Reminds me of when I lived in Seattle. Due to the rarity of snow, it would take 2 inches to close schools.

P.S. I'm not joking nor kidding. The people who lived there were too timid to even venture out. I was there for 20 years and yes, this was normal every time a snowfall happened.

People in my neck of the woods should know better. Also when there is a blizzard, they don't slow down out of fear, they speed up because they think their SUVs is going to spare them a trip over the median, or from getting into a crash. Spoiler: SUVs go over median barriers / crash just as easily as any other vehicle.

I should have known this was coming. Dingus warned me before we left to be on extra alert as he saw two different people in two different towns try to drive into 2 lanes of oncoming traffic on his way home from work. To the best of my knowledge, nothing became of either incident.

I can only hope it didn't turn out to be as awful as you imagined.

I'd forgotten that today was my birthday.

I was feeling pretty lousy and didn't feel up to doing much at all. I had just finished three days worth of washing up, which I had to force myself to get on with, when my brother and sister-in-law showed up with a birthday card, a bottle, and a bag full of Christmas tree decorations. Of course, our tree always goes up on the 6th (which is also St. Nicholas' day) and I hadn't even fetched it out of the attic yet. Actually I had a mind to give it a miss this year, but that old tyrant tradition would have it so. They might have stopped and helped me, but no, they had to dash off. Well, I fetched the tree down and, after a couple of hours (aided by the contents of the aforesaid bottle) I finally got the thing up and some of the decorations hung, The main struggle, as ever, was arranging the lights.

And now I think I'll go back to bed.

Finally got some rest and worked on casting attachment for a script about a large family and an older man who finds his muse in the heiress and her spirited life.

When I do sleep, I usually dream. But the way this was, it was like a big production in a slice of life movie.

It's best described as a sci-fi rom-dramedy. The older man and the heiress feel a mutual attraction and she admits his lowbrow jokes are funny, even if she does highbrow wordplay with her grandfather, who, at 96, shows no sign of significant slowing down.

How long has it been? I wake up each morning wondering how did I even survive this long? Though I seem all alone; I never am alone. He promised and He always come through.

I wonder if year 2024 may be the year of revealing even in my situation; what's in the dark will come to light and be known.

Faith Without Fear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cnueS9Duis

In response to pain you're not supposed to say ouch, you're supposed to say thank you.

Been filling/rolling and then dipping about 400 individual pieces of nougat-filled marzipan in chocolate. My back hurts, but at least I've got tomorrow off (gonna need that...).

Didn't go all-out with the "chocolate factory" this year. Honestly didn't have much time for it. Did come up with a new potential favorite that's fairly easy to make, so that one is probably going to follow along to next year (it's easy/quick enough to do anytime of the year, so maybe some other time, too).

Ugh, everything's blown everywhere from the storm. Our back fence is in pieces, the towns massive christmas tree is tumbling along the roundabout, and yet the kids still have school tomorrow

Wanted to make gummy worms, but I found a good portion of my mixes were expired. I didn't want to get food poisoning.

Still, I plan on making gummy worms 😜 much more fun for Strata Sundaes.

I was going to work on a chocolate pudding, brownie, cookie, cake and mousse dessert with gummy worms throughout and it would be like those "mud pie cupcakes" I remember from my childhood. It would technically be in a parfait dish rather than one for a sundae.

Working on "New Year" things even though we have a couple more weeks to go.

Thanks to my neighbor, I found out about a local trash pick up company. Right now we're paying almost $900.00 a year for once a week trash pick-up. Going with this new company, we'll be paying just over $500.00 for the same service. This new company also does things like house clean outs and that kind of stuff so I will no longer have to call 1-800-Got-Junk went I want to get rid of things. No shade at Got Junk. I've hired / worked with 1-800-Got-Junk a handful of times. They've always been professional. I just happen to like having those kinds of services all under 'one roof'.

I bought a book e-reader for Christmas. Since I don't do Amazon, I got the Nook version of the Kindle sold through Barnes and Noble. Instead of paying anywhere from $17-22.00 for a book, now I can get them for a couple of dollars. If I really like a book, I can get a physical copy when the book-buying mood strikes.

