Back in the '80s, when Gorbachev was in power, I had pen pals in Russia. It was called USSR then. It took six months to get letters there and back. And all the mail was read. All of it. We were teenagers then and had to be careful of what we said. I wasn't allowed to send anything that remotely resembled wealth because my pen pal wouldn't get it. The screeners would take it. Communism eventually fell. #Letter writing is only free when the contents are not read and inspected. Letter writing is one of my most favorite things in the world to do. I remember all their names, their pictures, the "How to teach yourself Russian" book I bought to help me learn, the airmail envelopes, and the ruble with Stalin's face on it. Letter writing is beautiful. I'm so grateful I got to have that experience with people on the other side of the world. It was before the internet.

After my long walk this morning, I decided to go to the #cafe I used to sit and work from. Seeing the staff again was great. They gave me the back booth by the kitchen. I brought my English-interpreted Quran and my transcripts. Had #coffee. No ice cream. It was good to get out of the house. When I got back, I got to help track down information for another group project I get to contribute to. Got everything sorted between Beehiiv and Stripe. Learned more about Bitcoin. Did more proofreading. Soon there will be another walk. Then maybe I can catch up on social media stuff. I will not attempt to fix the plumbing on my own.

Regardless of location, background, education, creed, religion, mindset, or hopes, most people are tired of being told what they can say, when, and how to say it. The harsher the government laws, the quieter the voices become, but they're still there whispering to trusted friends and family. The #truth of being fed up rings true. Truth is not extinguished because of arrests, censorship laws, forced platform modifications, or seizures. No. Truth is truth. Truth is verifiable. Truth is complete. Truth lives. Truth finds its way through #freedom. Humans have always found ways around their government's speech laws and those who swallow and regurgitate government propaganda. People will continue to do so because of our modern-day technology and, more importantly, #decentralized and cryptographically signed messages over peer-to-peer protocols. You can squelch a platform's reach and place legal gag orders over a person's freedom of speech, but you cannot stop decentralized platforms. Not completely.

I just got kicked out of a #Discord server for explaining I don't work with people exhibiting consistently abusive behavior in the workplace let alone as a v#olunteer. When I drew my line in the sand, professionally of course, I got immediately booted. 😂 🥱Predictable from people with those types of personalities. Back to my projects!

Enter social media with purpose. Being mentally pulled in 15 different ways in less than 30 seconds starts to steal your energy and can impact your breathing. I don't want that anymore. If I start to feel negative in any way, I switch off now. Immediately. Social media was not mean to be this way. If it's to be entertained, only do it if you're having a good time. If you're there to learn, only be there to consume the videos that help you solve the problem. If you're there to engage and help others, only do that. Set a time limit. If you're there to mindlessly scroll, only do that as long as you aren't feeling negative. The moment you do, stop and spend your energy elsewhere. #socialmedia #positivity #purpose

What happens to the zaps? If a person's wallet/node isn't up and someone sends zaps but the other person can't receive them (becuase their stuff is down), what happens to the zaps a person sent? Are they stuck in some inbetween cyber-limbo? Or do they get a failed transaction notification? Example: Yesterday, I asked folks not to zap that article I posted. Today, I see Highlighter shows 24k zaps. Is that attempted zaps or did those zaps go somewhere? Will people get them back eventually because they didn't get my wallet/node?

The sun was hot this morning even when it wasn't. The bug guy didn't come yesterday again, and I can't get into my mailbox anymore. I'll stay on top of management so they do not forget.

Earlier today I submitted several #Bitcoin questions to a network I belong to. After all my research, I still have some basic questions. Accounting for timezone differences, if the questions are not answered within 24 hours, I will post them here. -- I'm posting this from #Obsidian. I can't tell you how much I love this. I use Obsidian as my prime notetaking, writing, markdown editor, and more. This is going to help me publish past written works here and publish other ideas much faster. I'm also not distracted by the UIs.

Second post from Obsidian. I had to reboot Obsidian to reconnect to the relays. Not complaining.

Sending this from Obsidian to Nostr

They're gonna start selling #certs so the public can trust the #authenticity of your videos and podcasts. I have a feeling some regulatory body has already thought of this.

1 package of 24 roll toilet paper 1 small bag consisting of post-its, hair clips, straight pins, and flea spray $71 I used the word "deflation." Loudly. In the grocery store.

I've now lived here a year. I finished making a batch of homemade laundry soap. I haven't done that in years. In some respects, part of me has accepted that I chose to live indoors. That I do live indoors. I feel slightly peaceful, slightly sad, and have a tension headache.

Got some proofreading done today and a lot of chores. I stopped worrying about the time constraints and just did them. It's evening now, but many things are done. Gonna try and get some things done early in the morning to beat the heat.

I can't write in my #Arabic #Quran, but I also cannot recognize on site yet where in what ayat on what line I left off the day before. Are there any best-practice recommendations for solving this? I thought about using those peel-and-stick-sign-here-tabby things to mark it.

Is it required to have our profile picture recreated with red or orange gleaming eyes? What does it mean? #asknostr

About 25 years ago, I learned that someone stole my social security number to get a job. It came up on an employment background check. It turned out the #IRS was very happy to receive #taxes being paid by two different people using the same SSN number. They never said a word. With the massive data breach that we knew was probably true, is the IRS now looking forward to collecting taxes from multiple people using the same social security number?