(no subject)

Jun. 4th, 2025 04:01 pm
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
I love using my bank's app for depositing cheques, but until today I did not know there is a monthly maximum for mobile deposits. I had received some money from a life insurance policy a few weeks ago, which came with drafts which I can use like cheques. Early in May I transferred a smallish amount to my bank account by writing one of these drafts and depositing it via the mobile app, but today I tried to transfer a much larger amount and the deposit was refused because it was more than my monthly limit. Therefore I had to go to a bank (apparently bank branches are now known as "financial centres/centers") and make the deposit in person. Later I received an email from the bank saying they had put a hold on the deposit because there might be insufficient funds to cover it (which I know is not true), so now I'm waiting for confirmation that the money has in fact been credited to my account, but I can't help feeling like I'm being treated with suspicion. Also handling this amount of money doesn't feel real to me, which is also what S said when she inherited money from her mother years ago.

Around lunch time I had an out of the blue email from someone I'd never heard of from S's employer saying the S had some equipment that he needed to retrieve (her computer), and he could let me have a shipping label so I could send it in, or if I was close enough he could come and pick it up in person. I told him my location and he said he could come and get it, and in fact he was here only about 20 minutes later. I was very happy to finally have this taken off my hands.

Coconut, Lima beans and exercise

Jun. 4th, 2025 07:51 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
Things I do not like. At all. Although, I do like the smell of coconut. The texture does me in, tho. I went down to the gym this morning and did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I did not enjoy it.

I know that one day, maybe after I die, they will announce that exercise wasn't all that good for you after all. OR They will have a pill you can take instead.

I watch ad supported TV only for news and baseball so my exposure is limited but I do know that the supplement game is big and growing. Young adults swearing their liver is happier with XXX or YYY are truly the thing now. My liver is unmoved, BTW. And everyone who takes drugs for heart and diabetes will be singing and dancing up a storm. Also, not new, men can't get it up but there is actually a pill for that and all you have to do is sign up for a free account and unlimited sex is yours. So don't think those ads are wasted on me!! Also this is why it is well worth it to me to pay extra for the ad free versions of streaming services.

I have decided, to deep six the Litter Robot. It's too big and too fiddly and I know it's going to quit any day now. So I'm going to just pull the plug. We've had a lovely run but it's time to go back to the old fashioned litter box. Simple. Plus this means I can go back to the light weight litter. Amazon is bringing the new box today. I'll set it up in the same little room and run both for a day or two.

I got the final bill for condo electricity today. $7.25. The Title Company collected $250 to pay this giant bill. So I am expecting a nice refund, lordknowswhen.

I got the sticker for my license plate renewal and I need to get it down and onto the licence plate before I lose it and forget about it. I will be doing that today. No baseball until 4.

First I need a shower. I hate getting sweaty so much. See paragraph 1 above.

20250603_193008-COLLAGE

All dressed up

Jun. 4th, 2025 07:54 am
bill_schubert: (Pink Floyd Ukaraine)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
No pickleball for you.  I was actually just about ready to leave when I got a message saying it was raining at the courts.  So I'm now tanked up with protein and carbs and watching the rain drinking my coffee.

For some reason we got a deposit from Dana's social security for $486.  No idea why.  I logged onto her account and nothing is mentioned and her next payment is listed correctly.  Logged onto mine to be sure.  Nothing.  My guess is that the universe is paying me back for the $500 that USAA lost.  The funny thing is that SoFI, my new bank, saw it as an ACH deposit and kicked me up to PLUS level which has benefits including 3.08% interest on savings.  I put the $486 in there where it will do the most good and be ready should anyone ever decide they want it back.

