I am clear-headed and gathering energy, Jane ditto. I had a computer bite the dust—or disk—this morning and have not freaked. I have been banned from FB (well, restricted) for discussing solid state drives. But, oh, well, it’s a day. [Apparently it triggered a Naughty Word alert.) So with that excitement, (I still have one nicely functioning computer and have a cloud backup besides, so What, me worry?—
I have also been ‘approving’ people through for membership in this blogsite, so be conscious of new members just now blossoming forth, or poofing into existence and welcome them in! Some will have had their posts stalled a couple of days (I have to push the permission button on every First Post.) But they are here, or will be arriving.
Kroger’s website has not been working right for me since Friday. I can log in, the cart shows up, but when I search for a product to add to the cart, it seems to find results, but in the area where it would show them, it’s consistently saying it’s had a problem, to come back later. I’m therefore reluctant to send my order, and I’d need a couple of items. — It’s not too urgent yet, but I may try by Amazon Fresh if I can’t get Kroger’s to work today.
I think I’ve missed a dose of Goober’s antibiotic, and his output is not good again. But he’s had his dose now plus the new steroid for about three days. He is OK except this ongoing thing, but I don’t know if it will be stable or in decline. In three weeks, he will have been with me 14.5 years, outliving his predecessor by over a year. He’s still an awesome cat and still as non-assertive as ever. Brindle has been stealing some of his special diet, darn it.
Brindle is doing fine, so far as I can tell. I skipped her last dose of painkiller. Her insicisionsite appears to be healing. Hard to tell, as the doc really sealed it. Hah, her fur has not yet grown back appreciably, even for stubble or 5 o’clock shadow. She and Goober have been getting extra attention.
I have been trying to sleep more, but not great results. No news toward assistance. I still need to sort through things and toss out more. It’s been very warm here; the A/C keeps coming on. I guess our brief spring is past.
Hoping to make some progress during the week. Expecting Brindle’s checkup will be good and Goober’s will be so-so at most.
I’m going to do a Farscape rewatch. I’ve been doing a rewatch of Voyager on Amazon, as that and the others of that era are free on Amazon Prime.
Weird — Kroger’s is still glitching; now both on product lookups and cart contents. It shows items in my cart dimmed out, and if I click on one, “Product information is unavailable at this time.” If I “View Cart,” which requires a fresh login, it claims I have 0 items in my cart. (Not true.) I’m going to have to recreate my order in Amazon Fresh in order to get groceries this week. Kroger’s website has been doing this since Friday, and it doesn’t seem like a cookie issue, sine it should be able to lookup new products without the cookie, I would think. So, I guess Amazon Fresh it is, for a while. I should have stock in the company at this point, as much as my online purchases are from them more than any other. I wonder if I’ll get any better prices on groceries from them. It has looked comparable before.
Slight good news, maybe: Mr. Patel called me this evening and came by so he could complete a call for the form for rent assistance from the state of Texas for me. He confirmed he has paperwork from prior applications still. He’s going to prep a letter and have someone come over tomorrow for me to sign it so he can get the form sent in, so at least that can go forward. I let him know a short version of what’s happened since he was transferred, and he had a few things to say regarding the new manager and asst. manager and how other people were fired or transferred. I now have his personal phone number too. I thanked him and told him how much I had appreciated his help and honesty and caring, before and now.
So I am not yet out of this bad situation, but it’s moving toward a possible solution, or at least some relief for the back rent, a portion at least.
I’m going to take the cats to the vet in the morning and will call him once I’m back. Hoping that will go fine.
I got most of my grocery items entered for Amazon, and still no luck with Kroger’s. I expect to put that in for Wednesday or Thursday, depending on how much I get done tomorrow.
Now if I can catch up with things, get other paperwork done, and get things done toward income, that will help tremendously. Past that, The former friend is supposed to help me get scheduled for vaccination, and claimed he’d help in a search for somewhere to move to once my lease is up, less expensive. I don’t want to stay under the current management workers. I want something less expensive and if at all possible, rent-to-own, to avoid always paying out and no ownership return, although that would mean repair costs and homestead property taxes. But I don’t know if that will be in reach at all. I still need income and govt. assistance, and stilll need eye and dental care through that.
Hoping it will all work out.
Glad to hear there’s positive-trending news, BCS.
I’m awaiting the young lady from the apartment offices to come over with the cover letter and application form to sign, for Mr. Patel to send that in. That should enter me for Texas Rent Asst. Mr. Patel said he has the other paperwork records. I asked that he send me copies via email for my records. I don’t know if or how much help I may get, but anything will be a help. I’m also thankful to have his number, as he has been a great help and a genuine and friendly guy.
I’m back, with the cats, from their vet checkup. Brindle is healing up well, but her incision still needs some time and less strenuous activity. She is behaving well about that. However, she worked herself out of the cone the vet tech put on her, while still in the carrier on the ride home. I’ll get it back on her, but if she frees herself again, I’ll just let it be. She’s growing and is well on the way to be a chunky young lady, strong and smart and sweet. This is ideal, just about. If only I can get her to learn to come when called, and that it’s OK for her to come to me and ask for attention. That, and pestering Goober, are her only behavioral issues. (Well, that, and she has learned how to open cabinets, sigh. I’ve moved a couple of things to cat-proof upper cabinets.)
Goober has gained weight and is doing a little better, more stable, but not fully well. This looks like it may be his new normal from now on, about like it’s been, but a bit better, and no longer so scarily skinny, although still too thin.
The vet is going to have him finish the remaining antibiotic, and he’s to continue the new steroid indefinitely, and the special g-i diet, with an added probiotic powder for about a month. The new diet is from now on. (I will sneak treats and favorite cat food from time to time, to coax him to eat.) He’s still having issues, but less severe and not as frequent. The vet aid we should try this before considering more expensive tests such as imaging or lab work or chemo if needed. I’m hoping to avoid that, as their vet bills combined since being able to resume treatment have been pricey but necessary. (Brindle’s spay and vaccinations were about as expected. It’s the other expenses on top of that for both of them. But thankfully, it looks like we’ve got most of that done, or under some control.
