Done Since 2025-06-02

[mdlbear]

... so I still haven't done a full con report -- it's been almost a week -- so in the interim I'll just refer you to last week's "Done Since 2025-05-25" (posted on Monday) and "Thankful Thursday" posts. The only parts of the trip it doesn't cover very well are the songs we sang ( "Millennium's Dawn" deserves full S4S treatment), the hotel (the breakfast and dinner buffets, included in the room price), were noteworthy), and the travel.

Right. The travel. Tips:

• Don't leave anything in (travel guitar)Plink's case -- it could delay inspection (and did, at Hamburg).
• On arrival, stay in the plane until somebody tells you that your wheelchair is ready. Hamburg again.
• If you don't look disabled (like m, for example), take a cane and hobble out of the plane with it. This is especially true for Schiphol -- the Dutch tend to be ablist.

Yesterday N, m, and I had a good band practice/conference, including more tweaking on "Millennium's Dawn", scripting for several songs that still had only two-person arrangements, and harmony arrangements because we finally have someone in the band who can reliably sing harmony. We're also going to want a keyboard. Or two, since m is leaving tomorrow for Seattle.

Health-wise, I don't think I'm doing all that well, so it's a good thing I have an appointment with a cardiologist soon, as well as with an oncologist.

If you're interested in word origins, check out the Online Etymology Dictionary, which includes some fascinating articles as well as the dictionary entries.

Notes & links:
0602Mo  ~ sift litter boxen
  & awake 2ish?
  * up 7ish; ; Dutch
  * drugs:  first am 07:06; rest am 08:07; pm 20:12
  * return from DFDF
    * 11:ish summon uber or taxi  -* checkout is ~11am  -> taxi 11:35ish
    * 14:50 HAM -> 16:00 AMS KLM flt KL1756 seats 5B,5C economy, Boeing 737-700
    * taxi home.
  * load drugs.  Leaving meds downstairs because taking them downstairs and back up every
    week is silly when I always load the sorters downstairs (because cats)
  ? COVID test on arrival -> no; see how I feel tomorrow

0603Tu  * sift litter boxen; re-fill water
  & awake 4ish?
  * up 07:00ish; ; 
  * drugs:  first am 07:05; rest am 08:55; coffee;  pm 8ish?
  & sat down at the laptop desk upstairs and, after some fussing around, got Bronx settled
    in my lap.  incapussitated for about an hour.
  @ Trump immigration restrictions: Tips for traveling through airports this summer.
  @ Trump’s Vicious Attack on the American Mind  " Throughout history, tyrants have
    understood that their major enemy is an educated public. "
  @ Why Nations Go to War? A Researcher Analyzed 94 Wars and Found One Common Reason
    " the most common reasons nations go to war are status, security, and revenge. "
  @ Music | Memory Page for Zan
  * order usb-c charging cables, clothshangers, IR thermometer (Bol via AX)
  * schedule labwork  (070) 210 2326  -> 0611We - had to phone.
    BEFORE appt on Monday 16-06-2025 with doctor H. Bastiaansen-Bergsma.
  * 19:00 - 20:30 (10am-11:30 PST) Healing Center Passages support grp - 1st, 3rd Tu
  
0604We  * sift litter boxen
  & awake 3:50
  * up 6:50ish; ;
  * drugs:  first am 7ish; rest am 8:15ish; 2*coffee; pm
  @ Mechanical Watch – Bartosz Ciechanowski (azurelunatic)
  @ WordPress Unpauses Development But Has It Run Out Of Time?
  * (bg) track down the OVFF flat-folding sling; start working on weekend travel kit
    -> in the Pitcon duffel, along with some other medium-sized soft luggage.
    -> none of the really smmall stuff, like wallets.
  & found the above in the course of bringing fried rice up to m.
    % more tiring than I would have expected.
    % did not hear the door AT ALL while rummaging in the fridge for mushrooms
  @ At 34, an Autism Diagnosis Gave Me Permission to Breathe | Laura Owens | 2025-04
  @ journalsandplanners | Information about Goulet Pens homophobia (azurelunatic)
  * 20:00 - 21:30 (11:00-12:30 PST) Virginia Mason Living w\ Cancer grp - 1st, 3rd We
    nicks? chocolate protein bar
  @ Star Trek - The Bluegrass Edition - YouTube
  & 22:25 1000mg tylenol.  L side headache.  sinus?

