necturus

cattitude and I went to the No Kings rally on Boston Common. It was a large crowd, large enough that we couldn't really hear the speeches, but that's OK, we were there to be part of the crowd. I saw some good signs, including "Of course he hates veritas" and "America runs on dissent", for local flavor, and "No kings [large image of the One Ring with a slash through it] to rule them all." Almost all the signs were homemade, and different.

Happily, it was warm enough for me to unzip my hoodie and show off my Boston Dyke March T-shirt, and for other people to wear t-shirts, some of them more relevant than others. I was amused by the person in a football jersey: the local NFL team is called the New England Patriots.

There were also a bunch of inflatable animal costumes, including at least three chickens, a dinosaur, axolotls, an octopus, and a pink unicorn. The unicorn was blowing bubbles. I bought a T-shirt with a drawing of a frog and the word "resist."

The above paragraph would have made no sense a month ago, but we are living in weird as well as scary times, in which the administration apparently sees the Emergency World Naked Bike Ride as a threat.

redbird

I went to my eye doctor today, for my once-a-year eye exam.

I told the assistant, and then Dr. Lazzara, that my vision seems a bit worse in the last year, and also that I thought I needed new glasses, because the current pair have gotten scratched over the last few years.

The new glasses will have a slightly different prescription, and Dr. Lazzara thinks the new glasses will solve the problems of blurring and difficulty with small print.

He also suggested that I use the hypertonic saline twice a day, and see if that gets me more hours of reasonable vision: the Fuchs dystrophy isn't much worse than a year ago, but I was already noticing effects a few years ago. This is the main reason I go out to Arlington to see an ophthalmologist, instead of just visiting an optometrist closer to home.

Since I was going to Arlington, I stopped at Fabric Corner for iron-on patches to mend a pair of jeans, and went to Penzey's after the eye doctor, for ground cumin and high-fat cocoa.

brooksmoses

I had somewhat of an annoying morning this morning, but the way it was annoying was so excessively Silicon Valley that the humor substantially outweighed the feelings of annoyance.

Specifically, on my commute in to work, I was delayed by a traffic jam on 101 because a Google Bus had rear-ended a Tesla on the exit ramp onto 237, and this meant that I arrived at work too late to get my free breakfast at the office cafe.

Current Mood: amused

elynne

Next chapter will be delayed for a week, and will be posted Sunday, October 26th.

( Read more... )

redbird

I got a paper letter from the Registry of Motor Vehicles yesterday, telling me it was time to renew my state ID card, and a billing email from Panix this morning.

I took care of both of those online. Both were straightforward, although the state required me to check more boxes--which makes sense, because Panix doesn't care where I live, am registered to vote, or also have email with other providers. Interestingly, the RMV noted that I'm already registered as an organ donor--but that, unlike voter registration, doesn't depend on them having my current address.

redbird

adrian_turtle made a leek and squash risotto for supper, and it was very good. It contains short-grain rice, broth, leeks, butternut squash, arugula, and I think garlic powder. It was topped with candied pecans, some pieces of squash, and leek-flavored oil. Most of the squash was cooked with the rice, to dissolve and make the risotto rich and creamy. The combination of ingredients gave the dish plenty of umami; I didn't miss the cheese that's typically added to risotto.

Jotting this down now before I forget, I may get Adrian to provide more details or a recipe link later.

kiya

Mama

There was in me
A trailing reluctance
To let go
Of what nurtured you—

Even though
It now fed
Neither you
Nor me.

But—

When you tucked your head
Against my chest
To cling again,
I don't think
You even
Noticed
It was gone.

Current Mood: tired

brooksmoses

Chris Hallbeck posted a cute little short that involves the Monty Hall Paradox at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/At_LNDO1eq0, and it includes an explanation of the result that has a lot of people saying "I finally understand it!" in comments. And, after watching it and reading some comments, I think I have an even more intuitive explanation.

The paradox is this: In front of you is a game show host, and three doors. Behind one of the doors is a Shiny New Car, or some other great prize that you may win. Behind the other two doors are goats. You select a door. The host then opens one of the doors that you didn't select, revealing a goat, and then offers you an choice: Do you keep the door you selected first, or do you switch to the other door that they didn't open? If the door you select (either by keeping your first selection or switching to the other one) is the one with the prize, you win the prize!

If your door contains the goat, my understanding is that you do not actually get to keep the goat.

(A key datapoint -- often omitted from the descriptions! -- is that this is how the process always goes, and you know that fact. The host will always open a door with a goat, and will always offer the opportunity to switch. This is not a case where the host is being devious and only trying to get you to switch away if you start out choosing the prize.)

The paradoxical result is that switching will lead to the prize twice as often as not-switching, even though it looks like a random choice between two doors that you have no information about.

( Explanation behind cut.... )

redbird

I woke up at about 7:30 a.m., had a cup of black tea, showered, and went to my doctor’s office for a fasting blood, which I wanted to do before I see her in a couple of weeks. There was a little bit of annoying delay: Mt Auburn Hospital is being moved to a different MyChart system, and some balls are being dropped. Specifically, the order for my lab work wasn’t on the new system, so they had to copy it from the old system, which is in read-only mode for a few weeks, after which it won’t be available even to medical staff. Carmen said her office is going to be sending an email to all patients, advising us to follow up on existing referrals and orders for lab work before the end of the month. I hope that doesn’t miss too many people, but I made a point of telling Adrian about it.

Once they had my test tube of blood, I stopped at a couple of stores on the same block as my doctor’s office, to buy (frozen) ground lamb and some more cannabis edibles. Then I treated myself to an apple, grape, and brie crepe for breakfast, which I ate at an outdoor table. After eating the crepe, I went to CVS and got a flu vaccine, then took the subway home. I am feeling very accomplished, and a bit tired.

The flu and covid tests I mentioned in my previous post arrived yesterday.

kiya

Dramatis Personae

Izgil, who is profoundly offended by the irrationality of these accusations
Viepuck, who manages PR rather a lot for a twelve-year-old
Celyn, who has a little box of white-hot rage that he opens up, for a treat
Robin, who as always really wants to protect everyone

When we left off we were about to be tried on a trumped-up necromancy accusation put together by a person we were pretty sure was an actual necromancer.

( So we settle in for an uneasy sort of night in the courtyard to the baronial keep. )

Current Mood: tired

elynne

The more details they glean, the more disturbing the picture appears.

( Read more... )

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Reading

No Kings rally

eye doctor, and errands

Random snippet of life, Silicon Valley edition

Dreams of Dead Stars, Part III, ch. 17: In Pursuit of Answers

keeping up with the paperwork

leek and squash risotto (non-dairy)

After some conversations I was having I had to write this one, heh.

Mama

On the Monty Hall Paradox, and explanations thereof.

blood draw etc.

[ gaming ] Dueling Theatrics

Dreams of Dead Stars, Part III, ch. 16: Information Gathering

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January 2023

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