Pickled Greenland shark for breakfast?

Window trees building clouds

Contest Reminder:  

Really bad photographer | Icelandair US

When RantWoman travels, RantWoman likes to immerse herself in local cuisine, culture, and history as well as geography. Consider the question, delivered to Gemini "what do people in Iceland eat for breakfast?" 

At home RantWoman cycles among homemade porridge of the week, cold pizza, and sometimes other leftovers, often with a banana or hard-boiled egg.

Thank you Gemini, sort of. Submitting the question in natural language is cool. Here are a couple snippets from the first screen of results.

Why you should be eating an Icelandic breakfast

(summary: the basic low-fat, high-fiber, high protein regimen recommended in many places.

I tried a traditional Icelandic breakfast, and it was nothing short of intense — especially when the fermented shark hit the table. From creamy skyr, fresh rye bread, and liver pâté, to the infamous hákarl (a national dish made from fermented Greenland shark), this meal is unlike any breakfast I’ve had before. It’s all part of the unique and bold food culture of Iceland. #IcelandFood #IcelandBreakfast #TraditionalIcelandicFood #Hákarl #Skyr | Strictly Dumpling | Facebook

Thank you Gemini? 

Porridge or muesli? Checks out.

Good yogurt? checks out.

Rye bread or rye crisp: RantWoman likes both fine.

Pickled Greenland shark? RantWoman likes pickled herring on flatbread but does not eat it very often. As for Greenland shark...? 

How I Learned to Eat Fermented Shark with Iceland ProCruises - Food, Wine & Travel

So definitely a bit more of a big deal than mere pickled herring. RantWoman is fascinated to learn more about Greenland sharks. RantWoman also hopes that pickled Greenland shark is not an every day menu item.

As for Gemini

1. RantWoman is still not sold on Gemini offering to "help" abut email.

2. RantWoman appreciates getting info from multiple platforms but is lazy about wanting to sign in or even to read user agreements for these same platforms, especially since one BIG driver of whether RantWoman is going to come back to a site or portal is how easy it is for RantWoman to use. This is probably a trial and error iterative process. Most of the time RantWoman can live with that except RantWoman tends to want info NOW and in easily digestible form.

But speaking of easily digestible, RantWoman will check out other meal customs another time.

Help Open a daycare in the SanLuis Valley of CO

This unabashed fundraiser post is halfway in memory of RantMom. RantMom ran licensed home day cares both in CO and for a shorter time in MT. RantWoman is just posting the fundraiser link rather than try anything fancy with visuals because RantWoman does not want technical imperfections to get in the way of the story.

Help Us Open the Doors for 150 Kids in Rural CO | ColoradoGives.org

The San Luis valley is east of where RantMom grew up and east of where the Rant Family lived, there are a couple family road trips to Alamosa to hang out with a music professor colleague of RantDad's. There used to be a zoo that had at least one resident camel. RantWoman remembers visiting during snowy weather and thinking about all the harsh climates where camels work.

There. Just check out the fundraiser and do it before May 1 if possible.

Wildfire Prepared Homes designation now available in WA

RantWoman is not sure who in her network might appreciate this information but is posting it here. 

Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety

IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home designations now available in Washington | Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Trevor Noah speaks "American"

 RantWoman is out of town for a few days and leaving clips to make people smile.

Lose weight with CHAIR EXERCISES

 

Useful #exercise jargon

reps = repetitions

sets = groups of repetitions.

Tip: get more fit while watching YouTube.

Also, this YouTube channel has some other items possibly of interest.

RantWoman attempts to replicate some information provided visually but not obvious from the verbal explanation.

The video does not have any terrifying suggestions such as "do three sets of 1- repetitions and do that more than once a day." Instead, RantWoman recommends working up from 5 or 10 reps at a time.

1. Extended a rm raises from touching the knee to shoulder height. The text does not mention overhand / palm down or underhand / palm up. RantWoman can tell the positions work different muscles and would say both versions are probably beneficial.

2, 3. March in place. From seated position, knees bent, thighs parallel to the chair: raise and lower first one knee then the other. Raise arm opposite of the knee being raised. The video shows two versions, one where fists get raised to shoulder level and the second where arms get raised straight overhead.

4. Raise leg, clap under. Alternate with the other leg.

5. Raise leg and reach to touch toe with opposite arm. RantWoman likes the demo because one doesn't have to do it perfectly and the exercise still counts even if one misses their toe.

