Can't Deny the Shiny

I may have made a slight mistake.

But like....if I'm having fun and finding joy is it really a mistake?

Probably lol. 

You see....I like rocks. I like collecting rocks.  

Mostly I like unique carvings, but if something catches my interest and is a good price I'll go for it.

And like. With how stressful life has been in the last few months. 

I'm trying to find little bits of joy wherever I can.

And currently that's finding rocks. 

So I'm fully looking forward to next month when the Gem Faire comes back into town and I can see rocks in person and go buy them....hopefully for a good price though I expect a lot of things will be slightly more pricey because of the....you know, various economic factors. 

But a while ago, while following a Pokemon guy on Youtube....

-I'm not quite into Pokemon myself, but I have a friend who is and so it kinda is like a secondary obsession. 

In any case this dude gives away cards...and a while ago said he was going to be on Whatnot giving away cards.

I checked it out that day....

Didn't buy anything because WOW people are quick to purchase things and I have no idea what sort of cards are...good. I had the vague idea to get cards for a less expensive price for my friend.

But that hasn't panned out yet.

In any case.

I checked out WhatNot for like two days....and then forgot about it. 

Until the same Pokemon dude said he would be giving away more cards there back on Pokemon day.

So the night before I went onto the site once again, to refresh myself on it's layout and make sure I knew what I was doing in case I could get a chance to win some cards for my friend. (I did not win) 

And what did I discover?

So. Many. Rocks. 

It's so crazy how many people there are on the site that are selling crystals and rocks of all shapes and sizes.  

And ....needless to say....my bank account is a bit lighter this past week.

Because I got caught up in the fun of bidding and getting rocks for less than I can currently find in the local shops in the area. Plus being able to see carvings I haven't seen before and styles of rock that I wasn't as familiar with, plus my favorite types of rocks....

Yah.

No surprise that I caught the bug. To buy rocks. 

So yah...I'm having fun, but oof. I may be in trouble. If I'm not careful I'll probably be able to set up my own rock shop because soooo many rocks. lol

Will definitely need to be careful...and like....save some of my paycheck so that I can buy stuff when the Gem Faire comes to town next month. 

But yah. It's been fun getting 'presents' in the mail and opening them to find stones. 

So much fun.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Did You Do That?

 I tend to watch various crime shows while I work on my craft projects....until they get to be a bit too much and then I switch to something different to have as background noise.

But there's just this morbid fascination with seeing just how many different ways and reasons that people just....kill each other. 

It is rather disconcerting though, when an episode I'm watching covers a crime in my own state. Most of them take place elsewhere in the various episodes....

But it's weird when they name a town and I'm like "Wait! I've been there." 

Of course the shows I watch most of the crimes have happened before I was born or when I was a kid....so it's not like there was anything active to be worried about.

...

...

...

But today at work, while I was on my break I happened to see an article about 3 murders that happened in the southern part of my state.

And I'm just kinda mindboggled.

Because like....the story just is crazy itself.

And I feel so bad for the victims because like...there was literally no reason why any of them had to die. 

As right now the motive for killing them was "I needed a car and money" 

Like. The suspect didn't know the victims...he just picked them out randomly. 

And just going over what details of the crimes have been done...

I do wonder if this particular murder spree will eventually end up in one of those crime show episodes that I watch.

Like I want to see the surveillance footage, get more details on how the victims died, see how they narrowed it down to this dude as the main suspect.

But I'm also like.....

Are there other murders that this dude has committed that we don't know about yet?

Because like...he's from Iowa which is on the other side of the country from here....and he'd been to Alaska in the recent past....like how did you end up down here? WHY did you end up down here?

Like the dude hit an Elk with his truck that I guess basically totaled it......

And then decided "Well I need a new car, guess I need to kill someone to get it. But wait! I don't like this car let me go find someone else with a car I do like and kill them." 

It's just....so weird. So convoluted. And so senseless. 

And like he's had other minor crimes charged to him....so why escalate? What triggered him to kill now? 

Has he killed before and no one connected him to those crimes? 

Was the Truck even his like he claimed?

It's just crazy. 

And I keep checking to see if there's new details new motive, new analysis on why and how and what and everything.....

Like I think it's the uniqueness of the crime that has my attention because again....it's just so random and senseless. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

WATER

 It's not often you have that "We're gonna die!" moment but today sure felt like that.

So there we were, driving back from looking at some Petroglyphs up at Sego Canyon, headed back to Moab where we could see the heavy clouds of a storm coming towards us. Ones that indicated that rain was coming. 

Which there was quite the thunderstorm this morning that woke me up with how loud the thunder was....but we managed to overall do all the 'fun activities' between the rainstorms.

Now though, we were heading right back into one.

Not usually a big deal since it's just rain.

But there was a slight concern because even from a distance the rain looked....heavy. 

Like you could see the wall of water approaching.

And by the time we reached the canyon just before you reach Arches National Park....we got hit with a deluge.

