Tempus Fugit - No Doubt About It

Where did the weekend go? Of course, I worked on Saturday as usual, so I know where that part of the weekend went, but Sunday? It was a relaxing day, I know I did a little computer work, a load of laundry, and had a glass of lovely Port, and we ended the day by watching our next episode of "Vera", but the day just slipped by quietly, without fanfare or celebration. 

Sunday was a relaxing day and I really needed that. Now, 
however, it's time to dive back into the work week. *sigh*

I still don't have a land line phone, of course. If they come by today, we won't know it because we're both at work today. But, I'm not expecting miracles any more *sigh*. We're on today's schedule, so we'll see. I've watched that song and dance routine before and it wasn't all that good. 

It's time to renew my LiveJournal account. Last 
year they didn't accept my credit card. I'll have 
to see whether that will be the same this time. 

Speaking of song and dance, it's time for me to renew my LiveJournal account. I don't really know why I bother - last year they never were able to run through my credit card, and I'm still using it daily. But, I'm an honest person and I use the service daily (I have several friends on LJ who didn't move over to Dreamwidth in the "great evacuation", and I love to keep in touch with them). I'd rather not lose track or contact with some very dear friends of many years, so I'll renew - or at least make the attempt do to so. 

DH has a lot on his mind. He's stressing out about getting 
the store closed down and the timeframe within which I 
need that to happen. Of course, what he's working on right 
now could have been done five years ago, if he had only 
motivated at that time. *sigh*

DH couldn't sleep last night - apparently he was up at 1:00 am. He came down to find me when I was making my morning tea at around 4:15 am, and I sent him back up to bed again to try and get some sleep. He'll be totally useless to me today if he doesn't get a few hours. So, hopefully he's trying - I know that can be hard with a million thoughts running through one's brain - "what if..." "what then..." etc. 

The "What if?" thoughts running through our heads are 
often the things that keep us from sleep. It's really 
hard to push those thoughts aside. 

So, I think I'll make my breakfast and another cup of tea, then head out and go to the shop. We did get some snow on Saturday and Sunday, but it wasn't much - an inch or two - and it will be melted soon. It's that time of the year when the skeletons of our trees are starting to look fuzzy or furry with the promise of Spring's new leaves. Our migrating birds are starting to re-appear, birds in general are calling out for a mate, and my yard will be filled with flying critters soon. I'm really hoping for a good year for my hummingbirds as well as my Cooper's hawks. The hawks have been harmed by the bird flu which is quite prevalent in my area, so I'm hoping my pair are doing well and will return again. 

Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Things Are Moving Along - Live Journal, Dreamwidth, and My Tattoo Artist

It's the beginning of another week. After a relaxing Sunday, it's time to jump back onto the wheel, enter the flow, and resume the rhythm. Bleh! I really can't complain too much. The weather is tolerable - not snowing, not sub-zero and not rainy. I actually had a really good run this morning on the treadmill and my weight is right where I want it, and I've got food in my refrigerator and money in the bank. So I have no idea why I'm feeling "Bleh!" this morning ... but I am. 

Rodney is moving from Timeless Tattoo to 
Dinkytown Tattoo, approximately a mile 
away. This will be the third location for Rodney 
since I first contacted him before Covid. I liked 
the Timeless location, but I'll find him in Dinkytown. 

My tattoo artist, Rodney, is moving to a different shop over the next two weeks. It's only about a mile away, but he'll be closer to the University of Minnesota, and parking will be metered - not my favorite thing, but manageable. We're still trying to get together for that photo shoot, and I really want to find out his ideas for adding more color to my tattoo. If I do that, however, I'm looking at October. I want to be able to swim outdoors for the summer. If I have to take two weeks away from the pool for new ink to heal, I want it to be when I'm using the indoor pool only. 

This is Rodney, my tattoo artist. It's from a few years 
ago, but it was the first major search I made for an 
artist comfortable with skull tattoos. He's done very 
well for himself - even featured in INK magazine 
for his skull work. He deserves the accolades, my 
winged scarab is awesome and gets compliments 
every time people see it. 

But I'll never know about whether or not I want to add anything else to my Winged Scarab unless Rodney and I can actually manage to meet. He's extremely popular and well known in tattoo circles, so he's hard to pin down. The one time we had managed to mutually schedule a time late last year, his car broke down and he had to cancel. Still, getting together is something both of us want, so it will happen sometime or other, and my tattoo isn't going anywhere. 

I haven't bothered importing my LiveJournal to 
Dreamwidth since I cross post anyway, but there 
are early posts on Live Journal that I probably should 
move over. I have my Live Journal completely 
backed up, and all photos are on my computer, not 
permanently stored on either blogging platform, 
but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do 
a general import. 

A lot of my writing friends are now getting used to the Dreamwidth platform. I admit, I've used both Dreamwidth and Live Journal for years, and there are some differences, to be sure, but there are ways to work around the software and make it happen. Dreamwidth doesn't work as smoothly as Live Journal, but it's also not Russian owned, which seems to be the determining basis for the move. I understand it on ethical grounds, especially after the war crimes we're seeing occur in Ukraine. It's a reasonable decision. I'll continue to use LJ, and my paid membership continues into 2023, but after my paid membership ends, I'll just stick with a free membership. I won't cut Live Journal out of my life completely. There are people there I deeply care for and wouldn't like to lose track of. 

Bleh! The movement from Live Journal to 
Dreamwidth is a tempest in a teacup. It really 
doesn't affect me, although my writing group 
has shifted over. I'll still post on the three 
locations I post every time - my blog, 
Dreamwidth and Live Journal. Small 
ripples in my water. 

So, I'm wrapping this up. Time to get my pool reservation made for Thursday and get myself motivated to go to work. Have I said "Bleh!" recently? Yeah - work ... "Bleh!" LOL Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

The Great Migration Continues - Now LJ Idol, My Writing Group, Is Moving to Dreamwidth

Over the past few weeks, for very understandable reasons, there has been a massive migration of people from Live Journal to Dreamwidth. I didn't migrate for a simple reason - I've been on both platforms for a very long time. But there are many on-line friends who are only on one or the other, and I respect whatever decision they make. This morning I got the message that my writer's group is moving from LJ to DW beginning with the next prompt. That's OK, I did a shorter writing stint with them on DW last year and things went fine. But I'm sure it will be difficult for some (and easier for others). 

Although I'm not "moving" per se, I will make DW the  
more primary posting site for me and use LJ as 
my secondary one. I won't renew my LJ membership 
when it comes due, and I already expanded my DW 
membership to be a paid one earlier this year. 

I have my LJ site backed up, and I post on both every day. I suspect I will not renew my paid membership when it comes up for renewal, and I've already established a paid membership with DW. My major problem is that LJ is much smoother to operate under, but needs must. With the various war crimes the Russian soldiers are committing in Ukraine, and the fact that Russia is at war with Ukraine at all, I totally concur with the decision of the moderator to move our writing group completely over to Dreamwidth. 

We might need to change our logo from LJ Idol 
to DW Idol. But the people will be the same (for the 
most part) and the challenges will continue. I'm 
really enjoying being a part of the group - writing 
challenges are always fun for me and stretch my 
mind. The platform won't make an appreciable 
difference to me one way or the other. 

It's fortunate that we have two very similar websites available for this type of back and forth. I'm also fortunate that most of my friends are on both platforms because I would hate to lose track of any of them. I'll keep posting to both, my paid membership on LJ doesn't expire until sometime in 2023 and even then, when I don't renew, the only thing I'll lose are my various user pics. I should start getting those set up on DW, but it's not urgent. I've never used either site as a platform for my photos - those have always been on my own computer and cut/pasted into my daily blog. So there's very little that will ruffle my feathers. 

I'm not getting my feathers all ruffled with the move over 
to Dreamwidth. It might be harder for others of my 
friends - old and new. I'm more disappointed that the 
inhumanity of war has made this move a necessity 
for so many, including my writers' group. 

But the fact that this has become necessary, even encouraged, as a reaction against the war and the atrocious war crimes committed by Russia just burns me. The mounting long list of atrocities committed by Russia in their war against Ukraine steals the warmth from my heart. Seeing the sights and hearing about the ever-increasing casualties, causes me physical pain. I don't listen to the non-stop war news because I physically can't take it. I get the high (or low) points several times a day, but I'm not like DH. I can't tolerate having the TV on all day, listening non-stop to this long list of human suffering and atrocity. 

I'm going to reduce my footprints on 
LiveJournal and increase them on 
Dreamwidth. I feel I have no choice 
left but this. 

So to make a long story shorter, I'm going to minimize my footprint on Live Journal and expand it on Dreamwidth. I suspect that most, if not all, of my friends on LJ will end up moving over to DW, and I'm happy to welcome each one of you. I'm "erulissedances" on Dreamwidth. If you move over to that platform, please make sure to send me a "friend" request. I don't want to lose any friends over this miserable and horrific war. 

I've had an account on Dreamwidth for several years, 
so moving from LiveJournal over to DW isn't really 
the issue for me. I have some friends who are only 
on one or the other, though, and I don't want to lose 
track of any of them. 

So, have an excellent weekend. I'll be trying to relax a bit and work on the photographs I took yesterday. I succeeded in getting all of the 6mm Swarovski cubes photographed, but now I need to work with those photos on the laptop, and get things in a format and size which will work on Etsy. Have an excellent weekend, continue to pray and work for peace, and I'll be back (on both platforms) on Monday. Peace! 

