Meniscus
Mine is apparently torn. And I have this in my knee:
Crepitus: A clinical sign in medicine characterized by a peculiar crackling, crinkly, or grating feeling or sound under the skin, around the lungs, or in the joints.
Crepitus in soft tissues is often due to gas, most often air, that has penetrated and infiltrated an area where it should not normally be, as for example the soft tissues beneath the skin (a condition called subcutaneous emphysema). Crepitus in a joint can represent cartilage wear in the joint space.
The term "crepitus" is taken directly from the Latin "crepitus" meaning "a crackling sound or rattle."
I love the idea that I might have something in my knee where it should not normally be.
So the meniscus is this:
Medically speaking, the "cartilage" is actually known as the meniscus. The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of fibrocartilage which is located at the peripheral aspect of the joint. The majority of the meniscus has no blood supply. For that reason, when damaged, the meniscus is unable to undergo the normal healing process that occurs in most of the rest of the body. In addition, with age, the meniscus begins to deteriorate, often developing degenerative tears. Typically, when the meniscus is damaged, the torn piece begins to move in an abnormal fashion inside the joint.
And I've had a painful knee for at least 3 weeks now. I finally went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't bone cancer. She said it's most likely torn meniscus so we've scheduled an MRI for a week from today to make sure. Meanwhile I take massive amounts of ibuprofen, which aggravates my GERD but helps a lot with the pain. My body is just wearing out. I had to tell the insurance company that this was the result of an injury (lie: it has just, apparently, worn out) and that it happened within the last 72 hours (lie: it started weeks ago, one morning when I got up it was just incredibly painful to straighten out my leg and has been that way every day since). That way they'll pay for the MRI without my having to go through 2 weeks of painful physical therapy beforehand. I love the idea that you have physical therapy for an injury before determining what the injury is, but that's how insurance companies function these days.
So now I limp less but my esophagus is unhappy. I'm nervous because, if this worsens my knee might lock and I wouldn't be able to bend my leg. It's popping every once in a while now. I'm not supposed to squat, which is ok because that really hurts, but there are times in a library when you really need to squat to do your job. Oh suffer, suffer, suffer.
What's the solution to all of this? As far as I can tell, that kind of surgery where they make a tiny hole and stick instruments into your knee and cut away the torn cartilage. Hopefully it's not a bad tear so there will still be plenty of cartilage left. Otherwise it will be bone rubbing against bone. It will be good to have that done, if it will fix this, is what I figure.
Other than that, there was a blizzard at my house and on the way to work this morning, which ended as I got close to Plattsburgh. Which means what, that Plattsburgh is where life is clearer? Or that Plattsburgh is a duller place to be. We had about 4-5" of snow when I left home and I think we were due a few more inches, with a few more inches due tomorrow. Sure hope it snowed where my plow man lives or else he won't know enough to plow.
Went grocery shopping last night and spent a fortune. $10 on Tylenol (for when I can no longer tolerate the 600 mg tabs of ibuprofen the doctor prescribed), $10 on stomach medicine, $10 on a knee brace. The rest was on food. But I filed my federal taxes this week! Hooray for me! I need to file my 2004 state taxes; I owe $250 plus late fees. I'll be getting back $200 from the state this year, plus $1000 from the feds. Love juggling money around, just love it. It's all just virtual money anyway--direct deposit, debit card, online bill paying--the most cash I ever have in my hand at one time is a twenty dollar bill.
Tonight I work until 5, stop at the grocery store for the things I forgot last night (peanut butter and diet Mountain Dew--great sale on that), stop at the liquor store for Wild Turkey (supply at Ken's is running low), and go to Ken's. Weds. night when I went there for dinner the dogs took off up the hill next to his house (he has 100 acres) and wouldn't return. It was just getting dark so I could barely see, but I slogged through the snow to their dark forms and discovered them gnawing on a deer carcass, bare ribs (deer's, not theirs) protruding into the air. Yuck. I had a really hard time dragging them away--Tess played "Waves can't catch me and neither can you," and Chances just played the blind girl who couldn't see that someone was trying to get her. I finally convinced them to go inside, and boy was Ken surprised to learn there was a dead deer less than 100 feet from his house. "So that's why all the dogs in the neighborhood have been coming around." Guess so!
Time to pay the electric company $500, clean up the Lost Items Policy and write a Weeding Policy for the member libraries (who don't know they need it yet).
Friday, February 24, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
| You Are Lisa Simpson |
 You will be remembered for: all your academic accomplishments Your life philosophy: "I refuse to believe that everybody refuses to believe the truth" |
The Simpsons Personality Test
I should be so lucky.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The Bedroom
What a great weekend. Off to an inauspicious start, but improved almost immediately. Stopped at Ken's on the way home Friday night, noting that there was no power for the last 10 miles of my trip home. He was doing all right but was pretty flustered, sitting there with 2 candles burning. The wind was howling and the power had been out since 10:30 in the morning. He was warm enough, sitting by his wood stove. I found his Coleman lantern in the cellar, showed him how to light it, and did what he really wanted done: moved all of the food out of his freezer into the wood shed. Since it was 10 degrees outside, we knew the food would stay frozen.
Then I went home to get myself set up for the night. I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to get to my house, since there were lots of trees down across roads in lots of places. No problems, though, just limbs down here and there and the road was clear, as was my driveway. My house was nice and warm, since it had been so warm in the morning. I always keep my Coleman lantern in the same place, and have a propane camping stove stashed awat, so I cooked myself some homemade soup and settled in for the night. Voila! The power was on by around 9. That was a huge surprise and great treat.
