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Friday, December 12th, 2025 07:45 am

This week in review

Monday night delivered cookies to Dad, bringing Carrie Dog with us, and we had a nice short visit. He has too many things beeping that he cannot hear, and will not replace filters in his fridge, and Christine is concerned about all the cables squeezed in between fridge and wall. Do not unplug your hearing aid charger to see if it stops the beeping you cannot hear, Dad.

Again noting to self, promise me you will regularly wear any hearing aid you need.

The car with new tires and repairs was rear-ended on Tuesday when we were taking cookies to my sister. We are both fine and healthy.  Good thing we didn't bring Carrie, Christine noted, as the waiting by the road stretched on and on. Sister came, and we sat in her car during much of the waiting and had a good visit. Most humorous was the Highway Patrol listening to us respond to "what happened", then, "Let me interrupt, you were rear ended, right". Me: "Oh, you wanted the short story."

Our insurance company encouraged us to file directly with the at fault party's insurance. Nope. I believe Christine underscored that it would be more efficient for them if we did that, but not us.  We take the car to dealership today. I suppose it's a gamble because the repairs may be more expensive there and that could tip to totaling it? But they will have parts.

Once a long time ago, Christine's first motorcycle was knocked over in San Francisco, breaking the mirror and scratching the paint. Her insurance was going after the at fault party with a vengeance, so the vintage paint repair and original mirror replacement cost totaled the bike-- and she ended up with a much fancier, powerful bike afterwards. (Can't remember what replaced the Honda.) I assume you only get a win like that once.

Wednesday i had my hair done, advised that it was time to reverse all the accumulated highlights and add back my natural color. Because i like the pink she has been using, i think she added way more pink than she had been, but that makes up for the "cool medium brown." Apparently my hair now has more dimensionality. I could not really explain why i get it done, but the pink is fun. I do wait about four months between visits.

Bruno has come out on his own in the morning and sometimes later in the day, racing out of the room and in the evening making like a bolt for under the couch. He knows in the morning that he's got the place to himself. I think he races just in case Marlowe is waiting to ambush him around the corner. We've had some success sedating her with the gabapentin but i can't bear to keep her that way. She is a feisty miss. I'll leave her food alone today, work a half day with Bruno, then this afternoon Bruno will sleep. Tomorrow i'll sedate Marlowe  so it will be easier to have Bruno out during the day sharing space.

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Friday, October 31st, 2025 07:22 am

In "why for is everything falling apart?" news, my key to the car has stopped working, and replacing the battery did not seem to help. The tube inside my rain gauge is leaking, and so there have been times where I thought I thought I emptied the bigger tube and I didn't know what to do with the measurement of the water in the inside of the tube. On Wednesday, I  became confident that basically that water just leaked out of the inside tube. This is really annoying because it's a new inner measuring tube to replace one that had cracked at the top.

My new watch arrived and didn't pair with my phone until i took the case off the phone. Which... maybe would have worked with the old watch? It's a splurge but i think i will keep this new one: it's a much better fit as the previous watch was a good bit larger.

I did get outside and raked a little last night. Yay for movement. I think i have been terribly sedentary for the past year and a half, and there's weight gain over this past year and my blood work drawn on Monday had some signals that it is now time to focus on turning this around. Movement will help my mood, i am sure, so there's that.

I am very torn about the continued US government shut down. More people are joining the hostages being held against resolution of ... i'm not even sure it's a budget. Just a continuing resolution. But "continuing" in the current direction is pretty bad. This is lack of leadership.

In happy, geeky news, i have been delighted to discover the frictionless project and the v2 data package standard: https://datapackage.org/ . It is nifty to have a standard way to describe tabular data so that it's fairly easy to automate loading and reuse of the data. The joy of fiddling with this has made one of my tedious fiscal-year work goals a little more interesting. While technically the goal has nothing to do with data, i have to do the same research for eight different software packages and a different set of analysis and team wrangling for ... ten? work-written applications. I automated making markdown checklists and report templates yesterday for the eight, and have a notebook to explore the data i screen-scraped from the work database about the eight software packages. (An api account to access the ServiceNow database costs money so i shall continue with screen scraping.)

