fflo | Reading

We have, in fact, made our way through the list. My bedroom closet now has ONLY clothes and shoes and my ironing board. Perfection. It just needs organization - designer coming Tuesday.

The storage area used to look like this:

And what you couldn't see was an even bigger pile o' crap.

Now it looks like this:

I need to go through all those plastic boxes and I'll be half that shit can go right to the dumpster but that's a project for another time.

In addition to the closet, the utility room gained some breathing room, too. Nice.

We took Biggie to the vet. His bladder is way better but he still has stones. One option was to operate tomorrow to remove them. But the option the vet recommended was to try one more time to dissolve the rocks. He's now back to a pill twice a day. For a month. If the stones are still there, then operation time. Meanwhile he's Jimmy Buffet stoned on the gabapentin I gave him for the vet visit. And it's pretty hilarious.

Me and Biggie at the vet.

We're off tonight for dinner at a dim sum place Bonny and I have wanted to try and we are taking her with us. Should be fun.

maju

I couldn't get to sleep last night because I had all this health insurance stuff on my mind, so I only managed about 5 hours sleep. I expect to sleep better tonight.

It's a very sunny and mild day today; it was -1°F/30°F when I got up, but by 9 am it was a couple of degrees above freezing. I used the rebounder for about 15 minutes to get myself warmed up and then went for a walk, first to the library to print my letter and then home by a long way so I covered about 5 km/3 miles altogether. It was beautiful weather for walking although there was a slight breeze, and I really enjoyed the walk in spite of almost slipping on a couple of icy bit of the footpath. There's still old snow almost everywhere but the roads are very clear and the footpaths aren't too bad although they have some parts that weren't well cleared and are now icy because of the snow thawing during the day and then refreezing overnight.

At one point I stopped to take photos of the tops of the bare trees against the deep blue sky; I heard someone calling and when I looked around, it was a woman standing in her yard on the other side of the street asking me what I was taking pictures of. I hope she wasn't suspicious that I was taking photos for some nefarious purpose. I often worry when I'm out during the day taking photos for the family photo challenge that people will get upset about me pointing my phone at their yard or their house or whatever. It's better when it's light early and I can go out before most people are up to take such photos. So far I've never been challenged though. I don't think the woman this morning was challenging me, I think she was just curious, because I was obviously pointing my camera up towards the sky. (It was for the prompt "skyline".)

minoanmiss

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maju

Towards the end of October I emailed the place (the National Finance Center) to which I have to send my health insurance payments (for the health insurance I inherited from S's work) telling them I was about to change my address to Connecticut. They quickly emailed back telling me I could not be covered by Kaiser in Connecticut (which I already knew) so I would need to choose a new plan (from a list they supplied with plans available in Connecticut) and email the details back to them along with my new address. I promptly did that - and have heard nothing since. I believe I should have received confirmation of my new coverage along with a year's worth of coupons (for want of a better word) (payment stubs I guess) to attach to the cheques for the monthly payments I would need to make. But no, I did not receive either an email or any paperwork, and the Medicare site still shows my primary insurance as being Kaiser, and even this is wrong I've since discovered - I'm not working so Medicare should be my primary insurance while Kaiser would be my secondary.

Because Medicare thinks Kaiser is my primary insurance they are not paying for everything as I expected, and it seems that Kaiser isn't picking up any of the bills either so I'm getting billed for things I thought Medicare would cover.

Over the last couple of weeks I've emailed the National Finance Center a couple more times with the same new health plan and new address information as before, but still no response. Yesterday I decided this is all too complicated and I'll just try to cancel the private health insurance. I read through the meagre amount of paperwork they sent me a year ago when they first set me up with my payment plan, and found that to cancel the insurance you have to send them a hard copy signed and dated letter telling them you want to cancel. So I composed the necessary letter and this morning I walked over to the library to print it out (because my daughter's printer is out of ink), then walked back across the road to the post office to mail off the signed and dated letter. I really hope somebody reads and responds to this letter, because I just want to wash my hands of the whole thing.

susandennis

My brother is down in his room taking a nap and I'm resting before I tackled more shit. We got so much done today.

We assembled the coffee table which turned out to be non trivial BUT also perfect. I love how it looks and functions.

Then we emptied out the storage space. I really did throw most of it away. Way in the back was a motorized scooter that I wanted out of there. I put it in there in October of 2023 and have not touched it since. We finally got it out and put back together and miracle of miracles, the battery sprang to life and I was able to drive it!! That's some kind of something there. I drove it down to my car parking space. And took a picture. I'm going to post a 'if you want it, go get it' sign in the mail room and, hopefully, that will be the end of that.

