real life - Page 239 - Realm of the InterNutter

Good news, everyone!

The cat is free of the Cone of Shame! Kaloo, kalay, etc.

She still has to stay indoors for another fortnight, just to be certain that she's healed. And we have to apply eye drops.

Better news - we can use human eye drops with no harm to the cat.

Fantastic news - we managed to get all the supplies we need for less than $50. And by "less than", I mean that I got pocket change back.

The Golden Circle Factory Outlet is a firkin godsend. It's amazing. You can get shit by the crate, there. And it's cheaper than getting individual lots. We got some sports drink for Mayhem [excellent for hot days when frozen overnight] some chicken stock for a dollar a litre, and a bag of vermicelli noodles for slightly less than $25.

Then we popped on over to Aldi's and spent most of the other $25 on instant oats and frozen vegetables.

We are truly set to pull our heads in and save our moneys. I hope. I still have a few bills to pay, but I actually have the money to do so with a clear conscience.

The light at the end of the tunnel is not looking like an oncoming train for a change. At least for today.

It's nice to not worry about stuff.

How to wash a cat's face and other random problems

It's 6:30AM, the temperature in my office is already a balmy 27.5 degrees [82 old school] and Mayhem is not doing so great.

There was upchuck, last night. Which Mayhem thoughtfully allowed to dry. And owing to a scheduling problem, Beloved was not available to help me swab all the scabs off of the cat's eye.

Chaos is being her usual sweet self and doing her star-quality Lump Impersonation instead of looking after herself. I've actually had to tell her

...fargnax

Despite the combined best efforts of both medicine and myself - Mayhem is still throwing up. We can't nail down the cause and sending him to school is counterproductive.

They don't like him being there if he's upchucking.

Meanwhile, he and I will be working on other causes. Starting with the state of his ~~pig sty~~ room. I'm willing to bet there's at least a cubic meter of assorted rubbish and filthy plates or glasses in there. Getting rid of the nasties

Two more days!

Two more days until payday. Two more days until the cat goes back to the vet for a (hopefully) more optimistic diagnosis. I think her eyelid is healing at a glacial pace and she might not need further surgery.

And the Cone of Shame is really a pain in the butt for her, and us. And the medicine for her eye always runs our too firkin early.

I have, however, realised that I don't need to take the cat to the vet

Balance and writing

I do a lot of stories off the cuff. One thousand and thirty, before I get started on today's. Some, like We're Mostly Harmless, I Swear, wind up becoming the cornerstones for novels.

But I'm never lazy about it.

I could have easily copy/pasted my Instants about Amity into the novel-that-is and few would have been the wiser.

I'm not like that. I can't let myself do that. It's a form of cheating and - at least in my humble opinion

::white noise::

Didn't get a lot of sleep, because last night was a rare night out. Kind friends had given Beloved a movie voucher.

FYI, The Mockingjay Part 2 is firkin awesome. Well done, movie peeps, for sticking to the book.

BUT going to see it also meant that I didn't get to bed much before 11PM.

My thoughts are full of static. I want to go back to sleep for a majority of the day. BUT, I also have 1K of words to

Pbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbh...

Pretty much how I'm feeling this morning. The sound of a sigh coming out between lax and flappy lips.

We probably have just enough to make it to the next payday. IF the kids' Friday treat comes out of the Penny Pincher Menu so I can afford the tank of petrol for the running around we're doing on the weekend.

Beloved is Forty, as of yesterday. Merry birth, Beloved. I wish I could do more for you.

Still need to get eggs

It's been so long since I went to Hell...

My frelling sleep issues have been acting up. Hello, anxiety. It's been a while since you fucked up my life. Come on in, we're having coffee.

...you little shit...

In brief: woke up at 2AM-ish because I went to bed at 8:30 because I was dog tired because worry.

2AM-ish meant that I would be dog tired AGAIN in the afternoon and I don't need that because I have a firkin physical for insurance's sake, so I did my best to

101 reasons to love Steam Powered Giraffe

Before you roll your eyes at me, this is not going to be an enumerated list. You can breathe, now. It's okay.

One Hundred and One is the number of times that I have listened through the Giraffe's most recent album, The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera. Or just Vice Quadrant for short.

That's two hundred and two hours of music that I have yet to become sick of. Not one song, not one spoken interlude, not one fragment of this double

Herbing 'till I plotz...

I promised a photojournal entry, and you're about to get a photojournal entry.

We start with a simple, neglected herb garden:

Pictured, smol child, large rosemary Chaos is looking nervous because there was a wasp on the other side.

Chaos showing off a washing basket full of cut herbs We got a basket full of cuttings. most of them were actually useful.

This is just the LEFTOVER rosemary The leftovers. Some sprigs are bundled with the hope of making decent potential tea.

Finished Rosemary oil. It will be going out in much smaller bottles Heat-infused rosemary oil looks gross when its done, and in bulk.

Mint still being processed I had a freaking LOT of mint. So much that

Post-massacre update

I have successfully mutilated the Rosemary bush and decimated the mint population The house and my hands are redolent with the scent of both.

I tried enlisting some child labour to speed up the process, but Mayhem begged off early [feeling useless and then feeling sick] and Chaos got bored of picking mint leaves.

I have a sink full of unpicked mint, soaking in water and lemon juice to stop them browning whilst I take a well-earned break. And about a double-handful

Where has all the money gone?

I discussed money issues with Beloved in the evening. As it turns out, most of the expenses were directly related to bills and paying off debts.

We're relatively debt free, right now. But we're also money poor.

And Christmas is going to be hellishly expensive, even with my frugality in the balance. For example: Beloved suggested using actual sealing wax for the gift basket stuff. Two of the lovely bottle types have corks, and they're going to need a functional seal.

I

Time for Science!

Today, when I'm done with my writing, I am taking one of the pretty bottles I got for my artisinal rosemary product gift basket[now featuring mint], and I am going to use it... FOR SCIENCE!

These are wibbly wobbly pretty bottles, and I'm doing nine of everything, but for these ones... I am measuring their collective liquid volume.

Yep. I'm filling a bottle nine times and emptying it into a measuring cup so I know how much high-quality vinegar to purchase.

We've started on our supplies...

My goal for this week and next week is to spend as little as humanly possible so that we have more money to save for Christmas.

The artisinal rosemary products are going to crap on that, more than a little. Mostly owing to the fact that I will have to purchase some tools and find a source of bulk white wine vinegar. Might have to discuss that with Beloved.

I'm doing nine bottles of dried leaves, eight of rosemary oil and six

A breath of fresh... meat?

We got paid, we got paid! Kaloo kalay, O frabjous day!

I was not about to turn around and spend it all in one place, dear readers. I went to every last cheap zone I knew to get hold of some cheap noms. And some equally cheap plastic containers.

The golden circle factory outlet does some marvelous deals, and I took advantage of them. I now own a metric fuckton of rice, some juices for the kids, and more beetroot than I