11 Dec 2016

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G’day. What a lovely day. Well, not temperature-wise, as it was 24F when I got up and walked the dog this morning, and had barely crept up to the freezing point by noon. But, still a nice day. We took Linda and Mike to see the matinee showing of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, staged by the Annapolis Shakespeare Company. It’s running through Christmas Eve, so you have plenty of time to go see it yourself! This is the second year we’ve enjoyed this production. While some might say it’s not the cheeriest of stories, it is indeed a wonderful show. And there’s plenty of humor in the actors interacting in their “radio studio” as the play goes on. And as usual, towards the end, something manages to get into my eyes. Sally Boyett and her team put on a great show, and you’d love it. Go. GO!

Beyond that, a busy work week behind, another one in front. Other than roasting a pound of Honduras coffee yesterday, there’s not much to report.

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A moment of silence to mark the passing of John Glenn.

He was heroic, in the best sense of that word. He flew and fought in two wars. He went to space and into orbit, in a tin can perched atop a tube of high explosives in 1962. Then did it again in 1997 (at age 77!) on the space shuttle. He was a US Senator from Ohio for a quarter century. He’d been a hero of mine for decades, and the world is a poorer place without him in it.l

Our condolences to the family and friends of Sgt. First Class Allan E. Brown, 46, of Takoma Park, Maryland, who died on Dec. 6 at Walter Reed National Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Bagram, Afghanistan, that occurred on Nov. 12.

4 Dec 2016

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We had a lovely supper tonight at Seasons 52 in Columbia – a holiday dinner with my co-workers and plus ones. I had half a chicken, Marcia had some seared cow, both were delicious. Dessert: tiny, delicious, and overpriced. Still, we’ll go there again: Recommended.

Marcia continues to make great progress in her hip replacement recovery. She’s been driving for a week now, and spending a fair bit of time standing, walking, and working on stuff in the house each day. Huzzah!

The week was weird. I took a couple of vacation days on Thursday and Friday. Got a few things done around the house, but mostly relaxed and tried to unwind a bit. I roasted a pound of an Ethiopian SO, cleaned the roaster, etc. It’s almost time to build something in the woodshop – I’m getting that familiar itch.

I’m also getting used to my early Festivus present: an Apple Watch. I like it very much, and it’s hugely more comfortable to wear (as well as much better for my eyes) than the FitBit Charge it replaced. But it doesn’t replace all of that functionality – the biggest lack for me: no sleep tracking, which I really appreciated on the FitBit. That said, I’m provisionally happy with the change, and getting used to the features and integration of this device.

Also from the week past, as posted on teh twitters, where I can be found as @bilborg: Best thing I read in November, BTW: Sarah Tolmie’s The Dancer on the Stairs, in @strangehorizons. Support speculative fiction mags, authors Please do visit Strange Horizons, read, enjoy, and support them if you can.

And with that, and no casualties reported by DoD in the last few days, Ciao!

29 Nov 2016

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Well, this isn’t Sunday, is it? I remembered on my drive in this morning that this place had slipped my mind – I was working for a significant portion of the day on Sunday, and just wanted to unwind when I got home. So goes life. I hope y’all had a nice weekend, and (if you celebrated it) a fine Thanksgiving. All things being equal, I still have plenty to be thankful for in my life.

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Our condolences to the family and friends of Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton, 42, of Woodbridge, Virginia, who died on Nov. 24 in northern Syria, of wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast.

20 Nov 2016

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Windy, cold day today. Quite a shift from yesterday’s 70° loveliness. That’s okay. I stayed busy all week and all weekend. Today, for example:

  • 0645-0800 – Start laundry, start coffee, then patching a set of production linux systems
  • 0800-0845 – Walk dog, breakfast
  • 0845-1030 – Shopping, food organization
  • 10:30-1200 – Email, patching another set of production linux systems
  • 1200-1300 – Walk dog, lunch
  • 1300-1400 – Roast coffee (an Ethiopian SO bean from Sweet Maria’s)
  • 1400-1600 – Putter about, relax for a couple of hours
  • 1600-1800 – Cooking
  • 1800-1845 – Feed and walk dog
  • 1845-2000 – Dinner, make bed, email, blog time…

Marcia is doing great. She’s done with the cane, mostly. She did most of the laundry work today, other than the “carry bits up and down the stairs” part. Strength is going up, pain is going down, and she’s weening off the last of the heavy pain killers in the next couple of days. Next up: Driving!