Saturday morning was cold, very cold. It was cold all day--the high for the day was 1. Lin and I had our plans for the day, but her phone and power were out so I couldn't call to confirm. She's a true friend, though, and showed up at 9:30. She was stunned that I had power and hot coffee to offer. We got to work: moved the horrible, old, rotten box spring out of my downstairs bedroom (what was built to be my basketmaking studio but has become a third bedroom). Took apart the bed that Jamie made that's been in the master bedroom upstairs. He was very proud of this bed: it's made of 4 X 4's for legs, 2 X 4's for sides and is a platform bed. Held together by 3/8" dowels. The design is unique and is not wonderful. We laughed long and hard while taking it apart, banging away at the dowels, pulling and twisting at them with my newly-purchased vise grips to get them out. Note to self: never build a bed with 3/8" dowels. In fact, don't build bed with dowels--metal bolts are just fine. Also, use plans someone else has drawn up. We got the bed apart, and even more amazing, got it put back together. We stood in stunned silence, staring at it. Then I noticed that we had 3 dowels left over. That made us really laugh. We searched for the empty holes to put them in but couldn't find them. Lin said she'd put her phone next to the bed so I could call her during the night when the bed collapsed and I ended up on the floor.
We moved my grandmother's marble-topped bureau upstairs (a marble top is much like a headstone in weight). I threw out a whole bunch of sheets (which shocked Ken when I told him--apparently frugal people do not throw away sheets, they are useful for rags. Personally, I have no use for rags). I went through my 4 bookcases and threw out 3 big boxes of books. Lin proudly confined herself to taking only 1 box. I was thrilled to get rid of so much. We loaded up the truck and left for the BIG dump, where you get rid of things like box springs. Drove there, 20 miles away. Got there at 2:30. Guess what? It closes at noon on Saturday. What kind of crap is that? The "convenience station" across the road was open, though, so we could dump the boxes of books and some of the trash, but we were left with the horrible, embarrassingly awful box spring. I swear that thing will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was given to us by Jamie's parents 12 years ago when they got a new one. The springs are starting to show. It has pink flowers and stains on it. It is now in my wood shed. Lin suggested we throw it in the river as we drove across the bridge. I wish we could have.
Anyway, we had lunch at the diner, and Lin went home. One of the best things about the day was that Lin noted we were making a special room for me. I hadn't thought of it that way, but that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted that bureau out of there and I wanted a real bed. I wanted nothing under the bed (boy did we find a lot of dog toys under the metal frame). Yesterday I put away all of the pants that are too small (for now) for me to wear, threw away a bunch of shoes and have fixed it so that there's nothing between the bed and the window. I have all of my clothes stored on 2 sets of shelves (I prefer that to bureaus) and I love my room. There is still some work that needs to be done, but wow is it ever a nice room. I'm thrilled. And it is so wonderful to sleep on a hard surface that doesn't sag. My mother says I might as well sleep on the floor as sleep on a platform bed with a futon, and she's right. I love it. The dogs have adjusted to having to jump a little higher. This bed is really too high, my feet don't touch the floor when I sit on the edge of the bed (never let a man who is 6'3" tall build you a bed).
Yesterday I spent all afternoon watching The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. This is the coolest show. This man goes to houses where people are having problems with their dogs and teaches them how to solve the problems. There was a Lab who was obsessed with water and wouldn't stay out of the swimming pool, a chihuahua who bit everyone who came near the mother, the pit bull mix who charged every dog in the neighborhood, the young Great Dane who bullied the older Great Dane, and on and on. I loved it all. I learned a whole lot, most of which I should already have known Each segment was about being the alpha member of the pack, of course, and showing dominant behavior to your dog. He said you shouldn't say "please" to your dog or ask it to stop doing things. I do both of those all the time: "Please don't," and "Cut it out." I intone, I whine, I drag out the sounds when I say "Stoppppp it." I tried it while I was watching it and Tess was clawing me with her nasty paws. STOP! It worked like a charm. She was shocked but obeyed me immediately. I laughed out loud. This morning when she tried to lick my eyelids. I said DON'T and she stopped right away. I learned that Tess' clawing and paw-whacking is dominant behavior, which really surprised me. I also learned that a dog can be submissive outside and dominant inside the house. I think this may be the case with Tess. WHAT? Tess dominant? This would be unbelievable to any who know her. She certainly tries to dominate me.
And now I'm at work, working 9-5 this week. I love the last hour of the day, when there's only one other person in the building and it's usually someone far away from my desk. Since I've been here more than an hour and have accomplished nothing I suppose I should get on with those videos from Ticonderoga that beckon.
What a great weekend. Off to an inauspicious start, but improved almost immediately. Stopped at Ken's on the way home Friday night, noting that there was no power for the last 10 miles of my trip home. He was doing all right but was pretty flustered, sitting there with 2 candles burning. The wind was howling and the power had been out since 10:30 in the morning. He was warm enough, sitting by his wood stove. I found his Coleman lantern in the cellar, showed him how to light it, and did what he really wanted done: moved all of the food out of his freezer into the wood shed. Since it was 10 degrees outside, we knew the food would stay frozen.
Then I went home to get myself set up for the night. I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to get to my house, since there were lots of trees down across roads in lots of places. No problems, though, just limbs down here and there and the road was clear, as was my driveway. My house was nice and warm, since it had been so warm in the morning. I always keep my Coleman lantern in the same place, and have a propane camping stove stashed awat, so I cooked myself some homemade soup and settled in for the night. Voila! The power was on by around 9. That was a huge surprise and great treat.
