#the lines went a lot quicker and there's not as many strollers around

[kaymarie-bell]

I'm visiting some relatives and I was able to take Epel and Ortho to Magic Kingdom last week

I spent the whole day like "everything reminds me of him (twst) 💔"

[pink-imagines]

snow day

request: Hi hi! Can I get a headcannon of needy Todoroki were Todoroki is in the ~mood~ 😏but his s/o is out shopping. But when they get back he’s all on them and pretty much attacking them w kisses and cuddles.

a/n: let’s just say for this fic’s sake covid never existed!! (stay safe ppl, try to stay at home as much as possible!) also hi! i’m back, i literally have no excuse now but i’ll be posting a bit more soon hopefully. (you can probably tell that i started writing this back in january)

warnings: mentions of something smutty that might go down but no smut and no other warnings!

masterlist

requesting rules

The snow couldn’t seem to stop falling. It had already been snowing for the past few days, but the weather didn’t change. It stayed the same and the snow piled on and on. You quite liked this kind of weather, somehow seeing people wrapped up in their scarfes with beanies dragged far over their ears made you feel warm - despite the cold weather.  Today was your day off work, so you had a wonderful lazy morning with a bath and eating breakfast while watching TV. The only thing you could think of that would make this better was if Shoto would be here. He was, unlike you, out doing work. You remember teasing him lightly about it yesterday, that you got to spend the day at home while he had to be working out in the snow. In reality you worried that he’d become sick or catch a cold, even though you knew he stayed safe.  Either way, you decided to treat yourself today with some shopping. It had been so long since you could actually go out to shop, so despite the cold you wanted to go outside.

You took the train to the mall and walked through the stores. The only thing you were planning on buying was a sweater, considering that you had been frequently stealing more and more of Shoto’s hoodies so you should probably get some of your own. When you saw the little jewlery shop you stopped dead in your tracks. Knowing that your wallet would start screaming if you walked in there you decided to keep it to window shopping. Earrnings, necklaces, bracelets... but most importantly rings. The memory of your mom straight up asking Shoto when he was planning on proposing came to mind. A smile grazed your lips, he had been so flustered that he choked on whatever he was eating. You had been trying to tell your mom off when he put a hand on your thigh and lightly brushed his thumb across your skin there. “No, it’s fine.. we’ll see in the future.”, he had said and had given your mom a soft smile. If it weren’t for the fact that people were around you would’ve started giggling, but you held yourself back and kept glancing over the rings. One in particular caught your eye, a simple silver one with a smaller diamond. You knew you couldn’t wear a lot of jewlery for your line of work so it seemed so perfect. For the sake of the memory that your brain decided to pull out from the dust, you took a picture of it and sent it to Shoto. -So... when’s it happening? :P You snickered to yourself and started walking again but your phone buzzed quicker than you expected. -You’re starting to sound like your mom A laugh escaped your lips at the message. However, it did surprise you that he could be texting you back so quickly since he was at work. -I was just joking.. aren’t you supposed to be working right now? The text bubble that indicated that he was typing appeared immediately. -Not on patrol today and I just finished my paperwork. I’m about to go into a meeting though -Is that a warning or a challenge? -Y/N. Do. Not. Yet another laughed made it’s way up your throat and you put your phone away again. He usually sounded cold over text, but you could always see right through it. Maybe that’s what four years spent together does to you. 

The hours passed by as you walked around in the mall. It was actually quite pleasant, as not many people were there considering the fact that it was a weekday. As you were trying on clothing in yet another store you found a sweater that you really liked. It was an oversized black sweater that went down you your mid thigh and the collar was a bit wider, almost creating an off the shoulder look. You smiled at yourself in the mirror. Under the sweater you had the black bralette you had tried on moments before. Both of the items fit you perfectly and together it created a very cute look. Without thinking you sent a picture to Shoto, asking him if you should buy it. Thinking he probably had his phone off during the meeting, you put your phone down and changed back to your clothes. When you had just finished up putting your pants back on you looked at you phone again to see Shoto’s messages... you forgot his messages are connected to his laptop as well. -Y/N I told you I was in a meeting! -I mean you look very pretty, I like the sweater.. but if you’re going to send me pictures while I’m at work please put pants on. This was not a funny situation, is what you tried to tell yourself... but that didn’t stop you from smiling at the thought of his ears going red in the meeting room. -Sorry, I forgot! I’ll make it up to you by making you soba, okay? It took a while for him to answer so you went out of the dressing room and put away the things you weren’t going to buy. -... fine. I’ll be home after this meeting, so maybe around 5. -See you then ;) Were you being cheeky? Yes, but it wasn’t anything that he hadn’t dealt with before. 

