All Saints

Work and my commute are attempting to take bites out of my good mood, along with a potential rainy weather pattern coming into NYC for tomorrow. But I persevere and the cheeriness continues for the most part.

So too are various areas of the internet at work and at home, but not DW (so no worries).

1. MSN's browser at work throws stories at me - one was the headline: Woman's Hike Through Texas' Big Bend National Park Turns into a Nightmare. Thinking for a quick getaway from people and in nature, in the rarely visited park, a woman suddenly finds herself surrounded by hundreds of tiny animals and stumbles into a nightmare.

Trying to figure out what "tiny animals" would surround you and terrify you, I of course took a peek?

Sigh. I really wish I hadn't.
( the writer of the article needs to look up the definition of animals - these aren't animals. )
2. I apparently liked a few Buffy posts on FB, so FB keeps throwing all things Buffy related at me. Today it threw an Instagram Post by the guy who played Parker Abrhams on Buffy in S4, and who was also on Dawson's Creek shortly thereafter - he was posting a tribute to the lead of Dawson's who died recently from cancer. The gist? ( Read more... )

3. And MSN keeps throwing the following at me at work:

* how to prepare for retirement with $1M in 401 K or IRA and $2,465 Social Security. (Sigh, if I had $1M in 401K - I'd have retired already.)

* The best small towns or places to retire in every state. (They all have one thing in common? You need a car. I don't drive.)

* If you travel you shouldn't use a hard suitcase with wheels since it is banned in certain European countries, (Apparently for noise pollution and wear and tear on cobblestone streets? Too many tourists wandering about with baggage at all times at night.)

* No, it is better to have one since a back pack or duffel is hard on your back and you can't pack as much. (I wish people would make up their minds.)

* If you travel to these 20 countries - you will need an electronic visa or electronic authorization ahead of time - and provide before you get on the plane. (So what happens if your phone dies en route? Oh, brings up a story mother told me the other day - a man was denied passage on a cruise because he brought the wrong passport. He accidentally packed the expired passport as opposed to the new one. This is after traveling by bus all the way down to Miami, with people from the retirement center. Mother didn't seem to know what happened next, except that he turned down the offer to catch up with the cruise in New Orleans. He needed it for Mexico.)

* TSA has changed its rules and you need to ensure you do these 12 things, and not bring these things...

Sigh. Now I'm afraid to retire and travel. The stupid internet is stressful. I miss the days in which I didn't know all this crap.

***

It's also throwing television shows at me. Netflix has apparently added more shows. And the internet wants me to watch Sharp Objects on HBO, which it has decided is the best and most twisty thriller ever. ( Read more... )

Me and the Internet are at cross-purposes at the moment? I think AI has made the internet worse?

***

What else should I complain about?

I don't know what to read next. That's not a complaint. Right now I'm reading or trying out Illona Andrews latest novel - Inheritance, which they'd initially wrote as a lark or a serialized novella, no more than 12,000 words for their blog. But alas, it's become a two-book series. And they had to add a lot of world building. It reads a bit like a post-apocalyptic survival video game, actually, with banter. I can tell the writers played a lot of video games during the pandemic. Survival video games have become a thing - now. The internet was flinging those at me as well. And I'm admittedly tempted but afraid to put that on my phone or computer. Maybe the ipad? (No, Inheritance is not a video game - I switched tracks in mid-paragraph.)

The book, Inheritance, is about ( Read more... )

I'm hoping I don't regret grabbing Ministry of Time - I didn't know it was about the same thing the Terror television series is about when I purchased it. It doesn't tell you that. Hmm. Oh well, maybe it won't be an issue?

***

Took some long walks yesterday and today - first in a long time - at work location. First was up to the cherry blossoms on Pier 15, turns out they are fake cherry blossoms - so not worth the trip or tickets. (Why fake? I don't know, it's NY? It is odd though - I mean it's not like we don't have actual cherry blossoms in several botanical gardens, parks, and a cemetery in late March/early April? Maybe they got desperate and wanted to do it now?) The green houses are tiny, and claustrophobic, and you couldn't pay me to sit in one of them for dinner.

I have a picture of it - see below and assuming you can see it - let me know what you think?



The other walk will have to wait until tomorrow. Since long past bedtime for me. Good night all.