tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081DarkoshiDarkoshiDarkoshi2023-04-01T08:33:16Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:868551Nextdoor emails2023-04-01T08:33:16Z2023-04-01T08:33:16Zpublic0One of the bothersome things about Nextdoor is that their email notifications only display the beginning of each message, with a "See more" link. In the past, if it sounded interesting and I wanted to see the whole message, I'd have to click the link to read the post on the Nextdoor site.<br /><br />Now I've discovered that if I view the emails as plain text instead of HTML, it shows the whole message!<br /><br />If I want to read the replies to the post, I still have to open the website. But at least now I know what the topic is really about beforehand, and if it is worth reading more.<br /><br />I'll have to try that with the Facebook-like <a href="https://www.workplace.com/">Workplace</a> emails we get at work.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=868551" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:837491tone of Nextdoor posts2022-03-05T21:08:04Z2022-03-05T21:39:23Zpublic0Since the beginning of February, there's been a noticeable change in the type of email notifications I get through Nextdoor. Previously they were mostly topics like:<br /><br />- Hi neighbors! New to the site (or neighborhood)<br />- Missing or found dog/cat<br />- Problem with tap water or other utilities<br />- Looking for work / offering services / don't hire this person/company<br />- Looking for / offering to give away something for free<br />- What kind of snake/plant/flower is this?<br /><br />Now they are mostly mood-lowering topics like:<br /><br />- home broken in to<br />- car stolen<br />- suspicious people seen on driveway or trespassing<br />- mail / packages stolen or damaged<br /><br />I like being able to hear news from the neighborhood. But this shift in tone of the messages has me considering turning off notifications completely. Then I'd probably only ever visit the site if I have a topic of my own to post, or to check if anyone else has posted about something I'm curious about.<br /><br />I'm not clear if there has been a real shift in the topics being posted about, or only in the notifications sent to me. The latter might be due to some Facebook-like algorithm based on which messages I've clicked to read on the website. Anyone else who uses the site noticed this recent shift in tone of notifications?<br /><br />Another thing I see is that many of the more recent messages reference other areas of town, not my particular neighborhood. The older messages I see don't reference any particular areas so I can't tell about them. But I haven't changed my Nextdoor settings regarding which areas I want to receive messages from.<br /><br />In my Nextdoor settings, all notifications are turned on except "For Sale & Free" and "Digests". So before now, I must never have felt a need to switch anything else off. There's a "Popular everywhere" item at the bottom... maybe this is new? Well, I've turned that one off now. I'll see if it makes a difference.<br /><br />.<br /><br />This was another recent message: <i>"Did anyone hear about the kidnapping at [...] elementary?"</i><br /><br />Based on the above, it sounded like more bad news. But the rest of the post, when I clicked to read it, was, <i>"It's fine, he woke up!"</i>. ::groan:: ::but amused::<br /><br />That post now, like many others when I later click on them, says "Sorry, the post you're looking for has been removed."<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=837491" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:794228one brown chihuahua near a yard with a cockle-doodle-doo2021-02-03T00:06:20Z2021-02-03T00:09:31Zpublic0I'm trying to go for walks more often. So I've been taking a break from work before sundown, and walking around the neighborhood.<br /><br />I smell weed while walking past several places. I wonder if it's that obvious to anyone else who walks by too.<br /><br />There is much litter all over. Much is recyclables; beer cans and soda bottles and glass bottles. Lately, I've noticed more than the usual amount of beer cans in the area around my house too while picking up trash. I'm not sure whether to be mollified that it's not only my intersection where people litter so wantonly, or dismayed by the larger scope of the problem.<br /><br />I feel like taking trash bags with me and picking up some each day, at least to clean up the places that aren't right in front of people's houses. I've thought about doing that before, but I felt self-conscious about doing it in areas that aren't even near my house, and then I stopped walking.<br /><br />There's also a difference between walking for walking, and walking to pick up litter, and I'm not sure I want to make that switch. Maybe I ought to do it once or twice a week. Maybe one day to pick up recyclables and one day for other trash, to avoid the number of different bags I'd need to carry.