The watercooler: a place to chat

[abigaillmartin]

@VibrantFox thanks dude.
I took a walk and some ibuprofen. ️

[Shanny8]

Welp I got dealt a blow; got a call from the insurance company of the guy who rear ended my car a couple of weeks back after I dropped my car off at the collision center- apparently they want to total the damage out...it may be coz the repairs would be more than the vehicle's value; of course they're going to give me money for it

I was not wanting to deal with another car payment again(I just paid off the car last year in August), but it seems I'm headed that way...

So now I gotta deal with this, plus this heat, PLUS the fact that I gotta still mow the lawn this coming weekend, plus this family event on Saturday that I'm now feeling like I want to bow out of(except that I paid money towards it)

So for the current moment I can't focus on the art piece...I'm too stressed about the car

[PeteLensing]

I´m on tour for over one week from sunday on. First show will be the Indra, that´s the venue where
the Beatles first played in Hamburg / Germany in 1960. I love playing that place. Then we´ll play
a couple of shows in north germany and then drive all the way to Norway.

As usual I´ll take some drawing material with me

[Shanny8]

Got in my winter socks & replacement LED hexagon lights(the old LED light display that I got back in 2023 has been glitching for the past month- it started with one and now ALL of them are glitching...the light rods are kaput as well, but I'm gonna crack open the controls on that and see if I can tinker with it; not so much with the hexagon light display).

Unfortunately I wont put up the replacement hex lights until after the holiday weekend- or after Saturday at earliest.

[Shanny8]

Finally simmered down enough to push my way through the course of action for the vehicle situation...that allowed me to work on the piece as well on Friday...didn't work on it any yesterday because I was zonked after doing the family event but then had to sit through 5 PLUS HOURS of neighbors setting off fireworks because of the holiday.

Gonna get my ass out today to at least try to take care of this backyard, then mow the front again...

[Shanny8]

Didn't finish the lawn because the batteries ran out- then the rain came(which is usually the reason I've been hesitant to mow the lawn- coz it almost always rains every time I've completed it or I'm near completion & it grows back FAST); since I'm going in early a couple of days this week, I might try to finish off the backyard if I can get home early some of those days(provided it doesnt rain those evenings); I do know I gotta go grocery shopping this week as well.

Plus add in the exercise evening, and there might be a few more days this week where working on art is on pause.

[VibrantFox]

welp since bday weekend was also a work weekend i'm finally able to rest at least a bit since i've got a couple days off. downside is it wrapped with me getting sick earlier in the day so now i'm really just trying to do what i can to take it easy and rest

i've still got a vgen comm (baby's first i'm so excited) to finish so that's my biggest priority but i've also got an adopt redesign i finished up a couple days ago that i can hopefully finally post in these two days off along with a couple more sketches i'm planning to toss up on my ko-fi and probably bsky

still definitely taking it slow on account of tummy hurty but i'm pretty sure i can manage

[abigaillmartin]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[Shanny8]

Got a good portion of the grocery shopping done last night after work; had to go clear my stuff out of the [old] vehicle before I went into work yesterday(ended up forgetting my sunglasses- not too bummed about it; I'll get some better ones...right now my glasses have the transitions shading on them)...I'll make a list of what else I need by week's end.

So today is ONE YEAR since we purchased the house; tomorrow will be a year since we moved in...we still got a ton of stuff to do but I like it. I'm so glad I don't have to be in the mindset that I can't do anything permanent coz this isn't mine- also glad that I don't have to move anymore: renting sucks(but then I gain the responsibility of that I'm gonna have to either fix or pay to have things fixed)

[Shanny8]

Haven't been working on the art this week mostly because the day job and looking for a new car...also been making sure my bills are paid; gotta see what kind of new sneakers teen 2 wants for school(school starts NEXT MONTH in August), plus get him [fresh/new] undergarments.

Will get back to the art this weekend AFTER I finish off the lawn...

[Shanny8]

Mowed a little more than half the backyard- the batteries ran out, then it rained...was zonked for most of the day so I watched stuff that I didnt watch Friday night because I crashed out from working early 2 days in a row; finally got to working on the piece- gonna try to finish coloring the background art tomorrow.

[Shanny8]

Up this morning and getting myself mentally prepped to finish off the backyard...kinda mad coz of the realization that I'm spending out monies to replace these LED lights- especially the light rods- and they hadn't even been up for a YEAR...at least I had the hexagon lights for 3 years before they started wonking out, but still- I hate that Amazon just sells [mostly] garbage products from garbage vendors...

[Shanny8]

Finished mowing the backyard Sunday afternoon, and OF COURSE it's been raining afterwards...

Also finished the piece Monday night- taking a few days to rest & brainstorm for the next one(fan art piece); the hardest part with this one is trying to find a pose that I like

Got in this [final] paperwork for the car...gonna complete it today and get it sent so that I can get my monies & get me a newer vehicle hopefully by next week

My body's tired and I need a day off- but can't take one until the end of this month

[Shanny8]

So got the monies from dude's insurance company, but right now finding another vehicle has been a challenge...so far one car has checked most of boxes on my criteria list- but it's SMOL; another I looked at has question marks across the board, and 2 were just "NOPE"(not sure if the engine was supposed to sound like that).

