I finished the normal

Sunday chores, but it took about 45 minutes of lying under the ceiling fans to recover. Now I'm going to work on the shelves (which is technically a Saturday chore). The only other things on my list are to take some library books back, buy some glucose tablets, and get a birthday card for a co-worker. Oh, and of course laundry goes on for awhile, so I'll finish that tonight. My first load is still in the dryer. There's a second. I also have to wash the mopheads, the blanket the cat threw up on the other day, and YKWIA's laundry. I've been listening to Pandora all morning, mainly the 3 Doors Down station.  YKWIA has mainly had quiet time.  No game today because Brenda is celebrating Father's Day with her husband (I know, Father's Day is next weekend; either she is celebrating early or they made a mistake, but regardless we had a break from the game this week, so I didn't have to do notes, although we should be good to go for next week).

Finally

Finished the laundry and we made his bed. Now I'm in my bed listening to the Bastille station on Pandora, specifically The Lumineers' 'Cleopatra' under the two fans. I got a lot accomplished. Also, I made my friend's mom's day by bringing over the big basket of purple petunias he'd sent me out for. She's said she wanted to adopt me. It made the fact that my own mom and grandmothers are gone seem a little less sad.

Heading towards sleep now, a couple of hours late by my timeline, but hey, it'll work. Good night.

I'm rarely home without YKWIA

But he decided he wanted to do some things for our friend alone and just needed me to take him there, so I came home.  I've got several chores to do today, so it made sense.  I made a quick stop for cereal at the store (I needed some and I was one point away from 40 cents off a gallon of gas, and I need to get some when I pick him up).  He's going to call the house phone when he's ready, so no headphones while I work.  So I brought my little boom box out from my room and I'm playing Pandora through my phone on the auxiliary setting.  The dogs were angrily barking when I got back; they hate being left alone completely.  So I've let them out and back again, I am eating some of the cereal, and I'm listening to the music (the 3 Doors Down channel, which I've listened to for a couple of days and liked almost every song played).  I took a shower earlier, which was great, as I hadn't had one yesterday or the day before (I usually skip a day at the most and usually shower every day or my hair looks horrible, even though daily cleansing can be drying to the skin).  The bread cooled before we left, so I put it in its container to keep fresh.

So what do I need to do today?

• Laundry
• Pack up the winter clothes and put away the spring and summer ones, then take the winter ones to storage
• Cat boxes
• Clean bathroom
• Sweep and mop tile
• Put away dishes and load dishwasher
• Do the plastic dishes/hand washable ones
• Finish backing up the computer (I've mostly gotten it backed up but had to leave in the middle)
• Make my bed (the cat was on it earlier, on the blankets--he claimed the bed when it was first delivered about a month before I came to live here

I took out the trash and recyclables yesterday, although there are a few more to go out, and I forgot the wine bottle where we had a whole bottle go into soup the other day.  I think there's just my laundry to do, maybe a little of his, but no bedding this time, hopefully.

Okay, I should start working.  Hope you're having a good Sunday. I wish there were three days to each weekend--I need a day between Saturday and Sunday just to relax.  But it's been a nice weekend so far, really.

Sigh

Today was busy. After work, I went and got some medicine for a friend and a couple of things I forgot at the store, mailed X-Men: Apocalypse back to Netflix, and came on home. So I feeling productive but a bit drained. Still, I was doing fine until I opened my mail, found something that upset me, and then everything unravelled, and I had a series of minor yet unfortunate events, things like going to the bathroom and discovering that YKWIA had forgotten to replace the toilet paper (it's something he does--I hate to make generalisations, but I'm convinced it has something to do with that Y chromosome). The last straw was taking out my contacts and one of the lids to the case fell behind the pedestal sink and I had to go digging for it. I just started crying. YKWIA and I talked about what was bothering me, really, and then I fed the animals and decided to soothe my mood with some music for about 20 minutes. I ate dinner (Morningstar veggie 'ribs' in hickory barbeque sauce, acorn squash soup, and bread). Then I went into the other room, found a mouse, put that on the desktop in the library because the wireless mouse's wheel has stopped working, cleaned up a bit in there, and then sat down and read, finishing the book I mentioned the other day. It really is enlightening, and it helped put my reaction into perspective, as I was responding as a Good Girl, and that's never good, with all sort of embarrassment, guilt, and the sense that people wouldn't like me because I failed to do something.

I really need to get rid of that Good Girl inside me and grow up completely and be a strong, independent woman.

