howeird | Reading

Bill's plane left just before 8. It's a 30 minute drive to the airport if traffic and weather are not factors. We were at the beginning of rush hour and it was dead dark and pouring rain. I was glad he drove. Oh also, we couldn't get out of the Timber Ridge garage! We had to call security and they had to come down and trip the door. This was an inauspicious start but it turned out fine. The airport did not seem particularly busy.

As I was driving away, Google maps said they had found a faster route home, did I want it? Sure. You can basically go on interstate highways the entire time which would be fine except for trucks and several tricky highway changes. OR you can go non highways which is also fine except for the last 6 miles which are twisty, curvy. The faster route this morning was the latter which turned out to be fine. There was a lot of traffic but it was not stopped and it did allow me to go slowly which was also fine.

And the garage door opened.

And now Biggie is looking for Bill.

I put in a load of laundry before I left and it's now cooling down on my bed. I wanted to make sure I had all the hanging clothes hanging when the closet designer comes tomorrow.

I decided to not wait until April to start on taking a semaglutide. I sent a note to the doctor. It will be expensive but maybe only until April and maybe the side effects will kill the whole project. But I'm ready to give it a start now.

I have exercise class at 10 this morning and I have dinner ordered to be picked up at 5. And that's the entire agenda for today. Maybe I'll go fold and hang that pile on my bed before class.

catness

Snowflake Challenge: A warmly light quaint street of shops at night with heavy snow falling.

Challenge #6: Top 10 challenge. The top 10 of anything you like.

These are the top 10 games I’ve played recently (well, within the past year).

1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, the 20th Anniversary Edition by Phoenix Online Studios, originally by Sierra On-Line.
A timeless classic point-and-click adventure. Join a murder investigation and delve into Voodoo mysteries in New Orleans. I had played this game before (and the original one too), but felt compelled to replay it recently, after discovering the iPad version. It’s still the best!

2. OneShot by Future Cat.
A puzzle-adventure game made in RPG Maker. You’re on a mission to save a dying world by recovering its sun. The game is not only cute and touching but also a technical marvel. It’s heavily meta, breaks traditional game mechanics, and does things with your computer that I never thought were possible from within a game!

3. Creaks by Amanita Design.
A 2D puzzle-platformer set in a surreal world with gorgeous hand-drawn graphics. Find your way through a maze-like mansion inhabited by birds, ghosts and robots. The puzzles are very clever, evolve in complexity, and require thinking outside the box. It's very fulfilling to find new ways to use existing objects.

4. Nine Noir Lives by Silvernode Studios.
A classic-style point-and-click adventure reminiscent of Monkey Island in both atmosphere and puzzles (but easier). As PI Cuddles, investigate a murder in Meow Meow Furrington, a city of anthropomorphic cats. It's also emotionally stirring, touching on themes like grief and loss and drugs.

5. White Shadows by Monokel.
A 2.5D puzzle-platformer set in a dark, dystopian city of birds, pigs, and other animals. It’s reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. The puzzles are easy, but the game plays like a movie. The graphics are greyscale, which fits the atmosphere perfectly, and the lighting and sound effects are amazing.

6. The Past Within by Rusty Lake.
A puzzle game in the usual Rusty Lake style, dealing with dark and creepy mysteries. Unlike the other games, this one is co-op: one player is in the past and the other in the future, and you have to find ways to communicate between them. For the lack of gamer friends, I cheated and played both parts alone on two computers. It works fine ;)

7. Randal’s Monday by Nexus Game Studios.
Another classic-style point-and-click adventure, with a lot of pop-culture references and cynical humour. Randal is stuck in a time loop, trying to fix his mess-ups but only making things worse. (Note: Randal is a jerk. He’s rude and obnoxious, but the game was still absolutely fun to play!)

8. A Pet Shop After Dark by npckc.
A puzzle game made in Ren’Py. It looks deceptively simple and the graphics are minimalistic, but the gameplay is heavily meta. Much of it involves messing around with your actual filesystem ;) and some of the puzzles are truly devious. I love this stuff!

9. Three Minutes to Eight by Chaosmonger Studio.
A pixel-art point-and-click adventure. You’re stuck in a time loop (one of my favourite tropes ;) and have limited time to figure out what’s going on and how to carry your progress over to the next loop. There are multiple endings, and they’re wildly different!

10. The Room by Fireproof Games.
A puzzle game that feels very physical, with a crazy amount of knobs, buttons, levers, and even some tilt and motion-control puzzles (I played on iPad). It’s not the kind of game I usually play, because the story is minimal. But the atmosphere is fantastic, and fiddling with all those mechanisms and unlocking new areas is incredibly fun and rewarding.

Current Mood: okay

susandennis

We did finally get to the Chinese restaurant and it was pretty much a fail. Mostly the food was struggling to get to fair. BUT, good to know. We don't have to go back. It was a pleasant evening so no big loss.

This morning we had breakfast here and then did a short walk through the complex and now we're watching a football game.

