I tried to blog last night

using the Blogger mobile application to share an updated picture of the buds on the orchid at work that’s getting ready to bloom, but it just kept saying ‘publishing’ and refused to upload the photo. They’re not quite ready to open yet, but they will be soon—they’ve swollen quite a bit. But I guess I’ll wait till the orchid is actually blooming before trying to post another picture, one that goes through my laptop rather than my phone, perhaps.

After work today I had intended to pay my rent and get my hair cut, but a friend was out of an important medicine and half and half [the latter in not an emergency, of course, but it is a major staple in their house, as it’s used in coffee]. I was going to the grocery anyway, so I went and got the medicine from the pharmacy and then went over to the Tates Creek Kroger to get some food [it has a couple of items I wasn’t sure would be at Chinoe, my usual store]. I dropped the creamer and medicine off and came on home. I can pay my rent and get my hair cut on Saturday, as that’s when the last day to pay the rent is. When I changed out of my work clothes, I got into something comfy but which could be worn out because I am considering going over to use the gym here at the complex. I say considering because there are things around here to do, like some housework—including vacuuming--and I also have some exercise equipment that can be used at home (things like exercise bands, 2-5 lb weights, an exercise ball, etc.) But right now, I’ve had a sneezing fit and want to be breathing a little better before I either go walk or cycle or do stuff here.

I’m also burning up. I came in, got into fewer clothes, turned off the heat, and put the fan in the living room directly on me. It’s only 34 degrees outside, and it’s been snowing all day, but I had the car window down most of the time I was running around this afternoon. I’m not quite sure why, if it’s hormonal or just my normal hot nature, but I’m definitely not suffering on this coldest day of the week (next week it’s supposed to be in the 70s!)

So, anyway, I have some free time tonight. Here’s the plan:

• Blog
• Charge my phone and Kindle
• Put the non-perishable groceries away
• Vacuum
• Exercise, either in the apartment or at the nearby gym
• Fold laundry
• Unload the dishwasher and load it
• Go over some finances and figure out how to handle some debt and look at my budget
• Do some wellness planning
• Study some Latin for a half-hour
• Play the Atari and Nintendo for a half-hour
• Watch a DVD, maybe a ‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ programme [I can fold laundry while I do that]
• Read awhile from a couple of books I have out of the library on my Kindle [or rather, read one and re-read Ursula K LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, a book I adore—I am considering getting the complete series, and I want to see how the formatting looks, as I’ve only read the original trilogy, which I have in trade paperback, and there are a total of six now]

Okay, I think I finally cooled down, and now I’m starting to feel a little chilled. Time to turn off the fan, plug up the vacuum, and do something about my living room.

Up and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

For all that I had trouble sleeping last night, and probably got to bed about 2 am and then listened to some Depeche Mode for awhile after that, I got up at 7:45 am and am pretty perky, or about as perky as I get in the morning. Yesterday I was not as vigilant about doing all the stuff to keep my blood sugar in control, and my bedtime glucose was high, so I took both Lantus and Humalog (long-acting and short-acting insulin, respectively). This morning my fasting blood sugar is 117, which is very good, and I’m back on track. I only missed one pill and one injection, really, but I felt a bit like a slacker, when I’ve been doing so well. So, here’s to being back in form today.

It is 9 degrees outside, quite cold, and sunny. I plan on waiting for it to warm up before going anywhere. I’d like to pop by the library today, as it’s been closed, but on Sundays they open at 1 pm, so I may not be able to. We’ll see. A friend wants me to get a book from the Beaumont Library for him, and I’d like to hook the computer up to Wi-Fi for just a bit to get any updates there might be.

But I’ve got some time today before then to maybe work on my to-do list, since I haven’t really done anything on it except dishes.

You’d think with this much snow on the ground, nothing would be bothering my allergies, but I have inside allergies as well. My eyes are watering to the point of crying and I just blew my nose and unstopped it. I just took my allergy pill and I’m taking eye drops for that as well. These help. I really need to get back on track with my allergy shots, since the phials are at the practice and ready.

A few things to do this week:

1. Get my allergy shots, at least once, but twice if possible.
2. Take YKWIA to an appointment during the workday and three appointments in the evening.
3. Go to Time Warner Cable and give back the modem/router.
4. Go to one appointment of mine during the day and one evening appointment, the second of which coincides with YKWIA’s, at least. Getting allergy shots twice this week is looking slim. But there’s Wednesday, when they’re open late, and that’s free, for now.

