metafilter | Member Posts

My hurty knee woke me up several times last night and it was hard to find a really comfortable position that didn't hurt it. So I was worried. But, this morning, it is way way way better. If it were a volleyball day, I'm not sure I'd play but otherwise, I don't feel like it needs any babying. I intend to walk to the pool and swim this morning.

Last night's Mariner game was a good one and they won. Both sides played really really well and it was fun baseball to watch. Made funner, of course, by the win. Also, the broadcasters weren't stupid. Way nicer. The next game is 2 pm today. I will be ready.

Timber Ridge is smack in the middle of forests. Hence the name. BUT the trees that surround us are mostly evergreens. It's kind of a dramatic backdrop, this time of year, for those that are currently changing colors. There is one outside my window that is a true diva. The rest are not working as hard at it this year. I looked out the window when I chose this apartment and thought, 'nice' but I didn't really give the view the total number of points it deserves. It's been nearly two years of solid pretty. I got very lucky.

Now I think I'll suit up and go swim while it's still grey and cloudy.

lovelyangel

I rarely do these quizzes (remember way back when these were a popular thing?) but this morning I took a random detour and at Bored Panda learned How Old Is Your Soul? The result:

Given my stage in life, this probably isn’t a surprise. I couldn’t have asked for a better result. (But, hey, it’s just a silly quiz.)

( Life is Messy, Below This Cut )

jesse_the_k

sonia introduced me to Windborne, the acapella group from Massachusetts. Their version of "The Grey Funnel line" makes my head go sproing in a pleasant fashion.

( uncaptioned video within )

I’ve loved this 20th century ballad since I first encountered it on Silly Sisters in 1976. I recently learned that Cyril Tawney wrote the song as he was leaving the UK’s Royal Navy, called "Gray Funnel Line" by those who toiled there. Full lyrics at that link.

susandennis

I forgot to take my stupid pills yesterday. I keep them in their sun-mon cases in a cupboard in the bathroom because I hate counter clutter BUT if I forget one more time, they are going on the counter front and center where I have to look at them every morning.

The allergy pill is the one that I really hate forgetting. My nose is running like it's in marathon training.

BUT on the up side, my knee is way better. Yesterday, getting up and down from the sofa or the toilet was an ordeal of pain. Today, not at all. There is discomfort when I walk but not nearly the hurt there was yesterday. I did discover that I was walking all hunched over because of my knee??!!! Like there was a string from my knee to the back of my neck. No clue what that was about but I'm paying attention and standing up straight.

I fell across The Australian Bake Off episodes on You Tube and watched part of one and only then realized that the British Bake Off had a very important change this latest season. They have totally eliminate that 3 (felt like 15) minute segment of stupid banter between the hosts that always opened the show. I have bitched about that for years. They finally delete it and I don't even notice! I'm such an ingrate. (Australia's stupid intro segment is even stupider and longer but god gave me fast forward.)

susandennis

My knee kept me waking up last night. Finally I got up and put on another patch and downed some Tylenol and then slept fine. This morning, it's definitely better. I think today I will baby it again with ice and patches and no extra action. I don't have anywhere I need to go so I'll just have a lovely Sunday here on my couch.

The baseball game isn't until 5 but I have lots to watch until then. The odds makers are saying that the Mariners don't have a chance - or, rather, that of the four teams vying, the Mariners are the least likely to win anything.

And knitting to do. I put yesterday's pink minimonster out on the shelf yesterday and last night Martha breezed in with it in her hand "this one needs to go to Hong Kong!" She's sending a Trader Joe's bag to someone there and it will now have a pink minimonster in it. Martha was born and raised in the US but is Chinese and has a million relatives everywhere. And one by one, they are getting these weird little knitted things from Issaquah,WA. And I love it.

Julio is still hopping up in my lap or near it now several times a day. He lets me pet him a little and then remembers that he has something else to do and scampers away. On the flip side of that coin, he's now learned that if he fucks with the table lamp shade, I'll turn on his laser beam toy. He does love him some laser.

lovelyangel

TWICE Enemy CD/DVD set with bonuses
iPhone 13 mini photo

Back on August 26, TWICE released their sixth Japanese album, entitled Enemy. TWICE’s Japanese albums are a little hard to get ahold of here in the U.S., and I did what I usually do – I pre-ordered a copy from CDJapan.

