Hi, friends!
Talk about something you are proud of. Brag about yourselves. Sing your own praises.
I bought a monstera plant in late September, and I was hesistant about it. I have a middling track record with houseplants. Can’t keep a succulent happy to save my life (it’s life? They don’t have enough light and slowly die). But I’ve had a cute lil’ Norfolk Pine for almost 5 years. And I have two, count them TWO, very happy pothos plants. But I really really really wanted a monstera because they’re so pretty.
But I’ve also killed many other houseplants. So this one was $20 and I was on the fence, thinking well damn if I kill it quickly I’ve wasted $20 and killed another houseplant.
However!
Not only has it not died, it’s doing well! It has new leaves coming in! I’ve only had a few leaves turn yellow and die, but that happened after my trip when it didn’t get water for 10 days because I have zero trust in my parents to water correctly. It lives!!!
Planning a 5 week road trip through the west. Trying to throw in customer visits so I can leverage 10 hours of work for 14 nights of company-paid hotels. You’d think the bosses would pitch a fit but my industry is currently petrified of the Great Resignation.
Well done. Company junkets are the best.
Fuck yeah! That’s awesome!!!
My plants are doing very well, with the exception of one that just got re-potted. I think he’s unhappy about the transition.
Oh no! I hope he recovers from the transition!
I am proud that as of three minutes ago I have been doing one of the foot exercises I was supposed to start doing in March of 2020. All it involves is rolling my foot back and forth on a massage roller (that I have had since 2017 and have yet to use). I have already learned why I should have started doing this in March of 2020. Perhaps I shouldn’t wait two years to do it once more.
Oh wow, glad it was useful!
Plantar fascitis relief?
Yes and a heel spur.
I’ve gotten the tender houseplants in off the porch and should probably get the rest in before hard frosts hit. I should prune them and hit them with horticultural oil first, but I’ll see how serious I get.
One I have which I highly recommend is edible bay — there’s a poisonous one which you obviously don’t want. It tolerates a lot of uneven watering and spotty light, and mine is now maybe 20 years old. Once it’s established it’s pretty easy to prune to a manageable size — mine it maybe 2 feet tall now. I wouldn’t call the plant attractive, exactly, but it’s not ugly, and the fresh leaves are much better for cooking than the dried ones you buy.
Ooh thank you for the recommendation! I just bought a bag of turkish bay leaves from Penzey’s, so in like 2 years I’ll need more. Might as well get a houseplant and let it get good and established!
I assembled and installed the new standing desk I ordered to go with the new work from home rig I got from the company (and installed all that shit too) without once losing my fucking mind and setting everything on fire. Now, I have a very nice, dedicated, workspace.
Yay, that’s awesome! I’m trying to figure out how to order a standing desk at work. Supposedly there’s a way to do it through the provisioning tool but I haven’t been able to figure it out.
They only gave us the rig. If we wanted any furniture, that was on us. You can bet your ass they also are not providing any subsidies for our internet bills.
I’m proud of doing work with my hands, which is definitely not a part of my career. Nor was it part of my upbringing.
In the past two weeks I have changed the oil in my car and swapped out all-season radials for the winter tires on my wife’s car. These are things that I could just have someone else do. We can afford it. But I’m much happier about doing these things than meeting any deadlines at work. They take time and real effort.
I used to do that shit because I had to. Now that I can afford it, I like the fact that I don’t actually have to do it, but that I could if I needed to again. Although I am thinking about buying rims for the winter tires so I can just do the swaps myself instead of dropping $60 twice a year for two cars. Mostly it’s because the tire place advertises “free, lifetime” swapping when you buy tires from them, but it turns out they are a bunch of lying fucks and I’d prefer to not reward their behavior.
Yep, that’s why we bought rims. I had to buy a floor jack, jack stands, wheel chocks, and a non-marring 19mm socket for the lug nuts. And yet, I feel that it’s worth it. Takes me 90 minutes, at least.
I’ve been seeing/hearing lots of horror stories about stripped oil pan bolts or filters as well, so I just started doing that again. I’m happy that I did.
it’s kinda amazing what people will fuck up.
And then, decide that it couldn’t possibly be their lack of experience or training, but that this task must be so difficult and complicated only a professionally trained expert can manage it.
I’m still new, so I’m not pushing too hard, but I am trying to convince some people at work that, no, we do not need a (very expensive) company technician come in to do relatively simple things that are already explained in the manual, we just need someone who knows how to use a screwdriver and a ratchet/socket set… :/
But, not to look down on people, not everyone’s had a reason or opportunity to know how to use whatever random tool. Not knowing how to switch the direction of a ratchet wrench doesn’t mean someone’s dumb, it most likely means they haven’t used a ratchet wrench more than a couple times, or maybe not at all.
Lochaber, you have the patience of a SAINT, with regard to the process you’re dealing with!
I would not be able to keep my yap shut, about how that is a DUMB proceedure/process (and wasting both time AND money!!!😒😡🤬), if/when y’all aren’t dealing with the sort of equipment that calls for lockout/tagout procedures to fix!😉💖
I am FAR too impatient, and grouse-y, and would probably be rubbing folks ALL sorts of the wrong way where you are, because it just seems so incredibly DUMB, to always be waiting for “the right person” to come out and use a tool that y’all have knowledge of & manuals to explain the fixes with.
