Aura's Den

Aura's 2024 Goals

Normally, this is where I'd talk about bad shit that happened last year and that I expect of this year. And, well, it is an election year here in the States, so...

But, screw that! Let's talk about good stuff!

I played Pokémon Shield! It was really good! I really liked it! Henry Kissinger FINALLY fucking died! The Texas Rangers finally won their first World Series!!! The disappointments of 2010 and 2011 are finally avenged, and it happened while my grandmother (who is a massive Rangers fan) is still alive, so she got to see that bit of history too! (Also, the World Series was just really cool in general, since it was two teams that went from some of the worst in the MLB to beating 2022's World Series teams!) We got Watch for Rolling Rocks in 0 A presses! I got my hands on some late 2000s/early 2010s Macbooks! (They're my first Macs, and I've really been enjoying them. It's a shame modern Macs aren't as cool. Also, as a bonus, I got them for free, though I did technically steal them... Ehe~) And, most excitingly, I not only became an ASCP certified phlebotomist, but I also managed to snag a job with a local non-profit hospital! (Granted, that second part only technically happened after the start of this year after 7 months of not even getting interviews, but meh. It still happened before this post!)

What do I look forward to this year? Well, I start my new job in a week and a half. I seriously can't wait for that. In theory, I also will be able to start working on the pre-requisites for my nursing degree come this fall. I look forward to being able to get some stuff that I've wanted to get for a while now that I've got a source of income (as well as being able to help friends and give to charities.). I look forward to Matt Parker's Pi Day video, as well as Lockpicking Lawyer's April Fool's video and watching NerdCubed and Ashens torture themselves with advent calendars come december. (I know I've called Pi Day one of the best arguments against the Day/Month/Year date format alongside Star Wars Day in the past, but I do enjoy seeing what sort of weird ways Matt comes up with to try to calculate pi.) Also, there's a solar eclipse in April, and the path of totality is going to be over where I live!!! I can't wait to see it! I'm sure there's more to look forward to, but this is all I've got for now.

Anyways, shall we get on with this? After all, this post is, like, three weeks late...

2023 Accountability

I survived another year! That's certainly good. Medically, I unfortunately didn't get much done. I talked to my doctor about those headaches, and we tried ubrogepant, which sadly didn't work. Thankfully, they stopped. I have no idea where my thyroid's at. I'm not on lithium anymore, so hopefully it's better, but I have no clue because we haven't pulled any labs in quite some time (mostly because I'm now off the lithium). Weird urinary tract issues continue, but at least I'm becoming more certain it's not a UTI? The downside of that is that I have no clue what it actually is. But I am reasonably sure it's not an infection. Probably. Maybe. The tooth problems continue to worsen. But, I have a job so I should be able to afford a dentist now? Migraines and sleep are still problems that I need to do something about. I tried Buspar early this year. It didn't help, but I've now got gabapentin and it seems to be helping? And though I never followed up on that ER visit from 2022, during classes, we practiced point-of-care hemoglobin testing on each other, and my levels were back to normal. I was even able to give blood back in March without issue!

I finished the phlebotomy program! It wasn't entirely smooth sailing. There were some issues during clinicals, but that's in the past. I now have a shiny certificate hanging on my wall. I also got my ASCP certification! I now get to include "PBT(ASCP)^CM" on my résumé after my name, so that's cool. (Maybe I should include it somewhere on my blog... But, then, my blog isn't in the name that my certification is, so would ASCP get mad at me about it? Eh, who knows? I guess I can at least make the remark here about Aura Vulpes, PBT(ASCP)^CM.) They also sent me a fancy wall certificate, though I don't have a frame to hang it up next to my college certificate yet, so it's still in the envelope on my desk. I also got a job. That was rough. The original draft of this written back in December included a remark about how I still hadn't gotten a single interview. Then, at the end of December, I got called for not one but TWO interviews! One was for a clinic near where I live, the other was for the aforementioned non-profit hospital further out. Oddly, I still haven't heard back on the former. But, the latter is what I was hoping for anyways, so I'm not too fussed about it. It's a part-time weekend nights position. Pay is nominally 17.50 USD/hour, but since it's weekend and night-shift, I get an extra 3 USD/hour, bringing it to 20.50 USD/hour. Both of those are way better than the 13 USD/hour I predicted last year. The converse is that it's only 18 hours a week, so I won't be making enough to move out yet, but it's a start that can hopefully lead to a full-time position later. But, yeah. I start in about a week and a half. Still, it fucking sucks that I put in dozens of applications (at least 60) only to get 2 interviews and a single offer. Hopefully, the next time I have to look for a job, it won't be quite this bad, what with actual experience to put on my résumé.

