I'm posting today because I haven't posted anything since March 2024. I clicked on the saved link to my page and Google sent me to the "Oh, you're a new user who wants to create a Blogging site" page instead of my already created blogging site.
Google is pretty ridiculous.
That being said, I will try to post a real blog with a real update soon. You know, the "New Year, New You" set the goals and make the changes thing.
This is about the use of screencaps. You know those pictures you take with your computer or, in my case, a cell phone of a scene of a tv show or movie. I do a lot of screencaps because I know I'll be referring to a favorite actor, scene, or show/movie on social media and it's great to use pictures to help illustrate my points. I don't do any fancy editing of the pictures but I know some folks who do and it's quite the hobby for them.
I bring all this up because of something I just saw on a social media site. On that site someone posted a screencap of a scene from a tv show. It didn't look edited. Then someone replied and wanted credit for the picture. To me that seemed weird. Unless she took the picture on the set of the show that day, I would think credit would go to the person who filmed the scene. An unedited screencap isn't exactly original work for the screencapper. It is the original work of the people who filmed the scene though.
If you love a show and you take a picture of a scene and then you post it on social media, seemingly for people to enjoy, then maybe don't be so picky when someone chooses to enjoy it in their own post. Why not just sit back and think about how that picture made someone just as happy as it made you when you first posted it? Social Media is full of hate and anger and fighting as it is. Why bring more negativity to it by sucking the joy out of some fan's day?
It's been a while since I last posted. I just can't make myself sit down and concentrate on writing more than a couple sentences at a time. Social media has ruined me. LOL.
Today is Christmas and it's a time to be thankful for what you've been given, be appreciative of all the love and friendship you've received, and think about the coming year and how you can make it great.
It's also a time to remember those who are no longer with us. For me that's Barney the guinea pig and Cookie the cat. They will always be on our Christmas tree as I have picture ornaments for all my pets so every Christmas I will be able to think about what they gave me in the years we shared.
I've set a goal for 2024 to be done with the greedy local hospital and its shady billing practices. That means eliminating the need for blood pressure medication. I can do it. I also have some financial goals for the coming year and a couple of big expenses I'll have to incur. Planning is good.
So, for those who observe the holiday, enjoy your Christmas. For those who don't, I hope you have a great day doing whatever you choose to do today.
The rock? The insurance company. The Hard Place? The hospital billing department. The hospital billed a mental health charge to the insurance company. The insurance company processed it as outpatient mental health services. In the middle between the two? Me who keeps telling people she never received any mental health services. The hospital billing department told me it was a "hospital charge". They didn't tell me it was for specific services and I asked them to tell me what was done during my routine office visit that required this mental health billing to the insurance company. I'm going to ask again tomorrow.
Anyway, this is nagging at me because I haven't resolved it yet. It makes me want to hide under covers and not come out. But I have to be out if I want things like a paycheck, food, etc.
I went to the regular eye doctor this morning for my yearly checkup. This afternoon Winnie has to go to the vet for her boosters. That's another Rock/Hard Place situation because I'm killing time between two appointments.
As I've noticed a few people actually viewed some of my blog posts, I thought I would check in with a hodgepodge of goings on.
I've been immersed in narrowboat videos on Youtube. It's fascinating how people buy these boats, perform DIY on these boats, fit their boats with solar power, and travel the canals and rivers of Great Britain. Some videos are quite calming. Some are more entertaining. A few to check out if you're interested: Country House Gent, Floating Our Boat, and Boat Time.
I've decided to try to run some of my things on solar power full time. We'll see how it goes this winter. I'm going to try the TV, the Roku, and the DVD player. I have my solar panels outside just sitting there and I haven't been using them. So, I might as well try.
I have spent way too much money in the last couple months. But on the upside: I've gotten four raises this year at work! I can apply for a raise if I complete certain types of courses. Can't wait to see my savings account grow.
