This appeals to the geek in me

I got my first Atari computer in 1984 and learned to program it. I had a tape drive, a single-density floppy drive [later got a third-party double-density drive], a dot-matrix printer, and joysticks. It got me through the end of high school, all of my undergraduate years, and into my graduate studies, as well as my marriage and divorce before it finally died. I still have the original word processor, BASIC, and games on ROM cartridges, and I went on eBay a few years ago and got another computer so I could relive the thrill that it gave me. I also have a Nintendo that isn't one of the first that came out, but it is the original system, just a slightly smaller version. I thought I was doing well. But nothing like this Gen X compatriot. Were you a Commodore person, or Atari? Do any of you have any older models, either leftover from your life in the early days or found again?

Apple, Atari, and Commodore, oh my! Explore a deluxe home vintage computer den: Brian Green re-lives the 1980s with dozens of fully operational vintage PCs at home.

One reason

That I had trouble last year writing is that my roommate's desktop died and so I've been letting him borrow my laptop. Right now we've got it plugged up to a monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc., so it's for all intents and purposes acting like a desktop, and I just change the configuration if he has a Zoom meeting or something that needs the camera. 

That leaves me operating with just my phone.  I do have a Bluetooth keyboard (it's rather small, but it works). So I'm using it as a mini-computer.  For awhile the Blogger app wasn't working so well, so it was really frustrating to try. 

Anyway, it's doing better now. Forgive any typos along the way, but my plan is to write more.  I didn't manage to do Monday or Tuesday this week, but I still have two more days I can write and meet my goal of three a week. I don't think that's unreasonable. And there's at least two today. :) 

A little oddness

So my computer updated, and it FINALLY lets the lockscreen dismiss when I first start it up, something that the Creators Fall Update had broken.  It is doing something if I keep it going for a while, either closed or open, where it's acting like the touchscreen is being touched when, in fact, it is not.  Restarting solves it, but it's weird.  I've had to do it twice in the last 24 hours.

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!

We interrupt this silence

Let me just say that I haven't written today mainly because I'm miserable. I got my friend's crud, and after getting the package (just as I put my backpack on to leave to get my friend at 6:15 pm at the doctor's office, the guy showed up), I took my friend home, and I proceeded to set up a refurbished computer (that was the package) that was supposed to be a Windows 7 machine, but of course it updated immediately to Windows 10 (which my friend hates), thanks to Microsoft. :( He fell asleep. I was there till 11 pm and let myself out. I was feeling worse and worse. My chest was really tight when I went to bed. Today I woke up with full-fledged crud, took a friend to work, stopped by and got medicine that apparently you can only get into with scissors (it tells you on the directions to use them, even), and went to bed. Got up around 10:30, called my doctor's office, and they were booked till June but put me on a waiting list, and were able to see me at 2:45 after all. I was there till almost 5 getting two shots (an antibiotic and a steroid), prescriptions for oral ones, and having some blood drawn. Then I picked A up form work, we went by the credit union, the pharmacy, and Kroger's, I took him home, got home myself, started the Windows Creator Update on my machine (it took THREE HOURS on my laptop), and went back to sleep till 9 pm. I've been messing with Facebook a lot today, mainly complaining about small First World problems because I don't feel well. So now, the computer is finally working, I thought I'd write a short note, and then head back to bed. I just took the aforementioned medicine (Mucinex) about an hour ago, but the acetaminophen isn't touching my headache. My eyes are all runny, as is my nose, although it's better than it was without the meds. I'm coughing, sneezing, and just in general hurt and feel tired. I have two fans on me because I'm running a low-grade fever. The worst thing about today, though, is I'd really been looking forward to going to the Bluegrass Orchid Society's meeting, and I just couldn't do it, one, because I didn't want to spread germs and two, because I'm just that tired. Next month is their picnic--I'll check and see if it's open to guests. Oh, well. There will be other meetings.

Okay, I'm going to go on to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I'd like to get some things done. Good night.

