Just because...

Despite the fact that I just watched 'Grimm'

and have been making fun of a friend with little time sense for thinking last night was Friday, I came home and proceeded to put together pictures for 'Throwback Thursday', and really, truly believed it was Thursday. Argh. So, yes, it's Friday (yay!), and even though it's not Thursday, I will share these anyway:

A rare picture of me laughing

Me, my paternal grandmother, and my mom, back in the early 1980s

I didn't sleep well last night

I was very restless all night, and I'm not sure why. I didn't have too much caffeine or anything like that. I did walk a lot, of course, much more than today, where I didn't even make my normal 5,000 steps. In fact, I'm at about a third of yesterday's accomplishment. I've been productive today, and not really pooped despite the lack of sleep, but I didn't feel like doing a lot of walking again today.

I did succeed at something else, though. I got my partials in very well (I hadn't been able to get them in after my temporary crown was put on, and just let it go for a few days, then decided this morning that I was going to get them in come hell or high water). I could speak more clearly than I have been, and I managed to eat both a portabello mushroom sandwich on ciabatta bread and corn on the cob without them becoming loose or coming out. It was nice to take them out once I got home, but it gave me hope that I might be able to get used to them and wear them on a daily basis.

Okay, I hate to say it, but I'm going to go in the bedroom and listen to a little music, and most likely fall asleep. I'd like to watch 'The Big Bang Theory' at 8, though, so the idea is to not make this a long nap. As a backup, though, I have set it to record. I don't feel sleepy, really, just a bit tired. I still feel a little restless, and I should put that energy to some use, but I'm just not feeling like doing anything much, even reading. So maybe the music will relax me a bit without my falling asleep, rejuvenate me a bit, and then I can get up and do some things before actually heading to bed. :)

PS (5/2/14): Ha! That wound up being a 12 hour sleep! I apparently was exhausted. All that walking, and then hardly any sleep the night before made me a very tired person. I slept from about 7:30 pm to 7:45 am. I'm beginning to think I should add 'napping/sleeping' to my list of talents.

So sad

South Korea Ferry: Heartbreaking Video Shows Last Minutes Aboard

Clips of the 15-minute recording show teens nervously calling the ferry their "Titanic" and saying "These are the pictures we need to take as our last memories." The teenagers talk of taking selfies, wonder if they'll make the news and discuss posting about the excitement later on Facebook.

The fear in the cabin builds as the listing becomes worse. Some say they feel dizzy, that their legs are shaking. One student can be seen walking with his hands braced against the wall for balance.

"Am I really going to die?" a student asks at 8:53 a.m., two minutes before a crew member on the bridge made the ferry's first distress call.

Students ask whether the ship will sink and where their teachers are. "What's the captain doing?"

Several times they are warned over the loudspeaker to stay where they are, even as the tilting increases and it becomes less possible for them to flee.

More than 300 people are dead or missing in the tragedy. About 220 bodies, mostly from inside the submerged vessel, have so far been recovered. More than 80 percent of the victims were students from one high school in Ansan, south of Seoul, on their way to the southern tourist island of Jeju for a school trip.

Wow...that was stupid

Teaneck High School senior prank leads to vandalism, arrest of 62 students

More than 60 members of Teaneck High School’s senior class were arrested Thursday morning after a prank that police said involved urinating in the hallways of the high school, smearing Vaseline on doors, flipping desks and littering the school with balloons and other debris.

The students entered the school in the middle of the night and broke chairs and desks, scrawled graffiti and Vaseline on the doors and urinated, Acting Police Chief Robert Carney said at a press conference this morning.

Carney said that of the 62 arrested, 38 are juveniles. All have been charged with criminal mischief and burglary, and the juveniles have been turned over to their parents.

“To go into a school and damage a school, that’s not a prank. That’s criminal mischief,” Carney said.

Troubling

Carbon dioxide in atmosphere at record level

For the first time in human history and likely for the first time in at least 800,000 years, the average level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere topped 400 parts per million for an entire month.

Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas considered to be most responsible for global warming, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Earth System Research Lab.

I don't use Internet Explorer at home

but I updated anyway just on the off-chance I have to use it for some reason. And I'll update my friend's computer as soon as I can. Hopefully work will do the same.

Microsoft issuing fix for IE zero day today

At 10 AM Pacific time on Thursday, Microsoft will release an update to address the zero day vulnerability recently disclosed in all versions of Internet Explorer. The advance notification of the update lists Windows XP as among the affected platforms, indicating that it will be among the platforms patched, in spite of its support period ending weeks ago.

Adrienne Hall, General Manager, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing stated "[T]he security of our products is something we take incredibly seriously. When we saw the first reports about this vulnerability we decided to fix it, fix it fast, and fix it for all our customers."

Users with Automatic Updates enabled do not have to do anything, although running Windows Update will apply the fix immediately.

One last thing, and then good night

A lovely redbud I saw this morning

Happy Beltane!

Took this self-portrait yesterday

So there were actually three things wrong with the car

1. The motor for the blower (air conditioner/defroster/heater, all of which are no working noislessly)
2. A part that my car has instead of a distributor, called a crank sensor and synchroniser [which tells the engine how to fire]
3. A serpentine belt [which was making noise and now the car is very, very quiet]

Grand total: $724.73. Thank goodness for credit cards, that I could take care of it without freaking. But, wow. And this is a place I trust which doesn't push things on you or make unnecessary repairs. Apparently the synchroniser, if left as it was, might have broken completely and caused damage to the engine. The parts were almost $450, the labour $250. But the car is running amazingly well now, so I'm glad I took care of it and didn't just think the gas was the problem.

Speaking of gas, I'd noticed certain premium gas places like Shell and BP had gone up to $3.79 for gas today, but Speedway and Kroger were still lower. I also realised that, this being the last day to use my gas points from Kroger, I should stop by and see what I could save. Turns out for April I had 50 cents off a gallon, so I got the gast at $3.03. Yay!

It's been a very busy day, especially for being off work. I:

1. Rode on the bus for three hours (two back, one to the garage)
2. Got the car fixed
3. Went to Office Depot and got a few things I needed, almost all of which were purple :)
4. Went to Dairy Queen and had dinner (they have a nifty fountain dispenser with a touchscreen and one spigot, where you choose your drink and flavouring on screen)
5. Went to the library
6. Did actually work some on the house
7. Visited YKWIA and A
8. Watched 'The 100'
9. Fixed something with the computer and the printer over there
10. Walked a lot (see previous post for phone screenshot)

I still need to work some on the house (I did nap a bit today, too, especially after riding the bus home, as I'd gotten up early and walked much). But it was a good day off.