I need to explain how thermostats work
May. 22nd, 2026 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyYour furnace has one setting: off/on.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
Sign my name.
May. 18th, 2026 09:27 pmhannahIt took two needles, but the second one worked, and I got to give blood today. I always think of it like that these days, getting to give blood. It's a privilege to be able to do it, and I don't take that lightly.
My iron was 14, my blood pressure 110/70, I was told my blood is also Code 96, and probably because my veins weren't cooperating it took over six minutes thirty seconds to fill a bag. If I could figure out a good hydration and exercise schedule for the days leading up to a donation, I might be able to manage another rapid tap. I scheduled my next session for July before I left, eight weeks to the day, so I'll take those early July days to try increasing my liquid intake even more. It should give the nurses more volume to work with.
I haven't done many other things today, and having done this one important thing is carrying me forward.
My iron was 14, my blood pressure 110/70, I was told my blood is also Code 96, and probably because my veins weren't cooperating it took over six minutes thirty seconds to fill a bag. If I could figure out a good hydration and exercise schedule for the days leading up to a donation, I might be able to manage another rapid tap. I scheduled my next session for July before I left, eight weeks to the day, so I'll take those early July days to try increasing my liquid intake even more. It should give the nurses more volume to work with.
I haven't done many other things today, and having done this one important thing is carrying me forward.
Inspired by
May. 18th, 2026 05:28 pmfirecatA team of narrators did an impeccable podfic of one of my stories! It’s a crossover between Star Trek: The Next Generation and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
[Podfic] Dreamer in the Dark by celli_pods, contributor-sky (deepestbluesky), KtInSunshine, peasina, semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona), sisi_rambles, vexbatch pods (vexbatch), with (poemreads), xia_pods
[Podfic] Dreamer in the Dark by celli_pods, contributor-sky (deepestbluesky), KtInSunshine, peasina, semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona), sisi_rambles, vexbatch pods (vexbatch), with (poemreads), xia_pods
Lake Lewisia #1397
May. 18th, 2026 04:41 pmscrubjayspeaksThe community college’s agricultural science department is looking for a few good, and late, gardeners to assist in testing their new growing hutches. These hutches are small fast-time capsules that can be used as greenhouses that accelerate time for the plants inside, potentially allowing for rapid repopulation of endangered plant species if successful. So whether you lost track of your first and last frost dates, forgot to order seed packets in time, or just didn’t make it out into the garden by the best planting date for your target crops, get a second chance at the season and help support scientific development in the process.
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LL#1397
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LL#1397
Face of self-control.
May. 17th, 2026 09:09 pmhannahAlong with strawberries and rhubarb, sticky nights have arrived. Not each night, not yet, and I'm savoring that - another couple of weeks and it'll hit, but for now, there's still a few where it's simply gentle.
Continuing with my Steven Spielberg kick, I've now seen all his kids-focused CGI stuff and say with some confidence it's only going to get better from here. The Tintin movie felt uncannily like I was watching a movie-length video game, down to the inventory puzzles and room searches. After this, it's people. Well, people and a horse.
Continuing with my Steven Spielberg kick, I've now seen all his kids-focused CGI stuff and say with some confidence it's only going to get better from here. The Tintin movie felt uncannily like I was watching a movie-length video game, down to the inventory puzzles and room searches. After this, it's people. Well, people and a horse.
book meme!
May. 17th, 2026 01:10 pmbluedreamingI saw this little meme via chestnut_pod and thought it looked really fun!
- Take five books off your bookshelf. (I tried to take a book from each of my sections, whether formal or informal (old & not yet catalogued, new arrival, reading pile, etc.).)
- Book #1 -- first sentence: "[The daily quest has arrived.]" --Solo Leveling: The Novel Omnibus written by Chugong, translated by Hye Young Im and J. Torres.
