Third try was not the charm ☹️

Well, I tried again. I went to the Kentucky Blood Center for the third time this month after being deferred twice for low iron. Hemoglobin on the first stick (right finger) was only 11.9, but she really had to squeeze to get it out, so it may have skewed the results. Left finger on second try was 14.2 so yay!!!!

Unfortunately, the stick didn't get the vein well, and even with adjustments from another phlebotomist, the little tiny bag wasn't filling up fast enough, so they had to abort, and it left a bruise. I can come back and donate after my hematoma has healed, they said.

Sigh. I did get another $20 gift card to Amazon, though. But I did want to donate. The stars are not aligning. I haven't had this much trouble in about 25 years.

Oooohhh!!!

 So I got an email yesterday from Amazon about a new update to the Kindle Scribe that gives you the ability to add shapes from the writing toolbar, but also Smart Shapes, which allows you to draw a shape, say a triangle, then hold the pen for a moment, and the shape will snap into perfect lines. What they didn't say in the e-mail is:

1. You can then move and rotate the shape by manipulating it, even reactivating it later. This currently just works in notebooks, but it's really useful.
2. The same update lets you handwrite on images in eBooks with enhanced typesetting and on Word documents sent to Kindle.
3. Most importantly, this update is available now for my Kindle Scribe (the 2022 original Scribe), but not yet for the two later models. Hmm...

Anyway, if you have the original Scribe and the update hasn't downloaded yet, you can download it manually by going to this page and downloading it to your computer, then moving it over via USB. Be sure you choose the correct version for your device. And if you're reading this later, it should be version 5.19.4 [or presumably later]. The image below is Amazon's demonstration from the email, but yes, it works just like depicted.

Beyond the Amazon boycott

I participated in the recent one-week boycott, but I'm sure that was a drop in the bucket for the company and Jeff Bezos. So I'm trying to dial back on my reliance on Amazon due to some of their policies and the fact that really, I'd rather support good than line the pockets of billionaires at cost to employees if I can. I have a Kindle, so I can't extricate myself completely, but I'm trying to find things locally or on other websites as I can and only buying from Amazon when I can't find it elsewhere or where the cost really is too prohibitive for me to go elsewhere. For books, I think I've found a solution. There is a seller on Amazon that often sells used books, but they also sell new books as well. [A competitor in the used book field, AbeBooks, is owned by Amazon]. The one I found is called Better World Books, and I've gotten books from them through Amazon before with no problem. But directly, for each book sold, they donate a book. They also have a literacy fund you can donate to support libraries and literacy programmes. I found a book that's been sitting in my wishlist on Amazon used for a quarter of what I would have paid in very good condition (I didn't need it new) yesterday and got two more for less than the original would have cost, with shipping free and tax included (less than $20). But there are new ones, too. You might want to check them out. Here is a link to their mission.

Please consider donating

If you're on Facebook, you know that they always suggest that you do a fundraiser for your birthday. This year I am doing one for the Lexington Humane Society, our local animal shelter. I'm very much an animal lover. I believe animals love us unconditionally in a way no one else does. They enrich our lives, become part of our families, and deserve to be loved and taken care of. Lexington Humane Society takes in animals that for whatever reason have been abandoned by others. They help them get adopted through training, getting their pictures and descriptions posted, and taking care of them on a daily basis until they are adopted. They also provide medical services and have a pantry for people who may not otherwise be able to feed their animals. If you wouldn't mind, consider donating to this very worthy charity. If you don't want to go through Facebook, there are other ways to their donate. They have an Amazon wish list where you can buy food and other items that are needed. You can also link a Kroger card to the Lexington Humane Society so that they get a percentage of what you buy there,

I'm including a link below to my fundraiser. I set the goal only at $150, to start small. Every year I choose the charity, and every year I don't quite make it. I think this is something that many people can get behind because they love animals too. I've made my own donation to start things off. If you do donate thank you so much.

