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vivdunstan May. 11th, 2026 02:53 pm)
vivdunstan May. 11th, 2026 02:53 pm)Continuing my Twelfth Doctor rewatch with this pair of linked episodes. Going to discuss this with big spoilers.
( spoilers )
( spoilers )
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Just played a SpringThing interactive fiction parser game that includes an accordion š I absolutely loved this game, and not just for the squeezebox!
Another Current Administration choice I find deplorable: revoking grazing permits for bison on federal lands. This is just a veiled attack on Indigenous groups that have been working together to get the key herbivore of the Great Plains back on at least some of the land they used to roam.
(Part of the reason the Great Plains were so fertile was because of bison herds roaming, grazing and trampling and excreting as they went. Those prairie grasses and other plants had deep roots that held the land in place; current farming practices encourage soil erosion and discourage soil health.)
(Part of the reason the Great Plains were so fertile was because of bison herds roaming, grazing and trampling and excreting as they went. Those prairie grasses and other plants had deep roots that held the land in place; current farming practices encourage soil erosion and discourage soil health.)
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Martin's cutting the grass for the very first time this year. I doubt it will be cut again before July! We might not be doing No Mow May, but we're doing No Mow Most Other Months. Our garden is a haven for wildlife, especially birds, insects and butterflies, but we've also seen hedgehogs and frogs.
Pleased to see SNP win our constituency Angus South. And also pleased to see Greens win a couple of constituency seats in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our SNP MP Stephen Gethins has been newly elected as the MSP for Dundee East, so we will have a Westminster by election upcoming in our seat. But that's ok. Also happy that the Liberals continue their long-time history with Fife North East. Will be interested to see how the regional vote plays out. I voted Green for the regional list.
I worked from home today because I wanted to check out the Arbor Week event at the library today. The city arborist was there with seedlings people could take. The choice was red maple, some kind of birch, redbud, or lilac. I chose the one shrub, because I know that lilac is edible (Iāve made lilac liqueur, which means lilac syrup also works). And I grabbed one of the little seed-implanted bits of paper they had in the shape of a tree.
There was also a table with information about a couple of city programs organized by GreenCambridge, which I didnāt know about before. The Canopy Crew offers a tree planted on private land by paid high school interns learning about forestry and environmental careers. The types of trees were chosen to provide habitat and provide biodiversity, as well as provide shade, clean the air, and reduce the chance of flooding. The other program is focused on Alewife Brook Reservation, which offers informational walks and the chance to help clear invasive species; Iāve joined the mailing list.
Once I was home, I checked the pawpaw seeds Iād put in the fridge last fall to see whether theyād survived without drying out or molding. Some looked ok, so I planted three in the corner of the back yard near where the neighborās cherry tree used to be (ie, itās sunnier there than it used to be), along with the lilac seedling. The internet says Iād need to have at least two different varieties to get any fruit, because apparently the pollen isnāt ripe at the same time as the flowers being open (essentially), which seems like a non-optimized designā¦.
I took the seed-implanted tree paper, along with some other similar bits of paper with seeds, and put them under dirt in the front yard, in a corner that looked rather patchy. Some of the shrubs in front had some dead branches, while others were getting overgrown, so I spent some time pruning. Itās not at all perfect, but itās definitely better. I left the debris underneath, to decompose back into the soil. The only downside was that I managed to pinch some bits of my palm between the handles of the snips.
There were petals of tiny pink flowers that had fallen onto the moss in the front yard, which I hadnāt noticed before was so beautiful. I really do love having moss around, such wonderful colors and textures.
There was also a table with information about a couple of city programs organized by GreenCambridge, which I didnāt know about before. The Canopy Crew offers a tree planted on private land by paid high school interns learning about forestry and environmental careers. The types of trees were chosen to provide habitat and provide biodiversity, as well as provide shade, clean the air, and reduce the chance of flooding. The other program is focused on Alewife Brook Reservation, which offers informational walks and the chance to help clear invasive species; Iāve joined the mailing list.
Once I was home, I checked the pawpaw seeds Iād put in the fridge last fall to see whether theyād survived without drying out or molding. Some looked ok, so I planted three in the corner of the back yard near where the neighborās cherry tree used to be (ie, itās sunnier there than it used to be), along with the lilac seedling. The internet says Iād need to have at least two different varieties to get any fruit, because apparently the pollen isnāt ripe at the same time as the flowers being open (essentially), which seems like a non-optimized designā¦.