Kroger’s website is still glitching, don’t know why; so I will be ordering via Amazon Fresh tomorrow or the next day, it looks like.
So overall, progress, still much to do. I’m pleased despite the expenses. This puts me in a better position for the three of us.
I talked to the vet tech about the med Chondrite had talked about, and said I’d get back to the vet with the name of it. I’ve shared that with Chondrite, so maybe she can get help quicker, if she is still having trouble getting the med needed for their very senior cat, Junior.
Got to fix something for supper tonight. That’ll be enough for today. No sleep overnight, thanks to my own weird self more than anything from the cats or neighbors.
Hoping everyone is OK, human, cat, dog, fishies, etc.
BCS, no worries about the Panakare. Just talked to Junior’s doc, and he has ordered it. I have a week’s supply or so, and can stretch that 4 or 5 days if needed. Panakare is a pancreatic enzyme supplement to help The Old Man digest fats and such; I don’t know if it would help Goober any, and it is prescription only. I expect if Goober needed it, your doc would recommend it.
The front yard is covered in turfed-out aloe plants. I had a big stand of them by the front door, but alas! One of our more pernicious weeds is something called cane grass: long, whippy runners that infiltrate any bush or bed and eventually crowd out the desired plantings. The aloe had to go, because it was already more cane grass than aloe, and looked like a pile of seaweed. My janitor wants to plant it in our yard, where some persons have been using a concealed area as a public toilet 😛
Hey, how ’bout that, I did remember the name, was a bit fuzzy on the usage. Thanks, Chondrite, I will let the vet know, though, since I’d talked with the vet tech and one of them might keep it in mind that I’d said something. (And I think if your vet and mine needed to consult or needed something available, they’d be happy to work with each other. I’ve met all four of the vets and most of the staff, and they’re pros, dedicated and friendly, if also prone to their set rules.) Good that Junior will get his meds. I’m so thankful Goober is doing some better, even if it’s not ideal. That he’s building back his weight is a good sign, and he’s feeling more like himself again. hah, Brindle is feeling quite fine. — When the young lady from the apt. office finally came by, Brindle got out when I went back inside. She hopped the fence, and I had to follow her and did manage to get her before we had a repeat of the walkabout from her last big misadventure. (Which, oh, would not have been good, given she’s still recovering.) … Oh, that felt like I flowed through topics like, well, like it didn’t need to flow that way. (I’m finally sleepy, very, after however, long without.)
It was almost closing time before the apt. worker came by, and thank goodness Mr. Patel had read it to me, or I would’ve had to forestall the young lady, who wanted to get my signature and be gone, just shy of brusque, not quite rude but too near it, and I don’t think she realized that’s how she came across. But it’s done and I should get a copy as soon as Mr. Patel can get to it.
Then was surprised by a call from the erstwhile, now-reappearing investor friend, and we updated, so he knows what’s going on negative and inconsistent with the mgmt. office, basically trying to get money from me by ignoring / denying that any paperwork toward assistance was done. So the back-again friend(?) is going to talk to them again Friday, when he was going to pay out money again, and may get to withhold that towards my future expenses. My lease is up in either June or July, which is also about when the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures ends, unless it’s pushed forward yet again due to the ongoing problems. I want out of this bad situation and into somewhere cheaper if possible, rent-to-own or rental, and if need be, put some things from here into storage or get rid of them, with that still to do meanwhile.
So he is going to look for what’s available. Also to do, Soc. Sec. and to schedule so I can get vaccinated. (I related to him that I’ve heard the Johnson and Johnson vaccine may have problems, not as reliable.) Other things to get done too, so I can be ready.
At least this may give me a slight buffer to work with so I may have a chance to get help and income before I’m out again. I asked him to check about Kroger’s too.
Nearly going to sleep as I type. Expecting to order in groceries tomorrow. Going to warm something up for supper and sack out. Earned my keep, busy all day today.
At least this feels like there’s some chance again for me to get out of this and get back to a livable future. Still so much to get done. — Take care, everyone.
Any chance (probably remote) that the house you were looking at pre-COVID might still be available? It sounded like it might have been more workable than your current digs.
Sadly no, neither one. One here in town didn’t work out because of financing and because the prior owner was having trouble on his end, so the deal fell through. The other was in a very small town quite a distance away from a major city or town, and I never got to see it before things fell apart. I was having misgivings over whether that was the right way to go anyway. So hopefully, there will be something here in town or close enough in towns nearby. It may be a one-bedroom house. Billy M. said he’d look about mobile homes, and I said I don’t really like that idea, as it is, IMHO, not safe enough during a hurricane, or else you have to get the heck outta Dodge beforehand to avoid damage or loss to the mobile home. He will still look, but I don’t like that option. I’d rather get a rent house. I’m not thrilled by the idea of an apt. or townhouse, but might have to go that route. I just want to avoid the current kind of mess or any similar problem.
Given how low my finances are, I don’t see how I’ll be able to manage anything. I think even if I get Soc. Sec. assistance, I’ll be in a terribly precarious situation. — I’m still going to pursue the Audible audio idea, and I got a suggestion from Billy M. for a site called fiver.com that is for freelancers, basically, in whatever field, thinking of proofreading as I’d done before, or whatever I can still do, given how my eyesight is now. Not sure if I can still pursue font dev., unless I can get eye care, but I still want to do that. Writing has stalled because I’m so up in the air over everything, but I’m awake again and want to try to write a little anyway. I still want to elf-teach on EPUB3, which is still too slow, as I am too scattered and not sticking to it and not retaining as much as I think, each time.
At least Goober and Brindle are doing well after a long nap too, after getting back from the vet. Brindle seems happy again, and was palling around with me when I got up and showered, before feeding them. 🙂 — Got to do some laundry and cook something today, complete what I want to order for groceries and submit that for whichever delivery slot I can get. I need to do cleanup and organizing here, tosss out anything I can, in prep for any future action, and to (oh please) get organized. That, plus try to get some tasks done on paperwork, plus straighten out whatever happened with PayPal and to get my website situation straightened out so I can once again have my websites. I still want to hang onto the one as a possible business name for doing fonts, but the older name, I’m considering if I’d rather drop in favor of something else. I am unsure how to create a subdomain on a domain, in order to host more than one subset on a single domain. If I can figure that out, I could drop both and go with a new domain name. However, I think at least one or both are paid for a year for the name, but not the site hosting.
