This is Elle. She turned 3 last month. She's normally very timid and hates things like loud noises or sudden movements, so I was worried about how she would handle the neighborhood firework activity. To my surprise, she spent most of the "firework hours" (between 9pm and midnight) relaxing in her window hammock while fireworks went off on the street. So proud of her ❤️
A little short on rent this month. Can provide paystubs. May be able to pay back early. Many thanks to anyone who can help.
This is down the street from my apartment. It used to be an empty field with poor drainage that would get boggy after storms and was both an eyesore and a major mosquito breeding ground. The city turned it into a constructed wetland that hosts multiple ponds and lots of native vegetation and wildlife. Water flows through the system instead of stagnating and it provides a lovely location for an early evening walk, like the one I took about an hour ago.
​
They just cut the grass around the perimeter and I was able to carry my shoes and walk barefoot for the first time this season. A warm breeze, bird song, soft grass under my feet, and the most wonderful feeling of serenity and well-being to close out my Sunday.
I have a freestanding microwave and no counter space, so the microwave migrates around a bit depending on what's available to hold it up. It spent the winter on top of the dehumidifier, but now that summer is back that guy needed to go back to work, so I had to find a new place for the food zapper to live. Enter the milk crates that I've been rescuing from dumpsters for years and never had a use for aside from general storage.
​
The single yellow one does bug me a bit, but otherwise it seems fairly sturdy and doubles as extra kitchen storage. If I run into a plank of wood, I'll throw it across the top for better weight distribution and maybe a bit of extra stability. I also may zip tie the crates together to ensure that one doesn't shift.
Several rotisserie carcasses, any vegetable scraps I collect (much fewer than usual in this batch), and filtered water to cover. Low for 8 hours. Always a highlight of my weekend.
My job does performance reviews every six months and a satisfactory outcome results in a small raise. I got really good feedback, nothing needs improvement, and I was asked if I wanted to start additional training to diversify my skill set.
I really love this job. I was in a pretty bad mental and physical state for about a decade and getting this job was a big part of what pulled me out of that. I've lost and kept off 55lbs since starting and feel a sense of peace and purpose most days that, for a long time, I didn't think I would ever feel again. I don't make much, hence why I'm a regular in this sub, but the non-monetary benefits are substantial and definitely not something I overlook. The potential for two small raises a year means that earnings growth is slow, but steady and I feel like my effort actually gets rewarded.
Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that the world doesn't get any crazier and cost of living increases don't exceed my annual raise potential.
I have had my one IP for about a decade and in that time I have routinely misplaced the silicone float valve caps. I never worried about it because they were easy and cheap to replace through Amazon.
My big goal for this year has been to consolidate, declutter, and organize everything I own. In that process, I have discovered seemingly every float valve cap that I have misplaced over the last decade. I bought a hardware organizer with a bunch of small drawers to organize all the little bits and bobs that would normally get thrown into a junk drawer and every time I find another cap, I put it in the "IP parts" drawer. I now have quite the collection and may yet find more.
I decided to use my McDonald's reward points to get a free sandwich for dinner tonight and when I got there the kitchen was really backed up, so they were handing out coupons for free sandwiches to apologize for the wait.
The next two weeks are going to be really tight because of needing to buy parts for a car repair, so every little bit helps.
I live alone by choice and mostly prefer it, but as we all know it makes some things harder and forces one to be more of an independent problem solver. In my case it has produced someone who is often maladaptively independent.
I had a rough weekend, including car trouble, and I rented a car this week to get to work and also to make a long drive on Friday to help my brother, who also lives alone, with getting to and from an outpatient medical procedure that involves anesthesia, so he's not allowed to just get an Uber afterwards. I was telling my favorite coworker this, and venting about my awful weekend in general, and he told me that if I end up in a similar situation (needing a medical escort or a ride somewhere), he or his wife would be happy to help. He finished by saying: "don't forget, you have friends here."
I cried. I was already emotional from recounting the events of the weekend and that sentence really upped the waterworks. It would still be really hard to ask for that help if the day came, but to have it offered organically meant a lot.
Moral of the story: there's community out there, even for weirdo loners like me, and it never hurts to identify where potential assistance may exist, even if it'll be like pulling teeth to get you to take advantage of it.
My brother texted me today and asked if I could give him a ride to and from an outpatient medical procedure he has scheduled for the end of next week. Apparently his other options for transport fell through, hence the somewhat late notice. I'm going to help him if my boss is OK with me taking the day off, but I'm feeling guilty about how much I don't want to.
I love my brother. We're the only siblings, dad's gone, mom's an addict who's been out of our lives for years, and our nearest relatives are hours away in other states. He also helped me with a similar situation a couple years ago. Despite that, I can't help but think about how it will be a 200mi round trip drive and how I'll have to spend some of my precious PTO.
I like my job. It doesn't pay a lot and the benefits are pretty sparse, but it has been extremely good for my mental and physical health. Starting this job a year and a half ago was a major factor in me finally losing a significant amount of weight and breaking out of a decade-long severe mental health rut. I get very little PTO (about 1 week per year) and I hoard it like a dragon with their gold pile. It's also earned based on hours worked; slowly accumulated week by week, which makes it seem more rare and valuable. Am I planning on taking a vacation anytime soon? No. I can't afford it. So what I am saving my PTO for so obsessively? I couldn't say, but spending any of it feels painful at this point. I know it's not psychologically healthy, but that's where I am mentally atm. I absolutely can't afford to take the day off without using PTO either.
He earns more than me and has significantly better benefits, including a lot more PTO, so this isn't a subject I'm even remotely interested in broaching with him. He would feel guilty and I would feel like a broke loser. No one would win.
So...yeah. Just needed to get that off my chest around folks who understand.