i think i'm depressed.
i meant to do things today, because stuff.
but even though it was cold enough to work the snow today, the driveway was still a river and it was hard sledding.
and then i thought i'd play a couple of rounds of 2048, and somehow several hours were lost.
i'm not so much working construction on snohaus, as restoring it. over time it lost some volume, and therecent warm weather took a half dozen inches in height alone.
today a couple hundred pound of snow were enough to repair a step and a half on the stairs. tomorrow it will have been cold all night and i hope it will warm up slowly in the morning to give me a couple of hours in which i can work.
i did not make any pudding today.
i have been meaning to make pudding for days.
i tell you, satan's own game.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
terror of the deep
it only gets worse.
a long time ago i wrote about a blog i am not linking to.
the horror of it is that the woman passed through some more therapists, some more jobs, a couple more girlfriends, and had gotten involved in a BDSM relationship with an addict, so now that she's read up on it, she's an expert on that, too.
i am not against BDSM for people who like it.
i think people who are train wrecks to start with are only asking for trouble taking on a boyfriend/addict/dom.
that isn't even the worst of it, though.
she thinks she's pregnant and she thinks it's a good thing.
and spends some time telling the child to be that she has no intention of quitting drugs or smoking, because "that's just the way i am", get used to it.
in case you are wondering, she still thinks everything is somebody else's fault, and that she is the best poet in the world.
a long time ago i wrote about a blog i am not linking to.
the horror of it is that the woman passed through some more therapists, some more jobs, a couple more girlfriends, and had gotten involved in a BDSM relationship with an addict, so now that she's read up on it, she's an expert on that, too.
i am not against BDSM for people who like it.
i think people who are train wrecks to start with are only asking for trouble taking on a boyfriend/addict/dom.
that isn't even the worst of it, though.
she thinks she's pregnant and she thinks it's a good thing.
and spends some time telling the child to be that she has no intention of quitting drugs or smoking, because "that's just the way i am", get used to it.
in case you are wondering, she still thinks everything is somebody else's fault, and that she is the best poet in the world.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
that about wraps it up.
let's see.
so today it rained all day, which has not been good for snohaus.
the nice young computer technician called to ask some questions about my operating system and ten days into a data recovery he still isn't sure if there's going to be a recovery.
i am sick of hearing privileged people complain that their loss of control over other people somehow amounts to persecution. this applies equally to christians who are bitter about marriage equality, agribusinesses that lobby for ag-gag laws, rich people who feel entitled to kleptocracy, and oil company executives who sue to keep fracking pipelines of of their property.
around lunchtime i accidentally put a hot skillet down on a ziploc bag. that did not end well.
that 2048 game i told you about yesterday is serving as an excellent reminder about why i should never use crack.
and earlier today i thought it would be swell to put fresh sheets on the bed, only i am not quite done that project and it is now bedtime.
plus i smell bad.
yep, i think that covers it.
so today it rained all day, which has not been good for snohaus.
the nice young computer technician called to ask some questions about my operating system and ten days into a data recovery he still isn't sure if there's going to be a recovery.
i am sick of hearing privileged people complain that their loss of control over other people somehow amounts to persecution. this applies equally to christians who are bitter about marriage equality, agribusinesses that lobby for ag-gag laws, rich people who feel entitled to kleptocracy, and oil company executives who sue to keep fracking pipelines of of their property.
around lunchtime i accidentally put a hot skillet down on a ziploc bag. that did not end well.
that 2048 game i told you about yesterday is serving as an excellent reminder about why i should never use crack.
and earlier today i thought it would be swell to put fresh sheets on the bed, only i am not quite done that project and it is now bedtime.
plus i smell bad.
yep, i think that covers it.
Friday, March 28, 2014
2048
i'll tell you what happened: 2048.
so i woke up this morning not all better but nearly better and worked on snohaus ahead of the rain and went to find a geocache and did some other things and then i meant to do another thing but my laptop was open to that game and the next thing i know it was four hours later.
i'm going to bed.
play it at your own peril.
so i woke up this morning not all better but nearly better and worked on snohaus ahead of the rain and went to find a geocache and did some other things and then i meant to do another thing but my laptop was open to that game and the next thing i know it was four hours later.
i'm going to bed.
play it at your own peril.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
feels like a done day
it's ten thirty in the morning and already i feel like the day is lost to me.
i woke up this morning thinking: i will check the weather and if it's nice for skiing i will go skiing and if not i will work on snohaus.
but then as i moved about waking up, it became obvious that something is wrong in my lower back. so. stretches, gentle exercises.
the sun came up. it is cold out, but with sun that strong, perfect for skiing and there just aren't that many good ski days. i thought: i really should go skiing.
so i started to get suited up for that.
and there really is something wrong in my lower back. i thought maybe i could just do some gentle skiing, but while you might be able to ski gently, there's no gentle way around lugging all those pounds of gear. plus if you get into trouble and need to lie down, you are up at the mountain with all your gear and no way to get home.
so. more gentle stretches and exercises.
i will have to leave the house to go find a geocache and later on i will work very gently on snohaus. the day is too nice to do nothing and while maybe shoveling snow isn't the best idea, i can at least modify the activities so i'm not moving heavy sleds. i can move a half sled at a time and still get something done.
or a quarter sled.
and if i need to lie down, i am at least at home where i can enjoy the full range of NSAIDs and muscle relaxants available to me.
and have a little nap.
tomorrow i will be good as new.
i woke up this morning thinking: i will check the weather and if it's nice for skiing i will go skiing and if not i will work on snohaus.
but then as i moved about waking up, it became obvious that something is wrong in my lower back. so. stretches, gentle exercises.
