Some green things

Posted on March 23, 2021 by A Dreamer

Because we need a few nice things. Transplanted the sunflowers today at lunch, and realized I need to go back through all the packets and probably do some googling, because it’s probably time to start transplanting the rest of them here soon.

Sunflowers in big tiny pots!

And the very first Impatien has popped up!

It will be interesting to see if any of the sunflowers survive the transplanting – but, I have more seeds in the packet and they grow *fast*, so I can always start another set outside once it’s warmer. And make notes as to when to start them inside next year. (And here I thought I was starting really late with seeds.)

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It hasn’t even been a week

Posted on March 23, 2021 by A Dreamer

And we’re trying to process yet another mass shooting. Last week we lost 8 people, 6 of them Asian American women who just got up and went to work. Yesterday – 10 people who just went to the grocery store.

Guns, white supremacy, and violent misogyny (among other things) has made it so no one and nowhere is safe in this country.

Asian Americans aren’t safe. Nor are black people, or hispanic people, or Jewish people, or Muslim people, or LBGTQ people, or Sikh people, or students, or women.

People have died at home, at school, at work, at music festivals, at the movies, at community fairs, bars & nightclubs, airports, grocery stores, fucking everywhere.

If I’ve missed a group or venue – it’s only because there have been so damn many of these mass shootings in my life.

We may not be able to easily change the attitude of “the answer is opening fire on people I don’t like” – but we sure as hell can make it harder for people to get the guns to do it.

I’ve written my reps yet again.

I swear to god, only in America could we have public health policy that is so bad and a population that is so selfish that if Covid doesn’t get you, some asshole with a gun will.

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Hey, we made it through Monday!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by A Dreamer

Sure, three of three tools I needed to get any work done were broken…

And the training time I got in, since I had some time on my hands…”it’s important that employees know the big picture, so they know how their work fits in” – sure, that make sense. The real life example they chose? The Manhattan Project. Yup, productivity soared once they all found out they were working on a weapon of mass destruction.

Updated my phone software and then my to-do list app decided it would just crash repeatedly. Thankfully an uninstall/reinstall did the trick and I did not lose my lists. (I did not realize how dependent I had become on it until faced with the idea that it and my lists were gone.) The update appears to be crashing other apps, too, yay!

Went to transplant the sunflowers and realized that the potting soil has been outside and the seedlings have been inside, and that the potting soil is colder and well, long story short, there are 6 four inch pots with potting soil and water in the greenhouse coming up to greenhouse temperature because I convinced myself I shouldn’t transplant the sunflowers into cold soil. (Does it actually matter? I have no idea. Did I decide it mattered a lot to me? Absolutely.)

Ordered Fancy Feast Chicken Appetizers for the LilyMonster, cause we found out they’re a “clean plate club” favorite when I got the variety pack. Except I ordered the full sized entrees. Oops. (The labels are very, very similar…) I suspect Lily’s only complaint will be getting only half the container in one sitting.

But, I got 45 minutes of yoga in between lunch & after work sessions, which was very nice.

My brother made a pan of brownies and I’m trying not to make those into dinner, but no guarantees.

And I got over half my non-work to-do list knocked out.

So, not all bad, but a bit of a rollercoaster of a day. But it’s done, I’ve settled in on the couch with a beer, and me and Lily are gonna watch Maddow and try again tomorrow. I know at least one tool will be functioning by tomorrow, so that’s something.

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Yet another bleary eyed Monday

Posted on March 22, 2021 by A Dreamer

A night filled with very strange dreams did not result in a restful night, and I still have quite the case of the “mehs” for lack of a better description. Very annoying, cause I need to be vaguely competent today and this week, as there is lots to get done at work and I’d prefer not be working 10+ hour days and blowing through yet another half-day Friday.

Some days I can’t figure out if I’m bad at my job, or if the time estimates for everything assigned to me are just too low. I’m still not great at estimating how long a bug or feature will take to test, so I’m at the mercy of the estimators and I think the rest of the team just refuses to challenge the numbers.

And tomorrow I have an 8AM meeting, wheeeeee.

But, payday on Thursday, half day on Friday, and highs in the 60s the first half of the week, and we may hit 80 on Friday. My plants are all growing like champs and the transplant pots will be here tomorrow and the sunflowers will be the first to get new homes, and the window garden plants will all get repotted to boot.

Hell, you never know, I may even get all the way through my non-work to do list one day this week. We’re off to a good start today with taking my vitamins and clearing out my gmail account, so 2 down, 29 to go!

OK, time to be optimistic and positive – it’s gonna be a good week! LET’S DO THIS!

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Note To Self:

Posted on March 21, 2021 by A Dreamer

Next time you start a new cross stitch project, take a photo of the pattern. Cause for the first time in about a year, I felt clearheaded enough to think, “Yes, I would like to work on that cross-stitch project!”

Got the bag – I put all of the bits & pieces in a big ziploc bag when I am working on something, just keeps everything together. And the pattern is not there. WHY IS THE PATTERN NOT THERE? WHY WOULD I HAVE TAKEN IT OUT OF THE BAG AND NOT PUT IT BACK?!

