protostars | Reading

My first official GoRuck event is in the books! It was a lot of fun, but I did not prepare properly for it, mainly because I wasn't sure what to expect. I was certainly not expecting a 35-minute AMRAP circuit before we even got going. Fox bowed out because his leg and foot are actually feeling good, and he didn't want to mess that up. I hung in there for a couple of circuits before I had to admit ... my blood pressure was too low for it, and I felt like I was going to pass out.
But I also noticed a lot of folks modifying the exercises to accommodate various injuries or limitations, and after 20 minutes, only a handful were still doing reps. So I felt less like a lazy idiot.

The course was a 5 kilometer walk around the city with stops at three cemeteries, the "torture museum," (complete with a niche mini-lecture from me about how much of what we think of as medieval torture is, unexpectedly, the Spanish Inquisition), an old military barracks, and crossing the Bridge of Lions and coming back. I made sure to stop and pat each lion because I'm a dork. Fox enjoyed getting out and walking around, and reminded me we haven't actually been to St. Augustine since Kitty died. It was a fun evening.

Until the power steering went out on the truck. We managed to get out of the parking garage though the pump was whining and the steering was making this awful grinding noise and headed to a nearby Walmart. Fox was checking the area around the steering mechanism and it looked like maybe a seal failed, but when we parked before the ruck, it had time to just leak out completely. We filled the pump back up with steering fluid and happily, we made it home without having to stop and do that again. Fox plans to replace the pump and a couple of other parts, and says he should have been checking this on his own but never really thought about it, so it's amazing that we were still driving around with the factory steering fluid.

We rolled up at home at 10:30, way past our normal bedtime, but I took time to get a hot shower and wind down a little. Crowley woke me up at his usual zero-cat-thirty, so I have not slept a whole lot and I feel kind of derpy. But it was worth it, we had a good time, and I liked the event well enough that I'd happily do another, and I know what I'm getting into.

Current Mood: tired

pshaw_raven

The outdoor kitty's dad finally contacted us - he lives over on another road near here, but farther than even I thought, it's about a mile and a half from us. I run in that area sometimes (more now that there aren't loose dogs anymore). We were able to trap the cat again and hold him and the guy dropped by with a carrier. The cat's name is Tony Hawk - he says he let one of his kids name him. Anyway, he's back home now.

I'm mildly disappointed because I was all excited about ✨new kitty!✨ despite also wanting him to go back to his regular family. I was also a little dubious about adopting a young cat with Crowley still around. I'd like him to live out his senior years in relative calm, and he enjoys being the only cat in the house. Fox was also saying we can go to the shelter when we're ready, and mentioned that I seemed like the type who would adopt an adult cat, especially if they weren't a sprayer. (I would, he's right)

On a totally different topic, but one I love - noodles.

For several years whenever Fox and I are at Disney World and we end up at Animal Kingdom, we go to the Satu'li Canteen in their Pandora area for this noodle bowl that is just delicious. We both get a mixed grill kind with smoked chicken and beef. They used to also offer chili-garlic tofu which was really good. Fox gets his dressed with herb ranch, and Disney actually published a home version of this sauce. The one that a lot of people, including me, really want is the black bean vinaigrette.

I've made a few stabs at this dressing but never could really figure it out, especially how the black beans fit in there. Chinese black bean sauce was WAY too pungent and just very wrong, regular old black turtle beans from a can didn't make sense.

I was watching an episode of Beard Meets Food and he was eating this bowl of Korean black bean noodles, and they mentioned the name of the stuff the sauce was made with. I'm not very familiar with Korean cooking beyond gochujang, and making a spicy sauce for tteok bokki, or spicy sauce over rice cakes. So later in the evening I had this revelation - a literal shower thought. What is that Korean black bean stuff? I bet that's what is in the dressing at Disney! It's black fermented soybeans made into a paste. It's more salty than the Chinese stuff and doesn't have whatever stinky thing the Chinese version contains.