I've still got two income sources to get out of USAA.  Both are about oil money of Dana's.  For one of them I need the SoFi checks so I can send in a voided one.  My 25 free checks should be coming soon.  The other oil change needs Dana and me in the same place with her phone.  They use her driver's license and a live view of her on her phone to verify ID before they will make a change.  It is kind of annoying but we just need to do it. Then I wait for July's pension payment and probablly through August to be sure nothing else drops in, that I've accounted for everything.  So I'll likely close it end of August.  My insurance will cancel with them on the 14th of June so the bank will be all that's left.  

All in all it was a PIA to change but it will end up making us more money and, really, my opinion of them is colored by history, not by the current company which has sadly become an old school crappy insurance company and crappy bank.


Day of Technical Difficulties

Jun. 3rd, 2025 10:20 pm
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

Bella heard something and woke up and barked and growled. I got up and turned on the porch light but didn’t see anyone. The car looks okay.

Woke up at 5 AM. Took Bella out and lay down for a half-hour afterward.

My Italian lesson went well. My teacher said that my brain was working well today. I need to work on pronunciation. Maybe I could read News in Slow Italian and play the audio to check my pronunciation. Am I still subscribed to News in Slow Italian? An article I read about improving foreign language pronunciation said that it’s a good idea. I think that there also was an app that taught foreign languages using songs. That should help too. I downloaded an app called LingoClip. You listen to music and fill in the missing words in the lyrics. I found another site that will play a foreign language song and give you the lyrics in the language and a translation.

I think that I might want to add a small bequest to my Italian teacher in my will. I’ll have to see if there’s an issue with sending money overseas.

They were right about it being really windy today. Something (dust?) was making me sneeze. The sunflowers have been knocked over, but I left them on the ground until the wind dies down.

Great. I overslept my nap and was late to a meeting, I'm having problems with a database, and a crown came out already. I ordered some dental glue from Walgreens because the one that I'm getting from Amazon won't get here until tomorrow.) I just want to scream. This week sucks so far. Okay, a colleague probably figured out the problems with my database. (I'm testing it. It worked.) The glue has been delivered, but I'm going to wait until post-dinner to reglue it.

I still haven’t heard from the vet about Zara. I just said that I wanted to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow, but they are closed now. It’s 7 PM, and they’ve been closed for an hour, so I don’t think that I’ll hear from them tonight.

Fed us all and watered the plants in the garden. Listened to a song in Italian. Got the garbage out. Zara is hiding in the closet. I don’t know if she’s trying to keep cool. I should turn the ceiling fan on for her. Man, I’m boiling hot. Need to sit and cool off. Listened to another (depressing) song in Italian. In English we would call that a torch song.

Got my tooth back on without glue. It then came off. Now I put it on with glue. My tooth is screaming. I turned the ceiling fan on while I sat in the kitchen (I shut Bella in the bedroom because she wouldn’t stop bothering Oliver) and Oliver took off like a bat out of hell out of here. Apparently he’s scared of it as well as Bella. The tooth came out again. I'll wait until I get the better glue from Amazon. Bella is doing well in time-out.

I need to go upstairs and do some more work, although I need to get up on time because I have a 9:00 meeting tomorrow. All's well that ends well with work. My mini-project was successful, and now I'm back on track. So I'll get to bed.

Rambling post about many things...

Jun. 3rd, 2025 07:49 pm
shadowkat: (Default)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Today, I wandered through the Urban Farm at the foot of Manhattan, in Battery Park. I also sat in the park on a chair on the grass beneath the trees, watching children play. It was a beautiful day, with a slight haze, most likely from the Canadian Wild Fires in the North.




It was a frustrating day, so I needed a break from it. As tempting as it is to regale you all with the details? I'll refrain.

Some bad news? Dochawk, you may or may not remember him from the ATPO_BTVS and ATS Fan Discussion Board? His two female cousins were victims of the flame-thrower attack in Boulder, Colorado. Read more... )

I'm trying to ignore the news for the most part - but keep stumbling upon it, whether I want to or not. Thank you, information age.

Been comforting myself by watching and listening to James Marsters Q&A's on youtube. I have a serious crush on that actor. I have crushes on several actors. Cillian Murphy is another one, so too is Hugh Jackman, Robert Downy Jr, David Tennant, Claudia Black, also Juliet Landau, Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, Angela Basset, Jonathon Groff....I am notorious for actor crushes.

Marsters said something interesting in regards to a question about Whedon and separating art from the artist. Read more... )

Been rewatching Buffy as a comfort show - and it still holds up, and rather well at that. I just saw I Only Have Eyes for You - it's an episode that airs late in S2. I'd forgotten most of it. And forgot how good it is. The first few times I'd seen it - I hadn't thought much of it, but now, it resonates in a different way? The writers are commenting on multiple things - and it subverts various tropes. It's actually surprising the network let them do it - back in the 90s.
spoilers for those who never saw it, is there anyone? )

***

I didn't sleep well last night. Ached. And I ache now. Digestive issues, I think? Although did many things in the hopes of counter-acting them. My failing was giving in and having ice cream (Malawi Coffee and Rose Almond both Indian flavors and locally made). I did everything else right - baked salmon with zuccini and summer squash, and lots of water.

Oh well, it is what it is. Hopefully I can get the restless legs to calm down enough to sleep.

Here's a nice photo to round out this long rambling post.



365 Questions 2025

Jun. 3rd, 2025 03:10 pm
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
1. How do you spend the majority of your free time? Basically all of my time is free since I'm not working, so I spend my free time just living my life.

2. Who do you think of first when you think of ‘success?’ Barack Obama is one of the first people I think of.

3. What did you want to be when you grew up? A librarian.

(no subject)

Jun. 3rd, 2025 02:59 pm
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
Yet another bad night last night. I think my brain was energised by the report from my daughter about progress on the apartment for me at their house. I just wish it would not get energised when I'm trying to fall asleep. I don't feel especially tired today; in fact, I went for an 8 km/5 mile run this morning. I am, however, expecting the tiredness to catch up with me tomorrow.

The weather is on a warming trend and will be in the 80s for the next few days. It's increasingly hazy as the week goes on too, so I expect to be spending more time inside away from both heat and haze after getting some exercise very early in the mornings.

This might work

Jun. 3rd, 2025 07:38 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
I might have a repeatable routine going here. I woke up when Biggie said it was time. Had coffee and toast. Put on yesterday's pants and Tshirt, grabbed my stuff and went to the gym. The machine part of the gym is just on the other side of the pool from the windows and the sun is killer in the morning. So at least I remembered my sunglasses. BUT I also discovered that two of the machines are in the shade that early in the morning. Sweet. So today I did a kind of a bicycle thing. It had a bicycle seat (ouch) but also a seat back but it was vertical. 20 mins.

I did watch my friend, Holly, swim laps. Now, Holly is always bitching about the cold even when it isn't. So how in the heck was she swimming in the cold? I realized that while I could be swimming, it would not be fun because of the sun so bike was fine.

I'm now home and it's not yet 8. I'm all sweaty but since I wore yesterday's clothes, I can just step into the shower and then get dressed for the day. I think this will work for a routine - at least until we get volleyball going.

Today is the day the new girl moves in. Her name is on her door and her welcome sign is up. I do no envy her one single bit. My move in day was a nightmare that I do not care to ever revisit.

Today is also house cleaning day. I will probably use that time to make my latest Amazon return.

And more Pride robots/mini monsters. I finished up one last night and changed my mind about how to add the arms. I went to snip off the arm and snipped a hole in the monster. ARUGH. I performed emergency surgery and I think I was able to save him. I'll try new arms today.

But, first a shower.

20250603_073837-COLLAGE

Good morning so far

Jun. 3rd, 2025 08:30 am
bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
I got up and was on my bike by 6:30.  Long time since I've done that.  I did not push at all and stopped after half an hour.  Saving my legs and butt.  I'll do another half an hour on Thursday.  It will take me a couple of weeks to be saddle comfortable and I'll slowly extend the time.  In the past I always did too much too soon and then just gritted through the outcome.  But I'm in no hurry and have a perfect place to do short runs.  It is kind of a PIA to get dressed and then have to wash the stuff for just half an hour but no way am I doing it without cycling padding.  I walked Zoe afterwards so had a full hour of activity.

Getting on the bike again was like putting on a well worn pair of jeans.  My bike is more like a part of me when I ride.  I've been doing it so long my brain automates all the shifting and watching and signalling and intersections.  I turn off whatever is playing in my headphones if things are going to get interesting for one reason or another but normally my automatic functions work fine.  Thousands of miles in the saddle.  It is always nice to be back.

Not much happening today.  An Amazon returns trip and a discussion with one of the other tech committee people.  At some point.  He works.  

There are five of us on the committee.  I suggested we get together at 6 on this past Monday.  Two of the remain four even responded.  One said he couldn't make it.  The other asked what time (after I had stated in the subject line 6-7).  That last guy and I have had some back and forth emails since and should be talking today.  The guy that said he couldn't make it sent a note at 6 yesterday asking where we were.  He was at the meeting place and was annoyed that we weren't there. 

I'll try one more time sending out an email to get together next Tuesday.  Give them a week to plan.  

It turns out we are supposed to have three people to do anything but I've not seen that in any direction so who knows.  Not worrying about it too much regardless.


Dental Appointment

Jun. 2nd, 2025 08:02 pm
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

Okay, I put the people with whom I'm meeting on Monday as the executors of my will. I can change it if necessary. So I finished my trust document. I also contacted a local bank to possibly serve as a successor trustee and maybe executor?

Damn, my tooth hurts. I hope that they'll fix it tomorrow.

I got Lily to come upstairs, but then Oliver went down in the basement. It’s a zoo here.

Fed us all. My stomach is upset.

Smoke from Canada has arrived here.

Got up at 6:30 AM. My stomach is upset. I need to get into the shower early because I need to put on my makeup for my dental appointment.

Oliver and Lily are being cranky with each other and are doing whappy paws.

Well, hell. This morning I had a dental appointment to get impressions for my permanent bridge. It wound up being surprisingly painful. They numbed me up, but they kept on pressing on a tooth that still hurt. The good news is that they replaced the missing crown with a temporary one, and that tooth feels fine. But I told work that I was taking 1/2 a sick day and was going to lie down, but that I would be in for a team meeting. Ate a little yogurt. Clio mini greek yogurt bars are pure crack. I love them.

It occurred to me that Munchie Bones are kind of like dog currency. Bella was like, “You expect me to come in FOR FREE??” I went and got a Munchie Bone, and she came in. She saves them for a while too.

Nothing from the bank that does trust work so far. I might have to call them this afternoon because I want a choice of who to pick to handle my estate.

Well, hell. The people whom I wanted as executor cannot serve as executor. They suggested that I try another firm. I'll call the bank first. I set up an appointment with the bank for Wednesday afternoon.

It's freaking hot upstairs. I just remembered that I saw a combo air conditioner/heater at Lowe's that seemed to be small enough for the windows upstairs. I need to measure to make sure. Nope, the window is a smidge too small. Ack! Up to 90F/32 C tomorrow. Shorts weather. Maybe I'll shave my legs tonight because I have Italian tomorrow morning. I ordered an air conditioner from Amazon. I’ll deal with heat in the fall. At least you can put more clothes on when it’s cold.

I got my new “Dog in Yard; Please Close the Gate” signs. They’re copper and a little fancy for my lousy fence, but they will look good when I replace the fence. I need to get wire to attach it to the fence. I also got my NokBox (Next of Kin Box).

My dentist was worried about the temporary bridge and crowns coming off, so I bought some filling repair stuff to take with me on my business trip.

I am not feeling great. I think that I’ll go to bed early. The sore tooth hurt a bit when I ate. Submitted a grocery order for tomorrow morning. We’re low on cat food. I bought cloth napkins and placemats as well as food. Oops, I want microfiber cloths too (done).

I brought the NoxBox supplies upstairs, but it's too damn hot to clear off the top of the filing cabinet for it. I'll go to sleep soon and get up early to do stuff up here. But I do have some packages downstairs to open before I got to bed. The downstairs is quite comfortable. Also, I have some Italian homework, but I'll bring it downstairs to do.

shadowkat: (work/reading)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Yes, it's that time again - for the weekly Good News Report from the American Resistance and it's Global Allies in the War against Fascism, Cancer, Disease, and Climate Change, or just trying to fight for kindness and general well-being overall.

As always, mileage may vary on what is good news, or good news may well be in the eye of beholder. You can also call it the Hope Report if you prefer.
Whatever floats your boat, as my father used to say.

the Good News Report )

***

Reading: When Leaders Attack Judges as Enemies, the Global Authoritarian Play Book and How to Stop It


Inflated tires

Jun. 2nd, 2025 02:35 pm
bill_schubert: (Default)
[personal profile] bill_schubert
In an effort to not get maudlin over my first Tuesday without going to the Ranch I pumped up the tires of my bike.  It won't be a long one but I'm going to get up and go for a neighborhood ride in the morning.  I really need to move and cycling will help build up my legs again.  I need to get some muscle mass back.  There is sufficient room and no lack of steep terrain within the community.  There is a traffic light that I can use to cross over the busy road to the adjoining community that also has a lot of real estate.  We are now living in a very busy area, one of the fastest growing in the country, and it is no longer safe to ride where I have done so for years.  But there are safe ways around it.

Today was pickleball day and was disappointing.  There are two or three players who are really not good and will never be any better.  I played with and/or against them today so I never had a challenging game.  It was not fun.  I still got in steps and movement but not much enjoyment.  Some days are like that.  I play again Wednesday.  

My son is turning 46 today.  Staring down 50.  His eldest will be 17 in a couple of weeks.  Fortunately I'm not getting old.

I'm waiting for my insurance friend to call me back and finalize my new insurance policy.  By the end of next month I will have fully withdrawn from USAA.  The company is not the same one I signed up with.  I'm pretty happy with SoFi bank and insurance is insurance is insurance.  Get the best deal you can get for the least amount of money.  If I have a claim or any other issue I've got someone I know personally who will take care of it.  USAA was like that once.  The insurance I'm getting is about half what I was paying USAA.  So it is a better deal.

Other than that it is hot. 

(no subject)

Jun. 2nd, 2025 03:41 pm
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
It's a beautiful day although it seems more hazy this afternoon than it did this morning. I went for quite a long walk this morning, knowing the weather is supposed to get much hotter starting tomorrow.

We're finally getting moving on the accessory dwelling unit for me. My daughter has had one quote from a builder who says getting permits in their suburb is quick and easy, and we're not doing anything complicated so that part of the process should be simple. He says he should be able to start work around the end of June and it would take 4 to 5 months. They have to do some site work/excavation which will be the most expensive part of the process. She is going to get quotes from two or three other builders but she likes the idea of this guy because he has worked with our architect often before. It's almost starting to feel real at last.

Full Throttle by Joe Hill

Jun. 2nd, 2025 02:22 pm
gilda_elise: (Books - Reading raven)
[personal profile] gilda_elise
Full Throttle


A little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns.” In “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain,” two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water’s edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality . . . and other horrors that lurk in the water’s shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” co-written with Stephen King.

I’m not normally one for short stories, but I do so enjoy Hill’s writing. And there were some in this collection that I enjoyed immensely. Throttle, which is the only story that doesn’t have a supernatural or sci-fi slant, is really quite good, but I enjoyed the stories that did wander off into strange avenues. Dark Carousel, Faun, and especially Late Return are favorites when it came to the supernatural, but it was the sci-fi story,You Are Released, that was my favorite.

Of course there were those that I didn’t care for, some not at all, mostly those whose endings were a bit too dark for me; YMMV on that.

Still, I felt the book leaned enough into the worth reading column. Maybe because many of the stories are quite long, sort of pushing out into novella territory, that I was able to overlook the stories that I wasn’t all that crazy about.


Mount TBR

Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-20 )

21. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
22. America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands
23. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham
24. The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
25. A Beginning at the End by Mike Chen
26. Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
27. Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill
28. Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak
29. Full Throttle by Joe Hill


Goodreads 30

My watch

Jun. 2nd, 2025 08:31 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
I have a Pixel watch that I really like but once in a while I really really like it. Yesterday, when I walked into the Dollar Store, I realized it was not on my wrist. Fuck. I went back to the car. No joy. I had been in the apartment, then tossed something into the trash and then got into the car. So there were only a few places, I hoped, it could have fallen off.

Inside the store, I remembered to fire up 'where are my devices'. I selected the watch and it said the watch was right there... at the dollar store. So back to the car and, sure enough, in the door pocket where I had reached in to get a tissue, it was. WHEW. (When I got home, I traded that OEM band for one of my Google ones - no chance it will fail.)

This morning, I was peeing when the phone rang. The phone was in the living room. I could see on my watch that it was the finance guy. My watch lets me answer but I only tried it once in test a long time ago. But, I hit answer and heard him and told him to hang on a second and he said ok and then I even had time to go get my earphones and turn them on. It was perfect.

I do love this watch. I have an insurance policy for it. But, I just checked, and I'm screwed if it falls off and I don't find it. No more OEM bands.

I did 20 minutes on the bike. I hated it but I did it. Now I'm sweaty. So shower time.

Monday

Jun. 2nd, 2025 07:16 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
I've already talked to my finance guy today. He's two hours ahead so nice to get that done. He's going to send me proposals of what to do with the money from the condo. I wish he'd grasp the concept of 'whatever you think is fine is fine' but, he's at least very easy to talk to and gets stuff done. I am so glad I jumped to him from my other guy. And, soon, everything will be decided and on autopilot.

I think I'm going to throw on some sweaty clothes and go ride a bike in the gym. My elliptical muscles are still sore from Friday and Saturday. I also have to deliver Martha's doll. And I made one for Julie who runs the beauty parlor. She's always very nice to me and very fun to talk to. She asked Joan to keep an eye out and snag a turquoise and pink one for her. So I have both in bags ready to deliver.

I ran out of pride colors so I tried some old Red Heart worsted that I did have in the right colors. Some of their stuff is fine but this is really for weaving and it's a bitch to knit with. Plus it's too big. So this morning, I'll pop out and see if I can find some Pride yarn in the right size. The pride robot that I put on the shelf last night had been snagged up this morning.

Not baseball today. But, I am reading a good book - NightShade - book 1 of a new series by Michael Connelly. So plenty of entertainment.

20250602_071248-COLLAGE

Missing Crown

Jun. 1st, 2025 07:59 pm
days_unfolding: (Default)
[personal profile] days_unfolding

Great. The crown for one of my front teeth came out, and I don’t know what happened to it. I noticed it when I was brushing my teeth. Luckily, I have an appointment at the dentist on Monday morning, but I guess that I’m not going to the garden shops tomorrow.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. The cats didn’t finish their food, and I don’t know why. My stomach is upset. I’m going to nap and not set an alarm. Woke up at 11:30.

Ran into my neighbor, who thinks Bella is a "good puppy". He asked how she gets along with the cats, and I said that she likes to play with them but gets rough. He said that she had good intentions.

It took a Munchie Bone and almost going in to get Bella inside. She’ll like it when I work outside.

Yay, I got new underwear. Bella likes to steal them and trash them.

Ow. Ate lunch, and the tooth missing the crown hurts. Brushed my teeth, but that made it worse. Took acetaminophen and applied some dental pain cream. That seems to be helping. Napped.

Bella was barking, but I’m not sure at what.

Got my lazy butt into the shower. Now I’m feeding the critters. The kitchen is chilly.

Watered the garden and the plants waiting to be planted. Fed us all. My tooth hurts again. Brought a recycle bin inside the basement stairs. Lily ran downstairs.

Now I'm going to work on my trust document. I don't feel like cleaning because my tooth hurts. Hmm. I need to contact Schwab to serve as a successor trustee. And I'm stuck until I have an executor for my will. I guess that I will clean after all. After I post.

Television and Book Reports...

Jun. 1st, 2025 05:31 pm
shadowkat: (work/reading)
[personal profile] shadowkat
Haven't accomplished much this weekend. It's been cool, and mostly overcast anyhow. I did spend a lot of time looking out on the treetops outside my living room window, and listening to actor podcasts.

The news, sigh. I don't know about you? But it is depressing me. And kind of makes me route for a sizable meteor, a tornado, or a green dragon to take out Washington, DC. Never felt that way before. I'm actually terrified of reading the news. Is it just me or has the world just gotten scarier since technology took off? Bad techies. Life would have been so much better if we paid techies and marketing folks fifty cents an hour or very little at all, and sanitation workers, tree planters, forest rangers, and climate change scientist more.

Reviews

1. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler : I finished this on Friday. It took me forever, and I'm not sure I'd recommend reading it now? It's a science fiction novel about the consequences of climate change, with the federal government selling off lands to corporations resulting in societal collapse in the year 2025. A group of hardy and diverse souls decide to walk north to find land, jobs, or a place to live and pick up people along the way. Butler focuses on community building and kindness of strangers. While there is violence earlier in the novel, towards the end, it is less so.

The novel ends in the year 2027, and the next one Parable of the Talents begins in 2032, with flashbacks.

There's a romance, between the 18 year old heroine and a fifty-seven year old man in the novel that I found kind of odd, considering I'm fifty-eight.
Also the novel was published in 1992, and takes place in 2025-2027, so...

Some of the things in the novel she gets right about the future - we do have the beginnings of climate change. California is suffering from heat waves and wild fires. We do have an insane federal government that is trying to cater to corporations. What we don't quite have yet is slave labor, keep in mind this is Octavia Butler - and most of her novels tended to focus on slave labor, mainly because she was an African-American Female Science Fiction Writer in the 20th Century. Also, Butler doesn't quite understand state government. So, she gets an alarming amount right, but also quite a bit wrong, which gives me hope at least, if only a smattering.

It's a scarier book now than I think it was when it was originally published. And perhaps a more timely one. I recommend but with the caveat that it is unnerving, and disturbing in spots. I have the sequel, but am taking a break from it. It was slow going. I may like it once the current administration in DC is gone. Not sure I can read more of it now - hits a little too close to home and I'm terrified enough by the news.

2. Murderbot - started watching on Apple + and it's better than expected. It seems to follow the novels rather closely and Alexander Starsgaard is pitch perfect casting for the Murderbot. It's funny in places and charming in others, just like the novellas were. Murderbot is adapted from the novella All Systems Collapse along with the other novellas in the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, which were initially published as e-books and audio books several years ago.

It has a widely diverse cast, and focuses on a group of hippie research scientists/geologists who purchase a cheap refurbished security protocol bot to take with them to a planet for a research expedition. The Corporations who control the rim planets they are visiting, require that they take a bot with them, so they take the cheapest available, Murderbot.

Murderbot - which is what the Bot calls itself, the government name is security unit, has hacked into its own system and basically watches television most of the time, when it doesn't save the stupid humans. We see most everything from its perspective. It has a rather funny running commentary, and we get parodies of space operas as the television shows it's become invested in.

