How timely

Given my last post on the collapse of unstructured time and the rabbit-hole, time-sucking danger of context switching. I just got this notice about a book I've had on hold at the Lexington Public Library for some time.

A month later, and it's been a bit dire, but I'm okay

32 job applications put in with:

• 4 rejections
• 2 interviews scheduled
•     1 completed (and it was for a library!) 
• 26 up in the air

2 job skill webinars scheduled

• one completed (on résumé building)
• one on Tuesday on strategic upskilling

1 job fair scheduled (March 24th)

2 Career counselling sessions attended through the UK Alumni Career Centre

Of the 61 books I currently have out from the Lexington Public Library:

• 19 books relate to job hunting
• 9 relate to getting particular library jobs [as subject matter]
• 5 relate using mindfulness for work or to prevent burnout

I also bought the 6th edition of the classic What Color is Your Parachute? (used, from Better World Books) because I'd seen a companion at Barnes & Noble called The Job-Hunter's Workbook, and I'd been intrigued by the exercises. I have an old copy of WCIYP? (I think it's 2012), But this was different. So I got both and returned the copy of the text back to the library, getting both of them used for less than what I'd have spent on the workbook on its own there at Barnes & Noble, and then, also, for less than that one book, I added What Color Is Your Parachute? for Retirement. The whole order was just over $20, and considering that it includes two $1 donations, that's pretty decent.

The interview this week went really well. I did a little stumbling here and there verbally, but never once said the word 'thing' instead of a specific noun. I was not nervous at all. I felt prepared. I was very excited about the position, as it served a particularly overlooked population. We'll see how well it goes. I really think it would be a good fit for me and vice versa, fingers crossed. In the meantime, I have another interview scheduled for this coming Wednesday.

I'm also starting to volunteer with our state talking book library, which creates and distributes books for those with low vision or other disabilities that prevent them from using standard books (including dyslexia or ADHD). They start you out as a proofreader, and that sounds exciting, where you compare the text with the spoken word to catch any errors.  Eventually, you may go on to narration if you like. This gets me out of the grind of looking for jobs at my desk, only requires an hour or two a week, and offers a remote option for proofreading, so I could do it even once I get a job.

My unemployment appeal was accepted, but the hearing date hasn't been set yet, so I have not been receiving payments. On the one hand, I am old enough to draw my pension, but I'm not at full retirement age for the plan (65), and my birthday falls right into next month.  So, if I take it now or anytime in April, it is substantially less than in May, and since it works just like Social Security in that once you draw it, the amount that you draw it at is what you get for the rest of your life, which is less if you draw early. I confess that I'm really angry that I'm in the position that I'll likely have to do this, shaving hundreds of dollars A MONTH for the rest of my life from something I earned because I lost my job this close to retirement, but not close enough. Considering the difference between 58 and 59 was about $400, I think it could have been substantial. But it happens a lot. My mom lost hers right as she hit 62, without a pension. She drew Social Security early and was on unemployment at the same time.

Unfortunately, even if I win the appeal, that'll likely put me over the income limit (no doubt in April), and I'll lose my insurance (Medicaid). I'm likely eligible for subsidised health plans, but it'll still mean a significant portion of my premium going toward a less robust plan.  On the other hand, it's better than the COBRA option, which costs over $ 1,200. If I had kept my insurance, which admittedly, I'd met my out-of-pocket, but oh my, how would I have done it short of draining my retirement?

I did call every creditor I could, pushed back as many bills to late April or May that I could (most worked with me), and then took enough out of my retirement to pay the rest of the bills for March and get into April so that I'd have a place to live, a phone, car insurance, etc.  It didn't throw me off Medicaid (it was under the limit), and then the day after, I pulled the money out, and after a month of daily paperwork, I was approved for SNAP, so I was afraid the distribution would mess all that up. Still, it apparently didn't matter as it was a low amount and wasn't recurrent. I have not gotten the EBT card yet. Fortunately, a couple of friends have helped with food during the month when there was nothing at all coming in.

