New Year...

New Year, new day to sleep in. Hurray. It was nice spending the holidays at home, as so often, a "day off" means waking up early and travelling for hours. Perhaps around 1, we went to my sister's house, and watched the recorded Rose Bowl on TV, which was nice, with all their fancy flower floats. My mom helped my sister put together her drying rack, in the meantime. They then tried planning some early potential vacation ideas for next year. They might want to try to do the Balloon Festival again (they keep failing), which as usual, won't be a vacation I can go on, but that's fine. I like staying home alone. They might do some smaller trip with my middle sister in May, which I can join. Nothing was set in stone: just some pre-planning.

We stayed there much later than I thought, given we weren't eating dinner there, not leaving until after 6, and deciding to go to Burger King, since it was so late to make dinner. I don't remember what we did afterwards, but I probably watched more of The Sropranos with my dad. We need to finish it before the Olympics in early February, which should be easily doable.

Farm Show!

Farm Show day, hurray! We left around 9:30, and traffic was regrettably very bad. We ended up taking a risk and turning right, up to some other parking lot, after waiting for a while in our normal lane, but it might've ended up taking even more time. Probably. There was still a ton more traffic for that parking lot. It took about an hour, when the actual drive is maybe 20-25 minutes without traffic. It wasn't particularly cold today, so nobody took their coats in, though I did bring along my scarf, intentionally, and I'm glad I did, since I later used it as a makeshift mask when in large crowds (and it also kept me warmer when we watited in the VERY WINDY VERY LONG bus line to get back to the parking lot at the end.

We got to ride in a charter bus, which was new, reminding me of the marching band days, and due to the different parking lot we were in, we actually were dropped off at the front exit, instead of the side we always entered before. We walked into the main lobby, then went up the stairs to the left. I don't remember the exact order of things, but we slowly headed to the crafts/shops section, in hopes we could be around for the free angel food cake that we stumbled upon by accident last year, around 12 pm. I'm glad I sent Dicosrd messages about the cake, so I could remember the time.

I always enjoy seeing the various crafts and food, so that was nice, and then like last year, right after noon, the angel food cake winners were announced. First and third place wasn't even around to recieve their fancy 250 ribbon. Then, it was cake time. We still weren't the best at knowing where to go. My dad and sister entered a crowd of people, while my mom and I went further up to a table that seemed to be placing them down. There were a few basic ones just sitting there, but I wanted a fruit one, like my dad got last year (he says it was the best angel food cake he ever had). Thankfully, they were soon handing out some blueberry one, but a few other people were in front of me, but I got the LAST slice, thank goodness. It wasn't anything compared to the one my dad got last year, and the icing was bleh (as usual), but I did like the filling, and it had little bits (not super able to be taste, but maybe a hint of it) of blueberry within the cake too. It was probably an above average cake, but the icing brought it down—for me, since I'm simply not a fan of icing. I was planning on eating most of the icing (and did indeed start some of it, so I'd be left with the best part), but thankfully, my dad was talking about icing and how mine looked better than his, so he ate the rest. Good.

Sadly, as is the case probably 3/4 or more of the years, the fluffy chickens (and most birds) were not at the show, and this time, I didn't even see photos of the winners. Very sad. There were turkeys, but that was it.

They also had a bunch of American 250 displays throughout, and while I'm not proud of America at all right now, I still liked taking photos of a lot of these things, simply to look back on later. I like special anniversaries and dates.

The plan was to get milkshakes, as usual, but the line was super long and almost impossible to find the end of (a normal occurence, but it was even worse this year), so instead, mom and I just waited in a much smaller potato donut line (our other tradition). All things considered, I like the potato donuts more than the milkshakes anyway. Dad and my sister, in the meantime, went to the bus line and started waiting. At first, I thought that was risky and they might end up leaving without us, but no, the line was crazily long. We probably waited 10-15 minutes, and went through 10 busses before getting to us (but it was hard to tell, given we couldn't even see where the busses being filled were first). As stated above, while it was fine at first, it became SUPER windy at some point, to the point one had to turn around to be able to breathe, and it really pulling at one's clothes. I was happy to be the one carrying the warm potato donuts, which helped warm my abdomen.

Knives Out and The Sopranos

Finally, we got on another charter bus, and the drive home was thankfully basically traffic-less. I had one of my potato donuts right away, and it was delicious as usual. I wish they weren't a once-per-year treat, but I suppose their scarcity does make it all the more special. We watched the new Knives Out afterwards, then my sister went home, and my dad and I watched another two episodes of The Sopranos. 12 episodes to go. I've been overall pretty unimpressed with this supposed "masterpiece," but Season 5 and 6 have gotten me more invested, though still not particularly with the plot, and more just because Tony Soprano is a really well-made character. James Gandolfini is a fantastic actor, and holds most of the praise for that. I don't think even the writing is particularly great, but Gandolfini makes him feel really real, and a mix of a whole bunch of things I like: dopey, intimidating, and funny. Very good. Paulie has been growing on me too, though I'm not a big fan of Christopher anymore, and haven't, since he was a druggie in Season 3 (or was it 4?). It's a good show, and I appreciate seeing all the fans quote various lines in comment sections, but I wouldn't call it amazing.

I suppose it was a good place to stop (not that it really felt like a mid-season conclusion), because my dad has to go out to Pittsburgh once again, due to his mom not doing well. I hope he's not too stressed out. These are very sad times, and I do worry this might be the beginning of the end. She's been in the hospital since before New Years, having trouble breathing on her own.

Sad

I try to keep the saddest parts of my life out of this, but since it's a big deal that I don't want to forget the details of, I'll mention my grandma's health (on my dad's side). Since before New Year's Eve, she's been in the hospital due to not being able to breathe well on her own, and she has yet to go home since then. She's "stepped down" into lesser care, then "stepped up" back into needing a ventilator/not being able to eat, then went to rehab, which was where she was until a few days ago. My dad keeps going out to Pittsburgh every Sunday or so (for multiple days) for three weeks now, and my aunt from Arizona has been there since New Year's Eve or so. One bright side to this: She was out of vacation days thus should've went home, but her boss said she had a week of vacation left—aka, they were giving her an extra week; that's very kind, since I'd have felt so bad for my aunt, who is very emotional, to have to go home while her mom might be dealing with the worst part of this.

But why am I saying the worst part is now, when she was in rehab a few days ago? Because rehab messed up really really badly—Medical Malpractice badly.

Since half a week or more ago, my dad told us through text that my grandma's lower abdomen was distended, and also that she hasn't been urinating. The rehab people said it was because she was dehydrated, and she was on an IV to give her water, since she's too weak to eat/drink still, I guess. I forget the exact date, but maybe Tuesday or something, rehab finally sent her back to the hospital. Why was her stomach distended, and why hadn't she been urinating? Because her catheter wasn't put in right, so she literally could not pee. The distended abdomen was buildup of that. The doctors said she's lucky to be alive, because her bladder could've popped, and it would've if she hadd stayed there much longer. Due to this, she got a UTI, and went into sepsis on early Thursday morning. She needed a blood transfusion. All because the rehab place failed to check her catheter, and decided she wasn't peeing because she was dehydrated. I guess they didn't care about the bloated abdomen?

My dad came home Thursday evening (yesterday), and he told me all this stuff and more. There are more negative sad things, but for the sake of not oversharing too much, I won't mention them, but it makes me feel so bad for my grandma's suffering. He got a text from his aunt about the doctor asking her for her phone number so he could inform the State about this rehab place's malpractice, so that's relieving. It'd be much better for an authority figure to get the law involved than us.

But due to this, I've been pretty depressed for weeks (after already being numb and unmotivated for a quarter of a year). This is surely a big reason why death and degeneration has been on my mind these past few months, though I have a feeling it won't go away for a while, if ever. Living is scary, because of how close death is at every turn.

Not Sad

My dad's been gone since Monday, but now that he's home, we resumed watching The Sopranos. We finished the 12th episode of Season 5, which means we just have the second half left, 9 episodes. Oh boy. We also watched the first episode of Season 4 of The Traitors, my mom joining us for this one (at least the beginning), because Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski are on it. They regrettably didn't get much screentime yet (especially Tara). This season, there's a "secret" Traitor who decides the "short list" for the others, and neither know each other. It's a unique twist, if nothing else. It just started airing two weeks ago, with three episodes dropping on the 8th and two on the 15th. This is the first time we've watched semi-live (the other seasons where already finished ages ago when we watched them).

Finishd The Sopranos

My dad and I finished The Sopranos. At first, I didn't like the weird ending, but as I thought about it mor, it grew on me, given a foreshadowing thing, even if it's still very anti-climactic. I still think it's overrated, to the very end, but it's fine, and James Gandolfinin (Tony Soprano) is a really good actor. I like Tony a lot. (And Paulie too.)

Overall, I kind of don't like a lot of characters, though. 😐 The kids were insufferable most of the time, and Christopher was bad for most of it (despite being potentially my favorite in the beginning). Others were hit or miss, or I had a neutral opinion.

