Juggling Work

Juggling work and mom isn't as fun as it could be. I would like more workers who are available at the drop of a hat and willing to work whenever. Sadly, that isn't the case. Oh well. I will survive. (Maybe it will be easier during the summer...)

My current plan is to have my staff members run the light board and I will run the followspot. There are like 5 cues in both shows for the followspot. I can pop in five minutes before the show and leave right after. Not that I am ducking responsibilities - I am delegating and allowing myself the freedom to take care of my mom. Yay.

Spent a constructive hour at the Smith - hung the mirror ball and focused four lights - two in the pit and two on the mirror ball. Yay. Also looked through the gobos and picked out a few stars. I will get staff to put them in some instruments between 3 and 3:30. 4 o'clock the students start rehearsing. Yippee. It is time for the staff to start programing the light board. Huzzuh!

It is great having people who can do what I ask of them! Yippee! Got a good start before the kiddies started arriving. Gobos in, mirror ball cord tied up, spotlight set up, headset for the spotlight, etc. Then I taught (or reminded) them how to build cues. A quick couple of putters, a little bit of questioning and off I went to feed mom! 

I got to feed mom in a relaxed fashion. This is much better than the times when I have to run home, throw some food at mom and run back out the door. When I was younger, rushing was ok - now I like to do things, generally, in a more sedate sort of way. 

After dinner, back to the Smith where I let my people go and did a little Smithing of my own. After the Toeprints people headed out, I played with my new electronic toys. It took a little troubleshooting - because it didn't work at first - to get it going, but I persevered. Huzzuh! We can now use a laptop on stage or in the sound and light area at the center of the theatre to run the projector in the projection booth. How exciting is that? Very!!

Came home, puttered some more, played a bit and went to sleep. Oh, and somewhere in here, I finished Order of the Phoenix and started Half-Blood Prince. Yippee!!

And one more time

Looks like I will be doing more laundry again today. Sigh. I hope this is just a phase and that it too will pass.

Yup, I did laundry. And it was a zippy, pleasant experience, all things considered. I washed a second pillow. I guess I will be adding at least one pillow to each laundry experience. Who knew that you could wash pillows to give them a second, puffier life? Probably lots of people, just not me.

Did a little bit of Smith work today. That is a good thing. Wrote a bit of the "So you want to be the technical director at the Smith" manual. And a few other puttery sorts of things.

Mostly, I just didn't do anything - well, made lunch, made dinner, did laundry, played xBox (and did decently), listened to a good bit of Harry Potter, cleaned the kitchen, napped, played on my phone, went to the Smith and filled out my time card and did a little data entry.

Mom can be really cute at times. She always has been able to do that when necessary. Now it just happens on its own occasionally. Recently, she took a book from the Theatre Bookshelf outside of her bedroom. For the next day or two she asked me who Woody Allen was. I answered in the obligatory 637 different ways, mostly with elements of truth in each answer. Then, when I was heading back to my room, she pointed at the book and told me in all seriousness that I should read the book - I would learn a lot. It was the biography of Woody Allen, of course. I don't think I will probably read it.

There are so many books in this house that I have never read. Or have never been read by anyone living in this house. Ever. I wonder just how many. Hmm. I know that at one time there were 15,000 books in the house, at least. But of those, how many have never been read by anyone who has ever lived here. First, the house isn't that old. Maybe the 40s. My father came to the house in the late forties. And he certainly didn't read all the books that existed in the house in his time. And he most definitely did not read any of the books that have come to the house since his demise. My mom, also quite a reader, did not read many of the books here when she was avidly reading them. Me? hahahahahaha. Karl? Juliet? Ernst? Well, maybe Ernst and Juliet have read most of the books that were in the house in their times here - but since their time?

Need to find a new profile picture

The one I am using now, the profile picture that is, is so wintery. And I think that Spring is finally here. Maybe. Perhaps...

I am listening to Order of the Phoenix and something interesting has happened - Voldemort has gone from silent "t" to voiced "t." I wonder why. Maybe because the movies had started coming out and they said Voldemort with a voiced "t?" Who knows? Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

Lots of Smith Stuff to do today. I am up (at 9:30 am) and am gearing up, girding my loins, etc. to getting ready to work. Yippee! - Ok, two hours later, I have accomplished a good chunk of my list. Yay. It is almost time to make mom lunch - then downtown for a couple of hours at the Smith (and the bank and post office). I still don't know what will be for dinner. Hmm...

Unfortunately, I have begun the multiplayer for COD AW (Call of Duty, Advanced Warfare). I am not loving it. Nor am I hating it. I think I will do at least one prestige and then see how I feel. None of my friends seem to be playing it. Oh well.

Mom likes creamy soups. Unfortunately they don't seem to agree with her digestive tract. Sigh. So, I need to find a soup that is not cream based that she will eat. Preferably one that comes in a can. Yes, I am that lazy.

Speaking of lazy - it isn't even midnight and I am going to try to go to sleep. Yippee!

Haven't gone back to sleep...