If I can get out of all this mess back to a livable situation, I will be so glad. I don’t see how yet, but at least there’s some chance, I guess.
Basics: Gotta put together that clothes rack and get basics like underwear (!) back in one spot, so I have that more livable. (Things got spread out with the other one collapsing, unusable.) That and creating room for, and reorganizing, files and office stuff, so I can work and know where things are. Most of the books I have left are in boxes, so OK, but which box holds what, I’m not so sure of. Dang, if I could find the old documents I need, that’d be a godsend. Tooo much stuff crowded together, not enough room really to put something together, so that’s a priority. If I can get things in order, that will really help. The past couple of months, things went from loosely workable to, ack, where is everything, and this is too crowded and disorganized.
I’m loathe to get anything like a desk or bookcase until I can create some space, but if I can, that will help. This whole situation is nuts. Maybe I can consolidate some things and throw out some others, to create enough to work with sensibly.
If I have to move into a smaller place, I will also have to get rid of some things, and I need to go through the storage space and reduce down there. — Our heat is building back toward summer, not a good time to do with the storage space, but no choice, got to.
If there were two of me, the other guy would want an income and space too, haha, and I guess would have the same weak spots and strengths as I do, so not sure it’d be much improvement. Still no idea how I’d do living with someone, but in some ways, I think it would help. — Everything feels so out of kilter, up in the air or claws-in-the-ceiling, but I am sort of bumbling through, at least.
When I was at the vet’s yesterday, despite how tired, low on sleep I was, I was clear and more like my old self than I have been in a long time. Not sure what made the difference, but it sure felt good. I’m glad for a little good news, so just keeping on going.
Oh — I got a package which I think was via Hanneke or the Wavy Navy Team, much appreciated, and I need to put the lamp together. The sewing supplies, I’ve put in a drawer, as my attempts to thread a needled and sew on a button went frustratingly awry, no luck doing that; and no luck either trying to get wrist lanyards through the tiny holes to mend the flashlights I use. (I’m using the last ones that still have them, to hang at key spots. Ones with no lanyards anymore, l still getting used or are put away for later.)
Hoping to take some time this weekend or one evening to rest and watch a video or listen to an ebook. I may get to listen to an ebook while doing cleanup and organizing things. Oh, for some simplification and organization in my life, so I can get things done, and less still to do instead of still a heap of tasks. Meh, c’est la vie, nest-ce pas? Still better than it had been, by a little bit. I’m just all over the place, still, head-space.
@BCS, re: bookcase, please check today’s email and answer it as soon as you can!
Kroger’s: maybe the payment method is still linked to your old bank account? Resetting the payment method, even with the same credit card, can help get rid of a glitch.
Vaccines: when dr.Fauci was asked which vaccine he himself would prefer, his answer was “The one I can get soonest”.
The slight differences in efficacy pale into insignificance compared to the risks of getting sick for every day longer you wait.
Even the very slightly increased risk of bloodclots from the AstraZeneca vaccine for young women on the pill is much less of a danger than waiting longer to get vaccinated.
If you can get a shot, get one. If it’s AstraZeneca or J&J, just watch for the signs of side effects if you are at risk. You’re better off taking the shots than risking the full-on disease. You are literally higher at risk of lightning strikes than you are of harm from these shots.
The blood clots are less than one in a million.
And blood clots are only affecting younger women! If you’re a man, or beyond “the change”, there’s no evidence J&J is not as safe as any vaccine can be. So what’s their justification for stopping it for all people?
Mass panic and lawsuits.
It’s a pause, while they look at the problems. If there’s a group they change the recommendation on, they’d do it when they’ve finished looking at it. As such – not a panic thing, but proper medical care.
Yes, so they say. There’s no objective evidence they shouldn’t give it to men or old women. Give one of the others to fertile women, expecially any on the pill, but KEEP JABBING! It’s irresponsible to let the virus run while they obsess over a one-in-a-million chance.
@Hanneke — Kroger’s had my address and card (payment method) right. I’m not sure what the problem was. When I checked today, it appeared to be working correctly, but had reset to “pickup at store” to my nearest store. I added the remaining items I needed and went to check out, only to find it was set to store pickup. So I went in to reset to my delivery address, then had to tell it to move all the pickup items to delivery with the ones already set to delivery. Then, finally, I could check out as intended. So now I have my delivery scheduled. We’ll see what happens, but it looks like it got entered properly.
—–
The apt. complex delivered another note on the ground outside my parking lot door where it could easily blow away or get wet. Why they’re doing that, I don’t know. (Lazy, hurrying worker, I think.) — This one was a note to all residents saying the balcony / patio / privacy area for each tenant has to be clear of essentially everything whatsoever, and if anything is found, tenants may be fined, inspection (purportedly by the city) on Monday. — There is probably still debris in the area not covered by concrete inside my privacy area / patio, near the stairs. Kids and maybe adults, or the groundskeepers, seem to throw little stuff or blow trash into there periodically, and I don’t seee a good way to get it out. I doubt they’ll bother me about it, but I wish neighbors would not do this. There’s one US post office bin left long ago which I will throw away. If I get fussed at, I intend to tell them it’s the other tenants or groundskeeping, not me, which is the whole truth.
They seem intent on nitpicking at the tenants with the new management. We get periodic reminders of things, which is necessary, but …. I don’t get why they don’t want people to have anything in their own space, like patio furniture or grills, if it’s not a fire hazard or unsightly. Several neighbors have things like that in their balcony or patio privacy area. — Oh well, mine not to reason why. But I now think I’ll be glad to move, and hope it can happen, to a good place somehow.
Why they think it’s OK to drop notices onto the concrete outside the apt. doors to the parking lot, where they can be blown away, rained on, etc., just eludes me. No envelope, no nothing, and these are official notices. If tenants did things like that, they’d be in violation somehow, but the new mgmt. can do so with impunity, I guess. Until it catches up with them.