Still working through doctor office issues. They wanted me to take a day to take my blood pressure at random times for that day, then tell them what the results were. The results were normal, doctors office insists my blood pressure machine must be wrong. They really, really want to put me on meds for whatever reason. I have to bring my machine in a couple of weeks so they can make sure it's "calibrated correctly". Dingus uses the same machine. They [ same doctor and office] never question / say anything to him about his blood pressure results. If nothing else, it is interesting to see how they treat him differently.

Christmas shopping is done. The Boy isn't feeling Christmas this year; we'll be giving him money. I've asked if there was anything he wanted / needed, he hasn't said anything for a couple of weeks. With cash he do whatever he wants.

Other than the stuff I've been working, it has been life as usual.

I think it was Thanksgiving; the day it rained on and off but mostly rained. I confined myself to a small bus shelter since I had nowhere else to go. Just watch people come and go and the buses too. I don't think it was my first Thanksgiving spent alone but homeless and alone yes. For some reason that day felt so fantastical and soothing. The more I continue my journey, the more I realize how true that no matter the circumstances, it is not the circumstances that define my happiness...it is my state of mind. Real happiness and joy are not material, tangible things but spiritual.

Homelessness is not the end, it's a whole new beginning, another chapter, another season into my spiritual journey. Perhaps being rid of all the things and people that no longer serve their purpose in my life is a blessing in disguise. Now I focus on now and the future of what's to come with more optimism than ever before. I try not to complain but I do admit even as a child back then that whining sometimes come back in full force in my adult years. So then it's time to take a breath and focus on everything good, positive, what I appreciate and am thankful for, all the small and big wonders that makes huge mood boosts such as seeing the sunrise and the sunset/seeing a lone bright orange fox searching for food/watching the squirrels play and chase each other/eating chocolate and any other kind of sweets/kind people being helpful/young children who see me when no one else does and they sense my good soul and I sense theirs/all the pain, suffering and hardships because without any of it I would never become as resilient in times of trouble and now I know how to better manage my emotions and well-being and learn to trust even when all odds says otherwise because it is not about what I can see, feel, taste, touch, or hear; it's about my sixth sense. Do not solely rely on the physical senses or I'll miss out on seeing the bigger picture by being narrow-minded.

In my situation, regardless of circumstance, there is always more reasons to love life than hate it. Oh how some mean to do so much harm yet Someone means to do so much good. That is to say to take what was meant to be bad and turn it into a lesson and a blessing.

"Get a job, you bum!"
Apparently it is unknown that there is an intentional lack of opportunities for certain people no matter how much they apply themselves. The system and the people of the system are against us, yet blames us for their refusal to open the door. But let's be honest. It would never work out anyway because there are some people who only sees things from their P.O.V and everyone else's that goes against the grain are like extra puzzle pieces...we don't fit in with the full picture ever in their fabricated world. But we never were meant to, we were intentionally created different and this difference threatens the matrix, the illusion; thus why it becomes a hive mind to attack those who don't fit in or won't fit in based on their principles. Truth be told, all of us are supposed to be a part of the full picture and to learn and grow from one another. Yet too many close-minded, too many hive mind mentalities, too many still plugged into the matrix who cannot distinguish reality from fiction. Never knowing their whole life is fiction. This is why people like me get isolated from a very early age as we begin to see early on and hone our abilities to see the world for what it really is. We are the ones who see and seek the truth; therefore we are no use to the system if they cannot pull the wool over our eyes.

Some are still asleep, some are waking up and some were never a slave to the system and intuitively knew that this world we live in is more than meets the eye.

Today wasn't too bad. Nothing weird happened yet as far as side effects go. In any case, I have been working on a big project.

I also went window shopping online or as I call it "Windows shopping" (former Microsoft family member.) and saw these great plates and bowls made from recycled plastic milk jugs. From toddlers to adults, they had just about all kinds of plates, bowls and drinkware. They were eco-conscious in about every sense of the word.

I even found new tumblers for my glassware.

It's all dishwasher safe to boot!

I guess I am getting sort of nesting in my ⅓ life crisis.

