I really must share something with you that is neat and works!

Answer Line: How to print from Android

One usually doesn't associate printing with phones or tablets, in large part because once you have a portable device, you have less need for paper. But it still occasionally comes in handy.

You can print directly from an Android device with the right Wi-Fi or Bluetooth printer. However, as I don't like to give advice that involves spending large sums of money, I'm going to tell you how to do it with whatever printer you already own. The only expenses will be paper and ink.

There is one caveat: The print job has to go through a computer that can already use that printer. If your PC isn't on when you tell your phone or tablet to print a document or photo, the actual printing won't happen until you next boot the computer.

I tried this. I went through Google's cloud printing service, downloading the recommended application onto my phone and tablet and then configuring the settings within the Google Chrome browser. And, indeed, I was able to print from my phone by 'sharing' a picture to that application. Nifty. The printer in question is not wireless, and the phone in question was on my 4G network, not wi-fi, so I could have printed a page from anywhere and then had it ready when I got home. For example, I could take a picture of something when out and about and send it to the printer.

More than a little tired tonight

which is no wonder, given my caffeine-induced insomnia last night that was spent installing 34 updates to Windows and a host of other computer maintenance. Despite the lack of sleep, I got up early enough to take out the trash and recyclables and get to work on time, which is amazing as I slept through my alarm and woke up on my own about 7:15 (I need to be at work at 8:30). After work I ran some errands and then brought some food to a friend who was feeling under the weather. I visited for awhile and then did a little more with the computer, but now I'm heading to bed at least for a couple of hours, then I plan to get up and give my monthly libation to Hekate. (That was one of the errands, getting wine for the libation.) I use pinot noir. I also got some mead for me. It's one of the few things that are alcoholic I drink. Tomorrow I have a an appointment with the ophthalmologist. I only see him every six months and wasn't using my phone calendar last time, so I totally forget now that we're in the new year. I'm glad they do those reminder phone calls. Anyway, I'm going to try to go in a little early to work to make up some of my lost time. But for now, I'm gong to take it easy and try and get some rest. Good night, in case that's all the writing I do tonight. :)

Oh, happy day!

I got up about 11:30, scanned what I needed to for my friend, e-mailed it to him, and then went back to working on some computer stuff. I still need to work on the old game notes from before I recorded the sessions (before about 2005) and compile and edit them so they're actually usable. The work I'm doing tonight will help give me the tools I need to really start working on that again.

In the midst of the computer work, but completely unrelated to the game notes, I finally managed to install the National Geographic Complete DVDs, which had thwarted me after I'd upgraded my computer to Windows 8. These DVDs contain all the National Geographic magazines in digital form from 1888-2008. I am also in the process of adding two years that are available for download, so I'll have them through 2010. That's all that's available so far. I love National Geographic, obviously. I am so happy to finally have access to them again. On the other hand, the downloads aren't on disc, so I'll have to try to back them up somehow. Still, it's nice to be able to peruse them.

It's now after 2 am and I'm about ready to go back to bed. I want to get up and do a few things early tomorrow morning, which might be a bit of a challenge since I'm still up at present. But once this last download is installed, I'm heading to bed. I just hope I can get to sleep; I'm not particularly sleepy given that I slept about three hours tonight and I've had quite a bit of caffeine, too. We'll see. Good night. :)

Decidedly cranky today

My patience with people has worn thin today, although I don't know if it was evident at work. YKWIA and A definitely knew. So I'm at home alone after running some errands with/for them just keeping to myself and doing some computer maintenance/set up. Part of it is hormones. I'm also more tired than I really ought to be, I suppose. My blood sugar has been doing pretty well, so it's not that. I think I'll take a short nap and then get up and scan something for a friend and do some more computer stuff. I really am going to try not to sleep the night away.

Oh, I saw my ex today. I'm not sure if he saw or recognised me. Apparently he still works at the store. I'd gone there before work for something and he's the one who unlocked the door when they opened. I had not seen him since they moved the store and had wondered whether he was still there. Afterwards, when I was back in the car, the radio had Kelly Clarkson's song that goes, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger....' I think we would both agree that it was appropriate. :) We had a very toxic relationship that has scarred me even though the divorce was 21 years ago. I am so glad it ended.

Okay, that's it for now. I'll try to write something more interesting later. :)

And for those darker moods

Enjoying some songs from my childhood

Some music as I bring order out of chaos

Listening to Adele, 'Set Fire to the Rain'



'Rumour Has It'



What a voice! I've had the radio on and have been up (after a bit of a post-work nap) doing some housework/straightening up. The living room looks much better, and I can actually sit on the loveseat again. :)

The last few minutes I've been watching YouTube videos of Jim Parsons (Sheldon from 'Big Bang Theory') giving interviews on 'Ellen' and 'Late Night with David Letterman', and I was struck by what an engaging and upbeat person he seems to be. I think he does an excellent job on the show, but he seems to be a genuinely nice guy, too.

Okay, I think I'm going to do some reading and head to bed. I thought about watching the fourth episode of 'Downton Abbey', but it's almost eleven. Good night.

Figures

Samsung To Launch Galaxy S4 On March 14

That's a little over a month after I broke down and upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S3. But that's okay, I love my phone and I expect it will keep me occupied for awhile. :)

Aw, I always liked him

Former surgeon general C. Everett Koop dead at age 96

He is best remembered for his official 1986 report on AIDS – a plain-spoken 36-page document that talked about the way AIDS spread (through sex, needles and blood), the ways it did not spread (through casual contact in homes, schools and workplaces) and how people could protect themselves.

The report advocated condom use for the sexually active and sex education for school children, pleasantly surprising liberals and upsetting many of Koop's former supporters. An eight-page version was mailed to every American household in 1988.

The brochure came in a sealed packet with the warning that "some of the issues involved in this brochure may not be things you are used to discussing openly."

He was the surgeon general as I came of age, and always seemed to have wonderful integrity. He was more interested in saving lives than playing politics, something you see rarely in government. RIP, sir.

Life has been pretty busy lately

I have come home the last couple of nights and have just absolutely crashed. Thursday I saw my ankle surgeon and was told that the ankle was strong (although I should continue wearing the bone stimulator because it would just make it even better). He gave me the okay to finish up with physical therapy. He was concerned with the fact that my blood sugar went up the moment I returned to work, and my regular doctor and I will try to work that out. I took a friend out to the mall to fight the good fight against a department store that has made an error they apparently do not know how to correct. I spoke with my therapist and we basically had an exit interview via phone so I didn't have to go in and I am officially 'graduated' from physical therapy. I went home, meaning to work on the notes, but didn't get started. I had a phone call and then texted some and by that time was just so tired; it had been a long day.