- Book #2 -- last sentence on page fifty: "Ares Feng is an extremist whose early life experiences have made him reclusive, moody, and distrustful of everyone." --The Defectives: Book II written by Priest, translated by Xiaou and Mu
- Book #3 -- second sentence on page one hundred: "Then, suddenly, right in the middle of it all, they stop with the banter and the whole gang looks at me." --The Glister written by John Burnside
- Book #4 -- next to the last sentence on page one hundred fifty: "Even he didn't know why he'd come here, after all this time." --Hell is Dark with No Flowers: The Snake-Eating Inn written by Yoru Michio, translated by Taylor Engel
- Book #5 -- final sentence of the book: "And the Kel stood still only for a moment more, then walked faster and faster to meet them, with the kel'anth and Duncan far in the lead." --The Faded Sun Trilogy (Omnibus) written by C.J. Cherryh
- Make the five sentences into a paragraph:
[The daily quest has arrived.] Ares Feng is an extremist whose early life experiences have made him reclusive, moody, and distrustful of everyone. Then, suddenly, right in the middle of it all, they stop with the banter and the whole gang looks at me. Even he didn't know why he'd come here, after all this time. And the Kel stood still only for a moment more, then walked faster and faster to meet them, with the kel'anth and Duncan far in the lead.
The use of the first person in only one of them is a little jarring when it goes back to third, but it's the tone shift that's more curious I think: the first three are very "close" while the last two are more removed. Nothing much has happened, but it's kind of interesting!
Done This Week
May. 17th, 2026 10:08 amscrubjayspeaksAnd now we’re going to throw a veterinary situation into the mix! Because why not? We had a scheduled appointment for the dog (routine, she’s fine) that then turned into a double appointment because one of the ducks, Parfait, is sick. That turned into a second appointment as well for further injections.
Still not clear what’s wrong--we’ve eliminated some possibilities, but we’re still in the wide chasm between “could be a minor infection” and “could be ovarian cancer.” Her appetite still hasn’t come back, but she’s also not getting any worse and her energy is a bit better.
And now another duck, Eclair, has a slight limp. No visible injuries, so she might have just strained something or slept on it wrong. They’re all eight years old, very much senior animals, so this is probably going to become the new normal for however long it lasts.
A person I don’t technically work for visited and wanted a demonstration of the robot I don’t have functional yet (because his location’s team didn’t build it right), on a press no one has time to run. This was kind of a tedious waste of my time, but that’s nothing new.
But! BUT~~~ I think I finally got the modifications where I need them to be. I got a 90% success on the last attempt on Friday. (During which I was a) running the machine, b) troubleshooting the robotics, and c) scuttling off to mill down the parts I’m modifying. Efficient? No. Effective? Eh.)
Given the everything, I surrendered to the need to cut things. Dialed back everything I could afford to. The flare is subsiding, but the fatigue remains.
Lewisia: 3 new pieces written
Day job: 34.75 hours, with a day off for the first set of vet appointments
Gardening: planted the new corn and winter squash patch, garden club post, succulent club meeting
Reading: The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic (finally worked up the courage to dive back in, we finally got to the smooching bits, also I did not see any of that ending coming, holy shit)
Watching: Stranger Things season 3 episode 2
Listening: assorted singles from The Narcissist Cookbook--“Lorelai: A Ghost Story” (actually an audio short story), “Shut Up And Drive” (oh, it’s a fandom theme song!), “Y’All Ship Me With A Gremlin Boy,” and “Good Love”
Clock Mouse: none minutes and none words ;_;
Still not clear what’s wrong--we’ve eliminated some possibilities, but we’re still in the wide chasm between “could be a minor infection” and “could be ovarian cancer.” Her appetite still hasn’t come back, but she’s also not getting any worse and her energy is a bit better.
And now another duck, Eclair, has a slight limp. No visible injuries, so she might have just strained something or slept on it wrong. They’re all eight years old, very much senior animals, so this is probably going to become the new normal for however long it lasts.
A person I don’t technically work for visited and wanted a demonstration of the robot I don’t have functional yet (because his location’s team didn’t build it right), on a press no one has time to run. This was kind of a tedious waste of my time, but that’s nothing new.
