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I know, I hate how so many people feed them bread, and as the candle shop is next to the canal, I'm glad they sell organic duck food, so if people haven't thought in advance, they are likely to go there rather than the supermarket (although that isn't fair). Yeah, I'd be happy to stay permanently, which is ironic that I took it just as something to pay the bills! Yesterday was day 150, unless the weather forecast changes again, I'm only going to get an extra couple of days, but still proud of it. Yeah, it's definitely happened before, just seems so strange, like you say, it's a distance!
150? Wow! That's dedication.I hope your feet are better - seems I haven't heard you mention them in a while.
Evening, another sunny day. Very frustrating at work though, started off OK, one of the managers rang to tell me to just focus on anything that came in that was urgent, and not to worry about how much I got through, it can be picked up on Mon. Got a couple of tricky things that I needed to check as have never done them before. Then came back from lunch and the computer wouldn't connect through the VPN, someone told me what to try, that didn't work, spoke to IT who said to give it 10-15 mins before reboots and keep trying, can take numerous attempts. An hour later, rang them again and got another couple of tips, one of which was to go and work in a council building, at which point I realised going working in the library would have been less stressful than keep rebooting things! By this point it was 4pm, so manager said to give up for the day rather than go somewhere else for 45 mins, downside is I don't get paid for an early finish, but was grateful given the weather and how frustrated I was. Had nipped out at lunch as lightbulb on landing had gone, it's the most frustrating bulb to change, it's a long and narrow lampshade, so unless you take it off, it's change by feel, and all my fittings are bayonet! As I finished early, rang G to give her her presents, she was thrilled with them, then we went to Lidl - forgot there was something I couldn't get at lunch and Lidl is the only other place that sells it, so need to go back! Interestingly G commented that I was walking quicker, I thought I was, but according to my app, the majority of my steps are slow walking. Hadn't hit my step count, so went for a quick canal walk, only saw what I assume is the male of the new ducks, was a bit worried, walked a slightly different way along the canal, saw more mallards, one of which was really pale and very pretty. Coming home, saw all 3 of the new ducks together, further away than the others, so tried enticing them over for food, but all the others flew over, anyone would think they don't get fed regularly! Yes, 151 now! Funnily enough, my joints haven't been quite as good this week, got a check up next month, hoping I just reduced old medication too soon.
Evening, another hot day, was 24 and 79% humidity when I went for a walk at 10.30! Didn't get to the bird hide, sinuses felt quite painful. There have been posts about the hide being vandalised though, which is a shame. Didn't do many chores, just stripped the bed, so when I got back from my walk, I just sat and finished one book and read a new one. Did bump into a friend on the way home who thought I was bonkers for walking in this, and while wearing black leggings! Went to G's for a bit after tea, had some birthday cake and watched an episode, we aren't as invested in Season 2, but we want to see a couple of things that have been promised.
Actually consumed a book in a day this week - when I should have been plotting. :)The Long Lavender Look - a Travis McGee novel, John D. MacDonald. I'd somehow never read it.
Not heard of him but hope you enjoyed it.
Guilty pleasure. I consider him one of my writing mentors.
Evening, very stuffy and humid today, no sign of promised thunderstorms, which I'd be quite grateful for, and even the rain has been very light and spotty. Set off early to A's to nip to Lidl for my shampoo, seems they have stopped selling it. Will have to try boots and superdrug at lunch tomorrow, if not, it'll have to be 6 bottles from Amazon! Craft fair was disappointing, luckily the organiser had ordered a sale box online, as that was our only sale, which A then spent on cakes on the stallholder next to us! Said I think we should do the two she's put her name down for, and if they aren't any better, maybe don't put ourselves down for next year, we've done 2 and neither have taken enough to cover the cost of the table, shame as they are nice people and I get nice cheese and onion pie. Felt sorry for new stallholders who haven't had a good experience, there just wasn't that many people around, the cake woman only took her table fee by the stallholders buying her cake. I did smile when we were setting up, A was stood behind the table emptying the stuff on the table, and I stood in front of it putting them out, she said it was nice that she just pulls things out and I make them look pretty. Got home and it had stopped raining, so went out to hit my step count, saw all 3 of the new ducks, but the two white ones were on their own further up than the male, they acted starving when I fed them, and unlike normal ducks, they don't go far under the water to get food, so I have to do small amounts at a time. Bumped into an ex-colleague who annoyed me last time I bumped into him, so as he stopped for a chat, I just said that I didn't want to stop in case I got caught in the rain, he was rather stunned! Oops, made the mistake of looking him up, they sound good and first one was only 99p on kindle!
