Brinens and Things

It is no longer "masking outdoors in order to filter out the pollen" season, and is now instead "masking outdoors in order to insulate your face" season.

Today I visited the alternate universe where the Sesame Street song "It Sure Is Hot" code-switches between English and *Spanish*, rather than between English and Hebrew.

Interesting place to visit, but it's hard to beat nostalgia.

Comments on my own posts:

[mild cw: amnesia, corporate bullshit] One year of lifelogging

[cw: venting, unsanitary, aging, (arguably) sexism] if you want something done right you have to do it yourself

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Comments on other people's posts:

[cw: food] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by maryellencarter) Tips on what flavourings to add to beans.

[cw: food, apocalypse] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by lydamorehouse) The practical usefulness of rotated stockpiles. [two comments]

[cw: abuse, kidnapping] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by alarajrogers) Not all magic portals lead somewhere good.

[Reddit; Wayback] (OP by /u/GoonieGangGeneral; in response to /u/ForbiddenText) Geometric Weather is a great weather app, once you know how to handle its quirks.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by ms-demeanor) How to make a smart TV without the corporate bullshit.

[WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by tototavros) Advice on effective alarm clocks.

[cw: murder, amnesia] [WordPress (Tumblr)] (OP by chongoblog; in response to maryellencarter) BBC Sherlock got pretty batshit in its later seasons.

[cw: heterosexism, cissexism] [Dreamwidth; Wayback] (OP by yvannairie) Queer people and oversharing (or possibly ""oversharing"").

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Links:

[Hackaday; Wayback] (by Lewin Day) A car transmission modelled in Lego.

[Commute Time Map] (by Geoapify) A map that shows which parts of your area you can reach within a given timeframe, using a given means of transportation.



There is a blanket [cw: illness] on the rest of this post.

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1. What is the best book you have ever read? Why did you like it?

*Ever*, I'm not sure.

The cached answer from back when I was often asked my favourite book is "Ella Enchanted". It's got tons of loophole exploitation! And people getting mind-controlled into being happy about their situation! And a *genuine* happy ending!


2. What is your favorite kind of weather? Why?

About 12°C, sunny, light breeze, leaves crunching under your feet, ragweed season over.

I can go outside, enjoy the fresh air, wear a turtleneck *and* my favourite jacket and be neither too warm nor too cold.


3. If you had $100,000, how would you spend it?

You know what, it *is* about time I wrote down the List. It'll help me make sure I'm keeping track of it all, compared to just having it in my head.

(all figures in CAD, translated where necessary)

i. Very extensive roof repairs (~$6,500 - $11,000, depending on quality and haggling)

ii. Partial dentures for Dad (~$2,000)

iii. One-month, three-person emergency fund (Brother has a full-time job and partially separate finances: he can take care of himself) ($3,750)

iv. Laptop for Mom (current laptop barely functions as a personal computer (plus it's hampering her ad-mining) but would make a fine prosthetic brain for the TV; current TV prosthetic brain barely functions as such but would make a fine short-term emergency spare) (~$400)

v. Three-month, three-person emergency fund ($7,500 if you already have a one-month)

vi. Dental checkups for me and Mom (~$350)

vii. Extensive porch repairs and handrail installation (don't have a price quote on this yet, maybe a few thousand)

viii. ~5- to 7-year-old Toyota Prius V (by far the most fuel-efficient of [non-luxury car models capable of driving 100mi to New York, fitting $800 of groceries inside, then driving 100mi back]) (~$14,000)

ix. [classified] ($3,700)

x. Six-month, three-person emergency fund ($11,250 if you already have a three-month)

xi. Fill out rest of RRSP (~$3,200)

xii. Replace upstairs hallway carpet (much of which is covered in permanent dog-urine stains), probably also have to replace parts of the floor underneath as some spots are suspiciously squishy (don't have a price quote on this yet)

xiii. New coat of paint for parts of house requiring protective paint coating (don't have a price quote on this yet)

xiv. Ask Dad if there are any other house repairs I've overlooked (don't have a price quote on this yet)

...let's see, what I am up to now? Around 60 - 70k? And the original 100k was probably meant to be USD, so I've still got about half left.

If I had 65k lying around because of extra *income*, I'd say that's enough for it to be worth my while to hire a U.S. tax specialist to fill out the Qualified Electing Fund paperwork on a bunch of VGRO. (The nice thing about those all-in-one funds is you only have to fill out one set of QEF paperwork (per year) for your entire portfolio.) But this is a lump sum, which means we're still bleeding money underneath (albeit less than before, what with the non-beater car), which means we're likely to need that 65k in the next five years, which means no stock market. I'll just add it to the same carefully-optimised† savings account as the emergency fund. (Between that and the emergency fund, it's over $200/month in interest!)


4. Did you ever meet a famous person?

Well, there's a surprisingly decent chance I've run into Justin Bieber at some point and not realised...

I mean, in general, I don't expect that I'd notice if someone I was meeting was famous. Didn't even realise for a while that the person I was chatting with in some blog comment threads a few years back was Ursula Vernon, and I can't blame prosopagnosia for that one.


5. Were you ever in a helicopter, limousine, racecar, hot-air balloon, submarine, horse-drawn carriage?

Only horse-drawn carriages.

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†About 2.8 - 3.3% interest, depending on which promotions are going on at the moment.