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Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 06:55 am

Apparently quoting a lawsuit is a quick way to have an a&tt forum post restricted. Yesterday our DSL, phoneline, cell data, and cell service all went down. I was VERY frustrated, because the amount of cell service we consume is small -- we use the house wifi for everything -- but we want it there when we need it. I wanted to know if the AT&T outage was due to Brightspeed (previously Lucent) and quoted part of a lawsuit i'd found searching on both parties. This morning the post is 404'd. But a Nextdoor post had a neighbor commenting that not only had she lost Brightspeed and AT&T but also Verizon.

I would love to know who cut what wire.

In good news, brother in law B-- got an early surgery ablation and should be able to go home "soon". This was during the outage so it was particularly nerve wracking but sister in law D-- was online at chatty when access came back at 9:30 pm and could share happy updates.

Less coughing (while i was offline?) yesterday. YAY!

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Monday, October 16th, 2023 06:22 am
Yay antibiotics! Feeling better. Still didn't don the walk or standing today, and had a headache by lunch -- but better!

I'm taking stretching, balance and strength off my todo list -- i haven't done them in months and deleting the reminder or marking them "punt" is not motivating. I need to figure how to get them back in my day, step by step.

In other headaches i do not need, UNC Health and United Healthcare are having a contract spat. I want UNC to win, but that may mean they walk away from United Health Care. I do not know that i want to pay for the out of network plan just to keep UNC and i will be Very Annoyed if i do that and they settle their dispute. [After discussion with Christine, she's willing to do the out-of-network paperwork for her therapist, and we will probably end out ahead if we choose the "choice" plan and not the HMO, so we have a decision i am not annoyed with.] Then, of course, is the fact that the urgent care and hospitals near by are UNC Health. I guess i need to make some calls to the "corporate concierge," the support number our company pays extra for so we can actually get help from our insurance provider. I hate American health care insurance.

[Looks like a Duke-affiliated hospital in Sanford about 30 min away; UNC and Chatham hospitals are 20 min away, so not dreadfully further. I assume

--== ∞ ==--

I've been trying to figure out a reward system for me during work. I do not need to I'm going to try playing with a sort of doodle /tracking reward. I might be just tracking "time passed" but making something colorful might be a good reward. Too tired to explain. Will experiment tomorrow.
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Thursday, October 12th, 2023 06:36 am
My cranky news was that the internet went out on Tuesday afternoon and promised repair by 3:30 am in Thursday (today). I am extremely fortunate in that the public library and a co-working space that offers day passes are just minutes away from home, so i spent much of yesterday at the co-working space with nice phone booths for long calls. I left early so i could get blood drawn, but despite the doctor saying he'd put in the labs order and i could come any time, (1) he had not actually put in the order and (2) i needed a lab appointment as they didn't have a phlebotomist in on Thursday. In the hour of driving to and from the doctor's office i scanned the AM & FM bands looking for a radio station carrying the Phillies game: no dice. North Carolina hockey was going to be on.

So we did a grocery run, which was pretty short, and got home, chatted. I opened my laptop -- and saw a message i'd sent to Christine via the phone as i got to the grocery was on it -- but, wait -- how -- we had internet!! Woo! And we were able to tune in to the 5th inning and watch the Phils delightful trampling of the Braves at home.

I just looked at the standings and am sad to see the Orioles and the Twins lost their divisional games, and am surprised to see the Arizona Diamondbacks swept the Dodgers. I went to bed fairly early last night, resting to clear myself of this malaise. I have not felt like looking at the fig tree or picking the tiny Matt's Wild Tomatoes or doing anything with the yard: i hope this is illness and not depression.
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Thursday, October 5th, 2023 01:30 pm
Light went out in over-stove microwave a week or so ago. Christine had just gotten the dehumidifier replacement handled and was Unhappy. I quickly tracked down part and installation technique. Part has been here a while and yesterday i put it down as a condition of enoughness (IE: one thing that i can do to say i got the things done for that day). Dinner didn't need the stove, and only the microwave briefly. There was time between groceries and dinner: i had opportunity. I had all the tools, knowledge and parts: means. So i kicked myself in the motivator.

