Update June 06, 2021

 A late post for me (I wrote half of this last night).  I think that's a sign of happiness!  Who'd have thunk it?

Health
I've had suspicious that I wasn't in good shape.  I'm happy with my weight, but only in relation to what my weight was.  My BMI is still in between the obese and morbidly obese ranges.  At the same time, I try little things to move and work.  I park far away from the store in order to walk further.  I walk at a brisk pace in the stores.  I walk at a brisk pace at work.  When I vacation I'd rather walk across town rather than take an uber or a taxi.  

Well, I now have objective evidence that I am not in good shape.  When the tech was setting me up for my cardiac stress test he said that I'd be there for about 45 minutes and that the average time on the actual treadmill was between 6 and 15 minutes.  He'd start it slow, move it up a few stages, and at the third stage we'd really start working.  Yeah, I made it about 3 minutes and barely into the third stage before I was huffing and puffing and had to ask him to stop.  My blood pressure had already risen to over 190/110 and my heart rate was over 160.   

Thankfully, while the test shows that I really do need to exercise, I have no overt heart problems.  No signs of a previous heart attack and no ischemia.  My chest problems are now just labeled as 'unknown'.  And you know, after having my doctor and a cardiologist check it out, I can be happy with 'unknown chest pain'.  

Finances
I'd been meaning to update this for awhile, so before I get to the finances of the past few weeks, lets talk about Nina.  Car values continue to rise quicker and quicker.  I highly doubt that this will last until I want to sell or trade her in, but it's nice to see this happening.  Last time we checked I owed 41,599.69 on Nina and she had a blue book value of $33,178.  That left me with $8,421.69 upside down.

Now?  I owe $39,999.69 (YAY!  Under $40K!!!).  Her Kelly Blue Book value is $37,298.  That's only a $2701.69 difference!

(KBB values include current mileage, all options, claiming its in Very Good condition, and is the middle of the range they give)

Seriously, if I were to trade her in, that would be the least I've been upside down on a car since Fiona.  With all of my modern cars, I've owed more than $3,000 than what they're worth.  

So, lets go down that path a bit.  I'd obviously want to think about it and lay out my options, but I could get something together fairly quick if there were a car I'd want.  Let's list some off the top of my head that I could get for under my current payment of $800 a month.

• Cadillac XT4 (the payments would likely be a bit more than $800 for exactly what I want)
• Cadillac CT4 V Series (like above, it would be more than $800 a month)
• Ford Edge
• .........

And yeah, as I go to the manufacturer's websites and do some builds, I realize that new car pricing seems to also be going up.  I recall being able to price out a Ford Edge Titanium as I liked and having the price be around $600 a month.   Now?  Over $800 a month.  I'd pay MORE to downgrade to an Edge.  The Caddy's would be nice, but again, I'd be paying more to downgrade in some ways.  

No, it's nice to know that I'm not as far behind on Nina as I was a few months ago, but I'm years away from getting another car.  Nina still makes me smile and I have absolutely no idea what car I'd like next.  I don't know if I want to stay in the sport/fun style, go luxury, or go for utility.  

Next financial thing.  I know I overspend a lot of the time.  I go for the 'more expensive' option because I assume it's better.  I'm trying to not do that, but I swear to the Goddess I'm learning the opposite lesson  A simple thing... a watchband.  I bought my Apple Watch last year and knew damned well that I wouldn't want the standard sport band that came on it.  Mine was the black stainless steel version so it was black from top to bottom and left to right.  Without going into all the whys, I picked out a $30 blue leather band from Barton.  I'd heard their name before and was fairly sure it was a good brand.  

I didn't exactly take a $10 header on something I'd never heard of before on my $800 watch  

But that was still holding back.  I'd considered Apple's leather band at $100.  I'd considered a metal band for between $50and $300.  Basically, $30 was the cheapest option I'd consider and yes, I made that choice based on saving money.  Ever since then, the band has bothered me.  It's fit and finish jus weren't up to what I want.  The stitching on the keeper and free loop were both irritating and itchy/scratchy.  It was a nice blue, but not the right blue.  And knowing that I 'saved' on it kept making me angrier and angrier.  I forced myself to wear it longer as I don't wear it too often and maybe the stitching just needed to be worn in.  Well... no.  It's been a year and I'm done with this.  So now I bought a $70 Nomad leather band.  I had the $450 apple metal band in the shopping cart for a bit, but I thought that was going too far in the other direction.  Plus, at the rate I'm losing weight, I'll need to resize it and that's just a pain with a metal band.  

