Jeff has blerg from his most recent vaccination. He announced that he is dying.
Month: February 2023
solid day
I have a lot of new bruises and sore muscles but I don’t feel bad. 19,255 words. Called a friend, did two loads of laundry, practiced on most of my instruments and did no cooking. A win of a day.
Hot spots
Russian conscripts, barely trained, are being thrown into the meatgrinder of eastern Ukraine with meagre equipment and terrible food. I don’t know what Putin is doing, but perhaps he thinks it’s better to make Russian martyrs for the time being than to whip out a nuke which will make the people closest to him fear for their lives, should he be so bloody minded as to use it.
More hot spots below.
slept ten hours
Read that again. I slept ten hours last night. That’s what chasing Ryker for a day did to me, so picture my smile. A thousand words of grandson goo follows YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. ONLY TEN PEOPLE READ THIS AND ONE OF THEM IS MY MOTHER SO OFF WIT YE IF DAT’S A HASSLE
Pray for us sinners
Keith and I are on deck to look after Ryker today since Suzanne is ill. I didn’t get any calls or emails yesterday saying she’s coming so I’ll be heading out in an hour.
I am looking forward to it but I know I’m going to be a wreck when I get home har de har.
Keith and Paul had a successful expotition. Janice is driving Paul back in a couple of days and then visiting for a few days, and Keith as mentioned is back and prepping for a day full of Ryker hopefully by being completely unconscious at the moment (it’s 4:51 am). I’ll be asking Katie for his routine and feeding schedule when I get over there.
19207 words.
I’m blowing hot and cold on taking the laptop. I think I’ll take the new uke. Of course that will drive Keith nuts but oh well.
One of my dearest dears on twitter is an MSU grad and the shooting took place in her old dorm (3 dead, shooter unalived himself) and so I woke up to twitter this morning this dear woman who is a therapist herself needing therapy herself and literally not knowing who to call after a white night. She doesn’t think she can work today…..
another quiet day
Made marinated tofu with bok choi and carrot over chow mein noodles. The marinade was malt vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, veggie bouillon paste and soy sauce. Fried stuff up separately and then assembled it; it was too bland so I dumped in the marinade and after that it was quite tasty. Because Jeff is great he put it away when I forgot to. Forgot the ginger and onions because I’m a fool.
Watched the Super Bowl. If Rihanna wasn’t high as humans get, I’ll eat my shoe – her first live show in 7 years by all accounts. It was actually a pretty good game and Mahomes and Hurts were very entertaining to watch.
I hope you all have a lovely day. I’m going to continue to work away on the new uke, Argella.
18653 words.
addendum to Ohio derailment dive
Jesus Iced Christ. Story of how Norfolk Southern, A COMPANY WITH A MARKET CAPITALIZATION OF 55 BILLION DOLLARS US, has sent a cheque for $25000 (less than 5 bucks per resident) to help out the citizens of East Palestine FLEE THE FUCKING TOWN they DESTROYED with an airborne toxic event of vinyl chloride and phosphene gas subsequent to a derailment that the railway unions have been predicting for the best part of a decade. I wanna go medieval on the leaders of the company.
Today’s evaluation of Norfolk Southern:
55.26 billion
USD
Market capitalization
From google search on the question WHAT IS THE MARKET CAP OF NORFOLK SOUTHERN
Bathtub dive into the 2023 Ohio train derailment
The wikipedia article: Is Here.
Most of these other links will degrade over time but the above-noted, although it may get renamed, is the anchor point.
A list of the class action suits already in the works: Is here.
Reporter arrested for doing his job, story here.
Why those chemicals are so deadly and why we need to break our plastics addiction: story here.
Snapshot of air quality currently (please note there’s no air quality index monitor right in the city, as shown.) Click on it to embiggen it.
No problem picking up the lad
Alex and Katie and Dax got family time, Ryker’s off at Dad Mike’s until 4 pm today, Keith and Paul safely arrived at Hank’s and things are okay here, too. The most interesting thing about Alex from yesterday is that he has an irrational fear of alleyways. Was NOT expecting that.
17888 words.
The US shot down a UFO over Cumtown, Alaska, 69 days before 4/20. Whoever’s running this simulation has a simply terrible sense of humour and should be chided with great chidings. Apparently the UFO was the size of a car, moving independently ‘but erratically’ and nobody is saying a goddamned thing about who might be behind it.