There are 21, each with a color in the title.You either like him - or you don't - but you will learn quite a bit about Florida in some of them, much of which hasn't changed.
I like them because it's a man writing a male character who has dashes of introspection, clever premises, and an amazing way with words. I figure if he wrote it that way - and still has gazillions of male AND female readers - he was doing something right, and I have picked up lots of tips for the tricky job of a woman writing a male character.
They're a little dated in some ways, but JDM was quite advanced in his day (he died in 1986?).
Evening, woke up and it was really humid, we did eventually get the forecast rain as I was on my way home, think it finally feels cooler. Apart from my line manager who is at Uni Mon and Tue now, we were fully staffed, although 2 of us had a staff briefing 10-12, and the other had a focus group 9.30-11.30, so don't feel like we've caught up and only 2 of us again tomorrow. Did a load of shopping after work, and managed to get my shampoo without having to resort to buying 6 bottles from Amazon. While I am annoyed at Christmas stuff so early in the year, I did buy the Christmas edition of lik-e-lix for the girls, despite it being more expensive than the usual ones, though I only realised when I got home that they have been very sneaky, the normal ones are the same price, but you now get 4 rather than 5, but they haven't made the boxes smaller, so only noticed when I opened one! So looks like they might have to make do with the three flavours Aldi and Lidl sell. Forgot to say on Sat, it was very odd walking down one of the paths that is tree lined, the leaves were turning brown and falling, yet it was 24 with clear blue skies! Funnily enough, the first came on my BookBub e-mail today, say's the 99p is a limited deal.
It's a tough marketing decision: same product gets a higher price OR they cheat somewhere but keep the same price.Apparently the latter annoys fewer people permanently.
Nickle (5 cents) candybars in the US are a shadow of their former selves.
I buy my shampoo and conditioner at Amazon - seems to keep forever - because I'm terrified the company is going to stop manufacturing it, and it's the only thing that keeps my hair feeling like hair (it contains every emollient known to man). You can't find it anywhere else any more - last time I checked.
It is, I wish they had made it more obvious though! Some things are worth buying from Amazon, especially if you have space for bulk buying.
Evening, even though there was only 2 of us today, nothing urgent came in, so we managed to feel like we had gotten somewhere with the backlog, and we should be fully staffed tomorrow. Heavy rain this morning, only heard when I got in the office, slightly late, that there was a weather warning! Cleared up, but then started raining again as I was coming home, but only had to do 1.7k steps, so I went out in the rain. Called in B & M on the way home, was a bit annoyed, I'd bought Lucy a new litter tray before my hol, decided to buy her a second, so rather than empty and clean her tray last night, I chucked it in the bin, and they didn't have any, or a sign for them today! Now I don't know whether I should go and retrieve the old one from the bin, I'd have asked except they had a massive queue and didn't want to hold people up.
Desley (Cat fosterer) wrote: "It is, I wish they had made it more obvious though! Some things are worth buying from Amazon, especially if you have space for bulk buying."We do that - maybe to excess, as this apartment is much smaller than a house with a whole basement. The shampoo, though, I'll start looking for when I open the last one - and will be saving it to have a list of the ingredients.
Hope your litter tray gets there quickly.