I've only worn it once, but that Nomad is just so damned comfortable.  It's black so it matches the watch and all the clothes I wear automatically (especially with the new multicolor pride face), and looks like it will wear well and get a good patina.  

Family/Friends
We had a family get together with my cousins for Memorial Day.  These are the cousins whose house my brother and I stayed in for the majority of the pandemic.   First... WOW they've really changed the house a lot.  The carpet in the kitchen, the family room, and one of the bedrooms has been ripped out and replaced by a nice grey hardwood laminate.  The family room has been painted in grey with white chair boards around the edge along with a blue accent wall, and converted into a dining room (a HUGE dining room!).  The master bedroom has new grey carpet, purple walls and a grey striped accent wall. The living room has been painted a tan and burgundy that will go with my cousin's military memorabilia (he was a marine in the first Gulf War).   The kitchen, which also used to be the dining room), now has a side table and a good sized island.  

Mom wasn't happy to see all the changes, but she still looks at it as her sister's house and not her niece's house.  Since my cousin's husband came to town a couple months before my cousin, he got most of the work done before she came in and I think it meant a lot to her as she wasn't moving into her dead mother's house, she was moving into her new home.  So I get it and to be honest, it's been done well and looks nice.  

There was drama with a friend of theirs the night before so they were caring for a friend's baby... I don't like babies.  But as far as babies go, this one was relatively quiet and didn't stink the place up.  

The only problem was Mom over-extending herself.  She'd spend the last couple days making some salads and deserts for the day and she really just can't do that anymore.  She even finished her famous chocolate pie (my cousin's favorite) that morning so she started the day at their house tired.  We weren't there all to long, but when we left it was very clear she'd gone well past her limit.  Mom couldn't even get to the car without stopping and almost falling over.  And she was wearing her oxygen.  She had trouble getting into the car.  She had trouble breathing on the way home, a 15 minute drive, and then had trouble getting out of the car and into the house.  

I had to scold her a bit.  I felt horrible doing it, but I had to remind her that she needed to speak up if she was too tired and needed to go.  That we'd likely go over there again for cook outs and such and that I wouldn't interrupt and tell her we needed to go if I thought she was having fun at all.  

Work

As I suspected, we have a problem with interviewing/hiring for the supervisor position.  Neither of the nurses the HUM was interested in were interested in being a supervisor.  We got three applicants.  One was the nurse that went up to another facility and has been hired on as their supervisor, one is one of our nurses, and one is an outside nurse.  

B, the one that went up to a different facility and currently holds the position he's applying for, was lazy before he left us.  He did his very best to get out of work, he called in when it was inconvenient and obvious that he was looking for an extra day off.  We've heard from good sources that he's only worse in his new position.   I like going out to the floor and doing 'real nursing' whenever I can.  I have a good team of nurses, so I don't get that opportunity often, but I jump at the chance when it presents itself.  Evidently when an officer calls up with an inmate complaining of chest pain (we have to ALWAYS see a chest pain in the clinic and ALWAYS call a doc about it) he'll tell them that he doesn't have a nurse to see him and to call back later.  Umm... YOU'RE A FUCKING NURSE!!!!

L, our current nurse, is problematic. She's under investigation.  She's... well, I wouldn't call it lazy but she moves slowly.  I don't believe I've ever seen her hurry and we work where hurry is often needed.  She's also upset because she heard the HUM talking about certain nurses for this position and she hasn't been asked to apply.  She finds it insulting because of her seniority, when in reality she isn't all that senior.   

G, doesn't work for the state.  She's never worked for the state.  She has no idea what our policy directives, operating procedures, or day to day work rhythms are.  And she's going to lead and direct and supervise nurses that have been doing this for years and years.  

According to K, the HUM, we can simply deny all three and open the position back up.  I don't think I disagree with that... but man it feels like a wasted opportunity.  

