For your listening pleasure

Words by Robert Burns, music by Magnet, from the soundtrack to the original The Wicker Man movie (the great one). Happy Lughnasadh (Lammas). :)

Home for now

I have been so sleepy all day. I just want to take a nap, but I'm afraid I'll actually go to sleep. A and I might be going to the grocery tonight since they have plans with family tomorrow. I've been up since about 4:30 am straight, and of course had interrupted sleep all night, but that was my own fault. I just got something from Microsoft asking about the upgrade experience, which allowed me to not only rate but comment, so I told them about the compatibility report issue and alternative I used.

One thing I did not even think about doing when I was off (I did beforehand, but promptly forgot) was to get my allergy shots, so I did that today after work.

Last night a friend got us Chinese food from Jin Jin, and I got a fortune cookie but forgot to eat it. I just found it in my bag when I went to get a banana. It says: 'Ignore previous cookie.' :) Ha ha. It's been awhile; I don't remember what the last one said, but I remember I wasn't happy with it. So, good.

The sun is shining brightly through the windows, and the aquarium is producing a gentle fall of water. The fish are very happy to have full tanks. I love the late afternoons in my apartment. And the houseplants have bounced back where they were looking a bit peaked before I watered them. I just watered the outside ones as soon as I got home, because I forgot them.

I really do want to take a nap. Really. :) Instead, I guess since I've eaten dinner, I including a delicious if odd fortune cookie, I should head over there and discover what we're doing tonight, Brain. Of course, the answer is always 'try to take over the world'.

Success!!!

Everything's set up on the laptop and running. I'm just downloading some things to do with the display drivers and installing them now. So I guess it's time to go ahead and get ready for work. Yay!

15%

That's what the large dial on the notebook says right now. It's in the final stages of the installation,  but this one is much slower than the desktop.  I put the slower download to being on WiFi,  but the whole thing has been slower.   I started around 9:30 pm,  and it's 2:30 am now, whereas the other took maybe 2-3 hours altogether.

Fortunately nothing has required my response since about an hour ago, so I can sleep and check in later to make sure it all went okay. I'll give it another couple of hours.  It's kind of like when I make bread in the machine,  in that I can sleep while waiting,  although this doesn't have a set timed end. So I'll have some broken sleep tonight,  obviously.  I could just let it go and check in the morning at this point,  but I am too much of a geek to do so.  :)

I'll post an update.  In the mean time,  good night.

Wish me luck

I'm going to try to upgrade the laptop next. It's a lower-grade computer, but then I'll be getting the Windows 10 Home, and not the Pro, so it should be okay. :) I'm downloading the files now.

Well, persistence has led to me actually running Windows 10 on the desktop

A Microsoft Forum Moderator, Robhit Chettry, suggested for those of us who are having problems getting past the compatibility tool on the GWX ('Get Windows 10') application, to install Windows 10 using the Media Creation Tool. So I followed the instructions. I was a little concerned because while I have the product key for Windows 8 when I purchased it from Microsoft, the Windows 8.1 key is often embedded in the BIOS, and while there are tools for that, I didn't want to pay to get the features I needed from one that was suggested on the forums. So I decided to do what I could and wing it, and it installed, and it's not showing a request to activate or anything in the PC settings. So...I think I did it! We'll see if I can do it for the laptop as well. But I'm including the link for those of you who just want to download the files and go ahead and install, rather than waiting. The Media Creation Tool allows you to either run the Windows upgrade, or burn it onto a DVD/download onto a thumb drive for installation onto another PC. I hope this is helpful. It seems to have worked for me. I'm even trying out Microsoft's Edge web browser, which is on first look much better than Internet Explorer, and it allows you to take notes on the pages. Okay, going to go do some exploring and then finish working on some things with the house. Thanks for putting up with the complaints. :)

PS I did get a fun old game I love, Get Medieval, which is a Gauntlet-type game with a fake Arnold Schwarzenegger voice going on about girly spiders, among other things, going even though the same game wouldn't play on Windows 8.1 using compatibility mode because the game is 32-bit and my system is 64-bit. But this at least loaded; I just need to remember how to play. :)

On a side note, Microsoft Edge (the upgraded browser replacing Internet Explorer) just froze when I tried to add the screenshot to this post. We'll see if that continues to be a problem. I just popped back over to Chrome and it works fine. :)

Update: I did some digging as as long as you are upgrading from an activated version of Windows, it doesn't look like it should ask for an activation key. And everything is done like to like, so for example, I had Windows 8.1 Pro on the desktop, so it's Windows 10 Pro. My notebook is standard Windows 8.1, so it'll go to Windows 10 Home, hopefully. Also, if like me you had Windows Media Center, which allowed the playing of DVDs, it is not included in Windows 10 (I had to purchase it separately even for 8), but they're supposed to give you a free DVD-playback application, if not immediately, then soon, like the first update after install. Or you could use something like VLC, which I use on the notebook with Windows 8.1.

It usually does not take me long to go to sleep

Five minutes, at the most, really. Last night it took about an hour. Thank you, Microsoft. And I wanted to get up at 6, which would have been a little over four hours of sleep, but my body rebelled and here I am, awake at 8:30. But at least I'm off from work.

So on the agenda today:

1. Finish straightening up the house.
2. Do the dishes.
3. Water the plants, inside and out.
4. Get some medicine from the vet.
5. Take a friend to an appointment.
6. Take books back to the library.
7. Maybe take a swim in the pool?

I (finally) used my frustration last night and powered it into filling up the fish tanks, so they have water. It took till this morning to get the pump on the big tank to pull the water through properly though, and the little one still isn't working like it should. They never ran empty or anything that would destroy the pumps. I changed the filter on the little one and tried to position it right above the water. It's a little persnickety, usually. I'll keep trying. I also filled up the ice cube trays this morning because I am tired of warm water.

So did anyone actually get Windows 10 today?

Not me. On one computer, I have an error explaining that my graphics card isn't compatible, when it probably is, but even though I put in another graphics card, the compatibility report doesn't refresh for up to a month, according to their FAQ. A month? Really? I went through the Microsoft website and found a way to make the compatibility program run under task scheduler, but it didn't change anything. So it keeps telling me I can't upgrade because of a card that isn't active. The other computer keeps saying that it hasn't run the report yet, but will get around to it eventually (isn't that nice, and maybe two weeks ago it would have flown, but it's release day and it won't even tell me if my computer is compatible?) Both computers have the necessary update to have the program run a report correctly. It just isn't updating it's compatibility information, and so no upgrade.

It has thus been an extremely frustrating day for me, Microsoft. You suck majorly at times, and this is one of them. Of course, Best Buy offered to upgrade my computer for $30 a pop. The whole point of Windows 10 is that it is supposed to be a better operating system, and oh, yeah, free. It's not supposed to be this difficult. I'm not a tech genius, but I'm competent enough to handle many software issues and install/configure some hardware. But right now, in this moment, I am almost too irritated to sleep. Thank you, Microsoft.

In a little under forty-five minutes

I have excavated most of the bedroom floor and decided which things in the chest-of-drawers should go (a lot, actually) and which should stay. Of course, it's all sorted on the bed, so I'll have to finish it before I go to bed tonight. I've also gotten the things from the walk-in closet back in there. Now I'm sitting down for five minutes, before going forward, as my back hurts. I have two hours to go before I have to change and go get A for class.

