life_of_glamour

I buy a transit pass every month. SF Muni had an easy program where they charged my credit card with no input from me, until 2023 when they shut it down. I complained at them because their list of alternate programs

hadn't been updated since 2021, and half of the ones I looked at were no longer offering a transit program;
the ones that were still active were general HR programs, and mainly wanted to provide health insurance with transit a distant second. Oh, and they were geared towards 20 employees or more. I am doing this for me only.

I did not expect a response but actually got a helpful one - I was pointed to a website I could upload an invoice every month to reload my transit card. Slightly more work, but only very slightly so that's what I did.

Two days ago, I repeated the process I've been following since 2023. Unlike all the other times, I got a "rejected" notice. WTH? I tried a couple different things (checking the upload file to make sure it was in the right format, making sure the credit card hadn't expired, etc.) and finally, called the transit help desk yesterday.

I got bounced around several times. Each time the person asked "So the problem is you can't log on?" No, the problem is that your system is rejecting my invoice. Finally I was transferred to the apparent coding firm - which is based in London.

I got a call at 3 AM this morning telling me it was resolved. When I got into work I tried again. Same result. It's before 5 PM there, so I called and told them "No, it bloody well is not resolved." Oh, and please note I am in California and there's an 8 hour time difference.

Current Mood: frustrated

m_of_disguise

The whole meeting/early lunch situation worked out just fine yesterday, and I was able to get the baby down for an early nap before leaving to head back to work.

Because I took lunch so early, the rest of the day just dragged on forever. Got home and heated leftovers for M's dinner, but I wasn't in the mood to eat. Baby got a grilled cheese sandwich and some fruit. She struggled a bit to go to sleep; I think she could have used a second nap since her first was so early in the day, and that she was probably overtired by the time bedtime came around.

M was already in bed for a while before the baby went down, so once she was asleep I crawled into bed, too. I had been hoping to catch up on sleep, but I had a terrible night and feel even worse today. Hooray. Very tired, very spacey.

Can't wait for this week to be over.

koshka_the_cat

The machine sewing on the skirt is done. I want to hand sew the organza part of the seam and the hem. Still not sure what I want the beading on the bodice to look like.

I'm mostly used to my car being automatic, but I still don't approve. Shifting helps me focus when I'm fizzing, which I've been doing the last few days, and I have to focus hard on focusing while driving. It's weird, but shifting is just enough to keep my attention there. Thankfully, I'm aware of the issue and can force my attention where it needs to be, but I so miss having attention be natural.

Overall, I'm happy enough with the Subaru, but I really wish the Mazda 3 that came with a manual transmission had cloth seats. Leather seats in 120+ weather are worse than automatics.

I also figured out something about one of the air vents today. It's super skinny because of the giant stupid screen, not the traditional shape. I thought sliding the tab made it point down. It doesn't. It closes it. No wonder I didn't get much air from it. It moves side to side, but the only option is for it to hit you directly in your face.

Also, as much as I'm trying not to play with the air controls because it's a touchscreen that you have to look at instead of dials, auto air just doesn't work the way I want it to. It was fine in southern California, but just can't figure out what I need here. Yes, I need the air on my feet before ten minutes into the drive. And yes, I'm very fussy about the air. Running hot is not fun at all.

Tom is doing fine. He's getting better at hobbling naturally. I'm actually excited for his appointment on Monday to get his splint changed.

He doesn't know how to play, and can't really play much now, but I bought him a new toy, a base with a large spring and a ball. Sid stuck his whole head in it, and that was before he ate half the catnip plant I also bought. Poppy ate one of the feathers off the toy.

They're such good boys!

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3116/

This is almost as bad as the time I signed up for a purely partisan fishing expedition.

https://xkcd.com/3116/

madbaker

This week's Resolution Recipe: Chicken Stew with Dumplings.
"We simplified this recipe dramatically with ground chicken - which can dry out a bit under pressure. To compensate, we've upped the broth to make sure that the stew is moist, even a little soupy, as it will reduce a bit as the dumplings cook."
( Read more... )

Current Mood: working

m_of_disguise

Baby was in rare form yesterday. I got home for my lunch break just as M was finished cleaning up a poo tsunami. Seems that she managed to take off her dirty diaper without taking off her clothes, and had made a mess all over the living room. As I arrived home, he'd just finished giving her a bath and scrubbing the living room. Yeesh.

I tried to put her down for a nap, but she flung her little leg up over the railing of her nap pen and was ready to make her daring escape when I scooped her up. -_- Like I said, rare form. Eventually got her down in her crib, which is still too tall for her to spiderman her way out of.

Was only back at work briefly when I got the email from the genetic councilor that the amniocentesis results had come back as normal. Hooray! I couldn't stand the thought of being at work the rest of the day after that, so I took the rest of the day off and headed home. M was grateful for this, and disappeared soon after I got home to take a very long nap.

