It's HG Wells' science fiction stories night on Turner Classic Movies

I started watching First Men in the Moon (1964) at my friends' house, and then came on home and finished watching there. That story inspired a Call of Cthulhu game adventure that we played years ago, with Mi-Go on the moon instead of Selenites. Now The Time Machine (1960) is on. I probably won't stay up for that; I've seen it before. I really should read the original of the former--I have a Wells collection on my Kindle. 'Grimm' wasn't on tonight, and won't be back until after the Olympics, on February 28th.

The week has seemed very long. I'm ready to relax for awhile. Tomorrow I plan on getting up early and getting an oil change, wash the salt off the car, and take a friend to the grocery. Oh, and of course, there are the game notes to do. So I'm going to get in my jammies, listen to some music, and head on to bed in a bit. Hope your week was great.

Interesting article

Most of my adult life, the majority of men in my life have been gay. My ex-husband and ex-'bosom companion' (long story) are gay. My dearest friends--rather, my adoptive family--are gay as well. But I don't have much to do with 'gay subculture', and this article has some valid points of how women are often treated by gay mem who have been subsumed by it. It is written by a gay man who sees women as people, not objects. Whether you agree or not, it's still an interesting article that would be good for starting dialogue. And one thing I must absolutely agree with, saying 'I'm gay' never excuses deplorable behaviour by or towards anyone.

The Myth of the Fag Hag and Dirty Secrets of the Gay Male Subculture

In my mid-twenties, I learned that taking your female friends to a gay bar is like taking a vegetarian to a butcher shop. There is a lot of meat, a lot of prime cuts, and even a little tripe, but nothing they can eat. While there aren't any publicly-posted placards posted to the effect of NO BROADS ALLOWED, the unnecessarily long wait times they have to endure to get drinks–watered-down drinks nonetheless–and the degree of stink-eye they receive from bartenders do a great job of conveying that same general message. Shortly thereafter, I began wearying of gay bars in general. My friends were largely women and if they weren't being treated respectfully–and not getting decent cocktails, then what's the use of opening a tab?

It's a dirty secret of a subculture of the gay male world about women: That they're essentially unwelcome, unless they come to us as a Real Housewife, a pop diva, or an Tony award winner–or an unassuming fag hag. To anyone just coming out of the closet and hoping to get his bearings in the gay male community, the attitude towards women is simple: They are just objects whose function is to serve gay men. Maybe it happens when gay men get too comfortable in newly-discovered safe spaces–where they get to call the shots as their proudly out new selves. Or maybe it happens through cultural conditioning. Whatever the cause is, it becomes clear: If there isn't any kind of transactional exchange happening, then women lose their value in gay male subcultures.

Today I

went to the pharmacy after work and then over to T-Mobile, where I asked about taking my tablet off my bill and about a discount due to my workplace. Apparently they have you call if you want to take a line off your account, so that the retention people can work on you. But I had good solid reasons for not keeping the broadband on the tablet: a) I am no longer on the bus and am usually around wi-fi, so I no longer need an over the air data connexion, and b) I have unlimited data on my phone with a 2.5 GB hot spot I can use to power the tablet if I'm away from wi-fi. Turns out that they not only could cancel the broadband, but I'm eligible for a free 200 MB of data without overages each month due to my tenure with T-Mobile, and it's something that will be locked in as long as I need it, even if they no longer offer it later. So I can still use some data over the air, and use my hotspot capability if needed when away from wi-fi, like over at YKWIA's, or use the wi-fi when I'm at home, at the library, etc., etc. I'll save about thirty dollars dong that, and then, with the discount that should be available, my bill with be about $40 less than it is, right around $100, give or take a few dollars. Meanwhile, my Samsung Galaxy S3 is almost paid off, although I may upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy S5 when they are released around April or so. If not, my bill will go down by about $20 more. Yay!

Then I got some gas at Kroger ($2.74 with the 40 cents off from my Plus card!), got a few things for tonight there, and headed over to YKWIA's for the finale of 'American Horror Story: Coven'. I loved it, and won't give any spoilers here, but I think it ended on the right note.

I also ordered the DVD for the fourth season of 'Downton Abbey' from Amazon and it should be here Friday, which is interesting, as the show doesn't finish up here in the States until late February. So I'll have the whole set. :)

Okay, I got home late because of AHS, and it's after 1:30 am. I'm cramping (getting ready for my period) and my muscles are all knotted up, and feeling no-so-great, so I'm going to take care of a few things, stretch out in bed, and hopefully go on to sleep. Good night.

This week

I found out that cancer has touched the lives of two people I know--one newly diagnosed with breast cancer, and the other losing her battle with leukaemia. The former was very good to me while I was out with my broken ankle, and always went to bat for me when I needed it. The latter had a very lively spirit, was so very alive, and it's hard to think of that now gone. I am saddened by the news, and plan on praying for both of them tomorrow when I do my monthly libation. Be sure to show your love for those close to you while you can; you never know when a small thing such as a doctor's visit could change your life forever.

This gets points for the most adorable commercial, ever, I think

It's also a nice integration of Passenger's 'Let Her Go', which I like so much I have the album on my phone. :) Budweiser obviously realises that you cannot go wrong with Labrador pups and Clydesdales when it comes to Super Bowl ads. :) Thanks to Jill for showing it to me earlier today.

My computer will start a tune-up in three minutes, two, one...

So here's a brief post before going to bed.

On my mind today, January 28th

1986--I spent the day in shock watching the Challenger disaster over and over again; I still mourn those lost.

2000--The loss of my beloved grandfather, at peace after a long and terrible battle with emphysema.

2014--Was saddened to hear of the death of Pete Seeger, who lived his life by music and trying to make the world a better place.

Also had a great dental cleaning and picked up some donated books to take to the hospital where I work from a store halfway to the next town. Then spent time with YKWIA and A, and watched 'The Originals' and 'Supernatural'. Now it's time to go to bed. Good night.

Came home from physical therapy

and took a bath and then laid down on a heating pad for a bit. Then YKWIA called and we talked for awhile. Now I think I'm going to take some ibuprofen and head on to bed. It's been a quiet night. Tomorrow will be much colder than it was. Our school system is on a two-hour delay due to the low temperatures, which is at least better than the week they were off last week (one day for Martin Luther King, Jr Day, the other four for weather). The wind is howling outside, and it's only 11 outside right now, with subzero temps forecast and wind chills of about -10 degrees possible. Brr...so tired of this!

It feels positively balmy

holding steady at 11 pm at 48 degrees, our high for today. Even the projected low, 23 is higher than most of our highs lately. So needless to say, when I got home from the game, the first thing I did was take my trash and recyclables out, then cleaned out the fridge and did some dishes. Sadly, we're going to plummet again, as tomorrow is forecast around 0 or 1 degrees Fahrenheit. Not fun. A high for Tuesday will be about 13. So I'm practically basking as I long as I can.

Yesterday we got four inches of snow, which, with the high winds, drifted quite a bit. But the streets are in decent shape thanks to the warming above freezing. We may get some rain and snow tonight, and a bit of snow in the morning, but the plunge to single digit temps for the third time this month is the big story.

I didn't get much done on my 'snow day' yesterday. I did a lot of napping, and worked on my physical therapy exercises, all of them, but didn't do so well about watching TV, although I did watch a couple of hours of the Smithsonian channel, a programme on the finding of Richard III's body and one on Sitting Bull and the Battle of Little Bighorn that were both interesting. I still haven't watched 'Grimm', 'Sherlock', or 'Downton Abbey', though.

I struggled with the notes for awhile last night, then spoke with YKWIA for an hour on the phone and returned to them, only to stall. We'd talked about something that's going on in my life that I haven't fully dealt with, and it just made me want to curl up in a ball some more. So, I went to bed and kept trying to wake up every hour on the hour, without much success. I finally got up about 6:30 and finished them shortly after 8 am. I know I shouldn't have that much trouble doing them, and it's really helpful to do them, but I just dragged this time. I am glad I brought my laptop with me, because in my sleep-deprived state I didn't manage to get the correct files into my Dropbox files for access from my phone. Overall, I didn't get decent sleep, so I find myself (after way too much soda) as still a bit pumped up by the game (in which things were resolved that had been issues, but one of my characters was suddenly nearly killed, and may still die, unless they can figure out how to get her out of a stasis) but pretty sleepy at the same time. It's been a long day of housecleaning, grocery shopping, gaming, etc. I've also recorded 'Downton Abbey' and 'Sherlock' to watch later.

Tomorrow I have physical therapy. Tuesday it's a dental cleaning in preparation for some oral surgery. At some point I've also got to go get some medicine from the pharmacy, too. And I should go ahead and do my taxes, as I have all the paperwork I need. But for now, I think I'll call it a night. Hope you had a good weekend as well, and have a good week ahead. Stay warm. Good night.

I am somewhat concerned

The wind is quite fierce outside and although it's hard to tell how much snow we've had (it's largely blown off the vehicles to drift on the ground), we did get some. One local parkway was shut down earlier because a salt truck went over on the highway. It's been pretty crappy for those out there, and I'm staying home. However, even at my house, my windows are creaking horribly with the wind, like they might crack and break. They have cracked before, and were replaced, and ever since then, the wind actually comes through the window a bit, so they must not have weatherstripped well. I have a windchime and sheer on the inside of the window, normally still, but even they are moving a bit. There's a lot of howling and creaking going on. The air is full of snow, but I can't tell if it's falling out of the sky or moving a bit from the ground. Some obviously is from the roof. Not good. Here's hoping the windows don't fail.

Very cool

With the frigid temperatures I've been wearing my TARDIS hat and scarf, and getting strange looks, as it has 'Police' in big letters and 'public all box' in small, and they think I'm a police booster or such. Or so I've been asked. :)

I'm getting a little tired of this whole 'polar vortex' cycle

of snow followed by brutal temperatures. We're warming up today to the 20s with an additional 3-6 inches possible of snow, and then the temperatures are going to plunge in a day or so back to the subzero range. Our homeless and warming shelters are full, the electrical grid is somewhat delicate and people have lost power. And we're lucky compared to places in the Northeast as far as the snow goes. The sustained cold really has been a problem.

I was going to try to get an oil change on the car tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. On top of the snow issue, there's a whiteout possibility as winds whip up and blow the snow. I've already told A and YKWIA that I'm not coming over tomorrow, and that we can try to do the grocery run on Sunday. The main roads were dry this afternoon; but streets in residential areas such as mine are still packed snow with a glazing of ice on them as slush froze in the cold temperatures--another few inches, or even just one or two, will make it all the more difficult to get to those main roads, which are going to take a day or so to get clear again. While I was at their house earlier, I dropped off a DVD from Netflix so they can get cozy and watch it tomorrow while it snows. My plans are to catch up on a few things here. I didn't watch 'Grimm' tonight, for example, as I took a nap, but I recorded it and will watch tomorrow. And there's 'Downton Abbey' to consider. But there's also game notes and stuff around the house I can do. I also need to call Brenda to see is she can take me for some oral surgery that's coming up in a couple of weeks. I've got it set up so I can stay with friends afterwards so they can watch me for a few hours' afterwards and then I can drive home the next day.

Last night I filled up the fish tanks as they were getting low, especially the big one. I was a little worried about the heater blowing without enough water covering it. Besides, that's gets the fish squared away for awhile. I also changed the carbon filter in the big tank. I didn't realise it, but I'm out of the cartridges for the small one, and so I need to get a pack of those from Meijer's soon. I really want to vacuum the gravel out in both tanks; I may do that tomorrow if I can get it to work. Those self-starting vacuums never work well for me--I can never get them to start right--and I'm sure not going to try to do it by suction after I have oral surgery, so maybe now is a better time.

Physical therapy is going well and I'm already finding some relief with the pain and numbness in my arm. Tomorrow I'm going to do my exercises, since I'll have time, as well as maybe a little of those workout DVDs I ordered, if I can rearrange the living area nicely for more room. I have PT again on Monday, and then have my teeth cleaned on Tuesday. No word yet on whether we're playing the game or not on Sunday; that'll depend on the snow and Brenda, I suspect. Better to go ahead and do the notes tomorrow though, just in case.

Okay, I woke up around midnight for awhile, but I'm ready to go back to sleep. Have a good night, and stay safe and warm.

A sad story, but he saved several lives

8-year-old boy rescues 6 relatives from fire, dies trying to save 7th

In his final moments, 8-year-old Tyler Doohan managed to rescue six people -- including two younger children -- from a burning mobile home in upstate New York, authorities said.

A last-ditch effort, however, to save his disabled grandfather cost the boy his life. His body was found by his grandfather, whom Tyler considered a best friend.

The trailer did not have a working smoke detector, which could have saved everyone. Please test your detector regularly.

Nearly 28 years later, and these photos take me back to the same emotions of that day

Never Before Seen Photos of the Challenger Disaster

I was 18 and a sophomore in college when the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred. My boyfriend was obsessed with the space shuttle programme and was studying computers in the hope of joining NASA. I watched that dream die that day, and the horror of it all make an indelible impression on me second only to the 9/11 tragedy. It's one of those things where you remember exactly where you were when you found out, what was said, how the day was spent. In my case it was glued to the TVs in the student centre watching it happen over and over, questioning how this could happen.

Even now, each year I think about the tragedy as the anniversary nears. So I was interested when I saw the link to this story. Each step of the climb, and its terrible conclusion, were captured in the series of photographs that make my throat catch and my eyes tear for those lost, and for that dream that was lost as well.

I watched an interesting movie with YKWIA tonight

It is called Gattaca and is a 1997 film starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law. In a world where doctors engineer genetically-modified people, those who are conceived and born naturally are shunned as imperfect and 'invalid'. A young man goes to great lengths to reach into space by taking on a 'valid' identification and entering the world of the genetic haves, shedding his old life. His dream is complicated by a murder investigation that inadvertently affects the charade. It has a message of overcoming what may seem to be our destiny by sheer determination, as well as the dangers in interalising the labels we are given. It also looks at the precariousness of living a lie and in losing oneself to become someone else. I recommend it. Okay, I've gotten home and it's late. I'll write more tomorrow if I can. Have a good night.

Yet another issue with the new Windows that has taken up far too much of my time

I decided that I wanted to play some music on the laptop while I was folding laundry, and I didn't have any music on it, so I transferred some from my phone into a music folder. But alas, neither Windows Media Player nor the Microsoft Music application could find my music, and following the directions for adding the folder to the music library either didn't bring up the expected dialogue box or simply put things into a loop where I got thrown out of the program. I have been trying to figure this out for well over two hours, and I've missed 'Sherlock', which I am fortunately recording, because I got so into this issue and trying to resolve it. Turns out the Windows 8.1 upgrade totally corrupted the libraries on my computer, and on those of others. In fact, if you try to choose one of the libraries, such as Documents or Music, it says something to the extent of it's no longer operating and can be safely removed. Because of this, the programs couldn't find anything in the libraries. My computer wasn't even showing the Libraries folder anymore, so this is what I did:

1. If it's not showing up in the Explorer sidebar, go to the charms by pointing the mouse to the lower right corner and use the search icon to bring up a search box. Look for Libraries. That will bring up the folder.
2. Right-click on the Music folder and delete it. For that matter, you can do that to any of the others.
3. Right-click on the empty space in the Libraries folder and add a new Library, calling it Music.
4. Open Windows Media Player.
5. Click 'Organize' on the menu.
6. Click 'Manage libraries'.
7. Choose 'Music'.
8. The program will ask you which folder you want to add to the library, so choose the one your music is in (mine is, of course, called 'Music'), and the program will populate the albums you have in that folder into the music library. From there you can use Windows Media Player any way you normally would. If you have videos or pictures you want to use in that program, you can do the same thing, just delete and create the Video or Pictures libraries.

I'm posting this here in case it's helpful. 'Sherlock' is over in 10 minutes. My hand washables are hung up to dry in the shower. THe rest of the laundry can wait till tomorrow. I'm going on to bed, and I'll just listen to music from my phone next to the bed (I have a dock that routes through a boom box there). Good night.

PS This never happened on my desktop for some reason. I find it interesting that although I have Windows 8.1 running on both computers, there are differences. The desktop was upgraded from Windows 7 to 8 and then 8.1. The laptop came with Windows 8 and then was upgraded to 8.1. When I upgraded the desktop from 7 to 8, I suddenly couldn't install my National Graphic DVDs at all, even though they ran fine on the laptop, which had never had Window 7. I find that interesting. Fortunately, when I went up to 8.1 the desktop finally allowed the installation. :)

One hour and ten minutes until

'Sherlock' returns. But I also found out that the next new episodes for 'Doctor Who' may not be until September. Nine months! Agh! But there's nothing official from the BBC or BBCAmerica as of yet. So, here's hoping it won't be that long. There are supposed to be 13 episodes, in one long run, in the coming season, though, so I'll take heart with that.

I just tried out the exercise bands that attach over the door, and they work well. I'm going to fold some laundry for a bit now. I did four loads, and some of the hand washables are still damp, so they need to be hung up and the others folded.

If the pictures are any indication,

then home library design has taken a horrible turn for the worst.

Right at Home: Personal libraries are retreats

Despite the text of the article indicating that people still want spaces to read (both a print book in the hand or electronically), and how shelves can be designed to integrate books into the home that can be innovative rather than merely traditional, the pictures that accompany the article are, well, awful. For one, there are hardly any books to be seen. For another, the shelves are mostly ugly. Three, the one picture with a good number of books has all the books set up so their blocks are set in geometric patterns but the spines are hidden, meaning the books are there for show and generally unusable. I despise books for show, like when people used to build the 'Downton Abbey' libraries mentioned in the article and then fill it with old books that were totally unread, and merely because the weathered covers looked good in the room. As someone who has something in the neighbourhood of 3,000 books, and in a 750-square-foot apartment at that, I relish good private library design that integrates the books into the environment cleanly, reflecting the personality of the owner. A friend has even more books, and he has had built-in bookshelves from floor to ceiling, painted white, put in several rooms, combining two small rooms into a true private library at one point. It's very inviting, and guess what, you can see all the books and while not yet catalogued, they're all in order and you can find one in a very short time. Mine, sadly, are not quite in order; my goal this past year was to get them all up on shelves, and then this year I can actually put them in some semblance of order. The history, fantasy, religion, philosophy, writing, and children's books are in their areas--it's mainly other non-fiction and literature that need help. In my apartment I used fairly decent-looking stacking, folding bookshelves that can easily be taken down and moved, even though I've lived in the same place for over 10 years.

My point is, libraries, even personal ones, are meant to be used. They can be decorative, but shouldn't merely be so. If you do not read, or have no real love of books, skip the home library. If all you do is use electronic books or a computer, a study with a few books in it and a comfy chair or computer is fine--but it isn't a library. Places should be designed around how they are used, not just to be something for the sake of design. (That goes for regular libraries, too, which are often designed with things like flat roofs that will contribute to flooding the stacks later, etc. Architects rarely seem to actually talk to the librarians or patrons who use the library to determine what would work well for them. They should. Then they can be as innovative in their design as they want, but there should be a practical side, as well.) That's my opinion, anyway.

It's late and I have a headache

so I'm going to take some ibuprofen and head on to bed. There's no Cthulhu game tomorrow, as Brenda had a small crisis at home to take care of. I spent today watching 'Misfits' with YKWIA and also took A to the store. Earlier today I saw part of the UK-Tennessee basketball game as well. It's been a long and productive day, and I'm hoping for a little time at home tomorrow, after I do some things over there. 'Sherlock' returns tomorrow night for season 3, for example.

I'd like to write something more profound than 'I'm tired and hurting', but I'm afraid that's all I've got at the moment. My arm hurts worse while typing, for example. So, good night, and I hope your weekend is going well.

A co-worker found this picture of me

and let me have it. It's from sometime soon after I started working in my present position at the hospital library, which is where this picture was taken. I'm apparently on crutches, it looks like, probably from an ankle sprain. I'd have been about 30-32 years old then. Overall, it's not a bad picture, although the glasses are definitely a little scary. And my hair hasn't been that long in years. Anyway, I thought I'd share it here.

Sometimes hyper-vigilance is a good thing

A friend was a little concerned about me driving home tonight. I learned a long time ago to trust his intuition, and after all, it's 16 degrees so there may be icy patches here and there on the roads, so I was paying close attention to my surroundings. On the way home an SUV that really wanted to turn left was thwarted by the fact that Easthills is closed with many police and fire trucks on it, so much that the driver then tried to turn into the left lane prior to Richmond Road even though there were three cars very close together in the space it wanted to occupy. It managed to swerve back into its lane in time. Fortunately I was already turning off of Man O'War, but I saw the near accident. Not sure what's going on at Easthills, but it didn't look good. Just glad to be home safe and sound, on a cold, cold night. Stay safe out there.

Fiddling with my phone

When I first got my Samsung Galaxy S3, I bought a full-body protector, a film that when applied protects it from scratches, front and back. I always have it in some sort of case as well, either one that has a front flap to protect it or not. Since not every one has a complete cover, the film helps protect the screen. The nice thing about the film is even though it was pricey (although I think I got it in a buy two items, such as a cover and charger, get one free), it also has a lifetime warranty. So it's been almost a year and the front film was starting to get a little dingy and peeling around the edges. I requested a new one, paid the $3.99 shipping, and returned the old one in an envelope they provided. So, a new film. It's called Invisible Shield and is made by Zagg. I highly recommend paying a little extra and getting this. It was fairly easy to apply (I didn't do quite as well as the T-Mobile associate who waited on me and put the original one on for me, but I did pretty well.) There was one cover that didn't work well with the original, but I apparently placed the new one so the case, which has two layers, a shock absorbing foam and then a hard shell, both protecting the back and sides, isn't rubbing against the film and trying to lift it. Yay!

I debated on putting the replacement on because I am seriously thinking of upgrading to a Samsung Galaxy S5 when it comes out, rumoured to be in April. I'll have my S3 paid off by then and can trade it in towards the new one. I really like this line of phones. We'll see. There's nothing wrong with my phone, and I get plenty of use out of it. But I am a gadget girl, and I like new toys. On the other hand, if I don't get a new one, that's $20 off my bill.

Okay, 'Grimm' is tonight, but I want to spend a little time relaxing before I go over to my friends' house. If I don't write any more tonight, have a good evening.

Did you see this?

Google Contact Lens Will Measure Glucose Levels in Tears: Making it easier for diabetes patients to monitor dangerous blood sugar dips and spikes

Introducing our smart contact lens project

We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second. We’re also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we’re exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds. It’s still early days for this technology, but we’ve completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype. We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease.

Can I just say, cool. And way to go Google for working on making it easier to monitor and improve health for those of us with this condition.

Very tired, but

I told myself I would blog regardless. I'm writing on my laptop, as my desktop's monitor is currently over at a friend's, since he was having trouble with his. I'm doing a bit of updating on this machine, too. I figured while that was working, I'd do a little blogging.

Tuesday I was able to finally pay my rent, managing to avoid being taken to court by a very short time, as they would have filed that day. I'd had a cheque arrive on Saturday afternoon and immediately used my phone to put it in, but it didn't post to my account because it wasn't an actual business day, so I had to wait until the funds became available on Tuesday morning. Talk about cutting it close! That night I helped YKWIA cook and had dinner with him and A.

Wednesday was my first physical therapy session on this go-around, and there was an assessment, then some manipulation of my neck, and the traction table. I felt better until about late afternoon. Then the pain, like every afternoon, started to affect my activities. Driving makes it worse, I've noticed. I went over to my friends' house and watched 'The Tomorrow People', which I'm somewhat ambivalent about (we decided that unlike the British original and the remake in the 1990s, this wasn't really 'fun'.) But it's still on the watch list. But 'American Horror Story: Coven' is on the must watch list, and it's winding down, with just a little left in the story. It really is excellent, although creepy and disturbing.

Tonight I'm still hurting. The PT continues on Tuesday, but it will take awhile to get better. I went to the pharmacy earlier, and Kroger, and helped YKWIA make some cabbage soup. Then I trundled on home before it got too late, and before the roads got bad (it's snowing a bit). Today I got some things via Amazon to help with exercise without taking up much room or costing much compared to when I was paying for the Y or the gym. I got a set of 2, 3, and 5 lb weights, three DVDs for beginners (cardio, strength training, and a combination), and a pedaling machine that works both with the feet and hands, but folds away with no trouble and takes almost no room. I also got a set of exercise cords that fit over the door, similar to what I use in PT. That, and using the pedaling machine as a hand cycle, should help my neck. So I have a very compact and cheap home gym, especially when you count the yoga mat, strap, and block as well as the balance ball. That's pretty much anything I might want for cardio and strength training. I'm going to work a bit on my living room tomorrow to make more room to move around. My apartment is fairly tiny, after all, at 750 square feet, much of it containing bookshelves.

Okay, I'm going to go on to bed, I think. Hopefully your week is going well. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. The only plans I have are 'Grimm' and then sometime tomorrow or the next day I'll take my friend to the grocery store. Oh, and I have to do the game notes. :) I also hope to do my taxes this weekend as well. Good night.

Up kind of late

I laid down about 8:15 and then YKWIA called about 10:30 and we talked till 11 or so. So then I was awake. I did a little looking into alternatives to using a gym that included walking, of course, but also I was interested in a bit of weight training, cardio, yoga, and such. One thing I found was a pedal thing that can be used with the legs or hands to exercise. It's not fancy, but it folds to go anywhere, isn't expensive, gives a bike-like workout, and takes up almost no space if it goes ahead and gathers dust in a closet. I decided to risk it. I also found a couple of cheap DVD workouts for beginners that looked promising, and got a set of three pairs of weights. I have a yoga mat, block, and strap, as well as DVDs for that, as well as resistance bands and a balance ball, that sort of thing. There are also videos in the Fitness section of my Smart TV applications. So really, who needs the gym? [Well, okay, there is the year-round pool aspect of a gym, but many don't have pools, and at least I have three months out of the year in my apartment complex.] And there's no giant equipment to trip over (I have a very small apartment). The balance ball actually takes up the most space. :)

Okay, I've gotten a little sleepy. It's almost one o'clock in the morning. Good night!

Today I:

1. Accomplished everything at work I meant to.
2. Cancelled my YMCA membership. That saves $46 a month. I have used it exactly four times in eight months, so it was time to let it go. I joined mainly for the pool, but the water aerobics classes were always during the day while I was at work. I also tried to get into a programme where you get four free personal training sessions as a way to get into exercising, but they never got back to me when it came to scheduling the sessions.
3. Went by T-Mobile. As of the 28th of this month, I can cancel the broadband service on my tablet and save $30 a month. Plus, I found out there is possibly a discount from work that would bring it down further, so I'd save over $40 per month total.
4. Plan on a rather quiet evening at home.

Tommorrow I:

1. Need to pay my rent as early as possible so my leasing office doesn't file for eviction, which would incur at least $100 further cost. [Update, 1/14/14: a little concerned as it is 12:45 am and the cheque I put in on Saturday, while showing as a pending transaction, has not cleared yet and been added to my available balance. In order to avoid that $100 penalty, I must be able to withdraw funds by 9 in the morning. Wish me luck!]
2. Will go over to my friends' house for 'The Originals' and 'Supernatural'.

Wednesday I:

1. Start physical therapy on my neck very early in the morning. I'm hoping for relief, as it is interfering with my sleep, work, and generally.
2. Will go over to my friends' house for 'American Horror Story: Coven'

Thursday is at home with 'The Big Bang Theory' and maybe some 'Downton Abbey'. Friday I'll be over with my friend watching 'Grimm'. At some point soon I also need ot do laundry, really, really badly.

I think I'm going to see if I can do anything with my arm to get it comfortable. The problem with nerve pain radiating from your neck is that it is both numb and it hurts like crazy at the same time. That shouldn't be the case, but sadly, it is.

One more post before I finish breakfast and start straightening up around here

There's no game today, so I'm going over to do my general cleaning of their house and maybe a little help with something, but I don't have to be over as early and won't be there as long. I didn't get much accomplished, really, yesterday, including working on the house, so I'm going to do a little of that this morning and if need be some more later today.

I didn't actually get going till about 4 yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure what the deal was. Even when I got a shower I went back to bed, which is highly unusual. I just felt so run-down. About 5 I went to Taco Bell, got something light, and got some caffeine into me, then made the trip over to Cinemark a little early, used my pass for my ticket (we get passes each year from work for employee appreciation, or at least have for awhile now). I got a pretzel from the concession and a drink (that pretzel was $4! Inconceivable! (to quote one movie villain)). I had gotten there early enough that the screen was blank when we were seated, and we went through all the early 'First Look' stuff and finally the previews. I think Divergent and I, Frankenstein might be interesting to watch once they come out on Netflix. Another preview was for a movie I wouldn't normally watch, but I'm intrigued by the story and the cast. It's called Gimme Shelter. A young girl (Vanessa Hudgens, in what looks to be an excellent performance) runs away from her drug-using prostitute (Rosario Dawson) mother and finds her Wall Street father (Brendan Fraser), only to find she is pregnant and leaves again in order to keep the baby. It's supposedly based on a real story. Again, I'll probably not watch it in the theatres, but it did sound like it might be good.

Catching Fire itself was very good, very true to book in most ways, and with little of importance left out. For people who hadn't read the book, I think the ending came as a big surprise, because it, well, ends just really abruptly. One guy behind me said, 'Is that all there is?' But the book did, too. What does annoy me is that Mockingjay will be split up into two movies, rather than remain one. Do we really need multiple movies, or do they just want more money? Really? Three Hobbits? And two Deathly Hallows, when, as YKWIA put it, all they had to do was cut out the picturesque tour of British campgrounds and one would have done it with no problem. It's an annoying trend. But still, I'm waiting for the November 21st release date. Granted, it took me two months to go see this one. I'm glad it was in the theatres that long. I'll try not to wait as long with Mockingjay: Part 1. But not on opening weekend, either--that would be a circus.

Okay, I've eaten some yoghurt and berries. Time to get going. Have a great day, and a good rest of the weekend.

Quote for the day:

"I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the years'."--Henry Moore (Things I learn from Smarter Alarm, the talking alarm application I have on my phone, which reads the time, date, news, and quotes in a nice male British voice to me every morning. I also set two general alarms with Samsung ringtones and a Gentle Alarm application which slowly wakes you up by ramping up the tone (birds and happy music) before challenging you to turn it off by touching a series of three dots in the order they were lit up).

Yesterday in 1935

Amelia Earhart was the first person to fly solo from Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland, California.



Two-and-a-half years later, she and her navigator will disappear over the Pacific, generating an enduring mystery that has endured for decades. But regardless of the outcome, her daring will to fly and achieve what others would dismiss as mere fancy for any person, nevermind a woman, still inspires us. I'm so glad clips like this still survive so we can get an idea of the person behind the words. Thanks to Derek Handley (@dgh) on Twitter for sharing the video.

Well, two hours later and half a day spent

I feel much better, so apparently I was merely extremely tired. I tend to operate at a bit of a deficit and don't often get to make it up. The sun is also out now, although it's terribly windy. So it's time to re-evaluate my list. I can still do the cleaning, movie, T-Mobile, and YMCA. Not sure about the oil change, as they close at 4 and since it's the first nice day in awhile, they might have been slammed. I think I'd rather talk to the leasing agent on Monday, since I want to talk with the actual manager, and I have till then. I can still do the notes and book reviews. So, I'd better get cracking and go take a shower.