I thought the release would beat the cancelation of the de minimis exemption for tariffs – but at the time of shipment, Japan Post had already suspended shipments to the U.S. My order was placed on hold "until the suspension is lifted." Of course, in the weeks that followed, the restriction remained in place, and eventually the order was determined to be canceled unless I specified an express service for delivery. And the extra cost of the service would include tariff charges.

I upgraded to FedEx FICP (FedEx International Connect Plus). At selection, the option seemed to indicate that tariff charges were included in the delivery fee. That would be more convenient for me. I can’t quite decipher the final order itemized breakdown, as what I paid for the initial order doesn’t seem to be included in the second version of the order. Overall, it seems that shipping and "customs clearance fees" were somewhat more than the cost of the album itself. I had actually expected worse.

I have another CD I’d like to get from CDJapan, but I guess that won’t happen. I do have one anime figurine on pre-order, and I shudder to think what is going to happen with that order next year. It’s clear who the enemy is.

Warner Japan did their typically lousy packaging (compared to Korean sets) – with no book, no photocard sets, no special extras except for one measly photocard. I did get the CDJapan First Press bonus - a photo coaster – which is more of a thin photocard than a usable coaster. Well, whatever. I had poor luck, pulling Chaeyoung for both items. She’s my 8th favorite member of 9.

My optical drives are boxed up right now, and I don’t want to dig them out. I can’t rip the CD into Belldandy, and I can’t watch the Region 2 DVD until I restore my full computer setup next month.

Still, I’m happy to have this disc set in my library. I haven’t been particularly keen on TWICE’s recent Korean albums – but their recent Japanese albums have been outstanding. I really like them. At least I can listen to the Enemy album on a music streaming service, as it’s available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube music (which is the one I have).

Also, the TWICE Enemy Music Video is on YouTube.

susandennis

Not long ago I changed my default search to Kagi which worked fine except then I hit the max searches before you have to pay and I didn't love it that much. Plus, I already have a Gemini Pro account. So I've been playing around with using it for my default search engine and so far... I like it. I really like it. It's fast. It's spot on and it's ad free.

Last week I googled 'tiny teddy bear knitting patterns' and I got a bunch of ads so I flipped to the 'images' tab and found mostly crochet patterns. Just now I 'googled' that again but this time it used gemini since that's now my default and I got a bunch of perfect options - images with links and links on their own. and zero crochet patterns.

---

My knee is better if I get up and move around a little every hour or so. The first hour, I moved too much. But, now I think I've got the formula. Plus ice every hour. (The reason to get up!) If I twist it, it's excruciating. If I don't, it does not hurt at all. soooo no twisting.

---

I just made the cutest mini monster. I love her. I like them all but this one is just making me smile.

susandennis

Before elbow coffee, I remembered I had lidocaine patches and I slapped one of those bad boys onto my knee. When sitting still with my knee bent at 90 degrees, there is not one tiny little bit of pain. Moving the bottom half of my leg side to side is a killer. And a slight movement hurts a lot. But, while walking is not ideal it is tolerable. I won't be doing any unnecessary walking but, happily, I don't have to. I'm just hoping this thing heals fast. Like by this afternoon or tomorrow morning. It's not handy. And I have no skill at this kind of thing.

Back when Bonny gave me a box of Stove Top and then I made a batch of dressing adding onion and celery, I decided to get some turkey - which I did. I was going to have turkey and gravy and dressing and cranberry jelly one night but no night seemed good. Then I realized that what I really wanted was leftover turkey sandwich. so I baked up the dressing and scraped off the gravy and made a sandwich out of the rest with some mayo. I repeated that today for lunch. Excellent. I have enough for more but I might be done.

I have an Amazon return but my knee wants to wait at least a day and I said fine. So now I think I'll sit back and knit and catch up on TV.

susandennis

The 15 inning Mariner game started at 5 and ended an hour after my bedtime. I woke up with a paper cut on my thumb. It was bleeding and sore like it was fresh. It's now 3 hours later and it's nearly healed. I twisted my knee putting on my swimsuit. I thought it was the kind of twist that rights itself right away. I was wrong. It hurts like a mofo. And playing volleyball was NOT fun. But, now I've had 30 minutes of ice and Voltaren and I'm thinking against amputation.

I forgot the bullets for the bullet points.

The game was exhausting. After 8 innings, I was ready for the end but we were tied. After 10 innings, I was ready for the end but we were tied. After 12 innings, I was ready for the end but we were tied. There were close calls. But, really, everyone just played really well. There was some drama but not much except in the broadcast booth. The 4 announcers had decent material for 5 innings. They punted for 3, And then it was a race to see who could repeat themselves more often. That ended in a tie - well, actually, I don't know because I switched to radio in the 13th inning.

