Tell us something good: a free thread

February 10, 2025 9:57 AM

WaPo gift link: A campus sign said ‘Tell us something good.’ Students delivered. Free thread for this week. Do you have a small something good to share?
posted by jenfullmoon (105 comments total)

Taking the 18th off to:
- Get Burt, my current foster boy cat, snipped
- Get my will updated and filed in the safety deposit box our family uses for this kind of thing
- Get my car emissions checked and license sticker renewed

Burt is doing really well as a foster kitty. He’s still being kept separate until he gets (and recovers from) his snip. His diarrhea issues are not 100% resolved but he’s improving. He remains very playful and a huge snuggle bug.
posted by notoriety public at 10:03 AM on February 10 [13 favorites]

I am deeply introverted but also get so lonely. My husband will be out of town Fri-Thursday. I invited a work friend over for dinner on Saturday! She said yes! We have a date!
posted by obfuscation at 10:07 AM on February 10 [25 favorites]

The snowdrops are blooming in big white drifts, and the first daffodil shoots are up. The sheep are looking pretty good, the barn is still nearly full of hay and firewood, and the rams are too busy having sex with each other to fight. Bisexual rams are the best.
posted by Rhedyn at 10:12 AM on February 10 [19 favorites]

I got a LOT of sleep last night!
posted by scose at 10:14 AM on February 10 [18 favorites]

"The table below show that air quality based on concentrations of the common pollutants has improved nationally since 1980."

https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary
posted by aleph at 10:20 AM on February 10 [10 favorites]

After nearly 3 years of stops and starts, I am finally making real progress in learning Arabic. Things are going so much better that I’m enjoying spending more time on it each day, which of course can only help matters.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 10:32 AM on February 10 [12 favorites]

We saved, budgeted, cashed in points, and skipped gift holidays for a while, and now we've bought our tickets for summer vacation.

We're landing in Rome with a few days to do tourist stuff, and on the way home, we'll be spending a few mundane days in Romania to do passport stuff and errands for my mother-in-law. But the meat of the trip, in the middle, will be renting a car in Puglia and just going wherever strikes our fancy for about ten days.

We're thinking of trying to retire there in maybe six or eight years, so this is a first toe in the water. Mostly we will be in the Salento part of Puglia, way in the heel of the boot.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:34 AM on February 10 [26 favorites]

My wife is about to visit her people on the east coast. The dogs and I miss her while she’s away. But she’ll be returning with the kind of treats that are obtainable there and not here.
posted by Lemkin at 10:36 AM on February 10 [7 favorites]

taquito baby is learning to smile
posted by taquito sunrise at 10:38 AM on February 10 [37 favorites]

Earworm for this post
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:39 AM on February 10 [6 favorites]

I am more for *experiences* than *things*.

But I have a *thing* that I have been hemming and hawing on for years. I finally finally updated my pots and pans to a buy-it-for-life set, twenty years since I received my wedding registry set of the typical Bed, Bath, & Beyond Caphalon special or whatever they had on their little display. I am an avid home cook and having well made, balanced, structured cookware makes a difference.

But, Taquito Sunrise's post above, the baby learning to smile is a far better *experience* to celebrate! Watching a barely-functioning newborn turn into a little independent and thinking person is an absolute joy of the human experience.
posted by discardme at 10:46 AM on February 10 [7 favorites]

How good this is may be a matter of opinion, but my husband has been telling me all these ridiculous dad jokes lately (and to be fair, they've made me laugh), and I asked him what he's been looking at or who he's been talking to to come up with all these groaners, and he said "oh, I've always known these jokes, but I just thought that now that we've broken the ice, I could tell you some." Reader, if our relationship were a person, it wouldn't be too young to be elected president.
posted by taz at 10:47 AM on February 10 [40 favorites]

I've been having to work for the past few weekends, so I've been missing some family stuff, which has sucked. This weekend I still had to work, but I caught a few breaks and was able to go to my youngest son's basketball game on saturday and I finished early sunday and was able to watch the last half of the Superb Owl with him and my wife.
posted by Dr. Twist at 10:52 AM on February 10 [4 favorites]

Last week one of my grad school professors asked if I would mind if she used one of my papers as an example of excellent writing and critique for her current and future students.

Goddamn that felt good.