Evening, woke up to a nice day, though it was really chilly! Not a bad day at work, had to laugh this morning and getting an e-mail that started 'Hi Catherine' (one of my colleague's names') - have been called many things, but don't think I've ever been called Catherine before - got my usual Beverley this afternoon. Not a bad day at work, got through quite a bit. Went for a walk with G after work, was late though as bumped into Malachi and his owner on my way round, so had a chat with her as hadn't had time to properly tell her about my library job - did get my feedback today, some of the things I didn't show enough on was because I'd read up about safeguarding rather than working in a library. Ironically I'd had to ring someone this morning and they are going to drop things off at a library, she wasn't even sure her local library was still open, gave her the opening hours, then had a chat about how many libraries there were, what they do these days etc, so that was a nice call. Got to show G the new ducks, and we saw a young deer, plus got some nice dog and cat strokes. Someone has posted pics this week of the cygnet, looks to be able to stand and lie OK with the weird leg, and the heron, cormorant, egret and kingfisher have all been aroundYes, I know the bulk buying to excess, my cat food pile is finally smaller than the sofa!
Maybe, but you NEED and USE cat food - that's just sensible buying.
Well yes, I do need cat food, I could probably feed more than 3 cats with my stock though! But it is because I've got them on special offer. I have managed to run out of cat biscuits though as I thought there was a bag left!
Evening, day started off wet but dried up. Had a catch up with my line manager this pm, the bloke who's sick leave I'm covering put in another month's sick note yesterday. She was pleased with how we'd all managed the past few weeks with various people being off, and when I told her about my nightmare afternoon of not getting back online, she said it's really common that when only one person is in, there is an IT issue, which made me feel better. Went out for my walk after work, got to stroke a lovely day, not seen that breed before, a Wheaten Terrier, similar size to an Airedale and similar size head. On the way back, saw the young deer in the same place we saw it last night, but it didn't move, I just had to walk away and look at it from behind! Someone was feeding the ducks, the new ducks are a lot more enthusiastic about bread than my seed, though they do get aggressive with each other.
Evening, weather was better today than forecast. Had a couple of nice calls at work, got to chat with a lady this morning who had danced for soldiers when she was at school. Went for a walk with G at lunch, showed her a short cut home, and bumped into my surrogate Aunty Joy, had a chat with her, and she gave me a keyring, she is trying out a new technique, so said I could be a guinea pig! Did mean we didn't walk quite as much, but was glad to see her. Went for a walk after lunch, called in the chemist to see if my prescription was ready, turns out it helps if you remember to order them first! Did it while I was there, so I couldn't forget again. Went to see the ducks, they were in a different spot today, they let me get incredibly close, I did consider stroking one of them. Towards the end, someone walked past and said something, so I stopped feeding them, and what I assume is the male just decided to take the food out of my hand! I did wonder if they were tame enough to hand feed. They do constantly act like they are starving, but I know people do go to that spot, the people feeding them bread last night say they go daily. Sorry Alicia, I managed to forget your birthday after all, happy belated birthday! Hope you had a nice day x
Don't worry about it - and thanks, it was happy, and silly, and had chocolate cookies without sugar in it, and roses from the husband, and a silly card with glitter.Sometimes you wish it would be spread over more days, sometimes you're glad it mostly happens all at once!
It is definitely distracting from writing.
Happy and silly sound perfect for a birthday! Yes, sometimes I like to spread things out, and other ties, quite glad to get it over and done with!
It's nice to share a world with other people to care about.
I suspect that the ducks are getting very used to people.With the deer I remember being told by somebody that they 'freeze' so you 'cannot see them'
I'm not sure if this is true or not
Nah that only works on velociraptors Jim.Belated happy birthday Alicia.
Blooming freezing north easterly wind here today, it was a real change from earlier in the week.
Evening, been a long day, had to be at A's for 8am for the craft fair today, good job we gave ourselves more time, as we got a bit lost, and the church only allowed the car park to be used for loading and unloading so we had to put our bags in the room, then find a car park! A made me go with her so I'd be able to get us back to the church, then back to the car! Was a nice day, even if we did only take £12 (and I bought some), two people that we've seen before, they both have dogs, one has a longhaired chihuahua called Geoff, and one has a cream french bulldog called Marvin. They both suggested other venues to us. We have asked about getting on the list for next year, even though we didn't do that well, there was a decent footfall, which is all you can ask for. Then had a bit of a rest, before C picked me up as we were going out for tea, an Italian I've only been to once and wasn't impressed with, but they have a new menu, and it was really nice, would go back. Then made her drop me off at Co-op so I could walk home and hit my step count! I suspect they might be domestic ducks that have either been dumped or escaped Jim, though when we were looking at geese tonight, they might be geese rather than ducks, must get round to posting a pic.
Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Belated happy birthday Alicia."Thanks! 'Twas a good one.
Sorry the cold winds are coming already.
Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Nah that only works on velociraptors Jim."
Talking to my daughter velociraptors are a major issue along that coast, even getting into the centre of Edinburgh ;-)
Evening, woke up feeling very drained, didn't want to get out of bed, but then at 7.10 Lucy decided to start screaming at me! Did feel a bit better after being back in bed watching TV with a cup of tea for a couple of hours. Was considering whether to walk first and do chores, or the other way round, when Amazon said they were going to try and deliver my parcel (that they couldn't deliver yesterday) between 12 and 3, so figured I better walk first, especially as I had to wash my clothes and had a chance of drying them outside. Had a quick pop in the candle shop and had a chat with them, went to look for the new ducks/geese, and only saw the male, but noticed there was a heron in the goose field, didn't think they got on, especially most of the geese were in the field rather than on the canal. Didn't get up to the bird hide, shame as there have been loads there again today, got as far as the visitor's centre, bought cake, then came home. Did decide I didn't have the energy to do the chores I had planned, so did the important ones like cooking and washing up, and just had a bit of a chill, washing didn't dry completely outside, so probably won't try again this year. After tea, put on a salted caramel wax melt, and did a foot and face mask while reading my book, think I really needed that.
Woke up (after almost enough sleep!), and then wasted a bunch of time commenting on the blogs I follow and waiting for the husband to cut up the cantaloupe. It does get the brain going to attempt coherent responses to all the lovely people who blog interesting bits.Now to work - the LIMBO structure is finally coming along, I have all my software working, and I really just resist plunging off the mountain top, because I know the tasks will absorb me for hours. I don't know why I fight it so hard, when I really want to do it, and it is quite fulfilling when I get over getting started.
Evening, mixed day weather wise, but have managed to hit my step count without getting wet, though currently very wet and windy, so unless it improves, my streak might have to end this week. Productive day at work too. Did some shopping after work, got some halloween treats from M & S, but B & M still didn't have any cat litter trays, couldn't find anyone on the shop floor, so asked at the till and she was very unhelpful. A check on their website shows they are still selling them, so might have to try another, annoyingly G rang after I got home, and she had been to a large one this morning!
Evening, very wet and wild start to the day, set off early, but got stuck in traffic, tried to update the phone book on my hands free to ring colleague, and now have no address book! Remembered part way to work that the reduced sandwich I'd bought last night was still in my fridge, didn't want to buy another lunch, so used my back up pot noodle. Got shown something new at work, wasn't quite as scary as I thought, then buddy went through my 'accuracy' checks for the past few weeks, really impressed that there wasn't much given I had to do a lot of things I wasn't sure about, ironically three things were the same, I realised I had been doing something wrong, started fixing that and was that focused on it that I did something else wrong instead! She is hoping that we are on top of things enough that she can get involved in something she'd like to do, think that might be why she wants to show me other stuff. Weather improved by home time, I remembered last night when I was browsing Amazon for litter trays, that we have another decent size B & M that is near the office, so went there, low and behold they had plenty of litter trays. Meant I walked back a different way, so popped in a couple of other shops on the way. Got petrol on the way home and still managed to get to the chemist before it closed, had about 600 steps left to do, so just went looking for reductions in Co-op and Sainsbury's, very impressed at hitting my step count, when I thought the weather today might finally stop my streak.
You are very determined - I'm enjoying your travels to get your steps in.Glad you found litter trays.
Sounds like you fit right in at this job.
I am Alicia, although very torn between wanting to continue hitting target, and just wanting to come home and read! Yeah, the job is much better than I was expecting, lucky to have found a job that I enjoy with nice people so quickly.
