Tonight

I kept my friend company and helped out with onion chopping as he made the tomato sauce for tomorrow's lasagna and some apples and cabbage.  He wasn't feeling well and was in some pain, so he forgot to order the challah from the bakery, so I went to Kroger and found some brioche loaves that will work.  I also finally got around to getting various toiletries I needed, such as shampoo, toothpaste, and razors.

We talked about 'The Vicar of Dibley', along with ancient Carthage as a Phoenician colony, Latin, Hebrew, etc.  In other words, it was a fairly normal night.

I started out my day getting up early to go get gas, as the light was on, and it was payday. I'm still going to be behind on a couple of bills, but unfortunately, the next paycheque is probably going to go to car tyres.  The flat the other day is no doubt foreshadowing the doom that will happen if I don't. I'm very lucky the tyre went flat while sitting in a parking lot and not while I was driving.  I have to weigh being fiscally responsible and living to become more fiscally responsible another day.  I'm probably going to go to the same place I got the last ones six years ago as they offer a free alignment and I need that too, along with a cheaper synthetic oil change than Valvoline.  I'm hoping I can find a good deal on everything, but I'm figuring it to be about $600.  I'm just hoping the doughnut tyre and the others last till I can do it.  The doughnut is original to the car, which is 19 years old.  Granted, the car still only has 83,700 miles on it.  My grandmother and then mother didn't drive it much.  Six years ago when I bought it there were only 34,000 miles on it. :)  I'd like to keep it in good working order, as several people depend on it.

I'm finally becoming a bit sleepy.  I've been a bit tired (it was a very productive day at work) but I hadn't really been sleepy.  I took the trash to the kerb and did the litter boxes earlier, but YKWIA had already gone to bed when  I treated the animals to their nightly fare, cleaned up the dishes and counters, packed things for tomorrow's lunch and caffeine, straightened up a bit and played with the kitten till he sleepily went in to be with YKWIA.

Speaking of the kitten, the only succulents left in the house are the big aloe and a bit of red velvet Echevarria that is struggling to come back out after he gnawed on it.  But at least he's been leaving the orchids alone.

Okay, time for bed. It's after midnight, and I get up about 6:30 am.  Hope you have a good day tomorrow.

It has been a very busy weekend

Here's what I accomplished:

1. Went to the pharmacy. Got to see my plants.
2. Got nitrogen put in my tyres and discussed my treads and whether it was worth getting an alignment or rotation now or just waiting till I get new tyres, which will have to be soon, although I'm not sure how I'm going to swing that.
3. Repotted the aloes.
4. Repotted the orchids.
5. Did my laundry on Saturday and my roommate's on Sunday. Managed to do that and the kitchen linens with the very last of the detergent.
6. Moved a couple shelves in front of the library windows so I could put the orchids on them and they could get some actual light (eastern exposure). I'd temporarily placed them on top of my bookcase headboard, but they were between the windows and couldn't get any light. A grow light might have worked, but there's a painting that could be damaged by the full spectrum light. So I decided to try this. They are behind the nightstands, so it's a little crowded, but it passed muster with my friend.
7. Went to the library and took some books back and picked up my roommate's hold.
8. Took the other two shelves and summer clothes to the storage unit.
9. Cleaned out the car.
10. Did a boatload of plastic dishes.
11. Went through the clothes I was given and pulled out the ones that needed mending.
12. Incorporated the new clothes into my existing clothes, and put away laundry at the same time.
13. Organised my closet and prepared some things to take back to storage and to donate.
14. Organised the cedar chest and the clothes in the footboard of the bed. The kitten has been pulling my bras and other things through the little divet that's used to open the drawers.
15. Put the coverlet back on the bed, which will hopefully deter him, as it will be out of sight, out of mind.
16. Watched several episodes of a cartoon series.
17. Generally straightened up my room.
18. Took a nice long shower today.
19. Swept and mopped the floors.
20. Did the regular dishes.
21. Took out the trash and recyclables.
22. Cleaned the bathroom.
23. Entertained the kitten, who was inconsolable that he'd been closed out of the bedroom while my roommate slept because he was gnawing on him.
24. Packed my lunch for tomorrow.
25. Laid out my clothes for tomorrow (I don't do that very often. I should.)
26. Actually blogged! Twice!

Things that got put off till tomorrow:

1. Go by the bank.
2. Go over the grocery list and see what we already have.
3. Shop at the grocery store for Thanksgiving (we already have the Quorn roasts).
4. Get some cat toys for the kitten and food for the older cat.
5. Complete replacement of the cat litter (once we get some from the store).
6. Clean out and organise my nightstands.
7. Take things out to the car that are to be donated or go to storage.
8. Double check the smoke alarm/CO monitor. I think the batteries are in wrong, and it'll take both of us to change the batteries, as I'm not tall enough, even with a stepstool. I got some new batteries.
9. Call in the morning and reschedule an appointment to finalise the draft of my revamped will--with my boss' announcement I didn't feel I could ask to leave early the next business day with so little warning and get a good reply.
10. Get the duvet cover on the duvet and get it on my roommate's bed (it takes two to do well) and take back my heavier blanket.

I am pooped

I have gone to Kroger twice (once for caffeine to get going, once for more litter). I have taken the trash out, changed the litter out completely (and changed the pads under them), looked all over for a small grey kitten, including moving furniture and mattresses, taken plants outside, and while I've only walked 3,318 steps, it is also on 1:38 pm. Fortunately, I don't have to game notes today, as I did them last week. We don't have anywhere to go specifically today, although I might go by my storage unit. The other day I went before work and found the large map and one flanking map to hang on my office wall, but couldn't find the other. And several others are somewhere. Meanwhile, there are some things I put in the storage unit first that I might need on a pinch, or just want to get out occasionally, so I may move the pictures and mattresses out, get the other stuff up to the front, and then put the mattresses in the back and move the pictures back somewhat.

I really do think I'm going to lie down for a little while and listen to some music. YKWIA is sitting in the living room with the kitten on his lap having quiet time and reading. I have the cat. The dog is outside (it is a pleasant day). Time for a nap, I think.

