I Ain't Afraid of No Daleks

Well, I'm just sitting here in the dark, by the lights of my naf little Christmas tree, watching a guy in a pick up truck with a plow blade attached to the front, plow the snow off the drive of the apartment house across the street, his little yellow flashng light on the roof of his truck, lighting up the living room.

Think I'll have an early night. Thought I'd put on some tunes and write another chapter of my latest Dr Who story...the one no one is reading...yeah, well, it's not that great, so that's to be expected.

I'm rather tired early this evening, having not had much sleep last night. I did crap on the phones today--didn't make any sales until the last 15 minutes of the day. But, I count it a good day, 'cos at least nothing bad happened today--I got no bad stuff in the post, didn't hurt myself, ha-ha.

I have to see the doctor tomorrow for my disability examination--my first in over 10 years..they're really cracking down on the disabled, since the recession messed up the state and federal budgets. Well, I'm still very much disabled, but I still worry, even with my working part time, losing my disability, would probably--well, very definately--mean that I would lose the roof over my head--and possibly go hungry again, as well. So, I'm trying not to worry...but with my life literally at stake, it's almost impossible not to, know what I mean?

Someone sent me this news tidbit about Mr. David Tennant, and since I wrote earlier that I had my doubts about his fitness to return to work any time soon--(my experiences with back injuries were obviously much different than his--but then I didn't have health insurance)--anyway, apparently I may have been completely wrong...which in this case, is something I don't mind admitting.

I guess though, that Mr. Tenant was spotted by fans and papparzzi out doing some shopping in London today. So, apparently I was either wrong about the seriousness of the man's injury, or he's got a hell of a lot better doctor's than I've ever had...or, he's being an idiot...well, as I wrote previously, the man's personal life is really none of my business, but, I am very glad to see the man up and about so soon, and am glad the injury wasn't so serious as to require him to stay in bed for weeks. So, perhaps he'll be filming Who on schedule, after all?

This is pretty interesting...of course there was life on Mars...the Osirans imprisoned Sutekh the Destroyer on Mars, before the Doctor done him in.

Similar rules, but this time, you only bold out those things which you have actually done before.

1. Operated some kind of big machinery (I've run construction equipment, a farm tractor and amusement park rides)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played on a sports team other than in school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Worked as a volunteer
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Gone sailing
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang solo
11. Been thrown from a horse
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art without lessons
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen a Rembrant painting in a museum
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort or snow castle
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden on a ski lift
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Ridden a camel and-or elephant
32. Been on a cruise
33. Studied archaeology or volunteered at a dig
34. Visited the birthplace of one of your ancestors
35. Met a presidential candidate or famous minister
36. Taught yourself a new language (Well, I learned, "yes," "no" and "thank you.")
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (no, but I've seen the leaning tower of Leeuwarden!)
39. Gone fishing and caught a fish
40. Seen David Tennant in person
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (every single day, summer of '80--I actually lived and worked within a 5 min. walk from it!)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Flown in a single engine plane (I got a plane ride as my 18th birthday present.)
47. Had your portrait drawn or painted
48. Gone down inside a cave or cavern
49. Seen a Dutch style windmill up close
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie theater
55. Seen one of Shakespeare's plays performed in a theater (only MacBeth)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone snowmobiling
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Gone swimming in a hot spring
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite toy or other item from your childhood
70. Visited Buckingham Palace
71. Drank champagne
72. Ridden in a limo
73. Stood in Times Square in Manhattan
74. Been to the Great Pyramids of Egypt
75. Helped to deliver a baby animal
76. Seen Hadrian's Wall
77. Had a blood transfusion
78. Got a speeding ticket
79. Been to Pompeii
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Visited the Australian Outback
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the Scottish Higlands
87. Taught yourself to cook something
88. Seen a whirling dervish
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Been to Madrid
96. Acted as a tour guide
97. Won an award for something you made yourself
98. Played in a darts or billiards tornament
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen an explosion

well, I'm sitting here, and heard "clunk-thump"---look up, and Boots is sitting under the Christmas tree, playing with the ornaments and candy canes....arggh. I asked him, "what are you doing now?!?" and he just sat there, a christmas ball hanging down, resting on top of his head, with this "What???" expression on his ginger and white feline face.