Biggie is fairly fond of Bill's lap but Julio got up there just now to get some action. Julio sat for ear scratches from Bill for longer than any other human in his little life. But, then Biggie decided he was done and so then was Julio but it was amazing for a bit.

Our team is winning and I've got an idea for a new knit toy that I'm playing with.

susandennis

My brother is down in his room so I just scanned in the few papers I have on hand that need to go to the CPA for tax info. Then I took the small stack that I need to deal with (check sheet, info sheet, etc) and then scan, into one envelope and the done ones into another. I'll leave them here near my table til it all goes off to the CPA which won't be until the end of February because the investment companies can wait that long, so do. But, I'm ready.

I held open house for my wonderful new storage area after elbow coffee this morning. All were suitably impressed.

Before that Bill and I went to the Issaquah Cafe for breakfast. Timber Ridge does not serve breakfast on Saturdays but the Issaquah Cafe is a favorite so it was fine.

Last night we had dinner with Gayle and Jim and it was lovely. Bill and Jim had a lot to talk about. Jim grew up very near where Bill lives now and they were both in the Navy. It was nice dinner.

Bill and I watched Episode 1 of The Hunting Party on Peacock. They just released Season 2 and we had not seen any of it. We watched til the end of the episode and were left wondering how the fuck they even got anyone interested in Episode 2, much less Season 2. It's a turkey of the first order.

Next up is Chinese dinner with Bonny at the dim sum place downtown. But, not til 5. I might just put my feet up and knit for a bit.

susandennis

I got the package from the CPA yesterday for taxes. I just had a break in my day so I was reading over it and hit a Very Big Snag. I need documentation for the sale of my condo. Found it!! BUT then read more closely and discovered I also need documentation for the purchase of the condo... ARUGH. It's all in a giant folder with the HOA declaration that I left in the condo for the new owner. Happily, I know the guy but arugh. But then I went to Gemini and asked what exactly do I need for IRS documentation and how is the best way to get it.

All I need is the deed and the excise tax papers - here's the link - search by name or a bunch of other ways. Found both immediately and now have PDF's of each in my Taxes>2026 folder and I'm feeling very accomplished. And holy macaroni, there are a shit ton of Susan Dennis's in this county alone! I am not feeling special name wise.

My brother is down in his room taking a nap.

This morning we went to Target and got a rubber duck and two storage bins that were exactly the size we needed. Then we went to UPS to finish returning all the shelves we didn't need. The on to the parking lot between the vet and the pot shop. I went and picked up Biggie's drugs and Bill went to pick up some gummies for his wife.

Then we got gas and then we came home and got out the hair clippers and he shaped up the back of my hair.

And the ToDo List for January 2026 was completed.

When you open the door to my refrigerator often, the gasket holds it and you end up pulling your arm off and also slamming the door against the wall. Normal door stops don't stick out enough so my brother thought of sticking a rubber duck to the wall. And we found a Rubber Duck with chef's hat and apron to do the job.

You can zoom in to see his details. He's adorable. I cannot wait for someone to ask me why I have a rubber duck on the wall.

Tonight we're having dinner with Jim (down the hall - different than Jim across the hall) and his girlfriend, Gayle. Jim Down The Hall is originally from the smallish town in Texas where my brother lives now and he's also retired Navy like my brother so I though it would be fun to have a visit.

We did not get to Chinese last night because Bonny didn't want to go out in the rain. Which was fine. The three of us ate in the cafe downstairs. We may do Chinese tomorrow.

I feel like we have really gotten so much done. I'm using 'we' liberally. My brother did all the work and is so good at providing advice and helping me decide shit. I'm so lucky that he's so willing!

catness

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts.

1. Feedback on my fics is always nice... https://archiveofourown.org/users/catness Though the only relatively new post is a set of short Pokemon Go themed poems for genprompt bingo. (If anyone wants to be Pokemon Go friends btw, drop me a PM! :)

2. Some Locked Tomb DW-icons, esp. featuring Harrow or Palamedes, I can never get around to making these...

3. Some recs for your favourite video games extensively featuring cats, maybe? I'm currently playing Nine Noir Lives, it's an old-school point&click adventure, a hardboiled detective mystery in a city of anthropomorphic cats, it's awesome!

Current Mood: curious

susandennis

We have, in fact, made our way through the list. My bedroom closet now has ONLY clothes and shoes and my ironing board. Perfection. It just needs organization - designer coming Tuesday.

The storage area used to look like this:

And what you couldn't see was an even bigger pile o' crap.

Now it looks like this:

I need to go through all those plastic boxes and I'll be half that shit can go right to the dumpster but that's a project for another time.

In addition to the closet, the utility room gained some breathing room, too. Nice.

We took Biggie to the vet. His bladder is way better but he still has stones. One option was to operate tomorrow to remove them. But the option the vet recommended was to try one more time to dissolve the rocks. He's now back to a pill twice a day. For a month. If the stones are still there, then operation time. Meanwhile he's Jimmy Buffet stoned on the gabapentin I gave him for the vet visit. And it's pretty hilarious.