It's been slow going today

I woke up about eight and went to the bathroom, intending to sleep till nine, and I couldn't get comfortable until about 9:15, when the cat came and cuddled, and I slept till ten.  Apparently, he'd thrown up after eating (it happens sometimes, although he holds down the non-chicken, non-grain food better than anything else we've tried) and had come to me for comfort.  I did eventually get up, but I've been hurting all day, and I got something to eat while YKWIA watched the 'Teen Wolf' DVD we have out from Netflix, but I didn't really get dressed or going until noon.  I called and made an appointment with my optometrist for an upcoming Saturday and changed my address with them.  The lady on the phone was obviously training, and I was very patient.  We schedulers have to stick together. :)

Then I went to the grocery and got some things for us and a few toiletries, etc. that I've been putting off.  I got some ibuprofen in a non-childproof, easy-open bottle.  There are no kids in the home and quite frankly, with my arthritis in my hands, it's becoming harder to open the regular kind.  I came back and had some herb bread that was left over from yesterday's potluck (best batch ever; I included some red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick) and some cheese and a banana for lunch and caffeinated for the day.  Now I've started my bedding in the washer, as I haven't washed it since I was sick, and that would be good, and I think the cat has been on it enough that I'm starting to react (I am allergic to cats and dogs (and horses, and cattle), but cats really make me react.  But I love them.)

I have a few things I want to do today:

1. The game notes from last week's Call of Cthulhu game, which is the most timely task.
2. We've decided on a project involving thoroughly dusting/cleaning a shelf or two each Saturday and then rotate it, as it can be overwhelming to do all those books and shelves at one time.  There are 117 shelves of books in this house.  Yes, really.  So we broke it down to a manageable amount.  I'm going to start with the bookcase in the living room, which is antique and so it holds a lot of dust.  Today I'll just do the top shelf.  It's lower, not to the ceiling, so no getting up on a stepstool, and while dustier, it has a table right next to it that I can put the books on and dust them.  So in some ways, it'll be easier.  YKWIA is in there reading, though, at the moment, and we're both allergic to dust but he's worse, and I don't want him in there while I'm working.
3. Clean the cat box instead of waiting for tomorrow.
4. Take out the trash and recyclables.  We keep the recyclables atop the refrigerator and it's pretty full.  All the trash in the house need it, I think, as the kitchen one, bath, and my two little ones are all full, and that leaves the one in the living room/study and bedroom that might be okay, but I doubt it.  I've been taking the kitchen trash out regularly, but the others were fine last weekend, so I left them for this week.
5. Do my bedding and some more laundry so I can concentrate on other laundry items tomorrow.  I didn't do it last week because we had worn jeans most of the week before as our boss was off and she'd said we could do to the low clinic numbers.  So I had most of my other pants clean and enough shirts, underwear, and socks.  I'm getting low now, though.
6. Sweep and mop the tile in the kitchen and bath.  I think the hardwood is fine.
7. Go through my nightstands and rearrange things.
8. Put away a few things in my room.

I haven't made the bed today because the cat was on it earlier (he loves the microfleece blankets) and I was going to wash the bedding anyway.  I'm in my room right now with the door closed and he's at it wanting in, but I think I'll just let him be for now.  I've spoilt him by lying down with him after dinner when he wants his post-prandial cuddle. :)

Okay, time to check the laundry and go do those game notes.  Have a great weekend!

I went through three other gardening books

Which were mostly listings of various plants or some plans for some gardens.  I took pictures with my phone using CamScanner, which puts them into a PDF file, including an herb garden from Edible Landscaping and also a listing of various types of plants that are edible (and things that certainly aren't, like castor bean).  So I took a total of six books back, picked up the hold, so I have seven out, one of which YKWIA is reading, three of the others are fiction, one is a collection of Julius Caesar's writings, another a book on sites important in his travels, and then the Holocaust book focussing on a town and what happened there.  The fiction books are all fantasy; two are teen books, and they should be quick reads.  I'm hoping I can get everything read before time to take it back.  I'm going to focus on these before any others.  It was difficult to pass by the new bookshelf, which is right by the entry, without perusing the titles.  Also, I was very pleased to see the crowd turn out for the opening of the Tates Creek branch, which happens at 1 pm on Sundays.  I was there early, about 12 minutes till, and was the first non-employee to get there, as there was no one in the other cars.  But in the intervening time period, probably fifteen cars came in, and people were waiting at the door.  One man nearly ran over a woman as she was heading in.  I suspect the rush was to get to the computers. :)  But there were four other people looking to pick up their holds in that section.  Three other cars had dropped off books at the book drop while I had been waiting.  It was quite a crowd, and even though I don't work there, it warmed the cockles of my little librarian heart.

Okay, time for more caffeine.  Let's get these chores over.  At least the grocery run is finished--I got a few things at Kroger and then had to go to Fresh Market for radicchio.  Most things were for a salad--arugula, shallots, the radicchio, fennel, etc.  Of course, there was milk, and I got more bread flour because I miscalculated how much would be left when we did the last run.  I use between 3 and 5 cups of flour for each loaf of bread.  I really should get YKWIA to find his ginger for me and make some whole wheat bread, because I have all the other ingredients for the bread, including the soy lecithin granules and ascorbic acid for the booster you put in the bread to help it rise.  The ginger's part of that, along with cornstarch.  And you have to put wheat gluten in, but that's a separate ingredient.  It makes a lovely loaf.  I have an entire bag of wheat flour.  But I think YKWIA prefers the basic bread even to the oatmeal one I tend to prefer.  The basic white bread just takes flour, sugar, salt, dry milk, butter, and yeast, along with water, of course, and it's cheapest to make.  The oatmeal one has oatmeal, of course, but not the instant kind, but rather quick oats, and uses honey instead of sugar.  Both make lovely loaves.  I'll have to see about the wheat though so I can use that flour.  I think you still use a cup or so of white flour in the wheat bread as well, so I can't just make it if I run out of white bread flour, but if it gets low, maybe.  I get White Lily bread flour, which is made by a harder wheat than regular all-purpose flour, but I could use the latter in a pinch.  Because I use the rapid bake, I use a jar of Fleischman's rapid-rise yeast.  You use a little more yeast if using the recipes that came with the bread machine (the basic white and herb bread) or different amounts if I'm making the oatmeal bread, which is from the book Electric Bread, under 'Outrageously Oatmeal'.  It has good recipes, some a little odd but intriguing, and recipes for spreads as well.  It was a good find.  I think that was from a book fair at work. :)

Okay, really, I'm going now.  Have a great day.

