days_unfolding

How to Solve Your Own Murder
Kristen Perrin
Amazon Product Link

Frances Adams always said she’d be murdered. She was right.

In 1965, Frances Adams is at an English country fair where a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. It is a prediction that sparks her life’s work—trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

Nearly sixty years later, Annie Adams is summoned to a meeting at the sprawling country estate of her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, Frances is found murdered, just like she always said she would be. Annie is determined to catch the killer, but thanks to Frances’s lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder.

Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer? As Annie gets closer to the truth, and closer to danger, she starts to fear she might inherit her aunt’s fate instead of her fortune.

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Listened as an audiobook.

Narrator’s voice was nice, not grating at all, very easy on the ear.

I suppose you can call this one of those cliche cozy mysteries and whodunnit? The POV alternates between current timeline and the past timeline. Pacing was pretty good until all of a sudden the mystery was resolved without really showing us the thought process, but revealing plenty of in-the-end irrelevant clues. But I suppose that’s the usual way these types of stories go? I just thought a little bit more of sleuthing wouldn’t hurt for this one. The conclusion came a little too abruptly, I found.

elusivek

Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
Amazon Product Link

Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

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I listened to this as an Audiobook, and while the voice was very pleasant, very easy to the ear, every time the POV goes to Cameron it just vexes me. Yeah, alrighty, you are never wrong, it’s always someone else’s fault. Grow up, man. Technically a did not finish but I really wanted to know the end of the story (I just couldn’t get through any more of Cameron) so I did snoop around for synopsis, spoilers, and ending. I’m sure it was amazing with Marcellus helping out.

days_unfolding

I’m thinking of staying out one more day; I’m still having dizzy spells. Yeah, I emailed in sick.

I’ve been thinking about 9/11 for the past few days, probably because of the New York City trip that I had planned. Never forget. It was a very big deal when I lived in California because one of the flights was headed towards the Bay Area. There’s a memorial there that I never saw. I remember my mom leaving a message because I was still asleep: “You will find a lot has happened when you get up.” Hard to believe that it’s been 25 years.

I’m reading Byron Katie’s book Loving What Is. The basic idea is that our thoughts about an event cause suffering, not the event itself. I think that it will help. She has worksheets on her Web site. I want to download them on my tablet and work with them.

I think that Bella is a little annoyed with Gracie’s play fighting. She’s keeping her at bay.

Napped. Woke up a little after 12 PM. Rescheduled my COVID and flu shots for Saturday after my singing lesson. Ate lunch.

I want to lie back down, but the doggos are wrestling.

I need to pick out a song to work on in my singing lesson.

Napped. Threw myself together. Went and picked up my groceries. Made dinner.

Now I need to post and feed the critters one more time. I'm really tired.

shadowkat

The world continues to be just a bit crazy?

It was a pretty day, and almost 9/11 weather but not quite. Also for the first time ever - I was in the Financial District on 9/11. About fifteen minutes away as the crow flies to the World Trade Center footprint. It is still called the World Trade Center - we just don't call it that - we call it the Freedom Tower. Trauma leaves its scars.

I thought it would be an issue? But it really wasn't. I work in a building that is closer to Battery Park and Staten Island Ferry, not near the World Trade Center. I can see the Freedom Tower out of my office window, but I'm not really near it? And so didn't run into any of the crowds or political power brokers who felt a need to make an appearance (basically all the mayoral candidates), Frump didn't go (he went to the Pentagon instead - because NY kind of made it clear he wasn't welcome), but he also came to the city, to visit the site in the afternoon and to go to the Yankees game (most likely will get booed again - like he did at the US Open). The only downside of NYC, is everyone and their entourage feels the need to come here. But, on the bright side? It's a huge city, so I don't tend to see them.

Speaking of Frump. Mother was amused that he sued the Wall Street Journal ("WSJ")for $81 million defamation suit, and Rupert Murdoch (aka Fox News, Tabloid King and Frump crony, owns the Journal and didn't back down and even let Fox cover the story. She couldn't remember what it was about. I was reminded today - via a headline on Mozilla Firefox home page, with CBS News covering it (also ironic considering), and an email from one of the many news outlets that I keep unsubscribing from and they keep ignoring me.

