Pen-Elayne on the Web

May the Farce

2026-05-04T20:36:00.016-04:00

It's a lovely spring day, we received new front door locks, work is going swimmingly, and I keep thinking towards post-retirement (after all, it's only two years away now). The lovely young lady who took my last batch of comics messaged me again to see if I have more, and I told her I'd be ready for her after the downstairs construction finishes and she can have all my beloved paperbacks as well, at least the ones from the living room. We really don't need to downsize right away, but if these reading materials are sure to go to a good home I'm ready to rehome them sooner rather than later! Another good day for NY baseball, even though John Sterling has left this mortal plane, but both teams won (and the Mets game was moved up earlier last-minute which I wish I'd known about as my TV listing was wrong and I would have liked to have watched it). I'm more or less ready for Manhattan again tomorrow, might even stop in Penn Station along the way for some sort of Mexican snack to celebrate Cinco de Mayo (today's Star Wars Day celebration consisted of me wearing my R2D2 necklace that my uncle bought me in the late '70s).

A Modicum of Banging

2026-05-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Honestly though, the downstairs renovation has just begun. But we have a new front door, albeit one without windows so the hallway is really dark until we turn on the flickering light. Even so, it's nice to have a door that closes and locks properly. Most of the banging seems to be coming from the kitchen, as warned by our already-much-missed downstairs neighbor before she moved out, so we'll see how much work I can get done from home tomorrow. It doesn't seem to affect the home office much (yet) but it's pretty hard to get an afternoon nap in unless it's during the worker's lunch hour. (Only one worker at the moment, that's sure to change!) At least we can amuse ourselves with sports, if Liverpool didn't keep losing. At least both NY baseball teams won for a change.

Windows Open, Door Closed

2026-05-02T21:26:00.003-04:00

The landlord with his assistant and some workers came in around 8 this morning to work on the front entrance door and the downstairs apartment, and that went on pretty much all day. On the one hand, it drowned out the screechy childers, and it is nice to have a door that finally closes and locks properly. On the other hand, it made it very difficult to relax or nap. We got out for a couple hours of shopping and sushi, and timed it well as the lead worker had taken a break (and his vehicle) so we had a clear path right to our usual parking spot, but I'm glad we didn't do our car shopping as bringing back a new vehicle just doesn't seem like the right thing to do with all this activity. Nonetheless, I'm almost 100% ready for the dealership now, with title and maintenance log in hand and all the papers finally filed correctly. And the horse I rooted for won the Kentucky Derby, so I suppose that's something as well.

May Day!

2026-05-01T21:47:00.009-04:00

White Rabbits! Now that our downstairs neighbor has moved out, the landlord has started preparing for renovations. We'll be getting a new front door at the foot of the indoor steps that actually closes for a change, and I suspect they'll be gutting the place pretty thoroughly. The noise today was minimal but still disruptive. I dread the noise this coming weekend, maybe it'll be an earbud kinda weekend after all. Meantime the laundry was done and has been put away in near-record time, I had a nice chat with the family financial advisor about my inheritance, I got through my work assignments in pretty decent shape to move forward next week, and I'm determined to finally organize my car maintenance files this weekend so I have my couch back!

Charcuter-Me

2026-04-30T21:11:00.023-04:00

Extra long day today, as after work (which was relatively quiet and I got a lot of reading and self-study done) one of our diversity groups had a charcuterie-assembly event, which honestly was more like a DIY buffet thing. So I grabbed one of the only chairs until the presentation was finished and we all gathered around the charcuterie table, and that's when the foot pain started. I can walk okay, I did it at lunch when I finally found out about a nearby Panda Express (when you're jonesing for Chinese food you'll take the fast food approach over nothing at all), but I can't stand for periods of time without it causing pretty intense neuropathy pain. So while the salami and cheese and nuts (I keep forgetting how much I love shelled pistachios) and dried apricots were nice and tasty, I had to leave a bit early due to my pain and was able to hobble back to Penn Station (where they were having some sort of basketball playoff rally at MSG) to catch the homeward bound subway. Because I was a bit past rush hour I got a seat right away, but then a woman at lease twice as large as me (and I'm still large) squeezed herself right next to me, and the seat on the other side of her as well, and the neuropathy was triggered again. And again, when I'd changed seats and someone exited the subway car by bumping my right knee. I'm quite the mess now, and happy I get to work from home until next Tuesday!