These 3 Exercises Burn More Belly Fat Than Walking 10,000 steps Ever Will-doctor approved

1.Touch opposite foot from a standing position

2. Elbow to opposite knee, sone sitting down

3. Touch opposite toe from hands clasped behind the head. Also done while seated, legs bent.

The Waji? YES!

 Remember this post?

Adventures of RantWoman: Teriyaki pizza? MUST Try soon.

One bright and sunny day last week, RantWoman ventured out to Columbia City a little after lunch time to go buy a slice of the Waji, one of the current seasonal pizzas at Pagliacci.

About halfway there on the bus, after passing by no longer needed stops for a couple beloved elders INCLUDING RANTMOM (waaaahhhh), it dawned on RantWoman that it was well after lunch hour and there might not be slices of Waji just waiting for the late lunch trade. RantWoman decided to go forward anyway. RantWoman was rewarded with perfectly acceptable late lunch slices, a quite place to cool her heels, and the suggestion to come back on Friday.

Friday came. RantWoman evaluated her budget, timelines and energy level and her skittishness abotu teriyaki anything on pizza. RantWoman decided she should just order a small pizza and if the experience were too terrible, RantWoman has many neighbors who would be glad to share.

Wise move!

The pizza arrived hot and fragrant with the always fresh scent of chopped green onions. The flavor is a perfect balance of slightly sweet and umami. The pineapple is minced finely enough that some pineapplephobes might not even notice. The mayo drizzle is barely noticeable on hot pizza. 

Definitely on the consider ordering again list. 

Two comments;

RantWoman knows people who react badly to MSG. RantWoman reacts in a way that says don't overdo it. If MSG is an issue, ask before you order.

And if you order, order with enough friends around to eat the whole pie. RantWoman is quite comfortable eating pizza cold, but RantWoman was not pleased with the mayo taste on cold pizza and does not think reheating would help.

Video meanderings for Holy Thursday.

 Does RantWoman have other things she is SUPPOSED to be doing, up to and including some formal way of observing Holy Thursday / Maundy Thursday / the version of Passover sometimes observed by Christians contemplating events leading up to Easter.

RantWoman went looking for info about Easter witches, a custom in Finland and Sweden.

Please enjoy the fruits of RantWoman's internet peregrinations.

RantWoman apologizes: she has not been keeping up with the ins and outs of sharing content across different platforms. Blogger may ask readers to click on a link and go directly to YouTube. The link works great.

Easter traditions in Finland and how you can take part of them - Nallikari

How to Celebrate SWEDISH EASTER | Traditions and Folklore

Swedish Easter tradition - Weird things Swedish people do - Learn Swedish in a Fun way!

10 Well-Known Passover Rituals That Are Surprisingly Profound

The Loo Review and a mumble test announcement

 which sound transit stations have public restrooms - Google Search

RantWoman is feeling lazy about boring more deeply into the question of which SoundTransit stations have public restrooms. RantWoman does think that if hundreds of thousands of visitors are going to pour into town for the world cup or even for the upcoming opening of cross-lake service THIS SATURDAY, maybe a concise list somewhere with tips would be desirable.

RantWoman is also perplexed because the search results claim there is a restroom at Tukwila International Boulevard station and RantWoman has never found it. A fast skim also yielded no info about restrooms on the 2 line. Assuming people will come to opening day for cross lake service, and / or will ride transit to No Kings Day events RantWoman would be THRILLED to get info systemwide in one easy query, not just relying on Gemini, especially when Gemini might not have complete information to work with.

RantWoman digresses. RantWoman's THRILL of the day was to find not just one public restroom at the North end of the mezzanine as previously but TWO. RantWoman managed to locate the directions for how to gain entry. 

The directions lacked one piece of info: both restrooms were occupied. RantWoman would not have minded some kind of more explicit audio cue about this. However, just as RantWoman was about to press a button to have security try again about unlocking, someone emerged and RantWoman was able just to walk in. One judge of the need and public appreciation for this amenity: someone was waiting when RantWoman emerged.

What does one walk into? An almost palatial space with room for a whole family and whatever mobility device or baggage one is traveling with.

Truly, RantWoman was so excited to be able to enjoy this amenity, she ALMOST forgot to find anything to complain about. Two small grumbles.

