Lovely morning

Jul. 23rd, 2025 08:13 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
This morning I woke up about 6 but laid in bed with eyes kind of open, kind of closed for another 30 minutes. Biggie and Julio were not impressed but I enjoyed it. Then I got up, made coffee, fed them and internetted.

Last night I had the most delicious dinner that included roasted rosemary potatoes which I did not finish. This morning they woke up in the air fryer and were topped with some bacon and a scrambled egg. Yum. I think I may have that exact dinner again tonight. So... tomorrow morning... oh, wait, no. Tomorrow morning is the free continental breakfast. They are doing some kitchen fixing of some equipment so can't cook breakfast so they are laying out a continental spread and inviting everyone to come and get it. My plan is to stop by after volleyball. The leftover rosemary potatoes will keep.

Hazel clearly heard me yesterday. I was out in the elbow when she went down to visit Bonny and give her an update. I didn't see either after but I know Bonny appreciated being looped in directly. And I appreciate sharing the load for sure!

Today I got no commitments. I will probably go over to the second hand shop when it opens. The Mariners game is a day game so there's that to watch.

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Interesting Links for 23-07-2025

Jul. 23rd, 2025 12:00 pm

Meeting night

Jul. 22nd, 2025 10:28 pm
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[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
My alarm went off at 10:00 but I turned it off and dozed til about 11:30. Then I got up and had breakfast and coffee.

Then I puttered online for a long time. But I finally pulled myself together, tossed on some clothes and took out the garbage and recycling. It took two trips, and I walked around the block each time so I got a little bit of exercise anyway.

Then I worked myself up to trying to do something about the turtle tank. I had even more trouble with the siphon this time, I was only able to get about a half bucket out. I replaced it with three buckets of clean water so it's better, but not good. I will have to make this a priority after I get back from my vacation.

Anyway, I did that, and then went to the bedroom to lie down and play solitaire. I did that til 6:30 when I came out to the living room and realized I had forgotten about the bag of trash I filled in the bedroom yesterday. So I took that out too and walked around the block.

Got back just in time to Team the FWiB. We talked until it was time for my Al-anon meeting. Annoyingly my Petco turtle food shipment arrived just as I was getting started. I turned the meeting over to S, and got the turtle food. The meeting itself was very good, M and S were both there plus a beginner.

After that I had dinner, and then went to the bedroom and called [personal profile] mashfanficchick. There was the possibility that we would be going to a game tomorrow but alas no. Probably for the best, I still have things I need to get done before I leave, and I have D&D tomorrow night too.

Played solitaire til pet feeding time, and then I fed the pets, and here I am.

The good news is that cousin Linda Facebook messaged. She isn't going to pick me up at the train station, but she has an errand at the Home Depot in Lockport, so she is going to pick me up at the Lockport Tops supermarket, so I only have to get an Uber that far. Or a regular taxi. That saves me a lot of money, so I am very grateful.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Linda.

3. My pets.

4. My turtle food came.

5. My meetings and the people there.

6. Vacation soon!

It was fine and it is done

Jul. 22nd, 2025 11:13 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
I suggested to Hazel that she just let me drop off the pee but, no, of course. She said she wanted to go and John was fine and she wanted out of the house. So we went. But, in the car, I told her she needed to include Bonny. That Bonny's feelings were getting bruised because she always came to me. She seemed like she understood. time... will tell.

I did get to hear - for the 8 millionth time - about how her sons delivered papers when they were kids and then picked up the old papers and sold them to recycling and then were able to buy their own first cars. Both of these 'kids' are now in their 60's. And about her hip replacement (30 years ago) and the problem with the pin, which she calls a nail, 5 years later.

We stopped at Safeway on the way home and I picked up a few things but totally forgot the one thing on my list and that is after I looked at my list once we were in the store. So I'm clearly heading for Hazelville myownself.

I have 2 hours before the cleaner comes. Yahoo.

Timber Ridge Taxi

Jul. 22nd, 2025 08:32 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
Last night, Hazel came in to ask me to take her to Bellevue this morning to turn in John's urine sample. They have two sons who live nearby and all of Timber Ridge services. But, they chose me. I'm over it. But, of course, I said yes. I said I'd like to go early so she said 10. 10, to me, is decidedly NOT early. It just means my morning is now eaten up entirely. She is sweet but so tedious. Last night she told me she couldn't drive because her eyesight was bad. And I'm sure she will tell me that again today along with everything else she has said over and over and over and over again.

