VelvetFreak's Investing Adventures

rugbymadfamily

I'm the same, I've said London but never anything more identifying location wise than that! 

Yes seen the news re William Tyrell, desperately sad story for the little boy.

VelvetFreak

A nice Sunday was had! Stayed up past my usual bedtime last night so I slept in til 8:30am which is very late for me so felt a bit groggy for most of the morning. Had to wait around all morning for my mum and her bf to come and collect the spare fridge that I'd borrowed but that was ok as it forced me to rest. I've been roped into doing some Christmas thing with them (and his family) next weekend and I just have to say that I'm really not excited about having to do Christmas with a "step family" yet again this year . I feel like I just got over my mum breaking up with her previous long-term partner (10+ years) a couple of years ago (who was truly horrible) and now she's with another guy and there's talks about moving in with him. He's a nice guy but I wish she wouldn't change her whole life for someone so quickly and that she'd just slow down and give everyone time to adjust.  Like mother like daughter eh. At least I learned the hard lesson in my twenties 😂. I must say that I'm really not loving this business of having a long-term "partner" but never getting married. It's so awkward to have a "step dad" kind of person in your life but you can never actually call them that and they remain forever "mum's bf/partner". You're just expected to accept the situation without question and give them the utmost respect and include them in your life and put up with everything as if they were an official relation. Yet if they decide to break up, that's it, the person is just gone from your life. 

I'm really trying hard not to get anxious and upset over it but I can't help the way I feel. I find it really hard to magically be ok with my mother being with yet another guy who is not my father and having to play happy families with people I feel that I have no actual bond to. I've met both of his kids 1-2ish times properly and maybe 3 times in passing. I'll get over it, deal with it and make the best of it but ughh. In addition to this, I've really distanced myself from the whole extended family due to the last couple of years being really stressful and busy for me and I just couldn't cope with it (plus, y'know, pandemic and all) and have really enjoyed not having to be around people that can actually be quite nasty. I feel like it's a bit of a catch 22 because the longer I spend away from them, the more they have a dig at me when I finally do see them So I'm really not looking forward to it. 

VelvetFreak

Today was quite the struggle. I had trouble getting to sleep last night, and once I did fall asleep there were some big lightning  strikes, claps of thunder and heavy rain in the early hours of the morning so that woke me up with quite a fright. I struggled through the workday but managed to get a decent amount done. Things are starting to ramp up now that we're getting closer to the end of the year and a colleague in another office has submitted her resignation and everyone is panicking (including me!) about what we will do without her. I live in fear that we will have to hire another Annoying Coworker in my office and I really don't want anyone else there. Things have been so good the past year with it just being me and the boss. If we did end up being forced to get someone new it'd be my job to train them and I'm really not up for that task. I'd literally rather do the work myself than train another person! Anyway, I shall not worry about it for now and just wait and see what happens. 

I made pasta for dinner and it was really nice. Now sitting on the couch with the cat sitting on me. I've been feeding her a lot of wet food lately trying to fatten her up (she's always been skinny and underweight looking) and it must be working because she is heavy! I have been trying to work on having healthy boundaries with her as she can be quite rotten and beyond playful to the point of pretty much being aggressive. I don't purposely stir her up to where she will bite me and if she looks like she's going to attack then I immediately leave her alone, but if she attacks me for no reason then she doesn't get the privilege of sitting with me and I will pick her up and put her somewhere else 😂 It seems to be working somewhat and hopefully she will keep getting better. 

Cherryfudge

I also hope you don't get another Annoying Co-worker! The last one caused a lot of problems if I remember rightly. Might a possible solution be a part time assistant? You would still get, say, 50% of the time to yourself to focus on what you are doing and save the easier tasks to delegate? You could also use the opportunity to suggest a few interview questions targeting areas where the person needs to have established strengths.

I don't know much about cat behaviour but I remember one of my mum's cats used to bite my feet while I was asleep! Mum interpreted it as hunger and fed him whereas I'm sure she was just reinforcing something completely different. He was a lovely cat, very aware of humans around him and gentle in other ways. I used to have to shut him out of the room at night which was a shame because, having grown up with cats and now being unable to have one due to DH's asthma, it was nice to have one snuggling up.

I found this which may have ideas: could he be stressed from moving house, perhaps?