The last thing I did with my final paycheque was to pay for my storage unit, where almost all my things actually are, so I wouldn't lose it at the end of the month (you only have three days to pay past the due date), leaving me about 32 cents in the bank. I've never been what you'd call financially comfortable, but this is the first time in a very long time that I haven't had a paycheque coming in to fill things back up. So the distribution really was the only way to go, especially since the SNAP application was going so slowly (they tell you to upload a document, but then you have to call requesting why--in the last case, it was because work had signed a form with a computer-generated form rather than a person signing it. Once I took the distribution, I had to send in the stub, a statement, and my 15-year-old printer just died. I saved a signature file and used it, since I couldn't print and didn't have time to go to the library to print the one sheet and then take a photo to upload to the Commonwealth's website. It is an image of my actual signature, not a computer-generated one.  It was, fortunately, accepted.

I hope that means everything has gone through. I have worked hard to get all of that through. People who complain about SNAP have no idea how difficult it is to get and keep the benefits. I have had two friends on disability who have had it. Both got less than $20 a month. One had to fax his renewal, and we spent weeks trying to get it to them (this was before the upload option) and had to actually call the governor's office at one point, finally, only to discover that the machine was broken--had been for months, and then by the time we were able to get in the other route, it was too late and they lost that. I've found the upload process easy; it's just the sheer amount of paperwork. And I've filled out a form saying I'm already registered to vote twice online, yet I still got a form today that I'll mail out Monday. I'm very grateful they've awarded it to me. I hope to use it soon. Having no income at all for over a month, with no savings, nothing, was hard. I had just what I had in the bank from my last paycheque, plus the final one, 3 days' work [they paid me a full day for the day they let me go], plus 3 days' worth of PTO. If it weren't for my retirement savings and the fact that I rent from a friend rather than a complex, I'd be in a much worse position. I don't have much in my retirement, though, not what I should. So hopefully this won't last long.

In the meantime, I'm actively looking, and I'm staying upbeat. I'm really trying to get back into librarianship again--it's where my passion lies, after all, and my skillset is the greatest there. Here's hoping I'll be back in a library soon.

And just in case you hadn't noticed it on the sidebar, here's my résumé.

Numb

So I went to the library yesterday and found these. First thing I'm doing today is making a to-do list for today (ADHD essential), then a schedule for the week. Then I'm reading the LinkedIn book so I can tweak my profile there. I may go to the YMCA. I canceled it (I won't be able to pay for it), but I have a week left and with all the snow and ice and being sick I wasn't able to go all month so I don't want to waste the money I paid this month. It would probably help with self-care. I still haven't broken down or let any of this really 'hit' me. I've felt a little anger, a little sadness, but very shallow emotions--exactly like when someone in my life dies. I never cry at funerals. I push my emotions down. Sometimes they come flooding out when I'm alone or when I'm with my roommate, but otherwise, I feel kind of numb. I have one more therapy session we added before my insurance ends. That should help. But going to the Y might help with the somatic stress too, as I carry out all in my body instead of letting it out.

Wow

At the Lorain Public Library in Ohio, 19 bookshelves holding 50,000+ books collapsed in domino style after the first shelf gave way. The library was closed for a day to clean up the mess, 1971.

I loved that scene in the 1999 film 'The Mummy' with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, and I saw it at the drive-in that used to be right outside Winchester, so I shook the entire car laughing, but this...

Oh, I'm so glad I wasn't the librarian working there that day. This is why I hate metal shelving.

Totally unrelated, my to-be-read pile of library books

 I did get some reading done on Belle Brezing, the famous Lexington, KY madam today.

It's not like I don't have books

Out from the library. :) I need to do some reading. 

Reading Plan

So, in this order:

1. A Darker Shade of Magic--3 days left [to be renewed so YKWIA can finish it and I can read it afterwards]
2. Caesar's Footprints--6 days left (new/14-day book) [to start with immediately] 
3. The Landmark Julius Caesar--6 days left (new/14-day book) [next]
4. Anatomy of a Genocide--14 days left (new/14-day book)
5. La Belle Sauvage--20 days left (fiction)
6. The Oversight--26 days left (fiction)
7. The Forgetting--26 days left (fiction)

When did this happen?

