hearthstone | Reading

The sky was dramatic all day: intense blue with racks of broken cloud lines overlaid with whisps like arcane symbols. It was never intensely hot and this evening became cool enough that I closed windows against the chill; most days the a/c has been firing up in late afternoon, causing me to close them and then later reopen them. But the forecast is for a heat dome next week, although we should be on the edge of it and less baking than across the Bay. Here's hoping.

weofodthignen

The dog took me on a long walk today: all the way to the park and looping back through part of it. That was after insisting on lying in the grass for much of the afternoon.

No cat sightings, unfortunately.

arlie

Long ago, in a fit of "they need to hear from more boomers" I signed up for Google User research.

The last time I clicked through to sign up, they wanted me to produce a video of myself and send it to them, to be considered for participation.

Today I clicked through again. The can-you-participate survey first had a field to be filled out only by those living outside the US (per the text) that proved mandatory when I tried to go to the next screen. On the next screen, I discovered that July 14th of this year is a Tuesday, July 15 is a Wednesday, and July 16th is a Thursday. (They did correctly identify July 8 as a Tuesday, in the same question.)

Two stupid errors in one survey. The second one's a killer - I can't correctly tell them what days/times I'd be available when I don't know what date they meant.

I wonder what kind of chat bot or overworked human peon created this survey.

Amazingly, I now have even less interest in donating my time to educating them about the capabilities and preferences of older users. (Yes, there's a gift card if selected and actually participates, but that never was my motivation.)

If they can't avoid multiple errors in their screening instrument, the research is presumably pro forma, and/or equally addled.

weofodthignen

The dog didn't get a walk yesterday, though she did muck about in the back garden for extended periods (mostly lying on the grass; this is why we have grass). Today I managed to take her for a walk after my and her dinners, when it was pleasantly cool and not too windy. She led me quite a way up the block and back.

krakathewitch posting in

dreamwidth_pagans

I'm Kraka, I've been on Dreamwidth before under a different account that was mostly for fandom, but created a new account to journal and share about myself and my path. I'm past mid-40s and used to be on LiveJournal until they sold. I've been a pagan of some stripe for nearly 3 decades. Also am disillusioned with the Book of Faces and other more recent social media.

I'm currently solitary, but I worship mainly Greek and Norse (I know, no relation at all between the religions) with some French-Canadian folk magic and practices thrown in and a heavy dose of animism. I will be studying with a group, starting in September. I used to be part of an Eclectic Wiccan "tradition", had my elevation to 2nd Degree and was teaching, but left due to realizing how toxic a group it really was. Funny how experience makes you realize people aren't what they seem to be on the surface. I've been sort of adrift since, and trying to find my footing again.

I love reading, writing, drawing and painting, learning new things, hiking and camping. I am obsessed with fountain pens and the inks for them, but don't have that extensive a collection because those things are not exactly cheap. I'm nostalgic for the 90s and early 2000s.

I am queer, happily married to my wife since 2017. We have a jenday conure who is almost 3 years old and is named Freyja (she is DNA tested female, since that species of parrots is not sexually dimorphic). She is a veritable toddler with wings.

I don't have icons yet, since I have just set up my account, but I intend to have some soon.

arlie

I follow a number of substack blogs, in spite of it being the worst blogging platform currently available, or at least the worst known to me. It's designed to prioritize monetization, and to that end reduce conversation between subscribers. It also was shipped incomplete, as is normal in modern software, so minus basic features - including, at the time, the ability to edit one's comments e.g. to correct typos.

The latest misfeature I've noticed is that it allows duplicate names, and has only a hidden "report" button. A response of mine was liked and commented on by a person with the identical posting name to the blog owner. The response was straight up commercial spam. "Today, I’m thrilled to share with few subscribers a promising and transformative investment opportunity. ..."

I found the report button at last while composing this message, but found it only reported to the blog author. You need to click a link in the first report form to report the spammer to substack itself.

And it appears that you can't easily do both - the ability to report goes away once you've reported it. (I used 2 windows, and composed both reports before hitting save/send on either one.)

The report-to-substack also forces a choice of specific misbehaviour - because no one, certainly not the poster in question, could possibly violate multiple TOS at the same time - "impersonation" and "spamming" in this case.

At least they *have* a report function, even if it's hidden behind a discrete three dots (horizontal) lacking tool tip, and offering different options depending on context.

weofodthignen

The family across the street have moved out. Odds and ends, like garden furniture and a couple of carryon bags, keep appearing in a pile in the gutter and people take what they want. There's a house a few blocks away that does this every few weeks anyway: a couple of weeks ago, cheerleader pompoms, today a box with 4 pairs of kids' sneakers.

weofodthignen

I totally do not understand cat politics. Mama Violet haunted the driveway all day. She was there when I took out food and retrieved the newspaper. She was there when I brought out and refilled the cleaned dry food dish later that morning, and when I changed the water in the water bowls in the afternoon, and when I came back from walking, and when I raked the grass in front, and when I checked after dinner for any sign of Monty and Prudence, who I hadn't seen yesterday, when Mama Violet had also been hanging around. She hissed at me a lot. But she didn't eat much.

Then as the sun was going down, I saw Prudence sitting outside the side door. I put out food for her and Monty, then checked the back yard; and there was Monty sitting behind the garage. I'd been starting to wonder whether their mom had run them off. Glad to see she hasn't; or that they come back. But apparently they aren't hanging out together. I do not understand cat politics.

weofodthignen

Mama Violet appears to have decided she lives in the driveway. I go out ... she springs up from behind a bush.

weofodthignen

This week, another sighting of a Tesla with an apologetic sticker. And two sightings of a dark pink Cybertruck ... the second one with the graffitiesque logo (which I understand derives from some video game) on the side rather than the back end. I'm afraid they may be metastasizing.

weofodthignen

After dinner I was headed out to the driveway with some recycling when I looked straight down the garden path. There was Monty, who I hadn't seen for a couple of days, sitting under the plum tree, bolt upright, staring at me. So I provided the requested dish of food.

arlie

First paragraph of top story in AP's morning newsletter. (Italics mine)

The stunning success of Zohran Mamdani in the primary race for New York City mayor has exposed anew the fiery divisions plaguing the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair its brand nearly half a year into Donald Trump’s presidency.

The message - the Democratic party is a "brand", aka a publicly told myth having little or nothing to do with its products. They need to tell a more attractive story, no more true than any other "story", i.e. fiction.

The Democratic party needs to find some policies attractive to voters, advertise those policies, and deliver on them. Those policies should provide the benefits they claim, rather than being based on yet another political Big Lie (TM).

( Read more... )

weofodthignen

Got my new glasses, much quicker than expected. Thinner frames than I've been getting, so I must be careful not to drop 'em or fall off a ladder or anything. Sunglasses are black (with polarised lenses), indoor are darkish red. I can see better with the new ones.

weofodthignen

Grocery store trip: Nob Hill. They were out of an awful lot of stuff. I had difficulty getting three different round loaves of sourdough. So in case it's even worse next time we're there, I nabbed the last unexpired bag of our preferred ground coffee, and stocked up on wine for blót.

weofodthignen

The Chronicle weather guy is saying this week will be above normal temps, except maybe tomorrow. It was indeed pretty hot. The a/c came on in late afternoon. At dusk, after I finished my dins, I took out some recycling and Monty and Prudence were sitting in the driveway, apparently waiting for me. I saw their mom several times earlier; she's been hanging around halfway up the driveway as if she wants something, but it's certainly not a special feeding or any other attention from me. Maybe she just takes some pleasure in acting put out by my going to and fro, and hissing at me.

weofodthignen

The lovely, not too hot weather continues. This afternoon was very breezy. In the morning I started giving the privet-like bush a haircut, avoiding the sprigs of flowers. The greenwaste bin is nicely full, with room to add sweepings before I put it out.

weofodthignen

Two pairs of glasses ordered, and special eye vitamins purchased. Walgreen's was again almost deserted.

weofodthignen

Found a Sunday New York Times lying unclaimed in downtown Sunnyvale, in mid-week. Mine now. Strange to see how it's changed. And they seem to have shrunk the text size even further. So I finally got my eyes checked and I need new glasses, and sunglasses. The ophthalmologist is either from here or well acculturated. I walked in in sandals and a tie-dye T-shirt, with a rainbow bandana on my head, and she asked me whether I was "still" working on the computer in retirement. I eventually figured out she assumed I was a techie. Me. ROFL.

And today I blóted for Midsummer, although the wind meant three tries hallowing the drink. Monty turned out to have been watching me; I'd already fed Prudence in the driveway but I took him out a dish of his own.

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