Square pegs

My friend got the cable Internet moved from the library to the living room today, and really wanted to switch rooms entirely tonight. We were thwarted by the screws on my bed, which are square recessed screws. A trip to Lowe's later, I now have a ratchet screwdriver with multiple bits, including three square ones. Of course, by the time I got that done, given that I also worked on a cover letter and job application, it was 9 pm, so we decided to just move the computer temporarily to the cedar chest and go from there, trying again tomorrow.  And I actually thought ahead and got out pants from the chest for the next two days before putting the monitor, etc., on it.   But we had taken the mattress and bunkie board off to see what the screws looked like, so I had to put them back. Also, I'm very proud of myself for extracting a square recessed screw to take to Lowe's with a Phillips screwdriver. Go me!

Cross your fingers

Although I enjoy my job (and having insurance after being unemployed and on COBRA), I haven't given up on being a librarian. Today I applied for a job with the public library which, while a bit of a longshot, I'd enjoy immensely, and I feel I'm qualified for. Wish me luck! There's another position, at the university, that I need to apply for in the next couple of weeks, too. Both pay well and would really go a long way to having some financial stability after the roller coaster of 2017.

Cool beans

I just spent two and a half hours cleaning my room, which didn't look too messy at all, until you started deep cleaning. Like putting the laundry away, I decided to completely redo my closet and drawers. Even my underwear and socks are organised by colour now. I rearranged the nightstand drawers. I rearranged the cedar chest, moved most of the books on top of the bed bookcase to the inside, and wound up taking several bags of stuff to the car to take to storage, filling up the trunk. Amazing what one can pack away or acquire in just four months. Of course, we're planning to exchange everything between what's in the living room (my room) and the library (which currently has a large computer desk, a table, four chairs, and large wing-back chair, along with three walls of built-in bookshelves). That would give me a bona fide bedroom with a door. My closet would still be in the entry, but still. That does mean taking the bed apart this weekend. But I think it will be worth it, and there are even six shelves I can use.

Of course, this means we won't be playing the game on Sunday, as most of the move will have to be after Sabbath, so Saturday night and Sunday during the day.  This works out fine, as I'm actually helping out at work doing some overtime on Saturday.

One other great thing.  The precursor to this is that the cable will have to be moved to a position in front of the living room window so we can move the desk there and he can use the computer there.  That's set for tomorrow, I think.  He asked about another connexion, like a second modem, and the lady convinced him that the best thing to do would be to have a wireless router hooked up and use the Internet wirelessly.  Of course, that would be Wi-Fi, which he's normally terribly against, but she convinced him (where I was not able to), that the computer he uses should not be compromised in the way that say, mine would be, if someone hacked the Wi-Fi, since his  connexion would be completely wired.  So I can take the stuff to the storage unit and go hunting for the wireless router I already have, and then I can get on through Wi-Fi, and use the printer wirelessly, rather than having to use my phone hotspot, like I am now, and I can still use the laptop in the kitchen if I like, and won't have to hook up to his wired connexion via Ethernet adapter.

This also opens up the possibility of bringing my television, which is small (32") but is a Smart TV that plays Netflix, etc., via Wi-Fi.  And I could hook up my little DVD player to it, and actually watch the DVDs, without having to hook up my old, somewhat loud DVD-ROM player to my laptop.  I can just shut the door (I never play the TV very loud, whereas he's a little hard of hearing, so if he watches something on the computer, you'll hear it throughout the whole house.  This also means I can listen to music without headphones in my room.  I'm excited.

The one caveat is he needs access to the books in the library, at any time, day or night.  It's a good tradeoff, I think.  He'd never consider invading my space as far as opening drawers or looking through my stuff, of course, although I have given him permission to go into the cedar chest (which is his, after all, I'm just borrowing it) for the heating pad, should he need it.

Hmmm...this could really work out, hopefully.

Well, we did survive the adventure, even the mummy who was killed by a Spawnling of Hastur

because everything was in a dimensional time marble, and it all reset, basically, so the people who had died horribly, or gone mad and eaten their comrades or grass or died of hydrophobia, all lived.  We found out that out time traveller (who is modelled somewhat after Doctor Who) also 'regenerates', or more properly, another 'her' is pulled from another dimension into this one, with different appearance or personality. We received our rewards, rolled our checks, and have one last leg of the campaign, which is supposed to be even harder.  The whole thing has been about distraction and misdirection, something our game master is an expert at.  We've seen two avatars of Hastur and have lived to tell the tale.  Let's hope we can make it three, or at least prevent the third.  This is all out of the Call of Cthulhu book 'Ripples from Carcosa', published by Chaosium.  There are three adventures: one in Rome in 80 CE (shortly after Mt Vesuvius erupted), Norman England, and the 22nd-century future.  The first adventure is 'Adventus Regis' ('The Coming of the King').  The second is 'Herald of the Yellow King'.  I don't know about the third yet; that shall wait till next week or, more likely, after, assuming we actually complete the adventure hale and sane.

