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.
If solid state drives dinged you I’d recommend not talking about firmware either. Plug-and-play probably a no go as well.
I recently got a new computer for work, but my boss mistakenly put an order in for a laptop that had half the storage capacity of the one that it was replacing. So after migrating everything over, installing the Adobe Creative Suite, and various other programs I opened Photoshop to start working and immediately got a scratch disk full error. I had exactly 7GB of free space instead of the over 300GB I was expecting left. After much confusion and making sure everyone involved in the purchase process was able to save face I got them to send me an external drive. But now whenever I need to move around I have to make sure I had nothing actively linked up to that external brain. Me and the external brain will have to come to an understanding at some point.
I have been steadfastly refusing to sign up for FB, Twit, or any of the other Venus flytraps of the intarweebs. FB still doesn’t know who I am, and I wish to keep it that way for as long as possible.
One of my co-workers bought a new computer and asked me to help set it up. First pop out of the box, Cortana popped up and wanted to connect to all her Google accounts, or force her to make one. No computer should need to get its networking octopus-like tentacles into all aspects of your life, simply in order to boot up. We will be taking it home and gently explaining the error of its ways with a screwdriver.
eta: Welcome to all the new salads!
I have a Mac now, but back in the day we did Dell and I got use to starting off by deleting all the preinstalled bloatware right on day one. I think with something like a Chromebook you kinda know what you’re getting into, but it’s odd just a regular computer would be so keen to hook up to everything as almost a condition to running. Yikes.
I was one of the first FB users back in the day with an EDU address, but I quit back in 2010 after too many run-ins with relatives, coworkers, and being faced with unwanted knowledge about them. If I had to work with them or be around them at family reunions I figured the less I knew the better. I’ve not regretted it to this day. To each their own in the end, but being on your guard there in the very least seems smart. My internet footprint got partially over run by a Romance writer with the same name as me and for a while that made me upset, but I soon came to realize it made it way harder to find me which is just as well. The ability to be anonymous is hard to get back once you lose it.
The thing to remember about FB is when filling out the profile you don’t have to fill out much of it and none needs to be true. I have to be on FB because some of the younger generation of my family don’t communicate any other way. I am still awaiting a posted baby pic and birth announcement for my grand nephew (now in grade 6). The drawback to using FB as a family bulletin board is actual friends trying to “friend” me. Do not think that by ignoring their requests I don’t like them any more. The other thing is to remember everybody’s aliases. My younger nephew has had several over the years because he thought it was hilarious to be so outrageous that FB would boot him out. I didn’t think that was actually possible, but he’d just rejoin under another name and be back in biz. My conclusion about social media is that I am a creature of a former generation, or just anti-social.
I stopped posting on facebook for close to three months because of all the shenanigans political and otherwise.
I’m back now but things don’t appear to be any better. Same voices (with a couple of exceptions), same stupidity.
WordPress has forcibly migrated everybody over to the “new” “improved” block(head) editor and there is an awful lot of blue air chez moi about it. It makes everything I want to do on WordPress about 3 x more difficult to do. I cannot find a free feed reader for Chrome that does everything the old NewsFox reader does. I don’t like the way Chrome’s header display is configured. Everything I do on it takes more steps than it does on FireFox. I stopped automatic updates on FoxFire a while ago in order to keep NewsFox working because I can’t find anything I like to replace it. Mommy won’t play with me. I can’t find my socks . . . . grumble . . . grumble. . .
So glad the fog is lifting for you, CJ. Playing Catchup is a bear. Hope Jane is getting back to a normal that is pain free and easy moving.
I refuse to join Facebook.
WOL, regarding WordPress, I find their “Classic Editor” plugin works well. I also use what used to be “TinyMCE Advanced”, but is now called “Advanced Editor Tools”. I can certainly see why WordPress is switching to be more like their competitors , but I mostly type in raw html anyway (learned it back in the day, probably will be useful forever).
Speaking of which, this site itself ought to be upgraded…
I don’t use CSS except for a very rare reading of a direct feed, however I have and do use Firefox as it is perhaps even better than Chrome at stepping on ads, with the right add-ons. It’s my primary desktop browser and my secondary phone browser, after the Android’s standard Chrome; long press on a link, and I can have it open in FF with safety from NoScript and additional ad-blocking from uBlock.
While FF dropped CSS support a few years ago, several add-ons seem to be replacing NewsFox, though I have not used any of these. FF support article, below:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/5975439/feed-readers/
I’m with you on eschewing FB.
That must be a different “CSS,” not Cascading Style Sheets. Chrome Something Something?
In context I think it might be RSS. Really Simple Syndication. I never understood why support for that decreased several years ago. I used to keep up with several blogs via that.
Yep. Oops. RSS.
I got my first dose of the Vivid Vaccine on Saturday. It was the AstraZenica one
Comment- oh gods how did I miss that typo, lol
Spell-check said it was okay?
Deesha—perhaps you will have very vivid dreams as a special vaccine side effect of your very own?! 😁
Brindle got out when I answered the door this afternoon, and would not come back in. She was excited again by getting out, and wanted to play tag or chase, and would scamper away any time I got near her. So she has been around both the front and back doors of my apartment, and now likely knows the way to both. After a couple of hours with no luck, I came back in, and have checked every 15 to 30 minutes since. She has now been out over 8 hours and it’s about 11:20pm. She and Goober have a follow-up vet appt. on Tuesday. I haven’t had any sign of her for the last two hours, but for all of a few seconds, another cat came near me who _might_ have been Mystic, but I couldn’t tell for sure in the dark, and he didn’t stay long enough for me to be sure. I hope he’s still around.
