A Slight Detour
Yesterday, I got up and zipped off towards the west with the intention of going to the mountains. However, there was a monstrous traffic jam in Newport News and I decided it was prudent to exit the interstate, make my way to Yorktown, drive up the Colonial Parkway and get on the interstate up near Williamsburg, some thirty miles on. When I noted that the on ramp was backed up because I-64 was STILL a parking lot that far west I decided to take drastic measures and headed all the way to Jamestown, where I took the CF Pocahontas across the James River to Scotland.
I keep hearing about how Scotland is trying to break away and form their own country, but I don't think they're going to be able to make a go of it. Built on a steep embankment they only have a dozen or so houses, a ferry pier , some fishing boats and no place at all to pull over and take pictures. But hey, if Sealand can make a go of it, who am I to judge?
I continued down State Route 31 with the intention of taking it to Route 460 and via that highway, heading west. Where routes 31 and 10 meet there is a stoplight. This is the center of Surry, the capital of Surry county.
I stopped at a small grocery and purchased an iced coffee from a pleasant south asian gentleman and zipped off down the road.
After some time I encountered a small cluster of churches around a large Fire station and out the corner of my eye spied the word MUSEUM.
The word museum was attached to the word Dendron which is usually attached to a neuron, so I determined that it was advisable to examine the place more closely and do some disambiguation.
It turns out that the town of Dendron, is, like the postsynaptic branch of a neuron, named after the Greek word for tree. Also, the aforementioned nerve thingy is actually called a dendrite so my confusion was quite inexcusable and no disambiguation was, in fact, needed.
The little museum contained an eclectic collection of artifacts including a list of the 12 men from this tiny town that died in the war that began 100 years ago this month.
The museum also solved a mystery of my youth. In my childhood days I lived in a little town called Zuni, some 40 or 50 miles to the southeast of this place. Wandering through the swamps there I had encountered a set of odd very narrow gauge railroad tracks that disappeared into the Blackwater river. It turns out that there had once been a lumber mill in Dendron that had micro gauge rail lines for hauling trees from tree farms as far as 100miles away. The Lumber mIll had closed up shop in 1929 and taken with it the fire station they had provided, to the town. In 1931 the town burned down, leaving the churches the post office and one small grocery. Now there is also a hardware store and a few other buildings including a very large 4 bay corrugated steel fire house.
Among the churches was this one, the oldest in the town having been built before 1890.
Now a Methodist church, it was originally non-denominational and was unusual for many years in that it was a nonsegregated church. The other churches were all built much later.
Thus edified I proceeded on my way finally reaching a town called Wakefield. Wakefield located on RT 460 (between Disputanta and Ivor if you were wondering)describes itself as "The Peanut Capital of the World" this may or may not be true, but the town is home to the Virginia Diner, which has the best peanut soup and ham biscuits in the entire solar system.
They had just run out of peanut soup but I got a plate of their exquisite, heavenly, ham biscuits and partook of the buffet where, it seems, the beets and the meatballs, both being red spheres, somehow got confused. For a brief moment EVERYONE in the restaurant was made very aware of this most vexatious calamity at the moment it befell a hapless but quite vocal young diner. One horrified shriek notwithstanding, the dining experience was superb. As I left, I observed this theological conundrum across the street.
"The Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague" Wait. WHAT!?
I then proceeded to my car and noted that my muffler had broken off and was hanging by a single clasp.
Thus ended my journey to the west. I turned east down 460 and headed back towards home via Suffolk. Along the way I stopped in my old home town of Zuni and discovered that most of it had been washed away during Hurricane Floyd, but the grain elevator (the explosion of which had blown windows out 11 miles away in my youth) still had the lift machinery dangling precariously after 33 years.
Shortly thereafter the passenger side of my car began filling up with water. I soon realized that the AC drain was somehow diverting water into the passenger compartment. I arrived home last night an\d have spent the day flitting between car repair shops.
Dear Japanese Spammers
Neither I, nor my few readers are your target audience. We're just not.
Your business plan is, therefore, flawed.
I hope this helps.
In other news, I've been a tad under the weather lately and it came to a head today as I left work, when I was afforded the rare oppertunity to examine everything I'd eaten (but not fully digested) over the last two days.
