It was a blah day

And I really didn't come out of my blahness until after I cleaned my friends' house and sat down to watch 'The Shannara Chronicles' premiere (yes,  we're behind),  which was visually stunning,  pretty decent in terms of acting and story,  and generally I want to see more. I also want to go back and read the books,  as it has been ages, and I've only read the original trilogy anyway.  After that we watched another episode of 'Ugly Betty',  and then I headed home.  So it was not bad after the initial lack of enthusiasm. I think whatever was going on with my mood may be hormonal.  I still haven't had a period,  and it's been over a week since it was due.  (No worries about pregnancy,  at least.) It was also beautiful outside,  in the mid-60s and sunny.  I must admit,  we haven't had much of a winter yet,  but I'm already ready for spring.

Okay,  I've filled my pill box and done a few small things around here.  Time for bed. Good night.

Mortality has been on my mind a lot of late

In seems like everywhere I look, things are hastening to their natural end. Tonight one of my beloved ‘nieces’, a collie shepherd who is about 16 years old, has been doing very poorly. Something has hurt her; I don’t think it was another dog, but she’s bloody under her right ear, and is very unsteady on her feet and more out of it than normal (and lately the senior moments have been more numerous than when she’s alert). So far, even when she’s slowed down, she’s come back and done pretty well. But she was obviously wanting to drink earlier, had her mouth right over the water, and couldn’t seem to. That’s not a good sign. My friends are going to call the vet first thing in the morning and see if they can get her an appointment. We did go ahead and give her the arthritis medicine in the hopes that it would help with some of the pain. The other dogs usually give her a wide berth because she is old and cranky, and there’s been no known dog fight or anything. It’s possible she tangled with something out in the bushes or got trapped and pulled loose. We don’t really know. But hopefully tomorrow at least the vet can see her and make her more comfortable. But we may be looking at the end. She’s been a wonderful and loyal dog. Considering her size, her age is remarkable. I do hope she’ll be alright, but I’m steeling myself for if she’s not.

Today I had my second performance appraisal in a week; I have two jobs at the hospital. I got pretty high marks, and I’ll be getting a raise (yay!) In the first appraisal, I was very candid with my primary boss about looking for another job, and she agreed that I had to pursue what’s best for me. In the second appraisal, my other boss asked me what my plans were at this point, when the hospital shuts down and moves to a new building as an ambulatory care centre. I explained that best case scenario, I find another job that has benefits and is full time. While I could stay to the bitter end and collect a severance, be eligible for unemployment, and have health care for a limited time, it’s very uncertain as to the particulars, a lot of the severance would go to taxes (although I’d get some back as a refund the next year), etc. I did tell him that I will have been here 20 years come next year, right before the move, and I’ll also be turning 50 (another reason mortality has been on my mind as of late), and it will be harder to be looking for a job. And I may need to look outside of the library field, maybe do something along the line of my second job in revenue cycle, if possible. We further discussed that if something did come up in the hospital, I would consider staying, although I’d probably have to take a pay cut, because my library rate is very good, and even though my charge capture position is much lower, it averages out to more than most of those jobs pay, and he was candid about that. He suggested that I could perhaps do something there in fiscal services, and even though I don’t have a formal background in accounting, I can obviously do similar things. Of course, at this point, they’re not sure how many positions in fiscal services will be going, either, so it’s not like he can say, yes, there’s a position you can have. But I think he’s happy with my willingness to take on other duties and help where needed, and I think if something came up, he would recommend me and prefer to retain me. The most likely place to have an opening would be scheduling, which I am trained in, at least to a point. I said I wasn’t sure I’d like to do that five days a week all day, but I would be willing to try, if the pay wasn’t terribly low. The main concern I have at the moment is continuing to have health insurance, and while I might find something on the exchanges, we have excellent insurance and it would be nice to keep it. But benefits are the main goal. That being said, I am having trouble making ends meet, mainly because I’ve overextended myself on debt in the last couple of years. So a pay cut, while it may be inevitable, is not going to be fun, either. Anyway, I asked him to let me know if anything came up, and to keep me in mind for future openings. It couldn’t hurt.

It’s been a very long week, it seems. Tonight I missed the return of ‘Grimm’ because A really needed to go to the store and do a large grocery run. YKWIA recorded it though, and we’ll watch it tomorrow. I also need to see the last two ‘Heroes: Reborn’ episodes. Oh, and he’s been recording the ‘Sword of Shannara Chronicles’ but we haven’t seen them yet.

