Year 2 - Day 209...

[shadowkat]

Maybe I should stop counting days and just post willy-nilly, like I did before? It has its appeal, mainly because I kind of suck at the whole counting thing. It's why knitting and crocheting or beading jewelry for that matter - never quite worked for me. Also have issues with exercises.

Yes, I'm one of those people who has to count on their fingers to make sense of it.

I have words and pictures in my head, along with sounds, not numbers or symbols.

I've learned a new trick - if something is painful or an emotional trigger - I step around it. Really, what's the point in discussing or focusing on something, if it will just make you unhappy?

Work tomorrow. Too poor to retire, and I kind of like the challenges. So sticking with it until either of that changes. Good news? I don't have to go into the office until Thursday and half the day will be spent in a MS Teams Roadway Worker Protection Course - where we get to watch videos and discuss Darwin Award Nominees in the field. (Basically watch folks get electrocuted by the third rail, falling off ladders, getting hit by trains that sort of thing - because they didn't take safety precautions, and were apparently dropped on their head at birth. ) I've seen this video so many times by now - that I kind of stopped taking the course four years ago. Actually we all stopped, we just didn't bother with it. It wasn't big deal on my end - I've not had any real site tours to speak of - and the one's I've had - no one bothered asking if I took the course or cared.

Because of my crazy-ass agency, I am ridiculously aware of all the things that can possibly kill me - and how to avoid them at work, in the office, and at home. I also know more about the weather (that falls into the kill you category, apparently) and viruses than most people.

**

Today, I cleaned out my refrigerator (or tried to - some of it refuses to be cleaned - because of how the fridge is positioned in my apartment) and got rid of the pile of papers taunting me from the bottom right hand corner shelf of the television stand. Just looking at them made me want to cough or sneeze. I'm sure the dust mites weren't happy.

And the sun peeked out. Not only that but for the space of maybe three hours we had clear blue skies and sparkling sunshine. First time since Friday. I decided to take advantage of it - take a walk, buy groceries from the real health food store on Courtelyou - which is about a thirty minute walk away. So I got about an hour and a half of exercise out of it, fresh air, and groceries - win-win. It cheered me up greatly. When and if I ever retire - I'm hunting some place with trees, sun, and water. Also public transportation. Which means the Southern United States is completely out of the question (no public transportation).

Television? I've been watching the Baking Impossible Challenge on Netflix.
I find the judges irritating. But I like the challenges. And for most part, have no interest in eating anything from them. The engineers so far, appear to be better than most of the bakers - although there are two male bakers that I'm impressed by.

I'm thinking of going back to "Star Trek - Discovery" soon.

**

I don't want to talk about COVID. So we're not going to.
**

Apparently, niece's grand scheme to take a day trip to see Paris today didn't pan out. They discovered it cost $300 dollars, and was about 4 hours round trip on the train. So not quite worth it. They - being niece and boyfriend. Yes, her boyfriend managed to fly to London to visit family and see niece, even though he's going to school in New York. No, this doesn't make sense to my immediate family (the adults) either, we've decided to just go along with it.

ME: Yeah, I wouldn't exactly try Paris as a day trip. That's more of a weekly excursion.
Mother: Exactly. Plus it's not like there isn't things they can do in London. Niece has planned a day trip to see the Cliffs of Dover.
ME: Or they could just go to Bath or Oxford or Cambridge or see Buckingham Palace, or just spend the day in the British Museum. It's kind of limitless.

Ah, to be 17, in love, and in Britain with one's boyfriend during a pandemic. (Sorry couldn't resist that last part.)

**

It's overcast again. No wonder I'm gloomy.

Here's another random photo that I refuse to explain...

Comments

[jesuswasbatman]

Yeah, the Eurostar is expensive if you don't book well in advance.

[shadowkat]

So, you can get it cheaper? Good to know. I thought it was always $300 per person - and whoa.
Kind of makes a trip on US Amtrak, NY to Boston seem relatively cheap by comparison.

[yourlibrarian]

Also public transportation. Which means the Southern United States is completely out of the question (no public transportation).

Unfortunately most of the U.S. has very poor public transport systems but staying out of the South will be a good idea for many reasons, including how miserably hot it already is and it will be much worse in 10 years.

