Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"I don't get or expect much of a 'wow' from any operating system interface anymore [...]. But my UI research in '81 and '82 taught me the difference between the sizzle and the steak. The OS's job really is to act as an interface between applications and the hardware, and then to provide an 'environment' (for both programmers and users) that enables and defines how they go about their business. As a user, I am not fond of flashy graphics for their own sake. For me, the XP interface is usually more than graphical enough [...]" -- Chris Rutkowski, in "360 Degrees of Vista: The InformationWeek Windows Vista Roundtable", InformationWeek, 2007-03-05 (issue #1128), pp. 39-40)

The good: I just realized that with all the stuff I did yesterday and the additional handicap of doing it starting too early and on too litle sleep, I managed it without needing to take codeine, and with only my ordinary daily dose of Ultram & ibuprofen.

The bad: today I feel utterly craptastic despite having caught up on sleep. My planned short grocery run today is hereby postponed. As is just about everything else under consideration for today. I'll maybe watch some of the television I slept through last night (if I decide that I can bear being exposed to the traffic noise from outside without earplugs), poke haphazardly at a PHP thingie I'm toying with, try to remember what email seemed so urgent to deal with today when I was thinking about it last night, and rest.

Maybe I'll be in shape to do the fun things I wanted to do tomorrow by tomorrow if I let my body catch up this evening.

Still, being able to get through as much of yesterday as I did before I fell over is something.

The power steering fluid is still leaking, but I think I managed to slow it down a little. I'll know better after another day or so of watching it. At least the 'stuttering" of the power assist when making turns at low speed has gone away (though the "mushiness" at high speeds is not related).

I'm getting tired of having half a car. I can drive to the grocery store, so it's not as bad as the time I've had to lug groceries home in a backppack, but I'm still stuck when it comes to anything far enough away to make me nervous about breaking down, or for which there's no reasonable alternative to highways where the minimum safe speed is higher than the "feels unstable" speed of my car right now. Which means any of the rehearsals lately, at least one upcoming gig, visiting anniemal, and most social stuff. And my selection of stores to shop at is limited by this as well.

Thing is, even when the insurance stuff finally does get sorted out, I don't know whether I'll be any better off. With a $250 deductible on uninsured-motorist claims, I'm not sure how I'll be able to afford to repair/replace my car even after I get the insurance money.

In the meantime, I patiently move the car from one side of the street to the other and back twice a week...

I had some strange dreams last night and this morning. In one, I was helping an older me balance our checkbook by carefully frying receipts in vegetable oil, while a younger me asked questions.