the sun came up. it is cold out, but with sun that strong, perfect for skiing and there just aren't that many good ski days. i thought: i really should go skiing.
so i started to get suited up for that.
and there really is something wrong in my lower back. i thought maybe i could just do some gentle skiing, but while you might be able to ski gently, there's no gentle way around lugging all those pounds of gear. plus if you get into trouble and need to lie down, you are up at the mountain with all your gear and no way to get home.
so. more gentle stretches and exercises.
i will have to leave the house to go find a geocache and later on i will work very gently on snohaus. the day is too nice to do nothing and while maybe shoveling snow isn't the best idea, i can at least modify the activities so i'm not moving heavy sleds. i can move a half sled at a time and still get something done.
or a quarter sled.
and if i need to lie down, i am at least at home where i can enjoy the full range of NSAIDs and muscle relaxants available to me.
and have a little nap.
tomorrow i will be good as new.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
the right way for things to go wrong
yesterday it was in the news that a police officer in a nearby town was being charged with drunk driving.
that is sad and it is not the right thing that happened.
the right thing that happened is that when the police in that town pulled him over for driving erratically and they realized he was one of their own, they immediately called the state police, who responded to the scene and who are conducting the criminal investigation.
they maybe could have let him off. they maybe could have covered it up.
but they didn't. they handed it over to the staties from word one and it cheers me up to find an example of a police department behaving properly, with respect for the law and concern for avoiding both conflict of interest and appearance of conflict of interest.
that is sad and it is not the right thing that happened.
the right thing that happened is that when the police in that town pulled him over for driving erratically and they realized he was one of their own, they immediately called the state police, who responded to the scene and who are conducting the criminal investigation.
they maybe could have let him off. they maybe could have covered it up.
but they didn't. they handed it over to the staties from word one and it cheers me up to find an example of a police department behaving properly, with respect for the law and concern for avoiding both conflict of interest and appearance of conflict of interest.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
notes from the glitch diaspora: here be monsters
here be monsters is hardly a new game, but it's relatively recently that it stopped being just a facebook game, and since i do not facebook i wasn't going to play it until it was browser-based as well.
when it went browser-based, i was paying attention to something else and didn't look in on it until last monday.
i like it. it has a lot of the components i liked about glitch, but it is not as rich. f'rinstance, the graphics are not as lovely and there's only the one sound loop. the story arc is far less imaginative and the player's journey in it is much more scripted.
if i'm only going to compare it to glitch, it's a pretty poor substitute.
but if i'm going to think about it on its own merits, it is a very pleasing little game. it is played on the actual globe with travel costs, so it has a feeling of placiness that i like. it also has complex little crafting trees and an interesting harvesting system that's fun for me.
although other players are on the same field, aside from chatting with them there's little interaction, unless you count going to your friends' houses and fertilizing their crops and sending and receiving gifts from your friends.
the gift giving is nice, and it's free stuff, because there's no cost to the giver of the gifts, and simply hitting the "say thank you" button puts coin in your pocket.
i'm kind of ambivalent about that.
on the one hand it's good manners but on the other, it's very transactional.
the game has fishing. the kind of fishing where you tie flies and then go stand at a body of water with your little digital bait on the hook until a digital fish bites and you have to reel it in.
it's a pleasant way to pass time and i think it's set up to poke the reward center of your brain.
short version: you won't land in the game and think "OMG, best. game. ever." but it is a playable game, and it's interesting and fun.
if you want to try it, you can do that here: http://www.herebemonstersgame.com/play
when it went browser-based, i was paying attention to something else and didn't look in on it until last monday.
i like it. it has a lot of the components i liked about glitch, but it is not as rich. f'rinstance, the graphics are not as lovely and there's only the one sound loop. the story arc is far less imaginative and the player's journey in it is much more scripted.
if i'm only going to compare it to glitch, it's a pretty poor substitute.
but if i'm going to think about it on its own merits, it is a very pleasing little game. it is played on the actual globe with travel costs, so it has a feeling of placiness that i like. it also has complex little crafting trees and an interesting harvesting system that's fun for me.
although other players are on the same field, aside from chatting with them there's little interaction, unless you count going to your friends' houses and fertilizing their crops and sending and receiving gifts from your friends.
the gift giving is nice, and it's free stuff, because there's no cost to the giver of the gifts, and simply hitting the "say thank you" button puts coin in your pocket.
i'm kind of ambivalent about that.
on the one hand it's good manners but on the other, it's very transactional.
the game has fishing. the kind of fishing where you tie flies and then go stand at a body of water with your little digital bait on the hook until a digital fish bites and you have to reel it in.
it's a pleasant way to pass time and i think it's set up to poke the reward center of your brain.
short version: you won't land in the game and think "OMG, best. game. ever." but it is a playable game, and it's interesting and fun.
if you want to try it, you can do that here: http://www.herebemonstersgame.com/play
Monday, March 24, 2014
why i don't like my neighbor
it's because of the dog.
my neighbor has a lanky black lab and i have never seen the neighbor walk her farther than the garage or the dumpster. i have never seen the neighbor put the dog in the car and take her anywhere.
every morning the neighbor opens the door and ties the dog to the railing for long enough to pee. grass won't grow in front of the neighbor's condo, or in front of mine as far as the dog's tie-up reaches.
when you buy a puppy, you are buying a living creature with needs and desires. dogs like to go places, sniff things, and did i mention GO PLACES? a dog needs exercise and company. the neighbor leaves this dog alone all day nearly every day.
but the neighbor has a nice flowerpot with the dog's name on it, and at halloween carves a pumpkin with the dog's name in it.
because, you know, a dog really appreciates personalized accessories.
i think a lot of people like the IDEA of a dog more than an actual dog. same goes for kids.
