The Red Queen’s Race
Dec. 6th, 2025 04:08 pmI did, earlier this week, finish a first action on my oldest Regular New application, so that’s something.
Read You Get No Points for Persistence
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Cashier: "No problem! What’s your phone number? I can sign you up right now."
Me: "No, thank you, I’m just passing through."
Cashier: "But you’ll miss out on sales."
Me: "I don’t need an account."
Read Road Closed For Thee But Not For Me
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Once I set off northwards, by the other road, and realised I had left something at home. So, I turned around, passed the "⬅️ Road Closed" sign, and turned down the closed road. Another car followed me down there.

Read The Adventures Of Captain Skywalker!
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Coworker #1: "My husband’s obsessed with all those space shows. He always gets upset when I mix them up."
Coworker #2: "Which one is which again?"
Coworker #1: "I can never remember. One’s got the bald guy, the other’s got the one who breathes funny."
So, I spent an hour, or maybe a little more than an hour this morning in my writing space, looking for the place where Talizea yos’Phelium is born (Ghost Ship, as it happens, first published in August 2011, and if the Liaden Universe® ran on Real World time, Lizzie’d be cabin boy, or maybe at Scout Academy, instead of walking, now, except when she don’t.)
One of the things that my search convinced me of is that I really should sit down and read All the Liaden Books, which I’ve never had time to do. I still don’t have time, unless I want to dedicate my free-time reading in 2026 to the Liaden Universe®.
Anyway, what with looking for Lizzie’s birth, and checking another couple of pertinent events, I only wrote about 700 new words. However! I did write, and I have the supervisors to prove it:
Lunch was broccoli cheese soup, riffing off of a recipe in the insurance company’s newsletter. Then I had correspondence to tend to and real life chores, plus PT homework. I went downstairs eventually to do my duty to the cats, and take a walk.
Then before going back upstairs and maybe getting some more words written, I peeked into My Studio to look at my project, and said, “Oh, I’ll just cut one piece,” which — you know how this goes, right? Right. I cut out all the rest of the pieces. The next step is grinding, but that really does need to wait until I get this draft done. This will be easier to police than the cutting, since I don’t have a grinder here at home, but will need to rent a studio-with-tools at the glass shop in Manchester.
Tomorrow, now free of driving back and forth to Brunswick, is a Writing Day, and I have lots of leftover soup, so I won’t actually have to stop for more time than it takes to heat up a bowl and cut a piece of bread. I have two scenes sketched in, so I’m hopeful of a productive day.
For this evening, Coon Cat Happy Hour has been served — and appears to have been consumed — I’m all caught up on everything (except calling for a haircut, which for some reason I keep forgetting to do) so! I believe I’ll pour myself a glass of wine and go read for a bit.
Everybody have a good evening.
So, I spent an hour, or maybe a little more than an hour this morning in my writing space, looking for the place where Talizea yos'Phelium is born (Ghost Ship, as it happens, first published in August 2011, and if the Liaden Universe® ran on Real World time, Lizzie'd be cabin boy, or maybe at Scout Academy, instead of walking, now, except when she don't.)
One of the things that my search convinced me of is that I really should sit down and read All the Liaden Books, which I've never had time to do. I still don't have time, unless I want to dedicate my free-time reading in 2026 to the Liaden Universe®.
Anyway, what with looking for Lizzie's birth, and checking another couple of pertinent events, I only wrote about 700 new words. However! I did write, and I have the supervisors to prove it:

Lunch was broccoli cheese soup, riffing off of a recipe in the insurance company's newsletter. Then I had correspondence to tend to and real life chores, plus PT homework. I went downstairs eventually to do my duty to the cats, and take a walk.
Then before going back upstairs and maybe getting some more words written, I peeked into My Studio to look at my project, and said, "Oh, I'll just cut one piece," which -- you know how this goes, right? Right. I cut out all the rest of the pieces. The next step is grinding, but that really does need to wait until I get this draft done. This will be easier to police than the cutting, since I don't have a grinder here at home, but will need to rent a studio-with-tools at the glass shop in Manchester.

Tomorrow, now free of driving back and forth to Brunswick, is a Writing Day, and I have lots of leftover soup, so I won't actually have to stop for more time than it takes to heat up a bowl and cut a piece of bread. I have two scenes sketched in, so I'm hopeful of a productive day.
For this evening, Coon Cat Happy Hour has been served -- and appears to have been consumed -- I'm all caught up on everything (except calling for a haircut, which for some reason I keep forgetting to do) so! I believe I'll pour myself a glass of wine and go read for a bit.
Everybody have a good evening.
Read Face Your Fears

I did not factor into account that we had a brand-new guard starting that morning with me.
I didn't even make it onto the deck before I heard someone screaming bloody murder.
Read Face Your Fears
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Read My Printer The Droid
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I am sitting close to the office printer, which is behind a cubicle wall. I overhear a coworker using it.
Coworker: "Come on, buddy, we spoke about this."
Beeping from printer.
Coworker: "We agreed, no more jams.
Read My Printer The Droid
https://bsky.app/profile/joshuaerlich.bsky.social/post/3lipubvipg22u
"the USPS is a miracle. it's in the constitution. for the price of a single stamp you can send a letter across the country, from Hawaii to Maine. Trump is trying to take that away from you. He's attacking Christmas cards and wedding invitations. It's un-American and it has to stop."
Sent from my iPhone
Read What A Way To Make A Livin’
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Manager: "Why are you leaving early every day?"
Me: "I started at 5:30 AM."
Manager: "I don't care. This is a nine-to-five job. It doesn’t matter if you’re in earlier; you leave at five, otherwise people will think it’s okay to come in and leave whenever they want."