Musings on a Small Life

We got our town crier! Our department is hosting a June conference of provincial institutional research and planning folks and we're in the midst of the details, each of us doing bits and pieces. We had half-jokingly bandied about getting the town crier to come and in and do his bit for the opening of the conference, so one of my coworkers emailed him today and he said yes! For a small honorarium, we'll have the third-time World Champion Town Crier -- what could be more fitting for our city? BTW, Eileen, if you read this, my boss is waiting to hear back from Bob Rae about coming to speak at the big dinner on the Tuesday night. At our update meeting this morning, I had to toss in that we ought to try for Rick Mercer too, so they both could jump naked into the water. Hahaha! (Did you ever see Rick Mercer and Bob Rae do that piece? OMG, it was so funny.) Anyway, somehow I think the budget is too small to get Rick Mercer. :-) Oh, before I move on other non-work things,...

Cost $70 for his time and the new outlet, but worth it. I was worried there had been a small fire behind the wall, because last night I could see a smokey grey mark above the outlet, but P said it was just the smoke itself and should scrub off. He removed the old outlet and then showed me how far the up the wire the insulation had melted (not far). He said it happened because of the heating and contracting of the wire when using things like my hairdryer and my electric heater (to warm up the freezing bathroom when I shower). Over time all that expanding and contracting just melted the cover on two of the wires. So it wasn't a faulty wiring (during building) issue. I had asked him if he would test all my outlets for shorts and he said he could, though felt it would be a waste of money. That was before he took out the old outlet and showed me the problem. Now that I've seen what was wrong, I'm less inclined to panic about the rest of the outlets. He did change it to ...

So, my bathroom vanity lights have been flickering for a week or so. Okay, I thought, one of the bulbs is ready to die, no problem. I even remembered to bring up a couple of spare bulbs from the basement a few days ago. Then last night no lights would come on when I flicked the switch and I thought, wow, all three bulbs burned out at once, how odd, but whatever. I got up on the counter to change them and realized they were the new long-life kind and shouldn't have burned out, so switched out only two bulbs and flicked on the switch, still nothing. But something seemed odd with the nightlight that was plugged into the outlet by the sink, so I jiggled it and presto! the vanity lights all came back on. Well, that's not right, I thought. Something amiss there with the wiring. Then something seemed to happen with the outlet and I shut the switch off, pulled out the night light and took the face plate off the socket. Um....Even I know this isn't a good thing to see! ...

Hmm, where to start. Well, it's pretty quiet at my end. My "big" boss will be back tomorrow after a week's holiday, a cruise someplace warm. I'm trying not to think about the week ahead at the office. I'm very, very grateful for my paycheque, that's the best I can manage. Nicki's okay at the moment. I picked up the Ventolin (bronchodilator) yesterday, a few cents less than $10. Whew. Cheap meds! I've not had to use it yet, but am keeping it handy. I'm learning a lot from the Feline Asthma Inhaled Meds group, though hope I won't have to be on it daily for too long. Nicki today, playing one of his favourite games. I started physio on Friday, have two appointments this coming week. For my hip/glute/lower back issue. I finally caved; I have to do something, because the chronic pain is affecting every aspect of my life. So I'll see how things go. She thinks she can help (of course she'd think that), and if I'm ...

For anyone who thinks Google mail is annoying, it can't hold a candle to Yahoo Mail in the annoyance department. I used to have a Yahoo mail account years ago, but stopped using it when I switched to Gmail (feels like eons ago now). But yesterday I joined the Feline Inhaled Meds group on Yahoo and guess what? You need a Yahoo email to do that, even though it's a public group. Strike one against Yahoo. You also need to enter a mobile #, it's mandatory. I don't even know what my cell # is offhand, had to look it up. That it's mandatory to enter a number I actually never check is stupid and a second strike against Yahoo. BTW, it let me sign up with a first name of "Nicki" and a surname of "Cat." I'm serious. I'm Nicki Cat.  But because I put my own birth date in, and because I'm over 50, these are some of the ads that take up a good chunk of screen real estate when I'm logged in: Okay, strike 3 against Yahoo! ...

Dad sent me an email last night, I got it this morning. It was too hot for them to walk on the beach yesterday, where they're staying in Mexico. Boo hoo. Here was our morning view today:           We got about 20 cms of snow this morning, on top of the New Year's Day storm and the ice on the 4th. It looked pretty, yes indeed. From the inside , not from the middle of the morning commute. It cleared up later in the morning, and this was the evening sky as I was getting home: The sun still rises and sets, doesn't it, no matter what's happening in our lives and in the crazy world. In my mundane corner of the world, which thankfully was peaceful and nonviolent this week, I missed the better part of two days' work because of a bad head cold, though I made it through the whole day today. Minor stuff. Also minor, but a perk: I got my AirMiles reward, the new convection/toaster oven. I've not had a convection oven before, so I'll ...

Dad and his wife flew from Vancouver at 6AM PST today, heading to Mexico for ten days. Warmth, sunshine, beaches.... This is how things look in my part of the world today:           Did I mention that temps will be plunging tonight into the minus 20s Celsius, for the upcoming week? Nice . Tomorrow's commute to work (and school for the kids) should be "fun"! I hope that wherever you are, your weather is better!  Peace .

A very happy New Year! I would wish that 2015 brings only joy, success, prosperity, laughter and good health to us all, but we're old enough to know that it will bring challenges and tears too. I just hope that when we look back on December 31st, the good will have far outweighed the bad. Layla Morgan Wilde at Cat Wisdom 101 had a fantastic motto for 2014: " Keep it simple. Do less, purr more ." I'd like to adopt that motto for myself in 2015, because I'm exhausted--physically, mentally and emotionally. Mostly it's that hamster-wheel-in-the-brain thing I have going on 24/7. I'm also ready to get rid of my "Fukitol" graphic and my "words of the year", both posted up in my office cubicle . I wouldn't say I've fully accepted the work changes (crazy, because what is, is), but I'm ready to replace those with something more uplifting that I found at SimpleReminders.com: I'll probably need to read it every day...