Random Lunacy

1972 Book: Cyborg

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 22:32:18 GMT

Continuing in my grand plan to read one book a month from every year of my life, I've moved on to 1972 and decided to give the book Cyborg by Martin Caidin a try.

For those who don't know, this is the book that was the basis for the TV movie and series "The Six-Million Dollar Man," a show I watched regularly as a child. It was a pretty interesting read, because there were a lot of a familiar names popping up, but the characterizations were very different from the show. The book was published as science fiction, which makes sense since it is dealing with futuristic technology, but it is really more in the category I would call Men's Adventure, with all the standard tropes of that genre thrown in (there is a subplot through the first half of the book dealing with Steve's doctors basically throwing pretty women at him in an attempt to help with his "recovery" and it made me roll my eyes, every time it got mentioned). This was my choice for a book published in 1972 and is definitely a book of its era. All that said, I did enjoy it and I'm sort of interested in seeing where some of the other books in the series went with the characters.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Well, that was a first.

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 04:07:26 GMT

We had some sweet potatoes left from our weekly produce delivery and I decided I wanted to make Sweet Potato Chicken Curry. So, I found a recipe that looked good from some of the ones I've saved over the years, picked up the ingredients I needed for it and then went to make it for dinner the other night, only once I started in on it, I realized the cooking time was over 90 minutes and not the 30 minutes I was expecting. Weird. Okay, so the last stage of the recipe simmers for 30 minutes, so that was probably what I'd been thinking of. Also, it had a few ingredients I'd apparently missed earlier that we actually didn't have on hand (technically, we did have some canned garbanzo beans, but they were all dated as Best By sometime in 2020, so I figured it was best not to use them). It was all very strange and I couldn't figure out how I'd gotten it so wrong.

So, tonight I started in on it again... better supplied with all the ingredients I would need and plenty of time to get it done before dinner. Guys, I was a full hour into making this thing before it finally hit me that there were TWO DIFFERENT RECIPES with basically the same name (one, which is the one I'd actually wanted to do, that I'd apparently saved off 13 years ago(!) and one I had found more recently). The older recipe took 30 minutes to cook, but the one I ended up attempting tonight was a whole lot more involved, had a whole lot more ingredients (which is why they'd been missing the night before) and took a whole lot longer. *facepalm*

So, at this point, I looked over both recipes, dropped a few ingredients that hadn't been added yet from the one I'd been following, tossed in a few from the other recipe that I thought would taste good and just winged it. And wow... was it good! I sat down and wrote out what I did, because I will definitely be making this again.

( Recipe under the cut for anyone who might be interested. )

Reposted from my Livejournal, with a photo over there (I haven't been able to recall how to post them here).

comments

Dusting Things Off

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 03:41:30 GMT

Earlier this year, with my 55th birthday fast approaching, I realized I had a wonderful opportunity to read one book published in each year of my life, sequentially, with the hopes of being done by the time I reach my 60th birthday (I have five years, which means just one a month, so I'm hoping to pull it off), starting with Year Zero (which ultimately means I'll do 61 books for this endeavor). I set rules for it... in particular that the book has to be one I've never read before, with preference given to books I already own (the idea being that I'd obviously already wanted to read it enough to pick up a copy).

It also occurred to me that this would be an ideal opportunity to finally get around to dusting off my old Livejournal/Dreamwidth accounts. If you happen to follow me on Good Reads, you're probably going to end up seeing these things twice.
So, here are the first three months, all at once!

( 1969: The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters )

( 1970: Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz )

( 1971: The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett )

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

She speaks! Er, writes...

Sun, 13 Dec 2020 02:49:55 GMT

Okay, so I know I haven't posted in ages, but I'm hoping to do better (ha!). And I had a bit of a tale to tell, so I figured this would be a good place to do it. Seriously, though, I've had "Post to Livejournal" as a weekly goal for about a year now and I've been failing at it rather miserably.

Last year, I think, we picked up a stationary recumbent bike for cheap or free (I no longer remember, but if we paid anything it was maybe $20 or so) from a local Buy/Sell/Free group. The folks selling it had lost one of the adjustment knobs for the arm exerciser part of it, had tried to replace it with a regular bolt and it had gotten jammed in without holding the arm piece in place, meaning the arm exerciser was unusable.