The skinny? ( Read more... )

Honestly, the satire writes itself now, doesn't it? No wonder SNL gave up.

In other news, Frump's NASA and a bunch of folks at Frump's Pentagon are worried about a globe that a bunch of drones tried to unsuccessfully take down.

US House UFO Hearing regarding US Missile Strikes on Unidentified Object - and it Bounces off of it

( Read more... )

maju

All the girls were tired yesterday morning and slow to get moving, but by the time they came home from school they were all feeling much better - except Aria! Aria was in an extremely ratty mood, throwing a tantrum about eating mashed potato (she wanted sweet potato!) and later literally screaming at her sisters to go away even though they were sitting at the dining table and she was standing at the edge of the room. Her mother managed to calm her down eventually, but I thought she must be coming down with something because she was so very out of sorts. However, after she finally ate her dinner she seemed much better and she went off to school as usual this morning.

So far nobody else has come down with whatever Violet and her mother had last week. I hope the danger period is past and the rest of us escape it.

It's a much prettier (and slightly warmer) day today, and I walked to the bank to get some cash and then walked home a longer way around because it turned out to be barely 3 km/under 2 miles to the bank. By taking a longer way home I covered about 8 km/5 miles.

susandennis

Holy moly. I ordered a pillow from Amazon this morning at 5:15 am. It is now 9 am and they just delivered it. As I was getting to sleep last night, I thought, hmmmm it would be nice to have another pillow just like this one. It's a very flat pillow that I really like and doubling up might be nice once in a while. I remembered this when I got up for volleyball and figured I'd just hit 'buy again' on my phone while I was thinking about it. It said delivery between 3 pm and 7. Cool. BUT they beat that by a lotta hours. Sadly, it wasn't a locker delivery so I have to either go down between 1 and 2 to pick it up or wait for delivery and hope this isn't a day that they skip.

The going down would be no problem EXCEPT, I told Bonny, I'd go with her to her first car wash. She always gets it done at the Lexus dealership but doesn't want to go that far this time so wants to try out one of our local car washes. I told her I'd show her how the poor people do it. hahahahahaha And she also wants to go to Costco and she also wants to stop at the grocery. And then probably lunch. We may not even get home til well after 2. No big deal.

I got a letter from my health insurance agent reminding me to check on my coverage changes. The details won't be available until Oct. 15 but my insurance (UHC) has some preliminary stuff available. Their website is really spectacular (especially compared to Humana). I was easily able to find out that last year (well, this year so far), I have spent $109.32 on medical stuff. Not too shabby considering. The government (medicare) pays for my insurance premiums and UHC pays for the rest, except co pays. They even pay for my over the counter drugs. Their preliminary 2026 stuff says that my co pays will go up from $30 to $40. I can live with that. Here's hoping for another year of this.

Hazel stopped in last night. She's crumbling. They called her yesterday at 7 to say John was having trouble breathing. He's now on oxygen. But, yesterday afternoon, she was there and everything stopped. 'It was nothing but quiet and I couldn't see him breathing at all.' She waited a bit to be sure and then went to get the nurse. When they got back to his room, he was awake again. This really shook her up. She says they are both so ready for this all to be over. She sat here last night for about 20 minutes and told me that story again as if she had just sat down. She often repeats herself but I've never heard her do it within 15 minutes. I just hope he doesn't linger on forever.

I have some data collecting I want to do before I head out with Bonny but before that, I feel like I should get dressed so I think I'll do that now.

days_unfolding

I woke up with a really upset stomach that got worse, so I called in sick to my dental appointment and work. I need to feed the critters and go back to bed.

I had an unexpected $2000 dental bill. It turns out that my insurance is refusing to pay for my bridge because one of the teeth was previously missing. I’m not sure if it’s worth pursuing with the insurance. They have been working with them for a while. Dad said yes, call them.

I changed my Walmart pickup order to tomorrow.

Went back to sleep. Woke up around 2:30 PM. Ate lunch. Lily is telling me that it’s feeding time, but it’s still early. Whoa. I bent over to pick up my glasses, which Lily knocked on the floor, and had a dizzy spell.

Went back to sleep. Woke up a little before 8 PM. It’s humid out.

I’ve been reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s book about her partner, who died of cancer. It’s rough in parts—her partner went back to her addictions before she died—but she had a great love and found her truth. It’s got me thinking how to get more spirit in my life.

Oh crap. There was another shooting. Political discourse in this country has gone down the tubes.

The cats are telling me they missed a meal. They ground me. I’m making dinner and soaking the cats’ dishes. I’m telling Gracie not to chase the cats. The car keys fell out of my pocket and Bella grabbed them. I finally got them away from her. A quiet evening at home :)

I ordered some Bluetooth headphones and resubscribed to Audible to have books to listen to while I’m cleaning. Elizabeth Gilbert mentioned Pema Chodron and Thich Nant Hanh, both of whom I’ve listened to in the past.

Fed us all and took the dogs out. Now it’s time to post and go back to sleep.

shadowkat

I didn't sleep that well last night, allegedly got seven hours, but with a lot of intermittent wake-ups.

I listen to sleep stories at the moment, via Calm, to get to sleep - for the most part, it is working. Depends on the sleep story.

Catiching up on September - Question a Day Memage

6. What’s the last book you read – did you enjoy it/would you recommend it?

This is hard. Mainly because I'm in another reading slump, and have started and given up on a lot of books lately.

So, the last one I finished and recall? Was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (I linked you to another person's book review - who liked the book, while I slogged through it and had issues with the narrative style and writing.)

It's about an elderly woman's friendship with an octopus - who helps her figure out what happened to her son, who went missing decades ago. The book is more focused on the quirky characters than it is on the plot, so as a result the plot is haphazard at best, and depends largely on the stupidity of its characters to move forward. And the characters are remarkably dense.
The octopus has to work overtime to help them figure things out.

I don't know - it's a popular book? I just didn't like it. Although I did finish it - which is more than I can say for the last seven books I've tried to read.

7. Is there anything you know is an extravagance, but you still pay for it regularly because you want to treat yourself?

Sigh. Most likely my television streaming subscription services, and the matcha lattes I get. Also an occasional gluten-free baked good (chocolate chip cookie, donut, muffin...brownie).

8. Can you take a nap and still sleep well that night, or are naps just for when you are unwell?

No. I only take naps when I'm sick or haven't slept the night before, and my body dozes off (so not feeling well). I'm not much of a sleeper. And if I nap, I get groggy and can't sleep at night. Everyone in my family seems to have this problem.

9. When you look outside, what do you see right now?

It's night, so the silhouettes of trees and leaves,reflections of things in the windows (pictures on my walls, easel, chair, stained glass stars hanging from window sills) and a dark sky, also for a while a spotlight. It's the week of 9/11 and they shine spotlights in the sky to remember the twin towers. It looked like the moon - so I wondered if it was, and realized, no a spotlight - the light went to the ground like a spotlight. It's gone now. Saw it last night too.

10. Are there any confectionary bars they don’t make any more that you miss (describe them)?

Okay, not sure what this is? Oh, candy bars.

I don't think there are any that I loved that they don't make any more? Ponders. No. Even saw a Whatmacallit recently. I just can't have them any longer. But that's not because they aren't being made.

Current Mood: tired

susandennis

I bought a Samsung TV years ago that just sucked eggs. It was a fine TV but their software was so horrible, I finally got rid of it. I have long refused to go near a Samsung phone. A couple of years ago, I bought an LG TV and guess whose software is worse than Samsung???? I got rid of it, too.

Today I had a long and pretty bloody fight with another Samsung TV. I won but the scars are for life. My neighbor, Jim, wanted ESPN. He has an subscription and can get it on his computer but wants it on the TV. (This is not the Jim who does not know the word for remote, this is the Jim that lives next door to him.) He's not tech savvy but around here, he'd be near the top of the bottom of the class. He has full cable but but his girlfriend has a grandson who plays for Colgate so he wanted Colgate football. ESPN Plus.

His 'smart' Samsung TV would not install the app - click on install and get nothing. You had to go to Samsung Plus which is an app on top of the Samsung TV general app and load ESPN there. BUT you can't do it unless you log into Samsung Plus. We went through 8 stages of hell to get Jim a Samsung account and failed at every turn. For an hour. Finally, I just logged onto his TV as me. Screw it. I finally got the ESPN app loaded (and, turns out, it is the slowest app in the city) and we had to log into it, too BUT, of course, now it's Disney + and that involved a shit load of fucking hoop jumping. Until finally, magically, there it was - the Colgate game - airs tomorrow at 6.

Fucking a. He's very grateful. I'm exhausted. And I'd like to shoot every programmer who ever worked for Samsung. (Gimme a few Disney/espn coders for extra credit.)

Meanwhile on 2 different shows and once in real life in the past week, I've heard people in a TV discussion ask
'is that on Netflix or Roku?' This question cracks me up but I am totally weirded out that so many people think it's a viable query!

maju

I've been a sloth this morning. It's grey outside with possible showers forecast and I just didn't feel like going out. What I want to do is walk to the Bank of America which is a bit over 3 km/2 miles away to get the cash I couldn't get at the supermarket, but I didn't want to walk that far if it was going to rain. I'll probably go tomorrow as the forecast is for clear and sunny weather then. I did walk up and down the stairs a few times for a quick burst of exercise.

Yesterday I discovered that bears roam through this town sometimes; this is apparently common knowledge, and my daughter has seen bear poo near her compost bin. I remember what a big news item it was when a bear what had escaped from somewhere was seen roaming around near my neigbourhood, so it feels a bit surreal that bear sightings are so taken for granted here.

elusivek

Saturday, I took my bestie over to China to a karaoke parlor. It was pretty nice. We didn't really sing much, but we just lined up the play list and pressed the button so that the vocals would be played out as well. We ordered some food from the parlor, and ordered some... bubble tea type of drinks from a delivery app, and including all the food and the room booking (3 hours)? The price of a regular meal for 2 in Macau.

We had another typhoon on Monday, got the day off practically. So I spent the day mucking around with my ereader and got the page turner clicker thing working. I could pet Sai Lup and click to turn a page, how convenient LOL

Of course, the other dog got jealous and decided to glue itself to me when Sai Lup decided he's had enough and wanted to leave my bed.

My cough is like... 90% gone, but i would still have sporadic shortness of breath, feeling really weak around my chest area, and have spouts of coughing. I do feel like I've got phlegm in my throat that isn't moving up nor down. My doctor mentioned it's because my inner body is "cool" and declared my gut health isn't too well (true-ish). So my doctor said to try the gua sha and suction cups thing to "pull out the wind and cold" in you. Funnily enough, after the session, I felt the phlegm loosen up, though I still couldn't ahem ahem and spit it out. And around 2 hours later I urgently needed the toilet to get rid of, literally, bad sh*t. Though, now it's like i got run over by a car. But anyway, next week again!
( Just a photo )

bill_schubert

Far as I can figure out, semaglutide mimics the hormone that tells you you're full. That's about it. The mechanism is a slowing down of digestion.

As I eat a home made blueberry muffin which is, btw, actually blue as I let the frozen berries thaw a bit. But the muffins are amazing and it is kind of like having a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

I started out mid August at 214 pounds or 15.3 stone. I'm now 206.4, a few pebbles smaller. Not a huge amount of change but a perfect slope if it continues.

This was accomplished by eating less than I burn. That's the entire plan. Calorie deficit. And all the protein I can find.

I can actually feel that the semaglutide is effective. I get hungry but not overly so. I eat and I can tell it is digesting really slowly. I'm at the lowest dose you can get and today was the day I was supposed to increase it. But I asked and was told to manage it as I saw fit so I did not change the dose for week number five. If by next week I either am finding it increasingly difficult to maintain my deficit or I've not lost any more I'll look at increasing the dose. I'd rather not. I'd be thrilled to just track what I'm eating (on the excellent Cronometer app) and not increase the dose.

The long range plan is to hit my goal or a bit below it and then wean myself off the semaglutide. Or, if I never increase the dose, just stop using it all together.

Last week I was having tea and digestives having read and listened to British mysteries continuously for months and I realized that I'd had enough and was eating when I was no longer hungry. That has happened to me several times recently.

The great experiment will be once I stop shooting up what happens. Will my body remember that I don't really need as much? The current studies say not. Current studies say I'll regain the weight. But that is them and this is me and the arc of tracking this drug is pretty short.

So, we'll see. In the fairly near future. I'm only needing to lose another 15 pounds or so to be where I want to be. So a pound a week. End of the year?

susandennis

It's another cloudy morning but the sun is trying to break through. My plan is finish this entry, make the bed, layout clothes and then go swimming but if it is full on glary sun by then, maybe not. Or maybe I'll try it.

The letter from the IRS was weird. The transcripts on their website show clearly that a refund is due me but the letter, not so much. They both agree on the exact numbers. So I called. Or, rather, tried to call. There were a couple of numbers in the letter to call if I had questions. Then there's the main 1040 line. I tried, in vane, to get to a person to ask. That's 40 minutes I'll never see again. I finally found some tricks on Reddit but by that time, I had lost my will to live. Fuck it. If I get a check, great. If I get a bill, I know where my CPA is.

I'm hoping to hear from Crate and Barrel soon about the new cushion for my couch. They said mid September and we are there. And my couch really needs that cushion. Of course, they will call and then I will bitch about having to go over to Bellevue to pick it up.

On the up side, I did have a very pleasant experience with my new Chase checking account. I got the debit card yesterday and while waiting for my house cleaner to finish, I got on my phone to activate it. easy peasy but then it said, do you want to add this to your digital wallet? Well, sure. It gave me 3 to chose from - Google, Apple and Samsung. And then a couple of questions to answer and bam, it was in and ready to use! Very cool. I've been trying for a while to get my BECU stuff in there - neither debit nor Visa will get past their verification process which sucks. So, fuck 'em. I've got a nice backup now. Thank you.

Nothing special going on today. We have a good puzzle going in the elbow and both my baseball teams play today so that's pretty much the agenda.

Guess I'll go get everything done and then go swim. The sun is still not out so maybe I'll get lucky!

maju

4. What do you do over and over again that you hate doing? Most forms of housework.

5. Would you rather your child be less attractive and extremely intelligent or extremely attractive and less intelligent? It would be nice if they could have both, but I think intelligence is more useful in the long term than extreme attractiveness.

6. What white lies do you often tell? I don't find myself telling white lies very often. If I do, it's usually to tell someone they're looking good or something similar when that might not be strictly true.

7. What is the biggest change you have made in your life in the last year? The change was made for me, not by me. I'm now living alone rather than with someone else.

8. What do you understand today about your life that you did not understand a year ago? Nothing comes to mind. I think I'm old enough to have learnt to understand most things about my life.

9. Whose life have you had the greatest impact on? I have no idea. Maybe my children?
10. What did life teach you yesterday? I already knew this, but it was reinforced: you can't depend on things to stay the same.

maju

I read this in a report in an Australian news source about a guy who died after being attacked by a shark off the coast of Queensland in north eastern Australia: "the shark beelined for the back of [the guy] and severed his legs quite severely".

shadowkat

Sorry, it's been a while, and I don't know about anyone else? But I've found the news to be a bit tiring. And have emotionally distanced myself from it for the most part - for my own mental and emotional and physical health. Every time I look at it - I feel like I'm watching an absurd ping pong match to the death, between all the States, Federal Courts and Social Activists vs. the corrupt and ineffectual wannabee fascist Federal Government & their cronies. But hey, it is entertaining from a Civics/Student of Government perspective, also if you are a litigation attorney specializing in constitutional law and civil rights law, and anyone who is into political satire and not currently living in the US or affected by its policies. Basically if you are living on a remote island in the China Sea, and in which case, you're probably clueless.

Anyhow, despite all that, here's a list of good news items that I've found.
As always, keep in mind good news is in the eye of the beholder, and mileage may well vary on the below.

Good News Report from the Resistance and their Global Allies

( 100 Good News Items )
***

Quotes

* " “If something really matters to you,” Beverley Fehr, a University of Winnipeg psychologist, told me, “there’s a vulnerability in sharing it with someone else.” When we declare a favorite book, movie, or album and introduce it to others, Jeffrey Hall, a communications-studies professor at the University of Kansas, told me, “what we’re doing is saying, ‘This is an aspect of my identity that I’m willingly putting out there in order for other people to know me. And if you reject this thing, you reject me.’” Tom Vanderbilt, the author of You May Also Like, said that recommending something to someone can be like giving a gift, in that “it says something about you, but you’re also trying to anticipate what they might like.”
- The Atlantic

*“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” – ELVIS PRESLEY

* "Hike your own hike." - Sleep Story (Calm).
***
Lusting after a Vacation

Ah, something to lust after: Skillcations to exotic places...such as photography in Uganda, Knitting in Iceland, cooking in Italy...
***

Nice News Book Rec: The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us About How to Live Well with the Rest of Our Life by Rob Dun

( brief description )

***

Music Rec

In 1975, “Bohemian Rhapsody” became an instant classic. While countless covers (from The Muppets to Glee) have paid tribute to what’s considered one of rock’s most enduring anthems, Queen has never authorized a translation of the song — until now. Fifty years after the single was released, a new version is delighting fans, this time in the Zulu language and performed by South Africa’s acclaimed Ndlovu Youth Choir.
( Read more... )
We’d say mission (above and beyond) accomplished: Watch the music video to decide for yourself.

https://nicenews.com/culture/queen-bohemian-rhapsody-zulu-version/

( Music Video of Zulu Translation of Bohemian Rhapsody )

days_unfolding

Gracie tried to wake me up before my alarm, but I pulled the covers over my head. Took the dogs out, and I’m going back to sleep for a while.

Ack! I didn't take a shower and forgot that I had a hair appointment today! I put my status on "Be right back" and ran down to take a quick shower and put on makeup.

Got my hair cut, conditioned, and my eyebrows waxed. She kept my eyebrows thick and just shaped them, which is what I wanted, and it's cheaper than the brow lamination that I was doing.

I'm wondering if I should get a ticket to Lyric Under the Stars, which is a selection of arias and songs from musical theater, outdoors. You can get a seat at a table or on the lawn. You can buy food or not. There are too many choices! It's on my mom's birthday, though, so I'd like to do something. I bought the seat at a table and the dinner. It sounds like a lovely evening.

Speaking of my mom, I've been thinking of her a lot lately. Maybe it's because her birthday is coming up. Or maybe the stress of cleaning out her house is finally wearing off. I have to hand it to my dad though; he has people who will step in when he passes away (or even if he gets sick). I wish that my mom had had something like that.

Fed us all and took the dogs out. I should gather garbage but I’m tired and my back hurts. I do need to get up on time tomorrow for my dental appointment. I'm having dizzy spells, so I'm going to submit a grocery order (done) and go to bed.

maju

I've been trying to get some cash out at the nearest local supermarket (Stop & Shop) for paying tolls on my way home but I've been unsuccessful and I've got no idea why. Last week I tried at the "manned" ("womanned"?) checkout; the woman said it should work with any card when I enquired about using my credit card, but then she said the option didn't come up. This morning I tried using the self service checkout and again the option to get cash back didn't come up. I'm going to have to go to the actual bank, which is annoying but not horrible.

The only state I pass through which forces the use of cash to pay tolls if you don't have EZ Pass is New Jersey, but I pass through at least three toll booths in New Jersey. Maryland and New York just read your licence plate as you pass through and then send the bill later, and I don't pass through any toll booths in Connecticut.

I slept very well last night with the help of melatonin.

Every morning I get up around 5 am and the first thing I do, before any of the granddaughters comes down to join me, is work through my Duolingo Spanish lesson for the day. I've usually finished this before any of the girls arrive, but this morning Eden came down around 5:15 am while I was still doing it. This was a surprise as she is usually the last one awake; Violet or Aria are both more likely to join me in the early morning than Eden is, but they normally don't arrive until closer to 6. Eden, never having seen me doing the Spanish lesson before, wanted to know if I do it every morning.

susandennis

My email this morning from USPS telling me what will be in the snail mail today, shows a letter from the IRS.

In November of 2024, I found a CPA and had him review my returns for 2022 and 2023. He prepared amended returns for both years that called for big refunds. His fee for this came out to about 10% of the refunds. A nice score. 2023's refund came relatively quickly - a month or so after filing. But, 2022 has been hanging out there for now nearly a year. I keep getting letters saying 'it's taking more time, we need 90 more days'. So my first thought, of course, was that they were telling me 90 more days.

BUT, I logged into my IRS account and looked at my transcripts for 2022 and BINGO they show a refund payment on 9/22 so this letter must be saying it's coming. The refund is for 1/3rd more than the actual refund due because they are returning penalty money and paying interest for. Very sweet indeed.

The money is going right into my June 2026 fund. My brother and his son are both coming to visit and see the Red Sox/Mariners games. I'm told them I'd provide the financing for their expenses. This will cover it all very nicely.

Last night's Mariners game was interesting. Instead of the usual cast of annoying broadcasters, the regular guy was joined by Dave Valle who was one of my all time favorite catchers. He provided interesting insight and conversation. And they won. Pretty nice.

My lava lamp died. RIP

I watched episode 1 of Task - HBO/Max. It was good. Good story line, great characters, interesting treatments. It's a once a week drop and I'm really looking forward to next Sunday. Jeopardy is on Peacock today with an interesting mix of streaming weirdness. Apparently episodes are only available for 6 days and then disappear. Also the last four seasons are missing. Weird but fine. I do like watching it during lunch.

Hazel's handing out my little knitted people/monsters to everyone in the nursing wing. 'It's a great way to visit with some of these people there who never get any visitors.' I'm very glad to help.

bill_schubert

I was reading my daily slice of politics and current power history. I really work at reading enough to know most of what is going on without becoming obsessed. Not an easy balance but I've got it tuned fairly well. But today I probably waited too long before deleting my emails. Here is something I read. In an Axios article by the name of "MAGA pushes for more" the gist was that the group wants to remove independent federal accountibility offices, redistrict as much of the U.S. as they can to remove competition in the future, change the rules so that more federal judges will get apponted, their judges, get more military on the street in every large city. Here is a list of where they would like us to be:

Core Principles and Characteristics

Ultra-Nationalism:

A fervent and often exclusionary form of nationalism that prioritizes the nation's interests and unity above all else.

Authoritarianism:

A centralized, undemocratic political system where the state exercises total control over society and individuals.

Cult of Personality:

The existence of a strong, charismatic leader who is often portrayed as infallible and demands absolute obedience.

Militarism:

A glorification of the military and the use of paramilitary forces, often intertwined with a fixation on national decline or victimhood.

Totalitarianism:

The belief that the state has absolute power and should control all aspects of public and private life.

Rejection of Individual Rights:

A fundamental opposition to individual rights, pluralism, and democratic governance, prioritizing the collective national interest.

Economic Control:

State intervention in the economy, often in the form of corporatism, to promote national economic self-sufficiency and suppress labor power.

The list is not quite where we are, yet, but seems pretty clear to me it is where we are headed.

The list was generated by Googling the word fascism.

I spent a summer in Germany living with a distant cousin, Aunt, or whatever she was. Her name was Anneliese. She could not have been more patient with an idiot 18 year old (redundant there). She had a mother living with us who had a collections of memorabilia stamps. Of Hitler. As a teenager mom was an accolyte of his. In other words, a mainstream citizen of her country idolizing someone who espoused the ideals of that very list that could and does belong to MAGA.

I'm an old, white, male military veteran and could not be safer in my situation. But I do have eyes and experience and grew up in the midst of the ripples caused by the last major MAGA like revolution.

There is no denouement to this entry. I just has to put it out somewhere in the ether.

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Reading

Book: How to Solve Your Own Murder

Book: Remarkably Bright Creatures

9/11 Anniversary

Thursday is laughing at the crazy world (and possibly sleep deprived)

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Thursday

Sick Day

Wedensday is exhausted

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Karaoke, typhoon, reading, Chinese medicine

Figuring out GLP-1 - your mileage may vary

I may be cutting it close

365 Questions 2025

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The "very" belated return of the Good News Report...

Lyric Under the Stars

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It looks like maybe 2022 is finally done.

How it happens, I guess

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