Today's class

is about self-care. I was trying to do that today. But I got called for a ride, which meant I went over to my friends' house, and I wound up hurting someone's feelings because I wouldn't stay and keep him company. Now I feel like I'm a bad person. He is more important than the fire inspection or anything else. But I have to do things to make my life better, too. It's very confusing sometimes. And I didn't use the I-statements like we learned in the communications class, or express concern for him in some sort of reflective response. I just told him what I had to do and left it at that. I can sometimes be a bad friend. Now I feel terrible, but I can't repair anything right now, so I might as well clean the house. :(

I love these creepy things kids have said--their parents, maybe not so much.

When You See What These Kids Said, You'll Want To Run.

So far today I have

1. Woken up and showered/gotten ready.
2. Put that CD in the book drop (but wrapped in a bag to cushion it/keep it together).
3. Eaten breakfast (at McDonald's--I know, it's bad for you, but I didn't have much here, and their egg and cheese biscuits are yummy; plus I was parched).
4. Updated my laptop in preparation for the upgrade to Windows 10 (it took 17 updates--it's not connected all the time like the desktop is). But it's not running the compatibility report yet to say whether it will work.
5. Searched for an inexpensive solution to the Windows 10 incompatibility I'm having with the desktop (I think I solved it, but it took going to both Office Depot and Best Buy, the latter of which came through).
6. Mailed my mom's birthday card. I was able to buy a single stamp at The Mailroom, but my God they charge 59 cents, so it's a 10-cent markup per stamp. I hate to think how much the books cost.
7. Received replies from my aunts about some pictures I sent them that I scanned in. They were from 1981, when we were all much younger. They were happy to get them.
8. Switched tonight's lesson from the giant teaching notebook to the working notebook, and mapped out which parts I do and which parts my co-teacher does. I still have to read it thoroughly, but it's a start.

Next on the list is to work on the house, but I am going to take a short break first. I have about five or six hours before I need to go over and pick A up for class. Fortunately, he's off work today, too, so we won't have to work around his schedule.

Who does yard work at 7:30 in the morning?

Apparently the service our apartment complex hires. They were weed-eating outside my bedroom window awhile ago. Eek! Normally it wouldn't have been an issue, but I was hoping to (slightly) sleep in today since I'm off work. I need to get a CD to the library before 9:30 am, though, as it was due yesterday and that's when they open, so if it's there before then, it's not overdue. :)

I am such a geek

2010 eclipse by Denys
Wikimedia Commons

A friend and I were watching 'Wizards vs. Aliens' the other day and there was a total solar eclipse (bad science episode, but entertaining anyway), and all I could think of is that in two years (August 21, 2017), we in Kentucky will experience one. (Actually, the great thing about this one is that a lot of Americans will be able to catch it.) I've seen solar eclipses (once in 1979 in California, where we were out of the range of the totality) and once in 1991 (where I was in Kentucky, and again, outside the range of totality), but I've never actually been somewhere where the moon obscured the sun completely. So I'm very excited to see a total eclipse for the first time in my life. Gods willing, I'll be there with eclipse glasses on. :)

Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017

Speaking of fairy godmothers....

I'm not sure where this originated, but yes, this is how I feel sometimes:

I had to do a lot of scrolling on Facebook to find this again

My friend Jody posted it on hers...and I laughed. A lot.



For one, it annoys those of us who are not of the body. But even if one is a Christian, it's important to know that:

1. God helps those who help themselves (i.e., work to make things happen--don't expect things to magically work out) and
2. Prayer is great, but sharing things like that on Facebook is not going to make anything happen (except make some people feel good and annoy the rest of us). I'm just saying....

About freaking time!

YKWIA will not watch Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, because he can't understand a word he says, between the Scottish accent and the low speaking tone. So I never got to see much of the last season, and I don't have cable, so I normally watch over there. So finally I can catch up. While I'm at it, there's a lot of 'Doctor Who' for me to catch up on--I've only seen about two of the seasons of the nine, despite loving the show, both the classic and new Whos. Yay!

Finally! Doctor Who Series 8 Coming to Netflix in August!

For more on what is coming to Netflix in August, as well as those leaving the service, check out: Netflix: Movies and TV Shows Coming in August 2015.

Now if only we could get 'Haven' season 5. But I'm not sure if that ever concluded, and I promised not to look up anything about the show. Isn't it on Sy Fy? YKWIA will also not watch that network because spelling matters to him, but will watch it with me on Netflix. :)

So George Takei shared this on Facebook

Reader Chris Meadows commented with this, which I don't remember seeing before, although maybe YWKIA showed me it. Ah, the agony to be the librarian in this library during a whisper fight!

Hmmm....

Hmmm...obesity and now this. I am beginning to think that my gut bacteria are not my friends. And while foecal transplants sound icky, well, they may save lives. Maybe we can figure out what's messing up our personal oecosystems in the first place?

Link Found Between Gut Bacteria And Depression

Scientists have shown for the first time that there is a way to model how the gut bacteria in a mouse can have an active role in causing anxiety and depressive-like behaviors. It has been shown that the gut microbiome can affect many aspects of our health, but most of this research has been performed on mice that were healthy. The scientists from McMaster University wanted to test how the gut microbiome affected stressed mice. The results have been published in [N]ature [C]ommunications.

Some of these have got to be joking...

Right? Please?

These 24 Spelling Fails Are Embarrassingly Terrible. #16 Is So Wrong.

Yep

The Real Reason You Hate Umbridge So Much. This Guy Nails It.

Yay! I'm off for two days!

Which means I:

1. get away from the office for a little while (I really had to drag myself to work today, which indicated it was time to get away, even for a short time, as I usually love being there.
2. can get the house in order before the fire department inspection on Thursday (which I didn't know would happen when it will when I asked of, but I knew it was looming)
3. can take care of some errands and make some phone calls
4. can prepare properly for class
5. can get my allergy shots properly this week
6. can go swimming in the pool
7. won't have to take time off to take a friend to an appointment
8. can blog more
9. might be able to install Windows 10 on my machines, depending on how the rollout goes

Things I want to do tomorrow before class:

1. Take a CD and some books to the library
2. Clean the apartment thoroughly
3. Water the plants, including the outside ones, one of which fell off its ledge yesterday, so I also need to sweep up the dirt
4. Prepare for class

Does it say something

that I took a quiz 'How Well Do You Know M*A*S*H?' and I scored 100%?

It was my favourite show growing up, and I have all the episodes (and movie) in a collection of DVDs. I even did an acting monologue based on a scene from my favourite episode in junior high, and once dreamt it from titles to credit when we were moving and didn't have access to TV. (At the time my favourite episode, by the way, was the one where Hawkeye was blinded). At least until the end. The finale was one of the most moving things I ever saw on television.

One last thing

Thinking of my grandmother, who died just a little less than a year ago--August 10th will be the anniversary of her death. I miss her.



Peace. Good night.

Well, I did one thing on my list

I didn't get home till about 9:30 tonight, and my neck and back are still hurting, so I decided not to do any lifting, which means not putting stuff in the closet, not filling up the fish tanks, and not taking stuff out to the Dumpster. But I did sit down and pay several bills to the best of my ability. I also relaxed for just a little while playing Gauntlet, both the original and Gauntlet II. :) Now I'm listening to a Loreena McKennitt channel on Pandora. I'll probably head on to bed soon--tomorrow is one of my 'early' days, meaning I get up at 6 am.

I managed to get some gas today and filled up the tank (which was good, as I was on my gas light) because using my friends' Kroger card (they have no car, so otherwise the fuel points would go to waste, and I take them around a lot) I had 50 cents off a gallon, so I got it for $1.99 a gallon. Yay! That was kind of the highlight of my day. I generally didn't feel well, due to the neck/back pain, a headache, and some wonky blood sugar. I did manage to help YKWIA with something, and A as well, and watched a great episode pair of 'Wizards vs. Aliens' with YKWIA. But I'm glad to be home now and am thinking of taking a muscle relaxer and just crawling into bed. I wish this pain would go away. I haven't taken anything stronger than ibuprofen, but I've been trying to avoid taking even that if I can help it.