I'm still working on weight loss. That will be a never-ending thing with me. I did manage to hit the weight target I was aiming for by the time of my doctor's appointment. But even if I don't lose any more weight, as long as I continue to try to get 30 minutes of exercise each day at least 5 days a week, I'll be happy.
Dreading the weekly work meeting tomorrow. I tried to explain something to my boss yesterday and he didn't get it. I feel like he might bring it up tomorrow in front of everyone. I wish I could skip the meeting but it's on my telework day. I can't really skip something that I can attend from the comfort of my own home. I could fake an internet outage.
Winnie, my chihuahua, is barking. I checked the outside cameras because I'm an introvert and don't want to encounter anyone at 10:15pm. The porch camera has something strange on it, probably a spider web, but it's bright on camera and moving back and forth very slowly. Stare at it long enough and your imagination will get carried away and you'll be hiding under your bed. At least, I would.
Finally, I'm in the mood for Christmas. I changed the lights on my Christmas tree that always stays up to Christmas colors and I'm really itching to start playing some Christmas music. I might string up some battery-operated lights.
It's true and you can verify it. It's been a while since my last blog post. But that doesn't mean there hasn't been stuff going on.
Cookie, my sick cat, passed away. I've been sad about that. She was a good cat who actually liked me. Unlike Parker, my other cat who bites me and swats at me with enough force to nearly break a bone. Maybe someday I'll get a cat who will like me, but it won't be for a while.
I've begun patching my driveway. I do this every year as the driveway is old and very long and patching is all I can afford. I wanted to use blacktop patch but I sent Dad to get the stuff and his penny-pinching nature steered him toward concrete mix. So, more work for me, but more material to use.
Ezra and Henry, my guinea pigs, are giving me a lot of laundry to do. I use fleece to line their cage and I'm doing laundry essentially every other day. But they are adorable and I love them. They make a great diet aid because they shriek every time I open the refrigerator like an alarm. A great deterrent to snacking.
I've been trying to clean up some of the pasture. It's gotten overgrown since I rehomed my two goats a few years ago. So, the weed trimmer and push mower have been doing the job this summer. I haven't made a lot of progress but I've made some. The really thick blackberry vines can't be mowed or whacked.
My garden is doing very well. I have many tomatoes and unfortunately, the acid is upsetting Dad's stomach so I can't give him any. I'll take him some anyway. He can give them to my sister.
Finally, I'm irritated by my carpool co-worker. I don't really want to get into it as I'd rather get over it.
That's me, all caught up. Winnie, my 16 year old chihuahua, has been having some arthritis issues so she's getting a supplement. I finished the work on the front porch and I've put a folding chair out there. I'm hoping to actually sit out there at least once.
And now, I'm caught up. Maybe.
I've been dealing with a painful situation this week. My 12 year old cat, Cookie, has been sick.
It started Sunday. The first I noticed things were different was when she didn't want to eat the little piece of turkey that I tried to give her. Then she didn't scratch at the bedroom door to wake me up during the night. She was definitely sick by Monday morning. I kept an eye on her but she wasn't too bad by Monday afternoon. Of course I tried to give her some canned cat food but she didn't want to eat. By Tuesday she was worse. Seriously worse. Lethargic, a congested purr, not eating. I tried to take her to the Vet Tuesday after work. The Vet's wife who runs the office said they were too busy to see me. I could write a book about what I think of them right now. Anyway, Wednesday Dad took Cookie to the Vet since I couldn't get off work to go. The Vet said it was allergies and gave her a couple shots and some oral medication. They all treat infections so if she did have a respiratory infection instead of just allergies, this medicine should help. But she hasn't improved much at all. Her purr sounds a little better. She still isn't eating, so so lethargic of course. Dad went to the store and got me some food options for her.
Anyway, I'm thinking of eventualities. What if Cookie's sick more because of her age than an allergy? She's been a wonderful member of my family, even when she scratches at my bedroom door three or four times a night to wake me up. I wish she was back to doing that.
I've been on Twitter for what seems like ages. I like Twitter. All my friends are there. But Twitter is broken and it's only getting worse. So, like many others, I've signed up with other social media platforms to try to find a new home.
