Heath~ma to the dad of Atropa!

I am off to my new practice again today. Ugh. At least it is Friday.

In my parents’ retirement community. We are now on mild lockdown as several residents (not us) have tested positive for COVID. All activities are cancelled (my dad had a choir concert I was going to attend) and all meals are being delivered to eat in the apartment. We can still go out and do things offsite though, so mom and I are going shopping.

Dad~ma to you, Atropa!

I had a bit of an adventure yesterday. On the way back from buying a towel ring I was pulled over and frisked by police, and my car searched. The pretext was that I'd made an improper turn (onto an empty multiple-lane street, which they had to follow me through several unlikely turns to see), but afterward they said because I was driving through a high-drug-use area. Which might apply to where they pulled me over, but not to the million dollar house neighborhood where they started following me.

I think it was my "No Farms, No Food" bumper sticker that convinced them I was a hippie likely to be carrying the ganja.

Thinking positive outcomes for your dad, Atropa.

Matt, yikes!

Ugh, I have such Friday Brain today. My todo list at work is all stuff I've promised to deliver in January because by like Wed next week half the company will be on vacation already. Maybe I'll put my computer aside and go bake something.

Dad~ma to Atropa, stat!!

Matt, that is some bullshit. Glad you made it through relatively okay.

Thanks, all, for your thoughts. Calli, you are correct that I do not want and physically cannot sit at a computer 8 hrs a day. I do know someone here who does home inspections and have discussed it with them briefly. That wouldn’t give me the tangible results that my brain craves. I think I will mull Jen’s excellent list of questions this weekend and see.

In my dreams I apprentice in The Repair Shop, but the tv version lit with fairy lights and without time and budget pressures, which is not realistic for any kind of trade. And it would still likely require long stints in awkward positions. I know someone who recently apprenticed to learn antique repair, and they got paid $15/hr without benefits. That is not financially workable for me.

At my current job they want to eventually move me into a shop manager position, which could be good, but the timeline for that is non-existent and my inability to estimate times will be a big hindrance, as it has been throughout my time in this field. Plus they have “owner’s disease” and a really hard time letting go of control. And when I ask for support, it sometimes doesn’t happen or happens in a way that doesn’t work for me.

Matt that is bullshit. But I’m glad you’re ok.

Maybe I'll put my computer aside and go bake something.

I made bacon-cheddar biscuits but forgot the step where you cut the dough into biscuits before baking. So now I have a single MASSIVE bacon-cheddar biscuit and incontrovertible proof that I should just not bother trying to be productive today. (Pics are on FB/Insta if you want to laugh at/with me.)

WTAF, Matt.

That sucks, Jessica. And yes, clearly you should stop being productive.

Seen just now, a Mini with the vanity plate “XXXSMOL.”

Seen just now, a Mini with the vanity plate “XXXSMOL.”

Love it! On our last family drive we saw a vanity plate that read "ASOOBAWOO" which immediately became the nickname of our own Forester.