Yesterday I applied for an outreach librarian at Frankfort's Paul Sawyier Public Library, which delivers materials to seniors and others who find it hard to get to the library itself. It doesn't require a master's degree, but I was interested in doing that, so I went to apply. I haven't given up the idea of being a librarian, after all.

Every morning the cat comes into the bathroom with me after I wake up, no matter where he might be in the house. He usually sits on the ledge that the shower enclosure is built into, but will move to the heat register if the furnace comes on. But he stays while I shower, in the hopes that I will feed him, which isn't going to happen. I don't feed them in the morning because that would encourage barking and the cat acting out. Instead, YKWIA feeds them in the morning, and I usually feed them in the evening. Anyway, he was in the bathroom and I went and got my hair dryer, something I rarely use, but I'd decided to use it today, and apparently, he had not been in the bathroom whilst I used it before. Needless to say, he freaked a bit. Poor kitty. But my hair looked nice today. :)

I'm getting sleepy. YKWIA is on the phone with a friend from Cicero, Illinois. I'm in the living room (my bedroom) using the hotspot on my phone. I've been listening to Pandora, specifically the Imagine Dragons station. I think I"m going to head on to bed soon. I need to get up early to make sure I don't have a flat tyre; I was at the store earlier, and someone came in pretty much on my side of the drive, leaving me just a little room to exit, and I wound up running roughly over a kerb. So, there's always that chance. I backed into the driveway so I can easily see the passenger rear tyre. Of course, I'll need to get up early, about 6 am, so if I need to, I can take the bus. Here's hoping that it's fine, as I don't really have any more repair money just now.

Good night. Hope your Monday has gonne well.

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.

Well, that was an adventure

I got up early again today (well, 6:45, which is not all that early in the grand scheme of thing, but better than the 8:30 or 9 I was doing). I got up, got ready, had breakfast, took my meds, called the parking office, realised I had books due at the library yesterday (so I got the list of them and put them in a bag to take back before they opened, so they wouldn't be overdue). I then drove to the library, put the books in the book drop, then drove to UK. The drive was pretty light, and I got there at 8:30 or so. Most of the parking was already taken, it looked like, so it's good I'll be going in at 8 in the morning rather than later. The lady at the office had said there was metered parking near a construction zone, but made it seem like it was in the parking garage on Press Street itself, just like they are, and so I went through the garage, didn't see any, and was about to leave and see what I could find when I saw the meters, outside, by the construction fence. Without thinking, I shifted into reverse (I'd encountered no one so far) and promptly ran into the front of the car behind me. I got out, then got back in and move the car slightly forward so we could inspect, but there was thankfully no damage. I apologised, we said goodbye, and I pulled into a meter space and put a quarter in.

Getting the actual hang tag was pretty easy. I paid for the full 12 weeks, and a little more, through August 31st, because I wasn't exactly sure when this will end. So now I have a hang tag, and can park Monday morning when I go in. I also picked up some information on parking, a map, and a Valvoline $15 coupon off an oil change, which I need. Some of my co-workers park in that garage, others in the Orange Lot off Cooper, where there is a shuttle. Either is a fairly short walk, maybe 10-15 minutes for most people, which means 20-25 minutes for me.

Having escaped the office, I proceeded carefully down the street, past the medical centre and the Orange lot, through the roundabouts on Alumni, and over to Kroger on Chinoe, got a couple of things, and made it back before it started raining--and had the forethought to take one of the umbrellas in the car (there are four) with me. It is now raining really hard, but it's coming in onto the window boxes, so I'm fine with that--it was time to water them again. Still, I don't think I'll be going to the pool any time soon.

My plan on Monday is to get up at 6 am, be parked by 7:30, and then work my way to the medical centre and report for duty by 8. I need a short orientation and then I need to fill out the paperwork they're preparing. I don't need a TB skin test--I'm good till the autumn, and they have that record. I need to find out what exactly is the dress code for the department, as it varies. (Clinic was never supposed to have open-toed shoes, for example). It's not direct patient care, but it might have that. Also, most of the people in the department wear scrubs or T-shirts and scrubs, but I doubt they'll have me buy scrubs for the short period I'll be there. I think my normal office casual things should be okay, it's just a question as to whether I can wear sandals, really. And I need to make sure they're still doing the jeans on Fridays. :)

Wow, we're actually getting a little thunder. I can barely see through my screens, they're so wet. Nice. I've been so intent on typing and the rain, I forgot my TV was still 'connecting' to Pandora, and I had some sort of morning show running in the background. Got that fixed, anyway. Okay, I guess I should continue to be productive, although I don't have anything I have to do at the moment, so I may just take a break and watch the rain. :)

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.

