Hmmm....

After years of keeping my rent from going up much, mainly by choosing longer and longer leasing periods, it is going up $30 a month in January. I got the notice today. It's only gone up $5 or $10 at a time for a good long while--I think when I first came here in 2004 it was $485 plus electric; now it's going to be $580 plus electric. Don't get me wrong, that's still a good price. I just wasn't expecting it to go up quite that much in one fell swoop.

I had PT again tonight. I've felt much better the last couple of days, just a little sore and numb. That's a vast improvement over last week. I stopped by the library on the way home to get a couple of books for YKWIA to read that I'd put on hold.

Now I'm home, I'm listening to the Bastille station on Pandora, I'm ravenous, and I've had some homemade bread and some honey. I think I'll see if I have any lentil soup and have a small apple. That'll make a good dinner, I think. Okay, I'm off to find food.

Drat...no lentil soup. I'll have tuna instead, I guess. :(

Despite having a very stressful and busy day yesterday, last night was rather pleasant, as was today

I talked to YKWIA on the phone for awhile, blogged for some time, listened to some music, organised my Kindle books (the newer ones, that is, as the older ones are already in categories) into the appropriate collections, updated my tablet's and phone's applications, and pulled out my old Nintendo gaming system and played Gauntlet and Tetris (the latter of which has the correct music, rather than the game on my phone). So my old TV in the bedroom (the one my grandmother gave me, and she died in 1993) now has a Roku box (which allows me to stream Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon Prime on it), an Atari 600 XL, and and Nintendo, all of which can be plugged in depending on what I need at the time. I would have the little DVD player back here, too (there's no cable connexion to the bedroom), but my DVD/VHS combo is having trouble with the door and I have the backup DVD out in the living room, the one I won at a function at work that's a little bit bigger than an actual disc. I need to send the DVD/VHS to be repaired, as it is under warranty. Must add that to my to do list.

Today at work was all about playing catch-up in the library with both the duties there and the data entry/revenue cycle duties. I had about fourteen things on my list to do, but got all but about five accomplished, and those were lower priority and can be tackled tomorrow. After work was also very busy. I:

1. Left work early (I was ahead on my time) and went to the bank for a cashier's cheque for my rent (and got there with ten minutes to spare!)
2. Went to the leasing office and paid my rent
3. Went by the library and got a book that was on hold for YKWIA to read
4. Grabbed some Taco Bell
5. Nearly ran over a bike rider who, in my defence, was
   • On the wrong side of the road
   • Was running against the light
   • Turning left as I turned right
   • Had no lights when it was quite dusk, nearly dark
   • Was dressed in dark clothing
   • And was only seen because of the motion and the reflectors, so thank goodness I didn't make a really sharp turn. I am all for sharing the road, but I expect them to follow standard rules, laws, and use some common sense, you know?
6. Came home and charged my phone while waiting for a call from A
7. Went and picked A up at work, as it was 27 degrees, and it would have taken him two hours to get home by bus, and he was already very late
8. Dropped off the book and watched a video with YKWIA
9. Went to Kroger and got a few groceries
10. Marvelled at both the snowflakes drifting down and also the fact that the Salvation Army bell-ringers are already out (I mean yes, it is two weeks till Thanksgiving, but still....)
11. Watched someone back hard into a truck in the parking lot and then leave quickly; at least the truck didn't appear damaged (I hope the little car was, as she didn't even bother to stop or look)
12. Came home and put away the groceries

So now I'm listening to Bastille and contemplating tomorrow. I have to finish my list at work, take a friend to an appointment, work on the game notes while I'm there (remember to take the laptop with me in the morning, note to self), and call my mom and make arrangements to visit around Thanksgiving (I'm doing Thanksgiving again this year with my friends here, but I thought I'd go visit her on that Friday and maybe stay overnight. Bless her, this will be her first Thanksgiving without her mother, who died this summer.)

I think I may read for awhile and then go on to bed. I'm thinking of starting a new feature here on this blog, reviewing books I own that I think are really neat and worthy of reading, whether they be children's picture books, juvenile/young adult books, adult fiction, or non-fiction. I've already picked out a few, one of each type that would be fun to do. Maybe I'll call it Rabid Reviews. Okay, that's silly. But I thought I should add some library to this librarian's blog. What do you think? I think I'll start tomorrow, and do it on Fridays, which will go well with the Unshelved comic's 'book talk' comics on Fridays as well.

