I was today years old when I learned that “tarnation” is contraction or corruption of the phrase “eternal damnation.”

I’ve moved my to read wishlist from Amazon to Storygraph. Check it out at the link. There’s 77 books – more books that I can possibly read in my lifetime. I’m a slow reader. I need to figure out a way to randomly select from the list. I just asked Siri for a random number between 1 & 77 and she says 14. That would be James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes, the series that the scifi show The Expanse is based on. Maybe?

Speaking of inflation, has anyone else noticed lately that the price to rent movies on amazon has suddenly jumped from like $3 to $19.99? I mean, huh? I ain’t paying $20 to sit on my couch and watch a damn movie. Now I know why I’m seeing a lot of videos on YouTube with titles like “Pirating is Back!” Give people a freaking break already!

Wow, am I busy today. The index cards are stacked, and I have a Blue Bakery project bigger than your head. I’m also trying to take quick treadmill walks to get my steps. It’s not a pleasant relaxing day. But I’m being productive.

Yesterday, Mr. K and I met my family out for dinner. Hijinks ensued. We sat with the loud drunk people. Mr. K finds my siblings endlessly amusing. He hasn’t had fifty years worth of it yet. After, we went to the nice Walmart. I needed department store-type things.

Oh, I have been eyeing and researching it for months and have finally purchased the Xeink e-reader. Click this link to view a video about it. It’s a hokey old-school e-reader that is super tiny and simple. It only has a four inch screen, is not a touch screen, and is not android based. It thus cannot do kindle books. I’ll need to buy epub books on google play and sideload them. This is not a deal breaker and is a simple lift. This device’s only function is to read books. That’s it. And it’s so tiny, light, and thin, you can slip it in your pocket and always have it on you. This is the big draw for me. I have the Boox Palma now (and of course a dozen Kindles) but they are not pocket portable. Amusingly when I ordered, I got an email from the company saying that their staff is currently celebrating Chinese New Year which will delay shipment. To apologize, they are going to throw in a free case with my order. I’m excited to have a new toy.

Living like Little House on the Prairie with my heat set at 67. I’m broke as a joke!

Did I tell y’all that my wax warmer shit-the-bed? It wouldn’t turn off. The switch and timer gizmo would not respond to stimuli. I figured that was a bad thing so tossed it. To replace it, I got this smaller cheaper warmer. It doesn’t have a switch or timer built in. So instead, I plugged it into one of my fancy-ass smart plugs. I had an extra. Now, I can set the warmer to run for an hour or two from my phone. No muss, no fuss. Works great!

I worked like a dog today! I got so much done. Plus! I finally swung by the thrift store to unload the mountain of junk in my car. It was three big garbage bags full of clothes, about a hundred puzzles, and some small furniture items. I am spring cleaning. I’m working on a new art project and am loving the feel of this art.

My home internet was down this morning. It’s the first time I’ve had an issue since switching in November. Something must have occurred overnight because I was watching YouTube before bed. I unplugged it for a bit to reboot, but that didn’t solve anything. It made walking on my treadmill boring as hell with no Nikita to watch. But meh? I got podcasts. Frankly, I’m too busy to fix it now and won’t be home later. I’ll flip a table tomorrow in between chores.

You gotta admit, my Gorbachev is cute as hell!

My Princess Diana video is now ready for your nibbles! I hope you enjoy it. There are a few consistency issues, but I’m getting better every time I play around.

I’m annoyed by people online flicking boiling water all over the place outside in the cold air. I mean science is fun. But so are burns and damaged property. Are the engagement metrics really that great? Can’t we go back to the cranky chihuahua with the gothic piano? I miss him. The quarterly Bakery cash sweep that I was working on was off by $433, but I found out why today, and finally got that very large (several thousand lines) entry done. Feeling accomplished.

To help strengthen my commitment to reading more, I’ve revived a decade dead habit that I used to do religiously. I’m keeping track of my reading at an Amazon list. I’ll share the link with updates and reviews as it grows.

I just finished The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James. I’m not quite sure how this got onto my stack – not my usual fare – but it was by charming and entertaining.

Next up is The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano. It’s won a slew of awards including best historical fiction. I’ve been eagerly itching for this to hit the top of my stack! Squee! Can’t wait to start that tomorrow morning with my coffee.

Ok! I’m ready to come out of the closet with my new project! You might have to visit this post link at my blog to find workable links. My new channel is called Trust the Dust. You can find me at all the links below, and I’ll also put my latest video below. I’m doing short snarky and fun history videos about various topics. I’m using Ai to generate everything – I mean, they are my ideas but the Ai is doing the grunt work. Please like and follow me wherever you might like to consume my stuff. I’ll mainly be posting to YouTube, Facebook, and also podcast audio. Here’s my latest video. I’m so proud of it! I did the audio, animation, all of it from prompts. It’s quite a lot of work and lots of fun. I’m feeling so creative!

Here is where you can find my YouTube channel to like and subscribe.

Here is where you can find my Facebook page to like and follow.

Here is the RSS link for my podcast feed.

You can also find me on Intagram and TikTok by searching for Trust the Dust. But I don’t play there much. I post only.

Here’s another one of my videos that I just finished. I hope you like them!

Every time I make a new video, I learn new things, and they get just a lil’ bit better. Learning and being creative is so much fun.

After spending three hours in my car today slogging through the snow, I decided to email my professional friend about the job at the Local Bakery. Maybe god is tryna tell me something? I told them that this is terrible timing. And I’m not sure if our needs align. But I invited them to call me to discuss if they would be interested in me. Do I want to change jobs right now? Nope. But I absolutely hate my commute. A drive that will continue to degrade and grow in length, as they work to tear the highway out of the city.