So, instead of sleeping, I came up with a thought about why the problem we were having with ticket sales was occurring. I went online and fixed it. Yay me. Then I started working on a draft document that Kelly has created. I might be doing more than just editing it, though...I will do what I am doing and give it back to her. Maybe she will credit me with co-authorship if she likes the changes I am making. Maybe not.

Mom is being a real pain in the butt today. Yay.

I am exhausted again. Up at 3 and then up at 6 and then up at 8 all to help mom - then from 8 until 9 almost incessant calls from mom - where am I? Where can I go? What can you do for me? Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me. For an hour. And now it has started again. Sigh.

I got a bit of a nap. Yay. I also did some good work on the Kelly doc. And I even went out to run some errands. Spent longer than I thought I was going to at the Smith, talking with Kelly and getting a few little things accomplished. Then a brief stop at the Public Library (I love libraries - I wonder how they will evolve in the future...) to pick up two Audio books that were being held for me. One of them I had completely forgotten I had requested. The other is the next book in the Harry Potter series - book 5 The Order of the Phoenix. Yippee! Last, a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some corn on the cob, some of mom's pills and a few other things. Now I am back home again. And could use another nap.

I am almost finished with The Goblet of Fire. Yippee! 

I tried to watch The Boxtrolls with mom, but she was having none of it and slept through most it. It wasn't all that engaging on the small screen. It might have been better on the big screen. Or on my computer with headphones or better sound. All in all, it seemed ok, not great. Glad I rented it, though. 

My Birthday Day

First thing, mom wanted water. Which was beside her bed. And she was in a chair. Three feet away. And was mostly asleep. Just thirsty. Instead of listening to her bleat (yes, I sometimes think of her as bleating) for hours and hours, I decided to get up, put on some clothes (TMI?) and hand her her water cup. Then, back to sleep (since it was 7 am and I need my beauty rest. I need a lot of beauty rest!!). Until 8 when mom complained she didn't have any water, which was on her tray, out of sight (not really) behind a box of tissues and a roll of toilet paper. Up, dressed and water pointed out, I was going to go back to sleep but decided to check my computer and do a smidgen of work. I forgot to post the Smith Mail Blast yesterday. Sigh. Life is that way sometimes. I also launched Facebook to reply to the 15 or so people who had taken the time to wish me a happy birthday. (Thank you everyone.) And to receive a diatribe from a woman I don't know who friended me for some reason. Maybe so she could write diatribes to me. Who knows? Anyway, I wrote "money isn't real" and she told me it most assuredly was. I feel edified. (Ok, not really - glad she womansplained it to me.)

What is next on my agenda for the day of the anniversary of my birth? No idea - maybe play on my phone a bit. We shall see. I do have a massage scheduled for later this afternoon. And we are definitely pigging out on pizza and wings tonight for dinner for me. What I am feeling mom is still unclear at this point, but I will figure that out at Cams when I am there.

Oh, watched Interstellar last night and enjoyed it. I don't care about the science (which I thought was ok). I just like Mathew Mc(however you spell his last name)y who did (as my friend Jeff might say) chew the scenery just a tad. Just fun stuff. Yay Science Fiction. :)

Rain it a raineth. Good thing my parade wears rain clothing. And carries an umbrella. It could be snow, so...

Getting dragged into Smith things. Sigh.

At least the next Harry Potter book is waiting for me at the Library. I was getting towards the end of this, the third and was worried. A little. Not a lot. Really.

Time to catch up on my day a little. Where was I? Oh, yes, dragged into Smith stuff. A few times today. No day off for me. Grrr and sigh.

After lunch, I went to my massage. (Thank you Rosanne!) Pleasant but not great. I will keep searching for the masterful (mistressful?) masseuse next time. It was raining pretty heavily as I got into my car, so I decided to postpone any Birthday shopping until another time - maybe next week sometime. And I didn't get myself a cake (which is a good thing as I will explicate a little further along). I just headed home, played for a few minutes (I restarted playing Tomb Raider as I had forgotten how much of it worked), then put Karl on the phone for mom. She barely reached her hand out at all, one of her more infuriating behaviors. At around 5:15 I headed downtown to get pizza and stuff for dinner. Yay Cam's! A quick beer at Lake Drum while waiting for the food to be prepared. Back home, ate too much food (mom ate a lot too, yay) and now it is time for a shower. Huzzuh!

All in all a very pleasant day. Showered, clean sheets, mom is in bed and I am headed there too. Soon.

Harry Potter is making me fat

Because I am enjoying listening to the Harry Potter books on Audio, I am finding excuses to stay in the kitchen. Late night, my excuse lately has been bread products that get toasted and then covered with butter. Then I add cream cheese to one and honey to the other. Yum city, but I can't see my shoes anymore. Sigh. I think I am wearing shoes...

The day has been passable. I did, finally, get my act together and start sorting papers. I did not see one of the 1099s papers that Karl thought I needed. My guess is because all of my debts were under $10k that they didn't bother to report them. Who knows? I am going to roll the dice and submit my taxes and see what happens. The worst that will happen is that I will have to file some other forms and not get my refund (if I am getting a refund)(which I should - I think anyone who makes less than $50k a year ought to get all of their taxes back - all, not just a bit - every penny) for a while. 

