What are you doing today?

[fishorama]

Back to books for a sec. Mercedes Lackey was a co-author w/Andre Norton on Forerunner Foray (I think). Maybe after Norton died? I liked the Forerunner theme. Lackey also co-writes with others, often more sci fi. Neil Gaiman is fun & a bit creepy. He's been accused of bad behavior recently I hope not it's not true.

TY all for suggesting new & old fav authors.

Good luck @Oldspartan. I hope Linda is well healed before your surgery. 1 crippled spouse is 1 thing, you've picked up the slack admirably. But both recovering & maybe in rehab might be a bit too much. Of course, it may take a while to schedule your surgery as Linda gets better & better. Maybe stock up on library books while you rest up?

 

[MaloK]

Today I replaced my old garage leds with the new Sansi 10,000 Lumen A21 light bulb, loll. 650 watt equivalent...

I was a little skeptical, but they replaced 1600 lumen bulb and I never thought a A21 bulb would ever reach the 150 watt equivalent...

My buddie are going to flip-out when they see this. And they are going to see little dots for hours.

These lights are Simply Nuts... I'm ordering a 400 watt eq for the washing room

 

[fishorama]

Ugh, MaloK, I need to replace my kitchen tube fluorescents with LEDs but I'm having trouble with how to size them. Lumens? A club friend did that at his work, but they were not quite as bright as the "equivalent" fluorescents. I'm tired of cooking in the semi-dark!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I finished my last concert of the school year, another 4-5 songwriting concert. I have enough kids that I can't fit them all on stage at once, so we have to do two concerts. Got another standing ovation, got to perform our encore we had prepared: Home on the Range, inviting the audience to sing along. Man, it feels good when my kids do that well. They really put in the work in the music room, so the concert was just fun. It's really nice to see the kids make that connection between hard work and success.

This upcoming generation certainly faces some challenges due to the weird times they are growing up in. A lot of people say Gen Alpha can't think creatively, solve problems as a group, engage with the real world, or do anything other than stare at a digital device. My kids proved 'em wrong this week. Twice. That feels good.

 

[lottabubbles]

Man, it feels good when my kids do that well

brings back memories of the school concert we had when I was in the 3rd grade. we had 20 kids in the flute class made up of the 3rd and 4th grades.
it looked like a waterfall on stage with all the slobbers rolling out the end of those little 8 inch plastic flutes with everybody seemingly playing the song all wrong. 2 days before the concert the nun came to me and said You have to play 2 solo's. man what pressure, my mom brought my grandfather in from another state to see that. somehow I got both of those done right with knees shaking.

 

[MaloK]

Ugh, MaloK, I need to replace my kitchen tube fluorescents with LEDs but I'm having trouble with how to size them. Lumens? A club friend did that at his work, but they were not quite as bright as the "equivalent" fluorescents. I'm tired of cooking in the semi-dark!

Give me the specs of your current tubes, we'll see what is available.

 

[GaryE]

I have strong memories of my childhood concerts, up there on the stage in the gym, in the heat of the lights, silently mouthing along with a choir or playing a recorder with my classmates. It was scary to do, but the sense of accomplishment after was a good one for a kid to feel.

I used to help out with the High School variety shows, calming the nervous Bollywood dancer troupes and vestigial tap dancers, avoiding the disdain of the heavy metal guitarists, not wincing when the pop divas hit notes that could scratch chalkboards... - it was fun to see the kids go out there and surprise everyone with hidden talents.

I found some interesting grow lights in a surplus aisle - very inexpensive. I've bought the brand before, and seedlings and indoor lettuce have done really well with them. So I am hanging them above the tank lights, from the ceiling, and connecting them to the tank light timers. I've built a structure to hold some spider plants, small peace lillies and Pothos. They'll sit on top of a 40 gallon, and 2 twenty gallon upper rack tanks. I already have a thick glass cover that holds a potted congo red - a big one. It could solve the problem of putting tanks close to windows to support terrestrial plants on top, but getting algae as a result.

 

[Lanpenn]

Today I went with my mother to another city because she had an endoscopy. I will try to explore more about Vietnam. I do not have money because, if I did have it, I would travel to the country just to explore the university, before any application process.

I am trying to do networking, also. Unfortunately, a thing that we should learn at least during our teenage years, only after some time, you learn.

 

[gwand]

Today I netted 11 golden sailfin juvenile mollies from my livebearer tank and

4 juvenile Anomalochromis thomasi from my African tank and sold them for store credit to one of my lfs.

 

[Oldspartan]

Back to books for a sec. Mercedes Lackey was a co-author w/Andre Norton on Forerunner Foray (I think). Maybe after Norton died? I liked the Forerunner theme. Lackey also co-writes with others, often more sci fi. Neil Gaiman is fun & a bit creepy. He's been accused of bad behavior recently I hope not it's not true.

TY all for suggesting new & old fav authors.

Good luck @Oldspartan. I hope Linda is well healed before your surgery. 1 crippled spouse is 1 thing, you've picked up the slack admirably. But both recovering & maybe in rehab might be a bit too much. Of course, it may take a while to schedule your surgery as Linda gets better & better. Maybe stock up on library books while you rest up?

Thank You --- Linda went for her follow up today. They took the pig skin bandage off, (not really pig skin but that is what I called it much to her dismay). Doctor took an XRAY and said it is healing well and gave a normal sling to replace the huge contraption she had been using. She can now lift her arm to shoulder height and pain is beginning to subside, more stabbing than steady. We are happy.

I will not do my back procedure until her shoulder is fully mobilized. Then I aim to get revenge.

 

[fishorama]

No, not revenge Oldspartan, it's teamwork! LOL, from 1 old married person to another.

 

[Alice B]

Doesn't epsom salt make people poop.

it relaxes muscles. All muscles, so yeah that might be an option, but in a bath it's pretty good for back muscles

 

[Alice B]

I also miss Asimov along with Heinlein. There are a LOT of authors I miss.

I need to re-read the Foundation series. I have Tolkien memorized so I limit myself to reading LOTR every 10 years or so. Roger Zelazny's Amber series was very good. I own all of those too. And all of Marian Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series. Takes me a whole summer to reread Darkover. I don't read much new stuff. I have to go to bed on time to get up for work, it helps if I know everything turns out ok, I don't read until 4 am that way

 

[gwand]

Let me turn you on to Iain Banks. He creates an amazing world.
The Culture Series (in order of publication):

1. Consider Phlebas (1987)
2. The Player of Games (1988)
3. Use of Weapons (1990)
4. The State of the Art (1991) – a short story collection (includes a Culture novella)
5. Excession (1996)
6. Inversions (1998) – subtly connected to the Culture universe
7. Look to Windward (2000)
8. Matter (2008)
9. Surface Detail (2010)
10. The Hydrogen Sonata (2012)

You don’t have to read the books in order. Consider Phlebas is the weakest. Banks died a young man of cancer.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Nice run in the desert this morning. Got into a trail that took me to some spots I’ve never seen before. Didn’t see any deer or rattlesnakes, but the meadowlarks were singing, the bluebirds were out, and I found a deer-trampled rock pool full of fairy shrimp. Must go back soon for some leisurely exploration.