Doing taxes is always a stressor for me. But, hey, got it done. Everything is ready to send in. Happy camper, here.
Category: off the cuff
Blog Gone Live, Again.
So, in 2019, I eradicated (as in completely removed) my blog. You see, it wasn’t good enough to just stick it in a corner where, supposedly, nobody would find it, even completely locked down. In fact, even setting up severe restrictions on access still threw issues because, honestly, even GoogleBot doesn’t respect ‘no admittance’ lockdowns unless you actually set things behind an .htaccess prohibition. And doing that makes some bots just keep bumping against the door. So, I destroyed it all in one fell swoop–SHIFT-DELETE–off the server …but not before saving years worth of posts, pages, images, etc. I’ve reinstalled the posts and the images–the public ones, not the private ones. And, now, there will never be anything in draft form because, guess what?, Google indexes those sitting in draft, as well, posting them to their search engine for the world to see. Didn’t know that? Neither did I. It’s because Google and all the other bots actually eat of anything in a database …which is where a CMS (that’s Content Management System, for those curious) stores everything.
But Now I’m Ba-ack!
And so are all those historic posts of mine.
Shudder at will, my friends. The self-applied muzzle is off.
Of course, it’s been replaced by an N99 anti-covid mask, but, well, that’s just thanks to a certain little virus that won’t go away and leave us alone.
Anyway, I hope you are all looking forward to me and mine, mine being my sometimes funny, sometimes serious, sometimes touching, sometimes irascible, sometimes downright obnoxious commentaries on life, living, and the state of being.
Coming to you from the North Country.
June 8, 2019
June 8, 2019
So, because I’m back to being the household breadwinner, now, I’ve reopened my graphic art business. So if you need some graphic art work done, I am available again. You can find my business website here: https://www.zentao.com/graphic-art/.
In other news, one of our cats — not old, either — just up and dropped dead. It was the strangest thing and it left me in shock for days. I had just given him a couple of strokes and gotten coffee, went back upstairs to my office, and there was this horrible yowl. I bolted back downstairs, and there he was outstretched in the middle of the great room floor, yowling horribly and just laid out. He expired as I knelt over him, stroking him. Thankfully, it was quick, and Kathy, the vet, says it was probably a heart attack or an annurism. I miss him (Toes, our long-haired polydactyl cat).
The February Lacewing Reprise
Last year about this time — late February — I was sitting outside on the steps. It was morning, a few hours past sunrise. In my peripheral vision came tiny movement. I glanced that way and was startled to see a lacewing struggling across the snowy slope of the snowbank to my right, a mountain of snow that is the result of snow coming off the second story roof immediately above.
“What are you doing, emerging right now?” I wondered aloud.
I reached over and nabbed the struggling creature who was somehow functional despite it being below freezing. I stuffed “her” under the cantilevered kitchen overhang where, not trusting the heat tapes alone to protect the plumbing from our vicious winter north winds, I had wrapped and insulated it for winter, stuffing a heat lamp under there just for good measure. It’s warm under there all winter — well above freezing. If she was to have any chance at all, it would be there.
Never thought another thing about it. It was a fluke, I figured.
Sunday morning, Feb 25th, 2018, a full year later, a couple hours past sunrise, I was again sitting on the porch steps, sipping a cuppa to take a break from chores and demands for attention by animals and humans. And what do I spy in my peripheral vision? Yep. A lacewing struggling across the snowy slope of the snowbank …again.
Obviously, it was not the same lacewing. But, considering the timing, I’ll bet she’s a close relative. Nabbed her and stuck her under the cantilevered overhang, down where things stay warm and cozy till the weather moderates. Hope she makes it. More, I wish they’d fix their emergence clock. Obviously, it’s not timed properly for North Idaho.
The Hammer Has Fallen
Overnight
Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Steady temperature around 26. Blustery, with a north wind around 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
Sunday
Snow, mainly before 10am. Patchy blowing snow after 10am. Temperature falling to around 19 by 4pm. Blustery, with a northeast wind 16 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday Night
A slight chance of snow between 7pm and 10pm. Patchy blowing snow before 10pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 5. Wind chill values as low as -11. Blustery, with a northeast wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Washington’s Birthday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 21. Wind chill values as low as -12. Northeast wind 7 to 11 mph.