So…Brindle will have to want to come back and come in on her own. I can’t make her settle down and stay near me to pick her up, if she wants to run around and play instead. She doesn’t seem to be in heat, and is a little early for that, right near 6 months old. I think this is just cabin fever, boredom, a kittenish teen cat wanting to explore. I will keep trying tonight, less often, but I think already I know it’s less likely she will be back, the longer she stays out. Stray cats, neighbor cats, neighbor dogs, kids and adults, some of whom have no idea how to act with a cat, and some of whom are hostile, while others are friendly.
I hope she’ll come back, but I have no guarantee of that. I will be glad if she does, but I don’t expect it right ow. I will keep trying and keep hoping, but I’m also very disheartened.
If I get lucky and get a ride again for Tuesday, I will get Goober to the vet appt. and see how he’s doing. (He’s been doing well with the medicine, but I don’t know if he’ll be OK without it.) At present, I think he will be OK for a while longer. I intend to stick with him as long as he wants to hold on.
If Brindle doesn’t come back, then after Goober is gone, I intend to wait a long while until I get another cat. It has been really rough for most of the time I’ve been here, and if Brindle doesn’t come back, I need time for my heart to heal. I’d thought she was going to be lifelong.
Looks like it’s just Goober and me for tonight, and maybe from now on. It’s possible Brindle won’t come back but will remain an outside cat, another one of the strays. She doesn’t understand yet what she’s at risk of losing by staying out. She still thinks this is an exciting adventure. I know not to give up yet, but she keeps getting out, and this is twice as long as she’s been out before. This may be her permanent choice. I don’t know yet, but I have that feeling. Dang it. She was so happy to get to me when she first came, and now this. Today was 19 weeks and 2 days since she arrived on Nov. 5th. At least she had a home that long.
Brindle is still hanging around outside, and still refuses to let me near. She either thinks it’s a great game of keep-away, or just doesn’t want to come back, yet is staying nearby. I’ve put food out for her.
Despite Goober’s medicine, he woke me this morning at 7 with spitting up on the bed and he had an accident just outside the litterbox sometime overnight or before I had breakfast.
I’ve washed that bedspread and have it draped to dry. The other one isn’t dry yet, from Friday or yesterday. I slept from about 4:30 to 7:00 or 7:15. It’s now after 9:00 sometime.
I guess I’ll see how Goober does. Maybe he’s freaked out about Brindle, though they are not really friends. But both accidents…the medicine may not solve his problem after all.
I’m going to check on Brindle once more, but I no longer hold out any hope she’ll decide to come in on her own. She’s been outside now over 18 hours, with all sorts of loud noises and people and cars, and possibly dogs, definitely cats.
I saw the black / dark grey cat (or one) this morning and a cat who might have been Mystic during the night. I know the tuxedo calico made it through the freeze, as I saw her a few days ago.
I’m too tired and too frustrated and unhappy to bother with any chores right now. Maybe later today or tonight.
Hissy and avoidant when I went back out. Upstairs and down, around the square and the pool and back. Pause with two girls walking their small dog.
I went back in with no luck. As I was about to give up and go back to bed, I heard, “Meow, meow” at the door. Someone was wanting breakfast (finally). — So, a short chase, she rolled around on the pool deck, and — aha! — I bribed Brindle with a can of moist food, let her eat, then picker her up. More hissing and complaining, but not trying to get away, once she realized I still had the cat food within reach. Heh.
Got her in, let her eat without botheringg her, stayed while she and Goober ate. — She is now sacked out on the bed, after her long ordeal, and has finally recognized it’s me and she’s home. I think. Goober’s also here to nap.
I’m definitely going to sleep a few hours. Little Miss MisAdventure has been outside over 19 hours and I’ve had all of three hours sleep, if that.
But she is back and safe and fed, and appears unhurt. She had her rabies shot the other day, and needs her other shots Tuesday or when she goes in for her spay/neuter appt. on the 6th.
I am glad she’s back. I hope she won’t do this again, but I will be guarding her access to the door jealously. Whew.
Just glad to have her back in one piece.
Maybe Brindle, especially as a kitten, needs a richer environment? Boxes and paper bags often work as well as “real” cat toys. I’d try just dumping as many as I had on hand in a convenient corner, higgledy-piggledy, maybe with some cat toys or dry food sprinkled on, and let Brindle figure it out.
Little Miss MisAdventure honked out for a snooze along with Goober and me, as soon s she’d tanked up on food and water and availed herself of the litterbox. We all had a very long nap, but much deserved.
Today, “Meow, meow, meow!” she has let me know she needs Attention, and lots of it (constantly). And oh, food would be much appreciated too. That, and…hey, can I go Outside, Outside, Out-si-ii-ide? Naaoo? — She is alternately bored and wanting to explore the great outdoors (which is actually concrete and lackluster landscaping, a bit of grassy square and the pool and deck). But oh, there are other cats! and things to smell and people and dogs, and eek, scary cars…. Despite her 19 hours out, she still thinks it was mostly “fun.”
It’s very fortunate tomorrow is her follow-up with the vet, to see if she picked up anything she shouldn’t have.
Yes, she’s bored. Her toys are hiding wherever she’s hid them; at least two or three balls and squeaky mice each. I have put her wand toy…somewhere.
