missizzy

This morning I started the day the way I have most days since the beginning of this month, by turning on the old computer and working a certain amount on the Conclave montage I've been working on the past half a year or so, with plans after breakfast to likewise work on the ambitiously long Shadowgast podfic I've been editing for literally years. They're the last two projects left on that computer, since neither is easy to move. My plan was to finish the latter this month and the former next month, before I retire the computer, which continues to occasionally not connect to the internet, though it actually has more often than not.
I came back from breakfast and discovered said computer had suddenly set its screen resolution to 640x480. When, after considerable struggle though apps not at all set up to deal with such an old resolution, I got to the display settings to change it, it offered no choices for anything bigger. I tried restarting, giving in and installing the updates I'd been refusing to do before then, to no change. My computer has decided to make itself nearly unusable at a time when making the effort to fix it is least worth it, but I still had these two projects.
I eventually made Audacity usable again by hiding most of the toolbars. I had less than five minutes left to edit on the podfic, so it is now completed and exported to mp3. I had a bit of a scare when I tried to look it up while setting the metadata and couldn't find it on AO3. I feared it had been deleted, with no indication on whether it was ethical for me to post the podfic or not. Then it turned out I just needed to be logged in. I've called it a day after that. Cover art, full metadata, and posting can wait until tomorrow.
I'm also letting the computer problem sit overnight. The way these things are, it's perfectly possible it'll be back to its old resolution tomorrow. If not, I think I'm just going to move the last of my files over and officially retire it. I was halfway done with the montage, but I think I'm just going to have to do it over.

There is still a mostly smooth-topped layer of snow covering our yard, and it has turned firm, but actually isn't that slippery right now. I was worried about getting the trash bins out to the front when I got home from work just now, especially since we didn't get collection last week and they are currently very full, but I was able to walk on top of the smooth snow so easily I felt like an elf! And the bins rolled easily on top of it as well, at least until I reached the more piled up snow on the curb.
Once again, there is a government shutdown, but once again, there is still money in the revolving fund that pays for the library, and even if things don't go as expected tomorrow, it's hard to think this one will last two months. It all felt very undramatic today.
I have gotten a bit MDZSed over the past few days, starting to read the third volume of the serial while watching the final episodes of The Untamed. I watched episode 45 yesterday, and holy shit, the acting in that one, from Yu Bin and Qi Pei Xin especially. I am now reading enough also to spot adaptational differences, and while there are one or two straightwashing ones I must be unimpressed by, I actually think they've been for the better generally.

Yesterday, after spending the weekend trying to determine the difference between the various most popular and recommended microphones for Twitch streamers, I ultimately instead went for the one recommended for beginners. Which is a much cheaper one, too, but buying it still felt much like committing. I think I can otherwise start with what I've got already, unless I need something to connect the old computer monitor's up as my second one. I actually still need to look up exactly how one does that.
The website currently claims it'll arrive this weekend, but I suspect it's going to end up taking a little longer than that. This is the second weekday in a row everything in the area is closed. Our road hasn't been cleared yet, though at least one car's made its way through since the storm. We were able to get a young man to come shovel our walk, which is a very good thing, because mom and I have now both lost whatever ability to might have once had to manage that ourselves. He wasn't able to get the bottom layer all up, though, and I fear how slippery that might prove over the rest of this week.

Home 59 minutes early today, and it looks like the reveals for Critmas Wishing Tree are out! First time I've ever written something that went public with initial anonymity outside of a kinkmeme post.

Title: Effect of Mortality
Fandom: Critical Role
Characters: Laudna/Imogen
Disclaimer: My deepest respects to Marisha and Laura.
Warning: General references to Laudna's various issues.
Note: For a prompt from ColbatSoulSearcher: Weight gain as recovering/getting happier.

It took a while, after she became mortal, for Laudna to become less active."

