Economics
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithGamers Nexus out there casually providing the best coverage of tariffs
Let’s say you’ve got a power supply. Let’s say it’s at 145% as a base unit, ’cause right now it probably is. That’s not the only tariff – that’s just one of them. Percentage aluminium by weight? You’ve got to figure that out, and you need to know where it came from, because that’s an additional tariff. Sometimes. Percentage steel by weight? Same question, same fluctuating situation. How the fuck do you figure out where the aluminium legs on a resistor came from?
( Read more... )
Let’s say you’ve got a power supply. Let’s say it’s at 145% as a base unit, ’cause right now it probably is. That’s not the only tariff – that’s just one of them. Percentage aluminium by weight? You’ve got to figure that out, and you need to know where it came from, because that’s an additional tariff. Sometimes. Percentage steel by weight? Same question, same fluctuating situation. How the fuck do you figure out where the aluminium legs on a resistor came from?
( Read more... )
DINOSAUR COMICS COMES OUT AS DEEPLY AMBIVALENT ON THE SUBJECT OF "TASKS"
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 12:00 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
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April 23rd, 2025: Hey, did you know I wrote a choose-your-own-path STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS book last year? Well GOOD NEWS EITHER WAY, it's a finalist for both a Hugo and an Aurora award! That is extremely awesome and I'm very happy. If you've ever wanted to read an interactive AWARD-NOMINATED Star Trek comic, might I recommend WARP YOUR OWN WAY?? – Ryan | ||
World Book Day
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 12:10 amysabetwordsmithThe official theme for World Book Day 2025 is:
"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"
This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding.
( Read more... )
"Read Your Way: Diverse Books for Every Mind"
This theme emphasizes the importance of inclusion and diversity in reading. It encourages readers to explore different voices, perspectives, and cultures through literature, promoting empathy and global understanding.
( Read more... )
Good News
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 12:09 amysabetwordsmithGood news includes all the things which make us happy or otherwise feel good. It can be personal or public. We never know when something wonderful will happen, and when it does, most people want to share it with someone. It's disappointing when nobody is there to appreciate it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our joys and pat each other on the back.
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
What good news have you had recently? Are you anticipating any more? Have you found a cute picture or a video that makes you smile? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your life a little happier?
Insect Apocalypse
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 10:29 pmysabetwordsmithInsects are disappearing due to agriculture -- and many other drivers, new research reveals
New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research.
( Read more... )
New paper highlights 500+ interconnected drivers behind global insect decline.
Insects are disappearing at an alarming rate worldwide, but why? Agricultural intensification tops the list of proposed reasons, but there are many other, interconnected drivers that have an impact, according to new research.
( Read more... )
What do I do instead of reblogging?
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 02:27 amsoc_puppet posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
the_great_tumblr_purgeReblogging is a core feature of Tumblr that doesn't really translate well to Dreamwidth. There are a couple of different ways to replicate it, but which one you pick depends on what your goal was when reblogging a particular post.
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made byastolat (yes, that Astolat), ljwrites, and melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.
Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it atmetaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that...
"I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
"I want to be able to refer back to this post at a later date."
The feature you want for this is likely Memories. Memories are a site-specific bookmarking system that predate tagging. In those times, a lot of LJ users would use it to organize their own posts, such as keeping track of their fics. (Tags were introduced a relatively short time before Dreamwidth split off from LiveJournal.) Memories can be public, access-locked, or private. Any Memories you make on Dreamwidth will be of Dreamwidth posts only.
Unlike with Tumblr's reblog feature, if you add someone else's post to your Memories and the original poster deletes it or locks it, you will no longer have access to it, but it does give you a way to keep track of posts made by other people.
"I want to be able to spread the word about this post."
The way most Dreamwidth users do this is by making their own post about it, either in their own journal or on a community, and including a quick blurb and a link to what you want to share. (If it's a post by another Dreamwidth user, it's considered polite to ask in the comments if OP is okay with you sharing the link around. Most people are okay with this if they made a public post, but some may ask you to make your own post about the topic instead, especially if their own post is access-locked.)
That said, there's also technically a workaround made to mimic reblogs, made by
astolat (yes, that Astolat), ljwrites, and melannen. I haven't tried it myself and don't particularly want to, so there aren't a lot of questions I can answer about it. However, I would say that it would still be polite to ask for permission to reblog a post in this case, especially since, as far as I'm aware and unlike with Tumblr reblogs, the original poster will not automatically be made aware of your reblogging.Interestingly, I've heard that this reblogging tool can also work on some non-Dreamwidth site links, such as from AO3.
"I want to share this cool, funny, or interesting thing with other people."
Did a friend or someone else you subscribe to make a post that you thought was particularly funny or insightful? I recommend sharing it at
metaquotes! Metaquotes is a community specifically dedicated to sharing fun and interesting things made by other people. It's not very active at the moment, but with a little work, we can change that..."I have something I want to add to this post."
If what you want is to share your thoughts on a topic, I recommend replying to the post with a comment! If it's something you would have put in the tags or comment section of a reblog (and isn't rude), I can about guarantee that the original poster would be interested in receiving it.
There are exceptions; if you feel like your comment might derail too much from the original post, or if you manage to exceed the character limit for one comment, you might consider making your own post (with a link to the original), and replying to the original post with a link to your own.
And those are the basics! You may want to mix-and-match on these, depending on the content and your goals for it; for example, if someone posts something really funny that you want to share, you can reply to the post, and post to Metaquotes, and link back to it in a post of your own. But overall, these options should cover most of your needs.
If you have any questions, or if there's something I missed, please feel free to let me know in the comments!
Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users Tutorial Compilation
Wednesday, 23 April 2025 01:32 amsoc_puppet posting in the_great_tumblr_purgeHonestly, even aside from me writing my own, there are a lot of tutorials out there for Tumblr users who might be interested in getting started on Dreamwidth. I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to get all of the ones we know about rounded up in one place.
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by![[tumblr.com profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
star-anise; has some very good intro stuff and basic comparisons.
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth byaniamra; has some useful Dreamwidth etiquette. (Full disclosure, it also links an older post about finding things to do and making new friends that I wrote.)
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost bypotofsoup; this one has a lot of really fantastic information. Highly recommended.
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png)
dw_news posts, as it'll give you an idea of what the staff here is like. Ditto on the comments reflecting the Dreamwidth community at large. Yeah, there's some trolls and jerks out there, but by and large, Dreamwidth is a pretty welcoming place, if I do say so myself.
A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor byteres
How to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth byysabetwordsmith
Guides bysoc_puppet (me): I'm sharing the newcomers links, because that's what I have most easily at hand, but if you check, you can probably find them mirrored at the_great_tumblr_purge on the same date.
What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.
Here's the ones I know about:
Dreamwidth's official Frequently Asked Questions list - Not exactly in the spirit of the rest of these, but if you can't find something somewhere else, it's worth checking here! Or vice-versa.
Basic Dreamwidth for Tumblr Users by
A Tumblr User's Guide to Dreamwidth by
DW for Tumblrites Masterpost by
potofsoup; this one has a lot of really fantastic information. Highly recommended. Click here for the table of contents
Part 1: How do I follow a blog?
Part 1.5: How do I find people to follow?