After spending the day in bed, this evening I staggered up and went to the gas station...where I had my card declined...subsequent investigation revealed that someone had purchased all manner of stuff including an Amazon Prime membership with my card number until they emptied my account.
What, pray-tell, is someone going to DO with an Amazon Prime membership bought from a stolen card number? Seriously...
Anyway... since you just sat through all that...Here is a catgirl.
The spammers don't care about your readers. They only care about the googlebot. This is one form of SEO.
Ironically, it doesn't work. Google got wise to it a long time ago, and now it actually reduces their page-rank. But the SEO-service companies don't tell their customers that, for obvious reasons.
2
Precisely, Spammers don't advertise their OWN product, the spam IS their product. They get people to pay them for "Internet Marketing" and this is what they get.
I once contacted a company that I was getting e-Mail spam from, and they were horrified and promptly apologized and said they were firing that marketing company.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 15 04:11:07 2014 (TJ7ih)
3
Seriously though, turn on the registered users only option, at least until the spambots drop you from their list as not working. And I notice that they concentrate on certain old posts (probably because they have a list of links as input), I wouldn't hurt to lock those particular posts.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 15 04:17:47 2014 (TJ7ih)
4
I did not even bother with enabling mandatory registration. Locking alone works great. I can't see why Ken is so obstinent about permitting comments on very old posts. Perhaps there were valuable comments.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Jul 17 00:11:50 2014 (RqRa5)
5
He's probably just busy and hasn't gotten around to it yet.
I have a couple of weeks off work starting Monday to catch up on stuff, and I'll be putting an autolock option in place first thing.
1
I presume that these are your classmates at university that are "quizzing" you, and I can guess the nature of the "social justice bugaboos" they're quizzing you on. In my opinion, if they're spurning you over disagreements like this, they weren't really your friends to being with, they're just recruitment officers for The Cause. You're better off without them.
Besides, we learn to despise those to whom we must lie.
OTOH, some people automatically despise those who disagree with them--and the only lying necessary is when they pat themselves on the back for their tolerance and openmindedness. (I think it was J Greely who wrote something like, "...and they'll never realize that they're the ugly bigots".)
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Sat Jul 12 17:29:59 2014 (2eP1J)
I presume that these are your classmates at university that are "quizzing" you, [/quote]
Sadly no. Of course I get a little bit of that on occasion, but it would not merit comment. I any event, being so close to graduation, I keep the mask firmly fitted while on campus.
No, this warrented comment because these are people I've known for years.
6 months ago my twitter feed began filling up with bile.
The culprit was a fellow I've known for 24 years, who is a bit of a hippy but has always been an interesting fellow and a very decent guy. He was someone that In a lot of ways I'd admired because he'd overcome some serious obstacles to raise a family and pursue an education. I hadn't heard from him except in short tweets and E-mail exchanges for about two years.
The bile in question was rage aimed at MSNBC for firing Martin Bashir as my friend was of the opinion that what Bashir said
, that Sarah Palin should be tied down and have someone crap in her mouth, was quite reasonable. Now I am not a fan of the school of thought that saying anything that offends someone is a hate crime...but there are points at which one is no longer engaged in reasoned discourse, and that seems to not qualify as such. My friend felt that
she should be raped as well and linked approvingly to a Dan Savage piece
that suggested that she have nails driven into her during the process so that her screaming in agony would prevent her from closing her mouth .
I pointed out that my friend had a daughter, and surely he did not want her to grow up in a world where talking about a woman that way was acceptable. He responded that his daughter was a progressive and so this was not about her and I was a fool and a misogynist for suggesting that it was. I asked if he'd still love his daughter if she came home from college a Tea Partier. He said no he wouldn't...he'd disown her. I made some clumsy analogy to the tragedy of homophobic parents cutting off their gay children and the conversation deteriorated from there cumulating in a multi question quiz, which I failed.
A few weeks ago I was asked to sign a petition by someone I've been on friendly terms with for over 15 years, though like the other one I hadn't seen him IRL in a couple of years. I did not sign the petition which I considered well intentioned but flawed. The fellow was floored and hurt. When I explained my concern he expressed his deep and profound disappointment at discovering I had a diverging opinion....all messages from the mailing list we were both members of stopped shortly thereafter.
I could go on, but won't, the point is that over the last 6 months 3, possibly 4 people I've known for over a decade have decided to do an assessment of my views, found me wanting and cut me off lest they be associated with me.