After making your purchase you looked at your phone and saw that the clock was nearing 4:45 pm, this meaning that it was time for you to go back home. You went over to the trainstation only to see that the train you were taking home was delayed by 20 minutes due to the snow. With a sigh you sat down on the nearest bench and took out your phone. Because of the 20 minutes it would take to arrive at your home station and the 5 minute walk home, you’d be home in about 50 minutes. Knowing Shoto, he’d probably already be home by now as he most likely managed to cut the meeting short - what was the meaning of staying longer when you had already gotten to the point? Even so, you decided to not call him just yet in case he actually still was in the meeting. 

Time passed and as soon as the clock struck 5:00 pm you got a call. “Hey, are you okay? I’ve been waiting for a few and you’re still not home...”, Shoto’s voice was slightly distorted over the line due to your bad connection but you were still relieved to hear his voice. “The train got delayed, can you believe it?”, you sighed heavily. “Yes I can actually, it’s been snowing all day.”, he said calmly, “Do you need me to pick you up? I can be there in 10 minutes.” “No it’s fine, the train should be here in 5 and then I’ll be at the station in just 20 minutes.”, you stood up and looked by the track for the train. “Are you sure? The train’s probably gonna be packed.” “It’s fine, I have headphones with me so I won’t even notice.”, you smiled at his tries to come get you, “Besides I can practically see the train by now.” “Okay... then I’ll meet you at the station.”, he answered, as if it was nothing. “No, baby, you don’t have to do that. You’ve been at work all day just rest please?”, you reasoned. “I’ll see you in 20 minutes, sweetheart.”, he hung up on you. You were taken aback by the usage of the nickname, he barely ever called you by petnames. Before you could think to much of it the train arrived and you put in your earbuds and got on quickly to find a good seat.

The train wasn’t as packed as Shoto had thought. Though there was a crying child in your cart. The mother who frantically tried to calm her baby down gave you an apologetic smile. You made sure to look friendly back at her to make sure she understood that you didn’t mind. The poor woman was trying to keep her child from screaming while also balancing groceries and a stroller at the same time.  “Do you need any help?”, you asked and took out your earbuds. “Please.”, the woman gave you a relieved look. You took her grocery bags and balanced them against some empty seats. Then you took the stroller from her hands so that she could properly care for her baby. “He’s just a bit hungry...”, she said and took out a bottle to give to the young boy. “... I’ve never understood how parents always know what their children want like that.”, you said mostly to yourself but the woman answered anyways. “I guess it’s an instinct.”, she said with a warm smile, “Thank you for your help. My husband’s working late so he couldn’t take care of the groceries tonight.” “Ah... I understand.”, you nodded. “Are you married?”, she asked and when she saw your shocked face she quickly apologized, “Sorry I didn’t mean to pry, I was just trying to make small talk.” “It’s alright.”, you stifled a laugh, “I’m actually not married... not yet at least, my mom’s been pressuring my boyfriend for a while now so who knows.”, you joked. “Oh, you have a boyfriend. Have you two been together for long?”, her demeanor had changed back to the kind and warm one from before. “A few years, actually.”, you nodded, “He’s a very sweet guy and-... that’s him actually.” Your phone started buzzing and Shoto’s caller-ID flashed up on the screen. His picture that you had chosen was of him holding a puppy husky that you had been thinking of adopting. Sadly, you ended up not doing that since you were both to busy to take care of a dog - let alone a puppy. You excused yourself to the woman next to you and answered. “Hi, babe, is everything okay?”, you asked. “Yeah, I just wanted to say that I’m by the station. Was the train packed?”, he spoke softly, which made it clear for you that he was in fact outside. “Not at all actually, it’s quite roomy. I told you that you didn’t have to wait for me though...”, you sighed. “I wanted to. It’s fine.”, he said and then added in a whisper, “Then I get to see you sooner.” Your face flushed up in all shades of pink as he said that. He was never usually this affectionate, but you couldn’t deny that you absolutely loved it. “You’re cute, Shoto.”, you chuckled. “Don’t laugh at me.”, you heard him huff slightly. “Sorry, sorry.”, you smiled, “I’ll be by the station in a few minutes if I’m lucky, okay? Thank you for waiting for me.” “No problem... see you soon.”, he said and hung up again. When you turned back to the woman sitting beside her you could tell she was holding back her excitement. “That was the sweetest conversation I’ve ever heard. That sounded like it was straight out of a story!”, she realized what she said and quickly apologized again, “Sorry! I didn’t mean to eavesdrop!” “It’s no problem, we all do it sometimes.”, you tried to control the blush that was creeping across your face but it was near impossible. “I bet he’ll propose to you soon.”, she said and looked back at her baby, “I hope he does.” “Thank you.”, you smiled and looked down at the baby, who was staring back up at you. You waved at the child and he let out a gurgling laugh that had your heart melting. Today was certainly a special day.

