I seem to get home about 8:30 or so at night no matter what I do during the day

Today is no exception. I picked a friend up from work and took him to get his bus pass and on a couple of errands, then took him to where he's staying. Then I went to another friend's and washed dishes, taught him how to forward an e-mail (apparently I've never covered this in all these years), and set his default font in Office to Times New Roman rather than Calibri because he prefers that. Then I headed home, parallel parking for the first time in a long time, and nailing it. Now I'm back in air conditioning, with a big glass of ice water, and eating a strange dinner of burritos, cheese, and fruit (a banana and berries).

There was a general notice on my door this evening from the leasing office about how someone really made a mess of the fitness room and laundry, even destroying a trash can in the ladies' room, over the weekend. That's a shame--I thought our tenants were more mature than that. If it continues, they'll just keep it open during office hours, which means I can never use it, as those hours are when I work, except on weekends, maybe. So here's hoping people straighten up. The apartment complex has been doing a lot of upgrading and without more than a tiny increase in rent--$5 this year--and they deserve better respect for their efforts. I think maybe they need to put in cameras. There probably should be some, anyway, as they're open from 5 am-midnight, and even with the fobs, they can't tell who all's been there, I'm sure, if someone lets others in, so it would make it more secure for those of us in there.

Work went really well today; my pace was very steady and I got everything accomplished I wanted to, even the monthly audit. It will be a slow clinic week, so I may catch up on some things that have been on the back burner like processing and cataloguing books and creating a new order to take advantage of our vendor's spring promotion (22% off). I wound up finishing everything up about 15 minutes before it was time to leave. I love days like that, when I feel my time has really been used well and I've had progress in meeting my goals for the day.

I've felt energised these last couple of days. One of my co-workers insisted that it might be the steroids they prescribed for my crud, as she always gets revved up and cleans house when she's on them. I don't know if that's true, but I have had a burst of energy. I thought it was just getting over being sick, but maybe she's right. I'm down to four pills a day and go down to two soon, so that'll be gone in a bit. But at least it was productive while it lasted. :)

My face is still pretty red, but the arms have darkened a bit into what I'd almost call at tan where I burned the other day. My neck got red, but not splotchy, for a change. So I look like I got sun, but no one's come up to me and said, 'Oh, God, don't you know what sunscreen is???'

I talked with one of my co-workers who was at the Cincinnati Zoo this weekend during the incident where a three- or four-year-old boy [accounts differ] climbed a barrier and fell into the moat of a gorilla enclosure, and then was picked up by a male gorilla, who was then shot to death to save the boy. They never made it to the gorilla enclosure, and didn't know what had happened until later. But her daughter is three, so I think she had a good perspective on things. It's caused quite a controversy, and I've avoided comment. I admit, my first response was, 'where on earth were the parents?', but I also know that as someone who has not had children, it's not very fair for me to comment when I've never tried to keep up with a quick, wily four-year-old. Even the best of parents let their guard down, sometimes for enough moments for a child to get away, and usually it doesn't have such terrible consequences--but it could. My understanding is that in this case the mother--who works in a care facility for small children--told him he couldn't go in the water when he said he would and then was distracted by other children in her care. My co-worker said it disturbed her and her husband that people have been posting the personal phone numbers and information of the family online for harassment, after having such a terrible scare. I have to agree. That's wrong. It's horrible that the gorilla, Harambe, was killed. Most of the experts are saying tranquilising the gorilla could have meant the boy was more likely to get hurt. I don't know if I completely buy that, but unlike apparently most people out there, I do know tranquilisers don't work as fast as what you see on TV and in movies, either, so they may be right. My friend did say the enclosure had a small barrier, a brushy area, and then the moat the boy fell into that the gorilla retrieved him from. Maybe the zoo needs to consider another system of barriers.

But the fact of the matter is that the great majority of the people calling for blood over the death of that magnificent creature weren't there, don't have all the facts, and probably should not be making comments. Do I wish they'd done something else in response? Yes, of course, if at all feasible. But if the boy had died, the same people would have been blaming the parents and the zoo for a terrible tragedy, too. There really is no winning in this situation. It does, however, bring up a dialogue on keeping wild animals in captivity to be gawked at by clueless humans, all in the name of preserving the species and conservation. Don't get me wrong, my grandmother instilled in me a love of that zoo (I've been to only three, but the Cincinnati one is the one I've been to the most). I think it can be very educational. But there are issues that the animal rights people (many of whom I think are a bit too far in left field, no matter how much I love animals) have some very good points about. Anyway, the authorities are now investigating, and I'm sure there will be lawsuits and reports on what could have been done differently, that sort of thing. I am very saddened by the death of the gorilla. I'm very glad the boy is alive. Enough said.

