In Common with Humans

• 20:04 *sigh* If only paying your taxes worked off lots and lots of calories. I think 100 calories per dollar would make a good trade-off. #
• 11:27 *grump* Loudtwitter didn’t post my tweets to my LJ this morning. I’m annoyed. #
• 13:26 My plans to go to the post office are postponed–there’s a crew right at the end of my driveway trimming trees around the power lines. 🙁 #
• 15:04 I finally got out to the post office, came home, and had to wait in the street for the oil company to finish making a heating oil delivery! #

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Yesterday the Boston Globe validated our subjective impression that this winter is rougher than usual and it’s really wearing people down.

“Boston has been blasted with 49 inches of snow so far this year, more than double the average at this date of 22 inches. Temperatures this frigid month are also well below the January average of 29.3 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. On many days the temperature plummeted more than 15 degrees below the historical average for that day.”

That’s quite a divergence from normal. No wonder we’re feeling battered. I recall that in the fall, there was neither an “El Nino” nor a “La Nina” in the Pacific, which is one of the reasons the forecasts for the winter were ambiguous. Apparently, a “La Nina” did develop, and that’s associated with harsher winters in the Midwest and Northeast of the U.S. and in Canada.

Of course, this winter is just continuing the general cooler, very stormy weather pattern we had all summer, so we should have seen it coming! *sigh*

Transitioning from income taxes and editing to doing tonight’s workout, I ran across a refreshing little tidbit.

Granted, the discovery that swarming locusts have higher levels of serotonin is significant, given the devastation inflicted by locust swarms. But I lost it when I read this line:

“Indeed, the scientists found that tickling the insects’ back legs for a couple hours could induce the locusts to make more serotonin.”

Another of those moments when you just have to slap your forehead and ask, “Wow! Why didn’t I apply for that grant?”

Now I’m off to the Bowflex and the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And you thought your life was rough. *g*

• 11:52 Grrf. I forgot to set the alarm and overslept a half hour. It’s all the cats’ fault! I had cats with me for the first time since Arisia #
• 12:25 It’s 23^ F and snowing hard, fine dry snow. I’d be happy if it stays that way, I hate “wintry mix,” it’s a bear to shovel! #
• 13:38 Sara Nelson, the top editor at Publishers Weekly, has been laid off. tinyurl.com/c2uxg8 #
• 13:55 ticky-ticky-tap-tap It’s sleeting now. I’m catching up with business-related news filters and HAROs. The ‘Net seems very quiet! #
• 19:12 I shoveled six inches of ice-crusted snow in pouring freezing rain for more than an hour and came in soaked to the skin. Fooey. #
• 19:14 Now I have a fire going and I’m drinking hot, intensely spicy cider–no rum, though, I’m still working on editing and other tasks. #
• 01:33 Yay! My federal income tax return and my mortgage subsidy renewal are both all ready to mail! And that’s no small accomplishment, yeesh. #
• 01:36 I had quite a time getting BLUM’s year-end totals and Schedule C to reconcile perfectly–inventory, cost of goods sold, expenses, whew! #

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• 12:32 Busy day so far, Tues. is my chores day and it’s transfer station week. I’m almost done and then it’s back to editing & taxes! #
• 12:34 I set spiced cider on low heat and it boiled over, & I just over-cooked the Brussels Sprouts. Multi-tasking has limits. 🙁 #
• 17:44 January, 2009 is heading toward being my best sales month so far. #
• 22:07 Holy mackerel. If Uncle Sam keeps on treating me this well, I’m going to have to, like, create a job or something! #

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Yes, it’s that time of year when I’m thinking about money…even more obsessively than I think about it all the rest of the time.

Confessions of a cheapskate convention attendee…

• 11:38 Could it be possible that I’m looking at one, single, complete “normal” week? No meetings, holidays, conventions, event prep, etc? Whoa… #
• 11:40 Monday is my “normal” laundry and errands day. It’s 23 degrees F. I’m running errands locally–nothing farther than 3 miles! #
• 13:15 The government of Iceland has collapsed. tinyurl.com/cysfvy #
• 14:38 Quick errands run today, partly because I didn’t get to last week’s until Wed. Dodged power line work and two cop cars to get to the store #
• 15:53 I’m editing a manuscript. This is a very good thing, but there’s not a lot to Twitter about it. #
• 20:29 Looks like we’re getting another foot of snow on Wednesday. Good thing I have no plans except editing and getting taxes done! #
• 03:29 I am up WAY too late, straightening up BLUM’s books so I can start my income taxes. Good night! #

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I’ve gotten a query from an acquaintance who is non-tech-savvy in the extreme. She has a PC and an iPod. She’s just gotten a second iPod and says she wants to have the same music on both iPods. I do not have an iPod, although I have an iTunes account. As far as I can tell from the FAQs and so on, Apple doesn’t allow you to put the same library, or the same content, on two different iPods.

Can anyone help out with this? I don’t know why my acquaintance wants two iPods with exactly the same playlists, but she does, and she’s all upset. TIA!

• 11:14 Loudtwitter seems not to be posting my tweets to LJ, I’ll need to check the setup on that again #
• 13:22 McCain is trying to convince us all he’s a “maverick” again. tinyurl.com/ctjwws #
• 13:28 New Moon and Annular Solar Eclipse tomorrow morning at 2:55am EST/7:55am UTC, at 6^30 Aquarius, also Happy Chinese New Year 🙂 #
• 14:13 The Detroit Free Press says 2009 will be a big year for werewolf movies: www.freep.com/article/20090125/ENT01/901250344/1035/rss04 #
• 20:05 The shorter a piece you’re trying to write, the more you fuss with it. If I was tracking changes on this blurb, it would look like macrame. #
• 00:31 The blurb is done and sent, and now I’m making solid progress with editing, until I stop for New Moon ritual and bed. #
• 00:32 It’s 4 degrees F outside. That is too effing cold. :-p #

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Gakked from kradical and ktpinto:

television show meme