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Posts Tagged ‘#365Ways’

Meteoric Uncertainty

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , on May 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

If you’re in North America, you may be treated to a dramatic meteor shower tonight. 

Or, you know, maybe not.

Meteor storm of 1,000 shooting stars per hour possible this week | Space

The Tau Herculids meteor shower may light up the skies over North America on May 30 and 31. Or it may not. There’s a chance we might pass through the thickest part of the comet fragment that is creating the debris, in which case the night skies will be filled with shooting stars.

You can watch the possible tau Herculid meteor shower live online, courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project. The project’s astrophysicist Gianluca Masi will provide live all-sky cameras from Arizona and Brazil starting at 12 a.m. EDT (0400 GMT) on Tuesday, May 31.

I kind of love that despite all of humanity’s scientific advances, such events can remain a delightful surprise.

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Photo by Red Zeppelin on Unsplash

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F1-Grade Idea

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on May 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Today in super excellent ideas I’m giving away for free: I’m pretty sure that turning used F1 tires into premium-branded garage flooring would be a no-brainer.

What Does F1 Do With Used Tires? – One Stop Racing

How much would a superfan pay to walk on Lewis Hamilton’s or Charles Leclerc’s or Max Verstappen’s tires? I’m going to go with A Lot.

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Photo by Lorenzo Hamers on Unsplash

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Winner, Winner

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , on May 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I spent much of the day in the kitchen, enjoying the fact that my oven works. Now that we have electricity again, I decided to make some “thank you” gifts for the neighbors and some “stay strong” gifts for friends who are still without power.

Menu: brownies, blueberry torte, and a new recipe from Stella Parks via Serious Eats: Sunny Lemon Bars.

The new lemon bar recipe is a win, as tangy as I like with what is essentially a shortbread crust. I needed a double batch and I won’t lie, it was a little shocking to go through six whole eggs plus sixteen egg yolks for one 9 by 13 inch pan. I also ran out of lemon juice at about 90% of requirements and had to make up the difference with Meyer lemon and lime juices, but it worked well.

Nom!

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Photo by Auguste A on Unsplash

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No Rules

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on May 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“There are no rules in fiction, only vague guidelines. Pick the approach that works best for you and write like the wind.”

— Ilona Andrews

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Photo by Bianca Suri on Unsplash

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How to Thursday

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 26, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I have apparently forgotten how to Thursday and my schedule is all awry. While I get myself sorted out, here are the Nebula Award winners:

2021 Nebula Awards Winners – Locus Online

As mentioned in a previous post, some of the nominees are free-to-read. The short story winner is open access (and is told primarily through its 93! footnotes):

“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather“, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/21)

Enjoy!

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Photo by Tina Xinia on Unsplash

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Ours to Carry

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on May 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

We can do better. We must do better.

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Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash

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And We’re Back

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on May 24, 2022| 2 Comments »

Sososososososohappy right now!

/ahem

After 60+ hours without power we are back online. So happy about that, and feeling very appreciative of all the electricians and other workers who made it happen, and the first responders who kept us safe in the meantime.

We spent most of the storm sensibly safe indoors but if you’re interested in images of the derecho that affected almost half of this country’s population, check out these links:

The Weather Network – Schools close, local state of emergency declared after deadly weekend storm

The day after: Post-storm photos

#OnStorm – Twitter

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I’m thankful for the friends and neighbors who offered to help, and for now knowing how to use a generator and rebuild a fence. 

Aside from items like a BBQ, water heater that runs without electricity, and fireplace, I’d say the most valuable storm supply awards go to:

  • rechargeable power packs, 
  • long heavy-duty extension cords, 
  • shelf-stable snack and other foods, 
  • ice packs, 
  • good neighbors,
  • backlit e-readers and 
  • a good data plan. 

We also have a bunch of nightlight/emergency lights, the kind you leave plugged in but can also work as a flashlight. Those were invaluable (not least because our only real flashlight runs on (currently dead) C batteries which we don’t have). Our lantern crapped out on us, but pro tip: a flashlight under an opaque white container or lampshade works surprisingly well. 

The experience certainly gives me added appreciation for what’s “normal,” and the fact that we’re able to get back to it after just a couple of days.

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Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

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Living on Olde Time

Posted in Other, tagged , , on May 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Still no grid power; we’re some of the 175,000+ people in the area who lost power during Saturday’s major storm. About 165k of us have yet to get it back. No standard internet, of course, and cell data is hard to come by as well (some day I will have enough data access for blog photos but that day is not today… or yesterday… or maybe tomorrow?). Trees, light posts and power lines came down here, there and everywhere. We lost several major transmission towers and lines as well, which is complicating the recovery process.

And yet, life without (much) power continues. 

On the down side:

  • Opening the fridge and/or freezers has become a process in advanced risk assessment.
  • It’s Monday, and my internet-based, data-intensive day job is calling (not literally, because, you know, no power, but you get the picture). We’ll see what I can do here from the Land of Olde Time.
  • Mr Man is very tired of grinding coffee in a mortar and pestle. He is currently measuring the progress of civilization in terms of how long it takes to do simple (yet obviously critical) tasks like this one.
  • I reallllllllly wish I’d downloaded the next Murderbot book before all this happened. Note to self: stop putting things off, just in case. Also, keep your batteries charged and your backups up to date.
  • No estimated time for return to normality except that this will be “a multi-day process.” We’ve decided to remain optimistic, because why not.

On the plus side:

  • The city and power company folks are working very hard. Go them.
  • We’ve been talking about replacing that fence anyway, and its current level of horizontality is a persuasive argument on the side of yes.
  • A generous neighbor has a generator we’ve been able to use here and there, and hope to keep our food storage safe* and battery packs charged. 
  • We still have hot water, a BBQ, fireplace and our lives. Feeling very fortunate in that regard.

* To my brother with expertise in this area, I remember your warnings about spikes in food-borne illness after disasters. We’re being careful!

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Please Hold…

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , on May 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Power cut out about 30 seconds after yesterday’s post, followed by biblical rain and winds like a freight train. Fences are down, ham radio towers folded in half, chainsaws are buzzing. Many big trees are down in the neighborhood, including a beautiful cherry that will be mourned by all, but no injuries that we know of. Cell service is spotty, power lines and light posts are down in the road, neighbors are out checking on each other. Hopefully, power will be back on some time today. We’ll have some serious cleanup but we were lucky. It could have been much worse.

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Just In Case

Posted in Other, tagged , , , on May 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

This is a placeholder post to keep my daily streak alive, in case the very dramatic storm currently overhead cuts the power. Crazy wind! Giant raindrops! Emergency notifications! Flickering lights!

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Photo by Andre Furtado on Pexels.com

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