Oh, by the way, speaking of taking the box back to TWC:

Vonage will not let me go. As you may know, Vonage is a voice-over-Internet phone provider, meaning that an internet connexion is required to use the phone, unlike bundled phones from the cable company. I have had Vonage for (apparently) nine years and five months. During that time, I have happily paid my bill through an automatic draught month in and month out. So they consider me a wonderful customer. Years ago, I was having trouble making a payment, and they actually comped the entire month. Last year, I lost my internet for a couple of months and they forwarded my calls and gave me credit for two or three months so I wouldn’t be charged.

Yesterday I called to cancel, and they really did all they could to make sure I didn’t. They dropped it down to an account that would be $6 a month with taxes, then gave me the credit for six months so that I could call back in that time to see if I got a connexion back in that time. That way I get to keep my phone number. I agreed to this (probably I will get the internet back in that time, through some provider, if I can find a good rate that I can afford, so I can watch Netflix on my TV again). So, everyone was happy. They really have bent over backwards to try to keep me as a customer. I certainly would recommend them to anyone. Anyway, thank you, Vonage.

I’ve been playing more of ‘Inside Out: Thought Bubbles’ and I finally got through that one level, but I’m stuck again, getting within one ball several times, using both Joy’s and Sadness’ powers. :( I’m assuming I’ll eventually unlock the other emotions, if I can just get past level 24.

Okay, it’s nice and bright in here, with the sun reflecting off the snow. I think I’ll read for a bit. I’ll write later, hopefully.

Well, I did one thing on my list

I didn't get home till about 9:30 tonight, and my neck and back are still hurting, so I decided not to do any lifting, which means not putting stuff in the closet, not filling up the fish tanks, and not taking stuff out to the Dumpster. But I did sit down and pay several bills to the best of my ability. I also relaxed for just a little while playing Gauntlet, both the original and Gauntlet II. :) Now I'm listening to a Loreena McKennitt channel on Pandora. I'll probably head on to bed soon--tomorrow is one of my 'early' days, meaning I get up at 6 am.

I managed to get some gas today and filled up the tank (which was good, as I was on my gas light) because using my friends' Kroger card (they have no car, so otherwise the fuel points would go to waste, and I take them around a lot) I had 50 cents off a gallon, so I got it for $1.99 a gallon. Yay! That was kind of the highlight of my day. I generally didn't feel well, due to the neck/back pain, a headache, and some wonky blood sugar. I did manage to help YKWIA with something, and A as well, and watched a great episode pair of 'Wizards vs. Aliens' with YKWIA. But I'm glad to be home now and am thinking of taking a muscle relaxer and just crawling into bed. I wish this pain would go away. I haven't taken anything stronger than ibuprofen, but I've been trying to avoid taking even that if I can help it.

Okay, that's all for me tonight. Have a very good night. I'll try to write something more substantial next time.

I tried to publish this post from my phone

Alas, it did not work. The Blogger application is still saying 'publishing' about 40 minutes later. So here goes.

There really is no room in my bedroom for any sort of game system, and I have an old Atari computer and a not-quite-first-generation-but-still-original Nintendo system from ages back. I had tried balancing these on a chest-of-drawers with an old 1990s TV and a Norfolk Virginia pine, but it didn't work too well. So....I looked and I could hook them up to my 'modern' TV in the living room. So now the bedroom TV just has an RF modulator and Roku box (which is very small) to deal with, so I can watch Netflix or listen to Pandora. The living room has a small Smart TV, so I can do that in there, or now, play Tetris or Gauntlet or Dig Dug to my heart's content. If the Nintendo is hooked up, the digital antenna works as well, as there is a port for it. If the Atari is hooked up, it's just that. I'm going to see if I can use a splitter, but it may need a switch to hook both up and alternate them. (I don't have cable television; I don't really watch it enough to justify the expense.) But really, who needs cable, as I have all the entertainment I need here.

One of my favourite arcade games of my youth

(and yes, I have both Gauntlet and Gauntlet II on an old Nintendo system hooked up to a TV in my bedroom. I am a geek.) What it lacked in the stunning graphics of today, it had in actual fun.



There is a fun 'clone' of Gauntlet that is called 'Get Medieval' that is also very fun. Unfortunately, when I upgraded computers, it only runs on 32-bit Windows systems and not 64-bit ones, and both the desktop and laptop are 64-bit. It had a certain comedy factor, as you can see:

I have a confession to make

Remember the reminiscing I was doing the other day regarding old school computing? That is, my old Atari, in response to the video of kids reacting to the old ASCII system?

