This past week I learned that in Moulin Rouge (2001), the diamond necklace worn by Nicole Kidman’s character Satine was (and still is, I believe) the most expensive piece of jewelry every created specifically for a film. It was custom made to fit her and not only had its own security detail but also a stunt double. Huh!

Anyway.

Pardon my French, but my week sucked. Ha! Oh, what a lofty start I had to 2026! What hubris I displayed! I guess I flew too close to the optimism; the gods took note and saw fit to punish me, for this past week was a complete 180° from the week prior. One of those weeks where there was a tint of “anything can go wrong, will go wrong” (but—dare I say it—not everything!).

In essence: I’m now on the tail end of a rousing bout of bronchitis, and the situation with my water heater is still not resolved. I’m as upset as I am oxygen deprived!

While the assumption would be that I went to the doctor, got meds, and have been on bedrest all week… ha! Hahahaha! Nay; you fool! In typical chronic illness girly fashion, I unfortunately have had bronchitis enough times in my life to know when it’s worth going to the doctor, and when doing so would be an exercise in futility. I know exactly what they’d say to me: try to rest, drink plenty of fluids, don’t overdue it, and take a long hot shower to let the steam help break up all the gunk in your lungs.

*internal screaming*

Fortunately I upgraded my bedside humidifier a couple years ago with a model that has a warm mist feature (specifically, this Govee humidifier, which does occasionally go on sale) and while it’s not the same thing as a hot shower by a long shot, it has been very helpful. Especially since there were at least two days this week where I spent the full day in bed, scrolling or napping or working on my iPad in 15 minute increments as often as my attention span and noodle arms would allow me. And my houseplants are all very happy about the extra humidity!

So no, I haven’t gone to the doctor, because I’ve done that song and dance before and like I said, I’m on the tail end of this. Speaking is still difficult but my vocabulary is returning i.e. my brain has enough oxygen to remember words, so that’s good. I am 90% certain this isn’t one of those times where my bronchitis turns into pneumonia. It’s now a matter of patience more than anything, which is possibly worse because I have shit to do! But, if I’m not physically (or *ahem* vocally) up for camming, I have plenty of other things what need doing, both computer work like admin and editing and home-based projects that would simply make me happy to see progress on. And maybe after this last week, that’s really where I should be looking.

As for the water heater…

Maintenance came through twice this week, both times the usual guy plus a plumber. The first day they were here for several hours, new water heater in tow(!), and their conclusion was 1) the new unit was too tall to fit the existing pipes and they weren’t equipped to cut new pipes on the spot, so 2) I needed to move my stacking washer/dryer so they could come back the next day and access the side panels to see if something internal could be repaired or replaced rather than swap out the full unit. *le cry*

They did come back and spend another hour looking at the existing tank, and then declared it fixed and ran off. But by and large, I’m having the same problem of hot showers lasting 5-10 minutes, now with the added problem of scalding hot water! I can fill up a bathtub only because the cooler water towards the end mitigates the near-boiling water it starts out with. So I got curious and pulled off the side panels to check the thermostats on the water heater myself and guess what? One is set to 130°F, the other very rusted thermostat is set to 140°F. Like, y’all, what are we even playing at at this point? You didn’t fix diddly, you just violated Oregon rental codes about hot water safety. FFS.

I have a new unrelated maintenance ticket open not for the water heater for an issue with the toilet the maintenance guy noticed. Thank the lord I don’t pay the water bill eh? And I’ll talk to him when he’s back (some… day… this week?) and we’ll make a plan, and I’m going to make it very clear that the only acceptable solution is going to be a new water heater installed by the end of the week.

So, yeah, that’s my sad story. Thanks for listening. Oh and also I burnt my finger on the 500°F oven rack making a dang pizza one night… just as the cherry on top of a shit week! But, I’m okay now, at least as far as burns go! I have aloe plants for this; I just cut off a length of leaf(?), peeled off the flat side and taped that baby directly onto the burn. 24 hours later I didn’t even have a blister.

Small victories, folks. Time is moving forward whether I like it or not; keep your fingers crossed for me.

☑️ Done and Done - Came down with a fever which let up by morning, so I still made the (masked, possibly stupid) trek out to IKEA with my friend and acquired my full shopping list. Dealt with the ongoing disruption of my exploded utility closet temporarily relocated to my main living space, two days of maintenance visits, and at least (finally) one properly hot bath. I did build my new IKEA drawer unit before illness overtook me! Otherwise I did very, very little with my week.

📋 Coming up - Continued rest, first and foremost (promise!). Two webinars: Hustle the Blank Page: The Craft and Business of Writing about Sex Work (free! sex workers only!!) and Tax Prep for Solo Biz Owners (paid, hosted by my biz law firm). Some toilet maintenance, hopefully some (final_FINAL_Last-One_v2.jpg) water heater maintenance… maybe even that planned hair maintenance day if my lungs can withstand it.

🎵 Listening - Soothing music. Sooooothing. Ahhhh.

👾 Gaming - When I’ve been at my PC, I’ve mostly been tending to my Tiny Aquarium. I have two tanks now! A couple nights where I’ve felt more ambitious, I logged into Diablo for an hour before the headaches overtook me.

☕ Drinking - I have drank so much tea in the past week that I’m now sick of it. Let us not discuss the heated leaf waters. What I really want is a glass of Ghost Owl as prescribed by Dr. Whiskey.

👕 Wearing - This is just to say that I have managed to change my clothes several times over the past week. Unfortunately this means that, with my washer/dryer disconnected during the water heater stuff, I have accumulated so much laundry to do; alas.

Special shoutout to Mucinex for doing the heavy lifting in my lungs rn (this part is not sponsored).

Okay so, that’s what I’ve got for ya this week. Mostly nothing with a side of venting. I’m hopeful the next week will see a bit more activity, but I’ve certainly learned my lesson about trying to push through it right now. Being patient isn’t always fun. Being healthy/health-conscious also isn’t always fun. But it’s the right choice (gross).

I get really frustrated during the weeks I can’t work much, and January has had a couple of them. Rough start to 2026! Buuut I’m still making progress on other things that are important to me, my bills are paid, and I do have a few good, exciting things on the horizon. Eyes forward; I’ll see you next week.

xox,