Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

Just watched S01E01.  Amazing! Just some points:

• It as shot at 4:3 aspect ratio!
• Phil looks like a schoolboy. He was 34, I think.
• I'd forgotten many of the teams. 
• Frank is making fun of the Guidos matching outfits.
• It's 13:27 into the show before the first plane leaves NYC.
• Welcome to Johannesburg!
• Yellow and white race flags & markings.
• Victoria Falls - The Smoke That Thunders.
• The Knife's Edge, a narrow foot-bridge within the spray of the falls.
• Kevin: "That's Namibia. Jackass..."
• Rob & Brennan find the FF at The Boiling Pot.
• Dave & Margaretta late to the FF.
• Detour: Batoka Gorge.
• Zipline & rope-drop down or walk all the way down to the bottom.
• Aime threatens to kill Paul.....
• That rope-drop is the scariest thing I've ever seen on TAR. 
• Pitstop: Songwe Village, Zambia.
• First to arrive: Rob & Brennan (thanks to the FF). No sign of Phil.
• Paul wants to quit because they are running last.
• "Swing, ya fat bastard! Swing!"
• Last team to arrive: Matt & Ana. Phil eliminates them on the mat.
• Next week: Alliances and feuds.

Thoroughly enjoyed that. But honestly, that rope-drop challenge has given me nightmares since this episode first aired. Nothing TAR has ever presented as a challenge has ever surpassed this for sheer terror.

In other news: Blood sugar this morning was 4.7 mmol/L so the veg-heavy meal last night seemed to help.

Internet banking still reports the total in my account to be $120 lower than the net of all the transactions listed. And there are no outstanding transactions to acount for it. Going out to get diabetic strips and to buy tires but have no idea how many tires I will be able to get. 

[Netfoot]

9:55 @ Edgar Cochrane. Now serving #421. My number is #433.

The long post I wrote before leaving home is mysteriously absent from the forum. 

Checked with an ATM and it agrees with internet banking. ☹️

Mo is being insufferable in the van. Shrill barking right against my eardrum. Won't stop no matter what I threaten him with.

Not feeling well. 

Now serving #422. 

10:29 and I am being served. How long does it take to pick up.s box of test strips and hand it to me?

10:29 and apparently not long.  On my way ....

Edited Monday at 02:30 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

10:47 @ Quality Tyre. Waiting to confirm the price I was quoted on the phone.

Price confirmed. Buying two tires for the rear They also applied an additional $25 discount! Yay! 

11:05 and the car is in and just waiting for a wheelman to be free to do the job. 

11:09 and a happy looking is working on the van. (He asked me if I would sell it to him.)

Mo is being surprisingly well behaved And I'd not barking the place down at all. 

If I could get confirmation on the bank balance is as I compute it, I would buy three tires. But I don't want to take the chance and end up unable to pay rent in 12 days time. No success selling that extra towel rack as yet.

Sweating in the A/C and generally feeling "frowsy". 

11:18 and the two back tires are off.  All the full hoists are occupied so they are using a hydraulic jack on the rest axle. The back had to go down on the floor before the front tires can be worked on. Wait,they are using axle stands in the rear axle do they could lift the whole vehicle off the floor if they wanted to. (All that has to be done at the front is fit the best two of the old tires and set their pressure at 28 PSI.) 

Went and gave Mo a comforting head rub. He does not seem distressed but the very fact he isn't blowing the place up with barking tells me he is a little unsure what is going on. Normally he barks with excitement at every possible opportunity. And he barks greetings at everyone he meets. Or sees on the pavement as we drive by. Or is driving in another car in the next lane. I speak enough dog to know what he is saying: "Look at me! Out for a drive in my van! Yippee!"

11:30 and no sign of the new tires yet. It's c-c-cold in here but there are no seats outside. I think they prefer if you kept out of their hair while they work anyhow.

11:52 and one tire fitted. Bill paid.

They are uncharacteristically slow today.  These guys are usually a ball of fire! Zip, zip, quick and done! But a little sluggish today for some reason.

