Performing some traffic maintenance today
Mar. 14th, 2026 01:04 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
mark posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceHappy Saturday!
I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!
If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.
Phone woes. Email woes. Texting woes.
Mar. 11th, 2026 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vvalkyriSo my current plan is to stop off at Best buy tomorrow when I'm kicking around in Baltimore, and say hey, it feels like everything about this phone is wrong. I am getting texts half hour to an hour after they're sent, texts I send aren't necessarily even going through, everything refreshes weirdly, the system UI keeps crashing, it's unconscionably slow, and if I'm listening to audio on sub stack it sounds like it's underwater and YouTube is no longer willing to play in the background even though I pay for it.
The text thing is especially problematic because it's already a miracle if I notice email that comes to me on my main accounts because I have so much other random stuff that I mean granted it's partly because sub-stack adds you to emails all over the place and I need to figure out how to undo that.
This post brought to you by my having happened to notice a reference to something I thought there was a possibility I was invited to and so I went searching through my email and eventually found something at the end of January and then had to look up whether it conflicted with something else I'm committed to and found that date from an email near the end of January...
And also hopefully I haven't pointed poison to myself with overly old tortellini.
Anyway, I'm really hoping that showing up at a Contra dance doesn't count as moderate activity in terms of avoid moderate or strenuous activity the day before this particular study thing because I would really like to get to Contra tonight up in Baltimore.
So very tired.
Anyway, a pretty good rule of thumb is that if you haven't gotten a reply from me for something it's quite likely I have for whatever reason either not gotten that message or not seen that message or maybe saw the message meant to get back to it and didn't. I will never be upset with getting something like a.. or a question mark follow up. Somehow double ?? Follow up gives me a stress response.
The text thing is especially problematic because it's already a miracle if I notice email that comes to me on my main accounts because I have so much other random stuff that I mean granted it's partly because sub-stack adds you to emails all over the place and I need to figure out how to undo that.
This post brought to you by my having happened to notice a reference to something I thought there was a possibility I was invited to and so I went searching through my email and eventually found something at the end of January and then had to look up whether it conflicted with something else I'm committed to and found that date from an email near the end of January...
And also hopefully I haven't pointed poison to myself with overly old tortellini.
Anyway, I'm really hoping that showing up at a Contra dance doesn't count as moderate activity in terms of avoid moderate or strenuous activity the day before this particular study thing because I would really like to get to Contra tonight up in Baltimore.
So very tired.
Anyway, a pretty good rule of thumb is that if you haven't gotten a reply from me for something it's quite likely I have for whatever reason either not gotten that message or not seen that message or maybe saw the message meant to get back to it and didn't. I will never be upset with getting something like a.. or a question mark follow up. Somehow double ?? Follow up gives me a stress response.
Happy Second False Spring!
Mar. 10th, 2026 12:02 pmdianec42The first crocuses and snowdrops are blooming! I couldn't get a good snapshot of the snowdrops. Here, have some croci:
The shaded bits of the yard are doing their best to pretend it's not 70 degrees out:
It's going to be cold and wet again in a few days so I'm enjoying this while I can.
The shaded bits of the yard are doing their best to pretend it's not 70 degrees out:
It's going to be cold and wet again in a few days so I'm enjoying this while I can.
smooth sailing
Mar. 8th, 2026 05:45 pmtotientRelative to my Iron Butt superpower, a very fast drive from Boston to DC yesterday. I picked up the car in Harvard Square instead of Somerville and brought my luggage with me, so I got to the Mass Pike quickly and easily saving at least 10 minutes and maybe more like 15. The car was unremarkable but got decent enough gas mileage not to need refueling, as neither did I. I hit 10 minutes of traffic total for NYC and another 10 minutes south of Baltimore. Total elapsed time 6:51 which is not a record but it's close, and I think only the second time I've made this drive in under 7 hours. The other time, in June 2020, is not a fair comparison.
For 24-hour one-way rentals like this I get an AYCE toll pass and it finally dawned on me that this made the I-95 express lanes north of Baltimore free. They probably saved me about 45 seconds. Not worth the buck and change it would have cost me a la carte.