Elisabeth's Facebook fundraiser for the Lexington Humane Society

Happy new year!

Sorry, I wrote that and then was drawn away to mince onions, which means I have now retreated to the safety of the computer away from sulphurous compounds that irritate eyes and nose.  The last thing on my list of things to do while off is to back up the computers, so I'm backing up the desktop and blogging on the laptop.

I have been off since Friday and I've mostly either run some errands or relaxed, visited friends, etc.  Last night was a very quiet New Year's Eve.  We visited a friend who got us all Subway sandwiches, and then I hung out with the cats and watched the ball drop and YKWIA spoke on the phone with a friend in the Chicago area.

The following new year's resolutions are on track:

1. Reducing soda intake.  I drink way too much diet soda.  I'm going to limit it and try to transition to some coffee.  I did drink one today, but considering on the weekends I've been drinking two 2-litres and some days at work I have five out of the machine, I definitely need to work on this, both from a health standpoint and money one.  So I'm going to try to limit it to one a day, then taper off to coffee, and then taper that further over time.
2. Blogging!  No more waiting two weeks or a month between posts.  Granted I was sick a good portion of last month, but my blogging was pathetic.  I'd like this blog to flourish, and it really hasn't been of late.
3. Watching my blood sugar better--testing, taking medicine, and not eating so much out of the snack machines.  I did take all my medicine correctly earlier, but this will really get tested at work.

Today I have:

1. Done my friend's laundry.
2. Done all the dishes.
3. Made bread (in progress).
4. Backed up the computers (in progress).
5. Gone to Kroger (three times), once for sweetener, once for bread yeast, and now I'm going for a zucchini.
6. Bought a MegaMillions ticket.
7. Ordered a game for a friend who gave me his Amazon gift cards to do so (he doesn't have a computer, but he does have an Xbox One S, and I checked to make sure this Xbox 360 game, which is older, should work).

Well, I think I'm going to get wrangled further into cooking, as I've been interrupted about four times just writing this post.  But hopefully 2019 will be a better year all around and I'll have more to say about it than 2018.  I'm going to go now; I'll try to write later.

This is kind of interesting...

Kindle readers read novels. Physical book readers read self-help.

Now, granted, this is based on the top 10 sellers of each type in March alone.  There is more diversity in terms of genre in paper format, but each of the top 10 which were non-fiction were what we might call light reading (such as self-help) or in the case of the children's books and Dungeons & Dragons reference manual, heavily illustrated rather than text-intensive (also a reason to read in physical format rather than Kindle--artwork doesn't translate to the traditional e-reader, anyway, not like it would on the Fire, and neither could capture the artwork as well as paper).  The two novels that were on the paper format list were, incidentally, A Wrinkle in Time and Ready Player One, both of which have recently been released as major motion pictures.  Each of the books on this list did have Kindle editions, too.

On the Kindle side, 90% were fiction mainly thrillers.  The one that wasn't was a biography of a murderess in a sensational historical case.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions, albeit from a very small sample.  But I did find it rather intriguing.  I'd like to see the statistics for a year, for example, or say, with the top 100 books in each category over that timeframe.

Your trivia for the day

So in the wee hours of the morning, because I wasn't sleeping anyway [since I fell asleep by 8:30, then woke up about four hours later], I decided to use a $15 credit I had with Amazon [for sending that computer back] to replace my old jeans, and ordered a pair. Turns out that jeans were patented by Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss on this day, May 20, in 1873. Thank you to my alarm application on my phone for alerting me to this historical fact early this morning, in its nice British accent.

So now I'm up and awake despite being up in the middle of the night, and I have already taken a friend to work. Think I'll get ready and go over to the Bluegrass Farmers' Market this morning (at Liquor Barn's parking lot in Hamburg) to see what they might have.

What a day!