Like Rain so heavy that even with the wipers going at full force you couldn't really see what was in front of you because the rain was so thick.

I was halfway convinced we were going to die or crash because it was so loud, Daddoo--who was driving--- couldn't hear me telling him to GET OVER behind other cars where at least I could see their red lights and he was still going pretty fast I was like "SLOW DOWN MOVE OVER SLOW DOWN"

And we drove through what was the beginning of like a flash flood/mud crossing over the highway too which I could barely see that we were driving through it before Daddoo had plowed through it with the car...which we were lucky because they ended up briefly closing the canyon later on. I'm guessing because of how heavy the rain was and I'm guessing the water crossing the road had gotten deeper and faster and wider. 

In any case.

We made it through down the canyon and to the Entrance of Arches where the weather had rain and hail mixed together but also it was raining heavy enough that we could see waterfalls on the cliffs. So braving the crazy we drove up into the park to see the waterfalls there and it was AWESOME. Especially around the 3 gossips area. 

But also kinda stressful because there was lightening and thunder all around so there was always the thought whenever I stepped out of the car--because I was on the wrong side of the car to get pictures by just rolling down my window- of ''hope I don't get hit by lightening" because some of that sounded so close.

Not deafening but it's always stressful to see the lightening flashing from the corner of your eye. 

Still. A fun experience overall that we don't often get to see when visiting the park. So yay waterfalls!

Until you next find these words;
i'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Quiet Hike

 You know, I've kinda, unwillingly gotten used to Arches National Park being busy. 

Since the pandemic hit back in 2020 and more people were 'working from home' it also seemed to increase people's ability to travel more because as long as they had an internet connection they could 'work' from anywhere.

So the parks saw a sharp increase in visitors. To the point where Arches would be 'filled' by like 10am some days. To the point where they were like "we need to do timed entry things" 

And visiting it seemed like there were always a steady stream of people on the trails. 

It used to be where you could hike the longer hikes and barely see anyone else.

But then it became pretty common to see people even on the less common trails.

So I've unwillingly gotten used to having people all over. 

So imagine my surprise this morning when it felt like....well like the 'old days' 

Because my Daddoo and I hiked out to Dark Angel today and we left pretty early in the morning, getting to the trailhead around 830 or so. And like the parking lot wasn't crammed full. We could easily find a spot because there were plenty of spots. 

And hiking was so nice.

Like yes, there were more people on the trail to Landscape, but after that point? The people on the trail dwindled down to basically nothing. 

Like we only had like a couple of people in front of us. Maybe had a handful of people pass by us on their way back to the parking lot.

And when we reached Double O arch? 

There was NO ONE there.

Which is basically unheard of. Like usually there's always someone hanging out at the arch there. Kids playing. You have to wait to take pictures and time it so that no one is in the shot. 

But NO ONE was there. 

It was crazy.

It was awesome.

So awesome to have such a quiet trail.

I bet the primitive trail would have been even quieter than the main trail, though we just did the straight up and down version this time around as Daddoo wasn't sure how great of shape he was in as he's been recovering from various things the past few years. 

So we took the 'easier' route to get to Dark Angel and back to the parking lot.

And it was so nice to just....enjoy not having people about. To just encounter one or two people on the trail instead of a steady stream.

Admittedly by the time we finally decided to head back to the parking lot the steady stream of people had begun to arrive where we were always encountering someone. 

But the hike out?

So peaceful.

So quiet.

It was great.

I really hope it goes back to being that way.

Though honestly it may be just because we were hiking in the middle of the week lol. As last weekend was Fall Break and the park was super crowded...and I suspect this weekend will be more crowded too. 

But for the fact that with the Government Shutdown making it so that the park is open but you don't have to pay anything to enter it...having the hike be basically empty? That was nice. So nice.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Side Quest

 So Utah had this quest start earlier in the month. A Pin Quest.

Where there are 10 pins related to important aspects of the park that you could go to certain places -museums and the like- to collect for free.

And the people who put it on were rather smart because they gave each pin multiple locations you could pick them up at. So that it would hopefully give more people an easier time to reach more of the pins without having to drive through the entire state to get them.

And while there were a good handful of locations located relatively close to me, I ended up being a bit too busy with work and exhausted after work to venture there. 

Plus considering when they did the Pin Quest earlier in the Summer and it 'sold out' within 48 hours....I had no idea how quickly pins would go.

But. Here in the Moab area, Utah Raptor State Park -which became a State Park just this spring, was one of the locations that had one of the pins.

And with it being in a more out of the way location....I thought there might be a chance there would still be a pin there. 

Hard to say with Fall Break this past weekend....but still. It was worth a shot to go check it out.

Which I stated I wanted to go look at Raptor State Park but didn't say WHY I wanted to go there beyond wanting to go there.

Because I figured the moment I said "I want to see if I could get a free pin there." 

It would be more than likely that there would be no pins at all.

So best to check it out and ask quietly if the pins were there and if they were great! And if they weren't oh well at least I didn't disappoint anyone else but myself and could still enjoy the place otherwise. 

