Guess what came out of…

Guess what came out of storage today? Candles! I woke up feeling kind of grey and blah and depressed (in part because my computer was having power cord problems last night, and I only had a few tabs of memory left before it ran out entirely) at 7:30 a.m. -- I would have gladly slept later, but I wasn't sleepy. So first I lit Kevin's candle tree. And that helped. then I lit two long taper candles in my Sri Lankan brass candlesticks. Better. Then I took three votive vanilla candles that I didn't have a holder for and put them in a cobalt blue saucer and lit those. Mmm... Then I hauled down the big pillar candles on their antique gold (not real) stands and lit those. My living room is now filled with warm light, and a light vanilla scent. I felt much better.

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.

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