mdlbear | Done Since 2024-11-24 (Reply)

Pretty good week, I think, though it had a cpuple of rough spots mostly around mornings, and some cold evenings. Yesterday was American Thanksgiving Observed here at Schildhaven -- j had school Thursday and Friday. Not a school holiday despite the fact that Thanksgiving is celebrated in Leiden.

Extreme reluctance to get out of bed is somewhat new, I think; it's hard to say whether it indicates depression, 3am bladder wake-ups, heavy blankets, or something about cats. And whether that "something" is being slept on (see above) or having to sift the litter box can only be speculated about. I wouldn't know -- I don't really wake up until my second cup of coffee.

My main accomplishment for the week may have been tidying up the living room, which included taking out five or six bags of packing foam, consolidating the flattened cardboard boxes, and re-organizing my (physical)desktop. (N mentoned the improved state of the first floor, but that didn't really register until the next day.) And on Monday I called both USBank and BECU over different technical-support issues. Total distinct, but both due to my location. That's only one in an ongoing series of annoyances; I surprised myself by remaining calm and coherent over the entire two hours on the phone.

N and I discussed the next two recording projects: "Amethyst Rose" and another album which doesn't have a firm title at the moment. Their relative timing is similarly uncertain, as are the positions of a few tracks. But I've started practicing more. (Still missed two days in the past week though. Working on it.)

Hot off the net: google’s latest fuckery: if you write online, read this – Solarbird{y|z|yz} (via solarbird) -> Google app for iOS now adds THEIR links to YOUR posts from YOUR website unless you opt-out. Could someone with an iPhone please see whether this is happening to 1) this post, 2) steve.savitzky.net or 3) GoingSideways.blog? (This info will also be linked in next week's "Done Since" post.)

Also, MS Word is Using You to Train AI. How to turn off AI-scraping from your Word docs.

Notes & links:
1124Su * litter boxen - * top up
& awake -- maybe not.
* up 7am (alarm); ; dishes... Dutch
% seemingly slept very well -- the stack of duvet+cover, throw, sherpa blanket is
halfway to being a weighted blanket, and very pleasant. I think I felt rested.
* abiraterone 7:05; coffee; rest of am drugs 08:12; coffee; pm drugs 20:29
* 15min: trash. 2 bags of foam, plus the bags from the entryway and kitchen counter
10:37 another 3 bags will do it for the foam, modulo the fact that the top few chunks
have to be unbagged and tossed in separately.
* 15min: re-arrange (physical)desktop to get cables etc out of the way. UA25 up to
top shelf, mic stand moved back in front of shelf, cup-holder moved back toward wall.
-> will need a better mic boom or stand eventually; for now it can be moved if needed
@ 10 amazing trans women you didn't learn about in history class
@ Five Years On: A Covid Retrospective - by Nate Bear
* 15:29 take out the remaining three bags of foam packing. DONE (for the moment)
% 16:04 I can see the bare surface of my desk in _way_ more places than I'm used to.
I seem to be unnecessarily bothered by this.
% N noticed and remarked on the improved state of the LR. Felt good to have it
recognied. (Didn't actually _register_ until Monday afternoon)
@ Solar Orbiter's highest-resolution full views of the Sun (a
href=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/check-out-the-highest-resolution-images-ever-captured-of-the-suns-entire-surface-180985518/>Smithsonian)
@ Stop chasing your dreams. "Humans are persistence predators. Follow your dreams
at a sustainable pace until they tire and lie down."
& upstairs at ~21:30 to top up litter and maybe get a little more cat snuggle

1125Mo * sift litter boxen
& awake 3ish, 6am (and probably didn't get back to sleep)
% slept badly
* up 7ish; ; 08:29:c, Dutch, 10:19:c
& clean up cat yarp.
* abiraterone 07:15ish; rest of am drugs 08:04; pm drugs 19:52
* guitar: Wildwood Flower. Very sloppy, even slowed down and multiple repeats.
-> Do it again later.
-> need paper towels and spray cleaner in bedroom
@ JA Westenberg: "Why we need F**k You Optimism.…" - Indieweb.Social
@ The Guardian view on Cop29: poor-world discontent over a failure of rich countries to
deliver | Editorial | The Guardian
@ MS Word is Using You to Train AI. How to turn off AI-scraping from your Word docs
% 13:24 tense/anxious/??scared?? See below.
* LandsEnd sale ends at midnight CST -> done; account created
* 16:00 (9am CST) call Jenn at USB +1 971-703-5560 Jenn 9-5 CST M-F
returning call from Friday, 23:38pm CET = 16:38pm CST
-* login disabled 1-800-872-2657
-* wire transfer blocked -> succeeded
-x 2FA didn't know anything about it. -> all they offer is text to my phone
-> wire page works in Chromium but not Firefox (same as before)
* might as well call BECU too: call 800-233-2328 M-F 7am-7pm, Sa 9am-1pm Pacific
* took a long time, but we determined that it works with internet via AT&T/Vodaphone,
but not Caiway. So that's the next place to call. Not needed right now.
Also disabled the SMS verification in favor of "security" questions.
* TWO HOURS on the phone.
! actually pleased with myself that I did it without melting down or blowing up
* load drugs -> finish loading abiraterone
: Wolfnoot was Nov. 23rd, but I missed it.
* load drugs -* finish loading abiraterone

