Specialist!
Jan. 28th, 2026 05:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koshka_the_catI completely failed the eye exam. No surprise!
When I saw the doctor he confirmed I have cataracts and need surgery. He asked if my right eye has always been stronger than my left eye, and I told him my left eye was stronger. My right eye is stronger now. He wants to know why, so he referred me to a neuro-opthalmologist. I should get a call by Friday to schedule an appointment. He said the front desk would schedule an appointment for me, but I guess it was too close to five. I really hope I can get an appointment soon!
I'm not really worried, I'm sure it's just cataracts, but I still want to know what's going on!
When I saw the doctor he confirmed I have cataracts and need surgery. He asked if my right eye has always been stronger than my left eye, and I told him my left eye was stronger. My right eye is stronger now. He wants to know why, so he referred me to a neuro-opthalmologist. I should get a call by Friday to schedule an appointment. He said the front desk would schedule an appointment for me, but I guess it was too close to five. I really hope I can get an appointment soon!
I'm not really worried, I'm sure it's just cataracts, but I still want to know what's going on!
I don't know what possessed me
Jan. 28th, 2026 08:37 pmbrickhousewenchI don't know what possessed me, but I took a look at houses in Lowell on Zillow tonight.
I found one rather nice house in my price range. Then checked the map, and it's withing smelling distance of the town sewage plant. Which always smells rather pungent when I drive by, and is strong enough in the summer that I always close my car windows when I pass it. I can smell it just writing about it. No, I do not want to buy a house in a one block radius of that stench.
I found another home that looked nice, a 1950s vintage ranch. It's within a block of U Mass Lowell, so too close to campus to be a quiet neighborhood. I'm a good four miles away, and I'm still too close to campus.
And I looked at a townhome. Same size as my condo, but it's nice and sunny because it's not underground. And the neighbors would be on either side of me, not over my head. And I would have access to a tiny back deck and a backyard. But it costs three times what I paid for my condo. For basically getting some sunlight and a little bit of grass with the same square footage.
* le sigh *
I don't know why I bothered looking.
I found one rather nice house in my price range. Then checked the map, and it's withing smelling distance of the town sewage plant. Which always smells rather pungent when I drive by, and is strong enough in the summer that I always close my car windows when I pass it. I can smell it just writing about it. No, I do not want to buy a house in a one block radius of that stench.
I found another home that looked nice, a 1950s vintage ranch. It's within a block of U Mass Lowell, so too close to campus to be a quiet neighborhood. I'm a good four miles away, and I'm still too close to campus.
And I looked at a townhome. Same size as my condo, but it's nice and sunny because it's not underground. And the neighbors would be on either side of me, not over my head. And I would have access to a tiny back deck and a backyard. But it costs three times what I paid for my condo. For basically getting some sunlight and a little bit of grass with the same square footage.
* le sigh *
I don't know why I bothered looking.
Tomorrow
Jan. 27th, 2026 07:08 pmkoshka_the_catI have my first appointment for cataracts. I can't read my board at work, writing on TV, street signs, things are hazy, my glasses aren't even a year old, my previous glasses didn't last a year, I put up with the glasses before that for over a year because I mistakenly thought my eye insurance was every two years.
I was so relieved when I asked my eye doctor why and he said I had cataracts. Nice, normal, and fixable. He said the silver lining was they can put your prescription in your eye. I knew. I told a friend I was jealous when she got cataract surgery and didn't need glasses anymore!
I'm hopeful, but nervous too. I'd love to not need glasses, but honestly, if I can just get glasses to work again, I'd be ecstatic.
I work with a teacher who had the surgery in her early 40s and said it was the best thing ever. Our librarian's husband had horrible vision and had the surgery and it was also the best thing ever. So I may have high expectations! I like seeing clearly!
I was so relieved when I asked my eye doctor why and he said I had cataracts. Nice, normal, and fixable. He said the silver lining was they can put your prescription in your eye. I knew. I told a friend I was jealous when she got cataract surgery and didn't need glasses anymore!
I'm hopeful, but nervous too. I'd love to not need glasses, but honestly, if I can just get glasses to work again, I'd be ecstatic.
I work with a teacher who had the surgery in her early 40s and said it was the best thing ever. Our librarian's husband had horrible vision and had the surgery and it was also the best thing ever. So I may have high expectations! I like seeing clearly!
Sleeve
Jan. 27th, 2026 06:13 pmatherleisureI finished knitting the first sleeve for my 1930's sweater this evening and cast on the second one. Now for another 8" of ribbing.
Bodies r dumb
Jan. 27th, 2026 09:37 amtotchipandaGonna cut this bc it's all body-related. Two weeks ago I stabbed myself right? ( Read more... )
Welcome back
Jan. 26th, 2026 06:43 pmkoshka_the_catToday was staff development day. I wanted to get a lot of prep work done and reset my attitude because I've missed so many days.
But no. Our school budget was cut by another million dollars. We're losing teachers. Getting bigger classes. We'll probably have to teach multiple grade levels which I've thankfully never had to do. This is my 24th year and I'm fifth in seniority in my department, so I'm (fingers crossed, you never really know) fine.
We'll know more tomorrow, but one of my friend's positions is being cut. She may be able to stay at the school in a different subject since we're going to have to shift jobs. Apparently teachers who have been cut can take jobs at other schools if they have seniority, so I guess it's basically like a surplus, so that should be interesting.
Sigh. Things get better every day
But no. Our school budget was cut by another million dollars. We're losing teachers. Getting bigger classes. We'll probably have to teach multiple grade levels which I've thankfully never had to do. This is my 24th year and I'm fifth in seniority in my department, so I'm (fingers crossed, you never really know) fine.
We'll know more tomorrow, but one of my friend's positions is being cut. She may be able to stay at the school in a different subject since we're going to have to shift jobs. Apparently teachers who have been cut can take jobs at other schools if they have seniority, so I guess it's basically like a surplus, so that should be interesting.
Sigh. Things get better every day
Checking in
Jan. 26th, 2026 01:26 pmbrickhousewenchI’m guessing we got about 16 inches of snow overnight here at Frogholm. We’re supposed to get two more inches today, and it’s lightly snowing. So if that keeps up, yeah, I can see two more inches.
Had to attend a meeting today, because one of my teams is being re-orged. The phone rang just as I was exiting the meeting and getting ready to go out and shovel. The condo manager, calling to nag me to go out and shovel out my car. Apparently one of the condo trustees was going around taking pictures of license plates to have the manager call people. Madam trustee may be retired, but I still have to work. No snow days when you work from home. =P I can only shovel between meetings.
Got both cars shoveled out and moved. I REALLY need to clean out the reenactor crap in the trunk of the Honda and donate that sucker. The problem is, I need to clear space in the sewing room first. * le sigh * Guess who has a winter project this weekend….
Had to attend a meeting today, because one of my teams is being re-orged. The phone rang just as I was exiting the meeting and getting ready to go out and shovel. The condo manager, calling to nag me to go out and shovel out my car. Apparently one of the condo trustees was going around taking pictures of license plates to have the manager call people. Madam trustee may be retired, but I still have to work. No snow days when you work from home. =P I can only shovel between meetings.
Got both cars shoveled out and moved. I REALLY need to clean out the reenactor crap in the trunk of the Honda and donate that sucker. The problem is, I need to clear space in the sewing room first. * le sigh * Guess who has a winter project this weekend….
1878 Bathing Suit
Jan. 25th, 2026 05:36 pmatherleisureI made a lot of progress on my 1878 bathing suit on Friday and Saturday. Now it's up to the point where I need to make buttonholes or cover buttons or try it on. I don't feel like doing any of those things just at present so it can sit for a bit. I hung the dress part so any bias can hang out.
Here's a picture of the sleeves before I set them.
And now back to books and cross-stitching. When it's quite cold out, reading under a blanket is very attractive. I've finished three books in the last three days.
Here's a picture of the sleeves before I set them.
And now back to books and cross-stitching. When it's quite cold out, reading under a blanket is very attractive. I've finished three books in the last three days.
Bathing Suit
Jan. 24th, 2026 09:35 amatherleisureI cut out an 1878 bathing suit last weekend, but it took until last night for me to start sewing it. I just couldn't get excited about it during the week. Then my husband and kids went to the movies, and I was alone in the house so I finally set to work on it. I made a good amount of progress. The Jane Austen tea at the library was rescheduled due to the threat of winter weather today so hopefully I'll work on it some more this afternoon.
Updated forcast
Jan. 22nd, 2026 09:50 pmbrickhousewenchRyan Hall Y’all is forecasting 14 - 19 inches of snow for Boston over Sunday through Monday.
He's still predicting a foot of snow for my hometown of Lexington, KY. That's pretty historic snow for them, we had 15 inches during the Blizzard of 1978 (for context, that's the entire winter's worth of snowfall in a single storm...). And really that storm was the only time I remember getting more than an inch when I lived in KY. Interestingly, when I googled it looks like climate change has been bringing more snow to Lexington than we got when I was a kid.
Ryan Hall Y’all is forecasting 16 inches of snow for Lowell over Sunday through Monday.
Weather Underground is forecasting 14 inches of snow for Lowell over Sunday through Monday.
He's still predicting a foot of snow for my hometown of Lexington, KY. That's pretty historic snow for them, we had 15 inches during the Blizzard of 1978 (for context, that's the entire winter's worth of snowfall in a single storm...). And really that storm was the only time I remember getting more than an inch when I lived in KY. Interestingly, when I googled it looks like climate change has been bringing more snow to Lexington than we got when I was a kid.
Ryan Hall Y’all is forecasting 16 inches of snow for Lowell over Sunday through Monday.
Weather Underground is forecasting 14 inches of snow for Lowell over Sunday through Monday.
Vacation-ish!
Jan. 22nd, 2026 05:18 pmkoshka_the_catI took a half day at work because I was on prep and caught up and why stay when there's nothing to do? Monday is staff development day so an easy day to come back to. I'm excited for a mini vacation! I'll only be gone one full day, but it feels like I packed for a month.
Five Random Things Makes a Post
Jan. 21st, 2026 09:34 pmbrickhousewenchStill busy at work. I had three hours of meetings today before lunch. And we had a patch release today, so I had two sets of Release Notes to get updated and published. I also did the first Helm Charts release in a month to clear out the backlog (19!) of updates we’ve had in the past month. And then, because we had had the patch release, I did another Helm Charts release to update the software version in the charts. Between catching up on Slack and my inbox, and another meeting in the evening, that kept me busy all day.
*****
There was a lot of talk about the weather at work today. One of my coworkers shared a video to the "Location - USA” Slack channel from his favorite online meteorologist. (a guy out of Pikeville, KY who goes by Ryan Hall Y’all) I haven’t watched a meteorologist in *yoinks*, but I watched his forecast. He’s talking about a historic storm, with an ice storm stretching across Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee that could drop up to an INCH of ice, depending on where the storm ends up hitting. And then, after the ice storm takes out trees and possibly takes out power, the temps are going to drop into the negative numbers. He’s warning people to prepare for multiple days without power. With temperatures below zero.
And FEMA probably will not come to help these people. This could get really bad.
Depending on the model, he’s talking about 12 - 16 inches of snow in Boston. New York City could get 18 inches. Philly could get 19 inches. My hometown of Lexington, KY could get a foot of snow!
*****
Over in the docs team Slack channel, one of my coworkers in Texas quipped that he was off to panic buy! BBIAB. At the end of a pretty lengthy thread with various coworkers in various parts of the country talking about what they were doing or not doing to prepare for the storm, we ended with this exchange:
Johnny “Now y'all got me starting to believe the hype. I may have to head to the book store after work and stock up for the storm.”
Fiona “I like that your version of stocking up for an ice storm is to get more books”
*****
Despite the fact that we just talked on Monday, Mom called me again tonight.
She’d heard a story on NPR about An Unlikely Story Bookstore in Plainville MA, which is owned by the guy who wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid. And she thought it might be a nice place to check out if I wanted to take a roadtrip some weekend.
And she also mentioned that home prices in Plainville are very reasonable.
Because of course she did.
*****
Speaking of weather… Market Day at BIrka is this weekend. Right now the forecast is a high of 11 degrees. But a friend shared a screenshot on FB of the wind chill forecast, and it might be as bad as “feels like” -25 to -30 degrees at 8:00 on Saturday morning. If the wind chill is that bad, I may bail on Birka and stay home. I can dress for cold weather, but wind chills that far below zero are frickin dangerous.
*****
There was a lot of talk about the weather at work today. One of my coworkers shared a video to the "Location - USA” Slack channel from his favorite online meteorologist. (a guy out of Pikeville, KY who goes by Ryan Hall Y’all) I haven’t watched a meteorologist in *yoinks*, but I watched his forecast. He’s talking about a historic storm, with an ice storm stretching across Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee that could drop up to an INCH of ice, depending on where the storm ends up hitting. And then, after the ice storm takes out trees and possibly takes out power, the temps are going to drop into the negative numbers. He’s warning people to prepare for multiple days without power. With temperatures below zero.
And FEMA probably will not come to help these people. This could get really bad.
Depending on the model, he’s talking about 12 - 16 inches of snow in Boston. New York City could get 18 inches. Philly could get 19 inches. My hometown of Lexington, KY could get a foot of snow!