A lot of stuff wasn't tied up, so that feels unsatisfying. Some guy (who will surely die) is in the hospital, and they keep referencing it/even visited him, but he gets no closure. He's just... still in the hospital. This Russian from seasons ago who was in the woods never came up again. Paulie's last scene was just... alone, begrudgingly agreeing to taking over an operation he didn't want to and a cat looking at him? (Though good, don't die; I like you). The Chef guy was the only living guy in one of Tony's dreams, which I noticed and thought was odd, and Tony mentions it too, so it should mean something, but what did that mean? He never died, so why? And probably a lot more. Maybe I'm just too dumb. I'll have to watch some videos about the series as a whole, so see what I'm missing.

But yeah. The ending has grown on me more and more as time has gone on. Good ending. Great main character. Everything else? Meh. It's fine, but not amazing. I am glad I watched it for the "memes," though. I see references to it everywhere, so it's nice to finally be able to understand the references. And the fandom is pretty fun, with all the constant quotes (especially the "varsity" line, but there are so many).

Political

It's such a shame that we have this administration during America's 250th. I tend to keep my mouth shut about politics because it's miserable and tears people apart, and yes, things are indeed extra miserable right now, and as much as I dislike comparing things to "Nazis" (people do this way too much that it's lost all meaning), yeah, I do see the connections to Nazis. We're not "as" bad as Nazis, but it seems every year, we get closer and closer to it. I still don't think people should throw that term around willy-nilly, but yeah, we're getting pretty bad. Do we have 11 million people gassed? Nah. Are we sending gays and everyone of a specific ethnicity into death camps? No. But are we sending some people of certain ethnicities into death camps, sometimes incorrectly? Yeah, and then El Salvador can't send them back for some reason. Are we trying to take over another country? Apparently yes (Greenland). And the propaganda has always been a thing, so that's not new (and both sides do it; corruption is rampant). "Repeat a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth."

Anyway, never have I been less proud to be an American, and I hope our (former?) allies can forvive us in the future for not playing nicely.

Amazing Race

In other news, at some point shortly after we finished The Sopranos, we watched the newest season of The Amazing Race. We (my dad more so) weren't pleased to have a bunch of Big Brother people on initially (we're not big on "celebrities" on these shows), but after the initial stuff about Big Brother, it became more normal, and we both liked the winners (who were indeed from that show—well, one of the two twins were).

This was our "break show," before deciding what bigger show to watch next. I'm still not sure what to pick...

BIG SNOW STORM!

We've had a few minor snows in December (up to 3 inches or so), but today was our first big storm, that had been talked about for days before it arrived. It hit a bunch of places down South that normally didn't get winter weather, so it was a big deal. I don't know exactly how much we got, but it was at least 8 inches. I like snow, but I do feel bad for my dad, especially since our facility had a new guy plowing and he didn't do a great job. He entirely skipped the back of the C building (intentionally; he said he didn't think he could make the turn, I guess), and however he plowed everything else, it made piles form around the units.

I'm writing this on February 2nd, and my family spent most days this last week shoveling every non-lip unit out of the snow so the snow had a path to melt that wasn't inside of the unit—and all but the F and G building didn't have a lip, so it was most of the facility. My dad did the most, but my mom stopped by to help most days, and my sister even helped a few times on her days off. I was the first to try to dig someone out (a guy who we knew wanted access in advance), but my dad sent me back to the office, so I only helped yesterday (February 1st), which I guess I'll write about there.

Back to today, Geist was canceled again, so I got to sleep in (after waking up for it), but after I woke up (around 10) and spent an hour acclimating myself to awakeness, I helped my mom shovel. It was snowing all day, from the early morning until night, so multiple shovelings were needed, so the snow didn't get too high and difficult to manage. It was funny that my mom shoveled the walkway, and then the snow on the solar panels fell, ruining all her work in one section.

The Traitors Season 4 with Ice Skaters

I forget the exact day we started watching, but my dad and I started watching The Traitors season 4, which, for a while now, I kept mentioning had Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski in it, which got my mom to watch it with us too. No surprise, my dad doesn't like Johnny. I knew he wouldn't. And yeah, Johnny and Tara aren't the best at it, but that's not surprising. At least Johnny changed his vote to Lisa in the end, helping get her out. Good on him. I think he's suspicious of Candiace too now? (Though this is future me talking; that was from January 29th's episode.)

Keyboard Troubles Again...

