Life is a combination of magic and pasta.

The next round of poking and prodding

2026-06-02T19:54:11Z

The cardiologist didn't have any sort of grave diagnosis, but since my ECGs come out with a small issue and I did technically "fail" the nuclear scan (not by any leaps and bounds, thankfully), he wants do double check to make sure things are good and what course to take be it meds or minor procedures.

I have a carotid artery doppler scan next Thursday and then he wants to schedule a heart CT but since the latter requires a creatinine blood test before, since I'm seeing my GP for my regular follow up also next Thursday, we'll bundle the blood tests together and I'll schedule the CT after that.

Coincidentally, my GP, cardiologist AND University Radiology are all in the same small building together so it's at least convenient. I could also technically go to the Labcorp in the building next door for a whole one stop shopping experience but that location truly sucks with crowds and long lines even if you make an appointment so I'll just schedule the blood tests at the nearby Labcorp in Walgreens.

Mom had to have surgery on her carotid arteries which made her neck look weird but she was also a smoker for many years. I did get some of that secondhand as a kid but hopefully it didn't wonk things up TOO much.

He didn't have an answer about whether I actually have that bicuspid instead of tricuspid valve but the CT may answer that. I also wanted to know since I found it said if you do, you should let siblings know so they can get checked. As much as they annoy me, I certainly would warn them to get checked if I turn out to be genetically defective and all.

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Little bit of catch up

2026-06-01T12:35:17Z

Doing some finger crossing for tomorrow. Had a transthoracic echo on Thursday and a nuclear stress test on Friday. Word to the wise, the chemical stress test is awful. I mean you only feel super weird for a couple of minutes before it fades to a headache but don't recommend if you can manage to do the treadmill instead. Anyway, I had asked before I left whether I needed to make a follow up and they said I can wait until my next appointment in September unless there's something to discuss.

Seems there's something to discuss. Ugh. Have a follow up at 10:30 tomorrow to discuss the "mildly abnormal" results which I am hanging on to that "mild" for sanity's sake. I see that the commentary on the results of the nuclear imaging are not yet up on the site and I'm suspecting that's intentional. The echo had an odd comment of "The aortic valve is not well visualized. A bicuspid aortic valve cannot be excluded" which if that is confirmed on the nuclear scan would mean that I've had a congenital heart defect. Aside from notations of minimal regurgitation, on the echo, it doesn't seem too drastic right now.

It may be just that and if so, welp, I'm guessing scans on the regular to make sure it doesn't get worse. But we'll see what the doc says.

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Shiny retail therapy

2026-05-24T20:22:47Z

Between beaded bracelets, press on nails (that I can't wear until after my heart tests later this week, long story lol), skin care and even a little makeup, it's odd. Almost girly girl? Welp, ok.

Yesterday we saw signs around for an estate sale on the north side of town - the fancier side - and decided to go check it out for potential props for the channel and such. One thing we had our eye on was a black lacquered bar cabinet that was $175 and decided we'd go back today since it was supposed to be the 50% off day.

I did find some colorful costume jewelry and a couple of fans that I thought could be fun for some characters or just finding something to wear them around that's different. Oh and I almost forgot, I also got a three foot tall sturdy small metal shelving thing. Today when we went back, the cabinet was still there but suddenly priced at $300. Nah. Not like we'd want to try to heave it into Emily's Subaru for just about what they were already selling it for the day before. I did find a couple more necklaces and a couple pairs of earrings that looked fun. In total for both days I spent $40 on everything. Here's the jewelry and fan haul:

And the shelf I almost forgot about

Most things had that mild "old house with a whiff of a little possible cigarette smoke" but I soaked the jewelry in soapy water a couple of times and the smell was negated and I hand washed the fans. The fans still had a tiny bit of smell after drying so I spritzed some nice perfume on them and let them air out some more and they smell nice.

It was fun since I'd never been to an estate sale before.

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Me? Important? Nah, I don't get paid enough to be smart

2026-05-15T12:47:34Z

So this week took a fun turn with the University telling us about not spending USDA money due to this lawsuit. Not surprisingly, the useless central office that I used to be the "data goddess" at (mind, not a title I gave myself, it's the one that the director introduced me to the President of the University at the time in front of everyone. Embarrassing) gave us wildly inadequate information. Am I shocked? Oh hell no.

So during this week, all of a sudden, I'm back to being the "subject matter expert"...well sort of. First Josh kept trying to get former bitch boss Wendie, the now Vice Provost for Research to get answers from the people that fall under the Vice President for Research's office which not shockingly, she couldn't do. He REALLY needs to stop dealing with her office. I would pay good money that the other office realizes she's a nasty attitude moron and avoids her.

