Well, it’s that time of the year, ugh. March… my nemesis. I hate this month, at least since 2021 it’s been a complete and total pain in the ass. And that’s despite the fact that I was born in March, then again I don’t think it’s exactly uncommon to hate one’s birth month. Was this year any better in that sense…? Well uh, let’s talk about it. Welcome to yet another monthly recap post.

As I always like to say, March is the actual start of the year. Here is where everyone goes back to work and school, and is when my boss says they do all the important business with companies and all that. And the start of the month was marked by well, my birthday. I turned 26 on the 2nd, and my boss actually let me take the day off, if I’m not mistaken, that’s company policy. I didn’t do much aside from going downtown, but I did have sushi as tradition demands as well as some treats because why not. Just the day after that though, there was a fire close to where I live, and I got a few dozen alarms on my phone about it as some areas nearby had to evacuate. Nothing happened in my area specifically, but there were a lot of ashes raining from the sky. That was wild, but thankfully no one was hurt. The rest of the week wasn’t super interesting aside from that.

Halfway through the month, I went out with my friend downtown like we do every month pretty much, this time with the intent to celebrate my birthday. She hadn’t gotten paid in time, so we ended up going out later than we would’ve liked. Despite that, we had a lot of fun that day, the weather was nice and not super hot like the rest of the summer had been. We ended up having our usual Asian teas (they were super fulfilling) and then we went for something smaller, a pizza to be exact. At the end, we went to the supermarket and got some things we needed, and finally we went back home. While I do like to go out on my own for the most part, going out with someone else has its perks too, I feel like I can express myself a bit better that way.

This month was also the start of school for both of my siblings, as such, my mornings have been a bit quieter, which is nice since it lets me focus better at work. I have had to take care of my sister a lot more during the evening though, up until my mom arrives. It’s a bit tiring, but it’s not so bad. Compared to how it was when I had to deal with her when she was younger, I would be so close to losing it. I lack the patience to deal with kids if I’m being honest. And the weather has been pretty weird too, being that we’re right on that transitional period between summer and fall. Some days have been pretty hot, others have been cold and rainy. I do like it when it cloudy because it’s my favorite weather for taking walks and such.

In general, March felt very intense and long, but it also went by really fast and wasn’t super eventful despite that. If that makes sense. Not the worst month I’ve had this year… so far. Maybe things will mellow down in April now that everything’s back to norm- ah, who am I kidding, I have a bad feeling about next month and I’m not sure why. Guess we’ll see…

March is also more often than not, an anxiety inducing month. And this year it was, sadly, no exception. Early in the month, I began to feel really weird for no particular reason. But then the thoughts began to pile up… the first of my concerns, well, work. It has been slow and boring lately, I haven’t been assigned a whole lot and that does have me a bit worried. This happens sometimes, but now I get the feeling that I might be considered redundant and I could get fired. Even if that isn’t the case, I do want to seek another job eventually, and I know that won’t be easy with how shitty the job market is these days. Really, I just want a place where I can develop my skills more. Even though I’ve been working there for 4 years at this point, I feel like I’m not really that experienced even now. I feel very unmotivated on this area as a result.

Then there’s the fact that I had a dream about someone I’m no longer friends with. The dream itself wasn’t like, intense or anything, all we did in it was talk casually and not much else. But it was enough for me to feel very anxious once I woke up that morning, and ever since I’ve been thinking about them way more than I’d like. I don’t know what it means exactly, does my brain think this matter isn’t completely resolved or what? All I can think about is how much of an idiot I can be when it comes to friendships, there have been so many things that could’ve been easily avoided, yet I still find ways to fuck it all up. And it’s weird, because at first I was starting to feel better about all this, being that it felt like a weight had been lifted off my back… much as I hate saying that. I don’t get why I have to feel bad about this now. It’s really fucking stupid. Maybe I miss them even if I don’t really want to be friends with them again. Weird.

I’m genuinely at a loss on what’s going on inside me. I don’t know if anything I’ve been thinking about has any meaning, or if I feel like matters aren’t completely resolved. Or maybe, and perhaps most likely, I’m just overthinking things once again. I have a tendency to give things way too much thought, often to my detriment. When it comes to my work situation, I do try to remind myself that unless anything’s confirmed, I’m probably safe. And as far as the ex-friend goes, well, I guess I do yearn for having people online to talk to more so than wanting their company again. Regardless, I can’t say I’m enjoying all these stupid ass thoughts I’ve been having lately. If I could tell my brain to shut up, I know I would. But alas, all I can try to do is somehow find a way to control my emotions before they take over me, which is easier said than done. Oh man.

As usual, I got some more electronic devices. This time I’ll split them into different categories, starting off with the ones that work perfectly or don’t need too many repairs:

Wanna learn more about each one?

• Nokia Lumia 625 (2013): It sure has been a while since I last added a Lumia to my collection. This one is in good shape and it works fine, although someone’s definitely been inside. And the SIM card slot is very wonky and often loses connection.
• Samsung Galaxy Music (2012): A tiny music phone. I do really like the blue color it has, but other than that, it’s not particularly remarkable. The screen is only 240p, for one. It’s overall in good shape, just a bit scuffed up in spots, works perfectly fine otherwise.
• Samsung Galaxy Ace (2011): Yet another Android phone that was extremely popular back in the day, at least in my country. It’s in pretty good shape and it works perfectly, I just needed to replace the battery.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi (2011): I already bought the regular 3G version back in September, but it was in pretty bad shape and it wasn’t worth repairing. So I took its screen to fix this one that looked way better, then I updated the OS and now it works great. Aside from the lack of 3G, this version has a less powerful chip, making it slower to use.
• Sony Ericsson Yendo (2010): I finally found another Walkman phone, this one has a touchscreen… and it’s notably not very good at all. It’s pretty sluggish and clunky to use. This one works fine, but the screen has some dead pixels, so I’ll have to replace it eventually.
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro (2010): Last month I got the regular X10 Mini, and here is its keyboard equipped sibling. It has the exact same specs otherwise, it’s overall in alright shape, it works fine and the slide out keyboard mechanism is very satisfying to use.
• Sony Ericsson K330 (2008): A rather basic device for the time, there isn’t anything too remarkable about it honestly. It’s in okay shape, aside from a small crack on the back cover, and it works fine too.
• Samsung SGH-i321N (2006): A business focused Windows Mobile device. I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of these in person, I am quite surprised at how small and light it is. It works perfectly and it’s in good shape.
• BlackBerry 7290 (2004): This was a bit of an impulse buy admittedly since these aren’t commonly found where I’m from. This was from back when these phones were targeted towards businesspeople, so it feels… I dunno, serious, I guess you could say? It’s in great shape all around, though it came at a price: 30 bucks or so. Was it worth it? I would absolutely say so.

Next, the ones that work but need major repairs:

From left to right:

• BlackBerry Z10 (2013): Another BlackBerry, it was one of the first two BlackBerry 10 devices to be released, the other being the Q10 (which I already have). This one required the OS to be reinstalled, but it has a bigger issue, that being the screen. It’s very messed up, the colors are wrong. Other than that, it does appear to work fine.
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (2010): I have both of the Minis, now here’s the big version. This was the company’s first Android phone, and it’s quite a good looking one for the time. This one works, but the screen is cracked, so I’ll have to replace it.
• Nokia 2630 (2007): I got this as a freebie with the K330 that I previously mentioned. It turns on, but the shell is in pretty crummy shape, so I’ll have to replace it, or well, get one that’s in better shape.
• Motorola ROKR Z6 (2007): The only Motorola I got this month, this one is a music focused slider phone. It has a version of Linux that was made specifically for these Motorola phones, and I think you can even run apps like Doom and all that. But as you can see, it’s in awful shape, though it is fully functional. I’ll have to find parts for it.

And finally, here are the ones that I can’t currently test:

• Sony Clié PEG-T615C (2002): It’s not very often I find these, this line of Palm OS PDAs was sold as a more premium and multimedia focused alternative to Palm’s own devices. This one is in good shape, with some dings here and there but nothing major, though it is missing its stylus. Sadly, I have no idea if it works since it uses a propietary connector, so at the moment I can’t charge it. That’s partly why I don’t have a lot of PDAs.
• Palm Vx (1999): And speaking of Palm, here’s one of their PDAs from the late 90s. This thing is surprisingly thin and light for the time. Sadly, much like the Sony, I can’t test this thing right now as it uses a connector I don’t currently have. And unlike previous Palms, this one uses a rechargeable battery, which I’ve heard is a pain in the ass to replace. Maybe one day I’ll see it running though.
• Nokia 2160 (1996): Officially the oldest phone I have in my collection. It’s a variant of the 2110, one of the most popular phones of its day and the first to include the classic Nokia tune. I unfortunately can’t test this one at the moment since the battery is completely dead, but at least it makes for a cool display piece.

Here are my new toy cars…

This is the gift I got at work for my birthday, a brick version of an old Mazda race car. Officially licensed, as it turns out.

Here are the two figures I got this month, Kabuto from Pokémon and a Mario movie figure.

And finally, one Hong Kong dollar from 1998.

I need more restraint when it comes to spending my money, that’s for sure. That said, I do want to order some things from Japan one of these days…

Sometimes I like to try sweets and other things that seem unusual, but I haven’t found anything interesting… until now. This is a Mystery KitKat from Brazil. You might be wondering what’s so mysterious about it, well, the color is a bit weird for one. It’s kind of… orange. Or yellowed beige computer plastic. And as for the taste? Hmm… it reminds me of something but I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly. It tastes slightly fruity, if I had to put it one way. Overall, it was pretty good, I haven’t had a KitKat in forever. I really need to get some of those Japanese ones again, once I get the chance.

Well, so that was March. Not a great month, but compared to how it’s been for the last few years, it really wasn’t that bad. It just dragged on for more than it should’ve… and it’s not even over yet, it’s the 27th by the time I’m posting this. April doesn’t give me a ton of hope, it never does. Somehow, shit has to hit the fan at some point… I would hate to see if I was right once again. There’s no way to know until we get there, so let’s see what happens. I’m dreading it, either way. I also need to file my taxes, as I do every year.

There isn’t much else to say, I’m just glad it’s Friday and we all get to rest at long last, I just wished the weekend lasted longer. I also hope I get paid in time, last time I had to wait a few more days than usual.

See you all in the next post.