All packed

I am all packed. I fly out tomorrow.

Before I fly out, I need to take an antigen test. Rules have changed where it has to be taken within 24 hours. On my last trip, it was 72 hours. I'm getting this test done tomorrow morning before I head over to the airport.

My setup is different on this trip. I'm carrying a backpack with my laptop and charger instead of my rolling bag. I also and bringing a larger piece of luggage that I've had for nearly two decades. I will be saying goodbye to it (one zipper works out of the whole thing) and getting a new piece of luggage while in the States. I may also buy a smaller rolling bag that fits in the overhead compartment. I love my rolling bag, but it no longer fits up there. The airline has made this compartment a lot smaller now.

Here's hoping that everything goes smoothly!

Ordered takeout from the wrong location

I did something odd last night. I ordered takeout with my app, which isn't all that weird. I didn't realize that it defaulted to a place roughly an hour away from where I was. I drove to the closest restaurant where I thought that I had placed my order.

I had already paid for my meal and it was ready. It was too far away for me to pick it up. So, I had to cancel and forfeit my purchase. I was oddly okay with it and hope that someone else orders the same meal.

It was so weird. I normally am pretty careful about location. I'll need to pay more attention next time.

SIM cards for stateside travel

I have been looking at SIM cards to use while in the States. In the past, I used Roam Mobility and it was awesome. Sadly, the pandemic caused this company to close for good.

I have found a SIM card that provides unlimited calls and texts for thirty days, along with 5 GB of data. It sounds promising.

Down the road, I'd like to subscribe to Mint Mobility. There is a deal where you pay $15 a month for three months. You lock that price in when you buy in batches. The catch is that I would need to buy a SIM card when I am stateside. I can't get it shipped to Canada.

My plan is to get the first SIM card first. I'll then get the Mint Mobility SIM and use it going forward.

It has been fascinating doing research on details that I didn't have to pay attention to in the past.

My new phone has shipped!

Great news! My Google Pixel 4a 5G phone shipped yesterday. I hope to get it either today or tomorrow.

I get paid later on today. I haven't got around to getting a screen protector. I don't have a case, either! Luckily, I live near a number of cell phone accessory places, so I am bound to find these items.

I'm so excited!

Weed scents in front of Best Buy

As I had written in a previous post, weed is legal in Canada. However, it depends on where you live to be able to smoke it in public.

I was at a Best Buy on Saturday afternoon. I visited a city a bit east of where I live. Roughly an hour later, I came out of the store. I smelled weed in the air.

I tend to associate smelling weed to being at a music concert. It will take me a while to associate it to my daily life.

Turfing the diva... yay!

My manager and I had a confidential talk about our troublesome new writer. Before I dive into those details, this writer decided to indicate that she was taking a sick day on Thursday.

Having her away from the office felt good. None of us had to deal with her diva-like tendencies.

My manager indicated that he had spoken to his manager about this writer. They both agreed that she needs to be canned. She has her own agenda, doesn't listen, and is a loose, unproductive cannon.

Her workload won't go back to me. Rather, the other writer who has already taken over a portion of my work will take over her work. Essentially, this writer is my mini-me. She works well and she is okay with taking on my workload, minus the other lead tasks that I do.

That's good. I can continue working on processes and other details.

My boss got word from another colleague that the diva has been saying negative things about both of us. I asked him not to tell me what they were. I don't need to know.

My view is that whenever someone has something negative to say about me, not only is it untrue, but it signals insecurity. The diva gives the impression that she knows everything. She doesn't. Instead, she needs to say horrible things about folks to make her feel better.

She also seems to buy her way to being liked. We recently had a colleague from Brazil visit for three weeks. Although the diva didn't know her, she bought her a parting gift last Friday. Odd.

During her first week, she said that she would buy me a tea. The following week, she did the same thing. She never did. Perhaps she was waiting for me to make the first move. I don't fall for such a trap.

Anyway, my boss is planning to can her either on Friday or Monday. The latter looks more promising. Either way, I feel a weight being lifted.

