Day 260 - Quirky Things (in Bullets) in These Foolish Things

• Work continues to be super weird. I put in for a raise - just because shit’s falling apart here and because I’ve been here two years without so much as a cost-of-living increase or a pat on the back. Kitty Cat has been pretty open with me about the financial situation of the company, but the kicker was that since telling me they are not going to be replacing her position (CEO) when she leaves, Head Cat actually wants to absorb her salary for himself! While we were talking, she was apparently doing the math for said raise, and told me that she’ll put in the request and that if Head Cat doesn’t approve it, that I should WALK. She said that! Do you see what I’m saying here? I mean, I know I need to walk anyway, but it would be nice to have that raise for however long I spend searching for my next gig.

• And the job hunt situation is difficult. I am pretty sure my age is showing. LinkedIn changed their algorithm, but I am not getting any views lately! I’m filling out applications and contacting all of the headhunters in my contacts list. I do have a meeting with one of them on Friday, but even when things were crazy with Covid, I’ve never had this much trouble getting someone to even talk to me! I am also meeting with a LinkedIn “specialist” on Friday. It’s only a 15-minute meeting, but maybe they can help me update my profile to activate more activity! This is scary.

• Fucking politics. I don’t understand people who say they are not political, because politics affects every area of our lives! From our jobs (see above) to our medical situations/health, to our food prices, it’s allllll politics!! And it’s so fucked up right now. Politics affects every nook and cranny of our lives! Even dating!! Look at all the muthafuckin’ Trumpy weirdos out there!

• Speaking of dating, there’s a guy who’s followed my socials for years and years and years. We knew each other in a previous work life, but I can’t for the life of me remember HOW we know each other. Just feels like I’ve always known him. And I know we’ve met in person before - maybe even many times, but I can’t remember! Anyway, he regularly leaves comments on the things I post, and last year he was visiting my area (he has family who lives in a city close by, but actually lives in Central America right now). We tried to get together earlier this year, but on the day he was coming to my city for a date with me, his mother was in a car accident, so he had to take care of her. ANYWAY, he’s been hinting around again about getting together, and I told him that he’d have to be in closer proximity. He told me he’s planning on moving back to the USA early next year. Which, good! But then, over the weekend, he asked me out for New Year’s Eve! He’s going to be in a neighboring city to be with family over the holidays, but he wanted to see if I’d like to do something for NYE. And I’m like, what the hell! Why not? It would be soooooo nice to have a NYE date. I can’t remember the last time that’s happened. More details as I have them.

• Have y’all been watching The Pitt? Yes, it just won “The Big Emmy” award, but it was recommended to me by Kitty Cat after we’d been chatting about some of my medical stuff and my exciting emergency room drama when my carotid artery dissected. I started watching it last week and got hooked! I binged the whole series pretty much over the weekend, and WOW! I thought it was really good. They encountered just about every medical emergency – INCLUDING a young stroke victim who’d suffered a carotid artery dissection like I did back in 2019! Now, I didn’t have a stroke, but that’s only because the ER docs caught it before I did, thank goodness! But this poor woman was not as fortunate. I was bummed that they didn’t follow her story for long, because after they were able to bring her back to consciousness, the neurosurgeon took over and they took her away. But the stories!! I was riveted! The link (above) says they’re going to have another season. So I can swoon over Noah Wyle some more come January!

• I’ve been vintage shopping! I discovered (well, I’d heard about it for a good, long while, but I finally went) this city-wide antique market that happens every couple of months at a big convention center downtown. Oooh. It was full of treasures! I had Martini with me and she was getting annoyed, so I didn’t get to stay as long as I wanted, and I didn’t get to see nearly everything there. But I managed to splurge on a couple of suuuuper cool tops - one of them a vintage embroidered western wear shirt (so fun!) and one of them a vintage Italian Krizia top with monkeys all over it. I decided I will wear this top for my job interview with a local global fashion company! It’s so freaking cool. Manifesting! I also found a reversible patchwork quilted jacket, a paneled denim skirt, and a badass military jacket. And accessories! Brooches, bracelets. Oh, I’ve gone down a rabbit hole and soon my whole wardrobe will consist of pre-loved pieces. I haven’t even mentioned that I’ve discovered the vintage section of the retailer Reformation. I should write a whole entry about vintage and how excited I am to have discovered this incredible hobby!

• I’ve also been attending MeetUp groups for weekend walking. This has been super fun, and I always seem to meet very interesting people. Last Sunday I did a downtown walk. We did a 4-mile walk around a part of the city trail and then stopped for lunch afterwards. I met some awesome women - including a couple who live close by and want to walk in my park together at some point! The leader of the group seemed a bit quirky, and he was! Turns out, he’s a German beer lobbyist and lives a simple life with nearly no furniture in his house because he’s also a martial artist and likes to be on the floor! Wild. I should write a whole entry about these MeetUp groups. There are some incredibly interesting folks out there! I will keep doing this until I find the group I really click with. I think this is like dating, too. Or something similar to my volunteer search for a cause that I really love (and I’m still doing monthly, by the way).

• Can anyone tell me why my birds and squirrels have stopped coming to my feeders? I miss them terribly, and I think Martini does too! I wonder if my birdseed has gone bad? Maybe they don’t like the food I put out? But it’s bumming me out because it used to be a circus of animals on my balcony, and now it’s really quiet and kinda boring.

• Ok, nearly time to take Martini out the the park for our morning long walk. This is the only time Martini will do long walks with me anymore. I can tell she’s really starting to get arthritic in her hind legs (maybe just one of them), because she tends to get really stiff. The other day, I could tell she was hurting, and she tried to jump up onto my bed - which is fairly low - and she missed and fell down, and my heart just shattered for her. Anyway, it’s not all of the time, but I can tell she has achy days and then better days. Poor little girl. But yeah, mornings seem to be the only time she really wants to walk, so we have to take advantage of that. And then I gotta get a move on at work! Ugh.

xox,
GS