So I'm home with just the dogs and cat tonight

as YKWIA is watching Crimson Peak with a friend over at the friend's house. I've seen the movie (with him) and enjoyed it. I've been playing music without headphones.  (We do not have similar tastes in music, although there is some overlap.  Mine is a bit too modern for him).  I also ate something.  It's been a busy day.   I have:

• Called Brenda to see whether we're playing.  She is doing better but still coughing, so the game master ruled it best to get some rest.  There is the potential that when we resume, every character Brenda has could pop like soap bubbles, so he'd like her at her best.
• Take YKWIA to an appointment.
• Gone to the credit union.
• Taken YKWIA to a pet store for a special cat food.
• Taken him to the vet for special condroitin chewies for the older dog.
• Stopped by the Rusty Scabbard, a local gaming store.
• Done a Kroger run at two Krogers (Tates Creek is consistently out of Land O'Lakes half-and-half, a staple in our household).
• Gone to the library and gave him some instruction in filing via the Dewey Decimal System, the use of cutter numbers, and orienting him to how the library sections off its various genres.
• Come home and while I didn't take a nap, I laid down for a little bit to recover.

So now I'm thinking of doing some reading. I got some gardening books at the library the other day.  I also need to water the plants at the latest by tomorrow.  Tomorrow I also plan to do laundry, clean the catbox, screw the toilet seat more securely, take out the trash, and take YKWIA to Meijer for some nice shirts that he needs, as everything he has are t-shirts.

Okay, I think I'll go now and listen to some more music or read.  Hope you're having a good weekend.  We're enjoying much warmer temperatures, and I'm loving it.  It won't last, though.

No game today

Brenda's still got the crud, so we're taking another week off.  It's been a pretty relaxing weekend. I've spent some time on Facebook and Twitter (I'm also never actually on Twitter, to be honest, and I tweet and retweet rarely, but I did today).  YKWIA's done a lot of reading, and I've done a little. I got a free e-book for subscribing an electronic newsletter, and it turned out to be Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first Brother Cadfael mystery.  It includes maps and a guide to Welsh pronunciation.

I've also requested some seed catalogues, one from Burpee's (a staple), but most from heirloom, sustainable, non-Monsanto sources (and that's harder to do these days).  Most of them are available in PDF form, so I just downloaded those rather than have them send me a paper one in the mail.

Now I'm doing one super-mega-large load of laundry, and was rewarded for doing so by $12 falling out of my trouser pockets as I was going through them.  I've been out twice this weekend on the roads after the snow, once to go to the grocery for soda, and then today to take YKWIA to meet with someone over lunch, and then to stop by the gaming store The Rusty Scabbard and to get a few things at the store that weren't there yesterday post-rush.  The produce section yesterday looked like Armageddon was on its way, all for about 1-2 inches of snow, but they were resupplied today.

Tomorrow I work, as we do not get off for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  The University of Kentucky does, however, and so the parking shuttles aren't running, so we've been told that we can park in the adjoining parking garage, although they wouldn't guarantee we wouldn't be charged.  So that $12 might come in handy.  Seriously, though, I suspect the gates will be up tomorrow.

Now I'm listening to some music. I was listening to Blue October's Home album, but it's made it past that on Windows Media Player and so it's Bonnie Tyler's 'I Need a Hero' right now.  Have you ever seen the music video for that?  I will not post it here.  It is...terribly creepy and inappropriate, running right across the boundary of sick and wrong, to be honest.  It's set in a young men's school (as in teenagers) and she plays a teacher. Enough said.  How did we not see that back in the 80s?  I still love the song, though.

Okay, I'm going to sign off here for awhile. YKWIA is taking a nap, all is quiet, save for the music.  It's still about an hour-and-a-half till the animals need to be fed (although one is right by me, hoping to be).  The laundry is drying. I am considering lying down for a bit while that tumbles.

Ooh, we've made it to The Box Tops' 'The Letter'. :)

Well, that was an adventure

I got up early again today (well, 6:45, which is not all that early in the grand scheme of thing, but better than the 8:30 or 9 I was doing). I got up, got ready, had breakfast, took my meds, called the parking office, realised I had books due at the library yesterday (so I got the list of them and put them in a bag to take back before they opened, so they wouldn't be overdue). I then drove to the library, put the books in the book drop, then drove to UK. The drive was pretty light, and I got there at 8:30 or so. Most of the parking was already taken, it looked like, so it's good I'll be going in at 8 in the morning rather than later. The lady at the office had said there was metered parking near a construction zone, but made it seem like it was in the parking garage on Press Street itself, just like they are, and so I went through the garage, didn't see any, and was about to leave and see what I could find when I saw the meters, outside, by the construction fence. Without thinking, I shifted into reverse (I'd encountered no one so far) and promptly ran into the front of the car behind me. I got out, then got back in and move the car slightly forward so we could inspect, but there was thankfully no damage. I apologised, we said goodbye, and I pulled into a meter space and put a quarter in.

Getting the actual hang tag was pretty easy. I paid for the full 12 weeks, and a little more, through August 31st, because I wasn't exactly sure when this will end. So now I have a hang tag, and can park Monday morning when I go in. I also picked up some information on parking, a map, and a Valvoline $15 coupon off an oil change, which I need. Some of my co-workers park in that garage, others in the Orange Lot off Cooper, where there is a shuttle. Either is a fairly short walk, maybe 10-15 minutes for most people, which means 20-25 minutes for me.

Having escaped the office, I proceeded carefully down the street, past the medical centre and the Orange lot, through the roundabouts on Alumni, and over to Kroger on Chinoe, got a couple of things, and made it back before it started raining--and had the forethought to take one of the umbrellas in the car (there are four) with me. It is now raining really hard, but it's coming in onto the window boxes, so I'm fine with that--it was time to water them again. Still, I don't think I'll be going to the pool any time soon.