I think that the decision to wait off was reasonable, and I then to agree with Paul about only waiting off of certain kinds of persons.
As to what I meant by mass panic, I have heard the opinion expressed that the vaccinations are simply a way to kill off as many of the 65 and over aged people as possible. I did not question or argue. I have been wondering what the mortality rate would do to the Social Security system, but it does not seem reasonable to me that this is a planned action. On the other hand, a person’s opinions only have to make good sense to that person.
That type of thinking (theirs not yours) is a rabbit hole down which I do not care to proceed 🙁
I profoundly disagree! We live in a real world, real facts, real consequences.
It is NOT OK if somebody buys into the meme that Covid is a hoax, so they will not accept vaccination. Maybe they don’t die, hospital treatments are better now; maybe they get it and don’t even show symptoms! So it was a good decision?
Absolutely not. while they blithely went about, infected but feeling OK, they were spreading the virus. They were even providing a host for it to grow in, and mutate, as viruses so easily do, creating who knows what the rest of us will have to deal with!
This personal soverignity meme must be stopped. The real world doesn’t care what any individual wants or believes. You live by its rules or die. Best align oneself with the real world!
That is true.
I was unclear. The opinions one holds need only make sense to oneself for them to be opinions, and believed by oneself.
But you can’t separate one’s opinions from one’s decision making and hence one’s actions. The problem is: people these days put too much importance to opinions. “Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.” Really? Says who?
When we were kids, my parents were smokers. Dad switched to a pipe, then quit altogether. Mom didn’t, couldn’t. My sister & I were always on her case. Her response was always, “I’m cutting down!” Reality struck, “Not fast enough” , and gave her a fatal coronary.
We are NOT in charge! This is not Burger King–we can’t have it our way. The only option we have is to adapt to the treal world. That has been the condition of life for the last billion years or so, adapt or die. Opinions are irrelevant, even dangerous!
When Covid was thought to be worse than it is, early on, it seemed that everyone would die if they contracted it. Now, it’s shown to be not nearly as deadly as feared. This is a great relief to us all. I strongly suggest we all get vaccinated and not let the fear of ‘putting such chemicals into our system.’
That being said, I think that parents of children (and adults who might be at risk from the dangers of vaccination) should be allowed to make an educated decision as to what is in their best interest.
I’m not sure if somehow people misunderstood my earlier comment, and therefore the discussion derailed onto the dangers of not getting vaccinated, or if it was some other comment. I’m not sure how my comment, saying there had been concerns about the Johnson and Johnson vaccine’s effectiveness, could have been mistaken as advocating not getting vaccinated. I certainly do want to get vaccinated and would hope anyone else would too. But if one of the vaccines is less effective, so that people may still get sick after having the vaccine, or if women or some group are more prone to have problems with a certain vaccine, then the answer seems obvious, to get one of the other vaccines instead. If I confused or alarmed anyone by my comments now or earlier, that was not my intent. I’m in favor of good medicine and vaccinations. I hope everyone has a good weekend.
I got the J&J since I was offered it first. Like the Millennium Falcon, it has it where it counts, protection against serious illness and death. I will confess to thinking about it first, but then went ahead and have not regretted it.
And for my older associates here, I got shingrix shot #1 this week. Get it when over 60, you DO NOT want to get shingles.
I’m not yet over 60, but gaining on it faster than I’d like. Heh. — I will see about a shingles shot. (I’m the weird kid who got chicken pox _twice_ as a kid.)
Kroger’s wackiness: aka, next time, I’m going to try Amazon Fresh. — I got no text msg or phone call or knock this morning, and only clued in when Brindle got very interested at the window and then I heard the rustling of bags outside. (I would not have thought I’d be able to hear that. Very surprised. — I got Brindle sequestered, got to the door, and…no one and no car either. Odd. (So who or what was rustling the bags, a stray cat, or the delivery person, or a neighbor?) Also odd.
The oddness continued when I got everything in and began putting things up. I got all my order, or close enough not to notice, but with, er, one could call them extras or overage, more than substitutions. Hamburger, 2x or 3x the 1 pound I ordered, an immense tub of potato salad; maybe 48 oz, when I ordered either 16 or 24 oz. Two bags of potato chips when I only ordered one; likewise on cocktail sauce. And three items I didn’t recall ordering, and must have missed when I reviewed my cart in a hurry. (But items I would have ordered.) Two pizzas instead of one. — Thankfuly, the salads and veggies and so on were in my order, and milk and bread and tortillas, all of which, I was out of.
So I’m very glad about the extra food, and puzzled as to whether I was charged for that. I’m lucky I got everything in the freezer and fridge. I’m overstocked, almost, but I’m sure in 3 to 4 weeks, I’ll be out of some items. I’m going to be very careful not to overdo the next order.
But I’m bothered that there was no notice of the delivery; they just drove off. If I hadn’t been in that room and if the cat hadn’t gotten excited, my order could have been sitting there until the end of the delivery time slot. (It arrived early, also uncharacteristic.) — So their site is working again, but… terrible on the delivery. I got it, but it’s only luck (or my curious cat) who alerted me. — So I’m not going with Kroger’s next time, and will try Amazon Fresh instead. (I’d deleted the order from there, which means item-by-item.)
I don’t know what results others have had, or if any of you need to use delivery rather than shopping in-store, but I thought it might be wise to let others know what happened. I recall Walt saying, a few months ago, his troubles with grocery and supply deliveries.
The excitement for the day appears to be over. Very glad to have my groceries and for things to be all right. — I hope everyone else is doing fine.
I’ve been pretty satisfied with Amazon Fresh, though selection is very different from Trader Joe’s, my usual store. (I should be going back there in about 30 days, fully vaccinated and as immune as Moderna will get me, but masked still: 94% is not 100% and variants are a continuing threat.) Amazon prices might be a little high and selection a little narrow, but I think that’s generally true for grocery delivery in the pandemic.
You can give some instructions with your address, but of course, the idea is no contact. I would expect them to honor, “Please deliver and knock,” for example. Also, they email you on delivery, with a photo of the groceries on your step. So, you don’t have to risk Brindle escaping; just check your email.
