I'm so cold I'm so goddamn cold
My friend Mary Frances used to walk to work in Providence every day, and when it was really cold in the winter she used to sing that Stones song "She's so cold," only of course she'd substitute "I'm so cold." I think of her on days like today when it's -20. I'm pretty used to this weather, though and can be outside long enough to get my chores done. If I have to stay outside for any length of time I get chilled, but it's sort of nifty to feel what that temperature is like. -30 and colder is really amazing.
Friday the 29th of Feb. All I feel is that I wish it were the 1st of March because I'm ready to change my calendars. I guess I can change this work one before I go home, but see--I won't remember it then.
I'm way behind on my book orders so am sifting through the huge pile of requests from bookmobile patrons. They don't request much that's unusual or special and mostly I buy what they request. Except for the god ones. I even get the Harlequin and Silhouettes (sometimes), but I didn't order the fake CIA novel that (supposedly) was sent to the CIA, who blacked out a bunch of it. It didn't get very good reviews so I felt justified. I should order a book with a bunch of sentences blacked out?
Every year we have to come up with Service Priorities for the System, which must tie into our 5-year Plan of Service. From those Priorities we come up with Department Goals, and from those we come up with Personal Goals. We're assessed annually on the progress or non-progress we made on completing work on those goals. One of my goals for 2007 was to set up a blog for CEF. Well--I set one up in August, but never did anything with it. Woe is me. The director is now taken up with Facebook and has lost interest in a blog, and so, I guess have I. Once I get the blog going I will have to update it twice a week or so and first I have to figure out what to add to it. Anyway, one of my clerks' 2008 goals is to help me (read: get me to) weed the adult fiction collection. This is just about my favorite project, and it'll be great to have her do all the grunt work of checking how many times each book has circulated, how many copies we have, separating them according to status, etc. Then having a book truck shoved into my face. She's excellent at getting me to actually do things. That won't start until we've officially worked through dept. goals. We were supposed to have this done in Nov.--this place is not known for meeting deadlines. My goals? Deal with continuing work on a systemwide coordinated cooperative collection plan (above clerk to analyze data I generated in 2007) and continue cataloging local history collections (I think). Not supposed to have "continue" as a goal.
Work stuff. never ends, but that's why they call it work.
Friends are here this weekend at the camp below my house. They were here earlier this winter but it wasn't cold enough then so now they're here for VeryXtreme. And boy are they getting it. No heat, just a big fireplace. I'm sure their food is all frozen. They have an outhouse, but who wants to use one at -20? They're planning to climb a mountain today but it would be really dangerous in this weather so I hope they don't. They're hoping to climb Giant, which my father called Liza's Giant, and I never knew why. I think because it was her favorite mountain.
Now I have to move on to another project: director wants overall average fill rate for interlibrary loans we did for year 2007. Lots of totals to count, not everyone totaled their categories (correctional facilities, bookmobile patrons, member libraries, etc.). Have to count different statistics for different reports, each one just a little different from the other. And I am sooo bad with numbers. Like, percentages? I must have been sick the day they covered that.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
William F. Buckley Jr. Dies
Conservative Icon
William F. Buckley Jr., the conservative pioneer and television "Firing Line" host, responds to questions during an interview July 20, 2004 in New York. Buckley died Wednesday morning, Feb. 27, 2008. William F. Buckley Jr., 82, the intellectual founder of the modern conservative movement, who helped define the movement's doctrines of anti-communism, military strength, social order and a capitalist economy, died today at his home in Stamford, Conn. He had diabetes and emphysema, but the precise cause of death has not been determined.
Bet most of you don't know who he was. Some of us remember the days when we couldn't stand the sound of his voice or his accent. He and Gore Vidal represented political opposites in the country. Not that I'm glad he's dead--like our nasty, child-biting dachshund, Buckley mellowed in his old age. and wrote novels.
Conservative Icon
William F. Buckley Jr., the conservative pioneer and television "Firing Line" host, responds to questions during an interview July 20, 2004 in New York. Buckley died Wednesday morning, Feb. 27, 2008. William F. Buckley Jr., 82, the intellectual founder of the modern conservative movement, who helped define the movement's doctrines of anti-communism, military strength, social order and a capitalist economy, died today at his home in Stamford, Conn. He had diabetes and emphysema, but the precise cause of death has not been determined.
