I feel awful, and it's my fault

I've gotten off on my meds the last few days and I over-ate tonight.  My blood sugar just now was 295,  four hours after I ate. I've taken my nightly meds and filled my pill planner box for the next week. I  made sure I had plenty of insulin with me for tomorrow.  I may have to start sending my values to my endocrinologist again. :( But hey,  tomorrow is another day,  even another month. I won't give up,  and I see my endocrinologist in a few days, anyway.

I'm also topping off the charge on my Kindle,  as tomorrow I am dropping my car off at Mitch's Auto,  a coworker is picking me up there and bringing me to work,  but I'll have to take the bus back over there from work because the other coworker who was going to take me there had a niece born today and so won't be at work after all, which is fine.  I'll just leave early enough to get there before they close.  It sounded to the mechanic I spoke with on the phone like a heat soak problem with the starter,  which can have a few causes and fixes.  But at least he had more of a clue than the last place.  (Tire Discounters called me on Monday and I explained what happened.  The guy apologised and said they would work on communication in the future.)

Okay, I'm meeting my coworker at 7:40 tomorrow morning.  Better set an alarm and go to bed.  Good night!

Me, with the orchid

Feeling all spring-y in an outfit my mom got me for my birthday a few years ago. It's very bright--pink,  yellow,  and orange,  which was a thing that year,  and it makes me feel a bit like I'm an Easter egg,  but still,  I matched the blooms.  :)

Four blossoms now

Isn't it beautiful?

No bracing tonight

I just noticed that the arm that is hurting has a slight lumpiness and redness where I've been bracing it.  Maybe it's been too tight,  or worn too long.  So I'm going to leave off the night brace and reevaluate tomorrow.  I shouldn't have to wear the day brace until I start cleaning house tomorrow,  and of course,  won't be while actually using water,  like washing dishes.  Maybe that will help.

PS I have had far too much caffeine today.  I was talking super fast earlier,  and I'm just now winding down, and it's almost 1:30 am.

Poor Kroger

they do try.  So I noticed two endcaps of Kosher-for-Passover food,  which  is nice,  but while Easter and Pesach (Passover)  are often close time wise,  they are figured differently,  and Pesach isn't until later in April this year.  Purim (the festival centering on the story of Esther)  was  just the other day,  and yet I actually saw Hamentaschen at the same Kroger--three weeks ago. But I suppose it's nice that they try.

Well, that's better

My frustrating day got better.  I took a nap,  built a nice civilisation in Civilization IV,  and then spent time with friends.  Now I'm listening to show tunes (more Jesus Christ,  Superstar) and heading to bed soon.  There's no Cthulhu game tomorrow,  so I have some time to do things around here before going over to my friends' house to visit. Now let's hope the car behaves well this week,  as I think the earliest I can get it looked at again is Friday.

Argh!!!!

So frustrated.  My car has had intermittent starting issues.  Wednesday it wouldn't  and I actually called roadside assistance but it finally started and I did my errands with my friend in the car and the car running. Thursday I took it to a place on the way to work but their mechanic who did that was off,  so I made arrangements to bring it in today.  I took it in at 9 am, was promised it back by 1 or 2, refilled the lost paperwork out,  walked home,  and didn't hear from them and called at 1; they hadn't even looked at it.  Still no word an hour before they closed so I walked back over there.  They couldn't reproduce the problem,  so couldn't tell me anything after having my car for 6 hours. But at no point did they call to tell me. So not taking it back to Tire Discounters for anything beyond oil changes and rotations,  if that. I have a regular mechanic I trust (Kenny at Mitch's Auto),  but they're not open on weekends.  Guess I need to check and see if I have any time off left to get it fixed during the week. :(

Is there something wrong

When a Pagan who loves Jesus Christ,  Superstar  plays both the Brown Album and the movie soundtrack every year during the Easter season and enjoys it immensely?  When my ex-husband was in his Christian phase,  he turned me on to that (and also the band Rush as well,  not that that had anything to do with him being fervently Christian at the time).  Even though we've almost been apart 25 years, the love of the music really stayed with me,  despite all the tangled feelings about the relationship itself.  Oh,  and a bit of trivia,  did you know that the man who played Pilate on both albums also was the voice of the Skeksis Chamberlain in Dark Crystal? Think back,  the voices are the same.  :)

The last two days have been rather frustrating

Last evening, a little before 6 pm, I took A to T-Mobile to answer a question about his phone. When we left, my car wouldn’t start. Now, it’s been doing this thing where it’ll be fine in the morning, and maybe on a couple of trips, but on days when I’m making several small trips it can get slower to crank each time and eventually just stop. Lights come on, nothing happens. Then in about 5 or 10 minutes, it’ll start right back up.

