So I'm trying to caffeinate

So I can do various things around the house, but having just returned from the cold, gloomy outside I just want to crawl into bed and sleep--and I've only been up for three hours. YKWIA has been watching 'The Vampire Diaries' (he's codifying the various people into charts, it's what he does, he's a Virgo, and for all I know it will somehow make it into the game). But now he's off in his bedroom either reading or considering a nap as well. I'm betting on reading, although I just heard a big yawn. I'm in the library, trying to wake up fully. Things I should (not need, but should) do today:

1. Water the plants.
2. Do laundry, mainly bed linens, dog blankets, and a small load of my clothes.
3. Clean the toilet and bathroom.
4. Do the cat boxes.
5. Sweep.
6. Take the recyclables out.
7. Clean plastic bottles out of the car, recycle them, and put the lids in a bag to take to a co-worker who is collecting them for charity.
8. Take a book back to the library.

It's not onerous, or awful, I just don't feel like doing any of it at the moment. Must. Wake. Up. (Drinks more caffeine.)

It is a dark and stormy night

The wind is hypnotic. I'm certainly not going to see any meteors tonight (the Leonid shower peaks, and it's dark of the moon, which means normally it would be great viewing). It's been quiet and restful today. We did a few errands this morning but I napped for a bit this afternoon. Tomorrow we're not having the game, as Brenda is under the weather with some sort of crud, so I'm going to put off the notes. But tomorrow I plan to be active, doing some laundry and other things around here. I'm looking forward to a busy but short week ahead. And then there's Thanksgiving and getting Friday off as well. Yay!

I haven't been on the computer much at all lately, so I need to at least blog on my phone. Or get on the laptop and actually write rather than just going on Facebook. It's so easy to share things there, I don't have to even write about it, and that's a pitfall. I want to write. I should write. I will write.

I've been having some trouble with my hip lately. It's very painful to get up from a sitting position, probably because I'm sitting too much at work. It seems to be muscular, as it improves with walking and stretching. I'm hoping I can stretch enough to get it to settle down, as I feel like a little old lady. Hell, worse than a little old lady.

It's just 9 pm. I'm resisting going to be early. Maybe I should read. If I listen to music I'll most likely just fall asleep. Besides, there is a black cat perched up on top of two pillows and two blankets on my bed right now who will be most wroth with me should I disturb him. :) The dogs are in the kitchen, having been out in the driving rain briefly after being fed. The kitchen floor is very muddy as a result.

I think I'm going to do some job searching. I like my job, and my workplace, but I'm not giving up being a librarian, either. UK has a government docs position open, and there may be some others. Good night.

*sigh*

So the other day my friend's phone (landline) went out and despite being only vaguely ept at tech, he unplugged and plugged in many things, including the Ethernet cable I use to plug my laptop in with for internet access. Of course, that cable was already plugged into the modem, so he made it so both ends of the same cable were plugged into ports going out of the modem. This apparently shorted out the cable completely. I'm surprised that the modem still works. I have another, somewhat shorter spare cable I'm using now. He is under strict orders not to mess with the yellow cable. And before you ask why I don't just use Wifi, let me just stop you there. He won't have Wifi in the house, or even run the signal over the house wiring. I have to use my phone's Hotspot to connect if I want to use the laptop in another room. He's not a Luddite, really, but there are times....

:)

So this morning I weighed myself not once but three times just to make sure it was right. I've lost  20 lbs since the move (at the end of August).

So, the car

is still in the shop but I have an estimate $600 less than the first place to thoroughly fix what's wrong. The 'safety issues' were bollocks, of course. May have it tomorrow,  Thursday at the latest,  as we played phone tag a lot today. Today's gaffe regarding the rental was that I accidentally knocked the wipers to intermittent,  and while it was damp today,  it took me awhile to figure out how to get them back to 'off'.

Sigh, again

The car saga continues.  Suffice to say the car is now being towed to my regular mechanic's garage. He'll look at it tomorrow and see if it really requires all the work the other place insisted had to be done per policy before fixing what I asked them to, with an estimated price tag of $1700. Not happy with them at all.  At least Enterprise was great about extending the rental over the phone.

This morning

YKWIA came into my room (which is actually the living room, so you need to if you're going to come into the house or go to the kitchen to let the dogs out, which is what he was doing). He came over, noticed my always on display on my phone, and commented on it. I asked him what time it is. Eight, he said.

