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FB Harassment

It is real. FB has jailed me again for saying “Remind me to punch you in the arm next time I see you” in response to a friend’s horrible dad joke. Oh, yes, I’m “inciting violence”. Yup, definitely. But those right wing nutjobs who want to overthrow the country? Eh, that’s just a little joking FUN!! Cuz the FB AI is all about overthrowing democracy, burning books, medical misinformation and other right wing bullshit. THAT is just FINE. Stonekettle has been banned yet again for posting a photo with the label “macro lens of water drop”. YUP. Facebook is TRASH.

Facebook’s AI has run amok. That is why people are fleeing right and left and that’s why their stock fell 23%. Because letting AI run your goddam platform is stupid. I sincerely hope that we are nearing the end of Facebook’s reign of terror over the internet. Those of us who remember The Before Times™, when blogs ruled, WE are taking our content back to our blogs and posting elsewhere.

I also found out that my backup account has been linked, without my knowledge or permission, to my main account, so the sanctions affect that acct, too. Which means it serves no purpose at all. The whole point was to have a backup for all the pages I manage in case FB did exactly this and jailed me or outright banned my account. I am going to have to give admin privileges to Nick for all my pages as backup, which is not optimal, but at least it’s something. So far, FB hasn’t lumped our accounts together despite a shared IP.

I’d just not go back to FB at all if it weren’t for the pages and the constant stream of moronic questions that comes through one client’s page. Daily drivel from Teh Stoopid™ that must be managed. I’ve set up autoresponses, but OF COURSE they only work part of the time.

Instagram is still working, but who knows how long that will last. It is inevitable that the AI will be put in charge of IG, since FB, ‘scuse, META, clearly cannot afford real people. Poor Zuck, how can he possibly be held accountable for his bullshit platform? He’s too busy counting his billions and not paying taxes.

And speaking of Meta, who does Zuck think he’s kidding? He has clearly stolen the idea of a fully immersive internet experience from Ernest Cline, who created the Oasis in Ready Player One. Zuckerberg should pay Cline for the idea. It is not original.

The harassment of users will be the downfall of Facebook. Or, it will become a right wing conspiracy nutter farm, which is fine with me, I am only going to use it for page management henceforth.

Now, I need to get friends to use Signal or Apple Messages rather than FB messenger to chat with me. I really do NOT want to use any Meta products if I can avoid them. SO, for those of you reading this, please know I’ll be transitioning to Signal for chats, or you can text me. Apple Messages is encrypted and I can use it on my desktop, so PLEASE use that if you have an iPhone. Of course, since this will not post to FB, no one will see it. LOL

PEOPLE, we need to stop relying on FB. Period. ANYTHING is better at this point. But I know I’m talking to myself here, because I can’t even convince people to not play the hacker driven personal info gathering games on FB. Sigh.

I am stepping back from FB. I’ve logged out, and I’ll remain logged out for a week, then when I can use the account(s) again, I am taking care of the pages and that’s it. I’ve been only doing memes and bullshit on there for a couple of months, so this is more of that.

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2022 Reading List

Welcome to the 2022 Reading List! I read 35 books last year! I hope to beat that this year. :)  I am also happy to add that my voracious reading has inspired Nick to read more, as well! This pleases me! I’ve not beaten 35, but I’m at 31 on Dec 20, and I’m happy with that! 

Random additions: 

Fairy Tale, Stephen King.  This is an excellent story! I mean, of course, it’s King, but really, it is quite good. It’s a new realm with little to tie it to the bigger King Universe. I hope he will revisit this world again in the future! This story is about a kid who gets involved with an old dying man who has been keeping a secret world SECRET for his whole life. Good stuff! 

Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By in America, Barbara Ehrenreich. This author is an investigative reporter with a long list of books about various subjects (that I need to read!). This book is about her experience doing bottom rung, minimum wage jobs in various cities in America and the undeniable truth that these jobs are not only mind numbingly horrible, but you cannot live on just ONE of them. A very good read and as we know from personal experience, VERY TRUE. Every rich American should read this. 

Goodwill Hurl! June 2022

Cruising Attitude, Heather Poole. Picked this up for light reading – and it certainly was! LOL This is a collection of anecdotal essays about being a flight attendant. This girl is pretty dumb and overall, she doesn’t really raise the perception of flight attendants. My fave sentence went something like this: …and the motel I was in was in view of a big white building in DC. The White House? I don’t know. Wow. So, yeah, a lightweight trying-too-hard to be a tell-all, this book is strictly a palate cleanser between better reads.

The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman. This was an excellent read! Set in SW Australia, it is a lovely story set at a lighthouse far from anything. Stedman’s descriptions of the SW Australia coast is exemplary. I did get pulled out of the story occasionally by the comments of a “blistering January” or a “chilly June”. It is really odd to think of the seasons as opposites! But the characters are pretty well written and the story, while sometimes slow, is compelling. I have the movie version of this book that I’ll watch once I’ve digested the book. I like to have space between reading a story and seeing it redone in visual form. If you run across this book, it is worth the read.

The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls. I just read Half Broke Horses, and it was EXCELLENT. This is Walls’s memoir of growing up with two mentally ill parents. It’s not as chilling as The Sound of Gravel (see below), but still pretty damned harsh. Her mother was bipolar and a hoarder and her father was an alcoholic (and probably bipolar, too). They drug their children all over the place in their car and regularly did not feed them. The parents ended up homeless in NYC – and liked it that way. There was a movie done in 2017 with the same name that starred Naomi Watts, Woody Harrelson and Brie Larson as Jeannette. It was pretty good, but of course, the book is better. The movie portrayed her parents – particularly her father – very sympathetically, which I don’t think they really deserved. The book is well written with a strong voice.

Fifth Chinese Daughter, Wong. This book was actually written in 1945!! I have a 2002 edition, with an updated intro from 1989. The author died in 2006 and was known for her ceramics work. The story is written in third person, which is a Chinese tradition, but makes it read a little dry. But still an interesting look into turn of the century Chinese immigrants.

A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean. Yep, the movie was made from this. This is a short story collection with the title story being the first. Maclean has a very distinctive voice and a lovely, lyrical way of writing.

Half Price Books hurl!

ALL these are from the memoirs section. I’m on a memoir tear!
Ruined By Reading, Lynn S Schwartz. This is a short tome, which is to its benefit. It is a memoir of a life of reading and musing on various authors. The book was published in 1996, pre-internet as we know it. Which is why this quote is prescient:

“If those of us who live by language become superfluous in years to come, it will not be because of the advance of technology, but the loss of coherent discourse.” – p.24, Ruined by Reading.

OH, YES. She is right on the money. She is of the Silent Generation (b. 1939), so many references are a bit dated, but she certainly has a handle on being well read and dealing with morons who are not. Good read!

MORE BEHIND CUT!
Continue reading “2022 Reading List”

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Welcome to 2020 Too

Ugh. This year has started out ROUGH, my bitches. I am not pleased. I am foul.

We’ve got some fun things booked for this coming year – assuming the fucking plague eases off.

I’m of the opinion that EVERYONE will get the Omicron variant of C-19. It’s hella transmissible. The good news is that it is much milder than the original version(s). At this point, if you’re vaxxed, I think you’ll be OK, even if you get it. I think that this is the one that will actually give “herd immunity” for what that is worth. Or not. WHATEVER.

I’m tired of thinking about it. I’m tired of dealing with it. I’m just fucking TIRED.

I’ll be starting up the 2022 Reading List shortly. That is one thing that this fucking plague will NOT take from me: READING.

As for 2020 Too, it can SUCK A COCK. Here’s what’s gone wrong in less than a fucking week:
– insomnia is back (hopefully the Delta 8 gummies will help)
– GERD has kicked it up a notch
– Dept of Labor is trying to rescind my unemployment for catering
– a game rental client turned out to be a HUGE DICK; had to cut him loose (not bad overall, just stressful)
– FB has decided to fuck with me and DEMAND that I verify myself, but it will not send me a code. If I don’t comply within 2 wks, it will block me from my administrator duties on pages I manage. AWESOME. It also deleted my admin privileges from the secondary account. Of course, there is ZERO support offered. FUCKERS. I HATE FB. [Good news on this front: a friend told me to set up a Google Voice # and use that for FB, so I did and now the account is fine. But having to go through all that is some bullshit. -A]

And we’ve not even hit day 7. FML

Hope it’s going better for the rest of you. >:(

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End of Year Fear & Loathing

I just found out that Nick’s work prints out all emails. TWICE.

Wow, that’s really stupid.

We are truly astounded at the level of idiocy we see DAILY in all sorts of businesses – yet they somehow manage to make money. The Japanese game people, for instance, have no website. Only FB, IG and Twitter. And yet, they book cons constantly. They are very unprofessional at the con, too, with no table, no signs, no one taking care of their games, NOTHING. And yet…

We could KILL with a print shop. But we don’t have the capital to buy one. It’s our classic issue. We have the ability to run a business, just no money to start one. We run POAS like pros: table, signage, working games, ALWAYS someone at the table, etc. Why? Because that is how you do it! We are many things, but half assers is not one of them.

