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(no subject)
It's too bad NY didn't do this a decade ago. We'd all be spared a lot of lies and nonsense.
It's too bad NY didn't do this a decade ago. We'd all be spared a lot of lies and nonsense.
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(no subject)
I been bombarded with robo-calls since a couple days before Thanksgiving. The worst days were "black Friday" and the Saturday after when I was getting a call every ten minutes during the whole day. This week the calls have started about 7:30 in the morning and recently have stopped about 4:00 in the afternoon. Before the calls were continuing well beyond 6:00 in the evening. Since I never get called by my relatives after 7:00 I was just unplugging the phone then to stop the aggravation till the morning.
It seems to be mostly Medicare providers and possibly scammers. The few messages left on my answering machine lean that way. Our TV stations here have been overloaded with commercials from the same kind of folks. It's the sign-up period till the 7th, and the companies pushing Advantage network plans have been super aggressive this year.
I'm just thankful for caller ID. When I first moved to Phoenix I didn't have it. My number there apparently had been the fax number for some medical office, and every now and then I'd get days on end of some stupid testing service that never updated their files trying to send a fax to my number and their machine trying three times in a row, waiting fifteen minutes to an hour then trying again, day and night. Eventually it would stop only to happen again a few months later. I can't remember how I eventually tracked down where it was coming from, but I had to call two different office locations to get the right people to know they had the wrong number.
It seems to be mostly Medicare providers and possibly scammers. The few messages left on my answering machine lean that way. Our TV stations here have been overloaded with commercials from the same kind of folks. It's the sign-up period till the 7th, and the companies pushing Advantage network plans have been super aggressive this year.
I'm just thankful for caller ID. When I first moved to Phoenix I didn't have it. My number there apparently had been the fax number for some medical office, and every now and then I'd get days on end of some stupid testing service that never updated their files trying to send a fax to my number and their machine trying three times in a row, waiting fifteen minutes to an hour then trying again, day and night. Eventually it would stop only to happen again a few months later. I can't remember how I eventually tracked down where it was coming from, but I had to call two different office locations to get the right people to know they had the wrong number.
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Wet one
While California is normally dry this time of year, Arizona usually gets rain. And we really have been having rain. Despite the first few days of July being dry, by the 12th we had more rain this month than we had all three months of the monsoon last year. It's been wet since, with the rain the last four days Thursday through Sunday totaling over 4 inches, a record for Tucson for even five days. It was sunny today and rain is unlikely till next Thursday.
It rained very hard Thursday evening and very early Friday. Then there was no rain for about 16 hours Friday, which probably saved the town from major flooding. The rest of the weekend there was light to moderate rain all day long.
The washes ran, which is what happens when it rains here. A nearby street to the west was closed about a mile south of here due to high water. When I went to the grocery store this morning, to the south a telltale track of dirt across the main road showed there was a lot of water across it recently, though I don't think the road was closed. Several streets in other parts of the city are still closed.
It rained very hard Thursday evening and very early Friday. Then there was no rain for about 16 hours Friday, which probably saved the town from major flooding. The rest of the weekend there was light to moderate rain all day long.
The washes ran, which is what happens when it rains here. A nearby street to the west was closed about a mile south of here due to high water. When I went to the grocery store this morning, to the south a telltale track of dirt across the main road showed there was a lot of water across it recently, though I don't think the road was closed. Several streets in other parts of the city are still closed.
Week 46
I needed some postage stamps. Rather than go to the post office which might be crowded on a Monday, I looked on-line for a substation. There is one quite close to me, I didn't know about. It's in a greeting card shop less than a mile away. I drove over there, went in and got in line. I was waiting already a few moments when I noticed the woman in front of me was standing on a social distancing mark on the floor. I thought, "Yipes where am I standing?" and quickly looked down. Turns out I was standing squarely on the next mark... Sigh, I'm getting far too used to this!
I looked out a few moments ago, and there is snow on the ground, not much, we'd call it a dusting back in Missouri. Yes, it snows in Tucson once in a while. It never snowed in Phoenix in the 20 years I was there. The last time I saw it here in Tucson was a Christmas morning, many years ago. I was with my niece's family for the holiday and there was enough then (maybe an inch and a half?) that the kids went out and played in it. But I remember they had the radio on and the announcers were in a big panic, "Watch for ice on the bridges!" My niece's husband had to go out briefly that morning, and when he came home, he said it was indeed a little icy and scary on some bridges. I imagine so, if it only happens once a decade in your town... I knew it might happen this morning that's why I went to buy stamps yesterday!
ETA: at about 10:00 am the power went off. I looked out and it was snowing again, though the temperature was up around 37 degrees. I crawled into bed to keep warm, and happily Sirius, my cat wanted under the covers, too. We stayed that way till about 11:00, when I got bored. I got up, cleaned his litter box and took the bag out to the garbage can. By the time I got back inside the power was on again. I told Sirius he'd done a good job with the power while I was outside!