Obviously, you want to maintain your fitness level.Would it be acceptable to you if you walked a little longer most days - say, an extra thousand steps - but 'bank' the extra, and when you get to your normal days' worth, 'spend' the extra steps and take a day off? Or charge down when rain keeps you from finishing a day? That way you'd keep your average up - but not lose your streak if you got a cold. Just thinking outside the box here.
Evening, another day where it was wet and wild in the morning, ended up shutting the bathroom window due to the noise of the rain! Thought it had cleared at lunch, put the rubbish out and mins after I shut the door it came down heavily again, so that was good timing. Neighbour knocked on after lunch, was shocked it was so bright. She was trying to offer me a free gas oven, I said I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of getting them disconnected and connected, plus getting my old one to the tip, she didn't want to take no for an answer (glad to know not much has changed with her in nearly 2 years!), so went with 'I'll think about it' - answer will still be the same! G thinks she's finding excuses to chat again, I suspect as it's 2 years next month, that she didn't think I'd hold out this long, and that I'd have gone crawling back by now, yet my life is so much better, and being offered so many fun things to do. Got out for a walk after work, the stream was so full at some points. Got to briefly feed two of the new ducks/geese, a bloke walked past with his yorkshire terrier, who likes to snap at geese, one fell in the lake because of it! Yes, that's a good idea Alicia, think I've done that before, and just gone off my average rather than streak, and just try and keep my streak above my target. I would lose my streak as the app counts those.
Evening, weather was much better than expected, dry, but a chill in the air this morning, did resort to putting the heating on for 10 mins before work. Washed some towels yesterday, they had partly dried on the maiden, pegged those out and they dried well, might do that more over the winter, though it is a faff. Interesting day at work, part time colleague doesn't work Thu and Fri, and my buddy was out on a refresher so she can start doing stuff that she hasn't been able to do (not sure why they picked Thu for that, knowing that it only leaves me!), line manager messaged late morning that she was having to log off, apologised for leaving me on my own again, and that she'd explain when she was back. Buddy got back while I was on lunch, but had to go offline for an hour in the afternoon, said I'd take it as a compliment that I can be left alone! Did have a couple of tricky things while on my own, one I muddled through, one I had to wait. Then late afternoon the overall team leader rang to check I was OK, and said she was thinking of a long term job for me, there might be a job on one of the other teams, and asked if I'd be interested in shadowing it in a few weeks once things settle down, and see what I think, so said yes. Hit step count after work, but it definitely felt autumnal, bright with a chill in the air. Now got my heated blanket on, I do like some things about this time of year.
Sounds like great progress - good luck!
Evening, a mixed weather day. Frustrating day at work, nothing was simple, and had to do things I've never done before, though the manager I had to speak to for approval did check I was OK ringing someone about something I've never done, said all I could do was give it a go. And had a load of urgent stuff that needed fitting in today, at least it started well with one of the engineers having time to explain some stuff to me. There was a job advertised that my manager sent to me, she said she'd be gutted to see me leave, but wanted to alert me to it. Said that I wasn't going to look at it, didn't want to leave this team and she said that I've really shone since starting and it hasn't gone unnoticed by her or higher management, which I was pleased about. And as we've been a bit stretched, my buddy said she wasn't going to rush doing my accuracy checks, she was confident enough that my work was fine, there was one thing this morning I'd only put in one place and someone missed it, so I checked all the ones I'd done since then, and made sure they were all right, so at least she knows I'm doing as much as I can to stop future mistakes when she does find something. Had my Fri catch up with G, we only went to co-op as it was trying to rain, then had a drink at hers, weather seemed to improve after work, went for a walk, but it came down quite heavy part way through the nature reserve. I was very impressed when I checked my app when I got home and the entire walk had been classed as fast walking, think that's a first, and shows that my constant walking has had an improvement. Been dry since I got home of course!
Hoping this works out for you, long term, as you seem to be ideally suited AND having fun. Did the app realize humans sometimes walk faster if rained on? Yay, Desley, for being able to!