She’s right around the low end for when a young kitty is first able to have kittens. So far, I don’t _think_ she’s quite showing signs of that, but the meows are rather close. Her appt. to be spayed is in two weeks, and I’m going to ask the vet whether it’s best for Brindle to do that sooner or wait until the appointment. If she can hold out fine until then, good.
So I am reminding myself I need to make the time to play with her so she’s not bored and so we bond better.
This afternoon, a long cuddle, picking her up and holding her, was exactly what she wanted and needed, and it gave me a needed break to unwind too.
I am so, so glad I didn’t lose her. — I heard from two kids that Brindle was friendly and let them pick her up, while (haha) she was very busy playing keep-away / tag / chase with me. I know she came into contact with at least two of the cats here. I still am not sure if one was Mystic, so I have not definitely seen him since the freeze, but that may have been him overnight.
All’s well. She’s uninjured and getting used to me again, since she’s been a little skittish but wanting reassurance, the two opposites simultaneously. She is good among any cats I’ve had before: her hearing and sight seem fine, yet she doesn’t seem to have picked up that calling her means she can/should come here, or that she can come see me when she wants, rather than meowing, expecting me to come to her. I’m not sure what this behavior signals (besides a spoiled kitty). It’s as if she hasn’t figured this basic thing out. She took a long time to learn she could meow, “talk” to me and get attention. (She has been making up for lost time ever since, haha.) She seems bright enough otherwise, and I think she must have had a home shortly before she arrived on my doorstep wanting a home.
Every cat is unique, their own personality, part of the attraction of cats. Of course, every dog is also different in their own way.
Goober has been doing OK since Brindle got back, and the two seem to be getting along slightly better, thankfully. I still don’t know what we’ll find out tomorrow about Goober’s health. It may be that budget will constrain this to, well, he’s doing OK, let’s see how he does off the medication, and if he has trouble again, tackle it then. But since he hasn’t had a recurrence of both accidents, I’m not inclined to say it’s his time to go yet. — He is almost 5 weeks away from being 14.5 years since I got him, and Brindle is 6 weeks away from being here half a year, while her age is approx. 6 months now.
If Brindle does have some sort of physical impairment (sight, hearing) or a learning disability or neuro-atypical / -divergent, it seems to be mild, and I suppose she’ll learn eventually. I’m happy with her, only concerned about her wanting out, the new exciting game. I know she may still have that after she’s spayed; we’ll see.
(Heh, the short conversations with the three girls in the past three weeks have been longer and more substantive than with the neighboring adults. But maybe it’s a start there too.)
Given some of the things that do get said on FB, it boggles the mind that an SSD can trigger them.
Well done on the backups. Which reminds me, time to go and back up.
I was amused by the following story about a Stop the Steal FB group that was actually a spoof. After tens of thousands of people joined, some consternation followed the group’s renaming as Gay Communists for Socialism, but the group leaders reassured all that the name change was just to protect the group from nasty FB moderation.
Almost makes me want to join FB.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/nov/06/trump-supporters-gay-communists-for-socialism-facebook-group
Thank you for sharing that link, gave me a great chuckle
…Although it may have confused and frustrated all those gay communists / socialists looking for some comradeship / socialist-izing. :guffaw:
…Also, all those not-so-gay folks rather baffled by the name change could at least rest assured that the majority of other members (perhaps 90%) were also not-so-gay, but apparently also comrade-friendly…. Or one would like to think so. 😀
…And… Just how Kampf-y is that group, anyway? 😉
In my office, I use a Dell laptop and attached keyboard/mouse/large screen/stereo speakers, with the full Office software and switching between Mozilla Firefox and Chrome. So many of my students use Apple products that a working knowledge of that operating system is also essential. The laptop is carried into the classroom, where it wirelessly hooks up to the display systems through WebEx. My students alternate classroom with video attendance with half in the classroom. I have experimented with a website during a small Hewlett Foundation grant, but have found I can more easily build and update everything through my Canvas LMS (learning management system). My textbooks are mostly eReader versions, as that guarantees all students have access from day 1 and saves 3/4 or more off the price of a printed book.
Is there a specific e-reader app, for Win or Mac, that most of your students use, or that you recommend, besides Amazon’s Kindle apps? I’m on.a Mac and I’m (slowly) wading through how to do EPUB, with experience in HTML5 and CSS3. (The book tutorials I’ve found all lean on Adobe and Microsoft or else Windows-only open-source software, and they date from around 2013, before EPUB3.) So I’m interested in third-party (non-proprietary, open-source) e-reader software to test myself with.
The latest macOS update and NeoOffice for Mac (a Mac-specific cousin of OpenOffice and LibreOffice) is doing odd things with its menu bars occasionally after closing one or more documents. I don’t have a good alternative for a full-featured word processor, i.e., one that is friendly with using styles, has powerful search-and-replace, and other things a seasoned user needs.
(My goodness, you’d think that kitten never gets attention. That forlorn meow….)
@BCS, Calibre is a free ebook library program with its own on-screen reader, if you want to read ebooks on the computer screen.
I don’t think Brindle is slow or deaf for not learning to come when called. Many cats don’t come when their name is called; my newest cats don’t, even though I’ve tried to train them to do so by calling them and giving them a treat and attention when they come – they are much less motivated by food or petting than by whatever interests them at the moment, and the outdoors is very interesting! Brother is a little bit motivated by attention and petting, but mostly when he wants some, not on my call or schedule 🙃, sister just goes her own way.
Only my first cat came when called, and he was strongly motivated by being with his person and a bit by being petted.
Does your home have a hallway to the front door? Could you close the hallway door before opening the outer door, to avoid Brindle running out?
Or would it be possible to put something like an (extra-wide) baby gate between the door and the rest of the room, so you can shut her behind that when you want to open the front door?
(Use one with the vertical rods she’d have to jump over, not the mesh she can climb easily.)
Those do need to be fixed to the wall though, so I’m not sure your appartment complex would allow you to (get your cousin to) do so.
Our ebooks are embedded within our LMS; we’ve used VitalSource in the past and currently use RedShelf. Both the LMS and RedShelf can be accessed from computer, tablet, or internet capable cellphone. Whenever possible, I also provide alternative sources for stories such as LibriVox (huge fan of this), videos, PDFs, websites. I have recommended Calibre in the past, but we don’t really need it.
And yes, I’m using the classic Norton Anthologies for my American Literature courses. The version I use has 2 volumes for Beginnings to 1865 and 3 volumes for 1865 to the present. EBooks save everyone all that weight, even in paperback versions. And, most textbooks are on a 2 year edition cycle. The ebook is ALWAYS the correct edition.
When the students went to ebooks, I did too, so that I understand exactly what they see.
Our students get Office 365 free on up to 5 devices, so we promote that. Office also works well with the LMS and with TurnItIn. Mac version of Office saves as .pages format, which the LMS doesn’t like, but the students can default as .docx or PDF or rtf.
I always suggest students use MyBib or EasyBib to generate bibliographies, over manual generation – the MLA8 format is a little crazy, and we’re supposed to get a new version next month.
Marjoriet and Hanneke, thanks for the excellent advice. I’ll get Calibre and I’ll want to look at RedShelf; I haven’t heard of it before. I could occasionally use a bibliography helper tool. My old MLA handbook didn’t make it with my other reference books. I recall some but not all the biblio format oddities. (You’ll see I did a citation in the previous thread for my old college French Lit textbooks.)
🙂 I know and love an old 80’s edition, volume 1 of that Norton Anthology. The poor thing suffered greatly from being carried around in my backpack. I was surprised and happy to find the ebook for both volumes and got them a year or so ago. I have been meaning to go back and reread, but haven’t yet done so. (Shame on me.) My Enlish prof for that course, Dr. Maclean, had us read aloud passages in Middle English in the proper pronunciation. I’d had an AP Horizons English teacher in junior high who had read a little in Middle English so we could hear it, and as I was also taking French, the two sides, Norman and Saxon, combined nicely for me.
I don’t recall which Enlightenment era utopian stories we had excerpts from, but when I read the first volume of Foreigner, I was very much reminded of them.
—–
Hanneke, no, unfortunately, I can’t make any modifications to the premises without permission, such as affixing a baby/pet gate, or (alas) adding a living room ceiling fan. (They’d have to add the fixture for it and there’d be an increase in rent. Sigh.)
I can close either bedroom door, if Brindle is there, to block her access to the front door, but the back door to the parking lot goes (oddly) through the other bedroom; not always convenient if she’s in there. The hallway opens out well before the living room and breakfast/dining nook, leaving the front door in too-easy reach for the cats if they are determined. The front has a half-height privacy fence to mirror the balcony of the upper apartments. That then leads right out into a grassy square and the fenced pool and deck.
Brindle hopped that fence to get out Saturday. Of course, a cat can jump in a single bound to the top of a 6 foot or 2 meter fence with no problem, so the 3 foot or 1 meter (approx.) half-height fence is no problem to her, now that she’s tried it.
If there’s a pet gate for doorways or hallways that could secure well enough, that would be an option, though. — I have not heard back from my cousin in over a week, and don’t know what’s going on with them. I hope they’re OK.
(Update on the cats below.)
I ended up getting an 2021 Asus ROG Zephyr 14, (at least I think all those specs go together: I considered so many)—that should keep me computered and reasonably tech-current for at least half a decade — they’re worse than cars, being obsolesced even as they begin their year….
I’m trying to catch up on everything, and get this book done, so I’ll be doing that, mostly, for a while. But physically doing fine. So is Jane.
And does it play GW2?
I’m very glad to hear that you are both feeling better!
Good news CJ. I hope things go much better.
Asus is a common brand for my students. I’m using a Dell issued by the college; it has a webcam but no DVD drive. I use an external one when needed.
Do you type on the laptop keyboard or use a plugin?
My nerdly aquaintances and I are generally of the opinion that ASUS makes some of the more reliable hardware. It’s my preferred manufacturer.
Comment – Regarding the `vivid` thing? I would just like to say, that I actually typed CoVid. It was the spell checker itself that Changed it as I continued my sentence.
I think we would all rather have a vivid, vivacious Deesha than a CoVid afflicted Deesha.
My Mac’s spellchecker, and nearly all spellcheckers, are wrong almost as often as they are right, especially if one throws in another language. I’ve long since taken to calling them the auto-incorrect feature. Heh.
Your presence is most welcome, Deesha. :hugs: Never mind the typos; everyone makes them.
Les Chats — Cats Update — Mixed News, not too bad but ongoing.
