Today I:

1. Slept in.
2. Did housework.
3. Went to my friends' house.
4. Did laundry.
5. Watched an episode of 'Space Academy' from years ago.
6. Watched an episode of 'The Greatest American Hero' that was an unaired pilot inserted as the last episode of the show in syndication in which Ralph passes the suit on to a young woman.
7. Watched the movie The Giver, which was quite well done and I now want to re-read the book and read the other three in the quartet, which I have on my bookshelf.
8. Came home and have been relaxing.

All in all it's been a good day, a good weekend, and a good holiday.

Home from the holidays

On Thanksgiving, I had a wonderful dinner that I'd helped YKWIA prepare, and we had quite a nice day, ending with re-watching Julie and Julia. We had mostly French-style Thanksgiving food, including chestnut soup, gruyere gougères, Quorn fake turkey roast, port cranberry sauce, potatoes with garlic and parsley, green beans with chives, celery salad, rolls, apples and lavender in puff pastry, and French pumpkin pie. Everything except the rolls were made from scratch. It was all really yummy. I don't understand how Quorn can turn mushorooms into something that tastes like poultry, but they do. And the apples in lavender butter were absolutely sublime. But it was all excellent. I'd never had chestnuts before and while they were a pain to peel, the soup was great.

Yesterday it was off to Danville to visit my mom. I had a decent time. We talked quite a bit and watched a good deal of television, including the movies Leap Year (which I loved, and yet another Amy Adams film, so I saw her two days in a row after Julie and Julia), Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, and part of Total Recall (I left in the middle of that one; I've seen it before.) Last night we watched a lot of 'Blue Bloods' with Tom Selleck, which I hadn't watched before but was pretty good. We also watched 'Rookie Blue' and 'Hawaii Five-O', so lots of cops shows. I did not get a chance to watch 'Grimm', but should have it on the DVR here. Today we were watching TNT, and 'The Librarians' are coming, a series based on the Noah Wyle movies, with a team of adventurers. I liked the movies quite a bit, so I must say, I'm intrigued. It premiers Sunday, December 7th, at 8 pm. Must remember that, as I'm usually playing the Cthulhu game till about then.

There is no Cthulhu game tomorrow, as Brenda has a potluck with the local Society for Creative Anachronism shire. But maybe YWKIA and I can finish the fourth season of 'Haven' (one episode left) on Netflix and all three of us can do some thing fun.

Today I'm going to try to work on the house some, as I let it deteriorate while I was sick. It's not awful, but it need some attention. But first I should check in with the guys and make sure A doesn't need to go to the grocery today.

Anyway, that's my holiday weekend so far. Hope yours is doing well.

Go, me!

So it's official.  I'm 25 lbs lighter than I was at my highest weight a few months ago.  Five more pounds and I'll meet the goal my endocrinologist set to increase my insulin sensitivity.  My tops are fitting much better,  although I am the same dress size,  but my pants are pretty loose. I might be able to get into a smaller pair of jeans now. I haven't been dieting, really,  although I have been pretty poor of late so I've been eating less overall. But whatever the reason,  it's good to be shrinking rather than growing in size.

Time for a quiz

Which Founding Father are You?

You are John Adams. John Adams was persuasive and favored justice over all. He wrote much of the Constitution, was an advocate for human rights, and wanted peace. He was also a good friend and confidant.

Good grief

Woman intentionally struck by car after dispute involving two vehicles

A road feud that included a gun ended in a female pedestrian being intentionally hit and severely injured at a busy Lexington intersection, police said.

At Harrodsburg and Lane Allen roads, two vehicles with people inside who knew each other had an altercation of some sort about 12:30 p.m., police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said. A person in a white Kia pointed a gun at the people in the second vehicle. A woman in the second vehicle stepped out of it to confront the people in the Kia. The Kia driver pulled in front of the second vehicle and reversed, hitting the female pedestrian.

Her leg nearly needed amputating, according to the story. The police have arrested those involved, apparently. But it's very scary to think people like that are out driving. And I do wonder why anyone who is being threatened with a gun from another car would get out of their own to confront the other person. There must be some very bad blood between these people.

This was actually the second pedestrian to be hit in Lexington today, although I'm assuming the other was an actual accident. Watch out folks! I know what it feels like to be hit by a car, and I was aware of my surroundings and in the crosswalk with the light and it still ran over my foot and hit me, breaking my ankle, seemingly out of the blue, with the driver swearing he didn't see me even though I was in two extremes of coloured clothing, the sun was shining, and I was clearly in the sidewalk. Add things like darkness, bad weather, and the like, and it can be an absolute disaster. And even everything you can do can go to naught if you have a bat-shit crazy driver who is aiming for you.

