nawilla

[nawilla]

Technically yes, but I didn't really notice at the time and had to be told it happened. I was sitting in a chair on wheels and it rolled slightly and I thought I was just tired.

The researcher across the hall had lived in California and recognized the ground was moving. We were pretty far from the epicenter but it was the earthquake that hit the East Coast of the US and amused all the Californians who are used to tremors because um, yeah, that doesn't happen often to a noticeable degree there. (My cousin, then in junior or senior high school, called his mom because 'the house is shaking' and she reassured him that it was happening to her at work too).

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[nawilla]

Pea Update: The peas are dead. Long live the peas.

So two days after I had everything nice and situated in the greenhouse, we had high winds and the greenhouse fell over like a dead tree. Multiple times. There was plant carnage.

I was able to take Wednesday off from work to deal with this. The coneflowers survived and were successfully put into the ground.

I was able to repot 23 out of the 25 bare root strawberries but a few looked a bit fried and I don't know what happened to the other two. We'll see how many survive.

The peas were . . . not great. They were dumped out of their labelled containers, several were ripped and most have crushed stems. I couldn't figure out which were the culinary peas and which were toxic ornamentals. I threw them under a bush and decided to start again. Considering I only got half of them to germinate with the toilet paper rolls, I went back to the internet to get more advice. I'm going to try a shorter soak time and then germinate them in paper towels before either putting them into the ground or letting them get an inch or so in size before planting. Argh.

Also plan to start lettuce seedlings and alyssum this weekend.

[nawilla]

We only had half days in elementary school when there were parent/teacher conferences (there was no zoom, nor internet in the 1980s, so your parent/s actually had to come in and talk with the teacher during school hours on one of three days twice a year), and sometimes during test days (finals) you might have a half day if you didn't have a morning exam. Or if we had bad snow.

In high school in the 90s we left 30 minutes early for an 'evacuation drill' which was a holdover from the Cold War, apparently if the bomb was dropped on us, we should all die of radiation exposure at home after sheltering in the internal hallways against lockers. (I suspect now in the 21st century the drill is to shelter in the classroom, on the other side of those same walls in case there are school shooters).

We did read about half-day Wednesdays in 8th grade French class and were very confused, but just yesterday I took a personal day on Wednesday to work in my yard because it rained 4 weekends in a row, so I now see the appeal.

Just saw a poll about school hours and I noticed that nobody specified the hours for Wednesdays (as they're half days), so I started wondering if Wednesday being a half day is not a universal experience...

[nawilla]

Approximately. High school started at 7:25 am and finished at 2:10, iirc. Unless there was an after school activity.

Students who had to make up skipped gym classes to graduate got to run track BEFORE school.

Did your school days start at 7:30am and end at 2:30pm? (This is excluding after schoolactivities like sports, detention, etc.)

[nawilla]

I am amused at how much they look like Crocs. I hope he had good socks.

Listen if the study of ancient humans doesn’t make you at least a little bit emotional idk what to say.

I started crying today at the museum because they had reconstructed the shoes of Otzi the iceman.

Either he or someone he knew who cared about him made these shoes out of grass and bear skin and twine and he was wearing them when he died over five thousand years ago.

And a Czech researcher and his students did reconstructions of these shoes and wore them to the same place where he died to test them out and they were like yep! These shoes are really cozy and comfy and didn’t give us blisters while hiking!

Is that not just the coolest shit ever????

[nawilla]

Easter Crafts

Went on a Temu binge and bought some Easter Diamond Art kits. Did one last night after I posted fic as a creative palette cleanser, did the second one this morning, mostly during online lab meeting. (Apparently, I'm less blunt when I'm doing something with my hands during lab meeting).

I did the egg last night.

I did the bunny this morning. The bunny was fun. I accidentally tried to recover part of the egg using the wrong side of the clear plastic cover and it adhered quite strongly, so that was less fun, but recoverable.

Both are hanging from my coat hooks on my office door and I have taken down the snowflake magnets. I also have some Easter egg keychains to do.

[nawilla]

So lovely. If only I didn't have a job, I could make a yarn garden.

Designer Spotlight: Realistic-Looking Flower Patterns Designed By Happy Patty Crochet: 👉 https://buff.ly/sGNaATD 🌷🌻

[nawilla]

Lived this. Now that my hair is gray instead of dark brown it's less obvious.

I had to crochet that crazy baby blanket at work because the father was allergic to cats.

Everyone I give my knitting to carries a piece of me around with them

[nawilla]

Fic Updated: Goblin Child has been completed!

(credit to @notgilderoylockhart for the image)

Goblin Child

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types

Relationships: Yoda & Original Character(s),Original Characters & Original Characters,

Characters: Yoda (Star Wars), Original Characters, Jedi Denna (OC), Simet Silvanus (OC), Elliot Dedrin (OC), Imp (OC), Slo Min (OC), Clara (OC), Kim-Aya (OC), Ms. Kinder (OC), Master Pendant (OC), Docent Miril (OC), Head Teacher Phoo (OC), Teacher Vrai (OC), Lio (OC), Nurse Chappelle (OC), Teacher Teli (OC), Teacher Fri'Zelle (OC), Hillya (OC), Master Muffy (OC),

11 chapter

53,572 words.

[nawilla]

What I Did Today

Now with actual text because I was editing fanfic while the pictures loaded off my phone.

I wasn't going to buy it, but it was $20 at ALDI and that was $10 cheaper than Amazon, so when I found there were no busses coming for an hour when I was ready to check out, I grabbed one, hit the frozen food aisle one more time, then got an uber because I had frozen veggies and ice cream.

