Mark Carroll's Journal

Welp, Star Fleet: Academy is really enjoyable, and by episode 4 really digs its teeth into the Trek of it all. I can at least say that at this moment. Wonder Man, also quite worth a watch. The new Bridgerton, I have some quibbles with (where is Sophie's bag, why is Eloise still like that, elements of how their going with Franchesca who is the lead in my favorite book of the series), but I always like a Cinderella story. Having as it happens written several.

Turn of the Gorram Worm, which is Cinderella in Firefly(ish - its AU and its the verse not the characters) where every character is from a variation on the Cinderella story, including the male lead.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/295668

Also a Sith Cinderella in Star Princesses of Long Ago and Far Away

https://archiveofourown.org/works/591582

In other good news, I'll be retiring early as a result of inheriting enough money from my father to have exceeded my retirement goal. Thank you dad, your planning, and the very excellent County pension that you had for 30+ years. I've told work and will be working for the next month and a half to give them a soft landing. To give me a soft landing. Getting to exit on my own terms and handing over tasks that should never have been in my department to begin with. I just got them because I am a good tech writer.

The world, is, of course, on fire. So I've been protesting. Phone banking. Postcarding. I fear that things will get worse before they get better, but it's good to see the general reaction to the current WTF building. I had been very worried when Trump 2.0 started to see some resistance, but it was…ok the same middle aged/elderly women who've been doing this for the last decade, and that wasn't going to be enough. So, high school kids walking out of school. General strikes. I participated in the work walk out, which I mean…okay. My job right now is about giving work a soft landing. It turns out there's a lot more room in a schedule when you stop picking up new tasks and focus on how to gracefully hand over old tasks. 

Anyway, had my first serious conversation with K & P about possible consequences of going to protests, because No Kings is a party. I've been sanguine about the possibilities of being willing to protest and while I didn't expect the form of what's happening, I did expect the level of authoritarianism. Be nice if others had believed in '24, but ok. We're here now.

Yesterday, I helped a friend move boxes of her mom's stuff from her apartment to her renovated (mold begone) house. Which I might add are about three blocks apart. Her mom is dragging her feet, and said friend requested a Tactical Strike / Force of Nature, and I delivered. Three carloads that seemed to barely make a dent, but probably did make some room. Also, my friend can now threaten to get my help again if her mom doesn't keep dragging her feet on every aspect. 

Visiting another friend at a local Historical House / garden today. She's been ill since December and itching to go out. Though per usual her lungs are still phlegmy. 

Then after that, we'll see. A couple that I was close to in the past, but now are more FB friends have been going through it with one half being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I've been offering via FB to come provide support and this morning (given the word hospice has come up) emailed him. I'm trying here to be the opposite of Tactical Strike / Force of Nature here and just offer support if he needs it. We'll see if he takes me up on the offer. Both P and I are…happy is the wrong word, but willing to give some context on what the hospice experience is like and what to prepare for. Again, we'll see.

Ok, time to move to the next thing. Keep climbing these hills.