Earth at Twilight
Credit: ISS Crew, Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Lab, JSC, NASA
For some reason, I have had Kate Bush on my mind today.
Category: Photography
Visualizing Icicles
The only thing worse than waiting around all afternoon for repair folks is waiting around all afternoon for repair folks who do not show up. Hrmf! So after yesterday’s no-show, I called again at 8:30 this morning, to see what the hell happened and to leave my work number, so that they can call me when they are ready to come to my apartment. I still haven’t heard from them. I realize they’re probably pretty busy, but they could at least call to tell me they’re busy, and to give me an estimate on what day they might be able to get to me.
Thankfully, it hasn’t gotten ungodly hot yet, but by 5:00 last night it had reached 78F indoors. That’s kind of toasty, even with fans running. A brief shot of cold air would have been nice. I also have an element out on my oven, so I can’t bake anything. Of course, this would mean that I’m craving Shake-n-Bake tofu. (No, really! It’s good!)
(Photo: Ice Storm 19 February 2007)
Prewash Cycle
Harriet gets one last shot at the dishes.
Cuz-watch 2007
Bad Cuz still has his feet. He’s made of stern stuff, it seems. Harriet has taken to wandering around with him dangling out of the side of her mouth. She also likes to sleep with him, and will occasionally bury him in my bed, under my pillows. Thankfully, he’s a little too big for her to really fit into her mouth, so she can’t squeak him properly. If she could, it would surely make my ears bleed.
Happy National Library Workers’ Day
It’s National Library Workers’ Day, and as a token of appreciation, the dean’s office handed out sport bottles with the li-barry logo on them. As I was not expecting anything, I suppose I shouldn’t complain. However, somehow, I am underwhelmed. Maybe I’d be more impressed if the water here didn’t taste like it was filtered through an old gym shoe? It’s absolutely undrinkable, unless you add Emergen-C to it, to freshen it up.
I am also T-I-R-E-D. Mr. Upstairs woke me up at the ass crack of dawn yesterday, with his television blasting away. It was my one morning to sleep in, of course. I got up and got ready to take Harriet out. As I was sitting on the couch, putting on my shoes, I heard the upstairs sliding door open. When Harriet and I went outside, there was a big splat of liquid on my patio. The jackass had dumped something over the edge of his balcony again.
Grrr. It looks like I’ll need to call again to complain. And while I’m at it, I’m tempted to bitch about the hummense Cadillac that is always parked in the fire lane. I counted no fewer than 16 empty spots this morning, when I was out with the dog, so it’s not like the car’s owner is parking illegally because there are no available spots. He just likes to park in the fire lane. The problem is that A) that’s dangerous and B) everyone who parks perpendicular to the fire lane has trouble backing out. I had to do a three point turn just to back out this morning, and even then, I very nearly clipped his tail end. Fuckwit! And, parking there creates a bottleneck, so that two cars cannot pass each other.
I mentioned that I’m tired? There’s not enough caffeine in the world to keep me awake today, so I have a feeling that I’ll be doing sleep dips soon. Hrmf!
(Photo: Electric Pole 1 April 2007)
Happy Birthday Miss Brown
A day late, but that’s okay, because it’s not a real birthday. I just know she was born around this time.
It’s hard to believe, but Harriet is 8 years old. To celebrate, she had a special breakfast of scrambled egg with cheese and mushrooms on toast. No cake, alas, but I don’t think she minded. After an extra long walk, a game of Fetch-n-Kill the Ball, and some quality rawhide time, she was ready for her beauty sleep.
Piggy-on
This little guy was hanging out on the fence by my patio this afternoon.
Right-pointing Proto-Kidney Bean
On a lighter note, how a dog wags her tail is an indication of her state of mind. Miss Brown is displaying a right-pointing proto-kidney bean. Which means she’s very, very happy.
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign
At last count, there were sixteen signs in our tiny kitchenette. This is just a sample of the madness. Not shown are the two signs near the sink, telling folks to wash out their recyclables. Nor the twelfty signs instructing people not to brew more than two pots of coffee at the same time. Thankfully, the sign on the front of the microwave, telling us that some kinds of pigs are cute, but the kind that doesn’t clean up the microwave after using it isn’t one of them, has disappeared.
I sometimes get irritated by all the ridiculous signs–what are we, kindergarteners?–but I’m afraid that they are actually necessary. Unfortunately, the folks who need the signs are the ones who do not read them.
For example, we have an on-going problem with tripped circuits. If you turn on too many appliances at once, we lose power in the kitchen and will have to wait for maintenance folks to find time to reset the breaker for us. One of the offenders is the folks who insist on using the frigging tea kettle while the microwave is running. But it never fails that when I’m using the microwave, someone comes in and turns on the tea kettle. Instead of reaching over and turning the tea kettle off, I call them names (on the inside!) and turn off the microwave until they are finished. You’d think they’d get a clue at the precise moment that I turn off the microwave. You’d be wrong.
But wait! It gets better! The microwave is plugged into a power strip. This is to keep it from getting zapped in a power surge, only it’s a cheap-assed power strip, and they are not effective. Not to mention that it’s unsafe to put an appliance that pulls that sort of power on a flimsy power strip.
Rainy Day
View to the south taken from the third floor of the main library, Indiana University
red paper boat 