It is 71 degrees and surprisingly sunny

But the wind is gusting up to 58 mph and the rain is coming. We're staying home after all tonight and will celebrate our friend's birthday tomorrow. The Herbie (trash bin) and Rosie (recycling bin) have been taken to the kerb but the recycling one keeps falling over. I chased a lasagna carton down the street earlier. The trash one has its top off, but everything's in a bag at least in that one.

I had a blood draw today with YKWIA. Our doctor does it two weeks before our appointments. It went quickly, so we ate at a Subway afterward, went and got some medicine from the pharmacy, went to the library, and we were still home by 6:20 or so. I took out the bins, fed the animals, and he let the dog outside. Not
W I'm lying down and stretching my back out some.

I'm hoping we don't lose electricity with the wind, but I'm charging thing up things now just in case. Earlier we were on the road and the traffic lights kept going off and back on. There are some questionable boughs in the maple trees out front as well. So here's hoping it will all be alright.

Take care!

PS

I had to do some minor electrical work to the headband, as one of the wires had come loose. I got it back in the right spot, and it does, indeed light up. So I'm ready for Halloween. :)

Yay!

I see KU subscribes to the Montgomery Scott repair algorithm: tell the captain you cannae do it in a somewhat longish time,  then finish early and look like a miracle worker. Anyway,  the power is back on and it came on about 5:35. I've gotten the fishtank pump running again,  my fan is on, and I'm going to put my CPAP masque on and go to sleep,  hopefully.  Cheers,  and thanks to KU for getting things back on.

Grrrrr...

Great.  Now KU's app is saying the power won't be on until 7:30 am.  I can't sleep without my CPAP.  The only good thing about this is that I don't have to go to work in the morning. But I was actually planning on doing stuff tomorrow and I don't want to sleep the day away.

Just lost power

so no CPAP.  :( The Kentucky Utilities mobile application estimates restoration by 5 am.  There are almost 2500 homes without power.

Hot

It's after 10:30 at night and still 72 degrees outside,  and I am lying on the bed in front of the fan trying to cool off.  I wasn't too warm at my friends' house,  where YKWIA and I watched the 'Grimm' from two weeks ago that we missed, but they had the windows open and there was a breeze.  But my apartment is stuffy,  and while I could open the windows here,  I can't sleep with them open,  as I am on the ground floor and have no dogs to alert me to trouble.  So I'm left with the fan.  But I seem to be cooling off,  finally.  Yay!  I just don't want to turn in the air conditioning prematurely,  as the electric bills have been pretty big over the winter.

Okay,  I'm going to listen to some relaxing music for awhile and then try to return to the  blog and update,  since I missed a few days.  But just in case I fall asleep,  good night.

Celebrating having electricity

By putting on some Loreena McKennitt music, turning on my fan, filling up my CPAP, and charging my phone. Yay! I managed to get through the entire day despite my lack of sleep. YKWIA and I visited for awhile, and then he napped and I rested nearby, and while I didn't actually sleep, I might have dozed for awhile, when you're halfway in and out of sleep and kind of have dreams but are still conscious. Later we watched an episode of 'Star Trek: the Next Generation' that had the guy from 'Max Headroom' on it, and then the new episode of 'Grimm' that he'd recorded Friday night. We were going to watch the recording of 'iZombie', but I was getting tired and A, home from his game, and I still needed to go to the store. YKWIA prepared a special list of things for tomorrow, so I took that list and A took the other, and we stopped by Good Foods Co-op for a couple of things, and then we did the big run at Kroger. We got back about 10 pm (we'd left at 8:30). I helped put things away, and then pretty much gathered my stuff up and said goodbye, as I was tired, my contacts were foggy from my allergies, and I thought they might want some couple time. I've eaten some string cheese I got from the store, and I'm pretty much ready for bed. Good night. :)

Over at my friends' place

After McDonald's, I went home and propped my pillows up against a study pillow, and managed to sleep somewhat over the next couple of hours. A called, and I went ahead and got a shower (somewhat warmer than lukewarm on 'hot', but better than I thought it would be), and took him to the pharmacy. Then I got him back home so he could go over to a friend's house and watch the University of Kentucky-University of Cincinnati game. Now I'm hanging out at their house listening to YouTube videos (Human League's 'Don't You Want Me Baby' right now) and charging my phone and laptop. I have to admit, I'm feeling the sleep derivation, but hopefully I'll have my electricity on before I get home. Technically it could be as late as 11 pm, but they assure me that it should be within 24 hours of when I paid the bill. So I should be able to use the CPAP tonight.