I took the seed-implanted tree paper, along with some other similar bits of paper with seeds, and put them under dirt in the front yard, in a corner that looked rather patchy. Some of the shrubs in front had some dead branches, while others were getting overgrown, so I spent some time pruning. Itās not at all perfect, but itās definitely better. I left the debris underneath, to decompose back into the soil. The only downside was that I managed to pinch some bits of my palm between the handles of the snips.
There were petals of tiny pink flowers that had fallen onto the moss in the front yard, which I hadnāt noticed before was so beautiful. I really do love having moss around, such wonderful colors and textures.
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My mom, who is now 86, has vascular dementia, as noted previously.
She's more "there" in the mornings, and is sometimes able to connect up and have actual conversations, though I admit, this is not often. Then once she starts getting tireder, she is just not rooted in reality, meanders verbally, and has some kind of rich inner life to which I am not privy, and which, when she's asked about, she is unable to explain. (Which is more curious to me because she was just in 2026 in the morning, you know? But it is what it is.) This does often lead to problems because she meanders off, physically, to obey the mysterious dictates of her soul, and can't/won't explain what she wants to do, and does *not* take well to re-direction. (Or, in the words of the medical establishment, is combative.)
She's also miserable and seems to have developed actual aphasia at this point -- that is, she has something specific she wants to say but says the wrong words. Which, sometimes is commentary on 2026, but is also sometimes commentary from her inner life, so even if we could understand it, it wouldn't make sense, but the frustration is the same either way, so sympathy is at least called for.
She does recognize me pretty consistently, which is good both for her sake and mine (because the first time I actually knew she didn't know it was me was Not Entertaining), but she also firmly has the idea her parents are still alive and she wants to visit them (in Lancaster, PA), which is... not so good. My dad is very bad at dealing with the latter, and keeps going, in essence, "No, they're dead," which is. Nowhere near the response you want, there.
Also, she has no sense of time, so she's like, "Let's go!" three minutes after we start a thing. Which is one thing if it's at home, but it's more of a problem if she's at, say, her 5 year old niece's birthday party. My brother and I did decode that it's also her telling us she's done with our visits and we should go away, though, so that was good.
And, she is still doing the "taking a walk and then getting lost and getting the police called on her," thing, which frankly by this point is infuriating because why the fuck won't my dad get inside locks for the house, or at least notice that she's leaving. ?!?!??? <-- my internal state.
Anyway, the reason I'm making this post is that she's getting a lot more unstable on her feet, and has fallen a few times lately, though has not, thankfully, broken anything, but she can't get back up again when she does fall. My dad has now, despite their previously having promised each other they would Never Leave Their House, made the decision that he's open to looking into assisted living/memory care facilities, hosanna. (They've had in-house helpers for a bit, but my mom keeps taking against them because they tell her what to do and she hates that, see above re: combative.)
He called me up (I having had warning from my brother) and was like, "Can we get her into an ambulance and have her taken somewhere this afternoon?" and I barely managed not to laugh at him. No, is the answer, no we can't. I said something about it not being feasible. (I mean, if she broke something it would be, but that is To Be Avoided because it would lead to the downslope, and while she is not exactly happy in her life, the "broken bone to pneumonia" pipeline is not the most efficient way of dying, pardon my distancing humor.)
But! I have now scheduled two tours, one for my brother (on Friday) and one for me on Monday, at two different local-to-my-parents places, and we'll go from there.
She's more "there" in the mornings, and is sometimes able to connect up and have actual conversations, though I admit, this is not often. Then once she starts getting tireder, she is just not rooted in reality, meanders verbally, and has some kind of rich inner life to which I am not privy, and which, when she's asked about, she is unable to explain. (Which is more curious to me because she was just in 2026 in the morning, you know? But it is what it is.) This does often lead to problems because she meanders off, physically, to obey the mysterious dictates of her soul, and can't/won't explain what she wants to do, and does *not* take well to re-direction. (Or, in the words of the medical establishment, is combative.)
