Hokkai ramen and sushi

Secret U.N. Military Base. so shush…
A certain Human man sat in a windowless room, flanked by a pair of guards. He was visibly agitated and addressed his guards.
"So do either of you want to tell me why you kidnapped me?"
"Please remain calm, sir," one replied.
"You can't keep Suction Cup Man trapped," he declared, slamming his hands on the table in front of him. "I'll suction cup my way out eventually!"
He pulled out some of his infamous suction cups and stuck them to the wall in a show of defiance. Before the situation could escalate, the door opened to reveal Secretary-General Zhao.
"Are you Suction Cup Man?"
"Maybe?" SCM answered, sitting back down. "Fuck you. Who wants to know?"
"I'm the Secretary-General of the United Nations."
…
"Yeah fuck you."
"You've done a lot of bad with your suction cups, Mr. Man."
"Tell me about it," SCM said with a smile.
"But I think there is some good you can do for us."
"You think I'm capable of good? Just last week some ass-wagon Venlil almost died jumping out of a window trying to fight me off his tower "
"I understand that you may believe your suction cups can only bring destruction and sadness."
"What? God no, it was hilarious."
" But it may be in your best interest to cooperate."
"Hmm. I'm listening but still fuck you."
Zhao spread out a few pictures on the table, showcasing numerous warships.
"These images were taken on Aafa. We have reason to believe they are building their most powerful Extermination Fleet yet. It's huge, and signs seem to point to another strike against Earth very soon."
"Do you honestly think that the Federation is stupid enough to attack Earth again after what happened to the last Extermination Fleet?"
Zhao inhaled.
"Yeah."
"Oh."
"We've located a big radar that seems to be the same plot device from The Rise of Skywalker's finale. And this is where you come in, Mr. Cup. You need to plant a bomb on the dish and destroy it so the Fleet can't take off, but the dish is pretty high up, and frankly that would take a really expensive ladder."
"So, what's in it for me?"
"We will grant you one free suction cup climb on anything you wish and I will have Governor Tarva extend that deal to Venlil Prime."
"Are you sure you're prepared to give me that kind of power?"
"We've heard rumors, Mr. Suction…" Zhao said, turning around. "Can you… die?"
"You can't kill Suction Cup Man."
"Then I believe we have a deal."
"Fuck yeah! Let's piss off the calamari!"
------------------
Secret Kolshian Military Base but we found it haha
Chief Nikonus himself gazed out onto the giant fleet of his own making. The Humans would have no chance against…this. What the hell? There was a Human climbing his bad plot device! He rushed out of the building he was in and screamed at the Human.
"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!"
Suction Cup Man looked down at the angry Kolshian.
"Climbing your bad plot device with suction cups, dumbass, what do you think?!"
"Why my plot device?!"
"Why not your plot device?!"
"You're delaying my plans to bomb Earth!"
"I'll delay your plans all I want! Look at me go!"
"Don't you DARE destroy that satellite dish!"
"NO, FUCK YOU!"
"Fuck YOU!"
"AND FUCK YOU RIGHT BACK, YOU FUCKING HUNK OF WALKING SUSHI!"
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?! I am the leader of an entire galactic government! I am these people's god! I will have your head on a stick if you don't-"
"Hey, I wrote you a song!" SCM said, taking out a guitar and harmonica.
"What?"
"It goes a little something like this!"
SCM strummed a few notes.
"You're a bitch!"
…
…
…
"Uh-"
🎶 "Oh, you're a bitch, a bitch, a bitch, a BIIIITCH" 🎶
He gave a small harmonica solo and a middle finger as the finale.
"Get the fuck off my plot device this instant!"
"I can't!"
"Why the hell not?!"
"Can't have your committing genocide, dumbass!"
"You're really making me want to commit one right now because of how much you're pissing me off!"
"Probably doesn't help that I was hired directly by the U.N.! Yeah that's right! This isn't something that I just came up with!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA! You predator scum!"
"Yep, I sure pissed him off now!"
"That's it! No more stalling! I'm launching the Fleet!"
Nikonus rushed back inside, leaving SCM alone.
"Uh oh."
A moment later, every warship simultaneously took off, heading to destroy Earth. SCM had to work fast to prevent the genocide. Where was he going to climb if all the cities were destroyed? He suction cupped his way to the top, swearing all the way. He planted the charges and, having no time to get back down, detonated it right then and there. A massive explosion tore the plot device to shreds as Nikonus watched.
"You may have delayed my plans this time, Human with the suction cups, but you won't be around next time to- OH FUCK!"
SCP was floating gently down with a parachute with his guitar and harmonica while Nikonus watched in rage.
🎶 "Oh, you're a BIIIITCH! Oh, you're a BIIIIIIITCH! You're a bitch! Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum. Bitch." 🎶
He let the instruments drop.
"Thanks, Galactic Federation. You've been fricking horrible, now fuck off!"
Nikonus gave up.