I think they have a problem with the tire machines that remove old tires from the rim and put the new ones on. They have more than one of these machines but some may not be working properly because they seem to be concentrating on the one at the end. This makes for a bottleneck. And they are dealing with four other vehicles besides mine.

11:59 and... Wait! The second new tire has appeared on the rear while I was typing! Axle stands out... Jack out... Back down.... Front going up..... Left front removed.... One of the other oldies going on.... 

12:04 and all done. Just waiting to shake hands with the men before intake Mo back home. 

Edited Monday at 04:05 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

12:49 @ home.  The car felt very different on the road. I've been afraid to put air in the tires for fear they burst. Got the fronts at 28 and the (new!) tears rears at 32 and she drives much nicer now.  

Cheese & tomato sandwiches for lunch. Mo sneered at his chow...

Edited Monday at 05:02 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

OK, I paid $313.60 for the tires or $156.80 each.  According to the bank I now have $84.94 to my name.

But according to my own calculations I should have $204.94 in the bank and I could have bought a third tire.  This is driving me mad.  I know I'm not good at arithmetic which ios why computers always appealed to me - they do the math for you.  But I just can't get my head around these numbers. Can anyone make sense of this screen grab of part of my ninternet banking screen? If you decide to take a look, you will prolly have to zoom in.

I've annotated the image. 

1. On the left circled in blue is the current balance according to the bank.
2. On the right, nine transactions consisting of five columns.
3. Transactions are listed with the earliest at the bottom so you have to read bottom-up.
4. Column #1 is the date of the transaction and (for the top five trnsactions) the word "Pending".
5. Column #2 is a description of the transaction.  
6. Column #3 is the amount of the transaction.
7. Column #4 is the running total for the account, not available for "pending" transactions.  I have added my own running total in green.
8. Column #5 is my description of things which I've talked about buying.

At the top of column #4 is my calculation of what the account balance should be:  $438.44 which differs from the bank's figure of $318.44, circled in blue on the left. If my arithmetic is faulty - which I don't think it is - it will only be by a digit or two which will not materially affect the issue.Their total is $120 too low. 

Could there be transactions that are not yet listed?  I suppose so, but the bank e-mails me a notification of every transaction within minutes of my making it. I have gone back through my e-mails and there are no transactions listed thatare not in the Internet Nanking display. 

My $438.44 includes $180 for adding to my pension to pay rent at month end, and $43.50 for a cylinder of gas for the stove when it runs out.  This leaves me with just over $200, which would have bought another tire! But I couldn't risk to do that. Because if I did and then the bank insists their arithmetic is correct, I won't be able to pay the rent in 12 days time.  

Now, sometime soon, those "pending" transactions will have to become "non-pending" at which point the bank will include them in it's running total.  At that point, I suspect, my official balance will jump upwards by the missing $120. But in the mean time, I have an internet banking service that is giving me numbers that can't be trusted! And by time the "pending" transactions are fully processed, I will have made nw transacdtions which will bugger up the total again. 

 

 

[andidante]

43 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

OK, I paid $313.60 for the tires or $156.80 each.  According to the bank I now have $84.94 to my name.

But according to my own calculations I should have $204.94 in the bank and I could have bought a third tire.  This is driving me mad.  I know I'm not good at arithmetic which ios why computers always appealed to me - they do the math for you.  But I just can't get my head around these numbers. Can anyone make sense of this screen grab of part of my ninternet banking screen? If you decide to take a look, you will prolly have to zoom in.

I've annotated the image. 

1. On the left circled in blue is the current balance according to the bank.
2. On the right, nine transactions consisting of five columns.
3. Transactions are listed with the earliest at the bottom so you have to read bottom-up.
4. Column #1 is the date of the transaction and (for the top five trnsactions) the word "Pending".
5. Column #2 is a description of the transaction.  
6. Column #3 is the amount of the transaction.
7. Column #4 is the running total for the account, not available for "pending" transactions.  I have added my own running total in green.
8. Column #5 is my description of things which I've talked about buying.

At the top of column #4 is my calculation of what the account balance should be:  $438.44 which differs from the bank's figure of $318.44, circled in blue on the left. If my arithmetic is faulty - which I don't think it is - it will only be by a digit or two which will not materially affect the issue.Their total is $120 too low. 

