Darkoshi

Timbuktu's treasures

Sun, 26 May 2013 01:34:39 GMT

The Brazen Bibliophiles of Timbuktu - How a team of sneaky librarians duped Al Qaeda

t160k.org - a campaign to raise money to protect the manuscripts, which now face problems related to moisture and mold.

T160K: Libraries in Exile from Evaporate Entertainment on Vimeo.

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car noises

Sat, 25 May 2013 17:21:20 GMT

My car was making an odd noise this last month, which it turns out was the alternator going bad. Normally, the engine is a low-pitched rumble. This was a higher pitched sort of whiny noise on top of the normal noise, and it increased in pitch as the car drove faster. It wasn't loud enough for me to be sure that something was wrong, but it was different enough to make me wonder. The sound was like the noise a small electric motor can make; sort of like a sound-effect in a video game.

The noise started after we had a bunch of other work done on the car, including new spark plugs, getting the power steering pump and oil pan gasket replaced (due to fluid leaks), and getting the A/C compressor replaced (as the A/C hasn't worked in forever). (There must still be a freon leak somewhere else, as it all leaked out again, and smelled nasty while it was doing so.)

So I was thinking, maybe the car simply sounds different due to having new parts.

This week, one day the battery light came on for just a few seconds and went out again, and the next day it came on and stayed on. So I had the car checked, and they said the alternator was bad. After getting it replaced, the odd noise is gone, and my car sounds like normal again. Yay.

From what I've read, power steering fluid or other fluids leaking onto the alternator can cause it to go bad. Yet, my car doesn't seem to have any hoses by the alternator that could drip onto it. Maybe it was just coincidence.

...Oooh. While going through my notes now, it turns out that I already had my alternator replaced 2 years ago, along with my belt and battery... so it wasn't a 17 year old alternator after all, like I was thinking! Hmmm.

Oh well. Hopefully it's all good now. I like my little car, and now that I've decided to keep it, I want it to keep running a long time.

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video transcriptions

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:40:17 GMT

(Transcriptions of 2 videos I posted in August 2010. Slightly edited for readability.)

[Dysthymia - or Not? Part 1]

I think I have what can be called dysthymia.
There's another word, 'anhedonia', which might also apply.

Dysthymia is like a low-level depression that's with you for years and years and years.
You can still live a fairly normal life, but you don't enjoy things.
At least, that's my take on it.

Anhedonia is like, when you can't experience pleasure.

Now in regards to depression...
I think I've felt depressed at certain times of my life.
I remember waking up in the morning and just feeling a great sense of dread about having to continue living
and going through the motions, and it all seemed very unpleasant and difficult and pointless,
and there was a lot more emotional pain, direct emotional pain, just that constant feeling...

But anyway, dysthymia isn't having that constant emotional pain,
and it's not like I can't get up in the morning and do things and go to work...
it's just... life seems dull, no matter what I do.

I don't really get excited about things.
I don't feel like I want - really want - to do anything.
There's nothing I want to do with my life, because nothing brings me joy.

.

When I look at other people, their lives don't seem better than mine,
and a lot of times, they don't seem any happier than me.

So sometimes I wonder, is this just a normal state of being?
Maybe this is just normal, and me thinking I have dysthymia is just bullshit. Who knows.
Maybe life just really sucks this bad.

When I look at my guy-friend, he doesn't seem emotionally any different than me.
His life doesn't seem exciting or wonderful, and yet he says he enjoys being alive.
Whereas with me, it [being alive] doesn't really make a difference one way or the other.
The only reason I don't want to drop dead this instant, is the hope - the only hope that I have, really -
that I might stop feeling this way, and that all of the sudden, things will be more fun.

.

I'm going on a trip next week, and my mom asked me, "Are you excited?" or "Are you excited yet?".

But I'm not really excited about the trip; it's just something I've decided to do.
I'm sure it will be interesting, getting out, seeing different things, seeing people I haven't seen in a while,
but I more dread it than I'm excited by it, because I sort of dread the long trip sitting in a car...
just like I would dread a long a trip sitting in an airplane, or sitting in airports,
not having the comfort of my home; being in close proximity to other people for days on end, possibly.

But one should be excited. One should be excited about the things one wants to do.
One should want to do things!

.

I can't really remember when this started with me,
because it's been this way for so long; I'm just so used to it.

When I was a child, 7 years, 8 years, 9, 10 maybe even... 11, 12.. who knows,
I did get excited about going on trips; I did look forward to them.
The idea of travelling to places was something I... I wanted to travel...

