Done Since 2019-08-11

[mdlbear]

On the whole not a particularly bad week. On the positive side, I posted a Songs for Saturday -- I seem to be averaging about one per month, which isn't terribly good, but on the other hand I did it this week. I got Nova's /home and /vv partitions copied over to the new drive (after determining that the dock I've had for the last several years needed to be scrapped, and replacing it). I did a little singing. The check arrived for the six CDs I sold at the reunion's signing event.

On the somewhat mixed side, I had a long-delayed urology appointment, and don't have prostate cancer. I picked frames for my new glasses, which will cost me $577 -- I probably should have kept up my vision insurance, although it's not clear that I'll save much if any money in the long run. Island Drug, the only drugstore on the island that has CPAP supplies in stock, finally hand-delivered my nosepiece and filters last Sunday; they'd been ordered more two weeks before, and promised on two different prior dates. :P Colleen's health is improving, but slowly.

On the negative side, I undoubtedly spent too much time on the web (but not enough of it (re-)learning French), and didn't get much else done.

Notes & links:

0811Su
  * up 7:40; S=8:32;
  % naproxen: back still hurts
  * work on Nova ~ in the morning -> whenever
    -> shut down, re-arrange sockets to add another pigtail, add disk dock
    ?? why am I procrastinating this?
  @ Getting Ready Without a Mirror - Alt-Mirror - Medium (gingicat
    | Signal Boost: On the other hand (Web 2.0 rant))
  : CPAP supplies will be hand-delivered this afternoon.  Got logged but not bagged. :P
    -> arrived 5:03
  * started new mirror drive on nova.  Improved daily-mirror script to facilitate this.
    Should probably have run it with nohup -> disown -h
    Should have done the initial copy with tar, which is a lot faster than rsync

0812Mo
  * up 5:15ish; S=6:07;
  * (0812) CPAP filter, nosepiece changed
  : daily-mirror start: Sun Aug 11 16:21:44 PDT 2019
    daily-mirror  done: Mon Aug 12 00:25:08 PDT 2019
  % trying to remember whether I've had labs done. -> back in March, and no PSA.  :P
    Should have had them done on one of my visits to Coupeville.  A bit preoccupied.
  * 2 daily lessons and a weekly test on mondly.  Still way behind.
  % decision paralysis?  Sat for five minutes with my face in my hands.  WTF?
    Maybe something around logistics: glasses, costco, ... nova?... damned if I know.
  : the new 3.5" disk for Nova appears to be DOA -> works fine on cygnus.
    -> may need a new dock.  Or new cabling.  or something.  Now neither drive works.
    -> and it doesn't want to boot with sdb plugged in, probably because no OS on it.
    -> possibly configured to boot from USB first.
  & stopped at the windshield repair tent -- they could, in fact, repair the bull's eye.
    One can still see it, but it won't get worse.
  ~ drop j off at M's around 3pm.  Can probably leave ~12:30 for that. way early; went to
    Costco and he'll get picked up from UNW
  * 3:45 UNW for annual appointment -> took blood for PSA since I hadn't had it done
  % 2 drinks tonight - a Margarita and a glass of the wine L bought.  Definitely noticing.
  $ $56.25 from Carleton Bookstore (B+N College Booksellers) for CDs sold at reunion
  
0813Tu
  * Up 6:30ish; W=199.2, S=7:23;
  * ordered AA and AAA batteries from Woot.  Just need to get a few AAAs to hold us until
    they arrive.
  : liquid on the bathroom floor turned out to be leaked from the bottle of spray cleaner
    that C knocked off the shelf when she got up.  :)
  * SL: pretzels, apples (for cheese), bagels, cream cheese, pat\'e cat food -- they both
    like to lick at it, & onion, x milk, AAA batteries
  * pay for Molly (due 8/22)
  * pay AX (Due 8/18)
  * 2-2:30 C (Home Health) Orlanda - drink lots of fluids for blood draw
    -> probably needs to go back on warfarin
  % PSA: 2.42 ng/mL - normal: 0.00 - 4.00 ng/mL
  & music:  noodling bits of Desolation Row, Millennium's Dawn, Wheelin'.  Sang
    Riverheart, at C's request.  Pulled it off pretty well.  It does work better at capo3
  @ The Wasted Daughter of the Moon: The Trans Genius of Dave Carter | Eruditorum
    Press F(Elliot Mason) c.f. "Phantom Doll" 