Part 2: Posting and HTML basics
Part 2.5: Images
Part 2.8: Backdating and Drafting
Part 2.9: Scheduling Posts
Part 3: Dash/Reading Page curation (Subscription Filters)
Part 3.5: Access vs. Join vs. Subscribe, and targeted friends-only posts (Access Filters)
Part 4: Likes and Reblogs
Part 4.5: Stickies, Sidebar, Anon Askbox
Part 5: I miss yelling in the tags! (subtext, icons, and moods)
Part 5.5: Actual tags tho
Part 6: Themes and mobile
Part 7: Sideblogs and tag filters
Part 8: Paid features
The official Dreamwidth News post from December 3rd, 2018, right around when Tumblr announced it was banning a certain type of content. While not everything is up to date, there should still be a lot of information in the comments here. I also recommend reading the news post itself, or any
dw_news posts, as it'll give you an idea of what the staff here is like. Ditto on the comments reflecting the Dreamwidth community at large. Yeah, there's some trolls and jerks out there, but by and large, Dreamwidth is a pretty welcoming place, if I do say so myself.A quick introduction to Dreamwidth's Rich Text Editor by
teresHow to Post Fiction or Other Writing on Dreamwidth by
ysabetwordsmithGuides by
soc_puppet (me): I'm sharing the newcomers links, because that's what I have most easily at hand, but if you check, you can probably find them mirrored at the_great_tumblr_purge on the same date.What to post about on Dreamwidth
Dreamwidth alternatives to talking in the tags
A quick guide to mood themes
The (beta) Create Entries page
Personal Communities: Dreamwidth's "side blogs"
What do I do instead of reblogging?
That's all I can think of/am aware of at the moment! If you know of any others, please link them in the comments.
Updates
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 03:36 pmmildred_of_midgard1.5 miles again. Definitely finding it harder to get up that incline than I should, but now that my legs aren't sore (yesterday was a rest day, Sunday was mostly a rest day), the best way to address that is to start hitting the cemetery hill, for some more intense cardio in smaller doses.
Due to the fact that I'm sleeping till midday, work makes this hard, but certainly by the weekend, if I don't report running in the cemetery, call me on it!
Due to the fact that I'm sleeping till midday, work makes this hard, but certainly by the weekend, if I don't report running in the cemetery, call me on it!
Birdfeeding
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 02:17 pmysabetwordsmithToday is mostly sunny and warm with a light breeze, a beautiful spring day. :D
I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two brown-headed cowbirds, a mourning dove, and two fox squirrels.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 4/22/25 -- We went out shopping. I picked out roughly 5 flats of plants at DeBuhr's. We found a garden hose, nozzle, and reel plus a gas can at Home Depot. Also at Home Depot I spotted a modular garage storage system that looks very promising. It has mounting rails for shelves and a wide variety of hooks. That ought to combine well with a pegboard.
EDIT 4/22/25 -- I planted a 'Sugar Snack' cherry tomato and a 'Yellow Pear' tomato in the large pots by the septic garden, each with 4 marigolds around it.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen several sparrows and house finches, two brown-headed cowbirds, a mourning dove, and two fox squirrels.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 4/22/25 -- We went out shopping. I picked out roughly 5 flats of plants at DeBuhr's. We found a garden hose, nozzle, and reel plus a gas can at Home Depot. Also at Home Depot I spotted a modular garage storage system that looks very promising. It has mounting rails for shelves and a wide variety of hooks. That ought to combine well with a pegboard.
EDIT 4/22/25 -- I planted a 'Sugar Snack' cherry tomato and a 'Yellow Pear' tomato in the large pots by the septic garden, each with 4 marigolds around it.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
Breaking news
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 12:57 pmmildred_of_midgardEvery day, it's something.
So just as my wife and stepdaughter's prospects of staying with someone (for a couple of months) to save on expenses has fallen through, my prospects of living with my best friend to save on expenses are dimming:
My friend says googling indicates the law considers the roommate a subtenant even if he's not on the lease, doesn't pay rent (he does pay internet and I think contributed to the installation of the mini-split AC/heater), and only lives there part-time. This means he can't be evicted without cause, nor have the rent raised, except under specific conditions that aren't met here.
So now, instead of informing him of his last day in October or November, we're down to strategizing how to ask nicely and offer money for best chances of success, and I'm back to looking at properties on Trulia.
So just as my wife and stepdaughter's prospects of staying with someone (for a couple of months) to save on expenses has fallen through, my prospects of living with my best friend to save on expenses are dimming:
My friend says googling indicates the law considers the roommate a subtenant even if he's not on the lease, doesn't pay rent (he does pay internet and I think contributed to the installation of the mini-split AC/heater), and only lives there part-time. This means he can't be evicted without cause, nor have the rent raised, except under specific conditions that aren't met here.
