Well, drat...

Pardon me, I'm about to over share. So I'm awake, it's the middle of the night, and I'm hungry. I had to pay my regular bills like rent plus had an unexpected $117 after my exam for contacts, on the last day of my vision insurance, even with insurance. That was the 31st of March. So anyway, I was careful to save money for my car insurance, which came out yesterday, leaving me a mere thirty cents in the bank. So the last few days I've had to have my friends help me with gas due to all the driving I've been doing for them, and food has been scarce. Today I finally ate at about 5 pm, two seven-layer burritos from Taco Bell, thanks to A, who bought me some. Not good for a diabetic to wait that long. Later, I fixed some steel cut oatmeal with some hard brown sugar in it that I found in the back of the cupboard, along with five crackers.

Flash forward to now. My last paycheque from the hospital, plus payment for my personal time off, has hit my bank account--it is only for a week, so it's not as much as usual, but I can buy groceries. I'm lying in bed awake because I'm hungry and I decide hey, it doesn't matter that it's 3:30 am, I'm going to get dressed, go to the gas station (I'm on my gas light), and then go to Kroger and get some food.

I get up, get dressed, and am about to grab my purse and slip my sandals on, when I remember that I have a fasting blood draw at 9 am. Curses!

So now I'm back in bed, hungry. I guess I'll sign off and hope that I go to sleep. I'll go to the gas station and grocery as soon as my blood draw is over. I'll laugh about it later, I'm sure. But right now it's a little annoying, and I have a headache on top of insomnia. :(

I got home about 8:30 tonight, which isn't bad for me

And I remembered to come in the other entrance to the apartment complex, as there is angled parking across from my building and the striped the new asphalt in the opposite direction than it had been, mainly so vehicles would not block the drive as people come around the corner of the wall. I came in and immediately started looking through the cabinets, but didn't find much other than some steel-cut oats, quinoa, and hot chocolate. I did, however, find a full jar of Dickinson's blackberry preserves that I'd forgotten was in the refrigerator. I still have a bit of peanut butter, too. So the first thing I did before changing into comfy clothes or anything else was put the ingredients for bread into the pan of the breadmaker and set it. I should have bread before midnight. Oh, and I found some not-too-limp celery and managed to salvage a stalk, so that will tide me help with my rumbly stomach. I'm so glad I get paid in a little over 24 hours. It's pretty much all spoken for, but I should be able to get some food and restock the pantry some, hopefully.

So now I'm in the bedroom, listening to the OneRepublic station on Pandora. I'm surprised I still have Wi-Fi, to be honest--I need to pay the Internet and electric bills or they'll be disconnected later this week. Sigh. Things will get better. I will find either a part-time job that will help, or a full-time job that will let me avoid the unemployment line next April when my current positions end. The only job of note out there is an associate at Lexington Public Library, which is part-time and I could do that as a second job, but I don't know if they'd hire a degreed librarian. I think I'll call tomorrow; it closes Friday. It can't hurt to ask if they would at least consider it. In the meantime, I've checked out several books on using LinkedIn and other social media to brand oneself, create a network, and find a job. Maybe that can help. One thing about being a librarian, you tend to think the answer to something is to be found in a book. That's not always the case, of course, but educating oneself can never be bad.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go work on my LinkedIn profile a bit. Hope you're having a good week. Oh, and PS, I think I've finally stopped the second period of the month, which is a relief. I still need to make that appointment, though.

I seldom wake up hungry

But I did, several times throughout the night, so apparently last night's crackers didn't stay with me. This morning my blood sugar was 78, which is on the low end of normal, and almost unheard of for me, and it's probably just as well I got up early (5 am) and checked it. So now I'm having more crackers, but with some peanut butter this time. At least it is actually Wednesday, so I'll get paid late tonight, around midnight.

I've scaled back the new dishes I want to try (yes, I've been somewhat obsessed with food and the recipes I've found, probably because I haven't seen fruits or vegetables in days, except for some papaya and pineapple a co-worker gave me yesterday). Side note: Tropical fruit cups (I think it was by Dole) have red and yellow papaya and pineapple--not mango, which is great, as I am allergic to mango. I think I had a banana one day at work. But I've had almost no vegetables, and the things I've planned are heavy on fresh vegetables. But, one author advised trying no more than three recipes a week when you're beginning to cook to avoid being overwhelmed, and also fresh produce adds up and I can only spend so much. So I'm definitely going to try the blackberry-ginger salmon (the most expensive dish, but blackberries are on sale right now), the eggplant pasta, and the potato leek soup this week, along with the Mexican orange-avocado salad, (Yes, I know, that's actually four.) And I'd like to try the recipe I have for honey wheat bread, as I'm quite comfortable making bread, and it's designed specifically for my machine.

Wow, now that my stomach is satisfied, I'm trying to go back to sleep, even though I had several hours' worth. I may go back to sleep for a little bit--I did get up awfully early. The sun's not even up yet, although it is twilight outside. Maybe till 6:30 am? Then I can still go into work early to make up for the time at the appointment yesterday,

Can you imagine such an impact that one life has had?

He only saved a billion people...

Only five people in history have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal: Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel ... and Norman Borlaug.

You've probably never heard of Norman Borlaug, known as the father of the Green Revolution (no, not some bloody coup). The 93-year-old was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal earlier this month, putting him in pretty solid company in terms of those who have made the world a better place. His contribution? He's an agronomist who revolutionised food production, particularly in developing countries.

In 1960 about 60 percent of the world's people experienced some hunger every year. By 2000 that number was 14 percent, a remarkable achievement. But as Borlaug cautioned at the ceremony in his honor, that still leaves 850 million hungry men, women and children.

There are many who would criticise the Green Revolution on environmental and political issues; don't let me leave you with the impression that it's all great. But still--in terms of the alleviation of human suffering, it's quite an accomplishment.

I glanced at the Newsweek article a few days ago, and I'm sorry to say when I talked about him over dinner tonight I 1) couldn't remember his name and 2) thought he had died, having not read the article carefully, assuming that was the reason for the tribute. Part of Alter's column's point is that scientists were once famous--Einstein being the most notable example, I suppose, but now they toil away in relative obscurity. And here I forgot the man's name. I hope this rectifies it somewhat.