First crocus of the season

Love this

So last May, I think it was, I went to the Bluegrass Orchid Society, and one of the plants I picked up was actually an aloe vera. I got it for my roommate, who cooks and has a tendency to forget to use potholders. It's been repotted twice now. The smaller pot has the good-sized babies that were taken from the mother plant but had been in the original pot. There's another pup that's sprouted, and when I repotted last week I debated on separating it from the mother, but kept it as is. Last night I noticed two more tiny ones sprouting. I love these sorts of aloes. :)

Here we go

Book 8 for the year... Terry Matlen's The Queen of Distraction: How Women with ADHD Can Conquer Chaos, Find Focus, and Get More Done. 

So this week has pretty much been a bust

This foray into pinkeye infection has really not been fun. I am feeling a little better tonight but my eyes still hurt a bit and feel gravelly. Not to mention YKWIA is having issues so he can't read comfortably, and that's an issue. But I think it's almost run its course for me. We have managed to watch several episodes of 'The Umbrella Academy' over the last couple of days. I never read the Dark Horse comic, so I don't know how much they've stayed faithful or veered away from the comic, although YKWIA is a little familiar with the original. But I am enjoying it. The one I'm identifying with the most is Number 7, Vanya, known as The White Violin, who has always been told she is the ordinary one without powers, although obviously she does, for when she goes off the needs after been on since childhood, something starts happening. I'm not finished yet, we're still watching. But I'm enjoying it. They're all damaged, they're all dysfunctional, and a lot of miscommunication leads to issues. And it's delightfully weird. When I did collect comics, most were by DC, but in the Vertigo imprint, like Sandman, The Dreaming, Death: the High Cost of Living, The Books of Magic, etc. The main series I'm watching that is comic-based right now (with my roommate on Hulu; whereas 'The Umbrella Academy' we watch on my Netflix) is Marvel's 'Legion' , which as a comic book is weird in its own right, but the Noah Hawkley series starring an immensely talented Dan Stevens is a story that's just on acid and extremely well done.

:(

Well, I was feeling pretty well this morning, but I've gotten very tired throughout the day like when you're fighting a virus, and while my eye isn't as red, both eyes are now affected in terms of gunk and grittiness, etc. I am also light-sensitive. I took one 1-hour nap today and one 3-hour nap, with just a little time up in between. Still Lysoling things, but YKWIA has the same symptoms, so well, I am contagious. Grrr.

Cool

Okay, I am a Samsung girl, who started with a Galaxy S3, went up to an S5 (I tend to go for odd numbers), has an S7 (almost three years old in terms of the model, although I have a brand new one thanks to keeping my insurance on the thing.) I didn't go up to the S9 because mine is running Oreo and fits my needs. So I don't have the latest and greatest, and I certainly don't have almost $2000 (even with T-mobile's tendency to give credits) to spend on a phone. But ooooh....isn't it nice?

So yesterday

I woke up with a very red, itchy, inflamed, and goopy eye.  I called into work and headed to the Little Clinic when they first opened.  Because the discharge was clear, rather than coloured, and I otherwise fit the symptoms, she diagnosed me with viral conjunctivitis (pinkeye) and sent me to the pharmacy for anti-inflammatory eye drops, but of course, not being bacterial, it doesn't have an antibiotic or for that matter antiviral component to it.  In bacterial pinkeye, you can take antibiotic drops and then return to work 24 hours later.  With the viral version, though, she said if I was feeling better and not touching my eye due to itching or discharge, I could go back to work on Friday.  But she wrote the work excuse for Monday in case I was still having trouble.  I'll have to check with work if I can come back before the letter says so.  Every workplace is different.  I am feeling better.  It still has some inflammation, but it wasn't all that red this morning and was just a little matted when I woke up; it seems to be clearing up a little. On the other hand, the left eye, while not red, is itchy and watering. So we'll see.

On the other hand, I'm kind of bored.  I don't really feel 'sick'.  I did watch an episode of 'Sherlock' yesterday by myself and later 'Legion' with my roommate.  Today I may try to read.  I am a little light sensitive.  And my roommate is now having some issues with his eye, despite my wiping down everything with Lysol wipes, but of course, I was probably contagious the day before. :(

Up in the middle of the night

I can't sleep because my feet - especially the tops of my feet - are really hurting, along with my hips and back. It's all arthritis. It's raining hard outside and the rain that moved in is to last for days. I took some ibuprofen, rubbed my feet with a muscle rub, filled up the humidifier of my CPAP, and I'm going to try to sleep again.

My mood

Over the last few days, during the four-day weekend I took and going back to work today, has been really great.

Sigh

So on Friday, the same day my phone went out, my check engine light came on. I went to Advanced Auto Parts today and had the codes checked, then came home and used my roommate's phone to call my mechanic. (The replacement has not arrived at T-mobile yet). It could be a vacuum leak. But it's nothing that's going to leave me stranded somewhere, so I'll try to get it fixed as soon as possible, but I can't right now.

I did some reading

Book 7 for the year: 'What Color is Your Parachute? Guide to Rethinking Interviews' by Richard N. Bolles. Overall very good, and it was very comforting considering how nervous I get during then. He definitely had good advice for the future.

I started a fiction book as well, and I am about 60 pages in. It's called 'The Labyrinth of Spirits', a novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, part of a series called The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There are four in the series, but they can be read on any order or alone. I'll let you know how that goes. :)

I don't see myself paying for YouTube premium BUT

this WAS rather good (the first episode is free):

Apparently

This is the week for things breaking.  The other day it was the windshield wiper.  Yesterday it was my cell phone.  Also, yesterday, although I'd forgotten until I went out today to search for a turnip and four Belgian endives (to no avail) that my check engine light popped on.  That's usually emissions, although I should take it to an auto parts store and see what codes come up.  Still, things are pretty tight right now, and I don't have the money to fix anything, really.  The windshield wiper was just $12 and the phone will take about $5 since it was insured.  But the car is a whole other story.

Books so far for the year

1. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
2. Overcoming Distractions by David A. Greenwood
3. Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD by Susan C. Pinsky
4. Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
5. What Color is Your Parachute? Guide to Rethinking Resumes by Richard N. Bolles
6. The Inefficiency Assassin by Helena Sagura

Trying to get back on track

So I was sick for an entire week, and even weeks later I'm having sniffly noses and some mild coughing.  But I'm back to the routine at work, although we're oddly enough off Monday for Presidents' Day, so I took off yesterday for a long weekend.  I spent the whole day doing errands, but they were ones that needed to be done.  I started the day off with a phone, which had been alright the night before, basically becoming a brick.  When the screen was turned on, the emergency medical app would come on, and then the screen would go back.  I could slide up the Samsung Pay app from the bottom of the screen, but there were no 'desktop' or app icons at all.  Then it would turn off, try to turn back on, and repeat.  I waited until T-Mobile opened a couple of hours later, and that's all it did.

So the good news is I didn't have to upgrade to a new phone or spend a lot of money that I didn't have.  I have paid off the phone (it's about 2 1/2 years old, a Samsung Galaxy S7), but I've also kept insurance on it, and so I can exchange it for a new phone of the same model, and it'll just cost me $5 for a fee (I guess that covers their shipping it to the store).  It may come as early as today (I was at the store when they first opened, and it shipped quickly), but with the weekend and holiday it could be Tuesday, I guess, at the latest, unless UPS runs on Presidents' Day, I'm not sure about that.  So here's hoping it'll be today.  She said if it came it should be around noon, and it's a little after eleven now.  Of course, they'll have to e-mail me, or I also gave them my friend's number.

I also called the Lexington Public Library yesterday and spoke with the human resources director, as I have an application in and I was afraid they might call while the phone was out of commission.  So I guess it also shows interest.  It's a librarian position doing programming (as in events, not computers) for patrons.  Keep your fingers crossed for me; I'd love to get back into the library field, and I'm excited about this job.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful to have my current job, but I love librarianship so much more.

I am working on the Doody's Core Titles again this year, as a librarian selector where I select and rate medical books based on my knowledge of Orthopaedics and Paediatric Nursing.  I've done it for many years.  I also just had another book review published.  So I am still pursuing librarian-related interests.

While I was T-Mobile, they talked me into a free tablet, with a $10 addition to my bill for another line but no money down for the actual tablet.  So I've been setting that up and I haven't felt too bereft without the phone. I shared something on Facebook to either message me on Messenger or call my friend's phone at the house if they know it.  I checked and everything's backed up with Google, including my contacts, so that's good.

Other things I did yesterday: I got one new windshield wiper because my passenger one had broken and was being held on with tape, and I also went to the credit union with my friend, and the pharmacy, two grocery stores, did his laundry (I'm working on mine today, after I bake bread).  Apparently, I shouldn't try to bake bread before caffeinating--I put all the ingredients in, set up the menu, but forgot to hit 'start'. I checked about an hour and a half into what should be the bread baking part of the cycle, and it was just sitting there.  Sigh.  It should be working now, though.  I also did the cat litter yesterday and brought the garbage containers back to the house after being emptied.

Today my main to-dos have been on getting a shower, then there's the bread, my laundry, possible trip to Fresh Market for more Belgian endives, possible trip to T-Mobile for the phone, and game notes.

It's sunny this morning and we didn't get the snow that they'd been predicting.  So it's been a good couple of days so far.  I didn't manage to call my doctors about rescheduling some March appointments (I've got 5, and while they're late in the day, that's probably too much to expect to be let off work.  I was going to reschedule a couple at least.  I'll have to call about them Monday.  Most of my appointments fell six months ago, but they were spread between September and October, and then my endocrinologist had to reschedule my January appointment, and it looks like a giant cluster within two weeks.)

So now I'm listening to Pandora (the Passenger station) and I plan on doing a little reading later and hopefully, I'll watch some of a DVD collection I have out from the library, the first season of 'The Librarians'. :)

Okay, I think I'll go for now.  I won't promise to write later, but I will do my best.