Funny

A Dalek collecting for charity inadvertently scares a baby...and apologises. :)

Found this today

"Books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man's eternal fight against tyranny. In this war, we know, books are weapons."--attributed to Franklin D. Roosevelt in a World War II-era poster by Steve Broder. Office of War Information Poster No. 7, US Government Printing Office: 1942-O-487131.

The American Library Association shared a post on vintage posters on their Facebook page, and one of the posters had this quote.

I went to the YMCA again and worked out for awhile

So go me! I know I've gone very rarely so far this year, but that's twice within five days. The idea is to go regularly in the coming year. I know, resolutions don't often work, but it's worth a try.

Was up late watching movies with YKWIA

Cloud Atlas is easily the best movie I've watched in a long time, even better than Silver Linings Playbook, which was very, very good. A lot of people, I'm sure, had trouble with the shifting timelines and characters, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it. It was so detailed, was written and directed well, and let me just say kudos to the actors, each of whom brought several characters to life. I would like to read the book by David Mitchell. Here's the trailer:



We also watched the film The Bad Seed, which is from 1956 and chronicles a woman's discovery that her child is a sociopathic murderess. Now it's almost 2:30 am, I've taken him back home and I'm ready for bed. But both were thoroughly enjoyable, although each was a bit disturbing in its own way, especially the latter.

Listening to

'Les Deux John' by Barachois on the Celtic digital music cable channel. They were a Canadian band from Prince Edward Island that has sadly retired. Here's another of their songs:

I've been straightening up the house a bit and listening to

the Celtic music channel on the cable system. A friend is going to come over later to watch some movies with me. I'm eating a bit of brunch now (two tortillas and cheese with orange juice). Then I'll take my medicine and call over there to see what they're up to and whether they're ready for me to come over, for we also have to do the grocery run today, and we need to do it before 'the Game', namely the University of Kentucky vs. the University of Louisville in men's basketball, for A will be glued to the set then. By then YKWIA and I should be watching some movies. :) Okay, I've eaten. Time to go to the next thing. Have a good day.

Maybe I am finally learning to be assertive

I, who have absolutely no skill at haggling, nevertheless managed to approach my cable company with a strong case for cancelling my TV and Internet service and managed to talk them down to $50 off per month, saving $600 over the next year. Go me! Plus, they threw in a year of HBO for free. :)

I woke up this morning

with a horrible dream in which I went totally mad, waking up at 8:12 am (I have to be at work by 8:30.) I was a bit late, but I was a little ahead on my time so I think it will work out. Despite thinking it would be dreadfully dull on a light clinic day right after Christmas, it actually went fairly smoothly and I got a lot done. I was the only one in the library for the most part, as my office mates were gone. It was so quiet I could hear the copier in sleep mode from across the room. So I travelled around the hospital occasionally and played some music from my phone using a little speaker (it's called a Music Bullet) as I worked.

I chose a primary care dentist for my new DMO plan (it's like an HMO, only for dentists). Essentially, there are 34 dentists in our town who take the plan, many of them part of one practice. So I made that practice my PCD after calling and making an appointment. You see, on Christmas day I was eating a spring roll (yes, Chinese food, the one thing you can count to be open on Christmas, and Jin Jin is excellent). Anyway, a crown with the tooth inside came out of my mouth. Essentially it broke off at the gum line, meaning I'll probably have to have oral surgery, which is unfortunate to say the least. So I'm going to have them check out things and see what all needs to be done. The drawback to the DMO is the lack of participating providers/small pool of them. But there are two very good things, one being that it costs a mere $3 and some change per pay period, half of the PPO plan, and second, it doesn't have the limits that the PPO has, so if I need intensive stuff it will pay for it. It even partly covers adult orthodontia (which I don't really need at this point). The other doesn't. So I'm hoping I made the right choice in going with this plan. The appointment is safely after the new year, when my flexible spending account will be refilled, etc.