I always thought when I got older, I'd still want to travel...
because it was nice going to places with beaches and hiking trails and warm weather and whatnot... foreign languages.

But now, beyond it being possibly something new for me to see,
travelling is not something that I think would give me any joy; it's just something to do.

.

I wrote a LiveJournal entry a few weeks ago, where I was trying to think about memories that used to seem like good memories,
because I don't seem to have been building any new good memories, since I've been a child.
Now my memories are blasé...
Now, does that mean that I've felt this way, my entire adulthood?
Or does it just mean that I don't *remember* feeling better?
Maybe I felt better, but I just don't remember it?
It's hard to tell.

Sometimes counsellors or meditators or whoever will say things like,
"Try to think of a happy event; a happy moment; something that makes you feel good".
But I can't think of anything like that.

.

About 6 years ago, I started interacting in some online and real-time BDSM groups.
I became infatuated with this one guy. And then that ended.
And I became infatuated with another guy. And then that ended.
And then I met my current guy-friend, and in the beginning,
there were some sort of feelings of infatuation or being very attracted to him, as well.
Now during that stage, at the moment in time when I was feeling that way, I felt sort of good, sort of excited,
yet my overall outlook was not changed.

[ie., the world in general still seemed like a very unpleasant place. Life still did not feel like it had any meaning to me. I was feeling very strong emotions at the time, but there were at least as many bad feelings, as good feelings.]

It is possible for me to get excited.
Like when I saw 3 cop-cars with their lights flashing and sirens blasting
going down my street chasing a truck,
and then coming down another street and still chasing it.

That was exciting to watch. It was unusual, like, "Huh, what's going on?"

But that kind of excitement is not like feeling, "Oh yes, I'm enjoying being alive; this is fun.
Tomorrow's going to be fun... or next week or next month..."

[ie., I feel excitement, but not happiness.]

I don't know what's going to be fun, or if anything is going to be fun, or what I would even call fun.

I can't think of anyone else whose life I would want to have,
because nobody else's life looks like fun to me either.

.

Last year I went to a psychiatrist,
because I wanted to try out some antidepressants to see if that would make any difference.
I think I ended up trying 3 different kinds.

They didn't make me feel any better.
They just had lousy side-effects.
The one I liked the most, was basically because it had the fewest side-effects.
But I didn't feel better on them.
And I took them... each one; I forget how long it was.. 4 weeks / 6 weeks?
However long it was, the psychiatrist said, well if it was going to work, it should have made *some* difference by now.
And when it didn't, that's when he switched me to a different one, and then to a different one,
and then by the end of the 3rd one, I felt like,
"This isn't working. I'm going to take a break," because all the side-effects were really getting to me.

So, I don't know what to do, to feel better.
It's like I.. it's something I think about, but it's like... There is no answer.
You know, I can read books [ie. self-help books]; I can try to change my outlook, but I don't really expect that to make any difference.

----

[Dysthymia - or Not? Part 2 ]

Now, it's not like I'm not ever motivated to do anything.

I mean, a lot of times, just like now, making this video,
I get it in my mind that I want to do something, and I do it.
And sometimes I get a little kick out of having done it.
Like having posted a video, or having cleaned up the room,
or having fixed something.

But afterwards I look on it, and it's like, "that was that".
It didn't make life enjoyable; it was just something to do.
Like... Like I might eat something that tastes good... It's all very superficial to me.

Sometimes I start feeling very sad, just like anyone else... or maybe more so, I don't know.
I cry... just because of life...
I really try not to think about it, because it is so sad,
just thinking about life going on and on, and not being any fun; just being dull and tedious and whatnot.

Like I said; maybe this is just a normal state of being... It's just, something's missing.

.

In that LiveJournal entry, I was thinking about when I was young, and when things seemed fun and exciting and enjoyable,
how it's like I was almost having a fantasy in my mind,
and it was sort of overlaying my actions or experiences in the real world.

Sometimes I was more in that fantasy world,
you know, things going on in my head, sort of like in a fantasy...
and those were the experiences of life that I enjoyed most!
When I was back into the "real world", that's when things were like dull, boring.

The only difference perhaps, between then and now, is that I don't have that fantasy world anymore.
So maybe I was never normal to begin with.
Or does everyone else have a fantasy world in their head?
And the problem is that I seem to have lost it?
I don't know.

It's something like magic; it's like belief that there's something more than just whatever you see and feel and hear...
and it's that other stuff that makes life seem exciting and special.

Like perhaps, //is there something special about my life//
//what would make this world special for *me*?//
//what makes it *my* world, my exciting world?//

I think I had that when I was a kid, but I don't now.
It's just this place I'm stuck in,
and it doesn't make a difference whether I exist or not, because there's nothing good in it for *me*.

.

Maybe I'm just normal, and the problem is that I don't do enough exciting things.
Maybe I'm just a stick-in-the-mud who stays home all the time
and doesn't... who's afraid of going out and meeting people.
Maybe that's why life is dull. Maybe I just need to do more exciting things, right?
Like, when I was meeting people originally in the BDSM community.

The problem is... I can't think of anything that would be fun, so I have no motivation to do it.

So that makes me wonder, am I afraid of something?
And is this just all a cover? Do I tell myself that something isn't fun because I'm afraid really?
And what am I afraid of, if so?

Ok, for one thing, people are so very different from me,
and I can't seem to really make friends with people,
but then again I don't really want to...

I mean, in a fantasy world, yeah I want to have friends; I want...

But in the real world, it's like I meet people, and I have no desire really to continue interacting with them.
Except for the people who I've been infatuated with, the few... 1, 2, 3 people like that,
or people here and there who seem interesting, but it really doesn't go beyond that,
so I don't really get any big desire to be more friends with them either.

I mean, it's hard to have relationships when your sexuality is so different from everyone else's.
Like, sexuality seems to be important to other people, or sex does.
For me, it's something that happens in the head, and happens in specific situations, and doesn't really deal with having sex.
And so, I haven't found anyone else who is compatible in that way.

And now, I think I've even lost my sexuality,
because I can't even imagine anything really turning me on like it used to.
It's like "Been there, done that, didn't work; I don't believe in it anymore."
So it's like I don't know what to believe, and I don't have anything to believe in.

.

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pressure cooker notes

Sat, 25 May 2013 03:10:38 GMT

Notes to Self:

For using the Fagor pressure cooker:

- to get the lid on, line up the straight mark on the lid with the center of the handle. That way, it should snap down and turn.

- for cooking dried beans, supposedly you shouldn't fill it more than half full with the beans + water

- turn the stove on high. Don't try to heat it up slowly; that takes forever. Make sure to turn the temp down to low (2 or less), once steam starts coming out fairly strongly.

- if steam isn't coming out fairly strongly, it's probably not hot enough. The noise will be annoying.

- the yellow dot thing will pop out when the pot is pressurized. It won't be even with the metal; it will be further out

- after finishing cooking, if you turn the dial on the handle to let steam out, you won't be able to stop the steam by turning the dial back again. Steam will keep coming out.

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half jibberish

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:08:12 GMT

Transcribing those 2 videos of mine.
Gosh, what a bunch of unfinished sentences, partial thoughts, seemingly abrupt switch of topics, extra words that don't belong... stuff that I don't notice until I'm reading back what I said.

It's amazing how anyone can make sense of my words, when I speak like that.

I wonder if I were to transcribe other people's videos, if I'd find that their speech was like that too. Or if some people actually speak in complete, sensible, sentences.

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pfthooey

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:25:00 GMT

Jeez. One little miscalculation while pulling up a dandelion can result in dirt flying everywhere, sticking to sweaty arms, legs, and face; getting into mouth, gloves, and shoes. Now I need to take another shower.

Using a dedicated weed-pulling tool does work much easier than a shovel though.

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more on cholesterol numbers & possible relation to veganism

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:04:37 GMT

My 2002 LDL level was still in the optimal range of under 100. But it occurs to me that my 2002 LDL number may have been higher than in later years, as back then a lot of processed foods contained trans-fats.

Supposedly, trans-fats raise LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) levels and lower HDL (the "good" one). Due to being vegan since high school, I avoided products with animal fats; but that meant that a lot of the processed foods I ate had trans-fats in them instead. My reasons for becoming vegan were ethical rather than health-related, and I've never been particularly concerned with avoiding processed foods.

Curiously, I had a physical done in 1991, and I recall the doctor back then telling me that my cholesterol was somewhat high. I found that odd, as I didn't eat any animal products, and had been vegan for nearly 4 years already. However, I also knew that the body produced its own cholesterol, so it didn't concern me. I wasn't given the actual numbers, and the level must have still been within acceptable levels, as nothing further was mentioned about it.