The baby also decided she wanted a second nap (probably because she'd been awake some many times the night before), so I had a solid chunk of the afternoon to myself, during which I did absolutely nothing and it was great.

Dinner was ham, green beans, and Spanish rice, all things which took very little effort and time. Baby went down pretty easily for bed, despite having two naps, so she was a tired girl. After dinner I made a passing remark about wishing I hadn't finished off my ice cream the other day, and before I knew it, M had his shoes on and was on his way to the convenience store across the street to procure ice cream. So despite shenanigans at the start of the day, it ended on a nice note.

Today's nonsense is that the state jail inspectors have finally made their appearance, so things are a bit hectic, and M needs me home earlier than usual during lunch because he has a meeting he has to attend, so thinks are a tad wonky. Meh, it'll all work itself out.

koshka_the_cat

I did a tiny bit on the skirt today--cut the shape for the overlap in front. I should cut it out, but inertia...

hrj

So remember when I was coming down to the wire on retirement and trying to get my Flexible Spending Account balance sorted out? To recap: I'd had a Flexible Spending Account (pre-tax medical expenses) for some years. The balance had always rolled over to the next year (though the instructions on that were unclear). I hadn't renewed the account for 2025 due to retirement, so to keep things simple I was identifying things to spend the ca. $500 balance on (since I can't schedule root canals for my convenience).

I picked up a second CPAP battery (to enable the possibility of using it for up to 3 nights off-grid) and went to charge it to my FSA. No-go, it said. That was a 2025 expense any my FSA could only reimburse 2024 expenses.

Many phone calls and run-arounds later, it turns out part of the problem is that my employer changed FSA administrators between 2024 and 2025. So my existing account couldn't reimburse 2025 expenses because that was out of scope for them. And the 2025 FSA administrator couldn't reimbuse a 2025 expense because I didn't have a balance in their account.

So what happens to my balance? How do I get my money? The 2024 administrator says, "We send it back to your employer. No idea beyond that." And my employer, after tracking down someone who claims under understand FSAs says, "Oops, sorry, your money is gone. No recourse. Use it or lose it." Eventually, I shrug and chalk it up to experience.

The 2025 benefit adminstrator (who also administers my IRA) at some point sends me an ATM card for my FSA. I check in with them: "Hey you sent me this card, but I don't have a FSA with you so there's no money in it and there won't be any money in it, should I just trash the card?" Yes, they say.

A month or so later, I get a notification: "Hey, you know your FSA balance? We've rolled it over into New!Administrator Account." So now I have to request a replacement ATM card (since it's the only way I have to use the money). With some trepidation that I was still being jerked around, last week I submitted the receipt for my CPAP battery. And--voila!--yesterday the money was deposited to my checking account.

So everyone who carefully explained to me that the FSA balance was use-it-or-lose-it and that they were just going to keep my money, thank you very much, was utterly wrong and didn't even know they were wrong and will continue to be ignorant of their wrongness. But me? I got my battery covered and have another $200 of medical money to spend, after which I will be done with the confusing nonsense that is the Flexible Spending Account.

And I will continue to disbelieve official opinions when they do not align with logic or justice.

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3115/

'Tin pest' makes more sense to me. Tin just doesn't want to be locked down in a shape like that. I get it. But why would any metal want to grow hair??

https://xkcd.com/3115/

koshka_the_cat

The bodice is done, except for beading, and I have no idea what I want it to look like. The sketch the dress is based on doesn't translate for me somehow and looking at other dresses isn't helping. I'll figure something out, but it's rather annoying until I do!

m_of_disguise

Baby woke up just as I was getting dressed on Friday morning, so I was a bit late getting to work. Mainly because she wouldn't stop hugging me and looking sad whenever I went close to the front door. How I can I just walk out the door when she's being that cute? Thankfully, her early morning meant that she went down very easily for her nap while I was home for lunch. Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner.

Stared at the cassock embroidery some more, and discovered there is way more metallic embroidery on there than I first realized because it's done in silver and is super tarnished. Spotted some plaited braid stitch, my nemesis, I hadn't noticed before either. Not much, though, so I'm taking it as a good opportunity to practice the cursed stitch where it won't be very noticeable if I flub it.

Woke up Saturday feeling the best I have in months. Rode that energy wave and made blueberry muffins for breakfast, and cleaned the dish pile and scrubbed the kitchen so it's finally in a decent state again. Baby went down for her nap easily, so I had the time to make a big pot of mac & cheese for lunch. After eating, I started tracing out the loose kirtle pattern onto some gridded interfacing so I could alter it into the cassock pattern. Got halfway through before the baby woke back up.

Rest of the day was pretty quiet. M went out to the range for a little while, and came home fairly late. The baby had a supernova burst of energy in the early evening and went completely crazy running around the house. Wore me out, I tell you what. Wore herself out too, though, and she passed out pretty easily at bedtime.

