Random things this morning

1. When you forget to take the trash bins to the kerb the night before, and the city is starting early due to the heat, it behoves you to get up at 5:00 AM to take the trash out and roll all three (trash, recycling, and yard waste, when in Lexington, have names, in order: Herbie, Rosiek and Lenny (for Lend a Hand). This is a somewhat perilous process in the dark, without anyone's knowledge, as you are also a klutz and liable to fall. But all went well. Still, at that point, you might as well stay up.
2. I have very short hair, but I have kept all my hair ties because they are extremely useful. I mainly use them to wrangle charging cords.  However, just now, I dealt with a sagging lumbar pillow that I have to adjust every single time I sit in the chair because the strap is stretched out by pulling it back and securing it with a hair tie. We'll see how it goes, but for now, it's at the perfect height for my back.
3. So far, I have used my extra time filing papers, mainly all the information the government sends me regarding my benefits. I know they're mostly duplicates of the notices they put on the portal, but still, some part of me thinks I should keep them. I also just had to change an asthma preventative inhaler that I've taken nightly for at least a decade (Breo Ellipta) because it's not covered by Medicaid. They cover Advair Diskus. Hopefully it will work as well. The pharmacist who works with my doctor helpfully advised me that the dosing is twice a day, though, so that was nice.  I spent 29 years with the same commercial medical insurance (UnitedHealthcare) when I was at Shriners. I knew my benefits intimately, and it was extremely good insurance: $150 deductible/$1500 out-of-pocket. Even though it was an HMO, it didn't require referrals as long as someone was in-network, and I never had issues with anyone being out-of-network in all that time. Since I've left, I've been covered by two Medicaid managed care organisations (Aetna Better Health of Kentucky and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky), both of which use MedImpact for medications (all of them do, at least for our state) and then for two months I was on a assisted qualified health plan from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield where the state paid about $900 and I paid $500 for a $400-$500 deductible plan (medicine did not count like it did for my commercial plan, so I never hit it like I thought I would, or I would have gone for something cheaper, although medications were probably cheaper, and the first month of the doctors' visits were cheaper; the second month everything went up, including the premium, due to me pulling some retirement income out--to pay for the premiums and medical bills. It's been very hard to navigate all the changes. I'm highly literate, great with technology, and having been to university, an expert at red tape and bureaucracy (I always said I majored in red tape and minored in line waiting at the University of Kentucky); I  can't imagine how difficult it would be for someone without those advantages.
4. Today's agenda is fairly simple:
1. Work on as many chapters as I can, proofreading a talking book for the Kentucky Talking Book Library. I am woefully behind. I got chapter 3 done yesterday, which I was sent in April.  I got the whole book yesterday...fifteen chapters to go.  Life just has gotten in the way, and I should just buckle down now and get as much as I can get done while I'm off.
2. We need to put a large shop fan together to get some air moving in the house. It's a little oppressive out there, where the central heating went out last year. I am the only one with air conditioning in my room, and there have been other barriers to putting it in the rest of the house, so we've been relying on different types of fans and using my room as a cooling area for everyone occasionally.
3. I need to pick up some medicine at the UK pharmacy today.
4. My roommate's going over to friends' tonight, so it'll give me some chance to work on the book more. It's a true-crime murder mystery from the 1890s in northern Kentucky, so it's been pretty interesting, both from an historical and story point of view. 

Those are about all I can think of for now. That's a little rambling, I know. I'm just waking up, with no caffeine (I only drink soda on weekends, and I'm not a fan of coffee or tea; what can I say? It's terrible, I'm such an Anglophile and I hate tea.)

It is 71 degrees and surprisingly sunny

But the wind is gusting up to 58 mph and the rain is coming. We're staying home after all tonight and will celebrate our friend's birthday tomorrow. The Herbie (trash bin) and Rosie (recycling bin) have been taken to the kerb but the recycling one keeps falling over. I chased a lasagna carton down the street earlier. The trash one has its top off, but everything's in a bag at least in that one.

I had a blood draw today with YKWIA. Our doctor does it two weeks before our appointments. It went quickly, so we ate at a Subway afterward, went and got some medicine from the pharmacy, went to the library, and we were still home by 6:20 or so. I took out the bins, fed the animals, and he let the dog outside. Not
W I'm lying down and stretching my back out some.

I'm hoping we don't lose electricity with the wind, but I'm charging thing up things now just in case. Earlier we were on the road and the traffic lights kept going off and back on. There are some questionable boughs in the maple trees out front as well. So here's hoping it will all be alright.

Take care!

It's been a very wet Fourth so far

so I don't know if there will be fireworks tonight. I got up by 8:15 (but it was lovely to sleep in that much), and while I've been moving slowly, I have paid my bills through the first third of this month, except for two that come out automatically, and I've added that in my cheque register. I'm still coughing and snotty, but I feel better. I'm going to go over to YKWIA's in a couple of hours and we'll do something together. I haven't taken the trash out because the rain has been pouring, although I think it has eased up a little. So I think my next thing to do is work on the book review that's due tomorrow. It's a text on managing electronic resources, so hopefully, it will be a good read. I also need to check the Kentucky library job list--I think there's a job closing tomorrow with the state. I'm going to try to work on the books after spending some time with my friend.

