done and not yet done
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 06:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chazzbannerI just finished a rather annoying book about Siouxsie and the Banshees. Annoying? It has over 1000 footnotes!
There are footnotes for Casablanca (the movie), Romeo and Juliet, and the term "Homeric", Picasso, Guernica, Edvard Munch, and The Scream. Every musician and every band is given a footnote!, and every tv program. I ended up ignoring them all.
I've done quite a bit today, I guess. Ordinary stuff. Flipped a mattress, washed sheets and towels and remade the bed, went to Lunds for a few groceries.
I've been watching (and enjoying) Without A Trace, season one, and I'm reading the Brighton series by Elly Griffiths (mysteries). Too much into making the time pass, I suppose. (NB: earlier entry about things I can't get anything done)
-
There are footnotes for Casablanca (the movie), Romeo and Juliet, and the term "Homeric", Picasso, Guernica, Edvard Munch, and The Scream. Every musician and every band is given a footnote!, and every tv program. I ended up ignoring them all.
I've done quite a bit today, I guess. Ordinary stuff. Flipped a mattress, washed sheets and towels and remade the bed, went to Lunds for a few groceries.
I've been watching (and enjoying) Without A Trace, season one, and I'm reading the Brighton series by Elly Griffiths (mysteries). Too much into making the time pass, I suppose. (NB: earlier entry about things I can't get anything done)
-
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 05:12 pmjhetleyItem on the evening news that the Senators from Texas are trying to extract a space shuttle from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and transfer it to Houston . . .
First pillage, then burn.
First pillage, then burn.
Paradigm Shift
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 04:39 pmfilkferengiSometimes the smallest change can alter one's whole perspective, shift one's paradigm, or open up all kinds of options. Here are just three from over the years, all connected with our house.
After about a year of marriage, I got house fever. We were initially hunting for two bathrooms, looked all over various parts of the Atlanta metro area, and came up empty. Then I said, why not look for one bathroom? We soon had an all-brick ranch with 3 [tiny] bedrooms and one bathroom. My dad the contractor was eventually able to turn the water heater room into a small en suite. [note: it was on the south side of town, with lower taxes. Even with his student loans and them not counting my temp income, it was what we could afford.]
I have very routinized food choices. There was one Michaelina's entree I ate several times a week for over two decades [until they quit making it]. Most of that time, I stored them in the freezer door, front to back. After a decade or two, I finally figured out, I could store half again as many in the door, if I stacked them side-to-side, like books on a shelf. [Ironic that it took me so long to figure out, given the hundreds of feet of mostly double-rowed books in the house.]
The main bedroom, kitchen, and living room of our house all came with ceiling fans. The computer room, in the corner that catches full afternoon sun and is thus the warmest room in the house, has no ceiling fan. [My dad said there wasn't enough structure in the ceiling to support one.]
My spouse went to his first SABR [baseball] convention last week - right during the big heat wave. I run hot anyway [like Granny] and spend most of my time reading on the computer. Even with the lovely insulation [airport and bookshelves], not a fun time. I'm short, & the ceiling fans are nearly a foot overhead. Nevertheless, it was warm enough, I lunged, and turned on the living room fan. Leaving it on all the week kept the whole house amazingly cool [nearly 20 degrees cooler than outside].
How did it take me 3+ decades to discover this delightful fact? Normally, I'd feel all kinds of doofy, but am too busy being rather chill about the whole thing.
;)
After about a year of marriage, I got house fever. We were initially hunting for two bathrooms, looked all over various parts of the Atlanta metro area, and came up empty. Then I said, why not look for one bathroom? We soon had an all-brick ranch with 3 [tiny] bedrooms and one bathroom. My dad the contractor was eventually able to turn the water heater room into a small en suite. [note: it was on the south side of town, with lower taxes. Even with his student loans and them not counting my temp income, it was what we could afford.]
I have very routinized food choices. There was one Michaelina's entree I ate several times a week for over two decades [until they quit making it]. Most of that time, I stored them in the freezer door, front to back. After a decade or two, I finally figured out, I could store half again as many in the door, if I stacked them side-to-side, like books on a shelf. [Ironic that it took me so long to figure out, given the hundreds of feet of mostly double-rowed books in the house.]
The main bedroom, kitchen, and living room of our house all came with ceiling fans. The computer room, in the corner that catches full afternoon sun and is thus the warmest room in the house, has no ceiling fan. [My dad said there wasn't enough structure in the ceiling to support one.]
My spouse went to his first SABR [baseball] convention last week - right during the big heat wave. I run hot anyway [like Granny] and spend most of my time reading on the computer. Even with the lovely insulation [airport and bookshelves], not a fun time. I'm short, & the ceiling fans are nearly a foot overhead. Nevertheless, it was warm enough, I lunged, and turned on the living room fan. Leaving it on all the week kept the whole house amazingly cool [nearly 20 degrees cooler than outside].
