one, lonely donkey chewing on an electric fence

I am having a lot of feelings right now, and most of them are grumpy. My record got stolen/mis-delivered and now I'm having to beat my head against the joy that is USPS bureaucratic jankiness to try and get my $44 back. And I'm going to have to try and order this goddamn vinyl again. I would like someone to come and just do this for me.

UPDATE: It was delivered this morning? Huzzah, thank you, universe.

I love being independent and capable, but fuck me it'd be nice for someone else to handle this for me.

I had a mostly good weekend although bits were hard. We got out to the cemetery on Sunday (Saturday was a loss for me) and I got to spend the day with mom. We plotted out scheduling for the rest of the year and caught up on some chatting. I also got some free produce from her (along with a bunch of mosquito bites) which I spent Sunday putting together as salads. NGL, my quinoa tabbouleh was fucking spectacular.

I am having some health stuff going on, but I don't really want to go into it. I am mostly noting this for my own records. I'm fine, but it is what it is.

Monday went ok. I worked hard to basically clear the day so I could be a lump. I did get 3/4 of the books I'd printed glued and sewn. The last one needs sewing and gluing, but it's pressed and awled. I'm honestly impressed at how my hands remembered what to do with the sewing. Now I just need to cut the boards, pick out a color scheme, and glue everything together.

I'm also working on line-editing another project. (It's fine! But there are minor typos that I go back and correct. Ex: their instead of there or awe instead of aww.) I never do substantive changes in anything I bind, but if there's a spelling or grammar error that throws me out of the narrative in the singular thing I am printing and binding so I and I alone can read it? Yeah, there's line-editing.

I have a few friends w/birthdays coming up and I have a few packages that I need to send out. The one that I'm working on now (they're not here, often!) is just silly and fun. And, to qualify it for cheaper shipping (media mail) I put together a mix cd. I've not done one of those in over a decade, so this was just so much silly fun.

I forgot how fun it is to get a bunch of silly, cheerful things together as a gift. None of the things I'm sending off are more than $10, but all are useful in their ways. Plus, part of the fun of making a mix CD (and knowing they have a cd player in their car still) is forcing your friends to listen to stuff you like in the vain hope they'll like it too.

Finally got my package! The DVDs are now in my bag ready to go home. Anyone need a copy of season 1 of His Dark Materials? I got the 3-season box set and want to find a new home for s1.

Y'all, it has been 24 years of a stupid mail situation for me and I am Tired about it.

I am a sore ball of soreness. Woke up this morning to neck spasms and loose joints. Huzzah. Did make it in to work, but it has been a long day and I want to go lie down and sleep for a year.

So, I tried to order a stick vacuum from Walmart. This was not a choice I liked or wanted to take. However, the vacuum I want is not available in stores (any of the big box ones), so my options were Walmart or Amazon. And the Walton empire had the one I wanted for $99, which was $100 less than the Bezos empire. Also, apparently Walton land is the only place that has The Expanse season 5 on DVD? Anyway, I swallowed my pride and ordered the vacuum. However, I had it sent to my parents' because someone's always home and Walton land won't cough up whether or not they're shipping USPS or FedEx (IT IS A SURPRISE!), so that's the easiest location.

Turns out it shipped early! I got an email (with a photo) telling me it was delivered yesterday. EXCEPT. They delivered it to the wrong address. The photo included was of a stoop that looked nothing like my parents. I log in, and confirm that the address is correct (it is). I end up going through Walton Empire customer service to see if they can check in and figure out where the heck they delivered it (and deliver it to the correct address) but that's apparently impossible. Anyway, Walton Empire Customer Service Rep says they'll refund me and that I'll get an email. However, it was after work/end of the day and I had a bunch of stuff I needed to do when I got home.

WELL, turns out they only issued me a refund of $60 of the original $99 price. So, I had to call up the Walton Empire again and go "...????" Well, this Walton employee was also puzzled and I was all "I just want the vacuum!" But, they now issued me a refund of an extra $42 (yay, taxes refunded) and now I have to figure out if I want to bother reordering the damn thing or try Bezos empire for full price.

Like, y'all. I just wanted a stick vacuum! I WANTED TO GO TO A STORE AND BRING IT HOME. Or have it sent to a store where I could pick it up! I DO NOT WANT THINGS MAILED TO ME. Honestly, my wacko relationship with mail is almost as storied as my bonkers relationship with telecomms.

I already have a fairly extensive holiday card list, but I definitely want to include anyone who's interested! Please leave your address in the (screened) comments below! (If you've moved, please let me know so I can update your address!)