BUT!

They DID have the pins!

So ha!!

So I got 1/10 pins. XD lol. And it will probably be the only pin I will get from the pin quest unless they do another release of it in the spring or something.

But still. Nice to have a bit of success.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Shopping Ever Shopping

 Shopping in Tourist Towns is always an experience because like...you never really shop they same town twice. There are, of course, stores that have been there in business since before you were born that are like staples to the touristy shopping experience, but then there's the rest of the shopping area where there's shops that you literally go to once and by the time you're there next time...they're gone and replaced by another store. Some may last a year or two longer....but yah....there's always shifting trends and changing store fronts in tourist towns.

Like there used to be more crystal rock shops here in Utah, you could find like two or three that sold just rocks...now there's just one, the oldest one that's been there since before you're born. While the rest are gone and the other stores maybe just have a tiny section. 

And even the staple shops have changed a bit. Like rearranging the insides some areas are more crowded others are less crowded.

And I'm sure the stupid Tariffs are affecting some of it. But the rest? Who knows. It could be changing trends it could be changing owners, it could be a variety of things.

But it is interesting just what you find and don't find every time you come into a tourist town, especially if ti's one that you visit basically every year. Like is this one store still there? Are there any new stores that have opened?

It's kinda fun. But also kinda frustrating. Especially when it feels like things are trending to being more expensive and 'fancy' rather than down and dirty. Though it does depend on the store you walk into I suppose.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

This Weather

 It's always funny when the weather is like "prepare for this drastic storm that's coming your way!!" 

And then the storm ends up being like....nothing. 

Like school gets preemptively cancelled....people are told to stay home if possible...and nothing comes of it. 

That kinda happened today.

Not that parts of my state didn't get hit by severe weather.

It did. 

The storms did come. Did cause some flooding, canceled events, the wind caused issues, the rain caused issues, power went out, not sure if the lightning caused anything but yah....there was 'severe weather.'

Just....not that severe in my area.

Like we did get some pretty lightning and thunder for a bit.

but the storm was just that.

A storm.

There wasn't anything drastic about it at all for my part of the state.

Honestly the storm last weekend was way more intense than whatever this was.

Which makes it very hard to take any weather predictions seriously. Like yes prepare for the weather that may come. But like...I'm not gonna go all doomsday prepper on it.

Because like odds are...the storm isn't going to be as bad as they say. 

It's probably going to be like a fourth of the power the usually predict. 

And then the storms that are like "this is nothing" is when the trouble comes lol.

In any case.

At least I made it home from work before the 'storm' hit so I didn't have to try and deal with driving in the weather along with the weather.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Sole Problem

 It's interesting how you don't realize how like...uncomfortable something becomes because you've grown used to how it feels....and then you try a new thing and realize...oh the old is really uncomfortable. 

I get that every time that I end up buying a new pair of shoes. 

Which I did today as I've noticed that my current pair of work shoes ---which really are my 'everywhere and everything shoes-- have gotten rather raggedy.

And with me going out on a hiking vacation in the near future in a sandy area....the fact that my current pair of shoes has the seams coming apart so that sand can get into my shoes....yah that's not gonna be great for hiking at all if I'm constantly dealing with sand filled shoes.

So I dropped by a shoe place to look at new sneakers today so that I would have time to 'break' them in a little bit at work before taking them hiking all over the red rocks to actually break them in lol.

And like just trying on the various pairs of shoes it's crazy how much of a difference they have.

Like of course the old pair has it's comforts because my feet have worn them so long to wear them down so they are 'comfy' in their own way.

but like the padding in the sole has obviously broken down compared to the new shoes because wow how fluffy and supportive the inside felt. Like it didn't feel like I could feel like I was walking on concrete anymore. It felt soft. 

Which is so weird. Because I remember my old shoes feeling just exactly the same way. 

And it's crazy how it's a never ending cycle where you're constantly seeking new shoes for the same reason you bought your old shoes but you need the new shoes because the old shoes are no longer holding up. 

 In any case. After far too long in dithering I did end up buying myself a pair of new shoes. So yay! Now to break them in at work and hope that they're as comfy there as they felt in the store lol. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

So Tired

 I have to say, I was kinda expecting to crash and burn back on Wednesday maybe into Thursday. 

As I haven't really had much time to 'rest' since I got back from my vacation.

And considering the tense and semi-stressful drive I had with mental and emotional worries, and then the physical strain of driving for nearly 11 hours and then also dealing with the stress of driving in rainy weather....only to turn around and head straight into a 5 am shift at work on Monday morning and then keep running with longer shifts the rest of the week.....

I was expecting to end up with like a migraine or just .... falter much sooner than like today. 

But surprisingly I didn't. 

Until today.

Where I woke up feeling exhausted.

That sort of exhausted where you just want to turn around and go back to bed for another 12 hours because you're so tired.

Like break out the caffeine and drink it to try and stay awake first thing in the morning exhausted.

Which I haven't felt in a while.....

