This morning on the radio

the trivia question of the day was basically such-and-such percentage of women do this before a first date...with the obvious answer being 'shave/wax their legs' (yeah, even I, who haven't dated in ages, got that one), but there was a 10-year-old girl who called in, and while she didn't have 'the right' answer, it was an excellent one. Her answer: 'Have a backup plan'. That kid will go far.

I couldn't sleep most of last night. I think I woke up somewhere around 3 am, tossed and turned till 6 am, then slept till 6:30--and I hadn't gone to bed insanely early or anything. I did what I shouldn't have done--I went on Facebook. There is a group dedicated to the roleplaying game I play, and someone asked where people lived, and people form all over the world chimed in. I said I lived in Lexington, Kentucky, and someone replied that they lived a few miles away. The name sounded really familiar, but it wasn't anyone I knew. So I Googled him, and I'm 95% sure he is the director of the library I am sending an application to by Friday, as soon as I can get my transcripts for UK. Serendipity? I don't know, but hopefully he'll recognise my name and it'll spark some curiosity. :)

Then at 6:30 am I awoke to a raging thunderstorm, nearly leapt out of bed, got entangled in the covers and the CPAP hose, nearly fell, and then unplugged my phone as quickly as I could. I guess I still startle a little when thunder is nearby. I had a phobia for years (my baby book even says I screamed with thunder at 6 months old), and have actually been at a campsite that was struck by lightning. Everyone else felt it. I was in the full foetal position in a puddle on the ground. But over the years it's lessened, and I can listen to distant thunder and enjoy it, and I'm basically okay unless I'm outside (say, with an umbrella), or if it's REALLY loud.

So I went in to work early, and I have been consistently e-mailing all sorts of people today to let them know what books are available (my boss wants them divvied up by this week), showing others what's available, and telling people outside of the organisation that I need to change to my personal e-mail for things like book review proofing and working on collection development reviews. It's just really underscored that we're nearing the end.

After work, I went to my friend's house who is sick, got his card, went to the pharmacy, picked up his medicines, stopped by the store for sweetener, and basically crossed the town a couple of times in rush hour traffic on roads that haven't had rain in awhile that are really slick. I felt a certain sense of accomplishment that I didn't have an accident, and I didn't have much anxiety with the drive.

Now I'm home, I've had burritos for dinner (the last of them), and am hydrating and listening to music. I feel the need to be productive, and I'm not super sleepy or anything, but I am a bit tired. Tomorrow I'm going to sit with someone who's taking over one of my duties, today I helped someone with the audit I used to do, and Thursday we're supposed to have a representative of the unemployment office come and talk to those of us who are not going, which is good, because I need a little direction. I have been on unemployment before, when my hours were cut a few years into this job, but it's been over a decade and I'm sure things have changed. I do know where the office has moved, at least, and it's got resources that might help. But I'd also like to get my Internet connexion back on so that I can spend more time looking, and it would help A, too. Right now I have to use my phone (which is limited), the library, the laundry room, or over at my friend's physical therapy office, which has WiFi.

Speaking of laundry, I haven't done mine since YKWIA's been sick--I usually do it over there, and so I'm running low on some essentials. I may have to break down and use the laundry room, which costs $3 a load, when I get paid.

I kind of feel like I'm starting to crash. Maybe I'll rest for just a bit. I know, I tell myself that, and I'll probably be done in for the night. But I'll try to get up in about 30-45 minutes and at least water the plants and do some things here.

But just in case, good night. ;)

So much for going to bed early

I've been playing on Facebook. Hey, I missed the Internet. I've been going on just as much as necessary, not really doing the surfing I enjoy. But now I am really going to head on to bed. Good night!

I'm officially online again

1. Modem received, connected, and activated? Check!
2. Wireless router connected, configured, and working? Check!
3. Vonage router connected and phone working? Check!
4. Computer works either with Ethernet or Wi-Fi connexion? Check!
5. Printer connected via Wi-Fi? Check!
6. Printer printing? Check!