Hope you're having a great and happy Fourth of July.

You know you're really tired

When you fall asleep before nightfall fully dressed, including bra, because you are too tired to change.

I thought I was doing better about staying up after a long workday, but I guess the summer cold sapped my stamina. I also went the whole day without caffeine, and had a raging headache. I couldn't even bear to listen to music.

That was three hours ago. I woke up, got dressed in some shorts and a tank top, and had a fruit pop to ease my throat. It's mostly left my head and has settled in my chest, but that means less nose-blowing, at least.

But I think I'm just going to rest tonight and start doing some things here tomorrow. Specifically, I need to:

1. Take out the trash.
2. Pay some bills, online and paper.
3. Work on a book review.
4. Go through and weed books. I have between 2,500 and 3,000 books, and need to reduce them by 2/3, and at 20 or so books a box, and about 50 days, that's two boxes a day to remove from the collection, if I did the math right in my head.
5. Go to YKWIA's and do something fun.
6. Watch the Idle Hour fireworks, weather permitting, as per usual, including being able to park at the old hospital to watch. :)

Have a safe and lovely holiday. Good night.

Not only did I

get it all out to the Dumpster and Rosie recycling containers, I hit my daily activity level goal, for the fourth day this week (Sunday was the game, Monday was spent away from work and the trip from the parking lot to the medical centre) according to my phone. I went to plug it in for the night, and realised that the step count was 4,995. I was five steps short of my 5,000 step goal. So I unplugged it and walked down the hall with it a couple of times. Now it says 5,024. I can tick it off my Habitica dailies list. Is it scary that I do what my phone suggests? Or that I sign into my laptop with my face? I'm not sure the marriage of human and technology is always for the best. I'm not a Luddite--I'm actually an avid adopter of technology, but I use it knowing I have no privacy, and I'm not entirely sure I'd set up a Smart Home, if I had a house, because frankly, having my very home hacked scares me a bit. I don't think I'm paranoid to think of that scenario at all, you know.

Ah...

So Friday wasn't too bad, really. Work was much calmer than the rest of the week, and we worked at a steady but relaxed pace. I left at 5 pm and went and got a friend who had taken a bus to an appointment that didn't happen (but I was more annoyed at that than he was), and we went and got another one, and I dropped them off and came on home, and I stayed up till (get this) almost 11 pm (although I was just heavy-lidded and falling asleep quickly). The rest of the days this week have mostly been about 8:30 pm as far as bedtime, I've been exhausted (to the point that while I met my goals the other day on Habitica, I fell asleep before checking off the boxes, and woke up 10 minutes after the start of a new 'day' (which I've got set at 2 am), so my little avatar took damage--and so did everyone else I game with. I felt so bad. It's just been hard to get everything done that needed to be done lately.

This morning I called A at 6:30 am, picked him up at 7:30, took him to work, got a couple of cheese and egg biscuits and a parfait at McDonald's, and came back intending to go back to sleep. But I laid in bed from about the time I got home (8:30 am) till about 9:30, and decided to go ahead and get my day going. I went to Costco, intending to get some light bulbs and a couple of other things, and spent more than I meant to, but everything I got was quite useful. Well, maybe not the cheese bagels and tomatoes, but they're yummy nonetheless. Then I went to the library, where I sheepishly turned in most of the books I had (most of which were overdue, including one of two interlibrary loans I'd gotten for a friend, who'd taken off the papers that have all the information on them that the ILL department uses. I had most of it to give them. It so embarrasses me that he does that, and I know they're not happy with me. He wants to see the covers. I tell him not to do it. He almost ripped the cover off one, because they changed how they do it, so instead of having two sticky labels, they wrapped the cover in a piece of paper that was carefully taped. I am beginning to think that should they ever let me borrow again, I should remove them myself, carefully. The man mangles anything he tries to remove (paper from a notebook, or my favourite, the DVD envelopes from Netflix, which we just leave to me now). Anyway, I apologised, left the other books in the book drop, and slinked away without mentioning in any way that I am, indeed, a librarian. And with all the overdues, I checked later after everything got checked in, and I owe $6.30, which is actually less than I expected. The interlibrary loans are $1.00 a day. One was still before the deadline, but one was due the 25th. :( I got it from him on the 26th or 27th, but I literally was just too wiped out to take them back during the library hours, and didn't just want to dump them in with the papers just sitting inside the books. Also, they had a 'read off your fines' thing going on through the 31st, and while I planned to do that, I just decided I was too tired. So I'll happily pay the fine.

Speaking of public libraries, I have an interview about an hour's away up the interstate on Friday afternoon, and got permission to leave work at noon so I can get there before 2 pm. I'll probably come home, change clothes, and go straight up there. It's Owen county. My dad's family, the Duncans and the Cobbs, have lived in the Owenton area for generations. I'm interested to know more about the library. I never visited the library there as a child; I don't know much about it, actually, and I should educate myself on it before I go. I also need to e-mail a confirmation that I will be coming.

I went to the grocery a little while and got some veggies for a tray for the game, some cheese, some crackers, and some dill dip, so I'm good for the game tomorrow. And I spent four hours today doing the notes. I came back and collected the trash and recyclables from various containers and some horizontal surfaces, and I now have quite a load to take out. I had to take a break, though, before actually taking the bags outside, as my back was bothering me. Mainly I've been doing better with my back, although that workout on Thursday made muscles in my lower back and buttocks scream, because they apparently didn't know they were supposed to do anything. I didn't make it to the gym at the complex today (there was a pool party going on early afternoon that was intriguing, but too many people for me, I think, being a shy introvert who would have stood around, not eaten hamburgers or hot dogs, would have had to slather on a ton of sunscreen, and gee, talk to people). It's not my thing. I am glad the complex did that sort of activity, though. I wish they'd have a yard sale. They did that every year for several years while I was at Speedway and working on Saturdays. Now I could participate, and I have plenty of stuff that needs to go, if I can part with it.

Okay, as much as I hate to admit it, those bags of trash and recyclables are not going to take themselves out. I should get up and do that, so they're taken care of and I can tick that off my busy day list.

Okay

I worked very intensely for what, granted, was a short time, and got most of the trash and recyclables together, cleaned out the fridge, and that was enough for now. (I am ashamed to admit just how much stuff was built up. Let's just say it's a good thing that I have a small granny cart; the one from the fridge is very heavy, for example. My kitchen bags are pretty small, and I don't have them full to bursting, but I've got six of them in the kitchen full of trash and another four of recyclables. That's unusual--usually there's more of the latter. Some of that trash is packaging from the speaker, which is bulky, as well freezer and refrigerated containers, which can't be recycled at our centre (if they're coated for cold, basically)). I still have some mail to go through in the dining room and a little in the bedroom (mostly receipts from my pockets), but that is something for later when I work on those rooms. I have to be over at a friend's house at 8 or 8:30 in the morning to help him with something important, so I may turn in for now, take the trash and recyclables out at first light, and maybe work a bit more then. I got quite a bit finished in a short time, so if I really work for say, an hour, there may be some better progress in the morning. I'll try to get up at 5 am with the hope of getting up at 6. :) Ah, de-hoarding is a good thing. I'm usually pretty decent for awhile if I'm spending much time at home, but when I go for days on end coming home late, I tend to just throw stuff on the loveseat or dining room table, or wherever, in bags, etc.

And I need to get some stuff out of here, because I have a couple of boxes in the trunk of my car full of my friends' old audio tapes. We cleaned out their shed last weekend, and it's been cool enough here that I haven't really had to worry about them in the car, but it's warmer this weekend and I need the room for grocery shopping. Since the point of my having the tapes is to check them for damage and see if they play (I have a couple of boom boxes with tape players, and they don't).

Wow...

This gives music education a whole new meaning. In a place where a violin is costlier than a house, these children make beautiful music on instruments made from other people's trash. Kudos to the project, and the people making such a difference in these kids' lives.

I should probably put the reading off

(I never thought I'd say that.) Looking at the weather, we're going to get rain in about an hour. But on the other hand, it is very windy. That's supposed to die down by the morning and the rain is supposed to abate before I go in to work. Since I'm already undressed and comfy, I think I'm going to err on the side of reading and just take everything out tomorrow morning. Here's hoping the Weather Channel's hourly forecast is as good as it usually is. If I get wet, it will be on my head, in more ways than one. None of the trash is the type of stuff to spoil overnight, and I simply don't want to go back out again unless it's an emergency.

So I'm listening to Natalie Merchant's Ophelia and gathering the things to be charged up to the bedroom. I'm going to read for a bit and then go to bed early, so I can get up early in the morning and finish my work. It's been a good day off. The week ahead is pretty busy. It was good to have a three-day weekend to prepare. I have physical therapy twice, a doctor's appointment, and another I'm taking someone to. Plus work looks to be busy the rest of the week. I wish I had sent the menu home so I knew what they're serving tomorrow; I may cut up some salad makings and take some with me for lunch. I bought baby greens, Craisins (with less sugar), a cucumber, red bell pepper, yellow cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms, so it would make a fairly festive one, and it would be cheaper than the salad bar at work. I can always add a bit from there if I like (I love eggs on my salad, for example. Of course they're very heavy, so that's expensive. I have some in the refrigerator for that matter; I could boil some for breakfast and lunch. Hmmm....I could do that while I'm reading.) We'll see if I actually get up in time to do the rest or just run out the door in the morning.

Have a good night.