Jeff and I fell face down into the show on Netflix called “The Sinner”. We’re basically bingeing it. I don’t recommend it unless you like noir, recovered memories, police procedural … that sort of thing. Bill Pullman is terrifyingly good. You think ‘well he’s not really doing anything’ but his exhaustion and anguish and desperation is always an eyelash flick away from the surface. I’m glad I’m watching it because Ronit Kirchman, who wrote the score and theme, really knows what the hell she’s doing and comes up with some apposite industrial and non-standard soundtrack music. With her stuff you’re either not even hearing it because it so closely matches the events on screen it’s seamless, or it’s so good you wish that part could play longer…
I did almost none of the things I said I’d do yesterday, but candidly any day I don’t run out into the street starkers yelling bushwah is a day on the positive side of the ledger.
Walmart Canada has apparently removed its dressing rooms because ‘they were causing too much trouble’. WUT. Okay you know how it’s legal in Canada for a woman to have her tiddies out publiquement, just none of us DO it? well I don’t unless I’m at Wreck Beach, but whatever. I was just thinking legal boobs, no changing room, art prank, Walmart: GO!
I slept okay til about two, and now I’m trying to degrump myself to prepare for the schlep since Jeff has agreed that’s the plan. I’m setting my alarm so I don’t sleep thru the departure time again, like yesterday ….
bathtub dive and Alex pickup
I just found out you can sing into the extra soundhole on this Riversong ukulele and get absolutely wild harmonic effects. Also, yesterday I learned THE ORIGINAL LYRICS to the ‘2 & 20 Blues’ and they completely change the tone of the song. I shall herewith demonstrate: The very first line is “There’s evil men in this DOGGONE town” but the way my ex (and Dr Filk) taught it was ‘GODDAMN’ and that really changes things. First is worldweary, second is angry, and the song is resigned, not angry. The very last line is “You may say that I’m wrong but you know I FEEL all right.” I was taught ‘I’LL BE’. The singer is OKAY IN THE PRESENT, not sometime in the future. But right now! The song’s about grabbing life where and when you can, not hoping you’ll be happy sometime.
Thank you for attending this bathtub dive into 2 & 20 Blues by Linda Morrison, pressed 1981.
dying inside a little
I’m going to find and start going to a dementia support group. I can’t spend all my spare cycles whining to Jeff and mOm and expect to actually improve in my ability to cope with it. I need strategies and people going through this to provide their experiences. Yesterday was very humbling and I wish I was a better person. I need better strategies on what to say to Paul when he starts talking about driving again.
It was a nice walk. Gut punch that Cobbs Bakery is gone from Market Crossing. I was going to bring croissants home to my excellent housemate and nah girl it’s gone.
I also need to incorporate social activities with Paul in a proper schedule and quit doing the by guess and by god thing; Mondays and Wednesdays look good for various reasons.
I am continuing to make assumptions about our family situation without cause, and getting bit in consequence. I’ve been up for hours stewing.
Twitter told me I exceeded my post limit for the day. Which wasn’t true, but it happened to almost everybody else on twitter yesterday. The outrage this morning is as predictable as it is weary.
Persistent hiccups. 17766 words. Suzanne’s coming today and all I can think about is how I was so interested in following Paul around that I didn’t do all my own errands so now I have to make a quick cash stop this morning. At least I put gas in the Echo yesterday, it was bone dry.
I literally have to pacify myself for a few minutes if I’m leaving the house in the car. If Jeff is driving not so much but Paul’s new behaviour is relentlessly critiquing my driving and strangely getting my own fed back to me is not cheering me up. Because of course in the Before Times I was on Paul all the time about it….
Some dude named Mic Wright in UK @brokenbottleboy on twitter has made a journalism about all the nepo journalists in the UK AND You Would Think He’d Killed his Mam on the basis of the parade of butthurt journos dragging themselves like sentient target practice through his feed. Here’s the link, and it keeps changing. He added a professional magician to the list mostly out of spite, since literally people are texting him and asking to be added while others mock him for doing it and telling him ‘he’ll never work in journalism’ and it’s like YOU FUCKING IDIOT, WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS??? LIKE SERIOUSLY are you the stupidest person in the world besides me?
