mdlbear | Done Since 2025-01-19

I think it's been a fairly productive week for me -- I've gotten quite a lot: music, excavating the shipped boxes (details in the notes, but I've found a lot of what I've been missing), business and immigration, a hotel reservation for DFDF, and a phone call asking for status of our health insurance paperwork. I made the hotel reservation by email, because phone calls are next to impossible for me. But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln...

About what's gone on in my former homeland, the US, probably the less said the better at this point. I may try to tackle that later, possibly after I've saved up enough vitriol. You'll find some (hopefully) helpful links in the notes.

I still have one more phone call I need to make, which I'm dreading, and a few (much less dreadful but still) difficult emails to write.

I spent a fair amount of time practicing on guitar (including working on a couple of difficult chords and chord progressions, and recovering a few nearly forgotten picking patterns), and sang four songs in the Eurofilk zoom circle on Thursday. Need to work up to more in a session, but I'm making progress.

The night before last (see Saturday's notes) I had an extremely vivid dream; which I can still recall scenes from today. This doesn't usually happen; I am not an experienced dreamer. It's possible that my good memory of it has a lot to do with having been awakened by Bronx. He's obnoxious, but such a nice bnoxious.

Notes & links:
0119Su * sift litter boxen
& awake 5:30
* up 7ish; ; ... dishes, ... Dutch
* abiraterone x; rest of am drugs 08:04; 2*coffee; pm drugs
% back much better when I got up. Debated tylenol again, skipped it, -> heat for ~:30
% 11:49 actually still a little tender; need to walk carefully. -> 16:34 ibuprofen
@ Over 50% of nonviolent movements to overthrow governments are successful within one
year of their peak. " The key is to engage over 3.5% of the country, a
cross-section of society—clergy, kids, grandmas, teachers) using DIVERSE & CREATIVE
tactics, with women in leadership. "
On Organizing
* guitar: October Country - tried with both pick and strum, which I haven't before.
Iiiiiinteresting. Paper Wings, ship of stone, ..., assorted noodling; analyzing
picking patterns
@ Sea Turtles Aren’t Vanishing. In Fact They’re Thriving - Bloomberg
@ Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit
* 22:00 put out cardboard for recycling 22:28

0120Mo MLK Day * change litter boxen (N")
& awake 5ish
* up 7:30; ; Dutch
* abiraterone x; rest of am drugs 07:49; pm drugs 8pm
naproxen 440 (2tabs) 09:04; next allowed dose 9pm -> 21:36
@ Day 49: the Shocking "Trump Coin" Money Grab
* cardboard recycling pickup
@ Death Of A Forum: How The UK’s Online Safety Act Is Killing Communities
~ identity check on my phone went through; we have a storage space. N and N" have gone
over to stash some things that N determined are not needed immediately. Most missing
items have turned up, except (so far) N's Israel pictures and my oriental rug.
@ AI Leaders Are Getting Utterly Desperate | by Will Lockett | Predict | Medium
@ What Do We Do When the Truth Doesn't Matter? - by M L Clark
* practice: guitar. starting Wheelin' and was so appalled at how my F sounded that I
decided to spend the rest of the session working on technique. Second finger has to
come down vertically so as not to damp the 2nd string. That and Bm
% N says that m told her that when they hear me practice I sound good. WTF, but ok then
-> I think that's my voice, so what I have to work on is guitar.
* (ongoing) excavation. I found what I think is my white bathrobe (the one I stole
from N at RE, and was using in the house.) Pretty sure I abandoned the old one that
Colleen's mother gave me -- it was falling apart.
@ INNOVATION FOR SHELTER CATS – Cat Amazing
Revealed: The Real Reason Cats Like Boxes – Cat Amazing
* load drugs. Skipping prednisone tomorrow -- now every other day
every other day 7 days (this week); then every two days 14 days.
KCl: 5 mEq tabs, putting 2 every morning

0121Tu * sift litter boxen
& awake 3:30
* up 7ish; ; Dutch
% dream/nightmare involving train travel to Frankfurt
* drugs: first am: x; rest am 07:19; 2*coffee; pm 9ish; naproxen 440 21:27
@ Essentials, January 20, 2025 - Dan Gillmor
@ Strategy for Dark Days Ahead What Can We Do? - Steven D. BREWER
@ Clash: Power, Greed, and the Fight for a Fair Future long.
* 15min: go through boxes in BR. Found "Imperfectly Perfect" by E for Colleen's wake
~ 11:00 check in with m about practice
* scan Russia etc. docs; email to immigration lawyer
* found the Israel pics and a lot of other N and G artwork, in a Gentle Giant box that G
helped me uncover. There are two remaining in that form factor. Stacked. Of course.
I strongly suspect that my missing gear is in banker's boxes.
* 19:00 - 20:30 (10am-11:30 Pacific) Healing Center Passages support group
@ The Worst Has Happened. Now What? | by Richard Lowenthal | Nov, 2024 | Medium
$ $35 to LCV via AX -- non-deductable.

