So last autumn I was one of the people who lost all their documents by upgrading early to the October 2018 update. One thing I did after that was to purchase a 128 GB SD card to put in my computer's slot, where I keep all my documents, pictures, music, etc. I also use Dropbox and an external hard drive. The idea, of course, is that I back up, and frequently, at least once a week, on at least two of those. I did backup to Dropbox before the deletion, but not as frequently, maybe once a month, so I lost a couple of weeks' worth of data. Now I don't have many documents, and they're not earth-shatteringly important, except for things to do with the Cthulhu game that I have been playing weekly since July 1991 (hello, 28 years). So that's the main thing I have to back up. I've gotten it down so I only have to really back up those files I update. My friend, who uses my old desktop and I back up his stuff on an external hard drive, has tens of thousands of documents and another tens of thousands of pictures, along with some videos and lots of e-mail. So, his is much more of a process, as he routinely changes where things are on folders and is constantly editing--again, mostly to do with the game.
I did the latest May update with no problem. It was not pushed out to my computer immediately, as it had been flagged for some reason or other, probably due to my Dell. I knew it would not update with the SD card or any USB media attached, but that's fine, as the whole point of having the card is to lock my documents away at the time of update, so I'd planned to remove them anyway. But all in all, it was a much smoother process.
Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
Translate
Showing posts with label Windows Updates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Windows Updates. Show all posts
Saturday, July 06, 2019
Friday, May 24, 2019
After the fiasco last October
when I lost all my documents doing a Windows update, I was somewhat trepidatious about doing the May 2019 update. But, one thing I changed in the intervening months was that I had put all my documents on an SD card in my laptop, with Dropbox as a backup (the latter had been the case for the documents I lost, and with the exception of a couple of weeks' worth, I saved most of the rest. Backups are important, people.) Anyway, I had heard that the update wouldn't install with a USB drive or SD drive because of an issue with remapping the drives, but that if you disconnected the USB or ejected the SD, it should work fine. Since ejecting the card had been the plan all along, I did so, downloaded the update in about two minutes, and had the whole thing updated within five. It was the easiest Windows update that I've ever done, and it seems to be working correctly.
I did it this morning because I'd woken up at five and was just awake, and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up, took a shower, got ready, and did the update. I left the house at about 6:20 am, stopped by Kroger for caffeine, and went into work, getting there about 7 am. So I have until 8:30 am to just chill and do what I'd like. I've gotten my personal e-mail squared away. I'll check social media and the news. I'm on my hotspot on my phone rather than the hospital's WiFi because I promised a long time ago not to use the hospital's equipment to blog at all after someone had a conniption over something I'd written during a break at work. So, it's my equipment, my connexion.
Okay, let's go see what's going on in the world. I did see on my phone that Teresa May, the prime minister of Britain, has resigned. I don't care for her policies, or for the idea of Brexit. Not that it matters, I suppose, given that I'm not British and they don't care about my opinion. But she certainly was very polarising.
I did it this morning because I'd woken up at five and was just awake, and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up, took a shower, got ready, and did the update. I left the house at about 6:20 am, stopped by Kroger for caffeine, and went into work, getting there about 7 am. So I have until 8:30 am to just chill and do what I'd like. I've gotten my personal e-mail squared away. I'll check social media and the news. I'm on my hotspot on my phone rather than the hospital's WiFi because I promised a long time ago not to use the hospital's equipment to blog at all after someone had a conniption over something I'd written during a break at work. So, it's my equipment, my connexion.
Okay, let's go see what's going on in the world. I did see on my phone that Teresa May, the prime minister of Britain, has resigned. I don't care for her policies, or for the idea of Brexit. Not that it matters, I suppose, given that I'm not British and they don't care about my opinion. But she certainly was very polarising.
Saturday, October 06, 2018
I'd like to think that I could write on days other than weekends
But it seems, for now, I'm too tired in the evening. Here is a re-cap of the last few days:
Thursday, September 27th -- I utterly broke down at work because a mom was not happy that I hade made an appointment at an alternate location since I can't get an MRI at the university until a month after the child was supposed to have it. Turns out the doctor told her they couldn't have it locally because the university's scanner is so much better. She was very strident, not necessarily abusive, but it just set me off into a crying fit (it turns out I was also pre-menstrual, so maybe that can explain the sudden lability), and my neighbouring co-worker heard it, had me unlock the door, and talked me into taking a walk and stepping away from the office. It was a really hard day. I had over 20 off-sites to schedule (still do, as every time I manage to schedule one about 2-3 more appear in my box).