We've been using it just for the "bike" part since we got it and really enjoying it, then earlier this year rackham managed to finally get the old bolt out. We've been trying to figure out a solution to attach the arm handle again, figuring we could maybe find a new bolt and use a washer with it or something. Then last week, just as I was drifting off to sleep... epiphany. The sort of thing that makes you feel both clever and stupid at the same time. I sent myself an email so I wouldn't forget and the next morning, we looked up the manufacturer online. Where we were able to order a new adjustment knob for a whopping $8 with shipping...

We also found out the recumbent bike is still being sold and runs around $1300, new. O.o Oh well, the loss for the folks who sold it to us is definitely our gain!

It's certainly coming in handy this year... and is making me feel better about cancelling my gym membership. Between that and the walking pad/treadmill, there are certainly enough options here at the house for days when it's too miserable outside to go walking or hiking.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Good Karma

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 17:30:01 GMT

Yesterday was one of those days that makes me want to believe there is such a thing as karma. Or at least good karma... although it usually doesn't come back to you that quickly.

I started out the day donating blood over in Redmond City Hall (I try to donate four times a year and this was my fourth!). Since I was right there, I headed over to Pharmaca to pick up some supplements, but first decided to walk across the street to the British Pantry... where I discovered they still had slots available for their special English Christmas Dinner next month. I got signed up for that, walked back over the pharmacy and did my shopping... and spotted Peppermint Little Secrets (they're basically M&Ms, but are dark chocolate and are generally dairy free... the peppermint ones are seasonal) on sale! Grabbed a couple bags of those and went to check out, where it turned out they had a coupon (and she had an extra sitting right there) for a free pair of earrings if you spent over a certain amount, which I had. So, bonus earrings!!! (Really nice earrings, too.)

Shortly after I left there, I made the realization that every single traffic light I came to was either already green or changed to green right as I pulled up. Every single one. It was actually a bit freaky, to be honest. I sailed right through all the way to Woodinville, did a bit of shopping and then realized I hadn't heard from the optometrist about my new glasses... gave them a call before heading home and they were ready for me to pick up. Once again, sailed through all the lights all the way to the optometrist's office (which was not nearby... like I said, it was getting a bit freaky) and made it home from there faster than I ever have before.

I'll be honest, I am a bit superstitious, so by the time I got home I was sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop... but it turned out that the universe just decided to smile on my yesterday (and, apparently, on rackham who had the same freaky green light thing happen to him, too, and made it home from work in record time).

BTW, I really am trying to remember to post here more often. It's even one of my weekly goals that I've been utterly failing to accomplish.

Crossposted from My Livejournal.

comments

Feeling bad about a goldfish

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 03:04:05 GMT

We have a Ryukin Goldfish named Doofenshmirtz who lives in a tank in our kitchen/computer room (we've adapted the dining room area to be a space for our computers, since we're on them so much). We got the fish about three or four years ago after the former Doofenshmirtz (it's just too good a name for a goldfish not to use more than once) moved on from this world. He's been lively and interactive (like his predecessor, he enjoys watching us do food prep on the counter near his tank) until the last year or so... when he's started doing weird things like "sleeping" (where he would just float there, right side up, and startle awake if we tapped the tank) or actively swimming upside down. Now, he's always done some creative swimming, but this started to get consistent. And then came the day I walked into the room and he was floating upside down, not moving. I was sure he was dead, but the moment I tapped the tank, he flipped over and started swimming quickly around.

I started trying to clean his tank a little more often, in case there was something going on there (we're on well water so the tank is very prone to algae), and he'd be extra lively for a little bit, but eventually the odd behaviors would start up again.

Yesterday, I cleaned his tank. Like, REALLY cleaned his tank... I took out three buckets of water and refilled things with water I had prepped. I scrubbed down all of his tank furniture and left it out to dry (to hopefully kill off any remaining algae). I vacuumed the crud out of the rocks at the bottom of the tank... and, throughout the day, actually replaced the filter twice in order to make sure things were really clean. And this morning I came out to him floating upside down again. I tapped him and he started swimming, but it got me thinking, so I hit the internet.

I feel like such a cruel idiot for not checking these things sooner. All those quirky behaviors he'd been developing? Were signs of hypoxia. I started delving a little deeper... because when we first set up the tank, everything I read at the time told me our setup was fine for a single goldfish and that our filter would do a perfectly fine job with aerating the water. Apparently, where the tank is wide and tall-ish, this is not necessarily the case. So, today while I was in town, I stopped by Wal-Mart and got an inexpensive pump and aerator, brought it home and hooked it up. Doof has been having a party in the tank ever since... and now I'm feeling both extremely happy that I seemed to have fixed the problem and pretty much devastated that we've been making him live in an oxygen poor environment for so long.

