life in the old lane

I’ll try again tomorrow.

MidJourney nails the focus.  But, the colors/saturation are a bit much.

Still having trouble to 2FA SMS text messages. From several institutions. I vaguely suspect that the T-Mobile signal that Google-Fi normally uses is crappy right now. I still get some text messages. But they are MMS. 

Well I just sent myself a SMS. And I received it. SO… now I am not sure I should be blaming the signal. 

This is an extremely 1st world problem. Just chill. Factory reset the phone if I must. 

 

My Northwest Passage adventure company insists that I have “Complete” Travel Insurance. I don’t believe in travel insurance. Don’t buy insurance if you can self-insure. I do carry most excellent medical evacuation insurance. I can afford to rescue myself – but if I needed rescuing it would be hard for me to pull off – so – I can just hope someone finds my Global Rescue Card and it gets me back to Virginia. Alive or Dead. (Actually, if I am dead – they can  just leave me.) 

But, rather than fuss or try to find a loophole – I set out to buy “complete travel insurance”. Carlton would call this “throwing money at a problem”. Well, the first place I checked, a company recommended by Global Rescue, wanted $9,000. And that didn’t include “cancel for any reason coverage”. This was a serious non-starter. 

So, Plan B, see if USAA sells “complete travel insurance” or even “incomplete” insurance. The old bat isn’t going to spend $9,000 for insurance. Log on to USAA. My phone doesn’t get the 2FA code. Try again. And again. Get a friend to text me. That works.

Try USAA again. No luck. I decide “screw it”.  I’ll worry about that tomorrow. No way I am going to wait until tomorrow to get this sorted. What if some miscreant is messing with my account? 

Call USAA. Wait on hold. March around the apartment getting my steps in for the day. Eventually, get connected with a real human person. She hasn’t a clue what’s wrong but she sets my account to get the code by email as well as text. And, I get access to USAA. And my money. The real human person was amazed that I have been with USAA for 64 years. Well, that’s what happens when you are old. 

What I am saying here is – 2FA is essential, but it can be a pain. Keep the phone number and account info handy.

You will be hearing more about my “complete travel insurance” quest.

I am suffering from what Carlton always called “acute unresolved discontent”. And, I am taking out my hostility on The Asylum and especially the food. 

I actually went so far as to look for another place to live. Moving would be stupid. Going on a trip would be a better idea. Heck, even moving into a long-stay apartment until I got tired of living alone would be a better idea than moving. Especially to another Asylum. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

Made it out for a 45-minute 3-mile walk today.  That should help with my general grumpiness.  I’ll be too tired to be grumpy.

Dinner with the accidental family tonight at our “fine dining venue”. I will try not to be a total grump.

Today is just boring and cold out. With a little very little snow. 

Being bored, I tried the chatCPT directions for an Origami Rose.

It’s a non-starter. I don’t think that the system has enough data to work with. 

I did consider the retail cure for boredom. A Leica Q2 maybe? No, I don’t have enough years left to properly amortize the cost. 

But, it is February. February is supposed to be boring. 

For the first time since last October, I can see the sun come up. 

Another uneventful day. Still working on my UnFinishedObjects. Progress, be it ever so slow, is being made. I have been studiously ignoring my UnFinishedObligations. 

Took a picture of my room this morning. After housekeeping had done their magics. I do not regret one bit getting such a small apartment. I use every inch of it. But, I don’t need or want one square foot more.

I would like a balcony. Even a tiny one. But, that’s not an option. When this building was designed, in the early 1980s, old people didn’t get balconies. Guessing they were afraid that we would jump off our balconies. 

And I could do without the popcorn ceiling. Another leftover from the last century. They were cheap, quick to install, covered a world of imperfections, and frequently contained asbestos. What’s not to love?

BYW – I love the image that is the current header. It is the Oslo Opera House.

It looks better as the header. Size sometimes matters.

It doesn’t get any better than this in February. I know I should be worried about climate change etc. But, it’s -18° in East Glacier Park Montana right now. Which is a good place to keep the cold weather. IMHO. 

Spent the entire day outside. The only thing I actually did was tidy up the WildChild Garden Box. And prune Ray the Rosemary Bush. 

Then I went for a stroll around our almost one mile of “wilderness”. 

The rest of the day I walked and lounged around outside. (I only logged 3.5 miles. So I must have lounged more and walked less.)

I was going to give up eating for Lent. Then I remembered the food here at The Asylum and realized that it wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice!

Thinking about changing to a new Word Press Template. I have used this one for about 6 years. But, most of the time the theme works. So, maybe I shouldn’t fix it. 

 

Warning Cat Stuff Follows:

 

 

 

If you like cats and Japan, check out some lovely Japanese cat videos from NHK TV – A Cat’s Eye View of Japan.

Maybe I should just hop on a plane to Japan. We have direct flights to Tokyo. 

 

 

The sun has returned. The Resident Human is happy.