Can I put that on my resume? j/k. sort of.
posted by cooker girl at 10:53 AM on February 10 [26 favorites]

(CW- politics)
Jessica Craven has been putting out examples of good things (relatively speaking) that have happened. Here's the Feb 9 post.
posted by MtDewd at 10:55 AM on February 10 [5 favorites]

I'm working on things! First project: a bird quilt. I have access to a longarm quilting machine through Milwaukee Makerspace (for the uninitiated, a longarm is VERY LARGE and VERY EXPENSIVE and it's hard to finish a quilt without one) and am eager to try it out for more than the few minutes of training I got.

Second project: pulling out some of my lawn and putting in prairie plants for the bees and butterflies. I just got some seeds from Prairie Moon and put them in the ground; most of them will need 30 days of cold to sprout, and fortunately/unfortunately, it looks like we have at least 30 days of cold to go.
posted by Jeanne at 10:56 AM on February 10 [14 favorites]

I kicked off a playtest of Blades '68, which is based on the original Blades in the Dark but a century in the future of that world, with my wife and a few people I hadn't gamed with before, and it was great -- good balance of personalities, everyone had fun, and we had playtest comments. It's good to do fun things in person with humans.
posted by Bryant at 11:28 AM on February 10 [7 favorites]

An office meeting had leftover food, and now I am eating a free sandwich.
posted by JohnFromGR at 11:28 AM on February 10 [25 favorites]

I teach 9th and 11th grade Social Science. This whole year has been great because I have five classes of FABULOUS students!
posted by dfm500 at 11:38 AM on February 10 [18 favorites]

Enjoy every sandwich -- Warren Zevon
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:38 AM on February 10 [12 favorites]

Saturday was the first table-read for the independent film that's becoming my priority: It's called Amal's Christmas Reunion, a short romance film about a Sudanese woman reconnecting with her high-school crush, a man from India; the writer/star's concept started with "why don't people like me appear in romantic comedies?" Helping people make their personal vision come together, especially when they're not super-experienced filmmakers, is so much fun...and, for this being such a diverse cast and crew, I understand I am also very white and privileged and putting that aside is a good muscle to exercise. We start filming in March, and part of my homework until then (now that I have realized I am filling the cinematographer role, not just a cameraman) is researching how best to light such a wide variety of skin colors, something that doesn't get covered much in general lighting techniques. Thus far it doesn't seem too unique, but just needs some understanding and not treating 'white' as the default.

One of the actors is another local filmmaker who I've worked with before, and he brought up working on future projects together; he is seeing the limitation of being both director and cinematographer and would rather not be tied up behind the camera and wanted to know if I could shoot his next short film, which I thought would be fun. He was telling me about his last project, and how he had to do reshoots after not liking the final result of his original edit but he lost the reshoot footage (oh no!); the male lead in Amal's had premiered his short-film-music-video a couple months ago and I asked if it was going out to any film festivals and he said he's still tweaking the edit before he gets to that point; my professor/teacher/friend is STILL musing over how to fix the audio edit on the film we're making together...I was pointing out to my wife this commonality among filmmakers never being finished -- and she, rather dramatically, pointed out my self-blindness of this exact same thing, with a short experimental film I made a year ago that I've been planning on reshooting and reediting before I submit it to festivals...I guess that's just the thing about being a capital-A Artist: struggling to recognize when your work of art is complete.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:46 AM on February 10 [19 favorites]

The next in my mystery series has a launch date, April 8 and an Amazon page.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:49 AM on February 10 [7 favorites]

I finished a first draft of a new short story and I'm getting feedback in this weekend's workshop from one group I'm in, and sharing it with another group I'm in a week after that (and that group is meeting on Thursday for the first time in months and months.
posted by stevil at 11:57 AM on February 10 [4 favorites]

I’ve had Long Covid and been disabled + out of work for more than a year, and recently my cognitive tests have shown a little improvement! I have hope!
posted by AstroCatCommander at 11:58 AM on February 10 [51 favorites]

We had a rough Friday and Saturday, so we skipped church on Sunday. My parents, who are in their 90s drove themselves to Church for the first time since moving down here. Afterwards, we took them to the park and walked around for a while, before taking in an early Supper. And we have girl scout cookies.
So, that was nice at least.
posted by Spike Glee at 11:58 AM on February 10 [7 favorites]

My partner and I run a little free cinema (think miniature model of a historic theatre on the side of a building that shows themed collections of short film clips on demand 24/7 ). We approached a local high school about doing a collaboration and their film class is now super excited about putting together a series of heritage minute films about local activists and community history. There are some good stories, the mothers that blockaded a major rail line to the port to get an overpass built, the lesbians that organized a kiss in to protest discrimination at a local cafe.. We'll show them on the theatre when they're ready. The kids are alright.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 11:59 AM on February 10 [17 favorites]

Great idea for a thread.

