"Rabbit rabbit rabbit!"
Oct. 1st, 2025 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdlbearWelcome to October, 2025!
It's the start of Fourth Quarter, so try to finish up Third Quarter's paperwork without too much agony.
mdlbear
Done Since 2025-09-21
Sep. 28th, 2025 04:35 pmmdlbearWelcome to (Northern Hemisphere) Autumn. This last week appears to have gone quickly and left very little in the way of a lasting impression. Perhaps that's for the best. (Hopefully guitar practice, at least, will stick around, and the bits of paperwork will have wound up where they're supposed to go.)
N and I have now been beshotted. Pfizer. Flu and pneumonia are week after next. Hopefully the effects of those will stick around as well. We've also scheduled studio time over the next couple of weeks. (He says after suddenly remembering to make sure we didn't get double-booked. Apparently not. Whew!)
I have not been logging my thrice-daily servings of what Colleen used to call "pill salad" as carefully as I ought to. But there's nothing still in my pill sorters today, so apparently I've been taking them. This week, anyway -- I remember there have been a couple of weeks when I missed one. I also haven't been very careful with logging my sleep. Not really all that surprising; I tend to walk over to my computer and promptly fall down a rabbit hole rather than making whatever log entry I intended to make.
Hopefully you won't need to know How to Set Up and Use a Burner Phone, but these are perilous times.
Thankful Thursday
Sep. 25th, 2025 10:49 pmmdlbearToday I am thankful for...
- Draft2Digital, which N is using to self-publish her new book.
- Getting the HyperSpace Express website up to date, a few days before it's going to be needed. Amazing how quickly stuff can go stale.
- Our house in The Hague, which we have now owned for a year and a day.
- Old friends emailing to catch up.
Call of Cthulhu: Down in the Underground
Sep. 24th, 2025 11:20 ammizkitWhen last we saw our heroes, they were returning from a side trip to Memphis. In our absence, Teddy, Freddy, Evelyn and Calliope had a side adventure and then went out and got properly smashed at a drag king club, the name of which is escaping me, somewhere in Cairo. This all went as well as you could possibly imagine, and they returned incredibly hung over.
Teddy and Dr Willie Preston met for the first time. It was most excellent. Tragically, they then parted ways, Teddy to nurse a headache and Willie to lead us into very questionable choices at the Great Pyramids.
DM: Okay, you're at the pyramids! What do you want to do?
The party: ...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............
Alice: I'm going to go look at the dig where Willie's sarcophagus disappeared.
Evelyn: I'm going to go look at those very handsome young men digging things up.
Calliope: ...I feel like someone should keep an eye on Alice, so I guess I'll do that...
DM: Can any of you ride camels?
Alice: I have two in ride!
Evelyn: I've got 6 in ride.
DM, mumbling: of course Evelyn is a horse girl
Evelyn's player: -attempts protest- -falters into inevitable agreement-
Calliope: I grew up in central London, I can't ride at all.
DM: Okay, so Alice goes to the dig where Willie's sarcophagus disappeared, Evelyn goes to look at the men working, and Calliope...goes where the camel wants to go. Fey, what are you doing?
Fey: I want to see if there are any mysterious and cryptic messages at the Sphinx.
Alice finds the dig, which is covered over, and immediately starts looking for something to dig it up again with. "I wonder if I can convince the camel to dig..."
DM: ah yes, those notorious digging animals, camels
Calliope's camel: GRRROOOOOOONK
DM: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Alice: Do you think I could steal a shovel from somebody?
Evelyn: Hellooooo, handsome young men! My, what fine muscles you have as you do your hard work! Isn't Egypt lovely! So full of mysterious mysteries! Perhaps you could tell me about what you're working on!
Young men: -are crude-
Calliope's camel: GRRROOOOOOONK
DM: Fey, you find a mysterious and cryptic message at the Sphinx! In the meantime, is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Fey: -returns to Evelyn, triumphant-
Young men: -are very crude-
Evelyn: I can tell you're being crude, you naughty young things, although I don't know what you're saying because I'm American and only speak English! Take that!
Calliope's camel: GRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOONK -and also carries Calliope over to an abandoned well/garbage chute that the DM wants us to notice- GRRROOOOOOONK
The poor beleaguered DM: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Calliope & Evelyn: Oh look, we've found a deep empty hole in the ground! Everybody come look!
(Everybody comes to look.)
DM, desperate now: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Me: We've never done anything like that before in this entire adventure, so I'd say we're constitutionally unlikely to start now.
DM, relieved that somebody has made a decision: Okay, great. It's getting very hot out now and other archaeology parties and tourists are going off to rest in the heat of the day.
Evelyn: is there anything nearby I can steal to help us get into that hole without killing ourselves?
DM: Like this truck full of supplies?
Evelyn: AMAZING. I get rope, pitons, lanterns (a long list of other things I can't remember) and...whiskey?
DM: there is no whiskey
Evelyn: DAMN.
After a brief discussion of our general athletic skills, Fey goes down the hole first, to try to put pitons in to make it easier for everybody else. Instead, he falls. Whoops. At least he manages a good roll on his health save and isn't horribly damaged.
Alice, who is equally athletic, follows and successfully puts pitons in to help the others. We leave Dr Willie Preston above-ground in case we need someone to notify the authorities of an emergency.
My father, later, horrified, as we relate the adventure to him: You left BILL in charge of EMERGENCIES?
Us: we are not the best at making good decisions
Back in the game, we all get fifty feet down into the ground, which is somewhat slimy and stinky because of the garbage archaeologists have been throwing down here.
GM: Okay, who's going first?
Alice: I'm going first. Fey fell down the hole. Also my driving trait is curiosity.
Evelyn & Calliope: be our guest
Fey: hnf
GM: By the way, Alice, you are extremely comfortable down here in these tunnels. Absolutely comfortable.
Alice: Of course I am.
Everybody else: WE'RE NOT!
GM: nor should you be
(ok he didn't actually say that but COME ON)
As it turns out, it's almost as bad an idea to let Alice lead the party through catacombs and tunnels of doom while driven by curiosity and no discomfort at all as it would be to let, say, Teddy take the lead. She barges ahead with an alarming single-mindedness while everybody else is like "Um. Um. Perhaps...well, shit, Alice has the light, better catch up!"
...up until the point when there's a Terrible Stench that only Alice can smell, and it belatedly occurs to her that maybe she should try to sense trouble.
DM: -rolls for my perception check- You in danger, girl
DM: You are suddenly very very afraid and feel strongly you should get out of there.
Alice: LET'S GO THE OTHER DIRECTION, GUYS
Unfortunately, while Alice was barging off That Way down a path of horrible black roses, Calliope got another light working and she and Evelyn took a quick look The Other Way, where they saw terrifying Anubis-headed things standing motionless in the darkness. They scurry back with Evelyn hissing, "Whatever you do, don't tell Alice what we just saw" at Calliope.
Calliope: No shit, Sherlock.
Evelyn & Calliope: NOPE WE WERE WRONG LET'S GO THE WAY YOU CHOSE IN THE FIRST PLACE ALICE
Alice: NOPE I'M WRONG LET'S GO THE WAY YOU JUST CAME FROM ALSO CAN'T YOU HEAR THAT CRYING CHILD WE HAVE TO GET TO THE CRYING CHILD NOW THERE ARE MEN CALLING FOR HELP WE MUST HELP THEM!
Fey: you people are all idiots, aren't you
Calliope, who really does think fast: these tunnels all twist around down here, Alice. The sound is probably coming from somewhere else entirely and if we go down the path of black roses we'll find them.
Alice, somewhat dubious: ...okay...
We do not find any crying children or men calling for help. We DO find tunnels dripping blood (LET'S NOT GO THAT WAY), more Anubis-headed monsters, and finally...
...finally a deep glowing red light begins to draw us toward it, and for the first time we begin to go up instead of down, up, up, up...into a chamber filled with the red light, and a hard (yellow?) light that's difficult to even look at, and a general sacrificial vibe, and...
...what quite frankly appears to be a Hellmouth at the far end of the chamber.
DM, cheerfully: Well! You have two or three sessions left in Egypt, I reckon. (pause) Or one, if you mess up!
And on that note, we close tonight's adventure. O_O
Teddy and Dr Willie Preston met for the first time. It was most excellent. Tragically, they then parted ways, Teddy to nurse a headache and Willie to lead us into very questionable choices at the Great Pyramids.
DM: Okay, you're at the pyramids! What do you want to do?
The party: ...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............
Alice: I'm going to go look at the dig where Willie's sarcophagus disappeared.
Evelyn: I'm going to go look at those very handsome young men digging things up.
Calliope: ...I feel like someone should keep an eye on Alice, so I guess I'll do that...
DM: Can any of you ride camels?
Alice: I have two in ride!
Evelyn: I've got 6 in ride.
DM, mumbling: of course Evelyn is a horse girl
Evelyn's player: -attempts protest- -falters into inevitable agreement-
Calliope: I grew up in central London, I can't ride at all.
DM: Okay, so Alice goes to the dig where Willie's sarcophagus disappeared, Evelyn goes to look at the men working, and Calliope...goes where the camel wants to go. Fey, what are you doing?
Fey: I want to see if there are any mysterious and cryptic messages at the Sphinx.
Alice finds the dig, which is covered over, and immediately starts looking for something to dig it up again with. "I wonder if I can convince the camel to dig..."
DM: ah yes, those notorious digging animals, camels
Calliope's camel: GRRROOOOOOONK
DM: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Alice: Do you think I could steal a shovel from somebody?
Evelyn: Hellooooo, handsome young men! My, what fine muscles you have as you do your hard work! Isn't Egypt lovely! So full of mysterious mysteries! Perhaps you could tell me about what you're working on!
Young men: -are crude-
Calliope's camel: GRRROOOOOOONK
DM: Fey, you find a mysterious and cryptic message at the Sphinx! In the meantime, is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Fey: -returns to Evelyn, triumphant-
Young men: -are very crude-
Evelyn: I can tell you're being crude, you naughty young things, although I don't know what you're saying because I'm American and only speak English! Take that!
Calliope's camel: GRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOONK -and also carries Calliope over to an abandoned well/garbage chute that the DM wants us to notice- GRRROOOOOOONK
The poor beleaguered DM: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Calliope & Evelyn: Oh look, we've found a deep empty hole in the ground! Everybody come look!
(Everybody comes to look.)
DM, desperate now: is anybody trying to do anything formal? Get permission for anything?
Me: We've never done anything like that before in this entire adventure, so I'd say we're constitutionally unlikely to start now.
DM, relieved that somebody has made a decision: Okay, great. It's getting very hot out now and other archaeology parties and tourists are going off to rest in the heat of the day.
Evelyn: is there anything nearby I can steal to help us get into that hole without killing ourselves?
DM: Like this truck full of supplies?
Evelyn: AMAZING. I get rope, pitons, lanterns (a long list of other things I can't remember) and...whiskey?
DM: there is no whiskey
Evelyn: DAMN.
After a brief discussion of our general athletic skills, Fey goes down the hole first, to try to put pitons in to make it easier for everybody else. Instead, he falls. Whoops. At least he manages a good roll on his health save and isn't horribly damaged.
Alice, who is equally athletic, follows and successfully puts pitons in to help the others. We leave Dr Willie Preston above-ground in case we need someone to notify the authorities of an emergency.
My father, later, horrified, as we relate the adventure to him: You left BILL in charge of EMERGENCIES?
Us: we are not the best at making good decisions
Back in the game, we all get fifty feet down into the ground, which is somewhat slimy and stinky because of the garbage archaeologists have been throwing down here.
GM: Okay, who's going first?
Alice: I'm going first. Fey fell down the hole. Also my driving trait is curiosity.
Evelyn & Calliope: be our guest
Fey: hnf
GM: By the way, Alice, you are extremely comfortable down here in these tunnels. Absolutely comfortable.
Alice: Of course I am.
Everybody else: WE'RE NOT!
GM: nor should you be
(ok he didn't actually say that but COME ON)
As it turns out, it's almost as bad an idea to let Alice lead the party through catacombs and tunnels of doom while driven by curiosity and no discomfort at all as it would be to let, say, Teddy take the lead. She barges ahead with an alarming single-mindedness while everybody else is like "Um. Um. Perhaps...well, shit, Alice has the light, better catch up!"
...up until the point when there's a Terrible Stench that only Alice can smell, and it belatedly occurs to her that maybe she should try to sense trouble.
DM: -rolls for my perception check- You in danger, girl
DM: You are suddenly very very afraid and feel strongly you should get out of there.
Alice: LET'S GO THE OTHER DIRECTION, GUYS
Unfortunately, while Alice was barging off That Way down a path of horrible black roses, Calliope got another light working and she and Evelyn took a quick look The Other Way, where they saw terrifying Anubis-headed things standing motionless in the darkness. They scurry back with Evelyn hissing, "Whatever you do, don't tell Alice what we just saw" at Calliope.
Calliope: No shit, Sherlock.
Evelyn & Calliope: NOPE WE WERE WRONG LET'S GO THE WAY YOU CHOSE IN THE FIRST PLACE ALICE
Alice: NOPE I'M WRONG LET'S GO THE WAY YOU JUST CAME FROM ALSO CAN'T YOU HEAR THAT CRYING CHILD WE HAVE TO GET TO THE CRYING CHILD NOW THERE ARE MEN CALLING FOR HELP WE MUST HELP THEM!
Fey: you people are all idiots, aren't you
Calliope, who really does think fast: these tunnels all twist around down here, Alice. The sound is probably coming from somewhere else entirely and if we go down the path of black roses we'll find them.
Alice, somewhat dubious: ...okay...
We do not find any crying children or men calling for help. We DO find tunnels dripping blood (LET'S NOT GO THAT WAY), more Anubis-headed monsters, and finally...
...finally a deep glowing red light begins to draw us toward it, and for the first time we begin to go up instead of down, up, up, up...into a chamber filled with the red light, and a hard (yellow?) light that's difficult to even look at, and a general sacrificial vibe, and...
...what quite frankly appears to be a Hellmouth at the far end of the chamber.
DM, cheerfully: Well! You have two or three sessions left in Egypt, I reckon. (pause) Or one, if you mess up!
And on that note, we close tonight's adventure. O_O
Done Since 2025-09-14
Sep. 21st, 2025 06:08 pmmdlbearA very busy week. Perhaps not quite as productive as we'd hoped. But anyway, we put down a lot of scratch tracks, and put in a total of eight hours of studio time. Some of which is definitely going to have to be re-done. Not clear how much we can salvage, but we learned a lot.
Meanwhile I re-strung Plink, in part so that I could replace the battery. I broke a wire in the process of trying (unsuccessfully) to get the new 9V battery into the clip. Thereby accelerating my long-term goal of mounting the battery outside. An ill wind, and all that. I still need to buy a new battery holder, and see if I can locate my soldering iron.
As if I didn't have enough rabbit holes to fall into, I've discovered a static (web)site generator called Hakyll. Written in Haskell. See Tuesday. I am (so far) not looking in that direction.
And as if we didn't have enough problems to throw money at, we decided to call in a plumber after the kitchen sink leaked all over the floor one time too many. He confirmed my speculation that the mess (not a rat's nest -- that's wires; maybe a can of worms) under the sink was caused by a previous owner who thought they knew what they were doing. It looks much saner now, and everything empties faster after reaming out 12m of drain. The temperature control on the first-floor shower is still broken; since all the works are inside the wall it may stay that way, unless their "old guy who knows everything" can identify the brand and point the way to a fix that doesn't involve tearing into the wall from the other side.
The best links are on Saturday this week -- these include guinea pig rental services in Switzerland and an an amazing Bohemian Rhapsody Flashmob. Although last Sunday's Busy Beaver article may be worth a look if your taste runs to Turing machines and insanely large numbers.