Yah that hit me strong this morning.

Because I've been pushing hard this week at work what with truck and trying to get other things done in the store while dealing with the stress of incompetent coworkers who you have to feel like you have to babysit the entire time because they can't get their stuff done right....or done at all....

In any case.

I've been so tired today.

And it's the sort of tired where if you sleep you end up with a headache and if you don't sleep you end up with a headache....so yah I have a headache going. 

A migraine I suppose since Tylenol and Advil have not made it go away. 

But at the same time I wasn't able to relax for longer than an hour after getting home so maybe I just didn't nap long enough.

So here's to hoping that this weekend I can rest and recover and get all my energy back to keep pushing with all the work crazy going on.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Look at the People

 It's kinda amazing how quickly something can change. Like literally in an instant the situation can go from being one thing to being something completely different. 

For example today.

After work I was meeting up with a friend at the store because I needed to check with a gift card that I had given them for their birthday.

Because I had discovered the evening after giving them their gift card and while preparing for a trip...that I had somehow ended up with a SECOND gift card in my bag of groceries...when I'd only bought one. 

And I had no idea if the gift card that I had given to my friend was the one I had bought or the one that had stuck to the other when I hadn't realized it. 

I'd tried checking the receipt to see but didn't see any indication of which one was the right one. 

And with me going straight on vacation....we had to wait until I got back and our work schedules lined up enough that we both had time to meet up so that I could figure out which gift card was meant to be theirs.

And today was that day.

And I showed up at the store a little bit late because I had just gotten off work.

And had expected my friend to already to there waiting for me...but they'd been delayed as well.

And when I walked up to the Customer Service thing there was only two people in line.

Nice and short.

but my friend was going to be another 15ish minutes if rush hour was kind to them (it was not kind to them) and I kinda needed both gift cards to make it easier to figure out which one was the one that I had bought.

And it was kinda amazing how in the space of like...10 minutes the line went from having like 2 people in it...to having like 8 people in it. 

To be honest it made me rather frustrated. 

Like. If my friend had been there at the same time as me we would have only had two other people in front of us. But now I was looking at an ever growing line that seemed to have like 15 people now in it and just for seeing it becoming like a 30 minute ordeal just to wait in the line to be helped.

And considering I'd gotten off work right at dinner time....I was tired. I was hungry. And I was just a bit grumpy from work stuff. So to be made to wait longer and to see a long line forming when it could have been avoided.

Yah....I was rather frustrated. 

Especially considering my friend ended up being like 30 minutes late.

But at the same time....it was kinda crazy....because by the time my friend showed up?

The line had vanished.

There was once again just two people in line before us.

So the wait wasn't long at all.

Like I've seen it happen a ton at my own job. Where there's like no one in line for the register and then suddenly you have a dozen people in line out of nowhere.

But it was crazy to see it happen in a different location.

And to have it be like....dead...and then 20 minutes of crazy...and then dead again.

Like my friend had no idea that the line had gotten so long it was heading out into the main part of the store out of the customer service area.....

Only I had known because I was there standing nearby watching the line grow.

Only I was aware how it had gone from 2 people up to like 12 people and back to 2 people in like 30 minutes.

It's crazy.

Crazy how quickly things can change.

And how you have no idea what could have just occurred right before you showed up or right after you left.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

What's Your Job?

 There's so many jobs out there that I would have never realized were like....careers people would have as jobs, if I hadn't randomly encountered them online or on TV.

Like, while I was aware that horses needed their hooves taken care of.

I didn't really equate that Cows would also need their hooves trimmed too.

They don't need shoes put on or anything. But kinda like fingernails...cows need their hooves trimmed or adjusted if an issue pops up.

And like it's technically a job that people don't have to do. Because cows have the ability to shed their hooves over time to help get rid of issues.

But having people help treat those issues speeds up the healing process.

Or like the variety of ways people sell items online is another method I've come across.

Like using a variety of beads and a scoop and the buyer gets a random assortment of items depending on what type of bead and amount of the beads are scooped up.

The one I discovered today was the fact that people who aren't paleontologists and aren't in the archaeologist/sciencey field....can turn finding fossils and selling into a career. 

And like it was something I was vaguely aware was a possibility I suppose.

I mean people who sell fossils have to get their fossil teeth and shells and such from somewhere. 

But like the show I encountered while channel surfing wasn't your tiny "here's some teeth. Here's a bunch of shells." sort of fossil hunting.

No they were ranchers/farmers who have fossil beds on their lands and during part of the year they go searching for fossils like actual SKELETONS of DINOSAURS to dig out and sell to MUSEUMS.

Like. WHAT?!

Like I didn't know that was a thing.....

At least not for the full on skeletons of dinosaurs.

I mean last year my family and I kinda encountered the concept on our way to the eclipse because we stopped by a local rock shops that sold smaller fossils and the lady in charge mentioned that ...either they dig the land or the farmers nearby dig the land? In either case someone in the area had fossils that they could find on their land that they dig up and sell.