Bet most of you don't know who he was. Some of us remember the days when we couldn't stand the sound of his voice or his accent. He and Gore Vidal represented political opposites in the country. Not that I'm glad he's dead--like our nasty, child-biting dachshund, Buckley mellowed in his old age. and wrote novels.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The chasm
This is the falls (these are the falls?) at AuSable Chasm. That's the power house--they used to generate power here. The falls are usually much more dramatic but the river is high. That's the AuSable River, which flows from beyond Lake Placid (one branch) and from the high peaks (another branch) and forks in AuSable Forks (hence the name).Anyway, I love this view. You have to walk to the middle of the bridge--it's a bridge for cars, and there's a walkway for pedestrians, with a post-type railing about armpit-high that you see right through. This time of year the sidewalk is packed snow/ice and you can only walk right next to the railing. I thought it would be hard for me to walk across the bridge because I have some fear of heights--like the fear that makes you have bad dreams about heights sometimes. Anyway, I really enjoyed the walk, and even looked straight down without getting the heebie-jeebies. With age comes what--stupidity? bravery? ignorance?The river divides the town of AuSable Forks , where my ancestors had first a paper mill, then a pulp mill as well. When I was young and we lived for a brief time in my grandfather's house in town I walked across the bridge every over the river every day. The paper mill dumped acid and chemicals into the river at least twice a day. I thought it was a magic river because it changed colors throughout the day--when I walked to school in the morning it was brown and when I walked home it was bright green.When the mills closed the town pretty much went bust. You still can find people who worked in the mill--I talked to someone just the other day who did, and you read their obituaries a lot. The mill closed in 1975. That was the end of prosperity for the Forks. There used to be 2 big grocery stores, 2 movie theaters, several bars, a pool hall (which we walked past all the time and were forbidden to enter), 2 clothing stores, a barber shop,a butcher, hardware store and more. Now there's a horrible grocery store, a hardware store, a drug store, a depressing used book store, a liquor store, a bank and a bar, 2 convience stores and a couple of other things. It's very depressing. I hardly ever go there--I do my shopping in the metropolis of Plattsburgh because I'm here every day at work. People like ken have to shop there because Platts. is just too far for them to drive.The remaining movie theatre is a beautiful building, art deco and in good condition. New people bought it and fixed it up last summer, a cause for great excitement. They show first-run films. Some of my summer friends go to the movies there and I feel as if I should but I never think of it. I'm all Netflixed out.
These aren't proper yurts, but they look yurtish. I've always been puzzled by them. They're just outside of Keeseville. Keeseville is not quite a blue-collar town (to call it blue-collar would be paying it a complement), which makes this an even stranger sight. These are apartments--the kind of apartment people rent from week to week, or maybe month to month. I wonder what people think when they drive from the ferry along Route 9 to get to Lake Placid and pass these.
Rime ice
I didn't have much luck capturing the magic of the trees covered in white. It's a look that's very different from snow--there's a very white coating that wraps around the whole branch. It's so bright, and is really, really beautiful. It's also a reminder that it was very cold last night (like, you need something to remind you?)
Bedroom view
This is the view from my bed. It will change after tomorrow because we're in the middle of a storm and we might get 16" of snow in the "higher elevations." That's me, a higher elevation.
Here's that view of Alder Brook, the one I posted a while ago when the brook was flowing. You can't see the brook now--and I have no idea where it is. It's still a pretty view, though. This is what I like about living here, the way the views change so much with different seasons. Ken and I have spent lots of time talking about our need to have 4 distinct seasons. Sometimes we sneak in a thought that maybe we'd want to spend just a little time in a warmer place right about now. But then when we think about it we conclude that we wouldn't want to miss our winter weather. Check with me again at the end of March.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Last week when I was in Saranac Lake I went to the ice palace. Every year S.L. has a winter carnival. They build a palace out of blocks cut out of the ice in the lake next to the spot the palace is always built. One year there were 2 blocks that had fish in them. No one believes me when I say that, but it's true. Anyway, I hadn't seen an ice palace in a long time, so I was happy to see one this year. It' incredibly cold to walk next to and inside this. duh.
Here it is from the side. This shows how low the walls are. Rush & Annie asked me if it was as big as a house. I had to think about that, but I decided it's about as big as the house Jamie and I lived in for 6 years outside of AuSable Forks. That was a small house, 1 bedroom, not more than maybe 800 sq.ft. The plan (naturally) was to gut it and rebuild the inside. No problem with the gutting part, but naturally we never finished the project (unfortunately that was never Jamie's strength, and I was working every minute I was home, building my basket business). We came to really hate that house. One reason we built the house I now live in.
Friday, February 15, 2008
The weather forecast for the next several days. I know, I know, you're all wishing you lived here--
This Afternoon: A chance of snow showers, mainly before 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. West wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around -8. West wind between 3 and 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 13. Wind chill values as low as -9. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.
Saturday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 6. Wind chill values as low as -1. Light southwest wind.
Sunday: A chance of snow and sleet, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Southwest wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: Periods of freezing rain and sleet, mixing with snow after 1am. Low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Presidents' Day: Periods of rain before 2pm, then rain and snow showers likely. High near 43. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Monday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 16. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 23. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday Night: A chance of light snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -2. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 18.
This Afternoon: A chance of snow showers, mainly before 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. West wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around -8. West wind between 3 and 10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 13. Wind chill values as low as -9. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph. Winds could gust as high as 23 mph.
Saturday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low around 6. Wind chill values as low as -1. Light southwest wind.
Sunday: A chance of snow and sleet, mainly after 3pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Southwest wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: Periods of freezing rain and sleet, mixing with snow after 1am. Low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Presidents' Day: Periods of rain before 2pm, then rain and snow showers likely. High near 43. Chance of precipitation is 80%.
Monday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 16. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 23. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Tuesday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Wednesday: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Wednesday Night: A chance of light snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -2. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 18.
Here's what I found when I checked my bank balance online this morning:
02/15/2008 CHECKING ACCOUNT DEPOSIT DEP 1,892.00
I filed my taxes online 2 weeks ago and BINGO! direct deposit, there they are. I know, I'm lending the government money when I have so much extra taken out, but this girl is incapable of saving money.
I haven't filed my state taxes yet--refund there, too. That's my savings account for later on.
I know this probably isn't a lot to some of you, but I live paycheck to paycheck, and when you only have one income (as Jenica knows) this money is like a pot of gold. But I've been very specific about my plans for it and will not piss it away, as is my pattern. Oh, I'm so much better now. What a good, adult girl.
02/15/2008 CHECKING ACCOUNT DEPOSIT DEP 1,892.00
I filed my taxes online 2 weeks ago and BINGO! direct deposit, there they are. I know, I'm lending the government money when I have so much extra taken out, but this girl is incapable of saving money.
I haven't filed my state taxes yet--refund there, too. That's my savings account for later on.
I know this probably isn't a lot to some of you, but I live paycheck to paycheck, and when you only have one income (as Jenica knows) this money is like a pot of gold. But I've been very specific about my plans for it and will not piss it away, as is my pattern. Oh, I'm so much better now. What a good, adult girl.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
No question, it's February. Happy Valentine's Day, to those of you who are interested. This is morning sun looking upstream on the Saranac from the Silver Lake Road. next to my friend Ricky Parrotte's house.
We were supposed to have dramatic weather yesterday but there was no drama, just 4" or so of heavy wet miserable snow. So far this season we've had 90" of snow. In the Champlain Valley. Add at least 20% more to that for "higher elevations." It's not all on the ground at once, but there's about 3' right now, and the snow banks are higher than the roof of my car. My tiny little Honda car. Which refused to make it to the house last night. But I've finally learned something about cars and snow. I left it halfway up the hill in the driveway, did not attempt to back down and out in the dark (as advised by Donny the Plowman). Saved that for this morning, and backed down SLOWLY. This goes against my impulsiveness completely but I am trying, I am truly trying to be rational, thus live a less complicated life (at least reduce the complications I cause myself). Not as much drama, but I'm really sick of drama.
I want a peaceful life, I want to relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Yeah--well tell that to my fish. Another death wish come true. What, do they jump out of the water and smash themselves against the plastic plants? There it was, sucked up against the pump. I was all set to bring in a sample of my water for PetSmart to test--got the container, rinsed it out, put it in my pocket. But forgot to put water in it. Guess I was planning to test THEIR water. Is this called simplification of life? No, this is called enjoying one's mistakes. I love being me in the morning.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Best in Show!
That's my boy! I watched the dog show for 3 hours last night (OK, I watched Law & Order during the toy group--I just can't watch those dogs, and besides, a toy poodle won). Got all excited to watch the Best in Show part, last 15 minutes, saw them all parade into the ring. Really cool. Immediately fell asleep. I couldn't believe it. I woke up at 11:05, show ended at 11:00. I SHOULD NEVER lie down. and I even said that to myself during one of the groups. There was a beautiful Lab, best of breed, from West Kingston, RI--about 8 miles from my mother's house. Way cool.
I'm sure my boy Uno will be on Letterman tonight so I'll be up for that--I can stay up plenty late, it's that woozy time from 9-11 that I have trouble with. Too early for me to go to bed, can't sleep through the night if I do. Anyway, this beagle was unbelievably wonderful. To watch him trot was pure joy.
New breeds (there were 4) included Tibetan mastiff a nice looking big dog with fluffy (double) coat; a Plott, which I've seen pictures of and looks very ordinary; some Slavic dog who showed up with a tail that WAS NOT docked and thus did not meet the AKC standard for the breed (gasp--but how did the dog get Best of Breed? was there only one?); and I can't remember breed #4 but it was big. Most revolting dog: It's a surprise http://www.neapolitan.com/. Sorry, Molly.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
wow
A friend sent me this picture, along with one of those "this really happened" stories. Is this what he looks like now? If so, compared to Robert Redford, he's aged incredibly well. I have a friend who was a camper with Linda, Bill, etc. They called him Paul Newman as a camper, and I can see the resemblence. Geez.Monday, February 11, 2008
This is Uno, the number one hound in the country right now. He just won Best in Breed and Best in Group at Westminster. He's a 15" beagle, as opposed to a 13" beagle. The small beagles are incredibly cute, but Uno is very, very wonderful. I saw him in a show last week and was really impressed. He's what my father used to call "sporty." Trots with great purpose and joy, tail wagging and held high. Beagles don't do well in shows, they're not dogs owned by rich people. I'm rootin' for Uno, though. Best in Show will happen tomorrow night.If anyone has seen the Christopher Guest movie "Best in Show," the Westminster Show is funny to watch. The movie is a great parody, close to reality. Here's what the press had to say about Uno:
"Uno came with his favorite stuffed frog toy and the fluffy pillow he sleeps on, the one with a Hollywood star."
