My consistent reaction to just about anything these techbros say is that they have not read enough science fiction because the scenarios they float have been written about and flaws both obvious and not brought up

At long last we have created the torment nexus ...

At long last we have created the torment nexus ...

Heh!

My new glasses arrived and I love them: [link]

EM came over this morning and instead of getting Matilda up, she crawled into bed with Matilda and they talked for an hour.

I did finally extract Matilda from bed by noon, though she is yet filled with crabby grievances and probably will be until she gets un-jet-lagged.

Did my Monday morning Pilates and my body is still baby beginner on most of the moves and I'm still learning the names and what they do, but I'm also making improvements in flexibility and strength already.

When I started my legs were too tight to do the high step up to the Wunda chair, and now I can, and my roll-up actually gets me sitting up (with use of a foot strap).

Yeah, that too, but also all the Inventing the Bus Again they keep doing.

This "Golden Dome" I am hearing about, is it different from Reagan's Star Wars Defense? The part where the US would have to subscribe to it is different, I'll grant that...

Yay seeing Pilates related improvement already! That's awesome! And very cool glasses

Another torment nexus thought - it has taken me this long to really get that they are actively pursuing super villaindom, not just missing the bad outcomes but thinking those are desirable.

And I just came across this online course from a couple of UoW professors that may be of interest: [link] Have no really jumped into it yet myself, but on a brief skim it's intriguing

My carpal tunnel surgery is in 6 days, and I had to stop taking supplements for the week before the surgery, which is no big deal. But I also have to stop taking ibuprofen for the week before surgery, which is a cruel, cruel fate, because I am 90% ibuprofen by volume.

I can still take Tylenol (aka, king of the placebos), so I suppose I'll survive. [dramatic hand-to-forehead pose]

I don't know if I could get to sleep without ibuprofen. I mean, I can, but I don't sleep as long.

Just gave myself my 4th Ozempic shot and unlike the other three this one hurt. I don't know if I just hit a nerve or was higher up on my belly but I didn't like that.

I got over the initial queasiness I had when I ramped up to .5, but it's not been as effective at curbing appetite as the first two weeks were. I just have to do a little more work on three small meals and nothing else. (He says after a breakfast egg sandwich followed by greek yogurt.)

My hand is flexy again after the surgery as the swelling has gone down but I'm not ready to take off the Steri-Strips and see the gnarly sutures.

I let Matilda sleep in until 11 which is about 12 hours of sleep, but now I have to start getting her up earlier every day until she's closer to 9am.

We're going to do her college stuff today which is to say we'll accept the offer to USF and make the deposit.

I did not go running this morning as I had half planned but I do have Pilates at 4:30 so...

I am bummed about the pope though—not perfect but a lot better than the last one and I fear they will go hard-line for the next one.

With fascism ascending I hope they go big picture here. What ranking Cardinals (are Cardinals ranked?) have experience with authoritarian regimes? The Vatican was by no means perfect in WWII, but they made some solid moves for human dignity. Hopefully they want that again. Gimme a ringer Pope.

The Vatican was by no means perfect in WWII, but they made some solid moves for human dignity.

That isn't how I'd characterize the Vatican in WWII. They were very cozy with both the Italian Fascists and the Nazi high command (who were predominantly Catholic). The Catholic Church saw Russian Communism as a threat to their existence and aligned themselves with the Fascists.

Vatican also worked diligently to provide ratlines to allow Nazi's to escape Europe after the war and repatriate in South America. This is a matter of record: [link]

Certainly individual priests, nuns and laypeople of conscience saved people but the Vatican was conspicuously quiet about the Holocaust.

It's official, Matilda has accepted her offer at University of San Francisco, which is a private university about two blocks from our front door: [link]

It's a good school, but I have very mixed feelings about the proximity and would rather she had flown further. But she's still struggling with grief and depression so she's choosing the known for now.

They do offer Japanese studies, language and culture.

The plan is for her to live in the dorms instead of at home.