Actively Avoiding

That pile of papers in the orange room is mocking me. Every time I walk past there, it looks at me with a glint in its eyes. It knows I need to buckle down and go through what could very easily be a wild goose chase - since I probably threw away anything from creditors after the bankruptcy - but you never know. My hoarding, must save just in case mind set might have led me to save the pieces of paper. And it all could be moot - the creditors could have sent their paperwork to the Fed and actually checked the "bankruptcy" box. Anything is possible. We shall see if I can get my act together and tackle that project at some point soon. 

The library wrote and told me that my next Harry Potter book came in! Huzzuh! So, I went down and got it and did a little bit of Smith stuff. Made lunch and did more Smith work. And I get to head in to the Smith for a meeting this afternoon. All in all a pretty easy day - despite the amount of work. It is such a lovely day outside, that I think I will ride my bike downtown. Yippee!!

I did, I did, I did ride my bike downtown. Hooray!!

Tonight's movie was the Stephen Hawking Biopic The Theory of Everything. I enjoyed it. It is interesting how thoughts he was just thinking at one point longish ago are taken for seemingly granted nowadays. 

After watching the movie, I watched a couple of episodes of Fringe and then was about to go to sleep when I remembered that I had to set up a mail blast to go out Friday morning at 10:00 am. Glarp. I had most of it down, just needed to add/change some graphics, tweak verbiage and such, create links and look them up and bob's my uncle - not really. I don't have an uncle bob. More's the pity...

Books actual Books

(Sung to the tune of Food Glorious Food) Books Actual Books - Big pages of Writing...

Yes, I got two books from the library. Now all I have to do is actually read them. I would much rather listen to them. Reading seems like so much work. (I am 68 pages into the first.)

I have been up for a couple of hours and just don't feel like doing anything. True, I did do one Smith thing - might do more if the mood strikes - ended up doing a few Smith things. Huzzuh.

Sleepy now, so I am going to pack it in for this very short post. Hopefully more tomorrow, though one never knows, does one?

Touch of evil

Is it particularly evil of me to reassure my mom that her assessment of herself in relation to me is accurate? I try to resist the temptation and do the deflecting, disingenuous thing, but many times, the honest answer pops out. Mom says "I am a damn nuisance" and I say "Yes you are." Is there any chance that she will choose to not be needy? Nope. But hope springs eternal. Today it was compresses for her eyes. She ran out of artificial tears and I haven't been to the store to get more. So, to hopefully mitigate some of the comments, I offered to give her a cold compress. "Is there such a thing?" Yes, there is. I put it on. "It's cold." "Yes, it is. Would you prefer a warm compress?" "Is there such a thing.""[Silence as I go down the hall to get a fresh washcloth - warm it up with warm water and return.]""It's not very warm.""It cooled down on the way here." As I walk down the hall, mom says "Why am I sopping wet?" "[In my head "Exaggerate much?!"]"Do you want me to take the compress away?""I guess so. I'm a damn nuisance." "Yes, you are."

Ok, moving on. This blog isn't all about mom - though she is obviously a large part of my life at present. She is not my entire life. Yay! My Saturday - aside from the above incident - was pretty pleasant. I woke up too early and stayed up - with a couple of naps later in the day to tide me over. I wrote a lot of notes - I do love writing. Wish my books had both been bestsellers. Sigh. Maybe another one will be. Anyway, my plan was to do a lot of nothing all day. Except for what I had to do - like cook for lunch and dinner. And that is what I did. I wrote a lot. Played some on the xBox (double XP weekend for some reason on Ghosts). I did go out into the world - got some food at Wegman's - still love to go food shopping - didn't see anyone I knew there, which was surprising - and gas for the car. And that was it. My total foray into the great outdoors.

Thought about the Smith very little. I did take a call from a projectionist who I had forgotten to train on our new power sequencer. Sigh. We muddled through, though, so that was ok too. I did a lot of dishes and got to listen to a lot of my current audio-book - Allegiant - third and last in the primary arc of the Divergent series of books. I made chicken fajitas for dinner. For mom, I mixed most everything together right in the pan - including the salsa. But not the cheese or the sour cream. I really ought to have mixed those in for her - as the first thing she did - wait, I am trying to get away from my blog being totally about her. Moving on. After dinner, I set mom up and went to write and play some more. Eventually, everything wound down and mom went to bed while I watched TNG. I have not reached the point where DS9 comes in. The end, although not quite in sight, is at least acknowledgeable. 

Everyday is another day. I really need to sort through the mail that has been accumulating on my desk. And I do had to go into the Smith to help a projectionist through his first time projecting for us. Other than that, footloose and fancy free! Yay!