Friday was kind of slow at work. I got another book to review. It's due March 27th. I picked up a friend from work, went by the pharmacy and Subway for dinner, ate with them, and then went home and did work on the notes for awhile, but I got really sleepy and didn't finish them. So this morning I got up early and worked for another hour or so, finished the notes, put them in Dropbox so I can access it from my mobile devices, etc. Then I went over to my friends' house and we did a grocery run that wasn't too bad. We went to a different store because they had all these Kroger gas points and we decided to try to use them. I got 80 cents off, at $2.85 a gallon. That was something happy, given the current high prices of gas. I did my laundry over there and watched three episodes of 'The Vicar of Dibley', made one of my friends a simple lunch, and then came on home, as they were wanting to watch 'Midsomer Murders' (not that I have anything against that, and I was invited to watch, but I'd had enough video watching for the moment, and my contacts were acting up and needed to come out. Plus, I wanted to blog after not doing so for a couple of days. Besides, it's kind of their 'couple time'. :)

So now I've eaten dinner and am thinking about relaxing for awhile. I'd like to listen to some music, maybe read (I'm on page 41 of Beautiful Creatures, and then watch an episode of 'Downton Abbey' if I can. Sorry I didn't write for a bit. Next week will hopefully not be too busy.

Yet another reason I love Amazon

It's back up after getting pulled because enough homophobes flagged the video as inappropriate. I think it's extremely sweet, appropriate, and maybe it will remind people that books tend to open minds.

A little bit of spring

I know it's still pretty cold, but I saw these at the store and brought them home to cheer the place up a bit. Aren't they beautiful?

Earlier I was waiting for a friend at an appointment, so I watched the third episode of series one of 'Downton Abbey' on my tablet. Then I played a little Snood and Ninja Chicken and texted Brandon. My friend was in there for awhile, obviously.

It's been a long day and I think I'm going to go do a little reading before bed and then turn in, but I thought I'd post the picture. There was another I tried to get while we were in a drive through earlier but you couldn't read the signs clearly enough. One said 'Faith Covenant Church'. Next to it was a simple sign, 'Laundromat'. It's at the strip mall behind McDonald's and Chase Bank on Richmond Road. YKWIA, who was in the car with me, pointed out for them that 'cleanliness really is next to godliness'. He has such a deadpan humour. :) I wish that picture had come out, but alas, that was not the case. I'll try sometime during the day and see if it comes out clearer.

Okay, I'm going to get my shoes off and crawl into bed with a good book. Tomorrow I have to work and have three appointments. Wish me luck.

Oh, man

I came in around 9:30 tonight and laid down for 'a minute'. That was over three hours ago. I was (and am) so tired. It was a very busy day and Wednesday and Thursday are looking even busier. I started my morning not taking trash or recyclables out, or boiling eggs, but rather answering a plea from a sick friend to take his kindergartner to school. That was actually somewhat fun. I'm not used to having friends with kids. I got to be Auntie Lisa. Then I got to work a little early and it was busy there. After work was physical therapy, which I did really well at. My therapist said he would send a note to the doctor I'm seeing Thursday, and if it's okay with him I could end my sessions after Thursday, I've been doing so well. I even did calf rises (where you stand on tippy-toe several times in succession), something I couldn't do at all three weeks ago due to the broken metatarsals in my foot. So that's a plus, as physical therapy is $40 a pop, twice a week.

After therapy I went searching for a Long John Silver's/A&W combination to fulfill a request by another friend who was feeling ill. I went first to the Nicholasville Road store, which has shut down, then downtown. It is apparently the only one left; the others are just LJS. That took awhile. We ate, and then instead of doing the big grocery run, we put that off till tomorrow since it was already late and went to get just a couple of things. I did a couple of light things for them like changing a light bulb and loading the dishwasher and came on home. There is no way I could have made it through the store run. I literally came through the door, got undressed, called them to tell them I was home, and then laid down and was asleep almost before I hit the bed. Now I'm going to feed the fish and go on back to bed. Good night.

I leave you with my favourite song from the album

Live:


The version from Ophelia (which I must admit, I like the arrangement better):

I should probably put the reading off

(I never thought I'd say that.) Looking at the weather, we're going to get rain in about an hour. But on the other hand, it is very windy. That's supposed to die down by the morning and the rain is supposed to abate before I go in to work. Since I'm already undressed and comfy, I think I'm going to err on the side of reading and just take everything out tomorrow morning. Here's hoping the Weather Channel's hourly forecast is as good as it usually is. If I get wet, it will be on my head, in more ways than one. None of the trash is the type of stuff to spoil overnight, and I simply don't want to go back out again unless it's an emergency.

So I'm listening to Natalie Merchant's Ophelia and gathering the things to be charged up to the bedroom. I'm going to read for a bit and then go to bed early, so I can get up early in the morning and finish my work. It's been a good day off. The week ahead is pretty busy. It was good to have a three-day weekend to prepare. I have physical therapy twice, a doctor's appointment, and another I'm taking someone to. Plus work looks to be busy the rest of the week. I wish I had sent the menu home so I knew what they're serving tomorrow; I may cut up some salad makings and take some with me for lunch. I bought baby greens, Craisins (with less sugar), a cucumber, red bell pepper, yellow cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms, so it would make a fairly festive one, and it would be cheaper than the salad bar at work. I can always add a bit from there if I like (I love eggs on my salad, for example. Of course they're very heavy, so that's expensive. I have some in the refrigerator for that matter; I could boil some for breakfast and lunch. Hmmm....I could do that while I'm reading.) We'll see if I actually get up in time to do the rest or just run out the door in the morning.

Have a good night.

Took some time and watched

'Downton Abbey' on Netflix. I'm late to the table (this was Series 1, Episode 2), but I am enjoying it quite well. And I loved seeing the Dowager being thwarted a bit. I've loved Maggie Smith since I saw her in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie years ago. Oh, and the costumes are so lovely. I really rather like the heir presumptive, Matthew, at least so far. Now that I know the regular length is 43 minutes (the pilot was 66) I'm more likely to watch each night, so maybe I can get caught up. Now to clean the bathroom, and then for a bit of reading.

Went by the grocery

so some friends could have some coffee in the morning (we're doing the big run tomorrow, and unlike mine, coffee is a necessity in their home). While I was out I got some salad makings, Sabra spinach-artichoke hummous, wheat flatbread, and some Tuscan bean salad, marinated mozzarella, and artichoke hearts off the Mediterranean bar. So I'm having a nice Mediterranean dinner. I had originally been in a mood for Chinese, especially the fried tofu and broccoli in sesame sauce at the Great Wall, but the beans, mozzarella, and artichokes looked so yummy, and so I'm eating that instead. I'm going to have frozen Greek yoghurt for dessert, keeping with the theme. :)

I still need to do a few things with the house, but I'm reaching a point where I'm thinking tomorrow may be another day, although tomorrow I work, go to PT, and then do the store run and possibly laundry. Hmmm.... I did take a big bag full of grocery sacks to be recycled. I thought that was all of them, but saw some more in a reusable bag sitting next to the loveseat. I'll take those with me tomorrow. I also forgot one item, more trash bags. I'll have to get those while we're out, too. Now it's eight and I'm seriously thinking of doing something fun, like reading or watching something on Netflix. Let me go put up the dinner things and see what I'd like to do next.