She's also miserable and seems to have developed actual aphasia at this point -- that is, she has something specific she wants to say but says the wrong words. Which, sometimes is commentary on 2026, but is also sometimes commentary from her inner life, so even if we could understand it, it wouldn't make sense, but the frustration is the same either way, so sympathy is at least called for.
She does recognize me pretty consistently, which is good both for her sake and mine (because the first time I actually knew she didn't know it was me was Not Entertaining), but she also firmly has the idea her parents are still alive and she wants to visit them (in Lancaster, PA), which is... not so good. My dad is very bad at dealing with the latter, and keeps going, in essence, "No, they're dead," which is. Nowhere near the response you want, there.
Also, she has no sense of time, so she's like, "Let's go!" three minutes after we start a thing. Which is one thing if it's at home, but it's more of a problem if she's at, say, her 5 year old niece's birthday party. My brother and I did decode that it's also her telling us she's done with our visits and we should go away, though, so that was good.
And, she is still doing the "taking a walk and then getting lost and getting the police called on her," thing, which frankly by this point is infuriating because why the fuck won't my dad get inside locks for the house, or at least notice that she's leaving. ?!?!??? <-- my internal state.
Anyway, the reason I'm making this post is that she's getting a lot more unstable on her feet, and has fallen a few times lately, though has not, thankfully, broken anything, but she can't get back up again when she does fall. My dad has now, despite their previously having promised each other they would Never Leave Their House, made the decision that he's open to looking into assisted living/memory care facilities, hosanna. (They've had in-house helpers for a bit, but my mom keeps taking against them because they tell her what to do and she hates that, see above re: combative.)
He called me up (I having had warning from my brother) and was like, "Can we get her into an ambulance and have her taken somewhere this afternoon?" and I barely managed not to laugh at him. No, is the answer, no we can't. I said something about it not being feasible. (I mean, if she broke something it would be, but that is To Be Avoided because it would lead to the downslope, and while she is not exactly happy in her life, the "broken bone to pneumonia" pipeline is not the most efficient way of dying, pardon my distancing humor.)
But! I have now scheduled two tours, one for my brother (on Friday) and one for me on Monday, at two different local-to-my-parents places, and we'll go from there.
Another 20-years-on rewatch for us, last week, with my review only going up now.
This is a strong episode, that brought back a much-loved old character, in a way that appealed to both long-term fans from the 1970s and new fans who had no idea who Sarah Jane Smith was. Or indeed K9. It was a risk going for the jealousy angle, and Rose doesn't always come out well, including re the final bit with Mickey. But it gives a new perspective on the role of a companion, and I think was generally well done.
It's another tightly written episode - rewatching this 2006 series I'm constantly agog at how much tighter the single parters were writing wise than in the RTD2 era - with a strong plot and good guest cast. Anthony Head is particularly strong in his role, and I honestly thought that the main kid actors were ok, though I've seen other reviewers less positive about them.
As an old time fan myself, albeit starting watching in 1978 after Sarah Jane Smith left the TARDIS, I loved the ending. And it was easy to see how much fun David Tennant was having, as another lifelong fan. It's no wonder that this led to the very successful Sarah Jane Adventures spin off.
This is a strong episode, that brought back a much-loved old character, in a way that appealed to both long-term fans from the 1970s and new fans who had no idea who Sarah Jane Smith was. Or indeed K9. It was a risk going for the jealousy angle, and Rose doesn't always come out well, including re the final bit with Mickey. But it gives a new perspective on the role of a companion, and I think was generally well done.
It's another tightly written episode - rewatching this 2006 series I'm constantly agog at how much tighter the single parters were writing wise than in the RTD2 era - with a strong plot and good guest cast. Anthony Head is particularly strong in his role, and I honestly thought that the main kid actors were ok, though I've seen other reviewers less positive about them.
As an old time fan myself, albeit starting watching in 1978 after Sarah Jane Smith left the TARDIS, I loved the ending. And it was easy to see how much fun David Tennant was having, as another lifelong fan. It's no wonder that this led to the very successful Sarah Jane Adventures spin off.
