Saturday, May 08, 2010

It's time for elevenses!

Posted at 10:26:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Helped the M set up a Facebook account! (Actually, I set it up for her, at her request, tweaked all the privacy settings, and then talked her through how to use it.) I hope she likes it!

Posted at 10:21:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Okay, Friday and Tuesday [uh, I'll try to write Tuesday tomorrow] Ginger Outing reports!

Friday was nice weather, so it was our Lobster Landing day! Lobster Landing was tons more crowded than last year (not surprisingly, since last year we were the only customers and could barely find a place to sit down that wasn't rained on), and they had a big covered/tentular section with lots more seating, plus the area where they were preparing the lobster rolls was covered, too. I think they also had more grills set up. We sat in the non-covered area near the water, and had to wait a while before they brought the lobster rolls over to us. I tried tell the Gingers all about the Long In the Tooth game while we were waiting, but they didn't seem to get it. Alas. :) We also watched a giant fork lift that was carrying a boat. The Lobster Landing guy from my last year's picture was there, but he wasn't wearing as cool of an outfit, so I didn't get a picture. I did get a picture of the M, though!

After LL, we went to Hammonassett State Park in Madison (I can't figure out if it's Hammonassett or Hammonasset, because it was spelled both ways on different signs at the park!). I am pretty sure this was the first time I have ever actually been to a Connecticut beach. Bizarre, huh? You have to pay to get in on weekends (and maybe week days too, during the busy season), but there were no collectors at the little toll booth thingies and it was free when we went. We drove to the far leftmost end, to Meigs Point, and walked on the trail to the beach. I liked the sign on the trail about all the "Prehistoric Animals!" that lived here back in the olden days (like when my dad was a kid). Woolly mammoths = ♥. There were lots of huge boulders along the Meigs Point shoreline that were deposited by a glacier that moseyed around Connecticut back then.

It was pretty windy and chilly once we got to the beach, so we didn't stay that long, but there were tons of cool washed-up items to see, including lots and lots and lots of little shells and a wavy line of jellies strewn all along the beach! I didn't have any peanut butter, so I couldn't make a peanut butter and jellyfish sandwich. :-( (Here's a jelly on some tasty-looking sea lettuce. It's a little hard to see, but note the cute flower-like shape.) The coolest object we found was the egg case of a whelk (a type of snail)! It's pretty big--over a foot long, stretched out. (Much bigger than the whelk itself.) I also found a whelk's operculum (the trap door thing it closes behind it when it hides inside its shell)! I had no idea what it was, but it was interesting looking, so I kept it and we showed a guide at Meigs' Point Nature Center, where we went after the beach. Once he said what it was, I instantly understood what he was talking about because it looks just like a smaller version of that "evil eye" on the mean-looking Triton's Trumpet I met while diving at Pine Trees! There was a cool display on whelks at the nature center, with some of the shells and egg cases. (No operculums, though.)

The nature center ALSO had a whole bunch of terrariums with toads, turtles, and SNAKES. I was not expecting to see snakes! The nature center guy observed my interest (or "interest"?) in the first snake I encountered, a big Eastern Black Rat Snake, so he got it out for me to meet, and suggested that I touch it, which I did, somewhat gingerly. It felt nice. Then he asked me if I wanted to hold it, which I also did, whilst mentioning, "I have a huge snake phobia." The guide was like, "Well, this is good, then," and I was like, "Yeah." At my request, my G took a picture for me on my camera. It was a very well-behaved snake. I'm not sure why, but I wasn't really that scared, although I did have a slightly nervous "I can't believe I'm doing this..." smile-bordering-on-cringe. :-) No freezing in horror/fear & loathing, or anything like that, though. My G said something to the guide like, "Don't let her deceive you; she's actually a scuba diver and has no problem with touching all kinds of strange creatures." Ha! :-) It was really funny, because the guide was this really tall big man, and I practically look like a little girl standing next to him in that picture!