Paperwork and Hoops To Jump Through

We had a meeting with our accountant last night for our personal income taxes. While DH sat next to me fussing and organizing his paperwork, I went through the stack I had prepared one-by-one with Paul, handing him the receipts for banking, specialized accounts, charitable donations (all mine, of course), and other detail paperwork. I handed over my stack and I was done. DH was still organizing. But he got things together quickly, handed Paul the rest of the paperwork - investment information, his own banking information, etc., and then we were done. Easy, peasy. We got back home and the chicken I had taken from the oven just before we left was still toasty warm. 

The IRS pushed back the filing dates for corporations 
and now have also pushed back the filing date for 
personal income tax returns. Will the state follow suit? 
It would certainly make things easier, but we're 
already almost ready to file anyway. 

The IRS has pushed back their deadline for income tax filing. Of course, we have no idea if our state has also decided to follow the federal change. All too often the state does what it wants, despite or in spite of the federal guidelines. But, at least we're ready to go. 

I like my local appliance store, generally they have 
pretty good people working there. This repair has 
been dragging out, however, because of snafus and 
mix-ups on both our ends. We're working to get 
things back on track and I hope I'll have a repaired 
dryer by the beginning of April, or sooner. 

I also finally talked to someone intelligent enough at my appliance store, to follow the numbers with me and come up with a total still owed for my dryer repair. We both, independently, came up with the same dollar amount, so bravo for us. I authorized it, paid the remainder, and as soon as the two additional parts come in, we'll get the repair scheduled. I estimate I'll have 1-2 more weeks of laundromat trips - NOT my favorite thing at all, but I've met some interesting people and had some fun conversations while folding my dried clothing. 

I like my local laundromat. I've met some very interesting 
people over the weeks that I've been going there, and a 
few times, it's been almost empty. Yesterday, however, 
it was hopping. I still got my favorite dryer, though. 

The past few days, Dreamwidth hasn't been reposting to LifeJournal, so I've had to actually copy and paste to get my daily posting up in both locations. I do hope they get that cleared up soon, it's a bit of a PITA to have to do the extra work. Of course, I'm not going to skip posting in both locations, I have on-line friends who only read in one or the other place, friends I value and enjoy commentary from. 

I'm not as fond of Dreamwidth as I 
am of LiveJournal, and many of my 
on-line friends are on both servers. 
But, I have some friends who are distince 
on one or the other, and have no intention 
of losing friends just because cross-
posting has become a PITA once again. 

On that note, I'm off to find photos for today's blog and get it posted. Have an excellent Thursday and please, be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Dreamwidth v LiveJournal - Both Have Their Issues

It didn't take long. I'm entrapped in B2MeM once again. The lure of BINGO and the call of characters and a legendarium that I simply can't resist for long have ensnared me. Yup - caught again, hook, line and sinker. The downside of the experience is posting on DreamWidth. I actually post my blog on DW every day with it cross-posting over to Live Journal, but I find LJ much easier to navigate through and I catch comments and the postings of other authors in the community much faster and easier on Live Journal. But, I have to move along with the times. 

I normally post at Dreamwidth with a cross-posting
command to Live Journal, but I can't have an automatic
crosspost on a post I make in a community. Thus, my
B2MeM stories will remain on Dreamwidth only. 

Why the switch? A year or two (or maybe even longer by now) there was a big "kerfluffle" about Live Journal being taken over by the Russians. It's probably true, they are likely getting some of my money every month or year because I am a premium member of Live Journal, but I love posting there. I had joined Dreamwidth years ago, though, so as people migrated over, it wasn't a problem to keep in touch via both locations. 

I like posting at LiveJournal, and I love their message
notification screens and the ease in which I can
update my account specifics. Dreamwidth just seems
clunkier. 

In the intervening years I've changed this and that to continue to post my daily blog. Over the ten+ yeas I've been doing this, I've jumped over a lot of stumbling blocks. I'm not sure how many jumps I have left in me, but I'm going to try and keep going on my daily blog as long as I can. It's my "shout out" to the universe and my touchstone with my friends. 

Stumbling blocks? Maybe. Or maybe instead they
are stepping stones. By gritting my teeth and
wanting to participate, I'll gain a better understanding
of both platforms. It will be a win/win by the
end of the month. 

So back to the current scenario. 

I knew I wanted to participate in B2MeM, also knew they had moved over to Dreamwidth and that they were no longer overseen by the Silmarillion Writers Guild. That meant I had to make sure I was a member of the B2MeM community on DW, a bit easier said than done. I finally followed a few links from friends to find the community and join it, but I still don't get front-page notification of new stories, I actually have to move over to my "reading" page to see them. A minor detail, but an extra step. 

Thanks go out to all of the mods for B2MeM and
other posting boards. It's not an easy task, but
your work is appreciated. 

