Real Life and What's Happening...

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E-Rocker finishes downtown appointment, thinks, "I'm fully vaccinated, I'll go ahead and spend the $2.50 to ride the train home, rather than the ~ $25 to get a Lyft."

E-Rocker approaches train station, can't make out garbled announcement.

E-Rocker buys ticket, goes to platform, still can't make out garbled announcement.

E-Rocker checks the digital reader board to see when the next train will be arriving.

Northbound Red Line trains are experiencing major delays due to an unauthorized person on the tracks.

E-Rocker swears silently and wishes he splurged for the Lyft.
 
E-Rocker finishes downtown appointment, thinks, "I'm fully vaccinated, I'll go ahead and spend the $2.50 to ride the train home, rather than the ~ $25 to get a Lyft."

E-Rocker approaches train station, can't make out garbled announcement.

E-Rocker buys ticket, goes to platform, still can't make out garbled announcement.

E-Rocker checks the digital reader board to see when the next train will be arriving.

Northbound Red Line trains are experiencing major delays due to an unauthorized person on the tracks.

E-Rocker swears silently and wishes he splurged for the Lyft.
Well you could now take the 27.50 lyft?
 
I spent the first twenty minutes of my day looking at diseased buttholes. A group of doctors was doing a presentation about diseased buttholes, so not only were the buttholes displayed on the presenter screen in living colour, if I turned around they were on the projector at ten times life size. The doctors wanted my help to send images of diseased buttholes over the internet to their colleagues.

This is why I drink.
 
I spent the first twenty minutes of my day looking at diseased buttholes. A group of doctors was doing a presentation about diseased buttholes, so not only were the buttholes displayed on the presenter screen in living colour, if I turned around they were on the projector at ten times life size. The doctors wanted my help to send images of diseased buttholes over the internet to their colleagues.

This is why I drink.

And that's still not as bad as what I had to wade through my first day on the job after I got out of college.

Working on video animations of D&C for weeks. All sorts of situations and complications, all there in vivid imagery.

That was the stuff of nightmares.
 
Trying to wrap my head around this whole "getting on an airplane to go 2,000 miles tomorrow morning" thing. To the best of my recollection, the last time I was more than a two-hour's drive outside of Chicago was when I went to Scotland & Ireland in August of 2019.

Wonder how many days it will take to get my PNW accent back? Not consciously; it will just happen.
 
Trying to wrap my head around this whole "getting on an airplane to go 2,000 miles tomorrow morning" thing. To the best of my recollection, the last time I was more than a two-hour's drive outside of Chicago was when I went to Scotland & Ireland in August of 2019.

Wonder how many days it will take to get my PNW accent back? Not consciously; it will just happen.
We have no accent. Stop your viscous propaganda!
 
I spent the first twenty minutes of my day looking at diseased buttholes. A group of doctors was doing a presentation about diseased buttholes, so not only were the buttholes displayed on the presenter screen in living colour, if I turned around they were on the projector at ten times life size. The doctors wanted my help to send images of diseased buttholes over the internet to their colleagues.

This is why I drink.
Pictures or it didn't happen.
 
I have been fucking slammed all week. Said folks who don’t know what they are doing are still learning. Yes, we are giving them a crash course in AWS Athena, sql, lambda, and how to not fucking use splunk for every goddamn thing. When I tell you that I can reduce the cost of what they are doing by 95%, I am not lying at all. I’ve done the math. It is probably more. I have good problems at work where I have enough work for two of me

my wife is fucking slammed getting her mother an apartment after her one of her sisters lost her shit and forced a big old family blow up and resolution. Fortunately, that got fixed today.

just in time for my mother to go into the hospital for falling down for the 5th time. My step dad can’t lift her, so it’s an “I’m fallen and I can’t get up” 911 call. If I didn’t have my wife I would be a wreck. She’s a saint.

my son (11) has been making music and putting it up on YouTube. For no training and literally learning on the fly, he’s getting pretty good. He’s literally the easiest and best thing in our lives. I can’t remember the last time I disciplined him. It might have been years. He’s parenting on easy mode.
 
Today is two weeks since my first shot of the Moderna vaccine. If I understand things correctly, this yields immunity about 80% of the time. I won't get my second shot for another two weeks, and I won't be officially 'fully vaccinated' until two weeks after that. And 'full vaccination' brings benefits, like going outside without wearing a mask, as long as you are not in big groups.

Yesterday the school's Health Center suddenly announced they had openiings for Johnson & Johnson vaccinations today and tomorrow. If I'd known they were coming, I might have gone that route, because then I'd be 'fully vaccinated' two weeks earlier.

The counter-intuitive thing, from my perspective, is that I already have about the same level or probability of immunity right now as I would two weeks after getting the Johnson & Johnson shot. My understanding is that it yields a bit less than 80%. But if I want to obey local health regulations I have to keep going with essentially full protective protocols for another 4 weeks. Sigh.
 
A couple things to bear in mind with the vaccinations.
  • the cdc is exceptionally conservative. You likely have a real protection earlier than is stated there. That’s not to advocate for you not following the guidelines, but from a practical perspective, you are likely safe
  • J&J was tested at a different time and under different conditions than Moderna. Comparing their effectiveness at any particular point is not really accurate. It is also unclear if any of them will need boosters.
  • The best vaccine is the one that is in you, but I feel you. I got through my two weeks after as of a week and a half ago and it is really nice. First shot was like light at the end of the tunnel
Source: wife who’s a nurse (and was in infectious disease at the start of the pandemic), coworker who’s an epidemiologist, Dr Fauci, etc

You’ll make it. Hang tough!
 
Today is two weeks since my first shot of the Moderna vaccine. If I understand things correctly, this yields immunity about 80% of the time. I won't get my second shot for another two weeks, and I won't be officially 'fully vaccinated' until two weeks after that. And 'full vaccination' brings benefits, like going outside without wearing a mask, as long as you are not in big groups.
My advice is to at least give yourself the day off after getting the second shot. I got my second Moderna on Tuesday, and was more or less bed-ridden yesterday. Some folks are affected less, and others more. My roommate was out for 2 days after his second moderna, while my mother was only out for about 12 hours.
 
I want good gaming mugs that aren't what I consider hokey. Maybe a map. Oh bonus for one that reveals secret areas when hot!

I made a ceramic mug in high school with the 1st edition cover for Stalking the Night Fantastic on it. After I painted it with red glaze the teacher mentioned, you know that has lead in it probably shouldn't drink out of it. Filed under things that would have been nice to know before I painted my awesome gaming mug!

Not sure what happened to that mug.

The cover, I had the M16 and pentagram on one side, Stalking the Night Fantastic on the other.
1619840045257.png


How about something like this? The Lonely Mountain map on a mug

Lonely Mountain map mug
 
I made a ceramic mug in high school with the 1st edition cover for Stalking the Night Fantastic on it. After I painted it with red glaze the teacher mentioned, you know that has lead in it probably shouldn't drink out of it. Filed under things that would have been nice to know before I painted my awesome gaming mug!

Not sure what happened to that mug.

The cover, I had the M16 and pentagram on one side, Stalking the Night Fantastic on the other.
View attachment 30342


How about something like this? The Lonely Mountain map on a mug

Lonely Mountain map mug
Nah probably something like Dyson Logos Dyson Logos maps
 
Mam and Dad vaccinated so we could finally meet them again and on a sunny summers day to boot.
How is Spain these days? That's where I think you live but I could be remembering wrong. I keep seeing things saying americans will be able to go visit europe followed by articles on how locked down europe is. It's a very conflicted message.
 
I spent the first twenty minutes of my day looking at diseased buttholes. A group of doctors was doing a presentation about diseased buttholes, so not only were the buttholes displayed on the presenter screen in living colour, if I turned around they were on the projector at ten times life size. The doctors wanted my help to send images of diseased buttholes over the internet to their colleagues.

This is why I drink.

That’s why we drink too.

And that's still not as bad as what I had to wade through my first day on the job after I got out of college.

Working on video animations of D&C for weeks. All sorts of situations and complications, all there in vivid imagery.

That was the stuff of nightmares.
Yeah, I can see that.

Mam and Dad vaccinated so we could finally meet them again and on a sunny summers day to boot.
Everyone vaccinated at my workplace + new CDC guidelines = happy hours are back on the menu! Can’t wait for my wife to get the shot as well but that’ll take time.
 
And that's still not as bad as what I had to wade through my first day on the job after I got out of college.

Working on video animations of D&C for weeks. All sorts of situations and complications, all there in vivid imagery.

That was the stuff of nightmares.
I just looked that up and immediately regretted it.
 
I just looked that up and immediately regretted it.
Sorry... I should have warned not to look that up. Working for a medical animation company was a very interesting job for my first programming job. And also very sickening. And when I say animation, it was animations of realistic drawings and 3d models.
 
How is Spain these days? That's where I think you live but I could be remembering wrong. I keep seeing things saying americans will be able to go visit europe followed by articles on how locked down europe is. It's a very conflicted message.
I'm in Ireland, but would love to be in sunny Spain, Italy or Greece at the moment!

Most European countries expect to be opening up for tourists this summer. Provided one is vaccinated:
  1. Iceland is already open
  2. Bulgaria and Greece will be from May. Italy and Cyprus Mid-May
  3. Spain, Malta and France from June
  4. Germany and Portugal are a bit ambiguous.
  5. The Scandinavian countries, especially Denmark, have a complex system but it seems "some time in the mid-Summer" if you are American.
 
I'm in Ireland, but would love to be in sunny Spain, Italy or Greece at the moment!

Most European countries expect to be opening up for tourists this summer. Provided one is vaccinated:
  1. Iceland is already open
  2. Bulgaria and Greece will be from May. Italy and Cyprus Mid-May
  3. Spain, Malta and France from June
  4. Germany and Portugal are a bit ambiguous.
  5. The Scandinavian countries, especially Denmark, have a complex system but it seems "some time in the mid-Summer" if you are American.
Spain, Ireland, Wales they're all Mediterranean countries....:wink:
Are the expecting to be open for their own citizens though? That's what looks really confusing from what I'm reading. It sounds ridiculous but what I'm seeing is articles talking about european countries either still in lockdown or with cases still quite high and not a good end in sight followed by ones saying "Come on over America!". Something is off because it sounds like americans could come over to closed restaurants, museums and shopping.
 
Spain, Ireland, Wales they're all Mediterranean countries....:wink:
Are the expecting to be open for their own citizens though? That's what looks really confusing from what I'm reading. It sounds ridiculous but what I'm seeing is articles talking about european countries either still in lockdown or with cases still quite high and not a good end in sight followed by ones saying "Come on over America!". Something is off because it sounds like americans could come over to closed restaurants, museums and shopping.
Essentially most European countries will be open to American tourists by mid-June. Greece just opened to American tourists for example. Bar and restaurants etc will reopen or are already reopen as the vaccination program is proceeding faster than anticipated in most areas.

However historic sites around Europe being open is not determined by the national policy in the main, but the individual caretakers of those sites. Especially for smaller sites. Often with little information as to when they will reopen. So if you wanted to see historic areas you'd have to check about them in advance. Overall most major sites have stated they will be open with guides by mid-Summer, but their interpretive centers might still be shut.

Some central European countries like Germany and Austria will have a tighter lockdown for longer than most other countries and will probably remain closed, perhaps that is related to what you read.
 
Essentially most European countries will be open to American tourists by mid-June. Greece just opened to American tourists for example. Bar and restaurants etc will reopen or are already reopen as the vaccination program is proceeding faster than anticipated in most areas.

However historic sites around Europe being open is not determined by the national policy in the main, but the individual caretakers of those sites. Especially for smaller sites. Often with little information as to when they will reopen. So if you wanted to see historic areas you'd have to check about them in advance. Overall most major sites have stated they will be open with guides by mid-Summer, but their interpretive centers might still be shut.

Some central European countries like Germany and Austria will have a tighter lockdown for longer than most other countries and will probably remain closed, perhaps that is related to what you read.
I suppose it's no worse than trying to figure out what's open or shut in the various US states varying between "There's a pandemic?!? Nah we're open" to "There's a pandemic!!! We're shut!"
 
On May Day, my desktop at home decided to go on strike. It would not start but instead would either (1) shut itself down or (2) try to restart repeatedly. I was able to get to a startup repair utility on at least two of the go-rounds and in one iteration I tried system recovery. No dice.

The next day (Sunday) the same thing occurred, except that the startup repair worked and the machine is back in business. For how long is anybody's guess.

I've been thinking of replacing it for a while now, since it is about 14 years old. Fortunately, everything of significance on its hard drive is backed up elsewhere, so it it does fail nothing will be lost.
 
On May Day, my desktop at home decided to go on strike. It would not start but instead would either (1) shut itself down or (2) try to restart repeatedly. I was able to get to a startup repair utility on at least two of the go-rounds and in one iteration I tried system recovery. No dice.

The next day (Sunday) the same thing occurred, except that the startup repair worked and the machine is back in business. For how long is anybody's guess.

I've been thinking of replacing it for a while now, since it is about 14 years old. Fortunately, everything of significance on its hard drive is backed up elsewhere, so it it does fail nothing will be lost.
14 years is a long run. My last laptop lasted 12 years and I thought that was good.
 
At the request of my students last week, I posted my pizza dough recipe and instructions to make breakfast pizza. Over the weekend one of my students actually made it and took pictures of the end result! Now others are actually going to try as well.
 
So, the car (2000 Nissan Maxima) has a standard transmission. I can probably push start it to verify whether it's a dead starter (it has been making the dead starter scream of death for a while) or a seized engine. I just need someone else who can drive a standard to drive while I push. The starter's under the air filter but it's really only about a dozen bolts and a plug in to get in and take it off.
 
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