I applied

for the first of four jobs that are open right now in the area that are library-related. It is a full-time children's library at the Lexington Public Library, Central Library. Wish me luck. I have taken classes in children's literature and children's programming in libraries, initiated a local site for the Reach Out and Read early literacy program. I've done some children's programming, and I started a family resource center focused on parenting and health topics using grant monies. So, while I've been a hospital librarian for all these years, I've done this, too, and I made sure I put them in the application. Also, I've supervised high school volunteers who were from a special education program. I've been a solo librarian all this time, but I did do that, including having a young lady who was interested in computers help me with the cataloguing. It was a great experience.

Wish me luck!

The other three are all academic positions: a library manager position, a faculty digital humanities librarian (both at Young Library), and a health sciences librarian in instructional design/nursing liaison, also a faculty position, and that one's at the Chandler Medical Library, where I know several staff (and one of my references is there, and three of my references are nurses). I hope one of these four pans out. :)

I dropped off the family resource books from the hospital as a donation to the Lexington Public Library today. There were three big boxes (I didn't pack them, so they were kind of heavy; I think my hand truck, which is rated at 300 lbs, might have been tested). I'd say there were about 200 books. I think they'd be excellent for their collection, or there is a Friends of the Library sale in April.

That leaves about a third of the library books (most went to the new facility in various offices) to box up and give to charity. There are some things upstairs, as well. I have to make a guide to using the UK Med library (there is no affiliation agreement on library services, but any resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky can use the library and get a library card, and they are across the street on the other side of the hospital from the new facility). I need to finish changing our DOCLINE holdings to the electronic journals they will still have. All my stuff is basically home already--the plants, the various stuff from the desk, a few professional books, etc. I still need to bring the MLA News and the Journal of the Medical Library Association issues in, as well as a vase, and a I found that needs to go to the new head of the membership committee of the Hospital Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association (they're buttons with the logo, which I had when I was chair), but everything else is in the house. Now I just have to figure where to put things. :) The plants, at least, are in the window. I was afraid they weren't getting much light, but I was home during the afternoon sunlight, and I think they'll be okay. But it's afternoon sun, not the overhead and north-eastern exposure they're used to. So we'll see.

YKWIA wanted to be alone with his thoughts today, and I guess I wouldn't be great company, either, since I'm a little sad about the whole library closing thing and afraid about being unemployed, so I need to work on the game notes and work on the apartment some.

I did speak to the librarian at St. Joseph Hospital here in Lexington. She's hosting a Kentucky Medical Library Association meeting April 4th, and I don't have anything else planned, so I can go. She wanted to make sure I knew, especially as I'm still an individual member of the association. I had sent out a goodbye message to the electronic list the other day. She and another librarian were interested in the group that took our journals, so I gave her some contact information and will get back with the other librarian this week.

I'm kind of mellow, as I've been listening to Pandora, the Ed Sheeran station, although Coldplay's 'Yellow' is playing right now. I think I'm going to go listen to an audiobook (The Arm and the Stone, by Victoria Strauss, and scrounge up dinner, and then really work on the house. Among other things, the fish are getting low on their water in the tank. I am a bad fish mom. I've had several for years, feeder goldfish that are fairly pretty, and there are two left, in a 29-gallon tank. I'm thinking of cleaning everything out and starting over, with the fish in a small tank till the big one gets well-established. It's always had trouble with nitrates (which aren't as dangerous as other things, but most fish don't do well, and there are algae blooms), from the get go, the first time I ever had trouble with them. It doesn't matter how much I clean it, the nitrates stay up, even with an established aquarium. So we'll see. I'm not sure I can get away with a three-gallon tank temporarily housing two fish, as goldfish actually need some space, but I'll try to do something. But right now I have to do something, as they're not happy.

