The Year-End Wrap Up!
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Julie Barrett
Monday, December 30, 2024
It's been quite the year at the Manor. I wish I could say it was all good, but then life isn't all good all the time.
I guess the biggest news this year is impending retirement! Paul is set to retire in early February, and I've made the decision to semi-retire starting January 1. It's not as though I can stop creating. I am going to shift a few gears, though. I'll still be doing art shows at conventions, and I plan to keep the YouTube channel, but I've shut down subscriptions on Ko-Fi (the tip jar is still open!) and have put my Etsy shop on what may be a permanent vacation.
So, what are we going to do? Well, we have Plans. And they're cunning plans, so you know what happens to those! There will be a small vacation of sorts to celebrate. I like the idea of having an event to mark the new chapter in our lives. Next, some rest. Then the work begins! Work, you say? Well, we're doing half of the retiree downsizing. We plan to keep the house, but
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Filed under: Life 12/30/2024 10:55:55 AM
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Meowy Catmas and Happy Mew Year!
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Julie Barrett
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
The 2024 Catmas Card has arrived! We're marking 25 years of Catmas Cards.
Now get off our lawn. And please, have a safe and happy holiday.
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Filed under: Cats
12/17/2024 4:57:16 PM
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Monday Mumblings Looks Forward to the Holidays
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Julie Barrett
Monday, December 16, 2024
Hey, there's nothing like writing a long journal entry and having it vanish into the ether. Let's try again!
Well, it's a Monday, and that's the best I can say. I kind of did my back in over the weekend. It'll be okay if I can manage to take care of myself. I just overdid it. Friday and Saturday I did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen, including a much needed cleaning cycle on the oven. When I had it all done on Saturday I made a couple of batches of scones. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of wearing a pair of sneakers I'm trying to break in, and my back rebelled - spasms and all!
I did recover enough to go to a gathering at a friend's house on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun and something I kind of needed.
Yesterday we put up the new tree. In the "we're getting old" department, we decided to just get a fake tree this year. We've had real trees every year since we've been married (that's 44 for those counting), b
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Filed under: Life 12/16/2024 12:59:48 PM
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Monday Mumblings Re-Centers
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Julie Barrett
Monday, November 11, 2024
So, yeah. Last week was brutal. The election results on top of the burnout was just too much. As angry as I was, I at least had the presence of mind to realize that I shouldn't be posting something I would regret later. Hence the social media silence.
For now, at least, I need to step back from the constant fighting, the continual feeling that I'm just banging my head against the wall.
Something good did come out of this. I finally have some projects in mind! Some will be related to a workshop/demo I'll be doing at FenCon in February. Others will be just for fun. I've been totally stuck on where to go next, and I suspect that's part of the burnout. I hoped that if I just gave things some time, I'd start getting ideas. And it happened!
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Monday Mumblings Preps for Election Day
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Julie Barrett
Monday, November 4, 2024
One thing I don't mention in my online bio is that I was once news director for a local radio station. This means that yes, I've covered elections and I even got to cover a national political convention once. That was kinda cool.
Anyway, it's generally been my tradition since to stay up late and until a winner is called. Obviously, I tried to get some sleep in 2020 since it took several days to determine the winner. So, what am I doing for prep this year, and what should you be watching for?
Why yes, I shall try to keep this non-partisan, but those who know me or who have followed me closely on socials know how I voted. It was simple. I walked into the polling location, showed my ID...
Hey, I told you I was going to try to keep this non-partisan.
One thing I found handy last year was spreadsheet. This year's is starting fairly basic, and I'll add more info as I go. I won't bore you with all th
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Filed under: Elections 11/4/2024 3:24:11 PM
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Burning Out
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Julie Barrett
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
I guess I owe y'all an explanation. Or an excuse. Or something.
Frankly, it's been hard. I've alluded to some of my struggles, but haven't really been forthcoming, and I still won't be entirely so. Some of this isn't my story to tell.
A lot of this is my own fault. I took on too much, and then when the things outside of my control hit ... It wasn't a breakdown in the classical sense of the word, and I'm (mostly) okay. This is the result of years of pushing to do things, trying to do the right things, trying to help keep an organization going, and all the attendant misery it all finally caused. In other words, I failed to take time for myself because I didn't want to let other people down.
I felt like a plate spinner who kept adding plates to the stage. I recruited an apprentice from time to time, but they took one look at the act and ran away. Then I added juggling eggs, just for fun! Eventually, it all came cra
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Filed under: Life 10/22/2024 11:13:18 AM
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Let's Bust Some Voting Myths!
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Julie Barrett
Monday, August 12, 2024
I see the voting misinformation machine is gearing up again. Let's take a look at some of their points:
1. Vote counts should be available the evening of election day. Agreed, but there are some caveats here. Technical issues can happen. The courts can keep some polling stations open late if there are issues that prevent people from voting. (A power outage, perhaps.) What you get isn't the whole picture. But if you go look at your county vote count (it's available where I live starting shortly after the polls close and updated through the evening) you can see the number of uncounted votes and outstanding ballots. Because:
2. Votes received after election day shouldn't count. Then you're fine with possibly thousands of military votes not being counted? Many states allow extra time for those to come in. Big Red Texas allows a voter to cast a provisional ballot if they have an issue, such as ID not matching residency information or a typo in someone'
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Filed under: Elections 8/12/2024 9:24:49 AM
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Hearing Loss and Technology
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Julie Barrett
Monday, May 20, 2024
I haven't talked about this a lot on the journal, but I wear hearing aids, which is both a blessing and a frustration. Here's a video I watched this afternoon:
This video hit several buttons for me, particularly since I was in a tough, noisy situation yesterday evening. There are two components discussed in this video. One is assistive technologies. Honestly, we need more of these. We need more hearing loops. Those of us with hearing loss need to learn how to make the assistive devices we have (like external mi
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Filed under: Life 5/20/2024 1:11:39 PM
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Lightning Achievement Unlocked!
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Julie Barrett
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
I've been hoping for years to get a lightning photo. Any photo would do - I just wanted to capture a lightning bolt.
Tonight was the night. And I'm glad I wasn't out for perfection or I'd never have gotten the shot. I was in the car at a traffic light with my cell phone. So yes, it's not the best quality, but I'm really happy to have done it!
Of course, I live in Texas where the weather is very changeable. I've managed green sky and funnel clouds, but never lightning. So yeah, achievement unlocked!
Now pardon me while I go delete a truckload of pictures from my phone.
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Filed under: Weather Lightning
5/8/2024 9:11:26 PM
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Behold! Eclipse Pictures!
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Julie Barrett
Monday, April 8, 2024
I'm in North Texas, so we had a lot of cloud cover. Also had camera trouble. However, the clouds parted for at least a portion of totality, and it was awesome. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. Unless I want to spend a ton of money to go to another location. I don't think that's going to happen.
Anyway, have some pictures!
We had a lot of clouds. this was shortly before totality.
Just a sliver left!
Just after totality. You can see a planet (Ven
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Filed under: Eclipse 4/8/2024 4:37:56 PM
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