There really IS a special type of satisfaction, in those “i did it myself” physical skills, aren’t there, @Memeweaver?
Even when, YES,you can afford to have someone else do them, it’s just satisfying sometimes to do it oneself, and to know YOU did that thing from start to finish😉💖
I’m proud of my analytical skills.
This week we had a very bad quality issue at work that no one else (higher up) could figure out what happened and they were going to roast the guys who worked on that batch (and would have put several million $ worth of drugs on hold.) I’ll admit that the first thing I did when I found out was I looked thru the logbook and was relieved to find out I wasn’t involved (self preservation/centered). I thought about what happened and in a couple of hours I realized what had happened (a piece from the equipment fell off into someplace no one would notice) using some deduction via occam’s razor.
I think I may have saved three people from getting in massive shit and even provided a solution as well as saved several million $ worth of drugs from being scrapped.
It’s a touch bittersweet because they gave the work to someone in a technical role who is less experienced/aware than I am but politically acceptable. /shrugs/
congrats on the problem solving, but also sympathy on the bitter angle. :/
Previous job, after asking for a raise/reclassification, and being told I was worthless because I was the only one without a grad degree, a day later I was then instructed to train one of those people with a grad degree how to use some equipment. :/
Right now, with what’s going on with Dad (although we are VERY in the middle of all the chaos!🤪🙃💖), I’d have to say;
LEARNING from the crap I’ve been through over the last 8 years, and developing a set of skills/tools to get through chaotic, heavy, and shitty situations, and shepherd my people to the other side of them.
It SUCKS, it’s exhausting, and it’s HARD!!!
But holy DAYUM, is it less chaotic (so far!) with what I’m dealing with Dad, than it was the first time I was dealing with anything of this nature–ironically, eight years ago *this month* when in one fell swoop, we learned that Mom was diabetic, had gangrene in her toe, and needed that same toe and part of her metatarsal behind it amputated the same night.
Then, on the 24th of November, my friend, who was also my neighbor, committed suicide, then i discovered that Mom’s apartment was a hoarder-house, AND the next week i learned that the roof of the building she owned had collapsed & the place was *also* full of hoard…🙃
There’s been a LOT of crap in the intervening years, AND a lot of medical crap & struggles…
But because there WAS so much hell?
And because I lucked into an amazing county financial worker with Mom’s case all those years ago, who helped me navigate all the hell?
I DO have a toolbox now, and am so much further along at getting Dad the help he needs, than I was with Mom.
It’s been HELL over the years, to build those tools… but I am SO glad that I’ve learned those skills, and that even though I’m NOT great at the whole “self care” thing, I AM recognizing now, when I’m using up too much of my energy & burning myself down… and I know *where* to reach out, to get support, so that I don’t completely burn out and am of no use.
Don’t get me wrong–i’m STILL stressed a.f., and TOTALLY freaking out here on occasion!😉
But compared to the absolute blind PANIC I was in 8 years ago, I’ve realized that I somehow have managed to build up a fairly solid & DEEP toolbox, which i can tap to get Dad (and myself!) through this.💖
I realized it today, when I was talking to my Diabetic Educator (thank GOD for Virtual Visits!!!), when *she* reminded me where in my medical records to find the list of psych folks I’d asked one of the Psych specialists for last month, who work on both ADHD *and* Grief & Loss (because even before i got the call about Dad, I knew this is a rough month, and I haven’t really ever dealt with all the emotional side of the crap from 8 years ago!)
Annnnd because I reached out months ago, and have been working with that Diabetic Educator, I’ve got tools to help keep my Diabetes from getting TOO out-of-control (and because she’s AWESOME and knows me well at this point, SHE was able to give me tips like “just have SNACKS if you need to!” because I haven’t always been able to catch a regular meal until evening on multiple days lately! So we were able to come up with a literal list of things I can get to have on hand & hide in the bedroom here, so Dad doesn’t “dissappear” them😉😁💖)
The me who got thrown into the chaos 8 years ago ended up eating terribly & getting pancreatitis during a couple of the stressful times over the years with Mom…
This time? I’m SO much more aware of my body, and where my sugars are & how important it is to keep *myself* healthy & take an hour break every once in a while, so that I can stay healthy enough to care for Dad.
It was a LONG & hard lesson to learn, but I feel like I’ve finally started to get “ok” at it.
This time around, within the last week and a half, all the men in Dad’s generation of our family are dealing with *some* sort of health calamity. Meaning that the support network is stretched REALLY thin right now… if the “me that I was” 8 years ago was the one dealing with *this* now?
I’d be hurtling toward hospitalization *myself* in short order!
Now, I’m able to call up medical & other mental health folks, explain the stressful situation, recognize that the situation really IS a lot for anyone to deal with, and then find a path to deal with that particular bit of “a lot.”
It’s a skill I wasn’t taught, growing up, but it’s amazingly helpful to have now💖