Ugh
Dec. 12th, 2025 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vvalkyriI'm feeling really pissy with myself right now. I can't even pretend I know what I did with the last oh I don't know 4 hours. And about quarter to 7:00 I realized there was a dance nearby I could go to and then I thought about going and I didn't know who was going and I didn't get ready and then I didn't and then I thought oh I will go to the Balboa because that's only $10 and it's from 8:30 to 11:00 and at that point it was like most of it or maybe it was 8:00 I could totally have done that but now it's 9:15 and it's a half hour out to Glen Echo and sure it's not that that a price for the hour but it's a half hour drive each way and so I'm not and that's all well and good but then I'm also barely getting any exercise anymore and I miss dancing and I didn't go dancing last night and I don't know if I'll get dancing on Sunday maybe I could. Acro is late in the day for change just everything is so much tetrising and somehow all the time is gone I don't understand that either. And I was annoyed because I felt like oh God I have all this stuff I should do in the house that works better if there isn't someone here with me and then I did kind of clean some of the kitchen and then I got out to the Christmas Market and found some things or at least figured out some things maybe and I'm just tired that's probably a matter of not doing enough of my asthma drugs but it's also just I keep not doing things I keep not dancing I keep not visiting with people I keep losing time and there's only so much time you know.
And maybe I just need more water and didn't realize I need more water I don't know. And also more than a little annoyed that I have a whole lot of sparkles in my hair and none of them are visible with my hairs up like I almost always have my hair up and I went back to her and I got a lot more sparkly to put in my hair having explained to her that they don't show with my hair up
And maybe I just need more water and didn't realize I need more water I don't know. And also more than a little annoyed that I have a whole lot of sparkles in my hair and none of them are visible with my hairs up like I almost always have my hair up and I went back to her and I got a lot more sparkly to put in my hair having explained to her that they don't show with my hair up
IRA
Dec. 12th, 2025 06:03 pmredbirdtl;dr still waiting for things
The latest on that inherited IRA is that I got two email messages from Fidelity today, one saying that I needed to do something [unspecified] to transfer the money from BNY, and one saying specifically that BNY had told Fidelity that they, BNY, needed to talk to me.
So, I called BNY, and after various annoyances with their phone tree, talked to someone. He told me that they had no record yet of receiving the form I sent by next-day mail, but that if the form had arrived late Wednesday they might not be scanned until late today or even Monday. Also that once the form is scanned into the BNY system, it may take a few days before they actually transfer the money into my name, which would be necessary in order to move it to Fidelity.
So, I can (and probably will) call Monday to check that the form was in fact been received, but he thinks I should call later in the week, maybe Wednesday, maybe as late as Friday, and ask for my brand-new account number. Once I have that number, I have to fill out appropriate paperwork with Fidelity. *sigh*
I am both annoyed that even paying for next-day delivery, this is taking several days, and thinking that if I hadn’t paid for faster delivery I would be a few days further behind.
The man also said that once the funds are transferred, they will send me an acknowledgement by mail, including the new account number. However, waiting for that to arrive (rather than getting the information by phone) does not seem prudent, given the IRS deadline for the 2025 required minimum distribution.
The latest on that inherited IRA is that I got two email messages from Fidelity today, one saying that I needed to do something [unspecified] to transfer the money from BNY, and one saying specifically that BNY had told Fidelity that they, BNY, needed to talk to me.
So, I called BNY, and after various annoyances with their phone tree, talked to someone. He told me that they had no record yet of receiving the form I sent by next-day mail, but that if the form had arrived late Wednesday they might not be scanned until late today or even Monday. Also that once the form is scanned into the BNY system, it may take a few days before they actually transfer the money into my name, which would be necessary in order to move it to Fidelity.
So, I can (and probably will) call Monday to check that the form was in fact been received, but he thinks I should call later in the week, maybe Wednesday, maybe as late as Friday, and ask for my brand-new account number. Once I have that number, I have to fill out appropriate paperwork with Fidelity. *sigh*
I am both annoyed that even paying for next-day delivery, this is taking several days, and thinking that if I hadn’t paid for faster delivery I would be a few days further behind.
The man also said that once the funds are transferred, they will send me an acknowledgement by mail, including the new account number. However, waiting for that to arrive (rather than getting the information by phone) does not seem prudent, given the IRS deadline for the 2025 required minimum distribution.
Cover Reveal: BONE & BLOOD
Dec. 10th, 2025 01:47 pmmizkitThe truth is many of you have seen this before, but somehow I haven't *blogged* about it, so I'm doing a COVER REVEAL today! Muahahahah!
I would like to introduce you to the cover art for BONE & BLOOD, my upcoming retelling of the fairy tale Snow White, Rose Red. Dun dun dunnnnnnn!!!!!
LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF THIS COVER ART. :D
Cover designer Ravven, whose work I absolutely adore, did this as a pre-made cover. I saw it about 18 months ago now and I went OH. MY. GOD. I KNOW WHAT THIS COVER WANTS AS A STORY!
"BUT NO," I said to myself. "YOU ALREADY HAVE SO MANY PREMADE COVERS YOU HAVEN'T WRITTEN STORIES FOR! BE BRAVE, CATIE. STEP AWAY FROM THE COVER ART."
"but snow white, rose red," it whispered to me.
"AWAY, TEMPTATION!" I cried. "AWAY! SOMEONE ELSE WILL BUY THIS MAGNIFICENT COVER AND DO SOMETHING COOL WITH IT!"
"but snow white, rose red," it whispered to me.
I was, however, very brave, and didn't buy it.
So it haunted me for weeks. WEEKS. Until I went back and looked and it hadn't been bought yet and I was like 'OKAY FINE I UNDERSTAND A SIGN FROM THE UNIVERSE WHEN I SEE ONE!'
And I bought it, because I love the Snow White, Rose Red fairy tale almost as much as I love Beauty and the Beast (and it is, of course, in the same vein at BatB!), and I knew exactly how it would tie into my Beauty and the Beast book, ROSES IN AMBER, and...it was fate, honestly. It was just fate. And I'm very excited about the book, which I think is a particularly juicy rendition of SWRR, so I'm looking forward to getting it out to people in just three months!
(links are amazon affiliate)
I would like to introduce you to the cover art for BONE & BLOOD, my upcoming retelling of the fairy tale Snow White, Rose Red. Dun dun dunnnnnnn!!!!!
LET ME TELL YOU THE STORY OF THIS COVER ART. :D
Cover designer Ravven, whose work I absolutely adore, did this as a pre-made cover. I saw it about 18 months ago now and I went OH. MY. GOD. I KNOW WHAT THIS COVER WANTS AS A STORY!
"BUT NO," I said to myself. "YOU ALREADY HAVE SO MANY PREMADE COVERS YOU HAVEN'T WRITTEN STORIES FOR! BE BRAVE, CATIE. STEP AWAY FROM THE COVER ART."
"but snow white, rose red," it whispered to me.
"AWAY, TEMPTATION!" I cried. "AWAY! SOMEONE ELSE WILL BUY THIS MAGNIFICENT COVER AND DO SOMETHING COOL WITH IT!"
"but snow white, rose red," it whispered to me.
I was, however, very brave, and didn't buy it.
So it haunted me for weeks. WEEKS. Until I went back and looked and it hadn't been bought yet and I was like 'OKAY FINE I UNDERSTAND A SIGN FROM THE UNIVERSE WHEN I SEE ONE!'
And I bought it, because I love the Snow White, Rose Red fairy tale almost as much as I love Beauty and the Beast (and it is, of course, in the same vein at BatB!), and I knew exactly how it would tie into my Beauty and the Beast book, ROSES IN AMBER, and...it was fate, honestly. It was just fate. And I'm very excited about the book, which I think is a particularly juicy rendition of SWRR, so I'm looking forward to getting it out to people in just three months!
There is a story of a widow woman and her two daughters, Snow White and Rose Red, who were the most perfect and darling little girls who had ever lived.
This is not—quite—that story.
Wise women do not bargain with fair folk, but there is wisdom, and then there is desire. Born of dark magic to a widow willing to make any pact to become a mother, Chloe and Yara live in a borderland between what is real in the World, and what is not. Their gifts—to hunt, to nurture, to craft and to kill—are granted by the woodland they cannot pass beyond...until the price of their birth is called due, and the sisters are separated, one to be a queen, and the other, a soldier.
But as the untold dangers of power weave threads into their hearts, threatening corruption and the destruction of their home, it is not the help of a prince, or true love’s kiss that will defeat a malevolent force, but the bond of two sisters whose bone and blood foretell a future that no evil could anticipate.
BONE & BLOOD will be out on March 12, 2026! Preorder now! :D
(links are amazon affiliate)
more IRA paperwork
Dec. 8th, 2025 05:45 pmredbirdI went out in the cold today, took a shuttle buses that was replacing the central part of the green line, and walked into a Fidelity office to get the medallion signature I need on the BNY form.
They provided the medallion for my signature, but the woman who handled that told me she thought I would need to redo the _Fidelity_ forms once BNY had transferred the funds, because the inherited IRA would need a brand-new account, not the one I created for the purpose a few weeks ago. Having printed and signed those forms, I asked her to keep them, in case they are usable. (She may have been thinking I'm trying to move the money into an account that already has money in it.)
