Done Since 2025-12-21

[mdlbear]

The week's been a bit of a roller-coaster. I guess that's not unusual for me these days. It would have been worse without the cats -- Bronx is often a bit of a nuisance, but he's a very affectionate, cuddly nuisance.

QOTD: (me, elsenet, apropos feeling old): Today would have been my mom's 105th birthday -- she died a little before her hundredth. My 50th wedding anniversary will be a week from yesterday; it's the fifth I'll be spending without Colleen. Our oldest kid turned 40 in July.

Light is returning to the world, but my capacity for hope is rather limited tonight.

How about this glorious 8-bit version of Ravel's "Boléro"? Or Carol of the Bells [Shchedryk] near the frontline in Ukraine? (I'n a sucker for bandura music.)

Notes & links:
1221Su Solstice
  @ December solstice
  % seemed to be less edema than before
  % I sat up in bed without even thinking about it.  Then did 2 more situps.  WTF?
  % Bronx kept brushing past me on the top of the dresser; I figured he wanted cuddles, so
    I picked him up and went to sit in the white chair and gave him a good snuggle.  YAY!
  * walk:  10:57 DSB804 .75km, 8hp, 21mm, 23min, 1200st,
    could have gone farther but wanted to save strength for later.
  @ ysabetwordsmith | Climate Change -- commentary on ...
    Climate change, resistance, and doing the right thing now
    Ysabet has some important things to say, so make sure to read that
  @ Astronomers Find the First Compelling Evidence of "Monster Stars" in the Early
    Universe - Universe Today (ysabetwordsmith)
  @ 8-bit Boléro (The World's Most Ambitious Chiptune?) - YouTube Glorious! (G)
  @ Waymo suspends service amid widespread blackout-related disruption
  * watch Good Night Oppy

1222Mo
  % apparently my abdominal muscles remember my having done sit-ups yesterday.  Hold back
  * walk:  S arm of Jan Greshoffplantsoen .5km, 5hp, 14mm, 1170st,
  @ Death May Die - YouTube
    From An Even Scarier Solstice – The HPLHS Store
  @ Lightweight Linux Desktop Environments and Wayland: Seven [/] Ten Are Struggling
  % BP seems low - 98/52.  Drinking more water, stopping lisinopril as of tomorrow
    -> now 19:26 125/69, so not to worry,
  * 16:45 Cricket vet appointment - here
  * 11-14 or whenever kf/hx work session
    * major progress on goals summary (new-years-eve); headers for the new-years-day and
      anniversary posts.
  * SL:  * aspirin  * ibuprofen  * kibble  * wetfud  * compression socks

1223Tu  Festivus
  @ Festivus - Wikipedia
  * walk:  DSB801 .75km, 10hp, 20mm, 24min, 1400st,
  @ Star's Death Plunge Reveals Spacetime Twisting Around a Black Hole : ScienceAlert
  @ He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing
  @ [2512.19156] Classical billiards can compute (John Carlos Baez)
  @ ‘This is shattering’: Europe reels from Trump’s new world order - POLITICO
  $ updated travel notifications at USB (good for 90 days0 and Schwab (good for 2 weeks)
  * Roamate storage basket arrived. 
  * 11-14 or whenever kf/hx work session
    * guitar:  For Amy.  both church lick and arpeggiated.
  * load drugs
    *- skip lisinopril (Carmen)
    *- skip bupropion (psych)

1224We
  * walk: 09:07 DSB801, .75km, 11hp, 1400st, 25mm, 14min.  Decent pace.
  @ Dreaming Robots – Fiber Tools for Fiber Lovers
    " we design and build reliable tools that make fiber arts more accessible and
      enjoyable. By combining modern engineering with thoughtful design, we create fiber
      tools that outperform alternatives. "
  @ Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by name in a children's story commissioned by London's
    Evening News for Christmas Eve 1925.
  ~ 11-14 or whenever kf/hx work session
  * 16:00 video call from Dr.  at clinic.  started ~16:40
    ~- edema, pain in R leg 
    *- feeling of stuff moving under skin.  Still worry about clots? -> symptoms do not
       indicate blood clots; make an in-person appointment with a doctor if this persists.
    x- really reduce Vit. D?  -> Haga lab results say 50<142<150 so high but in range.
       deficient <25nmol/l, insufficient 25-50, target >75, Toxic >250
    x- potassium/sodium.  Reduce dosage of K(Cl, citrate)?  Both within limits
       -> I'm going to assume both are okay
    ~- lisinopril/amlodipine/simvastatin/furosemide.
       ~- Carmen suggested dropping lisinopril for 2 weeks
          (good idea considering yesterday's BP: 98/52)
       -> I was not able to get this across; will drop the lisinopril and see.
  @ COVID-19 is “Airborne AIDS”: provocative oversimplification, emerging science, or
    something in between? - ScienceDirect
  * SL:  * niacin, * C,  * litter

1225Th Eerste kerstdag (Christmas Day, Newtonmas)
  @ Isaac Newton's Birthday
  * Posted a very seasonal Thankful Thursday post
  @ Huge Neolithic structure found in Stonehenge landscape
    Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found near sacred site
    The Perils of Pits: further research at Durrington Walls henge (2021–2025). Gaffney
    et al. Internet Archaeology 69.
  @ John Carlos Baez: "Merry Xmas Eve! [...] I'm giving a talk on the math of tuning
    systems and I thought I'd share it here as a kind of present to y'all"
  @ The Gloves Are Off in the Fight for Your Right to Repair | WIRED
  * walk:  15:19 Erasmusweg 1.2km, 8hp, 28mm, 22min, 1931st,
  @ How to Build an Engaging Facebook Author Page for Indie Authors
  * SL:  B6, gloves
  % I've been spending the last hour or more feeling miserable and wanting to hide under a
    blanket.  Feeling cold is part of it, so is Christmas without Colleen.  And I blew off
    the last Eurofilk of the season.  It's 22:26 and I ought to go to bed.

1226Fr Tweede kerstdag (Boxing Day, Babbage's Birthday)
  @ Charles Babbage
  * walk:  15:00 Erasmusweg 1.2km, 12hp, 33mm, 27min, 2001st
  @ Carol of the Bells [Shchedryk] near the frontline in Ukraine - YouTube
  . 11-14 or whenever kf/hx work session
    planning, writing.  Break for lunch.
  &  re-started kitchen clock with fresh battery.  It's been dead for _how_ long?  Months.
  @ Dutch Tesla Fleet Goes Bankrupt After Betting on Musk’s Self-Driving Promises
  @ US Trade Dominance Will Soon Begin to Crack | WIRED Right to Repair
  : N read the intro to her next book to me and G.  It'll be wonderful.
  @ If Anthropic Succeeds, a Nation of Benevolent AI Geniuses Could Be Born | WIRED
  * set out PMD bin
  * install Roamate storage basket support rails.  Docs could be better.
  ! I was telling G about the IBM 1620 and its addition and multiplication tables, and he
    said "Snakes!  Why'd it have to be snakes?"  I haven't laughed that hard in... I can't
    remember _how_ long.  Literally couldn't catch my breath at one point.
    @ (reference) (over-explanation)
  * posted River: End-of-Year Summary, maybe, 2025 (also see above)

1227Sa
  * D"
  @ An ASTROPHYSICIST'S TOP 5 space news stories of 2024 - YouTube
  @ From Old English to Modern American English in One Monologue - YouTube (C')
  * take in PMD bin