Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I just emailed three short messages (as long as the SMS protocol would let me) from my cell phone, which I'll just have to trust have actually gotten posted. Now the version typed at a comfortable keyboard in a real editor, which I'm dropping into the mail queue so it should automatically make its way to the LJ server once I've got a net connection again...

In addition to hearing wind this morning, I also heard voices and a circular saw. And this time they didn't sound like they were on the roof two doors away, so I looked out my bedroom window, and a man in an orange and yellow safety vest was on the fire escape of the house next door with a tape measure, shouting to a similarly attired fellow on the ground. They were gone by the time I made it to a window that isn't painted shut -- I was going to ask whether they were from the city or from the owner of the house. From their gear, I figure city is the way to bet. I was hoping that this meant the windows on the back of that house would be boarded up today -- I've only been asking the police to request the city to do this for twenty or thirty months, right? -- but it looks like all they did was take measurements. Maybe in a couple of days. Then I won't have to worry as much about people sneaking in there and accidentally setting the place on fire.

The next time I went to check my mail was when I noticed that my Internet connection was down. Did the routine troubleshooting, finally got around to checking the phone line, and no dial tone. Made breakfast, watched the weather report, and headed out to see whether the problem was inside or outside the house, but on my way out I checked again and there was a dial tone. But no net connection yet 'cause I can't dial as far as my ISP. I'm wondering whether the wind broke something between my house and the local switch, or between the nearest switch and the rest of Verizon's network. But it hasn't been that gusty yet; nowhere near as bad as the recent wind storm. (Yeah, we have a severe thunderstorm watch and a tornado watch posted for much of Maryland today, but the last radar picture I saw on the telly (must resist urge to capitalize "radar", since that's so old-fashioned and most people seem to have forgotten it's an acronym) had the storms somewhere just this side of Frederick -- it's not storming in Union Square just yet. If I had to bet, I'd guess that it's not even quite hit Ellicot City.

So I'm cut off from my world again. Argh. I'm feeling a bit better -- not great, but better, and trying to keep the end of the cold from turning into one of those three-week coughs -- but I guess another day of goofing off and getting extra sleep wouldn't be a bad idea. Except that I need to make the effort to run out to a store at some point (it's not storming yet, but it's already wet). Doggone it, I was sure I had more cough syrup in the house!

At 2:00 this morning (I wasn't asleep yet), my cell phone started screeching. I couldn't remember why I would've set an alarm for 2 AM until I looked at the display -- it was reminding me that the second peak of the Leonid meteor shower was approaching (predicted for 2:30). But Baltimore was extremely thoroughly overcast. Actually the weather didn't really matter that much because even if I had a car I trust to take me far enough from town for meteor-watching, sitting outside with a cold I'm trying to get rid of wouldn't have been my smartest move. Oh well.

I made another attempt at teaching myself to stir-fry last night. I came a lot closer this time. Worth continuing, I think. Then I got three and a half hours sleep before I was mysteriously awake again. (Like I said in an earlier entry -- this cold has randomized my circadian rhythms.) One more reason to try to nap.

Well, it looks like it'll be a while before I see my friends page or get around to responding to the rest of those comments on my entry about cats' eyes. I've found the discussion so far quite educational, and would like to extend my thanks for the quantity of Clue provided. (Hmm. I still want a way to post comments (in reply to other comments) via email. I would find that very pleasant even when my net connection is working correctly.)

Those empty, freshly-painted rooms upstairs tempt me to lug the piano (Fender-Rhodes) up there and set it up -- I've been meaning to find someplace to set it up and play it for a while anyhow. But that is not something I can move up two flights of stairs (there's a landing between the second and third floors; the piano is currently in its case on the second floor) by myself without severely wrecking my right elbow, which currently is having trouble even lifting a skillet. It's not really something I should ever try to move unassisted in general, but I've been known to do stupid things like pushing my physical limits before. I should really be practicing the guitar anyhow, especially the tunes for the second Homespun Ceilidh Band CD that I haven't recorded my parts for yet. The one giving me the most trouble is "Edna Michael's Waltz", which I can play beautifully if I play it too fast. The problem is I need to slow it way down from the way I learned it, and still keep the tempo even ... and since I'll be leading that one in, I can't just follow somebody else. (We didn't record a "base track" of that tune in the first session. We attempted it with just Mike and me on Saturday, but I haven't listened to see whether what we did was useable for that, so I might have to do it again.) Mike wrote it, and I'll confess to a bit of envy because it has more "brain stickiness" (that is, potential to become an earworm) than any of the tunes I've written.

Okay, naptime.