So weird.

I'm feeling much better

I'm a little tired now, but I've worked at three types of jobs today, and then helped YKWIA prepare, roast, and peel chestnuts for the soup we're having for Thanksgiving--a long and somewhat painful process, especially if you get the shells under a fingernail, but I enjoyed the company. My coughing has eased, my congestion, while there, is not as bad, the sore throat is gone, that sort of thing. I really feel like I'm back in the land of the living. I'm having some brain fog issues. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with having been sick or not, but it did seem worse while I was sick.

Tomorrow I have a couple of appointments, and after work we're going to get the rest of the things for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to the menu and yes, even the preparation, although I may feel differently after it's all over.

I hate to say it, but I am pretty pooped, so I think I'll go on to bed. I have to get up early in the morning. Good night!

A disturbing upward trend

U.N. Report Shows an Increase in Trafficking of Children

One in three human trafficking victims is a child, most victims are female, and traffickers operate with wide impunity, the United Nations said Monday in a report on modern-day slavery.

The 2014 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, produced by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, also found that the proportion of children among victims appeared to be rising. Its first report, in 2012, said the proportion had been closer to one in four.

In some regions, like Africa and the Middle East, the new report said, two out of three victims are children.

There is a gender issue here, as:

Other statistics in the report showed that girls account for two out of every three child victims, and that together with adult women, account for 70 percent of all trafficking victims.

And the scope is wide:

The report found that trafficking was a problem all over the world, with at least 152 countries of origin and 124 countries of destination. More than 6 in 10 victims have been transported across at least one national border, it said.

We need to find a way to make this less profitable, find the perpetrators, and free those enslaved. It's so pervasive and only recently has it been really studied or even talked about. Even here in Lexington, a couple were arrested for using slave-labour in their stores. I'm not sure how that case is playing out, but the point is, this is all over the place, including in our own backyard. We need to take notice, and support groups that are trying to make a difference at preventing, freeing, and rehabilitating these people.

Well, at least I'm awake, I guess

So I spent the first half hour of being awake looking through my e-mails and tying to access the patient portal to my doctor's office, because I got an e-mail saying there were new lab results. Now, I go on this maybe once every few months, so I never remember the password (although at least I do remember the username), and I didn't have it with my other passwords. So after many tried through the Android application, I tried to reset the password, but it asks for birth date or phone number as validation and then doesn't accept either. So I tried to go to the web version, which is tricky because it locks the account after three tries, so I tried twice and then requested a reset to the password. This time the validation was a challenge question I could answer, and it accepted it, so I've changed my password (and I've entered it into the appropriate place for later), and finally got to the results, which turned out be be from my strep test, which I already knew was negative. :( Nothing like frustration to get you up and out of bed. Grrr.

I feel somewhat better

which may have something to do with having two shots in the butt today at the doctor's office--one an antibiotic, the other a steroid. I haven't had a shot in my butt since I was a kid, I think. Now I've got a Band-Aid on each cheek. :) Tomorrow I'm going to pick up some more medicine from the pharmacy. Although the good news is I don't have strep throat and my lungs are clear, I've gone into a sinus infection. So hopefully I'll be feeling better in general soon, maybe even before Thanksgiving, as I am going to help YKWIA with Thanksgiving dinner and then visit my mom on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'd like to be free of most of the symptoms by then, but I'll settle for as soon as possible, as I've been sick for fifteen days and am quite tired of it.

I went over to YKWIA's tonight to watch 'Grimm' with him, which was quite good, plus we visited for awhile and watched some of 'The Big Bang Theory'. Billy Bob Thornton can do creepy really well. Tomorrow I'm taking A to the pharmacy (and getting my stuff as well), taking him to the grocery, and maybe a few other places as we gather stuff for Thanksgiving. Like last year, the theme is French-style cooking, but we managed to convince YKWIA to cut back a little this year, as there are only the three of us. Last year it took A and myself an hour-and-a-half to wash the dishes that wouldn't fit in the dish washer only to find YKWIA asleep at the table, tired from all we had done that day. There's still a lot to do this year, and I'm not off on Wednesday. But hopefully we'll have a good time.

I also have to finish the game notes tomorrow. I have some of them done, but there's still more, and it's investigative work, so that takes longer to transcribe than down time or action scenes. But I think we only played for about three-and-a-half hours last time, so that's not too bad. I just haven't felt up to working on them since we last played.

Okay, I think I will get something to drink and then head on to bed. Good night!

