petronia

Silly question but when did "exhale" become a noun? I've been seeing it everywhere in fan fic lately, everywhere an "exhale," not one fic with an "exhalation"--or a "he exhaled." I figured it was a fan fic thing.

Then I saw an "exhale" in the poem "Forgotten Portraits," on my son's AP test study list.

The dictionaries are pretty much still telling me "exhale" is a verb.

This is, of course, all my language snobbery and utterly irrelevant, but when did this happen? What memo did I miss?

flemmings

When the weather page says 90% chance of rain at 4 p.m. one should not look at the placid grey sky and the dry sidewalk, think Guess they're wrong, and trundle over to Fiesta for crackers. Because the heavens opened as I came out and everything got soaked. That was yesterday. Today was sun and bulgogi at my tony Korean restaurant, which was twice as much rice as I wanted. I did finally ask for a fork, so if I go back I needn't worry too much because now they know. But I still spill stuff. Age sucks.

Won't talk about the piggery I indulged in over Easter which means I won't be weighing myself any time soon. But the Pour Boy restaurant sent me some elegant and manageable chopsticks with that pad thai on Sunday and I may keep them for use elsewhere.

And my tax return was delivered to the accountants in good order so I may assume it was filed in good order, though the Easter disruptions mean they haven't even cashed my cheque yet. They will, Oscar, they will.

marina

Well, it's been 2 weeks since my last post, so here's an update.

( mentions of health issues )

*

In job news, something pretty huge and happy-making has happened???

One of the 4 companies I interviewed with has gotten back to me (after like 7 stages) to say they want me to work for them and they'll send me a contract offer in the next few days (which is standard). Fingers crossed, nothing certain until papers are signed etc, but. BUT.

It's been over a year, and finally I have a job offer.

At least one company wants to pay me a decent salary with all the nice perks and everything.

Now, if I had no other offers and was not in the running for any other position, I would take this one IN A HEARTBEAT. I would take it and be SO GRATEFUL.

But since I am still somehow in the process with 3 other companies, I'm in the weird position of mentally wondering which one I'd choose if they were to make me an offer.

Company #2 - I've finished all the interviews, and they're supposed to get back to me tomorrow on whether they want to check my references, which usually takes 1-2 days and is more of a formality. There's good reason to assume that if they say yes to me tomorrow they'll make me an offer next week.

Company #3 - I'm doing my final interview with them on Thursday, a big presentation, and after that they'll let me know if they're interested, no reference checks. If they want me they'll just make an offer.

Company #4 - the actual company of my heart, that all other considerations aside I would probably choose to work for because I love their product so much - I'm doing my final interview with them on Monday (next week). Of course they have the WORST HR process, so I actually have no idea what their next step is and whether there's something else they'll want to do before deciding yay/nay after Monday.

Now I'm mostly stressed because Company #1, that's already told me they want me, will probably try to pressure me to finalize a contract with them before Company #4 has a chance to decide whether they want me, sigh.

All of these potential roles are so good. None of them are "I can live with that" compromises. All of them are amazing, it's more a question of specific types of amazing, and of course I ideally want the combination that works best for me.

It is utterly surreal to be in this position after a year and 2 months of being unemployed. UTTERLY SURREAL.

But you know, maybe all the other companies will reject me and only Company #1 will remain, which will still be perfectly fine and even great.

Or maybe I somehow manage to fuck up this whole thing and will be left with nothing ////o\\\\ IDK it's just too good to be true at the moment.

Phew. Deep breath. The next 2 weeks will be continued stress, especially since I have a big presentation on Thursday and on Monday, but then... then. I don't know. Maybe, just maybe. *fingers crossed*

flemmings

Laundromat achieved, more or less. Got clothes washed but because I'd been letting things pile up I had to exclude sheets and towels ie the things I must take to the laundromat. Well, ok: grey sleep hoodie is washed, though I'm now in the red one. And if temps become seasonable, will switch to the threadbare white one.

Phone was unimpressed by my walking stats even though I hoofed it over several blocks to my old coffee shop where I don't think I've been in over a year.

Washed kitchen floor, a much postponed task, and then got pad thai delivered because tomorrow will rain all day, again, and all I have in the house is indifferent homemade tabbouleh, andI didn't want to walk anymore because my elbows are bitching at me, again possibly because of rain but mostly because they're them.