One thing about being home so much is that I'm starting to get on YKWIA's nerves because while the first few days I was exhausted and asleep, as I began to feel better I tended to do lots of small talk and chatter, even though I tried to rein it in.  Apparently, I miss the interaction with other people, and he's been working on projects on the computer and studying, so there have been large blocks of time I've been on my own.  Yes, I've read, watched videos, listened to music, done chores, and I've taken occasional naps, but still, I'm kind of lonely and bored, and what I don't get is this is the hallmark of an extrovert, and I've always been very introverted.  I score INFP on the Meyers-Briggs, always very strong on the introverted side, although it's moved closer to extrovert over the years, as is normal (you tend to move closer to the other side of the spectrum as you age and experience life, if I understand things well).  Anyway, maybe this is part of my problem with reading.  Maybe somewhere along the way it didn't satisfy my need to interact with people rather than characters.  I also find watching the TV to be rather passive, although I do get immersed in the story, just as I do with reading.  Music I enjoy on a different level, both in terms of the actual sounds and the lyrics.  But still, somewhere along the way, I got to where it's harder to amuse myself--me, the kid who was always alone and felt unloved.  That's a little unnerving.

I cuddled with the cat for a while earlier, although I really didn't sleep.  He got right up on my pillow with his head up next to mine.  Then I fed him and the dogs, and he seems to be keeping this food down, so he's happier.

I'm not really sleepy.  I just ate something extra because my blood sugar went low despite taking my insulin back 20 units each time for the long-acting insulin [so 60 units twice a day, which I think is going to have to go down to 50 or 55] and keeping the short-acting one at 34 units for all meals, not 34-42-42.  I kept track of what I've eaten today.  Even with four little meals, basically, I've stayed under the recommended amount for losing weight.  I've been pretty full.  Today I've had two bowls of cereal with milk, a banana, some homemade cream of mushroom soup, a piece of bread, two little applesauce cups, two peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and I think that's all.  So I've had 1 serving of vegetables, 3 of dairy, 4 of fruit (there were raisins in the cereal), 2 protein, 6 servings of grain, and a bit of sweetener, for 1333 calories (an I've burned 2004 for the day) between my activity/steps and my metabolism.  It's not exactly balanced, but it's not bad. If I eat anything else today, I'll make sure it's a vegetable choice.  We've got a turnip-apple dish in the refrigerator, along with 'green rice', which is basically rice with spinach and onions.  So those are possibilities.  In the meantime, I'm making some more bread right now; we should have an extra-large loaf ready by 10:30 pm.

So the question is what to do now. I'm listening to the OneRepublic station on Pandora.  I could read.  I could watch another episode of 'Sherlock'.  I just don't feel like doing either of those things.  It's kind of annoying, actually, that I don't.  I don't want to go to sleep or I won't sleep well tonight.  Sigh.  Maybe I'll try reading. I'm not up to Julius Caesar himself, but maybe the book on his legacy on the landscape (called Caesar's Footprints: a Cultural Excursion to Ancient France by Bijan Omrani).  It might be good to read before tackling Caesar, as I'll have a better idea of the lay of the land for the Gallic War, anyway.  Actually, I should go to the library's website and check to see when each book is due, then come up with a reading plan.  I know the one YKWIA is reading is due on Valentine's Day, the next one that's due, but I think I should be able to renew that one.  I just renewed The Forgetting and The Oversight.  I just checked out Anatomy of a Genocide.  So that leaves Caesar's Footprints, The Landmark Julius Caeser, and La Belle Sauvage to figure out.  Okay, I guess I'll do that.

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.

I slept in till about 9 am today

When I heard the cat trying to claw my bed, which got him yelled at, he stopped, and he proceeded to climb up on me and tread, eventually moving to my pillow and settling on it.  Even with my CPAP, my allergies were reacting.  I love cats (and dogs), but I am pretty allergic to them.  I'm pretty sure he realises this.  Anyway, I petted him for awhile as he purred, got up, took a shower (closing my door so he wouldn't act out further), and so he moved onto waking up YKWIA.  The dogs tried to get me to let them out. We have a rule we established early on; YKWIA lets them out in the morning and feeds them, so they're not as likely to bother me in the morning or have the little dog bark and wake him up since I get up about 6 or 6:30 am each weekday.  I feed them in the evening and let them out.  It works well, usually.  Little dog does normally make it till after I leave; she's the only alarm clock he has.  But she has a little old lady bladder, so eventually, she'll bark.  Anyway, by that time it was about 9:30 or 9:45, so even though he was up later than I, it was time to get up, as he's usually up by 8 or 8:30.

