Fredagsfrustration :: Digital tvang og fusk Friday Frustration :: Digitalization and Cheating

Her i Uglebo, Helsinge og omegn udkommer der en lokalavis, Ugeposten. Der har været et evigt bøvl med den. På skift fik vi enten ingen avis eller to eksemplarer. Eller en avis og alle reklamer, selvom vi har været tilmeldt Nej Tak siden det blev indført.  Efter at jeg opgav at brokke mig sidste efterår har vi ikke fået avisen. Så pludselig har vi fået den igen de sidste fire-fem uger, hver uge, til tiden og endog uden reklamer. Jeg undrede mig. Og der var da også en skummel bagtanke, for i sidste uge fik vi denne henvendelse sammen med avisen.

--  @ --

Here in the Owlery and the surrounding area, we have a local newspaper called Ugeposten. I've had an epic fight with them these last couple of year. We’d either get no paper at all or two copies for a couple of weeks. Then we had one paper, but also all the ads for local shops and so on - a thing you can opt out from, which we did and a sticker on our mailbox clearly states this. Then we had the paper for a couple of weeks, then no more and then I gave up complaining.
    After I gave up complaining last autumn, we haven’t received it at all. Then suddenly it was in the mailbox, regularly, on time, and even without any ads. I was puzzled. And there was indeed a hidden agenda, because last week we received this letter along with the paper.

If you want the local paper from now on, you'll have to opt in for ads.
At least five a week.

Prøv lige at se bare lidt grundigere på valgmulighederne:

• Hvis man ikke gør noget, bliver man tilmeldt alle reklamer osv.
• Hvis man vil modtage udvalgte reklamer, er der en QR kode og en netadresse, man kan bruge.
  
• Hvis man vil melde fra, er der kun en QR kode
  

... det er dæleme smart. Alle dem, der ikke har en SmartPhone, eller bare ikke kan finde ud af at scanne en QR-kode, bliver nu automatisk tilmeldt alle reklamer.

--  @ --

Let's take a closer look at the options we're given:
    If you do nothing, you’ll be signed up for all ads, papers and what else.
    If you want to receive five selected adverts and the newspaper, there’s a QR code and a web address you can use.
    If you want to opt out, there’s only a QR code

... that’s bloody clever. Anyone who doesn’t own a smartphone, or can’t find out how to scan a QR code, will now automatically be signed up for the whole caboodle.

 --  📰  --

Jeg skrev til den e-posadresse, der er angivet nederst i henvendelsen - lokalavisplus@afk.dk - og fik besked fra Mailsystemet: Mailadressen blev ikke fundet.

Her går det godt. Jeg må finde ud af, hvordan man så afmelder sig. Der er reklamer nok i den lokalavis. Vi behøver ikke flere, og lever også fint uden avisen, som vi som sagt heller ikke har fået i lange perioder det seneste år ... den kan også hentes gratis mange steder i omegnens supermarkeder.

 --  📰  --

I wrote to the email address given at the bottom of the notice – lokalavisplus@afk.dk – and received a message from the email system: ‘Email address not found’.

Things are really fine ... or maybe not
    I’ll have to find out how to unsubscribe. There’s enough advertising in that local paper as it is. We don’t need any more, and we’re getting by just fine without the paper, which, as I said, we haven’t received for long periods up until now, and I can pick it up in many of the local supermarkets when I go shopping anyway.

 --  📰  --

En e-mail korrespondance med en åleglat fyr fra Lokalavisplus gav mig den ønskede netadresse:
Nej tak til det hele
Mit spørgsmål om hvorfor det ikke stod i brevet, fik jeg aldrig svar på.

--  @ --

An email exchange with a slick guy from Lokalavísplus gave me the web address I wanted:
No thanks to all of it
I never received a reply to my question as to why this wasn’t mentioned in the letter in the first place.

 --  📰  --

Så var jeg nysgerrig nok til at gå ind og se på det sted, hvor man kunne tilmelde sig fem reklamer for at få Ugeposten fremover (mit postnummer er 3200). Det er rigtig smart sat op. Se bare her. Først er der alle de mestendels lokale supermarkeder. Let og overskueligt. Og man skal naturligvis klikke på alle dem, man ikke vil have for at fravælge dem.

