Just got in

from getting A home from work. I've spent the day running people to various appointments and to the grocery store, and I got home after 7 pm, ate, and then around 8:30 just crashed. A had to call me twice to wake me up before it was time to leave, and then I was befuddled enough to go to the bathroom and start getting clothes on when I realised my bedroom blinds were still open and the light was on. Sorry about that, world and neighbours. But I quickly cleared up and actually think I have figured out the light timings on Richmond Road going downtown now. Basically just slow down if the next light is red, speed up if it's green, and if you do it just right, you don't sit for any length of time. As I was turning into his workplace, I saw a van that was playing loud music and they had a TV in the back with the screen on that had to have been at least 32" or maybe even 40". It was a little disconcerting. That can't be good for anyone driving behind them in terms of distraction--even those little DVD player screens can be a little odd at night.

Tomorrow is the game, yay! I need to get up early, get my laundry together, head over there, clean house, and then we can play around 1 or 2 pm. Brenda's son doesn't get off work till late, and I don't have to get A until midnight, so we can play as long as we'd like, really. We usually play till somewhere between 8 to 10 pm. Of course, the game master has had four months or so to plot our demise (or worse, as in Cthulhu, dying is much easier than living with the results of some of our adventures). We had one character who's locked away because his skin is now transparent, for example.

To that end I should head back to bed, but first I wanted to see if you'd seen this....

Refugee Olympic Team to Shine Spotlight on WOrldwide Refugee Crisis: Ten Refugee Athletes Will Act as a Symbol of Hope for Refugees Worldwide and Bring Global Attention to the Magnitude of the Refugee Crisis When They Take Part in the Olympic Games Rio 2015 This Summer

They paraded in the opening ceremony under the Olympic flag right before Brazil at the end of the procession. Here's wishing them success. I think it's an excellent move. I'm not much of an Olympics watcher (I used to as a kid, but one, I'm not really into sports, and two, it's a lot different than it was then). So I didn't see the opening ceremony. But I thought this was great. Of course I wish success to Team USA, and hope that all the athletes do their best without injury. And I hope these Olympics go off without violence or anything like that.

Are you an Olympics junkie? I pretty much limit my watching (when I catch it) to gymnastics in the summer and ice skating in the winter, but that's about it. But I know people who will be watching on any device they are near.

Okay, morning comes early--I'm supposed to be over there by 9 am. Good night.

I've changed my Facebook and Twitter profile pictures to this

courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign. #LoveConquersHate

Kudos to Google

Okay, I must confess that I didn't immediately realise it for what it was, despite being a liberal lefty who is a long-time supporter of gay rights. I don't automatically associate rainbows with gays, for one. But the rainbow-coloured 'doodle' of Google's celebrating Olympic sport with the following quote was definitely meant to show solidarity for those in Russia who are gay and the athletes competing there:

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." –Olympic Charter

Sad

I pretty much stopped watching the Olympics once professionals became the norm rather than amateurs. Now I understand that the International Olympic Committee has decided to jettison wrestling, one of the sports with the greatest history, and dating back to the eighth century BCE in the ancient Greek Olympic games. Furthermore, they're undercutting a sport which has as the Summer Olympics as it's main, crowning event, potentially affecting funding and the very existence of the sport. Pity that they seem to be more concerned with money and politics than with maintaining a sense of history.

Olympics Moves to Drop Wrestling in 2020

“I don’t think anybody thought this would happen,” said Rulon Gardner, who won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2000 Sydney Games and a bronze at the 2004 Athens Games. “It’s a shame. This is one of the original sports. It’s been around for thousands of years. The Olympic movement has gone astray. It’s moving in the direction not of history but of ratings. Is it about mainstream and money, or is it about amateur sports competing at the highest level on the world stage?”

Hmmm....

I think I'm going to have to rethink my agenda. I've looked at how the buses run and there's just not way to do it efficiently.

So--

1. Farmer's market--maybe, they close at 2
   
2. Bank--wait till later, they close at noon
   
3. Give blood--wait until I can try earlier and have an hour to kill between buses, they close at 2:30
   
4. Ink--still going to try, the special ends today
   
5. Notes--yes
   
6. Laundry--still have enough quarters to do some
   
7. Movie--yes
   
8. Read--yes
   

I didn't record the opening ceremonies. So I missed out on that. There's a photo of an unsmiling somewhat stern, queen captioned 'look at all those countries I used to have' floating around the Internet. I must admit, I was a bit amused by that, Anglophile that I am.

Okay, if I'm going to get anything accomplished today I need to get going. Have a great weekend!

Feeling better since I've been home for an hour or so

I was ahead on my time at work this week, so I left early. I had a splitting headache and everything hurt from there on down to my feet, but I didn't want to take any pain reliever because one of my plans tomorrow is to give blood. Anyway, I've eaten, caught up on the news, etc., and I feel much better.

I am vaguely interested in the opening ceremony for the London Olympics. I'm trying to decide whether I want to watch or if I just want to sort of vegetate for awhile, maybe take one of my famous naps. :) Friday nights are kind of hard to do much because I'm usually pretty tired. We'll see.

On tomorrow's agenda:

1. Go to the farmer's market for tomatoes.
   
2. Go to the bank.
   
3. Go to the Kentucky Blood Center and donate.
   
4. Go to Office Depot and get some printer ink. (They have a buy 2 get 1 special that ends tomorrow, both in-store and online).
   
5. Work on notes.
   
6. Do some more laundry.
   
7. Get a little reading done.
   
8. Watch Desk Set so I can send it back.
   

I think I'd better see what the weather will be like tomorrow. That's a lot of walking and bus riding. I think I will take a nap and DVR the ceremonies. :)

Oh, let me include something that someone showed me the other day. It was amusing and gave me a laugh. Hopefully it will give you a bit of a perk up after a long week.

Okay, I pretty much just try to catch the figure skating

and I don't know what some of the sports even are, but this was an interesting widget available from the Vancouver Olympics site that gives the medal counts...



Several of my co-workers are recording them on DVR to watch later. One is particularly fascinated with curling. :) I wish I knew when each event was actually aired...the men's free skate happens at 8 pm our time, but I don't know if it will be broadcast live or at some point in the evening's schedule, and I don't want to devote hours to watching. Of course, one of my co-workers pointed out that's the great thing about DVR--being able to fast forward through anything you don't want to watch. We also discussed at lunch that the Olympics seems to be a bigger thing among the older members of their families rather than the young ones. One woman posited that it was because when we were young there were only three channels (okay, four with PBS--she forgot that one, but it was always fuzziest in terms of reception), so it was a bigger deal. I can't say I'm really excited by the Olympics. I didn't think the couples free skate--the only event I've seen--was all that spectacular. But I wish the athletes well.

File under ingenious ancient inventions

2,100-year-old gadget tracked Olympics

Researchers have found that in addition to calculating astronomical data, the Antikythera Mechanism--which looks much like a clock with gears inside, also kept track of the timing of the Olympics, which is significant in that there is no real need to do complex calculations for a simple four-year cycle; it was a societal, not heavenly, event, but incorporated into the device. It also tracked eclipses and the Metonic calendar. Also, the month names used on the device are similar to those used by Corinthian colonies in Sicily, giving some idea as to its origin.

PS Speaking of eclipses, I didn't mention the total solar eclipse that happened on the 1st because it didn't affect us here in Kentucky (damn the bad luck; I've only seen partial eclipses of the sun and would love to see a total one). It would really have been remarkable in the Arctic, where it was centred, since they've got the midnight sun thing going on right now. Here's a video of the totality, by http://www.astroscopio.com, an astronomy website:

'One World, One Dream, Free Tibet '08'

So said a banner hung on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco by some enterprising protesters. Meanwhile, in France, the Olympic torch was extinguished three times on its journey due to protesters.

Beijing should never have been awarded the Summer '08 Olympics--not with China's human rights violations and its stranglehold on Tibet. Now the International Olympic Committee is seeing a preview of the protests against the Olympics, whose founding principles of promoting peace do not mesh with holding the games in an oppressive country.

Protests Halt Torch Relay in Paris