Three screws out easy, fourth stuck. Not the most ergonomic situation, pressing up on the driver into the screw trying to get the leverage to make it budge. I took the filters out, long overdue for a cleaning, cleaned those, applied WD-40. Eventually, we fubar'ed the Phillips head slot.

The internet let me know there are such things as screw extractors. Lowes was open for another 45 minutes so i drove over, had a sales person look at the screw and they picked out the teensy tinest screw extractor. The little tool mount they had would not hold the extractor: took a few pokes for them to look at 5/64 of an inch and conclude that actually, that was smaller than 1/4". So i should use a crescent wrench. That sounded like a disaster, so i bought locking pliers (has been on my, "I bet it would be useful to have" list for a while).

I tried again, but i think i need a third hand -- i don't think i can apply the upwards pressure and turn. Christine asked for me to put it off. I internet'ed and ordered another set of crew extractors that look like they would fit in our driver, and ponder using my drill with the tiny bit.

This morning i started trying to get the filters back in and the carbon filters will not stick in their slot and my back spasmed well and good. BLEEP.

This is why quick little projects never bleeping ever get bleeping done.

I told work i was out, thinking i would just skip meetings, but as soon as i told work, my skull reminded me of yesterday's headache, my chest and sinuses reminded me of the low grade congestion, and my concentration disappeared. And then it was 12:45? And coherency hasn't returned but coffee has perked me up.

--== ∞ ==--

One of the things i have learned about ADHD is that there's a outsized reaction to criticism, or implicit criticism, or judgement, or the potential for judgement. I'm trying to identify it more often and push back from the feeling. Recently, i couldn't push all the way back and wanted to talk about it. At lunch i asked my sister AITA and told her the story, from my point of view, and got a resounding no, followed by agreement about what the appropriate actions should have been, and also a little commiseration. ("Women should not be afraid to piss other people off," she quoted from somewhere, noting acculturation to prioritize getting along over many other things.)


After i got home i found myself thinking, "But AITA for telling L-- the story and asking her AITA?"


Yay, i have reached recursive insecurity.

*rolling my eyes at my brain*
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Thursday, September 14th, 2023 07:23 am
From Wednesday morning:

I think this is the first day at my desk this week that i wasn't in urgent mode. Can i work on the important-with-looming-urgency? Ugh.

--== ∞ ==--

Figs are doing well, although i've resigned myself to leaving some on the tree for wasps and spiders. I will need to ponder my pruning strategy this winter. I'm dehydrating at a lower temperature and the color is much nicer. I'm also not going to rock hard. Raisins aren't rocks and last "forever" at shelf temperatures, so why make the figs completely desiccated. The fruit jerky/leather is also working nicely. The ability to cook the fruit and then keep it in the fridge a while before dehydrating allows "stalling" dealing with very ripe figs.

Meanwhile, i've given away fresh ripe figs and eat them every day, myself.

--== ∞ ==--

Replacement dehumidifier didn't drain into its bucket but leaked on the floor. Now on yet another replacement cycle.

Left string trimmer and other tools in the rain. Battery definitely dead. Trimmer seems OK. Getting new battery AND a pole saw. Very very excited about the pole saw. I had a manual pole saw and lopper and need to figure out how to restring the cord that pulled the lopper bit. It wasn't satisfactory. Maybe someday.

In balance, i have done things with things i have ordered: pink shoes are polished, boots are dyed navy blue (LOVE!), and i have properly installed the curtain pull back hooks. Now i want to fix the curtain rod the previous owners left. (Metal fixtures are completely inconsistent in the house. The curtain rod is shiny brass, but i'm trying to move to oiled bronze in that room. I can't count the different door handle finishes.)

--== ∞ ==--

I managed to get outside and fight stilt grass yesterday. Will also skip the usual grocery run and do the same tonight. I'm frustrated about going to a conference just as the weather finally begins to moderate. Will cope with humidity. At least it's not hot. [And i *did* get outside and make more progress. Hoping i can get into a habit that i can keep and make good progress.]