So it took awhile, but I got all my ducks in a row, finally. I had specifically asked for the same level of Internet I had before, which was 20 Mbps and came with a wireless modem all-in-one. Instead, I got standard Internet (which, granted, is cheaper by $10), which is 15 Mbps, has a wired-only modem, etc. Fortunately I still had my old wireless router, and was able to find the cord for it as well (they had become separated). Everything else was still in place, so I hooked it all back up to the modem in the correct order, reconfigured the connexion on the laptop and the printer. I couldn't get the printer to print via the USB, but it will wirelessly, so I'll worry about that when I get the desktop back. Besides, I think I had that set up via Ethernet anyway. I had expressly asked them to FedEx my cable modem to my workplace rather than my home, since I've hardly ever been able to get packages via post or UPS at my apartment, and I figured this would be no different. Apparently they sent it to my home address anyway, but they took it to the leasing office, and when I checked if it had been delivered (which was a conundrum, as the truck had already been to work and it hadn't arrived), I noticed our leasing agent's name on the signature rather than anyone from materials management at work. So I went by and got it.

I also went to the doctor today and was told my wrist issues are not in my wrist at all, but stem from my neck, so he's given me an order to return to physical therapy and work on my core in an attempt to help my posture so my neck doesn't slip a bit and pinch nerves. Dr. Favetto is really big into posture. We have a new employee at work who came from there and when I mentioned I had an appointment, she said he'd tell me to work on my posture, which he did years ago when I went, and then repeated this time. :)

Anyway, I should be posting more now that I'm online more reliably. Okay, it's been a long and somewhat exhausting day. I think I'll go relax a bit. Good night!

Correction

It's actually a fairly substantial colony of ants. :( I may have to head over to Kroger later for something to take care of it. And the fountain may just have to go live outside for a day or two. I keep feeling like they're crawling on me, even though they're not--my computer desk is in a corner near the window they're swarming from.

Today has been about getting used to changes and being one phone call away when needed. But I'm having a quiet night alone at the apartment, and I've had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and some string cheese, so I'm good for the night, hopefully. I brought some very sturdy copy boxes home from work over the last couple of days in the hopes of doing some spring cleaning--putting loose things in the boxes and then going through each one item at a time. Basically I want to contain things and make it easier to break down the process. I also need to water the plants and add some to the fish tanks. They're not dangerously low, but they do need some. My violets and geraniums are blooming nicely. I've put a couple of sprigs of my Christmas cactus which fell off into another pot and hopefully they'll root.

They sent the modem out today and I should get it tomorrow, although I'm going to be at an appointment or two tomorrow afternoon, so I may have to come back later and see if it came. Tomorrow I should be away from home in the evening, but I'll try to set it up after I get in. I'm just using the laptop at home right now; a friend still has my desktop borrowed.

I didn't sleep much at all last night. I went to bed early, about 10 or 10:30, and I slept till about midnight. After that, it was all tossing and turning back and forth. So I think I'll take a short nap before proceeding with my afternoon.

There is a very annoyed bee who keeps trying to get to my geraniums through the screen. :)

Okay, time for a nap.

I have found a small colony of ants

making their way back and forth from the front wall to a rarely used fountain that still has some water in it. It's in the sunny living room window surrounded by plants. Occasionally I have seen an ant on my computer desk, so I decided to investigate. This is not good. I'm used to having trouble in the spring at work, but I've never had them in my home here, and it's usually fruit flies that are the issue in the summer. So, I guess it's time to find some decent ant bait.

I also just made arrangements to get my Internet/Wi-Fi back. Time Warner Cable processed my payment and will send me a modem within two days. I just have to tell the folks in our materials management that I have one coming via FedEx (I can never seem to get anything directly sent to my apartment).

I had a great appointment with my endocrinologist today. I went from a Hemoglobin A1c of 9.6 (pretty high, although the highest I've been is 10.1) down to 7.1 (which is in the range they like to see diabetics) in just three months, and it would probably have been better but the last two or three weeks I've struggled with my medication routine. Still, I'm back on track, so it should continue to stay decent.

I came home and did a little straightening up in the kitchen and living room before even taking off my shoes. Now I'm going to get something to eat and try to tackle the dining room, which had a lot of laundry on the table but now just has lots of random stuff. I brought home a couple of copy paper boxes, and I'm going to sweep everything into them and then go by things one by one. Hope you're having a good week so far!