Could there be transactions that are not yet listed?  I suppose so, but the bank e-mails me a notification of every transaction within minutes of my making it. I have gone back through my e-mails and there are no transactions listed thatare not in the Internet Nanking display. 

My $438.44 includes $180 for adding to my pension to pay rent at month end, and $43.50 for a cylinder of gas for the stove when it runs out.  This leaves me with just over $200, which would have bought another tire! But I couldn't risk to do that. Because if I did and then the bank insists their arithmetic is correct, I won't be able to pay the rent in 12 days time.  

Now, sometime soon, those "pending" transactions will have to become "non-pending" at which point the bank will include them in it's running total.  At that point, I suspect, my official balance will jump upwards by the missing $120. But in the mean time, I have an internet banking service that is giving me numbers that can't be trusted! And by time the "pending" transactions are fully processed, I will have made nw transacdtions which will bugger up the total again. 

 

 

I got the same total that you have! You may have to make a trip to the bank and speak with someone as this is not the first time this has happened. Usually internet banking is spot on, but technology is not without fault sometimes.

[b4pjoe]

Since the difference is the exact amount as the deposit on May 16 ($120) I think that is the difference even though it is not showing as pending. Banks are notorious for dragging their feet when adding money to your account but they immediately take it out as soon as you spend it. An example is credit cards…if you buy something using your credit card it is instantaneously deducted from your account but if you return something for a refund it takes a few days before they add the money back into your account. So I think they are just holding on to those deposits for few days before they add it to the total even though the transaction is listed.

[Netfoot]

5 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

Since the difference is the exact amount as the deposit on May 16 ($120) I think that is the difference even though it is not showing as pending. Banks are notorious for dragging their feet when adding money to your account but they immediately take it out as soon as you spend it. An example is credit cards…if you buy something using your credit card it is instantaneously deducted from your account but if you return something for a refund it takes a few days before they add the money back into your account. So I think they are just holding on to those deposits for few days before they add it to the total even though the transaction is listed.

Your comment is all valid.  But I notice that the bank's own running total includes the $120 deposit. This means the running total and the grand total (circled in blue) are not based on the same series of numbers. If the grand total were the running total plus the "pending" transactions, the grand total would be correct. Which is not the case. This implies that the granjd total does not start with the same summation that gives the running total with the pending transactions  then added. They must be starting further back somewhere. and summing all transactions including the pending ones but excluding the $120 deposit.

One way or another, their code is cooked!

[b4pjoe]

57 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Your comment is all valid.  But I notice that the bank's own running total includes the $120 deposit. This means the running total and the grand total (circled in blue) are not based on the same series of numbers. If the grand total were the running total plus the "pending" transactions, the grand total would be correct. Which is not the case. This implies that the granjd total does not start with the same summation that gives the running total with the pending transactions  then added. They must be starting further back somewhere. and summing all transactions including the pending ones but excluding the $120 deposit.

One way or another, their code is cooked!

I still think they are just holding onto your deposits for an extra couple of days before they are adding them into the grand total. The skeptic in me thinks they are earning a couple of extra days of interest on the cash…but it just may be a security issue where they want to make sure the check deposited is valid before they add it into the grand total. Keep an eye on it each time a deposit is made and see if it shows that same amount of the deposit is short for a few days after the deposit shows in the running total.

[Netfoot]

5 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

The skeptic in me thinks they are earning a couple of extra days of interest on the cash…

We are skeptics together, then!

But yes, I will have to keep an eye on the situation and see what prevails. The welfare cheques are the only cheques I find myself depositing these days. The pension and Mia's gift were direct deposit and don't refall any issues. If I get paid for some woodwork it will be cash and will be deposited via the same fast-deposit drop-box. The really wouldn't have any legitimate reason to delay making cash available.

Previously I used to cash the cheques at the post office and then deposit the cash. But it's two miles to the PO and two miles back so I hope the bank doesn't force me to going back to that process!

[Netfoot]

I've already posted most of my day, so I'll just say that I ate the remainder of my veggies & minced beef from yesterday for dinner tonight. Mo polished his off rapidly and I enjoyed mine too. I don't want to give the impression that it was ambrosia- grade delicious. It tasted fine and I ate it happily but it didn't have the depth of flavour that it might have. 

Sweet peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos, etc would have made for an improvement but I can't afford that stuff. More tomatoes too, but again, I could only afford a couple small ones. And additional minced meat, some chopped olives, diced pepperoni and/or bacon..... some Worcester sauce..... There is much that could be done to improve the flavour but I was interested in getting the blood sugar down and while it could have been tastier it would have cost more. And it was tasty enough to be enjoyed. Just ask Mo!

Of course I ruined it by having a couple PB&J with a glass of milk after midnight because I just felt like it. 

Not sure what I'm doing up so late. But my eyelids have only just started to droop. I'm playing some music and thinking about turning in. Mo was here earlier and I doubt he has gone far. 

Listening to Fundamentally Loathsome by Marilyn Manson. Some may find his music loathsome but I found myself quite liking it. This particular track is off Mechanical Animals, an album that was widely condemned in Japan. Not because of the music, but because the cover displayed him as an androgynous alien with six fingers! The Japanese couldn't handle the extra digit. 

I have a bud that I stay in touch with via WhatsApp. I sent him a message Friday afternoon and not only has he not answered three days later, the message has not been delivered yet! He does travel, but he has only just come back from a trip. And anywhere in the connected world, my message would have reached him in a few seconds. So his phone is either off for three plus days, is not able to connect via wifi, or has been destroyed. Should I be worried? I don't want to make a fuss over nothing. Maybe he and the wyf are on a second honeymoon or taking a cruise and have left their phones switched off at home?

Watched TAR S01E02 tonight. Great fun. They got lost and took hours to find the museum 100 yards from the pitstart. Then, they are all down near Victoria falls and their next clue is a model of the Eiffel tower. Nothing else. No pointer to a travel agent, no recommended flights, nothing. They just beat their way to the nearest airport and scramble to find flights to Paris.  Offering to bribe ticket counter clerks, asking about flights to Holland and Germany when no flights to France are immediately forthcoming.... Airport drama was more interesting when getting a flight was actually hard!

Rather than use the telescope at the Eiffel tower Roadblock to locate the monument they were to go to, Lenny guessed it was Notre Dame and led Karyn on a wild goose chase. 

Ok, I will douse the lights now. I'm sure I will have no difficulty going to sleep. It's 2:28 AM. Not that I feel particularly tired....

[Netfoot]

Woke spontaneously at around 6:30 despite not going to bed until around 2:30. So four hours kip.  Will probably crash this afternoon. 

Blood sugar back in the sky again at 7.4 mmol/L which doesn't surprise me. I did wilfully eat PB&Js late last night! What a stupid thing to do. Eat a veg-heavy dinner to try and get the glucose down and then spoil it with PB&Js later.  I could as well have eaten pasta, if I was just going to midnight-snack on sugar & sugar on sliced carbs!

Checked the internet banking and there are no changes.  Other that the order of the "pending" transactions in the list have changed.  Their total is still $120 lower than I think it should be. I screen-grabbed the page and saved it.  What I hope to do is generate no transactions until all the pending ones cease to be pending. Then (if as I suspect it will), the balance changes upward by the missing $120 I will do another screen-grab.  With the two of those grabs, I should be able to get someone to pay some attention. "Here is a list of transactions that come to a grand total of $318. Here is the identical list of transactions that now total $438. Please explain how the balance changed if there were no new transactions on the account."

[Spunkygal]

I just recently discovered that in the Competitive Reality listings, the free Pluto TV app has a TAR channel. It’s nothing but one episode after another all day long. I need to find the time to watch the early seasons.

[Netfoot]

Watched the first two episodes of season one and really enjoyed them. It's been long enough that while I know generally what to expect, it is all fresh. And when someone does or says something that strikes a chord in my memory it is like a flashbulb going off in my brain. 

[Netfoot]

Tired. Four hours last night and no nap today.