Then my G started asking the guide about the hognose snake, because they've seen a big one at their house that rears up like a cobra (!!!), so the guide took out the Eastern Hognose Snake and had me hold that, too! Fortunately, it was a very cuddly one, and curled up in my hands rather than rearing up. I held it all by myself! They had a bunch of other snakes, including two Northern Water Snakes (the kind at our land)--a little one that was crawling up the wall of its cage and a big one that was hiding under the straw in its home. AND there was a big, fat (non-local) BOA CONSTRICTOR. (Luckily the guide didn't suggest I hold that guy, because I probably would have done it. Maybe.) It was a great little nature center! They also had a bunch of interesting exhibits on stuff you find on the beach, and a big case of skulls. No horse head, but all sorts of other mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. It was really interesting to see which very disparate creatures have similar-sized skulls. On the way out, I wanted to put something in the donation box, so I put in the only bill I had, $5, and thanked the guide for showing me the snakes. :-) Am I OVER my snake phobia now??? Hmmmmmmm. We shall see. No nightmares yet.

Posted at 5:06:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Dean restored my programs drive from a previous Clonezilla image, so I didn't lose any data! I was infected, though. EVIL. Backups are important!

Here's what happened, so be careful. I was at a website that I had never visited before (but one that a site I visit all the time linked to!), and several windows popped up on their own volition, including one pretending to be an anti-virus program that wanted me to click on it to fight off the virus that was attacking me. It looked just like a real anti-virus program, and said something like "You are infected!" I didn't trust it (since Dean has taught me to Trust No One), so I didn't click on anything, and just immediately shut everything down and turned my computer off. Based on that, Dean thought I probably didn't actually get the virus, but when he booted my computer back up, the Malware thingy (claiming to be an Anti-Virus protector) popped up again, so he put my computer in Safe Mode and synched some files to my Netbook, then restored from our Clonezilla image. I knew we had good backups, but I was a little worried that I'd lose my recent photos and originals of the Fish of the Week! :-)

Posted at 2:11:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Just rewatched Iron Man #1. Tony Stark is pretty awesome. He'd really fit in in the LC!

Posted at 11:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

This afternoon when I got back from the pool, my black underwater watch completely FELL APART, then stopped working. Totally weird, especially since it happened for no reason, after I got home. I guess it croaked. Darn, because I like wearing a watch at all times and I don't think my orange one is waterproof anymore, since we replaced the battery. (My Mido is waterproof, but I don't want to subject it to pool water.)

Posted at 8:23:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

My mind is blown! They were playing good music at Klekolo today! (Some classical stuff, and "White Room.")

Posted at 3:51:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

My computer just got infected by a virus!!! I wasn't even DOING anything. What the heck! I shut it off immediately, but I don't know what's going to happen. (Dean will check it out later...)

Posted at 12:51:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

I made rhubarb sauce! I used Past Self's Resplendent Rhubarb Sauce recipe. It was sooo good. (Maybe try with slightly less sugar?) Now my teeth feel inside out. (Perfect turn of phrase coined by Susie.)

Posted at 8:26:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

!!! Dean felt my hamstrings and was shocked by how tight they are and even said, "No wonder your back hurts!" Me: "They're not normally like that?" Him: "No!!!" Ooops. According to the physical therapist at NEAC who gives out free consultations for members, it's not any one thing I did; it's a cumulative effect from exercising more. What the heck, here I am trying to Improve Myself and I get all injured. Grr. I don't really mind that my legs hurt, but my back hurting is annoying. I'm kinda pleased/proud that it proves I've been non-slacky in my workouts, though! Heh. :)

Posted at 6:58:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

!!! The Adult DVD place in the Skeevy Plaza on the Berlin Turnpike (former home of The Blue Lobster) is gone! Now it's just "The Other Place," all by itself! I wonder if the new business that moves in will be non-skeevy??

Posted at 5:27:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Stretching. Ow. Ow. Ow.

Posted at 1:28:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Phooey, my back still hurts. It's the small of the back (feels really stiff/tight), not the upper back/shoulders like usual, so it's very odd for me. Yesterday I got my Massage of the Month Club massage (I had a new person and she was really good!) (not that the others weren't) and she said it was because my hamstrings are really tight! I never would have connected the two, but it does make total sense, and I even looked it up online and it's definitely a true connection. Bizarro. I don't know why my hamstrings are extra tight. Maybe from swimming? Frog kick!