--  @ --

Curious me looked at the "choose five ads" site as well. It's very cleverly made. If you want to try, my Zip-code is 3200. First there's the mostly local supermarkets, nice and easy. Note that you have to deselect the not wanted ones.

Nedenunder endnu en grå boks kommer så alle de andre dryssende, det er ikke særligt overskueligt, og heller ikke særligt lokalt.

--  @ --

Under this grey box all the other shops are spread out, not very clear, and not very local either.

Fremover skal avisbudet så huske at springe min postkasse over. Nu får vi se hvordan det går.

--  @ --

From now on they'll have to pass my letterbox without putting anything into it. I wonder what will happen.

Så er det nok! ~ Enough is Enough!

Efter en meget tør sommer har vi nu fået nok. Vi har haft "næsten-skybrud" et par gange, altså 14 mm på en halv time. Markerne er fulde af regn, naboens ridebane kan vist kun bruges af søheste, vasketøjet tørrer aldrig og vores frøsø løber over. 
     Jeg tror det er tid at bringe mit "Så har vi altså fået nok regn"-digt. Det er desværre kun på engelsk, og det har været bragt her på bloggen i let forskellige versioner 10. august 2020, 25. januar 2021, 29. august 2022 og 15. januar 2023. I dag er en god dag til at holde traditionen i hævd.

- 💧 ☔ 💧 -

After a very dry summer, we've now had enough rain!  We’ve had a couple of ‘near-cloudburst’ - that is, we've had 14 mm in half an hour where the official limit is 15 mm. The fields are saturated, the neighbour’s riding arena is only suitable for sea horses, the clothes on my clotheslines just never dries, and our small pond is overflowing.
    I think it's time for a re-post of my "Enough of this rain"-poem.
 I originally published this poem 13 August 2018. But I have published it almost every year since then - today is the right day to keep up this tradition:

Rain!
It was rainy all day. I could hear it all night, as I lay in my bed.
Now everything's dripping and drooping, and dreary and wet.
The brooks are all leaping, the rivers all run.
Every field had its water, every straw had its drink.
But there's apples still ripening and berries, I think.
So please, pretty please, can I have back the Sun!

(also published in slightly varying versions August 10 2020,
January 25 2021, August 29, 2022, and January 15, 2023)

But look at the Forecast. It's even (almost all) in English - more rain to come!
Sunday well be halfway decent, then the rains return.

Words for Wednesday and IWSG September 2 ~ Part Two.

• Yesterday was Wednesday.
• Yesterday I published my story using the first batch of the Words for Wednesday supplied by Mimi @ Messymimi's Meanderings .
• Yesterday was also IWSG (Insecure Writers' Support Group)'s 15th anniversary.
• Yesterday I answered their monthly question, as I have done 54 times before, since December 2021. This makes it only five first Wednesdays where I have not answered that question. Once because I had nothing to say, the other four because I was too busy and forgot.

• Today I visited some of the other participants in the IWSG bloghop.
• Today I read J. Lenni Dorner's IWSG post saying:
  Question: Do you have a favorite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?
  Answer The Ally: A loyal friend who helps the hero on their path.
• Today I replied:
  Allies, or friends, make great characters. I could not write a text without one. Now I think I'll have to try. Thanks for the challenge 😉
• Today I still had the second batch of Words left over from yesterday's Words for Wednesday.
• Today I used them for a start of my tale of June, the solitary hero.

Taped
Cream
Moonlit
Beach
Soft
Salty

June taped the shutters in place with broad, green tape. They would not wake her up again tonight. The green tape made a nice contrast to the cream coloured curtains and the newly painted white window frames and shutters. Then she stood in the moonlit garden, looking at her small house situated between the woods and the sandy beach. The garden looked mysterious in the moonlight and the low hedges framed it perfectly. The gate was shut, but easy to open even for a person of slight stature like herself, even for a child.
    It was the house of her dreams. But, a soft voice whispered in her head, that dream did not contain me living all alone in it, with no allies, no friends, not even any family, and with only a slight hope of finding any.
    The salty breeze from the sea mixed with her streaming tears.

