Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

WTF? Before I left for rehearsal I very carefully programmed the DTV converter to tune in to The Unusuals and then The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (I didn't try to record Great Performances ("Chess in Concert") because I planned to catch the rebroadcast tomorrow -- ah, today). I even told it to switch channels fifteen minutes early, because at least one television station from which it's updating its clock gives it wonky-ass data (no idea which one(s); the process is invisible to the user). Then I carefully programmed the recorder to record at the right times (because I can set its clock myself). But when I got around to looking at the television just now, the DTV converter was off (I disabled the inactivity-timeout shutdown because it kept turning off in the middle of shows I was recording -- which it knew I wanted all of, because the timer event setting screen includes a %@#^ing duration for the event -- so it should have still been on from those two events earlier).

Sure enough, two hours of black screen got recorded. And when I turned on the DTV converter, those two events had been erased from the timer event list, while Charlie Rose at 9AM was still showing as a future event -- so I did program the timer (otherwise Charlie Rose wouldn't have been there either), and I programmed them for the right day and got the AM/PM part right (because otherwise they'd still be in the list as future events (this converter will not allow me to set events in the past (which makes sense, but annoys me when I go to set the time for a show tomorrow before I set the date, and have to go back and do things in its order instead of mine))). So why. the. [expletive]. did it not turn itself on at the designated time and tune in those two shows? (And no, neither was on a channel that goes away when it rains, not that I think the rain got heavy enough for that tonight anyhow.)

DTV is not enhancing my television-viewing experience. It's mostly just making me much more frustrated, much more often. Getting a classic-movies channel and the second channel of MPT is not quite making up for All The Ways It Goes Wrong.

(And yes, I do understand that making my life better -- or at least shinier -- was not the reason for the change. Reallocating frequencies in the radio spectrum was the reason. Making television better for everyone was just the marketing spin to mollify everyone who hadn't planned to buy a digital television on their own as long as NTSC was still being broadcast. Knowing that does not make me any less annoyed.)

The kind of day I'd already been having before I noticed that:

This morning I went to check my blood sugar, and the lancet device (aka "the clicky-jabby thing") I was going to use is cocked by holding the front half, and pulling the rear end backward. The very front is a shroud that covers the lancet itself, with a little hole for the pointy end to poke through when the spring is released and make a smaller hole in me for the purpose of getting some blood out. Well, I grabbed it too far forward and had an attack of the clumsies, and wound up shooting that shroud across the room, where it disappeared, in the process of cocking the device. I wound up using the clicky-jabby thing from a different glucometer instead.

I did not manage to get out to the nail salon and supermarket before rehearsal, so I went to rehearsal still missing the useful part of the nail on my middle finger, and with the acrylic on my thumb and ring finger in precarious condition. On the way, I realized that I'd forgotten to put a tube of Krazy Glue in my purse, but remembered that I had a tube in my music bag anyhow. After I got to rehearsal I discovered that the never-used / never-opened tube of Krazy Glue in the music bag was old enough that it had solidified (all the way through, as far as I could tell). So after catching the back edge of the thumb acrylic on an upstroke and narrowly escaping ripping off half my thumbnail, I adjusted my right hand technique to use only downstrokes for the rest of the evening. (The ring finger held up, fortunately.)

And on the way to rehearsal, I spent most of the I-95 portion of the trip in what looked like the tail end of rush hour traffic. But I'm not sure that was part of "having that kind of day" or not -- the last four or so times that I've gotten on I-95 south out of Baltimore in the evening, it's been like that. So have I just been really unlucky the last few outings, or does the trailing-off-but-not-done-yet part of rush hour now extend until around eight o'clock in the evening or later? (Used to be, any time after about a quarter past seven it was uncluttered evening/nighttime traffic density and room to get up to a good cruising speed.)

On the plus side, I did get to a supermarket after rehearsal, so I've got cat litter, and some groceries for me (and no more money, because when you put off buying stuff for a long time, just replacing the essentials that have run out / are running out adds up to a whole lot of dough, even without any frills or fun stuff).

And I still had enough spoons left to deal with the litter box and the garbage and even give Perrine a good brushing -- I wonder how many grams of fur I took off her with the brush and the comb tonight.

Alas, I don't think I'm going to manage to get up to Boston (well, Worcester actually) this weekend like I wanted to. But I'd started to resign myself to this because it had already been looking less and less likely. Between not having any money left, and probably needing until sometime Friday to recoup spent spoons, I think that trying to work things out at the last minute is going to use up whatever energy I'd need to enjoy the con with, even if I could pull it off. *sigh*

But there's something closer to home that I'd said "probably not" to when I thought I still had some chance of getting to ConCertino, and I still have three quarters of a tank of gas, so maybe I'll be feeling well enough Saturday to go be social like I'd really wanted to do this past weekend. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, I'm getting behind on my friendslist again -- checking the most recent entries now and then but not getting very far down the page -- so, ah, I'm not ignoring you, I'm just not paying very good attention. Oh, wait. Uh ... if I've been ignoring you, it's not because I'm trying to; just not enough braincycles to spare in the last few days. Er ... several days. Ah, that is, I've lost track. Bleah.

Anyhow, if I leave a comment a week after everyone else, or fail to hear about something nifty/important/upsetting/personal/fascinating, that'd be why.

"This is part of why I really dislike politicians. They will say one thing, do something else with their left hand, and do something completely and utterly different with their right. (And let's not go into what their legs are doing while all this is going on... or their kidneys... or their gonads... or their spleens....)" -- caraig, 2008-09-05

Shelby County (Tennessee) Commissioner Wyatt Bunker was quoted in an article about a proposed antidiscrimination measure (published 2009-05-06) thus: "I don't belive people are born gay. I don't agree with discrimination against them, but I'm not going to give them a lot of protections that give legitimacy to homosexual behavior."

So let's see whether I've translated this correctly: "I don't agree with discrimination but I think it's important to make sure the county that I help run is allowed to discriminate." (Why, Mr. Bunker? In case you change your mind about discriminating ... or get caught at it?)

Elsewhere, unrelatedly, I observe that reading (paraphrased, but only barely), "Maybe if you weren't so rude and hostile as to call what I said 'the Tone Argument' and label it derailing, I'd be more inclined to listen to your objections to it," really makes my head hurt.

(The thought that I may have been that clueless sometime in the past does not help.)