Wow...

One of the things I did before bed last night was disarm the five alarms I use to wake up in the morning. I rarely just sleep in to when I want these days, and I decided I was going to do it. That was about 11:30 or so last night. I woke up about 10 am and got out of bed at 10:22. I slept well and long. So I'm up, it's cycling between sunny and cloudy outside, and the cicadas are so loud I can hear them from inside.

Things I'd like to do today:
1. Do some reading. I'm working on Charlaine Harris' Dead and Gone, the last Sookie Stackhouse novel.
2. Watch some videos. I have one of the 'Sherlock's to catch up on, some 'Downton Abbey', etc.
3. Go to either the pool or the YMCA, or both.
4. Work on the window boxes (they were tossed around by the storms this weekend, and some of the plants need some attention, plus the strawberries are sad and almost dried out in places.
5. Get some pots and re-pot some of the indoor plants like the hoya and the prayer plant.

I don't think I can do anything about my dark aquarium. The folks who told me about the electronic ignition assembly (I can't remember what it's actually called) are usually closed on Labor Day, as it is a family-run business. I'm not sure Incredipet or PetSmart would be helpful. I don't have to replace the whole hood, just that assembly, but I don't remember how to, to be honest. That may be something for later in the week.

I've been up for 19 hours

But I'm doing pretty well. A storm has come up; it's raining hard and lightning and thundering. So I'm avoiding charging anything like I usually do overnight. Granted, my phone and tablet are insured and I do use a surge protector, but I figure I can wait up a little more. Besides, it gives me a chance to read some. I've been doing tech stuff all evening, and I need a break.

My back did much better today. I went to PT and we did stretches I can easily do at home. My therapist is going to write up a programme for water exercises that I can laminate and then use in the pool at the YMCA. Work went better, and then I had an appointment. It was very hard to come back to work after being out in 78 degree weather, but I did. Then I stopped by my friends' house briefly to drop off something from the grocery and came on home. The fish was a success, I had a treat of frozen Greek yoghurt, and then I worked on organising things on electronic devices, etc. I meant to take some recyclables out. I may do that in the morning, assuming it's not raining.

Well, it seems the storm is dying down, I think. I'll check the weather, plug things up, read for a bit perhaps, and then turn in for the night. Hope the weather doesn't get too wild.

When I was younger, I had a terrible case of brontophobia

I screamed when it thundered even at a few months old, according to my baby book. As a teenager, I dove under the kitchen table when there was a sudden crack of thunder nearby--in front of a guest. On my honeymoon, I wound up camping in the midst of one of the worst storm fronts the Atlanta region had ever seen, and when the camp got struck by lightning, I wound up in the foetal position in a puddle on the ground.

But phobias are tricky things. I tried to force myself to enjoy the sounds of thunder. I once held a brontophobic dog's paw through a storm because its stupid owner had left it in a cage it could crawl on top of AND leashed it, and it was trying to hang itself. And after years of thunder issues, it lessened to the point where I now have an application on my tablet called Sleepy Time that has several noises where you can choose what you go to sleep to, and I often choose rain and thunder.

So I guess it's no surprise that when the thunderstorm rolled through this evening, I fell asleep. Still, it amazes me that I've come this far. It was definitely a phobia, as strong as those I know other people have against spiders and snakes. My reactions were without thought and instant. But in my own way I guess I desensitised over time, and that's good, because you simply cannot escape the occasional thunderstorm.

Now, I still have some issues if I'm actually out in the lightning and thunder, so I'm not entirely without fear. But if it's distant, or I'm inside, and it's a run-of-the-mill storm, I'm fine. Yay!

Had a good game

with the climax of an adventure set in ancient Carthage that involved strange satyr-like things that were thankfully straightforward to decapitate. We retrieved the shard of the Shining Trapezohedron, saved the innocents who were going to be sacrificed, and destroyed a cult of Shub-Niggurath. Not bad at all, and rather fun. Ah, to be a time-travelling ninja!

A storm blew in that did not knock out the lights where I was (although Brandon and his family lost power for a couple of hours), bringing much-needed rain. Let's hope it keeps raining throughout the night and over the next couple of days, at least part of the time, and then clears for Fourth of July.

Okay, we played until 11 pm, it's nearly midnight now, and I've been up since about 6:45 this morning. Good night, and hope you had a good weekend.

A couple of things I learned today

There is a moth called a Setaceous Hebrew Character after the Hebrew nun letter on its wings. It eats lobelia, among other things.

A derecho 'is a widespread and long-lived, violent convectively induced straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms in the form of a squall line usually taking the form of a bow echo.' I found this out because the storm system that knocked out so much power last night was described as a derecho.