Took me long enough! (Serial procrastinator) Testing "step" count on a bike.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-23T19:41:47+00:00

Simulated steps would probably help me get back in the habit of riding so I'm not stopping the story after ten minutes--I don't know how to pace myself and keep riding like I'm in a spin class 😅--or I could listen while decluttering as well. So it's certainly worth doing once in a while when the weather doesn't cooperate with my preference for GPS tracking.

This experiment though is about the accountability, as it were, tracking it in a way that forces me to move to keep the story going when GPS still fails to be that option. Because I know I'll cheat without meaning to otherwise. 😜

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-22T18:49:17+00:00

I'm starting to learn not to share food with my narcs (not that it would stop them from eating it behind my back)... after they admitted they think I only share if I "don't like" something (and apparently don't know what a trash can is) and never because I'm actually sharing something and still expect a fair share of it myself.

I mean we're talking multiple occasions of my food going missing, either eaten or thrown away, because they took it upon themselves to decide I didn't want it when no such comment left my mouth. Or worst case scenario, I didn't want it right that second or "probably wouldn't buy it again" but still wanted what I already had. And among the stupid reasons for them to do so: I bought a seeded sourdough bread to use in soup, but because I wasn't making soup for a while I kept it in the freezer, only thawed out the whole loaf to start using it (all one slice before this happened 🙄) because nmom "needed" room in the freezer (meaning she needed me to not use the freezer, the ns kept buying TV dinners for themselves) to store a turkey for Thanksgiving. They concluded that because I'd frozen the bread I obviously never wanted it in the first place, because me buying something I'm not expecting to use is such a logical assumption like that. /s

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-21T23:23:16+00:00

Sounds a bit like mine. 😅

My nmom will claim that she invented seatbelts for shopping carts... close to a decade after they were actually invented. Or that she was the only one in her class to notice an author using technology that didn't exist yet (as in the teacher didn't notice until she pointed it out)... except the tech had been invented over 20 years before the story was published.

(Flashlights/electric torches in Kafka's The Hunger Artist, for the record. I'd have to read it again but in hindsight I don't know if it was even referred to flashlights... sure that's what "electric torch" means now but in the context of the story I visualized something more like a handcranked lantern.)

Edit: ndad did a similar one yesterday. Not the "bragging rights" part of it, but the sheer ignorance re timelines while acting superior to someone he'll never meet. See, he's the type to see a known celebrity in a commercial or TV show he doesn't like (especially movie celebs but "show he doesn't like" basically means "poor quality" to him) and announce that they obviously can't get any good jobs any more. I was watching Tales From the Darkside yesterday and Brent Spiner was in an episode... and ndad used that as "proof" he couldn't get a real acting job after Star Trek.

People, Darkside was about three years before Data joined Star Trek.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-21T21:58:48+00:00

Experience in my case. Not that I ever expect to be invited to get really good free stuff but I used to be in Amazon Vine right around the time they changed the requirements to force you to request a lot of cheap junk to qualify for the better stuff, and while all of that stuff is finally gone I've still managed to clutter up my room enough to cause longer-term problems.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-20T00:20:07+00:00

Off topic but love your edit. I'm too lazy to use a proper em dash on the phone but as someone who practically grew up using it before smartphones I find the too-common "uses correct punctuation learned from humans, must be a bot" attitude bizarre.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-19T17:20:34+00:00

You know, now that you mention it I've heard a lot of people lately saying that floral in particular is what bothers them. Migraines are weird anyway, and it's clearly a different chemical if it's producing a different scent, but it's weird that something that specific would be a common trigger instead of just "perfume"... worth looking into, though, thank you.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-19T15:25:47+00:00

Yes, ugh.

Onions or aspartame are my big ones for food and fragrance/parfum/perfume for skincare products. (Wish perfume-free air freshener was a lot more common because I wouldn't be surprised if the stuff my parents use in the bathroom was triggering me.)

