The Grouch's Trash Pile [Baldur's Gate 3]

Replacement wand to replace broken one on old vacuum: 65€. New budget vacuum with good reviews: 60€. The choice was clear.

It only has a couple of downsides, in that it makes a high pitched whine at less than near-max suction and the cord is just a little too short to reach everywhere in the apartment without replugging it, but other than that it's much lighter, the motor isn't nearly so loud, and I'm certain it gets the floor cleaner in general since my allergies weren't acting up anywhere near as badly as they usually do by vacuuming day. Old vacuum is over 15 years old, missing most of its attachments, and the pads and brushes on the 'head' part have long since worn down completely, so... maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that the wand broke.

Now I 'just' need a Windows 10 license, a jacket, and a pair or two of decent shorts.

 

What do you need a win 10 license for? Asking bc windows allows one to use the free trial version indefinitely (or at least they did as of last year when I was planning my new comp), you just lack some customization options and it will occasionally pop up to bug you about buying the thing. So if it’s just a matter of acquire windows 10 to use, you could save there.

 

A new-to-me computer that is currently bare of anything. I could just pop my current hard drive in there and hope my not-actually-legit Win7 doesn't complain mightily, but the parts in the new machine are pretty fancy and Win7 is getting a bit long in the tooth, and I'd like to not have to install a new OS in a year or two because something I want to install won't work on 7. Which sucks, because I HATE the whole look and feel of Windows 10.

I'm leery of free trials for an operating system... but that's a moot point, because the only free trial option I can get google to spit out is a 90-day trial for the enterprise edition, or long-expired free upgrade options that I wouldn't have been eligible for anyway.

 

Fair enough!

 

I appreciate the heads up, even if it turned out to be a wash! (My guess from what results I turned up is that the free trial forever thing evaporated sometime last year.)

 

In other news I finally saw The Last Jedi and I fucking loved it

It's gotten really hard for me to sit still for an entire movie (which is not helped by how they tend to be SOOOO LOOOOOOOOONG nowdays) but I'm glad J gently but persistently badgered me into it when he saw it was available on his viaplay trial because HOO BOY that was a hell of a cool ride. Way better paced than TFA -- even though everything happened, A Lot, I didn't have frequent 'wait, what?' moments like I did with TFA. And god DAMN did they knock it out of the park with the female characters. Rey and Leia were great as always and Rose and Holdo were delightful surprises. Rose is just! So good!!! I love how she's an energetic stone cold badass! I absolutely ADORE how she wasn't so starstruck by Finn that she fell for his ploy and not only didn't let him get away with it, didn't even give him time to bluster. (I love Finn but seriously, dude, that was stupid.)

I love Holdo too and I can see EXACTLY why every dumb angry nerd on the internet baby screamed about her because she is e x a c t l y the kind of woman they hate - one that sees through blustery dude bullshit and doesn't let them get away with it. (She was also the picture of patience in not having Poe chucked out an airlock. His ego was the root cause of most of the destruction in the movie! GOOD JOB BREAKING IT, HERO.) I'm really sad we only just met her and we lose her again, but damn they did a great job of characterizing her in the short period of time she had, right up through her turning that ship and lightspeeding it through Hux's pretty destroyer. I knew what she was up to and I still got full body chills and every hair on my body standing on end from that. GODDAMN.

 

sldkfjsfjkljslfj I don't want to gripe but this won't stop bothering me so I'd better write it out

Spoiler: weight and exercise stuff

The rehabilitation center people are very nice and helpful but they keep trying to prod me into an exercise program despite me telling them I already do exercise that's safe for me and like. What the hell do they think my cane is for??? Do people actually think that if you use a cane all you need is some exercise to make it not necessary????????

And like, I know I'm fat but telling me to ~walk around more~ is not in fact actually going to help jack shit, especially when I have a not-inconsiderable number of days where the knee/ankle/hip on my bad leg has to be treated gently because it's too easy to wrench them, or days when that leg is so weak it's barely more that dead weight I have to drag around -- but I do have a whole bunch of videos from a very nice site with exercises I can adjust as necessary so I don't screw up anything, AND they're considerably more intense than just walking. NOT THAT I DON'T ALREADY WALK AT LEAST FOUR KILOMETERS THREE DAYS A WEEK AS WELL ALREADY OR ANYTHING...

I made the mistake of grousing about needing to lose a miniscule amount of weight that won't come off and hints of diet advice came out and hoo boy. Now I'm dreading that's going to turn into a Thing, even though it's pretty unlikely to and I can and will just say I've got it handled and am not interested in discussing it there if it does become a Thing, but that doesn't stop my brain from obsessing about it. e_e

 

Spoiler: Spoiler for spoiler

It genuinely scares me that so many people - a lot of them medical professionals - think that chronic illness is equatable to deconditioning, and that you can just "walk it off", so to speak.

 

Yeah like... my needing a cane is not due to having not exercised, but the reasons I need a cane did prevent me from exercising for some years, because the pain and instability due to those problems got worse and worse every time I'd walk somewhere. I need the cane to compensate for an unstable leg that's weak from a number of problems that can't be fixed with exercise. I still have pain regularly but it's rarely debilitating anymore.

Spoiler: The reasons, for anyone curious

I've been told I was born with hip dysplasia that wasn't properly corrected (the doctors in my hometown were, uh, not known for their quality). My left leg turns out very noticeably more than it should, and my hip audibly clunks in the socket when I move it in certain ways (and I definitely feel it). I also have a luxating patella (probably contributed to by the hip dysplasia) and because my leg is turned out like that I have always been very, very prone to twisting my left ankle - which has lead to me spraining it very badly twice, which has permanently stretched and scarred the ligaments in that ankle and foot. (The second sprain was so bad I couldn't walk unassisted for four months.)