These are from permits filed for epic universe courtesy of theme park stop. It seems every area of the park is getting a themed dining option in the same vein of three broomsticks and Leaky Cauldron. This will really help universals reputation surrounding food and entertainment that are not attractions. This is something Disney has always done but it is another way where Universal is going to be competing with Disney parks.
Nintendo World
Toads Cafe-this is already open in 2 of universals other parks. It’s a very immersive restaurant where toad cooks all the meals in the mushroom kingdom. There is an hourly show where bowser invades the mushroom kingdom.
HTTYD
The Great Hall- it is a location seen in the movies. There are pictures of this location on google but it is a round dining room with a huge centerpiece in the middle. I would guess this restaurant is going to be more Viking themed in terms of the food it will serve. It will have a capacity of 244 seats.
Dragon Stage Show - 985 seat capacity rumored to be Untrainable which already exists in Universal Beijing. It’s is a highly praised show with dragon animatronics that fly over the crowd.
Harry Potter
281 seat capacity restaurant - This size is very comparable to The three broomsticks. This land is set in Paris so expect more Parisian food in this restaurant
Stage Show -this stage is rumored to have a circus tent facade that gradually gets bigger once you enter. This is seen in Fantastic Beasts 2. Capacity is 642 seats. It is rumored that there will be wand battles or some type of live wand magic show.
Universal Monsters
The Stakehouse- 362 capacity set in an old gothic town. The restaurant is well themed with weapons like crossbows, stakes hanging on the wall.
Windmill Bar- set in windmill depicted in the original Frankenstein film. It will be similar to the hopping pot serving quick service food and drinks. Rumored to have fire effect occur every hour on top of the windmill.
Stage show that existed in early permits was replaced with a family coaster themed to the wolf man.
Central Hub
Atlantic-ocean theme restaurant that sits on top of the parks lagoon.
Elysian BBQ-sits just outside of universal monsters land.
Yin-Yang-attached to hotel. Likely an upscale Chinese or ramen restaurant.
Cassini-upscale Italian restaurant located near the parks water fountain show.
Zephyr Market- a food court located near the dueling coasters. Rumored to be similar to a food and wine festival where the stands change.

Recently it's been worse, like yesterday I didn't eat a lot, no breakfast, no lunch, ate a burger in the afternoon, and some cake. Then when we're having dinner I'm really nauseous, I eat anyways to not worry mum. Then I'm so fucking nauseous I end up making myself puke, cuz it felt like I was gonna puke anyways, and it helps with the nausea. Then today, been nauseous since I woke up, it's 8pm rn and all I've had today is a few slices of bread, and like 3 pieces of sushi. I'm really fucking hungry but also nauseous. And it's a bother. Idk if there's anything I can do about it but thought I might as well ask Ftm 16

Japanese-American to be exact. That means I do indeed like sushi and gyudon.

