random thoughts – Day 1,114 – (Wednesday) – je suis très fatigué

It may now be day 1,001 of the streak in Duolingo lessons, but in no way am I fluent in a language other than English. Ok, maybe sarcasm. 

My dalliance with Duolingo first began in 2014 when I was recently returned to New England from Tennessee, couldn’t find a full-time job, and was working part-time in retail to keep from completely losing my mind. The Duolingo thing was an attempt at free entertainment and a refresh of the French studied in high school. 

In high school, Monsieur Dube, our French teacher, said we needed to think in French to speak it well. My thinking seemed to be stalled at “merde,” (shit), “Je suis très fatigué” (I am very tired), and “Je suis très faim” (I am very hungry). That tracks. The first language thing didn’t go well, didn’t last long, and didn’t progress much beyond merde and being tired and hungry. I tried learning Spanish, but abandoned it all and Duolingo was ignored for years.

The big Duolingo streak began with starting to learn Finnish 1,001 days ago. The language was a recent addition to Duolingo, it seemed like a fun idea, and I want to go to Finland some day. Eventually. Last fall, I began in-person Finnish classes but it could be a while before I can think in Finnish and have a conversation. Someday. 

I know how to be hungry in Finnish (Minulla on nälkä) and really tired (Minä olen tosi väsynyt). And my current favorite swear word is the Finnish curse “perkele.” It's fun to say.  I even got an embroidered patch of it.

There was a flirtation with Italian before vacation, and now I'm juggling both languages. Sorry Finnish, I gotta keep up the big cheat because there are more points to be earned in the Duolingo app with Italian because I already hit the end of the road with the Finnish modules. Sometimes I revisit French, too. 

There have been spells where I feel well rested, but the past two weeks are not in that category. Part of the reason is my beloved Canine Overlord Winston keeps waking me up between 12:30 am and 2:30 am to go outside to potty. Sometimes there is a bonus when he gets up twice in the night. Last night, he woke me up at 2:15 to go out, and by 2:30, he was back in his bed snoring. Unfortunately, I was wide awake until 3:38 with monkey brain chattering and swearing in multiple languages. 

There was finally some more sleep, but in a blink it was 6:00 and the alarm was going off and I was not happy. The butt dragged today and it really caught up with me after work. By 6:30 pm I was fighting the urge to go to bed. Minä olen tosi väsynyt for sure, but perkele, it was still light outside for crying out loud. And if I went to bed that early, Winston would soon have me up for one of his many post-supper trips outside. 

So now, it’s just the waiting game. Maybe I can see how many Duolingo lessons I can cram in until I decide it is an appropriate time for bed.

random thoughts – Day 1,113 – (Tuesday) – dreaming

When I wake up in the morning, unless I’m heading off to the beach or on vacation, there is no bounding out of bed to tackle the day. It’s generally a case of dragging butt to get out of bed and slog through the morning, with great reliance upon the magical properties of coffee.

This morning, all snuggled in bed, I was having a super nice dream where I was eating appetizers at a tall bar counter with a handsome guy. Feel free to insert your own version of “handsome guy” here – it is probably different than my version, but no worries. Eye of the beholder and all, y’all.

In the dream, the tall, handsome guy was super wicked into me and I was into him. It triggered fond memories of forever ago and having a romantic interest. And then the stupid alarm went off and the dream was shattered with the reality of life at The BungaLowell. I needed to prepare breakfast for Canine Overlord Winston, make coffee, grab a shower, get dressed.

Like so often happens, a song exploded in my head. It wasn't even a surprise that it was “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” by The Smiths.

Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm

Last night I dreamt
Real arms around me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm

Waking up in a somber Morrissey song/mood wasn’t horrible. Mostly, it was familiar. 

Back downstairs after dressing, I discovered that my hair wasn’t the only thing soaking wet. There was a massive pee puddle on the living room rug. Mopping dog pee fit with feeling bummed about having my nice dream ended by the clock. 

Over at the remote office desk, it was another day of warfare with technology. Yesterday, many desktop icons were missing, but today they were ALL missing. Normally, to find a file it’s as simple as clicking on the yellow folder icon, but just like the freshly evaporated nice morning dream, the “my documents” folder was gone. Disappeared. Poof. Just a memory.

The system was so slow by midafternoon that it felt like being in 1995-96 and waiting for a dialup internet connection. It was a day for flashbacks -- 80s music, mid 90s dial-up. Oy. I had to log out of everything and restart. It helped, but it was still slow.

After a comforting supper of rice and veggies dressed with a dash of sweeet chili sauce and sriracha, additional comfort was sought in the form of  "Next in Fashion" on Netflix and a movie size box of Milk Duds. It was an improvement over the day, but nothing like the vibe of that morning dream.

