Yesterday was Maryse’s mum’s birthday. She would’ve been 65. Emotional day all around, so I made us some damn fine food: Shrimp in garlic butter on a bed of tagliatelle with veggies (bell peppers and onions).
It was partly because it’s a meal we both love, but also partly as a joke. She DESPISED shrimp. 
I was quite proud that I managed to make Maryse laugh with that suggestion.
Plus, it was delicious.
Our primary bathroom has been under renovation for the last two weeks. I think it has a (sub) floor again, or will have by the end of the day. The whole project was supposed to take a bit more than two weeks. Essentially all material was on site before the start of work, to avoid delays from that, but there has been a series of surprises and unexpected complications. first was the discovery that the original tile floor had been tiled over. Twice. Then the wall between the bath and kitchen was found to be levitating – the bottoms of the studs was in free space, not on a plate or even the subfloor. (fortunately the wall is plaster on wooden lath still, at least in the kitchen, and the lath gives a huge amount of stiffness). Then the hole in the main sewer stack pipe. We also found some surprise gas piping (which can be ignored) and a stove pipe, presumably for a coal stove in the kitchen (also being ignored). And the shower drain was ignoring the laws of physics (which, sadly, we have to follow.). and I had the builder replace all the original galvanized pipe, since it was all accessible, and a fair bit had to change anyway. We’re supposed to have 20 or so people over on Christmas…
Sadly, this seems not to be the case. I have bruised my left olecranon process. For those not up on the names of parts of bones, don’t feel bad. It’s the pointy bit of the elbow, and I only know that because I bruised the right one over the summer, and then kept whacking it into things, or having things whack into it. Took months to fully heal. Ir’s also where the triceps are inserted, so elbow extension is a little painful. No one is going to be throwing baseballs at me for a month, so maybe it’ll heal a little faster this time, and none of the bursa in the elbow seem to be damaged, so rotation isn’t a problem this time, at least.
Might be worth a check in your local building codes, sometimes you can get grandfathered in, if your grandfather was born before the advent of classical mechanics.
sadly, the rule here is that you have to be your own grandfather.
Due to the paternal side of the family being large, I am now a granduncle…
Just feeling really sickened by the overwhelming hatred that people can have for complete strangers. Wasn’t expecting the news from Australia today. Sending love to everyone across the ditch.
I’ve been a Gruncle for quite a few years now. Nothing like it to make you feel old.
This is:
Creamed spinach, parmesan, potato, Kurdish chilli in a filo pastry pie called “Burek”.
And a sour cherry “Baklava Bun”.
And popular Slovenian drink “Cockta”.
All of it is exactly as awesome as it sounds.
From Macedonian cafe DOMA in Sydenham (only open Saturdays, burek once a month)
Interesting, I’ve certainly never had Burek as pie. But it’s a good reminder how tasty they are.
We saw the oncologist last Friday. He was not only pleased, not only happy, he was ecstatic about Maryse’s test results. Not just blood work, either. CT scan, bone scintigraphy, everything is looking great. They’d cut one of her medications (XGeva) because undesirable side-effects were starting to show and, in the doc’s own words “you don’t need it if your bones are healed” (which is, medically speaking, so close to impossible it might as well be, and yet, here we are). The XGeva is STILL off because she doesn’t need it and the next appointment is only in 6 MONTHS. She’s kicking cancer’s ass.
This is the woman who was given two months to live in the beginning (30 June, 2022). The oncology department at our local hospital straight-up refused to treat her, saying it would do no good. Than goodness Maryse wrote to this oncologist who at least, y’know, TRIED.
And all signs point that she’s done it. Holy crap.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
That’s amazing news
Congratulations, love to you both
And to you as well, oh Captain my Captain.
Edited to add a quick precision to my initial post: This is as good as the news is EVER gonna get. With stage 4 cancer, they’re hesitant to talk about remission, never mind being cured. So yeah, this is very much “we’re not saying it explicitly, but there’s nothing left”. Rejoicing is more than appropriate.
Oh what wonderful news 
merry Christmas!
A very Merry Christmas indeed! Happy for you both!
So yesterday my partner and I had a very big fight. Possibly the biggest fight we’ve ever had? Definitely top 5.
The fight started because Andy (my partner) decided that she wanted to rearrange the gym. We have a small space for our gym, and I hoped that by placing the squat rack against a different wall we’d have more useable space in front of it.
However, we have 2 weight racks (for variable dumbbells) currently against the west wall. I suggested that we could put one of those racks in the corner to get it more out of the way.
“We can’t do that,” says Andy, “because we need the space in front of it.”
I agree. We do need the space in front of it (to stand in to pull out the weights). But since there is nothing in that space, that doesn’t change anything.
“But it does,” she protests. “Because the space it takes up is more than the footprint of the rack.”
Yes, I agree, but there is nothing in the space in front of it, so it doesn’t matter if it’s where it is or in the corner.
“You’re not listening.” She getting obviously frustrated at this point. “We NEED the space in front of it.”
Now, dear reader, keeping in mind you are reading this through my biased memory: the space she kept insisting we needed (say, two feet in front of the rack) already exists. Were we to put it in the corner, it would still exist unless we choose to put something there that is not currently there. But this isn’t a hill I’m willing to die on.
“That’s fine,” I say, realizing she’s getting upset and I don’t really care where the rack goes. “We can just leave it where it is.”
“No, it has to go where it is.”
“No, it doesn’t. But I don’t care where it goes, so there’s no reason to move it.”
“But I’ve explained why it can’t move!”
“Yes, but you’re wrong, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to move.”
The careful-eyed reader will see where I failed this fundamental aspect of adulting. Had I been wise enough to just lie, we would avoid all the following problems.
This became a whole “thing.” It ended with her stating that I’m not emotionally supporting her, and when I asked what I could do to prove that I’m trying very hard to be supportive (and, in parallel, bending over backwards and walking on eggshells constantly to not upset her), she said that I needed to “be more confident” and “plan more activities for us to do together.”
Tears (from both of us), screaming (just from her)… it was exhausting. And at the end, the real reason (although she hasn’t said so) is that I’m not making enough money. She hasn’t said so in as many words (although she did say that because I’m not making enough money she’s more stressed out about the more-than-ample amount of money she makes… she’s modestly rich due to healthy inheritances and investments from her parents).
So. Being more confident! Planning more activities. One of those activities is going to be seeing a couples councilor, I think, because I’m on my last nerve.
But hey. Getting the bad part of the year out of the way now so the rest of it will be better, right? Right.
This sounds eminently sensible. I hope you manage to find someone who is a good fit for both of you without too much shopping around 
You’ve been together for a long time and a relationship always has its ups and downs. I am sure you manage to get through this one too!
Especially if you are willing to get help from a couple counselor.
Yeah, definite fail! 
Hope you guys manage to sort this out!