I'm very tempted to say gimme the piss and you stay here. But, their health care provider is pretty sticky about stuff and I don't want to make the trip for nothing. So, I'll hang out and do nothing til 10. Take her and come home for lunch and then sit in the elbow while the cleaner cleans and finally get some me time about 2:30.

I do think that Hazel and I are going to have a chat about letting Bonny in on some of this action. I'm going to suggest we give Bonny a turn. I should have done that last night. Bonny has said many times to them and to me that she wants to help. Hazel somehow understands that Bonny's help is only available in the afternoon and she wanted to do this first thing. ARUGH. Regardless, I'm going to tell Hazel that Bonny is feeling left out.

The place we are going is very near other stuff, too. Like the shoe store I want to go to and a couple of other stores. But, not with Hazel.

Man, I am a whiner today!! I'd better fix my attitude before 10. Also I'm thinking there may be a gas purchase needed soon.

In other news. My $4 phone case from Amazon is perfect! 2 days with no case on my phone was stressful. That damn thing is slippery when naked. This case is slim and grippy and worth every one of those 400 pennies.

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Packing

Jul. 21st, 2025 10:23 pm
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[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
Normally I would do my packing closer to when I leave but because there's the possibility of going to a day baseball game on Wednesday with [personal profile] mashfanficchick and then D&D in the evening, and because I have my meeting tomorrow night, I decided to do my packing today.

So I got up around 11:00 and had breakfast and coffee, and read online, and then went and went through all my clothes and packed my suitcase. It took awhile, but I finally got it done, plus a garbage bag of junk filled up, and a pile of empty clothing boxes for recycling.

Then I bit the bullet and called Amtrak to find out if there was a problem with my reservation, because the second part of it, my return trip, vanished from my app. They say there is no issue and all is well. I printed out the receipt and paper ticket anyway.

I also went online to the post office and had my mail held for while I'm gone.

Then I finished reading the Agatha Christie I've been working on, The Pale Horse. I had figured out part of the solution but not all of it, and there was a nice twist at the end.

I called [personal profile] mashfanficchick to see if ze knew yet about Wednesday, but ze didn't. i played solitaire on my phone, and at 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB. We talked for over an hour and a half, so that was nice.

Then I had dinner, and went to the bedroom to play more solitaire until pet feeding time. I texted the Kid, because I thought I remembered she had a job interview today, which she did, and thinks she did well.

Then I fed the pets and started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My packing is done, and there is still a little room in my suitcase.

3. The Kid's job interview.

4. Cleaned some of the mess in my bedroom.

5. RK, I texted him about caring for my pets today.

6. My train reservation is OK.

overstock>over it

Jul. 21st, 2025 07:19 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
My monthly subscribe and save order of cat food arrived and now I have, on hand, more than a month of the same cat food they have loved for a year. And they seem to have fallen out of love with it. Of course. I just wish they had let me know before the order.

Hazel came over yesterday. Mainly I think she just wanted to get out of her apartment and stretch her legs. She didn't stay long. But, she did tell me that her son came to get them this morning and they got a guy from security to come up with a wheel chair for John to go to get blood drawn. They got there and it was closed and only then did they figure out it was today and not yesterday. They are sinking fast. I did get Martha to bring them up a wheelchair to have for a while. She runs a loaner closet where she keeps walkers and wheel chairs and all kinds of paraphernalia. Then Bonny came in for an update. So it was busy-ish. But, fine.

Our mailroom has locked boxes for each apartment for our USPS mail and a cubby for each apartment. The cubbies are not locked and are used for anything - menus, private notes, TR announcements, etc. I have a little fabric pouch on my phone that I carry my mail key in. It's always been annoying because it keeps the phone from lying flat. BUT way more annoying not to have the key when you are in the mailroom. Myrna was always having to make a special trip back home because she forgot her key. A fair number of women carry little purses around with their keys and, of course, men have pockets.

Something came up Saturday when Martha and Bonny and I were chatting about mail keys and Bonny said 'I keep one in the back of my cubby.' GENIUS!!!! She said when she first moved in she saw a woman get hers out of the back of the cubby, open her mail box, and then return the key to the cubby. 'I thought it was a great idea.' Me, too - why the fuck did you wait so long to share it??????

So. That means I now only have to carry my card key. The key that unlocks lock down areas. Like the pool after working hours. If you punch a hole in the card key, it breaks it. I think I can slip it between my phone and the case but my current case is too thin. And I will probably, may, might, could maybe, am thinking about getting a new phone when Google makes the next one available in August/September. So I don't want a new case. But, Amazon has one for $4 that will work so ok.

