My Day Off

Who says a day in the life of a psychic isn't exciting? Anyway, I've got the day off today. Today, being Friday, means it's a 3 day weekend. Awesome. Anyway, I awakened at 2:00 am with what might politely be termed an upset stomach. It's now almost 4:00 am and I still haven't been able to get back to sleep. I was actually wondering last night what it would be that would incapacitate me today. It never fails but that I take a day off from work and I get sick. Anyway, I'm not going to let it hold me back. It's not like it's a sore back or passing a kidney stone or any of the other things that generally happen to me when I take a day off.

Dennis and I plan to go to CostCo today. For those who might not know what CostCo is, it's an event. It's a place where you go broke saving money. You can get a whole case of canned mushrooms. Don't get me wrong because I love fresh mushrooms, but having canned ones in the cupboard just opens up entire vistas of culinary gusto when you don't feel like going to the store to build dinner.

So, I've been building a list. Vitamins for the both of us for the next year. Oh, yeah...I forgot to put a mattress pad on the list. The one we have is actually in pretty good shape. At least, the top of it is. The sides, however, are an entirely different matter. They've shrunk. And, getting the pad onto the bed after it's been washed is horrible. I had to ask Dennis to do it last time because I physically did not have the strength to make the stupid bed. The only thing that's been holding me back is that the top is in such excellent condition. I ought to be able to figure out something with elastic on the corners or something like that if I cut off the sides to extend the life of it and save some money. Except, I just don't seem to have time. Anyway, if they've got one at Costco I'll get one today.

And, many other things on the list, too. It's not like we don't need any of them with the exception of a coffee pot. The one we have is working fine, but it looks like crap. I came home yesterday and it was still on. Sheesh. I mentioned it to Dennis last night and he said, "oooops." Right. Everything was okay, but it had been on all day with an empty pot on it. We were lucky nothing caught fire.

Time out...What did I tell you...upset stomach. Anyway, my current book is, "Smoke and Mirrors" by Jayne Ann Krentz. She's one of my favorite writers. Depending upon which kind of book she's writing she will write under a different name. Krentz is the name she uses for her contemporary stuff. Amanda Quick is the name she uses for her historicals. Jayne Castle is the name she uses for futuristic things. I believe she might use a few more pen names, but Jayne Ann Krentz is her real name. Just a terrific lady. Has she written 140 books? I'd be willing to bet on it. Now, here's an upside to getting old. I'd read this book before. And, generally, when I pick up one of her books from around the house I remember the story. I still enjoy it again, but I, at least, remember the story. Today? Nope. It's like I'm reading it for the first time. Which on the one hand is terrific, but on the other hand a bit worrisome. Anyway, it's my day off and I get to enjoy what appears to be a fresh read from Jayne Ann Krentz.

You know, if somebody were to invent a glow in the dark keyboard for pc's I'd buy it. I found an excellent one for Mac's, but not for PC's. Right now I'm typing in the dark...well, at least in the glow from the monitor. But, my keyboard sits down lower than the level of the desk on a pull out shelf and the uppper portion of it is obscured in the shadows. I can't locate the backspace key or the delete key easily. It's like learning the numbers on the keyboard...I don't know easily where those two keys are by touch. In the 9th grade I took a typing class and the last thing we learned before summer vacation were the numbers. It was a hurried session and nobody had a whole lot of time to practice on them. So, I really didn't learn them all that well.

It wasn't until the job I had as secretary in the Economics Department at the University of Maryland before I learned my number keys. In those days we did not have computers and typed instead on IBM selectrics with the exchangeable balls. When you type an economics formula you are in constant motion with switching to different balls to get the proper characters. Anyway, combined with numbers to get anywhere very quickly you'd need to be good on the typewriter. And, I got good. I wonder how they do it now using computers? Probably with alt number combinations...like I do for a cents symbol. Alt 155 ¢ . For anybody who is interested, you've got to hold down the alt key with one finger while you key in the number On The Number Pad with the other. It doesn't work if you use the numbers at the top of the keyboard. And, there are lists out there for all the different Greek and other sorts of symbols you can use. Mostly I use the cents symbol. I never understood why they hadn't put that one on a keyboard.

Here's what some of those formulas look like from one of the professors I used to type for more than 20 years ago. Amazing thing...the internet.

I'm really beginning to like this blogging business. I could go a bit overboard with it, but that's okay too, I guess. Somehow it's so much more vibrant than a webpage. Well, mine anyway. Though, I did get a request yesterday from a reader for whatever the guides had to say about courage. I did a search with the Google search bar at the bottom of the main page at Talking To Spirit and came up with two specific instances of the word courage. So, I figured that might be a good thing to do today too. Just, ask the guides to talk about it (which they did indicate to me that they'd be okay with), send it to her and then, use that as a basis for a new webpage. Seems to me anybody would be interested in courage. Me too, for that matter.

So, maybe another entry later on today. Ta.