The muscles in my left leg and hip are, as far as how they hurt and stiffen up goes, a mess, which is not a surprise after 40 years of wear and tear. As a teenager I was already having problems - I was forbidden from jogging or running when I was 15 because my kneecap was sliding out of place and damaging the ligaments around it. I was having regular enough hip and leg pain as a slim, healthy 17 year old I was confident I'd need a cane by the time I was 40. My mom thought I was being fatalistic. :')

I had an x-ray done of my hip 11 years ago and they couldn't see anything wrong. I tried to see a doctor about it more recently and she was super dismissive about how my leg turns outward, chalking it up to me being fat even though it has always turned outward like that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Fun fact: It used to be that when I drew full-body illustrations, if the figures were just standing they always stood with their left leg slightly out and turned outward. I didn't even realize that I was mirroring how I stood until I was well into adulthood!)

 

"Hip dysplasia is often misdiagnosed because the x-rays need to be taken in special positions." Ohhh, welp.

 

I'm going to fantasia one of my FFXIV characters - I'd had a design, but at the last minute changed them to look kind of like one of my OCs. That was a mistake because they only look kind of like that OC, but different in ways that bother me rather than making them their own unique person. My OC is a big, buff GNC woman, and while my FFXIV character is tall enough and has the right coloration and facial features, the build of Highlander women isn't anywhere near built or broad enough (fem Highlanders can be ripped but it's not the same), and their emotes are way more feminine than my OC would be. I should have gone with my original design, because as they are it's just awkward because it keeps pinging me as Not Right.

Anyway, I'm not thrilled with my original idea anymore so I'm torn between catboy, waiting for viera to see if I like them enough to play an androgynous-as-possible one, or making a Jade Harley expy (who I already have an appearance saved for >_>). I could make an outfit that looks a lot like her Witch of Space one! This character being a warrior would be kind of weird, but I could switch them to machinist once I get them to Heavensward, and maybe pick up gunblade once it's out.

And I was considering making them a scholar/summoner (because I like to always have a healer) since I was going to make Fawn an astrologian, but then I realized... if I make this character a Jade expy, I pretty much have to make them the astrologian, because Witch. Of. SPACE.

*groan* XD

Anyway, I have a free fantasia already from subscription rewards before they nixed those, and once I get them through ARR I think I get another, so that gives me some room to play around. I don't usually like playing female characters anymore because dysphoria, and the catboys are REALLY cute (their ears wiggle when they're happy!!), but having the opportunity to use the female-exclusive clothes for once would be nice...

 

Tumblr post: omg I’ve figured out why dudes wear shorts in winter, T has made me run so much hotter!

Me, wearing long trousers, thick socks, three upper body layers under a light jacket, a scarf, gloves, and a cap, with the hood of my hoodie pulled up in just under freezing weather: can’t relate

I USED to run hot. Not shorts in winter hot, but no hat or scarf and only one layer under a jacket hot. Shorts, sandals, and t-shirt in 60F hot. Then T happened and it all went awaaaaay~

(Also I’ve noticed that guys here just. Don’t do that. Maybe a light jacket and no scarf until it’s super cold if they’re young, but the jacket doesn’t come off and the shorts don’t go on until nearly summer at *least*.)

 

I want... A DENIM VEST!!!

Not just some old vest but the kind that looks like a jean jacket without sleeves, because I apparently feel a need to return to my roots and go all redneck punk.

Where does one even get one...

 

ASOS 1
ASOS 2
EMP
BooHoo

Any good?

 

oh lord, that last one is nice :0

 

Some good leads, thanks! I can’t be having with that preworn look nonsense on new clothes, though. I can wear things out on my own just fine without paying someone to do it for me. (Secondhand wear? That’s fine. It’s honest. Which makes me sound like an old fart, I know.)

 

New glasses!

Everything being in high-res again is a trip. And they're progressive lenses, so they're going to take some extra getting used to. x_x

It's funny though - I thought I'd need them at the computer but as it turns out my monitor is apparently at exactly the right distance to look clear without correction. I think, anyway. Alternately, there's a thin strip of the progression on the lenses that's exactly right and I haven't yet found the sweet spot. Regardless though, this is going to make using the laptop at workshop a lot less of a literal headache, as well as making everything else generally more pleasant.

 

Oh hey, the epilogue finally showed up! I like it so far.

Spoiler: Not really a spoiler as such, but

I got an extremely self-flagellatory vibe from the whole thing, and have outside confirmation that that's a reasonable reading. Poor dude.

Even though I was pretty damn bitter about how it ended (and about how act 6 dragged on and on and on), I'm pretty sure just shoving it off a cliff was necessary - sometimes a thing just has to end in any way possible, and it was mostly one giant plot tumor at that point. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing how this is going, and I hope Hussie is doing okay.

I am absolutely not going to engage with the fandom about it. My FC has enough Homestucks the server owner made a channel for us to talk about it in, and I can trust everyone there to be relatively reasonable about discussing it. I can probably trust anyone who wanders into this thread to be reasonable about it (and anyone who isn't will get chased out with a broom). Outside of those two places? HA.

 

thought: look for a jeanjacket in a thriftstore or even a new store and rip the sleeves off?

 

If I got lucky enough to find a secondhand men's denim jacket in my size, I wouldn't want to rip the sleeves off! XD; Even though I like the aesthetic of frayed edges, actually wearing them makes me feel really shabby (and I'd like to avoid sewing as much as possible).

I do plan on making a trip out to a secondhand store, but it's a bit of a hike.