Posts made by Aria

I think the thing that's getting me is how many people are saying "We're back to normal! We're back to normal!" except.... we're not.

I'm still working from home every single day of the week and because of various health issues in their respective families and households, have seen literally any of my friends in person exactly once, fully masked, standing outside in the street since.... March 1st of 2020.

My husband is still working the shitty, shitty job that was the only thing he could find after his company laid him off and for all these claims of being unable to find workers, he's had at least have a dozen companies email him to schedule interviews and then never reply to his reply, schedule interviews and then not show up, or get him through multiple rounds of interviews to never call or email him again, even with a form letter rejection.

Almost all of the ways we spent our free time were ones that involved very large crowds -- concerts and comedy shows and movie theaters, none of which will be happening for several more months where we live.

I still get an email about once a month from my program announcing another one of my classmates who just died from COVID. Including yes, literally this week.

So when people say that things are "back to normal", I honestly don't know what the fuck they're talking about. What is the phrase for feeling like you're being gaslit by 300 million people?

@arkandel said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

It makes me very sad during my 1:1s to be told they are not used to receiving positive feedback. That there are adults out there in their thirties who haven't been told yet they are doing a good job - at something they spend a third of their lives doing - is unsettling.

When you do something wrong you hear about it in no uncertain terms. When you're doing well you... get paid since that's what's expected?

....Are you secretly my boss?

I spent years as an executive assistant in various industries. It is an utterly thankless job where you receive very little praise, if any, when you do an amazing job but man, do you hear it when you screw up. And also, your job is super critical to the basic functioning of the highest levels of management, but most people are going to talk to you like it's a miracle you can do more than schedule a meeting and order catering.

About two years ago I moved into a position with substantially similar responsibilities, but a totally different job title. Suddenly I was receiving high praise for doing the most basic things right.

It... it was jarring, to say the least. Very jarring.

I have come to the conclusion that at least 80% of grad school is wondering why the fuck you did this to yourself, she said after five pages of calculations re: American COVID stimulus spending.

@testament said in Crafting Thread Part ?:

@aria I now need @Crawfish to draw Mia in a Macho Man Randy Savage getup.

PAY THE WOMAN, THEN.

Note that I will be super annoyed if this getup does not include a crown. For, uhhh. For reasons.

@testament said in Crafting Thread Part ?:

@aria

From now till the end of time I will forever associate Mia with Macho Man Randy Savage.

Look, if shouting "OH, YEAH!" at the top of her lungs is what's going to take down Mia's Least Favorite NPC Ever, I will do it. If that's what it takes to be King of the Ring, I'm willing to make that sacrifice of her dignity for the good of the Compact.

Since I know other people have been looking for frames for kitty pics:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07TQKKVW8?psc=1&smid=A23OBUHX95RPOM&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

10"x12" with a mat intended to fit a 6"x9" picture, which is what mine so far have measured as. Comes in a multi-pack of three, which is exactly perfect for the number I ordered for myself.

...Which is less than the number I've purchased for other people as gifts today. >.>

ETA: In case you miss it, the page has a WARNING about how the frame is meant to fit a 10"x12" picture with a mat opening of 6"x9". Apparently people have complained about the fact that if you have a 6"x9" picture, you need to tape it to the back of the mat? I'm not sure why these people don't understand how a fucking mat works, but now you've also been warned by me and Amazon. If you want this to fit a kitty picture, you're gonna need some tape. Preferably masking tape, as that is less likely to fuck up your picture. If you don't wanna use tape, don't buy this.

Presented without comment, because I am still laughing way too fucking hard to come up with anything really clever.

@silverfox said in MU Things I Love:

My phone autocorrecting 'dicks' (as in male assholes) into 'ducks'.

It will never not be funny.

@greenflashlight said in RL things I love:

@ganymede said in RL things I love:

fuck the shit out of her

I genuinely don't know how English-speaking people have managed to avoid thinking about this image en masse enough to allow it to become a saying.

Most swear words in English are remarkably flexible and only mean their actual, literal meaning (I am totally making this up here because statistics!), like, five percent of the time?

"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Stop dicking around."
"Piss off, jerk."
"This sucks, man."

We do this a lot with English, even with non-swear words, too.

"What an awful story!"
"That's sick, dude."
"He's cool."
And pretty much any use of the word literally after about 1995.

Language is weird, especially English.

@misadventure said in The Work Thread:

@aria "So you're the oracle for this project? We'll make sure everyone knows."

I'm not sure I follow.

I think the thing that bothers me is, like.....

There is a difference between "I led this team that did good work, providing them the resources, guidance, and support they needed to do it" and "I did this good work."

In the case of a manager, one of these is definitely true and the other is likely not. And it's ironic to claim the part that probably isn't true, because it's the part that is true which is literally their job.

So I spent the last three days working with a product owner on multiple drafts about a major technology upgrade that will save my company about 86,000 calls annually, which translates to a little over $5.5 million.

That is big news and the piece I was working on is due to be sent out to over 6,000 employees tomorrow, which covers my entire subdivision and about a third of our global workforce....

And today my new boss took credit not for the work her team did, which would have been appropriate, but for the draft "she" wrote. In front of the head of communications for said subdivision.

So that's cool.

Riven kitties have arrived and I am cackling madly. Time to find frames.

My sweet old man has started having worse and worse arthritis because of his age, so we increased his dose of pain meds.

The trouble is the pain meds upset his stomach, which is already fairly sensitive. So right now he's having his dog food withheld and is on a diet of rice cooked up in chicken broth until his tummy feels a little better.

The thing is, special dog rice is apparently boring and yucka, so he's only eating about half of it and then refusing the rest. (No, this is not because his tummy hurts, I assure you. He's eating his medicine wrapped up in cheese slices and flavored dog vitamins just fine, the little asshole.)

He's basically just being a drama queen, throwing a tantrum because dinner isn't what he wanted. Clearly, he is neglected and abused. His people beat him, and make him sleep in piles of snow, and he has never even smelled food in his entire life. We're obviously monsters, based on our desire for him to neither be in pain nor pooping all over himself.

@greenflashlight said in MU Things I Love:

I am always going to feel isolated and separate from the rest of the world. I am always going to feel like a lesser kind of person, not by the reality I live but by the decree of people who have more power than I have. That's just how it is.

But sometimes, people will remind me that though I don't know how to reach out to them, let alone how to connect to them the way they seem to do so easily to each other, we have shared experiences that we can come together over and support each other through and try to lift one another out of. It's terrible that shared pain is what makes it happen, but something beautiful can come out of it, and for just a moment I can almost perceive the connections we all have but that I'm otherwise blind to; and that perception feels like being embraced by strangers who are trying their best to help me. It takes my breath away in the best possible way, and if it also does bad things to my blood pressure, that's fine. You gotta pay the cost to ride the rides.

I'm saying the MU thing I love is all of you. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. You're sincerely better off for having missed it. I'm gonna take a little break now until I get my breath back, and watch cartoons about princesses who want to be friends even if it's dangerous to be.

I have absolutely no idea who you play but I almost always find value or insight or humor in your posts, so <3, you sweet angel baby, whoever you are.

@too-old-for-this said in Crafting Thread Part ?:

@testament Never regret giving @Crawfish your money for more catraits. I've purchased so many, and I still have one huge Super Sekrit one being worked on... and my most recent alt is being cattified! Best happy money I've spent in YEARS.

I have one more coming of Mia getting into a little bitch fight with her least favorite NPC and I cannot wait to see how ridiculous and funny it turns out.

Please excuse me, I am dead now. From too much giggling.

Every time I look at this, I can only imagine that Thesarin and Eirene are in some sort of kitty contest over which one of them can be the saltiest old battleaxe, while Mia and Mihaly just look on like "SIGH. What are you two doing?" and Ezra tries desperately to just pretend this isn't even happening.

I somehow keep giving myself tiny little papercuts on IDEFK what. I seriously have four of them on my hands right now, with no recollection whatsoever of how I got them, or even realizing I got them, until they start stinging several minutes later.

How?! Why???

Fucking OWWWW.

Since I had a coupon, I decided to order from the barbecue joint that used to be around the corner from the apartment where @insomniac7809 and I first lived.

We've since moved and so have they, but one thing that has not changed at all is their website. Probably since, like, 1998. Ohh, sure, they've updated the prices and added the new Tex-Mex items they have available but....

There's still dancing pig sprites. And little fire animations. And their catering contact is listed as "electronic mail" with an AOL.com email address. I didn't even know AOL still existed.

It is glorious and perfect and amazing and we love it.