phyncke

Today I am getting sh*t done. I feel productive. I am going through stuff. Taking stuff places. Just dealing with stuff. Feeling like I want to get sh*t done. I better capitalize on this feeling because it does not happen very often that I feel this way. Usually, I mess around on the computer and waste lots of time reading Reddit. So getting stuff done today. I hope the feeling lasts til tomorrow. I would like to be productive tomorrow too. That would be good. I am serious. This is so rare - I better jump on it. I am not one of those people who was productive during the pandemic - that was not me. I am productive at work but at home I am usually pretty lazy and chill. Anyways. Glad to be getting sh*t done.

Started a new book this week - for a book group at work and I am really liking it. It is AAPI Month and we are reading The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. I am on the second chapter and I am really into it. Right now it is kind of a retelling of the Mulan tale and loving that so this is cool beans. I run the book group at work so that is fun. They buy us books and we have a discussion about them every little while. Free books? Sign me up - let me run that. I love giving people books. We have been reading really good books too. Alternating fiction and non-fiction. Excellent stuff. I am in two book groups right now - one for work and one with family and friends. Keeping busy with that. I love to read so that is good. The family and friends book group moves slow and is on a break right now. We just finished the book on misogyny so that was very intense and we needed a break.

This week at work was very busy and I like it better that way. I prefer to have a lot to do. So that is good. The University is asking us to go back to work in July. We can go back voluntarily in June but it is mandatory in July. They just sent out a draft document about flexible work arrangements so I think they are going to let us decide how we want to go back. I appreciate that. I am thinking a 3/2 schedule. Three days in the office and 2 days work from home. Variable for when I need to work in the office more. Hope they let me do that. Will see what they say.

So I did this thing - I have this massive "to read" pile of books in my bedroom and it was not really one pile. There are piles all over the place. So I decided to create a google spreadsheet and input all the books in there to try and organize it all. I am still working on it right now. Almost done with it. Right now I have 57 books in the list. I have more books - these are just my books to read. I don't think this will stop me from buying more books but maybe I will start reading the pile and get at that. It is kind of fun to have a scrollable list of titles and authors there. I put publish date and number of pages because I like to know that. Anyhoo. This is part of my getting sh*t done thing. I started this a while ago and have been chipping away at it. The books are still in piles but now I have the list. I will let you know how many are in the final thing when I am done with this.

Anyhoo. Feeling good. I have been going out without a mask. I take a mask with me - but outdoors I have not been wearing it all the time. That is kind of nice. Feels like things are ok. California is retiring the tier system on June 15 so that goes away and we will see what happens then. Situation normal? I don't know.

I want things to be OK everywhere - like in India and Brazil and other places. I want everyone to get the covid vaccines too - we need to make that happen. It is in everyone's interest to make sure the globe is vaccinated.

Hope all is well with you where you are. Take good care.

And I am not working today. Love it. Taking today and Tuesday off from work. We were encouraged to take some time off this week for Spring Break. So I did. I just feel like I could relax some. So I am doing that.

I have blood tests today for my annual physical - my usual blood panel. Going to do that. I have to fast this morning and I am drinking black coffee. Not really enjoying that. I am a full on creamer and sugar person for my coffee so not enjoying it but I can do it. Getting it done. I could not get an early morning appointment so that was kind of a bummer. I go in at 10:45am. That is pretty late. I will just have to deal. Ugh.

I just finished the book The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. It was a really interesting look at the lives and situations of the undocumented people in the United States. I had never read anything about this before so I learned a lot. She is also a really good writer so it was a pleasure to read. Very good book. Life is pretty harsh for the undocumented here and that is really clear from the book. I highly recommend this book.

I am moving on to read Nomadland by Jessica Bruder. It is the book that the movie was based on. I want to see the movie but I am intrigued by this book too. So far it is really excellent and I am sure I am going to enjoy it.

Here is a summary of the book -


Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century is a 2017 non-fiction book by American journalist Jessica Bruder about the phenomenon of older Americans who, following the Great Recession, adopted transient lifestyles travelling around the United States in search of seasonal work.

There are two films about the book - one is called Camperforce - a documentary and the other is the film - Nomadland. Interesting.

Anyhoo. That is what I am reading and thinking about.

Oh and I signed up for Disney Plus this week so I could watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I watched the first episode of that and I watched all of Wandavision. Loving those. And now I have access to all the Marvel films! Score!

That's all I have for now. I am sure I will post more later.

I had today off and relaxed. Here is the update in blurb fashion -

-I rented the movie The Master - which is loosely based on the life of L Ron Hubbard and the early days of Scientology/Dianetics. This is one of my pet interests right now. I am reading books on Scientology - exposing its real nature and find the whole thing very fascinating. Apologies to anyone who follows this "religion". I find it really farcical and more like science fiction than a religion. I cannot relate to it really but on an academic level and its history shows how vulnerable people really are to hypnosis and external influences. The "religion" was designed to make money first and foremost, no mistaking that. Anyways - it all makes interesting study from an objective view and it is surprising how many celebrities are into it. That was part of their strategy too and they actively recruited prominent people. Huh.
-I went to the doctor today. I felt like I had a UTI or bladder thing going on. I won't have conclusive results on my test on that until Saturday. Best to err on the side of caution where these things go.
-Teddy is a love. I can hear him purr from across the room. LOL.
-I changed my layout to one of my old favorites. Love this one. I was not feeling the other one.

Cheers to you and hope you are having a good week.