A seething mass of turgid drama.

We had a small earthquake last year. Like some people I know, it was basically a small jerk. However, the direction was 90 degrees off the usual and the house shifted a bit. A number of small cracks in our bedroom picture rail opened up further, and the plaster/paint in our hallway buckled. There's actually one crack that from the other side (in the garage) you can see light through. It's aesthetically displeasing but (we think) structurally minor.

We finally got around to calling a contractor we've used before. They're coming in tomorrow for what they claim will be a one-day job - mostly replastering and painting, although the garage crack will get an additional 2x4 reinforcement. We'll see if the schedule holds up. I hope that's right since we don't have a spare bed. The cost isn't that much compared to most contractor projects and the HOA is picking up half the cost, since the hallway is really the association's responsibility.

In addition, our 17-year-old washing machine is refusing to drain. The wife is calling a repair person today to schedule that too. I hope it's repairable; given the new range/dishwasher we just bought, I don't want to have to buy another major appliance this soon.

In bond trading terms, I changed my age handle yesterday - that is, the leading digit of my age.
It's not a big deal. Nor does it particularly feel celebration-worthy. Frankly, staying married almost 20 years feels like far more of an accomplishment...

Along those lines I had a very low-key day yesterday. I made cotignac from Cariadoc's very ripe quinces. (Which took two days rather than the one I expected. Hence today is jelly and quince butter will have to wait until next weekend.) I spent some time with the wife and cat. I played a computer game.

We did go out to dinner; but it wasn't one of the very formal, high-end places that we've sometimes gone to. I just wasn't inspired for that. We tried Trestle, a small place that only serves a nightly prix-fixe dinner. That way they only make eight dishes all week (three courses, each with two alternates, and an optional add-on two-choice pasta course). That means they are at the low-end price-wise for their quality, and it's a regular industry hangout as well. This was pumpkin week: every single item used pumpkin. Not my favorite ingredient, but at least everything was different - it wasn't a one-note series of flavors. The dishes we had were all good. I wouldn't put it on my must-return list, but I don't regret trying it either.

The only down note was the cab we took to the restaurant. Not only was the car clearly in need of repair, but the cabbie was old and didn't know where and how he was going. We basically had to direct him via our phones. No tip for him. I blame Lubers for this: they have driven many cabs out of business, and many of those who were more competent have found other work. Not that Lubers are more competent, sadly.

I'm using the birthday as an excuse to take today off work.

A few weeks back during Project Reorg I found a pullover fleece jacket from one of the previous jobs. It's a good lightweight thing to wear in the mornings, so I started doing so and hanging it on our coathooks downstairs. It fell off a couple days ago but I lazily just left it pooled on the floor.

This morning I carried it upstairs, intending to wear it today. Except... sniff... ammonia smell?
Oh no, the cat peed on it while it was on the floor. This is not normal for him - I hope it's limited to marking the fleece.

Needless to say, the fleece is going to be thrown away.

The smoke alarm went off around 1 AM.
And at 1:10.
And at 1:30.
And at 2:30.
And at 5.
And at 5:30.*
And just now.

Generally it goes off for one round of beeps and then is silent. It's not a "change my battery" chirp - it's a full-on "your house is burning down." Except of course, it isn't. And the damn thing is hard-wired so we can't just disconnect it.

*Times approximate.

Given Galen's behavior last night, you'd think we had been gone for a week, rather than the upstairs neighbors. Repeated yowling during the night, repeated frantic grooming me, repeat ad nauseum until the nauseum gets the upper paw and he throws up.

I did not sleep well, obviously. But hey - we get to watch Bandersnatch Cummerbund play Hamlet tonight!

I did not sleep well. The cold I developed 10 days ago, which I was mostly over, came back. Plus apparently we are getting another storm in tonight. I'm not sure which one of those things caused the mild sinus migraine (or combination), but combined with stuffed up nose and coughing... I was awake for a long time at various points during the night/morning.

I finally fell asleep, only to wake up and discover I had accidentally turned off my alarm before going to bed. So I overslept by a good 50 minutes. My normal routine allows for up to 30 minutes, deliberately, but this meant I had to rush to get ready and out the door. Fortunately I already had planned to eat breakfast at work.

I got out the door less than five minutes late. And then the bus notice only read "schedule unavailable and times inaccurate." Thanks. The bus was quite late as well, so I got into work about 15 minutes late. Not actually my fault, but irritating when I had rushed to be on time.

I usually take a lunch to work. About half the time I also bring breakfast: a couple eggses in the shell that I crack into a tupperware and nuke for a scramble along with (usually) a green onion and some cheese. [We don't have a microwave at home, due to lack of counter space.]

That's what I did Monday. I forgot to take my bag with its dirty tupperwares home, but I brought my Tuesday tupperware lunch anyway - in a different temporary bag. Tuesday I took home the temporary bag... but left the lunch bag at work again.

Wednesday I didn't bring lunch; work usually buys us sandwiches. I told myself to make sure I took the lunch bag home to wash the dishes. Guess how that worked out.

So now the lunch bag is sitting in an inconvenient, prominent place on the cabinet where I store my wallet and keys. I'd say there's no way I'll forget it today... but that might be wrong.

I was awakened at 4 AM by the cat throwing up. No pitiful meows - just hork, hork, hsplat! I didn't want to deal with it, so I made a mental note.
Of course I didn't get back to sleep immediately - Galen had to groom my face and purr pitifully, because one of the rules after he throws up is that I need to comfort him.

When I got up an hour later, I detoured around the usual area he throws up in. (Generally the center of the doorway and rug beyond.) Whereupon squish, I put my bare foot in a pile of cold cat puke.

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

Usually when we get home from a weekend away, we are chided for a day, then the cat goes clingy for several. This time he screamed his displeasure for a while, then kept biting the wife.

And this morning, I found out he threw up on my laptop bag overnight. Specifically, on the shoulder strap. Yes, I found this out the hard way.

I haven't been sleeping well the last week. It's a pleasant cocktail of work stress, unpaid job stress, and spouse stress. None of which are going away soon.

I took a sleeping aid last night (Tylenol PM, for the curious - it does enough to knock me out without being hardcore like an actual sleeping pill). I even took a full dose rather than my preference of a half dose.

Sadly, it didn't keep me from waking up around midnight and staring at my eyelids for a while. It did, however, keep me from waking up easily when the alarm went off.