There's this whole part of the movie about a neurotic couple and their Weimeraner, and they lose the dog's Busy Bee squeaky toy. The wife runs to the hotel gift shop and screams at the clerk to find something that looks like a bee. He offers all sorts of alternatives--fish, chicken (That doesn't even LOOK LIKE A BEE!). Anyway, the dog ends up attacking the judge in the ring and is disqualified. I love this movie and watch it when it's on.
Cold today, -4 when I left the house. They kept talking about the wind chill but I don't pay attention to that,it's just a made up number to let people know they can complain. Cold is cold, wind is wind. It is what it is. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow night--another 6", if anyone can be believed. I am SO LUCKY I have a good and kind plow man this year. Even if it's costing me a fortune. $150 for Dec.-Jan. Plus maybe 4 times since then. $30 a shot. Yikes. Winter is expensive--firewood, electricity, plowing, snow tires, bird seed. But as I say, it is what it is. Jenica said her feet were cold last night. Mine were too, until Tess got under the covers so I could tuck them under her tummy. At least my pump didn't freeze.
Working until 5, then must get Ken dishwashing soap. Bill didn't show up for Sunday dinner yesterday (bad weather) so I went over there and found something to cook. Stayed late, until 3:30, but Ken needed someone to visit with. I'll go Weds., will find something easy for dinner--he's into this thing about not wanting me to cook. I figure he got sick of my cooking, or of watching me cook, or of waiting for dinner to cook. Who knows.
Dogs had to try walking on 3 paws this morning, ground too cold for tootsies. Tess shakes her coldest foot, like someone trying to get the circulation back in their digits. We once had a dog who had had his paws frostbitten before we got him. That was very sad. Not my dogs, they're just fine. First they complain that their feet are cold, the next minute they're chasing each other around in the snow asfastastheycanrun. Funny girls. Cat won't get more than 2 feet from the wood stove, unless she's lying on top of me. wussie.
Friday, February 08, 2008
LateAfternoon Slight ChcSnow Hi 24°F
Tonight Cloudy Lo 18°F
Saturday SnowLikely Hi 27°F
SaturdayNight Snow Lo 23°F
Sunday SnowLikely Hi 26°F
SundayNight ChanceSnow Lo 8°F
Monday ChanceSnow Hi 18°F
MondayNight MostlyCloudy Lo 1°F
This is about the most boring forecast there can be for Feb.
By yesterday morning we had a foot of snow, after 24 hours of snow. After half an hour of trying to get my car out of the mess the town plow made for me at the end of my driveway, my plowman and hero Donny came to plow my driveway and with the gentlest of tugs pulled my car out. I got to work 20 minutes late, which was fine since the library was closed because of the snow. There was one other person there. I worked for 4 hours, cleaned up all the soda bottles & cans under my desk and cashed them in ($9, at 5 cents each). Ran errands, went home, napped of course. Had to take the time off this morning. Up at 6:30, coffee & TV (sugar plant fire, town hall shooting, Romney being an asshole), dishes, nap, Petsmart ($59 for birds, dogs and cat), work. Grocery store on the way home, Ken's after that. Then HOME for the weekend. Vacuum, clean bathroom, dump, watch The Wire, nap, nap some more, bring in firewood, bring in some more.
And people think my life is a marvel. It doesn't get much more mundane. But then, I get to look at beautiful scenery and there's no one in my view until I get a mile from home. Unless there are bogwalkers or rabbit hunters down the road. blech.
My electric bill for Jan. was only $400. Believe it or not, that's really good. I was even warm. I've blocked off the back of the house, which eats electricity and never gets warm. Looks mondo ugly with a curtain of black plastic, but have I ever really cared what my house looks like?
Have a nice weekend.
Tonight Cloudy Lo 18°F
Saturday SnowLikely Hi 27°F
SaturdayNight Snow Lo 23°F
Sunday SnowLikely Hi 26°F
SundayNight ChanceSnow Lo 8°F
Monday ChanceSnow Hi 18°F
MondayNight MostlyCloudy Lo 1°F
This is about the most boring forecast there can be for Feb.
By yesterday morning we had a foot of snow, after 24 hours of snow. After half an hour of trying to get my car out of the mess the town plow made for me at the end of my driveway, my plowman and hero Donny came to plow my driveway and with the gentlest of tugs pulled my car out. I got to work 20 minutes late, which was fine since the library was closed because of the snow. There was one other person there. I worked for 4 hours, cleaned up all the soda bottles & cans under my desk and cashed them in ($9, at 5 cents each). Ran errands, went home, napped of course. Had to take the time off this morning. Up at 6:30, coffee & TV (sugar plant fire, town hall shooting, Romney being an asshole), dishes, nap, Petsmart ($59 for birds, dogs and cat), work. Grocery store on the way home, Ken's after that. Then HOME for the weekend. Vacuum, clean bathroom, dump, watch The Wire, nap, nap some more, bring in firewood, bring in some more.
And people think my life is a marvel. It doesn't get much more mundane. But then, I get to look at beautiful scenery and there's no one in my view until I get a mile from home. Unless there are bogwalkers or rabbit hunters down the road. blech.
My electric bill for Jan. was only $400. Believe it or not, that's really good. I was even warm. I've blocked off the back of the house, which eats electricity and never gets warm. Looks mondo ugly with a curtain of black plastic, but have I ever really cared what my house looks like?
Have a nice weekend.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
blue heeler
There's been an ad in the paper for a couple of weeks for blue heeler puppies. The price keeps going down--it's at $250 for females now. These poor people--I figure no one here knows what blue heelers are.
They're really Australian cattle dogs, and are herding dogs. I've had my eyes on them for a while now. Curious about them. Like the shiba inu, another breed I'd like to try. The breeder I get my Labs from breeds shibas and says they're wonderful dogs. The woman I board my dogs with says they're awful and I shoudn't even think of getting one--they're like miniature akitas. I can only imagine what she'd say if I mentioned this breed to her.
They're really Australian cattle dogs, and are herding dogs. I've had my eyes on them for a while now. Curious about them. Like the shiba inu, another breed I'd like to try. The breeder I get my Labs from breeds shibas and says they're wonderful dogs. The woman I board my dogs with says they're awful and I shoudn't even think of getting one--they're like miniature akitas. I can only imagine what she'd say if I mentioned this breed to her.
nice dog
This is a nice shot. I don't really like dogs who have hard coats like this, but there's just something about the breed that appeals to me. I won't get one--reading up on them has convinced me of that. It's like wanting a Chesapeake Bay retriever--wanted one, rescued one, HUGE disaster. Stick with the breed you know is perfect for you and your lifestyle. Can't beat a Lab. But if there were a time when I could have like, 6 dogs of different breeds... And 6 different cars, too.
full frontal
OK, maybe not so attractive when you see the whole dog. But still, something appealing about the breed--to me, not everyone.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
What's it called?
I listen to books on CD all the time--an hour and a half a day, to and from work. It's funny to hear what the readers are familiar with and what they seem to have no knowledge of. Recently one reader used "riffled" when I thought it must have been "rifled" in print. Check it out from dictionary.com--
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ri·fle 2 (rÄ«'fÉ™l) Pronunciation Key v. ri·fled, ri·fling, ri·fles v. tr.
To search with intent to steal.
To ransack or plunder; pillage.
To rob: rifle a safe. v. intr. To search vigorously: rifling through my drawers to find matching socks.
But then there's
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rif·fle (rÄf'É™l) Pronunciation Key n.
A rocky shoal or sandbar lying just below the surface of a waterway.
A stretch of choppy water caused by such a shoal or sandbar; a rapid.
In mining, the sectional stone or wood bottom lining of a sluice, arranged for trapping mineral particles, as of gold.
A groove or block in such a lining.
In mining, the sectional stone or wood bottom lining of a sluice, arranged for trapping mineral particles, as of gold.
A groove or block in such a lining.
Games: The act or an instance of shuffling cards. v. rif·fled, rif·fling, rif·fles v. tr.
Games: To shuffle (playing cards) by holding part of a deck in each hand and raising up the edges before releasing them to fall alternately in one stack.
To thumb through (the pages of a book, for example).
So I don't remember the context, to know if it was a book the character was riffling through, or someone's drawer the caracter was rifling through.
This morning the reader kept talking about Port Sed, and I know it was Port Said, which I know is Port Sai-eed. Jeez, I sure am my father's daughter. He had a real thing for grammar, pronunciation and accents. When I started sounding like a midwesterner (a pronounced twang, nasal at that) he chastized me and mocked me. My solution: get out of the midwest. Now I have a North Country affectation, subtle and only select words. Hard not to do when all around you pronounce a word a certain way. Around here you sound like a snob if you don't say it the same way.
Everyone loves the way Ken says badaydas instead of potatoes. Doesn't seem like much of a thing to me, I don't hear it anymore.
Anyway, glad I got riffle and rifle straightened out. Whew! I can sleep tonight.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ri·fle 2 (rÄ«'fÉ™l) Pronunciation Key v. ri·fled, ri·fling, ri·fles v. tr.
To search with intent to steal.
To ransack or plunder; pillage.
To rob: rifle a safe. v. intr. To search vigorously: rifling through my drawers to find matching socks.
But then there's
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rif·fle (rÄf'É™l) Pronunciation Key n.
A rocky shoal or sandbar lying just below the surface of a waterway.
A stretch of choppy water caused by such a shoal or sandbar; a rapid.
In mining, the sectional stone or wood bottom lining of a sluice, arranged for trapping mineral particles, as of gold.
A groove or block in such a lining.
In mining, the sectional stone or wood bottom lining of a sluice, arranged for trapping mineral particles, as of gold.
A groove or block in such a lining.
Games: The act or an instance of shuffling cards. v. rif·fled, rif·fling, rif·fles v. tr.
Games: To shuffle (playing cards) by holding part of a deck in each hand and raising up the edges before releasing them to fall alternately in one stack.
To thumb through (the pages of a book, for example).
So I don't remember the context, to know if it was a book the character was riffling through, or someone's drawer the caracter was rifling through.
This morning the reader kept talking about Port Sed, and I know it was Port Said, which I know is Port Sai-eed. Jeez, I sure am my father's daughter. He had a real thing for grammar, pronunciation and accents. When I started sounding like a midwesterner (a pronounced twang, nasal at that) he chastized me and mocked me. My solution: get out of the midwest. Now I have a North Country affectation, subtle and only select words. Hard not to do when all around you pronounce a word a certain way. Around here you sound like a snob if you don't say it the same way.
Everyone loves the way Ken says badaydas instead of potatoes. Doesn't seem like much of a thing to me, I don't hear it anymore.
Anyway, glad I got riffle and rifle straightened out. Whew! I can sleep tonight.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Struggling
I don't seem to be alone in noticing that I'm having problems these days. I've had a couple of offers of "If you want to talk, give me a call." I had another problem yesterday with the visitors from Balto while we were at Ken's for dinner. Is it Sunday's? This is like my childhood, when my parents would celebrate Sunday afternoons by having big, nasty and (I thought) complicated arguments. I take my meds, but still I feel the need to pick a fight. My behavior was really embarrassing yesterday, one of those things I wish I could take back, and in front of witnesses so now of course other people are afraid to disagree with me because they don't want to be treated that way. I've been working so hard at controlling that, trying to make sure that part of me doesn't surface, or is under control. I wonder if I'll ever be able to control it. It's really discouraging--more than people could ever know. Maybe it's the season, Feb. is a hard month. Maybe I'm fed up with myself. Maybe my meds aren't right. Maybe I really am disgusted with some things people do. Maybe I like to argue and there's not much I can argue about so I find things. It wasn't a totally stupid argument but I was unkind and unrelenting. Not a nice girl. I'll keep track of these things. This is the second Sunday this has happened. And once again I have to apologize for my behavior. At least with Mr. Rabbit Hunter Asshole I couldn't apologize because he hopped right on out of the neighborhood. I certainly am a self-righteous jackoff, but at least I know this about myself. Anyway, I'll see "The Girls" tonight and will throw myself at their mercy. Too bad I'm past menopause and don't have migraines or didn't just have a terrible tragedy happen. The Patriots hadn't lost yet.
Other than disappointing myself yesterday was nice. Temps are in the 20's, which is really great. T-shirt weather this time of year. It's magnificent if the sun is out, which wasn't the case, but it was still great. I can tell I'm not great because I slept for more than 4 hours on Sat., but yesterday I was up at 6 and had plenty of good energy all day. I didn't sleep at all well Sat. night, woke every hour. I had a funny dream--briefly, it took place in the last house we lived in in Rockford, and my whole family was there. My mother was very young. The plumbing was broken and you couldn't flush the toilet. Newly arrived, I asked Liza how long it had been like that and she said 25 days. I was horrified. My father was fixing it, my brother and sister told me. He was in the basement, came up and was Ed Asner, shorter than I am. I felt it important to tell him the list of reasons I knew he should call a plumber. At first I couldn't speak, but finally I was able to talk. First on the list: It's DANGEROUS to handle feces. Well, I woke myself up because I said this out loud. I woke up the dogs, too. In true Spaulding Rogers style, I told the dogs (and my book group) repeatedly all day that it's DANGEROUS to handle feces. My father liked to say "fecal boli," among other charming things. So now everyone knows something important and I'm happy to educate the world.
At work today I have accomplished very little so far. Examined the NYTimes bestseller lists to find out if I'm any good at selecting books. Good at fiction, but why are Americans reading such awful non-fiction? #3 is the unauthorized Andrew Morton biography of Tom Cruise. Morton is the one who wrote the first tell-all biography of Princess Diana. Mostly the rest of the books are inspirational or what's wrong with America or how much I've suffered and overcome, but also Steve Martin and Stephen Colbert. I need to decide how many of these things I have to buy, doling out the taxpayers' dollars carefully. The book budget was increased a little bit this year, but with the caveat that, if we don't get as much money from the state as we're hoping, it will be the first place to be raided. So, like, how do I plan my purchasing? Encumber $25,000 right now so I'll be sure to have at least that much? Not to mention that the director is always "bringing to my attention" things she finds on Amazon, which of course I have to purchase whether our Barbara Delinsky and James Patterson readers want to read or not. I encumbered $4000 for audiobooks because I thought I had that much leftover from last year, but was then told that NO, I did not have that money because I wasn't told about it before the 2007 books were closed and the money went back into the general fund. Games, games, games. So I underspent my budget for 2007, which makes it look as if I don't need such a big book budget. And whine, whine, whine. What do the bookmobile patrons want? Large print romance novels. Westerns. Bestselling fiction. Some Christian fiction. Audiobooks. Not much non-fiction. What do the inmates want? They want to make $2 million dollars in 30 days with no money down. Apparently there are a lot of ways to do that, and they find every book that tells how to do it. They also want all the newspaper articles about the crimes they committed, especially the guy who shot & killed a lawyer in the Bronx a few years ago. And books about women and sex and how to please a woman. And James Patterson. And wicca. And now that they know I use the Internet they want all sorts of addresses of politicians and companies and Chambers of Commerce. And of course none of them committed the crime they were convicted of, or if they may have done it, they didn't get a fair trial. No. Really.
Oh, it's all so appealing, I think I'd better get going. I have a brochure for ordering some yummy westerns. The outlaw sherriff. Ghost town belles. Bad moon over Devil's Ridge. My favorite author is Orlando Rigoni. I think he died, though. But so did Max Brand, and he keeps writing.
Other than disappointing myself yesterday was nice. Temps are in the 20's, which is really great. T-shirt weather this time of year. It's magnificent if the sun is out, which wasn't the case, but it was still great. I can tell I'm not great because I slept for more than 4 hours on Sat., but yesterday I was up at 6 and had plenty of good energy all day. I didn't sleep at all well Sat. night, woke every hour. I had a funny dream--briefly, it took place in the last house we lived in in Rockford, and my whole family was there. My mother was very young. The plumbing was broken and you couldn't flush the toilet. Newly arrived, I asked Liza how long it had been like that and she said 25 days. I was horrified. My father was fixing it, my brother and sister told me. He was in the basement, came up and was Ed Asner, shorter than I am. I felt it important to tell him the list of reasons I knew he should call a plumber. At first I couldn't speak, but finally I was able to talk. First on the list: It's DANGEROUS to handle feces. Well, I woke myself up because I said this out loud. I woke up the dogs, too. In true Spaulding Rogers style, I told the dogs (and my book group) repeatedly all day that it's DANGEROUS to handle feces. My father liked to say "fecal boli," among other charming things. So now everyone knows something important and I'm happy to educate the world.
At work today I have accomplished very little so far. Examined the NYTimes bestseller lists to find out if I'm any good at selecting books. Good at fiction, but why are Americans reading such awful non-fiction? #3 is the unauthorized Andrew Morton biography of Tom Cruise. Morton is the one who wrote the first tell-all biography of Princess Diana. Mostly the rest of the books are inspirational or what's wrong with America or how much I've suffered and overcome, but also Steve Martin and Stephen Colbert. I need to decide how many of these things I have to buy, doling out the taxpayers' dollars carefully. The book budget was increased a little bit this year, but with the caveat that, if we don't get as much money from the state as we're hoping, it will be the first place to be raided. So, like, how do I plan my purchasing? Encumber $25,000 right now so I'll be sure to have at least that much? Not to mention that the director is always "bringing to my attention" things she finds on Amazon, which of course I have to purchase whether our Barbara Delinsky and James Patterson readers want to read or not. I encumbered $4000 for audiobooks because I thought I had that much leftover from last year, but was then told that NO, I did not have that money because I wasn't told about it before the 2007 books were closed and the money went back into the general fund. Games, games, games. So I underspent my budget for 2007, which makes it look as if I don't need such a big book budget. And whine, whine, whine. What do the bookmobile patrons want? Large print romance novels. Westerns. Bestselling fiction. Some Christian fiction. Audiobooks. Not much non-fiction. What do the inmates want? They want to make $2 million dollars in 30 days with no money down. Apparently there are a lot of ways to do that, and they find every book that tells how to do it. They also want all the newspaper articles about the crimes they committed, especially the guy who shot & killed a lawyer in the Bronx a few years ago. And books about women and sex and how to please a woman. And James Patterson. And wicca. And now that they know I use the Internet they want all sorts of addresses of politicians and companies and Chambers of Commerce. And of course none of them committed the crime they were convicted of, or if they may have done it, they didn't get a fair trial. No. Really.
Oh, it's all so appealing, I think I'd better get going. I have a brochure for ordering some yummy westerns. The outlaw sherriff. Ghost town belles. Bad moon over Devil's Ridge. My favorite author is Orlando Rigoni. I think he died, though. But so did Max Brand, and he keeps writing.
duh
Sometimes I think it would be nice to know what animals are thinking. Especially Tess. Not so much kittie, because I always feel she has great contempt for things like my housekeeping, the way the dogs get to have things arranged, and many other things. Anyway, I have no idea what the two of them are thinking. I didn't call them or try to get their attention. Either they're not thinking a complicated thought at all, or they're looking at me as if they think I'm really stoopid. Or maybe they're just animals and aren't like humans at all. Anyway, they pose like this a lot.
I guess they were playing but kittie got tired of the way Tess was playing because all of a sudden I heard Tess yelp. She didn't respond the way Chances would have, though--Chances takes those things so personally, she's really wounded emotionally. Tess just walked away, and a few minutes later she and kittie were rubbing each other.
