That sounds exhausting, Hec! Also, sending extra love and hugs to you and Matilda today.

Yesterday my travels took me driving, very slowly, through Atlanta so I had lots of time to think of Ginger. I always smile when I remember the gasps when we were there for the F2F and saw the delightful comfy library in her home.

I'm in Ohio. Tired. The trip has been miserable, but my cousins are awesome, so I will focus on that today.

I hope the rest of your journey is easier, Laura. Yay cousins! I have cousins in Ohio, too.

I sent in my acceptance of my voluntary separation from the university yesterday. It seems to make the most financial sense. I also applied for an opening at the community college where my dad worked when I was a kid, which was weird. It would be even weirder if I got it. Luckily I have a number of other applications out. Most of them are in higher ed, and that moves super slow in the summer. But I have seven months of pay and six months of insurance coming to see me through to the next thing, and that’s not nothing.

That seems sensible, Calli. I hope something good shows up for you

The travel saga was a triple header of annoyances. First, the dog was a bundle of anxiety the whole trip. Whining and pacing. Would not settle down. Didn’t eat for 2 days including in hotel. He did eat when we got to my cousin’s house late last night. Second, I could not get the Tesla chargers to work and my car and apps would direct me to them. Using their chargers involves attaching an adapter, telling the app which unit you are using and a bunch of steps. Tried this at two locations. The first one I was trying the wrong adapter. The 2nd one had no numbers on the stations so I had to wait until a person left so I could see which one changed from in use to available. The cables are heavy and the adapter involved pushing on a tough latch. After trying multiple times my thumb hurt so much and I was completely drenched in sweat from the 97 degrees in the full sun parking lot. Third, multiple backtracking because of having to find another charger. And multiple rerouting due to I75 issues probably due to recent storms. My car’s ETA was going up and down varying from 6:20 to 10:35. We arrived at 9.

In the end we arrived to the loving arms of cousin Linda who gave us a cold orzo and roasted vegetables salad with fresh mozzarella in a light vinaigrette and red wine.

Ok y’all I’ve gotten into spelling bee recently but wtf. Some words I try and it doesn’t accept and I’m shocked, but it wanted me to come up with “tomtit” the other day? wtf is tomtit???

but it wanted me to come up with “tomtit” the other day? wtf is tomtit???

I always forget that's a word that Spelling Bee accepts (it's a bird). I also always forget "naan." And, yet again, it drives me nuts that the game accepts "gimme" but not "yeet."

Tim has a follow-up phone appointment with the ENT today to go over the results of the lab work on the fluid they sampled from his neck lump. I have mild jitters because I just want a definitive diagnosis of Weird But Benign. I know the ENT said last week that it was most likely just a benign cyst, but confirmation is good, you know? So anyway, a little more Weird-But-Benign~ma for him would be awesome.

And, yet again, it drives me nuts that the game accepts "gimme" but not "yeet."

The slang dictionary it's working with has some WEIRD gaps

Tim's Weird Neck Lump update: the lab tests on the fluid were oddly inconclusive — the equivalent of "yeah, this is weird and we don't know." So he's going to just have the Weird Lump excised completely and then it'll be biopsied. The ENT does still think the lump is benign, but nothing is conclusive until it's yoinked out. That should be mid-July.

These crumbling human meat sacks are a pain, but I guess they're the best thing we've got until we perfect the robot bodies for our brains in a jar.