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Done Since 2024-08-04
This week wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been -- I'll take it. A week that begins with Amethyst's birth(?)day, and includes a lot of moving prep, the anniversaries of two atomic bombings, and some heavy reading, has the potential to be really bad. In fact, it wasn't, possibly because I was too busy to notice. And because the reading in question, The Overstory by Richard Powers, after going through some very harrowing parts, ends with calm, dark optimism, and tenuous hope.
Despite what I said about The Overstory, I highly recommend it. It reminded me a little of Moby Dick with the way that a huge amount of lore (about trees rather than whales) is woven throughout the text. And it doesn't kill off as many of the main characters. There are video reviews under Saturday. I'm not sure I'm up to writing a review, but I might try. Meanwhile, read more reviews and approach it with some caution, and a lack of respect for mornings.
Amethyst would have been 34 years old last Sunday. I didn't write a memorial post. Maybe later.
Apparently I'm aphantastic, or maybe hypophantastic. (Links under Tuesday.)
Two or more cups of coffee is associated with a 28% lower risk of dementia. The article adds that moderate tea drinking also lowers your risk, but doesn't say by how much.
Notes & links: 0804Su Ame & awake 3:30ish; awake 7ish but incapussitated * up 07:20; S=7:35; exercises, Dutch * abiraterone 07:45; rest of am drugs 08:48; pm drugs 0ish * H2O: 08:37:c, ??, 20:50 @ Opinion | The quiet strength of the very old - The Washington Post @ Opinion | Dungeons & Dragons anniversary: The magic is in the Memories - WaPo Critical Role launches Beacon, prepares ‘Vox Machina’ Season 3 for fall & 2min: change WaPo display name "Steve on Whidbey Island" -> "Steve from Rainbows End" @ BASIC—the Most Consequential Programming Language in the History of Computing * 12:00 leave with G for Music Under the Trees (picking up m and k along the way) * 15min: dishes (load, run) * increase iron dosage (use Gentle Iron - 28mg) 0805Mo * litter boxen & awake 5:25 * up 06:28; S=7:31; exercises, Dutch * abiraterone 5:25; rest of am drugs 06:32; pm drugs 21:45 * H2O: 06:33, 07:25:c, 15:52, @ Zulip 9.0: Organized chat for distributed teams @ Web Crap Has Taken Control. It’s no secret that web development has… | by fulalas React, Webpack, node, yarn, etc. * 15min: dishes (unload) * VOTE * answer email from Monika, since that's easier than asking Greg & charge Molly. (Freddy's, so grabbed grab-and-go seafood while waiting) % pain: R shoulder (heat helps a little) and R TMJ area * 15min: recycling, composting % 17:30 feeling very tired, achy in multiple places -> 400mg ibuprofen @ Google is an illegal monopoly, federal judge rules in antitrust lawsuit - WaPo Google Search Is an Illegal Monopoly, US Judge Rules | WIRED * alert movers to need for some exra packing material * */1 CPAP: change nosepiece * */1 CPAP: change paper filter, wash tubs 0806Tu Hiroshima * up 05:31; S=6:59, BP=116/68, p=68; exercises, Dutch % 7 hours of sleep but not feeling rested * abiraterone 05:31; rest of am drugs 6:30ish; pm drugs 22:40ish * H2O: 07:09, 08:32, 09:??:c, 09:41, @ The Compass and the Clock.| by Peter Garrison | The New RC Soaring Digest " A speck upon an endless ocean, a work of science and of art, Melmoth strikes eastward to test the mettle and endurance of its maker. " flying, via T @ Zoom Is Going After Google and Microsoft With AI-Driven Docs | WIRED @ The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us | by Cory Doctorow | Aug, 2024 | Medium Revenge of the Chickenized Reverse-Centaurs – Pluralistic: Cory Doctorow " In AI circles, a “centaur” describes a certain kind of machine/human collaboration, in which “decision-support” systems (which the field loves to call “AI”s) are paired with human beings for results that draw upon the strengths of each " " By contrast, an Amazon driver is a reverse-centaur. The AI is in charge, and the human is the junior partner. " @ 'Algospeak' is changing our language in real time - The Washington Post Aesopian language - $W @ What If It’s Already Too Late? What