This evening we're going to go to the grocery store after the game, and then tomorrow we're going to do the kugel and matzo ball soup, since there is no Cthulhu game. Brenda's meeting her future daughter-in-law's family for dinner. I wish them luck, and in the meantime we'll celebrate my birthday (early) with happy Jewish food.

Well, I made a (somewhat) horrible mistake

I forgot to pay my electric bill. So last night I came home to a dark, cold house, and had to use one of those battery-powered push-on/push-off lights to find my around. I couldn't sleep much at all, because I didn't have my CPAP. In fact, in the six hours I was in bed, I probably slept about an hour and a half.

At 5:15 I finally gave up, got up, washed my face, dressed, and headed out to McDonald's, where I could get breakfast, charge my phone, and get free Wi-Fi. So I thought I'd spend some time on the Internet before they got busy. My phone was at 10% when I came in, and on ultra-power-saving mode. Now it's at 64%, so I'm feeling a little better about having a connexion to others if needed. Funny how we've gotten so dependent on cell phones.

Okay, I'm going to check the news. I don't have much juice in my laptop and I can't get the plug into the outlet here for some reason, so I can't charge it. But I'll try to make the most of it. Boy, though, I'm sleepy. I'm supposed to celebrate my birthday/spring with friends, one of whom is going to make Jewish-food goodness, like kugel and matzo ball soup. [It's a little early--my birthday is in early April, but my friend associates it with the vernal equinox, and I was at work yesterday, so we're celebrating today.] I'm hoping I can stay awake with so little sleep. And I haven't taken a shower, because it would be cold, and so I look like crap. But hey, it's my own fault. And yes, I used my phone's hotspot and the laptop last night to go ahead and pay the bill, so it'll be on sometime before 11 pm tonight. Here's hoping it's sooner.

Hope you're having a somewhat better weekend so far.

You don't appreciate traffic lights until there aren't any

I just drove completely across town in a storm and the traffic lights from Nicholasville Rd/Limestone west were out--not flashing, just out, with one intersection being policed and everything else treated like four-way stops. That's half the town, roughly, of 300,000 people. Glad to be home and with power.

Glad to report

That in addition to it being 68 degrees outside and sunny, I have electricity again. I have the bedroom window open, the fan going, and I'm going to take a nap. I have a wake-up call scheduled so I don't miss 'Grimm'. :)

So I'm at McDonald's and it's a little after 6 am

There was no point in trying to sleep any more, really. I managed to get into a sort of drowsy half-sleep for about an hour at a time, but kept waking up because I couldn't get comfortable. I normally sleep with a fan, for one. The CPAP is crucial for me, of course. So I'm tired and kind of achy. But I did manage a lukewarm shower and dressing in the dark. I wish I'd remembered the allergy medicine I got at the grocery yesterday, though. Mine are in full swing.

I've had breakfast (two egg and cheese biscuits), and I'm on their wi-fi catching up on news and blogging. But I'm behind on my time because of that three-hour dental appointment the other day, so I think I'll go on in to work soon. I just have to be careful I don't get overtime. I can't leave early today because I may be needed to meet someone who did a book drive, and that'll probably be between 4 and 5 pm.

Hopefully the electricity will be back on at home by the time I get there this afternoon. I unplugged the aquarium and little fish tank so the filters/pumps wouldn't run without water.

Okay, I'm going to go check the news for the morning, then head over to work. Have a great day. And hey, at least it's Friday (and in my case, jeans day at work.) :)

So, if you're a librarian and you forget to pay your electric bill on time

where do you go to charge things and hangout for a bit? The public library, of course. I'm sitting here at one of the branches with my laptop with my my phone and tablet plugged in so they can charge as much as possible in the hour I have left before they close. Thank goodness it wasn't Friday, when they close earlier. Anyway, I got home about 7 pm (just after their customer service line closed) and found the power out. I was going to sit down and do bills tonight because I got paid. I didn't realise the disconnect was going to happen today. It was my fault, though. So I got on my phone and immediately paid the bill, not just the past due but the current as well, but they can't re-connect it until tomorrow. It's going to be a long night, as I won't be able to use my CPAP machine. But I'm going to try to stick it out. I carefully placed the battery-operated lights where I could find them when I come back in and it's dark. In addition to the electric, I've paid my student loans, cable, and a credit card (using my phone, as it's open wi-fi around here, I think). That was mainly what I wanted to get done.