If only I could manifest a romance as easily as I can manifest an empty box of candies. Not only did that stupid dream make me miss having a boyfriend, the Netflix show is making me miss the days when I sewed. Must be time to dive into a comedy. And bust out the sewing machine.

random thoughts – Day 1,112 – (Monday) – time

Today had a lot going on. Like, a LOT. 

There was the everchanging cavalcade of technology quirks that ate a chunk of the morning with programs that suddenly displayed differently, disappearing icons, and suddenly missing login credentials. There were files that could be found but not opened, error messages, and more, which would just be painful to rehash. 

Lunch!

There may have been some swearing. Ok, a lot of it. Some things need to be expressed assertively (loudly) in order to be shaken off to allow moving on. This form of exorcism was possible because I was working remotely. 

Lunch at the desk was a delicious spanikopita twirl. It killed the hangry feeling quite nicely. Those might be my current favorite meal item from the fine folks at Market Basket. 

Then there were back-to-back video meetings. There was an afternoon visit to a branch for some photos of some key marketing delivery elements, then an on-location photo shoot for a customer ad campaign with two highly entertaining marketing guys with a lively dynamic and fun stories.

As if that wasn’t enough, Finnish lessons began again tonight, so there was the traffic loaded drive to Fitchburg after work. It's officially time to deal with the textbook, homework, and class preparation. 

Oh, and it’s performance prep season, so before work I was trying to squeeze in practicing our dances for an Earth Day event, but managed to run through only one out of the four.

It looks like some time management skills are going to be put to the test over the next three or four weeks. Or cultivated from scratch. Let’s hope it goes well.

random thoughts – Day 1,111 – Sunday

Dance rehearsal was early this morning, and along the ride there was one home with nearly two dozen turkeys in the front yard, some in full strut.

Mom, my sister and I made a plan to meet at Jeffrey’s Antique Co-op at 10:15 when I was done with dance. We went through the various stalls and there was a ton to see. The most plentiful items seemed to be Barbies still in the original boxes and the troll dolls that used to be called Good Luck Trolls and Wishniks in the 1960s. So many Barbies and trolls. Oy. There were also some cool vintage purses and a lot of jewelry including Bakelite. I wasn’t looking for anything specific, so I just moved through the store taking it all in.

After the shopping, we decided to go for lunch at nearby Conrad’s Seafood Drive-in. Surprise! The sign on the door simply said “Closed.” There were no hours posted to tell us if they were not yet open for the day or the season or what. Later, at home, I checked their website and saw that the season opening had been postponed until April 5^th.  That would have been great info for a sign, but I might be thinking that because I work in marketing.

The lunch plan had been hastily formulated based on proximity to the antiques store, and we didn’t have a backup lunch plan so we decided to just head back to our homes. I was hungry and I knew there was lots of food at The BungaLowell. Of course, being Sunday, the car autopiloted into Market Basket for Canine Overlord Winston’s roasted chicken. The basket also ended up with spanakopita twirls, produce, Tuscan Pane, ramen, and other pantry basics. Somehow, despite being hungry, I managed to resist the cookies, chips and ice cream. Instead of the pizza, mac and cheese, or quiche in the freezer, lunch was a warm spanikopita twirl.

Supper!

The afternoon was quiet and mostly involved streaming shows on Netflix. There was Love is Blind, then Next in Fashion. When the trash and recycling were taken to the curb, I felt something under my shoe at the end of the driveway which turned out to be a dead mouse. Ewwwww. It was picked up with the poop scooper and added to the trash bag. The cause of death was not apparent, but if it was poison, I didn’t want to risk another animal eating it and suffering.

At 7:30 I was feeling hungry and that was when I realized there hadn’t really been any supper. It was light, crispy multigrain crackers and hummus to the rescue. Fast food at home is awesome. 

random thoughts – Day 1,110 – (Saturday) – art and thrift

It was a rainy morning and one with no commitments which allowed me to sleep late. It was 8:14 when I woke up and finally got up. I considered lounging in my nice warm bed longer, but I knew I had to get Winston up and feed him to maintain the insulin schedule.

Western Ave Studios.

The slow paced morning still saw some accomplishments. The wreath hangers were finally moved from the dining room table and put away in a drawer in the buffet. They used to live in the Christmas boxes in the basement, but it was a pain in the butt trying to find them so a new plan was formulated. The new vacuum that arrived on Wednesday is still sealed in the box, but the frames that arrived even earlier in the week were finally opened. Baby steps.

It was asparagus, broccoli, mushroom, and cheese quiche for lunch. Once fortified by the protein and veggies, I left the house for the Western Ave Studios monthly open house. 

Cool stuff at Western Ave.

It was the first time I’d been to Western Ave since before the pandemic. The parking lot was packed, but the buildings were not as crowded as feared. One thing I like about Western Ave is the way the artists decorate their studio doors, the art hanging in the hallways, and the random stuff hanging above the hallways. There are seating areas throughout the building if you need a break or a chat. 