The toilet is COLD. The design is the same one used in many Seattle Parks, so one can live with it, but it is noticeable.

--There are no hooks or places to put one's bags anywhere but on the floor. This is less than ideal. Transit riders nearly always carry some kind of bag. And floor storage is not preferable on rainy days. RantWoman is determined just to COPE.

But while RantWoman is going on about "Rider experience," at one point recently, RantWoman was listening to announcements about the 2 line. There was the usual English voice. There was a female voice that was pure mumble test, and there was a male voice definitely in a language RantWoman does not understand.  By mumble test, RantWoman means the kind of real-life situations where travelers or aspiring interpreters need to make sense of something like train announcements in a foreign language through bad audio in a noisy space. RantWoman could not tell whether the female voice was speaking English or something else. RantWoman will simply leave that here as a concern.

Nope. Not COVID, but...

    

#pandemic #COVID19 #COVID 

What's left of RantMom
in her new home

Possibly of interest:

RantWoman and the RSOF: Jessie Cornwell Memorial Invitation, updated

RantMom "departed for other realms exactly two months ago. Therefore, we interrupt the daily war coverage for...

--meditations on obituary writing process wrangling a whole life story into plausible obituary versions for different platforms

--effort both to collaborate with Little Sister and to tread among family religious and other emotional landmines.

--inchoate ranting about one popular obituary platform whose accessibility for RantWoman SUCKS.

Uhhh, how about just do the COVID piece?

Ding! Ding!

Adapted from the current draft of the obituary:

(RantMom) became good friends with the first Ida Culver Ravenna Resident to die of COVID. She tested positive herself cleared the virus and did not develop symptoms. The pandemic lockdown was very hard for everyone. The staff's meticulous observance of rules and safety practices as well as use of vaccines as soon as they became available ensured that COVID did not hit that community nearly as hard as other retirement facilities. 

(RantMom) and several other residents of Ida culver Ravenna moved to The Lakeshore, along with numerous other residents of Ida Culver Ravenna. At the Lakeshore, residents enjoyed an expansive view of Lake Washington and resident bald eagles nesting in a tree near the dining room. Art shows, special speakers,  music and dance performances and other activities kept life as lively as (RantMom)  wanted. 

The last year of RantMom's life at the Lakeshore was rough: Her younger brother died of prostate cancer. She had a lingering bout of actual COVID, not just testing positive and clearing the virus without symptoms as she had done previously. 

Other chronic issues were becoming more and more draining. Even so, she continued to volunteer weekly at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. To RantMom, this was a means to pay forward the excellent medical care she had received during her multiple battles with cancer.

RantMom's last few weeks were a blur of hospital, skilled nursing, and ultimately placement at the Agape Senior Care at Montlake -- with its extremely loving directors and staff -- where she passed away peacefully thirty years and six months to the day after (RantDad).

Reprise on the topic of RantMom and #COVID

Adventures of RantWoman: Dinner and Plague

Adventures of RantWoman: Tested Negative!

(Part of RantWoman's own experience with "the 'rona."

There are probably other posts that reference both COVID and RantMom but this has to be enough for now

Adventures of RantWoman: Virus plus car ride plus pastor plus pandemic and worship plus pentecost

Adventures of RantWoman: Today in Corona Virus News

Adventures of RantWoman: Data Dump plus Neil Degrasse Tyson suggesting people listen to Science

precautions at a different retirement community

Adventures of RantWoman: Pollen or Plague? With a side of #DigitalInclusion

Binge watching Salmi

 RantWoman's binge watch of the week, in this time of global discombobulation and offerings struggling to emerge from the keyboard in memory of RantMom is a tuxedo cat named Salmi.

Behold. Check out her entire channel.

The opinions are definitely Salmi's but RantWoman is wondering whether perhaps she has persuaded her human to take dictation.

And should Salmi be able to bear sharing the spotlight with the tuxedo cat of RantWoman's childhood, please enjoy 

RantWoman and the RSOF: Mr. Tuxedo: reprint from the WA Council of the Blind Summer 2022 newsline

Adventures of RantWoman: Severe Weather Recommendations

PS RantWoman has never been to Finland in winter, but Salmi should be glad she has a radiator to sit on. And yes, winter air in CO mountain towns is probably at least as dry as in Finland. It's physics.

