Today, the behaviorist at the SPCA told me that they'd be locking down the whole facility tonight and doing everything that they can to keep all the animals calm. It's Guy Fawkes today.
Why we need to celebrate that particular holiday in South Africa I don't know. Just an excuse to get drunk and make noise I suppose.
Survey on the use of AI in the publishing industry. Tell them how we feel.
https://s.surveyplanet.com/b5o4yctg
Yay! Small celebration time for me.
I just got two sales from the site I set up to sell print copies of my books locally (here in South Africa).
Someone who bought "The Babylon Eye" some time ago has ordered the next two books in the series.
Going to courier them tomorrow.
I set that site up some time ago but haven't known how to promote it so haven't really been getting sales.
2/2
I saw that no one's walked Sugarcube this week so far and remembered why the moment I let her out of her kennel. She immediately plops down on her tummy and refuses to move. I carried her most of the way to the dog run (wiggling all the way) and once we were there she had an absolute blast just like last time.
This time she barked at the big dogs in the quarantine row that overlooks the dog run, clearly feeling very safe with two fences between her and them. She also barked at a pigeon and immediately regretted that when the pigeon looked at her, sending her scampering back to me.
I also taught her to sit! Which consisted of me standing while she jumped all over me, giving her a treat only when her butt accidentally touched the ground. She twigged really quickly and was sitting on command after just a few minutes.
She let me carry her back to her kennel too.
Today at the SPCA I walked Viva, Black Bear and Sugarcube.
Viva is a medium sized black-and-tan with floppy ears, one of them torn. She looks like she recently had puppies but she's also quite plump and has clearly been treated with kindness. She's one of those dogs who keeps trying to make eye-contact and she's got excellent leash-manners. We had a sedate walk in the dog run with lots of pets and treats for her.
Fran's been adopted at last! She's "gone home" as the staff put it. Trevor's been adopted but his new owners keep putting off collecting him, poor boy.
I'm worried about Black Bear, compared to last time I walked him about two weeks ago he seems almost lethargic and his hips seem to be worrying him. I reported this to the staff so they'll have the vet look at him.
1/2
joy over hatred , life over bullshit / y'all these are some great quilts 🤍
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I'm rereading "If I Never Met You" by Mhairi Mcfarlane and oof I'd forgotten how much intense and realistic breakup grief there is in the first half.
After a half-arsed attempt earlier this year I'm having another go at getting away from Google. New email service & new browser so far.
Voted.
One hour in the queue so far... At least we're in the shade now.
Our turn to vote.
Today's attempt at keeping the foster rats amused: resounding success.
I stacked the cages and linked them with a pipe.
After a brief initial suspicious hesitation, they charged up the pipe and have been excitedly climbing as high as they can in the top cage.
The time they escaped they enjoyed climbing up to the shelf above the cage so they like being high up and seem more confident there.
Ive got to keep switching up their situation to keep them entertained. Not sure what comes next!
I tried the "writing at a coffee shop" thing today. At The Commons in Muizenberg which is one of my favourite places. It's got a real community vibe, slightly shabby, with the best music.
I might try it again. It's a nice change.
I've just handed in the final two modules for the Self-Publishing course I'm updating for the South African Writers' College. I still have to check that all the assignments are balanced but other than that I think it's pretty much finished.
I really enjoyed this work. I had to update my own knowledge on a lot of the things that have changed in self-publishing in the last few years. There's a lot of self-publishing advice that's shared online as fact that's actually just vibes.
When this course is live it will be a sort of one-on-one mentorship, with me and just one student at a time, helping them to publish their books. That should be interesting too.
(this is not a sub toot, it's prompted by an email someone sent me)
I really dislike it when people try to soften a call out / reprimand / disagreement / correction by starting with "gently".
Just say it in a straightforward way.
We’re on a mail cruise around the Sounds and we just unexpectedly came across a pod of Hector’s Dolphins who came by the boat to have a look at us.
I present the *Small Rat-tron Accelerator*
This is one of my attempts to keep the half-wild ratgirls entertained since I can't free roam them. There are treats hidden along its length. the holes are so I can see if there's a rat inside, and the slots let me close off areas so I can manage where they are.
They are quite excited about it, if suspicious, and at least one of them has run all the way around it already.
RE: https://infosec.exchange/@0xabad1dea/117433142286370236
you don't need to do something every day for it to count! you don't need to reach any special threshold for it to count! just find some time to learn a new skill any time in November, and you've won in the only way that will ever matter!
HOLY SHIT
MALCOLM MCDOWELL SAID "TRANS RIGHTS"
AND SO MUCH MORE
AHHHHH I AM CRYING
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:474ldquxwzrlcvjhhbbk2wte/post/3mz6qt7rmyc2b