I love my bread machine

It's a Panasonic,  and with the exception of one time when I made a mistake,  the bread comes out perfectly without fuss.  It has a yeast dispenser on top that puts the yeast in at just the right time.

I'm feeling pretty decent today.  Instead of the normal pain and numbness in my arm,  neck,  and shoulders,  I feel a bit sore,  like when you're in a minor car accident. I have PT again tomorrow.  Yay!

Today I reviewed a bunch of abstracts (well,  eleven)  for the upcoming annual meeting of the Medical Library Association, and I updated that on my curriculum vitae.  I had trouble getting into the system yesterday,  but fortunately my new computer at work has Chrome and Firefox in addition to Internet Explorer,  so all I had to do was change browsers.  In my opinion,  the main reason to have IE is to download other browsers.

I unfortunately broke something this morning

It's not terrible, but I woke up this morning with glass on my bed. There is a floor lamp that stands by the bed that has an upward-facing torchiere and two side reading lights, all with glass lampshades. Apparently I thrashed around in my bed while sleeping and must have hooked the lamp, which fell on the bed, breaking one of the side lampshades. So I unplugged it and decided after picking up the glass not to try to unscrew the shade, as I was running slightly behind this morning and I was afraid that if I hurried I might nick myself with the remainder of the shade.

Fast forward to tonight, now that I'm home from watching 'The 100', and I managed to unscrew the one that isn't broken with no trouble so that I can take it to the store and find something similar. The broken one was really on there, but I finally managed to get it off. Now the glass pieces are thrown away and the light bulbs are back in and both, oddly enough, are working. Strange that it should break falling on the mattress but not hurting the bulb itself. Oh, well.

Tonight I visited for awhile and then we watched the show, which really has kept my attention and I'm interested in what is happening next, as opposed to its predecessor, 'The Tomorrow People', which has been cancelled. In all fairness, I was biased against the latter from the beginning because it was loosely based on a beloved British show from my childhood, and never captured my love for the original. 'The 100' has different plots and subplots going through it, as well as the necessary-for-the-CW love triangle and some angst thrown in. Plus, the grounder guy Octavia is so into, Lincoln, is hot. :)

What I forgot to do tonight was call my mom to confirm that I'm coming down to Danville tomorrow to visit my family. I'll call her first thing in the morning. I've got to get some gas before I leave and do a few minor things, so I'll probably get there about mid-morning.

So now I'm sitting on the bed, under the light, with the fan oscillating back and forth and my phone charging. It's been a good day, although very busy. I really worked hard to get caught up on everything I needed to before I left at work. Also, it's almost time for the Medical Library Association meeting, so I was fielding inquiries for some Hospital Libraries Section business (I'm chair of the membership committee). Between that and work, I kept on my toes. My optometrist's office called, too, saying that while they found my records, the contacts they were going to prescribe and which I'm trying now do not come in the prescription for my right eye, so they wanted me to come by and pick up a different pair to try, which I did. I also went the library and picked up an interlibrary loan.

Okay, I'm going to go do a few things before bed. Good night.

I got my new glasses today

These are a little stronger, both in the regular prescription and the bifocal, so I'm having a bit of a fishbowl effect going on. But I'm getting used to them already. I can see much clearer. My other glasses were about three years old, at least (although I've been wearing bifocal contacts the majority of the time, so it hasn't been that bad). These are more rectangular than my old ones, which were circular. I'm hoping they will give the illusion that my face isn't quite so round. Oh, and of course, they are my favourite colour--purple, though a little thicker and darker than the ones I had. I also put my order in for new contacts, as I've been wearing a trial pair for a couple of weeks now, and they should arrive in about a week.

Yesterday we wound up cancelling the game, so I got those applications into the library. First thing this morning, I renewed my American Library Association and Kentucky Library Association memberships, which had lapsed, so my résumé would be entirely accurate. :) I'd meant to renew, anyway, but that added some extra incentive. I also belong to the Medical Library Association, but that was renewed in January. Tonight I took some library books back, both for myself and for a friend, and then got some books on job interviews. Please keep your fingers crossed that I get that far!

Last night YKWIA watched 'Salem' on WGN. It was well-done in terms of story and suspense. It's not the most historically accurate show there could be (as YKWIA pointed out, the most glaring bit of wrongness is that while the trials were in Salem, the events happened in nearby Danvers Village, which was never mentioned). But overall, I am intrigued and want to see where they go with it. So right now we're mainly watching that and 'The 100' on Wednesday's CW lineup.

I'm home now. I think I'll do a bit of reading and listen to some music. If for some reason I don't write again tonight, have a great evening.

A friend called me and woke me from a bad dream

And we must have talked on the phone for over an hour. My headache's gone, although I did run into the door jamb on my way to the computer to look something up for him. Ah, grace, thy name is not Lisa.

So now I'm considering going to bed for real, and I've closed the windows and taken my evening pill and taken my blood sugar, which is pretty decent tonight. Now I just have to take my insulin and get ready for bed.

Much of the discussion on my e-mail today had to do with the upcoming Medical Library Association meeting in Seattle and the epidemic of pertussis (whooping cough) in Washington State. It was bordering on panicky for awhile, which I don't understand because we are all information professionals and should be able to get the facts. Some people were upset that the organisers did not send out a general warning. At least one cancelled their trip (the conference starts May 18th). Some were saying it took 2 weeks for the vaccine to become effective so there was no point in taking the vaccine at all.

That's not true. The point of keeping up with immunisations (including as an adult) is that it will prevent disease not only individually but in the public as well, through 'herd immunity'. And doing so helps prevent the anxiety of when this sort of thing happens. Plus, the two-week thing is addressed very aptly by Nikki Dettmar in her post on the Eagle Dawg Blog, entitled 'Straight Talk About the Washington Pertussis Epidemic', along with some other facts that should allay some fears. I'm not saying there's no chance of infection, especially by the those with compromised immune systems, but the reactions were pretty strong and several people rightly tried to allay fears with facts, and others just got annoyed because they didn't feel their fears were being taken seriously.

I am not going to MLA '12, unfortunately, because I don't have a travel budget. I've never actually been to a national meeting for this reason. I would jump at the chance to attend. But if I were going, I would continue to go, despite the fact that as a diabetic I am more likely to get infections and the fact that unlike many of those people, I can't take the TDaP. (I reacted to the pertussis vaccine as a child so they do not recommend that I take it. As a hospital librarian, I, like other employees, are offered free vaccinations through our employee health. They started pushing the TDaP years ago, and I was willing to take it but my doctor advised against it because of the prior reaction. Otherwise I would be vaccinated.)

But, the more people who do take the TDaP, the greater the chance that those of us who can't take it won't get it, so I'm all for others taking the vaccine. Vaccination shouldn't be reactive; it should be proactive.

And of course children who haven't had their immunisations are at the greatest risk. There is the DTaP vaccine for them. If you have children, please make sure you follow recommended vaccination schedules for them. The complications of many diseases far outweigh the risks of any vaccine. And it's important that we as adults do not forget that we have vaccination schedules, too. The TDaP should be taken every 10 years for example. Shingles vaccination is suggested at age 60. Flu, of course, is yearly. You can fine information on vaccinations at the CDC website.

Okay, getting off my public health soap box now and going to bed. Good night.

So it looks like Tuesday

will be full of things like carpet cleaning and a doctor's appointment. Of course, I found out about the former's time this evening, so Monday I have to check with my bosses to see if it's okay to just take Tuesday off. I hate not giving plenty of notice, but I have to be here to let in the cleaners, and that can be anytime before noon, with the appointment later in the afternoon. If I went into work I'd get at the most about three or four hours, probably less, of work done. So, there you go. If it's not okay with them, I'll reschedule the cleaning. But I doubt there will be a problem; they're both flexible and I can get my data entry work in on Wednesday without losing much time.

That means I have to get things off the floor and vacuum really well before then. Tomorrow will be dog bathing day, and then I'll have to work on the game notes, and Sunday's the game, so the majority of this will happen on Monday evening. I also need to do laundry this weekend sometime, for it is time, once again. Before the dog bathing, though, I have to get my rent. And I really should try to find certificate paper for the retirees who need to be recognised by the section of the Medical Library Association for which I'm chair of the membership committee. The annual conference is very soon.

Tonight I was fortunate in that my friend Brandon took me over to where my other friends live and I was able to drop some stuff off for the dogs and get my meds (a friend from the pharmacy delivers theirs and mine, and I pick mine up there, rather than going across town on the bus). Then my ride took me to Taco Bell to pick up dinner (a rare treat, isn't that ridiculous?) and dropped me off at home. It took about an hour all told, whereas it would have taken at least three on the bus. Thank you so much, Brandon, for taking me places!

Of course, I meant to watch or record 'Supernatural' and 'Grimm' tonight, but alas, I fell asleep for a bit, so I'll have to watch online. I am so far behind on those shows. I really should set a series recording so I don't miss any.

I'm sleepy already. Time to go to bed for real; it's almost midnight. Have a good night and a good weekend. My horse for the Kentucky Derby is Take Charge Indy. We'll see how he does. I don't bet, of course. I'm not even doing anything except if I'm lucky, watching the 2 minutes or so of the race. But I thought I'd put that name out there. Good night.