Minimal walking to #OpenThePaths

The short version of this rant: will RantWoman just ride her usual bus Metro 48 to the #OpenThePaths conference with a few blocks walk to the Zillow Center? OR will RantWoman ride her usual Metro 48 bus a couple stops further, cross a street and catch a Metro 372 bus that would go practically to the front door of the Zillow center and mean much less total walking?

Stay tuned. RantWoman may or may not get arround to either documenting her travels in #ACCESSMap or explaining her thinking to the kinds of people who design trip planners.  RantWoman has SO many other pathways to ranting before getting back to these details.

To heck with #SOTU2026 and multiple other news threads RantWoman would find it easy to have generalized ranting about. Let us stick to the annual #OpenThePaths conference at the TASKAR center at the University of WA.

First a rant about bleeping INTRUSIVE AI. RantWoman does NOT want AI to help her write email. RantWoman does not want AI to help her read her email or at least not as a default. And furthermore, ff RantWoman puts a search string into a search bar, the LAST thing RantWoman wants to see is some wordy AI verbiage. RantWoman wants a direct link to the even website. That did not occur. Hence the rant when RantWoman already needs to rant about other topics. Hence the hastag and RantWoman will look up other info she needs later.

A while ago, RantWoman promised readers some meditations about transportation and elder care and adult family homes. Steam will still rise from RantWoman's fingers if she tackles that today. Instead RantWoman needs to go off about her own new transportation constraints called minimal walking. After weeks of various leg weakness, muscle spasms, and other delights, RantWoman finally went to a doctor. 

RantWoman got same-day x-rays. First RantWoman had to stand in a couple positions that reminded her, she probably has not one but two legs that are going to hurt sometimes. The diagonosis: Congratulations RantWoman, you have arthritis and other age-related issues which YouTube will offer abundant input about if one supplies one's birth year.

Arthritis??? I am too young to have arthritis!

Earth to RantWoman: look at your family tree. Uhhhh....

RantWoman walked out of the initial appointment calculating a path that would minimize pain because she had not recently munched any painkillers. Walk to Light Rail? Ummm? Walk to a couple different bus route options? Ummm.

Then RantWoman remembered a nearby bus stop and the Metro 65 which would take her directly to a Metro 48 stop she could ride to a Metro 8 stop and from there all the way home on the 8. Phew. What a relief.

With that window into RantWoman's current transportation thinking, RantWoman will now leave readers in suspense and report back after Day 1 on Thursday.

From Bad Bunny to Don Arcadio

Fast initial commentary about Bad Bunny at the #SuperBowl

Screen size matters. 

RantWoman still does not want a big television in her apartment.  RantWoman saw #BadBunny perform via a very large screen. RantWoman found the production visually confusing. It probably would have been equally confusing viewed from a seat further back from the screen where RantWoman viewed some of the game with slightly more comfortable results.

Honestly, no matter what efforts are made in collaboration between @NFL and @ACBNational about #accessibility, with #SuperBowlLX, as with many other events rich in detail, RantWoman relies A LOT on social media commentary. This does not distress RantWoman. In fact, the discussion helps RantWoman feel included and feeds RantWoman's capacity just to blurt out opinions.

Audio / song:

RantWoman was part of both an in-person conversation and two text chats. English monolinguals were, to put it politely, confused. In RantWoman's case loud chatter made it hard to parse the song.

RantWoman solicited commentary from people in her circle and from one single voice on X. Commenters included two native Spanish speakers and two others with different levels of Spanish fluency. The verdicts: 

Rap is not anyone's most familiar idiom. One commenter observed that probably a string quartet would be an unlikely sell at the Super Bowl

Something was muddy

Many people have trouble understanding song lyrics, especially the first time one hears them.

RantWoman caught "Nunca! Nunca! Nunca! (Never, never, never) as well as a long list of countries in the Americas where futbol means something completely different from the Super Bowl.

On social media, mainly Elon's sandbox:

numerous hashtags

MUCH praise.

Lots of haters in the replies in AZ Rep. Adelita Grijalva's feed on X. RantWoman DESPERATELY wishes people would make at least minimal effort to listen about actual culture before spouting opinions RantWoman definitely consider disagreeable or weird at best and generally tiresome and hateful.

Thank GOD, no posts YET from CO rep Lauren Boebert.