So, tomorrow I need to:

1. Possibly take the dog to the vet (it’s very close to where they live, but the poor thing is too unsteady to walk up there, right now).
2. Take A to get his medicine, or at least go by and get it for him.
3. Possibly take him to get his hair cut.
4. Take in the Time Warner Cable equipment.
5. Do a very small grocery run for a couple of items they didn’t have tonight.

Okay. I’m pretty tired, and it’s after midnight. Good night.

So, I'm trying an experiment

It's a whole wheat bread with cranberries and sunflower seeds. I sort of mixed a couple of recipes together. We'll see how it turns out in a couple of hours. :)

Meanwhile, I'm eating some macaroni and cheese and watching the goldfish swim in the aquarium. After PT YKWIA and I went to his house, I fixed him dinner, and we watched 'Doctor Who' (with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper). Rose is growing on me, and so is this Doctor. I've mostly seen the Matt Smith and Tom Baker series, so Eccleston's is quite a bit different. But he still captures the essence of the Doctor. This one was called 'Father's Day' and was all about time paradox. I hope YKWIA doesn't put those creatures in the game. But he's right, the basic quality of a good companion is to have lots of pluck (and the ability to run...a lot).

Tomorrow after work I'm heading to the pharmacy to pick up meds for my friends and later that night there's 'The Shannara Chronicles'. 'Heroes Reborn' comes back from hiatus (how do you go on hiatus with only three episodes of a thirteen-episode arc left?) on Thursday. So we're watching TV again. I hope I can get my Internet turned back on this week, although it's looking iffy. I have to pay my rent (yes, I did that last time, very late, and can't take the chance on doing that again) and my car insurance. Not much is going to be left. :( I hate that I've gotten behind like this. But, hey, if I pay what I can and talk to them, it's bound to get better.

I have to admit, I'm a bit tired. I got up early this morning (I've been trying to do that lately) and tomorrow is no exception. I'm trying to get up at least an hour and a half before I have to be anywhere. Not that it takes me that long to get ready, but it's an opportunity to get other things done that should get done, and usually by the late evening I'm ready to do something quiet and go onto bed. So I'm trying to wring as much out of my time as I can.

Speaking of which, I think I'll do some more reading. I'm at the point where Gilgamesh is trying to find the Sumerian equivalent of Noah to ask him questions about eternal life. These ancient epics--Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey, Beowulf, even the Vestas--have way too much testosterone in them, and apparently men aren't all that different then from now. Give a man a beer, a weapon, and the chance to get laid and the results are pretty much the same. Except that Gilgamesh rebuffed Inanna, which, quite frankly, was dumb. One thing we learn from Greek mythology is that it is very good to live quiet lives beneath the notice of the Gods. Yes, you should be pious, and make sacrifices. However, it never ends well when mortals run afoul of Immortals, and even worse, when they offend them. Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu terribly insulted the Goddess, in a most foul way. I'm surprised the people of Uruk were not destroyed to the last man, woman, and child. Any Goddess who threatens the zombie apocalypse just to convince her father to let her borrow the Bull of Heaven is to be feared. I guess women haven't changed that much, either. The scene is like watching a teenager beg her father for the keys to the car or else she'll (insert threat here). :)

Okay, back to reading I go. I'd like to finish it tonight. I also need to take something so I can put it in my phone's Habitica application and get some experience points. :) Good night!

Is anyone else looking forward

to the MTV version of Terry Brooks' Shannara series, debuting January 5th? When I was leaving Kansas, my English teacher gifted me with The Sword of Shannara, the paperback version that had a fold out illustration by the Brothers Hildebrandt, which was beautiful.  Sadly,  in a fit of clearing out things,  I gave some of my fantasy books to the Lincoln County Public Library here in Kentucky when I moved out of my grandparents' house,  mainly because they had almost nothing of the genre at the time,  and that edition wound up there. I have often missed that book,  with her inscription and the colourful plate. I eventually went on to get several of the books. In fact, I have the first trilogy in an omnibus now,  so I still have the story,  but I still wish I hadn't parted with that copy.  Still, perhaps it brought joy to some lonely kid like it did me. :)

PS I went to the library website and found several Shannara books,  including the one I gave them. I'm thinking it's the same one because it is a first edition paperback illustrated by the Hildebrandts. The catalogue entry reads: Brooks, Terry.        The sword of Shannara. -- 1st ed. -- New York : Random House, 1977
       726 p., [1] fold. leaf of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm.
       
Nice to know they still have it. I wonder if I could call and at least have them check that copy for the inscription and photocopy it for me?