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Well, Nutella cost us $1,300 and counting today. Against our better judgement, we left some party decorations up for Piper’s birthday week. Found some chewed pieces of plastic streamers on the ground yesterday morning, and she didn’t finish her breakfast so I feared the worst. After multiple rounds of vomiting, including parts of streamers, she spent much of the day at the emergency vet. Long-story-short, looks like she’s going to be OK without surgery. I’ve admittedly been a bit of a mess… It was not a fun night, or enhaoyable day waiting to hear. And everyone was determined to welcome her home.

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I'd watch John Lithgow watching paint dry. Definitely going to check this out!

There were 3 post acquiring citizenship action items (in no particular order) https://risccmke.org/en/after-naturalization/ * Inform the SSA of your new citizenship status. Done. Surprised that USCIS and SSA don't do this automatically, joined up government and all that, but was done in under 5 minutes once my check in number was called. Maybe it's another check and balance? * Register to Vote. Done. Can be done online here in CA. Straightforward. No overt signs of voter suppression. Found the idea of having to chose a political party strange. https://my.lwv.org/california/article/how-choose-political-party-when-registering-vote Given that voting is supposed to be a secret ballot, And that the "Father of the country", George Washington foresaw problems with them. https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-first-president/political-parties/ Time to read his farewell address. Maybe I could take the approach of an ex-work-colleague, who, while being a gay San Francisco liberal democrat, registered as a Republican, so he could see what they ("the enemy") were up to. Thus he could vote for the most unelectable candidate in the primaries, and would share the contents of their talking points , or campaign contribution begging letters that they mailed to him, with us. That was enlightening. * Apply for a passport. One of the unintended consequences of becoming a citizen is that we are "trapped" in the country, until we have a Passport in our hands. With a green card we could re-enter the country, but we had to hand that back in. So no Passport, no legal re-entry. We have to apply in person at a Post Office for a new passport, and then wait 8-11 weeks (or 5-7 weeks if expedited) based on the current State Department processing times. No immediate passport appointments locally because: reasons (COVID?) But we did manage to find an appointment next week in Sonoma (Boyes Hot Springs!) as the earliest accessible appointment - so a day in wine country, shame! In the meantime I guess we are "stuck" with Hawaii as our deferred travel vacation choice for now.

For several reasons my reply here took some time. The measurement of the loaded output voltages of the Stax amplifiers last year went smoothly. (Load was 007 resp. 009). [For safety reasons, I was more than 1 m away from all devices and open connections when I made the measurements of the high voltages. In particular, I restrained from touching the volume knob at all.] The outcome was that the loaded and unloaded output voltages agreed up to the last digit of the DMM (50 000 count). So, matching levels for a specific estat headphone with different amps can be achieved by simply matching the unloaded output voltages - at least for the tested Stax amps D10 and 353X and above mentioned headphones. It would be highly appreciated if someone could share a general reason why loaded and unloaded voltages of estat amps are always equal - if this is the case.

I believe the first thing I saw Lithgow in was The World According to Garp, in 1982. That was an amazing performance, and he hasn't let me down once since.

Yes it does.

Listening to this two years later. It's quite good. And who knew it is antivenin, not antivenom?

The Old Man. Episode 1 Intriguing.

Stop me if you've heard this before ... Boat Bridge City But this time I came home with a hybrid American wife! What a country!

Those Sonus Fabers make me think of one thing: "B Y Y O U R C O M M A N D"

Sitting at Anchorage airport, waiting for my flight home. It was a fantastic trip but I miss Suzy.

I loved the L500MK2s but didn't trust my ears because they were the second set of Stax I'd ever heard. Four weeks, continued mistrust, and ten trades with the hifi shop later, I wound up getting the x9000s. Fucking hell. Considering getting the L500s for a point of comparison.

The L500Mk2's are excellent and probably the best new Stax on offer aside from the 007's (which are hardly new at this point). Far more balanced than they used to be and easy enough to fit L700 earpads if that is your thing

Ouch tell me how you really feel, lol. I’ve never bothered to listen to the L500mk2 but I did not care for the L500mk1 at all. Sound and worst of all the fit. Pads felt cheap and ears were touching the liner.

@spritzerhow did the x9K sound after the L500 cable was swapped? Count me in the weirdo camp that really likes the L700, 009s and x9000 sound.

https://www.inexxon.com/online-shop/paltauf-verstärker-amplifier/ Some specs are here, a full Carbon with GRLV+GRHV costs a lot less, maybe even a modded 727 is more than competitive against it... And of course there is also this one, the Eksonic Aeras, which I am sure is also going to be excellent (was presented at CanJam and most people said it really wasn't far off the DIY T2) and distributed within the EU as well (with warranty, if you are worried about that).

Just started Reacher. Al said it was pretty good. I told him it didn't seem like my kind of thing. Not sure why I ever question him anymore? Maybe just out of stubbornness.

Just small plastic jars with garlic sauce, found them in the fridge. Suites me perfect. All the sauce makes me fat...

Found out on the plane on the way back from the COVID mixer in Boston that my Aunt Sharon Keltner died of a heart attack Thursday night. She was probably the nicest person I have ever spent time with in my life and did nothing but give as a life long RN and in retirement feeding the majority of her small town that is primarily comprised of very old farmers with little money. Family was planning a joint celebration of her 70th birthday and 50th wedding anniversary for August. Time for me start living a healthier lifestyle.