The diva has been a bad influence on a number of writers. I have noticed this week that as soon as either my boss or I walk into the lunchroom in which she is in, she immediately looks, gets up, and leaves. Ah, such maturity!

The diva is closer to my manager's age. I am wondering whether she feels threatened by someone like me, who is equally as seasoned of a writer, but who is far more competent, be her team lead.

My manager describes her as a poison. I agree. I actually said to him that she is toxic. I avoid toxic folks at all costs.

Madonna's Rebel Heart World Tour DVD is out -- spanking

When I had just turned twelve years old. I fell in love with Madonna's music. Lucky Star, Borderline, Burning Up, and even Like a Virgin were playing on high rotation. My first major concert was seeing Madonna's Blond Ambition tour a few years later.

I was thrilled when she released Hanky Panky, as it unleashed what I have always loved -- spanking.

Her last concert DVD was MDNA. I bought it and didn't like it at all. It has since sat in a corner, gathering dust. For a while, I haven't been as excited about new Madonna music until now.

She recently completed her Rebel Heart tour. I listened to the concert through Amazon Music. She does indeed spank someone (likely one of her dancers, but she has also spanked guests). I love the music, as many of the songs are not from her MDNA album. I am off to buy the DVD. 

Naturally, I want to see the spanking part. More importantly, I have a feeling that it will rekindle good music memories and perhaps build some new ones.

Working from home and being less stress, especially watching Fifty Shades Darker

I worked from home on Tuesday. I do it again today, which is my regular day working from home.

I enjoy working from home. It's not for everyone. For me, I am more focused and I don't have as many interruptions compared to being in the office.

I have always known that I am far more productive when I work from home. Tuesday was no exception, especially when I started my day at 06:45.

Tuesday consisted of my being on two conference calls. The second was my usual half-hour meeting with my manager.

He asked me how I was doing. Naturally, I am busy. However, my stress levels have subsided. These days, I wind up entering a zen, peaceful mode when I am focused on my tasks at home.

I also feel that a few changes have made me manage my stress better:

• Going into do-no-disturb mode on my work instant messaging app
• Blending a green drink every day and drinking it
• Eating out less
• Removing myself from annoying e-mail messages that get me worked up
• Not dealing with my insurance company's "courtesy" calls, as they irritate me
• Sleeping more
• Delegating my work rather than having the need to do it all myself

Here's hoping that my stress levels continue to subside.

The best part about Tuesday? When I was done with work, I headed out to get my DVD copy of Fifty Shades Darker. Needless to say, my stress levels are definitely reduced!

Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack and CDs

I have a pretty good music collection. These days, it's easy to purchase and download music digitally. Some of the benefits include a lack of physical storage and portability.

However, I still like owning records (a.k.a, vinyl), cassettes, CDs, and concert DVDs. These days, my rule is that if I love an artist or band, that I will buy the artist's or band's latest CD or DVD.

Depeche Mode is a good example. I have already pre-ordered the band's latest CD. I am seeing them in concert this September.

I have been streaming the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack these days. Both this soundtrack and the one for Fifty Shades of Grey are great. The variety and thoughtful selection of songs got me. I also like the artwork and information that you get with the CD.

On Saturday, I was at Walmart and bought the former soundtrack. It wasn't planned. It was staring at me. The price was pretty good, too.

I thought that I would be ordering it from Amazon. Sadly, many music stores in Canada aren't offering CDs in their stores any more. I don't see a CD section at Best Buy. HMV is closing across the country. Chapters Indigo has a decent music section, but the prices can run high.

I am thankful that Walmart has a music section still. I have fond memories of visiting music stores. I am glad that I can relive a bit of that now and again.

We're s-h-o-p-p-i-n-g... we're shopping!

My guy and I are shoppers. Finding out that he loves to shop was refreshing when we first started dating. It still is.

While my guy was in Seattle a few months ago, he was trying to find some power converters that would work in Cairo. I offered to help find him some, eventually getting eight of these power converters for $5 each. We were both pleased with my find. My guy was particularly proud of me, as he felt the satisfaction of benefiting from such a great deal.

I asked my guy to buy me some bagels in Montreal a week or so ago. He didn't hesitate to get me some. I asked him to buy two dozen. He did even better and got me three bags, each of which had nine. I was thankful.

