With plenty of room on my Video Projects partition thanks to a new external hard drive, I am at last able to resume capturing game video. Yesterday, I made a second capture of what will be the main portion of TpF1 Scenic Excursions ep45, a passenger run which introduces the map's final two previously unseen game-generated cities.

It's going to be a tricky episode to edit. I prefer the opening 'wait' from capture 2, exiting Morely station from capture 1 due to train interactions, and the remainder from capture 2 due to scenic additions. I decided to add these separate elements together to create a hopefully seamless whole. The captures both have a decent number of camera changes, all of which required freezing gameplay while the change occurred. Those must be edited out, along with several too noticeable load-pauses and a super long game-save pause. Few of these edits will be perfect. My hope is that the bulk of them will be 'good enough'. As to stutters, removing those is way above my abilities.

I'm also having problems with text narration. Hopefully that'll work itself out.

Project: Create and publish new TpF Scenic Excursions episode
Status: Awaiting publication.

I wrapped things up and uploaded the video this Monday. It's set to publish Saturday morning. I'm not happy with its text narrative, but was especially muddleheaded at the time, so decided to leave (not) well enough alone.


Project: Pulmonology appointment, with chest X-ray
Status: Did so yesterday.

Being muddleheaded was more detrimental during this outing. I made two goof ups during the drive. Neither caused any harm, or even the potential for harm. The appointment itself went about as well as could be hoped. My lungs are no worse than they have been for some years, and better than when I began treatment.


Project: Grocery Run
Status: Did so on the way back from my medical appointment

Nothing to report here except that Walmart finally has Sugar Free Blackberry Jam back in stock!


Project: Clean CPAP gear
Status: Did so this morning

I'll reassemble everything after supper.

Project: Sleep Center CPAP appointment
Status: Done
Did so this morning. They are pleased with my readings. They also changed my pressure settings from 5-10 to 5-12, which is what both they and I wanted.

Project: Grocery Run
Status: Done?
Did so on the way home from my medical appointment. No single Fujis. No Cherub tomatoes. No distilled water. That last is a worry as I'm required to use it in my CPAP machine's humidifier. I 'think' I have just enough in my current container to see me until next Monday, but it'll be close. If they don't have any by then, well, we shall see.

Project: Create TpF Scenic Excursion episode
Status: Early stage
Decided to use raw footage intended for episode 48 as ep 46 instead. Still need to capture at least one outro scene. Haven't yet created a Filmora work file for the episode.

Project: Create & Publish new TS2021 episode
Status: Uploading as I type
Spent Friday evening, all day yesterday, and hours this morning getting everything ready to go. It'll be finished uploading in a couple of minutes. I'm not going to let in go public right away, but instead wait until 1080 finishes processing. I might even hold out for 1440p, but we shall see.

ADDENDUM: Now 2010, 108op still hasn't finished processing. Seems an awfully long time for a 24min video. I shutter to think how long 1440p takes!

ADDENDUM2: Now 0410 Monday morning, 1080p still hasn't processed.

With my new video still not HD processed, I decided to delete it off YouTube and try again. Just as well. I made an incorrect statement about the route in the video's text. This allows me to render out a new upload file with that error corrected.

Hmmm.... I have the same issue with the new upload not processing beyond low resolution(s). It's been churning away since mid-afternoon yesterday. Still no 1080p, let alone 1440p. I now rule out a faulty upload file, as this is the different rendering from that used during my first attempt.

Once YouTube processing began, I started in on creating Part 2 of that of the TS2021 Workshop Route drive begun in the video that never processes. To my surprise, working non-stop I finished it at bedtime. (Footage was already in-the-can. I just needed to splice several 'takes' together and create text. Posting this one is likely at least a week away, depending on how long it takes part 1 to process / publish. (In any case, I suspect I'll find text mistakes to correct before all is said and done.)

Fired up the "new" riding mower today just to check that it was ok. It was. Also removed and sharpened the knives so now it's fit for fight. Though I don't expect to actually need it for at least another month.

I will also change the oil later.

Pics or it didn't happen! (pics of the riding lawnmower, not the dirty oil, lol)

Big Writing Project ™

Book 1- draft completed, printed, and proofed. 92000 words. One test reader has finished and returned positive feedback.

Book 2- progressing slowly, but getting near the end. 93000 words currently. Current writing will need to be woven into existing text. As is often the case with me, the ending is already written and the remainder is actually from near the first third or so.