Finally, in the 15th inning, the Mariners won. They won because they played better. It was a sweet win.

But, now, we have to do it all over again! I think I may have mentioned that post season is a little stressful. At least we don't have to face those snotty Yankees. We play the Blue Jays, in Tornonto, at 5 on Sunday. Best of 7. Hulu wins cause now I have to fork over another month of subscription fees.

Elbow coffee and then I'm going to ice my knee some more and decide what's next.

lovelyangel

On Tuesday, new blinds were installed on the two windows and the two patio doors. They are elegant and quite slick, operable with a light touch from one hand. The wrong parts were ordered for the skylight blind, so that will have to be installed next week.

Today, the track lighting was installed. It took only 3 1/2 hours this morning. And, wow, the lighting is magnificent. I worked with the contractor to make sure all the right places had lighting – mainly where the artwork goes and for the worktable which he didn’t know would be in the middle of the room. He had already aimed six light heads at the bookwall, and the wall is beautiful.

Library Lighting, Facing South
iPhone 13 mini photo

Library Lighting, Facing North
iPhone 13 mini photo

Two banks of lights are controlled by two dimmer switches – and they divided the control exactly how I specified. The dimmer switches are quite cool, comparable to advanced ones they had at my workplace.

The room will look better once the art is up – much later in the process. It’s going to be great. I love the new lighting setup.

lovelyangel

Bookwall Installed

Installation of the bookwall began on Tuesday, September 30. It took three days to get the complicated framework installed. On Friday, October, 3, the entire unit was painted. I normally don’t mind the smell of paint and solvents, but this particular spray was unusually pungent and penetrating. I opened the doors of the house to ventilate the library on both days of the weekend, while the paint cured. The weather was cold, and it was generally a miserable Friday-Sunday in the house. Also, there was a fine, slippery, white particulate powder everywhere as a result of spray painting. The powder had gotten into the family room / kitchen and was tracked through the house – and got onto clothes.

On Monday afternoon, the rolling ladder was installed. It’s a near twin of the storage wall ladder - the difference being the darker wood steps intended to match the flooring. (The lighter wood on the storage wall ladder is intended to match the cabinets.) Like its predecessor, the rolling ladder is amazing.

Surprisingly, there were no shelves for the books. I was told the shelves were being painted – and wouldn’t be available until Wednesday.

( Then There Was an Issue )

susandennis

People are still pissing me off so I'm still trying to avoid them. But, that's becoming tough. Today we have a meeting at 11:30 that I want to get the info out of but not sit in on. But going is the only way. So I need to paint a pleasant expression on my face and zip my tongue down and go. It won't kill me. I hope.

Then the Mariner game is at 5. This is the deciding game. If they lose this one then, I'll get my life back. I'll be able to cancel the $100 a month Hulu live subscription. And I can start the annual wait for spring training. If they win, ARUGH. I saw posts last night from a couple of Phillies fans who were relieved when it was over for them. I totally get that. Post season baseball is stressful!

I think I'll get into my suit and go swim some stress away.

I've been playing around with my minimonster/robots - and I like the results so far.

calzephyr

I can't wait to dig into this, but I'm rather surprised. The new granular regions have me going whoa!

susandennis

My across the hall neighbor is failing fast. He has some kind of inherited, degenerative, cognitive impairment which is impairing quickly. I had two conversations with him this morning. He's not going to last long in that apartment by himself.

Lunch with Martha was fun. It was actually fun to eat in the dining room again. And the food was good.

I got another email today from SteveTheLawyer. He's been handling the trust my cousin set up to commence upon his death for several years now. Or I should say mishandling. This year he's sent out maybe 4 emails saying he's working with he CPA to close out the trust and is waiting on information from the IRS. Today's email leads me to believe that he has royally fucked up this IRS business and is clueless how to wriggle out of his fuck up. In today's email he says that he will need to work directly with our (me and SamTheFriend) CPAs 'or tax professionals' and that they will have to file amended tax returns 'in order to trigger a response from the IRS'. And to let him know when the IRS responds 'I must have copies of any response.'

WHOA there, buster. No. I sent him a fast note back saying NO. I would not be hiring people to work with him. IF he has tax information for me, send it and I'll deal with it in a manner prudent for me. And if the IRS sends me information concerning the inheritance, I would provide him a copy. Otherwise, just no.