So I’ve been avoiding watching the Supernatural spinoff the Winchesters because that show tore my heart out through my solar plexus and I don’t need more, so I’m laughing this morning about how the writers really messed up by (checks notes) burning a Golem in an oven and let’s just say that throwing a NOTABLY JEWISH supernatural monster INTO AN OVEN was a big whoopsie and the fandom is shuffling its feet and saying ah guys antisemitism but not in a mean way because everyone’s scared of the irrational fuckers who run the network. So I’m just here to say if this is accurately represented yes it’s antisemitism. It was bad yesterday too. I predict it will continue bad, since antisemitism is the first structural member of a modern fascist.
Told a rich white guy on twitter to stick to aviation because as a semioticist he bites burls, so that tells you how particularly ‘squid with spicy salt’ I am this morning. He was fucking bloviating about AI.
ANFSCD: If your children aren’t drug addicts and voluntarily speak to you, please be grateful. You don’t know how good you have it.
Pandemic slump
February is not usually my favourite month but I’m coping okay today. A good night of sleep always helps. Wordle in four (SO CLOSE ALMOST got it in three). 17749 words. Two loads of laundry and one of them put away. (I’m always anxious when there’s no clean hand towels.)
Keeping the cat door closed most of the time since there’s someone out there bugging Buster. I’ve stopped feeding the crows because I got scared by an article about avian flu. They’ll be fine. We’ll all be fine.
The front stairs are spalling very badly and every time it freezes there’s more debris out front.
Jeff Guenther LPC says early couples should ask themselves these questions (I have adapted them so they aren’t direct quotes from his facebook video.)
I’m posting them because I want mOm (the only other person who’s read it) to think about how the ‘boys’ in Totally Boned would answer this sort of as a character exercise but also just for curiosity. It amazes me that they’ve already taken care of a lot of this stuff together even without specifically discussing it. There are also assumptions inherent in these questions that say a lot about our culture, I mean…. imagine the questions during the 1920s. Nothing about religion or religiosity. Nothing about gender roles (not really.)
Will you get mad if I start watching a new show without you?
What text emojis for humour or sarcasm do you want me to use so we’re on the same page?
When we order food are we sharing or do you get all your food to yourself?
When it comes to presents what are your expectations for Valentines, anniversaries, birthdays and Christmas?
Are certain evenings blocked out for us or are we planning week by week?
Who’s paying for most stuff?
If one of us wants sex and the other doesn’t how do we handle it?
Should I always take your side without fail or can I remonstrate with you if I think you’re being immoral or self-damaging?
I don’t know if any of you saw the Premier of Alberta attempting to shake Trudeau’s hand but it was pretty gross. A politician should know how to do that.
Off to see Paul today. Time for walkies.
Jarmo and Susanna
Quiet day yesterday…. this is from earlier this month. Words cannot express how fond I am of these two. They are my Finn Family West.
Candles up for the victims of the Anatolian fault earthquakes. Five thousand dead in total on both sides of the border.
love the radiating wrinkles! shared this on twitter this morning too and THE EXACT PERSON I wanted to respond to it did, so I’m all happy. He said “Radiating grandma”
I should not get McDonalds breakfast delivered. LOL but I will. Jeff asked for coffee this time as I quite rudely didn’t ask him if he wanted any. Went to put my order in and they’re saying McDonalds is over capacity….. Perhaps another breakfast joint? we shall see.
Earthquakes
There have been not one but two immense and terrifying earthquakes in Turkey, a 7.8 and a 7.4 in relatively rapid succession, centred in Gaziantep. There used to be a Roman fort there; the before and after pictures are horrifying; this massive building which has survived 1700 years lost all of the towers and it just looks like a pile of rubble rolling down the hill it’s set atop. First death toll is over 1000 people and it will go higher.
Syria too is affected, about 300 reported dead. All these numbers will go higher.
Aerial shots of the affected areas are heart-stopping and horrifying.
As always if you want to help, donate to Red Crescent or find a local who’s Turkish and plugged in back home and ask for their advice.
Didn’t go to church yesterday. Made some phone calls. We had leftovers for lunch (the last of the stew soup that Keith made) a fruit smoothie for a snack and chicken sammies with poutine for supper.
Thinkn about coffee.
a short funny
The above was NOT TAKEN IN CANADA, look at the fucking cars.
This mural at Humphrey and Edmonds has been painted over, so I’m glad I snapped it when I did.