Recent Happenings and Doings

Monday, after leaving the first load of laundry in the washer, I discovered that it would fill and agitate as usual, but refused to drain (and because it couldn't drain, I didn't try the rinse or spin cycles).  To put a long story short(er), Donald removed a broken lid switch (a safety feature that causes the machine to automatically stop agitating and spinning when the lid is opened), and (because we didn't feel that this particular safety feature was vital for us) he hotwired it, if that's the word I'm looking for. . .   Anyway, he bypassed the lid switch, and that did the trick.  (Though we did have to start a whole new washing cycle to get the thing to realize that all was well.)  Thanks to my heroic handyman (and a bit of electric tape), I was able to wash clothes again.  (And there was much rejoicing.)  I just have to be very careful to resist the powerful urge to stick my arms into the machine while it's moving.  I may have to tie a string around my finger to remind myself.

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Entertainment...  (film, TV, books)...

We've been watching all three Lord of the Rings movies with the RiffTrax commentaries (because the third one just came out).  It was funny, but I think I've had enough super-long movies for a while.

We've finally caught up to season three of Chuck.  I'm enjoying this season less than the previous two, so far.  I don't care for the whole Shaw storyline, and my patience with Sarah/Sam is growing thin, too.  There's still plenty of time for it to improve, though. 

The last two books we've read together:
Shades of Grey, by Jasper Fforde
Thoroughly enjoyable.  The first in a series (a trilogy, I think), though, so there are unanswered questions/unresolved conflicts at the end. It's difficult to categorize-- somewhat fantasy, a little sci-fi, definitely mystery.  Most of its charm (for me) was its sense of humor and the fun of trying to figure things out from the tidbits of information the author doles out a little at a time.

Something Fresh, by P.G. Wodehouse
This was the first non-Jeeves/Wooster Wodehouse we'd read-- or at least the first I'd read.  Donald may have listened to some on tape back when he had a long commute.  This book introduces a different set of characters-- the Blandings Castle set.  So far, I prefer the Jeeves and Wooster set, but this group of characters is entertaining, too.  (However, I did find that my favorite parts were those that could just as easily have been set in a Jeeves and Wooster book.)  I didn't care so much for the slightly more serious, "romantic" parts of the book.  I turn to Wodehouse for humor; anything else is a bit disappointing.  I realize that this must not be much fun for an author-- being pigeonholed by an audience that is displeased when s/he ventures into new territory-- but there it is!  And since Mr. Wodehouse has been dead for quite some time, now, we need not worry about hurting his feelings.  ;o)

The last book I finished:
Mapp & Lucia, by E.F. Benson
It took me a little while to decide how I felt about the Lucia books.  (This is sacrilege to the true Luciaphile, I know.)  However, by now I know that I find them curiously interesting (particularly now that Miss Mapp's in the story).  I've seen this series described as a mixture of Wodehouse and Keeping Up Appearances, and that's the best explanation I've come across.  They're very much comedies of manners-- cozy, tangled webs, full of one-upmanship and friendly (?) rivalry-- small town/village stories about a handful of characters who take very careful note of one another's comings and goings.  Some of the characters behave in the most horrifying ways, yet you find yourself still interested in them, even if you don't always like them.  They all suffer occasional downfalls, which may be what keeps you from simply despising them. 

What I'm reading now:
Don't Look Now, by Daphen Du Maurier
I'm into the fourth story in this collection of short stories (some of which are fairly longish).  So far I've read "Don't Look Now", "The Birds", "Escort", and most of "Split Second".  ("The Birds" was creepier than the movie version, I think, by the way, and it's my favorite in this book so far.) 