A word from an NPR addict

RantWoman has a hard time simulating interest in football, even when the #SeaHawks are winning. After a delicious bowl of turkey chili assembled in fine and ingenious form by some of RantWoman's neighbors, RantWoman fled the watch party and went back to her apartment and NPR.

Latino USA was playing...

La Brega: Campeones | Episode 1 | Who Represents Us? 

La Brega: Campeones | Episodio 1 | ¿Quién nos representa?

And even more delightful if also in the weeds away from the #BenitoBowl, a trip down memory lane to the first college Spanish literature course RantWoman jumped into. RantWoman arrived at college having placed out of the language requirement based on high school Spanish and acutely aware of inability actually to understand anything. So RantWoman jumped into a course with Don Arcadio.about literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. Readers are invited to enjoy both segments above and Prof. Quinones discussion below of Puerto Rican identity.

Arcadio Díaz Quiñones y "El Arte de Bregar" - 22 años después

Seduce Me. Upsell me? How about just get enough customer service points right...

Spoiler alert: Has RantWoman been listened to by a certain enormous telecom company????

Suppose the answer is YES and RantWoman's tale from last time she attempted to interact with a home internet promotion from enormous telecom company had an impact!

After an experiment in live interaction and upselling, RantWoman decided to try home internet. Perhaps this is still a silly idea. Over the past couple months, RantWoman has received multiple text messages assuring RantWoman that the network is being upgraded in RantWoman's neighborhood. However, if there were 5G service in RantWoman's neighborhood, both her old phone and her new phone should have been able to find it. Um, no. In fact, that simple test migh be more valuable than some zip code search. But there IS a promotion....

Wait. RantWoman is getting ahead of herself. 

RantWoman has been thinking of upgrading her phone for a while. 

Should RantWoman change brands of phone? Silly RantWoman last year about this time passed up an opportunity for free to crash test a phone for a whole year. Why? Aside from all the steps required every time RantWoman changes phones, RantWoman was relying on her phone a lot in connection with medical care. RantWoman decided that the privacy intrusion of a few more prying eyes, even if engineers interested only in technical info, not in RantWoman's personal business was just too much.

RantWoman could change telecom companies.

Well, yeah. But there is something about the devil you know....

Next, we come to promotions, promotions, promotions. Truthfully, RantWoman finds unraveling promotional info in the company's app or in email just bewildering. So off RantWoman trooped to a friendly, reasonably bus accessible store to just try the "Ask a human" algorithm.. 

First step: trade in the old phone. Wondrous improvements compared to previous experience:  First, transfer data from old phone to new in store. Even better, now one can take the old phone home for a couple days while setting up the new phone. SO helpful because RantWoman did need to compare one set of settings about font and screen size. More on that after further tech support adventures described below.

Apparently, RantWoman also secretly enjoys watching store clerks try to upsell.  This time, the upsell is "Try home internet" and we'll give you a 43" television. RantWoman does not need a 43" television. She does need a 24" computer monitor but that is a different problem. 

The other option on offer: a Samsung tablet. Will that happen now that RantWoman has returned home internet equipment? RantWoman has mixed opinions about carrying around another device besides her phone. Bigger screen sounds like a great idea. RantWoman might even like space to try out one of the braille input apps because those are a lot less vision intensive than the onscreen keyboard. (No RantWoman is still not into just making her devices take dictation. RantWoman's brain needs some kind of physical motion to help organize thoughts.) There is one large Samsung tablet that sounds especially appealing, but who knows whether that is part of the offer? And who knows whether the offer stands now that RantWoman has returned the equipment. 

Anyway, RantWoman packed home the new phone and the home internet equipment. At the last minute, there was even an offer to have someone come out and help set it up. RantWoman foolishly declined. After blunt reality check about whether there is in fact 5G internet close enough to RantWoman to matter, RantWoman decided not even to unpack all the gear for home internet and just send it back. So off RantWoman troops to say goodbye forever to data on her trade-in phone and HOPEFULLY to free herself of unwanted home internet equipment. 

Saying goodbye to the old trade-in phone needed a few minutes wait but was painless. Will RantWoman regret missing something? Maybe but now that RantWoman has gone through all the steps of setting up a new phone, she is not going back. 

Returning the home internet equipment took a couple steps, steps which in their simplicity almost made RantWoman swoon. Go to the UPS store, the one in the neighborrhood that does a better job than a different one. Stand in line a few minutes. Watch the clerk open the boxes, scan bar codes, print shipping labels, and hand RantWoman a receipt. 

SWOON. RantWoman remembers the long awkward phone call from a different UPS store abou generating a label that could be applied to the box (only 1 that time) and ... Eureka. RantWoman is clearly not the only person on the planet who found the old print a label at home process vexing. Now there is a super easy process! This time was SO much easier that RantWoman ALMOST forgives enormous telecom company for the need to return her equipment at a different place.

But wait. Two MORE customer service moments.

First, there was a text survey about customer service. RantWoman never knows how to respond when some of the service, such as "ask a human" in general was just fine and other parts less so but there are only number response. So RantWoman's rating generated both a text and a phone call wanting to follow up. RantWoman often does not have time in the moment to respond to such outreach. RantWoman would really, really, really be THRILLED if it were possible to call back later and on the number the calls come in on. Apparently that is never a thing in the world of call centers. RantWoman knows from listening to others' complaints that she is by far not the only person on the planet who thinks this.

As an aside, RantWoman would also be THRILLED if there were an option to review voicemails in order starting from most recent and going back. Right now RantWoman has some calls on her voice mail that are important for record keetping purposes but that, for both time and emotional reasons she does NOT want to have to listen to over and over if she mis hears a callback number.

On to the last customer service moment. After a whole bunch of set up, dealing with passwords, biometrics, accessibility features, RantWoman went to try to pay her rent through her banking app. This did not work. Various accessibility features were screwingup. RantWoman called a tech support number. RantWoman has done more than enough tech support to know that the odds of hitting someone who could interact easily with RantWoman's question might not be great but getting forwarded seemed like a good step. RantWoman spoke to someone who definitely knew enough about what RantWoman was talking about to try to help.

The only hiccup: the last person RantWoman talked to wanted to send a text with a link allowing him to look at her phone. The link went only to RantWoman's old phone. If the old phone had been powered off, would the link go to the new phone? Who knows? By the time RantWoman talked to tech support, she had already spent considerable time trying different things to make her banking app work and was just out of time in her schedule. RantWoman did manage to mess around with enough things to get her rent paid this month and will now see what other experiments might save the steps needed to pay her rent this time.

RantWoman has more to say, OF COURSE, but tis is plenty for tonight.

Muppets FOREVER and premiering TONIGHT on ABC and Disney Plus

RantWoman seldom flaks this blatantly for an entertainment venture, but the world needs MUPPETS right now.

Kermit the Frog on Return of The Muppet Show, Working with Seth Rogen & ...

SHORT NOTICE Invitation from Lumen Technologies and AARP 1 29 2026 In person UW Bothell

 Invitation from LumenTechnologies and AARP

You’re invited to join us for an informational session hosted in partnership with AARP’s Older Adults Technology Services (OATS). This event will provide helpful insights into modern phone service options and ways to stay connected as technology evolves.

Event Details
- Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
- Time: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM PT
- Location: Room 202, Bothell Campus, 10201 E. Riverside Drive, Bothell, WA 98011


At this session, Lumen Technologies (fmrly CenturyLink) representatives will discuss transitioning from traditional copper landlines to modern, reliable voice solutions. You’ll also learn how these services can help protect against outages caused by copper theft and improve overall connectivity.

We hope you can join us—and feel free to bring a friend or neighbor who may also benefit.

Dear Gemini. Under NO circumstances EVER summarize email without permission.

RantWoman  HOPES there is some info in a privacy statement that will allow RantWoman to TURN OFF automatic summarization in Gmail. RantWoman is too gravely peeved and tired from personal emotional matters to go read it right now and, hell, DEMANDS option to OPT IN rather than have to read redundant and stupid verbiage longer than the original AND the response.

One Asterisk in this rant: RantWoman corresponds with TOO DANG MANY people who CANNOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT line with a new thread enters a conversation. RantWoman might really like to experiment about whether an AI can sort out the tangled threads and then present group messages by thread for RantWoman to review.

There. MAYBE RantWoman will get the privacy statement read soon.

The Mom Report: transportation to a new destination.

Just when RantWoman was starting to groove on some new to her transit options in N Seattle (Yeah 365),  RantMom will move soon, hopefully to a lovely Adult family Home on Boyer Ave E.

Location. Location. Location.

Location is so important that the RantSisters opted to skip visits to other Lake City locations suggested by the consultant assisting the RantFamily. If the goal is "comfort and quality of life," the Rant Sisters spending more time with RantMom and less time on transit is exactly on point.

