icanbeanyoneelse

FB recommended the group "essa - comfort stuffed animal". It's exactly what it sounds like: do you have a stuffed animal that gives you emotional support? Talk and share photos in the group!

It's cute seeing everyone's photos, but ... DRAMA! Does your stuffed animal count as an essa if you haven't dressed it in a tiny "Support Animal" vest? Why did you pick that stuffed animal? OMG you aren't cleaning them the ~~right~~ commentor's way? If they're truly an essa, why are you asking for support or ways to feel more comfortable taking them with you out in the world?

Like, serious drama over these things. Which, of course, means it's a REAL online group/community, right?

(The tiny "Support Animal" vests that people think means their stuffed animals are more valid than others is WILD. Clovis Devilbunny thinks the whole thing is hilarious.)

arlie

I am a paid subscriber to the Guardian. Thanks to the wonders of modern digital technology, I regularly find myself logged out from their website. Today I launched a number of tabs from their main page, and read a couple before they started demanding I log in to continue reading. After I logged into one tab, I had to do it again on every single remaining already open tab, though at least clicking on login was enough - I didn't have to provide account and password - though they did require a second click on a confirmation screen before I could read the article in that tab.

One of the tabs was In an era of frictionless digital experiences .... It was one of those requiring this annoying login friction. And I couldn't find any way to leave a comment about the inanity of the author's belief in frictionless digital, short of a formal letter to the editor.

In other news, Nextdoor has changed something about their spam messages such that I had to personally classify yesterday morning's message as spam. Hopefully that will shut them up again for a time.

On the good side, I'm enjoying setting up my Kubuntu system, and hopeful that most of the friction I'm experiencing is just learning curve, and any changes I make will result in things staying fixed.

But a large ugly raspberry to Steam, where I was reduced to searching a very large directory tree, looking for files containing a particular string, to find the files I needed to edit to take various games out of full screen mode, since they've broken the UI they used to have for doing this. That took a while, and was probably beyond the capabilities of anyone who didn't grow up on the command line with tools like find, xargs, and grep. (Maybe Kubuntu has a contents search GUI - IIRC, MacOS does - but if so I haven't found it.)

Also a small raspberry to Good Old Games, for reacting to changes in linux distros by making various games no longer available for linux, rather than either updating their dosbox packaging, or offering the old packages - or even the raw games - with a warning that you'll need to download and configure a recent dosbox yourself. (I salvaged my copies of the obsolete versions from a backup. And I'm not happy that GOG promises I can re-download any game I bought from their library, forever, but at this point to get those games I'd probably have to download them from a windows system.)

cupcake_goth

But today is not that day.

I had an appointment with my GP yesterday, and after listening to my lungs and gently touching my face to check how inflamed my sinuses were (very, I winced away from her fingers every time), I have won yet more fucking steroids and antibiotics. I spent the night in a huge amount of discomfort (understatement), and I don’t know if that’s because of the heavy-duty antibiotics, or if last night’s dinner at a restaurant had something wrong with it. I felt unwell enough that I took today off, even tho’ I’m starting to feel a tiny bit anxious about how often I’ve had to tap out of work because of my health.

We also went over my MRI results, wheee. Bursitis in both hips, mild scoliosis, a few discs that have started to bulge, and more spinal stenosis than expected. In other words, my back is absolutely messed up. I spoke to one of of the patient advocates/scheduling specialists at the neurology/back branch of Virginia Mason (I’ve been in back and forth calls with them for a few weeks); consultation appointments are being scheduled six months out, and they can’t even start scheduling appointments for August until March. I’m less than thrilled.

Ugh. Bodies are stupid.

lycomingst

So since I moved here my living room tv, not a big one, and all the cable paraphernalia have been on the floor. I don't watch much in there and I didn't want to spend anything to get a table. It was far down on the list of things to buy. But I was eyeing a coffee table at the Fred Meyer's (grocery and department store in one) and there was a floor model very marked down.

The other day I said, if it's still there I'll get it. Original price about $150, bought for $42. That said, it's a wee bit too big for the space but the room has a less 'first apartment' vibe.

