Kyrgizion

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.

Getting old I guess. I can vaguely recall her face, though barely. I didn't think I'd ever forget such a thing. Not suffering from acute memory issues afaik. Just father time gradually erasing the paths travelled in the sands of time.

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?___

Left is idle, right is under full gaming load (Helldivers 2). My previous rig (Intel) easily went up to 85-90°C in the same circumstances. Ambient temps are slightly elevated as well since we've been having ~30°C temps daily here for a while now.

To me this is almost ridiculous. I had never dreamed I could get my temps under load under 70. CPU is at stock speed since there is literally no reason to push it any further at this point. Can always choose to up the clocks later if I still want to.

Cooler is a Noctua NH-D15 G2. I don't see myself returning to watercooling any time soon. And Noctua has a new customer for life.

Two of my furry children. Terra is unfortunately very ill. She has terminal lymphoma and there's nothing we can do anymore but make her comfortable.

I just wanted to celebrate them while I can. That little furry creature saved my life on more than one occasion, and she knows it. I owe her a tremendously great deal and my life was immeasurably richer for having her in it.

And all I got was an automated email wishing me "well".

Not even a mention in a Teams chat, let alone any kind of reward. I used to listen to my grandfather and father tell stories of getting gold lapel pins or entire vacations for 5, 10, 15-year anniversaries.

My reward? I got put on a PIP last week. Oh, and our government has just decided that no matter how long you've worked somewhere, you'll only get one year paid out. If I was fired today, they'd have to accumulate 10 years of extra payments. Later this year, just the one. Which is what they're waiting for undoubtedly.

So, happy monday everyone! As a gift to myself I've decided to give extra little fucks about anything today.

EDIT: thanks for all the well-wishes, it's honestly appreciated! Warms my cold, dead heart a mite.