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Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)


Banshee

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Yeah, those instructions I can understand without a cheat sheet!   :D   But oddly enough, they include a fairly common instruction that is NOT on the new list of 44 laundry hieroglyphics, namely to turn the garment inside out -- which often appears alongside advice to wash the item "with similar colors," which is not among the hieroglyphics either.  But that's OK, I usually ignore those anyhow!

 

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  • 1 month later...

My cousin is currently loaning me her father's genealogy files, which I am going through and fleshing out my family tree a bit.  Unfortunately, most of the documents are 70s-style low-contrast photocopies (with considerable bleed-through from the other side) of hand-written originals.  And my uncle seems to have done most of his copious handwritten notes with a mechanical pencil, using the kind of thin, hard lead that leaves a thin, faint line.

My eyes are in pretty good shape, but they're not what they used to be, and I'm having a doozy of a time trying to read all this.  There are few enough documents that I can deal with them all without too much stress, but I've just about given up on the handwritten stuff.

Do your future self (plus your friends and relatives) a favor:  When you hand-write anything more permanent than a grocery list, do it in black ink on white paper, preferably using a pen with a medium-width (or even bold) tip.

Thank you!

 

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1 hour ago, besleybean said:

would love to be related to Sherlock Holmes

Well, research you family tree -- who knows, you might be cousins!

Some of my relatives have the surname Wolfe, and they're from a town where mystery writer Rex Stout once lived.  I like to think he subconsciously based his super-detective on someone he had encountered in real life, so I'm related to Nero Wolfe!

 

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That's a thought!  I don't currently have PhotoShop on my computer, but I do plan to scan the documents while I have them here, so if I get PhotoShop (or whatever) later on, I can give it a try then.  Might make the docs easier to use for quick reference.

By and large, I can read the documents (though it's something of a challenge), and am learning a lot from them.  It's the handwritten notes that are driving me nuts -- so many of them, mostly very faint, and the ones I've actually taken the time to read don't always make sense without whatever the context was at the time.

I have the collection for almost three months longer, though, so I may be able to take a deep breath, gather my courage (and patience!), and plow through the whole thing by early August.  There really isn't a whole lot, just a stack no more than three inches high, counting documents, notes, and quite a lot of miscellany.  A good bit of the miscellany isn't anything I'm interested in, so that helps.

 

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Thanks, J.P.!  So far I've been able to figure out all the pertinent stuff, but if I hit any snags on the rest, I'll let you know.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know it's kind of redundant to rant about this with the pandemic nearly over but I have to get this off my chest.

Dear antivaccers, please stop comparing yourself to a jew living in nazi Germany. The covid safe ticket and the passenger locator form are not a jew star, you are not persecuted, you are simply held accountable for being a selfish prick. So stop calling yourself the new Anne Frank.

 

On a unrelated note, I have a friend who is still in touch with my ex and the things he told me... it's really karma for my ex, she doesn't have a single penny to her name, she keeps borrowing money from her friends who dumped her because they don't get their money back, because she's broke she's moonlighting now and the tiny studio she lives in now is infested with mice.

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6 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

Dear antivaccers, please stop comparing yourself to a jew living in nazi Germany. The covid safe ticket and the passenger locator form are not a jew star, you are not persecuted, you are simply held accountable for being a selfish prick.

In case it makes you feel a little better, FL, the anti-vaxxers that I know see required vaccination mainly as a violation of their rights to decide for themselves how best to maintain their own health.  Even though I understand their principles, though, and don't consider them selfish, I personally am not convinced by their explanations of why all vaccines are harmful.  And even if some vaccines may increase a person's subsequent risk for certain diseases or conditions, my own personal risk/benefit analysis says I'd rather take that chance than have a really bad/fatal case of covid (or suffocate to death from diphtheria, as used to be a fairly common occurrence).

I don't support government mandates, because it seems to me that if anyone suffers as a result of anti-vaxxers not being vaccinated, it's most likely to be the anti-vaxxers themselves, who are more likely to come down with covid, and far more likely to have a bad case of it than anybody who's been vaccinated.  As for their children, kids fortunately tend to have fairly mild cases of covid anyhow, which will presumably provide them with some immunity in their adult years.

6 hours ago, Fantasy Lover said:

I have a friend who is still in touch with my ex and the things he told me... it's really karma for my ex, she doesn't have a single penny to her name, she keeps borrowing money from her friends who dumped her because they don't get their money back, because she's broke she's moonlighting now and the tiny studio she lives in now is infested with mice.

I've seen that sort of thing myself.  When someone refuses to take responsibility for their own life, the results are seldom pleasant.

 

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I think vaccination has to be a personal choice.

Some of those labelled 'anti vaxxers' that I know, have had plenty of other vaccines...

they just don't want this one.

I couldn't care less!

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Speaking of bad cases of covid, I've got one.  It's my first time with it and it's been miserable.  The covid developed into pneumonia (my first time with that also) and I've been sick now for over a month.  Every muscle in my body is sore from coughing so hard.  I pulled some muscles and displaced some bones in my back, shoulder and ribs.  I finally got to the chiropractor last week but I was in serious pain for a couple of weeks before that.  I couldn't even keep water down because I would just cough it back up a few minutes later.  Not to be dramatic but about two or three weeks in, I started thinking about making plans for my dog in case I didn't get better.  I felt like death.

I was given antibiotics and I'm finally starting to improve, I think, maybe... very slowly, it seems.  My doctor said I should be showing improvement by day two of the five-day treatment course, but I didn't notice a difference until day six.  It's now day thirteen and I've still got a cough and a wheeze, and fatigue from the cough; but I'm not having coughing fits that last for hours like I was before, so that's improvement, right?  I'm unfamiliar with pneumonia and how it's supposed to feel so I'm not sure at what point I should be thinking about hospitalization if it hasn't totally cleared up.  Some people say I should have been almost 100% better by the time I finished my antibiotics, and others say the cough can continue for weeks or months afterwards.  My doctor was vague about timing, and I'm not sure if I should or how I could go in for another appointment, seeing as my employers don't offer health insurance benefits to part-timers and I don't have enough money left to spend due to being home sick and out of work for so long.

I would really like to be done with this illness asap.

My family has also been dealing with bad cases of covid.  My mom got hers right before I did and developed bronchitis as a result, and my brother has his right now and says he's the sickest he's ever been, he can't even get out of bed.  My nieces and nephews all got it as well.  Unfortunately I passed mine on to my dad before I knew I had it, but fortunately he had a mild case that was pretty much all better in less than a week.

For the record, we are all vaccinated (except for the kids, who are all under age 6).

 

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Get well Artemis! I got covid as well, but it was a mild version: coughing, runny nose, a fever and lack of appetite.

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Thanks FL!  I certainly hope to.  My initial covid symptoms were a sore throat, high fever, pounding headache, body aches, heavy sinus congestion, heavy fatigue, and a mild cough.  Most of those went away after a week or two, so for awhile I was tricked into thinking I was getting better, but my cough got steadily worse and worse.

Glad your case was mild!

 

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Wow, Artie!  I've been wondering where you were.  Sorry to hear you've been so sick, but glad to hear it's finally improving.  I'm wondering if maybe you did have a fairly mild case of covid, but the end of it segued right into pneumonia.  I've never gotten the pneumonia vaccine (or even flu vaccine), but lately I've been thinking it might be a good idea.  Hope you're all better real soon!  We've missed you!

 

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On 5/11/2022 at 12:45 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

That's a thought!  I don't currently have PhotoShop on my computer, but I do plan to scan the documents while I have them here, so if I get PhotoShop (or whatever) later on, I can give it a try then.  Might make the docs easier to use for quick reference.

If you're going to scan them anyway, you might want to see if your scanner can adjust the contrast/brightness/density. That might take care of the problem without having to invest in Photoshop (or whatever). Also, if you're using Windows, you might get results fooling around with the settings in the built in photo editor.

 

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On 6/12/2022 at 6:12 AM, Artemis said:

Speaking of bad cases of covid, I've got one.

And that's why some people think vaccines should be mandated ... to help stop the spread and severity of Covid. You're not just putting yourself at risk when you refuse to get vaccinated, you're increasing the risk for everyone you come in contact with.

However, I should talk, as I usually only wear a mask when I'm required to. So I get it ... I think everyone hates being forced to do something they don't want to do. I'm willing, for the sake of my own comfort, to take the risk of breathing in a nasty bug. But heaven knows how many germs I've breathed out. I'd feel pretty bad if I found out someone got sick because I was too selfish to endure the misery of wearing a mask.

Like most things, it's not as simple as people sometimes make it out to be. *sigh* I do wish life was less complicated, sometimes.

Artie, I'm sorry to hear you've been so sick. And I empathize with your concerns about paying for health care. I'd suggest you look into if there's any kind of support for people in your situation, but when you're sick, you don't exactly feel like dealing with case workers, phone calls and paperwork, do you? Sigh again ... the support system in our country is sooooo inadequate........   Hope things get better soon. I have a friend who went through something similar to you ... Covid followed by a much worse secondary infection. She seems to have bounced back in a few weeks, though, I hope you will too.

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5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

If you're going to scan them anyway, you might want to see if your scanner can adjust the contrast/brightness/density. That might take care of the problem without having to invest in Photoshop (or whatever). Also, if you're using Windows, you might get results fooling around with the settings in the built in photo editor.

My scanner has a few different options, and I've figured out how to use some of them to best advantage -- for example, to avoid bleed-through when scanning a two-sided original.  But that's just me doing the best I can with a crotchety machine that advertises more than it delivers.  I haven't yet found any way to delete the bleed-through that's already on a copy.

I don't offhand recall knowing about any built-in photo editor on Windows.  What's it called?  Or are you talking about File Explorer?

 

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If you're looking for free Photoshop alternatives, GIMP (https://www.gimp.org/) is great but it's definitely not easy to learn (then again, might just be me being clueless :lol: ).

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7 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

My scanner has a few different options, and I've figured out how to use some of them to best advantage -- for example, to avoid bleed-through when scanning a two-sided original.  But that's just me doing the best I can with a crotchety machine that advertises more than it delivers.  I haven't yet found any way to delete the bleed-through that's already on a copy.

I don't offhand recall knowing about any built-in photo editor on Windows.  What's it called?  Or are you talking about File Explorer?

 

I don't know if it has a name, and I think you have to have at least Windows 10. But when you click on a photo, and it opens, there's editing options at the top of the window. It's all pretty basic, but one set is labelled "adjustments", which can be useful. Adjusting contrast might make handwritten letters look darker, e.g.

I don't know of any way to delete the bleed-through either, except by painstakingly "erasing" it. Not a fun task.

7 hours ago, Caya said:

If you're looking for free Photoshop alternatives, GIMP (https://www.gimp.org/) is great but it's definitely not easy to learn (then again, might just be me being clueless :lol: ).

I don't think it's you! I've been using a variety of photo editors for 30+ years, but I never could really figure out Gimp. It wasn't intuitive, or something. Thank goodness I was able to land a cheap copy of Photoshop Elements a few years ago.

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2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Adjusting contrast might make handwritten letters look darker, e.g.

I don't know of any way to delete the bleed-through either, except by painstakingly "erasing" it. Not a fun task.

Fortunately there seems to have been a rule back then that handwritten records had to be done in black ink with a broad nib!

Also fortunately (but not quite as helpful) the bleed-through seems to be some sort of detailed instructions printed on the back of the form in relatively small type, and of course it doesn't show up as dark as what's on the front, so if I think of it as gray stripes, I can ignore it fairly well, at least till my brain says it's had enough of those gymnastics.

2 hours ago, Arcadia said:

when you click on a photo, and it opens, there's editing options at the top of the window. It's all pretty basic, but one set is labelled "adjustments"

Sounds like you're talking about Windows File Explorer -- no, wait, I mean umm, whatever has the tray icon showing a couple of mountains and the sun?/moon? -- whatever they call that large black box that comes up when you double-click on a photo that's listed in Windows File Explorer.  I haven't tried any of their "adjustments" yet, but the cropping and rotating work well.

 

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On 6/16/2022 at 10:43 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

whatever they call that large black box that comes up when you double-click on a photo that's listed in Windows File Explorer. 

Yeah. That ... thing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've been road-testing color-match puzzles, and am a bit frustrated.  They all seem to be the same game, give or take a few minor details, and I enjoy the basic concept.  But why do several of the colors have to be so similar?

If I concentrate, I can tell the reddish-orange from the orangey-red, and the slightly-darker gray from the slightly-paler gray -- though the extra effort detracts from the fun.  But every time I think I've figured out which pieces are bluish-green and which are greenish-blue, it turns out I'm wrong, which wreaks havoc with my attempts at strategy.

I wish they'd use basic colors (like a medium-small box of crayons) and forget the three-dimensional look (which, though attractive, introduces confusing streaks of other colors).

Admittedly my eyes aren't quite what they used to be, but why do ALL of the color-matching games seem to be designed for people with top-notch vision?  If anyone knows of one that isn't, please tell me!

 

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On 7/15/2022 at 12:19 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

I've been road-testing color-match puzzles, and am a bit frustrated.  They all seem to be the same game, give or take a few minor details, and I enjoy the basic concept.  But why do several of the colors have to be so similar?

If I concentrate, I can tell the reddish-orange from the orangey-red, and the slightly-darker gray from the slightly-paler gray -- though the extra effort detracts from the fun.  But every time I think I've figured out which pieces are bluish-green and which are greenish-blue, it turns out I'm wrong, which wreaks havoc with my attempts at strategy.

I wish they'd use basic colors (like a medium-small box of crayons) and forget the three-dimensional look (which, though attractive, introduces confusing streaks of other colors).

Admittedly my eyes aren't quite what they used to be, but why do ALL of the color-matching games seem to be designed for people with top-notch vision?  If anyone knows of one that isn't, please tell me!

 

As to reasons, I'm guessing it's so the puzzles are hard to solve? :D 

The one I enjoyed the most so far started pretty easy; fewer colors further apart on the spectrum. But as it went along the colors become harder to distinguish. There was an all-blue one I simply had to give up on. But I can't say I wasn't challenged!

That game was called "I Love Hue Two" (or "Too", I forget). I'm playing the original "I Love Hue" now but it's not as much fun because it's all rectangles. The sequel had several different shapes. Fewer levels though. I really liked it.

Have you tried turning up the brightness on your display? That often helps.

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