Adorable back-seat napping Skypuppy on our last big road trip so you have something pretty to look at.
In case you wonder, she's got the harness clipped to a secure leash thingy that's buckled into the seatbelt spot. The harness fits her well, but she's kind of wriggled it loose. It would certainly keep her from being thrown about if the car stopped short, which is why she's wearing it.
So what was a pleasant surprise? After months and months of crickets from dataannotation.tech, this morning, I got an email that there were tasks available to me, and they were paying an increased rate. Seriously? So I guess I'd passed the tests. Nice.
I moved an appointment to this afternoon so I could take on the tasks, and got to work. They were interesting and I enjoyed the work. Took about an hour or less. Not sure if the work is being evaluated to be accepted for pay, but I assume that's what's happening, and an actual human is likely going to be involved. Cool! Further updates to come.
Similarly, I saw new ads for outlier.ai, so I tried to register anew, and it let me in this time! I seem to have passed the base evaluations and now I'm waiting for tasks there. More nice!
For anyone curious about my whole Ozempic thing, there's been some change. Thankfully, it's not my weight.
I tried an increased dose of Ozempic (1.5mg) and got a little symptom control for a few days but then, back to food noise all the time. I was paying $90/week for not a lot of symptom control, though I do still feel full faster with it than without any semaglutide in me. But the glories of my first year on the meds have long evaporated and it's been really hard. Snacks have crept back into the house. My weight is up about 4 lbs over my lowest, but it's not getting any higher.*
I decided to investigate compounded semaglutide as a more affordable option. I found a local pharmacy that makes it, its lab is monitored by the Ontario government, and they had good ratings as a pharmacy. I had them compound 1.75mg (after the doc sent in the rx at that number) and tried it for a month.
I hated it. The needles, though they were as short and fine as the pre-filled Ozempic pen needles, hurt like hell. With these, I'm in control of how fast to push the plunger, and it's much more awkward than holding a pen straight and pressing the button. It always hurt, about 15 minutes afterwards, for a few hours. I got bruises. And still the food noise is there.
Once I was done the 4 doses that had cost me $300 for the month, I was done with that. And so I have decided to try my option of last resort: Saxenda. It's an older medication that requires daily injections. It's less effective than Ozempic/Wegovy. But after the regular-needle shots, I am reminded of how not-painful the pen shots are, and so I can deal. It's also covered by my insurance. I don't understand why...I think it's the same cost as Ozempic or Wegovy, but they'll cover an older, probably not-as-effective medicine?
If it gives at least as good stomach-fullness feeling as semaglutide did, then it will be a good choice. If it gives ANY relief in food noise, it'll have been a joyously wonderful choice. I don't expect that, though. I just don't want to gain any more weight, and hopefully this will help. And even $300/month was really painful.
*I've also stopped even looking at treats in the stores, and am not bringing them home. Instead, if I'm going to eat when I'm not hungry, which happens now that the Ozempic stopped doing its magic, then I eat fruit. I'm also experimenting with baked oats (including high-protein yogurt) as breakfast, in an attempt to feel more full and less food focused. And as before, if I really need something sweet or chocolatey, then I buy it when out and one portion only. My birthday is coming up and there WILL be cake.
Seeing everyone at Rhinebeck this past weekend made me re-evaluate the idea of me representing Knitty there next year...somehow! We know I won't get a booth because the booth allocation system at Rhinebeck is hard for even established vendors to manage, and because I can't afford it even if I could book one. So I started brainstorming ideas about how to get noticed by non-Knitty folk while walking the grounds. I came up with a vision of me with a few helium balloons in neon pink tied to my shoulders with a foot of ribbon so you can spot them in a crowd. Or, for a more environmentally and wildlife friendly option, tall pinwheels that I can reuse! I'm wearing a hat that says something like "ask me about Knitty" and I hand out Knitty buttons and the new Knitty info bizcards to everyone I see.
I'm not actually kidding. How else would I get seen by the largest possible number of knitters and crocheters?
Suggestions welcome.
Let’s hang out on the hill. Balloons and all!
Feisty!