Okay, that's all for me tonight. Have a very good night. I'll try to write something more substantial next time.

So tired

It's been a long day,  about 16 hours or so of a doctor's appointment,  work,  and class.  The first was utterly frustrating.  I went to my psychiatrist expecting to discuss my test results showing I had attention-deficit disorder, and perhaps getting treated for it.  But he didn't have the report yet, which means either the psychologist hasn't finished writing it yet,  even though we discussed the results earlier this month and she knew when I was seeing the doctor,  or it never made it upstairs from the other office (the practice has two floors--the counselor and testing centre are on the first,  but the psychiatrist is on the second). I like both of the clinicians who oversee my care,  as they are competent and easy to discuss my issues with,  but their office organisation leaves something to be desired.

Years ago,  when my old psychiatrist was closing her office and I moved to theirs,  they accidentally shredded my medical records that had been sent over because they had my last name wrong. When I went back several years later,  they couldn't find my newer records from their practice.  My psychologist finally had her hands on them at our last visit, after I'd been going there for three months. And not once have the two floors communicated each one's notes to the other.  Really.  So this morning I was frustrated,  as all the doctor could do was give me refills on my other meds and tell me to cone back in two months,  meaning I wouldn't be treated for the ADHD until September at the earliest.  I complained about this to the woman at the checkout desk,  who said she could made me an appointment in a month instead.  I may have to come back in September,  too,  but at least we could address the other then.  So that helped. I must say,  I handle frustration much better than I used to.  Maybe I'm finally growing up.

Work was okay,  nothing exciting to report.  I did wear my bracing gloves today because my wrists and hands have been hurting. I really need to go to a hand specialist.  I've known the carpal tunnel has been back for awhile,  but haven't done anything about it.  I've even noticed a twitching in my thumb occasionally.  I don't know if that's a symptom- -I don't remember it before my carpal tunnel release surgeries.  But I should go have it checked out in any case.  Anyway,  the gloves did help.

Class was great.  It was our session on communication.  A really liked it, and he did really well. This one was mostly hands-on exercises,  without much lecture.  Next week's is about self-care.

Okay,  I've been writing with my phone,  swiping as I go. My hands are totally cramping now, so I'm going to go now.  Good night!

Hee hee

Why Is Life Left-Handed? The Answer Is In The Stars

While most humans are right-handed, our proteins are made up of lefty molecules. In the same way your left and right hands mirror one another, molecules can assemble in two reflected structures. Life prefers the left-handed version, which is puzzling since both mirrored types form equally in the laboratory. But a new study suggests that this may be because the star-forming cloud that created the first-ever biological molecule, before our sun was even born, made it left-handed.

I once took a class that blended astronomy and biology into the interesting topic of extraterrestrial life. When we got to the point of left-handed vs. right-handed amino acids, someone asked what would happen if we met people from another planet with right-handed ones. The teacher's answer? 'Then we would not be able to eat them.' Imagine that in a thick Israeli accent. I loved Dr Elitzur's sense of humour. You've got to love those theoretical astrophysicists.

Home

So I got home about 8 pm and the first thing I did was take out the recyclables, and then I watered the outside plants. I gathered up the plastic bags into a plastic bag that I can take to recycle at Kroger. Now I'm at the computer with the little fan on because I feel hot and sticky. My neck's been bothering me quite a bit today, and it's gotten worse over the day, although I was able to stretch it a bit and that helped for awhile. I don't really want to lift anything tonight as a result. The items from the walk-in closet should go back, and mostly they're light, but the Christmas tree is in a big tub and while I would not need to lift it, there is bending and pushing to consider. It should go on the bottom, as it's a big tub, so that I hope to do tomorrow, maybe, after class. I'm a little hungry, so I'm mustering up the desire to make something. I think I'll keep it simple, a peanut butter and spreadable fruit sandwich. But mostly I just want to lie down and go to sleep, even though it's not even dark yet. But I will resist that.

Tomorrow morning I go to my psychiatrist and he'll decide whether to put me on medication for the attention-deficit disorder. That's early in the morning, so I have to get up about the same time I normally would for work. Then it's off to work, and then teaching class that evening.

I think I'm going to try to do something to improve the apartment each night, even the late ones, even if it's simple, on the theory that it will improve things over time. But tonight, having done a few things, I think I will try to relax and do something fun on my own. I spent some time watching things with YKWIA, including 'Wizards vs. Aliens' and a little 'Doctor Who'. I think now I'm going to listen to some relaxing music. I'm debating as whether to do something industrious such as going through clothes to give away or not. We'll see. But I'm definitely getting comfy first. Good night.

Listening to:

Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe

I did rest for awhile but didn't actually sleep. Now I'm making the first loaf of bread, I've consolidated the plants and watered them, and I've straightened up several areas of the house. The problem with the plants were that in the bedroom I couldn't easily open the window, because there were two rows of plants, some large, in the way. Now I have plants and my clock on the top of my computer hutch, many more are on the blocks and boards in front of the living room window (but just one row, so you can reach the windows to open them), and just one row of small violets in the bedroom. I did find the source of the fruit flies--apparently I had some cherries in reusable bag that never made it back into the refrigerator and decayed. When I picked up the bag to throw them away, I got cherry juice on the carpet, which I've done a decent job of blotting away, but it looked a bit like someone opened a vein in here.

Tomorrow I have several errands to do for my friends. Wednesday is class, so Thursday might be the next time I have to work on things here. So I'll still have things to do. The two things I'd like to do tonight are gather up the plastic bags to take out with me tomorrow, and also I need to fill the fish tanks, really. If I can't get that done tonight (as it is getting late, and it's kind of labour intensive), then tomorrow for sure. They're both at about half, which isn't good. Tomorrow morning I can take the trash and recyclables out if I can get up early enough. So Thursday there's:

1. Cleaning out the refrigerator.
2. Going through the clothes and putting the ones I keep away.
3. Doing bills and finance things.
4. Putting back the things that go in the walk-in closet.
5. Working on the bedroom some more.
6. Work on the floors.
7. Doing dishes.

Okay, if I'm going to get anything done before bed, I'd better get going, then go on to sleep until the bread is finished, as I have to get up very early tomorrow. Good night.

My oompf is fading

I still have a lot to do. I was thinking of going ahead and starting the bread baking, but it looks like a storm is about to hit and I don't have the bread maker on any sort of surge protector, and I don't want to have it stop in the middle of things, so I'll wait for a bit. I went to the library since they'll close at nine, and I thought the act of driving the short drive would pep me up a little, but no. I'm thinking of taking a small nap, although there is the danger it will turn into a sleep at this point. But no one said it had to be done at once; I'd just like to get it done. But the nightstand is now easy to use, the TV area is nicely organised. If I could at least get the plants and fish taken care of tonight, plus the bread, I will be happy. The closet items and clothes would probably be the most useful things to do in the long run, I must admit, but I could do those another night. The finances I can't do anything about, actually, until payday, which is later this week. So we'll see. But for now, I am going to try to take no more than a 30-minute nap. Wish me luck!

I tried to publish this post from my phone

Alas, it did not work. The Blogger application is still saying 'publishing' about 40 minutes later. So here goes.