Once she was down, I finished tracing and cutting out the cassock pattern, and drafted out the sleeve. The body of the thing seems to be pretty good, though it needs some extra length at CF and CB, which is an easy enough fix. The sleeve, however, doesn't work at all. I had drafted out the original sleeve from the embroidered cassock in an attempt to make things easier when I transferred the embroidery pattern, but alas, it doesn't fit at all into the armscye. I should have anticipated this, since the back of the embroidered and plain jackets are extremely different, but my brain glazed over that. Ah, well. So instead of futzing with the current pattern, I'm going to draft out the two-part sleeve, and I'll just have to make the embroidery pattern work on that instead.

Stayed up way too late working on patterning, and paid for it dearly on Sunday. The baby woke up at the crack of dawn, which meant I was up, too. I had enough umph to make us all some breakfast sandwiches, but I quickly lost steam with so little sleep. Thankfully, she went down for her nap without a fight, and I passed out on the couch. Woke up a couple of hours later because I was suffocating in the heat, so since the baby was still asleep I crawled into my own bed in the nice cool bedroom and tried to get a little more shuteye. Only managed about an hour more, but at least it was something.

M made a trip to the store to pick up some beverages and some fruit. We had leftovers for dinner, and I just tried to stay on the couch and not move much because I was feeling pretty lousy. Felt the baby kick for the first time, though!

Because of my wonky sleep over the day, I wasn't tired enough for bed until 11:30 or so, so I'm not at 100% today.

Today is M's birthday! He took off today and tomorrow, but I didn't have the time available, so I'm at work today. He's made no plans to celebrate today, but maybe he'll think of something for this evening.

koshka_the_cat

Today things have calmed down into their regular routine. Tom is happily snoozing and seems to be getting used to his splint.

Poppy somehow tied his toy around himself, but normal other than that!

marthawells

A really thoughtful essay on Murderbot: ‘Even If They Are My Favourite Human’: Murderbot Just Explained Boundaries

https://countercurrents.org/2025/07/even-if-they-are-my-favourite-human-murderbot-just-explained-boundaries/

“I Don’t Know What I Want”: The Line That Changed Everything

In the final moments of the season, Murderbot says: “I don’t know what I want. But I know I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me. Even if they are my favourite human.”

This is not a dramatic declaration. It is confusion wrapped in clarity. A sentence that holds discomfort and self-awareness in equal measure. It reflects a truth often ignored in stories about intelligence and emotion: that it is okay to not know, as long as that unknowing belongs to the self. In a world that constantly demands certainty, this line opens up space for uncertainty without shame.

* And a great interview with Alexander Skarsgård!

https://collider.com/murderbot-finale-alexander-skarsgard/

So, it just wants to start fresh and get away, and figure out who it is and what it wants. It doesn't really know that. I quite enjoyed that Murderbot didn't end up having answers to all the questions or knowing exactly what it wants. It's more messy and complicated than that. But it definitely knows that it needs to find its own path and make its own decisions, to make its own mistakes, and not have the Corporation or anyone tell it who it is or what it wants.

marthawells

Here's a gift link for the New York Times interview with Paul and Chris Weitz, who wrote, directed, and produced Murderbot:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/arts/television/murderbot-season-finale-chris-paul-weitz.html?unlocked_article_code=1.V08.exvw.M_qE37ROOT58&smid=url-share

koshka_the_cat

Tuesday: Hanging out outside. I think I'll go find that food under the stairs and try to get a treat. I'll meow really loud.

Wednesday: I've been kidnapped. What is this place? I heard the treat people say something about a clubhouse.

Thursday: I'm in a small box. I'm in a car. Something is missing. What's happening? Back in the "clubhouse"

Friday: I've been kidnapped again. Two large cats here. Lots of food. Why is the sky exploding?

Saturday: This might be ok. Treat people telling me I'm safe now.

Sunday: Zzz

Monday: So much food. I think I'm gaining weight!

Tuesday: Zzz

Wednesday, almost midnight: The perch looks nice. OW. What happened. Fall. Planter broken. Limping. In small box. Something about a "fracture."

Thursday: Pain meds. Sleep. So much sleep. Not so sure about "safer" inside.

Friday: In small box. Something about finally having an "appointment." Leg wrapped up. Stupid cone on head. Something about another appointment in two weeks. Something about eight weeks to heal. Treat people are nuts if they think I'll stay confined.

Saturday: Sid and Poppy are super nice. Sleeping with treat person. Get supervised break from cone. Get grumpy, but then zzzz.

So, Tom, in keeping with a new tradition I don't like, somehow knocked a heavy planter off the windowsill and fractured his foot. The regular vet couldn't fix it and sent us to the emergency vet who she thought could get him into the attached surgical vet, but couldn't. He got sn appointment for the next day. He's a super sweet boy and doing ok with it, but he clearly is not happy with the situation!