So last night, Josh had to contact the people he should have contacted all along and got a sort of answer, one where we'd have to make a choice about how to proceed. Well who is the first person that Josh visited this morning? Yep, yours truly. I brought up the fact that regardless which choice is made (to either continue the pause on FY26 spending or proceed by only paying salary on "safe" projects), the business office needs to look at the rate of spending on the carryover dollars and stretch them to the end of September with the hopes that the lawsuit will resolve by then. But hey, y'all never listen to me and shit invariably hits the fan so gee, why start now?

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Anyhoo, I'm not going to stress about it. I don't get paid enough to.

I did get an interesting request the night before last. I was contacted by the head of the National system that coordinates multistate projects to serve as a reviewer on the five year renewal of the National multistate program. Other reviewers are people like the Director of Communications for USDA and also the head of one of the research land grant Universities. Hey, sure, why not? At least people more lofty and important than the ones here appreciate my input and you can bet I'll put that on the ol' resume.

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No med changes...yet

2026-05-11T17:36:46Z

Kinda like the new cardiologist. Even if he does want to put me on statins...don't waaaaaana. Though he's going to hold off until I see my GP (who happens to be upstairs from his office) in June since she'll order the regular blood tests to see how things are going. These will be the first tests after starting Mounjaro so fingers crossed.

My BP was normal in both arms which stunned me since I was kind of a nervous wreck. We did and ECG and looks like he's going to have me do more tests - a transthoracic echocardiogram and a nuclear stress test at the end of the month. The latter will likely be without exercise since I have my wobbly-ass knees.

The reasoning is the ECG did show left ventricular hypertrophy. I couldn't remember when I had a previous one which DUH, it was before the surgery. I found that and it showed that it was just borderline whereas it's more obvious in the one today. Greeeeeat.

I don't have any particularly obvious symptoms that I know of aside from the fact that I know my sleep sucks. So I'm going to have to get that stupid sleep study done after all. If I can do the play at home version, to assure that I'll get enough sleep for an actual diagnosis, I'll hit Ye Olde Recliner. Otherwise my achy shoulders and back will wake me up like usual and throw things off. I will have to say that I've noticed a small improvement in less needed trips to the bathroom through the night. A win is a win.

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Glad we could be there

2026-05-10T21:15:13Z

Even though it was another long drive yesterday - and a rainy drive back - it was so nice to see our friend get married. I'm glad the rain mostly held off so that people could get pictures outside (I'm assuming they'll share the ones they got with us soon) and that people could partake of the coffee bar outside. When the pre-game prayer service was done, they let us know that things were starting soon so we all did some speed walking through the light rain to the front of the mosque. There was a bit of a delay before things got started and so the kids were running around. No one seemed to mind so it was amusing.

It was a really nice ceremony and we weighed whether to stay for the reception downstairs where I knew that it was going to be a tight fit. We went down and yeah, NOPE. The tables were SO squeezed in there and that was before many people made their way down. I dropped off the card with cash in the box designated and we skedaddled off. The new friend that works at the Rutgers libraries that Noor wanted us to meet also didn't stay for the reception. They did post a few photos on Instagram so I can comfortably share a couple.

( She looks so pretty and happy )

Since we had too much going on yesterday, we went to Trader Joe's this morning. We knew it would be busy for Mother's Day but good GRIEF it was an absolute madhouse. I swear they must make triple their annual profits just in flowers that day alone. We managed to get some groceries for the week and fortunately the line moved pretty quickly. We went further down and got a snack at Panera since we had 15 minutes before Michaels opened. I wanted to get some sturdy stretchy stuff and a few trinkets to make a few beaded bracelets and a clasp to convert a couple of eyeglass holders into necklaces. When we were passing back by TJs, it was still thronged with people. Whew.

Since there wasn't any way I was going to go try Stop and Shop to get the water enhancers I wanted today, I'll stop there after the cardiologist. I'm curious whether he'll want to change out any meds.

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Guess it is sorta working after all

2026-05-08T15:35:19Z

I can't post the picture of last night's wedding shower since it was a closed hijabi-friendly event and they asked not to post on social media. But it was really cute. Emily drove since it took an hour and a half to get there and I get nervous about highways. It took an hour to get back and I know Emily didn't like driving at night. The wedding on Saturday is a different location but about the same distance. Hopefully a Saturday won't have the rush hour crunch and it also starts at 1pm and we don't intend to stay for much of the reception since it will be crowded.

There wasn't a lot that Emily could eat at the shower and there wasn't a lot that I SHOULD have eaten. I didn't overeat but having coffee in the evening, oily pasta salad, tuna salad, bits of cheese, a small spanakopita and part of a mini pudding took its toll when I got home even though I didn't finish things. I was ill all night. Guess while the 5mg of Mounjaro doesn't shut off the food noise, it does punish you for not eating properly. Noted. I need to use up vacation days this and next month as not to use them so I took today off and took Monday off for the new cardiologist.

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Trying to pick my outfit

2026-05-06T22:17:42Z

Emily and I are going to my friend Noor's wedding on Saturday at the mosque. I've got a few options and not sure which to go with. Oh and I got the head dressings from TikTok. Woot

( Snip snip for pics )Ignore my house slippers. Obviously not wearing THOSE to the wedding

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To the "bring it on" stage

2026-05-04T19:19:41Z

The last time I messaged my GP to get drugs refilled and that it was time to go from 2.5mg to 5mg, she said to message her before she's out of the office May 8 so I did over the weekend. I also noted that I so far wasn't feeling any difference on the 5mg (aside from the usual occasional gastro weirdness now and then and being fatigued the first couple of days after, typical side effects).

She called me today to ask about those before refilling and I said that I thought that the 5mg would have more side effects and would also hopefully turn the food noise off again, which it hadn't. I stopped losing weight a month ago. It also hasn't had any more difference on the blood sugar on the higher dose so far. Yesterday in the morning it was 104 which made no sense since I thought I slept pretty well. So she asked if for the next round if I want to go ahead and hop up to the 7.5mg dose.

Normally I'd be all nervous about it but screw it, I need this drug to WORK already so let's just do this. I still have three more doses/weeks of the 5mg before switching over to the 7.5mg so it shouldn't be a complete shock to the system.

Probably was also affected by thinking I was looking rather huge in my gardening video and also that recent blood test I didn't like the results of. Meh, whatever motivates, I suppose.

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Is this mic on, drug?

2026-05-03T12:16:43Z

Yo, Mounjaro, um...a higher dose is supposed to be MORE effective, not less. Why my blood sugar testing at 104 this morning when I actually finally got a decent night's sleep? What gives? Hmph. Well, hopefully Wednesday's dose of the 5mg does more than make me sleepy and bloated. Bah.

I made an appointment with a new cardiologist that looked to have good ratings. Originally they couldn't get me in until September but then they called back and had an appointment on Monday May 11th. Awesome. I'm hoping to talk about the BP meds that I've been on for years that I'm not sure if they're the correct ones to be on. My BP at the doctor is kind of inconsistent. Also, if I like the guy and they're reasonable about treating that and my cholesterol, then my GP would only be responsible for the diabetic and other stuff which I'd prefer.

Now only if my dentist can get me in earlier than the late November appointment they had. It's a very very overdue cleaning and checkup. I have a feeling we'll have to change the crown that they installed years ago. It's done well for several years but now there's space where food gets in and stuff so I may have to put out some cash for a replacement. In the meantime, dental pics and water pic until we can get to that.

I'm up to $67 on YT and part of it was a commission on someone buying some of the low sugar gummies promoted in the Mounjaro video I made. It's possible that the commission was from when I just bought more shameless snacks from iHerb but hey, making money back on my own purchase would be awesome lol.

Speaking of money back on my own purchase, I let my ancestry.com membership lapse since it's expensive. I do this all the time when the six months runs out because I wait for them to give me a deal and also so I can get cash back through Rakuten. This time I got both. I had clicked on it when Rakuten showed 12% back but didn't complete the cart. A couple of days later Rakuten had a "just for me" deal of over 30% back (!!!) and not only that, ancestry was offering half off the full access membership so SCORE. It's still not cheap but when I'm not making videos, my hobby is helping fill in the gaps for people on the familysearch site by confirming hints and sometimes I go back to ancestry to confirm with other records. I saw that even in the 20th century, black history is sadly not well documented. Normally when I'm doing my own white relatives for ones born in the late 1800s, early 1900s, it's easy to build up their history. It's not so easy for black folk. They don't always show up properly on the census or death records, don't always show up on social security records. So I'm now kind of making it a quest to improve genealogical ties for black folks who are trying to build their family trees (well, for as much as they can back to slavery times, unfortunately).