Brindle is, oh yes, starting going into heat at somewhere around 6 months old. So this is why she’s been wanting out. It is, of course, possible that she, ah, had a romantic interlude while out and could have gotten pregnant. It’s too early to tell after only 24+ hours. The vet knows my situation and didn’t think me having to deal with a first-time teen mama cat having kittens, and although ordinarily, she would’ve wanted to wait until Brindle is out of heat before surgery, she will chance it, so our appt. to spay her is in two weeks. In the meantime, keeping Brindle from getting out again is a must. But she’s now had all but one remaining booster shot to be fully vaccinated, the other reason to want to wait. If we knew she was pregnant, farther along, I would have opted to let nature take its course and adop out the kittens, but that is a huge strain on me at present, and Brindle seems naive, with no other mama cat for an example. So we are going forward. (I have the tummyy pad Hanneke recommended from when Peppercorn was spayed, when I had here, if Brindle needs it.) Peppercorn had done fine with her surgery. Brindle is otherwise doing fine, happy and healthy.
Goober — is still with me. He has gained a little bit of weight, which is good, but his other symptoms are worrisome. He’s to stay more strictly to the new diet prescription. The vet is going to try a steroid (I haven’t learned; not Prednezone). She says this has fewer side-effects. She’s trying to avoid the high cost of lab tests and x-rays or other imaging and oncology, which she said could run into the thousands. I couldn’t do that and wouldn’t ask friends to pay that much for vet bills. Chemo would be an outcome if it were lymphoma, which can be common for cats, she said. — But overall, he is doing well enough to try this before anything more, or before determining it’s too far to push him. He’s had accidents despite the meds and yet he has the will to live, he’s gained a bit, and his coat is good. He’ll continue on the antibiotic, Metronidazole and the special diet. — Nuts, I forgot to ask about moist food in the diet; he has plenty of the dry.
Uber worked out better this time. They seem to have made a couple of changes that help; still not perfect, but better. I can now set a pickup point and can favorite a driver for later preference if available.
Hmm, now if I can just keep Brindle from getting out for the next 2 weeks, we’ll be better off.
Goober is still chancy, but still has a chance, so I’m glad.
Ack. My first attempt at a sample rest recording, reading an excerpt in French, was too nervous and halting. I was having trouble reading the small print and following the columns, which wasn’t helping. My practice reading aloud a few days ago went much better and I was pleased with it. So I’m going to try something else and come back to this tomorrow afternoon or evening. What I did just now was way below my skill at French and I was disappointed.
Larger text and English should work. I still need to do the French sample. — At least I have the newest version of Audacity installed again with the usual plugins, though I probably need to add plugins besides the LAME and FFMPEG libraries. I think I’ll have to adjust the volume on my mic also, but it was picking up _everything_, including tiny sounds it didn’t need to pick up.
At least it tells me I can still do this, if I can get my eyes and the text I’m reading from to cooperate.
The cats were trying to “help” with this. They aren’t used to me recording anymore. (Brindle has never heard and seen that; Goober was an old pro.)
@BCS, why sabotage yourself before even starting, by going for the French recording first, instead of your own native tongue?
1- there will be fewer offerings of books to be read in French, as the US market is the biggest, so you’ll be competing in a smaller market;
2- you’ll be competing in that smaller market with native French speakers, from France or Quebec; and even if you are a good and fluent speaker of French, there’s a big chance those native accents will be preferred.
Focus on the quick wins first, think about broadening your base later, to keep things interesting once you’ve got a routine built up.
——-
I sent you an email with some links to TexasLawHelp and StopTXevictions to help with your appartment management strong-arm tactics.
Maybe, if Raesean is willing to contact you or me directly, they could help you figure out from those websites which forms you need to fill in and send where.
Hey Hanneke — Thanks for the email and links. I’m waiting for the new asst. mgr. to get in so they can send someone, escort me there, so we can meet, resolve what I can, and get copies of paperwork so I have those. Hurry up and wait. :-/
About the French, mostly, I just really want to prove to myself I can do a sample recording and have something to show I can do French. I don’t plan (yet) to audition for Audible readings in French, unless I get feedback that yes, my accent is good enough. (I’m pretty sure my accent is, but I know my fluency is rusty and my vocabulary has gaps. My conversational ability isn’t as fluent in an immersion, everyday setting as it needs to be.)
What I want to do is at least one sample test in French and in Spanish, one or two in English, before I check more videos on technique and sound work, and then to start auditioning (in English). I feel good about my French and Spanish accents. I am sure there are slight differences, but I’ve always done ver well according to both my teachers and native speakers.
I haven’t yet seen what’s available to auction for from Audible, but they say they have a very big library of books and material waiting to be recorded, so they offer encouragement to anyone who wants to try out. They recommend that anyone auditioning should do several, and keep doing auditions, to give as wide and varied an idea of one’s range as possible, and stay active and visible.
I want to try out for science fiction, but also for historical fiction or just about anything. (Heck, I’m reasonabley confident of my ability to read Middle English aloud, as tiny a market as that must be!)
I think I’ll blocky if I can get to re-estabishing my website move and resolving that this week. More likely, it will be into next week or the week after before all that gets finished, mostly a wait between hosting companies, not me, before I can post any new audio files, for example.
It looks like just the apartment issue will take a big chunk of the noon / afternoon time, but I hope I an get something else done today too.
I had good feedback on my attempt at a British accent and a Scottish accent, but I would want more critiquing on those, as I suspect I don’t always know the patterns for stress and some quirks of pronunciation that are characteristic of British versus American dialects. (I was surprised I got good feedback from a native British speaker, when I’d done fan audio. I would’ve thought my accent wouldn’t be good enough. The feedback I got on the attempted Scottish accent was better than I would’ve thought, but I really doubt my Scottish accent sounds authentic. It’s certainly not as strong as, say, a couple of Scottish actors / actresses, haha.)
