Another of Scott's Homes on the Web

2026 Prediction Meme

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:37:36 GMT

New Year Book Meme, from trobadora via brithistorian:

Grab the nearest book.

Turn to page 126

The 6th full sentence is your life in 2026.

From Liaden Universe Companion 2, the sentence is in the middle of a conversation, and is one word.

"Gold?"

That is such an interesting prediction / comment on 2026, since I'm planning on retiring at the end of the year.

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Halloween

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 01:56:20 GMT

We passed out 32 full-sized candy bars between 6:30-9:00. We turned off the lights about 10:00.

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Bluesky Social

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:37:24 GMT

I'm on Bluesky Social - sraun

I'm not leaving Dreamwidth.

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Just found out my dad passed away this morning.

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 17:26:02 GMT

He was in his wheelchair at breakfast, they turned away for a couple of minutes, and he had quietly died when they turned back.

For anyone who hadn't heard elsewhere, this was not unexpected. He had a stroke on Thursday, February 8th, and had recently been moved from the hospital to hospice care.

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We had a trip to visit my father

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 19:40:27 GMT

We were supposed to head out of town Thursday morning.

We left our house about 9:15-9:30am, and stopped to pick up breakfast at a new bakery (new as in just opened Wednesday). We got breakfast, went out to the car, I started it, it stuttered and died. Not good. Tried again - it kind of ran when I gave it gas. We decided that we did not want to be on the freeway with this happening, so we nursed it up to our favorite service station. They were busy, and not certain they'd be able to get to it that day. They gave us a loaner car, we went home to wait. I called Dad about 12:30 to tell him we were delayed.

We got a call shortly after 1:00 that they'd gotten it in, read the error codes, and discovered a dirty Mass Air Sensor. (I think it should be called an Air Mass Sensor, personally.) They cleaned it, and the car was running fine. We went and collected the car, and got out of town about four hours behind schedule.

We had planned on stopping at up to four quilt shops on our way south to Sioux City, IA, with the possibility of picking some of them up on our way back. We actually only made it to one on our way south. I called Dad while Irene was in the shop, to let him know we would be getting to Sioux City on Thursday, but would not be getting together with them until Friday.

We got to Sioux City about 8:00, got checked in to the hotel, and found dinner.

Friday we spent the day with Dad and my Aunt Paula.

Saturday we had a late breakfast with Dad and Aunt Paula, and left Sioux City about 12N. We stopped at two quilt shops on the way home, getting home shortly be 7pm.

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Mother's Day

Sun, 08 May 2022 18:56:45 GMT

Irene got her traditional mimosa's in bed. (Her comment? "I shouldn't have been surprised.")

Then we went out to lunch at the Original Pancake House in Burnsville with Katie, Ralph, and their girls.

Hoping we get a few phone calls the rest of the day.

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Dining Out for Life

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 00:49:02 GMT

Dine Out for Life for three meals today - breakfast at Butter Bakery Cafe, lunch from Herbie Butcher's Fried Chicken, and dinner at The Lowbrow.

For those who don't remember Dine Out for Life is a fund-raiser for The Aliveness Project, an AIDS support organization. We've been supporting it for ... a couple of decades now? Since before Don & Margo moved out of town.

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I been poked!

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 23:03:12 GMT

I got my first COVID-19 shot. Pfizer - I go back for my second shot on Good Friday.

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Following instructions?

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 01:29:34 GMT

I think I'm going to keep a count of how many people successfully followed the instructions in an announcement I sent out recently.

Currently, the answer is 66%.

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Anyone want a winter-hardy climing rose? (Twin Cities, MN area)

Thu, 07 May 2020 20:19:00 GMT

Free to the Twin Cities: William Baffin Climbing Rose. One of the Canadian Explorer roses, definitely winter hardy in Minneapolis! https://www.naturehills.com/rose-william-baffin-climbing

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Tue, 26 Nov 2019 22:47:39 GMT

As of about 2:15pm CST today, I have a functional solar power and battery backup installation!

Just in time for 6-11" of snow.

Pictures available here (on Facebook).

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Baen eBooks Free Month Credit - January 2020 (includes Penric's Progress)

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 14:39:19 GMT

Baen Books has this nifty 'buy one, give some to a new customer' policy. If anyone has not gotten anything from Baen eBooks before, and wants free credit, let me know! Your e-mail address has to not be in their database to get a free month. I'll take requests in the order they appear in my home inbox - sraun@fireopal.org.

The one-time use coupon is worth $9.99 off anything sold on Baen Ebooks, and is good for one year. If you'd like, you can use it as partial payment to buy a monthly bundle. If there's one specific e-book you'd like, you can wait until it is released and use the credit to buy it.

First request gets it. If you don't get it this time, I put you on my request list, and you get first shot as the new months come out.

