(no subject)

[the_rck]

I’ve been getting CDs from the library by artists I liked in high school. Sadly, what I’m finding is that I only like the songs that I knew then and not the new-to-me stuff. I guess it kind of underlines that this is not a style of music that really appeals strongly to me. Some of it, I don’t mind listening to once. Some of it, I start and immediately wish for the album to be done so that I don’t have to listen to more. I’m getting better about skipping songs and/or stopping in the middle of albums that aren’t working for me.

Cordelia’s best friend and her brother came over yesterday afternoon and stayed into the evening. The girls wanted to go to the band concert at their school. I think it was more because it was an Event than because they were strongly interested.

We had two friends over in the evening, and we played a cooperative board game where we were a team of firefighters. We ended up losing, but we were playing with the advanced rules, so we kind of expected to. If we’d been able to make it through two more rounds, we’d have won, but I really don’t see how we could have done it. We’d have had to be incredibly lucky on seven rolls of the dice (after each player’s turn, one rolls to see where new smoke appears. The location of that relative to existing smoke or fire determines whether what results is smoke, fire, or and explosion). At any rate, the game ended with the building collapsing.

I walked down to the church with cherydactyl to hack the portal. I was pretty out of breath by the time we got back here, so I guess that walk is something I really, really need to keep doing. It’s just hard as it gets warmer. I’m still not tolerating heat very well.

I think I’ve almost got the house ready for when the cleaning lady comes. I’m trying to get it done now because I’ve got a friend, evalerie, coming over in about an hour. I don’t want to have to be tidying after she arrives or to rush back here after we go out for lunch in order to load the dishwasher or whatever. I think, right now, all I have to deal with some laundry. I could be wrong, though. At the very least, I need to give the counters a once over because the cleaning lady will sweep small bits of foil or plastic into the garbage disposal.

Right now, we’re planning to go to lunch downtown, at Jerusalem Garden. That will let me run some errands after lunch. I want to go to the post office (to return the shirts) and the library (to deal with the missing CD problem), and both of those are less than a block from Jerusalem Garden. The bus station is right there, too, so I won’t have to go far to catch that home. Whether or not I walk around, doing Ingress stuff, will depend on how hot it is and how that’s affecting me. I told the cleaning lady that I might not be here when she arrives this week. I’ll be a bit surprised if I’m out that late, though, and I’ll certainly be back before she leaves.

I think that it will be slightly cheaper for me to pay the postage to mail back the shirts up front. I’m not absolutely certain, though, because I’m not sure how much they weigh. I don’t think, though, that it will save me more than a couple of dollars, so I’m trying to decide if that’s worth the extra trouble involved. I’m also debating boxes. I’ve got two possibilities. There’s an old Amazon box that’s about twice the size I actually need and a shoe box that’s exactly the right size but heavier than the Amazon box because each wall has a double layer of cardboard. The shirts won’t be damaged at all by tumbling around in the larger box, but carrying it will be more awkward (it’s a short box that’s quite long and wide).

Cordelia has a concert tonight. The seventh grade orchestra plays last, after the fifth graders and the sixth graders. This means that we’ll have Cordelia’s best friend and her brother after school again because the best friend is also in the orchestra. She plays violin while Cordelia plays viola. We’ll also have them tomorrow, but I’m not sure if we’ll have them next week at all because I’m not sure if Cross Country Kids will still be going on and because I’m not sure if Cordelia’s friend will be fasting for Ramadan. I’m pretty sure her brother won’t be because he’s nine, but she might. I’m mainly thinking that she might not want to come over here if she’s fasting because no one here will be and that’s sure to make it much harder. I suppose it’s up to her and her parents and what they all think is best for her.

The friend’s mother offered to take Cordelia clothes shopping for stuff she needs to try on but won’t look at with me or her grandmother. We’re hoping that going with a friend will make it more appealing. At the time of the offer, Cordelia was still on crutches, and I haven’t followed up now that she’s able to walk. I don’t think it’s even remotely urgent, so I’m going to email the other mother and suggest that some time after Ramadan might be appropriate.

Comments

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised the check out person didn't verify there were two CDs (or in your case NOT 2 CDs) when they checked it out. I hope they're understanding.

[the_rck]

I'm very puzzled by it because I got the CD via a hold. That means that they sealed it shut with a largish sticker with an identifying barcode, the date the hold would expire, and my name on it. I can't imagine doing that without checking to see that the CDs were actually in there. I didn't look because getting the labels off is more than a little time consuming.

We do self checkout almost exclusively at our library, so the staff don't generally have opportunities to check to see that CDs and DVDs are actually there. They still do checkout for people who aren't comfortable doing self checkout and for interlibrary loan books.

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. Fortunately (though it's also a pain) the UPC on my library card won't scan in the self checkout so I always have to have one of the clerks check me out.

[garnigal.livejournal.com]

We love co-operative games in our house, and I've never heard of this firefighter one. Do you happen to remember the name?

[the_rck]

It's called Flash Point. I think my husband found out about it on Tabletop, but I'm not sure. I know he keeps an eye out for truly cooperative games because I panic when I try to play competitive games. He loves board games and wants us both to be able to play.

Sentinels of the Multiverse is another great cooperative game that I recommend highly.

I'm not as enthusiastic about Fortune and Glory because it was expensive and is very large and takes many hours to play. We also still haven't figured out the rules completely.

music from younger you

[ken-3k.livejournal.com]

On those CDs from artists whose individual songs you liked in high school: My suggestion would be to build a CD-R or MP3 collection of the specific songs you liked in high school. Then, you have something album-length which is only the enjoyable bits.

The alternative suggestion, if the artists were big enough and the songs you liked were the radio hits, would be to look for greatest-hits collections. I find my appreciation for greatest-hits collections of classic rock has soared in recent years.

RE: music from younger you

[the_rck]

I am trying to gather songs here and there. I'm checking out library CDs partly because I don't remember titles. Of course, the library is most likely to have albums by artists who are still popular.

[xspike4evax.livejournal.com]

I tend to find that if a band or singer I liked as a teenager has a come back I'm quite excited about it but the new stuff just doesn't appeal to me as much as the old stuff.  Maybe it's just that the old stuff brings back good memories.

[the_rck]

I'm pretty sure that that's what's going on with me. If I don't already know the songs, I don't have the patience to try to connect to them because it's not the sort of music I'd seek out now.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Jan used to put bits of plastic into the garbage disposal, especially the little labels that arrive stuck onto fresh fruit. At first I was horrified. But it seems to go down the disposal just fine, and Jan pointed out that the water treatment plant already has to filter crud out of the water anyway, so a few more bits of plastic don't make any difference. I'm still not comfortable with that, and I don't ever put bits of plastic down the disposal, but actually I think Jan did have a point, that that stuff probably won't do any damage. (Says Valerie, agreeing with everybody on all sides of the question.) :)

[the_rck]

I would still prefer not to put that sort of stuff down the disposal.