— Just got a call from the ass.t mgr. and a little static cross-purposes, but it sounds like we can work that out. So — the promise is they’ll have someone to escort me over within about 20 min. — So now I get to crate up the cats, so Brindle can’t run out the door.
Back later; I hope with better news.
good luck to you BCS!
BCS, I agree with Hanneke — you need to triage your needs. I’d put my effort into making sure I kept a roof over my head (and associated things like electricity and phone [to contact those state offices]) and get all the paperwork done on that issue first. Testing your ability to read French, even if it goes along with being selected as a narrator for someplace like Audible, might not be at the top of my list.
Hope you are able to work things out with the apartment office; the anti-eviction notice should still be in effect, so don’t let them buffalo you.
Good news and bad news: I’d called their office and I got calls back twice that the asst. mgr. or other staffer would be by in 10 t0 20 min. to escort me over so we could complete the re-applications. This never happened (again). I had to let Goober out of his carrier to clean up, and put him back in. Now I’ve let them both out, because I doubt I’ll see the asst. mgr. today. So a full day went by with very little done.
Late this afternoon, frustrated and no longer expecting I’d really see anyone, I called the Houston Lighthouse and got the nurse receptionist for the eye doctor who had last seen me. Aha! Not only are copies of the needed official letter saying yes, I’m legally blind, now set to arrive, but she wrote to the Texas agency to get my case going again, and to the city’s MetroLift program to get a new application. This means I can concentrate on getting the Soc. Sec. case restarted from whatever point it had stalled at, and go from there on all of them. It should take until early next week for the proof of handicap to arrive, so I can hopefully get it all going then.
I’m not sure yet how fast I can get test audio done. I need to catch some sleep tonight. But I think I can get test recordings done over the next few days.
Any attempts to work may be interpreted as, “He’s not really disabled.” A disabled friend was told by his disability lawyer to do no work whatsoever.
Ben, that’s great news that LightHouse called and that they will send you the “legally blind” umm… certification. Will they also be able to help you apply for SSI? I’m happy to give you some advice on it, but the SSI (Supplementary Security Income) application is a really specialized one that generally requires specialist help. I have never done it.
Walt is correct, by the way, that you do not want to show that you have the ability to earn a living when you are applying for SSI or you will be denied. Exploring possibilities on your own is fine… but don’t say officially/within official ears, “I think I could support myself by doing voice recording work.”
I’d called the Lighthouse to get the certification letter re-sent. So glad I did and they were able to do so. I realized this evening, I don’t think their note passed to the Texas dept. included my new phone number, so I’ll need to call or email on Monday so they (TWC) have that.
No one from the apt. offices came by all of Wednesday. I finally let the cats out of their carriers late afternoon, after 5 hours in there with one break. I was so worn out that I went to bed early, was up once during the night, and slept late Thursday, but was still dragging around half-asleep, deeply fatigued all day Thursday. Adrenaline worn off or whatever it was, it felt very bad and very strange. I didn’t call the office, they didn’t come by.
Friday (today / yesterday), I had scheduled for a small grocery delivery. It arrived almost an hour past the one hour delivery window, and putting things up took more time. I basically took off the rest of the day. Sure enough, no phone call from me and no one came by from the office, but I didn’t really expect it.
So that’s to do Monday, but I don’t know when or if I’ll get satisfaction from them. My delay on top of their delay. But early in the week, I think I should have the letter from the eye doctor, which will be a big improvement. (I will get to see if I can get my printer to make a photocopy. It’s been so long….)
I’m going to try to wing it with Soc. Sec., but oh, do I appreciate the advice. And oh, is that a You-Can’t-Win, We’ve-Rigged-The-System way of doing things. I feel like I’ve still got to pursue anything I can to get an income, because I feel so far behind the 8 ball already. Yet the federal system wants me to have no money and no ability to make income or hold a job in order for me to receive any minimal help, while my state wants the opposite, to get me fully employed as much as I can work. Because, don’t pay any citizen for not working or for being unable to work for any reason, they must be no-good, lazy, etc. — And my self-confidence and self-image and depression are really, really not doing good as it is; I’m a jumbled mess and trying to keep it together and restart, and not doing a very good job of it.
But it’s not too far from the truth that I can’t work full or part time to earn an income to support myself. Yet I have to say I can’t to get help, it looks like. What money I have may also be a no-no, yet that’s all that’s keeping me going besides help from folks here. And that is SCARY and so tenuous.
Thanks, Raesean. I may need to trade emails with you and ask for advice. I can wing it and see what I don’t know and don’t have together.
This weekend, I get to make sure that phone and web bills go through as they are supposed to be set up to do, and during the week, try to resolve PayPal and my website transfers. I also need to do some rearranging and cleanup around the apt.
One week from Tuesday will be Brindle’s vet appt. to be spayed. — She has been quieter the last few days since her checkup, and I’ve been extra careful not to give her any chance to get out, but haven’t had door knocks to answer except known arrivals. Her quiet has me thinking, um, quite possibly she met with a beau and did the deed, thus resolving the urge from being in heat. But maybe she’s just being quiet and biding her time. In any case, she needs to be spayed to avoid future trouble, getting out and getting sick/hurt/lost or pregnant. (Six months old and potentially a teen mama kitty…yikes.) That’s something like the start of adolescence or some point in middle school in human terms, I think. I know about Romeo and Juliet, but contemplating the human equivalent as a girl barely in her teens…has me kind of shocked. (However, as ordinary as my almost suburban high school was, a girl in my freshman class was a teen mom, unusual for there, not so unusual for further into the city. So…yeah.) My kitten will need to be spayed, but the human comparison has me stunned, after I’d thought of it. (That teen mom in my high school class was a very, very quiet girl, far from fully developed yet, and she had family support and stayed in our school as long as she could that year. But for a naive, sheltered white boy like I was then, I was surprised, sympathetic, and thought she was very brave for going on as long as she could before having to switch schools or take off for her baby._ It prompted discussion with friends and with my parents. What a thing for a young teen girl to go through. My understanding was, she was going to keep the baby. — Strange for a kitten to remind me of this.
