Technicalities

January 26, 2011

A Bit More This and That

Here's another hodge-podge of nothingness. I've been working and I've just been too blank at the end of the day to figure out what to post.

Here are a few snippets that have been floating around my head.

I never blogged it, but for various reasons I stopped drinking soy milk about 6 weeks before Christmas. It put a serious dent in my Starbucks coffee drinking... now I get coffee with chocolate... not quite creamy but there is no soy. The results of this one change... I have lost 10 pounds, I have no more hot flashes, sleeping all night (once I get to sleep - but that has always been the case). I venture to say it has been successful and that soy (for whatever reason) does not agree with me at all. Sad.

***

I went all geeky (I know... so hard to believe isn't it) and set up an Evernote account. So far I like it very much. It saves all those links and notes I would ordinarily lose in the general clutter of the day. You know... bookmarking stuff and forgetting where the bookmark is, saving a file somewhere...

ah computers.

I can access Evernote through my Mac, ipod touch, and Windows computers. Notes can be stored locally or on their servers. I can email notes to it (either from my devices or even my phone). I can tweet regular or direct messages to it if I want. There is a free version and a paid version, but you can jump between the 2 types and not lose data. Overall I love it as a terrific repository of things I want to remember. Highly recommended.

***

More snow tonight. We're in the 10 inch band on the weather forecast.

Lovely.

***

Last of all - here's a pic of my daughter's cat. She sent it to me with this caption:

We've been trying to understand this new object for quite some time now...

(yes you may click to make larger)

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 11:56 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
Post contains 340 words, total size 2 kb.

1 The cat appears to be wary, and rightfully so, of the new "cat washing machine." Heh. Sick. I know. Nevermind.

I looked at the Evernote page and put another post-it note on my monitor so I would remember to read more about Evernote later.

Posted by: sheri at January 27, 2011 08:16 AM (zRG4u)

2 PS. I thought "they" always said soy was supposed to "help" with hot flashes. Another myth debunked? "They" are so wrong about so many things. The latest I saw was that coffee is once again good for you. "They" flipflop on that every 6 months or so.

Posted by: sheri at January 27, 2011 08:19 AM (zRG4u)

3 One of my cats does that too. He is especially focused on the gurgling bubbles that rise from the reservoir.

Posted by: joated at January 27, 2011 12:14 PM (VuLx1)

4 Sheri - I was thinking the cat wanted to know how he could get inside that thing. LOL. However, only when it's stopped. When she turns it on, he hides under the bed.

Yeah, the whole "soy is great for you"... well, the answer is - maybe or maybe not. Not for me at least. Wish I had thought of this a few years ago - think I would have felt much better. Who knew - one cup of soy milk a day would have such an influence...

Posted by: Teresa at January 27, 2011 12:27 PM (xE2iU)

5 Interestingly patterned kitteh. Wonder what simple item I could take out of my diet to drop 10 pounds - while still enjoying choco-coffee.

Posted by: patti at January 27, 2011 01:38 PM (GSKiD)

6 So... is Evernote a BIG step up from just saving things as a draft in Gmail (which is how I make things accessible everywhere) or just a small one?

Posted by: Harvey at January 30, 2011 02:50 AM (pTueD)

7 Of course my whole thing with computers is diversity. If everything you own and know is in gmail and something happens either to gmail or your account - you're totally hosed. I try to have things scattered in different systems and methods of storage for that reason. It's like having everything on your home computer, backing up to a hard drive you stick in the closet and then the house burns down... the backup and the computer are gone.

But it is easier to have everything in one place and it does work as long as nothing goes wrong.

Posted by: Teresa at January 30, 2011 10:26 AM (xE2iU)

8 You know... that is interesting about your soy experience. Seriously. And you'd NEVER have known if not by chance. 10 lbs is a lot to lose in 6 weeks just due to soy. That tells me your body seriously DID NOT like soy. I wonder if it was making you retain a ton of water too. Interesting...