What I've been following more than that, however, is the story out of Japan where the parents put their child out of the car for misbehaving (he'd been throwing rocks at cars and the like, definitely spoilt brat behaviour) in an effort to discipline him and left him, supposedly for a few minutes, out on the side of the road. When they returned, he was gone, vanished into a remote forest full of bears. Now hundreds of people have been looking through the area for FOUR DAYS trying to find him. Initially the parents gave a story of him wandering away while they were looking for wild vegetables, but then confessed that it had been a time out gone wrong. They are, of course, now very regretful about what they did.

Regretful? I know lots of people threaten to put their kids out of the car (and I know at least one who did, briefly, but not in a bear-infested woods), but this, I think, was not thought out well. I'm sure the kid said fine, I'll show them, and hid in the woods, figuring he'd make them look for him, and then got lost or hurt. He's seven, it would be natural. I hope they find him safe, for his sake, and that of his parents.

What do both of these stories tell us? In just a few short minutes, everything can change, especially when dealing with small children who don't really know much about life, but think they know everything there is to know. It's all our responsibility to keep kids safe, and we have to be vigilant--not just parents, any of us, of when they are in danger. But a parent must, especially, because ultimately, not only did you create this little human, he or she is yours to protect for life, and any day that you put them to bed safe and sound is a good day. Hold their hands, hell, put leashes on them if need be, but keep them close, because in a moment, everything can change, and what is done cannot be undone.

What a busy day

I:

1. Took out the trash and recyclables I worked on last night.
2. Dressed up and actually wore makeup today.
3. Worked.
4. Got my box springs. The delivery guys were great. They brought it in, set it up, and then helped me put the dust ruffle on the foundation before putting the mattress on top. I hadn't been offered the haul-away by the clerk, and so they weren't authorised to take the old one away, but they did take it to the area of the complex where large items for the trash pickup are placed without charge. They rocked! Go Sears!
5. Paid my February rent a little early.
6. Purchased Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 through our work programme which is $9.95.
7. Bought two euro pillows to complete the bedding experience (the shams came with the bedding set I got from Gabriel Brothers a week or two ago. So did the dust ruffle, which hadn't been on the box springs because the springs of the old one would have torn it up, so it was cool that the guy asked if I had a dust ruffle to put on. I'd totally forgotten. I used one of the $5 gift cards I got when I went to Sears the other day to get some money off the pillows.
8. Made the bed. Remember how I had to borrow pillows to prop myself up when I was out with my broken ankle? Now I have pillows aplenty.
9. Picked up my contacts.
10. Filled the car up with gas. The price jumped, no doubt due to the snow forecasted. I was getting to about 1/4 of a tank, which isn't good considering how very cold it's supposed to get, so I stopped at Speedway and got some.
11. Fought my way through more rush-hour traffic than I usually go through. I took back ways but even so, there were about three instances where other drivers were just being crazy. I had to go from the hospital to Fayette Mall, then to Woodhill Plaza, then down Richmond Road home. Granted, I could have waited to get the pillows or even the contacts for that matter, but I had the time.

So, I'm home now and getting something to eat. I'm going to download the Office suite and install it. And I'm definitely trying out that bed sometime soon, maybe listen to some music. It feels much firmer, judging by the couple of moments I sat on it earlier. The foundation is much higher than the old one, which was squishy and kind of 'fell' in the middle. Now everything is nicely supported and it's all higher. I took a couple of pictures of the bed all made and happy. It's amazing how finally getting something you've needed for a good long time can feel great.

I got an e-mail from Microsoft the other day

Telling me to activate my Windows Media Center (the program that is necessary to watch TV or DVDs on your computer) for Windows 8 with my key before the deadline of January 31st. This appears to be a mass mailing to remind people that of the deadline to activate the free keys that were given out to those running Windows 8 during the promotional period. I've already activated mine, but didn't remember if I had or not, and the instructions in the mailing don't work for doing so, at least if you have already. So if you come across it, and have activated your Windows Media Center, feel free to ignore the e-mail. You can type 'activation' in the Search box on Windows 8, choose Windows Activation, and if it is already activated, it will tell you that Windows 8 with Media Center is activated. Hope that helps some people out there.

PS I've also got an offer through our workplace and Microsoft to get Office 2013 Professional Plus for $9.95, much like I did with Office 10. So I'll probably go ahead and do that, too.

Thank goodness for sticky notes

I realised that before I could work on the game notes, I also had to reinstall Office 2010 Professional Plus. This was something I put on my computer last year as part of a special through work where we got the full suite for $9.99. I do have a backup DVD, but I'm not sure where it is at the moment. Fortunately I had the filename and product key written on a sticky note on the hutch above my computer, and the file was still in my downloads folder. Yay! By the way, it's a National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region sticky note. :)

Okay, I think I'll try to put Civilization IV on and see if that works. That covers most of what I use.

I didn't feel great today

My head, foot, ankle, and knee were all hurting. I felt worn out by the time I got home, too tired to even cook any macaroni and cheese, which I'm now just having. Now both legs are hurting because my left took up the slack for the right. I know it beats the alternative, but getting older sometimes just sucks.

This morning I had some books due at the library and took them in. I came out with guides to Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint 2010, as well as a collection of Unshelved comic strips. I brought to the attention of the woman at the desk that despite being a 14-day book, the latter was giving me a 28-day due date, but she wasn't quite sure how to fix it. But I shouldn't need it that long, since comics are a quick read and of course, I've read a lot of these since they're on this blog.

We start training for the upgrade to Office 2010 next week. Since I was able to download the professional version for home use for $9.95, I can get a head start with the program and the books, or at least hope to.

The other major thing today is that my cell phone is dying. I'm not sure whether it's just the battery, or the software, or both. The phone was turning itself off or half off, but then the software was glitching too. I couldn't get it to go to the menu area, for example. In checking the battery connexion, I reset my phone, losing all the contacts and not having access to the My Faves feature. I have those backed up, so I should be able to restore them. But it's become totally unreliable. There's a button on it that doesn't work at all and hasn't for some time. My last phone lasted me 10 years and is still okay, only needing the battery replaced after about 9 years; I just wanted to upgrade. This one has lasted two years.

I've looked into getting another phone and I found one I thought looked like a possibility. I'm going to go by the store on Thursday and get a look at it. It's a small, low-end Android smart phone that's pretty inexpensive (about as much as my little flip-phone retailed for). It has the music and radio features I use a lot, plus camera, video, and GPS. It can get on the Internet and you can get applications from the Android store (although some aren't optimised for its smaller screen). The two drawbacks from the reviews I've seen seem to be battery life (but I charge my phone as it is every night anyway, and that's been necessary as long as I've had it) and the small Swype keyboard, but I have small fingers, so it may not be a problem for me. It's called a Huawei Comet. I'm not familiar with that manufacturer; I've always had Nokias. So if you know a lot about it and have some input, let me know, preferably before Thursday. :) Some reviews were absolutely great and others were terrible, but I've found that the case of most reviews, and it got an overall positive rating. It will mean adding a data plan to my T-mobile bill, but I checked, and they're not unreasonable.

I got a package from UPS today at the apartment, but the office was closed when I came home so I don't know what it is. It could (finally) be my CPAP masque (my doctor finally faxed the prescription to the medical supply company *three weeks* after requested, but hey, it got there. Only thing is, the masque is supposed to go to my work address, so it could be something entirely different. So I'm definitely picking that up in the morning.

When I came home tonight a (fortunately empty) fountain that sits on my bathroom sink was in the middle of the bathroom floor, with rocks and a candle there, too. Also fortunately, the mirror on the fountain did not crack. The only thing I can think of is that I was having some trouble with my sink draining. I meant to call about it this morning, but got distracted by the phone issue. If the people upstairs were also having trouble, maintenance might have checked mine. It was draining smoothly when I got home. But if he knocked off the fountain, you would think he'd have picked it up. I guess he could have brushed it partway off and it fell later. Otherwise, I vote for gremlins. At least my sink is better.

Okay, I think I'll go now and check my e-mail. Have a good night.

I'm geeking out

I just downloaded (a genuine copy of) Office 2010 Professional Plus for $9.95.

Yeah. I know. I nearly choked when I read that, too. I thought it was a typo when I first got an e-mail about it. See, our workplace is upgrading throughout the whole system and so we got a special deal to receive a copy for home use for as long as our system has it and we're employed there. The download included Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, OneNote, plus more. I was running Office XP on my system. So you can imagine there have been a few changes along the way. I'm really pleased. :) In some ways it seems easier to navigate, once you figure out where everything is. And I sure can't beat the price.

I did forego the $12 backup copy on CD, which may eventually come back and bite me, but I put a copy of the download on my external hard drive, so hopefully I'm set if my computer itself crashes.

Ah, geeky happiness.

Google's getting into the operating systems business, but Microsoft fires back by making Office online...free?

Microsoft Office to go online — for free

It’s too early to say Microsoft has checkmated Google in online documents – the latest version of Office hasn’t shipped yet. But the sleeping giant in Redmond has clearly woken up to the Internet threat.

Get this: Microsoft – the king of paid software – will announce today that it is going to give a version of Office away for free online. Both the online and desktop versions are scheduled to arrive in the first half of next year. Yes, you read that right. The latest version of its ubiquitous productivity software, dubbed Office 2010, will come as both a piece of software you can buy for your computer, and as a service you can access in your browser. [UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]

For free. From Microsoft.