Saturday morning was cold, very cold. It was cold all day--the high for the day was 1. Lin and I had our plans for the day, but her phone and power were out so I couldn't call to confirm. She's a true friend, though, and showed up at 9:30. She was stunned that I had power and hot coffee to offer. We got to work: moved the horrible, old, rotten box spring out of my downstairs bedroom (what was built to be my basketmaking studio but has become a third bedroom). Took apart the bed that Jamie made that's been in the master bedroom upstairs. He was very proud of this bed: it's made of 4 X 4's for legs, 2 X 4's for sides and is a platform bed. Held together by 3/8" dowels. The design is unique and is not wonderful. We laughed long and hard while taking it apart, banging away at the dowels, pulling and twisting at them with my newly-purchased vise grips to get them out. Note to self: never build a bed with 3/8" dowels. In fact, don't build bed with dowels--metal bolts are just fine. Also, use plans someone else has drawn up. We got the bed apart, and even more amazing, got it put back together. We stood in stunned silence, staring at it. Then I noticed that we had 3 dowels left over. That made us really laugh. We searched for the empty holes to put them in but couldn't find them. Lin said she'd put her phone next to the bed so I could call her during the night when the bed collapsed and I ended up on the floor.
We moved my grandmother's marble-topped bureau upstairs (a marble top is much like a headstone in weight). I threw out a whole bunch of sheets (which shocked Ken when I told him--apparently frugal people do not throw away sheets, they are useful for rags. Personally, I have no use for rags). I went through my 4 bookcases and threw out 3 big boxes of books. Lin proudly confined herself to taking only 1 box. I was thrilled to get rid of so much. We loaded up the truck and left for the BIG dump, where you get rid of things like box springs. Drove there, 20 miles away. Got there at 2:30. Guess what? It closes at noon on Saturday. What kind of crap is that? The "convenience station" across the road was open, though, so we could dump the boxes of books and some of the trash, but we were left with the horrible, embarrassingly awful box spring. I swear that thing will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was given to us by Jamie's parents 12 years ago when they got a new one. The springs are starting to show. It has pink flowers and stains on it. It is now in my wood shed. Lin suggested we throw it in the river as we drove across the bridge. I wish we could have.
Anyway, we had lunch at the diner, and Lin went home. One of the best things about the day was that Lin noted we were making a special room for me. I hadn't thought of it that way, but that's exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted that bureau out of there and I wanted a real bed. I wanted nothing under the bed (boy did we find a lot of dog toys under the metal frame). Yesterday I put away all of the pants that are too small (for now) for me to wear, threw away a bunch of shoes and have fixed it so that there's nothing between the bed and the window. I have all of my clothes stored on 2 sets of shelves (I prefer that to bureaus) and I love my room. There is still some work that needs to be done, but wow is it ever a nice room. I'm thrilled. And it is so wonderful to sleep on a hard surface that doesn't sag. My mother says I might as well sleep on the floor as sleep on a platform bed with a futon, and she's right. I love it. The dogs have adjusted to having to jump a little higher. This bed is really too high, my feet don't touch the floor when I sit on the edge of the bed (never let a man who is 6'3" tall build you a bed).
Yesterday I spent all afternoon watching The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. This is the coolest show. This man goes to houses where people are having problems with their dogs and teaches them how to solve the problems. There was a Lab who was obsessed with water and wouldn't stay out of the swimming pool, a chihuahua who bit everyone who came near the mother, the pit bull mix who charged every dog in the neighborhood, the young Great Dane who bullied the older Great Dane, and on and on. I loved it all. I learned a whole lot, most of which I should already have known Each segment was about being the alpha member of the pack, of course, and showing dominant behavior to your dog. He said you shouldn't say "please" to your dog or ask it to stop doing things. I do both of those all the time: "Please don't," and "Cut it out." I intone, I whine, I drag out the sounds when I say "Stoppppp it." I tried it while I was watching it and Tess was clawing me with her nasty paws. STOP! It worked like a charm. She was shocked but obeyed me immediately. I laughed out loud. This morning when she tried to lick my eyelids. I said DON'T and she stopped right away. I learned that Tess' clawing and paw-whacking is dominant behavior, which really surprised me. I also learned that a dog can be submissive outside and dominant inside the house. I think this may be the case with Tess. WHAT? Tess dominant? This would be unbelievable to any who know her. She certainly tries to dominate me.
And now I'm at work, working 9-5 this week. I love the last hour of the day, when there's only one other person in the building and it's usually someone far away from my desk. Since I've been here more than an hour and have accomplished nothing I suppose I should get on with those videos from Ticonderoga that beckon.
Friday, February 17, 2006
One of the nicest poems
by Longfellow:
THE BUILDERS
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.
I like the part I bolded best, even if it does refer to Gods. Rush brought this to our attention on Sunday at dinner, quoting the part about "builders wrought with greatest care." We agree that this is basically how Ken lives his life. It's just his philosophy, and I've learned so much from him about that. I have truly changed the way I do things and the way I think because of spending so much time with him. I feel very fortunate to get to spend so much time with him, to have worked on projects with him, and to have received his guidance for the past 10 years. He's a great teacher--if he respects you. He's kind to you when he doesn't respect you, but he's a better teacher when he does. Luckily he's always wanted me to improve myself and the way I do things so he gives me the benefit of the doubt.