I now have a tub of the stuff and I'm going to try whipping up some black bean noodles this weekend - jjajangmyeon. Vinaigrettes are pretty simple - vinegar, a sweetener, maybe some herbs and black pepper. The Disney stuff is savory but mild. Disney's "spicy" is a step down from Japanese "spicy." *laughs in Cajun* Cracking this recipe would make me feel like an immortal among Disney Adults. Bow down before me, I am the Recipe Whisperer!

It's 50 this morning. Maybe I should have put an extra blanket on the bed.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: Norman Greenbaum - Spirit in the Sky

pshaw_raven

1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?
My front yard - bird feeders and a birdbath, the garage, trees and shrubs.

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?
Fox. He's the only other person in the house, so he SHOULD be the only other person in my room.

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?
Either brown or green. I'd say there is more brown.

4. What is right behind you?
A table with books stacked on it, and my phone charger. I'm sitting sideways on the couch, so I also have my back to a window.

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?
Fox has a doctor appointment and lab work, and we're going to do a little food shopping, possibly stop at Home Depot. Depending on how chipper he feels this afternoon we may finish picking up that brush and firewood.

Current Mood: awake

pshaw_raven

The cat came back, he couldn't stay away.
He was sittin' on the porch the very next day.
The cat came back, he didn't want to roam.
The very next day it was home sweet home.

Guess who showed up yesterday. Actually my next door neighbor caught him in a trap she'd put out for a raccoon that has been getting too close to her chickens at night. (She also caught a 'possum.) Shortly after one of her kids released him, he was on our back deck so we put some kibble and water out for the cat we're now calling "Neko." (Yes it means cat in Japanese, we named the cat "cat." We're dorks.) I sat outside while he ate, but my presence made him anxious. He responded well to a fishing pole toy, so he played with me for a while, but then he seemed like he wanted more food but wasn't willing to come closer while I was there. I gave him a break and went inside.

I just checked out cameras, and he's sleeping on top of the wood cradle. I guess we have an outdoor cat.

Slightly off topic, but for years I thought I'd hallucinated a movie called Banjo the Woodpile Cat but I finally found out in 2001 that it's real. It's a Don Bluth joint. Thanks, internet!

pshaw_raven

Am I coming down with something? Did I catch some form of crud in Jacksonville? Yuck.

Anyway, we haven't seen the cat since Monday night. The food's gone uneaten and there hasn't been anything on the cameras. I'm going to just hold out hope that his family tried the trick of putting his litterbox outside and it helped him find his way home. There's nothing much around us, except due west of here, where there are several homes, and I know one has free-roaming indoor/outdoor cats. I suspect that's where he is from, because I can imagine him exploring the woods between our side and his side and getting lost less than a mile from his house. Especially a juvenile kitty without a mental map of his territory.

My request to join that local lost and found pets group still hasn't gotten a response so I guess I can log out of Facebook and ignore it again. Thank God. Ugh. Gross.

I've got so much to do and barely any energy. I wonder if going back to bed for a while will help.

Current Mood: tired

pshaw_raven

Not only do I hate Facebook, I do very poorly in local groups, mainly because of my overwhelming desire to "laugh react" to stuff like this.

Because it's funny.

pshaw_raven

The cat was back last night, but was back to being very skittish and afraid, so we didn't push him to come to us. I put out some dry food and fresh water and we let him be. My neighbor let me know there's a local Facebook group I could post in to see if someone there has lost him. I despise FB but I was able to log in and I think I found the correct group. I'm now waiting for admin approval to join. The place is a fucking cesspool.

Yesterday was fine, but exhausting. I dropped by Jax Oriental Market and loaded up on inexpensive noodles and produce. I brought a cooler and some freezer bricks to keep the veggies cold. The ramen place Fox wanted me to try was excellent, but I overate and was miserable the rest of the day. I also poked around in an IGA grocery store, which I had never been in and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really nice.

