Too much going on at the library

Thought I would come to my local public library to have a peaceful computer experience.  I did not have the energy to drive one hour to The Free Library of Philadelphia in order to hear Dave Barry.  It is so cold and windy and I am not doing so well being alone.  He just wrote his first fiction books.  I greatly enjoy his nonfiction, especially his habit of exageration.

First I couldn't find a parking place.  Then I had to leave some stuff in the car because they don't have an access ramp.  So I arrived in the middle of a children's program, Tales of the H.E.A.R.T. magic and puppet show.  Kind of distracting, but the kids seem to be really enjoying it.  I also can hear the strains of The Save the library group because I know several of the people on that committee.  Only get an hour here and there is not much room for my STUFF around the computer.  Oh well, it is better than staying home.

The Irish Manor House murder : a Torrey Tunet mystery, by Dicey Deere.  I found that there were too many characters for me to keep track of.  Nice local color, though, at an Irish country manor.  Apparently, this same detective person was in another book.  Actually, she is a translator of children's books looking for a quiet place to work.  I picked up this book merely because it was a paperback and I keep a collection of paperbacks to read when I am sitting in a certain chair.

Internet access

Well, I still haven't bit the bullet and gotten Internet access at home.  Don't know where to start with all of the things I "need"...Do I get a new phone, apps, Internet, wireless, Siruis XM radio, a camera, or what?  Article on Technorati about a lot of students using the Wi-Fi at McDonald's.  I don't see it in Bridgeton.  I am usually the only one using it when I go.  I thought this fact was interesting: " McDonalds have 12,000 Wi-Fi equipped locations across America, with Starbucks adding another 7,000. Combined they provide greater access to the Internet than the 15,000 Wi-Fi enabled public libraries in America."

Driving home from my class last night, I took a wrong turn and ended up in Millville.  That is somewhat disturbing.  I don't seem to recognize where I am in the dark, even when I know the way home.  This is when I venture an hour or more away from home.

"60 apps in 60 minutes" was quite inspiring.  Our instructor was a substitute but he was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  If he said "How cool is that" once, he said it 30 times.  Of course, now I "need" and want apps...but will I really use them?  It was inviting in a very librarian-like way.  How could I NOT enjoy all these extra ways to find things out?  Not sure I need a news aggregator or a personal magazine.  I kind of like newspapers and magazines the way they are and the way I am using them.  The music and photo apps were really cool, though.  I can see myself using Shazam or Dropbox.  And the "find your phone" app could come in handy.

Beach access closed until further notice

I found myself in Cape May Courthouse and saw that I HAD to drive a little further to check out the ocean in Stone Harbor.  The street just off the beach was in really bad shape and closed for construction.  I tried just one street over (97th St.) and was confronted with this sign when I attempted to go up the wooden walkway to the beach.  I could HEAR the ocean, but obediently, I retreated and didn't try to bypass the warning.  This is obviously Hurricane Sandy damage.

Just a beautiful day.  Finally, the sun came out and it got up to 58 degrees according to my car.  I did my "Vitamin D bath" routine, sitting in my car, listening to an audiobook.  Drove for an hour, passing places I always think I should stop at and take a walk.  Vowing to come back with my cross country ski poles and use them as walking poles.  Had soup for dinner.  Trying to eat more SOUP and SALAD instead of my favorite food, sandwiches.  I could eat sandwiches all day long, no problem. 

I came to this library to use the computers (of course) and take a class tonight.  60 apps in 60 minutes.  I don't even HAVE apps, but am thinking about getting them.  I am at the Cape May County library in Cape May Courthouse.  I actually have a card for this library system, being the library nerd that I am.

We're gonna die young

Listening to this song, it occurred to me that people rarely sing a song on their own these days.  Each song seems to feature about 5 famous people to max out the listeners, I guess.  "Die young" is by Kesha, or Ke$ha, as she likes to bill herself. The electropop song was written by Kesha, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco, Cirkut, and fun. singer Nate Ruess.  The official remix features rappers Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Becky G.  See, what did I tell you?  Some  people are refusing to play this song, because there are entirely too many people dying young.

I reported a light out to the electric company.  They can't find it.  I went to all the trouble of reporting the number on the pole and the type of light.  I guess it didn't help.  Now, they want me to provide an ADDRESS near there.  It is really out in the boondocks.  I wonder how they are making out at work with the soda machine.  I was always the one who would harass the Coca Cola company whenever the machine ran out of Diet Coke.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore : a novel, by Robin Sloan.  It started out delighting me as it was about books and bookstores and libraries.  Eventually, it lost me, though.  Got a bit too much into codes and games and science fiction.  A guy is working in a bookstore which has very few customers.  The books are shelved UP instead of OUT.  He asks himself, "Is this a book club?  How do they join?  Do they ever pay?"
Also includes the history of printing and type faces and secret societies, like the order of the Unbroken Spine.  There is also Google and spying...."I sit up straight and do the first thing a person is supposed to do in an emergency, which is send a text message."  His girlfriend works at Google..."everybody at Google likes codes....Books: boring.  Codes: awesome  These are the people who are running the Internet".

I hope it's not me

This really scary computer message came up about how you have to pay a lot of money to get your computer going again.  Now, I HAVE seen that hijacking message once before and it was at another library.  Could it be something I'm doing?  God forbid.  All I was on was blogspot and playlist.com.

It took me an entire hour just to deal with my email.  That gets to be a problem when libraries only let you use the computer for an hour.  I really do need to get the Internet at home.  This schlepping my stuff around is getting really tedious.  I am feeling like a real BAG lady. 

Feeling hungry.  Have only had oatmeal and an orange today.  Trying to get in the mood for diet and exercise.  Usually, I don't care about it.  But it is freaking me out that I used to weigh a good deal less and I thought I was fat THEN.  I am tired of being wide.

I need an online boyfriend

What a good idea.  A boyfriend that you never see.  Reminds me of George on Seinfeld who wanted to date a woman who was in prison so he could avoid "the dreaded drop-in".  But how am I going to look for a boyfriend if I don't feel photogenic?

Printing out a lot of stuff off of the Internet today.  Gee, it is really expensive not having a workplace where you can get printouts and photocopies at will.  But I just had to have a copy of how to clean your birdfeeder and getting used to discomfort.  That one really spoke to my condition and explains why people (me) don't want to eat right, exercise, travel or clean up their clutter.  IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE.

Still on my way to exercise.  I was headed to yoga this AM but was going to be 5 minutes late and I am trying to get over that habit.  So I didn't go.  Thus I am headed to another health club to do my daily chore.
It is already 12:38 and all I have done is visit with a friend and get my email under control.  Seeing how much I can get done before I go home to wait out the snow storm which is predicted.  So many things to look up and so little time.

I can't believe that I used to live in Vermont

How did I live and work in snowy Vermont?  I had my very own pair of snowmobile boots with liners.  My car spent 6 months dead in the driveway.  I had to be picked up by a guy from work who offered me a beer at 6 AM.  I drove a Snocat and a Bombardier on Killington Mountain in the early 70's.  I was the first woman to do so.

Just finished a book I read because it was recommended in an article in the New Yorker, from February 13 & 20, 2012.  The custom of the country was written by Edith Wharton during the years she was preparing to forsake the United States permanently (1913).Undine Spragg is ambitious and greedy.  As quoted in the New Yorker, "she anticipates two other hallmarks of modern American society, the obliteration of all social distinctions by money and the hedonic treadmill of materialism.  In Undine's world, everything an be bought, and none of it will ever be enough."  She visits several continents and has a few husbands and is selfish throughout.  I learned a good word..."the auriferous world of the Degens...." (meaning containing gold)

Had an "assessment" at the health club.  I was sort of dreading it, as I feel like my input is always going to equal my output, no matter what I do.  And also because I want to do what I want to do and not what someone else recommends that I do.  But it was an encouraging experience.  The guy made me feel like progress COULD be made if I would just agree to working up a sweat.  I told him that I have a problem with my attention span and that I do not like to sweat.