Three weeks, now, until retirement. Apparently we’ve had a good response to our job posting for my replacement, but the Library hasn’t acted on any yet. I have joked about the description of my ‘duties,’ that I wouldn’t bid on the position due to its complexity. But that is because the job grew with and around me over the years, so what I made it and brought to it is more reflex now than anything else. And it really isn’t so complicated. As a small business, the ends justified my means of keeping things steady. You’re not noticed until something breaks :D Maybe a new person can bring things forward that I have just let remain static.

Still haven’t gotten things lined up here at home. My money guy wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped when I spoke with him but that’s because I want happy thoughts, not mundane tasks. He suggested I sell part of our property and even came up with someone who might be interested (yes, that set off bells and was quickly shelved). He rightfully told me to close out one account I have from a former employer and maybe tomorrow I can sort that one out.

Otherwise, it’s time to pare down expenses. Netflix may be on the chopping block. Frivolous online purchases need to be more well thought out. Heh, my Ryobi 18V garden sprayer stopped working and a replacement looked to be in the $65-$100 range. I decided, instead, on a $65 pump sprayer. After serious thought, though, I went with an $18 2 gallon HDX pump sprayer that will hopefully meet my needs. My ~lavish~ lifestyle will take some hits ;o)

Another change to save money was to reduce our internet bill. We will save about $20 a month by connecting our FIOS internet with our Verizon phone plan, and increase our speeds from 100/100 to 300/300, aaaand we are getting a new (free) router, today! This took a little finagling because the wording in the offer was really meant for new online customers with existing mobile plans, but they were gracious; we’ll see how this pans out the way I’m hoping.

The fireflies have all but disappeared, per usual after the 4th. There was a buck browsing out front while I was typing, and now a doe and her fawn are coming through. A bat was flitting about over the driveway this morning, around 5 a.m., and again, last night, when I took the pup out. And Thursday, sadly, a garden snake ingested a toad at our cellar door: sadly because the toad was a regular here. But there were two more toads when I had the dog outside… Nature, gotta love it!

Rain in today’s forecast. Good for the garden? The garden is still not doing as well as I think it should. Bugs aren’t a big problem, yet, but the humid weather just begs for fusarium wilt and whatnot. And slugs. We’ve had several cucumbers, and two peppers, but the squash and pumpkins are doing poorly and the tomatoes just look stalled. The peas are a neglected jumble of grass and vines. Beans are coming along, at least.

( Pics and humorCollapse )

We had an air conditioner drip pan in the attic overflow at work. The drain lines get plugged with yuck and there are no failsafes (floats or sensors) to shut the system down before things get messy. So the water came through the ceiling of our program room and wet panels hit the floor amongst the puddles. After cleaning was done, the pan emptied and the drain opened, we let the room dry a couple of days.

I went up into the attic this week to look for replacement panels (USG 707) and found none. What I did discover was quite a surprise: a trove of computers, mice (usb and ps/2) and keyboards(same) all neatly boxed up under our stored Xmas decorations. These were Optiplex 270’s and 455’s. I forgot they were here! My notes were written all over the boxes (Mr. Meticulous… sometimes): models, RAM, when removed, ghost dates, printer status, and so on. 2013. Busy year- I believe we brought in the 7010’s at that time.

But no matter. I don’t know whether to let my successor deal with these or just send them along the Green Mile. The machines are perfectly usable, and possibly upgradable to Win10 with a few tweaks (I got a 780 up to 10). It won’t be my problem come August :D

Unrelated. Looks who’s coming to town this December! The Odius, er, Odeum: a whopping 410 seat venue. I can only think of one song they did, soooo long ago.

Medical appointments have gone okay, other than a blown vein in my left arm where they did the blood draw. Massive purple bruising halfway to my wrist. Bleah.

My lab results were good. My cholesterol is down for the first time in years. A1C wasn’t necessary after the last test.

I’ve mentioned that I told my NP that I wasn’t considering a colonoscopy, but she talked me into going with the ‘at-home screening’ instead. It (the test) was… awkward. Anyway, that went off to the lab in Wisconsin yesterday. Worst case will be a full blown invasive procedure. Best case, I’ll stay in denial a while longer. There is no negative medical history in my family.

Hand doctor next week. Maybe another cortisone shot. OT was painful, and expensive, and thus I stopped. I may cancel.

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How bored I’ve become: I’ve been watching a documentary about Jonestown, on Hulu. Scary parallels to certain other cult leaders, though none mentioned. It takes little imagination…

I’m also watching the bears return to Katmai! https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

Garden is not as vibrant as I had hoped by now. I side-dressed the plants Saturday, just before our weekend of wild winds and rain.

Upstairs front bedroom redo is nearly done. I assembled a new bedside table on Saturday, and a new lamp last night.

Work is very busy. “Summer Reading” is in full swing!

Bookmark with one of the cuter characters.

Speaking of work, a Staff computer bellied-up in Reference. It was on when I came to work on Monday (it never shuts down after scheduled updates, like it should) but about two hours later it shut down on its own. I thought it was the power supply but diagnostics point to a motherboard failure?! I have a recent image of the drive but couldn’t swap the machine as it is a model we only own two of, both for Staff at Reference. (Optiplex 5090). Luckily our machines have super warranties and a Dell technician will arrive and install the new board Thursday.

Finally, some humor. Some of these are Imgur grabs, others are related content from Google lens :o)

( Clickity-click. So much better than politicsCollapse )

Well, more like eleven or twelve. I’ve been shredding more old papers at work. Yesterday I came across this page of Staff meeting notes-


January 23- what a coincidence. Probably 2013, by the 13 in the top corner.

Today it was this-


January 24, maybe 2012. Fascinating. Synchronicity?

I got rid of most of my computer notes on Symantec Ghost from 2005. We use Dell ImageAssist now. Along with the notes I ran all my cd backups for that through the shredder as well. I’ll wipe the portable drives next.

—
At home, I’ve just started watching a strange series from the sixties titled The Prisoner, with Patrick McGoohan. My son thought I’d like it :o) Wiki description and spoiler here.. Very odd. Quite sixties. So British.

Enough.

I’ve decided to start cleaning out my things from work, in anticipation of actually having the wherewithal to leave :o) I’ve got a closet of ‘stuff’ as well as boxes of ‘things’ to take care of. Yep, I’m a pack rat bunny, and I’ve accumulated a lot of items since 1999.

Today I went with paper sorting. So many documents to review! I have my IT notes going back to 2004, and other assorted papers. Bzzzzzzzzz! Even this little guy, from May, 2004, didn’t escape.


A bit of marginalia doodling during some meeting or another. I have so much more paper to sift through!

The paper won’t be as difficult as the hardware.


A small sample of meaningless items I’ve accumulated; well, meaningful to me, but no one else there ;o)
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No word from my money guy, or the payee. I think I was off by a week.
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Blood test two days ago showed a high enough PSA result to prompt a ‘see a urologist’ call from my NP. Bleah. Pills aren’t working. Invasive tests and treatments will ensue.
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Snow in the forecast for Sunday! Could be fun :o)

That’s enough.

Plus one for the road!

I tried to get a little Xmas draw on the white board at work this morning, but was unhappy with how it looked, and, in spite of knowing better, I kept futzing around with it.

( ProgressionCollapse )

Today is the last of my two week vacation. It’s been great to be home, regardless of mice and washer issues, and I’ve given very little thought to my job during this time. It’s a four day work week (Thursday is, of course, Veterans Day) and Wednesday I have a dental visit for cleaning, and a broken off tooth looksee, in the morning.

I have another ten or eleven days to use before the end of the year and I’m looking forward to that as well!

Here’s an unrelated comic by Chris Hallbeck, from Twitter (click to enlargen)



Oh hell, have another!

This entry was originally posted at https://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/120077.html.