if you don't want to spend time with a dog, play with it, give it exercise and attention, you should not have a dog.
my neighbor has a lanky black lab and i have never seen the neighbor walk her farther than the garage or the dumpster. i have never seen the neighbor put the dog in the car and take her anywhere.
every morning the neighbor opens the door and ties the dog to the railing for long enough to pee. grass won't grow in front of the neighbor's condo, or in front of mine as far as the dog's tie-up reaches.
when you buy a puppy, you are buying a living creature with needs and desires. dogs like to go places, sniff things, and did i mention GO PLACES? a dog needs exercise and company. the neighbor leaves this dog alone all day nearly every day.
but the neighbor has a nice flowerpot with the dog's name on it, and at halloween carves a pumpkin with the dog's name in it.
because, you know, a dog really appreciates personalized accessories.
i think a lot of people like the IDEA of a dog more than an actual dog. same goes for kids.
if you don't want to spend time with a dog, play with it, give it exercise and attention, you should not have a dog.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
of course there aren't
of course there aren't many pictures for you to see.more to the point, there are, but i can't process them.
here's one i was able to pull up without too much trouble.
it was a big day at snohaus. today for the first time i was able to slide into the cave on the sled, get off the sled, push the sled out, and crawl out headfirst.
this means that i have to turn myself around and for a few moments have to be positioned so i can't get out the door right away AND it means that for a few minutes the sled (full of snow) is between me and the exit, blocking my way.
consider my deep and sometimes paralyzing claustrophobia.
because really. what's more fun than an entertainment that pushes right up against your second-worst fear?
anyway, the cave has to be pretty big for me to be able to go in there and turn around.
strangely, if i don't turn around in the hole, i can hang on to the fiction that i am not entirely in the hole. i can pretend that my feet are still outside and for some reason if i am face down in a hole underneath three tons of snow and have to slide out backward, that's better than if i am sitting up and turned momentarily sideways in a hole large enough to turn the sled around in.
i have to be careful going in and out, though, because while the cave itself is pretty big, the door is only about eighteen inches tall and not that wide. the wall at the door is about two feet thick. it has to be that way to keep the structure safe and to minimize melting.
but if i bump up against the door going in or out, if i can FEEL how small it is, i suddenly lose the ability to maintain the fiction that there is plenty of room and i can stand up and get out right away if i need to.
and this fiction is really funny, because for safety reasons i don't go in the hole without both a snowscoop (a digging tool) and an avalanche shovel. one digging tool is in my hand at all times because IF there's a cave-in, i will need a digging tool in a hurry.
every year people die building snowforts.
i prefer to think they don't know what they're doing.
it can be dangerous work, but if you know what you're doing it's a minimal risk.
it's important to have a well-packed base, and it's important to let the thing settle and sinter before working it. you should also not work it too much at once.
snow, properly packed, can be carved like butter and sets like concrete.
get the wrong weather for too many hours and it will fall like souffle.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
important update
i'm sure you are all dying to know how the thing with the gasoline ended up.
it was a close call, but i got to the gas station. i made it, though. this was no easy thing, since it takes a good fifteen minutes to get to the nearest gas station from my house.
so that was a nail-biter.
plus i was stuck for about five miles behind some guy with pennsylvania plates who was either driving bald tires and knew it, was drunk off his seat, or had never seen snow on a dirt road before.
seriously? ten miles an hour? AND BRAKING? ON A FLAT?!?!?
sadly, there were not many places to pass, and by unfortunate coincidence there was oncoming traffic in those places. so i just settled in and watched the show.
i mean really. my road is flat. if you are only going ten miles an hour, you do not need to use brakes. you just don't.
here's a video of my road:
exciting, yes?
it was a close call, but i got to the gas station. i made it, though. this was no easy thing, since it takes a good fifteen minutes to get to the nearest gas station from my house.
so that was a nail-biter.
plus i was stuck for about five miles behind some guy with pennsylvania plates who was either driving bald tires and knew it, was drunk off his seat, or had never seen snow on a dirt road before.
seriously? ten miles an hour? AND BRAKING? ON A FLAT?!?!?
sadly, there were not many places to pass, and by unfortunate coincidence there was oncoming traffic in those places. so i just settled in and watched the show.
i mean really. my road is flat. if you are only going ten miles an hour, you do not need to use brakes. you just don't.
here's a video of my road:
exciting, yes?
Friday, March 21, 2014
can i get this many?
today i left the house to go get the one geocache i had to get, only i left without my wallet and also without any cash.
and once i was some miles from home i noticed how very low i was on gas.
i thought maybe i could get home before the fuel light came on.
nope.
and i did not think that was enough gas to get home and back to a gas station, so i scrounged a dollar forty in change from the console and under the seats and marched into a gas station and asked if i could get that much gas.
hey, it got me home.
and once i was some miles from home i noticed how very low i was on gas.
i thought maybe i could get home before the fuel light came on.
nope.
and i did not think that was enough gas to get home and back to a gas station, so i scrounged a dollar forty in change from the console and under the seats and marched into a gas station and asked if i could get that much gas.
hey, it got me home.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
totally, amazingly cool
this morning just past six i was waiting for my ride, a guy named bruce driving a huge tracked vehicle with some scary-lookin' appliances on both front and back. i have pictures and video and stuff but since my computer and i are still not in agreement about what constitutes an acceptable data transfer, i am saving the telling of it until later.
then after i found the geocache du jour and came home expecting to work on snohaus (also, no pictures now, so no real story for you) but it was too warm to work on the structure without damaging it. tonight it will set up a little and tomorrow morning early i'll get out there and see whether it's going to be cold enough for piling or warm enough for refacing and if i'll be ready to excavate.
either way it will be cold enough for a couple of hours to work the snow in some way.
right now i'm waiting for my rice and beans to cook because i NEED me more o' them burritos.