How did it take me 3+ decades to discover this delightful fact? Normally, I'd feel all kinds of doofy, but am too busy being rather chill about the whole thing.
;)
(no subject)
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 02:30 pmjhetleyOur hostas are just starting to bloom. May have a chance to see the hummingbirds again, and bees. Neither hummers nor bees seem to have any interest in the day lilies.
Yucky icky air
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 10:34 amjhetleyBack from my stroll around the neighborhood, no cat friends seen. Air temperature was 78 F when I headed out, 82 F now, dew point 68 F, got damp enough to justify my slacking off from that bike ride.
Discouraging world
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025 07:00 amjhetleyAir temperature 70 F with dew point 68, wind west about 3 mph, fog at the airport but sunny here. I had vague hopes of a bike ride this morning, but now it looks as if it will warm up too fast. Already soupy out there. As Wife has been known to say, exercise is supposed to *improve* my health.
Tuesday
Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 07:18 pmchazzbannerRe; AT&T.. I said they'd start billing me again. It was really 'start a new account' - there is no phone to attach the account to, and they know my old number. Old number no longer works. So... I'm not doing anything about it. It was a form letter, pro forma.
Today I got my hair cut at 9:30, then drove across town to St. Paul for 11-ish lunch with catsman.
Street repair continues everywhere - what a mess on Grand Avenue! I gave catsman a ride to his apartment after lunch, and I had to loop around Macalester College to get there. My main worry was how to get across the street to where my car was parked! Dig a hole. Fill it up.
It's more uncomfortable inside with a laptop on my (uh) lap than it is outside. It was 84F/28.8C - but with low humidity and a breeze. Yesterday was hellishly humid, you see!
-
Today I got my hair cut at 9:30, then drove across town to St. Paul for 11-ish lunch with catsman.
Street repair continues everywhere - what a mess on Grand Avenue! I gave catsman a ride to his apartment after lunch, and I had to loop around Macalester College to get there. My main worry was how to get across the street to where my car was parked! Dig a hole. Fill it up.
It's more uncomfortable inside with a laptop on my (uh) lap than it is outside. It was 84F/28.8C - but with low humidity and a breeze. Yesterday was hellishly humid, you see!
-
Memory problems
Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 11:28 amjhetleyOkay, we don't drive a lot. And we don't have a lot of car air-conditioning days in Maine. But it does help to actually punch the AC button on the dash if you want cool air to come out of those vents.
Another one bites the dust
Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 06:56 amjhetleyAir temperature 62 F, wind southwest about 7 mph, fog at the airport station. Can see across the park, so we're apparently under it. And we close the book on another month, for good or ill. Your mileage may vary.
Fiction log - June 2025
Tuesday, July 1st, 2025 02:12 pmpedantherFiction books
Peter O'Donnell. Modesty Blaise (re-read)
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, tr. Michael Guybon. The First Circle
In progress
Tanith Lee. The Silver Metal Lover
Helen Simonson. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (e)
Abandoned
Gene Brewer. K-PAX
Randall Garrett. Takeoff Too
Picture books
Chris Van Allsburg. Jumanji (e)
Non-fiction books
Isaac Asimov. A Choice of Catastrophes
Kyle Baker. How to Draw Stupid
In progress
Yuval Noah Harari. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (e)
( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )
Top of the to-read pile
Ursula K Le Guin. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (e)
Peter O'Donnell. Modesty Blaise (re-read)
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, tr. Michael Guybon. The First Circle
In progress
Tanith Lee. The Silver Metal Lover
Helen Simonson. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (e)
Abandoned
Gene Brewer. K-PAX
Randall Garrett. Takeoff Too
Picture books
Chris Van Allsburg. Jumanji (e)
Non-fiction books
Isaac Asimov. A Choice of Catastrophes
Kyle Baker. How to Draw Stupid
In progress
Yuval Noah Harari. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (e)
( short, screen, and stage )
( books bought and borrowed )
Top of the to-read pile
Ursula K Le Guin. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (e)
Tags:
- aardman animation,
- alexander solzhenitsyn,
- alexandre dumas: adaptations,
- babylon 5,
- banjo paterson,
- batman: fanworks,
- bluey,
- books bought: none,
- charles dickens,
- david attenborough,
- dorothy l sayers,
- fiction log,
- gene brewer,
- george barr mccutcheon,
- helen simonson,
- isaac asimov,
- j r r tolkien: fanworks,
- jumanji,
- kyle baker,
- modesty blaise,
- muppets,
- natural six,
- randall garrett,
- rep club,
- robert herrick,
- sherlock holmes: adaptations,
- sherlock holmes: fanworks,
- star wars: fanworks,
- superman: fanworks,
- tanith lee,
- terry pratchett: fanworks,
- the muppet show,
- triangle and robert,
- ursula k le guin,
- ursula vernon,
- xavier coyle,
- yuval noah harari
Status Report for June, 2025
Monday, June 30th, 2025 09:49 pmtuftears( Cut for length, in brief, I paid taxes, fixed a bug in FurryrMUCK, beat Blue Prince, wrote a bunch of words, and continued to run Starforged on Caturdays for friends. )
Coming up next is July, wherein I shall indulge in such exciting pursuits as... cooking myself a bacon cheeseburger with tater tots for July 4th, and ordering a French dinner for my birthday with duck breast on a bed of wild rice, and tiramisu for dessert. Ah, decadence!