The temp was nice this morning and it was raining hard, very hard. Now the temps are plummeting and it's incredibly windy. Predictions are that there will be widespread power outages--that usually means me. Rats! I have a few errands to run, then will stop at Ken's. I'm working until 5 today.
Started reading our book group book--Continental drift, by Russell Banks. I really like it, he's a good writer. Have to hustle with it, the group meets next weekend. So much for the huge stack of Martha Stewart's magazines from 3 years ago that I unearthed during work cleanup that we had this morning. I spent 3 hours cleaning my cubicle and shelves. Ended up with one book truck full of trash. That's a lot of trash. Now it looks good, but I still have piles of things: videos to catalog, books to catalog, donations to deal with, cartons for the Court Help Centers workshop on the 28th, selection publications, stuff to catalog for member libraries, invoices to code for payment. And of course: stuff. There's a huge pile on the floor of personal stuff that will need to be taken home. In stages.
And on the to the cataloging portion of our day.
by Longfellow:
THE BUILDERS
All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.
Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.
I like the part I bolded best, even if it does refer to Gods. Rush brought this to our attention on Sunday at dinner, quoting the part about "builders wrought with greatest care." We agree that this is basically how Ken lives his life. It's just his philosophy, and I've learned so much from him about that. I have truly changed the way I do things and the way I think because of spending so much time with him. I feel very fortunate to get to spend so much time with him, to have worked on projects with him, and to have received his guidance for the past 10 years. He's a great teacher--if he respects you. He's kind to you when he doesn't respect you, but he's a better teacher when he does. Luckily he's always wanted me to improve myself and the way I do things so he gives me the benefit of the doubt.
The temp was nice this morning and it was raining hard, very hard. Now the temps are plummeting and it's incredibly windy. Predictions are that there will be widespread power outages--that usually means me. Rats! I have a few errands to run, then will stop at Ken's. I'm working until 5 today.
Started reading our book group book--Continental drift, by Russell Banks. I really like it, he's a good writer. Have to hustle with it, the group meets next weekend. So much for the huge stack of Martha Stewart's magazines from 3 years ago that I unearthed during work cleanup that we had this morning. I spent 3 hours cleaning my cubicle and shelves. Ended up with one book truck full of trash. That's a lot of trash. Now it looks good, but I still have piles of things: videos to catalog, books to catalog, donations to deal with, cartons for the Court Help Centers workshop on the 28th, selection publications, stuff to catalog for member libraries, invoices to code for payment. And of course: stuff. There's a huge pile on the floor of personal stuff that will need to be taken home. In stages.
And on the to the cataloging portion of our day.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Main Type | Overall Self |
 |  |
THERE! At last a definitive answer. I scored high as a 5, also, which makes me independent and intellectually capable. It's good to know I can be a domineering tyrant--something to watch out for, especially since I've just been contemplating the meaning of evil.
And now I will, with great motivation of myself, catalog a bunch of old Scholastic juvenile books for Upper Jay. Then I will write interlibrary loan policies for correctional facilities, something I was supposed to have done two weeks ago. I feel strongly we need to make them get their books back to us on time, though--it's only just that they do that.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Still winter
How can I complain when we haven't really had winter? It just feels sort of tiresome, that's all. I got about 4" of powdery snow this morning at my house, pretty much none everywhere else. That's often the way it is. I was surprised to see it: did they predict this? Did I miss it? It was
-14 on Saturday morning but then warmed up to 20 and it turned into a beautiful winter day, sunny with the bluest blue sky. The sort of day I really enjoy. I was outside in my t-shirt, playing with the dogs, getting firewood, hanging out. Really nice.
My friends the Holts were here for the weekend. I had dinner with them Sat. night. We always have such a good time together. They had the plans for the house they're going to build where one of the cabins on their property now sits, just down the hill from my house. It will be a beautiful house. Rush said the construction cost they were quoted was $150 per square foot. Their house will be 2600 square feet. You do the math. That means that, if my house burned down and I wanted to rebuild a house the same size it would cost me $325,000. Last night Ken and I played with his calculator, figuring out how much it would cost to build what size house. I finally gave him back the calculator and said "I'm tired of this game." It was very depressing. I have to change my homeowner's policy, my house is only insured for $150,000. That would build a small house for me. I wouldn't want a house as big as mine is now (2400 square feet) but I would want 2 bedrooms, and I would want more than 1000 sq.ft.
Anyway, Rush & Annie will have a beautiful home. They will probably never live here full time, which sort of suits me, as I don't really want a full-time neighbor. Annie plans to retire in 2-3 years (she's a doctor) and then wants to be here for a couple of weeks at a time. Rush is a Congressman so they'll need to keep their residence in NJ and he is not planning to retire any time soon. He's running for re-election this year but so far has no opponent. Good news.
We had a long discussion about the definition of evil. I said I thought Rumsfeld is evil. Annie thinks Cheney is evil. We agreed Bush is not evil (just stupid and insane). This led Rush to ask us what we thought evil really means. A complicated concept to explain. We spent the rest of the night referring to things that might be evil. Hitler is the obvious benchmark, but we worked on things beyond that.
My walk home from their camp was magical. Nearly full moon, incredibly bright light, great shadows. It was 0 out so it was crisp and cold but not too cold ("Where's your hat?" I don't wear hats unless it's -10. "Where's your flashlight?" I don't need a flashlight, the moon is very bright). I had a really nice walk, should have gone out on the lake but I was lazy and I thought maybe it was too cold for that. Now I sort of wish I had. I wore my heavy down coat for the first time this year.
