Last week started out dry enough that I was able to get up on the roof and fix the one persistent leak we still had. It was in the first roof section involving multiple panel directions; I hadn’t learned yet to think about how the rainwater would flow, so I attached one section under a joint when it should’ve gone over, thus producing a steady drip that grew worse as a rainstorm continued. It would’ve been a nightmare to take it all apart and redesign it, but fortunately I didn’t have to; I simply used a few short pieces to install an outer layer to act as a guard, the sealed the edges with silicone. I didn’t have to wait long to test it; last Thursday it rained cats and dogs all day, and not a single leak. So I can now declare the roof officially solid! I still have to install gutters and trim out a few spots that don’t look nice, but at least we can now walk from the back door to either cottage without getting wet. I can leave the tools there safely overnight, and we were even able to work on the walls Thursday while it was raining, safe and dry within the atrium. You’ll see pictures of that next week, but here’s the current one; I tried to get a picture which would clearly show the ridgecap, but most of the angles made it look really strange or bent, so I settled on this one.
Archive for the ‘Biography’ Category
Annex 70
Posted in Diary, tagged Sunset on June 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »
When Ends Don’t Meet
Posted in Diary, Miscellaneous, tagged activism, pragmatism, psychology on June 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Not much scares me outright, but anxiety is a different matter; I’ve suffered from it since childhood, and though it never completely goes away, I’ve mostly learned to manage it pretty well except for circumstances I’ve mentioned before: air travel, long summer days, dealing with bureaucracy, etc. But there’s one cause I haven’t had to worry about since my early teens and had hoped I would never have to worry about again: inflation. I’ve always thought that was a serious misnomer, because the problem isn’t really that prices are going up; it’s that the value of the currency is going down. I’ve never been any good at saving, so at least I don’t need to worry about cash reserves shrinking in value. But now that I’m semi-retired, my budget is much tighter than it used to be, and I don’t have a lot of wriggle room; also, I’m not yet finished my construction project, and the price of everything I need for it has increased dramatically. And next month, my normal summer and travel anxieties will be compounded: I’m going to a conference in Las Vegas, but summer standby flying is even more nerve-wracking than ordinary standby flying; not only are there more people traveling, more of them are airline employees (often with kids), therefore far fewer available seats. And even when my outbound flights are OK, the return flights into Seattle are usually a negative-number-of-seats-available nightmare (I’m told it’s due to the fact that many cruises depart from Seattle). So I’m planning to drive to the conference instead of flying; I want to make two other stops on the way there, so the flights would just be a logistical mess anyway even if I wanted to try it. However, the skyrocketing cost of gasoline is causing me considerable anxiety about that strategy; I estimate it might cost me as much as $1000 (still cheaper than if I had to buy multiple airline tickets, but stressful nonetheless). So if you aren’t hurting and appreciate my work, would you consider a gift of fuel funds so I can get to Vegas to A) meet with a couple of folks about possible consulting gigs that might stabilize my financial situation for the next few years; and B) rattle some cages about supporting sex worker rights? If it helps, remember that I actually kinda like road trips, and one of the stops is to visit a friend I haven’t seen in almost three years, so you’d also be subsidizing a little vacation for me.
Diary #624
Posted in Diary, tagged imaginative fiction, Presents, psychology on June 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Every so often I like to remind my readers and patrons how important your support is to me. In these uncertain times, it’s really reassuring to know that my writing is important enough to many of you that you choose to do more than simply throw a compliment my way now and again. For some of you, support takes the form of a subscription, money you send every month to help me pay my bills; in lean times (such as right after tax season) those small amounts add up and keep me in the black. Others prefer to send me nice things from my Amazon wishlist; I try to keep it populated with lots of things I really want, rather than just expensive trinkets and designer gewgaws. Take this book a reader (who prefers to remain anonymous) sent me a couple of months ago; it’s a collection of early comic strips from one of the creators of the genre. It’s something I’ve wanted for a long time, but since it’s out of print I couldn’t justify the rather steep price, but since one of my admirers sent it as a present I could enjoy it without guilt (as I’m currently enjoying the second volume, received from a different reader just last week – you know who you are, and thank you!) So whether you prefer to send me practical help to put food on the table, or to send “hyacinths to feed my soul”, please know that “appreciation” is far too mild a word to describe my feelings of gratitude to all of y’all.