TL:DR
Trigger warning: mention of suicide and death
I know the title seems harsh but it’s a thought that’s always been at the back of my mind, especially today. Growing up, my dad was never there and when he was, he was drunk, violent, and verbally abusive to me and my siblings. Every time him and my mom got into a fight, he’d break whatever was closer to him whether that be the wall, a window, chair, etc. It was horrifying to be around him even on a good day. My mom on the other hand was so hardworking and made sure we were all loved to fullest, making up for our dads lack of it. She worked 8 hours a day and still made sure her kids got to where they were going and never missed a sports game or activity we were in. She made us feel special and warm and encouraged us in anything we set our minds to. She was our shield, taking the worst my dad or the world could do to her.
But that wasn’t enough for the world, because a car accident took her away from us 9 years ago. I’m the oldest out of 5 children and I’m still so angry with what we had to go through and what’s happening still. The universe took someone who was kind, loving, fun, and would fight to the death for us and left us with a cold shell of a human being.
The first year after my moms death was the hardest. Not only did I have to live through the trauma of losing my mom as a 17 year old, but I also had the main responsibility of taking care of my siblings, which included 2 year old twins at the time. My father would constantly be out of the house drinking and doing god knows what. He was dealing with pain but that’s no excuse for practically abandoning your kids. I remember distinctly having to talk him out of killing himself or to stop getting in fights with people at bars. Then, he had apparently found evidence on my moms email claiming that she had cheated on him. He never stopped insulting her to me after that. That’s also when he became agressive towards us again. Even going as far as kicking my brother and I out of the house one night when my brother tried to defend himself from his verbal attacks.
Year two didn’t get any easier. I was struggling with having to go to college while also remaining close to home to support my siblings. I had no help from him with preparing for this new chapter in my life. I was fully responsible for myself both financially and physically as he had taken me off of his health insurance and everything since I didn’t live with him. I felt completely hopeless again. Whenever I would visit home or visit family with them, he would talk about how awesome his single life is. He would brag about how high his “body count” is now and that he’s probably banged some girls in the college classes that I’m in. All the while trashing my mom to me and putting my siblings lives in danger by leaving them alone while he went to bars or driving drunk with them in the car. I tried to fight him so many times to stop but I was also left soulless after being demeaned as a human being.
But that’s not even the bread and butter of the situation. When my mom died, she had left our family a pretty large sum of money, over a million dollars. My siblings and I haven’t seen any of that money. He used it right away to buy himself a brand new Ford F-150, a new house without the memory of my mom,a new boat, atvs, and whatever made him happy at the time. He had originally promised my grandparents that he would put money aside for us to use to pay for school. That was a lie. Shortly after my dying, my dad starting dating this younger girl and paid for her beauty school. He became known around town as generous “insert name” because he would constantly buy people stuff at bars. He even offered to pay for someone’s surgery and another’s business while drinking. He bought his two oldest kids very old, cheap cars and that’s the only time he’s spent money on us for our sakes. Our diet for almost an entire year consisted of ramen and bar burgers he’d bring home. He’s never helped us out financially. He’s even gone as far as stealing money from my brother when we got the stimulus checks and he wouldn’t give him his when it came in the mail. 9 years later, my brother and I have finally recovered financially and now have successful careers and promising futures. But that is 100 percent without his help. In fact, it seems like he actively tried to pull us down so we wouldn’t surpass him. Which is why it seemed like such a slap in the face when he told me that he was proud of us a month ago.
But this all leads up to today. I asked him what our plans were for getting a headstone for our mom since she still doesn’t have one. My boyfriends family graciously offered to help by letting us have one of the large boulders from their land. Today he sent me a message that reads exactly this:
“No, There is zero percent chance of me ever putting up a monument or allowing it for someone that cheated on me multiple times. There is is a reason that I bought every gravesite around hers.”
The last part is funny because he didn’t even pay for her funeral or the grave sites. My best friends family did as a gift to my mom and because they were generous enough to help our family. I had always wondered why he never paid for a headstone when he clearly had the money. He always dodged the question from me and my moms side of the family. Even going as far as saying he’d destroy anything that was put up to my grandma, my moms mom.
He is so f’ed up and I’m tired of dealing with this by myself. I don’t know what to do anymore but I’m so angry and fed up. I want him to suffer like he’s made me, my siblings, and my grandma suffer. I’m just so scared because my three younger siblings still live with him and I’m afraid he’ll take them away from us. Why did the universe take my mom away from us and leave us with him.

