Life Sucks Right Now
So have something sublime.
This is best served on a pair of Sennheisers, but if you don’t have Sennheisers, any old headphones with good bass will do.
(Also, god this song sounds so much better when it’s not played at 35 BPM.)
LOOK AT THIS GARBAGE WEATHER
LOOK AT IT.
I hate it.
At least I have my treadmill now, so I used that for the first time today instead of having to trudge through like four inches of snow.
Thank you to my wonderful husband for a) helping me haul it up the stairs to our condo and b) helping me put it together once we got it up here.
Yay.
Web Comic!
Hey nerds. So I randomly stumbled across this web comic, and while it appears to be a spinoff of another comic that I am unfamiliar with, I still found it super intriguing and couldn’t stop reading it. So I wanted to promote it here!
A very clean, expressive art style and an interesting set of characters. It makes me want to check out the author’s (bioatomic’s) other stuff.
Woo!
Oliver Tree is a Weird Dude and I Love Him
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned him on here before, but I want to mention him again ’cause he’s great. I first heard of him through his music video for “Hurt,” which YouTube recommended for me for some reason.
Turns out all his music videos are weird and fantastic.
And a new one (which is why I’m blogging about him today):
I love his pants.
TREADMILL OMFG
So it didn’t end up coming yesterday, but IT’S HERE NOW!
AND IT’S HUGE!
AND IT’S DOWN IN THE MAIN LOBBY, MEANING NATE AND I WILL HAVE TO HAUL IT UP A FEW FLIGHTS OF STAIRS TONIGHT!
EDIT: Turns out the first workout involving the treadmill was an arm workout. There was no way I could have done that without Nate. But here’s the ‘mill all set up (from a few days later):
Map of Fear
Perhaps this will all be over by the time I post these blogs and this website will either be defunct or just a memory of this rough time, but until then, here’s a world map of COVID-19 cases.
Y’know, in case there’s anyone out there who hasn’t seen this yet.
United States, you need to chill.
Poof-da-woof
MY TREADMILL IS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TOMORROW LASDJFLSDJFLASFJ
In other news, it’s still the dead of winter here, temperature-wise. Today the “feels like” temperature was 5 when I started my walk.
F I V E.
It is A P R I L.
And it’s supposed to snow like five days out of the next two weeks.
I reiterate: A P R I L.
It was also cloudy and dreary as hell today, which kills my motivation to do anything. I am solar-powered, yo. I needs da sun.
Bye.
Do the Covid-19 Panic
So is anyone else experiencing some serious COVID-19 symptoms that are completely psychosomatic in nature?
I sure as hell feel like I am.
I feel like I’m coughing more, even though I know I’m not.
I feel feverish, even though I’m not. I take my temperature like seven times a day and half the time my temp is below 96 degrees (I’m a lizard).
I feel like I’m having trouble breathing, even though I’m not. I can take deep breaths without struggling, I’m not wheezing or feeling a rattle or anything like that. And I’m pretty sure I couldn’t run seven miles if I was having actual breathing problems. I think part of this “symptom” is that when I’m working at home at my desk, I hunch over way more than I do at my office desk, which makes my lungs feel a bit more compressed.
But yeah, fun times. I’m pretty sure I’d actually be someone who showed no symptoms if I ever did get the virus, ‘cause that’s just how it would be.
Look at this adorable girl
She loves to grind her teeth and chin on my toes. And purr incessantly while she does so.
That is all.
CLOUDSKY
Y’all, look at this fantastic cloud boundary. So sharp.
I risked my fingers freezing off for this, too. It’s so freaking cold here right now, but it wasn’t cold enough to deter me from taking cool cloud pictures.
‘Cause that’s how I roll.
US vs. Canada
Hey friends in the United States, is it as bad down there as the news is making it sound? ‘Cause it sounds pretty bad.
Obviously no one is really focusing on Idaho; how’s Idaho? Is everyone walking around in fear of getting the virus? Is Gritman overwhelmed? Are people protesting the shelter-at-home orders to get back to work?
Obviously Canada is getting hit by this as well (just like the rest of the world), but I think the biggest difference between Canada and the US as far as how this is being handled is in how it’s become such a political thing in the US whereas up here, we haven’t politicized it.
At least, not nearly to the extent that the US has.
Like…the crisis is being dealt with despite political differences up here. Political differences are not being deepened by the crisis. Again, at least not to the extent that they are in the US.
It’s interesting and weird and scary.
And this is going to sound really stupid, but I feel guilty for not being in the United States. I feel guilty for living in a country that seems to be handling this quite well while like 99.8% of all the people I’ve ever cared about are getting traumatized by the Trumpster Dumpster and his complete incompetence. It sounds scary down there, and I feel guilty for not having to share that scariness, if that makes any sense at all.
Anyway.
Blah.
E-lectricity! EEEEEEEEEEE-lectricity!
OH MY GOD I KEEP FORGETTING TO BLOG ABOUT THIS
So we were away from the Superstore for a little while and when we came back they had THESE.
LOOK AT THEM.
They’re little electronic price labels and they are fascinating.
Edit: I just spent fifteen minutes reading a brochure about them.
Can…can regular people get a hold of these? I just want, like…five of them.
To cuddle.
(Sorry, these are for some reason obscenely cute to me and must be treasured and protected. I don’t know what my problem is.)