Mine: I've been working on a novel, and I think I have finally found the pov character's "voice."
posted by joannemerriam at 12:08 PM on February 10 [8 favorites]

Every February, the Union Gallery at Queen's University does a fundraiser with local art, the art is often half local artists and half the impending upper grad class. You buy a ticket, go to the gallery to look at the art, compile a list of what you like, and when the event arrives, all tickets are done by random draw. This adds an element of frisson to the affair. Shepherd and I have been participating nearly every year since 2016 (last year we opted out).

This year, a ticket purchase was either $100 or $200, and each side of the gallery was divided by those ticket prices. Shepherd went with a $100 option, I did the latter. The fun is in the random draw! Sometimes you get your first pick, sometimes you don't. When my ticket was called, I chose a mixed media piece--out of my usual comfort zone of art, as I usually just do a piece of wall art--that was titled Memento Mori, a gorgeous slightly gruesome confection of a skull and glittery wings and etc under a bell jar. Shepherd went with wall art for this choice.

Anyway, we have new art in our already art-filled house. That's pretty sweet.
posted by Kitteh at 12:10 PM on February 10 [9 favorites]

Really good friends came over this past weekend to eat and watch hockey and there was a lot of laughter.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:15 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

I'm soooooo sleepy, and stupid cold, and utterly unproductive at work, and generally out of sorts. But I do have a very large, homemade iced latte in front of me right now.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:18 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

(also is this a perimenopause thing, where one's internal thermostat flips from whatever it was before? A friend of mine who used to describe herself as a lizard in need of a hot flat rock lately runs hot and can't abide warmer temps; while I, a formerly perpetual nuclear oven, am freezing my tits off all the time. Perimenopause is the only explanation either of us can quite alight on.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 12:20 PM on February 10 [12 favorites]

We moved into a south-facing unit, and the sky was clear on Saturday afternoon, so I was able to have a half-an-eye-open catnap in the sunshine while my daughter danced to her favourite Youtube videos.
posted by clawsoon at 12:24 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

I had to spend my week in a hotel helping interview candidates for the open campus CIO position...

... but a surprising silver lining was learning that my new CPAP machine actually lets me fall asleep and stay asleep in hotels, which for over a decade was just not. something. I. could. do.

Maybe I can start thinking about longer vacation road trips now...
posted by humbug at 12:25 PM on February 10 [9 favorites]

I have a job interview tomorrow!
posted by lizjohn at 12:28 PM on February 10 [16 favorites]

I learned today that I've been wrong about something that has annoyed me for over 10 years, so that's cool!
posted by vernondalhart at 12:30 PM on February 10 [9 favorites]

Yesterday, I saw an excellent performance at Syracuse Stage of a very fine play, "Primary Trust" by Eboni Booth.

Then, today, I had the opportunity to read this decision. You all ought to take a look at it.
posted by JimInSYR at 12:33 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

>Enjoy every sandwich -- Warren Zevon

pulled a hoagie roll from the freezer, 4 frozen meatballs, pizza sauce, cheese . . . and cooked it up for lunch today. Damn good and probably $4 in food cost.
posted by torokunai2 at 12:51 PM on February 10 [3 favorites]

I have advanced to chicken recipes in my learn how to cook book! Yesterday I made a very simple, onions, potatoes and chicken dish and it came out well. It was way easier that I expected going in and I am very happy to have another down. Next recipe to attempt is chicken wings.
posted by Art_Pot at 12:58 PM on February 10 [8 favorites]

Our two year old is speaking full sentences!

Yesterday's favorite sentence: "Mommy, I want too much goldfish."
posted by subdee at 1:04 PM on February 10 [26 favorites]

also is this a perimenopause thing, where one's internal thermostat flips from whatever it was before?

Oh hell yeah. If you're lucky the thermostat will at least stay flipped, instead of going back and forth many times a day, sweater on, sweater off, sweater on, sweater off.
posted by JanetLand at 1:12 PM on February 10 [5 favorites]

but a surprising silver lining was learning that my new CPAP machine actually lets me fall asleep and stay asleep in hotels...

Hey, fellow new CPAP person! This is exciting to hear; I can sleep OK in hotels but I wouldn't mind improvement and it's nice hearing positive things about their effect while I'm in the acclimation phase. (One weekend so far; I'm sleeping through the night without waking up but I think the mask is keeping me from sleeping deeply, I'm still a bit tired when I wake up.)
posted by Bryant at 1:14 PM on February 10 [4 favorites]

"Mommy, I want too much goldfish."