Here's what's coming up:

January 2020

Gunpowder & Embers, by John Ringo, Kacey Ezell, and Christopher L. Smith
Penric's Progress, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Frozen Orbit, by Patrick Chiles
All the Plagues of Hell, by Eric Flint and Dave Freer
Arkad's World, by James L. Cambias
Black Triumph, by Brendan DuBois
Infoquake - Jump 225 Trilogy, by David Louis Edelman

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Cooking experiment - Pad Thai Hamburger Hotdish

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 14:10:15 GMT

I think I'll try this again, although I might try to make half as much - it made a LOT!

Pad Thai Hamburger Hotdish

1 cup quinoa (prepared) (I used the liquid from the cans of mushrooms as part of the water.)

3 lbs 85% lean ground beef
1 large onion, diced
3 small/medium carrots (~6" long?), shredded
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans mushrooms
1 can garbanzo beans
1 cup craisins
8 oz. bean sprouts
2-4 oz. Cabernet Savignon
1 bottle Thai Kitchen Pad Thai Sauce (next time I think I'll buy three and use at least two)

In a skillet, brown the hamburger. Transfer to a large pot with the quinoa.

Using the leftover fat from the hamburger, brown the onion, carrots & garlic. When the onions are starting to turn translucent, add the mushrooms, garbanzo beans, and craisins. Let cook until hot. Add the bean sprouts, break them up a little, and cook until warmed. Transfer to the large pot.

Use the wine to deglaze the skillet. Transfer to the large pot.

Put the large pot over medium heat, add the Pad Thai Sauce. Stir well, heat until warm throughout - it shouldn't take long.

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Baen eBooks Free Month Credit - May & June 2019

Fri, 08 Mar 2019 16:53:43 GMT

Baen Books has this nifty 'buy one, give some to a new customer' policy. If anyone has not gotten anything from Baen eBooks before, and wants free credit, let me know! Your e-mail address has to not be in their database to get a free month. I'll take requests in the order they appear in my home inbox - sraun@fireopal.org.

The one-time use coupon is worth $9.99 off anything sold on Baen Ebooks, and is good for one year. If you'd like, you can use it as partial payment to buy a monthly bundle. If there's one specific e-book you'd like, you can wait until it is released and use the credit to buy it.

First request gets it. If you don't get it this time, I put you on my request list, and you get first shot as the new months come out.

Here's what's coming up:

May 2019 Monthly Baen Bundle

The Gordian Protocol, by David Weber and Jacob Holo
Noir Fatale, edited by Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell
By Demons Possessed, by P.C. Hodgell
Oath of Gold, by Elizabeth Moon
Though Hell Should Bar the Way, by David Drake
Oblivion, by Steve White and Charles E. Gannon
Coming of Age, Volume 1: Eternal Life, by Thomas T. Thomas

June 2019 Monthly Baen Bundle

To Clear Away the Shadows, by David Drake
At All Costs, by David Weber
A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 4, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
My Enemy's Enemy, by Robert Buettner
The Year's Best Military and Adventure SF, Volume 5, edited by David Afsharirad
1637: The Volga Rules, by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett, and Gorg Huff
Expiration Date, by Tim Powers

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I voted

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 14:43:57 GMT

I got to my polling place about ten minutes before it opened, and I estimate there were about 50 people in line already. I got out about fifteen minutes after it opened.

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Grrrr. Just had a credit card cancelled due to fraud.

Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:13:06 GMT

Now I need to run pick up a new one at my bank today, and get the number updated for 3 Kickstarters that are all succeeding tomorrow! And then all the rest of the places where that number is on file. (IIRC, Amazon & MPR - but I have to go check all my pending Amazon orders and make certain they're updated individually.)

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Minn-StF Meeting - 4 August

Sat, 04 Aug 2018 19:04:07 GMT

We are hosting the Minn-StF Meeting today, 4 August 2018.

We're making Vegan Barbecued Beans and build-your-own cold-cut sliders for dinner calories.

There will also be assorted sweets, salty snacks, pop, some assorted Mike's Hard, and some Nordeast beer.

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I have a dog who is so NOT food-oriented

Sun, 08 Jul 2018 02:11:29 GMT

that he turned down bacon fat in favor of playing with his ball!

For those familiar with my dogs, this is Oreo.

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It was a weekend

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 22:29:42 GMT

Let's see:

Friday was the fall Hennepin County Tax Forfeited Land Auction, followed by driving up to Duluth, and starting to move my mother to her new apartment.

Saturday was move continued.

Sunday was visit Dad & Karen, and drive home.

Monday was recover.

At the auction, the lot that we were interested in went for 2.5 times our max bid. We didn't get it, Irene thinks that whoever did get overpaid by $25-30k.

We rented a U-Haul cargo van in Minneapolis, because we knew there was at least a coffee table and window air-conditioner coming back with us, and we didn't have room for that in our car. We made five trips moving Mother's stuff - two on Friday, three on Saturday.

We were moving her from the two-bedroom second-floor walk-up that she'd been in for 35+ years to a one-bedroom in a building with elevators. Luckily, she's been getting rid of stuff for several years now. There was still more furniture than would fit. There were four of us doing the move, me, Irene, mother, and Gary, a friend of mother's. So, it was me & Gary moving all the furniture. One bed (the other one she's getting rid of), two chests of drawers, a couch, three easy chairs, a computer table, a buffet, a small kitchen table, assorted shelves, and miscellaneous small pieces. We also moved a bunch of stuff in boxes or garbage bags.

