My God, it's full of stars

I woke up just a little while ago from a dream which was irrelevant to this story except for the very end. I looked up, and despite being at my apartments where there should be some light pollution, the sky was a beautiful cascade of many stars, the Milky Way was visible, there seemed to be such depth and velvetness overhead (I tend to dream with a sort of intense super-detail often, and this was exactly like that). There were meteors shooting up ahead every few seconds. Right now the Perseid meteor shower is going on, and even though we're past the peak, meteors are still being grabbed up by Earth's atmosphere. I'm almost tempted to go outside to see whether I can see any, although I know the city edge that I live on is pretty bleak for most skywatching. I really need to find a good stargazing spot and take my telescope there sometime.

Of course, I have seen a sky like that before. I've lived in the country plenty of times. And when I lived on Edwards Air Force Base in California, we not only had little light pollution (or any other kind), we were at a high altitude. I remember one of the parents driving us out onto the base away from the lights and it was total darkness, and we got up on the hood and roof of the car with blankets and just watched the stars and meteors. That was the Perseids, too. It saddens me that many children today will never see the stars like that.

Anyway, just wanted to share that bit. Time to head back to bed. I was gone by 8 pm and have slept almost seven hours as it is. I hope to get up in about an hour or two and do some things around the house. I've been going to bed in an attempt to avoid them, I think. I tell myself I'm just really sleepy, but let's face it, it's a trick. :)

It's still pretty cloudy

but this was the first night since I got the phone that I could see any stars (more precisely, two). So I took it out and brought up Google Sky Maps and discovered that those two stars are part of Ursa Major. Yay!

I keep getting tweets about the International Space Station going over my area, bright to see, but of course it's been lousy for viewing with all the rain. But at least a got to play a bit with the sky.

I've had a lot of rest but still feel drained. I just don't feel like doing much other than eat and sleep, and even sleep is getting harder now because I've already had five hours' worth tonight and it's just after midnight. Usually sleep is not an issue for me--I fall asleep with no trouble [unless I've consumed a 2 litre of soda :)], but the pain's making it difficult. I actually took some Darvocet I had left over from a neck injury last year and that helped me sleep. It's still dulling the pain. I forgot to ask about the CPAP and how it would affect my ear (I did that last time I had one of these, too, but had no ill effects. I have discovered, though, that it hurts a little more. Even outside today was windy, and it hurt going up into my ear.) And of course I use my CPAP to sleep, so there's a little more pain. Not much, mind you, just a little evil icing on the cake, so to speak.

PS This has, at least temporarily, solved the headphone situation. I can't use headphones at all. :)

The sky is beautiful and full of stars

as a setting gibbous moon hangs overhead.

It's been a decent day in general, I suppose. I was finally able to place an order through our new computerised materials management system at work, but the Internet connexion fizzled this afternoon, too. My best self-quote of the day: 'I make a good beta tester; I'm a problem magnet.' This was mitigated with breakfast for lunch today (my favourite meal, not only for its content, but its cheapness--my whole meal was $2.10). But it took care of some of the frustration, although I found the main task sans Internet for me to do was go over the e-mails that had piled up in my inbox during my vacation, which I had been somewhat avoiding--just skimming for the important ones.

I signed up to renew my AAA membership today. They take out our dues from our paycheques in two instalments in November, always with the code 'flower fund'. :)

After work, I paid my rent, then had a nap between jobs. It wasn't long but was refreshing. I had the window open and the fan blowing on me.

I spent nearly every moment at job #2, except for checking in the truck and my 10-minute break, in the cooler organising and stocking, trying to remove as many boxes and crates as possible. Like everything else about the store, the cooler is way too small for the product we keep in there, so that means getting creative in stacking sometimes. The two of us who are regular second-shifters were off yesterday and the day before, with those borrowed from other stores filling in, so I don't think the cooler was really done that well, or at least they weren't able to find everything that needed stocking. I was frozen by the time I got home, although not as cold as the girls who were working out front. They're small and don't have the fat layer I have. I can be working in the cooler with the fans running full for awhile without really losing that much heat. But tonight was longer than usual.

Then it was over to YKWIA's to read more of Lumley. We're doing two chapters a night right now. I didn't get over there until after 10 because he was watching 'Supernatural' and didn't want to be disturbed, so I was over there pretty late. Plus, I watched a little of Keith Olbermann whilst I was there, since I enjoy his show [what can I say, I'm liberal to a fault and so I like it. Did you know he was raised a Unitarian? That was the last and only type of church I'd belong to. I left only because they harangued for money too much, but I still agree with the ideals.] He had Sarah Silverman on. She'd done a video urging Jews to schlep over to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote for Obama. What can I say, it's something only she could pull off, I suspect. They didn't show the whole thing on TV (and I can see why) but it's pure Sarah (so you know there are expletives, right?)

Anyways, so I'm just now getting home. My shoes are off, I've eaten a few pretzels, and it's off to bed. 'Night.