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!

Travelling to Minnesota and COVID-19 tests

My trip back to Minnesota was great. I worked remotely and started each workday at 7 am. It was great ending my workday at 3:30 pm. It allowed me to be a tourist.

I may need to write a how-to for Canadians travelling to the States. I needed to get an antigen COVID-19 test to fly into the States. It had to be administered within 72 hours of my departing the country. I got a check-in counter guy at the airport who said that it was 24 hours. He was wrong after consulting with a colleague.

With the recent changes by the US administration, this check-in counter guy is now correct. It's now 24 hours. It means that for my next trip, I'm taking my antigen test hours before I board my flight. It all works out fine. I have booked my appointment.

To get into Canada, I need to do a PCR or molecular COVID-19 test 72 hours before boarding my flight in the US heading back home. I actually did a NAAT test at a local CVS pharmacy. I got to self-administer the test at the drive-thru and drop my swab in a tube in a special box. I got my results in just over a day. It was also free. Had I done a PCR test at the airport, it would have cost me $200 USD.

I am glad that everything worked out. I fly again in over a week, so I'm more comfortable now with the experience that I have gained.

Dentist, antigen test, and packing

Several hours from now, I'm getting my COVID-19 antigen test done. It's finally hitting me that I'm about to travel.

Packing is going well. I'm nearly done, although I feel like I'll miss something.

My dental appointment went well. My teeth are great. They feel so clean.

Antigen and PCR COVID-19 tests

I am a researcher. I have been researching COVID-19 tests in my area and in Minnesota.

Here's the weird thing. To get over the border and enter the US, Canadians need an antigen test. A test starts at $40, which isn't horrible.

When coming back to Canada, an antigen test is not accepted. Instead, a PCR test is required. The cheapest price that I have seen to get this test done is $199 USD at MSP airport, which is where I'm flying in and out of.

It's not cheap. I am glad that I am staying for over a week at the end of this month to take in two hockey games. Before this pandemic, I would have made two separate trips. If I did the same thing now, just these two PCR tests would cost me the price of a round-trip flight to the Twin Cities. Yikes!

I am hoping that, down the road, PCR tests won't be required. Either Canada will accept an antigen test or possibly drop the test for those who are fully vaccinated.

Weekend, rapid COVID-19 test, and sleep

Another weekend has come and gone. I slept extremely well last night. I love the cooler weather.

I have been doing more research on travelling to the States. Things are looking better. I simply need to figure out where I can do a COVID-19 rapid test before I leave. Shoppers Drug Mart offers the test, but you have to call the drugstore and ask. It doesn't give any indication when you look up your local drugstore online.

Have a great week ahead!

Compression socks and foot pain

Last week, I bought a pair of compression socks. They are open-toe socks that go past my ankles. I wear one on my right foot before I go to bed because my foot pain happens with that foot only.

Last Saturday, I did a lot of walking downtown. The following day, I could feel my foot pain starting. I put on my compression sock immediately. Between one to two hours later, the pain went away.

It seems to be a great purchase. I'll need to test out my theory some more to determine whether it truly works or if this first experience was a coincidence. I'm hoping that it's the former.

Travel plans

I am contemplating travel. If I were to go somewhere, it would be stateside to pay my respects to my friend who passed away earlier this year.

It's not a normal travel goal to have. It is mine, which is normal to me right now.

I can fly to the States. I need to do a COVID-19 test, prove that I have been vaccinated, and take plenty of time to travel.

Part of me is excited. Part of me is not looking forward to the extra overhead associated with travelling during a pandemic.

I haven't decided when I'll head down, but it will be before this year is over. I'm hopeful and optimistic. I'm also overly cautious.

Long week telling people to clear their browser cache

Long week. One more workday. Yay!

I find that working with software testers to be tedious. I'm often defending my work -- that my changes are correct and proving them wrong because they can't do something simple.

The other day, I had one tester tell me to remove a sentence. I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about. He presented his screenshot, which was a snapshot of our documentation from the night before. I showed him what I was looking at, which did not have that sentence. I even went once step further by saying that a particular setting was shown in his screenshot, but it's invalid and removed from mine.

Case closed. Sadly, it's a part of my job to tell people to clear their browser cache.

Vision is good

Yesterday, I got to squeeze in my appointment with my optometrist. All went well. I have nearly 20/20 vision again. Yay!

My prescription  is relatively stable, except for my astigmatism. It's exciting to get a new pair of glasses. I haven't for the last four years.

New car lease

I have a new leased car. Thanks to everyone who provided details on switching to a new lease early and pointing out details that I needed to investigate. I appreciate it!

Last week, I had a talk with my manager. He loves cars and recommended getting the C-HR. I test-drove it on Wednesday and it handles well. The problem is that it has huge blindspots on the sides. The rear passenger windows are tiny and it's dark back there. I didn't feel comfortable doing shoulder checks. Down the road, if this car model is redesigned and changes are made to the passenger side windows, I'll reconsider it.