For 24-hour one-way rentals like this I get an AYCE toll pass and it finally dawned on me that this made the I-95 express lanes north of Baltimore free. They probably saved me about 45 seconds. Not worth the buck and change it would have cost me a la carte.
Habits, atomic and otherwise
Mar. 7th, 2026 09:36 amdianec42After seeing numerous recommendations, I finally got the book Atomic Habits from the library. As is my way, I have made extensive notes and am trying to apply it to everything in sight.
I have also been giving some thought to changing habits in retirement. Some existing habits bear revisiting: for example, did you know, Mr Diane & I have been getting up at staggered times... which is a remnant of when we only had 1 bathroom, over 20 years ago. Some new habits are also available now, such as doing grocery shopping on a weekday or ACTUALLY WORKING ON THAT DAMN QUILT.
One habit I've successfully tweaked: I had been lifting weights twice a week (doing basically the same 2 at-home routines I came up with during lockdown) but recently started struggling to get it done. I decided to simplify and make it totally boring/mindless: I stole a short list of exercises from an NPR article in January, took out a couple that I hate, added in some more upper body and should PT exercises, and have been successfully doing this routine THREE times a week since the beginning of February.
It'll be interesting to see what else I come up with. March is utter chaos, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Maybe the chaos will shake some things loose in my brain and open up new possibilities.
Needless to say this is the year I officiallygave up on took a break from bullet journaling, and now I actually understand how habit tracking is SUPPOSED to work so I may need to start again.
I have also been giving some thought to changing habits in retirement. Some existing habits bear revisiting: for example, did you know, Mr Diane & I have been getting up at staggered times... which is a remnant of when we only had 1 bathroom, over 20 years ago. Some new habits are also available now, such as doing grocery shopping on a weekday or ACTUALLY WORKING ON THAT DAMN QUILT.
One habit I've successfully tweaked: I had been lifting weights twice a week (doing basically the same 2 at-home routines I came up with during lockdown) but recently started struggling to get it done. I decided to simplify and make it totally boring/mindless: I stole a short list of exercises from an NPR article in January, took out a couple that I hate, added in some more upper body and should PT exercises, and have been successfully doing this routine THREE times a week since the beginning of February.
It'll be interesting to see what else I come up with. March is utter chaos, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Maybe the chaos will shake some things loose in my brain and open up new possibilities.
Needless to say this is the year I officially
Excellent evening
Mar. 7th, 2026 02:20 amvvalkyriEntirely impromptu: I texted around to a few different people to say I was going to be out Bethesda ward and ended up getting together with high school friend and his three teens at California Pizza kitchen at Montgomery mall and then there was wandering around the mall and his teens are cool and it had been too long and the selfie as we were partying was deemed adorable by my other friend, his wife.
And then I sent another friend a happy birthday and our messaging history looked like we hadn't talked in like a year and I said I was going to have about a half an hour drive home and care to chat and then we did chat about all sorts of different things for about 4 hours past both of our bedtime and she's on the other coast and it was lovely almost like going to visit as I did several years ago before she moved across the country.
But Joe was going to be coming for lunch at 11:00 and I'm realizing if I also want to possibly be galavanting around in an inflatable frog suit at Stand Up For Science (noon to 3 near Hirshhorn) at noonish I should probably tell him to show up earlier than 11:00 if possible.
Eep ;)
And then I sent another friend a happy birthday and our messaging history looked like we hadn't talked in like a year and I said I was going to have about a half an hour drive home and care to chat and then we did chat about all sorts of different things for about 4 hours past both of our bedtime and she's on the other coast and it was lovely almost like going to visit as I did several years ago before she moved across the country.
But Joe was going to be coming for lunch at 11:00 and I'm realizing if I also want to possibly be galavanting around in an inflatable frog suit at Stand Up For Science (noon to 3 near Hirshhorn) at noonish I should probably tell him to show up earlier than 11:00 if possible.
Eep ;)
Surprise tears
Mar. 5th, 2026 05:03 pmvvalkyriWhich before I explain I should offer condolences to those who knew the person in Bostonish who recently died. I did not, other than somewhat by reputation and very much in passing, but she was very special to many people and seemed like someone it was yet again my loss to not know.