It used to be possible to have friends with wildly different worldviews, but we are becoming so polarized that society is breaking up in an almost tribal fashion. Said tribes don't associate and membership in the tribes is determined by questions that are graded digitally.
How I long for the days of analog.
Even more than the current fusillade of scandals and the stuff happening overseas, this dynamic worries and saddens me.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 12 21:13:39 2014 (DnAJl)
3
Hmmm...I have NO idea what happened with the formatting there...odd.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 12 21:15:06 2014 (DnAJl)
4
These individuals lack real compassion. The real thing has no political filters. Compassionate understanding does not require that you agree with a person's viewpoint, but it can be a starting point for honest dialog.
I suspect these 'friends' found the self-examination and openness that real compassion requires too strenuous, and have found comfort in conforming to The Narrative. Now that they are well mired in it, for you to say anything that questions that comfort is something only The Enemy would do.
Progressive Fundamentalism. The penultimate comfort of those who have abandoned hope.
Posted by: thornharp at Sun Jul 13 10:44:54 2014 (yDzeG)
5Sadly no...this warrented comment because these are people I've known for years.
I was mistaken about that; it must be upsetting to have long-time friends turn on you like that. (I must admit that sort of thing hasn't happened to me yet, at least not to that level of viciousness.) OTOH, my original opinion hasn't changed--at the end of the day, you're better off without these people in your life. (Especially that first fellow you mentioned--what a nasty piece of work! You showed him much more forbearance than I would have if I were in your shoes.)
It used to be possible to have friends with wildly different worldviews,
but we are becoming so polarized that society is breaking up in an
almost tribal fashion.
If I may express another opinion: that bodes very ill for the future. I'd wager that, in history, this sort of "us vs. them" mentality has helped start civil wars, or has weakened countries to the point that they become easy prey for invaders.
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Sun Jul 13 18:25:22 2014 (2eP1J)
Wait. What? Express an OPINION?...in the USA? What disgracious heresy is this?
I'd wager that, in history, this sort of "us vs. them" mentality has helped start civil wars, or has weakened countries to the point that they become easy prey for invaders. You would win that wager I'm afraid.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Jul 13 20:31:09 2014 (DnAJl)
7
As a secondary wager, how much would you like to bet that that is the goal?
Posted by: Mauser at Mon Jul 14 03:23:20 2014 (TJ7ih)
8
On the bright side, you have some truly persistent spambots.
9
Indeed! If I can just harness their power then world domination will be in my grasp!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jul 14 19:21:25 2014 (DnAJl)
10As a secondary wager, how much would you like to bet that that is the goal?
That wouldn't surprise me...however, if that is the goal of certain people out there, they may want to think twice. "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Mon Jul 14 19:47:44 2014 (2eP1J)
In the 50 + years I have been on this earth one word to the wise I recieved early on and stuck with me was that in this life one has in truth only a few "True" friends. Most can be counted on your fingers. All the others you cross paths with in live are really just acquaintances.
Posted by: JWR at Tue Jul 15 17:02:01 2014 (egLlQ)
This is the latest map. It is indeed looking to be a hurricane and while it will graze us, it will be well placed to push a lot of water into the bay. A lot will depend on what time it passers by. On top of that ,the weather weasels are saying this is going to be a very wet storm. While we most likely won't see hurricane force winds, Friday could still be quite interesting due to flooding
Tablet Questions
I find myself in the market for a tablet/pad/Hand Computer and thus am seeking recommendations from my readership.
Difficulty: Although I am a Mac user I would prefer that said pad bot have a lower case "i" in front of it, though I am not strictly ruling such a possibility out.
On a completely unrelated note, here is Rin Tezuka, on a Llama.
1
Just buy something reputable and don't buy junk. Otherwise, you need to understand what works for you, and nobody can suggest it for you.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Jun 24 16:32:51 2014 (RqRa5)
2
Depends on what you want to use it for.
For reading, checking email, and playing games, you can't do better than the 2013 Nexus 7. But it's a bit small for browsing web sites, and definitely too small for reading comics.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Wed Jun 25 02:01:07 2014 (PiXy!)
3
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'm trying to find out. I have no experience with tablets.
