popkin16

Updates

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 02:05:06 GMT

I stepped down from my management position two weeks ago.

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I'm at That Age...

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 03:56:12 GMT

...where I don't bounce back or shake off injuries like I used to.

I did something to my arm. I worked a shift, went home, and when I tried to go to bed that night I discovered that it hurt to lay on that arm and I couldn't put weight on it without it aching. I figured I pulled a muscle and it'd clear up in a few days. After a week with no improvement, I decided I'd go to urgent care to have it checked out. First, they asked about heart attach symptoms - any jaw/chest pains, nausea, etc? I said no. Any tingling or numbness? No. They figured I strained a muscle, and recommended light work for 7 days. If there's no improvement I should come back.

The pain is still there, and it's been another week. Only this time my arm/thumb keeps tingling on and off throughout the day D: It was getting better, and then I walked by this pole that had a fire extinguisher on it and I banged my bad arm into the fire extinguisher, and now the tingling is worse/more frequent.

My next day off is Wednesday, so I'll be going in then. They said something about sending me for imaging if the pain persists/worsens, so I figure that'll at least happen. I confess I'm worried about how this is going to play out. I didn't report an "incident" at work that may have caused my injury (because I don't remember a specific moment where I can say, "Ah, I definitely injured it then!") so work might just be like, "Okay, take time off from work to heal up." If I definitely injured it at work, they'd put me in another part of the store to answer phones or whatever, but I have no proof it happened at work, so I suspect they'll send me home...and it could be an unpaid leave. That makes me nervous.

There's conflicting information out there about leaves and pay. Some websites that discuss Walmart leaves say if you're a full-time associate who has been at Walmart for longer than a year, you get short-term disability automatically. Other places say you have to opt in, and yet other places say opting in is just for the enhanced short term disability. I will be opting in, but 'open enrollment' happens once a year, and it starts October 11th. To be honest, I would kind of love it if Walmart sent me home, because I could use the mental health break, but I know I'll stress about money and I don't want to screw my associates over. One of our team leads, Crystal, quit recently and the other is on vacation, leaving only me. But I am also tired of not sleeping well because my arm hurts or feeling the tingles.

I'm going to go in and be seen on Wednesday, and if they recommend I do light duty, I'll go speak to my people lead. He might just say to take time off work. Either way, I'll play this one by ear.

I've never had an injury persist like this. I'm usually pretty careful and heal up just fine.

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Age Verification

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:22:35 GMT

I went to a bar & grill with some friends on Wednesday. It was really great getting to just hang out and chat with them 💜 I ordered an AMAZING strawberry margarita - I was surprised I liked it so much, given I'm sensitive to the taste of alcohol and I don't care for the taste usually. The server did a triple take when she saw my ID though.

She asked to see my ID, so I handed it over. She looked at it, looked at me, looked at my ID again.

Her: No.

Me: Yep.

She looks at it again, and then back to me.

Her: No way.

Me: Yep, I'm 36.

Her: Damn girl, good for you!!

It made me laugh, which I needed after struggling with the post-squee blues. I'll enjoy that reaction while I get it 😂

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Thu, 09 Jan 2025 23:25:25 GMT

So, my co-manager Sarah has left. And they've given the job to someone I did NOT want to get it.

We don't have support from our store manager. Our market manager is the "work wife" to our store manager, so she won't have our backs. And now we have a team lead who is not a good fit with our department.

I'm so fucked.

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Betated Christmas Wishes!

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 03:19:21 GMT

I want to thank everyone who sent me a Christmas card - I really appreciate it and it brightened my day considerably!

This was my first holiday season as a manager, and was it a rough one! We were 9 people below headcount, and our efforts to get people in and trained before things got CRAZY were of mixed success. I don't remember last Christmas season being this horrific - especially the two weeks before Christmas! I stayed late almost every shift and had to work one 13 hour day. I am drained and so are my people.

We got a new store manager, and there was a lot of drama surrounding him. He cut hours all over the store despite it being the holiday season, and an assistant manager position opened up and he promised it to someone from his previous store - completely ignoring the fact that there were people at our store that wanted the position. He also likes to talk shit about people behind their backs, but in front of other managers, and he spent all the money the store uses to have a Christmas party for the associates on renovating his new office. He likes to sneak up on people and stand uncomfortably close to them as well. He also said he's not going to promote from within our store, which is a slap in the face to all the great people who want to move up in the company.