0605Th  * sift litter boxen
  & awake 3ish but didn't get up
  * up 6:08; S=7:04;  v-NOTE:  no abiraterone
  * drugs:  first am -- ; rest am 06:19; 2*coffee; pm 21:27
  : about half an hour of Bronx in my lap.  head bumps and slow blinks
  @ The Online Bicycle Museum (via C')
  @ 18F files legal challenge
  * deal with email from International Clinic -> paid 220.50 via BUNQ invoice scan.
  @ "Do you ever dream of land?" The whale asks the tuna. "No." Says the tuna, "Do you?"
    "I have never seen it." Says the whale, "but deep in my body, I remember it." (ysabetwordsmith)
  @ Why Take9 Won't Improve Cybersecurity - Schneier on Security (LWN)
    " Stop trying to fix the user. It’s not the user’s fault if they click on a link and
      it infects their system. It’s not their fault if they plug in a strange USB drive or
      ignore a warning message that they can’t understand. It’s not even their fault if
      they get fooled by a look-alike bank website and lose their money. The problem is
      that we’ve designed these systems to be so insecure that regular, nontechnical
      people can’t use them with confidence. "
  @ Meta found 'covertly tracking' Android users through Instagram and Facebook |
    Science, Climate & Tech News | Sky News
  & verify that Wed. blood appointment has been made even though not visible on MijnHaga
  * 5:30 PM - 9:30 PM expect DHL delivery -> in mailbox
  @ A 19th-Century Condom With a Bawdy Print Makes Its Museum Debut
  @ Meta found 'covertly tracking' Android users through Instagram and Facebook
  % 21:28 caught myself rocking back and forth with my hands over my face, while reading a
    post that asked "what is sanity in a collapsing world?"  I may not be well.
  @ 404 Media · The IRS Tax Filing Software TurboTax Is Trying to Kill Just Got Open
    Sourced -- Direct File has been open sourced, and its creators have left government to
    continue working on the "future of tax filing."
  @ Can you picture an apple in your mind? If not, you might have this condition.
    " the most conspicuous consistent difference which emerges [..] is that [aphants] have
      a rather poor autobiographical memory. "
  
0606Fr  * sift litter boxen
  & awake 3am - for at least 2, maybe 3 hours
  * up 8ish; W=89.6; Dutch
  * drugs:  first am --; rest am 09:07; coffee; 40ml gin; pm 20:37
  @ Snap Studio XL Portable Vocal Booth
  % I'm not walking around the house so much as shuffling.  I don't like that.

0607Sa  * sift litter boxen
  & awake 3ish
  * up 6ish; ; 
  * drugs:  first am --; rest am 7ish; 2*coffee; pm 19:44
  @ The Universal Tech Tree—Asterisk
    Historical Tech Tree (iteractive)
  @ Online Etymology Dictionary
    Introduction and Explanation
    " This is the creation of non-academics. Great care has been taken and it is as
      accurate as we can make it. It has information the big sources overlook or omit. But
      if you are a linguist or a serious student of linguistics, you probably should not
      do your homework here. This is for the rest of us. "
  @ Keeping the Web Up Under the Weight of AI Crawlers | EFF
  @ Adapt or Design - 99% Invisible
    (via jesse_the_k | 99PI Staffer Goes Deep Into Assistive Tech)
    " Last year, 99pi’s Kurt Kohlstedt suffered a severe injury that incapacitated his
      right arm and dominant hand. In the aftermath, new everyday challenges led him to
      research, test, and evolve accessible design solutions. These experiences set the
      stage for Adapt or Design, a twelve-part project of 99% Invisible in three acts "
  @ Calls for RFK Jr. to Resign Grow Louder | MedPage Today
  * Rehearsal -- harmony and scripting.  The Fox, October Country, Travelers; m and I sang
    Millennium's Dawn so N could hear the harmony, RRP so N and m could get the melody.
    -> some discussion of music theory
    -> m wants piano lessons
    *- decided to buy two keyboards, one for here and one for Seattle.