Random

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

 
Just some gratitude stuff

- Friday I leave for a 2-night business trip. Sucks giving up a weekend, but on the plus side, I don't have to "do" much other than show up at a reception Friday and a graduation ceremony Saturday. Am bringing a swimsuit and I believe I'll have enough downtime to hit the hotel's pool. (And it's worth mentioning that back in February, I'd been ready to beg for my job back. This is the first overnight business trip I've had in....15 months. So it's not like they are forcing me to travel all the time) :)

- Speaking of swimsuits, I wore one of the 2 that I bought last weekend and it looked great! Got to hit the waterpark in Bensenville that I love

- And back to the trip, Ann told me how to download stuff from Netflix. I downloaded the first three episodes of Shadow and Bone so I can re-watch them

- Last Saturday, Doris was working so I did a coffeeshop crawl. Am always on the lookout for places where Ann and I can sit and play Scrabble, since so many places near me are crowded and have few tables. Found a new one that looks good and re-hit one I'd been to before that (still) looks good. Having vegan sweets is a big plus, and both these places have them. (I hit a 3rd place that has lots of space but nothing vegan. It's still a possibility as I can always sneak my own treat in)

-  I did something that I am happy about. The local org that helps unhoused people has been very desperate for volunteers to bring meals. So I called a Black-owned vegan restaurant. I gave them a dollar amount. They worked with the shelter on logistics and provided meals. The shelter director said it was a hit with the clients, I said I'll do it again next time I have funds, and she said great! I haven't spoken to the restaurant yet so of course I need to confirm that it went well from their POV. (I think and hope that it did).

Fandom stuff!

Of course I have to start with stats

- One of my Shadow and Bone fics just hit 200 kudos!! It is only my 2nd fic to reach that milestone.

- Three others are at 141 or higher, which is also good for me. (My average kudos right now are at 73, and the S&B fics have certainly been pulling that average up)

- Also, the hits are crazy. When I sort by hits, two S&B fics are in the top 5. Interestingly, neither of those is the one with the 200 kudos. But the fic that is 3rd overall is the S&B fic that is like my baby. I adore it. It's at 5,500 hits.

- I also got an idea for a plot twist for my 200-kudo fic that I hadn't thought of

- And finally, something kinda fun happened. A03 went down for a day or so. I got a comment on the one S&B fic that I'd posted on ffnet. I was so excited. I thanked the commenter and said I'd be posting more soon. I did and they replied "can't wait!" Alas, they didn't comment any more

And this one is kinda neat. From the Spartacus fandom, there are 3 fellow fangirls who I talk with a lot. One lives in Denmark, one in Germany, and one is an American who works in Amsterdam. They all got together in Germany last week. They were super-sweet about it, they did invite me though we all knew that I couldn't make it on short notice. They sent me pics and kept me updated on how it's going and they all said they were gung-ho for Chicago 2024. So the 4 of us were on our group chat as usual and we got to talking. There's an S&B con in Paris in April. None of them are big S&B fans but they were talking about how they like Amsterdam, and Amsterdam isn't too far from Paris. I wasn't going to go to the S&B con without a 2nd reason for going that far. So....tentatively....the 4 of us might meet in Amsterdam in April, and then after that I go on to Paris (solo) for the S&B con!! It's all just an idea now but I'd love it. 

Comments

[rhoda_rants]

Enjoy your business trip! I actually think it's cool that you travel so much for your job. At the library, we all have to beg for spaces at the yearly conferences when they come up, because EVERYONE wants to go. Can't remember the last time I even wore a swimsuit. Probably at my Dad's house, because he used to have a hot tub?

"Ann told me how to download stuff from Netflix."

*GASP* Oooh, I want your secrets now! For Stranger Things reasons! The first two seasons are on DVD, but I want the whole set. Not to mention the various awesome shows that keep getting canceled.

Enjoy hanging out with your fandom buddies next year! However the phrase "Amsterdam isn't too far from Paris" just knocked me for a loop. I know in my head that Europe is geographically much smaller from end to end than all of America, but seeing it spelled out like that still surprises me.

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

You are right about business travel. Never hurts for me to try to appreciate it a bit. I'll never forget that years ago I was at a conference. For me, it was like 'ho hum, a conference, I'm tired and I want to go home'. Then I listened to a woman chatting with a group, standing around in between sessions. She was so excited and happy to be there and was making the most of it all. I realized I could learn a lot from her.

Here is what Ann told me and it worked. Let me know if it works for you:

If you use a tablet (iPad, android-based one, Kindle, etc), and you log into Netflix on it, if you look at the information, it should give you the option to download it directly from Netflix. Then you would just go into Netflix on it and you can watch it.

(As I recall, the thingy to download it was on the right side. Like I brought up Shadow and Bone, saw the listing of the episodes by season, and I could click the thing on the right to download an ep)

[rhoda_rants]

It's probably like anything that, if you've done it enough times, the novelty just wears off. I have been to work conferences seldom enough that it's still and adventure. Plus, my work is Books, so I get Free Books every single time! <3

*checking*

Okay yeah, that won't work on the desktop. Oh well. :(

[nytshd3]

Oh my gosh how exciting to maybe have this trip to look forward to! Would Doris come along?

[stormkeeper_lovesall]

She would. But...we just hit a snag. The convention organizers changed the date of the con. What if they do it again? So at this point we are thinking of not doing the trip. The only reason I wanted it was to do the "double header", the two reasons for going. Don't want to go all that way if one of the two reasons falls through again.

[nytshd3]

Oh no. How frustrating! But yeah, for a trip that far, I'd want multiple reasons to go too. Boo!