--== ∞ ==--

I've just made some notes about things to do near and nearish to the Hilton Minneapolis. I'm pondering the Swedish Museum on Friday, between conference ending at noon and flight leaving at 5 pm. The Foshay building observation deck seems like it might be nice, too.

I want to panic about clothes but i am trying to tell myself it is going to be OK.
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Friday, June 16th, 2023 06:55 am
In good news, the contact at the optometrist and i had a conversation where she noted that they were setting up new systems and she along with some other person was shocked to hear what i was reading. It sounded like it was a fairly new system and i was asked for screen shots and other troubleshooting material. She sounded genuine and didn't pressure me to fill it out anyhow or other sketchy behavior. Instead i felt her gratitude was real. So, i feel much better.

Some teeny resentment of doing QA work for them, also a small hope i'm a very early guinea pig.

I am reminded of how often i do the online paperwork hoop for my medical provider and am handed the same documents at the office, because no one does the online things. With the link to the paperwork so sketchy in this case, maybe i was the first person. I dunno.

--== ∞ ==--

In sad news, i failed to rescue a bluebird fledgling from Carrie and got to watch her crunch and swallow. I am a little horrified in my heart, even if my mind understands how so much of the natural systems reproduce so abundantly to cover the eat and be eaten quality of wild life.
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Thursday, June 15th, 2023 06:18 am
I will admit i am in a bit of a mood.

On the other hand, when i receive a text from a short code that asks, "Please complete your patient form in advance of your appointment.
https://examappointments.com/CDN/dif/tv/dif.html?[more URL]" the first thing that comes to mind is phishing. It wasn't, but.... )
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Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 08:05 pm
DAY SIX OF GLOOMY WEATHER.

Welp, the steroid high is gone. Still happily breathing through my nose. (Yay)

However, things have piled on just listing things bugging me to get them out of my system )
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Friday, May 12th, 2023 12:33 pm
Marlowe has been dropped off at the vet. She had a puncture wound near her mouth and, after an hour, swelling had begun. The nurse who picked her up in the parking lot said, "she'll be fine." -- Several hours have passed. Swelling has gone down, vet sending her home ~ no obvious cause of the trauma. So yay ! But mystery. Her collar is missing and Christine is going to mow, so maybe we'll find the site of the trauma. Marlowe is drinking lots of water now.

Yesterday my mail app lost mail. Nothing precious, i assume. I've been having crashes for ages, and the only next steps offered were either letting the vendor have complete access to my email -- um, NO -- or creating a brand new account on my mac from which to use the app. Also, a no go. But i'm not sure what client would be any better. I have much mail on my local machine; i don't keep it in the cloud.

Had a call with the leave administrator for my employer. They are SO incompetent. It looks like i actually need new paperwork, which i have been told i didn't need on multiple calls before.

Yesterday Christine and i both had separate and more or less independent melt downs. I am taking it easier today. (Hopefully, i will still get through the exercises.) I let Christine feed the cats this morning.

In delighted news, though, after steaming my face, then doing the nasal rinse, i sat for half an hour and breathed though my nose. It takes effort. Maybe i need to develop some tolerance for "air hunger," a term used in "The Breathing Cure." .... It's hours later, and i can still breathe through my nose (which is sort of where i was before surgery, completely unlike the ease right after surgery). Getting better.

I'm also wearing a pull-over shirt that fits more attractively than the button-up shirts i've been wearing. And i've got a binder clip holding in the waistband of these new shorts that are apparently -- and mysteriously -- too large. I just ordered more shorts from Lands End in the same size (also, the same size as pants that fit fine) and assume i will be disappointed with those, too. Maybe not? I've been feeling lumpy post surgery, old and wrinkled, and i have a heightened awareness of all my clumsiness since i can't bend over and pick things up.
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Wednesday, April 26th, 2023 07:05 am
Tuesday:

So, yes, i will pony up $5 a month so maybe i won't miss aurora IN MY BACKYARD.

Aurora in MEXICO???!! https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=24&month=04&year=2023

And my pepper seedlings have been tortured by the low temps. I don't expect 40°F last night so i didn't think to bring in the seedlings, much less follow the advice at https://www.sandiaseed.com/blogs/news/can-peppers-survive-40-degree-weather . I don't think i've ruined the plants. I hope. I've got to start bringing the seedlings in at night and i'll cover the peppers and tomato plant i set out. Hopefully by the time i can't carry things, the seed dome will be sufficient. I should have thought to get that out already.

On itching notes, i have a long red welt along my clavicle. I've no idea what caused it. My ankles and feet are achy. Am i in some flare? Ugh.

Wednesday am:

The plants finally arrived late afternoon, worse for wear. I wrote the vendor, and he wants me to see if they bounce back. Which, OK. It's not clear he can get FedEx to cover the loss, and it's REALLY CLEAR who screwed up here. My sister said that it sounded like the FedEx people were willing to say anything to excuse their screwups, like a teenager testing lies with their parents to see what sticks.
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Tuesday, April 18th, 2023 06:53 am
United Health writes:

With support, you can be kind to your mind

Hitting the pause button on life from time to time can work wonders for our overall health and well-being. Whatever the reasons for stress, “9 Ways to Dial Down Your Stress” has the coping tools you need to breathe a little easier. Just another way UnitedHealthcare is here with the support and resources you need.


Yeah, i can give you another way to dial down my stress so i can breathe easier.
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Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 07:14 am
The cake is WONDERFUL! I need to fix my notes about the agar agar -- I used 1% the weight of coconut cream and the eggs and boiled it earlier in my instructions, i think, but my scale seems to be .. wonky at the single gram level. And i added 2/3 c confectioner's sugar to the coconut cream. It set up beautifully. Also, i love parchment paper. I am not sure it would have un-molded so well? I need to do an Bavarian cream mold test, i guess.

A wedge of Bavarian angel cake showing the crisp lines and the nuggets of angel food cake embedded in the set custard.


Monday i learned how to make a shakshuka-like meal. In making the cake, i screwed up separating two eggs, and i had the more liquid part of the can of coconut cream. Googling those ingredients eventually led me to a coconut curry shakshuka recipe that i proceeded to basically ignore. I had leftover oven roasted onions and a dab of left over bell peppers and some leftover stew (made with leftover rice. Broiling the sauce with the egg was new to me and ... i liked it! Will do again!

When i got the spices out, i found i have sumac in the house. I forgot to add it to the eggs baked in sauce. [1]

I had ordered "[brand] - Himalayan Black Rock Salt - ... - Kala Namak - Contains 84+ Minerals - Perfect for Cooking, Vegan Tofu, Vegan Omlettes" in late December from Amazon and then received two notices from Amazon that the order was delayed. When given the choice to cancel, i did.

I'm looking now at fair trade vendors and keep going down spice rabbit holes. I have been looking at Turkish and Syrian peppers, milder than the chipolte and different than the ancho pepper. And then there's mesquite powder which looks fascinating.

And sweet grass is on sale, three plants, at Prairie Moon. I wonder how well sweet grass and lemon grass would grow together?

I have a small clump of Lemon grass i have persisted by bringing it in overnight.

We don't eat out that much (if i disregard pizza and Chipolte). Actually, i guess i've eaten at the Community College training kitchen (yum!), the nearby Greek fast food place, the amazing Indian food from a gas station with my sister. That's been a pleasant change of pace.

Fortunately, i have a small pause button so i can be confident about the sense of ordering because, i am waiting on a replacement debit card. I experienced the weirdest debit card hack last week. Someone used my debit card to place an online order a $600+ flat screen tv from Lowes to be delivered to the house (??!!) while i was getting an X-ray last Wednesday. (Yay, no pneumonia!) They used an email i never use for buying things. I don't understand "the angle" unless they thought they could get the delivery destination changed? Because it was one of my email addresses, i got the order and could cancel it. Our Lowes account had cards that were expired in it, but not the card they used. Utter mystery. However, i am now impatient for the new card.

