Winter weather contemplation

2024-12-23T00:06:00Z

Winter here in westside SF is always a crapshoot -- either it's unseasonably warm and sunny, extremely humid and rainy, or a mix of both with the weather border firmly holding at Presidio Avenue. It might be a thick fog in my neighborhood and sunny at the Embarcadero. Today? Overcast, misting but not raining, 99% humidity, and the chance of rain over the next several days.

Mind you, the weather does affect the customer volume I get at the store, depending on how extreme it is. When there was a torrential downpour a few weeks back, the store was dead quiet with only a few regulars and a stressed out last-minute shopper or two. On warm and sunny days we get hit with a LOT of volume (partly because we're surrounded by parks and people want to hang out and enjoy the day). It being the last week before Christmas, however, I'm thinking it might be a little busier than usual but not overly so. Our numbers might be down from last year, but that'll happen anywhere these days. We still have our regulars, several locals and the occasional visitor or tourist.

Me, I've been doing a lot of dairy upstock days lately, which on the plus side keeps me from the stress of front end ringing but on the minus side keeps me forever interrupted by needing to unlock cabinets and guide people unsure where items are. It all balances out, though.

But yeah... I think I've pretty much accepted that I'm in a good Zen space in my head now, and that's been a long time in coming. Being in charge of my emotions instead of letting them get the best of me. Having the ability to plan out ahead of time and adjust on the fly. I thought of that the other day when I saw someone posting the meme of 'post a gif of where your mind's at'. I saw a lot of fiery 'this is fine' level gifs, Homer screams, cartoon explosions and other chaotic nonsense, but it dawned on me that for the first time in ages, that's not where my head's at. Sure, I still hate conservatives with a burning passion and get upset over stupid (and non-stupid) things, but they no longer completely ruin my day. They only fuel it to make it right, or better.

Not bad, considering how my year started, come to think of it.

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Midweek Chills

2022-12-07T17:16:28Z

It's wintertime here in the Bay Area, which means overcast and overly humid days and temps that don't quite break the mid 50s. It's not the bitterly cold and snowy New England winter of my youth, sure, but it's got its own miserableness. The humidity (along with whatever happens to be blooming this time of year) starts kicking off my allergies giving me a migraine, and every room in the house is chilly. And given where I work, I have my coat on all the time as it's always a chilly mid-50s inside as well.

Our two cats seem not to mind, though. They're silly as always, washing-up sessions devolving into playfighting and chasing each other through the apartment. Cali's a terror and has already damaged one of the cat tree posts and at least two of their toys -- she'd make a great mouser. Jules is more laid back and chill and takes her own time to sort things out, which makes her slow to play with but super smart and wily in other areas. She'll bat Cali with a few hilarious cheap-shots just when you think they're done wrestling. At the end of the night however, once they finally chill down, they'll join us on the bed (or go under it) for a nap.

At least I don't have to shovel any snow or drive in it! :)

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Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Winter weather contemplation

Midweek Chills