[shadowkat]

Yep. And you're correct the US has horrible public transportation. Only places in the US with decent public transportation are The Northeast Corridor and Atlantic States, basically DC up through Mass. (Massachutus and New York have great public transportation, as does CT, a portion of Rhode Island, and Southern Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. DC, NJ, Philly, and Maryland are a mixed bag. Chicago in Ill. And Seattle, or so I'm told. Also San Francsico and California isn't too bad.

The rest, forget about it.

Also, the South, ugh. It's expensive, hot, and has lots of hurricanes. Also, they are dumb about infrastructure and fossel fuels in the Deep South.

[lizzybuffy2008]

Actually Atlanta has decent public transportation, no hurricanes, and is less expensive than NY, sadly it is hotter than hell.

[shadowkat]

The heat alone would scare me off.

[gillo]

Yeah, a day trip to Paris is just about doable from London, but unless you are rich is probably not worth the cost and bother. A day trip to Bristol, Cardiff, York - all cheaper and quicker, and plenty to see and do. Planning ahead is vital - train tickets are cheaper booked in advance. Megabus is extremely cheap, but a hellish experience.

We have trees and water. Some years we have no bloody summer either. (grouse)

[shadowkat]

Yeah, I could happily live in Wales, specifically the coast, along St. David's and in the mountains, also Aberwsysthw.

I could also happily live in London. Europe and me would get along - public transportation, old cities, water, mountains...I'd get homesick though for weird things. You always do, and it's always for weird things.

[Oh somewhat off-topic, but in regards to the prohibition of pairing knives and scissors to the under-21 bunch? We have school stabbings here too, but we're too dumb to prohibit people from buying the weapons. Instead we put all this metal detectors in place. ]

Niece isn't rich, nor is boyfriend apparently. They can't afford $300 to go Paris. Also 4 hours on the train kind of killed the idea. But thanks for the info - if I go, I'll reserve tickets way in advance. (Similar to Amtrak actually - if you get them ahead of time, they are much much cheaper.)

[mtbc]

I'm glad you got a good walk in. (-:

I recently took the cybersecurity course again at work, many video segments still feature a strange humanoid character with a horse's head, goodness knows why.

Yeah, I don't think I can even get to Knoxville by public transportation. Certainly a disadvantage here in Tennessee.

I'm happily working my way through season three of Star Trek: Discovery, will probably finish it this coming week.

That's quite a photograph. (-:

Plenty to do even without leaving London! (But I do love Paris.)

[shadowkat]

Yeah, Paris...sigh. I've only been once, and it was in the early 80s with my parents. Ah someday.

I'm still on S1 of Discovery, but since I know I have three, now four seasons to look forward to, and that the characters actually evolve and change, as opposed to staying stagnant throughout - I'm definitely continuing.

No, nothing south of Maryland has much in the way of public transportation, unless you count buses, and those are highly unreliable. I'm not sure the train even goes to most places down south.

It's a shame in a way - since it would open those states a bit more, and provide a lot of jobs. But oh well.

I even know more about cybersecurity than I should - because of nutty company. And got to love those odd cartoon heads they feature. Microsoft used to employ a "paperclip" - thank god they got rid of it.

[lizzybuffy2008]

Amtrak is in North Carolina and goes to some major cities, but it is time prohibitive.

[lizzybuffy2008]

Where in TN are you? We are in the NE corner. You definitely have to have a car here, but the weather is nice most of the time (not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter) and it is ridiculously cheap to live.

[mtbc]

I'm in Oak Ridge, so just west of Knoxville. Closest Amtrak is maybe ... Roanoke? Similarly, when I lived in Columbus, OH, not sure where my nearest Amtrak was, maybe Alliance or somesuch. I don't think we even have buses between Oak Ridge and Knoxville, at least that I've noticed, and the turnpike through Oak Ridge is very much friendlier to cars than bicycles or pedestrians. But, yes, great weather (though I miss having any decent winter snow!) and cost of living, lovely scenery, wildlife, etc. I expect to be here for years yet.

