give that one a try but there are so many branch offs so it looks confusing. Tha..."

I was thinking of it but then sickness and what not happened. Maybe I should type something up tomorrow.