Just askin’ because. . .
Lacks a Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi
Severe cold discovery: The Phlegm Diet™® is quite nutritious, but the flavor profile isn’t quite five star quality. Maybe 1/8 star. . . Texture? Well, if you like raw oysters. . . it’s a little less appealing than that.
Is It just Me?
Yeh, it’s probably just me. *heh*
Lil hitches in a sci-fi (or really, any) story stand out when the rest is well-written (especially if it’s “hard” sci-fi, which must meet a stricter standard for suspension of disbelief). Here’s a marginal blip: in order to “blend in,” a Chicom operative orders a cheese pizza. . . and eats it. The thing is, while lactose intolerance among those of northern European ancestry has generally been around 5%, among the Chinese, especially the Han, it’s around 90%. A cheese pizza just doesn’t seem normal. To me, that would stand out, not blend in.
*shrugs* My Wonder Woman chides me sometimes about being a bit too detail oriented, so maybe this is just an idiosyncratic problem.
The Right Tool for the Job
You have one knife on your person. Good for you. Two is better. Three is better still. More, if you want to have self-defense options that include edged tools/weapons. No, really. Close range knife “fights” mean BOTH will be wounded. If not defending against a firearm, ranged knife defense – practice throwing knives? Sure – can be an exceptionally effective option.
Note: knife wounds are more likely to result in fatalities, so make absolutely certain you cannot remove yourself from danger without seriously wounding an aggressor.
Aside from self-defense options, knives are pretty close to being the ultimate “frustration-free packaging” tools, among many, many other uses, and the right knife for the job can make a big difference.
CMS Apocalypse?
Premise of a fiction series.
FORTUNATELY, I read the author’s intro before committing to the series that might have had potential for having some interesting information gleaned through some storytelling. But, given one sentence early on, I was able to avoid further brain-damaging text. Whoever edited the book missed a gross mismatch between a plural noun and a singular pronoun. A further glance down the page and, yep: grammar being sucked like dead bunnies through a straw. I ain’t got time fer that. 😉
I’ll add to my infopack on CMSes and EMPs with info from elsewhere, TYVM.
Nopers. Not for Me.
Saw a posting for what is quite likely an otherwise worthwhile event, but even if I were to desire to attend, I could not, because I have a firm policy against exclusion of knives (and by extension ANY exclusion of items that can be used for self-defense, because such is an inherent right). And, guess what? The venue not only excludes ALL knives (no matter size, design, or purpose) but excludes a lot of other things that, well, only Koolaid drinkers would approve of.
Yeh, I don’t fly, either (and I’d have to to make the event. Or rather, I will not, because Thugs Standing Around are just Security Kabuki, laced with cover for Official Thievery. Sure, it limits some of my options, but not any that are really important.
Obfuscation, a PERSEC Device
PERSEC, INFOSEC, even OPSEC: fields to consider when using one’s Internet-connected computation devices (including phones). VPNs, TOR browsing, defeat of various tracking methods etc., are some standard tools, but do not underestimate sowing disinformation.
For one small example, Amazon has a record of ~8,500 books I have “bought” for my Kindles. Of course, MOST of those are freebies, and an [undisclosed] number of those are books I have absolutely no interest in at all (though I do fake having read ’em by “jumping” on through til I reach the end). This ensures that Amazon will keep pitching books to me that I have no interest in reading, demonstrating the company’s lack of true knowledge of my interest areas. (I do download a lot of PD books elsewhere while in TOR sessions, though.)
That’s just an example. There are others. It cheers my heart whenever a company sends my junk mail addresses emails touting things that “will interest me” demonstrating that a particular set of disinformation has taken root.
And now you get to wonder what part(s) of this post is(are) disinformation. . . 🙂
Needed More Fiber
This is the largest fossilized human turd ever found
“The hefty deposit, measuring 8? x 2? (20 cm by 5 cm), was found beneath the site of the famous bank [Lloyds]in 1972. . .”
Hefty? *meh* Maybe by weight, since it’s fossilized. (warning: may be TMI) 8”x2” isn’t much at all. Mine are regularly 12” (or longer) “floaters” of a diameter easily 50% larger than 2”. Maybe I should “fossilize” a personal “floater” and put it up for auction. . .
It’s Only Words. . .
During my childhood and youth, the family dictionary was a two-volume set of 8”×10”×3.5” small print books absolutely full of fascinating reading.
And so I read them voraciously. I still read dictionaries for fun, although some of my collection of dictionaries may be closer to encyclopedias (like my 20-volume set of Groves).
And yet. . . I sometimes find myself lacking the words to describe the depth and breadth of stupidity I see. . . everywhere. . . including, at times, in the mirror.
Not Sure If I Should “Yelp” This Weekend or Not. . .
Weekend and on into tomorrow, stayed (am still staying) at a once well-known resort in the Ozarks. Future stays here? A tossup, at best. *sigh*
Advertises stables and horseback riding o web site. Horses “on vacation.” (Markdown)
Confirmed reservation. Complied with check-in times. More than five hour wait for room. (Markdown)
Room: OK, special rate for conference (Markup) So-so accommodations and substandard details, REALLY noisy. Remote from all resort amenities, with one Post Polio person (they knew this) and LOTS of hills. (Markdown x 3)
Workers: pleasant and helpful (for the most part) (Markup) but institutionally hamstrung at times (Markdown)
Said the room was noisy? REALLY noisy “music” imposed on everyone in public areas making communication difficult and speech LOUD. (Markdown)
Super hokey décor mandated by new owners. (Markdown) Seems designed to appeal to low-brow, nekulturny rednecks (not the good kind of redneck; trust me on that. Markdown)
Still, it’s a conference for my Wonder Woman’s librarian association. Lots of fun folks, but the especially good thing is that I’ve gotten to spend more time with her than usual, even with her meetings and different lecture sessions.
Weekend as a whole: Mark WAY up even with the accommodation negatives. Would do it again (even at the overcharged, IMO – given the accommodation flaws – special rate), even if it were here. But NEXT time, there had better be horses!
Oh, I should add that while the bed was made by a prankster, the sheets themselves were almost as nice as on our bed at home. The pillows sucked, though.
Workers were uniformly as helpful as circumstances and resources allowed.