If you take a look at the sidebar, you'll see I have a lot of presence on the web. I just added Blue Sky and Meta's Threads comes out tomorrow. I'll be checking that out. I never wanted to be on Blue Sky. I don't like Jack. But the one guy that's a must-follow on Twitter landed there. So, I had to have an account there.
Want to know my thoughts of some of the platforms? I'm going to share them anyway.
Twitter: Broken, but my friends are there. You can avoid trolls by curating your following list and your feed. It's my go-to place for snarky political takes and politics. It's also where I post most of my personal comments, such as my daily workout report or what my pets have been doing. Twitter collects data from you for its own purposes.
Instagram/Facebook: I pair these together since they are both Meta products. Horrible products if you want to follow accounts because Meta doesn't believe in chronological order. I hope Threads adheres strictly to chronological order. It's what everyone prefers. Meta collects A LOT of data from you for its own purposes.
Mastodon: Quirky little place with it's federated universe and instances. I'll admit, I've been there for a while and still don't know what all that's about. I mainly post my "On This Day" posts there just to maintain a presence, but I have been reading some posts lately. Mastodon does not collect your data.
CounterSocial: It's the Pop Rocks platform. You remember Pop Rocks, the candy that pops when you put it in your mouth? That's CounterSocial. That said, my "On This Day" posts produce a lot of interesting feedback. People will reply and say they met so and so, or visited this place or that. It's awesome to meet these users and discover real life connections to those moments in history. Counter Social does not collect your data.
Spoutible: In my mind Spoutible might be the most polished of the new platforms I've joined. It's still a work in progress but it's much further along than you'd expect. I've made some new connections there and my "On This Day" posts seem popular. Some have even told me they look forward to them. A feature of Spoutible is the "Normal" rating. This is a percentage that tells you how likely an account will "engage in targeted harassment, toxic trolling, or use deceptive tactics engineered to cause division or chaos." So, if you're looking for a peaceful experience, you can curate your following list by choosing those with a low "Normal" rating. Spoutible does not collect your data. Spoutible only has an Android app at this time but they are working on an IOS app.
Post (News): It's sort of a news aggregator type of social media platform. Individuals can read news articles and there is something called "micropayments" and a points system that's designed to allow individuals to pay for access to articles. So, news producers can make some money here. I haven't spent a lot of time on this site. When I joined everyone was posting pictures of their pets so I can't expand on what daily life is like there. The founder wants polite discourse so there are rules of behavior and moderating. As for data collection, I couldn't find a lot of information. Your log in info obviously. And if you're paying for these points, then probably some financial data. Post News only has an IOS app so check out the specs to read more about data privacy.
Blue Sky: I only have this account because one person I follow on Twitter decided this was where he was going to go when Twitter gives up the ghost. It's still in Beta testing so it isn't fully developed, which for all the hype surrounding it makes it a bit of a letdown. I mean, they've been working on it for a long time and it's still like this? Anyway, it's based on instances and a federated setup like Mastodon but you don't really notice it. It collects quite a bit of data and uses it to train its AI. That means your photos, videos, words you've posted are all fair game for Jack and his programmers. At present, many of the accounts are people trying to avoid conservative viewpoints. As the company has been very strict on allowing new accounts, many of your favorite twitter personalities aren't there yet. This can make the place seem boring and slow. It seems Blue Sky is the hot ticket for celebs and notable twitter accounts.
What does all this mean? If you want less of your data collected, check out Mastodon or Spoutible. If you want to sit at the "cool kids" table, check out Blue Sky. I'm 1MirandaAllen on all of them.
After nearly three months, I finally have two new little ones in my life. If you've read the other blog posts, you'll know I lost my guinea pig Barney a few months ago. I have missed him every day.
I would check in with the local pet store nearly every day on FB to see if they had any for sale and they never did. She was kind of a disappointing business owner. I had this week off from work so I decided to travel to 'the big city' and get a guinea pig from one of their pet stores. I ended up getting two males who were already used to each other so they can keep each other company in their new enclosure.