And it's like....I didn't know that people could do that.

It's kinda a cool career honestly.

One that could make you stupid rich too if you find the right type of fossil.

Like the episode I caught they had a pretty complete skeleton of a T-Rex that they were looking to sell for 4 MILLION DOLLARS.

WHAT.

Like definitely a lucrative career.....if you find the right vein of dinosaur bones.

So yah.

Interesting the random careers you come across when you're channel or internet surfing.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Will You Get It? For that Price?

 There's an interesting thing about collecting rocks/crystals....

And it's when you need to decide if the price is worth it for the rock.

Because like....if you end up in a tourist trap. Where all the visitors come to the state to shop when they're in town....things are going to be marked up as a bit more expensive. Because the tourists don't always know better.

They're buying the experience as well as the items really.

But then there's people like me....who go to gem fairs....where I know that I can get that $10 rock for $3. That $20 rock for $6. 

And it then becomes a question of .... is the rock worth it for that price....when I know I could potentially get it at the next gem fair for a much better price. 

And really....my decisions today mostly came down to availability. 

Like. Are these rocks that I SEE at the Gem Fairs I visit at home? Yes or no?

If yes. Then less likely to go for them when they're at tourist prices.

If No? Then I'm more likely to go for it because even though I don't quite like the price and know that I could get it elsewhere for less.... I haven't recently SEEN them anywhere else for LESS to GET. 

I visited two rock shops today. 

One...had the entire store half off. 

Which was great! Because it brought most of their products back down to Gem Fair prices and therefore meant that I felt more comfortable getting more rocks from them.

Even though I do tend to wonder when stores...even at the gem fairs...do their entire setups at Half Off or other such sells....if they marked the prices up before hand...so that the rocks are actually selling at their normal prices but because they increased the prices before starting the 'sale' everyone buys the products because they think they're getting a 'good' deal.

Hard to tell....Like yes I got the rocks for Gem Fair prices....and knowing that everyone needs to make a bit of a profit I can get having a bit of a mark up on their rocks. So I know in regular stores my typical $5 rock may be double if not triple that.

Plus who knows how tariffs are affecting prices. Like I noticed at the gem fair this past weekend that some items had increased in price a bit. So I'm sure tariffs are affecting things.

Regardless. 

Got more rocks at the half off store, most of them stones I haven't seen in a while or had been looking for at the Gem Fair but didn't find this past weekend. 

The other rock shop in the area was probably considered your more 'high end' one. Selling the fancy expensive jewelry...and charging $5 carvings at twice to 4 times the price. 

So I was less inclined to buy things there...even though I saw a ton of carvings I hadn't seen before and wanted to get...the prices were high enough that I was like "maaaybe I'll wait and see if I could get them at the next gem fair."

But there were a couple of other stones that I'd been softly looking for but haven't seen.

One was brought up just last weekend when I briefly encountered a coworker at the Gem Fair and they mentioned that they'd been looking for "Desert Rose" but hadn't seen in and asked if I'd seen any. 

And like I knew what the stone looked like. But hadn't actively seen it at the Gem Fair...

It didn't mean it wasn't there as it's a more raw stone and I tend to gloss over those as I prefer the more polished and carved stones. 

But it did seem like it had been a while since I'd seen them at the Gem Fair.

But at this rock shop I found a whole box filled with them.

So of course I had to get a couple for my coworker as they weren't that pricey all things considered and it was something they'd been looking for. 

The other is a stone I've been kinda softly keeping an eye out for but haven't really seen at the Gem Fairs recently either.

And that's Green Goldstone. 

Which as a manmade stone....the manmade stones aren't always as popular at the fairs....

but Goldstone in particular...when it is around...tends to be in its base Orangish Goldstone shade. 

Or occasionally in that purplyblueish stage.

Green Goldstone? Not so much. 

And while the palmstone I was looking at was about twice the price as I thought it should be....I haven't SEEN it at the Gem Fairs recently and I don't know WHEN I'll see it again.

So again, even though I didn't like the price. I did want the stone. So I went through with it and bought the Green Goldstone. 

Because it's one I haven't seen in a while and I wanted it.

So yah.

It's interesting....at what point is the price worth it?

At what point do you go "Yes it's more money than I want to spend but I NEED IT because I don't SEE it." 

I mean the opposite happened at the first store in some ways...where I ended up getting doubles of a couple of stones when I may have only gotten one because the price was half off. So I could get 2 for the price of one really. 

So yah. When do you buy? And when do you hang back?

It was an interesting dilemma for sure today that I face in those two rock shops.

Especially considering that most of my rock shopping has only been at the gem fairs for the past little bit.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Wind a Blowin

 Gotta say. I'm not really a fan of wind. 

Like I like that it indicates that a storm is most likely on it's way because it's showing that there's a changing of pressure happening. 

But when the wind is blowing rather strongly like whipping the trees around or breaking off branches or shaking the house strongly.

Yah...no. I don't like it.

Like at home we've had gusts of winds strong enough to toss the deck chairs about. 