Up and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

For all that I had trouble sleeping last night, and probably got to bed about 2 am and then listened to some Depeche Mode for awhile after that, I got up at 7:45 am and am pretty perky, or about as perky as I get in the morning. Yesterday I was not as vigilant about doing all the stuff to keep my blood sugar in control, and my bedtime glucose was high, so I took both Lantus and Humalog (long-acting and short-acting insulin, respectively). This morning my fasting blood sugar is 117, which is very good, and I’m back on track. I only missed one pill and one injection, really, but I felt a bit like a slacker, when I’ve been doing so well. So, here’s to being back in form today.

It is 9 degrees outside, quite cold, and sunny. I plan on waiting for it to warm up before going anywhere. I’d like to pop by the library today, as it’s been closed, but on Sundays they open at 1 pm, so I may not be able to. We’ll see. A friend wants me to get a book from the Beaumont Library for him, and I’d like to hook the computer up to Wi-Fi for just a bit to get any updates there might be.

But I’ve got some time today before then to maybe work on my to-do list, since I haven’t really done anything on it except dishes.

You’d think with this much snow on the ground, nothing would be bothering my allergies, but I have inside allergies as well. My eyes are watering to the point of crying and I just blew my nose and unstopped it. I just took my allergy pill and I’m taking eye drops for that as well. These help. I really need to get back on track with my allergy shots, since the phials are at the practice and ready.

A few things to do this week:

1. Get my allergy shots, at least once, but twice if possible.
2. Take YKWIA to an appointment during the workday and three appointments in the evening.
3. Go to Time Warner Cable and give back the modem/router.
4. Go to one appointment of mine during the day and one evening appointment, the second of which coincides with YKWIA’s, at least. Getting allergy shots twice this week is looking slim. But there’s Wednesday, when they’re open late, and that’s free, for now.

Oh, by the way, speaking of taking the box back to TWC:

Vonage will not let me go. As you may know, Vonage is a voice-over-Internet phone provider, meaning that an internet connexion is required to use the phone, unlike bundled phones from the cable company. I have had Vonage for (apparently) nine years and five months. During that time, I have happily paid my bill through an automatic draught month in and month out. So they consider me a wonderful customer. Years ago, I was having trouble making a payment, and they actually comped the entire month. Last year, I lost my internet for a couple of months and they forwarded my calls and gave me credit for two or three months so I wouldn’t be charged.

Yesterday I called to cancel, and they really did all they could to make sure I didn’t. They dropped it down to an account that would be $6 a month with taxes, then gave me the credit for six months so that I could call back in that time to see if I got a connexion back in that time. That way I get to keep my phone number. I agreed to this (probably I will get the internet back in that time, through some provider, if I can find a good rate that I can afford, so I can watch Netflix on my TV again). So, everyone was happy. They really have bent over backwards to try to keep me as a customer. I certainly would recommend them to anyone. Anyway, thank you, Vonage.

I’ve been playing more of ‘Inside Out: Thought Bubbles’ and I finally got through that one level, but I’m stuck again, getting within one ball several times, using both Joy’s and Sadness’ powers. :( I’m assuming I’ll eventually unlock the other emotions, if I can just get past level 24.

Okay, it’s nice and bright in here, with the sun reflecting off the snow. I think I’ll read for a bit. I’ll write later, hopefully.

Snow Day!

So the snow didn’t actually start until the early morning commute. I got up and watched the conditions being predicted on the weather, though, and decided that while I most likely could drive or take the bus to work, getting back was going to be an absolute problem, whichever I chose. So I called my boss, who bless her heart planned on being in, as her husband was going to bring her from Garrard County, and left a message on her voicemail that I was going to heed the warnings and stay off the road, hunkered down in my apartment.

And then the snow came. And came. And came.

