07-12-2023, 06:45 AM
Thanks for the offer.
One thing about voice recognition software is that it's likely to be moot soon enough--at least with me voicing. I'm pretty clear as of yet, but beginning to slur some words. My cerebellum is taking a beating, with coordination and balance affected most so far. But included is nerve coordination going into the larynx.
Right now I'm stymied by a bug in Draft2Digital's conversion algorithm. It messes up on a 2-page copyright. I need two pages because the collection itself needs a copyright and each of the 17 stories needs a copyright, with credit to the first appearance in the few reprints. I just want to tell them to fix it already; I'm on a deadline. I debugged and tracked down the problem, told them how to reproduce it, and told what the fix was. But no-o-o, it gets tossed into the bin of bug reports, and who knows when they'll get to it.
Saturday’s Gettogether
LCF go to Tai Chi Saturday morning. LCF does the set a couple times with everyone else. Carol is there. I explain that it’s not safe for me to do it anymore.
Instead, I walk. The line. It’s a line in the expansive sidewalk. There are faint trowel marks to either side. Altogether, it defines a path a foot wide. I pretend the path is elevated. I mean, top of buildings elevated.
I try to walk without too blatantly falling off.
Forty-five steps. That’s how long it is. After I’ve done that a while and am warmed up, I try lengthening my steps. But when I lengthen a step, I often have to take a shorter compensatory step. The result? Forty-five steps. I keep at it, and get sloppy. I cheat. I get lucky. There’s times when I convince myself I do better, but probably not. I once get thirty-nine steps, and I have the urge to watch some Hitchcock.
I take breaks to practice standing up and sitting down. It’s not natural for me anymore. I have to lean way forward in standing up. The same when sitting down. One time I forgot on the sit-down and did so with too much backward momentum. I went over backwards, because I was practicing on a retaining wall without back support. Fortunately, I landed in mulch. That surprised a lot of the Kung Fu gang. They had to help me up. Now they keep a bench with backrest cleared for my practice.
In two hours’ time, while others have done Tai Chi twice and practiced a lot of other stuff, I’ve got my 10,000 steps.
We go to visit Sifu’s gravesite. First we eat at Coconut Bay. Steve Chiu is associated with this place. We let him order everything. It works out great. At the end, LCF and I pass around two sacks of squash, if anyone wants some. There are a surprising number of takers. Jokes are made about the sacks, which are Taco Bell. Yeah, okay. Sometimes we go fast-food.
Then we drive up to the cemetery. Everyone has dressed sensibly--except LCF and me. I’m just wearing a light t-shirt. It’s very windy, and frigid, and cloudy. Oliver brought incense sticks. He lights them in his Tesla, then distributes them. But before we can get organized, they go out. So he relights them in his car and we scramble to pay respects. But there’s a new problem--nothing to stick the incense sticks in afterward. Quick-thinking Carol thinks of the squash. Is anyone willing to give up a squash for the incense? Oliver gets his out of the trunk. It’s very small, a patty pan variety. LCF and I call them UFO squash. Only we’ve started calling them UAPs. Have to keep up with the times. I bow first because I’m the oldest. Then the others. The squash works like a charm. We stand around and chat afterwards.
A car pulls up and Owen gets out. He’s an old-timer, a late invite at my suggestion. He didn’t think he could make it, but he did. Owen and I chat a while. Then another car pulls up and Keith gets out. He’s another old-timer, another late suggestion on my behalf. He also didn’t think he could make it, but he did. He comes lumbering down the embankment and I get nervous. Sure enough, he sweeps Owen and me into a group hug. He does so with considerable forward momentum. And Keith is big. He’s really big. I cannot emphasize how big he is. I get knocked back and start to fall. But Keith catches me with a Woah. Then we’re good. After we’ve talked a bit, Owen and I are alone again, and Owen points to his shoulder and says to support myself on him next time I’m unstable. Yeah, Owen, who suffered a stroke and most movements now give him pain. Still, he’s more stable than me these days.
Soon after, I just have to leave. It’s so cold. Owen and Keith made such an effort to make it, and I feel guilty cutting the socializing so short. But we all sort of leave then.
It's weird. I have absolutely no pain or discomfort. I know it’s coming though. Still, it’s a weird state I’m in. I’m certainly not in denial. I know what’s coming. But on some level I haven’t accepted it fully. LCF made me bring the hiking poles along, but I didn’t use them. I don’t want to start using them before I have to.
I started Game of Thrones, just to see what it was like. Peter Dinklage is a marvel. He has such a commanding voice. But I quit after maybe 4 episodes, after grokking its appeal. I need to be more selective in how I spend my time. I keep thinking, “There’s things I should be doing right now.” But I’m not certain what they are. It’s a strange time.
LCF says she asked Oliver, the architect, about building a ramp. Because that’s coming. He’s dealt with that before. Not that we intend to hire him. Just to gather information.
As I mentioned before, I go in July 20 for an NRI with dye. That should give a clearer tale of the tape.