Book 3- 17000 words, with some form of a plan for more (I do not "outline" as such, except for laying the chronology out in my head).

Prognosis- generally favorable, given that the idea is to be ready to publish the first book at some point following my (hoped for) retirement, two years from now. Still no clear idea how many volumes the story will encompass- going where the words take me.

Project: Acquire Clothes Washer / Dryer
Status: Bought but not yet delivered / installed

Purchased a matching pair at Home Depot this morning, during my weekly errand run. The shame is that the units I bought were $100US cheaper per-unit just two-three weeks ago, when I originally planned to buy them. Got sidetracked by health issues. Thus the delay. Potentially a plus, I bought Consumer Reports' highest rated pair in my price bracket. Was able to apply a $50 discount for making a two-unit purchase, and got a 10% military discount on, not the units, but the accessories required for installation. The price reduction is hardly noticeable, but every little bit helps. Delivery and install is scheduled for mid-July. I could have scheduled a week earlier, but have a number of important (?) medical tests that week. Didn't want to risk a conflict.


Project: Trim weed bush/trees blocking my front door.
Status: Unexpectedly postponed

Having torn a connection point between rib and left pectoral while pruning small tree limbs a while back, I don't dare use my pruning shears for the job. I arranged to borrow my bro's power saw. His house was my first stop this morning. Only after arriving there did he mention that he'd "sort of abused the saw when he last used it". Abused? It was wrecked beyond salvation. Totally destroyed. With almost the whole of my discretionary funds tied up in the washer / dryer purchase, I have none left to buy myself a saw or other suitable device. Yet I must have that passageway cleared prior to washer / dryer delivery.

Project: Prepare internet-purchases state tax due payment
Status: Done and ready form snail-mail posting tomorrow

This payment includes tax due for April through Jun. Even so, I owe only $7.70US. I could have waited another month or more, depending on what I buy online. But I don't want to risk leaving out a month (or months). One bright note: Newegg now automatically tacks on tax, for my state at least. I wish every online purchase site did, or at least give up the option of having it added. Much easier than keeping track of individual purchases for months at a time, downloading tax prep paperwork, preparing forms by hand, wasting a first-class postage stamp and so on.

Project: create walkable passage from front porch to walkway
Status: maybe 90% done?
This is a project I'd rather have not tackled anytime soon, what with worry over my not-yet-healed torn Pectoral/Rib connection point. But a planted bush and two weed-bushes in that same spot have grown to where I can't reach the walkway without walking through branches/limbs. Worse, I need that passageway totally cleared before my washer and dryer are delivered.

I began right after today's daily exercise-walk and worked at it well over an hour. Managed to remove pretty much all the obstruction coming from one side. I gave out before tackling the other side. Thankfully, there's not all that much to remove on that side.

An issue is that what I did is a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to be done with the larger bush row. Also, I have nowhere to put the cuttings except my driveway, which is where they are now. As to the bush row, I'd as soon nuke it to the ground and be done with it permanently, but admit I waited too late in life to tackle that project on my own.

It seems my next project will be to delete all my mods from the Nexus. They've made a grab for control of all mods uploaded - see here - and if I don't remove mine within that one month period, then effective control is in the hands of the "curators of collections" aka brokers,, who will hereafter decide what mods people use.

There are so many unintended consequences of what they're proposing. Updates to mods will get suppressed, because they break the package, for example. I could go on, but read for yourselves.

I make mods for my own use. If I think others could benefit from them, I put them where they can be found, for free. I do put some effort into helping others use them, but not too much, so I don't expect any return other than the availability of other creators' mods in exchange.

Bit if the brokerage model is replacing the swap-meet one, then I'm out.

I attempted to read the linked Nexus explanatory article, but it's tuff going. Does it somewhere come out and say that, from a user perspective, this Collections business is an option only, and that we will remain able to DL any mod we want individually if we so choose? Surely this is the case.

Yes, the mods can still be downloaded, outside collections.

However, the main issue is that after the grace period, authors will no longer be able to delete their mods, as they may belong to collections now. So mine will have to come off, before an new wrapper can be placed around them, and they become someone else's.

Didn't Bethesda try something like selling mods years ago and burned themselves quite badly? Having a great, supportive modding community is a huge financial boost to Skyrim and I should think they would have learned that this goose already lays golden eggs for them in people buying the game and not to fool with it.

