I am bound and determined to be done with cooking for the night in less than 45 minutes. Not determined enough to risk taking my Ambien with the expectation of being safely in bed by 1am, but just short of that.

Well, I got the cranberry sauce done last night, and the carrot slicing is a tomorrow thing, so tonight's to-do list is half of a frozen pizza, a ton of garlic mashed potatoes, and a large sweet cornbread with creamed corn (trying the stovetop method for the first time).

On the one hand the privilege level of buying navel oranges in late December in Ohio is off the charts. On the other hand this is not something I should bother doing for the sake of cranberry sauce when I was able to get vastly superior oranges less than a month ago in Los Angeles.

Had to do a grocery pickup today instead of yesterday because my car wouldn't start (some control module thing is drawing power at random); used one of my AAA service calls to get the car to Firestone. Was able to drive home, and the pickup was at 6pm so I did...

I love when Christmas forces the radio execs to play artists like Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, and Andy Williams - I just wish we got more than the exact same two to five songs apiece every single December, and also got to hear these folks for (much) more than a sixth of the year.

When I visit my dad in Los Angeles, the Amazon/Walmart/whoever delivery driver is "eight stops away" in the sense of now being down the block right next to ours. Here in rural Ohio, they're "one stop away" in the sense that they're now close enough to track in the app (8-10 miles, generally).

WOOHOO! #gobucks

My stepmom's doing a pecan pie experiment with near-maximum pecans and near-minimum custard and if nothing else, it looks and smells *amazing*.

Bring cooking fats, oils, and grease to one of the city’s Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers to be recycled. Never put them down the drain!

I realized as we were pouring my smooth cranberry-orange sauce into jars that I completely neglected to document the process besides adding a bit of color commentary to my recipe. Anyway, that just means I have to make some more.

I completely forgot to turn off my VPN before starting Fubo so now I'm getting Chicago ads, and it's surprisingly disorienting! Amongst other things I'm absolutely certain that the gambling laws in Illinois are very different from the ones in Ohio. (Which I already knew, but still.)

It has just come to my attention that there was *another* Jurassic Park film. Sigh.

My own reach is small and my donation was just a bit bigger but thanks to matching funds (including per-donor matches) even just donating a dollar has a *massive* impact. Anyway reposting is about the only other thing I can do.

The joys of modern living, with siblings and their SOs all over the country and me panicking about insanely and suddenly introduced tariffs and other "we are governed by a demented ghoul of a man" worries AND ALSO societal norms.

One of the fun things about studying German (unlike Spanish or Russian) is how many times the German pronunciation of many words is the way that I've privately thought they *should* sound based on the spelling.

One of the internet culture things that I just don't get: what constitutes a "hack"? Like, versus a thing you just do because it makes sense or your mom always did it that way or it's on the page right after the "skinning a squirrel" illustration in the 1975 Joy of Cooking?

Also got groceries delivered today (disability wreaks havoc on my ability to navigate stores and get purchases from the car into my apartment) and discovered that the least-expensive (by total cost, not just per ounce) mustard is nearly three times the size (volume) of the one I usually get.

I'm usually asleep when packages arrive at my house so I was officially today years old when I learned that the FedEx app has *sound effects*. No happy little warning jingle for when some idiot sent me a signature-required package after being told not to, but there is one for "the package is here".

I have no idea how I didn't realize I'd done this, but apparently I scheduled my electrophysiology appointment for 11/11 at 11am. And I bet nobody I encounter that day will recognize it unless I point it out, at which point I will likely have to explain WWI writ large. Sigh.

Good job, field goal kid!

Nine years (and four hours) ago I began my very first night in a hospital by being intubated and put on paralytics, sedatives, and the kind of antibiotics they only give you when the infectious disease team is *really* freaking out. I'd like to take this opportunity to say I am SO GLAD that's over.

Having lived in Ohio for quite a long time I cannot claim to be at all startled by the Democratic mayor of Cincinnati winning reelection by a 4 to 1 margin, I've seen that in Columbus, too, but because of his opponent's wretched family, I'm going to take time out for a very special HAHA! anyway.

Civic duty: performed!

Upon further reflection, my ballot has: 1. Race where no valid petitions were filed 2. Race where three people will be elected out of the three people on the list 3. Race where 2 people will be elected out of two people on the list. 🤬

Almost everyone I know personally has at least one really important thing on their ballot this time, except for me and my fellow Ohio residents. The only things on mine are the county educational service center board, the local (miniature) school board, and this *beauty* of a town council race.

As a NELA native who used to live close enough to Dodger Stadium to walk there, I have never been able to stay awake through an entire baseball game and yet remain a lifelong Dodgers fan anyway. It's my only pro sports fandom. Anyway, yay!