1126Tu * sift litter boxen
& awake 3:30
* up 7ish; ; coffee*2, ... Dutch,
* abiraterone 7ish; rest of am drugs; pm drugs 21:22
@ Transgender digital rights activist confronts hate-monger Rep. Nancy Mace at Internet
summit (ysabetwordsmith | Vocabulary: Genitalia Sorting Hat)
@ The Genderbread Person by Sam Killermann
~ 12:00 (house-cleaner)Cindy €15/h because she asked for sub-minimum wage
-> not feeling well. rescheduled
& made deviled eggs for lunch.
* guitar: Millennium's Dawn.
% Noticed that Plink's serial number starts with 92, so that's probably when it was
made. Which would make it about E's age. That long ago? rabbit, meet hole.
% back and R knee hurting (differently) Do Not Like either
% a bit later: R hip/QL Ouch! Some trigger-point work helped a lot.
: acccording to Speedtest.net, Sable's WiFi is significantly faster connected to
Schildhaven-1-5G (the LR router) than to the main router's WiFi. Makes sense -- it's
closer, and not behind walls. And the direct ethernet is way faster than that.
Schildhaven-1-5G: Download: 86.48 Mbit/s, Upload: 92.74 Mbit/s
Schildhaven-1: Download: 61.56 Mbit/s, Upload: 55.85 Mbit/s
Schildhaven-1 eth Download: 92.92 Mbit/s, Upload: 94.90 Mbit/s
WiFimodem-7D937: Download: 81.74 Mbit/s, Upload: 58.29 Mbit/s
LR ethernet: Download: 760.36 Mbit/s Upload: 604.82 Mbit/s WAY faster by ether!
* household meeting. travel plans for N and m; travel year for m;
<- need to work on visuals for album (maybe first two); fliers for that and C's-C
<- work on getting a concert slot at DFDF
<- ought to find me a vocal coach
: Why the fsck can I not find any Flowers By Colleen artwork??
I intended to do a lot of scanning before I left...
* order D3, heating pad. B6 already here someplace; rennie not available from $A

1127We * sift litter boxen
& awake 4:30?
* up 7:15; ; minimal exercises, 07:56:c, 09:48:c, Dutch, ..., dishes
* abiraterone 7:15; rest of am drugs 08:40; pm drugs 21:50
@ The Case for Free Public Transit - OtherWords
@ X's Objection to the Onion Buying InfoWars Is a Reminder You Do Not Own Your Social
Media Accounts
* guitar: QV. Missed the B part on the first run through, but caught it. practiced a
couple of normal verses, last verse, and coda
@ How decentralized is Bluesky really? -- Dustycloud Brainstorms not very
Reply on Bluesky and Decentralization | bryan newbold | WhiteWind blog
* (with N) put up first-floor shower curtain
* work with N on tracklists for the next two-and-a-fraction albums. There's another
worksheet somewhere, but I can't find it right now.
-> finally located: /vv/users/kf/misc/potential-tracklists.md
-> Need to get serious about practice. Also think about album artwork.
-> Might be able to realize my vision for AR using AI,
* singing: Ship of Stone, For Amy, Eyes Like the Morning, October Country
(OC needed going over in spots; did a complete guitar run-through w\ repeats as needed)
x 22:00 put out PMD (plastic/metal/drink-container) bin -> between wind wzarning and not
being full, decided to skip it this week
& boiled a pot of water and put it in my water bottle to put into the CPAP. Much less
dry in the morning, so maybe it was a good idea?

1128Th (American)Thanksgiving * sift litter boxen
& awake 3:30
* up 6:30ish;
* abiraterone 7ish; 7:40ish:c, rest of am drugs 08:10; pm drugs 21:30ish
* 11am housekeeper interview -> Natasha -> 10am Monday
@ TIL Hundreds gather at Leiden’s Pieterskerk for Thanksgiving - DutchNews.nl (via G)
" Leiden’s ties to Thanksgiving and the American Pilgrims are long-standing, dating
back to the 16th century. The Pilgrims once called the city home before many of them
set sail for the New World in 1620. "
They Celebrate American Thanksgiving in the Netherlands | Smithsonian (via Al)
& went up to my room and brought down the fluffy bathrobe. Good idea!
: Thanksgiving email from Al, which I answered.

1129Fr * sift litter boxen, top off
& awake 3:30ish; alarms 7, 7:30 turned off and ignored. Very hard getting out of bed
* up 8am; ; load/run dishwasher, ... Dutch,
% kind of an awful morning; litter cleanup made worse by Bronx knocking an empty food
dish off the dresser. Fortunately I keep a broom in the bedroom.
* abiraterone 8:10?; 09:35:c; rest of am drugs 09:35; pm drugs 9:30ish?
* 11:47 cranberry relish
% 14:17 trying not to want another coffee
* singing: October Country (with extra guitar work because it's very rough),
Middle-sized Bear,
@ Understanding "helaas pindakaas" Idiom: Meaning, Origins & Usage
@ The Beginning of the End of Big Tech | WIRED
@ Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) - GOV.UK
@ It is Time For Our Cockroach Era (via ysabetwordsmith)
On Community Care
@ This G15 is the Oldest Running Digital Computer in America! - YouTube

1130Sa * sift litter boxen Household Thanksgiving (observed)
& awake 3ish?
* up 7ish; ; some exercises, Dutch
* abiraterone 7:15; coffee; rest of am drugs 08:23; coffee pm drugs
@ mount_oregano | How to write a nonhuman point of view (ysabetwordsmith)
* order foam shower threshold for 1st floor shower
* 15min: change bottom sheet -- also attempted to re-center the duvet, but that will
take a separate operation. Now that I've watched some videos that made sense.
* 15min: verify that the Pi works over VNC -> it is NOT fast enough for smooth
video and may not support audio (at least it didn't when I tried youtube)
* 15min: put duvet cover on duvet. Used the "California roll" technique, which
actually made sense after watching a couple of videos, and actually worked.
Complicated slightly by the presence of a cat.
% very tired, but feeling accomplished