Weekend Update - Getting Shit Done
Jul. 7th, 2025 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brickhousewenchSaturday and Sunday were devoted to getting MOAR shit done around the house.
This weekend I tried to do at least one 20/10 in each room of the house (that's another UFYH trick).
In the bedroom I took down the Christmas lights in the sunroom, because someone complained about them (technically they’re illegal, but other people have way more fugly illegal junk on their balconies and decks, it’s just that my simple white Christmas lights are at eye level as you walk into our building. Then I weeded the T-shirt drawers, because I’d gotten to the point where I have too many t-shirts to be able to fit them in the dresser and they’ve been piling up on my bedroom chair. Then I weeded the bra drawer, and got rid of anything that I don’t wear or is too stretched out. Then I weeded the underwear drawer and tossed a couple of pairs where the elastic was starting to fail.
I called Mom around lunchtime on Saturday to tell her really quick about an article I’d read that I thought would interest her. We only chatted for a few minutes, because they were busy with their after lunch card game. But then she called me back around 3:00 to let me know that they’d had an offer on the condo they've been trying to sell for months now. And mom accepted before dad could dither too long about it. So yay, the second condo is finally sold!
After mom called me the second time I realized that I was pretty tired. I started exercising this week, and between that and all the housework on Friday, my body was pretty cranky with me. So I had a snack and sat in the Comfy Chair for about two hours. Then I had a long shower and washed my hair, because I wasn’t fit for polite company at that point. The hot shower also helped loosen up my tight back.
I threw in a load of laundry and decided to pretty much call it a day once I got that all folded and put away (which is why the t-shirt drawer got weeded).
Sunday I tried to fix the vacuum, because it’s been clogged and wasn’t sucking. But it turns out it wasn’t clogged, it’s just on its last legs. I ordered a new vacuum, but it won’t be here until Wednesday at the earliest. And my carpets are just grotty, and now I have to wait a couple more days for the new vacuum to come in (and for me to make time to assemble it) before I can do the Hoovering. BAH! I might have to vacuum every day for a week once it arrives, just to see how much dirt I can get up before I pull out the steam cleaner and tackle the stains.
Not being able to vacuum really threw me off, and I can’t say that I got as much done as I’d hoped after I discovered that I wasn’t going to be able to fix it. But I did spend a lot of time just putting random things away, trying to clear some surfaces. Hanging up clothes, shelving books, putting things back in their cabinets or drawers. And things are starting to look SO much better around here. I’ve been slowly getting caught up on tidying, but this weekend was a big leap forward in that I got through enough tidying to actually get to do some cleaning before I ran out of steam. I wouldn’t quite call the house “clean” right now, but the kitchen and bedroom are SO MUCH better than they were at the beginning of the weekend. If I can get in a couple more productive weekends this summer, I will be quite pleased with myself.
This week (month?) I’ll be taking a crack at the books and papers in the living room. I’d really like to move down at least one more photo on the hoarding reference scale. Just to be clear, I don’t think my kitchen or bedroom has ever been worse than a three, but the living room? My living room is probably about a five right now. And I’d like to get it down to a three. But that means purging boxes and papers and books. So purging stuff out of the living room is going to be my ongoing project for the rest of the summer.
This weekend I tried to do at least one 20/10 in each room of the house (that's another UFYH trick).
In the bedroom I took down the Christmas lights in the sunroom, because someone complained about them (technically they’re illegal, but other people have way more fugly illegal junk on their balconies and decks, it’s just that my simple white Christmas lights are at eye level as you walk into our building. Then I weeded the T-shirt drawers, because I’d gotten to the point where I have too many t-shirts to be able to fit them in the dresser and they’ve been piling up on my bedroom chair. Then I weeded the bra drawer, and got rid of anything that I don’t wear or is too stretched out. Then I weeded the underwear drawer and tossed a couple of pairs where the elastic was starting to fail.
I called Mom around lunchtime on Saturday to tell her really quick about an article I’d read that I thought would interest her. We only chatted for a few minutes, because they were busy with their after lunch card game. But then she called me back around 3:00 to let me know that they’d had an offer on the condo they've been trying to sell for months now. And mom accepted before dad could dither too long about it. So yay, the second condo is finally sold!
After mom called me the second time I realized that I was pretty tired. I started exercising this week, and between that and all the housework on Friday, my body was pretty cranky with me. So I had a snack and sat in the Comfy Chair for about two hours. Then I had a long shower and washed my hair, because I wasn’t fit for polite company at that point. The hot shower also helped loosen up my tight back.
I threw in a load of laundry and decided to pretty much call it a day once I got that all folded and put away (which is why the t-shirt drawer got weeded).
Sunday I tried to fix the vacuum, because it’s been clogged and wasn’t sucking. But it turns out it wasn’t clogged, it’s just on its last legs. I ordered a new vacuum, but it won’t be here until Wednesday at the earliest. And my carpets are just grotty, and now I have to wait a couple more days for the new vacuum to come in (and for me to make time to assemble it) before I can do the Hoovering. BAH! I might have to vacuum every day for a week once it arrives, just to see how much dirt I can get up before I pull out the steam cleaner and tackle the stains.
Not being able to vacuum really threw me off, and I can’t say that I got as much done as I’d hoped after I discovered that I wasn’t going to be able to fix it. But I did spend a lot of time just putting random things away, trying to clear some surfaces. Hanging up clothes, shelving books, putting things back in their cabinets or drawers. And things are starting to look SO much better around here. I’ve been slowly getting caught up on tidying, but this weekend was a big leap forward in that I got through enough tidying to actually get to do some cleaning before I ran out of steam. I wouldn’t quite call the house “clean” right now, but the kitchen and bedroom are SO MUCH better than they were at the beginning of the weekend. If I can get in a couple more productive weekends this summer, I will be quite pleased with myself.