The university is down to two, maybe one MRI scanner (depending on certain conditions like age, if it's with contrast, etc.) due to some maintenance, and so the other day I managed to get a cervical, thoracic, and lumbar MRI scheduled there--a long scan, easily over 2 hours--but otherwise without any of the constraints I'm normally given (it was originally supposed to coordinate with a brace pickup, but the university was too booked, so they just said any time I could get), and the first available was in the middle of December. Now in some cases, I do have an alternate place I can go to--the one I scheduled the kid in that caused his mom to go ballistic--and I was given the go ahead to go there for this one, as it's just too far out. Most of these are supposed to be same day so they can see our doctors then, and they're usually in clinic about two days a week, given that they're in surgery or at the university on other days. But if I go to the alternate place, I have to clarify a spine survey (a reduced scan) vs a full scan, and all these little details take time, especially since I try at the university first as that's preferred. And they can't do sedation ones.
Meanwhile, the baby hips are causing me no end of stress. When we ask for an ultrasound for hip dysplasia, it's usually for treatment, not for diagnosis, and it has to be without manipulation, often in a harness. These kids are extremely delicate--they can't be moved out of position at all. The university is the only place in town that does them without manipulation, and they're down three techs. The requests for these are always the same day, as is our protocol, and usually a week or two weeks out. I'm struggling to get dates before a month out, and I'm relying on cancellations to get anything scheduled. There are lots of little things that go into all of this, forms to fill out, faxes or e-mails, calling the centres, calling the parents, rescheduling, usually, as it doesn't suit someone, and then mailing letters, maps, and updating a summary, and sending the form out to a group. That's just my part. Then I hand it over to someone else who pre-certifies it. But this could easily be a more-than-full-time job alone. And it's just half of what I do--the surgery pre-certs are the main thing, and I"m struggling to get those done ahead of time because of all the time I'm spending on the off-sites. I tracked the last week of off-sites on a running total to see how many I had a day, how many I got done, etc., whether I ran into any problems. The one where the mom triggered the crying fit took about three hours total. On a good day--if I only work on off-sites--I can do about seven, or one an hour. But that's without doing the surgeries at all that day. Usually, it's two, maybe three. And they just keep coming. Plus, they have to be prioritised as they come in, as some are more urgent than others, like ones that are post-surgery the next day, or the baby hips for a week out. It's causing a lot of stress.
I've already had an episode where I went to the emergency room for hours with chest pains and headache, and they eventually decided I'd had a migraine that was causing numbness and pain down my left arm. I told that to my neurologist yesterday and he gave me a dissolving medication for migraines. But I'm sure the whole thing was stress-related. I'm getting a lot of headaches, have had some gastroenteric issues, and I've been stress eating from the vending machines, so my hA1c jumped from 7.1% a few months ago to 9.0% since I started in June. I'm going to have to start packing carrots and other healthy foods, as I'm not sure I can curb the urge to eat, but at least I can change what I eat, and my endocrinologist said that was fine.
Friday, September 28th--It was a better day. Busy, of course. I started tracking the off-sites at work. I had 26 that morning and got it down to 19.
Last weekend--my friend, the kitten, and the cat were all sniffly and under the weather. The dog and I were the only ones fine. We didn't play the game as a result, but I got a lot of rest, at least.
Work throughout the week--I just sallied forth and did what I could. Surgeries were mostly done the day before or day of. I realised late Friday afternoon that I had not sent one, and sent it in. It may be denied for no timely authorisations (most places don't due retro ones). That's not acceptable, and I know it, and it most likely will be an issue. It won't be passed to the family (we are an actual charity, not just a non-profit), but it will cost the hospital money if denied. So there was stress there. I didn't think I was doing well, but I didn't think I'd actually drop the ball entirely on one. So we'll see if they approve it. I have no illusions that they will.
Tuesday, October 2nd--So I updated my laptop to the Windows 10 October Feature Update. More on that in a minute.
Wednesday, October 3rd--That evening, I went to do a book review that I hadn't managed to get in by the 1st, and lo, my documents were all gone due to the update. No one was really reporting on it at the time, just a few things in the fora. I spent the evening seeing if they had been moved to another area, and I rolled back the update to see if they would appear. Nada. Nothing on my desktop, music, or photos had been touched, just my local drive non-cloud documents. But that included the game notes, my job hunt materials, and my book reviews. I updated back and at least I have some of that on Dropbox. The game notes were backed up a month ago, and there are just two sessions I lost, which is good, and those recordings were still on the desktop, thankfully, so I can reconstruct (over several hours). Most of the important stuff was already backed up. But I was not happy with Microsoft at all. I was also up late that night backing up my desktop, where my friend has tens of thousands of documents and pictures that he's collected and created over years, and we unplugged it from the Internet entirely.
Thursday, October 4th--News stories started making the rounds on the tech sites of the data loss issue with the update. I did find a good tool for trying to recover files, but it only recovered a few non-important files I'd deleted myself, although I did get a book review back. But either the files I'd had were just absolutely deleted by Microsoft's update, or rolling back--which even now Microsoft is suggesting,--just deleted them beyond recovery.
I did find ways to make sure the desktop didn't get the update (fortunately that machine is Windows 10 Pro, not Home like the laptop, so it's easier. We were able to plug the computer back in. It's deferred all updates for a month, and any feature updates for a year. So we're good for now, hopefully. But again, despite my best efforts to go to bed early, I was awakened in the middle of the night for a minor crisis and didn't get back to bed till 4 am.
Yesterday--We are officially out of grocery money. I'm broke in general, my last purchase being a pie for a send-off at work for a co-worker who is moving to a new department. It's going to be a very lean week until I get paid.
Today--I got some good sleep last night, and woke up to sun streaming through the window, and the cat, who'd really been struggling with the crud, obviously doing much better. I got up, got some water, took my medicine, and played with the kitten with a laser pointer, although I have to be careful because while he's up to playing, he's still got a little breathing issue from the crud he had.
Okay, that's it for now. Sorry I haven't blogged. Today is the library, pet food run, book review, and working on the notes, plus going over to our sick friend's for a visit and maybe a movie tonight.
Thursday, September 27th -- I utterly broke down at work because a mom was not happy that I hade made an appointment at an alternate location since I can't get an MRI at the university until a month after the child was supposed to have it. Turns out the doctor told her they couldn't have it locally because the university's scanner is so much better. She was very strident, not necessarily abusive, but it just set me off into a crying fit (it turns out I was also pre-menstrual, so maybe that can explain the sudden lability), and my neighbouring co-worker heard it, had me unlock the door, and talked me into taking a walk and stepping away from the office. It was a really hard day. I had over 20 off-sites to schedule (still do, as every time I manage to schedule one about 2-3 more appear in my box).
The university is down to two, maybe one MRI scanner (depending on certain conditions like age, if it's with contrast, etc.) due to some maintenance, and so the other day I managed to get a cervical, thoracic, and lumbar MRI scheduled there--a long scan, easily over 2 hours--but otherwise without any of the constraints I'm normally given (it was originally supposed to coordinate with a brace pickup, but the university was too booked, so they just said any time I could get), and the first available was in the middle of December. Now in some cases, I do have an alternate place I can go to--the one I scheduled the kid in that caused his mom to go ballistic--and I was given the go ahead to go there for this one, as it's just too far out. Most of these are supposed to be same day so they can see our doctors then, and they're usually in clinic about two days a week, given that they're in surgery or at the university on other days. But if I go to the alternate place, I have to clarify a spine survey (a reduced scan) vs a full scan, and all these little details take time, especially since I try at the university first as that's preferred. And they can't do sedation ones.