The closest frequent bus route, the Metro 48 happens to serve Little Sister on one end and RantWoman on the other end. First day preview from bus stop to location was in a car. Irrepressible Nephew is good at spotting curb ramps but not so good at noticing sidewalk issues from the car. 

Stops at Boyer on both sides of the street seem a little steep to RantWoman but Little Sister has a power chair. 

RantWoman walked the sidewalk between the location and the bus stop the other day. The sidewalk is not brand new so it's bumpy in places. Little Sister at first dismissed RantWoman's observations but after a visit today thanked RantWoman for the heads-up.

Next comes visitors from Lynnwood on Light Rail. RantWoman has not put the route into a trip planner but did realize that in terms of easy connection to the 48 the best option would be to get off the Light Rail at the U District station and walk over to 15th Ave NE to get the 48. RantWoman remembers some nuance about the 48 ending at the U District station at least some of the time so probably a visit to the trip planner with some different date time combinations would be fruitful.

RantWoman generally does not try to plan / replan trips on the fly but does like to have general contours of the schedule in mind from planning ahead.

Anyway, the other option of course is to ride all the way to the University of WA station. RantWoman realized that option is less preferable just because the walk between the station and the 48 stop in front of the UW Medical Center is a pain and worse a pain to explain to another low vision person. RantWoman also notes that she may sometimes opt just to Uber part of the trip especially because of a vexing issue RantWoman REALLY needs to schedule her own medical appointment about.

Do not look at the news. DO NOT look at the news. How about some nice Nondriver eldercare transportation issues.

 

The tree outside
RantWoman's window

Same tree  different day
outside RantWoman's window

It's fashionable for stress relief to tell people to "Touch Grass." It's Seattle. WHO IS ANYONE KIDDING? After atmospheric rivers have innundated parts of WA and less cold hardy souls have made it through a few spectacular days of cold and beautifully clear, Seattle is back to grey skies and heavy mist and need for 100 words to describe Seattle rain.

The tree counts, especially since RantWoman gets tobe deliriously grateful that in the small part of her vision which sort of works, RantWoman can tell the difference between the light and cloud patterns in the two pictures.

RantWoman means it about the title of this post. The list of current news items that could make RantWoman's head explode is too long already. RantWoman may or may not get around to penning her own reflections on 2025, couture, health, technology in general, Twitter or X, and numerous other topics. RantWoman WILL be posting about eldercare and transportation.

Instead RantWoman will be writing about two non-drivers, RantWoman accompanied by Ambassador Thwack and Little Sister in her wheelchair looking for eldercare that provides RantMom a lot more services than simple independent living. HOEPFULLY RantWoman will spare readers both the sordid details of a decrepitating body and at least most of the family emotional landmines. 

Instead expect

--commentary about what kinds of vehicles are easy or difficult for people with different mobility needs to get into or out of.

--consultation about transportation options for candidate locations from multiple trip planners.

--comments from Walk Score, Access Map, and Find a Ride

We will start with one generalized rant: in some respects, Sunday is a GREAT time to visit candidate locations. That is whan bus service is sparsest, so how does life work under that condition.

HOWEVER, probably on NO planet will it be reasonable to try for a tour of three locations via transit on one day unless Irrepressible Nephew can drive his mother around and RantWoman can sync up with one of the people who has issued blank ride offers. RantWoman is not crazy about this option BECAUSE the POINT of demanding to test the get there on transit angle is specifically to evaluate everyday life realities.

STAY TUNED.

Interpreter level knowledge of 9 languages learned while growing up in a Housing project???

RantWoman means to research and fact check a couple points but enough of the story rings true to RantWoman based on educational background and experience that this is a powerful story.

The bias / discrimination angle also rings true.

"I SPEAK 9 LANGUAGES" — Said the Young Black Woman... The Judge Laughed,...

The way the story is told definitely lacks that US English dialect usually called legalese. I assume what actually happened in court as reflected in a transcript would be closer to standard courtroom argot with presentation of credentials by all the professionals serving as witnesses Since specific companies are mentioned, it should be easy to fact check. It would also be interesting to see how the court record reflects the demonstrations of different languages, says someone who has done some legal interpreting.