These orchids didn’t bloom this winter. One had an accident and the other two are still in shock from being transplanted from moss to bark too quickly. But, they are happily growing roots and will soon put out new leaves. I know that one will try again for flowers next winter. 

Speaking of winter. There hasn’t really been real winter here. But, Hawai’i is another story.

And by the way, “Not much happening” is ok. Because not all that happens is good. Especially in an old folk asylum.

A friend suggested that perhaps I could put any mice that show up in the Old Bat’s Cave to work making tiny origami models. And maybe I should. The taxes are loaded up to the new tax guy’s portal. I like that heaps better than mailing the stuff.  I still have to get things “tidy”. And shred some stuff. 

After a taxing morning with a couple of hospital reports thrown in for extra confusion, I exercised the fingers and relaxed the brain by folding some roses. 

MidJourney imagines better origami roses than I can fold. 

I just asked ChatGPT “How do I fold an Origami rose”? 

Making an origami rose can be a bit challenging, but with practice and patience, you can create a beautiful paper flower. Here are the steps to make an origami rose:

1. 1. 1. Start with a square sheet of paper. You can use any size, but a 6-inch square works well.
      2. Fold the paper in half diagonally, crease it well, and then unfold it.
      3. Fold the paper in half diagonally in the other direction, crease it well, and then unfold it.
      4. Fold the paper in half horizontally, crease it well, and then unfold it.
      5. Fold the paper in half vertically, crease it well, and then unfold it.
      6. Bring the top edge of the paper down to the center crease, and crease it well. Do the same with the bottom edge of the paper.
      7. Bring the right edge of the paper to the center crease, and crease it well. Do the same with the left edge of the paper.
      8. Flip the paper over and fold the paper in half horizontally. Crease it well and then unfold it.
      9. Bring the top edge of the paper down to the center crease, and crease it well. Do the same with the bottom edge of the paper.
      10. Bring the right edge of the paper to the center crease, and crease it well. Do the same with the left edge of the paper.
      11. Flip the paper over again and fold the bottom right corner up to the center crease. Crease it well and then unfold it.
      12. Do the same with the bottom left corner.
      13. Fold the top of the paper down, creasing it well. This will create a diamond shape in the middle of the paper.
      14. Fold the right side of the diamond up, creasing it well.
      15. Do the same with the left side of the diamond.
      16. Fold the top layer of the right side of the paper up to create a small triangle. Crease it well and then unfold it.
      17. Do the same with the left side of the paper.
      18. Bring the top of the paper down and then fold the left and right sides of the paper towards the center crease.
      19. Fold the top of the paper down again to create a small triangle at the top.
      20. Tuck the right side of the small triangle under the paper and crease it well.
      21. Do the same with the left side of the small triangle.
      22. Fold the top layer of the paper down to create the rosebud.
      23. Fold the top of the rosebud down to create the first layer of petals.
      24. Fold the next layer of petals by bringing the top of the paper down and folding it over the first layer.
      25. Continue folding the layers of petals until you have the desired number of petals for your rose.
      26. When you have folded all the layers, carefully shape the petals by gently curving them with your fingers.

And there you have it, an origami rose!

I wonder if I can follow the directions? Well, that will be a project for another day. Or, I’ll get the AI mouse right on it. 

Hello, my name is Peg and I am powerless over Trader Joe’s Sweet & Spicy Pecans.  I don’t know why I let these things in the house. They just sit in the cupboard and whisper “we are here, the bag is open, come on just have one”.

Another thing that I find hard to resist. Fortunately, they don’t have fine rolls all that often.

My arteries are relieved to know that the week’s cholesterol fest ended this morning. 

I need to go somewhere. But I also have my Unfinished Objects and Unfinished Obligations. Old places and calling me back and new places need visiting. And time is rushing onward. 

Remember to hit PUBLISH.

What happens when you don’t hit PUBLISH.  Absolutely Nothing.

Today’s accomplishment was a pot of chili. Beans, canned tomatoes (Italian of course), the usual onion, carrot, green peppers, herbs, chili powder, and turkey sausages left over from a week of breakfasts. This week the breakfast special was very good eggs florentine. With a couple of turkey sausage patties.  Hollandaise sauce plus sausages seemed like a little much for my arteries. But they made a fine addition to the chili.

Nice long walk this afternoon. (The redbud trees are in bloom.) Followed by a nice long nap. A fine Saturday.

 

My next-door neighbors caught 6 mice in 4 days in their apartment.  Their door is about 10 feet from mine. Today, they were having some weather-stripping-type stuff attached to their door. I hope that the mice will try to get into the across-the-hall apartment and not mine if indeed the weather stripping is a deterrent.  

I have a couple of friends who have cats. Maybe I should just borrow a cat or two. (If need be. No mice have been spotted in The Old Bat Cave. Yet.) 

If I do get mice. Maybe I could put them to work.