I came home from work and ate 2 cupcakes that I had bought for myself for my birthday, one was cheesecake and the other was death by chocolate which I washed down with a hard cider and then...I fell asleep on the couch around 7:00 and woke up after 12:30. Missed the whole NYE thing.

Today I went to my sister's annual New Year's Day brunch and came home with a cough. I think my great nephews blessed me with it.

3D printers are quite fabulous: [link] [link] -- I didn't know you could 3D print titanium.

How do you size a binder? Is the chest measurement around the nipples? What will it be doing at my waist? [link]

Christmas vacations home are always...exercising. This holiday, as usual, we went to the North Coast with extended family members, including a cousin I don't remember having met. She's a devout Catholic, for whom everything bears mention of St. Peter (even Peter the Great). You know how they say not to discuss religion or politics? My god, the rest of the family, even the devout Baptist aunt tore her apart. Anti-choice, Islamo- and homophobe is not a good position to try and hold at the dinner table.

She took it all pretty well, considering, since she got backed down into "I make my choices, I don't judge yours" (lying, because she did a lot of judging, but she quieted down.

Other exercise included words. My mother and sister do the cryptic crossword every day, and my father does the standard. So I picked up a few day's worth of quick crosswords and jumbles, and frankly, I'm pretty embarrassed in comparison. I need to practice before I go home again. But at least I can do them, pretty much, in ink, since I know when I don't know.

Chikungunya is a disease that seems to have hit >50% of Jamaicans, and is transmitted by mosquitoes. I am so paranoid that I got it, since it seems to be impossible to not get bitten. I mean, I got bit on my hand two inches from my citronella bracelet.

So if I fall off the map in 2 or so weeks, that's why. It's apparently debilitating and miserable.

That sounds awful, ita! I'd be paranoid too!

How do you size a binder? Is the chest measurement around the nipples? What will it be doing at my waist?

Probably nothing at your waist unless you've got a beer belly. I'd say chest measurement around where the nipples would be, but with everything squashed down as much as you can. Since most people are wearing binders to try to smush the boobies out of sight. So some of it depends on where/how you're going to smush them (to the sides, down, whatever, depending on size/shape/perkiness).

You're saying that St Peter likes carrots?

May the mosquitoes find you unappealing, ita. Apparently this Chikungunya is all over the Caribbean, and is now in Florida too. It sounds like a bunch of no fun.

It's apparently debilitating and miserable.

Oy, that sounds awful, ita. I hope you don't get it.

I had a nice hike, and then went to late lunch with my friend, and I was very good and didn't have a beer (January is dry for me), and had instead a really tasty house-made ginger ale and lamb hash with poached eggs. And then when I got home I totally crashed. I think I could have slept for two hours if I hadn't set an alarm.

That lunch downs wonderful, 'Suela. As does quester's cupcakes and cider

Chikungaya does not and I hope you escape it, ita.

Have tried some of my jerky and it's pretty good. Needs a bit more drying time, but the taste is not bad at all.

I really hope you avoid the chik.

I wish I could figure out if the nausea the past few days is lingering digestive protest or if I'm just letting myself get too hungry. Made myself eat tonight and that maybe helped?

I think I've sorted out the last of my os upgrade issues. But now thinking I ought to buy more memory rather than replacing the machine. I'd have to replace both chips. Only have 2 one G chips or whatever. Good news, it is a 2007 MacBook Pro so I could actually open it.

Should have thought of this before Xmas. My old Mac, I took it to my brothers at Xmas and he upgraded it as my gift. He's got the tools and the patience.

Chikungunya is a disease that seems to have hit >50% of Jamaicans, and is transmitted by mosquitoes.

At least I think you can only get it once? Good luck getting it zero times.

Friend's boss who started driving for Uber last night? No one threw up in his car, and he handled the drunken people okay and made some money, so that's all good, but the downside was, he went to work on one hour of sleep, and has another job to go to after he finishes this one. He is trying to save up enough money to buy a house this year. I hope he survives.

I made some progress on cleaning up my bedroom, then fell into a nap, which it seems I needed because I feel much better now.