VelvetFreak

Hi Cherry! Yes, I really really hope I don't get another coworker, fingers crossed! And no, the cat isn't stressed from moving, she's just been a bit of a horror from the day she was born haha. I think she was feral up until she was taken into the RSPCA, and as probably taken from her mother/siblings too early and never learned good cat behaviour. She has gotten better over the years so I'll give credit where credit is due lol.

VelvetFreak

Hello diary! A rough couple of days here. I woke up yesterday morning with a very upset tummy and general feeling of grossness. I decided not to go to work and to take a one day break from my thyroid meds as I thought they might have been the cause of the stomach issues (I thought I might have accidentally taken two doses without realising). Anyway, that was a mistake, as I spent today feeling absolutely strange and shakey and just awful. I persevered and went to work anyway and am feeling better now that the meds have kicked back in. It gave me a wakeup call to make sure that I don't run out of them, that's for sure! So I'm back for another blood test tomorrow and then going to the doctor on Monday. Of course my usual doctor has left the practice so now I have to see a new one but oh well. 

I've been really struggling with my eating the past few days as well. Back to eating like a horse and I can't stop myself. Not impressed as am gaining weight like no one's business and am about to top out at my highest weight that I get up to before having a panic attack and losing a few kg. I'm trying to give myself grace but I really don't want to gain any more as it really is too much weight for my body. Hopefully I can reign it back in soon!

So glad that tomorrow is Friday!

Also, I put an extra $1,000 in stocks today. I had the money sitting in my account and I'd kind of left it in there since I'd moved and had to buy all the stuff for the apartment. Well I'm finished buying house things for now so I decided to get it invested before I end up spending it. I gave a friend a referral for the brokerage account that I use and I've got 5 free trades to use up in 30 days so I thought why not. This time I bought CAU and QML stocks. Not sure if they are particularly great buys but I tend to decide these things on a whim lol. I will need to be more careful with the next stocks that I buy as I seem to be buying completely random ones at the moment and I should probably try and reel it in as it kind of feels like gambling.. 🙃

Speaking of buying things, I ordered $250 of work clothes today. The black Friday sales got me. It's really only $120 though as I returned $130 worth of stuff 😉 I got 6 tops so that's an average of about $40 each, quite 'spensive but they are very nice quality and it's so rare that I find work things that I actually like so had to get it while I could. I'm severely lacking summer work tops so had to buy something or i'll have nothing to wear once it really warms up!

It has been raining so much here which is nice as we really need the rain. And it's keeping the temperature down which is nice. ONE MONTH TIL CHRISTMAS. I am not ready. This feels like both the longest and the shortest year ever all at the same time!

badmemory

If you are on levothyroxine sodium they should not upset your stomach.  Did you know that if for some reason you can't be trusted to take them they can give a whole weeks dose at the same time.  I started putting my tablets in a dosette a few years ago when they stopped marking the packets with the days.  They had become such a habit (over 30 years) that I couldn't remember whether I was remembering taking todays or yesterdays.

Cherryfudge

I think if Velvet has hyperthyroidism she won't be on levothyroxine? I had never heard of the weekly dose but it sounds like a sensible idea: I take mine absolutely first thing so I only have wait half an hour before I can have a coffee. Shows where my priorities lie.

badmemory

Yes if she has hyper that would explain the shakes etc if undermedicated.  My father's resting heart rate was 120 until he had radioactive iodine.  He was hyper & I am hypo.

VelvetFreak

I am usually very good at taking my dosage but (sorry TMI) I could not go to the toilet properly for quite a few days and nothing was helping. Woke up with a very sore belly and thought to myself well the only thing I have left to try is not take a dose and sure enough it worked! I will obviously need to be more careful about that going forward but would rather not discuss it haha! I’m feeling much better today although the nurse who did my blood test this morning was very mean. I’ve been thinking of putting in a complaint about her because she is nasty every time I go in there. Luckily for her she did not have a name tag on so I decided I can’t be bothered. I will complain if she is rude to me again next time. She is very rough and brash and always finds something to have a go at me for even though I’m obviously not the one who completes the blood test form (that would be the doctor!). 

This time she told me I am not eligible for the card that allows you to get regular blood tests without needing a form from the doctor each time. She told me that thyroid is not an eligible condition yet she gave me the card anyway 😒 Well it was the doctor who asked for it, not me! 

Anyway, I’m being semi productive at work today and getting a fair bit done. So glad it’s Friday!!!!