Jack signed us up to participate to keep diaries of our radio listening for a week for Arbitron. We start tomorrow. At first, I didn’t think I would be able to contribute anything but empty sheets, but Jack told me that he thought Pandora Radio qualified as Internet Radio. Pandora is rather odd since one creates one’s own channels by rating music as it is presented. I usually listen to Pandora at work when I am not on the telephone or talking to anyone.
Category: Life
Sleep Profiler
The BBC web-site has a Sleep Profiler tool which provides advice after you feel out a short questionnaire. People who don’t know how to calculate their weight in stones might want to check the chart at Fatfrank’s Weblog. I was astonished to find that the site does not think I have any sleep problems, because I never doze off during the day.
At The Library
On the door to the staff area behind the counter at the Briargate library: “Interlopers will be forced to read <b>War and Peace</b>.”
A Eulogy for John Martin Heneghan
Family gatherings just won’t be the same without the card players gathering around Johnnie: (A Eulogy for John Martin Heneghan,)
Grieving
My father-in-law went into the ICU of Bethesda Naval after surgery two weeks ago. This weekend he decided to refuse further medical treatment. He came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Jack, who flew in yesterday, was able to talk to him briefly last night. Early this morning, surrounded by his family, he died.
I probably won’t be posting much for a while yet.
Emergency Lighting
At the grocery store today, I saw a display of these GE Emergency Lanterns on sale for $10 a piece. I bought two of them, because the package said they would give 16 hours of lighting on 4 “D” batteries. I was hoping they would be bright enough to read by. They are if you keep the lantern fairly close to the book. The light quality is much better than candlelight.
Of course, now that we have emergency lighting by which we can read, I feel certain we won’t lose power the rest of summer. We already had several hand pump flashlights, but although they are good for making sure we don’t kill ourselves in the dark, and are safer to use than candles, they aren’t good for reading.
Dear Sheila
Dear Sheila:
Any resemblance between my back side and a rock climbing wall is purely coincidental.
Love, Elaine
The Daily Storm
I am starting to feel that our valley is like poor little Joe Btfsplk: it has a permanent thunder storm overhead. Yesterday we had a storm for hours, and lost electricity for a large part of that time as well. I didn’t feed the horses until 8:00 because I kept hoping the storm would move off before I went out. I’ve lost count of how many times we have lost electricity in the past week. The more expensive electronic gear is all on uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) outlets, and I trot through the house shutting down systems when UPS boxes starts beeping.
It is getting very old.
Guest
August 14, 2007 – Click on image for higher resolution version.
We are kitten sitting for the next two weeks. I am used to the “bring cat to new place and not see it for a week” variety of cat. Sheila (pronounced “Shayla”) is of the “get into everything and be apparently fearless” model. Mia, the Dalmatian, is fascinated by her. Lody, the Collie, wants to know where we put her food and litter box. Both dogs have obviously been nailed by a cat during a formative stage. It was hysterical to watch two dogs, the smaller of which is forty pounds, ooze out of the way of a three pound adolescent cat.
Changes
Last week, I expanded my hours slightly at the part-time job I started in June. I am now working 24 hours a week, six hours a day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I like having one less commute a week, as well as a chance to ride Lily on Wednesdays. This time of year it is difficult to plan on riding in the afternoon, since thunderstorms are likely to occur about the time I get off from work.