So I've taken my medicine (my blood sugar was 102 today, which is really good). I've eaten.  I've made my bed.  I just need some caffeine to be ready for my day, and YKWIA said he'd get me some soda when I do a little grocery run later.  Things to do:

1. Take those books back to the library after they open at 1:00 pm.
2. Pick up the hold that is waiting for me there.
3. Run to the grocery.
4. Caffeinate.
5. Clean the cat litter box.
6. Trim the cat's claws.
7. Take out the trash and recyclables.
8. Clean the toilet and tub. [The mirror and sinks are fine; the others need a once-over, including the tub, to keep anything from building up like soap scum or, well, you know.]
9. Sweep.
10. Mop the tile.
11. Run the dishwasher.
12. Do laundry.

I didn't work on the game notes yesterday,  I may do that today, depending on how I feel after I do all that.  Yesterday, of course, I did the reading. I also watched an episode of  'Sherlock' ("The Sign of Three").  Then I watched Despicable Me 3 with YKWIA (we had the DVD out from Netflix).  I liked both.  I felt a sense of accomplishment because 1) I rarely read, and 2) I'm not great at watching things, especially on my own.  I can't binge watch.  Three hours is about my limit, usually, and then I normally watch things with other people.  I tend to listen to music more.  I'm doing that now, the Bastille station on the Amazon Music.  So it's been a relaxing time so far.  Now I'm going to see if I can get one more garden book taken care of before I take those books back.

[I decided since it has been raining all weekend, and it is supposed to clear up tomorrow, and I'm off tomorrow, I would do the floors tomorrow.  The trash wound up not being an issue; the recyclables were, and I took those out.  So that leaves the cat's claws [and he threw up his food earlier and isn't feeling well, so I may wait till tomorrow on that too, rather than upset him and cause further distress] and the bathroom stuff.  That I can do in just a few minutes.  I think for now, though, I'll take a nap, because even though I didn't do a lot, I'm kind of tired.  Must be this supposed infection I have, which might be sinus, as this morning I was blowing out goop that was a little yellow.  Not that you really needed to know about that, I guess.  I'll call my doctor's office tomorrow to make an appointment (they wanted me back in two weeks) and to see if I can get any more information.  Then I can text my boss and let her know what's going on.  But for now, I plan to be back on Tuesday morning.]

Finished

"A" is for Alibi.  It was a very promising start to the series.  Only 24 more letters to go. :)  I like the title, too, as the murder method is such that an alibi is moot, as the main character points out early in the book (I'm not giving any spoilers away, as the book concerns a murder eight years in the past.)  The next book is "B" is for Burglar.  But that will have to be for another day.  I have the other twelve books to go through and read.  Today I'm going to work on the language book, as I can probably have that done.  The garden plan book is finished, so I'll copy that plan I liked and take all three books back to the library tomorrow, and then I can pick up that book on hold.  I think that will work nicely.

My best friend

mocks me a lot because despite being a librarian, I don't read much anymore.  In fact, I can't tell you how many books I've read in the last year, maybe five, and those were mostly non-fiction books, like gardening ones, with lots of pictures.  Don't get me wrong, I've always been an avid reader, at least until about 5-6 years ago, and then everything petered out.  I don't know why.  I've had lots of excuses.  I'm too busy. I'm tired. I can't find a good place to read (I cannot read in bed, for example, and at the old apartment, there wasn't really a good alternative, whereas here there are chairs or the kitchen table, so that excuse doesn't work anymore.)  Since the beginning of this year, I've read two gardening books, but again, lots of pictures, not much text.

I have several books out from the library.  He accuses me (rightly) of hoarding books from there without reading them, sometimes for several checkouts, because I always mean to read the books.  I have the following out right now:

1. "A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
2. The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher
3. Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World by Ella Frances Sanders
4. The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron
5. Caesar's Footprints by Bijan Omrani
6. La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, book 1) by Philip Pullman
7. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab [which YKWIA has borrowed since I obviously wasn't going to read it in a timely manner]
8. The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works (Gallic War, Civil War, Alexandrian War, African War, Spanish War) edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub
9. The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: The Essential Guide to Planting and Pruning Techniques by Tracy DiSabato-Aust
10. Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creasy
11. Native Plants of the Southeast by Larry Mellichamp
12. Starter Vegetable Gardens: 24 No-Fail Plans for Small Organic Gardens by Barbara Pleasant [which I have actually read from cover to cover but am holding onto to make copies of one of the plans]

I also have a thirteenth book on hold that has arrived: Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Buczacz by Omer Bartov.  I'll check it out tomorrow.

