My Weblog

Good news, bad news..........

You know I've been telling you that I'm losing weight and building muscle. Well, how about this: The Good News is that I have cinched up this back brace as far as I can and it's too loose. The Bad News is that I am going to have to buy a smaller back brace..........

Go to girl..........

Yup, that's me. Someone has called in sick and I'm going to be filling in. I just got the call. That means there will be no trip to Costco today! Well, that gives me a bit longer to fill out my shopping list. And it puts some extra $$$ in my paycheck. I guess it's all good.

The one good thing I have accomplished today is getting the tax program downloaded and getting it linked up to the data files on the old Internal Hard Drive. I know I can get one more thing done before I leave--make sure those darned data files are backed up! And I'll be on that the moment I sign off. However, I have discovered that the computer has no printer installed on it.......... Ain't this fun?

I also managed to throw a load of dark clothes into the dryer and to get the dishwasher fully loaded and running.

In the meantime, I need makeup. I was dressed for the day in shorts and a tee shirt. I have now ripped that stuff off and put on black pants and a white tee shirt. Geez, my life is getting SO exciting! Oh, Lord, I haven't dug out that back brace yet. I'd better get on that!

Now, if I can just manage that trip to Costco tomorrow because I work Wednesday and Thursday!

I'm back...........

It seems that the day after an 8 hour shift is just a lost day. Makes it hard to keep all the balls in the air, but I keep trying.

Yesterday I sat around doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, that's not quite true. I attempted some stuff but didn't actually manage to do a lot.

I did go through and install my styles in Photoshop. That was a process. I did a partial install on the laptop in the last week or two. Kinda just enough to get by. But I got everything I want (I think) installed on the desktop and I've rebooted Photoshop several times since then and finally the newly installed styles are showing up. This means I can finally get back to work on design!

I installed ACDSee 17 on the desktop. I am not able to use it. I just plain can't figure it out, not even from their tutorial. I tried, believe me, I tried. I finally wrote customer service and asked if there was any way they could restore the not-upgraded version of ACDSee 15 so I could download that and get rid of the "improvements" in 17. I do not have time to mess with trying to figure it out. I tried going into my account and downloading 15 again but when I purchased the "upgrade" to 17 it over-wrote 15's files. Oy vey! So much to organize and, at the moment, no way to do it.

I think my primary computer-related task for today will be to figure out how to download my tax program again. And get it installed. My data is on the salvaged hard drive, but I need the program to get to the data. Like every website, the tax site requires me to have a username and password to get into my account. But, in general, I only access that site once a year. So I never remember my password.......... I have to search through all my saved e-mails to see if I can find the information on whatever I changed it to to get into it in January. That'll be a thrill, LOL. Once I get it downloaded, I should be good to go.

I have been watching the Sherlock Holmes show on Netflix. The main character really reminds me of someone I know. I don't think the someone I know is as over the top intelligent as Sherlock, but his personality is at least as obnoxious. In particular, I am referring to Sherlock's personality in the first two seasons. By the third season, the writers seem to have mellowed him out a bit. But the person I know could have been a case study for the actor those first two seasons! I can't be any more specific than that for fear someone will read this and be able to pinpoint exactly who it is I am comparing. You can draw your own conclusions.......

Today is a landmark day in this country. It is the day religious liberty won! The Supreme Court handed down a verdict indicating that closely held corporations, like Hobby Lobby, (not publicly traded corporations like IBM or AT&T) cannot be compelled to provide birth control or abortions when it is against their religious beliefs. Score 1 for the First Amendment to the Constitution...........I am so pleased. It is a thin line, but it is all we've got and I'm grateful. I have certainly spent some prayer time on this one!

Just got the call. The laptop is ready. He's going to drop it off this afternoon. No more Windows 8 or 8.1 on it. This is a relief. Again, I don't feel I have time for the learning curve. But even more important, I really do need to be able to print from the laptop and I can't do that if the printer drivers don't work with the computer's O/S. So, glory hallelujah! I don't know what he'll charge me, but it will be less than the cost of a new printer!

Here is something I haven't shared with you. Most likely because I learned about it whilst dealing with non-functional laptop/under repair desktop. The guy who is doing the work for me has a background in construction. He has done it all, electrical, plumbing, carpet, etc. He quit because he couldn't physically handle continuing with it. I'd guess him to be in his late 40's. His back began to give him trouble and he decided full-time construction work had to go. BUT, he is willing to help me out with some of the fix-it jobs that need done around here. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a blessing straight from the hand of God. I want my garage cleaned out so badly. I cannot do a thing with the garage until I can get the carpet out of there. I have been praying for God to send me someone who could lay carpet! And this dude has some big strong sons who can help him move the furniture so the carpet can go down. I would have been willing to go get some day laborers to help but, according to him, I won't have to..........I am really feeling blessed about now. Now all we have to do is pray this through from where we are now to completion...........

The other priority project is to get my motion detector working again. That is a big deal, not because I fear someone trying to break in in the dead of night, but because the concrete leading to my front door is heaved up. I am absolutely convinced it has been caused by a tree root. I am concerned that folks coming to the house will fall over that seam that is not level and hurt themselves. I had Joe put in that motion detector so that it would fully illuminate that area. But, like most everything he wired, it has quit working. According to this guy, whose name is Phil, by the way, it's a fire hazard the way it's done. It should be in a box and instead it's just hanging loose under the eaves.......... So, that will be on the short list of what we do first. I am so grateful to have the JOB so that I can do some of this stuff. My inability to maintain the place really has resulted in some hazardous conditions around here.

I would have to include the condition of the carpet in the list of hazards. Trip and fall is a real concern with the carpet. Again because there are seams that are coming apart, holes, etc.

So here's something else that's not working. My housekeeping system. It was working just fine for a while there, but the JOB has ended that. Originally, I was working different days of the week every week. We now seem to have more-or-less settled into a routine. While it was rotating, I thought what I didn't get done one week, I'd just get done the next week. However, now that it seems I am going to work certain days of the week, that thought no longer works. Combine that with the fact that I am physically down for the count pretty much the whole day after an 8 hour shift and I am losing a lot of time. I have to figure something else out.

For now, my idea is to make a list of things that must be done and cycle through the tasks as I am able. It will have to be a very long and detailed list. I will need to break big tasks down into little ones so I can get SOMETHING accomplished before I go to work or even on days when my body doesn't want to do a darned thing. I think I can talk myself into "vacuum the office" when I can't talk myself into "vacuum the whole house". I admit the house isn't going to look as good this way, but it will look better than not doing this stuff at all.

I did stir my stumps last night to do some baking. I made some biscotti. It has become one of my little luxuries to sit down each evening with a cup of coffee and a piece of biscotti. I just do nothing but sip my coffee and dunk my biscotti for a few minutes. It relaxes me and I enjoy it. So, now I have some homemade cranberry-pistachio biscotti. I even cleaned up most of the mess, LOL. Just a little energy spurt that hit somewhere around 9 or 10 o'clock last night......almost a full 24 hours after I got home from work Saturday night........... See what I mean?

Well, I am going to get a move-on with the day. Either today or tomorrow, I HAVE to make a Costco run. I don't want to, but I don't have a choice. The dogs need food and I need coffee pods for the Keurig. What good would all that homemade biscotti do me if I have no coffee in which to dunk it, LOL. So, I'm going to get going on the day. YOU be BLESSED today!

One big ball of ache.......

I went to work today thinking I only had to make it through 5 hours. Oops! No. I was scheduled for 8 hours. I'm not all that sure what I would have done differently had I gotten it right, but maybe something. Let's talk about what hurts. The soles of my feet. The muscles around my ankles. My knees. My outer thighs/hips. And, last but not least, my back. So far above the waist, I am doing just fine.

I am thinking I'm going to have to dig out my back brace. I have a tote bag I carry with me and the back brace will fit in there. I am concluding that is where it belongs. I might only be able to wear it for an hour or two, but I'm grasping at straws for anything that might help. Thankfully, I don't have to go to work for 3 days. By then, I should have found that nasty brace and I should be ready when I'm there again.

I worked again with the lady who was in the car accident. It was obvious, totally obvious, that she, too, was in pain. But, she will NOT back off. I frequently encourage her to sit down, and sometimes she does, but she doesn't sit for long. I honestly don't know if sitting down is the right thing to do except for short periods. Perhaps she will build muscle if she keeps going and that might help her recover. On the other hand, I worry that some of what she is doing is just too heavy.

I was doing some of that too heavy stuff today as well. The Slurpee machine ran out of one of the flavors. One of the popular flavors. So I ended up lifting and maneuvering a 5-gallon box of the stuff. It wasn't fun. However, in my case, I know it will make me stronger and I need that.