This coincided with a message from eBay saying I should change my account password due to a breach. Now, I've been on eBay about twice since I opened the account a few years ago, once to get something a friend was interested in, and once to replace a puzzle I accidentally broke of said friend's. But I do have an account, so I dutifully went to change my password.

I was still thinking about my old Atari 800XL, and so I typed it into eBay's search engine, and found several listings, all more expensive than I would have spent--about $100, which is what the system cost when my mom bought hers all those years ago. Then I happened upon a 600XL computer that was one model below mine, but takes the same cartridges, purportedly worked, and was about a third of the price of the others.

So I bid on it. And no one else did. And the next thing I knew, I'd won the auction. I also bid on a joystick, and won that one, as somewhere along the way I divested myself of my joysticks. But I kept my ROM packs, mostly games, about fifteen in all. There's something thrilling about getting down to the wire and bidding on something in 50 cent increments. So have to watch that! :) Today I received the computer (it came very quickly--it was Monday when I won the auction). Tonight I took it home and hooked it up to my bedroom TV and yay, it works. I tried a couple of ROM packs to make sure. So as soon as the joystick gets here, I can play the games I loved, such as Joust, Dig Dug, Centipede, Frogger, Gyruss, etc. So I logged back on to eBay and left very positive feedback to the seller, who was very reasonable, included the connectors I needed to get it hooked up, and got it to me very quickly.

I'm afraid I'm a bit of an old-fashioned video gamer. I still have an old Nintendo system, too, one with cartridges for Gauntlet and Gauntlet II. :)

That I'll probably keep, but there are other things in my house that I might do best to put on eBay. Things like Elvis records from the 60s in great condition, an old Game Boy system that I've never really used, a wallet that is too small for my phone these days. I could have my own online garage sale. This has possibilities....

Okay, it's almost 1:30 am. I got home late because I was waiting for a break in the weather, where it was storming. Time for bed--7 am comes early. Good night! May you dream of little pixelated protagonists saving the world from evil.

I really liked the movie

X-Men: Days of Future Past. It did a good job of tying together the two time periods in the movie franchise, and while it was not entirely true to the canon of the comics, it seemed to be fairly consistent within that of the films. And it included little tidbits, like Peter (Quicksilver) mentioning that his mom knew a man once who could manipulate metal (the fact that he is Eric's son I only know from YKWIA, who read a lot of the X-Men comics, whereas I've read very few, despite working in a comic store for a year--there were just so many titles to keep up with for the books). They did an excellent job of recreating 1973. YKWIA asked me which power I would like the best if I could have it. I have to go with Mystique's--the ability to appear like anyone you wanted. Also, according to the comics (if I remember what YKWIA said), Mystique doesn't age like ordinary people. She may have been alive at the turn of the 20th century or even earlier (I know, that doesn't match the young Raven growing up with Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class, but I gather that was a departure from the books. All in all, her power's pretty cool. YKWIA, on the other hand, would be perfectly suited for Xavier's power, as he has both the intelligence to use it well and the will to control it.

So I've been home for a little while putting the Elder Scrolls Anthology on my computer (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind (including Tribunal and Bloodmoon), Oblivion, and Skyrim, all included in one package). I loved Daggerfall years ago, and had played a little of Morrowind, but it's been awhile and it took me a little while to get back into the swing of things, literally, as I forgot some of the essential controls and apparently didn't read the manual as closely as I should have. But it's all good now. Right now I'm downloading Skyrim, which requires a Steam account, and listening to the radio. I think I'm going to put up my feet for awhile since it's taking awhile to download. But it's been a nice long weekend. Tomorrow I have to try to balance work and a friend's appointments, and I have to get up very early, so I'll turn in soon. Good night.

Bleh

Last night I got home fairly late and pretty much went straight to bed without blogging. Tonight I've been home, and at times I've been busy, but mostly I've just felt bleh and didn't get around to writing. I have, however, been fairly productive up to a point. I worked, went to an appointment, ran by the pharmacy (for the second day in a row), ate dinner with a friend, returned my library books, did all the hand-washable laundry (21 pieces that are now drying on the new rack with a fan on them), and so that's not too bad. I do plan on doing the regular laundry as well by getting up early in the morning. My back has been giving me trouble tonight with all the stooping and movement with the hand-washables, so I've been lying down trying to get it to ease up, and I took some ibuprofen, too. I also played some 'Joining Hands', an addictive game I got the other day for my phone when it was the free application of the day on Amazon.

