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What did you do this week?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
I've been pleasantly busy this week. I'm back to work, and honestly, what a huge difference it has made to me to be in an environment where I have opportunities to learn and try new things without rushing between fires constantly - it's made work as enjoyable as it's ever been. I mean, I'd still rather be playing FFXIV or whatever, but you know. I think I'm impressing my manager by taking on so many leadership roles, volunteering to be a temp scrum master, and jumping into trying to revitalize our quality assurance flows.
I've been slowly untangling the stuff I fell behind on due to depression and burnout and it's starting to come together. I've caught up enough on bill payments that I can get my car fixed. My health insurance has kicked in so I can get my teeth and eyes taken care of (nothing's wrong, just overdue for a regular checkup).
I've also been shopping a lot because the dreaded Birthday Cluster is coming up. Every year it's an absolute mess of social events, 'cause:
So, that's a lot of presents, and my grandma and MIL are double-dipping. It's nice to be able to afford to buy gifts again, so I'm looking forward to it and dreading it in equal measure.
I also commissioned a lovely memorial pet portrait for my friends, a husband and wife who recently lost their cat (and who are just over COVID... rough time). A local artist does them in watercolour with rainbow colours and they're very nice. Today it was finished and I was able to frame it and deliver it; the husband cried when he received it which just about got me going too. It was a very nice moment and I'm so glad I went to the effort.
It's been hectic for me.
Finished one of two graduation projects, a fake website for a pizza company. I spent 10 hours the week before working on the forms and code for it, and... it's got all the functionality I want. The presentation day was brutal because I got locked out of my school portal because Arch decided to fight with Eduroam after I'd changed my school password that Friday, and won't connect to wifi. I used that laptop because it has a mini-DP out, so I can connect it to HDMI with an adapter, and had worked for the previous presentation.
Tuesday my eyelid starts hurting, like I'd slept with a sleep mask on or something. It looks a little red and inflamed when I go to bed, and swells up into Wednesday, so I call the doctor, then go to Urgent Care when I can't get an appointment until next Tuesday. But wait, they moved... into the building of the main medical offices, so I call my brother to do a quick u-turn and pick me up, he drops me off at the right spot, and I walk home (if I'd known the UC was in the second place I'd have just walked there anyway). Going to the office, I saw a blue Honda in front of my bank. Walking back, I see a blue Hyundai next to it: My new Hyundai Accent. I get in the door, get a message from my car broker saying "Call me." I do a call with my mentor at my new job, call the broker, he says "When do you wanna get the car?" and we negotiate for a Thursday appointment.
So... I got the Accent and drove it home. I fit in the front nice and snug (being a 6'4 dude in a Hyundai Accent) but not uncomfortably small, and checked the fit in the back to see if I can at least get my legs in and close the door. I found I would need to adjust the front a bit, but it needed it anyway. After I get it home, I get my brother (5'8) in the back and dial in my fit up front, which gives him more room, raise my wheel, finish getting my mirrors right (the car was on a slope at the bank). The markup and the way the market is took most of my budget for it, but talking to the broker, and looking around myself, it's just an unfortunate part of car sales. The car is fun, and I'm reminded of a review I saw for a Ford Fiesta: It feels like you're driving fast and dangerous when you aren't. I had it screaming down a long curve at 30 (after entering the turn at 35 and panicking), and it was a blast. My eyelid deflated the morning I got my car, which was nice.
I'm also preparing my laptop for my train ride/two weeks in Oregon with my dad, loading it with a bunch of games to kill time on the train ride, as I won't have wifi to stream anything on the way up.