The pub was a very bad idea that the Universe saved us from – for which we are forever grateful. But it sucked down most of our savings, so now we can’t do SHIT. A print shop franchise is pricey ($45k plus space, equipment, etc.), but you get some really good support, so it’s worth it the price of admission.

BUT. No funding. We could manage the franchise fee, but not the rest. We also can’t get any sort of credit with a bankruptcy on our reports. So, as usual, we are stuck. Nick has to drive an hour to work twice a day to make someone else money. Sigh.

It’s easy to start a business when your family will back you. THAT is the common thread we see with these business owners who are clueless, but manage to make money. They come from family money and/or simply buy a business.

We have no support at all. No family money, only the money we manage to save and invest. So we KNOW what it’s like to have zero support and be on your own to eek out a living. We really wanted more for ourselves, which is why we keep trying to start our OWN business! We want to put our energy into something for US, not some clueless rich white guy who has never worried about money a day in his life.

These are the things in my head as we wrap up 2021. The pandemic has sucked 2 years out of our lives so far and 2022 will be another gone. I am OLD. This is wasted time for me. I am worried that we’ll never be able to have our OWN business, for ourselves. And that, my friends, SUCKS.

The games are fun and all, but make no money. AND we are too old and broke down to shlep them more than a couple times a year. POAS is strictly a side hustle and will remain so. BUT a print shop would be the perfect biz for us. With Nick’s extensive printing expertise (he is the Print GOD) and my admin expertise, we would KILL IT.

But it all comes down to money. Of which we have little. We are ok day to day, but don’t have much extra to go into savings or investments. I don’t see how we’ll ever be able to be on our own. And that is a real buzz kill.

THAT is why I’ve just lost all motivation and deal with depression and/or anxiety (depending on the day) constantly. We are looking at never retiring and always having to work shitty jobs we don’t want. I like MY job, but it’s extremely p/t and that will not change. I’d LOVE to take on more restaurants to admin, but that’s just not in the cards thanks to fucking Covid. Catering is done as well. I am at a loss. Nick hates his job and can’t quit. IT SUCKS.

So, hey, happy holidays and all that shit.

I’m just not into it. I’m too distracted by all of the above. I’m OK, but not OK, yanno? I keep doing the next thing on my list, but I feel 100% stalled. Like everyone else, I imagine.

BUH.

Sorry for the fear and loathing post, but I had to get it OUT.

//end whining

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Potato Casserole

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Potato Casserole

This is a really great way to jazz up potatoes! It is almost a souffé, since it has eggs in it and it does rise a little. It can also be made ahead, which is great for holiday cooking!
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword chayote casserole, potato, potatoes and cheese, souffle
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author misangela

Ingredients

  • 2.5 lbs Russet (baking) potatoes (3 large) Yukon Golds are fine
  • 3 cloves garlic, whole
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup half & half
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2 Tbl cream optional, use more half & half if skipping
  • 3 Tbl butter
  • 1 cup shredded gruyère cheese use whatever you like
  • 4 scallions, finely slice on bias both green and white parts
  • 1 tsp thyme fresh is best
  • 1 Tbl parsley, minced fresh is best
  • 1 tsp salt might need more, CHECK before baking
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 cup shredded cheese for topping

Instructions

  • Peel and cut potatoes into 2" cubes. Boil in heavily salted water (should taste like the ocean) with the whole garlic. Cook to fork tender, about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  • If you have a stand mixer, use it! If not, get a large mixing bowl and put in 2 eggs and lightly beat them. Then add half & half, sour cream and cream, and stir together.
  • When potatoes are done, drain them and pull out the garlic. Smash the garlic and add to ingredients. Turn mixer on to stir and add hot potatoes a few at a time (slowly, so you don't scramble the eggs). Add butter in pats while stirring.
  • When potatoes are all in and mixture is getting smooth, add cheese, 2/3 of the scallions, herbs and S/P.
  • Pour potatoes into a 2 qt (9x9) baking dish and top with more cheese and the remaining scallions. Make sure to taste for salt levels!
  • Bake at 375ºF for 45 minutes, until brown on top. Add about 10 minutes if you're starting with a cold casserole.

Notes

This is a really great recipe for the holidays, because you can make it a day (or two) ahead.