My plan on Monday is to get up at 6 am, be parked by 7:30, and then work my way to the medical centre and report for duty by 8. I need a short orientation and then I need to fill out the paperwork they're preparing. I don't need a TB skin test--I'm good till the autumn, and they have that record. I need to find out what exactly is the dress code for the department, as it varies. (Clinic was never supposed to have open-toed shoes, for example). It's not direct patient care, but it might have that. Also, most of the people in the department wear scrubs or T-shirts and scrubs, but I doubt they'll have me buy scrubs for the short period I'll be there. I think my normal office casual things should be okay, it's just a question as to whether I can wear sandals, really. And I need to make sure they're still doing the jeans on Fridays. :)

Wow, we're actually getting a little thunder. I can barely see through my screens, they're so wet. Nice. I've been so intent on typing and the rain, I forgot my TV was still 'connecting' to Pandora, and I had some sort of morning show running in the background. Got that fixed, anyway. Okay, I guess I should continue to be productive, although I don't have anything I have to do at the moment, so I may just take a break and watch the rain. :)

I actually read last night, and finished a book

that I'd just been on chapter three when I started. It's The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, and it was an excellent light read, and exactly what I needed while recovering from this crud. This afternoon I went to the library and picked up the other two in the series. A little while ago, out of curiosity, I looked to see how much they were on Amazon, and while the paperbacks are quite inexpensive, the Kindle series (all three books) was only $4.05. So I got them on that, because I decided it would be better to hoard electronic books rather than paper ones. :) But really, I want to read the next one, The Glass Magician tonight. I'll read the physical book, as it brings me a bit more pleasure to turn the pages, then take the others back to the library so someone else can enjoy them, and finish up the series on the Kindle with The Master Magician.

I took A to work early this morning, after calling him to wake him up (but he went back to bed), but we got there just in time. That was 8 am. Then I got home and proceeded to sleep until about 11:30 am, and YKWIA called (he'd just gotten up again, too), to see if I could run to the store for a couple of things, that turned into a fairly good-sized grocery run, involving two stores (why are pearl onions suddenly impossible to find?) Then I got back and we watched a couple of episodes of 'Trial & Error' on Hulu (which is hilarious, and expiring, so while he's seen them all, we've got about half left for me to watch in about 11 days. But they're short.)

I came home, rested for about an hour (I didn't actually go to sleep, and I'm only tired because of the crud, but I took some medicine and listened to some music for awhile). I finally started to drift off, but the music was rather peppy, so I got up and excavated approximately half of the bedroom this evening. I have three tubs on the bed--recyclables, dirty clothes, clothes that are clean but need pressing, and then I've folded some of the cold-weather stuff I haven't been wearing that need to be put away and they're piled between the tubs. I also have a pile of bedding (there are a lot of pillows and a very warm comforter that came with my 'bed in a bag', and I can't sleep with all of them on the bed at night time).

I have a few other things to go through, some books stacked, a couple of loose piles of things, and such, but I made quite a bit of progress. Tomorrow I can launder the dirty clothes. I can press the ones that need it, and hang up the ones in the hang up pile. The cold-weather things are going to be put away into some easy-open tubs I have, and stored in the bottom of one of the bedroom closets. A few things need to be put away in the chest-of-drawers. The last couple of things I should do tonight, and move the tubs off the bed, and then I'll be able to sleep. I'm not finished in there tonight, yet. I just got overly hot and had to sit under the fans for a bit. I hate how tired I feel, and how winded I get whenever I try to do anything. I still cough a lot.

When I got home, I watered the outside plants and deadheaded the spent blooms. They're growing nicely. I also watered everything inside as well. I was supposed to do that yesterday, and didn't. Just like today or yesterday I should have done a water change for the fish tank of about 10-15% of the water. I'll try to do that tomorrow. The fish seem happy, at least, and I have done it weekly for a couple of weeks since everything was set back to full-functionality.

It's almost dark. I can't really celebrate mother's day, but I thought I'd light a candle for my mom tonight and let it burn for awhile. I'm thinking of her, anyway. I miss her. We didn't always have the best of relationships, and once upon a time we were too close, really, but I miss her nonetheless.

Okay, I guess it's back to work on the bedroom. I'll have to switch Pandora back to the bedroom TV. Good night.

Relief

If I have seemed particularly stressed of late, it might have something to do with the fact that I spent the last nineteen days without any money coming in, save a $41 Kentucky tax refund that credited yesterday. I set in motion everything to have income, including unemployment benefits, coming to me a month ago, but things came in much later than expected. I have been bugging the mailman, who comes about 1:30 pm for parcels and 3:30 pm for regular mail, to look at what might be there for me, as I was expecting two cheques, since the unemployment office voice response system said one had been mailed Friday. The other was my final cheque from work, which I expected about mid-month, but in retrospect that was entirely too optimistic. Unfortunately, because of everything, I am now late on several bills, had one credit card actually suspend, and was seriously worried about paying my rent. I had almost no food in the house, was subsisting mainly on rice, premade Indian dinners, and homemade bread with honey, and was running low on gas. In fact, today, my gas light went on almost the moment that I checked my mail and discovered one of the cheques. Then, when some friends and I went to the credit union (they needed to do some things there, too, and we're all members), I discovered that the unemployment had actually been put into my account electronically, like it was supposed to, today. So I guess when it rains, it pours, and all I can say is, thank goodness. I was really getting stressed.

The first thing I did was get some gas. After helping a friend apply at the VA (my, they have a confusing site; the link to the job was a closed position from a year ago--I had to go find the correct one via a search, and I'm still not sure we did everything right), I took him home and then went to the grocery, where I proceeded to fill up an entire cart, something I have not done in years. The bill came to $225, but I should be good for quite some time. The fridge is completely full, save the crisper, since that doesn't really keep things crisp long enough for me. Instead of fresh vegetables I got canned, but otherwise things were pretty healthy. I also got a small desk fan that is helping in the living room.

