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March 10, 2014

I had to take a 2-day break last week; blinding headaches, stomach/bowel issues, and stinky weather ganged up on me and I waved the white flag on Tuesday and Wednesday. Stayed home, stayed quiet, and mostly stayed in bed.


And went back to work on Thursday, in time for a class on all the new changes coming in the next couple of weeks: a new PC (my first since XP rolled out ten years ago), with Win 8.1, Office 2013 and IE11. Big stuff all at once! I don't think I personally will have a problem, even though I truly believe that 8.1 sucks big red donkey balls. Most of what looks hardest to adapt to, I've already dealt with in 7 at home. As for the new Office suite, I'm actually looking forward to it. And if I am forced to use IE at work, well...it will be nice to be able to be current, instead of several versions behind.
I guess I am doing better than W&T, though. T was/is hospitalized with another breakdown, and W is a mess. She is still grieving deeply for her dog, she can't help her partner, she barely makes ends meet, and the hell of my life is that I do not have the emotional wherewithal to be there for her. I am so entangled in my own struggles that I can't take on hers--I assume it is the same for her. I feel like the kindest thing I can do is keep my distance, or my issues would be just one more thing for her to deal with.
Went to Sam's after work on Friday. Spouse insisted I get my glasses adjusted, even though optical was busy--I have been putting it off, and complaining about them needing to be fixed for weeks. Apparently he was sick of listening. So I waited in line, finally got my turn, explained what I needed, handed my glasses to the tech, and almost immediately thereafter, heard the sickening crunch of him snapping my frames in two with his pliers. The first words out of his mouth (after "Uh-oh") were "You didn't buy these here." Period, not question mark.

I politely (if a bit crisply) begged his pardon, corrected his mistaken notion, and assured him that...YES, I did indeed purchase them from Sam's...YES, in that very store. Once convinced, he went over to the frame wall and very fortunately found an identical frame in stock. So I actually ended up with a brand new pair of frames, and an upgrade to silicone nose pads. For free. And my glasses fit right again, which is a huge relief. The hideous headaches seem to have cleared up, so I think the badly fitting bifocals were to blame for that problem.

While I was at Sam's, I caved in to my whims and bought myself a tablet. I got a lovely little 7-inch Android--an Asus MeMO HD7 for $129. The reviews for it were very positive, it had everything I wanted, and the price was very good. Then I went home, signed in to Amazon, and ordered myself a pretty pink case and a pack of screen protectors for it. Because I'm occasionally my mother's daughter.
On Saturday, I had an easy day because Spouse went to Milwaukee to help P work on a side job. I avoided going Postal, because the USPS finally got around to delivering the wedding DVD to my aunt's house, after three weeks of screwing me over. So I got to spend a lovely, quiet day learning to use my new tablet. And doing 6 loads of laundry.

Sunday, we got up and around early and went out for breakfast--nothing fancy, just Panera. Played with the tablet and enjoyed our coffee and pastry. Then we headed to the farm store to get some dog food. We are not happy with the switch we made with his dry food. His allergies don't seem to be doing that great on it. So we are changing again, to Nature'sRecipe "easy-to-digest" formula. This stuff is a grain free formula with chicken, sweet potato and pumpkin. It's a good price and comes in a medium-sized bag, too. The Ideal Balance stuff wasn't, and didn't. He tried it, he seems to like, it--I hope this one works.

(And because, as I mentioned, I'm occasionally my mother's daughter...while at the farm store, I bought a pair of New Balance sneakers clearanced for $36.00, and two new spring tops for $13.99 each.)
Spouse didn't end up with the job near my office, despite going through the hiring process. The company pulled a dirty trick at the last minute. They decided they wanted him, but for SECOND shift, not first. And that would be what you call a deal-killer. No way can we afford the costs associated with both of us having to drive to the heart of Lake County every day. The job was entirely contingent on us being able to ride-share 4 days a week. I can barely afford it on my salary; it would take a ridiculous bite out of his.

Well, I did tell him it was better to turn someone down than to keep taking and quitting unsatisfactory positions. Gotta live with it. But it kills me that everything has to be so damned hard and tricksy and awful.

Oh, well. He has a phone interview for a job tonight. It is a job installing safety software on machinery and training personnel on the use of it. It would be a traveling job, which experience has taught me that he wouldn't be able to handle. Experience seemingly teaches him nothing, though.

I had allowed myself feel a lifting of of the weight. Turns out the universe was just lifting it up so it could slam it back down.

Reading: "Around India in 80 Trains" (2012), by Monisha Rajesh. "Sisters" (1928), by Grace May North

Listening: Coldplay, The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, Fleetwood Mac (a Christine McVie vocal, so acceptable for listening)

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