We finally have snow

Not a lot, certainly (and thankfully) not of European proportions, but a nice dusting. I think this is only the second time this winter we've had any stick, and it was about as much. My fear is the mild winter will lead into an ice storm, as we're prone to one every few years, and ice storms majorly suck, although everything's pretty. You can't get anywhere, you lose electricity (which is my only source of cooking or heat), and stupid people try to use their grills to stay warm and wind up gassing themselves with carbon monoxide.

One of my co-workers is from the Balkans and is very concerned for her family there. They can't get out, they have limited food, and gas sometimes works and sometimes not. Thank goodness we don't have that here, but I feel for them and for all the others in Europe dealing with the snow crisis. Ice in the canals of Venice? Really? But of course climactic change is a myth, right?

Okay, time to go get ready for work. I'm going to wear my (very purple) snow boots just in case there are slick spots. At least I don't have the surgical boot on my foot this year, and in general I'm doing better with them.

Good friends

keep calling you with questions until you get up and take your medicine, so yay for YKWIA for doing so. I'd fallen asleep without taking either of my bedtime meds, but he persisted, calling me two or three times with questions complex enough that I eventually woke up, took the Lantus and the other, and then fed the fish, ate some toast, put the medication into my log, and I thought I'd write a quick note.

I came in from work very tired, and I don't know why. I'd had dinner there, and even though I'd had my insulin I think I ate too many carbs or something, so was having some trouble holding a conversation. Fortunately I had a ride home. I had a salad, a small cup of soup, some Tater tots, and a small wheat biscuit. That was probably too much. At least I didn't go straight to bed; I worked on the computer and moved some files around. I'm trying to figure out why my external hard drive is almost full. I thought it had to do with automatic backups, but I can't find anything indicating that. But that is for another night.

So now I'm going back to bed. Good night.

When I was a kid

I thought I was terribly fat, I had thick glasses and read too much by most accounts, although I was quite active after school and on the weekends, playing with a small circle of friends, stealing away to the nearby lake, even venturing near the forbidden woods.

This is what I looked like at age 9 or 10. I found it last night and was struck by how unhappy I look. It's a very flat affect. I think I was depressed most of my life, even as a child, at least mildly. And my home life was not what I wanted it to be. Everyone in my family lived in their own little world. My mother and father never took vacations together, in fact we didn't take 'vacations' where we went anywhere to be tourists--we just went home to visit family in Kentucky from wherever we were, and that was nice. But my mom took me most times, my dad did once when she was recovering from oral surgery. We each had our hobbies (my father, radios; my mother, ceramics; me, reading) and so after dinner, the one time we were together and interacting, we each retreated to our own parts of the house to pursue them. I never realised that was abnormal until I was an adult. Maybe it would have been different if I'd had a sibling, I don't know.

So I look at that child now, and how it all affected her, and I wish I could go back in time and tell her it will be okay, and that someday she'll feel better.

I got home around sunset

with a great big, lovely moon rising in the east. It never fails to absolutely impress me. So now I'm home, I'm caught up on the news, and I'm considering watching a movie (finally) that I've had out for awhile. :)

Today I got the results of the nerve biopsy I had done last month. It looks good, I've got the requisite number per millimetre, that sort of thing, although there's a little degradation that they're going to keep an eye on by checking once a year. I told the lady I talked to that the pain is responding to the medicine, and she said she'd pass that on to my doctor. I have another appointment later this month.

Not so great is that the computer system at the pharmacy I use may be incompatible with my flexible spending account card. We're still working on it. I'd like to be able to use them--they're a small, independent business and I know someone who works there. But I can't afford to put out the money each month for my medicines and then get reimbursed--that's the point of having the debit card loaded with my elected funds. Still, we'll see--maybe it will work out. They use other FSA cards with no trouble, so maybe it was a glitch.

I got several books catalogued. When I finish with that batch, there will be over 500 books in the system and one whole continuous shelving unit in. I also did some interlibrary loans.

I just spent a few minutes figuring out how to get music and other files onto a new gadget, with success. Yay! As a treat I think I'll play a game of Plants vs. Zombies.

Oh, and have you seen the Saturday Night Live skit for Downton Abbey? It's as if it were described for the (shall we say unsophisticated) viewers of Spike TV. Not sure I like it or not. And although I adore Maggie Smith, well, they describe her in an interesting yet unflattering manner, but I can't argue with it, at least when she's in a feathered hat. Check it out.

Interesting

The Upside of Dyslexia

Given that dyslexia is universally referred to as a “learning disability,” the latter experiment is especially remarkable: in some situations, it turns out, those with dyslexia are actually the superior learners.

On a more pleasant note, lets turn to the BBC for ancient katydids

Jurassic cricket's song recreated

Just like modern bush crickets - also known as katydids - the Jurassic insects produced music with their wings. A "plectrum" on one wing was dragged along a microscopic comb-like structure on the other.

This produces a continuous "chirp" as the male insects rub, or "stridulate" their wings in a scissor-like motion. Dr Zapata described this stridulation as similar to playing a tiny violin.

By looking at the wing structures, he explained, "I could estimate that the animal made pure, musical tones".

Such a single-note tone would have transmitted efficiently - a regular wave of sound penetrating a noisy environment cluttered with vegetation. This would have allowed a female cricket to detect a male's song from tens of metres away.

The most heartbreaking story I've heard in awhile

Police: Josh Powell donated boys' toys, other items before murdering them

Powell sent off goodbye emails, spread 10 gallons of gasoline

Husband of missing Utah mom spent some time planning fire that killed him, sons, police say


Words fail, that anyone would do this to their children. It's a strange story. A woman disappears. The father-in-law was making advances to her, recording adult and juvenile females, and was arrested on child porn and voyeurism charges. The father lost custody because he had the children in the house with his creepy father at the time of the man's arrest, and was trying to get back custody of the boys. The father was a person of interest in the disappearance of the mother, and there was an indication from the kids that when they went on a sub-freezing camping trip, mom was in the trunk of the car. A court-ordered supervised visit ended in disaster with him blowing himself and his young sons up in flames. It's just mind-numbing.

On the other hand, it's the week for news stories about sick and wrong people who kill children.

Alyssa Bustamante called killing 9-year-old 'enjoyable,' then went to church

"I just f------ killed someone. I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead. I don't know how to feel atm. It was ahmazing. As soon as you get over the "ohmygawd I can't do this" feeling, it's pretty enjoyable. I'm kinda nervous and shaky though right now. Kay, I gotta go to church now...lol."

The person she killed was a nine-year-old girl. Bustamante was 15 at the time.

Update 2/7/12: The story of the Powells, which I didn't think could get worse, has taken a gruesome turn. An autoposy revealed hatchet wounds on the necks of the two boys, with a hatchet there with the bodies. So essentially their father pulled them into the gasoline-filled house, attacked them with a small axe, and then blew up the house. They all died ultimately of smoke inhalation, so they were wounded and dying. The house went up so quickly I can only hope that they died quickly, but how horrible to suffer like that.

Up a little early to do an errand before work

I'm kind of stiff today, probably due to that dog fight yesterday. I had to break them up with a lot of force, had to run around pretty quickly to make sure they didn't kill each other or hurt me, and I had an asthma attack afterwards. I sure wouldn't be up to dealing with kids on a daily basis, that's for sure. They're just as quick and occasionally about as vicious. [I'm kidding. Mostly. I've was bullied as a child--I know they can be pretty cruel).

Anyway, it just underscores that I'm out of shape and obese, although I lost about 8 pounds in a week and a half. I'll weigh again today to see if I gained it back or lost any more. I don't get too excited unless it's over 10 lbs, since my weight fluctuates within that range pretty easily.

Well, I guess I need to finish getting ready. Have a great start to your week.

For a fun start to the morning

Catch this clip of Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean Winchester on 'Supernatural', having fun with the song 'Eye of the Tiger' (I didn't embed it because I couldn't find a decent quality video that allowed it). YKWIA showed it to me yesterday and I laughed till I cried.

I am covered in mud from my pants to my shoes, and a little on my shirt

with a little blood mixed in there, too. I had to break up a dog fight today, when a smallish terrier decided to snap maniacally at a bigger dog that showed restraint and pinned her not one but three times without disemboweling her, even though she could have. Even when I broke it up with a large stock pot, the terrier tried to keep going. Remember the aliens from the movie of the same name, how they had that second jaw that came out? I swear she does that. The larger dog only had a couple of nicks near her face. The little one has a couple of cuts and then it looks like she's strained her whole lower body, especially one leg. So the plan is to keep an eye on her and if she's not walking better after tomorrow, she'll go to the vet. Nothing seems to be broken or anything, thankfully.

I did an abbreviated cleaning job on the house in preparation for the game, then helped with something and then we played for six to seven hours. I got home at 11 pm and am very tired. But I've already taken my Lantus, am about to take my other medication, and am listening to a little light music in preparation for bed. The game master called to see how I liked the game. It was particularly nice because we had a tiny, self-contained little adventure that nearly killed us, but had good tentacled monsters that were definitely Cthulhoid and we could safely swing a sword at.

The game master also shared this with me:


The one I saw over at his house was from a poster who truly does not get that this is an Onion News Network production and it is satire. They really think this is true. That is sad. But the satire is great. Actually, reading through the comments, a lot of people seem to think this. I agree that the vast amount of personal info people put on Facebook is amazing, but really? My favourite was the part with comments about foursquare. :) Anyway, enjoy.