I started the morning with a trip to the library with some books and CDs that were due yesterday that I was returning before they got in this morning so they wouldn't be overdue. Then I got a phone call asking for a ride when a friend got called into work on his day off because the other person in his position came to work sick and had to be sent home. After that I laid down for about an hour, as I didn't sleep well at all last night. Then it was time for pulmonary rehab, and I had a good session, starting with the breathing exercises and then working on the treadmill and weights. I have become puny. I have never had much upper body strength, but lifting ten pounds in several types of repetitions is challenging. When I was in high school, I could do the press with my feet to the tune of about 190 lbs--more than I weighed, and better than any of the football team that were in our class. Now I'm at twenty, and that's enough. I could probably go up a little bit on the normal press. They've got another though that has you press up on the balls of your feet like your on tip toes and lifting that way. Between breaking my ankle and general deconditioning, that's harder. I remember when I was in physical therapy for my ankle, doing that from a standing position was the very last thing I could do of all the exercises, which surprised them.

Even though I don't officially have anything scheduled tomorrow, I think I'm going to busy. I have to:

1. Pay my car registration, which is past due (it was due by April 30th, and so I'll have to pay 3% more. Fortunately mine is under $50 even with a special library association plate, so that's not too bad. It's actually still under $50. But I had a couple of police cars behind me today and was just a bit nervous. I know a citation would probably be dismissed if I brought in proof of an updated registration, but still....)
2. Balance my cheque book. I'm no longer destitute, but I can't go willy nilly. This has to last awhile, as the unemployment is not enough to cover my bills alone.
3. Pay my rent.
4. Pay my electric bill.
5. Pay my credit card bills.
6. Pay for my Internet connexion [I don't have cable TV, but I have an Internet connexion with Wi-Fi through the cable company].
7. Pay my cell phone bill.
8. Let my student loan servicer know that I am unemployed. Since I'll be paying a lot for health and dental insurance, I think I should try to see if I can get a deferment or reduced payment.
9. Check to make sure my COBRA enrollment went through--the pharmacy ran my meds and it was saying I was uninsured. I think the website said to wait five days to get it through, and it's just now that. I didn't get my first paper work so they sent me it again (I got it yesterday) but also e-mailed it, so I enrolled online. I also need to pay my bill with them.
10. Get my allergy shots.
11. Apply for a job.
12. Pull things out of the walk-in closet.
13. Call in my air conditioning issue and the fact I have to jiggle the toilet handle to keep it from running. [The walk-in closet is where the pan for the air conditioning is, and most likely it needs to be emptied, hence the need to get the mass of stuff out of it. There aren't many things, really--they're big, like a bedside commode or shower chair, that sort of thing. I don't need to take everything out, just enough so they can get in. I did put a new light bulb in the other day that I had, though.]

I'd say that's pretty busy.

I did find out I didn't get the one children's librarian position at the Lexington Public Library that I'd applied for in March. There's still one other position that I haven't heard about from them, three from UK, and I'm about to apply with the state. I've applied for the last before, with no luck, but 1) I have to apply actively on unemployment, and 2) maybe persistence will actually pay off. I also need to mail a form and cheque that have been sitting above my computer for two weeks waiting for money in the account to get my certification from the state of Kentucky, which is required to work in public library settings.

Okay, I think I'm going to get something to drink, maybe a snack, and sit down and enjoy something, like watch a DVD or listen to some music or read. I dropped my friend off about 7 pm, went to the store, got out after 8 sometime, and probably got everything put away by sometime after 9. It took four trips back and forth from the car just to get everything in. :) I don't think I could get anything else into my cabinets or fridge if I tried, and that's great. Not having food may be helping my weight (I'm 8 lbs less than when I was working), but it doesn't help diabetes, that's for sure. There's some days my meal consisted of glucose tablets, just to keep my blood sugar up, and that's not really what they're designed for--they're more rescue to be followed by real food. Like I said, it's been a hard two to three weeks.

Feeling pretty well post-procedure

I had gotten rest on Thursday to the point that,  coupled with too much caffeine,  I didn't sleep much that night. So at 5:45 am I stopped trying and got ready,  went by the gas station and bank,  got breakfast at McDonald's,  and went on into work at about 6:45. I had just a little cramping and spotting this morning,  for which I took ibuprofen,  but then was feeling better in the afternoon,  so I didn't take anymore.  I haven't bled anymore,  either. I worked 9 1/2 hours,  then went home,  took an old flash drive and transferred the files from it,  deleted them from it,  and then put a friend's resume in two formats on it.  I then took it over to him along with some hard copies.  He's going to take it to the library and learn to upload them in job applications. Yes,  I could shown him,  but it makes him more independent to have a stranger do so. Also I got a call from the hospital checking on me,  which was good.

I went by the bank and deposited a cheque,  took him to the grocery,  returned a book to the library,  and we went back with a huge bag of dog food that he carried in.  My other friend chided me for carrying in a bag with light bulbs,  sandwich bags,  and hand soap because it might hurt my womb.  I assured him it was light and I was fine.  I couldn't handle the dog food,  of course,  but this was really light.  :)

Then I took A home and sat with him in the car,  practically making him call AT&T because he's had a Go flip phone for months, set his voicemail up when he first got it,  promptly forgot his PIN,  and hasn't been able to get his voicemails since. He's trying to get a job,  so this isn't good.  He talked with the guy,  we reset the PIN,  I got his voicemail set up again,  and he now knows the new PIN and how to get and delete them.

Then I came on home,  ate a sandwich,  and got a little nauseous and realised my main symptoms now are gas and bloating.  I think they may put gas up inside you during the procedure,  judging from a quick search on D&C with those symptoms. It's apparently common.  I went ahead and laid down,  hoping it would pass,  about 9:30 pm.  I didn't realise quite how tired I was. I woke up around 1 am because the water was running down in my CPAP (it smells odd when it does,  as it's basically a hot plate running out of water,  so it's got a slight burning smell then).  I unplugged the tree and the star lights,  hunted down a AAA battery for my thermometer/humidity gauge/alarm combo,  finally finding one in a pen light I wasn't using,  and took my insulin.  So I'm ready to go back to bed now,  but thought I'd post an update.  All told it was a good,  if busy,  day.  Tomorrow I plan to work on the game notes, get my rent taken care of,  go to the library to research for my interview Monday,  and then head over to YKWIA's and spend some time with him.

Have a good night,  and a nice weekend.

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!