Amazon Fresh puts in a $5 tip automatically up to about $60 or maybe 3 bags. They may be estimating trips to the door for the delivery driver. Keep in mind that Amazon Fresh is distinct from Whole Foods and also Amazon Warehouse (non-perishables). If you set the Amazon search bar to Amazon Fresh and search for [blank], you’ll get a list of everything you’ve ever ordered. I find Amazon Fresh’s house brand, Happy Belly, fine.
I had a couple of slightly unsealed snack bags and one missing item, but the snacks were still fresh and the missing item was credited without question. You can easily look back at orders by computer, though it might be harder by phone, and you can easily put a previous order in your cart, then add or subtract. If they ever actually forget a past order, that would surprise me. This record is for almost exclusive use of Amazon Fresh for the last year.
I made a couple runs to Trader Joe’s when I thought I was in recovery immunity from Covid, but only then. I also buy some things from Costco without membership, vitamins and protein drinks; since I often alternate day fast, high protein for low calories is essential. At this point–Moderna #1 yesterday–my focus is that I would feel catastrophically silly screwing up the pandemic when I’ve gotten through so much of it well.
As far as approaching 60, I have an excellent and reliable time machine. It travels very accurately at 60 seconds to the minute into the future. Other speeds and directions are a work in progress.
Since my wife had shoulder surgery last year, she and her GP didn’t want her to get her second Moderna shot in the upper arm. We had to talk the staff of the Nursing school into allowing her to have the injection in her thigh yesterday. She’s doing well but has a four-inch red swelling spot at the injection site. We’re very glad that’s not on her arm interfering with her shoulder surgery.
Ouch, Spence, I hope that gets better soon and she feels better. For anything else, I would think that would be an alarming reaction.
Walt, thanks much. Inteesting to be able to add all of a previous. order to the cart and add/remove from it. Hahah, suspect if Amazon lost track of a customer’s ordered items, they’d have a system-wide red alert, since they track and base recommendations on that. I had good results from their Pantry program before, usually. In my area, I have the option for their Fresh or Whole Foods Market, and I think their Pantry or warehouse program is still in effect.
Hard to believe it’s been over a year now.
My Voyager and DS9 rewatch has been a lot of fun so far. A mixed bag, but overall, mostly good stuff, and some is better than I had remembered. I’d forgotten or never saw a couple of these so far.
It’s been very overcast and cooler than normal, almost weirdly so, yesterday and today. Not complaining; I’d much prefer we don’t get too hot this summer.
I hope CJ and Jane are doing fine and enjoying writing the next books.
The only thing that makes it hard for me to believe it’s been a year is that we’re entering a fourth wave making the same mistakes as the first wave. Intellectually, I can appreciate that the party animals are going crazy and that business people and politicians are in no-win situations, but when it comes to health and safety….
I liked ST:TOS: it had some very good eps and some delightful intentionally funny eps. But, it wasn’t the only or even the best SF in my experience. My local theater had a Saturday matinee double-feature for what would now be $10, I think; I saw Forbidden Planet, 20,000 League under the Sea and many other Verne, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (later the eventually disappointing TV show), and many less stellar movies. Meanwhile, in the Los Angeles area with 7 VHF stations, all the 1950s SF shows were in rerun along side everything Gerry Anderson, and I was reading Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, and others; and my family was involved, Apollo and the Space Shuttle. The ground-breaking SF movies like Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury), Fantastic Voyage (Asimov), Andromeda Strain, 2001(!!!), Silent Running. My point being, ST: TOS wasn’t close to the only thing out there for me; then college and work overwhelmed everything. (Excuse: too late to italicize titles.)
Contrary to the even ST movie rule, ST1 was unmatched–for the first five minutes. Perhaps it inspired Master of Orion II’s opening scene. Spielberg and Lucas entered the scene; I recall seeing the Star Wars trailer after another film, and agreeing with with a friend, “It looks hokey, but we’ll have to see it”; we saw it opening night and left the theater in shock.
So all that leads to TNG, which was okay until Vermin took over, with his only-5-plots-exist and reset the universe at the last minute mindset. If I hadn’t been watching Babylon 5, I might have been mildly impressed with DS9, but DS9 was copying B5. (Sadly, while Paramount has treated ST as treasures, Warner care of B5 has been negligent.)
Voyager competed against the climax of B5, Buffy, and the start of Stargate SG-1 (just left Amazon). The only episode I recall favorably was the one where they come across a small asteroid, unaccountably with caves holding atmosphere, gravity, and (?)another species(???). It was hilarious, but I don’t think that’s what they were going for.
I liked Enterprise, except for the universally hated time war thread, but I guess the ST faithful didn’t like it much. While I understand the attraction of a symphonic theme, I thought the folk song was charming.
I haven’t even touched on the best anime, Ghost in the Shell (TV series only), Cowboy Bebop, and I liked Big-O. Those don’t even touch the classic movies.
Heat, I wouldn’t worry. Watch out: it’s supposed to be a strong and long hurricane season.
I’m very happy that the lovely sunny spring weather has returned here. After the week or so of wildly variable weather, with snow – brilliant sun – hail – sun and cold wind chasing each other around at very short intervals throughout the days, we have returned to stable sunny weather for a few days, and the leaves on the trees are unfolding at a fast clip, everything is starting to go green again.
It’s nice weather for a regular short walk to the neighborhood supermarket on my lunch breaks, to see if the cheese has arrived back in stock. There was a ransomware attack at the end of last week on the distributing company that brings all the fresh pre-packaged cheese to a lot of the supermarkets (sliced, grated or cubed – not the big wheels that are cut to your demand; but small supermarkets don’t always have a manned cheese counter that does that). After a day or so the shelves were empty even though the warehouses are full.
The computers were restored over the weekend, but they expect it will be a week before the backlog has been dealt with and logistics is back to normal.
All the small local cheese shops weren’t hit, so they’re seeing a nice increase in customers for those who don’t want to wait for their regular supermarket supplier.
It just makes me laugh a bit, that it’s the cheese supply in the shops that got hit, in our abundantly cheese-producing country.
