Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Here we are, last day of 2025. It's been an interesting year to say the least.

Not only did we move to new digs, we now own it, a fact that is still blowing my mind. I hit some rocky points in the Day Job but I'm still there and still managing to remain in control of the situation. I've rereleased a new edition of my first novel. I've made major leaps in my current project Theadia. The current administration still aggravates the fuck out of me, but I'm learning to react accordingly instead of spiraling. All in all, the pluses definitely outweigh the minuses.

I do of course have things planned for next year. I'm thinking Theadia will drop sometime in the latter half of the year. I'm going to start working on the remaster for The Persistence of Memories as well. And speaking of things creative, I've been wanting to revive my love for art and music creativity for years now, and I think I finally have the time and the spoons (and the tools) to do it. As I've mentioned earlier in my writing blog, it's all about the approach: do it because I enjoy it. That's all. No endgame, no sellable goal.

On a more personal level, I do plan on getting in better shape. I am in better shape compared to before I started at the shop, but there's still room for improvement, especially considering I'm getting older. Get more stretches in. Better posture. Go for walks on my days off. And of course, make it a point to start getting yearly checkups! I don't plan on being sedentary anytime soon and this will of course help.


On that note, I hope everyone has a creative and positive 2026!

WHOOF. I knew it was going to be a busy day at work just like Thanksgiving Eve was, but it still managed to melt my brain. It was rather quiet until about 8:30am when everyone in the neighborhood started coming in...and it did not let up at all. Thankfully we had a mostly full team by 10:30 so I wasn't completely laid out by the time I clocked out. And everyone seemed to be in a reasonably good mood, so I can't complain. To be honest I think I'm more tired because I kept waking up last night due to my right ear being blocked up. 

Meanwhile, Friday and Saturday mornings will be my usual opening shifts, although I'll probably need to go in earlier than usual on Friday considering all the registers and self-checkouts will be closed down and empty. I'm hoping they'll behave this time so the numbers won't be all wonky like last time, though. It all balanced out after a day or so, but I'd rather not go through that nonsense again!

Alas, I will be working both New Years' Eve and Day, but I'm hoping they'll be laid back like last year. It's all at the end of the week as well, so I can spend Sunday through Tuesday chilling, making my end of year mixtape and doing other stuff. Not sure if I'll be back to more hours soon, but we shall see.

WHEW. I may have only worked four days this past week (and regular eight hour shifts at that), but by Saturday it felt like I'd been there for twice that. The day before Thanksgiving is always an insanely busy day for grocery stores, and this was no different -- in fact, I saw our numbers and we made over TWICE our usual sales, and I think it's also a new record for us. On Wednesday I worked noon to 8.30pm, which is pretty much peak sales time anyway, but it was constant with no let-up until that last hour. Just one customer after another after another after another, and most of them were spending upwards of $150 - $200 for big holiday spreads.

Suffice it to say, after I clocked out and got home, I climbed right into bed and fell asleep probably an hour later. That day was exhausting.

The remaining three days weren't nearly as chaotic, but they did have their moments. I spent a frazzled last hour of yesterday's shift trying to juggle multiple orders and finishing up the bookkeeping and only made it under the wire with the help of a coworker and manager jumping in to help. Still, I'm glad it's the weekend and I can sleep in!

I'm back down to only three working days this coming week, but I've decided I'm going to use that to my advantage instead of asking for more hours. A took the week off, so we both decided we're going to use our mutual days off to enjoy ourselves with little day trips around town. 


Of course, tomorrow is the first of December, which means it's time for my usual Year End Mixtape and Contemplation Blog Posts. We'll see where this takes me!

WHOOF. Five days in a row of 5.30am starts is exhausting, especially when it's also a week of random call-outs, holiday volume and corporate visits that may or may not happen. By yesterday I was running on fumes and kind of annoyed because we were also going to the opera to see The Monkey King. [For the record, I did soldier through and did enjoy it, but probably would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn't been so dang tired!] Thankfully I don't need to be in until Wednesday and can catch up on sleep!

It's also entering the cold season here in the Bay Area, which means that the days are a brisk upper 50s-low 60s but the evenings can get down to the 40s. We've turned on the heat in the house for the first time in ages, much to the dismay of the two cats who did not like the noise of the vent fan! We have central heating this time instead of older and crankier units or radiators, but it's a relatively new unit so it works a peach and very quickly at that! We are also very thankful that our windows are new as well, which means the heat doesn't leak terribly like it did at the old place.

