sketches & ghosts

Trip is doing the "scratch at briefcase to say he wants to go home" thing again ... it's 10:37. Yeah, I think we're at work until 6 today, buddy. I feel bad that he is lying down and licking his paws, but I don't know how to relieve his stress at, um, being in my office, which is not inherently stressful.

I already did my chocolateboxcomm noms, because I did not nominate anything I'm 100% confident someone else will (like, I don't need to worry about Machineries of Empire or Queen's Thief). I'm really hoping anyone requests either Spotless or A Girl and Her Fed (even if some of my noms were Rachel, Phil, Jason, Santino and Bell so that's kind of more books-ish) because that's what I most want to be writing except for original works.

Work is ALL ANNUAL REPORT ALL THE TIME and I have been hunting down missing data which is why I'm delayed in things I owe people. I promised two people beta reads on fics yesterday, and both of you will be getting them back today, I promise! I have read and enjoyed them, I just need to make my notes slightly more competent and less bullet points on literal post-its. I have a Yuletide treat I need to finish myself, and then decide whether or not I want to ask for a beta, since the only people I know who actually know the canon all can't do it right now ... except for the canon's original author, who said she might do it, but I'm not sure if that wouldn't be a little too weird for the recipient.

Beta reader who doesn't know the canon? Letting the actual author of the canon do it? No beta? IDK.

I was stuck standing in the 16 degree weather waiting for the M96 for half an hour last night and have still not actually recovered, because cold urticaria is the actual worst, but I had dressed like I was doing winter sports so that helped a little. Not enough to block a reaction, apparently.

Hello, New Friends: I'm sorry that this, the first public post you will see, is all complaining.


ETA: Since I have new people on my list and I do not have an about me, please feel free to ask anything you'd like here! Longtime readers can ask things too. I'm also doing the January meme.

I have no energy, so I'm just going to Cliff's notes version this out:

1. My gallbladder ruptured. I was in the hospital from the 18th until the 23rd, and just got off essentially bedrest two days ago. I've had no history of gallbladder issues ever in my life and am abnormally young (not that I'm actually young, so much as that anything under 45 is abnormally young); however, it ended up leading us down a trail that gave us some idea of how my World's Healthiest Man dad got terminal pancreatic cancer.

2. It is the end of the semester and I'm dying of deadlines. I have a couple of professors who want to murder me for my absences and how long it took me to go "yeah, I'm not actually ready to present today, can I go next week?" but they're also letting me go next week.

3. Since of course I'm back at work and school, now Trip has kennel cough and has to be kept home (he was boarded while I was in the hospital, and yes he's current on all his shots but there are a lot of kinds of kennel cough). When there's nobody home during the day because I'm back at work/school. I have today off during the day and tomorrow off full stop, but the next 7 days are going to be difficult ...

4. I'm getting so frustrated with how physically and emotionally wearying my job is that I'm considering quitting without something else lined up. My meds are $1800 a month and I have to support a dog and I only have $4k in savings. So this isn't that feasible, but oh man do I want it. I have to write a thesis that needs to be done by May and I just want to write/research full time. Or at least have a job where any day I work isn't a day where I can't do any of it and have to just come home and sleep because of pain and cognitive fatigue.

5. Someone hacked my VPS with Dreamhost, they've sent me a bunch of emails. How the fuck even. All my sites are down.