I do like Winter

I really do like winter. Not as much as one of my myriad (6) nephews, but I do find it to be, over all, enjoyable. Especially when it is really winter. Not like it has been the past couple of years up here in Geneva. Nor as it was in NC. Here, we are having many days of sub freezing weather in a row. How refreshing. I love the crunch of the snow under my boots. And the top of Seneca lake is decently frozen. I, for one, would love to see the whole lake frozen over. I don't think that has happened since the 1920s. I don't mind shoveling. I don't mind snowdrifts. Or the sound of snow falling. I like icicles. I just like winter. Do I want to live in Winter year-'round? Uh, no. I do like the seasons. So, wherever I end up, I would like it to be a place with seasons.

Mom is making more and more noises about a nursing home. I do wish that we knew what our "must use by" date was. That would make planning so much easier. Our resources are finite, sadly, so I must weight that into the equation. Also, I think she is still compos mentis enough that she is benefiting from being at home. And with the aide coming for a bit every day, I think she is getting a bit more socialization. I am actually meeting with a woman who also wants to help out - unfortunately for pay - so I will see what happens there. Maybe on the weekends for an hour or two? Maybe when I need to get away for a day, she can come in a few hours here and there to keep an eye on mom. Just expanding my support network incrementally.

Finished listening to the second book in the Divergent series. Not surprised to find out (spoiler alert) that they were an experimental society. One more book to go. I read someplace that the main character dies (which is a difficult thing since she is the narrator...). I am, though, going to take a break from those books and listen to a book in the Songs of Fire and Ice Series (better known as the Game of Thrones books).

I am so excited! I bought the first five seasons and the two movies of Doc Martin for mom. I was going to get them on Amazon, but decided to check ebay, just in case. On Amazon, they were being sold for $55. I got them on Ebay for $45! Go me! Saved ten dollars. Woo hoo! (Free shipping on both in case you were wondering) And no tax on Ebay. So I might have saved even more. Double woo hoo!!

Just watched Beautiful Creatures - almost good, very close to good in fact. Lumpy here and there. I didn't really thrill to the lead male character. It comes from a book and I would be that the book is better. Still, I am glad to have seen it. 

Sunday Post

I think I have arthritis. Eeeek! I am only 52! And a bit of a hypochondriac. Though despite my constantly thinking I have some sort of disease, I rarely go to the doctor. Maybe if the Affordable Care Act actually starts up, I might afford to have health insurance and might actually be able to go to a doctor. Anything is possible. I still think that the rich people ought to pay for health care for all of us not so rich people. We are, after all, just here to serve them, like servants or slaves even. And if they want a continuation of that then they need us to be healthy. Just sayin'! Anyway, my right toes seem to be sending pain signals when I am walking. It might be my shoes, but they are wide toed Birkenstocks so I think that is doubtful.

Tracking the audio books with my perpetual calendar continues to challenge my creativity. The current book has about 11 sections per cd. I often stop part way through a section. So I use the month as the minute marker and forget about the seconds. A running start is often good in any case to get me back in sync with the story. This particular book is about the 60s and corruption. Not my typical sort of book, but it has been enjoyable so far.

I did head into the Smith yesterday to give someone a refresher on using the digital projector and sound system. He only needed a quick lesson. We then had a good chat and wander through the space talking about what there was, what could be better and what will never improve. Good stuff.

Guess who neatened his room!?!

That's right, this guy. Phase one is complete. I got my room back to a semblance of neatness. Most of the mess was clothing. So it wasn't that hard to clean up. We did laundry yesterday - mom read a book, had a snickers bar and a bottle of water out of the vending machines and watched me put clothes in machines and take them out again. She is, as I type, working away at folding some of the clothes. Go mom!

Sorry for the digression - where was I when I so rudely interrupted myself - oh, right, a neatened room. I wouldn't say clean because, well, it could do with a bit of vacuuming. That isn't going to happen anytime soon. Later today or tomorrow, though, the plan is to clean up my desk like thing - tomorrow - bill paying. Baby steps.

We also went to the library. Mom didn't really know why she wanted to go. Then she decided it was for Gideon books - they were all out of the library. And a book that she saw on the back of the New Yorker - which has four people requesting it before us. Yippee. I am thinking a few months before she will get to have it in her hands. We took out two Rumpole of the Bailey books but she found the one she tried to read not to her liking. Back they will go! I got out two audio books that I picked randomly from the shelves. I hope they are ok. 

Oh, huge-ish news! The pile of newspapers and other things in the corner of the dining room is completely gone. All that remains are some National Geographics which I have a hard time getting rid of for some reason. But they will be moving soon. I think the last time that corner was empty was 2009. Yay!

I did spend some time at the Smith yesterday, despite wanting to have a full week day away from the place. I did neaten a little there as well. And decided I would like some cross bracing on the light storage unit that Bruce built. It wobbles side to side a little too much for my comfort. I don't think that will present a problem. Not looking forward to working on that project on Monday. Poo even.

I ordered a set of Marx Brothers movies for mom. We shall see if she likes them as much as the Fred Astaire movies. I doubt she will. But at least we will have them for a rainy day. Speaking of which, I think a lot of the Northeast is getting rain today. Yay! And the trees are starting to tunr colors and shed leaves. Before we know it, snow! Erich, one of my nephews, loves winter. Me, I can take it or leave it. I have read somewhere that it is supposed to be a very cold winter. Brrr.