But! BUT~~~ I think I finally got the modifications where I need them to be. I got a 90% success on the last attempt on Friday. (During which I was a) running the machine, b) troubleshooting the robotics, and c) scuttling off to mill down the parts I’m modifying. Efficient? No. Effective? Eh.)
Given the everything, I surrendered to the need to cut things. Dialed back everything I could afford to. The flare is subsiding, but the fatigue remains.
Lewisia: 3 new pieces written
Day job: 34.75 hours, with a day off for the first set of vet appointments
Gardening: planted the new corn and winter squash patch, garden club post, succulent club meeting
Reading: The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic (finally worked up the courage to dive back in, we finally got to the smooching bits, also I did not see any of that ending coming, holy shit)
Watching: Stranger Things season 3 episode 2
Listening: assorted singles from The Narcissist Cookbook--“Lorelai: A Ghost Story” (actually an audio short story), “Shut Up And Drive” (oh, it’s a fandom theme song!), “Y’All Ship Me With A Gremlin Boy,” and “Good Love”
Clock Mouse: none minutes and none words ;_;
It really is all laundry all the time
May. 17th, 2026 10:28 amconulyPerson A: You know you're supposed to finish the laundry if you start it during your shift!
Me, silently: Don't think of it as my three loads of laundry that I didn't finish during my shift, think of it as your three loads of laundry that I got started for you. Though really, if Person B had done her laundry during her shift like she should have then neither of us would be having this conversation today.
(There was no reason for all four of the women to have their hampers literally overflowing with clothes. Somebody, or more like several somebodies, clearly has been falling down on the job here.)
Me, silently: Don't think of it as my three loads of laundry that I didn't finish during my shift, think of it as your three loads of laundry that I got started for you. Though really, if Person B had done her laundry during her shift like she should have then neither of us would be having this conversation today.
(There was no reason for all four of the women to have their hampers literally overflowing with clothes. Somebody, or more like several somebodies, clearly has been falling down on the job here.)
I may have fixed the dishwasher at work!
May. 21st, 2026 01:21 amconulyThe trick is that the top arm needs to be firmly clipped to the drawer - not jammed to the back wall. Time will tell if my fix lasts.
Edit: No, X*, not thank god, thank me. I'm the one who fixed it! God had nothing to do with any of it!
* Not the real initial.
Edit: No, X*, not thank god, thank me. I'm the one who fixed it! God had nothing to do with any of it!
* Not the real initial.
Family gathering.
May. 16th, 2026 10:10 pmhannahI know it's odd of me to not do the baby-talk voice to my niece A. when she's around, and I'm sticking with my usual register and cadence just the same.
Her mother didn't show, but she did call once when I was around to hear it - checking in to find out if my brother J. had fed A., and then hanging up. He'd apparently send her a text earlier, but she'd called, and after getting what she wanted, quickly hung up. I don't know her week's schedules, and I don't know what her day looked like. I can only state the events as I witnessed them.
Her mother didn't show, but she did call once when I was around to hear it - checking in to find out if my brother J. had fed A., and then hanging up. He'd apparently send her a text earlier, but she'd called, and after getting what she wanted, quickly hung up. I don't know her week's schedules, and I don't know what her day looked like. I can only state the events as I witnessed them.
Life improves slowly and goes wrong fast, and only catastrophe is clearly visible.
May. 19th, 2026 05:37 pmconulyHonestly have never heard of this person before, but what an apropos sentiment!
Ah. It seems he was "the real Doctor Strangelove", "the father of the hydrogen bomb". Well, there you have it!
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( Read more... )
Ah. It seems he was "the real Doctor Strangelove", "the father of the hydrogen bomb". Well, there you have it!
( Read more... )
Cue sunset and end credits.
May. 15th, 2026 11:18 pmhannahLast summer, it was two showings each of Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick at the MOMI; this year, it was in IMAX on one of the biggest screens in the country. Last summer I took the subway under a river; this year, I rode a bike about thirty blocks. Last summer it was Top Gun on 70mm and Maverick in Dolby in the same theater; this year it was the same theater again, with Top Gun on an elegant film-to-digital transfer and Top Gun Maverick where I finally saw it with the full aspect ratio shift.
