Done This Week

It feels strange to write this up. On paper, this was just another week. But also, election! Existential dread! Hard to sum that up in a “what I did this week” post.

Shall I count up the hours spent questioning how I will survive? Or shall we take it as read that it was all of the hours?

Made very little progress on NaClYoHo work this week. Things were intense at work, because I’m being pulled in about six different directions. This is because no one ever gets to take off a hat when they change positions here; we just stack the new ones on top of the existing ones. So I’m secretly part of about four different teams currently.

Speaking of work, it is possible that I am going to be tripping and falling over backwards into a career as an electrician. Had my monthly 1:1 meeting with my supervisor, which included discussing the progress being made on selecting training courses for me. I am basically fine with this: wiring is the sort of fiddly work I enjoy, and my misgivings are largely concerns that I lack the knowledge currently to avoid hurting myself or fucking up horribly.

Meanwhile, the oven is non-fuctional. Yes, that’s right, two weeks before Thanksgiving. We’ve got people scheduled to come look at it, though there have already been shenanigans in the timing of that. But past experience suggests that it will be weeks of waiting for the warranty company to approve repairs, ordering parts, and then getting people to come back out to my deadend neck of the woods to actually fix it.

Depending on how awful things are, we might just buy a new range. But in the meantime, mum and I are figuring out how we can cook Thanksgiving foods (my favorite genre of food, I will mention) without an oven. Stovetop, slow cooker, and Instant Pot, assemble!

My current coping strategy for the election aftermath is Lord of the Rings (Andy Serkis audiobook production), Revolutionary Girl Utena (free on YT, which is better than the VHS I had in high school), and T. Kingfisher’s horror novels (The Hollow Places currently). And so, so many cups of tea.

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written

Day job: 42.5 hours

Cooking: did end up using the cookies as crumbs for a pudding pie thing, rice crispy treats

Cleaning: winnowed my clothing rack to make room for my uniform shirts

Gardening: pandemic garden club post

Reading: audiobook of Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (probably more hand-wringingly stressful than I needed just now, but very enjoyable all the same)

Listening: She’s So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper (I just needed a bit of fun), And Yet Another Journey Begins by Tales Under The Oak (as always, a solid option for chill-out music, have not yet picked up the audiobook that goes with it)

Other: unloaded hay three times ;__;