<br /><br />I might not get more than a couple blocks away from my house before the bags being full.<br /><br />..<br /><br />Wearing a face-mask while walking makes me feel more anonymous and less self-conscious, even though I know some of my jackets are quite distinctive. I think it's also less clear to onlookers what sex I am, which also makes me feel more comfortable.<br /><br />When getting back from my walks, my eyelashes have tiny beads of water on them, from my moist exhaled breath coming out the top of the mask. (I had read that someone else, walking in colder weather with a facemask, had ice or frost form on their eyelashes.)<br /><br />..<br /><br />I read something funny earlier, like: <i>"When friends don't call me, I take comfort in knowing that their computers are working well."</i><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=794228" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:719207screw it all, screw it deep2019-11-16T18:09:07Z2019-11-16T18:09:07Zpublic4I was finally warmed up enough, feeling nice and toasty. But then lying in bed, felt hungry. It's late enough in the day now that I really ought to be up, even though I got only 4.5 hours of sleep.<br /><br />There's a Nextdoor post about a recent break-in in the neighborhood. The burglar must not have been able to completely kick the door in, but enough so to make a hole big enough to reach inside to unlock it.<br /><br />That reminded me of an undone item on my to-do list, installing <a href="https://darkoshi.dreamwidth.org/598559.html">longer screws</a> on my doors' strike plates and hinges. As well as replacing some of the strike plates, apparently. <br /><br />So I thought that maybe I could get started on that today. Should be easy, right? Drill the holes deeper, replace some screws... (I'd forgotten the part about replacing the strike plates.)<br /><br />Being low on sleep seems to make me feel a greater sense of urgency about random things like this. Like my brain is less able to moderate impulses. Sometimes it helps me get things done. Sometimes it side-tracks me from doing things that I ought to have been doing instead.<br /><br />Now where did I put those long screws? And do I have any drill bits here, or did I take all the good ones to Qiao's house when I was putting up the extra hooks on his porch?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=719207" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:677722door bell anger2019-02-23T17:15:47Z2019-02-23T17:48:22Zpublic3Woken up by a door bell. <br />Get up, check the door thinking it's something I ordered. <br />Then see that it's a car seat for a baby. <br />First think, oh that's what Qiao ordered for my niece's baby.<br />I see a FedEx truck driving away down the street.<br />Then remember that Qiao ordered a stroller, not a car seat. <br />Worry that Amazon sent us the wrong item. <br />Check the label on the package, see that it's addressed to our neighbor, not us.<br />Oh! I wonder if they got our package instead?<br /><br />Walk over to neighbor's house for the first time and wonder which door to use.<br />There's no package of ours by either door.<br />I choose the front door, as it has a door bell.<br /><br />They've rung our doorbell before, to bring back our little dog who had dug out of the yard.<br />We've said hi before. <br />I may have given them Qiao's phone number, but I don't think we have theirs. Qiao has spoken with them briefly a few times.<br /><br />Ring the door bell. Wait. Ring door bell again. Wait.<br />Knock on the outer glass door. Wait.<br />I see a dog inside through the glass of the doors, eating or drinking or something. It didn't hear me yet.<br />I knock harder, and the dog hears me, and barks. It jumps up on the door.<br />Hi there! (Nice doggy!) Tell them someone's at the door!<br /><br />I can hear kids running around inside. <br />They've heard the door bell or the knocking or the dog barking by now, I'm sure.<br />I hear one of the kids say "Don't answer it!"<br />There are 2 cars outside the house. I'm pretty sure an adult is home.<br />I keep waiting. Maybe it just takes them a few minutes to get out of bed and dressed, like me.<br />I knock a few more times, waiting.<br />Waiting. Kids running around inside.<br />Waiting.<br />I decide to send them a message on Nextdoor.com instead. For F*CKS sake.<br />Sudden irrational anger.<br />(Remembering the other times I've rung neighbors' doorbells & knocked on doors, waiting in vain for someone to answer. Dammit; people not answering their doors anymore in this day and age.)<br />I walk back to my house, maybe stomping as much as one can stomp in flip flops.<br />I bang the top of the package with my fist in passing.<br />Maybe we should just keep the dang thing. <br />That'll show them, not answering their frickin doorbell.<br /><br />Now I'm all riled up; certainly no chance of falling back asleep.