I went back to sleep till about 10:20 and fixed a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast with fruit, a banana, and Morningstar farm veggie sausage patties. As I ate, I watched the snow coming down. It was about two or so inches then, and it was coming down probably at about 1-2 inches per hour. Some of my neighbours, mostly from South Asia, were coming up by foot and visiting others here in the building. No one was out clearing vehicles or trying to drive anywhere that I saw. (I have a front living room window, facing the parking lot, so I can sort of watch the world as it goes by. I did a lot of that after I was hit by the car and was laid up for three months with a broken foot and ankle.) Anyway, one of our maintenance men came and shoveled the walk, stairs, and porch, clearing the snow. It seems to be a heavy, wet type of snow. I decided to go back to bed for awhile (I didn’t sleep that well last night), and so I slept from about 11:45 to 1:00 and got up to about six inches of snow. The walk is completely covered again, and it looks like the snow has been blowing and drifting some. The southern part of the state apparently got ice before the snow, so things have been worse for them. We’re at about the limit of my ability to drive in the snow now; if it continues like this for three more hours, I really don’t think I could have gotten home, and it is supposed to go for some time, up through tomorrow morning.

Now I’m going to try to do some things around the house. I’m a little chilly, but getting up and doing some things should help (it’s one reason I went back to bed.) So I’m going to turn the heat up a notch and then try to (over the next couple of days, since I’m probably not going anywhere soon):

1. Wash dishes.
2. Straighten up the kitchen.
3. Bag up the recyclables.
4. Take out the trash and recyclables if possible.
5. Straighten up the dining room.
6. Fold the remaining clean laundry.
7. Gather the dirty laundry for tomorrow, after the snow stops.
8. Straighten up the living room a bit.
9. Do a quick once-over on the bathroom.
10. Tackle the bedroom, which need to be excavated, as for once I have dirty laundry on the floor rather than the hamper, some clean laundry stacked up, the boxes of Christmas ornaments to still put away, and some things pulled out of the closets that need to go back. Then I can make the bed and all should be right with the world, and I can mark things off my to-do list.
11. I also need to call Vonage today and cancel my service, since I don’t have Internet at home anymore. To save on data, I’m also typing this up in Word first and then pasting into Blogger.

I’d also like to do some things for fun while I’m off (what’s a snow day without reading, for example). And while I can’t watch any streaming video, I have some DVDs to catch up on, including Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, some Phryne Fisher mysteries, and of course, ‘Downton Abbey’, where I’ve only finished the first season and have two and three on DVD, so I’m hopelessly behind.

Depending on how things look tomorrow afternoon, I may try to dig out and get A for a trip to the store, assuming there is anything left to get. :) But it may be Sunday before we can do that. I did bring them milk, creamer, and bread yesterday to help bridge that time.

Okay, I guess I’ll start with the dishes. Stay safe if this storm is impacting you.

Unless something changes in the meantime

I will not be going to work tomorrow. Our entire commonwealth is under a severe winter weather warning, and we are expecting up to and perhaps more than a foot of snow tomorrow. Now, according to the Weather Channel, it may not start until about the morning commute, but the problem is that while I might be able to get to work tomorrow morning, I most likely will not be able to get home. They're talking high winds in addition to the snow, causing a whiteout. Most everything is going to be closed, the garages downtown are free through Sunday to keep the cars off the snow routes there. I was told twice today by my boss that if I felt I could come in, that was one thing, but they didn't want anyone risking injury or death to be there, especially as I am non-essential personnel. Our clinic is lighter on Fridays, and while there were quite a few originally scheduled, there were already cancellations and I suspect there will be more. So I will most likely stay home to avoid getting stuck there, or if I do go, it'll be by bus. We already rescheduled my friend's appointment that was tomorrow, too.

After work today, I:

1. Got gas, filling up the tank. I went to the Euclid Speedway, which had gas at $1.58 a gallon even without any discount. I drove by Euclid's Kroger and it was crazy, with cars like vultures circling a kill. Because of that, there was no way to get to the bank that was next door.
2. I was, however, able to go by the Chinoe Kroger and get a roll of quarters for laundry from them. When I got there, the parking lot was busy, but I was able to get a spot near the edge of the lot. When I left, people were parking in strange places and circling around and around. I got the last cart before they brought more in (and they were doing that very quickly). I got some basics, including things that don't require power to make (I have an all-electric apartment), including a couple of items for my friends. The lines were backed up down the aisles, even though all the checkout lanes were open and running quickly. I didn't wait a long time, but I was about four or five back and there were at least another five or so behind me, and it was piling up further, with lines snaking around to the freezer section. I was lucky--I'd gone into work early, so I was able to leave early, so I beat a lot of the crowds. On the news tonight, they were showing the denuded shelves at Euclid's Kroger.

Then I went to my friends' house, dropped off the items, and my friend and I went to physical therapy. We got home about 8, recording the finale to 'Heroes Reborn'(we haven't watched the one before that yet). I fixed him some food, pilled the dogs, watched something with him as he ate, let the dogs out, fixed him tea, and then got home about 10 pm. Fortunately the snow hadn't started yet, so the roads were mostly dry till I got to my street, which is probably considered tertiary and to the best of my knowledge, has never seen a snow plough. But anyway, I put my windshield wipers up after I parked the car, brought the groceries in, etc., set the computer back up (I'd had it with me today), and ate some string cheese and the last bit of my pumpkin ice cream. My comma key is sticking for some reason. I'm not sure why.

Other things I did today:

1. Talked to someone at Time Warner Cable, who initially told me I could get my service back on for about $64, but then it quickly ballooned to a deposit and first month's payment in addition, so almost $200. It's not worth it. I pointed out that I had a hotspot through my cellular plan that gives 5GB of data just for that (my actual data plan on my phone is unlimited). I pay $10 a month extra for that, as opposed to $55 a month for monthly Internet from them. I've been using it, and I quite frankly came nowhere near that cap. So I feel confident letting the cable go. I'll take in the equipment and pay what I owe them, and that's that. Because of that, I'll have to cancel my Vonage phone, but I mainly use my cell phone anyway, and while they have been very good to me over the decade I've been with them, unfortunately it does require Internet to work, so that'll save me another $20 a month. The main drawback is that I can't watch Netflix on my TVs or laptop, as I don't think that 5GB cap would work if I were streaming programmes, but I mostly watch over at YKWIA's anyway. I am considering cancelling the DVD portion of my Netflix subscription, as we're not going through them quick enough to justify the money. I'll see about that. But if I do need Wi-Fi for anything, I can go across the street to the public library.
2. I rescheduled the appointment for tomorrow.
3. I added roadside assistance to my car insurance. My AAA is up for renewal, and it's simply too expensive compared to the dollar or so a month I'd pay through my insurance carrier. I also put in for a low mileage discount. In the three years I've had my car, I've put about 12,000 miles on it, and anything under 7,500 a year is considered eligible.
4. Checked with my allergist to see if I need new phials or if they're okay for now and at the practice. Everything's okay. I may have to go down to another phial, but they're good till April and there, so if I can go twice a week till then, I might use up most of them before they expire.

Okay, the news is off and Jimmy Fallon is on, so it's getting towards bedtime. Hope you have a safe time if you're in the path of this storm--some places are actually expecting up to two feet of snow. Good night.

My laptop has given me fits today

It was connecting to the Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks, but not to the actual Internet. Apparently, my DNS settings had to be reset. The fix is here. On Windows 10, though, it's best to just search for the Command Prompt application from the search box, then right click on the icon to Run as Administrator--otherwise it won't work.

I got the same feedback as the one person who said it did not work for him--some of the reset failed. But, it still worked. All I was trying to do was move files from one computer to another, either through the network, through Dropbox, or through Gmail, and none of it worked. At first I thought it was my Wi-Fi at home, but it also wouldn't connect when I was using my phone as a hotspot at an appointment I'd taken a friend to.

Also, the troubleshooting for connexion problems kept saying there were no issues, and I was apparently connected, and in fact my anti-virus and Windows Update were downloading updates. Crazy. I even turned off my firewall briefly to see if that was the problem, and had already taken Google Chrome out of the allowed programs and added it back in. Then I stumbled on the fix above. Hope that helps someone.

I've tried both wired and wireless connexions and they're now working fine. Yay!

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.

Yay!