Wow, if they go through with this I will be removing all of my mods from their site. So if any of you out there want them, download them now.

Great example of breaking the golden goose. Without a robust community of modders, certainly, TES III, IV and V will become forgotten relics. I can't believe Bethsoft can't see the logical and foreseeable consequence of stepping on the creative toes of modders who bring so much to the game for free.

For once, this isn't Beth. This is Nexus shooting themselves in the foot.

Wow, that's even worse. A modding site pissing off modders is even dumber!

This could be quite a can of worms for me.

The email I use for Nexus is effectively receive-only, so it won't get used to relay spam.

The request for deletion of files from Nexus has to come from that account, which is a reasonable precaution to prevent anyone from asking for someone else's files to be deleted. The email content has to link to my Nexus account, as a further protection.

So now I have to enable sending an email for just long enough to send that one. I need to make sure it works, and the email is received, and potentially repeat if it wasn't. I could possibly change the email address on the account before doing so, but I haven't explored that option yet.

Expect problems if you used a temporary email account to register at Nexus,

And a reminder to those who didn't read the whole thing. Deleting the mods isn't enough. You also need to request the files be deleted, too. and then ...

"To fully process the deletion: after receiving your email, we will send you a personal message on our site/forums to confirm the deletion and you will need to respond to it before the deadline expires."

The deadline referred to here may the month for the overall process, or it may refer to a new, shorter one in the message. I'll let you know when I find out. So far, I just have the "we received your email" response, which would have been an auto-reply.

I just received my 60 notifications that my files were individually deleted. Twice. There was a composite one that I had to acknowledge before I could access the site, plus another for each file after getting in. Deleting each notification took three clicks.

I’m trying to discover the fate of the translations of my mods, now the originals are gone.

Project: Get used to new clothes washer & dryer
Status: $X&Z#!

I swear their manual are about as craptastic as any I've encountered. Printed manuals provided with the units are, for all intents and purposes, useless. Downloaded manuals are noticeably better, but far from perfect.

Instance 1: The printed manual states to clean the dryer vent filter prior to each use. But it doesn't tell us where that filter is, and there's no obvious vent compartment on the dryer. Thankfully, the download (DL) manual shows it. (It's inside the door, of all places.)

Instance 2: The dryer flashes 'CL' as it spins. Neither DL or print manual shows this as an error code. I finally found the answer on Youtube: It means the Child Lock feature is on. (Lots of folk seem baffled by this unmentioned 'code'.)

Instance 3: Both units offer lots of modifications to their standard cycle settings. I've yet to figure out how to access those. Manuals state to press a certain button. No button on my machines goes by that name.

Instance 4: One of those modifications is to select light, medium or heavy load. This is my first exposure to a front-load / low-water-use washer. I have no idea what fill point determines which load-level I should use. Neither manual explains this.

For now, I'm sticking with basic 'cycle' settings, since that's all I know how to access. I suspect I should have used 'heavy' with my white load. Or, since I currently can't, split whites between two loads. Hopefully this will eventually sort itself out.

ADDENDUM:
The printed dryer manual DOES show vent location. It's in the maintenance section. But again, the DL manual, places it in a better, more logical, location.

Also, these two components are a learning experience for sure! The last of my three loads is the only load I'm happy with. It did those as well as or better than 'conventional' units. The first two loads didn't clean as well as I'd like, and left cloths slightly damp and wrinkled at the end of the dryer cycle. Those first two loads were too large for the units to properly handle (though they functioned without complaint). My hope is that once I figure out how to use Cycle Modifiers, large loads won't be an issue. Until then, I'll stick to smaller loads.

ADDENDUM 2: figured out how to apply modifiers. An irony is that the load I first used them with didn't need them, as one of the stock cycle choices is designed specifically for that load (towels).

Project: rid the house of no longer needed clutter
Status: a meager start

Washed / dried my final load of clothes late morning. While putting them away, I discovered that I didn't have near the drawer space needed for my sweat shirt/pants sets. Looking through those drawers, I noticed one filled with ancient athletic / swim attire made for a 28" waist and toned body. I'll never be that again. Those were trashed, giving me the space I needed.

Just a few minutes ago, I trashed a number of pre-2017 issues of MaximumPC magazine. I hope to make this a weekly project, eventually getting rid of all but the past several years. (I settled on 2017 as the keep-point, since that's when I assembled my current primary PC.)