Our Call of Cthulhu game is a little unusual.  For one thing, ours is an ongoing campaign and has been running in real time weekly or so since July of 1991.  In game terms, we started at the same point and are in July 2012 currently.  Our characters have undergone multiple transitions and transformations, saved the world countless times, lived, died, had children, gone mad--all within that timeframe, going forward in an interactive and ongoing story.  In it we are trained martial artists and weapons masters (and mistresses) living in Arkham, Massachusetts right outside of town (we kind of got kicked out of the town itself, after several incidences, from the dreaded pizza boy incident (let's just say we do carry-out now) to the gas explosion that was really a super genius child building an interdimensional transporter in a microwave.   It includes aspects of horror, science fiction, mystery fiction with occasional forays into westerns or even romance.  The game master has incorporated several systems into our game.  While Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosium, is the basis, he has also converted things from Witchcraft, RIFTS, The World of Darkness, GURPS, Nightbane, Star Wars (the roleplaying game), Ars Magica, and Hârn, to name a few.  This has made it very rich, indeed.

Over time there have been several players, lots of characters (my original one is actually on this mission, and I rolled her up that fateful day in 1991), and it's all been done around a table with dice, paper, and pencil and a lot of actual roleplaying (not dungeon-crawling, or shoot-em-ups, or stuff like you find in so-called computer 'roleplaying' games).  Nor is it live-action roleplaying (LARPing), where you actually act out the story, although I had a guy in a hair salon tell me otherwise, that that term is being used to refer to old-style roleplaying vs. computer games.

So anyway, it was an enjoyable game.  We all got some action in (Brenda's male character did a lot, as he was the guy, and well, it was Norman England, so the women spent their times mostly sewing until everything hit the fan, and then there was swordplay.  His female character nearly died from a blizzard, only to be torn apart by a Spawnling of Hastur, but she got better.  So all in all, we did well.  Let's hope the last leg works out, too.

Good night!

Finally

Success!

Well, that could have gone better

I finally had a bread failure.  One, I used standard measuring spoons of a friend, rather than the ones that came with the machine.  I don't think that contributed that much.  Measuring spoons should be measuring spoons, right?  Two, I needed 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast due to using rapid bake, so I got to the end of the jar with about 1/4 teaspoon left, and even though I measured out that, it apparently was too off to rise correctly.  It also wasn't stirred and kneaded quite well--I'm not sure what that was about.  So, I threw the doughy stuff into the trash, then realised the paddle was in it, had to fish out hot not-bread, cut out the paddle, and then take a nut pick and get the dough out of the D-shaped hole in the paddle so it would fit back on the spindle.  I let everything cool, and then I put new ingredients in, using the right measuring spoon, being careful with everything, and I'm trying again.  I should know in a little while whether it worked.  That was about 11:30, I guess, so I have almost an hour left.  In the meantime, I have swept and mopped the floor in the kitchen.  I just realised I didn't mop in the bathroom.  Drat.  Okay, let me do that.

I woke up at 7 am, but went back to bed till about 9

And I feel great this morning. I've eaten the last of the bread with peanut butter and banana, started a new loaf going, let the dogs out, fed the animals, let the dogs out again, had a shower, and caffeinated.  Technically I'm not supposed to feed the animals or let the dogs out in the morning, as we want to discourage the little dog from barking in the morning or otherwise expecting me to do everything.  But it was 10 o'clock, YKWIA stayed up late reading and was still in bed, so I took care of them.  I usually do those things in the evening.  But I think they're okay, and hopefully, they won't associate me with morning breakfast in the future.

YKWIA is waking up.  Or at least we talked for awhile about his dreams, and then I left him to start the wake-up process.  But he hasn't ventured out of the bedroom yet to make coffee.  I can hear him, though, so he must be awake.

Since I did so much yesterday, all I have to do is do the kitchen floor, finish the laundry (after the bread is finished, as it's on top of the washer), and load the dishwasher (after he unloads it).

I'm both excited about and dreading the game today; so much is riding on us in this adventure.  Not just saving the world, as we do that fairly often.  We're time travelling, and He Who Shall Not Be Named (and I don't mean Voldemort--Google Cthulhu Mythos and that if you'd like) is trying to eliminate a family from the timeline that includes our time-travelling ride home, and every single one of Brenda's characters except the two on this adventure, plus one of mine, and one of my character's children, plus various other children.  Literally, they could be wiped from existence, as if they never existed.  Well, they wouldn't have.  It's looking dire.  And even if we survive Norman England, there's the third leg of this campaign that is set in the far future.

Okay, I'm going to go work on the floor and check how the bread is progressing, and YKWIA is up, so I'm going to give him some quiet time for waking up fully.  Hope you have a good day.

Just saw the movie

Dick and enjoyed it quite a bit. They really captured the essence of fifteen-year-old girls.  I was only seven when Nixon resigned, and I don't really remember Watergate at all, although I took a modern American history class that included it.  But I like how they interwove the girls into the entire story, even down to Nixon's paranoia, and the casting was perfect.

Can you have a day that is kind of quiet and relaxing but busy as well?

So most of the early part of my day was relaxing. I played on the computer, looked at some librarian jobs that looked promising that I will apply for, and never even made my bed because the cat was on it, very comfy, for most of the morning and into the afternoon. About 1 pm I got ready and went to the library because a hold had arrived, 'A is for Alibi' by Sue Grafton. I'd told myself a long time ago I'd give the mysteries a try once the series was complete. (I don't know why; it was just a thing. Maybe it's sense of perfection.) Of course, she never finished the alphabet, dying after the 'Y' book was published. So I guess that's all there will be. So I put it on hold right after her death and just got it. I also picked up a picture book of words in various languages that don't really translate to English (I am such a language geek) and a book on gardening. I also went to the grocery and got some laundry soap and a couple of soda 2-litres for the weekend. Brenda is doing better and we're planning to play the game, and we're at a crucial part of the story, so being caffeinated is a must. The notes were finished weeks ago, at least.

When I got home, I caffeinated and then began laundry with the dog blankets, and then my bedding, and then YKWIA's lights.  I still have his darks to do, and his bedding (but since he's taking a nap, that may not happen tonight), as well as a load for myself.  I have also watered the plants, cleaned the bathroom completely, swept the house (except the kitchen, more on that later), cleaned the cat box, and taken out the kitchen trash and the recyclables.  It is raining pretty decently today, and there's not supposed to be rain tomorrow, so the plan is to sweep and mop the tile tomorrow.  I can do his bedclothes too.  Otherwise, the house is set for tomorrow.

I've also eaten kugel for two meals and some salad YKWIA had me help with yesterday.  I would have the soup, but he does some magic with bread and an egg-broth mixture before he puts the soup into the bowl, and of course, he's asleep at the moment.  But the rest was really good, too.  The soup is a Brussels sprout/leek mixture, and it's wonderful.  And of course, kugel is always great.

One of the dogs sleeps on a blanket on the floor, and there's something in each room of the house for her to lie on.  She was most distressed that I took them up for the laundry.  I gathered them together and had them on the kitchen floor and she came and draped herself on them.  I had to take them, one by one until she moved. Poor thing.

Okay, I should go work on the laundry. Both buzzers have sounded.

This was a difficult read for me, because it brought up a lot of my own experiences

If you have any desire to understand what it is like living as a gay person who has been told all their lives that they are one thing, and denying their real nature, I'd seriously recommend reading the linked story. It's told from the Mormon perspective, but it could be many cultures or religions, really, and it discusses the harm of the negative view of homosexuality on real people's identity and mental health, whether outright 'you're going to hell' to 'love the sinner, hate the sin'.

When I was 18, very young and naïve, I met my future husband, whom I subsequently learned was gay. We eventually became a sort of 'triunity' by adding a third partner in our relationship, a man with whom is still together. But it did irreparable damage to me, and to them. The relationship wasn't good for any of us, because it was based on a lie, as he was still trying to build a home as a bisexual, when he was, in my opinion, quite gay and hiding behind my skirts, so to speak. He was, at one point, very Christian, although eventually, I think he rejected most of it. I realised for my own good I had to get out of the relationship, for some of the reasons the wife mentions, but also because of double standards and other issues that were secondary to the actual sexual orientation issues. I was 24 when I left. I had been the one who had pushed for the marriage because some part of me thought that would somehow legitimize what I'd been going through all this time. I was wrong. My leaving, divorcing was best for all of us. It was painful. I've never really dated anyone seriously since, and that was 26 years ago. I hope he finally came to grips with himself, that he and his partner (I don't know if they ever married) have a better relationship with my absence. My experiences are different than this couple's. Thankfully, I didn't have children to worry about. But these sorts of relationships are, I suspect, fairly common, where the pressures of society bring people together young and naive, who don't have a chance to really explore their own identity first. I wish this couple well. I certainly identify with the wife. But read it, it's very well thought-out, well-written, and even references a modern retelling of the Ugly Duckling story to help people understand. Like Stellaluna, you can't be a bird when you're a bat. And you can't be a bat when you're a unicorn. Be yourself, no matter what people say, because trying to conform to everyone else's opinion is maddening and sucks at your soul. And like I said, it's not a bashing of Christianity. When we were together a friend of the partner, an Indian graduate student who was being harassed by a local conversion therapy ministry group in the 80s, who were showing up at work and whom he desperately did not want contacting his devout Hindu family, committed suicide in response. These are lives and deaths we're talking about. If you can't be supportive, don't, at least, contribute to the problem, particularly in the name of religion or God.