Meanwhile, the baby hips are causing me no end of stress. When we ask for an ultrasound for hip dysplasia, it's usually for treatment, not for diagnosis, and it has to be without manipulation, often in a harness. These kids are extremely delicate--they can't be moved out of position at all. The university is the only place in town that does them without manipulation, and they're down three techs. The requests for these are always the same day, as is our protocol, and usually a week or two weeks out. I'm struggling to get dates before a month out, and I'm relying on cancellations to get anything scheduled. There are lots of little things that go into all of this, forms to fill out, faxes or e-mails, calling the centres, calling the parents, rescheduling, usually, as it doesn't suit someone, and then mailing letters, maps, and updating a summary, and sending the form out to a group. That's just my part. Then I hand it over to someone else who pre-certifies it. But this could easily be a more-than-full-time job alone. And it's just half of what I do--the surgery pre-certs are the main thing, and I"m struggling to get those done ahead of time because of all the time I'm spending on the off-sites. I tracked the last week of off-sites on a running total to see how many I had a day, how many I got done, etc., whether I ran into any problems. The one where the mom triggered the crying fit took about three hours total. On a good day--if I only work on off-sites--I can do about seven, or one an hour. But that's without doing the surgeries at all that day. Usually, it's two, maybe three. And they just keep coming. Plus, they have to be prioritised as they come in, as some are more urgent than others, like ones that are post-surgery the next day, or the baby hips for a week out. It's causing a lot of stress.
I've already had an episode where I went to the emergency room for hours with chest pains and headache, and they eventually decided I'd had a migraine that was causing numbness and pain down my left arm. I told that to my neurologist yesterday and he gave me a dissolving medication for migraines. But I'm sure the whole thing was stress-related. I'm getting a lot of headaches, have had some gastroenteric issues, and I've been stress eating from the vending machines, so my hA1c jumped from 7.1% a few months ago to 9.0% since I started in June. I'm going to have to start packing carrots and other healthy foods, as I'm not sure I can curb the urge to eat, but at least I can change what I eat, and my endocrinologist said that was fine.
Friday, September 28th--It was a better day. Busy, of course. I started tracking the off-sites at work. I had 26 that morning and got it down to 19.
Last weekend--my friend, the kitten, and the cat were all sniffly and under the weather. The dog and I were the only ones fine. We didn't play the game as a result, but I got a lot of rest, at least.
Work throughout the week--I just sallied forth and did what I could. Surgeries were mostly done the day before or day of. I realised late Friday afternoon that I had not sent one, and sent it in. It may be denied for no timely authorisations (most places don't due retro ones). That's not acceptable, and I know it, and it most likely will be an issue. It won't be passed to the family (we are an actual charity, not just a non-profit), but it will cost the hospital money if denied. So there was stress there. I didn't think I was doing well, but I didn't think I'd actually drop the ball entirely on one. So we'll see if they approve it. I have no illusions that they will.
Tuesday, October 2nd--So I updated my laptop to the Windows 10 October Feature Update. More on that in a minute.
Wednesday, October 3rd--That evening, I went to do a book review that I hadn't managed to get in by the 1st, and lo, my documents were all gone due to the update. No one was really reporting on it at the time, just a few things in the fora. I spent the evening seeing if they had been moved to another area, and I rolled back the update to see if they would appear. Nada. Nothing on my desktop, music, or photos had been touched, just my local drive non-cloud documents. But that included the game notes, my job hunt materials, and my book reviews. I updated back and at least I have some of that on Dropbox. The game notes were backed up a month ago, and there are just two sessions I lost, which is good, and those recordings were still on the desktop, thankfully, so I can reconstruct (over several hours). Most of the important stuff was already backed up. But I was not happy with Microsoft at all. I was also up late that night backing up my desktop, where my friend has tens of thousands of documents and pictures that he's collected and created over years, and we unplugged it from the Internet entirely.
Thursday, October 4th--News stories started making the rounds on the tech sites of the data loss issue with the update. I did find a good tool for trying to recover files, but it only recovered a few non-important files I'd deleted myself, although I did get a book review back. But either the files I'd had were just absolutely deleted by Microsoft's update, or rolling back--which even now Microsoft is suggesting,--just deleted them beyond recovery.
I did find ways to make sure the desktop didn't get the update (fortunately that machine is Windows 10 Pro, not Home like the laptop, so it's easier. We were able to plug the computer back in. It's deferred all updates for a month, and any feature updates for a year. So we're good for now, hopefully. But again, despite my best efforts to go to bed early, I was awakened in the middle of the night for a minor crisis and didn't get back to bed till 4 am.