Considering

I've had a total of about eight hours' sleep since Friday morning, I think I'm doing pretty well. Insomnia set in Friday, as I was pumped up on too much soda caffeine. Then A had to get wake-up calls at 6:30 am yesterday and today, rides to work at 8 am, and a ride from work on Saturday at 1 am (and tonight it will be midnight). So I've really only gotten about five hours last night and three Saturday during the day.

We have been playing a particularly creepy adventure in our Cthulhu game where the main character was an unreliable narrator who lost a total of 82 sanity points in one adventure, and was hallucinating people and acting out their personalities and accents, and he wound up beating himself up with a rock when all hell broke loose. Meanwhile, my character, who was not in on most of the investigation, wound up having to:

1. take out the cultists,
2. take out the priest-cultist,
3. seal the talisman that summoned the flying polyp of doom (which had caused the above sanity loss) with an Elder Sign,
4. get my comrades out of pods of goo in pools,
5. wake folks up,
6. put Brenda's crazy character in stasis, and
7. retrieve the item that will stop an avatar of Nyarlathotep [and it makes me happy that Chrome can prompt me to spell Nyarlathotep correctly] from rising.

Kudos to the game master, who had us questioning the reality of our own presences and also for taking an adventure where technically everyone is dead and re-writing it so we could survive great danger.

I think I'm going to take my contacts out, turn Pandora on in the bedroom, and try to rest before A calls me for the midnight pickup. Tomorrow I'm going to go over to YKWIA's and help him go through some things, then take him to a doctor's appointment. But I would like to get some proper rest tonight, to be honest. Let's hope I can, anyway. I had less caffeine this time, at least, and I'll try to limit screen time for the rest of the night, limiting it to the alarm clock.

Good night.

I applied

for the first of four jobs that are open right now in the area that are library-related. It is a full-time children's library at the Lexington Public Library, Central Library. Wish me luck. I have taken classes in children's literature and children's programming in libraries, initiated a local site for the Reach Out and Read early literacy program. I've done some children's programming, and I started a family resource center focused on parenting and health topics using grant monies. So, while I've been a hospital librarian for all these years, I've done this, too, and I made sure I put them in the application. Also, I've supervised high school volunteers who were from a special education program. I've been a solo librarian all this time, but I did do that, including having a young lady who was interested in computers help me with the cataloguing. It was a great experience.

Wish me luck!

The other three are all academic positions: a library manager position, a faculty digital humanities librarian (both at Young Library), and a health sciences librarian in instructional design/nursing liaison, also a faculty position, and that one's at the Chandler Medical Library, where I know several staff (and one of my references is there, and three of my references are nurses). I hope one of these four pans out. :)

I dropped off the family resource books from the hospital as a donation to the Lexington Public Library today. There were three big boxes (I didn't pack them, so they were kind of heavy; I think my hand truck, which is rated at 300 lbs, might have been tested). I'd say there were about 200 books. I think they'd be excellent for their collection, or there is a Friends of the Library sale in April.

That leaves about a third of the library books (most went to the new facility in various offices) to box up and give to charity. There are some things upstairs, as well. I have to make a guide to using the UK Med library (there is no affiliation agreement on library services, but any resident of the Commonwealth of Kentucky can use the library and get a library card, and they are across the street on the other side of the hospital from the new facility). I need to finish changing our DOCLINE holdings to the electronic journals they will still have. All my stuff is basically home already--the plants, the various stuff from the desk, a few professional books, etc. I still need to bring the MLA News and the Journal of the Medical Library Association issues in, as well as a vase, and a I found that needs to go to the new head of the membership committee of the Hospital Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association (they're buttons with the logo, which I had when I was chair), but everything else is in the house. Now I just have to figure where to put things. :) The plants, at least, are in the window. I was afraid they weren't getting much light, but I was home during the afternoon sunlight, and I think they'll be okay. But it's afternoon sun, not the overhead and north-eastern exposure they're used to. So we'll see.

YKWIA wanted to be alone with his thoughts today, and I guess I wouldn't be great company, either, since I'm a little sad about the whole library closing thing and afraid about being unemployed, so I need to work on the game notes and work on the apartment some.