One of my favorites of my wife's English constructions, when being served something: "Not so too much!"
posted by Rash at 1:19 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

Last year we bought a single Bidens ferulifolia (formerly Coreopsis) aka beggarticks plant hoping it would attract yellow admiral butterflys - and we weren't disappointed as as soon as we planted it a yellow admiral came trotting down the drive to investigate it! So we're slowly learning the ecology of this pairing

This spring Bidens seedlings came up abundantly (germination is near 100% just in the garden), and proved to be very transplantable so now we have three patches of them - one patch, Bidens seem to play well with other plants, are non-invasive (at least in our garden), grow about 400mm tall and are just the most eye-popping poster yellow. While our first plant behaved like an annual we are hoping this generation may be perennial (depends a bit on our winter).
posted by unearthed at 1:28 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

@MtDewd, oh my goodness thank you SO MUCH for sharing that!
posted by evilmomlady at 1:40 PM on February 10 [2 favorites]

the Nielsen folks just sent me $5.

thanks metafilter.😀
posted by clavdivs at 1:43 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

Hey, JiminSYR, I saw "Primary Trust" at Syracuse Stage, too! It was really excellent. The writing was really great, and all of the actors knocked it out of the park! My favorite thing I've seen there so far!
posted by MythMaker at 1:45 PM on February 10 [4 favorites]

I went legit bar hopping for the first time with some friends Saturday night. Reader, it was a lot of fun.
posted by Gorgik at 1:45 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

I also saw Primary Trust recently. So great.
posted by Gorgik at 1:45 PM on February 10 [2 favorites]

I have the night off from the show and after this week I can get back to my regular schedule. I am now up to THREE recruiters beating the bushes for me.

Also - I have been using the 5 Calls app a lot lately, and a new call we can make is a call to our state attorney General, urging them to join a lawsuit against Elon Musk. However - my state AG is Tish James, who STARTED that suit. So I called anyway to thank her - and to take credit for a zucchini muffin she bought at my block garden bake sale in October.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:59 PM on February 10 [13 favorites]

I start a class tomorrow that will make it possible for me to administer controlled substances. I feel that the person doing that is too pushy and has a higher failure rate than I will have. I'm going to put the ground up Clonazepam in chocolate ice cream.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 2:38 PM on February 10 [8 favorites]

Thanks for doing the free thread, jenfullmoon. Wanted to post something this morning, but the world was too much and too busy, so: today, you are my small good thing.
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:56 PM on February 10 [15 favorites]

I had a phone interview today that left me feeling hopeful.

Watched “The Producers” with a friend for the first time in quite a while, and realized that the plot is rather thin but it’s still a fun watch. “Springtime for That Guy” is still in my head.

Dinner is in the oven and my cat is on my lap. I think he has attachment trauma? We have to do a whole reunion ritual every time I leave and come back. He’d like it if I would lie on the floor and let him make biscuits every time but sometimes it’s just a belly scritch.

On my kazillionth rewatch of Buffy. You know, it’s not a *great* show … but it keeps speaking to me at different life stages. This time there’s a small group aligned against the forces of evil, a lot of other people who surely have some awareness that things are not exactly normal in their world, and then of course we have the seemingly endless forces of evil. And our hero fights evil and also has important friendships and worries about grades and boys. I’m here for it.
posted by bunderful at 5:39 PM on February 10 [7 favorites]

today, you are my small good thing.

Awwww! Thank you! *hearts*
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:44 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

We start filming in March, and part of my homework until then (now that I have realized I am filling the cinematographer role, not just a cameraman) is researching how best to light such a wide variety of skin colors, something that doesn't get covered much in general lighting techniques. Thus far it doesn't seem too unique, but just needs some understanding and not treating 'white' as the default.

An important topic. The first film I shot in film school as a cinematographer was for a fellow student who was black, and it had an all-black cast. I appreciated that she emphasized to me the importance of making sure that the cast was properly lit and exposed.

This is something I still think about when watching films and TV... because I still see too many shows and movies getting it wrong.