I did get a fast backpedaling apology. He's such a piece of work. Best I can tell, there is about another 40K or so that should come to me unless he eats it up with his and his CPA's billable hours. I no longer give a shit. He's an incompetent jerk. I've wasted enough cycles on him. No more.

The duvet cover for the ugly but otherwise fabulous comforter and while it was a bitch to get on, it's wonderful. It's pretty and feels luxurious. It's 100% cotton. I do hate duvet covers. I hate getting them on and I'm not wild about how sloppy they make the bed look but I'm Ok with this one.

There is peripheral baseball today. Nothing major til tomorrow at 5.

susandennis

It started night before last. Jan texted me that she was leaving Dick's room and could she drop off the laptop I'd taken over so he could watch the game. I was just getting ready to get into bed but stupidly said yes. Then, of course, she took 20 minutes to make the 4 minute walk. I wasn't happy with me or her.

And that might have carried over. Yesterday, I ventured out once to get my card keys fixed and ran into a couple of people who pissed me off so I stayed in my apartment after that.

Then this morning, all of volleyball pissed me off. The asshole was out assholing himself and another player was being a jerk and it was all I could do to keep a smile on my face and keep playing. oh and one guy hosts a charity breakfast every year and strong arms his friends to buy a table. He did this last year and I questioned his timing... A breakfast on any other day but Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday... So he did it again this year and strong armed half the volleyball players into going. But, this year he said 'I should have done lunch instead of breakfast.' well, yeah. Anyway, one of the other players just decided on her own that we won't be playing on Tuesday and called off the game. Of fuck the lot of you!

When I got home, I realized that this does actually free me up to go to the aqua exercise class next Tuesday so not a total tragedy.

I'm having lunch with Martha today in the dining room so I have approximately 2.5 hours to fix my attitude.

Oh and the Mariners lost. But so did the Yankees in front of their fans. It was sweet. No more Yankees this year. There is also a chance - very slim - that the Dodgers could still get eliminated. I'm holding on to the slim hope. The Mariners play again Friday night.

The next few weeks are full of events that I really would like to avoid but may not be able to. Fortunately they are spaced apart a bit but it's going to take a lot of work on my attitude. Ugh.

Yesterday I asked my doctor for a prescription for some steroid cream for a bad patch of skin. At 4, I got a note saying she would send the prescription to Amazon Pharmacy and within minutes I got a note from Amazon that they had a prescription. It was delivered here before 8 pm. Wild. Just wild.

gentlyepigrams

Again, all about the books, and I'm halfway through two others.

Books
The Pomegranate Gate, by Ariel Kaplan. Jewish mythology inflected fantasy that touches on medieval history but is more interested in the fantasy side of things. I wish I knew a little more about the mythology the author was writing from but I enjoyed it for the most part. She was aiming a bit for the GGK vibe, less in the writing than in the tragic structure, but there were a couple of twists that I not only wasn't expecting but was not sure about (in terms of how well they were going to work for me). Definitely going to read the second in the series though.
Dark Moon Defender, by Sharon Shinn. Third in the Twelve Houses series. This time it's Justin who gets a romance and has to deal with the anti-mystic nuns who are nefariously working to overthrow the kingdoms. The personal plots, the overarching plots, and the cultural stuff all progress nicely. Next time round with this series I'm going to jump forward/back to 2.5, the most recently released book, and catch up with the aftermath of the romance in 2.

Current Music: Silence is golden.

susandennis

The 1 pm Mariner game finally started at 4. BUT because of the rain delay, after an hour, Fox switched coverage from FX1 (which the Timber Ridge TV system has) to FX2 (which, of course, we do not have) and put the BlueJay/Yankee game on FX1. It was fine for me because of my splurge on a month of Hulu Live. But, I was about 3 forks into dinner when Dick (of Dick and Jan) called me from the nursing unit where he is recovering from surgery. He couldn't find FX2. I did no research because I just wanted him to have the ballgame and me to have my dinner before it was stone cold.

So I grabbed an old Chromebook, fired up Hulu and the game and ran it over to him and then ran back. He, of course, wanted to know why he couldn't get it and what was going on and I finally just told him, I'd explain later. Turns out, I learned on my way back, they had the game on in the lounge outside his room (the group areas, apparently, have upgraded cable).

It was a fun and good game and the Mariners won. But still tense. I'm not sure I'm a fan of post season play. And either the camera people/editors are perfect or all of the Detroit fans have the most expressive faces in the history of faces. Disappointment, sadness, disgust. They just kept showing face after face. I almost felt sorry for them.

The BlueJays had the Yankees on the rail. Embarrassing them again. Those fans, I will NEVER feel sorry for. But, then, the BlueJays let them have a late game surge and they ended up winning. Curses! Foiled again!

Today the Mariners game is at noon. So after my swim, that will be my day.

I spent a lot of time yesterday researching air fryer situations. And how to use the big one I got and planned to return. And I've pretty much decided to keep it. I still have a few weeks to firm up my decision but I could not find another one that matched all my criteria and those that matched most didn't match enough for that kind of money. I could still change my mind but for now, it's staying.

I just read that one of my favorite authors - Thomas Perry - died last August. He did squeeze out, apparently, one last book that I pre-ordered this morning. I hate it when authors that I want more books from, die. It's just rude.

So now I think I'll suit up and go swim.

susandennis

Stupid Detroit with their stupid roof-less stadium.

Jim across the hall offered to sell me his Tesla "for next to nothing". It's a smaller one and comes not only with a charger installed next to my parking space, but also free (to me) electricity. I do not know what "next to nothing" means but I suspect it means way less than I could get for my car. But, even putting the Elon Musk ness aside, I just don't trust the company. It's probably fine and I'd be fine owning it. And it's only 3 years old so far less likely to have a problem than my car. But insurance and stuff. And how often do I need extra room? Once or twice every year or so.

So. I told him I would think about it but I have and no.

Also no to the new air fryer. I wanted a bigger one and I went too big. The touch screen needs pounding as opposed to touching. You need massive arm muscles to get the damn drawer out and back in. Plus, it does not cook that well. Stuff that should be crisp is not that crisp. And the settings are way off. The frozen pizza setting burnt the sucker black but the bottom was soft. So back it goes. Sadly, I tossed the giant box. Now I have to find a new giant box.

I spent too much at Costco. But, they had my coffee on sale.

Housekeeping called this morning to say my house cleaner was not at work today. They offered a sub but I said nope. It's fine I pulled out the dirt devil and did the heavy lifting. Now I am waiting for the rain delayed Mariner game to un rain delay.

susandennis

I'm on a timeline. Bonny and I are going to Costco. Oh, wait, we're not going til 10:30 so I've got more time than I thought. She's out of vodka... again. She never drinks before 5 but ALWAYS drinks after. I've never seen her drunk but she does go through the stuff. She buys the big bottles at Costco. Two at at time and has a special bag so no one will see her but two bottles. Then she always waits until late at night to put the empties in the trash room so no one will see her. This alcohol subterfuge cracks me up. She's 85. No one knows her at Costco. No one on this hall cares how much she drinks. But she's not convinced. So... off we go to procure her vice.

Oh the up side, she can't walk far (bad hip which she could get fixed but doesn't want to fuck with) so we get to use handicapped parking.

The Mariner game is at 1. My cleaner comes at 1:40. Happily, I can watch the game on my laptop in the elbow while she cleans.

I saw last night that my former neighbor who has been a TV reporter here for 30 years is retiring. She lived a few doors down from me in the condo for all of those 30 years. My only interaction with her, other than, 'hi!' when we passed in the hallway was during the first weeks of COVID. We passed in the hallway and she stopped me. She told me that she was going to be out and about regardless, every day, for her job and she figured I was not. "Let me give you my number. Then if there is anything you need, any day, just text me. I'll pick it up and bring it to you." That was it. So sweet and so kind. I sent her the first text last night urging her to enjoy the heck out of her retirement.

I took two giant bundles down to the clothes donation bin. One bag was that comforter. I love the look of it. I hate the sleep of it. So gone. I bought another one last spring at Goodwill, that I never tried. It's kind of weighted. I slept under it last night. Perfect. BUT butt ugly. It's gray. Just gray. So just now, I ordered a duvet cover for it.

Ok. Time to get dressed and get organized.

ursula

I'm on A Meal of Thorns this week talking about Melissa Scott's Burning Bright: why I love it, what makes it space opera or cyberpunk, and the mystery of the ending.

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State of the Angel

music: Windborne Sing "The Grey Funnel Line"

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TWICE is Not My Enemy

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Library Update #14: Light!

Library Update #13: Very Pretty, But...

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