You and the woman just happened to get off by the same stop so you helped her get her grocery bags out of the cart. When you saw Shoto standing by himself you waved and called his name. He turned to you and smiled softly, almost longlingly. “He’s handsome too... wow, you’re lucky.”, she smiled to you, “Thank you for the help, miss.” “No problem!”, you smiled back and watch her walk away before turning your attention to the man walking towards you. “I haven’t seen you all day.”, he embraced you with a sigh. Hugs were normal for the two of you, but absolutely not in public. Your body stiffened in shock before settling in his arms and hugging him back. Eventually he let go of you and took a step back. “Who was that woman? Do I know her?”, he asked. “No, I just met her on the train. Let’s get home, it’s freezing out here!”, you said and took his arm in yours.

The two of you walked in silence, as you usually did, but there was one thing that was running around in your mind. “Do you ever think of having children?”, you asked out of the blue, your breath forming white clouds in the cold air. Shoto stopped in his tracks and looked at you. It wasn’t until then you had realized what you had said, maybe not directly but the question was floating around your heads. “Children, huh?”, Shoto took a deep breath. You peered up at him through your eyelashes, afraid that he’d look disgusted or even scared. He didn’t. His mind was somewhere else, you could tell by the far away look in his eyes. Shoto’s face was dusted pink but, just like yours, you couldn’t tell if it was because he was flustered or cold. “I’ve never thought about it, actually.”, he looked at you which made you look away, “Not against the thought of it though. Let’s talk it through some other time.” He said it so casually. As if this was obvious and not a huge step in a relationship. Then he just kept walking. If it wasn’t for your arm that was still wrapped around his, you would’ve forgotten to walk along with him.  “Don’t be embarrased about it, please.”, he said suddenly, “It’s good to bring up these things.” “I just thought about it... you know... the woman on the train and everything...”, you muttered. “Sweetheart.”, there was the nickname again, “I told you not to be embarrased about it.” After a few years you’d think he wouldn’t be able to make you weak in the knees anymore. That was wrong. You hummed in response to what he said and leaned your head against his shoulder. There was an urge in you to feel a sudden intimacy between the two of you and that was the first thing that came to mind. “Are you cold?”, he asked. “Not extremely...”, you looked up at the clear sky, “... maybe it’s not the best time for cold soba though.” “It’s always a good time for cold soba.”, he answered, completely serious but you still laughed. You laughed because it sounded like him. You laughed because it would ease the excitement stuck in your stomach from what he had said before. You laughed because at that moment you felt so incredibly wonderful - and who wouldn’t laugh at that?

When you got home you made yourself a cup of tea while Shoto stuck to heating up by the radiator. “Are you sure you still want cold soba? We could always make warm soba.”, you suggested as you poured the hot water into your cup. “I say we make cold soba.”, Shoto shrugged as he kept his hands on the warm radiator. His nose was still red from the cold. “Then we make cold soba.”, you nodded.