One major project I need to tackle at some point: get rid of the too many unused audio components cluttering the house. Some are broken, some simply redundant. Some of it, even broken, is worth decent money. Decent enough to make trashing or giving away a non-choice. How I'll go about finding local buyers is beyond me at the moment.

Big not-so super secret writing project:

Book 1- No change. Final draft still in the holding pattern.

Book 2- 98000 words and approximately 95% complete. Needs last little bit added, then needs to be run through the "restructuring mill" for printing and proofreading and handing off to Beta Reader Prime.

Book 3- 27000 words. Quite happy with the progress so far, which is progressing until I can get past the "stuck place" in Book 2. Managing around 2000-3000 words a week- when I am writing, usually in 400-700 word installments.

Overall- probably would benefit from the existence of an outline (shudder), but I am allergic to formal versions of that arcane torture device. The "plan", such as it is, exists in my head, which is a scary place for anything.

Projected length of the "whole thing"- I will know when I get to the end. It tends to kinda grow bigger than anticipated (like overfeeding a goldfish) as I get to each "next part."

Project remove roof over oldest garage, lay plastic cover and put up the roof again is underway. Pics eventually.

Project: Create & Upload YouTube video
Status: Uploading

This one is a TS2021 quickie. I shot footage this morning following today's daily exercise-walk. Spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon combining footage, into and outro still images, adding intro music and finally crappy text narrative. Wrote out YT description, tags, and created a thumbnail after supper. It's nearly finished uploading, but will likely take a few days to process, thanks to uploading at 1440p. Will it get a copyright strike, as my previous TS2021 vid did? Who knows. It's likely, as my first claim was without merit. We shall see, I reckon.

(BTW, that previous claim finally expired. The claimer never bothered to take action on my dispute, for good or ill, just as I expected.)

I've footage for another TS2021 episode sitting on my internal hard drive. It's been there over a month. Never got around to doing anything with it, due to RL fires to put out and a stretch of time during which I felt poorly. Problem is, I now have no idea what I to say in the video. It's too long after the fact. Hopefully something will eventually come to me. The journey itself worth posting, a favorite GWR steam loco traveling a 'modern' British route.

Big, giant, no end in sight writing project.

Book 1- no change. Draft done.

Book 2- no change. Still at 95% done and hanging fire.

Book 3- 30000 words now, with the completion of a "chapter" that is quite pleasing. Just have to decide what comes next.

Oil change of the official Rocu automobile DONE. Also filter, obviously.

Prepared state/county/local taxes-due on online purchases earlier this afternoon. Came to a whopping $7.73. At that amount, I could have held off at least another month before filing. But keeping track of nickel-and-dime transaction for extended periods is risky, with a memory as fallable as mine.

Not so secret rewrite project:

Book 1- found one small item that needed to be fixed- i.e., character "folded her arms" and THEN "handed something" to another character. Would be fine if she had more than 2 arms- or passed the item with her feet... but... no. So fixed that.

Book 2- Changed a couple of "continuity" items to bring them into correspondence with Book 3. Otherwise, still hanging fire at 95%.

Book 3- 31000 words, plus have made a start on adapting existing text, which will add another 4000 to 5000 words, if I ever quite fiddling and start revising and incorporating.

Project: Create usable printer paper from ancient manifold paper
Status: Complete

Needed to print out a paper receipt for an online purchase early yesterday evening. Got a message stating there was no paper in the printer tray. Discovered I somehow neglected to purchase a new pack of printer paper. What to do? Remembered I had a decent amount of manifold paper from my dot-matrix days, over thirty years ago. It is in a variety of colors, which doesn't bother me. Except for the deep red sheets, which I ignored. What's more, I knew exactly where it was stored, in an easily accessible location.

Spent a good bit of time first removing the two side-strips, then separating individual sheets. Ended up with plenty of usable paper, almost filling the tray. More 'normal' paper is on this coming Monday's errand list, but I intend to use the converted paper until it runs out. My one fear is possibly neglecting to separate a few sheets, which could gum up the works. I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it.


ADDENDUM:
Immediately after posting the above, I grabbed that unused red manifold paper, intending to throw it in the trash. Skinflint that I am, I just couldn't do it. It is now converted and in the printer tray. I'll need to be careful about that I print on the red, but it's easy enough to remove those pages as needed. So long as I remember to do so.

Why does that conjure images of Decrepit recycling old data discs/floppies as drink coasters?

I'm not as bad as all that. In fact. I threw away three Dial-Up modems this Spring! Hope I don't come to regret that.

Just got notified that my new machine should arrive on Monday 16th August, so I am looking for the wallpaper. It will get named for a state, beginning with M, so I need a panorama image (triple monitor-spanning). That makes Montana likely, as it has the scenic in abundance.

However, any other M-state images could make me change me change my mind.

Ha, I still have a U.S. Robotics modem in my parts drawer.

An acoustic coupler and no wired phone.

Two of the three modems I junked were U.S. Robotics. Can't recall what the third was. Maybe a Creative Labs branded modem? I had one of back in the day. An external modem, a rarity in the dial-up era as I recall.

Possible Long-Duration Project:

During the mid-late 1970s I became rather proficient at the Recorder (instrument), at the amateur level. I could play many Baroque-period sonatas and the like, so long as they weren't written in the more difficult keys (lots of flats or sharps). I retained my 'chops' through the late 1980s, then more or less abandoned the instrument. I'd occasionally pick it up every now-and-again and run through a few pieces. While my technique deteriorated over time, I at least retained knowledge of the basics.

The other day I picked it up again, after a lapse of too many years. Not only has my technique deteriorated to the point that sixteenth notes have to be played as slow quarter notes, but I can't even remember all the fingerings!

The instruments I played back in the day were cheap, low quality junk. I threw most of them away over time, so that yesterday only one Soprano Recorder remained.

Here's where idiocy comes to the fore. I've ordered a new Alto Recorder off Amazon, thinking to resume 'serious' practice. I doubt anything will come of it. I'll likely toot on it a day or two, then store it in a closet the rest of my unnatural life. At $37US it will be far from my most frivolous/wasteful purchase.

The gist of it is that if I 'do' stick with it, practicing Recorder will become a long-term project.

Good on ya, Decrepit. Like harmonicas, recorders are notably more affordable and portable than say. . . the piano.

Gaaaah, you are not having a lucky month!









Where's Waldo Decrepit in this picture?



We've been trimming our yard up the last few months too. Can't tell which part is worse: the sore arms from being raised in that position for the trimming or the dragging the fallen brush out to the street. I don't envy you that job at all.

Really sorry to hear about your torn pec/rib! I hope you heal from that fast and without issues











Grrrrrrr. This doesn't sound good at all!

WOO HOO! I can't wait till you are back at the Guild Meetings! Your nude characters are always missed!

You've already picked the best one for panoramic scenic views. Next best would be Maine, of course = Maine always has great scenes that stretch out.

Other than that there is always Michigan (SubRosa's home base) if you want a panoramic city scape.

For panoramic scenic views don't even bother looking at:

Massachusetts
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri








Oh, that is awesome that you are getting back into your music! I hope you make some recordings of it for us!

More affordable for sure! I regret never having taken up piano. But... my fingers simply aren't long enough to do it justice. I learned that uncomfortable truth decades ago.

Ummmmm...maybe when pigs fly.


My new Alto Recorder arrived this morning. Surprised myself in getting in well over an hour of practice right after lunch! Man am I rusty. That's putting it politely. VERY politely. I tried producing a few test-notes just prior to eating. All that came out were squawks of indefinite pitch. And that's with the few notes I remembered fingerings for. Absolutely pathetic!

For official practice, I relied on one of my old standard Recorder technique books: Scales, Arpeggios and Exercises for the Recorder, by Margaret & Robert Donington. Turned to the "F" Recorder section (Sopranino, Alto, Bass), which begins halfway through the book. Of necessity, I confined myself to its first four exercises. Extremely short exercises. Two of two full bars duration, with an added quarter-note at the end. Two of one-bar duration with the added quarter-note. All four are marked "very easy". Not for me! Not at first.

The first is a partial C-major scale: middle-C up to G, back down to middle-C, in eighth-notes. Next exercise is the same thing except in G-major.

Exercise three is a full G-major scale, in sixteenth notes. Four is a one-octive Common Chord in G-major.

It was rough going! Starting out, I had problems getting the notes to speak at all. Nor was I used to the proper stretch needed to reach the keys. Both those took some time to overcome, to the limited extent I overcame them. One discovered issue I can't overcome: I no longer of the lung capacity to player for more than a couple of bars before stopping to catch my breath.

An unforeseen roadblock with a happy ending: Neither my 'normal' bifocals nor my el-cheapo Grocery-store computer glasses focus at the right distance for me to read music. Too close for one, too far away for the other. I then recalled that I have a pair of expensive prescription computer glasses sitting unused on a shelf. They focus at 2-2 1/2ft distance. My computer sits 3-3 1/2 away. Sure enough, those otherwise worthless glasses are perfect for music reading!

Anyway, I started out needed to play everything as if it was written as slow quarter-notes rather than eighth and sixteenth notes. By the end of practice, I could play eighth notes reasonably well at a decent tempo. Sixteenth notes are still a struggle at tempo. The arpeggio still gives me more trouble than it ought to, but is far better than when I started. In the three scale-run exercises, I even got it a little double- and triple-tonguing near the end.

Though none of these exercises require thumb-rolling, I felt my thumb naturally resuming its long-ago correct position as I practiced. This will hopefully make 'rolling' easier when I need it. <crosses fingers>

Once my left thumb assumed semi proper positioning, I realized that I had totally forgotten that that thumbnail must be kept extremely short for Recorder work.

The session ended when my 'recorder-thumb' became overly sore. It'll eventually toughen-up if I stick with it.

Practiced somewhere between an-hour-and-a-half and an-hour-forty-five right after lunch. Same method book. I've expanded the number of exercises I play, or rather attempt to play. After a poor start, I found the exercises begun yesterday have become easier. Exercises added today are hit-or-miss. Sometimes I make it through them relatively unscathed. Other times, it's a mess.

Only today do I realize that part of my problem is that I have all but forgotten how to read music. It doesn't help that the Alto Recorder is pitched in "F", while the music it plays is written in standard treble-clef "C". Thus, the Alto is a transposing instrument. This didn't phase me back in the day. Now, I sometime forget and play a note or notes as if they are written for an "F" instrument (such as modern French Horn, which are normally pitched in "F" and 'normally' read parts already transposed). I'm likely not explaining this well, being out of practice at this sort of thing. In any case, Recorder music reading will hopefully work itself out over time.

I had forgotten that I'm quite the condensation producer. I constantly had to stop and remove it as the bore became too clogged to produce acceptable, stable tone, especially its low right-hand notes.

Intonation on this new Recorder is, to the limited extent I can judge such things, better than my old Recorders. Either that, or my hearing has deteriorated to the point that I'm much less able to notice pitch variance than I was back in the day.

I've gotten in around an-hour-and-a-half worth of Recorder practice each of these past three days. The first of those (day three) was absolutely abysmal. Couldn't play a darn thing correctly. Abandoned the exercises begun day two and confine myself to day-one's four "very easy" exercises. Day four was better than both day one and three, but nowhere close to day two. Several, but not all, of the exercised jettisoned day three were restored. Today, day five, was all over the place. I did well one minute, then went to pieces the next. I didn't abandon any exercises, but maybe I should have.

Project wise, I believe I forgot to mention that balancing last month's checking account statement with my computerized expense register was a fiasco. Took nearly an hour! The month contained more incorrect amount entries than I usually make over a several year period. Correcting those was bothersome, but nothing more than monkey-work. What ate up the bulk of that hour is that, once all entries were 'correct', I was still off by around $8US. It didn't help that I had 'giggled the books' a bit, splitting several big-ticket purchases between multiple budget categories. That's where I assumed the problem lay. Doubling checking those transactions at least three times, I found nothing amiss. Went over my bank statement several more times. Still $8US off. I was at my nitwits end, and out of ideas. Then, BINGO, I saw my error. I had somehow added in a $8US expense that fell four days AFTER my bank statement ends. With that removed, Voilà!, statement balanced to the penny, as it always is.

Project: Daily Exercise-Walks
Status: NO-GO

0630. Dressed. Transferred ID (Driver's License) to shorts pocket. Stuck in upper partial. Grabbed umbrella. Grabbed keys-on-neck-rope. Opened and step through front door. Steady rain. Streets partly submerged. Walk delayed, very possibly abandoned for the day. I'll keep an eye on things. Should rain let up enough to allow streets to sufficiently drain prior to it becoming too hot, I'll get in my walk.

ADDENDUM: Immediately after posting, I looked out the window. Rain reduced to light sprinkle. Streets lightly waterlogged, but navigable. Grabbed umbrella and key-rope. Opened front door and stepped outside. Opened umbrella. Got in my exercise-walk! Had a forced pause a bit before the halfway point when a construction truck temporarily blocked the street. Precipitation ceased at around the two-thirds point. With not terribly far to go, heavy rain suddenly set in, and persisted for the duration. Took a bit of foresight and luck to keep up my pace while avoiding the worst of the expanding water pockets covering our streets. Once home, I stored the umbrella, dried off, and immediately took a heart reading: BP 101/66, Pulse 77. (More or less normal for me.)


Project: Recorder Practice
Status: Discouraging

Got in two practice sessions yesterday (and the day before). Yesterday's first went reasonably well. Afternoon practice was atrocious. Worst session since day-three. Couldn't get through any exercise without botching it. I think what discourages me most is the realization that, after nearly a week of consistent practice, I've made not an ounce of progress toward re-learning to read printed music. I'm not giving up. Not without a fight.


Project: Prepare YouTube video episodes
Status: At a standstill

I have raw footage and still images (for openings and endings) for at least three TpF1 and two TS2021 episodes in-the-can. It's just a matter of coming up with an opening text-monologue and video text narrative. That's my issue. Much of my footage was captured a month or more ago. In all this time, I've come up with absolutely nothing to say. Or, in some cases, 'how' to say what I want to convey.


Project: Lose Weight
Status: Acceptable progress

I've held more or less steady at 150lbs for weeks now, maybe several months. I've still got quite the belly, and noticeable 'man t*ts'. I need to hit 135lbs to more-or-less resolve that, but am being 'realistic' and setting my goal for 140lbs. That's what I weighed between circa 2000 and mid 2019. I'd of course prefer to drop lower. But to do so in the past required far more physical exertion than my health now permits.

(Wait! I was NOT 140lb circa 2000. I was the heaviest I've ever been my entire life in 1999, when my months long battle with pneumonic began. In just two-three months I dropped from 199 to 118 (the least I ever weighed). I stayed 118 for some time after finally beating pneumonia, gradually rose to 140, then remained there (discounting a few quickly-lost increases to 145+) until mid 2019.)

Projects: Create TS2021 YouTube video episode
Status: Uploaded, now processing

Raw video footage and image stills were captured some time ago. Yesterday evening I used those, plus a couple of music selections from MusOpen.org, to create a non-narrated 'episode'. Spent most of today adding text narrative, creating a YouTube Description and Tags, and fine-tuning the whole. (To my happy surprise, I had already created a custom thumbnail for it, lacking only final conversion from .PNG to .JPG.) Truth to tell, what I uploaded could definitely stand another solid day of narration tinkering. I don't feel like devoting more time to it. Should I change my mind, the episode is not scheduled to publish until Saturday, Aug 28, more than enough time to remove the upload and start afresh.


Project: Recorder Practice
Status: R.I.P.

Well, I gave it my best shot, and came up short. Actually, my too-frequent musical setbacks are not what led me to abandon the project, frustrating as those setbacks were. Rather, playing recorder seems to have adverse effects on my health. I was experiencing ever-worsening 'head pressure' and pain at the back of my head where skull meets neck. I stopped practicing at the end of yesterday's final (of three) practice sessions. I feel noticeable better today, in regard to the symptoms mentioned above. The sad thing is that, somewhat to my amazement, I actually enjoy practicing recorder, despite coming to realize that some aspects of my old forgotten skills are never coming back, practice or no practice. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Well poot.

Watching the local copy of my currently processing YouTube video this morning, I noticed an unforgivable narrative blurb, where I incorrectly contradict a statement made early on. I don't feel I can let that stand. Thus, I'll delete the YouTube vid and start afresh, after correcting my local copy. I'll then re-upload the corrected vid. Since description, tags and thumbnail are stored on my computer, re-doing those isn't much of a bother.

Now I have my new workstation, it’s time decide what to do with all the mods I removed from Nexusmods. There are about 30, for games from Daggerfall to Skyrim SE. I can host the downloads myself, but I need a discussion board for user issues, and I’m unwilling to do that on my server, which I prefer to have read-only. Does anyone have a suggestion?

You can list your mods on our "Mods" forum here, can't you? Start your own thread; and that would open up a place for discussions about it right on here. It just might hinder anyone not a member here who wanted to discuss your mods with you.

Oh, we have the Discord too; which would make discussing them easier. I can open up a Voice Channel on there and call it "Ghastley" or something.