Entertainment
I got a great song yesterday that's on my mind a lot. It's really pop like and has a lot of elements that I don't enjoy, but it comes together so well.  One Foot In Front Of The Other by Griff. 

I also watched a movie last night that's surprised me.  It's rare for me to really enjoy a movie when it was nothing like what I was expecting and I was expecting to like it.  Wrath of Man.  

I'd seen the trailer awhile back and saw one thing in it that sold me.  "By Guy Ritchie"  Guy Ritchie, if you aren't aware, is a great film maker making some of the best british crime comedy drama action movies.  Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,  Snatch, RocknRolla, and The Gentlemen are all perfect movies in this genre.  He's also made Swept Away, Revolver, Sherlock Holmes and it's sequel (the ones with Robert Downey Jr), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and the new live action Aladdin.  The trailer has Jason Statham looking like a con man shooting people and being a bad ass.  So I figured we had another of his bread and butter british crime comedy drama action movies.  

I couldn't have been further from the truth.  Except for the main character H (played by Jason Statham of course) being from England, there's nothing british about this.  It's set in Los Angeles.  There is crime, but it's far more about revenge.  And there's quite a bit of drama and action, but almost NO comedy whatsoever.   It's like someone leaned into him and said "I bet you can't make a gritty not funny movie."  And while it wasn't anything like I was expecting... it was GREAT!  If you like those 'Revenge' movies like Charles Bronson's entire career, then you'll like this.  

Nina Tires and Glass updates
The glass installation got delayed.  I guess they were right on the shortage as they said it was taking longer than expected to get the windshield in stock.  Anywho, it got installed this past Thursday along with the $60 worth of windshield wiper replacements.  All is good with Nina on that front as I couldn't tell that it had ever been touched.   I'm sure a pro could probably tell that it had been replaced, but there's no difference so far as I'm concerned.  

One funny aside on the installation.  I had to be at work when this happened, so Mom was there to hand off the keys.  I forewarned her that he'd be working in the driveway and would likely need to drive the car afterward.  And if there was a threat of rain, he'd actually need to take it over to a nearby car wash where they could do the work under cover.  Well, mom is always looking out for her boys and when the guy got there she planted herself at the dining room table and brought up our Nest cam that looks out on the driveway.  It was bright and sunny out so he could do the work there... and she watched him the entire time.  She even listened to him through the camera's mic because he was on the phone the entire time.... talking about Nina!  

That's right, a guy who works on cars all the time was impressed with my car.  He specifically said, more than once, that he really loved the color and at one point took a step back and just looked at her saying he loved the wheels.  I know, I know... it's petty and small, but damn I love when people like looking at my car!  Another good reason I won't be getting rid of her any time soon.  

On the tire front, I got those installed last week.  Maybe it's just the fact that they're new, but they traction seems a lot better than my old set.  I mean, like, significantly better.  It's just hard to judge as I switch tires twice a year, and spent the first year worried about how much power I could put down.  I've learned just how much I can give Nina before she starts to slip and even know the feeling before she starts to slip.  These tires go beyond what I've felt before.  Especially in the wet.  It rained one day (not just sprinkles, but good buckets worth of rain) and there are several places on my commute that I have to turn off the cruise as Nina would just slip a bit and hydroplane around a curve... but not in these new tires.  

$1300 is still a big pill to swallow for them and it's not like I'd save a ton by going for cheaper tires (exact replacements were just over $1000), but I'm very happy with this purchase.  Now lets just see if they last more than a couple years and 40,000 miles (minus the winter tire's miles).  

Updates
I did a post about the benchmarks from the new computer.  Well, I finally got to put that into real game playing.  I loaded up Control and OH MY GOD!  It never once hitched, which I bet puts me well over 60 frames per second and it looks fabulous.  The temps didn't even get out of control!!  

I didn't exactly choose this video card.  It was the 3080 that was available to buy so I bought it.  But it's a really high end one designed for overclocking.  I was considering overclocking it just for shits and giggles, but to be honest, it just doesn't need it.  It's going to play and run just fine.  

OH, and this might keep my creative output down for a bit... it's been months since I lost myself into a game and I'm going to do that for awhile.