What made me unhappy today ?

[Louanne Learning]

It was a beautiful day here in Niagara. My brother came over and we played Scrabble on the patio, but I couldn't have my usual drink because I had to give my grand-niece a ride at 6:00 pm! Yes, I am having it now.

 

[Set2Stun]

I love it when the crisp air moves in and I get to bundle up in bed under the comforter, with a +100% comfort booster if my cat joins me. But what makes me unhappy is when my building cranks up the heat, which I have basically no control over, and the radiator cooks my apartment. I already woke up a couple times with a sweat the past few days, and I can't keep the windows open all night as there will be noise in the morning.
It's extremely ironic that I have a need to keep fans running in the fall and winter.

 

[GrahamLewis]

I have always loved the bracing solemnity of autumn, as nature pulls itself inward and prepares for for the coming cold, all underlain with the expectation -- and hope -- of the spring to come.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

Osaka summers are at or above human body temperature these days, plus humidity. I love fall and winter. We're just entering the former now, last week was still in the 80s (28-30C), but from now we're not supposed to see anything above 25C (77F).

It ain't paradise, but it's survivable.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I love it when the crisp air moves in and I get to bundle up in bed under the comforter, with a +100% comfort booster if my cat joins me. But what makes me unhappy is when my building cranks up the heat, which I have basically no control over, and the radiator cooks my apartment. I already woke up a couple times with a sweat the past few days, and I can't keep the windows open all night as there will be noise in the morning.
It's extremely ironic that I have a need to keep fans running in the fall and winter.

That would drive me crazy. Where is the thermostat?

I've mostly always lived in apartment buildings where the landlord kept the heat too low.

In my own house, I have to keep it down, too, because I'm poor/cheap. 68F max when I'm home and awake; 56F at night when I'm asleep and during the day and evening when I'm gone.

I do the five-blanket-quilt pile plus cat. He crawls under it all and snuggles. I have no idea how he breathes under there, but he insists.

As to what makes me unhappy, it's keeping the heat that low all winter and still having to pay over $300 a month for gas. I won't turn it on till sometime in November, or until the inside temp gets down to 53F.

 

[Set2Stun]

That would drive me crazy. Where is the thermostat?

It seems to be only decorative. I've brought it up to building management many times, but they just blow me off. It's a big building and it's a boiler situation, so they're not really worried about costs. There's probably a couple of dozen seniors in this place who will complain a lot louder than me if it gets too cold

Today we set a new record-high temperature for Oct. 19 of 25.9C. The previous record was 25.6 back in 1963. It was very uncomfortable in here, and I chose not to bake some cookies. Right now it's not too bad, but I'll have to close my windows again when I go to bed.

Good gravy, that's a lot of money to pay for gas heating! I guess my heat being included in my rent is both a gift and curse.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

Whoosh, in Japan all heating is up to the tenant. No central air/heating in anything but office buildings and malls. You need to buy an individual aircon unit for each room in your house/apartment ($500-1000+ each) if you want heating or cooling. I've got one for my bedroom so I can sleep in the summer but other than that I just use fans and the kotatsu heated coffee table in the winter. Works really well.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Whoosh, in Japan all heating is up to the tenant. No central air/heating in anything but office buildings and malls. You need to buy an individual aircon unit for each room in your house/apartment ($500-1000+ each) if you want heating or cooling. I've got one for my bedroom so I can sleep in the summer but other than that I just use fans and the kotatsu heated coffee table in the winter. Works really well.

Um, tenant? You mean, if you're renting a place, you have to buy your own AC/heating unit and install it? Does that mean that when your tenancy is up, you take your AC/heating unit with you?

Just curious, but I'm not sure that's what you mean.

 

[Tallyfire]

I've got one for my bedroom so I can sleep in the summer but other than that I just use fans and the kotatsu heated coffee table in the winter. Works really well.

First time I experienced a kotatsu was in a guesthouse in Yunomine on a chilly autumn day after a long hike. It was a little haven of cosiness. Damn, now I’m back to dreaming of Japan.

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

I love autumn, but the allergies I experience during it wreck my whole face. My left eye is so itchy and I am sneezing so much again. I do take allergy meds, but those only do so much.

 

[Naomasa298]

I get more productive, at least in both my IT work and writing. It's easier to work when the world is quiet and you're left alone with your thoughts.

Spring nights in Tokyo are the best times to sit outside, have a smoke and watch the world go by. Wouldn't do it in any other country. Sure as heck wouldn't do it in the UK, lest the drunken yobs show themselves. Can't use a kotatsu either, since I can't sit on the floor any more.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Spring nights in Tokyo are the best times to sit outside, have a smoke and watch the world go by. Wouldn't do it in any other country. Sure as heck wouldn't do it in the UK, lest the drunken yobs show themselves.

