Unless there is some compelling reason to do otherwise, I always take down my Christmas tree on King Day, January 6th. This year was not an exception, but it was raining so hard I had no desire to drag the tree across the muddy paddock to the fence line, especially because I don’t actually get dressed in the wintertime except on days when I need to go somewhere. So I put it outside, but it has been a week and I just haven’t felt like moving it yet. Though there’s no real danger of my becoming a recluse, I’m beginning to understand the mindset of elderly ladies in Gothic novels; I have a routine that I am comfortable with and prefer to maintain, so I tend to grumble when I have to break it to go to Aberdeen for some reason like groceries, and I really grumble when I need to drive to Seattle, especially in rainy weather. And if I were wealthy, I probably would have a handyman nearly as old as I am who does those chores for me. I wonder how much it would cost to have a manicurist come to me instead of vice-versa? Alas, too much. But it’s nice to think about, at least in monsoon season.
Archive for the ‘Diary’ Category
Diary #811
Posted in Diary, tagged carnival, holidays, psychology, Sunset on January 13, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Diary #810
Posted in Diary, tagged internet, Sunset on January 5, 2026| 3 Comments »
Normally, my internet works just fine. Whenever we have a power outage the internet usually goes off in tandem and returns in tandem, because the local substation draws power from the same local power grid Sunset does. But last December an internet outage lasted a full three weeks, during which time I was stuck using my phone’s hotspot. I had hoped that was a fluke which wouldn’t be repeated, but a few weeks ago we had a 3-day outage, and since the 29th it has been going on and off unpredictably. The light on the repeater is much easier to see from my table than the tiny little globe symbol on the router, and it generally turns red when there’s no internet. But this time even that’s undependable; as I type this (on Saturday afternoon) the light is red, but I was able to save this column with no problem, and at other times I’ll have no connection despite the light being blue. They tell me it’s a problem with the lines near my house, which will be fixed on the 15th; however, that’s what they said last December when the problem was eventually fixed remotely with nary a technician in sight (or on-site), so I’m not exactly disposed to believing them even though this looks like a local problem (in my limited understanding of their network) to me as well. And I’ve already got a promise to get a billing credit for weeks of undependable service, but as you can probably guess I don’t believe that, either.
Diary #809
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, drugs, holidays, psychology, Sunset on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Several of y’all have asked me to keep y’all up to date on how Axel is adjusting to life at Sunset; here’s a picture I took on Christmas day before most of the guests arrived. Axel is in late middle age at 9, but he’s actually the youngest of this pack: Trip, to viewer left, is 12, and Hallie, to viewer right, is about 11. She’s my friend Sophie’s dog, so she’s a frequent visitor and mostly knows how to behave herself at Sunset. Axel is no longer a nervous wreck; he’s largely pretty calm, and seems quite happy most of the time. The shelter vet sent him home with a bottle of 100 mg trazodone tablets and some rather vague directions regarding dosage, but I quickly found about 400 mg a day worked well. I’ve been weaning him off of them at 50 daily mg/week, so as of Saturday we’re now down to 200 mg (one pill at bedtime and one in the early afternoon) with no noticeable effect on his behavior. He even did well on Christmas day with all the company, though people did feed him too many treats so he had an upset tummy that night (the trazodone may aggravate that). The only behavioral problem that is still a major issue is his tendency to chase cats; if I’m in the room a quick “leave it!” command works to stop him, but when I’m not in the room he will still do it (as I discovered to my great irritation when I was rudely awakened at 2 AM on Christmas Eve and had to clean up cat piss and cat shit from the kitchen, where they were literally scared out of Speck when he attacked). She was not hurt, but since I can’t ensure that will be true next time I’ve moved her food, water fountain and litterbox into Grace’s room, where Speck enjoys spending time anyway; at night I can close the door to protect her. But I’m working on breaking the bad habit (which his first owner either allowed or actively encouraged, as some sociopaths are wont to do), and given that he’s an extremely intelligent dog (dramatically more so than poor Trip, who is a low-watt bulb), I have confidence he will eventually learn that attacking his fellow-residents is not cool.
Diary #808
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, holidays, Sunset, video on December 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Yes, this was taken from the spa; in the cold months my old back injuries often act up, so it’s nice to be able to immerse myself in hot water with a cup of cocoa and Christmas music. And by the time you read this I’ll be done with last-minute holiday preparations, and should be ready for company tomorrow evening. Merry Christmas from me, Axel, and everyone else here at Sunset!
Diary #807
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset, Washington (state) on December 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Though December is the rainiest month here at Sunset, with rain nearly every day, it doesn’t usually rain as heavily as it did last week. When I cleaned the stock tank in October, I decided not to refill it and just let the rain do the job, since Jonathan and Hercules have been drinking out of the rainwater catch basin anyway. Between mid-October and December 7th, the rain filled the tank about 1/3 of the way, then by Tuesday morning it had reached the 2/3 level; in other words, we got as much rain last Monday as we did in all of October and November! It rained some on Tuesday and then heavily again on Wednesday morning, so by Wednesday afternoon the east paddock looked like this despite the fact that there’s a drainage ditch between the barn and henhouse, to the right side of this photo. Jonathan actually likes the rain and Cicero doesn’t seem to mind it much, but Hercules hates it, the chickens prefer to stay inside during it, and Louie could barely be coaxed out of his nest all week; for a few days there I was actually feeding them inside the stable, because it was the easiest way for everyone. Thursday and Friday were much lighter rain and Saturday was actually clear and sunny, so the standing water has drained off and the animals were all roaming around as normal; I’m glad I took the precautions to ensure proper drainage when we first moved here.