The kitchen took quite a lot out of me

There were a lot of dishes of various types, but I also pulled things out of cupboards and either recycled/threw them away or found better homes for them. I had a huge hoard of grocery bags to recycle [and I'd actually taken a lot out at one point when I first got mobile], and there were jars I'll never use. Of all of the jam jars, etc., I just kept a Ball canning jar. Everything else went. While I was off I bought a collection of plastic containers and then a couple people actually gave me some, so I needed room for them. Which reminds me, I need to return one to Brandon. I've only had it since mid-December. :)

So both hand- and machine-wash dishes are clean. The counters are clean, the stove and kitchen island are clear and wiped down, and everything's in its place. I really should go through the refrigerator to see if anything needs to go, but I'm not going to at the moment. That can wait till later tonight. Right now I am going to take a break and then get the laundry together for tomorrow. I've excavated the area around the computer but I need to get the rest of the living area finished, especially the loveseat and a table. That will at least bring it back to normal. If I can do that and get all the trash and recyclables out, I'll be happy with a day's work. But for now, I'm going to go do something not related to housework for a bit. :)

Although we don't get off for President's Day

It was going to be fairly slow around work, and since I haven't had a day off since I went back, and my house looks positively like a tornado went through it (I'm not exaggerating), I took off. So here's the agenda for the day:

1. Sleep in. Slept till almost 9:30.
2. Feed fish.
3. Eat breakfast.
4. Make an agenda.
5. Check the news. The whole thing with Pistorius is sad. Now they're talking of a bloody cricket bat and steroids. And the guy who apparently smacked a toddler on an aeroplane in front of a bunch of people using a racial slur is a major jerk who needs an attitude adjustment. Perhaps the fact that he is out of a job will do that.
6. Shower and dress. Still using the shower chair, by the way, although I stood briefly the other day.
7. Get some caffeinated drinks. Circle K has a special of Diet Sunkist 3 for $3. Nice. That should keep me going for a couple of days.
8. Look for a black bra at Gabriel Brothers. Captured one. Also found a series of nesting boxes that look like books that were pretty neat.
9. Load dishes into dishwasher and run.
10. Gather up the various trash and recyclables to be taken out.
11. Take a break for a midday nap, since you don't get those anymore.
12. Do hand dishes.
13. Clean kitchen counters.
14. Pull out the plethora of plastic grocery bags to be recycled.
15. Move mixer and blender above refrigerator.
16. Rearrange plastic containers; get rid of old ones or ones missing lids/bottoms.
17. Get rid of most of the glass jars you're hoarding. And those old glass Airwick things. Recycle.
18. Rearrange freezer. Fill blue ice trays. Get rid of old ones you don't use.
19. Straighten up kitchen island.
20. Straighten up the area around the computer.
21. Clean the bathroom.
22. Take trash and recyclables out.
23. Take out evil sack of mildewed towels from the bathroom flooding incidents while I was off with my injury.
24. Do something fun. This was your day off, remember? Watched 'Downton Abbey', and then I read and listened to music. :)

I also talked to Brandon on the phone for a little while, which was nice. We usually just text back and forth, but sometimes it's just easier to speak on the phone.

Home from the game

Today started out a little rough, as every little thing was frustrating me, but it got better quickly. My blood sugar was way high this morning because I'd forgotten my pen needles yesterday so I hadn't had my insulin all day. That was a good part of the problem. I forgot them again this morning but went back home and got them. Once I took my medicine things went smoother. A and I got things ready for the game. YKWIA and I watched the Venture Brothers for awhile. Then Brenda came over for the game. I had a good time, we stopped about 8, and I got home around 9 pm after helping YKWIA with some stuff on the computer. Now, despite a lot of caffeinated soda, I am ready for bed. Tomorrow should be busy. So, good night for now. Take care, and I hope you had a nice weekend.

Well, it took most of the day

but we finally got to see Beautiful Creatures. The guys weren't ready (well, actually YKWIA wasn't ready, but A was) to go to the 1:00 showing, so we went on to Cheddar's and ate there, and then we got stuck somewhere before the 3:50 showing, and what with traffic around the mall, got there 10 minutes late, so we bought 7:00 tickets and I stuck around their house for awhile before it was time to go back.

I really enjoyed the movie. The love story was sweet without being treacle. The setting was deliciously Southern Gothic (it was filmed in Covington, Louisiana, although it set in South Carolina). The young man who played Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) really conveyed that well. The girl who played Lena (Alice Englert) did a pretty decent job as well, especially as she was playing a withdrawn person who slowly came out of her shell through love. The actress who played Ridley (Emmy Rossum) was perfect for the part, being deliciously dark and dangerous. Emma Thompson did a great job as wacky fundamentalist ['but I baked you brownies...from scratch'] and the embodiment of Serafine. And how can you go wrong with a film that has tunnels and ancient books under a normal-looking public library and a librarian (Viola Davis, playing Amma--you may know her has Aibileen from The Help) who is both a keeper of secrets and who has ancestor spirits to consult of her own? :) Jeremy Irons also does well in the role of Macon.

I'm intrigued by the movie and plan on reading the books. They're only $2.99 apiece in the Amazon Kindle store. :) I went ahead and got them, and just now read the first snippet on my phone. Let me go download it to the actual Kindle.

It's getting a bit late (almost eleven) and I have the game tomorrow and a short trip to the store for snacks first, and I have to be over there about 9 am. So good night.

Yay!

I got my book review finished and submitted. It really came together this morning (I really must come to terms with the fact that despite being a night owl for most of my life, due to the diabetes and post-lunch slump, my best work really is done in the mornings these days). I learned a lot about the subject matter, so that's a plus. And it's always nice because you get to keep the book. I got a notice the other day that another book review I had done for another journal was accepted for publication. I have four published, that makes five accepted, and another submitted. I am becoming the book review queen. Also, I agreed to be a library selector/reviewer for Doody's for the seventh year running. :) I haven't done anything really research-oriented, but I've done some writing/publishing as I can:

Broadbent, LK, 1986 Checklist of Kentucky State Publications. Frankfort, Ky.: KDLA, 1992 (under former name).
Rowan, EE. Providing Library Services in a Unique Pediatric Orthopaedic Setting: Experiences at the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 5(2). 2005, pp. 65-72.
Rowan, E. Library Selector. Doody’s Core Titles in the Health Sciences 2006. Doody Enterprises, Inc., 2006 through 2012. [Orthopedics]
Rowan, E. Medical Librarian, Pediatric Hospital Library. A Day in the Life. Ed. Priscilla K. Shontz and Richard A. Murray. Libraries Unlimited, 2007.
Rowan, EE. 'Caring for Patients From Different Cultures, 4th edition Geri-Ann Galanti', Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 10(2), 2010, pp. 205-206.
Rowan, EE. 'Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan on a Shoestring by Emily Knox', Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 10(4), 2010, pp. 420-421.
Rowan, EE. 'The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian by Lisa A. Ennis and Nicole Mitchell', Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 11(2), 2011, pp. 204-205.
Rowan, E. Orthopedics. The Medical Library Association's Master Guide to Authoritative Information Resources in the Health Sciences. Ed. Laurie L. Thompson. Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2011.
Rowan, E. Orthopedic Nursing. The Medical Library Association's Master Guide to Authoritative Information Resources in the Health Sciences. Ed. Laurie L. Thompson. Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2011.
Rowan, EE. ‘Effective Blogging for Libraries by Connie Crosby’, Journal of the Medical Library Association. 99(4), 2011, pp. 321-322.

I still have some time before I go out with friends to see Beautiful Creatures out at the Fayette Mall Cinemark (for which I have a free ticket courtesy of our employee appreciation gifts). Then we're going to go to Cheddar's, which believe it or not, I haven't been to. Now, I say 'we'. Actually, they're on a post-Valentine's date and I'm the ride, so I'll probably be sitting separately at the movie and possibly the dinner. But, hey, I have my phone, tablet, and Kindle with me. (Ooh, plus my camera--maybe I can get a nice picture of them together; the last one I have is from Yule of 2001. And I have photo paper for my printer.)

It's sunny, although cold, but very pretty outside. I went out to the car after taking my shower and getting dressed to get the package of toilet paper that's been sitting in my trunk. The sky is clear and beautiful.

I have about an hour and a half before I need to go over there. Not sure what to do with my time. I should do some actual cleaning around here, but I don't want to get into it and then have to leave. I have already allotted some time to really give the apartment a good straightening up and cleaning coming up. And I don't know, I might be able to do something this evening. I don't have to do the game notes (I've already finished them, and put them where I can access them later), so that's a plus. Hopefully today will be relaxing. Tomorrow should be the game, and possibly a grocery run.

But I should probably be careful about expressing opinions about anyone

(even though that is protected by US law). I give you:

Librarians Rally Behind Blogger Sued by Publisher Over Critical Comments

In 2010, Dale Askey, now a librarian at McMaster University, in Ontario, wrote a blog post about Edwin Mellen Press on his personal Web site, Bibliobrary, referring to the publisher as "dubious" and saying its books were often works of "second-class scholarship." For a few months afterward, several people chimed in in the blog's comments section, some agreeing with Mr. Askey, others arguing in support of the publisher.

In June 2012, Edwin Mellen Press's founder, Herbert Richardson, issued a notice of action to Mr. Askey, suing him for more than $1-million. That same day, the press issued a similar notice of action to Mr. Askey and McMaster University, telling them that they were being sued for $3-million. In the lawsuits, filed in a Canadian court, Mr. Richardson and the press are seeking damages for both the blog post and the comments left by the blog's readers.

So he's being sued personally by the press founder, plus being sued by the press, for comments on a PERSONAL blog. His CURRENT employer is also being sued, even though he was employed at another university, not named in the suit, at the time of publication. Additionally, some comments listed in teh suit are actually not Mr Askey's, but rather ones that were posted by readers.

In the United States, I think this would be considered spurious and thrown out. I don't know enough about Canadian law to know how they would respond. But it has some scary implications for bloggers, and also for librarians and academics who express opinions in their writings. Meanwhile, from the same article:

The Canadian Center of Science and Education is threatening to sue Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado at Denver, after he included the center and three of its related companies on his blog's list of journals he considers to be "potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers," which take advantage of academics desperate to get their work published. In separate blog posts, Mr. Beall details why he believes the companies are misleading.

I've had a takedown notice sent to me regarding this blog, from someone from my past who didn't like the comments (which were true) and opinions (which were my own) on the blog. They're a little scary, but sometimes it's just a lot of smoke and no fire. I went through and reviewed what I had written, kept almost all of it here, and tweaked a few so it was clear that they were my opinions. I also do not blog at work because someone (I'm not sure who) once complained about something I wrote (unspecified) while I was on our system. This was several years ago. I never learned what it was, but I suspect it was a comment I related that a friend had said, and one in fact that I disagreed with in the blog entry. So if you ever see a blog entry during the weekday inside normal business hours, I'm apparently off from work. Then again, I only agreed not to blog on their equipment. I can technically do so on my phone and tablet, and see no reason I couldn't when on break, but I haven't anyway. I've been blogging for almost 12 years, and those are really the only two problems I've had. Have you ever encountered people who tried to bully you into silence?

On a local front

Arbitration panel says Lexington Public Library owes former director

The library fired Imhoff after the Lexington Herald-Leader detailed more than $134,000 she spent on travel, meals, gifts and other items over five years. A city audit later raised more questions about library spending and reported that 1,522 images of "adult materials" were found on a library computer assigned to Imhoff, in violation of library policy.

Kathleen Imhoff sued the library for more than $5 million in damages, citing being fired in violation of her contract, defamation, and discrimination due to being a woman. The judge dismissed the defamation and discrimination claims, but the contract violation issue was sent to arbitration. The sex discrimination aspect was interesting. Yes, despite the overwhelming percentage of female librarians, men have a disproportionate amount of administrative jobs in our profession, so I'm sure it does happen. But the majority of administrators are, indeed, women. I don't know the details of the case, but apparently the judge did not find it having merit. However, it does sound like the library may have to pay her contract completely. If there were concerns about her spending, etc., then they should have made that the cause. Of course, these days, employers don't seem to want to do that, probably due to legal concerns. Kentucky is an 'at will' state, meaning employees can be terminated without cause, so they were under no obligation to put that in the contract. But once it was in, I think you pretty much have to go with it.

Then there was this

Terry Deary's attack on libraries branded 'ignorant twaddle': Authors, including artistic director of Bath Children's Literature Festival David Almond have criticised Terry Deary's comments that libraries are damaging the book industry

Deary furthered the debate yesterday by telling The Guardian that libraries were 'damaging'.

"Because it's been 150 years [since the Public Libraries Act], we've got this idea that we've got an entitlement to read books for free, at the expense of authors, publishers and council tax payers," he said.

The writer was the seventh most borrowed children's author from UK libraries last year. His books were borrowed more than 500,000 times during 2011/2012.

Under the Public Lending Right scheme, Deary would have received £6,600 – 6.2p per book – through people borrowing his books from a library. The amount he would get if he sold that number of books is £180,000.

But other library supporters have pointed out that families who use libraries are often those who can't afford to buy the books.

Here's a thought: without libraries, many of those 500,000 wouldn't have read his books at all, or told their friends what they thought about them, etc. I haven't read his illustrated series, Horrible Histories, which present unusual and sometimes downright gory scenes from history in a tongue-in-cheek manner, or any of his other books. I believe I shan't (and certainly won't buy them), especially given this, from his Wikipedia article:

Controversy

Deary is an outspoken critic of schools, which he believes serve no function above keeping children off the street. Deary has commented: "I've no interest in schools. They have no relevance in the 21st century. They were a Victorian idea to get kids off the street. Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating? At my school there were 52 kids in the class and all I learned was how to pass the 11-plus. Testing is the death of education. Kids should leave school at 11 and go to work. Not down the mines or up chimneys, mind, but working with computers or something relevant. Everything I learned after 11 was a waste of time. Trigonometry, Boyle's law: it's never been of any use to me. They should have been teaching me the life skills I was going to need, such as building relationships, parenting and managing money. I didn't have a clue about any of these things at 18. Schools need to change."