Last night I woke up from my 'nap' at 11:40 pm

I almost went ahead and went to the store, but I'm glad I waited till this afternoon, when I was awake and could really be frugal and calculate as I went. I managed to get bread flour, honey and butter for bread-making, two jars of spreadable fruit, a bunch of bananas, a gallon of milk, eighteen eggs, some raisin bran, string cheese, and some soda (yes, the latter was not important to get, but I thought it might be good to have some caffeine over the weekend), all for less than $27. That leaves me approximately $15 for things like more gas or groceries. Yay! I had some of YKWIA's bread (he's been making some, too) earlier, and I had some cheese and a banana. One of my co-workers also gave me a care package of oatmeal, trail mix bars, potatoes (to go with the onions I got yesterday), tuna, macaroni and cheese shells, and Indian lentils I can put over some rice I have. Thank you so much! That, along with the things I have in the cabinets (some tomato soup, some canned vegetables, and a few other things), plus my packets of Goldfish crackers, should (hopefully) last until I get paid. I can make bread, and I have some peanut butter in about four small jars that I'm going to consolidate. I also found a big can of pasta sauce I can put with my farfalle, and I think I have some old pasta up in the top cupboard that might still be edible.

Today was our No Limits Sports Clinic at work, where the kids come and play various sports out on the back lawn of the hospital (we have a total of just over 26 acres of land, most of it greenspace). We parked on the lawn east of the hospital to allow for families to have more parking. We had a good turnout, and I did the certificates for them. Because this is the last one at the current hospital building, they ordered each of us a teal shirt, and almost everyone wore those today, so we were all 'of the body', basically. It was fun. Lunch was a free cookout (I didn't eat hot dogs, hamburgers, or baked beans (pork is in that, almost always), but I had a cheese sandwich with trimmings, Doritos, a great coleslaw, and a fountain drink. I didn't schlep back outside to wait for the Amish ice cream, which is always great, but it seemed to be very popular. It's basically soft homemade ice cream in large vats powered (I think) by a gas contraption with a smoke exhaust pipe. One of my former co-workers came back to take care of the music. It looked like great fun. It was sunny and warm, but the humidity didn't seem bad, and the sun would occasionally be behind clouds to give them a break.

After I got finished with the certificates and delivered them, I turned my attention to the data entry, referrals, surgery charge reconciliation, and several issues I was tracking down, error reports, that sort of thing. I was able to leave at 4:30 pm because I had my time in, went over to YKWIA's, then we went to Barnes & Noble and I found a couple of books that I can't afford, but noted on my phone, and they're both at th library and available. I returned a book to the library (the one on the Medicis) on the way back, but couldn't check the others out because they'd already closed for the night. I dropped off YKWIA, picked up the stuff I'd left at his house, and went to the grocery. I also picked up a paper with directions on applying for a job. (Oh, and even though I haven't heard back about that one position, I went ahead and sent off the application today for a technology library assistant at Scott County Public Library). I did it via mail, since I'm not sure she ever got my e-mail. It's not due till the 17th, so it should get there in time).

Wow. While I was at the Chinoe Kroger, a fire truck and ambulance turned into the apartments there, and they had trouble negotiating the entrance. I just had a fire truck and ambulance go by my window as well, so apparently they're having to come out for medical emergencies at apartments today.

My apartment maintenance folks snaked out my tub today, so hopefully the water will run down the drain instead of backing up. I have a little cover I can put over the drain to keep hair out, but things were so bad, it would just float away. It's been doing it for awhile, I'd actually kind of gotten used to it (it happened so gradually), and I'd tried enzymatic drain opener (which worked on the sink, but not on the tub). I'd hate to see the hairball they got out of there, as I've removed it from the top area of the drain as much as possible, and apparently I shed a ton. Hopefully it will work right. Because it wasn't draining, the soap was impossible to get off the bottom of the tub, where the lather settled as it slowly drained, and it was getting slippery. I should have told them some time ago; like I said, it happened gradually and then suddenly I was up to my ankles in water.

Wow, it's almost 9 pm. I think I'll go start some bread, get something to drink, fill up the ice cube trays, and clean up the kitchen/do the dishes, since I didn't do that last night. I think I have four more posts before I hit 11,000 posts. :)

So I found a notebook to keep

As a ledger for my finances (such as they are),  and on the inside I had never noticed that the back cover had all sorts of useful and strange measurements,  like gills,  rods,  and (one I had heard of but didn't know)  hogsheads. I include it here for your pleasure, and perhaps, use. And I had no idea a township was a standard of measure.

I went to the bank after work and talked to a woman there who couldn't set me up with overdraft protection,  since my credit had taken a dive,  but was able to refund two of the charges,  so that was a total of $72. So,  I was able to pay my rent,  get $15 worth of gas (it won't last two weeks,  but at least I'm off the gas light),  two small automatic debits will go through,  and I have $47.07 for food.  For two weeks.  But that's better than being negative ten dollars before and incurring another fee,  without any food or gas.  It's something.  So I must be very frugal.  No soft drinks at work,  for example.  Flour is the top on my list,  as I need it for bread and it's cheaper than buying bread.

I called over to the library about the tech position and left a voice-mail for the director.  Hopefully she'll call me back.  If not,  I'll apply anyway.  Can it hurt?  And I'm considering working at Kroger if that doesn't plan out,  especially the Chinoe one,  which I prefer to shop at because it's small.

I think that's all I can do on the money front today.  I've recorded things into the book.  I'm going to look at my shopping list and see if there's things I can get for less than $40 that will last until the 23rd. Fortunately I'm good on cleaners and health/beauty products.

I think I'm going to tackle the kitchen tonight.  I also need to go to the store and get some food.  I ate herb bread with margarine for dinner.  I should probably get cheese,  peanut butter,  etc.  to go with any bread I make.  We had a donation of Vidalia onions today at work (the real deal,  from Georgia),  which they gave away,  and I brought YKWIA five and I kept two.  A friend is going to bring me some potatoes she got in bulk at Costco,  so that will go nicely with the onion.  I wonder if I have enough olive oil to make kugel?

Okay,  I'm going to do some stuff around here.  Hope your day went well.