And I haven't liked dealing with the wind at home either. Though the house feels a bit more secure.

But where I'm currently staying?

The wind kinda has me on edge a bit more....

Because I'm out on the plains.

I'm in an area that has had tornadoes happen in neighboring counties.

So like whenever the wind starts picking up and blowing and shaking the house?

I'm always wondering if there's a tornado gonna come.

Unlikely.

But yah. It feels a bit more unprotected even while indoors when there's just open plains all around.

And while I have been enjoying the rain and watching the clouds zooming by.

I really would much prefer having calm sunny days while I'm out here so I can enjoy the outdoors. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Off On a Journey

 I do have to say, that I do enjoy driving. 

Like just getting on the road and a few hours later you're miles and miles and maybe an entire state or two away from home.

It's kinda amazing how quickly we can suddenly be in a totally different place.

The only downside to roadtrips is when you see amazing scenery... and being unable to take a picture when you're the one driving. 

But still. 

It's nice. 

To just get out and get away.

Be somewhere different for a while. 

Though I do have to say that drivers are just as frustrating....like why did everyone suddenly decide that they needed to drive 10 miles UNDER the posted speed limit?????

I encountered it so many times on my drive and it's just left me so confused.

Like sure. Go the speed limit. That's normal.

Go slightly faster than the speed limit.

but UNDER?

WHY?!

Like I get it when it's bigger rigs because it is hard to go fast when you're towing something heavy.

But like regular car cars were going stupid slow.

And I don't get it.

Why is everyone going slower than the posted speed limit?

That's MORE of a safety hazard than going faster. Because if people behind you aren't paying attention and come up on you faster than expected they're more likely to hit you.

It's just....so weird.

I don't get it.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Regular Shopping Trip

 Gotta say I love going to the Gem Fairs. 

For one. SO MANY SHINY THINGS!

But also for two. So many rocks!

Which is bad because I always overspend at them despite setting myself a huge budget lol.

Probably by this point I could set up my own table and sell all the rocks I've collected....but I love all my rocks...I don't want to get rid of them yet.

But in any case.

I really enjoy going to the gem fairs here.

Especially because I've become a regular enough that certain vendors have started to recognize me.

Which is always fun when they recognize me because we can have little conversations.

But also because they're willing to give me slight discounts on the rocks I buy.

So it's always nice to come away with rocks that cost slightly less than adverstized.

Which probably doesn't help my spending habits at all at the gem fair.

But it is nice to just be known in the area and to have people who like seeing you. 

So yah.

Love the gem fair.

So much.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

But It's Cash

 One thing that I've learned going to like the Gem fairs and such is that it's nice to carry cash around. 

Because if you have cash, most of the stalls don't charge you a tax for what you're purchasing. 

If it says $15 you can hand them $15 in cash and be done with it.

Of course there's always those stalls that calculate the tax even if you have cash. But they're more rare. Like one or two in the entire event. 

So for the most part when I go to the Gem Fairs I try to pull out enough cash beforehand for my purchases and unless I go crazy buying rocks (which I have before) avoid using my cards to pay for things.

Today was slightly different. 

In that I actually had a Saturday off. 

And so I decided to go check out a Farmer's Market that my sibling was participating in. You know. Go support and such. 

Ended up being a much larger market than I expected...mostly because it was "Shop Days"? This weekend apparently. So there was thrice as many vendors and a bunch of other activities and programs going on at the same time.

Regardless after visiting my sibling I went to venture about and check out to see what the local vendors were selling. As I had pulled out some cash with the intent to maybe spend some today if I found anything unique. And avoid using my cards once more. 

Mostly to keep myself to a budget as the gem fair itself is coming again in a couple of weeks. Because I'd much rather spend money on my rocks lol. 

In any case.

While wandering about I found a shop that had some cool pictures. Where the artist had layered cut out pieces of paper on top of each other to create designs. And also stated that a portion of their proceeds goes to help the bees.

Which yay helping the bees!

Problem was that I had 3 pictures I wanted to get....but not enough cash to get all of them. I was about $20 short. 

But I was like "Hey, would you be willing to sell me these three frames for $$$?" because it doesn't hurt to ask and oftentimes people will give a slight discount if you're bundling multiple things together. 

Which the artist was like sure!

And I'm like "Cool! Because that's all I have in cash." 

And they were like "Really? What about the sales tax?" 

...

....

.....

???

I'm sorry. What?

Sales tax?

I'm paying in CASH.

That means it's just the flat fee! No tax!

*exhales*

Not to this seller. 

Like seriously I was like "Usually if people pay in cash they don't charge tax." 

And they were like "Well, they shouldn't be doing it that way!" 

Like literally EVERY SINGLE PLACE I BOUGHT OTHER THINGS FROM DID NOT CHARGE ME TAX when I paid WITH CASH there at the farmer's market..

Because how is the government gonna know if you charged tax or not? How are they gonna know if you sold anything or not when it comes to cash? They can't TRACK that. Not when it comes to a tiny farmer's market. Who knows what's exchanged where?

*shakes head*

But this artist insisted that I pay the sales tax. 

*exhales*

LUCKILY I had a little bit of extra change on me. 

Because it ended up being another $8 for the sales tax. *rolls eyes* 

But hey. Still ended up getting all 3 pictures for less than the original price. So I can't complain too much.

But still. 

It was slightly irksome.

I mean I have encountered it a couple of times at the gem fair while paying with cash.

But I do have to wonder if it's was a difference in .... generations? Like the artist was more my grandparent aged. So it may be just a boomer mentality.

I didn't buy from any other shops with older people so I don't have other data to compare it to.

But yah.

Was rather random that the artist insisted on the tax.

But you do you artist.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Sitting in Line

 Earlier this year I decided to bite the bullet and get a Costco membership.

Which is one of those....'eh' things because like....

Costco is this bulk store right?

Get like 30 or 50 or 100 of an item.

Which is great!! .... for a Family.

But like when you're a single person living with roommates....

Eh.

Unless it's shelf stable supplies that will last like a month....Costco didn't really seem like a .... needed thing.

And honestly it's still kinda like a hand wavy....thing.

I mean. 

It's worth it in the grand scheme of things. 

Like the cost of the membership is like what 2 bucks a month?

And you get discounts on gas plus the ability to buy stuff in bulk?

It's nice lol. 

Not that I've bought much in bulk.

I have taken advantage of like the toilet paper and the soda prices ....but my main love has been some fruit leather I found there and their croissants.

But I do have to say the best deal has been the gas.

Even though it took me a few months to actually take the time to brave the system and sit in line and figure out how to work the Costco gas thing....it has been really nice to pay like 15 cents less per gallon at the pump. 

Though it is weird though to like,...feel like you're in an assembly line kinda while you're waiting for gas.

Like each section has two pumps and most the time both cars finish up about the same time so the next two cars pull up fill up their tanks...leave about the same time the next cars pull up.

It's rather efficient when everyone knows what they're doing and keeps the line moving. 

Weird though.

Like I've noticed unlike other gas stations --unless I've missed them-- that the Costco stations don't provide a way to clean off your windows.

So like...if your windshield is encrusted with bugs...you're kinda out of luck getting that cleaned off while you're waiting for your tank to fill.

I kinda get why they don't have it. 

Because the goal is to get customers in and out as quickly as possible and discourage them from sitting at the pump for too long. 

I don't know how it is at other locations. But for the most part my location is always busy.

There's usually always cars filling the pumps when I arrive.

And some days I have to wait two or three rotations before I can get to the pump myself.

Though I have managed to time it well enough that usually I'm the next person in line when I drop by to grab gas. So that has been nice. 

I've heard stories of people waiting much much longer to get gas. Where the lines are super long and crazy.

Haven't seen that yet.

Though if gas prices do drop any time in the future I could see it happening as people scramble to take advantage of lower prices.

Still.

It's been interesting being a Costco member.

Nice.

Definitely haven't been using it to it's full advantage because again...single person. I don't need to feed an army lol. 

But still. It's been nice.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Migraine Relief

 I do have to say that I'm grateful I finally went to the doctor about my migraines.

Because with the Nurtec....it's been really really nice to be able to take a single pill and have my migraine fade within an hour or so of taking it.

Especially if it's been bothering me for over a day.

The tricky thing is is just....like figuring out if the migraine is actually a migraine and if it is a migraine...is it 'bad' enough for me to actually need to take the Nurtec? 

Because, thankfully, with the Topiramate and the Vitamins I've been taking....my migraines have decreased in the pain scale.

The worst ones have only been to like a 5 or a 6.

But most of the time they've hovered around like a 1 or 2 scale.

Persistent. But bearable.

Plus with insurance limiting me on how many pills I can get a month....I'm leery to use it for any headache I get.

So I usually try my normal methods first.

But most the time I've taken the Nurtec after I've already dealt with the headache for over a day.

Like yesterday I had a headache start up in the morning because my roomie woke me up early by being noisy over my head and I couldn't fall back asleep afterwards. 

And while Advil and Tylenol seemed to help it....it didn't fully go away....

No it ended up, during work, moving from the left side to the right side and then staying......

I went to bed with it.

Woke up with it.

and figured since I woke up with it....why suffer any longer?

Ad of course within the hour I took it...it went away.

Which again leads to the debate....like why do I let myself suffer for hours on end when I know relief could be within the hour?

*exhales*

I don't know.

Maybe I'm just stubborn. 

I want to try and get rid of it other ways before resorting to the Nurtec because it DOES work and I don't want to become like...used to it....and have it stop working.....

In any case.

I'm glad it works.

Until you find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Rush Hour? Not Really Rushing Here

 Rush hour is such a stupid thing. 

Like ... depending on when I leave a place and depending on if everyone else and their mom is also leaving said place and heading the same direction I'm going....