Yes, especially #1

THE 25 BOOKS EVERY WOMAN SHOULD READ (by Lisa Simpson)

This is a nice article on the value of libraries

A Field Trip to America's Public Libraries: How they serve the needs of their communities

As we’ve been crisscrossing the country visiting towns and cities for our American Futures project, I always look forward to stopping in the town's public library. Every town has one. They’re often lovely buildings. (Thank you, Andrew Carnegie!) They offer a first pulse of the town. (Are they vibrant and bustling?) The librarians are as knowledgeable as the newspaper editors and as welcoming as the Chamber of Commerce. Who wouldn’t love a library?

Just a quick update tonight

as I am just now getting home and it is pretty late. Tomorrow comes early in the morning. I have an appointment with the physician's assistant at my doctor's office tomorrow about my illness. Granted, I think it's just a cold, and there's not much to do about that, but I am concerned about the fact that it's been fourteen days, got slightly better and then worsened, and I'm having tightness and pressure in my chest, am short of breath and wheezing, and when lying down it hurts a bit to breathe. I'm thinking it's just my asthma worsening in response to the cold, but I want to make sure it's not something more serious. So I see her mid-morning tomorrow. I am so tired of this. I just have a little more medicine left, but I have to admit, it could be sugar pills for all that it's helped, really. I just keep producing more and more congestion.

On the other hand, I am really happy about something. I nearly wrecked a very good relationship by messing up, blowing up over something trivial, and over something stupid, taking out my own stress and frustrations out on someone I care about very much. I've been a little down these past few weeks because, well, the person is like family to me, or even closer, and I almost blew it completely. But I've managed to make it right and apologised, and things are better now, for which I am very grateful, as I love this person deeply, like a brother, and I am so terribly sorry and grateful that he would even give me the time of day.

That's pretty much all for the night. Good night.

So I am feeling

Less nervous about scheduling and am a little more confident in what I'm doing this week as opposed to last week,  where I felt drained and stressed.  And it was a very busy week,  but I mostly stayed on top of things and juggled my library and revenue cycle duties pretty well. Thursday and Friday I can take care of those two areas in greater depth,  plus I have some meetings to go to.  Tomorrow I have to leave early to take a friend to an appointment as well.  But I am an hour-and-a-half ahead on my time,  so I won't have to dip into my personal time off much. 

I've been trying to build it up due to the impending holidays,  and barring getting sicker or something like that,  I should be on track for two days at Thanksgiving,  three at Christmas (we have Christmas Eve off in addition to Christmas Day.  It seemed a good plan to take that Friday off as well).  Of course,  there is also New Year's. So that is six days.  With the next pay period I'll have about eight days saved. By the end of the year there will be about two more.

I am still sick,  but hanging in there.  I am tired of blowing my nose,  which is very irritated.  Even with the medication,  which I am almost out of,  it has not been fun.  But if I can get better without it going into a sinus infection or bronchitis,  I will be quite happy.

I was going to read for a bit.  Turns out I left my Kindle wireless connexion on several days ago,  so it's charging.  Yes,  I know,  this is where real,  physical books have an advantage. So instead I am listening to music and debating on whether it's too late in the day for a nap.  :) Or, I could just pick one of the many books I have on sixteen bookshelves and read.  I have several out from the library I need to get to,  as well.  :)

This is not right

Million-dollar baby: Hawaii vacation leaves Sask. parents with massive medical bill

A Saskatchewan mother says she is facing more than $900,000 in medical bills after giving birth unexpectedly in the United States and being told the costs won’t be covered by insurance.

Jennifer Huculak was nearly six months pregnant when her water broke while on vacation in Hawaii in October 2013. After a lengthy hospital stay, Huculak’s daughter, Reece, was born prematurely and required a two-month stay in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Before her trip, Huculak said she purchased Blue Cross insurance and got the green light to travel from her doctor.

And the Canadian couple even bought insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield, only to have the claim denied. Thankfully the little girl did well considering she was born so early. But this sort of bill is staggering.

Finally! (although as a teen I would have loved to have peeled off my zits in one painless tug)

The New ‘Normal Barbie’ Comes With an Average Woman’s Proportions — And Cellulite Sticker Accessories

"I wanted to show that reality is cool," says the creator of the Lammily doll.

It’s a month before the holidays and you’re grappling with a serious toy buyer’s dilemma: On the one hand, you kind of just want to get your kid a Barbie; on the other hand you’d rather not perpetuate the peddling of anatomical ideals that are so impossible to achieve–and impractical. (Were Barbie human, she’d have to walk on all fours due to her tiny feet and would only have room for half a liver.)

