Done Since 2020-01-19
So we spent the weekend at Conflikt, which is why I didn't post this until today. It was good. @pocketnaomi and I entered the songwriting competition, because the theme was "Who is this guy Murphy and what is he doing at our con?", and St. Murphy's Day is one of N's family traditions when things go wrong. So we wrote A (Loose) Canon for St. Murphy -- mostly N's work with a little input from me, including the parenthesized word in the title, and quite a bit on the second verse.
As usual, I had trouble dealing with the melody and guitar work simultaneously, but after all we were judged on our songwriting, not performance. We didn't win, but that's okay. We may do some rework on it as a FAWM starter. (I went to the FAWM workshop.) We pulled Summer in for the performance -- she's going to be Toastmaster at RainbowCon this year, and was spending the weekend with N and G.
None of N's kids were up to coming; our Chaos was there, though, as usual. We also took Colleen's caregiver, V, along -- damned good thing. My back wouldn't have handled it.
I started the weekend with something of a sore back; it was very painful most of the weekend. Aggravated, no doubt, by handling luggage, even though I had help with the scooter and the suitcase. After two massages from N, a lot of time with the heating pad, and regular doses of naproxen and tizanidine, I got it down to the point where I was able to take care of C Sunday night and this morning. I borrowed Colleen's scooter Saturday night after she went to bed -- good move.
As for luggage... I took my old Travelpro rolly, and the new gig bag (like this one, only blue) that I got on sale from Musician's Friend. Poor old Rolly has a broken wheel -- it clicks loudly on hard surfaces, and is pretty much falling apart (the wheel, not the bag as a whole). And it no longer fits under an airplane seat. Time to retire it. The gig bag is lighter than my old one (also a RoadRunner), and has a main pocket big enough for a songbook. (The neck pocket is much smaller.) It will probably end up being my main gig bag, though that isn't certain.
Expect a curmudgeon post or two sometime this week.
Notes & links:
0119Su * up 6:35; S=7:04; C got up about the same time / F am: coffee, greek yogurt with blackberry jam and weetabix / F am: toasted English with marmalade $ transfer $1K to UB from BECU. There was a lot of account-juggling at the end of last year; maybe this will put things back into balance. Will arrive 0123 @ The World's Most Beautiful Equations | Beauty of Math | Live Science % debating getting a new gig bag. The one on sale at MF is lovely, and it has a pocket big enough for a songbook -- probably -- but do I really need it? And what would I do with the other one? $ HX 32.60 from HX checking to Musician's Friend for gig bag. The old one appears to have been purchased in 2008. Flame was, anyway. * practice: Weird Load : L sent me a proposed QV verse. Needs work, but still... 0120Mo MLK Day; litter boxen * up 5:30ish; S=5:16; C got up 6ish. * ordered another bag of coffee for G to replace the one I mistakenly opened yesterday * Add toastmaster - Summer Russell - to RC fliers and web page. Fix multiple problems * spent some time looking at telepresence robots, for the next con that C can't go to Telepresence Robot Ratings There are quite a few in the sub-$1500 range, and sub-$1k on $A. AmazonSmile: Padbot U2 - Telepresence: Computers & Accessories AmazonSmile: Telepresence Robot for Any Tablet: Computers & Accessories * Finally wired up (Mac mini)Whitewood. The F8 key is missing on the keyboard. * Leave 4:25 for 5pm singing lesson New package Ship of Stone, The October Country, Riverheart @ An Introduction to the Linux Terminal | DigitalOcean : it really helps to have both Sable and Whitewood on the same (nearby) access point note: the viewer that works is ssvnc, on the menu as Internet > SSL/SSH VNC Viewer 0121Tu * up 7ish; S=7:50; @ Secure the Files in Your Amazon S3 Bucket - AWS How to secure an Amazon S3 Bucket - A Cloud Guru Report: Adult Site Leaks Extremely Sensitive Data of Cam Models (from 0118) Hosting a Static Website on Amazon S3 - Amazon Simple Storage Service " Here’s what you need to know to lock down an Amazon S3 bucket. Step one: do nothing. [emphasis theirs] Yes, do nothing because - like all other AWS services - the default configuration provides a strong security posture right out of the gate. " Leaky Buckets: 10 Worst Amazon S3 Breaches (2018) * SL: half & half, granola, thin bacon (meaty), thick bacon, white rice (jasmine or arborio); for Wed: cotija cheese, green onions, shredded cabbage, 1.5-2lbs cooked baby shrimp, 2 avocados, 1 can mexican green chilis (not roasted), 4 limes, ginger ale, catfood, (sweet)flavored rice cakes, + boursin, English, x mini marshmallows (dried, 4mm), @ Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained - Reuters @ The Many Lives of Roberto, a Soup | The New Yorker : Got the tracking info for the new gig bag; should arrive Thursday (before Conflikt) % 9:45 drifty 0122We * Up 4:57; W=200.8, S=6:01; shower % some pain... I don't remember having a first cup of coffee, but I must have. Weird, and indicates that I'm probably somewhat out of it. Don't know why. @ Cloud Object Storage by Wasabi | 1/5th the price | Wasabi only 20% more than B2 S3-compatible; server-side encryption; B2 is _not_ S3-compatible; not encrypted. : Decided to go to Conflikt in two cars, which makes room for C's walker and supplies. : C and V packed the suitcase * chord out "Eyes Like the Morning". Put my songbook in the binder with KF. There will be a few missing because of -Other and -PD : looks like we'll have to get the kitchen (at least) treated for roaches again. Growf! * packed underwear, socks, cane, yukata, music stands in the suitcase. Plenty of room. . started on loading the rolly * Knee brace and cane in rolly, : print some fliers * start laundry 0123Th * up 6:30; S=8:09; * laundry (dryer). ...Pack. * C's supplies; x may need Hartmann bag this time. : 8:20am Ticia slipped while getting off my desk; limping a little. Will give her some time and see if it gets better. -> 9:15ish no visible limping after half an hour * charge scooter. ~ songbooks -> fit in rolly, but may not leave enough room for other stuff * fresh water for cats * Verify room reservation -> good thing I called. Switched to a room with 2 beds and a roll-in shower on the ground floor in wing 7, just to the right of the passageway : New gig bag arrived. Lighter; less padding, less space in the na net win. @ An Introduction to the Linux Terminal | DigitalOcean nice intro * print . RC fliers, * Rainbow Caravan visiting cards -> printer sounds awful -- clunks -- on card stock; problems with network (of course) * scooter charger! Wish I knew where the 4A charger was; should I have bought new one? * Transfer everything from backpack to Rolly (except for Sable) * 2 more CDs * purse * batteries for Zoom * first aid * glasses * phone stuff * my songbook -> guitar case when it arrives (more room for Sable) * electronics bag -> not sure where it belongs -> suitcase (plenty of room) * put Molly on charger * print directions to hotel for V * Honey ginger crystals. / cleanup 0124Fr - 0126Su Conflikt * up 6:30; W=201.6, S= 7:38; % back sore, mainly left QL. -> naproxen, heat. @ To safeguard their future, Pacific Islanders look to the past | Grist * shut down Whitewood, since it's vulnerable to power failures. @ Cable Haunt possible curmudgeon post * last minute: drugs (* mine and C's), * desitin (scooter bag), * gloves, Sable, * tizanidine in first-aid kit->cpap bag, * charger (scooter seat bag), paper towels, spray cleaner, * garbage bags * load-out: suitcase, scooter bag, C's purse, rolly, cpap, guitar, walker * Conflikt hotel reservations; 0124Fr - 0127Mo conf# 32M9RV57 (206) 246-8600 con starts Friday, plan to arrive Friday and leave Monday? -> yes: (800)222-8733 refer to group code: C13 or group name: Conflikt 13 <- parking for two cars; need 4 keys (V and R) Setup starts at 3pm Friday, sound checks 4, opening ceremonies 6:30. -> arrived about 2:30; it is now 4:15 and the room still isn't ready. Also, V hasn't gotten here yet; possibly she went via I5? : neither firefox nor lynx likes the hotel's portal. I'll probably end up on the phone : The new gig bag has a disadvantage: there's nothing to grab onto at the head end. There's a "hanging hook"; what I'll end up doing I suppose is make a rope loop for it : Vanessa Cardui is pretty spectacular % back hurting ~5-6. naproxen 6ish; tizanidine 11pm; can take another 7am (3/day) : had to get a rollaway for C because the regular beds are way too high. : C decided that she won't be able to go to Consonance, but gave me permission to solo : my little cylindrical inflatable cushion would have been useful, but started leaking 0125Sa * up 5:20; S~=5h; % back not hurting so much, but I still don't trust it. / C woke up ~5:40; needed a chair. Gave her the one I'd been using and had to manoever the scooter so I could use the actual desk chair, which it was blocking. : using phone with USB tethering. -> that didn't work either. on WiFi hotspot. looks like the hotel has an ethernet jack; that might work also. Later. * 7:12 tizanidine, along with other morning meds % back seems a little worse. The lack of decent chairs does not help. A pillow helps a little. @ Emacs is no text editor | Eigenbahn blog " Emacs is a generic user-centric text manipulation environment. "... " Emacs is a generic Man-Machine Interface for anything text. " : Song contest -" who is Murphy and why is he at this con?"... so of course... @ A (Loose) Canon for Saint Murphy * dinner with N, G, and (Summer)S'. % went up to room first (with N and S' for a little practice); took tizanidine and other drugs. Back still hurts. : wifi works fine in function space; not in room. % really tempted to go back to the room and steal C's scooter now that she's gone to bed -> good plan. V's son-in-law is having a med. emergency; will leave early tomorrow / F haven't kept up the food diary -- damn! : called engineering to have the toilet unblocked 0126Su & awake 3ish(? 2ish?); tizanidine. * up 7:70; ; back still hurts, now mostly on the right. / C cleanup; third this weekend. running out of pads. We'll have V go out and buy some. % 8ish, two aspirin and a tizanidine. heating pad # tizanidine: " Initial dose: 2 mg orally every 6 to 8 hours as needed -Peak effects occur in approximately 1 to 2 hours and last for 3 to 6 hours; treatment can be repeated as needed to a maximum of 3 doses in 24 hours; gradually increase dose by 2 to 4 mg at intervals of 1 to 4 days until satisfactory reduction of muscle tone is achieved. " " Maximum single dose: 16 mg; maximum daily dose: 36 mg in 24 hours " % not QL: ES (erector spinae) * 2:30 song contest concert. Massive screw-ups but I think we sold it okay and it's a songwriting contest, not a performance contest. Used The Fox for soundcheck because it was the first thing that popped into my head. : following S' on FAWM : One of the band scramble bands (Smoke Test - Bill L, Lisa P, ?) sang Little Computing Machine. Cool! And a Conflikt 1 CD was up for auction; I had two songs on that * Dinner in the bar with Colleen, N, G, R, and S' ... then song-swapping for a few hours in our room. Bigger on the Inside, Travellers, QV, / two cleanups. pretty liquid. % 9ish tizanidine : drug-wise, feeling the lack of my usual med kit. Need to rejigger a little. : Sable still has 3 hours (51%) left on the battery after a day's use unplugged % 10:50 sleepy. Should crash # leaving .done post for tomorrow, so as to include the whole con (and because wiped)
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