After eating and cleaning up you sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. Since you usually sat with a bit of space in between the two of you, you did so. However, this time Shoto scooched closer to you and put your head on his shoulder, only to then wrap his arm around your shoulders. “Is this okay?”, he asked quietly to not disturb the show playing. You could care less about the show, your heart was beating loud enough for you to not even hear it. No words would come out of your mouth so you hummed as an answer to his question. He had been acting very lovingly the entire night, something that he didn’t always do.  “Are you okay, Shoto?”, you asked suddenly, “Did something happen at work?” “Why do you ask?” “You just seem... more cuddly?”, you looked up at him, catching him staring but he didn’t look away. “I just missed you then I guess.”, he said, “... and you sent me that picture and that wasn’t very fair.” He looked away and now he couldn’t blame the cold on his reddened face. That’s how you remembered your sweater that you had bought. “Right the sweater!”, you exclaimed, “Can I show you?” “Sure.”, he said and watched you get up, “You seem very excited about this sweater.” “Yes! And you should be too, because now I won’t be stealing yours anymore!”, you took your bag and walked over to the bathroom. “But I like it when you wear my clothes...” “Then...I won’t be stealing your clothes as often anymore!”, you smiled before closing the bathroom door behind you.

You walked out of the bathroom, dressed just like you were in the picture, and walked up to him. He looked over at you, looked you up and down, and then stood up. “What do you think?”, you smiled as he pulled you closer by your waist so that you could wrap your arms around his neck. “I like it more when you wear my clothes... but this is also very nice.”, he leaned down and kissed you quick, “Let’s go have that talk about having children...”, he whispered and started guiding you to the bedroom.

-

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[bestbabyitems-blog]

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[thegreatduggo]

Closing Time and Closing a Chapter on my Condo - Farewell 610 Monroe....

I went down to the old apartment (allusion to reference anyone?) on Thursday to wrap things up for the closing. My primarily task was to paint over a large stain on the ceiling from a plumbing failure from the apartment above back in 2015. 

The new owners were worried that there might be material damage behind this - noooo, it's just a stain.... But, because it was a stain, it needed effective coverage, so I applied 3 coats worth in 2 sessions. I used a good quality primer, partly because that was the only matt white paint that I had, but partly because a good primer has good stain coverage and good adhesion. I took out the recessed lighting surrounds out so that I could get solid coverage around the lights as well. It only takes a few minutes and it’s well worth it and quicker than using tape.

I ended up feeling a compunction to fix a few other things in the condo while I was there.....because that's what I do.... and it is my apartment....but not really at this point. 

The tenants had filled in the screw holes and I wish they hadn't. They had smeared about 4 square inches of filler over each screw hole - just crap. I wanted to fix it and if I had another week I might have done it, but with one day left, it didn’t make sense. The apartment had been cleaned and the tenants were complimentary about the cleaners, but it wasn't good detail cleaning in my book. Again, it's not my problem, but it still bugged me. I ended up cleaning the top of the fridge which was just too filthy but I couldn’t get into the whole deal. I sorted out the drooping shower-head and extension arm - it just needed re-positioning and tightening, but like my tenants, most people don't know this is a simple problem easily fixed. They'd probably buy a new shower-head for no good reason.

The last job I planned to do in the apartment was to replace the missing door stop springs. Some were missing and some were bent. Again, it's only a few minutes work, but if I don't do it, they'll probably bash holes in the walls for no good reason. I had spares in my stash so I used those. They’re white rather than gold or silver, I mean why would you accent a door-stop? I ordered these in bulk of Amazon because they don’t stock them in Home Depot, but I’ve installed all that I need in my house.

After that, I finished up a few jobs in the condo common areas. I had replaced a lot of the broken spring-close hinges in the condo a few months before but I had not finished the job. Spring hinges have a limited lifespan and the springs break after several years. I had bought a full replacement inventory off Amazon for a bargain $40 a set (3 hinges). There are 8 doors in total. I'd done 6 of them, but last door I was working on had a corroded hinge screw from Hurricane Sandy that I couldn't remove. 

I planned to come back and use an impact driver to get it out, but when I tried that, the driver just bounced off the metal frame and did nothing. Later, I tried two special screw removal tools that I have in my collection and they were completely ineffective. In the end, I just drilled the screw-head off and was able to replace the hinge. There was nothing left of the old screw to extract it so I installed the hinge with 2 out of 3 screws which is enough to hold the hinge in place without issue.

This door is a fire-door, but the residents don't like it because it gets in the way of their strollers. I find it mind-boggling because these are the same people that get all worked up about building security but if a fire swept up the stairs, this door would be the last barrier before their apartments but they'd rather prop it open. It's definitely an example of cognitive dissonance.

Because of this, I had purchased a built-in door-prop - that was probably 10 years pr more ago - but I never fitted it. I thought it was going to be a bit tricky to install and I had prevaricated on it. So now, I tracked it down in my stash. It took me all of 10 minutes to install and it worked perfectly. Why did I wait so long? It was basically trepidation - fear that the job would not go smoothly and that I’d get into a mess.

I had just recently had the phone lines for the fire-alarm panel upgraded to FIOS - something that I had coordinated. Sounds simple, but it's not, Verizon are a shambles and you need to know how to deal with them and in most cases, it takes a few iterations, but this time it all worked.

Due to city ordinance, we have 2 fire-alarm panels for one building and the new installations were done by different technicians on the same day (go figure!). One job was good but the other one was shite. On the bad one, the tech hadn't even replaced the substantial metal cover on the Verizon termination box. One of the cables was routed outside the box, and that stopped the cover going back on. Absolutely useless! I rerouted the problem cable through the exit port and reinstalled the cover. I reworked the power supply cables so that the power strip was not hanging under its own weight which was dislodging the power cables. And lastly, I sorted out the condo vacuum cleaner. One of the residents told me that it was broken yet again. I wasn't very surprised to find that it was simply that it was clogged up internally. The first time this happened I explained to one of the residents what the problem was and how to fix it. As far as I was concerned it was all pretty clear-cut and she said she would keep an eye on it and keep it clean. Job done....or so I thought. 

A few months later she tells me it's broken again and I was rather surprised to find it was the exact same problem. 

I don't like wafflers. I like to state things clearly and concisely and not waste time on bloviation. This is how I like things done, but I'm also aware that some people don't listen unless they are beaten over the head with it. So, I went round to the condo and walked her through how to fix it - that'll do it for sure, I thought. Apparently not, it was the exact same problem again and she had no pause for thought in declaring it broken. How do you deal with people like this? She is intelligent and reasonable but yet here are these basic basic failures to process simple information. 

If you extrapolate this to less intelligent or educated people, it's no wonder that we run into big problems with people failing to understand politics and how politics affects their own personal situations. The Condo Assoc has been an eye-opener to me in this regard. A bunch of mostly rational, intelligent and reasonable people that operates in almost total dysfunction. I basically gave up on trying to get my points across in the end. The only way I got things done was just by doing them unilaterally and getting them right so that people would accept them after they were done.

I looked after the whole condo lock, stock and barrel for 8 years and I can tell you it ran a lot damn smoother and cheaper than it does now, with every fucker meddling in everything. These days we have meetings that are formal and well-organized with an agenda and proper minutes. But, everyone just talks and talks and nothing meaningful seems to get agreed and then they say we need another meeting because we didn’t cover everything. And I’m wriggling in my seat desperate to get out of there.

We have one apartment agitating to do work on the back garden and that’s great and it’s tough to argue against but it seems to be inordinately expensive for the work that they do, like $500 to remove a tree stump. I didn’t even want the tree removed in the first place. They’ve spent thousands of dollars on it and it’s not earth-shattering stuff.  And on top of that, I don’t use it so it’s of no interest to me.

I'll admit that I did make some mistakes with the condo, although not many. Most of what I have done has been cheap and effective and I’ve cut some really good deals, albeit some rocky rides, but it’s all come good in the end. 

My biggest mistake was a bad judgment call and a tactical failure with the garage door. The original door had an auto-close timer on it, so what would happen is that people would open the door, then fanny around for too long starting their car and pissing around, then drive into the door as it started to close. I liked the auto-close because it stops people forgetting to close the door altogether, so I wouldn’t change anything, I would just try to educate people but it didn’t work and I fixed that door on at least 10 occasions, replacing 2,3,4 or 5 busted hinges at a time. There are 3 different types of hinges on a garage door and whenever I was in Home Depot I would pick up a few of the hinge types I was low on and maintain a decent inventory at all times.

What I should have done is just increase the timers on the door close timers, but I never touched them, not even as an experiment. Why didn’t I do that? It would have been so simple - turn a couple of nobs and that would have been it. I didn’t do it because I wanted people to just be sensible about it even though it clearly wasn’t working. Doubling the time or maybe tripling it would probably have avoided 90% of the incidents we had that I had to fix. How annoying. 

Sure the door would have been open longer and opportunists could sneak in while these selectively paranoid and vacant people just drive off without waiting, but overall it would have been a more sensible position that would have saved me a lot of trouble. Futile stubbornness on my part - albeit, justified.