Not Quite a motss.con xix (via Zoom)

On Saturday, September 2, 2023, the soc.motss.con bunch had another Zoom call.

We had eight people over the course of the 100 minutes or so I was there (though never more than seven camera feeds at a time). I had fun catching up, and it seemed like others did too. Discussion topics (as I wrote them down, but not necessarily in chronological order) included: Death, memorials, and end of life Hurricane impacts in Florida motssers we've lost contact with (Sim and Mike, Tim W.) Social media Being friends with younger people so you're not the last one left People younger than us dying Younger people and politics and music and get off my lawn Millenials and demanding respect The future or lack thereof Age of people living near us Mean neighbors moving away Speaking other languages (and how few of us still can) Linguistic and dialectic oddities Making "old fashioned" telephone calls Actually liking Zoom Security breaches and federal law enforcement "Weird Barbie" being based on a character in Max's mother's book(s) Barbie and Oppenheimer Nuclear fallout and aftereffects Radioactive wild boars in Germany (eating truffles affected by Chernobyl and the 1950s above-ground testing) Scientists who are pro-nuclear power, arguing it's safer than wind or water, despite human impact and human error Long-term future of the world... and whether we want to be around for it Never mention suicidal ideation to urgent care untill you want the 72-hour psych hold and a new drug (remeron) Drug side effects Hector the mouse Recovering from illnesses Needing more or less in-home care Funerals, deaths, and callbacks to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s ACT-UP and long-term survivors Covid, Long Covid, and being a "Novid" Sense of taste and its loss and recovery Being able to tell if you're sick Vegetables and contamination Illnesses and cons and conferences Max's artwork Corrective vision surgery and most of us wearing glasses motss becoming a clique Are we mean? Randy Pence collecting reminiscences Bots (on social media) and lurkers Hunting down chatbots Hired people acting as fictitious people to collect information and sell (often sexual) services Hacked social media accounts Ancestry and partial DNA matching (and risks associated with the technology) Internet usage, cable versus fiber, paying for others' access Television shows (over-the-air, cable, streaming services) Creature features, after-school specials, etc. Old television (including Howdy Doody; Kukla, Fran, and Ollie; Captain Kangaroo; Bozo the Clown; Superman; Lone Ranger; Shadow; Hopalong Cassidy; Sesame Street; and Zoom) Old radio Dates of death... and them stacking up Elections, phone banks, and prep Politics and politicians actually causing harm Trans activism Apparent growth of trans*, possibly due to earlier medical intervention and parental support Tomboys, sissies, and not fitting in AFAB people being in the union and confederate armies Brain drain from red states