We enjoyed watching the first episode of Amazon’s new car show: The Grand Tour this week! I’d missed having those blokes doing new, fun things with cars. Sorry, BBC – your B-Team isn’t nearly good enough!

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Our condolences to the families and friends of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. John W. Perry, 30, of Stockton, California, died on Nov. 12 of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Bagram, Afghanistan.
  • Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt, 20, of Tamaroa, Illinois, died on Nov. 12 of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Bagram, Afghanistan.

13 Nov 2016

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Friday the thirteenth falls on a Sunday this month. And it’s nigh unto first “supermoon” (the concurrence of the moon’s orbital perigee and the sun/earth/moon syzygy) in 68 years (although the moon won’t be actually full until tomorrow at around 9AM EST). We have a nice view of that large, bright moon on this cloudless evening – very cool.

Meantime, when I’m not actively taking care of Marcia in her hip-replacement recovery routine, Lexi is filling in – keeping chairs warm, for example:

Lexi the chair warmer

Lexi the chair warmer

I managed several hours at work this week, and I have also been making progress on a Django-based project, in and around keeping up with the chores, etc here at the homestead.

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RIP – Leonard Cohen. Turns out I haven’t listened to NEARLY enough of his work. Here’s a good snippet of a recent interview (From September 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4PqY-VgSsI.

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Our condolences to the families and friends of these fallen warriors:

  • Capt. Andrew D. Byers, 30, of Rolesville, North Carolina, died Nov. 3 in Kunduz, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while engaging enemy forces.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Ryan A. Gloyer, 34, of Greenville, Pennsylvania, died Nov. 3 in Kunduz, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while engaging enemy forces.
  • Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen, 27, of Lawrence, Kansas, died Nov. 4 in Jafr, Jordan, of wounds sustained when his convoy came under fire entering a Jordanian military base.
  • Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, 30, of Tucson, Arizona, died Nov. 4 in Jafr, Jordan, of wounds sustained when his convoy came under fire entering a Jordanian military base.
  • Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty, 27, of Kerrville, Texas. died Nov. 4 in Jafr, Jordan, of wounds sustained when his convoy came under fire entering a Jordanian military base.
  • Ronald L. Murray Jr., of Bowie, Maryland, died Nov. 10, in Kuwait in a non-combat related incident.

11 Nov 2016

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Veterans Day, here in the US. Our thanks and gratitude go out to all of those who served our country, upheld our Constitution, and gave lives, limbs, and peace up for their fellow men and women. Also thanks to the families and caretakers of our veterans.

31 Oct 2016

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Hallowe’en, such as it is. Between the way the dog reacts to activity at the door, and Marcia’s hip: we turned out the front lights before dusk to keep things quiet on our front porch. It worked. Shouting kids on the sidewalks, parents  curb-crawling with their cars because they’re too damned lazy to walk with their kids, etc.

Marcia’s progress is good. At her first PT evaluation today, Andrew said she was doing great, and to be cautious not to push too hard, too fast. Note: SportsPro Physical Therapy, Marcia’s go-t0 PT team for the last decade – we can HIGHLY recommend them.

I managed to squeak about three remote working hours in today. We’re hopeful that by next week, Marcia will be doing enough for herself that I can go to the office for a few hours each day. Not much else to report on the home front. We’re sending our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Roberta Pournelle, who suffered a stroke over the weekend.

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DoD reported no new casualties in the last week. Ciao!

 

28 Oct 2016

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A Marcia update:

On Wednesday morning, she had her right hip replaced. The surgeon said that things went well, and that the right hip was not as far gone as the left hip had been, but that it was past time for the surgery anyway.  She was up in her room on the fifth floor of the hospital by a bit past noon.

On Wednesday afternoon, she managed 80-100 steps with a walker around the Joint Center floor.

On Thursday morning, she aced her physical therapy (PT) – breezing through all of the exercises, then accomplishing the release goals: steps, curb, and car transfer (getting in and out of a mock car). After release from the hospital around 11 AM, we had her home by noon.

Thursday afternoon: rest and a bit of PT downstairs. Slept in the recliner overnight. Pain meds at 4 hour intervals.

Friday morning: Breakfast, then up the stairs for a shower. PT (some upstairs, some back downstairs). Lunch. Naptime. Pain meds at 6 hour intervals.

Her first formal PT isn’t until Monday due to scheduling issues, by which time she may have already kicked the walker to the curb (I’m only half-joking, there).

That’s all the news.