Kyrgizion

Here she is enjoying today's afternoon autumn sun.

She was diagnosed with lymphoma in late April, and given weeks to days to live. She said fuck that, I'm not done here yet, and promptly added the entire summer (and many, many bbq's, which were her absolute favorite for obvious reasons) to her lifespan in spite of her condition.

After returning from the vet, we laid her to rest in the exact spot she had chosen in the picture.

My heart is in a thousand pieces, but most of all I remember the good times and the 15 years of loyalty and love I was privileged enough to receive. It was never going to be long enough even if she lived to 30.

Goodbye my sweet angel. Thank you so much for all the joy you brought us. I tried my best to repay you in kind, because you deserved it. Now there will forevermore be a small cat-shaped hole in my heart that I don't quite know how to ever fill.

I just realized the following:

-I am the first in my extended family to have a tertiary education. My parents and grandparents were laborers.

-Despite having two degrees, I've never been able to use either of them

-I spent the next twenty years working various customer service jobs while never actually rising through the ranks.

-Today I'm over 40 and looking at living paycheck to paycheck until the day I die or retire. No-one in my generation with half a brain expects retirement to just, y'know, be there when it's our turn. All of us are waking up to the reality that despite paying into SS for our entire working lives, we will never get even a fraction of what we put in back.

Given these circumstances, how am I supposed to convince my son to continue his education when he's finished with high school? I feel like a liar already for trying to convince him that if he just works hard at something it'll eventually pay off, because I have seen firsthand that this just isn't true?

Installed a vent into the desk with a high powered fan underneath.

Figured we joked about it enough, but this thing keeps my office snug & warm throughout winter without having to expend a single extra cent in heating.

Yes, he's every bit the goober he seems in the gif.

I was subsequently gifted a WHOLE SWEATER. Huzzah! How lovely to be appreciated and remunerated at the highest level.

Ten years old. Found as a kitten while picking up our son from preschool.

He's the clingiest cat I've ever known and is a formidably flamboyant lover. He'll forcefully shove his snoot into your face as he learned that's what "kisses" are. He'll even do it on command.

Apart from that I've never known a cat who loves belly scritches as much as he does. He's also as vocal as a Siamese. Doesn't shut up for a minute, nor would I want him to.

Despite all this, he's kind of a shadow in the sense that almost no one except my SO, my kid and myself get to see him. He hides from anyone else, no matter the circumstances.

When we first got our own home 15 years ago, the very first thing we did was adopt two kitties from the same recent litter.

Throughout those 15 years, both sisters have cemented themselves as my personal lares. Think of it as my soul cats if you will.

About two months ago however, we got some horrific news about Terra's health. I had found her collapsed and feared a stroke or spinal injury, but the bloodwork and echo at the vet were clear: cancer, already spread, suspected lymphoma due to the excessive fluid in her lungs. Red blood cell count on the verge of death - highly anemic.

The immediate prognosis was grim. The vet decided that it would be best to drain the fluid on her lungs with a syringe, though she warned us it was a stopgap measure and the fluid would eventually return. We were looking at days to a few weeks at best there.

It probably started in one of her toes because she, well, eventually self amputated that toe. The vets couldn't help with it because she was too weak for anaesthesia. So she got cortisones and painkillers instead. No use worrying about the long term effects.

Remarkably, she has since improved much beyond what we dared hope for. Two months, and she's still eating, grooming, cuddling and stealing food. Her favorite pastime these days is joining me for barbecue. While the meat cooks, she gets all the leftovers as treats. You can imagine how crazy she is about that.

I made a promise to her that if she's ever in more pain, or doesn't want to fight anymore. I would let her go gently. I wouldn't want her to suffer needlessly.

But for now, she is still here, because she still wants to be.

Despite looking a bit rougher than most of its contemporary counterparts, it functions the exact same way as a modern version. Usually came with a handy hole so it could be worn on a keyring.

There were also much smaller keys which were worn like rings on a finger, but those were for smaller locks like ornate lockboxes and the like.

Bought this at a recent small auction for €100. Someone else mentioned it's an "official museum replica" rather than genuine.

Since my expertise is mostly in Romans, I must admit I'm sort of out of my depth with this one. It's not ferromagnetic and the weight checks out at 3.76g, but I am concerned about some of the surface marks.

I hope someone with some more knowledge in these can weigh in and help verify (or not) the authenticity.

So apparently there's this online epidemic of "prophets" who are convinced their particular instance of ChatGPT or whatever other LLM they use is actually sentient, sapient, and why not - God.

There's debate about how normal people without explicit delusions get roped into this and effectively join an online cult.

But it's presented as if this happens by accident and that's what I don't buy. Your LLM is just going to parrot whatever you put in there. I've "asked" GPT if it's sentient as well and it answers with a firm "no" and then clarifies why. Although it does wax lyrical about it:

I'm curious where these grifters will lead people in the near future. We have plenty of examples from fiction, but in reality this is the first time we're seeing people worship technology and actually getting an answer.

I dunno man. I'm just a simple guy without high brow credentials or connections, but I can't see how people with actual critical thinking skills can possibly fall for this. Maybe the state of people's minds is just that much worse than even I in my pessimism and misanthropy imagine?___