They came to Sunday dinner, which was really nice. The combination of Bill and Rush is really great, we have wonderfully stimulating conversation. I think that's what I really miss most about living alone--someone to have conversations with. Ken and I have good talks, and cover a wide range of topics, but he is about the only person I talk with regularly. Bill and I talk on Sundays, but we only have a short time to visit, and we have to be considerate of Ken and include him so our topics are sometimes limited.
I'm listening to a recording of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of rivals, which is about Lincoln and his cabinet during the Civil War. It's amazing that I'm listening to non-fiction, and even more amazing that I'm listening to history. I have to keep going back to earlier tracks and listening to parts over again because my mind wanders, but I'm really enjoying it. It's really interesting. Lincoln made some very stupid mistakes--like ordering a supply barge to go to two forts simultaneously, not realizing he had done that. Huh? Presidents have always been incompetent? Right now the war has just begun, the South has fired the first shot. There's a whole lot on Seward, who is an ancestor of Jamie's, so it's interesting to hear about him. He was an interesting but frustrated man.
Yesterday I weeded in Upper Jay for the last time. Happy to have that work done. Now five of us will go there with laptops and scanners to barcode their nonfiction in early March. I bought 2 of the books I discarded for Ralph--a book of knots and a book on violins. He saws out violin tops so I know he'll love that book. It has lots of color plates of old violins and close-ups of details of the violins.
This weekend I'm planning on moving the bed from the master bedroom downstairs to the bedroom I've made my permanent room. Lin is going to help me for the day, and we're borrowing Ralph's truck to take a bunch of stuff to the dump. I just heard that the high for the day is supposed to be 11. Doesn't that figure? I'm psyched to get rid of my box spring, it has exposed parts and is really old. The bed is a platform bed and I can't wait to sleep on it. I'm hoping we'll have minimal trouble taking it apart, it's put together with dowels. Jamie built it. I'm also hoping to take a bunch of other stuff to the dump, putting together a list in my mind all week.
And now I'm off to a meeting on our policy for dealing with libraries who lose our books. Our member libraries have lost about $30,000 worth of our books in recent years, so we figure it's time to do something about it. OK, so we're a little slow to take action.
How can I complain when we haven't really had winter? It just feels sort of tiresome, that's all. I got about 4" of powdery snow this morning at my house, pretty much none everywhere else. That's often the way it is. I was surprised to see it: did they predict this? Did I miss it? It was
-14 on Saturday morning but then warmed up to 20 and it turned into a beautiful winter day, sunny with the bluest blue sky. The sort of day I really enjoy. I was outside in my t-shirt, playing with the dogs, getting firewood, hanging out. Really nice.
My friends the Holts were here for the weekend. I had dinner with them Sat. night. We always have such a good time together. They had the plans for the house they're going to build where one of the cabins on their property now sits, just down the hill from my house. It will be a beautiful house. Rush said the construction cost they were quoted was $150 per square foot. Their house will be 2600 square feet. You do the math. That means that, if my house burned down and I wanted to rebuild a house the same size it would cost me $325,000. Last night Ken and I played with his calculator, figuring out how much it would cost to build what size house. I finally gave him back the calculator and said "I'm tired of this game." It was very depressing. I have to change my homeowner's policy, my house is only insured for $150,000. That would build a small house for me. I wouldn't want a house as big as mine is now (2400 square feet) but I would want 2 bedrooms, and I would want more than 1000 sq.ft.
Anyway, Rush & Annie will have a beautiful home. They will probably never live here full time, which sort of suits me, as I don't really want a full-time neighbor. Annie plans to retire in 2-3 years (she's a doctor) and then wants to be here for a couple of weeks at a time. Rush is a Congressman so they'll need to keep their residence in NJ and he is not planning to retire any time soon. He's running for re-election this year but so far has no opponent. Good news.
We had a long discussion about the definition of evil. I said I thought Rumsfeld is evil. Annie thinks Cheney is evil. We agreed Bush is not evil (just stupid and insane). This led Rush to ask us what we thought evil really means. A complicated concept to explain. We spent the rest of the night referring to things that might be evil. Hitler is the obvious benchmark, but we worked on things beyond that.
My walk home from their camp was magical. Nearly full moon, incredibly bright light, great shadows. It was 0 out so it was crisp and cold but not too cold ("Where's your hat?" I don't wear hats unless it's -10. "Where's your flashlight?" I don't need a flashlight, the moon is very bright). I had a really nice walk, should have gone out on the lake but I was lazy and I thought maybe it was too cold for that. Now I sort of wish I had. I wore my heavy down coat for the first time this year.
They came to Sunday dinner, which was really nice. The combination of Bill and Rush is really great, we have wonderfully stimulating conversation. I think that's what I really miss most about living alone--someone to have conversations with. Ken and I have good talks, and cover a wide range of topics, but he is about the only person I talk with regularly. Bill and I talk on Sundays, but we only have a short time to visit, and we have to be considerate of Ken and include him so our topics are sometimes limited.