<br />I send them a message on Nextdoor, from Qiao's account.<br />Any reply they send will go to his email, so I guess it will have to wait until he gets up to see if they've answered.<br />I start writing this post.<br /><br />Noonish. Our door bell rings.<br />It's the neighbor.<br />I give them their package. <br />They don't have ours. <br />Not surprising. It'll probably come later in the day. Hopefully.<br />I wonder if FedEx will notice their mistake.<br /><br />Then I remember that I can check for a reply on the Nextdoor.com page too.<br />They sent a reply before coming over. They didn't hear the door bell; "guess it needs to be fixed".<br />Great. I still don't have their phone number. I forgot to ask.<br />I'll ask via Nextdoor.<br /><br />Half an hour later.<br />Zorro growls and then barks.<br />I check the front door.<br />USPS mail carrier walking back to the mail truck.<br />(Dithering here over whether or not to use the gendered word "mailman" even though the person looks like a man. But what word would I use for a woman?<br />Mail carrier. Mail carrier. Mail carrier. Say it enough and it will sound natural, I'm sure. Mail carrier. Mail carrier.)<br />USPS for this delivery, not FedEx.<br />It's the stroller.<br />They didn't even ring the door bell this time.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=677722" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:669731cawkereeeeeeeeeeee2019-01-17T15:33:35Z2019-01-17T15:35:03Zpublic0Someone in the neighborhood has a rooster again. Today was the first time I heard it crowing in the morning/daytime. For the last few weeks, I'd only heard it very late at night. (It's not very loud and doesn't bother me.) I'd wondered if it was crowing in response to seeing me turn the bathroom light on, or at the train that passes by around 2am.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/01/roosters-crow-really-morning-day/">Why Do Roosters Crow?</a><br /><blockquote>it’s important for us to point out that roosters will crow at all times and in response to a range of seemingly innocuous stimuli, like the sound of a car or someone walking into their coop. ... Along with being used as a warning of sorts to let other roosters known the boundaries of its territory, the crow can be used to communicate with other birds and sometimes to celebrate getting lucky; roosters really aren’t picky when it comes to excuses for crowing.<br /><br />That said, although roosters have been observed crowing at all times of day and in response to even the most mundane of stimuli, they will indeed typically crow just before or at the crack of dawn. </blockquote><br /><br />Before writing this, I was trying to remember what a rooster's call was called... calling? cawing? Crowing!<br /><br />But wait. Roosters crow, but crows caw?<br /><br /><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/6bljeh/why_do_we_say_that_roosters_crow_and_that_crows/">https://www.reddit.com/r/asklinguistics/comments/6bljeh/why_do_we_say_that_roosters_crow_and_that_crows/</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=669731" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:661999gunshots2018-12-05T06:13:15Z2018-12-05T06:13:15Zpublic6Ten minutes ago (an hour ago now as I post this) I heard what sounded like gunshots, 6 in total, much closer than usual. After the initial shock, I looked out a bedroom window (thinking to myself, this really isn't the smart thing to do; that would be to get away from the windows. But I was curious.)<br />There was something odd going on 2 houses down. It looked like a car parked in the street, and then another one drove up and parked. It's hard to tell as it is dark; maybe they are on the side of the road, not in it. There was a flashlight flickering by their driveway. Maybe it's unrelated to the shot noises.<br /><br />I anticipated hearing police sirens. But no, it's been quiet since then. I guess no one called the police.<br /><br />No dogs barking, even. <br /><br />Now I'm wondering if it could have possibly been a car engine back-firing. But, no. It wasn't anything like that.<br /><br />.<br /><br />This evening's news was somewhat bewildering.<br /><br />An <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article222596340.html">escaped inmate was shot dead</a> by a homeowner after breaking through her back door and coming to her bedroom door with a knife. (That sounds like an ad for the NRA.)<br /><br />An motorcyclist driving on the interstate <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article222605180.html">shot at a car</a> with 6 people in it, including 2 kids and a baby. <br />(Why??) (That sounds like an ad against guns.)<br /><br />An intruder was trying to drown their grandson in the bathroom (WTF?) so the homeowner shot him, but then police shot the homeowner. (That sounds like... uh...) Wait a minute, that <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/01/man-killed-police-shot-intruder-protect-grandson-says-lawyer/">story is from August</a>. Why did they report it on TV tonight?