Colleen the Flower-Cat

Kind of a nothing week. I guess after a vacation like the one the week before, a week of recovery is probably about right. Rather little work got done, but I did (finally) finish writing the Terms of Service for Naomi-Rivkis.com. I also found several things that had been missing on the trip. The extension cord, the absence of which caused the most trouble, turned up in my damned backpack next to the CPAP and its power brick, right where I put it.

On the other hand, I didn't do any work on the eclipse post until last night, when I pulled down the part I'd done on my phone on the trip back. But didn't do any more than that, probably because it required a DECISION - whether to start with the DW post, or the Going-Sideways post. I have now decided -- it should be the former. The latter will require more work: it ought to cover the entire trip, because GS is a travel blog.

Note in passing: the TravelPro backpack, purchased because it was a precise fit for the under-seat space, is a bit hard to find things in (see above), and one strap kept falling off my right shoulder (as mentioned last week). It will see very little use between trips, and may get pushed aside completely. Where it will join the other not-quite-right luggage. Partly due to airlines changing their carry-on size requirements, and partly to me not paying attention. And partly, I guess, because right now my injured right shoulder makes it harder to put on a backpack than a sling. And I have a near-perfect sling.

Also, (main laptop)unSable's "m" key is broken. Probably due to my bad habit of eating at my desk. And my Samsung watch frequently fails to connect with my Google phone.

Linkies:

• Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study Projects | Yale School of Public Health
• The Eclipse, or the Courtship of the Sun and Moon - Wikipedia (early silent film).
• Winning Entries | The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest
• The Neuroscience of Why You Can’t Stop Buying Books You Don’t Have Time to Read

( Notes & links, as usual )

On the whole, a very good week. There were problems, some of them serious, but they were worked around, and the eclipse more than made up for the rest.

Eclipse notes (copied from Wednesday and Thursday under the cut): (See more detailed post probably later this week.)

N and I left for the beach, much earlier than it turned out that we needed to (which was very hard on N and pretty hard on me.) We changed location a couple of times; the spot we wound up at was, however, perfect. Couldn´t have made it except that we'd rented a mobility scooter. Thoroughly worn out, very dehydrated. but....
>>> WE SAW THE ECLIPSE <<<
Perfect sight-line from a fat crescent down to sundown a few minutes after totality. Having forgotten my glasses I only saw the inner corona, but that was enough. Diamond ring effect before and after, the latter reddened because sunset, so it was more of a ruby ring.

I forgot to look up to try to see stars. Not really a problem. I also fumbled with my camera trying to get a shot of the corona, but gave up. I found out later that I had in fact captured a video, which was a perfect way to remember the beach-party atmosphere, as well as the corona. Not complaining.

Eclipse Links:

• Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 - Wikipedia,
• A solar eclipse and the Perseid meteor shower arrive on the same day
• File:Diamond ring effect during the total solar eclipse of August 12, 2026, as seen from Colònia de Sant Jordi, Spain.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
• Total solar eclipse: The day the world came to Mallorca.

Travel notes: (See eventual post on GoingSideways.blog.)

• The missing extension cord turned up in my backpack (after the trip); it went into the CPAP bag where it belongs. Next time I have to leave the CPAP bag behind, I'll remember where I put it.
• The Travelpro backpack has a major flaw: the straps are too far apart and one kept falling off my right shoulder. (OTOH it held everything it needed to and fit perfectly under the seat in front of me.)
• Transavia and the Palma de Mallorca airport are both unacceptable for invisibly-disabled passengers. Avoid if possible. We never got wheelchairs and had to stand in line for an hour to check in.
• There is a ferry to Mallorca from Barcelona. Take that next time. If there is a next time.
• My stool-cane was clumsy to carry around, but a life-saver on the beach and in the airport.

Other links:

• djot jgm/djot: A light markup language.
• New messenger app sends texts by virtual pigeon and sometimes the bird just dies.

( Notes & links, as usual )