Home

and to air conditioning, yay! I started my day at 8:30 am, was over to a friend's by 10:00. I:

1. Stopped by and got some drinks at Circle K.
2. Cleaned my friend's house.
3. Did my laundry.
4. Did his laundry (except for the dog blankets, as they don't need them right now as it's hot and he hasn't put his air conditioning on, yet).
5. Went to the grocery for both of us.
6. Went back to the grocery because the milk was leaking.
7. Had to back up an entire lane at Kroger because someone two cars ahead of me was waiting for a space for four minutes, causing the person to lay on his horn like a crazy person.
8. Watched Hotel Transylvania 2, which was quite fun.
9. Loaded up two laundry carts, two reusable totes of food, a backpack, and a few odds and ends into the car, and then into the house.
10. Managed to get the carts in the living room despite a narrow entry, nearly flinging a candelabra across the room.
11. Took my afternoon medicine.

I'm sweaty, still sunburnt, and generally ready to just plop down and enjoy the coolness that is my apartment. It's after 8 pm. I feel like I've been running for twelve hours. But it was a good day, nevertheless. So far I've done 100 minutes of activity, per my phone, and 9,552 steps--almost the recommended 10,000, and I average 5-6,000, and burned 952 calories, walking 5.03 miles. My best day so far was 106 minutes, so I'm very close. I may do a few things here before totally plopping down. But I think a shower may be in order, too.

Well, one nice thing

I have reached my 60 minutes of daily activity goal, and surpassed it by 24 minutes, and it's not quite 5:30 pm. I have also recovered, and made it through a fairly large grocery run without feeling run down, tired, or short of breath. I rested a lot between exercising and say, 2 pm, then went over to my friends' house, went through the grocery list, took A to the store, got a fair amount of groceries for me (yesterday's run was a small one; now I have enough for several days), put everything away, and then left them to a walk now that the rain has stopped (at least for now), and came home and put my groceries away. I think I finally feel caffeinated and ready to do stuff around here. The rain's really made me sleepy all day. I've put on some peppy music, and now I'm going to make a battle plan of what I want to get accomplished today. Tomorrow we decided to cancel the game, although Brenda could have played, so we can go through some things and get them ready for Monday. YKWIA and I are also going to watch a movie I have out from Netflix, The Wicker Tree, which is done by the same folks who came up with the original The Wicker Man, which I love. It will be interesting to see what they've done with this. It'll be a good thing to watch for Beltane/May Day. :)

When we were coming from the store, I saw across the road in a grassy place a crow trying to attack a bunny rabbit, the latter of which channelled the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and basically it jumped at the crow and told it to f*ck off. I'm thinking it was a mother rabbit protecting her babies. I do love the bunny with the big gnashy teeth from the movie. YKWIA has a stuffed animal version of it.

I did get ant bait, so we'll see if it'll work. It's the stuff made by Hot Shot. I hate using poison, but hey, I'm tired of the little bugs crawling all over the place (and me).

Okay, time to create a battle plan.

I'm off from work today

because it was a light clinic day and I had things to do that required being off 9-5, and while I may regret it in the long run (I don't have much Personal Time Off (PTO) at all, and Memorial Day's around the corner), it's really been nice. I got up at the normal time, though, and so far I have:

1. Called and arranged for someone to take the paper to the library, since Friday's has the Weekender and is more popular.
2. Gotten my car tags renewed.
3. Picked up a book on the Medici family during the Italian Renaissance from the library downtown.
4. Stopped by McDonald's for breakfast (they gave me regular Coke, ugh, but otherwise it was decent).
5. Picked up a friend, stopped by a gas station for drinks and his newspaper, and took him to an appointment.
6. Waited outside in the car with the windows rolled down, reading the Medici book, for about an hour. I also downloaded a couple of phone applications and laid the seat back, enjoying the pleasant breeze and sunlight.
7. Took my friend home.
8. Got a call from the allergist that my phials are in, so I can start allergy shots. They were getting ready to close for lunch, so I came on home, got my Epi-Pens transferred to my bag, and now I'm killing some time listening to the Eurythmics and A Flock of Seagulls on an 80s alternative music channel on Pandora. I've got the windows of the apartment open.

Things to do the rest of the day:

1. Get my allergy shots.
2. Go grocery shopping.
3. Pay bills.
4. Exercise.
5. Work on the house.
6. Print out some papers for a friend, whose printer is out of ink.
7. Take that friend to an appointment mid-afternoon.
8. Go get the new SD card for my CPAP machine and try the new masque the doctor recommended, see if it fits.
9. Pick up a friend for an evening appointment.
10. Take another friend to get his bus pass.
11. Watch 'Grimm'.

So, yes, busy day, but yay for productivity so far. I think I'll print those pages out before doing anything else. The allergist's office opens back up at 1:30 pm. Then I can deliver the pages when I pick my friend up.

Feeling better today

Happy and having a good day, but not too high and weird. I went to the pharmacy after work and got some medicine for a friend, and then another friend paid for us to have a meal at Long John Silver's. We watched the movie My Babysitter's a Vampire, which explained the backstory to the series. It'a a fun Canadian kids show that mocks Twilight mercilessly. :) Then I went to Kroger and got a few things, along with some creamer, and talked to a nice Jewish man and his father who was buying pomelos and the strange spiky melon we once tried at the game that was so weird. Now I'm home and listening to Jesus Christ, Superstar again (it's the movie soundtrack), and I'm early into the recording, at 'Everything's Alright'. I paid a slew of bills today, and I'm trying to make every dollar stretch as much as I can so I'm not hungry again, while working in my budget.

Tomorrow there's work, which should be fairly light. I may do some cataloguing and try to get my pile of new books down since I'm about to start back in scheduling. Then my friend has an evening appointment, and then there's 'Grimm', I'm assuming. So far, I don't have any weekend plans. I don't know if we're playing the game this weekend yet. Saturday there will be the grocery run with A. I also may stop by Tire Discounters and have them check my battery cables, as every once in awhile my car cranks slowly, but then if I get it a little rest, it starts right up. The battery's just two months old. I'm hoping it's as simple as a loose connexion, and not something like the starter or alternator.

I think I'm going to get comfy, go into the bedroom, and do some reading, while finishing with the album. Good night. Oooh. We're up to 'This Jesus Must Die'; I love Caiphas' low voice, and his and Annas' voices play off each other, as Annas is a high tenor.