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Ups and downs

2026-04-29T18:33:59Z

I went to Walgreens to go to the Labcorp for a couple of tests that I purchased directly from them (the cortisol one turned out fine but the CRP one is high. Ugh). I don't want to start statins so I'm crossing my fingers that the higher dose of Mounjaro that I'm starting today helps with that.

Anyway, while there, for some reason the only NIVEA that I could find was a small and expensive tube of hand lotion so I skipped that one. I did find a Walgreens dupe for a CeraVe light night cream and got that. Yesterday I lightly rinsed my face with cool water then applied the Trader Joe's cream in the afternoon and the night cream overnight and the face is starting to feel more normal. Today a biotin blend vitamin showed up so I took one and fingers crossed that it helps the skin and nails.

The YouTube monetization thing is surprising. I thought that I'd get like 30 cents a day or something but it's been monetized only since Sunday morning and according to the estimate, the first two days I earned $20. Whoa. Well we'll see how this goes. The video where I'm doing a whole montage of corporate jargon goes up tomorrow at 2pm and I found it pretty funny. What's kind of weirding me out about it, though, is that I noticed that I am acting a LOT like my brother. With his gestures and everything. Yikes. I'll have to send it to my sister when it's out so she can judge it lol. I still don't talk to my brother but that's on him.

There are some ways to get some other funding via YouTube such as brand sponsorships and sharing of music royalties on certain songs. I'll have to see about those once things hopefully continue to grow. At the moment we're at about 2150+ followers.

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I have to guess that it's menopause

2026-04-27T13:31:00Z

Even before I started the GLP-1, early this year my nails took a nosedive. Breaking, thinning, peeling. I'm doing collagen gummies (going to switch to something else since they're really not doing anything), I already take Vitamin D. I'm getting enough protein.

Now it's the skin. Especially my face. I used to be one of those people that had to remind myself to moisturize but now not only is it required daily but it doesn't seem enough? Last night I noticed that even though I put on the daily face moisturizer after my shower earlier that day, that evening my face was dry, flaky and red. I tried a different moisturizer and it didn't seem any better and was itchy. I did a gentle cleanser and put on some vitamin c toner to be as gentle as possible in case it was some sort of allergic reaction. It helped a little but I just feel like I need to step up the efforts even more.

I had ordered and starting using some nail aid products last week. A keratin one, one for menopause that has collagen, a cuticle oil jelly with collagen and vitamin E. The peach scent on the cuticle jelly smells incredible. Since it's not soaking in as quickly as I'd like, when I slather it on, I put on some gloves to wear for an hour or so. It's helping slightly but again, something seems off.

If there are any products that you find work really well (soaps, lotions, products, vitamins), please share. Virtual hugs will be sent in return.

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About time, YouTube

2026-04-26T11:07:41Z

The statistics showed earlier this week that the monetization on YT should have kicked in but they were so sloooooowly giving me my "verified" watch hours bit by bit. But then this morning I logged into the studio and it gave me the option to set up ads finally. Yay! I left the option unchecked on the mid-roll ads since I don't want people getting halfway through a soothing ASMR video only to have VERY LOUD AD kick in. I'm very curious as to how much monetization there is. I'll see, I suppose!

The sudden influx of subscribers has boggled my mind but well...ok? I'm now past 2000 subscribers. I do notice that you get more dislikes (and likes) on your video the more that they push it out but I'm trying not to take the dislikes personally.

Right now I'm watching one of the Korean life vlogs that I follow. It amuses me on this one and another that I follow about American things that suddenly become trendy there. Last week it was learning that the Chili's restaurant is very popular there. And today it was learning that this stuff, the Fritos cheap cheese sauce is sold out everywhere because people want to dip their fried chicken into it

Seriously? This stuff? It's barely a step up from spray cheese (which that is probably only still around to trick dogs into taking pills.)

I will admit to the guilty pleasure of still liking the Fritos bean dip, though. lol

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Hopefully won't be long

2026-04-22T21:21:32Z

I've been able to apply for an adsense account which according to YouTube can take either a few days or a few weeks for approval. They finally counted at least 3000 watch hours and according to the statistics, it shouldn't be a lot longer before 4000 are counted for full monetization. You also have to have 1000 followers which happened last week and then all of a sudden, KABOOM. In the last week, I've been gaining 100 followers per day. Wow.

I was hoping to film at least a video today but there was WAY too much noise going on outside. I need to get more content filmed and scheduled to keep the momentum going. Roleplays seem to be my bread and butter and I have a few ideas.

