Sleep well, WindSparrow. You are doing a great job and this is the hardest part.

Two bits of good things on the health front - I went to dance class last night and I'm 36 hrs smoke free this go round (smoked a pack the day after the election, been smoking 2 packs a week since).

If anyone has advice for me on the job/money front, whether ideas for side hustles, ways to save money, favorite podcasts, or some career you think I'd excel in, hit me with it. I'm pretty wide open to ideas right now.

Dana, I hope your hand heals quickly. I know it's hard not to push it.

I just started a bullet journal. It's going well so far, though I'm sure I will need to tweak things.

Windy, I'm so sorry. The closest I've come to really killing someone was a 16 hour shift at the shelter when I was on-call and had to cover for someone. I'd been up for 32 hours at that point and went home at 8 am, got home to cat vom on my freshly washed bedding, and 5 minutes after I finally fell in bed, workers started jackhammering pavement 20 feet from my bedroom window.

I was screaming profanity out the window in a seriously unhinged manner. I called my little sister, bawling, and had to go crash at her apartment a half hour away.

I empathize, truly.

Smonster, quitting is so wretchedly hard. Im going to try to switch to vaping, and go from there.

Two bits of good things on the health front

Great things! Not sure on the job/money front. You have a wide range of talent and interests and should keep an open mind. Without knowledge of your area, but around here the neighborhood groups are very active always looking for help for wide ranging projects from catering to construction. Is Nextdoor actve there?

pitch~ma, Hec!

I didn't sleep last night, but I feel OK so far. Let's see what happens in a couple hours.

Thank you darlings, I got some sleep and feel much better. I now have the cold that's been going around but I have hope that with vitamins, hydrogen peroxide in the ears, and liberal use of the neti pot, I can keep the intensity at bay so I don't need time off. On the other hand, I suspect that the schedule I made may have an error in it. Tomorrow I am supposed to be out of town for a meeting about the credentialing process so I decided to use a floating holiday and I thought that I had scheduled coverage at the house. But one of the people on the schedule is a brand new one. She has successfully gotten through the official requirements to be left alone with the people we support, but I am not totally certain if she has had a real chance to do some of the important tasks to really know how to provide the assistance that people need.

Strix, that would send me into a screaming fit, too.

smonster, I am so proud of you for doing things to take care of yourself. You deserve the best care.

If I thought it would pay enough, I would suggest you check into job openings for job coaches for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

So the leak issue is that there is water in between the two walls of my double walled tank, and they're sending someone to remove it. She said, if they find oil it's a more serious matter, but 99% of the time, it's just water.

Crossing my fingers for water, Sue.

Andi - I'm glad you got some good sleep and that cold is on warning!

Lots of coffee, Volans. Maybe a 5-hour energy type thing?

smonster I have no bright ideas, but I'm glad you are taking care of you. And I LOVE my Chistmas palm tree socks!

Can I get some car~ma? She needs new brakes (ouch) and I just hope there is nothing else that needs immediate attention. I can cover the brake work but not much else.

Pitch~ma for Hec, interview~ma for sumi, and car~ma for Suzi! I forgot about those socks! Holiday socks make me so happy.

Glad you feel better, WindSparrow. I don't know if you've tried sleeping with silicone earplugs, but I find them indispensable.

Coffee:

Is Nextdoor actve there?

Not sure. I can check. My new neighborhood sits on a boundary between super rich and pretty damn poor, so I don't know how much a market there is in my immediate area. I posted on FB about this kind of thing before, and all that came of it was stripping/sanding a table and hanging pictures for one friend. Which isn't nothing.

I won't say the car~ma didn't work, but just heard from the shop and OUCH. I need new rotors, front and back, in addition to new brakes, plus some other small stuff...so, almost $900. Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie. No more holiday shopping for me.