So, here are my wishes and cynical predictions:
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Happy Birthday to weofodthignen!!

Hope you had a good day, dubhain

Happy Birthday to kevin_standlee

To my birthday twin herefox!

I hope your day is fun and special!

Today is the Magpie Monday prompt call! Join the fun by prompting for a story that fits the theme of “unconventional parenthood.” My stories are generally gentle fiction, and are not conventional fan fiction. Full details are over at dialecticdreamer’s page.

A person on here posted a meme-question that I have been ruminating on for a while. So here's my rant on it.

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Most people who know me IRL know that I only have the use of one arm - the left. It's been that way for over 25 years.

What people don't know is how I've adapted to this. Today I'll cover clothes.

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To my US readers:

Today we witnessed an attempted coup by Trump supporters, instigated by Trump himself, supported inside Congress by Hawley, Cruz, and others. At the very least they are white supremacist terrorists.

This should not get swept under the rug like so much of Trump's other misdeeds and corruption.

This needs to be prosecuted as the sedition and insurrection it is. It is just as treasonous as the secessionists of the old confederate states. It needs to be squashed, and squashed hard.

I'm a nobody. I don't hold any office, I don't have lots of money.

But I am a US citizen, and I demand that Congress, the FBI, and the Secret Service do whatever they need to to bring these traitors to justice.

What can we do?

1. Start with demanding that Fox News be removed from your cable service for "material support of terrorism".
2. Do Not vote for any of the treasonous GOP for any office, not even dog catcher. As long as the GOP embraces Trumpism, even if not in name, reject them utterly.
3. Do not patronize MAGA businesses. Starve the beast.
4. Cut ties with your MAGA relatives. I know it's hard, but this shit has to have consequences, even for the footsoldiers.
5. Demand that your elected representatives denounce this, and if necessary, resign from the GOP..
6. For the duration of the pandemic, observe all public health directives and CDC guidelines. Starve Covid of victims.
7. If you can afford it, give to progressive/reformist causes, including the ACLU.
8. Stay aware of both local and national politics. Be aware of the shenanigans being pulled in your name.

It's not a lot, but every little bit counts.

We need to pull together, or they'll try to pick us off one by one.

Even if they defeat this now, unless it has heavy consequences we won't be rid of MAGAt "Y'all Queda" terror until they have no support and no place to hide.

Well, not really. Things are too much on the cusp, able to go either way. So I have possibilities, not predictions. ( Read my 2021 maybesCollapse )

Today is Magpie Monday! Come visit dialecticdreamer’s page and join the fun of reader-inspired stories centered around the theme of unexpected moments! Full details are on dialecticdreamer’s page, and they are happy to answer questions via private message if anything is still unclear. Offer an idea, get a private reading copy to enjoy!

Yule Kag, aka Jule Kage.

I plan on making some this year.

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Happy Birthday dubhain!!

Hope your day went well, and that you enjoy many more!

Happy Birthday to arlie and dangerpudding!!

I hope you both are well and safe.

I've been laid off. The end of my notice period is at the end of this month. Yes I get severance, but it won't last long.

The West Coast is burning, but the Federal government under Trump doesn't give a shit. Multiple hurricanes are threatening the South, and my mother lives in Florida. Schools are opening for in person instruction in spite of advice from medical experts so we're sacrificing our youth for political appearances.

Every fucking day, more and more malfeasance by Trump, his appointees and surrogates surfaces, but with the complicit GOP, corrupt Barr in the DoJ and the traitor McConnell having a stranglehold on the Senate none of this shit will be brought to justice or corrected.

Worse, even if the Dems win in November, they will probably just all sing Kumbaya and sweep it under the rug as "history", and there will be no accounting for the corruption and crime of this administration. IMO, it's the mistake that they made after Watergate that helped set the stage for the current corruption of the once loyal GOP.

To say that I'm feeling cynical and depressed is putting it mildly. It seems like there will be no end to the right-wing shit-storm that is enveloping our nation, and that a Dem admin will have to spend all of it's time once again fixing the godawful mess that the GOP left, rather than moving our nation ahead into the 21st century. Every time the GOP gets into power they sabotage our institutions, shit on our ideals, and then pretend like it is patriotic or something. Each time is worse than the last.