So when my department started to struggle because we were drowning under orders, we'd get on the radio and call for help...only to be told there was little to nobody around to actually help. I've been in the online pickup department since it opened, and we've NEVER been this busy. Which I guess is good - I mean, job security and all that - but it got to the point where I was just so stressed and dreading going to work every day. And then one of my co-managers accepted a position at another store because they want to promote up eventually and it's not going to happen here. I'm particularly bummed because she and I were often of the same opinion on things, and she was not afraid to argue and speak...I wouldn't say aggressively, but perhaps passionately, with our boss. My boss has also made comments about wanting to leave, and I REALLY hope she doesn't. While she's not the best boss, she's not so bad - surprisingly reasonable about things - and better the devil you know.

I do read the messages on WhatsApp, and I keep meaning to show up for the Squee video chats, but to be honest all of my energy just went to surviving the holidays. I miss everyone though, and I hope I get to talk to everyone soon.

I hope everyone had the best holiday!

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Happy (belated) birthday!

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 08:08:57 GMT

Livejournal sent me an email saying it was shaddyr's birthday! I hope this is correct and that it was filled with things that made you smile :)

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Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:39:18 GMT

I'm not going to touch on the election. I spent all Tuesday and Wednesday crying, and my mental health has taken such a steep dive that I've put a temporary moratorium about anything related to politics. I'm also going to reach out to my doctor about anxiety meds, but that's going to be a whole thing. My PCP moved away and the idea of calling around to find a new doctor that took my insurance and had an opening for a new patient seemed like Too Much. So I have to do all that before I can ask about meds.

In other news, I'm learning to crochet! The wonderful escriveine has been teaching me via video chats. It has been going well? I caught on how to do a foundation chain fast, but I have been struggling a bit more with learning how to do SC's. Escriveine has been nothing but patient though <3

I finished playing Sun Haven. I love that game, and I love my boy Lucius. I've started playing Stardew Valley, but I'm at the beginning of that.

Finally, livejournal tells me it's squidgiepdx birthday! Assuming it's not lying to me: Happy birthday <3333 I hope it was a good one. You truly deserve All The Good Things.

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Birthday Wishes & Updates

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:52:38 GMT

Thank you for all the happy birthday wishes 💜 I know I've been quiet on this platform, and that's more because I have nothing going on worth talking about than a desire to avoid contact.

I played and beat Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel to Breath of the Wild. I love BOTW more but it was still fantastic and I really think those games are going to be in my top 5 games forever lol. After that, I fell into Hollow Knight, a notoriously difficult metroidvania game that is beautiful and hand drawn. The music is also fantastic, but the plot to the game is REALLY sad. And now I'm playing Sun Haven, which is just like Stardew Valley but with a fantasy twist (and a couple other features I really love).

For reading, I'm still slowly finishing books. My TBR keeps growing and the books I keep reading aren't even on my TBR...sometimes thinking about my overwhelming TBR gives me anxiety lol.

Fandom-wise, I'm still really bouncing around. Anime, adult cartoons, video games, books, and tv shows (mostly old favorites, like SGA and Due South). I've also been reading a ton of webtoons lol.

I've started and not finished writing a ton of fics across at least three fandoms. I'd like to write, but motivation/energy are issues.

Work is going......................ok. We're still really short-staffed and our state gave everyone summer EBT. If you already get EBT, you get more. If you don't get EBT, you get some. It's because children are going to be at home so no meals at school. So they gave parents some EBT to help pay for kids to eat, which I'm all for. But it does mean we have more and/or bigger orders on top of being short staffed. We've been so busy I haven't even really been able to do management things; I'm helping with the basics of the job just to get that done.

I really need my vacation 😂

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Sat, 06 Apr 2024 23:07:42 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY brumeier !!

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So many changes

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 22:22:49 GMT

Right after I started school, a third team lead (essentially a department manager) position opened up in my department. I was on the fence about whether or not to go for it, and then decided I would. At the very least it'd be good experience; at best I'd get a pay raise and get to do something different. It's only been about a week since it opened, but I had so many ups and downs emotionally lol. Out of 10 applicants, I was one of 4 selected for an interview for the position. And then I made it to the second round of interviews, and I was proud and nervous. I hate interviews, they're nerve-wracking. A session specifically for judging.

But folks, I got the job.

I'm still nervous, though this time it's those self-doubts. What if I can't do the job? What if I'm terrible at it? But all I can do is try, and stepping down from the position IS an option.

That said, this doesn't mean I'm quitting school. I'm taking it slow - they want me to learn SO MANY medical terms, oh my god, first 2 chapters of the textbook wanted me to memorize 150 medical terms. This will be better pay while I go to school, AND it was good interviewing experience for when I finally get my certification and begin looking around for a job.

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Guess who's back, back to school?

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 02:55:25 GMT

Me! I'm going back to school :) I had to take out a loan and I'm stressing about the payments (mostly because money stuff already gives me anxiety) but I'm going for my certification to be a pharmacy tech.

We're really busy at work these days. Maybe we catch a break at the end of the month because people are out of money (and food stamps), but it's not a guarantee. And then I found out that pretty much all my good co-workers are leaving the night shift, leaving me with the less-than-stellar workers. I don't want to work twice as hard to get half as much done, and then have my boss yell about it. I thought about moving to a different department, but there are some managers I don't want to work for, some jobs I don't want to do, and it left me with very limited options.

I'm kind of hoping the frustration I feel at work when things are going to shit - which is often - will be good motivation for me to stick with it. I was always better at English and History in school, and this requires science classes.

Of course, my managers are aware we're losing all our good workers and have been asking me who I want on my team and telling me about all of these much needed changes they're making, but I've already taken out the loan and signed up for the classes. I'll need a job while going to school anyway, so I might as well stick with the one I have. And there's no guarantee I'll get a job in a pharmacy after - if there are no nearby job positions, I'll just stick with the job I have. But it'll give me options, which is good.

It's 100% online, go-at-your-own-pace. I keep forgetting that bit; I have to pay off the loan in 12 months, so my brain is like, "You've got to finish classes in 12 months too!" but that's not really true lol.

We'll see how it goes~

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Mon, 13 Nov 2023 02:37:45 GMT

Happy birthday, squidgiepdx! You've always been so kind and supportive to me and others in fandom, and I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you! Have the best day ever ♥

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Breath of the Wild

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 18:41:21 GMT

I've finally beat The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

( Read more... )

I'm honestly a little lost now. I have the sequel game already downloaded and ready to play, but I think I need to just sit for a bit before I start it. BOTW has meant a lot to me and I miss it already. It's probably my #1 favorite game ever.

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Good Omens s2

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 07:53:57 GMT

Has anyone seen it yet? I've been seeing some posts on tumblr and I want to watch it, but also...the heartbreak...

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Tue, 18 Jul 2023 03:14:31 GMT

I'm still bouncing between fandoms - a lot of anime fandoms, admittedly. I haven't got much to say about that 😂

What I do want to talk about is a new obsession for me: a video game.

( blah blah )

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Fri, 26 May 2023 01:55:00 GMT

I received a postcard from the incomparable ride_4ever! It really cheered me up, and I'm going to tuck it away with my other cards for safe keeping <3 Thank you so much!

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Fannish Fifty #1

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 03:23:57 GMT

I saw elayna post hers and went OH CRAP. Might have to post a couple fannish fifties this week 😅

So, post #1, where I yell about one of the (many) fandoms I've been hopping through:

( Cut to save everyone )

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Fannish Fifty

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 02:22:06 GMT

trillingstar posted about Fannish Fifty, where you make 50+ posts about fannish things throughout the year. It can be anything - fanvids, movies, fictional characters, etc. There can be a theme if you want, or you can just post about random things.

I don't post that often, I know. Mostly because I don't have anything to say, since I usually just work, go home, read fic, and go to bed. But I thought I could maybe post about the random fandoms I've been hopping through. There is, of course, no obligation to check out my posts. It'll be a lot of anime, some Korean webnovels-turned-comics, Dresden Files, etc. I just think it'd be fun 😂

I'll tag everything with 'fannish-fifty' and put it in the title so you know to scroll on by :D

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A hell of a month

Sat, 07 Jan 2023 23:31:03 GMT

It's been a hell of a month (and by that, I mean the last 30 days).

First, we got word of a bigger place with reasonable rent late in December. I'm talking the week before Christmas late. Because we didn't want to have to pay another month's rent on our old place, we had to pack up and move out in a rush. We did most of our moving the week after Christmas (since the week leading up to the holiday was rough), and we're in the new place now, but we have boxes EVERYWHERE and it's all just...a mess.

The Thursday before Christmas I started feeling unwell. I took two covid tests, which came back negative. I suspect I had bronchitis, which I've had before, and my dad has chronic bronchitis. I had to sleep sitting up in an armchair, which absolutely sucks after a while. I didn't start feeling better until the following Tuesday, where I worked a half-shift.

And then two days ago I tested positive for covid via home test. I called a walk-in clinic about getting professionally tested and they told me to go to Walgreens, so I did and received confirmation that I'm positive. I'm doing okay - a bit of a cough, a stuffy nose, and a lot of fatigue. I'm stressing about work though - I applied for a leave of absence but the company we go through - Sedgewick - can sometimes be a dick and deny leaves. If I'm denied, I won't have enough "protected" PTO to cover my call-ins, which means I'll be fired. Fingers crossed everything works out for me!

My "work wife" is leaving for Germany as part of her college education. She'll be gone for 4 months, and I'm not sure what I'll do without her.