It’s a good thing that there are still small local food shops (butchers, bakers, cheese shops, fish shops or weekly fish carts, or fruit & vegetables market stalls, or stands selling potatoes and onions at farm driveways, with an honors-system cashbox you put the stated price in) in every town and larger village, that use different (often more local) suppliers. If the supermarket has a temporary glitch in its supply, there are alternatives for those who can’t wait.
It also illustrates that supermarket supply chains should perhaps be counted as essential infrastructure, along with water, electricity and gas, and get more support to deal with such digital attacks from the center that monitors such dangers and advises essential infrastructure companies and local governments about the dangers, and what to do about them.
With the much larger logistics nightmare caused by the stuck ship in the Suez canal ongoing too, our little country’s transportation-based companies have been thoroughly shaken awake!
I would be extremely put out if I were unable to get cheese! In Hawaii, we are dangling at the end of a supply chain out in the mid-Pacific, and people here are constantly on alert for something that may cause a disruption: hurricane, dock workers’ strike, or recently, COVID. Any of those things can create empty shelves and long lines at the stores. Depending on any one thing without backup, including livelihood, can create a major problem. More than half of Hawaii’s income depends on tourists, and things got very lean this last year when people largely stayed home and didn’t travel.
To be fair, you’d’ve thrown them into quarantine for longer than most would’ve stayed.
True; even when we started letting people back to Hawaii, unless they could prove they were COVID free, we made people quarantine in their hotel or residence for 14 days. Most visitors did not travel to HI to see the inside of their condo!
On the bright side, DH and I are going to visit friends and family on Oahu, our first trip off Maui in over 3 years. We were starting to get cabin fever!
My friend Susan & I have had a week in Kauai in the bucket for a few years now. We’ve both had both vaccinations. But she’s got to get out from under the Tex-Mex hole-in-the-wall restaurant she’s had in California since 2008. Yeah, bummer of a year to start a business! But how many would still be going?
One of the things I’ve got paper-clipped to the list is an afternoon/evening on Polihale Beach. I’ve checked; when we see the Sun on the horizon (because of refraction), it’ll be noon in Beijing. You’re a long ways from Portland, but that’s STILL a lot of water! 😮
I was in a discussion on another site about the difficulty (and wisdom) of colonizing the Moon. A Brit compared it to colonizing the New World, noting that they had a big f’in’ ocean to cross. I retorted that the big f’in’ ocean is on the other side, around Hawaii. 😀
This was after a conversation about sailing and radio communications where I realized the Brits were thinking with an English Channel perspective–use a cell phone–while I was thinking of a Pacific Ocean perspective, hundreds if not thousands of miles off shore–use a “real” radio.
I’ve been reading CS Forester’s The Good Shepherd, kind of a more nuts-and-bolts, less soap opera version of The Cruel Sea, convoy escort in the Atlantic in WWII. All the nuts and bolts seem authentic, but oddly the protagonist’s destroyer is specifically a mythical ship of a class of destroyer that was only used in the Pacific, though they were built in New England. An interesting portrayal of a good-psychopath sea captain.
That book is what they based the current Apple+ movie, Greyhound, on (the library is still waiting for their promised copy). DH prefers the Hornblower saga, if one is going to read Forester.
Last week, I got groceries and was frustrated that there had been no phone or text message, and so they were left on my doorstep. Luckily, I realized it in time, thanks mostly to Brindle’s excitement at something outside. So I had decided my next order would be from Amazon Fresh instead.
Yesterday evening, I got at least two text messages out of nowhere, saying my Kroger’s order was on its way, and then that it had been delivered. The two messages were right on top of each other, the same time. — Only I hadn’t ordered anything. So, was this from friends, I wondered? I went to both doors. No groceries, no nothing. (No water condensation.) Huh. Puzzled and a bit worried, I rechecked both doors, waited a bit, and checked again. Nothing. — As near as I can guess, somehow the delivery guy and the Kroger’s website or local store’s messages had stayed in the queue for days, and suddenly were freed up and sent to my phone. My phone had been plugged in and not turned off, so there was no reason on my end for it not to have gotten the messages. I wonder if the delivery guy’s phone turned off or glitched. Other than that, I’m not sure why there was a delay of several days. — No idea if it was the same order, but that’s my best guess. I’ve only had the number for a couple of months, since getting back online, so I doubt it’s been compromised, hacked. :shrugs:
I am relieved, since I doubt I could’ve fit a second grocery delivery in my refrigerator! — Which is weirdly ironic, given my recent and ongoing circumstances.
Seeing Hanneke’s remarks about cheese just now reminded me I didn’t order cheese, but I can put in a small order if I run out. — I am not sure about small markets here, but since we’re a port city, I’d guess there are choices. There is/was a large Farmer’s Market which dated back to before I was born, elsewhere in town. I wonder how they have been affected, as they were always a hub for local grocery stores and for individuals and chefs/cooks.
—–
Twice now, I have heard a cat calling outside at night, but by the time I’ve gotten up and to the door, the cat hasn’t been there or hasn’t come around. It sounds like it could be male rather than the calico I’d seen after the freeze. So it may be either the grey/black tomcat or else Mystic may have made it through the freeze, now close to two months ago. But I haven’t seen any of them in at least two weeks or three now. Last night, the same cat came by twice, making rounds, calling. I didn’t put out food, since I didn’t see the cat. So this is an ongoing mystery. But hearing him or her twice in one night is new, and I may check tonight.
Otherwise, it’s been slow. — I wrote a little, erased some, wrote some more. I may have the start of something or maybe not, too early to tell. But at least it’s there, which is an improvement from the last several months.
Goober is still doing OK and less than two weeks from having been with me 14.5 years. This is kind of a big deal. I’m glad he’s doing OK, and if he continues like this, he might make 14.75 or even 15. He’s still his non-assertive but wonderful self, and still not sleeping on the bed. — Brindle is recovering well from being spayed, three weeks now. In a bit under thee weeks more, she will have been here half a year. She is still funny about not coming when called, and sometimes shies away from approach. I keep hoping she’ll overcome this. I’m not sure why she’s like this, since she was so needy and glad to get to me when she first showed up. She’s gotten out only once since getting spayed, and thankfully, I got her back in; and felt it was a close call. Her incision line is nearly healed, but her fur has not yet grown back past something like a five o’clock shadow. Since spaying, she and Goober have been getting along a bit better; not perfectly, but better, for which I’m thankful.
