It’s been a while.
I’ve been taking time off from the blog for as I try to deal with an assortment of health issues that have been hitting me especially hard in recent weeks. This year has been a tough one for me, health-wise, as I’ve continued to deal with seemingly unending chronic migraines as well as worsening sleep problems that have seriously derailed my life and my work.
Progress in dealing with these issues — and several others I’d rather not go into right now — has been frustratingly slow, in part because my particular problems have proven rather resistant to treatment and in part because, well, let’s just say our healthcare system here in the US isn’t what you’d call perfect.
But things have been getting a little better in recent days and I’m hoping I can get back to regular posting shortly.
Thanks for your patience. I very much appreciate your support.
— David
Well Trump has said “God bless them” to the victims so I guess we’re on point.
Imaginary Peta: I recommend getting a laser printer for your next one. Slightly more expensive, but far more reliable. Especially for black and white printing.
@ Tashilicious
that mostly just means he thinks they’re all white…
In Iran this is very common – I think it is because it is law to wear it from 9yo so it is a tiny rebellion.
RE: Las Vegas shooting
Here we go again. What will it take for Americans to FINALLY put some sensible gun control measures in place? I’m pushing 50 years old now, and I’m not feeling particularly positive about it happening in my lifetime.
.
Dormousing_it asks:
Over on Esquire‘s politics blog, Brother Charles Pierce has a brutal but (IMO) all-too-reasonable answer to that.
(If I quoted everything good in the article, I’d end up just quoting the article.)
IP: For over 20 years we’ve been using HP Laserjet 4 printers. It’s ancient technology, of course, and no longer being manufactured, but it’s a workhorse, and you can get a refurbished unit on eBay (and probably other places) at a reasonable price. Big and clunky-looking, but it works.
My wife used to work for Digital Equipment Co. and was given a company printer for use at home — which turned out to be an HP 4 with a DEC label pasted on. When that one went off to the happy printing ground, we got another on eBay and it has been chugging along ever since.
@Dormousing_it,
I’ve said it before here, and I’ll say it again. The national political class will ‘do something’ about gun violence when – and only when – a mass shooter targets THEM and THEIR families en mass. At which point they’ll wail and gnash their teeth and want to know why no-one ever told them that gun violence was a problem in the US before now….
Or else when a significant chunk of Black men start applying for legal conceal and carry gun permits. Whichever comes first.
@David
Since you were taking suggestions for migraines in a past thread; have you ever tried any of those apps that are out for pain relief? Even if they don’t fix the underlying problem, they are relaxing to listen to, and they do seem to offer some placebo effect, and if anything they can’t hurt.
The one I used is from Surf City Apps. The free version is a basic hypnosis app, and if you buy the pro version (think it’s only a few dollars) you can do things like stop the app from waking you up at the end so you’ll drift off to sleep. (I’ve just been using the free version, so I haven’t personally tried that out.)
Apologies if you’ve already tried this, or if someone else has already suggested it. I hope your migraines work out. Those things just make everything worse.