How Do You Feel Today? v4

[Menolly]

[Avatar]

Something tells me Menolly is trying to say something...

--A

[Menolly]

Rabbit
Rabbit!
Rabbit!!

[Menolly]

גְמַר חַתִימָה טוֹבָה

[Avatar]

Well, mixed emotions today indeed.

For those who may not have noticed, Jay went full dictator and nuked the 'Tank. On the one hand, I'm sorry to see it gone, on the other, I'm glad to be shut of the negativity etc. etc.

Will see how I feel later I guess.

In other news, I was without power for 66 hours last week, Wed night to Saturday night. I might have mentioned the rotational blackouts we've been experiencing due to issues with the power grid, but another aspect is that criminals take advantage of the lack of power to steal power lines in order to strip out and sell the copper.

That's what happened to our local substation last week, and there was so much damage it took days to repair. Which sucked pretty badly.

Also, nearly over the worst of the massive amount of work we had to do last month, just the dregs still troubling me, but hopefully things will return to relative normal in the near future.

And, that's how I feel today.

--A

[aliantha]

Glad your power is back, Av.

As for me: Hi, everybody! The news that the Tank is gone brought me back to the Watch! We'll see how long it lasts...

Things are good here. I'm still in Santa Fe, just up the road from the Albuquerque contingent. I've seen Cameraman Jenn, Rigel, and danlo a few times since moving here a couple of years ago (it would be more often except for the pandemic...). Had cataract surgery this summer; MagickMarker came out for a month to help me out during my recovery. Uh, what else? I've been volunteering with a living history museum here in Santa Fe, I've joined a weaving guild, and shortly, I'll be starting my third year as a legal proofreader for the state legislature. Kinda done with fiction writing for now. I still do editing work for friends occasionally. That's about it.

[StevieG]

Good to see you Ali!

[Iolanthe]

Wow, the tank gone. Saw it on FB this morning so thought I would drop in. I have no news - been almost nowhere done almost nothing. Gave a talk last week on family history subject and giving another on the 19th, otherwise apart from going to the archives once a week to transcribe workhouse admission and discharge registers I do nothing except knit and listen to audio books. Oh, forgot, last week had my flu and covid boosters on the same day I went to the archives so that only counts as going out once.

[Avatar]

Nice to see you guys around.

Feeling a bit tired. Had more power issues last night, but hey, luckily it was only out for 8 hours...practically nothing by recent standards.

Otherwise, meh.

Carry on...

--A

[Menolly]

This Saturday is this year's P.Ink Day for the Greater Seattle area. I'll be at the event donating my time. You can use this link to help. The artists volunteer their services and supplies, but we like to be able to feed everyone.
https://donorbox.org/p-ink-day-greater-seattle

[StevieG]

I have no news -

Someone said "no news is good news" so... good to see you Io!

Speaking of audio books - I finally listened to an entire series. I actually loved it. It means I can listen to something while driving or washing up, etc. So I've finally "read" (listened to) the Harry Potter series. It was great!

[MsMary]

How come I didn't see any news on FB?

FB feeds are so quirky.

[aliantha]

I have no news -

Someone said "no news is good news" so... good to see you Io!

Speaking of audio books - I finally listened to an entire series. I actually loved it. It means I can listen to something while driving or washing up, etc. So I've finally "read" (listened to) the Harry Potter series. It was great!

I can't listen to audio books while I'm driving. Either I lose track of the narrative or get lost in the story and miss a turn.

[Savor Dam]

My one experience with audiobooks was (appropriately!) Scott Brick's reading of the First Chrons. Menolly had bought it as a gift for me some years earlier, but it had gone unheard until Dam-sel and I took a two-week roadtrip in 2019. We listened to those recordings from Seattle to Twin Falls to Durango to Las Cruces to Alamgordo to Phoenix to Bakersfield to Livermore to Red Bluff to Canyonlands to Seattle.

Yes, we paused the story in places like Salt Lake, Albuquerque, Phoenix, the SF Bay area, etc., where conditions required full attention for one or both of us...but on the open road in BF Nowhere, it is easy to listen to tales like the Chrons and use the Landscape around you to further enhance your mental imaging of the story's setting.

It was also Dam-sel's first direct exposure to the content of the story. She's known that SRD was a favorite author of mine since the mid '80s, but she is more of a Brooks reader (not that there is anything wrong with that). She puts up with Menolly and I talking about the books and our Watch participation, but that trip was her first engagement with the story.

[Damelon]

I can't listen to audio books while I'm driving. Either I lose track of the narrative or get lost in the story and miss a turn.

That’s why I don’t listen to them. I have a couple of podcasts that I like to listen to in the morning over coffee. If I get distracted by, say working on the days Wordle, I lose track of the conversation. It would be the same thing if I was driving listening to an audiobook.

[Avatar]

Yeah, that's my other issue with them, apart from them being slow...If I do something else while listening to something, I actually stop hearing it. I can't even listen to a "talking head" video...I have to watch it, otherwise I lose the thread instantly.

--A

[Fist and Faith]

apart from them being slow...

I hadn't considered how bad that must be for someone like you. Not bad for me with my reading speed. But you must climb the walls!

[StevieG]

Yeah the pace of audio books is fine with me - I'm a slow reader too

They definitely need to be listened to in the right setting. Household chores are a good one for me. I hate household chores, but if I can listen to a book whilst doing them, it's bearable!

I am listening to my first Scott Brick book now - not bad, although I think Stephen Fry set the bar high with the Harry Potter books.

[Menolly]

Last night's Meet and Greet for the 2022 edition of P.ink Greater Seattle's P.Ink Day was a blast. All of the recipients were excited and so grateful to be there. The donation of food from the Tacoma Olive Garden was appreciated and devoured, helping the atmosphere of comradery and anticipation develop.
I'm really looking forward to the actual event today; to chatting, laughing, and possibly singing with ladies while they're getting their artwork, and seeing the designs the recipients are receiving.

[aliantha]

but on the open road in BF Nowhere, it is easy to listen to tales like the Chrons and use the Landscape around you to further enhance your mental imaging of the story's setting.

I can definitely see that happening here in NM. I dunno how much time you guys have spent in the northern part of the state, but I am continually stunned by the varied typography.

While Magickmarker was here this summer, we drove up to the fiber spinning mill in Mora, then drove through the burn scar from the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire to Taos. Beautiful and terrible.

Driving up toward Ghost Ranch from Santa Fe, you get a whole different landscape -- multicolored cliffs and Cerro Pedernal. And if you drive up US 550 from Bernalillo to Farmington, you go through Georgia O'Keeffe's "black place". That has a different wow factor.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not sure I could drive through any of those places while listening to an audio book. I'd run off the road trying to concentrate on both the book and the scenery.