At least doing this distracts me from the annoying job. The boss pissed me off yet again today because he sat on a request from Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) for a bunch of data they need by Tuesday. According to the document he showed us, the final version of their request from them was March 23 with previous versions in February so that jackass didn't tell us it existed for at least a month. Nice going, dope.

Oh he also got a response from the feds about the civil rights audit that former Bossbitch screwed up and USDA wants a bunch of answers by this June instead of 2027. HAHAHAHA, good luck with THAT. I have a meeting with him and Elaine tomorrow morning to "discuss" and I'm going to have a sudden case of stupid. No, I don't deal with that sort of thing. Bossbitch kicked me out when I offered so I have noooo idea about how to write up official procedures to appease the federal government. Sorry!

In this morning's weekly team meeting, Good Time Diane was gone and she shall remain so. No more joking around because golly gee, I wouldn't want to OFFEND. All professional, all business. Everyone else can laugh at his lame jokes. There's WORK to do. After the meeting, Elaine complimented my dress and pondered that she hasn't seen me wear black. I told her to get used to it, at least on meeting and important zoom days. No more colorful whimsy unless it's a day I'm solo in my office doing my thing.

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Annual evaluation time

2026-04-21T16:41:11Z

I had assumed that Boss Josh would feed me a line of bs about supposedly still working to get me an upgrade and I was correct. I let him know that I have no confidence or hopes it will happen after a decade of effort and on top of that the recent rejection that was not handled properly by University HR and down the line (which I put in a statement citing policies and procedures that were not appropriately followed since I want it in the file). I also told him that I know he means well but to please not do the whole "Diane is the EXPERT!!" in our outreach to folks because when they see that I don't have a leadership title though I'm toted as leadership, it's embarrassing. I got the "please let me know about these things" and uh...isn't that what I just did? Not that I said that. I just reiterated that I know he means well but please don't say these things in the future.

I also noted that I didn't think any upgrade was going to happen because when Elaine was going for her promotion, she had special meetings with the Executive Dean and with the head of the Business/Budget/HR office about it and I've not once been asked to attend any meetings with them about anything, much less my position. Not that I particularly WANT to be in meetings but if I'm the "expert" then why have I never been asked to attend and give input? Josh seemed to get that but then said something that well, ticked me off though I kept my mouth shut. He said that if I were to attend a meeting that I should watch how I talk. As if I'm suddenly going to be inappropriate? Uh...dude, I have been professional in every one of the meetings with faculty, meetings with staff, outreach zoom meetings, in person events that we've held. Just because I'm more honest in discussions with YOU, that gives you some indication that I will be some sort of sassy loudmouth with people lateral and above you? The hell?

My suspicion is that the assumption of inappropriate behavior comes from the former boss that was awful to me talking smack. Well if in the year and nearly a half that you've been my boss and witnessed my interactions with these sorts of audiences hasn't convinced you otherwise, then I'm done bothering making effort. I didn't tell him this because again, why bother? It'll have zero effect in any positive way.

If either a better job offer comes around or when I reach retirement eligibility, I find a nice lower stress job in the private sector, don't be surprised if I quietly leave without much notice. In the meantime, I'm going to do my work as exactly described, placidly smile and nod and not assert myself, not make promises of anything above my level.

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Going to circle back to touch base about the synergy...UGH

2026-04-15T14:19:40Z

The jargon bullshit at work is getting tedious. As is the boss's obsession with putting every fucking thing through AI filters.

Just in two meetings, yesterday afternoon and this morning, some of the pointless hoo ha phrases spewed:
Ground-truthing
Logic model
Convergence research
Bandwidth
Close the loop
Metrics
Mission critical
Strategic vision and framing

I told Emily that I should do a roleplay for the channel just cram packed full of this stuff. At least then it would seem USEFUL to me to have to suffer through all the babble. Oh, btw we're at 1055 subscribers and 2471 watch hours. Need to keep cranking out decent videos to see if I can get to 4000 watch hours to get monetized.

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Well, I got some nice shoes?

2026-04-11T19:18:56Z

We headed into Brooklyn close to noon on Thursday (Lyft to train station, NJ Transit to NY Penn Station, subway to Brooklyn then walking several blocks to the hotel). We tried to stop for lunch at a chain called Sweetgreen but the pin on their map is in the completely wrong location so we crossed the street and tried to get something at the revamped fancy train hall but the food court had no place for us to sit so we gave up and ended up chilling for a few moments at a Zaro's bakery in old Penn Station before hopping the subway to Brooklyn. I had a small but tasty tuna salad sandwich (noting the food for future reference).

