bits

 It's been three years since I started using Duolingo every day on my PC profile.  I did mostly Japanese today on there, and did Welsh and French on my phone profile (only what.. 6 months there?).  Doing well with the budget - had two months of good data to sort through and did some of that last night, while holding my elderly little cat in my lap because it was raining and she was cold.  Mark and I had been reading a news article about what other people's average costs for housing, electricity, groceries etc are - and wow, most of the country is so high no wonder everyone else is as worried about the economy.  

Our 'household costs' are really low compared to the people posting in that article, and even so, we were having trouble paying our bills each month and it was getting worse and worse - but that was with only a part-time job for one person (As many hours as they would give me, which sometimes wasn't much, other times was nearly full-time... but lately, the full-timers were working every hour they could get and all the part-timers were getting very few hours), and now I have a full time job AND a part-time job (but less hours on the part-time than before, because of the full-time schedule).  With me now working two jobs  we're finally getting it back in order.  I have no idea how anyone else is making ends meet at these rates, and with rent going absolutely insane that I see in people's Facebook posts, in the newspaper etc etc....  Our insurance went up five times this year, by leaps and bounds, house and auto, but mostly house.  The electric is now about 150% what it was last year, and that is still with levelized billing - it is just more expensive.  The insurance and the electric are the two things I can't fill out what to expect to have to pay until they arrive, because they keep going up.  We are very conservative on our groceries, buy generic and the best deal we can for quantities and cook at home almost 100% of the time and even so our average grocery bill for the month is notably more now than last year - it is almost 125% from a price I had written down a year or so ago.  Being a spreadsheet and numbers geek, even sporadically, gives some insights.  AND I KNOW that the amount of food, quantities etc. we were buying overall when I had captured that 'before' price was actually more than what we are getting for this price now - so, higher prices, less quality/quantity at the same time.  So, yea.. I know exactly why everyone has voted on the economy this presidential election. 

Work is moving to 12 hour shifts, 7 day factory operation - which they didn't want to do, but the upper bosses out of state say it is necessary.  It doesn't affect my schedule, being in the office - but I can feel the mood change.  People have kids, and other schedules in the house to worry about meeting up with to get things done, etc.  Even with expansion and raises coming, hopefully - if every thing keeps going well - 12 hour shifts of a hot, physical job is a hard thing to do when you had been previously doing 8.  And a lot of people don't have ways to get their kids to school or back home etc, a few of them don't even have their own car but share rides with family and other workers.

Just working six days a week at two jobs myself, even though one of them isn't as phsyical, does get to be wearing me down some.  I am up so early every morning whether I really want to be or not, even on Sundays - and have a hard time getting to bed at a decent hour at the same time unless I do languages and then crash immediately after dinner.  And I am bringing my lunches and they are not always exactly healthy, but I'm working on that - canned soup or ramen noodles, instant oatmeal, bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bowls of hot tea and thermos of coffee etc.  I am still doing the post office delivery route on Saturday - not doing the Sunday packages but letting the other part-timers split that and taking that one day off every week.  The physical nature of the office job is entirely different, walking some, sweeping, cleaning things - but also a lot of sitting in a chair typing and answering phone, copying, scanning etc.  It is a different thing on the body.  I finally got down on my yoga mat again tonight after putting it off for a while.  I can feel I haven't been moving these muscles the same way as the postal route did - and that I've been sitting more, and that I've been driving different vehicles again.  I got through the routine and cracked out my lower back, but I need to get flexibility back.

Our Daphne dog is 13 or 14 years old?  Even last year she was quite spry and running around the yard with Charlotte.  But she isn't doing well now - she is showing her age, arthritis every morning hard to get up to her feet and she can't get as much air to bark and howl as she had before.  The other dogs are worried about her, but she still seems happy enough to get a treat here and there and to sit in the sun when it's warm.  Today it was raining though, so she sat in front of the propane heater and wasn't quite as happy about that.

Got the laundry out.  Time to get myself some more sleep now that I've done that yoga routine, and hope I didn't overdo it and wake up too early hurting somewhere.