[shadowkat]

I've noticed areas with public transportation - tend to be more population dense, and more expensive than those that don't. Although cost is relative. NY's housing is expensive, but I pay nothing for transportation. Also, my housing costs are low since I rent, and only have to pay for gas (cooking not heat) and electricity. Water, garbage, maintenance is all included in the rent. A lot of folks who've never owned a house or only rented, don't get that the housing costs often are far higher than rent. Granted - I can't get back money on sales, but that's a gamble anyhow.

And I'm rent stablized, so it doesn't go up that high.

There's always trade offs. Is food more expensive? Not really. I've been elsewhere, it's about the same. And you can get cheap forms of entertainment, food, etc in NY.

So cheaper? Eh. Depends. I don't need very much - so for me, it's not that bad. But do I want to retire in NYC? I don't know. I might move upstate where its cheaper. It's ten years at least, so?

[mtbc]

Yes, not needing to own a car makes a big difference. And, while it's years since I visited Manhattan, I was pleasantly surprised at how affordably it was possible to eat, if one didn't need to go to fancy places. Having so very much practically on your doorstep is worth a lot.

[atpo_onm]

Re: photo-- What's to explain? It's clearly a bumpy/scaly/nubbly round-ish something with leaves around it and being observed looking through some manner of opening in something around/in front of it.

Tsk. Obvious!

;-)

*******

I've learned a new trick - if something is painful or an emotional trigger - I step around it. Really, what's the point in discussing or focusing on something, if it will just make you unhappy?

Doesn't always work, but it sure works a lot. Go for it!

*******

When and if I ever retire - I'm hunting some place with trees, sun, and water. Also public transportation.

Where I live is, according to a number of reputedly knowledgeable national sources, one of the best places in the US to live. When I was much younger, I would have disputed that, mostly because you had to drive to Philly to be decently entertained if you were into music or the arts. That is very much not the case now, the town is almost becoming like a little NYC in (mostly good) ways, and it isn't referred to as "The Tree City" without reason. The Susquehanna River is not very far away, so-- water! Long's Park with it's big ol' duck pond is 10 minutes from downtown. Free weekly music concerts there in the summertime.

The summers aren't insanely hot, the winters rarely bitterly cold, the fall is usually lovely, and serious storms like hurricanes are almost unheard of (one benefit of being inland).

It's an old town, literally colonial, so lots of interesting architecture here and there, as you've noticed from some of my photos. City is very walk-able, and the current administration is working to provide more housing in the center city areas to go along with that.

And no, I don't work for any tourist or other promotional organizations, I just have come to really like where I live. No place is perfect, but on balance it's pretty damn nifty.

[shadowkat]

You forget, I lived in Chester County, PA when I was a child. West Chester. And I still have pesky relatives there. ;-) Been to the Poconos, Allentown, etc. Two places not returning to - Pennsylvania and Kansas. I don't return to places I previously lived with my parents on principle.

But I'm happy you love it.

[atpo_onm]

You forget, I lived in Chester County, PA when I was a child.

Actually, I did remember that. But that was then, this is now. However, admittedly by the time you retire, the country may have been taken over by Neo-Trumpists and you'll have already fled to New Zealand or some other sane country. We shall see!

For now, I'm just gonna live here in the now. Seems like a plan!

I will note that having visited Allentown and Chester County, I'd have no real desire to live there. Philly is too crowded, arts and music aspects not enough to override that fact. Not a fan of deeply rural areas like Tioga County where some good friends of mine lived for several years.

Biggest problem today in PA is the arrogant, annoying Republican-driven legislature. I'm fervently hoping their eager embracing of Trumpism will help get some of them voted out in the next elections. Lancaster City leaned moderately Conservative decades ago, but is very, very Democratic leaning today. The rural areas? It's amazing, it's just the opposite.

Hey, something for everyone, right?

Way too much traffic, though. People keep moving here, and they bring cars with them! There are cars everywhere, one thing I do not love about the now, here.

One more reason to walk more! :-)

[shadowkat]

Eh, picture is of a hummingbird nest in Costa Rica. Humingbird baby is breaking out of the nest. A friend took it with a telescopic lens.

[atpo_onm]

Hah! See, I was right, it was obvious!

;-)