Fandom-wise, I'm still hopping around. I've gotten really into online comics (most notably webtoons), some of which are based on Korean webnovels. So I'm...reading Korean webnovels now 😂 And writing fic for them too, not that I've published anything yet. It's difficult because the web novels are much further along than the comics, and I'm not caught up on the novels yet. The novels are different from how things are done in English. They're all very....hmm...sparsely written? I'm sure English readers are losing some stuff in translation, but the few web novels I've read are short on describing things. Actions, sure, but sometimes expressions, clothing, the surrounding area, stuff like that aren't mentioned at all. Not that it's bad; it's just an adjustment!

Still reading some anime fic, some books, etc. My list of things to watch continues to grow while I ignore it lol.

And now I want a nap...

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Mon, 26 Dec 2022 23:03:50 GMT

I'm still sick, but I just remembered that several people sent me Christmas cards.

mific, melagan, squidgiepdx, and elayna

Thank you so much for the cards, they were lovely and really lifted my spirits this season!!

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Ugh ugh

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 05:35:14 GMT

Why must I get sick *now* of all times???

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Everything is fine

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 13:46:05 GMT

My mom was hospitalized twice this past week. She had two seizures on Friday. One isn't unheard of - she's epileptic, and usually just sleeps the rest of the day. But the second one, while not unheard of, is still uncommon enough that we were like, "Yeah, time to take her in." (My mom told us a long time ago to stop taking her in after just one unless she injures herself, and the argument lasted for a week before we gave in). They said her medication levels were too low and stress levels were too high. They didn't even keep her overnight - they ran a catscan, gave her the seizure meds via IV, and sent her home.

On Monday, she had a heart attack.

They DID keep her overnight for that one. They did an ecocardiogram and then a heart catheterization through her wrist to check for any blockages. She didn't have any, and eventually said it was "broken heart syndrome". They released her on Wednesday, and we have to make diet changes. I'm taking a leave of absence from work - just a couple days to keep an eye on her - but it's unpaid unless I use vacation time. I'll still be doing Squee from Wednesday to Wednesday, but I usually take a couple days off after before returning to work. Might have to just go right back to work since I'm taking an LOA, but it's worth it. I can't have unpaid time off, I got dem billz to pay.

But she's home now, she's awake and aware, and I'm going to force her to take it easy sohelpmegod.

Other than that, it's the same old story. Work alternates between really fun and really stressful; I'm bopping between anime, hopping around fandoms (currently rereading some Hobbit fic, before that was the Silmarillion, before THAT was Haikyuu fic), and reading books.

My life is (usually) really boring and I like it that way.

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Sat, 11 Jun 2022 01:20:42 GMT

Happy birthday goddess47 !!

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Sun, 26 Dec 2021 02:00:03 GMT

Happy holidays, everyone <3 I hope you're having an excellent holiday. Huge thanks to everyone who sent me a Christmas card - it was the perfect thing to come home to after a long day at work. I have them all propped up on my dresser so I can look at them :)

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An update

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 05:02:18 GMT

I'm doing...ok. Work has been extremely overwhelming - they increased the number of grocery orders per day we can get (worst timing ever), and on top of that we have the expected online holiday craziness. Lots of new people, quite a few experienced coworkers on leave, and all combined it leaves me feeling exhausted and overwhelmed a lot. Two days off doesn't seem to be enough time to recover before I'm thrown back into things. I'm by turns exhausted and apathetic, and I keep forgetting things. Nothing too important (like meds or appointments, for example), just...little things. I've been setting a lot of reminders on my phone, and then forgetting to check my phone. Brain fog is the worst.

Hopefully things will settle after the New Year and I'll feel less like I'm treading water. We'll see.

I'm jumping between fandoms like I'm playing a game of hot potato. SGA, James Bond, Critical Role, Dresden Files, BFU. Right now I'm revisiting the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom, which is weird because I haven't watched the anime (either of them) in years. Then again, the last time I visited the Dresden Files fandom it was 2011, so...hm. Maybe it isn't so weird. I've also started reading Silmarillion fanfiction even though I've never read the book. A friend of mine told me about a ship of theirs from the book, and despite the many characters (why do they all have five names each??) and tragic events, I sought out fic and fell in love.

Buzzfeed Unsolved is officially done, but the boys have announced a ghost hunting show called Ghost Files on their own channel. My exhaustion/apathy means I'm behind on MANY of their stuff. I've also watched a few episodes of Only Murders in the Building and it's a perfect mix of comedy and mystery, and luckily I'm watching it with a friend - which means I'm actually going to finish it lol.

Literally nothing else of interest has happened ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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