January 14th, 2026

 1-State of the Phnee

 

Yes, it’s only been a couple of hours since my last post, but since I’m working night shifts I figured I would take advantage of the relative peace and quiet to do a bit of writing. As such, I expect this will be a short post, but it will allow me to feel less rushed when I update tomorrow night so that I don’t feel compelled to backdate my post. I know I don’t have to, but it feels weird and wrong to post on the “wrong” date. There’s probably some rigid thought processes in there that I should unpack at some point in the future.

 

This is another update from the treadmill at work. There’s a sign-up sheet for all the treadmills so that people don’t double-book during the day or keep the treadmills for longer than their allotted time slot, but so far this year my name is the only one on the sign-up sheet and I haven’t even been using it during the day, since I’ve been exclusively working evenings and night shifts for the past two weeks and change. I know at least one other employee is using them, but he apparently doesn’t seem to feel the need to use the sign-up sheet. I’ve been diligently filling it out because this is a pilot project, and collecting accurate data is important so that they will continue to provide the means for employees to be able to implement healthier habits at work. I want to encourage my work when they do good things! Anyway, I still like the treadmill at work. I can do a gentle 1 mph rate for a couple of hours without any difficulty, and although my personal data isn’t comprehensive enough to draw a good conclusion yet, I am tentatively hypothesizing that I feel a bit more energized after the shifts when I use the treadmill. Obviously more study is needed, but I am cautiously optimistic.

 

On an unrelated note, I’ve been wondering about recurring dreams lately. My dreams don’t recur in the classical sense, but I have noticed recurring themes over the years. I have a lot of dreams about travelling, about taking public transit (usually buses but sometimes the metro or a train), and about moving house. I also have a kind of recurring dream in which I discover a pet or multiple pets that I’ve somehow forgotten about that’s either died or else managed to reproduce (usually hamsters) and are now overrunning part of my home. I can trace all of these themes going back about 25 years, or ever since I moved out of my parents’ home and started living on my own. Also, I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I have lots of dreams in which I am watching events unfold like a story being told to me, rather than my being the POV character. Interestingly, in the dreams with recurring themes I am almost always the POV character, but not in the “stand-alone” dreams. I have also had a lot of the “classic” anxiety dreams of being in school for final exams and realizing I haven’t attended all semester, teeth falling out, etc., but those ones aren’t as common for me. I don’t know what any of it means, I’ve never been much into dream interpretation, although I do find it interesting in a vague way. I don’t think my dreams have any psychic or supernatural meaning but subscribe to the more common understanding that they’re just a way for the brain to process information it absorbed the previous day. That being said, I’m not sure how typical my experience is compared to others. Brains are weird, y’all.

 

I’ve been making my way through The Expanse audiobooks. I am really enjoying the series, even though it’s a little bit “crunchier” than what I usually read. I’m finding the worldbuilding reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh, although not the same at all in terms of the contents. It’s more of a vague vibe than anything else. I should do a C.J. Cherryh re-read after this. The Expanse novels have been a bit of a slow go, as the novels are quite long and I’ve been listening to them in audio format. I will confess to listening to them at increased speed, because the narrator is a bit slow for my liking, even if it does make the voices sound a bit odd and distorted. The novels themselves are compelling but often have parts that bog down seemingly interminably before the pace picks up again. I’m on Book 7 out of 9 (Eeeeeey, inadvertent Star Trek reference!), not counting any of the novellas, and this book began with a 20-year time skip, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Time skips can be tricky to navigate, and I’m only just starting the story, so time will tell. The skip probably means that my favourite character has died of old age, but there’s no confirmation of this and it is set in the future, so she might still be alive if people in the future have significantly longer lifespans (I don’t recall it being mentioned one way or the other in previous novels). I guess I shall have to wait and see!

 

2-State of the smallholding

 

Obviously, I’m still at work, so I don’t have any actual updates about the property. However, the new coworker who brought me borscht and I had a conversation about urban chickens and other poultry, because he’s thinking about getting some chickens. I warned him that I’m far from an expert but that I was willing to ask more experienced friends any questions for which I don’t have a solid answer. He then very generously offered to help me build the new chicken coop(s) I want to put in place this summer. Now, I don’t know whether he is the kind to follow through on this sort of promise, nor do I even know if we’ll still be in touch come the summer, since I may not be employed here anymore, but it was a very nice thought.

 

Our conversation reminded me that I’ve been planning to research more chicken coop plans online and find ones that are beginner-friendly while also meeting the chickens’ needs and my needs. And other poultry too, obviously, but my plan is to start with chickens. I’m hoping I’ll be able to snag a bunch of birds at auction over the summer. There are also plenty of Facebook groups that seem like they will provide some good leads on acquiring some lovely heritage breeds.

 

It's actually quite interesting to see how many of my coworkers have similar interests to mine in terms of growing their own gardens, acquiring a small number of livestock, and generally living a semi-independent lifestyle. It’s been nice to find like-minded people at the office. Several of them are also D&D geeks like me, which is delightful and hilarious when we all get going talking about nerdy things.

 

3-State of the news

 

You will be relieved to know that nothing of substance has happened in the past couple of hours, so I will leave this section to be update after I’ve had a chance to sleep and then do other things.

 

Catch you on the flip side, friends!