This week (month?) I’ll be taking a crack at the books and papers in the living room. I’d really like to move down at least one more photo on the hoarding reference scale. Just to be clear, I don’t think my kitchen or bedroom has ever been worse than a three, but the living room? My living room is probably about a five right now. And I’d like to get it down to a three. But that means purging boxes and papers and books. So purging stuff out of the living room is going to be my ongoing project for the rest of the summer.
Welp, the vacuum has died
Jul. 6th, 2025 03:44 pmbrickhousewenchI took the vacuum apart today. I thought it was clogged because it hasn't been sucking very well. When I try to vacuum, it's more like it's just pushing the dirt around on the carpets, even though the roller is rolling.
It's not clogged.
I took the whole thing apart, and I used the long skinny brush (looks like an oversized pipe cleaner) that I bought to clean out the dryer vent to make sure that each section of the darn thing was clear. Because the last time I cleaned all the hair off the rollers, I did what I usually do and just sucked up the pile of hair instead of having to pick it up. I had assumed that pile of hair was stuck somewhere in the innards. But nope, it appears that my vacuum has just decided to stop sucking. Even though it's got a (relatively) new HEPA filter and a clean bag.
I bought this one back in 2012, and considering how many times I've replaced the belts, and what the poor roller looks like, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's just about dead. I checked Consumer Reports, and then looked around at a bunch of different company websites to try to find the model that I wanted. I ended up buying it off Amazon (curses!) because I couldn't find it anywhere else. So I guess instead of vacuuming today, I'm going to be vacuuming later in the week. *le sigh*
It's not clogged.
I took the whole thing apart, and I used the long skinny brush (looks like an oversized pipe cleaner) that I bought to clean out the dryer vent to make sure that each section of the darn thing was clear. Because the last time I cleaned all the hair off the rollers, I did what I usually do and just sucked up the pile of hair instead of having to pick it up. I had assumed that pile of hair was stuck somewhere in the innards. But nope, it appears that my vacuum has just decided to stop sucking. Even though it's got a (relatively) new HEPA filter and a clean bag.
I bought this one back in 2012, and considering how many times I've replaced the belts, and what the poor roller looks like, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's just about dead. I checked Consumer Reports, and then looked around at a bunch of different company websites to try to find the model that I wanted. I ended up buying it off Amazon (curses!) because I couldn't find it anywhere else. So I guess instead of vacuuming today, I'm going to be vacuuming later in the week. *le sigh*
Neighbors
Jul. 5th, 2025 12:27 pmbrickhousewenchI ran into my upstairs neighbor Pat on her way out the door yesterday. I haven’t seen her in ages and I’ve been worried about her, because she’s elderly and has mobility problems. And I hadn’t seen her car in the parking lot, so I worried about if she was in the hospital? But this week a different car had appeared in her parking space, which is right next to mine. We had a chat while she slowly (she’s using a cane) walked out to her new-to-her car. She’d sold the new one (which was an SUV and too tall for her to climb into) to her son, and had bought a used car that was low enough that she could actually get into it. I stuck around to make sure she could adjust the seat in case she needed help. (It's that new to her, and she said this is the first time she's been out of the house in A YEAR). I remembered the last time I'd talked to her she'd said how much she hated her (previous) new car.
She invited me to drop in any time to chat, because we’re both a bit lonely. I will take her up on that, and make sure I get her phone number so that she can text me if she needs anything now that Marc (who used to help her a bit with things like carrying groceries upstairs for her) has moved out.
She invited me to drop in any time to chat, because we’re both a bit lonely. I will take her up on that, and make sure I get her phone number so that she can text me if she needs anything now that Marc (who used to help her a bit with things like carrying groceries upstairs for her) has moved out.
Friday - Getting Shit Done
Jul. 4th, 2025 09:10 pmbrickhousewenchToday was all about getting shit done around the house.
I washed two throw blankets/kitty blankets
I walked all the broken down shipping boxes out to the dumpster
I replaced two burnt out lightbulbs
I walked around the house with a trash bag and just picked up trash (this is a UFYH trick). And then I made sure that bag made its way out to the dumpster, because I didn’t want it sitting around the house.
I tried an internet hack that I saw somewhere. Of course, now I can’t find where I saw it, but whatever. I used four tension rods to create a shelf in the hallway above the doorway to the sewing room where I can put my stash of TP, paper towels, and Kleenex. I rather like it, and it helped clear some of the stuff that I’ve had stored on top of the dryer for ages.
I washed a ton of dishes. I’ve almost finished washing all the everyday dishes. Saturday I’ll wash the pots and pans and then start on the other things that have been sitting around waiting to get washed (the cat feeders and fountains, so I can finally put those away, some ceramic planters from my dead plants, a bunch of holiday cookie tins, etc.).
The nice thing about today is that it sets me up nicely for things I want to do tomorrow in the kitchen. Like clean the counters and kitchen sink (have to deal with the dirty dishes first) and cleaning the stove top (need to clean the pots and pans first).
I washed two throw blankets/kitty blankets
I walked all the broken down shipping boxes out to the dumpster
I replaced two burnt out lightbulbs
I walked around the house with a trash bag and just picked up trash (this is a UFYH trick). And then I made sure that bag made its way out to the dumpster, because I didn’t want it sitting around the house.
I tried an internet hack that I saw somewhere. Of course, now I can’t find where I saw it, but whatever. I used four tension rods to create a shelf in the hallway above the doorway to the sewing room where I can put my stash of TP, paper towels, and Kleenex. I rather like it, and it helped clear some of the stuff that I’ve had stored on top of the dryer for ages.
I washed a ton of dishes. I’ve almost finished washing all the everyday dishes. Saturday I’ll wash the pots and pans and then start on the other things that have been sitting around waiting to get washed (the cat feeders and fountains, so I can finally put those away, some ceramic planters from my dead plants, a bunch of holiday cookie tins, etc.).
The nice thing about today is that it sets me up nicely for things I want to do tomorrow in the kitchen. Like clean the counters and kitchen sink (have to deal with the dirty dishes first) and cleaning the stove top (need to clean the pots and pans first).