As impressed as I generally am with Jessica Lee Gagne's cinematography on Severance, I'm a bit disappointed that I often see shots of the dark-skinned Milchick where his face is just a dark blob against a light background. This is a solvable problem, but the people involved on the technical side have to recognize it.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 5:47 PM on February 10 [5 favorites]

I wonder if on Severance, the reference monitors they use during production show Milchick okay, but they don't take into account that not everyone has that level of HDR in their setup. (Not excusing them, as that is still a related failing if so )
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:10 PM on February 10 [4 favorites]

I discovered this week that a choice-based game I wrote last year has been nominated in a bunch of categories in the 2024 IFDB Awards, including Outstanding Debut and Outstanding Science Fiction.

It won’t win any of these, but it is nice to see a project of mine get a little recognition.
posted by AndrewStephens at 6:22 PM on February 10 [14 favorites]

My new kitten is still hiding under the bed, but he's been using the litter box and eating his food and we've made brief contact. I'm having a hard time being patient! Photos when he's not just a dark blur under the bed.
posted by gingerbeer at 6:37 PM on February 10 [13 favorites]

My daughter (9) wanted cookies the other day, but there were no cookies in the house, but there were ingredients. So she just…made cookies! They were delicious.
posted by rockindata at 7:14 PM on February 10 [17 favorites]

Something good: Today I was able to decline an Outlook meeting invite because by the time the meeting is scheduled to occur I'll be retired.

Mood: somewhere between [Homer Simpson happy dance] and "[place of employment redacted] can SUCK IT!"
posted by e-man at 8:21 PM on February 10 [33 favorites]

Talked with my mom for the first time in weeks (no problems, we just run in streaks with that sort of thing, despite living within literal walking distance of each other, not that I can walk right now). She had been playing a board game with my nephews (who live with her) and when they saw it was "Auntie Cin" calling, they decided to play Wii instead, because they knew it would be an hour-long convo. Heh.

Texted my eldest (4 miles from me) and youngest (90 minutes) to see who would be up for a small road trip to Madison WI (6 hrs) to see middle kid perform in Cabaret. No word from eldest, but youngest is up for it, and would like to introduce the person he's been seeing (who I think lives in the Madison area?). Youngest likes to play things close to the vest, usually; the fact he wants to introduce us to them is cool.

So Yay! I get to road trip with at least one kid, in order to see another! And meet someone who is important to one of my kids!

On the downside, Eldest and I are attending the memorial of my ex's uncle this week. Dude was kind to Ex and me when we were just starting out - car repairs, etc - and it's one more reminder that my generation is becoming the elders.
posted by cinnamonduff at 8:49 PM on February 10 [8 favorites]

We're so close to full moon that I'm getting antsy. I know it sounds like lunacy, but I swear I'm affected by the full moon. Often, I won't be thinking about moon phases but happen to look up while outside feeding the horses, and bingo, nearly full moon. Then I'll think, oh yeah, that's why I'm feeling this way. I guess if I blame it on the moon I can just go with the flow until the mood or whatever passes.
Meanwhile, it's colder than a snowman's bunghole, but no precipitation, and supposed to warm up to 40 degrees by Friday. Going riding in the arena with a friend Saturday. Hope everyone is able to look forward through this week to something good in their weekend. Stay warm, you northerners.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:05 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

It’s the opposite of free, but my partner and I are under contract on a house. We had a weekend of bullshit limbo as the seller’s agent didn’t treat us super well, but now it’s over and everything is signed and now it’s time to go home and pack everything. Yay!
posted by itesser at 9:16 PM on February 10 [14 favorites]

I love full moons. I got excited seeing tonight's.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:01 PM on February 10 [6 favorites]

My 9 month old son finally got the all clear from the doctor after months of feeding difficulties, reflux and poor weight gain. Such a relief to put all that stress behind us (until the next inevitable parenting curveball no doubt!). I'm really enjoying this age - he's such a goofball!
posted by toebeans at 5:11 AM on February 11 [12 favorites]

Oh! And my cats are finally friends again after almost 6 weeks of tension and fighting! In the end I think they just needed time and slow introductions to ease back into being friends. Now they're completely back to their weird little selves, as if nothing happened.
posted by toebeans at 5:22 AM on February 11 [7 favorites]

I'm still doing a FF update this week, but my schedule was a little packed yesterday and today I have a big wide open hour to kill in late afternoon. Should be up before dinner.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:40 AM on February 11 [3 favorites]

Thanks for the post and all the good news shares! There was an empty window seat next to the aisle seat on my flight between San Francisco and Copenhagen on my way back to Sweden over Saturday/Sunday. I could not sleep but I could spread out, which was excellent.