But this post is inspired by my mild befuddlement at just how much Rusty Old American Dream by David Wilcox makes me cry.
Some of us on the mutual Aid group are meeting at dew drop inn later tonight for a planning meeting. And someone referenced a song called Uneasy Rider that mentions a Dew Drop Inn (its lyrics are quite the ride) and something about the first lines gave me the earworm.
So I brought up the YouTube and I was singing along and started crying. And then later grabbed the lyrics to drop back into that chat and sang it without the YouTube and was back to sobbing.
I certainly didn't get enough sleep last night. But come to think of it I kind of remember this song has often done this. It's probably easy enough to figure out which lyric.
In other news it's been nice out today and I was up till 6:00 a.m. because someone called at 3:00 when they saw I was up because I sent something to a group chat and I guess that was helpful because I did actually almost finish unpacking from Presidents Day weekend. But it was less helpful because when I finally managed to get off the phone at 5:00 I was quite awake.
I had had tentative plans with happy that I had forgotten about and then remembered and then sent him a note at 5:00 saying hey I'm not in bed yet even and then his meeting ran late enough that he messaged right about the same time I actually opened my eyes and then we made our way to falafel and came back and I'm sad that falafel Incorporated is no longer carrying their vegan shawarma because they've started doing chicken shawarma and they had already had chicken shawarma but I think they're just trying to keep their menu very narrow. But I expressed my dismay and then someone else came in and is vegan herself and doesn't like falafel so she left and did not buy anything and I noted that maybe the people behind the counter might want to keep a running tally as to how many people Express dismay and how many people then leave without buying something. Their vegan shawarma was amazing.
But the falafel salad was also good.
And then somehow the last two and a half hours have gone poof. Some of it has been trying to follow up on maybe getting some kites made since No Kings 3 is the same day as the Cherry blossom kite festival and one of the events will be pretty nearby.
And then there was trying to signal boost a call for people to call their Congress critters and complain about dismantling department of education and trying to shove special education in with like department of Labor.
And then I'm not even sure.
I'm kind of tempted to go to Blues tonight because I like both of the people DJing but then that complicates matters for the earlier part of the evening.
And I'm also just so exasperated with kind of everything of late.
And how is it March?
But this post is inspired by my mild befuddlement at just how much Rusty Old American Dream by David Wilcox makes me cry.
Some of us on the mutual Aid group are meeting at dew drop inn later tonight for a planning meeting. And someone referenced a song called Uneasy Rider that mentions a Dew Drop Inn (its lyrics are quite the ride) and something about the first lines gave me the earworm.
So I brought up the YouTube and I was singing along and started crying. And then later grabbed the lyrics to drop back into that chat and sang it without the YouTube and was back to sobbing.
I certainly didn't get enough sleep last night. But come to think of it I kind of remember this song has often done this. It's probably easy enough to figure out which lyric.
In other news it's been nice out today and I was up till 6:00 a.m. because someone called at 3:00 when they saw I was up because I sent something to a group chat and I guess that was helpful because I did actually almost finish unpacking from Presidents Day weekend. But it was less helpful because when I finally managed to get off the phone at 5:00 I was quite awake.
I had had tentative plans with happy that I had forgotten about and then remembered and then sent him a note at 5:00 saying hey I'm not in bed yet even and then his meeting ran late enough that he messaged right about the same time I actually opened my eyes and then we made our way to falafel and came back and I'm sad that falafel Incorporated is no longer carrying their vegan shawarma because they've started doing chicken shawarma and they had already had chicken shawarma but I think they're just trying to keep their menu very narrow. But I expressed my dismay and then someone else came in and is vegan herself and doesn't like falafel so she left and did not buy anything and I noted that maybe the people behind the counter might want to keep a running tally as to how many people Express dismay and how many people then leave without buying something. Their vegan shawarma was amazing.
But the falafel salad was also good.
And then somehow the last two and a half hours have gone poof. Some of it has been trying to follow up on maybe getting some kites made since No Kings 3 is the same day as the Cherry blossom kite festival and one of the events will be pretty nearby.
And then there was trying to signal boost a call for people to call their Congress critters and complain about dismantling department of education and trying to shove special education in with like department of Labor.
And then I'm not even sure.
