Posts Tagged ‘life’

08
Jul
2020

I need better subject lines here, I really do.

categories: personal; word count: 514 words

One of the things that I did with my economic stimulus payment is go ahead and get myself a pair of prescription sunglasses made that I intend on keeping the frames of for as long as these frames are willing to last me… so basically, for as long as possible. These should help with my migraines, because at the very least they will give me the option of being able to put them on and still see whenever things get too bright for me (and let’s face it, having that option is always comfortable whenever I’m having a migraine). Before, it was either “put on my sunglasses and not be able to see because my vision really is that bad without my glasses” or “keep my glasses on and suffer because of the brightness of everything else”. I also got the kids some more books, another Lokai cause bracelet that had come out that Monster didn’t already have, and after reading Shiva Honey’s The Devil’s Tome, decided to make what I have affectionately begun to call “Baby’s First Altar” in my room since I got a The Satanic Temple flag, hung it up, and Bub has been intrigued in a good way by it ever since. You can’t make this kid like what he doesn’t like, which he inherited from me.

I think all I have to do is quote this part of the summary of The Devil’s Tome:

The Devil’s Tome: A Book of Modern Satanic Ritual explores non-theistic Satanic ritual as a means for healing, empowerment, and community building.

I always take small steps, especially when it comes to the kids. Why not start with just an altar?

Nice candles (that we will not be burning for now, because reasons… Bub), to include tealight, a small grimoire (“Baby’s First Grimoire”, even if baby now comes up to my chin), chakra stones, because they look nice, a chakra grid kit, crystal grid kit, and Metatron’s grid kit (since if Bub is having a meltdown, laying them out and naming them might help calm him down, and they are geometrically pleasing), some stones (this can be educational, and the same principle applies), and incense (that we will quite likely not actually light even though I have a few N95 respirator masks due to this pandemic, but it will still set the overall mood)…

And like I’ve said, Bub doesn’t do anything that Bub himself doesn’t want to do. There have been plenty of occasions where Bub hasn’t wanted to do something that I’ve wanted to do. Any interest that Bub conveys in something is organic. He has never been the kind of kid to convey interest in something because someone else has or is, which is actually something that I have fostered in him (and his brother) over the years. He just happens to be the considerably more stubborn child, which has made for “if I am interested in something, it is because I personally want to do this, not because anyone else wants me to do it or is making me do this”.

06
Jul
2020

And before I completely forget to mention this here.

categories: personal; word count: 289 words

By the way, I (“we”) eventually did get our economic stimulus payment… or as some people have taken to calling it, “coronavirus check”. I had begun to give up on it after awhile, after so many of my friends had already gotten their checks, checking on the Get My Payment tool daily just to see day after day that there was absolutely no information on it for me even though I had filled out the Non-Filer form with our information the day that the IRS uploaded it and gotten automated confirmation four hours after that stating that our Non-Filer form was approved. So finding out that I (“we”) were actually approved for it in the middle of June actually surprised me, because by that point I had actually begun to blow off the payment as something that had just been shoved under the rug, something that I was just not going to receive because so many of the non-filers had been forgotten about and there was no actual way to call IRS to ask about this… funny how they weren’t actually staffing their call centers, not even from home, to answer questions about this. Almost like they were running from how badly they botched sending these checks out, let alone in the right amounts, which is what I’m about to get to in this post, just for the sake of chronicling this in here.

I (“we”) got our base payment, but none of the dependent money, even though I have two dependents.

Typical.

Apparently this has happened to no shortage of people, especially those who filled out the Non-Filer form.

I mean, I guess I should be happy that we (eventually) got anything at all, but… really? Seriously, IRS?