NEED.
then after i found the geocache du jour and came home expecting to work on snohaus (also, no pictures now, so no real story for you) but it was too warm to work on the structure without damaging it. tonight it will set up a little and tomorrow morning early i'll get out there and see whether it's going to be cold enough for piling or warm enough for refacing and if i'll be ready to excavate.
either way it will be cold enough for a couple of hours to work the snow in some way.
right now i'm waiting for my rice and beans to cook because i NEED me more o' them burritos.
NEED.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
wintry mix
that's what the weather forecast says.
wintry mix.
i'm calling shenanigans.
it's SNOWING here. yay!!! i might be the only person in the northern hemisphere who has not had nearly enough cold weather or snow, but as long as it's sunny and the snow is good, i don't care if spring don't come.
i would like to tell you about snohaus because it has been a big couple of days, but we still don't have pictures. let's just say that late tomorrow if i have energy i will be starting to DIG THE HOLE.
because the structure itself is now well over six feet tall. early on when i'm working on the base, 600 pounds or so of snow barely raises the hight an inch, but as the thing goes up the dome gets narrower and the same 20 sled loads raises it a couple of feet.
and speaking of tomorrow, tomorrow is kind of a big day in other fronts. tomorrow i get to ride in a snowcat.
i know, how cool is that?
later on i will have pictures for you.
now i have to eat dinner and go to bed because i have to meet the guy at 0600 and even though i often leave the house before six, somehow it seems more complex and difficult when i have an appointed meeting time that early.
woooo!
and i bought a box of paczky to share with the driver in whose workspace i will be intruding.
i am not sure what makes them so different from jelly donuts, but they are special POLISH jelly donuts you get at lent.
oh. and i took my hard drive in to the nice guys at the computer store to see if i can get a data retrieval. there was a thing last night where i melted down and there was crying and i tried to call my mom but i got my stepmother which was just as good because if you're crying over computers my stepmother knows more about that.
and i am working on a new song for louise because louise, who has never met me, thinks i am awesome.
basically there is a shortage of new material in the wold of round singing and louise likes my work.
i'm outta here. i have to go microwave a burrito because last week i made a recipe of vegetarian burritos and rolled them up and froze them and i meant to, you know, KEEP them for a while against menu emergencies but they are SO GOOD i have just been eating them.
wintry mix.
i'm calling shenanigans.
it's SNOWING here. yay!!! i might be the only person in the northern hemisphere who has not had nearly enough cold weather or snow, but as long as it's sunny and the snow is good, i don't care if spring don't come.
i would like to tell you about snohaus because it has been a big couple of days, but we still don't have pictures. let's just say that late tomorrow if i have energy i will be starting to DIG THE HOLE.
because the structure itself is now well over six feet tall. early on when i'm working on the base, 600 pounds or so of snow barely raises the hight an inch, but as the thing goes up the dome gets narrower and the same 20 sled loads raises it a couple of feet.
and speaking of tomorrow, tomorrow is kind of a big day in other fronts. tomorrow i get to ride in a snowcat.
i know, how cool is that?
later on i will have pictures for you.
now i have to eat dinner and go to bed because i have to meet the guy at 0600 and even though i often leave the house before six, somehow it seems more complex and difficult when i have an appointed meeting time that early.
woooo!
and i bought a box of paczky to share with the driver in whose workspace i will be intruding.
i am not sure what makes them so different from jelly donuts, but they are special POLISH jelly donuts you get at lent.
oh. and i took my hard drive in to the nice guys at the computer store to see if i can get a data retrieval. there was a thing last night where i melted down and there was crying and i tried to call my mom but i got my stepmother which was just as good because if you're crying over computers my stepmother knows more about that.
and i am working on a new song for louise because louise, who has never met me, thinks i am awesome.
basically there is a shortage of new material in the wold of round singing and louise likes my work.
i'm outta here. i have to go microwave a burrito because last week i made a recipe of vegetarian burritos and rolled them up and froze them and i meant to, you know, KEEP them for a while against menu emergencies but they are SO GOOD i have just been eating them.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
make it stop.
make it effing stop. i wanted to tell you about a little geocache trip with a friend's grandkid, or a game i've been playing, or snohaus.
but after spending three days rebuilding a photo library, i opened my photo program today to find that it can't find THE rebuilt library, but it CAN find some "rebuilt" library that has most of my photos up to 2009, AND my podcasts for some reason are screwed up and keep downloading fifteen copies of the same four year old episodes and calling them new, but not downloading the actual new episodes.
come to think of it, this crap always seems to happen every time i click the "no, don't download the newest version of itunes"
it's sort of like a couple of days ago when everything on my laptop was running fine until one of those automatic download things snuck in and i didn't catch it and the new download to "improve" my sound actually disabled all sound on my laptop.
same thing with my photo library.
when everything works fine and you can plug in all your devices and they work, what you need is an update that makes everything NOT work.
but after spending three days rebuilding a photo library, i opened my photo program today to find that it can't find THE rebuilt library, but it CAN find some "rebuilt" library that has most of my photos up to 2009, AND my podcasts for some reason are screwed up and keep downloading fifteen copies of the same four year old episodes and calling them new, but not downloading the actual new episodes.
come to think of it, this crap always seems to happen every time i click the "no, don't download the newest version of itunes"
it's sort of like a couple of days ago when everything on my laptop was running fine until one of those automatic download things snuck in and i didn't catch it and the new download to "improve" my sound actually disabled all sound on my laptop.
same thing with my photo library.
when everything works fine and you can plug in all your devices and they work, what you need is an update that makes everything NOT work.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
let's pretend.