At least Easter is over, sort of: banks, library, schools all closed tomorrow. But I trust I'm not going anywhere.

flemmings

An interlude of Fool's Spring saw temps soar to near 20/68 yesterday and stick to 15/ 60 sorta, overnight. My house holds cold as it holds heat when either gets in so I went to bed bundled in wool and feathers, and then sweated in the wee hours as, I presume, the heat got in. But today, though grey, was also blowy so I wore a jacket out when I went up to get more wine. At least it wasn't as spring-stinky as yesterday, so I limped down to the Essex school advance poll. This involves passing Fiesta Farms whence the local playwright had just been braving the Only Day This Weekend To Shop!!!! crowds. 'It's like a cocktail party in there,' she groaned. It was like a cocktail party outside as well, people shmoozing all over the sidewalk while parked on their rollators smack dab in the middle.

However, once past those sidewalk blocks, the polling station was pretty empty and colour-coded as to substations, which is an excellent idea. Pollster thanked me for having my ID ready and this time I remembered to lower my mask so they could check same. Anyway, that's done.

Temps will drop to 4C/ 39F tonight. Should do a wash and hang in the furnace room because I will need the heat on tonight. Or perhaps not: the warmth has got into the house and won't leave unless the right wind blows from the right direction.

flemmings

Projected rain all day with possible thunderstorms so stayed in and read Stuff. But observed Ollie zooming about SND's back yard along with a young male child who might be NND's M. Face blindness is bad enough without factoring in the fact that kids change out of all recognition in a matter of months and if you rarely see them on ground level the 6 year old you knew back a bit will be unrecognizable at just-turned-9.

Am hearing what is either horror stories or encouraging accounts of line-ups for advance polls being hours long. Maybe shall go on Sunday when it's not supposed to rain and people will be otherwise occupied: though Monday may be better for the latter, since most people will be working, and tomorrow may be better for both. The single shopping day of the weekend means stores are to be avoided.

flemmings

Purolator succeeds in delivering me my tax return in a timely fashion and I succeed, I hope, in Fedexing it to Scarberia-- on a blowy chilly Novemberish afternoon-- so accountant can submit online and I can get my hefty refund in a timeliesh fashion as well. (Should you be wondering, the French for Misdirected is Malacheminé.) Not a patch on the people who file in February(!) but they, I assume, have only their work income to declare. And then I can reapply for the dental program which I profoundly hope will be still around after the election. Someone on a local forum was complaining that the advance polls were all happening on the Easter weekend. Diddums. It's not like Easter is one of the High Holidays that requires 24 hour attendance-- and even if it were, there's like four whole days and what's so special about Saturday or Monday, I ask me. Granted, Monday is a school holiday in lieu of Sunday, is how the advance poll can operate out of a school, but so, bring your kids with you.

SND put her garbage out early so I assumed she was off visiting family out west, but I just heard Oliver barking in the back yard. So maybe she is and he's with a sitter. But I saw him doing zoomies about his yard late last night; crap, what's that thing darting about in J's yard?? (Is raccoon and coyote mating season, so yanno, worry.) But was just Ollie getting his energy out.

I've put out a full recycle bin because two weeks ago snowed, as well as what I've been intending to do for a while: half a bag of indifferent BL manga. Many more bags to go. Downsizing is not fun.

Reading this week was Murderbot 2&3 which apparently I bought in kindle. Probably the perennial Inspector Littlejohn, and the seemingly perennial High Vaultage which nears its end, fortunately. Then can start on the last Paarfi of which I have no expectations at all.

flemmings

The accountant said on Saturday that they'd courier my return down to me, but it didn't get sent until Monday morning. Purolator said they'd deliver on Tuesday so fine, I cancelled my physio and when I woke at 8:45 this morning, instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, I got up to be ready to answer the doorbell if needed. But there in my email was a further notice: delayed in transit due to a routing error. OK, take a chance and rebook physio, then boot it back in case it had arrived. Clicking on the transit number says it's back out for delivery but they can't say when it will arrive. Eventually I scroll down the page which gives me the history of my tax return. Which was picked up Monday morning, went to the Scarborough sorting centre, went to the Etobicoke sorting centre on the other side of TO, and thence to... Laval, Quebec. Routing error indeed.

Have emailed the accountant's dogsbody to ask her if I owe the gov't any money so I can get that seen to, because the Easter weekend knocks out Friday to Monday inclusive-- how lovely to work for banks and the guvvmint-- and I want to know, dammit. Didn't ask her to resend the authorization needed to file and the accountant's bill, but hope she suggests that herself. By express post or Fedex or anything but Purolator.

flemmings

Accountant's minion emails me Saturday that my return is ready and I can pick it up in outer Scarberia at my convenience. I email her back that I'm near as dammit housebound-- only a slight exaggeration-- and can she courier it down to me, and she says Sure. So now is to wait its arrival. I have a Fedex sticker on the door which I believe obviates the need for a signature, but I'd still be happier if I was in when it arrived. Porch pirates have been sighted in the neighbouring side streets. Is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I can stay in, but I have physio on Tuesday.

