Hmmm, tried to reckon timelines…

I have missed you good folks. I dutifully followed people through various SM
platforms, but those who were most insistent on it have kinda dropped away and
I don't hear from them any more. So, it's been an interesting time since we
last gathered on a list. Here's what's been going on with me. Sorry this
got kinda long.

Jo and I are still going strong, and we had our 37th anniversary recently. Jo
had colon cancer in 2018 and almost died from sepsis. She had heart surgery
in 2019 to repair a heart valve damaged from the sepsis, and she's doing well.
I had shoulder surgery in 2015 and the anesthesiologist punctured my lung and
I came kinda close to dying. All's well now with that.

Two of our parrots are doing well. Morgan died in 2022, she was probably
about 38 years old then, and she was really struggling by the end. Her mate
Merlin helped her -- he brought her food and watched over her. He's probalby
about 39 now, and he's starting to act like Morgan did several months before
she died. He had cancer in 2015, but surgery saved him and he's been doing
well since. Morgan helped him in similar ways when he was really suffering
from it. He's also having trouble with one foot and appears to be blind in
one eye. Their babies Miles and Cthulhu are carrying on. Miles has had
life-long health problems, but he's a real trooper. Cthulhu is a happy bird,
but kinda bitey.

I was laid off in 2021 from a job I'd had for 30 years. That job was doing
research in network security. In 2022, I got a job working for a company
called Netgate that makes firewalls and routers. I'm writing software for a
high-speed router. When I was laid off, I'd been working part-time 7-20 hours
per week. This job is full-time, and switching from part-time research to
full-time product development was a really tough transition. At least I'm
able to continue working from home full-time. The company is based in Texas,
but the employees are spread across the world. I'm approaching retirement
age, but it's still several years off.

Jo is still a professional harper, and she's also the primary musician (piano,
organ) at our church. Last year, she played in an invitational Scottish harp
competition and took the prize for best original music. She also got a grant
from Maryland's arts organization for its master/apprentice program a couple
years ago. She kept us alive while I was between jobs. We're both still
playing music together, and we're still teaching at Common Ground on the Hill.

Some of the biggest changes in our lives are related to our parents. My
mother died in 2020. Due to some extremely unpleasant family stuff, my
father had to leave his home and move in with us in 2021. Jo's parents have
had significant health issues for the past eight years. Since we're the
"responsible ones", most of the caregiving falls to us.

We've been dealing with great piles of stress as a result of our parents,
Morgan's death, Merlin's worsening health. A respite would be nice, but there
isn't one in sight.

It's been years since we've been able to really travel, but we're hoping we
can in the next year or two. I still look back fondly on the 2012 THing.
It'd be nice to have one again sometime. I've met 28 Housers, and it'd be
nice to meet more.

Wayne

here are some book recommendations:

anythine by T. Kingfisher

space opera:
Chloe Garner: the Carbon Chronicles
Ramirez: Dumb Luck and Dead Heroes

fantasy sf:
Lee: Machineries of Empire

fantasy:
Gockel: I Bring the Fire series
McCullough: Webmage series and Fallen Blade series
Vo: Singing Hills series
Wallace: Sin du Jour series

Also, there's the 2008 TV show The Middleman, starring Natalie Morales.
Adam Lipkin recommended it to me several years after the TH list faded
away. It's well worth watching.

While I'm living in the TV past, Schitt's Creek was very good. The whole
cast was good, but Annie Murphy and Emily Hampshire were outstanding.


--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/1a6d1c40-ac32-4e4b-9af4-a7d91c077017%40storm-monkeys.com.

Gwyn said:
> I can "hear" you! But I think I'm definitely missing some emails as well.

Woohoo!!! I've been getting messages since Deb restarted the list, but
apparently my mail-serving host changed, and it's taken me a while to find
and fix the problem.

So glad to hear from folks again. I've really missed the list. I'll try to
write up a State of the Me post tonight or tomorrow.


Mina said:
> There *might* be a little *ahhhhhhhh*, to be honest.

:)

Wayne

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/fcf30134-e2cc-4975-8884-07c882cbd9cb%40storm-monkeys.com.

You made it!