Everything Everywhere All At Once

2026-04-29T21:20:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I had a feeling of impending wossname, and had no idea what the imminent dread could be. Today I had to face three stressful situations involving the usual phone calls to AI robots before I could get human beings, and that was just my morning. The afternoon was wall-to-wall work meetings, during which my family broker called, so I've put that call off until Friday. There's only so much financial and medical stuff I can do in one day. There are also only so many meetings. I had no problem filling my day, my body didn't experience too many aches and pains so that's a plus, and I'm in good shape to concentrate only on work tomorrow, getting in my month-end requirements.

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-28T20:28:00.009-04:00

Pretty good day at work, just busy enough to not overwhelm me, nothing wrong with the commute, so let's celebrate with another silly site. Do you know what was going on the day you were born? Let Birthday Headlines help you with that! Via BoingBoing.

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-27T21:02:00.001-04:00

Too much stuff on my body hurts, so here's a silly site disguised as an ad disguised as a well-deserved dig at the orange sh*tgibbon:

Get me some o' those m*therf*cking chips...

Incremental Giveaways

2026-04-26T20:58:00.020-04:00

Today we stopped by the local farmers market for the first time in awhile, as I'd promised my neighbor the cat-supply lady a feeding bowl and automatic water bowl, since we're not in the market for adopting another cat until well after I'm retired. Naturally I had to grab some of my usual stuff, earrings and veg and so forth, and we then visited my uncle in his assisted living place down the block (someday they'll pave that awful road so it takes us 2 minutes to drive there instead of 10) and left some plates from my mom's house that my cousin wanted. We're trying to downsize things from the car so that, if we wind up buying/leasing a new one next weekend, we don't have to empty out that much more. The rest of the day was spent watching both NY baseball teams lose so, you know, par for the course.

Stock, Car

2026-04-25T18:50:00.001-04:00

I did have more neuropathy pain in the hands last night and this morning, particularly in the thumbs and unfortunately in my right hallux (big toe) as I was driving back from the grocery store (yay, new car battery working fine!) so that made using the brake and accelerator tons of fun, but I haven't had to take any ibuprofen so it's manageable with heat (doing the dishes warmed them up nicely, as did wearing wrist braces for an hour or so). We didn't have a huge shopping list but there was a "10 for $10" sale on two staples that we use all the time so we are stocked up now. Before we left I finally tackled my car insurance files, getting rid of all the outdated supplemental info (we have a fairly nice shredder now so all those pages got shredded) and putting all the renewals in date order. Which is a lot for 22 years times twice yearly! Now all that remains is the maintenance log, basically all the times I've taken it in for an oil change or other work. And I received my replacement title in the mail today, confirming that I don't think I've ever seen my car's title in my life. My guess is that Dad must have kept it and after he passed it never made it to me. Now I'm ready to go car shopping, possibly as early as next weekend if my body behaves itself!

Finger on the Problem

2026-04-24T19:34:00.010-04:00

After two straight in-office days it was such a blessing to work from home and give my hands a few days to heal! Lots of nerve pain, although I'm hoping it's more neuropathy being triggered than any lasting damage. Couldn't really do too much more than type, and ibuprofen is the order of the day, or at least the evening. Manual dexterity is just a bit tricky today. But my work got done, I put in my 8+ hours, and I can now relax...

Of the AM Commute from Hell, and Espresso Martinis

2026-04-23T20:25:00.003-04:00

Brand-new bus this morning! I hopped on at 6:30 after a 10-minute wait in the somewhat-cold-and-dank, and all was fine until one of the last pickups when a wheelchair passenger wanted to board. All well and good, I think her timing might have been better if she'd waited until after rush hour, but I know nothing of her life and plans so who am I to say. Unfortunately, the wheelchair lift mechanism on the (I say again) brand-new bus didn't work, and got stuck in the exterior position. Which meant I had to wait almost half an hour before the next bus on that route came by (the bus in between takes a faster route... had I only known). All the other passengers got off and took an east side bus that promised to make the first Manhattan dropoff, but that's no good for me as I needed to get to 9th Avenue. And the later you get the more traffic builds up, so by the time I hit the transfer point for the local it was well after 8 AM. Alas, it was another 20-minute wait for the local, so I finally got into work around 9:15. Nothing like a 3+ hour commute! Then at lunch I tried to "piggyback" through the turnstiles and they closed in on my hands, which stung like hell and will probably result in a lot of nerve pain in the next couple of days. Fortunately there was a cross-promotion going between Grey Goose vodka and the new Devil Wears Prada movie, where they gave away tiny espresso martinis (martini-tinies!) and popcorn, which I later discovered (when eating the popcorn back at my workstation) was made with edible glitter. Glitter now festoons my keyboard and pants. The kids who came into the office for Take Your Kids to Work Day seemed to get a kick out of that; so great to meet the childers of two of my partners! Homeward commute much easier, and I'm just hoping the pain isn't too bad tomorrow...