They are so much fun to watch when they chase each other and do zoomies. And they aren't afraid to go up to the second floor. Barney would never go up there.
Their names are Henry, the black one, and Ezra, the black and white one, named for a couple of my favorite tv show characters. I am so happy to hear their little noises throughout the day.
Now that I've been on this exercise and weight loss path for a a few months, I need a new routine. This is because I now have a Total Gym. So I'm going to have to figure out which days to use the Total Gym and which days to use the pilates machine. The stationary bike will be used every day.
I'm still telling myself that I have to do this the rest of my life. It is a must. Maybe this will stick in my brain and I'll soon believe it. One way to stay motivated would be to find out if I've lost any additional weight, but I don't want to get on the scales to find out that I haven't. That would certainly kill the whole mission.
I have been a yo-yo weight loss person for years. Three times in the past I have "captured lightning in a bottle" and stuck with a diet and exercise plan to lose a considerable amount of weight. It's really hard to capture that lightning.
What I'm experiencing now may be the fourth time I've captured it. Since January I've cut out added sugar and incorporated stepping in place in my cubicle at work. I've been using my stationary bike every day and just recently I started using my pilates machine. All this produced a 12 pound weight loss in the last 2 to 3 months and my blood sugar number is now under 100.
I've ordered a new piece of exercise equipment and can't wait to get it. I've been watching workout videos on Youtube to try to keep momentum. And I've been posting a workout report every day on twitter, thinking that people will come to expect it so I'd better keep up with the workouts.
So, how long does lightning exist in a bottle? I don't know. I need it to exist for the rest of my life. We'll see.
I have been work, work, working away getting a garden set up for this year. I set up my raised bed today and have planted green peppers and green beans. The other day I planted cucumber, squash, and watermelon seeds and grape tomato plants. The tomato plants may not make it. They didn't react well to full sun.
What's funny is that I probably won't eat any of this stuff. Maybe some tomatoes. I'll give everything I grow to my dad. Last year he forgot about the beans I gave him and let them rot. I'll have to remind him this year.
Today was a lot of work. I am exhausted and sore. On top of the gardening, I also mowed some of the pasture with my push mower. That was tough. Hopefully dad will one day get the tractor going and mow the pasture properly.
"Thanks, but I was asking my friends...."
So, you're happy to accept my follow to prop up your Followers numbers but suddenly I'm not a friend?
Fine.
Unfollowed.
Today is the first day of my week of vacation. It's a staycation. I have a lot of things to do around the house, and I don't like leaving the house anyway. I never understood why people travel away from home looking for fun or relaxation. Shouldn't you make your home into a fun and relaxation zone so you can feel that way all the time?
Unfortunately, tomorrow I have to log on to the work computer and do some work. Yes, on my vacation. It wasn't my idea. They are releasing some new program and I have to some testing on it before they turn it on. I was understanding about a couple of hours on ONE day of my vacation. But then the boss said we'd have to tweak my time card on Monday to show that I worked on Sunday. So that's TWO days of my vacation interrupted.
Next time, I'm not going to tell them it's a vacation. I'll tell them it's a funeral. They wouldn't ask me to work during a funeral.
This has been a difficult week because of Barney's passing. I walk by his cage and I still want to talk to him. I still want to hear him rattling his water bottle and wheeking the way guinea pigs do.
I cleaned his cage yesterday and washed all of his bedding. It's painful to see his empty clean cage. I haven't told myself that I am getting another guinea pig. But I ordered a lot of new guinea pig cage accessories. That's a pretty good indication that I will probably get another little baby. I placed a cardboard box in the car in case I find a guinea pig at the local pet store.
But I haven't said that I'm getting another guinea pig.
For the first time in six years, I didn't buy parsley and grape tomatoes when I did the weekly grocery shopping this evening. And that's because the one who would eat them, my guinea pig Barney, has passed away.