<br /><br />During one of the clips on President Bush's funeral, I had the sudden thought. When Trump dies someday, flags will be lowered to half-mast for a month for him, too. Whoa.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=661999" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:650168senses2018-10-04T05:10:03Z2018-10-04T05:23:08Zpublic0I don't know what's going on with that road. I feel like I can't trust my senses anymore.<br /><br />Sunday was the rumbling in the distance and trucks driving by, but me not able to see what was going on.<br /><br />Monday morning was the horribly strong vibrations and trucks working on the road near my house. I saw brown dirt under the part of the road that the sheep foot roller was rolling over. The big truck that presumably was tearing up and grinding the old road was ahead of the roller. This was on the far lane from my house.<br /><br />Since then, I've avoided driving on that road as I don't want to drive over a bunch of gravel, especially as it is a steep hilly road. I've driven down other side streets instead. My house is on a corner, so I can do that.<br /><br />Monday night, it was dark outside when I got home. It looked like my side of the road hadn't been worked on yet. The center yellow lines were still there - they hadn't been ground up.<br /><br />Tuesday morning when I woke up and looked outside, the trucks were parked near my house, but no noise was being made; no rumbling. Yet my side of the road looked like it had been ground up. Could I have slept straight through them working, and all the rumbling and vibrations?<br /><br />Tuesday night, again dark outside when I got home, the road looked the same as it had in the morning. When I walked to the mailbox, I could see some grey powder on the edge of the grass by the road, and the road smelled like cement powder. I wondered if they had mixed concrete powder into the ground up asphalt, and if they were letting it settle.<br /><br />This morning I saw no trucks; I don't think any work was done today.<br /><br />This evening, again dark outside when I got home, the road no longer looks chewed up. Looking at it closely and walking on it, it looks like only a top layer of asphalt was chewed up, and that the bottom layer was left. The yellow center lines are somewhat higher than the lanes on both sides. But how can that be, when I saw dirt the other days? Surely that sheet foot roller wouldn't be used on hard pavement? Aren't the sheep feet meant for compacting dirt?<br /><br />Maybe what looks like old pavement is really new pavement? Or a new sub-layer for the new pavement. I don't know. I hope this isn't the final product.<br /><br />But why would they have left the center yellow lines, instead of grinding them up too? Makes no sense to me.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=650168" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:649886sheep foot2018-10-02T05:14:47Z2018-10-02T05:14:47Zpublic10I got home tonight expecting the whole road to be paved, considering how far along they were this morning. But no, it's still just ground up on one side, and looks pretty much like it did when I left this morning, except with gravel on top instead of dirt.<br /><br />I forgot to mention, the driver of one of the big pieces of equipment* appeared to be a woman. That was nice to see.<br /><br />*I looked it up, and it's called a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sheep+foot+roller&tbm=isch">sheep foot roller</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br />Back when my brother was staying here for a while, one thing he said has stuck with me. He was commenting on how quickly roads over here deteriorate and need to be repaved. He said that in Germany, they have better paving technology (or they use a better paving substance?) and don't need to pave roads as often.<br /><br />Since then, I've wondered if that is really true. First I thought, "well the climate is different here than there, that probably makes a difference." But there are probably a lot more freeze-thaw cycles over there per year than here, so if anything I'd expect the roads to deteriorate faster over there. Then I wondered if my brother was mistaken about roads needing to be repaved less often over there. But still, I wonder if there is any truth to what he said, and if so, why can't it be done better over here too?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=649886" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:649699rumble2018-10-01T14:28:23Z2018-10-01T14:28:23Zpublic0The road is being repaved on one of the streets that goes by my house. The truck which grinds up the old pavement makes the whole house vibrate strongly. Makes me worry a bit that it'll make something break. I'm glad I didn't choose to work from home today. I'll be leaving for work after my morning Skype call in a few minutes.<br /><br />On Friday, when I was working from home, they must have already been working on the other end of the road. I could hear the rumbling (and had to put on my noise cancelling headphones a few times; I was pleasantly surprisingly that they worked even against that bone-shaking low frequency noise). I occasionally saw a few trucks, but couldn't figure out what was going on. <br /><br />Qiao stopped by my house on Friday. He didn't see what was going on either, but someone told him an 18 wheeler had overturned. Later at night when I drove down the street, I didn't see any sign of that, nor of any repaving in process. But the road was full of gravel and some big work equipment/trucks were parked in an empty lot.<br /><br /><a href="https://darkoshi.dreamwidth.org/596123.html">About 2 years ago</a> they had put up some orange roadwork signs on both ends of the road, but never did any work. I think one of the signs eventually got knocked down, and the others were taken down. I wonder if an 18 wheeler hit a pothole which made it overturn, and if they decided that because of that, it's now time to fix the street.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=649699" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:590525respect!2017-04-18T04:59:15Z2017-04-18T05:02:08Zpublic1The other night, around midnight, I went to check my mailbox. There were 2 youths/teenagers walking up the street at the same time - I had seen them before leaving my yard, and had a brief thought that I could just wait until they had walked on by. Because shy little me doesn't like having to interact with other people. But that would be acting like I was afraid of them, and I wasn't. They weren't giving off any bad vibes. So I headed down the street, enjoying the night air. As I approached them, I heard one of them say, fairly loudly, "Spect!" In the first moment, I thought he must be saying something to the other guy, but I wasn't sure... so I just dipped my head in greeting as I walked past. By then it was too late to say anything anyway. I got the mail, walked on back, and kept thinking about it. He must have been saying "Respect". Was that a greeting? Oh dear, maybe he was greeting me in a friendly way, and I just walked on by without saying anything. Maybe they didn't even see me dip my head. Maybe now they think I'm an unfriendly snob. <br /><br />There have been a few times when I've said hello to other strangers while walking by them in this neighborhood, and they didn't say anything back. (That may be why I really wasn't expecting these two to say anything to me.) That gave me a feeling like... not that I clearly remember... like they were thinking "Why are you talking to me?" But I brushed it off, thinking maybe they didn't hear me, or were just surprised at being talked to. Or whatever, not important. So maybe this is what it's like from the other side.<br /><br />After getting back inside, I googled whether "Respect" is ever used as a greeting. Apparently it is, in Jamaica.<br /><br />Another reason why I'd rather just nod my head in greeting to people, is that if I hear them say something that sounds like a greeting, even if they are alone, they may really just be speaking on their cellphone, with an earpiece... Had it happen a few times where I replied "Hi" to someone, and then felt chagrined, realizing they were talking on their phone.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=590525" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:588810things found2017-04-03T13:56:30Z2017-04-03T13:57:57Zpublic0In Facebook, if you send a message to someone who isn't connected to you (not even indirectly), is it possible they won't even be shown the message, depending on their settings? Or in the latter case, would you not even be given the option to send them a message?<br /><br />Yesterday while picking up trash by the side of the street, I found a purse with a drivers license and other cards still in it. Based on the name and photo on the DL, I found their FB page and sent them a message, but haven't gotten a reply yet, so was wondering.<br /><br />There was another time I found a DL by the street. That one was without a purse, just lying on the ground, and was bent/damaged looking, so I wasn't sure if it had been thrown away on purpose. I mailed it to the address listed on it anyway, just in case.<br /><br />Yesterday, there was also a pair of purple shorts in the road (the other road, not near the purse). They looked clean, so I just moved them out of the roadway in case someone comes back for them. There was also a clean white sock, which I figured no one would come for, so I trashed it. Later I realized maybe they were from the same source... maybe someone was returning from a laundromat and dropped a few things. Who knows.