But the story (fascinating as it is) is even more interesting, because the same day I bought it I got a check in the mail for $53. A result of signing up for a class lawsuit suing somebody for something. A day of profit and a new table.

arlie

Apple's Sequoia release destabilized my Mac Mini, in ways that suggest I need a beefier, more recent machine to run everything they've shoveled into the OS. I get overnight Safari crashes, semi-randomly, at least once a week and sometimes daily. It also broke parts of my ordinary workflow. I'm reliably informed - by a friend who's a long time Apple developer - that the release after Sequoia, named Tahoe, is even worse. He's personally regretting "upgrading" to it.

So the time has come to find my parachute. Windows is not a reasonable option - it has all the MacOS flaws, plus a whole pile of its own. I fled from them to MacOS when they proudly released a version designed to look and feel like a cell phone, presumably to encourage purchasers to buy a tablet instead (sic).

I've known MacOS was going downhill for a while, and would eventually cease to meet my needs. A couple of years ago I bought a mini pre-installed with Pop!_OS, probably 22.04, the then current Long Term Support (LTS) release. It was a dog. Routine window manager hangs combined with a UI from Hades, that wasn't configureable in any way that mattered to me. Woof! Woof! Woof! I've been using it only for tasks I simply couldn't do on any other operating system - bookkeeping (I use gnucash) and retro games that require support for 32 bit apps (MacOS killed that).

Last week I had a rush of energy, possibly brought on by anger over current events. I finally started serious steps towards looking for a better distro. I acquired a number of cheap memory sticks, expecting to have to try out dozens before I found one tolerable. I canvassed my most knowledgeable friend for advice, and did so on a Discord server where other friends could weigh in. And then I made a post on reddit asking for suggestions, with a long description of what I do and do not like in an OS.

( Read more... )

lycomingst

I still have the books I bought at the library sale, having finished them and wanting to give them away. Can't go back to the library, they've made it clear they've washed their hands of them. So I was looking around for Little Libraries around town. Looking on and off and then forgetting about it.

But I found one on the map that seemed to be just up the street. The next street over from where I drive to get to the stores I frequent. I thought I should just walk over there. And after a while of procrastination, I did, the other day. Well, it was a longer walk than I envisioned (isn't it always?). It was a nearly two hour walk back and forth, though I was kind of shuffling at the end. My feet were aghast at my temerity.

But I saw a new neighborhood. There's somebody selling sourdough bread or has a little cafe; that was unexpected. It's a two lane street and at one point there are houses on one side and fields on the other. And, weirdly, the individual mail boxes for the houses are on the field side. You have to cross the street to pick up your mail. Why would it be more convenient for the mail truck to go up that side then the other?

Also there aren't many sidewalks on this street. We likes to feel rural.

lycomingst

I suppose this means Oregon has accepted me as one of her own. I got a jury summons.

cupcake_goth

There's a store on AliExpress that has fabric of the Haunted Mansion wallpaper in multiple colors! Yes, I immediately ordered enough for a dress.

PINK HAUNTED MANSION FABRIC OMG

cupcake_goth

I'm going to the Ghost concert in about two weeks, which means I've started thinking about my outfit. The front runner so far:

Pink & black stripe long sleeve high collar dress
Black waist cincher (boning for back support, yay!)
Hair pulled back under the wide-brimmed pink hat decorated with black lace bat appliques
Giant round onyx pendant
Black rosary beads with black heart perfume bottle
Pink & black Dr. Marten boots

The reasons I'm contemplating the hat are 1) it means I wouldn't have to wrangle my thin-but-prone-to-tangling hair, and 2) the hat is awesome. And because I'm short, I'm about 90% certain that it wouldn't block anyone's view of the stage.