I feel like I may be coming down with something

My throat is scratchy, my nose is running, and I feel achy and a little warm to the touch, but cold all over. So no giving blood today. In fact, I might go back to bed for a bit (I didn't get up till 10:30) just to see if I feel a little better after eating. I still want to get everything else finished, though. Figures, I get a free day and feel like crap when I wake up. :(

I have

negotiated a $50 discount on my Time Warner Cable bill. Tomorrow I'm going to stop by the YMCA and cancel my membership, saving $46 a month. I am also going to stop by T-Mobile and see if I can cancel my broadband for my tablet, which I used regularly when I was on the bus but now I could just use it on wi-fi, and save maybe $30 a month. The tablet itself is paid off, so I don't think there will be a problem. I have an unlimited data plan on my phone and so use it more for looking up things. I mostly use the data on my tablet for updates, which I can do through wi-fi instead. Also my phone plan comes with a 2.5 GB hotspot that I can use if I'm in a non-wi-fi area with the tablet.

So that could save $176 a month right there. My plan is to take my tax refund and pay off two low-balance credit cards so I don't have a monthly or at least have a minimal monthly payment. And Lane Bryant is definitely one of them. I got behind and owed a minimum balance of $39 after months of paying higher than the minimum. Comenity Bank was calling me maniacally on my cell phone today, at 8:30 am, 10:00 am, and 10:35 am. The last time was five minutes after I'd paid them $50, and I'd had to talk to a representative to get my web payment to go through correctly, so I'd already talked to someone, paid it, and not 5 minutes later, got another call. I politely told the man that 1) I'd just paid, 2) I would appreciate if he took my mobile phone number out of their system, as I was being bothered at work, and 3) no, I wasn't going to give him my work phone to be hounded with either. They could call my home phone--that's what it's there for, to catch things like confirming doctor's appointments or other business stuff in such a way that I am notified (I receive e-mails on my phone of the transcribed message immediately), yet without annoying me while I'm busy doing things like working. I won't say I'm going to cancel the card just yet, but I am going to pay the $250 I owe as quickly as I can so I don't have to deal with these people. Gee.

So if I pay off those cards, that would save an additional $150 or so a month, and that would give me a small net gain rather than the loss I've been operating at for months now. I should be able to pay my bills and have maybe a small amount to go into savings for things like car repairs and other emergencies. That's the plan, anyway, if I can stick to the budget I've drawn up. My expenses have gone up this past year. I went from spending $30 for transportation by bus each month to about $240 for gas and car insurance monthly. That's a big difference. And I will have to pay on the dental work, too, so I needed to make some adjustments, cause all these little bills do add up.

Okay, having worked out those sorts of things, it's time for bed. Tomorrow I have completely free to myself. My plans:

1. Give blood.
2. Watch Catching Fire in the theatre with my free ticket from work.
3. Cancel my YMCA membership (I have to go in person).
4. Try to see about eliminating the broadband fee for my tablet.
5. Work on the book reviews.
6. Clean house, including trash and laundry sorting.
7. Talk with the leasing agent at my complex about the rent situation. I should have the money soon, but not necessarily in time before she files for eviction.
8. Work on game notes, although we're not playing Sunday.
9. Read.
10. Make arrangements for a ride for my oral surgery.
11. Get an overdue oil change.

Okay, good night!

I somehow

managed to open a small-yet-stubbornly-refusing-to-stop-bleeding gash on my leg by running into a plastic storage bin I'd taken down when looking for that MRI CD. Of course, it was not in those at all, but rather filed with my photographs (I guess it is a form of imaging, after all). It was too long for a Band-Aid so I cleaned it really well with alcohol and put some gauze over it, keeping that in place with an ACE bandage that was loosely wrapped. So I got up in bed, put my leg up, and waited for it to clot. Needless to say, in the meantime, I fell asleep. I still have a lot of my list to do, but I knew it wasn't going to get accomplished in one night. :) I think I'll give up and try to get something done in the morning.

Hadn't done this in awhile

I actually gained about 6 years total lifespan since I originally did the quiz in 2010.

Poodwaddle.com
Here are today's results:

Poodwaddle Life Clock Report

Summary
Your Age: 46.8 years
Projected Life Span (total years you will live): 80
Projected Life Expectancy (years remaining): 33.2

Life Expectancy Factors

The average life span for your region is 78. You are expected to live 2 years longer than average due to your health and lifestyle.

GENDER: +2.5 years
Women live 5 years longer than men. Gloat if you like.

FAMILY HISTORY: 6 years
Your family history rewards you with a few extra years. Remember to thank your mom.

SMOKING: 2 years
Since you are not a smoker you gain 2 years over the average life span (15-25 years over smokers). If you recently stopped smoking it will take 10 years for the risk of lung cancer to return to that of a non-smoker and 15 for heart attack risk to return to normal.

DRINKING: 0 years
You could benefit from drinking one or two glasses of red wine per day

WEIGHT: -13 years (BMI: 50.1)
Your BMI score classifies you as overweight. Being overweight raises your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancers, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, and so many other conditions. Now put down the twinkie and go do some exercise.

HEALTH: -5 years
Hypertension, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar are like a ticking time bomb with a busted clock. You don't know when it's going off but if you don't do something it's gonna blow up in your face.

DIET: -1 years
I won't lecture you on what foods you should be eating. I'm sure you already know. Is 1 years of life worth the sacrifice? Your choice.

EXERCISE: 0 years
Exercising 20-40 minutes each day can add many years to your life.

HAPPINESS: 4 years
As Emerson said, "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." Keep smiling :)

EDUCATION: 1 years
Not surprisingly, higher education equals longer life.

DRIVING: 2 years
You're no fool.The average person has a 30% chance of being in a serious accident in their lifetime but your odds are lower than average.

How does yours come out? I definitely have some things to improve on, of course.

Looking forward to tax-time, for a change

I received my W-2s today and should be able to get the paperwork from my student loan manager on the 13th, and I'll be ready to file. Which will be very welcome, yes, yes, yes.

All the time I had the job at the gas station I messed up on my W-4s and actually wound up owing money for all that five years. It's nice to get a refund, which isn't as big as if I had a child or a house, but still, like I said, welcome.

Okay, back to what I was doing. This is my to do list the rest of this week:

1. Get gas--yay, at a discount, as mentioned earlier!
2. Go to the library
3. Call YMCA re: cancelling membership and the procedures thereof [Do that tomorrow]
4. Work on finances
5. Find MRI CD of neck
6. Clean house
7. Take out trash and recyclables
8. Sort laundry
9. Work on game notes
10. Record 'The Big Bang Theory'
11. Work on book reviews
12. Check something with T-Mobile [Do Saturday; the store's closed for the night and I'd rather go through them than through a call centre]
13. Make an appointment re: my neck/shoulder/arm problems [Do tomorrow]

I'm not sure of the truth of this, or where it was from, but I laughed quite a bit

YKWIA e-mailed it to me; he'd found it somewhere. I do love the Scots.

Well, I have

1. Filled up the gas tank at $2.93 per gallon. Kroger hadn't upped their prices yet like the other gas stations had, and I had 20 cents off a gallon on my card
2. Picked up a friend from the doctor's office
3. Dropped off the books and CD at the library (conveniently across from the doctor's office) and picked up a couple more that were on hold
4. Stopped by the house to get my new car insurance cards from the basket next to the door; it started today and I didn't have them in the car, which made me nervous in case I was stopped
5. Checked the mail; I'm waiting for something important, but no luck yet
6. Dropped my friend off
7. Came home
8. Turned on the news to see the weather; it was snowing and icing, although I think the temperatures are thankfully too high to make it much of a nuisance

Now I'm going to try to eat something and then I have some things around the house I want to get finished tonight.

It is very late

but I thought I'd take a few minutes to catch up with my blogging. Yesterday I had my first appointment at Aspen Dental here in Lexington, and I was quite impressed. They were very professional and seemed to really be on top of things. I hadn't been to the dentist for awhile, and things were not all that good. But we came up with a plan which will be less expensive and better for me in the long run. It does mean I'll have some oral surgery next month, as well as two crowns put on and partial dentures top and bottom. I guess my years of diet soda drinking have contributed to the problem. But even as a child I had trouble with my teeth no matter what I did to make things work okay. So in a way, I'm surprised I've gotten this far without complete dentures. Fortunately changing to the dental maintenance organisation, which is cheaper but has fewer in-network dentists, was a good move, because it has a richer range of benefits and will pay more than my old PPO plan (same insurance, just different types of plans). For the remainder we financed the dental work with one of those credit cards that work only for medical, dental, vision, and veterinary expenses. However, once I pay this off, I'll have it to use in case I need it, which is good with my insurance future in doubt once the hospital moves and I no longer have a library job.

Tonight I:

1. Picked up a friend from work
2. Helped make a lovely meal of black-eyed pea soup, mushroom and egg cooked in ramekins with a water bath, and a great salad of spinach, toasted walnuts, oranges, onion, and cucumber
3. Ate said meal
4. Watched 'American Horror Story: Coven', which only gets better as it goes along, and this had Stevie Nicks on it
5. Got paid (Yay!)
6. Got some things from the store for a friend and myself
7. Came home and will crash soon

Tomorrow I need to:

1. Take some library books and a CD to the library
2. Pick up some books on hold there
3. Get gas--my light is on
4. Shelve new journals
5. Request payment for several invoices that come due at the beginning of the year at work
6. Do the regular things at work
7. Watch 'The Big Bang Theory'
8. Work on a couple of book reviews
9. Work on the game notes

Okay, I can barely hold my eyes open. Good night!

Feeling a little better tonight

Although I basically got home about 8 pm and by nine I was asleep. YKWIA called a bit ago after I'd begun to wake up and we talked for awhile, especially about obscure Catholic and Gnostic theology and also about a show he's watching, 'Misfits', and a singular strange super power: Lactokinesis, power over milk and milk by-products. Strange that in all of the DC and Marvel universes, along with Wildcards with its range of good and mediocre powers, that one never showed up. We decided said power should have the weakness of lactose intolerance and beyond that got into some very strange renditions of lactokinetic heroes and their sidekicks that got a bit absurd. Actually, both discussions bordered on the absurd, come to think of it. I do not understand certain elements of Christian dogma and the hoops the Church sometimes goes through to make it sound plausible. In this case it was the idea that Mary is a perpetual Virgin and that James and the other siblings of Jesus were somehow spiritual, or loved like brothers, rather than the children of the union of Joseph and Mary. I'll admit it, Paganism has some strange myths, but I can handle those. And yes, this is the usual sort of gamut of our conversations.

I think I'll snuggle back into bed where it's warm (I'm out by the front window, and it's chilly). The wind is howling outside. It's already -3 degrees with wind chills about -25 below. We should go down to about -7 outside. We actually had an escapee from a local prison who had to turn himself in because of the bitter cold and he suffered from frostbite. I am glad to be warm and inside. I took some steps today that will hopefully help keep that in effect, requesting a small loan via my retirement, although I'm still concerned about my rent and how the timing will play out. We'll see. By some miracle my car heat is actually working without making the horrible sounds I thought heralded the end. I'm hoping my gas will last till payday, which is Thursday, as I only have a quarter of a tank. So things are still a little stressed, but I'm sure things will work out. Or at least, here's hoping. Good night.

Uh-huh...

NC Politician Writes Resignation Letter In Klingon

Waddell says he also needs to devote time to mounting a write-in campaign on the Constitution Party's platform against U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan.

Personally, while I am a geek in many ways, I wouldn't be voting for him. He says he used Klingon as part of an inside joke, but the mayor doesn't seem to be amused. What's next, speeches to constituents in Tolkien's Elvish?

I've been up and down all night

and finally decided to stay up at 5 am. It's about 11 degrees outside, and the wind chill is already below zero. I've been monitoring the local news for weather and road conditions. This isn't the worst I've experienced here. There was this:

Windchill Factor Hits 85 Below Zero in Spots : Records Topple as Bitter Cold Grips U.S., where it says: 'The windchill at Lexington, Ky., was calculated at 60 below zero.'

I remember that clearly. It was January, 1985. I was a freshman at the University of Kentucky and managed to make it to class, but of course I was walking from one side of the campus to the other. They were saying more than 10 minutes outside was dangerous, and it took 20 to make the walk. I think I had seven layers of clothes on. The wind was blowing people across an icy Patterson Office Tower Plaza. Brrr...I hope it doesn't get quite that bad.

PS True to form, with all the school closings going on, the University of Kentucky has stated it will remain open and on schedule. :) On, on, U of K, right? Dress in layers, guys.

It's not a very big loaf

compared to using the normal white flour. Whole wheat breadmaking can be a little tricky. Thank goodness I put the extra yeast in, I guess, or it would have been smaller. But it has a good flavour, is nice and dense without being a brick (I prefer a somewhat heavy bread; that's why I usually avoid most white and 'wheat' breads at the store, that aren't 100% whole grain; I rather like nuts and other such inclusions as well). But I'm enjoying a piece while it's warm with peanut butter and a little honey on it, and it's rather nice. Yay.

Haven't felt the best of late

I'm a bit grumpy due to caffeine withdrawal, a bit stressed over bills, and I'm holding the stress in my neck and shoulders especially, which is only making them and the arm worse. Friday night YKWIA made a wonderful meal of potato artichoke soup, a split pea dish, and a light salad. I was doing pretty well then. Yesterday, though, I really felt blah, and as I went through the day, the pain increased. Despite this, I had A over to my apartment so he could watch Jezebel, which I had out from Netflix. He loves Bette Davis and old black and white movies. Last month he discovered Turner Classic Movies and has been in heaven. YKWIA also introduced me to the Hulu original series 'The Awesomes', an animated comedy about a superhero team that is really quite funny.

We didn't play the game today (Brenda was ill, hopefully she'll bounce back soon), so instead of doing the notes last night I came home early and took a muscle relaxer from the last time my neck was in such straits and went to bed a little before 8 pm, finally getting up about 10 this morning after two hours of trying to get going. I spent the day watching 'The Awesomes' with YKWIA and helping get their house clean, although I got help moving things. Then I came home, did a little surfing online, started the bread machine (A reminded me that I could, at least, make bread of my own, even when having little in the way of money), curled up on the couch with a blanket as the wind howled outside and the rain came pouring down, and listened to Loreena McKennitt on Pandora. I thought about watching 'Downton Abbey', but I'm still on season 2, so I'll just record it for later. Soon that rain is supposed to turn to snow, and a blast of Arctic air is going to take us from the 50s today to below zero tomorrow. Crazy, isn't it, that it could plunge so fast? Which means I'll probably have even more aches and issues with the weather change. :( I did at least remember to bring my winter coat, gloves, hat, and scarf (the latter are 'Doctor Who' TARDIS ones) out of the car trunk and into the house so they'll be warm tomorrow morning. I'll need it for sure.

I'm drinking some chocolate raspberry truffle coffee I've had in the freezer for ages since I still have some half and half from YKWIA's last visit, and so that might help with the headache and irritability. The bread is probably a little over a half hour from being done. For once I read the directions and the rapid rise takes an extra teaspoon of yeast, apparently. I've never added it before and things came out fine, so I'm interested in how it will come out when I follow the recipe properly. I can take some with some peanut butter and spreadable fruit tomorrow and I found some garden salsa Sun Chips in the cupboard. I have plenty of breakfast options (real Irish oatmeal, eggs, and pancake mix, so if at all possible I need to get up early and make something. Or I may just boil some eggs tonight and go from there; I usually have boiled eggs from the cafeteria for breakfast during the week. That will save a bit, if I bring breakfast and lunch with me. I have some frozen food, pasta (including spaghetti with sauce and vegetarian 'meatballs'), that sort of thing, so I should be able to bring food with me till I get paid, anyway. The problem is it looks like I won't be able to pay my rent when my cheque comes in, because I stupidly overdraughted the account. I've been so good for awhile now with managing things, and while there was a bank glitch that allowed me to take out money when there wasn't any really available, still it's my own fault. I'll have to see what I can do to fix it. Sadly, over several months last year I loaned out quite a bit of money that I shouldn't have, and there's been no real effort to pay me back. and bringing it up just seems to make things worse. So while I did mess up, I wouldn't be in this position if I hadn't have tried to help someone else out. I guess the old saying is right: No good deed goes unpunished. I just hope I can find a way to get my bills (especially my rent) paid soon. Tomorrow I'm going to look into some options. If worse comes to worst, I might be able to take a loan from my retirement plan.

Okay, the bread machine just beeped. Time to see what that extra teaspoon did. :)

:)

Love of books inspires gift

Take a moment to read a story about a librarian, a book, a group of eager readers, and someone's a donation that will lead to much fun and learning.

How bizarre

Iowa man arrested after fight over PB&J sandwiches

Terrible, and I don't mean to be offensive, but there's something I don't understand

Hawaii girl, 3, dies after dental procedure

Finley's mother, Ashley Boyle, said she first took her daughter to the dentist in November, when she was told her daughter needed six fillings and four root canals, she said.

Why would a three year old need root canals? Granted, I don't know much about dentistry, but that seems odd. I mean, doesn't that kill the nerve there? And with a child that young, there's teeth below to still come up, right? Still, it's horrible that the girl died, whether from negligence or some freak occurrence.

So wrong

Thank you, Bill, for sharing this on Facebook. May you have My Little Cthulhu Pony nightmares.

With My Little Cthulhu Pony, Friendship is Madness

It's super cold

We didn't get much snow today, and at first we thought there was just the first round of a dusting, although a second round came in just for the evening commute, and I'm not sure how much has fallen since then. But a cold front went through, too, and so now it's 15 degrees Fahrenheit and it's likely to dip down to 10 or less. It's very windy, as well--the wind has been howling outside my window, so the wind chill is near zero. Funny, I used to not notice the wind much from inside, but since they had to replace my windows a couple of years ago (they had cracked for some reason), I've lost some of the weatherproofing or something. It's a little chilly near it, and of course, my computer is just a couple of feet away. I actually closed the curtains tonight (they usually stay open, with just sheers in front of the glass) to help protect the plants in front of the window.

I've done a few things around the house tonight, but I did curl up in a blanket at one point and got toasty, and I'm afraid I fell asleep for a couple of hours. I didn't realise how tired I was. Now I'm going to try to read for awhile. At some point tonight I need to give my monthly libation, despite the cold. :) Okay, I'm heading back to the Kindle and the warm bed, maybe with some cocoa. Good night.

Did you see this awesome float in today's Tournament of Roses Parade?

I wasn't happy with TV's coverage of New Year's

So I'm watching on my phone with the Times Square Official Ball Drop application. They were interviewing Nelson Mandela's grand-daughters. Now Melissa Etheridge is singing John Lennon's 'Imagine'. We're three minutes away from the ball drop. Last year I tried to watch on my old low-end Android phone, but couldn't get the video to really play. They've improved the application and I've upgraded to a Galaxy SIII, so it's very clear.

Less than a minute and a few seconds left of 2013. The fireworks have already been going off here.

Now we're counting down the seconds....

Less than 30 seconds...

Happy New Year!