Yesterday--We are officially out of grocery money. I'm broke in general, my last purchase being a pie for a send-off at work for a co-worker who is moving to a new department. It's going to be a very lean week until I get paid.
Today--I got some good sleep last night, and woke up to sun streaming through the window, and the cat, who'd really been struggling with the crud, obviously doing much better. I got up, got some water, took my medicine, and played with the kitten with a laser pointer, although I have to be careful because while he's up to playing, he's still got a little breathing issue from the crud he had.
Okay, that's it for now. Sorry I haven't blogged. Today is the library, pet food run, book review, and working on the notes, plus going over to our sick friend's for a visit and maybe a movie tonight.
Labels:
Blogging,
Cats,
Data Loss,
Friends,
hA1c,
Migraines,
Recap,
Stress,
Windows 10,
Windows Updates,
Work
Friday, June 30, 2017
That's weird
Although I was initially creeped out by the Windows 'Hello' face-recognition software on my new laptop, I've gotten used to the much quicker sign in. So I was surprised that it wasn't coming up after the last update, meaning I had to not just turn it on, but actually set it back up again, including training it to recognise me with and without glasses. I found that a little odd. But at least it only took a few moments, and it still recognised my PIN and password.
Monday, June 20, 2016
So an uncaffeinated Rabid Librarian
is a sluggish Rabid Librarian, indeed. I had no caffeine this weekend, and I dragged all day. I don't even remember what I did Saturday, other than wish my aunt a happy birthday. YKWIA and I may have gone to the store, and I picked YKWIA and A from somewhere they'd gone to have a date out. Beyond that, I can't remember. And Sunday it took me 8 hours to do the cleaning I normally do in 2-3. (We visited a lot, too, and I did laundry, both mine and his, but still, it shouldn't have taken so long). I just couldn't seem to go any faster. Then we worked on something we'd planned to do, finished that, and it was too late to watch the Netflix movie, which I have kept with me, and maybe we can sometime this week. Our queue has dwindled quite a bit, and I'm considering cancelling the DVD plan. We didn't use it for awhile, and we have of late, but still, we average a movie a week at most. I'll think about it anyway. My streaming plan is going up by $2, and I think the DVd plan is about $8, so that would offset the increase. Every little bit helps. I just put my last $4 into the car as gas. I have 55 cents in the bank until late Wednesday/early Thursday. I'm just hoping that eighth of a tank of gas will last until then.
Anyway, I'm sorry, as a result of not having caffeine, I really didn't blog this weekend. Sorry abou that.
Last night I was itching quite a bit, but was so tired when I got home that I didn't register much other than I had some bumps on my abdomen. This morning I looked at it, and they are red spots with white, blister-like centres. There were two big ones, maybe two small ones forming. At first I thought maybe I'd gotten an infected injection site, but that's never happened, and I always use a new needle, etc. Now I did scratch myself accidentally with a needle, come to think of it, in that general area, but still, that wouldn't explain four places. Then I thought, maybe I'm having a outbreak of shingles. I have had chicken pox, I'd had a headache and was tired all weekend (but that could easily have been the lack of caffeine for both), and they were on one side of my stomach. But though they hurt when touched, they didn't hurt a lot, like shingle pain is normally described, but itched instead. Still, it could have been a mild case. But the more I investigated, the less likely that seemed--shingles are normally blisters appearing on a raised irregular red sort of shelf on the skin, going along the nerve. These were individual and spaced out. Really, the most likely thing is either folliculitis--an infection of the follicles, or some other skin infection. So instead of going to the doctor with something I'm pretty sure is minor, I'll just keep them clean, put some Neosporin ointment on them, and keep them covered with bandages, and I think we're good to go. That way in the unlikely chance they are shingles, I won't infect anyone (you can't catch shingles from another person, but in rare cases, you can have someone who hasn't been vaccinated or had chicken pox get that, as it is the same virus). I did check since I work in a children's hospital even though I'm not in direct patient care, and covering them is sufficient. So either way, it should be okay. Hopefully they'll clear up quickly.
I got an e-mail today saying that Kroger was reviewing my application. Yay! Hopefully I'll hear from them soon.
Tomorrow I take YKWIA to an appointment and hopefully get my allergy shots.
I took some of the recipes I'd found and put them in an Android phone application, and it's nice. It can be backed up to Dropbox and you can import them from web pages, although I've noticed it imports everything but the actual ingredients most of the time. Maybe it's not fully compatible with every cooking web site. But I've gone in an added those, and that's not too bad, especially as it gets the directions, which tend to be more of an issue.
Tonight I dug around in the pantry and found some Easy Mac, which I made in the microwave. It doesn't require anything other than the noodles, water, and powder pack. Now, this was one of the things I was given in a gift basket when I broke my ankle after being hit by a car...four years ago. It pretty much tasted like that, too. I did put about a half a teaspoon of butter in it and it made it creamier and mitigated the flavour a bit. But, hey, that was dinner.
I was going through a cookbook I had out from the library, and there was a great recipe for roasted peppers with baked eggs, and it had an ingredient I had never heard of--harissa. So I looked it up, and it's a paste made from chiles, spices, and olive oil, with some garlic and various other optional ingredients. It's North African. You put it in a jar and cover it with olive oil, then seal the jar, and it keeps for a month. Whenever you use it, you just put a little more oil over it. The spices were cumin seed, coriander seed, and caraway seed. You toast those, grind 'em up in a mortar and pestle (which I have) or coffee grinder (which I don't), and then put them in a food processor with the chiles (which have been soaked in hot water, with the stems and seeds removed, then you put in a little olive oil and process till you get the right consistence. Then you follow the procedure above with the jar and the olive oil. I think I'm going to try it.
So, the idea when I get paid is, along with all sorts of bills that I will pay, is to try to save money and eat healthier by cooking real food. So far I have some meals planned over the next two weeks, if I can afford the ingredients:
Okay, I'm still a bit hungry. I Think I'll have some multi-grain crackers and peanut butter, despite having already brushed and flossed my teeth. I also got all my pills put into their reminder box (I'd forgotten to do that last night, and didn't have what I needed today), stocked up my insulin so I have enough, have taken my nightly Lantus, and have stocked up on pen needles. I think I'll head on to bed soon. My computer did a bunch of updating when I first turned it on and only has about an hour's worth of charge now, so I"ll go plug the laptop up.
PS Hope you have a happy solstice (summer, or Litha, for the northern hemisphere, or winter for the southern) AND a happy full moon, as they coincide today, the first time since 1948, or so said one story I read. Also, if you're in the southwestern US, try to stay cool. THe heat wave is predicted to go up to 122 degrees in Phoenix, for example. That's insane. I used to live in the desert, and 110 was not that bad, really, but at 120 they start grounding planes because the rubber tyres start to melt. Remember, please think of your pets, whose bare paws can burn on hot asphalt and cement. I've been through some rough heat waves (over 65 days of over 100 degrees in Kansas, where there's enough humidity to make that horrible and a lot of people died throughout the midwest that year (1980)). Also, avoid throwing cigarette butts out of the car or anything else that could spark fires, as they're almost impossible to fight in those conditions. Good luck!
Anyway, I'm sorry, as a result of not having caffeine, I really didn't blog this weekend. Sorry abou that.
Last night I was itching quite a bit, but was so tired when I got home that I didn't register much other than I had some bumps on my abdomen. This morning I looked at it, and they are red spots with white, blister-like centres. There were two big ones, maybe two small ones forming. At first I thought maybe I'd gotten an infected injection site, but that's never happened, and I always use a new needle, etc. Now I did scratch myself accidentally with a needle, come to think of it, in that general area, but still, that wouldn't explain four places. Then I thought, maybe I'm having a outbreak of shingles. I have had chicken pox, I'd had a headache and was tired all weekend (but that could easily have been the lack of caffeine for both), and they were on one side of my stomach. But though they hurt when touched, they didn't hurt a lot, like shingle pain is normally described, but itched instead. Still, it could have been a mild case. But the more I investigated, the less likely that seemed--shingles are normally blisters appearing on a raised irregular red sort of shelf on the skin, going along the nerve. These were individual and spaced out. Really, the most likely thing is either folliculitis--an infection of the follicles, or some other skin infection. So instead of going to the doctor with something I'm pretty sure is minor, I'll just keep them clean, put some Neosporin ointment on them, and keep them covered with bandages, and I think we're good to go. That way in the unlikely chance they are shingles, I won't infect anyone (you can't catch shingles from another person, but in rare cases, you can have someone who hasn't been vaccinated or had chicken pox get that, as it is the same virus). I did check since I work in a children's hospital even though I'm not in direct patient care, and covering them is sufficient. So either way, it should be okay. Hopefully they'll clear up quickly.
