I think what pisses me off the most about this is that they must have known about the delay yesterday. Yet they waited until midday today to tell me. I could have made other arrangements and been home by now.

And they keep sending me texts like this, despite the fact that I clearly know what's going on after speaking to three different Amtrak people and getting a new ticket from one of them. 🙄

Entertaining and informative video about why we buy #books we don't read. (You know who you are.)

https://youtu.be/Bh3EnIPVwIE

#bookstodon

Some of you may recall I was having some difficulty yesterday redeeming a key code for some software I purchased through humble bundle. The problem was that I had to create an account on another system and that account could not be created until they verified my email address. The verification email did not come. The problem was resolved relatively quickly, once I found an email address to contact with my problem. Three emails were exchanged.

Well, apparently the guy on the other end, Michael, decided that my initial request for help wasn't polite enough for his British sensibilities. He found it necessary to write back to me this morning to scold me for being rude in my initial contact. For the record, I don't think I was rude. I just think I was to the point. Getting his defensive, scolding email when it was not necessary resulted in me sending him the same.

I think the point of the story is not just related to customer service and the inability of a system to work properly. (I do have to wonder how many accounts were not created and how many potential customers were lost because of the system failure.)

I think it's also related to the constant feeling of being on edge because of what's going on in the world outside the protective bubble I'm trying to create for myself. (1/2)

Yes, I'm not listening to the news these days and I'm turning off social media toots related to politics. But I know what's going on out there and no matter how hard I try to push it to the back burner, it's creeping forward, influencing me on a daily basis. This is a form of PTSD, pure and simple, and I have to think that most Americans are suffering from it.

Enough said. (2/2)

I just blocked a particularly vile troll here on Mastodon. Sometimes it's so hard to remember not to feed the trolls, but blocking immediately certainly does help. When you block, there's nothing to reply to. I suspect the entire incident will be forgotten in about five minutes.🤣

@goatsarah @id1om If you turn all the AI features off, you get the extra ram without the AI bullshit.

Walk done, cinnamon roll consumed. The walk was longer than usual and I think it's because my friend is trying to kill me. Or that's how it seems. The cinnamon roll is definitely helping in my post walk recovery efforts.

I should mention here that we do our walk in a dry wash with a loose gravel bottom. It's almost as bad as walking in a sand dune. Really exercises the muscles and makes you — or at least me — huff and puff. It's a good workout. And I admit that I need a good workout.

Parked at Catalina state park for the next three nights. I haven't taken the camper off the truck and I'm not sure if I will. The wind has kicked up again and it's trying hard to rain. My neighbor left the awning out on their airstream trailer without staking it down and I'm wondering how long before it breaks. Not sure what I can do about it.

I almost signed up for a horseback ride this afternoon and I'm really glad I didn't. Maybe Friday.

Update: it's raining pretty hard. (I love that sound on the roof!) wind has died down a bit and my neighbors awning is relaxed.

I just chowed down on a can of Progresso Italian wedding soup, which is my favorite. I'm thinking about a nap now.

I saved this last year. #January

@FediFollows @seanbala @joinin I participated in this for a while last year but quickly got totally bummed out by the tales of woe reported and then tagged #joinin. I think I'll skip it this year. Sorry, but I don't come here so other people can bring me down. I need to look after my own mental health first. 🤷🏻♀️

My first try stitching a book with tapes. I'm really happy with the way this turned out. Very neat. I think using a thinner thread helped a lot. This will be a Christmas present that I have to finish tomorrow.

Also, I've discovered the magic of super strong squeeze clamps for pressing. I bought the clamps for my boat (no metal to rust) but will be using them on bookbinding projects. Already using larger ones on larger wood pieces to press my paste papers. #bookbinding

Time to get dressed. Heading out to a neighbor's house for dinner and wine. I'm bringing Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and onions and asparagus steamed with a drizzle of olive oil. (Don't tell them I'm cleaning out my fridge.)

Can someone please tell me in what world would a normal person need (or want) a $37,000 credit limit on a credit card?

Ironically, when I first got this card and they gave me a credit limit of $5K, they refused twice to increase the limit to $8K. Now they're begging me to spend their money.🙄

Please, folks! Don't fall into the debt trap. Buy only what you need or can afford and pay your credit cards in full every month.

Instead of getting any real work done today, I spent most of it cleaning my place and searching for the logbook I need to consult to update my blog. I'm pretty sure I saw it in the house, but I can't find it anywhere. Very frustrating. But my house is cleaner.

And I found the darn log book. It was in a zippered pouch in the boat in the cabinet under the wine cooler.

What was I thinking when I put it there?🤔

@GossiTheDog @CyberpunkLibrarian That's great for you. And it's free? Wow! I'd love to get hooked up with whatever ISP/host connects it to the Internet.

I guess I'm just reminding everyone on behalf of the other admins who actually have to foot the bill for this.

@GossiTheDog @CyberpunkLibrarian Once again, I'll remind folks that Mastodon isn't free for the folks running the instances.

We've had dozens of small and medium instances close up this year. Why do you think that is? Maybe those admins got tired of paying to keep the lights on for the folks who keep telling everyone it's free?

Got a few bucks? Send it to your instance admin. Surely $20 or $30 for the year won't be a burden. They will appreciate it.