*****
Over in the docs team Slack channel, one of my coworkers in Texas quipped that he was off to panic buy! BBIAB. At the end of a pretty lengthy thread with various coworkers in various parts of the country talking about what they were doing or not doing to prepare for the storm, we ended with this exchange:
Johnny “Now y'all got me starting to believe the hype. I may have to head to the book store after work and stock up for the storm.”
Fiona “I like that your version of stocking up for an ice storm is to get more books”
*****
Despite the fact that we just talked on Monday, Mom called me again tonight.
She’d heard a story on NPR about An Unlikely Story Bookstore in Plainville MA, which is owned by the guy who wrote Diary of a Wimpy Kid. And she thought it might be a nice place to check out if I wanted to take a roadtrip some weekend.
And she also mentioned that home prices in Plainville are very reasonable.
Because of course she did.
*****
Speaking of weather… Market Day at BIrka is this weekend. Right now the forecast is a high of 11 degrees. But a friend shared a screenshot on FB of the wind chill forecast, and it might be as bad as “feels like” -25 to -30 degrees at 8:00 on Saturday morning. If the wind chill is that bad, I may bail on Birka and stay home. I can dress for cold weather, but wind chills that far below zero are frickin dangerous.
It's done!
Jan. 21st, 2026 06:01 pmkoshka_the_cat
With a night to spare! I'm very happy with it! As usual, floor pictures require imagination...
*sobs*
Jan. 20th, 2026 03:42 pmkoshka_the_catHigh schools are starting an hour and a half later next year.
Elementary schools are starting about the same time.
Middle schools are starting half an hour earlier. We're going to have to get there at 6 something.
I almost cried when I heard. I feel like crying now. I can barely get there at 7:10. My body clock just can't. Ever since we switched back to 7:10 from 8:10 I've been so tired it hurts every day. Getting enough sleep, which I usually do, doesn't help because it's the wrong hours.
They said it was supported by science and adolescents need more sleep. Which makes zero sense because middle school students are adolescents.
*sobs*
Elementary schools are starting about the same time.
Middle schools are starting half an hour earlier. We're going to have to get there at 6 something.
I almost cried when I heard. I feel like crying now. I can barely get there at 7:10. My body clock just can't. Ever since we switched back to 7:10 from 8:10 I've been so tired it hurts every day. Getting enough sleep, which I usually do, doesn't help because it's the wrong hours.
They said it was supported by science and adolescents need more sleep. Which makes zero sense because middle school students are adolescents.
*sobs*
(no subject)
Jan. 20th, 2026 08:32 amtotchipandaThe 100 day project starts on February 22, and heck yeah I'm fired up about it! (As fired up as I can be, more than a month out lol) I saw the email this morning and immediately started thinking about what I could do. First thought was sewing: finish up the silk sack dress I started however many years ago (fabric purchased 2017). Whatever else. Maybe a whole wardrobe from the skin out, all by hand? Then I thought, I have cross-stitch projects wot need finishing. The purpose is just to make time for creativity. One needle of thread at a time eventually creates a whole project, you know?
I have only finished my journal up to the week that I'm gone. I'm trying to decide if my "cover page" (which spans the opened book) should be the whole trip, including daily journaling, or if it should be the overview and then spread the rest of it out on the next pages. I don't plan to take it with me (extra weight and space that I could use to bring back souvenirs!) so it would all be post-trip anyway. I've already stuck down some stickers and written some lists in pen, and boxed out the spaces in pencil. I think I can keep it simple enough for the two pages.
Then I'm back for one week and the project begins! Doing cross-stitch also means I can have everything prepared and ready to go (who am I kidding, it's already prepared and ready to go). One page will be enough, and then I can bump weeks back a little, which would be perfect for setting up March. Alright, I think I have a plan!
Dance class tonight or else I'd start on all this right the heck now!
I have only finished my journal up to the week that I'm gone. I'm trying to decide if my "cover page" (which spans the opened book) should be the whole trip, including daily journaling, or if it should be the overview and then spread the rest of it out on the next pages. I don't plan to take it with me (extra weight and space that I could use to bring back souvenirs!) so it would all be post-trip anyway. I've already stuck down some stickers and written some lists in pen, and boxed out the spaces in pencil. I think I can keep it simple enough for the two pages.
Then I'm back for one week and the project begins! Doing cross-stitch also means I can have everything prepared and ready to go (who am I kidding, it's already prepared and ready to go). One page will be enough, and then I can bump weeks back a little, which would be perfect for setting up March. Alright, I think I have a plan!
Dance class tonight or else I'd start on all this right the heck now!