Blergh

[wendyzski]

With no actual reason to get up at any particular time, my body has now thoroughly shifted back to my "natural" sleeping hours of 3-4AM to Noon-ish. This has pretty much been a constant since at least the age of 16. I do need sunlight, and have suspected for some time that I have a tendency towards SAD. But every time in my life that I've been on extended vacation or unemployment with no specific time committments, I just drift to this kind of schedule. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be really nice so I want to try and at least do some walking-errands in the afternoon before I utterly forget what daylight is.

My favorite torrent site has "gone legit". Any suggestions for a new alternate that isn't totally virus-infested, please PM me. No major need until the new Dr. Who specials hit next month.

Had to spend half an hour on a friend's landline (luckily an 800 number) to get my TracFone sorted out - I'm on a monthly budget plan and I got charged for this month's minutes but they never showed up on my phone. We could see the request in the system but it just wasn't making it over to the phone. It took two people in India quite some time to get things sorted out but now it works again - which is good because I was down to 6 minutes!

I used a "natural" and "pet-safe" bug spray in my kitchen. Hasn't done much about the roaches (which got a LOT worse a few weeks ago when my downstairs neighbor did a bunch of drywall work in his unit) but my kitchen smells like Christmas Overload due to the cinnamon and rosemary oils.

I think we've finally gotten the boiler crap sorted out - things have run fine for several days now with no adjustments needed. The first heating company was supposed to come by tonight to pick up the "new" feeder that they installed (and that the second company had to take out again) - because we're not going to pay them for it. But they never showed up - at least not in the hour they were supposed to. I'll leave it sitting in the lobby all boxed up for them, but I'm certainly not going to go out of my way to get it back to them.

Dinner was poor-woman's "crabmeat au gratin" - rice in a cheese and broccoli sauce with added syntha-crab. Actually it was rather tasty. Yes I know - I'm sad and pathetic. I did bake a batch of mini-loaves of Sunshine Bread (sunflower seeds, whole wheat and cider) though.

I also experimented for the first time with the Chicago Public Library's downloadable audiobooks feature. Downloaded a couple and managed to burn one to CD successfully. (The ones that allow you to burn to CD are notated). The download versions are rights-protected, but the version burned to CD by the "Overdrive Media Console" don't seem to have any kind of protection or expiration on them. Time will tell.

Pepper continues affectionate - I tend to lie on the couch to read/watch TV and she will hop up and settle between my right arm and my body and stay there as long as I continue to pet her. This now happens several times a day - a huge change. Of course, it's not all roses - she ate two buttons off the TV remote yesterday. But in general I'm no longer pondering the merits of a new furry hat.

Comments

[stealthbunny.livejournal.com]

Try Torrentroot. It's a torrent search engine thingie that I was introduced to last night. It searches out titles over a bunch of different torrent sites. You'll have to judge by the comments if they're "safe" though, but I think that's about the best we're going to be able to do for now. You might luck out, though, since you're Dr Who-specific and someone might know of a site specific to just that where people are sharing their own Dr Who torrents - someone on a Dr Who group might know of one, kinda like the little casual game site that I use.

[salami-salome.livejournal.com]

Pepperlove! It's funny how bunnies just sometimes change their minds about things. I guess she finally decided you're not going to eat her. =)

[sciffy-circo.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I know how the "wake schedule" works, versus a "sleep schedule". You wake up if you have something planned. Otherwise, stay up till whenever, wake up whenever. Then wonder why your body is behaving like that, and why it seems so right and natural, and who the heck thought up this 9-5 thing anyway?

Torrent sites? Don't use them, but I've got friends who do. then again, those same friends spend their lives reinstalling Windows, due to all the viruses, trojan horses, etc. they also seem to download. My brother used to use IRC for it, but tired of the same thing. He ultimately hooked up with his college roommate, they paid for a joint Blockbuster membership, a hack program to allow copying, and a nice DVD burner.

Libraries are nice. Getting free copies of stuff is also nice. Maybe not legal though.

One good thing about the cooking class is learning how to do a few things for myself, a few simple recipes. But it kinda sucks to be craving a fancy meal, when you're only able to afford something simple.

I once got asked if I wanted Ramen noodles, and I said hell no. Then I watched them making it, adding in egg, green onions, fish cakes... HEY!!! That ain't 15 for $1 ramen anymore!!! You're making an actual MEAL, not just a snack! Actually, tofu is cheap enough. I could throw some of that together, and make an actual meal. Yeah, it would cost a bit more, but I'd feel a hell of a lot better, AND be eating healthier.

FINALLY heard back from food stamps a couple weeks ago. They wanted some more paperwork, and hopefully I'll hear back soon about whether or not I get anything. So much for "expedited". I've been waiting danged near a month, probably longer.

[fuzzyscribble.livejournal.com]

I find that plain old piratebay works great for me. I have a Mac...and use Transmission and a good virus program. I have had no problems. BUT I only download video/audio via bittorrent. (As opposed to software.) I rarely download movies...which are also more likely to be infected. So far...my anime habit hasn't caused me any issues.

Roaches. Try picking up some caulk and boric acid powder. I lived in an apartment once where my downstairs neighbor had 18 cats and one nervous parrot...and one hell of a roach problem. Which then became MY roach problem. I used my hairdryer to blow that boric acid "roach powder" underneath the cracks in my baseboards...and then ran a bead of caulk around them. Reduced my population of "friends" by almost 80%.

Boric acid in the backs of my cabinets...and in places where I didn't have to worry about a "loose" gerbil getting...like on top of my cabinets...also seemed to help. As does drying out your sink at night and/or making sure your dirty dishes are soaking in really soapy water. Pick up any pet water/food at night. (If you leave any out for your fluffies on the floor.) They need the magic triangle of "places to hide/food/water" to want to live in your unit. Take one away...and the little brown ones will go back to one of your messier neighbors where life is easier. Since they can eat almost anything...including each other...it's easier to get em by taking away their water...and making places to hide less comfortable.

Try librivox if you haven't already. Some of the volunteer readers are really good...and if you haven't read your Austen lately...it's a good way of returning to Merryton...