Both years I took the same local friend with me to at least one of the showings, and had even more of a blast because of her company.
Both years I recognized a few familiar faces up at the front of the line, and they recognized me too, all of us pleased that sometimes it isn't that big a city or that wide a world.
Both years I started and ended with Maverick, which was necessitated last year by the MOMI's programming and allowed this year by my deliberately choosing that order.
What's quite nice about the theater is that it's such a huge screen, there's exits up at the very top of the theater, the rows all the way in the back. What this means in practical terms is that not only does it increase safety and help reduce a bottleneck at the bottom of the stairs, there's extra bathrooms up there, plus a space where I can easily avoid the more annoying previews. Having to get back to my seat in the pre-screening "turn off your phone" bumper is a small price to pay for that. Trust me, after four screenings I can tell you which ones were worth my time.
I'm thinking I could probably squeeze in a couple more showings of one or both of them, and I'm also thinking that in terms of real-world practicalities - scheduling, costs, errands, chores - as well as in terms of keeping the mirroring motif consistent, I should say that doing it twice each is enough, and to be content with having been able to get as many showings in as I've already managed. It's a local theater, and it's also a time commitment. So, I'll take what I've got as best I can.
Rather amusingly, the original Top Gun score got classified by my music player as "new age." Though perhaps, given things like box office records, theatrical runs, National Film Registry selections, knock-off effects like sunglasses sales and military recruitment, it isn't wrong. A new age, indeed.
Both years I took the same local friend with me to at least one of the showings, and had even more of a blast because of her company.
Both years I recognized a few familiar faces up at the front of the line, and they recognized me too, all of us pleased that sometimes it isn't that big a city or that wide a world.
Both years I started and ended with Maverick, which was necessitated last year by the MOMI's programming and allowed this year by my deliberately choosing that order.
What's quite nice about the theater is that it's such a huge screen, there's exits up at the very top of the theater, the rows all the way in the back. What this means in practical terms is that not only does it increase safety and help reduce a bottleneck at the bottom of the stairs, there's extra bathrooms up there, plus a space where I can easily avoid the more annoying previews. Having to get back to my seat in the pre-screening "turn off your phone" bumper is a small price to pay for that. Trust me, after four screenings I can tell you which ones were worth my time.
I'm thinking I could probably squeeze in a couple more showings of one or both of them, and I'm also thinking that in terms of real-world practicalities - scheduling, costs, errands, chores - as well as in terms of keeping the mirroring motif consistent, I should say that doing it twice each is enough, and to be content with having been able to get as many showings in as I've already managed. It's a local theater, and it's also a time commitment. So, I'll take what I've got as best I can.
Rather amusingly, the original Top Gun score got classified by my music player as "new age." Though perhaps, given things like box office records, theatrical runs, National Film Registry selections, knock-off effects like sunglasses sales and military recruitment, it isn't wrong. A new age, indeed.
Blech
May. 18th, 2026 10:34 pmconulyGoing on week two of random mid-sleep wakeups wherein I am convinced I have badly overslept and missed my entire shift.
What even is causing this? (Don't say stress, I'm sure it's stress! But what is causing the stress!? Is it lack of sleep? Because the lack of sleep sure ain't helping, gotta say.)
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( Read more... )
What even is causing this? (Don't say stress, I'm sure it's stress! But what is causing the stress!? Is it lack of sleep? Because the lack of sleep sure ain't helping, gotta say.)
( Read more... )
Lake Lewisia #1396
May. 15th, 2026 03:20 pmscrubjayspeaksNot usually one for displays of emotion, Evgeniya nevertheless returned from her working vacation pink-cheeked from more than just snow exposure. Her friends, when they visited the shop, were shown a tiny pearl of ice, secreted away in the walk-in freezer, that beat like a heart and pulled the warm breath right out of their mouths. It had come from the mountains, Evgeniya explained only vaguely and with eyes already half focused on future culinary experiments, and it would allow her to freeze words, whole sentences, into something you could taste.
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LL#1396
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LL#1396