Okay, I'm going to sign off for now. At least I got that application in (Monday at 9 am is the deadline). My computer was giving me fits and I had to restart it. Hopefully it'll keep going--I certainly can't pay for a new one right now, and unlike a desktop, I can't really fix laptops. I guess the principles are the same, but everything's so smaller, and there's a battery. I'd rather replace something in a desktop (I can do modems, drives, memory cards, etc., and I think I could do a power supply but haven't). But laptops are a different story. But I think mine has to do with the fact that it's a Windows 8 machine running Windows 10 and it's four years old, which is kind of old for a computer. My desktop (which YKWIA has borrowed) was originally a Windows 7 machine, and it sometimes has issues, and seems to not like him in general, though it works for me (I used to have the same trouble with his Windows 7 machine). I know machines do not 'like' certain operators over others, but it seems electronics can be temperamental. I know I've had people who used our copier who jammed it every time, to the point where I would meet them at the door and ask to make the copies myself. I've come over to the copier and just touched it, and it's been fine. Just saying. Anyway, I may write later. I'm hungry (I had cheese and bread for breakfast, along with lima beans, and I had a can of peas for lunch, so I haven't had much today). Next week is right before payday AND the dietary department will no longer be serving hot food (they aren't going to the new facility, either). So I'll have to figure out what I can take. I've got a couple of cans of vegetarian chili and some vegetarian burgers. That may be what I eat. In case I don't get back here to write tonight, good night.

I'm trying

to make things more ergonomic at home as well as work, to be better for my neck. To that end, I've hooked up an external keyboard to my laptop, and I went by YKWIA's and got one of my monitors (I have two, one with the desktop he has borrowed, and one that he had borrowed before his desktop tanked). I found a nice, sturdy box to elevate the monitor, which doesn't adjust normally, that my Bulova clock came in when I reached my ten-year anniversary at the hospital. (Yes, I have kept this box for nearly 10 years, without using it for anything. Have I mentioned I'm a hoarder?) Unfortunately, I forgot to get the power cord to the monitor, so I can't hook it up just yet, and I apparently didn't hoard an extra monitor power cord, and so I have the entire laptop up on the box, which does better for looking at the laptop screen. Just having my normal ergonomic keyboard on its tray should help.

Today my neck, shoulders, and arm have been pretty painful. I have taken ibuprofen, arthritis Tylenol (not at the same time), used the muscle rub--nothing has come close to taking it away. The muscle rub actually does best, because I think it actually gets to the nerves, as opposed to the oral medicine. I will have to go back and look at last night's post that I did while under the influence of the muscle relaxers. I remember it being damn difficult to type. I was also waiting for my bread to bake, and it had something like 12 minutes still on it, and I was trying to patiently wait while practically falling over. So the relaxers do make me loopy after all. I definitely cannot take them till bedtime tonight--I'm getting A, who is doing a special shift at work, at midnight, and I certainly can't drive if I take them.

Today was good. I was as productive at work as one in severe pain could be, and I got all sorts of things done. I found out that they can participate in DOCLINE (the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's interlibrary loan system) even after I'm gone and there is no longer a library, because they will have access to enough electronic journals that if they're willing to lend, they can borrow as well. That gives research and other clinical staff access to the information they need.

I also paid some bills, went to my allergist, got my shots, went to the grocery store, and took a care package over to YKWIA (and picked up the monitor, sans cord). I now have a Halloween costume to wear to work Monday. I'm going to wear my Miskatonic University School of Library Science t-shirt, with a headband I got at Kroger with light-up tentacles. Yes. A graduate student who has read too much, most likely. I have a box that looks like a large book, and I'm thinking of putting something on it (that's removable) that says Necronomicon. There's only one person at work that I know who has read HP Lovecraft, so most people really won't get it, but they'll like the headband, anyway. :) That's the second Cthulhoid costume I've worn to the hospital, the first being Great Cthulhu himself.

Alright, I've hooked up the keyboard, I've eaten. Now I am going to put away the rest of the groceries, queue up some music through the Bluetooth headphones, and start folding clothes, after rubbing some more of that stuff on my neck and shoulders. It really is the best option. I should have gotten some more while at Kroger's. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day.

Well

Between a friend's appointments,  we stopped by Goodwill and they unloaded the entire back seat,  which was full,  as I'd added things since I took the picture.  I feel pretty good about getting it all out of the house,  along with a bag of recyclables and two of trash.  It'll be nice to go home tonight and find the dishes done,  the fish happy,  etc.  I still have to work on getting the clothes folded or hung up.  If I can do that,  then I can (temporarily)  move to the other closet and deal with the cables and small electronics in there.  My therapist didn't want me hurting myself by tackling the books,  just yet,  which YKWIA had predicted.  The main thing is to progress some each time.  I'm seeing the therapist every two weeks.  That gives me time to work on things,  since as a hoarder I tend to procrastinate that.