So now, instead of informing him of his last day in October or November, we're down to strategizing how to ask nicely and offer money for best chances of success, and I'm back to looking at properties on Trulia.
Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 194
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 10:16 amecosophia
We are now in the fourth year of these open posts. When I first posted a tentative hypothesis on the course of the Covid phenomenon, I had no idea that discussion on the subject would still be necessary more than three years later, much less that it would turn into so lively, complex, and troubling a conversation. Still, here we are. Crude death rates and other measures of collapsing public health are anomalously high in many countries, but nobody in authority wants to talk about the inadequately tested experimental Covid injections that are the most likely cause; So it's time for another open post. The rules are the same as before:
1. If you plan on parroting the party line of the medical industry and its paid shills, please go away. This is a place for people to talk openly, honestly, and freely about their concerns that the party line in question is dangerously flawed and that actions being pushed by the medical industry and its government enablers are causing injury and death on a massive scale. It is not a place for you to dismiss those concerns. Anyone who wants to hear the official story and the arguments in favor of it can find those on hundreds of thousands of websites.
2. If you plan on insisting that the current situation is the result of a deliberate plot by some villainous group of people or other, please go away. There are tens of thousands of websites currently rehashing various conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 outbreak and the vaccines. This is not one of them. What we're exploring is the likelihood that what's going on is the product of the same arrogance, incompetence, and corruption that the medical industry and its wholly owned politicians have displayed so abundantly in recent decades. That possibility deserves a space of its own for discussion, and that's what we're doing here.
3. If you plan on using rent-a-troll derailing or disruption tactics, please go away. I'm quite familiar with the standard tactics used by troll farms to disrupt online forums, and am ready, willing, and able -- and in fact quite eager -- to ban people permanently for engaging in them here. Oh, and I also lurk on other Covid-19 vaccine skeptic blogs, so I'm likely to notice when the same posts are showing up on more than one venue.
4. If you plan on making off topic comments, please go away. This is an open post for discussion of the Covid epidemic, the vaccines, drugs, policies, and other measures that supposedly treat it, and other topics directly relevant to those things. It is not a place for general discussion of unrelated topics. Nor is it a place to ask for medical advice; giving such advice, unless you're a licensed health care provider, legally counts as practicing medicine without a license and is a crime in the US. Don't even go there.
5. If you don't believe in treating people with common courtesy, please go away. I have, and enforce, a strict courtesy policy on my blogs and online forums, and this is no exception. The sort of schoolyard bullying that takes place on so many other internet forums will get you deleted and banned here. Also, please don't drag in current quarrels about sex, race, religions, etc. No, I don't care if you disagree with that: my journal, my rules.
6. Please don't just post bare links without explanation. A sentence or two telling readers what's on the other side of the link is a reasonable courtesy, and if you don't include it, your attempted post will be deleted.
Please also note that nothing posted here should be construed as medical advice, which neither I nor the commentariat (excepting those who are licensed medical providers) are qualified to give. Please take your medical questions to the licensed professional provider of your choice.
With that said, the floor is open for discussion.
Palestinian Speculative Fiction Reading List
Tuesday, 22 April 2025 12:49 amysabetwordsmithThe following is a growing reading list for the ReadPalestinianSpecFic challenge. This is a work in progress to create a list of all available Palestinian speculative fiction.
Photos: Cookie Jar Terrarium Part 1: Setup
Monday, 21 April 2025 10:35 pmysabetwordsmithRecently I bought a little fern, so I'm making a new terrarium. You can also see the previous Antique Jar Terrarium.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Humor
Monday, 21 April 2025 08:54 pmmildred_of_midgardOn a more cheerful note, two pieces of humor:
Back when I started studying geology last year, I focused on igneous rocks, which are so far my favorite. Thus, the word "igneous" came up a few times at the table, and my wife joked that it always sounds to her like a bad thing, like "igneous behavior." She pronounced this in a very haughty, disapproving voice.
By analogy with "ignoble" or "ignominious", apparently.
So "igneous" has come to be an inside joke for something we disapprove of.
Well, last week I was looking at touristy places in Europe that we could meet up at in future years, and I read aloud from Wikipedia that such-and-such a hill was made of igneous rock.
