Friday, May 28, 2010

Meh

I could use a personality tranfusion.

My work hours are finally starting to lighten up, however at this point I'm so burned out that I don't have the energy to celebrate. I haven't been writing here because I can't think of anything I want to say. I'm sick of talking about work, but I haven't done much else, and I'm too tired to have any strong opinions.

I've been taking steps towards a more normal life. I made plans to see some friends. I FINALLY made an appointment with my massage therapist. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that.

I've taken some time to stop and smell the flowers. Literally. I got outside last weekend and buried my face in every blooming lilac tree I passed. That helped.

I also did some birdwatching. Ken and I were driving through the light industrial area where we work, and saw multiple families of Canada geese herding their youngsters near a grassy area. We parked and got out to watch the goose parade. Most families had two adults and two or three goslings. One bunch we came across consisted of four adults and 23 babies. That's a lot of babysitting! One of the babies had a sore foot. He was limping along at the tail end of the procession, and he kept sitting down to rest. The last stoic adult goose never left his side.

The cutest part was when the goslings had to jump down off a curb to cross a parking lot. The jump, all of 6" high, was so daunting that each baby bottomed out on the asphalt, bumping his fuzzy yellow chest on the ground, then unfolding his skinny little legs once again to toddle off, bum a-waddle.

In other news, my Kindle arrived! After getting excited during the purchase and paying about a million extra dollars for the Faster-Than-Light-Speed-We-Literally-Get-It-To-You-Yesterday Shipping option, I let it sit on my dining room table in the cardboard box for two days. Opening it up and figuring out how to operate it seemed like it might feel like work, so I didn't want to do it. But last night I finally summoned the energy.

It's a very neat little thing. The whole "electronic paper and ink" is much better than I expected, and also kind of weird. I can't get my head around the display staying "on" when the device is asleep. It's because it works like an Etch-a-Sketch in that no power is required to maintain the image once it has been set on the screen. It also gets way better cell phone network reception in my house than my actual cell phone does. I don't understand how that works, but whatever. It's cool.

I like the idea of being able to carry around multiple books without worrying about the weight of them. I also love that there's a dictionary embedded in the Kindle, so you can look up any word on the go. I love reading books that challenge my vocabulary, but it's always been frustrating when I want to take them on the road. I'm not about to carry around my 1,500 page print dictionary. Except now I kind of can.

9 comments:

Jameil said...

You make the Kindle sound awesome!!! I also loved the geese story & wanted an accompanying pic! :)

DarcsFalcon said...

Yay for finally unpacking the new toy! Oh I'd love to be able to carry around a dictionary with me all the time! That would rock. :)

I hope you have a lovely weekend, enjoy your massage! Now I'm super jealous. :D

G. B. Miller said...

Can sympathize with that. Trying to come up with something that isn't work related, especially after having such an intense month of work, can be much like digging a hole in a pile of sand.

But it sounds like you're on your way to having things under control. Looking forward to your rake on the Kindle.

And here's wishing you have a great weekend.

Warped Mind of Ron said...

You would think that the Geese would build a ramp for the little fellows.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to say my wife came up with the idea for eReaders about 12 years ago. I told her it wouldn't fly because other handheld devices could do it PLUS other things.

Boy was I stupid and wrong.

Be sure to give us a full review when you can!

Ileana said...

Seriously, I know what I want for my birthday now. That Kindle is on my list for sure after reading this post!

I hope you enjoy your massage and are able to kick back and relax after all the madness at work.

Another thing I want for my b-day and to scratch off my bucket list: get a REAL, professional massage!

Jenski said...

Ah, the lilacs in spring. For some reason growing up I didn't like them so much. I clearly had something wrong with me. :-)

As I pack for a long vacation, I wonder if I should get a Kindle. I love holding a book and turning the pages, but how many books do I really want to lug around with me?

Sparkling Red said...

Jameil: Ken took some photos. Once he takes them off the camera, I'll post any good ones. :-)

DarcsFalcon: The massage isn't until next week. I'm counting the days!

G: Thanks! I have a lot of things to get done this weekend, but they're for me, not for work, so I'm even looking forward to running errands.

Ron: Or a set of very small stairs.

darcknyt: Isn't that something! That wife of yours, she has accurate premonitions! The main reasons I chose the Kindle other than the multi-function handheld readers were 1) the Kindle screen is good for reading even in bright sunlight, more so than any other device 2) it's small and light enough that I would actually bother carrying it around, unlike a Netbook or iPad 3) there are no data access charges for downloading materials - or at least they're built into the purchase cost of the texts. I would very much resent paying a monthly system access fee for the privilege of shopping online, and with the Kindle there is no such thing.

Ily: I still can't believe you've never had a professional massage. It just seems like something you'd enjoy so much! You get on that item right away! :-)

Jenski: My friend used her iPhone to download a dozen vacation books and read them during her week at the beach. She said it was much better for travelling than hard copies.

Anonymous said...

Be careful when stopping to smell the flowers. Some flowers contain ready to sting bees.
But more likely, you may stop to smell some flower that somebody else has already stopped to smell, thus you'll just be smelling their nose leftovers.