(yes, I would go out, but the world is too crazy for me to deal with. Home remains best place!)
Coming up next is July, wherein I shall indulge in such exciting pursuits as... cooking myself a bacon cheeseburger with tater tots for July 4th, and ordering a French dinner for my birthday with duck breast on a bed of wild rice, and tiramisu for dessert. Ah, decadence!
(yes, I would go out, but the world is too crazy for me to deal with. Home remains best place!)
and in addition
Monday, June 30th, 2025 07:55 pmchazzbannerHot and humid today - I went for a walk early.
I'm stuck in a (metaphorical) place I don't like, I can't seem to get anything done. I have 1) something to replace, 2) something to renew, 3) something to figure out, and I'm avoiding all of them.
Today I got a form letter from AT&T. I cancelled long-distance with them, right? They want me to 'contact my local provider' to tell them what long-distance I'll use, or (after a 45 day freeze) the provider will route long-distance back to AT&T and I'll get bills from them again.
Except I don't have a local provider, since I cancelled my landline and have Tracfone (pre-paid yearly instead.
This means I have to call them again.
And this isn't one of the three things listed above.
Oh yes, there's also 4) something to discard.
-
I'm stuck in a (metaphorical) place I don't like, I can't seem to get anything done. I have 1) something to replace, 2) something to renew, 3) something to figure out, and I'm avoiding all of them.
Today I got a form letter from AT&T. I cancelled long-distance with them, right? They want me to 'contact my local provider' to tell them what long-distance I'll use, or (after a 45 day freeze) the provider will route long-distance back to AT&T and I'll get bills from them again.
Except I don't have a local provider, since I cancelled my landline and have Tracfone (pre-paid yearly instead.
This means I have to call them again.
And this isn't one of the three things listed above.
Oh yes, there's also 4) something to discard.
-
Rebuilding journal search again
Monday, June 30th, 2025 03:18 pmalierak posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceWe're having to rebuild the search server again (previously, previously). It will take a few days to reindex all the content.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Meanwhile search services should be running, but probably returning no results or incomplete results for most queries.
Still hanging around
Monday, June 30th, 2025 03:34 pmjhetleyHad a catbird regarding me from the front walkway outside my office window. No way to tell if this is one of last year's azalea brood or last year's parents.
Monday floral report
Monday, June 30th, 2025 10:37 amjhetleyMaybe first scentless chamomile blooming, brown-eyed susans, brambles about done. Maybe yarrow, otherwise Queen Anne's lace -- hard to tell the difference in the early stage of bloom, with bicycle botany. Some variety of wild pea dotting purple in the weeds.
No fresh roadkill. Even most of the corpses I reported on my last ride have vanished, whether via 2-legs or 4-legs is unknown. Desiccated lump of skunk fur remains.
No metal birds to report at my water stop but I think the runway is open -- saw a small corporate jet come in for a landing and a high-wing private plane take off. Of course, neither of those would need the full length of our runway.
Got out on the bike, 67 F when I headed out and 77 F when I returned. So I dodged the worst of the heat. Did not die.
15.59 miles, 1:32:08
No fresh roadkill. Even most of the corpses I reported on my last ride have vanished, whether via 2-legs or 4-legs is unknown. Desiccated lump of skunk fur remains.
No metal birds to report at my water stop but I think the runway is open -- saw a small corporate jet come in for a landing and a high-wing private plane take off. Of course, neither of those would need the full length of our runway.
Got out on the bike, 67 F when I headed out and 77 F when I returned. So I dodged the worst of the heat. Did not die.
15.59 miles, 1:32:08
Soon June departing
Monday, June 30th, 2025 07:01 amjhetleyAir temperature 61 F, wind near calm, partly cloudy. City crew started mowing in the park about 0530, one of the unexpected consequences of our location. Maybe trying to beat the heat. Along those lines, I'm unsure if I will get out for a bike ride.
(no subject)
Sunday, June 29th, 2025 09:59 pmmartianmooncrabI have a rash thats spreading, its from a heat rash and other factors gone wild. I have already had a medication issue (and ER visit) ... plus the Va pharmacy thinks I am using up the ointments at a faster rate than they think is allowed. sigh.. I have a lot of ass to spackle there, so I calls into my primary care doctor.
waiting on my brain MRI to see if I still little friend free.... I do apprecaite their followups.
I did score a new upright walker this week, it folds down better and its bright blue!
waiting on my brain MRI to see if I still little friend free.... I do apprecaite their followups.
I did score a new upright walker this week, it folds down better and its bright blue!