Done Since 2024-01-14

[mdlbear]

Not a bad week, modulo plumbing problems. I hesitate to call it a "good" week when, on top of frozen pipes and a serious leak in the bathroom, I was almost completely unproductive, but I did a few self-care things: guitar, singing, and walking. And maybe I should count my daily self care habits as productivity as well. But I'm still no closer to clearing out the Whidbey house, preparing for the next move, or doing anything on my actual "to-do" list, so I think "not bad" is about the best I want to give it.

It would probably help if I paid more attention to my to-do items. The way I manage the to.do file could be a lot better.

Still, keeping up with my morning exercise routine and language lessons, playing guitar a couple of times -- and singing on Thursday -- and walking more than a mile (though not much more) twice isn't insignificant, it's more music and walking than last week, and I should give myself credit for that.

Link of the week is Hyperland, a 1990 look at hypertext - it's remarkably prescient considering that it pre-dates the web by a year or more depending on how you count. From the Wikipedia article,

It was written by Douglas Adams and produced and directed by Max Whitby for BBC Two in 1990. It stars Douglas Adams as a computer user and Tom Baker, with whom Adams had already worked on Doctor Who, as a personification of a software agent.

In hindsight, what Hyperland describes and predicts is an approximation of today's World Wide Web.

If you prefer food, here's Miyazaki’s Magical Food: An Ode to Anime’s Best Cooking Scenes, and Yaupon: ... America's forgotten tea made from the only caffeinated plant native to North America.

Notes & links:
0114Su  N's birthday
  * up 6:50; W=188.6, S=6:42, BP=127/77, P=72; exercises
    % dry mouth;  The lower L abdominal pain is gone, so that saves me a call
  * 6:52 abiraterone, 07:54 prednisone with am pills; fiber
  @ The Surprising Things That Helped Make 2023 the Hottest Year Ever | WIRED
  . */15   CPAP:  change paper filter; wash tubs:  * RE, o RS
  * guitar: Millennium's Dawn.  Need to trim fingernails
  & repaired the "Lurker"'s broken leg with superglue.  A claw is missing.
  ++ found Mom's software CDs and p/w notes, which I thought I'd lost.
  ~ tried to fit stuff from the sculpture shelf into a plastic bin -- what it really needs
    is several of the cubical book boxes
  x tried to move the phone base station to the  laundry room; need to disconnect all the
    things in order to do that, so wait until next Saturday morning when folks are asleep
  & 14:30 1000mg acetaminophen, heat - for back pain (R QL)
  * try to head down early  -> a little after 3pm  -> ~5pm.  Stayed reasonably light
  * finished reading Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer
  @ How these homes in the hottest places keep cool without AC - Washington Post
  @ Sustainable wooden skyscrapers could soon take over city skylines - WaPo
  @ the Home Test To Treat program
    via siderea | National US Free Paxlovid Telehealth Service [COVID-19, US]
    Here’s How to Get Free Flu and COVID-19 Tests and Treatments | TIME
    : out to the Lair about 9:30.  The pipes are frozen.  That's going to be a PROBLEM.
    -> filled up 2 empty gallon jugs in the house; topped off tumblers, the kettle, and
       the waterpik.  Then went back to top off the jug and fill the third one.
    -> The main problem will be the toilet.  The tank is hard to reach, so I'll need a
       large, wide-mouthed jug I can dump into the bowl.  bletch.

0115Mo  MLK day  * litter boxen
  @ Martin Luther King Jr. Day - Wikipedia
  & awake 3:30ish;  6ish; cat cuddle
  * up 6:38; S=6:28, 
  * abiraterone 6:50; prednisone, KCl, fiber, etc. 7:55
  : and of course one of the water bottles is leaking.
  % 08:38 hot flash?  niacin flush?  could be both.  not enough fluids?  not enough food?
    -> 10:06 better after more water, sweet-potato bread, and nuts; so, yeah, one of those
  * 15min: more work on Bronx-proofing the Lair - ongoing
  % I don't think I need ice in my water glass this morning :P
  * gave N my copy of Lost Girls as a birthday present.  Good decision
    Almost did it last night; this way she got to show it off to G and k.
  @ DouglasAdams-Hyperland.mp4  1990, so pre-Web.  Prescient.
    " It stars Douglas Adams as a computer user and Tom Baker, with whom Adams had already
      worked on Doctor Who, as a personification of a software agent.
      In hindsight, what Hyperland describes and predicts is an approximation of today's
      World Wide Web. " Hyperland - Wikipedia
      I noticed Cosmic Osmo in the section about nonlinear storytelling
  x noon Carleton Connects invites you to join Layla Oesper on fighting cancer with
    computer science --> damn -- missed it.  What happens when I don't set an alarm.
    Recorded, but the Carleton Connects archive seems to lag by a couple of weeks.
  : massive leak in the lair, behind the back of the vanity.  Toilet not affected (I don't
    think I actually _checked_ the toilet before -- would have saved a lot of trouble);
    flushed it in the confusion before closing the cutoff.  My guess is a section of PVC
    pipe that froze.  Went out to look for an outside access panel -- no such luck.
    -> Plumber coming between 2 and 6 tomorrow
  * SL: Lair:  * 3-5-gallon widemouth water jug -> arriving overnight from $A
  % 21:44 lethargic.  Must have sat here for half an hour brain-fried.  Possibly reaction
    to the plumbing emergency.  But still.
  * bring a load of fresh towels out to the Lair to swap with what's there
    -> left them in a heap near front door (inside).
    -> 22:37 1g acetaminophen.  heat.
    % pleased with myself for listening to my back and quitting _before_ I injured myself
    % back aching but not spasmed; I'll take it
  & Docusate with pm drugs.