I do have a picture of the finished picture from the kit. Cropped & straightened it and tried to import it into Mac Stitch, but it just is kind of a mess and can’t interpret the colors, and that’s fine, I can build it from scratch in Mac Stitch with just the picture (thank god it’s a **simple** pattern) but that’s…not at all what I wanted to do this evening?

I did at least get my other seeds started, and the grow lights for the bottom shelf of the greenhouse arrived today, so, perfect timing on that. The seed packet says the dill doesn’t transplant well, but we’re gonna give in a whirl anyway. There were lots of seeds in the packet and it germinates & matures fairly quickly, so not the end of the world if I have to start a new batch later in the season.

I’m not at all ready for the workweek to start again…

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Gooooood morning!

Posted on March 21, 2021 by A Dreamer

Er, afternoon now – I swear, when I started this, it was well before noon. It’s one of those fake sunny days here – bright and sunny and only in the 50s. But it’s sunny, so I will take it.

Two more tomato varieties have sprouted! The Reisenstraub and Mirabella Blanche, and exactly on time. The 4″ transplant pots can’t get here soon enough – the sunflowers are already going a bit nuts, and I’ve had to take some little kitchen bamboo skewers and tie them up for a bit of support while the stems get thicker. And today I learned that Velcro makes plant ties. Very clever, and a roll is on order.

On the Covid front… Jesus fuck, Florida. You open everything up and then act surprised when the Spring Breakers show up and go batshit. Florida voters – please stop electing people who will kill you without a second thought. Spring breakers – I hope you spend the rest of your lives stepping on legos while barefoot and in cat puke when in clean socks.

In my county, the 1B waitlist has dropped under 100K, and they’re now scheduling appointments for February 18th registrations, which is an improvement as well. But, our testing is going down, our cases are creeping up yet again, and we’re just not getting people fully vaccinated fast enough.

I *know* we’re constrained by supply, I absolutely get that. But at the rate we’re going, it will still be May before we clear the current waiting list, and well into 2022 before we can get to herd immunity – February of next year *just* to get to 75% of the over 18 population if we don’t get more supply and shots in arms.

They’re using my university’s arena as a mass vaccination site, but it’s only open 2 days a week so far. If we could get the supply to a point where it could be up and running 24/7…that would be fucking awesome.

I’m so honestly excited to see so many people get vaccinated, but it’s also disheartening to see how long it’s going to take unless something changes soon. According to the CDC, 21.11% of the over-18 population in the US has been fully vaccinated. My county isn’t even at 15% yet. (We’re lagging on total doses, too.)

So, every time I hear the US has vaccinated tons of people and “1 of every X has gotten a shot” and then I look at my county stats, I can’t help but be a little…

Side eye monkey puppet meme

Thing is, I can wait. Granted, I don’t really have a choice in the matter, but I can wait. Got my plants, the LilyMonster, the front porch, improving weather, and my brother has been a very patient pandemic buddy.

But it’s all “so close, yet so far.” Joe, you means tested me out of a stimmy, the least you can do is get me a vax.

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Somehow I have more seeds…

Posted on March 20, 2021 by A Dreamer

Popped into the garden center and no luck on cheap bulk pots, but I’ve had such good luck with the seed starts so far, I got more, LOL. This weekend I’ll be starting Lemon Catnip, Garlic Chives, Sparkler Radishes, and Mammoth Dill. Transplant pots are winging their way here from Amazon for the rest of the starts and the front window plants.

Seed packets for Catnip, Dill, Chives, and Radishes

Also hit up the HMart for a bit of solidarity shopping for lack of a better description. It’s a great market no matter what and the only place I can get seedless mandarin oranges in quantities smaller than 5 pounds. I love mandarin oranges, but I can’t finish 5 pounds of them.

Plus, the candy selection is LIT and I always end up with a ton of it in my basket somehow. My experience with Asian markets is that they have an excellent selection of European chocolates and I have no idea why, other than pretty much everyone likes chocolate.

Choco baby candies, chocolate covered cashews, and Ritter Sport chocolate bars

And I finally hit up the CBD shop, which also happens to be Asian-American owned. I still can’t believe my stodgy little town has a CBD shop. I’ve been incredibly intrigued by CBD for a very long time, I’ve heard so many folks having very good experiences with it, so why not give it a whirl and see if it brings the overall anxiety levels down a touch. (I probably should have done this a year ago.) And if it doesn’t do shit, hey, it’s still chocolate. I’ve also heard folks say it helped them with focus, and that wouldn’t be the worst thing for my likely-ADHD ass.

Two bars of Bhumi Belgian Chocolate with CBD.

And though it is legal, I still paid with cash, for…reasons.

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LOOK AT THEM!

Posted on March 20, 2021 by A Dreamer

LOOK AT MY TINY GREEN BABIES!

Flat of seedlings that have sprouted
Flat of seedlings that have sprouted
Flat of seedlings that have sprouted

The zinnias were the first to appear, followed by the sunflowers the next day, then just about all the tomatoes popped and yesterday, I suddenly had snapdragons!