(Murderbot reminds me uncomfortably of AI, to be honest. Read more... )

3. Andor S2 - I've seen one episode. It was good. Took a little while to get into, but well paced. It kind of throws you into the heart of the action without much lead in. And much like the previous season, there is a lot of hoping about between story threads and characters. Took me a little while to figure out where the characters were and what was going on.

It's a series about the beginning of the Rebellion against the evil Corporate Empire, and I'm not certain it's the best series to watch now?
Hits a little close to home in spots. Such as the bad guys discussing how they need to get a mining planet that specializes in silk clothing, to provide them with it's rick minerals for energy and fusion. The trick is to get the people to rebel, and they can invade and take over. And I'm thinking, this reminds me a lot of what is currently happening in the US government at the moment. I think I would have enjoyed this episode more if Kamala Harris had won or Obama was still President, just saying. As it is, it was giving me the heebie jeebies.

I do like the series, however, so will continue with it.

***

Currently reading:

* Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which is about an old cleaning lady at an aquarium who befriends a giant Pacific Octopus. I was told this was a happy book, or comfortable and funny read by folks online. They asked to rec happy or funny or comfort reads, and a lot of folks rec'd this one.

Read more... )

On the Kindle.

* The Fair Folk by Su Bristow

"It’s 1959. To eight-year-old Felicity—who lives on a dying farm in England—the fairies in the woods have much more to offer than the people in her everyday life. As she becomes more rooted in their world, she learns that their magic is far from safe. Their queen, Elfrida, offers Felicity a gift. But fairy bargains are never what they seem. As an adult, Felicity leaves for university. Unfortunately, books are not her only company at Elfrida and Hobb—the queen’s constant companions—wield the ability to appear at any time, causing havoc in her new friendships and love life. Desperate, Felicity finally begins to explore the true nature of the Fair Folk and their magic. Her ally, the folklorist Professor Edgerley, asks, “What do they want from you?” The answer lies in the distant past, and in the secrets of her own family. As the consequences of the “gift” play out, Felicity must draw on her courage to confront Elfrida, and make the right choice. Interwoven with traditional stories and striking characters, The Fair Folk poses questions about how we care for our children, our land, and our love-hate relationship with what we desire most."

Reading in large paperback. Well-written and deliciously creepy in places.

*. And almost done with the audio book version of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, the sequel to The Six of Crows.
Read more... )

Heavily references Slavic and Eastern European Myths and Folklore, which I find nicely innovative, most things are Western European Folklore.

(no subject)

Jun. 1st, 2025 12:24 pm
maju: Clean my kitchen (Default)
[personal profile] maju
I slept very well last night and woke up much refreshed this morning. However, it was very cold for the time of year - minimum of about 9°C/48°F - and I was reluctant to go out for an early walk or run. I ended up going out after 9:30 am, when I found that it was quite pleasant outside. I ran about 7 km/4.5 miles. I haven't been running since last weekend because I've been babying my knees. (I've been walking instead.) The left one was inexplicably sore for a few days but seems to have recovered now. The right one is still slightly sore but not enough to keep me from running.

While I was out I noticed that the light is rather hazy, and I'm wondering if this is caused by smoke from the Canadian fires, or whether there are fires somewhere closer to here. One of my sisters and her husband are on a road trip in Canada right now. They started with a week in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where my brother-in -law's son lives, then drove to Calgary, Alberta. They haven't said anything about smoke affecting them so far.

I've got some vegetables (potatoes and butternut squash) in the slow cooker to accompany Italian sweet sausages for dinners for a few days, along with peas and broccoli. There are sheets, pillow cases, and towels out on the line. Other than that, it's a lazy Sunday.

Profile

days_unfolding: (Default)
days_unfolding

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1 2 34567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 4th, 2025 09:15 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios