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D.O.P.-T.

A Spanish-style house (there aren't many in this particular suburb) is newly for sale, asking $1,799,000.

In January 2018 it was for sale asking $1,500,000—it sold for $1,710,000. So they aren't asking for much more than they paid.

Both times, a recent remodel is claimed. But the main change seems to be that the current owners had it staged—and the photos are less dark. A lighting fixture or two, maybe a retiled shower, the Tesla charger and probably the washer and dryer; otherwise it seems basically unchanged. Looks like the same windows, maybe even the same kitchen appliances. It's a small house on a street of small houses, but it's been enlarged to 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Current Mood: busy

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followfriday

Follow Friday 1-16-26

Got any Follow Friday-related posts to share this week? Comment here with the link(s).

Here's the plan: every Friday, let's recommend some people and/or communities to follow on Dreamwidth. That's it. No complicated rules, no "pass this on to 7.328 friends or your cat will die".

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Final Fantasy X: Return To Zanarkand 25th Anniversary Edition

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Tak for det!

Thanks for the kind music recommendations earlier — genuinely some great finds. It even sparked a chat with my manager today about how the mass‑market music scene in Canada acted as a gatekeeper for so long, shaping what people heard and what stayed hidden. Funny how a few good tracks can open up a whole conversation about culture and access.

[Review] Quarantine Zone: The Last Check

I picked up Quarantine Zone: The Last Check on an impulse purchase and thought I'd leave a few thoughts on it!

It's a sim game where you have to check people for zombie symptoms before letting them into the checkpoint. There's also some base management to it, as well as some little zombie shooting segments, but the sim part was what got me interested.

And the sim part is pretty fun! I've sunk quite a few hours into it. Very nice gameplay loop of checking symptoms, with increasing difficulty as new symptoms reveal themselves.

The base building is...fine? It's just very shallow and not challenging. I don't mind it, I just find myself wanting more complexity in it.

And finally, I find the zombie shooting bits (you have to defend the wall from a horde) to be boring and unwelcome but mercifully short, easy, and infrequent. Honestly, I wish they would have scrapped this entire thing and instead focused on putting more into the base management.

It's a little buggy, but receiving fixes.

I've only played the campaign so far, which I like, but I do worry that once I'm done with the campaign, there won't be much reason for me to come back to play the endless mode.

My verdict: good game, but maybe buy it on sale.

Current Music: You tell me!

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🎶🎼🎵

I’m looking to shake up my playlist with something wonderfully odd or delightfully unexpected 🎧✨

An ask, consider posting in the comments your quirkiest, strangest, most fascinating music recommendations—I’m hunting for sounds that surprise, confuse, or completely captivate.

(no subject)

Did you know? In traditional maritime terms, usually cordage more than 1 inch in diameter or circumference is called a "rope," while anything smaller could be cord, string or twine. Fibers are twisted or braided to keep it together and hold a greater load of tension. Rope is one of humankind's earliest inventions, long before the wheel.

From a facebook post I took from a local boatbuilder, and TIL.

Screenshot 2026-01-15 at 05.53.34

Warm and wet start to the day. Guaranteed that any remaining snow will have ceased to be.

D.O.P.-T. (yesterday)

It's basically flat here; streets slope almost imperceptibly towards the Bay. In a demonstration, a guy was inline-skating along the bike path on the street that runs beside the railway line, with an (ice) hockey stick, dribbling a rubber ball. Close enough to a rink.

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Pokémon Kink Meme

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denmark,
photos

Carlsberg elephant gate and statue

In light of the recent shenanigans involving Denmark, though a photo from when I lived there for a few years. The entrance to the Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen and a certain frozen statue.

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!personal favourite

Top10 - 2025

My favourites from last year. I'm too lazy to tag everything, lol.

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sailing

⛵️

A small victory today: I finally secured the procedure to tie up in the harbour. It’s not cheap at 80 $/day, but the gated access and better facilities make it worthwhile. I’m aiming for a week in August or September to enjoy some proper salt‑water sailing and get more offshore experience with my boat.

🌬️

A muddy, unseasonably warm day can feel strangely heavy. The wind pushes across the yard like it’s in a hurry to leave, and the soft ground seems tired of holding on to winter. With the temperature climbing to 7 °C, the last scraps of snow are slipping away, shrinking into nothing by evening. There’s something a little lonely about watching them go, as if the season is fading before it ever really had a chance to settle in.

D.O.P.-T.

The dog has adopted my blankie—a sign of the chilly nights, I'd set it aside for her months ago but she rejected it. Luckily I have a second one for myself.

The orange tree has resumed dropping oranges. There were 3 today, 2 intact that I will have with my cereal tomorrow, and one sufficiently smooshed that I fed it to the compost monster.

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homelife,
shortwave

Radio

This is my radio that I use to listen to the world. Bonus, it’s our emergency radio with batteries on the ready for power outages.

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music,
office life

Tunes

I had completely forgotten about this old workaround until today, and honestly, it's a lifesaver in my loud office workplace. Since my iPhone doesn't allow me to charge and listen simultaneously without a bulky dongle, I finally remembered I can just tether it to my computer via a USB cable. By opening iTunes, I can access my entire library of 2,000+ tracks directly from the phone while it stays at 100% battery.

The real winner in this setup is my Etymotic IEMs. In our noisy workspace, their passive isolation provides an epic level of noise reduction. It's actually more effective than active noise cancellation (ANC) because it blocks out office chatter and high-frequency sounds.

I'm finally back in my high-fidelity bubble.

D.O.P.-T.

I was reading yesterday's Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. That's one weird city. They're worried not enough people are using public transit, so they're doing things like having musicians with "strong social media followings" play live on ferries during the evening commute. That would drive me right to an alternative means of transportation. I can imagine people who don't share the booker's taste and who refuse to drive making creative use of drinks. Or blasting something very different. But the reporter acts as though this is a marvellous perk of buying a ferry ticket and says everybody was grooving. San Francisco.

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homelife

Leftovers

A pot of curry only gets better after a night or two in the fridge. The spices settle in, the flavour deepens, and by the time you reach the last portion it feels like a small victory. I finished mine tonight, wishing there were just one more bowl tucked away in the back.

😔

It's disheartening to see the current folk scene in my hometown faltering. I'm feeling vaguely annoyed by these new releases that seem to lack both musical depth and lyrical wit. We have such an incredible legacy of artists here; the raw talent exists, yet the output feels uninspired. I truly hope our local songwriters rediscover their creative edge soon.