Down to Earth Day

2026-04-22T21:33:00.006-04:00

Today was the first of two consecutive in-office days, which are getting more and more difficult as I age, particularly when the morning starts out dank and cold and I'm slightly underdressed (otherwise I'd be too overdressed for the homeward commute) and I have to wait for both express and local buses for over 10 minutes each. Fortunately there was a free coffee truck (advertising that the firm is launching a new division, basically doing what my bosses at my old job did) outside our HQ, so I was able to warm up at last and get into the swing of Administrative Professionals Day. I had a lovely Admin Day, no monetary pressies but lots of flowers, and we had a little celebration where we all got together and had fruit and gelato (I'm sure my system will pay for the latter tomorrow). It was so nice seeing my fellow exec assistants all in one place for a change! And I got to leave all my stuff (except for the flowers) at the office as I'll be returning tomorrow; how could I not, for Bring Your Kids to Work Day? Lots of foot pain when I got home, hoping the shower eases my muscles in time to do it all again tomorrow.

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-21T17:31:00.006-04:00

After a day of space heaters and shivering, the heat came on again today, so now I'm just hungry. Time for the Tiny Chef!

Via BoingBoing.

The High Who Came In from the Cold

2026-04-20T20:48:00.002-04:00

Happy 4-20, all! Copious use of the space heaters throughout this morning, and probably tomorrow morning as well, as I postponed organizing the car files in favor of just keeping warm and drinking lots of hot liquid. The heaters are now on again, I've just showered which raises my body temp and toked which lowers it, so I figure I'll come out even.

Car-Go Plans

2026-04-19T20:41:00.019-04:00

Thank goodness the issue with the car seemed to be centered on just the battery. The new AAA brand (guaranteed for three years, probably longer than we'll still have this 22-year-old baby) is working beautifully, but I wanted to test it out anyway by driving to our favorite sushi place, as the sushi we got at our regular grocery store yesterday was somewhat lacking. The weather was icky and rainy (the Yankee game was postponed at least a few horus) and presaged a drop in temperature to come (looks like the space heaters will be employed for a few days) so the miso soup was especially tasty, and I even got some nice warming lunches/dinners at the nearby ShopRite as I'll be working from home the next couple of days. I think I found the car's title but I didn't want to take any chances so I've ordered a replacement (only $20 and five minutes on the DMV's website!) and made a bit more headway in organizing my maintenance log and auto insurance files in preparation for such time as we try to trade this in for a newer model. I'm hoping that time comes before my biannual registration comes due!

From the Hall of Medi-Pedi to the Shores of Triple A

2026-04-18T17:18:00.031-04:00

At long last I was going to see my podiatrist first thing this morning about my hallux issue and to get my medical pedicure. As the hallux has been causing me pain I didn't want to walk the six blocks if I could help it, so I got in the car, turned the key, and... nothing. A few clicks. Dead battery. So I wound up walking a few blocks and grabbing a bus for the other 3-4 blocks (worth it!). Turns out the hallux (big toe) is where the sciatic nerve winds up, which is why I've felt the pain so acutely when my gait or IT band issues or whatever causes things to rub against that area. anyway, one trim later I was able to walk back up the hill six blocks to home without lasting pain, and immediately called AAA to give us a jump-start. Their road assistance guy Joel came in amazingly short order, gave us the needed jolt, told us to leave the engine running for an hour to recharge, and that the battery was definitely going. So I made an appointment tomorrow with my local Mavis, and about 90 minutes later we were off to the supermarket. Alas, we ran into the same issue when I tried to start the car to get out of the supermarket parking lot. Turns out the battery was so much on its last legs that it wouldn't hold a charge. So Joel swung by again, this time to change out the battery completely. Upon arriving home, I cancelled the Mavis appointment and started gathering all the files I had on my current car in anticipation of buying or leasing an new one. Turns out this 22-year-old baby is worth at least $1K trade-in according to KBB, so when we finally get to a local Hyundai dealer let's hope they honor that. After all, it's got a brand-new battery.

