It's a Very Busy "Day Off" and Computer Repairs are Added To the Mix

Today I take my main computer up to Dale, let him work on it, and when he contacts me, I'll drive back up to him again to pick it up and pay him money. *sigh* It'll be worth it to get a repaired computer. I desperately need files that are on it and that I can't access directly through the laptop. All of the cables are labelled and removed, and the big box is sitting next to my study door, waiting until I get back from the pool before I put it into the car. 

Dale looks nothing like this. He's a large man, very tall, 
with hippie hair and bare feet (in any weather - his feet 
are always warm where mine are always cold). He's become 
a good friend over the years and is another person who 
saves my holiday cards. 

We're barely above freezing, but we are. So I'm hopeful the roads won't be sheets of ice today as I drive to the pool. Of all the weather aspects of our winters up here, serious ice is my LEAST favorite road condition. I don't handle ice well. To be honest, I think MOST people don't handle ice well. But I've got a good start on a very busy day with my first load of laundry already washing, my laptop ready to post today's daily post, and just enough time to deal with it in 33 F temperatures. That's very borderline, though, so I'll have to be cautious. No broken legs today! 

We don't get as much ice to deal with up here 
as we do snow, but when we get ice, it's a 
miserable experience. I park in a part of the 
YMCA parking lot that will allow me to have 
a level walk to the door. I got tired of 
dealing with ice when  parked next to 
Rosemary down the northern slope of the lot. 

I might buy myself a Holiday Gift of an online course in reading Egyptian hieroglyphics. It's put on by a professor at Penn U. It's NOT inexpensive, but if I pay in three installments, I can easily cover the cost, and since it's online, it's available to me whenever I need/want without time constraints. I've been studying hieroglyphics for decades now, but have hit a wall. Maybe this would be what I need to break through it. Merry Christmas to me - LOL. 

I've worked through several books on Egyptian hieroglyphics 
over the years and have always been overwhelmed. Her 
approach is different. Learn by actually reading the carvings, 
not a printed font. See the differences and the weathering and 
see how to recognize what it is you are seeing. Much of it 
are standard phrases, and it would be a delight to be able 
to actually read more and study a bit less. And, more than 
anything, enjoy myself while doing it. 

I got cards yesterday from Iris, a long-time friend in Germany for whom I used to do Beta work on her stories, and from my "sister" and "brother" Starlet and Peter back on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It's great to hear from them. The last I heard, Starlet was in the hospital again with an aggravated lung infection and an infection from a non-sterile needle from an IV she received at the hospital in Pine Ridge. Yes - a non-sterile needle at a hospital. That's the state of health care in the Rez, and one more example of the wide gaps between those who have and those who have not. 

There are so many different color palettes for Christmas. I've 
probably used them all at one time or another. The lovely 
think about getting holiday cards and putting them on display, 
is the total randomness of the colors and images, that still 
manage to work together for a harmonious whole. Rather 
like people at a gathering, working together for joy. 

It was lovely to hear from both of them, however. Their cards have joined the others on my mantlepiece and look beautiful hanging there. Small bits of color against the white marble and darker wood above. There's something so wonderful about holiday cards. 

When I look through photos on Google, I see a lot of 
"cards hanging from a mantle" photos like this one. 
But, this is a TINY fireplace, compared with my full 
wall, and I don't use a string - I just attach the cards 
directly to the marble mantlepiece. By the time 
Christmas comes, I usually have a lovely display of 
cheery cards to look upon. 

So, since I'm in a rush today and will have a schedule filled with errands (and interruptions to drive 1/2 hour north for computer work two times), I'm cutting this off here today. I'm going to find some photos, get it formatted, and post. I hope all of you have an excellent Wednesday. Slava Ukraini.