ROLEY

Tag: Winter

  • Virginia Beach is forecast to receive 6-10 inches of snow (fun size!), and with that we get a reminder of the dumbest fucking law ever.

  • PHOTO: Dumbsicle, Jan 20th, 2025

    Your intrepid idiot standing on the deck under the Lesner Bridge in Virginia Beach, taking pics with his iPhone on a tripod, in 18-degree weather.

  • Thursday, Jan 16th, 2025

    • I’d have liked to have been a fly on the wall during the meeting that led to Biden and Co.’s attempt to reverse the TikTok ban. There are a lot of theories about why people wanted TikTok to go, but I’m pretty sure national security isn’t the real reason. The two I think are more likely is that A) The PTB doesn’t like the fact that TikTokers speak a lot of truth to bullshit, and have done very well at that. Look no further than the pandemic for examples of TikTok creators smacking that down on the quick. B) TikTok allows more people than ever to make a living from content creation instead of being in the office. RTO has been a priority for the status quo since the pandemic ‘ended’, and they’d like to take that option away. What wasn’t taken into account is how much the TikTok economy contributes to the overall economy, and they shit a brick when they crunched those numbers. So, no, barring SCOTUS upholding the ban, TikTok isn’t going away on Sunday. Once this is all over, I think we should focus on all social media, not just the ones ‘we don’t like’. It’s all been weaponized in one form or another, and while I’d really like to see it all thrown into the sun, we need to rethink social media. Period.
    • On a related note, I’ve signed up for a micro.blog account. I’m watching a playlist made by Numeric Citizen on how to use micro.blog. One thing I might find useful. I can subscribe to the RSS feeds for my accounts elsewhere, cross-post them to my micro blog, and then they will post to the other accounts I select. So, I could subscribe to my YT feed, which will post to my micro.blog, and then post to my Bluesky. The same could be done for this post on WP. It looks like you have to be on the $5/ month plan, but that’s MUCH less than the services like Buffer that charge at least 15 a month to do the same thing. I haven’t seen if there’s a way to schedule native posts (ones that are made in micro.blog as opposed to another feed), but if most of what’s getting posted is from another source, it may be a feature where the post originated. Of course, this may not matter to you at all. Not sure it matters to me, honestly. Food for thought.
    • Winter has come for the first time in five years or so around here. There’s a reason I tell people I’m FROM Maine. I was BORN there, that’s about it. Thanks to the US Navy, before the age of 13 I spent half of that in Hawaii and a good chunk of the other half in Gitmo. Winter was never on the dance card. The middle of next week the lows are going to be in the teens, and I am going to be miserable. They say we’ll have a pattern flip in February, and I am just counting the days. Hat Tip to Ryan Hall, who has become my go-to guy on the weather.

  • ZPM Diary, October 2nd 2022

    This is Oreo. I am not sure of Oreo’s origin, but I know that she absolutely adores the wife. Up until a few days ago, she lived in the space between my fence and the neighbors. I do believe that she belongs (or belonged) to someone, because she successfully used a litter box. I don’t think feral cats do that as a general rule, so Oreo’s been potty trained. With Hurricane Ian bringing tropical force winds and cubic assload of rain to Virginia Beach, Kimmers asked if she could bring Oreo indoors. By asking, I mean that it was made clear that Oreo is coming in the house AND YOU DON’T MIND, DO YOU.

    DO. YOU.

    Of course not. I was worried about the existing Queen of the house being territorial, but we’re now on day three and they seem to tolerate each other. They’re sleeping on the same bed as I type this. So, it would appear that Kim has been chosen by another cat. A very affectionate, very talkative cat. Reminds me of my Siamese cat Darth in that regard. You could carry full conversations with Darth, Oreo is not far off.

    My guilty pleasure these days are HGTV or MotorTrend restoration shows. I find them a little different from the normal “Reality TV” fare, because there’s a tangible result at the end. They’re accomplishing something. Shows like Chrisley, to pick one out of the air, are manufactured drama, conflict, and resolution. In a word, bullshit. However, left to my own devices, I’ll just zone out and watch back to back restoration shows. It’s not exactly healthy, but let’s face a little fact: I’ve worked at the day job for a year straight with no time off until last week, and one week off wasn’t near enough to cure what ails me. The burnout is real. So, maybe self care is a endless train of Flip or Flop and Wheeler Dealers.

    Don’t hate.

    We’re now in the middle of the changing of the weather guard here. Kim likes fall, she just likes the changing of seasons. I spent the years between 5 and 12 in Hawaii, Virginia Beach and Gitmo. Yeah, I’m FROM Maine, but there’s a reason I say I’m FROM Maine. I DO NOT LIVE THERE NOW. I hate being cold for a number of reasons, but mainly because I’ve really never spent more than a couple of weeks at a time in Maine, mainly during Summer vacations, the exception being the Winter of 1982-1983. That was more than enough for me to vow I’d never go back there in the Winter. Hell, even October is too much. When we took my grandmother home after she passed, October 30, 2003. That morning it was 20 degrees. I’d rather not, thank you very hard.

    This week I ported all the posts from the old Squarespace site over here to the new WordPress site. There’s more photos I’ll add that never appeared anywhere, and the poddlement will be returning shortly. ALSO: I finally figure out what the hell to do with the Patreon. I’ve paused it for the time being, and when I bring it back, there will be only one five dollar tier. You’ll get audio that I make just for the Patrons that will be a daily nugget with what I think is important that day, my stupid ass take on it, and when it fits, and stories about why you should absolutely use me as a bad example. The trouble has always been that my ambition is way larger than my ability to match that level of ambition. What I need to do is produce what I can realistically give you consistently. So, I’m gonna give that a try. I anticipate that we’ll start November 1st, but we’ll see. It’s possible I’ll wait until January 1st so that I’m not starting and then breaking for Thanksgiving and Chhristmas. Let’s leave the frequent absences from work to Congress.

    I need to check on the feline armistice, so that’s all for now.