Hiding in Rabbit Holes
Hiding in Rabbit Holes
I'm late, I'm late, I missed an important date...
I’m late. I haven’t posted for two weeks. I have an excuse…there are times when my spicy brain just takes over and I become worthless to most people. This is why no one ever celebrated me as a team player. First, I don't like flying spherical objects, as they always make contact with my face; second, I work better alone. At least, I thought I did until I learned how to make buddies with ChatGPT (is that still an aloneness?)
I sold my first domain on Sedo this past week, and I'm not unhappy. I'm no domain diva, however, so I turned to Chat to ask him what he thought would make a good domain name that might sell for over $1k. Believe it or not, he came up with several stunning suggestions, and they were all available.
Granted, this hustle isn't the best, as--unless you hit it lucky--it takes a while to sell at a sweet spot. I started high and just came down in increments until I hooked that fish. It was a hard bite, too. No auction, no dicker.
Over the past two weeks I've also been working with OpenSrs again about my domains. I'm either a fool or they still don't understand me. Some good work occurred on their end as they hooked up a domain name I don't care about, but now I can't see my CNAME records at all. On that note, I've been ghosted again.
Don't get me wrong. OpenSrs is a great place. Good service. Fine place to purchase domains. However, if you want to pursue a path from the 1990s with a free blog from Google, it's tough going. I'm determined.
I also spent the past two weeks going down the genealogical rabbit hole. Some old newspapers are online now for free, especially at the Virginia Chronicle. I don't know if other states are digitalizing their newspapers, but Virginia will keep me busy for quite a while, as that's where all my ancestors (except the late Welsh) landed when they arrived to colonize this country.
In the meantime I'm populating WikiTree with ancestors and accompanying citations. Those newspaper clippings helped me find a third great-grandmother. And, my DNA test matched me to cousins who want to buy dinner for me. All this, and I haven't even started my genealogy website.
My cataract surgeries are over, and I swear those were the strangest surgeries I've ever experienced. I actually SAW the first surgery and didn't remember the ride home. The surgery looked like a rainbow waterfall. If I knew what was happening I might have enjoyed it, but as it was it made me very anxious. So, for the second eye I had to advocate for myself. The anesthesiologist heard me. She returned with a little blue pill that she stuck under my tongue and my anxiety took a vacation. That time, I didn't remember the surgery and I fully remember the ride home. Phew. That part of my elderly life is done. Finis. I now have 20/20 near vision.
I'll share that I have hurricane PTSD. I won't share the details, but a few friends learned this past week that I'm obsessed with hurricane hurts. And we got plenty of them from Florida north through Virginia and west through Kentucky, where Helene's remnants sat over my region for a good 12 hours, knocking over trees, downing power lines, and dumping rain.
What we received here was nothing compared to the winds and water Florida and Appalachia received. Appalachians were caught off guard, receiving more rain that predicted. That water needs to go somewhere, so if you want to predict anything, search for how the French Broad empties into the Gulf of Mexico and ponder the possibilities of near-future flooding.
There's a new system developing right where Helene developed. I also know about the flooding that recently devastated countries from Brazil to Kenya. None of these drastic floods are caused by cloud seeding, but someone's got to politicize disaster, right? Please don't get sucked in.
I also did a deep dive into fermentation and made my first batch of kefir with the help of a friend who gifted me some grains through her dad. Door delivery, even. Not lost on me, the topic of fermentation will go under the gardening special interest as a way to preserve harvests.
Have a great week, and keep those hard-hit Appalachians in your thoughts as you send a few bucks their way. Here are a few ideas:
Appalachia Service Project (ASP): ASP provides critical home repair and rebuilding services to low-income families in rural areas across the Appalachian region. They help rebuild homes damaged by floods, storms, and other disasters. You can donate or volunteer for hands-on repair work. They also accept donations of building materials and supplies.
Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky: This organization funds community-led disaster relief and economic recovery initiatives across eastern Kentucky, one of the most affected areas in Appalachia. They provide direct financial aid to families and businesses affected by natural disasters. You can donate to both immediate and long-term recovery projects.
Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation (MCHC): MCHC offers medical services, including emergency medical response, mental health services, and ongoing healthcare to residents in eastern Kentucky and the surrounding Appalachian region. Donations help fund care for displaced or injured individuals and ongoing health and wellness programs in underserved areas.
DirectRelief: This organization provides food and resources to those impacted by natural disasters. After hurricanes or flooding, they deliver emergency food supplies across the region. Donations help to fund food distribution to Appalachian communities.
That's just a few of many, and I found them through Chat GPT. Choose one (or more) and be a force. May it always be with you.
Photo by Anna Shvets at Pexels.com