Theri There

14 days to go.

The morning at work was relatively quiet; I'm not sure if people had taken all the tickets by the time I got in, or if there just weren't any tickets to process. Later in the afternoon, though, my Lead asked for my help on a doozy of a project. Basically, converting particle counts for ten orders (think 100 conversions per order -- or 1,000 conversions total) because of a technician mistake. Two of my Mexico colleagues were already mired in the project, and she was hoping I'd be able to help out.

I'm not ashamed to say I didn't help out. I did take any new tickets that came in so the folks after me would have as clear a slate as possible, but I also don't relish the idea of spending one of my last days here doing basic work that you've hired someone else to do for cheaper. Let them do it, and let me run out the clock.

I did spend a long time on a transcription request (basically manually inputting data that failed to upload because our software solution is atrocious) and handled a lot of spot edits, so there's that. 

Took a look at my expenditures over the past two months and, like I figured, did not like what I saw. Now that I've hit the two-week mark, I think it's well past time to completely halt extraneous spending for the rest of the year. Time to treat each dollar as a precious, non-renewable resource. 

Went to the gym with Snepperboo over lunch yesterday, and it was a good workout! There's a difference between bodybuilding exercise and functional exercises, and I think I like the latter a bit more. We did Torso Rotation and Hip Abductors, which showed me exactly where I was tightest and least-flexible. I'm quite sore today, but I'm happy with the places where I am sore. I think I'll try to do more body-weight exercises that focuses on core and stability muscles. 

We played the third session of Snepperboo's Isekai D&D campaign last night! People in 16th century small-town Bavaria discover a strange hole in the side of a mountain after several children are abducted by demonic creatures during an eclipse; going through takes you to another world and (for the PCs at least) turn you into a different fantastic creature. 

I'm playing Henkel von Axem, an Ethiopian-German monk I've patterned to be a Thomas Merton type -- big into the mystic Christian experience, which puts him at odds with more traditional types. Ratty is playing a gender-fluid migrant whose people are often accused of witchcraft; the two others in our polycule, Yeen and Hare, play a noble's son and a baker, respectively. In the secondary world, I become an Aasimar Cleric; Ratty is a Tiefling Rogue; Yeen is another Tiefling -- this time, a Warlock; and Hare is a Halfling Artificer whose contraptions are all cooking-based. 

It's been an interesting party so far. Yeen is the most inexperienced gamer at the table, and I think he's not quite sure what to expect from us. We're all a bunch of theatre kids, and he might be at tables that are a bit looser. 

In session three, Henkel, Eike (the Rogue), and Klaus (the Warlock) travel back to the secondary world with Eike's partner, Otto (NPC). We catch up with Diel (the Artificer), who chose to remain behind and explore. It takes a bit, but we all meet up again and find a small outpost town that seems to have a big problem with Tieflings (who they call the Warspawn), but act with embarrassing deference to Aasimar (who they call Remnants).

Apparently, "angels" from another plane brought with them the capability to open doors to other realms. This ushered in a wild and exciting time of progress and growing diversity -- until they opened a door to the Abyss. The resulting invasion decimated most of the population, and to put a stop to it the "angels" disabled all portals, then retreated to a walled city no one has access to. 400 years have passed since then, and the PCs are the first folk in that time to pass through the "Cloud Gates". 

It's quite possible we won't be able to get home again. The first time we did, it felt like a lucky fluke -- but also a one-time only pass back to the real world. Next time may be significantly trickier, and to follow our best lead we'll need to defeat a giant squid that's been taking down every ship trying to leave or arrive at the port. The island we're in has effectively been cut off from the rest of the world. 

Next session, we'll get to know the folk of the town a little better and investigate a suspicious fisherman who suffered a shipwreck but came back...different. Klaus' patron marked him as a 'parasite' who should be killed immediately, and Henkel has caught him in a few lies through very good Insight checks. Our conversation didn't yield much, so now I think we'll need to follow him to see what kind of shenanigans he gets up to. 

Today, Snepperboo's baseball coach cancelled his practice this evening -- so I'm not sure what we'll be doing. He'll want to practice *somehow*, but I'm not sure my legs are up for it. I had planned a run after work, but...we'll see. 

It might be a good time to pivot to writing and studying. ;)