Schlep Timbre (September Mini-Rants)

Just an update, this is I believe my 4th day with symptoms, and they haven’t gotten much worse. As long as I don’t try to do stuff I feel pretty fine. Anything I try to do, even on the computer, wears me out quickly. I have a persistent tickle in my throat and have to cough every once in a while, and I have some minimal nasal congestion, but it’s not much more than a bad case of allergies.

I am getting off really easy with this case of Covid compared to the last one. I am not going to complain about this. I just hope it stays as mild as it is.

The only thing that really sucks is that because I can’t do much, I had to put in a week’s worth of sick leave. I have tons of sick leave, don’t get me wrong; I even cashed in excess sick leave at the end of last year because I had so much. But I was already out for a week on vacation and now I’m out for another. I’m the only direct IT support for over 100 people at my agency. I do have a backup, but he had a family emergency last week and had to get someone to cover his people and mine, and this next week he’s only working half days. (I got all this info from logging into my work email today and checking on it.) So, the timing of this is still really bad.

At least my boss loves me, the people I support really like me, so I doubt there’s going to be a lot of resentment. And I’m trying to make sure I have coverage. And I’m doing exactly what my work policies tell me I should do. I’m doing everything right as far as I know. But I still can’t help but feel guilty because so many people rely on me. If it wasn’t for that, I’d consider the mild illness and mandatory sick leave to be an extended vacation and try to relax. With that guilt I’m not going to be able to.

Considering what I’m about to spend on a new HVAC system and a replacement crown, it may be a while before I do any long distance traveling.

I’ve done that. My gf observed me discover the beer, pour it into a glass (worried about bugs) then chug it down. Waste not and all that.

She couldn’t do that at 6 am. I couldn’t pour it down the drain.

Huffington Post used to be my go-to spot for catching the latest stories. Now it has become unusable. It freezes my browser for an intolerable length of time every time it loads, for every browser. Screw it, HP, I’m done with you.

I nearly stuck it in the fridge, but with the heat, dirt and bugs decided not to. I used it to clean the grill instead. It still hurt though.

The weird part is that they’re for Halloween and Christmas of 2025…

Went to Costco today. Yep, you guessed it, the Christmas trees are on display. WTFF?

I met a woman via email named Aimee.
When I met her in person I pronounced it like Amy.
No. It’s pronounced Ah-may.
Aimee, let me assure you that I truly hate your parents.

I knew at least one girl in grade school named Aimee. Don’t recall any who got all pretentious a la Hyacinth Bucket (“That’s Boo-KAY”) like your acquaintance’s parents did, though. They used the obvious Amy pronunciation.

“Aimée” means loved one in French,conjugated to refer to a female subject, given the second e.

It would be pronounced closer to “Ah-may” than “Amy”.

If the person you met, or their parents, have francophone ties, the name isn’t that unusual.

Edit: for what it’s worth I read it as aimée in French on first read, because I live a bilingual life, and it would never occur to me to pronounce that name as “Amy”

Is it too much to ask the grocer to rotate their stock? The Quorn chikin cutlet I picked out of their freezer section just last week has a Best Buy date of 1/6/20fucking24!

Asschokes! Same with the myokos plant butter I recently bought silly me didn’t check the date. BB June 2024!

And the sub buns, fancy deli kind , have mold. I didn’t pick that one I let the personal shopper pick it out. So serves me right. Well at least they actually shopped my order this time. Last time they ghosted me, then left me hanging with empty promises of it’ll be out in 5 minutes. Such lies rolling off their tongues. 25 minutes later I’m asking for the truth. Tell me is my order getting shopped now or not. Pick up is expected at 7p, it’s 8:10! Nope better gives us another 39 min. Blow me, I shopped my own gdmf order in 20 minutes. I took names yes I did.

Because “The Hallmark Channel” squeezed out a turd…?

Speaking of turds that float, “Special-K” now comes in pumpkin spice…

Oh, I sense a whole bunch of pumpkin spice rants to come …

This Fall: Pumpkin Spice Ketamine!

Pumpkin Spice gasoline!

I am moving. My new apartment is larger for the same rent, in a safer neighborhood, in walking distance to more stores and restaurants, and is generally a vast improvement on my current place.

I used the USPS web site to change my address and have mail sent to my new apartment. I arranged for electric, gas and internet to be turned on there and shut off here on their sites.

I receive a payment from Social Security every month. I receive Medicare. I visited the Social Security website. It required me to sign in with an ID Me account. I consulted my list of usernames and passwords and found ID Me. My credentials were accepted and I proceeded through several screens. Then, it told me that I could not change my addres on the website. I would need to call or visit the office in person. I saw that their call center was open until 7 pm and decided to call after work. Without the slightest exggeration (I know what time I called and was keeping track), I was on hold for three and a half hours. During that time, I checked both my e-mail addresses, checked my spam folders, got caught up on Facebook and the Dope, cleaned out a nearby display case in preparation for my move, and had dessert.

When my call was finally answered by a human being, I was not rude or angry. It was certainly not her fault that they are understaffed. I had to answer a few questions to verify my identity. Then, she asked me for my new address. She confirmed that updating my address with Social Security would also update my address with Medicare. Verification of my identity and the changing of my address took under 10 minutes.

I will be moving my prescriptions out of Walgreens.
I had had Rite Aide but they closed.
Never had more than an hour wait for anything.
2 weeks ago, my dr changed my amlodipine from 2.5 to 5 mg.
I had some 2.5s left. Thank God I saved them.
The new 5mg ran out.
Two days ago I asked for a refill. Tomorrow.
Three days without blood pressure meds?
Thankfully I’ve been using the 2.5s.
I could’ve had a stroke with no pills for 3 days.
How hard is it to have amlodipine?

I was smelling candles with a friend (don’t judge…) and I said the pumpkin one reminded me that I went all last season without ingesting anything Pumpkin Spiced.

He looked at me like i’d sucker-punched him “I’ve been waiting all year for Pumpkin Spice…”

I tried to lighten things up: “Wasn’t she the heavily-bronzed Spice Girl?”

My dentist’s assistant told me she moved her prescriptions over to Amazon. Delivered to her door without fail. Idk if a person needs to be a Prime member or not to use it. She said that her meds are more expensive with insurance alone than they are on Amazon without insurance (although they take insurance, too). I’m checking it out next month before my next blood pressure refill.

I buy my amlodipine from a pharmacy up north. For some reason the 2.5 mg tablets are very cheap. My dose is 5 mg daily but I’m taking two 2.5s to save money.