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Last night I went to the Newton Library (read: far too long on the D branch of the Green Line plus a mile walk after) for an event sponsored by the Vilna Shul and JArts: "Threads That Bind: Weaving as a Practice of Storytelling,ā which included a talk by Josh Kurtz about the history of weaving, (including texts and examples from Jewish history and other indigenous folkways), plus time to start a project on laser-cut flat hand looms that we could take home to finish later (along with whatever fibers we wanted from the varied assortment heād brought, which varied from whole skeins to small balls of leftover yarn to roving).
I had a good time, though each part felt too short. The talk included slides, of the oldest known woven piece (a dress from Egypt about 5000 years ago); of a workersā solidarity/protest banner that showed a complete picture including protest banners as part of it; of a piece commissioned by the Jewish Museum (in NYC, I think, not Jerusalem) to remember the Holocaust, six panels in browns, white, and black, which looked to me like they were unreadable text; of the unicorn tapestries; of a woven ceremonial dress made by a Native person in the southwest (I failed to take notes, so donāt have his name, but do remember heās 26), who not only wove the cloths, but also shepherded and sheared the sheep, combed and spun the fibers, and foraged the materials to dye the thread/yarn (!!!!).
The looms were flat, laser-cut wood, looking rather like a rectangular picture frame, with holes in all corners, and little teeth top and bottom. We warped our own looms (though he did have some pre-warped, for those who wanted), then chose some of the fiber abundance to use as weft. The laser-cut pieces also included a flat, wide needle-like piece that could help with the back-and-forthing of fiber, and a smaller flat āforkā for pushing the rows down. Both were optional, but useful. There wasnāt time to complete a piece, but we got to take the looms & tools & fibers we wanted home to complete! Josh requested photos once people finished their pieces.
I had arrived early, so I was there during room set-up. Josh mentioned that heād gotten some yarns at Make and Mend in Somerville, so after the event, I asked if he was headed back to Somerville by car, and if so, could I catch a ride back (rather than another mile-plus walk, an eternity on the D-line (ok, maybe an hour?), then three-quarters of a mile walk home), which he was happy to offer. We chatted on the way back, talking textiles, and also Jewish geography (NHC turned out to be our first connector of friends in common).
I had a good time, though each part felt too short. The talk included slides, of the oldest known woven piece (a dress from Egypt about 5000 years ago); of a workersā solidarity/protest banner that showed a complete picture including protest banners as part of it; of a piece commissioned by the Jewish Museum (in NYC, I think, not Jerusalem) to remember the Holocaust, six panels in browns, white, and black, which looked to me like they were unreadable text; of the unicorn tapestries; of a woven ceremonial dress made by a Native person in the southwest (I failed to take notes, so donāt have his name, but do remember heās 26), who not only wove the cloths, but also shepherded and sheared the sheep, combed and spun the fibers, and foraged the materials to dye the thread/yarn (!!!!).
The looms were flat, laser-cut wood, looking rather like a rectangular picture frame, with holes in all corners, and little teeth top and bottom. We warped our own looms (though he did have some pre-warped, for those who wanted), then chose some of the fiber abundance to use as weft. The laser-cut pieces also included a flat, wide needle-like piece that could help with the back-and-forthing of fiber, and a smaller flat āforkā for pushing the rows down. Both were optional, but useful. There wasnāt time to complete a piece, but we got to take the looms & tools & fibers we wanted home to complete! Josh requested photos once people finished their pieces.
I had arrived early, so I was there during room set-up. Josh mentioned that heād gotten some yarns at Make and Mend in Somerville, so after the event, I asked if he was headed back to Somerville by car, and if so, could I catch a ride back (rather than another mile-plus walk, an eternity on the D-line (ok, maybe an hour?), then three-quarters of a mile walk home), which he was happy to offer. We chatted on the way back, talking textiles, and also Jewish geography (NHC turned out to be our first connector of friends in common).
Pepperell has an open Town Meeting, which is to say, Pepperell has the New England tradition of Town Meeting, in which The Populace decides what the town is going to spend and do over the course of the next year. This often amounts to rubberstamping the votes of the Select Board and the School Committee on the budgets, but they do also result in actual questions and actual decisions on some topics, like zoning stuff, so it does involve actual democracy, too.
