am a tro, what a day

 Last night when I was actually getting ready to go to bed (at 7:30, because I was already overtired and hoping to sleep well) the mechanic called and said to bring the car down to get the window fixed.  So, we did... and then this morning we went to town to get lumber and groceries.  I did make myself a good egg omelet with seaweed and arugula and hot peppers, hot pepper cheese and spices.  I feel I haven't been eating very well the last two months but it could be worse... and I have been feeling more absentminded, which I hope is from being overtired and not having as much free time to do the things I was used to doing.   And I played with a few language lessons this afternoon and then some more Sims (which, I'm still on the fence if that is any good for me...it sucks up time and I still wonder if I could get more out of baking or making lunch for the next day or this or that...) and then the mechanic called again and said the window was fixed and to come get the car.  So, we did...  that cost a bit more than I expected, but at least it's done.  After that, made dinner and did laundry and am getting ready to go to bed early again tonight to get up early tomorrow.  Am a tro, what a day, and that is a day 'off'....  

 I studied some Latvian today as well as the Japanese.   I felt proud of myself when I did the 'phone numbers' Latvian lesson where you listen to the string of numbers being read off and either put them in as you hear them or correct a series of questions where the number is written down incorrectly.  Both were hard in their own way, especially since I didn't review the numbers from my last bout with the language months ago and just dove in.  'Nola' is zero, by the way - that was the only one I couldn't sort after hearing them again for the first time in months.  Some of the numbers are almost the same as in many other Indo-European languages, but the word for eight is unique.  The teen numbers remind me of Czech, not the same words, but a similar form - but then, the 'teen' in all of the English ones is a similar relatable pattern that I don't think of easily, because I'm just too used to it.

I played with the Bern Istaba, a Latvian children's website to see if I could remember a lot of the basic words I learned there.  It was a good review, as well.

Did some more of the yomu yomu Japanese story app that reads the story to you while you read the text on the screen (in Japanese hiragana/kanji) and the subtitles (in English) side by side.  Sort of like a dual-language reader, which I had a few of back when (high school / college), in German as paperback books.   I like that quite a bit... am wondering if the language is 'stilted' vs what a real Japanese story would be to make it simpler for beginners.  It was quite repetitive.. which seemed unnatural - but I understood 75% of it and learned some new words with every chapter.  That's the sweet spot.

I browsed around the internet a little to look at the costs of some of the other language sites.  I would like to take a course in Latvian, but there aren't a lot of good ones out there.  Duolingo has a lot of courses - 40 or more, but it doesn't have Latvian or Lithuanian.  We do have the Transparent language learning free with our library cards here in our area - it's just been a while since I logged onto it.  It had Latvian!

fast forward friday

 It's cold.  The window in the little car decided today was a day to stop working - and it's electric, and without whatever broke while it was sitting in the driveway overnight, it won't go up all the way and it won't stay up, either.  The mechanic has ordered a part for it.  My keyboard is acting funny in the cold, as well, all of a sudden.  And because it is this cold - I really just want to go to bed and stay in bed until I have to go to work tomorrow.

Finished reading 'Lessons in Chemistry', (by Bonnie Garmus, fiction book) which I had set aside a few months ago - well, more like six months ago.  But it was good to finish it.

Saw some language polyglot person in a post that said they learned 'conversational' level in 15 languages over the course of a year.  Yea... probably not, especially looking at that list of languages they posted.  However, my idea of 'what is conversational' is probably higher level than most people would think.  I am thinking he means the absolute basics, hello, goodbye, how are you, where is the restroom 'survival' phrases.  

I think 'toddler level language' - to be 'conversational' you should be able to speak simply about what you need, want and think about things - as all the questions, understand numbers, have a good handful of adjectives, place names (library, bank, rooms, park etc.) and other nouns.  You should also understand at least half of what a speaker might answer back to any of your conversational / survival questions enough to get the information.  But maybe they consider that a higher level?  

 I would say I am 'adequate' in maybe 6 languages, and that is a much higher level than what I just said, able to read newspapers and watch tv, along with being able to read more although I might still check a dictionary on an uncommon word or to check the right form of the word to use.  I could say I am 'conversational' (my description above) in up to 11 or 12, and that I have a 'bare basic' of I know some key phrases and recognize even more words but my grammar definitely wouldn't be able to hold water in a conversation in about twenty different languages, total).

