~ where cinders lie ~

2026 has come!

Sup

Another year goes by! And another one commences. Working like clockwork as they say. The sun rises on the east, the bull and the bear screw around, and we live life. But you know all that! Let's go over what you don't, buddy boy. Like what I did last year. Terrible information I have withheld due to having become a very pixelated mush of a toadperson by December and it took me a while to regenerate to any extent.

But first, New Year Resolutions! Let's see if I did anything I said I would:

• be more organized (kinda!)
• build more, build better and document often(did a bunch of shit but didnt document)
• keep an eye on my well-being(100%!)

That's a good start.

/monies/

Some shuffling was in order. One school was driving me insane (a mixture of mismanagement and lack of resources), and most of my hours were changed since the New Design affects all fourth years starting 2026, and most of the classes I gave were fourth years. This effectively shaved a few more hours, but also changed a few to "Articulation", which are 40 minute segments where we coordinate with other teachers in the area to better give our classes.

Finally, the position of Head of Department is supposed to be made redundant under the New Design, but crucially no one knows yet if that's true? Our Ministry of Education has a knack for changing the script every few months, so I'll report back on this. It's six hours, so it's a lot of hours. At the same time, I corrected a mistake from last year and now I'm eligible for a LOT more positions, and my score has increased due to seniority (and with some luck will increase more once they register my certifications) I have no fear of not getting more work, but might get a few batches of less income.

I got to know my schools better, and now I'm more aware of what I'm getting myself into on every institution. I got to know myself better as a teacher as well. I haven't gone into great detail here or on fedi, but I've been in the middle of some *major* cases of institutional misconduct this year that negatively impacted my kids. It got to the point that I had to get the *physical* assistance of the Union to prevent being fired on bogus charges for standing up for my kids. I've become much smarter on how to approach these things, but it's been taxing. I did unleash hell on him and that school at least!

With the last meager salary accepted by the corrupt Union leadership, we can expect a very irregular beginning of year.

My hopes are up anyways.

/health/ (includes hobbies)

For the absolute ruckus of a year I had, I got to keep healthy in body and mind and heart. I've developed a nice relationship with my hobbies, and each have occupied a neater space in my life. I've learnt to understand the difference between the pleasure of the process separated from acquiring a finished product in hand. Embroidery is a nice activity in itself, and I don't mind the final product too much. I follow how's it turning out just to see if it's coming along well in the process, not for the final piece. That doesn't make it less fun! And if it comes out really really good it's a nice surprise.

One of the main reasons I didn't write this down yet is that I finally had time to sit down and focus on the projects I've been putting off all year. For those that don't follow me on social media, I've finished a romhack of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening for GBC that swaps Link with an adapted rendition of Zelda from Echoes of Wisdom: all palettes changed, all graphics redrawn, all text changed. I cannot finish expressing how proud I am of myself for *finally* having something to show programming-wise that also is relevant to my interests. I posted about it on fedi a month ago: https://raru.re/@ciatmusings/115872082609632243 I intend to make a more in-depth development thread, but you can check out a livetoot here: https://raru.re/@ciatmusings/115760881194338322 and finally, here's the hack! https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/9332/

Besides that, I did a small embroidery project of a bee that fits into my little drawing notebook. But it's not on hand, so I'll show you this other one I finished for my wife as a gift:

And I also integrated a P47 headset board to replace a PS4 board!

So it's been a busy month or so haha

/love/

The family walks along. This house don't lack love. All else is day to day.

I've been more open in my gender presentation and performance as a nonbinary person. Most doesn't show from the outside, but it does feel different, and better. My wife is a beautiful person as ever, and we still can't believe we've been together for 8 years.

The babyboi is round.

/new years resolutions 2013/

Now for resolutions. I don't have to worry about those, because I drew a digital omikuji! I'll just make my resolutions the lucky and unlucky items:

• Lucky item: Alcohol
• Lucky place: Christmas party
• Lucky person: A boss of the opposite sex
• Lucky color: Grape
• Unlucky item: Fountain pen
• Unlucky place: Swimming pool
• Unlucky person: People with blood type B

Peace, out.

C~