ysabetwordsmith | State of the Air Conditioning

The air conditioning portion of the household life support system remains broken, but nearly two weeks of nagging finally got a response from the repair company. They promised to come out with a large interim unit that would cool the house and a window unit for my office. What they brought was only the window unit, but at least my office is now cool and functional. Why the bloody buggering fuck they could not have done this as soon as they realized it would take more than a day or two to fix, I can only chalk up to some combination of cowardice and stupidity. But at least I can work again.

I am now attempting to dig my way out from under nearly two weeks worth of backlog. If you have a project on hold with me and I have not gotten back to it by the end of this week, please ping me again then. If I am in a foul mood, please don't take that personally but rather attribute it to ~two weeks worth of dealing with other people's rank and widespread incompetence in this and other matters, which has put me in a state of "no spoons, only knives left."

Thank you for your patience.

Current Mood: busy
Crossposts: http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/4039505.html

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From:

peoriapeoriawhereart

*offers one of the grapefruit spoons*

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I remember those from back when I could eat grapefruit. It is a very me-shaped spoon.

:D And now I am so very tempted to give one of those to Shiv.

From:

alatefeline

Do it, please.

I am imagining Dr. G. or maybe Dr. Bloch (the prison medic? did I get the name right?) introducing Shiv to exotic fruit, Shiv thinking it is completely stupid but trying it anyway because hey non-lawnmower-esque food, and then Shiv getting study points for *research* when all he was doing was picking a fruit to try next. The passionflower soda went over well, right?

Or literally anything with Shiv and exotic cutlery.

From:

alatefeline

Wheee you WROTE the poem! Squee! Bounce bounce!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

It was too fun to ignore. Shiv playing with a grapefruit spoon and a whole smorgasbord of fruit is adorable. And he got a chance to do some things that he should have gotten as a toddler but obviously did not. Every little bit helps.

From:

alatefeline

*happy wriggles*
*banging cutlery*

Whee!

From:

peoriapeoriawhereart

I picked up one (it makes me think of Barnes) that rather than being spade shaped is nearly a serrated tongue.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you Bucky Barnes."

From:

ysabetwordsmith

LOL yes. :D

I am in fact working on the poem about Shiv and the grapefruit spoon.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

:D I love that line.

And the grapefruit spoon turned into a delightful poem, so thank you for that too.

From:

peoriapeoriawhereart

*curtseys*

Read it, glad to be of help.

From: (Anonymous)

I'm glad you have at least partially-functioning A/C again. Here's the offer of an Internet hug and a sharpening stone for the knives: *hugs offered* *hands over the stone*.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

*hones knives*

I actually find the sound of steel on stone very soothing.

From:

alatefeline

Gotcha.

From:

shiori_makiba

It is good to look well into the blood of your enemies.

Even it is only metaphorical blood.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Yes, yes it is.

Also I have derived a great deal of pleasure from channeling my frustration into the torment of characters who deserve it, writing poetry which I intend to sell. At least I will have gotten something out of it.

From:

alatefeline

\o/

From:

alatefeline

Reminds me of when I was staying in a dorm room that was badly remodeled from a former common room and it got so cold the water bottle on my bedside *froze* ... but temperature inverted.

The part where the small, temporary unit (in my case it was a facilities-management-prohibited space heater provided by facilities management) show up several weeks late in particular.

Sadly, this story ends with patchwork insulation 'repairs' worse than what I'd managed to jury-rig and the weather eventually changing.

Oh, that was in Illinois too, by the way. The Midwest likes messing with people.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Oh, we have water-freezing problems here too. We've had water freeze inside the house, such as the toilets. I've gone without running water for months before. Gone without electricity for days. When you live in a rural area, nobody beyond your immediate family and friends will care if you live or die.

(deleted comment)

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> ...Remind me to never ever ever to be in a rural area in the event of a zombie apocalypse. <<

That's exactly where to be in any major catastrophe, because the cities turn into killing fields. Diseases spread best in crowds, masses of panicky people are deadly, and predators go where the prey is.

>>I want *emergency services* around and am willing to pay the price of interacting with people to have it. <<

Understandable, if you can get such things in a city.

>> On the other hand, some co-dwelling friends-and-family groups could easily constitute superior emergency services compared to U.S. police and health care. Heck, I could put the skills for that group together out of people I know, <<

This is true.

>> if they weren't scattered all the way around the planet and largely happy to be that way.<<

Alas, I have the same problem.

>> Functional group dynamics are a life skill-set I am level-grinding from negative starting levels, though.<<

This is probably not true, and not because of you, but because of other people. Decades ago, people used to bitch at me for having no people skills. The surrounding average is now considerably below that. I've spent years working to learn the ones I find useful, only to have society get off the other end of the teeter-totter. So before you ever believe that your skills are inferior to anyone else's, fact-check to see if they are, indeed, reliably doing things which you do not and thereby possessing better relationships.