0814We
  & awake briefly around 2:30 for bathroom break
  * up 6:45; S=6:41;
  % pain in R calf (gastrocnemius, presumably).  Started a couple of days ago but has been
    getting worse/more noticable.  First noticed while driving.
    -> 6. Driving long distances while keeping pressure on the accelerator. yup.
       7. Sleeping on the back with tight bed sheets that pull and point the toes away
          from the body.  Also possible.
    -> stay out of L, since that uses more pressure.  :P  -> regen paddle; cruise control
  * 3 daily French lessons.  Need to catch up on modules, too.
  $ deposit B+N check HSX
  @ When a Colleague Is Grieving S(L)
    " The default approach is to try to spare the office from grief, leaving bereaved
      employees alone for a few days and then hoping they’ll return expediently to
      work. This approach makes management complicit in what Julia Samuel, a
      psychotherapist specializing in bereavement and the author of Grief
      Works, calls a “conspiracy of silence” surrounding death—a conspiracy that,
      she finds, can do far more harm than loss itself does. It deprives people of the
      support that work could offer in times of mourning, erodes collegial bonds, and
      drains working lives and workplaces of meaning. "
  * Confirmed that Nova boots okay after turning off the bootable flag on /mirror
  * tried new 2TB drive in the dock on Cygnus and it doesn't work there either, so the
    problem must be the dock. -> ordered a new enclosure
  * took the cane when I went out.  Not all that useful, but helped a little.
  * pick frames for glasses -> $577; re-using the old computer frames.
  * SL styptic pencil, Magnesium, prescription for L
    / C's scrip for spironolactone hasn't been called in yet, and isn't on ES.
  / C had a PT appointment this afternoon while was out.
  @ Analysis paralysis - Wikipedia (via brief dive starting at personality disorders)
  * order label maker, after testing with fresh AAA batteries

0815Th
  * Up 6:40ish; W=201.6, S=6:44;
  * 2 daily lessons in Mondly - the voice recognition sucks and you only get one try.
  : YD came to visit for a few hours.  _finally_ gave her and M' the presents that have
    been sitting on the counter since last Christmas.
  * YD offered to do some lifting -- I had her help me with the beds' footboards.
  * the new disk enclosure arrived.  And it works.  Formatted it to match the other new one
  * order fridge filters
  @ eless – A Better less  (emacs news) (already in Honu/opt, as it turns out)

0816Fr
  * Up 5:51; W=201.0, S=6:09;
  : Looks like tar didn't preserve something -- hard links or sparse files -- because the
    tar-based copy of /home is bigger than the original, but the rsync mirror is smaller.
  @ BBC - Future - Why stress is dangerous - and how to avoid its effects
  @ Don't trash the best part of the melon | Salon.com roasted melon seeds
  * start copying /home, /vv to /mnt/new (new main drive)
    -> /home took 46min with rsync; I think tar was slower but neglected to time it
  / 11ish shower (after cleanup)
  * 12:30 C home health
  * check on C's spironolactone -> not answering -> in progress :P  
  * SL:  cranberry chutney, ginger, shallots, avocados, sm. can chopped olives, cat food,
    milk; ~ spironolactone (for C) + tofu, greek yogurt, kashmiri curry paste, eggs
  ~ reschedule C's vision appointment -> closed all afternoon for staff development

0817Sa
  * up 7ish; W=201.8, S=7:14; cuddle (Ticia and C), shower
  @ How to Overcome Chatting Addiction (with Pictures) - wikiHow ( ia 7c)
    apropos, since I'm spending a lot of time there.Oh.
  * Mondly: 3 daily lessons and a monthly quiz (from 8/3)
  * make kf/Lyrics/phantom-doll.flk for "Phantom Doll", from Ron's Folk Chords | Tracy Grammer Chords & Lyrics

Comments

[rainydaysandmondays]

Almost $600 for frames? Are they made of gold?? Oy. Here you can get two frames for $170 CDN. Holy jumpin'!!

[mdlbear]

Not covered by any insurance. I could do better elsewhere, but I'd have to go off-island. Two sets of lenses, one pair of which are bifocals, and there was some extra expense involved in re-using the old frames from my computer glasses. But, yeah.

[rainydaysandmondays]

That's gotta hurt. :(

[mdlbear]

The actual frames were under $200. They told me they had frames for as low as $95, but not in any of the styles I was looking at -- I like wire-rims.
Add-ons include anti-scratch and anti-reflection coatings, polycarbonate lenses and grooving for the computer glasses, scratch insurance, and of course nearly $60 in sales tax.

[rainydaysandmondays]

I like plastic bc I am rough with my glasses...

[madfilkentist]

That's good news about not having prostate cancer. I went through that routine in 2005, before I knew how common false positives were for PSA. I'd had a urinary infection not long before the test, but the doctor didn't care. A very unpleasant experience when there could have been a simple retest instead.

[mdlbear]

PSA results are fine; I wouldn't need an exam nearly as often if my prostate wasn't enlarged (BPH).