Annex 69
Posted in Diary, tagged Sunset on June 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
And here it is at last: all the coarse roof work is done, and I’ve moved on to the finish work. If you look closely at the northwest leaf (running from center to center left in this picture), you can see that I had to put in several extra braces and supports to get the design to work without letting any rainwater through. But the work paid off, because the next time it rained the only places that got wet were the areas between the sections, and once the ridgecaps were in place (which I accomplished in two days last week), there was an immediate and dramatic reduction in leaking. I spent last Friday caulking the spots where water was still getting through, and at last it’s possible to walk around the entire area without getting wet unless the wind blows it in from the sides. As I said last week, that work really doesn’t show up well in pictures, but I’m going to try to get a good shot showing the ridgecaps for next Friday’s column, by which point I should be finished installing the gutters if the weather cooperates.
Customer Disservice
Posted in Diary, Miscellaneous, tagged psychology on June 9, 2022| 8 Comments »
I understand that big companies believe that they can save money by deflecting as many customer service questions as possible to the FAQs and moron-bots; I also recognize that there are fewer supervisors than regular phone drones, and since they probably get paid more it behooves a company to instruct its employees to try not to pass a problem up the chain of command unless it’s pretty clear they really can’t do anything for the caller. But once that has become obvious, why in the world do these employees continue to obfuscate, misdirect, pretend it’s the customer’s responsibility to solve a problem on the company’s end, and even lie, rather than just connect the caller to a supervisor? As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not exactly stupid; by the time I call customer service, I’ve already tried everything obvious that would be listed in the FAQs, and the few times I got tricked into trying the bots I quickly discovered that they’re basically a slower, more time-wasting version of those same FAQs. So I get pretty annoyed pretty quickly when it become clear that a human operator is reading from that same damned list. And when they claim they’re unable to do something I need done, I immediately ask for the supervisor (whom decades of experience has demonstrated time and again will nearly always be able to do that which the front-line operator claimed was impossible). But you’d be amazed how tenaciously they resist granting that simple request, even when I start growing increasingly angry at their insistence that the hundred-dollar billing error was somehow my fault, and even when I point out that they aren’t being paid enough to deal with a demanding, infuriated crazy lady. I mean, do they get demerits for calling in a supervisor? Does the company actually want to pay an extra hour’s wages to the operator to not solve the issue, on top of whatever they pay the supervisor for the five or ten minutes it takes to actually solve my problem once I finally get the first operator to grasp that I’m not going to go away and eat the extra charge, accept the wrong item instead of the one I ordered, or otherwise let myself be screwed over? Why must I always be put in a position where yelling at some poor working stiff who absolutely isn’t being paid enough to deal with me is the only way to actually get my problem solved? Of all the asinine shit modern companies do, I think this is probably the most incomprehensible and least forgiveable; unfortunately, it also seems to be almost universally unavoidable.
