Musings on a Small Life

Friday afternoon...half an hour before I leave...I've mentally "checked out" for the day.  :-) I'm tired of spreadsheets and fees and web site discussions and the myriad other details on my plate. It's "only" work. The good this week: No more graffiti (as of 5AM today). Today is our monthly payday. I got a lot accomplished this week, work-wise. I actually didn't quit my job, sell my house, or buy a trailer and take the boys and run  :-D There are lots of spring blooms to provide colour and cheer (a few pics below) I gained only 0.2 pounds since my last weigh-in about a month ago, a minor miracle considering the amount of crap I've been eating since last December. I had lost 26 pounds and now I've regained 2.4 pounds. Feels like 10 extra pounds around my middle, though. LOL. Sleep, such as it's been, has been marginally less painful. (Lying on either side, I mean.) Less pain, even a slight amount, is welcome. I've walked a...

Most of you remember Toby, the abandoned or stray or semi-feral I fed for several years. And most of you know that the daughter of the vet clinic owner took him, though Toby's not at their horse barn anymore, but has settled in on a nearby property, coming and going as he pleases and being well-cared for. Toby in July 2012   I've seen another black and dark grey cat hanging around in our complex, with Carla (the cat that Nicki hates so much), for some time now. I think I've posted pics of him, at least one. Here they are, both on Carla's doorstep. I don't know if Carla's human has "adopted" this cat as well, though I see him there often.   However, I didn't realize there was another, younger white and greyish cat, until just a short time ago. Aiiieeee! Get off my fence!     Nicki's poofed-up tail. Here's the larger/older cat facing the camera. They have to be related, these two. And doesn't this one make you...

The loud/obnoxious co-worker, who's office is directly across from my cubicle, is away today, sick. I hope she feels better soon, but I consider it a small bonus from the work gods that she's away this Monday. One less aggravation for a Monday morning. I'm in a mood to chuck it all today, and while I'm not a sell-everything-and-live-in-a-camper kind of person, at the moment the escape seems rather appealing. Anyway. The boys seem fine, knock on wood. Or were when I left the house this morning. My home laptop hasn't given me further problems, though I'm pricing replacements, just in case. The campus computer store can order a particular one in, but not another higher-end one, for some reason (both HPs). In the meantime, I've made sure to back up all my files at home, something I hadn't done since last August. Oops. And so far , my fence has remained graffiti-free since the paint was removed last Tuesday. (I can hear William Shatner...

I think my 3.5 year old Toshiba laptop is in its death throes...I've always had problems with the display driver (Nvidia is the company name), but this morning, while trying to get into both Firefox and Chrome, the screen was pixelating and not displaying properly at all. So if I'm even scarcer online than I have been, the reason is the dying (or almost dead) home laptop. I'm highly annoyed because I just paid it off about 6 months ago, via a 3-year micro-loan through the campus computer store. (I've had loans for about 12 of my 13 years here, sad to say.) I know none of today's products, no matter what they are, are meant to last, but gees, could I at least get a year or two beyond the loan term? It could be a while before I find an affordable replacement that the computer store can order in. Or maybe I ought to consider a tablet? Kind of small, though, for my use. :-/ Here's a "pfffffttttt!" to today's cheap, made-in-Chin...

In a manner of speaking. It felt like a great morning to take a walk in the cemetery, something I haven't done since last fall. So long ago now that I can't even remember when.  I love the advice. I like to think she lived her life wearing spectacular red shoes, literally and metaphorically. Maybe she even was buried wearing red shoes, stilettos. I hope so.  :-) Maybe Phyllis, below, also wore red shoes. Note the cat in the upper left corner. I'm pretty sure this is a quote from Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, below (enlarge if necessary). A book I grew up reading over and over and one (as well as his other writings) that had a great influence on my perspective. Henrick the 2nd was so young. And speaking of young, of course I went to check to on Angel Melissa's grave. And for the first time, I burst into tears when I saw it. (I've shed tears here before, but I've not lost it quite like I did this morning.) She would have been 39...