I really am hoping that this fixes the issue, but it'll probably be at least a few days before we know for sure. He's still occasionally "gulping" at the top of the water, but not constantly like he used (one of the symptoms of needing air), and he's doing a LOT more swimming in the rest of the tank than he's done in ages, which I'm hoping is good sign!

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

The Perils of a Full Tub

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 17:13:20 GMT

Our water provider is doing some work on the system in our neighborhood today, so we got a notice that the water might be off sometime between 9:00am and 2:00pm today. We prepped for it, filling pitchers with water to leave by the various sinks for handwashing... and this morning, after my shower, I also filled the bathtub so that we'd have some water to use for flushing if we needed it (a trick I learned as a kid... because we'd do that whenever we were expecting a typhoon).

Once the tub was full enough, I headed into the next room and not three minutes later heard a flurry of furious splashing coming from the bathroom... before I could even rush back to make sure the cat was okay (because, yeah, it was definitely one of the cats and I was pretty certain I knew which one), a completely *drenched* Numfar came tearing out the door and ran down the hall.

I grabbed a towel and tried, fairly unsuccessfully, to keep from laughing... eventually finding her hiding underneath the dining room table, really spooked and also really pissed off. She was just absolutely soaked all through (apparently, her fur acts quite nicely as a sponge, because wow... was that a LOT of water). I managed to get her corralled, wrapped her in a towel and held her for a bit until she finally relaxed and started purring.

I have no idea if she just leaped into the bathtub without looking first or if she was trying to check the water out and slipped in... but now I'm mostly just hoping this hasn't scared her out of the bathroom permanently. I would really miss having her in there guarding me every morning while I take my shower (which she does, every day... sitting with her back to the shower, staring at the door. Unless there's something else she really wants to do, in which case she'll bring Mr. Mouse (the Beanie Baby mouse) in to stare at the door while I shower. Yes, really).

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Masked Singer Again

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:06:48 GMT

I know, it's all I'm updating about right now... but at least I'm updating? The final episode is tonight, so I'll have to start coming up with other topics before too long!

Anyway, I figured I'd better do another quick wrap up of last week's thoughts before they're no longer relevant.

( Spoilers up through last week behind the cut. )

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Masked Singer Followup

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 18:19:53 GMT

I have been horrible about updating, even though I promised myself I'd try to keep up. I figured I'd do a quick Masked Singer update before the new episode airs tonight... especially since I missed updating earlier with some of the changes in my guesses.

( Spoilers under the cut. )

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

The Masked Singer

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 17:14:38 GMT

Earlier this week, the local morning news show that I watch had a segment on the new show "The Masked Singer" and I was... intrigued. So, I went looking online and found the first three episodes. Started watching, but after the first singer took the stage, I stopped, because I realized this was something rackham would probably enjoy as well. And I was right!

It is such a wacky and weird premise... I mean, it's not really a competition, only it sort of is. It's more like a really entertaining puzzle, I guess?

If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch it on Fox's website (it looks like they're keeping all the episodes available there, so you can start from the beginning).

( And now, what I really wanted to do, which is talk about some of my guesses. )

So, anyone else hooked on this odd show? What are your thoughts?

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Microwave popcorn

Mon, 07 Jan 2019 04:17:47 GMT

Until recently, Costco's Movie Theater Butter microwave popcorn didn't actually contain any butter (or, more importantly, milk), but when I went to buy more last year, I did what I always do and checked the label... only to see that they had changed the recipe to include real butter. I don't blame them, since I suspect it will probably sell better now that it's no longer artificially flavored, but it's left me a little bit adrift when it comes to microwave popcorn.

I've got a stovetop popper that I love (we picked up one of the heavy duty stainless steel "whirly-pop" style poppers from Back To Basics 13 years ago (I know the date because it was in the car when we got in our big accident on the way home from Christmas that year (it was a present)... it had some slight damage, but held up really well). The thing is that it's bulky and not particularly easy to clean... so if I just want some quick popcorn, it's not exactly the best option.

I've tried several different brands of popcorn, trying to find another good milk-free option and have had no luck (basically, the only stuff available is the plain popcorn, which is... okay, but not really want I'm looking for). So, I decided to see what sort of microwave popcorn devices they had on Amazon... and hit the jackpot with the first one. I picked up the HotPop Silicone Microwave Popper and it is fantastic! Add a few teaspoons of coconut oil, some popcorn salt and then the kernels... set the "lid" on it, stick in the microwave and hit the "Popcorn" button and that's it. I'm loving this thing!!! I hadn't realized how much I was missing quick popcorn until I got it.

