So Much for Good Intentions

So, I posted two days in a row and then missed one. Big surprise. But I wasn't feeling too great last night--my back almost seized at the bookstore and I took 4 ibuprofen at once, something I haven't done in a long time. It sort of plays havoc with my stomach. So I mostly lazed around and didn't do anything last night, even skipped Oratorio rehearsal. (We're doing the Messiah and I haven't sung that for probably 15 years so I thought I'd stay in it this semester.)

Workwas not great today. The idiot boss scheduled me for "lunch" at 3:00 p.m. This is after my starting work at 9:30 a.m. That's 5 1/2 hrs. without a break, which is not only unpleasant, it's illegal. My immediate supervisor came to me and apologized, saying she hadn't set the day's schedule and this would NOT happen again. I've thought from the get-go that the top manager might be not the best person there to have that top slot, but what do I know. The woman who supervises me is probably one of the smartest people there; I hope she climbs the store's ladder.

I sent my sister a little present-for-no-reason today. I love doing that. (I do wish sometimes that people would do it back but that is definitely NOT why I do it.) Anyway, the gift is a little box with a book, iPod for Dummies--and I think a pair of earbuds. I think she'll get a real kick out of it.

I shouldn't be working at a bookstore, especially one that sells all those little cute sort-of-tschotchkes. And pop-up anythings. I'm a total sucker for pop-ups. And animated things. And ..... I should probably get my pay in merchandise because I usually make it only a work day or two without buying something. I'm sure they love me!

Day 2 of My New Regime

So here I am back, two days in a row. For me, that's an attention span that's twice as long as usual! And I do have something to report: I figured out that my darling dog may not be neurotic; I think maybe she has an autism-spectrum disorder. She LOVES patterned behavior; is frightened of loud noises; has almost preternatural hearing and can hear thunder approximately 50 miles away (judging by her immediate exit from wherEVER she is to her hidey-hole in the basement); sometimes exhibits behavior inappropriate to the social situation, e.g., barking and bristling at friends and probably sniffing the crotch of and/or licking bad guys (not that we often encounter those but there's a strong chance this behavior would ensue). HOWEVER, we love her bundles and bunches anyway, and since she's now an upper-middle-aged dog (10) who probably doesn't have all that many years left, we'll forgo therapy. Here's a great photo of Holly.



The other news is that there was a giant fire in Plattsburgh yesterday. After our favorite pre-hockey-game restaurant, Lum's, closed we migrated to the Perkins that opened about a year ago. It burned along with the Comfort Inn hotel it was connected to, along with the Legends Sports Bar that had opened about 6 mos. ago, if that. There was a visiting college basketball team staying there and they lost everything from their laptops to their jerseys. I really feel for them--as college students the loss of their laptops probably means their entire semesters' notes, quizzes, assignments, etc. Yikes. A conference that was in session had people leave, thinking it was a fire drill, and the attendees left purses, laptops and ... car keys! What a nightmare. I cannot imagine what the total bill will be that goes to the hotel's insurance companies. Wow. And my little it's-all-about-me take is that now we'll have to find ANOTHER pre-hockey-game restaurant. (I'll just put in paren's that this is the second of our favorite restaurants to meet its demise through fire. I think we'll just keep that off the Burgh's restaurant radar!)

Here's the local paper's and TV station's takes on the fire: the Press-Republican and WPTZ.

New Approach ... Maybe

I think I'm going to try to be a better blogger, writing a little most days rather than waiting for something momentous to report. Lord knows there's not a lot momentous in my life these days and we're only just heading into winter. At least that's what I'm thinking today. Tomorrow when I remember something I HAVE to get finished I'll change my mind about regular posts but we'll wait till then for that to happen.

Today I did nothing. Nothing. Truly. I made spaghetti sauce because I realized that the way I make it is a no-carb recipe so I can have it--just no spaghetti, whole wheat or not. I only have one more day in the no-carb part so next week I can have leftover spaghetti sauce ON spaghetti! I've been trying to move in the direction of "the Mediterranean diet" for awhile. You know, olive oil and whole grains and more fish, the regular litany. So now I'm going to try harder. We'll see how that works. I figure I'll do a regular Thanksgiving blow-out but try to limit "bad" carbs to only one meal per day. So if I have cereal for breakfast (yes, it'll be high fiber) I won't have a sandwich at lunch, something I've done for a long time anyway. The hard part will be the evening meal, but I've been trying to do sweet potatoes instead of white for awhile, brown rice ditto. I'm just going to try to pay more attention to that.

It's raining and has almost all day, which is why I read literally all day rather than raking. Tonight I think I'll watch "Volver" (via Netflix) while Bruce listens to the away hockey game. And so our exciting life goes on.

Owning a dog

I'm not of the group that thinks that you don't "own" a dog. I believe I do. But my dog is unbelievably neurotic--more on that later. Meanwhile, I've just started a part-time job that has me on my feet for my entire shift: tough on my arthritic hips and all those other joints above, below and in any remote way involved in locomotion. So.

I came home from a 7-hr. shift (six plus a 1-hr. break) and my feet & legs were killing me. I came in the door at about 8:20 p.m. and wanted to feed Holly-dog immediately, since I'd been gone since about 9:30 a.m. (extended office hours for my LIB105 students that day--and I actually had students up through 12:00!). Poor Holly had had diarrhea, and I, not realizing this, stepped into it right inside the door. So of course I tracked it through the kitchen a bit. Caught it and then cleaned from about 8:30 until after 10 p.m. Holly was, of course, mortified. But I let her know I wasn't mad and she seemed to pick up on that. But sheesh, this part-time job stuff seemed to be a big mistake after that! Not really. I'll come home if I have to, to let her out. it was just really really tiring to have to come home and clean, with bleach and Spic 'n' Span and paper towels and carpet cleaner, etc., etc.

I know why I've never lived alone.

Haiku

While walking the dog today, beautiful sunshine at 5 p.m., pretty stiff wind blowing on and off, the smell of fallen leaves, I decided it was just a day for haiku. So, for your enjoyment:

Yellow leaves blowing
Browned by October wind
Reds already left

Flat October sun
Harder, somehow, than summer
But not cold, not yet

Jobs for retired librarians

I guess it's just one job, really. I started on Sunday at our local Borders--that is, at Borders Books and Music in Plattsburgh (said with lilt in telephone voice). Right now I'm a "greeter:" I have to greet every customer who comes into the store and say, "Hi, may I help you find anything specific today?" What's really terrific is that about 1/3 - 1/2 the customers who come in actually want help! So I don't feel like a completely intrusive doofus.

It's actually enjoyable: It gives me the people contact I know I need (I'm still amazed how much I like "cocooning"). And of course I've seen enough books already to spend ALL my earnings! I'm very carefully staying away from the picture book section! So far the baddest thing is that I cannot wear jeans of any type. Rats. I'm going to ask about corduroy "5-pocket pants" that I'm hoping will slide by. I don't feel like buying too many clothes for a job that'll end after the holidays. But I'm definitely buying some black sneakers. I'll be on my feet for my entire shifts so I need truly comfy shoes and I absolutely REFUSE to be that "little gray-haired lady in sneakers!"

So I'll be a bit busier than I have been, and that's a good thing. Maybe I really will lose a few lbs. since I won't be near food while I'm working--thank heavens the mall just moved Aunt Annie's Pretzels way up the row from Borders!

Ooooooh! as in aaaaargh!

Bruce & I JUST got home from going to get our season tickets for the PSU men's hockey team and having lunch. It's 5:08 p.m. We left the house at 12:10 p.m. Tickets went on sale at 1:00 p.m.--JUST to last year's season ticket holders (LYSTHs from here on)--and there are enough excited Cardinal hockey fans to go early to get in line. So we met our friend Bill and were joined by our friends John & Sue; since we all sit together we all bought together. (No one can buy for anyone else. Go figure.)

We walked out of the Fieldhouse with tickets in hand at 2:50. No joke. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to pay for 2 season tickets. The set-up for ticket sales was THE worst designed "system" I have ever seen. Literally. I have never in my life seen such poor planning. Add to the wait the fact that the one, yes that's right ONE, computer being used was slow.

Absolutely nothing in the clusterfrak was computerized. The lone computer being used was to re-enter all of our information into a database. For some reason last year's database was not being used for anything, but the Athletic Dept. had printed out the list of LYSTH, so it's clear the database did exist.

The biggest error was that the Athletic Dept., almost certainly after a "meeting with all the stakeholders" and probably thinking they were getting a jump on things, had assigned seats to each LYSTH, in approximately the same place the seats were last year. This is because the seating changed considerably, going from bleachers to theater-style seating. But most LYSTHs didn't like the reassignment. This was the first line to stand in.

The second line was for each single or pair of LYSTHs to go individually (or as a couple) into the actual rink and put a hand on the desired seat(s). Why, I do not know.

The third line was to get that laying-on-of-hands approved by the guy from Line 1. The fourth line was to get each LYSTH's info entered into the database on that one computer. The fifth and last line was to get the actual tickets, one for each home game.

It is truly amazing that no one killed the Athletic Director, who was the guy at the destination end of Line 1. Apparently the idea of using clerical personnel or even work-study students for some of this never occurred to anyone in the Athletic Dept. But I forget, it IS the Athletic Dept. Duh.

We had lunch at 3:10 and after a short stop that I'm sure I'll tell about some time later, we came home. Now I'm going to take 1) a Tums, and 2) a nap.

But we got our tickets.