We have had cold wind, rain, hail and sun so far today. And I think there will be fireworks for our viewing pleasure this evening. Weather permitting. Fortunately, we can view the fireworks from inside.
I haven’t gotten the jack rabbits out of my boots. Still want to hop on a cruise ship that will be chugging back to the Mediterranean sometime soon. The operative word is soon, I think.
Software: If you have a Mac (or an iPhone) and if your library is supported… Library Books is an elegant little program that does one thing very well. Check out:Library Books
The cold cloudy rainy almost snowy weather have turned me into a really grumpy old woman. Too much time on my hands. Yesterday I found myself cataloging my audiobook collection. Going back and figuring out how much I had paid for them. Recording where they were stored. etc etc etc. That is borderline insane. Maybe full blown crazy.
At least the sun came out this afternoon. That is a start in the correct direction.
Lead us not into temptation. The 500 calorie really good scones returned to the Friday “Grab and Go” Breakfast here in the building. March was “Fitness Month” so they had fruit and Nutri-grain Bars. Even when I am on a diet Nutri-grain Bars have ZERO appeal. But, the 500 calorie scones. They were hard to pass up. Actually, the scone was not passed up. It went into the freezer. Heck, even 1/2 of that scone ain’t diet food.
Haven’t had a weigh-in since last Monday. Don’t know if any weight has gone – but at least I have stopped the accumulation. And, I added an additional 5 flights of stairs to my the routine. 25 today.
Too much time on my hands – part two. Every spring cruise ships go from the Caribbean to Europe. I am not into “cruising”. As we used to say in Alaska – Cruising “The nearly dead, the overfed, and the newly wed”. But, I could hop on a ship in Barbados and get off in, say, Barcelona. Or I could plan a “Land Cruise” and travel around the country on the train. Strange enough the cost would be about the same if I spring for the cheapest room on the ship or the cheapest sleeper on the train. And avoid all the “extras” on the ship. No spa day for me.
Is this a great county or what?
600K public art
I sure hope this is an April Fool’s joke – but…
A $600,000 frog sculpture that lights up, gurgles “sounds of nature” and carries a 10-foot fairy girl on its back could soon be greeting Defense Department employees who plan to start working at the $700 million Mark Center in Alexandria, Va. this fall. That is unless a new controversy over the price tag of the public art doesn’t torpedo the idea.
This is getting pretty boring. It is spring already. Where is that “Out Like a Lamb” goodness?
So, what to do on a cold rainy damp almost snowy afternoon but to look for a warm and sunny place to go?
I was using one of my junk email addresses to sign up for some travel site or the other. I wasn’t planning on adding my “Title” but it was required. To the left you will see my drop down choices. Methinks that site isn’t for me. I picked “Frau” as my “Title”. But, I rather liked viscounte and honorable as well.
Did a 2 mile forced march and 20 flights of stairs and ate darn little food today. Big treat today was one Hershey’s Kiss. 22 calories. Now that is draconian.
Wondering about the once again threatened “Government Shutdown”. Does this mean that the congress people don’t get paid? And, don’t get free trips back to their districts? Seems only fair to me.
It was sunny today. Sunny but cold. Well, at least cold for someone who spent the winter in Hawaii.
Started to diet with a vengeance today. I have been hungry all day. That is good. That means that the diet might be working. And, I did 20 flights of stairs.
Rest in Peace – Paul Baran. He was one of the founders of the internet. He invented Packet Switching.
Went back to the volunteer job this morning. That is where the scale is. Now I know… Carlton lost 8 pounds in Hawaii. I found 7 pounds in Hawaii. (To be fair – I think I found some of those pounds in Japan last summer.) Let the dieting begin. I knew I had pudged up. Jeans never lie.
One would think that by the time one is my age one wouldn’t care what one weighed. One would be wrong. Besides, it is such fun being sanctimonious about plus sized people. (I never claimed to be a naturally nice person.)
At the volunteer job – I almost behaved like the cranky computer hack I was for so many years. A couple of years ago I built a really elegant spreadsheet – complete with macros, and 15 different sheets. Well, someone changed it – and now it doesn’t work anymore. Those of you who know computer hacks from the olden days – we would always say “YOU TOUCHED MY CODE? WELL, IT IS YOUR CODE NOW.” (For all I know, computer hacks still throw that hissy fit.)
Fortunately, I just smiled and said, “I’ll try to fix it.” See, I am mature. Grownup. Yeah, right.
From Sunday's Snow Event - Love Pink Plastic Flamingos.
I hate it when this happens… it snowed a tiny bit this morning. I decided that it wouldn’t be worth the trip down to the mall. So, I went out in the neighborhood. Took 120 pictures. But, no WOW shots. No amount of tweaking and cropping can turn any of them into the WOW shot. Sometimes you catch the light. And sometimes you don’t.
Status of projects:
The Secret “Be Nice to Carlton Project”… I am trying – honest.
The Diet… I am sneaking up on it. As soon as I weigh myself… then I’ll get real serious.
The Stairs Climbing… Did all 19 floors of the building without stopping today.
The Taxes… Done… Waiting for the refunds.