Terry Deary has said of historians: "They are nearly as seedy and devious as politicians..They pick on a particular angle and select the facts to prove their case and make a name for themselves... They don’t write objective history... Eventually you can see through them all. They all come with a twist."

In 2013 Deary spoke out against public libaries as they are unfair to authors and people should not expect things for free. He claims, in contrast to his earlier beliefs on the lack of value in schools, that schooling provides the poor and underpriviledged with sufficent literacy and that he, as a tax-payer, should not subsidise more.

. Wow. No, I see no reason to give him money. In my opinion, he sounds like a complete jerk.

Certainly the most interesting news story of the day

Meteorite Hits Russia, Causing Panic

A meteor plunged toward earth over Russia's Ural Mountains Friday, exploding into flames in a powerful blast that damaged buildings in nearby areas, injuring around 1,000 people.

Amateur videos broadcast on state television showed an object streaking across the sky, trailing smoke, around 9:20 a.m. local time before bursting into a fireball. It caused a sonic boom from which residents in the city of Chelyabinsk, the largest in the affected region, described a shock wave that blew in doors, smashed glass and set off car alarms.

What an amazing thing to experience. I hope no one was terribly hurt. But from a scientific and just normal point of view, this was a pretty interesting.

So sleepy after a long day

I:

1. Got up super early (5 am) to launder a comforter with dog vomit on it and it didn't actually come out, which was disappointing.
2. Blogged.
3. Worked.
4. Had PT. It was an interesting session, as two more exercises were added.
5. Looked up things for YKWIA.
6. Fell asleep rather than doing my book review.
7. Woke up and got rather cross with myself for doing so.
8. Blogged.
9. Will be going back to sleep and maybe getting up early tomorrow. There's really no point of trying to do anything right now.

Good night. Hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, if you celebrate it.

Somewhat amused

The very first thing I bought for the car--on the very night I brought it to Lexington--was a window scraper for frost and snow. Just now I went to put the comforter in the dryer and two of my neighbours are in their car dealing with a very thick frost by using the window wiper fluid in their car reservoir and their wipers to clear off the front, a rear defrost for the back, and they're letting the side windows go up and down in an effort to clear them. I was going to offer to let them use my scraper, but surprisingly, they're doing well for the front and back, and I guess they'll get there eventually. But I was amused. If you don't have a garage, a scraper is pretty necessary in our climate (and even then, many people have them). Granted, I've been caught without one and I've used a card out of of my wallet that wasn't too important. But I've never actually just seen someone laying on with the windshield wiper fluid in the hopes of melting the frost, especially in sub-freezing weather. Even with the additives in the fluid, I'm surprised they did as well as they did, although I'm sure it would have been faster with a scraper. Just saying....

Oh, well. I think I'm going to lie back down for a bit while the comforter dries (but get up in plenty of time to deal with my own frosted car). Hope you have a great day.

Okay, make that three stories in a week

Olympian Pistorius In Custody After Woman Killed

Oscar Pistorius is an athlete who is a double-amputee whose legs were amputated below the knee before his first birthday due to a congenital condition. He campaigned to be able to run in the regular Olympics, and competed in the last Summer Games. I had followed a little of his story out of curiosity, and he's also visited at least one of our hospitals, I think, as an inspiration and role-model for children in similar situations.

Many South African media outlets had reported that the dead woman was Pistorius' girlfriend Steenkamp and that he may have mistaken her for a burglar and shot her.

It was reported that the she may have been trying to surprise Pistorius for Valentine's Day and he thought she was an intruder breaking into his home. The shooting prompted discussions on talk radio shows about the country's gun control laws.

How awful.

UPDATE: Pistorius has now been charged with murder. Police have been called to the house before for incidents of a 'domestic nature' and neighbours heard shouting at the time of the shooting. It remains to be seen what really happened.

Up WAY early

to take care of that comforter that got upchucked (and who knows what else) upon by my friend's puppy--the now 67-pound puppy with the touchy stomach when it comes to riding in cars, who thinks she's still a lap dog when it comes to Brenda. :) This is the first I've stepped into our laundry room for the complex since September or October (it has fairly steep stairs, but also a railing). Cokes are now $1.50, up 25 cents. :)

I checked the news and at least two of my friends (Brandon and A) are going to be terribly disappointed over the ACL injury Nerlens Noel of the University of Kentucky sustained during the last basketball game. He will be out for the rest of the season. Even I, who do not follow sports, know that he's their star player. So that sucks for what is known collectively here as the Big Blue Nation. I wish the young man well. Now speculation is whether he'll return for another season at UK or go straight for the NBA. Personally I think they shouldn't be allowed to just breeze into the NBA after just a year and should stay until they get their education, but that's me. I'm very pro-education and somewhat indifferent to sports, except as a means of acquiring said education.

Wow, that's two sports-related posts in one week. That has got to be some kind of record.

Now that I've finally remembered my wireless router password

so I could download 'Plants vs. Zombies' to my phone via wi-fi, I'm listening to:

The recorder was on the loveseat

although it took two passes to notice it. And the notes are now finished. Yay!!! I'm going to go relax a bit, and listen to some music, but not for too awful long because I have a book review due day after tomorrow. Fortunately, I do know where the book is. :)

So I have a night to myself so I can do the notes

and I have no idea where the voice recorder is. Must go searching before I can transfer the files to the computer and do the pseudo-transcription. The fact that we didn't play Sunday contributed to my lack of memory. Oh, well, it gives me a good excuse to excavate the loveseat. :) And YKWIA treated me to Long John Silver's (thank you), so I'm up to the task.

I also have to put an old comforter into the laundry across the complex because I had a dog with a touchy stomach on something like her second car ride in the backseat today. Since it had been raining and snowing, I'd brought the comforter for muddy paws. Fortunately it protected the seat from some other stuff as well.

Got up early

which is nice, as lately I've been struggling to get up by 7:45, so I have an extra hour today. I'm still a bit bleary-eyed (isn't that how I was when I said good night?), but I've already added some water to the aquarium and had a little caffeine, so eventually I'll get going.

I have an appointment this afternoon, so it will be a shorter workday than usual. Then I'm going to help YKWIA with a reshelving project assuming the weather isn't too bad. We've got rain and a wintry mix coming in today. Guess I should go check the weather and see if they've firmed up whether we'll get rain, ice, snow, or a combination today.

Hope you have a great day!

A little Mardi Gras music

Okay, I got a bit distracted

I found the way to update my phone's firmware, and that took awhile. I also had a couple of albums that were put into my Cloud player at Amazon thanks to their new AutoRip feature, where you get the .mp3 version of the physical album that you've bought. One of them was for an e-mail account I still have, but isn't my main Amazon account, and I bought the CD in 1998. (It's the 10th Anniversary Les Misérables concert.) I didn't remember even having that early account. So I had to recover that account to download it. Plus, it's a three CD-set, so it took awhile to download. Then I had to switch back to my regular account to get Doctor Horrible. I got the mini SD storage card for my phone today, and had put that in earlier, but I moved all my music that I had on the internal storage to there, plus the new stuff. I have a full gamut of music--Celtic, show tunes, modern rock, metal, pop, oldies, etc. I'm probably the only person under 50 in this town to have Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood on their phone, for example. :) Anyway, all that downloading and transferring has taken awhile, but I think it was worth it. Now I think I'll head on to bed--I'm starting to get bleary-eyed.

Took a bit of a nap, but now I'm up trying to create order from chaos

I got a DVD sleeve that holds 48 CDs/DVDs and populated it with the M*A*S*H discs (they come in cardboard sleeves that are abrasive over time; it's an interesting concept but bad for the media) and my National Graphic DVDs (a collection of all magazines digitally from 1888-2008). The next step is going around picking up stuff. I've let things go to an absolute mess.

Sad

I pretty much stopped watching the Olympics once professionals became the norm rather than amateurs. Now I understand that the International Olympic Committee has decided to jettison wrestling, one of the sports with the greatest history, and dating back to the eighth century BCE in the ancient Greek Olympic games. Furthermore, they're undercutting a sport which has as the Summer Olympics as it's main, crowning event, potentially affecting funding and the very existence of the sport. Pity that they seem to be more concerned with money and politics than with maintaining a sense of history.

Olympics Moves to Drop Wrestling in 2020

“I don’t think anybody thought this would happen,” said Rulon Gardner, who won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Sydney Games and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. “It’s a shame. This is one of the original sports. It’s been around for thousands of years. The Olympic movement has gone astray. It’s moving in the direction not of history but of ratings. Is it about mainstream and money, or is it about amateur sports competing at the highest level on the world stage?”

Had a lovely evening

at my friends' house, and YKWIA cooked dinner, which was very tasty. I did very little, just chopped some parsley and chives, and then I loaded the dishwasher and did the remaining dishes. In return for that, A is going to help me with game preparations on Sunday. It was a fish soup, an entrée of fish and potatoes, and a beet salad with dressed eggs and a rémoulade sauce. We had a good visit, both while he cooked and while we ate.

Earlier today I had the bright idea of taking a short walk during my break. My goal was five minutes. I walked around half the parking lot, or about 0.4 miles, in a little over six minutes, and my ankle and back certainly felt it. So I'm glad I was able to sit most of the time tonight. I'm also so glad I have the car; I could barely do the distance I went today; that's the same it would have taken to get to the bus stop, and there's no way I could have done that last month when I needed to get to work.

I've been in a great mood all day. It was sunny, about 50 degrees (hence my yearning to walk around outside). I'd had a fairly relaxing weekend, and had gotten some rest. I did some cataloguing today and ran a comparison of books on the shelf vs. the online catalogue and discovered I'm actually much closer than I thought to completely cataloguing the collection, which is one of my goals this year.

Tomorrow there's more cataloguing to do, plus data a big day for data entry. I don't have physical therapy tomorrow; there was a spine clinic they were running and their hours didn't work with my schedule, but I'm already on the roster for Thursday. Tomorrow I also should get a package--a storage case for the DVDs I got the other day, since they're put in cardboard sleeves that will abrade them over time when used, and a mini SD card for the phone.

One of the things I like about my phone is it's so easy to read everything. My Huawei Comet had tiny print on the texting; this has much larger print contrasted against different coloured balloons. I mainly text with Brandon, but I'm finally able to really get words typed properly without misspellings being saved, plus there's more contrast in the design. The internet is still easier to see on my tablet, but it's readable, and it has multi-touch, something the Comet didn't have (you tapped to make things bigger, to an extent). It has great sound and video quality, takes decent pictures, and all and all I'm loving it. I showed it to one of my co-workers who has an iPhone 5. Apparently the Samsung Galaxy S III is bigger than one of those. Anyway, I'm enjoying it. One of the nifty things on it are these 'hidden' back and menu buttons that show up on what looks to be the front casing, only when you need it. Otherwise it looks completely like there isn't anything there.

I think I'm going to turn in for the night. I hope you had a good start to your week. Good night.

I have to admit, I love this song, and I crank it up in the car when I'm alone

It's different from most of what you hear on the radio, it's interesting, and it's a reflection of real relationships. I've been in the girl's position, and I think it captures the emotions it intends to perfectly. The video was an interesting concept as well. And although I'm maybe one of three people on Twitter who didn't watch the Grammys tonight, it apparently won Record of the Year (you can't escape Grammy news on Twitter during the show). I'm just not an awards show person. I don't get into the glitz and the glam and the speeches. But I will say at least they sing at the Grammys. :)

Here are the lyrics:

Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end
Always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
And I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know...

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened
And that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger
And that feels so rough
You didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Somebody
I used to know
Somebody
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Somebody
I used to know
Somebody
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
I used to know
that I used to know
I used to know
Somebody...

Songwriter(s): Luiz Bonfa Copyright: Unichappell Music Inc.

I hope he wins

Indiana soybean farmer sees Monsanto lawsuit reach US supreme court: Who controls the rights to the seeds planted in the ground? A 75-year-old farmer takes the agricultural giant to court to find out

The legal saga revolves around Monsanto's aggressive protection of its soybean known as Roundup Ready, which have been genetically engineered to be resistant to its Roundup herbicide or its generic equivalents. When Bowman – or thousands of other farmers just like him – plant Monsanto's seeds in the ground they are obliged to only harvest the resulting crop, not keep any of it back for planting the next year. So each season, the farmer has to buy new Monsanto seeds to plant.

However, farmers are able to buy excess soybeans from local grain elevators, many of which are likely to be Roundup Ready due to the huge dominance Monsanto has in the market. Indeed in Indiana it is believed more than 90% of soybeans for sale as "commodity seeds" could be such beans, each containing the genes Monsanto developed.

Bowman, who has farmed the same stretch of land for most of the past four decades and grew up on a farm, ended up on Monsanto's radar for using such seeds – bought from a local grain elevator, rather than Monsanto – for year after year and replanting part of each crop. He did not do so for his main crop of soybeans, but rather for a smaller "second late season planting" usually planted on a field that had just been harvested for wheat. "We have always had the right to go to an elevator, buy some 'junk grain' and use it for seed if you desire," Bowman said.

To put it mildly, Monsanto disagrees. The firm insists that it maintains patent rights on its genetically modified seeds even if sold by a third party with no restrictions put on its use – even if the seeds are actually only descendants of the original Monsanto seeds. To that end it sued Bowman, eventually winning a legal settlement of some $84,456 (£53,500) against him for infringing the firm's patent rights. Monsanto says that if it allowed Bowman to keep replanting his seeds it would undermine its business model, endangering the expensive research that it uses to produce advanced agricultural products.

It's been a good weekend

Yes, it's been busy, but not as much as usual. We were able to kind of go at our own pace. I:

1. Upgraded to a Samsung Gallaxy S III phone; got a case, cover, and car charger for it
2. Got a car charger for my tablet and a mini SD card for the phone from Amazon
3. Watched three episodes of 'House of Anubis', catching up
4. Cooked with a friend
5. Texted with another friend
6. Ate a wonderful meal
7. Helped a friend do some housework
8. Determined how to hookup something to their TV (but there was a ball game, so I didn't)
9. Pulled some stuff off the computer for a friend
10. Looked up several things online for him
11. Reshelved a few books
12. Did a quick trip to the store for them and me
13. Got home by 7 pm--yay!

Now I'm eating a little pimiento cheese on sourdough bread and some cashews. So the question is whether I should try to put things here in some semblance of order tonight. Actually, it may take a little while, more than just tonight. But I can start on it. Or I could work on it throughout the week and get comfy and do some reading now. Hmmm.....

I woke up feeling refreshed, before my alarm went off

although my foot is stiff and difficult to walk on. Usually the kinks relax by the morning, but I've just got to hope that it'll get better after I've been up and about. A shower would probably help, too.

I'm trying to get back into the habit of recording my blood sugar and medicine to stay on track (it's gone back up now that I'm active again, and sometimes I forget to take my insulin), so I downloaded an application I've used before to the phone, appropriately enough called 'On Track'. It tracks my glucose, hA1c, medication, and weight. I could have it track other things like blood pressure and pulse as well, but my blood pressure, thankfully, is usually good. I also downloaded some applications I'd gotten through Amazon awhile back. One is 'Calorific', which tracks food, and one is 'CardioTrainer', an associated workout application that tracks your time, route, etc. and gives you how much you've gone in a nice soothing British voice. :) I'm finally to the point where doing a little walking around the hospital parking lot might be possible, although I don't want to push it. But maybe a short walk.

On the agenda today:

1. There is no game. Brenda is at a doll meet.
2. Stop by Kroger for a couple of things YKWIA needs.
3. Eat the wonderful food we made yesterday.
4. Help clean up a bit.
5. Work on a project.

I'm hoping to get home tonight and do a little straightening up, but I've said that a lot and I haven't done it yet. But it is getting messy. I did water the plants just now, as they were pining for water. So is the fish tank. I'm a bad mom.

Oh, I have a horrible headache

For which I've taken some Tylenol. That's good, as much of the rest of my body hurts, too. I spent almost four hours working on a salad and lasagna. I am a very slow cook, I think. We're going to have it for lunch tomorrow, and it should be divine. Everything is from scratch. But it involved a lot of standing. I am still having difficulty with standing for long periods.

Then I came home and played with my new phone. I got a Samsung Galaxy S III. I put some music and YKWIA's ringtone on it, set up my wake up alarms, etc. I really like it.

Okay, I am off to bed. Good night. There isn't a game tomorrow so I can sleep in a bit. !  :-)

Took the car

over to Mitch's Auto Repair today after work and got a fuse put in for the cigarette lighter so I can use it as a charger and a resistor put in so that the heat control works on something other than high. Kenny, the owner, also showed me that there is a power point (secondary charger) directly under the cigarette lighter that I didn't know existed. We also discussed anything he would do to the car given its age and inactivity for most of its life, as well as any maintenance at its current mileage, and it turns out I'd done everything he'd suggested. (Mainly flushing the fluids and changing the oil). Apparently transmissions are also a problem with 2001 Tauruses (that's what got my last car), so keeping things flushed every 30,000 miles or so is very good. The repair took about 30 minutes and was cheaper than I expected, so I'm happy. There is a bit of a squeak in the heater blower, but I can live with that. I'm assuming that may be a belt of some sort. One of my co-workers, when told what I was planning on having fixed, was so proud that I knew it was the fuse and resistor. I did admit I Googled it. I may not know much about cars, but I do know about searching and Google, and that helps me every day and gives me quite a skill set these days.

I got my books from Amazon today (along with the DVD set) and started the second one, Charmed to Death, while I waited for the car repair. Now I'm home for a quiet evening. I think I may take a nap and then work on the game notes some. Tomorrow I'm going to stop by T-Mobile and try to upgrade my phone and then go over to help a friend with an issue he's having. Hope you had a good week, and thank goodness it's Friday!

Just got home

I've worked, gone to the pharmacy, gone to physical therapy (and had a better session today than Tuesday, when all my muscles were tight and painful), taken a friend to the grocery for a few things and a bus pass, and eaten dinner with my friends. Now I'm home, in the process of becoming comfy, and it's so nice that there's just one more day till the weekend.

I made an appointment for tomorrow to have a couple of small things in the car fixed. One is that the cigarette lighter doesn't work (not a biggie; I don't smoke--but I can't charge a phone either). That's probably a fuse or something like that. The other is that the fan on the heater only works on high. That's probably a resistor. Neither are big fixes, so I'm going to leave work a little early, get it over there by 4:30, and have them look it over.

On Saturday I'm going over to T-Mobile's store to see if I can upgrade my phone. Mine has been a pain to text with (it runs a very old version of Android, Froyo, and the Swype keyboard stores all typos directly to the dictionary, then autocorrects to them later. Also, I have hardly any space on the phone for applications, as the ones that came with the phone bloat it to the point, if updated, that nothing else can go on. Applications like Facebook are getting huge these days. So wish me luck in finding a deal on one that will last me a couple of years that I can load with useful and not-so-useful applications and really use.

But first, here's a bit of weird news

Pa. mistrial declared when prosthetic eye pops out

An assault trial over a fight that cost a man his left eye ended in a mistrial Wednesday when his prosthetic eye popped out as he was testifying, startling jurors.

John Huttick was weeping on the witness stand in Common Pleas Court as he testified about the impact of losing his eye in the August 2011 fight in the parking lot of a bar called the New Princeton Tavern, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported (http://bit.ly/XPaiAb).

Suddenly, the $3,000 prosthetic blue eye popped out. Huttick caught it and cried out as two jurors gasped and started to rise. "I couldn't believe it just came out," Huttick said.

Judge Robert Coleman, who called it an "unfortunate, unforeseen incident," granted a mistrial motion by defense attorney Eileen Hurley. He scheduled a new trial for March 4.

I have a friend who is totally blasé about bodily fluids and other nasty things, but is grossed out by various things to do with the eye, including prostheses. I wonder what his response as a juror would have been?

I actually wound up

Cuddling up in bed and reading the rest of Witch Way to Murder by Shirley Damsgaard, the first book I've completed this year. It was a gift from a friend, and I enjoyed it so much I ordered the other six books of the series in paperback from Amazon. They should be here Friday. It's been awhile since I've read a nice paperback book; I forgot how comfortable they feel in the hand, and how handy they are in a purse. [I love the purse I'm currently using; not only is it purple, but it can carry a paperback, my Kindle, my tablet, and all the diabetes, glasses, and other supplies I need to have with me. Oh, and my camera and wallet. :)] Most of the library books I get are hardback, and of course most books I get these days are on the Kindle. These are available in other formats, including Kindle, but I got the others to match the format I had the first book in.

I also broke down and bought the complete series of a show I loved as a child, and still really enjoy--M*A*S*H. The price has come down so that you save more off the list price than it now costs, and I thought it might become unavailable if I waited too much longer. It worked out to be about $2.61 per disc (there are 36 discs, including the original movie, all eleven seasons, and bonus features).

My foot was throbbing terribly towards the end of my reading and so I got up and walked around a little and that seems to have helped. I'll take some Tylenol before bed to make sure it doesn't keep me awake.

Tomorrow I work, I need to pick up my meds from the pharmacy (I would have today, but they had to order one, and it should be there tomorrow, so I thought it best to just drive across town the once), go to physical therapy, and then over to my friends' house.

I'm sneezing up a storm, despite my Claritin. There's something, trees, I think, that blooms in late January, early February that sends my allergies into overdrive. It's always when I first notice buds on maples, although I must confess I haven't looked at those of late to see if they are open, I've just noticed it before, but I don't know if I'm allergic to those specifically. It could be something else. But I actually had an asthma attack on my way in to work today, which is rare for me. I have a rescue inhaler, but even when I got to work I had a hard time getting air and talking. I guess the allergies coupled with the cold air triggered it. It's no fun. Thank goodness my asthma is mild and I rarely use my inhaler.

It's only 10:30 but I think I'm going to head on to bed. I need to leave work a bit early to get to the pharmacy and then to physical therapy, so I'm going to try to go in early. Hope you have a good night.

I have been craving grilled fish

so I stopped by Texas Roadhouse and got some carry-out salmon, a baked potato, salad, and rolls. Now my tummy is very happy and I've checked the news and done a few things online, and I am at a loss for what to do next. I may go over to my friends' house, or just putter around here and maybe do some housework. My friends are eating dinner right now, so I think I'll read for awhile until they call me back. Hope you had a good day. At least we're halfway through the week. And tomorrow is payday for me, yay! Okay, off to read.

It should be of no surprise

that I fell asleep for awhile. Then YKWIA called and we had a great talk for over an hour. So now for a bit of blogging before bed. Here are some stories I've been following:

Standoff in Alabama Ends in Boy’s Rescue and Kidnapper’s Death
FBI: Bombs found in Alabama kidnapper's bunker

Yay! I'm so glad that he's freed. I wish him and his family well. Thank goodness he made it through this, and just in time for his sixth birthday.

Brain infection, not scarlet fever, may have caused Mary Ingalls' blindness

The Real Richard III: 3D reconstruction and linguistic research reveal English king’s face, voice

Astronomers finally crack mystery of solar system’s strange ‘ribbon of energy’

New York Times Revises Ed Koch Obit To Include AIDS

and then there's this--not news, but something that I saw on Facebook, proving the folks at BBCAmerica have a sense of humour:

Speaking of the Superbowl, did you see this?

San Francisco, Baltimore libraries place friendly wager on Super Bowl -- so I guess it'll be Poe that's recited. I do love 'The Raven'. :)

Okay, good night!

Comfy

So yesterday I worked, ran by the grocery for a friend, and went over there and did my laundry. Since I did some of the bedding, it turned out to be three loads, filling two carts.  He cooked a lovely leek tart for dinner, and we worked on some things for them while my clothes ran. I didn't get home until after 11 pm and went straight to bed.

Today I worked, then I went to physical therapy, which was hard tonight. The muscles in my thighs, groin, and buttocks were very tight and hurt. But I felt better after I finished. My ankle was pretty swollen, so they iced it at the end. My next session is Thursday.

Now I am home, I've eaten, and I am in bed with the fuzzy blanket and a good book, propped up on pillows listening to Natalie Merchant's album Ophelia. The plan is to get up in awhile and work on the kitchen a bit, but for now I am going to relax.  I'll try to write later, but just in case, have a good night.

Up briefly

Tonight was my night to leave a libation to Hekate, and I didn't want to put it off any longer (I have a three-day window during my menses; this was the second night). I feel better than I did when I got home, although obviously I plan on sleeping more if possible. I checked the news, just glancing through it, and saw the results of the Superbowl, but didn't really care on that front. I don't understand the hype, but then, I'm not a football fan.

Today's Cthulhu game was about righting all the things that went wrong last game, including removing curses and healing horrible injuries. I feel much better about where we are now. Last time one character (mine) was blinded [well, her eyes were red and filled with blood, and she cried tears of blood, which was even worse than simple blindness], another was shot in the head, and a child was kidnapped and something magical was done to her that had to be undone. There were no tentacled monsters, but there were evil people who burst into flame and incinerated when hit with the power of the Elder Sign. Brenda and I lost focus during the last game and things could have gone much worse in terms of the clean-up this game. And for once, the dice seemed kind to us. Last week I think the only roll Brenda made of any note was the one in which one of her characters, under the influence of an evil ichor, shot another.

I know for someone not familiar with roleplaying games, or our brand of horror/science fiction, this probably sounds weird. But it is generally fun--much more fun than sitting around a TV watching a bunch of men in tight pants run after a pointy ball. :)

Today was also heavily about roleplaying. I rolled my dice exactly once throughout the game. Almost everything was actually the result of acting, if you will, than the roll of the dice. That's a lot different from games like Dungeons and Dragons that are more about action and killing things than building characters and relationships.

Okay, back to bed I go. Hope your week goes well.

Just got home from the game

(and by that I mean Call of Cthulhu, NOT the Superbowl, the super game of 'pointy ball', as a friend calls football, reserving 'football' for soccer), and I am pretty tired from a busy weekend. Yesterday included errands, driving on snowy roads, cooking, game notes, and filling out a quiz to send to friends. Today was cleaning (with A's help), a major store run, and the game. It's only 9:30 but I'm thinking of calling it a night (and that's even with 2 litres and 60 oz. of caffeinated diet soda in me). I'd like to stay up and do some stuff on the computer, but I do not think that is to be. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. On the one hand, they're too short, on the other hand, we squeeze too much into them, don't we? I'll try to get up a little early tomorrow and write, as tomorrow I'm going over to a friend's house after work to help with a project and do my laundry, so I'll probably get in late and not be up to blogging. Good night.

Musing over this

In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn’t Better ... It’s Brutal

The share of older people applying for Social Security early spiked during the recession as people sought whatever income they could find. The penalty they will pay is permanent, as retirees who take benefits at age 62 — as Ms. Zimmerman did, to help make her mortgage payments — will receive 30 percent less in each month’s check for the rest of their lives than they would if they had waited until full retirement age (66 for those born after 1942).

This is the situation my mother is in. She lost her job and was drawing unemployment as well as social security at the same time for awhile. She's just going to turn 66 this year, so her early draw has penalised her income, but was sorely needed when the bottom of the oeconomy fell out from under her.

I worry about age discrimination even at my age (I'm going to turn 46 soon), but for people my mother's age, it's pretty much a given, and so hard to prove. I worry about the same thing happening to me. Even if I am able to work until the age necessary, and even if social security is still around (big ifs), I have to work till 70 to receive my full benefits. I'm doing what I supposed to be doing--paying into retirement, paying into social security and Medicare, but you know, so did they. So it's a little scary, especially as I have two years left to find a job (with benefits--I have to health insurance due to my diabetes) before my job ends.