Daily Happiness
Sep. 3rd, 2025 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torachan2. I am still cced into all the store-side emails at work, despite my new position, so even though they are not priority, it makes for a lot of emails to go through when I've got a long weekend to catch up from. (I am cced by choice, as I want to still be in the loop.) But since they are not my responsibility anymore, it was faster to go through them and catch up, and I was able to do that at home while cooling off from my walk, so I was ready to actually focus on my main tasks once I got settled at work.
3. First day in the new office (well, it's the same office, but the second floor is a U shape and I'm in the opposite end of the U from where I was, and it's an enclosed (shared) room rather than the open space I was in before, so it feels very different). My desk is larger and I like it better than the kind of crappy one I had before, so that's nice. One thing I was bummed about is that it's further from the restroom that I was using, but actually it's very close to one of the first floor restrooms and close to the stairs, so it's faster or about the same amount of time to go to the bathroom, but I also get stairs in every time I go, which is nice.
4. Jasper likes to just chill on my desk sometimes. Thankfully as long as he's lying down, he's not actually in the way of anything.
Wednesday 3 September 1662
Sep. 3rd, 2025 11:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
diaryof_samuelpepys_feedUp betimes, but now the days begin to shorten, and so whereas I used to rise by four o’clock, it is not broad daylight now till after five o’clock, so that it is after five before I do rise. To my office, and about 8 o’clock I went over to Redriffe, and walked to Deptford, where I found Mr. Coventry and Sir W. Pen beginning the pay, it being my desire to be there to-day because it is the first pay that Mr. Coventry has been at, and I would be thought to be as much with Mr. Coventry as I can. Here we staid till noon, and by that time paid off the Breda, and then to dinner at the tavern, where I have obtained that our commons is not so large as they used to be, which I am glad to see. After dinner by water to the office, and there we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship hulkes, where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid; and yet when the candle is going out, how they bawl and dispute afterwards who bid the most first.
And here I observed one man cunninger than the rest that was sure to bid the last man, and to carry it; and inquiring the reason, he told me that just as the flame goes out the smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that he do know the instant when to bid last, which is very pretty. In our discourse in the boat Mr. Coventry told us how the Fanatiques and the Presbyters, that did intend to rise about this time, did choose this day as the most auspicious to them in their endeavours against monarchy: it being fatal twice to the King, and the day of Oliver’s death.1 But, blessed be God! all is likely to be quiet, I hope.
After the sale I walked to my brother’s, in my way meeting with Dr. Fairbrother, of whom I enquired what news in Church matters. He tells me, what I heard confirmed since, that it was fully resolved by the King’s new Council that an indulgence should be granted the Presbyters; but upon the Bishop of London’s speech (who is now one of the most powerful men in England with the King), their minds were wholly turned. And it is said that my Lord Albemarle did oppose him most; but that I do believe is only in appearance. He told me also that most of the Presbyters now begin to wish they had complied, now they see that no Indulgence will be granted them, which they hoped for; and that the Bishop of London hath taken good care that places are supplied with very good and able men, which is the only thing that will keep all quiet.
I took him in the tavern at Puddle dock, but neither he nor I drank any of the wine we called for, but left it, and so after discourse parted, and Mr. Townsend not being at home I went to my brother’s, and there heard how his love matter proceeded, which do not displease me, and so by water to White Hall to my Lord’s lodgings, where he being to go to Hinchingbroke to-morrow morning, I staid and fiddled with Will. Howe some new tunes very pleasant, and then my Lord came in and had much kind talk with him, and then to bed with Mr. Moore there alone. So having taken my leave of my Lord before I went to bed, I resolved to rise early and be gone without more speaking to him… [Continued tomorrow. P.G.]
Footnotes
Daily Happiness
Sep. 2nd, 2025 08:10 pmtorachan2. Since we didn't have anything else planned after that, I was able to do some errands I'd been meaning to get around to and take some stuff to the post office and drop off some clothes at Goodwill.
3. One nice thing about my new position at work is that I feel less tied to my work phone. Although I've offered to help out with area manager stuff, it's not actually my job anymore at all, so I don't need to be constantly checking to see what's going on at the stores and if anything needs to be urgently addressed. I could get used to this lol.
4. Gemma has such a sweet face.
10 random facts about me meme
Sep. 3rd, 2025 02:39 pmmific1) I briefly got my hair done peroxide blond in my twenties. Proof. But mostly I dyed it auburn using henna. Chemists (pharmacies) in NZ used to stock packages of powdered henna back then - it was the seventies!
2) By chance, I have a lot of Nepali restaurants nearby - 3 or 4 within takeaway range. I love the chicken momos best (steamed Tibetan dumplings served with a romesco-chilli sauce). Yum.
3) I have a side table by my main armchair that's like a restaurant table set-up. It has a titanium spork (my main cutlery item), tissues, a kids' jewellery organiser full of tea bags, a long-stemmed sundae spoon, a small serrated kitchen knife, a cruet set with balsamic vinegar and garlic-infused olive oil, a pink-salt shaker, and jars/bottles of mango chutney, peanut butter, maple syrup, store-bought lemon juice, promite, and apricot compote. It cuts down on traipsing to and fro to the kitchen for stuff.
4) Since moving into my flat 2-3 years ago, I sussed out the ceramic cooktop but haven't been able to figure out the main oven controls. The landlord couldn't either. Haven't been able to intuit the electronic controls or find info online, so I use a toaster-oven instead, which works fine.
5) I have mild sleep apnoea that doesn't bother me as long as I sleep on my side. That's what my tricky right hip and left knee prefer, anyway.
6) I got fed up with bed-making, stuffing duvet covers, and getting tangled in layers of bedding many years ago. I just use one thinnish faux fur blanket (leopardskin pattern of course) with a faux-flannel backing. It's lightweight but surprisingly warm and I only need to add one extra light blanket a few times in mid-winter. So my bedding is a flannel sheet on the mattress and then the blanket. It's like being a Neolithic person using just a fur spread for bedding, but with more microfibres. I make the bed once a week before Fionna comes to clean my flat, and my elderly washing machine can just manage the blanket as a single load.
7) I haven't worn any shoes except crocs for over 20 years. Auckland's warm enough for that to be comfortable, and all "normal" shoes pinch my feet. I go barefoot inside, only rarely resorting to slippers on especially cold nights.
8) I've lived with one or more cats all my life until several years ago. I miss having a cat friend, but when someone recently offered me a nice adult boy they were trying to find a home for, I had to say no. There's a busy road only a stone's throw away and the neighbours drive up and down the driveway a few feet from my front door every day, so it wouldn't be safe. The flat's not set up for an indoors cat - the back door to the garage has no screen and it'd be way too hot in summer to keep it closed. But mainly, I no longer feel able to cope with the regular round of vet visits, emergencies etc. that come with caring for a cat. I'll make do with feeding the sparrows, and my duck visitors.
9) My first boyfriend when I was 17 was Dave, from a smallish town in Illinois. He was in my English class - an exchange student at my high school. We taught each other to play chess (badly) and sometimes actually did play it before Mum got home from work, but "playing chess" was mostly a euphemism for making out.
10) In my twenties to thirties I had a series of Morris Minor cars as they were cheap and I liked their quirkiness. Kiwis are good at repairing cars with NZ being harder to import to and local DIY culture, so you could get fixed-up Morris Minors fairly easily. I drove my last one from Christchurch up to Auckland when I returned from working overseas. I'd painted it with red, maroon, and gold swirls in the seventies, then in Auckland I sanded it off and repainted it bright yellow, with the chrome all done in black. Here's a cartoon I did of it back in the day.
Tuesday 2 September 1662
Sep. 2nd, 2025 11:00 pmdiaryof_samuelpepys_feedUp betimes and got myself ready alone, and so to my office, my mind much troubled for my key that I lost yesterday, and so to my workmen and put them in order, and so to my office, and we met all the morning, and then dined at Sir W. Batten’s with Sir W. Pen, and so to my office again all the afternoon, and in the evening wrote a letter to Mr. Cooke, in the country, in behalf of my brother Tom, to his mistress, it being the first of my appearing in it, and if she be as Tom sets her out, it may be very well for him. So home and eat a bit, and so to my lodging to bed.
Daily Happiness
Sep. 1st, 2025 08:23 pmtorachan2. I finished up another puzzle this morning. I bought this at the same time as the other Disney villains one, since it has mostly different villains. Like the other one, having each person separated in their own area (and with different enough colors in each) made it easy to sort and then work on each of those as if it were its own mini puzzle, so it went pretty fast.
3. I do not know how cats find this comfortable, but they all like sleeping this way from time to time, so I guess they do!
Monday 1 September 1662
Sep. 1st, 2025 11:00 pmdiaryof_samuelpepys_feedUp betimes at my lodging and to my office and among my workmen, and then with Sir W. Batten and Sir W. Pen by coach to St. James’s, this being the first day of our meeting there by the Duke’s order; but when we come, we found him going out by coach with his Duchess, and he told us he was to go abroad with the Queen to-day (to Durdans, it seems, to dine with my Lord Barkeley, where I have been very merry when I was a little boy); so we went and staid a little at Mr. Coventry’s chamber, and I to my Lord Sandwich’s, who is gone to wait upon the King and Queen today. And so Mr. Paget being there, Will Howe and I and he played over some things of Locke’s that we used to play at sea, that pleased us three well, it being the first music I have heard a great while, so much has my business of late taken me off from all my former delights.
By and by by water home, and there dined alone, and after dinner with my brother Tom’s two men I removed all my goods out of Sir W. Pen’s house into one room that I have with much ado got ready at my house, and so I am to be quit of any further obligation to him. So to my office, but missing my key, which I had in my hand just now, makes me very angry and out of order, it being a thing that I hate in others, and more in myself, to be careless of keys, I thinking another not fit to be trusted that leaves a key behind their hole. One thing more vexes me: my wife writes me from the country that her boy plays the rogue there, and she is weary of him, and complains also of her maid Sarah, of which I am also very sorry.
Being thus out of temper, I could do little at my office, but went home and eat a bit, and so to my lodging to bed.
Mission 116 Update for August 2025 (Month 16)
Sep. 1st, 2025 10:31 amvysilaOK, onward with the month’s accomplishments.
25. Do an elimination diet for 60 to 90 days
Effective today, September 1, I am starting an elimination diet in the hopes of identifying any foods that may be affecting me negatively. The diet will be very restrictive for the first 30 days and then I will slowly begin adding other foods back in, one at a time.
28. Weight monitoring
A slight increase in weight in August, I am hoping to see weight loss in September with the strict elimination diet.
29. BMI monitoring
Weight goes up, BMI goes up. Nothing surprising there.
45. Repair the front porch
This one is being deleted, because it has been determined that it is not reparable. Instead I will focus on getting quotes to replace the porch so that I will have a basis for figuring out a concession for porch replacement to potential buyers.
46. Pave driveway
It will be far too expensive to actually pave the driveway before moving so I am altering the goal to ‘repairing’ the driveway and turnaround area with new gravel and replacing the rotted railroad ties lining the driveway.
Annoyingly enough, the Habitat for Humanity fellow did come out last week and said that I do qualify for both the HVAC replacement and fixing the driveway. BUT it would be paid out of a grant they do not yet have, which would mean it would be at least next spring before they could do the work. And since my goal is to move this year, they aren’t going to be able to help me at all. Phooey. Would’ve been nice but I wasn’t counting on it anyway.
53. Fix exterior spotlights
Still working on this one. I have a lead on a couple of reasonably priced electricians.
91. Curate CD collection
Completed!. I went through my CDs twice and ended up donating 98 to my local library. Still have a decent sized collection of CDs and they are all ones I listen to on a rotating basis. I am a big believer in having physical media to enjoy at a moment’s notice.
96. Create a list and schedule of essential tasks for selling house and moving
The list is getting whittled down quite a bit by now, with mostly only small tasks left, some easily accomplished, some dependent on others’ assistance.
97. Gather all home improvement receipts
Been working on this a bit at a time, but now that my desktop computer and scanner are back up and running, I hope to make a lot more progress on this in September. This will be my evening task on a regular basis instead of watching TV. Will probably also involve doing research during the day to contact places to get receipts.
98. Make decisions on things to keep, things to get rid of
This has been an ongoing process over the past six months, but I have continued to whittle the list down a lot as the move nears.
99. Dispose of unwanted items
I am getting rid of things on a weekly basis – some for donation, some to trash. It is usually quite small things at this point – drawer contents, etc. but there will be a few larger items going in September for sure. It’s a fine line on the decision process because I do not want to have to buy things after moving if I can help it (because those evil tariffs make everything far more expensive), but I don’t want to have to move a lot of excess things either.
100. Pack up smaller items in boxes/totes
This is currently stalled but should ramp up soon. My problem is that I don’t want a ton of packed boxes/totes sitting around the house while it is for sale. It’s just not a good look, y’know?
101. Settle on date to get house listed for sale
I have tentatively given myself a goal of October 1 to list the house. That will depend, of course, on how much progress I make on the other tasks needed in order to do so. But that is the date I am aiming for. And then hopefully being able to move before Thanksgiving.
All of my travel goals have been shelved for the foreseeable future. Moving across country kind of pushed everything else to the side. I truly did not realize just how much prep work goes into preparing for such a major life change, especially at my age! Silly me.
Getting things done!
Sep. 1st, 2025 08:01 amwhich_chick( Productive weekends! )
Daily Happiness
Aug. 31st, 2025 10:36 pmtorachanIt took a lot of looking at various types to finally settle on which one I wanted to order, but I finally made a decision and went with this one, which arrived today, just a little while before we went out for the evening. No one used it when we were gone, but Ollie just used it a few minutes ago and seemed fine with it. Hopefully it's tall enough that it will prevent any more leakage.
2. All day I kept thinking how nice it was that I still have two more days of my weekend. It's so nice! And tomorrow should be a pretty chill day. No plans to go anywhere.
3. We had a nice dinner at Disneyland tonight, despite the heat and crowds. So muggy, though. Bleh.
4. Look at that sweet Molly face. This is where she sleeps every night, right next to my pillow. :)
2025 Disneyland Trip #59 (8/31/25)
Aug. 31st, 2025 10:23 pmtorachan( Read more... )
Code deploy happening shortly
Aug. 31st, 2025 07:37 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenancePer the dw_news post regarding the MS/TN blocks, we are doing a small code push shortly in order to get the code live. As per usual, please let us know if you see anything wonky.
There is some code cleanup we've been doing that is going out with this push but I don't think there is any new/reworked functionality, so it should be pretty invisible if all goes well.
Sunday 31 August 1662
Aug. 31st, 2025 11:00 pmdiaryof_samuelpepys_feed(Lord’s day). Waked early, but being in a strange house, did not rise till 7 o’clock almost, and so rose and read over my oaths, and whiled away an hour thinking upon businesses till Will came to get me ready, and so got ready and to my office, and thence to church. After sermon home and dined alone. News is brought me that Sir W. Pen is come. But I would take no notice thereof till after dinner, and then sent him word that I would wait on him, but he is gone to bed. So to my office, and there made my monthly accounts, and find myself worth in money about 686l. 19s. 2½d., for which God be praised.
And indeed greatly I hope to thank Almighty God, who do most manifestly bless me in my endeavours to do the duties of my office, I now saving money, and my expenses being little.
My wife is still in the country; my house all in dirt; but my work in a good forwardness, and will be much to my mind at last.
In the afternoon to church, and there heard a simple sermon of a stranger upon David’s words, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the way of the ungodly,” &c., and the best of his sermon was the degrees of walking, standing, and sitting, showing how by steps and degrees sinners do grow in wickedness.
After sermon to my brother Tom’s, who I found has taken physic to-day, and I talked with him about his country mistress, and read Cook’s letter, wherein I am well satisfied, and will appear in promoting it; so back and to Mr. Rawlinson’s, and there supped with him, and in came my uncle Wight and my aunt. Our discourse of the discontents that are abroad, among, and by reason of the Presbyters. Some were clapped up to-day, and strict watch is kept in the City by the train-bands, and letters of a plot are taken. God preserve us! for all these things bode very ill. So home, and after going to welcome home Sir W. Pen, who was unready, going to bed, I staid with him a little while, and so to my lodging and to bed.
On this day in 1888 . . . & still unsolved
Aug. 31st, 2025 04:19 pmankh_hplnot all the crimson
leaves
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Nichols
-- Ann K. Schwader
Weird Al @ The Forum 8/30/25
Aug. 31st, 2025 03:10 pmtorachanI'm not sure if they had more options for food upstairs (I've never eaten at the Forum), but the area where we were just had ready to eat food in warmers that you bought from an Amazon Go space that was sectioned off from the rest of the room. We got a pizza, which was pretty tasty for just being out on the warmer, and took it to eat at our seats.
The opening act was Puddles Pity Party, who I was not familiar with, but Carla knew and liked. He was a good fit for Weird Al, since he's also a comedic singer. His original songs were fine, but the highlight of his set (and possibly the whole night) was when he sang the Gilligan's Island theme song while a fanvid of Kevin Costner's Waterworld played onscreen. That was then followed by a Kevin Costner fanvid (with clips from everything he's ever been in) set to My Heart Will Go On. It was pretty great tbh.
The break between the opening act and main act wasn't too long, which was nice. When the main show started, they had Al coming out from backstage on screen, and when he was going through the hallways in the back, it showed not just Puddles, but also Jack Black, who was in attendance (sadly he never came on stage, that would have been cool).
I don't know a whole lot of Weird Al songs, but I do know many of the songs they're parodies of, and in general it was just a really fun show. He had a lot of clips between songs with fake interviews with celebrities and stuff. I was surprised that I knew almost all the songs in his polka medley as it was one with songs from the past few years.
At one point he played a clip from Weird: the Al Yankovic Story, which I had been aware of when it was first announced that Daniel Radcliffe would be playing him, but then had pretty much forgotten about, but the clip was so funny we decided we should watch the movie soon.
We didn't end up staying for any of the encores. I looked at previous nights' set lists to see what they would probably be and Carla was fine with leaving, so we got a little headstart before the parking lot got too jammed.
Definitely a fun act to see, even for someone who's not already a big fan.
( Set list )
Mississippi site block, plus a small restriction on Tennessee new accounts
Aug. 31st, 2025 12:28 pmdenise posting in dw_newsA reminder to everyone that starting tomorrow, we are being forced to block access to any IP address that geolocates to the state of Mississippi for legal reasons while we and Netchoice continue fighting the law in court. People whose IP addresses geolocate to Mississippi will only be able to access a page that explains the issue and lets them know that we'll be back to offer them service as soon as the legal risk to us is less existential.
The block page will include the apology but I'll repeat it here: we don't do geolocation ourselves, so we're limited to the geolocation ability of our network provider. Our anti-spam geolocation blocks have shown us that their geolocation database has a number of mistakes in it. If one of your friends who doesn't live in Mississippi gets the block message, there is nothing we can do on our end to adjust the block, because we don't control it. The only way to fix a mistaken block is to change your IP address to one that doesn't register as being in Mississippi, either by disconnecting your internet connection and reconnecting it (if you don't have a static IP address) or using a VPN.
In related news, the judge in our challenge to Tennessee's social media age verification, parental consent, and parental surveillance law (which we are also part of the fight against!) ruled last month that we had not met the threshold for a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing the law while the court case proceeds.
The Tennesee law is less onerous than the Mississippi law and the fines for violating it are slightly less ruinous (slightly), but it's still a risk to us. While the fight goes on, we've decided to prevent any new account signups from anyone under 18 in Tennessee to protect ourselves against risk. We do not need to block access from the whole state: this only applies to new account creation.
Because we don't do any geolocation on our users and our network provider's geolocation services only apply to blocking access to the site entirely, the way we're implementing this is a new mandatory question on the account creation form asking if you live in Tennessee. If you do, you'll be unable to register an account if you're under 18, not just the under 13 restriction mandated by COPPA. Like the restrictions on the state of Mississippi, we absolutely hate having to do this, we're sorry, and we hope we'll be able to undo it as soon as possible.
Finally, I'd like to thank every one of you who's commented with a message of support for this fight or who's bought paid time to help keep us running. The fact we're entirely user-supported and you all genuinely understand why this fight is so important for everyone is a huge part of why we can continue to do this work. I've also sent a lot of your comments to the lawyers who are fighting the actual battles in court, and they find your wholehearted support just as encouraging and motivating as I do. Thank you all once again for being the best users any social media site could ever hope for. You make me proud and even more determined to yell at state attorneys general on your behalf.
String Theory, Tennis, and the Oldest Fandom in the World
Aug. 31st, 2025 07:39 pmbadfalconNot just match reports, not just journalism, but long-form meta. You know the kind: 3,000 words on how one player adjusts their stance under pressure, or how their rivalry with another player has this Shakespearean weight to it. The kind of thing that slides between gifsets and headcanons and actual technical breakdowns because all of it feels necessary to capture what you love.
And the thing is - this isn’t new.
In ancient Rome, fans used to carve their favourite charioteer’s name on their gravestone. They literally wanted to be remembered through their fandom. They bought vials of gladiator sweat (no, really) to keep like holy relics. They painted graffiti in stadiums, catalogued stats in painstaking detail, and shouted themselves hoarse for their team colours. The only difference between then and now is the medium: from stone walls to Tumblr dashboards, from sweat vials to match-worn shirts.
What Wallace is doing in String Theory isn’t so different either. His essays are part analysis, part poetry, part love letter to the sport - the same impulses that drive people to write sprawling livejournal posts about Aragorn’s arc in Lord of the Rings or to make 50-slide PowerPoints about why their ship dynamic works. He’s putting language around awe. Around obsession. Around the feeling of watching someone do something unbelievably human and larger-than-human at the same time.
So when I read him going deep on Federer or Michael Joyce, I don’t just see a writer explaining tennis. I see fandom-as-practice. I see continuity: from Roman sweat vials to Wallace’s reverent adjectives to that one gifset you keep reblogging because it perfectly captures the way your fave moves like liquid light across the court.
Sports fandom has always been fandom. And String Theory is just another text in the endless library of people trying to make sense of love and skill and spectacle with whatever tools we have to hand. Sometimes it’s chisels. Sometimes it’s gifs. Sometimes it’s a writer with a dictionary in one hand and an obsession burning in the other.