So right before I left my friends' house

one of them said, oh, there won't be much ice because it won't last long. He said that's what the weather people said. So I drove home in the freezing rain as the roads were just starting to get slick, but mostly the problem was how heavy the rain was, leaving water in the road and the danger of hydroplaning. I got home, and everything was icing up quickly. Not five minutes after I called to let them know I got home, and just as I was about to heat up something in the microwave, the power went out--for five hours. (I called after about a half hour and gave him a small talk on what the ice was doing for me. See, he doesn't have to drive in the stuff, and they had power. On the other hand, he'll have to walk in the stuff tomorrow, as it's steadily and heavily been falling now for hours). Thanks to Kentucky Utilities, it's back one. I used their application to check on the status. They estimated it would be back on by about 1:00 am. At 1:28 they were listing ours as 'under evaluation'. By 1:35 the lights came on. I made sure the fish tank pump had water in it so it wouldn't run while dry (priming it, that is) and then unplugged anything that didn't need to be plugged in since the whole system will probably be strained. I'm not sure how much ice has accumulated, but they're thinking it could be about a half an inch, which is enough to consider it a hazardous ice storm.

I'm charging my phone as I write. I'd fortunately charged it throughout the day in the car as I took my friend to his appointment and went to mine. Then when the lights went out, I charged it on the battery backup for the computer for awhile, and put the power saver feature on. Now it's down to 30% or so. But it could have been much lower. Throughout the night people have gone out to their cars and run them for awhile, obviously charging their phones. And during the brief time I was in the bedroom, I discovered my upstairs neighbours were doing what many couples do during blackouts--all you could hear were bedsprings going and the rain falling outside, since the heat was off. :) They're still up, and I suspect most of the complex is, but it's 2 am now and I'm going to try to go to bed and actually sleep. now that I can use my CPAP. Be careful if you're being affected by the weather, and I hope your power stays on (and mine, now that it's restored. Power good.) Again, thanks KU for getting it back on. Apparently tree limbs took down some lines, according to their application. Good night.

Power's out

Decided to conserve candles and just open the curtains for a tiny bit of ambient light and go ahead and get some sleep, which will be hard to do without my CPAP. Lots of freezing rain coming down. Could be ugly tomorrow. Also there are sirens every few minutes, so the emergency folks seem pretty busy. Glad to be home, even without power/heat.  It's at least fairly comfortable for now.

A little tired and sore, but home

I did not fall up or down my mother's steps. That was a plus. I spent a remarkably good visit with my mom, stepdad, grandmother, the two dogs, and a somewhat shy cat. I didn't sleep well last night, being in a different place than normal, and I didn't have my semi-usual mid-afternoon nap either yesterday or today, in the hopes of getting back into the swing of things when I go back to work tomorrow. I'll probably go to bed a bit early tonight because I have to get up early for that, maybe around 10 pm.

I discovered that as is usually the case, whenever I go out of town my power flickers off and my aquarium pump and microwave need to be reset. I'm not sure why it happened, but I took care of that so the poor fish would have some circulation before sitting down to eat or unpacking. Now it is happily cascading in a proper waterfall.

The walking with a cane thing is working pretty well, although sometimes I forget to put the can down first before my bad foot.

My computer is acting weird. My printer keeps saying it is warming up and acting like it's going to print or scan, and Windows 8 is making some sort of happy chirping sound right before it happens. Who knows.

Alright, I think I'll go unpack. I've already chucked off my clothes, which smell of cigarettes, and traded them for a nightshirt (I do wish my mother didn't smoke; it's not good for her, of course, either). And then I'll get together the stuff for work tomorrow. I'm giving my co-worker back the walker she loaned me. And I'll pack the boot and Tylenol just in case. I did have only one major issue on the trip to Stanford--we went into a Rite Aid and my back suddenly started hurting horribly; I could not sit down fast enough, just from standing and walking around for about 20 minutes. This, despite being in my regular shoe and not the boot. I hope that doesn't happen tomorrow. But once I sat down for a few minutes, all apparently was forgiven, so if it does, I'll just try that and see how it goes. Thank goodness I no longer work in the gas station where so much of the work was standing. I'd still not be back. Yay for sedentary jobs. :)

Today we celebrate the birth of a genius

Today is the anniversary of Nikola Tesla's birth. Google has a great graphic for today:


Tesla was a Serbian-American (born in Europe, he eventually applied and achieved American citizenship) known for his inventions and scientific genius. You can thank Tesla for the very electricity powering your computer; he is the one who worked out the principles of alternating current. He was quite remarkable.



Here's a photo of the scientist at age 40. Eccentric and misunderstood, he was often regarded as a mad scientist who, among other things, supposedly actually invented a death ray. He didn't really profit in the long run from his inventions; finances were not so important to him and he died impoverished. What a mind he must have had!

Sorry I haven't posted much

I've been painting a project that includes a home library, hallway, bath, and closet, so that's quite a bit of work. I've finished the library and closet. I'm actually rather enjoying it, though, except for the paint on my hands and in my hair. But I'm getting so good at it I can paint and only get a very small amount of splatters anywhere on the floor.

Today I was taunted by two crows as I came out of work. It made me think of counting crows--one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, and four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, and seven for a secret never told.

The weather today was beautiful, in the mid-70s, mostly sunny, and breezy. I feel so alive on days like this. That, coupled with a beautiful full moon, made me feel very connected to nature today.

Tomorrow I work both jobs, then I paint more on Thursday. I work on Friday (the new truck night at the store) and on Saturday, and then I'm off from the store until Tuesday. Next Wednesday I have an eye appointment; I'm going to try to go ahead and get contacts, something I haven't had in awhile. I'm intrigued by the new extended, 30-day wear contacts made of breathable polymers I have a certificate for a month's supply, so I definitely want to ask the doctor about that. I'll also have him do a diabetes screen on my retinas.

I found out the other day that I'm getting a 4.5% raise at the hospital, which translates to about $30 a pay period after taxes. That's on top of the market raise I had in January, which was $1 an hour or about $40 per week. It offset the rise in deductions for my health flexible spending account to cover an increase in co-pays for my health insurance. My boss thinks this will go into effect on Thursday's deposit. That would be great, as this week I need to pay my rent and possibly my electric. I may also be getting a bonus at the store, if I've figured my time frame correctly.

Speaking of electricity, I called Kentucky Utilities today to make a payment arrangement just in case I can't pay until next Wednesday. They had a recording stating that as a result of the oeconomic hardships faced by their customers, they have suspended shut offs for non-payment, to be resumed some time in April. I thought that was nice.

Okay, it's late and I should go to bed. Goodnight.

Yay!

Well, the electric issue was resolved at 7 this morning. I now have until the 20th to pay. Our payroll clerk gave me duplicate W-2s as well, so I'm good to go on my taxes (although I suspect I'll owe again like I have the previous two years; it took me awhile to figure out my W-4s were filled out so that less was taken out). I got everything done at work I wanted to except for contacting the serials vendor. I'll do that tomorrow. I filled out a questionnaire for a library school student as well. That reminds me; I need to do that Nielsen survey. They paid for my breakfast this morning. :)

Now it's to work at the store for truck night #1 of the week. With it being in the 60s today, I'm switching back to a short-sleeve shirt (Didn't we just have an ice storm? That's Kentucky weather for you.) Unfortunately I couldn't find my nice roomy one. It may be in the car trunk. But I have a spare.

Well, that's it for now. It's time to go.

Defeat

I cannot find the W-2s anywhere. So tomorrow I must:

1. Call at some ungodly hour (also known as 7 am) about my electric.
   
2. Take out the trash.
   
3. Do the dishes.
   
4. Request copies of my W-2s to be issued.
   
5. Contact the serials vendor regarding a page linking to electronic journals.
   
6. Distribute the needs assessment I created last week.
   
7. Print off our peformance improvement surveys.
   
8. Work at the store for truck night.
   
9. Miss 'Heroes' another week in a row.
   

I'd hoped to watch last week's episode tonight, but was so tired when I came in I went straight to bed obstensibly for an hour or so. That was at 10:30 pm. It's 2 am now. I've eaten a bit and I'm going back to sleep. The fish are fed and happy. Good night.