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=588810" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:445504snowy day2014-02-12T23:30:51Z2014-02-12T23:38:05Zpublic0Saw some people sledding down the road this afternoon. They had 2 real sleds; the old wood & curved metal variety.<br /><br />I actually shoveled snow today! I shoveled the steps to the garage this morning, and again this evening to get off the additional layer of compacted snow/ice that had accumulated since then. I also cleared off part of the front steps hoping that it would make Serena more inclined to go out to "potty". I'm still not sure if she's done her business at all today.<br /><br />Took the dogs for a short walk. I thought that Serena wouldn't even be willing to go as far as the gate, but she was a trooper and walked the whole way with Zorro and me. Zorro was in a playful mood after seeing the people on the sleds. She would have been running and jumping if she hadn't been on the leash.<br /><br />A few hours later and the snowy stuff has started to ice over.<br /><br />I'm been watching out my window as a big ole pickup truck keeps going forwards and back, trying to make it up the hill after turning the corner. It's not succeeding. I wonder why the person in the truck wants to drive that way so badly.<br /><br />Now I've finished writing this whole post, and that pickup truck is still at it. It's not stuck in place; it just keeps reversing backwards around the corner, and then trying to turn and drive up that hill again (instead of turning left).<br /><br />Boy. It's gone now. Maybe it finally made it.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=445504" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:444646the case of the phantom dog2014-02-05T14:04:08Z2014-02-05T14:04:08Zpublic0My neighbors asked me about an unfamiliar dog they saw in my yard yesterday, along with my 2 regular dogs. They said it was a pit bull and that it was friendly - they were able to pet it over the fence. But when Qiao and I got home an hour later, there was no extra dog in my yard. I have no idea how a dog that size could have snuck both into and out of my yard. I believe the perimeter is fairly secure, considering what I had to do to keep Serena from getting out when she was younger.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=444646" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:429651halloween and people at the gate2013-11-02T08:49:00Z2013-11-02T08:49:00Zpublic0So many <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=halloween">creative</a> <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/kaleleperreira/la-heleui/">Halloween</a> ideas!<br /><br />.<br /><br />Yesterday evening, we had the porch light off, the curtains closed, the dogs in the house, and the gate closed. I hadn't put up any decorations or bought any candy. (I wore my <a href="http://www.darkoshi.com/img/2013/20131031_halloween3x.jpg">bright red wig</a> to work, but that was it.) Yet around 8:30pm, someone was yelling trick-or-treat from outside and I heard the gate rattle. I thought that perhaps my niece or nephew had stopped by. But it was some lady with a small kid at the gate. I said, "Sorry, I don't have anything", and so they left. Afterwards, I felt bad for the kid, and remembered that I did have a few wrapped chocolates I could have given away. Later I also remembered the packets of peanut butter crackers. But as I totally didn't expect a situation like that, I hadn't planned for it.<br /><br />I think the lady may have brought her kid trick-or-treating to my house in past years. I remember someone speaking to me on the street a year or 2 ago, saying they were glad I did Halloween as there are so few houses to take their kids to nowadays.<br /><br />But there was also a lady last year who started harassing me, repeatedly asking me (and Qiao) for money. She would come to the gate and yell out until I came out to speak to her. The first time, she needed money for food because her sister had left her kids with her. The next time, her mom was in the hospital, dying, and she needed money to go there and stay with her. (After her mother died, she gave me one of the flyers from the funeral service. It looked real.) Then her sister (a different one, maybe) who had come for the funeral needed bus money to get back home to NC. Those first few times I gave her $20 to $40. The last time, she said she needed help with rent or bills. By then I realized she wasn't going to stop until I did, so I refused to give her any more money. I had already said one of the prior times, that it was the last time, anyway. As I walked back to the house, she even started yelling at me in an unpleasant tone. What little sympathy I had left evaporated.<br /><br />So maybe it was *that* lady. But I still feel sorry for the kid.