I currently have a Scion iM. It was rebranded as a Toyota iM. It is now the Corolla hatchback. It felt comfortable when I drove it. I like having a push-button start like my Priuses in the past. I like going into drive mode and giving my foot a break by pressing the Stop button. I like going into parking mode and having the emergency brake automatically engage.

It felt fun to drive, just like my current car. I didn't experience that with the C-HR.

The crazy thing is that I put less money down and my payments are much lower. I have been with Toyota for nine years, so it's nice that my track record with them has been good.

I get my car in a couple of Fridays. I need to start clearing my stuff out of my car. My glove compartment is atrocious. I will work on not doing that with my new car.

New percentage calculation at work

I have a love for numbers. My guy does, too. We are math nerds.

I recently had to do an online course at work. You need to pass a final exam at the end of this course to get credit for enduring it. The course is roughly eight hours in length. Doing a final exam is painful.

You need 90% to pass the test. I ended up with exactly that percentage... or so I thought.

When I got to the very end of the test, it said that I got 9 out of 10 questions answered correctly. The percentage calculated was 89.88%. What?!

I asked the person responsible for creating the course a question on how this percentage is calculated. She admitted that something was odd. I managed to contact the training support group to get credited for taking this course.

I have never seen a weird percentage calculation like what I got. I told my guy this issue and he laughed.

"It doesn't surprise me that you'd be outraged about the calculation. It's what I love about you," he reminded me.
"You're sweet. You'd react the same way," I replied.
"That's true. We love math."

We do.

My sugar levels are great and I'm glad I can touch-type!

On Friday, I went to see my family doctor for my routine three-month checkup. The last time I was there, my sugar levels were higher than normal.

I had bloodwork done on Wednesday. She shared the results with me. Everything looked great. Yay!

I shared that news with my guy. He's proud of me. Getting back on the low-carb routine does wonders.

My doctor has changed her process of note-taking in her office. She now uses a computer instead of writing notes down everywhere. She complained to me that her typing takes forever.

Touch-typing is second nature to me. I suggested that she take a touch-typing course when she has a chance. Once you learn, you're good. I'm so glad that I took this course in my final year of high school. It has served me well.

Trying out streaming music services

I love music. For a while, I have been using Amazon Music. Almost a year ago, I bought an Amazon Echo speaker (the U.S. version, as Canada didn't have it available until now).

I decided to cancel my Amazon Music subscription. For some reason, I spent last month trying to get the app to work on my phone and nothing loaded. It worked just fine until recently. As much as I love telling Alexa to play music from my library, there were limitations. I didn't get the entire set of songs from some bands or artists.

These days, I am doing three-month trials with Spotify Premium (99 cents for three months) and Google Play Music (free for three months). So far, I am pretty happy with both. The tough part is deciding which one I will ultimately be going with.

Both have a ton of music. I love the variety.

Google bought Songza years back. I loved Songza because it had playlists based on your mood or what you felt like listening to. Google has incorporated that aspect of Songza, which makes me happy.

Spotify is popular. It even works with my Waze GPS app.

The good news is that I have roughly three months before making a decision. For now, it has been fun testing and listening to fabulous music.

That poppy looks like a butt

On Wednesday night, I went out for dinner with a dear friend. We have known each other since high school. She now lives on the west coast of Canada.

She is back in town for a wedding. It was nice seeing her and chatting for three hours in our old neighbourhood.

Before we left the restaurant, she was looking at the various works of art on the wall. They were all poppies.

"See the poppy in the second framed piece of art, third poppy from the right? It looks like a butt," she remarked.

I looked at it. I agreed.

"I like how this artwork is now a Rorschach test," I remarked.

It's great having creative friends who see butts everywhere.

G is for George and God #AtoZchallenge

Just before Christmas, my manager made a comment while a number of us were working that the software development manager (my guy has nicknamed him Sharky, for he seems to be attracted to me and circles around my desk) looks like George Clooney. My manager went on and on about him.

I decided to tease my manager about it, by saying that Sharky was his man-crush and boyfriend. I did it again yesterday when my manager looked at a prospective candidate's photo on LinkedIn, and decided to paint a picture of how tall he is, how much he weighs, and more. He even told me that he is hairy.

"Are you developing another man-crush? First it was George over there, and now it's this new hairy fellow?" I teased.
"Okay, stop," he said.
"Stop what? It's all true!"

My pointing out his boyfriends makes my manager immediately stop talking about them. It's good.

The other day, I decided to look for some freelancing work that I can do on the side. I decided to try one out where you write short articles.

I first got a written interview through e-mail. It consisted of answering a set of questions in a Word document. It was about my education, my degrees, what I do for a living, and a few other areas. Based on my answers, if they were satisfactory, I'd go on to the next stage.

Sure enough, I made it. The next phase was a test assignment. This work consisted of reading a given article, and arguing for or against what the author was conveying.

The topic? Religion. Yes, it was about God. The article was philosophical.