Ancient Greek Cooking
Jul. 4th, 2025 12:21 pmbrickhousewenchJust link parking this here, but it might be interesting to others too.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-ancient-greek-dinner-parties
Andrew: The whole book is written in Greek. So Deipnosophistae in Greek can be translated as “the philosophers at dinner” or like, “the wise people at dinner.” One scholar that I spoke with had a kind of funny translation. He translated it as “banquet wits,” and he said he likes this because it sounds a little bit like “twits.” And there is like a bit of irreverence or humor in the text itself. So, he thought that that was a funny way of translating it.
Dylan: Yeah, I mean it shows you something about the culture, that there was so much kind of fine dining and social maneuvering happening in this space that someone would go to the trouble of producing a text, which was actually quite a lot of trouble back then, to be like, here’s kind of what you need to know.
Andrew: It’s a very rambling book. The format is hard to pin down. The framing device is that it’s a bunch of people talking at a dinner party. So it’s kind of structured that as the courses of the dinner are coming out, they see a dish and it inspires them to talk about that ingredient. Like the food itself is inspiring what they’re talking about. And they’re telling stories and they’re quoting a lot from other authors. That’s what makes it such an interesting and important text is because it preserves the words of all of these earlier writers. And in some cases, you have writers whose work doesn’t survive in its entirety, but the little piece of it that’s quoted in Deipnosophistae is what we have that survives.
Dylan: It’s like super meta because it’s like in the format of a dinner party conversation, but is also like a great quotes book so that you can reference it for your future dinner. So, Deipnosophistae contains these quotes, it contains these kind of philosophical tidbits, but it also seems like it also has real recipes in here.
Andrew: Well, one of the most significant things is it contains the oldest recorded known recipe in Greek. During this time, especially the Greek cities in what is now Sicily, were known for kind of fancy haute cuisine. And so the recipe that we have in Deipnosophistae is for a grilled fish. It’s a type of fish called ribbon fish, and it’s topped with grated cheese and olive oil.
*****
Dylan: That’s amazing, because there isn’t actually patent law for recipes now. I like the idea of it being a one-year patent on a recipe because it’s kind of like, okay, you get a year to be a really hot star chef, and then everybody gets to take a crack at doing the thing. I kind of feel like that would be a good thing to bring back. So, this book’s fascinating because it’s so many things. In a way, it just reminds me of what I sometimes call a tidbits book, which collects a lot of little stories or a lot of quotes or just this and that. It reminds me of the books that people sometimes put on the back of a toilet, like the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader kind of thing. The thing that you pick up and you sort of browse through it, it’s not really meant to be necessarily read in a go. You kind of open to some pages and go like, ah, interesting, very enlightening, and then you close it and you put it back on the back of the toilet.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eat-like-a-greek-philosopher-oldest-fish-recipe
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-ancient-greek-dinner-parties
Andrew: The whole book is written in Greek. So Deipnosophistae in Greek can be translated as “the philosophers at dinner” or like, “the wise people at dinner.” One scholar that I spoke with had a kind of funny translation. He translated it as “banquet wits,” and he said he likes this because it sounds a little bit like “twits.” And there is like a bit of irreverence or humor in the text itself. So, he thought that that was a funny way of translating it.
Dylan: Yeah, I mean it shows you something about the culture, that there was so much kind of fine dining and social maneuvering happening in this space that someone would go to the trouble of producing a text, which was actually quite a lot of trouble back then, to be like, here’s kind of what you need to know.
Andrew: It’s a very rambling book. The format is hard to pin down. The framing device is that it’s a bunch of people talking at a dinner party. So it’s kind of structured that as the courses of the dinner are coming out, they see a dish and it inspires them to talk about that ingredient. Like the food itself is inspiring what they’re talking about. And they’re telling stories and they’re quoting a lot from other authors. That’s what makes it such an interesting and important text is because it preserves the words of all of these earlier writers. And in some cases, you have writers whose work doesn’t survive in its entirety, but the little piece of it that’s quoted in Deipnosophistae is what we have that survives.
Dylan: It’s like super meta because it’s like in the format of a dinner party conversation, but is also like a great quotes book so that you can reference it for your future dinner. So, Deipnosophistae contains these quotes, it contains these kind of philosophical tidbits, but it also seems like it also has real recipes in here.
Andrew: Well, one of the most significant things is it contains the oldest recorded known recipe in Greek. During this time, especially the Greek cities in what is now Sicily, were known for kind of fancy haute cuisine. And so the recipe that we have in Deipnosophistae is for a grilled fish. It’s a type of fish called ribbon fish, and it’s topped with grated cheese and olive oil.
*****
Dylan: That’s amazing, because there isn’t actually patent law for recipes now. I like the idea of it being a one-year patent on a recipe because it’s kind of like, okay, you get a year to be a really hot star chef, and then everybody gets to take a crack at doing the thing. I kind of feel like that would be a good thing to bring back. So, this book’s fascinating because it’s so many things. In a way, it just reminds me of what I sometimes call a tidbits book, which collects a lot of little stories or a lot of quotes or just this and that. It reminds me of the books that people sometimes put on the back of a toilet, like the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader kind of thing. The thing that you pick up and you sort of browse through it, it’s not really meant to be necessarily read in a go. You kind of open to some pages and go like, ah, interesting, very enlightening, and then you close it and you put it back on the back of the toilet.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eat-like-a-greek-philosopher-oldest-fish-recipe
Getting Shit Done
Jul. 3rd, 2025 09:21 pmbrickhousewenchNow that it’s summer I’ve found that I have more energy to Get Shit Done. (I’m apparently solar powered) So I’ve been slowly picking away at getting Frogholm cleaned up. It helps that I’ve had more time off recently. I had Thursday June 19th off for Juneteenth (new Federal holiday) and then the following Monday, June 23, as one of our five company shutdown days. And this week is another four day week for Independence Day. The really nice thing about three day weekends is that even if I spent a whole day doing nothing, I’ve still got two more days off to attempt some housework. Lately I’ve been pretty good at keeping up with the dishes and laundry, (and reading Dreamwidth) which means I’ve had enough time to start tackling some of the many, many things on my lengthy To Do list around the house.
