Errands with Miss Vicki Again

May. 2nd, 2026 09:25 pm
theradicalchild: (Rad Driving Car)
[personal profile] theradicalchild
I went on a morning walk for the first time since it was sunny, and I didn't have breakfast due to Methodist Men's breakfast. I drove to the church but they were setting up for a Mother's Day brunch or whatever, and I was told by Ms. Murphy, an old friend of my family since we moved to Cove, that they were holding it at Maria's, an all-day breakfast place in town. I had biscuits with sausage gravy there and talked only a little with the guys there, who were all pretty much way older than me (and I'm 42). I also mentioned the open mic at Nelson Brew Works tomorrow evening.

Then I worked out at Gold's Gym and bought some shit at Walmart.

There was a bread-tasting event scheduled for noon at a local bookstore, but when I went there it didn't come yet so I chilled and read on my iPhone, and when it did come they had shit like pretzels so I bought four for $12 since they were cheaper that way, and I bought some lemonade from a stand outside--and they've been popping up all around town--and went home.

While I was working on folding my laundry Miss Vicki texted, so I helped her run errands and got $5.

Climate Change

May. 2nd, 2026 09:24 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Reducing air pollution has triggered something worse that scientists didn't predict

Scientists have determined that “marine cloud reflectivity,” caused by cleaner air, has dropped by roughly 2.8 percent per decade across the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific.

Together, those regions span about one-seventh of the planet’s surface, making even small changes in brightness significant on a global scale.



A solution-caused problem. O_O Well, that sucks.

Chapter 40 of Black Beauty...

May. 2nd, 2026 11:39 pm
loganberrybunny: Cropped from "Reading Rabbit" by HeyGabe (Flickr; licence CC by-nc-sa-2.0) (Bookshelf bunny)
[personal profile] loganberrybunny
Public

...is "Poor Ginger", and it is devastating. I sometimes wonder how many parents buy Black Beauty for their kids under the impression that it's a "cute fluffy animal" story, only to find those children traumatised by details of Beauty rediscovering her former friend suffering a slow and painful death doing the lowest rung of cab work. Anna Sewell was of course writing mainly for adults, and with the intention of her book being a campaign for more humane treatment of horses. Pulling her punches would not have done that job.

Saturday

May. 2nd, 2026 11:34 am
susandennis: (Default)
[personal profile] susandennis
Volleyball is done. Elbow Coffee is done. Lunch will be ready for pickup in 30 minutes. And that's it for today's commitments.

Today is the day to sign up for the new MyChart from my doctors' office. Earlier the URL would not work. Now it works but not for me. Verification Denied. Try again or call ... 3rd try, same results. NFW am I going to call any time soon. I'll wait.

Today is also the day they retire The Big Eunich's number. Last night's game was an Apple TV game so not a lot of discussion. I thought the ceremonies were going to be last night but they are tonight. S'ok. My mute button still works fine.

I think Julio has a tooth problem. He keeps trying to chew on things like the metal door handles on the kitchen cabinet. He's too old for teething but maybe they are kitty wisdom teeth. Julio will never allow himself to be caught to be put into a carrier so he will never go the vet. If he has a tooth problem, he's going to have to figure out how to fix it himself. Or maybe he's trying to get into the cabinet.

Lots of good TV to watch and a good book to listen to. My day is set.

(no subject)

May. 2nd, 2026 06:59 pm
shadowhive: (5SOS Michael Red)
[personal profile] shadowhive
So past days ended up even more tiring. This was because mum decided we needed compost, hence heading down to get it from Home Bargains. Alas that meant I had to carry the thing around the store which… ugh. Was tiring. (I did get a lil Nubs on his speeder bike and doorables that includes Queen Amidala herself!)

Then yesterday I ended up spending the morning in the garden. Not cause of the compost but cause Naryu found a little bird. It seemed to be ok, so we put it on a chair and I kept watch to make sure the parents spotted it. Thankfully they did and the black bird parents fed them on there, at least until it hoped off it. I’m not sure what happened to it cause they were gone when I checked later,

I’m gonna make a seperate post for these but I watched a random ‘film’ called Insidious Tales and then Warning From Space last night. Proper thoughts on both tomorrow maybe. Also last night was the finale of Beyond Paradise (satisfying ending is all I’ll say) and an ep of The Pitt (poor Dennis needing new scrubs already).

Today was a trip out for Free Comic book day and Lego stuff and… it was a mixed bag.

We went straight to the Lego Store and there was already a queue. However they let us join and gave us cute tickets (66 and 67) to get the make and take. It’s of the Mandalorian’s N1 starfighter which is really cool! I love it. I also got the new Razor Crest polybag by getting the New Republic X-Wing. (I worked out it’s been 10 years since I got a full size Lego X-wing!) I’m glad it’s got a Colonel Ward I’m so excited to see her in action (and Carson Teva who’s awesome). I didn’t get the Darksaber cause it needed £145 spent which felt so much, but I do wanna get the cute Anzellan ship (alas it wasn’t on display)

Instead of going to get the comics we went further into the bullring which ended up being a mistake. I looked in hmv but alas they didn’t have the blu rays I was looking for (the offer wasn’t on display so I couldn’t find them to look at them) but then… ugh

We went to the entertainer cause it had another Make And Take, the Bantha I got before. I expected it to be like previous times I went, with just a short wait but this time… nope. The queue was barely moved and we had to be there for over an hour. It was a bit ridiculous, the build is pretty involved but they only had two instructions both black and white and only one small area to build. Usually that’s fine but this time… I dunno. To quote the simpsons, it was a veritable orgasm of poor planning.

We did get to the Forbidden Planet, which had a signed books sale online but none were in the store. Maybe I’ll order them but shipping is usually terrible from them. I did get some mandalorian books, plus a Star Trek one and a treasures of batuu one (I’ve not seen what the treasures are yet) plus a micro galaxy blind box (Ahsoka on a speeder) and two black series figures: a Halloween one and Merrin.

There were also Free Comic book day blind bags and I got the sonic + dc one I wanted, plus one with Jeff the land shark. The others weren’t on my main list of wants but I’ll see.

When we got to the other forbidden planet, usually our first stop, cause you can use what you get. Alas pretty much everything was gone which was a shame. The only one I was really after from the choices was the Alien one. I might have to hunt down the masters of the universe/dungeons and dragons, aquamantee and nice house on the lake. (And I think there’s another too) (Also alas they didn’t have the Maul comic I wanted to buy)

Alas the waiting in the entertainer also meant I missed the theatre’s open day which was a shame (though looking at the insta it seems a lot was kid focussed so maybe I didn’t miss as much as I think)

On the way back I got off in town to the smyths cause they had a Lego mandalorian and Grogu cap if you got a set. So I got Cobb Vanth’s speeder (which I wanted and was on offer) plus the funkos if Maul and Icarus.

Now I’m just gonna flop, I dunno if I’ll build any Lego or read anything today but maybe tomorrow. I did end up listening to the Solo soundtrack which has made me wanna watch it again.

Birdfeeding

May. 2nd, 2026 10:58 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today is sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows and house finches, a male cardinal, and a fox squirrel.

EDIT 5/2/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 5/2/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.

Placeholder

May. 2nd, 2026 10:21 am
fauxklore: (Default)
[personal profile] fauxklore
Busy traveling - so far, the Channel Islands and a couple of days in London

Now in Swindon at the Fforde Fiesta

I'll be home Wednesday night
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
This year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 8: Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is a skillset for peacefully sorting out disagreements between people. Individual aspects include body language, communication skills, cooperative decision-making, coping skills, emotional awareness, mediation, negotiation, and problem-solving. The goal is to find a win-win solution, or if that is not possible, at least something that everyone can live with. Sometimes you may identify a need for additional resources, reorganzing things, or other stuff that could take a while to accomplish. Conflict resolution is effective when it diffuses the tension of the moment and identifies at least one practical step toward reducing or avoiding future conflicts over the same issue. It's okay if that takes multiple rounds to fix fully. All people experience conflicts sometimes, but different cultures handle this in different ways. Dreamwidth has no conflict resolution communities per se, but you might explore [community profile] common_nature, [community profile] goals_on_dw, or [community profile] thankfulthursday for a few of its subskills.


Three Weeks for Dreamwidth April 25-May 15

Read more... )

Philosophical Questions: Government

May. 2nd, 2026 12:28 am
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

Should governments make laws to protect people from hurting themselves?

Read more... )

A Day Away

May. 1st, 2026 11:32 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
A Day Away Spring/Summer 2026 is now up at the Effingham Magazines page.  :D 3q3q3q!!!  If you live in or plan to visit central Illinois, this is the best guide to events and attractions within daytrip distance of Effingham.

Greek Myth Fest Bingo Card 5-1-26

May. 1st, 2026 10:55 pm
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Here is my card for the Greek Myth Fest Bingo over in [community profile] allbingo. The fest runs from May 1-31.  (See all my 2026 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


GREEK MYTH FEST BINGO CARD

lossjourneydestructionmusicfruit
metamorphosisunderworldquestnaturesilver
recognitioncentaurWILD CARDescapebuilding
rescueherogodsidentitywait
monsterminotaurchosenmagicfamily

Today's Adventures

May. 1st, 2026 10:22 pm
ysabetwordsmith: (muse)
[personal profile] ysabetwordsmith
Today we went to the May Day and Full Moon Walk activities at Whiteside Garden.

Read more... )

3W4DW Day 7 Check-in

May. 1st, 2026 10:40 pm
althea_valara: An icon of the Iron Giant mount from Final Fantasy XI. It's made up of separate cylinders in a humanoid shape. One of my Elvaan alts, Amalberga, is perched on its shoulder. She's wearing the White Mage artifact gear. (FFXI alt 1)
[personal profile] althea_valara

1. one creative thing I did today



I saw a movie!

No, wait, hear me out: you may be thinking that this isn't an action of personal creativity, and you're not wrong, but creativity needs to be nurtured and fed. A lot of the reasons I write fluffy fanfic is that I just don't have the necessary experiences to write anything else. I need more experiences! And that could be through living live myself, or it could mean by consuming media.

It is rare I watch movies these days. I don't particularly like movie theaters, for one, and for two, movies tend to be long enough that my mind wanders. But today's movie was good, and I mostly stay focused the whole time! It was also a more comfy setting for me, being at my local library rather than a theater.

I went on mom's behest, but once she told me what the movie was about I went "OOOH!" because I knew I'd like it. We say Rental Family with Brendan Fraiser, and it takes place in Japan (<3!) which is relevant to my interests. I enjoyed it! Not as much as seeing Barbie or Wicked, both of which we also saw at the library, but it was a good movie and I was glad I went.

2. one thing I'm proud of today



I listened to my body and fed it when it was hungry, and napped when I was tired. Otherwise... well, the day was rather lost with going out to breakfast this morning with mom, then movie, then home, then a late lunch, then FLOP on bed, then dinner, then streaming.

I also did not overly freak when something anxiety-provoking happened. This is good progress!

3. video game progress



The latest FFXIV raid has made me want to replay the Bastok Rank 6-10 missions, so before dinner I logged into my Amalberga, my documentation alt who happens to be from Bastok and has completed up to rank 5. I did read the wiki for the 6-1 mission, and I probably could have done it at her level, but it would have been dicey, as she was only level 82 (cap is 99). So I took her Trusts out to Mount Zaylom to fight crabs and level up. She's now level 85, and I am barred from leveling up again with a genkai (limit breaker) quest. I need to farm 10 Kindred Crest's (easy, I probably have them already!) and 5 merit points. I have no merit points currently, so that will mean more EXPing against crabs.

After dinner, I streamed on Siofra. We're in the midst of the Wings of the Goddess expansion, and just finished the 5th set of the Windurst path questline. There was a battle that gave me some trouble. It's meant to be done with real players, and you can bring a whole 18-person alliance if you wish. I was doing it with Trusts (computer controlled NPCs) and they are pretty dumb, in that they won't attack until I swing my staff at an enemy. I'm a MAGE, folks. I get aggro usually by spellcasting. But nope the Trusts just stand there going "durr..." unless I do a physical attack. It's one of the few things that annoy me about the game.

Anyway. First attempt, I tried picking off the enemies one by one. Not good, the wards were defeated and I lost. Second attempt, I tried doing Diaga to grab all enemies at once, which allows for better fighting by the blasted Trusts, but the wards still fell.

The wards have an HP pool. I am a White Mage. The obvious thing is to cast Cure on them, but that doesn't work--they are immune to Cure spells. However, Dancer's Curing Waltz will heal them! So I changed my subjob from /SCH to /DNC, did a few macro changes, and tried again. This time I won!

Unfortunately, I only had oomph for a 2 hour stream. Because FFXI is unvoiced, I do a LOT of "voice acting" by reading lines. I am not an actor, but I try my best. It's exhausting though, trying to perform. So I opted to quit for the night when [personal profile] jillwise who was watching had to leave.

My FFXI anniversary was on April 25th: I first stepped into Vana'diel on that day in 2009. SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. Where has the time gone? And how cool that the game is STILL up and running so I can enjoy it. But when I realized just how long it's been, I nearly crumbled into dust.

And now, BEDTIME! (Prompto: "Soft sheets, baby!")

Rainy Day

May. 1st, 2026 09:03 pm
theradicalchild: (Rad Gaming)
[personal profile] theradicalchild
I woke up really, really early this morning due to a combo of having to pee and hearing bird chirping outside my apartment. Yeah.

It was rainy most of the day and I stayed home, playing Borderlands 3 and reading on my iPad.

Stuff I wrote today (images are links).

Image

I had been working on this for weeks but got sidetracked and had originally intended it for Thomas Jefferson's Birthday in Hell (heh). 

Image

Very illuminating book.

more health stuff 😢

May. 1st, 2026 07:02 pm
mxcatmoon: Rico/Sonny kissing (MV 12)
[personal profile] mxcatmoon
 Well. I need prayers again. I fell going into the doctor's office this morning. And broke my arm. Now I'm going to be off work again. And hoping my short-term disability comes through fast. Because the situation is not good. I now must dictate everything into the computer and then cut and paste it because I can't type. So much bad luck lately. 
I'm in a lot of pain because I also hurt my back ribs and knee. I don't know if they're broken. The doctor only sent me for X-rays for the arm. I don't know how bad it is yet because I saw the results in My Chart online, but no doctor has reviewed it yet. I'm in a lot of trouble here. So, I need lots of prayers. Thank you.

I guess Miami Vice is going to be distracting me again. It's the only thing that can help. I'm not sure how I'm going to sleep, I guess in the recliner for a while. I have no idea how I'm going to take care of the daily household stuff with only one hand. And stiff and sore. It happened on a Friday too, so I probably won't be able to talk to anyone until Monday.
 

(no subject)

May. 1st, 2026 11:16 pm
tellshannon815: (observer)
[personal profile] tellshannon815


Graphic novel or comic: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/232479447-fate
No sex/romance: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77661.The_Daughter_of_Time
Novella: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201750645-queen-b
First person POV: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60556912-the-housemaid
YA/Children's: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/244215822-the-obsession
Figures without facial features on the cover: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58601515-lies-like-wildfire
Book made into a film or TV series: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49078674-playing-nice
Job/profession in the title: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/198218463-the-teacher
Main character over the age of 30: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/410445.T_is_for_Trespass
An author's debut/first book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205650368-the-ministry-of-time
Non-fiction: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/229273911-queens-at-war
Set at a school/university: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42779071-the-expectations
Crime/mystery: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124102994-the-opposite-of-murder

Substitution list:
*Over 300 Pages
*Book in Series
*LGBTQ+
*Recommended - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27864449-his-dark-materials
*POC Author - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/223955096-cursed-daughters
*Multiple POVs - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81307313-the-birthday-reunion
*Classic/Retelling
*Sci-fi/Fantasy
*Free Space https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218032206-the-memory-collectors
*Anthology/Collection
*Biography/Memoir
*Friendship
*Name in the Title
*Movie/TV Tie-in
*With a Woman Protagonist
*From the Library
*Thriller/Suspense
*Set Somewhere You've Been
*Non-Human POV
*Fairy Tale or Fairy Tale Retelling
*Under 100 Pages - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/230824619-death-row
*Romance Plot or Sub-plot - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/83994697-the-seven-year-slip
*Translated
*With a Blue Cover - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213713209-the-wasp-trap
*Horror or Paranormal - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203578707-what-the-woods-took
*Colour in the Title
*Seasonal Read
*Number in title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58385688-nine-lives
*Three word title - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40126622-the-great-believers
*Craft, Hobby or Cookbook
*Written by an author from your state or country
*Animal on the cover
*Disability or Mental health
*Read a book from the year you were born
*Mythology
*Title begins with first letter of your name - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217991744-hamnet
*Dystopian
*Book mentioned in another book
*Diverse reads
*One word title
*Award Winning/Bestseller - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/134300796-now-in-november
*Disabled Author
*Non-western Setting
*Set in your state/country
*Title is at Least Five Words Long
*Indigenous author
*Has illustrations (but not a comic or graphic novel)
*Re-read

This, that and the other

May. 1st, 2026 08:26 pm
loganberrybunny: Drawing of my lapine character's face by Eliki (Default)
[personal profile] loganberrybunny
Public

One last nice day today, although it went very dark in late afternoon and I got the feeling it might be about to rain. It just about held off, though the forecast for the weekend isn't particularly good. Hey, it is a Bank Holiday! I await some local gardener saying, "We could do with the rain" – albeit safely out of earshot of the cafés and pubs in town... on the whole the weather hasn't been too bad recently, and in this country you have to take the rough with the smooth a bit. With a little grumbling, of course!

Another day, another startling revelation regarding Sandra Peabody's mistreatment on The Last House on the Left. I discovered an obscure 2022 YouTube interview (under 400 views in nearly four years) with Jeramie Rain, who played the female gang member Sadie in the film. In it, she says that Sandra and her fellow victim-actress Lucy Grantham still will not talk to the villain-actors. After half a century. That really isn't normal, even after difficult shoots. There's no evidence Rain knows about any of the abuse, but it's an extraordinary comment nevertheless.

Some depressing news about the scourge that is the dodgy mini-mart industry. A few weeks ago a BBC team visited four towns not far from me and were offered cocaine and prescription drugs, and were intimidated by dogs at times. Then we got this story about Trading Standards officers being threatened with murder, rape and arson, and sometimes needing to wear stab vests. Many of these dodgy shops are linked to organised crime, with the violence that often entails. TSOs do not have police powers, and they need far better protection immediately.
althea_valara: A female Roegadyn from FFXIV, named Windy Storm. She's in the Red Mage gear and is smirking slightly. (Windy Storm)
[personal profile] althea_valara
Whoops I forgot to do this yesterday, so here's my answers now:

1. one creative thing I did today on Thursday



I worked on a Divine Hat, hoping to finish it for a Nerdopolis challenge. I could have finished it in time had I stuck with it, but I changed projects because I really wanted to fill the Love What You Do challenge, where teams pick their own themes.

I started a knitting pattern for the challenge, but this was pretty late in the afternoon, and it soon became apparent I wouldn't finish in time. So back to crochet I went, where I freehanded a pocket tissue cozy. It's not great, but it's recognizable for what it is, so hey! And I got to fulfill the challenge, which made me happy!

Here's my write-up for my submission:

Co-op’s theme this month is Favorite Streamer. Mine is Colin Ryan, who along with being a Final Fantasy XIV streamer, also happens to be the English voice of Alphinaud in the game! Colin’s streams are fun, wholesome, and chill, and I just adore watching his reactions as he experiences the full breadth of the game’s story for the first time.

Players in FFXIV are referred to in the game as the Warrior of Light. The WoL has a special ability called the Echo, which allows them to glimpse scenes from people’s pasts. When the Echo kicks in, the Warrior holds their hand up to their face, as if experiencing a sudden headache, and squints in pain. Well, when Colin first saw the Echo, he thought his character was sneezing! Henceforth, the Echo is called The Sneeze on his streams. In honor of this, I made a Pocket Tissue Cozy so I’d never be without my tissues should The Sneeze strike!

Team shout out for Nerd Cred: Colin is not only a streamer of FFXIV but an actual voice artist from it as well, and thus fits into my team’s scope! I can’t resist sharing this clip from his stream - here is Colin hearing himself in game for the first time. IT’S ADORABLE!



2. one thing I'm proud



I spent a large part of my afternoon listening to and supporting a friend. I'm not always the best at being a friend, so I definitely want to give myself a pat on the back for this one.

3. video game progress



I logged into Windy and did an alliance roulette on her. I got first Dawntrail raid AGAIN, for the second day in a row. I didn't mind all that much though, because it gave me a coin.

Windy's gear was at ilevel 745. She needs to be at least i755 to do the new patch content. I had previously ran the 7.4 dungeon with Duty Support, which dropped casting body for her. SCORE! I also spent some of her meager stash of gil on the crafted SMN book - and since there was a pentamelded one up for just a bit more than the regular HQ ones, I opted for that one. Her wallet hurts, but that was a big help in her ilevel.

After running the raid, I looked at getting more tomestone gear for her. She already had Historia hands; I picked up a Historia necklace and ring, too, because I had enough Mathematics for them.

I had an inkling that augmenting some of the Historia would be enough--did I have enough coins? I DID! So I augmented the hands and choker, and that put me at exactly 755. So she's good for content!

If I have time, I might do some hunt trains or something on her to see if I can't get the newer tomestone gear (Historia is kinda outdated at this point), but I'm not going to worry too much if I can't.
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