The new strawberry tower will go here when I no longer need the greenhouse, but the plants can be safe when it gets frigid overnight until I get the chance to put them in the ground.

It was too muddy after more than 5 days of rain to plant the peas outside so I put them in the greenhouse to help them get ready to go outside this week when it's a bit drier. Below that are the coneflowers Burpee insists can be planted outside NOW when it's been dipping into the twenties all week overnight and it's been in the forties when I have wanted to plant. The other pots are the 25 bare root strawberries, now potted up so I will know which ones survived before I put them into their new tower.

[nawilla]

LOL yes, Teen Clara would probably like that when she's feeling nostalgic since her speech issues are being addressed.

(I'm going to assume you meant it was mentioned in the comments, because if someone is writing ATLL comics, I want to know).

[nawilla]

Completed the Spring Adulting Triathalon

Paid my garbage fees

Had my taxes done.

Called in to get my Roth IRA contribution done.

I'm hoping I didn't just flush thousands of dollars down the toilet by adding to my retirement account, but I assume that if the economy never recovers I'll probably have bigger problems to worry about and if it does, it's generally a good idea to keep putting money in mutual funds through the ups and downs. Now it's time to focus on the yard and garden.

[nawilla]

Farewell to My Old Friend Joann

Joann Fabric and Crafts used to be a regular destination for me. I lived in an apartment with access to the bus route that headed out to a suburban shopping center with a Joann Fabric and Craft Store, an Ames, an IKEA, and a Walmart and later a mall within walking distance. As a young adult I headed out here once a month and explored my crafty side and furnished my home. (And bought way too much crap).

And now Joann is leaving us, and it really won't be the same.

There really isn't an equivalent chain to step into the place in the market. Michaels is starting to sell fabric (they could see the writing on the wall a long way out) but the sheer variety is not something that can be replaced with 1-2 small aisles.

I hadn't been out to Joann in years. I had moved so that it was now a 2 bus, 75-90 minute trip to get out there, and in my current job a weekend without having to go in is rare, not the norm. I still used to go out there over Thanksgiving or Winter Break, but since the pandemic I just haven't had the time.

The last time I was there the signs the company was in trouble were apparent. Selection was poor. Prices were higher. There were some empty shelves. I wasn't surprised when they started circling the drain.

It took me four weeks to finally get out there for a last trip for old time's sake. It was kind of depressing, especially since the transit system announced bus cuts that would mean I wouldn't be able to get out there at all once those go through. This shopping center is a farther away distance wise, but all the malls are about 90 minutes away by bus and because this was on the line that also served the airport, the busses ran frequently as opposed to a few times a day.

Joann was depressing when I arrived. There were still signs on the front door looking to hire and proclaiming the employee discount. The inventory was just sad. Half the store was empty. Selection was random. Prices had been jacked up before any discounts were applied so everything was essentially full price. I got some yarn, some stainless steel pins (because those can be hard to get at Michaels), and a cat mug that I will probably put a plant in. The inspiration was gone. Merchandise included a bunch of outdated crap that looked like it had been looted from a defunct Dollar General just to put stuff on the shelves.

Yes, that is a Pez dispenser for the Eternals, a notoriously lower performing Marvel movie from 2021. It's 2025. Don't eat the Pez.

There were only three employees visible in the store. One at the cutting counter, one at the register and one putting out stock. If I were a more emotional person I probably would have cried.

It was also rainy and gloomy, very fitting.

After my depressing walk through Joann, I went across the parking lot to IKEA. I had to hurry (because I of course still had to stop into work and they cafeteria was about to close) but I DID get my Swedish meatballs that I had been waiting four weeks for. And some cake.

The cafeteria server was cheerful and seemed amused by my eagerness. It was a nice ray of sunshine after Joann.

After dinner I took a nice stroll through the showroom and marketplace. They had some roasting pans on clearance, and these cute little hangers with clips on them for socks which I got for drying my compression socks.

I looked at the furniture but didn't make any plans since the store was about to become utterly unaccessible.

Still thinking about this one for the living room.

I also saw the most IKEA product for Easter. It's the flat pack chocolate bunny you have to assemble at home. I didn't buy it but I laughed hard.

I then happened to leave just as the bus was coming to get back home, so that was a kindness from the universe on a sad day. I can't say when or if I'll ever get back there, but I'm glad I left so I didn't have to regret not going.

[nawilla]

Finally Finished This

I haven't been writing as much recently, so it took me almost a full year to use up this notebook. You can see how beat up this one is.

I've been pretty good about meeting my goal of writing every day during Lent. I didn't get 100% compliance, but there has been improvement.

I've started on a new notebook and am still trying to finish Goblin Child. Considering the first chapter was posted on Star Wars Day last year, I really need to get it done so there is something new for this year.

Still working on it.

[nawilla]

Tea Time

I bought the cutest herbal tea variety pack at ALDI this past weekend. If Beatrix Potter sold tea, this is what it would have looked like.

[nawilla]

Pea Update: Day 17

I really need to put them outside.

It snowed yesterday.

They might really like the cold weather but I don't want to die of hypothermia planting them.

[nawilla]

I think the answer here is 'sort of'.

[flashback to watching tbobf with the parents]

Mom: wait i have a question

Me: yeah

Mom: Is Boba fett a mandalorian or not?

Me: 

Me: are you familiar with the terms ‘Watsonian’ and ‘Doylist?

Mom: just yes or no is he a mandalorian

Me: can I explain after the episode