We were not slammed with customers, but we were certainly able to keep busy. I personally don't know if I'd allow Slurpees in my store, if I had a store. We sell a slew of them, and a lot of beer. Let's face it, it's blazing hot outside and people are looking for cold drinks of every description for various age groups. But, there is nothing in the store that makes as much mess as the slurpees. I think some of it could be avoided if parents paid more attention to what their kids were up to, but it's sticky and the lids are hard to get on right. There is sticky slurpee stuff everywhere from the floor to the counter tops and everywhere in between. My buddy washed the entire store floor. Later, I washed the area around the slurpee machine and all the way to the front of the store. I don't like Slurpees!

The owners seem to be laboring under some sort of illusion that one person can handle the store AND all the shift change details for the last 2 hours of the shift. Tonight it seemed the later it got, the crazier it got. I started counting cigarettes even before my buddy left. When my relief came in, I still had most of the count to go.......And just about the time he showed up, the place went wild. We absolutely could not keep up. We're not supposed to have 20's in our drawers, but they were kind of "flying" all over the place there for a while. Holy Toledo, we were slammed and we were slammed for about 45 minutes straight. I finally made it home around midnight, a full hour and a quarter late............. I am exhausted but I know I am wound too tight to sleep just now.

Today the desktop computer came back, complete with its new 1 terrabyte hard drive and a new DVD drive. Of course, it has the barest minimum of software on it. So I will be struggling to get stuff reinstalled for days on end again. I literally just kind of got the laptop workable and now I need to start all over again with the desktop. But I should have a fine machine when I get it all caught up.

In the meantime, the laptop has gone away. We are removing Windows 8.1 from the laptop and replacing it with Windows 7. I never did manage to get my printer to work with the laptop. Today we discovered that Windows 8/8.1 is not compatible with the printer driver. I was pretty much undecided about making the switch back to Windows 7 til I learned that. Then I KNEW Windows 8/8.1 had to go as I cannot go buying another printer just to have something compatible with a program I really don't like and surely don't understand. No wonder I couldn't get it to work! But, it's all installed and hooked up to the desktop now and seems to work fine.

Sure enough, while I was at work Thursday night, something crawled onto the hard drive of the laptop. I have Norton on the laptop and it could not find whatever it was. However, I was getting photos of household goods for sale superimposed on various websites. And whatever it was totally wiped out AOL. I could see my e-mail, but if I tried to actually read it, the computer went into a do-loop. I also couldn't write e-mail. So, with all the work I've tried to do to get rid of excess e-mail, I now have several days of e-mails I haven't been able to read. Ugh!

I did manage to get my FTP program installed on the laptop and got my product for the week into the store at DSB. Of course, now I have to do that all over again with the desktop......

I guess the one piece of good news to come out of all this was that the hard drive that died on the desktop was a boot drive. It was not the hard drive that had data and software on it. So, hopefully, I'll be able to reconstruct pretty much everything. It will take time and I'm bound to be frustrated along the way, but it beats having to try to do a data recovery on that hard drive.

I was also blessed that while the internet on the laptop was mucked up, I was still able to upload next week's kit for my creative ladies. So, we'll be able to have new product for everyone next week! And it's a kit they've been itching to work with so, hopefully, they're very happy to finally get the chance.

The last two-three weeks have been frustrating and depressing computer-wise. But I do have to say God spared me in so many ways from what could have been the worst of things. I was ready to jump up and down with enthusiasm when I got the word that some much-needed stuff survived on the old hard drive. And imagine, mucked up internet that still allowed me to put this week's kit into the store in a timely manner AND upload next week's kit for the Creative Team. It's a good thing when God fights on your side!

So, anyway, we're on the road to being functional again. That's good. And, now, I am beginning to feel the pain in my upper back. SO, I think it's time to give it up. Tomorrow I'll try again.......

I think I figured it out.............

This overwhelming desire to be in bed, asleep. I am essentially a kid again. I'm building a body. Or, at least, I am building a new body. Or maybe rebuilding the old one. With all the requirements of the new job, I am asking my body to do all sorts of things it's never done. This calls for muscles to be developed that I've never really called on or for muscles to be rebuilt that have not been used in this manner in decades. This is tough stuff. And, it is for the very reason of building a strong body that we put kids to bed early--so they can develop that growing body properly. Fortunately, all this is probably also good for me. Also, I am not eating right at least 3 days a week. I'm not eating much and what I eat is whatever I can grab and munch on between customers. So, I am most likely not giving my body the correct building blocks to do what needs to be done.

Well, I ended up taking a bunch of ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer before I went to bed. It was a good decision. My muscles are sore and I walk funny. But, I'm mobile. So, I think I will make it through the day and through the Thursday night shift about which I've been so worried. I doubt I'll make it without pain, but I'll make it and that's the important part.

I am going to begin NOW praying for fewer customers tonight. As a bone to the store owners, I'll pray for fewer customers who buy more stuff. That way they won't lose money and I might keep my head above water. I really MUST find time to get this shift change stuff done. I think I pretty much have the "how" of it down now. I'd love to be able to actually get it done when it's supposed to be done.

I'm sure it must be a hardship on the graveyard shift person to come in and find that nothing is ready for her/him. I feel really bad about that. Graveyard shift has its own duties and me not being ready when they get there must be a total PITA.

I did get about 7 hours of sleep. I went to bed before 2 and I got up after 8. Sadly, it's a little over an hour later and I want to go back to bed. I'm not planning on actually going back to bed, but I'd sure like to........

So, by the time I finish this up, I'll have less than 5 hours left before I need to head out the door. What can I do with 5 hours? Well, the "space" kit has 31 elements. It needs lots more. I can do some work on that. With my crazy morning yesterday and working yesterday afternoon and last night, I got nothing done around here. So, I have 6 smallish jobs on my to do list. One of them can't be done til I make it back to Lowe's--installing the furnace filter--but I think I can knock some of them off the list. Undoubtedly, I'll also run into many things to add to the list!

Today is that most blessed of all days--payday. I am looking forward to hitting that ATM at work and pulling out my money. I have bills to pay. My paycheck is deposited into an account at Citibank. One thing I don't like about it is that I never see a wage and earnings slip like most folks get with their checks. I do know that I don't get enough in any week to result in any Federal Income Tax being withheld. So, I need to create my own "stub" to keep track of what's being earned, etc. And, as I'm being called upon to work more hours, I may actually get to the place where a dollar or two is going for that purpose. I think I am going to have to keep better records just so I know where I stand.

One other little tidbit and then I am going to call "time" on myself. I think I found a guy to work on the desktop computer. I had originally planned to have my grandson do the work and to pay him well for doing it. However, coordinating our various schedules has not been possible. And, I don't want to wait forever......... I have, more or less, gotten used to working on the laptop. However, I really miss my big keyboard and my big CRT. And, I still have weirdness in my use of the laptop. I'll be working away and suddenly find myself in a completely different place. Like I'll be writing this post via the internet and suddenly I have photoshop up on my screen. I'll admit that adds a degree of excitement to my life, but it makes me a little crazy. I think I am accidentally bumping into the touch pad. In any case, the desktop doesn't have a touchpad and so doesn't go wandering off in unknown directions. I also still have trouble with this keyboard. The Caps Lock is positioned differently and I tend to hit that thing from time to time. And, there is something positioned between my little finger (in standard "typing" position on the keyboard) and the enter key. I am forever hitting that thing instead of enter. The screen on the laptop is almost as large as my big CRT as to width, but I lose several inches of viewing space vertically. I miss that a lot when I design. It's not a problem otherwise.........

So, there is a guy that comes into the store once or twice a night every time I am working. I'm sure he comes in when I'm not there as well. Anyway, I found out last night that he works on computers. The things I need done are not all that challenging if you have any skills at all working with hardware. However, I don't have those skills. The only thing I've ever done inside the computer case is put in new memory chips. And, I couldn't tell you how many times I watched the youtube tutorials on how to do that before I tackled it. I had a few minutes of conversation with this guy last night and I think he's got the skills to do what I need done. So, I'm gonna give it a try. I don't think I can be much worse off than I am now if he screws up.

Alrighty, I am going to sign off for now and start the day. Hopefully I can be productive in some way for the next few hours. YOU be BLESSED today!

 

 

Phew! Glad that's over.........

I will be paid for 8 hours, but by the time I got home, it was 9 hours. I had NO time to do all the shift change stuff "between customers" on the regular shift. So, when the next shift person came in, I was forever behind. I finally got it all done, but it took that extra hour. Might have been a little shorter but we still had to deal with customers while we went through everything.

I had it all wrong. I thought since I was the "junior" person on our 2 person team, my partner for the night would be doing the shift change thing. No, not at all. In fact she left at 9PM. (Actually she stayed late, but I just couldn't seem to chase her out of there! We were not slammed while we were both there but we weren't bored either. As soon as she left, the parking lot looked like we were having a party, according to the comment one customer made. Customers were lined up 4-7 deep the whole time from 9-11. Yes, this IS the city that never sleeps........The girl working grave tells me it stays busy til after 1AM. Then she has time to do all the extra chores. Then, according to her it gets busy from 4-6 and crazy from 6-7.

The lady I worked with tonight is the lady who was in a car accident right about the time I got hired. She's been doing a few 4 hour shifts. However, she has NOT wanted to work longer shifts. Today she worked a 6 hour gig. She says the boss lady is trying to figure out if she can work longer shifts now. So, I guess, that's how I got the 8 hour shift all the way up to change of shift. Well, I'm happy for the hours, but I sure hope there isn't a party in the parking lot tomorrow night!

What did I get done? I got the cartons of cigarettes in the back room counted. I got the other register emptied out. And that's about it. I tried to count cigarettes, starting with the rows of the display that are the smallest. I think there are 12. I got the 3 short rows counted. And that's where it all ended. I did not get to make fresh coffee. I did not get to wipe down countertops. I did not get 80% of the cigarettes counted. I didn't get to restock the grill. I DID get to ring out a bunch of customers.

Here are some "rules" for convenience store customers.........

1) Bring enough money into the store. Do NOT hold up all the folks behind you while you run to your car for more money.

2) If you are buying alcoholic beverages or cigarettes, for heaven's sake bring your ID and have it ready for the person working behind the register.

3) Do not decide, after your stuff is being checked out that you forgot something and go running around the store gathering up more stuff while everyone stands there waiting. Pay for what you initially put on the counter. Then go find your stuff and get back in line to check out. I know, distasteful, but FAR MORE COURTEOUS than the other.....

4) Do your fellow humans a favor--if there's a line to check out, do not decide to dig through your cavernous purse looking for correct change. Pull up your big girl panties, take the change you're due, and move on.

5) If you ask the store employee a question, try actually listening to the answer. It will save everyone time.

6) Most stores have the cigarettes behind the check out area so they are not easily shoplifted. When you're asking for your brand, call it what the package calls it. At least in this state, it is illegal for cigarettes to be labeled "light" these days. Actually, I think that is a federal law. Don't ask for Marlboro extra lights. Ask for Marlboros in the silver pack. That way you're much more likely to get what you want the first time around. We counted one time--not counting the difference between cigarettes by length, our store stocks 27 different kinds of Marlboros. Can you see why we get confused?????

Sometimes you just want to bang someone's head on the counter. And the worst of it is you can't quite decide whether it is your own head that would benefit from being banged on the counter or the customer's. Mostly it's the customer's........

Yes, it was a difficult and aggravating night. It didn't help that it had already been a difficult and aggravating day before I ever got there. I was pretty well able to shake that off and plaster a smile on my face. But, just as I find the infinite variety of people fascinating, some of them are beyond believing in terms of lack of manners and common courtesy.

I am sitting here munching on some stale potato chips. I bought them Saturday and found them in my bag when I was getting ready to leave for work. These will be my dinner. I did not have time to eat anything at work. Thankfully when I went to Wendy's at lunchtime to try to drown my sorrows with a Frosty, I also got a big burger and packed it away. Otherwise, I'd be starving by now.

Well, I ache from end to end. It starts at the base of my skull and continues to the soles of my feet. I am going to take some ibuprofen in hopes that it will help the pain tonight and the soreness tomorrow.l Don't forget, I get to have 8 hours of fun tomorrow night too, first time ever working two back-to-back 8-hour shifts. I am hoping that not only will the ibuprofen help now, but also make me a bit better off in the morning. Then, when I finally migrate to the bedroom, I will take a Benedryl. My allergies are kicking my butt. I really can hardly walk outside without my eyes watering. And, the Benedryl will help control that as well as helping me get to sleep fairly quickly. I'm revved up at the moment, but I need to unwind in order to sleep.

So, my day has been pretty different from what I thought it would be. I am glad it's over. I wish I could have accomplished more here at home and at work. But, I can honestly say I did the best I could. Anyway, I don't think I'll go to bed immediately, but I can promise you it won't be long..........

How to blow a morning..........

1) Call pharmacy to assure all 4 prescriptions are actually ready. Get an answer in the affirmative.

2) Throw on the basic minimum of clothing and skeedaddle out the door.

3) Watch, biting your tongue, while 3 pharmacy employees look for your prescription medication in 4 different places, several times.

4) Pay for said meds. Last time there was a 79% increase in price. Heave a sigh of relief when, this time, it's less than 1% increase.

5) pick up a few things you need around the house and head on out.

6) Drive about a mile and notice that the tire pressure light has just come on.

7) Drive past your house and go directly to the tire store that sold you the tires, less than 10,000 miles ago.

8) Explain the problem. Have the store employee tell you he'll have you outta there in 25-30 minutes.

9) Get the diagnosis--hole in the sidewall "can't be fixed". Must buy a new tire. Replacement allowance on what is obviously a manufacturer's defect of less than 50% on a tire with less than 10,000 miles on it.

10) 45 minutes after the diagnosis (more like an hour + since you entered the store) pay your money and watch 2 dudes employed by the store holding a conversation, one in the van, the other outside, while you wait for them to back it out of the repair bay so you can leave.

11) Drive halfway home. Try not to puke when the tire pressure light comes on again.

12) Drive back to store. Have the dudes explain to you that the other tires are all healthy as is the new one. They just forgot to hit the "reset" button.

13) Go to Wendy's and purchase a frosty and head home to drown your sorrows in chocolate goodness.

14) Finish getting ready for work--brush teeth, makeup, all that good stuff--and get ready to head out the door again.

I did get a little design work done, but very little. NOTHING else on the list has been done. I want to hurt something. Thank God I don't have to deal with Mr. KIA tonight. It would not be a good night for that!

I don't know what's wrong with me...........

but all I want to do lately is sleep. I know I'm not depressed which is a frequent factor for some folks when they get this way. I'm actually pretty happy with this quiet life of mine. I'm pretty darned sure I wouldn't trade it for some of the high pressure days of the past, even if it meant I had more people in my life or more money in my pocket.

Anyway yesterday was one of THOSE days. All I wanted to do was sleep. So I did. I slept a lot. I'm pretty well convinced our bodies send us signals about what they need. A lot of the time we ignore them. I don't want to do that. Not anymore. So I slept and I slept and I slept some more. I did get in some design time and I did do some work around the house. But, it was all interspersed with sleep, LOL.

I am working at using more of my design stash. I am kind of on a design purchasing diet, self imposed. I have oodles of stuff with which to work, none of which has ever been used. I bought it whenever, thinking that someday I'd want to do a kit on that subject or using that kind of element. Well, someday is here.

My goal is to produce kits til the end of October centered around stuff I have. So, the kit I am working on is a "space" kit. I had the graphics so I decided to use them. I finished the papers yesterday including one I created from scratch that took me hours to do. I have 19 elements so far. It's gonna be a cute kit, I think.

My work around here occurred mostly in the evening hours. I decided to just make a running list of small jobs that I knew needed to be done. Many times as I wander through the house, I see things I need to attend to. Honestly, there are MANY things I need to attend to. My mind is such that if I stop to "do it now" as Flylady advises, I'll never get back to what I started to do in the first place. But, these things DO need to be done. So, in hopes that "someday" I'd get this stuff done, I started making a list. Then, I just decided to keep adding to the list and working down the list. As a result I did get a lot of small jobs done. Nothing earthshaking, but several areas of my home are tidier this morning than they were yesterday at this time.

One of the things on my list was to replace the furnace filter. I don't know what that thing is actually called. It is the filter that goes in the ceiling where the central heating and air conditioning intake duct is. Anyway, got up there and, lo and behold, I got the wrong size of replacement filter. Darn! If you remember, I bought the cheapest ones I could find at Lowe's. I'm not really sure it's worth the effort to return them, but I'm going to have to go there anyway to get the right size so I may as well take them back I suppose. I may have "extra" money coming in right now, but, believe me, there are a thousand and one places to put it. I have faced the fact that my future working days are limited and I have no savings. I can't really afford to just throw away $3.47 or whatever it was I spent on those filters. I know exactly where the receipt is so there's really no excuse for not dealing with this. I also bought some sprinkler parts and a sprinkler repair tool. Well, the yard guys fixed the sprinkler Monday so I don't need that stuff either. I'm sure, all in all, that stuff is worth about $10. So, I have to arrange another trip to Lowe's.

Who knows? Maybe I'll splurge and buy another lightbulb! Who ever thought that the time would come when buying a stinking lightbulb would be a splurge........... But it is, given the cost of lightbulbs and the state of my budget........

So what to do today? Well, I work today, an 8-hour shift. And I work tomorrow, another 8-hour shift. I know I can do today because I've done a number of 8-hour shifts since starting this job. It's tomorrow I'm worried about. I did an 8-hour shift last Tuesday and was utterly useless Wednesday, physically. Just so sore I could hardly move. So, I'm going to be spending time in prayer today and tomorrow over my physical condition. I am finding that I work for 8-hours and am temporarily "disabled" for a whole day afterwards. I do NOT want to be useless on Friday. I have been back on the treadmill for about a week so I am doing what I can to get in condition for this stuff.

One thing I must do today is go to the pharmacy. I am about out of pills. So, time to call and make sure ALL the refills are ready and drag my rusty butt over there (it's all of 2 miles if it's even that far). I think I will try to knock that off as soon as I am dressed, before it gets hellishly hot out there. We are expecting a high of 104 today! At least, the wind is supposed to be negligible. Maybe that means my allergies will settle down.........

I put new bulbs in the light on the front porch. It was such a shock to the bugs of the world that they all congregated there. I hadn't put the cover on the light yet, so somehow, many bugs got fried. Guess they flew too close to the light. Anyway, I want to sweep the porch and get rid of the bugs. While I'm out there, I'm planning on tackling the cob webs that have built up as well.

I have a small load of laundry to dry and hang/put away.

I think maybe I can master getting the cover on the comforter on my bed today. I've been limiting Parker to staying out of the bedroom. It is he who drags mud and muck into the house and I don't want it on the down comforter. He'll be relieved and happy to be allowed back into the bedroom again....

I've got some trash to drag out of the house too.

I am thinking vacuuming is in order today. Now that green stuff is growing in the back yard, the mud crumblets are much fewer and further between, but the carpet still needs to be vacuumed. Anything I can do to cut the dust exposure would be helpful, I think, so yes, I need to vacuum.

And by the time I get through that, it will probably be time to get ready for work. But, if I have a bit more time, there is this list of small jobs to be worked on.

So, I'm off to get myself ready for the day. And to head to the pharmacy. I think I'll play it smart and call first. I happen to really like the pharmacy I'm dealing with, but they seldom have all 4 scripts ready simultaneously. I do NOT want to sit there and wait! It will be interesting to see what this costs. In December refills on all 4 cost me $76. By March, refills on all 4 cost me $136. An unbelievable % increase if you ask me. But, whatever it costs, I've gotta have them til the day my healing materializes. I think this winter, I will make a trip to Mexico. Not before November, though. I remember being in Mexico on November 1 one year and it was 100 degrees and humid. It'll be a while til I do that again.

Okay, gotta run. YOU be BLESSED today.

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I want to shout it from the housetops!

It's a great life, if you don't weaken.........

Too good to be true............

For most of the day, yesterday, I felt pretty good. I did notice a pesky cough. It is my "asthma" cough. A staccato "hackhack" cough. Well, I got through the day very well, pesky cough or not.

But, oh my............then came bedtime. I had taken an allergy pill earlier, but it didn't seem to be enough. And I laid there alternately "rattling" and coughing for hours, literally. Finally I couldn't take it any more and got up and took a benedryl. That finally settled the cough sufficiently to allow me some limited sleep.

Yes, allergy season in the desert is a real "happening" event. I am congested and hacking again this morning. To top it off, my always-with-me infection of the mucus membranes of my nose/sinuses is blooming again. I don't think I'll have any problem remembering to take that allergy pill today and the Vitamin C which helps control that infection will be easy to remember too.

So, apparently the pollen is floating through the air in large amounts. And, then there's the dust as well. And it's not going to get any better til we've had several days above 110 in temperature. I was planning on dusting in this house today, but I am thinking that plan is going to be abandoned. All I need is to stir up more dust...........If I stay faithful on the allergy pills and the Benedryl, I should be okay. I won't be productive because, like most of us, Benedryl knocks me out. For today, being knocked on my butt is okay though because I've only been able to manage less than 4 hours of sleep. I could use some more!

Well, yesterday I told you I had a kit finished, all but the alphas. Those are now done. Yippee! I still need organize the files, but otherwise I've got another completed kit to move to the finished pile. Will pull together the raw previews today and ship to my design assistant for wrapping.

The kit I started yesterday now has 14 papers and about the same # of elements. Long way to go. Not too sure how well I like it yet, but that sometimes happens. Sometimes it's the elements that pull a kit together. So, let's not panic. It's early days on this one...........

I don't think dusting in this house is a good thing today. Now, I am sorry I bought the cheapie air filters....... I should have spent a bundle which would have helped the allergy/asthma thing. Well, at least those air filters will be clean. That will help.

I know this was pretty short, but I think I'm done for now. My lack of sleep, combined with the lower flow of oxygen because of the infection and asthma, are making me sleepy and ready to go lie down. Actually, I probably will not be lying down. More likely I'll be more or less sitting up. But I will be sleeping so that will work out okay. Later...........

Quiet Day

My internet went down about 8AM and didn't come back up til after 4PM. But, I got a lot done, probably because I wasn't checking Facebook to see what was happening and I wasn't checking e-mail to see what just thunked into my inbox. Hooray! It was a good way to work.

I have worked mostly on design today. Finished one kit all but the alphas and details. Started a new kit that has a couple of ellies and 8 papers. Uploaded this coming Saturday's kit for the CT and redid 8 or 9 previews. Also ditched one paper I didn't quite like and added 3 new papers. It's a pretty good kit, if I say so myself, and good value for the money too.

Yesterday I dragged my rusty butt to Lowe's. Wow, that's the way to get rid of $76 really fast. What did I buy? 3 LED bulbs for in the house, 2 for the motion light out front. 2 sprinkler heads and 2 risers. And the cheapest package of 3 furnace intake filters I could find. Still gasping at the cost of those LED bulbs. Ouch! But, I moved two of the curly things I hate out to the porch light which wasn't putting out any light at all--both bulbs had burned out. I now have 3 LED bulbs in the light over my desk. That displaced another curly bulb which I moved to the fixture over the other desk. Now I will be able to see what I am shredding a bit better. The third LED bulb went into the hanging light in the dining room. I tried to space the LED bulbs out so that the fixtures that are turned on the most are getting LED bulbs in the hope that the decrease in my power bill will overcome the cost of buying the darned things. My goal is to eventually replace all the curly bulbs with LEDs but that will take a while. I am not willing to dump a couple of hundred dollars all at once into lightbulbs!

As it turns out, I guess I can return the sprinkler parts. The yard guys were here this AM and fixed the one sprinkler that has been popping off daily. That ought to help the yard to green up a bit. I used to fix stuff like that myself, but it's been a lot of years. I bought stuff to do the job, but I don't really know that I remember how it's done, LOL. Boy was I glad they fixed that nasty thing. I spent some time talking to one of the men. A very nice guy. I guess he is the brother-in-law of the guy who owns the landscaping service. Anyway, I asked him to put some feelers out for someone who could lay carpet for a fair price and do a good job. Also asked him to do the same with regard to someone who could do "handyman" work. I have lots of little jobs I need help with, hence the "handyman"......

So, I installed the new bulbs in the motion detector and it made no difference whatsoever. It still doesn't come on. Obviously there is something else wrong, either in the "fixture" itself or in the wiring. Joe put the thing up. I thought for a long time that Joe had a good handle on electrical stuff. I've decided since that he was just able to fake it pretty well. I've had 3 lights quit since he died and all three had to do with the way they were wired. And, all three were wired by Joe. So, I'm thinking that motion detector probably needs rewired and that is something I will NOT touch!

Also got new bulbs in the porch light. Knocked down some of the cobwebs out there. Geez we have a multitude of spiders here! I will spend some more time on that tomorrow if I can, but I was running out of light at the time I did that and wanted to get that porch light fixed. I'm tired of feeling my way to the door! I am NOT happy with the climbing because I am unsteady when I get up there. However, when I first found myself alone I COULDN'T climb. Climbing and being unsteady beats not being able to climb at all.

I keep claiming that I am getting younger and stronger. That's based on "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as the eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" from Isaiah. I would have been so happy if He had just waved His "magic wand" or his "mighty right hand" and made that happen supernaturally, but He seems to be of the opinion that I need to work for it. Well, alright then. I guess there's more climbing needed, LOL.

Lately, I've been asking for a "strong heart" and "clean arteries". David asked for a "clean heart". This is my version, LOL. Anyway, the Lord and I now have a covenant. If I am not working on a given day, I will be on the treadmill. He reminds me of that covenant, too. Well, I need reminding, but some days I wish He could be as forgetful as I am.......... It's not that He needs my help to get it done. I think maybe He thinks I need the discipline of doing it.......... Well, I'm sure that's right. I have a hard time getting myself to do what I need to do if I'm not in the right mood--hence the need for a covenant with Him..........

Well, I still have a lot I want to get done tonight so I'm going to scurry off. I just thought I ought to pose something so no one got the idea I'd checked out of this Motel 6 and moved to the Ritz in the sky. Nope, I'm still here! Later, folks............or maybe not til morning (assuming I have an internet connection, LOL).