Then my [proposed] off day is getting bumped into the middle of next week- and because my car issue has not been resolved yet, I may be using that day to go look at a car(or 2)

Gotta mow the front lawn tomorrow; at least the good part is the back hasn't gotten taller yet...I can put the backyard off another week.

Trying to muster up energy to work on a piece and it's hard right now coz my brain is stressing due to the whole car mess.

[feuersichel]

The good thing about smal cars: they fit everywhere ^^ and usually don't need as much gas

[VibrantFox]

Finally made it to my day off and using it to rest as much as i can but also start some kind of progress on commissions now that i've got some breathing room (kinda). like can't be too mad with the extra hours coz it's meant much better paychecks which is nice for bills but i could do with fewer stress dreams. still tho it's gotten me to lock in a bit more with meal prepping (sort of) and trying out drinks again to see whats really gonna help with energy which so far caffeine is really only effective in the short term but good teas or juices especially stuff with vitamin c have been doing pretty good so thinkin i'll try to get a bit more of that come payday

which on the topic of stuff to get i think i'll finally have enough to replace our old net modem which i've been kinda desperate about since it's been tanking our speeds and hiking up the bill and i'll be able to take advantage of the no tax week if i time it right. if there's enough to spare after that and whatever bills are left i'll probably also see if i can get a personal treat tho it's less likely to be another new game and more likely to be extra storage for the laptop and one of those port add-on things to put your flash drives and sd cards into since i've literally only got like two not counting the usbc port. definitely leaves me in a constant state of missing normal/older pcs since those have a lot more customization but i lack space =v=;;

but for today at least my game plan is just get a lil work done likely basic sketch and maybe a color test and then treat myself to a few hours of mermaid mask or tangle tower if i dont get preoccupied with anything else

[Shanny8]

Been getting dragged since my last post- between my RL job work, and running around trying to look at cars I'm zonked; took a day off yesterday & guess what I did? Run around and look for cars...one I thought I was going to see- the dealership moved to another area in the city that I'm like "NO, that is too far to travel" then went to a dealer I had been to, looking for a new one that popped up in their listing- only to find out they have a 2nd location which was in an area I visited this past weekend and is super hella busy to get to during rush hour traffic time(I made it, but barely)

The engine sounded pretty decent and it drove well...the interior was nice too.

Submitting certain credentials today and hoping I qualify(I should, but when dealing with car financing and loan companies for homes the qualifiers ALWAYS get weird and high); if all goes well then I should be able to make the down payment & pick up the vehicle tomorrow(AFTER I sign off on all the paperwork).

So it looks like my plans for mowing the backyard may be put off for another week(plus it's planning to rain anyway ) also going to see the new Spider-Man movie this weekend...

Started working on a new piece, but scrapped the first draft coz the perspective/proportions looked OFF...the second draft is coming along better- though it's slightly more plain looking in it's actual pose, it feels more solid and my brain isn't screaming at me.

[PeteLensing]

I got new drawing gloves that I want to share with you guys.
I don´t even own a cat

[Shanny8]

Welp didnt get the vehicle from the other day BUT I ended up getting a pretty nice other vehicle; I'm glad the search is officially over- it was starting to get discouraging.

ENJOYED Spider-Man last weekend- took the teens with me; they liked it as well...right now there is nothing else on the list until Avengers: Doomsday; been replacing some stuffs for art studio space 2.0(the control box on my LED light rods went out [after 8 months] so I had to buy the WHOLE ENTIRE KIT over again- because they don't sell the control box separate...also bought new LED hex lights as well coz the ones I bought 3 yrs ago are glitching)- plan to put the new stuff up probably tomorrow evening/night.

Continuing the art piece though I've just been working on it a little here & there...kinda feeling someway about how it looks, but it doesnt look that bad either; I'll have more time to put my energy into it now that the car ordeal can stop draining the mess out me mentally.

Got in my SUPER LARGE IDW edition of the Danger Girl beginning series- the IDW editions are the actual large sized comic page reproductions of the actual pencil and inks; Alex Garner was one of my favorite inkers- I feel like he did top notch work over J Scott Campbell's pencils...the only issue was that Campbell took forever to finish the final issue and I think Garner had [finally] hit burnout- so the final issue was inked by Sandra Hope(I like her inks as well). Garner at one point was on the IDW staff- not sure where he is now days; a few years back in 2016 he did some inks in a DC comic, but you could tell he had been away from inking for a LONG time.

Anyways it's still in the plastic- I hadn't opened it YET...I analyzed the HELL out of the comics when I bought the series back in the early 2000s.

[Shanny8]

Welp my Switch is biting the dust- it suddenly got vertical lines and halo flashes & streaks while I was playing today, so now I'm trying to weigh my options; I'm currently leaning towards getting a Switch 2 only because it will play Switch 1 games and if I'm gonna pay almost $400 for a Switch 1 or Switch OLED, I might as well go a little further and get the Switch 2.

Which means one of my plans for getting a [lounge] chair & dresser drawer will have to go on hold until next year...

Still working(or not working right now) on the art piece; in the zone where the day gig has been mentally stressing- I'm ready to hit September and start using the rest of my PTO- taking at least 2 days a month off from September to December(plus the week off during Christmas)...just need to finish the pencils on the hair and then I can start inking.