—–
I’m still going through my rewatch of DS9 and VOY, and paused on my Farscape rewatch, but will pick it back up. I was in my first go-round in college when TNG started and in my second go-round when DS9 and VOY came along. I only got to watch them and Babylon 5 sporadically, due to work and night/day classes.
Heh, I was a kid in the 70’s, so I caught TOS reruns then and saw TAS as well as Space 1999 and similar 70’s science fiction shows while very young. I was about 12 when Star Wars and Star Trek TMP came out. (Yes, TMP was pretty good, but drawn out, too slow; I nicknamed it the “Motionless Picture.”) But it opened the door for The Wrath of Khan and later films, and TNG and others. — I really felt ENT had great potential,. but never lived up to, never developed, several things I would have loved to see more of. (Mayweather and the Space Boomers got only a couple of episodes, for instance.) I would’ve liked to see more of then-Starfleet goings-on from DS9 too.
Oh, I really like other TV and film SF&F too; not just Star Trek. — I’m hoping to see Prodigy, but unsure what my situation will be further on. — I want to see the Orville and Stranger Things and Lost in Space return. I don’t know what to think about Doctor Who; I was very disappointed in the latest two seasons, particularly the Timeless Child. (And I won’t fuss about the divisiveness in several fandoms, except that I understand some of it, but hate to see fans fighting over what they love.)
I hope CJ and Jane are doing fine and having lots of fun writing the next Foreigner and Alliance books; really looking forward to those.
It’s been slow here. I haven’t felt like doing much, got too tired and am just now getting back to anything like my usual self. My sleep has been slightly better. Not sure why. — Tonight’s menu will be chicken strips cut up and added to rice and diced tomatoes, possibly with a bag of frozen veggies added, or a can of something. Not ambitious, but it should be tasty and filling and nutritiouss enough. I’ve been slacking off on veggies lately for some reason, and should not be.
With luck, the green bananas I received will ripen and not go bad before I can use them for cereal and snacks / dessert.
And when the larder’s looted
Or when the milk is missing
There’s the wonder of the thing
Macavity’s not there!–Cats! [oddly abridged]
Where I was going with TMP is that the initial sequence, I think, established the leitmotif for the Klingons for the rest of those movies? In any case, it was beautiful and exciting; and the rest of TMP didn’t come anywhere close. I just don’t understand how they could perfect that first part, then make the rest of the picture so forgettable. I remember when I first saw TMP, it felt good to see Enterprise leaving spacedock after so long, but without that initial excitement, even that part drags.
BCS, remember that Amazon Fresh has a $35 minimum for free delivery.
Maybe the delivery guy turned off his work phone for the weekend or the battery got critical before the messages got off, but then where did the groceries go?
Keep an eye on your bills, and make sure you aren’t charged for something you didn’t receive! I’m having a go-round with Paypal; like a dummy, I fell for a scam website and have spent the last 10 days trying to prove to Paypal that the site owner never intended to send me what I paid for. If Paypal won’t help me, the next step is a credit card chargeback 🙁
@BCS, regarding the late delivery notice, I had something similar happen with something I bought on the local sort-of-eBay. The package arrived, I messaged the vendor on the platform that it had arrived safe and sound, and two weeks later the message from the carrier that it was delivered arrived. We speculated that a temporary hire for the carrier service only turned in his notices of deliveries once a month as ‘paperwork needed to get paid for the month’.
Regarding Brindle, my little girl cat never comes when called, and she’s been with me two years. Some cats just don’t do that; some can be trained to (if they are treat-motivated), but others are less extrinsically motivated and can’t really be trained to come.
My first tomcat always came when called in, but the girl cat (Pippin in my avatar picture) in between him and these present two didn’t always come when called, though she did tend to come in when I opened the door.
Maybe because there are two of them now, these two are more independent, especially the girl. Brother is more attached, but even he doesn’t dependably come when called. He doesn’t like being alone, so he’ll come find me when he notices he’s the only one left upstairs or in the garden.
The little girl sits waiting outside at the catflap in the garden door in the evening, for me to open the door, but then she always scampers off to the end of the garden – she hasn’t ever come in through the door when I open it for her. When I go after her to the other end of the garden she lets me pick her up and take her inside, purring – but come in herself at the end of the day, she won’t. All day they’ll both run in and out through the catflap into the cat-fenced garden whenever they want, but not when it’s time to stay in for the night!
They really love the garden, is what I’m getting. But at least they will let you let them in, and the girl lets you pick her up and carry her in happily. I think Brindle is happy here, but wishes she could go out and explore, and doesn’t realize the risk. I see she and Goober are warming up just a little, and maybe I am making slow progress with her, hard to tell.
I will be checking my bills, in case something weird is going on. My best guess is the messages had to do with the earlier grocery delivery that didn’t have a know\ck, but I don’t know. So checking makes sense. At least I haven’t been doing a lot.
IIRC, that opening sequence in TMP had a little more in the novel, so the Klingons were trying to fight off V’ger for having threatened or destroyed something of theirs. The three D-7’s got destroyed or digitized, upping the stakes for the Enterprise when they got that clip. Not only did it give us a cool new look for the Klingons, their language, but we got to see them as intelligent and more than they had been in the TOS series, which was generally better than a stock villain too.
The later movies were uneven with the Klingons, sometimes smart, sometimes stock villains, but crowd pleasers.
I think we’re luck we got the later movies, and I think TWOK cemented Trek’s viability. To me, there were things in TMP that worked and others that didn’t, or that didn’t make much sense without an explanation.
I haven’t seen Lower Decks but I’d like to see it and Prodigy. Hoping to see the Orville, Stranger Things and Lost in Space. Doctor Who is a mess; I hope they can pull their foot out of their mouth and do better. Just my two cents, though.
I keep hearing cats at times, but keep on not seeing them. Don’t know what’s up with that. But not in the market for another cat yet, haha. (Famous last words? Hope it all turns out fine.)
