Changes on Wonder-full

 Well, it's been awhile since i've been here.  Thanks to all who have continued to read.

  The changes to Feedburner concern me. And this no more free photos thing has me flummoxed.  i do not do online payments, but i will continue to need my images. This is my primary way of sharing my work, not to mention that some posts wouldn't work without the illustrations.  

 Maybe that needs to change.

  i'm amused by the way the contributors here are listed alphabetically.  Either Mark or Boom are welcome to contribute as they wish, but they don't.  Mark would handle any payments, and both are my technical consultants.

  At the moment, i'm looking into other blogging platforms. Maybe i'll need to expand my online presence.  

  Right now, i don't see that what i've already published will need to go away, but i may need another platform if i'm to continue.  Will keep you posted, and any comments or suggestions on this would be welcome!

 

Agatha Christie's Poirot and the novel/movie Third Girl

   It's no secret that Agatha Christie did not like her popular Poirot character. She even (spoiler!) killed him off in a late 1940s novel.

  And then kept writing about him.  After all, her public loved, and still loves, him.  (And publishers love following proven success with more of the same thing.)

  But this created a problem.  Her 1940s novels were definitely 1940s novel.  When i first read (novel referred to above), i felt a dreamike disconnectedness.  Poirot was still active in the 1960s and early 1970s; a novel written in the 1940s doesn't give the same feel.  Christie also wrote a Miss Marple novel at the same time, but, since she did not kill the character, it's easy to disregard its tagline, Miss Marple's Last Case.

  Third Girl is definitely a 1960s novel.  The girls wore their hair long, loose, and straight, or maybe bouffant; drug culture and nonrealistic art were strong background elements.  i'm unfmailiar with the "stepped from a VanDyck painting" fashion of the young men in the story, but, ok, that's undoubtedly a part of what Christie was seeing in the 1960s.

Third Girl is billed as Agatha Christie’s foray into the swinging sixties. And it is certainly a portrayal of the 1960s, as seen by an older generation who cannot understand why these young people won’t take a bath and get the hair out of their eyes. Taken purely as a mystery novel, however, Third Girl is enormously satisfying, a twisty puzzler that, for all its surface modernity, proves that nothing is more timeless than murder.    from https://deadyesterday.wordpress.com/2020/03/22/third-girl-1966-by-agatha-christie/

   In the Suchet film, numerous changes are made to the story. For a list, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Girl#Adaptations_for_television  The film is gorgeous.  i actually like a few of the changes , such as a murder victim in the novel is NOT murdered. There also seems to be better closure with the criminals's story.  The movie, as is the entire series, is well done.

  However, the filmmakers moved the setting back to the 1930s. In itself, that solves the problem presented by that novel from the late 40s, the one that killed off the character.

  But overall, the timeshift isn't a problem.  The side effect of Norma's changed hairstyle, a chic period pouf instead of stringy unwashed hair, is disconcerting. And while Miss Lemon and Dr. Stillingfleet added greatly to the novel, the time change may not have made their absence necessary.  i missed especially the fiery doctor, who appears all too seldom..

 

This week's blogpost: Changes to Google photos

i use computers.  i don't like them.

  That's something i might put in a wordart frame.  But not until i figure out what to do about the Google photo situation.

   i won't be posting photos for awhile.  It seems that Google photos will no longer be a free service. Ok, the cutoff is over six months away, but that's not long to find and move pictures.

... it's not just photos and videos here. All those Gmail emails with attachments that you forgot to delete also count, as does anything else you do on Google. (Our friends at Google tell me that my Gmail alone counts for 40 GBs of online storage.

quoted from https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2020/11/11/google-charge-photos-options-icloud-dropbox-microsoft/6253280002/

  i have never consciously used Google photos, but they do have a tendency to mix their services up, so i've no idea how many will be affected.  Tons of undeleted emails.  And photos with texts.

  Wikipedia seems to have a good article on Google photos (ooh, and this raises the question, what's happening / has happened to my Picasa photos, another service that i didn't consciously use, but seems to have a lot of blog pics on it.).

  This one seems to have a lot of useful info:

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-manage-your-google-photos-or-move-them-somewhere-1845657549

  Any one with suggestions, ideas, i'd love to hear them.

Helping your kid (or you) get used to a mask

This article came in my IN*Source newsletter.  With schools starting up, not to mention the autistic 3 year old & family removed from airplane, this seems like help you could use.
https://adayinourshoes.com/my-child-wont-wear-a-mask-school-and-iep-accommodations-ideas/

How are you getting along during COVID?

 One of my special needs resources sent me the link for this UCON survey.  It's designed to help

 figure out where the gaps are in caring for our special needs families in this crisis. It is NOT specific to Indiana.                                                                                                                     
The researchers have titled it, “The knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of parents of children with disabilities in response to COVID-19.”
Below is their introductory letter, though i've not copied their invitation to share. If you find a question difficult, skip it.  You should be finished in about 15 minutes; i don't think it took me any longer and i was bouncing around other windows at the time!

Dear Colleague:

We are writing to ask your help to find out how families and caregivers with children, youth or adults with disabilities are doing during this unprecedented crisis with COVID-19, and what issues they are facing.

The survey

What's going on here? Missing photos!

  Weird thing: Today i checked last week's post, "Recent Reading: AKA Words on Wednesday, a Day Late," and discovered the last two photos were gone! They'd been replaced by big ovals with a dash in the middle.  MyGuy and i looked at the photos, and decided maybe Google found this in violation of copyright. We don't see why though - and shouldn't there have been an email or such, to inform me of a problem?
  Anyway, i did change the second photo to hide the story (NOT all the story, one page out of about 20.) And i hope this is some Computer Farm anomaly, because i have lots of similar pics on this blog.*  i always try to put a not-distracting amount of background in, to hopefully avoid copyright issues, "fair use ".

*There are not "worlds enough and time" to check them all.  But i would appreciate hearing from anyone who's noticed such a thing here!

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: The Beast in the House

  While my new knee, total knee replacement, is doing well (nice to remember what normal walking is!), the swelling in my leg hadn't gone down. So now i have a new diagnosis, lymphedema.
  It seems mine began in adolescence, about the time my legs changed from chubby child to serious thunder thighs.  But it hadn't gotten bad until the stress of the latest surgery.

This is my new lifelong buddy

The Y2K "Joke"

Big scare, nothing happened, right?   

  Well, not exactly.  The expected problem, though exaggerated, was real.  But programmers worked hard to make sure WE, the average user, didn't experience it.

Not Quite Wordness Wednesday: Out with the Old, In with the New

Wordless Wednesday: Following Doctor's Orders

Feet over Heart: Laundry Basket, foam wedge belted to basket, 2 pillows.Not for comfort, but decreasing swelling

Below, a couple of post op incision photos - NOT pretty!

Saturday Sisters: Daughters Helping Daddy

  Shallum's daughters worked beside their father on the wall. But women couldn't do that, right?

Updating

from days past

  Max and i keep busy. . .

i told you i didn't know how to do this

i keep ordering the wrong fit!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Don't Pour Hot Spaghetti Water on Your Foot!

i thought this was an ugly foot! But it's relatively pleasant looking here, not to mention not HURTING!

You may not want to continue.  There are photos of my burned foot, not pretty!

Scam Alert

  This week i have received FIVE calls from the same North Carolina phone number.
  The first time, i checked the voicemail the caller left: a very trustworthy-sounding male voice told me that my Social Security number has been suspended for suspected fraud activity.
  Yeah, right. That's not how they'd contact me.
   Today

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Wind and Speed

High wind speeds over the weekend blew some shingles off our roof.  We're working on getting someone to fix it - well, we have someone, but getting it at least covered before the next bad weather may be a problem. Then there's

End of Year Valerie Recap

• It's been several years since my hand surgeries. 

Embarrassed

  As i've explained before, i use my cane not so much so that i can walk today, but so that i can continue walking three days from now.
  It may not make sense, but it's so.  The pain adds up and i simply can't continue.
  After lunch tyesterday, i went to the drink machin for a refill.
  And left my cane at the table.
  The guys at the table beyond ours were staring at me.  i felt, rightly or wrongly, like they were thinking i was putting over a scam, since i obviously didn't need that cane.

2018 Reading List

  Lately i've been doing a lot of reading.  Possibly too much, but hey, to read i don't have to move those pesky knees.
  Anyway, i've compiled a list of many of the books i've read this year, with a few scattered comments.   Hope you enjoy!

Check out this fellow blogger

As i type this, the post i reference is showing in the blogroll at right, but i know it won't stay there.
https://gettingitright-occasionally.blogspot.com/
While our family is not at Gloria's point yet, i can see it coming..  And even now i identify with her emotions.