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=429651" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:387957new year's eve brush fire2013-01-05T09:04:55Z2013-01-05T09:04:55Zpublic0On New Year's Eve around 10pm, I heard sirens, so I lifted a curtain to look outside. Rather than seeing a fire truck rushing by, it stopped right there in the road, and I saw a line of BRIGHT FIERY ORANGE FLAMES!!<br /><br />There had been 2 loud (very nearby) booms earlier in the evening, from people nearby shooting fireworks. But then Qiao and I had started watching a movie, and hadn't paid much attention to the goings-on outside.<br /><br />One of those early fireworks must have landed on the other side of the road. The grass and shrubbery was aflame. Fortunately, there are no houses on that side of the road. As I saw a burning ember wisp into the air towards my side of the street, I realized the fire could be a danger to my house, if it managed to cross the street.<br /><br />But the firefighters did a good job in quickly putting out the flames. The fire didn't spread very far. By the time I thought to get my camera, the flames were mostly out.<br /><br />I did take some photos the next day of the charred ground where the fire had been.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.darkoshi.com/img/2013/20130101_burntGrass1x.jpg"><br /><img src="http://www.darkoshi.com/img/2013/20130101_burntGrass2x.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=387957" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:382615racial demographics and divides2012-11-11T20:50:10Z2012-11-11T20:51:55Zpublic0Based on the <a href="http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/42513/111805/en/summary.html">current vote tally</a>, in South Carolina, Romney got 54.67% of the vote, and Obama got 43.98%. Here in <a href="http://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/Richland/42553/111118/en/summary.html">Richland County</a>, one of the state's more urban areas, Obama got 65.77% and Romney got 32.86%.<br /><br />Based on some <a href="http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/45079.html">census figures</a>, South Carolina's population is 68.4% white and 28.1% black. Richland County is 48.9% white and 46.3% black. As a kid, it always surprised me to hear that blacks were a minority in SC, as at my schools (also in Richland County), it seemed that at least half the students were black. It still surprises me sometimes, considering how many black people I see in my day to day life (other than at work).<br /><br />In spite of Richland County having almost the same percentage of blacks and whites, some neighborhoods and institutions are mostly one or the other. At my place of employment, I'd estimate that 10% or less of the people I work with are black (I'll use that term here for simplicity, rather than "African-American"). That's probably true, even without counting the people who are here from our India and Vietnam offices on temporary work visas. On the other hand, the support personnel (security guards, cleaning crew) are nearly all black. Most of the people in higher paying jobs, with higher education, seem to be white. Even at the hospitals, from what I've seen, most of the nursing and medical staff are white.<br /><br />Many churches (in my limited experience) are mostly white or black. When I go to some grocery stores, nearly all the other people I see there are black. In other grocery stores, there's a more even mix of races.<br /><br />My neighborhood must be mostly black, although it doesn't seem that way to me, as two of the nearby neighboring families are white. Whenever I go to vote, nearly all the other voters are black. It was the same way in my last precinct, when I was still living with Forestfen. During last week's vote, that is one of the reasons I would have felt very uncomfortable having been allowed to skip standing in line, due to Qiao's (temporary) disability. It would have felt like I was being given privilege due to my skin color, even though I know it wouldn't truly have been due to that. Other than me and Qiao, there might have been 1 or 2 white people standing in line (possibly not even that) during the entire time we were there, compared to probably over 100 black people.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=382615" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:334865sha la la shine2011-12-17T06:37:03Z2011-12-17T07:31:50Zpublic0As of today, I'm on vacation until January. This year, I put up both a christmas tree and a christmas sci-fi spider web. Some of our old glass ornaments are rather worn out and not so nice looking anymore, so I bought some new ones to replace them. But the old ones still have a bit of golden shine... and they're a nice small size... it's so hard to throw them away! I did some web searching and came across the idea of gluing glitter all over them to make them look nice again. So maybe I'll do that. <br /><br />Some houses in the neighborhood have their houses and yards decorated with a lot of lights. One house has a tree with strands of the "dripping icicle" style LED lights. It looks very pretty.