After work today I:
1. Went to the pharmacy, picked up a friend's medicine and paid for the medication they had put on hold for me when I couldn't pay before Christmas.
2. Actually went to the YMCA and discovered a recumbent bike that I used for a short but good introductory workout. I hope to start going regularly and extending the amount of time, variety of activities, and level of speed, etc.
3. Spent time with YKWIA and A, especially watching YouTube videos with YKWIA. I now know much more about apartments and customs of Japan, and unfortunately have watched an entire video devoted to bestiality in Colombia with donkeys. Yeah. I know. I think he takes a certain amount of pleasure in making my brain hurt.
4. Stopped by Taco Bell on the way home and ate.

Now I'm home and I'm online enjoying what may be the last night of regular cable Internet. Tomorrow the plan is to take in the cable box and modem and cancel my service. Then I need to call and cancel my Vonage account because it piggybacks on the cable. That will save me nearly $180 a month right there. Instead, I'll use my phone as a hotspot with the laptop and if need be the TV and Roku box. The tablet has a data plan of its own, and the Kindle is 3G. If using the laptop or streaming videos exceeds the 2.5 GB limit I have on the hotspot, I think I can go up to 4 GB for just $10 more, still saving a lot compared to cable. I have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I have an antenna for the TV and get several network channels plus some nostalgia TV. I usually just watch the news at home, or maybe something like 'The Big Bang Theory', which is on CBS. I have a DVD/VCR recorder if I want to record something for later. I should be good to go.

Okay, getting sleepy. Hope you have a good night!

Some food for thought

Love these!

Thanks to YKWIA for sharing them with me!



and

What a busy few days

much of which has been a blur, and I've come home too tired to do much. Let's see if I remember:

Today:
• No game; Brenda was off to an SCA event
• Took all the trash and recyclables out
• Straightened up the house
• Did laundry
• Cleaned a friend's house
• Fixed him some dinner
• Watched episode 5 of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries' from Australia
• Wrapped presents, with the help of a cat with a fondness for curling ribbon
• Helped cut a friend's hair with clippers
• Cleaned up the hair
• Spoke to the cable company regarding some issues a friend was having with the Internet
• Came home, put on the lights and enjoyed the ambiance

Saturday:
• Credit Union
• Pharmacy
• Grocery run
• Watched episode 3 of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries' [I'd missed that one]
• Watched an excellent murder mystery with Diana Rigg as the sleuth ('The Mrs Bradley Mysteries')
• Celebrated my holiday, Yule
• Came home, listened so some music, talked on the phone with a friend, listened to the storm and wind, and fell asleep

Friday:
• Worked 8 1/2 hours, but left a half hour than planned after my boss told me I could go
• Helped a friend with a project
• Watched episode 4 of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries' with friends
• Came home, did a little housework, and fell asleep

Thursday:
• Worked just a little over in my attempt to make up hours at work
• Got a few things for a friend at the grocery
• Came home in pain and tired
• I honestly can't remember much more

So, I've spent a lot of time with friends lately. I'm not off from work at all except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It looks to be a slow week for me at work. Here's the upcoming agenda:

Monday:
• Work
• Help a friend with a project
• Take another friend for some last-minute shopping

Tuesday (Christmas Eve):
• Visit my family
• If it's going to be clear and cold, do a bit of stargazing

Wednesday (Christmas):
• Visit family
• Spend some time with friends
• Watch the 'Doctor Who' Christmas special

That's it for now. But at least the house is in decent shape and I have a couple of days off. Hope your holiday season is going well. Good night!

Too tired to blog tonight

or yesterday, for that matter. Will blog tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I worked from 7:15 am-5:15 pm today, trying to make up some time

for leaving early yesterday, since I have minimal PTO and three holidays coming up on which it must be spent. If I go in early tomorrow and maybe Friday, I can make up the time without tapping that. But boy, what a long day. I'm doing better with the pain and am more productive, but the last couple of days have been very busy in clinic and I've had a lot of data entry to do. I know that's not a really physical job, but just staring at the computer monitor and clicking I find draining after awhile. Because I was kind of glued to my desk for awhile, I got my back messed up (I really try to watch my posture, but I have a tendency to slump), and so by the time I left work my arm, shoulders, and back were hurting terribly. I came home, ate something, and then decided I had to get away from the computer for awhile. I went back into the bedroom and turned on the heating pad and listened to Ed Sheeran for awhile. I woke up and at first thought my phone said 1:40 in the morning and sort of panicked (keep in mind I'm blind as a bat without my glasses), then looked again and it was 8:40. I'd still slept for two and a half hours, though, I was so tired.

