Author | Lightnews

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 2h

Well the bees are gone but now the chills are back.

What the hell do I have that keeps causing this? I'll wake up feeling like a sinus attack is coming only for it to switch gears and just make me shake violently for a few hours...

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 8h

Are you and Jeph trying to see who can cause the most heartbreak among your readers this week or somethin'? 😧

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 9h

I woke up to the sound of rain, which was nice.

Less nice is that my head feels like it's full of bees.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 16h

Not being able to get any sleep due to the world being loud definitely isn't helping the whole 'not feeling good' thing.

Never did have any toast today.

At least I have saltines and Sprite. Acceptable sick day substitutes.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 16h

...Unrelated but still an issue, I wish I could get a photo of it but there's a new bird in the area. It's a loud thing, too. Just cawing the day away right outside my window. I dunno what it looks like, but it occasionally pecks at the house. Very rude!

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 17h

Y'know how annoying it is when you're at a traffic light and some jackass has their car stereo on full blast, bass cranked? Imagine that except all day long and you're at home. That's what this is. It's infuriating and no joke probably half the cause of our sleep deprivation all on its own...

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 17h

I do wonder how these people can stand playing music that loud. Does it not hurt their ears? Are they not worried about damaging their hearing? Not a violent person but I'd kick them all the way down the road if'n I ever figured out who was doing it. Jerks. Let folks have some peace and quiet!

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 17h

Well, I tried to go to bed. I wanted to sleep. But whoever it is around here that blasts loud, bass-heavy, thumping music is playing it extra loud today. So I guess I don't get to sleep until they allow it. Normally it's stopped by this point in the day. Presumably it's still going to spite me.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 18h

Today has been a day of surprising flavors. I also got some blackberry sparkling water and uh... it is not like the 'sparkling waters' I am familiar with. This tasted like carbonation and the fading ghost of a fruit flavor hiding somewhere ten levels deep. It's more Lacroix than Clear American.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 18h

Okay, I had to go back to try peach. We traditionally do not brook peach-flavored things. But this is alright. The lightness of the flavor means it isn't overwhelming. It still has that decided peachy twang to it, but in a pleasant way. And orange is... just faint orange. Like the aftertaste of Dew.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 19h

Regular Shaq gummies acquired. These aren't as flavorful as the sour ones. The berry punch one is... pretty good? These are more rubbery than the sour ones, too. It's kinda like if Twizzlers made basketball-player-face gummies. It's that level of flavor on these. Real light!

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 20h

The Upside Down one is also the most brackish swamp water color I've ever seen in a drink. Again, appropriate, just very strange. Neither are bad... but there's no way I'd get either again. I need to watch more reviews, see how others describe them.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 20h

I panic tested both. The Upside Down is weird. I understand Badlands' comparison. I don't think the Cucumber Lime was used. I think they just took the Citrus Cooler and added grape or something on top of it. The Cooler was like a pineapple-orange kinda thing. Drinkable, but VERY strange. Fitting!

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 20h

...Badlands just described the Upside Down Citrus Cooler as tasting like Cucumber Lime with something else in it.

I wasn't the one that tried that flavor. I still recoiled. I am now afraid to try this beverage.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 20h

I am completely out of energy. I didn't wake up with much to spare, but after walking around a grocery store I'm at 1% battery life. Time to nurse this regular Sprite some more. And maybe have a white fudge Oreo before bed later. Maybe.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 20h

Had to get out, whether I felt like it or not. Grocery day. I got rewarded for it - cranberry Sprite and white fudge Oreos are in the wild. Also found two new Gatorade flavors - Citrus Cooler and Upside Down Citrus Cooler. Tie-ins for the final season of Stranger Things. Good treats but oooof...

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

Looking up toasters on Amazon I came across a single slot toaster. I'm sure there are more worthless products that exist, but in this moment I cannot think of any. Who only has a single slice of toast or one frozen waffle? Those things are made to be eaten in pairs.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

I should get a better toaster. Because legit, a giant stack of toast sounds so good to me right now. We have an old 2-slot. This is not enough toast. Legit I'd rather have toast than anything else that exists right now. I've already cracked open a Sprite. Only proper soda to have while sick.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

If you're curious where I am, I'm already at the "yeah like ten pieces of toast in a row could be considered a meal, right?" portion of feeling bad.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

4 1/2 hours of sleep today. Oddly, I think it was a straight shot. I don't recall waking up in the middle of it all. So that's quite good. What's less good is I'm sick now. I'm not sure with what, but signs are pointing to sinuses. Thankfully, I won't have to go without antibiotics if it is, so hey.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

Think I'm gonna hafta tap out early today. I won't sleep well. My body just wants me to be in bed. Presumably so it can keep me awake. I dunno what's goin' on. The good ol' sleep deprivation's really on a tear this month...

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 1d

Feeling like a mile of bad road today. I feel like at least some of this must be due to the seasonal change. We didn't really have a gradual shift from summer to fall, it just dropped 40 degrees at night and called it good. This body doesn't respond well to massive shifts in pressure.

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Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 2d

The Loaded Potato Skin Pringles probably do the smoke/bacon thing better than any other chip we've tried. But that still doesn't mean it's very good. There's zero flavor of cheese or chives, it's all smoke. It's faint... but still a bit too much if you eat more than a few. C-. Not awful, not great.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 2d

I can no longer slouch down in my computer chair if I wish to use the mouse, because I'd need to raise my arm up too much and that sets off the pain. I'm not sure how this happened. It's almost like a muscle got torn and healed improperly or something. Whatever it is, it's very annoying.

Isabella Valentine @prismaticowl.bsky.social · 2d

Getting the floor swept, doing some dusting. Cleaned the bathroom the other day, that felt nice. Making things harder is my upper right arm growing more and more useless rapidly. Reaching for things, picking items up, even stretching, they all just cause my arm to start screaming.

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