First, I studied a number of philosophers in my last year of high school. I did not enjoy it. Second, I am not a heavily religious person. So, I felt that I was doomed trying to write a three-page test assignment.

However, I am a pretty logical person. I am good at stating my case and backing it up with examples. I did exactly that.

The assignment is due on Friday night. I sent it off on Thursday night. It has references and a bibliography, too.

My view is that if this prospective employer passes on me, I will be okay. At least I did everything I could. It will also be this employer's loss, as I still managed to turn in a high-quality, thoughtful piece in which the topic did not do much for me. However, I gave it my best job. I'm good with that fact.

My guy has always encouraged me to take on some part-time work that involves writing, because it's what I love. He has even encouraged me to have a side business of reviewing and editing people's essays and theses. Perhaps I should try this endeavour should I not get this freelancing gig.

Reaching a blog post milestone and teasing my guy about driving his future car

This post will make it 215 posts that I have authored so far this year. This number ties the number of posts that I wrote in 2015.

I wrote more at a faster pace this year. I don't know if it is because I have more stories to tell or if I have more time on my hands this year to write.

I am not a competitive person, so I didn't have the goal of surpassing the number of posts that I had written last year. I also do not have the inclination to blog daily. I did that several years ago. I am not sure how I managed to do it.

In any event, it's amazing that my blog has been active for over a decade and it took me a few years to blog often.

To change the topic, my guy is looking for a new car. He has plans to test-drive a couple this week. I like teasing him.

"So, you'll let me drive your new car as soon as you have it, right?" I asked him.
"Um, you will someday," he said.
"No, you can let me drive it. I am an excellent valet," I teased.
"I will let you know," he replied.
"I will wear you down. I have done it before, so I know that I can do it again. I also know how to get your car keys from you," I stated cheerfully.
"Yes, when I'm dopey, I can't fight off a cute girl like you," he admitted.

I enjoy teasing him. He likes when I do, too.

Costco and real Coke

My guy loves shopping at Costco. He called me tonight while walking on a treadmill at the gym.

"The new Costco is fifteen minutes away from my place if I walk there," he explained. "It opens in early November."
"That's great. You might as well live there. You can set up your bed with a new mattress and call it home," I replied.
"Shopping makes me happy," he admitted.
"I know. You get high on saving money," I said factually.

He loves talking to me while working out. He shared the results of his blood test. He knows that I have plenty of supportive suggestions to offer, as I have been there.

He is on a mission to reduce his sugar. His medication that he is on for depression spikes his sugar levels. He is doing well and has lost some weight.

We had a discussion about Diet Coke recently. When we first started dating, he told me that he'd take me to a movie and buy me real Coke instead of a generic cola.

"You can tell when a guy is really into you when he buys you real Diet Coke," he hinted.
"That's true. You are into me in more than one way," I said.

We both chuckled. So true.

Passing out or being tipsy when being spanked

The other day, I had come across a brief YouTube video in which a young woman had passed out on her bed. It looked like she was a university student, for there were a bunch of her friends there in a dorm-like setting.

She was lying on her bed in her room, with her backside facing up. One of her friends came around and smacked her buttocks. She didn't flinch. She didn't react. She was out cold.

This video and my talk the other night with my guy got me thinking. My guy and I were having phone sex. He's in Montreal on a business trip.

I like the idea of being a chemistry student, who has to wear a uniform to school. Yes, I envisioned wearing a plaid, red, short skirt, a white blouse, white knee-high socks, and black Mary Jane shoes. My hair was done up in ponytails.

I was a horrible chemistry student. I decided to swipe the answer key off my teacher's desk one day. I memorized all the answers before the test and scored a high mark. My guy liked it and added to the story.

The following day, he called me into his office. He started to ask me questions about the test. I couldn't reproduce the answers. He approached me and said that I could be either expelled or punished. I didn't want to be expelled, so I had to be punished by him.

He stood next to me. He lifted up my skirt and spanked me over my panties. It lasted for quite some time, to the point where it hurt so much that I wasn't to collapse. I eventually did. He pulled me up and had me sit on his lap. He started to touch me, caressing my shoulders, kissing my face, and telling me that I was naughty for showing my thighs in class. I got spanked some more, but with my panties off.

We talked after we had both come. We talked about drinking. He gets aroused when he thinks about a woman who is intoxicated, which would allow him to have his way with her. He liked thinking about me that way. From a fantasy perspective, I can see why that sounds hot.

In reality, I am hardly the type to get drunk like that. I recall drinking three bottles of beer after a shift with a bunch of colleagues years ago. I had consumed the bottles of beer on an empty stomach. I wasn't even tipsy. They were Molson Canadians. I probably need to drink more bottles to feel the effect.

With spankings, I'd like to be relaxed, but I don't like the idea of being spanked and not feeling the impact. I like the thought of being giggly after several drinks and getting spanked for consuming too much alcohol than I'm accustomed to. I also like being tipsy and giggly, and cuddling with my guy with my sore, red bottom. Passed out drunk like that young woman on YouTube? Nah.