I got up and took some medicine and did some straightening up around the house. I have a lot of trash and recyclables to take out, but I think I'll wait until the morning. There's still quite a bit to do, but it does look better. But I just don't think I can carry everything out right now. My arm is experiencing a mixture of pain and numbness. So I think I'm going to go back to the bedroom, get comfortable, and read until it eases up a bit, and then see if I can put the laundry away, etc. (The laundry I did two weeks ago, mind you. And there's dirty laundry collecting on the floor of my bedroom that really needs to go into its hampers.)

A happy outcome to a news story, for a change

Blind man struck by subway says dog 'saved my life'

and even better...

Donations allow blind man to keep the dog that saved him

Williams fainted at the 125th Street platform in Manhattan on Tuesday, and as he tumbled forward, Orlando landed in the tracks alongside him. Orlando tried to rouse Williams, who was unconscious. They lay there as the train passed above them.

Both survived. But because Orlando is slated to retire in January, and Williams' insurance won't pay for a non-working dog, they would have had to part ways. Now, thanks to several anonymous donations to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, all of Orlando's expenses will be covered.

"Orlando is my best buddy, he’s my pal," said Williams at an emotional press conference at St. Luke's Hospital where he was being treated for minor injuries. "He’s taken me on the trains, the buses – everywhere I need to go ... He’s a very gentle gentleman."

I've been considering this for some time, and resisting

due to having a wired desktop and phone that piggybacks onto my cable, but I think the time to turn off the TV/Internet plan I have is coming soon. I am really getting annoyed with Time Warner Cable, which has a monopoly on cable service in our area. Since they took over, I have found that most days during a simple session online, I've either had to reset the router or reboot the computer multiple times. Our infrastructure in our apartments was recently upgraded, supposedly for the better, but apparently the problem has persisted. I pay extra for faster Internet. I am seriously considering just chucking cable altogether, as 1) it is expensive ($160 for TV and Internet alone) and 2) I have an unlimited mobile phone data plan with 2.5 GB of data for using as a mobile hotspot to use with my laptop or TV, so I could still go online or stream videos, although I'm not sure how fast that 2.5 GB would go by. Most of my Internet browsing, which is usually blogging, Facebook, banking, etc., I can do over the phone on the regular data plan anyway. It would mean giving up my landline with Vonage, which has been very good to me (they once comp'ed a month when I couldn't pay my bill), but I am just about done with the whole cable thing. And I can't have satellite or anything like that where I live. I know, First World problems, right?

A random act of kindness

I am apparently being very blessed this holiday season. A very sweet thing happened to me today. I went to the post office and enquired if they sold single stamps. The man who was handling the line said yes, and said, 'so you just need one?' I said, 'Well, I really need 10, but I don't have enough money to get a whole book.' He said he thought they had books of 10 now and so I stayed in line. When I was almost there, a woman who had just mailed some packages brought me a book of 10 stamps and told me 'Merry Christmas'. So now I can mail holiday cards. :) Yay. I'll do what I can to 'pay it forward'.

Leaving you with a nice song or two...

(I think the latter needs to be added to my funeral songs)

There was no game yesterday

as I was in a lot of pain and wasn't feeling well in general, and pretty much stayed in bed except for a brief foray or two for food and water and then finally the season finale of 'Witches of East End'. The only good thing about yesterday is that I got to read for a bit and actually finished a book I'd borrowed from a co-worker, a light mystery.

Today I managed to go to work and also did a bit of errand-running afterwards. I won't say I was incredibly productive, but I got things accomplished that needed to be done, even though I was a bit out of it and just not doing well. I don't really have the money to go to the doctor, and the last time I had this problem, they weren't particularly helpful anyway, either the specialist or physical therapy I was sent to. It just had to resolve on its own. I had a friend suggest and Ace wrap, which wasn't a bad idea but in reality I couldn't stand to have anything on my elbow for more than a few minutes. I did put some heat on it, and that helped. But I got to thinking, and it occurred to me that even though it had been diagnosed as tendonitis before, and that there was certainly some of that, it really felt like nerve pain, like when I had sciatica, just in my shoulder and elbow area. So I looked at my pharmacoepia of various prescriptions and found just a few gabapentin (Neurontin) left, which had be prescribed for neuropathy, but I'd felt my feet weren't really giving me problems and never went back to refill them. But it had gotten me through the sciatica. Gabapentin helps with nerve pain. So I took some ibuprofen to help with the anti-inflammatory aspect, took a gabapentin, and propped my arm up so it was in a position that was mostly comfortable, and went to sleep. That was about 9 pm. I woke up just a little while ago, and while my shoulder and elbow hurt somewhat, it's not nearly as sharp a pain as it was before. I think I found the answer. It seems like my nerves in that area were irritated somehow. I have enough to get me through a few days as prescribed. So we'll try that.

Speaking of medicine, I went to get a couple of crucial meds today (one if I go off of it, I have to ease back up to therapeutic levels slowly, or risk having my skin slough off; I try not to go off it), both for my bipolar disorder. I didn't have the money for anything else. I'm good on my insulin, but I was out of nearly everything else, including the two diabetes meds that are helping so much. People ask me why I use an independent pharmacy that is literally on the other side of town from where I live. They wonder why I don't just use a big chain, which would be more convenient. Well, there are two women in that pharmacy that I see regularly, I know by name, and they provide a personal level of service that chains can't. We were talking about the tendonitis and not going to the doctor because of the expense. I don't get paid until after Christmas, and I was about to give them most of the money I did have for those two meds, leaving me about $7 to last till the 26th for gas, etc. I signed for my meds and then the tech gave me my prescriptions and my cash, and told me she could put them on hold so that I could pay after Christmas. At that point the pharmacist asked if I were out of anything else. I told her, and the tech said she had them ready, and the pharmacist told her just to give me the rest and have me pay later. I felt very blessed. Now I have a little money for food and gas and might actually make it down to Danville around Christmas.

One other bit of good news. I weighed myself and I've dropped from 306 to 289 lbs since I changed CPAP machines. That's been in about a month and a half. Yay! Also, I finished breaking in the shoes and orthoses I got at the doctor's office the other day and they are definitely more comfortable than the ones I had. I think I could actually enjoy walking in these. Maybe I'll try to go to the Y sometime this week. They're doing some remodelling, so I'll have to work around that. But that could help me lose some more weight. I'd probably just walk on the treadmill and maybe go into the water--nothing to really do with my arms at the moment. I don't want to make the whole arm thing worse, especially as it is my dominant arm.

Okay, I should probably go back to bed. Good night.

I could have chosen any of Peter O'Toole's great performances to remember him

But my favourite is actually this:
,


Peter O'Toole, 'one of the giants of film and theatre,' dies at 81

RIP, sir.

A lovely a cappella cover

and the original...

Highlights of today

• Work wsa a bit slow. Tomorrow should be a good day for things I don't normally have time for; a lecture is going on at the hospital, so no clinic or surgeries, hence not much in the way of data entry to do. Perhaps I'll finally get some of those boxes out of the library. I normally take off on this occasion, but simply don't have the personal time to do so this time.
• Picked up my shoes and orthoses from the foot surgeon's office. I am now officially considered healed, being followed up on a yearly basis due to my diabetes, but the ankle/foot injury is officially in the past. Yay! And the new orthoses are soft and cushioned, and I think once I break them in they'll be much better for my feet, especially to start exercising by walking.
• Took a friend and his dog to the vet and got her situated so hopefully she'll be feeling better.
• Watched the second episode of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'.
• Watched the holiday episode of 'The Big Bang Theory'
• Watched most of The Princess and the Frog. It was actually better than I expected.

Now I'm home. I'd planned to clean house tonight but spent the evening with my friends instead. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day. But I didn't take the Icy Hot with me today and I've been in a lot of pain all day, so I think I'm going to go into the bedroom, get comfy with the heating pad (good thing it turns off on its own after awhile), and maybe read for a bit. I've got to get up early and take a friend to work. :) Good night.

