TF MegaRatch

Still waffling about going in on the Marvel Transformers compendium Kickstarter. I really want the whole series collected but I really don't love this format. It'll probably be a long time before there's a chance to get it collected again in another way, though. Then another thing to consider is that a lot of people who backed the G.I. Joe collections last year are still waiting to have problems resolved. On the other hand, the people who did get their Joe collections on time and in proper form really like them...

Quite the opposite of these mixed feelings, I found out that the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack is being repressed in a limited "Unicron" edition and I preordered it immediately despite not yet having replaced my record player.

T'was a nice, low-key day. Didn't end up seeing most of my neighbors to offer marshmallows-- didn't occur to me that so many would be out for quite so much of the day-- so that was a shame. Kids liked them, though! I'll probably take the leftovers to work with me tomorrow.

As for the movie. I didn't catch that Hailee Steinfeld or I would've thought twice before supporting it. And I'm torn now because its success in light of the contract Ryan Coogler negotiated is making studio execs nervous and I do, as a general rule like making studio execs nervous. Also good to see a Black film doing well in the current climate. Idk.

But as for the movie itself, it was incredible. It looked gorgeous, to begin with. The costumes were a visual treat and I especially liked how Michael B Jordan's characters were differentiated by their personal styles. The effects were good to great for the most part, though the blood was a tad schlocky and I really wish they'd gone practical for one scene involving a snake. Granted, I think having the snake stand out like it did might've been intentional, given what snakes tend to represent, but I found it more distracting than ominous, personally. There's this one long shot that had me on the edge of my seat, not least because of the music.

The characters were all full-fleshed, for good and ill. I appreciated that no one seemed to "get what they deserved" but there were also no perfect victims. There was a real sense that they had lived eventful lives off the screen. I almost wish we could've seen their story without the supernatural horror elements, as the core story was strong enough to stand on its own. On the other hand, the characters and their stories truly were elevated by those elements, so I do need to emphasize the "almost" there.

I'm not actually sure how much I can say about the story while sticking to my usual avoidance of spoilers, as I'm not sure if I misunderstood the marketing-- only saw one trailer, tbh-- or if something in particular is supposed to be a twist. Certainly, I'm struggling to verbalize the cons without specific examples. I guess I'll just say that it's well-paced, has a good weight to it and makes excellent use of the time and place. It takes its time when it needs to, then the hits start coming and they don't stop coming. It's heartfelt and tense and even funny in all the right places.

Work was good today until it wasn't. Tbh, I'd be alright with how it ended if it wasn't Friday. I hate leaving cases over the weekend. Still, shouldn't take more than an hour to wrap them up on Monday and at that point, I'll probably be getting them on the table just in time to be read by the doctors anyway. At least that's my guess.

Trying not to worry too much over it, honestly, because I'd rather be excited that NEXT WEEK IS LAB WEEK! Buuut it's a little hard to be all that excited for the simple reason that we didn't get the usual hype sheet for the event. Which makes me think maybe we're not doing any spirit days or activities this years. Then again, no hype sheet means no information about lunch for the week either and I know they're getting us lunch as usual because the resources lady made sure to tell everyone to have the break room fridges cleared out. Idk, I don't mean to seem ungrateful. I appreciate the free food and I know I'm not entitled to the effort that goes into the planning. It's just that the whole experience was the highlight of my first few years working this job and I miss it, y'know? Still, makes sense. Fun stuff inevitably takes people away from their work and we have a lot more work to do now than we did when I started.

But, hey, that's next week-- this is the weekend! My sister and I (and maybe my mom) are taking the kids to a big Easter egg hunt festival thing downtown tomorrow and then we might get ice cream. I'm gonna check in on my marshmallow ingredients before then so I know if I have to pick anything up while I'm out, then I'll probably get them started as soon as I get home so they'll be good and ready for handing out on Sunday. Also on Sunday, I'm going to see Sinners and have lunch with my sister. And in between all that, there's a book to read, some sudoku puzzles to solve-- finally did one today with no mistakes!-- and some creative mojo that I'll be finding at least one outlet for.

Despite being painfully aware all day that today is Thursday, I was sitting here about to about to talk about how glad I am it's the weekend. Thanks for that disappointment, brain, lol.

Ah, well, I'm good to get through another day. The new schedule has been working out quite well for me, even if it hasn't had as much of an impact as I'd hoped. In hindsight, that hope was misplaced anyway and this is as good as I should've expected. I'll take it.

If I'm carrying any real disappointment into tomorrow, it's over forgetting to make Easter marshmallows to take in to work to share. I didn't remember until too late that it was something I wanted to do and, tbh, I'm not even sure I have enough ingredients to make that many. Still, though, it's fine. I'll make some for the niblings and maybe the neighbors and I'll be happy with that. Maybe I'll even take some time on Saturday-- almost certainly can't make it happen tomorrow-- to go and try to find a cookie cutter shaped like those Peeps marshmallow bunnies. I've only done ghost shapes before, so I think doing something different would be fun.

My last two Ali Express packages have been delayed so long I was starting to wonder if I'd ever get an update but I finally received notice that they've both arrived in the country, at least. For added context, they were both due to have arrived at my house on Monday...

Ah, well, not like they're anything important. And it's not like I didn't know that it was going to be a while before I got them. This just feels like a very annoying reminder of what's Happening right now and I can't honestly say I appreciate it, lol.

My Cash App account was closed suddenly. Got a notice saying that my Investing account was closed after it was found to be in violation of the ToS (how??) but it turned out to be the whole shebang. The money I've got in it isn't being frozen, at least, so that's good.

Here's the thing. I used their tax filing service. That is, in fact, the most recent activity on my account. So, now I'm freaking out. I don't think I actually need to, since I don't have any communications from the IRS, but this is very weird and so Idk. Also? I have not filed that amendment I mentioned-- forgot to print the form yesterday-- and now I can't access that service. I'm not terribly concerned about it-- I don't expect that twenty-eight cents to make an actual difference-- but it is very annoying. On the bright side, I'm pretty sure the filing deadline doesn't apply to amendments, so I still have time to get that figured out. Best case scenario, my appeal goes through, my account gets reinstated and I can use their tax service to finish what I need to do.

Really got slammed at work today. I did ninety-nine cases and still have some left over that I'll have to do in the morning. At least I'm not expecting a lot of new cases tomorrow morning, so I won't be rushing.

Small thing I'm rather pleased with myself over: While I was typing up the coding for the doctor, I caught something that she missed-- that two specimens in a case had been mixed up (so, the "A" specimen was actually "B" and vice versa), so were about to get the wrong diagnoses. Or, well. What I actually noticed was that the diagnoses I was typing up each matched the other specimen's morphology, which could've indicated any one of a number of mistakes had been made. But the doctor confirmed that the mistake that had been made was the specimens getting mixed up, so same difference. Of course the mistake might well have been caught before the patient was informed or at least-- almost certainly, tbh-- before they were treated but I'm still glad it got sorted out before the report went back to the provider, just to make things that much easier and more certain.

Speaking of catching things across my desk. Not that it happens often but I think it'll always throw me for a loop to look at a case and realize I know the patient. I've recognized relatives, former coworkers and old neighbors. No one, with a single exception, who I'm really in touch with anymore and I would've thought that would help but it's not better so much as a different sort of punch. Like I'm intruding on something, almost. Like I don't have the right to know. It feels especially weird when it's someone that someone else in my immediate family knows, because sometimes I see a diagnosis that feels like something they would want to know about but of course it's none of my business to share that information even before we get into ethics and legalities. Idk, I'm not really going anywhere with this, I guess. It's just that it just happened and so it's in my head.

Got my taxes filed. The situation from last year didn't put me in a great spot but it wasn't as bad as I worried. Gonna have to file an addendum over twenty-eight frikkin cents, though, because I forgot that I jumped ship on a stock last year and so forgot to include the form for it when filing.

I also forgot all about crochet today. Or, rather, my head just wasn't in it. Fell too deep into "I should do" and got overwhelmed even though I had a specific thing I was planning to do, Idk. I did indeed finish the book I was reading, though, and I've started a new one. I've really fallen off reading since the start of the year but I'm hoping to catch up again by the end of this month. I've got what I think will be pretty quick reads lined up, then it'll be onto some of the thicker books I've been putting off. knocked out a sudoku puzzle too.

Also did a little bit of sketching, which is something I've been meaning to put some time into and simply haven't. Gonna add it to my Finch goals, I think, just need to decide how often I want to commit to. Anyway, the simple studies I did were hit or miss but I'm pleased just to have done them and I think I've got a good idea of what I need to work on going forward. I did a cute little doodle of a cartoon dog just to see if I still could and that was a relative success, which also pleases me. It'll take a minute but I do think I can get back to about the level I was at a few years ago relatively quickly and then I can focus on actually improving.