First week of leave
Nov. 8th, 2021 02:38 pmMy first week of leave is complete. My time was full of fairly high-priority things as usual, but with the allergy testing over (and an eye exam also over -- yeah, I'm catching up on medical stuff) I feel my schedule suddenly opening up.
Car crash -- yes, sigh, I got in an accident on the highway last Wednesday on my way to the allergist. It was a lane-merge situation and not a matter of anyone being distracted or acting badly, though I could have theoretically done better and the truck's driver could have done a lot better too. Insurance will likely come down on my side since in the end it was the truck's front corner and my rear corner that clipped each other, and sent poor my Zipcar spinning (270 degrees, and across one lane of same-direction traffic) into the median. I am 100% fine and nobody else was hurt either -- even the car was still perfectly driveable -- so my natural pragmatism kicked in: cars are dangerous and every few years my number will come up. So it goes. Since it wasn't my car, the unpleasantness was mostly limited to spending that entire afternoon doing paperwork. It could have been worse... but it wasn't. I'm okay. Except for that whole linalool business.
Linalool (and limonene) business -- the upside of these specific allergies is that they're fragrances so anything "unscented" is usually free of them, and there's a market for unscented products. I have new shampoo, conditioner and niacinamide serum on the way; and I already have new lip balm and soap and deodorant. I've decided not to worry too much about my foot lotion for now, because I love my foot lotion and have never had problems with my skin there, or about lipstick.
Squirrel nesting -- and, actually, other nesting too. I seem to have a fine new hobby of helping people pack and move. I promised the Monk some cat-sitting, and I spent an evening with Perse's boyfriend (who is soon to be![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
coraline's housemate), chatting with him while he packed up part of his office. And then many hours on Saturday putting shelves in bookcases and books on shelves, in the Helios/Perse great room, which was hugely satisfying. The date room (squirrel nest) also got its trial run on Saturday night. I contributed sheets and pillows, but... damn. It feels pretty special for someone to carve out actual space for me in his home like that. The someone points out that we've come in a long way in one year, if you consider that we used to wander around outdoors because we didn't have anywhere we could go. It's true, and well... that is some incredibly clear messaging about the importance of the relationship. I'm leaving a full set of night-time stuff over there for easy staying over, and wriggling with happiness.
G.O.A.T! --heisenbug and I went to the Gold Over America Tour last night to see Athleta and a lot of the current stars trying to bring some actual humanity and joy to gymnastics. It was fascinating. First because it was super wild to be in a big stadium and part of a crowd, second because of getting to see Simone Biles in person, third because how often do you see synchronized Olympic-level uneven bar acts right in front of you, and fourth because gymnastics doesn't really know how to do non-competitive shows yet. It was a little rough around the edges, and hilariously aimed directly at tween girls (who indeed comprised a large part of the crowd), and I really think it had a lot of what gymnastics culture needs. But the best part was when they had technical difficulties during intermission, and sent the gymnasts (and dancers) out to the floor to literally kill time and entertain us without a script. Laurie Hernandez had the mike, and they ended up doing a "stick game" and a back-tuck wave around their circle, and a handstand contest. At one point Laurie said "back pike? Huh, does anyone have a back layout? Simone maybe?", and damned if Simone Biles didn't do a standing back layout right there. They also ended up bringing just the Tokyo Olympic team back out to reprise some of their Olympic routines, cold. So for the cost of an extra hour or so in between acts, we got to see a lot of extra unrehearsed content including a lot that was, um, not very serious (envision Olympic gymnasts trying to do the worm, and cracking up). I also really appreciated seeing these high-level people do "easy" things, or things that wouldn't get points in the elite competitions, like big springy gorgeous front handsprings, or Shilese Jones catching a handstand at the top of the higher uneven bar and just holding it for ~45 seconds. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the stuffed goats they were selling. White goats with little gold hooves. No, I didn't buy one.
Car crash -- yes, sigh, I got in an accident on the highway last Wednesday on my way to the allergist. It was a lane-merge situation and not a matter of anyone being distracted or acting badly, though I could have theoretically done better and the truck's driver could have done a lot better too. Insurance will likely come down on my side since in the end it was the truck's front corner and my rear corner that clipped each other, and sent poor my Zipcar spinning (270 degrees, and across one lane of same-direction traffic) into the median. I am 100% fine and nobody else was hurt either -- even the car was still perfectly driveable -- so my natural pragmatism kicked in: cars are dangerous and every few years my number will come up. So it goes. Since it wasn't my car, the unpleasantness was mostly limited to spending that entire afternoon doing paperwork. It could have been worse... but it wasn't. I'm okay. Except for that whole linalool business.
Linalool (and limonene) business -- the upside of these specific allergies is that they're fragrances so anything "unscented" is usually free of them, and there's a market for unscented products. I have new shampoo, conditioner and niacinamide serum on the way; and I already have new lip balm and soap and deodorant. I've decided not to worry too much about my foot lotion for now, because I love my foot lotion and have never had problems with my skin there, or about lipstick.
Squirrel nesting -- and, actually, other nesting too. I seem to have a fine new hobby of helping people pack and move. I promised the Monk some cat-sitting, and I spent an evening with Perse's boyfriend (who is soon to be
coraline's housemate), chatting with him while he packed up part of his office. And then many hours on Saturday putting shelves in bookcases and books on shelves, in the Helios/Perse great room, which was hugely satisfying. The date room (squirrel nest) also got its trial run on Saturday night. I contributed sheets and pillows, but... damn. It feels pretty special for someone to carve out actual space for me in his home like that. The someone points out that we've come in a long way in one year, if you consider that we used to wander around outdoors because we didn't have anywhere we could go. It's true, and well... that is some incredibly clear messaging about the importance of the relationship. I'm leaving a full set of night-time stuff over there for easy staying over, and wriggling with happiness.G.O.A.T! --
heisenbug and I went to the Gold Over America Tour last night to see Athleta and a lot of the current stars trying to bring some actual humanity and joy to gymnastics. It was fascinating. First because it was super wild to be in a big stadium and part of a crowd, second because of getting to see Simone Biles in person, third because how often do you see synchronized Olympic-level uneven bar acts right in front of you, and fourth because gymnastics doesn't really know how to do non-competitive shows yet. It was a little rough around the edges, and hilariously aimed directly at tween girls (who indeed comprised a large part of the crowd), and I really think it had a lot of what gymnastics culture needs. But the best part was when they had technical difficulties during intermission, and sent the gymnasts (and dancers) out to the floor to literally kill time and entertain us without a script. Laurie Hernandez had the mike, and they ended up doing a "stick game" and a back-tuck wave around their circle, and a handstand contest. At one point Laurie said "back pike? Huh, does anyone have a back layout? Simone maybe?", and damned if Simone Biles didn't do a standing back layout right there. They also ended up bringing just the Tokyo Olympic team back out to reprise some of their Olympic routines, cold. So for the cost of an extra hour or so in between acts, we got to see a lot of extra unrehearsed content including a lot that was, um, not very serious (envision Olympic gymnasts trying to do the worm, and cracking up). I also really appreciated seeing these high-level people do "easy" things, or things that wouldn't get points in the elite competitions, like big springy gorgeous front handsprings, or Shilese Jones catching a handstand at the top of the higher uneven bar and just holding it for ~45 seconds. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the stuffed goats they were selling. White goats with little gold hooves. No, I didn't buy one.