Diary #623
Posted in Diary, tagged politicians, psychology, Sunset on June 7, 2022| 1 Comment »
I’ve had tankless water heaters for over a decade now, and I’ll never go back. Since all this hair takes a long time to wash, my showers tend to run about 30 minutes; that means I deplete all but the largest tanks by the time I’m done, and there are very few things I hate more than having to rush a shower to avoid getting hit by cold water while I’m trying to rinse the conditioner out. I’m not generally fussy about most things, but I view long, hot, high-volume showers as a basic necessity, not an indulgence; this also means any new shower head must be modified to remove the government’s mandated “improvements” before it can be installed, because I’m not gonna try to wet my hair under a fucking trickle because too many Americans choose to live in deserts while I prefer to live in places where the issue is too much water rather than too little, and politicians think I should suffer in solidarity or something. Anyhow, we recently started having weird little problems with the heater: strange noises, temperature fluctuations, that sort of thing. Since it was installed in the autumn of ’17 I figured it needed some kind of maintenance, so I asked Dr. Quest if he knew what the problem was since A) I know he also has a tankless heater; and B) he’s good at figuring out such things. He told me that the flow sensor (that tells the unit when to turn the heat on and off) was dirty and needed cleaning, so Grace did some research and bought this kit (endorsed by the heater’s manufacturer) to add a couple of valve assemblies into the inflow and outflow lines. Once the valves are in place, all one need do is close the water valves, turn off the breakers to the unit, and attach the hoses visible in this picture to a pump immersed in two gallons of plain white vinegar, then let it run for 90 minutes (if you’ve ever had to clean a coffee maker you already know about vinegar dissolving sediment deposits). After that, one detaches the pump, switches the valves back to let water through, and flushes the system with clean water by opening a hot water tap for about ten minutes (and don’t forget to turn the breakers back on when done). The noises are gone, and the temperature seems much steadier; I figure we’ll probably set up a schedule to clean it annually so it doesn’t build up as much. And given that there was nothing about this in the heater’s manual, I figured those with tankless heaters (which I highly recommend if you’re replacing your old heater) might want to get one of these kits, especially if you have your own well or the pipes carrying your city water are old.
Annex 68
Posted in Diary, tagged Sunset on June 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I’m now done with all the coarse work on the roof, and by the time you read this I’ll have been doing the finish work all week. But as I’ve pointed out before, a lot of that won’t show up well in pictures, and besides I’d rather document the process step by step. The new section in this picture went very smoothly; it only took me three days to do, and though it has rained several times since then there isn’t a drop under that section, so I guess I did it correctly! As you can see if you look closely, the main roof deck of this leaf is rectangular, with two wedge-shaped sections to carry water from the edges down onto that rectangular deck. Now, the next section (which is still open in this picture) was much more difficult, because the bathroom area extends much farther along the wall of the cottage than the other side. So, I had to come up with a design and build it on the fly as it were, because Grace couldn’t really see from below what had to be done. But done it is, and you’ll see it next week; by the time the following week rolls around, I hope to be able to show you the finished roof!
In the News (#1241)
Posted in Biography, Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged Amsterdam, California, Catholicism, censorship, drugs, Dutch Threat, Facebook, France, Guinea Pigs, India, internet, law, Netherlands, Opting Out, porn, Pyrrhic Victory, red-light districts, Rhode Island, The Mob Rules, The Notorious Badge, The Prudish Giant, video, weaponry, Whatever They Need To Say, Winding Down on June 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »
The nuisance comes from drinking and drunkenness, but no one is saying close the bars. – Brenda, Dutch sex worker
I wonder when Hollywood will catch up?
