Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

A not-so-good day. Doorbell woke me up (mostly a good thing, as it was UPS ... the "Emergency Conditions Beyond UPS Control" turned out to be "the office decided the roads were too dangerous and called everybody back". Good call, but I'm not so sure about the phrasing on the tracking page. The roads were passable (most of the day), so it was management's discretion to recall the drivers, not "beyond UPS' control". If they'd said, "Delayed due to adverse weather" or something like that, it'd be right. As it is, I got my package, I agree with the decision to get the trucks off the road (I'm told the danger of Baltimore's roads yesterday made the (radio) news in Chicago), and my one remaining complaint is terribly nitpicky even to my own ears. ... And I've just lost track of the opening parenthesis, which 'vim' will point out to me in a moment...)

Where was I? Right: the doorbell woke me and I've been feeling terribly off-kilter ever since; I tried to nap but failed, and now it's about time to try to get ready for rehearsal despite feeling like I'm about to fall over. (We've got a gig this weekend to prepare for.) [Edit -- 19:25: I neve heard the phone ring but I eventually heard the beeping for the call I missed from John after I saw his email -- side streets in suburbia are still bad enough that he's cancelled rehearsal. This is good because I feel like crap and still have things to do at home, despite being suboptimal gig-prep-wise.] While trying to convince myself I feel well enough, here's one of those LJ-memes:

When was the last time you:

1. Used a pay phone?
   A few months ago, I think. I'm not certain.
2. Washed all your dishes by hand?
   I don't own a dishwasher, so that's how I wash all my dishes. Despite having grown up with an automatic dishwasher, I've now been living without one long enough to be startled when I'm visiting someone and they point out that I can just put my dish in the dishwasher. (Hey, if I had one, I'd gladly use it. Especially if it were an apropriate size for a person living alone.)
3. Rode public transportation that wasn't a subway (i.e. the bus)?
   A couple of weeks ago.
4. Made popcorn not in a microwave? And what device did you use?
   a) I don't remember, and b) probably an air-popper. I did watch someone make popcorn on the stove within the past few years -- does that count? And I was looking at fireplace popcorn poppers a while back and thinking how cool that would be if I ever get my fireplace useable. As a child, we used an oil popper.
5. Played an LP? Bought an LP? Saw an LP?
   Played: I'm not sure -- maybe a month or two ago?
   Saw: I can see one from here.
   Bought: I do not remember. It's been a while. I did get some as gifts recently-ish ...
6. Used a rotary phone? Saw a rotary phone?
   Used: Several months ago, before the phone wiring in my house went flaky.
   Saw: It's sitting under my desk; I can see it now. It works much better than the TouchTone phone I have plugged in (for those times I need to make a local call long enough to justify unplugging the modem for instead of burning cell airtime), but I kept hitting phone menus that required the damned buttons. For a while I had two phones next to each other, using one for menu-Hell and the other for speaking.
7. Changed channels without a remote?
   I don't remember, but I think it was Saturday afternoon (a few days ago).
8. Had a watch that actually required winding?
   I'm not sure ... quite possibly high school, maybe college. For the past few years I've used my cell phone as a watch, and before that I had a digital clock (cut out of a Dollar Store desk clock) that I kept in my purse. I don't remember the last wind-up watch I kept in my pocket. (I never had a proper pocket-watch, just wristwatches with their watch-bands removed that I kept in my pocket. If I wore them on my wrist, I kept banging them into doorways and my wrist got sweaty.) If I were going to carry a watch-not-a-phone-or-PDA again, I would probably choose a wind-up one if I could afford it, and cut a pocket-sized portion of a Dollar Store desk clock again otherwise. (You ever notice that replacement batteries for those cost more than a dollar? I feel terribly wasteful replacing the whole clock, but it's cheaper to do so.)
9. Had a gas station attendant pump your gas?
   Probably the last time I drove through New Jersey.
10. Used an electric typewriter? A manual one? Saw a manual one?
    Used an electric: I don't remember; many years ago. I hated them. (I'm assuming switching a TeleType to "local" to type a short note -- or punch a short note on paper tape -- doesn't count, right? 'Cause that'd make it sometime within the past two years.)
    Used a manual: Several years ago, but nowehere near as long as it's been since I last used an electric. Manual typewriters didn't annoy me like electric ones did.
    Saw a manual typewriter: I don't remember, but I have a vague recollection of having run across one in somebody's house or a store or someplace, sometime in the past few months.