There was a lot of great art to be seen, but much of it didn’t have a price tag. Just like at yard sales, I hate asking prices. I greatly prefer to quietly read the price and decide if it works for me. There were things I might have bought if the price was posted and didn’t require waiting to speak to the artists to ask the prices and then saying, “ok, thanks” before wandering back out. Dear artists, please price your works. 

The advice to studio visitors is, an artist studio doorway is not the place to stop for a lengthy conversation. Other people want to enter, people behind you want to leave, and you are standing there debating having lunch. Get out of the way and figure your crap out off to the side. Cripes. I missed visiting one studio on two different passes today because of this oblivious visitor behavior. But onward and upward and downward and all over. I managed to visit all five floors, despite my left leg aching with sciatica.

Thrift shop score!

After Western Ave, it was St Vincent de Paul, where I had it in my head to look for frames. I found four beige 4” by 6” wood frames, two black frames, and two small white bowls. Thanks to the discount ticket colors, it was only $7 for all of it. Gotta love a thrift shop with true thrift shop pricing.

random thoughts – Day 1,109 – (Friday) – trash

When I arrived at the office, the alarm beeped signaling it was one of those very rare occasions that I was the first to arrive in the space. This was only the second time in a bunch of years, and by some miracle, I remembered my code to deactivate the alarm. Sometimes I amaze myself.

The day turned out to be even more rare/odd when it was realized I was the only occupant of the entire fourth floor. Just like the last time it happened, it was a bit unnerving being the only person rattling around in the cavernous space with nobody to talk to.

The oddities continued. For whatever reason, there was an empty shipping box dumped in my cubicle, which kinda sorta maybe pissed me off. Like a little bit of a lot. There was no way of knowing if it would be needed again, so instead of tossing it, I moved it to the cube where nobody currently sits, nor has for months. In doing so, I noticed an open carton of copier paper sitting on the floor in the unoccupied cube. 

The box of paper was unloaded and put into the cabinet near the printer where it belongs. The opened box of interoffice envelopes sitting on top of the office supplies cabinet was put into the cabinet. There may have been some grumbling and bitching about feeling like the office mother/maid and only person who seems to know where things belong and how to put them there, but there were no witnesses so it doesn’t really count.

Later in the day, when I was frustrated over some project issues, the boxes of decorations that had been sitting in the unoccupied cubicle for months were carried over to the storage space from whence they came back in November when the office was decorated for the holidays. The physical labor was really handy for burning off aggro. If only I could channel this at home. Sigh.

Daily John Street trash.

At the end of the day, the sun was out and it was a pleasant walk to the garage. One of the homeless guys who is always hanging around on Merrimack and John Streets was crossing the street and I took a wide path to avoid the daily request for money. As he crossed, a woman from the other side of the street was yelling to the guy asking if he needed a bag for his trash. He yelled that it wasn’t his. 

I caught up to the woman who worked at the credit union on the corner. She and her colleague were talking about the mess on the sidewalk outside the credit union. They said they saw the guy eating and they saw him leave the trash. There was a bunch of fresh bananas, several cardboard takeout soup cups, nip bottles, beverage containers, cigarette butts, and other trash. 

The women said this guy and the trash is a daily event, which tracks with what I see when I’m downtown. The trash is a problem, but so is the situation of the several guys living, drinking, and sleeping on the sidewalks and doorways downtown. The solution seems elusive.

random thoughts – Day 1,108 – (Thursday) – busy season

The calendar seems to have hit the busy season for non-profit organization events. Monday had the breakfast before work, and tonight it was DIY Lowell’s “Chill Night” at Mill No 5, a converted mill space. The function room on the fifth floor was festive with lights on the wood columns and the downtown skyline and twilight visible outside the windows. 

The event featured a chili and stew competition with 18 chili and stew entries and I managed to try more than half of them. There was a lot of yummy happening, plus super affordable beer and wine. 

The night ended with ice cream, but by then I was a bit too full of chili and Mighty Squirrel Cloud Candy New England IPA beer. I will confess, I was mighty tempted, but not quite willing to make myself sick over it.

Converted mills are cool.

There were four of us from my department at the Chill night, and three bankers from other departments were there. It was fun getting to chat and compare chili notes with a Commercial Lender who I hadn't see since the remote and then hybrid work schedules took effect.  

I had two events this week, but a couple colleagues are volunteering Friday morning in Boston to set up the Belle of the Ball Boutique Day, which makes three events this week for one of them. I’m kind of glad my commitment issues kicked in and didn’t sign up for that. 

Flipping through the calendar for the next few weeks, I’ve got a “Dinner and a Show” fundraiser, Comedy Night fundraiser, and an Earth Day performance. In May, there is a reception for an art show for which I need to get my photos prepared for delivery and the TeamWalk for CancerCare. 

Things are about to get busy. I better make sure to take my vitamins.