Me too Alicia, I seem to have picked it up really quickly and it seems to suit the way my brain likes to work. Well, I nearly typed the fast walking must have been due to the rain, but I'm sure some of the walks where I've been wet to the skin haven't been fast walking!
Great about the job. It does sound as if you've fit right in.The app has no patience; ignore it. These things think they can run our lives, they who have no feet.
If they can't help, they can be quiet and not interfere. You get to decide what you need from them, not the other way around. You don't need any more stress.
Says the woman who can't walk. As soon as the long covid researchers cure us post-viral types, I am SO looking forward to having enough energy to fix things and move more. They are taking their own sweet time, and people would really like to get back to life and work, please.
Just to say that it's good you've managed to keep your neighbour at arms length. I suspect if you got the cooker of her she'd be crowing over you about it and using it as an excuse to keep coming in 'to check it's OK' and making comments about your cleaning :-)I might be doing her an injustice here but I don't think so
Glad about the job going so well
Will post shortly, but some wildlife picsGeoff the tortoise (excuse my feet!) https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...
New ducks swimming, assume the one on the left is the male
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...
New ducks when they got rather close
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...
The foot is good for scale. Pretty pics.
Evening, nice catch up weekend, even though I didn't get chance to post! Went to local market town yesterday for my trainers, went with the intention of buying grey/black and blue merl, however they had blue denim that were sparkly, so came back with those instead of what I went with, plus came home with some new winter boots and a pair of pjs. Did some food shopping while I was out, and vegan friend is poorly, so got her some shopping too. Came home and did a quick walk, bumped into the wildlife photographer, then got home and finished my book. Was supposed to be going to G's for a takeaway as her belated birthday present, she wanted a walk first, her favourite reservoir is too short for my step count, but I'd already hit it, so was fine with that, and glad we went at the time we did, lovely colours of the sunset, and lovely colours round with the trees. We went to the Chinese, who had a queue so we looked at the menu outside while waiting and had a shock, not sure I've had my favourite dish for a couple of years, but used to pay £4.80 and is now £9.20! So we didn't get takeaway. Did end up doing over 13k steps though. Had a lie in today, and then Lucy had an even longer lie in, which meant her medication and breakfast were really late, so we didn't get out of bed till 10am (and she wasn't impressed with that!). Was dry, but not forecast to stay dry, so went for my walk first, as I got on the canal I saw a heron fishing, so sat and waited for it to fly off, they are impressive when flying. Round the corner from my house G rang, she'd locked herself out, so had to go and get her spare key, then ended up going back round to the co-op with her! Did some chores, including some batch cooking as I've plugged the second freezer back in, have made 8 meals that can either be for lunches or tea, I made some lentil soup and tried freezing it in bags, then I can put one in one of my microwave soup bowls and take to work. Might try it with some other food too, maybe make a chilli and only freeze that, and use microwave rice. Did injure myself when cleaning the girls room though, put the rocking chair on my toe, it's still sore, hopefully not too damaged, so that's a sign that housework can be bad for your health! Had a soak in the bath to help it. Done over 9.5k steps today too. Alicia - I do sometimes feel like a slave to the app, and maybe now it's officially Autumn just focus on maintaining an average. I do hope they find something for long covid soon and that it will help you. The feet were more because the stream was behind me and concerned he was getting a bit close. Thanks Jim, G thought she might try and use it as an in as well, and now I've said no, just cements in her mind that I'm ungrateful! I don't think you are doing her an injustice!
All you can do with the neighbor is to unfailingly polite - and keep your boundaries up. Sorry about the rocking chair and the toe - ouch!
And now you have food stored - good use of time. I make two crustless quiches - and have breakfast for two weeks.
Food prices generally have gone up and takeaways have been hit by costs of fuel and cooking oil, so yes, it can be eye watering when you go and get one having missed a year. A friend of mine got fish and chips and discovered the price had doubled in the two years since he'd last been. But a big source of our cooking oil was the Ukraine.
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Glad you're happy where you are for now - hope it becomes permanent IF that's what you'd like.
How many days is the walking streak now? I'm impressed.
Saharan dust - wow, that's traveled far!