Despite telling myself I wasn't going to the bookstore, I went to the bookstore. Barnes & Noble is right across from the eye doctor's office. Lead me not into temptation, I can find it perfectly well on my own. And the appointment went as expected. My distance vision hasn't changed - it sucks. My close up vision sucks more and she says I've developed a slight astigmatism. But I'm still good to wear contact lenses, and she said the scan of my retinas showed no problems and my eyes were very healthy. Yay me!

You know you have poor vision when they tell you to read the letters and you have to ask "what letters." On top of that, Fox saw my prescription and said, "Wow, Bird, you really are blind!" Gee. Thanks. :P

While I was out, Fox heard some activity down the road and found someone on a property a couple of lots down doing tree clearing. This guy is looking to build a little deer camp out here, but he's got to clear some space for it. We need firewood for the winter so Fox struck a deal that he'll clear the brush and little stuff away if we can have the trees, and the guy happily agreed. He even showed up later to find out if Fox could brush hog a particular area and was willing to pay him. We're going to just ask for a tank of diesel for the tractor - honestly the free firewood is payment enough. So today we'll head back there and finish hauling the logs off. I spent about an hour dragging branches into brush piles while Fox used the grapple to bring the logs here, and this weekend we'll get the splitter out and process all that. The pine is very resin-y and should make a good starter.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind

pshaw_raven

Mattie Rogers, weightlifting champ.

Not sure if this counts as a "gym crush" but I've developed a fixation with this lady. Not just because she's only slightly shorter than me and I can look at her and have physique goals as well as lifting goals, but she's from nearby Apopka.

Okay, realistically, I will probably never lift as much as she can, but I enjoy seeing what's possible. Looking at her arms is just making me want to end my cut early and start training hard again. Because holy shit, girl, you are a fucking BEAST. And I mean that in the best possible way, with little animated sparkles and rainbows.

Alas, I need to leave and go Do Things.

Current Mood: optimistic

pshaw_raven

Last night there was a cat on the back deck. We've seen this one the past few days - red reflective collar and all. I thought perhaps one of the neighbors got a new kitty but it turns out he's probably lost, because we were able to lure him to come to us with dry food and he inhaled two dishes worth of chow. The poor little guy was giving those long meows that usually mean "please help me," but we couldn't get him to come inside and stay. Plus Fox and I are both going to be gone all day today with medical stuff, and it seemed unfair to just lock him in the bathroom and leave.

So we'll probably try again later this week if and when he comes back. I've sent a photo of him to my neighbor to see if she might recognize him, but I think he's just managed to wander too far from home and has gotten lost.

I do not want to go into Jacksonville for this stupid appointment. I hate this shit. But there's a new ramen place that opened up nearby that Fox really wants me to go try and report back on, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a couple of bao and maybe a plate of omurice. I'll drop by Jax Oriental on my way, and then once the appointment is over head back home. Fox will be getting an MRI on his foot at about the same time. He's got a few follow up appointments later this week, but much closer to home.

Should I get a slice of matcha mille crepe cake? I love matcha desserts, and it seems excessive, but when will I be back that way with Fox? I'm probably not doing Gate River Run, so ... who knows.

I hope that cat is all right. I hope he comes back tonight. Crowley disagrees with me, though, and likes being an Only Kitty.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Morcheeba - World Looking In

pshaw_raven

Quote from this morning's reading:

"The choice is not between the free market and central planning but in getting the right mix of regulation. No one wants state ownership of production where the absence of competition corrodes the character even more. The answer is not to seek moral perfection which inevitably leads to theocracy and dictatorship. Since it is in man's nature to want more, one learns to live with human imperfection, and one seeks regulation that not only tames the Duryodhanas [evildoers] but also rewards dharma-like behavior in the market."

