oil on canvas
Not a whole lot of progress, but some. This was just red and orange underpaint, so I pulled it out and worked some more on it. Once the paint has a chance to set up a bit, it’ll get another coat to brighten it up. Probably oil pastel, but we’ll see. The background will get the same opposite(ish)-color treatment, so it’ll end up being some sort of red. If I can find my alizarin crimson, that is.
I noticed yesterday morning that there were icicles hanging from the lamp posts behind the library, but I was already late for work, so I didn’t try getting a photo. This morning, I was early.
My car started beautifully, as if nothing had ever happened. I cleared it off and went for a drive, to make sure A) it had time to warm up completely and B) that the battery had a chance to get a decent charge. Huge relief! Plus, it was kinda nice to get out, even though some of the side roads are a little iffy.
And speaking of, as I was driving down Smith Road, which is seriously iffy in spots, some asstrumpet was clearing his driveway with a little tractor. Only, he was pushing the snow into the road. Nice! Between the giant, newborn potholes and the mountain of snow IN THE ROAD, the drive was a little more exciting than I had anticipated.
I got home this evening from work, and when I shut off my car, the check engine light came on and the car was beeping at me. I assumed the beeping was linked to the check engine light and ignored it, since there’s nothing I could do about the problem myself. Arrrrgh! What I do not need is car troubles right now, but whatever. I figured I’d cross my fingers and hope that whatever was wrong would wait until payday.
That was at 4:30pm. When it was still light out. About half an hour ago (it’s dark now), my awesome across-the-hall neighbor knocked on my door to tell me that my car lights were on. WTF?! I went out, and it was actually my running lights, not my headlights. Alsotoo, the dome light and the console lights. I hadn’t noticed before, because it was too light to see them. My neighbor and I tried everything we could think of to find the problem, but finally gave up. She offered to unhook my battery and give me a jump in the morning, if I needed one.
Being the obsessive person that I am, I just couldn’t let it go. I knew that the car was working Just Fine when I drove home, and that whatever had happened must have happened when I got out of the car. Meaning, I had to have bumped something. So I went back to the car one last time, and turned the knob on the end of the turn signal controller, et voila! I had somehow turned on the parking lights. Who knew?! I had no idea they could be turned on manually.
So that problem was solved. Better yet, while trying to troubleshoot the problem, the check engine light was blissfully dark, so I think it was just flashing as part of the normal “start up the car” routine. I’m pretty sure the airbag light came on, too, which is also a normal at start up. I don’t remember, but I don’t think it was on before I initially turned the car off. It only came on when I turned the car back on, to see why the hell it was beeping at me.
So, I’ll probably need a jump next time I leave, because my battery is pretty well drained, but that’s much better than having a broken car. Alsotoo, now I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I am sure that I would have been up all night worrying myself sick, because that’s the sort of obsessive person I am.
Sunrise Over Wright Quad
Towel
Laundry is almost finished, which means it’s almost time for an adult beverage. I’d really rather have a glass of wine, but I didn’t think to get any when I was out on Friday, and we have Sunday blue laws, so I can’t buy any today. Damn!
We actually ended up getting 3-4 inches of snow. More than I thought we’d get. And they’ve plowed our parking lot, which is sort of miraculous.
I’m wondering where all that snow we were supposed to get went. It seems to have turned into a mostly rain event, though we are starting to get a little bit of snow build-up, now that it’s dark and the temperature has dropped. Somehow I doubt that we’re going to get anywhere near the 14 inches that people at work were talking about yesterday. That just doesn’t happen here. A lot of people must have thought it would, because when I went to the grocery store this morning, there were entire shelves picked clean. That could be as much due to the Super Bow(e)l as the weather, though.
This wasn’t taken today, but it’s pretty much how Harriet spent the afternoon. She does not approve of rain, sleet, or snow. I love the way her ear is propped up by the couch.
When I looked down from my window this morning, this is what I saw.
So after 24 hours of toothy bliss, the damned thing decided to start hurting. Right in the middle of our staff meeting. You know what else happened right in the middle of our staff meeting? The person sitting across from me decided to explodiate in a sneeze, without covering his nose or mouth. Freaking disgusting. I felt like I needed a Silkwood shower afterward. I swear, sometimes I think I work with kindergartners.
Headline of the day. Hell, it might be headline of the whole year: Defunct teen idol Leif Garrett busted on heroin possession charge. Defunct? Is that really the word they wanted?
Now, according to dictionary.com, defunct means:
adjective
1. no longer in effect or use; not operating or functioning:
a defunct law; a defunct organization.
2. no longer in existence; dead; extinct:
a defunct person; a defunct tribe of Indians.
noun
3. the defunct, the dead person referred to:
the survivors of the defunct.
So is Mr. Garrett no longer functioning, or worse, is he dead?! I don’t think that word means what they think it means. Anyway, here he is, back when he was functioning and/or alive:
I’m pretty sure I still have that record around here somewhere.
red paper boat 