When we got to the hotel, since we were dragging suitcases and hadn't done the ol' city crawl in a long time, we were pretty tired and so we got into each of our rooms and crashed for a while. We tried to get adjoining rooms but that didn't happen. We were at least on the same floor and I did have a walk-in shower in my room. A few hours later we decided to walk several blocks to a modern Mexican restaurant that sounded good. The food was super tasty - I ordered a horchata, a lobster taco that's served cold and is a little spicy with some fresh onion and a bowl of pozole which I've always wanted to try that soup. Emily also ordered some fresh pico and chips to share.

I finished my fancy taco (it wasn't any bigger than any regular taco) but had just a few chips and pico and barely made a dent in the pozole and didn't finish my drink. I chalked it up to the Mounjaro finally making me full quickly. I was bummed that I had to waste the rest of the soup since it wouldn't have traveled well but at least we know that this place, while a little expensive, gives filling servings. It wasn't just the size of the meal...I screwed up, I screwed up BIG. While I do need to contact my doctor to graduate to the next dose up, it's still effective enough at slowing digestion and I had been avoiding things like broccoli, brussels sprouts and...ONION...since starting the drug. The tuna salad had raw onion, the taco had raw onion, the pico had raw onion. Oh hell.

And naturally the Tums I meant to bring didn't make it into my toiletry bag or my purse. I had to spend $4 for two Tums at the front desk and it still barely made a dent into the stomach woes. I didn't sleep much or well that night. The next morning I thought that it was down to a dull roar and had a little of the free breakfast (oatmeal with fixings since they had an awesome oatmeal bar and a side of a little scrambled egg for the protein), but through the day, I just kept getting waves of feeling hellish. We went into the city since I wanted to go to a shoe place I saw online to try on some flats. I liked the fit of them - they even have quarter sizes which I didn't know was even a thing! After doing a little more wandering in Manhattan, we were both tired and took the subway and the several block tromp back to the hotel in early afternoon. Since neither one of us were up for doing a sit down meal that night, we had stopped at a bougie grocery in Brooklyn on the walk back to get some things to eat at the hotel before the concert.

I had to spend another $4 for some more Tums since I was still in a good amount of gastro distress. I managed to keep things down, barely and laid down for a few hours to get things under control. I did eat the very simple sandwich I got at the grocery before we went for our several block walk to the concert venue.

It was a good enough concert, well kind of, but we ended up leaving early because we couldn't take how ungodly LOUD it was. Like rattling your seat loud even when he was doing what were ballads. Emily was getting a headache and that thumping didn't help my stomach any so we were only there and hour and a half.

I stopped at a Walgreens outside of the Barclays center and got extra Tums and water. It helped. Unfortunately someone was having a party at 1am in the breakfast area that Emily's room overhangs so she had to call the front desk to complain about the noise. We were both sore as hell the next morning so instead of dragging ourselves the several blocks, I called for a Lyft to take us to the subway. Thankfully we didn't have the energy to do more exploring in Manhattan since during the time we were hanging out in Penn Station for an hour waiting for the next NJ Transit train, some guy with a machete went on a rampage at Grand Central. Yikes.

It wasn't a terrible time but hopefully the next trip we go on has less misadventures. Hey, I did get over 12K steps in on Friday alone.

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Brain fluffery for the week

2026-04-05T12:49:39Z

Happy Easter if you observe. I had a hard boiled egg this morning if that counts lol

Cute thing if you haven't heard about it. If you go to weather.com and click the "Retro cast now" up in the top left corner, it gives you the weather like the actual old Weather Channel style with the elevator music and everything! IYKYK

Lost another .7 to be down to 195.2. Considering I didn't track calories but just tried to stay aware of things, that's good. Progress is progress when you have insulin resistance and shit metabolism. I also think going to the pool one day and going on the stationary bike for 20 minutes on Friday (couldn't do more since the knee was annoyyyyyed) helped. Not for as much that it burned calories, which obviously it did, but the activity likely did a good job of boosting the metabolism so I need to continue to increase activity as I can. Still going to contact the doctor in a week or so to let her know that it's time to go up to the next dose.

I'll be getting my workout later this week when Emily and I go to Brooklyn on Thursday for a Friday night concert and will come back Saturday. We're taking the train in rather than trying to drive - mainly because of the hotel reviews saying that the parking sucks. So with that and the fact that we're going to spend a chunk of the time wandering around Manhattan, we'll for sure be getting our steps in. I'll be bringing KT Tape to reinforce the ol' knees.