Yesterday I came late to some news that made me sit in my cubicle at work and cry. Barbara Mertz, who wrote under a number of pseudonyms, including Elizabeth Peters, and who among all her many novels wrote the 19 Amelia Peabody mysteries, died on August 8th at the age of 85. I didn't know her, of course, but she touched my life and fired up my imagination with her strong female characters. I watched Amelia and Radcliffe begin their life together, their son grow up, their grandchildren born, and every year 'another dead body' as their foreman on the digs in Aegypt would lament. I felt like I'd lost something very special, much like when you've been entranced by a good book and you come to the words 'the end' and have to close the cover. Here is her obituary in the New York Times: Barbara Mertz, Egyptologist and Mystery Writer, Dies at 85. According to it, she wrote nearly 70 books. I have read about 32 of them, and have about 30. I have read her Aegyptology non-fiction under her own name, all of the Amelia Peabody books, several of the Vicky Bliss ones, and all of the Jacqueline Kirby ones, plus a few more sprinkled here and there and the guide to the world of Amelia Peabody. I have most of them in a coveted shelf near my bed. Oh, she will be missed.

Someone had far too much time on their hands

But it's hilarious, especially if you like 'Dr. Horrible' and the old video games.

Act I:



Watch the whole playlist of five videos.

Or check out the Doctor Otoroc website.

I thought I heard the doorbell this morning

so even though I wasn't expecting anyone I slowly made my way out tot the door, only to find that while no one was there, the refrigerator door was wide open. I must not have closed it all the way when I got a drink earlier this morning.

I'm feeling relatively well. The sun is shining, which always helps my mood. I'm stiff and sore from not being able to sleep in the bed in my normal fashion, but I'm up and I've eaten. On today's agenda:

1. Wash dishes. (At least the ones I could get in the dishwasher).
2. Wash hair. (Although I did use the spray dry shampoo).
3. Baby wipe bath.
4. Change clothes.
5. Water plants. (ok, that was on day 3)
6. Physical therapy.

None of which I'm going to tackle at the moment, but I'll start around noon. I think for now I'm going to go read some. Or play a game I got from Amazon called Zen 3, where you wrap paper around a cube in a puzzle fashion. Welcome to my exciting life! :)

PS 50% isn't too bad these days. I got the most difficult things done. There's tomorrow for the rest.

PS 11/2 I got my hair washed! And I changed clothes. Things are looking up!

Well, it does make sense

This is talking about video games, of course--of all sorts. I still wonder if they've studied non-video roleplaying games and their effects. I should look that up.

When Gaming Is Good for You

Videogames can change a person's brain and, as researchers are finding, often that change is for the better.

A growing body of university research suggests that gaming improves creativity, decision-making and perception. The specific benefits are wide ranging, from improved hand-eye coordination in surgeons to vision changes that boost night driving ability.

Every wonder how to determine the correct maturity rating on video games?

This picture does it: An Illustrated Guide To ESRB

E=Everyone-A woman's face
T=Teens-A woman's partially covered cleavage
M=Mature-A pixelated look at a woman's nether regions
A=Adult-Tentacles and legs

Thirty-eight years ago today

Pong happened. And so the era of arcades, video games, and countless wasted quarters began.

I'm listening to the musical commentary to Dr Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

And came across the references to Ninja Ropes Extreme. I suck at it, but I'm a complete beginner. I got past about five screens in the fifth try. It's really a game for the iPhone, but you can play here, too.

A future library I'd probably love to visit

Via Jenny--The Shifted Librarian's Ou Est La Doctor Who Bibliotheque?

The next Doctor Who episode is called 'Silence in the Library' and is set, predictably, in said establishment. According to Wikipedia:

As shown on the BBC Doctor Who website, there are a number of books in the library that reference previous episodes. Those seen are the operating manual for the TARDIS (a document which the Doctor has long since lost), Origins of the Universe (Destiny of the Daleks), The French Revolution (An Unearthly Child) the Journal of Impossible Things ("Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood"), The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (written by Douglas Adams, former Doctor Who writer and script editor), and Black Orchid (a book first seen in the Fifth Doctor serial of the same name).

Also from Jenny at the Shifted Librarian:



Citricon: Library Defender, a game from the Orange County Library System (in Florida).