01
Jul
2020

Well, this may not have gone as it was intended.

categories: personal; word count: 301 words

My neurologist wanted me to try lisinopril to see if it changed the frequency and severity of my migraines in any positive way (lessening either). After working my way up from 2.5mg to the intended 5mg dose, maintaining that for a little while, and finding the side effects that I could feel tolerable, I then began to notice something that was not only possibly intolerable from a clinical standpoint but concerning. I was beginning to get a bit “puffy” in a manner not quite like prednisone (I know what prednisone “puffiness” feels like and when it occurs), having to urinate more, and I was beginning to gain weight in spite of that when my diet and exercise had not changed at all. After doing some research on the side effect profile of this medication, these are side effects that this medication can have, and the individual that generally has these side effects most likely discontinues taking the medication as a result of these for… well, whatever reason.

At first, I thought that things weren’t going too bad with this medication, and then… well, this. Heh.

“Well, this,” seems to be a staple of me describing this medication to varying individuals in my care team.

Well, this.

I don’t mind gaining some weight from taking certain medications if there is a net positive from me taking that medication — prednisone is perhaps the primary one here, and the primary reason for this — and I can put up with a lot of side effects from treatment if the end goal is me comparatively being healthier, feeling better, and being in less pain. But for lisinopril, gaining weight and “feeling puffy” are not desirable side effects from treatment. These are warier side effects that you have to alert your care team to, it seems like.

28
Jun
2020

Why, oh why, did I not notice this sooner?

categories: personal; word count: 174 words

I just realized that if you have an active Nintendo Online subscription (which we do, for the Switch), it gives you complimentary access to a lot of old games for the Nintendo and Super Nintendo free of charge. This has made my day… or probably, to be more accurate, in this case, a lot of days. I found out about this when I was adding more time to our Nintendo Online subscription, since it lets you add a bit more than a year to it — I kind of wish it let you add a bit more than that just so I could go on ahead and get it out of the way when we had spare funds around, but I digress, it is what it is — and I saw those. I checked them out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that out, because I didn’t even know about that up until that point. Heh…

Maybe I should have looked into that sooner, because I’m going to enjoy vegging out on all of this nostalgia.

27
Jun
2020

I’ve gotten back into scheduling some posts here.

categories: personal; word count: 266 words

A partial retcon of previous posts: I can see myself happily dating a Satanist that affiliated with The Satanic Temple (or had no formal “affiliation” at all) regardless of whether or not they do ritual, and how much, because of the things that we would already have in common. I guess the only straw that might break the camel’s back is if they required that someone engage in ritual with them at a certain frequency and could not be fulfilled with or happy in a relationship that did not meet that frequency(, although I honestly can not see this happening with anyone affiliating with The Satanic Temple and would like to come out and say as much). But I would probably be happier dating a Satanist that either had no formal affiliation, or affiliated with The Satanic Temple, than one that was formally affiliated with the Church of Satan because there would be a lot less disagreement there, as I’ve addressed in previous posts. I don’t want to feel like I’m a potential number to convert to someone’s side. I’ve already had that happen once, and once is too much.

In the interim, I’ve taken to finding a different way to organize the necklace collection that I’ve gotten… over the years, even though wearing them is a challenge since I have bad enough skin allergies to the point that things discolor my skin. When I’ve taken copious amounts of Benadryl and am on prednisone though, the effect is less. Ironically, that is something that I’ve noticed. So why not exploit those time periods a little bit?

26
Jun
2020

A stopped clock is right twice a day, right?

categories: personal; word count: 180 words

It may have taken our state governor forever to authorize this, but… now SNAP recipients are allowed to use SNAP for curbside pickup with certain retailers, and now they can even order online with two large retailers if they get SNAP anywhere in the state. And it may have been authorized as a direct result of the pandemic, but I am still appreciative of the fact that it was even done. Up until recently, this was never even an option, and only select (mainly Democratic-led) states permitted one, maybe both, things to be done with SNAP funds. But at the end of the day, barring the whole “a stopped clock is still right twice a day” clause, I still have absolutely no respect for my state governor — or the President that we still sadly have, for that matter.

Respect is earned, not given. I don’t have to respect people who have not earned it. I will not be “made” to.

In other news, I may utilize this and begin ordering at least some of our groceries online. That would help…

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