iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 13h

*nod* Got a jolt of "it's a wee bit slippy" on the deck stairs this morning. Why the pups insist on walking down halfway and then stopping to stretch mid-step when I'm right behind them...I'll never understand. 🐾🤷

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 15h

If it makes you feel any better, technically I've had the heat "on" since the mid-September when I flipped the heatpump from cool (above 24C) to heat (below 18C). Indoor temperature hasn't dipped lower than 19C yet, however. ~~ The dampness of these last few weeks though... That can feck right off!

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 13/10/2026

Dear universe: If we could fast-track an inexpensive Star Trek "hypospray" gadget for at-home medical use, I'd appreciate it! --signed, a needlephobe

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 11/10/2026

I share your frustration over list styles. Image styling is a similarly miserable experience. And heaven forbid you need to save in (or convert to) another editable file format: Forget about keeping the finer points of formatting intact. 🙈 MS Word is most infuriating. LibreOffice Writer ftw, imho.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 10/10/2026

Started “playing” Stray (#PS5). Was not prepared for the emotional heaviness of an orange tabby lost in a post-apocalyptic underworld. annapurnainteractive.com/games/stray

annapurnainteractive.com

Stray - Annapurna Interactive

Annapurna Interactive works with game creators from around the world, helping them create and release personal experiences for everyone.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 10/10/2026

There was an earlier redevelopment proposal in the 1990s. My parents -- pending empty-nesters -- looked into it not long before I started university. No surprise, the project didn't go anywhere: I believe the would-be developer was leaning on (speculative) pre-sales to finance construction.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 10/10/2026

Not much left of the old place. In the early/mid-1990s, it was pitched for a conversion to condos.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 09/10/2026

Amateur hour by comparison; however, #NSwx Dorian and Fiona were unnerving in the moment, but knew the storms would pass. It's the days afterwards without electricity (and running water), no Internet, overloaded cell towers, warming soup on the wood stove, sound of chainsaws... Life grinds to a halt

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 09/10/2026

Disability PSA featuring Phoebe, a CH kitty: Cerebellar hypoplasia, aka wobby cat syndrome ~ c/o Reddit r/NervySquervies www.reddit.com/r/nervysquer...

reddit.com

From the nervysquervies community on Reddit: Phoebe changed the way I view disabilities 💛

Explore this post and more from the nervysquervies community

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 08/10/2026

Would be great to see this as the first step to a larger, diversified home HVAC+energy program: Start with heat pumps, then extend to solar (incl inexpensive balcony systems), EV charging, high-efficiency non-electric/offline heating (heat pump is useless during a power outage), etc.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 08/10/2026

Reddit: Answering life's most important questions since 2005.

Screenshot from Reddit r/AskReddit: How do grandmas get that "grandma smell"?

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Reposted by Vincent Grovestine

Momo @heyheymomo.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

❌ AI generated slop menus with pictures that make your food look like worms ✅ scribbles on a piece of paper saying how much the soup cost

4 panel comic: Panel 1: A chef with a wooden spoon talks to a brown dog (bruno). He says “I have a new business!” Bruno answers “cool!” Panel 2: he shows his menu. He says “this is my menu”. We can’t quite read what it says yet Panel 3: a zoom in on the menu. It has just a few lines written on it. Soup: 1. Bread: 1. Soup + Bread: 2. He kept it very simple! Panel 4: He shows Bruno a small pencil. He says “I designed it with this”. Bruno approves and goes “nice!”

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 07/10/2026

Officemate and lap-warmer... A remarkable amount of snoring for such a little dog too. 🧑‍💻🐾💤 #WFH #chihuahua

Small brindle chihuahua stretched out asleep on a desk-worker's lap. The dog is wearing a grey and white striped chenille sweater, laying face-down on a brown fleece blanket.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 06/10/2026

Is it a clean and shiny "disco truck" SUV, or something that looks like it may have seen a dirt road or two recently? If the latter and either of the antenna is absurdly long, then maybe old-school CB.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 06/10/2026

But be careful what you wish for... The power dips are continuing.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 06/10/2026

Sunny day, bit breezy... Sure, let's liven things up with a couple power dips. Thanks NSP, you never fail to impress. 🙄

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 05/10/2026

If you can subscribe online, you should be able to cancel online: Nearly twenty minutes on the phone... Upsells, discounts, promos... Augh! F*** retentions; just terminate the g-d account already. 😤

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 05/10/2026

Magic bag is no longer warm, thus the chihuahua has no further use for me. She left. I'm cold again.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 05/10/2026

Fleece blanket, heated magic bag, and a chihuahua on my lap...yet still cold. October has hardly started and I'm already fed up with dreary, damp fall weather.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 05/10/2026

Child of the 80s, teen of the 90s with a bicycle and a wristwatch: Tell my parents what general direction I was heading, and then ride off to wherever, being home in time for meals. Could be at a friend's next door, or fishing at the wharf, or several km out of town on the abandoned rail line. 🤷

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 27/09/2026

Two done: installed; tested; working; and, most importantly, neither chok full of 40yr old dirt nor "popping" as they heat-cycle. Only a bit sweaty, drew blood just once, and didn't swear an awful lot. ~~ Five more replacements to go tomorrow.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 27/09/2026

45 minutes into the first baseboard heater swap: Electrical, no problem. Whoever did the initial rough-work, however, appears to have used "precision tools." Perhaps a hammer and a screwdriver instead of a drywall saw. And measurements in hand spans and finger widths instead of using a ruler. 🏠🔨🪛🤏⚡🤦

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 27/09/2026

This is why I play games alone... #MarioKartWorld #Switch2: What a bunch of dirty online players! 🎮🏎️🏎️🏎️🏎️🍄🐢💥🏁🙎

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 26/09/2026

$62 for a half tank in my small Kia. Long, long ago when I bought my first car, I determined that I couldn't afford it if gas ever topped $0.80/L... ⛽🙈💸

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 23/09/2026

Brief moment of "ummm... I don't think that's going to fit in the car!", so I have all but one replacement heater. The basement will have to wait until I can arrange delivery.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 23/09/2026

I can update the entire house for less than $800, so why not?! Not that they're classy fixtures to begin with, but at least doing so rids me of the ugly '80s almond brown units.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 23/09/2026

Wall thermostats were all updated recently, but a couple of the original 1980s-vintage heaters have been acting up; cycling on/off too frequently, so I’m thinking that something internal has reached end-of-life. Kent has a sale on, so for a few hundred $$, I’m just going to replace every heater. ⚡️🤷

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 23/09/2026

Today’s mystery of home ownership: What is the life expectancy of an electric baseboard heater? Searching for answers turns up anything from 15 to 30 years or, scientifically speaking, whenever it breaks. To which I ask, how does something with no moving parts “break”? 🥶🥵🏠🤷

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 22/09/2026

Folks who write documentation for a living, how the heck do you do it? My brain is wired for logic problems, not wordsmithing. I need a monkey thought translator or something. 🐵 + 💭 + 🤖 = ...Steve!

Still from the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" where Clint (wearing a white lab coat) introduces his monkey thought translator as worn by Steve (the monkey).

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 18/09/2026

My next door neighbour had their tank filled last week--glad that's not my bill to pay. Meanwhile, I look at the wood pile out back and am suddenly doubting my decision to skip this year's delivery. We don't burn much, but still; woodstove takes the edge off cold/damp days. Heatpump @ 19C otherwise.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 18/09/2026

Fall allergies have been a mess too: Went from peak goldenrod and ragweed right into fungal spores. I've never seen so many mushrooms sprout up in the neighbourhood -- I'm awaiting the day I spot a balding weirdo in a black cloak and a hundred blue littles in the woods behind my subdivision!

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 10/09/2026

I'm long out of the private sector web dev consulting game, but I would list my business info as the *technical* contact only. And even then, only for as long as I had a service retainer. The client is the registered owner and administrative contact--period!

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 10/09/2026

Dunno of it's local atmospheric conditions or they've packed extra oomps in the training munitions, but Camp Aldershot goes *BOOM* this morning! My dogs are jittery wrecks. Noise being heard (and felt) from Kentville to Canning per Facebook chatter.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 09/09/2026

Neighbours have lit their wood stove. It's too soon!

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 09/09/2026

Shelburne Furniture closed in Aug after 64yrs. Honestly, don't know how the mall stays open. But Frenchys...?! Grew up there in the 80/90s: The town is tired and teetering on the edge, IMHO. 🏚️ Driving through is a genuinely depressing affair these days. Yet I'm baffled by the blind 🙈 tourist love.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 08/09/2026

Your periodic reminder that this is the greatest mashup of all time: Lobsterdust - Stayin' Hot (Nelly vs Bee Gees) www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2T... #ListeningTo (belated) #MusicMonday

youtube.com

Nelly vs. Bee Gees - Stayin' Hot (lobsterdust mashup)

YouTube video by lobsterdust

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 07/09/2026

When worlds collide: Sarek is Charles Ingalls’ brother. 🖖👨‍🌾 #StarTrek vs #LittleHouseOnThePrairie (s3e6)

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 07/09/2026

About 6 dozen oatmeal cookies on deck courtesy of the last of the garden zucchini. (...thank dog!) I swear, I'm not planting zucchini next year--I'm sick of the stuff. 🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒😵‍💫🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🥒🤢

Stainless steel mixing bowl halfway full of a wet cookie dough: zucchini + oatmeal.

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 04/09/2026

Mine bounced between Maine, Minnesota, Idaho and Washington before settling on Vermont which I assume is some sort of compromise for my mashup of NS living, UK/Ireland TV watching, US social media lifestyle? 🤷 bsky.app/profile/vinc...

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 04/09/2026

Or maybe instead, Cocoa needs a fur-sibling?

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 04/09/2026

Dialect Map quiz making its rounds this morning, so what the heck... Unsurprisingly, northeast is where I landed. mydialect.us/quiz-standar... ~~ Now, if we could just convince the devs to extend it from US to Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, etc. for a comprehensive global comparison. 🤔

Screenshot of my results from the 60-question Dialect Map quiz with northeast and northwest/central-west states matching most closely, and southeast most dissimilar: "You talk most like someone from Vermont — about 50% of your answers match a typical resident."

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Reposted by Vincent Grovestine

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 03/09/2026

You want a piece of me? Huh, hoomin??? Squirrel of the Day for September 3, 2026 #sqrlpix

gray squirrel in defiant pose in front of trash can

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 02/09/2026

I doubt that your idea of a quality snacks include mini-Milkbones and freeze-dried chicken though. 🙊

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Vincent Grovestine @vincent.grovestine.com · 02/09/2026

A bit itchy and sore, but he can be distracted with treats, so we're okay.

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