In some towns, it involves elected representatives being Town Meeting Members (my mom was a Town Meeting Member for literal decades), which is called Representative Town Meeting. Pepperell, as noted, has Open Town Meeting, in which all residents (or in some cases, all registered voters in the town) can deliberate, so I went, rather gleefully, and I was in full Anthropology mode. (I am, yes, registered already. Because.)
I covered Town Meetings for my newspaper, of course, so I went to Every One, and Could Not Vote, had to pay attention to Everything and Be Neutral and Make Sure I Stayed Til The End, so the best thing about last night was I got to leave early.
Aherm.
But I also got to vote! So that was fun. And I identified the people who ask good questions and people sigh in relief when they stand up, and the ones who ask incessant ones forever, about whom other people sigh and mutter about to their neighbors, and I enjoyed the Town Moderator, who isn't as good, Roberts-Rules-wise, as Dedham's long-time one who just retired, but is funny, which is a boon.
They do have Info Sessions the week beforehand (what we called Mini Town Meeting in Dedham), which I did not manage to find out about this time, so I Now Know for future use.
I ran into my neighbor, who works in the Town Clerk's office -- she's one of the people who checks people in, so we nodded to each other in the hallway and I got swept off to the main auditorium. (As is tradition, it was in a school auditorium.) They asked, at the beginning, if anyone was new, and a youngish guy and I waved, and people nodded at us, and the couple next to me said they'd lived in Pepperell 40 years and always came, and I said I was used to Town Meetings because of the newspaper, and it turned out the wife had been in newspapers, too, so that was nice. (Not that I remember their names, but, you know, I can nod to them in future.)
There were a lot of presentations and the thing I was trying to stick around for didn't happen by 9:45, so. I went home. (They have to deal with PFAS contamination in their municipal water supply, and had gotten money for it, but things have changed slightly so they need more money, and I figured it'd be controversial. I don't have to care about the contamination because I have a well, but I do want to Make Sure They Spend Their Money Right.) Alas, I have an early client on Tuesdays, so, as I said, I got to Leave! Yay!
Anyway. Am glad. Like Participating.
In some towns, it involves elected representatives being Town Meeting Members (my mom was a Town Meeting Member for literal decades), which is called Representative Town Meeting. Pepperell, as noted, has Open Town Meeting, in which all residents (or in some cases, all registered voters in the town) can deliberate, so I went, rather gleefully, and I was in full Anthropology mode. (I am, yes, registered already. Because.)
I covered Town Meetings for my newspaper, of course, so I went to Every One, and Could Not Vote, had to pay attention to Everything and Be Neutral and Make Sure I Stayed Til The End, so the best thing about last night was I got to leave early.
Aherm.
But I also got to vote! So that was fun. And I identified the people who ask good questions and people sigh in relief when they stand up, and the ones who ask incessant ones forever, about whom other people sigh and mutter about to their neighbors, and I enjoyed the Town Moderator, who isn't as good, Roberts-Rules-wise, as Dedham's long-time one who just retired, but is funny, which is a boon.
They do have Info Sessions the week beforehand (what we called Mini Town Meeting in Dedham), which I did not manage to find out about this time, so I Now Know for future use.
I ran into my neighbor, who works in the Town Clerk's office -- she's one of the people who checks people in, so we nodded to each other in the hallway and I got swept off to the main auditorium. (As is tradition, it was in a school auditorium.) They asked, at the beginning, if anyone was new, and a youngish guy and I waved, and people nodded at us, and the couple next to me said they'd lived in Pepperell 40 years and always came, and I said I was used to Town Meetings because of the newspaper, and it turned out the wife had been in newspapers, too, so that was nice. (Not that I remember their names, but, you know, I can nod to them in future.)
There were a lot of presentations and the thing I was trying to stick around for didn't happen by 9:45, so. I went home. (They have to deal with PFAS contamination in their municipal water supply, and had gotten money for it, but things have changed slightly so they need more money, and I figured it'd be controversial. I don't have to care about the contamination because I have a well, but I do want to Make Sure They Spend Their Money Right.) Alas, I have an early client on Tuesdays, so, as I said, I got to Leave! Yay!
Anyway. Am glad. Like Participating.
Every puzzle writer reaches a point where they must decide: do I not use "Helena, Hussy of Horror" because it is too obscure? Or can I not possibly not use "Helena, Hussy of Horror" because it is too awesome?