[1] I don't like runny eggs, so i'm going to call it baked, and taking shakshuka and making it a curry and then making it random fridge ingredients -- well, let's just be generic and not create a cultural expectation. So, eggs cooked in sauce and note to self that 1/2 teaspoon (guestimated from contents in a tea spoon) of ancho is about enough for something filling the whole small cast iron pan. I've just stopped sniffling,
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Sunday, November 20th, 2022 07:36 pm
My Thursday grumps have undergone transitions: the shipping of the indulgent bakery goods is now set so they will arrive before the holiday break. The cold has faded. No repeats of the network issues. And we removed the blinds that wouldn't open next to my desk, so i can have daylight.

I am tilting at a windmill trying to get CVS to straighten out my vaccine record. I have been directed in a circle and now finally have someone willing to call me (!!) to try and straighten things out. Wow! But i won't get my hopes up at resolution.

I am so thankful for the vaccines, that they are reasonably easy to get, that they seem free. I wish more people were as excited and as thankful as I. Whining about CVS's technological funkiness does seem so minor in comparison.
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Thursday, November 17th, 2022 07:31 pm
I have a new mastodon account for my professional life in identity management. The only reason i bothered is because i wandered into it after reading a newsletter and wandering into details.... Under the weather mental meandering. I chose https://federate.social/about (and my usual public name handle). This server seems maybe a little on the more moderated side than i would want for a personal account, but for my professional account it's OK.

On the other hand, i think slack instances for tech have been working for me. The channels for a topic are more agreeable to my wandering about.

--== ∞ ==--

I understand that most children don't want to think about their parents as sexual beings, probably a useful taboo. My sister gets very distressed with my Dad's giddiness around his dating. Both of them are still grieving more than i. (I think i could probably get worked up about feeling guilty i'm not grieving? I dunno.)

While i am not emotionally reactive to my Dad's dating, it sure isn't something i really "get". He's such an extrovert and i would like to hide under a rock, thank you. I *feel* judgemental and eye-roll-y but i'm not sure why. He's not aware how big a rebound he's on? He's not particularly reflective while wanting to talk talk talk?

I will confess a certain wicked pleasure in hearing of him dragged out of his comfort zone to a nice restaurant, and sad that instead of him stretching, he's pondering whether the person has too expensive taste for him.

--== ∞ ==--

Grump: Grumble )
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Monday, July 4th, 2022 06:28 pm
As Christine puts it, "We so badass, we can answer phone calls and use paper." It was a very 2005 technology day.

I now have screen recordings of pings of 8.8.8.8 and the modem's DSL 1 & DSL 2 status pages when a call is placed to our number. The pings fail to connect and DLS 1 goes to "poor" and "not available" and we loose internet. Such fun. But our new call screening telephone is plugged in. Callers must say their name and push # before it rings through to us. We have added some known phone numbers who should be able to ring through, as well. And we have a dial tone calling out.

And we have set up a very nice hand-me-down color laser printer from my sister's family and we can print in *color* for the first time since... a decade? Two decades? We gave up on ink jets; getting photos printed at drugstores or online photo printers from digital files was far better quality.

Anyhow, it looks like i will be on calls to tech support at CenturyLink tomorrow. Joy.

Zentangle featuring representations of crookneck squash


I was looking for a readable copy of the surgeon's paper on the butterfly graft this morning, and the Springer Verlag site's preview called out one of the references: Nestor, James. Breath the New Science of a Lost Art, 2020. So, i poked at that on Amazon and thought about acquiring it. One of the adoring reviews is from someone who is an advocate of the "Modern humans faces are all flat because we don't chew enough hard things" which has some fringy elements to it. So, i checked Overdrive and it's available there -- and also Overdrive recommended is a book of what you can do to select your baby's sex. Eyebrow raising, that, while also triggering all sorts of problematic flags.

Among all the... seemingly fringe... health topics was also a Zentangle book -- Krahula, Beckah. Tangle Art Pack, 2012. I checked it out and spent time while Christine watched a troubling Kenneth Branagh Wallender episode reading and actually learning. Best trick was not from the book, but reviving a Helix 0.5 mm pigment pen by leaving it in a cup of hot water. I'm using a notebook i started in 2012 with the livescribe digital pen. Fine, i'll fill it out with these doodles. Ahem, tangles. I have mixed opinions of the Zentangle practice, and it isn't exactly where i want to head. But i suspect it is good practice with line and shading. I have also been reading The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling which is more where i would like to head. I think the Zentangling is complementary.
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Monday, May 9th, 2022 05:35 pm
Happy things!