Around August of last year, my "Q" key started failing, and a week or so later, my Windows Key followed. Soon, both were entirely unresponsive, and I had to use an AutoHotkey Script to change a different key into a "Q" and "Windows" (Right Shift and Right Control, respectively). As of today, my "E" key is starting to deteriorate in the same way. At first, it just sometimes doesn't work, but still works if another key is pressed at the same time (like Shift + E). But knowing how Q and Windows went, it'll get worse and worse, until soon, nothing will make it work. I'm not looking forward to that, given "E" is used way more often than Q is. :(

February 2nd update: No surprise, it's gotten worse (though currently working, thank goodness). When it isn't working, the "hold another key" method is failng a lot more. Due to it worsening, I have made my 3 key now be "e," though it's been getting in the way more than I'd like, since I do still use my top number keys for everyday number typing. I only use Numpad when doing math or many numbers at once. It's a learning curve, as usual. It's funny that I'm so used to Q being Right Shift that even when using my work computer, I instinctively hit Right Shift instead of Q now. 😅 On the bright side, given how natural "New Q" is now, I suppose I'm pretty good at muscle-memory-ing new keys, so the new shift shouldn't be too tough either, and when I get a new computer, maybe relearning the real keys won't be too bad.

Also, I should note that this is a Lenovo Legion problem. When I tried to troubleshoot, there was a Reddit thread where basically every single person mentioned having a Lenovo (and at least some having Legions). Most of them also had similar keys broken, all on the left side. There was at least one with right side keys, but the bulk of people would mention Q, W, E, R, T, Tab, Shift, Control, etc. I just can't win with laptops. Not a single laptop but my very first has not had some major problem. The second had a line that formed across the screen, then disappeared and instead formed a hole at the top. The third had my D Drive fail, and then later, the Graphics Card failed (thankfully, only around Year 3 of 4 for the latter). My "fourth"—which I don't really count since I immediately sent it back—had a broken backlight so you basically couldn't see the screen at all except the faintest hint at it in the right lighting (working fine only when plugged into an external monitor), and then this one could never update Windows, had some Nvidia sound issues that required a third party uninstaller to fix (MIGHT be related to the lack of updates too, but I'm not sure), and the keyboard started failing (thankfully, only on Year 3). Some of those earlier ones had other terrbile problems too, but it's been too long and I don't remember; I have notes on them somewhere.

Anyway, I brought it up to my dad a day or two later, mentioning how AI has made computer prices higher and how it's annoying since I'd normally buy a new computer in August-October of this year, and with my keyboard failing, I'd like to as usual, but the prices are off-putting. He said I should do it anyway, no surprise, and that it's just a months' pay or so, and yeah, I probably should, but man... He looked into laptops for a bit for me, while I looked too. I still don't plan on getting a new one before my classic "four years each" goal, even if I have to suffer through a deteriorating keyboard and it STILL never updating since I bought it (I still have no second hand on the Windows 11 clock due to it :().

Goodbye Google (...somewhat)

I've gotten fed up with Google Search's AI overview, so I finally started trying other search engines. I tried Qwant for a bit, until I realized that mentioned using AI to search (even if it has no "AI Overview"), so then I switched to DuckDuckGo, which I used over a decade ago, briefly (I'm not sure why I stopped). I didn't like Qwant for its constant "are you human" verifications anyway, so DuckDuckGo seems like the way to go for now. That said, I do really miss Google's built in calculators (kg to lbs, literal math, etc.), and definitions. No AI Overview is nice, though, along with no sponsored content.

Less than a week later, I also dropped Chrome almost entirely. I've known Chrome was a Memory sink for years, but with this new "e" key failing and some saying maybe the fans caused it, I've been more conscious about how often my computer's fans run, which is extremely often when on Chrome, especially on YouTube. I already didn't like Chrome ever since they banned one of the best adblockers (so YouTube could play ads more easily), so I finally switched to Firefox, and I have not had problems with my fans since.

As another part of my keyboard troubleshooting, I downloaded this "Lenovo Vantage" thing that monitors some stuff, and I saw with Chrome, the CPU would almost always be in the 80s Celsius, and sometimes even dipping into 91, which was scary. With Firefox, it tends to be high 60s or mid-to-high 70s. Much better.

I haven't "liked" Google as a company for years (I will never forget when they dropped the "Don't be evil" slogan), but it's nice to at least slightly get rid of it, even if I still use it for emails, YouTube, and, of course, my beloved spreadsheets. It's a necessary evil in some places, but Firefox has been very nice compared to Chrome. For the time being, I'm very glad I made the switch. The search engine swap is still up in the air for now...

Not a Google thing, but in the same vein, I wish I could be truly daring and drop Microsoft for Linux, but that's too scary. Still, I'm super fed up with Microsoft too, and all their bloatware and AI and all that. If only...

January 30, 2026