Then? | Richard Lowenthal | Greener Together " referring to all of them, collectively: ongoing, accelerating problems like climate change, ecological degradation and destruction, increasing gun violence, increased misogyny and racism, and the intensifying collapse of democracy. " @ French museums, Olympics’ venue hit with cyberattack – POLITICO Noteworthy because the "hero image" appears to be a Lenovo X230. @ Paris mayor drops f-bomb-filled rant toward opening ceremony critics – POLITICO * ask Greg for a copy of Mom's will, if he has it. * ask Monika for paper trail. * assembled two of the four "Sky Kennel" carriers (they're huge), stacked the other two in j's (old -- he won't be back to it) room. Put one where it replaces Cricket's throne on the ottoman, and the other in the Lair. Where Bronx promptly dove into it. Didn't stay long, but it's a good sign. @ What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images (andrewducker) -> huh! I may have something close to (or la imited form of) Aphantasia -> Understanding Aphantasia " Do I have aphantasia or hypophantasia? " @ The elusive horror of Hiroshima 0807We o litter boxen & awake 4:20 % dream: boy raised by wolves. not me--I was showing the wolves to someone else. the pack was writhing around a fallen log. After a while they began to look more like elbow maccaroni with flakes of pesto. Only alive and moving. * up 06:31; $ dream: scenes from Under Old Earth or Metropolis -- water was roaring through an endless underground labyrinth. There were different rooms with strange objects. one was all black and green marble, with something -- also black and green. I/we found a huge door there and maybe escaped. maybe not. It was very dark; there was a forest and a steep cliff. I wasn't always embodied in this one. % dream: some kind of camp? Islands? involved making food. I found (laptop) Blackroot on a shelf over some plates; slong with a black leather briefcase and a stack of metal objects, which I set aside. Somehow it was connected with group theory; maybe the Monster. It was very important to get the finding of Blackroot, and the previous dream, logged, but I kept getting interrupted. Both on a laptop and on a huge keyboard/console on a pillar, that could rotate. Somewhat connected to the previous dream. There was also a woman or women. Before I found Blackroot I was carrying around a stack of large sausage slices that were somehow connected with this or a different (mathematical) group. * abiraterone 06:31; rest of am drugs 07:40; pm drugs * H2O: 07:44, 08:28:c, 15:57, 20:23, % TMJ pain; p=4/5. crunchy. Is the bite guard helping, or making it worse? -> 08:17 400mg ibuprofen - next in 4-6h if needed, so 1-2pm @ CrowdStrike Faces a Potential Tsunami of Lawsuits. Only the Fine Print Can Save It, Experts Say | WIRED @ Tim Walz Took Historic Action To Protect Trans People, Now He's The Dem VP Choice @ Wind and solar overtake EU fossil fuels in the first half of 2024 | Ember @ She’s the New Face of Climate Activism—and She’s Carrying a Pickax | WIRED Les Soulèvements de la Terre - Wikipedia The Earth Uprisings Collective @ I Finally Found the Perfect Reading and Thinking Device | by Nico Zorn | Medium * walk: Monkey Grind w\ m: 13:42: w=0.8mi, s=2200, 10hp, 34min, 28mm, : missed call from Seattle Gastro this am; when I checked the portal not only was there no message, but my upcoming appointment wasn't there. When I called back (second attempt, because "0" doesn't get to an operator, nor does staying on the line. The correct extension is "3", for the front desk. WTF?) I was told that there was no record of the call, and that appointments for _procedures_ don't get on the portal. What. The. Actual. Fsck? @ Microsoft joins CrowdStrike in pushing IT outage recovery responsibility back to Delta | CIO Dive * 15min: dishes: load, run, start unloading * load drugs @ How Neuroinflammation May Be Knocking out the Muscles in Long COVID, ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia - Health Rising 0808Th International Cat Day @ International Cat Day International Cat Day 2024 & awake 4:20ish; couldn't get back to sleep * up 5:25; S=6:14 * abiraterone 05:32; rest of am drugs 06:30; pm drugs 21:43 * H2O: 07:53, 15:58, 21:14, @ CrowdStrike blames mismatch in Falcon sensor update for global IT outage root cause analysis report " Falcon sensor expected 20 input fields in a rapid response content update, but the software update actually provided 21 input fields. The mismatch resulted in an out-of-bounds memory read " * 7am check time to storage unit from here - 1:15. 