Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Started three other entries lately w/o finishing them; one needs rethinking, which I realized when it was about 3/4 done -- others got sidelined by difficulty in posting. So this'n is about that.

Am at Mom's. WiFi/router is down. Wall-wart died. So have to plug Mac directly into cablemodem to access net, and sit in uncomfortable place. Tried running it off four NiMH cells: LEDs came on and winked and blinked and twinkled, bit it wouldn't act as a router. Radio Shack already closed then, so waited until today ...

This evening, drove to five different stores, no suitable AC adaptor (only two even carried such things at all -- but the real surprise is how few salespeople knew what an AC adaptor is -- c'mon. the damn things are ubiquitous, ain't they?). Ran utterly out of spoons, putting tomorrow's plan (to finish clearing 3rd-floor bedroom at my house to make room for ceiling repair) in serious doubt ... so drained, so out-of-cope, that Mom's dog being distracting was nearly enough to bring tears, which means as little-seeming as driving around a couple hours in reasonable-for-a-change weather was, 'twas more than I was really capable of today. (Hate this, but that's not news.)

(Also, while Radio Shack didn't have an AC adaptor I could use, I noticed that the wall-warts they did have were around $23. WTF? Thought this was a $6 part ... $45 buys a whole new 802.11g router!))

Anybody close to Bowie have a 5 V DC, 2.5 A (well, anything ≥ 2.5 A) AC adaptor in your junk drawer?

And just in case I find myself capable of doing anything tomorrow, can anyone help me move a mattress, box spring, desk, and set of weights from the 3rd floor to elsewhere in the house^[*] tomorrow afternoon, evening, or night? Pretty sure desk disassembles (it had better: think it's too big for stairwell intact and not sure where to put it anyhow unless it breaks down into a stack of flattish parts). Can move box spring myself once I figure out where. Need help w/mattress for sure; also weights just because as many trips up and down the stairs as it'll take to move those is going to be more than I can do in one day. Plan has to be somewhat flexible, of course, given that I don't know right now whether my body is going to cooperate tomorrow or not ...

Once I get 3rd floor ready for ceiling repair, I can start to think about preparing for Pennsic ... obviously not going to be pulled together in time to go for full 2 weeks; not sure exactly when I'll head up.

Hope to make less out-of-spoon-y post tomorrow sometime.

[*] Current plan is to move other stuff within house but move weights out of house: put each weight in the middle of a rope, throw rope out window, have person on sidewalk use their end of rope to keep weight from smashing a 2nd-floor or 1st-floor window while person (probably me) on 3rd floor controls rate of descent; then Sheepie sticks the weights in her car. Using arms to lower weights slowly seems more feasible, based on how I've felt after last two times I worked on clearing those rooms, than taking stairs.

From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2008-03-25:

"Three of cinema's greatest directors, two U.S. presidents and one Beatle have died during my time at the Chronicle, and I don't remember their passing generating more buzz in my inbox than that of Gygax." -- Peter Hartlab, San Francisco Chronicle Pop Culture Critic in an "Appreciation" of Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax who died March 4, 2008.

(submitted to the mailing list by Robert Stagmier)

[Gygax was born 1938-07-27]