My low-energy, out-of-shape wife: "All hills are igneous. A hill is a very igneous thing to do to a person."
I'm still laughing.
(I, of course, am lamenting that I'll be leaving a hilly neighborhood for a "flat-as-a-pancake, biker's paradise!" neighborhood, to quote a real estate agent on Trulia. How am I supposed to get in my daily hill reps??!)
*
I like backrubs. Backrubs are awesome. I will miss them.
My wife likes to give silly backrubs: I have been a piano, a samba drum, a hippodrome, and many other things while her fingers dance around according to her whim.
A couple days ago (we've been trying to fit in as many as we can before the end of the month!) she announced that what she was doing was an arpeggio.
Later on, she was doing something similar, and my unmusical self asked, "Is that an arpeggio?"
Her: No, these are horses! But if I were playing the piano, this would be a trill, not an arpeggio.
Me: I'm sorry, I need to learn to tell trills, arpeggios, and horses apart!
Me: ...Which is now a sentence that has been uttered in this house, lol.
Back when I started studying geology last year, I focused on igneous rocks, which are so far my favorite. Thus, the word "igneous" came up a few times at the table, and my wife joked that it always sounds to her like a bad thing, like "igneous behavior." She pronounced this in a very haughty, disapproving voice.
By analogy with "ignoble" or "ignominious", apparently.
So "igneous" has come to be an inside joke for something we disapprove of.
Well, last week I was looking at touristy places in Europe that we could meet up at in future years, and I read aloud from Wikipedia that such-and-such a hill was made of igneous rock.
My low-energy, out-of-shape wife: "All hills are igneous. A hill is a very igneous thing to do to a person."
I'm still laughing.
(I, of course, am lamenting that I'll be leaving a hilly neighborhood for a "flat-as-a-pancake, biker's paradise!" neighborhood, to quote a real estate agent on Trulia. How am I supposed to get in my daily hill reps??!)
*
I like backrubs. Backrubs are awesome. I will miss them.
My wife likes to give silly backrubs: I have been a piano, a samba drum, a hippodrome, and many other things while her fingers dance around according to her whim.
A couple days ago (we've been trying to fit in as many as we can before the end of the month!) she announced that what she was doing was an arpeggio.
Later on, she was doing something similar, and my unmusical self asked, "Is that an arpeggio?"
Her: No, these are horses! But if I were playing the piano, this would be a trill, not an arpeggio.
Me: I'm sorry, I need to learn to tell trills, arpeggios, and horses apart!
Me: ...Which is now a sentence that has been uttered in this house, lol.
Everything keeps happening so much
Monday, 21 April 2025 08:39 pmmildred_of_midgardFirst my stepdaughter breaks a tooth and is in a lot of pain. Then her mother talks her (she's agoraphobic and generally phobic) into going to the dentist, because broken tooth extractions are super easy, barely an inconvenience!
Well, no one had reckoned with her giant roots, nor with the fact that the broken tooth was adjacent to an impacted wisdom tooth that was pressing on it. "This tooth is my brother, and I'm not letting it go!"
It took 30 minutes to get the tooth out, and another 30 minutes to dig out all the residual roots. Stitches were required. By the end, she was shellshocked.
In addition to her obviously much greater suffering and my wife having to try to manage the situation and to accompany her, this meant that my week consisted of a lot of "Can you take her? She's going tonight/tomorrow/Monday?" (with constantly postponed appointments bc agoraphobia), "Can you get her meds from the pharmacy?", "She might need to go to the emergency room", and "She thinks she has an infection."
*
Then the plan was for them to stay with my stepdaughter's grandmother for a month or two after they arrive in Brazil, to save money while they look for an apartment. So Murphy's Law dictates that elderly grandmother suddenly gets hospitalized last week, she's going to be in the hospital for a while while they figure out what's going on with her, she will probably need surgery, and she will probably be post-op, with lots of people coming and going and probably staying over, when my wife and stepdaughter arrive in Brazil in 10 days.
