Unless something changes in the meantime

I will not be going to work tomorrow. Our entire commonwealth is under a severe winter weather warning, and we are expecting up to and perhaps more than a foot of snow tomorrow. Now, according to the Weather Channel, it may not start until about the morning commute, but the problem is that while I might be able to get to work tomorrow morning, I most likely will not be able to get home. They're talking high winds in addition to the snow, causing a whiteout. Most everything is going to be closed, the garages downtown are free through Sunday to keep the cars off the snow routes there. I was told twice today by my boss that if I felt I could come in, that was one thing, but they didn't want anyone risking injury or death to be there, especially as I am non-essential personnel. Our clinic is lighter on Fridays, and while there were quite a few originally scheduled, there were already cancellations and I suspect there will be more. So I will most likely stay home to avoid getting stuck there, or if I do go, it'll be by bus. We already rescheduled my friend's appointment that was tomorrow, too.

After work today, I:

1. Got gas, filling up the tank. I went to the Euclid Speedway, which had gas at $1.58 a gallon even without any discount. I drove by Euclid's Kroger and it was crazy, with cars like vultures circling a kill. Because of that, there was no way to get to the bank that was next door.
2. I was, however, able to go by the Chinoe Kroger and get a roll of quarters for laundry from them. When I got there, the parking lot was busy, but I was able to get a spot near the edge of the lot. When I left, people were parking in strange places and circling around and around. I got the last cart before they brought more in (and they were doing that very quickly). I got some basics, including things that don't require power to make (I have an all-electric apartment), including a couple of items for my friends. The lines were backed up down the aisles, even though all the checkout lanes were open and running quickly. I didn't wait a long time, but I was about four or five back and there were at least another five or so behind me, and it was piling up further, with lines snaking around to the freezer section. I was lucky--I'd gone into work early, so I was able to leave early, so I beat a lot of the crowds. On the news tonight, they were showing the denuded shelves at Euclid's Kroger.

Then I went to my friends' house, dropped off the items, and my friend and I went to physical therapy. We got home about 8, recording the finale to 'Heroes Reborn'(we haven't watched the one before that yet). I fixed him some food, pilled the dogs, watched something with him as he ate, let the dogs out, fixed him tea, and then got home about 10 pm. Fortunately the snow hadn't started yet, so the roads were mostly dry till I got to my street, which is probably considered tertiary and to the best of my knowledge, has never seen a snow plough. But anyway, I put my windshield wipers up after I parked the car, brought the groceries in, etc., set the computer back up (I'd had it with me today), and ate some string cheese and the last bit of my pumpkin ice cream. My comma key is sticking for some reason. I'm not sure why.

Other things I did today:

1. Talked to someone at Time Warner Cable, who initially told me I could get my service back on for about $64, but then it quickly ballooned to a deposit and first month's payment in addition, so almost $200. It's not worth it. I pointed out that I had a hotspot through my cellular plan that gives 5GB of data just for that (my actual data plan on my phone is unlimited). I pay $10 a month extra for that, as opposed to $55 a month for monthly Internet from them. I've been using it, and I quite frankly came nowhere near that cap. So I feel confident letting the cable go. I'll take in the equipment and pay what I owe them, and that's that. Because of that, I'll have to cancel my Vonage phone, but I mainly use my cell phone anyway, and while they have been very good to me over the decade I've been with them, unfortunately it does require Internet to work, so that'll save me another $20 a month. The main drawback is that I can't watch Netflix on my TVs or laptop, as I don't think that 5GB cap would work if I were streaming programmes, but I mostly watch over at YKWIA's anyway. I am considering cancelling the DVD portion of my Netflix subscription, as we're not going through them quick enough to justify the money. I'll see about that. But if I do need Wi-Fi for anything, I can go across the street to the public library.
2. I rescheduled the appointment for tomorrow.
3. I added roadside assistance to my car insurance. My AAA is up for renewal, and it's simply too expensive compared to the dollar or so a month I'd pay through my insurance carrier. I also put in for a low mileage discount. In the three years I've had my car, I've put about 12,000 miles on it, and anything under 7,500 a year is considered eligible.
4. Checked with my allergist to see if I need new phials or if they're okay for now and at the practice. Everything's okay. I may have to go down to another phial, but they're good till April and there, so if I can go twice a week till then, I might use up most of them before they expire.

Okay, the news is off and Jimmy Fallon is on, so it's getting towards bedtime. Hope you have a safe time if you're in the path of this storm--some places are actually expecting up to two feet of snow. Good night.

Having some spotty Internet issues using Chrome

and I'm not sure why. Tried IE 10 and it's a little spotty, too. Firefox is working better, but sometimes defaulting to a graphics-poor version of things. Not quite sure what's going on. Maybe Insight's having issues. The connexion tests okay, and I've reset the modem and routers a couple of times. The phone's on and so is the cable TV. I paid my bill. What gives?

Today I received both my AAA and car insurance cards. Oddly enough, I never got the temporary AAA card they were supposed to send me. I also got the papers for both the car insurance and renter's insurance that explains what's covered.

After work today I went and picked up a friend from an appointment and we went to Long John Silver's (his choice; I was all up for tofu goodness from Great Wall, but he was craving some fish, and that was fine with me) and then I took him home and stayed just a bit before coming home. My foot and knees were very uncomfortable and I really needed some Tylenol and some elevating. No major swelling, mind you, and the knees were really more painful than the ankle and foot, but they got better when I went to bed for awhile.

I'm so glad it's Friday. This seems to just have been an endless week. I have a lot on my plate this weekend as well. Tomorrow I have an eye appointment in the morning. Then I'm going to try to get all the trash and recyclables out of the house. The recyclables have been piling up for most of the time I've been out. I did have someone take some of them out at some point, but there's quite a bit to go. First I wasn't able to do it, then it rained for days and days. Tomorrow the weather's supposed to be fairly nice, so I want to go ahead and get that done. Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to take a friend to the grocery. Sunday we're not playing the game because Brenda has a doll meet (she makes clothes for ball-jointed dolls), so I'm going to do laundry and work on a friend's computer then.

Okay, I think I'm going to head to bed and then just see tomorrow if my connexion issues have resolved. Hope you have a great weekend.

Not surprisingly, I did something really stupid yesterday

Anyone who has had AAA knows that when they send you a card for the new plan year, the only real difference between the cards is the printed year that it's good through. I had both my old and new ones in my wallet during the transition between October and November and yesterday had the bright idea (at the gas station, when I stopped in for gas, oil, and the newspapers) to get rid of the old one.

Only I cut up the new one.

Fortunately I looked one last time before I put it in the trash and saw the '2009'. Today I called them, and they're sending me a new one within 14 days. In the meantime, my number is still good and everything, and I still have the two halves of the card, so she said that would be fine as proof should I need road service.

But that was a silly thing to do, even for me.

I just wanted to take a moment at the library

to let you all know I'm still around, just without my Internet connexion at home. Nothing much interesting has happened personally until today, when I had a dead battery after running some errands before work and stopping in at home to get a cheque I'd forgotten that I meant to put into the bank. Fortunately it was a AAA battery that I got a couple of years ago and it was still under warranty, so they replaced it for free. I was late for work, but back on the road in a fairly short time. And, at least I was outside my apartment and not stranded somewhere.

Last night I got home early, took a nap, then got up and washed dishes and straightened up the house some for about two hours. I still have a lot to go, and I discovered that my garbage disposal is not working/backing up, so I have to call that in to maintenance. Since that's where the dishwasher drains out, it was a problem last night. Unfortunately with the whole battery situation I totally forgot to call it in. Also, when I did try to go back to sleep after my industry, I did a rare thing--I laid in bed unable to go to sleep for an hour or more. Maybe it was just too early, but I kept mulling things that had happened that day and worried about a robbery at work, which hasn't happened and I don't think of it that often, but let's just say I hope there's no precognition going on there, because it's been on my mind more lately.

Well, I guess that's it. I shouldn't stay too long; I've got some other stuff to do tonight. But I just wanted to check in. My connexion may be down longer than I thought; I had to choose gas over paying my bill. So unless an oeconomic stimulus cheque shows up in my mailbox, it may be another week or more.