I have regrettably observed that this is rarely the case anymore. It is as distressing as when I routinely spot economists doing things that even I can see are foolish with money.

>> Living in a city doesn't imply that people care if you live or die, sometimes, so much as they care to get your corpse hauled away. <<

Alas, this is true. Society is coming apart at the seams in many ways.

Feel free to prompt me for better things in any relevant prompt call. I have a number of homeless characters, and people who deal with them.

From:

alatefeline

I think that the comment and link I posted were likely upsetting and inconsiderate of some of your other readers, so I am deleting them. I will repost the exact words later on my blog under a cut because I don’t think removing the evidence of a conversation is wise. I apologize for putting my feet in my mouth and then attempting to remove them through the bak of my head.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Putting that stuff under a cut to your blog is fine. I agree with not removing traces of conversation.

For future reference, I usually mark things like: (The following link is gross.)

For current reference, I've been in a bitchy mood for ~two weeks, for assorted reasons. While I generally try to keep things civil, I totally sympathize with your mood.

From:

alatefeline

I'll try to remember to do things in an order that makes sense next time. And in a weird way I'm enjoying being aggravated *with* you, I just don't want to singe anyone.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Yeah, I try to keep my personal crap away from other people who are not legitimate targets. My wordskill is too dangerous to swing it around like a stick of firewood, and friendly fire isn't.

From:

alatefeline

Well said.

I'm still not used to The Internet, and The Internet has been a thing since I was born, and a me thing since I was in elementary school. But this is less about The Internet, and more about different types and shades of public, and basically what I would or wouldn't start yelling about sitting in *your* living room with your friends/guests and with the outside doors open to public scrutiny. I learned how to not screw up friendly punches to the shoulder, I can learn how to not screw up the temptation to snark-attack in the comment section. And you clearly have a good handle on this type of thing.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> basically what I would or wouldn't start yelling about sitting in *your* living room with your friends/guests and with the outside doors open to public scrutiny. <<

That's a good way to look at it.

>> I learned how to not screw up friendly punches to the shoulder, I can learn how to not screw up the temptation to snark-attack in the comment section. And you clearly have a good handle on this type of thing.<<

Thank you. I try to make my little corner of cyberspace a safe place, and that includes people's occasional need to vent. Hard Things is one of the niches set aside for venting.

Honestly, I am pretty accommodating of people's quirks as long as they know what's up and are willing to work on it. It's gratuitous harm and people unwilling to deal with their own shit, who dump it in public space, that I tend to lose patience with.

From:

alatefeline

*perches on back of living room sofa*

*slides forepaw claws out, licks paw thoughtfully, carefully sheathes claws*

*slow blinks*

*purrs*

From:

ysabetwordsmith

*slow blinks*

*offers fingertip to sniff*

From:

alatefeline

*is a cat*

From:

ysabetwordsmith

*pet pet pet*

From:

alatefeline

>> So before you ever believe that your skills are inferior to anyone else's, fact-check to see if they are, indeed, reliably doing things which you do not and thereby possessing better relationships. <<

I have the problematic although not altogether useless habit of comparing myself to people who are GOOD at things, instead of the theoretical average person.

In this case, just mentally riffling through my files told me I was comparing myself to (a) writers (b) social activists (c) outspoken members of queer and/or poly families of choice (d) elementary teachers with decades of experience (e) my parents. All of the above have the potential motivation and opportunity to acquire terrifying levels of people skills if they choose to, and many of them have. *facepalm* Great as high-end goal metrics, but I need to scaffold this for myself and set feasible short-term targets. I can think of a few, I just needed to turn my functioning brain on instead of whatever weird subroutine it is that provides reflexive criticism.

Remembering the experience of acquiring some expertise the hard way matters, though, because it helps me know that my structure is solid when I need to lean on it hard to be successful.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> I have the problematic although not altogether useless habit of comparing myself to people who are GOOD at things, instead of the theoretical average person. <<

I do that too. So do most of the successful people I know. However, you cannot accurately map yourself onto a spectrum based on one outside datapoint. You need to pin down at least both ends and preferably estimate the middle of the bell curve. Then put yourself on there. This can be difficult as individuals and resources often lie about what they can do or what should be expected, so empirical testing and personal observations are advised.

>> In this case, just mentally riffling through my files told me I was comparing myself to (a) writers (b) social activists (c) outspoken members of queer and/or poly families of choice (d) elementary teachers with decades of experience (e) my parents. All of the above have the potential motivation and opportunity to acquire terrifying levels of people skills if they choose to, and many of them have.<<

And if they have the capacity to.