Posted at 12:41:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Will post about final two days of G-visiting tonight or tomorrow! We did similar things on both days, so that's good for lumping purposes. Yesterday was the Gs' last day in CT, and today I went to Glastonbury and bought leather needles, topstitch needles and sharps (such a cool name) at Close To Home! (They happened to be having a buy 2 get 1 free sale.) They are all types that I've never tried before, and the store lady told me all about how they are different and why each one is suited to different purposes. It was highly interesting. She totally recognised me and acted like I'm a regular customer, even though I hardly ever go there and almost never buy anything even when I do. Weird. She knew all about my skirt-making schemes and everything. Huh. I guess other people are a lot better at remembering/recognizing others than I am. But I already knew that. Anyway, I might try to make a bag out of some suede I got a few years ago at Uptown. It was a shift dress that no one bought that they were selling super-cheap... it's tons too big on me, but there's lots of beautiful material! I'm sure my old machine would've choked to death on it, but I bet my new Emerald will be able to handle it, especially with the proper needle.

Posted at 7:40:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I almost forgot to listen to "Isis" today (probably because it's absolutely gorgeous out, and not drizzling rain). Must do it after supper.

[Edit, 7:29: I listened to a different version than usual! The one I have labelled as "Isis (rare live '75)."]

Posted at 6:46:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I've gotta say, I'm pretty sure Jupiter No. Ree is one of the most brilliant things I've ever done.

Posted at 6:36:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Fiddlehead time! (I didn't buy any, yet.)

(Yikes, that picture looks like a big squirmy pile of brittle stars.)

Posted at 4:12:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Wow, I haven't listened to it in ages, but my Deadwood fan mix is so good.

Posted at 1:04:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Owwww. I hurt my back, and I have no idea how. It should not be hurting! I ate some drugs.

I liked how it felt out today. Summery. Not hot (it was on and off rainy), but summery somehow. I wore my new black Oshima Surf shirt and ALB skirt to the pool. That skirt is really short! It's weird how different lengths feel right in Hawaii vs. here. My CT skirts feel too long in Hawaii.

Posted at 9:45:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Oooh. I want to try Alphonso mangoes.

Posted at 7:17:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I can't stand to think about this oil spill stuff. It just makes me sick.

Posted at 12:04:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I still have to write about my Friday G visit, so don't forget (self). Friday = SNAKE! No G visit tomorrow (Monday), so I'll do it then. Monday also = Thursday (cleaning and laundry) AND Monday (pool + grocery replenishment), though. Aaaah!
I should do the blog writing now, but my brain is tired, so I can't.

I like the Fish of the Week. The brain is good at Fish of the Week when it's bad at writing. FOTW-ing uses a different section.

Posted at 1:00:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Fish of the Week! I drew this one really fast (Ticonderoga pencil outline only), with pretty much no corrections, then took a zillion years coloring it in on the computer. Didn't use any colored pencil at all. He's a Common Bigeye, which is different than a Squirrelfish. I wondered about that! We see squirrelfish in the Caribbean and bigeye in Hawaii. Note how the mouth turns up on a bigeye and down on a squirrelfish. They are both deep orangey-red with gigantic supercute eyes and look really worried all the time.

The species name for this fish means "bloody" and the Hawaiian name (`aweoweo) means "glowing red." There is also an endemic fish called a Hawaiian Bigeye, which looks similar but its tail fin has a slightly concave trailing edge, whereas the Common Bigeye's tail fin is slightly convex. The Hawaiian Bigeye are pretty uncommon except in the Northwest Hawaiian islands, so we probably don't see them.

Posted at 10:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

My brain does not want to concentrate on writing blog entries. The brain would be quite happy to take a delicious nap. But since I never take naps, that is not really an option.

Posted at 8:02:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

It feels so nice out today.

Posted at 7:53:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.