(no subject)
Feb. 27th, 2026 11:50 amThey're spraying for roaches in my apt Tuesday. I don't have roaches, this is preventative. I'm glad they let me know in advance, I don't want the bug guy to come barging in when I'm in the bathroom or something.
Looking forward to tonight, I'm going out for dinner with friends.
STILL NO NEW CREDIT CARD YET.
Looking forward to tonight, I'm going out for dinner with friends.
STILL NO NEW CREDIT CARD YET.
Follow Friday 2-20-26: Active Communities on Dreamwidth Winter 2025-2026 J-Z
Feb. 27th, 2026 01:37 pmThese are active communities in Dreamwidth from Winter 2025-2026. They include things I've posted, but only the active ones; the thematic posts also list dormant communities of interest. This list includes some communities that I've found and saved but haven't made it into thematic posts yet. This post covers J-Z.
See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.
( Read more... )
See my Follow Friday Master Post for more topics.
( Read more... )
Birdfeeding
Feb. 27th, 2026 01:34 pmToday is sunny and warmer with a nice breeze. :D
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male house finch.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I cut and labeled four water jugs. These will hold Shithouse Marigolds, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, and Purple Aster. These are all flowers that I know can handle harsh conditions.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I taped the jugs, moved them to the parking lot, and secured them with string.
I've seen a starling. Red-winged blackbirds are calling, but I haven't seen them. They arrived way early again this year, so I suspected that they'd wind up in my yard, regretting their poor life choices. At least it has cover and water here.
Crocuses are blooming, still all pale lavender. But there is a white bud in the rain garden!
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I finished trimming dead stems off the wildflower garden. I still need to cut down the tree seedlings and rake more leaves off it, but the old grass is gone.
A yellow crocus is blooming by the log garden. Snowdrop flowers are opening. :D
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male house finch.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I cut and labeled four water jugs. These will hold Shithouse Marigolds, Black-eyed Susan, Milkweed, and Purple Aster. These are all flowers that I know can handle harsh conditions.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I taped the jugs, moved them to the parking lot, and secured them with string.
I've seen a starling. Red-winged blackbirds are calling, but I haven't seen them. They arrived way early again this year, so I suspected that they'd wind up in my yard, regretting their poor life choices. At least it has cover and water here.
Crocuses are blooming, still all pale lavender. But there is a white bud in the rain garden!
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I finished trimming dead stems off the wildflower garden. I still need to cut down the tree seedlings and rake more leaves off it, but the old grass is gone.
A yellow crocus is blooming by the log garden. Snowdrop flowers are opening. :D
EDIT 2/27/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I am done for the night.
High School in Ukraine
Feb. 27th, 2026 09:23 amThere was a front page story in Thursday’s Washington Post about Ukrainian teenagers, girls as well as boys, learning to load assault rifles and apply tourniquets. They were around fifteen years old, and getting ready to defend their country.
I am happy to say that on Wednesday the 25th, I made a donation to the defense of Ukraine, selecting air defenses as the use to which my contribution would be directed.
I am happy to say that on Wednesday the 25th, I made a donation to the defense of Ukraine, selecting air defenses as the use to which my contribution would be directed.
Musical Interlude: "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught"
Feb. 27th, 2026 07:12 amRodgers and Hammerstein weren't Canadian, and so what?
This signature tune from "South Pacific" speaks of dangers we know too well.
This signature tune from "South Pacific" speaks of dangers we know too well.
D.O.P.-T.
Feb. 26th, 2026 11:41 pmI went into short sleeves, and in fact was a bit hot during the day in the tentlike T-shirt I chose. And all of a sudden the birch trees have their first leaves.
Photos: Water Garden
Feb. 26th, 2026 11:44 pmMy second garden craft today was making a mini-water garden. (See the House Yard and the Worm Bin.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Photos: Worm Bin
Feb. 26th, 2026 11:27 pmOne of today's garden crafts was making a worm bin. You can buy commercial ones, but they're expensive. All this took was a few minutes to set it up. (See the House Yard and the Water Garden.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Photos: House Yard
Feb. 26th, 2026 10:58 pmToday I took some pictures around the yard and did a couple of garden crafts. These are from the house yard and savanna. (See the Worm Bin and the Water Garden.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Yes!
Feb. 26th, 2026 07:29 pmI weigh 282.4 lb now! That's 57.6 lb I've lost. I haven't weighed this in a decade. Ozempic and Jardiance are working, and the stomach pain is minimal. A whole fruit and juice popsicle helps a lot. In November, I was in ICU for a day because there weren't any beds in PCU open yet. That was where I found out ice chips will do the job almost as well. Clothes are starting to hang on me now. I'm down to size 3x/4x instead of 5x. The skin on my body is starting to wrinkle due to less fat underneath.
Dad walked with the home PT lady and a walker. Yes! He's slowly improving.
Bear is stable on phenobarb since she has no seizure activity now. The bacon-flavored paste Chris hides the pill in appeals to her.
Funny: our car is 19 years old and we still haven't hit 100,000 miles.
Dad walked with the home PT lady and a walker. Yes! He's slowly improving.
Bear is stable on phenobarb since she has no seizure activity now. The bacon-flavored paste Chris hides the pill in appeals to her.
Funny: our car is 19 years old and we still haven't hit 100,000 miles.
Crafts
Feb. 26th, 2026 08:17 pmDid you know that bathing suits used to have buttons? Back when they were jumpsuits or dresses, buttons helped with the fit. And you can still get patterns for that if you're into historic sewing or want to go swimming without exposing a lot of skin. Here's an example of a reproduction pattern from 1872. Thanks to
atherleisure for the fun historical tip.
Vocabulary: Proforestation
Feb. 26th, 2026 06:21 pmAccording to Dr. Bill Moomaw who coined the term, "proforestation" means growing intact existing forests to their ecological potential.
I am all in favor of stopping deforestation and protecting extant forests. However, there's more to the definition than that.
( Read more... )
I am all in favor of stopping deforestation and protecting extant forests. However, there's more to the definition than that.
( Read more... )
The shingles vaccine may help prevent dementia
Feb. 26th, 2026 02:46 pmThe numbers are very indicative in multiple studies, but the mechanism is unclear.
The current vaccine is two-fold. There's the direct chicken pox vaccine to suppress that particular disease. A second adjuvant is designed to stimulate the immune system to provide a vigorous response if the chicken pox reactivates. It's believed that this adjuvant is acting as a strong anti-inflammatory and this might be reducing people contracting dementia.
The papers cited, from across several countries, all show interesting numbers. I'd like to see a meta-study to try to establish stronger numbers. Interestingly, women show the most benefit from this effect, but also are more likely to contract shingles and are more likely to develop dementia.
I saw another article recently that talked about people who get cancer rarely develop dementia, though I didn't dig into that one as I've had several relatives and friends with both, and it hit a little too close to home.
As always, no vaccine is absolute proof against a disease, these studies show a 5-20%+ reduction in the chance of developing dementia, not absolute resistance. Still, that's encouraging, and if the mechanism can be understood, it could lead to the development of a vaccine to further improve resistance against dementia.
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/could-a-vaccine-prevent-dementia-shingles-shot-data-only-getting-stronger/
The current vaccine is two-fold. There's the direct chicken pox vaccine to suppress that particular disease. A second adjuvant is designed to stimulate the immune system to provide a vigorous response if the chicken pox reactivates. It's believed that this adjuvant is acting as a strong anti-inflammatory and this might be reducing people contracting dementia.
The papers cited, from across several countries, all show interesting numbers. I'd like to see a meta-study to try to establish stronger numbers. Interestingly, women show the most benefit from this effect, but also are more likely to contract shingles and are more likely to develop dementia.
I saw another article recently that talked about people who get cancer rarely develop dementia, though I didn't dig into that one as I've had several relatives and friends with both, and it hit a little too close to home.
As always, no vaccine is absolute proof against a disease, these studies show a 5-20%+ reduction in the chance of developing dementia, not absolute resistance. Still, that's encouraging, and if the mechanism can be understood, it could lead to the development of a vaccine to further improve resistance against dementia.
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/02/could-a-vaccine-prevent-dementia-shingles-shot-data-only-getting-stronger/
5 emotion things (thanks for the prompt)
Feb. 26th, 2026 01:27 pm Feelings…
1. What made you happy this week?
2. What made you sad?
3. What made you angry?
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
5. What are you not looking forward to?
1. Happy. Getting home from TN. Getting to hug my hubby. Sleeping in my own bed. Drinking hot chai from my thermos. Hot showers, always hot showers make me happy.
2. Sad. Knowing that my parents will die and it could be soon. My sister being increasingly removed from reality as I know it. My husband being a reflexive gaslighter.
3. Angry. The planet being overpopulated with short-sighted humans. The nation I have lived in becoming fascist under a senile manipulator.
4. Looking forward to next week. Hayden's visit. Flourless chocolate cake for his birthday. Rain. Getting my dad's taxes done.
5. Not looking forward to. Much. I really need to find more things that I love doing to put on the calendar. Will's hernia surgery for which I must get up at 4am to get him across town to.
1. What made you happy this week?
2. What made you sad?
3. What made you angry?
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
5. What are you not looking forward to?
1. Happy. Getting home from TN. Getting to hug my hubby. Sleeping in my own bed. Drinking hot chai from my thermos. Hot showers, always hot showers make me happy.
2. Sad. Knowing that my parents will die and it could be soon. My sister being increasingly removed from reality as I know it. My husband being a reflexive gaslighter.
3. Angry. The planet being overpopulated with short-sighted humans. The nation I have lived in becoming fascist under a senile manipulator.
4. Looking forward to next week. Hayden's visit. Flourless chocolate cake for his birthday. Rain. Getting my dad's taxes done.
5. Not looking forward to. Much. I really need to find more things that I love doing to put on the calendar. Will's hernia surgery for which I must get up at 4am to get him across town to.
New Improved Computer Excitement!
Feb. 26th, 2026 10:50 amTwo days ago my Mac Mini informed me that it hadn't done a time machine backup for two weeks, and couldn't do one until my backup disk was physically connected. It was connected, but the OS couldn't see it. There hadn't been a power failure or computer shutdown. Naturally that jumped to the top of my queue, displacing what I'd hoped would be a day of slow progress with the transition to Linux.
I did all the usual debugging things, and determined I didn't have the parts and tools to determine whether it was disk, cable, USB port or software glitch. So I made an appointment with Apple's genius bar. They were able to establish that the disk had quietly died on me, and the computer was otherwise fine.
Meanwhile, I'd written a little script to use rsync to copy the entire contents of my mac home directory to the linux box. It was huge, and the copy took a number of hours. Now both systems have mostly full 2 GB SSDs.
I then began researching external drives, and reasonable sizes for a backup device for system with 2 GB of internal storage. Time Machine seemed to want at least twice the size of the system's non-backup storage. Father research showed that spinning disks in external enclosures cost a third of the price of same-sized SSDs in external enclosures. Moreover, Walmart could deliver a 4 GB drive the same evening if I ordered quickly. (Every other vendor wanted to take a week, or demanded $ for faster delivery, or both.) It also had a suitable 8 GB drive, but no 6 GB drive, and I figured 8 GB was too big for my purposes.
Two 4 GB drives arrived last night - the other one is for the linux system, which I'd been backing up to the mac, and from there into its time machine backup - never intended as a permanent solution.
( Read more... )
I did all the usual debugging things, and determined I didn't have the parts and tools to determine whether it was disk, cable, USB port or software glitch. So I made an appointment with Apple's genius bar. They were able to establish that the disk had quietly died on me, and the computer was otherwise fine.
Meanwhile, I'd written a little script to use rsync to copy the entire contents of my mac home directory to the linux box. It was huge, and the copy took a number of hours. Now both systems have mostly full 2 GB SSDs.
I then began researching external drives, and reasonable sizes for a backup device for system with 2 GB of internal storage. Time Machine seemed to want at least twice the size of the system's non-backup storage. Father research showed that spinning disks in external enclosures cost a third of the price of same-sized SSDs in external enclosures. Moreover, Walmart could deliver a 4 GB drive the same evening if I ordered quickly. (Every other vendor wanted to take a week, or demanded $ for faster delivery, or both.) It also had a suitable 8 GB drive, but no 6 GB drive, and I figured 8 GB was too big for my purposes.
Two 4 GB drives arrived last night - the other one is for the linux system, which I'd been backing up to the mac, and from there into its time machine backup - never intended as a permanent solution.
( Read more... )
Birdfeeding
Feb. 26th, 2026 12:50 pmToday is mostly cloudy and cool. Looks like it rained a bit last night; there are small puddles in a few places.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I cut and labeled 4 more water jugs. These will hold native grasses: little bluestem, side-oats grama, northern sea oats, and switchgrass. It will be interesting to see how they do. Potted grasses tend to survive well but are more expensive. Broadcast seeding on the ground has variable results. So if I can find more and better ways to pot my own from seed, that's an improvement. Native grasses attract wildlife with food, shelter, and other resources. Many birds devour the seeds. Some butterflies, especially skippers, and other insects use native grasses as host plants. My prairie garden swarms with skippers and other butterflies in summer and into fall.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I filled, sowed, and taped the milk jugs. This potting soil was wet enough that it didn't need watering. I thought I had some topsoil left, but I'm out of that; I'll need to restock in March. I put the four new jugs in the parking lot and tied them together.
While I was out there, a honeybee buzzed around, wishing to pollinate me, perhaps attracted to my bright coat. I had to explain that I was not a flower.
I've seen more sparrows and two male cardinals.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I set up a simple worm bin in the log garden's leaf enclosure. I used an old 5-gallon bucket with a cracked bottom and a hole in one side. This will allow worms to go in and out as they please. I put some leaves inside to start, and packed more leaves around the bucket. Now I have somewhere that I can drop food scraps for the worms to eat, and cover with a handful of leaves. This gives me a place that will likely have plenty of worms when I want them -- such as for dropping into large planters -- and also where I can take a handful of very bioactive material to jump-start pots filled with potting mix with little or no bioactivity. When the bucket gets full, I can dump out the worm castings to use for fertilizing plants, sort out some worms, restart the bucket with more leaf litter, and drop in the worms.
There are, of course, commercially made worm bins that are much fancier and allow access to more outputs. However, these are expensive. Also they trap the worms inside, which is not great for an outdoor setup. This is free and better suited to its situation.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I picked up the empty trough from last year's mini-water garden and moved it to the log garden, where I surrounded it with extra logs. I have taken pictures of the worm bin and the water garden.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I heard a woodpecker drumming but didn't see it. I have seen a fox squirrel up a tree.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I put out a fresh cake of peanut suet.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I cut and labeled 4 more water jugs. These will hold native grasses: little bluestem, side-oats grama, northern sea oats, and switchgrass. It will be interesting to see how they do. Potted grasses tend to survive well but are more expensive. Broadcast seeding on the ground has variable results. So if I can find more and better ways to pot my own from seed, that's an improvement. Native grasses attract wildlife with food, shelter, and other resources. Many birds devour the seeds. Some butterflies, especially skippers, and other insects use native grasses as host plants. My prairie garden swarms with skippers and other butterflies in summer and into fall.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I filled, sowed, and taped the milk jugs. This potting soil was wet enough that it didn't need watering. I thought I had some topsoil left, but I'm out of that; I'll need to restock in March. I put the four new jugs in the parking lot and tied them together.
While I was out there, a honeybee buzzed around, wishing to pollinate me, perhaps attracted to my bright coat. I had to explain that I was not a flower.
I've seen more sparrows and two male cardinals.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I set up a simple worm bin in the log garden's leaf enclosure. I used an old 5-gallon bucket with a cracked bottom and a hole in one side. This will allow worms to go in and out as they please. I put some leaves inside to start, and packed more leaves around the bucket. Now I have somewhere that I can drop food scraps for the worms to eat, and cover with a handful of leaves. This gives me a place that will likely have plenty of worms when I want them -- such as for dropping into large planters -- and also where I can take a handful of very bioactive material to jump-start pots filled with potting mix with little or no bioactivity. When the bucket gets full, I can dump out the worm castings to use for fertilizing plants, sort out some worms, restart the bucket with more leaf litter, and drop in the worms.
There are, of course, commercially made worm bins that are much fancier and allow access to more outputs. However, these are expensive. Also they trap the worms inside, which is not great for an outdoor setup. This is free and better suited to its situation.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I picked up the empty trough from last year's mini-water garden and moved it to the log garden, where I surrounded it with extra logs. I have taken pictures of the worm bin and the water garden.
EDIT 2/26/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
I heard a woodpecker drumming but didn't see it. I have seen a fox squirrel up a tree.
I am done for the night.
What's in the bag, b **ch?
Feb. 26th, 2026 10:51 amFrom the Daily Mail Feb 24, 2026:
"It wasn't just the blanket left behind on a plane that got Homeland Security senior adviser Corey Lewandowski so riled up that he fired Kristi Noem's pilot.
It was, according to three DHS insiders, another item Noem left on that flight last spring: her bag.
No one knows for certain what was inside the bag - or at least no one was saying - but it was enough to stir up a hornet's nest with a firing, a rehiring, a promotion and even a medal."
Right. The Bag was so important that Lenandowski came into the cockpit in the middle of the critical climb to altitude - with the seat belt light still one - to chew out the pilot. Then they fired him after they landed. Then they realized there was no one to fly them out of the airport so they rehired him.
What's in the bag, b**ch?
If it was Important Papers and Documents of a Security Type, you DON'T make a noisy fuss about it - you send an air marshal to discretely pick up the bag and have it securely delivered back to you. You don't take off your seat belt and berate the pilot who is FLYING THE AIRCRAFT.
Oh by the way? The pilot was black. Funny about that.
And when were pilots supposed to be baggage handlers?
What's in the bag, b**ch?
"It wasn't just the blanket left behind on a plane that got Homeland Security senior adviser Corey Lewandowski so riled up that he fired Kristi Noem's pilot.
It was, according to three DHS insiders, another item Noem left on that flight last spring: her bag.
No one knows for certain what was inside the bag - or at least no one was saying - but it was enough to stir up a hornet's nest with a firing, a rehiring, a promotion and even a medal."
Right. The Bag was so important that Lenandowski came into the cockpit in the middle of the critical climb to altitude - with the seat belt light still one - to chew out the pilot. Then they fired him after they landed. Then they realized there was no one to fly them out of the airport so they rehired him.
What's in the bag, b**ch?
If it was Important Papers and Documents of a Security Type, you DON'T make a noisy fuss about it - you send an air marshal to discretely pick up the bag and have it securely delivered back to you. You don't take off your seat belt and berate the pilot who is FLYING THE AIRCRAFT.
Oh by the way? The pilot was black. Funny about that.
And when were pilots supposed to be baggage handlers?
What's in the bag, b**ch?