So here is my conundrum.  I would like to read them all. I actually have time now to get some reading done.  I think I'll start with Sue Grafton's book because I have fifteen days left on that loan and it's very unlikely I can renew it, as I'm sure others put it on hold after her death.  I also want to knock out the gardening books, the language book (which is just a small illustrated description book), and Caesar's Footprints.  That leaves the actual Julius Caesar text, the one on hold, and the fiction books, all of which I have some time on.  If I can read these, I'll be doing very well.  And maybe, just maybe, YKWIA will stop taunting me for my lack of reading.  I will make progress on my 'To Be Read' pile!  To that end, I'm going to take Sue Grafton's book and go into the study and read, while YKWIA naps. :)  Oh, and where I pulled the books off my bookcase headboard to look at the titles and authors, the cat is now in the pile's space and is looking quite pleased with himself.

PS I got a notice from the Lexington Public Library that they had decided not to fill the position that was advertised, and for which I applied, which was Branch Manager of the Village Branch. I do wish employers wouldn't advertise positions they are not going to fill anytime soon. I was excited by the possibility of getting or at least interviewing for that one. Oh, well.

Today's tasks

• Take YKWIA shirt shopping.
• Pay a bill.
• Take out the trash from all the receptacles throughout the house (that's five).
• Take out the recyclables.
• Do the cat litter.
• Clean the bathroom.
• Clean out the car.
• Collect bottle caps from various jugs and bottles for a co-worker who collects them for her kids' school.
• Do laundry.
• Load and run the dishwasher.
• Water the plants.
• Sew a button back onto one of my shirts.  It came off at work one day, one from my belly (it was loose, the shirt's actually too big now), and the only thing that saved me was the safety pin I was wearing on my hooded sweatshirt that day (rather than wearing my jacket), the pin that was there because I'm a bleeding-heart liberal who wanted to send the message that I don't mind who you are or where you're from, you have worth as a person and shouldn't be demonised by racist twats.  On the other hand, it also meant I had a safety pin handy for button-popping incidents, and since I didn't have my sewing kit handy (I am going to move it to my backpack for future incidents), it was a good back up.
• Take some materials back to the library.

Now I'm pretty tired.  I still need to go out to the library, as one of the books is one from YKWIA which hid in his backpack and is overdue, but I want to wait until the laundry is finished in the washer as it sometimes overloads during the spin cycle.  I've put the things to go back to the library in a plastic Kroger bag that has some air in it to cushion it; one is a CD and I don't want the case to break.  I tried to return it the other day and realised that the CD itself was at home in my player, and I'm glad I looked.  The other book I have out is an heirloom gardening book whose spine has broken and the pages, as I turned them, began to come apart.  So I put them all in a bag together with a note about the gardening book needing repair.

It's almost time to feed the animals, too.  The cat is acting out, trying to claw things and harassing the dog.  YKWIA is sacked out (I think our foray out tired him; he doesn't care for shopping, and we went to both Meijer and Target).  Also, I was really frustrated earlier with the trash, as one of the bins is broken and you can't get the liner of the can out, you have to pull everything out by hand (it's mostly paper, but still, it's frustrating), and the bathroom trash bin is intact, but the handle always gets in the way when I empty it despite my best attempts, and the stuff goes everywhere.)  Anyway, my frustration levels were up and I was growling, practically, and he may have decided to get away and have some quiet time for a while.

So now I'm online and trying to chill a little, let all the tension drain away.  I think I'll listen to some music.  That'll help.  Then I'll feed the animals, deal with the laundry, water the plants (some of which are in his room, and it's dark, so I'll wait till he's awake again), sew on the button, and take the stuff to the library and put it in the book drop.  We found the book just as the library closed, but if I can get it in before tomorrow morning when they open, that's one less day of fines.

Speaking of libraries, there is a job opening I'm considering applying for.  It's at the university, is technically a technician job, so I don't know if they'd consider me, as I am over-qualified, but it pays more than I'm currently making and more than I can in the public library field in the surrounding area, as a full librarian.  It can't hurt to apply, anyway, right?

Okay, must go deal with laundry--both of the buzzers have gone off.  I'll write later, hopefully.

Yay!

The car is fixed. I called my insurance's roadside assistance this morning, the guy came, and he was great. My battery was most sincerely dead--it didn't work with a jump box, so we had to back my car down the driveway in neutral. Then he showed me how exactly to hook up the batteries (I could never keep which order was which, now I think I have it). It took awhile. First, he charged for a while, then he was still not getting enough juice, so he had to rev his engine while I started the car. It finally started. I thanked the guy, who was absolutely great, let me reiterate that. Very thorough, personable, and took his time to do it right and get me on the road. I took it directly to Tire Discounters, where I got the battery a couple of years ago. Since it had a 30-month warranty, and I was at 23 months, I was definitely taking it back. So they checked it, and yes, it was bad, and they were going to replace it charging for just the labour for putting it in, but actually, they charged me nothing. Free, gratis. Which is what it should have been. I called the roadside assistance at about 9, so it took about 25 minutes for him to get there, another half hour to jump the car, given it was so slow to charge, and about 45 minutes to get the battery changed. So I was back on the road by 11. I came back home and ate some leftovers. So, for the rest of the day, I need to:

1. Take the book to the library, the one that was due the day the car went down.
2. Take YKWIA to pay a bill.
3. Go hunt down some grain-free, fish-based (no chicken) cat food for the cat who is allergic to all food we've tried.
4. Stop by the store for stuff for the game tomorrow.
5. Work on the game notes.

So, I guess I should get going. Have a great day. I'm staying away from the insanity of Black Friday. Hope yours is a safe and productive one!

Tired

My rest of the day:

1. Got an oil change at Valvoline and a new air filter.
2. Went to the library and picked up a couple of books on orchids.
3. Got a call from my boss (I have a boss!) about bringing two forms of ID on Monday.
4. Picked up a friend for his appointment and took him there.
5. Picked up another friend from work, home, and to the pharmacy.
6. Stopped by Jin Jin with my friends and picked up dinner.
7. Dropped them off, came home, ate kung pao tofu and spring rolls followed by some ice cream. I am now very stuffed.
8. Spent some time on Facebook. Found an interesting article about Polari, the forgotten secret language of gay men, which I passed on to a friend.
9. Listened to Pandora (the Bastille station) for awhile.

It's not even 8 pm. I'm pooped. I'd like to watch something, but right now I'm going to just take it easy, maybe close my eyes for a few minutes, but not necessarily nap this late in the day. A has to be at work at 8 am, and I'm giving him a ride, but I don't want to go to sleep just yet.

I helped a friend

work on some job application materials, namely cover letter, résumé, and the online application, for a job at a local hospital. He's currently in the hospitality business, but wants to get back into healthcare, where a good bit of his experience lies.

I went through and filed a stack of papers regarding insurance, retirement, separation, unemployment, student loans, all that stuff that had been piling up in my inbox. I discarded anything I didn't need, and just put the rest into individual folders and into my little filing cabinet, which admittedly is falling apart, but will serve for now. So my inbox is clean and happy.

I also looked through some paperwork from the credit union on accidental death and dismemberment insurance, which was reasonable, so I think I may get it. The credit union pays for a couple of thousand dollars' worth, and then it's $1 per $10,000 per month after that, taken out of the account quarterly. So I do still have insurance, between that and what I ported from work, although neither lasts after my late 60s, early 70s. But in the meantime, if I die, particularly if I die accidentally, my loved ones can pay off their house and fix it up some. :) I already have funeral insurance, car insurance, renter's insurance, health and dental (I dropped the vision, as I'd already gotten glasses and contacts in the past year), and AFLAC. Insurance can be kind of scammy, to be honest, but on the other hand, it can be handy. My car was bought from my mom by my AFLAC money when I got hit by a car, for example.

I took a plastic crate and put it under my desk for recycling. There's also a small trash can nearby (that's what I hooked my toe upon), and together they're keeping the work area pretty clean.

I called YKWIA, but apparently he's just waking up, is still hacking, and I was using too many words. It takes him about two hours and two giant cups of coffee to really get going. He has an appointment I need to take him to, but it's not till 4 pm, so I'll venture over there in a couple of hours.

So that leaves some time. Mmmm...I'm really avoiding getting into the apartment clearing, especially as they could come by, and I already have plenty of stuff dragged out. The hangers I'll wait until after the inspection. My drill (and the drill bits, presumably) are in a closet that has some stuff that needs moving right now. Goodness, I wonder if I'll ever reduce the clutter in this place to where I can truly have friends over and be comfortable in my own apartment. But I do have several boxes of books to go right now.

It's sunny again. I wonder how humid it is out there. It's lovely in here, as the air conditioning is working just great. I did turn it so it wasn't too cool (didn't want to affect the fish or plants). That one orchid has put out six more buds, and that may have had something to do with how warm it had been in here. I don't know enough about orchids to really know. I must see if the public library has a good book on them. The only one I have is a very small guide, mainly with details on various varieties, rather than taking care of them.

I'll go look that up. Maybe I'll go to the library if there are any. I'm down to eight books from the library (mostly on job hunting). That's pretty good. I usually have far too many and don't get to them all in a timely manner. In fact, maybe I should just read one of the ones I have out. There's one on clutter, for example, and it's pretty small, but it may be useful, and it's due soon.

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.

A relatively pleasant day so far

I didn't go to bed till late last night, around 2 am, but I woke up this morning feeling rested. I'm still hacking, and I do feel more tired than normal, and I think my speaking voice is very near a baritone rather than soprano (and singing is right out), but I do feel slightly better. I did manage to take some books back to the library, including one that was a couple of days overdue, paid my fine, brought back a 'lucky day' book that was a 14-day-loan that I realised never actually got checked out to my account, didn't sound the alarm, and generally I'd absconded accidentally with in the act of trying to check it out. They were happy I brought it back. I'd gone all the way over to the Beaumont branch to get a book that had been an Audible special today that is called The Ten-Cent Plague about the early days of comic books, censorship, and generally how people lost their minds over the things in terms of their influence of young minds. It sounded interesting, and for all that I once worked at a comic book store, I don't know much about that period or the problems they encountered.

Then I took a couple of friends to an appointment, went and found some socks at Gabriel Brothers, got them from their appointment, we went to Subway to eat, Kroger for dog food, and then I dropped one off at home and one off at work. Now I'm home, and I've got the windows open, and it's sunny, the birds are singing, and I'm feeling tired but good. I need to go check out my e-mail; a glance tells me that I got several dealing with the UPS delivery yesterday (totally unexpected) of a second refurbished computer, without power cord, keyboard, or mouse, that was shipped by mistake. So I'm going to go take care of that, take my contacts out, take a nap, then get up and try to do some things around here. I'm here for the rest of the afternoon and evening (I do have to get A at work at 1 am), so it would be nice if I could get some stuff done, especially as they're doing a walk-through/inspection of the apartments Tuesday, and of course, while better, things are pretty cluttered.

We're not playing the game tomorrow, as both the game master and I have been sick, and when he explained that to Brenda, she was happy to stay away from plague. So I'm going to focus on getting better and not push to do notes today unless I feel like it, and get some rest tomorrow, too. I also need to remember to request my unemployment cheque tomorrow, and then Tuesday there's the eligibility review. I'm also hoping to go back to rehab on Tuesday, if this crud will work its way out of my system.

Over at the Tates Creek branch of the Lexington Public Library

Picking up and dropping off books, and also doing some job searching for A and myself.  I've been here almost an hour and a half and have founds some leads.  I'm going to have to call the University of Kentucky to see if there is any way I can pickup my transcript in person on Thursday (part of my transcript is on microfilm, so that might be an issue) so I can apply for a job in Paris, Kentucky as an assistant public library director.  I only have unofficial transcripts, which do not include the information from pre-1988, but I don't have the money to go ahead an order my transcript and get it in time, and won't till Thursday.  If they won't be able to help me in person Thursday or Friday, I'll see if I can borrow the money to get the ball rolling Monday.  The job closes on Friday.  In the meantime, I've tweaked my application materials and just have to finish a cover letter.

Okay, I'm going to go pack everything up and go check out the books.  I have found several new ones, one on herb gardening, one on mediaeval Europe, and one on historical city maps.  I'm also picking up a book for YKWIA.

I'll write later.  We aren't going to play tomorrow due to the game master being ill, but I may finish the game notes tonight anyway.  But I actually have a little time to myself, so I'm going to try to make the most of it. :)

Reading

Make Job Loss Work for You: Get Over It and Get Your Career Back on Track, by Richard and Terri Deems (out from the public library).