Couch 229 - Acetominphen and

I’m sorry that sounds awful

Yeah, having them do the heavy stuff while I do the light stuff is the plan. It took me and three friends like half an hour to get stuff from the old apt into the POD (it’s only 7ft long and is mostly boxes of clothes and kitchen stuff and whatnot; the only furniture is an office chair and a cheap spin bike) though the walk was shorter and there were five steps instead of a glacially slow elevator.

I can probably extend their time if needed, but I’d rather not because I am trying to save money so I can buy plane tickets to visit the BF… though I suppose that if/when the old hospital pays me and I get my first paycheck from the new place, my bank account will look less sad.

It’s not so much that it’s a total insurmountable disaster, just that it’s annoying and one of many annoyances… especially given that I don’t want to be moving in the first place now that I have a BF in the city where I used to live :/

Then why are you moving if you don’t want to? Can’t your bf visit you?

It has to do with unlucky timing and something called the Match system for medical residencies and fellowships. I finished my residency and applied for a specialty fellowship. The way that works is that you apply to and interview at a bunch of places; then, you rank which ones you like best and the programs rank which applicants they liked best. Then, a big official computer creates an optimized list and “‘matches” applicants with programs so that as many people/programs as possible get what they want.

The tricky part is that when you submit your ranked preference list, you are essentially signing a contract saying that you will go wherever you match. Everything in medical education happens ridiculously far in advance, so when I submitted my list in like October or whatever it was, I hadn’t even met my BF yet (I met him in November 2020). So I submitted my rank list based on the quality of the programs and whether or not they do this particular thing I’m interested in — first choice was in the city where I used to live, second choice was on the other side of the country. I got my second choice. I looked into getting out of it but basically if I broke the contract I wouldn’t be able to go into this specialty ever, and might be banned from matching into any other specialty too. (They make exceptions if an applicant, like, gets cancer or something, but, “I’m really going to miss my BF” doesn’t cut it.)

He can come to visit me, and he will (he just bought plane tickets to come for Labor Day, and we have a whole road trip on my side of the country planned for my vacation time in November) but it’s just expensive and it sucks :/

I hear you , at least you’re not going through a breakup , right? Is your bf in the same profession?

Oh for sure — long distance sucks, but it’s better than breaking up with this doofus I fell in love with

He’s a scientist, not a doctor, but it’s sort of close?

Hugs, chihiro.

And hugs all around to all who want/need.

I am having a Good Day today. We got offered VTO this morning early, so I took it at 8am my time after working 2 hours. So now, as I took PTO on Sunday for my bday and Monday is a holiday, I am off work now until 5am Tuesday morning (because I'm in live chat next week). And, as the cherry on top of that particular cake, H just left for a long distance job delivering an airplane part or something to Albequerque, NM. Well, it's something for an airplane, maybe paint, whatever it is it can't be flown on a plane so they hired his company to drive it there. He'll probably be spending the night and driving home tomorrow since it's a 6.5 hour drive not including any stops for gas or food. I have the house to myself for a while, and am going to start my planned Netflix binge of Lucifer forthwith! (I'm still on Season 2 and it is an awesome show. I especially love that Lucifer is in therapy.)

Another wonderful life

well, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. i'm trying to be more positive, all the way around, and since I've been typing here about worrying over h's liver scan he had yesterday (and often about his ongoing stomach issues as well), I thought I'd balance that out with some positivity. Today is a good day for him too, he isn't having stomach issues that sometimes send him to bed from the pain, and he got a long-distance delivery which he loves doing, so it's just a good day all the way around in Artie world. I have therapy tomorrow, hopefully that will go well too.

Can't wait for Sunday. We are going to Disneyland, my parents and I, on Monday but we are staying at the Disneyland Hotel on Sunday night so we can be close to the park for Monday as my Mom prefers to sleep in a bit. We are going to go down there early, you can check in at like 3 and probably spend some time in Downtown Disney. It cost me half a months pay for the room and the tickets but it is going to be so much fun.

My niece, the oldest one, is staying with us for a few days. I am working so I am not spending a lot of time with her but some in the evenings. My parents are taking her to see Cruella today and I gave my Dad some money to take her to Starbucks and get her a treat. It's nice having her around. My sister will be back this weekend to pick her up.


Things look much rosier than they did on Monday when I was all suicidal. I'm glad for the relief of my thoughts.

@@, you were right on the money as per usual — the two dudes did it in like 90 minutes without any trouble. (It helped that the apartment manager emailed me back and asked the maintenance guys to lend us a dolly/cart thing.) That’s a relief!

Now I just have to unpack all of this stuff — how on earth did I accumulate so much crap???

(Oh, also, if anyone has any kitchen organization tips, I’m all ears!)

Don't know how helpful this actually is...

I keep my can opener in the cabinet with the canned goods instead of in a drawer. I don't know how much time it actually saves, but it makes me feel efficient at least.

These drawer spice jar holders from Ikea. VARIERA Insert for spice jars, high gloss white - IKEA Or another kind. I just like mine laid out neatly in a drawer so you can actually see what you have. I bought a bunch of 2 and 4 ounce glass bottles from a wholesale bottle place to store my spices in so they were all matchy-matchy and they fit perfectly in the Ikea rack. They look very similar to this although this isn't where I bought them. Straight Glass Jar w/ Smooth Black Lid | Specialty Bottle

I also use something similar to a file organizer to store stuff like pot lids, cutting boards, baking sheets vertically.

Oooh, thanks NP! I need to make an Ikea run for some furniture anyway; will add this to the list!

I knew those five cross-country moves would pay off someday...

I don't actually use my dishwasher, but hand wash dishes, so I store pans and baking sheets and small pots in there. But if you don't have a dishwasher or you want to use yours, that won't work.

IKEA might have kitchen carts for extra storage?

Less than an hour left of work. I am so ready for the three day weekend. One more day.

Like this? Moving & Storage Company, Portable Containers: PODS

Stick with your doofus!

Isn't this the plot of Twins?

Thanks i love him and just want him to be happy.

Yup! That very company. Made for a lot of "THE POD IS LANDING" alien jokes

I got the smallest one (seven feet long) because I only had to move my half of a two-bedroom apartment that I shared with a roommate, and nearly all of the furniture was hers (and I sold the remaining few pieces of furniture bc it was utter junk and also probably would not have survived the podding).

haha is it? i don't know.

In New Zealand we use them more for heating than for cooling. It is much cheaper to move heat from outside than to generate it.