Time to Do Something Good.

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Hi MiCaela,

My name is Erin, I found your post from Stephanie on FB. I have a cat, That Jake.

https://www.facebook.com/smalljake

He is a story.

https://erinire.net/category/jake/

A few years ago, he got very sick. I thought I wanted to let him go – I was broke – but one of the vets at the hospital basically guilted me into treating his undiagnosable liver infection. (Undiagnosable without major surgery, which I really just couldn’t bear to put him through). Over the next 8 months of constant pills, carsick appointments, and blood tests, I wound up spending over $3,000. I wish I had GoFund me back then!!

It turns out, that was probably the best three grand I ever spent, with the possible ouster being my video camera and / or laptop (which are my livelihood). I am not in a much better financial position now than I was then, but I hope that my small contribution helps! I think I’ll post this on my blog. Maybe you’ll get a few more dollars that way.

Cheers,
E

(ps – in case you didn’t get it, guys, that image is a link to her GoFundMe page. Click it up!)

Leave a Comment » | anecdotal, how i am awesome, jake | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by erinire

Snowpocalypse 2015: The Stop & Shop in Revere

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B! and I just got back from the grocery store. We’d driven past around noontime today, Sunday, and the glut of cars in the lot made me wonder how many more people they could pack in before they hit fire code.

“Let’s not do this now,” we agreed, and went to breakfast instead.

Some eight hours later, we again approached our local Stop & Shop, reusable bags in-hand. I wondered aloud about what they might have left for sale. This is the same grocery store that went without ginger for three weeks, during the Market Basket strike, so my expectations weren’t high.

However…

THINGS I FOUND AT STOP & SHOP

– turkey necks

– pig ears

– bone-in, skin-on pork shoulder

– tripe

– beef tongue

– calf’s liver

– oxtail

– chicken hearts / gizzards (apparently, they go together)

– a whole bunch of lamb stew meat

– three packages of short ribs

THINGS I DID NOT FIND AT STOP & SHOP

– bread

– 2% milk

– any other meat at all

Like, when I go looking for oxtail at Stop & Shop, can I find it? NO. When I need a bone-in picnic butt, do they have any? NO. But tonight, it’s all offal and pork belly when everyone’s out looking for beef chuck and chicken breasts.

We took the short ribs and ran, before someone else could swipe them.

1 Comment | anecdotal, city livin' | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by erinire

Things that are unrelated:

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I downloaded a new version of the Scrabble iPhone app today. And it sucks. SUCKS. The load time is horrible, the graphics are lame, and, so far as I can tell, there’s no way to quit a game midstream. I spend about 3/4 of my life playing (and quitting) Scrabble matches against my iPhone’s computer, so this new development may be beyond my capability to endure.

~~~~~

I think I’ve forgotten how to cook. B! has been my personal chef for the better part of the last two years, so I’ve completely fallen out of practice. I came home tonight with some salmon, some kale, and a dream…

~~~~~

“Freezing rain” is God’s way of showing disappointment with humanity. Today, apparently, was very disappointing.

~~~~~

Of all the things I’ve lost, perhaps the greatest tragedy is the recent (apparent) demise of my Epicurious account. Years and years of carefully cultivated recipes, all lost to the ether. It’s almost worse than having my journals stolen, which also happened.

~~~~~

B! will be away for the next few weeks. Expect a lot more of the above.

1 Comment | anecdotal | Permalink
Posted by erinire

Lightroom! Why??

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I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance – I just spun up the hard drive with my photo archive only to find that my Lightroom catalog for said photo archive had disappeared. So I’m making myself feel better by going through old pictures and admiring them in their natural beauty. Here’s a pretty one, taken in 2009 with my friend Stephl’s camera. It was pretty cold out.

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Here’s Jake passed out on my parents’ old couch. I think this was the first time I ever used a 50mm lens.

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The infamous “beauty” sign near the Produce District in Chelsea… I loved it so much I got it tattooed on my left calf. No picture I could ever take would match the splendor of the real thing. It’s gone now. They painted it over.

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This is my mom’s Nativity set. My sisters and I used to get so excited if we got the Baby Jesus, and super bummed out if we got a big ugly camel.

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I don’t know what this is. But it looks pretty tripped out.

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Uff, God, and now I just got into newer pictures that I did a lot of editing work to, and I kind of want to die again. So to close it out, here’s Totoro. Because nobody can want to die after looking at his sweet face.

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2 Comments | anecdotal, i hate technology, jake, picture bonanza | Permalink
Posted by erinire

Sometimes I think I’m charged with negative ions.

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In what seems like a string of unimaginable coincidences, in the past several weeks I have spent the better part of a month’s salary on not-so-extravagant electronic items, only to have them die at their pulse-driven cores: zero by one by one.

1) Failed 2009 MacBook Pro RAM upgrade: $150 +/- 12 hours of my time

2) Failed 2003 Ford Focus: $850 +/- untold pain and suffering

3) Failed 2011 MacBook Pro (battery? logic board? They’re a little fuzzy on what they’ll be replacing.): $2,200 +/- 36 hours of my time

I thought it was bad when the Focus’ main computer gave out after we’d just ponied up for new brakes and a clutch, so you can forgive me for wanting to crush glass when my brand-new refurb MacBook Pro suddenly stopped charging in the middle of my workday. I mean, I LITERALLY spent two whole days configuring the machine – reinstalling software, repartitioning hard drives, restoring from backups – not exactly the fun time one wants to have on any given Friday. I’ve invested a lot. Which is why I almost strangled the Apple “Genius” at the bar when he said to me, blithely,

“Well, you have 14 days to return it, if you’d like.”

Um, no DUDE, I do NOT want to RETURN the computer. What I WANT is for the computer to WORK.

Which, I think, is exactly what came out of my mouth.

But now, I’m thinking. Does this mean that the computer’s a lemon? Ought I to cut losses, return the beast, and go back to square one? More research? More time? ANOTHER three days spent repartitioning hard drives? Internet, I’m confused. I need help. Please guide me.

2 Comments | anecdotal, car-ma, money, personal hell, work, worst week ever | Permalink
Posted by erinire

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