Is that fall *back*...?

[spacealien_vamp]

Or fall behind...?

I was surprised to see how long it has been since my last update. On a day-to-day basis, there doesn't seem to be much to report, though little things do accumulate. Last week I spent one of my days off taking advantage of my health insurance to make an appointment at a local doctor's office. The nice thing about living three blocks from a hospital is that there are plenty of doctors around. (Have I mentioned recently how much I love my neighborhood?) I got my tetanus shot, which was way past overdue, and made more appointments for a cholesterol test and a physical.

I've been chipping away at the clutter in my apartment. I ordered several wire racks and such for stacking things in my cupboards, and they are starting to arrive. That should allow me to clear off my table, which up until now has been doubling as my pantry. I also worked on seasoning the molcajete that I bought while my parents were here this summer. That project made my whole apartment smell like garlic.

Another thing that's been taking up my time is filling out a wishlist for the family Christmas gift exchange. It's quite convenient now that Amazon lets you compile items from any website into one list. I've been brainstorming and websurfing to find goodies of all sorts, from books to DVDs to cookware to clothing...even a few oddball items. For example, today I called up a plant nursery to ask for suggestions of things I could grow on my balcony, and they recommended kumquats. I've never had a kumquat, though it's certainly a fun word to say. Kumquat. <ahem> Anyway, a lot of things that I wound up coveting were far too expensive for the wishlist, but I took notes so that I can go back and look them up again...possibly when I have an actual house to put everything in.

The results of the bid rotation were finally announced today. It's looking like I have a permanent morning shift, so that's a relief.

Comments

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

My family values surprise so much that putting something on a list is the surest way not to get it

The problem is that without a list it's a tricky balance between "surprise" and "useless." Sometimes one happens upon the perfect unexpected gift, but there's a not-so-small chance that the person either doesn't really want it or already has it.

I like making a really long list. That way there are lots of options of all different kinds, so it maintains the element of surprise to an extent while still guiding the potential gift-buyer in the right direction.

[manga-crow.livejournal.com]

Heh. I could tell many humorous anecdotes about the gifts I've received over the years^^ In recent years it's gotten better though, now I tend to get TV series box sets which works out well.

On a tangentially related note; I surfed over to Amazon to see how the lists work, and I noticed you had some books from the Codex Alera on yours. Does that series get better? I enjoyed the first book, but the second book had so many bad things happening that the only solutions seemed to be "God intervenes" or (more likely) "Tavi turns into God". The magic concept was so neat that I really wanted to finish, but I wasn't in the mood for a bunch of deux ex machina.

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

The magic concept was so neat that I really wanted to finish, but I wasn't in the mood for a bunch of deux ex machina.

I like the way it shows Tavi using his wits and teamwork to overcome complex problems. I imagine the dynamic is going to change in the fifth book, due to plot developments, so I can only speculate about that.