That is, indeed, a time.

I had a sister – she and Teresa shared their birthday, actually. She and I were not just "not close": all during our childhoods we actively disliked each other. ("Hated" is too strong a word. But not by much.) Our relations warmed a bit in adulthood, but...never close. And then she committed suicide. (Not quite fifteen years ago now.)

It hit me a great deal harder than I would have thought. No, I didn't like her – but she was still my sister. "Knocked off balance" is a good way to put it. On my LJ at the time, someone said to me, "May you be comforted." I appreciated those words, and offer them in turn to you.

Sympathies and best wishes also on the various health issues, and on having to move at short notice.

Congratulations on the promotion. "Watch this space"? Will do.

(I had shingles when I was eleven — youngest case my family doctor had ever seen — and it sucked, even though apparently it gets more serious with age and I was only really bad for a week.)

1) Both of you have at least a year (why not two?) of good health. No argument.

2) Enjoy the new space.

3) Aim for a year where the only excitement is good excitement (awards, kudos, good work, etc.)

Also: huge congratulations.

Those discussing the vaccine: I just asked my physician recently about shingles. I'm in my mid-thirties and had chicken pox as a kid. She said that, since I am not immunocompromised, insurance won't cover the shingles vaccine for me till I'm in my fifties at least, and so I'd have to pay out of pocket and that'd be something like $300 (USD). I feel like now I should add "not-yet-necessary vaccines that would improve my peace of mind" to my list of luxury experiences I can do if I get rich, like sumptuous spa treatments and VIP seats at concerts.

I wonder what my doctor/insurance would say. I got a trivial case of shingles, not very painful, when I was a teenager (say 25-30 years ago). Since I have it in my medical history, would that make the insurance consider it?

Probably not.

According to this January 2018 NYT article, the old shingles vaccine was reportedly about 50% effective, which I didn't know. I've been blithely assuming I was pretty well protected from the time I got it at age 60. The new one comes in two rounds several months apart and may or may not yet be covered by various insurance carriers including Medicare.

Madeleine Robins @ 12: +1. or +>>1; there's been quite enough chaos recently.

If anyone wants to contact me for more information, my email is starshadow6666 AT gmail dot com
My name is Starshadow

Sorry for the offtopic post but I don't know the protocol and I don't know how active she was. I just wanted to get the word out. She died March 1st.

Thanks,
Starshadow

The old one is "not effective enough". The new one is still "experimental" (or, good luck with your insurance covering it).

She recommended I wait a year.

I am on Facebook if anyone wants to friend me

Or again reachable by email as above.

I am having to move in a couple months. So I'm doing a massive cleanup/cleanout.

I will miss her my whole life.

Starshadow: my deepest condolences to you.

Either that, or they're referring to the catalog numbers of various LPs -- not entirely sure.

I've been lurking. I'm glad y'all are still here, even though I'm not around much. Sounds like it's been a wild ride all around. Thank you (yes, /you/, but especially Patrick and Teresa and Abi) for keeping the doors open and the lights on.

And checking your VAB led me back to some enjoyable threads from several years ago.

Starshadow, my condolences on your loss. Thank you for letting us know.

Thena, congratulations on your achievement!

Penn Magazine is named in honor of Penn Jones Jr., one of the first honest researchers into the John Kennedy murder by the U.S. deep state, which was the opening big event, leading to the murders of Martin King and Robert Kennedy, Oklahoma City, 9/11, Sandy Hook, Boston, San Bernardino, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, etc.

Go here to read Penn Magazine:

pennmagazine.us

Issues also available here in flip-page format:

https://archive.org/stream/Mid-aprilSpringIssueOfPennMagazine/Mid-April_Issue_Penn_Magazine#page/n0/mode/2up

Thank you.

Mike Palecek, editor
Chuck Gregory, publisher

*Please forward this note to others if you are feeling groovy.

*Please write to Mike if you do not want to receive these notices:
nwestiowa@gmail.com

___________________

All issues of Penn Magazine accessible at pennmagazine.us

Also at archive.org in flip-page format

wg

I'm lax about checking this space, but I'm working at a job I actually enjoy now. And I'm having a lot of mental battles/depression/trying to muster myself to start writing fiction again. So it's life.

A Google search for their phone number shows that they've spammed it widely across the web, mostly for Microsoft support, but occasionally claiming to be the number for HP or Epson printer support.

The reason some of the links point back at this page is probably that the links' urls are blank, either because the spammer goofed, or because Making Light's defenses recognized a malevolent link and excised it (I don't know if ML actually uses such a "bad url" filter). When you leave out the leading parts of a url link on a web page, the browser interprets the link as being relative to the current site and page, so a completely blank url effectively points back at the page you're viewing.

Now I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to try to make a "Voice Over Carrier Pigeon IP" call. Probably still more useful than calling the "Microsoft Help Numbers" line!

Anyway, cheers, and best wishes that at least some of the personal details are going better by now.

Anyway, cheers, and best wishes that at least some of the personal details are going better by now.