I guess they were playing but kittie got tired of the way Tess was playing because all of a sudden I heard Tess yelp. She didn't respond the way Chances would have, though--Chances takes those things so personally, she's really wounded emotionally. Tess just walked away, and a few minutes later she and kittie were rubbing each other.
can't be bothered
Chances finds the cat boring but intimidating (and no wonder--kittie rubs up against her, then nails her with nasty claws, totally unprovoked. This does not endear her to me). Lots of the time kittie does not let the dogs come to me: she parks herself in front of me and sets a rubbing trap. She especially likes to do this when I'm sitting on the toilet. This is a big disappointment to the dogs because that used to be a meet & greet time for them.
spooky eyes
Cats have very strange eyes. I suppose they're expressive, but I don't see her eyes often enough to know what (if anything) she's expressing with them. Mostly they're closed, or I'm looking at her butt hole as she walks away from me. I pick her up, though, to pet her, but she doesn't look at me when I do that. Sometimes she leans over so far that she's parallel to the floor. Purring, always purring.
ratly
There was this urban myth when I was in college about the Vietnamese rat, which supposedly was a huge, really huge rat. This is sort of what I pictured it would look like.
Kitchen window
This is the window sill above my kitchen sink. In both of the houses we lived in in Rockford there were windows above the kitchen sink. The house in RI, where I lived for almost 10 years, had a wall in front of the sink--so you'd stare at the wall while you washed the dishes or got food ready.
Jamie and I agreed that it was really important to have a nice view out a window above the kitchen sink. There's a double window. If I decide to conserve energy (and money) I cover the windows with plastic, but that means I have to take everything off of the windowsill. I guess I like having something to look at up close as well as outside because most winters I don't cover the window. Being lazy is another reason I don't do it. The window sill is cherry Jamie was very proud of that. I could care less.
Nearly all of the wood in my house (and there's an incredible amount of it: every room except one bathroom and a hall has a wood floor) was sawn by Jamie at the sawmill we used to own. One bedroom of the 3 has "boughten" wood", very pretty spruce. The house is like a Wood Hall of Fame: red oak in the kitchen, hard maple in the living room and downstairs bedroom, ash in the library, cedar in the downstairs bathroom, ash stairs with cherry railings, wide pine planks in the upstairs living room and master bedroom. Whew! I got really sick of wood floors, but Jamie had been setting the wood aside for a long time, and it was what he wanted. He didn't take into account that the wood had been air dried, not kiln dried, so most of it shrank once it warmed up indoors. There are big gaps between all the maple and oak boards--the country look, I guess. It's kind of cool, though because the gaps get bigger and smaller with the change of seasons.
My least favorite is the hard maple--there's not really any grain and it should be stained to be a prettier color--sort of a bland blonde now. Lin helped me paint the living room floor gray. What a huge project! Move all the furniture, paint the floor, hope it doesn't rain because some of the furniture was on the deck, paint a second coat, put the furniture back. Lin helps me with big projects like that. I don't know what I'd do without her help.
Jamie and I agreed that it was really important to have a nice view out a window above the kitchen sink. There's a double window. If I decide to conserve energy (and money) I cover the windows with plastic, but that means I have to take everything off of the windowsill. I guess I like having something to look at up close as well as outside because most winters I don't cover the window. Being lazy is another reason I don't do it. The window sill is cherry Jamie was very proud of that. I could care less.
Nearly all of the wood in my house (and there's an incredible amount of it: every room except one bathroom and a hall has a wood floor) was sawn by Jamie at the sawmill we used to own. One bedroom of the 3 has "boughten" wood", very pretty spruce. The house is like a Wood Hall of Fame: red oak in the kitchen, hard maple in the living room and downstairs bedroom, ash in the library, cedar in the downstairs bathroom, ash stairs with cherry railings, wide pine planks in the upstairs living room and master bedroom. Whew! I got really sick of wood floors, but Jamie had been setting the wood aside for a long time, and it was what he wanted. He didn't take into account that the wood had been air dried, not kiln dried, so most of it shrank once it warmed up indoors. There are big gaps between all the maple and oak boards--the country look, I guess. It's kind of cool, though because the gaps get bigger and smaller with the change of seasons.
My least favorite is the hard maple--there's not really any grain and it should be stained to be a prettier color--sort of a bland blonde now. Lin helped me paint the living room floor gray. What a huge project! Move all the furniture, paint the floor, hope it doesn't rain because some of the furniture was on the deck, paint a second coat, put the furniture back. Lin helps me with big projects like that. I don't know what I'd do without her help.
White Face
This is a scene that sort of defines winter here--Whiteface Mountain (The Olympic Mountain) in winter. All those white stripes. I've always liked Whiteface because it's easy to identify from so many different angles and directions, so when I'm driving around I know what I'm looking at. Growing up in the Midwest we didn't really have landmarks--it was all flat farmland with nothing much going on. Cornfields, farms, soybean fields. Not even very many cows. A hog now and then.
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