Posted by: Bou at February 01, 2011 05:56 PM (wEvt/)

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January 23, 2011

I Was Just Waiting For The Gov To Tell Me What To Do

What is it with news people? I realize the top pols in every state are called on to make pronouncements by our vaunted news media who need to fill 24 hours of coverage even if there is nothing to say.

The thing is, I don't get it. Tell me... were any of you people up north just waiting to be told it's cold outside? Or had you grasped the bleeding obvious and figured it out for yourselves?

Patrick Urges People to "exercise extreme caution" in cold

Yeah, because I was trying to decide if I should put on my swimsuit and head to the beach... Then the Governor got on the news and told me it was dangerous and I changed my mind.

Right.

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 07:09 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 137 words, total size 1 kb.

1 About the only advice we get is during high winds amounts to "don't forget to tie down your pets and small cars", although the weather-guessers do occasionally allow as how temps colder than zero are "a bit brisk".

Posted by: Rev. Paul at January 23, 2011 07:59 PM (39q+j)

2 LOL - looks like in Alaska they treat you all like adults. What a concept. Of course if they did that down here, there wouldn't be enough "stuff" to fill up the news.

Posted by: Teresa at January 24, 2011 09:30 AM (xE2iU)

3 Patrick...what an idiot...that was funny. I know cold...been to many COLD places in my day. We don't get anywhere as cold as you do, but lately, we've had some 10 degree days and nights, with the wind blowing a steady 30-40 knots...that is cold for here. I have the clothes, but most people down here don't. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but when the wind takes you below zero, you need to have a plan B.

This global warming thing is a bitch, eh?

Posted by: Yabu at January 24, 2011 09:57 AM (RDdNW)

4 When we get a cold snap, our local "news" paper runs helpful INFORMATIVE stories telling people how to "stay warm" and "wear layers." I laugh, but I'm also annoyed, because, I mean, how is survival of the fittest going to work properly with all these cheats and hints going on everywhere? The gene pool will NEVER be chlorinated this way. It's OK ("humanitarian"?) to give out a vague clue, I guess, but giving all those specific instructions is going too far, I say.

Posted by: sheri at January 24, 2011 02:39 PM (zRG4u)

5 Just like today a friend of mine in Ohio reported that she was driving in a snowstorm with big flakes and the guy on the radio came oin and said "cold with a chance of snow".

HAHAHHA

RWR
www.rightwingrocker.com

Posted by: RightWingRocker at January 24, 2011 11:15 PM (u3WG2)

6 Don't take it personally. It's just a bit of "I care about the people" political kabuke theater. Gotta always be thinking about the next election, and this takes away a possible "See? Patrick didn't do anything about the weather!" meme.

Posted by: Harvey at January 30, 2011 02:54 AM (pTueD)

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January 19, 2011

Maybe I Can Move Tomorrow

As I was returning from Starbucks this morning I noticed the temperature was... warm. Almost 40 degrees! Wow.

We had about 6-8 inches of snow yesterday and after I finished with the snowblower, it started to sleet. Well, at least I got the driveway cleared so my husband could get the car up to the house. But this morning we were greeted with a nice glaze on our driveway.

My husband put down the usual sand early on in the day so he could get down the hill without sliding into the street. By the time I left to go get my coffee things were softening up pretty nicely.

Unlike the Chicago area where the weather pattern was...
- slight warming trend as the storm rolls in
- snow of about 1-3 inches (just enough to really screw up traffic)
- Immediate descent of bitter bitter cold until the next snow storm moves in

Up here in New England the pattern goes more like this
- cold but not too awful
- big huge snow and maybe some sleet
- warming trend
- drop in temps into just the top of the bitter cold scale (around zero but usually just above)

So I knew I only had today to try and clear the driveway.

When you use a snowblower, there is a leftover bit of snow in places of up to a quarter inch. If this is coated with ice, gets mushy, then refreezes, it becomes positively nasty to try and drive on, walk on, or even plow later if it snows again.

Thus I got out the shovel size chisel and the big snow shovel and got to work. It took about 3 hours, but the ice has been scraped off and the driveway now has a chance to dry off. We're all ready for the big predicted temperature drop and the snow on Friday.