We're up to 955 subscribers and 2100 and change watch hours so getting there! Once I get to 1000, I should have the ability to turn off mid-roll ads which for ASMR channels is key. If you're monetized, you get less (not that I care either way with that) but not having interruption in the middle of the soothing sound will hopefully get people watching more of the video so the watch hours improve.

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I got tea! Ok...coffee, but STILL

2026-03-29T12:05:58Z

First off, I missed doing a check in last week so to catch up, I was 196.4 last week and 195.9 this week. Yes, it's going down but I'm tracking calories and weighing things and it should be at at least a pound or more per week at the deficit that I'm eating. Ah well. I have another month of the 2.5 dose and since the effectiveness is wearing off and the weight is on the verge of completely stalling, I'll let the doc know that it's time to go up a level for the month after that. The side effects are lessening so it's time. I probably could have bumped up already but I'll just exercise willpower for a month.

I am going to experiment with not tracking calories this week and see how it goes. I know mentally I'll be doing the math which is fine and I'll be aware of making good food choices. I'm also going to take off a couple of random days this week since I need to start slowly chewing up vacation days as not to lose any at the end of June and also since Bossdude Josh is off this week taking his daughter to colleges so it's an ideal time. I'll do some filming on those days as well as will get to the Y.

I won't be taking tomorrow off, though it's tempting because I got to see my girl Noor and also be there for the PIPING HOT TEA. That post I made last week about Lindsay? Well, there is NEWS. Girl put in her NOTICE! WOO HOO! Luckily for Elaine and Josh, the head of the business office is going to let them list the position since he knows that having more staff is a dire need in our office. Not that any of the help is going to be for me but I digress.

Anyway, on Friday, Elaine was annoying the SHIT out of me with her woe is me crap and how she's so busyyyyy with no hellllp. Bitch, shut UP. You are finally getting rid of the dead weight to get a new and better person so suck it up.

Now there IS going to be more drama because Lindsay wants to take her I think they said 60 sick days. Uh...unless you're getting a doctor to write you out with some form of dire illness, you can't do that. So it'll be interesting to see how THAT goes.

Also, Emily's right hand gal Alicia will be applying for the job and Noor is going to help me push having her get it since she would be a fantastic and well qualified person. It would suck for Emily to lose her but their center is slowly dying so it's time for people to jump ship. Emily's looking and not getting bites but fortunately as long as she makes it to August without the center going tits up, she'll be at her 25 years and can retire with full benefits and look for non-RU, non-State jobs

So this week should be interesting, eh?

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I wish her concert tickets weren't so expensive

2026-03-20T23:40:54Z

Noticed just now that Raye has a new song. They went all out for the visuals in the video too.

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Field trips and lemon pound cake

2026-03-19T20:27:33Z

Tomorrow I'm going to one of the other campuses at work to attend a half-day meeting with folks from the farms and centers about research going on there (and some Rutgers engineering faculty also registered of which I'm sure at least one of them will ask about the land-grant funding which I'll have to explain why no, they aren't eligible). I'm looking forward to seeing some folks I haven't seen in a while but decidedly NOT looking forward to seeing the former semi-Bosslady that retired I think sometime in 2024. Woman, stay retired. Go away. Ugh. I'll try not to twitch when she calls me "Di" since I loathe that nickname. Hopefully she ignores me and keeps her distance. I'll certainly keep mine.

In a weird and amusing distraction, I just heard about the "Afroman" case today and evidently he won! Afroman prevails in cops' music video defamation suit after a brief but viral trial Feel free to click the link in the article with the Lemon Pound Cake video on YT that has nearly 4M views.

Also, the look he wore to court was pretty epic

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Weekly status update

2026-03-15T15:12:13Z

Morning weigh in is 197.1 which is 2 more pounds from mid-week and 10 pounds overall. I'm expecting the pace to slow which is fine as long as it's gradually going the correct direction. Morning blood sugar was 107 which isn't great but I also didn't sleep well. Yesterday was the worst day for side effects. Tummy aches and acid reflux. I had to take three tums since natural remedies weren't helping. It could be the drug, it honestly could be just a "bad tummy day" since I get those now and then. I'm also fatigued which comes on suddenly sometimes. Although my doctor wanted me right off the bat to up the dose, instead I'm going to ask for a refill for the same dose I'm currently on for another month before deciding to increase.

I went in the pool on Tuesday and then - may or may not be related - had a skin flare up. The flare is now resolved and I'll try to do at least one visit this week in the pool again. I also need to start lifting or other weight bearing exercise since I've been lazy about doing that.