I finally have home broadband and Wi-Fi again. I've hooked up the desktop, laptop, TV, and printer (the phone, tablet, and Kindle only connect when I want them to, but the others either stay on, on in the case of the laptop, connect as soon as I start her up. Oh, and I should do the Roku box in the bedroom, so I can watch Netflix or listen to Pandora, etc.

Again, yay!

And no, I didn't get the TV cable service back. So it's just digital antenna channels and then the streaming services. :) But my bill is a third of what it was.

In the process of cleaning

I went looking for the AC adapter for something and managed to tear apart two closets and some totes.  While I found some other things,  of course,  I didn't find what I was looking for. So although in some ways I got a lot done, especially in the living room,  now the bedroom is a total disaster.

As I was going through boxes,  I found some bulbs that were sprouting.  I think they're daffodils.  So I put them in a pot with some new soil,  and put that in the front window.

I lost my cable today.  I think I'm going to let it go.  The price is ridiculous considering how little I watch TV, and I have a digital antenna for local channels, and I usually watch TV and Netflix with a friend at his place, and while I do use the Internet,  I can also use my phone for almost everything and my data plan includes a hotspot service that can run WiFi for several gigabytes a month. I could save $120 a month for the cable and Internet and another $20 a month for a phone that piggy-backs on the cable.

Okay,  I need to start putting the place back together.  I watched the local news, but I think it's time to go back to listening to music while I clean.

Chrome is still acting up, and I'm losing my connexion

I was going to try to update the firmware in my router, but I can't easily determine which version of the model it is--according to a description, it should be version 1, but it's running a higher version of firmware than that. There are two 'version 2s', with different downloads depending on which it is. :(

Saturday was all about cleaning out closets with friends, doing notes, doing the grocery run, etc. Sunday was game prep, game (we finished an adventure, and one of my characters got engaged to her necromancer boyfriend, the father of her unborn child), and then 'Witches of East End'. I was up late, getting home a little after 11 pm and going straight to bed. I got a little off on my insulin yesterday and it affected my mood. Towards the end of the evening I was worn to a frazzle and about ready to blow. So I went on to bed.

Today has been good, but I've been terribly sleepy all day, despite getting a little over seven hours' sleep. I have a lot to do at home tonight, but I have to lie down for just a bit, even if it means setting the same five alarms I do in the morning to get up within an hour or so. I'll try to write later.

I did get some good news today. My orthotics for my feet will be covered due to my diabetes, so I'm hoping that will help with some foot pain I've been having since I went back to wearing my normal non-sandal shoes. My doctor said the orthotics I had were well-built, but not really ideal for the diabetic foot. He suggested a softer one that is designed with that in mind. Considering the normal expense (my current pair, the ones that are now wearing out, were $380 out of pocket), this is very good news.

A night for tech issues

I had gone to my public library book and had gotten a few books, come home, taken a short (30 minute) nap, and then woke up to find that my friends' phone was acting up. One had called me a little after 5 pm, but I didn't get the voicemail until after 7, which is weird. By that time, I'd gotten an e-mail to answer my phone, and had tried calling them. The voicemail asked me to come over, so I headed over there. I did some basic troubleshooting, called the cable company, and they tried to fix it on their end. We decided the phone itself might have shorted out, as there was a storm this morning (it was actually what woke me up today), so I went home and got a phone that we could try out. No luck. I called the cable company back to arrange for a service call and they had me try plugging the phone directly into the modem, and that worked. Apparently some things were unplugged during the storm, and there was an extra cable for no good reason, and the wrong cable got plugged back in.

So that was resolved without a service call. Then I came home and found that my internet wasn't working. I reset my wireless router and everything was fine again. So I've gotten my share of troubleshooting tech issues tonight.

My Internet connexion seems to be back to normal, yay

I came home about 9 pm, made the bed, and promptly put my feet up and listened to some Simon & Garfunkel for about an hour, then fell asleep until a friend called checking to make sure I got home okay. I normally call, but I'd put him to sleep with a foot rub and didn't want to wake him.