Love this combination

Reading List:

• Opal Fire by Barbra Annino [Kindle book borrowed from a co-worker]--on chapter three
• Heritage of Darkness by Kathleen Ernst [borrowed from the library]--on chapter five
• Sleepless Knights by Mark Williams [borrowed from the library]
• Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood [Free Kindle book from Amazon]
• Gifts by Ursula K. LeGuin [borrowed from the library]
• Voices by Ursula K. LeGuin [borrowed from the library]
• The Poems of Dylan Thomas, New Revised Edition by Dylan Thomas [bought from Amazon]
• Real Murders by Charlaine Harris [requested via PaperbackSwap. I've read it before, but I plan on re-reading this Aurora Teagarden (she's a librarian) mystery series.]

Tomorrow

1. Work.
2. Go to the ankle surgeon's office to pick up my new shoes and orthoses
3. Take a friend and his dog to the vet
4. Watch a holiday 'Big Bang Theory'
5. Clean house

Tonight

1. Bought a heating pad and Icy Hot for the whole arm-in-pain thing. It was amusing being butted by a cat who was getting a bit high on the Icy Hot.
2. Watched 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries', episode one, on Netflix with YKWIA. It's delightful.
3. Watched 'The Tomorrow People' and 'American Horror Story: Coven' with YKWIA. The latter is especially riveting, although I predicted several things in this episode, as did he.

Listening to:

Not to be a total and utter wuss

But I'm in quite a bit of pain, due to tendonitis in the elbow and shoulder, so I'm going to keep this short. Today I:

• Voted in a special election for state senator. My candidate came in second of three, but hey, at least I voted.
• Got caught up on all the work I was behind on at, well, work.
• Lent an ear to someone who had to talk out their feelings regarding a family situation.
• Stopped by the library and got a couple of books and some CDs.
• Installed a new aquarium filter. The fish are SO much happier. Thanks Amazon!
• Watched several episodes of 'The Big Bang Theory' with YKWIA because 'The Originals' and 'Supernatural' were preempted by Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.
• Heated up a microwavable bandage for my elbow numerous times tonight. It does help. If only I could take care of the shoulder as well. First thing to get when I get paid Thursday--a heating pad. I had one that was my grandmother's, and probably it was about 40 years old. I think I gave it to Goodwill, damn the bad luck. But for now I'll keep with the microwavable things. They're like the rice-in-the-sock sort of thing, except there's a velcro strap for affixing it around the affected joint.
• Came home running on my gas light the whole way. I have $7 for gas tomorrow, before I get paid. Here's hoping I don't get vapour lock or something similar tonight--it's in the low 20s right now (Fahrenheit) and it's supposed to go down pretty far. I usually try to keep at least a half a tank of gas in the car for cold weather. Wish me luck.

Okay, enough typing already. Have a good night.

So, I totally failed to blog this weekend

Sorry about that. It was a very busy one, filled with ice, Christmas trees, and the Cthulhu game. I stayed home on Friday due to the impending ice and snow, which turned out to not be too bad at all. On Saturday I went and got my insulin from the pharmacy, picked up a book at the library, put another on hold, and then went over to a friend's to help him put up his tree. I wasn't particularly enthused, as I'd already decorated both at home and at work, and his tree takes awhile to put up, because it's one of those that you put each branch into a slot, whereas at home my tree is a small potted one, and the one at work just comes out of the box, you put it in its stand, and fluff. I'd been in a great mood and holiday spirit about a week or so ago, but PMS robbed me of it and some issues I'm trying to resolve, and so I've been grumpy anyway. Plus I've been in pain--my tendonitis is back in my elbow and shoulder, and it's my dominant arm, so it really hurts pretty much when I move it. His tree always seems to wind up being an all day thing, and this was no exception, but in the end I wound up enjoying myself. But I knew it was important for him to get it up, so I went over there. It turns out that two of the light strings had burned out. So we went in search of replacements, going to Meijer and Target looking for a purple strand and an amber strand. We were able to find purple ones at Target, but had no luck with the amber ones. Going online, we determined that the nearest Lowe's that had them in-stock, for example, was in Georgetown, a town in another county. I tried several others and finally determined that K-Mart did have them--in strands of 35 lights. So we went out again, and got three strands. Then it was time to do the tree. It's absolutely beautiful in purple and gold, especially with the lights down. Anyway, I got home a little after ten, I think, tried to work on the game notes, and didn't have much luck because I was on the laptop and it kept trying to update various things and scan. I finally went to bed, got up in the middle of the night, did the notes, and went back to bed for a bit. When I got up, I didn't have much time before I was supposed to be back over there, so I forewent a shower, dressed in comfy clothes, and went out to tackle the ice on my car, which was nearly a quarter of an inch, I estimate. Then I very carefully drove over there in the ice. Normally I would have just stayed home, but the freezing rain and sleet was supposed to last till about noon and then turn to rain, melting a bit of what had accumulated, so I figured Brenda would be in for the game, and I needed to prep the house first and figured, why wait until more ice had accumulated and there'd be no preparation time at all. Plus I was taking one of my friends to Joseph-Beth for holiday cards, too. So I braved it. There was the prep, a brief interlude where I was tortured with 'Barbie: Life in the Dream House', Joseph-Beth (whose holiday card selection has sadly deteriorated), the game, and then home about 10 pm (there was no 'Witches of East End' last night, and to bed.

Even going pretty much straight to bed, I was hurting all over and didn't sleep well, and overslept a bit as I was just so loathe to leave the bed this morning. I set five alarms every night, including a gentle one that plays happy sounds before turning into an alarm and one with a rooster sound that then talks to me, and usually one will get me going. Not so much today. I've hurt all day, especially my arm, even with ibuprofen, and I just haven't felt well. I finished an audit today that I needed to, took care of some referral things, and designed a department holiday card, but that was about it. Since I was about fifteen minutes late this morning, I stayed late to make up the difference. Now I'm home. I've eaten. I think I'm going to take some more pain reliever and find my heating pad. Then if I can get to feeling better, there's some things to do around the house. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see how that goes.

Took a test on which British city I should move to....

Yay, I got Cardiff, in Wales!

Everything about Cardiff is a little bit magical. They won't thank you for saying it, of course, but you can't fail to be charmed by a city in which all of the signs are written in two languages, and one of them closely resembles elvish.

Also, if you hang about in Cardiff long enough, Doctor Who will start filming around you. And there's the Doctor Who Experience nearby, and sometimes you see Daleks on the streets.

Plus they have a Millennium Stadium. Do you have a Millennium Stadium? You will when you move there.

Take the quiz: http://share.snacktools.com/5F6A8F86AED/q7n5wcpz

Feeling a bit better

Right before I went to bed, I saw the news on Facebook that Nelson Mandela has died. What an amazing life, and an amazing man. By the time I woke up a couple of hours later, my phone was telling me through two different applications and reaction to the news was all over the Internet.

My arm is still hurting but in general my aches are better, as is the headache. It is still raining pretty hard outside. I am already tired of it, and of course tomorrow there is supposed to be ice and snow. I should do some things around the house, but frankly I don't really want to. I don't want to go to bed again, just yet, either, so I'm in a quandry. I might do some game notes tonight, at least for awhile, and then read. But I feel restless, like I need to go for a drive or something. I don't know. Just not sure of what I want at the moment. Ever have that happen?

Hmmm...didn't think today would be worse than last night

I feel like crap. For one, I'm premenstrual. My mood, which has been pleasant for days, took a nosedive. Then there is a winter storm coming and the day has been very gloomy in all sorts of ways. I didn't sleep well last night because my elbow kept waking me up (I think I have tendonitis in it again). Ibuprofen is barely touching it. I have a cold sore. As the day has progressed, I have had a headache develop and lots of aches in my joints, especially my ankles, neck, and shoulders. I actually left work a little early because quite frankly I wasn't accomplishing much, although the morning was quite productive. I think I'm going to curl up in a ball and take a nap. Granted, that's hiding from some of the problems I'm wrestling with, but I'll be able to handle them better later in the evening with a little more rest.

Ever have one of those days

where you certainly don't want to start over again, because that would be bad, but curling up in a ball in the dark sounds really good? Yeah, I'm there. Not sure if I'll write anything of import tonight. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I was so sorry to hear about this

A few years ago this young man started filming his grandmother, Clara, as she shared recipes from the Great Depression. The YouTube channel is called Great Depression Cooking. Watch the videos there, and you will fall in love with Clara. YKWIA had discovered the channel several years ago, and shared it with me. Eventually Clara retired from the videos, but her down-to-earth humour and manner really touched a lot of people. She passed away the day after Thanksgiving in her sleep. You can see her obituary online. Rest in peace, Clara Bonfanti Cannucciari.

Latke goodness

Tonight I made latkes for a Jewish friend to celebrate Chanukah. There were three types: traditional potato, ricotta cheese, and a spinach/feta/potato variety. The ricotta recipe sounded good, but was a different recipe for cheese latkes than what I usually do (I usually use cottage cheese and fry in oil; this made a thin batter that you cooked on a non-stick surface with butter). I'm not happy with this recipe, but they did taste alright--they just weren't as fluffy and wonderful as in years past. I really must find my old recipe. However, the others came out very well, especially the spinach-feta ones, which had a sauce that went with it made from shredded cucumber, dill, and sour cream. The latkes in general were a success, and we all enjoyed them. After cleaning up a bit and giving my present, I was gifted with leftovers from Thanksgiving to take home. Now it's midnight and I'm home, I was thanked profusely for making Chanukah a happy time, and am bone tired. My shoulders, arms, and hands particularly seem all cramped up. But I enjoyed the evening and I'm glad everything worked out. But now I'm going to bed.

If you celebrate Chanukah, I hope your holiday is full of love, light, and laughter. Have a good night.

Got a good report today on how the new CPAP is doing

They were very pleased with the amount of time I'm using it (averaging about 9 hours a night, and using it every night). My sleep is so much better. I have more energy during the day and only start to fade at a reasonable time, not mid-afternoon. The new masque is doing remarkably better, as well, with a negligent amount of leaking. So, yay! I'm supposed to go back in a year.

I've been in a really great mood all day. I'm in the holiday mood; I went ahead and took some decorations into work and put up the tree there. I can't find some special ornaments that I had for it, but I stopped by and got some tonight to add tomorrow. I brought in my stuffed 'Chris-moose' family, finally finding that this morning. I had a couple of special light strands of my own that I brought in, putting the 'flame'-shaped multicolour lights on the tree, and some globe LEDs that are bright and cheerful at the cubicle. I also had a small resin snowman to put on my desk. The Santa my mom made from ceramics when I was young and the ornaments either made by me or made for me stayed home. The little tree at home has silver bells and red and white stars and snowflakes on it, with white lights. I have a bell decoration on the door that is red and white as well. I have to admit, though, if I had a regular-sized artificial tree at home, I would be tempted to decorate with some beautiful peacock-themed ornaments I saw the other day. But money is tight, I prefer a live tree, and I'd already gotten the little tabletop one, and I like it.

My Christmas cactus, or zygocactus, is blooming. I'm including a picture of it. The buds seem pink but then when the flower opens, they're more of a red. I have a new one at home that is a deep pink as well. I do love them. Last year, after a couple of years of not blooming, or just maybe having a bud or two on it, the plant welcomed me back from my three-month absence by blooming profusely. It's a very cheery little plant.

Okay, I should probably tear myself away from the computer and work on some things here, since I have a night to myself. Just in case I don't write further tonight, have a good night, hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, happy Chanukah (latkes tomorrow night! :) ), and I hope the upcoming holidays and new year bring you light, joy, and fellowship.

Oooohhh,,,,

Rare Biblical Texts From Bodleian and Vatican Libraries Digitized

What do you think of this?

The first person in the world to become a government-recognized cyborg

Thanks to Alexandra Bond, who shared this on Facebook.

Agenda for the week (when not at work)

• Monday: Appointment with the sleep doctor evaluating the new CPAP machine; run by pharmacy
• Tuesday: Take a friend to a medical appointment, celebrate Chanukah with him and fix him latkes, both the potato and cheese varieties; watch 'The Originals' and 'Supernatural' there
• Wednesday: 'The Tomorrow People' and 'American Horror Story: Coven' over at YKWIA's house
• Thursday: Downtime at home; watch 'Big Bang Theory'; do game notes
• Friday: Watch 'Grimm' with YKWIA
• Saturday: See Catching Fire; grocery run
• Sunday: Prepare for game; play Chthulhu game; 'Witches of East End'

Nearly time for Yule

It's only a little over a foot tall, but this live Norfolk Virginia pine has personality, don't you think?