![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
booklog: first half of September
Oct. 12th, 2025 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wychwoodThis month was ridiculous, so I'm splitting the booklog in two, in the hopes of getting at least some of it out of the way!
( 86. The Chalet School Wins the Trick and 87. A Future Chalet School Girl - Elinor M Brent-Dyer ) I'm always very happy to read any of this series.
( 88. The Life of Birds - David Attenborough ) I personally am not invested in birds in particular, but all of this stuff is fascinating.
( 89. Steering the Craft - Ursula Le Guin ) I think this would probably be useful for someone who wanted to improve their fiction writing - and it's interesting even for someone like me.
( 90. Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet - Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse ) A good snapshot of a moment I remember, and a reminder of how much things have changed!
( 91. The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett ) I unexpectedly enjoyed this; not particularly memorable, but solid entertainment.
( 92. Tales From the Folly - Ben Aaronovitch ) I would say this was really only for fans of the series, but if you are a fan there's some really nice moments here.
( 93. We'll Prescribe You a Cat - Syou Ishida tr. E Madison Shimoda ) Not much depth, but it was quite pleasant to read.
( 95. Conclave - Robert Harris ) I really enjoyed this book, and I thought it did a great job of the Catholic vibes.
( 97. The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley ) Ultimately I don't think I have any idea what this book is doing, but I do think it's at least trying to do something different; I would try Bradley again.
( 94. Sheepfarmer's Daughter, 96. Divided Allegiance, and 98. Oath of Gold - Elizabeth Moon ) A really classic fantasy trilogy; I still love these with the wholehearted commitment I did when I first came across them in a second-hand shop as a young teenager.
( 86. The Chalet School Wins the Trick and 87. A Future Chalet School Girl - Elinor M Brent-Dyer ) I'm always very happy to read any of this series.
( 88. The Life of Birds - David Attenborough ) I personally am not invested in birds in particular, but all of this stuff is fascinating.
( 89. Steering the Craft - Ursula Le Guin ) I think this would probably be useful for someone who wanted to improve their fiction writing - and it's interesting even for someone like me.
( 90. Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet - Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse ) A good snapshot of a moment I remember, and a reminder of how much things have changed!
( 91. The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett ) I unexpectedly enjoyed this; not particularly memorable, but solid entertainment.
( 92. Tales From the Folly - Ben Aaronovitch ) I would say this was really only for fans of the series, but if you are a fan there's some really nice moments here.
( 93. We'll Prescribe You a Cat - Syou Ishida tr. E Madison Shimoda ) Not much depth, but it was quite pleasant to read.
( 95. Conclave - Robert Harris ) I really enjoyed this book, and I thought it did a great job of the Catholic vibes.
( 97. The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley ) Ultimately I don't think I have any idea what this book is doing, but I do think it's at least trying to do something different; I would try Bradley again.
( 94. Sheepfarmer's Daughter, 96. Divided Allegiance, and 98. Oath of Gold - Elizabeth Moon ) A really classic fantasy trilogy; I still love these with the wholehearted commitment I did when I first came across them in a second-hand shop as a young teenager.
Portable power chair
Oct. 11th, 2025 09:14 pmazurelunaticThere's a new power scooter out, the Golden Buzzaround Carry-On HD. The HD part is important. This is the heavy duty one, which is also first-in-class lithium ion battery scooter. But that's not what this entry is about (and the scheduled arrival date is Tuesday).
Since the scooter was backordered and not going to arrive in time for the Michigan trip, I ordered a (not too expensive for the specs) power wheelchair off Amazon. The choice was partly informed by the advertised shipping time: two days. Plenty of time for it to arrive. And then I watched the shipment crawl over what was clearly ground transport, likely because of the battery. Eventually the package arrival date got down to our departure date. Meanwhile, I was paralyzed with anxiety about the trip, and was barely able to pack. At least I was able to make checklists for when I eventually unfroze on the day of departure.
