Daylight Saving Time
Sunday, March 9th, 2025 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio |
58F and clear this afternoon, going down to 33F.
I'm sitting here with my window wide open and it's wonderful!
A bout of acid reflux disrupted my sleep this morning, so... instead of losing an hour's sleep, I actually lost about three hours of sleep... which is probably a good thing?
Because now it'll be easy to fall asleep an hour earlier, and thus, get the normal amount of sleep before work.
But yes, today IS the first day of DST, and while out running my errands, I saw the season's first motorcycle, as well as several people not wearing jackets.
That, together with the songbirds having returned last week, makes it feel like winter is undeniably over.
And now I'm wondering how the hell my winter flew by so fast!
First thing today, was gas & smokes, and then I was off to Aldi, but on the way decided to stop at AutoZone to get windshield wipers blades.
The rubber strip on my passenger blade's been flip flopping around on the glass, every time it snows or rains, for about a month now, so I figured I'd take care of it today.
The kid at the counter looked up my car and showed me a selection of blades on the monitor, and I picked the $34.00 pair, which he fetched for me.
Only after he rung me up, did I realize that was $34.00 PER BLADE!.. so the total came to $72 bucks after tax!
I put it on a credit card cuz... no!
Then after ripping the packages open for both blades... I discovered that they were just NOT compatible with my wiper arms!
So I took them back inside, and the manager confirmed that, yes, these were the wrong blades!
So I had to do this whole awkward return.
And he said they'd have to, "damage them out." because the packages were so mangled.
The correct blades were a few bucks cheaper, but still, damn near seventy bucks!
So... I got them installed, and it's good to have new wiper blades for spring, but... it was yet another example of a professional screwing up a simple task, resulting in a ton of wasted time for me!
I got my groceries at Aldi next, and then stopped at Walgreens for bandaids and stuff.
Back at home, I went to tally up my receipts for the log, and realized the Walgreens receipt was just a coupon!
I signed up for paperless recipts a long time ago... but I didn't get any kind of notification about my transaction today... so I had to log into the app... and it didn't recognize my password!
So I had to do all the BS to reset the password... and when I finally got in there... there NO way to view past transactions!
So I just had to GUESS, what I spent at Walgreens!
Just vacuumed the flat.
As for finances, I won't do a serious analysis of my spending until March is over, but a superficial glance after a weeks does seem to confirm, all the money's going to beer and smokes!
I'm still drinking and smoking like I did 25 years ago, when Pall Malls were a buck a pack, and a 30-pack of Bush Light was $12.00!
But these days, that pack of smokes is $10.00, and the beer is $22.00.
So I need to smoke & drink a lot less during the week!
But there's ways to manage that.
I've been in this studio unit now, through an entire summer, fall, and winter.
And it's looking like I'll be here through the spring... which is fine.
But I really hope I can get into an 07 before it's time for the AC unit in the window!
It'd be nice, come summer 2025, to have other windows to open in the summer, at night!
Still, March here looks to be pretty routine and eventless.
The only two things to look forward to are, a check in with Fernando on the 17th, and that orientation with Elgym on the 28th.
And Fernando's probably not gonna have an 07 for me, so...
Really, nothing's gonna get going until April, when I can start recording vocals.
All clean & shiny, and the laundry's in the washer downstairs.
I'm working on strings for the outro to, Spell I'm Under
Being one of the newer three, it's never had anything but bass, guitar and drums, thus far.
But last week at work I kept hearing this outro cello line in my head, so... since there's nothing better to do... yeah.
But it's sounding really good!
Clean laundry's been up and put away for a while now.
I've been working on that outro... adding horns when the strings were up to speed.
I was getting really emotional, and tearing up as I worked, but... having to run in & out, up & down, for the laundry kinda killed that mood.
Epecially after the work got all technical at the end.
The emergence of spring's getting me a little more emotional... after a pretty stable winter.
The flashbacks I'm having right now are to the spring of 1999, when I was getting ready to move here to the tower by myself...
Going to thrift stores, downtown here, to find lamps and things... buying cheep towels & bedding at WalMart... and stocking up on cleaning supplies at the dollar store.
There was this air of happiness and hope, cuz I was finally gonna have a place of my own, by myself.
I definitely didn't get that, last July, when I moved back here.
Last July, I was just in refugee mode, escaping a disaster, and taking what little I could, to fit into the smallest little cell I've ever rented, all heartbroken and in shock.
For a little over a month now, I've been hoping to finally experience that happy move... into the unit that feels like home... where I'm free to get back to monitoring the recordings in speakers once in a while, and record vocals...
As well as, having the space to work on other things, and have all my stuff with me, instead of... half my shit in the van, and the other half in a storage unit, beyond the bean fields.
But that's all on hold, while I wait for somebody to move out of an 07 unit... at some point in the future.
And there won't be much going on with the album until April.
So, I'm a little worried about sitting around here, having flashbacks to last March... because I don't have anything new to focus on, this March.
March and I have a bit of history now... going back to 2016, when I cut ties with the last friend I had around here.
I feel like I did it for solid reasons, but... I do kinda re-live that, and hash through our differences again, every March.
And by 2021, after I'd quit the hospital... my bank account was running dry in March, and I had these nightmares about being broke by St. Patricks Day... even though I knew I'd have my 401K money by then.
By March of 22, however... that bank account was running dry again, for REAL this time, and I had my hopes pinned on doing freelance handyman work... which turned out to be not that profitable.
By March of 23... Dad had died, Tim had left, and I'd gone full time with GeoStaff, at Cloud... but I wasn't making much money, and my only hope for survival was to leverage my good credit score to take out a loan with PNC that, I reasoned, I'd be able to pay off later, after refinancing the house.
And then of course, by March of 24... I was living off credit cards!.. and that house was being foreclosed on!.. because that refinance fell through!.. because the notary on the TODI fucked up!
So... this March is better than the past FOUR... for sure!
I have a stable job, making decent pay, this March.
And my apartment may not be ideal, but it's sound and sustainable!
No bank's thretening to kick me out of 1106... and there's no dying old man here to worry about.
So I guess I should be happy that I'm finally through that shitstorm.
But that shitstorm's bogged me down with a lot of emotional baggage I didn't have, back in 2020.
I still haven't fully processed Dad's death!.. much less the loss of Snoop & Prowly, Yvette, and the family house.
So... that's why this March feels a bit sad and unsettling, even though it shouldn't!
And that's why I'm a little upset by having so much downtime this March.
It's giving me too much time to reflect... here, in the half-way unit... when I'd rather be graduating into the permanent unit, and moving on with my life!
But... what're ya gonna do?
Shit takes time, sometimes.
Onward!.. into another routine 5-day work week!
°¦}
