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Saturday....is accomplished but trying not to fret and dread what lies ahead...
Well, I've accomplished a few things at least. Got up early enough to do my knee exercises, eat breakfast, and get distilled water for the humidifier/Nosh Steam Oven, and veggies/fruit, paper towels, and other mildly essential groceries. When I was putting said groceries away, the kitchen light decided to burn out. I notified the super - that it needs to be replaced (I have light bulbs). And transferred the small lamp that I have in the living room to the kitchen. It fits. So it will work for the interim. (Oh to have a ladder and a handy person to fix it - because I can't do it without killing myself. Tempting. But no. Mother would miss me. And knowing me - I wouldn't die, I'd just critically injure myself.)
Finished my taxes (although it cost me more to do them this year than my actual refund, also I have to pay NY State, damn it). I didn't think I made that much more than I did last year? But apparently my investments did better. And my charitable contributions didn't take that much off of my taxable income.
I do not like how Turbo Tax has restructured themselves. And I may go elsewhere next year. Nor was I able to actually use it as a deduction.
I'm annoyed. Next year - I'll use the cheaper package and not get the Expert Tax Assistance (which was useless and not helpful in the last, and far more trouble than it was worth - plus cost way too much money). I couldn't get anyone on the phone, and the chat was frustrating. Don't waste your money on it. (Not that you would.)
My tax preparation should not be more than my refund, right?
It was nice weather today - in the upper thirties and forties, high about 45 degrees F (which is practically balmy considering the temps we've been having in NYC this winter). And the grocery store - was surprisingly sparse, not as many customers as expected, considering a big storm is moving in. (People are procrastinators - so they all probably came late in the day or tomorrow.)
I'm trying not to fret too much about the upcoming hellish winter storm. Breaking Bad warned me, but it didn't register and I didn't get it - I was overwhelmed with work this week - being blind sighted by C leaving. (C tracks everything for us and is my liaison with the project team, also one of the few people I can talk to.) Her last day was Friday. So, I was kind of discombobulated, and recovering from a head cold, so didn't pick up on the fact that a huge winter storm was coming on Sunday night. Figured it out when I got home - and saw the weather report. We're supposed to have blizzard conditions between 1 am and 10 am on Monday. I don't know if I can get to work in that? I walk and take the subways, which are above and below ground?
Emailed Breaking Bad that I may have to take it as a personal day on Friday night. I may email again on Sunday night that I have to take Monday as a Personal Day due to the storm, or on Monday itself, explaining that I have bad knees and recovering from a bad cold - and don't want to risk it.
Crazy Workplace causes most of my anxiety. That and the commute. It's why I'm going to have to retire in four years (at 62). I won't make it to 67, heck I don't think I can make it to 65. Now, if the stupid union and Crazy Org could just come to an agreement - that would help tremendously, preferably without a strike in May.
I really wish the storm hit Friday night into Saturday instead, like last time. When I actually did take Monday off.
Dinner was "shrimp, brussel sprouts, and aspergus in the air fryer" - seasoned with red pepper, teriaki, fauk garlic salt (this is amazing on shrimp and veggies), and Mrs. Dash. (Which I need to get more of at some point.)
Also watched both Destiny and Harm's Way of Angel S5 rewatch. Picked up on the following:
Spike is more attractive than Angel in S5. And Wes is more attractive than both of them. The appeal of David Boreanze is lost on me?
Wes and Spike kind of remind me of each other. Two characters - who both fell into great unplanned character arcs - when they were supposed to just be in about five or six episodes of Buffy, then get killed off. The actors won the writers over. (The actors both are trained theater character actors, who are American but can do excellent British accents.)
Also, Destiny kind of slams home the point that Angel basically tried to turn Spike into another version of himself. Spike's line: "You never saw the real me, you were too busy looking for your own reflection in me, to actually see me." is spot on. Angel is a narcissist. The writer's keep showing it. He's easily manipulated because he's such a narcissist.
My difficulty with Spike, though, is he has this sense of ownership or a possessiveness - which is also focused on in the episode. He sees Dru as "HIS" one true love, and is upset when Angelus is screwing her, demonstrating that no, Dru isn't his. Nothing is his. There's two ways of reading it? From Angel's perspective - he's projecting his anger at Darla onto Spike, Angel never truly has Darla, or Dru, or anything - and as a result he cares for nothing, outside of destroying it and being monsterous. When he meets Spike - he finds yet another vampire to remake in his image - to be his? Kind of how Angel sees Connor - an extension of himself. The women aren't his, so they don't matter. But the men, he sires or finds, that he can manipulate and change - they matter. Or the father figures he has to impress and be worthy of. Angel was always more interested in what Giles thought of him, than what Buffy did. And Wes thought, than Cordelia. To Angelus, Spike was another man he could mold, he could mentor, he could be a "father" too - in control of. That would be his legacy. And Angel can't stand the vampires that Angelus mentored - Spike is right about that as well. He kills most of them, Spike is the only one he hasn't - mainly because he can't. And that's partly because Spike was the one he ran with the longest, and he was the closest too, and the one who knows him the best.
Spike unlike Angel, is all about the women. It's the women - he falls for, and obsesses over, and wants to possess. He doesn't see Giles, make much notice of Xander, only sees Joyce, Willow, Buffy, Anya, and Dawn. In Angel, he does see Gunn, who he calls Charles or Chuck. And Fred. But he's less focused on Wes. Spike doesn't like authority - and finds women, smart strong women - fascinating. With a soul - he's less obsessive, and far less possessive. He's able to let go of Buffy with a soul, while soulless he couldn't do that.
Also, one of the reasons I like Destiny so much - is it hammers home the point that WRH is manipulating Angel with the Shanshu Prophecy. Lindsey knows it - because they were manipulating Lindsey with it - and using Lindsey and Lilah to manipulate Angel with it. Lilah kind of hinted at it in S4. And Lindsey hints at it in S2. They succeeded - which is what S5 Angel is kind of about? How they are pulling Angel's strings, until Angel figures it out finally with Spike, Wes, and to an extent Illyria's help and flips the tables on them.
Harm's Way is pure satire. It's kind of fun in places. But outside of explaining why Spike hasn't left LA to find Buffy, it doesn't push the plot forward all that much. I liked it better than I remembered.
***
Question a Day - February Meme:
18. What is your favourite shellfish dish (if you have one)?
Lobster, preferably with melted butter, and lemon.
19. Have you ever worn false eyelashes or had eyelash extensions?
No. Or not that I recall? I might have - I have a vague memory of trying to do that - and it not working, and being a mess. Makeup and me are kind of unmixy things - particularly eye-makeup. I can do foundation but that's it.
20. Are you a fan of mayonnaise in a sandwich (either egg-based or vegan)?
No.
I only will eat Helman's Mayo in tuna fish, potato salad, and on a turkey sandwich (which I can't eat any longer without hurling - I can't digest the turkey or the bread). It's weird? But the idea of eating any red meat right now - disgusts me? I don't even want it in chili. Does make grocery shopping cheaper. I'll say that much.
21. When was the last time you heard music played live (at a concert, in a musical)?
The Broadway musical SMASH this past summer.
I'm not really a live concert person, I'm a live theater person. I like sitting in a seat and watching folks dance, sing, act, and tell a story on stage.
Finished my taxes (although it cost me more to do them this year than my actual refund, also I have to pay NY State, damn it). I didn't think I made that much more than I did last year? But apparently my investments did better. And my charitable contributions didn't take that much off of my taxable income.
I do not like how Turbo Tax has restructured themselves. And I may go elsewhere next year. Nor was I able to actually use it as a deduction.
I'm annoyed. Next year - I'll use the cheaper package and not get the Expert Tax Assistance (which was useless and not helpful in the last, and far more trouble than it was worth - plus cost way too much money). I couldn't get anyone on the phone, and the chat was frustrating. Don't waste your money on it. (Not that you would.)
My tax preparation should not be more than my refund, right?
It was nice weather today - in the upper thirties and forties, high about 45 degrees F (which is practically balmy considering the temps we've been having in NYC this winter). And the grocery store - was surprisingly sparse, not as many customers as expected, considering a big storm is moving in. (People are procrastinators - so they all probably came late in the day or tomorrow.)
I'm trying not to fret too much about the upcoming hellish winter storm. Breaking Bad warned me, but it didn't register and I didn't get it - I was overwhelmed with work this week - being blind sighted by C leaving. (C tracks everything for us and is my liaison with the project team, also one of the few people I can talk to.) Her last day was Friday. So, I was kind of discombobulated, and recovering from a head cold, so didn't pick up on the fact that a huge winter storm was coming on Sunday night. Figured it out when I got home - and saw the weather report. We're supposed to have blizzard conditions between 1 am and 10 am on Monday. I don't know if I can get to work in that? I walk and take the subways, which are above and below ground?
Emailed Breaking Bad that I may have to take it as a personal day on Friday night. I may email again on Sunday night that I have to take Monday as a Personal Day due to the storm, or on Monday itself, explaining that I have bad knees and recovering from a bad cold - and don't want to risk it.