Yesterday I met a man for a business lunch in a quaint little town here in western Pennsylvania. As we walked to the restaurant he'd chosen, he gestured to the empty tables and chairs set out on the sidewalk in front of the bars and eateries we passed. "I wish people could sit outside here in Z___," he said, "but it's no good, because of all the traffic."

Indeed. Main Street there is part of a major state highway running right through the town, and its two narrow lanes are thick with big, noisy, smelly trucks. In the charming town of Z___, you don't sit at a streetside table unless you enjoy notes of diesel fuel in your wine.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

So last Thursday, my GP sent me to do an x-ray and a blood test. I did the blood test on Friday, and it took 5 minutes because I had a printed script.

Yesterday, I had a call from my GP, who wanted me to do another blood test (testing specifically for iron levels). Fair enough, she's the expert. So I made plans to do it this morning, despite the pouring rain. (Why not? I'm not made of salt, I won't melt).

I also skipped breakfast before the blood test, because you have to fast. Fine. Last time I did this, I left the house at 7:20 am and came back at 7:40. No big deal.

But this time, my GP sent me the script as part of the pathology lab's app, on my phone. So:

1. I went to my usual pathology place, where I was first in line. (Huzzah!) But they said they couldn't take it because they didn't have a printer, and they needed a printed copy, and could I go to another office instead?

2. Sigh. Time to drive to the nearest office ... which had 5 people ahead of me in line. Poo. So I sat and waited, and waited, and waited (they had just one pathologist running the place).

3. After 15 minutes, she said that another office next door just opened, and it has two pathologists instead of one, and would we all like to go there instead?

4. Off we tramp next door. But one of the pathologists there is handling an emergency patient ... fine ... so only one pathologist can see all of us. Still, I'm 2nd in line. But time's moving on, and I do have work to go to ... *looks at watch*

5. Another 20 minutes later (and fully an hour into this adventure), I finally get to see someone -- who says to me, "Why did you come here? The first office could've just scanned the QR code on the app!"

*facepalm*

So instead of this taking 20 minutes (like last week), it took nearly 90 minutes - i.e. 7:20 to 8:45. All because the first pathologist either didn't understand how the app work, or didn't want to try understanding it.

But I'm not angry, because I work in healthcare, and I can see the funny side. I could sell this story to the papers: "healthcare worker pushed around by healthcare system"...

 

[Pik]

I thought you were in the linguistics and grammar business. I don't like (fear) getting sick and it's my personal motivation for trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, the last time I went to the doctor was when I went to take the COVID vaccine.
Edit: not completely true, there were few other occasions where I had to take tests for a generalized health test I needed to submit for work and studies

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I thought you were in the linguistics and grammar business.

I tried making a living in the linguistics and grammar business, but it was always shaky. So for the past 20 years, I've worked in healthcare, since it's a more dependable source of income, and write "on the side". *shrug*

After all, on top of the usual bills, I also have a mortgage to pay ... and I couldn't afford that from just (trying to) sell books.

It's a bugger.

 

[Pik]

I tried making a living in the linguistics and grammar business, but it was always shaky. So for the past 20 years, I've worked in healthcare, since it's a more dependable source of income, and write "on the side". *shrug*

After all, on top of the usual bills, I also have a mortgage to pay ... and I couldn't afford that from just (trying to) sell books.

It's a bugger.

Healthcare folks are notorious for having a bad handwriting. I guess it's common to have a day job aside from writing, but if the day job sounds like another career then it's a bit unusual. Anyways, where I live there is more waiting time in public services than in private ones.

 

[Amontillado]

I'm afraid Nisus Writer Pro, one of the two grand, Mac-specific word processors may be no more.

Every morning I open a favorites group in my web browser, including sites like this one. Nisus' forums is one of those sites.

I don't visit it every day for participation as much as to visit an old friend in hospice. Nisus went dormant a year or more ago. Dormant except for sales. Customer support email has long been unanswered. Online sales and in the app store continued.

A few days ago, Nisus disappeared from app stores, all except their Thesaurus app.

Today, I get a 404 error on their forums and on their main page at nisus.com. Maybe someone is doing site maintenance. Maybe a new developer bought the product and is ready to roll out a new Nisus more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

Or maybe the word processor I once loved as much as grep itself has settled into its legacy.

It also reminds me how fickle I am. Once I sipped just a little Mellel koolaid I didn't look back.

Mmmm, Mellel... Auto-titles... Global and document-local style sets...

But I digress. Today, I think I'm seeing the final chapter in a once great application. For that, I mourn.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I'm afraid Nisus Writer Pro, one of the two grand, Mac-specific word processors may be no more.