Hello, I'm just back from a 10-day trip to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. I got a lot of great advice here so I thought I'd share my experience and tips re travelling with a nut allergy.
Situation: My husband is allergic to peanuts only, but avoids all nuts in case they are mixed/contaminated. Before we left he bought a card to print up and self-laminate that stated (in Japanese, obviously) that he was allergic to all nuts. We showed this card in restaurants and to the concierge whenever we made a reservation. He also learned how to say "I am allergic to peanuts" and in Japanese.
General takeaway: If you avoid street food, you can feel quite safe with a peanut allergy in Japan, first of all because peanuts aren't super-standard in the food, but also because the staff in most restaurants are very conscientious and will go right to the chef to find out if the food is safe.
Tips:
*If he could do it again, he would just print up a peanut allergy card rather than an all nuts card, because the "all nuts" seemed to confuse people and we felt we were turned away from more places than we would have been otherwise. Many people asked us about sesame and/or soya nuts after they read the card. Simpler would be better.
*Ask about your allergy BEFORE you get in line at a restaurant. We found this out the hard way after waiting 90 minutes once and 30 minutes another time before being turned away (slow learners).
*We did a (great!) Ramen tour with Tokyo Ramen Tours; beforehand, we were assured that most ramen is nut-free and they double-checked wherever we went. There's a specific type of ramen that can include peanuts - it's called "tantanmen" (a ramen derived from Chinese dan dan noodles). Avoid this, obviously. None of the many ramen restaurants we visited after that tour had peanuts or turned us away.
*Skip any Conveyer Belt Sushi restaurant or buffet restaurant. We were turned away from a conveyer belt resto on our first day and it makes sense given the range of food passing in front of you. Same issue with buffets. We avoided the (drool-worthy) department store takeaways for the same reason.
*We were also turned away from a famous Udon restaurant (Dontonbori Imai Honten) and a non-descript sushi restaurant in the busy Dontonbori tourist area of Osaka. We ate Udon and sushi elsewhere so it was particular to these restaurants.
*Yakiniku restaurants where you grill your own meat MAY be okay but the one we went to in Ginza said they did have peanuts as garnish and maybe in some sauces. They gave us meat with salt only and no sauce (it was still fantastic), and since you use your own grill we didn't worry about cross-contamination.
*We worried some Tempura might be cooked in peanut oil, but the fancy places use cottonseed oil and the others use vegetable oils like canola. I'd still ask, but we had zero problems.
*My husband avoids sweets, baked goods or ice cream so we had no experience asking about those; obviously if you are travelling with kids you will want to check that out!
*We looked up the ingredients for 551 Horai's famous pork buns, and they did not contain nuts. I ate them and would say they were nut-free, but my husband ended up not trying them.
*Bars (especially those with cover charges) often brought out little bowls of snacks, sometimes including nuts. We just waved them away if they had visible nuts, and if no nuts were apparent, we left it on the table (or I ate it), but he didn't risk it.
*We used Google Translate's photo feature to scan menus and look up ingredients on packaged food. We also used an app (Payke) that lets you scan a barcode and see translated product descriptions.
*No one gave us a hard time or acted like it was a pain to check with the kitchen. Often they would go to great lengths to be sure (sometimes it took a bit of time), which we really appreciated. One place (Katsukura Shinjuku Takashimaya) had a big book of recipes/allergens to refer to, but even then they still asked the kitchen. In the rare cases where they said they couldn't serve us, they were very apologetic and nice.
I hope this is helpful -- my main conclusion is that a peanut allergy shouldn't prevent you from visiting Japan. We ate a TON of food of every popular Japanese style in a wide range of restaurants, and we felt safer than in some U.S. or Canadian cities where cooking with peanuts is way more common. We had a fantastic trip and I hope you do too!