I looked out a few moments ago, and there is snow on the ground, not much, we'd call it a dusting back in Missouri. Yes, it snows in Tucson once in a while. It never snowed in Phoenix in the 20 years I was there. The last time I saw it here in Tucson was a Christmas morning, many years ago. I was with my niece's family for the holiday and there was enough then (maybe an inch and a half?) that the kids went out and played in it. But I remember they had the radio on and the announcers were in a big panic, "Watch for ice on the bridges!" My niece's husband had to go out briefly that morning, and when he came home, he said it was indeed a little icy and scary on some bridges. I imagine so, if it only happens once a decade in your town... I knew it might happen this morning that's why I went to buy stamps yesterday!
ETA: at about 10:00 am the power went off. I looked out and it was snowing again, though the temperature was up around 37 degrees. I crawled into bed to keep warm, and happily Sirius, my cat wanted under the covers, too. We stayed that way till about 11:00, when I got bored. I got up, cleaned his litter box and took the bag out to the garbage can. By the time I got back inside the power was on again. I told Sirius he'd done a good job with the power while I was outside!
Week 43
I am saddened that it took the events of yesterday in DC. for certain Republican members of Congress to realize Donald Trump's campaign to defraud the American nation into giving him the power to stay in the White House as long as he chose was more than an innocent political maneuver, and that Donald Trump was never just some "good ol' boy meaning no harm." I am not surprised that 2 Senators and over 120 Congressmen did not learn that lesson even then.
If the Senate had done its duty and convicted Trump months ago when he was impeached, none of this could have happened. Putting party loyalty above your duty to your country is inexcusable. If as some pundits think, the Republican Party is coming apart over this, Republicans have only themselves to blame.
Well over 74 million people voted for Trump this time. I maintain most of them were suckers, and they mostly have themselves to blame for that, too.
If the Senate had done its duty and convicted Trump months ago when he was impeached, none of this could have happened. Putting party loyalty above your duty to your country is inexcusable. If as some pundits think, the Republican Party is coming apart over this, Republicans have only themselves to blame.
Well over 74 million people voted for Trump this time. I maintain most of them were suckers, and they mostly have themselves to blame for that, too.
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Living With Dyslexia
I seem to be having a terrible time with Youtube wanting to start at wherever in videos, so go to the beginning, if this tries to start in the middle.
As Merphy says, it's not the same for everyone. But when you suddenly realize you have dyslexia, everything changes. Most of the time I'd describe my problem as mild. But, yes, there are moments when I suddenly realize "I can't read this." No one can tell me why. But I know I'm not the only one it happens to.
I usually have worse problems with editing my own writing than correcting someone else's. It's obviously partly because with my own writing I know what I want to be there and *actually see* what I think should be there. I've occasionally misread something someone else has written as Merphy was talking about, but usually I can guess a) the other person is not stupid and b) probably meant something else. So I'll reread things that seem strange over and over, till I'm positive I know what was said.
Incidentally, I'm good at spelling in some ways (did great in spelling bees) but can't spell to save my life when writing especially typing. Same thing for confusing it's/its, their/there/they're, to/too and so on. I *know* the difference. But when I'm typing (sometimes when writing) they're all the same and whatever pops onto the paper/screen is going to seem fine to me. In college and grad school I had to write out my essays by hand, then carefully type what I'd written, correcting as I went along. If I tried to compose at the typewriter it would just come out gibberish. Word processing software makes life so much easier.
Sometimes when I see "(sic)" in a text and want to punch the author in the mouth for being a pretentious jerk. If you are quoting, quote and we'll assume that you and your publisher knew better.
As Merphy says, it's not the same for everyone. But when you suddenly realize you have dyslexia, everything changes. Most of the time I'd describe my problem as mild. But, yes, there are moments when I suddenly realize "I can't read this." No one can tell me why. But I know I'm not the only one it happens to.
I usually have worse problems with editing my own writing than correcting someone else's. It's obviously partly because with my own writing I know what I want to be there and *actually see* what I think should be there. I've occasionally misread something someone else has written as Merphy was talking about, but usually I can guess a) the other person is not stupid and b) probably meant something else. So I'll reread things that seem strange over and over, till I'm positive I know what was said.
Incidentally, I'm good at spelling in some ways (did great in spelling bees) but can't spell to save my life when writing especially typing. Same thing for confusing it's/its, their/there/they're, to/too and so on. I *know* the difference. But when I'm typing (sometimes when writing) they're all the same and whatever pops onto the paper/screen is going to seem fine to me. In college and grad school I had to write out my essays by hand, then carefully type what I'd written, correcting as I went along. If I tried to compose at the typewriter it would just come out gibberish. Word processing software makes life so much easier.
Sometimes when I see "(sic)" in a text and want to punch the author in the mouth for being a pretentious jerk. If you are quoting, quote and we'll assume that you and your publisher knew better.