No aqua yoga today which is fine by me. The new guy is way too much inner peace and world saving and not nearly enough stretching. On the up side, his voice doesn't carry well in the pool room so I don't have to hear his crap but still, I'd sure like more good stretching. We rarely have more than two or three people in class and one of them told him the music was distracting. The music was about the only thing interesting and now it's gone. I'm guessing/hoping that soon the class will be, too. I could just quit going but I would love for their to be more water classes so I go to show support and, besides, I was the one who asked for a water stretching class.

I need gas in the car and a trip to the charity shop. I broke my heavy tissue box for the bedroom and I want another and I haven't checked for 'hair' sweaters recently, but I think I might wait until tomorrow when the house cleaner is here.

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[personal profile] andrewducker
The play park we're waiting for a dentist appointment in has WiFi.

(It's got a building in it owned by the council leisure service to sell ice creams and manage the tennis courts next door.)

Midwinter Gatherings

Jul. 21st, 2025 08:28 pm
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[personal profile] tcpip
On the weekend, I hosted a "Midwinter Day's Awakening", where once again I proved I can squeeze around 25 people into my apartment when dispersed over several hours. It has a cross between a "Christmas in July" southern-hemisphere provision of food and drink (lashings of mulled wine), and Elizabethan music (William Byrd, John Bull, John Bull et al), along with readings from Shakespeare, and the dulcet operatic tones of Angela L. (whose capacity to recite paragraphs from Shakespeare from memory is second to none). As featured attendees, the rodents Mayday and Mayhem were a big hit; "As I would serve a rat". But most of it was the outstanding company and wide-ranging, brilliant conversation that kept the event going from noon to the witching hour. As is often the case, I overcatered and now found myself in the enviable and challenging position of many delicacies. For example, what does one do with 1.5kg of Shropshire Blue cheese?

It was the second gathering of such nature recently as well; last week, I organised, through the Australia-China Friendship Society, a social dinner at Song's Dumplings, a glorious hidden gem in South Melbourne. Inexpensive, superb food in generous portions, and an amazing 1960s-style Chinese feature wall, the dinner was attended by a range of people from their 20s to their 80s. Everyone in the room was, of course, a bit of a worldly traveller, even the (relative) youngsters, and were able to discuss a variety of matters of Australia-China relations with great acumen, all whilst retaining a sharp sense of humour. I find it important that, with the exception of one person, the attendees of the ACFS dinner were completely different to the attendees of the Midwinter Day. I think it's important for a person's sanity to have diverse groups of friends - otherwise, you end up spending twenty years talking to the same people about the same things and wondering why you've ended up in an echo chamber.

As delightful as these two social occasions have been there is several other vectors in my life; Spanish studies for the impending trip, University teaching in supercomputing and researcher presentations, progress in my doctoral studies that cross climatological science and the psychology of denial, producer roles in the arts, poetry matters, and even some interesting news in the gaming hobby. Some of these will be raised in my next entry; I keep many irons in the fire of life, and most have been chosen well. But for now, gentle readers, I can only offer tantalising hints.

Brunch

Jul. 20th, 2025 11:31 pm
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[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
My alarm went off at 9:00 but i was foolish and turned it off and went back to sleep til 10:30. That meant I had to rush to get ready to go out by 11:30, which I needed to do to get to brunch on time.

I had coffee, and showered and dressed, and made it out by 11:20-something, so that was good. I took the 20 bus to the subway and the 7 to the N. I actually arrived at the restaurant by 12:15.

The Kid and her boyfriend were a little late, but not much, and we got seated, inside so I could take off my sunglasses. We ordered mimosas, and then food. I got the Nutella French toast, with strawberries and blueberries, which was delicious. Had a second mimosa after.

I brought with me all the stuff that I've been accumulating to give the Kid, including her very belated birthday card and presents.

We had some nice talk, and then after we finished, we walked together to where we went separate ways. I took the subway, and went to see [personal profile] mashfanficchick

We hung out and didn't do much. At 7:00 I Teamed the FWiB from my phone, and at 8:30 I called Middle Brother. He is fine, nothing new.

We had dinner, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. And then we started looking into ordering me a different laptop, since it is looking like they'll end up refunding the one I ordered. However, we ended up not doing anything.

I Ubered home, and fed the pets.

And now it's time for bed and reading. I'm reading more Agatha Christie, this one is Pale Horse. It's one of her creepier ones.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The Kid.