It is not spring here, but it felt like spring in the East Bay, and I loved it. There was tons of rain but also sunny days. My sisters and friends made me feel loved. I am spending a week in Stockholm, which is good. Then I will go back to Bumfuck and try to make my daughter and grandchildren feel loved. I was worried that I might hate being back. I don't, and that is a good thing.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:35 AM on February 11 [5 favorites]

I watched Space Jam for the first time Sunday. It was a mess, but I did learn that Muggsy Bogues exists and that makes me very happy.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 9:19 AM on February 11 [3 favorites]

Living with my parents is going well. Mom's very happy that I'm willing and able to drive her/them around. (She doesn't like how my Dad and sister drive, mostly because they see her anxiety as a bug rather than a feature.) My rent is less than 1/4 of what I'd be paying elsewhere, and instead of making a landlord/business rich, I'm helping my folks save up for upgrades to the house.

Took them to visit my Mom's last Aunt in the hospital on Sunday. Mom's been trying to mentally prepare herself for this (she's in her late 70's, so she's lost a lot of people close to her lately), and she was finally ready. We had a nice lunch afterward.

I've been taking dance classes for a year, and I'm keeping my word to one of my teachers and participating in the recital at the end of June. For one number it'll be me and a bunch of younger girls, but it'll be fun.
posted by luckynerd at 11:15 AM on February 11 [6 favorites]

I'm up to the movies of 1971 for my blog, which meant that one of the movies I got to pick from today was Harold and Maude. I'd already seen it, but I always rewatch stuff I've already seen.

Man I love that weird little film.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:24 PM on February 11 [8 favorites]

After about 19-ish years (!!!) of lurking and reading and debating to join... I finally created a Metafilter account. :) (Did it last week, and then, as the universe loves a good joke, work and life got ultra busy, and I haven't had a chance to actually comment until now. )

Also, today I got my first "Wordle in 1!" :D
posted by Pshift2 at 3:05 PM on February 11 [21 favorites]

Pshift2: After about 19-ish years (!!!) of lurking and reading and debating to join... I finally created a Metafilter account. :)

Is the P silent, pronounced as a letter name, or pronounced as a normal consonant in a normal word?
posted by clawsoon at 3:32 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]

Welcome Pshift2! It's great to have you here!
posted by kristi at 3:50 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]

clawsoon, I typically pronounce it P shift 2, but it's really longform for P@, which is the online moniker I've used (when I can, so many forums don't allow special characters in the usernames) for nearly 30 years now. (my name is Pat... thus the P and the @.)
posted by Pshift2 at 4:22 PM on February 11 [4 favorites]

(my name is Pat... thus the P and the @.)

Nice, I never would've puzzled that out!
posted by clawsoon at 4:24 PM on February 11 [3 favorites]

Harold and Maude was a movie my sister and I rented on VHS probably twenty times.

Today was very cool & rainy and unpleasant in other ways. I found out I'm not getting the job that would get me out of the shelter. The owner of the LLC is putting his nephew in there. I went to pharmacy class today and found out I am making more than women who've worked at my job for years. I was also one of the few people who could read the Roman numerals still used on prescriptions. I see why the class has a high failure rate.

I really feel like drinking. I've been chilled all day and it would feel good. Instead, I'm getting some pad Thai delivered before I go to a mandatory 12-step meeting.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 4:35 PM on February 11 [3 favorites]

My car, which I have owned for 10 days, had to be towed to the dealership this afternoon as it suddenly developed an unpleasant rattling, scraping noise while in reverse.

The good news is that this happened in my driveway. And the people at the dealership were really nice.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:40 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]

Update: Talked with my mom for the first time in weeks (no problems, we just run in streaks with that sort of thing, despite living within literal walking distance of each other...
Texted my eldest (4 miles from me)...
Eldest and I are attending the memorial of my ex's uncle this week.

Eldest texted tonight that she's on for the roadtrip to Madison as well, so making plans for March 8th or thereabouts. Then she texts tonight asking for a ride to work tomorrow AM as the power steering is out in her vehicle (hopefully just frozen, she says) (?? is that a thing??) and her spouse's truck has a flat.

So the "it never rains but it pours" level of communication runs in the family, as I will be seeing Eldest twice in two days after not seeing her since Christmas, despite living only 4 miles apart. (Ok, I did wave at her as I passed her workplace last week when she was leaving.)
posted by cinnamonduff at 8:10 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]

Later than I intended, but this week's FF roundup is up.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:16 PM on February 11 [3 favorites]

Is this thread intended to make me warm and fuzzy about Bezo’s rag?
posted by aiq at 8:27 AM on February 12

Is this thread intended to make me warm and fuzzy about Bezo’s rag?

Her name is Lauren Sanchez!
posted by mittens at 8:42 AM on February 12 [1 favorite]

Hi everyone! If you are interested in buying Girl Scout cookies from a trans or nonbinary Girl Scout, here is a list of participating scouts with links to order.

I ordered an extra box of thin mints because hey.
posted by mochapickle at 9:05 AM on February 12 [5 favorites]

Harold and Maude! My (current) fave podcast, You Are Good - talking about movies with Alex Steed and Sarah Marshall-💖, just did Harold and Maude - excellent episode! (No Sarah this time, but with guests Miranda Zickler and Eve Lindley).

I did a scary medical procedure yesterday (it went fine and wasn't scary), so glad it's over with! Tomorrow, dentist. I look forward to the coming weekend when both of those things are done and in the past. I have been painting more, hooray! Also recently found a great new provider of news on current events, Kathrynn Edwards (Keds Economist - which I linked at the bottom of another thread.)

mochapickle - thank you for the link!
posted by Glinn at 9:53 AM on February 12 [4 favorites]

I had a big work presentation today and it went GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so relieved!!!!!!
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:35 PM on February 12 [9 favorites]

I'd also like to state that I truly enjoy that a child picked his nose and wiped it on the presidential desk.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:37 PM on February 12

That quilt is lovely, Jeanne. I also like your line "now we just keep spiralling until we run out of pieces".
posted by paduasoy at 2:05 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

Got a pile of snow overnight . The most this winter. Schools are cancelled . Pearson has a lot of cancelled ,delayed flights. My street's not plowed yet.
I'll have to start shoveling soon. It's going to take a few tries..
posted by yyz at 4:59 AM on February 13

Hey, fellow new CPAP person!

Um, I guess count me in this club too? I wasn't going to mention it in a happy thread b/c of the whole "my brain forgets to tell me to breathe" aspect, but since other people are talking about it...

I read a lot of horror stories leading up to actually getting the thing, and went through some stages of grief (like bargaining with my sleep doc--"fifty percent of patients stop using it! surely there's a better way")...then I got the thing and it actually is pretty okay? I had to swap out masks for a better fit for my big weird frankenstein skull, but all the claustrophobia and stuff just never materialized for me, and I got used to it really fast. I kind of like it? It's like a new peripheral for my face. I want to do another run of pulse oxes (pulse oxen?) to see how that looks, but the overnight oximeter is actually more uncomfortable than the cpap mask.

I'm not used to having weird health events take a positive turn like this! Something went right! Sort of! There are still underlying problems and I have to see a neurologist eventually! But it's a small victory in my ongoing battle against a brain that's trying to murder me in my sleep!
posted by mittens at 6:06 AM on February 13 [3 favorites]

Dudes

DUDES

I don't want to give too many details because I don't want to jinx it but EVERYONE CROSS YOUR FINGERS because I just got a job lead from someone who I worked with TEN YEARS ago who later went on to work for one of my DREAM companies and just TODAY reached out to ask if I was job hunting because something opened up
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:03 AM on February 13 [9 favorites]

The car is fine, the issue was warped rotors. The dealership also replaced some some trim. Everything was covered under the warranty, which means that I already recovered 1/5 of the cost of the extended warranty and service contract.

As I get paid tomorrow, I shall spend some more money on Girl Scout Cookies.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:52 PM on February 13 [2 favorites]

Well, dammit, the THREE gigs that one of my recruiters was working on for me have all been washups.

I MIGHT be able to get unemployment insurance for this break after all; we'll see. I just said "what the heck" and tried filling, and it wasn't an instant "no".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:49 AM on February 14 [1 favorite]

I am now allowed to administer controlled substances in the state of Tennessee.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:46 AM on February 14 [9 favorites]

I am now allowed to administer controlled substances in the state of Tennessee.

I'll be there in an hour.
posted by mittens at 9:57 AM on February 14 [8 favorites]

I don't really have anything good to report, but it's nice to read about everyone else's small and big things. Well, OK, I am going out for Valentine's Day with my wife so actually that's good, and we are dropping my son off at his first day of his first job, also good.

