This weekend and the upcoming long weekend

This weekend has been good. I feel relaxed and content.

This Saturday, I have made plans to see a friend. I haven't seen her since early March. I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

It's a long weekend coming up. Yay!

My intern's farewell lunch

My intern's original work term was for eight months. Luckily, it got extended and we had him for an additional four months.

My role changed just after his extension had been set. He ended up with another team lead. However, our work still crossed paths and we still managed to communicate with each other regularly.

Back in April, when we thought that it was the end of his work term, I said that we'd have a proper farewell lunch for him when it was safe to do it. We were 1.5 months into the pandemic.

Well, his final day was Friday. I wanted a farewell lunch for him. So did our manager. I talked with our boss. He was good having just the three of us have lunch together. It would be safer with a small number of people there.

I had suggested a restaurant and my intern was game. He was delighted to get a free lunch, paid by our manager, to honour his efforts and accomplishments during his stay with us.

On Friday, I picked up my intern at his home and drove us over to the restaurant. It felt like old times, except that he was in the backseat of my car as I drove. Our manager met us there, as he had to pick up the gift that the company had for my intern.

At his home, I gave my intern a box of gourmet cookies. We love them. The store happens to be in my neighbourhood. He was thrilled.

We sat out in the patio for nearly 2.5 hours. The food was yummy and amazing. We had a lot of laughs while we chatted about a ton of topics.

Afterwards, we walked over to Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream. I was too full from my lunch to have some, but the other two got some.

When we were all done, my intern and I decided to get bubble tea. I treated him to whatever drink he wanted. We sat for a bit to chat before I took him home.

It was a lovely day. I know that I'll see him again, as we have plenty of eateries to discover. I let him know that whenever he was free, to let me know. He confirmed that he would take me up on my offer. He has one last year of undergraduate studies, which start in just over a week.

Sharing my thoughts about my intern

Today was my intern's last workday. I'll write about today tomorrow.

Yesterday, our team was asked to say a few words about him in our virtual meeting. I liked what I said to him. It was heartfelt and he appreciated it.

I said that it was a pleasure training and working with him. I told him that from his first two weeks to the growth that I have seen in him to become the writer that he currently is has made me so proud of him. 

I thanked him for being my wingman when going out to grab a bite to eat. I also liked that we bonded over the university that we chose to do our undergraduate degree. I looked forward to his joining me as an alum soon.

Over the course of his twelve-month term, I have been good in letting him know how he was doing. I'm glad that I did. I will miss working with him.

Receiving money by accident

Yesterday, I got an Interac e-transfer. Someone had sent me $175. I believe it was in error. I don't know the person at all.

At first, I thought it was a phishing scam. Nah, it was legitimate. The woman simply sent her money to the wrong e-mail address.

Wouldn't it be great to get money like that all the time? A girl can dream.

Interns and coincidence

For the past year, I have trained and worked with my intern. He has three days left before his work term is over.

During this same period, we have also worked with another intern. This one is a software developer.

Yesterday, I had a call over our lovely chat tool to talk about what could be his final contribution in his work term. Like my intern, this one is equally as bright and hard-working.

I took the time to say that I have enjoyed working with him. He appreciated it. He said that my intern has always spoken highly of me. It was nice of him to say.

I liked his story about how he was driving his girlfriend home one evening. He found out that his girlfriend and my intern live on the same street. Small world!

Sleep and rain

I took a bit of a break. I didn't sleep well on Saturday night, so I decided to take half a sick day on Monday. I did sleep like a rock on Sunday. I needed the rest.

It's raining right now. I love how it sounds. It's so calming. It has been so hot outside that it's nice that there's a bit of relief.

Reducing sugar in my diet

I'm back to reducing the amount of sugar in my diet. I find that I'm more sluggish when I have sugar in my system. 

Don't worry. I'm still eating bananas. Natural sugar is fine. 

I have found Lily's dark chocolate peanut butter cups. They are yummy! It uses stevia as the sweetener. I'm a fan!

Kyle Lowry delivers quite the post-game slap

The Toronto Raptors are in round one of the playoffs. The team is doing well so far.

After game 2, Kyle Lowry was so pumped that, while heading to the change room, he gave quite the butt slap to a lucky staff member.

Ah, how I'd love to be on that receiving end!

Poor sleep, but a nap in the day helped!