Every morning I open a favorites group in my web browser, including sites like this one. Nisus' forums is one of those sites.

I don't visit it every day for participation as much as to visit an old friend in hospice. Nisus went dormant a year or more ago. Dormant except for sales. Customer support email has long been unanswered. Online sales and in the app store continued.

A few days ago, Nisus disappeared from app stores, all except their Thesaurus app.

Today, I get a 404 error on their forums and on their main page at nisus.com. Maybe someone is doing site maintenance. Maybe a new developer bought the product and is ready to roll out a new Nisus more powerful than you could possibly imagine.

Or maybe the word processor I once loved as much as grep itself has settled into its legacy.

It also reminds me how fickle I am. Once I sipped just a little Mellel koolaid I didn't look back.

Mmmm, Mellel... Auto-titles... Global and document-local style sets...

But I digress. Today, I think I'm seeing the final chapter in a once great application. For that, I mourn.

Have a beer. Sounds like you need one.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Not unhappy, exactly--- can't afford the luxury of that. But today is shaping up to be a challenge, and it isn't even noon.

In the first place, I got called at 6:36 AM for a sub teaching gig to start at 7:20. Ohhhhhh, gosh. Split junior high and high school, and I'm in for the same teacher tomorrow. Did I really want to do Band two days in a row? But I need the money and made myself get up. Skipped cleaning litter boxes, skipped breakfast, all but skipped making lunch.

Arrived at the middle school at 7:30, "only" ten minutes late. That was all right, because I was hearing individual kids play me their lessons.

Only--- on my drive there, my 2004 car's dashboard display started going crazy. Gas gauge went from Half to Full. Trip odometer flipped over to the lifetime odometer. Check engine light, brake light, seatbelt light, all came on. Worse, she suddenly wouldn't accelerate. Scratch that, she died. I restarted and floored her in third, and got up the hill.

On a "good" day, half the private lesson kids won't show up. Today, with my blood sugar crashing from no food and worry, they mostly did. And the ones who were absent, the kids who came to play, played through till the next player arrived.

Like I said, I can't afford to be unhappy. I'm the grownup in the room, and it's my job to be attentive and encouraging and helpful. And yay, I helped a kid brand-new to the tenor sax figure out how to hold the reed in his mouth to get a decent tone.

But Band class the next period was crazy. Of course the teacher didn't leave them enough to do. So they're making noise, tipping their seats over, roaming the room, bugging each other, physically and verbally . . .

I didn't get mad. You lose control when you get mad. I dealt with each issue as it arose . . . all the time wishing I could get at the sandwich I packed, or do research on what's wrong with my car. Too bad. You keep smiling, and you endure.

Out to my car in the parking lot, to go to the high school. Hooray, the gauges are back to normal and she starts just fine. Pulled out of the lot, turned the corner--- and she died. She died three or four more times on the way over, and a couple times, the power steering went out. And I got a new idiot light, saying "TRAC OFF." Apparently, TRAC helps the wheels hold the road properly. By the time I limped into the high school parking lot, the Oil light was on as well.

Quick lunch bought from the cafeteria, but no time to eat it before my first class. Too busy making phone calls. My garage guy can't get me in till Monday, but drop her off this afternoon. I looked up car rentals. Cheapest would eat up all but $162 of the work I'm booked for through next Tuesday. I've got a call in to some friends I've borrowed cars from before, but I can't get a call back till I get out of here--- the Band room is in a dead zone and I have no signal on my cellphone (I'm shocked I have Internet on the laptop!). Had to use the school landline.

After that, I had high school Band, and it was chaos again. That is, until the majorettes stepped up and conducted the kids through the music for a concert they're giving tomorrow night. Chaos was over, but it was loud, loud, playing-out-in-the-open-air loud. I said nothing. I sat and smiled and looked supportive. They can't help it. Playing loud is what they do. "I will not get a headache!" I said to myself. "I will not run screaming from the room with my hands over my ears." Their playing was fine, I just have sensitive ears.

Meanwhile, I managed to eat the sandwich I bought for lunch. And for the next half hour, I have Prep, and it's quiet in here, barring the whirring of fans. I have time to decompress.

God willing, I'll be able to limp home after school and won't need a tow. And I'll be able to find someone to lend me a car the next few days.

I need to buy a new one. Mine is on her last legs, and the safety inspection expires the end of the month.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

I guess it's common to have a day job aside from writing, but if the day job sounds like another career then it's a bit unusual.

Outside of journalists, almost every writer I've ever met pursued at least one other career concurrent with writing. I've always worked in other fields, not only for the reasons Rath cited, but because those jobs contributed to my life experience which enriched my writing.