Cooked corned beef & cabbage with onions and a tin of whole-kernel corn. Had half for lunch and the rest for dinner. Yes, with more vegetables & spices it might have been improved on, but it tasted pretty good.

Going to put my head down immediately. Just waiting on Mo.

[Netfoot]

Just checked Internet Banking.  And guess what?

Only two transactions remain "Pending". 

1. The tires I bought for $313.60 on the 19th.
2. The $20 in gasoline I bought on the 21st.

But wait.  Today is the 21st and I have not left home for the day. I bought $20 in gas on the 16th.  Let me check with that screen-grab I posted... Yep! The gasoline was bought on the 16th!

But all that is an aside. The date on the transaction(s) may have changed but there are no NEW transactions.  And yet, the balance has gone from $318.44 to $438.44 for an increase of $120.

I have before and after screenshots.  And if I take them to the bank I can tell you exactly what they will say. "That cheque had not cleared yet, so we couldn't add it into the grand total!" But if it had not cleared yet, why was it added to the running total? I mean, if it was cleared, it should be included in both the running total and the grand total. If it wasn't cleared then it should be excluded from both the running and grand totals.

By the way, this is a government cheque.  Admittedly, that is no guarantee there are funds to back it up, especially in a banana republic primitive country backward nation 3rd-World state under-developed country developing nation. But if there isn't, we're in bigger trouble than my $120!  Or the government might just fire up the presses and print some more money.....

 

[b4pjoe]

14 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Just checked Internet Banking.  And guess what?

Only two transactions remain "Pending". 

1. The tires I bought for $313.60 on the 19th.
2. The $20 in gasoline I bought on the 21st.

But wait.  Today is the 21st and I have not left home for the day. I bought $20 in gas on the 16th.  Let me check with that screen-grab I posted... Yep! The gasoline was bought on the 16th!

But all that is an aside. The date on the transaction(s) may have changed but there are no NEW transactions.  And yet, the balance has gone from $318.44 to $438.44 for an increase of $120.

I have before and after screenshots.  And if I take them to the bank I can tell you exactly what they will say. "That cheque had not cleared yet, so we couldn't add it into the grand total!" But if it had not cleared yet, why was it added to the running total? I mean, if it was cleared, it should be included in both the running total and the grand total. If it wasn't cleared then it should be excluded from both the running and grand totals.

By the way, this is a government cheque.  Admittedly, that is no guarantee there are funds to back it up, especially in a banana republic primitive country backward nation 3rd-World state under-developed country developing nation. But if there isn't, we're in bigger trouble than my $120!  Or the government might just fire up the presses and print some more money.....

My local bank for my checking account adds transactions as pending in the running total and the grand total. My non local bank for my credit card, Capital One, lists pending transaction but doesn't include pending transactions into the grand total until they clear pending status. Yours sounds more deceptive than either of mine. Have you considered trying a different bank?

[Netfoot]

16 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

My local bank for my checking account adds transactions as pending in the running total and the grand total.

The key word is "and".  If you add it, you add it.  If you don't, you don't.  I'd be fine with either option.  But when you show it included on the right hand side of the page and not included on the left side of the page...

14 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

Have you considered trying a different bank?

Well, I've been banking there for the last 59 years... But yes, I've considered it many times.  Just not sure whether any other local bank would be any better.  

I think I'm going to have to go back to cashing the cheque at the post office and banking the cash.

Looking at the back of the cheque, it says:

Cheques may be cashed at the following: (a) Commercial Banks (b) Post Offices (c) Shops (d) Supermarkets.

I can get the cheque cashed at the PO but the nearest one is a couple miles away.  Or I can actually cash it in the bank itself, but that means standing in line for an hour or more.

I know I can go and use the cheque at the shops/supermarkets but I don't know that I can get them to cash it. I assume I can buy $100 in groceries and get $20 in change but what if I buy 85¢ worth of TeaTime biscuits?  Will they take the cheque and give me $119.15 in change? Doubt it.

[Netfoot]

Just watched the first two episodes of MurderBot. Alexander Skarsgård plays SecUnit, a genderless man/machine security android  designed to enforce the will of "The Company" that created it. What they don't  know is that it has hacked itself and now enjoys autonomy and free thought. It has secretly given itself the name "MurderBot" but it must continue to obey humans, to avoid exposing it's autonomous nature which would lead to it's immediate disposal.

MurderBot is disgusted by human weakness, emotions, and "secretions". It wants only to watch the entertainment feeds and contemplate Life, The Universe & Everything. (42!) But it must hide its true interests and work under the direction of it's human owners to protect it's own secret.

The show is based on a series of books called The MurderBot Diaries by speculative fiction writer Martha Wells who has authored more than 30 books. The MurderBot Diaries consists of nine, and she has won four Hugos and two Nebulas for this series alone. I read the entire series - back when it consisted of only four books. Since then, well, I have not been in a position to acquire the later novels.

After only two episodes, I am enjoying the show greatly and can't wait for the remaining episodes to drop. My only regret is that these are 30-minute episode which I usually avoid.

And now I know which book(s) to look for, as a choice of reading material!

I also watched S01E01 of a new show called Duster. Josh Holloway is a getaway driver for a 70's crime syndicate and Sydney Elisabeth is the newbie FBI agent that wants to use him as an informant. 

It is bad. I stopped watching before the episode ended. I like JH but SE is unknown to me. She has been in one TV episode of another show, one 'short' and now is the co-lead in this. Only, she is terrible. The whole thing gives off a vibe similar to The Rookie: Feds with lead Niecy Nash ruining the show every time she opens her mouth... or appearing on camera at all. SE may be younger and not quite as detestable as NN but when I can't bare to watch the last 10 minutes of the pilot episode, you better believe it's crap.

Cooked myself a nice tuna fish rice for lunch. With black beans, pumpkin, broccoli, onion and carrots. Mo was not too keen but I ate mine happily. Dinner was scrambled egg with diced onion & tomato, served with sausages and the last two slices of bread in the house. (Toast would have been better. Anyone got a spare toaster?)

Mo had the choice of chow, rice from lunch and (naturally) a share on my sausage & eggs. I will let you guess which he chose. 😕

He is curled up next to my pillow pyramid and polishing his feet. Specifically his left front which, of all his feet, he is most sensitive about. We still have not gone on Garden Patrol yet, because a mug of tea was part of my dinner and I'm still sipping it now. Normally I eat my meal with iced water and have a mug of tea some time later, after our Patrol.

Watching some YT videos to let my dinner settle a bit before Garden Patrol. After that, I will have a quick look about for books of The MurderBot Diaries, but whether I find them or not, I won't be reading. I will be sleeping, or trying to.

But I need a shower. I've not done much today but I am feeling sweaty. So I will shower, then bed.

[Netfoot]

By the way, I was joking in my last post about wanting your old toaster.  I meant to say so at the end of the post but forgot.

We've discussed in the past the difficulties involved with sending me stuff via Miami. It is easier if I buy something so it comes with an invoice. Something sent from a friend can be far more troubledome and I have, in the past, had to forge an invoice where no genuine one was available. I don't like to do this because forgery os a crime and I can get flung in jail if caught presenting forged documents to government agencies like Customs & Excise.

On one occasion the forums produced a book with selected posts in it (I think?) and sent me a copy, free of charge. No amount of explaining to the shippers could convince them to send it on from Miami because there was no invoice and none avilable. In the end, to avoid a daily storage fee on an item they refused to ship without documentation that did not exist and that I was unwilling to forge, I had to instruct them to throw it into the garbage. 

I usually reserve importing stuff for items that are not available any other way. If I need bandsaw tires I have to import them but I can buy a toaster here. 

I can get a Hamilton Beach 2-slice toaster from Massy for $74.99, Do-It-Best has a range of 2-slice toasters for $76.04 (Proctor Silex) and up, Courts starts at $60.00 for Holstein 2-slice toasters in a range of colours.

4-slice toasters from Courts start at 209.98 for a Hamilton Beach. Do-It-Best has a Brentwood (?) for $85.00 or a $123.65 Proctor Silex, and upward from there.

But I'm not in the market for a toaster right now. Much as I'd like one.  (You can't make beans on toast without toast!) Right now I'm working on a set of at least 4 and better yet 5 tires for the car.  Got two already. Got the money for a third, and if I can get some woorwork jobs from my buddy, I might be able to get the fourth. And maybe even the fifth.  All the while paying for utilities, groceries and gasoline. 

So a replacement toaster would be lovely but right now, it is as far out of reach as... a replacement microwave!  

[b4pjoe]

4 hours ago, Netfoot said:

By the way, I was joking in my last post about wanting your old toaster.

Have you tried just putting toast in a frying pan and toasting it. I mean that is how I make grilled cheese sandwiches and it toasts the bread in the frying pan. It may help with browning it if you put a thin layer of butter on the bread before putting it into the frying pan. Toast one side and then flip it over to do the other side.

[Quilt Fairy]

15 hours ago, Netfoot said:

The show is based on a series of books called The MurderBot Diaries by speculative fiction writer Martha Wells who has authored more than 30 books. The MurderBot Diaries consists of nine, and she has won four Hugos and two Nebulas for this series alone. I read the entire series - back when it consisted of only four books. Since then, well, I have not been in a position to acquire the later novels.

@Netfoot, there are only 7 books in the series, not 9.  If you have only read the first four novella-length books, I highly recommend trying to get the fifth book, Network Effect.  It is a full length novel that's a frankly hard-to-describe combination of sci-fi, who-dun-it, thriller, and what-the-heck-is-going-on, all told in Murderbot's signature snarky style.  It is one of my favorite books of all time.  It also has a character who exists only as a collection of bits in a data stream, so that might appeal to you specifically.  Books 6 (Fugitive Telemetry) and 7 (System Collapse) are good, but not great.  Network Effect is great.  JMHO, of course. 

[Netfoot]

49 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

Have you tried just putting toast in a frying pan and toasting it.

I have tried that. Unfortunately, nine times out of ten, the bread sticks to the pan and burns before I can get it off again, or in getting it off it breaks into little pieces.  I have tried oil and or butter in the pan, smeared on the b read ad even mayonaise on the bread.  Occasionally it comes out sorta OK, but mostly I just destroy the bread.

I am not particularly handy in the kitchen. 

[b4pjoe]

10 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

I have tried that. Unfortunately, nine times out of ten, the bread sticks to the pan and burns before I can get it off again, or in getting it off it breaks into little pieces.  I have tried oil and or butter in the pan, smeared on the b read ad even mayonaise on the bread.  Occasionally it comes out sorta OK, but mostly I just destroy the bread.

I am not particularly handy in the kitchen. 

I would recommend a good non-stick frying pan but that would probably cost as much or more as the toaster. 😄

[Netfoot]

48 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

@Netfoot, there are only 7 books in the series, not 9.  If you have only read the first four novella-length books, I highly recommend trying to get the fifth book, Network Effect.  It is a full length novel that's a frankly hard-to-describe combination of sci-fi, who-dun-it, thriller, and what-the-heck-is-going-on, all told in Murderbot's signature snarky style.  It is one of my favorite books of all time.  It also has a character who exists only as a collection of bits in a data stream, so that might appeal to you specifically.  Books 6 (Fugitive Telemetry) and 7 (System Collapse) are good, but not great.  Network Effect is great.  JMHO, of course. 

Thanks.  I thought it was seven books (the Wikipedia page for The MurderBot Diaries lists seven) but the Wikipedia page for Martha Wells lists nine entries under The MurderBot Diaries. A closer look shows that only seven of the nine have an ISBN and the other two are described as short stories, apparently published in magazines or on the web.

I appreciate the correction. I will have to keep my eyes open and see if any of these show up in the local second-hand market.  U nlikely, but it won't hurt to search.

[Quilt Fairy]

This is one of the short stories:

https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells/

The other one is called Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory  and I couldn't find it just now, although I know I was able to read it for free a few years ago.  

[Netfoot]

Took a nap this afternoon. Woke up to find it was 8:00 PM.  😕

Skipped dinner. Mo got chow. Garden Patrol was lengthy. Mo gave the garden a very thorough check, and I used my torch to illuminate things for him.

Came in and had a mug of tea. Would have eaten something quick, if I had anything quick to eat. No bread or crackers. When I buy bread I eat it quick before it goes stale. I should buy Eclipse biscuits and keep them in the house because they last. When I get in this sort of position - where I'm hungry but don't feel like cooking - I could eat biscuits and cheese. Or corned beef. Or tuna. Or PB&J. (I have PB but I'm out of J.) The trouble is, when I have quick & easy Eclipse biscuits that I can eat, I get lazy and eat biscuits and cheese for every meal until they're all gone. 

Also, Eclipse biscuits are not exactly cheap. A six-pack is like $11.50 whereas a large loaf of Zephirin's sliced white is only $7.15 no matter where you shop. Besides, with the recent struggles to keep blood sugar under control (5.8 mmol/L this morning; not bad!) I really should avoid carby stuff like bread & biscuits. Yeh, stick with potatoes, rice and pasta! ☹️

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

This is one of the short stories:

Thanks! Will have a look. 

In the mean time I'm going to drag my ass out of bed and see if I can locate the books and give them another read. Alas, books that I know I would never throw out go missing in my house. It's probably a year I've been wanting to read it and I still can't find Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.

Mo has been coming in and going out again. He is here lying next to me right now. Just now he came in and leapt into my lap. Claws digging into my thighs and his bullet-hard head trying to find my nose. But I know his ways and when that sweet, snuffly, hard head comes for my face I'm usually ready for him! Right now he has made a nest of my top sheet, taken his repose thereupon, and is snoozing.

My bedroom fan is not blowing very hard. I periodically have to take it apart and clean it out. Because I live next to a busy road junctions, there is a lot of airborne dust and the fan picks it up. The leading edges of the blades of the fan itself get crusted with dust and the protective grills on the back & front of the fan do as well. This reduces the airflow. I take the grills off, remove the fan and next time I take a shower I take them with me. The sooty dirt washes off very easily. You don't have to scrub it. The stream of water just washes 99.999% of it right off in a second. So not a difficult job. Just a PITA to undo the screws to get the bits off and then screw them back on again after.

I need a shower now, but I won't take the fan apart tonight. I will try to remember to do it in the morning.

He has moved from his top-sheet nest and is now curled up on the foot of the bed in one corner. I never noticed him moving. He is a bit of a ninja when it comes to moving around. He is a cute little bundle. I'd send a photo but it seems to me this camera only takes very dim, blurry photos these days. Hard for me to be sure because everything is dim and blurry these days. Cataracts, I think. And my computer monitor is also shot. And so is the screen in my phone. So maybe the photos are fine but they only look dim & blurry to me.

My ninja has disappeared. I will have a quick butchers for those books and then take a shower.

Edited 13 hours ago by Netfoot

[andidante]

9 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Came in and had a mug of tea. Would have eaten something quick, if I had anything quick to eat. No bread or crackers. When I buy bread I eat it quick before it goes stale. I should buy Eclipse biscuits and keep them in the house because they last. When I get in this sort of position - where I'm hungry but don't feel like cooking - I could eat biscuits and cheese. Or corned beef. Or tuna. Or PB&J. (I have PB but I'm out of J.) The trouble is, when I have quick & easy Eclipse biscuits that I can eat, I get lazy and eat biscuits and cheese for every meal until they're all gone. 

 

I've heard that keeping bread in the fridge helps it keep longer, but since you don't have a toaster right now, not sure that you would want to eat cold bread all the time. 

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, andidante said:

I've heard that keeping bread in the fridge helps it keep longer, but since you don't have a toaster right now, not sure that you would want to eat cold bread all the time. 

I do keep my bread in the fridge.  It's warm around here so it doesn't take more than a minute or two for it to warm up.  By time I've made a sandwich, it's warm enough to eat just fine.

You can also put your bread in the freezer. It will keep for quite a while but thawing and warming it to eat takes much longer.  

[Netfoot]

I think I'd better retire this pair of shorts. 

My butt is on public display - or my drawers are. And there is a significant chance I lose my phone, which normally lives in that pocket. If not lose lose, the chances are that my busted up phone will not survive another hard fall.