• Finished reading: The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories by John Bierce ๐Ÿ“š
    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†

    Having finished the Mage Errant series last year, it was rather nice to go back to the same world / universe, to revisit and reminisce.

    An orange octopus-like creature emerges amidst ruins and water, tentacles grasping floating swords. Cover for 'THE GORGON INCIDENT AND OTHER STORIES: A MAGE ERRANT ANTHOLOGY' by John Bierce.
  • Working on my taxes this afternoon and wanted to double-check there were no documents for an old retirement account. It’s nice to know some things never change: Empower Retirement is still an awful company with awful tech. ๐Ÿคฃ

    A web page with unfinished code snippets and a logo reading 'EMPOWER YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN,' labeled '(1 of 4).'
  • Is it just me or is advertising in podcasts just getting…awful? I just listened to five minutes of “sales stuff” and…yuck (it was he same commercial, repeated three times). I’m all for paying for podcasts but some of them, there just isn’t a way to avoid the advertising.

  • ๐Ÿฟ Date Night: we decided to watch a movie neither of us had seen and as we’ve been watching Fawlty Towers lately, we ended up on A Fish Called Wanda. By the end, our sides were hurting from all the laughing; ๐Ÿคฃ this movie is beyond absurd, in all the best possible ways.
    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†

    Four adults pose against a white background, one holding a fishbowl; promotional material for 'A Fish Called Wanda.'
  • Dinner tonight… ๐Ÿ˜‹๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿ“ท

    Sushi rolls in a tray with condiments; wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce on the side, on a patterned fabric background.
  • Given my background with MS Sql / T-SQL, you’d think it would be trivial for me to upgrade from PostgreSQL 15 to 16…but you’d be wrong! ๐Ÿ˜‚ Maybe it was b/c Docker was involved but goodness, that turned out complicated than I thought.

  • Set up a FreshRSS server over the weekend for fun; yes, I am a nerd. ๐Ÿค“

  • Finished reading: The Price Of Power by B. K. Cook ๐Ÿ“š
    โ˜…โ˜…โ˜†โ˜†โ˜†

    The last book of the series (though, the author makes it pretty clear they’ll be continuing the books), this one felt a little rushed and you could see the ending coming a mile away but it was still a satisfying conclusion.

    A cloaked figure and a lion approach a large tree against a mountainous backdrop at dusk. Text: 'THE PRICE OF POWER BOOK 3 OF THE ILAMANTIUM SAGA B.K. COOK'
  • You know it’s bad when the representative from the Insurance company tells you to try GoodRX instead of using your own bloody insurance. Ah, healthcare in America. ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿคฌ

    (The generic version is out of stock and back-ordered everywhere in the City and the name-brand has a 110% markup.)

  • Can’t get a 90 day supply of mediation filled b/c of an unspecified error in the computer system my mail-order pharmacy uses (they wouldn’t confirm if the big cyber-hack was the cause), so I have to use a local one but they don’t do 90 day supplies. ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ก #HealthcareInAmerica #FirstWorldProblem

  • A dear friend of mine would have turned 42 today, if she hadnโ€™t passed away during the Pandemic. Rest in peace, sweet Carolโ€ฆwe all still miss you. I hope whatever you are, Russell is keeping you company, begging for scratches and watching you eat, hoping for crumbs to fall. ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜ฎโ€๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ˜ข๐Ÿ’”

  • Morning coffee with a morning view… โ˜•๏ธโ„๏ธ๐Ÿ”๏ธ๐Ÿ“ท

    A mug rests on a wooden rail overlooking a snow-covered landscape with evergreen trees and a colorful sunrise sky. Text: lostinhaste.com
  • Someone else didn’t want to wake up this morning either… ๐Ÿˆ ๐Ÿฅฑ ๐Ÿ“ท

    A fluffy gray cat is curled up sleeping on a couch beside a blue pillow, with the text 'lostinhaste.com' overlaid at the bottom.
  • The perils of living with a non-coffee drinker: he walked in and asked in an accusatory tone: “why does it smell like Seattle in here?" ๐Ÿคฃโ˜•๏ธ

  • ๐Ÿ”— “So violated”: Wyze cameras leak footage to strangers for 2nd time in 5 months

    It seemed neat at first, when it was a random coffee machine or vending machine hooked up just to prove it could be done. But between then and now, we've learned that the Internet is full of relentless a$$holes (at best) who will take advantage of any little crack in security.

    IMO, stop trying. Accept that the Internet is a dangerous place. Have fun with all the smart home tech you want, but keep it local.

    I love the Ars comment section, it’s always a delight. Also, this is why I have no cameras @ home. ๐Ÿคฃ