quieter

 i definitely slept better last night. it was weird, though - i got a phone call earlier with the results, and aside from a recommendation to visit an ENT for my snoring i was informed that my sleep was just fine. but i slept horribly. so i don't know what to make of that.

this morning went pretty smoothly in spite of mr smear's failed attempts to stay home. dropping him off at school was pleasant - lately i'm making a point of taking him because it's the best opportunity for us to just talk - and i managed to fix up one of my side projects that i'd neglected.

and then... take care of the massive crow turd on the external air-conditioning unit outside mr smear's window. and it's neighbor, the windowsill turd we hadn't noticed before. gd was gagging, and i was upset: there's a massive difference between cleaning up one's child, or picking up after one's pet, than doing the same for somebody else's. or somebody else. or something else.

i felt violated. it was about the size of a border collie poop and i had to scrape it off in multiple attempts 🤮

...

it was a bit cooler today (and it was quite rainy this evening), so i regretted not wearing a sweater to and from the office. the office vibe was totally different today, as most of the org was either in the field or working from home, and at peak there were four of us in a large open space. it was strange, but not unpleasant. very quiet.

at lunch time - while scarfing down a mixture of leftovers that gd had put together that worked out surprisingly well - i ended up talking about our aliyah experience and about the state of south africa. i don't recall how the conversation got there, but i really brought the guys down and every time i tried to spin into something positive i managed to make it somehow worse :/

i couldn't stop snacking all day. most of it was the fruit platter that i effectively had all to myself :P

work-wise, i left after getting really good results that i'm very pleased with ^_^ (although i literally couldn't believe it when i finally got everything green!)

...

i came home a bit earlier than usual, hurrying to avoid the rain, and there was just enough time before dinner to do some of mr smear's hebrew reading with him and a page of his geometry homework. he did it all without the usual battle, and it was actually a good experience for both of us!

so that was cool.

we watched a disturbing episode of delicious in dungeon over dinner (episode 23 - griffin soup), and we had a smooth shower / bedtime. gd and i watched an episode of two of seinfeld after i saw a relatively recent interview with michael richards - the standup bits aren't funny, but the stories are great - during which i passed out on the couch and woke up to her watching a show in which a kid gets arrested on suspicion of murder.

i've been watching random stuff, and drinking tea, and i think i'm going to crash soon. tomorrow morning's going to be intense - gd's applying for her proper israeli passport, after which i have to go to the school to administer mr smear's meds (he's having another outbreak around his eye) because she's got a doctor's appointment - hopefully it'll go smoothly.

...

this is jd vance saying something brilliant and obviously true: outsourcing manufacturing has hurt the west immeasurably.

and here's boston dynamics showing off a robot that's more athletic than an australian breakdancer