mdlbear | Done Since 2026-05-24 (Reply)

Not a good week, for reasons I can't quite identify. Maybe it's the chronic pain that the 3g/day of paracetamol my GP suggested did little to touch. Maybe it's anticipatory grief, knowing that Ticia's health is declining. Maybe it's thinking about how little I got done. (And less about how little I got done in the last week, and more about the last year. Maybe the last half-decade.) Maybe it's worry about my son, trans and out of work in the nightmare that the US is becoming. Knowing that if I hadn't moved here, he could have moved in with me. Knowing that the US isn't going to get much (if at all) better in my lifetime. All of the above, I suppose. Much of it stuff that I have no control over. That doesn't keep it from being depressing.

And it's not that I didn't get anything done -- I did. I got my US taxes computed to the point where I could (and did!) file an extension, went for a walk every day (two shorter than usual but all over 2/3 of a kilometer), and learned a new word (zemblanity, the exact opposite of serendipity). But it wasn't enough.

Well, at least I can look forward to our trip to Majorca to see the eclipse in August. Provided it isn't ruined by things I can't control, but can't help worrying about.

Linkies: How British beavers help fight flooding from climate change : NPR Zorn's lemma ("The Axiom of Choice is obviously true, the well-ordering principle obviously false, and who can tell about Zorn's lemma?") Woodturning: A Different Take On Cubes! -- I find this guy's woodturning videos incredibly soothing. Mostly at 2x speed, with the sound off, but that's because of impatience. Which isn't really the point. Snails, Monks, and Murderous Rabbits: The Weird World Hidden in the Margins of Medieval Manuscripts. Celebrating Thirty Years of the Internet Archive with the ‘Class of 1996’ (and what does it say about me that I remember all that).

Notes & links:0524Su Pentecost/Whitsun/Pinkster/Pinksteren(NL)
@ Pentecost Whitsun Pinkster Pinksteren - Wikipedia
@ Final Task- THE LAST DOCUMENTARY - YouTube sad, chilling
@ The Real Reason Why Gen Z Is Checking Out | Medium
" What Gen Z is doing is giving rational responses to genuinely difficult
conditions. A generation raised on surveillance, raised watching the economic
contract break down in real time, raised with climate reports and comparison culture
and no coherent story about why any of it matters — and we wonder why they’re
checking out? [...] It’s because they’re just paying attention. ]
* walk: 8:42 H. Marsmanplantsoen 1: .70km, 10hp, 1300st 23min, 18mm
@ Neutron scattering explains why gluten-free pasta falls apart (andrewducker)
@ Water Crisis 2026: 8 Cities Running Out of Water | TheBoard.world
@ A Hacker Group Is Poisoning Open Source Code at an Unprecedented Scale | WIRED
@ Woodturning: A Different Take On Cubes! I find this guy's videos incredibly
relaxing. I usually view them at 2x.
@ How British beavers help fight flooding from climate change : NPR
= hx work session
* Dutch
* guitar
* bring up kleenex for badkammer * staged
* 22ish wash socks

0525Mo Memorial Day (US), Towel Day
@ Memorial Day - Wikipedia
Towel Day (Wikipedia)
* walk: 7:52 DSB801: .85km, 3hp, 1800st, 23mm, 29min
@ Snails, Monks, and Murderous Rabbits: The Weird World Hidden in the Margins of
Medieval Manuscripts
@ Floaty dresses and gauzy wings dazzle at ATL Black Fae Fest | AP News
@ Government will not label antifa a terrorist organisation - DutchNews.nl
@ Building a fully FOSS environment - then and now · Gina
@ A Well-Adapted UK - Climate Change Committee
@ Scientists discover the oldest wooden tools ever used by humans (ysabetwordsmith)
@ DEMOCRACY REPORT 2026 Unraveling The Democratic Era? (ysabetwordsmith)
Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
& went up to the bedroom for a while to see if I could spend time with Ticia -- she
collected a few pets but didn't sit close. She was on the next-highest tier of the
cat tree when I came in; I came down after she went back there. She seems very thin
and seemed to have a bit of a tremor.
% 19:18 L shoulder, arm pain seems to have gotten worse
* SL: Greenies (from $A.nl), exercise putty
@ Tutorial #1 – Audacity Databending applying audio effects to images. Wild.
= hx work session
* Dutch
~ guitar
. US tax return (from several weeks ago) -* track down remaining (paper) docs

0526Tu
% woke up with Ticia snuggled right next to my pillow
* walk: 7:48 H. Marsmanplantsoen 1: .70km, 1hp, 19mm, 24min, 1350st
@ Grok Just Issued a Brutal Beatdown to Elon Musk
@ Wikipedia dive from Waifu (following links from Elon Musk Fans
Are Brutally Mocking Him for Incessantly "Gooning to AI Anime")
and thence to Avatar (computing)
List of computing mascots
@ Sigvaris Doff N Donner® | Sigvaris.com arrived today from Bol.nl
: it is _very_ phallic. it is _impossible_ not to see the "cone" and "rolly"
components as anything but a lingam and yoni respectively.
% lately my feet have been hurting. Due to the compression socks?
% Are my fingers swolen? Is that what I'm feeling when I make a fist? Probably not
16:50 L toe cuff rolled back - may account for it
@ Zorn's lemma - Wikipedia
" A well-known joke alluding to this equivalency (which may defy human intuition) is
attributed to Jerry Bona: "The Axiom of Choice is obviously true, the well-ordering
principle obviously false, and who can tell about Zorn's lemma?" "
@ Chinese Researchers Soil Innovation: Chinese researchers turn desert sand into
fertile soil in just 10 months using cyanobacteria (Ada Palmer)
@ Force the Oppressor to make a Lose/Lose Choice ysabetwordsmith
= hx work session
@ The Funniest Computer Songs (1989) - YouTube (side-quest from...)
@ Microsoft's ICC email blockade - The LeafPlaza Blog
@ John Carlos Baez: "Every city in the Midwest has a half-finished canal in it."
" galvanicklucipher: In the 1830s everyone in the USA knew that canal waterways were
the future of commerce. Every state started building a canal network with the
vision of hooking them all into a national network. In 1837 there was a Great
Recession, and the tax base for the canal work collapsed. When the economy
recovered 5 years later, the railroad boom was happening and everyone knew that
canals were over. That's why every city in the Midwest has a half-finished canal
in it. This is a post about data centers "
@ Full-Frontal Neofascism - Robert Reich
* we have our flights to/from Majorca this summer (thanks to G)
* starg travel prep shopping/check list
* Dutch
x guitar
* US Tax: greps:
* load drugs. No paracetamol past tomorrow out of lisinopril - check dosage: 10mg? yes
-> order lisinopril, pantoprozol
* tried using doff-n-donner to remove a sock. Lose -- it got trapped.
-> Try donning tomorrow

0527We
* Used doff-n-donner to don socks -- worked pretty well but will need practice to manage
the open toes.
* walk: 8:03 DSB801: .85km, 11hp, 19mm, 22min, 1450st
@ The EU Banned an Entire AI Product Category Yesterday. Most Builders Missed It.
@ Google Just Admitted Your “SEO” Content Is a Waste of Time (And What They Actually
Want in 2026) | by Alpha Design Global. | May, 2026 | Medium
@ Netherlands blocks US takeover of vital digital supplier – POLITICO
@ Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Leo XIV Magnifica Humanitas (15 May 2026)
Pope Leo demands AI rules to ‘safeguard humanity’ — before it’s too late\
What Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical Says About the Power of AI | WIRED
@ US Law Enforcement Warns of ‘Anti-Tech Extremism’ as AI Hatred Grows | WIRED
* 13:00 expect call from Dr. ??Bellali about pain/paracetamol
*- no effect on trigger finger. Temporary effect on shoulder pain
(trigger finger is manifests more as stiffness than as pain)
x- open-finger gloves cut off circulation to the fingertips (red, swolen, painful)
-> said that they wouldn't be helpful -- we'll see
x- L shoulder pain - worse when reaching up or back, but continuous
rotator cuff tear? -> PT
*- hip pain - missing three days of walking on a trip set me back at least a week
I take my morning walk about 1h after taking 1g of paracetamol.
no noticable improvement over how it was before 3 weeks ago. Maybe worse.
-> paracetamol should only be used at the 1g*3/day level. (half-life?) but can be
kept up long term. (I have my doubts)
-> see a physiotherapist. 12 treatments, then get referred back for injections or
surgery if needed. No referral required! (Probably not covered by insurance)
* Kangka compression gloves arrived. Not particularly comfortable but seem to help.
(they do NOT help with typing!) Probably only useful at night. We'll see.
@ The Untold Story About W Social: Unconventional Beginnings, Strategic Pitches and
Conflicting Signals age verification but interoperates with bsky, which doesn't
@ The Greatest Unsolved Problem In Mathematics _very_ good backgrounder on the
Riemann Hypothesis and exactly how it maps into the prime counting fn. Complicated.
= hx work session
: N is paying m for editing, they're better than any of the professionals N has tried.
* Dutch
& add "Mary Ellen's Starter" to Lyrics-Other. Not chorded yet.
~ -guitar- _music_ see above:
* SL: Eclipse glasses (3 pair) (from trip shopping/check list)
* 22:00 set out PMD bin

0528Th
% a lot of trouble getting the socks on w\ the gadget. I'm doing something wrong
https://youtu.be/Q8JjMzFsdjo&t=1m40s
* 9am take in PMD bin
@ ‘It’s getting hotter and it’s not stopping’: dealing with the heat in five of
Europe’s capitals | Extreme heat | The Guardian
* walk: 7:18 DSB801: .85km, 10hp, 17mm 15min, 1450st
* ordered heating pad for shoulders - due tomorrow
* new battery in scale
: caliper wants LR44 battery. -> ordered from $A, to be delivered tomorrow
@ Celebrating Thirty Years of the Internet Archive with the ‘Class of 1996’
= hx work session
* Dutch
x guitar -- also blew off Eurofilk again, as usual
. taxes:
* file extension. Pay 1500, which is more than the 1266 I ostensibly owe (modulo
foreign tax credit and partnership income (actually, loss)
* download PDF of 1040.

0529Fr
* walk: last bridge North: 1km, 13hp, 23mm, 25min, 2000st
* checked the cat water-fountain in my room -- plenty of water, but there were scummy
things floating in the bowl, so I dumped it and re-installed the tank.
@ Europe Is Ditching Visa And Mastercard, And It’s a Huge Step | Burk | 2026-05 Wero
@ UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution
@ The hidden architecture of failure – understanding “zemblanity” - LSE Bus. Review
Zemblanity: the inexorability of unfortunate discoveries - Ness Labs
: dinner tonight was gazpacho -- it's tasty; the problem is that it isn't a complete
meal, just a first course.
@ The fall of the theorem economy - David Bessis
= hx work session
* Pay AMEX
: BECU login broken; fortunately their info is copied over to USB
-> not just me; "Experiencing Technical Difficulties"
* Dutch
* taxes:
* address enveelope to mail extension

0530Sa
% wore my gloves last night; didn't seem to have made much difference.
Also, more trouble with the doff-n-donner.
: WU gave me a lot of trouble on login. Kept sending me to a captcha. Eventually told
it to make me a Dutch account; it refused because I was already registered under the
same email; it offered to send me to the US site, and it worked. WTF???? cookies,
probably. Time to get a VPN. Also, very slow.
@ Stunning Mosaics Made by Londoners with PTSD Offer Pieces of Healing in Community
Artwork (ysabetwordsmith | Art)
@ Seattle officials introduce bill to help residents battle gun violence | The Seattle
Times We lived in this neighborhood in Seattle
* cat fud bowls staged
* walk: 18:53 DSB804?: .65km, 12hp, 18min, 1500st, 37mm(day)
% maybe my lack of sleep has caught up with me? 20:49 sleepy?
= hx work session
* checked swim trunks. Size L; fit but just barely.
* Dutch
* taxes:
* mail extension