As far as the tradition, when Sid and Poppy were fairly new, they had emergencies too. Poppy swallowed yarn and Sid missed a jump and landed wrong.

Tom will be fine, but everyone is stressed! Poor little guy!

koshka_the_cat

Much was done again today. Even a little sewing...

hrj

The Worldcon programming schedule is out and I'm on a number of interesting panels.

Wed Aug 13 - Horrible Histories: A Way to Make Learning about History Fun (Room 343-344)

A discussion about shows, podcasts, and other media that help make learning about history fun. After all, it isn’t just lists of numbers and names! How do you take that dry text and make it engaging enough to reach an audience that isn’t necessarily interested in history?

Thu Aug 14 - Medieval Characters—Women Authors (Room 420-422)

A look at the legacy and influence of Marjorie Kemp, Christine de Pisan, Marie de France, Hildegard of Bingen, the anchorite Julian of Norwich, and more. Their works continue to have relevance today.

Fri Aug 15 - Conlangs 101: How to Get Started Making Your Own Language (Room 322)

Building language goes beyond just putting funny sounds together or making a word that looks cool. Learn what’s needed to make a basic constructed language and how to find the resources and tools to get started in language creation.

Plus autographing on Fri Aug 15 at noon, a (limited attendance) table talk on Sun Aug 17 at 9am and...

Hugo Awards Ceremony - Sat Aug 16 (time TBA) where I will be trying not to chew too hard on my fingernails as I wait for the Best Related Work category to come up.

More details on my blog: https://alpennia.com/events/worldcon-seattle

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3114/

That was quicker than usual! The cabin's sprinkler system often makes it really hard to keep anything lit.

https://xkcd.com/3114/

marthawells

In Psychopomp, with me, Wole Talabi and Alix E. Harrow:

https://psychopomp.com/fantasy/issue97/interview-with-world-fantasy-finalists-part-one/

And in Scientific American:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/were-light-years-away-from-true-artificial-intelligence-says-murderbot/

m_of_disguise

Developed a terrible case of nausea late yesterday afternoon, so my only goal for the evening was to take it easy and do very little. Thankfully, M had a frozen pizza on hand, so he had dinner available whenever he wanted it. Baby went down at a decent hour, so I tried as hard as I could to take it easy on the couch and not irritate my guts.

We had a power flicker for no damned reason in the mid-afternoon. We haven't even reached our hottest temperatures of the year yet. It seems like every day there's another signal from this apartment that it's time to get out. Just seven more months!

Been poking at the cassock project, and was all geared up to start sketching out the embroidery, when I read on someone's blog (Sibella's maybe?) that it was described in detail in 17th Century Women's Clothing Vol.2. I had looked only at volume 1 when I'd been doing pattern research, so I dug out vol.2 and there it was, with the entire embroidery laid out on the pattern pieces! That makes my job a thousand times easier. There's also a similar, non-embroidered version in the same book, and I like its lines slightly better, so I'm contemplating combining the pattern from that one with the embroidery of the first one. They wouldn't be very different, it's just the non-embroidered one has a collar and cuffs, and a two-part sleeve instead of a one-part. It would push the date slightly into the 17th century instead of being more plausibly late-16thC, but the dates are wiggly enough that I think it'd still be SCA-okay.

Anyway, the plan is to do a wearable mockup of the pattern so I have something to wear to Baronial College in September if the embroidery isn't finished (which it likely won't be) and aim to have the embroidered one done in time for my "lying in" period at the end of my pregnancy, when no doubt I will end up stuck in the hospital again for a couple of weeks because my body is dumb. That would give me five months to do the embroidery, which seems pretty reasonable if I chip away at it a little bit each night.

M finally got the email from HR setting up his third interview for the job he's going after. His friend told him to keep his eyes out for a second email sometime between now and the interview, but didn't elaborate on what it could be. M suspects that his potential boss wants to have an informal in-person meeting, but I think he's getting a bit ahead of things. We'll see what unfolds.

M's birthday is Monday, and he's taken Mon-Tues off for it. I asked him if there's anything he wants to do, but he waffled and said he didn't want to spend a bunch of money. I suggested a few not terribly expensive things he could do, like going to the range for the day or catch a band he likes, or even just going out for a steak, but he was non-committal. I'm sure he'll think of something he wants to do as the day comes around.

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life_of_glamour

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Bon Vivant, Glamour Girl and International Woman of Mystery

"... weird, ill-informed and frequently simply mistaken."

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Echo Chamber

Stew For Science

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Skirt

Why I Never Trust Official Nonsense

Unsolved Physics Problems

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More Murderbot Articles

Murderbot Interview

Tom's Diary

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My Worldcon Schedule

Building a Fire

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December 2016

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