For example, I’ve got two broken towel rods in the bathroom. One pulled out of the wall, so it needs to be spackled before I can reinstall, and the other I grabbed onto when I slipped in the shower last summer (so I managed to break that one). They’re cheap wooden ones, the cheapest ones you can buy at Walmart, as I discovered when I started looking at Home Despot and Lowes websites, because I knew I’d seen them somewhere. Anywhoo, the Good News part is that when I found them on the Walmart website, it said something about “Fulfillment through [Other Company]. And since I’d rather not spend money at WallyWorld, I went to the Other Company website. Where they were the daily special and ONE THIRD of the price! Go me! Once those arrive, I’ll spend a day on bathroom refurbishment (replace towel rods, wash the shower curtain and replace the liner, new toilet seat, etc.)
This weekend I’m hoping to spend some time sorting through some of my many boxes of papers. I’d just toss them, but I know they need to be sorted first, and in some cases things really should be shredded. So I’ll work on that this weekend. And try to shelve some more books and maybe cull some of the herd to donate. My other project goal this weekend is to buy some houseplants. So that I’m not the only living thing in this apartment.
After work tonight I drove to the Post Office and mailed the bills. Then I hit up Target, and Staples for supplies for a couple of other things I want to get done this weekend. And then went to Wegmans to grocery shop, because I didn’t go last Friday and I was out of milk and down to my last yogurt. But that means I don’t have any excuses to leave the house Friday. So I can get cracking on the housework.
It feels so good to be moving forward again after treading water for way too long.
For example, I’ve got two broken towel rods in the bathroom. One pulled out of the wall, so it needs to be spackled before I can reinstall, and the other I grabbed onto when I slipped in the shower last summer (so I managed to break that one). They’re cheap wooden ones, the cheapest ones you can buy at Walmart, as I discovered when I started looking at Home Despot and Lowes websites, because I knew I’d seen them somewhere. Anywhoo, the Good News part is that when I found them on the Walmart website, it said something about “Fulfillment through [Other Company]. And since I’d rather not spend money at WallyWorld, I went to the Other Company website. Where they were the daily special and ONE THIRD of the price! Go me! Once those arrive, I’ll spend a day on bathroom refurbishment (replace towel rods, wash the shower curtain and replace the liner, new toilet seat, etc.)
This weekend I’m hoping to spend some time sorting through some of my many boxes of papers. I’d just toss them, but I know they need to be sorted first, and in some cases things really should be shredded. So I’ll work on that this weekend. And try to shelve some more books and maybe cull some of the herd to donate. My other project goal this weekend is to buy some houseplants. So that I’m not the only living thing in this apartment.
After work tonight I drove to the Post Office and mailed the bills. Then I hit up Target, and Staples for supplies for a couple of other things I want to get done this weekend. And then went to Wegmans to grocery shop, because I didn’t go last Friday and I was out of milk and down to my last yogurt. But that means I don’t have any excuses to leave the house Friday. So I can get cracking on the housework.
It feels so good to be moving forward again after treading water for way too long.
Now what? Next Steps
Jul. 3rd, 2025 05:50 pmbrickhousewenchWhelp, Congress went and passed the First Felon’s Big Bastard of a Bill. So now what?
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/what-next-no-kings-movement-protest-boycott-organize-1235367077/
Those next steps include a new national protest, dubbed “Good Trouble Lives On.” That protest is scheduled for July 17, and honors the anniversary of the 2020 passing of Civil Rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, who called on Americans fighting for justice to create “good trouble” in the name of redeeming the soul of America. The rallying cry for the march is “March in Peace. Act in Power.” The protest already has dozens of planned demonstrations.
The other action announced on the call is called “1 Million Rising.” Organized by Indivisible, the progressive grassroots juggernaut, the initiative seeks to harness the energy of protesters to build long-term political power. One Million Rising describes itself as “a national effort to train one million people” to become pro-democracy movement leaders, with “the skills to lead others.” The initiative aims to “build people power that can’t be ignored” and has as its mission statement: “1 Million Trained, Millions More Empowered.”
Mark your calendars!
Indivisible - https://indivisible.org/
Good Trouble Lives On - https://goodtroubleliveson.org/
1 Million rising - https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/what-next-no-kings-movement-protest-boycott-organize-1235367077/
Those next steps include a new national protest, dubbed “Good Trouble Lives On.” That protest is scheduled for July 17, and honors the anniversary of the 2020 passing of Civil Rights icon and Congressman John Lewis, who called on Americans fighting for justice to create “good trouble” in the name of redeeming the soul of America. The rallying cry for the march is “March in Peace. Act in Power.” The protest already has dozens of planned demonstrations.
The other action announced on the call is called “1 Million Rising.” Organized by Indivisible, the progressive grassroots juggernaut, the initiative seeks to harness the energy of protesters to build long-term political power. One Million Rising describes itself as “a national effort to train one million people” to become pro-democracy movement leaders, with “the skills to lead others.” The initiative aims to “build people power that can’t be ignored” and has as its mission statement: “1 Million Trained, Millions More Empowered.”
Mark your calendars!
Indivisible - https://indivisible.org/
Good Trouble Lives On - https://goodtroubleliveson.org/
1 Million rising - https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/803953/
That feeling when
Jul. 3rd, 2025 02:06 pmbrickhousewenchThat feeling when you take your little morning walk.
And realize when you've finished, that your FitBit was on the charger and not on your wrist.
Oh well, at least my body knows that I walked, even if my FitBit doesn't. And that's what counts.
And realize when you've finished, that your FitBit was on the charger and not on your wrist.
Oh well, at least my body knows that I walked, even if my FitBit doesn't. And that's what counts.