"I am back in Montreal in December," my guy stated. "I can buy you more bagels."
"That would be great," I told him.
"I know how much you like bagels. How many can you store in your freezer?"
"I don't want you to load up your car full of bagels such that you can't fit your stuff in it" I replied.
"They don't take up space at all. Besides, I love it when you have favourite foods that you love eating. I don't mind getting them for you. Whenever you eat a bagel, you can think of me," he said, being his sweet self.
"I can easily fit four of those bags in my freezer," I replied.
"Perfect. I will buy you that many the next time I'm there."

I am a lucky guy to have a handsome, sweet shopaholic getting me yummy bagels in his travels.

We also spent another evening on Skype, shopping online for laser-cut floor mats for his new car. We learned a lot about them together. He likes the fact that my eyes don't glaze over car talk. It's mainly because my dad was a mechanic, who is now retired. I grew up with seeing car parts and such. Car accessories are more interesting, though.

My guy purchased a set of floor mats. I can't wait to see what he thinks of them. I may order a set for my car.

P.S. This blog post's title is a lyric from "Shopping" by Pet Shop Boys.

L is for lap

I love being across my guy's lap for a spanking. It is probably my favourite position when I've been a bad girl.

I feel comfortable in this position while getting a decent spanking. I love grasping my guy's thigh tighter as he spanks me harder. It's fun attempting to use my free hand to cover my backside from his hand slapping me. Instead, he'll grab my hand, tightly hold it against my lower back, and continue punishing me.

As you know, I have Fifty Shades of Grey, the movie, on my iPhone. I am sharing a few screenshots of the movie taken off my phone.

The spanking scene where Ana rolls her eyes when Christian tells her that he sold her old Beetle for a brand new Audi makes me happy. He leads her over to the couch, pulls her across his lap, hikes up her skirt, and spanks her.

I like the motion shot when he is about to smack her bare backside. It reminds me of how my guy spanks me.

Of course, I like this screenshot, too. Christian asks Ana whether she wants more. She doesn't say anything, but you can tell that she likes it, which makes him smirk a bit.

I don't grow tired watching this flick. Thank goodness for purchasing movies from iTunes.

V is for video release for Fifty Shades of Grey

As you know from a previous post, I haven't read the Fifty Shade of Grey trilogy. I doubt that I ever will.

When I was in Montreal, I finally decided to see the movie at the theatre across from where I was staying. I loved it. I loved the movie so much that I want to see it again.

I recently received an e-certificate for a one-night stay at a hotel. It expires within the next six days. I decided to use it last Friday.

It's fun checking in to a hotel. I was away from home, so it was a nice staycation. I was much closer to my workplace, so getting there after work wasn't a huge journey. It had a kitchenette. I brought some food and made myself some dinner.

I powered on the television. Sure enough, Fifty Shades of Grey was one of the pay-per-view movies.

It was so tempting. Should I watch it?

Instead, I found out through iTunes that the movie will be released on May 1st. I will likely be the proud owner of that movie, so I can play the spanking scenes over and over again.

Z is for zap

I have reached the finish line. I am at the final letter of this challenge. Woo hoo!

It has been a slice. Thanks to everyone for following along. I hope to do this challenge or a similar one sometime soon.

For years, I have been curious about electric paddles that emit a zap. Initially, I saw a similar paddle on eBay years ago, but it was geared toward zapping flies and bugs. Naturally, it was a hidden way for the seller to say that it was for some spanking and paddling fun.

I am still hesitant about having it used on me. How strong are these zaps? Part of me wants to go out and buy one. After all, it is less than $20. But, how safe are they, really?

I have read some of the reviews. One review scares me. It says that the paddle left "burns on my victims." The same person goes on to say that the paddle emits "a very brief, yet intense shock."

I am still mixed about it. Will I actually like being shocked for such a brief moment? Do I want burns on my backside? After all, the thought of having welts on my backside does not appeal to me, let alone burn marks.

If you have had experiences with using an electric zapping paddle, either administrating or being on the receiving end of one, please share!