If you were to choose a self sacrament and had to choose something to represent your body and blood. What would you choose?
I think I would go sushi and a beverage with the crystallized lime packets

April Fools!!!
But also...
Deadpool (Alter Ego)
Wade Wilson: When you flip to this side, heal 1 damage from Deadpool for each card in your hand. “I’m not just a pretty face, I’m also a healing machine.” Merc with a Mouth: When you flip to this side, draw 1 card for each enemy minion in play. “I’m not saying I’m the best at what I do, but I’m definitely the most talkative.” Deadpool (Hero)
Regenerating Degenerate: After you defeat an enemy minion, heal 1 damage from Deadpool. “I’m like a cockroach, but with more swords.” Breaking the Fourth Wall: Once per turn, you may discard a card from your hand to draw a card. “I’m not sure what’s more broken - my fourth wall or my katanas.” Deadpool’s Mask
Disguise: Exhaust Deadpool’s Mask to prevent all damage dealt to Deadpool this phase. “I’m like a ninja, but with more tacos.” Deadpool’s Katanas
Slice and Dice: Deal 2 damage to an enemy minion. If that minion is defeated by this attack, deal 1 damage to another enemy minion. “I’m like a sushi chef, but with more blood.” Deadpool’s Guns
Bang Bang Bang: Deal 3 damage to an enemy minion. If that minion is defeated by this attack, deal 2 damage to another enemy minion. “I’m like a cowboy, but with more chimichangas.” Deadpool’s Healing Factor
Healing Factor: At the end of your turn, heal 1 damage from Deadpool. “I’m like Wolverine, but with more jokes.”
Sorry, had to be done, commence the downvoting :)

I am sorry I don’t have an image to share but no one else will understand my pain.
My mother has taken to watching tik tok recipes as of late. She told me in a recent conversation that she had discovered an incredible recipe for ramen noodle lasagna, in which you separate each pack into two, and line the bottom of a baking dish with half the squares, cover in sauce and cheese, and layer the remaining squares on top, followed by more sauce and cheese. Then bake.
“It’s amazing! You don’t even have to cook the noodles first! They just cook in the oven!”
Yes she ate it. Yes she liked it.
It’s like I don’t even know her anymore 😔

Hello,
I was eating ramen earlier and was using a smallish plastic fork. After chomping down the noodles I go to hand my husband the fork and notice the tip of one of the prongs was missing.
We searched all around where Iate and nothing. So we can safely assume my dumb ass ate the tip. The prongs weren't sharp like a metal fork but I am still worried.
I had a bad bout of diverticulitis a few years back and had to have a portion of my colon removed so I am paranoid about things like this.
A little about me: 34 year old F semi bed bound and wheel chair user. Xlinked-Rickets, diabetes and high blood pressure. Default bowel movements are diarrhea consistency. How in trouble am I?

At my job I work part-time and receive and hourly plus tips compensation. Every 2 weeks when I am paid, My check reflects that I have only received an extra dollar per hour with my tips, this goes the same for every other employee as well. It seems off, I have worked at other places with less volume and employees and have received triple that per check. As a Team we have asked the manager to show us the tips for the week so we can know in good faith that we are only receiving enough to give each Team Member only $1 on our check. He says that he will and then does not come back into the store for weeks at a time and seemingly “forgets to show us.” Is there anything we can do and does this sound normal to anyone? We are a poke and ramen restaurant the average meal being about $15 each.

After some successes with westernizing other cuisines, why did America have to butcher sushi so bad? Imitation crab is terrible and gives off an impression that anything you roll into rice and nori can be called sushi. People’s preferences can be whatever they want but they should really not act like they’re having sushi and brag about it with social media posts showing dynamite rolls captioned “Going to Japan for dinner tonight!”. This is the type of dish that people eat to show how uncultured they are. If you go to Japan, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything remotely as bad as this and call it sushi.

I know that Buford Highway and Dekalb Farmer's markets have great fish markets but I guess I'm not sure if that fish is "sushi grade" i.e. safe to take home and cut up into sashimi to eat. Does anyone know of the best place to buy high quality, safe to eat raw, sushi grade fish?