My D&D group started our new campaign last night. I came in with Elizabeth, a half-orc barbarian who ran the bar everyone was gathering at-until the DM dropped a fireball on the entrance and the authorities kicked us all out of the area indefinitely. The most financially successful character offered to take her in, but she is probably never going to feel comfortably in her house. It should make for an interesting time, at least.
Today events were less pleasant. My mother's quest to get working dentures more or less ended today, when the stress of it nearly caused her another ministroke. The worst was averted and she didn't even need to go to the hospital, but we still need to take that as a sign. My sister took the tree down while she was here, though the ornaments are just sitting around waiting for our new big box for them to arrive.
The ads in the Pentagon metro station have changed again. This time a new AI company bought it out. At least they don't have any banners advertising AI tailor made for the Department of War, which one supposes is an improvement on the last two.

My family had our Christmas get-together a week later than planned today. Mom and I went over to my sister and brother-in-law's house, where we watched the highlights of Mamdani's inauguration (first time I've actually seen him speak, and he's certainly good at it), ate some good chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, and then opened presents. Lots of practical ones, especially for my sister, who needed a lot of various articles of clothing, and I now have a working table lamp in a spot where I really needed one. Also, of course, books. Mom got me a few Mary Beards, and I also got the third volume of The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. (Just in time, too, since I've started the final ten episodes of The Untamed.)
The tree will stay up another week; mom wanted to keep it until at least twelfth night. Then we are left to try to cope with 2026 as best we can. I've got a plan or two towards that end, though how they will unfold, it is currently difficult to know.

My sister is sick, and her symptoms are downright alarming, especially her saying she can't smell anything. She and her husband had Covid once, a couple of years back. Did a real number of them; it was weeks before they were functioning normally again. Although he's apparently recovered from whatever he had last week.
We were supposed to go over to her place and have Christmas with them today. Not sure how long that's going to be delayed. Although that in itself is not completely a bad thing, since mom's gift to him actually hasn't arrived yet, and now she's revealed she's gotten extra surprise gifts for us that haven't arrived yet either.
Also there was freezing rain this morning. I think it's above freezing right now, but apparently there's still a wintry mix going on. It's been good holidays for staying at home.

This has not been a good week so far. It's been bitterly cold out the past two days, our router broke yesterday morning, and though Verizon sent someone to fix it this morning the wifi's still being a little testy, and apparently my brother-in-law is now sick. Not to mention I spent much of today discovering exactly how cataloging giant OCLC introducing AI into their system is just going to create more work for us catalogers, since we can't rely on the records involving it to be accurate.
It's supposed to warm up starting tomorrow, though. Good thing, too, since for the second week in a row, my D&D group is meeting to try to figure out where we go from here. Last week the number of players officially shrunk down to three, though one of them has now invited a couple of his friends to join us, and the DM decided to abandon the current campaign and start over. I've got to think up another character. Maybe a rogue. I don't know. Last week we also finished the "Death House" short adventure he ran for the three of us, only revealing in the end it's actually the opening adventure for Curse of Strahd. Which he was not now going to run for us without warning, he was quick to say. Though honestly, if I ever do play it, I will likely use the gnome cleric I created for the Death House. She feels like the right kind of character to use for that.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to continue making these singing vids. I think I made more attempts at recording this one than I have any other, and I kept devolving into coughing, or other difficulties. This is literally the only time I got through the whole thing.

So, after a long delay due to the spiteful behavior of the dentist my mother left because it was her botching things that started this situation in the first place, my mother finally went today to get her broken denture fixed. And they couldn't get the screws out. She is now home and recovering from their failed attempt; it's very much a good thing I took today off. We don't even know what course of action we're going to take next at this point.
Tomorrow, so long as she's up to going, we will be going over to my sister's house to have Thanksgiving with her, her husband, and his family. With nine people present, it will be the biggest Thanksgiving dinner I will have ever attended, with people neither of us have seen in years, three of whom we only ever met at my sister's wedding over a decade ago. This may be interesting, though honestly, I'm hoping not.