My mom's refusing to enter any grocery stores for the whole week and I am deeply stressed about having just figured out why. Just have to keep reminding myself she's 72 and has been accidentally saying "yes" to random computer dialogue boxes for 25 years.

Spooky Season is in full swing, and there's nothing scarier than greenhouse gas emissions from pumpkins! Bring us your pumpkins to be composted for FREE from Oct 31 - Nov 30 at one of these three locations!

Part of me can't help but think modern medicine is just so incredibly cool, even when my test results are, you know, bad. Behold: an analysis delivered 25 hours after I swallowed the radioactive Ensure! Anyway this one is NOT all in my head, woot.

Doing a gastric emptying study this morning and thanks to all the vomiting (which is the reason for the study), it's actually one of my most uncomfortable procedures so far this year. I'm starving, massively dehydrated, *and* feeling like the radioactive Ensure is still sitting in my esophagus.

I know this is such a small thing and obviously it doesn't even crack the top 100 complaints about the man, and TBH probably not the top 250 either, but FOR CRYING OUT LOUD why doesn't he ever wear clothing that actually fits?!?

I am completely fine with not bothering with an inquiry into *why* someone not only put a Nazi symbol on their chest but also kept it there for decades. Any plausible explanation reaches "and he is therefore not an acceptable candidate for public office" pretty much instantaneously anyway.

Based entirely upon the sign I have made, the one accusation I will *definitely* not face is "that's a paid protester". My hand lettering is so terrible, I almost want to make a sign calling it out "Do You Really Think That If I Was Getting Paid, My Sign Would Look Like This?"

"My mom just asked me what I wanted for dinner; like always, I said 'surprise me'. Can't wait to see what wacky ingredients she uses."

I have acquired poster board and letter stencils in several sizes, now let's see if I can make a protest-worthy sign with everything centered and whatnot. It's cardboard and I'm realizing I really need to order that umbrella attachment for my rollator. Sun or rain protection; perfect for Ohio.

I think I will go to the next-nearest one, because they have enough public details that I know I can manage it. Obnoxiously, it is *also* on a hill with elevated parking lots, but I know I can roll to any corner they choose because I'm pretty sure the only way out for anybody is the parking ramps.

Really struggling with whether or not to register with the local No Kings people; they're gatekeeping the accessibility information. Like, you have to register just to find out what they're doing (it is taking place on a hill and there are stairs from the designated parking lot.)

Portland will stand tall! www.youtube.com/watch?v=anVR...

Hey, there's a preview image now! Yay! Anyway, Portland still isn't burning.

It is super weird to me that a lefty or perceived lefty would flee *to* Spain, because for about four decades it was primarily a place that lefties/perceived lefties fled *from*, in part owing to the fact they'd be murdered by the regime if they didn't. Half a million people left the country.

My dad's doing a Unitarian exchange program again this year - three congregations in New Jersey, Transylvania, and India visit one another on a rotating basis, and my baby sister goes to the NJ church - and somehow or other some of the NJ people got my Ohio phone number and think it's his.

Ryan Day is *really* unpolished for a guy who does at least 13 press conferences every year, at least judging from that ad. Maybe he just doesn't do scripted well in general, but yikes, thanks to NIL I know even some of our freshmen are better at this.

I am increasingly confused by Minnesota's behavior.

Are the UCLA cheerleaders tired or is swimming in confetti a thing that is done?

This here football game is kinda nuts with the whole "wait are you guys awake" switching to "crap, I've lost track of the touchdowns and point breakdown" thing. Anyway, go whoever wins, I'm an Ohio State alum who grew up vaguely rooting for USC b/c my mom worked there for a bit plus their colors.

Pleased to see that this year, for whatever reason, I am not arbitrarily exhausted after my COVID-19/flu shots. It was super annoying last time, though that's in part because I didn't make sure to do it after the last of my appointments for the week. It wouldn't have mattered this time.

PCP today advocated me going on a statin not because I have cholesterol issues (I really, really don't) but because I have CHF and a gazillion risk factors. Saw the cardiologist next and he remembered my objection: my liver, kidneys, and I do NOT need a fifteenth daily prescription.

Inadvertently made myself a test case for what happens to Medicare/Medicaid immediately after a federal shutdown starts, by virtue of having two scheduled appointments, an associated blood draw, and my COVID-19/flu shots today. Four separate claims, went as well as it could possibly go.

Oh, hey, thanks to our [expletive deleted] state legislature now I have give a crapton of personal data to some people I've never heard of who will undoubtedly end up losing or selling that data (I am a Xennial do NOT come at me with any "that can't happen" nonsense) to use major Bluesky features.

I thought I was frustrated during the Ohio State/Washington game and here Penn State and Oregon go, trying to outdo it. Also, where does Oregon get off wearing anything this sedate and tasteful? You're supposed to make our eyes bleed! I thought it was a strategic thing!