This morning I woke up to some dense fog and then later made a joke questioning if I was in Silent Hill. But for real though I'm for sure I saw a tall man in all black with a hoodie on walking in front of me and then he just vanished. Okay, either that really happened in my altered reality because familiars love to play tricks or I'm starting to hallucinate from sleep deprivation or seeing things in my heightened imagination like the time I woke up and saw a man leaning on the fence just watching me and it was just the perspective of a tree trunk, shadows and light, lol.

Oh yeah, also this morning that child...I forgot about those demonized or satanized children who like others, love to manifest when they see me. When kids are pass the age of knowing right and wrong don't think some of them can't be evil. As mentioned before...so much corruption. I see what most can't see and hear what most can't hear because most choose to be blind, deaf and sever their sixth sense but what about other people like me? Where are they? All over the world no doubt.

Tonight, I have an assignment due in a couple of weeks.

I have a Christmas letter to my family for a party that I need to write out because I am still getting therapy for my fear of crowds. I still have to write out my letter and have it ready before the 28th (the party is on a weekend)

I am trying to be relevant to my life and what they know about me. At least know I care about them.

Still, they deserve to know I have been well otherwise.

Not much really going on today. I don't know whether to have the hairstylist cut my hair or braid it. I have a hair appointment on the 23rd, so I have about a couple weeks to decide what style to go with for my holiday season. I no longer color my hair, but I would love to augment it somehow.

Last night, Dingus and I were hanging out in the kitchen talking about stuff like we do while dinner is being made.

He brought up the Coca-Cola Christmas ad. He said that the TV version didn't show the the AI generated trucks and other annoying things, so I dragged out the laptop. Apparently there was a whole bunch of stuff cut from the internet version that was being shown on TV. For a company that was so proud of how much money they 'saved' on their crap commercial, I find it strange they would take all the AI bits and more out for television.

Then it was on to Dingus telling me that the GTA 6 trailer is fake and there is no GTA 6. I asked what he was talking about and where did he get that information from. He didn't tell me who told him that and also wouldn't reveal the source of this tidbit of info while still insisting that said trailer was fake and there is no game. Since I had the laptop out and the Instant Pot was busy cooking the chicken noodle soup I threw together, I decided to look into things.

Where did this little gem of information come from? The usual internet brain rot sources, of course. Reddit, TikTok, Facebook, ect... Dingus' coworkers see and believe most ( if not all) brain rot on the internet. Instead of looking into said brain rot or just keeping it to themselves, there has to be time wasted trying to convince Dingus and whoever will listen that internet brain rot must be true. If something is on the internet, it must be true doncha know. These people are well into their 30s and beyond. They're also the reason I've had Covid, twice. All of them have sick time, but that is a story for another day.

I then asked Dingus the simple question of "Why would Take-Two Wall St overlords invest that kind of money into a fake trailer / game like that?" I didn't get a answer. Then I found and dug into Take-Two's most recent fiscal report. GTA 6 is mentioned there as well. I don't think peeps from Take Two or their Wall St overlords would feel like paying outrages fines and or jail time just to make a "fake" game and engage in fraud.

None of this is to say that gaming companies don't make fake trailers. EA does this all the time, but I suspect the GTA trailer cost a whole lot more than the stuff that is made for TS4 packs. TS4 could never have a fraction of the detail of GTA. I digress.

Logic shut down the whole bit about how the trailer / game was fake, but that didn't make conversation any less irritating. The best I could come up with is perhaps somebody saw the shit on Steam about the crypto scam game called "Paradise" where they've ripped stuff from GTA, but I'm not feeling that generous. These types of conversations have been happening way too often lately. The discussion about internet brain rot in general has been weaseling its way into conversations where it shouldn't be, like with my mother. My mother doesn't use the internet and asked what "brain rot" meant the other day.