She also said I do need to put the form with the medallion signature in the mail to BNY, Fidelity can't send it to them electronically. I brought the medallion-ized form home with me, but before I put it in the mail I'm going to scan it and upload the scan to the Fidelity website, in case the previous advisor is right and they can do this electronically.
So that will be another outing in the cold, to a post office, in the hope the letter gets to BNY in good season despite both Christmas packages and the Republican effort to destroy the postal service. Fortunately, there are post office branches at this end of the green line, the part that's still running trolleys.
ETA: I scanned the document, and just uploaded it to the Fidelity website, with a message explaining that I will be mailing the hardcopy to BNY tomorrow.
They provided the medallion for my signature, but the woman who handled that told me she thought I would need to redo the _Fidelity_ forms once BNY had transferred the funds, because the inherited IRA would need a brand-new account, not the one I created for the purpose a few weeks ago. Having printed and signed those forms, I asked her to keep them, in case they are usable. (She may have been thinking I'm trying to move the money into an account that already has money in it.)
She also said I do need to put the form with the medallion signature in the mail to BNY, Fidelity can't send it to them electronically. I brought the medallion-ized form home with me, but before I put it in the mail I'm going to scan it and upload the scan to the Fidelity website, in case the previous advisor is right and they can do this electronically.
So that will be another outing in the cold, to a post office, in the hope the letter gets to BNY in good season despite both Christmas packages and the Republican effort to destroy the postal service. Fortunately, there are post office branches at this end of the green line, the part that's still running trolleys.
ETA: I scanned the document, and just uploaded it to the Fidelity website, with a message explaining that I will be mailing the hardcopy to BNY tomorrow.
Book Review
Dec. 8th, 2025 12:32 pmkenjariThe City of Brass
by S.A. Chakraborty
This is the first book in a pretty cool (so far) fantasy trilogy. It is set in a medieval, fairy-tale middle east. The main character, Nahri is a young woman making her living on the streets of Cairo via swindles and theft. She also has a gift for healing both herself and others, and can understand and speak any language she hears. In the course of one of her grifts, she accidentally summons a powerful djinn, the former general, Dara. He takes Nahri on a journey to the land of the djinn and their chief city, Daevabad, during which she learns that she is at least part djinn. Once in the city, Nahri is plunged into a world of magic and a den of intrigue between the Al-Qahtani ruling family and the other tribes of djinn. She forms close relationships with both Dara and the youngest prince, Alizayd. The opportunities and dangers Nahri faces are complex and intertwined with deep secrets about the djinn and their history.
I very much enjoyed The City of Brass. It had a really good mix of action and intrigue. I really liked Nahri - her life as a con artist prepared her very well for the machinations of the Al-Qahtani. Plus, under her toughness is a real desire to be a good healer. It was refreshing that Nahri's relationships with Dara and Ali were not played as a typical love triangle. The question wasn't who she would end up with, but how those two relationships would affect her life in Daevabad. There's a lot going on around Nahri that she is not fully aware of and had not figured out by the end of the book - I am eager to see how it all plays out in the rest of the series.
by S.A. Chakraborty
This is the first book in a pretty cool (so far) fantasy trilogy. It is set in a medieval, fairy-tale middle east. The main character, Nahri is a young woman making her living on the streets of Cairo via swindles and theft. She also has a gift for healing both herself and others, and can understand and speak any language she hears. In the course of one of her grifts, she accidentally summons a powerful djinn, the former general, Dara. He takes Nahri on a journey to the land of the djinn and their chief city, Daevabad, during which she learns that she is at least part djinn. Once in the city, Nahri is plunged into a world of magic and a den of intrigue between the Al-Qahtani ruling family and the other tribes of djinn. She forms close relationships with both Dara and the youngest prince, Alizayd. The opportunities and dangers Nahri faces are complex and intertwined with deep secrets about the djinn and their history.
I very much enjoyed The City of Brass. It had a really good mix of action and intrigue. I really liked Nahri - her life as a con artist prepared her very well for the machinations of the Al-Qahtani. Plus, under her toughness is a real desire to be a good healer. It was refreshing that Nahri's relationships with Dara and Ali were not played as a typical love triangle. The question wasn't who she would end up with, but how those two relationships would affect her life in Daevabad. There's a lot going on around Nahri that she is not fully aware of and had not figured out by the end of the book - I am eager to see how it all plays out in the rest of the series.
Decembrrr
Dec. 8th, 2025 11:32 amdianec42We had our first real snow last week. It actually stuck around & is still looking nice.
Saturday we went to a "cut-your-own" Xmas tree farm and brought back a lovely tree. I've never had a tree so fresh it still had snow on it, so that was fun. It's also the first time we've had a full-sized tree here.