I also need to work on a cover letter and apply for a job that closes Friday.  Our plans for tonight have changed,  so I may do that.  I also want to retrieve one of my monitors from YKWIA,  plug that and my keyboard into the laptop,  and set it so I can run it closed.  I think that will be ergonomically better for me at home.  At work things are set up much better. At home I hunch over the laptop even though it is on the computer desk.  That's not good at all.

Okay,  I think I'll close for now.  His appointment will go for awhile longer,  but I think I'll close my eyes and just relax for a bit.

Just got home

I worked a little over a half-day today and then took a friend to an appointment in the afternoon, which took awhile. After we got out of that, we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine and then by that time it was dinner time and so we stopped by Gumbo Ya Ya and got some food and took it to his house and ate. Then I did a little work on the computer (it's really lagging for him) and came on home. I've taken the brace off because you shouldn't wear it all the time, but I'm trying not to move my wrist that much. I'm listening to Of Monsters and Men and as soon as I get off of here, I think I'll do some reading on intuitive eating, which satisfies my tasks for today of reading and nutrition. :) I am oddly very tired; I'd gone into work early, so I was up earlier than normal, although I did get 8 hours of sleep, but still. I should work on the game notes tonight, especially as tomorrow is 'Grimm' night, and I may later, but I'm tempted to lie down for just a bit. Of course, that does usually turn into a sleep rather than a nap for me. Still, it may be worth the risk.

So very tired

This was my day:

7:45 am to 8:45 am--Gather laundry,  eat breakfast,  get ready,  load up car with laundry,  cups,  computer,  and backpack,  drive to convenience store for soda,  drive to friends' house.

8:45 am to 10:20 am--Open two computer cases and transfer a SATA hard drive from one,  where it was primary,  to another,  to save the data from it.

10:20 am to 1:00--Do laundry.  Clean their house,  including the things A usually does that involve bending,  like the cat boxes.

1:30 pm to 8:00 pm--Visit with Brenda and play the game.

8:00 pm to 9:15 pm--Backup computer on external hard drive and prepare for grocery.

9:15 pm to 10:30 pm--Drive to and from the grocery store,  shopping for my friends alone,  since A is feeling under the weather.

10:30 pm to 11:30 pm--Bring in and put away groceries,  bring in and pill dogs,  and make a sandwich and tea for YKWIA.

11:30 am to 11:40 pm--Drive home.

11:40 pm to 12:15 am--Eat and look at Habitica.com and Facebook on phone. Generally plotz.

12:15 am to now--Get ready for bed.

NOW:  Good night; I'm pooped.

Today I:

1. Worked in scheduling, the library, and the revenue cycle aspects of my job.
2. Picked up a friend from an appointment after work.
3. Took another friend to an appointment.
4. Read three chapters of Hollow City while waiting at the appointment.
5. Got some gas.
6. Took my friend home.
7. Checked out Facebook and blogged.
8. Turned out all the lights except for the hallway and fish tanks, lit two lavender candles and some incense, and enjoyed the resulting scents and relaxing waterfall of the large tank.
9. Tried to get the wind-up clock that my dad brought from Japan on the way back from Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War to stay going. I can't quite seem to get it level, even when using a level, and it will run for about 10 minutes and then stop. Yet again, this has happened, although I thought I'd actually gotten it for a few minutes.
10. Updated some things on the computer.
11. Set my Dropbox settings so it doesn't automatically connect. Often when I'm at my friends' house, I turn off the Wi-Fi because they don't have it there, and I don't want my battery on the laptop going down. But then Dropbox tries to connect when I turn the computer back on at home, and it takes what seems like forever (but seriously, at least a half an hour) to get the connexion menu to come up so I can even connect, and I think it's because Dropbox is stuck in a connexion loop, as the computer isn't connected, but it's trying to. When I changed the settings I suddenly had control over my computer again. It was a little sluggish, so something else is happening too. This doesn't happen on the desktop--Windows 10 actually sped it up, but it's connected at all times. The laptop is a different story entirely. I must figure out what settings or programs are interfering with things. I can right click to get the menu on the start button, but not left click it, for example, while it's bogged down doing something. And I checked, it wasn't automatically going into update mode or anything. Maybe it's the AVG anti-virus program, but it doesn't seem to be updating or scanning when this happens, although, of course, it's running in the background. Any ideas?
12. Was going to go ahead and work on the notes for awhile, but decided I've already spent too much time just fiddling with the computer, and my wrists are hurting already. I think I'll get the recording over to the laptop from the voice recorder, at least, but the rest of it will have to wait till Friday (as tomorrow I'm over at YKWIA's watching 'Heroes Reborn' with him, after a trip to the pharmacy for a medicine we couldn't get the other day because A was so busy he forgot to go to his appointment and get his prescription, which he got today instead. We just couldn't go to the pharmacy today because YKWIA had an appointment, and I couldn't do both and get it all accomplished by the time the pharmacy closed and still get him to his appointment. So, tomorrow it is.