3. Middle Brother doing well.

4. Good books.

5. Reading glasses.

6. Air conditioning.

overcast

Jul. 20th, 2025 08:05 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
And cloudy - that's this morning and it's lovely. I'm beginning to notice incremental day shortness. It's still light at 5 am but not like it was last month. It's still light at 9 pm but not like was last month. Progress.

Yesterday was just a lovely day of OMG-I-am-so-lucky-to-live-here. It just slaps me upside the head sometimes in the most wonderful way.

Today I had nothing on the agenda until I got a text from Richard (one of my volleyball buds and husband of Martha) asking if I would be willing to take him to Costco today to get a new battery for his car. Happy to. He says it will take an hour. Richard is one of those guys who has his own way of doing things and that is coupled by his extreme thrift. He spent his life teaching and then managing teachers of special education. In fact, turns out, one of the teachers he managed years ago, was Jan - the woman who just moved into Myrna's apartment!

So I'll meet him out at the elbow at 10. He has exceedingly long legs. It will be fun to watch them fold into the Smart Car.

Last week, when I took Martha to Fred Meyers, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and I took some mini donuts to elbow coffee. Everyone oood and awed at the donuts and I explained that they had Martha to thank and then they oood and awed at Martha "you got to ride in the little car???!!!" It was pretty funny.

We'll be home in time for baseball. The Mariners beat Houston in a walk off long after I was asleep.

Guess I'd better get dressed. And I need to put in a load of laundry and unload the dishwasher.

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althea_valara: Final Fantasy X's Yuna, dancing on the water during The Sending (Yuna)
[personal profile] althea_valara
Sunshine-Revival-Carnival-2.png

Challenge #6

Journaling prompt: What games do you play, if any? Are you a solo-gamer or do you view games as a social activity?
Creative prompt: Write a story/fic around the theme "game night".

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


I don't watch TV (except for game shows during dinner, and that's more mom's doing than mine). I don't watch movies. It's rare I read books these days. What I DO do, though, is play video games, mostly (Japanese) Role Playing Games. Those games are filled with stories, which satisfies my need for escapism into other worlds. I also find that I very much prefer my media to be interactive these days; when I do try to watch a movie, I often get antsy and bored because it's so passive.

Streamed Games



I'm currently playing three games on my Twitch Stream:

* Final Fantasy V for the Four Job Fiesta, Mondays at 7:30pm CDT
* Final Fantasy XI, where we're currently in the Chains of Promathia expansion, Fridays at 7:30pm CDT
* Final Fantasy XIV, doing side content, Saturdays at 7:30pm CDT

...uh, yeah, I LOVE FINAL FANTASY. I have played non-Final Fantasy games on stream - most recently was the Nintendo Switch game Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles which was chill and delightful. And I really hope to play more non-Final Fantasy games in the future.

Final Fantasy V is a single-player game, in which there are a multitude of jobs your four characters can play as. The Four Job Fiesta is a challenge in which you are assigned four jobs to play, one for each character, and you can only play as those jobs. It's usually a fun, grand time, but I have not had luck with the RNG this year; I've gotten terrible jobs that I don't enjoy playing as (so far: Thief, Mystic Knight, and Beastmaster). Yuck! But I intend to continue the run.

Both FFXI and FFXIV are MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). FFXI has been around for over 20 years (!!!) and I used to play it heavily about 12 years ago. Back then, I played with other players, because it was the best way to progress. The game is much more solo-friendly now, and I'm playing through story on a new alt, so I've been soloing everything with Trusts (non-player characters).

FFXIV is most efficient when played with other players, and yet I do a lot of things solo in that game too. I'm pretty shy and have social anxiety, so it can be hard for me to find the courage to play with others. I'm getting better at doing that, though! I've been joining some Party Finders that sound fun and interesting, including a challenge run of an Alliance raid (we went all healers!) and a Blue Mage spell learning party.

I'm grateful there's so many different ways to advance in FFXIV, and I can do it in a way that's comfy for me. But yes, I do want to practice putting myself out there and being brave.

Casual Games



I play a number of casual games, too! These I can pick up and play for a few minutes here and there.

On my Fire tablet, I play Word Shaker (a Boggle clone) and Solitaire City where I am VERY partial to the Yukon solitaire game.

On my iPhone, I play WordScapes. My particular version sets of the board as a crossword.

On my computer, I'm playing Cats In Boxes which is a delightful puzzle game in which you direct cats to push boxes around so the boxes land on the shaded squares. I'm really enjoying it!

