A Wicked Convergence of Circumstances Mk 2.0

I am being menaced and/or amused by what i think is some kind of brown grasshopper (it might be a cricket) the dumb thing keeps bonking into the wall as it slowly approches. tick tick BONK tick tick BONK tick tick BONK

I shooed it off in the opposite direction when it got too close. It's still bashing it's self against a wall though

 

My brother is having a conversation with pro sf/fantasy writer Ryk Spoor about anime. This is fucking hilarious to me. There was also some debate about my scale of anime watch ability which differs somewhat from theirs. (My scale is based mostly on Can I Watch This Without Screaming Because I Am Bored By Everyone Explaining Their Fucking Moves and Dueling, their scales were based on percieved quality of the anime.)

But: hilarious.

 

The nutritionist wants me to eat more fruit. sigh So I bought some apples with which to cook. There is a "recipe" I used to make more frequently that involved apples, chicken, onion and rosemary. You basically sauteed it all in butter until it was food.

The recipe (such as it is) for the sauteed chicken and apples (with rosemary) went like so.

2 chicken thigh filets. 2. largish fuji apples. pinches of dried rosemary, frozen chopped onion of uncertain amount. (maybe half a cup?) couple table spoons of butter. 3. pepper and salt Prep: peel, core, slice apples. chop up chicken thighs. 1. melt butter in skillet or covered pan. 2. add onions when onion opaque add chicken. 3 when chicken is somewhat cooked add apples. season with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary 4. let chicken and apples continue to cook until everything is cooked through. I think this is about 30 minutes?

You should probably cook it covered, and remember to stir and stuff like that.

 

I post this on Facebook: https://www.motherjones.com/politic...nIi5mhi2dkoWvDPZHWzNMB5BKmUYI3NX6alltT17suEAE

Brother Saith: Strange how it's called 100 days of Corona Virus denial. When Trump called the Ban on Travel from China so early that the leftist media called him a xenophobe for doing it. The WHO and CDC did not do a good job at all to forewarn the public. Trump has scolded them for it. China Sat on their epidemic for 6 weeks before alerting the rest of the world, all the while so many Corona infected Chinese traveled all over the world spreading the virus. 1) Ventillators stock piled. 2) Masks Stock piled 3) Tests stock piled We have a higher tested percentage of the population than South Korea Per Capita (The gold standard) 4) No American Hospitals are currently overrun nor understocked. 5)Hydroxychloroquine, plus zinc combo works. (As an early treatment.) Worked in France, China, NY Clinical Trials are searchable in Pubmed. 6) Per Capita The United States fares quite well on the world stage for Cases and Deaths. 7) Now Since we have hit a flat spot in new Corona Cases Trump is working on a multi phase Exit strategy from the Lockdown he imposed to get the American people back to work. Get the Economy back running. The facts are in. Looks Damn good to me. TRUMP 2020!

Reason ten billion or so of Why I Am On Full No Contact With Most of the Family. Brother is only Partial Contact because for whatever reason, he decided to be a Patron on my Patreon. :/ No I have no idea why. As far as I know he doesn't read my writing. And wouldn't because boys kissing other boys.

 

In other news, I have an eye appointment scheduled. An appointment that required I get in a sliding scale fee program because of course medicaid doesn't cover eye glasses (or teeth). I need to wear a mask! I couldn't find any masks anywhere locally, so I had to order from amazon. (Fortunately, they should arrive Monday.)

 

Very good news: My social security hearing was decided in my favor, which means I have been getting Stuff I Have Needed for a While Now. Like furniture and storage stuff and organization stuff, and internet stuff. (I'm using a discount version of the local service until I have to get the "internet amenity" the complex is "offering." (They are not offering it. You have to get it/it's required when you renew your lease.)

So I'm finally able to use the internet from my own apartment, after literal years of not being able to do that.

I am also putting together plans to get some kind of emotional support pet. I want a cat. But I also want a dog. Actually, I want both. (A dog would encourage me to go outside, because otherwise I would stay inside all of the time. A cat however is best for chilling out with.)

 

Depending on the cat's personality, you might get a reason to go outside anyway? We leash trained our cats because Morrigan was obsessed with going outside. Her foster parents warned us that she was an "escape artist" and "highly dedicated" to going outside. Part of leash training her was teaching her that she could go outside as long as she "asked" which thankfully has had the net effect of making her no longer a runner. (She still wants to see whoever's at the door, but she doesn't use the opportunity to bolt anymore.)

Granted, dogs require outside time for basic care in a way that cats don't, so a dog definitely puts pressure on you in a way that a cat won't.

 

Welp, that was silly of me: I got a neck brace and a back brace from the pain doctor. The back brace is for when I'm doing something strenuous like chores or something. The neck brace has to be used for a certain length of time every day.
I accidentally set the computer timer for 15 hours instead of 15 minutes and didn't realize until today. (Fortunately, I did not *wear* the damn thing for fifteen hours. I just failed to understand why my alarm wasn't working.)

The neck brace is named Blaaargh, as is appropriate of something that is slightly strangling me when worn. I do not yet have a name for the back brace, though it will probably be something like "Squishy."

 

That's my feel for why I want a dog. Also: I have yet to meet a cat that wanted to wear a leash. They have all to a cat thrown massive fits that boiled down to "fuck you, you're dragging me." I have no doubt they *can* be trained to leash walk, but even if they are, they don't "walk" like a dog. Where "walk" are those specific canine behaviors that mean they require outside time. Also, I just want a dog, but I also want a cat.

 

TFW you get into a fan comic because of the animation.

 

Man why do these types always read like grading a 5th grader's homework with more cursing? I'd take them about 20% more seriously if there was any kind of coherency here. (20% of 0 is still 0 though)

Also, re: cats on leashes: they need time to warm up to it. They don't adapt to it nearly as fast, but if you give them time to wear the harness for while and get used to the Weird Constricty Thing then they'll remember how to cat. My neighbor's cat looooves walks, though never during the day (mood.) I've heard him through the wall at 3 am yelling at his human to wake up and take him for a walk already!

 

My back hurts and all is sadness. "Why didn't you wear your brand new back brace, Rena?" you might be tempted to ask. Silly questioner, the answer is obvious, I didn't think I needed it for a short trip to Walgreens to pick up a few odds and ends that turned out to be kind of heavy!

Also I have imposter syndrome and am certain I'm about to be attacked for "faking" back pain. (Because I have heard/witnessed the horror stories of sanctimonious assholes attacking people who didn't seem sufficiently "disabled" to them.

In other news, I have to schedule an MRI and get a hold of my thoracic surgeon dude. (I did not want to do the latter because of Reasons, some of them having to do with the pandemic..) I will do this tomorrow, as today is Getting Furniture Day. Also, my eye appointment has been rescheduled due to the Corona Virus. (I'll still probably have to bring a mask.)

 

I can now Buy Things I Need. Which I am doing. I more or less successfully turned a long sleeved shirt into a short sleeved on. A lot of the things I ordered came in late/haven't arrived yet. I have an MRI for my back coming up this Friday. My new cell phone does not work. I am Very Annoyed about this. I was somewhat coerced into getting items I do not want, but the coercing person Thought I Needed. (No, I don't want a Roku. Really. I don't even watch TV. When I watch something it's on the computer. sigh.) I did some major hauling out of things i didn't need (mostly old papers I kept and the like, but which I don't need.) I am slightly frustrated about my case manager being Less Than Helpful (as per usual) and I need to talk to my subsidized housing people, except I can't because the phone isn't working. (text works, but calls don't connect. I have been told that the system is down. I am Displeased.)

I am thinking about maybe renting a house instead of an apartment. And for some reason, I want back yard chickens.

I was also able to get things I Needed to Organize the apartment. And new furniture.

....when I look at this, it seems like I did a lot but it does not always feel that way, because of reasons.

 

I partially solved the issue of the Brother commenting to me on Facebook by going more or less friends only. >_>

 

The week has been busy in the sense that I had an MRI and I am neck-deep in a Chinese drama called The Untamed. It will most likely not be a writing fandom because I have no bunnies. (Crossovers do not count. There are no plots involved.)

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I am so excite!

Jo Clayton's Skeen trilogy is apparently available on Kindle!!

Skeen trilogy: a space opera featuring a scavenger type who gets into huge trouble. And may or may not have been betrayed by her boyfriend. Slightly cyberpunkish. Most notable for the narrative bits at the beginning of each chapter where we get wry commentary on the proceedings of the adventure. At one point the narrative actually suggests an au based off of a scene in the main story, and states that the reader can write about it if they want.

obscure sf/fantasy is obscure.

Randomly, though the trilogy was written years and years before homestuck, I wonder if troll literature has really long chapter headings that serve as commentary on the text. (much like the Skeen trilogy.) Now I want to write Karkat writing like that. halp

I am going to have to get the trilogy on kindle. (I currently have an old set in paperback but it is old, and from a library sale, and falling apart.)

 

...My new smart phone, which is a lifeline phone, keeps not working. That is to say, I keep getting "out of service" messages, or a recorded message about an outage. And I can't call out, use my messaging or get calls or texts. I am displeased.

I think at this point, since I have social security, I can have a normal phone now? Which is a shame in a way, since I paid 50 dollars for the new smart phone. I'll have to wait until I get the social security money for next month though.

 

In other news, on the discovery that the Skeen trilogy is available on Kindle, I may have splurged and got all three. Then I splurged some more and bought two Penric and Desdemona novellas. Then I got a bunch of free books on Kindle. Mostly history books. As you do.

 

I really hate Bluetooth, as I can't get it to work for me. Also, I seem to be where headphones go to die.

 

Things that can interfere with Bluetooth signals apparently include wifi, so if you have a strong wifi signal or wireless anything that’s new enough that they thought wifi was a great idea or your neighbors have lots of hotspots, that can do it. Also fluorescent lights, wireless communication devices such as baby monitors or cordless phones, running microwave ovens, and various physical things including some types of metal, water, and the human body. It’s a bit finicky.