I think I'm going to blow out the candles and head back to the bedroom, maybe listen to some music. I'm also going to run the dishwasher. I'd like to watch something on Netflix, but I don't think I'd make it a full hour if I tried, much less two. I'm going to try to go to work early tomorrow and make up a half-hour that I'm short on. Normally I'm in scheduling Monday through Wednesday, but our clinic numbers are high tomorrow so it's Tuesday through Thursday this week. I've spent all of today thinking it was Tuesday as a result. :)

I've been having some quiet time

checking the news, Facebook, and e-mail, as I didn't really do that over the weekend, which was spent with friends, as usual. L'Shanah Tovah to my readers who are Jewish. May this coming year bring blessings. I was a little late with the well wishes, but the holiday is still technically going on.

Today wasn't quite as hectic as I thought it might be, considering it was a Monday with many people coming in for clinic. There weren't a lot of reschedules or phone calls, so I could keep up while figuring out how to do things after not doing them for eight months. The very first reschedule I made an error, and I don't know who it was (it was a phone call, not a voicemail, so I didn't write anything down), but my boss thinks she can run a report that will catch the problem in time. Everything after that went pretty smoothly, though.

I'd gone in early to do some work in the library before going over to scheduling, worked there from 9 am to 12:15 pm, and then had lunch with the group of co-workers I usually eat with. Then I went back to my desk and furiously put in outpatient charges, trying to get caught up before leaving for an appointment at 2:30 pm. I got a lot accomplished, and I didn't have any surgery charge reconciliation to do and had worked on the referrals earlier, so I'm happy with what I accomplished, but there's still more to do. After work there was the appointment, and then I spent time with YKWIA and watched an episode of 'Danny Phantom' and one of 'Lost Girl' with him. Tomorrow is my normal early day, so the idea is to get all caught up if at all possible. Then I'm going after work to a stationary shop with a friend who wants to write thank you letters to some folks. (He's the traditional sort of person, no computers, no note cards, real letters).

I should work on the game notes tonight, and I did transfer the recording over to the computer, but I'm kind of liking the quiet. I'd brought the fan out to the dining room, after cleaning off the table and putting things away, and so the only sounds in the room are the fan and the gently falling of water in the aquarium. It's so peaceful. Originally when I sat down, I'd considered listening to some music. But this is more restful.

I think I need to get away from the computer for awhile, though. My hands and wrists are hurting. The bracing at night and during the workday is helping overall, though. But I think I will take some ibuprofen tonight before bed. Maybe if we can find the stationary fairly quickly, I can come home tomorrow and work on them then. Good night.

Just now lying down

I've been updating the computers and restoring Dropbox to the laptop (somehow one of the important files disappeared,  and it wouldn't open), plus doing some things around here.  I think I may start some bread in a little while.  I have gluten now,  so I am hoping to make a whole wheat loaf. But for now,  I'm stretching my back as much as I can.  :)

Today I:

1. Took a friend to the grocery.
2. Helped another with some issues he was having.
3. Took a nap.
4. Cleaned my desktop keyboard.
5. Did the game notes.
6. Copied music from my phone to the desktop.
7. Checked the music on the laptop to see if it was up to date.
8. Removed some duplicates.
9. Backed up the documents, music, pictures, and videos from the desktop to an external hard drive.
10. Made some macaroni and cheese.
11. Baked some oatmeal bread (yummy!)
12. Loaded the dishwasher and did a load.
13. Straightened up a bit here and there.

So far today I have

1. Woken up and showered/gotten ready.
2. Put that CD in the book drop (but wrapped in a bag to cushion it/keep it together).
3. Eaten breakfast (at McDonald's--I know, it's bad for you, but I didn't have much here, and their egg and cheese biscuits are yummy; plus I was parched).
4. Updated my laptop in preparation for the upgrade to Windows 10 (it took 17 updates--it's not connected all the time like the desktop is). But it's not running the compatibility report yet to say whether it will work.
5. Searched for an inexpensive solution to the Windows 10 incompatibility I'm having with the desktop (I think I solved it, but it took going to both Office Depot and Best Buy, the latter of which came through).
6. Mailed my mom's birthday card. I was able to buy a single stamp at The Mailroom, but my God they charge 59 cents, so it's a 10-cent markup per stamp. I hate to think how much the books cost.
7. Received replies from my aunts about some pictures I sent them that I scanned in. They were from 1981, when we were all much younger. They were happy to get them.
8. Switched tonight's lesson from the giant teaching notebook to the working notebook, and mapped out which parts I do and which parts my co-teacher does. I still have to read it thoroughly, but it's a start.

Next on the list is to work on the house, but I am going to take a short break first. I have about five or six hours before I need to go over and pick A up for class. Fortunately, he's off work today, too, so we won't have to work around his schedule.

I feel like I wasted most of my day off

I spent much of it in bed. When I wasn't in bed, I was blogging or on Facebook, or some other Internet site. I didn't take a shower, didn't take any of my medication, which is unlike me. I did finally take a nice, relaxing bath just now, and got into clean comfy clothes. I did finally hear back from my friend regarding our project; we're going to do it Wednesday between my appointments.

I would like to say that I didn't feel like getting involved in anything I might have to interrupt while I was waiting for that call, but that's not it. Part of it is the 'when I'm alone I sleep' thing. But mostly, I just didn't feel like doing much of anything today. I find it relaxing to play on social media and blog. All the while I beat myself up for not accomplishing anything, but I think my body just said, wait, it's your day off, get some rest.

I have tomorrow free from my normal responsibilities as well. I may go to the festival for a bit, time it around an hour before the parade, so that I'm not spending all day there. That leaves the morning for doing some of the things I felt I should have done today--cleaning house, going over my bills, doing game notes, enjoying watching something [I would like to watch Galaxy Quest, as it's fun, and it's streaming on Netflix]. Then, after the parade ends (around 4 pm), I can either come home and do some more stuff, maybe get in the pool if we're rain/thunderstorm free (it never worked out today with the weather the way it was). Then I'll head over to the fireworks that evening. I'll check up on my friends, at some point, and call my mom and see how she is doing. So it should be a pretty full day, unlike today. Maybe I just needed a day to do nothing. I didn't even putz, really, just slept, ate a little, and played on the computer. I don't relax as well as I used to. I used to read, or listen to music, or watch something. Somewhere along the way I got used to relaxing with other people involved, and lost the ability to keep myself occupied. So tomorrow I'm going to work on that.

It was so nice to be back and able to visit with friends

Today was National Best Friend Day, in case you missed the memo, so after work I took some soy burgers, whole wheat buns, egg mustard potato salad, and cookies over to my friends' house and we all had a nice dinner. YKWIA and I watched some videos (including the one below), and then a couple of paired episodes of 'House of Anubis'.



As great as this weekend was, I was happy to get back into my routine with work and then spend time with my friends, whom I had missed, I must admit. Still, it was nice to get away from the norm for a couple of days.

Totally off topic, I've reserved Windows 10 for both computers, as the little Windows logo appeared in my desktop tray, and it has you go ahead and sign up. It'll be released on July 29th.

As another non sequitur, I just had the best, sweetest California blackberries. They tasted as fresh as if I'd just gotten them from a field. Yay!

I do have to admit that I didn't really feel that tired from the weekend until today, when I've struggled to stay awake. Now I;m thinking of going on to bed to crash. After all, the fan is in the bedroom and I've become hot this evening, even with air conditioning and the fact that it's only 70 degrees in my apartment and middling humidity. I am going to have to call my landlady tomorrow, though, as my air conditioning, which is above a walk-in closet, in which I try not to keep anything easily damaged, is leaking slowly. So they'll probably have to take what's in there out (the Christmas tree in a big container, a bedside commode, a shower chair, and that sort of thing) out, and fix it. But that is for tomorrow. For now, I am going to turn the laptop off, turn out the aquaria lights, and set my alarms, after I do a quick check of the news. I had a clock application freeze this morning, causing me to think it was an hour earlier than it really was, but fortunately I discovered it with just enough time to get to work on time. So here's to that not happening again. Good night.

Oh, wow, they have this whole 80s-style websites thing pegged!

HERE’S WHAT GOOGLE, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, AND OTHER SITES WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE IN THE 1980S

Nostalgia is a basic human emotion. It’s an experience that’s practically universal, whether you’re a baby boomer, or you were conceived during Woodstock.

The YouTube channel SquirrelMonkeyCom takes a love for the 1980s to a whole new level, and re-imagines what many of today’s most popular Internet destinations would have looked like back then. If you grew up around then, you’ll definitely appreciate these hypothetical blasts to the past.

So, put down that iPad, take off your Bluetooth headset, and hit pause on Netflix. It’s time to travel back to when DOS (or Disk Operating System, for you kids out there) was the king of operating systems, and the closest thing to a tablet was this.

As an early Gen-Xer, my first computer was an Atari, the ones in high school were TRS-80s and early IBMs, or maybe an Apple II somewhere along there. I spent many a night using a 300 baud modem, all the way through part of grad school, actually, till I got my first real PC and had a higher baud dial-up through Earthlink. Then I graduated from library school and the Internet exploded, and I learned all I could about it and how to use it. Even in my early years at my job, we were still on dial-up, with the old Grateful Med CD-ROMs. Now, thankfully, we have PubMed and DOCLINE. Wow. Just wow. Kids have no idea these days. Thanks to George Takei for sharing this on his Facebook page.

I like to coordinate things

Especially purses and clothes,  but also desktops.  So both my laptop and my desktop at home,  as well as my desktop at work,  have the Milky Way theme for Windows,  and my phone has the Earth &  Moon Pro live wallpaper as well,  as seen on the screenshot here.  Funny,  I tried the 'I'm feeling lucky'  button on Google today and it took me to photos from the Hubble telescope.  I am in a starry mood this week.  I do love astronomy.  :)

One of my co-workers was right

My insurance company will not authorise the surgery at the ambulatory surgical centre that is at the orthopaedics practice. Therefore, it has been moved to a hospital that is just about a football field or two away. I should have to be there at the same time, but a nurse will call me tomorrow to confirm. My co-worker Bobbie had told me that this would most likely happen, as that has been her experience. But I'm surprised they waited to tell me until two days before the surgery.

I got quite a bit done today in preparation for being off at work. I think we have all the back-up issues settled. I have a to-do list a mile wide for tomorrow, but if there's anything I can't finish, I'll just have to let it go. I've put all my tasks into an application on my phone for work. I do still need to do a few things around home as well. And I should get a key made tomorrow evening so I can give it to A. I'll make sure YKWIA has one as well. I think I'll take him to his appointment tomorrow, drop him off, and then go over to Lowe's and have them made, which shouldn't take too long and then I can pick him up afterwards and give them the keys.

I've been too busy to really get nervous about the surgery, but I am starting to get a little anxious. I really hope all goes well. According to most people I've talked to who have experienced it or something similar, it should be fine. And I do feel a little better that I'll be at the hospital should anything go wrong.

Okay, I really need to clean some of my work space here up and get something to eat. I got my desktop up and running again, and the keyboard is terribly dusty (and slightly sticky, I'm not sure why), and I didn't realise until I was setting things up just how dusty my computer desk, computer, and printer are. I've been using the laptop for awhile instead. Then I need to straighten up around here in general, do some dishes, that sort of thing, and generally prepare for A staying the night on Friday. I'll probably write later, though.