Not much going on. I hope everyone’s doing fine. It’s been unseasonably cool here the past few days, not sure why, but not complaining.
Wacky. Further misbehavior from my phone. It seems my local friend had called and left a couple of messages, but I hadn’t received those either. He said he’d been by the apt. offices, and someone there claimed they’d called me. (No such call and no voicemail shows up on my phone.) After a bit of talking back and forth, my friend says maybe my phone was set on wifi, and so not picking up from the cell phone carrier. It should be picking up from either or both, but OK, I’ve turned the phone’s wifi off and shut the phone off and turned it back on, and checked that it hasn’t turned wifi back on, in orde3r to test this out. If I don’t have further problems, then OK, good. Anyway, I’m glad the local investor friend called to check, and glad my phone rang instead of any delayed voicemail by a few days. Wow. (Yes, he had called, but the voicemail receipt on my phone was delayed.)
That aside, he’s looked for places for me to move to and is still looking. One might be good, but it’s in a small town near Huntsville, TX. I dunno. I will look to see what’s in the town (not Huntsville, but near it.) — So he’s looking. He’s having trouble finding things I might could afford, and he says people have all kinds of restrictions on due to the pandemic. He’d found one that he thought might work, but due to the restrictions, he said that wouldn’t do, and I agreed. Wel talked a little further on it, and I’ll be looking at info, for where the one house is, what’s in the town, and he’s going to look about that one too. I said I would like to stay in or near Houston, if possible. Cost of living around Houston is going to be an issue, though. We still have until June or July. I need to be sure when my current lease is up, and want to see if I can even renew as things stand. — But I would much rather move somewhere else at this point as the hassle is too much. I have to be able to sustain wherever I move, though. — He and I determined that the new apartment management isn’t being consistent in what they have told him or me., which agrees with what Mr. Patel had said about it. So at least the investor guy knows not to take what the apartment new management tells him at face value. I wonder how long they can keep that up before it catches up with them. Someone is going to catch them at it; possibly even the corporate management above them. One can hope, anyway.
So my life continues to be shaky, but I’m a little more galvanized than I was. Trying to make progress.
Goober has gotten very tired of getting medicine and is avoiding it as much as he can, so getting him his dose is not fun for either of us, but doing so-so, a daily dose. I’m not yet out of the antibiotic, but once we are, it’ll be just the daily pill for steroid and his special diet food. I let him have things off the diet, such as cat treats (Greenies), and I know he eats from Brindle’s bowl. She steals his special bland diet and isn’t supposed to. I guess it all evens out. He is doing OK, about the same, but not worse, stable. Brindle’s incision looks almost healed; it’s been over 3 weeks now. — She and Goober have been getting along slightly better, squabbling but not to bad, even sharing a sleeping spot on top of a plastic drawer unit. (I moved a food box, and so Goober and she have not wanted to stay there for a while.) LOL, so maybe they are making progress, maybe she is outgrowing some of her kitten ways and might mellow toward him. If she would not pester him so much, he’d mellow towards her. Staying together is a good sign, though. But they are not sharing the bed, neither one is sleeping there with me. Heh.
Nothing much new otherwise. Doing OK enough, but I need to get more done. Next big thing to do is to reduce down more, clean up and reorganize, to be ready for whatever move might happen. Also to get the other stuff like Soc. Sec. and remaining things towards income done.
I am still not used to my new keyboard after however many weeks, and my eyes bother me more. So I am sure I am making more typos lately and not catching them all.
Our temperature is catching up to our more usual end of April, start of May heat. Overcast and rainy or misting off and on the last couple of days. How much might be from the Gulf or how much from the volcanic activity in Iceland or any other causes, I don’t know. But we are not yet into true summer heat yet, and that’s a little oddd, but not yet so off as to be unheard of.
I haven’t been to my storage space. Got to do some work there too.
I dread having to move and change addresses on everything, but I really want a better situation than the apartment here. I can’t build up to a rent-to-own situation yet, I think, but I wish I could get into something stable, with an income that will keep me OK. — Still have to reach my cousin and uncle and talk with them. I don’t really want to have to move in with either of them, but it might be a temporary or long-term need. Will just have to see what can happen and if I can improve things. I want to feel good about things and not have to worry, and not feel like I’m always behind, no matter if I’m working hard or slacking off. I want to be able to overcome my own weak spots. And I wish I could get ahead of all the baloney and bureaucratic nonsense, and find reliable local friends, wherever I end up.
About to have supper and watch a video or audiobook and maybe write some. Goober’s had his daily med and is sulking right now. Heh. Poor guy.
One benefit from moving further north from Houston is less worry about flooding and hurricanes.
Errm, not so much. North of Houston puts him in Tornado Alley, unless he goes far enough for winters to be as big a problem for the disabled. Northwest, perhaps.
Hope all are ok? No new post for a while but I hope that just means that the writers are writing. I’ve been introducing my adult but back-at-home son to sci fi. He’s just graduated from York in philosophy. I started him on Asimov robotics short stories, then he read Le Guin’s dispossessed. I challenged him to read 3 in total so the next must count. I’m torn between Cyteen and chronicles of Morgaine. Any other suggestions (it must be CJ is the only proviso, as I love her work so much!). I was actually tempted to go with Wave without a Shore, but I wanted him to get immersed in a longer work…
The Chanur books are a great start
Hmmm… depends on what type of thinking experience he wants/enjoys—Chanur for rollicking adventure; Morgaine for sword & sorcery (of a superior sort); Foreigner for anthropology (my original and foundational field of study); Downbelow Station for politics and extra complexity… and can I add in a hidden gem, Heroes in Hell for history and sheer fun (as well as a brilliant read aloud, by the way)… and one of the best scenes in literature; Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Hatshepsut careening across a battlefield in a red Ferarri convertible.
My best recommendation, made many times, is the “Faded Sun” series.
The first Chanur book can be read as a standalone, is quite exciting and also has the first contact moment, plus the different hani culture. It may be more accessible than the first Foreigner book with its two ‘prequel’ stories before the story with Bren starts.
But I agree with Raesean, it depends on the sort of stories he likes.
The Morgaine saga would be good.