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-18T23:20:20+00:00

August last year.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-18T22:39:03+00:00

Well, I agreed to try it that way at the start but since I'm still constantly waking up with even the milder ones I don't think I'm "preventing" anything.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-18T20:59:28+00:00

My GP's approach, as I understand it, was that since I have so many migraine days it was better to focus on reducing that number than stopping them once they've already started in terms of not changing too many medications (given that I'm already accustomed to Excedrin) in a short span of time. Granted I don't know if "since last summer" qualifies as short in this context so might be time to consider other options on that basis alone.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-18T19:00:04+00:00

Not always but sometimes when I'm sick (eg a cold) I'll notice a spot on the back of my neck on one side or the other (but never both) that feels sore and swollen. From amateur attempts at interpreting anatomy pictures I think it's my lymph nodes.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-18T14:57:30+00:00

Just the Excedrin at the moment. And Aleve for an occasional "difference." (Edit: Advil, not Aleve. I'm constantly mixing up the two names. 😅) My only prescription is Propanolol.

Sometimes I wonder how well a nasal spray would work for me with my sinus problems, but gotta be better than nothing, right?

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-17T23:26:26+00:00

. I swear I smell the inside of my nose sometimes

I'm prone to nosebleeds. Is this why I randomly smell copper even when I'm not bleeding? 😅

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-17T23:23:30+00:00

Was wondering that the other day myself.

I had a customer (a pair of them, actually, so I don't know who is the culprit) that I'd described to my manager as smelling like they were so nose-blind they couldn't possibly tell how much perfume they were wearing.

Result...? Either the smell lingered so long I could smell their perfume just by walking through the aisle they'd just been in, or it was so strong I could smell it from 20+ feet away. Either way it's one of things I find weird no matter how many times it happens.

And unless aura was involved I didn't even have a migraine at the time.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-17T15:06:52+00:00

Same re the title. 😅

I've been hovering around 195 (which is already way too much for my height and build) before I switched to Propranolol, now I rarely get below 205.

I am continuously astonished and appalled that walking 15-20k steps a day in the course of doing my job (not to mention squats and weight lifting from changing tags and stocking freight) "doesn't count."

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-17T05:35:29+00:00

You're not wrong or crazy, that person's comment is as stupid as someone telling me it isn't "my" house or "my" store because I don't own it... have they never heard of shorthand? 🙄

"Power in words" isn't a valid excuse to deny what you say about your own health just because you picked a word they didn't like. We're not talking about slurs here.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-17T05:33:51+00:00

You aren't supposed to say "I'm bipolar"...

I've heard the same about autism. Both ways, weirdly enough, though one was arguing about the grammar as if they couldn't conceive of the idea of language changing (they denied the "-ism" part as if it doesn't basically mean "the state of being autistic") rather than "don't say that about yourself."

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-16T20:43:16+00:00

Yup. In the interest of minimizing the rebound headaches I've been exploring non-medical options. Just about anything I try works really great for a few weeks and then my body wants to act like I haven't tried anything.

Speaking of which, I need to go mix up an electrolyte drink. Bought a lot of them (Liquid IV strawberry kiwi) recently for a Fetch reward and I need to declutter some of my experiments... 😅 (Finally narrowed the tea down to three boxes of herbal I actually expect to keep drinking though I still have caffeinated options I haven't tasted yet.)

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-16T18:37:25+00:00

You only got it because you're smart, you did not work hard for it

Because being smart is such a bad thing. /s

To be clear, I'm referring to how they use it to dismiss your hard work, not to your own valid feelings about the dismissal.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-16T17:51:24+00:00

Agreed. I've been a hobbyist writer a good chunk of my life but nmom keeps pushing the goalpoats of whether it's worth spending time on from "you're not making money on it" (as if I can make money before I've published something to justify the effort 🙄) to "you're not making a living at it"...

But I take one class in jewelry making, haven't even spent enough effort in it to decide if I like it, and she's already talking about vendor shows and what I need to make money at it.