The stovetop popper definitely makes superior popcorn, but I'm just so happy to have a nice, quick microwave alternative (that I can stick in the dishwasher when I'm done!).

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Musical Chairs

Sat, 06 Oct 2018 04:38:22 GMT

So, I know it's been... *checks last LJ entry* Eep! Um, almost a year and a half since I last updated... but rather than do the standard "Here's everything I've been up to!" entry, I'm just going to bring you a plain old regular update. With any luck, it will be the first of many more to come.

My office chair has been failing me lately, slowly sinking down no matter how many times I pull it up to the height I like. It's a bit difficult for me to find chairs I like, because of some of the lingering issues from the car accident (so I have certain requirements in back angles and heights), plus the fact that Numfar likes to sleep draped across the back of the chair while I'm on my computer... this means that the chair needs to be cloth and not leather (or it would be covered in tiny punctures very quickly), have a back that's tall enough that she's basically above my head when she's there and also be wide enough at the top that she can can curl up there without falling off (not that there haven't been times when she's rolled over in her sleep and fallen off... which is really funny, I've got to say).

I've just been putting up with constantly sinking, because chair shopping is a HUGE pain and takes forever... and then it occurred to me to try looking up my current chair online to see if it's still for sale. Bingo! They had it on Amazon... not Prime, but free shipping and I could certainly wait a week for it to get here. It's all assembled and I'm sitting on it now (with Numfar curled up on the back, right above my head) and wow, my old chair was much more worn out than I'd realized. It's going to take a bit to get used to having a chair that's this cushy!

The really funny thing though is that despite having an office chair of her own (yes, really... it sits between our two office chairs), Zoë has always had a bit of a thing for my chair. I'll get up to go grab something, come back and she'd be curled up there as if she'd been that way for hours, and would *very* reluctantly move over to her own chair if I insisted, muttering the entire time. So, you can imagine my amusement when I happened to glance down the hall where we had the old chair sitting out of the way to see her curled up asleep there!

( Photo of a very happy cat under the cut. )

It occurred to me then that we could just use that chair out by the computers for her instead of the one we'd been using, since she seemed to like it so much. And oh yeah... she's been a very happy cat all evening! We'll see how long this lasts.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

40 Bags in 40 Days

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 07:31:01 GMT

Last week, just before it started, I stumbled across 40 Bags in 40 Days. The basic idea is to remove one bag of stuff from your life every day for 40 days... it doesn't have to be a big bag and you don't have to just toss it in the trash, but can donate it or recycle it if you can.

Since I hadn't had a chance to do any planning at all (I found this challenge the day before it started), my first day I headed to the garage and found the stash of shipping "air pillows" we had saved. We'd accrued quite a few before Christmas to use for mailing out presents... and they were very handy to have around for that, but at this point, we really don't need to be keeping them. So, I popped them all and ended up filling a plastic grocery bag with the remains. Day One down and it felt good!

( Days Two through Five, under the cut. )

Some interesting things I've found, so far:

Once I get started, I have to work really hard not to expand my efforts well beyond my original daily goal. I'm working on pacing (this has been my downfall in the past when it comes to decluttering).

I hadn't realized that I'd have an emotional attachment to shoes (see above re: previous lack of interest in shoes). It wasn't like I had to force myself to toss those Vibrams, but I did find myself hesitating... for no other reason than that they were my first. I suspect there are going to be other things I come across where I have the same problem.

I already knew this, but it's nice to have the reminder... I really do feel better and I'm more productive when I'm not surrounded by too much clutter. Hopefully this whole challenge will get me on the right track with it. If not, well there's always next year!

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Sat, 21 Jan 2017 07:04:01 GMT

For those who aren't familiar with it... this is a holiday of sorts, created by the wonderful sdwolfpup about ten years ago (here's her post about it this year). The gist of it is that world could use more joy... and we should make an effort to do something, however small, to bring more joy into the lives of other people.

In the past, I've had a lot of fun with it... doing little things like leaving quarters in random gumball machines or getting a gift card for a local fast food chain, going through the drive-thru to just purchase a drink and then telling them to use the rest of the gift card for the people behind me in line, that sort of thing.