Edit again: we’ve seen a few injured ones (punctured/broken screens) lying to the side of aisles in the Superstore and it’s so hard not to take them, hahaha. I’d get in so much trouble, I’m sure.
FFFFFFFF RUNNING FEELS SO GOOD
I forgot how nice it feels to run outside.
Like, running on a treadmill is fine and dandy and a great way to deal with the urge of “NEED TO RUN” when it’s in the negative Fahrenheits outside.
But holy hell, running outside is a completely different experience. It’s so…relaxing? Natural? Calming?
I love it.
Today’s run was probably the easiest run I’ve had in a long while. I set a new fastest 10k time which I’m not going to post on here ‘cause it’s embarrassing how slow it still is and is nothing to be proud of.
But hey, I’m all about the distance more than the speed, right? And now that I can run outside and have more free time due to working from home/the semester starting to wrap up, I can start increasing my distances.
Hopefully.
YAY!
Tunes to Soothe Your Pandemic-Riddled Mind
So now that I’m no longer working on my Decade of Music project, I guess there won’t be any more end-of-year song summaries.
FEAR NOT!
I will periodically provide you with updates about groovy tunes that I find post-project.
Let’s do one now!
- Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (of course. I’m in love with this song.)
- Stupid Love by Lady Gaga
- Karma by AJR (relatable)
- Shout by Empara Mi (this song fits a good plot thread in last year’s NaNo so well, you have no idea)
- Woohoo by Raghav (he’s a Calgary dude!)
- Caution by The Killers (like every The Killers song, it’s got that sad, frantic yearning tone behind it. And for some reason that shot with the birds along with those chords at 3:56 just murdered my heart.)
- Unless It Hurts by Galantis
FIVE STAR ALERT! FIVE STAR ALERT!
Oh my god, I love this song.
It’s got such awesome energy to it. And it is now the first Five Star post-Decade of Music Project.
So that’s kinda cool.
(Seriously, I’ve already listened to this like 80 times.)
Oh shit I bought a treadmill
Oh shit oh shit oh shit
Most people’s response to possible stay-at-home orders: oh no, groceries/oh no, friends/oh no, malls
My response: THIS VIRUS SHALL NOT TAKE AWAY MY WALKING MILEAGE SO HELP ME GOD
So I bought this guy. Not sure exactly when he’ll get here, but hopefully before they shut everything completely down.
Yes, I mainly bought him in case we get quarantined. But he’ll also be useful for days where it’s pouring rain in the spring/summer/fall and days where it’s too cold to even make it the two miles to Anytime Fitness without getting frostbite.
So yeah.
How the Shit is it Still Only March?
It’s another one of these survey doodads, hip-hip-hooray.
1. If there’s a personal god, what quality would you most like that person to have (and why)?
Can…can they just be Leibniz? If so, that.
2. What’s your death-row meal?
Souls.
3. Assuming we make it through this outbreak with minimal loss of life, what do you think our big takeaway should be?
Don’t hide the severity of a medical emergency, no matter how bad it makes your country look.
4. Whom do you find yourself missing more than you would’ve predicted?
Sean. I really miss Sean.
5. What brings you the most joy? Not happiness, not contentment — JOY.
Not much brings me joy anymore. Hell, I can’t think of anything that consistently brings me joy right now.
6. Do you find yourself regretting anything you’ve said or done on social media?
Pfft. I regret nothing. P.S., if you go far enough back in this blog, you’ll find some primo r/IAmVerySmart material.
7. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your body and face?
Favorite: nothing
Least favorite: everything
I’m not kidding.
9. How’s the self-isolation affecting your libido?
Hah. What libido?
10. Which three places in the physical universe would you most like to visit?
The sun, Antarctica, Hanover. I know those are pretty “close” given the whole physical universe, but hey. I don’t like to travel.
11. On whom did you have a crush years ago? Have you ever told them?
We all know the Lead saga. We don’t need to go through the Lead saga.
12. How have your religious views changed since you were in high school?
Not at all.
13. If you could change one law, what would it be?
People should be promptly ticketed for not taking care of their sidewalks in the winter. I know there are laws – sort of – that are supposed to motivate people to clean snow/ice/slush off their sidewalks, but I truly think that they should be enforced to the same degree as things like speeding tickets, parking tickets, etc. Think of it this way: if cities waited as long to clean off portions of roads as some people wait to clear their sidewalks, think what a big fit everyone would raise?
Did…Did I DRAW SOMETHING?????
Yes I did.
I hate it.
Annnnnnnnnnd now I have to work from home.
Bah.
We can technically contact our supervisors if we “can’t or don’t” want to work from home, but I don’t want to be that guy who goes against the “let’s get this under control” rules just for the sake of convenience.
So I guess tomorrow I’ll haul all my nonsense home and hope that I’ll be able to concentrate well enough here to actually work.
(I might also try running outside tomorrow, since we’re finally getting a day where the weather is no longer in Super Winter mode.)
Annnnnnnnnnd the border’s closed.
I’m actually surprised they waited so long, but the US-Canadian border is now closed to all “non-essential” travel.
It’s only closed for 30 days, but I suspect it will extend for longer than that.
I know that this closure was a mutual decision between the US and Canada, but if things start to get really rough with all of this (economy-wise, especially), I really hope it doesn’t drive a wedge between the two countries. I’ve posted this video before on here, but I’ve been thinking about it with the recent talk of closing the border (and, of course, the actual closing of the border today).
Eigenblogger 