Shorter workweek

I like a shorter workweek. It makes me look forward to a longer weekend. I am extending it by taking next Monday off.

My busiest workday is Friday. Yay to not having to deal with it this week!

Pigs in a blanket

I made pigs in a blanket with a silicone mould with little pigs. The bakeware is cute. However, you really need mini hot dogs to make it work.

I had regular hot dogs and cut them up into smaller pieces. I still felt that they were large.

The pigs in a blanket did turn out well. I will try reducing the time in the oven from 20 to 15 minutes. I found that the pancake batter was crispier than I would have liked. I used a sugar-free batter. I'm not sure if that had an effect.

I enjoy baking. It's fun.

Meeting up with a friend

On Saturday, I met up with my friend for a late lunch. It was the first time that both dined in a restaurant since the pandemic.

It wasn't on a patio or in a tent. We were sitting in a restaurant. It was great and we felt safe.

It was a bit different, but I was thankful to have spent a couple of hours with my friend whom I haven't seen since last September.

Bonus pay, relief, and friend

I gave my presentation online for work yesterday. It went well. I always feel great and relieved after it's done.

It's raining right now. I like rain at night. I find it soothing.

Yesterday, I got my bonus in addition to my paycheque. It feels good being temporarily rich. I have put the bonus towards paying off my debt, which continues to go well.

It's Friday at long last. I am seeing a friend, who is also my colleague, on Saturday. We haven't seen each other since last September. I am excited to catch up with her.

A break from the boss due to technology

My manager's laptop had issues charging. He basically said that he only had 23 percent power before he was done for the day.

As sad as his laptop situation was, I actually felt relieved that he wasn't online. My inbox got a break, which meant that I got a break, too.

We'll see if this break continues or if it's business as usual later today.

Income tax return - filed!

On Sunday, I filed my income tax return. I like that I got it over with.

My parents still haven't sent me all their tax slips and such. I tend to do theirs in April. We have until the end of April to file our tax returns. For a few years now, I do mine in early March, but I slipped a bit this year.

It was a productive Sunday. It's one less thing to think about.

Restoring my phone thanks to crappy app updates

Yesterday, my phone was acting up. After a number of automatic app updates, a number of apps weren't working properly afterwards

When I launched any e-mail app, it would flash and close up. I also had issues opening my Amazon, Sephora, and Rogers apps.

Normally, I can uninstall and reinstall a problematic app and I'm good. It didn't work for any of them. You also can't uninstall the Gmail app on a Google Pixel phone.

I ended up erasing everything on my phone and installing my data from a backup that had occurred three hours earlier.

Other than signing into every app that I use, my phone works well again. Man, I'm tired!

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring! It was a whopping 15°C on Saturday, which was lovely. It made the day so cheerful, complemented by the sunshine.

I spent this evening scheduling COVID-19 vaccine shots for my parents. My dad has his two appointments set up. His first shot is this Thursday. I have pre-registered my mom. She's six years younger than my dad, so she has to wait for a bit.

I hope that you are having a great weekend so far.

Sleep and Happy Meals

I have been sleeping well since I cut out most sugary items from my diet. Other than my leg pain the other night, I haven't woken up in the middle of the night to attend to my bladder this week.

I have had a few apple slices this week. They were a part of a McDonald's Happy Meal. I'm collecting Mr Men and Little Miss toys. I have the option of having apple slices or fries in the meal. There are fewer carbs in the former, although it does have natural sugar.

As an adult, I never imagined ordering Happy Meals!

Sick day

I took Thursday off as a sick day. I woke up just before 4 am with hamstring and ankle pain that affected my right leg. I likely overworked them when exercising. 

I was up for over an hour trying to ease the pain before I went back to bed and slept like a log for 3.5 hours. I heard my alarm go off. I felt sluggish. I decided to take the day off and slept some more.

Right now, my hamstring is doing better. I skipped exercising. Here's hoping that I can sleep better tonight.

Mr Men = Spongebob

Yesterday, I decided to get a Happy Meal from McDonald's. I haven't had one since I was a kid.

Why did I get one? It's offering Mr Men as the toy. I grew up with the Mr Men series, so it's a nostalgic thing.

Well, I specified the Mr Men Happy Meal. What did I get? Spongebob. Ugh!

Apparently, Mr Men all got a facelift and became Spongebob. I will try again soon and hope that the folks at my local McD's get my order correct!

Random act of kindness came in the mail

A few weeks ago, a tea company in Vancouver that I follow on Instagram did an act of random kindness. The company wanted to send me some goodies. It was so completely out of the blue!

Well, my gifts came in the mail. I got a bunch of looseleaf tea varieties. I also got some hand-carved wooden spoons to scoop the tea out of the containers. One is round and the other is heart-shaped.

This photo shows my purple jasmine tea with the heart-shaped wooden spoon:

  

It was such a thoughtful gesture. This company made my day and month.

Facebook and my ex breaking his hiatus on it

I don't do a whole lot on my Facebook account. I have moved around over the years, so it's easy to keep in touch with people. I wish friends happy birthday, check in here and there, and that's it.

The ex has a Facebook account. He stopped using it back in 2017. Unfortunately, I got a notification that he has posted two new photos.

The photos aren't exciting. However, they either have some sort of hidden meaning or he's simply ready to be social again.

His profile pic is a car from the 70's. What's interesting is that the licence plate is from Texas. It's where we last were together before he broke up with me.

His cover photo is a lighthouse. It's a beacon of light when it's foggy. Maybe he is seeing the light. I also love lighthouses, but I don't know if he knows that I do.

Perhaps I'm reading into this photos more than I should. It's just weird that he has resurrected his Facebook account after a four-year hiatus.

I have removed him as a contact on Skype. Perhaps it's time to do the same on Facebook.

Daylight Saving Time glitch on my phone

The weekend has come to an end. I appreciate weekends more as I get older.

With Daylight Saving Time, my Google Pixel phone didn't automatically flip ahead an hour. Luckily, I spent the day at home, so it didn't really matter. The issue was fixed by Google by asking users to reboot their phones.

Weird. All is well.

Pickle fries

I had pickle fries for the first time. They are fries made out of potatoes, but are seasoned with pickle juice and salt. I enjoyed them.

I am not a pickle person. I don't like them in burgers. I love sweet relish and cucumbers, but have never been thrilled with the sourness. For some reason, I was fine with the pickle juice on these fries.

On a different note, it'll be Daylight Saving Time soon. I'm up way too late!

Happy shopping outcome

The weekend is here. Yay!

I have some errands to run later on today. I made a decent shopping list. Most of the items are food! Here's hoping that I get everything that I need.

On a slightly different note, I had placed an order online for an item with a small business that I frequent often. I got to exchange e-mail messages with the owner. I had ordered a plushie. She said that there was some glitch on her end and it wasn't available. I got a refund.

However, there was a larger version of the same plushie that she had, but wasn't listed on her site. I got it without tax. It was such a lovely outcome that I didn't expect. She has always been nice to me and it was such a nice gesture to have the tax knocked off.

Great customer service from a small, local store that has survived this pandemic. It's one of many reasons why I return.

Breakthrough at work

I enjoyed work on Thursday. I managed to make an important breakthrough with a side project that I'm working on.

With this side project, the documentation is outdated. The software has changed its look and feel. The person working first-level support is horrible. Instead, I have been working with a software developer who has pointed me in the right direction a number of times. I have been so fortunate. Even she recognized that he's not the most savvy person.

I attended a meeting later on in the day. A speaker kept on saying "you know" so often that it became annoying. It was at least once in a sentence. Ugh!

One more workday to go. I like the sound of that!

Good vacation day with sleep

I had a lovely day. My car got serviced. All went well. I ran all my errands that I had planned.

Last night, I was so tired that I ended up nodding off with my earbuds in my ears, music playing, my lamp next to my bed on. I can't recall when I last did that. I slept for an hour. It was nice. I then continued to sleep until just before 9 am.

I'm back to my two-day workweek. I like the sounds of it!

Planning

I have been planning what I will be doing after my car is serviced. I have three errands that I must run. Lunch and dinner are in the planning stages. It's fun!

There's one place that sells a massive meatball as an appetizer. It looks like a meal to me! I also like the idea of having Persian food.

It's great having plenty of choices to choose from.

Vacation day on Wednesday

It's a new workweek. I am taking Wednesday off as a vacation day. It's nice to break up the week into smaller segments.

I'm taking my car in for its usual servicing. It still doesn't offer shuttle service. I enjoy sitting there and relaxing. I also have a couple of errands to run afterwards. Considering that I'm not travelling much these days, I might as well start using my vacation days up slowly.

One more workday before my vacation day. It's great looking forward to a vacation day.

Cupcakes and an orchestra performance

On Saturday, I picked up a perk, which consisted of two cupcakes. They had plenty of butter. I loved every bite!

I won a pass to see the Louisville Orchestra perform virtually. Its first performance for me was on Saturday. It was awesome!

I used to play the viola and clarinet growing up. It was nice reliving those memories while seeing professionals show their creativity and skill.

Weekend, wings, and cupcakes

The weekend is finally here. Yay!

After work on Friday, I went out briefly to fetch some takeout for dinner. I got 50% off chicken wings and a four-cheese spinach dip with baked pita triangles. Delicious!

Later on today, I'm fetching a couple of complimentary cupcakes. I have been pretty good reducing my sugar intake for over a week. I will ruin it a bit with the cupcakes before I hop back on sugar-reduced train.

Have a great weekend! 

I am a winner!

I attended a virtual event last night. There was a giveaway at the end of it.

Normally, I don't win a thing when it comes to these draws. For some reason, I had a good feeling about it. Sure enough, my name got selected! Yay!

I get to virtually watch an orchestra play down the road. I'll have more details later, but I am absolutely thrilled!

Working with a diva who loves putting files into folders

I work with a colleague whom I have nicknamed Diva over the years. She is one.

It's crazy that she recently celebrated eight years with the company. I trained her.

From the moment she set foot with the company, I noticed her thing for putting files in folders. It is to the point where it's overkill and an obsession.

For over a year, she wanted to put files in a repository into subfolders. She was the only person who complained about the setup. I explained why I put everything in a single folder. I set up all documents. I need to make sure that they are all there in a glance. I also assign document numbers to them. It takes me a week to do all that work for each major software release that we have. It would take more time if I had subfolders to switch between views.

Well, she went ahead and did her folder thing. That's fine if she wants to waste her time and claim that it'll reduce errors made by her. It's more because she has a folder obsession. I'm wondering if it's OCD.

It's not a showstopper to me. She will live with or without putting files in folders and subfolders.

This week, she faced an issue and couldn't solve it herself. She goes with asking people first. I'm the complete opposite. I'll try and troubleshoot it before I poll people. I normally don't poll folks on my team because, often, no one has the experience. There are finally a few people who do. I went ahead and ignored her. She needs to put in some effort, rather than taking a shortcut by simply asking first.

She is a diva. She expects everything to be done for her. Thank goodness she did her folder thing herself. Such a waste of productivity!

Technical support - hit and miss

I have made this observation in the past, but the various helpdesks that I have at work suck. I dealt with one guy who was incredibly useless.

In a particular software application, there is a field called Area. It's essentially your department's name. I clicked the dropdown field and none of them matched what I belonged to. On top of that, the documentation had a broken URL to the application, so I had to ask about both issues.

I got the proper URL. The guy told me to select one and let my colleagues know what I had selected. Huh? He was so out of it that I asked if I could connect with a subject matter expert instead. I did (at least he got that right) and she was a ray of sunshine. She answered my questions and created an area just for me with all the proper access rights.

It's nice when I go from frustrated to happy. That guy needs to go, though. Even the woman told me that!

Memories of my friend and bedposts

It's March. A year ago, I travelled to the States. It was my last trip there. It was my last hotel stay.

It's crazy that I have been working from home for nearly a year. After this trip, I was asked to isolate at home. There were neither any COVID-19 cases in Minnesota, nor Ontario.

A year ago today, I had lunch with my dear friend in Minnesota. Little did we know that it would be our last get-together before she got diagnosed with Leukemia.

I miss her. I do have a happy memory to share.

Years ago, I returned to Minnesota to return my leased car. I had a three-year lease, but only worked in the States for two years before I got laid off. The car stayed in Canada with me for a year before I drove it down. I stayed with my friend in Iowa.

She let me know about a cool hotel that we needed to check out in her town. We went with her family. The hotel gave tours. We went upstairs to the bedroom. There was a couple looking around. The man looked at the bedposts. 

"These posts are so high. I could tie you up against them," he said to his partner.

He looked at my friend and me, a bit embarrassed. I seized the opportunity to say something.

"Too much information," I said with a smirk, which made my friend and I laugh.

I wish that I remembered what the name of that hotel was. I hope that it's still there.