<br /><br />Oh, and about the ornaments... It's curious how when you get new ones, it's like... they're pretty, but they're somehow alien, blank... Then after a few years of having had them on the tree (or wherever), they acquire a precious quality, and become "one of the family".<br /><br />Qiao is building up a collection of Hallmark sci-fi ornaments. This year he bought several, including a <a href="http://www.hallmark.com/Product/ProductDetails/1495QXI2619_DK">Lego Darth Vader</a>. Darth's light-saber was missing (!) so I made one out of a thin piece of straw, painted red with a permanent marker.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=334865" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:322775Turtle, Dog, and Human Tales2011-09-29T16:16:57Z2011-10-04T03:24:14Zpublic0Dogs barking at turtle on other side of chain-link fence.<br />Turtle in its shell, too scared to move.<br />Dogs looking ready to start digging.<br />Human puts dogs on their cable tie-outs.<br /><br />Hours later.<br />Human looks for turtle, doesn't see it, is relieved.<br />Human lets dogs loose.<br /><br />Minutes later.<br />Dogs barking at other spot along fence.<br />Human comes out to look.<br />Dogs have already pushed away the bricks along the fence, and started digging under it.<br />Turtle is half-covered in dirt from the digging.<br />Human puts dogs on their cable tie-outs.<br />Human pushes dirt around, stuffs bricks in the hole under the fence, and adds a few more bricks.<br /><br />Hours later, night.<br />Human wonders, what am I going to do with those dogs?<br />Human lets one dog loose.<br />It slinks off to investigate.<br /><br />Minutes later, the dog is back.<br />Human is relieved. Turtle must have gotten away.<br />Human lets other dog loose.<br /><br />Night passes.<br /><br />Morning passes.<br /><br />Dogs barking at another corner of the fence.<br />Apparently turtle is having a hard time finding a way out of neighbor's yard.<br />Human sighs.<br />Human is trying to work! And has to spend so much time protecting critters from its dogs!<br />Human has had enough of this.<br />Human will take care of the problem for good this time!<br />Human puts dogs on their cable tie-outs.<br /><br />Human wonders, how to get the turtle?<br /><br />How, how, how...<br />Shovel!<br /><br />Human gets long shovel, bucket and gloves.<br />Human leans over fence and picks turtle up with shovel.<br />Turtle tries to crawl off while human lifts shovel over fence.<br />Turtle falls off shovel on human's side.<br />Human yelps.<br />But turtle seems ok.<br /><br />Turtle put in bucket.<br />Bucket put in car.<br />Gate opened.<br />Car driven down the street to pond.<br /><br />Human lifts turtle out of bucket and puts it next to pond.<br />Maybe this isn't such a good spot, so close to the street, human worries.<br />Human sighs. Turtle has probably had enough of being human-handled.<br />Human drives back home, closes gate, and lets dogs loose.<br /><br />Dogs rush off to investigate.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=322775" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:317703for real2011-09-01T01:08:23Z2011-09-01T01:19:05Zpublic0<object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_dxr15eaoNY?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="sameDomain"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_dxr15eaoNY?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br />2011/08/31 Police action outside my yard. They were chasing a pickup truck, which had gotten a flat, and was finally stopped right there behind the wood fence. Lots of commotion. An ambulance came too. I think I heard the word "crack" a few times. They are in the process of towing away the truck now, and the lights have finally stopped flashing.<br /><br />And Qiao is missing *all* the excitement. If he hurries home he *might* still see a cop car or two...<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=317703" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-06:301081:317538excitement and flashing lights2011-09-01T00:20:28Z2011-09-01T00:20:28Zpublic0oh yay. exciting. I heard a bunch of police sirens and walked out my front door to look. A pickup truck was being chased by a bunch of police cars... one of its tires had gotten a flat and was sparking.. it turned the corner in front of my house, and was finally stopped behind the wood fence where I couldn't see... a bunch of yelling... I saw one cop doubled over, as if he had been kicked in the leg... after a bit, I went to the fence to look, and saw the driver apprehended, on the ground. still bunches of flashing lights. <br /><br />I think I saw that pickup driving by earlier in the day.<br /><br />uh-oh. now there's an ambulance out there too.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=darkoshi&ditemid=317538" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments