debrota.bsky.social

Am I the only one who is upset that missles are flying and bombs are falling in the Middle East? Couldn't we have found a less lethal way to be distracted from the Epstein files?

Tonight finished watching Episode 6 of Ken Burns' American Revolution. Learned a lot I didn't know. Awed by much of it. Humbled by all of it. Anyone who hasn't seen it... should.

Black Friday was totally meh this year. It used to be fun and wallet-draining. I bought a couple of Christmas gifts online. I visited multiple brick and mortar stores but bought only some groceries and a used book at Half Price Books, and that was primarily to get a free 2026 calendar with coupons.

He's dead, Jim. My longest-lived mobile phone, iPhone 5S, no longer powers on. His battery was bulging (for the second time in the life of the device) and I tried to replace it myself. I'm gonna miss the old thing, which fit beautifully into any pocket. New phones are f-ing HUGE!

Lots of distressing news lately. One ray of hope is that when I wake from sleep, having had my mobile phone on a charger during the night, the display reports "100%". A new day. Another chance for something good. Full power.

Each of us should make a simple list of the things our federal government does that directly provide value to us. I don't get SNAP, Social Security, or Medicaid. I do use national parks, weather reports, air traffic control, interstate highways, disease control, NIH research, and the post office.

Gerrymandering is simply wrong. It should be possible for a computer algorithm to be given census data and driving distances/times, and to then assign to each person a congressional district. Each district's boundary would be determined by the algorithm, not by politicians.

Attended a No Kings demonstration in Lebanon, Indiana today. In a deeply red county in a deeply red state. I'd say 200+ people were there. No violence. No police or ICE or National Guard I could see. No news media. Everyone friendly, many in costumes. America at its best.

Am I the only one who worries that masked ICE will be shooting to kill on Oct 18? There will be plenty of targets for them, so they won't need to be good marksmen.

I remember when we used to call it science fiction. Now we just call it news. We literally cannot take seriously any headline or announcement that comes our way. This is especially true if it has anything to do with the federal government.

I haven't played bridge in years. But I'd be up for starting again, just so I could occasionally bid "no trump". It would make me smile to do so.

Not a brag. Just a quick post to say that I just got the latest COVID vaccination. Because I hope it will help me avoid complications from long COVID if I get it (again). Because I hope it will keep me out of the hospital or crematorium. Because I hope it will keep someone else from getting it.

Is it just my imagination, or is the percentage of Bluesky posts somehow relating to cats now larger than ever? What does this say about the state of the world and the people in it? Should we worry if cats get more attention than climate change, wars, corrupt politicians, etc.?

AI told me I had to share this.

Got my 6th COVID vaccination a few days ago. Very mild body aches lasted ~24 hours. Reminder: you don't just vaccinate for your own sake, but also to help others.

Pharmacist told me today I was eligible for another COVID booster. I'd have had the jab immediately but for just-purchased ice cream melting in my car. Seriously. You get vaccinated not just for yourself and the people you love, but also for the people you don't even know. You may save a life.

When I was a kid, the newspaper told us what was playing a local movie theaters and TV Guide said what was on TV. There was no VCR, no cable TV. You watched what was available. Today, we can literally watch anything ever made into a movie. So choosing takes a LONG time and some arguments.

If you are ignorant or unable to make sensible decisions, should you be allowed to vote? What if you are intoxicated? What if you are unable to recognize the name of a candidate for an office? Democracy assumes that you make an intelligent contribution to an election when you vote.

De minimus. Read about it. It's how we have until recently been able to pay very low prices for goods made in China. I bought mostly tools and crafting supplies. Anyway, recent actions of our so-called government have changed it, and then changed the changes. Chaos, if you want to buy things.

Seen the term "AI slop"? It apparently is used to disparage things presumed to have been generated by people giving minimalist prompts to AI tools. "Cartoon in the style of Randall Munroe's XKCD", or "Image of a baby POTUS signing an Executive Order with a crayon". Clever prompting is creativity.

Found a diary kept by my mother in the 1950s. Just wow. Not salacious. Thoughtful. Strengthens my frequently-offered advice to young people... keep a diary or journal. You may live long enough to be glad you did, and your descendants will know you better than possible with pictures or videos.

Much of primary care involves conversation between patient and provider. In many cases text-only conversation can suffice. But not in all cases. Live videoconference is better, offering providers nonverbal information absent in text, and building trust in patients. www.wired.com/story/dr-oz-...

Is handyman now a real profession? I've recently had two very successful occasions using a handyman for things I wouldn't have done properly or didn't want to attempt. I believe I paid a fair price and that those doing the work were paid reasonably for their time and effort.

I don't understand it. I've purchased lots of fitness equipment over the years. Why am I not stronger? Why am I still fatter than I would like? Have I been purchasing the wrong equipment? It seems to be in working order. I mean, I haven't tested it or anything.

So a friend of mine ordered a new BMW prior to the election. It's now on a German dock waiting to be shipped to the US. But with tariffs, cost will be $16K more than the purchase agreement. Who should pay this? BMW dealer? Buyer? Conald?

This is just a simple message to Democratic party organizations. If you would like me to contribute money, I want to see some significant activity. Not just fundraising. Not just griping. I want to see some actual opposition to Conald and DOGE. I want to see Congress doing its job.

Simple question. Vogon poetry or a compilation of Conald's speeches over the past year. Your choice will play into your earbuds at medium volume for the next 12 straight hours. You are not allowed access to alcohol, cannabis, or any consciousness-impairing substances. Suicide is not an option.

I understand Voice of America is now silent. Please join me in a moment of silence.

For St. Patricks Day I wore some green and tried yak meat for the first time. Just a normal day, really.

Microsoft sent yet another email warning about Win10 end of support on Oct 14. It reminds me of the Y2K craziness that the tech world put us through in 1999, and which turned out to be nobigdeal. If you can't move your hardware to Win11, get out your wallet or start browsing Linux distros.

Looking for new arcade-style video games for someone with cognitive difficulty that can be played with the arrow keys on a standard keyboard. Imagine not enough dexterity and too much tremor to use a mouse or game controller. Screen not too crazy. Tired of oldies like Tetris, Space Invaders.

Found advice. It's more mentally healthy to be optimistic than realistic.

Ways to Avoid Being Hired. Author unknown, written at least 20 years ago, but much still relevant today.

Ten Commandments For Crushing Creativity Original author unknown, to me anyway.

Two words I just came across. Malvertising. Typo-squatting. Both are things you'd like to stay away from. Does anyone recall seeing a new word lately that is something good?

An old publication I came across. Paid for by our tax dollars. This is NIH, and why we should be proud of it.

Just to clarify... valet parking is never "free". You need to tip the people who park and return your cars.

How to destroy Bluesky: Keep posting the exact same content others have posted, over and over. Insure that the repetition is painful to those scrolling for random input, new stimulation, distraction from everyday frustrations, etc. Don't author, just copy. Let no one else's work evade your eyes.

I still have class notes I took on lined paper, usually with a mechanical pencil, from my time in college. It is sobering to look at them again after so many years. I have forgotten so much. I was so young.

French singers from the 1960s on the smart speaker. Sipping Canadian whisky. Not purchasing from Target.com. Wondering how else I can vote with what dollars I have to spend.

Sprang forward this morning. Not really devastating, but stimulates thinking about it. Why do we do it? What does it cost? What real benefits does it provide? Why not just let selected businesses have "summer hours" and "winter hours"? Most businesses would keep same hours all year long.

Found a Sony remote control from >13 years ago, with original Sony brand alkaline batteries in it. Not a hint of leakage. Duracells and Eveready batteries leak much quicker, I think. Boring post? Hey, at least it's not political!

Shipped anything lately? UPS ground residential, 2 lb box, 10"x7"x5". Sent from Indiana to Massachusetts. $16.10. Expected to arrive in 5 days. I am not sure if USPS would have been cheaper. But my point is only that such a box would not long ago have been under $10 to ship.

We have a 2017 plug-in hybrid for which we buy only about 100 gallons of gasoline/year. Indiana levies a $77 annual hybrid car fee, equivalent for us to ~$0.77/gallon. Indiana state gasoline tax is only $0.35/gallon (+ 7% sales tax). Indiana is trying to discourage electric vehicles?

Am I the only one who would like to see every LLM response accompanied by an estimate of how much electrical energy was consumed in the development of the response? I think chatbots are great but I do wonder how much fossil fuel is being consumed in operating them.

Not shopping today, so I have more time to create posts with the slim hope of annoying bigots, racists, idiots, and red voters. Perhaps I'll try to think up more derogatory names for Tesla bizzarrotrucks, or maybe just whine about the death of medical research.

If SS benefits are "not taxed", does that only mean that persons with no other income will pay zero federal income tax? Or does it mean that SS income is not added to total income, and thus not subject to marginal tax rate? And will SS income still get taxed by states and localities?

I will pause spending on Feb 28 as a silent vote against having my government destroyed by random terminations, installation of incompetents, sabotage of information systems, denial of service to deserving people, and incalculable damage to the prestige of civil service. Please consider joining me.

Five days in, and the Valentine's Day flowers are still pretty. We have absolutely got to celebrate the little things these days!

I read that ex-federal employees are putting homes up for sale. Moving on to greener pastures. The people who replace them will be inexperienced and qualified only by demonstration that they own MAGA hats. No sensible smart person will try to get a federal job in the next few years.