A drive can either take me 45 minutes...or nearly 2 hours.... 

All depending on if I hit rush hour.

And it's like....with how wide the highways are...you'd think we'd have figured out a way to avoid all the rush hour traffic. 

But nope.

And I'm sure most of it's due to like....accidents and such.

And to the fact that everyone seems to want to drive at freaking 60mph instead of the 70mph they should be going at.

But regardless.

Rush hour is stupid.

And I had to drive in it yesterday....

I suppose "had" is a strong word.

I probably could have stuck around in Hometown for an hour or so and avoided most of the rush hour.

But like....it was either wait around for an hour in Hometown...and then drive 45 minutes home....

Or leave now and spend an hour and 40 minutes in the car.

In the end...the time spent not at home ended up being the same.

Because I ended up leaving during the rush hour time frame. 

Boo. 

In any case.

Rush hour is more on my mind today because my coworker too had to deal with it today.

In that we have this Canary that's been a bit of a problem bird since we got him in.

It started with him picking at the band on his leg to the point he was causing scabs.

And we got that resolved...only for the last couple of days for the talons of the foot to start darkening...and him to start picking at his leg again....and the leg to start swelling and turning colors today.

Which not great signs.

And even worse is the fact that our normal exotic vet we take our birds too....isn't in the office until the end of next week. 

So we ended up having to track a different avian vet down in the next valley over....the valley between Happy Valley and Hometown.

And one of my petcare associates volunteered to take the bird up there.

Which is only like a 30ish minute drive.....

But the drive back down?

By the time the associate got done with the vet and everything.....

They were leaving to head back down at basically the same time I had left yesterday to head back to Happy Valley.

Which meant....yep.

They hit rush hour too.

And it took them an hour and a half to make that 30 minute drive. 

*exhales*

Why is rush hour a thing?

Seriously.

I wish in a way that we had more than one major highway in the area.

Part of me wonders if that would help the congestion.

But honestly. I doubt it. 

People will be dumb no matter how many lanes of road you give them.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Wakey Wakey

 You ever wonder if things happen for a reason?

Especially the random....inconvenience things? 

Like last night.

There I was. 

Peacefully asleep. 

When I get woken up by noise over my head.

Which okay. First thought is one of the roomies must have gotten up to grab something in the kitchen.

Since the kitchen is over my head.

Weird.

Since both roomies had gone to bed before I had.

But maybe they needed a drink or to warm up a heat pack or something.

Figured the noise would vanish and I would fall back asleep.

....Except...the noise kept continuing.....

And kept getting louder.

Which....okay?

Must mean that it's morning and one of the roomies was up and getting ready for the day....which would be slightly weird as I was supposed to be the first one to leave today. 

And it was weird because at like one point it sounded like they were moving the trash can around upstairs...like kinda early to do that...plus like garbage day has already come and gone this week but whatever.

But the NOISE kept going.

And I was getting annoyed because it's DARK. I am trying to SLEEP.

I roll over to look at my clock to see what time it is....and it's 1:30 am. 

Like WHAT?

There's no reason for there to be so much noise that late at night. Especially when I had gone to bed like an HOUR beforehand.

I had only been asleep for maybe an hour. 

And both roomies had gone to bed before me.

So of course with the noise being consistent over my head my next thought is "BREAK IN?!" 

Like had someone come into the house and was now robbing us?

So of course I do the slightly foolish thing and get out of bed to investigate.

Because 1. If it was actually my roomie I was going to be SO ANNOYED. Because YOU WOKE ME UP.

And 2. if it was robbers....well.... I'd burn that bridge when I got to it.

But like cautiously climbing the stairs to investigate I didn't see anything out of the ordinary though I could hear noises. 

And what do I find when I get upstairs?

Our little Robot Vacuum chugging away sweeping the floor in the kitchen.

Like....WHAT?

I mean we haven't used that vacuum in a couple of months at least. 

And when we do use the vacuum it's never at ONE IN THE MORNING.

Owner Roomie does her best to only use it when the rest of us aren't home so it won't bug us. Because as proven by the fact that it WOKE ME UP. The vacuum can be rather noisy on the hardwood floors. Especially when said floors are over your head.

But that begs the question...WHY did the robot turn on?

Like BOTH roomies were asleep. There was no reason for it to be active and moving. I had been the Last to go to bed and hadn't gone anywhere near the dock to trigger it to turn on.

I mean....I have had the vacuum randomly turn on on me before late at night. But that was while I was still asleep. And it's been months if not a year or so since it's done that.

Like...glitch in the system? Bug? Who knows?

Maybe a restless ghost?

*shrugs*

But it just begs the question....was there a reason why I needed to be woken up last night? Was there a reason to give me slightly less sleep than I had planned on? Was it a sign of something?

Who knows. 

I was mostly focused on "Get back to your dock and STAY THERE." before I went back to bed and crashed until my alarm went off.

But yah. Definitely a random thing. 

I really hope it doesn't happen again tonight.

I'd actually like to get some uninterrupted sleep. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi