Steven Harper's Blog, page 37
May 31, 2021
Weight Loss Level Up!
I reached my first goal weight--a twenty pound loss. Go me!
This is my first goal, the one where I told myself I could say, "You're done now. You can stop if you want." But I'm going to keep going, see if I can lose another ten pounds.
The BMI charts say I should really lose fifteen more pounds, but if I did that, I'd look like a stick. The BMI charts are real bullshit, you know? They don't take into account age, gender, or body type. Yeah, I'm tall, but I'm also stocky. I have big, heavy bones. I can't encircle my wrist with my own hand even though the bones are showing, for example, which puts me in the "stocky frame" category. (If your fingers meet around your wrist, you have an average frame, and if they overlap, you have a slender frame.) MI assumes everyone has an average frame. BMI also ignores muscle-to-mass ratio. A bodybuilder is obese on the BMI scale, for example.
So anyway, if I lose ten more pounds, I'm good!
And go me, again!
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This is my first goal, the one where I told myself I could say, "You're done now. You can stop if you want." But I'm going to keep going, see if I can lose another ten pounds.
The BMI charts say I should really lose fifteen more pounds, but if I did that, I'd look like a stick. The BMI charts are real bullshit, you know? They don't take into account age, gender, or body type. Yeah, I'm tall, but I'm also stocky. I have big, heavy bones. I can't encircle my wrist with my own hand even though the bones are showing, for example, which puts me in the "stocky frame" category. (If your fingers meet around your wrist, you have an average frame, and if they overlap, you have a slender frame.) MI assumes everyone has an average frame. BMI also ignores muscle-to-mass ratio. A bodybuilder is obese on the BMI scale, for example.
So anyway, if I lose ten more pounds, I'm good!
And go me, again!
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May 17, 2021
Cicadas. Again.
The cicadas are coming! They totally are! ANY MINUTE now! Hordes of them are going to descend on you . . . just . . . about . . . any . . . second . . .
Seriously. Almost daily since February, the media outlets have been warning--WARNING!--us about DA CICADAS! Did you know they were coming? Did you know they were supposed to be here . . . NOW! Oops . . . I mean . . . NOW! No, wait . . . NOW! Hold on . . .
Just stop. We know they're coming and we don't need to hear about it again.
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Seriously. Almost daily since February, the media outlets have been warning--WARNING!--us about DA CICADAS! Did you know they were coming? Did you know they were supposed to be here . . . NOW! Oops . . . I mean . . . NOW! No, wait . . . NOW! Hold on . . .
Just stop. We know they're coming and we don't need to hear about it again.
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May 15, 2021
Aran and the Cleaning Crew
Aran's apartment remains a perennial and dusty mess. Scary, really. A while ago, I gave up hoping he would handle the problem himself and hired a woman to come in and clean every couple weeks. But after three visits, she announced that his apartment was too far for her to drive and it wasn't worth it for her to keep doing the job.
After some weeks passed, I found someone else, a small company this time. I explained the situation to the the proprietor on the phone (Aran is autistic, we all needed to meet in order to work this out, etc. etc.) and she said she could meet us Friday morning. This meant I would have to take a day off work, but wattayagonnado? So Friday morning, I drove down to Aran's place.
When I arrived, I got a little upset. It was clear the first woman I'd hired hadn't done much of anything to clean the place. (Kala had gone to meet her the first time, but hadn't actually watched her clean.) The dirt on the tile floor was exactly the same as they'd been the last time I'd been to Aran's apartment. The baseboards hadn't been touched, and were furry with dust. His desk and the objects on it were equally dusty. And the less said about the bathroom, the better. What had this woman been doing? Oh, I was upset!
After some bobbles with the meeting time, the new cleaning company finally showed up. I thought the proprietor was coming to see the place and figure out details, but nope! It was a crew of three round little ladies who bustled into the apartment with mops and dusters and buckets. They quickly divided the apartment among themselves and burst into a whirlwind of cleaning. Aran and I finally left to get out of their way. We went for a walk outside in lovely May weather and returned just as they were leaving.
The transformation was amazing. The workers had dusted every surface, including the personal objects on Aran's desk and dresser. The baseboards were clear, the floors had been scrubbed, the carpets vacuumed, the bathroom scoured. So much better! I told Aran they'd be back in two weeks, and he needed to let them in, and once they were there, he could either hang around or go somewhere while they worked. Aran is paying for part of the service himself, and I'm picking up the other part.
And now he has a clean apartment!
If you're looking for a good cleaning service in the Ypsilanti area, check out Paula' Cleaning. Totally worth it.
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After some weeks passed, I found someone else, a small company this time. I explained the situation to the the proprietor on the phone (Aran is autistic, we all needed to meet in order to work this out, etc. etc.) and she said she could meet us Friday morning. This meant I would have to take a day off work, but wattayagonnado? So Friday morning, I drove down to Aran's place.
When I arrived, I got a little upset. It was clear the first woman I'd hired hadn't done much of anything to clean the place. (Kala had gone to meet her the first time, but hadn't actually watched her clean.) The dirt on the tile floor was exactly the same as they'd been the last time I'd been to Aran's apartment. The baseboards hadn't been touched, and were furry with dust. His desk and the objects on it were equally dusty. And the less said about the bathroom, the better. What had this woman been doing? Oh, I was upset!
After some bobbles with the meeting time, the new cleaning company finally showed up. I thought the proprietor was coming to see the place and figure out details, but nope! It was a crew of three round little ladies who bustled into the apartment with mops and dusters and buckets. They quickly divided the apartment among themselves and burst into a whirlwind of cleaning. Aran and I finally left to get out of their way. We went for a walk outside in lovely May weather and returned just as they were leaving.
The transformation was amazing. The workers had dusted every surface, including the personal objects on Aran's desk and dresser. The baseboards were clear, the floors had been scrubbed, the carpets vacuumed, the bathroom scoured. So much better! I told Aran they'd be back in two weeks, and he needed to let them in, and once they were there, he could either hang around or go somewhere while they worked. Aran is paying for part of the service himself, and I'm picking up the other part.
And now he has a clean apartment!
If you're looking for a good cleaning service in the Ypsilanti area, check out Paula' Cleaning. Totally worth it.
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End of Year Wind-Down--and Up
This coming week is the last one for seniors. They have class on Monday and Tuesday, then exams and Wednesday and Thursday. However, the exams are optional and "hold harmless," to boot. This means that the exam will only count if it helps the semester grade. If it would hurt the semester grade, the exam is ignored. Additionally, the district is again allowing students the option of taking a pass/fail grade instead of a letter grade.
Not surprisingly, only a handful of my seniors intend to take the final. I don't blame them. If I had an A in a class, why go through the stress and work of taking the final when it won't do anything? Only the failing and D students can really benefit from the exam, and most of my D students are planning to take the pass/fail grade. So my exam schedule this year is on the light side.
But every year we do get the flurry of last-minute, hail Mary makeup work. And this year we have an added wrinkle.
I was unexpectedly out of the building yesterday, an "A" day in which I meet with first, second, and third hours. As it happens, Monday is the corresponding "B" day, but it's only a half day, so fourth, fifth, and sixth hours are cut in half. This makes things difficult for teachers like me who want to keep their classes together. So I had the dual problem of what my "A" day students should do while I wasn't there, and how to handle the "B" student half-day.
I hit on a Good Idea. See, I normally grade late work at a sharp penalty. (When I don't, students invariably don't do their work on time.) I had the sub announce to my "A" classes that we were having Amnesty Friday. Any missing or late work turned in on that day would receive full credit. Out of fairness (and as a way of keeping everyone together), I'll also be offering Amnesty Monday for my "B" students. They can work on the missing assignments during class for that ONE day.
A side-effect of this Good Idea is that my inbox for Google Classroom was flooded with alerts that this student or that had turned in missing work. I spent all afternoon today grading them. Oi.
Meanwhile, the seniors are gearing up to leave. For most of them, Tuesday will be their last day!
We're all looking forward to the end of the school year, this year more than any other.
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Not surprisingly, only a handful of my seniors intend to take the final. I don't blame them. If I had an A in a class, why go through the stress and work of taking the final when it won't do anything? Only the failing and D students can really benefit from the exam, and most of my D students are planning to take the pass/fail grade. So my exam schedule this year is on the light side.
But every year we do get the flurry of last-minute, hail Mary makeup work. And this year we have an added wrinkle.
I was unexpectedly out of the building yesterday, an "A" day in which I meet with first, second, and third hours. As it happens, Monday is the corresponding "B" day, but it's only a half day, so fourth, fifth, and sixth hours are cut in half. This makes things difficult for teachers like me who want to keep their classes together. So I had the dual problem of what my "A" day students should do while I wasn't there, and how to handle the "B" student half-day.