So now there's the inconvenience and expense of scrambling to find an Airbnb, and then the pressure to find an apartment as soon as possible after arriving, to cut down on the Airbnb expense.
*
Then, on Saturday, when I was coming home from my 8-mile geology walk, still on the phone with my friend working out living arrangements, I came up the driveway to find my wife on her e-trike heading out to cancel her gym membership (which has to be done in person) and pick up her daughter's meds.
She interrupts me.
"There's something wrong with the bike!"
She pedaled around in the parking lot while I inspected it.
"Yeah, looks like you've got a flat."
Of course this is the first time this has happened, so neither of us has any idea how to change a tire.
So that's why immediately after my hike Saturday, I had to head out again to the pharmacy, while my wife watched YouTube videos on how to change a tire and tube, ordered spare parts, and asked around the neighbors to find out who had a pump we could borrow.
And now I'm going to have to watch the videos she found and learn how to change a tire, because she's completely overwhelmed, struggling with a depression flare-up (guess why!), and "Technically I'm an engineer (software engineer)" (said in the same tone of voice as "Technically, I'm a doctor (PhD in dead languages).") I am a bit more savvy than she is, though I still intensely dislike anything that requires me to work with my hands and pay attention to what I'm doing.
And, of course, we still have to figure out how to sell this bike on short notice.
The one spot of bright light is that she was able to cancel her gym membership over the phone. I'm still skeptical that in a month they'll be like, "What? No, you have to come in person!" but maybe it will work.
Things keep happening so much!
Well, no one had reckoned with her giant roots, nor with the fact that the broken tooth was adjacent to an impacted wisdom tooth that was pressing on it. "This tooth is my brother, and I'm not letting it go!"
It took 30 minutes to get the tooth out, and another 30 minutes to dig out all the residual roots. Stitches were required. By the end, she was shellshocked.
In addition to her obviously much greater suffering and my wife having to try to manage the situation and to accompany her, this meant that my week consisted of a lot of "Can you take her? She's going tonight/tomorrow/Monday?" (with constantly postponed appointments bc agoraphobia), "Can you get her meds from the pharmacy?", "She might need to go to the emergency room", and "She thinks she has an infection."
*
Then the plan was for them to stay with my stepdaughter's grandmother for a month or two after they arrive in Brazil, to save money while they look for an apartment. So Murphy's Law dictates that elderly grandmother suddenly gets hospitalized last week, she's going to be in the hospital for a while while they figure out what's going on with her, she will probably need surgery, and she will probably be post-op, with lots of people coming and going and probably staying over, when my wife and stepdaughter arrive in Brazil in 10 days.
So now there's the inconvenience and expense of scrambling to find an Airbnb, and then the pressure to find an apartment as soon as possible after arriving, to cut down on the Airbnb expense.
*
Then, on Saturday, when I was coming home from my 8-mile geology walk, still on the phone with my friend working out living arrangements, I came up the driveway to find my wife on her e-trike heading out to cancel her gym membership (which has to be done in person) and pick up her daughter's meds.
She interrupts me.
"There's something wrong with the bike!"
She pedaled around in the parking lot while I inspected it.
"Yeah, looks like you've got a flat."
Of course this is the first time this has happened, so neither of us has any idea how to change a tire.
So that's why immediately after my hike Saturday, I had to head out again to the pharmacy, while my wife watched YouTube videos on how to change a tire and tube, ordered spare parts, and asked around the neighbors to find out who had a pump we could borrow.
And now I'm going to have to watch the videos she found and learn how to change a tire, because she's completely overwhelmed, struggling with a depression flare-up (guess why!), and "Technically I'm an engineer (software engineer)" (said in the same tone of voice as "Technically, I'm a doctor (PhD in dead languages).") I am a bit more savvy than she is, though I still intensely dislike anything that requires me to work with my hands and pay attention to what I'm doing.
And, of course, we still have to figure out how to sell this bike on short notice.
The one spot of bright light is that she was able to cancel her gym membership over the phone. I'm still skeptical that in a month they'll be like, "What? No, you have to come in person!" but maybe it will work.
Things keep happening so much!