Now, my always on display is set to be on from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am, and it was still on. I look at my phone. It's seven. We only have one clock, not counting my thermometer/humidity gauge and my glucometer, that doesn't automatically set from Daylight Savings to Standard Time, and that's the stove. I told him it was seven. The stove says eight, he says. I explain that it has not been set back yet. But, he said, you said we gained an hour, and so it should be 9, right? I just shook my head. The concept of time, beyond light and dark and seasons, eludes him. He never knows what time it is, unless he has a digital clock somewhere that says it. Analogue clocks are difficult. I think it's part of his dyslexia. Anyway, I explained that it was really early and that yesterday it would have been 8, but now it's 7. I don't think it made much of a difference to him, and by that time, I figured I might as well get up.

I had a leisurely breakfast, took a nice shower, got dressed, read for a bit, visited with him for awhile, and I have:

1. Gotten my stuff off the kitchen table.
2. Cleaned the cat box.
3. Taken out the trash from all cans.
4. Run my summer clothes to the storage unit.
5. Gotten some bananas at Kroger.
6. Cleaned the toilet.

Now I need to water the plants, and since I did the notes last night, I'm pretty much ready for the game. I've caffeinated and taken my meds. I do need to do some laundry; he's in the shower right now, so I'll start after that. I think it'll be a difficult game. We're in ancient Rome with slightly under 24 hours to dismantle a cult of He Who Shall Not Be Named (not Voldemort, rather, Hastur) before the gates open up and all sorts of alien Cthulhoid entities cross over to the world and subjugate mankind. Wish us luck. Brenda has two characters, I have two characters, and YKWIA has two NPCs (non-player characters) on this one.

So on Thursday night

I went to the grocery, dropped off a book at the library, and noticed halfway home that my temperature gauge was on 'H', all the way. So I got home, and I took the bus Friday, barely getting to work on time even though I built in a 30-minute cushion because the Nicholasville Road bus had been in a small accident and was running behind. The Tates Creek bus was also running behind in the evening, and the bus driver wouldn't let us board before he took his break.

I called my mechanic on Friday, but he couldn't see it that day and is closed on weekends. He thought it sounded like a coolant leak. With the new job, I really can't take off during the day (although I probably could have Friday, as it was a low census day, with our semi-annual lecture keeping clinic numbers down to almost nothing--I checked one person out the whole day, and didn't have to do the whole process at that. Anyway, back to the car. I put water in it and took it to another place that is open and got there bright and early at 8 am.. It has good ratings and isn't a chain, but they couldn't work me in today due to two guys being out with new babies and a guy who bounced off a truck and tools with his back the day before. Still, they were willing to do it Monday, and are reasonably close to work that I could get there before they closed, by car. I didn't want to drive to another shop to try to get it fixed today. One of them also got me a soda before taking me to rent a car for the meantime. I have never rented a car before. He took me back to get my insurance card, then back the rental shop. I'm now driving a 2016 Hyundai Veloster which totally freaked me out because the radio stays on once the car ignition is off. I tried to figure it out, it finally went off. Turns out it goes off when you open the door. So I read the owner's manual to get up to speed on the car before going out again. Keep in mind, I drive a 2001 Taurus, so I'm not used to the new-fangled things. And I keep hitting the wipers instead of shifting because my gear shift is on the steering wheel. :)

Sigh

So,  tomorrow's adventure is taking the bus to and from work. My car heater is blowing cold air, but the engine is running all the way hot. Noticed the latter on the way home from the grocery store tonight,  and prayed I'd get through the half-mile or so. I'm not 100%, but I think that might mean getting a new thermostat. I have a regular mechanic I trust,  but they're only open weekdays. Any recommendations for a good weekend mechanic?  I think I may call mine (Kenny at Mitch's Auto, excellent folks) to see if he knows anyone. With the new job,  I accrue vacation and holiday time,  but can only use it for holidays at first. So weekends would be preferable.

The full effect

I had a blast for Halloween at work. Thanks to Morgan Hall, who took the picture. The costume was a hit, not only with staff,  but with kids and parents. It was great being able to celebrate Halloween at Shriners again. There is,  however,  glitter everywhere. :)