I hit on a Good Idea. See, I normally grade late work at a sharp penalty. (When I don't, students invariably don't do their work on time.) I had the sub announce to my "A" classes that we were having Amnesty Friday. Any missing or late work turned in on that day would receive full credit. Out of fairness (and as a way of keeping everyone together), I'll also be offering Amnesty Monday for my "B" students. They can work on the missing assignments during class for that ONE day.
A side-effect of this Good Idea is that my inbox for Google Classroom was flooded with alerts that this student or that had turned in missing work. I spent all afternoon today grading them. Oi.
Meanwhile, the seniors are gearing up to leave. For most of them, Tuesday will be their last day!
We're all looking forward to the end of the school year, this year more than any other.
comments
May 11, 2021
The Ex Blog
The ex-president's blog isn't doing well. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trumps-blog-isnt-lighting-internet-rcna890The article doesn't mention the most obvious reason why--convenience.
It's easy to check someone's Twitter or Facebook feed when you're already on those platforms. The stuff automatically comes to you. But a web site? You have to 1) remember it exists; and 2) make a deliberate attempt to visit it. The ex's junk doesn't automatically come to you anymore. The ex can't even link his blog to social media because he's been banned from it.
His more rabid followers will check on him from time to time, but as more time passes and he fails to provide them content 24/7, they'll lose interest. Predictable--and for the ex, infuriating. Good.
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It's easy to check someone's Twitter or Facebook feed when you're already on those platforms. The stuff automatically comes to you. But a web site? You have to 1) remember it exists; and 2) make a deliberate attempt to visit it. The ex's junk doesn't automatically come to you anymore. The ex can't even link his blog to social media because he's been banned from it.
His more rabid followers will check on him from time to time, but as more time passes and he fails to provide them content 24/7, they'll lose interest. Predictable--and for the ex, infuriating. Good.
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May 7, 2021
Testing. Testing.
Spent all afternoon hunting kidney stones with MRIs and CT scans, and I'm starving! Time for barbecue.
ETA:The tests were scheduled in advance, and weren't part of an emergency room visit, fortunately. But I was in the hospital imaging center for five hours and was starving by the time I got out.
When I got home, I had email alerting me to an addition to my online patient chart. That was quick! It reports at least seven more stones, all of them smaller than 5mm (the threshold for an operation) and none of them obstructive--or so it says. The little stabs of pain I get a couple-three times a day occasionally say otherwise!
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ETA:The tests were scheduled in advance, and weren't part of an emergency room visit, fortunately. But I was in the hospital imaging center for five hours and was starving by the time I got out.
When I got home, I had email alerting me to an addition to my online patient chart. That was quick! It reports at least seven more stones, all of them smaller than 5mm (the threshold for an operation) and none of them obstructive--or so it says. The little stabs of pain I get a couple-three times a day occasionally say otherwise!
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No Way!
Darwin and I were going to have our bathrooms redone, but have you SEEN the price of materials lately?? We're going to wait until next year.
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April 17, 2021
Bad Cam
I bought a motion-activated camera from Amazon. This one, to be specific: https://www.amazon.com/Campark-Camera-24MP-Bluetooth-Monitoring-Waterproof/dp/B08QJ86479
It arrived yesterday. Today, I wrote this review of it:
The problems started the moment I unboxed this camera. The little bits of plastic that cover the lenses were difficult to peel away, which I should have taken as a warning.
I opened the instructions and discovered they were clearly written by someone for whom English is a (distant) second language. Instructions were incomplete or utterly impossible to understand due to grammatical errors. I downloaded the app and it was equally horrible. (The app's header, I might add, was in Chinese characters.) I give kudos to anyone who speaks more than one language, but when you're marketing to native English speakers, you should hire a native to write your directions.
The camera also wouldn't connect to the app. In fact, it wouldn't connect to anything. When I called up the camera's menu and told it to connect to WiFi, all it did was display "WiFi password 1234546." The app itself didn't ask for the camera's password. And there was no way to input my WiFi's password into the camera.
When I tried to connect the camera to my phone (and the app) via bluetooth, the app sent me to the privacy settings section of my phone. It wouldn't do anything at all, let alone actually connect to the camera. The camera acted like my phone's bluetooth didn't exist.
Meanwhile, the camera itself wouldn't record video or take photos. I tested it several times. Nothing. Not a single photo, not a second of video.
I returned it. DO NOT BUY this camera!
comments
It arrived yesterday. Today, I wrote this review of it:
The problems started the moment I unboxed this camera. The little bits of plastic that cover the lenses were difficult to peel away, which I should have taken as a warning.
I opened the instructions and discovered they were clearly written by someone for whom English is a (distant) second language. Instructions were incomplete or utterly impossible to understand due to grammatical errors. I downloaded the app and it was equally horrible. (The app's header, I might add, was in Chinese characters.) I give kudos to anyone who speaks more than one language, but when you're marketing to native English speakers, you should hire a native to write your directions.
The camera also wouldn't connect to the app. In fact, it wouldn't connect to anything. When I called up the camera's menu and told it to connect to WiFi, all it did was display "WiFi password 1234546." The app itself didn't ask for the camera's password. And there was no way to input my WiFi's password into the camera.
When I tried to connect the camera to my phone (and the app) via bluetooth, the app sent me to the privacy settings section of my phone. It wouldn't do anything at all, let alone actually connect to the camera. The camera acted like my phone's bluetooth didn't exist.
Meanwhile, the camera itself wouldn't record video or take photos. I tested it several times. Nothing. Not a single photo, not a second of video.
I returned it. DO NOT BUY this camera!
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April 15, 2021
Dead Tread
My treadmill wiped out. The belt has become worn along one edge, and it finally created a snag. The snag caught on some of the machinery and ... rrrrrip!
I searched around online and found a replacement part and a how-to video on replacing it. The part is $100, which is rather cheaper than a new treadmill, so I hope I can replace it! The new belt should arrive Friday.
Meanwhile, I have no treadmill. It's purely VR working out for me, I guess.
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I searched around online and found a replacement part and a how-to video on replacing it. The part is $100, which is rather cheaper than a new treadmill, so I hope I can replace it! The new belt should arrive Friday.
Meanwhile, I have no treadmill. It's purely VR working out for me, I guess.
comments
April 12, 2021
Holy Crap! A Movie!
On Sunday, Darwin and I went to an actual, honest-to-Goddess movie!
See, the movie GODZILLA VS. KONG came out, and we both wanted to see it. (Side note: the title pretty much says it all. The human characters are utterly uninteresting, as are their concerns. The movie is unabashedly about giant CGI monsters fighting each other. If you want more than that, you're at the wrong movie.) And we realized we've both been vaccinated, so we don't have to worry about catching anything. So we went!
It was . . . strange being back in a movie theater after more than a year's absence. We bought our tickets online and arrived to find the crowds were light, and the ticket-checkers were off-duty, so we just walked in, bought concessions, and sat down. In our lovely reclining chairs. With movie popcorn and soda. It was oddly exciting, after being gone for so long. And it was great to be out in a public place without having to worry about infection.
Yes, there's a lot to be said about watching movies at home. Easy bathroom breaks, cheap snacks, not having to drive. But these are eclipsed by the giant movie screen, the anticipation when the theater darkens, the booming surround-sound, and the reaction of the rest of the audience. It's also easier to concentrate at the theater. No one interrupts the video to ask if you've seen his phone. The cats don't make demands that must be met right this second. You don't feel compelled to send or answer texts. It's just the darkness, the audience, and the movie.
And the popcorn.
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See, the movie GODZILLA VS. KONG came out, and we both wanted to see it. (Side note: the title pretty much says it all. The human characters are utterly uninteresting, as are their concerns. The movie is unabashedly about giant CGI monsters fighting each other. If you want more than that, you're at the wrong movie.) And we realized we've both been vaccinated, so we don't have to worry about catching anything. So we went!
It was . . . strange being back in a movie theater after more than a year's absence. We bought our tickets online and arrived to find the crowds were light, and the ticket-checkers were off-duty, so we just walked in, bought concessions, and sat down. In our lovely reclining chairs. With movie popcorn and soda. It was oddly exciting, after being gone for so long. And it was great to be out in a public place without having to worry about infection.
Yes, there's a lot to be said about watching movies at home. Easy bathroom breaks, cheap snacks, not having to drive. But these are eclipsed by the giant movie screen, the anticipation when the theater darkens, the booming surround-sound, and the reaction of the rest of the audience. It's also easier to concentrate at the theater. No one interrupts the video to ask if you've seen his phone. The cats don't make demands that must be met right this second. You don't feel compelled to send or answer texts. It's just the darkness, the audience, and the movie.
And the popcorn.
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