One thing about voice recognition software is that it's likely to be moot soon enough--at least with me voicing. I'm pretty clear as of yet, but beginning to slur some words. My cerebellum is taking a beating, with coordination and balance affected most so far. But included is nerve coordination going into the larynx.
Right now I'm stymied by a bug in Draft2Digital's conversion algorithm. It messes up on a 2-page copyright. I need two pages because the collection itself needs a copyright and each of the 17 stories needs a copyright, with credit to the first appearance in the few reprints. I just want to tell them to fix it already; I'm on a deadline. I debugged and tracked down the problem, told them how to reproduce it, and told what the fix was. But no-o-o, it gets tossed into the bin of bug reports, and who knows when they'll get to it.
Saturday’s Gettogether
LCF go to Tai Chi Saturday morning. LCF does the set a couple times with everyone else. Carol is there. I explain that it’s not safe for me to do it anymore.
Instead, I walk. The line. It’s a line in the expansive sidewalk. There are faint trowel marks to either side. Altogether, it defines a path a foot wide. I pretend the path is elevated. I mean, top of buildings elevated.
I try to walk without too blatantly falling off.
Forty-five steps. That’s how long it is. After I’ve done that a while and am warmed up, I try lengthening my steps. But when I lengthen a step, I often have to take a shorter compensatory step. The result? Forty-five steps. I keep at it, and get sloppy. I cheat. I get lucky. There’s times when I convince myself I do better, but probably not. I once get thirty-nine steps, and I have the urge to watch some Hitchcock.
I take breaks to practice standing up and sitting down. It’s not natural for me anymore. I have to lean way forward in standing up. The same when sitting down. One time I forgot on the sit-down and did so with too much backward momentum. I went over backwards, because I was practicing on a retaining wall without back support. Fortunately, I landed in mulch. That surprised a lot of the Kung Fu gang. They had to help me up. Now they keep a bench with backrest cleared for my practice.
In two hours’ time, while others have done Tai Chi twice and practiced a lot of other stuff, I’ve got my 10,000 steps.
We go to visit Sifu’s gravesite. First we eat at Coconut Bay. Steve Chiu is associated with this place. We let him order everything. It works out great. At the end, LCF and I pass around two sacks of squash, if anyone wants some. There are a surprising number of takers. Jokes are made about the sacks, which are Taco Bell. Yeah, okay. Sometimes we go fast-food.
Then we drive up to the cemetery. Everyone has dressed sensibly--except LCF and me. I’m just wearing a light t-shirt. It’s very windy, and frigid, and cloudy. Oliver brought incense sticks. He lights them in his Tesla, then distributes them. But before we can get organized, they go out. So he relights them in his car and we scramble to pay respects. But there’s a new problem--nothing to stick the incense sticks in afterward. Quick-thinking Carol thinks of the squash. Is anyone willing to give up a squash for the incense? Oliver gets his out of the trunk. It’s very small, a patty pan variety. LCF and I call them UFO squash. Only we’ve started calling them UAPs. Have to keep up with the times. I bow first because I’m the oldest. Then the others. The squash works like a charm. We stand around and chat afterwards.
A car pulls up and Owen gets out. He’s an old-timer, a late invite at my suggestion. He didn’t think he could make it, but he did. Owen and I chat a while. Then another car pulls up and Keith gets out. He’s another old-timer, another late suggestion on my behalf. He also didn’t think he could make it, but he did. He comes lumbering down the embankment and I get nervous. Sure enough, he sweeps Owen and me into a group hug. He does so with considerable forward momentum. And Keith is big. He’s really big. I cannot emphasize how big he is. I get knocked back and start to fall. But Keith catches me with a Woah. Then we’re good. After we’ve talked a bit, Owen and I are alone again, and Owen points to his shoulder and says to support myself on him next time I’m unstable. Yeah, Owen, who suffered a stroke and most movements now give him pain. Still, he’s more stable than me these days.
Soon after, I just have to leave. It’s so cold. Owen and Keith made such an effort to make it, and I feel guilty cutting the socializing so short. But we all sort of leave then.
It's weird. I have absolutely no pain or discomfort. I know it’s coming though. Still, it’s a weird state I’m in. I’m certainly not in denial. I know what’s coming. But on some level I haven’t accepted it fully. LCF made me bring the hiking poles along, but I didn’t use them. I don’t want to start using them before I have to.
I started Game of Thrones, just to see what it was like. Peter Dinklage is a marvel. He has such a commanding voice. But I quit after maybe 4 episodes, after grokking its appeal. I need to be more selective in how I spend my time. I keep thinking, “There’s things I should be doing right now.” But I’m not certain what they are. It’s a strange time.
LCF says she asked Oliver, the architect, about building a ramp. Because that’s coming. He’s dealt with that before. Not that we intend to hire him. Just to gather information.
As I mentioned before, I go in July 20 for an NRI with dye. That should give a clearer tale of the tape.