Obviously, since I only just got a job, I made no progress on rebuilding my credit. Hard to do that with no money. Shame. I also failed in building decent habits, but at least I take a multi-vitamin now, so there's that. I did basically nothing on code stuff. I didn't make any Kitsune Fight assets. Hell, I'm not sure I drew anything last year. I would have liked to get stuff done on FENIX, but the SSD my Linux install is on went out back in April and I still haven't contacted Samsung to get it replaced (since it's still under warranty), so I'm stuck in Windows. In theory, I should be able to get my toolchain setup in WSL, but I haven't yet, so that means basically everything is on pause. I never published any grammars. Sorry to those who looked forward to learning about Kirai. And, well, I never continued with those Rhythm Heaven streams. I have the screen asset for the Tengoku stream, but not the PNGtuber. On the bright side, I will be able to do Rhythm Heaven DS! (I found a touchless mod, so no concerns about being able to control the game.)

New Goals!

Continue to stay alive

It's tradition at this point. Though, with the commute I've got for this job (an hour both ways!), the odds of me dying in a car accident are disturbingly high. Speaking of jobs...

Do well at my new job!

Normally, I'm the "fuck work" type, but I work in medicine and, on top of that, I'm not at a for-profit. I work at a taxpayer-funded non-profit. I actually get to focus solely on doing my best to help people! So, no "fuck work" here! Time to do my best to help people, even if my role in the whole thing is relatively minor!

Medical issues, take 4

I keep saying I need to do it. I just need to. I have a primary care doctor I really like, the appointments are free, I have no excuse. (Though, to be fair, I'm not sure what's going to become of the clinic now that the hospital system it was a part of has been bought out by HCA. Ugh.) I need to make the fucking appointment. I need to make sure my thyroid's back to normal. I need to see about migraine meds. I need to figure out those urological issues. And, I think I might have POTS?

And, in non-PCP related care, I need to get my tooth situation worked out. That one tooth keeps crumbling and only half of it is left. It probably needs to be pulled. I have a massive cavity on the other side that needs to be dealt with. But, I'll have money and I may or may not have dental insurance through my job, so I should be able to get that done. And it'd be nice to get a new pair of glasses. I have vision insurance, so that's not too bad.

Not default on student loans

Yeah, I have to start paying those. Stupid fucking Supreme Court and stupid fucking Democrats for actually obeying the fuckers. Right now, I'm on the SAVE plan, so I don't actually have to pay student loans, so, really, this should more be "Get started on paying off student loans", but hey. Not defaulting is even better, no? While we're here, insert remark about rebuilding credit.

Take pre-requisites for ADN

I feel good enough to start my Associate's in Nursing sooner rather than later, but I have some prereqs I need to take first. I wanted to do that this spring with money I'd get from work, but, well, that didn't happen sadly, so, I guess next fall it is. I guess that gives me the next spring to also take some BSN courses for when I get around to working on that. Plus, I'll be able to squeeze out the last of Pell Grants I'm eligible for. I've still got a few years of those left.

Speaking of ADN stuff, I've been studying other things to help me with that when I get to it. You know, auscultation, ECG interpretation, ultrasound interpretation. That sort of stuff. I should get back to those, especially ausculation, since that'll be most useful to me.

Habits, take 2

This will be made easier once I have a job to give me a routine, but, yeah. Brush teeth (or, at least, find something to improve my dental hygeine—I hear a weak solution of sodium hypochlorite mouthwash works wonders). Wash self and clothes more. Exercise more. Get more sun. Fun things, I suppose.

Code, take 4?

I make no promises. Once again, maybe I should aim for a very basic start on Kitsune Fight. Jab + ability to block. We'll see. I'd have to get Yumi's jab and telegraph done. (Yes, I've decided her name will be Yumi, not Skye.) Not terribly difficult, but still something I have to make myself do. The current state of things is that I keep coming up with ideas, but doing none of the work to implement them. Maybe if I start work on the game, I'll actually lock in what the game is going to be when it's done.

On FENIX, kernel work is currently on pause. I've tried working in a VM, but it's too slow for my liking. So, I either need to get my SSD replaced or figure out how to do development through WSL. I mean, really I need to do the former anyways. But the latter would be pretty good until then. I've got Ubuntu set up. I just need to recompile my dev toolchain and make sure QEMU works right. Until I get to that, I can still do utility work, though.

Do things I enjoy more

It's been a while since I've properly drawn stuff. I should do that more. I still need to do those blindfolded Rhythm Heaven streams. (Speaking of drawing and streaming, I kinda want to redesign my PNGtuber, so I should really actually do that. There still won't be any fancy lore or anything, but it'll be a bit better, I guess?) I've started writing a creepypasta AU with my own OCs. I should do more with that. (I should introduce y'all to Erin and Dakota.) I should also do more with my Genshin OC Robin. Also, play more video games. I own that Halo collection. I should play through it. So, yeah. Do more things I enjoy. That's always a good thing to do, right?

Finish things

I've started a lot that I've not finished. An actual ref sheet for Aura. An accurate EBS scenario for the city of Denton based on Dallas and Fort Worth being nuked. A map of my home town. 80 billion blog posts on various subjects. I should really do those. And the other stupid ideas.