I'm kind of tempted to go to Blues tonight because I like both of the people DJing but then that complicates matters for the earlier part of the evening.
And I'm also just so exasperated with kind of everything of late.
And how is it March?
Oops I seem to have gone forever again
Mar. 4th, 2026 11:09 pmvvalkyriSo I scroll back 14 days but if anything's important with you from before 14 days then I couldn't easily scroll back.
I don't even remember when it was I last posted. There's all sorts of things I've been highly annoyed about lately but haven't really been posting here. I just got back from steel City Blues which I'd sort of been debating whether I was going to or not and eventually decided literally the night before possibly even the day of.
I had a couple weeks of my leg being highly annoying and that finally finished in the aftermath of President's Day weekend, which was also very very good.
I bought a new phone right before President's Day weekend because my normal phone was busy rebooting itself constantly. And I hate this phone so much. Nothing is where it's supposed to be it's incredibly slow the system UI keeps crashing and I didn't come to the conclusion that I wanted to try to return it to Best buy until after the two weeks window for doing so and besides they were going to charge like a $50 restock fee. So bleh. I also am pretty sure that even though nominally I got all my messages to transfer they did not in fact transfer because I sent some birthday greetings to various people and I was like wait a second there should be some sort of message history there and indeed at least with one of them she had messages history...
Drove back from Pittsburgh yesterday and boy howdy was it not hugely clever or two opt for the not toll road. I spent time driving through clouds in the dark. On one lane needs direction roads which every so often actually had reflectors. Do not recommend.
I managed to host some acro in my lobby tonight, with the guy who's nice enough to let me base him and my next door neighbor.
I had done a very little bit of acro over President's Day weekend and otherwise it had been weeks and weeks. And I probably will be doing a blues class instead on Sunday and a friend who lives only a couple blocks away is moving to Alaska so I don't see myself going up to Laurel for acro on Saturday and besides there's the March for science and maybe I'll be there in a frog costume because oh right yeah I was part of that state of the Swamp Thing and I'm quite happy about it.
Last week was I went up to the Wilson building to be part of the free DC filling the hearing room for the MP d oversight hearing.
By the way, DHS is trying to buy a big Warehouse in Maryland where there's a number of different ones. Other places have been successful so far at making that not happen.
I really need to do better at not doing things by dictation
I don't even remember when it was I last posted. There's all sorts of things I've been highly annoyed about lately but haven't really been posting here. I just got back from steel City Blues which I'd sort of been debating whether I was going to or not and eventually decided literally the night before possibly even the day of.
I had a couple weeks of my leg being highly annoying and that finally finished in the aftermath of President's Day weekend, which was also very very good.
I bought a new phone right before President's Day weekend because my normal phone was busy rebooting itself constantly. And I hate this phone so much. Nothing is where it's supposed to be it's incredibly slow the system UI keeps crashing and I didn't come to the conclusion that I wanted to try to return it to Best buy until after the two weeks window for doing so and besides they were going to charge like a $50 restock fee. So bleh. I also am pretty sure that even though nominally I got all my messages to transfer they did not in fact transfer because I sent some birthday greetings to various people and I was like wait a second there should be some sort of message history there and indeed at least with one of them she had messages history...
Drove back from Pittsburgh yesterday and boy howdy was it not hugely clever or two opt for the not toll road. I spent time driving through clouds in the dark. On one lane needs direction roads which every so often actually had reflectors. Do not recommend.
I managed to host some acro in my lobby tonight, with the guy who's nice enough to let me base him and my next door neighbor.
I had done a very little bit of acro over President's Day weekend and otherwise it had been weeks and weeks. And I probably will be doing a blues class instead on Sunday and a friend who lives only a couple blocks away is moving to Alaska so I don't see myself going up to Laurel for acro on Saturday and besides there's the March for science and maybe I'll be there in a frog costume because oh right yeah I was part of that state of the Swamp Thing and I'm quite happy about it.
Last week was I went up to the Wilson building to be part of the free DC filling the hearing room for the MP d oversight hearing.
By the way, DHS is trying to buy a big Warehouse in Maryland where there's a number of different ones. Other places have been successful so far at making that not happen.
I really need to do better at not doing things by dictation