A tablet was recommended for the upcoming kanji class and I'm curious about things like actual as opposed to advertised battery life and how big the screen really ought to be. It'll be used as a reader so finding out that ones like the Nexus 7 are a bit to small helps. Thanks!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Jun 25 09:17:01 2014 (DnAJl)
4
Kanji class? Then you'll definitely want a high-DPI device, especially if there will be any furigana. For reference, I have a bunch of books from Amazon Japan on my Kindle Paperwhite, and while I need mild reading glasses to make out the furigana at the standard text size, its 212dpi renders everything clearly (and of course zoom is your friend). Fortunately, Apple isn't the only tablet maker that's shipping high-DPI displays.
Several of my friends are happy with recent models in the Samsung Galaxy Tab/Note line, and since Amazon lists a brand new model as "released tomorrow", you could either get a decent discount on the previous model or get The Latest Thing, depending on your budget.
(of course, my own tablet of choice is the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, which is more capable, but also heavier and considerably more expensive)
-j
Posted by: J Greely at Wed Jun 25 11:24:18 2014 (1CisS)
5
I've been using an Acer Iconia A3. As a computing device it's fairly powerful, or seems that way. The 10" screen works well as a reader, but the higher weight and bigger size can make holding it in one hand uncomfortable.
Also, having worked with several tablets over the last several years, I strongly recommend you budget for a sturdy cover. I have seen several tablets suffer damage to the screen because they were held between thumb and fingers on the left or right edge. A good book-style cover will give you something else to hold on to.
Posted by: Ben at Wed Jun 25 11:34:02 2014 (S4UJw)
6
The new Samsung Galaxy Tab S (that J mentions) looks awesome. The smaller model weighs the same as the Nexus 7, but has an 8.4" screen instead of 7", so 44% more screen area. The Galaxy Tab Pro is also very nice and is on sale now that the Tab S is out.
Tab Pro is currently $329/$399 on Amazon for 8.4/10.1 inches; the Tab S is $399/$499. All have "retina" class 2560x1600 displays, fast processors, plenty of RAM, and a rather poky 16GB of storage. (There's supposedly a 32GB option on the Tab S, but I haven't seen it.) But they do support microSD cards. The Tab Pro has a high-quality IPS LCD; the Tab S has an OLED screen, which can use less power and potentially better colour reproduction.
Also, the Nexus 7 now seems to be out of stock in many places, suggesting there's a new model on the way. An announcement was expected at Google I/O yesterday, but so far, nothing.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thu Jun 26 04:07:59 2014 (PiXy!)
Battered but unbowed, SY Seascape sits quietly at a local shipyard's marina awaiting repairs. Mom and Dad are exhausted but in good spirits. Their sometimes harrowing trip covered 5000 nautical miles via the intercostal waterway, Atlantic ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and a grove of cattails in the Great Dismal Swamp.
They were vey pleased with the performance of the boat, though, they did note one quirk that initially caused them some dismay. The boat is not what Americans generally think of as a motorsailer. That is, when being operated bare pole in a heavy sea, she will roll almost onto her beam ends with great enthusiasm. Once they got the whole "sailing" thing down this was no longer an issue. It is an exceptionally strong boat and withstood being driven aground by the waterspout with hardly a scratch. Most of the mechanical issues were of the sort one encounters on any shakedown, though as anticipated, the engine repairs (replacing the head gasket) will be a shipyard job. I'll help him haul the boat next week.
Hurricane season starts next week, so any further attempts will have to wait until November at least.
1
Well, it looks like motor sailer, anyway, with that cabin house.
Is it the extreme round chines that lets it roll like that?
It looks like it would ride well in a following sea.
I'm glad they are safe and sound.
Posted by: topmaker at Wed Jun 18 19:05:58 2014 (2yZsg)
2
According to Dad, with the sails deployed it's super steady. Running bare pole though, the topweight from the masts, without the steadying effect of the sails causes it to roll a lot, though the boat was never in danger of sinking. I imagine you are right regards the round chine contributing to this. The hull really is optimized for sailing as opposed to a lot of American motor sailers, that are do both equally bad. It goy two 70 year old people safely through 19 foot seas so I'm impressed.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Jun 18 20:22:38 2014 (DnAJl)
3It is an exceptionally strong boat and withstood being driven aground by the waterspout with hardly a scratch.
If I were in your shoes, I would have curled up into a ball and started whimpering when your parents dropped that bit of information.