There really is no room in my bedroom for any sort of game system, and I have an old Atari computer and a not-quite-first-generation-but-still-original Nintendo system from ages back. I had tried balancing these on a chest-of-drawers with an old 1990s TV and a Norfolk Virginia pine, but it didn't work too well. So....I looked and I could hook them up to my 'modern' TV in the living room. So now the bedroom TV just has an RF modulator and Roku box (which is very small) to deal with, so I can watch Netflix or listen to Pandora. The living room has a small Smart TV, so I can do that in there, or now, play Tetris or Gauntlet or Dig Dug to my heart's content. If the Nintendo is hooked up, the digital antenna works as well, as there is a port for it. If the Atari is hooked up, it's just that. I'm going to see if I can use a splitter, but it may need a switch to hook both up and alternate them. (I don't have cable television; I don't really watch it enough to justify the expense.) But really, who needs cable, as I have all the entertainment I need here.

Things I'd like to do tonight:

1. Bake two loaves of bread, one for A, one for myself.
2. Clean out the bedroom nightstand.
3. Rearrange TV stand.
4. Consolidate plants.
5. Water plants.
6. Fill up the fish tanks.
7. Put things back in the walk-in closet that are out because the air conditioning leaked.
8. Go through clothes to give away.
9. Put away clothes.
10. Go through library books and get those that need to go back together.
11. Go to the library, pick up a hold, and turn the other books back in.
12. Go over bills and finances. [on Thursday]
13. Clean out the refrigerator.
14. Take out trash.
15. Take out recyclables.
16. Corral the plastic bags and put them in the car trunk.
17. Find the source of yet a new crop of fruit flies (I've been careful to put banana peels in a bag immediately and the like). There's not a huge amount, but it's troubling.
18. Put photos back in their drawer.
19. Organise medicines.
20. Organise phone covers.
21. Straighten up desk.

That should be plenty to do, don't you think? But I'm going to try not to lie down or otherwise set myself up to go to sleep. I feel pretty awake now. I'm going to start with the nightstand because I'm right next to it, and go from there. But I'll try to write later.

Busy, busy

Sorry I haven't blogged.  The last couple of days have been pretty busy.  But tomorrow I should be back on track and having a quiet night at home. So tune in then, and I'll have something more substantial to blog about,  hopefully.  In the meantime,  good night.

With the exception of a few dishes to do

unloading the dishwasher, and going through the refrigerator, I did a pretty decent job of cleaning up the kitchen today. I also am making some bread in the bread machine, as I am out and have all the ingredients and no money to just buy bread. Besides, it tastes better when homemade anyway, even if I'm not doing the kneading myself. :) I don't want to work anymore in there tonight because the bread will be rising, so it's time to move to other parts of the apartment and get things that were in the walk-in closet that leaked back in (they're mostly plastic, so they should be okay if it should happen again). I also want to wash the couple of clothes baskets I have (they got wet, and stained with rusty water), so that I can use them to corral the clothes in the bedroom, which have become a problem.

I just read a book I got out of the library called Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD : Tips and Tools to help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized by Sarah Pinsky. While I'm not going to take all of her suggestions (I think my apartment leasing agent would be less than thrilled if I took all the cabinet doors off their hinges in the kitchen), a lot makes sense, and I'm going to try to put some of them into action. Her theory is that the best system for someone with attention-deficit disorder is to make things convenient, fast, easy, and efficient, so no beautiful baskets for magazines to languish in or using staging areas such as the main kitchen table for craft projects. Storage should be open and so easy to use it takes less effort to throw a sock into a hamper rather than on the floor. The book is organised by room of the house. Some areas don't apply to me, like the garage, or the playroom, but a lot did. And once I have money again, I really need to get a bigger trash can (not the tiny ones you see in bathrooms) for the bedroom, and one for the living room (not for food, obviously) and maybe a small recycling bin for both, as I tend to strew packaging and papers around in both places. I think that will cut down on a lot of that.

I also want to go through the many boxes (both plastic and cardboard) of paper that I have here and there in the closets and some behind the couch. Most of that stuff can probably go. They're old bills I wanted to shred, or school material copies, or stuff to do with my accident three years ago--that sort of thing. She argues that really, very little needs to be shredded these days, as account numbers are masked, etc. Simply tearing them in half and putting them in different bags is probably enough. So that's a goal to finish by the end of the year. First I have to get things passable in the bedroom. At sometime in the next month, the fire department is supposed to come check our fire alarms, smoke detectors, and that our windows open. The bedroom is very cluttered, and while, yes, I can get to the window, it's not exactly clear and easy, either. Plus, I may need to rethink my plants and try to come up with a better solution for them. They effectively block the windows. The living room has several on some blocks and boards, and the bedroom has a end table with two rows of plants on it. The living room isn't so much a concern--the door is there, so I'd likely not go out the window there anyway. But the bedroom is definitely an issue. I am going to try to consolidate my plants and move things around, use the space better. Hmmm...maybe I'll do that now.

One last thing, did you know 'Bloom County' is back???? I loved that comic strip when I was in college. You can get the new strips by liking Berkeley Breathed on Facebook. So far, Opus has awakened 25 years later and discovered the Internet. There have been three strips so far, released as Breathed feels like, rather than a daily schedule. But I'm happy it's back!

Class went really well tonight

So after work, I headed over to class because A was working late, and he couldn't make it. I got there early, did a few things on the phone, read a library book on my Kindle, that sort of thing. There was a lot of participation this time; this was the class on empathy. I disclosed my own diagnosis tonight, which I've been very careful about so far, but it was at an appropriate time, somewhat ironically about 'coming out' with mental illness. I always think of my co-teacher as the 'main' teacher and myself as the 'supporter', but people are coming up to me with questions during break and after class, and it feels nice that they feel comfortable doing that. It's hard to believe we only have four more sessions to go! Next week involves an interesting communication exercise, and I'm curious to see how people react to that.

After class I went over to my friends' house, to see if they needed anything, as YKWIA had indicated he'd like me to earlier, but the house was dark, they were obviously asleep, and so instead of rousing the dogs by knocking without a porch light on or anything, I called to see if they might be awake at all. There was no answer, so I went on, checking as I went to see that the bedroom light was also dark. I'll catch up with them later.

Tomorrow I'm going in to work early for a birthday breakfast. They have it twice a year, the administrator makes us omelets, and otherwise it's a free breakfast bar served by the directors. Although my birthday was in April, it falls in this particular breakfast. Unfortunately, I have a doctor's appointment (which fortunately isn't fasting) at 8:30 am, so I'm going to go into work, eat breakfast, go to my appointment, and then go back.

I'm feeling good about work lately. Today I sent my boss an interesting article on the use of codes during active shooter situations and using plain language, and she really appreciated it. I'd found it on Facebook last night as a link via The Joint Commission. Also, in my other job in the revenue cycle position, I've found several things lately in reconciliation that translate to quite a bit of money. So I'm feeling like I'm contributing. Despite that, I really need to step up my job search, as my job is not going to the new medical centre and it's going to take awhile to find one, particularly if I want to stay a librarian (which I do, if at all possible).

Okay, I'm home, I'm in comfy clothes, and I've had a couple of peanut butter sandwiches. I spent my last five dollars on menstrual pads, 79 cent marked-down bread, and fruit spread. Sigh. I do wish things would get better financially, but I don't see that happening. I have a quarter of a tank of gas in the car, too, and that's certainly not going to last a week till I get paid. :( Tomorrow I need to call and make arrangements for an extension on my electric bill, or it'll be shut off Friday.

Oh, well. I think it's time to finish getting ready for bed, take my contacts out, snuggle up in front of the fan, and hopefully have pleasant dreams, for the morning comes early. Good night!

