What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Last night, we had a crazy storm with so much lightning that the sky was just constantly flickering. I didn't stay up for much of it, as it didn't start until 4:30.

I need to get the current painting finished up, as I'm running out of energy for it.

However, I increased my calcium intake again and am less crazy at the moment. Thankfully.

I've gotten word adding set up for the flashcard website now. I'm pretty close to done. I need to figure out if I want to change the way the page actually displays flashcards. I'm leaving all the code as it is for the Russian section and just working around it for the non-Russian section, as the Russian part worked fine.

I've been thinking a lot about future shock, like when you can't keep up with the pace of technological change. I like tech a lot, and I think there is value in a lot of the stranger things that tech can give us. Obviously, I also think that there is a lot of stupid crap out there that doesn't truly benefit anyone and wastes resources.

Yesterday when talking about this, a friend talked about how up she and her coworkers were upset about the idea of a paperless office back when it was introduced. They were used to that paper. They understood it. How could someone take it away?

Let's look at essays now. There is a lot of unhappiness about kids cheating on essays by using AIs. The thing is that essays were a way to test comprehension in the age when everyone didn't have access to a program that could write them super easily. Unless something major happens, this tech will always exist now. Yes, it is a pain to change, but freaking out about how kids won't know how to write essays might not be especially productive, since this tech is here. Wouldn't it be better to come up with a different way to test comprehension? Or the freak out about how people will not be as good at remembering things if they use an AI to remember things for them. Take a moment to look back at this exchange:

Professor Henry Jones : Well, he who finds the Grail must face the final challenge.
Indiana Jones : What final challenge?
Professor Henry Jones : Three devices of such lethal cunning.
Indiana Jones : Booby traps?
Professor Henry Jones : Oh, yes. But I found the clues that will safely take us through them in the Chronicles of St. Anselm.
Indiana Jones : [pleased] Well, what are they?
[short pause as Henry tries to recall]
Indiana Jones : Can't you remember?
Professor Henry Jones : I wrote them down in my diary so that I wouldn't have to remember.

People these days are much worse at remembering directions, since they always have GPS programs telling them where to go. Having prosthetic memory may seem bad, but if it will always exist from now on, how much energy should we expend worrying about it?

That is the big question of today's future shock train of thought. How do we evaluate true danger vs. perceived danger that no longer applies? Right now, holding on to old ideas for comfort/because we like them better isn't dangerous to us. However, when tech change starts really speeding up (if it does), will the inability to let go of old ideas be a real liability?

I'm not saying that there is no value in being able to write an essay by yourself or remember facts, just that we need to evaluate their importance in terms of what we have right this minute, not in terms of what we had 6 years ago. If tech change speeds up, those changes might need to be much more quick to keep up.

I feel like I both have a lot going and not that much. I guess it is that the stuff I'm working on is mostly not things that I check off on my To Do list. Today, I worked on the solo roleplaying game again and got my first character made. I came up with a really dramatic background that is a good start to the game. The book that I am using for the solo game is okay but a bit confusing as the instructions aren't super clear about when I should be referring to the standard rule book for this game. That is made worse by the standard rule book that I'm using being a later edition (I assume) than the version that the author of the solo book was expecting, since character creation is handled really differently. I've figured it out enough, though, to get started. I will end up writing up a more organized version of the rules once I figure everything out. I can say that I am thinking about it much more like a story than a regular roleplaying game, in that I am thinking about "failures" as being elements that build dramatic tension rather than things that make you more likely to die.

Today, I also worked a bit on the website for organizing my garden and went out and worked with Joel on weeding (I've seen that gardening is considered exercise, so I'm doing it instead of walking on days when I don't have to walk someplace, since there is so much work to be done in the garden). Anyway, I'm still pleased with my day.

I went out on another walk today. Amazingly, I walked up this _huge_ hill with no real trouble. I was pretty shocked. The poles help, but I think that the exercises I have been doing (treadmill sometimes, walking sometimes, squats sometimes) may also be helping. I am so pleased! I also got to listen to a chapter of each of the books that I cannot finish. Yay!! I was also significantly less exhausted than yesterday. I walked twice as much today. However, I didn't have a Portuguese lesson today, so maybe that is why.

I also finally fixed one of the problems that I've been having with the webpage for my podcast forever. A long time ago, I wrote some of the page to read the content of the RSS feed for the podcast and fill in the info on the podcast episodes based on that. It works well. However, not if there is an ampersand in the name of the band. I finally figured out a solution to that. It also freaks out if there is a period in the name of the band. It is pretty rare for this to happen, though, because how many band names contain a period. The answer is "a few", which means that there are times that it causes problems. Now, in the years since I wrote those webpages, I set up a database backend for the podcast to manage all the permission and contacts. The database also generates the files that are used to make the RSS feed. That's nice. However, I am still having the problem with the period in band names, and this time there is no easy way around it. Finally, I realized that instead of having this complicated setup (which originally saved me time editing webpages), I could just have the database generate the webpages along with the files that are used to make the RSS feed (and a couple of other pages). So, tonight, I spent a couple of hours fixing that. The website looks more or less the same, except that now, the most recent episode has a band name that has a period in it. Phew!

I've gotten some positive feedback on the chapter I just posted of the story I write with Joel, which is nice. This evening, we worked on the next chapter, which features combat with a dire weasel (like a weasel that is 12 feet long with spikes). Joel did the prep and did the actual combat, while I recorded video. We always play out the combat, which makes the whole thing a bit more like real Dungeons and Dragons. Next, I'll probably take the video and write down a description of what happens on each character's turn. At least, that was what I had to do last time, as it was just so overwhelming otherwise. Then, I'll write the chapter based on that. Luckily, I remembered what I had trouble with last time (does the weapon get deflected by the armor or does the attack just miss?), so I was able to get enough information so that I don't have to try to figure it out while I'm writing.

In other news, we got one of our boxes last nice (the ones from Sasha in Russia!) and paid the customs fees on the other one. So, it turns out that the fees weren't as low as we had thought. However, that is fine. I now have twice as many summer pants. Sasha isn't answering my messages, but as soon as he does, I'm going to try and get him to send out a bunch more stuff. Probably that is why he isn't answering me.

Oh, and my computer upgraded itself to Windows 11. It was like "would you like to upgrade?", and since I haven't heard anything bad about Windows 11 (and since I'm running Windows 10 on a Windows 7 license and don't want to get stuck paying for a new license), I decided to just go ahead and try it out. Unlike the upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, so far it has been painless.

For some reason, I've also been feeling more like getting stuff in order. After the upgrade to Windows 11, I noticed that the desktop on my computer was a bit messy, so I put some of the files and folders into more appropriate places. Then, I thought that the piles of fabric all over the living room were messy, so I used the box from Sasha and put a bunch of fabric that is left over from other projects into that, so that I could put it in a cabinet out of the way. I then reorganized the fabric box. When we get the box from Sasha that just cleared customs, we should get a bunch of patterns, so I can make t-shirts. I have a few t-shirts that are really falling apart, so I need to make replacement shirts and move the designs over. After all the fabric reorganizing, I also went through my email and got my inbox cleaned out. Phew! I'm guessing that this means that I am feeling a bit better.

I was so fussy today. Geez! I just could not get myself to go out. Instead, I stayed in, did a little cleaning, and relaxed, which seemed to help a lot. I did a bit of work on some websites, so that's good. Also, I finished playing Subnautica: Below Zero, which is mostly set under water. I really like it, because the resolution is all about the power of friendship. That sounds silly, but it is a good game. Since I wasn't done eating my lunch at the point, I started playing Endless Sky, which is like a remake of the Escape Velocity games. Joel sat next to me and gave me advice on ships and trading. It was a lovely time.

Happily, we are back at home. The peace lily had wilted quite a bit, but I watered it. Now, it is nearly back to normal. Everything else is good. It is just excellent to be here. I am reminded, though, how much I need to work on my Portuguese language skills. The taxi driver was listening to news on the radio, and it was slow and clear (although I still didn't really understand it). They have podcasts, so I'm going to see how they are. I could also try translating one story a day. Now that we are back, I can get to work again on the things that I left off thinking about because of the trip. I'm pretty sure we can go to get all the checkups that we need now (there is a 3 month waiting period before you can use your medical insurance here). At the moment, I'm not thrilled about that. However, I'll deal with it. I know that seeing one doctor a week is way too much. I may go for one a month until I feel like I'm ready for more. I would like to finish up the work on the hutch too. The next step with that is finishing the artwork on the drawers and putting the pulls and stops on the cabinet doors. I got jasper pendants at the gem and mineral show to use as pulls to open to the cabinets, which I'm super happy about. After that, I have to get to work painting the closet boxes, since we went to Goodwill in the US, and now I have a lot more clothing and not enough storage for it.

Speaking of clothing, I need to contact Sasha to see if he can meet us someplace and bring some of our stuff. You can guess that this means that he still hasn't sent it.

The other day, I worked on getting all the events in my calendar/to do list database in iCal format. I also imported one event into my Google calendar to see the result. The notification on my phone was not all I had hoped. However, the calendar app gave me the option in the general settings of having a sound and vibration, so I should (hopefully) be able to get it to do that.

I've slacked off on writing because of all the travelling, so it is time to fix that. Tomorrow, I'll go to just the writers group (it is 1:30am now, so there is no way with this jet lag that I'm going to be up and feeling well for tai chi in the morning), so hopefully that will get me started.

Now, though, bed.

Today, I went on a nice walk. I finished most of what I wanted to get done on the website that I've been working on. I also made progress on emailing bands for permission to use their songs for the podcast and on my top 100 songs for 2021 list. Since all of these things involve websites and all my websites are still puking up errors from the upgrade to php8, almost all of this involved cleaning up old code. Mostly, it was no problem. At least once, I found old errors.

The other thing that I've been working on is my Perseus story, which I shouldn't be working on yet, as I haven't quite finished the Horizon: Zero Dawn story. However, new things are more exciting, especially since my favorite part of writing is developing the story at the beginning. After that, it is mostly just filling in the blanks, although every once in a while, there is a surprise. I wonder if it will be a bit different with interactive fiction, since you don't really see the final product until you play it. Also, I plan on adding some random elements (characters who don't always show up, random encounters). Now that I think about it, I tend to lose interest in the shorter stories much more quickly than I do in my longer stories. I wonder if that is because I build up the characters and the plot more in a longer work and enjoy reading about that.

I've started a list of what needs to be done before we leave and what we need to pack. I cut out the bras and a few pairs of compression socks. I'm not thrilled with this spandex, but I think it will work well enough to get me through the trip. I also need to take in the waist of one of my pairs of pants just a bit (probably due to old elastic). I'm planning on making new winter pants once we get back here and getting some better spandex for compression socks, so all this stuff just needs to make it through the two weeks in the US.

Ears: I went to the doctor, and she said that it is just inflammation. She gave me a prescription for ear drops that I'll get tomorrow. Hopefully, that will be enough to get me to the point where I can travel.

Roof: According to the workers, the roof is done. We moved our bed back into our bedroom, and suddenly the apartment is much easier to navigate. I am so incredibly happy to have things back the way we had them set up previously.

Programming: I'm pretty sure that I got the calendar program working. Right now, there are no holidays, so nothing is showing up, but it should work when there are. There are still a couple of things that need to be fixed/added, but I can do that tomorrow/later. I also fixed the big problem I was having in the travel database and cleaned up a bunch of smaller problems, including some that were caused by my own sloppiness and not by the php 8 upgrade.

Hutch: I started working on putting gesso on the drawers today. I will probably focus on all the other artwork for the hutch except the sphinx painting, since many of those little paintings will be pretty quick. Right now, my plan is to paint the front and inside of the drawers. I'm hesitant to paint the sides, because I think that will make them more likely to stick. I'll think about it. If I decide to paint the outside of the drawers (or glue fabric to them or whatever), I can always do it later. I would really like to get the hutch to the point where I can use it as soon as possible.

Holidays: I made the gingerbread dough. Yay! It needs to sit overnight now. I'll bake it tomorrow. In the future, I would like to get a bit more creative with my gingerbread, like a little gingerbread campsite with gingerbread tents or a gingerbread Greek temple with lots of columns. This really depends on how well the powdered royal icing that I got works. If it works well, then I will be able to use it in the future. If it is as much of a pain in the butt as other royal icing recipes I've used, then maybe not.

I think maybe the weather is changing, because my ears were pretty sore today. Thankfully, a hot compress helped. I can't wait until this is over.

The guys working on the roof came again today. They got much but not all of the roof painted with sealant. They'll be back soon to do more. I look forward to being able to have a bedroom again.

I made a lot of progress today with the calendar file processing program. The caching functions worked well. For some reason, the program screwed up the date comparison and so was showing events that also happened yesterday (instead of just today and in the future), but I'm guessing it has to do with times and time zones. I think I should be able to get it working soon, which is good because I'd really like to get my writing website working. Even if it just does the basics for now, I would really like to use it. I'm becoming less happy with the other writing program I use.

Good progress was made with my sphinx painting. Joel had some good suggestions, as the rocks behind the sphinxes aren't as detailed as the sphinxes, which looks kind of weird. So I'll work on that and the sand in the foreground. After that, I think I just need to cover up everything but the sky and then finish that up. I know that the sphinxes have a kind of golden glow in the movie, but I'm not really into adding a golden glow to them. Joel suggested maybe adding some golden glow to the rocks (reflecting of the sphinxes). I might. I'll see how it works out.