Found that I bought Artificial Condition from kindle at some point so I reread that, because High Vaultage is slooow. Must get myself the Kobo app so I can buy stuff from them. But not soon because in addition to those tops, I bought the latest Points in dead tree from Indigo. This after buying it in e-form from the press, which said they wouldn't ship books to Canada. But it reads all wrong in ebook, so I suppose I'm glad to have it in a congenial format. However that and my cell phone exhausts the discretionary spending limit on my card. If I'm getting a refund on my taxes then I shall buy Murderbot 3 and all the Ferrars that Kobo has and Kindle doesn't; but if not, then it's belt-tightening time. Trump's flip-flops make it a bad idea to take money from my portfolio any time soon.

flemmings

Listened to the Met's Magic Flute today. Shikaneder is no Da Ponte, that's for sure. The libretto is a hot mess and nobody seems to agree on its order. Commentators saying 'doesn't matter, it's Mozart at his peak' are also off-base by me. Mozart does much better in Figaro AFAIC. So many highlights in that one compared to the, what? one, maybe two? show stoppers in Flute. I like the three boys but those are brief interludes. And the misogyny and racism gets worse with every performance. There was a kerfuffle some years ago when the Canadian Uproar altered a single word in Monostato's aria to be less offensive. Oh no! Disrespect for the immortal libretto of Emmanuel Shikaneder!! while we happily cut the immortal music of Mozart when it makes the opera too long. People, people.

Then went out to dinner, which one should not do at 5 on a Saturday. Wound up at Pauper's and did get a seat: at the back where several families were doing I know not what: birthday party maybe. But lots of ataguess six to eight year olds running about, crawling on the floor, climbing over the banquettes, and so on. Didn't actually bother me-- the adults were being quite as loud-- but yeah: do not go out to dinner at 5 on a Saturday.

This bought a small bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream on the way home and drank it all. Helps the owies at least.

flemmings

Yesterday rained and then snowed, flurries and snow showers that fortunately didn't stick. Today just rained, and probably blew as well in its April fashion, so I stayed in and read. Knees hurt, especially the operated one, which may be tendons not liking the weather or fallout still from banging it however many weeks ago. Cooked up the chicken carcasses yesterday and made chicken and rice soup with them today. Even with rice, soup doesn't fill me up, but too bad.

Really want wine and really shouldn't have it, since sinuses are doing their April allergy thing.

labingi

Feral Historian has a great (spoilery) video on Blake's 7 as a sadly realistic take on rebellion:

Watch on YouTube

flemmings

Yes, thank you, that's how you prepare for an election: id cards with when and where to vote, and time and place of the advance polls, delivered three weeks before the date. DoFo, take note. This election is odd in that, when a Liberal pollster knocked on my door last night, I greeted her with open arms and arranged for a sign in my front garden, which isn't a lawn please note. Ordinarily not a fan of Freeland but these are not ordinary times. And it will at least discourage other pollsters. Four doors up has a PC sign, again. Rugged individualist or failure to read the neighbourhood. My younger bro is showing signs of leaning that way, or at least is moaning about the terrible last ten years under the Liberals. What he has to moan about I can't imagine, but probably has to do with insufficient funding for the air force.

My days of eating Japanese and Korean may be numbered. Hands simply cannot cope with chopsticks anymore. Unless I swallow pride and ask for forks, or eat sushi with my fingers which of course the Japanese do, but I don't know if our Koreans know that. Hands also have trouble with soup bowls, and I shall mention that miso soup stains something awful. Or rather, cannot be rinsed out and requires the full laundry treatment.

Have finished Whispers Underground and am actually able to follow the Misérables journey through London sewers this time. Might move on to Broken Homes and see if I can now follow all that architecture on Skygarden. Skipped Moon Over Soho which was never a fave. But also have High Vaultage from the library and that Paarfi I never even knew about in transit which should keep me busy. And the never ending George Bellairs to read on the phone/ tablet in restaurants/ while biking.

Profile

Petronia

Petronia Livejournalis

December 2020

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Early Edition for Five AM by winterfish

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Apr. 23rd, 2025 10:48 am

Reading

"Exhale" as a Noun

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

Dismal days

Great B7 Video

(no subject)

Profile

December 2020

Links

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags