Well, that was silly

I was going around turning out the lights,  including the star-lights,  which blink,  and after I'd turned those off and set the fish tank to the blue 'moon' light,  there was still this blinking glow,  and I thought,  is there something outside doing that?

Then I did the same in the bedroom,  and there it was again,  this eerie light flashing.  It was then that I finally figured out that it was the Bluetooth indicator on my headphones.  Sigh.  I wonder about myself,  sometimes.  But in my defence,  it's on the back of the headphones,  and I don't notice it,  except apparently in total darkness.

After work today I had a very good therapy session,  spent some time with YKWIA,  and then I came home and worked on an application for a fourth job opening,  and I got the materials hammered out,  so I can apply online tomorrow. I have checked and triple checked my grammar and spelling.  I'd made a couple of mistakes on the UK CV and had decided I had no chance with that one,  but one of my references told me she'd been contacted by them,  so that is a good sign. So there are applications that have been submitted to the state,  UK,  the local community college,  and tomorrow I'll apply to the public library. I think I'm doing what I can, considering we're at five months till  layoff and counting.

Okay,  I'm making bread but I'll let the machine do its thing (it turns off automatically),  I'll sleep for a little over so hour,  take it out,  and then go back to sleep,  then get up early tomorrow and vote.  That's the plan,  anyway,  with an emphasis on the voting part.  At least it's light outside again for awhile. Good night.  And remember to vote!

Things I did today

1. Worked steadily in the library, taking care of everything I needed to finish before the weekend, including my revenue cycle duties, but also interlibrary loans, etc.
2. Took a friend to a doctor's appointment.
3. Got my allergy shots.
4. Took my friend to Barnes & Noble.
5. Dropped two books off at the library.
6. Renewed another.
7. Helped my friend find some paperwork.
8. Came home.
9. Opened the windows.
10. Changed clothes into something comfy.
11. Started making bread in the machine.
12. Cooked macaroni & cheese and made hot chocolate.
13. Consumed both.
14. Turned on the star fairy lights and skull diffuser.
15. Started playing Depeche Mode in the living room.
16. Applied for a job.
17. Updated my résumé on Indeed.com.

It's been a productive day. Now, to relax and let bread bake (it's an extra-large loaf of wheat bread. I used the oil option rather than the applesauce, because that's what I had. Hopefully it will come out alright).

The man really was quite brilliant

The time Nikola Tesla paid for his hotel room with a 'Death Ray'

:(

Eight pedestrian deaths makes 2016 one of deadliest in decades ... 

This latest death happened within yards of where I was hit by a car four years ago.  I don't know the details,  other than what's been reported.  I do know that when I was hit,  I was in the crosswalk,  crossing with the light at Eagle Creek and Richmond Road,  obeying all laws and such,  and I still had my foot run over, breaking two bones in my right foot,  and breaking my right ankle,  requiring surgery and a three month recovery at home,  off work. And I was lucky.  I survived.  I didn't have life-threatening injuries,  or a head injury.  Yes,  I was left with a scar and an ankle that tends to swell,  but overall,  I've recovered.  My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of this young man and the two men killed last weekend by a drunken driver.  Please folks, be careful out there.

:)

Remember my task application on my phone, Habitica, which gamifies your life? Here's my progress. I've found all the pets, trained up all the mounts, and found all the regular pets again, plus three rare pets. I'm at level 107, and I finally joined a party, so we can get together and conquer various quests by doing our daily tasks. It makes you more accountable. And I've taken up a few challenges in the hopes of earning gems, which get you things like backgrounds to your avatar, etc. I'm really enjoying it.

I have the windows open

and it has been so long since it rained, that I didn't immediately recognise the sound of raindrops. :)

Hmmm....

After years of keeping my rent from going up much, mainly by choosing longer and longer leasing periods, it is going up $30 a month in January. I got the notice today. It's only gone up $5 or $10 at a time for a good long while--I think when I first came here in 2004 it was $485 plus electric; now it's going to be $580 plus electric. Don't get me wrong, that's still a good price. I just wasn't expecting it to go up quite that much in one fell swoop.

I had PT again tonight. I've felt much better the last couple of days, just a little sore and numb. That's a vast improvement over last week. I stopped by the library on the way home to get a couple of books for YKWIA to read that I'd put on hold.

Now I'm home, I'm listening to the Bastille station on Pandora, I'm ravenous, and I've had some homemade bread and some honey. I think I'll see if I have any lentil soup and have a small apple. That'll make a good dinner, I think. Okay, I'm off to find food.

Drat...no lentil soup. I'll have tuna instead, I guess. :(

I love my bread machine

It's a Panasonic,  and with the exception of one time when I made a mistake,  the bread comes out perfectly without fuss.  It has a yeast dispenser on top that puts the yeast in at just the right time.

I'm feeling pretty decent today.  Instead of the normal pain and numbness in my arm,  neck,  and shoulders,  I feel a bit sore,  like when you're in a minor car accident. I have PT again tomorrow.  Yay!

Today I reviewed a bunch of abstracts (well,  eleven)  for the upcoming annual meeting of the Medical Library Association, and I updated that on my curriculum vitae.  I had trouble getting into the system yesterday,  but fortunately my new computer at work has Chrome and Firefox in addition to Internet Explorer,  so all I had to do was change browsers.  In my opinion,  the main reason to have IE is to download other browsers.

You've heard of the Great Pumpkin?

Sometimes, even a tiny pumpkin can be an archnemesis to an equally tiny puppy.

Halloween 2016

Here I am at the hospital I work at's Halloween Trick or Treat, where staff dress up and patients come around to the various departments. It was fun. I went as a library science student from Miskatonic University (the fictional college in HP Lovecraft's horror fiction in the equally fictional Arkham, Massachusetts). I had a plush Hound of Tindalos, a book-shaped box labeled 'Necronomicon', my MU School of Library Science t-shirt, and a tote bag with the MU Orne Library logo on it. Dr. Armitage would be proud. Oh, and did I mention light-up tentacles on a headband? Definitely have read the wrong books. There's also a closeup of the tentacles and Hound of Tindalos, and my props out in the hallway before the kids came by. The skeleton is the library's Old Charlie.


[picture above taken by Morgan Hall of Shriners Hospital for Children].