The day in review

Jun. 30th, 2025 07:41 pm
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

What went before: Monday. Sunny and already hot.

Breakfast was oatmeal and walnuts. Lunch will probably be a salad, because -- easy and cool.

I remembered something I wanted to add to the scene I wrote yesterday, and wound up writing a quick 300 words. Much better now. "Cory Robersun," indeed. Oh! And now I know why that's going to be important -- makes note. Yeah.  That's good.

So! getting ready to go out to see the chiropractor, then back to do chores, eat lunch, and then out again to meet friends for a catch-up.

What's everybody else doing today?

#

Where are my mariner/weather radio experts?

I have here in my hand a CCrane Skywave AM/FM/WX/SW/Air radio. I want to listen to the weather radio, in particular the polling of the lighthouses off the Maine coast and the report from Mt. Washington.

I know that the weather bands range from 162.3625 to 162.5875 MHz. My little radio has seven possible channels under the WX setting: 1 (162.400 MHz); 2 (162.425 MHz); 3 (162.450 MHz); 4 (162.475 MHz); 5 (162.500 MHz); 6 (162.525 MHz); and 7 (162.550 MHz). One of these has in the past been the correct channel, but all I'm getting on any of them is static.

My assumption is that I'm doing something wrong, but such is the scope of my ignorance, that I don't know what it is.

Could someone please educate me? I'd really like to listen to the lighthouses.

Spanish Aunts.

#

So took a couple bags of fiction books including a number by some scifi writers named Sharon Lee and Steve Miller to the library for the book sale. No sense them cluttering up the basement until it's time to clear the house and they end up in the dumpster, after all.

Met my friends, and had a lovely catch-up.

Came home to find that Maximus Medicare has decided Martin's Point made no error in deciding well after the fact that the treatment they told me was covered, wasn't, and I am liable for the entire bill. No one seems to care that this does not particularly make me willing to trust Martin's Point ever again, and I suppose they have a point. If I need a medical intervention, I'm probably going to have it done and worry about being bankrupted by medical bills later.

Coon Cat Happy Hour has been served and devoured. Trooper is sitting on my lap. Tali is lounging on the edge of the desk. I have poured a glass of wine.

Tomorrow, I'll go to the grocery early, I think, then come back for a solid several hours of writing before it's time to go to the needlework meeting.

I think that's it for the day. I'm glad I got in a tiny bit of writing before the day started.

Everybody stay safe; I'll see you tomorrow.

Here are the coon cats, ignoring me and my silly, leafy lunch

 


Still hanging around

Jun. 30th, 2025 03:34 pm
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Had a catbird regarding me from the front walkway outside my office window. No way to tell if this is one of last year's azalea brood or last year's parents.

Books read in 2025

Jun. 30th, 2025 01:43 pm
rolanni: (lit'rary moon)
[personal profile] rolanni

37  Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36  The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35  Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33  The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32  Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31  The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30  The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29  Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28  The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27  Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26  The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25  Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24  The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23  Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22  The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21  The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20  A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19  The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18  A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17  All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16  Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15  The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14  A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13  Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12  Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11  Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10  Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9    House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6    Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea,  TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.


Monday floral report

Jun. 30th, 2025 10:37 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Maybe first scentless chamomile blooming, brown-eyed susans, brambles about done. Maybe yarrow, otherwise Queen Anne's lace -- hard to tell the difference in the early stage of bloom, with bicycle botany. Some variety of wild pea dotting purple in the weeds.

No fresh roadkill. Even most of the corpses I reported on my last ride have vanished, whether via 2-legs or 4-legs is unknown. Desiccated lump of skunk fur remains.

No metal birds to report at my water stop but I think the runway is open -- saw a small corporate jet come in for a landing and a high-wing private plane take off. Of course, neither of those would need the full length of our runway.

Got out on the bike, 67 F when I headed out and 77 F when I returned. So I dodged the worst of the heat. Did not die.

15.59 miles, 1:32:08

Soon June departing

Jun. 30th, 2025 07:01 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 61 F, wind near calm, partly cloudy. City crew started mowing in the park about 0530, one of the unexpected consequences of our location. Maybe trying to beat the heat. Along those lines, I'm unsure if I will get out for a bike ride.

(no subject)

Jun. 29th, 2025 09:59 pm
[personal profile] martianmooncrab
I have a rash thats spreading, its from a heat rash and other factors gone wild. I have already had a medication issue (and ER visit) ... plus the Va pharmacy thinks I am using up the ointments at a faster rate than they think is allowed. sigh.. I have a lot of ass to spackle there, so I calls into my primary care doctor.

waiting on my brain MRI to see if I still little friend free.... I do apprecaite their followups.

I did score a new upright walker this week, it folds down better and its bright blue!

Winding down the weekend

Jun. 29th, 2025 05:43 pm
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

What went before: SNIPPET!

"You are such a smart ass," she said, sadly.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought that had been well-established."

"Some days, it just shines brighter," Miri said.

And back to work we go.

#

We're at an awkward hour; the hour wherein Google assures me that there is No Chance of Rain until Thursday, and yet -- that does appear to be water falling out of the sky. It is also the hour wherein I have finished a scene, which adds, in addition to action! adventure! and pathos! to the WIP,  +/-1,295 words, for a Grand Total of 46,435. More or less.

It's early in the day yet, but I've made the Conservative Decision to not try to plunge into the next scene, but to gently wind down the day, and the weekend, here. I am pleased with progress made these last couple days. I have a kind of Swiss cheese day tomorrow, so likely there won't be much writing done, but Tuesday is free until it's time to go to Group Sewing, and the rest of the week is free, except for brief visits to the chiropractor. So, it looks good for more writing getting done in a reasonable manner.

There had been an appeal -- somewhere (here are the wages of mirroring my posts everywhere) -- to describe what goes on at Coon Cat Happy Hour. These things of course are confidential, but you look like a trustworthy bunch.

Coon Cat Happy Hour begins about an hour before 7 pm with Trooper announcing that his throat has been cut and this dire wound can only be healed through a proper application of gooshy food to a plate, right NEOW!

At 7, I arise, open a can of gooshy food, split it four ways, arranging each portion artistically on its own china plate. I serve the ladies first, as Miss Manners would have me to do; and then the gentlemen. The ladies tend to share their portions; the gentlemen view imbibing as a competition, to see who can finish his plate first, then horn in on the ladies. The ladies have lately been managing to eat their portions, daintily and without fuss, before the Huns descend from the mountains.

After the dishes are shining clean, I pick them up and put them in the dishwasher.

I then pour myself a glass of wine and join the coon cats in their after-Happy-Hour-Club on the couch, where we read or watch an episode of (lately) Dr. Who until it's time for me to get my evening meal together.

And on that note -- everybody stay safe.

I'll check in tomorrow.

Napping happened this afternoon, and I have proof!


Not as we know it

Jun. 29th, 2025 07:08 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 58 F, wind near calm, cloudy with rain showers moving on. Should be the end of those for the day. May attempt a bike ride when the roads dry off.

“No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”

Thunderstormin'

Jun. 28th, 2025 07:11 pm
rolanni: (storm at sea by rainbow graphics)
[personal profile] rolanni

So, I had a good day. I can tell you right now that I'm not going to break 50,000 words this weekend. After sorting through my notes and writing a couple of short scenes, the WIP stands at +/-45,140 words. Tomorrow, I believe, will be a day like unto this one.

Outside my windows, the weather was cool and rainy, and briefly thunderstormy. Tomorrow, we'll see temps start to climb again, settling in for the rest of the week around the mid-80sF, and giving the Fourth of July Celebrants a lovely, warm, sunny weekend.

I should say that lunch was so-called "Greek chicken and lemon soup" from the co-op, and it was Good, along with a salad, and a third of the mini-brie (also from the co-op), and bread. I have enough left over for tomorrow's lunch, too, should I wish to go in that direction.

Coon Cat Happy Hour is coming right up, after which I do believe I'll pour myself a glass of wine and watch an episode of Dr. Who.

For those interested, it looks like the cross-posting of my daily rambles is, if not a hit, then at least enjoyable to the majority, so I'll continue doing that for as long as FB makes it easy for me.

For fun during a break, I looked at houses for sale in Northport/Belfast/Lincolnville, which also got me Isleboro, because Geography. Hah, I say. And again, I say -- HAH.

So! What did y'all do today?


Missed me by *that* much

Jun. 28th, 2025 10:55 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Consulted the road surface and the weather radar and decided to risk a walk. Met up with Ms. Sasha, who seemed glad to see me. Home now, and the roads are turning shiny again.

Watching the downward

Jun. 28th, 2025 07:08 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 54 F, wind southeast about 6 mph, raining. Which is likely to continue for much of the day. I continue to fiddle while Rome burns. Or, since the fiddle had not yet been invented in Nero's time, I'll play fiddle tunes on CD. Don't tell me to fix society -- I don't have the tools for that.

Internet Lite

Jun. 27th, 2025 07:37 pm
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

So I managed to do most of the mundane tasks that had piled up on my desk. I haven't, for instance, spoken to Fidium about maybe going with a less-expensive option, now that there's only one Power User on-site, because -- has Fidium's number been hijacked by some scam offering people who call in a free!Free!FREE! wearable call button? Cause that's all I get when I call them -- and what I really want is a sales rep.

I also did not arrange for an extended warranty for the LG washer and dryer because the site is scrod. I have until October, so maybe I'll try again sometime later.

I had a bad few moments when I realized that I'm on the last pack of checks that has Steve's name and mine name on them. I really don't want to have checks that just say "Sharon Lee," not because I think Steve's going to be writing checks anytime soon, but because I actually feel safer with his name on the checks. I guess I'll go over to Checks Unlimited and see if they still have me on-file. The bank clearly doesn't care; they've been cashing the checks with no complaint.

I may not be around much tomorrow or Sunday, because Plans to Write.

And on that note -- everybody stay safe. I'll check in as can.

Here's another picture from Saturday Cove to tide you over (see what I did there?)


catherineldf: (Default)
[personal profile] catherineldf
It's Twin Cities Pride this weekend and I'm headed in to do some preliminary setup this morning. It's been raining for days, with some more expected this weekend and 3 of the interstates are closed - what could go wrong? No, don't answer that. At any, Queen of Swords Press will have a table in the Queer Writes Test/Zone (called different things on the map), space #496. I'm "between jobs" (out of work/taking a short break) as of 7/3 so if you can't make it to Pride and are up for buying a book or two, now would be a great time. Library requests help a lot too!

Readercon 34 - I will be attending (please buy a Pride StoryBundle if you can! My half of the curator's fee is funding my trip cash for July and these are some great books. We're also raising money for Rainbow Railroad too!). My schedule is here and I'm on everything from small press publishing to aging in sf to erotica and horror to doing a reading.  Looking for ward to it! Will I see you there? Let's get a meal/snacks.

I am also adding an October trip to Iowa City on 10/11 to accept a posthumous Laura Young Award for Jana from Guild of Bookworkers at their Standards Conference. That will be something of a whirlwind, but if you're in the area, breakfast on Sunday could be a thing.

I have a Seattle Worldcon schedule but it doesn't look quite baked yet. I also apparently promised a debut reading of Blood Moon, (Wolves of Wolf's Point #3) from some months back when I had 10K words...then had to revise and reset in a different character's head. Apparently, there will be a lot of writing in the next couple of weeks to get some things ready for readings at both cons!


Interview with DeWanda Wise

Jun. 27th, 2025 09:13 am
marthawells: Murderbot with helmet (Default)
[personal profile] marthawells
For Murderbot Day, a great interview with DeWanda Wise, about playing NavigationBot in The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-dewanda-wise

I had worked with Paul on Fatherhood. He literally texted me and was like, "do you want to play a murderous robot?"

Thursday, with puffin and marble

Jun. 27th, 2025 09:38 am
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

What went before:  Well, as a guy named Steve Miller once said to me, "Lady, we sure can waste some time."

And he wasn't wrong.

As planned, I betook myself to the Searsport side of Belfast and picked up puffin and marble. Returning to Belfast, I shopped at the co-op, including picking up a tuna fish sandwich on whole grain bread, which I took down to the public boat landing and had a picnic.

I wrestled with the question of going down to Ducktrap, and, as reported earlier, I lost. I count it a win that I didn't continue down the coast. I credit the fact that I had food in the cooler for that (smol) bit of common sense.

After I had refreshed myself at Lincolnville Beach (which is in the Village of Ducktrap; it's possible that this may not be something Universally Known), I turned back to Belfast, taking only a VERY minor detour through Saturday Cove and Bayside, picked up Route 1 again, returned to Belfast, and came home via Route 3 until I got in the vicinity of the Old Neighborhood, where I Deviated from the Route to take a couple corner-cutting back roads that I haven't been on for years, by reason of no longer living in the Old Neighborhood, and so to home, where I put away my spoils, had a fourth of what I'm told is a single serving of Shaw's carrot cake with a smear of ice cream as a coming home present, and now? I Address The Internets.

By the time I put the house back together -- which I didn't do before I left, and which includes putting the sheets back on the bed -- it'll be Coon Cat Happy Hour, so!

I'm taking the rest of the day off.

So...Friday? Friday. Sunny and cool. And that's fine.

Rook and Tali are taking turns knocking each other over and practicing their T. Rex yells. I'm not sure T. Rex was that high on the scale, but who knows, really?

Breakfast was an anything bagel from yesterday's foraging at the co-op, with cream cheese and a side of cherries. Trooper is expressing his disappointment with management, and Firefly is sleeping on the box on my desk.

This morning, I have an appointment with the chiropractor -- who gave me an exercise to do because my shoulders are frozen. Does anybody here know "Wall Angels?" Ow. By which I mean to say, OW. Also, it's humiliating not to be able to get my arms over my head. Getting old sucks.

My Grand Plan for the day is to clear the pile of RL stuff on my desk, and finish up a couple of other chores, including the Grand Changing Out of the Cat Boxes and attendant sweeping up of the basement, then go internet-lite tomorrow and Sunday to try to get some work done. I'd like to break +/-50,000 words, so we'll put that as a Goal.

I also need to figure out a better schedule; the one I'm sorta keeping to was the schedule in force when Steve died, and it worked well for the necessities of the house at that time. I'm feeling like I'm scrambling to keep to outline, so to speak, which creates stress, which creates more work for the cats. And NOBODY wants the cats to work more than they already do, poor creatures.

It's time to give Trooper his morning gooshy food, and see if I can take care of one or two of these silly pieces of paper on my desk before it's time to go out.

How's everybody else doing? Keeping to the schedule?

There were a few pictures from yesterday.  They may be viewed here


Tempting the weather gods

Jun. 27th, 2025 06:49 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 51 F, wind near calm, sunny. Sheen of dew across the park, with dotted spider webs. Rain tonight into tomorrow -- if anyone has outdoor plans for the weekend, be aware Saturday is "Field Day" in the amateur radio ranks, with hams setting up portable stations free of commercial power and operating radios. Usually in the rain.

Thursday roadkill report

Jun. 26th, 2025 01:06 pm
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Yes! Actual roadkill! In addition to the obligatory flat squirrel, my ride route included one woodchuck fresh-enough that the blood hadn't dried yet, a much older skunk with little odor left, and a messed up corpse that I am going to ID as a red fox from fur color alone.

Floral newbies include chicory/cornflower, new variety of wild roses, water parsnip, yellow hop-clover, and the first open milkweed flowers.

No visiting metal birds over at the airport/base, although I think the runway is open. No idea how many tons of Boom! have passed through there en-route to Ukraine, Gaza, or Iran.

Got out on the bike, 60s F when I headed out and still, did not die.

15.58 miles, 1:33:08

Word forms

Jun. 26th, 2025 10:00 am
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

What went before: Coon Cat Happy Hour fast approaches. I wrote about 500 new words today, total WIP now +/-44,230.

I need to print something out so I can take it with me back to Steve's room to work on while Ashley's here. After she finishes, I'll head out to Belfast to pick up my glass, and to visit the co-op. It is still promised to be significantly cooler tomorrow, so, yanno -- yay.

So, some of you may know there's a fannish word: "gafiate," off of another fannish word: "gafia." Gafia means "Getting Away From It All," and initially "it all" was the Real World and Mundane life. Gafiate is the verb form. After awhile -- before I stumbled into fandom, actually -- the meaning flipped and this was a possible exchange between two fans at a con: "What happened to X? I haven't seen them in a while." "Oh, they gafiated." -- which is to say, "it all" was then known to be fandom and the business of fans.

The above reflection is brought to you by my recent introduction to "eremition" -- to retire from the world. Off of "eremite," a recluse or hermit.

You're welcome.

Everybody stay safe; I'll check in tomorrow.

Thursday. Sunny, and said to be less ambitious in terms of breaking record temperatures.

The house is picked up in anticipation of Ashley. While she's here, I'll get myself around to the heat pumps and clean the filters. That way, if I fall and break my head, there will be someone here to call 911.

After Ashley has left me, I'll be going to Belfast to retrieve my glass, do some shopping at the co-op (co-op onions are the best!), and wend my way home. I'll try not to go down to Ducktrap, but -- no promises.

That's it for me.

What've you got?


New England weather

Jun. 26th, 2025 06:57 am
jhetley: (Default)
[personal profile] jhetley
Air temperature 61 F, wind northeast gusting to 17 mph, partly cloudy. Cooled off enough that I haven't engaged the heat pump yet. And the dew point is down to 43 F. May get out on the bike.

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