It's been a pretty good blend of productivity and rest today. We did a short trip to Kroger and decided to do the big run tomorrow. But I also nailed a fence board back into place that otherwise would have allowed dogs to run free. I discovered that although I have more power in my swing, A actually hits the nail at a higher percentage than I do, which is amazing, if you knew him. He hammers like a girl, I hammer like a guy, and together we make a pretty good team.

Still having issues with spotty DNS errors

Odd.

But I will not let that put a damper on my day. Today I went to the optometrist and got a pair of bifocal contact lenses and ordered my others. Apparently I'm a tad bit more nearsighted, but my actual contact prescription didn't change that much. I went by the optician connected with the practice, Pal Optical, and bought some more cleaner for glasses to keep in my purse, since after several years, I've finally gone through the spray I had before, mainly because I use it to clean my tablet and phone screens with a microfibre cloth. :)

After that I grabbed some breakfast and did a little shopping. I got back with some nice work pants, some blouses, socks, bedding, and a couple of purses from Gabriel Brothers, but no jeans, which was actually the point of going out. That's the only problem with that store; because they are a reseller, the prices are low for good quality things, but the selection is spotty. I'll try somewhere else for the jeans. But the other things I can have for work and the bedding is something I've needed for awhile. The purses I really didn't have to have--but I like purses like some women like shoes, so what can I say? They were very nice and very low in price.

I came home, cleared some stuff off my phone, which was labouring without memory, texted Brandon a bit, and then took a nap. Now I've eaten and it's time to gather up some of the stuff that's been piling up in my house and take it to the recycling and trash receptacles. Then I'm going over and taking a friend to the grocery and visiting. So I'm glad I took that nap. :)

Okay, I'd better get going. Hope you're having a good weekend.

Having some spotty Internet issues using Chrome

and I'm not sure why. Tried IE 10 and it's a little spotty, too. Firefox is working better, but sometimes defaulting to a graphics-poor version of things. Not quite sure what's going on. Maybe Insight's having issues. The connexion tests okay, and I've reset the modem and routers a couple of times. The phone's on and so is the cable TV. I paid my bill. What gives?

Today I received both my AAA and car insurance cards. Oddly enough, I never got the temporary AAA card they were supposed to send me. I also got the papers for both the car insurance and renter's insurance that explains what's covered.

After work today I went and picked up a friend from an appointment and we went to Long John Silver's (his choice; I was all up for tofu goodness from Great Wall, but he was craving some fish, and that was fine with me) and then I took him home and stayed just a bit before coming home. My foot and knees were very uncomfortable and I really needed some Tylenol and some elevating. No major swelling, mind you, and the knees were really more painful than the ankle and foot, but they got better when I went to bed for awhile.

I'm so glad it's Friday. This seems to just have been an endless week. I have a lot on my plate this weekend as well. Tomorrow I have an eye appointment in the morning. Then I'm going to try to get all the trash and recyclables out of the house. The recyclables have been piling up for most of the time I've been out. I did have someone take some of them out at some point, but there's quite a bit to go. First I wasn't able to do it, then it rained for days and days. Tomorrow the weather's supposed to be fairly nice, so I want to go ahead and get that done. Tomorrow afternoon I'm going to take a friend to the grocery. Sunday we're not playing the game because Brenda has a doll meet (she makes clothes for ball-jointed dolls), so I'm going to do laundry and work on a friend's computer then.

Okay, I think I'm going to head to bed and then just see tomorrow if my connexion issues have resolved. Hope you have a great weekend.

Who knew the power of a pregnancy test and the Internet?

Reddit, pregnancy test help young man discover testicular cancer (+video)

While the original post was little more than a human-interest piece posted to Reddit because of the bizarre nature of the experience, thousands of concerned Redditors responded to the post within a few days of the comic going live.

“You may have testicular cancer! Get to an oncologist, tell them you took a pregnancy test and it came out positive,” one Redditor noted. “If this is true, you should check yourself for testicular cancer. Seriously. Google it,” another viewer said.

Health experts believe that the man’s pregnancy test was positive because pregnancy tests find human chorionic gonadotropin, which is a hormone in the blood and urine created by the placenta.

Nothing like

dropping your phone under the chair and trying to retrieve it without running over it with the wheels. That was fun. Thank goodness for the soft gel cover; it made it easier.