...Hmm...I really should talk to my doctor about ADHD meds...

Fightbruary

So, uh, you know Inktober? Well, in some of the circles I follow, they do a thing called "Fightober", which is similar but with combat sports related prompts. Anyways, I came up with a set of prompts for a similar thing but in February. Why February? First, the name. Second, this year is a leap year, and that means I can make the joke of having the prompt "Not Over Yet" on the 28th and "One More Round" on the 29th. I have the graphic mostly finished. I just need to finish it fully and put it out there. Also, I should really get a start on some of the stories I want to write for it so that I at least have something to contribute to my own prompt list.

Fun things from last year!

And now, a new segment in which I share fun things I found last year. Enjoy! (NB: These aren't necessarily from 2023. These are simply things I found in 2023!)

• Okay, but OS X Mountain Lion is probably the best version of macOS. I've tried newer (and older), but 10.8 really is just the best one. Incidentally, I'm glad I got that early 2011 MacBook Pro. It was left in Mom's new classroom, so I took it figuring that no one at the school was going to miss it. (It was in a small pile of broken Macbooks and was probably forgotten anyways.) I really like this thing! It's decently new, but old enough that it can be upgraded with just a phillips screwdriver! I've actually got it next to me playing music while I write this, fun fact.
• UMSKT is a convenient way to get that old Windows XP box of yours activated without relying on a volume licensed version of XP Pro! I used it early last year to activate XP Tablet PC Edition after reinstalling it on my Thinkpad and again a couple of weeks ago to activate an XP Home Edition install in 86Box!
• Welon is a Suika Game clone that you can play in your web browser! It's pretty nifty!
• So, you might know Wing for the variety of trinkets she makes. In fact, they're the person who made the trans pride kitsune necklace that I own. But I really enjoy her My child is not a student of honor bumper sticker. I look forward to getting my hands on one. Also, the Gender Final Revision sticker, which is a hell of a mood given what my gender has been up to recently.
• The catadioptric picrew has been really interesting to play around with. Also, this picrew whose name is in Japanese. (I've actually been using the latter to play around with my masc side over the last year. Being genderfluid is weird.)
• Now, I'm not a typography snob by any stretch of the imagination, and I don't think this really helped me with my job search, but I do think Butterick’s Practical Typography at least helped make my résumé look a little nicer. (Also, helping was switching the font to IBM Plex.)
• Thankfully for Dr. Smith and Dr. Grauer, and probably more so for patients I may be caring for in the future, they got to me and exposed me to the OMI paradigm before the idea of STEMI could become ingrained into me. I'm still learning how to spot this, but it's a nice thing to even know exists. If you deal with ECG interpretation, please learn about OMI. We've let the idea of STEMI guide who does and doesn't get PCI for far too long.
• Speaking of medicine, the AHA updated their guidelines on ACLS. Here's a write-up on those changes from emDocs . Incidentally, not mentioned in the update, the AHA has also issued a weak recommendation for DSED in a 2023 ILCOR summary, upgrading it from being not recommended. (Keep in mind, this is all ACLS stuff, done by paramedics, nurses, and doctors. If you want to know about stuff you can do if you're not one of those, check out my blog post on BLS.)
• Curious about how HTML elements work in practice? Well, Patrick Weaver has made a blog post containing every (current) HTML element! Neat, huh? Also, on the subject of web stuff, someone made a .well-known schema for your fursona, and there's also a viewer for said schema. (Getting that done is also something I need to do this year...)
• I found some new YouTube channels I enjoy. Linux Boman talks a lot about design. I really enjoy his Branding Mistakes for Evil Corporations video. Miniminuteman makes some interesting videos on archaeology as well as some fun videos talking about archaeological conspiracy theories. The Fallmoore Event is a really interesting bit of analog horror. (Incidentally, I've really gotten into the genre over the past year or so. Gemini Home Entertainment is really cool, though a bit too scary for me. I really enjoyed 𝙻𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌 by Green Mountain Broadcast Center and I think that Eventide Media Center is interesting. Those last two are definitely my recommendation for where to start with the genre, especially since they don't have any overarching stories to worry about. Live Traffic is a one-off, and Eventide only make one-offs. On the subject, I've also been watching a bunch of EAS scenarios, but jesus have those gotten shit. It's a miracle when you find creators who actually understand how the EAS even fucking works. But that's an opinion for another time. A blog post, maybe?) Finally, two YouTubers I really enjoy, Alpharad and Jaiden Animations, have gotten together with a bunch of friends to make a new channel, WILD/CARD, and I've really been enjoying the stuff they've been putting out. (That last one might be stretching the idea of "channels I've found", but I'm including it anyways.)
• Uh...Here, have this: An Overly Sophisticated Proof of a Disproportionately Simple Fact. And this: TF2 Heavy Slams His Penith In The Car Door.

Keywords: Personal