0116Tu
  * awake 3:30, 5ish (?)
  * up 6:28; S=6:57, ; cat until 7am; exercises
  * 06:29 abiraterone; 7:45 am drugs w/ prednisone
  * picked up the three white towels
  * put meds into dopp kit to prevent problems with plumber
  @ Miyazaki’s Magical Food: An Ode to Anime’s Best Cooking Scenes
    Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls) Recipe
  @ Study uncovers potential origins of life in ancient hot springs | ScienceDaily
  * leave ~10:30 for Memory keepers 11 a.m. at Third Place.  leave around noon
    -> good conversation. C looked at my right hand and said "you play guitar, don;t you?"
  @ The far right may surge in upcoming EU elections. A quiet Dutch town explains why
  * 2:35 leave for 3:15 checkin for 3:30 acupuncture - bldg 1 -> home 17:15
  & wikipedia dive from "broccoli rabe"
  ~ plumber coming between 2:30 and 3  -> N did the cat-wrangling
  * refill tums in backpack first aid kit
  @ 24 good habits to practice in 2024 : NPR
  @ Give peas a chance and feed yourself the four Ks: 10 simple ways to revolutionise
    your diet | Guardian (kefir, kombucha, krauts and kimchi) also has other tips
  * bring to Lair:  kind bars, fiber cookies
  * load drugs
    % Ticia nearly gave me a heart attack when she bounded over the counter; fortunately
      the pill sorters weren't among the things she dislodged, and I got the open one
      closed in time to prevent further havoc.  Fortunately there wasn't any, and I think
      my yelling at her scared Ticia as much as she scared me.
  * fiber cookies and sleepytime tea.  Will probably get to bed a little late.  now 22:50
  
0117We  ? litter boxen
  & awake 3ish
  * up 6:50; dry mouth, S=7:31; refill humidifier tank
  & up 7:30; S=7:59, BP=127/77, P=83; exercises
  * 06:53 abiraterone; 08:15 rest of the pills
  % 09:35 cath:  Bard red latex -- worked okay, very little output, as expected
  * 1:45 checkin for 2pm telehealth Susanna Myers (Integrative medicine)
    -> contacted by phone 11:45 for pre-checkin questions
    %  13:58 something in R eye -- eyedrops applied, but may not be enough.  we'll see
    -> walking 30m 5/week
    -> increase fluids -- 2-3l/d; drink a full cup with meds (for an extra 750ml/day)
       coffee 500-1000ml; tea is probably another 250ml.  Dragon cup is 12oz.
    -> play guitar, sing 3x before next meeting; add something to bandcamp
  * 3:30 telehealth with Elizabeth Geschiere Fred Hutch Spiritual Health
    Grief practitioner Francis Weller -> led to some interesting rabbit holes re: rituals
    "You want a physicist to speak at your funeral" Aaron Freeman (on All Things
    Considered among other places)
    Eulogy from a Physicist - Aaron Freeman - Creating Ceremony
    " According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of you is gone;
      you’re just less orderly. Amen.” "
    *- "turtles all the way down" via The Travelers via The Bears.  Middle-sized bear.
  * dishes 5:30; short cycle
    % lower back ache -> heat
  * What Does a Quadrillion Sour Patch Kids Look Like? — Wait But Why
    Religion for the Nonreligious — Wait But Why
  * */15   pay AX card  $1317.34 - remaining balance on AX gold
  @ Peter Schickele, musical parodist behind ‘P.D.Q. Bach,’ dies at 88 - WaPo
  * 15min:  updates in rainbows-end.net and steve.savitzky.net.  I haven't paid them much
    attention over the last year.
  * 23:59 docusate with pm drugs