FedEx said my power chair would arrive between 1 and 3. This was inaccurate, and at some point the forecast switched to "end of day".
When it hadn't arrived by 4, we loaded into the car with my upright (unpowered) walker. At the last minute as we fled out the door, I thought our snack supply looked a little too small and grabbed a random bag to toss a few more things into. As we pulled out of the neighborhood I called the airline accessibility services line to report the change. Which took a little while, as I had to explain that no, I hadn't "changed my mind" about bringing the power wheelchair, the reason I wasn't taking the power wheelchair was because it hadn't arrived yet, so I couldn't take it. At that point I got the appropriate amount of sympathy.
Within the MINUTE I told the very nice customer service person goodbye, Alex spotted the FedEx truck.
By that point Silver and I were on I-5, but with a very nice turn off opportunity. (Silver had taken that specific route because it's a pain in the ass to get over another couple lanes that quickly and in traffic.)
So we went back, we thanked the Bastard profusely and profanely, with the double thumb-tap to the lips (both of us, simultaneously). Silver offloaded the walker and onloaded the chair while I talked to the airline accessibility department again and tried to figure out what the battery voltage was. The footrests fit into the duffel bag with the extra snacks, just as if I had planned it intentionally. I asked Silver to empty my padded tote bag, so we could use it for the battery.
We got to the airport on time for all of that.
I got the best of both worlds: chair coming with me, but since the battery wasn't charged we checked the main body of the chair at the Special Services counter and got wheelchair service through the airport. Security was less of a zoo than usual because we went through the wheelchair lane instead of the endless maze. I got pornoscanned for the first time.
That got us to the gate an hour earlier than we'd intended.
I was very glad to have the power chair with us, as it made some of the bits that would have been excessively strenuous much much better. Silver got used to lifting the thing into the back of their mom's SUV, and eventually we banged our heads on the car less often.
Coming back, it wasn't quite as easy going through security since I was still new at steering the chair and we didn't have the professional chair-pusher to finesse security. (No, not the ateva way.) We gate-checked the chair. I checked in with the two wheelchair-pushers who met us at the Seattle end of things, and assured the one who was waiting for me that I had my chair (as Silver cussed gently at the footrests).
And when we eventually got home, Yellface cussed us both out like I've never seen her cuss before. She was Peeved! That we! Had Abandoned! Her!!!!
I have since decked it out with retroreflective tape, electroluminescent wire, and a miniature disco projector meant for a bike.
Since the scooter was backordered and not going to arrive in time for the Michigan trip, I ordered a (not too expensive for the specs) power wheelchair off Amazon. The choice was partly informed by the advertised shipping time: two days. Plenty of time for it to arrive. And then I watched the shipment crawl over what was clearly ground transport, likely because of the battery. Eventually the package arrival date got down to our departure date. Meanwhile, I was paralyzed with anxiety about the trip, and was barely able to pack. At least I was able to make checklists for when I eventually unfroze on the day of departure.
FedEx said my power chair would arrive between 1 and 3. This was inaccurate, and at some point the forecast switched to "end of day".
When it hadn't arrived by 4, we loaded into the car with my upright (unpowered) walker. At the last minute as we fled out the door, I thought our snack supply looked a little too small and grabbed a random bag to toss a few more things into. As we pulled out of the neighborhood I called the airline accessibility services line to report the change. Which took a little while, as I had to explain that no, I hadn't "changed my mind" about bringing the power wheelchair, the reason I wasn't taking the power wheelchair was because it hadn't arrived yet, so I couldn't take it. At that point I got the appropriate amount of sympathy.
Within the MINUTE I told the very nice customer service person goodbye, Alex spotted the FedEx truck.
By that point Silver and I were on I-5, but with a very nice turn off opportunity. (Silver had taken that specific route because it's a pain in the ass to get over another couple lanes that quickly and in traffic.)
