moonbeamsfanfic | Entries tagged with real life

Figured I should give a progress report...

Seven weeks since falling down the stairs and breaking my humerus bone at the shoulder, the orthopedic surgeon confirms it is firmly attached in place. A small retroversion of the humeral head remains, but since I'm young I should regain full enough range of motion as to make no difference. It'll still take up to a year to properly remodel new bone growth, but the bone itself is stable.

Unless I have another klutz attack and fall again, of course. But I promise I am trying very hard to avoid that!

( My physiotherapist is like the Energizer Bunny, but my batteries are obviously not Duracell... )

Next challenge, putting my arm through a sleeve! Tank tops and fleece vests have got me through autumn, but there's snow on the ground now. Time to figure how to wear real clothes again. Progress!

Hi World!

I haven't updated in forever, mostly because I only use this for commenting on fic or watching my communities anymore. But it also makes a great documenting tool for personal life events - ie: a journal. Who knew?!

Sept 27th, Sunday night, at about 8pm I fell down the basement steps. Made it down the top steps with little more than a bruised bum, but spun around at the landing and proceeded to go down the last few steps head first. My head survived. My arm did not. Hit my shoulder on the wall going around the turn and broke the bone.

( TL;DR gruesome details )

Will update again in two weeks once I discover if I'm healing well. Or whatever...

The rivers around downtown and south Calgary finally flood after a month of constant heavy rain, and the whole city essentially shuts down. Even those areas not affected by flooding (like where I am.) Everything's closed! No work, no school, no buses, no transit. No library.

Oh well, guess I'm staying home today. As long as my power and internet still work, I'm good!

Woot, mandatory day off!

The Global News Helicopter flew over Slave Lake today and got some very stark, very clear footage of the damage the town took. That pile of rubble at 4:50? That's the Town Hall. Yet the Canada and Alberta flags out front are still flying strong.

The video is completely soundless. I think it adds something indefinable to the images. Silence has a powerful voice.

The parental units have arrived safely home and report all is calm -- busy, but calm. Not even any smoke in the air, so the wind is blowing favourably for them. Although they have gotten another influx of refugees as some other small towns & hamlets in the fire's ongoing path are now being evacuated their way.

Mum's church hall is operating as a donation centre, so she'll be crazy-nuts busy organizing everything for the next few days. Word is they won't let anyone in Slave Lake to assess their losses until at least the weekend. Early estimates say over 900 homes are destroyed, as well as dozens of businesses. At this point, the fires in town are still burning but are contained and somewhat under control.

Since the relief aide is overwhelming in some places, there's a great well-organized blog at Rebuild Slave Lake that's keeping track of who needs what where. And I've asked at my Library if there's anything we can do for our unfortunate sister institution who went up in flames within the first few hours.

It's kinda funny, actually. There's not even a notice on the system catalogue yet that hey, those books you want which say they're available in Slave Lake? Yeah, sorry, not so much!

Wow. People in Alberta and across Canada are donating so much to the relief aide in Northern Alberta that many places are actually asking folks to STOP sending food, clothing, and money for a few days.

Nice!

Speaking of... my parents decided to head back up north to add their own efforts, so I'll be getting some direct updates of the situation in a few hours, probably.

Looks like the wind shifted over night so it's now blowing at 50km/h SE instead of 70km/h NW. As sorry as I am for those who've already lost their homes and businesses in Slave Lake, I am personally glad that this means my parent's home may now be out of danger. Mum was up at 6am this morning to check the news. The official reports still suck for details.

Still don't know if they'll be able to go home on Wednesday as was originally planned yet.

The dude on Twitter I was following last night, an EMS who was one of the last evacuees on the scene until four hours ago, seems to have done more than anyone to keep the world updated. He's listed as having 360 followers right now -- it was 179 when I went to bed last night. I'd bet it was only a fraction of that before the fire started. And that's not even including all of us who don't have Twitter accounts but we're still stalking his tweets.

So kudos and huge respect and thanks to @thisguydeya for not only his work on the ground, but his frequent updates and photos. You kept the world in touch last night, man. Thank you!

The news stations aren't keeping up with the fire updates, but I found a guy on Twitter who is updating every few minutes with photos from his cell phone.

His latest -- taken 7 minutes ago -- shows what's left of the Town Hall.

Damn.

Holy shit. Manitoba might be underwater with the floods, but my province of Alberta has gone up in flames. 97 forest fires, at least 40 of which are out of control, and one in particular which is going to change the lives for thousands of unfortunate people.

My parents arrived to visit this evening. They arrived just in time. A massive forest fire raging across northern Alberta is currently in the process of utterly destroying the town of Slave Lake and its neighbouring communities. Over 7000 people evacuated, at least 80% of the town already confirmed to be burning.

My parents live just north of Slave Lake. They had to drive through the town on the way out to visit me. Mum said she even saw lots of smoke as they went, but at the time it was still okay. Not so much anymore. They're watching the news avidly for any mention of the fire's progress, hoping everyone makes it out safely. The only highway in and out, HWY 2, was closed for a while but they opened it up again to help evacuate everyone.

There aren't many pictures yet, but Twitter's alive with on-the-spot reports. The local radio station made one last announcement at 9pm confirming their own building in the downtown core was on fire. The Town Hall and Public Library are both confirmed casualties. The Hospital was evacuated, but as of an hour ago was not yet ablaze.

Will be watching the news and the web for updates for a while, me thinks.

Two days ago it was almost summer-like. Bright and sunny and warm. Heavenly!

This morning we woke to something far more blizzard-like. Because of course this is Canada, and winter won't officially end until... oh, June. Or thereabouts. I think this mysterious highly talented artist sums it up best in his most recent signed masterpiece:

Tired of Snow, original photographer unknown

Tired of Snow, original photographer unknown

You said it, Vinny!

(Calgary Herald)

So I popped out a half-hour early to clear my driveway, only to be pleasantly surprised to find it completely snow-free. The placement of the trees in my front yard seems to have acted as a perfect windbreak, and no snow made it through. The road, on the other hand... well, I just helped dig two cars out of the the 6-8ft snow drifts covering the street in front of my house.

Yeah. ::facepalms:: Something tells me maybe I shouldn't try to go into work today.

I declare today a SNOW DAY!

So, what are we all doing this fine snow-filled, windy day? ;)

I went ice skating tonight for the first time in over a decade...

...and I only fell six times!

Go me! \o/

I'll probably be paying for this tomorrow though. Oh, well, it was fun! :P

Dear Reality,

Sure, it's an attempt to distract me from the real issue, I know... but you picked a good one. That new Knight Rider/Transformers crossover at

the_kittchen? Excellent stalling tactic!

But really, I'm just gonna take the fact that you are trying to divert me as acknowledgement that you are aware of my concerns. Now we just both need to be grown up about this and sit down at the negotiating table so we can work this out. I have faith that it's possible.

And in the meantime, thank you for the fic! How about I bring you some nice chocolate chip cookies in return? See, we're cooperating already!

See you at the table!
Moon.

Step 1: Determine where the annoying high-pitched whine is coming from.

My CPU cooler's dinky-little 60mm fan*.

*Hopefully, though it is a bit hard to judge purely by ear. But it'd better be this part, because this only costs $20 to replace, whereas the Power Supply fan would cost upwards of $200. At which point I'd probably just get a new computer for $500 and save myself the hassle.

Step 2: Research new CPU coolers (heatsink with fan, aka HSF) online. Determine which would be best for your needs.

The Thermaltake TR2-M3 is an excellent, efficient, and affordable HSF for my now rather old and out-of-date (but still more than good enough for my needs!) AMD Athlon 2500+ processor.

Step 3: Buy it.

Have bought the Thermaltake TR2-M3 heatsink (with attached 80mm fan) for a modest $17 in store. Could have got it for less online, but shipping and well, Christmas, would basically cancel out the few dollars saved anyway.

Step 4: Figure out how to install it.

New gizmo does NOT come with it's own installation instructions. Have researched installation online. It is, apparently, easy and tool-free. Less than 5 minutes to install, blah, blah. I just have to be careful not to bend, stab, crack, or otherwise destroy the delicate processor and thus completely scrap my entire computer system while I do it. ::coughs:: No pressure, right.

Step 5: Just do it, dumbass.

I am planning to attempt removal of old HSF and replace with new HSF tomorrow, as I must be off to work now. If all goes well, new fan will be faster, cooler, and above all quieter than current.
Granted, if I mess up... it won't matter what the fan is like, because my computer's brain will be fried and the whole thing scrap.
Alternatively, I can wait until a few weeks for the holiday season to be over and take it to a professional to be installed. Would probably cost about a hundred bucks and take them a couple of days to bother fixing, but... Yeah. Less chance of irreparable damage.

Step 6: Contemplate other modifications one can make to their computer tower while waffling on just fixing the damned fan.

Pretty lights! The Logisys CCFL Light Sticks are amazingly cool and come in green, red, or blue. Oooh, or you can get fan grills with LED displays on them -- I saw one in the store with a dragon motive surrounded by orange, green, and blue LEDs that looked awesome!

Step 7: Realise what an idiot you are, and just go back to trying to fix the first problem instead of making more.

Umm... ::looks sheepish::

In a suprising turn of events, I am NOT the only one all dressed-up for Halloween!

I showed up to work tonight decked out in my lovely Valkyrie costume with the pink fuzzy boots and helmut. I was expecting to be the only one, since the few people who actually said they'd dress up worked earlier in the day. Instead I was met with a pleasant surprise! Pretty much everyone working tonight is in costume -- even the volunteers! Yay!

We've got pirates, and witches, and vampires, and pumpkins. A french maid, a butler, an Arabian Princess. A millionaire, a nerd, and Darth Vader. And of course, myself as the Norse Sheild-Maiden Brynhilde. (Minus the sword, which I left at home.)

Pictures to follow if I can swing 'em!

Now I really must get back to work -- break time's over. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Why is it only the scary greasy guys ever hit on me at the library? Why not any of the nice, hot-looking guys? Cause we get plenty of them too! Like the bald IT guy who always shares a new techie tidbit with me. Or the sweet and buff firefighter who comes in every few days to check his email. Or the scruffy Irishman with the sexy accent. Why not any of them? Why world? WHY? ::sigh::

Dear Reality,

You suck.

No love,
Moon.

Huh! I didn't think people actually did this outside of cheesy movies, but a neighbour just rang my doorbell to ask if they could borrow a cup of sugar... and then handed me a measuring cup!

O.O

Tommorow night the government of Canada is supposed to vote on Bill C-38: The Legalisation of Same-Sex Marriage. It's expected to pass, as both the Liberals (the reigning political party) and the Bloc Quebecois (the royal opposition) are mostly in favor. Only the Tories (the conservatives) are opposed, but they haven't enough members to really make a difference.

If it passes, and here's hoping it will, homosexual partners will have the same rights and equalities -- including the right to wed -- as heterosexual partners. Well, legally at least. It'll probably take a few more decades before it really sinks into practice.

Took long enough, but the times... they are a'changing.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

EDIT: It passed! It passed! Yaaayyyyy!!

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Go, look, marvel!

Since I'm not likely to have much time over the holidays for anything more personal and now is a good opportunity as the timing is right not just for my fellow North and South Americans, but for my Australian friends as well -- and of course the Europeans and Africans in between -- let me just take this moment to wish everybody a Happy Holidays!

In order of timezone:

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to

redwolfoz and

gumnut in Australia

GESEENDE KERSFEES to

shade_shifter in South Africa

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to

elfinessy and

blazingskies in the United Kingdom, with a special NOLLAIG SHONA to

pheral in Ireland

FELIZ NAVIDAD to

leni_ba in Peru

MERRY CHRISTMAS to

dknightshade,

stormr_d,

vespurrs,

labyrinthan_elf, and

drunken_hawkeye in the United States of America

and of course...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to

tomywca,

nihilistbear, and

sunprincesskate right here in Canada, with a special shout out of JOYEUX NOEL to

distorquere even though she doesn't actually live in Quebec.

P.S. If I got anybody's greeting of choice wrong, chock it up to ignorance and take it in the spirit of which it was intended. Also, feel free to correct me, as I'd like to know for next year... just in case. ;P

Holy WOW! You guys are incredible! I want to thank

vespurrs (and her friend

bria_ferguson),

rusti_knight,

almightyhat, and

redwolfoz for the help solving those riddles. Most especially

vespurrs, whom I think must have stayed up half the night working on them. Thanks to you guys I have the answers to all of the puzzles and can hand them in today -- less than 24 hours after receiving them! I think you all deserve a round of applause for that!

::Moon cheers riotously, clapping her hands and blowing wolf whistles, then throws a handful of confetti over her brilliant friends.::

For those of you who enjoyed doing that (::cough::

vespurrs ::cough::) I decided to give you a few of the ones I'd already completed. Most of these are bloody obvious, I'd think, but let's just see what you guys come up with so I can compare. After all, some of the ones you figured out I'd NEVER have thought of! ;)

( The rest of 'em... )

Thanks for playing! ::hugs Flist, smacking an especially sloppy kiss on Vespurrs for all her help::

Profile

moonbeamsfanfic

Moonbeam's Fanfiction Predilections

May 2017

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Practicality by timeasmymeasure
Theme: Printemps by krja

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jun. 16th, 2025 05:21 pm

Moonbeam's Fanfiction Predilections -- LiveJournal

Fanfic is the essence of life -- or at least the fun parts. :)

Entries tagged with real life

Update: Shoulder Not Quite As Broken

Broken shoulder

State of Emergency = Mandatory Day Off!

A haunting sight...

Operation: Recovery

Go Canada!

Morning fire report

(no subject)

When Mother Nature calls, everyone listens!

IAWTC

SNOW DAY!

Moon on Ice!

Lessons in Diplomacy: #2 - Stalling Tactics

Moon's Guide to Computer Repair

Happy Halloween!

I need a "Dear Reality" icon

Real Life Cliche!

cross your fingers

Seasons Greetings to all!

My Flist are a bunch of geniuses! :D