That’s why graphic designer-turned-toy-maker Nickolay Lamm created the Lammily doll — what the Barbie would look like if she actually had the measurements of an average 19-year-old woman’s body (based on CDC data). And brown hair. (She also comes with a sticker extension pack, complete with cellulite, freckles and acne, but we’ll get to that later.)

This makes me think of YKWIA

who taught me this a long time ago.

Amazingly

I have never made it to Florida. On the other hand, strange news stories and horrible shootings seem to come from Florida. But maybe some day...

The odd things YKWIA finds and shares with me

Tataku Shisho: the Book of Bantorra

In a world where deceased people turn into stone-like books and are stored in the Bantorra Library, anyone who reads a book can learn its past. Bantorra Library is maintained by the Armed Librarians, who wield supernatural abilities, and their enemy is a psychotic cult known as Shindeki Church. As the story progresses it presents a world of sorrow and pain, and the unfairness and frugality of life, as well as personal desires. However, in each arc there is also a small underlying hope, and more of the reasons, conspiracies, and secrets are revealed behind everything.

Hmmm...

Where Are the Hardest Places to Live in the U.S.?

Annie Lowrey writes in the Times Magazine this week about the troubles of Clay County, Ky., which by several measures is the hardest place in America to live.

The Upshot came to this conclusion by looking at six data points for each county in the United States: education (percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree), median household income, unemployment rate, disability rate, life expectancy and obesity. We then averaged each county’s relative rank in these categories to create an overall ranking.

(We tried to include other factors, including income mobility and measures of environmental quality, but we were not able to find data sets covering all counties in the United States.)

The 10 lowest counties in the country, by this ranking, include a cluster of six in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky (Breathitt, Clay, Jackson, Lee, Leslie and Magoffin), along with four others in various parts of the rural South: Humphreys County, Miss.; East Carroll Parish, La.; Jefferson County, Ga.; and Lee County, Ark.

Here in Fayette, we're in a little better state than the rest of the Commonwealth:



In the original article, if you roll over the map, it will bring up a box with the chosen county's statistics.

More neat stuff about the body

hese 15 Facts About The Human Body Will Astonish You

I don't agree with one, an assertion that 'Babies are always born with blue eyes'. Most Caucasian ones are, I realise. But mine were light brown, same as they are now, and I'm Caucasian, although there's some American Indian (reportedly Blackfoot) in there, so that might be the explanation. But, being a universal statement, it is therefore negated. Besides, I'm pretty sure that while, for example, there are blue-eyed Africans, not all babies of all races are born blue-eyed. Not that the Internet is the solution to all such questions (this link, of course, was found on the Internet), but if you type into Google, 'are all babies born with blue eyes', you get:

Babies of African and Asian descent are usually born with brown eyes that stay brown. Caucasian babies are often born with steel gray or dark blue eyes; they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time they're 9 months old.

Hah! Google has spoken!

Interesting

Life in Space Affects Men's And Women's Health Very Differently

Back in 2011, NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) — on the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences — assembled six workgroups to investigate and summarize the current body of knowledge about human and animal spaceflight. The groups focused on cardiovascular, immunological, sensorimotor, musculoskeletal, reproductive and behavioral implications on spaceflight adaptation for men and women. The results have now been published in the latest edition of the Journal of Women's Health.

The study — done in anticipation of longer-duration spaceflights — will inform the health and safety considerations required for astronauts, particularly as they pertain to sex and gender differences.

Thanks to Alexandra Bond for the link!

Great job, both to the young lady and to those who trained her

Missouri teen saves 11-month-old baby in Walmart with CPR

Abby Snodgrass, 17, was in the High Ridge, Mo., Walmart when she heard a commotion. She ran over and performed CPR on a baby who had stopped breathing and most likely saved the child. She learned the life-saving procedure in health class.

You don't see much in the way of heartwarming or good stories in the news these days, so I was glad to see this. Apparently the local emergency personnel have been teaching every high school student in their district CPR since last year, and will have taught about 600 young people by year's end. What a great programme! I took CPR years ago, but haven't kept up on the latest techniques at all, and I gather it's changed a lot. I should check into getting a refresher at work. I'm not one of the people required to maintain CPR-certification, but it never hurts to know what to do.

Baby, it's cold outside

Deep freeze, USA: All 50 states sink below freezing point after second polar plunge dumps FIVE FEET of snow on Great Lakes

• Every single state experienced below-freezing temperatures Tuesday
• Five feet of snow is expected around Buffalo, New York
• Half of the nation is blanketed in snow
• Authorities shut down the New York State Thruway in western New York
• Dozens of drivers are stranded on the Thruway after getting caught in incredible pile-up of lake effect snow
• Temperatures are 15 to 25 degrees lower than normal for this time of the year across most of the country

Note that here in Kentucky, per one of the maps, we are 22 degrees lower than normal for this time of year, and you could certainly feel it. I was concerned this morning because my car doors tend to freeze shut easily and I've been told that my battery is charging at 50% capacity but haven't been able to get a new one yet before the cold weather settled in. Fortunately, this morning everything went as planned. Let's hope tomorrow will as well. We're going to steadily warm up till this weekend we'll see the 60s, and Thanksgiving is supposed to be sunny and 49. But getting down to the low teens in November for lows is not fun, and we simply aren't ready for it. Last winter was so horribly cold, snowy, and seemed longer than it should have, and I think most people are starting to think that this one will be similar.

With temperatures nosediving, let's hope they decide on something soon

Lexington may set aside $200,000 for homeless shelter in city-owned building on Industry Road

Even if all the parties come to agreement on Dec. 3, HUD must sign off on the agreement, Ramsey said.

The council allocated $1,237,850 of the $2.2 million last week. It has a little less than $1 million left to allocate. Hamilton said the $200,000 would be used to add bathing and bathroom areas at the Industry Road building.

Ramsey said the two sides need to come to a resolution soon. The Community Inn is operating at capacity as temperatures plummet. Twenty-eight people stayed overnight at the Catholic Action Center, a day shelter, on Sunday night.

"We are seeing a lot of new homeless people," Ramsey said. "We aren't sure why. There are a lot of elderly and disabled. Many have come here looking for jobs because of our low unemployment rate. About 45 percent of the people who stay at the Community Inn work full time."

Here's to anything that can serve our homeless population, get people back on their feet, and out of danger.

I need to catch up with series 8 on the DVR, having only seen a couple of them

'Doctor Who' Star Peter Capaldi Confirmed For Season 9 And 10; Will Jenna-Louise Coleman Return?

It looks like “Doctor Who” star Peter Capaldi will be driving the TARDIS for Seasons 9 and 10 of the BBC series. According to showrunner Steven Moffat, the 56-year-old actor has officially signed on to continue as the iconic science fiction character.

“Yes, he’s confirmed,” Moffat told The Hollywood Reporter at a London press event for the Season 8 DVD release. Meanwhile, there is no word on whether or not Jenna-Louise Coleman will return for Season 9. Coleman has played The Doctor’s companion for two years, one year longer than Capaldi has been with the show.

I guess that means YKWIA won't be watching 'Doctor Who' for awhile. He can't understand much of what he says, between the Scottish accent, low speech pattern, and the fact that British shows always seem to suffer sound-wise. I can understand most of what he says. I don't know how I feel about Capaldi yet, as I haven't seen much of the series this year yet. I do like that the Doctor is older. I'm of an age to appreciate the Classic Who upon which I was raised, primarily the Tom Baker years.

So I spent the day sick in bed

And am starting to feel a little better, finally.  I have slept and awoken every two hours or so and drank a glass of water.  Every four hours it so I have eaten something.  I have listened to some music,  but not read or watched anything, as that takes too much effort when I feel bad.  But I have had vivid,  entertaining dreams. It is very much like two years ago when I was recovering from being hit by the car.

Fortunately the cold should abate sooner than that.  Tomorrow it's back to work in what should be snow.  For now,  though,  I just want to stop sneezing,  etc.,  and go back to the hoarse-yet-recovering stage I was in about midweek a few days ago. It would be nice to be recovered completely within a few more days,  especially by Thanksgiving.

It amazes me

Just how much mucous a human body is capable of producing even after one week or more after first becoming ill with a cold. And that's with medication,  which I finally have a generic version of Mucinex,  thankfully. Hopefully it will be better by what should be a very busy Monday at work.  But for now,  I'm sorry,  I don't feel much like blogging tonight and will be heading back to bed.  Good night.

I am apparently having a relapse

Of the cold symptoms. After a couple of days of feeling better,  it has gone downhill from there,  and quite frankly I am a moving snot factory.  I did manage to take YKWIA to an appointment yesterday and do some things with him last night,  and then went with A to the grocery today and visited over there.  But I'm obviously not feeling well,  and even with some cold medicine I was so congested that YKWIA sent me home after an episode of 'The Almighty Johnsons' and called Brenda and cancelled the game,  giving me time to rest up tomorrow,  for which I am grateful. So I am going to rest for a while now.  I'll try to blog later tonight.

I just realised that I'm dehydrated

During the warm part of the year,  my ankles swell terribly,  and so I take Lasix (furosemide),  a diuretic. Even early this autumn,  I continued to take it because when I tried to stop,  I swelled up as per normal.  But now it's cold outside and I haven't had any swelling for days.  But I have been drinking water like mad,  the equivalent of twelve glasses a day at least,  plus juice and soda,  and can't seem to quench my thirst. My lips are cracked,  my mouth dries out at night even with a humidifier on the CPAP.  I am drinking at least four glasses of water at night. My skin looks sunken and has trouble bouncing back.  I have had a headache on and off for days now.  So as of tomorrow,  no more Lasix or the potassium I take with it. Hopefully that will help.  And yes,  those were the doctor's orders,  to take as needed and stop the potassium if I stop the Lasix.  I just wish I had paid more attention and realised this days ago!

Isn't this a restful desktop wallpaper?

It's from the Autumn Color in Japan desktop theme from the Microsoft Windows website, which is free to download and includes other very lovely, restful scenes.

A great Vonnegut quote

Who, after all, knows a bit about banned and challenged books....



Got this image after it was shared by the Lexington Public Library on Facebook. Presumably it's from the Daily Kos website.

Despite having a very stressful and busy day yesterday, last night was rather pleasant, as was today

I talked to YKWIA on the phone for awhile, blogged for some time, listened to some music, organised my Kindle books (the newer ones, that is, as the older ones are already in categories) into the appropriate collections, updated my tablet's and phone's applications, and pulled out my old Nintendo gaming system and played Gauntlet and Tetris (the latter of which has the correct music, rather than the game on my phone). So my old TV in the bedroom (the one my grandmother gave me, and she died in 1993) now has a Roku box (which allows me to stream Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon Prime on it), an Atari 600 XL, and and Nintendo, all of which can be plugged in depending on what I need at the time. I would have the little DVD player back here, too (there's no cable connexion to the bedroom), but my DVD/VHS combo is having trouble with the door and I have the backup DVD out in the living room, the one I won at a function at work that's a little bit bigger than an actual disc. I need to send the DVD/VHS to be repaired, as it is under warranty. Must add that to my to do list.

Today at work was all about playing catch-up in the library with both the duties there and the data entry/revenue cycle duties. I had about fourteen things on my list to do, but got all but about five accomplished, and those were lower priority and can be tackled tomorrow. After work was also very busy. I:

1. Left work early (I was ahead on my time) and went to the bank for a cashier's cheque for my rent (and got there with ten minutes to spare!)
2. Went to the leasing office and paid my rent
3. Went by the library and got a book that was on hold for YKWIA to read
4. Grabbed some Taco Bell
5. Nearly ran over a bike rider who, in my defence, was
   • On the wrong side of the road
   • Was running against the light
   • Turning left as I turned right
   • Had no lights when it was quite dusk, nearly dark
   • Was dressed in dark clothing
   • And was only seen because of the motion and the reflectors, so thank goodness I didn't make a really sharp turn. I am all for sharing the road, but I expect them to follow standard rules, laws, and use some common sense, you know?
6. Came home and charged my phone while waiting for a call from A
7. Went and picked A up at work, as it was 27 degrees, and it would have taken him two hours to get home by bus, and he was already very late
8. Dropped off the book and watched a video with YKWIA
9. Went to Kroger and got a few groceries
10. Marvelled at both the snowflakes drifting down and also the fact that the Salvation Army bell-ringers are already out (I mean yes, it is two weeks till Thanksgiving, but still....)
11. Watched someone back hard into a truck in the parking lot and then leave quickly; at least the truck didn't appear damaged (I hope the little car was, as she didn't even bother to stop or look)
12. Came home and put away the groceries

So now I'm listening to Bastille and contemplating tomorrow. I have to finish my list at work, take a friend to an appointment, work on the game notes while I'm there (remember to take the laptop with me in the morning, note to self), and call my mom and make arrangements to visit around Thanksgiving (I'm doing Thanksgiving again this year with my friends here, but I thought I'd go visit her on that Friday and maybe stay overnight. Bless her, this will be her first Thanksgiving without her mother, who died this summer.)

I think I may read for awhile and then go on to bed. I'm thinking of starting a new feature here on this blog, reviewing books I own that I think are really neat and worthy of reading, whether they be children's picture books, juvenile/young adult books, adult fiction, or non-fiction. I've already picked out a few, one of each type that would be fun to do. Maybe I'll call it Rabid Reviews. Okay, that's silly. But I thought I should add some library to this librarian's blog. What do you think? I think I'll start tomorrow, and do it on Fridays, which will go well with the Unshelved comic's 'book talk' comics on Fridays as well.

A wonderful story, a great programme

I found this amusing

Post by Leon Roberts.

Everyone expects the organist to mad; not so the cellist. Plus, I love the rock-style roll-around-on-your-back-on-the-floor-while-playing-your-instrument thing. For some reason, it reminds me of this:



'There's no way to be cool when your instrument is bigger than you.'

Results of a 'Doctor Who' personality quiz

'Doctor Who' Personality Quiz: Which Doctor are You?

Your result: Congratulations! You're the Eighth Doctor You're a true romantic, a real believer in the power of people and their collective abilities. You may have seen some unpleasant things in your time, had to deal with traumatic events, but you've never let them soil the purity of your faith in the basic goodness of humans, and this is written across your face. It's a hugely attractive feature, and this can sometimes lead you into trouble. but people generally feel better for having spent some time in your presence.

When I was feeling stressed and tired Monday

This made my day much better:

This is neat

I was talking on the phone with YKWIA and we got onto the subject of chemistry and physics, and I happened upon this:Interactive Periodic Table

I've been crazy busy so far this week

so no real blogging the last couple of days, for which I'm sorry. But things should settle down a bit starting tomorrow, as I won't be in scheduling and can concentrate on catching up at work. Monday night I came home and crashed again, still feeling the effects of my cold. Yesterday I felt better, and last night I did manage to go over and visit YKWIA and A for a little while. YKWIA and I watched an episode of the New Zealand show 'The Almighty Johnsons', which I found rather fun (although followers of Norse religion may not agree). It was on Netflix, and follows four brothers whose family are all descended from the Norse Gods, each one learning which he is on his 21st birthday. There are a group of Norse Goddesses who try to interfere with a prophecy concerning the youngest member of the family.

Today I weighed myself and I'm at my lowest weight in years. In fact, if I lose one more pound, it'll be 25 that I've lost this year. So I'm feeling pretty decent about that. However, it has been a challenge, particularly with the new schedule, to take all of my medicine properly and really watch my diabetes. I must improve on that.

Okay, I'm going to go listen to some music and maybe read for awhile, and generally have a quiet evening at home. Oh, and I should straighten up and work on unloading the dishwasher, etc. Things aren't bad in the apartment, but I didn't do a thing while I was sick, and there is a mountain of tissues on my bed, for example. I need to wash the bedding this weekend with the rest of the laundry; while I never officially ran a fever, I swear I got very hot and on Saturday night it felt like a fever breaking.

Oh, one more thing. I'm very excited that they managed to land a craft on a comet: Philae spacecraft makes historic landing on comet. The Rosetta mission is a great opportunity. Even Google has gotten into the celebration with a doodle. :) I didn't hear until some time after it happened, while I was at lunch, because things were so busy in clinic. But yay and congratulations!

Not surprisingly, today kicked my butt

Considering this is the first day in a couple that I've been vertical, with this cold, I guess that makes sense. It was also the first day of flying solo, as it were, in registration, scheduling and covering checkout as needed from about 9 am to 1 pm. Actually, I stayed till 2 pm, as it didn't seem that I'd ever catch up. I was slow, but tried to be as accurate as possible, and people were very understanding. But a lot of odd things that didn't come up in training came up today (typical, I suppose, and after all, it was Monday). Tomorrow's load should be about the same. Wednesday the clinic is even bigger. Eek. I hope I can do this. I thought I was doing pretty well while I was in training, but this was totally different. And yes, I did have people to ask what to do, thankfully, when those things came up that I hadn't seen before. But I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm sure once the cold-induced brain fog lifts and I can catch my second wind I'll be fine. But it is a lot to absorb. They're just happy I was willing to do it. And it is a valuable skillset around there, so being the flexible person willing to learn just about anything is a good thing. I just want to do as great of a job as possible, that's all.

So I pulled off the road and took a call from YKWIA this afternoon (I try not to talk on the phone while driving at all, much less anything else you can do with a phone, which I consider verboten), as he checked on me and vice versa, and then I came home, made dinner (pancakes with light syrup) and crashed for about four or more hours, getting up several times to drink more water and blow my nose. I'm at that point where it's difficult to eat and breathe at the same time, as I can't breathe well through my nose. And at one point I was having trouble using the CPAP, because of course it's designed with nasal pillows, and mouth-breathing breaks the whole cycle. But I eventually got things going again, and my sinuses as cleared as possible.

If I hadn't been starting scheduling today, I probably would have called in sick. I was miserable most of the time I was there. Fortunately the entire time I was in patient registration I did not sneeze, blow my nose, sniffle, etc., so hopefully I didn't pass it on to anyone else, And I washed my hands a lot and I have some sanitizer I can use, too. Once I got back to my desk, though, I did have some congestion and the like, and over the course of the afternoon felt worse. Since I'd come in a little early in the morning, I went ahead and left a little early, so I worked 8 hours total. Now I'm ready to call it a night. Sorry I don't have anything exciting to blog about right now. On the other hand, I learned that excitement = drama = not something I need much in my life. :) Good night.

I did take this, though

It's a gorgeous Christmas Cactus bloom that's almost as big as the plant itself, which I got last year about this time. There are other buds on it, but this is the only on that's fully bloomed as yet. Those are happy geraniums in the background (happy because someone took pity on them and brought them in before they could freeze). :) This has been my main source of cheer today.

How I spent my day

So I've been sick for several days now, and I'm ready to be well again

It started with a scratchy throat on Thursday afternoon, then went into fairly mild cold symptoms the next day, so I went in to work anyway. But I stayed home and rested Thursday and Friday nights, and didn't do much of anything else those nights. I can't really complain; I haven't had so much as a cold for maybe three or four years now. Today I've mostly been in bed. i got up to take A to the barber and later to the grocery store. I figured that was safe given that I caught the cold from him, so he shouldn't have to worry about it. Because two of the three of us in the game are sick (Brenda has so far escaped this plague), the game in cancelled for tomorrow and I don't have to worry about the game notes, thankfully, until next week. I'm sneezing, coughing, congested, my nose and eyes are running, and I'm tired and achy, especially in the evening. I got home tonight, got something to eat, drank some orange juice I'd gotten at the store, and now I'm in bed listening to Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns, and blogging, but I think I'll have to blow my nose, put on my CPAP masque, and go back to bed for awhile, because I have no energy whatsoever. I hope I'm feeling better tomorrow; and at least by Monday, as it is my first day in scheduling where I'm not just training.

I won't say I won't blog again tonight, but I'm tired and don't feel like finding any interesting links. So, good night.

This is an interesting take on World War I

If World War One Was A Bar Fight. This Is Perfect.

It's essentially true. And it gave us the Lost Generation, killed millions, and set up things for World War II and beyond. We're still dealing with the mess, in some ways, especially if you throw colonialism into the mix.

I'm all for this

Why, yes we do need more women in science and engineering, especially in leadership roles

Why It's Crucial to Get More Women Into Science

Amid growing signs that gender bias has affected research outcomes and damaged women's health, there’s a new push to make science more relevant to them.

I usually know the Word of the Day

Not so today...

I am such a gadget geek

Don't you think?

I'm not feeling particularly well

on this dreary, cool day. Now maybe it's because I didn't have my Claritin today, and so my allergies might be an issue, but as the afternoon has progressed, I've started having a scratchy throat and aching all over, with a headache. No fever as of yet, but I may be coming down with a cold, especially as I was around someone with one recently, and I've been training in an area with shared workstations and contact with children. :(

In fact, my training period is over and I'll actually be subbing as of Monday, as the person I was going to fill in for starts her leave tomorrow. So for four hours a day, twelve hours a week, I'll be doing scheduling and covering checkout as needed, plus keeping the library running and doing my other duties related to the revenue cycle the rest of the time.

Tonight I need to work on the game notes, but for right now I'm eating a coconut fruit bar and drinking some iced water to help with my throat. I'm thinking of taking some ibuprofen and lying down--my sinuses especially are hurting above my eyes. So for now, I think it's naptime. :)

As a Kentuckian

let me just say that I'm sorry that we somehow managed to vote Mitch McConnell in for a sixth term. I certainly didn't do it--I didn't vote straight ticket, but I sure didn't vote for McConnell. I don't understand why we can't seem to 'Ditch Mitch' as one slogan ran a few years ago. Apparently a lot of people thought he should stay in Washington. I just don't get it.

On the other hand, another crazy election season is finally over. What gets me is how much money was wasted on bad and annoying, often completely false, campaign ads throughout the country. Imagine what good we could do with that money. If I were in charge, the first thing to go would be the political action committees and corporate lobbyists. Yep, straight to the circle of hell they belong in, at the risk of offending. That's my two cents' worth, anyway.

I voted

Did you?

I am so not ready

For snow!