The story mentions specific companies and legal cases that can probably be easily researched. It also uses language I as someone familiar with dialect issues in different widely spoken languages recognize in professional terms. The way this story is told does not reflect legalese probably used in court proceedings so anyone who doubts the general thrust is free to research further.

Lynnwood City Center on the Light Rail.

 RantWoman would in principle like to pen a sunny "I love you all and I am sure life is going to get better" holiday greeting. That, alas, is not going to happen, or at least not before RantWoman just gets some opinions off her chest. With that in mind, RantWoman is going to offer a Christmas tree of posts assembled in such form as to give readers options to pick and choose which RantWoman eye views of the year sound most enticing, entertaining, elevating, ... Get the idea.

Lucky Lynnwood City Center Sound Transit station, the first window into RantWoman's year, and luckily for someone the topic RantWoman can most concisely summon rants about.

Start with Thanksgiving. 

There was an invitation to family for feasting in Lynnwood. There was also an offer of a ride all the way that was going to involve too many people, a dog, and a vehicle specially lifted for off-roading. RantWoman owes the world a whole post about getting in and out of cars. In this case, RantWoman was still flirting too easily with some post-surgery crabbiness and wanted simply to take transit and, if needed be fetched from a transit end point.

RantWoman should have somehow been able to ask her info sources "which light rail station is closest to the address?" The answer: Lynnwood City Center is about a mile away. Instead RantWoman got various unhelpful suggested routings wound up having to ask Irrepressible Nephew to fetch her from an intersection before the one suggested by the trip planner.

Nephew was EXTREMELY good natured about this.

Family feasted well, petted a cat and two dogs, and did fine about many things.Then came time to go home. Nephew dropped RantWoman off at a station entrance inside the parking garage. Another woman in the same boat joined RantWoman in fogging around until we found the hallway with elevators to the platform. Some signage in the parking garage would definitely not be a terrible idea.

Next comes Christmas Day. The RantFamily did Christmas Eve church gathered around a laptop at the rehab where RantMom is currently in residence. The laptop does not do justice to a church organ but that was the celebration needed for this year. It also left RantWoman free on Christmas Day to invite herself over for takeout Thai food with her buddies The Weed Whackin Wenches who also live in Lynnwood. RantWoman would have been happy to take Zip to their house, but WingNut was itching to drive a few days after several days of heavy pain meds due to a dental abscess.

This is now the second try for connecting with the Wenches and their car. The first time was opening day. There were crowds and crowds. RantWoman got to a point where the only thing that made sense was to stand still somewhere amenable to car traffic and act tall. 

Christmas day is SUCH a mellow time to travel on Light Rail. BIG shout-outs to everyone working on holidays. The train was not crowded. RantWoman found an elevator to "surface." The only problem: RantWoman does not consider it "surface" if there are 10 steps between the pedestrian path and what did turn out to be an acceptable driveway. RantWoman is not sure what signage would have provided more helpful guidance about how to connect with cars.

In any case, the day was a blast. The Wenches have been working on re-doing their kitchen. One appliance quit and then something else had to be moved and then another thing needed upgrading. Christmas saw the work paused in mid transformation. Hence the interest in take-out, along with a grand tour: new stove with an induction cooktop, big round tactile controls as well as the possibility to do all kinds of things from a smartphone app. Some electrical work is still needed to ensure the wiring is appropriate and now there is talk of a new exhaust hood to go with the new sink, new dishwasher, and new compact overhead ceiling fan. Never mind that the refrigerator is currently around a corner into the dining room. The Wenches just had so much fun talking about their kitchen. Everyone agrees that moving around the appliances opens up LOTS of ideas.

The Wenches also have two new cats, intriguing but not as snuggly as previous household felines.  The cats emerged for dinner. RantWoman appears to have passed muster. After supper, the more standoffish kitty sat at the other end of a long hallway and just observed for quite awhile. The other more adventurous one visited RantWoman's dangling fingers several times. RantWoman got two nose touches, a leg brush, and a tail brush. Apparently this is high praise for this kitty around strangers.

Now an awkward confession: the Light Rail plus one bus is easy peasy for RantWoman. The Wenches like to drive RantWoman all the way home. RantWoman is always glad for car ride conversations. RantWoman is A LOT less glad about rides in the dark involving a lot of headlights from oncoming traffic. RantWoman is going to have to find some way to...

With that, may there still be feasts ahead as we kick 2025 out the door.