This year, I planned ahead and arranged to have flowers delivered to a few of my friends who live far away but I thought could use a bit of joy... and I'm really glad I did or More Joy Day would have been a complete bust for me this year. I haven't been sleeping well lately and I was just too wiped out to do much... so I didn't get any further from the house than the mailbox. I really did miss getting the chance to go out and do something random to hopefully bring joy to a stranger, so I may have to do something this weekend to make up for it.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Hungry Hummingbird

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 18:10:05 GMT

I completely forgot to bring in the hummingbird feeders last night, which is a bit of a problem with our temperatures dropping down to 20°F overnight. So, this morning I stumbled into the kitchen, glanced out the window and saw a feeder-cicle... with one poor little hummingbird hopping from perch to perch, hoping to find an unfrozen "flower."

I went out and grabbed the feeder, brought it in, wrapped it in a dishtowel and started pouring boiling water on it to get it to thaw quickly. I happened to glance up and spotted that same hummingbird, now perched on the little hummingbird swing we have hanging nearby... staring at me. Seriously, staring right at me through the window (the hummingbirds often come stare at me through the window when the come to the feeder, but not quite like this). So, I didn't thaw it completely like I usually do when this happens, but just enough so that nectar would flow out if needed and stuck the feeder back outside... and that little hummingbird was already there and eating before I even got back in the house (while I was still only a few feet away).

I suppose if nothing else happens today, I'll know I made a difference in at least one bird's life! :-p

( Fuzzy little hummingbird feasting from a partially frozen feeder. )

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Sun, 01 Jan 2017 08:23:52 GMT

We did the introvert thing and stayed home this year... spending the evening playing computer games, then went down to the theater in the basement to watch the Space Needle go *FOOM* on the big screen at midnight, with accompanying chips, salsa, bean dip and guacamole... and sparkling apple cider. We'd considered getting tickets to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra downtown, but really didn't want to deal with the crowds afterward and it turned out to be a good thing, since we've had snow this evening. Just as nice to stay home in our warm house in our pajamas.

Hope everyone has a fantastic 2017!!

Crossposted from my LiveJournal.

comments

Still here!! And with a Numfar story!

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 06:42:59 GMT

I know I haven't updated here in ages... and it's all because of that age-old conundrum of either not having anything to write about because life is so boring or not having time to write about things because so much is going on! In the last month or so, I've been making an effort to at least read my flist and comment when I can, so I don't feel quite as out of the loop as I might have. At some point, I'll have to see if I can touch on at least a few of the highlights from the last several months (because there really were some cool things), but for now, I'm back to tell another Numfar story!

The other day, we had a bumper crop of birds out at our feeders... there were several dark-eyed junkos on the main feeder along with a couple of house sparrows, plus a half dozen Steller's Jays hopping around on the ground below. We've got the feeders on the other side of some large picture windows, just so the cats have something fun to watch (we call it the Cat Entertainment Center). Numfar was sitting on the windowsill and was REALLY excited about the birds. In fact, whenever I'd walk by, she'd hop down and run over to me and try to lead me back to the window so I could watch the birds with her (the few times I did, she got VERY happy and would watch the birds, then head-butt me and purr).

Well, it was getting later in the morning and I really needed to take a shower. As I've mentioned before, Numfar nearly always guards me while I'm in the shower (she's done it pretty much since we first got her... starting in the other house and continuing here). With a few exceptions, she'll usually sit on the counter with her back to the shower so she can watch the door (as long as it's open... if it's closed, she'll sit over by the shower and chatter at me). Well, that day, I'd picked her up and carried her into the bathroom, setting her on the counter where she took up her usual spot. I hopped in the shower, turned on the water and looked over... just in time to see her jump off the counter and leave the room.

About two minutes later, rackham came into the bathroom, laughing. Apparently, the moment I started the shower, Numfar had headed out of the room and hopped up on the bed where she had last left Mr. Mouse. She'd grabbed him, brought him to the doorway and set him up there so that he was facing out and "guarding" the door, and then ran out to the picture window so she could watch the birds again, content in the knowledge that I was well guarded. It always amazes me just a little that she even thinks of doing things like that... but Mr. Mouse has been set out to watch so many things for her over the years and I would absolutely love to know what, exactly, she thinks he is.

( Mr. Mouse guarding the bathroom door. )

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Getting the fast lane for Canada...

Sun, 17 Jul 2016 04:35:15 GMT

I've finally decided my best way to get back into posting here is just to dive right in and not dither on about how much I should try to get caught up on what's been happening in my life. At some point, if I end up going back and talking about stuff from the last few months, it'll likely be because current life stuff is way too boring and I'm filling the void with older adventures. :-p

This morning we slept in a little, but rackham reminded me early on that we needed to be out the door a bit after 9:00... so I had a quick breakfast and we headed out toward Blaine, WA (up near the border with Canada). Thankfully, I immediately entered in the address for the place we were going into the GPS, because it popped up with a travel time of about 75 minutes. At which point Rackham realized that it wasn't going to take us three hours to get there like he'd been thinking. *facepalm* So, we got to have a little more leisurely morning at the house before we had to leave for real.

It was a bit odd going up to the Canadian border without actually crossing (technically not true, though... after our appointment, we went up to Peace Arch Park and walked around, which meant we crossed the border several times -- and we still considered going across for a few hours since we had our passports, until we saw that the lines at the border were horrible), but we had an appointment for interviews for our NEXUS cards! The whole process is pretty nicely streamlined... we applied online, got the initial approval emailed to us, set up our interview appointment online and then went up to chat with a US Border Agent followed by a Canadian Border Agent... both of whom mostly just verified our identities, asked why it was we wanted the cards (shorter waits at the border!) and got our fingerprints (yes, for the first time in my life, my fingerprints are in the system somewhere). Oh, and answered any questions we might have about the NEXUS program. Turns out, it's even better than we thought... not only do we get to use the fast lane whenever we drive up to Canada (after the cards arrive in a few weeks), but it also gives us TSA Pre-Check and apparently Global Access (quicker time through customs) at airports! Sweet!!!

If we decide we want to do any flying into or around Canada, we can also run up to Vancouver at some point to get an iris scan done... not entirely sure it would be worth doing, since we're not likely to fly there very often. We have been talking about taking trips to Edmonton, Alberta and to Saskatchewan, but then it's just a matter of waiting to go through customs when we arrive. Amusingly, when we mentioned we were thinking of taking a vacation to Saskatchewan, the Canadian Border Agent gave us this look and said "Why?!?!" After we told him we were fans of Corner Gas, he laughed... but yeah, not exactly a hotbed of tourism. To be honest, I'm sort of thinking it would be worth doing the Edmonton trip, renting a car and driving over to Saskatoon or Regina to spend a few days and then driving back. Not happening this year, though. And next year we're really hoping to plan a trip to Guam... I haven't been back since we moved away when I was ten.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Freaky power surge

Fri, 11 Mar 2016 00:12:06 GMT

We've had a huge windstorm here today and we've managed to not lose power, but a bit ago we had what I'm guessing was a power surge. My desktop lost power and the UPS it's plugged into started beeping like crazy (this is not supposed to happen... the UPS is supposed to level out any surges and also let the desktop keep power for just a bit when the power goes out). My husband's computer, plugged into the same outlet but with his own UPS, hummed along just fine. I reset the UPS and powered up my computer and things seem to be running just fine... but then I noticed in the kitchen that the microwave appears to be dead, too.

Nothing else in the house seems to have been affected (even the alarm clock that resets at the drop of a hat normally). I've checked the breaker box and nothing appears amiss... I'm thinking it's time to dig out the microwave's manual and see if it has its own built in breaker (I know some of the them do) that needs to be reset. It was just the weirdest power surge I've ever seen... and apparently a few other people in the neighborhood had similar things happen. Really hoping the microwave isn't permanently dead.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Household Stuff

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 20:22:19 GMT

Also known as Trying to Figure Out Remedial Adulting.

I decided the time had finally arrived to go through our piles of extra pillows and actually get rid of a few (you know how it is, you get a new pillow but think "This old one is still good! We can keep it for guests!"). So, yeah, I made a huge pile out of them and started comparing them, figuring out which ones could just go away and quit taking up space, when I remembered seeing a HUGE box in storage that was labeled "extra pillows." Thankfully, rackham is working from home today, because it was up on a very high shelf in the closet and he was able to get the box down easily. And then we opened it. Did I mention this box was huge? I mean, like REALLY huge. And it contained a grand total of two pillows. *facepalm*

Now we're sort of wondering about some of the other storage boxes we've got around the house and how many of them are only half full. Time to finally get around to finishing unpacking from our move over two year ago, I guess.

