Karel P Kerezman @greyduck@x0r.be

Fire up random playlist for a bit. First track selected by MusicBee's algorithm? Tin Machine's cover of "Working Class Hero."

Something something zeitgeist etc.

My random playlist this afternoon is in a MOOD. Starting off with "War Pigs" (Faith No More rendition), immediately followed by "Fist of Fire" (by the don't-call-us-Yes ABWH line-up), and G'n'R's "Civil War" is in there plus, of all things, The Police's "Walking In Your Footsteps."

Huh.

I'm back from vacation. Also, tired because getting a flu and pneumonia jab the same day, one in each arm, means I did NOT sleep well last night since I couldn't get comfortable AT ALL.

On vacation!

Partly to free up time slots for doing medical things, but still! On vacation for a few days!

Gotta get my head back in the game, or possibly several games. I've been drifting away from EVERYthing this past... year? Couple years? Span of time?

I'm not making connections, I'm letting existing connection wither, and I'm definitely not having fun with much of anything.

Time for a rethink.

Diabetic eye exam, today. Didn't know that would involve dilating my eyes. Which is making my afternoon work shift VERY challenging.

(Yes, tooting is also a challenge, which is why I'm keeping this brief.)

On one hand, the doc could tell I've been diabetic for years. On the other, the damage apparently isn't too bad and shouldn't get worse so long as I keep my A1C down-ish. Yay?

My Tony Banks remastered albums boxed set showed up, which improved a moderately horrid week dramatically.

I've already noticed improvements to one of the instrumentals on THE FUGITIVE ("Charm"). Hooray for a quality rendition of one of my favorite albums!

(Yes, I am a weirdo.)

Today I learned that a Tony Banks remastered solo albums boxed set was released in 2019.

Today I also put in an order for that boxed set because HECK YES.

I re-ripped the Police boxed set (previous rip used beta Ogg Vorbis codec, yes, that's how long ago) and that means going through and finally throwing ratings tags on everything. (I'd already marked down the ratings for the really good songs.)

Holy crap a lot of their songs are actually terrible. There's some gems, but yikes. "Landlord," "Visions of the Night," "Peanuts," I can only take so much of this in a single day before I have to move on to music I actually like.

Nothing like seeing a text from late last night from one of those occasional/distant friends who only gets in touch when they want something from you.

Whoops. Slept right through it, so sorry.

Doc: You should come in for an in-person follow-up so we can do a few tests and discuss what to do next with your serious medical condition.

Doc: *has no openings until over a solid calendar month from now*

Turns out that a year and a half of anxious/paranoid self-isolation plus a year of being a diagnosed diabetic isn't great for your state of mind, filed under News Nobody Could've Predicted.

It's so weird to hear Midnight Oil's "Short Memory" from 1982 come up in the rotation, especially with what's happening now.

"A smallish man, Afghanistan. A watchdog in a nervous land. They're only there to lend a hand. Short memory."

Hooray, we're back to being able to wait until early afternoon before needing to power up the AC units, rather than barely-past-10am like it's been for most of the last week!

#pdxtst

Most days I'm fine with the dietary restrictions under which I must live in order to, um, live.

Some days, however, I would rent out, if not outright sell, my soul for a chocolate orange treat.

"So who wants to attend $VENDOR-Con 2021 in Seattle!?!"

Y'all know we're not actually past the pandemic, right? Pay attention.

Looks like Twitter's trying out a "dislike" button, the results of which "won't be visible" but um, most of us have heard of the algorithm, y'all, so we can guess that the amount of engagement (thumb up OR thumb down) will do something significant to visibility.

I can't possibly foresee any way for this to go awry, he quipped sarcastically.

@djsundog Just, upbeat and shiny and funky as all get-out, I've had one of their albums on for the last 3/4 of an hour and it's improved a rather rotten day considerably.