I'm sure by the time I'm a week into the challenge, I'll have my posting format and tags nailed, but in the meanwhile, thanks go out to the mods for their hard work. It's always a bit rough in the beginning, and I'm quite sure their workload is much heavier for the first week than for the last one. So, having written story #1, I went to sleep and dreamed about story #2. I'm indulging in my dark side this B2MeM, and I'm not sure I'm going dark enough with the prompts for today. Time to re-evaluate Horror Crossover before putting fingers to keyboard. 

Have an excellent Saturday and a wonderful weekend. I'll return on Monday, hopefully a bit more experienced at posting in this year's BINGO. Be good, do something you love, and hug another living thing - person, pet or troll - your choice. 

Posting In My Blog - Reaching Out to Friends Near and Far

Today's my "day off" and I brought a restring job home from the shop to get done ASAP. I can use the money, it's not a big job, and I felt like being a nice person. Sure I could have done the job at the shop tomorrow, but if I have time, I'll get it finished today instead. I also will be doing m usual 4-5 loads of laundry and (maybe) talking with Aearwen. I don't remember if this is a "YES" I'm available for a chat week, or a "NO" I'm occupied with hubby, doctor appointments, or other things week. I'm sure we'll figure it out, and if she's not available, we'll chat next week instead. 

Aearwen and I got together on a fan-fiction board that
stopped several years ago. We set up weekly
phone conversations on Wednesdays that have
been going on for years now. She's my sister
from a different mother, a dear friend. 

Many of the people I consider friends started with the Tolkien fan-fiction writers on Live Journal. The larger group fractured several years ago - lots of different reasons - but there is a core still around and I try to keep up. Although I'm not writing any more, at least not within that universe, I still try to keep up with people I got to know through that community. Those friendships - those touches of cyber-hands over the miles - are important to me. 

Friends don't have to be next door or in the same city
to still be friends. 

There are a second grouping of LJ friends I keep in touch with - not Tolkien fan-fiction writers and readers, but others to whom I linked over the years. I enjoy this group because we have other things in common - we share common common-sense thoughts, we are artists or craftspeople, or we just happened to link up at some time through other people's blogs and it still works for us. There are some great people who keep me on my toes in this group of cyber-friends. 

Friends are the very best. I don't think we can live
without interaction with others. Solitude is poison. 

Then there are the Dreamwidth friends. Many of these friends started out on Live Journal, but moved to an alternative playground when LJ was taken over by a Russian owner. I've had a DW account for years, but I find their interface just a little harder to work through. I haunt both places though, and have friends who are on one but not the other, so reading both DW and LJ is essential for me. 

Reaching out to your friends is sometimes all they may need
to get through a hard time. Remember to be open to them. 

My own posts are really for my personal blog and I copy and paste them to DW and LJ every day. Writing these daily posts - more than 2800 of them now - allows me to keep my thoughts in order, keep in touch with others, and reach out to friends who read in any of the three places I post. Through my blog I talk to each of you and say "I know you. I remember you. I care about you." That's part of what defines friendship, even when friends have never met in person. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday. I'll be back tomorrow. Yesterday I indulged and swam outdoors in the rain. I'm not sure whether I'll be indoors or outdoors today, but just being in the water will be wonderful, as always. Enjoy your day and celebrate your friends, near and far. 

LJ? DreamWidth? How About Both!

So many good things today -

• it's above zero for one. Well, to be accurate, it's 1 F with a windchill of -8 F, so a heatwave - LOL. 
• It's a Saturday - we close the shop an hour earlier on Saturdays. 
• I'm back to a normal schedule, so no working on Sunday - I might have time to do some more housecleaning instead which would make me very happy. 

Now all I need is a good swim and a nice breakfast.

It's too bad Perkins doesn't do a good breakfast burrito. I'm really in
the mood for some Tex-Mex food. One thing I miss about living
in the Southwest is the food. 

My sympathies to those living in the Southern US - you're getting hit with a snow and ice storm with freezing rain, cold temps, and weather you see so rarely that you'll be unaccustomed as to how to deal with it. Hunker down, people. It will pass and if you're not on the icy roads, you'll be safe.

I've had a DreamWidth account for years, and I post my blog there
every day, but I find it less lively than LiveJournal. I have so many
friends and communities on LJ and I don't feel that DW is as active. 

A lot of my friends are moving their journals to Dreamwidth from Live Journal. This is because the servers for LJ have been moved to Russia and people are concerned about their security, copyrights for their writings, and probably other issues like control of images. I admit, I'm a little worried. We've had scares similar to this before, but the servers hadn't actually been moved before now. This time things seem more amped up. I'm still using both websites, and I'm really comfortable with LJ so I'm not moving right now, but if you want to join my Circle on DW, message me and I'll give you my ID over there so that you can join my circle.

Damned world politics and Russian imperialism - GRRRRRRR.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back on Monday.