Today is the last day for Free NY Times. They tried paid in 2007 and signed up a whole 227,000 customers. Including yours truly. But, that effort went bust. They apparently spent 40 MILLION dollars on the new pay wall. That is an incredible amount of money. I wish they would just setup some sort of micro-pay system. But, why am I whining. I know I’ll sign up. In the olden days I had home delivery of the dead tree Times. I can afford $15 a month. But, I’ll try to hold off for a week or two.
Carlton and I are having a little discussion about the New Madrid fault. We are sort of wondering how many people have heard of the New Madrid fault and if they have heard of it – do they known where it is? (There are no nuclear power plants really near the New Madrid fault.)
Not much spring yet. “They” say it is going to snow tonight – I don’t believe it will – but, if it does – then we should have a world class photo op – Snow and cherry blossoms.
Before I forget – Check out the Glenn Beck TV Channel.(Lincoln offered 200,000 young people free NYTimes online for the rest of the year. The dog must have eaten my invite. But, wait, I don’t have a dog. I must not be young. I’ll either have to pay up or do without the Times.)
Sneaking up on the diet. Until Monday – I am just trying to cut out the extras. The little “treats” and rewards. Monday will be soon enough for some serious portion control. On the exercise front – I’ll do 20 flights of stairs every day.
About the cost of living: The Bad News – I was able to get $90 of groceries home from the store without a car. The Good News – I needed my little old lady grocery wagon.
I complained so much about the cost of groceries that Carlton offered to increase my allowance. I explained that I wasn’t having a money problem – I was having an acceptance problem.
I guess this one will suffice for my annual “ravages of time” photograph. Note wrinkles, age spots, not to mention gray hair. Nobody cards me for the senior discount anymore! But, any day you are on the same side as the flowers – it is a good day.
But, this good day is a cold day. I didn’t venture outside the apartment building. I used the stairwell as my personal exercise machine. I don’t have exercise togs or sneakers – so I don’t go to the gym. But, who needs as gym when you have 19 floors of stairs. Up and down.
I was sure to exercise this morning – because The Diet started today. Yesterday I went out to a dinner/baby shower. Sort of a Last Supper. I haven’t weighed myself. But, the jeans know.
No reason to go outside today. The photo is from yesterday’s spring quest. No spring in sight today. The TS2 is waterproof and the lens occasionally picks up a funky reflection. Whatever happens I what I planned.
I stayed indoors. Walked up to the 17th floor. That was exercise. Took a nice soak in the tub. Found some more photos stashed away in the old XP machine. Just what I always needed!
So far so good with my “Be nice to Carlton” campaign. I don’t want to start being too nice too fast. Don’t want to scare him. Or make him think that I am up to something. (Or maybe only women think like that…)
As for my case of shopping dysfunction – it must be getting better. I decided I need new earpad covers for my Sennheiser ear phones. They cost about $3. Shipping another $6. BUT, I am sure I can find enough addition stuff so “Free Shipping” will kick in.
According to the BBC – A study using census data from nine countries shows that religion there is set for extinction, say researchers. The team took census data stretching back as far as a century from countries in which the census queried religious affiliation: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.
And since Jedi Knight is the 4th most popular religion in Great Britain – guess they too might be on the slippery slop towards religious extinction.
About the photo: Took the TS2 – aka the underwater camera – out on spring quest today. It does an OK job if you are careful and keep your expectations low.
New Plan. My new plan is to be extra nice to Carlton. I am guessing he has about five more years before reaching his “use before” date. I mostly sort of ignore him. Oh I feed him and do his taxes. But, mostly, I ignore him. So, starting today – I am going to try being “nice” to him. Don’t know how long this fad will last. Stop me if I try to order a copy of “Fascinating Womanhood” from Amazon.
This “be nice” to Carlton came out of a discussion we were having yesterday – about how we felt it is important to be really nice to people as we get older and become more dependent on the kindness of others. Well, seems to me this being nice should start with the person you are around most. And, in my case that person is Carlton. Stay tuned.
Yes, shopping dysfunction. SD, if you please. I am unable to shop. Oh, I haven’t come down with agoraphobia. I can still look. I just seem to have lost the desire to complete the act… To actually buy something. I guess is just a passing thing. I don’t want any new clothes. I don’t really want an iPad 2. I don’t want new window treatments. I don’t want cornrows or acrylic nails.
I am expecting a Carlton-frenzy when he gets back home within the next hour. He lost a nail file this morning. He personally lost it. Right here in the apartment. I will have to hide while he whirls around looking for it. What if the man ever lost anything important? Can not think about it.
Good news. Finish my taxes this morning. They are reposing in the computer, and backed up, and printed out. I’ll let them age for a couple of days before e-filing.
Update: Better news. The nail file has been found. Life is tranquil again.
Took the Panasonic L1 and the lens that cost as much as a car on a hunt for spring this afternoon.
And that was about it for my Sunday.
Investment ramblings: The other day a Bates Casket truck was stopped for a light. I started to wonder about investing in a casket company. I mean, people keep dying. Caskets are sorta big to import from China. What’s not to love? An all-American growth industry.
But, what about cremations? Did a little research – yepper – cremations are on the rise. But, plenty of folk still go out in a box. However, you don’t want to open a crematorium in Mississippi. Only 15% of Mississippians elect for the shake-n-bake option. Hillenbrand is your casket play.