Next, what started out as a quick dash to Home Despot for appropriately-sized lights, rapidly turned into an epic trek for brunch in town, British foods 45 minutes up the road, and finally Home Despot. We decorated the tree - we do NOT have too many ornaments, we still have hooks left! - and settled in for a nice quiet Choresday on Sunday. The cats are interested in the tree, but haven't climbed it or broken anything that we know of.
Today, the snow is melting a little, and we can see loads of animal tracks across the back yard.
This is also my last Mondayon earth of working. In a little over 4 days' time I will be a free human being!
Saturday we went to a "cut-your-own" Xmas tree farm and brought back a lovely tree. I've never had a tree so fresh it still had snow on it, so that was fun. It's also the first time we've had a full-sized tree here.
Next, what started out as a quick dash to Home Despot for appropriately-sized lights, rapidly turned into an epic trek for brunch in town, British foods 45 minutes up the road, and finally Home Despot. We decorated the tree - we do NOT have too many ornaments, we still have hooks left! - and settled in for a nice quiet Choresday on Sunday. The cats are interested in the tree, but haven't climbed it or broken anything that we know of.
Today, the snow is melting a little, and we can see loads of animal tracks across the back yard.
This is also my last Monday
cat health worries
Dec. 6th, 2025 09:13 pmredbirdFirst: The cat in question seems to be basically well.
So,cattitude has been worrying on and off that our cat Kaja was getting skinny. A few days agp. that got to the point of calling the vet and then taking the cat in for a check-up.
At the exam, the vet told Cattitude that Kaja has not lost weight; if anything, she has gained an ounce or two. What's going on is, the cat has lost some muscle mass, which has led to some redistribution of her weight, and what Cattitude noted was that her legs were thinner. The vet said it was probably arthritis, drew blood to test for some more serious problems, and sent her home.
We got the results this morning, and they are reassuring: Kaja's kidney function, liver function, and thyroid are all fine. So is her blood sugar.
The email said we could have them do X-rays to check for arthritis, but that would require sedating the cat.
Or, they can assume it's arthritis, and give her monthly injections of a pain-killer to treat that, and see how she's doing in a few months.
The third choice is to just monitor the cat's health for now, and give her omega-3 supplements. We need to discuss the choices, but it's Saturday, and none of them involves "so call the vet and set this up right away."
So,
cattitude has been worrying on and off that our cat Kaja was getting skinny. A few days agp. that got to the point of calling the vet and then taking the cat in for a check-up.At the exam, the vet told Cattitude that Kaja has not lost weight; if anything, she has gained an ounce or two. What's going on is, the cat has lost some muscle mass, which has led to some redistribution of her weight, and what Cattitude noted was that her legs were thinner. The vet said it was probably arthritis, drew blood to test for some more serious problems, and sent her home.
We got the results this morning, and they are reassuring: Kaja's kidney function, liver function, and thyroid are all fine. So is her blood sugar.
The email said we could have them do X-rays to check for arthritis, but that would require sedating the cat.
Or, they can assume it's arthritis, and give her monthly injections of a pain-killer to treat that, and see how she's doing in a few months.
The third choice is to just monitor the cat's health for now, and give her omega-3 supplements. We need to discuss the choices, but it's Saturday, and none of them involves "so call the vet and set this up right away."
dentist, and insurance
Dec. 4th, 2025 06:22 pmredbirdI went to the dentist yesterday to get my teeth cleaned, and on my way out made a follow-up appointment. When I got home, I realized that they'd given me an earlier appointment than I thought, or wanted, so I had to call them today.
I also got halfway through filing a claim for insurance reimbursement last night, before realizing that I didn't have the right paperwork. In the process, I found out how to file a claim for the glasses I had made a couple of months ago, which I'd thought would be complicated.
Those forms require a National Provider Identification number, which can be found online. Praise wikipedia! Googling didn't find me the relevant website, but the Wikipedia article has a link to it. The website is searchable by anyone, if you have the provider's name and location, and "Arlington, MA" was sufficient, without the street address.
Having talked to the dentist's office, I now have a 3:00 appointment for my next cleaning, and have submitted the insurance claim.
I also got halfway through filing a claim for insurance reimbursement last night, before realizing that I didn't have the right paperwork. In the process, I found out how to file a claim for the glasses I had made a couple of months ago, which I'd thought would be complicated.
Those forms require a National Provider Identification number, which can be found online. Praise wikipedia! Googling didn't find me the relevant website, but the Wikipedia article has a link to it. The website is searchable by anyone, if you have the provider's name and location, and "Arlington, MA" was sufficient, without the street address.
Having talked to the dentist's office, I now have a 3:00 appointment for my next cleaning, and have submitted the insurance claim.