Crazy Workplace causes most of my anxiety. That and the commute. It's why I'm going to have to retire in four years (at 62). I won't make it to 67, heck I don't think I can make it to 65. Now, if the stupid union and Crazy Org could just come to an agreement - that would help tremendously, preferably without a strike in May.
I really wish the storm hit Friday night into Saturday instead, like last time. When I actually did take Monday off.
Dinner was "shrimp, brussel sprouts, and aspergus in the air fryer" - seasoned with red pepper, teriaki, fauk garlic salt (this is amazing on shrimp and veggies), and Mrs. Dash. (Which I need to get more of at some point.)
Also watched both Destiny and Harm's Way of Angel S5 rewatch. Picked up on the following:
Spike is more attractive than Angel in S5. And Wes is more attractive than both of them. The appeal of David Boreanze is lost on me?
Wes and Spike kind of remind me of each other. Two characters - who both fell into great unplanned character arcs - when they were supposed to just be in about five or six episodes of Buffy, then get killed off. The actors won the writers over. (The actors both are trained theater character actors, who are American but can do excellent British accents.)
Also, Destiny kind of slams home the point that Angel basically tried to turn Spike into another version of himself. Spike's line: "You never saw the real me, you were too busy looking for your own reflection in me, to actually see me." is spot on. Angel is a narcissist. The writer's keep showing it. He's easily manipulated because he's such a narcissist.
My difficulty with Spike, though, is he has this sense of ownership or a possessiveness - which is also focused on in the episode. He sees Dru as "HIS" one true love, and is upset when Angelus is screwing her, demonstrating that no, Dru isn't his. Nothing is his. There's two ways of reading it? From Angel's perspective - he's projecting his anger at Darla onto Spike, Angel never truly has Darla, or Dru, or anything - and as a result he cares for nothing, outside of destroying it and being monsterous. When he meets Spike - he finds yet another vampire to remake in his image - to be his? Kind of how Angel sees Connor - an extension of himself. The women aren't his, so they don't matter. But the men, he sires or finds, that he can manipulate and change - they matter. Or the father figures he has to impress and be worthy of. Angel was always more interested in what Giles thought of him, than what Buffy did. And Wes thought, than Cordelia. To Angelus, Spike was another man he could mold, he could mentor, he could be a "father" too - in control of. That would be his legacy. And Angel can't stand the vampires that Angelus mentored - Spike is right about that as well. He kills most of them, Spike is the only one he hasn't - mainly because he can't. And that's partly because Spike was the one he ran with the longest, and he was the closest too, and the one who knows him the best.
Spike unlike Angel, is all about the women. It's the women - he falls for, and obsesses over, and wants to possess. He doesn't see Giles, make much notice of Xander, only sees Joyce, Willow, Buffy, Anya, and Dawn. In Angel, he does see Gunn, who he calls Charles or Chuck. And Fred. But he's less focused on Wes. Spike doesn't like authority - and finds women, smart strong women - fascinating. With a soul - he's less obsessive, and far less possessive. He's able to let go of Buffy with a soul, while soulless he couldn't do that.
Also, one of the reasons I like Destiny so much - is it hammers home the point that WRH is manipulating Angel with the Shanshu Prophecy. Lindsey knows it - because they were manipulating Lindsey with it - and using Lindsey and Lilah to manipulate Angel with it. Lilah kind of hinted at it in S4. And Lindsey hints at it in S2. They succeeded - which is what S5 Angel is kind of about? How they are pulling Angel's strings, until Angel figures it out finally with Spike, Wes, and to an extent Illyria's help and flips the tables on them.
Harm's Way is pure satire. It's kind of fun in places. But outside of explaining why Spike hasn't left LA to find Buffy, it doesn't push the plot forward all that much. I liked it better than I remembered.
***
Question a Day - February Meme:
18. What is your favourite shellfish dish (if you have one)?
Lobster, preferably with melted butter, and lemon.
19. Have you ever worn false eyelashes or had eyelash extensions?
No. Or not that I recall? I might have - I have a vague memory of trying to do that - and it not working, and being a mess. Makeup and me are kind of unmixy things - particularly eye-makeup. I can do foundation but that's it.
20. Are you a fan of mayonnaise in a sandwich (either egg-based or vegan)?
No.
I only will eat Helman's Mayo in tuna fish, potato salad, and on a turkey sandwich (which I can't eat any longer without hurling - I can't digest the turkey or the bread). It's weird? But the idea of eating any red meat right now - disgusts me? I don't even want it in chili. Does make grocery shopping cheaper. I'll say that much.
21. When was the last time you heard music played live (at a concert, in a musical)?
The Broadway musical SMASH this past summer.
I'm not really a live concert person, I'm a live theater person. I like sitting in a seat and watching folks dance, sing, act, and tell a story on stage.
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