Yesterday, however, I went straight over to their house, got A, and went to T-Mobile. No other trips since I’d left work. And it wouldn’t do anything when we came out, anything at all. After 5 minutes, nothing. 10, nada. 15, I called roadside assistance, the first time I’ve done so with this service through my insurance. They were very nice, took down my information, and dispatched a tow truck. I was going to have them take me a block down the road to Tire Discounters, because while it is probably a starter issue, there could be something with the battery and electrical system, and they sold me the battery recently. After I got a text telling me the ETA was an hour, I tried the car one more time, and it started up, and while it wasn’t enthusiastically, it started. So, I called roadside assistance back, cancelled to distress call, and then (keeping a person in the car at all times and running the engine the whole time):

1. Took A to get a couple of books of stamps at Kroger’s (and talked to the tow truck driver and explained that the car had started)
2. Went to the library to pick up a CD I’d had on hold
3. Drove to Gumbo Ya Ya and used their card to get them food, and my card to get me some
4. Drove to their house, where I locked the door while the car ran (thankfully, because a bad transponder key can be the problem as well, I’d brought my extra key with me—neither of which worked when it wasn’t starting)
5. Picked up my backpack and laptop (I’d left everything there except my wallet and phone) and headed home

As I backed out of their driveway, the gas light came on, and at that point I was just praying to get home. I did, got everything in the house, at my Cajun food, called them to let them know I was okay, talked on the phone for awhile, and then headed for bed. I’d had enough of the day.

I didn’t really sleep well last night. I should have taken some ibuprofen for my wrist. I also didn’t take my Lantus, which meant my blood sugar was higher this morning than it has been in quite some time.

As far as this morning went, I’d gotten my refund from the federal government (small and paltry compared to the usual, but something, at least), and YKWIA had offered to loan me any additional money I needed to fix the car, so I got up early and was there at Tire Discounters when they opened. Unfortunately, the mechanic who diagnoses such problems (and with starting problems, it can be a host of things), was not going to be there today. I have to take someone to an appointment tomorrow, so I can’t do it then. So I had them put me down for Saturday and will try this again. Fortunately, the car started back up (I’d also stopped for a bit of gas before going over there, figuring that the Kroger fuel centre was next door, and we could probably push my car if needed rather than getting it towed for about 20 feet, if they’d be okay with that). Then I headed to work, got there a half-hour early as a result, and it started right up when I left today. But I wasn’t taking any chances, so I just came straight home.

I haven’t been home at this time of day in quite some time. Granted, it’s raining, so I don’t have the usual sun streaming in, and I have the lights on, but it’s good to be home. Still, looking around, my poor plants really need water, the living room needs some attention, the bedroom is a wreck, and the dining room and kitchen need some help, too. I need to take the trash and recyclables out, and it’s rainy and icky, so I may see if it clears up any in an hour or two.

For now I’m going to eat a veggie burger (I have some nice Mediterranean chickpea burgers from Morningstar Farms) and then go from there. Oh, and I definitely want to work on the game notes some more tonight. I got a good start on Monday, but tomorrow is the appointment (which is usually short enough it’s not worth taking the laptop), followed by ‘Grimm’ night. I don’t want to wait until Saturday. It would be better to just get it out of the way and be able to relax a little then. Okay, I’m going to go. I may write later tonight. >br/>
What am I saying? I'll be at the repair shop most of the day Saturday; I can probably take the laptop and get anything left finished. But, it would be nicer to get it taken care of tonight, and then I'd be able to read while they're working on my vehicle, right?

Good news/bad news

Well, the good news is that I contacted the doctor's office today. The x-rays hadn't been reviewed yet, but the office manager checked and there were no acute fractures in my wrist. I didn't think there would be, as I don't remember actually 'hurting' it--it just started hurting on its own. But that was at least ruled out. It does mean that I'm having some ulnar nerve pain for some reason, however, and I asked if they'd made the referral to Dr Favetto yet, and they hadn't, but I got a call a little while later that the appointment was for April 14th, which is three weeks away (the bad news). :( My wrist is doing better since I've been bracing it night and day, though. Instead of sharp pain radiating up to my elbow and shoulder, it's a deep ache radiating just as far, and down into my hand, especially the fourth and fifth fingers It's enough to interfere with sleep and distract me from work. I have the brace off at the moment, giving it some time out of the restraint, and while typing is probably not the best way to 'rest' it, I don't want it weakening by being braced all the time. I'll put the night brace on when I go to sleep.

I went over after work today and helped a friend get his bills ready to send out. Then I came home and found my stamps (we didn't have enough for all of them). I've only got five gingerbread house Forever stamps left over from the holidays--I thought I'd have more. Oh, well. I'll still donate to the cause, as I don't have much need for stamps these days. I pay all my bills online or have them automatically taken out.

Now I'm in my comfy clothes. I've eaten a little cheese, and I'm in bed with the laptop and a soda. My alarm is going off to remind me to take my nightly Lantus insulin. I got some out of the refrigerator a few minutes ago and am waiting for it to warm up (it sometimes hurts a little if it's still cold). I was putting some things away at the same time, and I managed to knock some Humalog insulin off the shelf and onto my toe, causing quite a bit of sudden pain and while it didn't bleed, it must have hit with the corner of the box onto my foot, because it scraped quite a bit of skin off. This was a double box of five pens taped together, but the one box was empty. I'd hate to see what sort of damage I could have done with a full complement. :) I am such a klutz.

I read the news earlier and a lot of it was depressing--terror attacks in Brussels, for instance, and a murder-suicide in Louisville where an ex-army helicopter pilot shot his wife and children (ages 3 and 4), set his house on fire, and then shot himself. I haven't looked since this afternoon. That was sad enough.

I did get some of the notes finished last night, but I probably have another hour or so of work to go. I should work on them tonight, as it's not quite 9:30 pm, but I think I need a little down time that's more fun than that. It shouldn't take too long to finish--the meat of the session is still left, but it doesn't have to be done in great detail, or anything, and part of it was an action scene, and I don't do those blow by blow or anything. My goal is to be thorough without being tedious.

I think I'll do a little reading while the radio is on. I made sure my Kindle, which is a Kindle Keyboard (which I replaced my 2nd generation Kindle with, although really, they're pretty similar), had the latest software on it, because Amazon was saying a critical update needed to be done on older Kindle models or they could not continue to connect to the cloud. I'm pretty zealous about updating my phone, my computer, and my Kindle, so mine was apparently fine. Today was the deadline--after today it can still be done, but it has to be downloaded via USB instead of an over the air update. You can probably Google anything about updating the Kindle and get instructions if you need it.

If you're awake and it's nighttime

Go outside and see how close Jupiter and the moon are together tonight (and yay,  I knew it was Jupiter even before checking with the Sky Map application on my phone.) :)

Hello

So I'm at a friend's appointment, which usually lasts a couple of hours, and I brought my laptop with me to work on the game notes, because apparently at some point when we took a break and I was out of the room, the recorder stopped, and I wanted to make sure I got everything down before I forgot what happened. I also went online to change some settings on A's mail account, so that he can send/receive e-mails from the phone. All the settings on the actual phone look correct, so hopefully I've fixed it. He's at a meeting right now, so I can't test it.

It's cooler than last week, but still in the 50s today and it will be in the 60s tomorrow. The sun is beautiful, and it seems like spring even though last week we were in the high 70s and it was almost summery. Rain is in the forecast later in the week, but I don't think it'll last particularly long, so that's good.

I'm hungry. Lunch was not satisfying this afternoon at the cafeteria (I had a tuna sandwich), and I forgot to bring anything with me to eat over a YKWIA's when we're finished here, and we have a project to go through, so I may have to stop and get something on the way back. I did get word that my small refund is coming from the IRS soon, but it looks like I may be paying for a car starter with that, as the car is intermittently not starting. It is possible it's a key transponder gone bad, or even something else. I have a mechanic that I trust, but they're not open on weekends, and I don't know if I can really afford to take off more time at work. But I don't want to get stranded or spend too much money, either.

Okay, I should start on the notes, at least getting the audio transferred over, etc. Hope you've had a good day.

Happy Ostara/Alban Eilir!

(The first day of spring,  for pagans). Or,  for those of you Down Under,  I suppose it's Mabon (autumn).  Oh,  and yes,  the Welsh name for spring and rebirth (and,  incidentally,  butterfly),  is related to my middle name,  Eilir,  which I use on this blog and primarily on the Internet. Anyway,  wherever you are,  hope your day was special!

Heading to bed soon...

I'm home, and I'm very tired. I have driven about 65 miles today, walked over 3.25 miles, helped a friend get a cell phone and set it up, taught him to text with a feature/flip phone the old-fashioned way, took him to get sleep shirts, went to the dollar store and grocery, took him to the pharmacy and credit union, took us by Gumbo Ya Ya for a late lunch, and in general ran all over most of Lexington. My wrist is feeling a little better; the pain is down to a dull ache, and while the brace is helping, I've taken it off to give the arm a rest before I put the night brace on. I'm stretched out on the bed typing with my head totally perpendicular to the screen, so it's not really comfortable, I must admit.

I'm glad I finished the Cthulhu game notes while A was watching the UK-Indiana NCAA game. He was disappointed that the Wildcats lost, of course.

I can barely keep my eyes open and my neck hurts from this weird angle. Good night.

I did a lot of errands with a friend today

and watched a couple of 'Ugly Betty' episodes with another. Then A started watching the Kentucky/Indiana NCAA Men's Basketball game, so I sat down at my laptop and did the game notes in about one hour flat, which may be an all-time record. Now I'm playing on the computer while YKWIA works on one of his projects. After the game I'm going to orient A to his new cell phone (that was one of the errands), and then we're going to go to the grocery and make the weekly run. :)

I'm still not exactly sure

What is causing my wrist pain,  but I went in to the doctor today and got some x-rays and a referral to an orthopaedist.  I should know more Monday.  Meanwhile,  I'm supposed to wear my brace and take anti-inflammatory medicine and if needed,  the Percocet that I already have at night.  I do know the pain is on the ulnar side,  and the ulnar nerve is apparently irritated or compressed. My hand is a little swollen as well.  So anyway,  the bracing is helping.  The pain actually went dull rather than sharp for a little while,  with some ibuprofen.  It doesn't cut it completely,  but it does take the edge off the pain.  If I take just ibuprofen at night,  though,  the pain keeps me from sleeping or wakes me up. It's radiating up into my shoulder and down into my ring and little fingers and into my palm,  as well.  So we'll see.  Hopefully I didn't somehow break it.  Maybe it's a sprain or something minor, something that won't last too long and will clear up quickly without becoming chronic.  Hey,  a girl can dream.

Okay,  it's hurting to hold the phone to blog.  I'm putting on the night splint and calling it a day.  Good night.

Just got home

I worked a little over a half-day today and then took a friend to an appointment in the afternoon, which took awhile. After we got out of that, we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine and then by that time it was dinner time and so we stopped by Gumbo Ya Ya and got some food and took it to his house and ate. Then I did a little work on the computer (it's really lagging for him) and came on home. I've taken the brace off because you shouldn't wear it all the time, but I'm trying not to move my wrist that much. I'm listening to Of Monsters and Men and as soon as I get off of here, I think I'll do some reading on intuitive eating, which satisfies my tasks for today of reading and nutrition. :) I am oddly very tired; I'd gone into work early, so I was up earlier than normal, although I did get 8 hours of sleep, but still. I should work on the game notes tonight, especially as tomorrow is 'Grimm' night, and I may later, but I'm tempted to lie down for just a bit. Of course, that does usually turn into a sleep rather than a nap for me. Still, it may be worth the risk.

Apparently at some point in the past

I broke my wrist (so say x-rays taken a few months ago),  and I'm really feeling it today.  Fortunately,  it is my non-dominant hand,  but I use my left hand to carry things,  and to mouse with at work. Even holding a cup of water hurt today.  I'm not sure why the pain is flaring up today (I'm assuming it's arthritis from the old injury),  but it's been annoying.  I can't put any weight on it at all. It just does this sometimes.  My wrist bones look like a jumbled mass of stones rather than an orderly stack. I wore my braces while working today and will wear the night splints tonight,  which I haven't been doing lately,  so maybe that will help.

PS 3/17/16 8:09 PM--If anything, today was worse. It feels actually broken, radiating pain going up into my hand and fingers and all the way up to my shoulder, but I haven't done anything to it recently. Here's hoping it clears up soon! Sorry, I don't mean to whine, but it does really, really hurt, and ibuprofen is barely taking the edge off. If I try not wearing the brace, it's worse. At least it's bearable with that on, as it's keeping it in a neutral position. But anytime I try to grasp anything, or put the slightest pressure on it, it hurts.

RIP

Sylvia Anderson

Congratulations to Vanessa Irvin!

Vanessa Irvin | Movers & Shakers 2016 – Educators

So, I explored a little more

and I discovered a few things.

1. There are actually two entrances directly across from one another. The parking lot continues around so that there are spaces near this second entrance; I just happened to be almost smack in the middle of the arc of the parking lot, where the false entrance is.
2. The children's department is on the left as you come in through the front. I didn't go and explore that, but it looks about on par with the amount of space for the adults, if not more so. This is a consistent set up in terms of how Eagle Creek was, how Tates Creek is, and I think Beaumont is the same way, although I can't remember. I've never been to Northside, and I think Village is set up a little differently as they are not in a freestanding building, but rather a strip mall/shopping centre.
3. The bathrooms are interior to the library, which is nice, rather than when you first come in through the breezeway like it used to be.
4. There is, indeed, a drive-through with a window for picking up held items and two drops. I didn't look to see if these were the same or if they were like Tates Creek's, which has one for books and one for audiovisual media.

Anyway, with these additional features I feel a little better about the place. I figured I just hadn't explored enough. But seriously folks, get some signage up soon! :)

So I'm at the new library branch

over at Palumbo and Man O'War, the Eastside Branch of the Lexington Public Library. Here are some first impressions:

Pros:
1. Very light and airy, open and inviting.
2. More room for books and other materials! (The new building has 32,000 square feet, according to the bookmark I'm looking at. I'm not sure what Eagle Creek had, but it is much bigger).
3. They kept a stained glass window from the old building, which was a nice touch.
4. They did an excellent job of turning a former car dealership into a library.
5. There is a drive-up window for picking up holds. I think (although I'm not quite sure where it is yet) the book drop is also drive-up.

Cons:
1. There is at the moment absolutely no signage to guide you to where you want to go, not on the shelves and not above or around various areas. Now granted, that is probably going to change--it's only the second day of being open. When you first go in there are CDs and videos. The new books are in a hall going to the adult collection. The computers are tucked into an area east of those. There's an upstairs that contains meeting rooms and a maker space, but I have no idea at the moment where the children's section is, as I haven't completely made it through the building.
2. The parking, is well, a little weird. On the one hand, it's all one way, which the old one was, too, and that is actually useful. On the other hand, the building is situated such that the main entrance faces away from all the parking, including the handicapped parking, and you have to walk all the way around the building practically unless you are lucky to find one of the first spots as you come in. What makes this odd is there are two doors that say 'no entry' on them that actually face the parking lot, but that would take you into the former showroom/adult collection rather than through a true entry with a desk. Still, it's a little odd.

I honestly am not sure how I feel about this building and the set up. It will probably grow on me; I'm just attached to the old place, I guess. I'll reserve judgement for now, anyway. And I will miss living so close to the library that I could walk to it, even though on at least one occasion, when I was hit by the car, I proved that was not such a good thing. :) Okay, my legs are going asleep in this chair (although to be fair, I always had trouble with the ones in Eagle Creek, too.) I think I'll get up, explore a bit, check out some books, and go on home, as the library closes within the hour.

Yay!

I finished my library book, Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting and Got a Life, 3 hours before it expired! :) It brought up a lot of emotions for me, as I have an unhealthy relationship with food as well. A lot of it resonated with my own experience, even down to my use of audio to tune out the world and retreat in such a way as to hide from my problems. In the spirit of being more mindful, I plan on buying Intuitive Eating, the book which contributed to her experience (and which I had out from the library recently) and downloading it onto my Kindle tomorrow if I can spare $10. Also, I have been searching at home for a book that incorporates mindful eating that I have from a class I took probably 15 years ago called You Count, Calories Don't, and I finally found it today (next to a book on Eleanor of Aquitaine in the biography section--I have no idea why it was hiding there). Hopefully I can incorporate some of these principles into my own eating. I'm also checking the book UnDiet, which I had out about a year ago, again, as it's good for guiding you to a less-processed and healthier eating lifestyle.

I love this

But I am a geek with a degree in classics and history,  too.  :)

Another bloom!

It makes me happy,  what can I say?

Well, I didn’t get to go to the library opening

after my dental cleaning tonight, because something more important came up, but I plan to go very soon and see the new branch now that it is open. The dental appointment went really well; no cavities or any other issues, which is amazing for me. I guess using the Habitica application on my phone to remind me to floss was well worth it (I’m up to 53rd level now). Because I have a fairly small mouth, my old hygienist had noted that I did better with a small toothbrush, so my little baggie of goodies actually has a sparkly pink Disney princess toothbrush for ages 5-7 in it. Yeah, I know. But hey, it really does help. I think the last was one with the Cars movie characters on it.

I’m home now and eating some hazelnut spread directly out of the jar as I have no bread to put it on, and I didn’t feel up to macaroni and cheese. I should have had a sandwich at my friends’ house, as A did offer. I was really hungry until I got home, and it’s like it evaporated after I had a couple of spoonsful of the spread, which isn’t particularly bad, I suppose.

I met my new next-door neighbour, Nathan, tonight. He has a little brown 7-week-old puppy that looks like it might grow up into a chocolate Labrador, or at least some sort of Lab cross. He was adorable. And Nathan seemed nice, too.

Last night I tried to put some very old software on my desktop, which YKWIA has borrowed for a little while. I managed to get one game on, but the other two were too old to run on the 64-bit Windows 10 system I have. I did figure out that I might be able to put on a virtual machine if I can get a full copy of Windows 95 or 98 on eBay or something [I have a Windows 95 disc, but it’s an upgrade one]. I asked the IT guys at work about it. They thought that was way too much trouble for a couple of games, but it would probably work if I could pull it all together. One of them suggested looking at the Internet Archive to see if those games are archived there, and could run in a simulator built into the website. I’ll check that out. He’s like me; he has a collection of old gaming systems at home [although he has modern ones as well, and I don’t].

A second bloom has opened up on the orchid. Yay! And my aunt sent me pictures of hers, which are over a decade old and bloom every year. They were a beautiful purple.

I'm thinking of applying for a position at a local public library (in a neighbouring county). It would mean a pay cut, but it's still decent pay. I have aspects of my background, both educational and practical, that would work for it, but not a lot of actual actual experience reading to children, which would be one of the main duties. But I've taken classes in children's lit and storytelling, am familiar with children's and young adult books and programming, and have run an early literacy project for about 16 years. It's an assistant children's librarian, so I could learn from someone else with more experience. We'll see.

I’m looking around and there is so much stuff I should be doing on the house, but I’m already kind of pooped from the rest of the day (which was gorgeous, sunny, with temps in the 70s), and so I think I’m going to do a little reading and turn in early. A couple of my eBooks from the library are coming due and while I don’t have to return them in any way, they do expire, so I want to do what I can to finish them, as I think tomorrow and the next day they go poof. Well, in theory. Actually, if you don’t connect a Kindle to either WiFi or 3G Wireless, it doesn’t pull them off as expired until you do so. It’s a glitch in the system, I guess, and one that I’m sure gets exploited at least a little bit. But I’m going to try to finish tonight, as one book has holds on it and can’t be renewed.

To that end, I think I’ll get off the computer, turn off the radio (Passenger’s ‘Let Her Go’ is playing}, and curl up on the couch with the Kindle, as I have the fan in the living room because I’m warm, and I don’t want to pack it back to the bedroom just now, and besides, I’d just fall on to sleep and skip the reading if I try to read in bed. (I read best when I’m out and about, rather than at home, which is rather sad, being the introverted person who has always felt comfortable with a book in my own little space before. But even as a kid, I didn’t really read in bed.)

Oh, one more thing. We saw the trailer for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children today. So apparently Emma has air powers in the movie rather than fire, Miss Peregrine doesn’t look anything like I imagined her, and the evil antagonist is suddenly female. I don’t understand why directors have to muck with books, especially ones as delightful as this one. I will say Jacob seemed a good casting choice. I’ll probably watch it, but I really am afraid of what they’re doing to it. I like a couple of things Tim Burton has done (mainly Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas). But I was a little wary of him doing the adaptation to film. Still, at least Johnny Depp doesn’t appear to have found his way into it. I’m not a fan of him, and he’s in so many Burton movies.



Okay, that’s enough for tonight. I hope you’re having a good week. Good night!

My library at work

Is relatively small,  but it has been my home away from home for 19 years come Thursday. I will miss it so much.

Home from the weekly Call of Cthulhu game

that I've been playing for almost 25 years. Wow. 25 years. That's scary. We started back in July of 1991 and while players have changed and storylines have taken bizarre turns, I still remember that first adventure, 'The Auction', where we went from normal folks at Miskatonic University to became ninjas with mystical powers there in Arkham. We're still going strong, and our characters have kids and mundane issues that are far worse at times than tentacled horrors. But it's fun to role play (really role play, not the stuff you do in a computer game or for that matter in some dungeon-crawling paper-and-dice games). The game master is brilliant, and he has meshed dozens of games into a coherent whole while maintaining the spirit of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which is one reason we keep coming back week after week to some new horror. Or maybe it's masochism. Same difference. But most importantly, it's fun, and a great creative outlet for which I am very thankful.

It's been a decent day so far. I did laundry, worked on my friends' house, and then Brenda came over and we played till about 8 pm. I did pretty well with the whole Daylight Savings Time in terms of getting over there in time, especially considering I had my laundry, my book bag, a lunch bag, a two litre of soda, the laptop, and a very heavy bag with two 6.6 lb weights for A, some ankle weights for him to borrow, a book on fitness to borrow, a tote bag for him, and some envelopes for YKWIA. That bag was pretty darn heavy. Hopefully I will be able to get up on time tomorrow when I get ready for work. I've been getting up earlier lately anyway, so that may help.

That's it, I guess. We're planning something big for next game, a ritual to remove some conditioning from a non-player character who has been psychically programmed to kill her husband (one of Brenda's characters). And probably in the next game or two my character will find out she is pregnant with twins. Ah, good times. I think I'll go read for awhile; I have some books due at the library tomorrow and the new Eastside branch won't open until Tuesday, so I'll either renew or take them to Tates Creek, which I'll be near anyway. I'm going to look them over and decide which to do. Good night.

Okay

I know YKWIA and I both have degrees in history and classics, and we both studied a lot of graduate ancient and mediaeval history but surely we are not the only ones to realise that the 'stick' is, something each of us came up with independently. What else do they think Templars would be guarding? (And incidentally,  neither of us is Catholic,  or for that matter, even Christian.) Great 100th episode, even though we had already figured out the direction this was going in terms of Renard and also some of the other subplots. But 'Grimm' is always fun. Gute Nacht!

It bloomed!

Our security guard greeted me with a picture of it as I came through the back entrance,  and I alerted the lady who gave me the orchid when it was ailing two years ago,  and there has been much oohing and ahhing throughout the day.  Hey,  it's the little things in life.  I've never had an orchid re-bloom for me,  although they're all healthy with good leaves and abundant roots.  Maybe this is the beginning of great things.

I'm glad

I noticed that my front door was slightly ajar just now,  especially as I was going to go take a nap after playing some Civilization IV.  Must pay more attention!

This sums up my fears of flying nicely

I conquered the fear of crashing years ago, but as someone who takes a yearly trip on very small commuter planes, well, flying fat is an entirely different, horrible fear:

What it’s like to be that fat person sitting next to you on the plane.

Feeling better today

My nose is still running and I’ve had a headache and a sore throat all day (although that last is mostly gone), but I’m not terribly tired, which is good, as I don’t have much sick time at all at work. I call in very rarely, and I always feel horrible when I do, but I need to learn that I’m not actually indispensable and sometimes you just have to take care of what’s important.

So today I was at work, and caught up on the most important stuff, and I should be able to catch up on the rest tomorrow. After work, I went and got my hair cut, for the first time in nigh on a year, I’d say. It’s a bob with some layers in the back to help my otherwise fine, thin hair poof up a bit. She put some Paul Mitchell Thicken Up (which I have here at home) on and blew dry it, and I admit that it looks better than just combing and going like I usually do.

Now I’m home, and the first thing I did after dinner was take a nice nap. It was in the 70s this afternoon, and today was mostly sunny—a great day, weather-wise. The lowest we’re supposed to have in terms of highs for the next 10 days is 66 degrees. My friends’ crocuses are blooming nicely. I’m so glad spring is putting in an appearance, even if it’s still a little while away.

So I’m free for the rest of the evening. I have plenty of stuff that should be done around here. I don’t want to do any of it. I want to curl up in bed and read for a while. I’m reading a book called Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting and Got a Life which is a food writer’s journey through intuitive eating. It's a Kindle book from the library. I’m several chapters in (I did manage to read yesterday for a while), and I’d like to get further in. I decided to just concentrate on getting some rest and doing something enjoyable tonight; first the nap, then some nice lemon lotion all over, now some reading. Hope you have a restful night, as well.

My new haircut

I think she did a good job,  especially since I have fine,  thin hair with random waves.

I think I overdid it yesterday

In fact I know I did.  That,  coupled with being exposed to A's creeping crud, meant I didn't feel well today at all. Even now I have a sore throat,  am aching all over (even behind my eyes),  cough,  headache, ear ache,  and headache,  seem to have a low-grade fever,  and I'm very tired.  I think I'll go back to bed for a little while and see if I feel any better when I wake up.

So very tired

This was my day:

7:45 am to 8:45 am--Gather laundry,  eat breakfast,  get ready,  load up car with laundry,  cups,  computer,  and backpack,  drive to convenience store for soda,  drive to friends' house.

8:45 am to 10:20 am--Open two computer cases and transfer a SATA hard drive from one,  where it was primary,  to another,  to save the data from it.

10:20 am to 1:00--Do laundry.  Clean their house,  including the things A usually does that involve bending,  like the cat boxes.

1:30 pm to 8:00 pm--Visit with Brenda and play the game.

8:00 pm to 9:15 pm--Backup computer on external hard drive and prepare for grocery.

9:15 pm to 10:30 pm--Drive to and from the grocery store,  shopping for my friends alone,  since A is feeling under the weather.

10:30 pm to 11:30 pm--Bring in and put away groceries,  bring in and pill dogs,  and make a sandwich and tea for YKWIA.

11:30 am to 11:40 pm--Drive home.

11:40 pm to 12:15 am--Eat and look at Habitica.com and Facebook on phone. Generally plotz.

12:15 am to now--Get ready for bed.

NOW:  Good night; I'm pooped.

I had two projects to complete tonight by midnight in preparation for tomorrow’s Call of Cthulhu game

The game notes, which I finished about 2:30 pm (starting about 10 am with about a half-hour break at some point), and then a passage from a few years ago that was important that somehow never got transcribed because it was a very complex 15-minute snippet of a recording with very dense information, also related to the game. That got finished about 8:30 (that one small snippet took about an hour-and-a-half to transcribe). In the interim I went and visited with friends for about an hour-and-a-half, as A and I were supposed to do the Saturday grocery run, but he’s got some sort of crud and so we postponed it until tomorrow when he’s hopefully feeling better (or if not, it’s not a huge list, I can go do it before the game for them).

It was nice to finish, though, because that’s two items off my to-do list, plus another (I finally found my stamps, much later than needed!) I’m now about 30 experience points away from 50th level on Habitica as a result. :) After that was finished, I laid down for a half-hour ‘nap’, setting my alarm carefully and despite my tendency to go to sleep rather than nap, was hopeful of waking up and doing some things around here. But I just woke up and it was 12:30 am. I guess I was more tired than I had thought. My phone helpfully told me that Donald Trump won our state’s Republican caucus (not surprising, really, as I’m not sure they have a viable candidate to really put the brakes on his momentum, and that’s sad). Bernie Sanders won two states as well. (Our Democratic primary isn’t until May). I could have gone back to bed, but I thought I’d get up and write for a bit.

I have to admit, I haven’t felt up to major physical activity today. I’m not sick. But I’ve had a headache and muscle aches most of the day (the weather has been rainy and not particularly warm, and in fact kind of icky). I ate too much early in the day and didn’t take any of my medicine until I went over to my friends’ house (I just took all the bottles over there and filled up my pill reminder tray) and took my insulin then, too. My blood sugar, as a result, has been running higher than usual today, and I’ve felt out of sorts and tired. It’s not too bad right now, all things considered, about 170, but that’s the highest I’ve run in a while, at any time today. It was actually over 200 earlier, which is almost unheard for me of late--even my fasting sugars in the morning have been pretty much normal. I’m back on track, though, and once I take my bedtime insulin, should be doing better tomorrow, hopefully, as it is game day now that we’re back from hiatus and one of the NPCs (non-player characters) is trying to kill one of Brenda’s characters who had her committed, so best to be operating on all thrusters. Diabetes is somewhat hard to manage; there are so many things that affect blood sugar, from food, to medicine, to stress, to illness, and no matter how consistent you are, sometimes it doesn’t work well. And if you do get off on taking care of yourself, you can see changes for the worse pretty quickly. It’s not an easy illness to live with, and while I should be a pro at this by now, I’m not. I’m not sure anyone really is, to be honest, no matter how diligent--all of us have times when we feel bad. But it’s worse if you’re not diligent, of course, and that was my problem this morning, as I was focused on what I had to get finished and not taking care of myself. With diabetes, self-care really has to come first.

I am getting a little sleepy again now. I’m sitting here staring ahead at my diplomas. Really, some day, I should get them put into my name now. I changed my name in 1993--almost 23 years ago--and they’re still in my birth name, so whenever I need to copy them and send them somewhere I include a copy of my court papers. It costs about $50 for both diplomas to be put in my legal name. If it were just a matter of having a different last name, it would be one thing, as that’s common enough with women, but my entire name was changed (it was Lisa Kay Broadbent). I’ve almost made it as long with my new name as with the old, and that name seems foreign to me now. But if you’re looking for an old classmate or something, yeah, that’s probably me. Anyway, that’s low on my to-do list. Really, after I pay my car insurance and cell phone bill, I’m already tapped out again in terms of funds, and while I did pay my rent on time, get some groceries and gas, and the like, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get my hair cut (it was just going to be a basic hair cut at Supercuts, not a salon sort of thing) this weekend. Even though I’m operating within my budget, and got a raise (that’s offset by a biweekly payment on a debt), I’m still struggling. I still have too much debt (yes, my fault, of course). Next year may be far worse, given that my job is ending, and unemployment lasts about 6 months these days, and any severance will be eaten up with taxes and be fairly fleeting. I’ve stepped up the job search, but it’s hard to find a library job in this area, and I can’t move. At six month’s out, I may have to start looking beyond the library field entirely, which saddens me. I love being a librarian, and I’m good at it, and I’d like to continue with my career in that field. I’m not married to the idea of always being a medical librarian, but I would like to be working as a librarian somewhere in the area. If you hear of anything, let me know. My resume and curriculum vitae, along with my e-mail, are on the links on the sidebar. Meanwhile, I’ve got Indeed alerts and check the Kentucky state library job list every couple of days, as well as other job sites. I had such hopes for the University of Louisville/St. Joseph job, but it wasn’t apparently meant to be. I need to e-mail the supervisor of that position and see if she has any input for how I could have made my application stronger.

I’ll be very busy on Monday, between doctors’ appointments and working in scheduling. After that, it gets better. I may or may not be in scheduling other days of the week (we have I high clinic census and the person who is out may or may not be back Tuesday). But there aren’t any evening appointments or ones’ during the day, for that matter, to go to.

I am beginning to feel like my life, and this blog, is getting somewhat more boring than normal. Am I in a rut? Maybe it’s just that I’m not online that much with no home Internet. I’ll try to blog more new stories and not ramble about the minutiae of my day as much, and I also need to add more commentary when I do include links out to other stories. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll write more about libraries and librarianship. If I’m facing having to leave the profession, at least for a while, at the very least I can blog about it to keep it in my system. But on the other hand, I’m still blogging at least every couple of days, and considering I’ve been writing this blog for almost fifteen years, regularly, I think that’s pretty amazing, given how people drop them over time when they get busy or lose interest, or how more people share things on other social media sites like Facebook these days. So I’m still committed to blogging.

Anyway, I guess I’ll sign off for tonight. Hope you’re having a good weekend.

PS

The heat's back on,  the fan is back in the bedroom,  I've brushed my teeth and done my nightly routine. The door is chained,  the aquaria lights and all the others are off,  so both the fish and I have better rest. I don't even think I am up to music tonight--I'm pretty sleepy.  Good night.

Time for bed

It occurred to me that I meant to leave work early tomorrow afternoon so I can get my allergy shots, so I need to go in early. That means suspending some of the fun tonight and going on to bed. I did get quite a bit done. The laundry (and DVD) will have to wait till Saturday (tomorrow night is 'Grimm', so I'll be over at YKWIA's). I'm going to try to get up earlier than even the normal early time and go over to the gym in the morning (I do better about working out in the morning than evening, although I'm not a morning person, so it's harder to get up for that). I just checked out the two books to my Kindle, so I have two weeks to read. By then the new Eastside Library Branch will also be up and running. Yay! Anyway, I'm going to log off of here and transfer the phone and Kindle (now both fully charged) to the bedroom, where I may read before bed, although truthfully I think I'm too tired. I suspect even if I put on a half-hour of music I wouldn't make it through the first song. Good night.

I tried to blog last night

using the Blogger mobile application to share an updated picture of the buds on the orchid at work that’s getting ready to bloom, but it just kept saying ‘publishing’ and refused to upload the photo. They’re not quite ready to open yet, but they will be soon—they’ve swollen quite a bit. But I guess I’ll wait till the orchid is actually blooming before trying to post another picture, one that goes through my laptop rather than my phone, perhaps.

After work today I had intended to pay my rent and get my hair cut, but a friend was out of an important medicine and half and half [the latter in not an emergency, of course, but it is a major staple in their house, as it’s used in coffee]. I was going to the grocery anyway, so I went and got the medicine from the pharmacy and then went over to the Tates Creek Kroger to get some food [it has a couple of items I wasn’t sure would be at Chinoe, my usual store]. I dropped the creamer and medicine off and came on home. I can pay my rent and get my hair cut on Saturday, as that’s when the last day to pay the rent is. When I changed out of my work clothes, I got into something comfy but which could be worn out because I am considering going over to use the gym here at the complex. I say considering because there are things around here to do, like some housework—including vacuuming--and I also have some exercise equipment that can be used at home (things like exercise bands, 2-5 lb weights, an exercise ball, etc.) But right now, I’ve had a sneezing fit and want to be breathing a little better before I either go walk or cycle or do stuff here.

I’m also burning up. I came in, got into fewer clothes, turned off the heat, and put the fan in the living room directly on me. It’s only 34 degrees outside, and it’s been snowing all day, but I had the car window down most of the time I was running around this afternoon. I’m not quite sure why, if it’s hormonal or just my normal hot nature, but I’m definitely not suffering on this coldest day of the week (next week it’s supposed to be in the 70s!)

So, anyway, I have some free time tonight. Here’s the plan:

• Blog
• Charge my phone and Kindle
• Put the non-perishable groceries away
• Vacuum
• Exercise, either in the apartment or at the nearby gym
• Fold laundry
• Unload the dishwasher and load it
• Go over some finances and figure out how to handle some debt and look at my budget
• Do some wellness planning
• Study some Latin for a half-hour
• Play the Atari and Nintendo for a half-hour
• Watch a DVD, maybe a ‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ programme [I can fold laundry while I do that]
• Read awhile from a couple of books I have out of the library on my Kindle [or rather, read one and re-read Ursula K LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, a book I adore—I am considering getting the complete series, and I want to see how the formatting looks, as I’ve only read the original trilogy, which I have in trade paperback, and there are a total of six now]

Okay, I think I finally cooled down, and now I’m starting to feel a little chilled. Time to turn off the fan, plug up the vacuum, and do something about my living room.

Looking over the past few posts

and I realised that I totally forgot to blog this lovely bit of weird news from the other day:

Pony dressed as unicorn leads Calif. authorities on wild chase I wonder if it took a virgin to get her back? Ponies know they should be bigger--they're smart, stubborn, and wily. She led the California Highway Patrol on a chase for four hours before a friend of her owner rode up on a horse she knew and she followed them. :) I love 'the unicorn is in custody'. Only in California....