Last Call!
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, Toys for Tots on December 12, 2025| Leave a Comment »
This is just a quick reminder that this year’s toy drive ends this coming Tuesday, December 16th, so if you’d like to contribute please do so by Tuesday morning! Toys for Tots pickup ends a week before Christmas, but Tuesday is the last day I’ll have the opportunity to buy toys and get them to the box. I was worried that donations would be more sparse than usual this year, but all my stalwarts came through as usual, as did several others. But I always want to help Santa as much as possible, especially in a year where toy prices have been extra-high and there will undoubtedly be more families in need of the help. So if you can afford to give, please do so via Zelle (ask me for particulars) or PayPal, and I’ll buy the toys and deliver them to the donation box. Charity was never simpler!
Diary #806
Posted in Diary, tagged holidays, Presents, Toys for Tots on December 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I was concerned this would be a lean year for the toy drive, but my generous gentlemen are coming through as usual! Yesterday I spent all I’ve received so far, and this is what it looked like after I got most of it into my trunk. If you’re wondering why some of them look wet, it’s because it was raining cats and dogs all day yesterday; I would’ve waited for a clear day, but the next one predicted is the 21st, which is obviously too late. Luckily, there’s now a Toys for Tots donation box at Tractor Supply, so I needn’t drive all the way to Olympia; this load was only in my trunk for long enough to drive to the other side of the strip mall to drop them off. It’s not as much as in previous years; I’ve used a $20 per toy limit for ten years now, but I had to raise it to $30 this year, and I was shocked to see how much some things have gone up. But y’all still have another week, so if you’d like to see the toys bought with your contributions next week, you know what to do!
Meet Axel
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, psychology, Sunset on December 5, 2025| 1 Comment »
I’ve been feeling as though I should get another dog, since Trip prefers to be outside most of the time. So Jae’s been watching the Humane Society website, and we decided to bring this fella home on Saturday. His name is Axel; he’s nine years old and has been with them for two years, so he’s pretty neurotic. He shook a lot for the first 48 hours, and is so nervous they sent him home with tranquilizers that I’m supposed to wean him off of as he improves. I think he will be a lot better within the next few months; his main triggers seem to be noise and rapid movement, which is why he’s had several failed adoptions (little kids in the home). But Sunset is quiet, and there are not too many fast-moving things here; he likes Trip and doesn’t seem to care about Speck, and he was already calmer and quieter by the day after we brought him home. By yesterday he was behaving mostly normally when I’m the only one around, though he’s still very excitable if anything out of the ordinary happens. So I think that once he realizes he’s not going to have to go back to doggy prison, he’ll adjust to life here just as Louie and Hercules did, and will make a fine addition to the Sunset family.
Diary #805
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset, video on December 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
As you can see, Hercules has adapted to life at Sunset; he has calmed down dramatically and learned the routine. When I go out to feed the chickens and collect the eggs a little after noon, he lines up at the fence with Cicero and Louie to get his treat, then joins them in eating a scoop of corn I throw over the fence. I still need to keep him apart from Jonathan for dinner, but the rest of the time they’re best buddies and when I look out first thing in the morning they’re usually grazing or browsing together in the paddock. That’s all the Sunset animal news for today, but be sure to visit this coming Friday to meet our newest resident!
Diary #804
Posted in Current Events, Diary, Fiction, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents, psychology on November 24, 2025| 1 Comment »
Anyone who’s ever perused my Amazon wishlist has probably noticed that it features a lot more weird, nerdy things than the expensive “luxury” things most guys seem to like buying for sex workers. That was true even long before I retired, and it’s even more so nowadays. The reason, as I’ve explained before, is that I put things I actually want on my list, and my tastes run to the odd and nerdy. In the last couple of weeks, several of my generous readers have sent CDs and DVDs from the list, and several of the DVDs were of old movie serials. I’m quite pleased about that because, as some of you have noticed, I’ve increasingly turned my back on the modern world this year. Now, a large fraction of my TV and movie viewing has always consisted of things that aren’t current at the time I view them, and I rarely read any fiction written after I was born (and almost never after I graduated from high school). But since early summer that’s even more true than usual, and probably half of my current entertainment was created between 1920 and 1960. Part of the reason is practical; the new adventure fiction series I’m working on takes place in the 1920s and ’30s, so immersing myself in period fiction helps with mood and color. But the rest of it is purely emotional; this blog and its attendant social media focus mostly on current events, and I needn’t explain how absolutely awful those events have become. Simply put, by the time I’m done with blog writing every day, I am so sick of 21st century political atrocities and media enshittification that I cannot handle one more minute of it. So to those of you who have indulged me with these gifts, please accept my heartfelt gratitude not merely for the kindness of a gift, but also for helping me find temporary solace from a world which feels increasingly hostile to me.
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