I just slept a long time and I'm still having trouble waking up

So last night, I came home, was online briefly, but didn’t actually sit down and blog, but rather worked out a budget for the next two months, and by 9 pm was so tired I could barely concentrate anymore and headed to bed, forgetting entirely to take my Lantus, but my blood sugar was 99 anyway this morning, probably because I finally got up about 10 am this morning, although the original plan was 6 am, but then I decided I might as well sleep in, as I obviously need it. I had mentioned it had seemed like a long week, right? And I got up early yesterday to take the dog to the vet (all’s pretty okay with that; they treated her wounds, which are shallow and not likely to be animal-related, and sent her home with some pain medicine. She’s still slow and obviously not well, but she’ll drink and take her medicine, and my friend left her in to slowly eat her food last night while the others went out.)

I did do all the running I expected to do except that while I did a small grocery run for myself, we didn’t do the supplemental run with A yesterday, as he got back from the barber very late. I’d dropped him off at noon, and it took until 3 pm, they were so busy, for him to get his hair cut. 3 hours! It makes the half an hour I waited at the cable company to return my equipment seem like a piece of cake.  He came home on the bus, so it was after 4:30 when he got home.

In the meantime, YKWIA and I watched a couple of episodes of ‘Ugly Betty’ and Friday night’s ‘Grimm’. Both of us at first thought Meisner and Lucien were being played by the same person, perhaps a double agent or related characters, but I looked them up last night and they are different actors. But there’s a resemblance.

Okay, I should call A and see what the plans are for the store trip and other things we normally do on Sundays. I kind of want to just hang out here for awhile, but I’m in a sleepy-restful mood, meaning I probably wouldn’t get anything done. At least over there I can get my laundry finished along with all the stuff over there, and spend time with good company.

Whew!

It’s been a weird day. I mostly did some things around the house, ate, and played a bubble shooter game on my phone without much success of getting through level 23 (it’s based off of Disney Pixar’s movie Inside Out). A had called me earlier today and explained that the snow ploughs had not made it to his street but that he was about to go out and do some shoveling. I asked him to give me an update later. About 2 pm he called and said the plough had been through, everything looked good, and he’d shoveled the walks and driveway for me. They were almost out of coffee, and we’re getting temperatures around 0 degrees tonight and tomorrow morning, so I figured conditions would just worsen, so I went out and spent a half-hour digging out my car with a broom and a dustpan. Yes, really. I do need to invest in a snow shovel, after never needing any for years. But last year we had over 10 inches in each of two storms two weeks apart, and this time, while the official measure was over 9 inches, A and I each have about 10 or 11, as our parts of town got more snow. Add the drifting from the wind and it could go up to three feet in places.

After digging out where I could (and I’m counting that as exercise for my Habitica application), and only falling down once into a drift onto my butt, I managed to get out of my parking place, and then there was a moving truck taking up most of the space near the curve to the exit from the parking lot, so I had to go through the snowier area. I got stuck on my street, which never gets ploughed as far as I can tell, but shifting into reverse and then into first and second gear (which I’ve never done using an automatic) and got out and down the road. The next street and the one after that wasn’t bad, just narrower. Once I got to Man O’War, things were just wet, except for slush where people pulled out of other streets here and there. None of the right turn lanes had been ploughed, though, so we were having to turn from the right straight lane instead. I went down Man O’War and then another road that I knew was a snow route just to be okay, not the normal back way I go. Then I got to their street, which was pretty decent, and into the driveway. A and I went and got a few groceries for each of us, stopped by Jin Jin and got Chinese food, and then I headed home, as I wanted to get back by dark and the sun was already low on the horizon. I got home shortly before 6 pm, managed to make it back into the very same parking place I’d been in, after negotiating my street again.

I came in and one of my floor lamps (the newest, which I got three years ago), was leaning awfully badly, so I tried fiddling with it, and it totally came apart and broke, much to my frustration. I decided to walk away from the lamp and eat my kung pao tofu and spring rolls and calm down a bit. When I went back it was obvious that it was broken and not merely unscrewed, and that it was designed somewhat poorly. I salvaged the heavy glass shades off of the torchiere piece and the two reading lamps, and I’ll get rid of the rest when I take things to the dumpster, then look for another one that is similar. It means the living room is a bit dark, having only the original floor lamp over by the computer, and nothing will come on when I flip the switch next to the door, but I’ll eventually get another, maybe when I get my tax refund and have a little money to spend. Who am I kidding, that will all go to bills, I’m sure. :)

So now that I have released the lamp to the Great Beyond and I’ve eaten, I feel better. There are plenty of things to do tonight, but my back and neck are hurting somewhat from wrestling with the lamp (the base was very heavy, and the whole thing was nestled in a spot in the corner behind the couch, which reclined while I was trying to line up the base with the pole and screw it back together. I probably needed two people to even get as far as I could, but in the end, the screw would not pop up to where the pole could be screwed in, and plastic parts, beyond the metal pieces that were giving me fits, just crumbled, especially up in the light. Fortunately I didn’t break any of the shades (I did break one once before when the lamp fell over, and had to replace the two small shades with something similar). In retrospect, the lamp has never truly been completely vertical at 90 degrees to the floor since then, so it probably was on its way out for some time and I managed to keep it going for awhile by leaning it against the wall and putting it between other objects. Oh, well.

To be honest, I think I’m going to lie down for just a little while and then maybe watch something on DVD. Or read. I don’t know yet. I did do a little reading last night, but the book was terrible in terms of grammar so I returned it. It purported to be a history of Rome, but it was very cursory at best, treating the entire period from the founding of Rome to Augustus Caesar in few pages, and I had doubts of it getting any better. Plus, it focussed on battles rather than much of (in my opinion) the more interesting history of Rome, the social and political aspects. Anyway, considering I’ve taken graduate classes where I had to learn the history of the Republic and the Empire pretty thoroughly, this seemed inadequate, more like a listing of kings and emperors. I already had to memorise the entire list of Roman Emperors, I don’t need another listing. What I wanted was a nice overview to jog my memories on certain aspects of Roman history, and was disappointed. The download included another book on the history of Aegypt and one on the history of Greece, but I decided to not even try those.

Okay, the bedroom and perhaps getting comfy with a book (or a Kindle) is calling me. Oh, and probably I’ll just fall asleep for awhile anyway. :)