I'm listening to a recording of Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of rivals, which is about Lincoln and his cabinet during the Civil War. It's amazing that I'm listening to non-fiction, and even more amazing that I'm listening to history. I have to keep going back to earlier tracks and listening to parts over again because my mind wanders, but I'm really enjoying it. It's really interesting. Lincoln made some very stupid mistakes--like ordering a supply barge to go to two forts simultaneously, not realizing he had done that. Huh? Presidents have always been incompetent? Right now the war has just begun, the South has fired the first shot. There's a whole lot on Seward, who is an ancestor of Jamie's, so it's interesting to hear about him. He was an interesting but frustrated man.
Yesterday I weeded in Upper Jay for the last time. Happy to have that work done. Now five of us will go there with laptops and scanners to barcode their nonfiction in early March. I bought 2 of the books I discarded for Ralph--a book of knots and a book on violins. He saws out violin tops so I know he'll love that book. It has lots of color plates of old violins and close-ups of details of the violins.
This weekend I'm planning on moving the bed from the master bedroom downstairs to the bedroom I've made my permanent room. Lin is going to help me for the day, and we're borrowing Ralph's truck to take a bunch of stuff to the dump. I just heard that the high for the day is supposed to be 11. Doesn't that figure? I'm psyched to get rid of my box spring, it has exposed parts and is really old. The bed is a platform bed and I can't wait to sleep on it. I'm hoping we'll have minimal trouble taking it apart, it's put together with dowels. Jamie built it. I'm also hoping to take a bunch of other stuff to the dump, putting together a list in my mind all week.
And now I'm off to a meeting on our policy for dealing with libraries who lose our books. Our member libraries have lost about $30,000 worth of our books in recent years, so we figure it's time to do something about it. OK, so we're a little slow to take action.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Music, sweet music
Songs that will make me stop whatever I'm doing and turn up the volume:
Unknown legend, by Neil Young
The end of innocence, by Don Henley
And she was, by Talking Heads
American Pie, by Don McLean
songs that do not:
What if Jesus came back like that, by Collin Ray
I believe, by Gladys Knight and the Pips
Be not afraid (a tribute to Pope John Paul II), by the award winning singer Janelle
(Shake, shake, shake) shake your booty, by K.C. & The Sunshine Band
You light up my life, by Debby Boone
and yet...and yet this is how I spend my afternoon, cataloging these titles, and so many more. I have yet to figure out what awards Janelle won, but I, too am an award winning person. I won an award in high school for scoring 4th in the State of Illinois on the statewide Spanish test. So I am an award-winning librarian. We figure that Janelle is fresh from her tour of county fairs.
Songs that will make me stop whatever I'm doing and turn up the volume:
Unknown legend, by Neil Young
The end of innocence, by Don Henley
And she was, by Talking Heads
American Pie, by Don McLean
songs that do not:
What if Jesus came back like that, by Collin Ray
I believe, by Gladys Knight and the Pips
Be not afraid (a tribute to Pope John Paul II), by the award winning singer Janelle
(Shake, shake, shake) shake your booty, by K.C. & The Sunshine Band
You light up my life, by Debby Boone
and yet...and yet this is how I spend my afternoon, cataloging these titles, and so many more. I have yet to figure out what awards Janelle won, but I, too am an award winning person. I won an award in high school for scoring 4th in the State of Illinois on the statewide Spanish test. So I am an award-winning librarian. We figure that Janelle is fresh from her tour of county fairs.
Drink up
Today I drink clear liquids all day, and stop ingesting anything at all at midnight. Sound like fun? Wait, there's more. I take two pills at 5:00 when I get home, then drink 1.5 oz. of some horrible stuff mixed with water, wait a couple of hours and drink 1.5 oz. more of horrible stuff mixed with water. Figured it out yet? Yup, tomorrow I'm having what every 50-year-old in America has: a colonoscopy. Every store in America stocks the pills and the 1.5 oz. packets, which I think is really funny. I bought mine at the grocery store. Now that's funny.
I get no milk in my coffee and no sandwich for lunch today. No carrots to eat this afternoon. At least it's no one's birthday and there's no big meeting with donuts, just a small consultants' meeting this morning. My thing is tomorrow morning: I have to be in Plattsburgh at 7:30, leaving my house at 6:45 and driving right past my coffee stop without even slowing down. My friend Lin is being my good friend and will drive me to the place, wait for me and drive me home. I told her I would reciprocate in March when it's her turn.
On to better things. I have a meeting every day for the next 6 work days. We just can't get enough of each others' minds, apparently. Yesterday I spent the morning in Upper Jay, weeding their non-fiction with two trustees and a volunteer. The husband of one of the trustees had donated some books on philosophy and on economic theory (published in the 70's) with the stipulation that they never be discarded (hel-lo! does anyone know anything about a donation policy?) so we had to neatly sidestep around those. Actually the trustees, who are sisters and whom I've know for about 10 years and who really make me laugh, were much better than I thought they'd be at letting me take the books out of their hands and discard them. Sylvia wouldn't part with All my patients are under the bed, though, which is an old, corny memoir written by a veterinarian. She said she checks it out every year and reads it. We agreed it's a lot like Arnie, the darling starling and totally unnecessary, and I almost suggested she discard it and take it home with her, but she was doing so well at parting with things that I left it alone.
Sister #2, Ellen, grows lots of house plants and brings them in to the library to sell to raise money. Mostly they're priced at $3, which is way too low, so I always buy at least one when I'm there, and give them $5. I have about 3 plants at home that are growing out of control, which I bought from them a couple of years ago. Yesterday I bought a jade plant to replace the wonderful huge one I had about 5 years ago that had a mealy bug infestation and had to be euthanized. I learned yesterday the cure for mealy bugs: sprinkle baby powder on top of the soil and put the plant in a plastic bag. YES! Anyway, there were lots of wonderful plants but I really don't have room. I had a really great conversation with Sylvia and Ellen about plants and what the Cooperative Extension agent had written in her recent columns. See? I said I really like these two crazy sisters.
Upper Jay is the town where The Land of Makebelieve used to be. That was the theme park my father's cousin owned. It was made up of tiny houses, like a pumpkin-shaped one where Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater lived, and the center of the whole place was a castle. My cousin's partner had worked for Walt Disney so the place was loosely modeled on Disneyland (no Disney World yet at that point). There was a stagecoach ride and a western village, a small train to ride on, a steamboat named the Billabong Belle (so named because my cousin's father was Australian). You were allowed to bring your dogs in. In later years they had miniature cars you could drive and a safari ride. The summer I was 16 I was the nanny for my cousin's two children and we went there every day--all we did was ride on the rides and hang out there all morning, then spend the afternoon at home swimming in their pool. Anyway, The Land of Makebelieve was a wonderful place and we had a lot of fun there when we were kids. All that's left there now is the castle--you can see the top of it from the road, and it's in pretty bad shape. Those days they hired kids to attach cardboard signs to the bumpers of cars in the parking lot with wires (the ferries on Lake Champlain did the same thing) advertising the place. Now I sound as if I'm really in the way-back machine, don't I.
Work is work. I'm cataloging horrible CD's for Plattsburgh. They were really bitchy about getting them done so we're rushing them. You'd think that meant they were worth doing, but noooooo. LeAnn Rimes singing I believe; Dulcimer Dan playing hymns ; a Currier & Ives Christmas collection ; Disco originals--and plenty more. I spent about 20 minutes looking up a cataloging rule yesterday for the Currier & Ives one--as if anyone will ever know whether I did the 505 field correctly or not for parts 1, 2 & 3. But we catalogers are an obsessive bunch, aren't we.
We had snow the other day, about 6" where I am, less of course everywhere else. Now it's cold. So cold the soda in my car froze last night. I had 3 six-packs. At least this time they didn't explode, just froze. Now they're thawing so that I can drink them all day. Along with white cranberry juice (recommended by the nurse as an option), bouillon, tea, black coffee and lots of water. I had a long talk with Coffee Man at alternate coffee stop this morning. He's a snomobiler and is extremely frustrated by the lack of snow this year. Lots of people are, but I'm saving a bundle on plowing expenses. So far I've only shelled out $30.
Had dinner with Ken last night. I discovered that my dogs really like dry Manhattans made with Wild Turkey. Tess was begging and being really obnoxious so I put my glass down and she started lapping it up, made a face and walked away. I offered it to Chances and she lapped it up. I offered it again to Tess and she lapped it right up. I really don't approve of giving alcohol to dogs, but this made me laugh. They showed no adverse effects but drank about 1/2 an oz. I threw the rest out (someone had to stay sober). Ken did not approve of having them drink out of my glass.
My friends the Holts are coming this weekend. Rush is a Congressman and I told him he has no business coming to the North Country right now, he needs to stay in Washington and work on that Crazy Man's budget. That man must be stopped! I said. Rush laughed and said he's doing what he can. We agreed that arresting Cindy Sheehan for wearing a t-shirt to the State of the Union was really awful but typical. I'm having dinner with them Saturday night. We always have a wonderful time together, they are really special people to me. Thank goodness there's not a lot of snow, sometimes when they visit in the winter I have to slog through knee-deep snow to get to their camp.
And now it's back to Currier & Ives. I have to type in the titles to 38 all-time favorites.
Today I drink clear liquids all day, and stop ingesting anything at all at midnight. Sound like fun? Wait, there's more. I take two pills at 5:00 when I get home, then drink 1.5 oz. of some horrible stuff mixed with water, wait a couple of hours and drink 1.5 oz. more of horrible stuff mixed with water. Figured it out yet? Yup, tomorrow I'm having what every 50-year-old in America has: a colonoscopy. Every store in America stocks the pills and the 1.5 oz. packets, which I think is really funny. I bought mine at the grocery store. Now that's funny.
I get no milk in my coffee and no sandwich for lunch today. No carrots to eat this afternoon. At least it's no one's birthday and there's no big meeting with donuts, just a small consultants' meeting this morning. My thing is tomorrow morning: I have to be in Plattsburgh at 7:30, leaving my house at 6:45 and driving right past my coffee stop without even slowing down. My friend Lin is being my good friend and will drive me to the place, wait for me and drive me home. I told her I would reciprocate in March when it's her turn.
On to better things. I have a meeting every day for the next 6 work days. We just can't get enough of each others' minds, apparently. Yesterday I spent the morning in Upper Jay, weeding their non-fiction with two trustees and a volunteer. The husband of one of the trustees had donated some books on philosophy and on economic theory (published in the 70's) with the stipulation that they never be discarded (hel-lo! does anyone know anything about a donation policy?) so we had to neatly sidestep around those. Actually the trustees, who are sisters and whom I've know for about 10 years and who really make me laugh, were much better than I thought they'd be at letting me take the books out of their hands and discard them. Sylvia wouldn't part with All my patients are under the bed, though, which is an old, corny memoir written by a veterinarian. She said she checks it out every year and reads it. We agreed it's a lot like Arnie, the darling starling and totally unnecessary, and I almost suggested she discard it and take it home with her, but she was doing so well at parting with things that I left it alone.
Sister #2, Ellen, grows lots of house plants and brings them in to the library to sell to raise money. Mostly they're priced at $3, which is way too low, so I always buy at least one when I'm there, and give them $5. I have about 3 plants at home that are growing out of control, which I bought from them a couple of years ago. Yesterday I bought a jade plant to replace the wonderful huge one I had about 5 years ago that had a mealy bug infestation and had to be euthanized. I learned yesterday the cure for mealy bugs: sprinkle baby powder on top of the soil and put the plant in a plastic bag. YES! Anyway, there were lots of wonderful plants but I really don't have room. I had a really great conversation with Sylvia and Ellen about plants and what the Cooperative Extension agent had written in her recent columns. See? I said I really like these two crazy sisters.
Upper Jay is the town where The Land of Makebelieve used to be. That was the theme park my father's cousin owned. It was made up of tiny houses, like a pumpkin-shaped one where Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater lived, and the center of the whole place was a castle. My cousin's partner had worked for Walt Disney so the place was loosely modeled on Disneyland (no Disney World yet at that point). There was a stagecoach ride and a western village, a small train to ride on, a steamboat named the Billabong Belle (so named because my cousin's father was Australian). You were allowed to bring your dogs in. In later years they had miniature cars you could drive and a safari ride. The summer I was 16 I was the nanny for my cousin's two children and we went there every day--all we did was ride on the rides and hang out there all morning, then spend the afternoon at home swimming in their pool. Anyway, The Land of Makebelieve was a wonderful place and we had a lot of fun there when we were kids. All that's left there now is the castle--you can see the top of it from the road, and it's in pretty bad shape. Those days they hired kids to attach cardboard signs to the bumpers of cars in the parking lot with wires (the ferries on Lake Champlain did the same thing) advertising the place. Now I sound as if I'm really in the way-back machine, don't I.
Work is work. I'm cataloging horrible CD's for Plattsburgh. They were really bitchy about getting them done so we're rushing them. You'd think that meant they were worth doing, but noooooo. LeAnn Rimes singing I believe; Dulcimer Dan playing hymns ; a Currier & Ives Christmas collection ; Disco originals--and plenty more. I spent about 20 minutes looking up a cataloging rule yesterday for the Currier & Ives one--as if anyone will ever know whether I did the 505 field correctly or not for parts 1, 2 & 3. But we catalogers are an obsessive bunch, aren't we.
We had snow the other day, about 6" where I am, less of course everywhere else. Now it's cold. So cold the soda in my car froze last night. I had 3 six-packs. At least this time they didn't explode, just froze. Now they're thawing so that I can drink them all day. Along with white cranberry juice (recommended by the nurse as an option), bouillon, tea, black coffee and lots of water. I had a long talk with Coffee Man at alternate coffee stop this morning. He's a snomobiler and is extremely frustrated by the lack of snow this year. Lots of people are, but I'm saving a bundle on plowing expenses. So far I've only shelled out $30.
Had dinner with Ken last night. I discovered that my dogs really like dry Manhattans made with Wild Turkey. Tess was begging and being really obnoxious so I put my glass down and she started lapping it up, made a face and walked away. I offered it to Chances and she lapped it up. I offered it again to Tess and she lapped it right up. I really don't approve of giving alcohol to dogs, but this made me laugh. They showed no adverse effects but drank about 1/2 an oz. I threw the rest out (someone had to stay sober). Ken did not approve of having them drink out of my glass.
My friends the Holts are coming this weekend. Rush is a Congressman and I told him he has no business coming to the North Country right now, he needs to stay in Washington and work on that Crazy Man's budget. That man must be stopped! I said. Rush laughed and said he's doing what he can. We agreed that arresting Cindy Sheehan for wearing a t-shirt to the State of the Union was really awful but typical. I'm having dinner with them Saturday night. We always have a wonderful time together, they are really special people to me. Thank goodness there's not a lot of snow, sometimes when they visit in the winter I have to slog through knee-deep snow to get to their camp.
And now it's back to Currier & Ives. I have to type in the titles to 38 all-time favorites.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Catch!
I laughed harder than I've ever laughed at a dog yesterday. I've been trying to teach Tess, the 2-year old dog how to catch her dog biscuit ever since she was a puppy. I've never had a dog that can't catch, and I've had at least 8 dogs in my adult life. Every day I toss a biscuit at her and she opens her mouth but doesn't move in the direction of the biscuit. Yesterday when I tossed the biscuit at her she actually ducked. She ducked! She turned her head to the side and flinched. "Please stop throwing them at me." I laughed out loud for a full minute. If she'd been human she would have put her arms in front of her head to block the blow. What a funny dog. She has other talents, great talents. She's a true Lab, orally obsessive, and has now got up to 3 the number of items she can put in her mouth at one time when she comes to me. It's usually one glove, one sock and a stuffed animal (Puppy). This sort of talent doesn't come easy. She's also a great bird dog, and stalks the chickadees at the feeder on a regular basis, hunkering down real low on the deck when I let her out, eyeballing who's at the feeder before flying across the yard after them. She chases the squirrels way into the woods, too. She's the cuddliest dog I've ever had, and I've longed for a cuddly dog for years. She loves to lie across the back of the couch with her head draped in my lap. Her registered name is Designer's Hawkeye Tesoro. Designer is the name of the kennel she came from; Hawkeye is where I live; Tesoro means treasure in Italian; Tess is her real name. She is really a neat treasure. If I could get her to stop eating poop it would be really cool.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
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