Gurcharan Das, author and former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India

An interesting combination of morality and economics, which for all of our noise about ethical practices in business, aren't usually seen as occupying the same spaces.Proponents of either state-run or free-market policies tend to paint themselves as virtuous and their opponents as the embodiment of all the ills in the world. It's a philosophy of economics that wouldn't necessarily be out of place alongside EF Schumacher's Small is Beautiful.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: Lonestar - No News

pshaw_raven

We went to the dump this morning, got that out of the way. It was 380 pounds of stuff.

Three hundred and eighty pounds.

Man it feels good to get rid of things, though. I'm a little embarrassed that we accumulated so much crap, though the vast majority of it was Kitty's, but clearing out space always feels nice. Sure, things have memories attached to them, but how long do you need to remember things? I'm under no illusion about what will end up happening to my stuff after I die. Though I should get some sort of letter or something from the Diary Project about how they're supposed to get my notebooks.

There's still more in there that needs to be sorted and probably tossed. Fox is going to run the carpet cleaner tomorrow and once the floor is dry I'll start putting things back in the closet, hopefully in a more orderly fashion than what we've been doing.

Current Mood: accomplished

pshaw_raven

1. How long ago did you join LJ (or DW)? I joined LJ in early 2001, then DW in ... 2016? I forget.

2. How did you find out about LJ (or DW)? I was an artist on Elfwood when they temporarily shut down. Their page said you could find out more at their LiveJournal, so I signed up at first just to keep up with that situation, then stayed because I started making friends on the site.

3. If someone introduced you to LJ (or DW), is s/he still on your friends list? I think Elfwood is defunct now. But I still have some folks here that I knew way back then!

4. Have you introduced anyone to LJ (or DW)? OMG yes, a lot. I had several people on LJ, but I don't think I have anyone I've gotten to join DW. Maybe?

5. Is your LJ (or DW) public or friends only, and why? It's mostly public. For one thing, I don't have much reason anymore to keep my journal friends-only. When I still lived in Louisiana I worked for the parish government and kept things locked just so nosy people wouldn't find out much about me. It's also good to keep it open here because I have a friend who doesn't need or want to sign up but still likes to read my posts.

Current Mood: amused

pshaw_raven

Yesterday afternoon, AT&T went down ... again. I'm not sure what happened but the last several times we've had long outages like this, it was due to someone severing the fiber optic line. Service came back sometime during the night. Since they provide infrastructure to local ISPs like Fastnet, every hour of downtime is costing them money in the form of SLA fees, so you know they're scrambling to get this shit fixed.

Fox had system patching he needed to do, so when it became clear around 5:30 that the problem wasn't being fixed anytime soon, we decided to drive to Middleburg. There was service there, so the Jacksonville area wasn't the issue. I'll be curious to see what Jeremy has to say about it today. But anyhow, Fox was able to set up his laptop and do what he needed for work. Since it was already late, we didn't go over to the dump, but we'll do that today or tomorrow and unload a lot of the stuff we dragged out of the closet.

All my Pathfinder class stuff has opened up! I can download a calendar and start planning things like my weekly miles and my challenges. One's a reading challenge, and for my level, it's one free choice book and one from the approved list. A lot of the philosophy, mindset, and athletics books are things I've already read, and I wanted to challenge myself with something I'd not normally select, so I put in a Thrift Books order for The Guns of August, Barbara W. Tuchman's history of WW1. Almost all my reading about the "Great War" has been about the Arab revolt and TE Lawrence. I also can't seem to find my copy of A Distant Mirror, her book about 14th century Europe that got me so interested in Medieval history that I took a minor in it.

So I need to start figuring out what workouts and challenges I'll be taking, and probably get with Fox about a few of them like the beach ruck. There's a night ruck I'd like to try, but I am not sure where to do that, since way out here wildlife is a thing, not to mention loose and aggressive dogs, but closer into town, there are humans. Neither sounds like a good option, but going out at night would be pushing a personal limit for me, since I've been socially conditioned not to, and I also don't see super well in low light.