On the plus side, after all the sorting and evaluating of the pillows, we're ditching six of them (which still leaves us with *plenty* of extras for guests). I swear, the pillow thing is almost as bad as old tech... we pretty much have to force ourselves to get rid of that stuff.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

A Bit of This, a Bit of That

Sun, 07 Feb 2016 07:03:59 GMT

Followup on Numfar and the mouse: Still no idea where she caught it... I was assuming she would become obsessed with the area of the house where she found it (as an example, she once found a spider in a particular corner of our bathroom and now every time she walks into that room she checks that spot first... as if it is the room's spider dispenser or something), but nothing seems out of the ordinary from her today. I still just keep thinking back to how happy and proud she was... and I'm so glad that sort of thing doesn't bother me, because I think she would have been absolutely crushed if I'd freaked out about her first real kill (since I don't think bugs and spiders count). She was definitely bringing it to me to show off so I could be proud and happy, too. But again, soooo glad it happened while I was still awake.

Today we had just a few errands to run and had planned on spending the day working on projects around the house. First, we headed over to kehf's place... she was giving away her elliptical trainer, which is something I've seriously wanted (for those days when it's just too cold/rainy/snowy to go walking outdoors and I don't have time to go to the gym). With a bit of help, we managed to get it into the back of our car and got it home and set up before lunchtime!

We grabbed lunch at our favorite spot, followed by a run out to Home Depot to pick up a few things, then decided to go for a nice 30-40 minute walk on the Marymoor Connector Trail since we were already down in Redmond. And of course, after we parked, we had to do a quick look around to see if there were any Geocaches nearby that we hadn't found yet. Turned out we'd parked about 50 feet from the start of a Difficulty 3 / Terrain 4 Multi-Cache (Difficulty and Terrain are on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the absolute hardest... and a Multi-Cache is a Geocache that has multiple waypoints with clues or information that eventually lead you to the final location). After a bit of dithering (because neither of us was particularly feeling like doing a D3/T4 today), we decided we could at least get started with it and work our way along the waypoints until it got too tough, then save what we'd figured out up to that point and finish it on another day. Ha!

I didn't keep close track of the time, but I think we were out there a bit over two hours... and for a great deal of it we were tromping through tall grass coated with a thick layer of fallen leaves, often hiding fallen trees and sloggy, muddy terrain. Probably the best workout I've had in ages, but wow... I am *sore* tonight, not to mention incredibly tired. We followed a lot of game trails to reach some of the waypoints, but also did a fair bit bushwhacking and climbing over fallen trees and branches and through thickets of shrubs and blackberries. And did I mention the mucky, muddy ground? Despite all that, it was pretty obvious that the terrain would be a whole lot worse at other times of the year (that area was actually a bit drier than it will be in the spring and there were relatively few blackberry brambles compared to how it will be later in the year). In the end, we managed to make our way over to the final location and found the cache! Yay! I love caches like this, where you actually feel like you earned every bit of the D/T rating to make the find. I still can't believe we did the whole thing today, though. Definitely not in our original plans.

And, even better, we did some detours along the way and found a few other caches and then got to go walking through "Doggie Disneyland" (aka the Marymoor Off-Leash Dog Park -- 40 acres of woods, fields and a dog's dream come true), which is probably one of my most favorite things to do. The place was hopping today, too, with dogs everywhere... running around, having the times of their lives and just being completely and utterly happy. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

ETA: Aha! I found a pretty good video about Marymoor Offleash Dog Park out on YouTube... just to give a bit of an idea of what it has too offer in its 40 acres.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

The joys of having cats

Sat, 06 Feb 2016 09:12:56 GMT

Oh my.

Well, it finally happened.

Numfar just came into the bedroom carrying something and chirruping happily. I was a bit confused, because we'd put Mr. Mouse (the beanie baby) in his spot on the cat tree for the night already... and that's what she usually carries around the house. Then she dropped what she was carrying, making even more happy noises, and I realized she'd been carrying around an actual, real mouse!! Thankfully, it was a deceased mouse.

I'm just glad this happened before I managed to fall asleep and that I noticed something was up, or my deep-seated fear of waking to find a dead mouse next to me on my pillow may have come true.

OTOH, this means she found a mouse *inside* our house. Considering we live in the country (seriously, we're just up the street from a very large dairy farm), I guess I should be happy that this is the first sign we've had of mice inside the house since we moved in.

And, you know, take another moment to be VERY happy there will be no dead mouse on my pillow when I wake up in the morning.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

The Circle of Dinner

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:41:49 GMT

A week or so ago, I posted this on FB: "On Saturday, I made drop biscuits to go with our leftover beef and barley soup... this evening, I made sausage gravy to go with our leftover biscuits. It's the Circle of Dinner."

And I really love being able to do things like that... leftovers from one meal that work well as an addition to the next. In that case, it was even better than that, because the beef and barley soup happened due to having enough extra beef to make the soup, leftover from what was needed for a previous meal.

A few days ago, I realized we had a couple of bunches of kale in the fridge that really needed to be used... so I went looking for a new way to cook them and happened upon this recipe out at the Weight Watchers website (which currently kinda sucks when it comes to linking to recipes, so I've included it here under the cut): ( Potato-Kale Soup. )

Before I pulled out the immersion blender, I decided to give it a taste and... well, it was really bland. I had rackham give it a try and we debated what we could add to give it some pop. We put a few tablespoons of the soup into a couple of ramekins and tried adding spice blends, finally settling on hot curry. And it was pretty good! Not the best thing ever, but if I end up with a bunch of kale and some potatoes I need to use, I'd probably do it again.

And then last night, I got to do one of my favorite things... I used it to make something else entirely. I cooked up some carrots and cauliflower, added some chopped up raw chicken breast and a little more curry, then dumped the leftover "Soup" in with it and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Oh my word, it was *perfect*. I would totally make that soup again, only not as a soup... but as a base for curries. I'm actually wondering how well it would freeze, so I'd have a quick and nearly ready-made dinner on hand.

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments

Anniversaries

Sun, 03 Jan 2016 05:39:00 GMT

Today is my LJ-versary! I first signed up for an account here (after just replying without an account for close to a year) using a code I got from reginaspina thirteen years ago today! Wow. Time sure does fly!!!

And in other "time flying" news, I totally missed the tenth anniversary of our car accident a few days ago. Well, I didn't miss it entirely... it sort of hit me late that night that I'd almost let it slip completely by without even thinking about it. So much progress in those ten years, with only a few last holdout problems from the injuries I got.

If anyone is interested, here's the amazingly coherent entry I typed up with two fingers on my left hand (pretty much the only parts of my body that didn't hurt in some fashion), very late on the night of the accident... when I was totally doped up on pain meds and absolutely exhausted and probably still just a bit in shock. "Sheriff Guy" still cracks me up, every time I go back and read it. I meant "Deputy" but for the life of me could not recall that word when I was typing things up. I tagged a bunch of the followup posts so they're pretty easy to find, too... although the most interesting ones are probably from just the few days and weeks right afterward (including photos of our totaled car).

It's weird how much that one moment has changed our lives and how much it changed the way our brains work. I still have issues with my shoulders and probably always will... but even more than that, we find ourselves subconsciously including "if I ever break my ribs again" or "if I ever have a broken shoulder again" into how we've set up our house. No joke, when we decided to buy a recliner to put in the reading corner in the master bedroom of the new house, I actually made the comment "And if either of us ever break our ribs again, it'll be a great place to sleep!" And when we were househunting, we really did find ourselves taking into account how usable the places would be if we were ever seriously injured again (and there were a couple of houses that got dropped because of things like not having a walk-in shower somewhere in the house). Hopefully, it's never going to be an issue again... but it really does have an effect on the way you think afterward.

Crossposted from my Livejournal .

comments

Good Riddance, 2015

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 07:08:50 GMT

I am so incredibly glad to see the end of 2015. It had its good points, it really did... but overall, I'm going to remember it as the year I spent being sick and unable to think my way out of a wet paper bag. I mean, I'm grateful we eventually figured out the problem (a sinus infection that we now think I first picked up *LAST DECEMBER*), finally managed to get rid of it (despite the horrible side effects of the methods we used... nearly a month of heavy duty antibiotics and that wretched Prednisone) and I'm also very glad that I found an ENT who much prefers finding non-surgical methods for dealing with things... although if the workarounds don't manage to keep the infection from coming back, surgery is still a looming option (probably could class this as a positive, because it makes me VERY dedicated to using the other methods).

I also managed to beat the Sinus Infection From Hell just in time to be able to take my planned trip down to San Diego to see Star Wars: the Force Awakens with jawajames and his wife, as well as brightcupenny, sirrogue and about 70 other people. Christmas was a blast with my in-laws in Utah, but I could have done without the stomach flu that hit while I was there (I blame my nephews, who had started passing it around before I even got there), but after having been a different kind of sick through most of 2015, the change was almost refreshing!

I'm really looking forward to getting caught up on life. ( Okay, I decided to cut text this because it's just me whining about how much the year sucked. Really. You probably want to skip it. :-p )

I decided to take a quick look at the goals I set for 2015 and ( wow, did that ever fall apart. )

So, that's it. Whining over and here's to a much better year ahead!

Crossposted from my Livejournal.

comments