 Although this has taken a lot more than 15 months - and many more resources than a single app or class course each - I'd say I'm at 8 years on focusing on the Welsh and French (2017 when I discovered Duolingo those were the two I focused on), scattered amounts of Japanese and German from many stops and starts, and 3 to 4 years on many of the others as I really began my push in 2021 for Czech and Romanian and restarting Japanese - then added the others as I continued and while I was taking that Comparative Linguistics class at the online university course. 

That course had me look at Finnish, Greek, Irish, Latvian, Turkish, Zulu and Hungarian to get an idea of the structure differences of all of the different language families.  I tried Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Dutch to compare them specifically against Finnish and German.  I beat my head on Spanish, all by itself, for three or four months exclusively and then found Catalan, and Portuguese were both easier for me (through French similarities) and still have trouble with responding in Italian, although I understand it okay, the Spanish and the French both get in the way there.  I took a Russian A1 course this year because I was watching videos of a lady training big cats that she spoke to the in Russian.  I also though it would help me with Cyrillic letters for learning Bulgarian, as an offshoot of getting fairly good with Czech. - but I  can't say I'm conversational in that. I also took the first few levels of Chinese on Duolingo to support learning Kanji in Japanese when I moved from 'studying this a little' to 'actually understanding this and needing to go deeper now.'

I had a dream the other night that I was opening up a letter that said I was being published for a book that I have not yet written or even thought of.  I 'remembered' the book in the dream and it was so complete and funny and it could work - and then it fell apart like sand through my fingers as I pulled myself awake.  That happened once before with a detective story, as well - which I only got half of it down on paper before I couldn't remember it anymore.  I guess we'll see if I can get started on this idea, but with it being cold and working six days a week - maybe I'll need even a bit more inspiration or enough time with a notebook to lay it out.

I had gotten Esme a Christmas present coming in the mail because last year I waited too long and missed it - it was out of stock for months, and then I finally got her one of the versions, but not the one she really really wanted (She still said she liked the version she did get).  Well I got it early, and we decided to just give it to her early and let her enjoy it for the extra month instead of waiting for it under the tree and maybe it wouldn't even work (it was a game cartridge).  It worked.  She is happy.  She has this weekend to play it and then Thanksgiving break next week for a few days, as well.

it's been a long week and it's Tuesday

 It's gearing up to that again, it's been a long week and it's only Tuesday.  This is because I did the post office on Saturday and then went out to the store on Sunday and I really could just crash now after dinner and take a nap.  But there is laundry in the washer, and I need to get it to the dryer.  When that gets in the dryer I'll probably head off to bed.

The two trucks that were supposed to come in today both had mishaps, and are going to have to limp in tomorrow.  So I sat without a lot to do this afternoon except phone calls, mail and email - and fighting the eyelids that wanted to droop.  Ran out to the feed store after work, because there's no time like the present etc... even though I would have liked to have taken a nap even then.  Driving in the sun around 3 o'clock in the afternoon in November here is vicious - there is nowhere to look that isn't bright as blazes etc. 

I've let both of my Japanese Duolingo leader boards slide a bit - dropping to Pearl and Amethyst.  But then that is also doing only Japanese, and I haven't broken my streaks, just not doing as much xp as was usual for me before.  There's a twinge there of 'hey, go do some Latvian', but here I am writing a blog post, instead, with my little black cat sitting by my side.

 My Mikki Mack books should be coming sometime - and I'm going to give a few of them away.  They were inspired by a few different people, which, sadly, one of the elderly gentlemen passed away recently.  I had given him an idea the character in the book was based on him and his little cat, but with stories and characterizations from other cats I've known.  I saw an old work friend at the store the other day and he has had a few sad things in the past few years, as well.  He gave his regards for Daphne, as he knew her from a little pup, as well. I think I'll drop one of the books off at their desk at the old store with a note that the character is based off Mr. Art - because they'll recognize that.

monday monday, wait, it's not tuesday

 It's been so much of a Monday, it almost feels like it should be Tuesday by now.  But I'm headed off to bed, so that will happen in a few hours here anyway.  And somehow it is also more than halfway through November.  *squints at calendar*    Doing less Japanese than I should be doing.  