The brothels look brighter, the alleyways are cleaner, and a stirring soundtrack accompanies the protagonists, but a new Bollywood film set in Mumbai’s red-light district has struck a chord with India’s roughly one million sex workers. Gangubai Kathiawadi is a biopic telling the story of a sex worker of the same name who went from being a [coerced underage sexworker] to fight[ing] for the rights of women working in the trade in the 1950s, a battle still being fought today…Many sex workers in Kamathipura…and across India say the film starring celebrated actress Alia Bhatt shows rare understanding of their everyday struggles…“There have been so many films on women like us, but none that raised these issues,” said Kiran Deshmukh, president of National Network of Sex Workers. “People believe what they see in Bollywood films. And this film has shown that sex work is work…that…helps us live our lives and feed and raise our children”…
And it can find you just as easily:
Cher Scarlett, a software engineer…uploaded some images of her[self]…to PimEyes, a facial-recognition website meant to be used to find pictures of yourself from around the web — ostensibly to help stamp out issues such as revenge porn and identity theft…the results [included]…porn…[she was coerced into making as a 19-year-old] addict…in New York in 2005…She has since tried and failed to get all of the explicit photos removed from PimEyes’ search results, despite the site saying it would scrub images of Scarlett from results…Giorgi Gobronidze…the current owner and director of PimEyes…[deflected blame by saying] “The problem isn’t that there is a search engine that can find these photos; the problem is…people who actually uploaded [the photos] on purpose”…Scarlett’s saga starkly shows how easily facial-recognition technology, which is now available to anyone with internet access, can lead to unexpected harms that may be impossible to undo…
Instagram and TikTok users, take note:
Digital studies and sexuality researcher Dr. Carolina Are is asking sex workers, adult performers and others who have experienced discrimination to participate in a study investigating Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging or reporting of “gray area” content, including nudity. Are is seeking participants over 18 years of age who have received negative comments and simultaneously had their accounts and/or content removed…Are plans to circulate an anonymous survey and then interview specific case studies. Those wishing to share their experience with social media discrimination can fill out the survey here…
The Dutch scheme to Disnify De Wallen is no longer merely a scheme:
In November 2020, Mayor Femke Halsema announced plans to [forcibly] relocate sex workers to a purpose built “Erotic Center” on the city’s outskirts in hopes of luring bands of drunk men and general carnality away from residents to make space for new cafés, art galleries, and designer boutiques…according to the mayor’s office…“We want less dominance of cheap nightlife”…if built, it will be the most extreme measure taken to “clean up” De Wallen, which has, in recent years, already been subject to a raft of new regulations and s[urveillance]…Amsterdam’s sex workers are ambivalent about the city’s plans to relocate them. Brenda, a sex worker…[who] met me at the Prostitution Information Center…said sex workers were soft targets in the city’s gentrification push…Iris, a coordinator at the center, said the “so-called nuisance and antisocial behavior” was just another excuse to get rid of sex workers and free up lucrative real estate in the sought-after inner city…
Over half of Americans now live in states with legal cannabis:
Rhode Island…became the 19th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use…[the] bill…immediately allows adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of cannabis in public and grow up to three plants at home. State-licensed recreational sales are supposed to start on December 1, beginning with the state’s three existing medical marijuana dispensaries. The law also requires automatic expungement of marijuana possession convictions…public consumption…will be legal in any place where cigarette smoking is allowed…The law caps the number of retailers at 33, which amounts to about one store per 32,000 people…Rhode Islanders may find it easier to buy pot from black-market dealers or from stores in Massachusetts or Connecticut, both of which have legalized recreational use. Like California, Rhode Island will allow local governments to ban pot shops, but only through referendums and not in the three cities (Providence, Warwick, and Portsmouth) where medical marijuana is already being sold…
French law provides some defense vs religious activism:
A Paris court of appeals rejected…the attempt by local War on Porn groups, led by an extremist Catholic organization, to use France’s media authority and the courts to block the most popular adult tube sites in the country…following months of…threats pressuring tube sites to implement vaguely defined age verification schemes, French media regulator ARCOM went to court…to demand that French ISPs block Pornhub…and [a number of similar sites, but]…the Council of State…issued a ruling rendering null all the activities taken up by…ARCOM in connection with the…block…the Council…specifically pointed out the role played by extremist Catholic organization Civitas in orchestrating the campaign…
Civitas is associated with the Society of Saint Pius X, the reactionary organization founded by Archbishop Lefebvre to fight modernization efforts such as performing the Mass in the vernacular rather than Latin.
Shortly after the nation’s latest mass shooting…at an elementary school in Texas, the California Senate passed a bill…to allow private citizens to file suit for at least $10,000 — a bounty-hunter provision modeled on a Texas abortion law — against makers or sellers of [3-D printed firearms] or [rifles banned under California law]…
Diary #622
Posted in Diary, tagged animals, Sunset on May 31, 2022| 1 Comment »
Now that the weather is slowly getting warmer and drier, we’ll soon be able to start working on the stable again; Jae’s patron had the rest of the materials shipped here, but it has rained nearly every weekend (and he isn’t available on weekdays). But worse come to worst, July and August are generally dry here, so we’ll be able to get it done then if not before (I think perhaps two more dry weekends of good work can probably accomplish it). That means it’ll be all done before the autumn; which is the next time it’ll really be needed; right now there’s very little hay in the barn, so the animals have plenty of room to shelter in there when it rains. But as summer goes on it will fill up with hay, which means Shiloh won’t be able to shelter there because of her bad reaction to hay dust. I think they’ll like the stable; as you can see, they already prefer to be in that part of the paddock when they aren’t doing something important somewhere else.