40min to Mukilteo * 8am leave to aim for 9am ferry. Snagged a McMuffin on the way up for brunch. * 10-11am movers pickup at Whidbey. shipment# 1209230 -> check out at the desk -- apparently I get to keep the lock. Apparently it's cheap 10:25 and they're almost done -> I made it onto the 11:30 boat. They didn't. * go with N to meet the movers at the Seattle storage unit -> done around 14:45 -> everything fit comfortably in the 10x10, including E's and k's stuff -> spotted C's high school graduation photo, and snagged it. Now next to urn : blackroot did not show up, nor anything that looked like its charger. Who knows? @ Aphants! Looking For That Elusive Apple? Look No Further—Try This Apple Illusion! The Ball On A Table: How To Tell The Difference Between Visualizers And Conceptualizers @ More Evidence That an Artificial Sweetener Poses Heart Risk " at doses commonly found in an erythritol-sweetened soda or muffin, the sweetener was linked to heightened activity of blood platelets, which could make clots more likely. " @ The CrowdStrike Outage and Market-Driven Brittleness | Lawfare " The outage is another consequence of companies’ sacrifice of resilience for expediency. " 0809Fr Nagasaki Book Lovers Day & awake ?? * up 06:36; S=7:38; (some) exercises, Dutch * abiraterone 06:36; rest of am drugs 07:37; pm drugs * H2O: 07:40, 07:52:c, 11:50, ~20:00 @ Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Wikipedia @ Book Lovers Day - Wikipedia * 2min: set alarm for appointment @ Back to the future: Windows Update is now a trojan horse for hackers | CSO Online @ Musk’s X under scrutiny in Europe for data privacy practices – Computerworld * 9:00 leave to arrive 9:45 for 10am apt w\ Dr Liao, Montlake *- mention colonoscopy scheduled for the 20th -> should have another in ~6 months. Consider arranging for a cluster of appts during a trip to the US around then. * after appointment, hit Bartell for prep and hazard pay -- salmon jerky + chocolate @ Generative AI Might Be On The Verge Of Self Destruction | by Will Lockett @ Nike: An Epic Saga of Value Destruction | LinkedIn Nike’s $25B blunder shows us the limits of “data-driven” | by Pavel Samsonov @ The Business World’s Favorite Laptop Has Barely Changed in 30 Years thinkpad * walk: taqueria: w=0.9mi, s=1868, 11hp; today: s=4378, 12hp, 1.5mi, 52mm * 15min: _finally_ cancelled all my $A subscriptions, many of which were next to be delivered in October. I think I have enough of everything. * _finally_ partition the new 2TB disk for Sable. Partitions not formatted yet. gparted or the disk utility would probably work for that. Tomorrow. 0810Sa * litter boxen & awake 4:20ish * up 06:36; S=7:37, W=197.8; Dutch, exercises * abiraterone 06:36; rest of am drugs 07:42; pm drugs 22:20 * H2O: 07:42; 09:28, 09:40:c, ??, 21:30 * 10am E' - working mainly on N+G's room and closet * laundry. * There are two of my Sonovia masks in last night's load. @ How to Kill a Smart Device: Spotify Car Thing Post Mortem - Consumer Reports @ Coffee-Dementia Link Continues to Unfurl | MedPage Today " drinking two or more cups of coffee a day was associated with a 28% lower risk of dementia [...] Moderate tea drinking -- up to two cups a day -- was also associated with a lower dementia risk compared with no tea consumption. " @ Zen By Cat | House of Nekko FIP charity! * finish The Overstory by Richard Powers The Overstory is a masterpiece | Spoiler-free book review - YouTube Richard Powers on The Overstory * 15min: return mouse.
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I'm glad you had a good week despite the potential for griefquakes and stress. Love the bit in the notes about the cats and the kennels.
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My ability to visualize is on the weak side. A strong capacity for auditory imagery makes up for it.