0122We * top up litter boxen
& awake 4ish? % freezing
* up 7ish; ; Dutch
* drugs: first am x; rest am 7:30; pm 21:09
@ solarbird | let’s talk about trump’s first declaration of war makes trans illegal
@ List of service providers outside the United States jurisdiction
% tears in my eyes just looking at the news site subject lines in my email.
that hasn't happened before. Not going to look.
* set up transformer for sewing machines. Very glad I'd ordered a polarized cord,
because I couldn't find any that may have been shipped with the machines. They may
turn up later, of course.
* Found the box with the instrument cables and DI box. Was in a box that also had books
* register at DFDF hotel -> email sent 16:ish. Figured if I didn't use email I'd
_never_ get it done, because the alternative was phone. -> it worked.
-> confirmed. Th 29May - Mo 2 June
* 2min: turn off $G assistant on my Dutch phone. (already off on the other?)
% hyper-tense and basically non-functional all day.
* guitar: some noodling and work on F chord
% 20:43 cold enough to put on scarf and fuzzy vest. Doesn't really help
& 2min: put a taller post on the mic stand, for more headroom under the shelf.
* call back to VGZ - they said it can take ~10 business days -> call back Wednesday next

0123Th * sift litter boxen
& awake 1:30, 5:30, 7
* up 8am; ;
* drugs: first am 08:25; rest am 08:26; coffee; pm 21:45
* turn up downstairs air filters
* N" expected to help move stuff to storage
-> found Walrus Hunter's base, and a large box labeled AV. Mixer, mics, cables.
-> folders for cats, taxes, stock certs are all in one crate, so that stays.
@ ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood—-What to Know
* guitar: Travelers - F sounds better barred! Weird. Eyes, Wheelin', Stuff, Times They
Are A-Changin' (because G asked about protest songs for Eurofilk
% bit my effing lip again, chewing on a piece of lokum. WHY does that keep happening??
* 18:00 Eurofilk -> singing: Times They are A-Changing, Millennium's Dawn, Stuff that
Dreams are Made Of, Ship of Stone. Should probably have done more.

0124Fr * sift litter boxen
& awake 1:30, 5
* up 07:30; ; Dutch
* drugs: first am x; rest am 8ish; pm
% 15:04 headache - R side near temple. 15:24 less but still there -> 15:27 naproxen
* upgrade Sable to Mint 22.1 "Xia"
@ The Cyber-Cleanse: Take Back Your Digital Footprint - The Opt Out Project
@ The Internet is (once again) awash with IoT botnets delivering record DDoSes
@ ysabetwordsmith | How to Survive 3°C+ Warming
* guitar: Eyes Like the Morning (appears to be myxolidian), Where the Heart Is (working
on Am Dm F Am), a little on Here Be Cartographers, ..., Stolen Child
o set up C-C websites;
o update HSX website

0125Sa Burns Night * sift litter boxen
@ Burns Night - Wikipedia
& awake 3:30, 5ish
% _weirdest_ damned dream. Very vivid and coherent, possibly with color. Job
interview, with someplace on Sand Hill Rd. The place was very opulent, a series of
conference rooms with tables piled high with excellent food in the center. But
no-one talked to me. Maybe it was a test? Also I'd put a kid's chromebook into my
bag instead of my laptop, and when I went to pull a mask out of my pocket it was
just a square of fabric. ISTR there were quite a few cats. Many people were
wearing towels, or shorts with no tops, as if they'd just come out of a swimming
pool. Like I said, weird. (but also much more memorable than most dreams; I'm
writing this at 07:25, after waking somewhere around 5:30)
% wakened and prodded out of bed as usual, by my Little Furry Alarm Clock
* up 6:30; ; laundry (started ~9:25); dishes, Dutch
* drugs: first am 06:54; rest am 06:58; 2*coffee; pm 21:58; naproxen 440 22:21
@ Subaru Security Flaws Exposed Its System for Tracking Millions of Cars | WIRED
* guitar: F sounds no better on Flame. Fox (back to Plink -- nothing problematic),
Toolmakers (1v, no problems), Rivar (F sounded pretty good on this one!) ...
Cap and Bells, ... October Country, ... Riverheart (having a little trouble keeping in
sync w\o singing.)
* started unwrapping the keyboard -- it does _not_ seem to include the stand, unless
it's in the gig bag, which I didn't open. Left it partly wrapped because Bronx was
playing in the wrapping paper.
@ Why are the Dutch So Famous for Waterworks? - YouTube
* 15min: found the hardware to mount my video camera between the laptop and the
monitor. Not clear that it's an improvement. Question of whether they want to see
the top of my head or my nostrils. Still haven't found the Logitech camera.