Links #621
Posted in Current Events, History, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged cops, Florida, Never Call the Cops, New York, Tennessee, Turkey, Under Duress, video on May 29, 2022| 2 Comments »
You did this to yourself. – cop, to grandmother he assaulted
I don’t think I can really explain the silly kitchen banter between Grace and me that resulted in my jokingly threatening to throw a “ricochet biscuit” at her, so I won’t try; I’ll just share this video for those who have no clue what I’m talking about. The links above it were provided by Radley Balko, Franklin Harris, Jesse Walker, Cop Crisis, Boatfloating, Kevin Wilson, and Cop Crisis again, in that order.
- But for video.
- R.I.P. Fred Ward.
- “A temple in Eden“.
- Cops burn man alive for attending a meeting.
- Too bad it won’t come out of the cops’ budget.
- Clearly, the reaction vaporized the entire mass.
- Do I really need to say, “Don’t call on them in person either”?
From the Archives
- Cops raping sex workers is so accepted in PA the state actively defends it.
- Web companies use sex workers to build themselves, then screw us over.
- Sweden’s government thinks it owns the people & legislates accordingly.
- Cops, The Riddler, violins hepa, vagina-scented flames, and much more.
- “A child is 3x as likely to be hit by lightning as kidnapped by a stranger.“
- It boggles the mind that anyone could be gullible enough to install this.
- Even in a crisis, politicians have to advertise their hate for sex workers.
- Bills and hunger don’t “socially distance” from people without income.
- Using “public health” as an excuse for tyranny is increasingly popular.
- Now that the pandemic is fading, cops are back to their usual panics.
- Cops refuse to release the name of a dangerous, violent serial rapist.
- I’m sure you know the answer to the question posed in this headline.
- Civil rights violations often start with whores, but never stop with us.
- This is the woman who beat the pro-decrim candidate Tiffany Caban.
- Proponents of the Swedish rot will use any excuse to push their filth.
- A retrospective of my work from (mostly) May 2016 and May 2017.
- Beneath their “red x” silliness, “End It” are dangerous copsuckers.
- Potty-obsessed politicians attempt to circumvent a federal ruling.
- Another sexual predator specifically targets traumatized women.
- Cops, power-madness, Jane Roe, The Beatles, and much more.
- Looks like we’re going to have to rethink the safety of the mail.
- As I’ve said for decades, so-called “radical” feminism is a cult.
- Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Violence is safety.
- It’s so nice to see them feeding on their own for a change.
- One wonders if any actual crime ever occurs in Redbridge.
- Don’t you amateurs put at least some value on your time?
- Finally getting my “nonessential” grooming back on track.
- The plague year showed me semi-retirement could work.
- My two previous columns for International Whores’ Day.
- My go-to argument for skepticism about flying saucers.
- A retrospective of my blogging, mostly from May 2017.
- I’m sure these pompous blowhards’ scheme will work.
- At their core, the Netherlands are still prohibitionist.
- Susannah Breslin interviews a stripper activist.
- Logging the progress on building a bathhouse.
- Getting ready to remove that shitty awning.
- Our cat Aeryn was born in March, 2002.
- Bewitched as an allegory for sex work.
- Cops, trees, popcorn and much more.
- I love it when they feed on their own.
- Rapist cops of the week, everywhere.
- More blood on prohibitionists’ hands.
- One of my hens is working overtime.
- Clearly, this is all Trump’s doing.
- Still traumatized after 24 years.
- In case you missed this.
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