The lower US federal court announced last week that the TikTok ban remains. If somebody doesn't buy it from the US and remove it from China's hands, TikTok goes away Jan 21, 2025. If the ban happens, this obviously would not cure all the brain rot problems, but it would be a good start. If adults want to push each other around over Hello Kitty blankets, beat each other up over Stanley cups and all the other shizz that TikTok is known for, they can monetize it some other way, like on YouTube where brain rot is becoming more and more of a thing. Instead of 20 seconds of watching people engage in food waste by putting a turkey in a toilet, they can do a long form version.

TikTok's "Fridge Drawer Food" Trend Makes Me SICK...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwaYbsRqj0


Dingus and I now have a agreement. If he's told something and it seems sus, he should go with that. If he wants to talk about it, I don't care but enough with the all brain rot must be fact.

It was meh. Had to switch a shift, and work with someone I'm not too comfortable working with (it's one of the "getting absolutely nowhere, in the speed of a snail stuck in a bucket of syrup" cases - at least when I'm around, it appears). Anyway - the day came and went, and I'm really tired.

I had a chance to get a shower in after GORK how long. Caring for a central part of the house is hard.

Otherwise, my cousin from my mom's younger sister sent us his family Christmas card. As far as I know, they have 2 kids, a little boy (Dawson) and a little girl (unknown, since my parents won't trust me with secrets, especially since they wanted to announce the name via snail mail... found out it's Brooklynn.).

Waiting for my package of ramen. I have been working hard on an archipelago of artificial islands.

Got my new card...don't know why someone would spend about a week trying to take $80 that never existed...I swear thieves have better spending habits than myself.

I have improved, although for today, I am minimizing the amount of dishes made today.

Baking gingerbreads with mom and my niece. It's cozy to do these things around the holidays. Maybe we need to bake in some new traditions.

(but I kind of see a tendency that even a couple hours with two small store-bought doughs gets a bit too much for a child's patience these days - compared to when I made gingerbreads with my gran at roughly the same age, and we made probably 10 times as much... I can't remember my patience running out, at least not until the very end. I even used to do the dishwashing by hand afterward)

I also made a mini gingerbread house (though it's more of a run-down shack that got hit by a snowstorm )

It has been a long day, but we got everything done. Jingle needed to go to the groomer, dropped off two donation boxes, went to the book store, ect...

I don't have much planned for tomorrow. Wash floors, wash pig / chinchilla blankets and reading.

Cleaning Day at the Panda residence. While Papanda and Panda Mama are having a nice lunch and going to see the final performance of the season from the local drama club of Dickens' A Christmas Carol...

Panda Queen is cleaning up the kitchen, tidying her bedroom up and taking trash out.

For now, she is on break. Today, she's going to need to recover after the mad dash.

Tomorrow, the other side of the room needs a little love.

Tried a store brand of gnocchi and I enjoyed it to the point of making "yummy noises". (Young Frankenstein, The Princess Bride and A Christmas Story are the top 3 quotable movies in my home.)

Received my cheesecake flavored toothpaste and the discounted 1 week teeth whitening strips treatment. I got the whitening strips for $5 during a sale. Regular price? $30 for a treatment. A 83% off value at best. I am also awaiting a gingerbread flavored and an apple flavored pair of toothpastes, along with whitening tooth powder. The powder was $5 due to my loyalty discount, $25 at regular price.

I love a good sale and the deeper the discount, the more I spend on other things. I love a good bargain.

Today I was saddened to see that a huge Turkey Oak, which grew on a patch of green next to where my old school used to be, has been brought down by the high winds we've had recently. I have fond memories of sitting under that tree on warm summer days.

It must have come down with a mighty crash, it was a fair old giant of a tree. But I knew its days were numbered when it lost a major bough during another storm a few years ago. When that happens the tree is out of balance and it is only a matter of time before a strong enough wind, coming from the right direction, will bring it down. This is something that ought to be taken into account when people go lopping branches from big mature trees.

I fear there will come a day when we will no longer see big majestic oaks, or beeches or whatever: trees that have taken hundreds of years to grow. Oh there are lots of trees being planted, by people who are 'saving the planet'. But very often they are being planted in the wrong places, where they will get too big and will have to be cut down in twenty years time. Or someone will come up with yet another 'bold new plan' to renovate the area, and down will come the trees. Our local council seem very keen on that sort of thing.