SUNDERLAND is a fully-urbanized planet that is dominated by competing corporations.  Through some fluke of societal development, what they mostly compete at is the invention of increasingly vulgar devices.  Life on Sunderland revolves around its frequent holidays and their "pranking ceremonies".  Status is earned by personally humiliating one's neighbors, using novel equipment that supersedes any previously seen.  The corporations cleverly target their advertisements so that everyone somehow manages to purchase such pranking kits.

TERRIS is so distant from its sun that its surface is almost entirely snow and ice.  Its hardy inhabitants are firm believers in democracy, but their politics are of a very agressive sort.  Every citizen has one vote, which must be cast according to the will of the last person to defeat that citizen in a government-scheduled martial arts tournament.  There is therefore a great deal of societal emphasis on learning how to fight.  Hardly anyone will publicly admit to having an interest in any science not directly related to their combative skills.  In secret, however, many people of Terris learn other ways to improve their world, and they teach these subjects to others in private.  It is considered impolite to wonder who provides the hydroponic gardens and fusion reactors necessary to support life on Terris.

FILÉ is an ocean planet, completely covered by water.  The gill-breathing Filéans constantly follow its currents in peace.  They are ostensibly ruled by a hereditary king, whose laws are absolutely obeyed by everyone on the entire planet.  The only laws which are seen as fit for the king to proclaim, however, are the laws of mathematics.  So no one may claim that 2 + 2 = 5, for example, but other than that everyone is free to do as they wish.  Mathemeticians on Filé keep busy in proving new laws for the king to enforce, but their society is otherwise decadent.  They have never heard of Kurt Friedrich Gödel.

FREMANTLE is inhabited by a collective society of humans called the Noongar, and also by a species of living cloud-creatures (Woylie) that have great influence on the meteorological properties of the planet.  The Noongar used artificially-intelligent satellites to communicate with the Woylie, which have very limited sentience but can be trained to affect the atmosphere in many ways.  Initially this led to great prosperity on Fremantle, with rains falling just where they were needed most.  But cosmic radiation eventually caused bit-rot in the software running on the satellites, and their programming went completely haywire.  Rains became torrential, leading to massive flooding.  Lightning and powerful cyclones also became extremely prevalent.  All of the large structures on Fremantle have now been destroyed, forcing the Noongar to collectively shelter in the ruins.

Wish I had something more interesting to tell you. Here are some cat pictures. 

More importantly: how are you? 

What's your favorite knock knock joke? 

What's your favorite lightbulb joke? 

Did you know that there's an entire subculture of people who do face painting? 

So I went to Alaska a fair bit in the 1990/2000s. I went in August when the blueberries and tourists were plentiful, and in midwinter where locals were starved for outsider energy, and many other months along the way.

I visited Anchorage Alaska for my traveling software consultant job, supporting engineering firms that worked the oilfields. 

One of the things I found most impressive were the moose. I first saw one when it was running down the shoulder of the highway. And another a few days later from the window of the building where I was working. But my clearest memory of these massive animals was when I was walking one of the many trails in Anchorage. As I was coming up a gentle slope there it was, this GIANT animal, a mere 10 feet from the trail, munching away at some plant. It looked at me and kept munching. I was stunned, and too scared to walk past. So I just stood there. And stood there. And it just kept on munching. I wasn't scared of being eaten, I was scared of being trampled - this creature was HUGE. It was like 7ft tall and 1000 lbs. So there I stood, transfixed.

But after a while, a cyclist wizzed down past me in the other direction. And then another. And the moose didn't care and didn't move. So I screwed my courage to the sticking point, and heart pounding I walked past it. It just kept munching. 

I have lots of other memories of Alaska - the people there are pretty "cowboy" - lots of radical individualists. People looking for something or running from something. It's the only place that, when I was teaching a software class, when I asked the room to press the "cancel" button, EVERY LAST ONE of the students picked a different button. 

I drove down the Seward one day off, and took the harbor cruise. I bought an excellent windbreaker while there, that I have to this day. I saw a glacier up close and marveled at how the ice is baby-blue. I got annoyed at folks cutting their grass at 11pm, as the sun was still out. I would meet coworkers at "the best Mexican restaurant in Anchorage '' - also the only Mexican restaurant in Anchorage, barely a step up from Taco Bell. I laughed at the story of how a bear kept breaking into the local zoo, because that was where the food was. I planned to but never got around to heading up to Denali. I never saw a whale, which I'm good with since I'm terrified of whales

So yeah, I've been to Alaska.

You know those "how many places have you been to" quizzes. Well, I've been to a lot. But sometimes I'm not sure I've been to a place. So I'm starting a series where I record memories from the places I've been. Starting with US States, and starting alphabetically. 

So, Alabama.

In the late 90s and into the 2000s I was a corporate employed traveling engineering software consultant/trainer. I went to lots of engineering firms to set up and teach the niche software we sold. (REBIS AutoPLANT if you must know)

One place I went to a few times was Birmingham, Alabama to work with Southern Company. I set up & customized software there, and did some training. I have strong recollections of one guy there Mike who was just smart and cool and great to work with. 

I also remember staying at some boutique hotel downtown where in an adjacent shop they were selling "sheet powder". It was lovely smelling talcum powder that apparently in the past people used to put on their sheets before they turned in for the night. I was young and frugal so I didn't purchase any. Today I probably would have, since I've gotten better at balancing my *now* self with my *future* self. I'm naturally future oriented, meaning I tend to not give now-me enough life enjoyment/experiences. But like I just mentioned, I've gotten better at that balance.

In the early 90s I worked for an offshore company (Schlumberger) and we sometimes left from a dock in Alabama. But I don't remember much about that. I do recall on the drive to the dock once my crew talking about how one of the engineers had decided to be vegetarian. And how incredulous they were about that. Good old Lousiana men just couldn't wrap their heads around not eating meat, not even seafood. 

If I think of more Alabama memories I'll add them later. But yeah, I've been to Alabama. Though not recently.

Alright, I did it. I found some names for landscaping and handywork. Thanks, guys, for all the suggestions. (I knew about asking real estate agents, but totally didn't even think about librarians.)

Here's what I did...

A little bit of everthing:

• Instead of Fb or Nextdoor (YourDogShitInMyYardAgain.com), I went to the subreddit for my area. Awesome suggestion. I was already subbed, but hadn't thought about it with all the whelm. Saw a few names I knew from ads, some I didn't. Gave me a starting point. And I could ask questions.

• I looked at all circulars and Valpaks that came to my house for the last week. Great, there's a Clipper magazine, too, and they list a bunch, with coupons.

• Here was one I have been tempted to try but wasn't feeling up to it until the mood was just right- walked right up to the house with my favorite deck on it and asked the guy for his handyman's name. He was more than willing, and gave me the guy's business card. Sang his praises. Big win. I can see his work, and get a first hand review. The guy also does everything else because he helped build the neighborhood and knows the houses well. BINGO BANGO.

• LITERALLY JUST GOOGLED "_____ near me". Picked the first three landscapers closest to me. Called all three, left messages, followed-up with texts including pictures. One answered immediately, one a week later, and one, so far, not at all. Have seen one already and received a rough quote, got another coming Saturday.

• Asked a real estate agent. Got a name. Saw it was a name already mentioned in the local subreddit. Booyah.

• There aren't really teens in my neighborhood, it's more like a retirement community. Buuut, I do have the name of an elderly neighbor's adult son who comes around every day to help her and has ended up doing odd jobs for everyone else. He only does some stuff: weeding, clearing gutters, mowing (but no weedwacking), etc, but he's available and reliable, and relatively cheap. So, this idea is also a good one..

Some of it will take more time, some of it is being pondered currently, and some of it is already on it's way. w00t w00t. Broke through the fuzzy ???s and back into productivity-land. Much better.

Thanks, all! *MUAH*

p.s. - It is snowing right now. lolwut

receipts, no railroads, no crucifixions, rosy or otherwise...It is very far out, your Lordship."

-- Henry Miller (!) to Lord Buckley (!!)

Everything Everywhere All At Once is absolutely amazing.  We braved going to the theater for the first time since "Parasite" and it was more than worth it.