The title of this blog is more wishful thinking than anything. Sure, we didn’t have any triple digits days this past week but mostly 90s with a couple of higher 80s days can’t really count as “cooling down,” eh?
TV
Nova Vita [Freevee] – I finally finished this 10-episode show. It ended on a cliffhanger that was only mildly interesting and I was rather relieved when it ended. It was worth it to watch Thomas Beaudoin and I’ve certainly watched worse for my fellas. He was the best part of the show and perhaps the most believable. I might have a better appreciation for the fake wife as I do a skimming sort of re-watch, mostly to do screenshots of Thomas. I don’t think I’ll ever care about the mourning wife. I don’t think I can recommend this show to anyone but I wouldn’t mind hearing what others might have to say about it, especially if they don’t have a reason to watch like I did…
Ahsoka [Disney+] – Another well done episode this past week. I recognize the actor playing Young Ahsoka as the one who played Young Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War! See, I pay attention. Even though I am enjoying this show very much, I think my understanding of the show has depended too much on watching the re-cap shows after the episodes. I don’t have the same emotional investment as the fans of Rebels or Clone Wars and the show hasn’t really done enough to bring me in. It’s a delicate balance but if I feel like this, what more for the even more casual fans?
Apple announced the iPhone 15 lineup. Of course, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is THE iPhone to get if you want the best camera of the bunch. No, I’m not getting the iPhone 15 Pro Max (though if I were in the market, the 256 GB version would be my choice) but I’ll get to touch one in a week since R is upgrading his phone. I’ll feel some tech envy and then I’ll have to remind myself that I’m cosplaying a tech reviewer type by being a Captain 2 Phones. Spoiled, I know.
The Rugby World Cup is in its second weekend. The All Blacks lost their first match but they won against Namibia on Friday, 71-3. Bonus points! I’m pretty determined to wear an All Blacks jersey on the days they play. So far it looks like they’re playing on Fridays during round play, so good for me as I can get away with wearing sports wear on casual Fridays at work. Plus the superintendent is a rugby fan, so he might not mind so much. GO ALL BLACKS!!!
I got a new desk printer/scanner combo to replace my former printer and scanner this week. Maybe I’m a nerd (no, no maybe, I am) but I was excited to get the new piece of equipment even though my printer had been with me for eight years or so. It was so dependable but my scanner was less dependable. My new printer/scanner seems like a great printer (and mini copier) but the scanner scans ever so slightly crooked. How can I fix that?! I don’t know but it’s going to annoy me, especially if I have to edit the scans for some reason. But I can’t complain too much. It’s a great update that feels like a good turn of happenstance.
Whilst scrolling through a friend’s FB, I happened upon a post that made me stop. The sentiment expressed utterly disappointed me but it also infuriated me. I was glad to see that no one had liked that particular post nor commented on it. Perhaps we’re all too civilized to counter the post’s words. Go us?
As a daughter of union workers and a union worker myself, I wholeheartedly support of unions. Unions are an important element of the working force, bringing us fair wages and benefits. Anyone who says they’re pro-union but says they hate unions in their profession in the next breath doesn’t understand what a union is or perhaps thinks they above people who work in unions. It’s likely a combination of both but in this case I think it’s the latter. I’m not going to say that all unions are good because I worked in one that I suppose did its job but allowed the department to reclassify us, which meant more money for the workers but also more money to the unions and works that the department could shuffle more easily than before.
If you can work in a job that doesn’t need union protections, good for you. Truly. Please don’t act like you’re better than someone who does work that depends on union benefits because you can somehow get inconvenienced, likely during negotiations. If it’s part of your job to deal with such things, suck it up and get it done. But don’t act like you support unions when in reality, you do not. You can’t purport to support unions if you’re going to say you hate it in your profession. Maybe you’re in the wrong line of work if something you’d normally support turns into something you hate because of your profession.
As I consider this more, I think I must say that not only did that friend’s post infuriate me, it offended me. But you know what, they won’t care or they’ll try to say something like, “I didn’t mean it that way.” Well, I took it that way and nothing can really change my opinion about it. I’m tired of making excuses for other people, for giving them the benefit of the doubt. I’ve done this for too long and maybe it’s time for other people to do it…
SOCIAL MEDIA
Threads (@kiari) – I think I’m still enjoying this one the most, of the new places. I know it’s still in early days and I should be happy we have web access now but I wish that hashtags worked there. I saw a post arguing that hashtags aren’t needed but I feel like that random poster doesn’t understand hashtags at all…
Bluesky (@kiari.com) – I’ve been getting invites codes every week, which means I can share them with my friends. I also like Bluesky but it needs more people posting random stuff. I want my friends to post more there!
Spoutible (@valerie) – This one is probably evolving the best and the conversations there are thoughtful and fun in turns. Some people are still so serious and this is the place that likes to act like they’re better than the other places (and yes, in many ways they are) but too many people also seem to judge the other places and the people who post there…
I try to post everyday (well, every weekday) to all three places and I do still post my Wordles to the place formerly known as Twitter. I’m not going to deactivate or delete my twitter account because I don’t want someone to take my handle and use it for nefarious purposes. After all, it’s a longstanding account. If Twitter burns, my handle will go with it. Until then, I’ll post those Wordles and not much else…
The afternoon NFL games are on and I’m ready to publish this post. Go me!
A good week to you all!