jenk

Today I'm thankful for: 
1) Retirement so I didn't have to try to work before and after going to the dentist. 
2) Finding a new, more-local dentist.  Three fillings later... 
3) Stacey Abrams. 
4) Jesse making crab salad sandwiches for dinner. 

Our electricity is out, so we're pulling from the house battery. This is our cue to turn down the thermostat and any unneeded appliances. Then we wonder why the house "pull" has increased even though we've turned things off.  (Note the kitchen fridge does as it will, as does the extra fridge and freezer in the garage.)

Here near latitude 47/near Seattle, it's increasingly dark outside at 3pm.  Why doesn't this happen in June when it's light until 9pm? Oh right, climate. 

Anyway. Going to move to the sunroom on the west side of the house. It has skylights and wiindows on 3 sides, so if there is ANY natural light available, it's there.  

Jesse brought me coffee this morning. 
Fish tacos. 
Mended some clothes.
Library ebooks. 
Re-read six or so Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow books.
Read Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher.

This week:

1) Made appointment to have recalls addressed on the van.
2) Completed an errand that required leaving the house.
3) Keeping up with laundry.
4) Got sewing machine serviced.
5) Finished crocheting a beret
6) Jesse :)

1 Weather.  I know, I live in the greater Seattle area, but we've had a stretch of sunny days. I'm pleased.
2 The "Make Me Smart" podcast from Marketplace.org is back from the holiday break.
3 Library.  Some recent interesting books were Ina Garten's memoir (Be Ready When the Luck Happens), Happy Town, Some Desperate Glory, and Elly Griffiths' story collection.
4 Keeping knee pain at bay with exercise. 

This is how I approach the treadmill. 


https://the-devils-panties-feed.dreamwidth.org/1472238.html

Power is out in my part of Kenmore.  Currently in the sunroom, which at least has a decent amount of sunlight. 

The battery system powered CPAPs and kept the house at 60F. Solar is currently providing power and recharging the house battery.

Comcast internet/cable is down. I have my phone, but. Sad how dependent I can be on 1s and 0s.

Relatively painless blood draw in advance of annual physical. It was a fasting  draw, but I have discovered it's easier to get up without an immediate need for caffeine and food if you're not sleep deprived in general.  (WHO KNEW???) 

Fun with Woobles. I've got a cactus smiling at me from across the room.

Plants that keep surprising me. Two volunteer rosebushes, mint seeds sprouting ages after I gave up and replanted with other seeds....

Vanessa the plug-in hybrid. The vast majority of my trips are within electric range, we have a charger at home, so unless we do a road trip we don't need to bother with gas. (I realized today I don't remember which side has the opening for the gas tank. I do know where the electric charging port is.) 

Finding a "Get Out The Vote" job I can do. In my case it's postcards reminding people to vote. I was sent nice postcards with reminder to vote on Nov 5, some tested-out messages, and addresses. I'm providing stamps and labor (addressing and writing a "Thank you for being a voter!" message).  I went through https://turnoutpac.org/postcards/ but there are others.

Tillamook medium cheddar

Glad I got a few extra ebooks from the library during the DNC

Checking Bluesky this morning may have been a mistake :(  Oh joy, the US Supreme Court is worse than I thought. Argh.

That said, I did slightly assist Jesse in attacking blackberries behind some roses; I used a rake to hold rose canes out of the way while he went back to the blackberry canes growing next to the house. Also as usual, on Monday I did some treadmill time with Marketplace podcasts from last week.

Treadmill is usually MWF. Baby steps for now, but working on getting heart, lungs, and muscles to all cooperate.

Books finished recently: 

• Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R. Lorac. 1930s mystery set in London. Twisty and interesting.
• No, You Shut Up: Speaking Truth to Power and Reclaiming America by Symone D Sanders. Published in 2020, part memoir and part how-to of a political operative and communications professional.
• Death Comes At The End by Agatha Christie. Christie's only book set in the past (ancient Eygpt) and with a non-European cast. Agatha created this book at the urging of an Eygptologist friend of hers, and it's based in part of real letters from the time. It's a bit slow going but I did enjoy it.
• They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall. It's an updated And Then There Were None, all the way to the end.
• State Tectonics by Malka Older, the third in her Centenal Cycle. (Read Infomacracy first, then Null States)

I have now weakened enough to turn on MSNBC. Hi Rachel.

The weather changed.

I woke up with one of worser sinus headaches. Took daily meds (which includes allergy meds) with water and realized I felt dehydrated; drank more water. Coffee and breakfast helped more as the meds really kicked in. Now I'm willing to listen to quiet talking podcast.

It's also colder than it has been, and rain in forecast this afternoon. Oh right, weather can cause headaches.

  ---

The podcast, btw, is "Why Is This Happening?" hosted by Chris Hayes. This episode is Chris interviewing Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker. I'm intrigued to learn Signal is a non-profit that specifically does not sell advertising, and so has no reason to track a lot of data that other apps track as a matter of course.