I need to make a batch of brioche dough today, pickle a red onion, gather up the dried roselle calyxes, and try using a hot water and vinegar mixture to clean the moldy carpet in the utility closet. Once that carpet is no longer gross, we can start moving things back in there and out of our way.

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Jhene Aiko - Trigger Protection Mantra

pshaw_raven

It's nice hearing the Barred Owls calling - having the windows open and being able to hear natural sounds is soothing.

I'm still digging boxes out of the closets and sorting through old clothes and things. I may list Fran's turquoise pieces on Ebay. I am not a jewelry person, and I'm especially not a ring person. The only rings I tolerate are silicone ones, other rings annoy me. I know some of her stuff is "old pawn" Native American but I don't know the artists or the provenance. I do know that she bought a lot of things from the Ugly Otter Trading Post, but it looks like he doesn't buy, or at least, I don't see an easy way to contact him about buying back anything.

But with all this cleaning up we do have a ton of stuff to haul to the dump later this week.

I have an optometrist appointment next week, but my favored doctor is only seeing patients in St Johns Town Center right now, so I'm heading out there. She allows me to skip the puff of air test and checks for glaucoma by putting the heels of her hands against my eyelids. I have such a hard time with the air test that they usually can't get a reading on me anyway. I hate stuff close to my face.

But afterwards, or before depending on how early I leave, I have the chance to visit a new Lotte Market. It's been open for maybe a month now, so hopefully the crazy crowds have died down. I can't think of anything else I'd do while I'm there except perhaps restock my THC drinks. Fox is encouraging me to go to REI and look at the hiking shoes, since I'm thinking of replacing my old Hokas with something sturdy for rucking.

Speaking of, last time I went out rucking I met a neighbor's friendly cat and got to pet it. 10/10 would pet again. Today I'm going in a different direction, so I may not see any cats, but I'm ready to add more distance.

Current Mood: awake
Current Music: outdoor sounds

pshaw_raven

I absolutely love the cooler weather we're enjoying. The windows are open, the air feels nice, and while I'm still having hot flashes, it's much easier to cool myself. Today I'm going to get some chicken into a marinade for dinner tonight and then head out for a ruck.

I'm currently on a cut, which has finally started working again, after being stalled for almost a month. I think that my running break is helping. While running is great exercise, I think it also prompts me to eat more, especially since I'm a little paranoid about bonking or feeling light-headed and faint-y while on the road. Not having the prospect of a run coming up, I don't feel compelled to eat a little more "just to be okay." For various reasons, rucking doesn't hit me as hard and I haven't felt wobbly or suddenly exhausted while doing it. Anyway, I'm pleased to see the scale start ticking downwards again.

Gate River Run is March 7, one week before we have a scheduled Disney trip, so I guess I need to decide soon if I want to do it or not. But I've also registered myself for a Pathfinder rucking course that runs through January 31. I was considering a structured training for Gate but I'm also tired of chasing PRs and feeling slow. Problem is that I compare myself not only to younger runners, but to younger male runners. I simply don't have that much speed. My endurance is a whole 'nuther matter though - sort of like comparing young greyhounds to a tough old coyote.

I feel weird talking about myself like this, but as John L Lewis famously said, "He who tooteth not is own horn, the same shall not be tooted."

I have all those roselle calyxes to process today, weight lifting, and a handful of other chores. However, my attention is all outside and I just want to go out and play around in the woods.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: 10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo

Profile

Dragon in a Droplet

October 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Oct. 27th, 2025 09:16 pm

Dragon in a Droplet

Reading

Ghost Ruck

Black Beans

The Friday Five - House & Home

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

At Least There Were Books

(no subject)

Meow Mix

(no subject)

(no subject)

The Friday Five - My Internet Age

Huzzah

Side Quest: Pet the Kitty

Toot Toot

Profile

October 2025

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags