Viewing algorithms.
Admittedly, I've always been on the fringe of their viewership models but recently I seem to have nosedived completely out of the demographic altogether.
Netflix: "What do you want to watch?"
Me: "Got any shows about a Danish software developer stuck in Florida restoring a hurricane damaged catamaran using only his wits and a scrum board?"
Netflix: "Uhm... No."
Me: "Okay - back to Youtube then."
#ModernEntertainment
#PlumbLevel
#OldPeopleOfMastodon
#SailLife
I've had most of what I needed to make a happy and fulfilling life for myself.
Kind of a pity that it took me into my sixties to realize it.
If you're lucky, there will come a time in your life when you spend more time getting ready for bed than you spend getting ready to for an evening out on the town.
We were talking yesterday about encyclopedias, and it brought to mind the "See also:" section, which was the pre-internet predecessor to the hyperlink.
I'd look up something in the encyclopedia, and read the article. At the end there would be a short section starting "See also:", listing (possibly) related subjects.
I'd then look up one of those subjects, read the article, and at the end find something interesting in the "See also:" section and repeat the process.
I could spend a whole day doing this, at the end I would have learned a lot of fascinating things about a fairly random set of subjects.
At no time during this process was I begged for a donation. No one asked me to create an account or enter my personal data, and there were no ads, pop-up or otherwise.
Not everything is progress.
While running a couple of errands, I was wondering why there were so many kids out.
Then I remembered: It's probably sprung break.
Dear Mastodon,
Restrooms were really clean and the coffee was surprisingly good but I feel like it might be a cult. Thoughts?
Asking for a friend.
It's weird how some things just stay with you. My first exposure to mainframes was VM/CMS back in the mid-80s at IBM. Back then, the command to clear the screen was 'CLS'. I must have typed that hundreds of times over the years. Now I always add CLS as an alias for 'Clear' on my ZSH profile on macOS. As I say, weird.
A difference in perspective.
I'm without good coffee in this, our last night in the hotel room (It's complicated and I'm a coffee snob.)
However, my editorials about her assortment of herbal teas are no longer welcomed by Mrs. Miasma
Note to self: It's called "Hibiscus Tea" not "Hot water that tastes like somebody dipped a bee's ass in it."
Advantages I'll have when I'm dead.
- Far fewer bathroom breaks interrupting my day
- I'll be much better at waiting my turn (although I'm pretty good now)
- 100% sure I won't care what people think of me
- My "must read before I die" list won't keep growing and mocking me
What else?
Racing thoughts.
I think maybe the thing I've forgotten most quickly living in a small town is the amount of ambient noise in a big city.
We're on the fourth floor of the hotel and can distinctly hear the guys (because it's always guys) tearing up and down the street in their faux street-racers with Glasspack Cherrybomb mufflers and after-market stereo systems. Always between midnight and 2:30AM 
I'm ready to go home now.
How to get side-eye from your grocery checker.
What we bought at the grocery store today:
- dish soap
- rubber gloves
- Flonase allergy nose spray
- Ritz crackers
I relented and bought some bagels at the last minute so it wouldn't be, you know - weird.
Painfully persistent.
We had to take a break from the gym while Mrs Miasma healed up from a fall she took while we were out walking (stupid rock).
Amazing how out of shape you can get in three weeks. Today's objective is to stay upright on the exercise bike and walk to the locker room under my own power after the workout.
My first portent of the new season.
I was waiting for my coffee to finish brewing so I happened to be looking out the window into our backyard when I spotted him.
There he was, perched on the railing, looking directly at me; the first robin of spring.
He turned, shat on the deck and flew away.
A working definition of my siblings and parents:
A group of people who knew me forty years ago and have spent the time since living their lives and infrequently checking on me to confirm that I haven't changed a bit since my 15th birthday.
Tried to do a walk-in for a blood draw this morning. Tried 3 of the locations.
Long waits or appointment only.
Did sign in (stupid computer checkin) at one place but cancelled due to 1 1/2 hour wait.
Or thought I had cancelled. After I returned home, got text messages saying I would be called soon!
Next time, with Saint Luigi's help, I'll make sure it's cancelled. 
Did make an appointment, via home computer, for tomorrow afternoon.
One person's punishment is another's paradise.
In the SF series "Foundation", when a person is arrested by the authorities, they have a "sensory shroud" placed over their heads. This takes away their hearing, sight and sense of smell.
Ever the introvert, Mrs Miasma has asked that I get her one of these for her birthday.
ITS ALL GOOGLES FAULT!!!!!!!!!!
<very annoyed at setting up an (used/refurbished) iApple iWatch i7 that's replacing a 4-yr old Fitbit enshittified by Google>
I just want a fitness tracker...
The half-assed service model.
Maybe it's just because we live in a small town but several of the goods and services we've purchased lately have fallen way short of what was promised (and paid for.)
Return visits to fix something that should have been done initially. Appliances failing to hold up to routine use, fixes made to a vehicle recall that then fail themselves.
Anybody else seeing this? I hope so, otherwise I'm gonna start taking it personally.
How old guys talk about the weather.
Friend of Miasma: "Good morning. Was 70 degrees yesterday. Then a thunderstorm. Today dropping to 30 and snow. What's next, locusts?"
Miasma: "I hope it’s not boils. I hate boils. Did you know another word for a boil is a furuncle?"
I'm in need of some restraint.
I'm doing some administrative consolidation (as one does when they get a bit older), and I closed my fidelity account.
After moving funds to a different account, Fidelity printed and sent me a check for $0.24. I don't know why they did this, but they did.
Other men might be embarrassed to cash this check at the bank. I plan to ask for my proceeds in specific denominations of coins.
It's mad money and I'm treating it as such.
