#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things & small pleasures

Annoying things: 

• Bloglovin:  I've used Bloglovin to track and read the many blogs I follow (adoption/loss/infertility-related & otherwise) for almost nine (!) years, ever since the demise of the late, lamented Google Reader in 2013 (on both my laptop and in a phone app). Maddeningly, it seems to go through periods where all I get is a "Sorry, this page isn't available" message, sometimes lasting a full day or more. (Here's a previous rant on this topic from two years ago.) It's happened several times recently, including this past weekend and the weekend before that. (If you haven't had a comment from me on your blog recently, this is one reason why...!) This morning, I was getting new posts on my Bloglovin phone app -- but not on my laptop, which is where I use it most... Go figure.  :p  Most of the ALI blogs that I follow are are also listed/linked to in the blogrolls on the right-hand side of this page, but there are other blogs I follow , to books, politics, etc., exclusively on Bloglovin. VERY annoying. 
• The "help" button offers very limited help.  There seems to be no way to contact the powers that be to find out what's going on or register a complaint. They have a Twitter account, but there are no posts on it.  
• During one extended Bloglovin' outage a few years ago, I set up a Feedly account as a kind of backup -- but there didn't seem to be a simple way to transfer my (500+!)(albeit not all of them are active) blogs over from Bloglovin, so only a fraction of what I follow is on there. Plus, I am used to the Bloglovin format;  I don't always find Feedly easy to navigate.
• Grrrr...... 
• Hair loss:  I realize it's a midlife thing, for women as well as for men.  I have very thick hair that's in no danger of really thinning out any time soon (if ever...!) -- but lately I HAVE noticed more stray hairs in the bathroom sink, etc. -- particularly over the last year or two, post-menopause. :p  
• Related annoying thing (and warning, this might slightly gross some people out): Several times recently, I've wound up with a stray hair in one of my eyes (usually the left one, for some reason). It's not always easy to see, let alone remove (especially when the hair is grey...!), and it can drive me crazy sometimes. It usually works its way out eventually, or into a place where I can easily remove it, but in the meantime it's extremely annoying...! 
• Another related annoying thing that I've noticed in recent years:  my eyebrows are really thinning -- particularly the left one, which is very scanty these days. Not to mention that some of the hair that's still there is now grey and not dark brown, so it doesn't show up as much. I have had my brows tinted in recent years, albeit not since the pandemic, and that at least helps the hair that's there show up more. I've also been using a BeneFit product (Browvo Conditioning Eyebrow Primer) which claims to make brows look thicker and fuller. I can't say it's helped a whole lot -- any growth I've noticed has been far from dramatic -- although I guess it hasn't hurt. 
• Any other suggestions?? 
• I'm HUNGRY!!  Constantly!!  I've noticed this ever since the time change in early March (although I think I'm (finally!) starting to get back on a more even keel...!). Not only does the time shift affect my sleep clock, it seems to affect my stomach clock as well...!  
• Shredded sheets:  Back at the old house, I had the same Springmaid bedding set on our bed in the master bedroom for 15-20 years, including three sets of matching percale sheets/pillowcases that I rotated using, as well as a comforter, bedskirt, pillow shams and window valance. I bought it all at Eatons in the early/mid-1990s. (Eatons went out of business in 1999! -- which gives you some idea of the time frame...!)  As I wrote in this 2015 post, the floral pattern was getting pretty dated and the sheets were fading and wearing a bit thin -- but I'd been trying to wait out Aunt Flo, thinking I'd spring for all new stuff as a way of celebrating the onset of menopause (which ultimately didn't happen for me until April 2019...!). 
• By later in 2015/early 2016, we were thinking about putting the house up for sale, and so I decided to send all my old bedding to Goodwill and buy something new and up-to-date. I found a new comforter set and bought two sets of white cotton sheets/pillowcases to rotate -- house brand (I think?), 400 or 600 threads per square inch, at Sears (also now out of business in Canada). A couple of years ago, I bought another (third) set of white cotton sheets at Hudson Bay ("Distinctly Home" house brand, 400 thread count, I think?) , which were a bit scratchy at first but eventually softened up nicely. 
• So it's just six years later (less for the third set) -- and ALL THREE SETS have now shredded/developed rips on the fitted bottom sheet -- on dh's side of the bed, near the lower corner.  I am not sure how or why this keeps happening, other than the fact that dh is a somewhat restless sleeper, and his heels are like sandpaper. :p  I've pointed him to the foot file I keep in the shower (don't think he's used it yet), and I keep threatening to drag him to the nail salon with me for a pedicure, something he (like many men) resists.  (Even though I'm sure he'd love it if he tried it...!)  
• So: do you have any sheet/bed linen recommendations for me? (Brand names, fabric, thread count, etc.? -- extra points if the brand/store is available in Canada!)  I prefer cotton/percale to flannel (too warm for me), and my mother always told me to buy sheets with a thread count of at least 300. 
• As I said, the old Springmaid sheets were wearing a bit thin by the time I got rid of them -- but even after 15-20 years of use, there were no holes. I think they may have been a cotton/polyester blend, versus 100% cotton, which might account for the difference?  Or do they just not make bed linens as sturdy as they did back in the 1990s? 
• Also, any way to prevent this from happening again?? (Besides taking dh for a pedicure...!)  

Small recent pleasures:  

• Going to the park for an hour with LGN & dh last week -- just the three of us, while SIL stayed home to wrangle the new puppy. And having him walk between us, holding both our hands. <3  (And having him actually behave, for the most part!  lol)  
• Visiting dh's cousin & his wife (the ones we spent the cottage weekend with last fall) on Friday night with BIL & SIL, and enjoying a lovely dinner (salmon, focaccia bread & salad).  Feeling a small bit of pre-pandemic normalcy amid the resurgence of covid, back to peak pandemic/omicron levels hereabouts.  
• Slightly milder & more springlike weather this past week (albeit it's been mostly grey, overcast & drizzly). 
• Takeout Chinese food for dinner on Saturday night (with no repercussions to my gallbladder!). 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.