Time for bed

I think it's time to water my plants. My spider plant just plunged off the top of the computer desk in an effort to tell me (okay, so when it gets dry, the 'baby' plants outweigh the parent plant, and they all hang in basically one direction, so it gets too light to keep its place, and just fell without being jostled or anything). But still, I'll take the hint. And with that, I'm finished for the night. Goodnight, all. Hope you are safe and happy and having good things happen in your life. And just to leave on a happy note, I bring you baby goats. :) [You're welcome, YKWIA.]

Came across this...granted it's a commercial

but we do need to increase the confidence level girls have in themselves.

Thinking of the Vietnam War lately, for some reason

The war ended when I was 8 years old. My father did three tours of duty in Southeast Asia. For some reason, this song always reminds me....

So--

I don't give blood as often as I probably should, but it's about once or twice a year, and today I completed my fifth gallon (40 pints!), which took 31 years of giving. :) If you can, consider giving blood. Thanks to the Kentucky Blood Center for all their help.

Behold the power of sticky notes!

LIKE: ADDIKTION & Find more: ADDIKTION.NET

Posted by ADDIKTION on Friday, July 3, 2015

She's exactly right, and I use this way too much myself

Google Exec Reveals the One Word Women Need to Stop Saying If They Ever Want to Be ‘Respected’

“Yet I began to notice that “just” wasn’t about being polite: it was a subtle message of subordination, of deference. Sometimes it was self-effacing. Sometimes even duplicitous.”

“As I started really listening, I realized that striking it from a phrase almost always clarified and strengthened the message.”--Ellen Petry Leanse

There are a lot of comments on the the Internet like, 'don't tell women how to talk' or 'there's no data to back this up'. It was never a scientific study, it was based on anecdotal experience. But it doesn't mean women shouldn't be more assertive in their language--we undermine ourselves easily in all sorts of way in the business world and beyond. There's nothing wrong with suggesting that we think about how we say something and how to make it stronger.

I'm not into tattoos, but this is nice

If You See Someone With A Semicolon On Their Body, Here’s What It Really Means

The symbolism of the semicolon is explained on Project Semicolon’s website,

“A semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life.”

By encouraging people to share their marks and stories, Project Semicolon seeks to instill hope and open up a dialogue about mental health.

Yep...

15 Dead Giveaways That Somebody Is American.

I particularly like:

7. Mostly it's the 'prepared for anything' look they have about them (fanny pack, backpack, bottled water, camera pouch) compared to various other tourists - Asians tend to herd together for safety, while Europeans vary between blend-right-in Scandinavian to designer-brands-everywhere French and traffic-laws-are-for-others Italian. But Americans are the only ones who seem to view a perfectly civilized, modern city like some kind of uncharted jungle that doesn't have places to shelter in the rain or buy cheap bottled water.

All people are entitled to their opinion, and in America, we have free speech...

...but please folks, at least use good grammar on your signs, because you might wind up on the front page of the paper, and then get picked up elsewhere in media-land. People don't need any reinforcements that Kentuckians are uneducated hicks, thank you very much. Sigh. They weren't even actual homonyms.

From the 7/14/2015 edition of The Lexington Herald-Leader, page A1

Full article here:

Court case on marriage licenses in Rowan County may not be decided until August

One more thing....

There's a new one out...YKWIA showed this to me today, and I thought you might enjoy it.

Home from the game

Listening to 'Hold On' by Kansas, Best of Kansas

which I got through the Lexington Public Library, which uses the Freegal application to allow you to download songs (three a week) and keep them, or stream their catalogue of music. I've been diligently working on the songs from Best of Kansas of late.

Yesterday I paid my rent and picked up a couple of books on hold at the library, and then went to a friend's house and did 17 things on a list, various errands and activities there. So I was pretty busy. I came home about 10 pm and pretty much went to bed, getting up at 5:30 am to work on the game notes, and then going back to bed about 7 am. I kept hitting snooze, and finally got out of bed by about 8:48--and still needed to shower, gather my laundry, etc., so I called to let them know I'd be late and started getting ready. I got there about 9:45. I watched some episodes of 'Wizards vs. Aliens', which is actually quite well done. Then I started on my weekly chores, where I help get the house ready for the game. After that, Brenda came over and we played. I still have a couple of things to do which I can do later, maybe tomorrow. We had a good game. I have two characters who are unfortunately bonded due to a magical ritual and they are in danger of totally merging and shattering, like two sides of a mirror. We think we know a way to save them. I hope we do. as both have children, and I am very fond of each of them.

Well, it's 11 pm. I've taken my nightly medicine, gotten comfy, etc. I suppose it's time to go to bed. But first, what I'm listening to (the last two songs):

Home fairly early

I got through a good portion of my to-do list today at work, mostly the priority things, and then took a friend to an appointment after work. I like that the appointments can go until late--even 7 pm sometimes. That's five appointments between the two of us this week, which is pretty extreme and unusual. Wednesday I took off because I had two, and then we did some other things as well, and this one was after normal work hours, so I just missed a little. But this is why I usually keep maybe three days of PTO on tap, when I get four weeks of PTO each year. :)

So now I'm home and while I should do game notes, I am really more interested in doing just about anything else; I can work on them in the morning. Tomorrow I also need to pay my rent and go to the library for a couple of books I have on hold, then head over to my friends' house and do an errand or two for them.

But right now I think I will get off the computer and do something fun. Good night.

It feels so good to lie down

With my feet up  (although they haven't been swelling as much as they were earlier in the season).  I must admit,  I am tired and I have a headache,  so I'll be changing from merely resting to full-blown sleeping soon.

After work I had an appointment with my allergist and got my shots.  I've gone up a colour on the phial,  and I should soon be at a level where most people see improvement. Just changing medications helped me.  I am on levocetirizine,  which has been helping a great deal.

I came home for awhile,  then went to my friends' house.  I went to Jin-Jin and picked up some lovely vegetarian fare,  including Vegetable Egg Foo Yong and Kung  Pao Tofu, plus spring rolls. I also got fish food for my goldfish from Kroger,  also in the Chinoe shopping centre.  Then I headed back,  watched a couple of episodes of 'Wizards vs. Aliens'  and then came home.  Now I'm in a darkened room,  my headache is easing,  and I'm ready for bed.  The fish were very happy to get their food. Tomorrow is one of my early days, so I must get up earlier. So,  good night.

Looking for some answers

So I went to the international and US MENSA websites, and they didn't really have much in terms of resources on either page. I guess you have to join to get the benefits, and that's $70 a year, which is too steep for me. I did, however, stumble upon SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), which does have resources both free and for sale. It's geared not just for supporting gifted kids, but adults, too.

I borrowed an e-book from the library, Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, which my therapist recommended. The other one, Carol Dweck's Mindset: the New Psychology of Success, wasn't available at the library at the moment, so I have placed a hold for it. I also placed a hold for a Gladwell's Outliers and Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD : Tips and Tools to help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized by Sarah Pinsky. Gladwell's books are mostly for curiosity's sake, Dweck's may be very important in my situation, and Pinsky's couldn't hurt. :)

Oy, vey, what a day!

I:

1. Got the results of my testing, got the names of a couple of authors to read, and it was suggested that I check out MENSA's resources for people who are gifted,  but who also have learning disabilities such as ADHD.
2. Exchanged some medicine at the pharmacy that had been wrong for the one needed.
3. Stopped at McDonald's for two cheese and egg biscuits.
4. Picked up a friend and drove him on an errand to a city 25 miles away.
5. Came back to Lexington.
6. Took him by Long John Silver's so he could get lunch.
7. Went to my ophthalmologist and had my eyes dilated, my pressure checked, and pictures of my optic nerve and retinal thickness taken. There was no sign of retinopathy or other issues from the diabetes, and my pressure is okay. I see him again in January, this time with a field of vision test.
8. Went home, ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
9. Got a friend from work and took him home.
10. Went to class and taught our module on medications.
11. Stopped by Taco Bell for dinner. Many traffic, street, and store lights were out. Not sure what caused the outage, but it doesn't seem to have happened here.
12. Came home.
13. Ate two plums. Now I'm ready to sleep.

Good night!

Today I:

1. Had a hard time waking up.
2. Forgot to put my dentures in (I retrieved them later).
3. Got criticised for my hair (back with a band that looks like braided hair) and an earring with a cuff that has a butterfly on it.
4. Got half a tank of gas, as I was on my gas light, which was good, as gas prices went up later in the day.
5. Took a friend to the doctor and laboratory.
6. Took him home.
7. Went to work.
8. Had a spicy grilled feta cheese sandwich and some fries at my desk.
9. Drove through a torrential downpour, with lots of water on the road, accidents, trees down, lights off, stalled cars, etc., but with minimal trouble, as I was just careful. I did almost hit someone who came out of an apartment complex across two lanes of traffic while I was coming up into the turn lane to the side of them, as I almost didn't see her in time, but it was all okay.
10. Went and got three medicines for two friends, plus mine, at the pharmacy.
11. Brought over the meds.
12. Got tickled. A lot.
13. Took a friend to the grocery store. Got plums, soda, and a pint of chocolate milk for myself. Failed to get fish food, and the goldfish are out of theirs.
14. Came home and got in before it started raining again.
15. Ate a plum and a can of lima beans for dinner.
16. Checked out Facebook, the news, and Google Play.

Tomorrow the plan is (I'm off from work):

1. Go to my psychologist at 8 in the morning to get the full results of my testing.
2. Go get my friend and take him to Frankfort for an errand.
3. Go to my ophthalmologist.
4. Go by the library and return two books I should have returned today.
5. Go by the pharmacy and exchange a medicine that was accidentally switched with another one that was needed.
6. Pick up a friend at work.
7. Take said friend home to eat some dinner himself, as well as feed his animals.
8. Take said friend to class.
9. Teach the Wednesday night class.
10. Take him home.
11. Check on my other friend.
12. Go home and crash.

I really should go over the material for class tonight. I may. Or I may just turn in early and hope to get it done while I'm waiting at various waiting rooms tomorrow. :)

Trekkers rejoice!

We now have transparent aluminium.

Optically Clear Aluminum Provides Bulletproof Protection

While the U.S. Navy is busy with the development of a new bulletproof material called Spinel, Surmet Corporation is already commercially producing its own version called ALON®. Technically known as aluminum oxynitride, Star Trek fans may be more familiar with the term “transparent aluminum” first proposed by Scotty in the 1986 movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. While ALON isn’t quite what Scotty had in mind (it’s not truly a transparent metallic aluminum, but rather a transparent aluminum-based ceramic), it’s pretty darn close.

Happiness

is finding that can of peas you forgot you got at the store, when you just want a little something. :)

I just got back from the fireworks

They were a lot of fun. I'd been working on the game notes for two-and-a-half hours when I took a break, grabbed some Taco Bell (I went in, although I was getting take out, and got behind a very large family). Then I headed over to the hospital with my blanket, my dinner, and my badge (to get to park in our parking lot rather than along the road). I was seated by a family with a young girl who was terrified of bugs, including lightning bugs, despite my reassurances that they would not harm her, and that lightning bugs are friendly bugs like ladybugs. She was spastically looking for them all around. She asked me what the Fourth of July was about, and I told her. She thought Abraham Lincoln was our first president, and I gently dissuaded her of this. (I'd say she was maybe in first grade, or about to be.) Her grandmother got a call before the fireworks began, and I gather they had to go pick someone up, but she waited until about halfway through the show to make them all pick up their stuff and leave, and they'd really been into it. If they'd waited about 10 minutes, it would have been over, but instead she just kind of yanked them out of there. I felt sorry for them. There was also a toddler who kept running up to me. :) For all that I'm not really much for kids, there is a certain tendency among toddlers to about three years old to just run up to me and hug me. On the other side of me were a bunch of teenage boys, at least one whom let go of some fireworks (they're not allowed, but I did see a lot of sparklers, but this was full on firecrackers or something similar). Fortunately, they settled down during the show, although someone nearby was smoking a cigar, which was a problem for me. But I didn't let it bother me. There at the end I was having trouble with those brown scarab-like beetles you see so much of at night around here, crawling on me and my hair. I'd thought I'd gotten it off me. But after the show (and it was a nice display), I went out the back, carefully, as people were not using good sense in how they were walking, and then went to the Chinoe Kroger for a few things, including game snacks. I went through the store, to the bathroom, back out to the car, got home unloaded everything, and wouldn't you know the scarab flew off my hair as soon as I turned on the bedroom light and played around it for awhile. I'm not sure where it is, now.

Okay, I still have a lot to do on the game notes. I started them early enough, but we actually went right into the game last week without chatter and pretty much I've had to go ahead and put almost all of what's recorded in. It should ease up a bit now that I've reached the point where we defeated the warlocks in the department store, but I've got at least 3 1/2 hours of recording left, so maybe two hours left of transcribing. :( So I'd better go back to that. Happy Fourth of July, though! I hope those of you out there who celebrate had a really good time, and a safe one!

Things I'd like to do today

1. Straighten up living room.
2. Put away old laundry.
3. Gather new laundry.
4. Wash dishes.
5. Put water in fish tanks.
6. Water and cull plants.
7. Clean out refrigerator.
8. Take a dip in the pool.
9. Game notes.
10. Read.
11. Check on my friends.
12. Check on my mom.
13. Take out trash.
14. Take out recyclables.
15. Watch Galaxy Quest and/or The Wicker Man (the original with Christopher Lee, not that Nicholas Cage abomination).
16. FIREWORKS!

[Update, 11:34 pm: Wow. I didn't do much of anything today, did I? But I did get a lot of rest, and the game notes took more time than normal. Also, the temperature was in the high seventies/low eighties, and I didn't think the pool water would be warm enough as a result. But anyway, yeah, I mostly slept, which is mostly what I do when I'm alone. :(]

Happy Fourth of July!

We are thrilled, proud, and pretty much forced to present a special Independence Day message from Sam Eagle:

Posted by The Muppets on Friday, July 3, 2015

Warning: video of happy Rottweiler and man reunited after 8 years ahead

When Duke was stolen out of his yard as a puppy 8 years ago, his owner was heartbroken. A month-and-a-half ago, a Good Samaritan found Duke wandering and took him to a vet to check for a chip and found it registered to his original owner. I couldn't watch the video without crying. I'm so glad they're back together.

Man Reunited With His Missing Dog After 8 Years, His Reaction Is Amazing!

Hahahahaha!

You couldn't pay me to have that job. Give me a job with magical plants or something. I chose an apothecary and Professor Sprout, for Pete's sake.

What Job Will You Get In The Harry Potter World?

I feel like I wasted most of my day off

I spent much of it in bed. When I wasn't in bed, I was blogging or on Facebook, or some other Internet site. I didn't take a shower, didn't take any of my medication, which is unlike me. I did finally take a nice, relaxing bath just now, and got into clean comfy clothes. I did finally hear back from my friend regarding our project; we're going to do it Wednesday between my appointments.

I would like to say that I didn't feel like getting involved in anything I might have to interrupt while I was waiting for that call, but that's not it. Part of it is the 'when I'm alone I sleep' thing. But mostly, I just didn't feel like doing much of anything today. I find it relaxing to play on social media and blog. All the while I beat myself up for not accomplishing anything, but I think my body just said, wait, it's your day off, get some rest.

I have tomorrow free from my normal responsibilities as well. I may go to the festival for a bit, time it around an hour before the parade, so that I'm not spending all day there. That leaves the morning for doing some of the things I felt I should have done today--cleaning house, going over my bills, doing game notes, enjoying watching something [I would like to watch Galaxy Quest, as it's fun, and it's streaming on Netflix]. Then, after the parade ends (around 4 pm), I can either come home and do some more stuff, maybe get in the pool if we're rain/thunderstorm free (it never worked out today with the weather the way it was). Then I'll head over to the fireworks that evening. I'll check up on my friends, at some point, and call my mom and see how she is doing. So it should be a pretty full day, unlike today. Maybe I just needed a day to do nothing. I didn't even putz, really, just slept, ate a little, and played on the computer. I don't relax as well as I used to. I used to read, or listen to music, or watch something. Somewhere along the way I got used to relaxing with other people involved, and lost the ability to keep myself occupied. So tomorrow I'm going to work on that.

I'm assuming this is satire, please God, tell me it is

But it is hilarious! There's also a website: http://www.miz-mooz.com/selfieshoes. Alas, if it were real, I could never actually make it work, as I am a complete and utter klutz, so no strappy selfie (or as YKWIA would say, self-portrait) shoes for me. :)

Sweet and caring neighbours

Neighborhood Comes Together To Help A Man And His Best Friends

This had me in stitches

But seriously, make sure your pets are secure. They get scared and go under fences, get out, whatever, and we always see a spike of lost pets on the local Facebook pages for reuniting lost pets with their owners, and I think it's the number one day for pet loss.

Dogs Raise Firework Threat Level To ‘Gray' (the accompanying graphic is great!)

There's also this, from The Onion: Nation’s Dogs Vow To Keep Their Shit Together During 4th Of July Fireworks

I spent awhile last night with a small black and white dog pressed against my under my legs for comfort while the fireworks went off.

Cool!

Lynda.com is here!

Holders of Lexington Public Library cards can now take courses at Lynda.com (a LinkedIn company) for free. From the Lexington Public Library's description at the above link:

Lynda.com helps anyone learn software, creative, and business skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Users receive unlimited access to a vast library of high quality, current, and engaging video tutorials taught by great teachers who are also working professionals.

Why Lynda.com?

• Access to 3,599 courses and 274,000 tutorials.
• New courses added every week to keep your skills up to date with the fast-changing pace of technology.
• Switch back and forth between devices without ever losing your place.
• The playlists feature lets you create and manage a list of courses you want to watch, and bookmarks tag specific videos for reference.
• Courses are presented in small chunks, so it’s easy to find quick answers to specific questions. You can also watch an entire course from end to end if you choose.
• Instructors are respected professionals in their fields, and passionate about sharing their expertise.
• Compelling videos use screenshots, narration, live action, smart boards, charts, graphics, and audio.
• Creative Inspirations series goes behind the scenes with creative professionals and industry veterans to show how extraordinary products, ventures, and careers come to be.
• Read along with closed-captioned transcripts—or search the text to quickly find information within a course.
• Earn certificates of completion for each course viewed, and show coworkers, friends, and potential employers what you’ve accomplished.

The link to get there is at the page above, or you can click here: http://www.lexpublib.org/sites/default/dbforward.php?dbname=43220 and save it to your browser favourites/bookmarks. Apparently library access is not available through their mobile application, so check out the caveat at the bottom of the announcement page on using it on a mobile device through the broweser. Hope you enjoy this! I've looked through it and there's a lot on Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, some on personal finance, lots of technology stuff.

And it is now raining cats and dogs. Time for a nap, caffeine be damned.

Ah, I knew that thunderstorm was coming!

It's raining, but not terribly, but the there's thunder and I'm glad I'm inside and away from the pool. It's very dark in here, even with the lights on. Instead of doing anything particularly useful, I've been on Facebook and joined Nextdoor (it's a community where you can post things to your neighbours and keep in contact). Caffeine or no caffeine, the rain is making me sleepy. Must. Resist.

I need caffeine

So, I slept till 10:45 am today after getting to sleep about 12:30 am. But still, a good amount of sleep. I got up, ate the last two breakfast sandwiches I had, and called my friends to see if I needed to come over at some point today for a project that we need to do together. I investigated it a little, and we could either order something online and it will take it up to a month to get here, or I could take him to another city in the state and get it within a couple of hours, and I'm off a day next week and could do it in between my two doctors' appointments, I think. It was all gloomy outside, and I hadn't heard back from them, so I went back to bed until A called me at about 1:45. I told him the options, and he'll get them to my other friend, who also asleep, as he'd had insomnia last night. So I decided I wasn't getting much of anything done, so I'd go in search of caffeine and also check the pool out.

The Coke machine in the laundry room was out of Diet anything, and since I had locked the apartment already and was unshowered and in just an old shirt and shorts, but otherwise presentable, I drove up to the Circle K nearby and got a couple of Diet Sunkist drinks and some ice. It should jump start me somewhat.

The pool was deserted. It's cloudy, and not as warm and muggy as I thought it was. The sun keeps trying to peek out, but fails for more than a few minutes, so I haven't decided on the pool. It's only 76 degrees and there are scattered showers popping up all over the radar map around us. In fact, all of the weather applications on my phone report rain for Lexington at the moment, so it may be raining nearby. Maybe later this afternoon.

With the Fourth on a Saturday, it's a little interesting. I'm off work. City offices, trash pickup, etc., are off. I've seen the mail run (I guess they'll be off tomorrow) and FedEx come by. [Yay, this moment, the sun totally broke through the clouds, although I don't know how long that will last!] I'm assuming the banks are on holiday today and tomorrow, as at least two people I know got paid early. [And now I hear thunder. :(]

A said he looked at the weather and while tomorrow may be cloudy, the chance of rain is highest after midnight, so the festivals, cookouts, and fireworks may just go off as planned. I usually go to the Festival downtown, and watch the parade (we're the only ones they allow, with our badges as proof). I'm not sure if I'll do that this year, as it depends on the weather, what my other activities are, and the like. But I definitely want to go watch the Idle Hour fireworks, and I can park at the hospital I work at and then just spread a blanket on the front lawn to watch.

Okay, I've had a couple of glasses of soda. I think it's beginning to kick in. The sun is still shining, and I can hear cicadas. A butterfly just went by the window. It might turn out to be a nice day after all.

One last post tonight

This song always comforts me when death is at the forefront of my mind. So I'm dedicating it to Teressa and her family.

So sad...

Teressa Lynn Billa, April 27, 1967-July 1, 2015

I am so sorry to hear of Teressa's passing. I worked with her for some time and after that we kept in touch on Facebook. She was a wonderful person, a hard worker, and very sincere. It's so hard to believe she is gone. She was just a few weeks younger than I, and was a mom and grandmother, and she fought a hard battle with cancer. Requiescat in pace, Teressa Billa. I am glad you are no longer in pain and ill, and you will be sorely missed by those whose lives you touched. My condolences to the family and loved ones. The celebration of life will take place in Florida, so I cannot be there. But my thoughts will be with Teressa and her family.

Home (and slightly damp)

It's raining, and I took my umbrella out of the office yesterday because it was raining then, and forgot to bring one back with me this morning. I had two gigantic (okay, really big) flower arrangements to get home that were donated and with most people gone from the hospital, they would have just died without any real enjoyment, so they gave them to me to brighten up things here, which is great, because, being single, I pretty much only get flowers when I buy them, and these are much bigger than I could afford. [They're usually donated funeral flowers.] Anyway, they smell wonderful and are a combination of roses, lilies, snapdragons, Canterbury bells, and lots of greenery, and they make me happy. So thank you to whomever. They were a challenge to get home intact, but I did manage, even with the rain. I think there is a high percentage chance that the Fourth of July celebrations will fizzle rather than sizzle due to the weather. I have tonight and all of tomorrow (it is our holiday at work, since July 4th is on a Saturday) as a time to spend some quality time alone, and that makes me uneasy. It's not that I'm afraid to be alone; it's more that I'm uncomfortable by myself. When I was younger, I was so introverted and pretty much alone most of the time, and it didn't bother me at all. Now, I have to really work at doing anything other than just going to sleep when I'm by myself.

Speaking of funeral flowers, I did get some sad news, although I'm waiting to see it in the paper because I don't necessarily trust social media for death information, but it seems that one of my co-workers at the gas station, a lovely woman who was very caring and worked very hard, whom I've mentioned here after her diagnosis when they were trying to fund the chemo for her cancer treatment, has died. A couple of weeks ago the doctors told her she had maybe six months to live and put her in hospice. She was just two weeks younger than I, a mother, grandmother--and just a great person. If this is true, I am so sorry to hear it; I know she struggled through two cancers in her life, and that's a shame. I enjoyed working with her and keeping up with her on Facebook, but I hadn't talked to her for awhile, although I did message her. But I'm glad she is at peace now, and no longer in pain. Rest in peace, Teressa. If I can find funeral information, I will try to go to it.

Cold

It is 69 degrees in my apartment.  Apparently when the maintenance person came in and fixed my leaking air conditioner (again),  he left it switched to 'on' rather than 'auto',  and it's been running non-stop.  I've corrected that,  finally,  but brrr....(pulls the covers over her in bed).  Good night!

I have to admit, this applies to me

What Your Favorite Book From High School Says About You

12: To Kill a Mockingbird

A great listener and a possessor of true compassion, you are a gold star of a person. You care deeply for your loved ones and are always sympathetic and ready to help in whatever way you can. You do more chores around the house than anyone, you buy almost all of the toilet paper and dish soap because nobody else remembers, and picking up that one friend from yet another hole-in-the-wall bar so that she won’t stumble home drunk at 4 in the morning has become somewhat of a routine. If you find yourself doing your sister’s taxes for the third year in a row or considering the possibility of murder in defense of someone you care about, take stock: you may need to readjust your life choices.

:)

Companies celebrate marriage ruling with rainbows, 'I Dough's

Speaking of antipsychotics, this is disturbing...

Kids With ADHD Getting Wrong Drugs, Study Finds

Too many kids with ADHD may be getting strong antipsychotic medications meant to treat diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a new study finds.

And many are getting these drugs without any kind of diagnosis indicating they have a psychiatric disorder, the survey found.

Not only do these kids risk serious side-effects from the drugs, but they may be missing out on more effective treatments for their conditions, the research team writes in the Journal of the American Medical Association publication JAMA Psychiatry.

"What's especially important is the finding that around 1.5 percent of boys aged 10 to 18 are on antipsychotics, and then this rate abruptly falls by half as adolescents become young adults," said Michael Schoenbaum of the National Institute for Mental health, who worked on the study.

Schoenbaum, with colleagues at Columbia University, Yale University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, looked at prescription data from across the United States. They found a troubling pattern of use of antipsychotics.

"What we see is patterns of use, particularly in boys, that suggest that antipsychotics are largely not being used for the disorders the Food and Drug Administration has approved them for," Schoenbaum told NBC News. "Rather, among boys, particularly teenage boys, uses are much more consistent with prescribing to manage behavioral problems."

A very interesting look at bipolar disorder (and lithium)

‘I Don’t Believe in God, but I Believe in Lithium’: My 20-year struggle with bipolar disorder.

The manila folder is full of faded faxes. The top sheet contains a brief description of my first medically confirmed manic episode, more than 20 years ago, when I was admitted as a teenager to U.C.L.A.’s Neuropsychiatric Institute: “Increased psychomotor rate, decreased need for sleep (about two to three hours a night), racing thoughts and paranoid ideation regarding her parents following her and watching her, as well as taping the phone calls that she was making.”

I believed I had special powers, the report noted; I knew ‘‘when the end of the world was coming due to toxic substances’’ and felt that I was the only one who could stop it. There was also an account of my elaborate academic sponsorship plan so I could afford to attend Yale — some corporation would pay for a year of education in exchange for labor or repayment down the line. (Another grand delusion. I was a B-plus student, at best.)

After I was admitted to the institute's adolescent ward, I thought the nurses and doctors and therapists were trying to poison me. So was the TV in the rec room. I warned my one friend in the ward that its rays were trying to kill him. The generator outside my window was pumping in gas. The place, I was sure, was a death camp.

I refused meds because they were obviously agents of annihilation. It took four orderlies to medicate me: They pinned me to the floor while a nurse plunged a syringe into my left hip. Over time, I became too tired to refuse medication. Or perhaps the cocktail of antipsychotics started working. The Dixie cup full of pills included lithium, which slowly took hold of my mania. After a few weeks, I stopped whispering to the other patients that we were all about to be killed. Eventually, I stopped believing it myself.

I've never been psychotic, and there's some debate over whether I have been merely 'hypomanic' or truly 'manic', but I have bipolar disorder, officially diagnosed as Bipolar Disorder II. My main drug is not lithium, but lamotrigine, also known as Lamictal. It is a mood stabilizer. Apparently standard antidepressants, SSRIs (selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors) are often prescribed to people who present with depressive symptoms, and while usually they work, occasionally they have a tendency to send a person into a full-blown mania, indicating that the diagnosis should actually be Bipolar. So while they are sometimes still used in someone who has bipolar disorder, they usually have a mood stabilizer in there as well. I also take aripiprazole, Abilify, which is an antipsychotic, even though I'm not psychotic. The two together work to keep me on an even keel, and it's been years since I've been too down or up in mood. I'm lucky. They found a good combination for me that worked pretty much from the get-go. I am very compliant in terms of medication, missing only occasionally, like today, when I didn't realise my pill-reminder box was empty. I'll fill that up tonight. They are just like any other tablet I take for my 'physical' conditions. (I put those quotes in, because psychiatric illnesses such as Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder are the result of physical imbalances in brain chemistry, even if they are classed as mental illnesses.) By taking those medications, I am a productive member of society who pays her taxes and holds down a job, etc.

My biggest fear as I go forward in the next couple of years is that my job will be ending in 2017 unless I find something else before then, and that means I'm going to lose my insurance. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) may be my salvation. I am terrified of going off my meds, and not just the ones for diabetes, but the ones for my bipolar disorder as well. I didn't do all the crazy things that this writer did, but I did crazy things that affected my credit, my relationships, my schooling, my job, and my own sense of self worth. I don't want to be actively crazy again, ever.

I can relate so much to this article. Medication = a mostly decent, normal life. Off medication = chaos. It's pretty simple. My brain is not my friend. There is something seriously wrong with me, but it can be helped. I realise this. I have the insight, which is why I take my tablets every day. I want to be in control of my life, not at the mercy of it.

So sorry to hear this, but what a life!

Nicholas Winton, 106, savior of Jewish children, dies

Nicholas Winton, a Briton who said nothing for a half-century about his role in organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, a righteous deed like those of Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, died Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.

It was only after Mr. Winton’s wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their Maidenhead home in 1988 — a dusty record of names, pictures and documents detailing a story of redemption from the Holocaust — that he spoke of his all-but-forgotten work in the deliverance of children who, like the parents who gave them up to save their lives, were destined for Nazi concentration camps.