Done Since 2026-03-15

[mdlbear]

Not a bad week. Home from the US Sunday noonish (was not keeping careful track, because at that point I'd been more than 24 hours without sleep). Predictably, sleeping better (or at least longer) than usual all week. Walks 6 days out of 7, plus bonus st/roll with N and (new scooter)Gizmo on Wednesday.

Gizmo is heavier than Lizzy, and doesn't fold as well, but he's more than twice as fast. N went and bought a helmet -- purple with flowers. Her name is Kore, which is "Colleen" translated from Irish to Greek. Lizzy is still in the shop - no telling when she'll be back. Yes, we name a lot of our stuff.

N and I have been checking out book marketers. A bit expensive, but we want to do a good launch for her next one, and need someone who knows what they're doing.

Linkies: 41-Year-Old Woman Celebrates One Year With Her AI Octopus Boyfriend and Says She’s “Fully Satisfied”

Notes & links:  
0315Su
  * flight arrived 9:30ish; home ~11 (not logged until a week later).  No sleep.
  @ Why Streets in the Netherlands are Made of Bricks - YouTube
  @ Instagram drops end-to-end encrypted chats: What it means | Proton
  * hx work session
    * Dutch
  * SL:  cat fud, litter
  $ pay AMEX,  -> $1000 from BECU (payment wasn't required)

0316Mo  Colleen 74 ... and I forgot to mark it.
  % Don't know what that says about me.  Probably just that I'm getting old.
  * 10:00 - 14:00 WZHThuiszorg leg-wrapping (here) 10:36
  * walk: 09:07 Simon Vesdigstraat 1:  .27km, 4hp, 15mm, 14min, 907st
  @ 41-Year-Old Woman Celebrates One Year With Her AI Octopus Boyfriend and Says She’s
    “Fully Satisfied” ForgeMind: AI Companionship
  @ Opt Out of Physical Sales to AI Companies (via Elise (they/ them)🇦🇺🏳️‍🌈 - Indieweb.Social)
    I note that the form apparently only covers _physical_ copies -- WTF? -- and that you
    have to do something else to get them not to sell the digital copies that would be
    more useful to AI companies.
  * hx work session
    * 1:30ish discussion with N about choosing a marketing firm (+ talking about the books)
      -> get N lyrics to Kantrowitz 1970
    * Dutch
    @ Jordin Kare - Kantrowitz 1972
      (HEL Crew's Song) [HQ] - YouTube (lyrics in description)
  @ Kremlin hackers attempting to compromise Signal, WhatsApp accounts globally 
  @ COBOL Is the Asbestos of Programming Languages | WIRED
  @ She freed physics, but Emmy Noether couldn’t escape herself | Aeon Essays
    for Women's History Month.
  : very weird voice call attempt, via "my google profile".  No record of it.  Loud
    annoying ring on both phones.  A little concerning.
    -> hopefully not too late to change passwords

0317Tu  St. Patrick's Day
  @ Saint Patrick's Day
  * walk:  09:21 DSB804: .64km, 5hp, 1033st, 14mm, 12min, 
  @ Earth’s first mass extinction may have been far worse than believed - Earth.com
  @ Europe Is Really Breaking Up With US Big Tech Now | by Burk | Feb, 2026 | Medium
    *- phones are the next thing - we need to replace apple and google
  @ Hello European Union – Goodbye America | by Ken McMullen BA, MPA tl;dr: Canada
    " Canada’s Future Is Ever-Closer Integration with the EU and an Ever-lessened Exposure
      To US Interest, Particularly With Respect to Canada’s Sovereign Actions in The
      Arctic "
  @ Supreme Court saves artists from AI | by Cory Doctorow | Mar, 2026 | Medium
    “copyright inheres at the moment of fixation of a work of human creativity.”
    (emphasis mine, because that's the main point of the essay)
  @ To understand physics, we need to tell – and hear – stories | Aeon Essays
  * hx work session
    * Dutch
    * scanning marketing contract for N
  * 19:00 - 20:30 (10am-11:30 PST) Healing Center Passages support grp - 1st, 3rd Tu
  * load drugs

0318We
  * walk:  08:16 DSB804 .64km, 8hp, 15mm, 14min, 1160st,
  * st/roll:  14:47 w\ N to Erasmusweg 22mm, 21hp (can't be trusted) ~2500st
  @ More EU Countries Ditching American Cloud Services | by Burk | Mar, 2026 | Medium
  $ RE € 250 from USB HX at Thomann.de.  earbuds (wired with hooks -- Shure SE215 Pro CL
    Behringer Powerplay P2 monitor amp, Airturn goStand, K+M 19744 Biobased tablet holder
  * hx work session
    * working with N on finding a marketing firm
    * read intro and first chapter of N's next book.  Wonderful.
    * Dutch

0319Th
  * walk:  DSB801:  .85km, 9hp, 15mm, 15min, 1088st
  @ These unearthly whale songs helped save humpbacks from extinction | Nat Geo
  @ Travelpro Luggage Maxlite 5 22" Rollaboard but apparently unavailable.
    (via Best Carry-On Luggage for Delta (2026 Guide)) 22x14x9 but maybe not with wheels?
    " I had a very hard time ranking this bag against the others because if I could only
      recommend one bag for 90 percent of Delta travelers it would be this one. "
  @ RIP Paul Ehrlich, often called alarmist for dire warnings about human harms to the Earth,
    believed scientists had a responsibility to speak out
  @ Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and _why: The disappearance of one of the world’s most beloved
    computer programmers.
  @ Emacs and Vim in the Age of AI | (think)
  * call to schedule compression sock fitting -> Tuesday
  * find piss diary -- lost somewhere on my desk; needed by ~Saturday
  * hx work session
    * correspondence
    * Dutch

0320Fr Equinox 14:46 UTC  (15:36 CET)
  @ APOD: 2026 March 20 – Spring Equinox at Teide Observatory Wikipedia
  * walk:  7:58 DSB801?  .8km, 8hp, 15min, 1300st
  @ Covid-19 six years later - by Katelyn Jetelina (via DS)
  @ Unilever shares drop after first day of Magnum Ice Cream spin-off | NL Times
  @ Linus Torvalds Roasts Bad Coding #shorts #linux #programmer #knowledge #elonmusk
  @ Dutch East India Company - Wikipedia est. 20 Apr 1602
  * 10:00 - 14:00 WZHThuiszorg leg-wrapping (here)
  * call to reschedule next Wednesday's (25 maart) wrap appt because Haga all morning
    *- Wed. after 1pm
  @ The “Thinking” Feature in GPT-5.4 Is Actually a Warning Label | by MohamedAbdelmenem
    | Mar, 2026 | Towards AI includes safety checklist, references
  * hx work session
    * Dutch
    * discuss marketers, web designers w\ N
    * research:  tailscale, headscale, pangolin, etc.
    * Home care scheduling
  * my reply to patient outreach on MyChart
    " I will occasionally get back to the US (I was in Seattle last week, in fact), but
      sincerely hope I won't need health care when I'm visiting.  If I do, I expect Dutch
      travel insurance and Medicare will cover most of it between them. "
    (reply, 0321Sa)
    " Thank you for letting us know, Steve. We're here for you if needed when back in
      Washington State. All the best. "

0321Sa
  * walk:  07:43 H. Marsmanplantsoen 1:  .70km, 34mm, 22min, 6hp, 1100st
  @ The 49MB Web Page | thatshubham
    (andrewducker|20-03-2026)
    " This perfectly encapsulates why I won't surf the web without an ad-blocker "
  @ Oldest-known whale song recording provides new insight into ocean sounds--Guardian
  * hx work session
    * discuss marketers, web designers w\ N -- I think we've converged
    * Dutch
  * calibrate small drinking glass (apple juice) 250, water glass 400, coffee mug 475;
    brown flip-lid water bottle: 750ml - take am1 drugs with this.
  * take up measuring cup, water bottle.