I got an e-mail today saying that Kroger was reviewing my application. Yay! Hopefully I'll hear from them soon.
Tomorrow I take YKWIA to an appointment and hopefully get my allergy shots.
I took some of the recipes I'd found and put them in an Android phone application, and it's nice. It can be backed up to Dropbox and you can import them from web pages, although I've noticed it imports everything but the actual ingredients most of the time. Maybe it's not fully compatible with every cooking web site. But I've gone in an added those, and that's not too bad, especially as it gets the directions, which tend to be more of an issue.
Tonight I dug around in the pantry and found some Easy Mac, which I made in the microwave. It doesn't require anything other than the noodles, water, and powder pack. Now, this was one of the things I was given in a gift basket when I broke my ankle after being hit by a car...four years ago. It pretty much tasted like that, too. I did put about a half a teaspoon of butter in it and it made it creamier and mitigated the flavour a bit. But, hey, that was dinner.
I was going through a cookbook I had out from the library, and there was a great recipe for roasted peppers with baked eggs, and it had an ingredient I had never heard of--harissa. So I looked it up, and it's a paste made from chiles, spices, and olive oil, with some garlic and various other optional ingredients. It's North African. You put it in a jar and cover it with olive oil, then seal the jar, and it keeps for a month. Whenever you use it, you just put a little more oil over it. The spices were cumin seed, coriander seed, and caraway seed. You toast those, grind 'em up in a mortar and pestle (which I have) or coffee grinder (which I don't), and then put them in a food processor with the chiles (which have been soaked in hot water, with the stems and seeds removed, then you put in a little olive oil and process till you get the right consistence. Then you follow the procedure above with the jar and the olive oil. I think I'm going to try it.
So, the idea when I get paid is, along with all sorts of bills that I will pay, is to try to save money and eat healthier by cooking real food. So far I have some meals planned over the next two weeks, if I can afford the ingredients:
- Whole wheat honey bread
- Eggplant penne pasta
- Potato leek soup
- Salmon with blackberry-ginger sauce
- Asparagus frittata
- Roasted peppers with baked eggs (which requires the harissa)
- Zucchini au gratin
- Quinoa salad with avocado
- Roasted onion and garlic potatoes
- Slow-cooked beans (with fresh dry beans this time)
- Lentil cashew pilaf
Okay, I'm still a bit hungry. I Think I'll have some multi-grain crackers and peanut butter, despite having already brushed and flossed my teeth. I also got all my pills put into their reminder box (I'd forgotten to do that last night, and didn't have what I needed today), stocked up my insulin so I have enough, have taken my nightly Lantus, and have stocked up on pen needles. I think I'll head on to bed soon. My computer did a bunch of updating when I first turned it on and only has about an hour's worth of charge now, so I"ll go plug the laptop up.
PS Hope you have a happy solstice (summer, or Litha, for the northern hemisphere, or winter for the southern) AND a happy full moon, as they coincide today, the first time since 1948, or so said one story I read. Also, if you're in the southwestern US, try to stay cool. THe heat wave is predicted to go up to 122 degrees in Phoenix, for example. That's insane. I used to live in the desert, and 110 was not that bad, really, but at 120 they start grounding planes because the rubber tyres start to melt. Remember, please think of your pets, whose bare paws can burn on hot asphalt and cement. I've been through some rough heat waves (over 65 days of over 100 degrees in Kansas, where there's enough humidity to make that horrible and a lot of people died throughout the midwest that year (1980)). Also, avoid throwing cigarette butts out of the car or anything else that could spark fires, as they're almost impossible to fight in those conditions. Good luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)