Eclipses are totally good for some convos. Heh. Can't see total and eclipse in the same sentence without earworming myself. You are all welcome.

Looks like a beautiful day here -- actual Fall not full-on winter yet. I might take doggo somewhere new for a walk. She was acting weird last night -- just couldn't settle and was panting like a mofo. She acted as if someone was eating steak after steak downstairs or something, so she just kept pacing over to the head of the stairs. I took her on extra walks, and I eventually gave her some Trazadone to calm her down, which it did (she gets that before vet visits, so I knew it was safe.) Anyway, she seems mostly back to normal this morning. It was weird, though. Will keep watch.

I'm starting to have concerns that the ADHD meds, while they work great, are possibly having the unwelcome side effect of making me feel kind of crappier than normal when I'm not taking them. I need to do some looking into that. Or maybe I've just been at a life crossroads too long and it's starting to wear on me.

I'm listening to Midnight Burger Shift Notes for a little boost this morning. That always helps.

Good morning all. Happy birthday, Calli!

The heat isn't working and my house is freezing. When I called our HVAC guys to make an appointment, I got the AI agent again only this time I *confirmed* he was AI because we got stuck in a loop where he didn't understand me saying "gas" over and over again, so I took a gamble and said "Please connect me to a real person" and he said "Okay I'll connect you to a live agent." CONFIRMED Brock does not exist.

Hmmm... "gas" seems like a pretty basic word that and HVAC employed AI ought to be better trained on! I hope you're heat gets fixed soon.

Happy Birthday Calli!!

David I hope the next tenants have a good life in that apartment.

I'm at Mom's. I wish she had been able to rent this house sooner. It's so mucb better . It's older so it has high ceilings, large windows, but not a lot of outlets . There is some issue with the wifi I can't help her with.

We got blinds up though. They are the kind that have a tension rod of some kind and you tighten them in place. And you can just push them up or pull them down easily. Lovey can sit on the back of the couch and sniff the air from the open window.

I have rented a vehicle for the beach and the cat carrier situation is under control. We just need to vote before we go. Pack. Etc

Glad your Mom's new place is good, askye!

Brock is not real?! I am shocked!

I have upgraded my short-hop flights between Dallas and Baton Rouge to first class because why the fuck not? Unfortunately, when I was booking my flights leaving SFO at 9 am seemed pretty reasonable, forgetting that meant I'm supposed to be there two hours before and it takes an hour and a half to get there by BART so I need to leave my parents' house at, like, 5am. Oh well. My folks can drop me off and go home and back to bed, and I can sleep on the plane

Timelies all!

Dropped my ballot off at the ballot drop box at City Hall today.

This past weekend I went to CT for the unveiling of my mom's headstone. Quick trip-went up Saturday afternoon, came back Sunday evening.

I am not going to my 40th high school reunion, because why would I? I have not kept up with anyone from there, and the house was sold years ago.

Skipping and skimming a bunch.

Happy birthday, Calli!

But we also took one last set of pictures of Matilda at the top of the stairs and she wore Jacqueline's clothes. Very sweet moment.

That's lovely.

I've been having a lot of really bad pain the past few months, worse than usual, and I've been having trouble finding a doctor who'll help me deal with it. Some of it is that I need to be more proactive about making phone calls and appointments and stuff, but that's tough when I'm in this much pain and need to work. And some of it is from doctors' offices having long waits and not returning calls and so on. And I'm feeling pretty isolated -- pretty much the only people I see are at work -- and I'm stuck between "If you want a village, you need to be a villager" and "I'm in too much pain to go out and interact with people." And I need to get better at doing at least a little bit more of being a villager.

That’s so hard, Hil. I hope you can find some relief and connection both.

Yeah, Sheryl, I haven’t been back to BR since I graduated except for one funeral and passing through during hurricane evacuations, I’m not sure how I talked myself into going to mine. I’m sure it will be fine. There are four or five names on the list of attendees I definitely remember.

Bought parking at BART so my parents won't need to ferry me back and forth, checked in for my first flight (still feels weird to do that the day before) and gave Budget my DL and so forth info. Ready to go and still expected to work the rest of the day for some reason. Oh, wait, still have to pick up my dress from the cleaners. And pack. But basically ready.

I am being discharged today as I have recovered well from the surgery. We won't know true next steps until November 3, but for right now, I feel great. It is most likely immunotherapy, chemo, or additional surgery depending on what the doctor thinks- and she is out of office for a week!