 Fussing around with the architect profession now on Sims 3, thinking about playing with the gardening dynamic after this.  It is supposed to rain a lot tonight again and be better tomorrow, then turn very cold.  The furnace is out at the office - after being asked to start turning it on to 'comfortable' for visitors and so you're not in a coat all the time... up from 'bearable with a coat' for me, which is where I had it on - so *sigh* now I'll be putting on my double thermal layers and fuzzy socks again until they get someone to get it fixed.  I bought some malted milk to put in my hot tea.

I've reached that two month review point, but now with working through Thanksgiving I know we won't have any time to discuss vacation days and then I was overhearing that it isn't two months, it's four - two for a half day, and four for a full day.  *blink*  But I am still liking the basic job, getting things done, keeping track of things, getting things we need and getting the bills paid etc.  And having my own bills paid helps so much.  I've had to make a lot of calls to electricians and plumbers lately, and that has had me saying 'oh my introvert' a little as I take a few minutes and regather myself and call the next one.  But I'm getting through it, and there isn't anyone there to ask me why I'm taking three minutes before calling another one... do what you do etc.

apropos of nothing, tried the ginger and sesame flavor Halo seaweed snacks today and it is good - I usually eat that with rice as a sort of 'pseudo' sushi snack.  So, I'll have to make some 'sushi' rice to eat with some of it soon, and the sweet-and-spicy chili tuna packet bought with the same intention.  I also bought two cans of brown sugar boba tea but haven't cracked into one yet.  

And what was the reason for these strange foods?  Went shopping with someone else and 'really didn't need anything'...a pizza, cheese, pepperoni and some canned vegetables were all that was on our list - but I ended up getting a few other things as well, and a birthday present, and that is how you spend money that you don't really need to *sigh*.  Although I did have a cat brush on the list, didn't think I'd find one, did - and have been using it on our little elderly cat because she has trouble grooming herself now AND likes to lie out in leaves and gravel.  So often, she still has bits of stuff stuck to her fur when she comes to sleep in my lap.  It's getting colder now, so if I'm going to be sat on so often I thought I'd get the little soft plastic brush and put it somewhere I could reach it from my chair.

bit o bit

 Not much to report here.  Work is hopping with things, and I'm playing some game when I get home but still feeling the 'this is not getting real stuff done'... mostly getting done being sat on by my little tortoiseshell cat for two hours.  Getting ready to order a dozen of my Mikki Mack books!  The gallery sent a check for another few book sales to me, but I want to get some Mikki Mack books to 'become real' (not just Kindle copies) and drop them off at some time.  Thanksgiving is coming, but they have told us we are working through it, although getting holiday pay for it as well.  Trying to keep my back stretched out and getting enough sleep - but with the tortoiseshell cat sleeping on my shoulder that one is hard, too - it's getting colder out and that is what she does when she sleeps inside.  I don't turn over enough with her camped there, and then I have more spine issues from that.  

There is still a bit of sad about Daphne - there's only three dogs at dinner and Charlotte doesn't know what to do with herself at some points, so we 'discuss' it and I hold her cheeks in my hands and pet her head until she feels a bit better.  The other day Charlotte told me that we had chicken food, and goat food, but no extra dog food - will I be getting some?  It was very clear- so I let her have a look in the big food bin and see it was more than half full.  Mark said : 'What did we ever do before she told us these things?' to which Sweetie let out a huge grumble and 'I can't believe you SAID that!'  (she is ten years old, Charlotte is three and a half or so) as if to say : 'Hello, right here, YOU HAVE ME, you THINK?  No, you never listen to me anyway but HURRUMPH.' and we had to laugh and apologize.  

 Sweetie is the ultimate nervous border collie on making-sure-we-do-the-things, but honestly Mark understands her better and I am the one that doesn't often listen to her as she has her opinions but isn't 'insistent' to action, only insistent to 'disapproving looks and heavy sighs'... Charlotte DOES speak my 'dialect' more - and her communication consists of more insistent nose points and bumps, is always at my heels (sometimes so much that I step on her) and catches me with things that I wasn't paying attention to - while Sweetie has her designated 'posts' she lays or sits at and she tries to tell us things 'when she sees us go by' - and occasionally has to present herself to my attention and 'sit down and have a pointed discussion' about it instead of being there all the time and then my catching off-hand mentions and comments about every little thing like I do from Charlotte (imagine Sweetie is a Persian cat sitting on her counter while Charlotte is a small bouncy chatty terrier or something constantly at your heels, except it's silent eyes and nose points and once in a while paw at something, pointed hopping up and down or booping with nose and laughing).  If I'm not paying attention at all, Charlotte will get up and put herself entirely into my lap (all 60 lbs of her), capturing my hands with her paws and make sure she is heard.  Sweetie will bump a little at my feet with her butt, and then roll her eyes and go slump under the table and glare.. it doesn't have the same effect. 