Last night, I didn't sleep well. It was a combination of staying up late, waking up to a bit of foot pain, and hearing loud noises in the neighbourhood.

Luckily, I had completed the bulk of my work and only had to do some minor updates on Thursday. One of the benefits of working from home is napping when sleepy. It's exactly what I did.

Here's hoping that it'll be quieter and smoother tonight.

I finally got a call from my doctor

The doctor drama continues. I called the clinic at around 10:30 am and spoke to the receptionist on why I didn't get a call on Tuesday. She apologized and said that things were busy. She said that the doctor would  call me back on Wednesday.

Guess what time I got that phone call? At nearly 17:00. I was in a work call. I had it running on mute while I talked with my doctor.

She didn't apologize. She said that she was busy. I said that it was understandable. However, for a patient who is waiting to have a call at a specific time, it wasn't acceptable.

Anyway, I have an appointment for bloodwork. Fun!

I am considering doing the virtual doctor thing over video. My company health plan covers it. It may avoid this phone call nonsense.

No doctor call, but I had a nice chat with a colleague about his English skills

As expected, I didn't get a call from my doctor. I left a voice message, letting folks there know that they missed the boat and to call me back later on today. I'll be calling them, too. I don't trust their reliability, which is sad.

I will ask for my appointment to be over the phone. I don't see the need to come into the clinic.

On a happier note, I worked with a software developer on a new feature. After we were done, he confided that he likes writing documentation. He said that if I have any feedback on his written work (he's from Brazil), he'd be happy to get some from me. 

It was nice to hear. I wish that more developers would work on improving their English, if English is their second language. Heck, there are some folks whose first language is English and aren't great at it!

I let him know that I'd be happy to provide feedback. I do it anyway within my team, so it's a natural extension.

A call with my doctor and items in the mail 1.5 months later

Yesterday, I called my doctor's office to inquire about whether I could talk over the phone with her or see her at the clinic. Three months ago, consultations were strictly over the phone.

I got an odd setup where my doctor will call me later on today and determine whether I need to come in to see her. I'm not liking that screening process. Sadly, I have to live with it.

I'm pretty punctual when it comes to appointments. I have a feeling that either the call will come to me late or I won't get one. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I don't have that vibe.

On an interesting note as I change the subject, I had ordered a couple of items from the United States in early July. The packaged arrived today. Thank goodness they weren't crucial items. I'm glad that I have them at long last.

Time and my intern

I blink and the weekend is over.

I got everything that I had wanted to accomplish this weekend. I met up with friends. I did some cleaning up around the house. I even did some sewing.

This year is blowing by fast, even though the pandemic has put a damper on the year. My intern has two more weeks left before his work term is over.

My manager has asked whether I'd be interested in doing a farewell lunch or dinner with my intern -- just the three of us. I'm game. It's a small group and we can hit a patio at an eatery. My manager has to meet with the intern to collect his laptop and other items. I'd likely drop by a bit later.

It'll be good to see my intern again and send him off as best as we can.

Meeting up with friends and experiencing foot pain after quite an absence

On Saturday, I met up with a couple of friends for a late lunch. It felt like we hadn't skipped a beat. We hadn't seen one another since December 2018. It was a great time chatting over food and drinks. We then went shopping for a bit.

I woke up just past 4 am with foot pain. I haven't had it in quite some time. I ate a banana and took some Ibuprofen with root beer that I had made with my Sodastream.

I have been eating bananas daily, which has helped reduce how often I experience foot pain. My thinking with Ibuprofen with root beer is that the carbonation speeds up how quickly the pain relief happens.

Nearly an hour later, my pain was gone and I slept well.

Hello, weekend!

I'm meeting up with two friends on Saturday. One is a former colleague. The other is my former intern. Both friends were on my team a couple of years ago.

I'm driving out to see them. It should take over an hour by car. I like a good day trip.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Night guard to help with grinding my teeth in my sleep

I grind my teeth at night while I sleep. As of late, I wake up with a sore jaw. It's likely due to stress and not working out as much as I should.

I decided to haul out my night guard. I got it from my dentist over a year ago. It still fits! I wore it last night and noticed a huge difference. My jaw wasn't all that sore when I woke up.

Luckily, the weekend is within reach. Yay!

It's payday!

I get paid by my employer every two weeks. Technically, I get paid every other Thursday.

