random thoughts – Day 1,899 – (Thursday) – mysteries abound

Some days are filled with mysteries, some have one or two, others are puzzlement free. Today had mysteries both new and recurring. 

The recurring work mysteries for the day were two-fold. There was the one where the day drags and feels like it’s 365 days long. Again. For a short workweek, it has totally dragged butt. 

There was also the too-familiar mystery of why all the project requests for the department are short-notice, and worse, submitted with incomplete, inaccurate, or both incomplete and inaccurate information. It’s a joy. Really, we love dropping everything to do the new project request and also deal with the stream of changes to the content or the scope so we get to do the work two, three, sometimes even four times. 

The paid workday finally ended, and that was when I realized that two ads I intended to deliver today had been derailed by the latest short-notice project request with inaccurate information provided. I stayed logged on and got the ads delivered.

The after work mystery special.

The current mystery on the home front involves files and possessions and junk and how it all keeps multiplying. I have shredded and recycled bags of files and yet, there are still so many files. There are files of writing and work samples going back decades. Ideas for photography projects, jewelry designs, and clothing designs. Most ideas never get past the sketch phase, but maybe someday they will.

In the current attempt to declutter, I have discovered the equivalent of my body weight in beads and jewelry making supplies. The inventory wasn't always so plentiful, but in recent years, people have gifted me with old jewelry as they decluttered their own homes. Someday I’ll get around to spending time with the stuff. 

Ideally, the new place will have a room I can set up with workspaces for the various endeavors of jewelry, stained glass, sewing, and whatever else comes along to catch my interest. I can also try to solve the mystery of why I tend to abandon hobbies right around the time I get good at them and have finally acquired all the necessary materials and tools. 

The Better Sister, on Prime.

The evening’s entertainment mystery involved Netflix. After scrolling for what felt like forever I chose Dept. Q, a British police drama series. 

About 45 minutes into the first episode, the show cut out and an error message appeared informing me “This title is not available to watch instantly. Please choose another title.” I tried it a couple times, then chose another title as suggested. The 2018 movie that was settled upon displayed the same error message. The original show went missing from the home screen and I searched for it. Nothing came up. Then, it displayed on the home screen, but when I clicked on it, no episodes were available, only the trailer. 

I gave up, jumped over to Prime, and started watching The Better Sister, an American thriller. So far, so good, and there are no technology mysteries interrupting the show.

Another recurring mystery has reactivated itself this week. This is the one where I smell and taste cigarette smoke when there is none present. So gross. So random, frequent, and unexplained.