I have four lovely plants from a fancy nursery that i was able to pick out myself:

* a thornless Opuntia, the type cactus that provides nopales and prickly pears
* an ostrich fern, which is a reliably considered edible fern (I have Southern Lady Fern growing wild which is also considered edible in some articles. Maybe i'll try them after trying ostrich fern.)
* a swamp milkweed (because why not)
* and an Indian Pink selection, which is a red and yellow native flower that should agreeably mix in with the eastern columbines.

I have a CPAP ordered, and they accepted a prescription written on their competitor's form.

Lunch was a salad with lettuce, spinach, lemon balm, and arugla from the garden, rose petals from the incredibly scented rose, plus strawberries, pecans, and asiago cheese.

It's a gorgeous day, i should go walk.

Not so happy:
Just to get it off my chest )
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Saturday, October 9th, 2021 04:28 pm
Laptop is back.

Woe, as expressed in my feedback to Apple )

I'm glad it's a grey and wet wet day and i really don't want to be working outside. Because, ugh, i don't want to be working outside. SO driving around for hours is ... OK.

But, new bottom and battery, and then i busted the screen a year and a half ago so that's fairly new, and the keyboard is now new (and whatever remains had been replaced after the original machine from early 2016 kept crashing). I hope it continues to be useful for a very long time. And maybe stable?

My dad had complained to me last week about a phone tree nightmare he experienced. On his third time through, when the human was about to make the same transfer that disconnected the previous two times, he explained what happened. The agent said, yup, that's how it works, and off he went to limbo again. He and i shared some other similar stories. The next day, over lunch, i shared the stories with Christine and we talked about why -- we could identify that generally the employee executing the ritual of insanity quite likely didn't have the agency to even warn the customer. Scripts, recorded calls, employer demands could fence otherwise creative and compassionate people into a box. And the "broken system" might have some hidden functions (counts of disconnected calls used to fix insufficient lines, perhaps). Christine noted it was up to the customer to complain to fix the thing. Thus, my long missive above.

Knowing people who do quality assurance, knowing user experience and systems analysis are techniques people use to fix issues, it irks me to do it "for free." Also knowing the slow process for change -- over-extended teams, etc -- i know change can take a long time, and the complaints help move problems to the front of the queue. So, even if it seems pointless, it might be helping.
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elainegrey: Inspired by Grypping/gripping beast styles from Nordic cultures (Default)
Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 08:00 am
Happy belated birthday to Oursin, whose daily wishes to others are a kind and joyful post many days.

And congratulations to Oracne, whose new novella Finding Refuge gave me a delightful break Monday evening. Oracne’s tale of after the adventure is over is the journey, and adventure, of healing. I appreciated the depiction of the work it takes to accept safety.

Meanwhile, I am supercranky and technology is annoying me. Not using my preferred input today.

Monday had challenges getting to email without opening my usual client (because it would remove mail from the cloud, just before sending the machine for repair, and not in the backup from the evening). I need to straighten out some passwords. I do have the iPad set up to access my main mailboxes, but I hate writing on this thing.

The machine is now getting a new battery and won't be back... until this weekend? I know I am whining about privileged problems here, and that all will be easier soon, and the slow boat my new laptop for work is taking will arrive sometime, too, and maybe I will have more ease during the workday, too.

The good news is one project I have been involved with is now out for community review, and my 3.5 minutes of presentation is over. (Public speaking, on zoom or in person, is not comfortable for me. Asking questions is just fine, but speaking….) I don’t know what the response will be (“we can’t do more” was the hint of a response in the questions) but I don’t know that comments will lead us to change much. Anyhow, a month during whic I am free of feeling like I should be doing more.

I, I , I. Auto correct is out of my control here. Thanks standardization.