Honestly, I did not expect so many to sprout at all – so far, I’ve got an 89% germination rate. (Yes, I have a spreadsheet and I’m tracking this.) I’m not totally sure what to do next, LOL. I guess it’s time to hunt down some small 4″ pots or maybe some rectangular flats to transplant them? Guess I’ll have to swing by the garden center today, OH NO!

Though, I don’t recall seeing any little cheap plastic pots at the garden center – lots of nice fancy ones, but this is going to be a bulk buy, so cheap is good. I may have just been looking in the wrong spot, and given that I’m always distracted by the shop cat, it’s very possible that I have been standing right in front of them.

The front window garden is doing well, too! I’ve managed to keep everything alive, even the little rose – I discovered early on that it needs SO much water, which is fine and I’m glad I figured it out sooner rather than later when it became a crunchy dead plant. I don’t know if it’s the rose itself or the planting medium, but it’s a thirsty little plant. I also need to pick up some 6″ pots for all of them – they’re all currently in 4″ pots and I wouldn’t be shocked to discover they’re potbound – they all need more room to grow.

Shelves of houseplants - african violets, spider plants, gerbera daisies, creeping pepperomia, nerve plant, and calathea
Still alive!

I do not consider myself a Serious Gardener by any stretch of the imagination, and yet here I am with 13 living houseplants, a greenhouse with over 60 seedlings, grow lights, and bonsai shears for pruning the houseplants. My Grandma K would be very pleased with all this.

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Oh Friday!

Posted on March 19, 2021 by A Dreamer

And not a moment too soon. It has not been a good week for me & technology, which is not ideal since, technology is kinda my job.

Not one, but two separate VPN clients shit the bed. First VPN is so I can remote into a client site to do some work for them. Our security software started blocking it a while back. IT turns off the security software on my machine and puts in a whitelist request. (Disabling security software – their idea, not mine – they had to remote into my machine to turn it off.) Security software re-enabled itself and I discover the whitelisting was not done. Ask IT to disable security software again and escalate whitelist request.

IT Security guy finds out, is not thrilled, I point out this was IT help desks move, not mine. He is understandably, “Dammit, disabling security should not be the first solution!” Domain gets whitelisted, security software turned back on.

Fire up VPN and… brand new fucking error – google it and, there is a brand new goddamned bug in this VPN software. Alert the client that this is now a “them” problem (complete with providing the bug # and link to software maker’s site acknowledging it – being in support never goes away) and they are now scrambling to get me a new connection client.

Second VPN…mobile app to connect to *our* systems so I can test our software on phones/tablets. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, THIS IS NOT A TRUSTED SERVER! The fuck? (It was fine like, a month or so ago.)

Back to IT… “Oh, just uncheck the “block untrusted sites” box.”
*Recalls conversation with IT Security about disabling security measures as first move*
Me: “No. That is not a solution.”
IT: “It will be fine.”
Me: “It will not.”
IT: “No, really, it will be fine.”
Me: “Says you.”
IT: “Would you like us to run this by security?”
Me: “YES.”

The above is paraphrased, but you get it. Poor help desk tech who caught this ticket – at least he was kind enough to say he really appreciated my concern for the security aspect of it all. I’m not gonna be the jackass that brings down the network. (Also, I do not understand why no one seems to be curious as to why the mobile VPN app thinks our server isn’t trusted anymore – to me that indicates something is wrong somewhere.)

And the “C” key broke on my laptop. Did you know you can buy individual replacement keys? I do now.

Here’s hoping today will be a bit less error laden.

You have a great day and congrats on making it to another Friday!

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Atlanta

Posted on March 18, 2021 by A Dreamer

8 people are dead, 6 of them Asian American women. Folks who were just trying to get through the day like the rest of us.

I’m angry and sad and heartbroken. Same feelings I had after the Emmanuel church shooting, after the Pulse shooting, and every other damn mass shooting we’ve had.

Intellectually, I know it’s racism and white supremacy and violent misogyny, and in this case it seems some incredibly unhealthy attitudes towards sex.

But on a gut, emotional level – I do not get it at all. I do not understand a level of anger and hate that makes someone decide that going and killing people will solve any problems. I just do not.

These women may have been sex workers. That does not make them any less deserving of humanity, safety, and happiness.

And it’s easy for us white folks and white women to feel helpless and that we can’t fix it – white supremacy and violent misogyny is a huge problem here in the US and it can seem insurmountable.

But it’s not on any single one of us to fix it all – if we all just try to do *something* it can all add up. Support AAPI groups fighting hate. Keep an eye out for our AAPI friends and neighbors when we’re out and about. Let it be known through your words and actions that you aren’t part of the problem.

Google for local groups supporting the fight against AAPI hate crimes. Follow groups like Red Canary Song on Twitter. Don’t demonize sex workers. Call out people who are still being shitty about Covid & the AAPI community.

Be good. Be decent. Fight for our friends and neighbors.

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