Me and Biggie at the vet.

We're off tonight for dinner at a dim sum place Bonny and I have wanted to try and we are taking her with us. Should be fun.

susandennis

My brother is down in his room taking a nap and I'm resting before I tackled more shit. We got so much done today.

We assembled the coffee table which turned out to be non trivial BUT also perfect. I love how it looks and functions.

Then we emptied out the storage space. I really did throw most of it away. Way in the back was a motorized scooter that I wanted out of there. I put it in there in October of 2023 and have not touched it since. We finally got it out and put back together and miracle of miracles, the battery sprang to life and I was able to drive it!! That's some kind of something there. I drove it down to my car parking space. And took a picture. I'm going to post a 'if you want it, go get it' sign in the mail room and, hopefully, that will be the end of that.

Then we fretted over stupid Amazon. I ordered 2 sets of plastic shelves that were supposed to be here Monday. Then they said Tuesday. They are now saying Friday. Once I realized that they would not be here in time to be of use, I ordered 2 more. They are supposed to be here tomorrow but are coming by USPS so whothefuckknows.

And the bulk of what I want done depends on those shelves. So after some research, we just got into the car and went to Home Depot and bought some wire shelves that are much better than the plastic ones. But they were pretty big... bigger than the car (which to be fair, is not big). So we stood around and conjured - pinging ideas around. And then Bill asked about Bonny (who volunteered to take me to return the Amazon shelves back to UPS) which I immediately dismissed. But then I remembered she was already out running errands so I called her and yep she was on her way home at the traffic circle and just rounded it and came to get me and the shelves while my brother drove the tiny car home. She was very happy to do it so I was really glad he thought of it.

We got the shelves built and into the storage space and I have now emptied my closet of 95% of the non-clothes/non-shoes items. I am exhausted and sore and so satisfied! There is nothing stored under the bed. The utility room has a lot more room. The closet is nearly ready for the closet designer. Yahoooo!

Now I have to clear off this table and clear off my bed and get ready to go to dinner.

catness

Rec any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

My favourite fandom-related sites are TVTropes and Reddit, not that they need any recs... Whenever I finish reading/watching anything popular enough to warrant a TVTropes page, I head there for the detailed analysis of the work, to relive all the most important moments, and to catch up on all the details I had missed or misunderstood. But this is a one-time event, as the content is static and rarely changes. Reddit provides an unending stream of new content on every subject, ranging from academic-like theories to silly and goofy memes, so there's something for every mood. And reasonably organized, too.

As for favourite sites in general... I still can't get enough of Coursera, ever since buying the Plus subscription which was my best investment last year. Besides the technical courses, it has a lot of courses targeted at creative individuals, such as art, music composition, music production and game development. I've tried quite a few MOOCs, and Coursera is still the best. For a learning addict, it's a never-ending party!

Current Mood: restless

susandennis

This will likely be a traveling entry. My brother should be landing any minute. He's landing at a gate that is connected to the airport by train so even if he touches ground now, it will be a while yet before I can pick him up.

My annual doctor's visit was very interesting. I aced my old people's exam, - remember 5 words, name animals, draw a clock. Then I asked her to mark my COPD as resolved and she was happy to do that. She listened to my heart and lungs and was very happy with what she heard. Then she asked me asked me if I had any issues. I explained that I thought my back was giving up the ghost and affecting my legs but I knew it was because I'm fat and old and out of shape and would work on at least the last part maybe but no promises. She was very cool about all of it and then started talking about semaglutides. She said "we used to say there was no magic pill but now there is one!" I told her that I thought you had to change your diet for those. I am willing to not eat as much but I am not going to turn into a kale tofu bunny. She said 'We'd look at this in terms of relieving your pain, not for specific numbers.' Interesting.

She explained the differences and the possible side effects and options and price.

She said that supposedly Medicare will be picking up coverage in April. "Wanna think about it and reconvene then?" I told her that sounded perfect.

Then off to get labs. I drank a giant bottle of water so I was ready and it turns out she didn't even order a urine test!! I guess diabetes is off the table. Nice. The blood taker was grateful for the extra hydration and, she got it all in one try. Woot!!

Now, of course, I'm trying to decide if I want to brave the porta potty here or hold it til we get to a decent toilet.

He has landed!! More later.

Profile

howard stateman

Howeird's Place

Navigation

September 2022

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Heads Up by momijizuakmori
Theme: A Brighter View by zaluzianskya and skylark_photos

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jan. 20th, 2026 11:08 am

The Usual Suspects

Now Hear This

Reading

Early dark and wet

Snowflake Challenge #6 : top 10

Football Sunday

Organized with capital O

Soooooo productive

Snowflake Challenge #6 - wishlist

All that's left is your haircut...

A quickie

Snowflake challenge #4 - fav sites

Just hanging in the cellphone lot

Profile

Navigation

September 2022

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags