Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
We had animals. Ranging from llamas to a hedgehog. And a cute little blue-eyed goat.
Also a good bluegrass band. The fiddle player was doing his last performance with the group. He is heading back to the Bahamas. One could do worse.
Didn’t have much time to mess around with MidJourney today.
Actually, a not-so-little walk 3+ miles.
Stopped off to check out the turtles. Turtles have a great lifestyle. You could do worse than emulate a turtle.
In the win column – The Asylum removed the stupid and highly offensive question from our TB questionnaire. ( “Do you have close contact with any person infected with HIV?”) I had a lot of help with this one.
Also in the win column – Got a really crappy app removed from Apple App Store. I am sure that I was just one of many who complained about the app.
After causing all the good trouble, I decided that I needed a “subscription” to MidJourney. So, you will be subjected to my messing around. It’s a new toy and it’s cheaper than Aibo. That is my rationalization.
Full moon tonight. And we can even see Jupiter. Even with all of our urban light.
OK, it was 35° this morning. Good thing I am going to Kona soon. But, after a breakfast of waffles – I made it out for a nice 3.5-mile walk. Can not let those waffles take up residence on my hips.
Along the way, I tossed a little more gasoline on the “Do you have close contact with any person infected with HIV?” fire that I started. Fire is burning nicely now. I believe the question will go away. With more than a little help from my friends. This is a hill that I am willing to die on.
Still having a blast with AI Art.
The most fun I have had with a computer in decades – AI Art! I haven’t figured out all I need to know about the MidJourney beta that runs on Discord. But that is where I started after lunch today. The Old Woman Lost in Cyberspace was generated by the “big” version. Then I switched to a lighter version that runs on the iPad as a very early beta. The surfer cat and wine scene were generated by that app. Lots to learn.
I had been meaning to try AI Art for some months now. Today seemed like a great day to try it out. This is just pure fun.
Back at setting the woods on fire.
Not at all satisfied by the official answer to my question about the legality or even correctness of asking the residents: “Do you have close contact with any person infected with HIV?” The official answer seems to be a variation of “Just following orders”. No reason to fight this battle today because there isn’t anyone to fight on the weekend.
We have zero cases of covid among the staff and one case among the residents. And we still have to wear masks. Never mind that many of the residents use their masks like chin straps. Or take them off because they can not stand them anymore. This is the official Asylum position on masks:
Local health authorities are reviewing the CDC recommendations and will provide guidance on implementing them in our setting. As both Fairfax and Alexandria continue to have high community transmission levels, we are awaiting this guidance before we update our protocols. We anticipate publishing updated protocols the week of October 10.
It will be very interesting if management keeps the mandatory mask rule in place. The mask thing doesn’t bother me very much. But, it is a major issue for many. I think it is because I don’t really participate in many Asylum activities. So, I only put on my mask to go the breakfast or dinner or to leave the building. Most people go to the gym, take art classes, attend meetings, watch movies, play poker, etc. So, they spend hours every day masked. And, in 3 weeks I’ll be going to Kona.
Maybe I like summer’s end roses because I am creeping up on the end myself.
Just a fine warm and sunny day. I am behind on my weekly exercise since it was cold and rainy and I stayed inside. But, I made it out for a fine walk this morning.
Speaking of exercise – Google finally came up with a watch. But, by the time I got around to trying to order one they were out of the one I wanted. So, I’ll just wait. I have gotten along fine all these years without a Dick Tracy Watch. (Us old people say we get them for the fall detection feature. Yeah right.)
Got pissed off beyond all recognition this morning when The Asylum asked me: “Do you have close contact with any person infected with HIV?” Why not ask me if I have close contact with any person infected with monkeypox or Ebola? How about measles, polio, or syphilis? This question will go away.
The bees and I enjoyed the fine warm sunny day. It must be the pits to be a bee when it is cold and rainy for a week.
Spent a lot of time outside today. Went to one meeting and skipped a funeral. I think that good food and drink were on tap, but I didn’t really know the guest of honor that well. And, I have already done one funeral this week.
Today’s fun event was hauling out my 2KOA 2DO List and making this year’s adjustments. Lots of last year’s Covid tasks are gone. Hope they stay gone.
Been happily ignoring all things political all year. Is it time to start worrying again? Not that I can do anything about it. I mailed my ballot in today. One vote in the Democratic column.
Had a delightful al fresco dinner of wine, lentil soup, and bread pudding. The dietitian might not approve. But, I did.
Looked out my window and what did I see? Blue sky! That’s a really welcome sight.
Absolutely nothing to report. IMHO the Asylum is pursuing a potentially imprudent financial course. A meeting with the CFO did little to assuage my concerns. But, I’ll be dead before they go bankrupt. So, I am not going to worry. You see, there are some advantages to old age.
Went to a memorial service this afternoon. Living in an Old Folks Asylum – you become a connoisseur of these events. I don’t need a memorial service or celebration of my life. If anyone cares, how about a nice dinner and some adult beverages? If I go the Carlton route and become a “first patient” AKA med school cadaver at Georgetown – they will have a far better service for me than I deserve anyway.
Along this same morbid path. I decided to start my “I am dead, now what?” project with 1Password. I would clean up my password manager. The deed is done. I have 132 passwords/logins. That is AFTER I deleted any duplicates and archived those that I don’t think I will ever use again. But, I honestly believe that my 1Password account gives anyone all the information they need to get everything sorted after I am dead.
I provided treats for The Princess Cat today. I guess I didn’t produce them soon enough, because I got the Glare of Death. Cats are so cool. They don’t give a damn about anything except their own comfort and pleasure. Like me!
Went to dinner with some of my workmates this evening. Great time. Good food. Just like old times. The restaurant was packed even on a Tuesday night.
Still chilly and wet. More like cold and wet. Today I put the fan away and put the heading pad by my comfy chair.
One year without Carlton was hard. Eight years without Carlton is doable. But, damn, I loved that man. Still do.
Grateful that Carlton left me feeling much loved and well cared for.
In honor of the ever-organized Carlton, I am going to tidy up my life’s loose ends. Before Carlton died, my stuff was tidy. And in The Red Folder. Because, if I went first – I didn’t want Carlton to be annoyed because he had to fit all the pieces together. Well, there’s no one left that I need to impress. But, it would be stupid to have my estate paying some law clerk $500/hour to figure out how to get into my computers to find out how many online subscriptions I have, etc. I have the important stuff done. It’s just the thousand little things. Like what’s the lock code for the phone? And how do you stop paying for Photoshop every month? And does anyone want to keep this blog alive? Well, if anyone does, someone’s going to have to pay the hosting fees. Just all the crap of digital life. (It goes without saying that Carlton’s stuff was shipshape. And 100% offline.)
One of my friends has a book: I Am Dead, Now What? She is filling it out. I am not a book-type person. So, I’ll be rolling my own.
It is chilly and damp and that means it’s time to go to Kona. Except that this is Ironman Week.
Ironman Week means that it is way too busy for me. Not to mention there are no rooms to be had.
Big news from my floor at The Asylum. My next-door neighbor had a visit from a field mouse. Wonder if a robot cat could handle a real mouse?
In-law kiddos came to visit this afternoon. It was fun. They left beer, wine, chocolate, and baklava behind and took away some origami. I got the best end of the deal.
We went to an old Salvadoran/Mexican dive for an early dinner. I always enjoyed eating there, but getting to it by bus isn’t easy, so I haven’t been there since Covid.
It was a rainy day, so I worked on the directions for my origami bat. And did a couple of work reports.
And, I can now say “I am going to Hawai’i this month.”
Spent most of the day perfecting the bat and working on my bat diagram. Also got in my fitness walk.
But where did September go? And why did September take my money with it? I have 7% less money than I had on September 1. And, I can assure you that I didn’t spend that money on booze, drugs, men, or Lise Charmel underwear. The most exciting thing I did in September was take the bus to get my blood drawn.
Tonight we celebrated my friend Sally’s husband’s 103 birthday. With steak and ice cream. We decided that between the 7 of us we have more than a few departed husbands (dearly and otherwise) and perhaps we should celebrate all of their birthdays.