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Wed Jun 18 20:38:34 2014 (2eP1J)
4
I can't help noticing the water exhaust. Is it necessary to run a sump pump on a boat of this kind at all times? There's not water-tight boat-building technology?
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Jun 19 17:49:32 2014 (RqRa5)
5
The water visibly leaving the boat in the picture is from the air conditioner and icebox. They have the bilge pump turned off because of the oil in the engine compartment so they don't generate a 10,000 dollar sheen.
However, boats nearly always have some minor leakage around the stuffing box where the propellor shaft penetrates the hull. (It's hard to get a rotating watertight seal). There are also various through hulls (penetrations for sonars, the bow thruster and the sanitation system). The amount of leakage from these is so small as to generally be negligible unless the boat is flexing in a VERY heavy sea.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Fri Jun 20 16:59:22 2014 (DnAJl)
It's Not Like a Bike At All
With no one in the house to disturb, I've started practicing the piano again for the first time in 15 or 20 years. The first obstacle to overcome was the lack of any sheet music, but I scrounged up an old hymnal. My first indication of how daunting the task ahead of me is was wasting a moment remembering what the squigglypoo and the backwards C were called. Upon starting to play beat upon keys I realized that my basic hand coordination had atrophied BADLY. I've got a lot of work to do.
I used to be decent at this, but, it appears that playing Senbonzakura is rather a bit farther off that I had hoped.
Yeah, I think you are right. Music Theory was my favorite class in high School, but then well tempered tuning came out and scotched the whole medium.
The clef used depends on both the range and the tuning of the instrument. The idea was you wanted the most common used pitches in the easiest to read area of the chart.
I could never figure out why some instruments would switch the scale though. A Bb flute would note a Bb as a C? Why?
Anyway, it is a relatively minor issue. a? Ahh, C.
Posted by: topmaker at Sat May 31 20:28:01 2014 (2yZsg)
Limping Back
As I mentioned in the update to the previous post, my parents met with multiple calamities in the Gulf. They made it back to Key West and my father determined that the damage is not fixable in the short term They are going to attempt limp back to Portsmouth where we can work on it at a more leisurely pace and where professional assistance is much cheaper.
Of course with the steering out Dad has to set up the tiller and they don't trust the engine not to spew oil into the bilge again to use it for extended periods. They got their bilge pumped in Key West and have lots of oil pads but the danger of leaving a sheen is too great to have the bilge pump on automatic, so they're coming back, using the sails, a tiller and a sextant. The last two will give no trouble but dad is not particularly experienced with sails so this has the makings of an adventure.
At least they will be traveling with the Gulf Stream. On the down side the boarders of the Gulf Stream is a playground for waterspouts.
When I saw where they were headed, my big concern was that they would inadvertantly infringe Cuban territorial waters. Now that they're at Key West and headed north, that danger at least is alleviated, and I'm glad.
The LAST thing you needed was for your parents to be captured and held by Cuban authorities.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Tue May 27 20:58:35 2014 (X/kQu)
3
At least I think my daughter does not care too much when I barrel down a mountain pass at 70 mph where it's marked 25 or fly a little airplane that is unfortunately miswired so that hitting a master switch with a sectional chart makes the engine quit.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed May 28 00:00:52 2014 (RqRa5)
You know, it strikes me that it's not just that the boat needs an overhaul, but that your parents need some kind of Murphy's Law repellent. You might seriously want to look into St. Christopher medals (or St. Nicholas medals, given the seafaring thing).
OTOH, they did a lot better with an ocean ship than I would have done! I can help you with a lake or a river, and that's about it.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Wed May 28 14:10:37 2014 (nh8FR)
6
I traveled from Nantucket, Ma to Niantic, Ct in an old '72 Luhrs 28, with an engine that spit out about a quart of oil every two hours or so - in small craft advisory conditions. The pads, even in the best of a sea state, are not designed for that kind of use.
back in '89, when i made that trip, the fine for discharge was about the same, but they looked the other way if you were in a bad situation. I seriously doubt that would be the case nowadays.
I wish them well on the rest of the journey. Do you think they are going to try again?
Posted by: topmaker at Wed May 28 17:15:36 2014 (2yZsg)
7At least they will be traveling with the Gulf Stream.