TURNING A UNICORN INTO A BAT: THE POST IN WHICH WE ANNOUNCE THE END OF OUR MARRIAGE

Was watching a video of a baby seeing through glasses for the first time

He fights them when they go to put the glasses on, then his eyes light up and he smiles when he sees his parents clearly for the first time.

I remember discovering that trees were different shades of green when I saw leaves clearly for the first time. I was eight. My parents were reluctant to get me glasses because they had some weird notion that I wanted them just to have them. The school system finally convinced them my sight was 20/200 and I couldn't read the chalk board at all. That began a 42-year love-hate relationship with eyeglasses. I am so glad I have lenses that show me the world (and enable me to read and drive)!

So tired tonight

I could barely make it home, was in bed shortly after the dogs came back in around 7:30. Just got up and got some cereal and let them out and in, and I'm going back to bed. I feel better, though, not so exhausted.

Sometimes I feel like I live with a daemonic cat

This is one of those times.

So the cat is bad about acting out.   This morning he hacked up his food (he eats a special non-grain, a non-chicken formula that keeps the hack up from happening daily, but it still happens about weekly), so I'm sure he was hungrier than normal.  But...

1. He was howling and howling, which can be annoying.
2. He started clawing the mattress that YKWIA was sleeping upon, and that garnered a 'Bad cat!' from both myself and YKWIA, who woke up briefly.
3. He clawed the dog, who yipped, as she has never learned to not get in the cat's face when he's testy. Or ever.

I went out and swatted him lightly and told him 'Bad cat!'  Then I did the unthinkable. I fed the dogs, but not him.  One dog ate, the other didn't. (She has days she doesn't, then eats at the next feeding.) I kept the cat away from her food.  I let them out.  I put the one dog's bowl up.  And then I went to the bathroom.

Now, I was going to feed him right after that.  In fact, I was opening the door to do so, and he ran under my feet, tripped me, and I wound up treading hard upon him (but he appears to be alright).  This threw me against the wall, hand-first.  My wrist, hand, shoulder, back, neck, and hips are now really hurting.  I went ahead and fed him.  He ate all his food.  He is quiet.  But I am not happy.

Granted, I love him.  But still. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

UPDATE: Okay, I think we've made up.  But it was touch and go for awhile on both our parts.

Today's tasks

• Take YKWIA shirt shopping.
• Pay a bill.
• Take out the trash from all the receptacles throughout the house (that's five).
• Take out the recyclables.
• Do the cat litter.
• Clean the bathroom.
• Clean out the car.
• Collect bottle caps from various jugs and bottles for a co-worker who collects them for her kids' school.
• Do laundry.
• Load and run the dishwasher.
• Water the plants.
• Sew a button back onto one of my shirts.  It came off at work one day, one from my belly (it was loose, the shirt's actually too big now), and the only thing that saved me was the safety pin I was wearing on my hooded sweatshirt that day (rather than wearing my jacket), the pin that was there because I'm a bleeding-heart liberal who wanted to send the message that I don't mind who you are or where you're from, you have worth as a person and shouldn't be demonised by racist twats.  On the other hand, it also meant I had a safety pin handy for button-popping incidents, and since I didn't have my sewing kit handy (I am going to move it to my backpack for future incidents), it was a good back up.
• Take some materials back to the library.

Now I'm pretty tired.  I still need to go out to the library, as one of the books is one from YKWIA which hid in his backpack and is overdue, but I want to wait until the laundry is finished in the washer as it sometimes overloads during the spin cycle.  I've put the things to go back to the library in a plastic Kroger bag that has some air in it to cushion it; one is a CD and I don't want the case to break.  I tried to return it the other day and realised that the CD itself was at home in my player, and I'm glad I looked.  The other book I have out is an heirloom gardening book whose spine has broken and the pages, as I turned them, began to come apart.  So I put them all in a bag together with a note about the gardening book needing repair.

It's almost time to feed the animals, too.  The cat is acting out, trying to claw things and harassing the dog.  YKWIA is sacked out (I think our foray out tired him; he doesn't care for shopping, and we went to both Meijer and Target).  Also, I was really frustrated earlier with the trash, as one of the bins is broken and you can't get the liner of the can out, you have to pull everything out by hand (it's mostly paper, but still, it's frustrating), and the bathroom trash bin is intact, but the handle always gets in the way when I empty it despite my best attempts, and the stuff goes everywhere.)  Anyway, my frustration levels were up and I was growling, practically, and he may have decided to get away and have some quiet time for a while.

So now I'm online and trying to chill a little, let all the tension drain away.  I think I'll listen to some music.  That'll help.  Then I'll feed the animals, deal with the laundry, water the plants (some of which are in his room, and it's dark, so I'll wait till he's awake again), sew on the button, and take the stuff to the library and put it in the book drop.  We found the book just as the library closed, but if I can get it in before tomorrow morning when they open, that's one less day of fines.

Speaking of libraries, there is a job opening I'm considering applying for.  It's at the university, is technically a technician job, so I don't know if they'd consider me, as I am over-qualified, but it pays more than I'm currently making and more than I can in the public library field in the surrounding area, as a full librarian.  It can't hurt to apply, anyway, right?

Okay, must go deal with laundry--both of the buzzers have gone off.  I'll write later, hopefully.

It's kind of wrong

When the Saturday Night Live skits, which traditionally make fun of various aspects of the Presidents' lives, even exaggerating such things as Ford's tripping or Bush's lack of elocution, are instead reduced to commentary on how bizarre, ridiculous, and scary this Presidency is and how nothing matters in terms of crossing lines and having any real import, in terms of public opinion, or in terms of legal or diplomatic consequences. And in the end, it seems this Presidency is such a joke (although a truly cruel one) that even SNL has issues with making it all funny. Basically, in this skit, the President's base and Fox News will continue to put some sort of spin on things and look away, and the ones who are appalled with it are left to drink and curl up into a little ball.

I hope that the fatalism does not mean that change is unattainable. I hope people vote this year and make a difference in the legislative branch, at least. We'll see.

It is a great little film

I cry at this point every time...

Bronwen Lewis

I first heard her while looking for the version of 'Bread and Roses' from the movie Pride. I love her voice, I love the Welsh lyrics. I need to see if I can find her album. She is very talented.

Portugal. The Man.

Every time 'Feel it Still' comes onto the car radio, I turn it way up. I love the beat. I love the music. And I love that it's a guy singing with a really amazing voice. So I've been listening to their album that it's from on Amazon Music. These are the ones I like the most.

So I'm home with just the dogs and cat tonight

as YKWIA is watching Crimson Peak with a friend over at the friend's house. I've seen the movie (with him) and enjoyed it. I've been playing music without headphones.  (We do not have similar tastes in music, although there is some overlap.  Mine is a bit too modern for him).  I also ate something.  It's been a busy day.   I have:

• Called Brenda to see whether we're playing.  She is doing better but still coughing, so the game master ruled it best to get some rest.  There is the potential that when we resume, every character Brenda has could pop like soap bubbles, so he'd like her at her best.
• Take YKWIA to an appointment.
• Gone to the credit union.
• Taken YKWIA to a pet store for a special cat food.
• Taken him to the vet for special condroitin chewies for the older dog.
• Stopped by the Rusty Scabbard, a local gaming store.
• Done a Kroger run at two Krogers (Tates Creek is consistently out of Land O'Lakes half-and-half, a staple in our household).
• Gone to the library and gave him some instruction in filing via the Dewey Decimal System, the use of cutter numbers, and orienting him to how the library sections off its various genres.
• Come home and while I didn't take a nap, I laid down for a little bit to recover.

So now I'm thinking of doing some reading. I got some gardening books at the library the other day.  I also need to water the plants at the latest by tomorrow.  Tomorrow I also plan to do laundry, clean the catbox, screw the toilet seat more securely, take out the trash, and take YKWIA to Meijer for some nice shirts that he needs, as everything he has are t-shirts.

Okay, I think I'll go now and listen to some more music or read.  Hope you're having a good weekend.  We're enjoying much warmer temperatures, and I'm loving it.  It won't last, though.

No game today

Brenda's still got the crud, so we're taking another week off.  It's been a pretty relaxing weekend. I've spent some time on Facebook and Twitter (I'm also never actually on Twitter, to be honest, and I tweet and retweet rarely, but I did today).  YKWIA's done a lot of reading, and I've done a little. I got a free e-book for subscribing an electronic newsletter, and it turned out to be Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first Brother Cadfael mystery.  It includes maps and a guide to Welsh pronunciation.

I've also requested some seed catalogues, one from Burpee's (a staple), but most from heirloom, sustainable, non-Monsanto sources (and that's harder to do these days).  Most of them are available in PDF form, so I just downloaded those rather than have them send me a paper one in the mail.

Now I'm doing one super-mega-large load of laundry, and was rewarded for doing so by $12 falling out of my trouser pockets as I was going through them.  I've been out twice this weekend on the roads after the snow, once to go to the grocery for soda, and then today to take YKWIA to meet with someone over lunch, and then to stop by the gaming store The Rusty Scabbard and to get a few things at the store that weren't there yesterday post-rush.  The produce section yesterday looked like Armageddon was on its way, all for about 1-2 inches of snow, but they were resupplied today.

Tomorrow I work, as we do not get off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  The University of Kentucky does, however, and so the parking shuttles aren't running, so we've been told that we can park in the adjoining parking garage, although they wouldn't guarantee we wouldn't be charged.  So that $12 might come in handy.  Seriously, though, I suspect the gates will be up tomorrow.

Now I'm listening to some music. I was listening to Blue October's Home album, but it's made it past that on Windows Media Player and so it's Bonnie Tyler's 'I Need a Hero' right now.  Have you ever seen the music video for that?  I will not post it here.  It is...terribly creepy and inappropriate, running right across the boundary of sick and wrong, to be honest.  It's set in a young men's school (as in teenagers) and she plays a teacher. Enough said.  How did we not see that back in the 80s?  I still love the song, though.

Okay, I'm going to sign off here for awhile. YKWIA is taking a nap, all is quiet, save for the music.  It's still about an hour-and-a-half till the animals need to be fed (although one is right by me, hoping to be).  The laundry is drying. I am considering lying down for a bit while that tumbles.

Ooh, we've made it to The Box Tops' 'The Letter'. :)

Listening to:

I had something a little unnerving happen the other day

I was at work. Everything was normal, and I felt a slight numbness on my left side of the face that lasted, oh, about a minute or two.  It could be caused by all sorts of things, and I didn't panic or for that matter tell anyone at the time, although I let my roommate know because 1) if it happened again, he should know, and 2) he's my medical surrogate.  He urged me to tell our doctor about it, even if it didn't happen again. And I will.  But it was very eerie.

I have found a T-shirt I like

It is on my Wishlist on Amazon. I hope to get it if and when I have a little extra money.  Do you think it's too political for work?

Things people ask librarians [problem solved]

Him: How do I find a book chain?
Me: Why do you need one?
Him: I keep losing this book. How many times have you had to find it? It keeps eluding me. I need to chain it to a shelf. (The book in question is How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg, which is quite excellent and used a great deal in this house.)
Me: I don't think you can easily get book chains anymore. Last I saw, you still could get cables.
[Does quick Google search.  Goes to Demco (a library supply company) and has no luck, either.]
**IDEA**
Me: What about a box you could put it in? I have one I think that will fit perfectly.
Him: You do?
Me: Yes! [Takes him over to my bed's headboard.  There are three nesting boxes in the shape of books.  I take the middle one and empty it of papers.  The book fits perfectly.]
Him: Where will you put the papers?
Me: The big box.  Now don't lose the box. It looks like a book.
[Sends him happily to his home library to read.]

His library has more books than the library I worked in for twenty years [we had about 1500 books and then the various bound and unbound journals. I had about 2000 to 3000 myself at home before de-hoarding for the move, where I probably halved that.  He's probably at about 4000 or so].  I have often been tempted to include 'Managed the private library of X' on my résumé for just such reasons as this, despite payment being in the form of love and affection of his animals.  I have moved the books on several occasions, dusted, arranged, ordered, found lost ones, etc.  The only thing I haven't done is truly catalogue them, and if he ever gets that card catalogue I had at the library, I see that in my future.

We had our first snow

The street, still covered with snow, with a crow standing in the front yard.

Said crow in the snow.

The dogs have been cavorting in the snow in the backyard.  And yes, that is a poison ivy vine on the outside of the window, complete with berries.  My friend is fond of it (he's not allergic), and the birds love the berries.

On the one hand...

It's warmer than the terrible Arctic cold we've been having. On the other hand, it's hovering around freezing and rain is coming, so it'll be rain, freezing rain, and snow, just in time for the morning commute. Humbug. At least my boss texted us and said she'd rather us be safe than absolutely on time, that she wouldn't count us tardy tomorrow if there were issues with the weather, and to drive carefully.

This weekend has been relaxing. Friday night YKWIA watched the Australian original cast of The Witches of Eastwick (the musical), and that was fun. I'd never read the book by John Updike or seen the movie with Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon, so we rented that from Amazon this afternoon. I enjoyed both the movie and the musical.

We didn't play the game today because Brenda was ill. Here's hoping she's much better soon. I did get the notes finished on Saturday, and I ran some errands. YKWIA made a salad for tonight, to go with artichoke potato soup and leek risotto he made the night before. I made some herb bread tonight right before bed, this time with parsley, dill seed, caraway seed, sundried tomato, garlic, rosemary, onion, basil, green been peppers, oregano, thyme, and black pepper. It smells divine:

Baby, it's cold outside...

In case anyone missed it, Fayette County Schools are closed tomorrow due to extreme cold. High tomorrow should be 18 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas tonight and in the morning the low should be 5 or 6 degrees with wind chills to minus fifteen. Brrr. Stay warm. Dress in layers. Drip your faucets. Keep your gas tank fairly full - - all that stuff.

The cold continues...

It's supposed to be six degrees tonight (Fahrenheit) with a wind chill down to minus 15.  I went to the store on my way home tonight and it was so cold going out, as the wind had picked up.  We're not really getting the snow you see further South, just a few flakes here and there, and I'm thankful, as it's too cold for salt to do much good.  A lady on the UK shuttle was talking about a friend in Myrtle Beach freaking because they'd had a lot of bad weather.  When I lived there in 1972, we had an ice storm followed by seven inches of snow.  We wound up piling into a neighbour's recreational vehicle and driving to Garden City so that we could plug up at a K-Mart parking lot--all nine of us.  It was miserable.  So yes, it does happen, but rarely.

Today started a bit shaky.  I didn't get paid till about 9 am (it's usually there at midnight) due to the New Year's holiday, so I didn't get breakfast at the University of Kentucky Dining but rather ate some homemade bread that I'd brought for lunch.  But it all worked out.  It was a slower day, especially about mid-day, and we got a lot done on queues.  I showed one of our co-workers who helps out in her department how to do check out.  All in all, it was a pretty decent day.  I didn't get a shower this morning, mainly because I couldn't contemplate it as cold as it was, I wanted to save time, and also because my friend went to the bathroom and I didn't realise he was finished for ten minutes.  He said he told me, but I didn't hear.  Anyway, by that time I was past the window for the shower, but really, the idea of getting wet and then going out in this didn't appeal to me.  So my hair wasn't as nice, but really, I have thin, baby fine hair, so it pretty much never really does much of anything.  This afternoon they sent an e-mail out saying that we were going to rebuild the employee directory on the intranet, where employee photos are listed by department and name, so you get to know your co-workers.  We had it at the old place, and apparently, they took it down when they moved.  I was trying to show one of the new co-workers in our department who the care managers were, for example, and the doctors, and it wasn't up anymore.  Anyway, they sent out the e-mail stating that they were bringing it back and instead of having pictures from our badges (which are usually bad), they invited people to send in a favourite self-portrait, take one in our work area (for which they are giving a prize for best 'selfie'), or the public relations department will take one if we'd like.  So I looked through some pictures and didn't really like any of them, and decided to take a picture in my work area, even though I didn't feel like my best.  It came out pretty well, actually.  Here it is:

YKWIA says I always do this thing in portraits where I put my head out like a turtle.  He's right.  But this isn't too bad.  I could use some makeup, and the hair isn't as bouncy as usual, but they always say hair is easier to style when dirty.  Of course, I just combed it.  But anyway, that's what I sent in for my 'selfie'.

I did better with my blood sugar.  They've been running normal, but I haven't eaten much lately and yesterday it was hard to gauge how much insulin to take. I wound up testing my blood sugar AFTER lunch, and it was 56 or 58.  I downed quite a few glucose tablets, as that was all I had with me, and brought it back up.  But I was pretty shaky.  Today I dialled the insulin down, taking 55 units of Lantus this morning, I think, rather than the normal 70-80.  That definitely helped.  If I can come down on the two insulins, I think that would be a wonderful thing.

We ate some wonderful soup with egg and homemade bread along with a lentil salad for dinner, then shared an apple that Brenda left on Sunday for us to try--it's the Opal variety.  It was very good.  I found some 'lunchbox'-sized McIntoshes at Kroger and got some.  That is my favourite variety, and I hadn't seen any at Kroger in probably a good three or four years.

The cat and the dogs have been fed; I didn't leave the dogs out but a few minutes.  The night is not fit for man nor beast.  The cat's in his post-prandial cuddling phase.  He likes to curl up with us afterwards.  YKWIA is reading, and of course, he wants in his lap.  I think I'll go listen to some music in bed, and so he'll probably come in and climb up on me.

Tomorrow I have two doctors' appointments, with my psychiatrist at 8 am, which is pretty early, about the time I usually get to the University, but it's further away.  I have to take a shower before I go, either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think I'll try to do the latter and wake up earlier. My ophthalmologist and field of vision test are at 2 pm.  On the bright side, because I'm coming and going for appointments, my boss put in for me to have one of the five spaces in the back parking lot.  Yay.  They're doing a lottery for any spaces that aren't used on a daily basis, which is fun, too.  But tomorrow, I get one for its intended purpose.

So, I think I'm going to sign off here.  Have a good night.

Tired (but it's been a relaxing evening)

I only woke up in time this morning because an ambulance went by at 7:15 am. Plus I'd taken a shower last night AND Fayette County Schools were still out, so there was no traffic to speak of. But I made it. We were very busy. But it was good. I handled everything well.

So I came home and had a quiet evening, baked some bread, took care of the animals, and listened to music.

It is so cold. We've dripped the taps for days now so the pipes won't burst. I curled up in bed under the blankets and the cat for awhile. I handle cold well, but there are limits.

Well, I'm in bed on the phone, and holding and swiping is both awkward and painful. I'll go now.  Hope you had a good start to 2018!

I got the book review finished

I've packed a lunch (vegetarian chilli and applesauce--I know, it's getting a bit low, though; I think YKWIA will probably cook tomorrow, which is good, as we have quite a few fresh vegetables, but not a lot of ready-made stuff.  Although come to think of it, we do have veggie burgers and some other frozen food, which will be good for lunches this week.  I don't get paid until Thursday, and I'm afraid my finances are rather bleak at the moment for the first time in awhile.  That $5 an hour pay cut really hurt.  But I'm glad I have insurance.)

I took a shower just now so my hair will be dry in the cold of the morning.  I'm listening to a station on Amazon Music for Portugal. The Man, which has been very entertaining.

I've got the dogs at my feet.  I fed them earlier, then brought them in after only about 10 minutes due to the cold.  Unfortunately, I forgot to gate them so when they came in one ate the cat's remaining food.  So I had to give him a little more after gating them.  He's allergic to just about everything and is on a special hypo-allergenic food without grain or chicken.  I figured he was pretty hungry; he threw up this morning.  But as the vet said, a weekly hack up is better than daily, and in general, this food is working pretty well, although it's a $20 small bag.  So I'm sorry I accidentally let one of the dogs to get a treat.

YKWIA is reading again in his room.  He usually calls a friend on Monday nights, so I'm going to finish this up pretty quickly.  I'm just waiting for my hair to dry, really.  Once that happens, I can go on to bed.  The lack of caffeine is one thing, but all I've done is one and a half loads of laundry, so I'm not sure why I'm so tired.

The house is looking good.  My stuff is all in order. I temporarily 'lost' the book I was reviewing, which was amazing, as I have books in and on top of the bed's bookcase, but nowhere else, but I found it, thankfully.  It was pretty interesting; it was on makerspaces.  I made a discovery in the course of writing it: Google's definitions that they display whenever you put in 'define [word]) come from the Oxford Pocket Dictionary. So I was able to go to Oxford's website to get a good citation for the definition.  Merriam-Webster failed me, I'm afraid.  I guess the term is too new.

I finished the night at 1134 calories, which is 306 under what I should be for dieting.  I might have something else later, like some applesauce, but I'm really not hungry right now.  I only walked about 2,800 steps, but I never left the house beyond taking the recyclables to the containers outside.

I was on the Internet yesterday and found something about a prequel to His Dark Materials by Philip Pulman.  It's called La Belle Sauvage, the first of The Book of Dust trilogy.  I don't know how I missed it.  I've put it on hold at the Library, along with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.  I always said I'd read that series when she finished the alphabet.  Sadly, it looks like it will end at Y, but still.

Okay, I'm going to transfer some new music to my phone, and then I'll go ahead and head into my room and listen to some more music for a while, then go to sleep.  Hope you had a restful and happy new year.

It's been a quiet New Year's Day

I'm very sleepy as I haven't had any caffeine at all today. I should have saved some of the soda from this weekend.  I've already had a short nap and I'm still falling asleep.  But I've also been doing laundry, working on the computer, and I'm about to write a book review, which is due today.

It's 16 degrees Fahrenheit outside, very frigid. I just took the recyclables out and got my coat out of the car so it would be warm in the morning.  The taps are dripping to prevent the pipes from freezing.  It's 69.4 degrees in here and YKWIA is freezing (he's cold-natured), so he's left the work he was doing on the computer and is reading in his room under the blankets, the dog, the cat, and a Southwestern poncho.  Fortunately, I'm warm-natured, so I'm not doing so bad, but I would like to get back under the covers.

Last night was quiet, too.  I listened to some music and got up about 15 minutes before midnight.  I downloaded the official Times Square ball drop application on my phone, which seemed to be working for a change (it's frozen on me three years in a row), but when it got to a little over a minute left, the video froze, since I'm sure their servers were overwhelmed, so I didn't get to see the ball drop (we don't have TV, and YKWIA was working on something on the desktop).  So that was a little disappointing.

But the company was good.  We wished each other a happy new year's, and then I basically just went back to bed.  There were fireworks at midnight, but the little dog who is scared of them is getting deaf so she couldn't hear them inside the house, but I did let them out very briefly and she barked because she could hear them out there.  I brought them in; it was snowing, just enough to cover the ground.  And then I went to sleep, waking up to the dulcet tones of little dog barking because, well, she's older and her bladder is tiny.  I stayed in bed for awhile, got up, took all my medicine, took my blood sugar (including downloading the results to my phone), kept track of my food, weighed myself (I've gained a little back, but I'm still a stone under what I had been.)

Alright, I should go work on that book review.  This is the first of what I hope is a more prolific blogging run; it may not be every day, but I'm going to shoot for that.  I hope you're having a good year so far.  I've been really looking forward to saying goodbye to 2017 and I hope there are bright things on the horizon for you and yours.  Have a great day!