So we went back, we thanked the Bastard profusely and profanely, with the double thumb-tap to the lips (both of us, simultaneously). Silver offloaded the walker and onloaded the chair while I talked to the airline accessibility department again and tried to figure out what the battery voltage was. The footrests fit into the duffel bag with the extra snacks, just as if I had planned it intentionally. I asked Silver to empty my padded tote bag, so we could use it for the battery.
We got to the airport on time for all of that.
I got the best of both worlds: chair coming with me, but since the battery wasn't charged we checked the main body of the chair at the Special Services counter and got wheelchair service through the airport. Security was less of a zoo than usual because we went through the wheelchair lane instead of the endless maze. I got pornoscanned for the first time.
That got us to the gate an hour earlier than we'd intended.
I was very glad to have the power chair with us, as it made some of the bits that would have been excessively strenuous much much better. Silver got used to lifting the thing into the back of their mom's SUV, and eventually we banged our heads on the car less often.
Coming back, it wasn't quite as easy going through security since I was still new at steering the chair and we didn't have the professional chair-pusher to finesse security. (No, not the ateva way.) We gate-checked the chair. I checked in with the two wheelchair-pushers who met us at the Seattle end of things, and assured the one who was waiting for me that I had my chair (as Silver cussed gently at the footrests).
And when we eventually got home, Yellface cussed us both out like I've never seen her cuss before. She was Peeved! That we! Had Abandoned! Her!!!!
I have since decked it out with retroreflective tape, electroluminescent wire, and a miniature disco projector meant for a bike.
Health (good news)
Oct. 8th, 2025 08:08 pmazurelunaticMy immunotherapy infusion yesterday may have been my last!! I have a scan on Monday that will probably say that. Belovedest celebrated by cracking into the Strategic Redpop Reserve. This will mean much more leeway to leave town and such.
Colonoscopy results: mostly normal, one pre (not sure how many pre-s to put here) cancerous "lesion", and all of them removed. Repeat in two years, this time with Extended Prep. (My understanding of "lesion" and the medical definition may not align entirely well.)
Started the new injectable after the colonoscopy. I can definitely feel the impact. It remains to be seen exactly what kind. One of my friends has a new injectable too; she's getting some sinus clearance from it. Of all the random effects.
After the infusion, Belovedest and I trekked up-city to pick up a package foralexseanchai. All Pampered Chef, and a high proportion of likely goodies vs. likely duds. There were some varying scrub brushes. The utensil/knife scrub brush looks like dentures that are actually a scrub brush, but I can see that coming in handy. There was also a quarter-sheet pan with two eighth-sheet pans. And then we trekked back down when Belovedest realized they'd left their tablet at the cancer center. Freakin' ADHD. We're on The Assassins of Thasalon in our progress through Penric.
I have a smallish makeup hobby. Part of that is sometimes going all Weird Barbie on my face with eyeliner or whatever. Tonight I've convinced myself (via iridescent green eyeliner) that some kind of moon phase forehead jewelry might really slap.
Colonoscopy results: mostly normal, one pre (not sure how many pre-s to put here) cancerous "lesion", and all of them removed. Repeat in two years, this time with Extended Prep. (My understanding of "lesion" and the medical definition may not align entirely well.)
Started the new injectable after the colonoscopy. I can definitely feel the impact. It remains to be seen exactly what kind. One of my friends has a new injectable too; she's getting some sinus clearance from it. Of all the random effects.