He's got this big black smudge on the right side of his cheek, as well...don't know what that's all about. He's not usually like this, and I don't know what to make of it. He's just sitting there at this moment, with this smouldering look in his eyes, like he wants to pounce on something...probably little Flamey, who'll be quite put out with him, if he does.

Cats, they never listen!

Nothing's been said yet--but, I suspect that if he was rushed into surgery, that Mr. Tennant's back injury was quite severe, and being extremely well-versed on such things, I it's a sure bet he proably won't be returning (if his common sense overrules his desire) to Hamlet.

And, chances are, won't be able to film the first Dr Who special at the end of January, as originally planned--unless he just stands around and says his lines--and they do a lot of magic with green green stuff, and they use a stunt double for all the running and physical moves...which is possible I suppose, but highly doubtful. Of course, they managed to finish The Sontaran Experiment with a double, and with Baker leaning against some rocks, after he fell and injured himself...so, I guess we'll see...but I'm sure Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner (who's leaving in Jan. 09) are feeling a bit nervious, right now--and worried about Tennant too, very probably.

This spammer has been plauging my blog for over a month....this stinking Chinese piece of shite ALWAYS uses the word "clean" followed by two numbers as his or her username. It started out "clean02"---bcuk deletes his or her blog, and this piece of poo merely re-registers as "clean03," clean04, etc.

We're now up to "clean10!"

I hate this freak, and btnt.com is NEVER going to get my business.

I've repeatedly told bcuk about this chinese crack-head, but they just don't care. Here's they're lame response, which I got AFTER stupid chinese person spammed me AGAIN...TWICE, this morning:

thank you for your request.
>
> We are reluctant to block usernames, as it is very simple for spammers to
> simply select a different one.
>
> We are keeping an eye on the IP though.

HA! YOU NEED GLASSES THEN, MATEY'S!!!

I got spammed this morning, it's snowing to beat the band now, the walking doesn't look great...judging by the way people are strugging on the sidewalks. Boots is picking on Flamey now--she's spitting and hissing at him...and now I've got a headache and an upset stomach...sonuva..gun.

"Thank you for calling the weather phone, as of now, there are no weather conditions affecting the opening of our offices."

So, off to work then, at half-past eight. Bleh.

Well, between Boot's yowling waking me up all night (no idea what was up with him...he was doing his impersonation of an alley cat yowling on a fence, methinks--he fails the x-factor audition. And, I have a wonky stomach for reasons unknown...and then the damn city snowplow woke me a few times, with that heavy metal plow scraping the roadway as it went by...so, I'm feeling a bit hungover this morning, without the benefit of alcohol.

Yeah, it's snowing a bit. We've got 3 or 4 inches on the ground now, with a couple more inches on the way. But, business as usual, no traffic issues, people seem to be driving at mostly normal speed--at least here on the city's main street. The city schools are opening on time--so far, and only a few rural schools are opening with a one to two hour delay, so I reckon there's no need for me to ring up the office's weather phone, to see if we're open today.

The winter weather advisory is only till 1pm this afternoon, so this looks like it will peter off soon--tho' a glance at the weather radar shows the snow's still whirling around here. They say to our north a few miles, they may get as much as 8 inches of snow, and that'll make the rural towns pretty happy---skiing and snowmobiling (New York state has an extensive state owned snowmobile trail system in its Adirondack mountains) are big tourist draws to our north, and towns count on their business to get them through the slow winter months. Here in Glens Falls, you can pop into the Exit 18 Mcdonald's, Pizza Hut or the local Mexican cafe for lunch or dinner, then hit the slopes a few minutes later at West Mountain.

But, I don't ski, alas...don't even own a pair of snowshoes any longer.

Of course, now that I'm (sort of) awake, now Boots is quiet. Typical. I love Boots to bits, mind you. I've had cats in my life for 46 years, and Boots is one of the most gentle, sweetest tempered cats I've ever known...but last night, I have to admit that I wasn't feeling very well disposed towards him--arrrgh!

