terabient

★ Tonight's phlebotomy class: we spent the entire two hours practicing draws since it was the first night we were able to invite volunteers to perform venipunctures on. I'm still not comfortable with the butterfly needle but I handled it a bit better tonight than I did last week. I had two unsuccessful draws where my instructor asked me to relocate the needle to find the vein and I was unable to do so but on a third draw I managed to do it...I do feel a little less intimidated at the thought of moving the needle after entry now, at least.

★ About a month ago, I signed up to donate clothes/household items to the Epilepsy Foundation. I've been trying to organize the house for months and I figured it would be good for motivation to have a set date where someone would come over and take away a bunch of unnecessary things.

Anyway, the pick-up is tomorrow morning and I haven't put together a single bag. Good job, me!

★ Been thinking of getting a Himalayan salt block for cooking meals. I don't have a reason for it except that it sounds delicious but I'm worried about how unsanitary it could get. Seems difficult to clean and I'm not sure how I'd store it safely. I also have an electric range which doesn't look ideal for a salt block...but, I do grill in the winter and grilling seems to be the preferred method of cooking when using a salt block.

★ Another Anime Con is THIS WEEKEND and I'm not ready at all. Like I need to get my costumes dry-cleaned level of unprepared. It's also supposed to snow today and tomorrow and for this year only, the convention is about 20 minutes further away from me, due to the usual venue being under construction right now. What a pain.

★ I don't really need another dress in my wardrobe but that hasn't stopped me from considering one for Christmas. Specifically, I'm trying to decide whether to get this Gloomth dress in mint green or light pink:

( cut for size )

I am leaning towards mint green because I think I look better in that color, but the pink version is very cute and might be a little easier to build a coordinate with.

★ The Detective Pikachu movie now has an official trailer and it is two and a half minutes of revelations that may or may not horrify you, depending on how you feel about things like a live-action Pokemon movie with the title pokemon being voiced by Ryan Reynolds. I didn't instantly hate it....actually, I kinda want to see it now?! I think Detective Pikachu is pretty cute. (still not sure about him having a human voice, sort of) The other pokemon are hit or miss. I'm glad Greninja is creepy-looking because a human-sized frog with the strength to break you in half and a tongue long enough to wrap around its body is inherently terrifying and it's a testament to the extreme cuteness of Pokemon overall that it usually comes across as cool instead of nightmarish. Jigglypuff is a little off-putting on first viewing but the more I think about the alternatives (basically, a big, smooth ball of human-like flesh...) the more I appreciate it. Bulbasaur is...okay? I wish they were a little cuter somehow, but they are growing on me.

★ I spent about 3 hours practicing my clinical trials for my test tomorrow. I feel more confident now than I did yesterday, but I'm still extremely nervous about missing a critical step and failing, or just blanking out hard-core once I'm in the test room. I'm trying to tell myself it's not that bad if I fail one portion of the test because I can easily retake that part, but it's not working too well.

It looks like I won't be getting back home until it's past midnight so have a placeholder
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★ I'm feeling a lot more confident in phlebotomy class EXCEPT when it comes to the butterfly needle and hand draws. I have an easier time drawing from an arm vein I can't see but can feel but drawing from a more obvious hand vein is...beyond me????? It's just been so hard to get comfortable with the butterfly needle. :( We've only done about 5 venipunctures though so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that I'm still struggling with basic things at this point.

★ Started my competitive mode placements in Overwatch and I have never played this well as D.va before:



but it ended in a draw, which means it doesn't have any effect on my rank and i'm extremely salty about it. THANKS, ASSAULT MODE. I wish there was something that could be done wrt the scoring or the map designs to make Assault maps faster, less frustrating and less prone to stalemates but like, the shitty experience that is 2CP has been a complaint since launch and there's been several minor rule tweaks and map design changes since then, none of which have made Assault any better. There was some talk at Blizzcon about the development of new game types for Quick Play/Competitive mode....if that ever sees the light of day maybe they can just retire Assault entirely. at least retire Hanamura and Temple of Anubis PLEASE

★ Also got my FIRST EVER play of the game as Sombra, although it was just Quick Play lol. (I guess I'm not 100% this is the first time I've done it b/c honestly I play this game way too much, but it sure FELT like my first Sombra POTG) I used to play Sombra a ton before her perma-invisibility buff but all but dropped her because I didn't get how to use her properly. I've been going back to her recently given that Tracer, my usual go-to, doesn't fare well against the tanky compositions being run in comp these days...and while I'm not fully comfortable with Sombra again (the translocater changes really fucked me up) something finally clicked with how to utilize her so I've been having more success lately.

★ Ran one match where my team went triple support (Lúcio/Moria/Brigette) on Dorado, and the other half of our team was Roadhog, Tracer and something else I can't remember, although it didn't matter because we managed to steamroll the team to the point it started to feel unfair. Triple support is one those unfortunate compositions that are fun enough to play as but when you are playing against it, it feels awful. It's also hard to figure out what to do about it, in terms of "what would Blizzard change in order to make this composition a little less dominant," because taken individually none of the supports feels OP, it's just when you stack on tons of HP recovery, damage mitigation and displacement/stun/boop abilities on top of each other that the game feels miserable. (unless your team is running an mirror match and you're executing better.)

★ I'm slowly making my way through Soulcalibur VI's single player modes and boy do I have some thoughts on how the story modes are unfolding. They're mostly positive thoughts, but there are some choices that I am not 100% on board with yet.

I'm literally falling asleep at my desk as I'm typing, though, so I'll leave it til tomorrow.

today, i stuck myself with a butterfly needle during my phlebotomy class. I am, so far, the only one who has made that mistake. My instructor says it's common, and her assistant shared how she had stuck herself many times after their needle supplier altered their design a few years ago. So, I'm not as shaken about this mistake as I thought I would be.

I have my nursing assistant refresher course tomorrow. I am a little nervous about that because even though I've been working as an assistant for years, it's been in an in-home setting, so I'm a bit rusty on procedures that rarely happen in the home like bedpans and changing sheets with a person in the bed. But then, forgetting these things is why I'm going to the course in the first place so I should calm down...

i am....not satisfied, but hopeful with last night's election results. Truth be told, almost a month ago I was convinced that nothing would change; that the House wouldn't flip, because taking 23 seats in a single, midterm election sounded impossible; that turnout would be up, moderately compared to traditional mid-term election numbers, but that apathy, pessimism, and blatant and concentrated voter suppression would keep those gains mediocre at best. So, having no faith in a Blue wave at all, I'm deeply inspired by all the wonderful things that happened last night. There will be over one hundred women in the House of Representatives! (Okay, not all of them are Democrat... :/) Michigan has a matriarchy! It's also heartening to see that people have not given up just because the election was not the overwhelming Democratic victory many were hoping for. I thought, if there's any setback at all, people would be convinced that their vote doesn't matter, so they would just go back to ignoring elections again...I am glad to see that many are realizing the grind involved in changing how government works. It's been ignored so long, and the institutional damage began long before Trump took office.

For the first time in months, I do not have anything pressing to do on my day off. Which means I am now paralyzed with indecision with a WHOLE DAY OF NO OBLIGATIONS. Do I take an hour-long drive over to an arcade to play a bunch of rhythm games during off-peak hours? Do I go to the beach and walk my dog along the boardwalk because the state doesn't allow pets on the beach proper and Momo doesn't particularly like getting wet anyway? Do I just sit around and enjoy the innumerable video games and anime series that I haven't had a chance to touch yet? The possibilities are not endless, but numerous enough to make a course of action difficult.

which means I'll probably sit around at home with a mild sense of unease due to 'wasting the day away.' On the plus side, the temperature is supposed to get real high tomorrow--the reports are saying into the triple digits--and the house has air conditioning, so lounging about sounds like a pretty good idea.

It was my sister's birthday today, and she stopped over at the house before I left for work this morning. She brought her dog Byson, who is a a Cane Corso breed and kind of takes over any house he is in through sheer size and enthusiasm. He's well-behaved and so is Momo, but she gets rather upset when people coo over Byson instead of her. She spent the morning yipping and wriggling her way in between Byson and whoever was petting him, then hopping on the person's lap to...show Byson who the boss was, I suppose.

Sister liked the pajama set, but tonight when we went out for dinner she said the cloth eyemask that came with it had shrunk to the point of uselessness when she washed it. I guess we should have expected it, given that the eyemask looked like scrap fabrics stitched together.

On the subject of dinner, it was kind of disappointing. Sister wanted sushi, so we went to the closest sushi-serving restaurant, a Hibachi grill/modern 'Asian fusion' place that appears to be staffed primarily by white people. This was not especially weird since we happen to live in a place where 98% of the population is white (there are more confirmed opioid addicts than people of color here) but given that this restaurant advertised its authentic Japanese cuisine it was a bit odd. But it was also ~~modern~~ and ~~fusion~~ and ~~inspired~~ so we figured the food would be really good and unique, or...a trainwreck. In the end, it was neither of these things, although it was decidedly leaning towards 'trainwreck' and not unique. The beef negimaki was waaaaay overcooked, but the peanut sauce chicken wings were good; the sushi rolls looked like they had waaaaaaaaay too much going on but the one we ended up ordering turned out to be pretty nice, even though I couldn't tell you what was in it besides tuna, avocado, and tempura flakes. I only remember there were like, 3 different sauces and at least two other fish, and cucumber might have been in there??? Anyway, like I said, a lot going on. But it tasted alright. The entrees were literally forgettable, as in, my server packed up whatever I ordered and I didn't remember to take it with me and didn't realize it until I was halfway home. I didn't go back to pick it up; IIRC it was ginger orange duck? The duck was overcooked just like the negimaki, and the orange sauce was okay but there was way too much of it.

The pumpkin pie cocktail was pretty good though. I wasn't aware that pumpkin flavored vodka was a thing yet, but it is. Next year, I expect everything edible in America will be pumpkin infused from September to December.

and that's how the day went.

Today was my day off and I spent the morning SLEEPING IN MY GLORIOUSLY COMFORTABLE BED~ Then I was out with my mother and sister doing what my sister called 'Christmas window shopping' which mostly consisted of us walking around shops, unsuccessfully trying to remember what friends and family already had or what they might like. I also tried to discreetly figure out what my sister would like for her birthday, and I think it's pajama sets and sweaters with Christmas/winter themed motifs of questionable taste. :P I'm not terribly surprised, as pajama sets and sweaters that straddle the line between charmingly festive and horrifyingly festive is also my aesthetic. That comfy, cheap pajama sets are in abundance this time of year is a nice bonus. I just have to decide between the poorly-drawn snowman set or the poorly-drawn reindeer set...

I also spotted this completely unnecessary, but utterly adorable jingle-bell collar and paw cuffs set and...I'm aware that dressing up a dog is a self-indulgent activity that has no benefits for the dog, (unless they've got an insufficient winter coat) but I keep thinking about Momo prancing around the house with jingle bells on and I can't stop giggling about it. Not that she needs MORE costume-y things to look ridiculously cute in--Mom bought her a reindeer costume about a month ago and Momo already has a jingle bell collar. (But imagine the little jingle bell cuffs, around her little doggie paws...!)


Shetland Reindog

I don't know if Momo likes dressing up or not. From how she acts, she tolerates it because she is a very well-behaved and thoughtful dog, and warms up to it because everyone starts cooing and awwing over her. She likes being the center of attention, as long as she knows the people around her. ♥

***

In ten days, November will be over...I'm pleased that so far, I've kept up with my commitment to post daily, even if I'm not wholly satisfied with the quality or content of my posts. At the very least, I know for certain that a daily schedule is a bit too fast-paced for me if I want to write more opinionated posts.

Two things I've been thinking about doing, once December rolls around: hosting another gaming-centric friending meme, and/or having weekly 'gaming progress posts' where people can comment about, uh...their weekly gaming progress. I've whined a lot about the lack of laid-back, small discussion communities in this internet day and age...I might as well do something about it :P

And since it's November 20th, of course I must mark the date by linking to dj Nagureo's (of Beatmania fame) catchy, self-composed birthday tune: 20, November!

Yesterday, I got a notification from my office about new shifts opening up for those still looking for work. Thing is, they're for a client and a shift that I'm currently working, so...basically, they're looking to replace me. That's happened before, and the case managers have always explained why a change was requested. But they didn't this time, and I'm also still scheduled with this client for the foreseeable future, so I don't know what's happening. Naturally this has been eating at me since I received the email. In absence of any direct information, I suspect there are two possible explanations for this oddity:

-I am mistaken. When the office sends out these work notifications, they're absent of most personal information; all that's given is the shift time, town/city, whether the client lives with family or not, and a general overview of the type of assistance required. (e.g., safety supervision, help with ADLs, PT assistance, transportation) So it's possible the email wasn't about my current client, just one in the same town with the same needs and the same living situation with my exact shift times. Possible, but I find it...rather unlikely.

-The family has requested a change, but my office can't find anyone suitable. This seems obvious, but again...it's not the first time I've worked with someone and they've requested a replacement, just the first time I've never been told about it! The office has always been very good at not only informing me promptly about these changes, but why they happen, whether it's something I can improve (like hesitating too often) or not (I'm too young-looking and the client can't get over it, haha). I've never been in this situation, where the office is looking for a replacement but not taking me off the case, nor informing me that this is occurring.