He was my first ever guinea pig. He could've been my 20th and I still would feel this loss. I miss him. He was a sweetie and would make those Tribble sounds when you petted him. Sometimes he would even lick my hand. I told myself those were kisses.
I miss hearing him rattle around in his cage, getting a drink of water. I miss talking to him every time I passed his cage. I don't know if I'll get another guinea pig. I'll have to think about it. That will be easy to do for the foreseeable future. He won't be easy to forget.
Last year I had some problems with the hospital's billing department. First they said they had to charge an additional fee to see the nurse practitioner and my insurance wouldn't allow the fee to be passed on to me. Then they said they didn't know how to bill a standard office co-pay. This hospital has the same computer system as several other hospitals in the state and I am not the only one with this insurance. So, I was skeptical enough to decide to find a new primary care provider who didn't have an office associated with the hospital.
Fast forward to the last couple weeks. As I will need a refill of my medication at the end of March I started 6 weeks early to switch to a new PCP. You would think 6 weeks would be enough to have my medical records sent to the new PCP and get an appointment scheduled. My medical records haven't been sent over to the new PCP yet and it could take up to another two weeks. So, to make sure I don't run out of medication I had to make an appointment with the nurse practitioner I'm trying to leave. That's going to be a fun appointment. I didn't do what she told me to do last year and I skipped the 6 month check-up appointment.
The good thing about wearing a mask all the time, I'm starting to not care about looking like a goofball since no one can tell who I am when I'm wearing the mask. So, maybe I'll have some new confidence when dealing with the nurse practitioner this week. It's a shame that the whole authority figure thing is fed into your brain when you're a kid, and you become brainwashed to think the doctor, or nurse practitioner in this case, is someone you have to listen to and obey. It's especially important to assert yourself when thanks to the internet you can fact-check the instructions and advice the medical professional gives you.
Have I been a slacker for not posting more on this blog? Maybe. Or maybe I just haven't been able to quiet my mind long enough to sit down and write a coherent, meaningful blog post. I'd say it's mostly a noisy mind.
There have been many topics I could blog about lately. Taxes. I did mine online this year. Raises. I'm getting a raise at work for completing a certification course. Diet and exercise. I've been trying to follow a plan each day. I'm about 70% to 80% successful. I've lost a few pounds nonetheless.
I'm trying to sign up with a new healthcare provider. It's been a week since I turned in the new patient paperwork and I haven't heard a peep from them. With this kind of customer service I won't feel a bit guilty when I don't follow any of the new nurse practitioner's instructions.
So there you have it - a summation of what's happening in my life these days. I'm off now to suffer a headache I've had all day. Maybe sleep will get rid of it.
Friday I received a work email right at quitting time. I couldn't answer it. It's been hanging over me all weekend. I hate that I can't do anything about it until tomorrow morning. I had said on Friday that I wouldn't be able to do anything this weekend because the email was at the top of my Things to Do list.
So I haven't really done anything this weekend. I did the chores that had to be done. And I've killed some time knitting and playing games on my phone and ipad. I've watched some TV. Did I take the diet and exercise plan seriously this weekend? No.
I'm feeling quite depressed or anxious or something. Magenta, Blanche Devereaux of the Golden Girls would say. I can't wait to respond to that email. I can't wait until this coming weekend. I have a 4-day weekend coming up. I think I need the break from work. Maybe next weekend I won't be feeling magenta.
Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for it.
I've been tired all week. I haven't been falling asleep quickly enough at night. Then, I've been dreaming which also makes me tired. And, Cookie the cat has been waking me up every couple of hours so I can put her on the counter for her to eat three little pieces of food.
I've also been cold all week. It's cold outside and I haven't been able to get the house warmed up. I worked from home today and my feet were blocks of ice all day. I hate winter.
As for restless, I'm that too. I know I should go to bed right now and I want to, but I also want to not go to bed. Not so much wanting to stay up, just wanting to avoid going to bed. Maybe it's avoidance because I know Cookie will be waking me up all night.
