Good morning. Hello. How are you? Happy Christmas Eve Eve. I am good. Exhausted. Work has been exhausting this week, I am still recovering from Covid, I’m still not sleeping in my bed. I just went out to run the Friday morning errands and it almost killed me. It almost killed me because, despite five days of negative tests, I still get a little worn out at activity that used to be fine. And it almost literally killed me with a hail storm which no one in the Triangle is equipped to handle. Hail. It was really out to get me, I tell you.
Printer number three, you will recall, was DOA and tripped two of my GFIs on two different circuits, including one that was previously handling my beloved HP CP4025 enterprise laser printer, which would obviously consume a lot more power than this rinky dink POS. So it needed to be returned. It’s been sitting in my truck since last Friday, when I loaded it up thinking I would go to Walmart to return it the next day, but then I got Covid. So I finally got around to it. Aside from the hiccup that the returns/customer service counter doesn’t open till 8, even though Walmart opens at 7 (hence why you are receiving this late), the process, once it was open, was amazing and effortless and I have to tell you that the woman working there was the single most efficient, kind, and… well, there’s no other way to say it, but hot Walmart employee I have ever seen. Kinda threw me for a loop at 8:03 AM.
Other than that, not much to report from the errands. Sexy plastic-compacting dumpster wasn’t at the collection center, had to use a regular dumpster like some plebe. The beloved organic grapes are gone. Still no Nope in UHD. Bought a tape gun. Completely wiped out of all children’s pain killers and cough medicines. My doctor had told me to buy a bottle of children’s aspirin and take one a day for my heart but the children’s section was wiped out. Except you could turn around, look on the bottom shelf, and there was ample children’s aspirin, labeled “low dose.” And my god, it is so cheap. Literally less than $2. Remind me again why we don’t all take aspirin? I feel like I went through this a decade ago and someone convinced me daily low-dose aspirin is bad.
Also went to both nearby grocery stores and bought them out of Caffeine Free Zevia again, for Emma, since Amazon is unable to obtain it. And I bought some firewood. And it was really hailing as I was loading all that into the truck and it was kind of unusually crowded in the stores today for 8AM on a weekday but, then, people getting ready for Christmas and have it off and whatnot. And all of us just kept saying to each other “It’s hailing! Hail!” We were all very stunned.
Also I saw the super strong wind blow a shopping cart right into the side of a car. It was too far away for me to stop it. And man, it hit it hard. I feel bad for that person.
Every night I’ve been sleeping down here in my studio I turn off my studio monitors and my turntable because they have really bright lights on them and they keep me awake. And every single morning — it has now been seven of them — I sit down at my computer the next morning and can’t figure out why it’s not making sound. Every single morning. Takes me like a minute to remember. It has not improved as the week has gone on.
Our journey to get Jane texting safely and not on our phones is something of a nightmare. Emma and I use Telegram to text each other, because none of our other friends really use it, and they have solid iOS, Android and MacOS apps. This is actually shockingly rare. We used to use hangouts but Google killed it and it never had a good Mac app anyway. So we thought we’d just set Jane up on Telegram but my god, that app is a landmine for a child. She’s already bought Telegram pro, Emma fixed that, made a separate google account for her, but there’s a function in Telegram called “Find Telegram users nearby” that is just a terrible idea all around and there is no way to block it or turn it off.
So now we gotta find something else. Last time I checked, the Signal and What’sApp Mac apps were garbage, didn’t keep you logged in, Electron apps, you had to scan a QR code on your phone before you used them it wasn’t ready for constant use. And Jane expects a text reply quickly. We are working on that. If anyone has used any messaging app of late that has a solid Mac app in addition to Android and iOS, let me know?
But the great part is that yesterday she texted me an entire dictionary of what the different colored heart emojis mean, and I will share it with you right now:
💛 means love
🧡 means that you don't know
💜 means good
💚 means great job
❤️ means okay
🤍 means sad
💙 means worried
💗 means amazed
🤎 means sleepy
♥️ means exited
and the final one:
🖤 means you ran out of happiness
To which I texted: “Wow that is kind of poetic.”
She simply replied: “Yes.”
Here’s a Christmas mix for you. Some classics, new and old. Very into Paula Kelley’s new version of Christmas Time is Here. Very into Silversun Pickup’s version of Low, and of course we gotta have a classic Low Mimi Christmas track, RIP.
Am I a Christmas person? I mean, not really. I love the solstice. I love the winter, now that I don’t live in Alaska. I love lit-up trees and gift giving and time off and being with loved ones and that this country still has a few days a year where it’s expected that take a pause and all stop working. I like that. I wish it was all just around solstice. Or, conversely, we had holidays for everyone else who’s ever been resurrected. I mean, come on, Jon Snow’s name is perfect for a winter solstice holiday.
I hope you are with people who care about you, I hope there is the emotional support you need in this difficult and trying times. I hope that despite all of our trials, tribulations and trauma, both external and societal, we can find some times of comfort and happiness with people we care about us this weekend. To say “I am sorry.” I am sorry. To forgive. To live. Things are gonna be all right. Things are gonna be all right.
I've been using the signal desktop app for mac for a couple of years and it stays signed in!