Last week I reported on my trip to the doctor and her recommendation that I take allergy medication. I am happy to say it seems to be helping. My hearing is a little better and the pressure in my head is much reduced and. Fun fact: I did not know I had pressure in my head. I also didn’t realize it was abnormal to have watery eyes or to frequently blow my nose, but here I am. It seems I’ve joined everyone else in Sacramento now by developing allergies.
In non-medical news, my supervisor is retiring this week. I’m happy for her but I’m not looking forward to the chaos of being understaffed and under-supervised (I am, however, looking forward to being under-supervised). My reaction to this news was to update my resume. I don’t really want a new job but I am open to a new job. You just don’t know what will happen with a new boss. Will they be nice but ineffectual? A micromanager? Or perhaps a genuinely good boss? We shall see what happens.
Consuming
Here are some things I’ve recently read, watched, or bought.
Books and Other Words
This week I read The Bright and Breaking Sea by Chloe Neill. It’s an alternate history set around an alternate-universe Napoleonic War. The main character is Kit Brightling, a 24-year-old captain in the Queen’s navy who is also “aligned” with the magic of the sea. This was a fun read, however, I thought, for some reason, this was going to be a lesbian seafaring magic book but it was actually a heterosexual seafaring magic book. I’m not mad at it, but if you are looking for a lesbian romance and seafaring magic tale, this isn’t the one.
Meanwhile, on the internet:
- Bill Gates says no to sharing vaccine formulas with global poor to end pandemic via Salon. This one is outrageous. Maybe billionaires aren’t the right people to go to to manage a global health crisis? I can’t imagine having the audacity to say that other countries can’t manufacture a vaccine when so many people are dying. Other countries manufacture practically everything else for people who live in the U.S.!
- Your pain, their gain via The Ink. I’m sharing this piece mostly just to share this quote with you, “Philanthropy isn’t charity. It’s a business deal.” Looking at you, Bill Gates!
- How the pandemic led to a rental car crisis just as Americans are ready to busy loose via The Washington Post. In the early pandemic, I shared a few articles about supply chain issues and how “lean” manufacturing practices led to a lot of problems when demand suddenly changes. Now that we’re a over a year into the pandemic, a lot of rental car companies have sold off their fleets to save money. As soon as that happened, people started getting vaccinated and wanted to go places and rent cars so now it costs $200 to day to rent one. Good thing I still don’t have any vacations planned!
- The spellbinding history of cheese and witchcraft via The Conversation. I don’t think this requires any explanation.
Rampant Consumerism
My independent bookstore purchase for April came from Green Apple Books in San Francisco. I bought The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun. I think you should all be proud of me because I have already finished the books I bought in March! I’ve really been investing in reading books I already have this year (and reading what I buy instead of letting it languish).
Making Things and Doing stuff
There are some things I’ve made and stuff I’ve done.
Languages
April is over. I did things! Spanish is continuing apace. I finished the book I was reading and started a new one, plus I’ve been meeting with my tutor every week. I brought Icelandic back into my schedule this month. I’ve been watching episodes of krakkafréttir (kids’ news) and looking up words I encounter there. I’ve learned a lot about how to talk about vaccines and the pandemic, so that’s fun. I haven’t heard back from my tutor, which is unfortunate. I think I’m going to find someone new but I’m not quite ready yet.
April 2021 Icelandic 
April 2021 Spanish
Knitting and Crafts
I am proud to report that I have learned to fix a dropped stitch after finishing a project. I’ve now done it twice. I had to fix one I missed on the shawl I shared last week, but I had been meaning to learn for months now. This sock has been waiting for a while for its repair. Like many things I put off, this was actually very simple once I looked it up. I’m happy to have these socks back in my rotation.
dropped stitch repair day 
repaired sock
Moving It
I went skating after over a year of not skating and I can hardly believe it! After my sprain last February, pandemic, fire season, and general lethargy, I hadn’t had much interest in rolling around on my wheelie shoes. I saw some friends post that they were going to a skate park near me on Tuesday night so I decided to rip that non-skating bandaid off and go for it. I was pleasantly surprised with myself! I can still competently skate forwards, backwards, and one-footed! I even got in the halfpipe. Note I did not drop into the halfpipe, but I did hop in and start learning how to “pump,” which is plenty of excitement for me at this time.
Cat Therapy
Finally, here is Huey in the hammock for your nerves.