WTF Wednesday - US Funding cuts to South Africa
Jul. 2nd, 2025 02:27 pmbrickhousewenchI read this a while back, but I forgot to post it here. The NY Times wrote about how DOGE cuts will affect not just South Africa, but how those funding cuts will affect much much more than people might expect.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/health/south-africa-medical-research-trump.html
South Africa has for decades been a medical research powerhouse, yet its stature has been little known to people outside the field. South Africa’s scientists have been responsible for key breakthroughs against major global killers, including heart disease, H.I.V. and respiratory viruses such as Covid-19. They have worked closely with American researchers and have been awarded more research funding from the United States than any other country has received.
But a swift series of executive orders and budget cuts from the Trump administration have, in a matter of months, demolished this research ecosystem.
There are grim ramifications for human health worldwide, and also for pharmaceutical companies, including American giants such as Pfizer, Merck, Abbott and Gilead Sciences, which rely heavily on South Africa’s research complex when they develop and test new drugs, vaccines and treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies have relied on the country for clinical trials for decades. Some are now rethinking their relationship with South Africa, according to people familiar with the discussions.
And as just another layer of WTF racism, the US found a way to still keep experimenting on Black people, just not in our own country but overseas. *head desk*
“The implications of this are huge,” said Dr. Ntobeko Ntusi, chief executive of the South African Medical Research Council. “One of the biggest success stories to come out of South Africa in the last three decades, largely aided through the generosity of American people, has been the development of this high-caliber cadre of scientists who’ve led scholarship that has been seminal not just for South Africa but for the whole world.”
The first-ever heart transplant was performed in Cape Town in 1967. The CT scanner was invented in South Africa. So were many now-common surgical techniques. Vaccines and drugs that are widely used in the United States — including treatments for high blood pressure and the immunization for R.S.V. — came out of South African research.
And also, goddamn us for throwing all these highly trained doctors and scientists out of work.
South Africa’s research might is a legacy of its harsh history. Apartheid-era governments neglected the health of millions of Black people but invested in educational institutions and medical innovation for the white population. In the decades since the country transitioned to a multiracial democracy, those educational institutions have been open to everyone. But efforts to extend basic health care have been slow, which means the country still has a high rate of disease. That, in turn, makes for a grimly efficient place to conduct research.
Because the South African rand is a weaker currency — running about 20 to a U.S. dollar — running studies in South Africa costs a fraction of what it does in the United States.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/health/south-africa-medical-research-trump.html
South Africa has for decades been a medical research powerhouse, yet its stature has been little known to people outside the field. South Africa’s scientists have been responsible for key breakthroughs against major global killers, including heart disease, H.I.V. and respiratory viruses such as Covid-19. They have worked closely with American researchers and have been awarded more research funding from the United States than any other country has received.
But a swift series of executive orders and budget cuts from the Trump administration have, in a matter of months, demolished this research ecosystem.
There are grim ramifications for human health worldwide, and also for pharmaceutical companies, including American giants such as Pfizer, Merck, Abbott and Gilead Sciences, which rely heavily on South Africa’s research complex when they develop and test new drugs, vaccines and treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies have relied on the country for clinical trials for decades. Some are now rethinking their relationship with South Africa, according to people familiar with the discussions.
And as just another layer of WTF racism, the US found a way to still keep experimenting on Black people, just not in our own country but overseas. *head desk*
“The implications of this are huge,” said Dr. Ntobeko Ntusi, chief executive of the South African Medical Research Council. “One of the biggest success stories to come out of South Africa in the last three decades, largely aided through the generosity of American people, has been the development of this high-caliber cadre of scientists who’ve led scholarship that has been seminal not just for South Africa but for the whole world.”
The first-ever heart transplant was performed in Cape Town in 1967. The CT scanner was invented in South Africa. So were many now-common surgical techniques. Vaccines and drugs that are widely used in the United States — including treatments for high blood pressure and the immunization for R.S.V. — came out of South African research.
And also, goddamn us for throwing all these highly trained doctors and scientists out of work.
South Africa’s research might is a legacy of its harsh history. Apartheid-era governments neglected the health of millions of Black people but invested in educational institutions and medical innovation for the white population. In the decades since the country transitioned to a multiracial democracy, those educational institutions have been open to everyone. But efforts to extend basic health care have been slow, which means the country still has a high rate of disease. That, in turn, makes for a grimly efficient place to conduct research.
Because the South African rand is a weaker currency — running about 20 to a U.S. dollar — running studies in South Africa costs a fraction of what it does in the United States.
Getting Shit Done at Work
Jul. 1st, 2025 07:19 pmbrickhousewenchFirst a little backstory, for the non-technical people in my reading audience. I’ll try to keep it brief.
You may have heard of virtual machines? They are software that mimics a laptop or server. So for example, you can have a Windows laptop, but run a Linux virtual machine on top of it if you want to. And the VM behaves exactly like a Linux laptop would. Well, the next software evolution from VMs is a container. When you create a VM, the virtual machine contains all sorts of things that you might not need. The same way a new laptop has all sorts of programs you might never use (in my case it’s browsers that I don’t use, and all those games). When you create a container, you only install the exact software that you need, and nothing more. So they’re much leaner/smaller, and you can run more containers than you can VMs on the same hardware. The most popular software to manage containers is called Kubernetes, and the most popular way to install containers on a Kubernets platform is using Helm Charts. OK, that’s the background.
At my current job we support Helm Charts for customers to install our software. BUT, we don’t use Helm Charts when we install our own software internally, we use something else. As a result, since we don’t use Helm Charts, the engineering team doesn’t really know diddly squat about them. And even our most experienced Engineer is intimidated by Helm, and complains that he doesn’t understand it. BUT our customers use Helm Charts, and they have to install our product using Helm charts. I’m sure you can see where this is going, can’t you?
When we have a release and update the Helm charts, we often do it badly so that there are bugs, or even worse the software can’t install. So our open source customers then have to log bugs. And they submit fixes because sometimes the problem is obvious. Or they write new features, because they need to be able to configure something we hadn't thought of. But the Engineering team pretty much ignores the issues, and somehow never get around to reviewing their code submissions until either I beg them to or someone from the community finds someone’s name or email address and pesters them personally. People tweet at us. One guy tracked people down on LinkedIn and sent them messages that way. It’s a mess. And it’s embarrassing and makes us look bad.
My Developer Advocate buddy Jay had an idea a while back to form a group of volunteers from the Community to tackle the problem. And then the idea went nowhere for a couple of months. When we met up at the offsite in Madrid, we decided to resurrect the idea and see if we could get the team to let us try it for a three month pilot program for a Helm Maintainers Group. This time we got the approval. Whee! We have two developer advocates, myself, and three Community Champions, people who we’ve already recognized for helping out in the Community, answering questions on the Community forum and Community Slack and submitting bug fixes. I don’t know much about Helm (yet). But it’s a skill I’d like to add to my toolbox, so I have a couple of books and I’ve signed up for a couple of online courses. For the time being, I’m around because I have permission to push buttons on the repo that only employees can push.
We had our kick off meeting last week (Tuesday the 24th) and then I spent the rest of the week going through and getting all the Helm Charts pull requests into a Google Spreadsheet so that we could triage them. Starting out we had something like 135 - 140 Pull Requests waiting to be reviewed. Between Jay and I, we’ve already closed about 45 as either too stale or no longer needed (because the fix was already in the code). One of our Community champions has started working his way through the spreadsheet, and I’ve already merged one PR for him. I saw him commenting on a lot of other PRs, asking for changes or asking people to update to the latest version of the code. So he’ll probably get through all the extra small ones this week.
I’m so excited that we’ve gotten so much done in only a week. Yeah, we do still have about 90 PRs to deal with. I’m hoping that we can get through all of the biggest ones in the next month or two, and then maybe we can work on some of the backlog of issues and bug reports.
You may have heard of virtual machines? They are software that mimics a laptop or server. So for example, you can have a Windows laptop, but run a Linux virtual machine on top of it if you want to. And the VM behaves exactly like a Linux laptop would. Well, the next software evolution from VMs is a container. When you create a VM, the virtual machine contains all sorts of things that you might not need. The same way a new laptop has all sorts of programs you might never use (in my case it’s browsers that I don’t use, and all those games). When you create a container, you only install the exact software that you need, and nothing more. So they’re much leaner/smaller, and you can run more containers than you can VMs on the same hardware. The most popular software to manage containers is called Kubernetes, and the most popular way to install containers on a Kubernets platform is using Helm Charts. OK, that’s the background.
At my current job we support Helm Charts for customers to install our software. BUT, we don’t use Helm Charts when we install our own software internally, we use something else. As a result, since we don’t use Helm Charts, the engineering team doesn’t really know diddly squat about them. And even our most experienced Engineer is intimidated by Helm, and complains that he doesn’t understand it. BUT our customers use Helm Charts, and they have to install our product using Helm charts. I’m sure you can see where this is going, can’t you?
When we have a release and update the Helm charts, we often do it badly so that there are bugs, or even worse the software can’t install. So our open source customers then have to log bugs. And they submit fixes because sometimes the problem is obvious. Or they write new features, because they need to be able to configure something we hadn't thought of. But the Engineering team pretty much ignores the issues, and somehow never get around to reviewing their code submissions until either I beg them to or someone from the community finds someone’s name or email address and pesters them personally. People tweet at us. One guy tracked people down on LinkedIn and sent them messages that way. It’s a mess. And it’s embarrassing and makes us look bad.
My Developer Advocate buddy Jay had an idea a while back to form a group of volunteers from the Community to tackle the problem. And then the idea went nowhere for a couple of months. When we met up at the offsite in Madrid, we decided to resurrect the idea and see if we could get the team to let us try it for a three month pilot program for a Helm Maintainers Group. This time we got the approval. Whee! We have two developer advocates, myself, and three Community Champions, people who we’ve already recognized for helping out in the Community, answering questions on the Community forum and Community Slack and submitting bug fixes. I don’t know much about Helm (yet). But it’s a skill I’d like to add to my toolbox, so I have a couple of books and I’ve signed up for a couple of online courses. For the time being, I’m around because I have permission to push buttons on the repo that only employees can push.
We had our kick off meeting last week (Tuesday the 24th) and then I spent the rest of the week going through and getting all the Helm Charts pull requests into a Google Spreadsheet so that we could triage them. Starting out we had something like 135 - 140 Pull Requests waiting to be reviewed. Between Jay and I, we’ve already closed about 45 as either too stale or no longer needed (because the fix was already in the code). One of our Community champions has started working his way through the spreadsheet, and I’ve already merged one PR for him. I saw him commenting on a lot of other PRs, asking for changes or asking people to update to the latest version of the code. So he’ll probably get through all the extra small ones this week.
I’m so excited that we’ve gotten so much done in only a week. Yeah, we do still have about 90 PRs to deal with. I’m hoping that we can get through all of the biggest ones in the next month or two, and then maybe we can work on some of the backlog of issues and bug reports.
This is your brain on no sleep
Jul. 1st, 2025 12:54 pmbrickhousewenchParticularly relevant right now after I only got about two hours sleep Sunday night...
https://www.inverse.com/health/all-nighter-rewires-brain-mental-health-treatments
Everyone remembers their first all-nighter. What’s probably more memorable, though, is the slap-happy, zombie-like mode the next day brings. That “sleep-drunk” feeling isn’t imaginary.
The researchers found that one all-nighter roughly had the same effects on the brain as taking the anesthetic ketamine.
Which also might explain Elon Musk's behavior. He is famous for 1) staying up all night working and getting very little sleep and 2) taking lots of ketamine, which probably magnifies the effects of not sleeping.
This isn’t an endorsement of acute sleep deprivation. “I definitely don't want the takeaway from the story to be, ‘Let's not sleep tonight,’” Kozorovitskiy says.
Insufficient sleep brings risk for myriad conditions and events, such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke, way up. What’s more, sleep deprivation can push the antidepressant effect too far in the other direction, triggering manic episodes in people with mental health conditions like bipolar disorder. Going a night without shut-eye isn’t the latest craze that will cure your depression, but rather, this insight could shake up our approach to targeting different areas in the brain when developing antidepressant medications.
https://www.inverse.com/health/all-nighter-rewires-brain-mental-health-treatments
Everyone remembers their first all-nighter. What’s probably more memorable, though, is the slap-happy, zombie-like mode the next day brings. That “sleep-drunk” feeling isn’t imaginary.
The researchers found that one all-nighter roughly had the same effects on the brain as taking the anesthetic ketamine.
Which also might explain Elon Musk's behavior. He is famous for 1) staying up all night working and getting very little sleep and 2) taking lots of ketamine, which probably magnifies the effects of not sleeping.
This isn’t an endorsement of acute sleep deprivation. “I definitely don't want the takeaway from the story to be, ‘Let's not sleep tonight,’” Kozorovitskiy says.
Insufficient sleep brings risk for myriad conditions and events, such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke, way up. What’s more, sleep deprivation can push the antidepressant effect too far in the other direction, triggering manic episodes in people with mental health conditions like bipolar disorder. Going a night without shut-eye isn’t the latest craze that will cure your depression, but rather, this insight could shake up our approach to targeting different areas in the brain when developing antidepressant medications.
The Germans are good at everything
Jul. 1st, 2025 08:38 ambrickhousewenchhttps://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a38146699/can-you-cure-motherhood-burnout-the-germans-seem-to-think-so/
By giving exhausted moms a paid time-out, the Germans may have found the remedy for what ails you—if what ails you is the stress of raising a child.
I had been parenting alone for the better part of two years when my doctor, after repeatedly treating me for fatigue, decided to write a unique prescription. A cure, as they say in German. Taking in the air, as we once said in English.
Whatever you call it, the treatment felt luxurious to this American: a three-week time-out with my kid on a quiet, car-free island, paid for by my insurance company. We would stay in a dormitory and I, along with 24 other exhausted mothers, would be taking classes on things like budgeting and stretching as a means of self-care. There would be day care and housekeeping and meal service, so we could concentrate on our lives beyond work and domesticity.
***
The cure, which got its start in the rubble of World War II, had been approved for more than 47,000 people the year before the pandemic; another two million people are estimated to be in need of one. Raising a child is clearly exhausting, especially under these circumstances.
Elly Heuss-Knapp, the wife of Germany's first postwar president, knew this firsthand; raised by a single father after her mother had been committed to an asylum, Heuss-Knapp introduced the concept of sending stressed out mothers to rural places for retreats in the early 1950s. In doing so, she enshrined the needs of women, hundreds of thousands of whom were widowed or dealing with traumatized husbands, into law in a newly formed country whose Constitution did not prioritize the rights of women. After such profound social disruption, the women (who were themselves often traumatized after surviving the war) needed a quiet time-out to grieve in peace and regain a sense of normalcy. Whole towns grew up around these dedicated "cure houses," and these retreats were enshrined in law.
I love this idea, that a culture can recognize that mothers are stressed out. And then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
By giving exhausted moms a paid time-out, the Germans may have found the remedy for what ails you—if what ails you is the stress of raising a child.
I had been parenting alone for the better part of two years when my doctor, after repeatedly treating me for fatigue, decided to write a unique prescription. A cure, as they say in German. Taking in the air, as we once said in English.
Whatever you call it, the treatment felt luxurious to this American: a three-week time-out with my kid on a quiet, car-free island, paid for by my insurance company. We would stay in a dormitory and I, along with 24 other exhausted mothers, would be taking classes on things like budgeting and stretching as a means of self-care. There would be day care and housekeeping and meal service, so we could concentrate on our lives beyond work and domesticity.
***
The cure, which got its start in the rubble of World War II, had been approved for more than 47,000 people the year before the pandemic; another two million people are estimated to be in need of one. Raising a child is clearly exhausting, especially under these circumstances.
Elly Heuss-Knapp, the wife of Germany's first postwar president, knew this firsthand; raised by a single father after her mother had been committed to an asylum, Heuss-Knapp introduced the concept of sending stressed out mothers to rural places for retreats in the early 1950s. In doing so, she enshrined the needs of women, hundreds of thousands of whom were widowed or dealing with traumatized husbands, into law in a newly formed country whose Constitution did not prioritize the rights of women. After such profound social disruption, the women (who were themselves often traumatized after surviving the war) needed a quiet time-out to grieve in peace and regain a sense of normalcy. Whole towns grew up around these dedicated "cure houses," and these retreats were enshrined in law.
I love this idea, that a culture can recognize that mothers are stressed out. And then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Time to get moving
Jul. 1st, 2025 08:33 ambrickhousewenchLast year between Covid and having my gallbladder yeeted I lost around 25 pounds. And that was on top of the ten pounds I'd lost on purpose.
This year, in the past couple of weeks I've gained back a pound or two (but less than five pounds).
Time to get moving and make the scale move in the direction I want it to again.
This year, in the past couple of weeks I've gained back a pound or two (but less than five pounds).
Time to get moving and make the scale move in the direction I want it to again.
Stupid brain is stupid
Jun. 30th, 2025 12:44 pmbrickhousewenchI am trying to clean out some of the hoard of various foodstuffs in the cupboard, so I was drinking a different flavor of Crystal Lite on Sunday. And it didn't even occur to me until it was bedtime but I wasn't feeling sleepy that, oops the Citrus flavor has caffeine. D'oh! So of course I couldn't sleep last night. After going to bed late and spending an hour not sleeping, I did what all the insomnia articles suggest and got out of bed. Usually when I have insomnia I read for an hour or two and start yawning, and then go back to sleep and conk out.
Last night I read for quite a long time before I felt even remotely tired. I finally decided to just head back to bed and attempt some sleeping. When I got there, I realized that it wasn't particularly dark in the bedroom. I checked my phone, it was just before 5:00 am. I checked my weather app, and sunrise was at 5:10. Double D'oh!
So I only got about two or three hours of sleep last night. Not a great way to start the work week. =P
Last night I read for quite a long time before I felt even remotely tired. I finally decided to just head back to bed and attempt some sleeping. When I got there, I realized that it wasn't particularly dark in the bedroom. I checked my phone, it was just before 5:00 am. I checked my weather app, and sunrise was at 5:10. Double D'oh!
So I only got about two or three hours of sleep last night. Not a great way to start the work week. =P
Ai and copyright
Jun. 26th, 2025 07:36 pmbrickhousewenchFederal judge rules copyrighted books are fair use for AI training
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/federal-judge-rules-copyrighted-books-are-fair-use-ai-training-rcna214766
( Full text under the cut, emphasis mine )
The judge's ruling totally ignores that people are using AI to write new books "in the style of" famous authors. Which is harming the authors by essentially selling copies of their style of writing.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/federal-judge-rules-copyrighted-books-are-fair-use-ai-training-rcna214766
( Full text under the cut, emphasis mine )
The judge's ruling totally ignores that people are using AI to write new books "in the style of" famous authors. Which is harming the authors by essentially selling copies of their style of writing.
Glue Work
Jun. 26th, 2025 07:35 pmbrickhousewenchA (female) coworker shared this really interesting article about “glue work” in technical roles. It’s about who does the important, but non-coding work that makes software projects succeed. And about how doing too much “glue work” can siderail a promising technical career, because while it’s important work, it’s not the sort of work that gets people promoted.
And not surprisingly, it’s the sort of work that women in tech end up doing a lot of the time.
https://www.noidea.dog/glue
I read this article about volunteering on hbr.org. It showed that, when there is non-promotable work to be done, women volunteer to do it 48% more often than men.
But they also found that men volunteered less because if they waited, they knew that a woman would volunteer. In all male groups, they had no trouble getting volunteers. If there were no women there, men volunteered just fine.
The even more interesting part was that, when managers were asked to choose someone to do thankless work, they asked women 44% more than they asked men.
And not surprisingly, it’s the sort of work that women in tech end up doing a lot of the time.
https://www.noidea.dog/glue
I read this article about volunteering on hbr.org. It showed that, when there is non-promotable work to be done, women volunteer to do it 48% more often than men.
But they also found that men volunteered less because if they waited, they knew that a woman would volunteer. In all male groups, they had no trouble getting volunteers. If there were no women there, men volunteered just fine.
The even more interesting part was that, when managers were asked to choose someone to do thankless work, they asked women 44% more than they asked men.
WTF Wednesday - Child care costs
Jun. 25th, 2025 09:01 pmbrickhousewenchI don’t have kids, but I know plenty of people who do. And reading this blows my mind.
https://19thnews.org/2025/06/child-care-costs-rising-home-costs/
That means child care costs are rivaling home costs as the top line item in most family budgets. In 45 states and Washington, D.C., child care for two kids costs more than a mortgage. In 49 states and D.C., child care for two surpasses what families pay in rent.
For years, the list of states where parents are likely to pay more for an infant’s care than higher education has been growing. According to Child Care Aware, the cost of center-based infant care exceeds the cost of in-state college tuition in 41 states now. The organization uses three methodologies to arrive at its average, looking at price, supply of child care providers and the number of child care spots, pooling data from 49 states and Washington, D.C., to arrive at its annual price analysis.
I keep seeing stories about how the younger generations aren’t having children, and it totally makes sense to me. Who can afford it? Especially when someone recently posted on Facebook that half of America makes $35K or less a year (that’s $16 an hour full time), I totally get why the younger generations aren’t having kids.
https://19thnews.org/2025/06/child-care-costs-rising-home-costs/
That means child care costs are rivaling home costs as the top line item in most family budgets. In 45 states and Washington, D.C., child care for two kids costs more than a mortgage. In 49 states and D.C., child care for two surpasses what families pay in rent.
For years, the list of states where parents are likely to pay more for an infant’s care than higher education has been growing. According to Child Care Aware, the cost of center-based infant care exceeds the cost of in-state college tuition in 41 states now. The organization uses three methodologies to arrive at its average, looking at price, supply of child care providers and the number of child care spots, pooling data from 49 states and Washington, D.C., to arrive at its annual price analysis.
I keep seeing stories about how the younger generations aren’t having children, and it totally makes sense to me. Who can afford it? Especially when someone recently posted on Facebook that half of America makes $35K or less a year (that’s $16 an hour full time), I totally get why the younger generations aren’t having kids.
Quote of the Day - Play
Jun. 25th, 2025 06:35 pmbrickhousewenchPlay functions on two powerful levels: as a circuit-breaker and a spark plug. As a circuit-breaker, it interrupts the relentless mental loops of stress, perfectionism, and overanalysis, disrupting burnout before it calcifies. As a spark plug, it reenergizes our minds, jolts us out of habitual thinking, and ignites new ideas we didn’t know we had. Whether it’s a burst of laughter, a sideways brainstorming prompt, or a spontaneous creative detour, play restores our capacity to be present, inventive, and connected.
Research confirms it. Studies from Texas A&M and the University of Massachusetts Boston show that even micro-moments of play increase productivity, creativity, and psychological safety. Play lowers cortisol levels, boosts problem-solving skills, and fosters trust across teams. In essence, play isn’t the opposite of work: it’s a critical ingredient for doing it well.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91354337/how-to-reclaim-your-joy-curiosity-and-creativity-in-the-workplace
“What’s something weird or wonderful that inspired you this week?”
Research confirms it. Studies from Texas A&M and the University of Massachusetts Boston show that even micro-moments of play increase productivity, creativity, and psychological safety. Play lowers cortisol levels, boosts problem-solving skills, and fosters trust across teams. In essence, play isn’t the opposite of work: it’s a critical ingredient for doing it well.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91354337/how-to-reclaim-your-joy-curiosity-and-creativity-in-the-workplace
“What’s something weird or wonderful that inspired you this week?”