> On Mar 3, 2025, at 4:02 PM, 'Wayne Morrison' via Tamson House <tamson-house@googlegroups.com> wrote:
>
> Hello? (Hello, hello, hello)
>
> Is there anybody in there?
>
> Just nod if you can hear me
>
> Is there anyone home?
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/82adf619-d70e-4f25-8a03-1eff07b9d05b%40storm-monkeys.com.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/E1EA4D3E-F72C-4B5E-90F1-57D3DC147215%40gmail.com.

Hello? (Hello, hello, hello)

Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me

Is there anyone home?


--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/82adf619-d70e-4f25-8a03-1eff07b9d05b%40storm-monkeys.com.

Ilana, You have my condolences on the loss of your parents.

My father died in November, but it was past time for that to
happen so I didn't feel bad about it. He was 91 and didn't know
who I was the last time I saw him before I saw him before I
moved three years ago. He couldn't even get out of bed on his
own and had to be hoisted into a chair. For an active man who
was a scientist all his working live, that was no way to live.
Having to make a trip back east to deal with my step-relatives
was more painful than his death.


At 07:17 AM 3/3/2025 Ilana Halupovich wrote:
>Where to start?
>Three years ago I moved back home, when the repairs were done.
>Theoretically that is. In practice? It considered still under
>repair because some apartments have problems.
>Still.
>But I have my own bomb shelter which came handy.
>Because two years ago I broke my shoulder and use a cane now.
>Finally I see some improvement but stairs are still hard, and
>when there's an alert you are not supposed to use elevator.
>A year ago my parents died. Within two weeks. 93 & 89
>Be their memory blessed. We decided to burry them on my
>brother's community,so he can take care of the graves.
>Speaking of graves.we discovered that my dad's brother on
>Latvia died last September. He took care of grandoarents'
>graves we have to do something pretty soon, because on Jewish
>cemetery on Riga unattended graves got plowed.

>Of Shira is here she may decide to tell that she blocked me on
>Facebook.
>My eyesight is declining and I am yet to discover how to move
>Facebook to the dark mode, so I I yearly visit it.
>I am on Quora.
>And no, you don't want to reax my answers.
>But I was on Three Minute Stories space for some time and you
>may like what I put there.
>Or not.
>What else?
>My cats died on me and I took two kittens. Black.
>Thomas-Phantomas & Malish. Malish means little on Russian. He
>fit on my palm when I got him. Now he is Larger than Phantomas,
>but some of it because his hair is longer.
>The last de Lint book that I read was Juniper Wheels second
>book.
>The new author that I discovered is Robin Sloan.
>The new music that I discuveref are VoicePlay.hujyi`
>
>ilana
>
>
>
>×'×ª× ×¨×™×š ×™×•× × ×³, 2 ×'מרץ 2025, 04:47, ×ž× ×ª
>Katrina Knight
>†<<mailto:kknight@fastmail.fm>kknight@fastmail.fm>:
>Since we're talking here again, how about updating each other
>on
>what we've been doing? I've missed our old discussions about
>what was going on in our lives. I'll start.
>
>I moved across the country, to eastern Washington three years
>ago. I like it here and being on the opposite side of the
>country from my evil parent is good.
>
>I've been running the Tumbleweed Music Festival
>(<https://tumbleweedfest.com>https://tumbleweedfest.com), which
>is not quite a folk festival
>(it is somewhat more varied than just folk music). I've also
>been helping my friend Dan Maher with his weekly radio show.
>("Executive Producer" is such a fancy title!) That can be hear
>on Folk Music Notebook
>(<http://folkmusicnotebook.com>folkmusicnotebook.com or their
>phone
>apps) from 7-10 pacific time, and it is archived at
><https://www.mixcloud.com/danmahersgoodroad/>https://www.mixcloud.com/danmahersgoodroad/.
>If you like folk
>music, you might want to listen.

--
Katrina Knight
kknight@fastmail.fm

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/7.1.0.9.2.20250303100722.055bebd8%40fastmail.fm.

We've moved so many times, but are fairly settled on Long Island five minutes from the ocean on the Great South Bay. Very suburban after always having elbow room in the country. But it has its perks. 

My husband sold his business and retired. I retired from professional singing several years ago but lately have the itch to pick up the guitar and do the folk thing again. We are still snowbirds but my horses live in Florida, so I only ride six months of the year. 

I'm still an old school liberal, doing some activism, some philanthropy. Check me out on Facebook if you're brave. I'm still agitating.

Reading a lot lately. Just finished up Book 5 of Samantha Shannon' "The Bone Season." Highly recommend the series!