Hi, I'm 5'10, 170lbs. Dark Hair (short hair) + some Grey. Dark Goatee [a lot more Grey in the facial hair]. I'm not married (divorced in 2014), I don't have kids, I've had a vasectomy.
Here's my Ideal situation: I meet a very "amorous" but monogamous woman between the age of 25[*] and 35 who likes to get together 1-3 times a week for Cuddling and watching Movies/TV shows & listening to music together. I also enjoy night drives (to nowhere in particular), dining out, seeing movies on the bigscreen, and the occasional Live Musical event.
[Video games are also on the table... but I'm not a heavy gamer... so if "Gamer Guy" is your "swipe left" redflag, please reconsider... I have all the necessary hardware for the purpose of playing games, but I mainly keep it around for when my 12yo nephew comes to visit. I keep video games around for the same reason I have Board games, DVDs/Streaming, and a Record collection. It's just one more tool in my arsenal for socializing].
Here's a small sampling of my tastes:
Music: Aphex Twin, Depeche Mode, µ-ziq, The Human League, Yaz, Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Earth Wind Fire, ELO, Nine Inch Nails, The Pharcyde, Souls of Mischief, Donny Benet, Home, Dick Dale, Man or Astro-man, Terminal 11, Efterklang, MxPx, The Dead Kennedys
Movies: Everything Everywhere all at Once, You me and Everyone we Know, Eternal Sunshine, Being John Malkovich, 13th Floor, They Live, Back to the Future II, Thor Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Big Lebowski, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Enthiran, A.I. , Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens, Everything is Terrible II, The Music Man, Grease, Goonies, The Princess Bride, Total Recall, Robocop, Kindergarten Cop, Problem Child.
TV: I think you should leave, The Mandalorian, Better Call Saul, Alf, 30 Rock, News Radio, Animaniacs, Fringe, X-Files, Better off Ted, Columbo, Æon Flux, Star Trek TNG, What we do in the Shadows, IT Crowd
Food: Sushi, Pizza, Burgers, Thai [Panag Curry], Indian [Chicken Tiki Masala]
Dislikes: Bigotry, Sports, Nazi's, Self Help Gurus, Pearl Clutching, Careless and/or Aggressive Drivers
I think this is a good stopping point for this advert. I'm an honest and well-mannered dude, but I'm also not "too woke to take a joke". If you'd like to know more, I'm an open book, ask me anything
Peace
^[*] I know that seems like an odd age range for someone in their 40s, but I dated a lot of women that were older than me in my 20s and 30s, and it was a really bad time. [Literally women with little more than a high-school education treating me like I'm inferior just because they've been on the planet a couple more years than me. I'm not about that. My last longterm relationship was with someone 9 years younger than me, and It was the best relationship I've had so far... so I've decided 25 is the absolute lowest age I'd be comfortable with, and 35 is the soft limit on the oldest. It was nice to be able to be able to share Music/TV/Movies from my Teen & Childhood years, with someone that maybe wasn't exposed to that media because it wasn't part of their childhood].

(Sorry, I'm a day late with this money diary!)
Part 1: Assets and Debt
Retirement Balance: roughly $97,000 (About $73,000 in my 401k and $24,000 in IRAs)
My employer matches up to $2,000 a year for the 401k.
Equity: 0 - renting, but aiming to buy within a couple of years
Savings Account balance: $24,2980 - $17,118 in an HYSA, $7,862 in regular checking
Other savings:
Treasuries: $57,000 in iBonds
Brokerage account: $63,623
HSA: $7,960 (employer contributes half the max contribution each year, I contribute the rest)
No cc debt or student loan debt. I was fortunate to get a full scholarship and living stipend from the college I went to, plus got about $40k unexpectedly from a great-aunt who left it to me in a 529 account for education expenses.
Income
I’ve been working in my field for about two and a half years full time (4 years including part time work). My starting salary at my current job was $65,000, which honestly should have been a red flag (really low for the HCOL area I’m living in and the industry).
Within a year, I got a raise up to 75,000, and last year I got a promotion and a raise to 105,000. Earlier this year, I got a raise to 115,000.
Main job monthly take home

• 4,396 take home
• 1,874 contribution to max out my 401k
• 172 to my HSA
• 103 monthly for health insurance
• No side gigs or other monthly income

B and I do not combine finances, but we split major costs through a joint checking account. For expenses charged to the joint account, I'm only going to count my half of the expense. B is a grad student in the last year of his program. His stipend is $47,000 annually. He makes an additional $20,000-$30,000 a year from summer and part-time work.
Expenses
Rent (includes all utilities, wifi, etc) - my share is 1,175. B and I split the total rent of 2,350 evenly. We live in the on campus housing, since it is still cheaper than the crazy rents in our area.
No home/renters insurance
Retirement: $500 a month to IRAs
Savings contribution: varies - I sweep everything left after my set contributions into iBonds or HYSA to build for a condo or house purchase in the next couple years
Investment contribution: $75 a month to brokerage account
Gym: I buy a fitness class membership through B’s grad school that works out to about $48 a month. This is reimbursed by my company’s health and wellness benefit.
Phone and car: I’m still on my parent’s phone plan, I use B’s car occasionally but do not have a car or insurance myself.
No subscriptions or other recurring monthly payments.
Day 1
7 AM - Get up and grab a coffee and lemon cake from the Starbucks nearby. The team I'm on has been working crazy hours lately, so it’s on a giftcard from my boss. The team I'm on creates written documentation and instructional videos for monthly software releases. This monthly release is over 200 pages long and the team is not properly resourced for this kind of workload. Grab a muffin and cappuccino for B as well. $0
8 AM - Start the day with an hour and a half long meeting.. cameras on. Work consistently from 8AM to 7:15 PM. Can’t remember what I got for lunch but it was some sort of haphazard smorgasbord that I eat at the computer.
7:15 PM - I finish up for now and make some homemade pasta with B, who made and prepped the dough while I was working that evening. We are getting married this summer and a friend sent the pasta machine as an early wedding gift. It’s our first try at pasta and it turns out surprisingly good! Plus it’s fun.
9 PM - Run to TJs and get wine, ice cream, tangy gummy turtles, mint tea, and a bagged salad. Only the essentials. ($24 charged to a joint checking account that B and I contribute to for common expenses like groceries)
9:30 PM - Hang out with B and he has me listen to the new Lana album. It’s really good! I'm not a huge Lana fan previously but I really liked this album.
11:45 PM - Get ready for bed. I don’t feel tired - I'm wound up and overtired from the park this week. I fall asleep sometime between midnight and one.
Daily total: $12.03
Day 2
7:30 AM - Wake up and read the news in bed for a bit.
8:15 AM - Make a cup of coffee and get back online for a bit. I want to finish up at least one of the videos due this week. It's Saturday but I want to get more done, since I'm taking off two days at the end of the week to visit my parents and ski.
12 PM - I’ve done what I wanted and call it quits for work today. I make some refried pinto beans with my favorite recipe. I make bean and chorizo tacos for me and B , then allow myself to lounge on the sofa and aimlessly scroll for about an hour.
2 PM - I’m shopping for shoes for my wedding. I find two potential pairs on DSW plus some fun cowboy boots. I order a couple sizes of each to try on at home. ($270)
7 PM - B and I head to a nearby city for a night out. We grab some excellent tacos from a taco truck for dinner. ($22 for the two of us, charged to the joint account) We walk to a brewery nearby and get a bear each ($18 for two, again charged to the joint acct).
10 PM - We stop by a pinball bar that’s playing emo hits of the 2000s and have a great time playing pinball and arcade games there ($10 in quarters. I pay for both of us, plus a $3 atm fee). We need to get gas afterwards ($45, charged to the joint acct)
Daily total: $325.50
Day 3
9 AM - I record some more footage and work on videos a bit.
11AM - I vibe on the sofa for a couple hours before heading out for a long run.
3 PM - B’s parents are going to be in town in a couple weeks, and B is planning what to do with them. We line up a couple good restaurants and are looking for an event. B's parents are baseball fans so we buy minor league baseball tickets for the four of us to catch a game when they visit. ($112, charged to joint account)
4 PM - Shower and head to Safeway with B. We pick up contact solution, snacks, and sparkling water ($40, charged to the joint acct)
5 PM - make dinner and hang out. It’s been a long couple of weeks and I’m not making myself do much outside of work. I’m reading White Noise on an ebook from the library. I make some tea and read in bed with B until about 10.
Daily total: $76
Day 4
7 AM - I get up and get ready for the day.
8 AM - Join my first call for the day and stay online until about 6 PM. I'm getting closer to being back to my normal 9-5 hours. During the day, B takes the car for an oil change. We split maintenance for the car ($59, charged to joint acct)
6 PM - Go for a run. I've been training for a trail race. It feels really good to be outside after a day at the computer.
7:30 PM - Get back from my run and eat dinner with B. I love the Trader Joe's chicken ramen. I add tofu and sesame oil.
8:00 PM - Shower and get in bed. The ebook loan from the library runs out so I decide to buy a copy of White Noise. I like buying used books on Thriftbooks, and I have Thriftbooks rewards so this order is really cheap. ($1.49). Fall asleep about 10.
Daily total: $30.99
Day 5
5:45 AM - I get up early. B is getting ready to go to an 8am test that’s a prerequisite for him taking the bar next year.
6 AM - I make myself breakfast, B is already gone. I have a 7am call to get some video footage from a very helpful PM.
7 AM - I do my call, get the video footage, then try to get footage for another video. No dice. the feature is still not working properly in the internal dev environments.
8:30 AM - I head out for a quick run. I do about 3.5 miles, rinse off, and get back online about 9:15.
3:30 PM - I get my bags ready to go for me and B’s flight to visit my parents. They live in the same state as us but it’s an 8+ hour drive. We Uber to the airport ($52 charged to the joint acct). From the Uber, I join a mentorship call for the college I attended for undergrad.
4 PM - Security is a breeze. We get through quickly and I grab a Chipotle-esque bowl. It’s not great but I’m really hungry. ($18). I work on video editing some more.
6:30 PM - Flight takes off after being delayed a bit
8 PM - We land and my parents pick us up. They whisk us to Costco to try and get me a Costco card under false pretenses. No luck. I grab some contact solution since I forgot mine. ($10.78)
Daily total: $55.17
Day 6
7 AM - Another crazy day… I get up and eat breakfast with my parents and B and then start work.
8:30 AM - I hop online shortly before 8:30 for a meeting. My boss lets us know we can drop. I spend the rest of the day creating videos for the release and dealing with various release-related small crises, until a little bit after 8 PM.
3 PM - My mom brings me a slice of cake my dad got on sale at the grocery store and a cup of tea.
8:15 PM - I end for the day and relax with the rest of the family in the living room. My dad made a fire and it’s lightly snowing outside.
Daily total: $0
Day 7
4:45 AM - My family's dog was afraid of the fire last night and so B and I let him sleep in our room. The dog is an early riser - he whines to let me know he needs to go out about 4:45. I let him out and wait for him to do his business. I go back to bed and drowse for about 45 minutes before getting up a little before 6.
6 AM - I take this time to finish up my last two videos and send them for review a little before 8. I'd technically taken this day off but I need to make the deadline for the release.
8 AM - Eat breakfast with the family
10 AM - My boss approves the videos without edits so I upload them, respond to a couple emails, and log out. Now it’s really vacation!
10:30 AM - I get geared up for a snowy run and head out. I run about an hour by the lake and come back to a delicious spread my dad put together.
12:30 PM - B and I decide to go skiing tomorrow. My dad offers us use of his season pass, so only one of us has to buy a ticket. I get online and buy a ski pass for myself and B will use my dad's pass. My employer will reimburse my pass as part of fitness/wellness expenses. ($110 for now)
I spend the rest of the day hanging out with the dog and family. I take the dog for a walk and then just kind of lay on the sofa and drowse/nap. It’s windy and snowing again.
Daily total: $110
Food and drink - $70.03
Fun/entertainment - $180.49 ($70.49 once the ski pass is reimbursed)
Home and health - $10.78
Clothes and beauty - $270
Transport - $78
Other - none
Weekly Total: $609.30 ($499.30 when ski pass is reimbursed)
Reflection
This is a higher spend week than usual - my most unusual purchase is the $270 worth of shoes. I don't like shopping or spending much on clothes (I last bought a pair of new shoes in 2019). I will end up returning some of the shoe order since I bought multiple sizes. The baseball tickets and ski pass are also unusual. The rest of this is in line with my typical spending.