Well, got some stuff done tonight

1. Cleaned aquarium filter and added water to tank.
   
2. Uncovered bed.
   
3. Washed hand wash dishes
   
4. Enjoyed listening to Pandora, with a channel built around Loreena McKennitt
   
5. Checked with an application support line as to why it hasn't got all the features advertised
   
6. Played on Facebook a bit (not games; I don't do games--too much time involved)
   
7. Charged Kindle, downloaded books, and put books into categories
   

So I did some enjoyable stuff, and some chores. Laundry will wait till tomorrow. I did check and I have enough quarters for three loads. I'm not sure I have that much laundry, we'll see--I did do some last week. I still have some straightening up to do in the bedroom, but can at least sleep in the bed tonight. We decided to wait until tomorrow for the cabinet, and that was fine with me.

On tomorrow's agenda as well, now that I've dusted off my Kindle and have some new things to read, I'm going to do just that. And I should watch that DVD.... :) I also need to send my mother a birthday card. Her birthday is Friday. (I think Arnold Schwarzenegger's 65th birthday was yesterday; that means he's just a few days older than my mom.)

YKWIA showed this to me this weekend

I really do like the Kinsey Sicks. :)

Here's another one, not a parody, but rather a version of Billy Taylor's 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free', an absolutely beautiful song:

Things to do (as much as I can tonight)

1. Clean out the fish tank; add water
   
2. Clean off dining room table, which is mostly holding stacks of books
   
3. Prepare dining area for a cabinet; find somewhere for coat rack
   
4. Straighten up living room
   
5. Wash dishes
   
6. Take out trash
   
7. Take out recyclables
   
8. Do a once-over on the bathroom
   
9. Straighten up the bedroom
   
10. Do a couple of loads of laundry
    
11. Water the plants
    

But first, to eat a little bit....

Update 7/31: I fell asleep last night early, so I got up early this morning and did most of my list, although I did move a few things into the bedroom, so I'll have to deal with that tonight, as they are on the bed. They're mostly books I need to find shelves for. I wish my apartment was like the TARDIS, but I hate to think what the rent would be like. :)

As someone who grew up feeling worthless

and who has spent most of her adult life trying to recover or even discover a sense of self, I found this not surprising, but important to note:

Belittling kids as harmful as beating, study finds

It may be the most common kind of child abuse — and the most challenging to deal with. But psychological abuse, or emotional abuse, rarely gets the kind of attention that sexual or physical abuse receives.

That's the message of a trio of pediatricians, who write this week in the journal Pediatrics with a clarion call to other family doctors and child specialists: stay alert to the signs of psychological maltreatment. Its effects can be every bit as devastating as those of other abuse.

Psychological maltreatment can include terrorizing, belittling or neglecting a child, the pediatrician authors say.

"We are talking about extremes and the likelihood of harm, or risk of harm, resulting from the kinds of behavior that make a child feel worthless, unloved or unwanted," Harriet MacMillan, one of the three pediatrician authors, told reporters.

I think I spent most of the weekend in bed

I did get the ink yesterday, which entailed going out on the bus for about four hours. I got the notes finished. I went to the grocery store (twice) today, cleaned my friends' house (although I was later than planned, as I overslept), and played in the game (we stopped early, and even then, I came home and crashed). Total hours asleep from 7 pm Friday to now...let's see, that's 28 out of 53 hours, or 53%, also known as excessive, even for me. With the exception of the game and some visiting with friends, I didn't really do anything fun. No movie, no reading, just recuperated from a very long and tiring week in the Land of Serta.

Fortunately this next week I should be able to do some catch-up at the hospital. After work tomorrow I'm going to do some things around the house (get the recyclables out, straighten up, clean out the aquarium, and move some things around in the dining/living areas, and maybe do a little laundry, since I failed to do it yesterday). I'm going to resist the urge to go straight to bed, and take all medicine and eat properly so my blood sugar stays normal.

Oh, and I need to see about putting my pepper plant outside. Brenda gave me a purple bell pepper plant a couple of weeks ago. I've kept it inside because, well, I didn't want it walking off, but it's starting to bloom and if I want peppers I have to let it get pollinated. There is a good sized pepper on it already, not quite ready to pick, which is how I know the peppers are purple. It's in a 2-gallon bucket. I also need to water all the plants tomorrow and turn them (the lavender is trying to grow towards the light, for example).

Okay, it's after midnight. I think I'm going to take some medicine and head on to bed. Hope you had a more productive weekend than I did. Good night.

Well, I'm not going anywhere fast

It's almost 1:30, and while I'm ready, I had sat down and gone through a lot of pictures of the opening ceremonies and then I realised I was going to miss the bus, which on my route only runs every 70 minutes on Saturday, so instead I called Office Depot, to find out the Woodhill store is a little short on the ink I want, so I'll be going to South Park. Both associates were very pleasant, and when I requested the information and told them it was going to take me over an hour to get there by bus, they looked at their stock and told me, which saved me quite a bit on planning my trip.

So it looks like the next bus is at 2:24. That means I won't be getting home till about 5:30 or 6. Then there's still the notes to go through. I just haven't been moving at more than glacial speed this morning. I guess it's because I didn't have to be anywhere on anyone else's schedule, and I really just was incredibly tired last night, so I slept in.

Hmmm....

I think I'm going to have to rethink my agenda. I've looked at how the buses run and there's just not way to do it efficiently.

So--

1. Farmer's market--maybe, they close at 2
   
2. Bank--wait till later, they close at noon
   
3. Give blood--wait until I can try earlier and have an hour to kill between buses, they close at 2:30
   
4. Ink--still going to try, the special ends today
   
5. Notes--yes
   
6. Laundry--still have enough quarters to do some
   
7. Movie--yes
   
8. Read--yes
   

I didn't record the opening ceremonies. So I missed out on that. There's a photo of an unsmiling somewhat stern, queen captioned 'look at all those countries I used to have' floating around the Internet. I must admit, I was a bit amused by that, Anglophile that I am.

Okay, if I'm going to get anything accomplished today I need to get going. Have a great weekend!