Then we fretted over stupid Amazon. I ordered 2 sets of plastic shelves that were supposed to be here Monday. Then they said Tuesday. They are now saying Friday. Once I realized that they would not be here in time to be of use, I ordered 2 more. They are supposed to be here tomorrow but are coming by USPS so whothefuckknows.

And the bulk of what I want done depends on those shelves. So after some research, we just got into the car and went to Home Depot and bought some wire shelves that are much better than the plastic ones. But they were pretty big... bigger than the car (which to be fair, is not big). So we stood around and conjured - pinging ideas around. And then Bill asked about Bonny (who volunteered to take me to return the Amazon shelves back to UPS) which I immediately dismissed. But then I remembered she was already out running errands so I called her and yep she was on her way home at the traffic circle and just rounded it and came to get me and the shelves while my brother drove the tiny car home. She was very happy to do it so I was really glad he thought of it.

We got the shelves built and into the storage space and I have now emptied my closet of 95% of the non-clothes/non-shoes items. I am exhausted and sore and so satisfied! There is nothing stored under the bed. The utility room has a lot more room. The closet is nearly ready for the closet designer. Yahoooo!

Now I have to clear off this table and clear off my bed and get ready to go to dinner.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3191/

It's important to teach yourself to feel responsible for random events, because with great responsibility comes great power. That's what my wise Uncle Ben told me right before he died; he might still be alive today if only I'd said rabbit rabbit that year!

https://xkcd.com/3191/

maju

Violet was very excited to receive her first letter from Mail Order Mysteries, and spent quite a lot of time working on it. It seems to be about being a spy and what that entails; there was a series of questions about herself for her to answer. Some were about her likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses, and some were about her physical abilities, for example how long she can run for and how many pushups she can do. She started running around the house with me timing her on my phone, but quickly decided that she already knows she can run for an hour so (because of doing just that at last term's Running Club at her school) so she didn't have to keep running around the house, so then she did some pushups and just managed 10 before collapsing. She is taking this whole thing very seriously.

Apart from keeping up with regular exercise (yesterday a walk, today 45 minutes on the rebounder) I feel completely unmotivated to do anything much and have felt this way ever since arriving here in November. My daughter says I shouldn't beat myself up about it, that it's a natural consequence of the stresses of the last couple of years of my life, and I guess she's right. It's also partly a result of not having things conveniently set up to do the things I would normally do. For example, instead of two separate tables for sewing and puzzling, one small table is having to do double duty. And I haven't got a dedicated computer table either, so I have to use my computer on my lap or at the dining room table, neither of which is ideal, although I'm kind of used to it after being here for two months already.

sabotabby

Just finished: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Did you know that the edition I have ends with an afterword from the author asking people to read his 1200-page book twice? Anyway I am very proud of myself as I managed to finish it around 30 minutes before the hold was due back at the library.

So, is it good? Yes. Do I totally get it? Not totally, though yes, more than I would have if I'd read it when I was 16. Definitely the time stuff, the illness stuff, the characters who are thinly veiled stand-ins for pre-WWI European political debates, yes. But of course, it's a very different world now—there is no longer the temptation to embrace illness as freedom, the idea that you can just convalesce for years in what amounts to a different reality, the fairy-tale world of the sanatorium. Which is why the ending hits so brutally hard. Structurally, the first half of the book is Hans Castorp's first three weeks on the mountain, and then it goes blurry, and the next seven years pass in a dreamlike state, with the changing of the seasons and the coming and going (through death and otherwise) of the patients being the only sense that time exists at all. And then there's essentially a massacre of half the cast in various ways, culminating in the arrival of WWI, and Hans disappearing into a viscerally described battlefield; time and history do exist after all, and it collides with the dream.

Reading it in 2026, of course, I am struck by the debates between Settembrini, representing humanism, and Naphta, representing totalitarianism (Catholicism/communism/fascism, but look, Mann was very much working out his political ideas in this book), but something I didn't talk about last week is Mynheer Pieter Peeperkorn (yes this is a character name) who pops up late in the book as Clavdia Chauchat's sugar daddy. He's a larger-than-life figure who gets described as kingly and charismatic despite being far too old for her, distracting Hans from the aforementioned philosophical debate with revels, partying, and a hella Freudian love triangle. I'm particularly struck by his speech patterns. Look, the guy is basically Trump; he is charismatic because the other characters (except Settembrini, who winds up being the only character who comes off well by the end) read meaning into his rambling words that isn't there. This book feels so incredibly apropos for our present day despite being over a century old.

Anyway, I finished The Magic Mountain, ask me anything lol.

Currently reading: Invisible Line by Su J. Sokol. You know, something light and fun after reading all that. Ahahaha. This is hopepunk but I'm assuming that the hope part comes in more towards the end. It was first published in 2012 and the first 50 pages were such that I had to text the author and ask if xe had like, rewritten it for the current edition to update it or something? Xe had not. I suppose the direction was obvious in 2012 where the political climate was moving but it's nonetheless one of those unsettling dystopian books, set in a crumbling fascist US rife with surveillance and police brutality.

Laek, a history teacher, Janie, his activist lawyer partner, and their two kids, Siri and Simon, are doing their best to live a normal life in New York, but Laek was a bit more of a spicy activist when he was a teenager, and his fake ID is no longer cutting it. So they make the decision to flee by bike to Montreal, which has declared itself a sanctuary city in tension with the Canadian government. It's basically too relatable, with a bunch of moments where the characters wonder if it's too much, if they should stay and fight the small battles they can or GTFO while it's still a possibility. There's a scene early on of a teachers' union meeting where a new policy means that the teachers must report their children to immigration, and it's the most accurate depiction of this kind of scenario I've run across in fiction, and yeah. If your feelings about living under fascism, or next door to fascism, are escapism, this book is going to be too real; if however, like me, you need to just read more about living under fascism, you'll be into it.

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: insomniac

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: exhausted

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: anxious

susandennis

This will likely be a traveling entry. My brother should be landing any minute. He's landing at a gate that is connected to the airport by train so even if he touches ground now, it will be a while yet before I can pick him up.

My annual doctor's visit was very interesting. I aced my old people's exam, - remember 5 words, name animals, draw a clock. Then I asked her to mark my COPD as resolved and she was happy to do that. She listened to my heart and lungs and was very happy with what she heard. Then she asked me asked me if I had any issues. I explained that I thought my back was giving up the ghost and affecting my legs but I knew it was because I'm fat and old and out of shape and would work on at least the last part maybe but no promises. She was very cool about all of it and then started talking about semaglutides. She said "we used to say there was no magic pill but now there is one!" I told her that I thought you had to change your diet for those. I am willing to not eat as much but I am not going to turn into a kale tofu bunny. She said 'We'd look at this in terms of relieving your pain, not for specific numbers.' Interesting.

She explained the differences and the possible side effects and options and price.

She said that supposedly Medicare will be picking up coverage in April. "Wanna think about it and reconvene then?" I told her that sounded perfect.

Then off to get labs. I drank a giant bottle of water so I was ready and it turns out she didn't even order a urine test!! I guess diabetes is off the table. Nice. The blood taker was grateful for the extra hydration and, she got it all in one try. Woot!!

Now, of course, I'm trying to decide if I want to brave the porta potty here or hold it til we get to a decent toilet.

He has landed!! More later.

maju

I'm always surprised at how "not cold" it can feel outside when the temperature is around or a degree or two above freezing and there's no wind, especially when we've had a string of very windy days or several days in a row of below freezing temperatures. This morning when I got up it was about 1C/33F, so I went for a walk after breakfast rather than using the rebounder so that I could take some photos for my family's January photo challenge. I wore two long sleeved flannel shirts over a polo shirt, plus a fleece zip up hoodie on top, with a headband to keep my ears warm and lightweight gloves. About halfway through the walk I took off the headband and the gloves, and at one point I was even considering taking off the fleece jacket. I was amazingly comfortable for the whole walk, about 6 km/4 miles which took just over an hour. I did (re)discover that it's generally easier/safer to walk on the side of the road rather than on the sidewalk (if there is one) because the roads have been well ploughed but the sidewalks are more iffy. Parts have been cleared but other parts are still an icy/snowy mess.

I've just received notification that Violet's first mail order mystery instalment has been delivered. It was mailed from Ontario, Canada, yesterday, and travelled via Kentucky, so I consider that to be amazing customer service.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3190/

Some people argue that the tension and compression in the human skeleton is technically tensegrity, but it's missing the defining characteristic: making people say 'wtf, how is that thing floating?' when they see it.

https://xkcd.com/3190/

elainegrey

Disclaimer: my new year for goals and growth and change starts at the beginning of March because, ugh, darkness.

But happy new year! (Again) Because this is the first day back to work and so on, the year feels restarted even more today.

I celebrate that using strong ("Super-potent Ultra-high") steroids and antibiotics have brought great relief. I am cautiously optimistic, although i look forward to seeing the relief persist in the summer and in the midst of work stress.

I celebrate an insight from therapy that i may be bringing the sense of last year -- emergency on emergency -- to this year with C's upcoming surgery and the trip to Ohio. Instead of interpreting the energy of my colleagues as urgent critical -- thus emergency -- energy, i might try to interpret it as excitement enthusiasm.

Christine and i took a slightly delayed junket to Raleigh for a little more anniversary observation. The Gregg Museum of Art + Design had some powerful exhibits. The "In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers" wasn't as cool as i had hoped, but the cyanotypes on glass with gold gilding -- https://www.leahsobsey.com/thoreaus-flowers -- by Leah Sobsey were wonderful, as were also all the insects and pines that graced the entrance. I suspect my botanical interests wanted more; Christine thought it was great.

I hadn't expected ‘the halls of a changing sea’ and WORDS = POWER to be as moving as they were. WORDS = POWER was probably moving more in a meta-impression: queer and trans focused works up in a state (affiliated) institution stirred hope. ‘the halls of a changing sea’ also was a strong meta resonance with strong connections to plants and soil as well as queer identity. I look forward to experimenting with the soil of this place in my own way. Currently, what i want to do is carve a large chunk of the saprolite, rock so chemically weathered it is almost clay, soft and cuttable, yet still distinctly not clay. I want to set it on a raw log plinth and photography it regularly as it dissolves in the weather.

The museum had not existed when i was at State, but i had helped raise funds for it (as an undergraduate participant in the visual arts committee of the student activities program). As an undergraduate employee i did data entry, with the Avon perfume bottle collection most memorable. They still have them: http://searchgreggcollection.arts.ncsu.edu/mDetail.aspx?rID=1983.004.127a-b&db=objects&dir=GALLERYOFART&osearch=avon&list=res&rname=&rimage=&page=1

We also stopped at the used book store and exchanged a box of books we'd been hauling around, and then went to Krispy Kreme, which no longer has the diner-like counter, which i will always remember due to a poem someone wrote about meeting their best friend Jim Beam at the counter, and the professor Not Getting It. Much memory, very fun.

From oursin:

Grab the nearest book. Turn to page 126 The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

Phenology, Theresa M Crimmins "You can do this at your home by tracking daily temperatures and calculating accumulated growing degree days..."

Nifty!

susandennis

I finished up exercise class and walked home trying not to smell myself because I stink (no shower yesterday - same shirt). I picked out clothes to wear and went to turn on the shower. I pulled back the curtain and found this.

That towel was hanging from the top of the shower door when last I saw it. These little HGTV cats apparently redecorated with found materials and made themselves a cozy den. If the pool was not broken, I would have showered there and may never have even found out.

I turned on the light to 'encourage' them to vacate the premises but apparently, they voted against that. I actually could use some more steps this morning, maybe I'll just gather up my clothes and go down to the gym.,,

maju

I might have overdone the rebounding for the first few days; I felt somewhat stiff over most of my body for those few days. I know some of it was from squatting down for an extended period while I attached the bungee cords around the edges of the rebounder, but some of it was probably just because you're using muscles all over your body when you're rebounding. I've been reading up on rebounding (which I should have done before starting to use it), and learning that it works to tone your whole body even if you don't use it at a high intensity. Plus it's good for lymphatic drainage, which I already knew. I've now found quite a few 15 or 30 minute rebounder workouts for seniors and/or beginners online, so I'm working my way through those.

For Christmas I bought Mail Order Mystery kits for each of the girls. Aria's and Eden's arrived at the end of December, but poor Violet is still waiting for hers, which is very upsetting for her now that's she's seen what the other two received. Today I emailed the company and received a response within a couple of hours. They said they will send a second letter by expedited mail with tracking, so I hope they follow up with this. The original letters didn't have tracking (that I could find) which was very frustrating. They did say the first letter could just be held up in the mail system, which I understand, but that doesn't help Violet's impatience.

minoanmiss

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minoanmiss

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Current Mood: curious

susandennis

Tomorrow is a big day and so that makes today Big Day Eve! Ha.

It kicks off with my annual doctor's appointment. As an old person, I'll need to remember 3 words and draw a clock and a few more mind testing tricks. Then pee on command and donate blood. I like my doctor a lot and, fortunately, rarely need to see her. I do stress about missing a mind trick (I did draw the clock wrong once but corrected myself before I finished.) And insurance - is there a wrinkle I'm not seeing in this year's plan? And, of course, the peeing on command. But, it will all be fine.

And then I will stop by McDonald's for a sausage biscuit and coffee and head for the airport where I will arrive way too early. But, not early enough to come home first. My brother hasn't been here for a couple of years. We are in contact often but nothing beats a few days of idle chit chat, ideas exchange, and laughs. Plus just hanging out with the person who gets me.

It's rather luxurious to have the Timber Ridge guest room. Someone else will be making sure his bed linens are fresh and there are clean towels, soap, etc in his bathroom. I could have gotten a sleeper sofa and he could have stayed here but the guest room deal is so much nicer.

Today I plan on going back to that exercise class. Yesterday I walked out to the elbow a couple of times but otherwise did not leave my apartment. My back and legs were really pissed about that by last night. So today, I need to make sure I walk down to the lobby this afternoon at least once.

It's supposed to be dry today and rain tomorrow. But, someone fucked something up and it's pouring rain today. The dog park I can see from my window is a dog pond this morning. It's also pretty cold out right now, which is unusual. Around here, if it's cold, it's generally dry and if it's wet, it's usually warmer. This is why snow never finds us. There's too much fog to see the mountains that are usually capped with snow but I'm guessing they are getting a fresh coat.

sabotabby

Fiction

1.The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
2. Invisible Line, Su J. Sokol

maju

Apparently the cat caught a mouse sometime in the early hours of this morning. My son in law told me he was up (it was 3 or 4 am) and she brought it to him in the living room. He took it outside and left it in the snow (hoping that some predator would eat it), and the cat was running around seeming all upset that he had taken it away. I sincerely hope there was only one mouse.

I went for a shortish walk yesterday afternoon and in theory could do the same today as it's just on 0C/32F and there's no wind so it wouldn't be too unpleasant outside, but today I'm unmotivated. However, it was snowing this morning and the roads might be icier than they were yesterday. I've been using the rebounder every day, so I'm not lacking exercise.

susandennis

The woman who lived in this apartment before me 'donated' a very ugly Christmas table centerpiece. It lives in a credenza a long with other holiday decorations. Every holiday usually Bonny and/or Joan dig into the cabinet and sprinkle around whatever crap they find in there. I have now lived with this ugly Christmas centerpiece for three years and it was time to put me out of my misery.

So this morning, before anyone was up, I quietly moved it from the credenza to the dumpster. Next year, those who are still alive might say 'wonder what happened to whatsername's centerpiece?' or not. But at least I won't have to look at it for six weeks.

I have a load of laundry going and have done a bit more organizing/decluttering. I want to go snap a BEFORE of the storage area. I found the label maker!! Now, I cannot remember what I wanted to label. ARUGH. But at least I'm ready if the memory comes back.

minoanmiss

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Current Mood: determined

susandennis

I actually got started on my *brother's* project today! I started going through all the shit in the utility room. I'd really like to eliminate much and organize the rest. I thought I'd like to find a new/better home for the printer but now I'm thinking it's ok in there. But it needs more breathing room.

I have a bunch of shoebox size hard plastic boxes that are really frames with drawers and are wonderful for storing miscellaneous shit. I've had them for years and years. There are a bunch in the utility room and a bunch more in the bedroom closet.

My grand scheme is to empty out the storage unit. Toss 90% of that shit - put the 10% in the way back and then install shelves upon which all these plastic boxes will go. I think my plan will work. Christian thinks my plan will work. But I can't help but think there is some road block I am not considering.

Guess we'll find out next week.

The shelves I originally ordered (2 sets) came in a big box. Two smaller boxes in the big box. I needed to return them in that big box. But that box was too big for me to carry to the car. Too big to get into the car. So I took the two smaller boxes out, broke down the big box flat. Got it all into the car with everything else and headed out to UPS. It was pouring rain. I got the flat box and tape out of the car and took it inside and taped the flat back into a box. Then I dragged the two boxes into the store and onto the counter and the very very nice clerk helped me get it all back together again. It was pretty hilarious.

I was describing it at elbow coffee. Bonny said "SUSAN! My car is plenty big enough and you play your old lady card to get them to do the rest for you!" But my way was funnier.

Next up. Find my label maker. I know it's here somewhere.

fflo

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January 2026

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Page Summary

Page generated Jan. 13th, 2026 10:42 am

Your Source for 'Ff'lo

a compendium of that and this, but not necessarily in that order

Reading

All that's left is your haircut...

(no subject)

"Forgive my Northern Attitude"

(no subject)

A quickie

Superstition

(no subject)

Reading Wednesday

You've seen this one before

"Nationwide Trans Youth Care Ban Incoming"

Three bits of note

Just hanging in the cellphone lot

(no subject)

Tensegrity

(meme, health, work, us, observe)

Shower LOL

(no subject)

Title Formulations

Andrew Zimmern picks tastiest and least tasty animals

One more sleep

2026 Book Log

(no subject)

Do not tell anyone

Three Signalboosts

The flaw may be fatal

Hello.

January 2026

Page Summary