(Good grief. I would’ve been 14 and 15 that year and so would that classmate. I had forgotten she would’ve been that young. But that means her baby, boy or girl, would’ve been born later that year, around age 15. Which means that baby is now over 40…. Whoa, how time flies. That mom is now 55+.) I’m stunned all over again, thinking of that too.
Well, my kitten will be relieved of wearing herself out as a kitten factory or stressed beyond measure as a cat in heat, in just over 10 days.
I hope I can make personal progress fast enough.
Ben, my professional advice with over 20 years day job doing human services: do not —repeat— do not try to “wing” an SSI application. They are exceedingly complex, frequently take years and multiple appeals to get approved and are not designed to be user-friendly in any way. (My brother is on his 3rd or 4th year and 2nd appeal, if I have the count correct). Ask the Lighthouse staff if they help with SSI applications… OR if they can refer you to a credible organization that does. Seriously—you are self-sabotaging yourself thinking that you can “wing it.”
Eek. I’ll ask. I need a way through this, and I’ve seen some of how intentionally off-putting dealing with bureaucratic forms can be.
Absolutely correct, Raesean!
I do not know how SSI works.
(For SSDI, if you’re refused initially and on appeal, then and only then can a disability attorney help you, paid for by the US government. It is an appalling system to navigate for a disabled person.)
Comment – Congratulations to Dr Rachel Levine on her new Post as Assistant Secretary in the Dept of Health & Human Services. And Good news that some Republicans broke ranks to work with the Democrats to let her take that job.
Dodged a bullet (so did my staff) today. My janitor’s husband just found that he had been exposed to COVID during a meeting. Fortunately, he was able to get the quick test and it came back negative. He’s getting one more test to be safe on Tuesday; hopefully that one will be negative as well. Admin has next to no plan as far as what to do if one of our people comes down with COVID, although since everyone has already had at least one shot, that possibility is fortuitously shrinking.
Little MissAdventure has two new things:
(1) She has learned how to open cabinet doors. She is very proud of herself! :-O But she has not mastered doorknobs or latches yet.
Over the weekend, she knocked down some plastic food bowls/cubes, but not a Mason jar in the shelf below it. I’m going to move that Mason jar right now…. This morning, I woke up to a “crash, shatter!” The only casualty was a Fiestaware mug. Both cats and myself are fine. The mug broke into mostly large pieces. Brindle wanted to help me clean up, curious still. I couldn’t manage to be too mad at her. — The mug was on the bottom shelf of the longer cupboard by the fridge and sink, above the counter. So she can conceivably now get anywhere in the apartment except a closed door with a doorknob, unless she figures out how to push/pull it open. (That can happen; Goober used to know how to do that.)
(2) She has not yowled, caterwauled, as though in heat, since a day or so after her vet checkup last week, after her almost-all-day adventure outside the weekend before last. I think she may therefore have had a, ah, romantic encounter with a tomcat, though I had no indication of that then. She has eight days to go before her stay at the vet to be spayed.
I have been extra careful to make sure she’s behind a door or in her carrier before answering the door, so far. She has not been overly bad about wanting out since her outdoor adventure, but I don’t want to risk that again, certainly not until after she’s been spayed and has healed up from that.
Goober is doing well with his continued antibiotic. No word from the vet of his new med arriving to be picked up. He may have continued to put on weight since the checkup. He’s been coming around to see me more, which is also good.
Since that checkup, the two have not been buddy-buddy yet, but have been getting along better. Miss Thing has not been so prone to pick on him to play-fight. The one time I have seen this since then, Goober did much better in fending her off, and she subsided, with my and his disapproval. So we might have a boundary there, and she’s maybe outgrowing the need to pick on him. If we can get past that only to play and then to mutual grooming and bonding, the would be ideal. We’re not quite there yet.
—–
I’ve discovered Farscape (all 4 seasons) is available on Amazon Prime Video without purchase. I’ve figured out Apple’s new TV (video) app a little better, though the interface is still a little off-putting and wonky or clunky to me. At least it doesn’t try to trick me into signing up for Apple Music. So I’ll be able to access my videos from both Apple and Amazon. I’ll likely be doing a Farscape rewatch. I’d seen two YouTubers are doing a podcast with a rewatch and reviews of all the episodes. (That’s from CouncilOfGeeks and Jessie Gender. Their reviews have been pretty good. One is new to Farscape, the other’s doing the rewatch.) — I’ve been a fan of Farscape since the show first aired, so this is a rewatch for me.
Nothing new otherwise. My own sleep pattern plus neighbors being up means I was up over half the night when I wanted to be asleep. I’m OK, just not too functiona and trying to get through my day and get a little done.
Oh my goodness! What an amazing resource and interview!
Wah Ming Chang, the man who did many of the props and creature effects on Star Trek TOS and the Outer Limits, in an interview on his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ZjDzmjEDA
I hope that link works. If not, search YouTube for ( Wah Ming Chang ). This came up asa a random recommendation.