Feeling better since I've been home for an hour or so

I was ahead on my time at work this week, so I left early. I had a splitting headache and everything hurt from there on down to my feet, but I didn't want to take any pain reliever because one of my plans tomorrow is to give blood. Anyway, I've eaten, caught up on the news, etc., and I feel much better.

I am vaguely interested in the opening ceremony for the London Olympics. I'm trying to decide whether I want to watch or if I just want to sort of vegetate for awhile, maybe take one of my famous naps. :) Friday nights are kind of hard to do much because I'm usually pretty tired. We'll see.

On tomorrow's agenda:

1. Go to the farmer's market for tomatoes.
   
2. Go to the bank.
   
3. Go to the Kentucky Blood Center and donate.
   
4. Go to Office Depot and get some printer ink. (They have a buy 2 get 1 special that ends tomorrow, both in-store and online).
   
5. Work on notes.
   
6. Do some more laundry.
   
7. Get a little reading done.
   
8. Watch Desk Set so I can send it back.
   

I think I'd better see what the weather will be like tomorrow. That's a lot of walking and bus riding. I think I will take a nap and DVR the ceremonies. :)

Oh, let me include something that someone showed me the other day. It was amusing and gave me a laugh. Hopefully it will give you a bit of a perk up after a long week.

What an extremely long day

6:30-7:00 Wake up process, with several snoozes
7:00-7:25 Get ready
7:25-7:40 Walk to library, return books
7:40-7:45 Wait for bus
7:45-8:10 Bus to work
8:10-8:15 Walk to work
8:15-8:35 Birthday breakfast for those with birthdays from March through June
8:35-8:40 Pick up paper
8:40-9:00 Sign in and prepare for meeting
9:00-9:10 Sit in meeting room
9:10-9:45 Discover convener is delayed; return to desk, deal with copier issues
9:45-12:00 Meet with brief five-minute break to deal with copier techs; I apparently had the secret method of resetting the machine that customers aren't supposed to know
12:00-12:10 Prepare for lunch (blood testing/insulin)
12:10-12:40 Lunch
12:40-1:00 Dealt with phone call regarding referral
1:00-3:45 Meet
3:45-4:00 Make rounds for data entry sheets
4:00-4:30 Dealt with referrals
4:30-5:00 Took care of various details
5:00-5:15 Got a ride to my friends' house
5:15-8:05 Spent time there; watched two Kim Possible cartoons, took care of something important, fixed coffee, and general visited for a little longer than I meant to do to a storm
8:05-8:22 Waited for the bus
8:22-9:40 On buses home, very crowded and one with a crazy man with no underwear and pants to the ground
9:40-9:55 Walked home, stopped by laundry room for drink
9:55-10:00 Informed one friend I'd been texting on the bus ride that I was home, and let the one set of friends whose house I'd left know via phone call
10:00-10:15 Fixed and ate cheesy tortillas while blogging

Which brings us to now. I am home. I am tired. I am happy to have air conditioning. It can rain with abandon now if it likes (well, I'd rather not have crippling storms or floods). Hopefully I will be able to catch up on my other work tomorrow.

Guess what?

I'm up (got out of bed at 5:30), and I'm doing laundry, at least enough to get me through the rest of the week, anyway, which I could just carry over there sans hamper and granny cart, making it less of a hassle. I'll have to do the main chore Saturday, but at least I'll have three outfits until then.

:)

What else? Oh, Google did send out the certificates for the course, so I have a nice certificate saying I got a 100% on both my tests that I can put in my education file at work. Yay.

Okay, time to change to the dryer....

Okay, I may have just done the geekiest thing

I downloaded a ringtone maker for my phone, recorded the 'Kimmunicator' sound from 'Kim Possible', and put it as my notification tone, so when I get an email or text, for example, it will play the tone. I also recorded the Kim Possible theme song to use as a ringtone.

Geeky? You decide, I'm enjoying it. :)

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, the tone is the first four notes before the theme song begins:

It's sad to see the faces of my youth passing each day

RIP Sherman Hemsley, George Jefferson from the sitcom, 'The Jeffersons', who died at age 74:

I waited to be absolutely sure

to eat with the new (and permanent) crown. They said to wait 30 minutes for the glue to set thoroughly before chewing. I waited four hours, till the numbness wore off (I'm pitiful trying to eat with my mouth numb, and I can't taste anything anyway) and the glue was absolutely set. So hopefully this is the end to the dental saga (for now).

Apparently when they did the x-ray on this tooth, they found the one in front of it, which is also crowned, is breaking down, perhaps because of a flaw in the crown. There's a little pit where it's allowing bacteria to get in, if I understood things. So that's going to need to be taken care of at a future time, after the surrounding tissues have a chance to heal. My insurance probably won't pay for it because it's been less than five years. Their guarantee doesn't quite work because it's been three. But since it may be a problem with the crown itself, he'll think about it and we can work something out. But that is for another day. It feels funny having the crown in; the bite is good, and the chewing ability much better, but I'd gotten used to not having it, although my mouth stayed pretty sensitive. I'm happy to report the sensitivity I had, even when the temporary crown was on, seems to have gone. Yay! Now (fingers crossed) let's hope this one, which has permanent glue, stays on.

Today's

Unshelved comic is priceless. Since I got my library science degree in 1993 it has become a running joke among my friends that the only way I was ever going to get a full-time job was to knock off the competition.

Speaking of which, no word on the public library position yet, but it's only been a week. And I promise, I didn't go to drastic lengths such as taking out the previous person in order to apply. But if I did, I'd have catalogued them. :)

Interesting

China's Great Leap Forward: One man's quiet crusade to remember the disaster

Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward campaign aimed to launch China into a Communist utopia. It ended in famine that killed tens of millions – a disaster that Beijing is still reluctant to acknowledge.

Yang Jisheng did not see his father die.

He was away at boarding school in April 1959 when his father, a peasant farmer, succumbed to starvation – one of the early victims of the three-year Great Famine that killed tens of millions of Chinese country folk.

But Mr. Yang has never forgotten how his neighbors resorted to eating grass, roots, and bark before many of them, too, died. And for 20 years, since he retired from his job as a reporter for the state-run news agency Xinhua, he has dedicated himself to exploring the full dimensions and real causes of the catastrophe that claimed his father’s life.

His quiet crusade has found a few echoes in mainland China, where the government still seeks to stamp out any evocation of the largely manmade famine. Yang’s meticulously researched history of the event, “Tombstone,” was published in Chinese in Hong Kong three years ago, and an English translation of the book is due out in America next October.

But Yang fears that “it will be 10 years before we can publish it here officially, and more likely 20 years,” though a number of pirate editions have circulated under the censors’ noses.

So sorry to hear of this heroine's passing

Sally Ride, Trailblazing Astronaut, Dies at 61

Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, died on Monday at her home in San Diego. She was 61.

The cause was pancreatic cancer, her company, Sally Ride Science, announced on its Web site. Dr. Ride, a physicist, flew on the shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, and on a second mission in 1984. She was also, at 32, the youngest American in space. Dr. Ride later became the only person to sit on both panels investigating the catastrophic shuttle accidents that killed all astronauts on board — the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Columbia crash in 2003.

PS Most people didn't realise it until her death, when it appeared in her obituary, but she is survived by her partner of nearly three decades, a woman with whom she co-authored a book and who was involved in the company she founded. My thoughts go out to her and all of those close to Sally. Pancreatic cancer is a rough way to die, and I'm sure it's been an emotional time for those close to her.

It's late, and I have a VERY busy schedule this week

that includes large clinics, an audit I do [oops, that's next week, thankfully], a person coming in to determine my process for the data entry job, and (finally) getting my permanent crown on my tooth, and of course, being Sunday, I've been up since 6 am and have played several hours of Call of Cthulhu--but--I stayed up to finish something.

I just took the final to the Power Searching with Google course and got 100% on the first try. And while some of the it was stuff I already knew, about 1/3 of the class was totally new to me, like dragging and dropping images into the search box, or using whois, how to download Google Earth files, and those sorts of things.

Thanks Google for the lessons!

Ewww...

I watched a video with a friend this afternoon on making candied bacon. We were both horrified and in my case a little fascinated as to why anyone would spoon sugar on bacon and carmelise it and call it good. I wouldn't have eaten that even back in the day when I did eat meat. Yuck. I know, I obviously just don't get the beauty of bacon.

I had a rocky start to my day but feel better now. Fortunately I watched several episodes of 'Kim Possible', some 'Star Wars: the Clone Wars', and the new Some Grey Bloke video, so there were fun things to watch, too. But I am scarred by the bacon. I won't include the bacon video here, although I'm linking to it, but here's the Some Grey Bloke video, which is dead on up to the last line, and I think it works that way in terms of older women/younger men, too.


And then there's this:


And even funnier...


See, no more images of bacon in my head...yay. I do love Ab Fab.

Seriously?

Someone gave me a $50 bill today and I stopped by my bank to change it for smaller bills. The teller asked if I had an account and when I said I did, he asked me to send in my debit card through the drive-through pneumatic system. Meanwhile, one of the other tellers was trying to butt in on the transaction by taking my card while he was getting the money, and generally making things more complicated than they need be.

Really? To change a bill? Whatever happened to going into a bank and, I don't know, presenting money and getting money in return? Would they ask someone with a ten for ID before they exchanged it for a roll of quarters?

Speaking of quarters, I asked if they could send me a roll through the system (I didn't think they would; most banks won't, because the roll could break and get everywhere). But I guess he realised I was a bit annoyed. So he stuffed a roll into an envelope, told me he was making an exception, and sent it and the other $40 through.

Is this common at all banks, or is PNC just more than a little odd?

There's a Chinese word for what I once was

Tongqi--a woman who marries a gay man

Attitudes towards homosexuality: Gay marriage gone wrong

Hee hee

Actually, although it's not an Amazon video, they loved it, and this was shared by Amazon on their Facebook page. 'We're loving this video, but haven't quite mastered time travel yet. When we do, Amazon Prime members will be the first to know!'

:)

Laundry is the bane of my existence

YKWIA was talking with me on the phone the other day and he mentioned that I talk about doing laundry all the time, but put it off. It simply is one of my least-favourite chores. I often work my way up to doing it. Fortunately I have a lot of clothes.

It's not the laundry itself that does it. When I had a washer/dryer in my own apartment, I didn't mind doing it at all. Even in apartment complexes with laundry rooms in the same building it was okay, if not exactly fun. It's the schlepping things across the complex that I don't like, even though my granny cart does make it easier. And then there's all the stairs to haul it down and up, in which the granny cart is actually a detriment.

Of course, tonight isn't particularly good because it's raining on and off and it's late now, as I fell asleep during the storms that came through. I'm going to try to get up early and do it. But I will eventually get the chore done. I'll try not to keep saying I will until I actually do it, though.

When I was younger, I had a terrible case of brontophobia

I screamed when it thundered even at a few months old, according to my baby book. As a teenager, I dove under the kitchen table when there was a sudden crack of thunder nearby--in front of a guest. On my honeymoon, I wound up camping in the midst of one of the worst storm fronts the Atlanta region had ever seen, and when the camp got struck by lightning, I wound up in the foetal position in a puddle on the ground.

But phobias are tricky things. I tried to force myself to enjoy the sounds of thunder. I once held a brontophobic dog's paw through a storm because its stupid owner had left it in a cage it could crawl on top of AND leashed it, and it was trying to hang itself. And after years of thunder issues, it lessened to the point where I now have an application on my tablet called Sleepy Time that has several noises where you can choose what you go to sleep to, and I often choose rain and thunder.

So I guess it's no surprise that when the thunderstorm rolled through this evening, I fell asleep. Still, it amazes me that I've come this far. It was definitely a phobia, as strong as those I know other people have against spiders and snakes. My reactions were without thought and instant. But in my own way I guess I desensitised over time, and that's good, because you simply cannot escape the occasional thunderstorm.

Now, I still have some issues if I'm actually out in the lightning and thunder, so I'm not entirely without fear. But if it's distant, or I'm inside, and it's a run-of-the-mill storm, I'm fine. Yay!

Good things

1. The library got my application and it has been referred on. They're having trouble with the system that sends a verification, but it did go through.
   
2. I'm halfway finished with Google's Power Searching with Google class. Much of the early stuff I'm familiar with already, but I am learning a few tricks I didn't know. I finished the mid-class assessment with a 100%.
   
3. I'm feeling much better today. I wasn't sure this morning, but I perked up and was very productive.
   
4. I have managed to answer some questions from a friend that might stump lesser librarians, although I'm still working on a few things for him that might be beyond me, like locating a book by its colour and weight. :)
   
5. I got a ride home from work.
   
6. I have the dates for the trip to Chicago (got that last week). It'll be in November this year, on a Thursday and Friday, which will be better for me in terms of the data entry/referral duties at work.
   

Requiescat in pace

Robert (Bobby) McQueen
January 25, 1956-June 28, 2012

Dear Bobby,

We didn't know each other extremely well, but you were always generous to me and friendly. I only learned of your passing yesterday, and was grateful to know that you did not suffer and you were in the home that you loved. I've spent a good deal today thinking of you, and I hope that your spirit is free and happy, wherever it may be. Take care, and rest in peace.

Bobby McQueen was a florist here in Lexington for many years. I knew him through a mutual friend, but we'd lost touch in the last couple of years. I hope he was surrounded by beautiful flowers at his own funeral.

Feeling a little better

I got up a half an hour ago and I feel a little like my old self again. So to celebrate, I've included a random video, the first one I watched from my subscriptions on YouTube this evening, which I found interesting, as I'm rather fond of manatees:

I guess it's Monday

1. I've been out of sorts all day.
   
2. My neck and knees have been bothering me to the point that I took some naproxen and am seriously considering going to bed for awhile.
   
3. I applied for the job at the library, but never received the promised notification or code, so I'm not sure the application went through. I have a call in to Human Resources.
   
4. I just had that dratted crown come off again.
   

:(

On the plus side, I knew they were drawing labs at the doctor, but what I forgot was that was all they were doing, so no co-pay and I got in and out within about 30 minutes, so I got to work much earlier than I expected.

Also, I got a ride home. So that was good. I really didn't want to come home on the bus.

Okay, off to lie down for a bit. Hopefully I won't do my post weekend game crash.

New agenda (for tomorrow, since it didn't work out Saturday)

1. Get up at 6 am.
   
2. Do laundry.
   
3. Finish my job application that's due by 9 am.
   
4. Remember not to eat, because I have a doctor's appointment and they're drawing labs.
   
5. Go to my doctor's appointment that is at 9:30 am.
   
6. Go to work.
   
7. Work.
   
8. Come home.
   
9. Have fun somehow.
   

PS I didn't do laundry so I could focus on the application. It will have to be something to do later this evening.

YKWIA says he showed this to me before

I don't remember it, but I think it's hilarious, and I haven't posted a link here, have I?



It helps if you're familiar with 'Good Morning, Baltimore', from Hairspray. :)

On my way home on the bus

What is it they say about the best-laid plans? I've been over to my friends' house and had a good time. We watched Kim Possible videos and played a card game called Gloom that was fun. Now it's almost dark, and the sunset, like most over the last few days, is beautiful. I guess it has something to do a with the wildfires out west.

It is somewhat a challenge to blog on the bus, given the bumpiness of the ride and a Swype keyboard, where the beginning and ending of the words are determined by when you place or raise your finger.

I'm on the combo route where the Woodhll and Richmond bus routes are combined into a longer way, going out Woodhill and back Richmond. Fortunately it goes out to my stop.

I did get some things at the farmer's market, including some great tomatoes, and I bought a lottery ticket on a lark at the gas station nearby. The price has gone up from a dollar to two. Then the multiplier is another, so the ticket was $3. I doubt if I'll do that again for awhile. It amazes me how people play every day. I know it's chasing a dream, but some people seem to spend way too much on a regular basis.

Okay, I'd better go, it's almost time for my stop.

PS I had to go back and edit this; the autocorrect made a couple of mistakes that I still didn't see after proofreading three times while on the bus. Like I said, it's a challenge sometimes to blog on it.

Trying to be conscientious

Since it's Saturday, and I don't have a huge time constraint, and I'm usually worse about taking care of my health on the weekends, I've taken the time to take my medicine exactly as indicated, am eating breakfast (steel-cut Irish oats), and am generally taking things slow and not rushing about like a madwoman trying to catch the bus. In fact, I'm going to try to avoid taking the bus altogether today, if I can.

Agenda for the day (subject to change):

1. Go to the little Circle K shop near my house and get some money, bread, and possibly laundry quarters.
   
2. Go to the Bluegrass Farmer's market and get some tomatoes, at least.
   
3. Work on an application for a job that's due Monday by 9 am.
   
4. If I can get quarters, do laundry. I just need to do a load or two.
   
5. Do a once-over cleaning in the bathroom.
   
6. Load the dishwasher.
   
7. Work on a book review.
   
8. Watch Desk Set.
   

Not too bad. Notice game notes are not on the list; those were done last week and we didn't play. So, that's ready to go. I should charge my batteries for the voice recorder for tomorrow, though. Okay, I'm off to do things. Enjoy your weekend.

PS Sorry for not posting yesterday. After staying up Thursday I did fall asleep pretty early on Friday, and was out like a light. But that's not unusual at the end of the week. :)

Chalk one up

to productivity. No 'naps' tonight, whether 5-hour or 15-minute, and I'm still going strong. I've also talked to two friends on the phone, one for quite some time. Now my phone's charging because we talked the battery down to almost nothing and I'm going to head to bed, maybe read a bit before turning in. Maybe I'll read some Thoreau--it's the 195th anniversary of his birth. Good night!

Oh, by the way

I got a DVD from Netflix today. It's Desk Set, with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It is considered one of 'The' movies to watch if you're a librarian, even though it doesn't technically take place in a library, I don't think. Anyway, I'll let you know what I think of it. :)

I got a call earlier that I didn't hear, and on the voicemail my friend said, 'you're probably napping, call me when you wake up'. I am known as a sleeper to all my friends, who rib me for it. Another friend was so happy that he and another weren't the only ones to tease me. But I haven't napped tonight, so I'm doing pretty well. Maybe I can stay up till 11. :)

Whew!