• Did laundry very early in the morning.
• Went to my meeting at the career centre/unemployment office, handed in my paperwork, went through a seminar on job searching and résumé-building, and asked some questions I needed to know more about.
• Went to Lowe's and got a 2-foot stepladder that is rated for my weight, some swag hooks to hang plants from, and some knobs to try on the floor lamp, since the one that came with it fell, hit something, and disappeared somewhere under the bed or in the aether, for all I know.
• Came home and tried a knob, but unfortunately it doesn't fit.
• Forgot my rehab equipment and had to drive back to get it--but I just got out of the parking lot, and if I'd left the spirometer and the other thingy, I do live practically across the road.
• Had a kick-ass session with pulmonary rehabilitation; I pushed myself, and oddly enough, did much better than normal (maybe it's the steroids).
• Got something at McDonald's and watched nearby geese with their goslings.
• Got a temporary job offer finalised that I accepted (and I think will work out for both me and the employer).
• Sent my e-mail address to the folks I sent the computer back to. They sent a $15 credit to Amazon to me for my trouble. :)
• Called UK parking to get some clarification on their tags.
• Picked A up from work, took him to the doctor, went home (I'm across the road), found a job to apply for, started working on it, and then picked him up from there.
• Took my friends to the credit union, the grocery, to pay a bill, and home.
• Helped my friends pay a bill online (I do the techy part, but they pay the money).
• Texted with a former co-worker.
• Applied to a job which was posted today at a local university.

So here's the deal. My former workplace is really busy, someone is on maternity leave, and they need someone to help, so they changed the offer to full-time for about twelve weeks, via contract work, for a much better pay rate than I was previously offered. I was willing to take on the duties given that offer. They will work with my appointments and any interviews I need to go on. I start Monday, working a normal schedule, starting at 8 am. The parking is at the University of Kentucky, and they thought the single-use scratch-off tags might work, but I called UK Transportation Services and explained that I would be a contracted employee working full-time on a temporary basis, and she said that they do offer regular tags at a monthly, rather than yearly, deduction, which would be almost half the price of those scratch-offs, and I'd just have to go ahead and come down and set up an account with them. I need to call tomorrow to find out 1) can I get one before I get my badge, so I'm ready to go on Monday, and 2) where on earth do I park if I need a tag, as I don't see a visitor section to the garage that the main office is in, and the actual visitor garage is a good deal away, so it would behoove me to check. As far as the unemployment goes, I would simply stop filing for benefits after this week and then re-activate the claim after the temporary position ended. I have a full year to actually claim benefits, but I'm limited to 26 weeks of actual benefit payments, so they'd resume (assuming I haven't found another job by then), and that will get me almost to the end of the year in better shape than I would have been.

In the meantime, I'll continue to look for jobs. I've applied to eight so far, since being on unemployment (two this week alone, and I've only been required to apply for six so far). All but one was library-related, and both of this week's are. One is a public librarian in Owen County (an hour's drive away), one is at Transy, here in Lexington.

So what else to do today? Our inspections were put off till tomorrow, and the house is about the same as it was the other day, but not too bad. I might move a few things around, but no major rearrangement. Mainly I want people to be able to walk through without causing issues--so I need to move the hand truck with the cursed cinder block (my toe did partly turn black) away from the middle of the living room. There are also a few things that can go in the walk-in closet. And there are those plants to hang, but I don't know if I should do that just now, or wait till tomorrow when there's a lot of light in the window. That may very well depend on whether I can find a 1/8" drill bit for my drill. I think they're in the closet with the drill, but I'm not sure. The plan is to hang three plants in the living room window (and there's already been a hook in the middle before) and one in the bedroom. The stepladder should allow me to do it, as I think I have eight-foot ceilings (except the hallway, which is shorter), and I'm 5'4" tall, so that gets me close, anyway, although I have those short Tyrannosaurus arms, so close may not work. If that's the case, A may need to help me later.

Tomorrow there's the parking office, an appointment with a friend, and otherwise I think I'll just hang around here and work on the apartment some. Maybe I'll try to go to the pool early in the day so that I can enjoy it with some peace and quiet before all the kids come out, and start exercising in the fitness room as well, now that I know I can kick butt with my breathing techniques on the equipment. Okay, I think I'll go look for that drill bit.

There's an hour-and-a-half of my life I will never get back

So I took a fairly short nap (for me) and got up about 8:30 pm, deciding that I was in the mood to watch television, something that almost never happens when I'm by myself. I like watching things with friends, but not so much alone. Well, I don't have cable for that reason, just a little digital antenna, but I do have a Smart TV that can connect via Wi-Fi to Netflix and other services. I mostly use it for Pandora.

So I go into Samsung's Smart Hub, which updates, then into Netflix, and it won't sign in, because I'd changed my password since the last time I was on, and it wasn't giving me the option to re-sign in. I got out of the application, out of Smart Hub, went back in, and it did let me sign in. Then I thought to myself, I'm a Prime member again with Amazon (on a monthly basis), why don't I set up Amazon Video, too, since that was something I never really got into. So my hell began.

See, the password for that had also changed, so I went to put in the e-mail address and new password, to no avail, as it kept giving an unexpected error. That's what it said--an unexpected error has occurred when you tried to sign on. Sigh. So I poked around the Amazon website, as I was given an error when I tried to go back, an error that didn't show up in their code list. I finally deregistered the TV, tried to register it again, but when I chose that option, no code was given, just a spinning circle followed by nothing changing. So after trying this a few times, I called Amazon. Treyshawn was very, very helpful. [I mean that literally, not sarcastically. I say that because tone is not possible on a blog, He was very professional and kept me calm when I was getting a bit frustrated]. He had me turn off and unplug the TV, then had me put it back on again, and he walked me through the steps I'd done, and that didn't work for him either, so he did some checking and apparently it is a known issue on their end. So he set up a followup where they will e-mail me when the situation is resolved. So there is no Amazon Video possible on my TV at the present, but at least I wasn't doing anything wrong, and he reassured me that I can actually operate technology competently. I asked if it were just a Samsung problem, and it is, so the Roku in the bedroom should work fine. I proceeded to set up both Netflix and Amazon Video on that box, so I can at least watch either in the bedroom now. I've gotten pretty decent at putting things in via a remote control tonight.

Sadly, I spent so much time trying to set things up, that frankly, I'm not in the mood to watch now, and I think I'll read instead. Books never fail me. Even my Kindle, which can lose power and I'm sure have other issues, seems pretty reliable. So, it's back to either Aristotle (which might be nice in the quiet of the evening) or The Other Wind, which I began earlier today. Have a great weekend. I think I'll sign off for now.

PS The pesto bread was good, but it occurred to me that perhaps I'd made a mistake in trying it, given that you can't really eat peanut butter or jam or honey on it, and I have only enough yeast to last for one more loaf. So I've had bread, and only bread, tonight. :( There's not much else in the house. I even had to borrow $10 from YKWIA tonight because I was on my gas light and wanted to make it home. Oh, well, this too shall pass. Good night.

Random thoughts

When trying to make microwaved baked potatoes, one does not simply put the potatoes in the microwave and walk away without setting the time and hitting the start button.

Three men were putting a car on a U-Haul trailer in front of my apartment last evening, and one actually pulled out (and read) the instructions. I was amazed. I bet he'll ask for directions, too. If anyone is dating him, he's a keeper.

No matter how hard one is hit with the urge to twirl upon entering the building one works at in the morning, one does not do it, because one is an adult. Exceptions may be made for days when one is wearing a skirt with sequins on it while walking in bright sunlight, but today was not that day. What can I say, I got rest (hence no blogging last night) and was in a happy mood.

When trying a recipe for the second time that didn't turn out right the first time, one should check and double-check the ingredients and amounts and directions. I am trying the bread again. This time I put a whole tablespoon in the yeast bin (I have a bread machine that has a separate yeast compartment which releases it at the right time in the process). We will see how it turns out.

Despite having a driving phobia, one's best friend has an incredibly calming effect on one, so that even if one forgot to take one's medicine, the drive across town to the pharmacy and back was pleasant and almost relaxing, even in rush-hour traffic. When one dropped off one's best friend, everything went downhill from there. Fortunately rush hour is now over and one is home.

When leaving the pharmacy, one does not turn sharply to exit into the parking lot, or one makes a horrible scraping noise on the kerb. However, there does not seem to be any damage, so one was lucky.

When one is driving someone with back problems who has expressly told one that his back popped earlier and he has been in quite a bit of pain, one should not turn suddenly or move quickly while driving (or run up on kerbs). One should instead pretend one has plants, animals, or children in the car, and drive gently.

A great big thank you to my bank branch at the Alexandria Road Kroger, which stays open on weekdays later than the others, so I was able to put $1.50 into my account rather than $2.00 to cover a bill I will be paying tomorrow, and as a result I had a whole $4 for gas. :)

It was nice getting free stuff via the Apple settlement from Amazon today--I got a blue cloth elephant-print purse, a phone case (what can I say, I like them, even though no one understands my need to match them to my outfits), and the second series of 'Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries'. One more DVD to get at some point, and then I'll have them all, yay!

I was so happy to see a co-worker who had been hurt return to work today. She started at the hospital the week I was born, and so next year, she will celebrate her 50th anniversary with the company before the hospital closes and becomes an ambulatory care centre instead, moving over by the University of Kentucky hospital.

I moved an appointment I had for tomorrow to Tuesday so I could have more time to get ready, and be on time, for a meeting of the library committee tomorrow. I already had a noon appointment Tuesday, so now I have one (same general area) at 2:30 as well, so I took the day off. That means I have a four-day weekend, although one will mostly be spent at appointments. :( I don't think I'll go to the downtown festival for the Fourth this year, as I haven't really had as much fun in recent years. However, I still plan on going to the Idle Hour fireworks as per usual (employees can park at the hospital using our badges to get in, and we're right across the street from the fireworks display). People normally park along the road and spread blankets or take chairs and sit on our front lawn. It'll be the last year the hospital will be open for it, and who knows whether the new owners will allow that sort of thing. We also allow sledding in the winter, and again, I think things may change. The neighbourhood tends to treat our grounds (there are slightly over 29 acres, mostly rolling grass and trees) as a local park, walking, biking, taking the dogs out to play, etc. There's even a bunch of little kids (very little) who practice soccer out in the back forty some afternoons. If the property is developed, or if the new owners don't want that kind of thing, the neighbours will be very disappointed, I think.

Okay, I'm going to make boiled eggs and the eggplant pasta later, but the bread machine is going right now. I think I'm going to lie down for just a bit, as I have a headache. I should write later.

While I am somewhat mechanically inclined

it is sometimes a bother that I'm single and live alone. At first I thought my mattress was sunken on one side because, well, I haven't turned it in a long time, mainly because it's a pillow top so you don't flip it. On closer inspection, the middle strut that goes across the bed as a support has come off on one side (at least), and the bed rails are carrying the weight of box springs and mattress, which they're not really designed to do. This has happened before. The bolt and slide sometimes come off. My bed is almost thirty years old, after all, and in the past I've put things underneath it to help keep it stable. I can fix the problem, I know how, but lifting up the mattress and box springs on my own is not as easy as it once was. I should grab a friend and make him help, in return for all the rides I give him. Maybe I can do that this weekend.

For a moment today I thought it was Wednesday, which would have been great, as I get paid very late Wednesday night (officially Thursday), but, alas, it is merely Tuesday. My gas light keeps going on and off, depending on how it affects the sensor. I'm eating crackers, and I did find a pouch of tuna, too. One more day. One day more, as the song goes. Let's hope I can get to work tomorrow and back. Our cafeteria has been letting me get things because they know I'll keep track of everything on my phone and pay on Thursday. So I'm not in terribly bad shape. But aside from the crackers, a little oatmeal, the tuna, and some pasta and sauce, things are pretty bare, so it's a good thing I get paid soon, even though most of it will go towards bills.

I did get a nice surprise today in that the Apple e-book settlement has finally been approved, and that works for other vendors as well, so in addition to the $15 I've had added to my account in the past, I just got a $60 and some change credit at Amazon to buy Kindle books with. That's quite a bit in Kindle books. I think it automatically deducts from that balance before taking anything out of my normal 1-Click form of payment, but I'm not sure, so I'll wait until I get paid and there's money in the account before I buy anything. As far as I know, I can just buy e-books with it. It's set up as a gift card balance. Thank you,  Amazon,  and I guess thank you to Apple,  too,  or more appropriately,  the people who sued over e-book pricing.

We had a brief storm today that knocked the power out briefly at work, shut down the computers, which rebooted, took out the phones for a couple of minutes, and took down our time clocks. Fortunately by the time I had to go to that appointment, the rain and lightning had stopped and the sun was back out. I just couldn't clock out, so they'll have to put it in tomorrow for me. I took YKWIA to his appointment and then to the store to get a few things, and because, I suspect, I took my umbrella, it didn't storm any more. Yay! But it was nice to get a little rain, and the wind didn't take out my geraniums or anything.

Okay, I think I'm going to do a little web surfing and see what's going on in the world. I may write later, I don't know. What I should do is go for a walk, as it's nice outside, but I'm already in my sleepshirt and fairly comfortable, sitting in front of the fan, so I'm thinking, no.

UPDATE:
I read an article that said that the Amazon credit could be used for most things (not gift cards or subscriptions,  but Kindle books,  music,  and physical items are fine.). So I used most of it on a DVD of the Miss Fisher Mysteries,  series 2, a bag,  and a phone case,  all from my wish list.  It was enough that there was no cost for shipping.  I still have $1.92 left,  and when I get paid I have a couple of Kindle books that are $2 each that I want to get,  and that will go towards that.  And it does come off your balance first unless you choose another method.  Yay!

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.

Reading:

PS This is the first time I've embedded an Amazon preview link. Please note, I do not have an Amazon Associates account, nor do I earn fees from doing this. I simply like Amazon and Kindle, and that's what I'm reading through. I'm not advertising per se. This site does not advertise on purpose. Okay, end disclaimer. :)

Listening to:

Bastille, Bad Blood

Well, it's been a fairly pleasant and productive day, I'd say. This morning it was nice weather, not too hot, and although I can't say for sure this afternoon, as I was inside, at least it was sunny, after so much rain of late.

I'd thought about watching something on Netflix now that I've finished my other activities, but I decided instead to listen to some music, my Bastille CD. I have 1,628 songs on my phone, either ripped from CDs I own, bought as .mp3s, gotten from the Lexington Public Library through the Freegal Music service (which allows you to download three songs a week to keep from their collection), or gotten as .mp3s in addition to CDs via AutoRip through Amazon. The nice thing about getting music through Amazon is that although you can play them through the Amazon music application, or store them on their cloud service, you can also just move them to a music folder, and play however you like. I'm not sure you can do that with iTunes music. I always gathered you had to do everything through iTunes. But I might be wrong; I don't know much about Apple, to be honest. People constantly bring me iPhones to figure out, and usually I can figure out the problem (usually with their settings), but I'm much better with Amazon. One thing I learned early about the Freegal Music, though, is to move it to my SD card shortly after downloading it, because if there's a factory reset or something (I had to do that at some point due to a problem with getting into my phone when I was using the fingerprint scanner), you lose everything on your phone. I keep all my music and photos on the SD card for this reason. Which reminds me...

Dear Samsung,

I read with interest the other day that your sales of the Galaxy S6 were disappointing. Perhaps it is because you have misunderstood those who buy your phones. You sacrificed usability majorly for form, trying to make things more like an iPhone. I bought your phones because, among other things, they had removable batteries, expandable memory, etc. As much as I complained about the little flap door on my charging port on the S5, I appreciated that I could drop it in snow or even water and it would live. But you took all that away to make your new phones 'prettier'. I like the form of the S6 Edge but will not buy one, even though my plan allows me to upgrade, because 1) You took aways some of the most useful things about the phone, and 2) I would have to buy a more expensive, larger storage model to duplicate my otherwise cheap SD card, which I think cost me less than $20 and gives me 32GB of space, of which I've filled about 11GB already, in addition to about three quarters of the phone storage in applications and such. And if I did have to factory reset, I'd lose everything and have to back it up on the computer or such instead, and reload everything, which is a pain. I don't care if my phone is made out of gorilla glass or plastic. If I wanted something more like the iPhone, I'd get one. I don't like iPhones; I prefer the customisablity of Android and all the different things I can do with an Android phone that iPhone users are just now getting with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. And what I care about is that it is durable, usable, and does what I need it to do. So I'll pass on the S6, or even the S6 Edge, and hopefully by the S7 you'll see the error of your ways, or I may just keep my S5 for awhile and shop around for a new phone manufacturer. So there you go, in case you haven't figured it out yet. And I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way, hence the lagging sales. Consider your next design carefully (but keeping the curved edges may be a plus. :) )

What can I say, I am a Windows, Android, Google, and Amazon kind of girl. :) I like to tinker with things, not have them delivered to me in a a nice little package I can't do anything with except consume through some sort of monolithic operation. Just saying....

Okay, I've gathered up my laundry for tomorrow, gotten into comfy clothes, wrapped up the bread, and I'm ready to turn in. Good night; I hope your weekend is going well. Good night.

One last thing

This made me giggle uncontrollably yesterday when I saw it on Facebook:

Amazon Support Shows Us How It Should Be Done. This Is Priceless.

Hope you enjoy. Good night, for real. :)

I've been mostly relaxing

this evening, when I should have been working on the house. I didn't exactly crash, but I did take a nap, using a new application that was free through Amazon today that uses your phone as a measure of how well you're sleeping. It was interesting. I don't think I'd use it every night, but it does give some insight into how much you toss and turn, etc. It's called Sleep, and the unlock key for the paid version is available for free, along with a bundle of various applications worth $140. Just follow the link from the Amazon App Store. I got a few of them. Some had been the free application of the day in the past, so I already had them.

There seems to be a small war going on in my apartment building, one which I plan to stay well clear of. There was a collection of different-coloured sticky notes taped together haphazardly on the front door this morning with all sorts of masking tape, with some sort of missive (I didn't read it, as I was heading to work and was in a hurry) of how dogs bark and it was addressed to whomever complained to the leasing office. There is an apartment with two small dogs who go off at the least bit of noise, something new for our apartment building, as it's always been rather quiet. Now I am a dog person, but I admit, it annoys me. There are other dogs in the building, but you would never know it. But these guys go off the moment someone enters the building. So while I didn't complain, I can understand why someone might have. And we've recently had one of those general 'clean up after your dog' reminders sent out from the leasing office, to be ignored if you don't have pets or clean up after them. So I do wonder if there is anything else going on. Anyway, the sticky notes were gone when I got home today, and I got the impression that they were perhaps taken down by the office, so the person who put it up isn't getting any points as a good tenant, and while I can't be certain it was that apartment, surely the leasing office knew who the complaint was against. When I had a dog, she did not bark. Period. I was very lucky in that regard. And when my friends seriously considering finding another home for one of their dogs, who would probably love to be an only dog, I did not take her because she has a high, shrill bark and goes off easily. I don't mind people having pets at all, but I don't think it's right to assume the rest of the world is wrong because they don't like your pet's barking. The sticky note collection spoke volumes about the pet owner, and it seemed very immature. We're an apartment complex of mostly working people. There aren't a lot of students or the like. Noise isn't generally tolerated. Loud parties do not happen; our courtesy officers are also police officers and will give citations. But more to the point, people are mostly considerate. I turn down my music, for example, if my windows are down, the moment I turn into our parking lot with the car. I don't play the TV or music loud. I think it's reasonable to expect some quiet, especially at night. Now I will say the dogs don't bark constantly--only when someone is going in and out of the building, and that's good, at least. But we'll see if this escalates. My impression though is that the pet owner will probably not be here that long with that attitude.

Reading

By the way,  if you have an Android phone or tablet or a Kindle Fire,  go to the Amazon store and pick up today's free application,  a narrated,  animated version of the story (in English)  that is normally $4.99. It'll probably be free till about 3 am EST,  or Midnight Pacific time.

Listening thanks to Amazon's new Prime Music

Learn More About Prime Music

Amazon launches Prime Music, an ad-free music streaming service

I'm looking at the forecast for tomorrow

and it looks like the weather will be warmer both during the day and night, with no chance of rain, so I think I will put off the laundry until then. I have something I can wear for tomorrow. So far the only other thing planned is I may go get a friend after work from the doctor's office so he can get to a meeting on time. So tomorrow night should be good for laundry.

Once the dishwasher is finished, I'm going to work on the plastic containers and other handwashables. Then there's the stuff from the car to put in a container (in the case of the air mattress) and some other things to go into the walk-in closet. I'll go ahead and get the laundry ready for tomorrow, too. I'll scrub the shower once I get back into shorts, as I don't want cleaner on my new jeans. That leaves the fish tanks. I can definitely work on vacuuming the large one, but my vacuum is too big for the small one. I need to get a tiny one for its gravel. But I can at least do a water change.

While I'm waiting for the dishwasher, I think I'll do some reading. Amazon has a special today only on several Kindle books that were less than $2.99 that are usually quite a few more, and so I downloaded a few. I got Neil Gaiman's American Gods, a collection of all of Agatha Christie's short stories, a collection of Ray Bradbury's short stories, and the digital version of a book I already own, Sophie's World a novelised history of philosophy that YKIWA introduced me to years ago but I didn't read completely and should. They also had The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, quite a few others. One I refuse to read, as I also refuse to watch the movie--Old Yeller. Anyway, if you have a Kindle, you might want to check them out, but they're only that price for a few more hours. Also, I found a Lucy Maud Montgomery collection that has all but two of the Avonlea books plus other writings of Montgomery's. (The two aren't licensed for electronic distribution yet). I figure I can pick them up later, when they are, and for 99 cents the rest of the collection was a good bargain.

A long but rather pleasant day

Listening to: 'Fire on the Mountain' by Rob Thomas (from Cradlesong)

Things were somewhat slow at work today, so it was a catch-up day for a few things. I texted with a friend later in the day for awhile, and then went to another friend's house and watched a couple of episodes of 'Castle' with him (including a really good Halloween one). Then we ate some food from Subway (this time I actually got a 6 inch, rather than a footlong, and felt much better). We watched a couple of episodes of 'Waiting for God' while we ate, then we did some projects around the house. I got home about 11 pm. Tomorrow I have to stop by my doctor's office for a blood draw, rather than a full appointment, so I shouldn't be too late for work. I have some things coming tomorrow from Amazon that I'm excited about. I'm going to go over to a friend's house for a little bit. I still haven't decided whether to ask off for Friday. I'll see how I feel about it tomorrow. It would be nice to have a day to catch up on things at home.

I'm afraid I'm fading, so I'll sign off of here and say good night. Oh, and happy spring/vernal equinox/Ostara. (Or autumnal equinox if you're in the southern hemisphere). :)