>> *facepalm* Great as high-end goal metrics, but I need to scaffold this for myself and set feasible short-term targets. I can think of a few, I just needed to turn my functioning brain on instead of whatever weird subroutine it is that provides reflexive criticism.<<

Bad tape is like a computer virus. It can be removed the same way it got in, one line at a time. This is tedious but effective. Positive affirmations are an excellent tool in this regard. The key is picking something you can believe now and not a pie-in-the-sky end goal. Here are some good ones sorted by categories.

Also useful is cognitive-behavioral therapy, in particular, its tools for challenging thought distortions. You have to be really careful not to overcorrect, which some of the exercises encourage, but these are good tools. Here is a cache of worksheets for fixing emotional and behavioral issues with logic.

>>Remembering the experience of acquiring some expertise the hard way matters, though, because it helps me know that my structure is solid when I need to lean on it hard to be successful.<<

Sooth.

From:

librarygeek

Learning that a scaffold is NEEDED is actually a good starting point. I'm on the spectrum too (waves greeting frantically, realizes that's an overreaction, then switches to Queen Elizabeth type royal wave ;-) ) and have had to relearn a lot of my social and communication skills since my mom died. I didn't realize just how many things started with call my mom and ask her what to do as a first step. I'm a library technical assistant, I can research to find out what I need to know, but now my first step is phrasing my information need as a question (thanks library school!) and defining the lack for this situation.

Autistic burnout is REAL. Even as an adult, supposedly functioning with skill, remove a support from that scaffold, and the structure may collapse. Knowing that it CAN happen, recognizing when it does, and learning to rebuild again, and again, and again also becomes a function in life skill.

I also have "If" by Rudyard Kipling, printed and hanging on my wall. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46473 Learning that poem and "Don't Quit" were the best things of my 7th grade Social Studies class, because I already knew all the history. ;-) These are MY positive affirmations, that have kept me going when it is hard.

HUGS! If you want them, virtual so they're safe anyway. :-D

From:

alatefeline

Yes hugs!

Poems are helpful. Not your specific ones for me but glad they are working for you.

>> Even as an adult, supposedly functioning with skill, remove a support from that scaffold, and the structure may collapse. Knowing that it CAN happen, recognizing when it does, and learning to rebuild again, and again, and again also becomes a function in life skill. <<

Yes and yes, and also yes.

Wave however you want. :)

From:

chanter1944

*sends ever so much iced tea* It's the unsweetened northern variety, but it's cold. Yay, at least, for the window unit. Sounds like you need a new air conditioning provider place! Oy! :(

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> *sends ever so much iced tea* It's the unsweetened northern variety, but it's cold. Yay, at least, for the window unit. <<

Much appreciated.

>> Sounds like you need a new air conditioning provider place! Oy! :( <<

That was my opinion before even this fuckup. I am not the decider, but neither am I the one who has to deal with these imbeciles. Also those who do are now of the opinion that the next repair we need will go to some other service.

From:

redsixwing

Yeesh. Best luck with the backlog, and I hope the repair company gets their ducks aligned sooner than later.

From:

technoshaman.livejournal.com

Yay officecool! Here's to digging out, cute kittens, funny things, and CONFUSION TO THE FORKS! ;)

From:

ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

Ironically one of my current projects involves entanglements with Warden Daley, who is in the process of Getting His. :D

From:

technoshaman.livejournal.com

Oh, goodygoodygoody! *rubs hands in anticipatory glee, and waits with 'bated breath*

From:

ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

I have at present two poems drafted and a third in progress, all spooling out from your prompt about Shiv and the warden.

From:

technoshaman.livejournal.com

LOL Shiv is NEVER simple, is he?

From:

ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

:D ECR Boy <3

He does get his retribution. It's just from a direction that most people wouldn't expect from him. I think he just dropped a spanner down the warden's reality engine.

From:

callibr8

If I am in a foul mood, please don't take that personally but rather attribute it to ~two weeks worth of dealing with other people's rank and widespread incompetence in this and other matters, which has put me in a state of "no spoons, only knives left."

I had not heard that expression before. It's fabulous!!!! I just wish it didn't fit the last *month* of my life (like a glove) as well as it does.

Wishing you cooler times ahead, SOON!

From:

ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

It's a riff on the Spoon Theory. There is a t-shirt.

While the air conditioning is not yet fixed, they did supply a window unit for my office, so one room of the house is now fully functional.

From:

siliconshaman.livejournal.com

So getting that T-shirt...

From:

tomtac.livejournal.com

May you lose all excess heat, in the way that a glowing red piece of metal eventually becomes a cool steel bar resting quietly.

Peace and God's Blessings.

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