Lightning

Nov. 5th, 2025 08:35 pm
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
A couple of days ago, I got out the long sleeved shirts. Today, I wiped off the screens that go over the windows upstairs and retracted them. The retracting part is quite nice, so we don't have to find some place to store them. Grass is coming up all over the yard. Today, I worked on a bunch of little things. I'm hoping that tomorrow maybe I'll have the time to go out and pull some weeds before they really get going (and put away the hose).

Also, I replaced that hard drive in my computer that was making the weird noise. The thing is that it is such a pain if a hard drive goes that it is better to just replace it if it seems to be going bad. Maybe that is the case with car parts too. I mean, yes, a 4TB hard drive is expensive, but it isn't that expensive. And think of how upset someone is if it goes. So, anyway, that appears to be done.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
Not much going on here. I plugged our printer in for the first time since the move the other day and discovered that it doesn't just magically work. Printers aren't the easiest thing to work with, but today, I was brave and had a bit of time after my walk, so I went up to deal with it. The really nice thing was that unlike before when I had to find a website or manual, now I can just ask ChatGPT. Of course, its answer wasn't entirely correct. However, it was correct enough that I could get done what needed to be done. So now the printer is working. Yay!!

In other great news, my little okra seedling isn't dead! It was looking a bit under the weather a couple of days ago, but today, I saw the first real leaf on it. So, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will survive. The little basil seedling is also still going. Yay! The lupine plant is the one that is doing best so far. I was going to cut a path through the tall grass in our yard with some scissors, but Joel says that he can get me a sickle at the Chinese store (that is the actual name). So, I'm enthusiastically awaiting that. I also realized that we might be able to take all the knickknacks from the previous owners over to the area by the recycle bins in a close town to leave for people to take. I would love to get this stuff out of our yard!!! We are still going to need to deal with the big wooden hammock stand (I do not like hammocks, since I don't like laying in a prone position like that), but at least we can give some of these weird things to others who might enjoy them.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
I am not feeling fantastic. However, I've gotten my period, so that could well be it. Also, I had a headache all day. It could also be the calcium. I have no idea. Since I had another nightmare last night (that smoothly transitioned into another nightmare) and had to get up in the middle of the night to eat an apple, I decided this evening to give into my desire to eat more than I should and have a fried lentil crisp. (I ground some red lentils, salt, and pepper in the coffee grinder (that is never used for coffee), added a little bit of water to make a batter, poured it onto a hot skillet with olive oil, and cooked it for a bit on both side. If I made it without the olive oil, it would obviously be much less greasy than it is, but I wanted something fried.) Anyway, the lentil crisp was absolutely delicious. Eventually, I should try cooking it like flatbread rather than frying it in oil. The extra lentils should be enough (hopefully) to stave off low-blood-sugar-fueled nightmares.

In better news, we played some Dungeons and Dragons today. I finished putting the varnish on my cake painting, which looks very nice. I also worked once again on trying to figure out what color the sky is. So far, I think my most accurate test is of cerulean blue mixed with purple. I can't tell right now, though, as I have to wait for sunlight to be sure. I plan on trying these colors out with a mixing white instead of titanium white to see what that does. I also will try painting the background purple and using a very thin wash of cerulean blue over top of that to see if it results in a more accurate color.

I've seen gardening journal books, where you write down what you planted, etc. Instead of using paper, which isn't really my thing, I'm considering making... a database! Surprise!

Oh, and it looks like my sleep is changing. My exercise watch thinks I'm getting more deep sleep. Last night, I also had disgusting nightmares, which I have regularly, and trouble sleeping, which I don't normally have. However, I luckily have Portuguese flashcards, which can overpower any insomnia.

Walking

Sep. 26th, 2023 10:38 pm
lillilah: (Default)
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!
lillilah: (Default)
Well, the most exciting thing I discovered today is that VLC media player can convert audio file formats. Yay! I haven't tested converting from FLAC to MP3, but it does work with M4A to MP3. I hate having to use online tools for this, so I'm really pleased.

I've also found a whole bunch of interesting things for the garden. There are some cool mosaics (glass, broken tile, pebbles) that can be made into stepping stones, which would be nice and artistic for the garden. I also found some cool kinetic wind sculptures. You can make some out of wire, and perhaps you could combine that wire with pieces cut from metal cans to make something a bit more fancy.

In less happy news, I had Joel ask the contractor if he was planning on removing the concrete floor of the chicken coop, and it seems that my request for that didn't make it into the queue. So, we will need to pay more to get that done. Did I tell you all that the upstairs subflooring was rotten? So, we will need to pay more to get that replaced. The fumigator came by, so that, at least, is done. And it looks like they are putting the tiles on the roof now. So, progress. But, as kind of expected, expensive progress.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
Well, today, I dealt with two super stressful things. I sent out a letter, which involves talking to people. I think I may have had an anxiety attack. At least, I was still just overwhelmed with anxiety for a while after. I also filled out my yearly paperwork for the Department of Labor for my disability, where they ask if I have worked, etc. I guess these things kind of go together.

In better news, I managed to get myself to go on a walk down to the river. I was pretty stressed most of the time, but I did it. Eventually, I got to play Endless Sky, and that helped me calm down a lot.

In news that isn't related to me freaking out, I got the calendar export from my to do list working. I set up the alarm function and was able to import it into Google Calendar. I could have just written the events to an obscure filename, but security by obscurity isn't really a good idea. Instead, I'll just import everything into Google Calendar every once in a while. We'll see if I find it annoying. So far, it is okay.

The other good news is that I seem to be more or less over the jet lag. It has been worse for Joel, since he has trouble sleeping anyway. However, I nearly managed to get up at the right time and am almost ready for bed now. That's like a record for me. Usually, it takes me two weeks to get over travelling, although I guess that is going to Russia not Portugal. Also, that may be _all_ the effects, like the moodiness. I'm definitely not over that.
lillilah: (Default)
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.

Outside!

Feb. 20th, 2023 11:22 pm
lillilah: (Default)
I finally went on a walk. It was nice to get out again. Not too much other progress. I worked on a little project for my niece, came up with the plot for the roleplaying one-shot, and made some progress toward getting the alarm feature working on my calendar export thing.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
I have set up my to do list to be able to subscribe to iCal calendar files. It seems to work pretty well. However, after missing my psychologist appointment today even though I knew when it was, I have realized that I really really need to automate setting alarms on my phone. I _think_ I can do it by making a page that automatically lists events on my to do list in iCal format and then having the Google account associated with my phone subscribe to it. I assume that there is a way to use password protected iCal files, and I'm pretty sure I've seen an alarm setting as part of the iCal format. If I can get that working, then I would just set up my database to contain a table that has the ids of events that need an alarm (and probably how far in advance the alarm should go off). I don't ever use Google calendar, but it would be convenient in this case.
lillilah: (Default)
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.

Back at it

Jan. 17th, 2023 10:43 pm
lillilah: (Default)
I worked more on painting the artwork for the drawers of the hutch today. They both turned out pretty good. For one, I did the alchemical symbols for "hour", "day", and "month". However, I think I need to make those thicker. I can do that tomorrow. The other one was going to be an eye in a pyramid, but that is such a Christian symbol that I decided to go with the eye of Horus instead. It turned out really nicely.

My ear is getting uncomfortable again. I think I'm going to go back to the antibiotic ear drops. I hate to use them without the doctor telling me to, but I also am tired of going to the doctor. I'll use them for seven days, as previously prescribed. Hopefully, this will fix the problem. * crosses fingers *

I was able to fix the problem with the website for my top 100 list by upgrading the external library I was using to read ID3 tags. Phew! I'm glad it wasn't worse. I also made some progress on another web project using an existing library, so that was good (although it needs more work). Progress was made on the podcast too. I really hope I'll be able to keep myself together long enough to get the podcast recorded and posted before we leave.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
Ears: I'm going to the doctor tomorrow. The ear that was infected is doing better, but they are both bubbling and popping a lot. I'm really on the fence about going, since my ears seem better today than yesterday. However, in a month, I will get on a plane, so they have to be cleared up by then.

Roof: No change from yesterday.

Sphinxes: Done! I'm pleased with how they turned out. The next step is to cut paper for all of the artwork for the hutch and to paint everything (drawers, cabinet doors, and paper) with gesso.

Programming: I made some progress. There is something going on with one of the calendar files that is making my code not parse it. I had it mostly working, then I cleaned up some other stuff, which caused it to stop working. * shrug * I'll fix it. I also am trying to put the information about our next trip into my travel database, but there are errors from that awful php upgrade to php 8, plus some barfing that may be because I changed something in a library. I'll get that fixed too.

Holidays: I am going to try to make gingerbread houses. Ideally, I will make the gingerbread tomorrow. We'll see how I feel after the doctor.
lillilah: (Default)
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.
lillilah: (Default)
Today, we had our immigration appointment. We got there early, got seen quickly, and made it through the appointment with a minimum of fuss. It was emotionally exhausting for me, though. I don't have a reason why. It just was (I had to fight myself to keep from freaking out for at least a week beforehand, so that might have contributed to it). I am done now, though, and probably will feel better tomorrow. There is a lot of stuff I have been putting off that I should start dealing with now. And I'll deal with that tomorrow.

I was able to do a bit of work on the sphinxes this afternoon. Not much, just the wings on the sphinx I didn't work on last time. Progress was made.

I would really like to add ics/calendar file subscriptions to my to do list website. I had a lot of trouble with the webpage to put the subscription URL into the database (using libraries that I wrote), but I was able to figure out the problem today and fix it, so that is working now. I have already written a lot of the tools that I'll use for the subscription managing part (like file caching), so the only part I need to write from scratch is the part that gets the calendar data out of the ics file. That part should be fun. I think.

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