I do love my bank. It deposits my pay electronically by 22:10 on Wednesday night. I spend a bit of time paying various bills based on my bill payment schedule. It's an Excel spreadsheet. I have had a number of variations over the years, but the current one has guided me out of my darkest debt stage.

It makes me so happy paying bills and seeing results. I also like that I can put money away towards my retirement and emergency fund. It was challenging doing it a year ago.

Things are looking up and good with my finances. It takes a lot of effort and planning to get out of debt. I'm so pleased that budgeting has paid off (pun intended)!

Wednesdays

My manager has been taking more time off this summer. I look forward to when he goes on vacation. My inbox gets a rest and I can focus on my work with fewer interruptions.

As of late, he has been taking Wednesdays off. I like it. I tend to make a smoothie in the morning and ease into my day without answering what he feels are important, urgent e-mails.

I like Wednesdays a lot more these days.

Car maintenance that cost me nothing

On Monday, I finally bit the bullet and took my car in for servicing. I have put off getting my car's winter tires off due to the pandemic. When my oil change light lit up on the dashboard, I knew that I had to bring my car in. Thank goodness we are in stage 3 of businesses reopening.

I normally drop off my car and get a shuttle ride home. With the pandemic happening, shuttle service is unavailable. Instead, I had to sit there with a mask on and wait for my car.

The work done on my car took two hours. I will say that sitting under air conditioning with a comfortable cotton mask on was great. I used three hours of paid time off from work that I was supposed to take in early July, but was on vacation. I loved sitting there, relaxing, and vegging.

How much did I pay for the car maintenance. Nothing. Crazy, huh?

My car service was under warranty. Getting my all-season tires on was free, thanks to the tire rotation part of the servicing being done. I had paid for two seasons of tire storage at the place, so I didn't need to pay for more.

To top things off, I had a great service advisor. He was kind. It was nice chatting with him about everything from running out of printer paper, to pointing me in the right direction to get my free messenger bag. Yes, I got a free bag that's pretty nice.

It was a good day.

Throwing out the past and finding an NHL team to cheer in the playoffs

 I spent Sunday getting rid of things at home. This task will take a while, but I have made some decent progress. 

Many were either reminders of my ex-guy, such as a fake flower in a vase that he got, along with my manager at the time and an intern when I went into the hospital for surgery. It was back in 2011, shortly after we had started dating.

Looking at this item doesn't bring me joy anymore. It occupies space on my dresser and I needed to get rid of it.

As for hockey, the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, and Toronto Maple Leafs have ended their playoff season. I don't know which team I should cheer on now.

New panties

A few months ago, I joined a panties subscription service. I love it. I get a pair every other month.

Yesterday, I got this one in the mail. The mesh is surprisingly comfortable. It's playful and sexy. 

 

 This one will be fun to wear during a self-spanking session.

Hockey games late at night

I am watching a late night hockey game. Here's hoping that the Minnesota Wild win it. If the team loses this game, its playoff run is over.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are still alive. Yay!

Last night, the Winnipeg Jets ended its playoff hopes. Sad.

I am so happy that the weekend is here. It makes staying up late to watch hockey games more enjoyable. I can also sleep in!

It's Friday at long last and a fix to creating new Blogger tags

 It's Friday. I have one more workday to go. I am relieved.

We've got a bit of a break from the heatwave. It's nice to give the air conditioning some rest.

I have a few errands to run on Saturday. I'll be heading down to Toronto for a bit. I hope to hit my old neighbourhood when I have a chance.

Hey, I can finally create new Blogger tags with the new interface while writing a new post. Hooray for logical usability! I disliked publishing my post and then adding a new tag from the Posts section. Creating each new tag from there was a pain.

Ball Sort

Recently, I decided to download Ball Sort. No, get your mind out of the gutter! It's like Tetris, except that you are putting like-coloured balls together in beakers or tubes.

I'm on level 209 right now. So addictive!

Hockey in the summer and games at odd hours

It's strange watching hockey in the summertime. Games are shown during odd hours of the day.

Games in my timezone happen in the afternoon. I can't exactly tune into them because I am working. On Tuesday, I was on a call for two hours. Before that, my manager was late for our meeting, so it got extended to nearly an hour. Ugh!

I'm watching a game right now. There are two hub cities for hockey: Toronto and Edmonton. The latter is two hours behind my timezone. It's a good thing that I am a night owl and can work from home. Still, it's just a strange schedule.

Ah, priorities!

Sodastream machine and my beverage centre

On Saturday, I picked up my new Sodastream Fizzi One Touch machine that I had already paid for online.

I love it. I have made root beer and raspberry mint beverages so far.

The instructions that you get from Sodastream on using your machine are like those from IKEA. They are all diagrams. One reason for pictures is that companies save on translation.

Well, I still needed to go online to watch a Sodastream video on how to use it. I'm good now!

I have decided to create a beverage centre on the top floor of my home. It occupied a small corner of my den. I spend a lot of time working from home on this floor. It makes sense that I house my Keurig (I need to dust it off, as I can't remember when I last used it!) and Sodastream machines. I also bought a stand for my K-cups years ago that can come out of its box.

I have a small kitchen, so having these machines on the counter takes up way too much space. I typically bring my iced tea and beverages upstairs anyway, so having these machines up there makes sense to me.

My long weekend is coming to a close. It was nice taking it easy and relaxing.

Comments on my blog - part 3

Here's hoping that I don't create an ongoing series of updates pertaining to my blog and its comments settings. I never thought that I needed to clamp down on spam. It was my first time doing so. I've had this blog for fifteen years, which is crazy!

To make a long story shorter, I changed my blog's comment permission setting from everyone to those who are followers of my blog. My understanding was that if you are deemed a Blogger follower of my blog, you could continue to comment on posts.

Well, so much for how things should be. I was touched when I saw Can't Comment on Cutiebootie's Blog and Message to Toronto as blog post titles. It was touching that they reached out to let me know that they couldn't add comments. I appreciate you!

When tons of spam messages flooded my blog, I initially changed the setting to allow only readers with a Google account to leave comments. I suppose that Blogger wasn't fast enough to clamp down. Two days after I had made the change, I was still getting spam messages. I decided to change it to only followers who could comment. The spam finally ceased.

On Sunday, I decided to change my blog setting back to comments accepted when you log in with your Google account. I left it that way for seven hours. No spam. Yay!

I then let Fondles and Michael know about my change. I'm happy that comments work for one of them. Here's hoping that it works for the other and everyone who has a Google account.

I will keep it on this setting for a bit. If it's still quiet on the spam front, I will consider giving everyone access to commenting.

It has been such a relaxing long weekend that I have decided to defer my self-spanking to this upcoming weekend.

August, hockey, and birthday reward

It's August. It's weird watching hockey on TV in the middle of summer. I'm not complaining. I have missed it and I'm glad that it's back, with safety measures in place.

I ran a bunch of errands on Saturday. I had to hit a store at a mall to use my birthday reward. It would have expired today.

The woman cashing me out wished me a happy birthday twice. It reminded me that I need to give myself a self-spanking.

I was exhausted after my errands and being out in the sun. I'll strive for later on today. My right knee is fine, so I am all set.

Update on my debt reduction and fizzy drinks

Being in a pandemic for months has been unnerving and uncertain. One positive that I have mentioned in the past is that I'm not shopping all that much, other than for essentials (groceries and medication), and the odd need (computer eyeglasses).

Because I haven't been commuting to work, I have saved time, money, and aggravation. With money, I have saved so much that I have been putting that money towards my emergency fund and retirement savings (it's called a Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP in Canada), and paying off my debt.

For a few years now, I didn't have an emergency fund. Either my paycheque was that fund or I'd have to dip into my RRSP. I was not proud of doing the latter, but it did help. I am so pleased that I have an emergency fund for unexpected expenses at long last. I hope that I don't have to dip into my RRSP again.

I have been building up my RRSP. I have regular monthly payments that I contribute to my own plan. I also have a certain amount put into my RRSP plan with my employer. I have contributing a bit more, which makes me feel good.

I have also been paying my credit cards in larger amounts. I'm extremely happy. Progress is good.

Even though I haven't been shopping that often, I decided to treat myself by buying a Sodastream machine. It basically makes tap water fizzy.

Why? Well, I drink tea and diet pop. With the latter, it's time to reduce the number of cans and bottles that contain pop. Instead, I can make my own carbonated drinks and reuse bottles.

I pick up my Sodastream machine later on today. I am looking forward to figuring out my new hobby!