How close to shore can your parents sail and still ride the Gulf Stream? Hopefully close enough that they can make a quick dash to safety if the weather turns nasty, or if something else on the boat craps out. (In an emergency, they could run for shore on engine power, and never mind the oil leak--they might have to pay a fine, but at least they'd be safe.)
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Wed May 28 17:39:33 2014 (wa0JQ)
Below the fold is a status update regarding this bloggers banal existence. For those who are justifiably disinterested in such Walter Mitty-isms, we have provided some conciliatory cheesecake.
1
You and that blasted school. There has to be a better way.
BTW, my wife was a bit dismayed when I shared some of your past school adventures and she was full of useful advice that I did not know how to relay. She's a master at hacking the American educationonal system.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sun May 25 18:29:14 2014 (RqRa5)
2
In a way having the last class delayed till next spring was a blessing as it means I don't have to take full course loads over the summer and fall.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun May 25 18:51:54 2014 (DnAJl)
3
Is it uncharitable of me to say that your folks' boat is... um... homely?
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun May 25 20:41:05 2014 (OKRM1)
4
Wonderduck, what are you talking about? Almost 3 people a year have bought one of those boats since its inception!
Posted by: RickC at Sun May 25 21:10:16 2014 (0a7VZ)
5
People purchased the PT Cruiser when it came out, too.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun May 25 21:12:36 2014 (OKRM1)
6
I rented one of those once, and hated it. The thing had no pickup, but the engine sure would rev hard while not speeding up much.
Posted by: RickC at Tue May 27 19:13:27 2014 (0a7VZ)
1
My oral Japanese exams were 100% of my grade (And I really bombed them once or twice) but the worst thing is, they were administered by a guy from Cornell (not my college) who was not a native speaker, and whose pronunciation was abominable.
(For contrast, my tutors were native speakers, who told me I spoke with no accent.)
Unfortunately, I remember almost none of it. It's been over 20 years.
Posted by: Mauser at Sat Apr 26 04:30:36 2014 (TJ7ih)
Still Trapped in SpooftownI'm in the middle of exams and final papers. I really don't have time to deal with this.
This epic spoof has gone on for three days.
I spent an hour on the phone this morning with AOL tech support. They were polite, responsive and courteous but the spooffage n' spam still harasses my contatcs in my name.
This evening I called again and found out that that this is a major isue at AOL now. They are working on a patch and expect it to be implemented in 24 hours.
I have a few questions of the various geniuses and experts i'm blessed to have in my audience.
Is there anything AOL can realistically do?
I've changed my password and challange questions 3 times. But since the E-mails are not actually coming from my account this is of no use in the current situation.
Is there anything I can do on my end in this situation?
Any best practies beyond theusual E-mail security basics to avoid this?
Does anyone have any suggestions for good, secure E-mail services?
In other news, my keyboard died. I dug out the awkward rubbermaid bath keyboard it replaced.
1
Anyone can send mail using anyone's From address, and spammers did it for years. If you are sure that your account is secure, there's nothing for you to worry about.
"Working on a patch" may mean them turning DMARC on. Haha.
Best of all, find someone who received one of those "spoofed" mails and who knows how Internet works (tough condition to satisfy, but try). Ask him to save the mail with headers and then ask someone else, or him actually, to look at Received: chain. See if it was sent by AOL or not.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Apr 21 21:55:03 2014 (RqRa5)
2
It sounds like AOL's address book thing might have been hacked, but not the email service itself. Which sucks (if true) because now the spammers have your address book, and changing your password doesn't help.
Wow. That's an ambitious project for the healthy. I wish them luck and you some valium.
Posted by: topmaker at Fri Mar 21 19:09:44 2014 (2yZsg)
5
It's great as a plotline - one last sail beyond the sunset style adventure - but it does sound as nervewracking for you as it will be romantic and exciting for your parents. But remember that they have the power of "age and treachery" on their side!
On a lighter note, they now have their revenge for your teen years, I guess.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Sat Mar 22 07:26:24 2014 (mpHLh)
6
Yes, it's a Fisher. It was built in Southampton (UK) is fiberglass and has a ketch rig. They got it for a song, though there was considerable work needed to the wiring and sanitation system, and some additions like A/C and a shower that the previous owner (a Pole) had found unnecessary in the Baltic..of course these tweaks increased the hotel load, which required a new generator and further re-wiring and ......