... to be continued, maybe

Words for Wednesday, September 2 & IWSG Happy Fifteenth Anniversary

The original Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and eventually taken over as a moveable feast with many participants supplying the Words.
When Delores closed her blog forever due to other problems, Elephant's Child (Sue) took over the role of coordinator.
Now, after Sue's demise, River has taken the mantle of coordinator upon her shoulders.

No matter what, how, where or who the aim of the words is to encourage us to write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

This month the words are given by Mimi @ Messymimi's Meanderings and can be found there and at River's blog: Drifting through Life

If you are posting an entry on your own blog, please leave a comment on River's blog, then we can come along and read it and add a few encouraging words.

It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

And for today we were given:
1.bowed 
2.snoring 
3.barefoot 
4.tears 
5.memory 
6.swamped

and/or:

1.taped 
2.cream 
3.moonlit 
4.beach
5.soft 
6. salty

Back in January 2020, I ended a long story about Allan, Mary and the end of the World. Since then I've returned now and then and wrote what came to my mind to flesh out the story and fill the holes. In June I told a bit more about Fr. Paul. In  April '21 I added a longish tale about the survivors from Wieliczka, and later a second bit about Fr. Paul joined the collection in May '25
    All of the story can be read in one long go by choosing the tab "Mary & Allan" in the top of this blog.
    This is one more episode. We're back to one of the first springs after the end of the world, a beautiful, busy May morning. I used the first batch of words in the order they were given.

Allison, the biologist, stood bowed over the tubs inside the greenhouse brush in hand. It was a wonderful early spring morning. The sun was shining from a luminous blue sky, the flowers were opening, smelling divinely, and a bit overpowering in the closed confines of the greenhouse.
    Most of the pollinator team was still snoring after yesterday's strenuous work pollinating the apple trees, but no matter what these tiny flowers needed to be pollinated as well. Brandishing her brush made of the finest, silken hair off the head of the smallest of the infants she softly padded barefoot from one tub to the next. Barefoot was the upside of no insects, having to pollinate every single flower by hand was the downside.
    She had shed many tears over how hard it was to be an entomologist forever out of work. The memory of better days once again swamped her, and made her eyes overflow.

... To maybe be continued.

- - A - - B - - C - -

September 2 question - - Do you have a favourite character archetype you tend to gravitate toward in your writing?

My answer - Yes, my main archetype is the 'mature compared to their age', timid, but knowledgeable type. Susan is the archetype here, but Allan & Mary, and partially Peter from my dream-story comes under this heading.
My second archetype is the off beat type, mysterious competent, but unfit for the time and place they live in. Thora and Gilvi, and many of my other professors in magic are this type, as are Peter, but he has to learn how to fit in. 

 🎉 🎊
   🎈
     🎈
            🎈
And this question marks the 15th anniversary of IWSG: Congratulations to us all?

I am a relative newcomer to IWSG as I joined November 2021. Since then I have only played truant 6 first Wednesdays. This means 54 IWSG-Questions answered, an uncounted number of comments given, read and answered. The crew must have a giant record behind them.

Once again congratulations!

Poetry Monday :: Not a Poem - But Something Else

Monday is Poetry Monday. And today's prompt is Xerophyte.

But today there's no poetry forthcoming from MotherOwl. Some days ago The Pirate showed me a webtoon where the author works his way through the alphabet, drawing and writing funny verses with a sword, an animal (or two) and actions all starting with the same letter.
As of now he's made it to K.

And K is for  ... try and guess which weapon, which animal and what it's doing with the sword. Link in the end of this post.

For some days now The Pirate and I - me mostly to tell the truth - have been guessing what the next letter would bring. Only rarely hitting bulls-eye, but often being close.

The only thing coming to my min with Xerophyte is that I cannot find enough meaningful verbs to write a webtoon comic text after his model. I actually found a sword, the Xyele, the short, one-edged, slightly curved sword of the Spartans.
I wonder what this artist will do when he gets there.
My try in here. Can you do better? I have no doubts that the artist behind Swords will do better.

X is for Xyele.
Xeroxed by a xerophyte,
for a xenophobic xeme
dabbling in xylomancy.

Swords: K is for ...


- - - - - Coming Prompts - - - - -

September 7 My culture
September 14 Beach huts
September 21 Solstice
September 28 Bonfire
October 5 Rocket
October 12 Contents of the safe
October 19 X-ray vision
October 26 Clam