Normalization

The human body and spirit, they are resilient things. I think my body is actually getting used to the cold now, after being hammered with it on and off these past few weeks. Well, give or take my insomnia, about which there's little I can do except catch up on sleep during the day. My outerwear for grocery shopping today was a jacket over a sweatshirt, no thermals under my jeans, and only one pair of socks, and I was fine. We even had to crack open the car windows on the way home because my glasses kept fogging up. Everything was put away in fairly short order, allowing for lots of nap time and reading time. Looks to be another good weekend!

Silly Site o' the Day

Another work week ended, another weekend of binging and reading to look forward to. It's the little things! Speaking of binging, I'm sorry Star Trek: Lower Decks has ended, but we'll always have this behind-the-scenes look:

Via Laughing Squid.

Daddy's Girl

Today is the anniversary of my father's actual birth (as I understand it, the Romanian birth certificate wasn't issued until three days later, so we commemorated both January 9 and 12 as his birthday), and I called Mom this morning to make sure she was okay. There are aspects of my father that I miss dearly, and lots of others that I see whenever I look in the mirror. He was, as everyone would attest, a character, and I think I'm a bit of a character too. I try to concentrate on the things about him that make me smile, rather than the things I'm still having to work out of my system. His line may die out with our generation, but his legacy will remain as long as we remember him, and pretty much as long as I'm around for people to remember me.

A Song of Fire and Ice

Thank goodness my brother and sister-in-law in the Los Angeles area aren't directly affected by the area wildfires, aside from breathing in all the thick smoke. Here in NY I stayed in and worked from home during the time my brain was operational, and thanked my lucky stars our freeze-out situation wasn't worse, like my poor friends in California or the middle of the country with all those icy roads. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight, so it'll be heads-down in as much work as I can manage during the next couple of days. That and lots of hot liquids.

It Could Always Be Worse

New York isn't the only place where the wind's whipping about. Wildfires are devastating the Los Angeles area because the Santa Ana winds are out of control. The middle of the country is in a deep freeze, extending even into the deep South. Meanwhile, I layered up, wore my cleats as far as the end of the driveway where Robin and I realized nothing was iced over so he went back home with the cleats while I continued to the bus, then when I got to the office I realized I was a bit too warmly dressed for indoors. So Thursday I'll wear a long-sleeved warm blouse instead of a sweater, but of course I have to get through tomorrow first. Glad I went in, there was lots to do in-office today and I met with six of the ten folks I support. But I really could do without the commuting time, especially that spent waiting for the bus to arrive. Very brutal. But all in all I still consider myself lucky compared to so many others.

Have I Mentioned I Hate January?

The latest deep freeze has settled into our bones. Even with the apartment heat working it just doesn't warm the place up enough in this cold. We're doing what we can, running space heaters in rooms where we spend most of our time and drawing curtains at night and layering up, but it just isn't sufficient in terms of the overall effect. I walk around like a zombie, my brain is stuck, and all I want to do is cocoon. Nonetheless I do have enough to keep me occupied on the job whilst working from home, and tomorrow I get to thaw out a bit during the day in the office. Of course it's the getting there that's tricky; I only hope this afternoon's snow doesn't turn into sheets of ice on the sidewalks tomorrow. Getting my cleats out just in case!

Having Done

All the holiday cards and decorations are filed away, the finances are caught up on, the New Year's Eve champagne is finished, and I've rolled enough joints to probably last me through the winter. And now I rest. I mean, I don't have a choice, it's bloody cold out there and everything is done and my body doesn't like this weather. At least I don't feel drugged any more. On to the Golden Globes!

What To Do When the Things Are Done

Every Saturday I have basic and supplemental lists of organizational chores to take care of: lay out my pills and supplements for the week and reorder any getting low; order comics; make out the grocery shopping list; check the status of my every day finances and decide whether or not they need to be caught up on or filed; and other stuff like Woolite wash or organizing earrings. Well, all that stuff has been done now, the Woolite wash is on the drying rack in the tub, my winter sweaters and sweatshirts on the shelf above the bedroom closet have been reorganized, the holiday stuff is ready to be put away tomorrow, the grocery shopping was accomplished in the windy cold, I've finished reading my comics, but I'm disinclined to do more TV catch-up because my eyes have been a bit tired of late and my concentration is shot. I slept through most of the afternoon and woke up feeling drugged. I'm not sure if it's one of the umpteen illnesses floating about, but I'm noticing a decided uptick in the number of masked shoppers around me, which both pleases me and gives me pause. I hope I can stay inside as long as possible as this weather is become less and less conducive to my health, but I need more concentration to do drawing practice or writing or starting on the Wicked book series. I hate being in a holding pattern, but at the same time I'm pleased with Having Done. Small steps.

Silly Site o' the Day

With the short work week done, Robin and I finally caught up on the season ender of the Dune prequel, where lots of stuff happened that neither of us will remember by the time the next season begins. Meanwhile, Alasdair Beckett-King takes a whack at what happens when modern American writers tackle British period pieces:

Via Laughing Squid.

New Year's Graveyard

Back into Manhattan today, arriving well before 8:30 even though my usual bus was nowhere in sight and I had to take another one that added 10-15 minutes to the commute. The bus home was much better, I had my usual driver and I swear it only took about an hour from pickup to terminus, so that was nice. But the office was a veritable dead zone, almost nobody was in. I still found enough to keep myself occupied for 8+ hours, caught up on a number of things that had happened during our firm's winter shutdown, and I'm in good shape for tomorrow. Very glad I don't have to go back until Tuesday, as the frigid temperatures have returned, but my winter jacket kept me toasty enough. And who can really complain about a work week this short?