Good to hear from you all!

Love, 

Leslie

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 2, 2025, at 7:46 AM, Grey Malkin <grymalkyn@gmail.com> wrote:



Nothing nearly as exciting going on here.  I am still working at the same agency -- yesterday was my 31st anniversary, in fact (and I did work yesterday; a few of us were there for Saturday overtime).  For the last five months or so, I have been doing all by myself a job that, at this time last year, was done by three people.  Nothing horrible happened; It's just that we were already short-handed, then someone left, then someone else was on medical leave for a couple of months, then someone took a temporary promotion and transfer to another unit, and that left me on my own.  To say I am swamped is something of an understatement.  It would be more accurate to say that I am enjoying a lovely luncheon in the first-class dining room aboard the Titanic.  It should end in another month or so, when the person who took the temporary promotion comes back to the unit, but it the meantime, I am working a lot of overtime, some of which I am even being paid for (which is unusual for our agency; they don't like to give overtime).

I am looking forward to retirement; I am both old enough (even though I'm only in my late 50s) and have enough years in that I could actually retire at any time, but now doesn't seem like the best time to give up a job.

Otherwise, my house hasn't fallen down yet, and, in fact, I even had some work done on it.  I finally got the upstairs bathroom rebuilt and then some months later, had the same contractor come in and replace the windows in my bedroom and fix the walls that the late, lamented Jack damaged.  Next up, I'm thinking about getting an electrician in to fix some stuff like the outlet that the ex-husband left the bared wire just hanging out of the wall in (which I have had checked and have been assured is not live) and maybe check the bedroom outlets to see if they can handle an air conditioner because after last summer's sleeping in front of the open front door on a folding bed with fans going, I think maybe I'm ready to see about a/c.

After over a year without a pet, I adopted a couple of cats from the SPCA at the very end of December.  One might even say the "tail-end" if one were in a cheap pun sort of mood.  *ahem*  Things are certainly a lot livelier in my house than they used to be.  I have to remind myself to speak to them, because I'm used to not speaking at all when I'm home.  Even when I'm playing with them, I have to remind myself to make some noise -- and we do have a daily game of Chase The Red Dot.

The snowdrops have come up in the front yard, so I am hopeful that this winter is actually going to end.  But then comes Bug Season and Lively Critter In The Garage Season and Mowing Season and....

Laurie

(Also, I set up this email address years and years and years ago, back when One Did Not Use One's Actual Name On The Internet and no matter what I do, I can't get it to now display my actual name, so I eventually gave up.  It's all good; I was never part of a Collective, anyway, so I'm just the same Laurie as always.)

On Sat, Mar 1, 2025 at 11:09 PM Mina Ellyse Warren <ellyssian@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm preparing to move *partially* across the country... back to New England, although skipping over Massachusetts and going to New Hampshire.  Pretty sure I mentioned that in one of the other recent emails, but prepping for that move is about all I do right now.

I still do software engineering, and still database stuff.  The place I've been at 5 years later this month has exactly one customer for our very extensive development department: the business.  We keep joking we'll write our own database engine one of these days because that's how we do things.

My oldest son is married, and I have one granddaughter (they also gave me my first grandchild, my grandcat Jasper).

My middle son is currently doing casino security, but is a linguist and English teacher.   He might be heading overseas to take a job using both of those skillsets.

My youngest, who was born around the time I first stepped into the House (plus or minus a bit), and who supplied the world with Brandonisms that still make my heart happy when I think of them will be 21 this Autumn.

I still play music (just ordered my first nylon string guitar... finally! wanted one for four decades!) but I stopped "touring" back in May 2019.

And also somehow my world fame didn't come from my music or my writing... but as a model (and a photographer; and no, I can't figure it out, either.)   I may not be doing (much/any) poetry or fiction writing, but I've had fans write both for me.   Boggles me completely.

Cheers,

        Mina Ellyse

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/CADjZeGU7_MvnzeUnNQ%3DSwO-P1jpG5dQFUZWd6_%2BXN%2Brwnt8Scw%40mail.gmail.com.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/CAOE4bn%3Dngq_KtQTveO6rU%2Bin81bHwNq-5nfW8LQmSG%2BABJ6b%3DA%40mail.gmail.com.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tamson House" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tamson-house+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tamson-house/BFFB7A66-D212-4938-92B7-DE0E0CD0217A%40aol.com.