Every so often, I'm in the mood to read macabre, spooky, suspenseful stories, but I usually end up feeling that something's missing from them.  I'm not sure exactly what I want that I'm not getting from these stories. . . Resolution?  That's frequently left out in favor of something "artistically" open-ended.  (Either that, or everything just falls apart at the end, as with the bulk of what I've seen from Stephen King, who can spin a scary story but hardly ever brings it all together in a satisfying conclusion.)  However, sometimes there's a definite end/resolution-- as in "Don't Look Now" and "Escort"-- but it's still not quite there, up to the level I'd hoped it would be.  Generally, short works are not as satisfying to me as full-length novels, and most of the creepy things I read do tend to be short stories. . .  Or maybe I'm just too picky.  I'm enjoying these stories well enough, though I think I'll be ready to return to a more cozy, prosaic genre by the end of the book. 

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The bunnies (wild rabbits) are a little crazy this year.  I guess they've decided that the entire yard is theirs, now, and frequently the dogs get to do a little bunny-chasing when they are let outside.  Twice the other morning a bunny was just a couple of yards from our house, right where Trixie could see it-- and growl a low, throaty growl-- and bark-- and continue to bark, at intervals, single, startlingly loud barks-- long after the offending bunny had decamped and the yard been declared "all clear".  This was not good for my nerves.  (I hope it isn't a sign that I'm turning into Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.)

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After a first attempt at knitting, a week or two ago, I haven't picked it back up again.  The casting-on part (long-tail cast-on) was ok, once I knew exactly what I was supposed to do, but the first row after that was awful. Trying to get the needles to do what I wanted-- ugh, it filled me with disgust, even though I tried to remember that when I first started crocheting, the crochet hook didn't immediately bend to my will, either.  I think part of the problem may have been the yarn I was using.  It was a partial skein I had only because it was bundled with some other yarn I wanted to buy at a thrift store.  It was nasty, nasty stuff (and I use almost only acrylics when I crochet, so if I say it's nasty, you may believe me that it was).  Scratchy, catchy, yuck.  Next time-- assuming there is a next time-- I'll use something a little nicer, even if whatever I make is likely to turn out ugly because I'm a rank amateur.

I suppose I still would like to learn to knit, if it doesn't turn out to be too much of a pain to get the hang of it.  The problem is that what I really want to knit is lacy fabric, and from what I gather, that's the type of thing that many even fairly seasoned knitters view with trepidation.  I wonder know how much of that is exaggerated-- or just people overestimating the difficulty of knitting lace / lace knitting-- or if it really is that much more difficult. . .  I have a lot of confidence in the idea that if you want to do something badly enough, you can make it work, but I'm not sure if I do care that much.  Especially when there are so many lacy things I could just crochet, instead.  It's not exactly the same look, but it's beautiful in it own right.  . . .We'll see.

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I'm forgetting some things (probably some things more interesting than the stuff I did manage to remember), but this entry has been "in the works" for long enough, as it is! 

Chatting About Nothing in Particular

I woke early with a bad dream still echoing through my head, and I found I just couldn't get back to sleep.  (Don't you hate it when that happens?)  It's strange how latent worries and fears tend to rise to the surface when you lie awake in the middle of the night (or more often, early morning). Things that you can normally just push to the side are more presistent, and it seems impossible to clear your mind and let yourself drift off.  It is without doubt the most depressing time of day or night, so thank goodness most of us usually sleep right through it!

The downside of getting up a couple hours earlier than normal is that you catch yourself making lots more typos than usual!  Please excuse any that I may miss.

So, time for a little casual chit-chat, then.

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I'm pretty sure the neighbor dogs moved in yesterday evening.  (That's because I saw them and-- just barely-- heard them barking.  So it's pretty good intel. (g))  You have to wonder what pets think when they are moved to a totally new location.  How long does it take before they consider the new place home?  Are they confused by the change, or do they simply accept it, because the rest of the "pack" is there? 

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We walked over to my parents' house Monday afternoon/early evening.   (We were delivering one more T-post we'd found that they could use in their temporary fence for the dogs.)  I think it will be the last time I willingly walk until the seasons change.  That's partly because it's just too hot and/or humid this time of year to make walking pleasant.  (Donald may be crazy enough to go running in the summer, but I choose to get my exercise indoors!)  It's also because there are Things about in summer.

