The sun is starting to hit the sunroom now, so it'll be less grey soon, but the living room doesn't get as much light, and as soon as I finish this entry, I'll be curling up in there with that thrice-damned Orientalism -- I will finish the last forty pages today, so help me God. This will be easier because it turns out that I don't have to rush my baby off to the computer store to get it fixed. Why?
Okay, a little background first. A few months ago, two things started acting up -- the CD drive wasn't working, and the power cord didn't seem to be connecting properly unless you pulled it up at an angle. I don't use the CD drive all that often, so I just set it aside; I started wedging something under the power cord to make it connect properly. I think I must have put baby down hard at some point and jarred its innards slightly off alignment or something. Now, I didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing it if I could get by for a while, so I just put up with it. But last night, it didn't seem to be charging anymore, no matter how much I wiggled the cord plugged into the back. I thought it had finally given up the ghost. So I shut down and decided to try briefly in the morning, before the battery power ran out, and then take it in to the shop. Sad.
Well, I checked mail this morning, wiggled the cord, no luck. Ran out of power, put itself to sleep. I started packing it up to take to the store, and what did I find?
It wasn't plugged in.
Okay, are you done laughing yet?
Go on, finish up. Have your fun.
It's not as dorky as it sounds. I *know* to check to see if it's plugged in. (I hung out in the computer room with Paul back in college while he answered help desk lines. First question: Did you turn it on? Second question: Is it plugged in? Third question: What kind of computer is it, Mac or IBM? (If they don't know, fourth question: Is it grey or beige? -- and yes, you had to ask that one fairly often.)) So I did check that, and it was plugged into the wall no problem. What I had forgotten is that this power cord actually comes in two parts, one plugged into the other, and I hadn't checked *that* connection. It was, of course, unplugged. (In my defense, it had somehow gotten under the upturned trash can that I use as a footstool, so it wasn't visible).
Anyway, I'm much relieved. Baby is charging up nicely, and once I finish that reading, I can go back to teaching my online class. I should be done with that by 10. At that point, I think I may run down to Pier 1. They have the best deal on plain white candles, which last really well, and I think I'm going to stock up for the winter (and for the dinner party tonight).
I'm finally getting this place into the shape I want it to be in. I went out yesterday and picked up two things; a 8-person set of cutlery from Oneida, and a print I'd had matted and framed. The cutlery was a necessity; I was down to two forks. I don't *know* where they disappear to. I had more knives than any eight people would need, but two forks. Yuck. I figure this set of eight will hold me through the next few years at least. And they're even kind of purty. :-)
The print was the first in a series. I had about six matted prints hanging on my wall, mostly dragons. :-) All art that I bought at conventions (and one that Karen gave me). They're lovely, but a) I had mounted some of them badly, e.g. stuck a nail through the mat, and b) they were starting to look slightly battered. Some of them, anyway. So a few weeks ago, I took one in and had it rematted and framed. I picked it up yesterday -- it looks *so* much nicer. I'm going to do them all, one by one. I can't afford to do them all at once; framing is expensive, even if you choose the cheapest style of mat and frame. But I can manage about one a month, and each one makes the apartment look better.
Oops -- Roshani just called. I'm going to go chat with her for a bit, and then read my book. Will probably check back later. Have a good Friday!
2:30. Well, that was weird. I came kind of close to having a panic attack, I think. But not for any good reason. I was out picking up a few things for tonight, and I started feeling really anxious. Chest and throat tight. No reason for it at all. It was a most unnerving feeling.
I forgot my synthroid yesterday, and I hadn't taken it yet today. I'd also had two cups of tea. Roshani thinks that combination of caffeine and low thyroid probably triggered it. I assume there was probably some anxiety about being behind in my work too -- I came home, finished Orientalism (yeah!), took my synthroid, drank some decaf tea, and did most of my student crits for today (almost done), and now I feel fine. But that was weird. Don't like it.