I have assorted bruises on my arms and legs. Friday evening, my left elbow and lower back were very unhappy with me. Saturday evening, it was my back and right hip.

I discovered that three years of caffeine-free diet have destroyed my immunity to caffeine. I used to be able to drink a half-liter of Mountain Dew right before bed, and have no problems sleeping. I had five glasses of Diet Coke at Perkins for dinner Saturday night, and had the worst insomnia I've had in years! I did get some sleep, almost enough, and between that and three ibuprofen, I was mostly pain free Sunday morning.

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Halloween Report

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:11:14 GMT

We got our first trick-or-treater about 6:15pm. We passed out our last candy bar about 9:15.

In three hours, we passed out 56 full size candy bars (for suitably wide definitions thereof). Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, M&Ms & Peanut M&Ms.

I'm not certain, but I think we may have had some double-dippers.

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We're going to have Ziggy put to sleep tomorrow.

Sun, 16 Jul 2017 23:28:48 GMT

He stopped eating overnight Friday / Saturday. He ate over half his dinner Friday, and has been pretty much ignoring any food since then. We put scrambled egg - a real delicacy! - in his mouth on Saturday, and he just let it fall on the floor and ignored then. Since then, any food we put in front of him might get sniffed at, and then he turns his head away.

I'll be calling the vet as soon as possible after they open at 7:30am, and seeing when we can get him in.

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We have a diagnosis on Ziggy

Wed, 12 Jul 2017 15:15:07 GMT

It's not Addison's. It's third-degree {something something} - I think the second word was arrhythmia?

Basically, his nerves are not communicating well enough with his heart to tell it to fire.

The treatment is a pacemaker. That's not in the cards. The veterinary cardiologist gives him maybe a month left to live.

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Twas an exciting day

Fri, 07 Jul 2017 00:30:48 GMT

So, the plan was:

Drop off Ziggy at the vet to get his teeth cleaned

Pick up arkuat

Go to work

Leave work early to get a filling replaced

Pick up Ziggy at the vet

1 & 2 went according to plan. 3? Not so much. About half-way to work the car started having power problems - in neutral, the engine would rev just fine, in gear, sometimes there was no power to the wheels. I pulled off to the side of the freeway about three-quarters of the way to work, turned off the car, and opened the hood. Nothing obviously wrong, all the fluids were good. Tried to start the car, and it went tick-tick-tick-tick very rapidly - and didn't start. And then the power windows failed. And then the four-way flashers failed!

arkuat called in to work - one of our colleagues came and got him.

I called my mechanic, and got the phone number for their favorite towing company. Called the towing company, got my car taken to my mechanic. Got a loaner car - I was still going to have to get to the dentist!

Got home, got my work computer plugged in, did some work from home.

About 11:30, I got a phone call from the vet. Ziggy's resting heart rate was 36 - normal would be 70-120. They'd gotten him to do some exercise, to try to get it up - normal then would be up to 130. It stayed at 36. Had we noticed any change in behavior - more tired, lack of appetite, seizures? Nope. Teeth cleaning was canceled - they didn't want to put him under anesthesia with such a slow heart rate! They suspect it might be something called Addison's, which is a low cortisol level. They took blood for tests, we should hear back on that tomorrow. If it's not that, we get to go to a doggy cardiologist. I went and picked him up about 12:15pm.

As of 2:30, the car wasn't fixed, so I took the loaner off to the dentist.

Where I discovered that the appointment I had made last week for half-hour slot at 3pm today wasn't on the books.

They got me set up for a 4pm appointment with one of the other dentists. They actually called me in at 3:51, and were done with me by 4:03.

Then it was off to the mechanic. The car was done - the alternator had died. They had just replaced the alternator last November. They get their alternators from a company that just does alternators, and their experience was that said company had a very high reliability. The new alternator was free - we just had to pay for the tow.

Then I came home and cooked up CSA veggies for dinner. Now we need to take out garbage and recycling, and then I'll get to call it a night.

It was one of those days where the choices were laugh, cry, or curse the universe. I ended up laughing.

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Looking for a story

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 04:54:37 GMT

|I'm trying to find a story I read a while back. My memory is that it was on the web somewhere.

It was the story of the new UN Secretary General, and how she (I think?) coped with the super villain / mad scientists claiming they were going to destroy the world. There were two villains in the story - one that she coped with, and another merely mentioned at the very end. She pointed out to the first one that 'this isn't science - where's your control group?', and convinced him to start a colony on Mars for the control group.

The implication was that she was going to convince all the super villain / mad scientists to fund/create something that the UN was trying to make happen, but didn't have the money for.

My GoogleFu is failing trying to find it. :-( Anyone recognize it, and have a pointer / title / author?

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Dreamwidth?

Tue, 11 Apr 2017 15:07:41 GMT

Is there anyone who's still reading me who is on Dreamwidth and I haven't followed you there yet?

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