I have been studying Japanese, and playing Tetris, besides finding out how certain dynamics and tools work in the Sims game, much more than actually playing the game.

bits and bobs

 Got up this morning and did the dishes, some laundry, gave Charlotte a bath.  Several of the animals were commenting on how the dog blankets smelled like Daphne still, Loki was curled up in one for a good while today (he's a cat), but Sweetie gave herself 'a sad' as Mark said, and I gave her a new blanket and we washed the ones that were in front of the heater.  I had not felt Daphne was healthy enough to be lifted in and out of the big bathtub the past week - and thus, Charlotte hadn't gotten a bath, either, as we usually did them at the same time.  So, she needed one and got it today, while it is still warm enough to not be freezing afterwards.  Then I played a few too hours too many of the Sims game that I finally got working again with the update packs on my computer.  Not sure how to categorize this, but playing games is one of those upside-down curves for me - it's fun to a point and then well, I know that time could be used better somewhere else and I feel like I've wasted time with nothing to show for it... and the Sims is doubly so on that, because of all of the household tasks the Sims get either annoyed at or happy about finishing... it's kind of like a box within a box effect.  

It's mixed feelings - - I'm having a 'fun leisure' day in real life, but using it playing a game, which 'gets nothing done'.  I get annoyed that the Sim on my screen is 'making progress' but I have wasted four hours that was supposed to be fun, and maybe it was, maybe it just kept me from doing other things I should have done.  Should I have cleaned?  Should I have baked?  Should I have learned Japanese for an extra hour?   It was a bit too easy to do the game for the extended period of time that could have done many things in real life otherwise.  The game was lower-energy expenditure than many of those things, but that is only a benefit when I consider something like I could overwork my muscles cleaning or etc. instead of resting.  And for being lower-energy, it is almost zero output.  And this is why I rarely play games that are more than a few rounds of Tetris or Duolingo.  Duolingo IS a game, but I do feel that perhaps I get something out of it that I can bring elsewhere, in translating the languages.  Whether or not my Sim learned how to make food without burning their house down is not an accomplishment that transfers much.  Mark and I have talked about that is something that was hard on our generation and that the younger generations don't have it as much - we were taught 'if you're having fun, something has to be wrong' and also lots of pressure put on productivity and 'monetizing time and hobbies'.

I did do some Japanese language learning.  And I already hurt from 'something' the past few days that I haven't put my finger on.  Not sure if it is sitting in my chair wrong playing the game, sleeping in, much grocery-shopping on Friday, climbing the stairs, the rainy weather outside or the postal route coming back at me from yesterday - but my hips definitely hurt today as well.  I did the yoga routine two nights in a row but skipped last night because I had already done so much on the postal route.  I've stretched a little today, and have climbed the stairs many many times of course, but I told Mark 'It's like I'm getting old'... one definite thing about hyper mobility is that you benefit most from variety of movement.  And, counter-intuitively perhaps, repetitive things, even 'sedentary' things like sitting slumped in a chair wrong or tensioning your leg muscles constantly while sitting forward, all of that adds up in weird ways.  

The yoga type is 'restorative' or 'vinyasa 'flow'', style - for spine and flexibility.

goodbye to Daphne

 

 

She was born in the summer of 2012, and she has been such a good girl - spent her life here with her mom Nova (who passed a few years ago at 13), sisters Sweetie and Minerva and took Charlotte on as her 'puppy' as well when we adopted her (even though Charlotte was two years old, still 'a puppy'.

She was partially deaf - and could howl so loudly and high-pitched that people in the next county probably covered their ears.  The UPS and post men had a hard time as she would get so involved barking at them, often with her eyes closed, that she had no idea to get out of the way of their cars.  Just the other day Mark said she was barking at the UPS man and now we sort of think she had a stroke, and maybe a series of them, although at the time it was just a bit off her usual behavior.  She laid down in the yard to bark at them (not usual) and she couldn't quite howl or bark  with her usual voice even when I got home from work.  She's been 'halfway down' since the UPS delivery day, but she has bounced back and forth from almost her usual self a few times.  