0118Th
  * up 6:50ish; S=6:23, W=190.2; exercises, Dutch
  * 06:55 abiraterone;  8:15 prednisone with am drugs, fiber cookies
  % 8:50 cath: try Magic3-18fr catheter -> worked okay
  @ 2023 Word of the Year Is “Enshittification” – American Dialect Soc. (ysabetwordsmith)
  @ Yaupon: The rebirth of America's forgotten tea
    " yaupon leaves' perfect ratio of stimulating xanthines such as caffeine, theobromine
      and theophylline release slowly into the body, providing a jitter-free mental
      clarity and an ease to the stomach. "
  @ Why Pharmacies Close – Island Drug | La Conner Drug
  * bring towels out to lair
  * N came out with Bronx in his carrier.  No interaction, but no fireworks either
  * drive up to Whidbey so that s" can come down for k's birthday.  With k
    -> road conditions will be bad.  Beware black ice.  -> arr: 15:55
  : call from FredHuch to schedule a uroflowmetry and bladder scan.  2/1
  @ Knuth 3:16
    " Here we celebrate Knuth using one of his own tricks:  We examine the sixteenth
      sentence (zero-based, of course) of the third chapter of each of his surviving
      books. "
  * pack for RS:  small cutting board (maple with New American Funding logo)
  % 19:53 BP=134/80, P=80
  % 20:41 sleepy, drifting.  Nothing done since ^^
  & 21:47 malt-o-meal, because I thought it might be soothing.  Maybe?
  * Singing:  Millennium's Dawn (off-book), For Amy (trouble recalling the tune)

0119Fr  * litter boxen (E')
  & awake 3ish -- don't remember
  * up 7:45; S=6:36, BP=120/70, P=64, W=190.0, dry mouth; exercises, shower, Dutch
  * 7:45 abiraterone;  09:08 prednisone etc.
  * order feliway -- more than we need probably, but $A same day
  @ Search engine results are getting worse, research confirms • The Register
  * Guitar:  Bad Guys
  @ Biden administration announces new actions to boost EV sales, EV charging network
  : expect call from BardCare
    -> 10 Magic3 and 20 red latex catheters for a 1month supply
    -> They will send me a bill -- $200+ because other purchases haven't been factored in
       to the deductable yet.
    -> will come via FedEx; assignment of benefits form in the box to be sent back
    -> at re-order time (14 days before needed, so early Feb.) can set up web account
  * 2:15ish drive down to Seattle with k and s" -- not an easy drive because sun
  * with N and Bronx out to the lair -- Ticia stayed in her corner under the counter
    -> after they left she went back to her bed while I was unpacking
  * installed Feliway multicat pheromone in diffuser
  @ The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Grief as a Sacred Initiation | with Francis Weller
    Search | grief rituals | Psychology Today
    The Power of Rituals " Do you have any personalized rituals in you life? " YES
  @ Don’t stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety
  % 18:54 cold -> sweater, heating pad, honey ginger tea
  @ Boeing’s challenges can’t be fixed without a culture change | The Seattle Times
    " ...troubles are heavily the result of the company’s Jack Welch acolytes and General
      Electric-style management, weak board of directors, union busting, and exchanging
      Boeing’s history of engineering excellence for McDonnell Douglas’ “bean counters.” "
  * Norco robot --* so time to re-order CPAP supplies (email yesterday but I missed it)

0120Sa
  & awake 3am; R eye painful -- may have had eyelids overlapping
  * up 7:40; S=8:25, W=191; exercises, Dutch
  * 7:52 abiraterone; 8:59 prednisone et. al.
  @ Atomic Habit in Emacs - Keep Git Repos Clean · Yi Tang (2024-01-15 Emacs news)
    Seeking the Productive Life: Some Details of My Personal Infrastructure—S.Wolfram
  % 11:30ish eyedrops R eye
  * pm k's birthday party:  park, back yard, living room
  @ Demon-haunted computers are back, baby | by Cory Doctorow | Jan, 2024 | Medium
    " Surely no one will ever find a way to abuse this security system that treats the
      computer’s owner as an attacker. "
  * Walk:  to and around park.  May count as my 30m of walking for today; didn't time it
    1.07mi, 28m, s=2300, hp=13 "heart points" (1hp = 1m walking, .5m running)
  % 16:33 back pain - R QL; heat
  @ Search | Rituals | Psychology Today
  @ If They’re Listening Out There, They’ll Hear From Her | Psychology Today
    " Linguist Sheri Wells-Jensen, who investigates extraterrestrial languages at Bowling
      Green State University, spoke to PT about the promise and perils of alien
      communication and how we might prepare the human race, in all its iterations, for a
      future life in space. "
  : dinner: Sopranos pizza:  Special.  Bookmark: Italian meatball grinder, lamb gyro
  * order:  eyelid wipes
  * bring out  to Lair:  kibble, eyelid wipes
  @ Because I could not stop for Death - Wikipedia cf "Death Danced at my Party"