Many mail arrivals this week, including my ballot. I got the email notice that it was on the way on the 13th, which was the day before they officially went out. The very first time (five or six years back) I was notified by email that my ballot was on its way, it had arrived the previous day.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
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Sometimes I find things on Little Green Footballs. This has been covered somewhere else on Daily Kos, but voter suppression is a nasty issue.
An ancient Greek shrine has been found on an island in Bulgaria that has never been excavated before.
Canada’s last intact ice shelf recently broke — almost in half.
US Army gloves became an archaeological tool in the study of storage jars from ancient Israel. They helped elucidate the length of the tefach. Some interesting information about why storage jars of the time, no matter other differences, had roughly the same size neck opening.
Last summer in Alberta, a 12-year-old kid found the skeleton of a hadrosaur — in a stretch of a preserve not actually known for containing fossils.
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I received the boots I ordered last Tuesday. They fit me exactly (the company sizing chart asks questions and recommends the size to buy according to the answers). For the record, it’s Thursday Boot Co., and the boots cost more than I’ve ever paid for footwear before in my life. I wore them for my Wednesday walk, and the leather turned out to be heavier than the product description made it sound — they were quite stiff at the beginning of my walk, and not much less so when I got home; it will probably take several days (and I will wear two pairs of socks from here on) to get them to flex comfortably. But I do think they are designed to last something approximating forever.
As it turns out, I got blisters on my heels from the new boots — I will be holding off on wearing them again till the blisters heal, and I have some of that spray to help stretch leather that I plan to use on them when I do. Along with the two pairs of socks, which is something I found to work well for me a good many years ago, with cotton pads between.
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One of my second string preference authors (Michelle Sagara), who writes a series I really enjoy (Chronicles of Elantra), even though it’s more serious than my usual choices, has started a second series in the same world — same city even, and almost the same timeframe (about five years earlier than the original series), with some of the same characters. It was released on Tuesday (pre-ordered for my Kindle) and is a really good story. Long book, though. For the record, The Emperor’s Wolves.
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A couple of mail arrivals on Wednesday, including the cat t-shirt. And my ballot.
There was only one race I hadn’t already decided on by Wednesday, so I filled out the rest of the ballot that evening, did a little further research on the two candidates in question, and made up my mind. I was done in about two hours. I drove down to the County Elections office before sunrise on Thursday morning and turned it in at the drop box actually attached to the building — then I knocked on the window, waved at the security guard and drove home. About 4:00 PM, I got an email saying my ballot was accepted and would be counted.
Something brought to mind (a few weeks back) oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies. These are the true food of the gods as far as I’m concerned, and I couldn’t get them out of my mind, so I mixed up a batch last week. I’m baking them half a dozen at a time. I should be done with them by tomorrow, and I won’t feel an inclination to do it again for a while — kind of like I eat beef about once every 18 months or so.
Thursday morning I received a couple of sweaters that I ordered about a week before. Very fast service by the company. Rather expensive, and hand-wash only; but I like warm and soft when I can get it, and have no objection to spending money on such things when I have it. I also got the replacement pair of shoes that were originally sent in the wrong size — they fit beautifully.
Thursday morning my phone rang six times, with dead silence on the other end when I answered. I get the feeling they were robocalls programmed to leave messages.
The only thing Friday was the email list notice from the author I correspond with that the book with a short story by her that I’ve been waiting for was out. I could have gone the Kindle Unlimited route, it turned out, but I always actually buy the ones that are supporting a good cause. If you have any interest, look for Her Magical Pet, and the author whose story I bought it for is Celia Lake.
Saturday was a trip to the grocery store, early. The silicon things I recently bought in hopes they would actually prevent my glasses fogging really work. It was wonderful to not have to take my glasses off to see what I was doing. The metal nose strips that I also have a supply of only cut the fog by about half for me — no, I have no idea why they work brilliantly for other people and not for me.
When I got home, breakfast was the entire tub of Schwarz Brothers Everything Bagel chips. I need to start eating my spicy vegetable frittatas for breakfast again.
And my firstborn has again explained to me that I am old (HA!) and that when I get another MINI Cooper I need to get an automatic transmission because I am no longer competent to deal with a stick shift (Again, HA!). I want another nice little bottom-of-the-line two-door, with minimal electronic gadgets — and if my income continues as it has been, I should be able to afford one next year. I called my mother after this happened and complained that my daughter has bossed me around now for more years than she did. Apparently, Mom appreciates that I don’t tell her what she has to do in her own home because she made sympathetic noises rather than laughing at me.
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The first guy I genuinely fell in love with turns 67 today, if he’s still alive. I haven’t seen or heard of him since my second year in college. Isn’t it odd the things you remember?
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Love you guys!