Check out the index to all the past Friday B&B posts! If any of the links don’t work for you, send me an email and I’ll check that the settings are right for all subscribers to access. Time to circle up!
Bitch: Cricket season has begun here, which means crickets randomly appear in the house—specifically, in the basement suite where I live. We have ultrasonic sensors all over the place, and I’m not clear how much of a difference they make. All I know is that I have started to find cricket torsos and legs around my room because cats.
Brag: Last weekend I began clearing out the front garden so I could work on the black spot I discovered on the roses. I am nowhere near done with the cleanup, but I made some progress. Next up is to get better gardening gloves and some yard waste bags.
Bitch: I got into a passive-aggressive thermostat war with my housemate, who likes it colder than I do1. I finally gave up making 1-2 degree adjustments and let him do whatever. I expect I’ll be wearing sweaters all summer long.
Brag: At the beginning of June I made the final payment on my smartphone (Samsung S21) and I decided to switch my service from T-Mobile to Boost Mobile. I’ll end up saving over $30 a month, which I’m pleased about…
Bitch: …but because I left T-Mobile, that means I lost my free Hulu Basic subscription (a carryover from when I had Sprint, which got bought out by T-Mobile) and my free 1-year trial of Paramount Plus. I think I can live without Paramount Plus, but I love Hulu. Guess part of that savings will go toward Hulu fees. Ugh.
Brag: Tomorrow I start the #1000WordsofSummer project, led by author Jami Attenberg. It runs from June 17-30 and the goal is to write 1000 words a day. I have several essays in various stages of completion, so my plan is to use this time to work on those essays, plus a few other writing projects. Who’s joining me?
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Living in a house with central air is something I wanted for a long time, after years of living in places with window units and/or baseboard heat. Now that I’m here, I realize that while it’s way better for my allergies, I also don’t like the thermostat to be less than 70 degrees during the summer.