I'm not sure when exactly trans-fats started being phased out. It was a concern already in 2005, but FDA labeling requirements for trans-fats weren't put in place until 2006. Likewise, trans-fats weren't removed from Oreo cookies until January 2006, and from certain other products until even later. So could that really explain the big difference between my 2002 and 2005 LDL levels? Perhaps companies marketing "health/natural" food products phased out trans-fats earlier than other companies?

However, my HDL levels don't support the hypothesis either. The 2002 number was 49, and the 2005 thru 2013 levels were 51, 52, 47, 53, 59, 57, 52 - no clear pattern.

I wish I had my actual numbers from 1991. That would be interesting. But I'm sure all my old medical records have been destroyed by now, as I never bothered getting a copy of them after graduating from university.

I also wish I could remember the purported reason for me getting that physical done in 1991. I think my eye doctor requested it... that was when I was being treated for a long-term eye infection. I remember agreeing to the physical, but refusing the pap smear part of it. It seems very strange that the Insurance explanation of benefits forms (which I still do have) for the physical describe 2 of the charges as "Outpatient Psychiatric". Did the eye doctor think I had a psychiatric problem, because of my introverted manner? Was it not so much a physical as a psychiatric evaluation along with a physical? Did the doctor avoid telling me it was a psychiatric evaluation? I surely don't remember being told that. Or are psychiatric evaluations a normal part of a physical?

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health screenings & cholesterol numbers

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:16:05 GMT

The company I work for offers free health screenings to employees every year or so. In the past, nurses from a local medical center would come onsite to do the screenings, which included blood draws for the lipid, iron, and glucose level tests.

This year, I missed out on the onsite screenings. But I got a voucher for a free screening at Walgreens (a pharmacy chain). So I did that today. Unlike the prior screenings, these tests were done via finger-pricks rather than blood draws, and the results were available right away, rather than a few weeks later.

During the years 2005 thru 2012, my numbers were in the following ranges (mg/dL):
Total Cholesterol: 121 - 133
Triglyceride: 29 - 64
HDL Cholesterol: 47 - 59
LDL: 62 - 72
VLDL: 6 - 13

The HDL + LDL + VLDL numbers equal the Total Cholesterol numbers.

I was first screened in 2002, and I skipped the next 2 years. For whatever reason, my LDL was quite a bit higher in 2002:
Total Cholesterol: 151
Triglyceride: 60
HDL: 49
LDL: 90
VLDL: 12

Today's results showed an even higher LDL value, 96. That caught my attention, as it is near the high range of optimal (<100). Then I noticed that today's results don't include VLDL. Then I noticed that today's numbers don't even add up (how could HDL + LDL > TC ??)... The sheet says:
Total Cholesterol: 121
HDL: 52
TRG: 45
LDL: 96

Hmmm.. 121 - 52 = 69. The nurse must have transposed 69 to 96 when she wrote the LDL number down. In fact, I remember looking at the machine that had analyzed my finger-prick blood sample, and seeing it display "N/A" under LDL. The nurse must have been doing arithmetic in her head.

Anyway, so this year's real LDL + VLDL number is likely 69, so rather than it being much worse than the other years, it is slightly better.

Then again, this page says:

There may be several reasons for an LDL cholesterol result of N/A. The LDL cholesterol is calculated as follows: LDL=(TC-HDL-TRG/5). If the triglyceride result is >400 mg/dL (>4.51 mmol/L), the calculated LDL cholesterol will not be accurate and the LDL result will be reported as N/A. If the TC, HDL or TRG results are outside the measuring range of the instrument, the LDL will also not be calculated and will be reported as N/A.

So maybe today's LDL number isn't reliable at all.

Hmmm... for all the prior years, VLDL = Triglyceride/5.
It appears that the VLDL and LDL numbers are always calculated, rather than measured. Only the Total Cholesterol, HDL, and Triglyceride levels are actually measured.

Today's test didn't measure my iron level. In the previous years, it ranged from 89 to 138, all within normal limits.

My blood pressure tends to be on the low side. Today it was 90/65. The highest one from prior years was 107/73.

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why I prefer text for discussion of significant topics

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:20:21 GMT

A few of my videos on Youtube continue to get occasional comments long after I uploaded them. For instance, the ones where I discussed dysthymia. Some of the comments really make me curious as to what I specifically said in those videos. Comments such as:

"Every word you said sounded exactly what I am going through"
"You describe the whole thing perfectly."
"Great testimony. You explained things very well, and I relate completely"
"Hey, this really rang a bell with me. I've been thinking along the same lines, too, and I really think there's some truth in that "fantasyland" you were talking about.",
"You and I could be the same person, everything you described is me to a tee. "

But the only way for me to remember what I said in the videos, is to watch them again. I keep thinking I should transcribe them for my own reference. Maybe I'll finally do that. Maybe I'll see how good the automatic closed captions are, and see if I can copy & edit them.

If I had made it a text post to begin with, instead of a video, I wouldn't have to spend time watching and transcribing it. I could simply bring up the page and see the words. I probably would have been able to compose and articulate my thoughts better, too. But oh well. Videos seem to reach more people and get more comments, than text posts along the same lines. So videos have their benefits too.

If I compose text and then try to read/speak it in a video, rather than ad-libbing, I feel totally awkward and silly. Besides being self-conscious about what I've written, it also seems fairly pointless to make a video, rather than simply posting the text.

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guess where?

Thu, 16 May 2013 03:11:10 GMT

If you've ever been a geography buff*, you'll probably enjoy this game: GeoGuessr.

* when I was as a kid, I read all the National Geographics I could find, and my idea of fun was to memorize the names and locations of all the Shetland, Orkney, and Hebrides islands.

via andrewducker

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guess I'll go with the solid black shirt today

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:46:08 GMT

Me: Do these look ok together?
[brandishing a black/gray plaid shirt and a black/purple/white tie-dye pair of pants]

Qiao: hmm... Based on your standards, yes.

Me: :-/

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blood message

Wed, 08 May 2013 03:18:29 GMT

This is a very strange t-shirt.

These pants are quite striking.

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Bab'Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul

Sun, 05 May 2013 07:44:48 GMT

Beautiful movie:

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guantanamo limbo

Sun, 05 May 2013 02:05:47 GMT

Why hasn’t Obama closed Guantanamo Bay?

Kafka at Gitmo: Why 86 prisoners are cleared for release but might never get it

Guantanamo Detainees Cleared For Release Take Part In Hunger Strike

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these grits turned out well

Sat, 04 May 2013 01:52:40 GMT

2 cups grits
7 cups water
1 can low-sodium vegetable soup
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
~1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 1/2 kielbasa-style vegan sausage, cut into pieces

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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yellow beauties

Thu, 02 May 2013 03:12:05 GMT

I got the blister while uprooting dandelions in the yard of Forestfen's new house. Dandelions are so beautiful. I never feel pleased about mowing them down or disposing of them as weeds.

This is them, 4 days after having been pulled from the earth and tossed on a pile. You'd expect them to be limp and dying. But see how bright yellow they are, and how their stems have curved upwards to the sky?

There's an empty corner lot on one street, absolutely full of blooming dandelions. So gorgeous.

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comparison

Thu, 02 May 2013 02:54:45 GMT

With blister sore:

With bandage:

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why am i writing an ode to a bandage? hain't i got nuttin' better to do?

Wed, 01 May 2013 03:45:04 GMT

Working in the yard last weekend, I got a blister right in the palm of my hand. I was wearing gloves, and the blister was popped open already by the time I noticed it. (Jeez, my hand is feeling achy. I better check to make sure I'm not getting a blister... D'oh!)

*But* I had the bright idea to try out these waterproof bandages. They are wonderful. I can wash my hands without the band-aid getting all wet and coming loose! The first one of these that I put on lasted about 10 hours before coming loose. The 2nd one lasted nearly 24 hours before coming loose. If I hadn't been vacuuming and trimming grass, they probably would have lasted even longer.

The bandages themselves are rubbery-feeling, translucent and quite inconspicuous.

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bits and pieces

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 06:22:21 GMT

After bad results with both a cake and a batch of brownies, I've discovered that I don't like the smell and taste of unrefined soybean oil. It tastes sickly sweet to me.

All I found on the subject is this statement on a few webpages: "Unrefined soy oil has a strong, distinctive flavor and aroma - some like it, some don't."

Next time, I should taste an oil before using it.

I do like the taste of extra virgin olive oil, but it doesn't seem like that flavor would go well in cakes and cookies. Have any of you tried baking with olive oil? Anyway, I now have some "naturally refined" safflower oil, which should be mild flavored. I used to buy Canola oil, but I began to notice it having an unpleasant stale smell and flavor, even when it wasn't particularly old.

.

After months of testing different deodorants, I finally found a suitable replacement for the one I used to use. (More details on that possibly forthcoming.) But last weekend, I found out that the store I bought it from no longer is selling it. I may have to buy it online (luckily it doesn't seem to be discontinued).

.

I ended up doing 2 saliva hormone tests (as referenced here and here). I took the saliva samples for both tests on the same day at the same times. Each test was processed by a different lab. I figured that using 2 different labs would give me an indication of how reliable the results were - if the results agreed with each other, that would give them more credibility than otherwise.

But the results did not at all agree with each other. So much for that. I suppose I'd need to get a blood test done somewhere for (possibly) more trustworthy results.

.

I had headaches every day for 2 weeks, and then they stopped, even without me taking any meds. They must have been after-effects of the stomach bug virus. Now I'm occasionally getting headaches again, but these are more like my usual ones, and not every day.

.

Qiao is now walking with only the aid of a cane. In fact, he is beginning to walk short distances even without a cane!

He recently bought himself a Sony Tap 20 portable PC. It's a giant tablet. It has a very nice screen.

.

You know what would be useful? A website along the lines of "These are various sounds your car may make, along with an explanation of what part of the car may be making the noise and why". Well, actually, sort of like this, this, and this, but with actual car sound samples rather than human reproductions of them.

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why do they always leak#!?

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:43:03 GMT

Note to Self:

When attaching a spray nozzle to a hose, always wrap the threads of the hose with several layers of teflon tape first, to avoid leakage between the hose and nozzle. Simply having a new washer in the nozzle does not suffice. Wrap the tape in the right direction, so that it will tighten rather than loosening, when the nozzle is screwed on.

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my beau buys me flashlights

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:23:57 GMT

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Philip Bonneau photography

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:14:54 GMT

Philip Bonneau's photostream on flickr. Very artfully posed male subjects (mostly), for a change.

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trying headache remedies

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 04:56:40 GMT

On Thursday, I tried the Excedrin-type medication (acetaminophen+aspirin+caffeine) against my headache. It seemed to help some, but it didn't work very strongly or quickly, and the headache came back after a few hours. I was worried that the caffeine might make me feel hyper, but it didn't. The pills left an unpleasant aftertaste in my throat for the rest of the day, like Tylenol sometimes does. I'm not inclined to take them again.

Today I tried Advil. It didn't seem to help any, unless it took longer than 4 hours to start working. My headache did fade in the evening, but that was also after I had been nibbling on chocolate all day, and after drinking a mug of rooibus tea.

I currently have an optimistic opinion of this rooibus tea, because when I was getting over the stomach bug, I broke a sweat and started feeling really better after drinking some of this tea. But another day, drinking the tea didn't make me feel any better. So it may have just been coincidence.

When I drink this tea, it reminds me of my Tante Ruth. She made this tea one of the last times I visited her.

I've been thinking about trying feverfew.

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white lights

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:45:31 GMT

"Natural daylight" compact fluorescent look more brightly white to me than the ones they label "bright white".

I replaced the bulbs in one bathroom with "natural daylight" ones, and it's amazing the difference in light/color between that room and the adjoining room, which now looks yellowish in comparison.

The new bulbs are buzzy though. Some bulbs smell bad when they're new; some bulbs make annoying buzzy sounds. Some are fine. I think I've had the best luck so far with GE ones.

The store also had an LED bulb on display. I was surprised at how bright it seemed, as the brightest ones on sale were only comparable to 40W incandescents. But maybe it seemed brighter than it was, due to being in a small enclosure.

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Thu, 11 Apr 2013 03:54:40 GMT

I bought a toilet brush today. The price on the shelf said $6, which seemed quite expensive to me. But hey, the handle on my old one had broken, so I needed a new one. Whatcha gonna do? Later, when checking my receipt, I found that I had actually been charged $10 for that brush!

For that price, I expect the brush to take care of cleaning the toilet all on its own-some from now on.

.

Last week I came down with a stomach bug. I was so sick the first day, that I didn't even turn on my computer. I didn't even brush my teeth! I felt better after a couple of days, but I've had headaches every day since then. Not sure if it is still due to the virus, or to allergies. I tried Tylenol one day, and Naproxen the next, and neither helped.

So today, I also bought a bottle of Ibuprofen, and Excedrin-type tablets, to see how well they work.

.

Wonderful spring weather this week, with blossoms and yellow pollen.

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