The second choice:

B&W / glow-in-the-dark bats long sleeve high collar dress
Black waist cincher (boning for back support, yay!)
Hair pulled back with hair floofs and some sort of black flowers & veil headpiece
Giant round onyx pendant
Black rosary beads with black heart perfume bottle OR glow-in-the-dark rosary with an ankh pendant
Black & clear rhinestone Betsey Johnson platform(ish) flats

Aaaaaannd I need to double-check the bag policy for the venue. At least I know where my clear concert purse is if that's what I have to carry with me.

lycomingst

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

What will attract me is a male/female platonic partnership, like Elementary or The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (the original one). No ust for me, thanks.

Also, ghost stories where the ghosts are just hanging around putting in time, not out to murder anybody. Like the UK Ghosts or the Australian show Spirited.

amado1

Forgot to tell y'all I was in the car with my mom WEEKS ago driving to her house and we had this conversation.

Mom: Have you heard that song, uh, what's it called? "Massacree?"
Me: Massacre?
Mom: Massacree...
Me: Is it metal?
Mom: "Massacree" something, "restaurant..."
Me: "Alice's Restaurant?" By Arlo Guthrie?
Mom: Alice's Restaurant Massacree! By Arlo--
Me: Guthrie
Mom: Arlo Guthrie.
Me: Yes I've heard it.
Mom: You know he was Woody Guthrie's brother?
Me: Son.
Mom: Do you know who Woody Guthrie is?
Me: I know Arlo was his son, for example
Mom: But have you heard the song?
Me: Yes I Have Heard The Song
Mom: The 30-minute version?
Me: Frankly I do not like the 2-minute version so--
Mom: (opens Spotify)

cupcake_goth

minim_calibre very kindly came over yesterday to help me run some errands AND slowly pootle around two thrift stores. There wasn’t anything worthwhile at Value Village, which is sadly becoming the norm. Well, there were some dresses that could have been turned into something interesting, but I stuck to my clothing no-buy. PRAISE ME.

The other thrift store was The Discovery Shop, which is a small nonprofit for the American Cancer Society. It’s a few blocks from my house, which means that once I’m healthy I need to make more of an effort to walk up there on a regular basis. Because, as with most smaller, charity-specific thrift stores, the selection is much better. I bought two pieces of jewelry: a crystal necklace with an antique skeleton key pendant (minim handed it to me, saying, “This belongs to you”), and a vintage belled bracelet, because I want to return to jingling when I walk. I pined over a huge blown glass candelabra with multiple arms, but acknowledged that I ha no place to put it. But my god, it was stunning.

I learned that both The Discovery Shop and Value Village have “senior discount days” on Tuesdays, and that “senior” is 55+! Time to schedule a regular thrifting day!

All of the excitement of leaving the house took its toll, however, and I’m absolutely exhausted today. Plus I’m starting a new round of different antibiotics, because my symptoms returned once I finished the first round. Thank goodness that my preferred urgent care clinic offers telehealth appointments.

lycomingst

Apropos, because I just got it cut.

These questions were written by destined_dreams.

1. What type of hair do you have? (Thin, Normal, Thick, Frizzy, etc.)
Thick and straight until it grows, then it curls. Mullet!

2. What color is your hair currently?
Sort of brownish with red showing in the sun

3. What colors have you dyed/highlighted your hair?
Never added color because it was my best feature and I was afraid of ruining it.

4. If you could dye your hair any color, what would it be?
Something unnatural, like blue. Maybe if it turns white before I die, I'll try it.

5. What is your hair's length?
So short, short and butch. Should last me to July until I force myself to the cutters.

There are daffodils sending up shoots in the front yard. Yet, every morning there is frost on the ground. Crazy mixed-up daffodils.

I'm putting out seeds for the birds. Mostly small black headed birds, an occasional dove (which I hope don't hang around because I find their cooing so disheartening), a jay or two and an anemic looking robin. And greedy, fat squirrels.

The electrician came again, but I think everything is sorted and I finally understand the furnace (fingers crossed) and I won't use the portable heaters again.

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icanbeanyoneelse

Reading

Cute but kinda odd?

Frictionless Digital Experiences (sic)

Someday I will post about something other than my health

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Escape from CrApple

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Of possible interest to some of you

Shallow outfit dithering

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Left the house!

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November 2023

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