She was sitting in the sun a few days ago with the Lyffan Manx cat and they were having a very good time together.  Back when Daphne was a puppy, we had a Manx cat named Mouse, and she used to follow her all around the road - we called  her Sergeant Mouse walking her pups.  When Minerva got lost in the snow and the thickets at two months old or so - for about two days, and we could NOT find her, we were so worried - it was Daphne that kept insisting on going out every few hours and she eventually brought her home.  It was a bit like a miracle - but she didn't give up.   She also really liked our goats - was heartbroken when our first one Kitty goat passed on at eight - was very upset the next one we got didn't like dogs (we gave that one to another farm, because she really didn't like dogs and wasn't happy either), and spent a lot of time with Melody, our blind goat.  They didn't get along as well as she did with Kitty, but still, they enjoyed each other.

 

We let Daphne out the garage door when she had a bad stumble on the stairs, four days ago maybe? where I had to pick her up and bring her up the rest of the way (she has always had sporadic trouble with that one back leg tendon).  We went to get her back out of the yard and she had fallen into a little hollow on the side of the road and couldn't get back up - Esme and I brought her back in the house and she was better again later.  The next day she seemed fine, and then the rainy weather started up, and she was arthritic and down again.  She went and in and out of the house with assistance a few days during the rain and was enjoying laying in front of the heater with other dogs and cats.  She would say she couldn't get up to go out with the other dogs, and we carried her outside, but then she could walk back into the house afterwards and ask for a treat, but then a few hours later she was again unable to get up again without assistance...

All a prime example of Bluetick coonhound stubbornness, which her mother was 100% bluetick.  Her dad was Catahoula leopard hound and lab.  Today she couldn't get up in the morning.  We carried her out to the yard and she could barely stand.  She went to lay down under the tree where she had the other day.  Mark came back to fetch her up and bring her inside and he said she walked a few steps under the big tree and fell over and was gone within a few minutes.  Her grandmother Misha had a massive stroke, as well, at 17, which we wondered if maybe Misha had had other strokes before that one.  Daphne was 12 (and a half, since she was born in the summer)

We will miss her greatly, the two-legged and the four legged family members alike.

at a year old

at a few months old

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.

bits

 

  

I got Esme a Greek drachma for her birthday, and a book 'How to Tame a Fox (and build a dog)' - 'oh, it's about the silver fox project!', she said.  I thought she might find it interesting and it is nice to have something to hand to page through instead of just relying for it to be on the internet.  The coin isn't worth much, but I told her that - to our eye - she has been growing up quite wise for her age, and that we were proud of her.  And the owl is the 'owl of Athena' the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Grandma also gave her a few coins, which she is going to look up, and a pretty card with some for 'her shark fund', which is based on a joke I had made a few years ago about her going into an antique store and coming out with a wooden duck sculpture, after saying 'Now watch, I'll find a shark or something', to which I had to draw a comic about that.

I've got a cake in the oven for her for dinner tonight, and hopefully serve with bacon and eggs and cherries.

I found a little app called 'golingo' that is speaking exercises in multiple languages.  It only recognizes about 80-90% of my spoken French - maybe room for improvement, maybe error in the system.  It only gets about 50-60% of my Welsh and it has abbreviations like 'ut wyt ti' for 'how are you' instead of 'sut dych chi'.. don't know if that is North vs. South or modern street vs book learning etc etc... anyway, it's kind of a cool addition to learn something from.  A friend tried it for Greek, and didn't like it much at all. *shrug*  

I have been studying still a lot of Japanese, a bit more Czech, and French and Spanish (on the golingo), and went and dipped back into Latvian / Lithuanian vocabulary and had not forgotten too much of that.

I had given myself such a headache yesterday, trying to cut back on coffee for other health reasons for a few days... drinking juice and water and diluted tea, but it wasn't enough as I ended up with a raging migraine and all of the other fun joint popping and earache and other inflammation that happens when I try to stop coffee.  Back to half-strength today and I have to avoid the work coffee because it is just too strong and dark, it will get me right back to square one.