So I'm left speculating at what the problem is, if there's something should (or can) do to help mitigate it, and if I'm not replaced, how I'm going to handle this week's visits...I'm thinking that the office isn't enthused about looking for a replacement, I'm under the impression that this family has been through quite a few caregivers. Of course, whether the office is fed up with the family or not is beside the point. I know I should contact the office and ask them directly, but I'm a bit miffed that they haven't told me anything at all and I only know about it because of a mass email. And--well, working with this client/family has been pretty stressful even without this complication; I'm not looking forward to working with them for an extended period with this simmering in the background. Is it unprofessional of me to say that I'm mostly grateful that I might not have to work with them again, ever? It probably is.

Well, I'm off to die in Mushihimesama before I melt into the bed for the night.

Hello there, DW friends! For once I have a lot to talk about! First, some real life stuff:

( My weekend, cut for TMI regarding bodily functions )

so anyway i had to take monday and tuesday off to recover.

In less, uh, vomit-y news, I had my yearly performance evaluation this morning and it went as well as it possibly could. I got a dollar raise (which was way more than I was expecting) and my supervisor said clients specifically request me to come in, which is really nice to hear; I spend a lot of time worrying that the opposite happens. Also, I guess my supervisor applied the pay raise last week (?) so I should see it in my paycheck this week....woo!

With that out of the way, here's some of the anime/gaming stuff I've been up to in the past few months:

★ I watched the first season of Love Live (I really enjoy the phone game, go figure) and...tbh I wasn't expecting much, given that the phone game's 'story' is something below basic, but it was pretty well-written, especially given the somewhat silly premise. The first 3 episodes, in particular, follow convention closely enough that ( spoiler ) I find the school director's actions kind of hard to understand, and the music doesn't particularly grab me (and I'm usually pretty open to songs by bubbly j-pop girl groups) but those are my only issues.

My faves are the 2nd years (esp. Kotori) and Nozomi because in an anime with relatively stock character types she's this...off-beat lesbian pagan type haha. I don't really dislike anyone, though...I guess I'm not big on the first-years, but they don't get a lot of screen-time after their introductory episode in season 1 so that may change if they get more attention in season 2.

★ Since it is Halloween Month I have been playing a lot of Deathsmiles and Trouble Witches Neo, and I've been thinking of streaming one or both of them at some point...? Especially Trouble Witches Neo; it's a solid game that was inexplicably localized with an atrocious dub--I mean, spectacularly bad; the dubbing's actually a little worse than the lazy stuff that came out in the early 90s. But I don't really know if any one would be interested in watching something like that. Also setting up a stream will probably take more effort than I want to expend, so...

★ Persona 4: Dancing All Night still has a firm grip on my soul. I admit I double-dipped just for the dub, because JYB as Yu gives me that many feels. Also, not hearing Laura Bailey as Rise...upset me more than I thought it would. Like, I know it's not her fault or Atlus USA's fault, and her replacement does a fine job, it's just...Laura Bailey fit Rise so well, and is honestly one of the reasons I was so drawn to Rise in the first place. I guess disappointment was inevitable. :(

★ Speaking of Laura Bailey, I somehow did not realize she was voicing Fiona in Tales from the Borderlands until someone else mentioned it to me, haha. ANYWAYS TFTBL is incredible and hilarious and far more entertaining than Borderlands TPS, and it's good enough that I would recommend it to people who haven't played any Borderlands game but enjoy...uh...I guess Mad Max/space western science fiction??? IDK if anyone on my flist is also playing TFTBL, but if you are please let me know because I need someone else to squee with.

FWIW, my favorite scenes as of Episode 4:

-The eyeball thing (Sasha's tentatively enthusiastic "Just...stick it in his face!" and Fiona's "Why did you have to say it like that?" is some of my favorite voice acting in recent memory. The ending twist to the whole thing was staged really well, too. A+++++ all around.)
-Face Pizza Party (seriously, I laugh just thinking about that phrase. Then throw up, because the whole scene is even more disgusting than the eyeball one. That everyone's delivery of 'face pizza party' changes constantly is also hilarious.)
-Accountant finger-gun fire fight
-All of the robots (Loaderbot, Gortys, and Dumpy) are excellent, but honestly I will never get tired of watching Dumpy wobble onscreen, scream in bursts of static, than clumsily shock someone. <3

Phew, I think that's all for now.