I did speak to the librarian at St. Joseph Hospital here in Lexington. She's hosting a Kentucky Medical Library Association meeting April 4th, and I don't have anything else planned, so I can go. She wanted to make sure I knew, especially as I'm still an individual member of the association. I had sent out a goodbye message to the electronic list the other day. She and another librarian were interested in the group that took our journals, so I gave her some contact information and will get back with the other librarian this week.

I'm kind of mellow, as I've been listening to Pandora, the Ed Sheeran station, although Coldplay's 'Yellow' is playing right now. I think I'm going to go listen to an audiobook (The Arm and the Stone, by Victoria Strauss, and scrounge up dinner, and then really work on the house. Among other things, the fish are getting low on their water in the tank. I am a bad fish mom. I've had several for years, feeder goldfish that are fairly pretty, and there are two left, in a 29-gallon tank. I'm thinking of cleaning everything out and starting over, with the fish in a small tank till the big one gets well-established. It's always had trouble with nitrates (which aren't as dangerous as other things, but most fish don't do well, and there are algae blooms), from the get go, the first time I ever had trouble with them. It doesn't matter how much I clean it, the nitrates stay up, even with an established aquarium. So we'll see. I'm not sure I can get away with a three-gallon tank temporarily housing two fish, as goldfish actually need some space, but I'll try to do something. But right now I have to do something, as they're not happy.

Okay, I'm going to sign off for now. At least I got that application in (Monday at 9 am is the deadline). My computer was giving me fits and I had to restart it. Hopefully it'll keep going--I certainly can't pay for a new one right now, and unlike a desktop, I can't really fix laptops. I guess the principles are the same, but everything's so smaller, and there's a battery. I'd rather replace something in a desktop (I can do modems, drives, memory cards, etc., and I think I could do a power supply but haven't). But laptops are a different story. But I think mine has to do with the fact that it's a Windows 8 machine running Windows 10 and it's four years old, which is kind of old for a computer. My desktop (which YKWIA has borrowed) was originally a Windows 7 machine, and it sometimes has issues, and seems to not like him in general, though it works for me (I used to have the same trouble with his Windows 7 machine). I know machines do not 'like' certain operators over others, but it seems electronics can be temperamental. I know I've had people who used our copier who jammed it every time, to the point where I would meet them at the door and ask to make the copies myself. I've come over to the copier and just touched it, and it's been fine. Just saying. Anyway, I may write later. I'm hungry (I had cheese and bread for breakfast, along with lima beans, and I had a can of peas for lunch, so I haven't had much today). Next week is right before payday AND the dietary department will no longer be serving hot food (they aren't going to the new facility, either). So I'll have to figure out what I can take. I've got a couple of cans of vegetarian chili and some vegetarian burgers. That may be what I eat. In case I don't get back here to write tonight, good night.

I just spent the last four hours

rearranging and cleaning my living room (and I'm not completely finished, as I'm going through and getting stuff together for Goodwill and I still need to file some papers and put other things away). But, in that time I:

1. Finally threw away all the plants that were infested with mealybugs or otherwise questionable.
2. Disinfected the area so that I can bring my other plants home.
3. Rearranged my computer desk, printer stand, TV, speaker, and loveseat so that I can work better in the living room while job searching.
4. Moved a filing cabinet into the living room near the computer for the same reason, making room so that I can take books off the bookshelf that was next to it in the dining room/entryway, and put it flush against the wall instead of as you enter, so that it opens up the entryway on that end. In rearranging the living room, I opened up things on the living room side.
5. Collected a lot of random stuff that could just be thrown away.
6. Re-wired just about every bit of technology in the room (yes, I am that girl, who is the go-to person for running cables and wires).
7. Changed the lights around so the dimmer light comes on when the entryway light switch is used, and the brighter one is near the computer for better use.
8. Put together a convertible hand truck/dolly that will help me get stuff out of the house during my purge.

Not bad for someone who's had a very busy day at work, took a friend to several appointments, and did it all on about one hour of sleep. I can feel the crash coming, though. Right now I'm listening to OneRepublic and hydrating, but I have to pick another frined up at 8:45 in the morning and so I should get up early for a Saturday. Then I need to get him and take him and another friend to an appointment. After that, I may work some more on the house or just chill with one after taking the other to work. I don't know yet; I'll leave it open. The game notes are finished (we did just a little playing, and mostly just talked amongst ourselves, especially since there's been so much loss lately in the circle).

Speaking of which, I was listening to Pandora, and heard the song 'Supermarket Flowers' by Ed Sheeran off his new album, about losing a mom. My mom and I didn't always have the best relationship, and for my youth we were too enmeshed, but this kind of says it all.



PS: The early literacy programme is a go after all. It tore me up that I thought they were going to end it after seventeen years. Also, I offered my regular medical books up to staff today (after various departments had their shot of them to take to the new building), and then left for a doctor's appointment so I didn't see the response except for the first couple of people. But I expect the shelves will be pretty bare on Monday, and then we can donate anything that's left to Dr. Viji's charity. I have some other books that will most likely go to the public library, parenting books and things on various challenges and disorders kids have and how to deal with them. Sigh. This is all going so quickly.

So we've reached the miserable stage

I don't just have a cold. That's gotten worse, and last night my throat was hurting so badly that I could barely swallow. No, I have pinkeye, too, and got sent home from work since it's so contagious. I managed to see my nurse practitioner this morning (I had a wellness exam scheduled for tomorrow, so they just moved it to today). She put me on sulfa drops, which I have to be on for 24 hours before I can go back to work. She was ready to give me a note that would have me coming back on Monday, but I have very little PTO, so I asked her if I could go back tomorrow afternoon and she said yes. My boss (who's also the employee health nurse) is going to let me work from 1-5 pm tomorrow so I can catch up on my charge sheets. She's also going to let me come in on Saturday to make up time so I can work on the policy editing. Yay.

I came home about 9 am, slept for a bit since I'd had almost none the night before, had my appointment at 11:30, then went and got the prescription and a few groceries. By the time I got back home, I was tired again. I went back to sleep from about 2 to just now, about 5, and took my medicine again. I have to take it every three hours while awake. I have absolutely no energy. I'm finally home, able to do things around the house, and am too sick to do so. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll feel better, and can tackle some of it.

So I'm listening to Pandora (the OneRepublic channel, which has that, Imagine Dragons, 3 Doors Down, The Script, Shinedown, and Matchbox Twenty, among the others. I feel somewhat mellow as a result. I just feel physically 'meh'. I'm blowing my nose a lot, washing my hands a lot, and generally feeling achy and feverish. My throat isn't as bad today--and thankfully, they did a strep culture, which was negative, so there's that--and that's a blessing.

Okay, I'm going to go to get some orange juice and then pay a bill that I forgot. T-Mobile didn't cut me off, at least. :) I meant to make a payment arrangement and totally forgot to. So I'd better pay now. I'll probably write later.

Naan and popcorn for dinner

Technically I do have basmati rice to go with some prepackaged Indian food  and some pasta and sauce,  but both of then require boiling the rice or pasta.  I don't feel like even doing that amount of cooking,  small as it is. And I'm not very hungry. I'm starting a cold--sore throat, headache,  runny nose,  cough,  achiness,  and wheezing.  I have some Mucinex,  some Stahist,  Ricola, two kinds of cough syrup--all left over from May's bronchitis--some ibuprofen,  and the Albuterol for the nebulizer (which I just used). That should help.

I went to counseling tonight and while we didn't tackle hoarding,  which I've barely worked on with all that's been going on,  we did discuss my stress levels and how to bring them down so I can cope. I feel better as a result,  although I'll have to do  proactive things to improve my stress that will war with my need to do everything.

So now I'm listening to Pandora,  drinking water,  and eating just a little.  I have some things to do tonight,  but right now I'm taking some time to myself. I need it.  I also want to read (or at least listen to my audiobook),  go online and help a friend apply for a job,  and pick a chore to work on that is small but will help with the house.  Actually, I may just create a plan,  given my schedule for the week.  I have a list of what I need to do,  but I need to assign times so I'll actually do them.

Okay,  back to Pandora.  I may write later.  If not,  have a good night.

There's an hour-and-a-half of my life I will never get back

So I took a fairly short nap (for me) and got up about 8:30 pm, deciding that I was in the mood to watch television, something that almost never happens when I'm by myself. I like watching things with friends, but not so much alone. Well, I don't have cable for that reason, just a little digital antenna, but I do have a Smart TV that can connect via Wi-Fi to Netflix and other services. I mostly use it for Pandora.

So I go into Samsung's Smart Hub, which updates, then into Netflix, and it won't sign in, because I'd changed my password since the last time I was on, and it wasn't giving me the option to re-sign in. I got out of the application, out of Smart Hub, went back in, and it did let me sign in. Then I thought to myself, I'm a Prime member again with Amazon (on a monthly basis), why don't I set up Amazon Video, too, since that was something I never really got into. So my hell began.

See, the password for that had also changed, so I went to put in the e-mail address and new password, to no avail, as it kept giving an unexpected error. That's what it said--an unexpected error has occurred when you tried to sign on. Sigh. So I poked around the Amazon website, as I was given an error when I tried to go back, an error that didn't show up in their code list. I finally deregistered the TV, tried to register it again, but when I chose that option, no code was given, just a spinning circle followed by nothing changing. So after trying this a few times, I called Amazon. Treyshawn was very, very helpful. [I mean that literally, not sarcastically. I say that because tone is not possible on a blog, He was very professional and kept me calm when I was getting a bit frustrated]. He had me turn off and unplug the TV, then had me put it back on again, and he walked me through the steps I'd done, and that didn't work for him either, so he did some checking and apparently it is a known issue on their end. So he set up a followup where they will e-mail me when the situation is resolved. So there is no Amazon Video possible on my TV at the present, but at least I wasn't doing anything wrong, and he reassured me that I can actually operate technology competently. I asked if it were just a Samsung problem, and it is, so the Roku in the bedroom should work fine. I proceeded to set up both Netflix and Amazon Video on that box, so I can at least watch either in the bedroom now. I've gotten pretty decent at putting things in via a remote control tonight.

Sadly, I spent so much time trying to set things up, that frankly, I'm not in the mood to watch now, and I think I'll read instead. Books never fail me. Even my Kindle, which can lose power and I'm sure have other issues, seems pretty reliable. So, it's back to either Aristotle (which might be nice in the quiet of the evening) or The Other Wind, which I began earlier today. Have a great weekend. I think I'll sign off for now.

PS The pesto bread was good, but it occurred to me that perhaps I'd made a mistake in trying it, given that you can't really eat peanut butter or jam or honey on it, and I have only enough yeast to last for one more loaf. So I've had bread, and only bread, tonight. :( There's not much else in the house. I even had to borrow $10 from YKWIA tonight because I was on my gas light and wanted to make it home. Oh, well, this too shall pass. Good night.

Wow

My internet connexion is running slow as molasses. I can't tell if it's the connexion, actually, or the computer, but hopefully I can get a post written.

I applied for each of the two part-time jobs at the public library today, tweaking my résumé [I seem to be doing that constantly] and writing a cover letter. The jobs are identical, and in the same area, except for the schedule, so I went ahead and wrote one cover letter to cover both, but applied for each separately, so that I would be considered for both. It occurred to me after I applied that I had agreed tentatively to be a resource person for an upcoming Family-to-Family class sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, but that had been with the understanding that if I got a job, I might have to drop out, so I think it'll be okay. Only one of the positions is on Wednesday evenings, at least. The other varies on Thursday. The application period closes on November 25th, so I should hear something within a couple of weeks after that.

I am home, straight from work (for a change). I started out by unloading the dishwasher and loading it, and then washing the plastics and a few of the other dishes that suggest hand washing, like my cookware. I discovered that, while my left sink works fine, the right is clogged, and the switch for the garbage disposer (which I use only rarely) does nothing. So, I called, expecting to get a recording at the leasing office, got the agent, and put in a work order request that they'll do tomorrow. But at least I could wash my dishes.

So, after that I washed some basmati rice and I'm letting it soak for 30 minutes, which is what the directions say--I've never done that before, and instead I've just cooked it like regular rice. I have some Navratan Korma from Kitchens of India that is ready-made that can go with it, and there's small naan I got awhile back that once thawed can go in the toaster, so I have a nice Indian meal planned. Navratan Korma is a dish of vegetables cooked with cashews and Indian cottage cheese in a curry sauce. It looks very yummy.

While the rice is soaking, I've got the windows up, I've watered the houseplants, and I'm listening to the Evanescence station on Pandora on the television. I think I'll read after I eat, at least for awhile. I'm slowly working my way through Aristotle's Ethics, and I have The Other Wind by Ursula K LeGuin checked out from the library on my Kindle, as well. Part of me wants to take a nap, but the last two nights that's turned into sleeping for hours instead of just a quick nap. So, I'm going to resist. I have an empty box, and I think I'm going to start some of the weeding of books in the closet, which is my assignment for therapy. I see my counselor again Monday, so that will work. I could work on the game notes, but it's not especially imperative that I get them done yet--Brenda's out of the state for the next couple of weeks. I do hope she can get back before my procedure, which is three weeks away, as she is my driver, but I'll understand if she has to stay. I'm not sure whom else I can get, though, as most of my close friends do not drive. One time when I had a colonoscopy and she had a conflict, she had her husband drive me. Maybe that would work. I don't know. Considering it's a female issue, I'd feel a little more comfortable with her as my 'responsible adult' to give me information they pass on while I'm loopy from the medicine. But we'll see. Anyway, I've got plenty to do at home tonight. The trash and recyclables are fine, at least. I have the happy star fairy lights on and a scent warmer for scented wax as well. It's very dark already; it's hard to believe it's only 6 pm.

Okay, I'm going to check the rice. The timer hasn't gone off yet, but I suspect it will very soon (and there it goes as I type). :) I also plan on making some bread tonight, after the measuring cups and spoons dry. I'm getting low on yeast, but I think I have enough for a loaf or two, still. Hopefully I can stretch it out. I don't get paid for another week, have a fairly empty cupboard, and I'm low on gas in the car. I may have to borrow a bit from my friends whom I drive everywhere to get through to next week on the latter.

Well

I took a nap,  and while it took awhile, I finally relaxed a bit.  Then I got up,  ate something,  took my evening medicine,  did all my dailies on my Habitica task list,  took out the trash and recyclables (one bag each),  washed the plastic dishes,  loaded the dishwasher and am running the load now,  and downloaded the audio files from the game recording onto the computer so I can do the notes. All in all,  that's pretty productive,  I think.

Things I want to do this weekend:

1) Get my rent in.
2) Take a friend to an appointment.
3) Pick up my friends from there.
4) Go visit my mom.
5) Do the game notes.
6) Put away the laundry from last weekend.
7) Put the dirty laundry in the hamper.
8) Start on the closet.
9) Do laundry.
10) Prepare for the game.
11) Play the game.
12) Pick up a friend Sunday night.

I don't have to pick up A from work on Saturday because he switched with someone and worked election day instead.  He is working tonight,  though,  so I can't take my meds that help work my neck until after I get him at midnight,  as they make me loopy,  being mild muscle relaxants.

Okay,  I think I'll listen to Pandora for awhile and maybe read for awhile.  In addition to the Earthsea Cycle,  I'm making my way through ancient Greek classics,  and the only thing I have left is the complete works of Aristotle. So, while it won't be light reading,  it should be edifying. Perhaps I should do it in short chunks.

Alright,  good night.  I'm not sure if I'll write anymore tonight,  so I'll sign off for now.  And hopefully stop hicoughing. That's so annoying,  especially when you're sliding your finger across a virtual keyboard.

Hmmm....

After years of keeping my rent from going up much, mainly by choosing longer and longer leasing periods, it is going up $30 a month in January. I got the notice today. It's only gone up $5 or $10 at a time for a good long while--I think when I first came here in 2004 it was $485 plus electric; now it's going to be $580 plus electric. Don't get me wrong, that's still a good price. I just wasn't expecting it to go up quite that much in one fell swoop.

I had PT again tonight. I've felt much better the last couple of days, just a little sore and numb. That's a vast improvement over last week. I stopped by the library on the way home to get a couple of books for YKWIA to read that I'd put on hold.

Now I'm home, I'm listening to the Bastille station on Pandora, I'm ravenous, and I've had some homemade bread and some honey. I think I'll see if I have any lentil soup and have a small apple. That'll make a good dinner, I think. Okay, I'm off to find food.

Drat...no lentil soup. I'll have tuna instead, I guess. :(

Did I mention

That I got notice of my final day at my job at Shriners,  barring finding a new job before then?  My last day will be March 31, 2017--right after I reach 20 years there,  and two days before my 50th birthday. Somehow knowing the final date makes things more real--it saddens me and makes a cold pit of fear dwell in my stomach. I'm trying to not be anxious or depressed,  but it's hard,  especially with the other stuff going on right now.

Today I spoke with one of my bosses about the upcoming procedure and small (must remind myself of this) chance of a hysterectomy. She was very encouraging.  I should draw up a plan to complete the shuttering of the library using other personnel chipping in,  just in case.

Tonight I took my friends to the store and A to a meeting, and then came home and laid on a heating pad listening to Pandora on the bedroom Roku box.  I used the time to free up some space on my phone so I could download some updates. Between uninstalling and moving applications to the SD card,  I freed up about 2.5 GB. Yesterday I had a Marshmallow security update,  and it optimised 334 apps. That seems excessive.

Now I'm baking some herb bread.  It should be ready about an hour and a half from now. So, basically it's a quiet night.

Tomorrow I need to pick up some medicine from the pharmacy (on top of everything else yesterday,  I have a yeast infection due to a round of doxycycline for that spider bite). Then there's taking a friend to an appointment.  While he's there I'll try to work on the notes for Sunday's game,  assuming we play (it's Brenda's birthday).  I also plan to work on my closets in the bedroom tomorrow,  as that was my 'homework' from my therapist,  and I see him again on Monday.

Okay,  I'm going to lie down again and listen to music on my phone while the bread machine makes bread.  The heating pad helped,  but my neck is still having issues.  Good night.

Had a bit of a Monday on a Friday today

Where things were annoying that were really trivial, and I kept feeling like I was outside myself listening to what I was saying and wondered why the hell I was saying anything I did, but without actually shutting up. All became clear after I'd finished work, taken a friend to an appointment, got gas (I was on my gas light), and then when he bought me dinner at Captain D's and I went to take my afternoon meds, I realised that while I'd taken my Byetta and insulin this morning at breakfast, I somehow overlooked my oral meds (which explains how I worked from 8:45 am to 2 pm without taking one pee break, as I'm usually on a diuretic and a diabetic medicine that conspire against my bladder. Anyway, I took the meds this afternoon, and I feel much better, both physically and mentally. YKWIA and I spent some time visiting, and then I came on home just before dark. I've got Loreena McKennitt playing on Pandora and I think I'll do some reading, most likely from the self-help books on hoarding I have on my Kindle and out from the library, but I'm tempted to go straight to the books I found by Randall Garrett that YKWIA had been talking about earlier. They are the Lord Darcy series, an alternative-history fantasy series. Turns out I have the first three (I think he gave them to me, actually, but I've never read them). Tomorrow is a very busy day, but I may read some from the first book, taking it with me--it's very small, actually, and will fit nicely in my bag.

For tomorrow (not necessarily in order):

• Go to a friend's house at 9 am.
• Take the friend to the vet for a special type of cat food.
• Take said friend to the pharmacy to correct a mistake.
• Take friend to an appointment.
• Go to Eastside branch of the public library for an interlibrary loan for a friend.
• Go to the Central library for two holds for a friend.
• Come home and work on the house.
• Go pick up friends.
• Take them to their respective homes.
• Give friend books from the library.
• Return home.
• Read.
• Work on the house.
• Work on the notes (we're not playing on Sunday due to Brenda being at a Society for Creative Anachronism event, but hey, it would be good to have them done for next week.

Okay, time to listen to relaxing Celtic music and do some enjoyable reading. Good night.

I'm awake and having trouble sleeping

I've spent the last four hours tossing, turning, dreaming right at the edge of sleep, that sort of thing. I finally got up, took my medicine (I'd fallen asleep without it), and ate a little something, since I had tomatoes for dinner. I increased a medication today, and that can have insomnia and odd dreams as a side-effect. Maybe I need to dial it down a bit--I increased only 15 mg today, over three doses, but it may have been enough to disturb my sleep. I'm also hurting, so I took some arthritis acetaminophen to help with that. I have some Loreena McKennitt playing on Pandora through the TV. I'm going to try to go back to bed in a few minutes. I want to get up early and do some things, but at the rate I'm going, I'm not sure that's going to work.

I went by the library today and checked out some books on a subject that could help me in my struggle with a particularly difficult aspect of my life. I also found a couple of Kindle books at Amazon that looked useful, one of which was recommended on a website. I may read a little before going back to bed.

Okay, we're going to try this again. Good night.

So, Pandora has this new thing called

Thumbprint, which is a station consisting of music one has liked on the various other stations one has set up, so it's a nice mix and you're pretty assured you'll like what it plays. It's also very good at the end of a day when you're not feeling particularly great and need something cheery. Right now I'm listening to Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls', which originally popped up on my Depeche Mode station. :) Okay, I'm about to put some pierogis in the oven. Guess I'll wrap up for now. Sorry I didn't write much this week. I'm not sure I've had more than a two-hour block of time to myself while awake this entire week, which may be part of the reason I imploded emotionally earlier. That and hormones, and generally needing to make some changes in my life to be truly happy. Good night.