As for me - I'm sore. After the marathon session with the ice, I did an hour of pilates this afternoon. Now I have to go stretch out and do some "melting" so I can move tomorrow. I do wish Sue had released her vids on melting for athletes. The back and neck stuff is terrific, but I'm still waiting on the arm and leg stuff. She says it's coming in April.

Wow what a day!

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 10:49 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 397 words, total size 2 kb.

January 13, 2011

A Day of Randomness

It seems I was busy all day but for the life of me I can't think of anything truly accomplished. I have many and varying things on my mind and I haven't been able to sort them out so I can get them ordered and done.

I'm going to blame it on my closets being in disarray. I am convinced that messy closets send out brain disruption waves.

Periodically I realize I've been throwing stuff into closets with the idea that I will go back and straighten it up later. Of course later never really gets here. For some reason when they get to a certain point, I can't concentrate on anything else until I have waded in and done the job.

The closet in the guest room is a complete disaster. I opened it today to stuff yet one more thing in... Unfortunately I really looked at it this time and now I'm trying to decide if I want to spend most of the next couple of weekends clearing it out and getting it into some sort of order.

I have had this particular closet on my list of "things that need to be done, but are not an emergency" since we moved in - 5 years ago. However, it has been tolerable until today. Now I can't stop thinking about it. This means something must be done. The dreaded clean up bug has bitten and it's "damn the football games - full speed ahead" closets will be cleaned.

After that comes my office. I spend 99% of my time in here. While the room itself is mostly tidy, the closet... oh my the closet!

I believe it was last year that I went through it all and it was so nice and cleaned up. Sadly I get working and life gets busy and it's just too easy to take stacks of paper in there that should be filed and set them down. Like the guest closet I always think I'll get to it later. Of course by the time later rolls around, it's a huge chore.

The office closet may be a more pressing problem since it has paperwork I need for taxes. Therefore, cleanup is necessary... soon.

Joy.

Posted by: Teresa in Ummmmm at 11:46 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 375 words, total size 2 kb.

1 My closet looks like wookie vomit. I'm blaming it on bad lighting... but the clean up is coming.

The clean up is coming to the fridge, too. [shudder]

Posted by: pam at January 14, 2011 08:47 AM (i3Kno)

2 Ah the cleaning bug - I had that virus this time last year. The cleaning bug, just as the creative bug, can not be denied

Posted by: patti at January 14, 2011 12:55 PM (GSKiD)

3 T, you will feel greatly liberated once you conquer it. I did one of my closets the other day and it makes a world of difference. I no longer feel the walls closing in on me. The brain disruption waves have vanished (mostly).

Posted by: Erica at January 14, 2011 01:48 PM (v28m4)

4 I remember the annual 'cleaning of the closet' episode last year!

Posted by: Rave at January 14, 2011 09:06 PM (8Ckbj)

5 I only clean closets when they attack me. I opened the hall closet the other day, and box of stuff flew out and hit me on top of the head. I cleaned it, because you definitely don't want a closet pissed off at you.

Just FYI, still can't (sometimes) see a cursor using Firefox. Safari is fine.

Here's a technicality for you: I hit your site from Firefox and add a comment...no cursor. I leave that open, fire up Safari and hit your site again. When I add a comment, no problem...cursor is there. I close Safari, and go back to the open Firefox session and the cursor is there. I think you've been infected by closet demons.

Posted by: Yabu at January 16, 2011 07:27 AM (RDdNW)

6 Yabu - I finally figured out - that when I open FF to comment here, I have no cursor, all I have to do is move to a different window then come back and the cursor is there. Weird. Thus when you move to Safari then come back - the cursor is there.

For Mac: do a CMD+TAB, let go of the keys and do it one more time. You'll be back in the browser and it will work - If you're in Windows with the same issue... try ALT+TAB the same way.

Posted by: Teresa at January 16, 2011 01:23 PM (xE2iU)

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