We have gone back to an almost full staff at work. We are no longer quarantining items and have re-opened our book drop, but I’m still keeping masked and washing my hands several times during my day there. I had a fleeting thought while in the stairwell, between floors, of being in some Sci-Fi world where the atmosphere was poisoned and the germs, unseen, were all around me. Nice.

The garden is coming along. Speaking of poisons, I was out spraying Sevin and Daconil on the plants Thursday, at dusk. We’ve had a lot of damp, humid air (and rain), and I’m behind on my attempt to keep away the bugs and mildews. We have had yellow squash, enough to put some up in the freezer, zucchini, which was made into bread, and peppers, which went onto homemade pizza as well as some getting frozen. Last night we had fresh eggplant (picked prior to spraying), along with zucchini, as Parmesan, and today I had some cherry tomatoes, along with a Roma.



Our Maytag washer is misbehaving. I’m hoping it is the pulley/belt and not the basket bearing. I bought the former, around $20, to install this weekend, but if it is the latter I’ll call it done with: the machine is only seven years old but the basket assembly (I’m told it has an integral bearing) costs close to the price originally paid for the washer. And the lid lock switch is acting badly *sigh* The 10 year warranty on the basket would not cover the bearings, I am told. We shall see when I take it apart.

I’ve been watching TV at night, movies as well as cartoons. I saw Patton again, after starting a host of films and moving on after ten or twenty minutes: Swordfish, Road to Perdition, Quigley Down Under, Sweet Tooth, Layer Cake… to name a few. I did watch, and enjoy, Chinatown. I’m currently watching Beastars, and a small series on Hulu called Housebroken (it has a catchy opening theme: https://youtu.be/kGiWVLU1v-k). Oh, and Rick and Morty. The new season is pretty good, so far as I’ve seen.

I’m also watching the bears at Katmai, again. I love seeing them fish for salmon, and always think of the Brother Bear scene at the river.

Finally, This book came through work on Friday: it is a delight. The expressions on the Alligator and bird are so well done! And the story is cute.


Feeee-Booooo!

Addendum-

More than you may want, or need, to know about that “cake-in-the-rain” song! :D
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/richard-harris/macarthur-park This entry was originally posted at https://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/118177.html.

I’ve been told to reduce my computer/component hoard inventory at the Library, and reluctantly agreed. It was time, I suppose. I’ve slowly amassed the bits and pieces from around the building into a sizable collection in the Reference room. The Boss said “no regrets,” meaning I could tell her “I told you so” if we come to need any of these items in the future.


A small sampling of the library’s (my) hoard: all cutting edge... in the aughts! When I was wiping drives (DBAN) I was embarrassed to realize that my IDE collection was beyond the reach of all but one computer we own. Like the Borg, I salvaged various pieces of tech from these otherwise worthless items.

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Someone new has appeared on the trail cam!


Hopefully it won’t take up residence under the shed!
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We bought a mealworm bird feeder a short while back in the hope of keeping the bluebirds around that have been visiting. One came close to the feeder a few days ago, but decided a bath might be better.


Poor shot. After this we ordered a second mealworm feeder for the backyard. At least the chickadees and titmice really enjoy the worms.
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I’m finally watching “Beastars” on Netflix. I’m around episode 8 and not really impressed with the storyline thus far.
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I’m still watching the train cams, as well as “Bluey.” Lately, though, I’ve been watching live feeds of the little Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland. Yeah, yeah, bored much?

I’ve also been limping along on a major house project (since freaking October) where I’ve been agonizing over the best way to replace a rotted floor beneath the commode in the half-bath. I just got around to cutting some of the wood away to expose the joists, maybe two weeks ago, and have been jury rigging (improvising) supports to take loading from the subfloor I have to put down. We’re talking an 18”x32” piece of 5/8” plywood that I have to lay in around the waste pipe. I don’t think I’ve cut one right angle! *sigh* but I did get a couple of neat tools to help with this (even if I’m such a hack).

C’est tout.
Addendum, 3/22- Scanners, monitors, keyboards, printers, switches, ups’,etc... 99% of the castaways! This entry was originally posted at https://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/113363.html.