A few minutes after we arrived, Grandpa took his lawnmower (which happened to already be out) and started mowing the strip of land we'd just walked.  When he came back, he told us he'd just mowed over (i.e. killed) a water moccasin-- maybe 30 feet from where we'd been walking in some knee-high grass and weeds.

Ugh.  It's enough to make you shudder, think about what could have happened (pain, expense, infected wounds?--with quick access to a hospital, not likely death, thank goodness, but aren't those other things bad enough?), and resolve not to walk so much until later in the year!

I'm opposed to cottonmouths living in my general vicinity.  (And I guess I need to try the snake gun again so I'll be ready if one chooses to disregard that sentiment.  Sorry, snake-lovers, but I will be killing the venomous ones that venture onto our property, if I can manage it.)

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My left hand still smells vaguely of vinegar this morning. 

No, it's not a new beauty/hand-softening regimen.  ;o)  No, I haven't started perfuming myself with vinegar, either.  (Good guess, though. (g))

What happened is this:  Yesterday afternoon, I cleaned and chopped a handful of fresh jalapeño peppers.  I did not wear gloves.  I briefly considered that option, but then I thought, "Nah, jalapeños aren't that hot.  It's not like these are habeneros."  As I worked-- and afterward-- I was fine, which only confirmed to me that jalapeños are not that bad. I washed my hands when I was done, of course, but didn't really give it a whole lot of thought.

It wasn't until later, when Donald arrived home and we were talking, that I began to notice a slight burning on the fingertips-- under the nails-- of my left hand.  (The right remained unscathed.  I'm sure this is because I held the knife in my right hand and used mostly my left to handle the peppers.)  The burning was very slight-- so much so that I absentmindedly used a fingertip to scratch an eyelid.  Instantly I realized that that had been a mistake, and I went to rinse off my eye immediately.*

Burning my eye confirmed my suspicion that this had something to do with the peppers, so I googled it and ended up reading a thread of all sorts of humorous and horrifying stories of jalapeño-based misery.  Some people didn't realize their hands were "contaminated" until after they'd gone to the bathroom, for instance.  One man didn't feel it himself, but his wife certainly did (. . .later that night).  Then there was the woman whose hands burned so badly-- just from jalapeños!-- that she went to an emergency clinic in search of relief.

Reading all that (and how it was so frequently a delayed reaction) made me a little afraid that this was only the beginning-- and by this time, the burning had increased somewhat-- so I tried a couple of the possible remedies I'd read about.  First, I soaked my fingertips in vinegar**.  Later, I took a piece of aloe vera plant and squished as much as I could of the gel under my nails.  Both provided temporary relief, but at least some of the stinging came back.  If it had been worse, I would've tried tomato sauce/paste next, but it just wasn't that bad, so I was able to ignore it.

Throughout the evening, I would periodically feel a slight flare-up of discomfort-- usually when I was using my left hand-- putting pressure on it by picking something up.  Even this morning, as I type, I occasionally feel a very mild tingle in the tip of a finger.  Just enough to remind me of yesterday and why I will never again risk worse burning by chopping peppers gloveless.

It seems that (as with most things) some people are more susceptible to small amounts of capsaicin than are others.  (Thus the man who didn't feel it but whose wife did-- and the number of people who wrote that they never feel it on their hands, but if they touch an eye or their mouth, they burn just as much as the next person.)  In any case, I think I'll take some precautions next time.  Some people wrote that latex gloves don't work, but that rubber gloves do.  I'll probably try rubber gloves next time, just to be on the safe side. . .

(Looking back into my dimmest memory, I think Mom may have warned me about the peppers when she passed them along to me. . . I guess I wasn't paying enough attention.  Shame on me!)

*At that point, it was impossible not to remember the story of how poor little Tonya had been playing with some ornamental peppers (unbeknownst to the adults).  I don't remember all the details, but I think that somehow her fingers started burning, so she put them in her mouth.  That made her mouth start to burn, so she started crying, which led to-- as you've probably guessed-- her putting her hands to her eyes and burning them, too!  Ouch!

**I read this morning that vinegar (like water) is ineffective at removing capsaicin.  (So my fingers are all vinegary for no good reason?  How rude!)  On the other hand, they list vegetable oil and Vaseline as being possibly useful.  Then again, this is Wikipedia I'm citing here, so, um, take it or leave it, pretty much.

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I mentioned exercising indoors, before.  My current favorite indoor exercises (because I have more time to waste this morning) are all Wii-based.  (There's something both satisfying and amusing about using video games to be more physically active!)

Number one on the list is Gold Gym's Cardio Workout.  If you enjoy the boxing elements in other games (Wii Fit, EA Sports Active), you might want to give this one a look.  If on the other hand you hate the boxing elements, avoid this one like the plague, because that's pretty much all it is.  (g)  I liked the boxing, and I haven't been disappointed in this "game".  Just as EA Sports Active's boxing takes Wii Fit's version to the next level, so too does Cardio Workout.

Here are some points of interest about the game:

• Though the game info says it works with the balance board, that's a bit misleading.  Only a couple of exercises use the balance board-- none of the actual workouts do.  Instead, you stand at a slight angle to the TV and are prompted to keep up a rhythm of shifting your balance from one foot to the other.  This helps keep your heartrate up.  At first, I found it kind of awkward-- partly because I thought you were supposed to be stepping each time.  You're not (unless they specifically tell you to do so).  You just shift your balance from the front foot to the back foot and vice versa, at a decent pace. If you're doing this to get a workout, you really need to try to keep up with the balance shifting.  I'm sure it makes a huge difference in how much work it is.
• For most of the workouts (or at least the ones I'm familiar with-- because I haven't tried them all, yet), you're "just standing there".  They don't ask you to do any kicks or steps-- just shift your balance and throw punches.  As you work your way up in difficulty, they add in "ducking" (like quick squats) and "weaving", and later on, they do incorporate quick steps to the side or forward and backward.  For someone like me, though, even the ones with just ducking are a pretty good workout. (The first couple times I did those, I could definitely tell the next day that I'd been working those specific muscles.  Now, the fact that I don't feel sore the next day tells me that I've made some progress.)
• If you're like me, you'll probably have a little problem getting some of the punches to register.  There are (I think) three different types of punches.  Jab and cross ("1,2") are the easiest-- just straightforward punches like the ones used in Wii Fit.  Then there are hooks (left and right) and uppercuts (again, left and right).  Try not to despair if you find yourself shouting at the TV, "I did it!  I made that punch!  Why aren't you giving me credit, you miserable piece of--?!" -- Ahem.  As I was saying, don't give up if you have trouble getting punches to "count".  It does get easier with practice. 
• The music. . . One of the parts of the game I haven't been thrilled with is the music selection.  They have a fair number of songs to choose from, but they're mostly very. . . video-gamey.  It's probably hard for game designers to find music that everyone will like, but still. . . There's always the option to turn down the music and play your own instead.  I just wonder if the beat/rhythm of the music you play might throw you off.  Maybe the ones included in the game all have the same beat.  (I haven't paid that much attention to them, honestly.)
• You earn points for every workout you do, based in part on how well you do.  (You get a bonus if you have a "perfect" workout-- no missed moves-- which makes it even more annoying when the Wii doesn't register one of your punches. (g))  The game keeps up with your points not only so you can track your progress, but also so you can "go shopping".  Punches/points translate into "gold", which you use to purchase new clothes for your mii.  I think that part of the game is a little bit pointless, but I guess it might be more of a motivator for other people.  Some might be motivated just by the desire to earn enough gold to buy every single item possible.  Personally, I'd be more interested if there were new songs or workouts for sale in the shop. . . You do earn/unlock new music, workouts, instructors, and-- get this-- clothing for your instructors, just by putting in the time/punches.  (Periodically you'll get a notice that you've unlocked something new.)  So you can change not only your own mii's clothes, but also those of your instructor.  There are several instructors from which to choose, by the way.  I think they have different voices and say slightly different things during workouts, but it's not something I've given a lot of thought.  (g)

. . . Wow, I rambled a lot about that game!  (And there's still so much more I could say.  But don't worry-- I won't.)  The other two I've been using lately I'll just mention briefly.

Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Grooves.  We chose this one because it came with two dance mats, so we could play simultaneously.  I've seen some complain that the routines aren't sufficiently difficult.  To them, I stick out my tongue, because they must be in much better physical condition than I am.  It's difficult enough, trust me, and I'm just playing on the "Difficult" level-- not "Expert".  It's certainly enough to give you a little exercise.  I think I have to "dance" longer than I have to "box" to get the same kind of results-- at least it feels longer-- but it's nice for a little of a change. 

Wii Fit (Free Step).  I haven't used this one as much as the other two, but I think that's going to change.  This is nice for a lower impact workout, and I like that I can be watching whatever I want on TV (or listening to my own music) while I do it, yet I still get credit in the game for exercising.  (g)  I know it's not much different than if I just went for a walk around the house (or, well, outside-- but that's just crazy-talk), but I'm more likely to do it if I'm getting points for it, so in a way there is a difference.  Also, because it's "just walking", I think it will be easy to talk myself into doing it, even on days I don't really feel like exercising.  (That's the plan, anyway.)

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 Well, time to go start the day for real!  :o)

For All You Bargain-Hunters Out There. . .

Have I got a deal for you!

After I showed Donald (a magazine-mention of) some towel hooks that sell for about $178 a pair, we looked up their website and were rewarded with this little gem:

That's a $200* toilet brush, right there. 

I'll wait while you all rush over to order one. . . (I only dared share it now that we've placed our own order, of course.)  

Some might say that $200 is a bit much to pay for a toilet brush, but this is a quality Danish design.  And you'll really get your money's worth in no time at all, because of the incredible performance-power of this particular toilet brush.  You really can't afford not to buy one of these beauties.   You have to spend money to make money. . . or. . . er. . . something like that. . .

*Ok, so it's actually $199-- not $200.  And you get FREE SHIPPING.  Yeah, the shipping had better be free if I'm dropping nearly $200 on something I'll be sticking in the toilet.  Of course, the type of person who has nearly $200 to spend on an extravagant toilet brush is probably not the kind who worries about shipping costs. . . Oh well.

"Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"

I read about this on Cake Wrecks today (of all places). . .

Apparently scientists are using Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men (a cologne) to attract jaguars (for research purposes) in the jungles of Guatemala. 

The important lesson here is do not wear Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men in the Guatemalan jungle (or anywhere else jaguars are likely to be lurking).  


I've read that perfumes may attract some insects-- bees, mosquitoes-- but I hadn't given a lot of thought to the possibility that it might even attract larger animals. 

Come to think of it, though, maybe I have heard about perfumes drawing bears. . . and one quick google later-- yes!  Experts advise hikers to avoid not only perfumes (or perfumed lotions) when hiking, but even scented sunscreens!  Makes you wonder if you shouldn't bathe for a day or two before hiking. ;o)  Ok, not really, but some soaps and shampoos have a pretty potent perfumy smell. . .

Maybe I'll just stay home and leave the hiking to someone else. . .  (g)

Oh, man. . .

"[Milwaukee] County Supervisor who supports boycott doesn't know that Arizona borders Mexico":



How embarrassing!  You have to wonder, though, if this woman is intelligent enough to even realize how idiotic she just made herself look. . .

Even if you're no good with geography, take a minute to "google Arizona" (as she herself mentions doing) and make sure your brilliant observation about the state's border situation is accurate.  It's really not that hard.