From the interview, he has a lot of other great movie/tv industry credits as well. I’m not aware of much out there about him and his work.
Ooh, so aggravated. I heard my gate and a knock, got up and closed the door to my room. Fortunately, both cats were asleep, so no escapes. By the time I got to my door, whoever it was, was long gone, and no reply when I called out. They’d left another note from the mgmt. office, the same as last week.
I will be calling their office _again_ tomorrow to ask for an escort over there, so I can give a small payment and request paperwork filled out toward rent assistance.
Not, not happy that they are acting this way. I would’ve gladly taken care of this _last_ week if they had sent someone like they said they’d do. I’m not so much scared or freaked out now as just aggravated and fed up with it. I wish I had the option to move, but I’d only be in the same situation, and I don’t have a place to move where I wouldn’t then have to pay monthly like here. — I haven’t heard back from my cousin and will have to call him again, and likewise with my uncle and aunt. But I don’t necessarily expect help there now.
I just want off tis crazy roller coaster, but I have no way to change anything fast enough. So…I am doing what I can and putting up with it as best as I can.
No idea if and when the mgmt. will send someone to walk or drive me over to the office. I really, really see zero point to calling a freaking cab just to drive across and down the street, then another for a ride back. And by now, I feel I’m being hassled unduly, even though they probably have the right to do this. I am sure if they are doing this to all tenants who are behind or who have sought aid, that they are going to get some of them royally ticked off, or someone will be likely to move out. And I can’t blame the tenants for that one bit. — I was so glad to have had Mr. Patel as an ally helping out, but with the new asset. mgr., I am back to, “this is nuts and I don’t have any good way out of it and I don’t know ultimately what I can do to keep it from going on.”
I really hope they’ll get someone over here and we can get forms filled out and I can make a small payment, so they will calm down for a bit. But they will clearly just keep on every cycle. I feel bad for everyone caught like this. It does not feel right. We didn’t do anything wrong and we’re not purposefully trying to get away with anything, we’re just trying to stay afloat. The new mgmt. and (existing) landlord don’t care and don’t seem to realize they are only likely to lose _more_ money by harassing tenants. Some are bound to move out if they possibly can.
Just, dang, I don’t need this nonsense. I want this over with. I wonder how many months it will be before this nightmare is over for me. So, so disgusted.
Can you post a note on your door asking people to wait a bit longer for you to answer when they knock? Just to remind them. Even if they’ve been told in the past busy people often just get on to the next thing without thinking.
I got my first Moderna shot yesterday! It all happens so fast in the end. I had long been signed up to 3 waiting lists and signed on to a 4th one, a new one, Saturday without much thought. In my county I read 150,000 people were in one waiting list as of last week so figured it was about the same on all of them or worse closer to the city density areas.
Eligibility for my group started Monday so I spent midnight Sunday onward doing the whole refresh thing trying to get an appointment via several different sites. Everything would just evaporate as I was clicking on it. I was getting stressed about it so decided that I’d just wait a few weeks and try again after the rush.
But lo and behold yesterday at about noon I got an email from that 4th waiting list that I could schedule a shot. I went into the scheduler, expecting it to be sometime in April, but the only times that they were allowing me to schedule were for that same day. I quickly plunked down 3:30pm hoping that I could pull myself together and get there. I didn’t even know where it was taking place at that point. I contacted my boss and let him know I won the vaccine lottery and had to drop everything and go.
Turns out it was 25 minutes by toll road to a sports complex where I didn’t even have to get out of my car to get it done. There were six stations with lines of cars behind them and six more stations you lined up in your car after to wait the 15 minutes for safety then get your CDC card. It was all very organized and I thanked everyone for volunteering. Seemed to be a lot of med students, college students, and middle aged people working it. My only regret was putting jeans on as I didn’t realize I didn’t need to get out of my car. Could have been in my pjs.
So far my reaction that day was a sore arm around injection point and a itchy sore mouth and throat. Today all of that is gone. I expect the second one is worse, but I don’t even care. I know vaccines are calibrated to the male immune system and their body size so women frequently get a bigger dose than our immune reaction and body size would warrant, but it didn’t seem to affect me that bad. Some women get swollen lymph nodes (don’t get a mammo done during the month after) for a while but I’ve avoid that this go around. Phew.
If I recall correctly, the two Moderna shots are the same volume. It’s Pfizer where they give you the ½ shot first, then the bigger shot.
That’s interesting. I wonder if that’s why women who get the second Pfizer are more likely to feel an even greater immune punch. I still wish I could have gotten the Pfizer, but when the call came it was Moderna and I wasn’t going to turn down a chance.
My point with dose sizes etc is that the one size fits all – on two fronts – means women are more likely to experience side effects. Vaccines have to be strong enough to stimulate a man’s different/weaker immune system compared to a woman’s as well as an average woman is smaller than the average dude. These one type/size fits all thing works about as well as unisex tshirts. The good thing is that women are getting an effective vaccine. It’s just overkill. Vaccines weren’t even required to be tested on women to get approval in the US until 1993 which seems crazy to me.
Well, I just got part the second of my Pfizer vaccine yesterday. For the first shot, it took me 4 days to notice aftereffects. Today I’m already starting to notice a bit of ache, brain fog, and headache. I have to take our senior cat to the groomer tomorrow (poor thing has knots all over his stomach!) so I hope I’m up to cat wrangling.
eta: I’m definitely no skinny Minnie; I have male friends who mass less than I do, so as far as women getting more aftereffects because it’s calibrated for a man size body, YMMV.