I think it's clear how I answered. Sorry this took forever to post; I had the idea and then had to keep tweaking it until I got something that worked. I think there's a lot to say about elegance of design and where it can or can't get compromised, but I'll just leave this here.
We Regret the Airer
We here at Rerun Television have updated our nightly schedules for our eleven channels. We've even updated our midnight block of "Re-Reruns", where each channel reruns a show from a different channel, though we might have lost track of that somewhere.
| Channel | 8pm-9pm | 9pm-10pm | 10pm-11pm | 11pm-midnight | Midnight-6am: Re-Reruns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTV-ā | EastEnders | iCarly | SpongeBob SquarePants | TekWar | |
| RTV-ā” | The Bletchley Circle | Between the Lines | Pawn Stars | Square Pegs | |
| RTV-ā¢ | Castle | Forever Knight | The Joey Bishop Show | The King of Queens | |
| RTV-ā£ | 9-1-1: Nashville | Austin City Limits | Helena, Hussy of Horror | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | |
| RTV-ā¤ | Boston Legal | $#*! My Dad Says | Star Trek | T. J. Hooker | |
| RTV-ā„ | Below Decks | Green Acres | Perry Mason | Third Watch | |
| RTV-ā¦ | Being Human | Kindred: the Embraced | Port Charles | True Blood | |
| RTV-ā§ | Grey's Anatomy | Orphan Black | The Real Housewives of Orange County | Red Dwarf | |
| RTV-āØ | Dead Like Me | Frasier | iZombie | Reaper | |
| RTV-ā© | Big Brother Brazil | Diners, Drive-ins and Dives | Monuments, Memorials, & Museums | Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! | |
| RTV-āŖ | Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage | Jon & Kate Plus 8 | Law & Order: SVU | Love & Hip Hop |
Worried that we have half-hour shows in hour blocks? It's fine; we just added more commercials so that everything can start on the hour. That should make it easier to cycle through the channels looking for your favorite show. There's an obvious way to cycle, of course, but here's what our resident critic had to say about the Re-Rerun block:
Reed M. Innordar, TV critic: Once you've found the right way to cycle through the channels, you'll want to switch back to the first channel in the cycle, which obviously is RTV-4. Then flip through the channels in this order: 4th in the cycle (which again is obviously RTV-2), then 3rd, 6th, 8th, 10th, 2nd, 5th, 7th, 11th, and 9th.
It's all a bit confusing, we realize, and we really hope we didn't misread what Reed was telling us. If so, we regret the error.
Curb Your Enthusiasm? Press Your Luck? Check Your Answer?
Listening to "Dennis the Menace from Venice", a 1935 music hall song which was the inspiration for the DC Thomson Beano comic character Dennis the Menace.
Having finished rewatching the BBC 1988-1990 Narnia TV series we are now happily starting to watch the extended making of documentary covering the full thing. Just learned about the beaver actors constantly falling over in the Scottish snow, and having to be rescued by dedicated ābeaver retrieversā.
Watching āSam & Ade Go Birdingā again. Theyāre in Somerset, at RSPB Ham Wall by Glastonbury. And Martin is gobsmacked when I tell him itās just 15 miles away from his childhood home village as the crow flies. Heās just said Glastonbury was like on the other side of the world š
In practice anything over 5 miles away was a massive distance for him. Whereas we regularly had to drive 50 miles from my childhood home, including to get to the nearest railway station. Blooming Beeching ...
In practice anything over 5 miles away was a massive distance for him. Whereas we regularly had to drive 50 miles from my childhood home, including to get to the nearest railway station. Blooming Beeching ...
On Thursday afternoon I stood on the usual overpass. The message spelled out in three-foot-high letters was "workers over ballrooms". We did a little informal counting, and it seems like 10% of the cars honk approvingly.
Friday was May Day, which was supposed to be a "general strike: no work, no school, no shopping". Well, I don't go to school and I don't work anymore, but I tried to at least not do much economic activity. I was foiled because our cleaners were coming that day, but my guess is that they either are or support undocumented immigrants, so I approved of giving them money on May Day. Also, I have a couple of things on eBay from our Tesla, and one of them got an offer on that day, and so I clicked accept. I have no idea if there was even a noticeable blip in the economy from any national actions. Not sure how I would find out. (Randomly googling didn't really find anything useful.)
I went to two demonstrations in Boston. (I bought my train tickets on Thursday.) The first demo was at 2:30, put on by the Communists, and it was not very well attended; 70-80? I kind of like the idea of communism, but the tactics are not all that useful. Like, many of them don't vote because they think that all the political parties are the same, and so we get Trump, and I do not understand why they think that the political parties are in fact the same. They used to be a lot closer. Now, the Democrats kind of suck because they don't actually do anything useful, but at least they don't want to kill us. One of their speakers was Jill Stein, and she definitely is on my shit list for spoiling elections. (I did not hiss or boo, though.) The location was Dewey square, which is where Occupy Boston was staged, and one of the speakers was a mover and shaker of that protest and so he said some things about having camped on this pavement etc.
At the end, we marched to Boston Common where there was another demonstration at 4:30. Because we were so few, they were able to get us across major streets in the allotted time of the walk signal, and the actual marching was on little streets or pedestrian malls, so there wasn't really any need for police escort (which they did not have).
The one on the Common was better attended, but I would say less than 1000. I kind of expected more. I knew it wouldn't be like No Kings with tens of thousands, but this seemed a little lame. A couple of the people who had spoken for the Communists also spoke at this one.
Friday was May Day, which was supposed to be a "general strike: no work, no school, no shopping". Well, I don't go to school and I don't work anymore, but I tried to at least not do much economic activity. I was foiled because our cleaners were coming that day, but my guess is that they either are or support undocumented immigrants, so I approved of giving them money on May Day. Also, I have a couple of things on eBay from our Tesla, and one of them got an offer on that day, and so I clicked accept. I have no idea if there was even a noticeable blip in the economy from any national actions. Not sure how I would find out. (Randomly googling didn't really find anything useful.)
I went to two demonstrations in Boston. (I bought my train tickets on Thursday.) The first demo was at 2:30, put on by the Communists, and it was not very well attended; 70-80? I kind of like the idea of communism, but the tactics are not all that useful. Like, many of them don't vote because they think that all the political parties are the same, and so we get Trump, and I do not understand why they think that the political parties are in fact the same. They used to be a lot closer. Now, the Democrats kind of suck because they don't actually do anything useful, but at least they don't want to kill us. One of their speakers was Jill Stein, and she definitely is on my shit list for spoiling elections. (I did not hiss or boo, though.) The location was Dewey square, which is where Occupy Boston was staged, and one of the speakers was a mover and shaker of that protest and so he said some things about having camped on this pavement etc.
At the end, we marched to Boston Common where there was another demonstration at 4:30. Because we were so few, they were able to get us across major streets in the allotted time of the walk signal, and the actual marching was on little streets or pedestrian malls, so there wasn't really any need for police escort (which they did not have).
The one on the Common was better attended, but I would say less than 1000. I kind of expected more. I knew it wouldn't be like No Kings with tens of thousands, but this seemed a little lame. A couple of the people who had spoken for the Communists also spoke at this one.
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Just enjoyed a retro Commodore 64 text adventure entry in this year's Spring Thing Festival of interactive fiction games. Recommended for old timers like me, especially if, again like me, you were a Commodore 64 owner back in the day!
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I'm belatedly playing a few of this year's Spring Thing interactive fiction games. Just played one, "The Perilous Plot", which sees you play the villain of a gothic novel trying to outsmart the heroes. Inspired by a Guardian article, I think this one, which I remember reading all those years ago.
Making the heroes faint a lot is a major in game goal ...
Making the heroes faint a lot is a major in game goal ...
Clearing more secondhand books to go to charity. We don't have enough bookcases in this house and there are lots of piles. Positive: digging into a pile that hasn't seen the light of day for years reveals a large number of books to donate to charity. Negative: it can undermine another pile!
Also there's a limit to how many books Martin can take at a time to our local Oxfam's (the best place locally to donate them to find good homes). He may need several trips with over 30 books looked out today! Plus a backlog of other ones plus Big Finish Doctor Who audios.
There are many more piles and areas still to be attacked ...
Also there's a limit to how many books Martin can take at a time to our local Oxfam's (the best place locally to donate them to find good homes). He may need several trips with over 30 books looked out today! Plus a backlog of other ones plus Big Finish Doctor Who audios.
There are many more piles and areas still to be attacked ...
This morning I checked section 3 of the eruv. At that point, it was flatly overcast, perfect for checking since there was no glare. I took a new route to work afterward: it turns out the 101 bus stops at the far end of the section. I hadnāt tried it before, but today, someone was waiting, so I figured it wouldnāt be an unreasonable time until the bus came. That got me to Sullivan, then I hopped on the new, revised 85 bus (that was almost the previous CT2, except much less express), which wouldāve worked fine had there not been roadworks that involved a detour and extra traffic. Still, I got to work at a reasonable hour, and got to see some new-to-me murals, so overall, a win.
Iād forgotten Iād signed up for a training; itās lucky they sent a reminder email. It was in person, so I got out of the office, walking halfway across campus to learn more about how to deal with various types of fires (pull the fire alarm, donāt try to stop it unless very confident (people are more important, so get out)), and, interestingly, donāt call 911, but the campus police: they have a direct line to the municipal fire department, which has locations nearby, so they can get to anywhere on campus in 4 minutes. 911 gets routed to Framingham (mid-state), then bounces back to the city, resulting in a 12 minute response time. We covered the various types of fires (flammable types of metal sound particularly hairy) and how to stop them. (But really, get out and let the professionals do it.) And then we went to the loading dock and each got to set off a BC extinguisher, which was very cool, and also LOUD, which I hadnāt expected. I feel like I got another adulting point.
I took a bit of a long-cut back to the office to get some food, and got to pet some grape hyacinths before I talked with my mom on the way (sheās off for an international adventure with one of my cousins).
I realized it was the end of the month but I hadnāt gotten a reminder email about giving blood, so I hopped over to MGH to donate (OK, I took the T, no actual hopping involved ;-P). It took waaaaay longer than usual: theyāve just switched (less than a week ago) from a paper questionnaire to tablets, and it is not yet a faster system. For one thing, when you need half a dozen pages to explain what to do on the tablets, the design of the interface is not good. After help from multiple folks, I got through it, and then it turned out that the answers hadnāt gotten sucked into the system, so the intake person had to redo it all anyway. And itās also why the email didnāt come: this new system isā¦ not yet optimized, shall we say? And none of the snacks were sugarless or gluten-free, other than the raisins, which I feel are ingredients, not snacks in and of themselves.
And so home via bus 69 to make some food, feeling like the day was far from wasted.
Iād forgotten Iād signed up for a training; itās lucky they sent a reminder email. It was in person, so I got out of the office, walking halfway across campus to learn more about how to deal with various types of fires (pull the fire alarm, donāt try to stop it unless very confident (people are more important, so get out)), and, interestingly, donāt call 911, but the campus police: they have a direct line to the municipal fire department, which has locations nearby, so they can get to anywhere on campus in 4 minutes. 911 gets routed to Framingham (mid-state), then bounces back to the city, resulting in a 12 minute response time. We covered the various types of fires (flammable types of metal sound particularly hairy) and how to stop them. (But really, get out and let the professionals do it.) And then we went to the loading dock and each got to set off a BC extinguisher, which was very cool, and also LOUD, which I hadnāt expected. I feel like I got another adulting point.
I took a bit of a long-cut back to the office to get some food, and got to pet some grape hyacinths before I talked with my mom on the way (sheās off for an international adventure with one of my cousins).
I realized it was the end of the month but I hadnāt gotten a reminder email about giving blood, so I hopped over to MGH to donate (OK, I took the T, no actual hopping involved ;-P). It took waaaaay longer than usual: theyāve just switched (less than a week ago) from a paper questionnaire to tablets, and it is not yet a faster system. For one thing, when you need half a dozen pages to explain what to do on the tablets, the design of the interface is not good. After help from multiple folks, I got through it, and then it turned out that the answers hadnāt gotten sucked into the system, so the intake person had to redo it all anyway. And itās also why the email didnāt come: this new system isā¦ not yet optimized, shall we say? And none of the snacks were sugarless or gluten-free, other than the raisins, which I feel are ingredients, not snacks in and of themselves.
And so home via bus 69 to make some food, feeling like the day was far from wasted.
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