As for writing...yeah, I've been pretty bad this week due to the Day Job stuff. I either haven't had time, or just enough time to move at a snail's pace. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up again this coming week, because the last thing I want to do is get even further behind. And I definitely do NOT want to succumb to the Don't Wannas when I really need to get this novel finished.


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Today was our shopping and errand day of course, so this time out we chose to head down to Daly City to the Total Wine to stock up on liquor, then head across the way to World Market...to officially start our Christmas shopping. This would of course include things for ourselves, such as a box of Quality Street chocolate, a box of mini mince pies, and new decorations, but we also found a few fun things for our friends as well. As probably mentioned last year, we've given up on having a tree considering we have two cats who are extremely interested in climbing them and/or knocking them over, so instead we go with various fun stand-up decorations like little wooden trees and knitted baubles. Easy to put up and take down, and easy to pack away when the season is over.

Speaking of which, I have not yet heard any holiday music at the day job. I'm sure I'll hear it soon enough, as they kind of sneak it in at some point in November, just a few Christmas tunes in amongst the regular playlist they haven't otherwise changed since I started there. Once Thanksgiving is over, then it'll be holiday music 24/7. Not that it's ever bothered me, to be honest, although I really do wish they'd switch it up now and again.

I've said this in the past, but one of the biggest things I'd noticed when we moved out here to California is how blessed bright it can get on a sunny day! I know it's partly because we're closer to the equator (sort of) but we're also on the coast so there's less particulate in the air (far less than woodsy/pollen-y New England, at any rate). We were walking around the botanical garden and the Inner Sunset earlier and I couldn't help but squint and shade my eyes half the time. Lovely day, however! We got a few miles' worth of walking in, and now we're lazing around the house with the windows open. And yes, I will say one more time that I am extremely happy that we now live in a place with better windows where we can pop them open without a) one of them popping out or sliding askew, or b) one of the cats escaping through it.

Sunday is of course chore day, so the laundry is going, I've paid off a few bills, and taken out the trash. Oh, and I've also bought tickets to The Nutcracker at SF Ballet, which we've been going to nearly every single year since we've moved here! I of course still need to get my daily words done, so I'll do that a little bit later.

Meanwhile, my work schedule this coming week is kind of weird in that I once again don't have that many hours, and what hours I do have are all on the back end of the week, so I have the next several days off. WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF, I TELL YOU. Well, one is to maybe get myself to a dentist as one of my fillings fell out (boo!) and I'm probably far past due for a cleaning. I could go to the one I used to go to, but I've chosen a closer office this time, and one that I think might assist in some of my other dental work I've been putting off for far too long. [Not to worry, I won't go into details. But I do have a health-based account that was set up with my Former Day Job that I've barely touched, so perhaps I can use some of it to soften the financial blow. We shall see.]

Anyhoo! Not going to stress too much these next few days and instead try to get some major writing work done!


Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Day job drama notwithstanding, this was a surprisingly unstressful weekend for me. I can never tell with my Friday-Saturday schedule, because it can either be slow and uneventful, or it can be ridiculously busy and chaotic, and rarely in between. In this case, both days were the 'in between' which is sometimes just how I like it. It keeps me busy but not exhausted, and the eight hours go by quickly. And of course Sundays are my 'do all the errands' day so after our trip to the farmer's market I've started the laundry, emptied the trash and will most likely do the PC cleaning a little bit later. Oh, and I really should dust this desk, as I keep forgetting to do so!

I've got a thin work schedule this coming week as well, so that gives me a bit of time to continue catching up with the writing, which is a good thing. I am now at the point in Theadia where I need to write the 'WRITE THIS LATER' scenes, and I'm thinking that instead of doing yet another reread and picking up each one as I go, I'll just jump in and write a rough draft for each scene and/or chapter. I can get away with doing this mainly because when I made each 'write this later' note, I added a vaguely detailed paragraph or two of what story beats need to be hit there. I've done that plenty of times in the past and it's worked well, so I'm not too worried. [The step after that of course will be finishing the novel itself, which is going to need some planning and outlining.]

On the personal end of things, I'm glad to say that my limb aches and pains haven't resurfaced as of late, which is always a good thing. For a while I had this weird thing where I'd constantly twist my leg slightly which would pinch some nerves in the process, but that seems to have gone away for the moment -- it's happened maybe once in the last several weeks. I'm thinking starting tomorrow I should restart a stretching regimen, though. It's been a while and I really should get back into the habit. Yay for getting old and frail! Thankfully, though, I'm still quite agile and my occasional walks around the neighborhood to the corner store or wherever keep me moving. 

Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Oh hi there! It's Sunday afternoon, which means it's time for my usual weekend errands of laundry and gardening (today was a community garden clean-up day, in which A and I spent some time picking up trash and also cleaning and reorganizing the sheds so they're less of a hot mess). We got home just in time for us to get our awaited IKEA delivery (a drying rack for A's knitting and a storage caddy for the laundry room).

It was also high time for the PC cleaning. I've been forgetting to run the cleaner software as of late, so said PC was quite happy that I gave it a very thorough once-over this time. It definitely needed it, especially since I've been doing a lot of file reorganization, Plex server updatery, and writing work! I also never turn it off (mainly because of the Plex so others can access my entertainment collection), but it's something that should be done now and again. What I'm delaying, however, is the latest Windows 11 update, because a) I really don't need it, and b) if I did update it, I'd then need to dig in and turn off the stupid AI crap that I definitely do not need nor want. It's not a critical update, so I'm going to avoid it for a long as I can. Or at least until I have the spoons to do the settings adjustments.

In reading news, I have been obsessed with the manga and anime The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity lately. It's firmly placed in Everything Is So Dramatic levels of teenage drama, but I appreciate that because the story precisely about dealing with that kind of stuff as a teen. It's very well written and each character has their own fleshed-out backstory and conflict to deal with. And it's also a really sweet love story as well. I highly recommend it.

In health news, I think I've FINALLY shaken this stupid cold/allergy, though I'm still getting stuffed up every now and again, including today. I'm just not continuously clogged as I was last week, however. Meanwhile, I have been feeling rather tired a lot lately, and whether that's due to Day Job Stress/Overwork or said congestion keeping me up at night, I'm not sure. Maybe both. I don't feel it's a major worry, but at the same time I am keeping an eye on it just in case it becomes one. Besides, I ain't as young and agile as I used to be!

In writing news...I'm just a few chapters shy of being caught up once more with the latest revision of Theadia. Which means I have two things to do staring soon: one, I need to go back and start writing the 'WRITE THIS LATER' gaps, and two, I need to actually, y'know, finish the dang novel itself! I've been working on this one for quite some time now, but I'm really excited about it as well, and that's always a good sign. I'm still roughly on schedule for "sometime next year" as its drop date. I might even look into commissioning a cover for this one! Heh.

And finally in Day Job news...well, let's just say there's still a lot of Hurry Up and Wait in regards to wanting a transfer. Right now there's a lot of Managerial Drama and Metrics Obsession going on which is taking precedence, as well as Holiday Season starting up. I'm a bit annoyed that I've been put on the backburner because of it all, but there's not too much else I can do except occasionally poke at the main players and remind them I'm still there and waiting. I'm also still a little annoyed about the lower hours, but I'll set that particular commentary aside for now.

In the meantime, Sunday also means Sunday dinner, and A is currently making beef stew which has the entire house smelling amazing right now.


Hope everyone has a good week!

Despite my ongoing daily frustrations at the Day Job, I will at least be proud of the fact that I'm doing pretty good with working on Theadia! I still have a long way to go, but this current go-round is looking a hell of a lot better than I'd hoped. I'm hoping I'll be close to done by the end of the year, or early into the next, depending on how much more work I need to do. There's the final chapters to write, and the 'WRITE THIS LATER' scenes to write.

That, and I've been doing some thinking about what other creative outlets I want to work in in the next few months. More on that soon...

It may have been a very weird and stressful couple of weeks at the Day Job for me, and there may have been a few very low points of self-doubt where I felt like I was digging myself deeper, but thankfully those have been balanced out by much higher points of creativity and calm. I will soldier on one way or another, and I still have my writing to keep me centered. I've learned from past experience when I feel like I'm about to spiral into constant frustration and/or anxiety and know well enough to retreat to safer mental ground. 

So where do I stand right now, creativewise? I'm doing pretty good with Theadia, though I do seem to be piling up the multiple 'WRITE THIS LATER' chapters and scenes that I'll need to work on. I don't do that very often, but then again this book isn't quite like the others I've written, and like Diwa & Kaffi, I'd like to get it right the first time. I'm also tentatively restarting the 750 Words sessions, though I've already missed a few this month due to prior plans and/or personal stuff going on. I'm not too worried about that, however, as I figure this will be a trial restart this month, just to get back into the habit and to get it up and running again.

Other than that, I've just been very tired from the Day Job nonsense and and ongoing strain in my left elbow for some reason (though I'm sure that's just from overuse and bad posture). I'm going to take the few days I have of this week and relax physically and mentally because I think I need it right now.