Extra Random Thoughts

There are some things for which is it better to have too much (or too many) than to have too little (or too few). High on this list, for my mom especially, is toilet paper. Another I guess is money (which is a lot like toilet paper). But this isn't really about the list of things, rather than being about the toilet paper. I went shopping yesterday with only a mental list of what was wanted and what was needed. The needed list was short - a vegetable for dinner - I went for spinach. Wanted - not much at all, so I just wandered through the store. I picked up a yam, some cookies and a huge thing of toilet paper, because mom really does go through it like it grows on trees. (Yes, I know, trees, paper...) As I was taking stuff out of the car I remembered that I still had a good bunch of toilet paper in the paper closet - not a closet made of paper, but the closet in which the paper products reside (along with other residues, or is that residents?).

Now that the drip is gone from the bathroom faucet, I don't have easily and pre-filled watering containers. So the plants are getting a little parched. Then, one day, I was getting mom some water from the refrigerated brita pitcher and I realized that I had water in her glass! In the past I have put it in the top of the pitcher. But from that time forward, I use that little bit of water in a plant! Yay! Win win!

As some of you recall, no doubt, I listen to audio books. And when I do, I turn off the CD player and thus lose my place. Some CDs have few divisions - either they divide only by chapter or by some random method - but most of them have less than 31 divisions. There is one company, though, at least, that breaks each CD up into 99 pieces! Eeek! How on earth is a calendar supposed to accommodate the number 99? Then I had one of those epiphany-lets: Months have numbers associated with them - who doesn't know that April is 4. So, I use the day of the week - 0-9 for the tens place and the month for the ones place! It has worked so far! Yippee!

Get video replay out of golf! Really. Seriously. Tiger is the most video taped player of any player out there. So there is much more video of him than anyone else. From a bazillion angles. Golf has always been a gentleman's sport, hasn't it? And honestly, who hasn't fudged a shot here or there (especially on mini-golf when the damn ball just won't go in the hole and who wants to write down 27 as the number of shots, so you just put down par...). The latest Tiger incident is his ball moved when he moved a twig and he didn't see it move. Or if he did he thought it was so little that no one who wasn't standing right on top of it could see it move. And it wasn't like it moved enough to make any difference at all. But some video guy was editing his extreme closeup of the ball and it moved miles in the frame - the equivalent of 2 millimeters. But most anyone else wouldn't have had that shot on tape. Why penalize Tiger for being scrutinized? Sigh.

And there is it, a thought filled and thought provoking post. See, they happen!

Wow, quite a day!

I finally finished listening to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Interesting, entertaining - the kind of novel that I wish I could write. Well, ok, I would hope mine would be a little funnier, since that is how I like to think I roll, but still...It took a lot longer than I thought it was going to - more than three weeks! Eeek! I had a dream, that I read a book (350 pages or so) in a day. Haven't done that in a while. Haven't read an actual book in a long while in fact. Maybe one day it will happen.

I ran a few errands yesterday. Grocery store was grand central station - really busy! I guess Saturdays are normally busy. Lots of staff standing around peddling stuff - a cashier friend was pushing papayas. Ran into Cassie while buying veggies. And they finally had salami in stock. I asked the guy what the issue was - he happened to be standing there stocking things - and he said the distributor was slow. Not really an answer, but I am not sure what I expected. Maybe something about there not being as much supply as their used to be as people moved away from things like salami in their attempts to eat more healthfully. Hmm. Speaking of shopping, though, I need to go again soon and get more nose tissue. Someday, I might actually pay attention to how long it takes mom to go through ten boxes of tissue. I hope it is more than 10 days!

After the grocery store, I stopped and got gas in the car. I haven't had to do that in a while - I don't really drive that much. I got my gas at Kwik Fill - they proudly proclaim that they only sell gas from crude that is from North America. Go them! Last stop, Rite Aid to get some pills for mom. I miss my favorite pharmacist. The one who was there didn't even look up or smile the whole time I was there. Remind me not to go when she is there again, please. 

Our lunch was one of mom's favorites. Or at least I thought it was. Junior bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy's. Turns out that mom thought the hamburger tasted weird and that the fries were limp (they are Wendy's fries and are never particularly crispy). Oh well. Our mass produced food is done for a while. Back to Augustus made food for the next week or so. Yippee!

We watched a movie together last night - The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer - starring Cary Grant,  Myrna Loy and an older Shirley Temple. Madcap comedy ensues. Fun and worth watching. At least in my estimation. I don't know if mom enjoyed it as much as I did, but I think she liked it ok.

Mom's Memory Moment (amongst other things)

It is so odd how mom's memory works. Justin came over and solved our leaky faucet problem and mom remembered a lot about him. That he was recently married, used to work for Mary Gerhart and helped us out with a big drain problem. All without prompting from me! True, she did go through the whole litany of what she knew about three times in a row, but at least there was some spark of memory there! Huzzuh!

Late last night, I watched Small Apartments which was weirdly fun. It got low ratings on IMDB, but I liked it a lot. Very quirky. I thought that a friend had watched it and reflected that on Facebook. In fact, I am sure that is where I saw it mentioned. Unfortunately I forgot who said they had watched it. The person I thought had watched it said she hadn't. Hmph. Oh well, I am glad that it found its way onto the Netflix queue.

Sunday was also a busy time at The Smith. Guys and Dolls loaded out and did an excellent job cleaning up after themselves. They all believed that the theatre looked better than they had found it. Probably true! Then there was a going away party for David, which was fun. I couldn't stay long, as I needed to get back to feed mom dinner, but he got a good sized group of attendees and everything was very pleasant. Yay!

Still no drip from my bathroom faucet! I am soooooo handy!

I am listening to a book called Middlesex and enjoying it so far. I am curious, though, why the Greeks portrayed in NYC have accents that sound Jewish.

This is one of those periods in my life where everything seems a little too overwhelming. I know that life is not under my control. I fully understand that. Right now, though, things are worse than normal in my head. I try to live in the moment, be positive, all that jazz. Please realize, this is not depression. It is confusion. Ok, maybe it is a bit of depression. But life goes in cycles. And most of my cycle is way above the median line of unhappy. What is that song - into each life some rain must fall? This too shall pass.

And then I think about mom and what she is going through. Sigh.

Sneaky Me

I am a sneaky Augustus. Devious even. Yup, that about sums it up. When mom and I were at my sister's in Maine the other week, we were talking about coffee. Mom loves coffee (ewww). She would drink it all day if she could. At 10 at night, she asks for coffee. Much as I love her, I am not going to give her coffee at 10 at night. Even Decaf coffee. Personally, the idea of decaf coffee (isn't that an oxymoron) sounds horrible. And somewhere, a long time ago, I read that to make coffee caffeine-less, the processors used a lot of icky chemicals - making decaf coffee even ickier than regular coffee. That all being said, I do know that caffeine does affect my mom's stomach. Sometimes her "sick stomach" feeling is nothing more than a result of unmitigated caffeine, causing an over caffeinated stomach. I do my best to give her food when I give her coffee - a lot of food. I think it helps. But, here comes the sneaky bit, since I am trying to avoid mom having "stomach" issues, I broke down and bought a tub of decaf coffee and have started mixing it into her regular coffee! I am not sure what the percentage is - but I plan to increase the amount over time. I wonder if Gevalia offers decaf coffee. I also wonder if I ought to stop the mail order coffee deliveries from them. I probably ought to...

I had another epiphany-let the other day and finally acted on it. As some of you know, I listen to audio books in the kitchen (primarily). I have destroyed a few playback devices so far, probably from putting the books on pause and leaving them that way for 12+ hours. That can't be good for the machines. Though there must be some sort of digital way for machines to remember where they are on a CD rather than a physical way that most of them seem to use. Whatever. With the current CD player, I have been stopping the disc and turning the player off - conserving power and hopefully conserving the life of the CD player. That would be nifty. Anyway, my memory is ok. Not awesomely excellent. I tried to remember what track I was on (and about where on the track I stopped) but was not doing a great job at it. So, I have this perpetual calendar (that often languished next to my bed - unused for months) and thought - heck, it has numbers that I could set to the correct track. Which I did. And it works pretty well. Or at least has so far! Yay!

The daily recap - what day was it? Oh, yes - Tuesday. The biggest news was that I walked downtown to Red Dove for a beer last night, sauntered in, found the place packed to the gunwales and turned around and walked home again. Yes, there was one seat at the bar, but I just didn't feel like being there. But I had a great walk. I do like walking, fortunately. Yippee! Other than that, nothing too interesting of note.

Oh well, one semi-interesting note. I went into the Smith to work with David for a little bit. Dimmers are being rented for the Opera and we needed to guesstimate how long the cables would need to be in order for there to be light! I don't understand how the whole system is wired - where the cables run etc, but we did what we could. Hopefully it will be sufficient for the lighting company to do what they need to do.

Ok, that really is it for interesting stuff. At least for now. We don't want this to become too exciting a post.

Glutton for punishment

What a great phrase! I think it was something that my mom used to say. I don't know where she got it. Anyway, I think I do enjoy torturing myself, just a little. Not in a hair shirt, cat-o-nine tails sort of way. But in a - must-watch-every-episode-of-Doctor-Who sort of way. I was hoping that there would be a complete collected Doctor Who set out there somewhere. If there is, I can't find it. Anyone? The next best thing would have been to find them all on Netflix. Nope. But what they did have was 18 episodes (average of 4 shows per episode) with a bunch of the first set of doctors. No rhyme or reason that I could tell on how they chose what to put up, but I will admit to having watched them all. Finally. It took me a while. And I also must admit, that I enjoyed them! Yay!

A year ago, mom and I were on a major trip across the country. We had just landed in Boise, Idaho. I am, again, trying to catch up with my brewpub blog, but it is hard work: finding the pictures and dredging from my brain any recollections I might have about the different places. Sigh. Beer and memory, not always a great combination!

My friends Ellen and David are nearby for a wedding. Hopefully we will get together later today. I offered to drive them to the airport.

Finally finished Water for Elephants! Took me a long while as I was listening to it only in the car. Then I broke down, found yet another cd player in the house and put it in the kitchen so I could listen while I cooked and cleaned. Yay! So glad that the book was recommended to me. I did mostly enjoy the movie - but the book was, not surprisingly, even better. Makes me sad once again that I didn't try to join Ringling Brothers for a year or two long ago. Sigh.

Mom is bloodthirsty! Last night while watching Monkey Business, we were visited by a moth. Mom wanted to kill it. Rather she wanted me to kill it. I refused. Eventually, it came to rest on mom's ice cream container (she had brought it out to finish it) so I took it out and let the moth go free. Monkey Business was entertaining, but not great. A B&W from the 1952 starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers with a supporting role played by Marilyn Monroe. Who knew that Cary Grant could do a cartwheel?!

Busy, busy day

Today was a full day and I was running on half my typical sleep - 3 hours instead of at least 6. Sigh. I don't know why exactly I couldn't sleep. But that's ok. More awake time is more time to get things accomplished. I find I accomplish little while I am sleeping...

Got up way too early and stayed up, working on a couple of blog posts. One eventually got posted - the other - about Trust - may never see the light of day. We shall see. After that, the day started in ernest. Lunch for mom and me, then I moved a few boxes and some furniture around. I achieved my major goal for the alcove in the study - I got pa's portrait re-hung. Yay! I also started pulling out boxes that contain only mom stuff that aren't getting sorted this go 'round - mostly boxes filled with mom's teaching stuff - and put them aside for later delivery to the attic.

While brushing my teeth, I had a realization that I really need to do some more cleaning before my house guest arrives on Friday! Eeek! My bathroom has seen cleaner days. And the two bedrooms she gets to choose from could do with some work. Sigh. None of that got done today. But the realization was there - so some of it might get done tomorrow.

After lunch, I headed out to run errands and do the laundry. First stop, Protective Services Office in downtown Geneva. Mom's handicapped parking permit was set to expire at the end of the month. What an easy, no hassle thing to get renewed! Stopped in, the person behind the window asked me a couple of questions and presto! another five years have been added! Huzzuh!

Next stop, the hardware store. My Handy wants to be at it again. A couple of years ago we had the back entryway replastered. The work was never finished - the contractor had another job, left and never returned. The good thing is he never charged us for the work. The bad thing is, well, the work was unfinished. One of the things that didn't get done was the replacement of a hook that allowed a screen door to be secured in an open position. I didn't find the hook easily when I went to look for it and it isn't like we go through that door a bazillion times a day. More like once a month or so. Still, on the occasions we do go through there, and the door needs to remain open, it would be nice to have the hook back. So I decided to bite the bullet and find a hook and fix it. Hence the trip to the hardware store. A hook was easily found and I plan on fixing the dang thing today! Yay!

Onwards to the library. Mom wanted some books - eeek - that she had been looking for in the house but hadn't found. Big surprise there. The books in the house are getting more and more shuffled around. I really need to get them organized, but it is pretty far down on my list. I also feel a bit of trepidation around books from the library after one went missing for a long time - the library forgave the fine, but it was scary! I don't like losing things in general and I especially don't like losing something that is someone else's. We shall see what happens with these.

Last stop, for the time being, was laundry. I had three baskets full. Lots of sheets. And clothes of course. While laundry was laundering, I took my leave of the laundromat and headed to Staples to turn in recycle printer cartridges! Margaret was there and helped me - and told me she was engaged - nice ring! Sigh. I think she is great. She even took a typewriter ribbon cassette thing and credited me for it!

Laundry done, zipped home, hoping for a little nap of maybe half an hour - at least that is what I imagined. Mom volunteered (ish) to help fold. I was sitting in my room, getting ready to lie down when I heard mom coming down the hall at a rapid (ish) pace and then some weird plopping sounds and then clear vomiting sounds. Poor mom!! She was not a happy camper. I don't know if it was the coleslaw or what - maybe just the heat of the room at the head of the stairs combined with having to do so much twisting to fold the laundry. She just got sick. Luckily, most of it went in the toilet. Still, there went my half hour nap. And I think I need to go back to the laundry again. I really want a washing machine in the house. Maybe that will be my capital investment next time we have a windfall. If there is a next time for a windfall. The dryer has probably died, but I won't know until I get brave enough to walk around the corner in the basement and check. A dreaded (and easy) task for another day.

So, no nap. Instead, it was off to the grocery store to get a chicken and some other necessities - like fiber bars, a sweet potato and soda water. I needed to cook in a shortened manner - as I was heading to Ithaca after dinner. On the way out of Wegman's I ran into Cassie who works at The Leaf. The Leaf is currently on hiatus for a week or so. We chatted for a longish while. Sweet person - very chatty! Got home, cooked up the sweet potato, heated up leftover vegetables and divvied up the chicken. Not a bad dinner - and quick and easy. Watched the rest of the news with mom and then set her up for the evening - she loves NCIS for some reason. And then I headed to Ithaca.

A friend there suggested a waffle place. I don't think it has been open long - at least I don't remember it from my last visit - which was, hmm, last summer perhaps? Yummy waffle, good conversation. Who could want anything more? Well, I could, but...I got to listen to my book - Water for Elephants - while driving in both directions. Yay.

Got home, puttered around on the computer, watched an episode of Doctor Who (with Peter Davison - the most lackluster doctor ever!)(With three of the weirdest companions ever) before closing my eyes and forgetting the world. Yay sleep!

Egg rolls

The eggroll making process  may or may not have been mentioned before in this blog, but such is life! (See how I did that?!)

The way I currently make eggrolls is this: I buy Asian slaw mix, pick my meat of choice - usually chicken or shrimp - add spices - ginger and garlic primarily - toss everything in a bowl then wrap them up in store bought eggroll wrappers. This makes 10 or so egg rolls. Leaving two sheets of eggroll wrappers forlornly sitting in their container. In times past, I tried to make eggrolls again soon, so that these wrappers didn't go to waste - lest they turn all sort of pretty colors in the refrigerator. Other times, I just cut my losses and tossed them. Then, one day, I had one of them, thar' epiphany-lets: to wit, I could make wontons or rangoons out of the remaining wrappers - just cut the big wrapper in four and voila, voici - smaller wrappers! I have, for the most part, just put cream cheese in them. Lately, I have gotten more adventurous. Only my creativity limits me. Yay!

I read a book - no need to faint people - that my friend David lent me. Not sure why he did - maybe because I voiced an interest in language and linguistics. Perhaps? Anyway, it was called Don't Sleep, There are Snakes by Daniel L. Everett. I am glad I read it. The writing is pretty basic (terrible, actually) but the content was interesting - about the Pirahãs of the Amazon and their language. Too bad the book wasn't better written. Oh well. On to my next Alzheimer's book.

Speaking of reading, well, sort of, since my latest CD player was killed (by me) I have not been listening to books. In fact, I returned all the ones I had to the library. I have mixed feelings about this. And finding devices that play CDs isn't as easy as it once was. Grrr.

My work at The Smith yesterday went well. The event was an inspirational talk by an ex-professional wrestler. Good stuff. The people seemed to enjoy it. Everything went off without a hitch, which is great. Yay, even!

I will pay bills today. That is my dreaded task - though not as dreaded as it has been in the past. Oh, and this month is my mom's 83 birthday. Not sure if we are doing anything too special for it. I do have a present for her - and Karl is sending some stuff. I will probably go to the dollar store and get her a balloon and maybe some other things. And some cut flowers for sure. I like doing things for other people's birthdays - when they are near. I am not good at sending cards and presents to far away people (like across the street far...)

No adventure

We didn't adventure yesterday. Oh well. Life is that way sometimes. I did, though, adventure a little vicariously through one of my favorite checkers at Wegman's. She and her family went to Jamaica for a week. Yay! I have never been to Jamaica. Not much of a beach/island sort of guy. Not that I wouldn't go if the opportunity arose. Nor that I would enjoy myself while there. Just not top of my list. Top is still Brazil or anyplace in South America. It will happen eventually.

Last night, I had a thought on how to do something in the computer program I am working on. I thought of creating an object to get the background image - see, object oriented thinking. It occurred to me that would be the best way since I wanted to set the image in two different places. I had thought I understood how objects worked - or at least had a glimmering, an inkling. This morning, that is what I have been working on. So far so good. When I get this working consistently, I will turn my attention to sounds. Then I need to back to persistence. And once all of those things are done, I will try and figure out why some of the things are happening that I don't understand, and try to get them fixed. There are way too many of those - the persistent views thing, the lack of flipping sometimes, the animations that don't get executed. Sigh. Onward to sounds.

My brother had a wonderful idea - make a memory book for mom - he wants me to help mom go through the pictures in the house (thousands of them) and have her label the people in them. Right. That is going to happen. I suggested that this be a project for when he came to visit - if he comes to visit. It has been awhile since he came...How about if everyone from the family sends Karl scanned pictures of themselves and their closest? That would be a start. Karl? Oh, right, he doesn't read this...

I started The Passage at my nephew Erich's suggestion. So far, so good. And I am listening to a Terry Pratchett Audio book - it is in the discworld world. I just wish that the book was broken up into smaller sections on the disk. What I mean is, instead of in chapters only, many audio books put markers at other points so that it is easier to jump to near where one was last listening if one happens to take the disk out for some reason, like to clean it (which is often necessary, especially with library disks).

Tonight is baby artichokes night! Yippee! Not sure how I am preparing them, but they will be prepared. Huzzah!

All ready to read

Wish me luck!

Everything but the chicken was good