Best laid plans

So YKWIA really wanted me to come over and fix some food for him, because he's still feeling puny and didn't feel up to cooking. Guilt was applied gently. I can't help it, I fall for that, even though I know there's no reason I should. But I knew he wasn't feeling well and didn't want him to not do well just because I wanted some 'me' time. So I went over about 8 pm and helped out, but didn't stay for dinner because I'd already eaten and it was about 11 pm by then. I came in, hooked up the DVR/VCR (after rooting around in my closet for some RCA cables to hook it up through the cable box and RF modulator), tested it with a DVD (The Princess Bride and a VHS tape (Chicken Run), and generally determined I had it hooked up right and it would play both ways. I'll work on figuring out the recording aspect later. It goes from the cable box to the DVR/VCR, to the RF modulator and then the TV. I still have to change the cables at the RF modulator if I want to watch Netflix or Amazon Prime videos on the TV.

Right after I got that hooked up, I thought I'd blog and YKWIA called to tell me he really appreciated me coming over. I did enjoy doing the cooking, and I'm learning a lot, but it makes me very tired, because it involves a lot of standing, even though I can chop sitting down, etc. I really need to take my kitchen mat with me next time, although his dog may well try to eat it with me standing on it.

So tomorrow I'll have to work on the house. The bedroom is now a mess because I had to move things to get to the cables in the closet. Sigh. If I can just put some music on tomorrow and work for maybe three or so hours, I think I could get the dishes done, get the recylables out, put things away, and maybe vacuum. We'll see. For now, it's after midnight and I think it would be good to go ahead and head on to bed. If you're in the area, be careful in tomorrow's morning commute. It's supposed to be a lot of straight-line wind and heavy rain. Good night.

Just got home from physical therapy

Which went well. I can tell it's helping. My muscles in my right leg don't hurt now when I drive, for example, although they do twinge when I get out of the car still. The ankle feels much better and I'm walking pretty much my normal (if somewhat slow) gait. I'm out of the boot, out of an ACE wrap, and am really doing pretty well. It's amazing what a month can do!

Today I got my package (free two-day shipping turned out to be free one-day shipping!) Go Amazon! I'm going to set it up in a few minutes. The funny thing is it's a DVR/VCR combo that allows for dubbing tapes to DVD, DVD to tapes, and recording to either from the TV (so long as it's connected to a cable box or other tuner). I'd had it sent to work because I can never get anything here at the apartment, and I told one guy in receiving but forgot to shoot an e-mail to the other. There's a DVD/VCR combo in the library, and he assumed that it was a replacement for that. So he had me sign for it, but then went back out and didn't come back in for a minute or two. We'd chatted and I'd told him what I was planning to do with it. Then he came in and asked if it was a personal item, and I said yes. Apparently he'd already sent it to maintenance to have them inspect the equipment and tag it. But he got it back immediately and had them delete it from inventory/take the sticker off. :) It was kind of amusing, although I'm sorry I forgot to warn him. Things would have gone much more smoothly. The plan is to give my little DVD (the one I won at a work event some time ago) to YKWIA and A and let them have one in the living room.

So I'm going to set it up, hopefully figure out how it works, and then I'm going to straighten up the house some, water the plants, feed the fish, and generally putter around. But first I'm going to get into something comfy. I got several compliments on my outfit today, but I discovered that I really need to invest in a black bra to go with the blouse. It has a strappy shell under a heavily embroidered black-on-black polka dotted sheer blouse, and part of my bra showed. I didn't seem to have trouble yesterday when I wore the grey one, but then I was wearing a different bra. I really should check to make sure that wasn't sticking out as well. You'd think as much as I wear black (although purple is the dominant colour in my wardrobe), I'd have a black bra. I'll have to rectify that.

We're supposed to get some really powerful weather tomorrow during the morning commute as a cold front comes through (it was about 66 degrees today). I did my best to park away from trees and anything else that might come down. It's really windy tonight already. I hope it's not too severe tomorrow. Okay, off to be productive.

Excellent

So, it's been a productive morning so far. I'm doing two loads of laundry, as I had nothing to go to work in. While I worked on the regular laundry, I started rummaging through the bags and piles of old/winter clothes that were in the walk-in closet that got wet to see how bad things are. About 75% seems okay. Some things will have to be thrown out. Others can be washed. But as I went through them, I found a bag that had been untouched, and inside was an old VCR that a friend had given me awhile back. I'd totally forgotten about it.

Now you must understand that my VCR had died, meaning 1) I could not watch any VHS tapes, 2) I couldn't record for posterity (as opposed to the cable's DVR, which is transitory) and most importantly, 3) I couldn't watch any DVDs, as my DVD player has to be routed through a VCR or at least something with the right plugs as my TV is old and doesn't have the right input. I had looked into getting an RF converter (which seemed to be what was needed) and that was okay, but also I looked at DVR-VCR combos, which are pricey, but could be very useful. Until Brandon asked me about whether I had the capability to record a show on DVD for him, I did not realise that such things had come down in price to be affordable to most consumers, which was embarrassing for someone who is a gadget girl/techie (although in truth, I'd call myself a medium techie. A lot still goes over my head. But I can handle most software issues on a home computer, and most hardware issues, can run lots of cables, etc.)

Anyway, this was like a bonanza. And it didn't get wet at all. So I took it out to the living room and hooked it up, and it works great. I can watch DVDs on the TV again, which is much better than doing so on my computer monitor. And by the time I got everything functioning, it was time to put my clothes in the dryer, so now I'm just letting them dry. I'll be kind of cutting in close for when I have to leave for work, but at least I'll have nice, clean clothes. I did most of my T-shirts that weren't in the closet because next week, during the short work week, is employee appreciation week at work and we can wear jeans all week. Yay!

Things went rather well at work yesterday despite the fact that all of the hospitals in the system went smoke-free as of then. I didn't hear any complaints (of course, I'm not in the trenches in dealing with the public, as I mainly serve the staff). Someone put a sign on the gazebo out back, which was a smoking area, that it was for sale/lease, lightly used, smelling a bit of smoke. The rest of the hospitals in Lexington are non-smoking, I think (at least UK, Central Baptist, and St Joseph are--I don't know about the other tertiary care facilities like Cardinal Hill and the Ridge). We delayed as long as possible because unlike the other facilities, we don't have a street up near the hospital. Our hospital sets on over 20 acres of grassland, and it's a decent walk down to the street. I, for one, like having a non-smoking environment, but I'm not a smoker, and my asthma is very sensitive to cigarette smoke. But I could see where it would be an inconvenience for those who do. It amazes me that all of the University of Kentucky is now smoke-free, not just the hospital--very different from when I was in school. I guess it's the trend, and a good one in my book. I'm glad Lexington has a municipal code against smoking in stores (except say, tobacco stores). It's not like I go to bars much, but it is nice to be able to do so, say if there's a concert or something, and I love being able to go into a restaurant and not get hit with the stuff.

Well, I'd better get ready so I can just pull the clothes out of the dryer, get into clean ones, and go. Have a great day.