Well, I have to force myself to eat breakfast here at half past 7am. Bleh. God, the phones at work were driving me bonkers last night--we're having issues with our phone lines at work, and getting clicks and clangs and static while we're trying to talk, and the phone line kept disconnecting me...only, I couldn't always tell when the phone was disconnecting me, or when someone was being rude and hanging up in mid-conversation (Americans right across the board, from coast-to-coast, all ages and sexes and cultures, mostly being total boors when it comes to even the most basic manners, these days).

Hope it's not too hard a day...I'm going to be famished when I get home, cos' I don't think I could stomach any food this morning--was going to have some porage, but don't think I can handle even that.

, 12 QUESTIONS FOR DECEMBER:

1. Have you had snow yet, where you live?

Yup.

2. How many Christmas cards have you gotten, so far this year?

Five.

3. What do you plan on having for Christmas dinner, this year?

I was going to make boiled dinner--corned beef and cabbage, but decided to opt for something more traditional, and have the small pork loin rib roast with mashed swede, brussel sprouts and pork flavored instant bread stuffing...maybe some apple sauce, as well, we'll see.

4. Have you been listening to any Christmas music lately?

Only in shops, mostly, over the store's tannoy. Listened to some funny Christmas songs on Youtube, a couple of times. I'm not as much into Christmas as I was, when my parents and other family was still around.

5. Have you ever cut your own Christmas tree?

Yup.

6. Do you plan on going caroling this year?

Nope.

7. Have you ever kissed under the mistletoe or a kissing ball?

nope.

8. What do you plan on doing this coming weekend?

Nothing much--work, do the grocery shopping, the laundry, tidy the apartment.

9. What are you doing right now?

Blogging, drinking a diet soda, petting my cat Charlie, who is being quite demanding for attention tonight.

10. Some things that pleased you in the past week?

I got two Christamas cards and two small gifts, which I hadn't at all expected.

Out of the blue, I also got two compliments, back-to-back, from two different people, on two old Dr Who stories I wrote in 2006: One titled "Grave Danger"--about the 10th Doctor and Martha being stalked by a couple of aliens in a late 19th century Welsh cemetery, and "Keeping up the Doctor,"--a TV crossover story where the 9th Doctor meets Mrs. Bucket (oh, sorry, that's "bouquet".) I hardly ever get visitors on that particular webpage--sometimes no visitors at all--so to get two really fantastic complements for two stories on my Dr Who fan-fic blog...really chuffed, I was. One person asked it I'd ever thought of becoming an actual published Dr Who author, ha-ha. (as if that would ever happen...Frank Capra where are you when i need you?)

I got to briefly chat on Skype with 3 of my friends twice this weekend, and I tried on another pair of size 20 ladies jeans--and they fit, as well! (didn't buy them, tho'--see, I've been a 2x large for the last two years--before that, I was a 3x large..so, size 20 or even 1x clothing and jeans...that's something I've not fit into in something like 15 or 20 years, at least. Whoo-hoo!!!

11. Silly things that you did, or that happened to you, in the past week?

Slipped taking out the rubbish to the skip, hit my head and got a mild concussion.

Freaked out over losing my pay check.

Got stuck in the lift at work tonight, and almot panicked...why, don't know, I'm not particularly claustrophoic, they would have found me eventually.

Burnt my thumb taking supper out of the cooker.

Sent a Christmas card (she winces) to David Tennant. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be a fan-girl, but I just really do feel bad for the poor bloke...I do feel a bit silly sending the card--like he's even going to read it? One card out of tens of thousands? No, he won't read it. Sounds awful, but in my heart of hearts, I know I've probably just wasted 94 cents...well, I only had one stamp to spare, and it was either David Tennant or the Queen this year, and Her Majesty neglected so send me a birthday card, so Her Royal Highness is off my Christmas card list temorarily--tho' I'm sure it was just an oversight.

12. Assuming there really is a Santa, list ten material things just for you, on your hypthetical Christmas list.

Well, I guess I will make a realistic list like I might have given my mum, not list stupid stuff that can never be, like a trip to the UK or a car or what-have-you.

1. Pair of flannel pyjamas

2. an inexpensive little camera of some sort

3. Something Dr Who

4. Something horsey

5. some music or a DVD

6. a book (or two)

7. snow boots

8. perfume and/or make up

9. socks and underwear

10. a new sweater (jumper) or a dressy winter coat.

NOTE: The above is purely hypothetical, is is NOT a real list--I alredy got all my prezzies this year, thanks.

Just got home from work and finished my supper...my fingers seem to be taking a beating this week. The other night Charlie accidently sunk a claw into my finger instead of his cat toy. Tonight, my pot-holder slipped as I was pulling the french fries out of the cooker, and I got a lovely little 2nd degree burn on my thumb--yes, it smarts a bit, but it's fine... In between stable hand work, I also used to cook for my living as a young adult, so I got used to burns decades ago, from grill burns to steam burns...worst one was when a spazzy cleaner banged his mop handle into a co-worker's arm, just as she was removing a basket of french fries from the fryer--and the hot oil covered basket went smack into my upper forearm, giving me a severe 2nd degree burn...gosh, that really kind of hurt--I was just turned 20, and I remember the stinking kitchen manager played it down and at first refused to let me off work go to the ER--the bastard, until one of my co-workers who was a volunteer EMT, spoke up for me, bless him...I had the scar for about ten years, but it's faded away now.

But, gosh, I've been accident prone this past week, between the concussion, the punctured finger and now this wee burn. Better be careful walking to work tomorrow morning.

I was just looking at the weather radar--it's really weird, but the upper Hudson Valley, from Albany, 50 miles north to Glens Falls, seems to be protected by the weather gods---or, probably more accurately, by some geographical quirk of the region. There is quite literally a circle of rain around the city--I'm serious! There's the upper Hudson Valley--and all around it, in a complete...almost dare I say, unnatural looking circle, is a swath of rain! It's moving up from the south, and encricling the city as it moves, without a drop of rain touching us! It really does look weird.

*WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY in effect through 4PM Wednesday for the entire Capital Region*

Yet another round of wintry weather is tracking into the Capital Region (upper Hudson Valley). The storm will lift north tonight, continuing to impact our area through tomorrow afternoon. Snow will develop from south to north towards midnight. It will continue light to moderate overnight, with 2" to 3" of snow and sleet accumulation by the morning commute Wednesday. Areas north of Albany could see more on the ground by morning..

Ah well, no big deal then, just another day in paradise.

Sadly, last week's storm did kill a few people--mostly in New Hampshire, but a local man died from carbon monoxide poisoning from his portable heater.

Some people are still without power--and, for those in rural areas, that also means no water, as well, as rural wells are powered by electricity. I used to have a well--what a pain in the arse that was...when it didn't dry up in a drought, or get frozen up when the the temps dropped to minus 25 fahrenheight, when the power went out, we didn't have water...and we had an electric cooker at the time, so we also didn't have heat or a way to cook...not a fun experience...up to a point, one can learn to live without lights, heat or cooker--but not being about to flush or bathe? That sucked.

Another death in the area, really hit home with me. A woman in her early 60's froze to death over the weekend. She'd been to a party Friday night, and apparently had gotten intoxicated. It's believed she passed out coming from the garage to her house, and--temps being in the single digits fahrenheight that night, and alcohol taking away one's body heat, she was probably dead within two hours. Thing is, no one reported her missing until Monday. She lived alone and no one missed her. There but for the grace of God (or whomever), could go I. You think I don't think about that, when I'm feeling shaky, like I was Sunday night? Early Sunday evening I was feeling a bit rough, and desperately wanted to go to bed, but stayed on Skype chatting with some good friends, because I felt that if I was going to pass out, at least I might have a chance of letting someone know. Fortunately I felt better after a while. Suspect my blood count has been a bit low, for reasons I wont' disclose here.

Well, I'm very tired. I got yet another meme e-mailed to me, but I don't know if I'll bother with it...I've already done more meme's and quizes in the past few days, than I've done in the past few weeks. Too much of a boring thing will drive people away, I reckon. Maybe tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow (how's that for segeway?), I hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow. Take care.