Nothing much else to report. Need to get a multigrain mix in the rice cooker going so I can have lunch in about an hour or so. I'm going to do one cup of white rice and then half quinoa, half barley. That'll up the fiber and protein, two dietary priorities. I got a precooked piece of salmon yesterday I may eat half of it and save the other half for tomorrow. I should've picked up some avocado since it's healthy fat that would go well. Ah well. I may hit up HMart mid week for some fresh sashimi so I can get some then.

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Sunday & Monday

2026-03-10T12:45:40Z

The hockey game on Sunday was fun! Selfie IG picture at the linky here. I wore a sweater since it was a little warmer outside but we underestimated how cool it would be at the rink so we spent a hunk of money on jerseys and hats. Considering how much we enjoyed ourselves, we will probably go again sometime. It was SO nice to see people wearing and holding signs saying things like "In my women's sports era." Oh and the Sirens WON! WEEWOO! We were sitting next to an older couple from Canada who their daughter played for the Sirens. At the end of the game, he told us we were "lucky" and that we needed to come back. lol

In GLP-1 news, the effects do seem to wear off before your next dose. I don't know if that will change if/when I increase doses in a few weeks. I'm less concerned about the hunger shut off wearing off and more concerned that the morning blood sugar levels are slowly creeping back up. This morning it was 107. I won't be surprised if tomorrow morning if it's in the one-teens. I still have to be careful not to overeat, though, since even though there appears to be hunger, if I eat the wrong thing, I'm likely to feel cruddy after. This morning I was surprised to be awakened by a hungry tummy and shouldn't have had a biscotti with coffee right off the bat. The coffee was fine, but I need to keep to less empty carb things and more things like hard boiled egg/grainy toast with thin smears of unsweetened nut butter, etc.

I took yesterday off since I need to start chewing up vacation days and in the morning I filmed two roleplay videos for the channel (keep those ideas coming!) and in the afternoon, I drove to the YMCA and did about 45 minutes with the older farts in the exercise pool with the water weights. Between that and all the walking the day before at the game, I am a sore camper this morning. Gotta keep at it, though. I'm thinking I'll go back either Thursday or Friday afternoon.

Ooop, ok, work symposium about to start. I'm doing virtual but should pay attention.

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First post-shot weigh in

2026-03-08T12:28:36Z

Stepped on the scale this morning and it shows 201.3 so did lose several pounds. Trying to figure out what to eat is confusing but I'll figure it out. Since my body doesn't tell me I'm hungry right now but will give other signals but if I eat too much (and "too much" is far less than usual), I feel ill. So I have to prioritize eating what is good for the body.

I had one of those tiny Yakult light drinks to start things off about an hour ago. It's good for digestive health since it has probiotics. It did help make me feel a little better. While I was setting up the coffee maker for communal coffee, I pondered what to make next that would be balanced. I ended up with breakfast being a small slice of Wegmans six seed bread with a super thin smear of peanut butter (love that stuff from Whole Foods where it comes right from a peanut grinder with nothing added) and a small chicken breast skewer and a cup of coffee with some oat creamer. Note from not having posted this for about 15 minutes is that it may have been a little too much for right now. I should have just had the toast now and eaten the skewer later. Lesson learned.

I resurrected my MyFitnessPal just now. I hate tracking calories since it tends to make me neurotic but for the moment, I need to make sure that I'm doing it right. That breakfast was 394 calories.

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Making adjustments

2026-03-07T20:39:26Z

Cut in case mild medical stuff gives ya the ick. But want to document things since I'm getting old and forgetful

( Mounjaro update )

Tomorrow we're going to the hockey game and Emily would rather drive to Newark rather than take the train. Okey dokey. Hopefully our preferred parking is available.

Since I need to use up vacation days, I'm taking Monday off. In the morning, I'm going to film at least one, maybe more videos to put up on the YT channel. I like to get ahead so I'm not letting too much time go in between them so we don't lose traction. A little after noon, I'm going to finally drive over to the YMCA and trudge around the exercise pool with the other old farts.

Later that afternoon, my work buddy Noor is going to come over so the three of us can go get a snack (it's Ramadan for her but she's on her cycle so she's allowed to break fast). She invited Emily and I to her shower and wedding in May. I haven't been to a wedding in ages and this will be a Muslim wedding which will be a first for me! Evidently a tradition at a Muslim wedding is to hire a coffee cart and Noor is a coffee maniac so of COURSE she's going to keep with tradition there. lol

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