The Neverending Salad

2026-04-17T22:28:00.002-04:00

I woke up way too early with a calf cramp, and by the time I got going for good I'd decided to try and stand in the kitchen for awhile to ease the calf and make myself an omelet for breakfast. I'd initially intended on using the lox, but I opted to do that tomorrow instead and then I realized I needed to pan fry onions and mushrooms, as I wanted to put cold shrooms into a salad later on. So that got done, then throughout the day I prepped other ingredients for the salad, and made myself enough for at least three meals. There's always something I forget to add, and today it was the tomatoes, so they'll go into the storage containers along with the leftover salad. I must have done at least three rounds of washing up as well, as I generally like to clean up after myself soon after food prep. Oh, and I finally finished compiling a list of all my bank accounts, credit cards, and stuff I'm in the process of inheriting from my parents' estate, a project that had been in the works for some time. Now I can sleep!

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-16T21:36:00.002-04:00

Unusually for me, I had more down time than usual at the office today, so busied myself with my usual visits to the in-office partners I support and my fellow exec assistants. I didn't move around too much, as I didn't want to aggravate my foot (seeing the podiatrist at last on Saturday, well overdue), but if I were able to walk better I'd check out some zebra boards:

Via Laughing Squid.

Not Taxing At All

2026-04-15T20:29:00.026-04:00

As we've already received our tax refunds, we were unfazed by the Ides of April, and I made some more incremental forward movement on my assets, deciding to have my paychecks direct deposited into my newer checking account with a bank offering a higher APY (and the ability to bank in the UK) than the one I've been with. It took me a few tries to change the direct deposit procedure on my work laptop, but with Robin looking on I finally got the hang of it. Let's hope it works when I get paid on Friday! Next up, finishing my financial assets Excel file so I can better keep track of things and not have to use checkbooks to duplicate effort. At my age, it's much easier to see spreadsheets than a tiny checkbook!

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-14T21:17:00.008-04:00

Are you not entertained? You may be by Minerva:

Via Laughing Squid.

Silly Site o' the Day

2026-04-13T20:14:00.001-04:00

Witness the pure genius that is Pure Genius! Great, great AI takedown. Via PZ Myers.

Incremental Forward Movement

2026-04-12T19:57:00.001-04:00

Like a friggin' wristwatch's second hand. I gave myself two major chores to do today: steaming some lighter tops with the summer-like weather on the horizon, and catching up on finances. Both were accomplished, and I even made some headway on my list of Where I Have Money Now, but that felt way too much like work so I'll finish it another time. (Especially after throwing away lots of old maps and timetables made obsolete by yon internet.) Tomorrow we get the laundry done, put away my winter comforter, and get back into the weekday routine.

Blossoms Everywhere

2026-04-11T19:32:00.005-04:00

And of course that means allergic lethargy (allethargy?), at least in the Riggs Residence where we seem to be affected more and more every year by the colorful and lovely and very welcome spring buds. I mean, welcome in the sense that it's really been a tough winter, but it's very hard for us to sustain any kind of energy when we're this wiped all the time, despite allergy meds. So we had been thinking about car shopping but, after seeing the craziness on the roads despite it still being spring break (commuting to and from the fairly empty supermarket was a breeze), we opted to stay inside. I still want to accomplish some things, and even made a spring cleaning list of sorts, but it's all dependent on our pollen tolerances (pollerances?), outside noise (lots of screechy childers during this spring break), and not overdoing it.

Down to Earth

2026-04-10T22:01:00.015-04:00

Well, both NY baseball teams are losing, so it's a good evening to watch the crew of Artemis II splash down in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego. Everything was so lovely and precise! I'm both elated that we're exploring space again and disappointed that it took us this long. Without a made-up international rivalry things just don't get done, I guess. But we're certainly trending in the right direction there, and I hope the same for my personal and professional life...