My issue is that the good stuff is bouncing off my brain lately due to the giant pile of bad stuff, which I won't list here. I guess one more good thing: In a couple of weeks I have an appointment with a psychiatrist to see what's wrong with me. Therapy has been spectacularly unhelpful so this might be the right path.
posted by caviar2d2 at 1:24 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

I didn't realize how much I disliked Cary, NC until I moved away in 2004. It went from 4 way stops where people argued over whose turn it was to 4 lane parkways where people cut you off. I can only imagine what the sprawl is like now.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 1:43 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Twice in my life I thought I would die driving through an area. The first was coming down 77 in a fog so thick that I could not see the side of the road. The second was on 40 right outside of Cary, NC (the drivers are INSANE), so that definitely tracks.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 6:36 AM on February 15 [2 favorites]

We had power again last night after a couple days & nights without. It got down to 50 inside, and I'm so glad it was only upper 20s/lower 30s outside. What I'm trying to say is that our small, functional fireplace made things bearable, but central heating is awesome.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:40 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]

Today is the day! Friend date this evening!

Did I wake up sick? Sure thing. Sigh. Oh well. Date with the doggo it is.
posted by obfuscation at 7:29 AM on February 15 [1 favorite]

So the person at work who likes me drove me to and from class all week. It would have been two hours on the bus or a seventy minute walk with no pedestrian infrastructure so I accepted the offer because Uber is really iffy in the AM and she lives in the same rough neighborhood.

She talked a lot in the car and on breaks. She touched me often. Her teen rebellion was to correspond with an inmate and marry them. She says they got along better when he was in prison. She said that she'd never marry outside of her faith again so I felt a bit safer.

I've been blunt about not wanting to interact with Jehovah's Witnesses who came to my door and she said they have to do that but she doesn't like doing it. She asked me what I thought happened after death and I said I don't think the personality survives. She agreed with me and I was surprised.

On the last day of training, she had me drive her car back to the shelter because she wanted my opinion on whether it was handling badly. I drove and it felt like something was amiss in the actual steering wheel. I'd start a turn and it would resist and make a noise right in the cabin instead of outside the windows so I asked her if some of the guys at the shelter could take a look. They had tools and fixed it in an hour, ribbing me the whole time about how I liked 'em young.

Then I gave her sixty bucks and told her that was what I would have paid for rides if I could have got them. She protested and I insisted, saying I'd rather she get the money than Uber. She lives in subsidized housing with her unhealthy mom and is always scrabbling for hours that work with her mom's appointment schedule. She took it and said it would help them. Then she said she really enjoyed the week because of me. That she was really nervous about tests and having someone to talk to was really good for her and she was sorry if she'd been too much. I felt more at ease. I said we work really well together and I'd talk to my manager about asking for her to work my house on the weekends.

She was really happy leaving my place. I feel like things are defined now and will happily work with her.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 9:40 PM on February 15 [7 favorites]

So the show closed tonight and there was a bit of a soiree at the bar in the theater venue. While we were there, some of us noticed that there was a card at the bar advertising a pair of signature drinks inspired by one of the OTHER shows at that venue, and we decided there should be a signature cocktail for OUR show too. We came up with the name ("Yellow Bird", since that song is a recurring motif in our show) and the bartender came up with the recipe: a screwdriver made specifically with Grey Goose vodka, with some bitters and simple syrup.

Y'ALL.

It was delicious. It was also the reason I took a cab home instead of the subway.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:14 PM on February 15 [4 favorites]

Based on the speed with which my illness and the feeling like I got hit by a truck* I think I have the flu. :(

*can confirm I did not
posted by obfuscation at 6:48 AM on February 16

A Yellow Bird cocktail sounds amazing. You would not, perchance, know the amount of each ingredient offhand? I mean, I can experiment, but perimenopause means I’m pretty much one and done on any given night.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 2:31 PM on February 16

Unfortunately I didn't get an exact recipe; I think you can get away with assuming the orange juice and vodka quantities are whatever you need for a standard screwdriver, but search me for the bitters and simple syrup. The bartender was playing a little close to the vest too - I asked him what kind of bitters and he said "like, just standard bitters."

Maybe just mix the one screwdriver and then play with the syrup and bitters ratio, tweaking with each sip as you go?

I can add that the Yellow Bird was garnished with a SERIOUSLY chonky slice of orange.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:46 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

Yinz, ya'll, whatever your vernacular, I just discovered I have a whole BUNCH of live shows lined up over the next few months. Including Scott Thompson as Buddy Guy. I am so freaking excited.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:15 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]

And my friend, who is going to see Amythyst Kiah with me, forgot about the show. Which makes us even, because I forgot about Ani DiFranco. I am crying with laughter right now.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 4:24 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]