all made up with nowhere to go

My phone line is still not working properly. It's two weeks since I last contacted my provider about it, and they said it was due to be fixed the day after I spoke to them.

Yeah. 'Cause that happened, didn't it?

It's been like, six weeks in total. I wouldn't mind, since I don't tend to get a lot of phone calls anyway (and most of those are spam), but I have relatives who only know my landline number. If they need to get in touch with me, they can't.

Also: this is the second time this year! We are not even in June yet!

I stg if it didn't feel so overwhelming AND I hadn't just renewed my contract, I'd switch to somewhere else.

~

As I suspected, I don't like normal Roiboos. It tastes, smells, and looks too much like ordinary black tea for my liking. Which is kind of weird, given I know Roiboos and the black tea plant aren't related. But I can't stand black tea, which is why I don't drink it.

So the other day, I found myself in Holland & Barrett, looking at their range of fruit teas, and ended up buying one that has spearmint in it*. It's mostly fruit, but has the mint as a tangy note. Not sure I'm sold on it yet, but I've only drunk it twice.

Anyway, I discovered as well, that Holland & Barrett do a massive range of gluten-free stuff! Which is amazing, since I have not been managing so well at being gluten-free since I went back to work. I did think about getting food deliveries, since the bigger supermarkets also have gluten-free stuff, but I literally pass by H&B on my way to work/on the way back home, so it's nice to have another option (although I've said it before and I'll say it again: HOLY FUCK GLUTEN-FREE STUFF IS EXPENSIVE).

~

In Persona 5 news, you will possibly be pleased to hear that I am almost at the end of the game! I am in the final dungeon, and I have some things to say!

The first of which is not a spoiler, but that I genuinely think Shoji Meguro is one of my favourite composers, and oh boy, does he know how to write a tune that gets stuck in your head! I woke up yesterday morning with the boss fight theme in my head for no apparent reason (although mostly it's been either Last Surprise (the battle theme) or Beneath the Mask, since they're the two tracks I've heard the most).

I mean, I have liked his stuff for a long time at this point, but something about this game's soundtrack and Strange Journey's just absolutely nailed it for me.

So, onto the spoilers, for they are here! And also large!

( Read more... )

I think that's all I have to say for now? I will probably remember five hundred things after I've hit post (as is always the way).

Also I decided at some point that I'm going to watch a Let's Play of Persona Q, and PQ:2, since I doubt I'll ever play them.

~

*I avoid mint tea also because as a concept it just feels wrong and, while I like mint stuff, I have strong not good feelings about minted peas, mint ice cream, and mint tea.

1. ( food related stuff )

2. I learnt Japanese four hole binding the other day, and it's super easy! (Like most book binding techniques I've learnt). I really like it for making short side bound A5 books.

3. It's The Return of the Mungus! (This is Outside Xtra's POV stream but there are THREE others from Outside Xbox, Dicebreaker, and Eurogamer, should you want to watch).

4. I realised yesterday that maybe I should have gone into a sciencey job because I like collecting data. I've been tracking the local temperature for nearly three years, my migraines for five, and various other bits and bobs for almost two. But then I remembered that science likely means maths, and I hate maths A LOT, so maybe not.

5. I gave up on Dark Souls II, probably to absolutely nobody's surprise.

6. I want to buy more fountain pens, because of course I do, but I am at least going to wait until I'm back in work again, so at least I can justify it because I'm earning money. I don't want to buy anything even as expensive as my Kaweco - I want a few more cheap ones, just to see what they're like.

I went to the dentist yesterday. I hate going at the best of times, but this just felt straight up weird, and the entire time I was there, I kept apologising in my head for breathing on him.

And then I went food shopping and a) bought too much and b) as a consequence, spent too much. Although it's two weeks (exactly!) since I did a Big Shop, so I shouldn't feel too guilty, but I do, wheeeee! I also regretted it, as I didn't take my trolley with me (because dentist), so I had to carry everything and now I have very sore shoulders, as well as a bruise on my left shoulder. I could've got a taxi, I guess, but I already had a day bus ticket, and a taxi home would've cost as much as the bus ticket did. So I am sore instead. I spent a lot of yesterday once I got home not doing a lot because it was too much effort.

The reason I went a bit loopy with food shopping is because I think I have a wheat or gluten intolerance (I'm not going to say it's coeliac, because I don't think it is). I've thought for several years now that things with flour in make me bloated and, the other night, I realised that it may also be contributing to my migraines. Which started getting worse around a year ago. When we went into first lockdown, and I started baking more, didn't I. So yesterday, I was buying what gluten-free stuff I could find to try out (the answer is woefully little. Especially since there aren't gluten-free alternatives to a lot of things I like). Also gluten-free stuff is expensive! Which I kind of knew anyway, but now I have bought some, I know for definite.

So I'm going to try to eat less gluten-y stuff and see how it goes.

~

In other news, my pens came on Monday, as did a lamp I'd ordered from Ikea. All three things are great, however I will not be ordering from Ikea again ever. I booked my order to be delivered on Sunday, and they didn't even process it till that day! I mean, it at least did get delivered on Monday, but that wasn't the day I asked for, nor that I was offered! It is a good lamp - it's very energy efficient for starters - and it didn't cost much (because Ikea), but that whole palaver with the delivery has put me right off.

Anyway, my pens are amazing, and they both write really nicely, and feel nice to use. I don't think either nib is a fine point, as claimed, but I don't think that matters, really? I'm not that fussed. As long as they work, which they do, then I'm happy. Also they both came with converters, which I'm pleased about (basically I can put any colour or type of ink in*/it's better for the environment because I'm then not throwing small bits of plastic away).

Other than that, I rewatched Zoe and Aoife playing Dark Souls II. Because I suck at Dark Souls and wanted some tips (I did not get them, because they're doing a Let's Play, not a walkthrough).

And then I went back and am currently rewatching Aoife and Johnny playing Dark Souls III, which I could swear I remember nothing about, but I've kept going, "OH I REMEMBER THIS!" quite a lot. So evidently I remember more than I thought I did.

I've come to the conclusion that DS3 is the lovechild of Bloodborne and Demon's Souls. It feels very Bloodborne like, and the enemies remind me of the enemies in that, but also like, the Firelink Shrine is very like the Nexus in Demon's Souls. And there's a reference to Yuria, who's a character in that (which means absolutely nothing, really, it's just From referencing their older work). But you know me, I'll look for connections where there are none!

Also Resident Evil is TWENTY FIVE YEARS OLD THIS YEAR HOLY HECKINS. I wish I could pretend I wasn't aware of that, but I actually am. It's 23 years since I first played through RE2 with my BFF.

Talking of game anniversaries, FFXII was FIFTEEN not so long ago! It only feels like two minutes since I was saying I should've done something for the tenth anniversary and now...blimey. I was unprepared for that one.

And on that note, I think I'm done now!

~

*Except India ink. Don't ever put that in your fountain pen, because you will heck it up. Possibly for good.