posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
james_davis_nicoll at 05:53pm on 14/12/2025
james_davis_nicoll at 05:53pm on 14/12/2025
There are 2 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
Reload page in style: light
Times are bad, children no longer obey their parents and everyone's got a blog. Read.
james_davis_nicoll at 05:53pm on 14/12/2025james_davis_nicoll at 09:05am on 14/12/2025james_davis_nicoll at 08:46am on 14/12/2025 under because my tears are delicious to you, review
andrewducker at 12:00pm on 14/12/2025 under batteries, bbc, bigotry, electricity, genetics, history, iq, lgbt, links, ohforfuckssake, psychology, solarpower, twins Not a great week. Started out well, with cat cuddles and walks Sunday and
Monday mornings. Then came my GP appointment.
Of course, I was supposed to be fasting, so that was a bust. And I picked
up my re-filled prescriptions (the pharmacy is across the street), but
there was one missing. So I went in again for labs on Thursday, and they
couldn't find a vein. WTF? They advised me to try at the hospital. Labs
at HagaZiekenhuis require an appointment, but fortunately I already
had an appointment, following up on my anemia. So that was
Friday. Skipped breakfast, went in, handed them both lab forms,
one stick and done. And their website works, so I got to see the
results ahead of the appointment next week.
Oh yeah, I also had a psych appointment Thursday afternoon, to discuss
antidepressants, which actually went well. I really don't have any idea
how to make use of therapy, but I like talking about myself, my problems,
and my family. Follow-up in two weeks.
CW: medical, whingeing.
Since April or therabouts,
my "GP" is a clinic with a handful of doctors and a bunch of assistants.
It took me a while (months) to finally figure this out. Anyway, Carmen --
the assistant I saw on Monday -- couldn't find my lab results from 20
November. Fortunately I'd asked for a printout at my previous
appointment, so I scanned that and sent it by email. I got my BP meds
changed somewhat. Then labs on Wednesday.
Then yesterday I tried attending Festival of the Living Rooms, the quarterly online filk con that started almost by accident during Covid. But instead of using the Zoom app, which just works, they insisted on going through the web app embedded on their shiny new website. Calling it beta quality is being generous. FotLR may have jumped the shark this time.
Naturally I didn't get much done otherwise, although I did go back and look at the scratch tracks I'd recorded for my next album, Amethyst Rose. Um... They were recorded between 2004 and 2010! WTF? I'll have to see whether anything can be rescued from that debacle.
Enough griping. Links! How about Grooming a Giant Rescue Maine Coon Cat? And Monday's APOD, Flying Over the Earth at Night, a time-lapse from the ISS. Particularly noteworthy for the footage of the Aurora Australis starting at 1:20
If you have lots of free time, take a look at WikiFlix. CONTENT WARNING: very deep rabbit hole full of old movies.
And finally, because of the season and because it's incredibly cool, here's The Ukrainian Origin of “Carol of the Bells” | The Story of Shchedryk (Щедрик). Turns out the tune was taken from an old New Year's Day chant, from back when New Years Day was celebrated on Beltane. Better, here's the Original Ukrainian Version, sung first in a pretty littleral English translation (with Ukranian subtitles!), then in Ukranian. And best of all, here's a Remix by the B&B project for bandura and button accordion.
james_davis_nicoll at 07:12pm on 13/12/2025andrewducker at 08:46pm on 13/12/2025 under minecraftjames_davis_nicoll at 09:39am on 13/12/2025Aside from Larry Correia, are there any big name Baen authors who debuted at Baen, after Jim Baen's death?
(So, Tim Powers wouldn't count because he debuted not at Baen and also long before JB died)
james_davis_nicoll at 01:26pm on 12/12/2025
james_davis_nicoll at 09:03am on 12/12/2025 under doing the wfc's homework, doing what the wfc cannot, review
andrewducker at 12:00pm on 12/12/2025 under ai, business, citizenship, clothing, disney, economics, funny, history, language, links, maps, ohforfuckssake, punctuation, regulation, school, uk, writing
"...Go see what this young man is really like. Then come back and tell me if he truly deserves coal in his stocking."
It was absolutely against protocol. It was wildly inefficient. It was a complete deviation from two centuries of procedure.
"I could leave tomorrow," Noel heard himself say.[loc. 61]
Short sweet Christmas m/m romance novella: Noel Frost, an elf, has been managing the Naughty List Department for over two hundred years. For the last decade, he's pulled the file of Ezra Vince, street artist and befriender of stray cats, who's been on the Naughty List for the last ten years. Noel is something of a stickler for the rules, but Mrs Claus sends him to investigate whether Ezra is actually Naughty or ... the other thing.
I was suffering from a surfeit of pre-Christmas crowds and hecticity: this was the perfect antidote. Nicely written, sweet, humorous and fun. There are more in the 'Claus Encounters' series...
contentToday I am thankful for...
gratefulandrewducker at 07:12pm on 11/12/2025danieldwilliam gave me his old one, and I spent a couple of weeks taking results. Which mostly showed that my pressure is fine in the morning, but that after I've spent 90 minutes shouting at Gideon to stop bloody well mucking about and go to sleep, it's a fair chunk higher than it should be. They also sent me for an ECG (which showed I have Right Bundle Branch Block, a harmless and untreatable condition that affects 15% of the population), an eye test (which found nothing), and a fasting blood test (which showed I'm still not diabetic, even though I can't have sugar in my diet even slightly any more).james_davis_nicoll at 12:51pm on 11/12/2025