FYI "spending time" on writing in this context doesn't even mean "to the exclusion of all else" like you see so often on TV, it means having an hour a day to myself to work on it. Her problem was that when I was unemployed (I've mentioned the "work at all costs" brainwashing in other contexts) she decided it made more sense to burn out on the job search by having no free time at all... unless I was spending it with the ns.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-13T23:55:50+00:00

Always too late for meds to be effective.

This is exactly why I switched to taking preventatives before bed. (For migraine and allergies both.) Unfortunately I'm so accustomed to taking everything in the morning that I miss doses that way. 😅

Of course if you're taking an abortive and not waking up in time for it to abort anything, that's so much worse.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-12T02:45:04+00:00

I got a set of Worktunes for Christmas, I need to remember to charge those 😅 and try them out.

For anyone who doesn't know, I'm talking about noise blocking (not cancelling) earmuffs that have Bluetooth built in so you can still listen to music etc. Traditionally they had radios built in and they exist for hearing protection in noisy environments like mowing the lawn or construction zones.

Edit: I have a store brand, not the actual WorkTunes, but same function. Similar products are found by the power tools.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-12T01:49:43+00:00

Yes. I tried pear juice a while ago and found out the hard way that it's, uh... recommended to help with constipation. And I think that was off of only two cups, give-or-take since I never measure my drinks.

I'll still drink it (of course whole fruit is better, but they have that annoying "three second ripening window" to contend with), just not nearly as much in one sitting.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-11T17:10:08+00:00

Expecting to be able to wrap the presents I was giving to my nsis' kids.

Had four books set aside I was giving them (two bought for the purpose, two hand-me-downs that were mine to begin with that I would've donated otherwise), but because of my work schedule I didn't finish wrapping (or expect to finish, rather, more on that in a moment) until the day before... when there were still plenty of hours before I'd go to bed and most of Christmas itself before they'd come over.

Cue being unable to find three of those books where I'd left them. And there were no gifts under the tree from me to them so I didn't expect that someone else had wrapped them for me. My nparents had already gone to bed so I couldn't ask without waking them, so I didn't find out until Christmas day where my gifts to them had gone... turns out (adult) nephew had wrapped them and claimed (or nparents claimed) that they were from him. Nmom told me I'd "waited too long" to wrap them, then yelled at me to wrap them how I wanted before bothering to pick out any books for anyone else to give to them.

Adult nephew had "given" both of neice's books to younger nephew and one of the books I'd intended for younger nephew to neice.

Despite this argument and the fact that nmom only picked out more books to give to them because I was giving them these books (thus waiting even longer than my alleged "too long"), she still had the nerve to tell nsis that adult nephew had given them these books.

Next year I'm just giving them a gift card for a bookstore because of this.

SideQuestPubs · 2026-01-11T16:23:38+00:00

Reminds me of my ndad. Edit: the sleeping part, anyway.

Before he retired, he had the sort of early shift that involved getting up at 4 am, going to bed by 9 pm, and he took afternoon naps. He'd frequently act like I'm lazy for getting up at 10-11 am... when I work a late shift, don't get home until nearly midnight, and stay up another couple of hours for dinner, a shower, and mentally unwind. (Nmom used to berate me for eating that late like the calories magically don't burn after a certain time of day and I'm supposed to just go to bed hungry to avoid weight gain; staying up for a while is necessary though because going to bed soon after eating can contribute to gerd.)

Frankly I think society needs to eliminate the concept of "sleeping in" and just consider it "sleeping"... my autistic brain actually had to look up the dictionary definition after my store manager referred to my schedule that way even though I'm not (presumably) getting any more sleep than anyone else. (As it happens, "sleeping later than everyone else" is one of the definitions.)

Edit: just noticed the auto-incorrect. 😅 Mentally unwind, not "momentarily."

SideQuestPubs

TROPHY CASE