This week: Post-AA6 Ace Attorney, Hermitcraft fic written for the Zedaph Zine, more Skyblock Kingdoms fic involving our favorite meta-aware character, and two short and sweet Princess Daisy/Luigi fic.
( Bookmarked fics here: )
it is currently lenten season & that means all the restaurants bring out their seafood offerings*.
i did not intend to try wendy's fish sandwich on tuesday, i was going to get their asiago chicken sandwich, but saw they had a fish sandwich & thought; why not?
it was pretty good; the coating was crispy (panko breading), the tartar sauce was decent & the lettuce crisp. but it had pickles, which i don't think belong on a fish sandwich (just in the tartar sauce). i do not like pickles to begin with & should've given them to my brother.
( other wendy's stuff )
another fishstory sandwich; i had gotten one a few days before from one of the local convenience stores that has food.
long ago they had fish, but got rid of it. this is the first time they have had fish for lent since. you can put whatever topping they have on there that you want, so i got tartar sauce, & lettuce. the fish itself was fine, the coating was a bit crispy. the tartar sauce on the other hand was terrible. it tasted more like a dill dressing of some sort. it came in a little tub labeled ken's steakhouse (they make good salad dressing, usually, so i was surprised it was bad).
if you get fish & see that the tartar sauce is from them don't use it. or at least dip a finger in it for a taste test before you dump it on your fish.
*do not go on a friday. you will have a long wait & the stuff might not even be done.
i did not intend to try wendy's fish sandwich on tuesday, i was going to get their asiago chicken sandwich, but saw they had a fish sandwich & thought; why not?
it was pretty good; the coating was crispy (panko breading), the tartar sauce was decent & the lettuce crisp. but it had pickles, which i don't think belong on a fish sandwich (just in the tartar sauce). i do not like pickles to begin with & should've given them to my brother.
( other wendy's stuff )
another fish
long ago they had fish, but got rid of it. this is the first time they have had fish for lent since. you can put whatever topping they have on there that you want, so i got tartar sauce, & lettuce. the fish itself was fine, the coating was a bit crispy. the tartar sauce on the other hand was terrible. it tasted more like a dill dressing of some sort. it came in a little tub labeled ken's steakhouse (they make good salad dressing, usually, so i was surprised it was bad).
if you get fish & see that the tartar sauce is from them don't use it. or at least dip a finger in it for a taste test before you dump it on your fish.
*do not go on a friday. you will have a long wait & the stuff might not even be done.
It's been a busy month, with surgeries and stuff. I had the PD catheter replaced, which had gotten clogged back in December. Two weeks ago I had a colonoscopy, and the week before that, I had to deal with B's father's funeral. Today it's quiet here because B accused me of yelling at her yesterday when we were at Wal-Mart, which I didn't, and is another form of gaslighting (she did the same thing when we firs met to try and provoke a reaction, but this time I am not taking the bait). It pisses her off that the silent treatment results in me being able to be productive, because at all other times she needs to be showing me these stupid FB reels or gossip about other people. Of course, I'm barely allowed to talk in this marriage, but whatever.
I've gotten back into learning Python, as well as studying a bit of psychology in order to respond to B's narcissism appropriately. The more I learn about how narcissists operate, the easier it is for me to not be provoked when B tries to bait me, and she does it often, getting irritated when I don't respond the way she wants me to.
I'm hoping to start spending more time on campus in the future, since being here is nothing short of a black hole in my life I am trying to escape from.
I've gotten back into learning Python, as well as studying a bit of psychology in order to respond to B's narcissism appropriately. The more I learn about how narcissists operate, the easier it is for me to not be provoked when B tries to bait me, and she does it often, getting irritated when I don't respond the way she wants me to.
I'm hoping to start spending more time on campus in the future, since being here is nothing short of a black hole in my life I am trying to escape from.
Because I do not wish this to be my third consecutive Friday without writing my words (with one bonus missed Sunday, siiiigh)1, I better get these done before getting *too* cozy on the couch. That way, we know from experience, lies sleepiness.
I rounded out my reasonably good-but-exhausting week with a third day that was good-but-weird. I was worried that I was going to be slightly late to school --I ran into Clayton on the path and we walked the back half together, quickly since we knew we were brushing against our contractual start time. Striding around the corner at 7:47 (two minutes after first bell, but still well before final bell), we were startled to find...everyone. Turns out a fire alarm had gone off right around the time of first bell, and so *no one* got into class before about 8:10. Well then.
A couple hours later, I watched in horror as my clock spontaneously fell off the wall and missed hitting a student on the head by 8-10 inches or so. I think that's when I declared that the day had pretty serious Friday-the-thirteenth vibes, despite being a Friday-the-not.
I was able to finish the day without too many hours of distractions, and determined that I would reward myself for a Productive Week with a trip to Make and Mend to poke around. It's the closest I've ever had two visits there (about two weeks), and I was pleasantly surprised by how much churn had occurred, and how many new things were out. My secret plan to obtain every possible knitting needle is going extremely well.
I walked home while chatting on the phone with Veronica, which meant I got to learn her youngest child has the same favourite dinosaur as me (Triceratops, which I decided was my favourite when I was probably pretty close to the age he is now: almost four). I really appreciate that she has initiated an every-other-week or so Friday afternoon call while she's doing daycare pickup. It's always so good to get to know what's going on in her life!
At home I did some important documentation of knitting supplies (so far I have managed to not duplicate any needle sizes, which is _excellent_) and then sat on the bed and listened to music and worked a bit on some of my projects. Hearing voices downstairs, I went down to hang with Rey and her lovely friend Al, who I'd met a few weeks ago and quite hit it off with.
Now they're off to watch the telly downstairs, and I have, as established at the beginning of this post, curled myself up very comfortably on the couch. I have a warm blanket, I have three different knitting projects in reach, I have good conversations going with my sweeties, all is good!
It's still not guaranteed (my brain has been piss of late), but I'm really hoping I make it out to bells tomorrow, since it's been an age. And then I can spend the rest of the day being lazy and quiet and maybe grading and maybe playing video games and maybe knitting. It's a good plan, bront.
I hope you have good plans for this weekend, be they restful or active.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I don't think I've talked about it. I feel awful. My streak was 1271 days. But right now it is 6 days, and if I finish today it'll be 7, and the way you get to 1271 is by doing 6 or 7 or 8 days in a row, lots of times all strung together. So yeah, "feel awful" but also sanguine.
I rounded out my reasonably good-but-exhausting week with a third day that was good-but-weird. I was worried that I was going to be slightly late to school --I ran into Clayton on the path and we walked the back half together, quickly since we knew we were brushing against our contractual start time. Striding around the corner at 7:47 (two minutes after first bell, but still well before final bell), we were startled to find...everyone. Turns out a fire alarm had gone off right around the time of first bell, and so *no one* got into class before about 8:10. Well then.
A couple hours later, I watched in horror as my clock spontaneously fell off the wall and missed hitting a student on the head by 8-10 inches or so. I think that's when I declared that the day had pretty serious Friday-the-thirteenth vibes, despite being a Friday-the-not.
I was able to finish the day without too many hours of distractions, and determined that I would reward myself for a Productive Week with a trip to Make and Mend to poke around. It's the closest I've ever had two visits there (about two weeks), and I was pleasantly surprised by how much churn had occurred, and how many new things were out. My secret plan to obtain every possible knitting needle is going extremely well.
I walked home while chatting on the phone with Veronica, which meant I got to learn her youngest child has the same favourite dinosaur as me (Triceratops, which I decided was my favourite when I was probably pretty close to the age he is now: almost four). I really appreciate that she has initiated an every-other-week or so Friday afternoon call while she's doing daycare pickup. It's always so good to get to know what's going on in her life!
At home I did some important documentation of knitting supplies (so far I have managed to not duplicate any needle sizes, which is _excellent_) and then sat on the bed and listened to music and worked a bit on some of my projects. Hearing voices downstairs, I went down to hang with Rey and her lovely friend Al, who I'd met a few weeks ago and quite hit it off with.
Now they're off to watch the telly downstairs, and I have, as established at the beginning of this post, curled myself up very comfortably on the couch. I have a warm blanket, I have three different knitting projects in reach, I have good conversations going with my sweeties, all is good!
It's still not guaranteed (my brain has been piss of late), but I'm really hoping I make it out to bells tomorrow, since it's been an age. And then I can spend the rest of the day being lazy and quiet and maybe grading and maybe playing video games and maybe knitting. It's a good plan, bront.
I hope you have good plans for this weekend, be they restful or active.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I don't think I've talked about it. I feel awful. My streak was 1271 days. But right now it is 6 days, and if I finish today it'll be 7, and the way you get to 1271 is by doing 6 or 7 or 8 days in a row, lots of times all strung together. So yeah, "feel awful" but also sanguine.
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When I pulled up to Massage Envy for my appointment today, there was a huge truck parked in front of the storefront, and packing cases all over the sidewalk and in the reception area.
I walked in the front door and asked, "What in tarnation is going on here?"
The receptionist said they were delivering the massage robot, as if I was supposed to know about that. I had not heard about this yet (Jenny filled me in during my massage). A woman I did not recognize said something about Tom Brady being the chief innovation officer for the company. I laughed and said, "He's a football player, what does he know about robots?" She said something about he knows about wellness. Well yes, but that has ZERO to do with building robots or the software to run them. But I didn't say that out loud, because I sort of figured she might be the owner (and I was right) and I didn't want to say anything negative about what was probably a very expensive new purchase.
They're testing the robots (which are essentially more complicated massage chairs) because they're having trouble hiring massage therapists. A lot of massage schools have shut down in recent years, so there aren't enough therapists to fill all the open positions. Jenny said that she hadn't mentioned the robots to me, because she hadn't thought I'd be interested. And she's right. There's no way I'd let a robot touch me, not in the early development stages anyway. I know how buggy early software is, I'm not letting some robotic arm pummel me that's driven by software, even if you are supposed to have a tablet that lets you control it. Maybe in five years. But the prototype? Aw hell no.
The website, just in case you want to look at the thing.
https://www.aescape.com/massages
I walked in the front door and asked, "What in tarnation is going on here?"
The receptionist said they were delivering the massage robot, as if I was supposed to know about that. I had not heard about this yet (Jenny filled me in during my massage). A woman I did not recognize said something about Tom Brady being the chief innovation officer for the company. I laughed and said, "He's a football player, what does he know about robots?" She said something about he knows about wellness. Well yes, but that has ZERO to do with building robots or the software to run them. But I didn't say that out loud, because I sort of figured she might be the owner (and I was right) and I didn't want to say anything negative about what was probably a very expensive new purchase.
They're testing the robots (which are essentially more complicated massage chairs) because they're having trouble hiring massage therapists. A lot of massage schools have shut down in recent years, so there aren't enough therapists to fill all the open positions. Jenny said that she hadn't mentioned the robots to me, because she hadn't thought I'd be interested. And she's right. There's no way I'd let a robot touch me, not in the early development stages anyway. I know how buggy early software is, I'm not letting some robotic arm pummel me that's driven by software, even if you are supposed to have a tablet that lets you control it. Maybe in five years. But the prototype? Aw hell no.
The website, just in case you want to look at the thing.
https://www.aescape.com/massages
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy "The Life Of The Stars" Review (Spoilers)
Feb. 27th, 2026 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the season premiere of Scrubs, and the latest episode of Law & Order: Special Vicimts Unit.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
I can't go into details, but this week I had to fear quitting taekwondo. This made me look at how important it was to me, and it was very important to me. Luckily I don't have to quit.
As a small good thing, I ordered two more skirts from Maya Kern while they were having a sale. I was worried the thistles one would be a colour I don't actually like, but it turns out to be a little more muted than the photos, in a way that I really enjoy! So that's lovely, and I am pleased to add a couple more very pockety skirts to my Pinewoods rotation.
I've been having a rough first half of the year at work. It's the fact that It's 2026 fucking me up, but I've also just like...not been as good of a teacher as I would like to be. I am maybe finding new energy and doing a better job these past couple weeks, which is very good, but also extremely frustrating because boy howdy, past me did not do any favours. Recovering from that is gonna keep being rough.
Case in point: Yesterday was 9.5 hours of active work, today was 9. Both with additional 2 hour zoom meetings after I got home. This is me _barely_ keeping up. It remains really _really_ frustrating that the better I do at my job the more time it takes --there is so little that I am able to optimize.
But I have a decent piece of differentiation/extra challenge for my ninth graders tomorrow (since some of them are definitely already finished with the activity that I expect the other half of the class to finish tomorrow). I found all the old reference sheets and made good (filled in!) copies for the special-ed tenth graders taking the midterm next week. I wrote a thoughtful circle activity (with help/inspiration from my coteacher!) for class 2 to do some community building with their extra classtime due to snow day shenanigans. I printed a couple early copies of the midterm for any tenth graders who want to start the midterm early since they won't be here Monday. I emailed the students and parents of every 9th grader who failed the midterm to begin making a tutoring and retake plan. I sorted the papers to return for one (of three, sigh) class so that I can just drop a pile at each person's desk instead of endlessly running around the room.
(to be fair, that last one is explicitly a "goddamn, recovering from being less good the first half of the year sucks" problem, since it's returning basically every paper I'd collected since, I dunno, October? This is very much something I could've been doing better on. Like. Returning things more frequently, yanno?)
((And to be unfair, I still have more grading and things to return, but that's all quarter 3 work at least.))
And while both yesterday and today I did take breaks after my contractual work day ended, they were only 45-60 minutes total. That's a lot better than getting stuck playing shitty phone games for three hours after the last bell and having to suddenly rush my copies so I can go the fuck home. I'm proud of myself for that.
Still though. "Excuse me while I teach your child but first I must" remains _barely_ satire. Rereading it, the phrase "time-wasting professional development" especially stings this week. Also the depressing reminder that this was in 2018 which is the only reason "attend a training for how to best protect my immigrant students from being targeted, deported, or killed by the government that should be supporting them" isn't anywhere on there. You know. Hypothetically.
So I'm flopping now, wearing a cute new skirt, and debating what to do for the last hour or so before I have to go to bed. It's such a delight to have any damn time to myself, maybe I'll waste it by fucking around with unsatisfying video games.
Maybe this weekend I'll have time and energy to make a dint on my grading pile. Or I could try going to bells for the first time in months? Both are good options, I suppose.
I wish you time and energy to do all the beautiful things that excite you.
~Sor
MOOP!
I've been having a rough first half of the year at work. It's the fact that It's 2026 fucking me up, but I've also just like...not been as good of a teacher as I would like to be. I am maybe finding new energy and doing a better job these past couple weeks, which is very good, but also extremely frustrating because boy howdy, past me did not do any favours. Recovering from that is gonna keep being rough.
Case in point: Yesterday was 9.5 hours of active work, today was 9. Both with additional 2 hour zoom meetings after I got home. This is me _barely_ keeping up. It remains really _really_ frustrating that the better I do at my job the more time it takes --there is so little that I am able to optimize.
But I have a decent piece of differentiation/extra challenge for my ninth graders tomorrow (since some of them are definitely already finished with the activity that I expect the other half of the class to finish tomorrow). I found all the old reference sheets and made good (filled in!) copies for the special-ed tenth graders taking the midterm next week. I wrote a thoughtful circle activity (with help/inspiration from my coteacher!) for class 2 to do some community building with their extra classtime due to snow day shenanigans. I printed a couple early copies of the midterm for any tenth graders who want to start the midterm early since they won't be here Monday. I emailed the students and parents of every 9th grader who failed the midterm to begin making a tutoring and retake plan. I sorted the papers to return for one (of three, sigh) class so that I can just drop a pile at each person's desk instead of endlessly running around the room.
(to be fair, that last one is explicitly a "goddamn, recovering from being less good the first half of the year sucks" problem, since it's returning basically every paper I'd collected since, I dunno, October? This is very much something I could've been doing better on. Like. Returning things more frequently, yanno?)
((And to be unfair, I still have more grading and things to return, but that's all quarter 3 work at least.))
And while both yesterday and today I did take breaks after my contractual work day ended, they were only 45-60 minutes total. That's a lot better than getting stuck playing shitty phone games for three hours after the last bell and having to suddenly rush my copies so I can go the fuck home. I'm proud of myself for that.
Still though. "Excuse me while I teach your child but first I must" remains _barely_ satire. Rereading it, the phrase "time-wasting professional development" especially stings this week. Also the depressing reminder that this was in 2018 which is the only reason "attend a training for how to best protect my immigrant students from being targeted, deported, or killed by the government that should be supporting them" isn't anywhere on there. You know. Hypothetically.
So I'm flopping now, wearing a cute new skirt, and debating what to do for the last hour or so before I have to go to bed. It's such a delight to have any damn time to myself, maybe I'll waste it by fucking around with unsatisfying video games.
Maybe this weekend I'll have time and energy to make a dint on my grading pile. Or I could try going to bells for the first time in months? Both are good options, I suppose.
I wish you time and energy to do all the beautiful things that excite you.
~Sor
MOOP!
AI really is becoming the bane of my technical writing existence this month. =P
One of our bleeding edge Technical Writers wrote a really nice post on Slack today about how we should not be worrying about keeping up with all the technology, that just focusing on a few simple things (editing topics, writing new topics) is all we should really be doing. Because trying to keep up with all the new technologies is too much, and we’re only human. And then he shared this file he uses to have AI check work against our Style Guide (SO useful!).
One of my coworkers thanked him, saying “You've lowered my blood pressure with a single post.”
I saved it to read again later when I need a reality check. It really was THAT good.
I just wish he hadn’t said, “Get really good at 1 and 2 [editing and creating topics] and your productivity will be 100x more.” Because I don’t want anyone to think that it’s humanly possible to be 100 times more productive. Even with AI. Especially because I just read an article last week about a study that found that “AI adoption increases labour productivity levels by 4% on average in the EU”. And that four percent is actually higher than the last study I saw, which IIRC (I can’t find it) was somewhere in the 2% productivity growth range.
* le sigh *
One of our bleeding edge Technical Writers wrote a really nice post on Slack today about how we should not be worrying about keeping up with all the technology, that just focusing on a few simple things (editing topics, writing new topics) is all we should really be doing. Because trying to keep up with all the new technologies is too much, and we’re only human. And then he shared this file he uses to have AI check work against our Style Guide (SO useful!).
One of my coworkers thanked him, saying “You've lowered my blood pressure with a single post.”
I saved it to read again later when I need a reality check. It really was THAT good.
I just wish he hadn’t said, “Get really good at 1 and 2 [editing and creating topics] and your productivity will be 100x more.” Because I don’t want anyone to think that it’s humanly possible to be 100 times more productive. Even with AI. Especially because I just read an article last week about a study that found that “AI adoption increases labour productivity levels by 4% on average in the EU”. And that four percent is actually higher than the last study I saw, which IIRC (I can’t find it) was somewhere in the 2% productivity growth range.
* le sigh *
As the Trump administration's crowd of incompetents, toadies, drunks, bigots, and crooks empowers lawless thuggery, dismantles programs and departments that actually help people, I have reached out to friends and family, asking if they or folks they know need help, because strengthening communities and mutual aid is a way to fight fascism. Of course, I am still supporting several people coping with war and disability and I also have Skeezix and the Pixie moving into the basement sometime next month, so I'm taking on more in my efforts, but I feel I must truly step up in a time of crisis.
That hasn't stopped me from buggering off to Mexico for almost three weeks to stay with Millari and Pokemon. I left my phone behind and it was a truly relaxing time. I played some PoGo, spent a bunch of money at El Dragon, reread War In Heaven and Many Dimensions by Charles Williams, and made supper a few times. The only times I missed my phone were during layovers in DFW airport, which would have been excellent places to catch more pokeys. As it is, on the return leg, with nearly 8 hours to kill, I checked into a short term suite to nap and read (Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey on Kindle) and, on whim, watch Sliding Doors. Gwyneth Paltrow was SO THIN.
Pretty much the next day, Stoic and I went to Morristown for Dreamation, which was a good time. I underwrote Skeezix and several of her friends getting to the con, staying in the hotel, and then renting an airbnb for a few days after; the iHunters coming to hang out; and Survivor also getting to enjoy the con for a couple of days. We had to leave early because a massive storm (gale force winds, over a foot of snow) was blowing in on Sunday, though. (I drove Stoic and myself back home after midnight.) Also, we got to have lunch with Lefty! He led us a to tasty place called Macho Nacho.
But, I got play a casual Commander magic game against three others with my vampire bankers deck, and somehow won. I managed to stumble through a basic Space Hulk scenario successfully, and then (after Macho Nacho) I played a Blades In The Dark variant with Lefty and some others, investigating the ruins of a failed Martian colony a century after it went silent.
Now I'm home again, and I have to make some decisions about how much money I want to throw at various problems, including election campaigns. I hope I make wise and lucky choices.
That hasn't stopped me from buggering off to Mexico for almost three weeks to stay with Millari and Pokemon. I left my phone behind and it was a truly relaxing time. I played some PoGo, spent a bunch of money at El Dragon, reread War In Heaven and Many Dimensions by Charles Williams, and made supper a few times. The only times I missed my phone were during layovers in DFW airport, which would have been excellent places to catch more pokeys. As it is, on the return leg, with nearly 8 hours to kill, I checked into a short term suite to nap and read (Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey on Kindle) and, on whim, watch Sliding Doors. Gwyneth Paltrow was SO THIN.
Pretty much the next day, Stoic and I went to Morristown for Dreamation, which was a good time. I underwrote Skeezix and several of her friends getting to the con, staying in the hotel, and then renting an airbnb for a few days after; the iHunters coming to hang out; and Survivor also getting to enjoy the con for a couple of days. We had to leave early because a massive storm (gale force winds, over a foot of snow) was blowing in on Sunday, though. (I drove Stoic and myself back home after midnight.) Also, we got to have lunch with Lefty! He led us a to tasty place called Macho Nacho.
But, I got play a casual Commander magic game against three others with my vampire bankers deck, and somehow won. I managed to stumble through a basic Space Hulk scenario successfully, and then (after Macho Nacho) I played a Blades In The Dark variant with Lefty and some others, investigating the ruins of a failed Martian colony a century after it went silent.
Now I'm home again, and I have to make some decisions about how much money I want to throw at various problems, including election campaigns. I hope I make wise and lucky choices.
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Feelings…
1. What made you happy this week?
2. What made you sad?
3. What made you angry?
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
5. What are you not looking forward to?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
1. What made you happy this week?
2. What made you sad?
3. What made you angry?
4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
5. What are you not looking forward to?
Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.
If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!
I called mom and dad last night. Just to follow up on mom's call about the storm. She's said she was going to call back to find out how much snow we got, and neither of us thought to do it on Tuesday. I really just wanted to let her know that even though RI got three feet, I was fine. And had gotten less snow that other parts of Lowell.
dredpiratebunny lives on the other side of town and said the snow was up to her knees (She's over six foot tall). A coworker in Dracut said she got at least a foot of snow. So I guess Frogholm really did manage to miss the worst part of the storm somehow!
dredpiratebunny lives on the other side of town and said the snow was up to her knees (She's over six foot tall). A coworker in Dracut said she got at least a foot of snow. So I guess Frogholm really did manage to miss the worst part of the storm somehow!