It will be a cold day in hell before I knowingly vote for a Republican again, even on a local level. They have lost all claim to patriotism and loyalty to American ideals.

Here are some links via various people, including on Twitter:

How To Vote In The 2020 Election, by 538

You Don't Need a Home to Vote (pdf), by the National Coalition for the Homeless

California:
Elections Information - November 3, 2020, General Election (lots of links) CA folks can also verify their registration here.

Stanford eliminated my position. I kind of worked myself out of a job. I'm not the only one - they had to cut the budget by 10%, and the easiest way to do that was to cut positions. I get a few months notice and severance.

Still, it's a drag. I tend to hate the whole interview charade these days. It used to be a lot easier, but there are so many fake people out there, with fake resumes, that there is more effort putting on screening fakes out than trying to find someone who can actually do the job.

If you ask me, a 20+ year computer professional, and others for a tool to "put a file on a website", I'm going to send you to an upload tool. Because to get the fucking thing from your computer onto the site, you have to transfer (upload) the fucking file. So don't fucking ask me for a tool to "put a file on a website" then bitch at me like I was a moron for pointing you at an upload tool.

There are lots of protocols for copying a file from one computer to another: ftp, sftp, scp, rsync, rsync over ssh, hell even dd. However, if you can't hack the command line, or write your own scripts, or even search the web yourself for what you think you want, then you use an upload tool. You can even find upload tools to make thumbnails of graphic files.

But don't throw a badly worded request for a solution out to people who "know the difference between ftp and rsync", which I can definitely assure you I do, then bitch that the suggestions are not what you want like I was AN IDIOT FOR NOT READING YOUR MOTHER FUCKING MIND!!

If it wasn't for your decent knowledge in other things, I'd block your bitchy little ass right now.

I've been collecting links, including to scientific papers, about masks:


https://www.craftpassion.com/face-mask-sewing-pattern/

https://www.craftpassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/face-mask-pattern-1.pdf

https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/best-materials-make-diy-face-mask-virus/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258525804_Testing_the_Efficacy_of_Homemade_Masks_Would_They_Protect_in_an_Influenza_Pandemic

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/

Thailand masks https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/03/12/world/asia/12reuters-health-coronavirus-thailand-masks.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronavirus-face-masks.html

https://youtu.be/hVEVve-3QeM - Why we need #Masks4All, and how to make your own mask

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2764367/effectiveness-surgical-cotton-masks-blocking-sars-cov-2-controlled-comparison - conclusion is that masks don't work, but data says cloth masks cut output by 1/3.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2 - Respiratory virus shedding in exhaled breath and efficacy of face masks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22188875 - The use of masks and respirators to prevent transmission of influenza: a systematic review of the scientific evidence.

https://newsroom.wakehealth.edu/News-Releases/2020/04/Testing-Shows-Type-of-Cloth-Used-in-Homemade-Masks-Makes-a-Difference

https://youtu.be/HhNo_IOPOtU - Masks for all, from Czechs

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1442 - Covid-19: should the public wear face masks?

Via siderea

1. Are you an Essential Worker?

No. My University employer started allowing me to work from home (WFH) a week before the CA lockdown.

2. How many drinks have you had since the quarantine has started?

One, for the Spring Equinox.

3. If you have kids... Are they driving you nuts?

Hahahaha... No. My cats are entertainment enough.

4. What new hobby have you taken up during this?

I've been making masks in my spare time...

5. How many grocery runs have you done?

Grocery or hardware store, about one a week, since we can't get any delivery times and stuff is always sold out.

6. What are you spending your stimulus check on?

Most went into savings, but some is going toward a new water heater to go into our garage for the washing machine.

7. Do you have any special occasions that you will miss during this quarantine?

Two of our SF&F conventions have been canceled already.

8. Are you keeping your housework done?

No, but then I wasn't before all this started.

9a. What movie have you watched during this quarantine?

None, really. Just a few youtube shorts

9b. What are you reading right now?

Twitter, Reddit, FarceBook, DreamWidth

9c. What video game are you playing?

My usual MMOs, plus Toon Blast and Toy Blast

10. What are you streaming with?

I am paying for a Netflix subscription, which I haven't done anything with in ages, plus we get Prime Video. But I don't watch TV.