I have paid the following bills: the cable, the electric, my cell phone, my credit card, and I've renewed both my American Library Association and Kentucky Library Association memberships. Netflix and my home phone come out automatically on the 17th. I also signed up for a subscription to the Victoria magazine I enjoy so much. That leaves (hopefully) enough for food for the next couple of weeks, so yay.

Okay, I've paid the bills, looked up some things online for a friend, and revised my résumé, and now I have to write a cover letter for a job I'm applying for. But I went by the library on my way home and got a couple of books on cover letters, because I hate writing them. I just despise doing so. But I think it's more professional to include one, even though the job application doesn't list it as required. So...let me see if I can do it without too much pain and suffering. I think it's because it forces me to market myself, and I still have issues with doing so, even though I know it's fine to do. I can market a library, praise other people's merits, etc., but I have trouble doing so for myself. Anyway, before I sit down and write, I want to look over the books, which come from the Lexington Public Library, and that happens to be where I'm applying.

Oh, and just in case it works out, I got a couple of books on interviewing as well. :)

Well, I didn't quite get soaked, thanks to my umbrella

Although my pants, shirt, shoes, backpack, and purse got very wet when the downpour came just as I left the hospital. In fact, you couldn't tell my sandals were purple; they looked black. But I'm not complaining; we need rain desperately. I rescued a Coke can that floated down the street at me so it wouldn't go into the creek, and put it in the bus' trash can. Not as good as recycling I know, but better than ending up in a waterway. I did knock a couple of ants who had stowed away on what became a boat out first, though.

It rained a good soaking rain for at least 20 minutes. Here's hoping there's more to come.

Despite the negative news stories I've been posting

I had a really good day. The other lady who is helping with the referrals really got going today, and I was able to focus on my part. I got caught up on the other part of my data entry job. I've had a spring in my step (except towards the end of the day, when my feet swelled and I had to loosen my sandals). It's cooler, easier to deal with weather-wise. I got a ride home. All in all, it was rather pleasant. I hope your day went as well. :)

Oh, good Lord

Yoga Instructor at Facebook Fired After Employee Disrupts Class Using Cell Phone

Alice Van Ness, 35, has been teaching yoga since 2006. As a courtesy, as class begins she says she politely asks students to turn off their phones. But while teaching at the Facebook Fitness Center last month, the northern California native said one student -- who she says had been texting at the beginning of class – began using her phone while she was demonstrating the difficult half moon pose.

"When she picked up her phone, I was surprised," Van Ness told ABC News. "I didn't know what to say. I just looked at her with this look of utter disbelief. Like, 'Really? You're going to do that right now?'"

That look of disapproval cost Van Ness her job with Plus One Health Management, the company that operates the gym out of Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., offices. Two weeks after the incident, Van Ness was dismissed by the company

1. I can't believe that anyone would answer their phone or text during what is supposed to be a meditative practice.
   
2. If you can't turn your phone off for a few minutes, you have no business even taking yoga.
   
3. What a whigny, self-absorbed thing it is to complain about being humiliated when your own bad behaviour led to a surprised, disapproving look and a pause in class--the class your phone interrupted.
   
4. I hope this instructor finds students who appreciate the value of yoga.
   
5. If the student was really that embarrassed, she should have taken it up with the instructor rather than running to the company.
   
6. I really wish I could sic YKWIA on the student. She needs to learn what humiliation really is.
   

Sometimes seemingly minor things have huge consequences

I feel for this family, and for this young man, who was plagued by a problem most would find trivial, but which was so horrible for him, he took his own life.

Unbearable blushing: Parents speak out about son's suicide

So they were stunned last fall when Brandon, a friendly, well-liked University of Washington student, confessed to his mother he’d been struggling with crippling, chronic blushing for four years.

And they were devastated on May 29, when Brandon jumped from the 11th floor balcony of his Seattle dormitory, leaving behind a five-page note blaming his suicide on despair caused by the little-known disorder.

“When Brandon finally let us in to his secret life of torment, we were obviously way behind,” his mother said.

Six weeks later, the Thomases are speaking out about Brandon’s death to honor his last wish. In the letter, the young man who hid the problem from his friends, his family -- even his twin -- wanted the world to know that there’s nothing trivial about turning red.

:(

The Belfast City Council has confirmed that Lennox has been killed. They denied the request by the Barnes family to see the dog beforehand, but will reportedly send them the ashes by mail. How thoughtful. They also asserted the dog was unpredictable and showing unacceptable behaviour.

I wonder how they'd behave after being taken away from a loving family and being kept in a kennel for two years by people who they didn't know and who planned to kill them? Yet they say the family was in denial as to the dangerous nature of their pet, despite a lack of complaint or incident when the dog was in the hands of the family. And of course, they refused to allow the dog to be sent (all expenses paid by a celebrity) to the United States to a sanctuary.

Heartless bastards.

Lennox, dog condemned as pitbull, is put to death in Belfast

Heartbreak as death row dog Lennox destroyed by Belfast council

Up and ready for a new day

The weather looks beautiful the next couple of days--90 today and low 80s tomorrow, and then our rain chances go up, which would be a wonderful thing, given that we are over 7 inches in the negative for rainfall this year, coming after last year, which broke records as the wettest.

No news on the Lennox front, so far, although I'm keeping an eye on it. I so hope the city of Belfast decides to send him to the United States, where there are quite a few people who have tried to move mountains to get him here. I do wonder what two years of being kept in the city's hands as opposed to a loving home have done for his disposition.

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday. We are both avid readers, but bot of us have experienced a bit of a dry spell lately. I'll check out books, but don't get them read. I haven't touched a Kindle book in weeks. I don't know what the issue is. When I do go to read at home, I often fall asleep. I have no real time to read otherwise, except on the bus, and then that's usually me reading the various news outlets. So I'm going to resolve to read more. I've got several great books out from the library, and of course lots of books here and on my Kindle (and hence on my tablet).

Okay, I've got to go on to work. Have a great day!

I had a headache earlier

so I laid down for a bit. Brandon was teasing me that 'a bit' for me is 3, 4,or even 5 hours, texting me before I went to sleep. This time it was 6. I got up because tonight is my libation night, and so I straightened up the kitchen a bit and then took my libation of wine and honey (with some lavender flowers sprinkled in) out to Hekate and poured it on the ground.

I had a couple of things I wanted to get done tonight, mainly applying for a couple of jobs that are open with the Lexington Public Library. One closes Thursday, the other Monday. It would be really great to work in a library full time, and of course the public library has a great deal more traffic than mine and presents different challenges. With the hospital slated to move, and my position not going, I really need to be proactive in trying to find another job. [Oh, and if you're looking for children's librarian positions, there are a couple available as well. I don't think I'm suited for children's librarian positions. I think it takes someone with an excellent rapport with children, which I don't have. Granted, I haven't spent much time with them. Maybe I would do alright if I got into it. But as much as I love children's books, and children in theory, I think I'll leave those positions to the experts and focus on the more general positions. :)]

Nightmare

I fell asleep a little while ago and awoke to a disturbing dream where I was this sunken thing, kind of vampiresque (and not the sparkly kind that seem so popular today, but rather something definitely undead or daemonic), with blood going down my mouth and neck. I knew this because I looked in a mirror. And smiled. At which point I guess the vampire theory breaks down. It definitely felt like a possession, with the mirror image reflecting the inner thing inside.

That was more than a little unsettling. And even when I went outside to clear my head that image stayed with me.

The crown is back on

This time they sent me home with a kit where I can put it back on myself, complete with a little diagramme. Apparently my abundant saliva plus the layout of my teeth may be an issue. She really suggested that I consider a partial denture on the other side since I can't afford implants. I will definitely look into it. I didn't think that was possible given the layout of my mouth, but it is.

I didn't feel like just standing at the nearest stop for twenty minutes, so I walked down to my normal one. I've walked quite a bit this morning. I'll get to work two and a half hours later than normal, but if this thing stays on till the permanent one strives, it will be worth it.

This is heartbreaking

Protesters in New York, Belfast try to save Lennox, condemned dog

Lennox, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, didn't bite anyone. There were no complaints about him. But he was seized based on his looks as a possible 'pit bull type' despite his owners' assertion that he is a Labrador-American Bull Dog cross. They assert they did everything to be responsible pet owners, yet their family pet was seized and held for two years without them being able to see him or assure themselves of his care. Lennox is slated to be euthanised this week. Regardless of the well-meaning thoughts behind the legislation in Britain that allows this to happen, this is a nightmare for pet owners whose dogs are arbitrarily labelled potentially dangerous. Also, an offer to 'rehome' Lennox in America has not apparently been answered. It seems to me that before killing a dog not for its actions or personality but for its measurements, the Belfast authorities could at least respond.



Update: Here is a more in-depth look at the situation:

World makes last desperate plea to the City of Belfast, "Save Lennox!"

In a last effort to save Lennox’s life “A formal request for a royal prerogative of mercy has been made to the Queen who has the power to grant a reprieve or pardon. In a significant move, Peter Robinson, current First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has indicated that he has asked Michelle O’Neill, minister of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs asking her to review the Lennox case as a "matter of urgency".

Meanwhile, somewhere in Belfast, Lennox waits to die. Alone, in a dank, concrete cell, a dog who has done nothing wrong waits to be killed simply because he looks “of type”. Lennox is a victim of Belfast’s misguided policy and a few stubborn people who would rather take an innocent life, than admit a mistake.

The Barnes family has one final, heartbreaking request for Belfast: "…We will fight for our right to say goodbye. We cannot bear the thought that Lennox will die without being reminded of the hearts and hands that love him."

Waiting

Normally at this time on a Monday I have completed my commute by bus and am just about ready to get some breakfast before clocking into work. But today I have a call in to the dentist to try to work me in once they open; I've talked to one boss and left a message for the other. The crown is in a little baggie inside my backpack. I'm ready except for putting my shoes on. So now I'm sitting here, sipping some soda (which may be my last for a few hours at least) waiting for the dentist's office to call. This is becoming the Tooth Saga of 2012, and this is just the temporary crown.

Today should be busy without being crazy. I need to catch up on a few things from all the time I've missed due the dentist the last couple of days.

I suppose I could go check the news while I'm waiting....

When I was a kid

There was a young girl I met at church one Sunday. She was a classmate of mine, but she'd been absent a lot and I'd never really gotten to know her. By that Wednesday she was dead, bleeding as a consequence of the leukaemia she'd been fighting with the help of St Jude's Hospital in Memphis. She was my about my age--9 years old.

It was the first time I'd heard of leukaemia, and the very first time it really hit me that little kids get sick and die. It was a profound kind of thing, the sort of thing that hits you in the gut and changes your outlook bit by bit.

These days, thanks to researchers and clinicians at places like St Jude's and others, childhood leukaemia is much more survivable than it was then. But it--or for that matter, any form of cancer--can still be a devastating disease for anyone, child or adult.

So I found this story of interest:

In Treatment for Leukemia, Glimpses of the Future

What is important, medical researchers say, is the genes that drive a cancer, not the tissue or organ — liver or brain, bone marrow, blood or colon — where the cancer originates.

One woman’s breast cancer may have different genetic drivers from another woman’s and, in fact, may have more in common with prostate cancer in a man or another patient’s lung cancer.

Under this new approach, researchers expect that treatment will be tailored to an individual tumor’s mutations, with drugs, eventually, that hit several key aberrant genes at once. The cocktails of medicines would be analogous to H.I.V. treatment, which uses several different drugs at once to strike the virus in a number of critical areas.

In 1976 this would sound like science fiction, up there with the flying cars. Tailoring medicine to your genes? And now it's achieving reality. It amazes me what scientific breakthroughs have come about in my lifetime. It really is exciting to watch. This is a good time to live in, I believe. I don't have utter faith in science, by any means. It's a double-edged sword. But with every discovery we get closer to understanding how things work, and that's great, but also we can apply it to real-life situations make a difference on a smaller, yet equally important scale, or could save greater numbers or whole species.

No game today

as Brenda had an issue with both her regular glasses and the backup pair, making it difficult for her to drive from another county in to play. So I cleaned and then visited. I got in after a pseudo-storm (some wind, very little rain--most of it went around us, as usual, although the temperatures are thankfully falling) and I've been looking for a book that my friend read as a child. Ah, yes, the dreaded, 'I remember' quest all librarians are sent on from time to time, although thankfully he has an excellent memory, so hopefully we'll find it.

Tomorrow I'll have to go to the dentist for the third time to reattach that temporary crown. That's three workdays in a row. Unfortunately, I've already paid for and ordered the permanent crown, so there's no sense in going to another dentist. It's actually not the dentist who took the mould and made the temporary ones, but his assistant. Anyway, we'll see how tomorrow goes. I think I'm just going to call first thing and go straight there, rather than try to go into work and then waste time going back and forth on the bus.

Well, it's just now 9 o'clock. Despite getting up at 5:45 am, I'm not super tired. I think I'll read for awhile before going to bed.

Watched

an episode of 'Rosemary & Thyme' (which I'd totally forgotten about, until YKWIA reminded me of how we used to watch it on PBS) and then the movie Julie and Julia, which was fun. I really think Meryl Streep did an amazing job as Julia Child. And of course, I can relate due to blogging, and a little bit from learning to cook from YKWIA. It was rather fitting to watch, as Nora Ephron recently died and the 100th anniversary of Julia Child's birth will be August 15th.

I have not gone outside today, only stepped out of the apartment into the hall to check my mail. It is 104 according to the Weather Channel. I have friends who went out to Joe Bologna's on the bus. I do hope that they're okay. It's just so hot.

Well, I think right now I'm going to take a bit of a nap (and no, I haven't had one today) and then get back up and work on game notes.

Really?

Well, at least this time it didn't break in half. And I didn't swallow it. But the temporary crown popped off while I was eating...yes, again, crackers. This time it was pretzel chips. Not particularly hard, although yes, harder than the multi-grain club ones.

This is not boding well for when I get the permanent one.

Listening to:

I am somewhat reconsidering the farmer's market

It opens at nine, before the heat really settles in. I woke up dreaming of tomatoes and other produce. I attributed that to being hungry, so I ate. If I still feel like schlepping (and thank you, Chrome auto-correct, which handles English loanwords from Yiddish) out to get them after I have some food in me, I might. :) Right now it's 79 but feels like 82, with 10 mph wind. That might not be so bad. Let's see how quickly the temps are rising this morning.

Last night one of the guys I follow on Twitter, Eilir Jones, who lives in Wales, responded to a complaint about the weather and asked me to send them heat. They're getting rain and temps in the low to mid 60s. I told him, sure, we could split the difference between his 60s and my 100s and both get some 80 degree weather. I also told him to send us rain, as we're in a drought. The good thing is that we're supposed to have a cold front come through with a chance of thunderstorms, making the temps fall from the upper 90s-low 100s to the low 80s. I just hope that much of a temperature difference doesn't come with too-damaging storms--I want rain and cooler temps, but not if it knocks the power out or kills people.

Okay, I think I can pass on tomatoes (I can't believe I just said that). It was the hunger. I should go take my insulin, though. I usually take it before I eat, but I can fudge a little if it's right after I eat. Time to go plan out my day.

My evil plan

for the next 35 hours is to stay inside where there's air conditioning. It seemed a good idea, given that it is 99 degrees (but feels like 101), tomorrow is forecast to be 101, and it's just too hot to go running around without a car. No riding the bus across town, no walking or riding the bus to the store, no farmer's market. Just me, inside, with a movie or two, some good books, and the game notes to do. Thank goodness for electricity.

I say this because I ran around quite enough today, as I went to work, called the dentist once they opened and learned that they would only be there till 1 pm, made arrangements with my bosses to leave, finished a report and sent that to one boss, did all my phone calls for today and Monday's appointments, left for the dentist at 10, got there by 10:45, and got the new temporary crown put on using a different material this time. They didn't have to numb me up or anything, since the prep work had been done, and she'd saved the mould from yesterday's session. Earlier in the day I'd discovered I just had one more Novolog pen with no refills, and I don't see the doctor until the 16th, so I'd called my doctor, whose office is near the dentist's, and arranged to pick up a sample pen. So after I left the dentist I walked down the street to my doctor's office, picked up the insulin, and managed to make it to the bus stop across the street in time for the bus, just waiting about 5 minutes.

I got back about 12:30, by which time I could eat and drink. I got a small black bean burrito in the cafeteria (full of soft food) and some water, ate, and then worked like mad to get some articles to a doctor that he needed today. Then I did what I could on the data entry front, for which I was behind from having taken off yesterday afternoon for the first dental appointment.

At five I left with plenty to keep my occupied Monday, but hey, you've just got to let things go and go home, especially when you're an hourly worker.

Once I got home, a friend called and we chatted for a bit. Now I'm eating dinner and trying to decide how to spend my evening. :)

Hope you are somewhere comfortable, or at least if not, it's by your own choice. Some guy was playing golf in 100 degree weather across the street from my bus stop earlier. Crazy, but I guess if it makes him happy....I do feel sorry for the energetic guy who stands out on the road advertising for the car wash and for the folks at the car lot who had to bring cushions out to their concrete table and chairs where they camp out while waiting for interested customers to drive up. It's so hot that when I came home no one was even at the pool.

I spent a good deal of my childhood in the deep South, back before air conditioning was quite so ubiquitous. How did we manage?

Well, drat!

A sliver of temporary crown came off when I was eating, and then I checked and actually half of it had popped off. The other half is missing, which means....

...oh well, this too shall pass.

Couldn't resist.

I guess I get to call the dentist tomorrow.

Well, thank goodness for flexible spending accounts

I went to the dentist today because I had a broken tooth. Now I have a temporary crown, a permanent one on order, and I went ahead and paid the estimated $350 for my part of the bill. Two years ago I had two of them; the year before that, one. So I have some expensive hardware in my mouth. The oral surgeons from a couple of years ago wanted me to get implants; I laughed. Yes, I have dental insurance, but I don't think I can absorb the costs of implants. Still, better to get dental care while I still have a job....

They were having a little trouble getting me numb with one round of shots, so they gave me a second set. I am now quite numb, even an hour after leaving them. I walked down to the library (where I found a couple of Friends of the Library store books for $2 each. Appropriately, one was The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which I just watched, and the other is Julie and Julia (yeah, still have that out from Netflix)). Then I went over to Zaxby's. I don't eat chicken, but they have cheese bites that aren't cooked in the chicken grease. I got some of those and a drink. One, it is hard to masticate completely when your mouth is numb all over. I couldn't really taste the food. Two, it's even worse trying to drink out of a straw. I just choked because I couldn't judge how much suction was needed. But I'm afraid that if I try without the straw, it will end up in one big drool puddle on my shirt.

One thing about being a paedestrian is that you notice things other people don't, the people who just drive by in their little self-contained worlds. Today at work there were thousands of bugs making circles above the grass. They were June bugs (Cotinis nitida). I don't know if that's a mating thing, or if that's how they find food, or what--probably the former. But whatever they were doing, they were doing it with all their might.

Tuesday something a little strange happened. I was on my way to the bus stop and there was this man dressed for work carrying around a small stick going up and down the bushes, looking intently. Turns out he had found a snake, a very tiny garter snake that was quite unhappy with being poked with by a stick. He told me that he was afraid of snakes. I pointed out that it was pretty much harmless, so long as you didn't irritate it too badly, and even if it bit him it wasn't poisonous or anything. You'd have think he'd just leave it alone, and I told him he should, as it wasn't bothering anything and anyhow they're beneficial about keeping away pests. But he was poking it with the stick. I had to go on to the bus stop. I do hope he didn't kill the poor thing. The snake was maybe a foot or so long and just a half inch around. It wasn't hurting anybody. It was just being a snake, a snake that was desperately trying to get away from the crazy man hunting it down with his pokey stick. I really just don't understand people. I have a friend who's afraid of snakes. If he'd seen it, he would have screamed like a little girl and run away from it. The last thing he would have done was poked it with a stick. That's a proper (although somewhat unmanly) way to respond. But I guess there are those people who will attack anything they fear, and they can be scary, especially when it comes to when what they fear are people they perceive as different.

See, walking around a lot gives you food for thought, too.

Sorry I haven't posted

Tuesday night I fell asleep rather early. Today I went to the downtown Fourth of July festival and met up with Brandon and his family for the parade. Then they took me over to the house of some other friends and I watched a couple of things, including 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency', which was very good, and an episode of Kim Possible, which was fun. I wish all our archenemeses in the game could be like Dr Drakken. Although thank goodness we don't have Señor Senior Senior's spinning tops of doom.

Then I helped with a couple of things on the computer and Brandon and family picked me up and we went to the fireworks over where I work. It was a nice 30-minute display at the Idle Hour Country Club, which is across from the hospital where I work. The hospital has this huge front lawn where people congregate and watch the fireworks.

I did tell someone that fireworks were not allowed on the hospital property, or for that matter anywhere in Lexington, with the ban on personal fireworks still in force. She was like, 'Oh, I didn't realise those were fireworks.' Let's see, one-foot long sparkler thingies putting out lots of sparks onto dry grass, and this seemed like a good idea?

The crowd was pretty good overall. A dog got away from his owners at one point and they were chasing them down. Someone brought their pot-bellied pig, and was carrying it as it snorted away. A lot of people came down to watch, more I think than last time I was there. There were even cars parked on the median of Richmond Road. We could park in our hospital parking lot thanks to my badge. :)

Thanks to Brandon and Angenette for all the ferrying they did today, and to their family for letting them borrow a car for the holiday. I wasn't looking forward to trying to catch a bus in all that mayhem, and the bus route didn't even run by their house since they were on a Sunday schedule. And I think the kids really liked the parade and the fireworks.

After I got home I took a shower and cleaned off all the sweat (it was a record high of 99 degrees today), sunblock, and maybe a couple of bugs (I flicked one of those big brown beetles off my shoulder when I got into the apartment building, before going into my apartment). Fortunately I don't seem burned. I bought a floppy mesh hat at Gabriel Brothers yesterday that I wore and put lots of sunscreen on myself, including spraying the back of my neck. After my shower I sat down to compose this, but wound up talking to a friend for about an hour and a half or more on the phone. So I'm just now posting.

Funny, despite the ban, quite a few people were lighting fireworks this evening, but it quieted down by the time the ordinance states. So they'll at least abide by the times even if shooting the fireworks during the ban means a $100 fine for a first offence plus more measures if it causes a fire with property or personal injury. Go figure.

I hope all my American readers had a good and safe Fourth of July. And, please remember, fireworks are not toys:

Fireworks Deck Explosion Injures 9 In N.H., 2 Toddlers Severely Injured

Well, it should be a little quieter this year

and my friends won't have to tranquilise their dog. :)

Officials ban use of common, consumer fireworks in Lexington

The public displays that have permits from the city will go on. Even with the little rain we got last night, it is simply too dry. I'm fine with it, I understand. I have some sparklers but had decided I wouldn't be using them because of how utterly brittle things are out there. I do plan (since LexTran has kindly expanded the holiday hours till the 11:20 pullout) to go over to the hospital I work at and watch the fireworks at Idle Hour Country Club that they put on every year. People come and sit on the hospital's front lawn (we have something like 23 acres around the building) and it's always a nice show. Then I can go home and actually get to sleep without hearing lots of late fireworks, since Thursday is a workday. :)

Good

As someone who was on Avandia (twice) and was handed an information sheet from the company itself when I asked to be put on something else instead (because the company, and not an unbiased third party, would be so much more authoritative, right?), I'm glad to see this.

GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal

GlaxoSmithKline settles fraud case for $3 billion

I just hope that my time on the medication doesn't come back to haunt me.

Had a good game

with the climax of an adventure set in ancient Carthage that involved strange satyr-like things that were thankfully straightforward to decapitate. We retrieved the shard of the Shining Trapezohedron, saved the innocents who were going to be sacrificed, and destroyed a cult of Shub-Niggurath. Not bad at all, and rather fun. Ah, to be a time-travelling ninja!

A storm blew in that did not knock out the lights where I was (although Brandon and his family lost power for a couple of hours), bringing much-needed rain. Let's hope it keeps raining throughout the night and over the next couple of days, at least part of the time, and then clears for Fourth of July.

Okay, we played until 11 pm, it's nearly midnight now, and I've been up since about 6:45 this morning. Good night, and hope you had a good weekend.