After the infusion, Belovedest and I trekked up-city to pick up a package for
alexseanchai. All Pampered Chef, and a high proportion of likely goodies vs. likely duds. There were some varying scrub brushes. The utensil/knife scrub brush looks like dentures that are actually a scrub brush, but I can see that coming in handy. There was also a quarter-sheet pan with two eighth-sheet pans. And then we trekked back down when Belovedest realized they'd left their tablet at the cancer center. Freakin' ADHD. We're on The Assassins of Thasalon in our progress through Penric. I have a smallish makeup hobby. Part of that is sometimes going all Weird Barbie on my face with eyeliner or whatever. Tonight I've convinced myself (via iridescent green eyeliner) that some kind of moon phase forehead jewelry might really slap.
time to start thinking about christmas planning next
Oct. 8th, 2025 12:20 pmwychwoodEven with the first storm of the season coming in on Friday, we've had some really lovely weather. I was waiting for the bus on Sunday morning in beautiful sunshine and crisp coolness. It's gone a lot colder, though - since the weekend I am wearing the official First Hoodie of the autumn, and in the last couple of weeks I've gone from sleeping under a sheet to a duvet with a blanket on top, at least to warm up.
We had a fancy dinner out on Thursday with the suppliers for our new system, who have been great colleagues, so it was nice to spend some time with them. It was a Chinese "banquet", with lots of terrifying whole-animal courses (a whole turbot! a giant dismembered lobster! what looked like an entire suckling pig with, like, the ribcage removed, splayed out on a platter with its face on one end and four trotters on the corners!), but they'd spent a couple of weeks negotiating with the restaurant to make sure there was enough I could eat, so I definitely had plenty of options. The highlight for me was some particularly good salt and pepper baked tofu, but I also had egg fried rice, and half-a-dozen vegetable dishes, and crispy noodles, and I forget what else.
But actually the nicest part was that the suppliers called me the project MVP right there in front of everyone! Which is of course extremely flattering. And I did put in a lot of work, including some serious project management effort, so it's nice to have that recognised.
The next day was moderately entertaining, because practically everyone was massively hung-over in the office ("I'm not feeling very clever", said Boss Lady). One colleague had driven, so also didn't drink, and she and I congratulated each other (privately!) about it. I did have a bit of a social hangover ("oh no, did I talk too much?? did I say anything stupid? was I super embarrassing???") but mostly I tried to console myself with the fact that practically everyone else was drunk, so probably they wouldn't have noticed or remembered if I did. Ahhh, the joys of being socially awkward.
Now I could do with a resurgence of those project management skills, because there is still Too Much Going On at work, and I am not doing a very good job of, like, properly engaging with it. But I did at least go through the 52 IT Service Desk emails in my inbox and reduce them down somewhat; the "under 100 email" inbox is within my grasp, possibly.
We had a fancy dinner out on Thursday with the suppliers for our new system, who have been great colleagues, so it was nice to spend some time with them. It was a Chinese "banquet", with lots of terrifying whole-animal courses (a whole turbot! a giant dismembered lobster! what looked like an entire suckling pig with, like, the ribcage removed, splayed out on a platter with its face on one end and four trotters on the corners!), but they'd spent a couple of weeks negotiating with the restaurant to make sure there was enough I could eat, so I definitely had plenty of options. The highlight for me was some particularly good salt and pepper baked tofu, but I also had egg fried rice, and half-a-dozen vegetable dishes, and crispy noodles, and I forget what else.
But actually the nicest part was that the suppliers called me the project MVP right there in front of everyone! Which is of course extremely flattering. And I did put in a lot of work, including some serious project management effort, so it's nice to have that recognised.
The next day was moderately entertaining, because practically everyone was massively hung-over in the office ("I'm not feeling very clever", said Boss Lady). One colleague had driven, so also didn't drink, and she and I congratulated each other (privately!) about it. I did have a bit of a social hangover ("oh no, did I talk too much?? did I say anything stupid? was I super embarrassing???") but mostly I tried to console myself with the fact that practically everyone else was drunk, so probably they wouldn't have noticed or remembered if I did. Ahhh, the joys of being socially awkward.
Now I could do with a resurgence of those project management skills, because there is still Too Much Going On at work, and I am not doing a very good job of, like, properly engaging with it. But I did at least go through the 52 IT Service Desk emails in my inbox and reduce them down somewhat; the "under 100 email" inbox is within my grasp, possibly.