I have determined that I am too apt to cry to read any more news stories on the Internet for awhile. Plus, I just listened to Linkin Park's Living Things, which is mostly about betrayal, and it's put me in a reminiscing mood of past relationships. So, I'm going to go try to do something with my hair instead, maybe listen to some happy Loreena McKennitt music, and generally go spend some time away from the computer for a couple of hours. I'll write later.

PS My boss told me today about our holiday dinner at work on the 30th, in case I wanted to go. I really do. It's a Friday. I'll still be off my foot but close to walking again. We'll see. It would be great to see everybody.

Spent some time with a friend and his family

who gave me a ride home from work (with a quick stop at Kroger for bread). It was nice to see them. Since neither of us have a car (he had borrowed one for the day), it makes it hard to get together much, and both of us stay pretty busy, but we usually text at least every other day. In fact, he's the main person (okay, the only person) I text. :) He and his wife just celebrated their ninth anniversary, and have two rowdy (especially the youngest) children. More power to them, they seem like great parents, but they have more guts than I do in that regard. :)

I've washed dishes, straightened up the kitchen, taken out the trash (the recyclables outside are full to the brim, so that will have to wait until tomorrow), and put away a few things I had on the loveseat. Tomorrow I need to call the leasing office and ask maintenance to have a look at my commode, as it seems to have a slow leak if you don't jiggle the handle a bit each time. It's probably time for the guts to be replaced again. I go through them fairly quickly for some reason. I promise, I'm not mega-flushing or anything.

I need to water the plants, which are doing well, but I think they're overdue for that--I normally do it on Saturdays at home, Mondays at work. The ones at work are flourishing. The shamrocks are growing like weeds (the purple one gets lots of oohs and ahs at work, it's so big), the violet is blooming (finally), the Christmas cactus isn't but it's very healthy. I did come in Monday to find the rose withered in places. I don't know why; it takes quite a bit of water but I gave it some extra towards the end of the week. I cut the withered pieces away and left the new growth, which was doing fine. I've never been able to keep miniature roses alive indoors, for some reason, but I'm going to give it a try.

Outside, the apartments have replaced the rather scrubby yew shrubs with holly ones, full of berries. I think they'll be a delight come winter when the berries are red. It makes for a nice change. I was saddened when I went into work the other day and they were cutting down a crabapple to get to the gutters and roof near the portico. They're working on the roof of the hospital, and likely will till November, replacing the whole thing. I'm getting somewhat used to the high-pitched sawing sounds, and the hammering, but there's something that causes a vibration that makes the walls shake that just gets under my skin. I've been wearing my headphones when I can and listening to music. Unfortunately, since a lot of my morning is spent on the phone, that's not always possible.

I'm feeling better about my work in regards to the referrals. I'm busy trying to get a handle on three very large clinic days next week, so I'm not doing them at the last minute. 'Course, I did that last week, too, and look how stressed I was Friday and Monday. :)

I'm listening to the Celtic music channel on cable. I'm seriously considering removing the TV package from my cable bill and relying on Netflix for entertainment. It would mean not seeing 'Doctor Who' as it comes out, but all the other seasons are on Netflix and I expect I could watch it after the new season ends. I'm bad about DVR'ing it anyway and then not getting around to watching it, especially as it comes on at a time on Saturday when I'm likely on my way home on the bus. We'll see. It seems silly to pay $75 a month for a service I rarely use. That's $900 a year. I'd still keep the Internet service, though, because, well, one, broadband service is important to me and I use it a lot, two, my Vonage phone piggy-backs on it, and three, that's how you watch those shows on Netflix. :) But it really would half my cable bill entirely. I only spend $16 a month for Netflix in comparison, and that's about $8 for the streaming bit, as I also have the DVD-by-mail subscription. I also have a trial going of Amazon Prime, which includes streaming video, which comes out to be about $6 a month. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to keep it. It also includes borrowing Kindle books and free two-day shipping. We'll see.

Okay, I think I'm going to go read. Or maybe play Ninja Chicken. No, read. :) Good night if I don't write again this evening.