So yeah, I'm a BIG gamer. I enjoy casual games because they distract me from my thoughts and give me a few minutes to reset. I enjoy my (J)RPGs for the amazing stories and fantastic characters. I hope to be gaming the rest of my life!

Photo cross-post

Jul. 20th, 2025 08:23 am
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[personal profile] andrewducker


Sophia, it seems, just likes hanging around.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

andrewducker: (Needs More Robots)
[personal profile] andrewducker
I have an under-counter integrated fridge/freezer. (Integrated in this case meaning that it's got a door on it, and is embedded in the cupboards).

I want to replace it with a free-standing one - i.e. one that will simply sit in the gap.

The various places I've looked at so far that do a delivery and also take away your old fridge only have options to replace an integrated fridge with an integrated fridge. Or a free-standing with a free-standing. Apparently they use different teams for each of these.

AO.com told me that I need to entirely remove the old one. John Lewis told me that they'd just send it out and hope that the free-standing fridge people happened to have the right tools with them, which doesn't sound ideal.

So, I could do with some advice on getting an integrated fridge/freezer removed and taken away. Preferably in the form of "Call these guys, they are vaguely* competent and cheap."

Anyone got any experience?


*I'm willing to settle for vague competence when it comes to removing things. Installing things is a different matter...

Sleepy

Jul. 19th, 2025 10:12 pm
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[personal profile] silver_chipmunk
I woke up at 4:00ish this morning, and couldn't get back to sleep until I went out at 6:00 and had my Cheerios. Then I went back to bed and slept til 9:00 when I got up for my Al-anon meeting.

The Kid asked me yesterday if I wanted to have dinner in Manhattan this weekend, and at 2:00 am she texted me the name and directions to the place she wanted to go. Spoiler alert, we didn't.

I got up and washed my hair and put the curl stuff in it because of going out, but even so I got to my meeting quite early. It was a very good meeting.

Then we went to the diner, I wasn't going to eat anything, because of going out for dinner, but I was too hungry, because of having my breakfast at 6:00. So I ate a bacon, egg, and cheese on a croissant, and had iced coffee. Then, the Kid texted me, change in plans, we're having brunch tomorrow in Astoria instead. So it was good I ate.

I took the 13 bus to the end, which is at Roosevelt Ave, and went to Duane Reade where I got a pair of reading glasses, 2.0 magnification, and a birthday card for the Kid.

Then I went to the place where I got my face waxed, and had it done again. Then I came home by the 44. I went to the Starsky and Hutch chat, and had a good time talking. We chatted until 7:00, when we ended, and I Teamed the FWiB.

We talked a little over an hour, and then I went and tried on shirts to see what I wanted to wear tomorrow, and try out the new reading glasses. The glasses work just right.

And then it was pet feeding time so I did that, and then started here.

I think I'll call [personal profile] mashfanficchick after I finish here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The Kid.

3. My meetings and the people there.

4. Waxed face.

5. Reading glasses.

6. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.

Old

Jul. 19th, 2025 11:31 am
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[personal profile] susandennis
Volleyball was very good today. An excellent number of people and no assholes. Elbow Coffee was pretty good, too. Last night I hit on the idea of using it to unravel sweaters. So I took my sweaters and my vacuum (cause unraveling makes a huge mess of little yarn bits) and unraveled while we coffeed. I thought one or two might want to join in but they did not which was fine. They enjoyed watching me and it was good conversation.

Last night I watched my first Mariner game of the season and it really was fun. When the broadcasters started saying stupid shit, I just hit mute until after the commercial and then turned the sound back on. It worked fine, plus I had closed captioning on anyway. At bedtime, I watched more on my tablet while listening to my book in bed. Glad I spent the $25.

My neighbor across the hall - the Jim who moved in a month after I did - is declining pretty fast. Physically he's fine. Mentally, he's melting. His doctor has told him he cannot drive any more. And he's apparently going to take the advice. He asked me this morning if I'd help him sell his car. He has a Tesla. I just 'chatted' with the local Ford dealership and they will buy it. Yes, I know there are many more ways and he could get lots more money with some of the other ways but... the point is to make the car belong to someone else. That is the only point. So I'm going to suggest the way that is easiest. I may have to end up driving it myself.

Living with old people is a constantly changing environment, that is for absolute sure.

Now I need to go find a remote. I have this wall clock that needs the time changed and taking it down would probably involve wall repair so I need to find the damn remote. It's not in the obvious places so I need to start on the non obvious places. Sigh.

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