Trivia for Friday

Well, it's finally the end of the week, and it definitely has been a long one!! 7/10 this morning, and it was a lot better than I thought it'd be. So, here are the questions.

It Seems Like Forever ...

Sometime in January of 2004 I received my brand new PAC Mate from Freedom Scientific. In the five years that I've had it, I've literally called it my life. It has my appointments, my contacts, and all kinds of notes to myself. While I was working it had all my client notes. Over the years, it's been sent in occasionally for repairs, and in March of this year it got the upgrade to the latest version, the Omni. In all this time though, I've never gotten an exchange unit.

Today though, I made the call that's changing everything. My unit apparently has a short somewhere that's causing random hard resets, and, as I discovered just this morning, although the battery is new, it won't charge beyond 99 percent. As long as I keep it plugged in there's no problem with the resets. So, I chose to have an exchange unit sent to me because my service agreements are current and that's something they can do. The sad thing though of course, is that this unit that I've had for so many years will soon not be mine anymore. Yes, I'm getting a replacement, but this particular one has been with me for so long. It probably sounds crazy, because it's only a piece of technology, and the replacement will be identical other than the serial number, but it's still different. I could have sent this unit back, had it repaired, and then had it sent back, but then I'd be without the unit, and I need it in order to run my ScanTalker program that helps me identify all my identical cans in my kitchen and other things. When the flood happened, and the scanner got soaked and wasn't working, that was bad enough, but when it had dried and started working again I was thrilled. Yeah, I'm dependent on my technology, and I freely admit it.

But anyway, I know it probably sounds crazy to most of you, but it's kind of sad to send my unit away for the last time. Call me whatever you like, but that's the way it is. The replacement will work, it'll do exactly what I need it to do, but it's still different. Don't ask. SMILE!!!

Just a Bunch of Random Stuff; Potentially an Update, Finally

Here it is, 10:50 PM, and I'm hungry. I ate earlier, so there's no reason for it. And, if I eat anything this late I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night with heartburn so I don't even know what to do about it. I suppose it's partly due to the fact that I'm not normally up this late, but tonight is an exception. masterofmusings is having a guy night and he's been looking forward to it all week. I've given him specific instructions that he is to win his Blackjack tournament tonight because the next one, which will be taking place on January second, is going to be my win so he needs to get his winning out of the way now. They play for soda, chips, and chocolate bars; all such wonderfully healthy foods. I came so close to winning in October, (okay so it wasn't all that close because Bruce absolutely stomped all over us that night), but I went from dead last into second place. (Never mind the fact that there were only three of us that night so it wasn't that much of a leap. We just won't tell my fragile ego that fact, okay?)

So anyway, he's playing cards, and I'm just kind of doing whatever. The other day I received a gift certificate from Amazon, and I literally spent almost the entire day trying to decide how to spend it. (Yes, I really really need to find a job!!!) I finally decided that since I couldn't find any decent shelves that I wanted, and everything else that I'd really like to get for this place was too expensive, I'd just get something completely unnecessary. I decided on a set of fleece sheets, a fleece blanket, and, since I still had some money left, a fleece travel blanket for my bus trips. The sheets came yesterday, along with my travel blanket, and the regular blanket arrived this evening. So, I made up the bed for the first time since moving into this apartment two weeks ago, and I absolutely love the feel of these sheets. If you're a flannel sheet person, you should really consider these fleece sheets. They're extremely soft, although there is most definitely a front and a back to them, and I am really happy with how they fit my bed. I've got an air bed, and on top of that I also have a four-inch memory foam mattress topper. Some of you may remember me writing about buying that last year. Regular sheets fit, but over time, because the two together are fairly thick, the corners of the bottom sheet come untucked. These new sheets are designed to work with up to a 16-inch mattress, so it fits really well. I can't wait to sleep on them tonight!!!!

Other than that, I've had a very uneventful evening. Taz is being a spoiled kitty, and all day he's been cuddling with me whenever I sit down, and begging for attention when I'm at my desk. He hasn't gone near my apartment door since the day my dad and I were bringing in my desk and he tried to sneak out. He wasn't counting on the door shutting by itself and the poor little guy got his tail caught. It's doing a lot better now, and he's been his regular active self, but I felt so bad when it happened, and his tail was so swollen in one area. Cally has become more skittish since my move from Milwaukee. Whenever someone comes, she goes and hides. While my dad was here she spent her days sleeping in the bathtub, but when it's just me she's out acting like her normal self. I suppose though that if I were a cat, being taken from a place that was familiar and then being somewhere else would be hard enough, but then to suddenly be moved again; at least I have the ability to understand it.

I'm settling in here although I still know nothing about my neighborhood or anything, and it could be as long as two months before I can get any sort of orientation. Right now, my only options are the local Para-Transit system or cabs. Even getting over to my friend's house is now pretty much out until I learn the route again, so things have kind of been a bit on the lonely side. In just under two weeks though I'll be heading back for a very brief trip to Wisconsin, (nowhere near Milwaukee though), and then I'll be heading up to spend New Year's with Bruce, and I'm really looking forward to both trips.

The job search is continuing, and I'm working on getting established with the local Voc. Rehab agency, (hence the potential two-month waiting period.) I had one potential opportunity, but unfortunately I wasn't selected so I'm still looking. It'd be an incredible Christmas present though if I were able to find something!!!!

Well, I don't really know what else to write about at this point, so I think I'll just sort of end this for now. Bye for now.