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Mar 22 15:39:30 2014 (DnAJl)
Obviously do what your doctor says first, but those whey protein things that weightlifters eat to help them recover from tearing up their muscles on purpose in exercise? They really did help me recover faster from breaking my arm, and I was a sedentary middle-aged lady with extreme laziness about doing physical therapy. I ate a lot of whole eggs, too. Protein and viteys do help. I bet you get to eat a lot of bananas and electrolytes too.
Ankle injuries are always awkward, because you end up either having to put weight on them, or doing a lot of hopping and/or crutching. On the bright side, you can read a lot of blogs by people who run or jog, and beat up their feet like this all the time by choice. You can get some good tips that way, or learn from horrible examples.
Seriously, it's scary to get injured like this, but you have the tools to understand what's going on and to help yourself recover. Also, you have a good excuse to sit on your butt in the warm and watch anime! It's not all bad!
Posted by: suburbanbanshee at Fri Feb 7 21:51:23 2014 (cvXSV)
2
Work hard. As unpleasant as it is, physical therapy is only as effective as you make it. Some of what they had me do was painful, and some was boring, but I put everything I had into it, and I'm glad I did.
After I fell off a loading dock back in '92, turning the ligaments and
cartilage in my right ankle into what the doctor termed "confetti!" with
a cheerful tone in his voice, I was on crutches for six months, and a
cane for another eight. I did not put enough effort into my therapy as I
should have.
As a result, while it did heal after a fashion, my ankle doesn't like
much in the way of uncommon stresses. For a while, I could sprain it
just by sneezing (or at least it felt that way). Now, some 20+ years
later, the internals of my ankle are a solid mass of scar tissue. It
still functions like an ankle, just... reluctantly and with more than a
bit of pain.
There is a grand total of fsck-all medical science can do about it.
So do your rehab, and buy lots of bags of frozen peas.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Feb 8 04:30:59 2014 (mOdOJ)
4
There is a happy medium. You want to work hard on your physical therapy, but you also don't want to push yourself so hard that you hurt yourself again.
In my defense of my questionable sanity... while I was somewhat lazy about a few elements of my official physical therapy, I actually pushed myself a fair amount in small cheaty ways at work, or when performing other activities, because that's the kind of idiot I am. They had me come in a couple-three times a week to the therapy place, also, so I was actually putting in a good workout pretty often. If they had only had me coming in once a week or less, my laziness on certain exercises would probably have had bad consequences. (And I probably would have made myself do more official therapy, because the inabilities would have been worse and hence more annoying.) Also, I'm just naturally flexible in ways which are not normally useful (or even noticeable to me), but which made therapy work faster for me than for some.
Still, it's better to do what the therapist tells you, rather than rely on cheaty stuff in the background or your body sliding you out of trouble. Especially since ankles are a lot more trouble than arms. Doing all the exercises in their proper amounts helps keeps your muscles and joints balanced out as you go along, and thus helps prevent bad stuff happening.
But yeah, make sure you eat good, because you need fuel, protein, and vitamins and minerals to heal. Talk to your doctor about it, and he'll probably have plenty to say.
And it'll be spring and summer before you know it, and you'll be feeling much better by then.
Posted by: suburbanbanshee at Sun Feb 9 10:20:49 2014 (cvXSV)
5
Well, If the defect isn't fixed in 6 weeks I'll need surgery eventually. Eventually means this year because of the moonless unlit road that represents how much I know what my health insurance will be after the first of the year, so If the therapy does not fix the problem, I'm looking at six weeks out of work and possibly school this spring/summer.
My motivation is rather high.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Feb 9 21:15:36 2014 (DnAJl)
My other piece of advice: Sometimes you get to a point where you're not hurting yet, but you feel like crud for no particular reason. And then you realize that actually your bones and muscles are aching, and that pretty soon it will get worse.
This is the time to make sure you don't forget to take your pain pills.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Feb 11 14:34:48 2014 (nh8FR)
1
Glad you're back in the swing of things! (Or in the case of this illo, the metal....) Also glad you've gotten to catch up with Log Horizon, judging by the comment you left over at my place.
So are they going to make you do exercises with those freaky rubber things that you tie to doorknobs? Or do they do different therapies with feet?
Posted by: suburbanbanshee at Thu Feb 6 07:15:24 2014 (cvXSV)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!