let's pretend for a moment that the citizens of the US get tired of the corrupt and incompetent government and a group of people led by a coalition of the tea party, the KKK, and the ACLU get together and overthrow by force the constitutionally elected but repressive government and then new england decides that it is totally NOT COOL to fall back on forcible overthrow of the government we hate and then canada "protects" us while we hold a hasty referendum on whether or not we should join canada.
we don't particularly feel canadian, even though we didn't care for the corrupt and incompetent government.
we'd really prefer to be left alone and maybe not be ruled by the old corrupt government but also maybe not have to become canadian.
up here in new england we don't care for the KKK. we are divided on the matter of the ACLU and the tea party.
basically, ukraine.
if you need an explainer about that, john green does a pretty good job here:
but the thing about the united states getting all bunched up about putin's russia sticking themselves into it is that if any country has a right to be indignant about invading another country on some false pretext and setting up garrisons, it is not the united states.
that referendum is constitutionally invalid.
yep. so was the overthrow of yanukovich.
it is against international law to invade another country to "protect" it.
*coughcoughafghanistancoughiraqcoughyemencoughgrenadacoughsomaliacoughcough*
we don't particularly feel canadian, even though we didn't care for the corrupt and incompetent government.
we'd really prefer to be left alone and maybe not be ruled by the old corrupt government but also maybe not have to become canadian.
up here in new england we don't care for the KKK. we are divided on the matter of the ACLU and the tea party.
basically, ukraine.
if you need an explainer about that, john green does a pretty good job here:
but the thing about the united states getting all bunched up about putin's russia sticking themselves into it is that if any country has a right to be indignant about invading another country on some false pretext and setting up garrisons, it is not the united states.
that referendum is constitutionally invalid.
yep. so was the overthrow of yanukovich.
it is against international law to invade another country to "protect" it.
*coughcoughafghanistancoughiraqcoughyemencoughgrenadacoughsomaliacoughcough*
i heard a commentator on the radio last week (i wish i could remember who) saying that there's a price for the US and EU supporting an unconstitutional and violent revolt against the corrupt but constitutional government, and that price is crimea.
and of course if the big colonial powers hadn't been so busy colonizing all those countries and messing in the affairs of other people for national profit on someone else's backs, we wouldn't have this mess to be outraged over in the first place.
i also heard on the radio last week some whackaloon trying to explain that since sevastopol is largely settled by retired russian naval personnel, they should have the right to decide to be russian and claim that land for themselves and russia, just like US retired military have the right to do in the US.
orly?
only the retired US navy guys haven't settled toronto.
onna other hand, sevastopol is a place where a lot of russian blood has been spilled in a lot of wars.
i also heard on the radio last week some whackaloon trying to explain that since sevastopol is largely settled by retired russian naval personnel, they should have the right to decide to be russian and claim that land for themselves and russia, just like US retired military have the right to do in the US.
orly?
only the retired US navy guys haven't settled toronto.
onna other hand, sevastopol is a place where a lot of russian blood has been spilled in a lot of wars.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
late in the day
i know, i know, i know.
usually i have the day's blog post queued up and ready to go at 0700. these days, however, i'm waiting on some pictures i took.
and my computer is running REALLY slow because last week it inexplicably ate a week's worth of photos and i have been running an application that will (supposedly) rebuild my photo library.
only now i am learning that there isn't enough room on my hard drive for TWO FULL COPIES of my photo library, so i'm having to park some files elsewhere while i get the thing sorted out and can throw away the bad copy.
it is frustrating and time consuming.
usually i have the day's blog post queued up and ready to go at 0700. these days, however, i'm waiting on some pictures i took.
and my computer is running REALLY slow because last week it inexplicably ate a week's worth of photos and i have been running an application that will (supposedly) rebuild my photo library.
only now i am learning that there isn't enough room on my hard drive for TWO FULL COPIES of my photo library, so i'm having to park some files elsewhere while i get the thing sorted out and can throw away the bad copy.
it is frustrating and time consuming.
Friday, March 14, 2014
a thing i wrote to my US senators
you guys don't have to answer this next question because really, you can't answer it and still expect to do business in washington but there's no reason that i can't ask: do you ever just look around you in the senate chamber and wonder how this corrupt group of narcissistic losers got elected?
seriously?
yes, i did.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
how likely, how, soon, how severe?
i'm looking at today's winter storm warning:
i have been noticing this about storm warnings: how likely? the four dots stand for unlikely, possible, likely, and observed.
Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 8 pm EDT Thursday.
The National Weather Service in Burlington continues the Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow, until 8 pm EDT Thursday.
- Locations: The Northern Adirondack Mountains, Champlain Valley, as well as central and northern Vermont, including the Northeast Kingdom.
- Hazard types: Heavy snow.
- Accumulations: 12 to 20 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts.
- Maximum snowfall rate, 1 to 2 inches per hour, mainly this evening and tonight.
- Timing: light snow falling across the area will increase in intensity Wednesday afternoon and continue into Thursday morning. Snow will taper off to snow showers on Thursday. The snow will likely mix with sleet across parts of Rutland and Windsor Counties Wednesday evening.
- Impacts: difficult travel expected with heavy snow and areas of blowing and drifting snow. Near blizzard conditions with visibilities below one quarter of a mile and brief wind gusts up to 35 mph will exist at times.
- Winds: north 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.
- Temperatures: highs around 30 today, with temperatures falling into the single digits tonight. These temperatures combined with strong winds will create wind chills of 0 to -20 tonight and Thursday morning.
- Visibilities: below one quarter mile at times in snow and blowing snow, especially from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning.
likely? really? we are in the middle of it and you guys can't commit to "observed"? just "likely"?
and on the soon-ness scale: past, future, expected, immediate.
expected? the thing's been been going for seven hours and is going to go for another 29 hours, so i think we've passed "expected" and gotten right onto "it's happening right figging NOW".
i GET that you might want to hedge your bets a little and call two feet of snow "moderate" severity, but there's really no doubt about WHEN it's going to happen. it has been happening for hours. it's going to be happening for more than a day yet. it's happening NOW.
that's pretty soon.
it is too fabulous.
i have fourteen inches of snow overnight, not counting what fell during the afternoon yesterday, and it's still snowing like a sumgun.
i am WAY TOO HAPPY about this.
i am WAY TOO HAPPY about this.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
snow
there's going to be snow today, maybe two feet of it.
every time the weatherman says there's going to be a lot of snow it ends up being no big deal.
if there isn't going to be two feet of snow by tomorrow, i will be very disappointed.
every time the weatherman says there's going to be a lot of snow it ends up being no big deal.
if there isn't going to be two feet of snow by tomorrow, i will be very disappointed.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
birderwatching
sunday afternoon i went up to waterbury center to look for that northern hawk owl that for some reason has settled this winter on gregg hill road. birders are all a-twitter about this and are driving from as far away as virginia to see this guy, who keeps hanging out in the same tree.
you know, for months.
it's not hard to find where. you just drive up route 100 into waterbury center and then you look for all the parked cars and people standing around with spotting scopes.
i came after skiing and i was cold and hungry and didn't want to spend a truckload of time there, but i did get to see a lot of people with spotting scopes, which i felt was worth the trip.
i'll go back later, because i live nearby and because i can.
you know, for months.
it's not hard to find where. you just drive up route 100 into waterbury center and then you look for all the parked cars and people standing around with spotting scopes.i came after skiing and i was cold and hungry and didn't want to spend a truckload of time there, but i did get to see a lot of people with spotting scopes, which i felt was worth the trip.
i'll go back later, because i live nearby and because i can.
Monday, March 10, 2014
affordable health care
once a long time ago an insurance company drone actually told me that i would be more cost effective if i were dead.
effective health care is a relatively new invention in the history of humankind. health insurance as we know it only dates back to 1929 in the US.
in the US, we have excellent health care and access to health care for those who can afford it, and apparently things that make you not die or not be crippled with pain are popular commodities people are willing to pay a lot of money for, so there's money to be made there.
as medical treatment got more complex, there started to be a greater divide between what adequate care was going to cost you and what you were likely to be able to afford. and once upon a time there was a shiny hospital that wanted to guarantee a certain amount of business and some teachers who wanted to be able to pay a fee up front in return for health care if they needed it and blue cross was born.
it was a great idea. people got health care.
but later as the business grew, it started to be more about making money than making money while benefitting both health care professionals and health care consumers. it got to be profitable to provide expensive services to people who could afford it, and we were back to square one.
only now MORE money was at stake.
do you remember HMOs? how they were going to be the progressive wave of the future?
yeah. someone figured out that it was more cost-effective to keep people healthy than to wait to treat them for acute conditions, but what happened is that the businesses behind them realized pretty quick that it was REALLY cost effective to ration adequate health care to people who could afford it, and the upshot is that fewer people end up with access to health care they need.
only now there's even MORE money at stake.
gigantic health insurance companies are now squeezing both ends of the tube: they wring every last penny out of hospitals and health care workers AND they ration adequate health care to people who can afford it, which means a very few people are getting very rich off of the work of others and the desperation and sickness of others.
the affordable care act was supposed to help with that, but the gubmint is too much in the pocket of the insurance industry and the healthcare corporations and the pharmaceutical companies who cannot BEAR to part with any fraction of their enormous profits.
i have said this before and i will say it many, many times: there is a substantial difference between profit and profit maximized on the backs of everyone else.
if you can make a truckload of money providing goods or services that people want or need without impoverishing your consumers, workers, or the community and resources where you're doing business, bless you and carry on.
if your business model is predicated on extracting maximum gain at the expense of everyone else, you need a sharpish poke with the business end of a flamethrower or something.
in the long term, affordable health care -that is, health care that is affordable for the people who need it- is more cost effective than making people go without health care. acute care is expensive, lost wages are expensive, the damage to the community and the economy is expensive.
and by "economy", i mean the economic systems that are made up of all people and resources and not just the paper profits of the speculatory rich.
costs to the economy are not just measured on the stock exchanges. costs are measured in employee absenteeism, in spread of disease, in urban decay, collapse of civility, rise of crime, cutting of public services.
adequate affordable health care for all lowers costs for everybody.
or nearly everybody. a few people wouldn't make quite as much money, but they'd still make money. they'd get used to it.
effective health care is a relatively new invention in the history of humankind. health insurance as we know it only dates back to 1929 in the US.
in the US, we have excellent health care and access to health care for those who can afford it, and apparently things that make you not die or not be crippled with pain are popular commodities people are willing to pay a lot of money for, so there's money to be made there.
as medical treatment got more complex, there started to be a greater divide between what adequate care was going to cost you and what you were likely to be able to afford. and once upon a time there was a shiny hospital that wanted to guarantee a certain amount of business and some teachers who wanted to be able to pay a fee up front in return for health care if they needed it and blue cross was born.
it was a great idea. people got health care.
but later as the business grew, it started to be more about making money than making money while benefitting both health care professionals and health care consumers. it got to be profitable to provide expensive services to people who could afford it, and we were back to square one.
only now MORE money was at stake.
do you remember HMOs? how they were going to be the progressive wave of the future?
yeah. someone figured out that it was more cost-effective to keep people healthy than to wait to treat them for acute conditions, but what happened is that the businesses behind them realized pretty quick that it was REALLY cost effective to ration adequate health care to people who could afford it, and the upshot is that fewer people end up with access to health care they need.
only now there's even MORE money at stake.
gigantic health insurance companies are now squeezing both ends of the tube: they wring every last penny out of hospitals and health care workers AND they ration adequate health care to people who can afford it, which means a very few people are getting very rich off of the work of others and the desperation and sickness of others.
the affordable care act was supposed to help with that, but the gubmint is too much in the pocket of the insurance industry and the healthcare corporations and the pharmaceutical companies who cannot BEAR to part with any fraction of their enormous profits.
i have said this before and i will say it many, many times: there is a substantial difference between profit and profit maximized on the backs of everyone else.
if you can make a truckload of money providing goods or services that people want or need without impoverishing your consumers, workers, or the community and resources where you're doing business, bless you and carry on.
if your business model is predicated on extracting maximum gain at the expense of everyone else, you need a sharpish poke with the business end of a flamethrower or something.
in the long term, affordable health care -that is, health care that is affordable for the people who need it- is more cost effective than making people go without health care. acute care is expensive, lost wages are expensive, the damage to the community and the economy is expensive.
and by "economy", i mean the economic systems that are made up of all people and resources and not just the paper profits of the speculatory rich.
costs to the economy are not just measured on the stock exchanges. costs are measured in employee absenteeism, in spread of disease, in urban decay, collapse of civility, rise of crime, cutting of public services.
adequate affordable health care for all lowers costs for everybody.
or nearly everybody. a few people wouldn't make quite as much money, but they'd still make money. they'd get used to it.
Sunday, March 09, 2014
GPS come home
wednesday afternoon i lost my GPS receiver.
if you know me, you know that is spend more time with my GPS receiver than i do with my toothbrush. if i go to a doctor's appointment, i bring my GPS.
and as near as i can figure what happened, my garage door opener popped off of its clip wednesday and when i pulled into the driveway, i couldn't find it. so i stopped the car and got out and eventually found the garage door opener under the seat.
i did not notice my GPS had dropped out of my pocket.
thursday morning when i went to use it (that's thursday morning at 0530 when i emerged from my house with full gear for wandering around outside in -17 temps) i didn't have the GPS which didn't alarm me very much because i sometimes leave it in my car overnight.
when it wasn't in the car, i was scared. i searched the house. i searched my bags. i searched and re-searched the car and the garage.
thing is, wednesday afternoon i went out with my recycling and i looked over there and saw a dark spot on the driveway and dismissed it as dirty ice.
and wednesday night i noticed i din;t have my GPS and assumed it was in the car.
thursday morning i was standing in the driveway, crying.
i had to go to my mom's house and borrow the old GPS i'd given her when i got the new one (i'm not so generous; she paid for the new one) and thursday afternoon i put up a sign out by out mailboxes:
thank you.
friday evening i was halfway through my supper and somebody knocked on my door. i jumped up and bolted to the door faster than anyone could reasonably expect to do. the guy there handed me my GPS and said he was just on the way to the mailboxes to put up a sign asking if anyone had lost a GPS receiver.
if you know me, you know that is spend more time with my GPS receiver than i do with my toothbrush. if i go to a doctor's appointment, i bring my GPS.
and as near as i can figure what happened, my garage door opener popped off of its clip wednesday and when i pulled into the driveway, i couldn't find it. so i stopped the car and got out and eventually found the garage door opener under the seat.
i did not notice my GPS had dropped out of my pocket.
thursday morning when i went to use it (that's thursday morning at 0530 when i emerged from my house with full gear for wandering around outside in -17 temps) i didn't have the GPS which didn't alarm me very much because i sometimes leave it in my car overnight.
when it wasn't in the car, i was scared. i searched the house. i searched my bags. i searched and re-searched the car and the garage.
thing is, wednesday afternoon i went out with my recycling and i looked over there and saw a dark spot on the driveway and dismissed it as dirty ice.
and wednesday night i noticed i din;t have my GPS and assumed it was in the car.
thursday morning i was standing in the driveway, crying.
i had to go to my mom's house and borrow the old GPS i'd given her when i got the new one (i'm not so generous; she paid for the new one) and thursday afternoon i put up a sign out by out mailboxes:
i am hoping very much that you found my
GARMIN GPS RECEIVER
in the driveway wednesday afternoon and don’t know whose it is or how to return it.
it’s kind of old and freezes up for no apparent reason, but i’m rather fond of it and if you are looking for how to return it, i live (my address). you can call me at (my phone number) and i will run right over and pick it up, even.
thank you.
friday evening i was halfway through my supper and somebody knocked on my door. i jumped up and bolted to the door faster than anyone could reasonably expect to do. the guy there handed me my GPS and said he was just on the way to the mailboxes to put up a sign asking if anyone had lost a GPS receiver.
he wished me a happy weekend and he went home.
this makes me happier than just having the GPS back. when people are good, it makes me happy.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
circular crisis
yesterday i did not shower. didn't sweat much, running low on underpants (read: longjohns)
today i sweated all morning and i smell bad and itch.
i can't shower because i have NO CLEAN UNDERPANTS.
had to do laundry. clean underpants not dry yet.
i hate the way i smell.
waiting.
can't shower yet. need clean dry underpants to put on.
i'm going to go eat a bowl of instant udon noodles. because suck.
today i sweated all morning and i smell bad and itch.
i can't shower because i have NO CLEAN UNDERPANTS.
had to do laundry. clean underpants not dry yet.
i hate the way i smell.
waiting.
can't shower yet. need clean dry underpants to put on.
i'm going to go eat a bowl of instant udon noodles. because suck.
Friday, March 07, 2014
some of my favorite things
i leave the house most mornings with both a laptop and an avalanche shovel. it makes me feel awesome and intrepid. i've never been in an avalanche, but the shovel comes in super handy out where i play.
i love all my cute little fashion accessories.
i have decided to share with you some of my favorites:
the lifelink avalanche shovel:
it is cute, lightweight, packable, and i use it every day. the handle telescopes out.
i love all my cute little fashion accessories.
i have decided to share with you some of my favorites:
the lifelink avalanche shovel:
it is cute, lightweight, packable, and i use it every day. the handle telescopes out.
apparently i am the last kid on the block to get a pair of these. they are that thing you've always wanted that's between yaktrax and ten-point crampons. you know how most of your traction-improving thingies come off when you walk through deep or crusty snow? microspikes stay ON YOUR BOOT. and they are super grippy. if you are wearing them you will be tempted to walk up vertical ice walls.
and they come in black. mine are black.
and they are easy to put on and take off.
Thursday, March 06, 2014
experimental sammidge
i wanted to make something good to take with me thursday night because barb was going to come out on a bitter cold night to celebrate my halfway and she comes straight from work.
it doesn't matter why, really. i wanted something nice and packable and also a little different and special and i'm pretty good with chinese cooking and i thought: hey why don't i just whip up some chinese dishes and roll them into a wrap?
so.
on the very outside next to the wrap is some wilted cabbage leaf. chinese cabbage would have been better, but plain green cabbage is what i had. i seasoned it with a little rice vinegar.
then on top of that is the pile of spicy peanut noodles and then julienned carrots and sliced shiitake mushrooms, each simmered separately in master sauce.
i rolled it right up.
it is very good.
it also does not suck if you take a little sliced turkey breast and stick it in there for the extra protein. i tried it both ways.
it doesn't matter why, really. i wanted something nice and packable and also a little different and special and i'm pretty good with chinese cooking and i thought: hey why don't i just whip up some chinese dishes and roll them into a wrap?
so.
on the very outside next to the wrap is some wilted cabbage leaf. chinese cabbage would have been better, but plain green cabbage is what i had. i seasoned it with a little rice vinegar.then on top of that is the pile of spicy peanut noodles and then julienned carrots and sliced shiitake mushrooms, each simmered separately in master sauce.
i rolled it right up.
it is very good.
it also does not suck if you take a little sliced turkey breast and stick it in there for the extra protein. i tried it both ways.
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
weight distribution
last week i was out caching and i went for a roadside quickie but once i got over the top of the plow pile the snow was so deep i sunk in to my hips and still couldn't find the bottom.
your best bet when that happens is to swim out.
and if the snow will not support your weight standing, you might be able to get along the top if you distribute your weight a little more broadly, which means you crawl.
*sigh*
fun times.
your best bet when that happens is to swim out.
and if the snow will not support your weight standing, you might be able to get along the top if you distribute your weight a little more broadly, which means you crawl.
*sigh*
fun times.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
spectacular news.
all right, boys and girls. last week or something like that i wrote to the nice people at bolton valley ski resort, which is where i do my skiing.
this is what i wrote them:
and i just got an email from the mountain saying they'd be happy to have me ride along and take pictures and write about it.
that is FANTASTIC.
this is what i wrote them:
i'm about to head out to the mountain for a lovely morning of skiing.
i was thinking last week that it would be really cool to ask if i could ride along in a groomer sometime and take pictures and maybe write a few words about it. i'd be lying if i said it was for my tiny little blog that gets about two dozen readers, because there's nothing so special about that blog that demands a piece on snow grooming at bolton valley.
i would, of course, post it there, but the real reason to ask to do it is because it is unfathomably cool and just once in my life i'd like to see what that's like.
so here's what i'm suggesting, in handy bullet points:
- i'd like to ride along and take pictures and maybe shoot some video from inside a cab
- i'd like to write a piece about it with pictures that i will post to my tiny blog.
- you will be welcome to use my piece on your website.
because really, i bet you a nickle that i am not the only one of your longtime skiers who would love to see what it's like for the people who do your grooming and that would be a cool addition to your website.
i look forward to hearing from you.
that is FANTASTIC.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Sunday, March 02, 2014
Saturday, March 01, 2014
owwie
on tuesday up at the mountain i took a deliberate digger and wow, that hurt.
here's how it happened: i was coming down cobrass, which is a sweet trail and sweeping and curvy and it has fantastic views but at the top there's a steep pitch that ends up going very sharply around a blind corner.
people who know cobrass know it opens up on a wide flat and just hold the corner and fly by, but you have to be careful because people who do NOT know cobrass well are often hanging back there and it pays to have a plan for what you'll do if you come around the corner and someone is there.
so tuesday i was coming around that corner and there was a woman and two very small children over on the left side and kids can be very erratic so you want to give them wide passage so i decided to go tight to the inside on the right and just as i committed to that line, one of the kids moved out to center and the other cut hard to right and i did not think i could guarantee NOT hitting both of them, so i ditched well above them.
and THAT, my friends, is why we wear helmets.
here's how it happened: i was coming down cobrass, which is a sweet trail and sweeping and curvy and it has fantastic views but at the top there's a steep pitch that ends up going very sharply around a blind corner.
people who know cobrass know it opens up on a wide flat and just hold the corner and fly by, but you have to be careful because people who do NOT know cobrass well are often hanging back there and it pays to have a plan for what you'll do if you come around the corner and someone is there.
so tuesday i was coming around that corner and there was a woman and two very small children over on the left side and kids can be very erratic so you want to give them wide passage so i decided to go tight to the inside on the right and just as i committed to that line, one of the kids moved out to center and the other cut hard to right and i did not think i could guarantee NOT hitting both of them, so i ditched well above them.
and THAT, my friends, is why we wear helmets.
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