11. Nine months from now is there any chance of you having a baby?

No. All of the AFAB eople in my house have either had hists or have gone through menopause

12. What's your go-to quarantine meal?

Whatever is in the freezer ready to nuke. (We cook in large lots, then portion it out and freeze it.)

13. Is this whole situation making you paranoid?

No, paranoia is about irrational fears:


14. Has your internet gone out on you during this time?

No. We got a new head end in February

15. What month do you predict this all ends?

September, 2021

16. First thing you're gonna do when you get off quarantine?

Evaluate if it is actually safe to go out without a mask, etc.

17. Where do you wish you were right now?

Not sure.

18. What free-from-quarantine activity are you missing the most?

Fabric shopping.

19. Have you run out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer?

No, but I had to scramble because Amazon has refused to ship my regular order for two months now. I am using more TP now that I'm WFH. I've made some of my own hand sanitizer, in case I need it, from 90% IPA, aloe & glycerine, plus I have some small bottles I bought in February.

20. Do you have enough food to last a month?

Easily, although one roomie will complain about lack of fresh leafy greens, eggs and mushrooms if she can't go shopping for them every week. We have powdered egg, IIRC, powdered milk and freeze dried spinach. But she can go through a two pound bag of fresh spinach in a week, and she won't freeze it.

Yep. "Go out, go to church, go to the club, hug and shake hands - to own the libs!"

This is what we've come to: Courting death by a highly infectious disease that your lying news organization said was a hoax, but is busy killing people all over the world, just to upset "liberals".

Nevermind that these idiots will infect family members, including their elders, and the hospital workers that will try to save their lives.

A couple of pastors have already died of it, after telling their in-person congregations that it was Just a hoax, God would protect them.
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We made reusable surgical masks this weekend, and cut out a lot more. Now I get to see who wants them.

COVID-19 is the Schrodinger's virus: You don't know you have it until you come down with symptoms, but you are contagious right from the start, and can often spread it for 3 or more days before you have any suspicion that you are sick!!

Given that, I am going to go out on a limb and ask you to do one, simple, easy thing, along with all the handwashing and social distancing: Wear a cloth mask when you go out, remove it like it was contaminated when you get home, and wash it carefully.

Why cloth? Because it will leave the professional grade N95 masks for medical professionals and caregivers dealing with known infections, while still helping to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Cloth masks are about half as effective as a properly worn N95 mask.

So if you wear a mask, that is 50% less chance that you get contaminated if you don't have it, and 50 % less that you contaminate someone else if you do have it. If *both* people are wearing masks? It drops your risk to 25%, or maybe more because of the reduction in spray radius (my crude term for how far people spray microdroplets when they talk.)

Think I'm nuts, or spreading baloney? Listen to some others, then:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronavirus-face-masks.html

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/03/12/world/asia/12reuters-health-coronavirus-thailand-masks.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258525804_Testing_the_Efficacy_of_Homemade_Masks_Would_They_Protect_in_an_Influenza_Pandemic

Got a sewing machine, maybe some old pillowcases?

https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/

Make each person *three*. One to wash, one to wear, one for spare (and maybe one to share)

Bunkering in.

So, I've been WFH since Monday 3/9.

We did our monthly grocery run 3/7 & 3/8. TP was flying off the shelves, as in gone. which was irritating because it was on our regular list. We did our final pharmacy run, that I had to do in person, that I could only do every ten days. Fuck the PATRIOT Act anyway. Found some more hamburger, too. Two freexers full, a 36 count of eggs, plus an extra pound of coffee.

Our highest risk person is off for a colitis flare for four weeks, which is good since she works part time at a big grocery store. One roomie still is mega restless and likes to go out, ride transit, and shop. She's the one who will be going to get the fresh shit if we need it, and we get to try to decontaminate her when she gets back.

I made my own hand sanitizer out of 91% rubbing alcohol, glycerin and aloe. I got the proportions of glycerin and aloe backwards, I think. The right recipe is
* 11 oz 91% rubbing alcohol
* 3 os Aloe Vera juice
* 2 ox glycerin
* a few drops of rose absolute
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Be safe, wash your damn hands, cover your cough, wear a mask, stay home as much as possible.

Don't be a fucking statistic, please.

Happy Yule to those who celebrate it!

Happy Orbital Anniversary, sunfell