That was close

I was helping YKWIA with a few things before I came home and forgot to help him set his DVR for 'American Horror Story' tonight. So of course I remember this after I'm already in the car, with about 9 minutes on the clock to get home in the hopes of setting my own DVR for it. I got in, parked the car at the first available spot, left everything in there, ran into the house (well, as much as I actually 'run'), turned on the TV and cable box, found the channel, and set the DVR, just as it was going into 'viewer discretion advised'. Now it's recording. None of us were up to staying up extra late tonight for it. I called an left a message that I was recording it. They'll have to come over to my house to watch, but oh, well. Of course, maybe he went ahead and set it, I don't know. Of course, I don't know exactly how I feel about this iteration of the popular show. For one, clowns really creep me out. Ordinary clowns. (Which is bad when you work in a children's hospital). I expect 'American Horror Story' clowns will be even more sinister.

Today I took a friend to a doctor's appointment and worked on the notes while he was in there. I'm almost finished with the game notes; I've got about 45 minutes of game play to transcribe, and it's not like I do it 'blow for blow' or anything. So it shouldn't take too long. I would work on it now, but I'm tired (I have been all day, it's like I never slept last night), but I'm relaxing to some of Bastille's music.

So we got back to his house and watched an episode each of 'Fringe' and 'Haven'. Now I'm home and seriously thinking of going to bed. One reason I'm sleepy is that I got up early to watch the eclipse. I even got a not-so-great picture (I've never had a camera that could do justice to the moon), showing the red shadow of the lunar eclipse. I was one of the lucky ones who were in the area experiencing a selenelion. The arrangement and trees were such that I couldn't see the moon and sun at exactly the same moment and position; but if I moved a pace back and forth, I could see each within a few seconds of one another. It was fun.

Okay, time to relax. Good night.

A busy, satisfying long weekend

Friday:
1. Was let out of work early and spent some time with a friend on his birthday
2. Watched a couple of episodes of 'Haven' with YKWIA

Saturday:
1. Food at Masala at Beaumont's lunch buffet; lovely Indian food
2. Dessert at Baskin Robbins'
3. A trip to Barnes & Noble; I got a book with a pull-out chart on the key events in various world religions and a book for Brenda's birthday (which isn't till October, but it's nice to have things together early)
4. Grocery run
5. More episodes of 'Haven' with YKWIA

Sunday:
1. Game preparation
2. Game notes
3. An episode of 'Haven' with YKWIA
4. The Call of Cthulhu game with Brenda and YKWIA

Today (Monday)
1. Lots of sleep, finally getting going about 1 pm
2. Found what I was looking for last week, yay!
3. Watched two episodes of 'Witches of East End' with friends
4. Watched an episode and a bit of 'Rizzoli & Isles' with them
5. Watched the new episode of 'The Awesomes' with YKWIA
6. Visited and looked things up on the Internet together

Now I'm home and it looks like it's going to storm for the second time today. I am listening to Bastille's album Bad Blood and thinking about reading some on my Kindle before heading to bed. So it was a lot of rest, good time spent with friends, and catching up on TV shows. We didn't watch 'Doctor Who' on Saturday because we barely got back from the store and YKWIA and I were just plain pooped from a busy day, but both of us recorded it, anyway, so there's that to watch, too. The coming week I have four appointments after work, one for each weekday, one of my own and three of a friend's where I'm giving him a ride. Anyway, it was fun and restful this weekend, and I feel better prepared for what will no doubt be a very busy 'short' week. I hope you had a restful time as well.

Two Bastille songs I like

Okay, time to go to bed (and maybe listen to a little Bastille before I fall asleep, as the CD is in my player next to my bed).

I heard this on the radio this morning and really liked it

'Pompeii' by Bastille

Eh-eh-o eh-o [six times]

I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settled around us

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Eh-eh-o eh-o [four times]

Oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh oh where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?

And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Great clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above

But if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes,
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?

Eh-eh-o eh-o [eight times]

2,035 years and the destruction of Pompeii still lends imagery in our popular culture. That's pretty cool. And it reminds me of some of the things I heard in the 1980s, some of the alternative music I liked.