Hi everyone! Today is gonna be a much better day than yesterday I think. I don't have too much evidence for this, but I'm going into it happier, and its a weekend, so I feel like I'll probably be happier! I'm also typing this on the super cool older laptop that I got at VCF east last year, which I finally got working pretty much flawlessly through Antix Linux, which is a super light weight fork of debian, that I then configured to look like windows 98, which was my first OS.The CMOS battery is still shot, so I've got it set up to automagically check the time through connecting to the internet rather than relying on the CMOS battery, which should keep me continually updated so I can still access the internet and install packages and such. Eventually I'll replace the CMOS, but not right now. In respect to the other hardware thingies of this lappy, the keyboard is just so much better than every single modern keyboard that I've used. It has a lot more keytravel, and feels much more substantial to type on. It feels a lot closer to a keyboard that you'd use at your desktop, rather than a keyboard that has to compromise by being on a thin, portable device.
Beyond computer shenangigans, today is my brother's birthday party, although that is actually a predictor of a bad time. He has fallen pretty deep into alcoholism and psychosis lately, causing him to, despite being Jewish by ancestry, become an antisemite and a fascist. We are Jewish through our mom, but he is a hardcore catholic. I've desparately tried to reach him, have cried, screamed, yaday yada, and it has been for nothing. What he needs is psychiatric help, as he has fallen into various far-right cultish groups because of his untreated and undiagnosed psychosis, and I may be a behavioral clinician, but that doesn't mean I can prescribe medicine. That being said, Its very painful seeing someone who used to be a smart, caring person go so far down into hate and intolerance. Not only that, he has such a brilliant mind! He's so smart, and creative, his writing was some of the best that I had ever read, and it is truly a shame that he's abandoned reading, writing, and understanding for watching hateful videos, and fascism. Still, it'll be nice to see my nephew, even if my brother is being a shitbag, which from what I understand from a call from my mom, he is.
Don't drink if you can avoid it, and if you start falling into psychotic tendencies, get help as soon as you can, before it gets so bad that you end up hospitalized. That being said, be safe out there, wherever you are, whenever you are, and know that, at least in my little corner of the internet, you are accepted and you are loved ♡
ADDENDUM: boy was I fucking wrong. Turns out today was a huge shitshow. I had one of the worst flashbacks I've have in years, was not very fun. Not a pleasant experience overall, do not recommend. Due to the privacy of others involved, I can't go into too many details, but I had a severe flashback related to some traumatic events I experienced, and I'm still emotionally recovering from it. I am very glad that I decided to schedule some PTO for monday, because I NEED more time to recover after this nightmare.