In The Deep, Dark Night...

...Have a Happy Halloween!

Thrills & Chills

The wind's still blowing here, and it's cold.  The wind kept getting stronger and stronger yesterday, and last night it literally howled -- and still is. It's been a little nerve wracking, and it's getting old. I love the sound of the wind at night as I'm going to sleep, but this is something altogether different. When it blows and howls and gusts like this, lots of dangerous things can happen. At least it hasn't rained too hard. Or snowed. And I haven't lost my power -- knock on wood. Thank God I haven't seen any bats or crows or scarecrows trying to get in, so I'm counting myself lucky.

Of course, this is nothing compared to what states like New Jersey and New York are experiencing. Mother Nature is clearly showing her testy side. Let's just hope she's not about to start cleaning house.

Lunar Storm

Strange things are apt to happen under a full moon. People tend to be more excitable, more flaky, more just plain nuts when the moon is full. That's not an exaggeration. There's scientific data to back up the age-old claim that people get crazier when the moon's full. Just ask any Emergency Room worker.

I know one thing -- there's a Full Moon SuperStorm raging all over the place. Tell me that would happen under less than a full moon. Luckily, my sister in coastal North Carolina escaped the worst of the hurricane. Here, we have a lot of wind and some rain. There are blizzard warnings in the counties to the west of here. Hopefully, we won't see any snow from that.

I had to bite my tongue yesterday to keep from asking one of my neighbors if he's truly effin' insane or just an idiot. I get that urge often; under a full moon, it's harder than usual to resist it, so I'm hoping he'll mind his manners today.

I had to make an emergency, go-as-you-are run to Dollar General Saturday. Yes, it's perfectly true that emergency shopping is sometimes necessary. As it happens, I was mopping my kitchen floor when the mop broke. There was no alternative but to run out and buy a new one. And when one is in a retail establishment, there are other small necessities which can and must be acquired.  I think it's probably at least a misdemeanor to not buy when you're in a discount store.  Even though it was a few days early, the aisles were full of Moon Mad people -- and one visible employee on duty. No moon madness for moi, of course. It was their own darn fault if I had visions of grabbing a cart and moving some of them out of my way. Nothing crazy about that.

I bought some of those overpriced cookies that are supposed to be healthier. I get them home and I want one. Or half a box. I need a sugar fix. Now. And ... I can't get the damned inner lining open. I don't know what they make that stuff out of. I think it's a laboratory duplication of that same material they found in Roswell in 1948. I had to attack it with the scissors to get at the cookies. I got them, of course. I always win, one way or another -- especially when there are sweets at stake.

I was out of a darn near magical cleaning product that I love, so I picked up a bottle of that. I need all the cleaning magic I can get. It comes in a spray bottle, with a page-long label on the back which includes ridiculously convoluted instructions on how to get the nozzle into the proper position to function, which I've never had any difficulty doing before. I've never even had to read the label before. I followed the instructions to the letter. No dice. I held in the lever as directed and tried twisting it the other way, just in case the label writer was dyslexic. Still nothing. I tried clockwise, and counter-clockwise. Absolutely nada. That bottle wasn't coming open. Before resorting to putting on my ruby slippers and taking a chainsaw to it, I tried standing on the lever and using pliers to yank the nozzle into place. Yes! It squirted. Everywhere. By then, of course, I was too tired to clean.

I'm only telling you all this because I suspect I'm not the only one who has trouble with both Lunar Fever and an inability to open consumer products. That's pretty personal information, I suppose, but probably not something that's going to come back to bite me in the butt. Been there, done that. Be very cautious with what you reveal about yourself and never bare your soul (or anything else for that matter) on the Internet -- especially when the moon is full. You're not crazy, but "They" are.

The Friday Thingonmyblog

What do you get when a tropical storm meets a winter storm? A hybrid storm, apparently -- or Frankenstorm, as the press has dubbed it. The weather mavens say whatever this thing turns out to be, it'll affect the East coast over the next few days. It's been in the 80s here this week, and now they're telling us we might get snow out of this weird storm.  What?!  Please say it ain't so!

I read a lot of free Kindle books. Most of them are pretty good, albeit some of them could benefit from a decent editor. Others, however, are just a big, huge, self-published mess. Why on earth someone who can barely spell his/her own name decides he/she is going to (self) proclaim him/herself a writer is beyond me.

It's been a long, strange week. And now it's over. Really. My calendar confirms that it is, indeed, Friday, and TGIF! Take your quiz and go have a great weekend. My results are actually fairly spot on for a change. Imagine that! 

You Are Cool and Collected

You are down to earth and facts oriented. It's difficult to get you too worked up. Emotions hold little sway for you. You prefer to use logic and reason. There isn't much you're afraid of. If you're afraid of something, it's likely you don't understand it. You try not to make too much of a fuss. You believe that drama just makes everyone else worse off.

The Haunted House Test

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Dragging...

My inner clock is all messed up. Monday, I thought it was Tuesday. Yesterday, I thought it was Wednesday already. Consequently, the week is just dragging by. Strange, since it's not even the full moon yet.

Anyway, have a Happy Hump Day!

The Friday Thingonmyblog

I'm glad it's Friday. I'm tired. I'm feeling kind of serene, though. God knows why.

TGIF, and Happy Weekend!

Intimidating?  Seriously?  I wish.

You Should Be a Werewolf

You are seen as a bit tough and quite unpredictable. You follow your impulses. You see Halloween as a time you can go a little crazy. You love to scare people, and people are quite scared of you. You tend to be intimidating - and not just on Halloween!

What Classic Halloween Costume Should You Wear?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

Red Tape & Black Holes, Oh My

I have a fairly busy day in store. Nothing sexy, alas. More tedious than anything else. There will be red tape involved, which almost always sucks. But it's Hump Day -- another week vanished into The Great Black Hole. But what the heck, it's still cause for a small celebration. Do something nice for yourself. Happy Hump Day!

The Friday Thingonmyblog

Weird, surreal week. I wish I could say next week will be calmer, but probably not.

TGIF, and have a great weekend!

Burritos. Good Lord. 

You Are a Burrito

You're not a picky person. You're able to go with the flow and really enjoy life. You have a taste for the exotic, and you're quite adventurous. You're willing to try almost anything. You're very low maintenance. You don't mind getting a bit messy if it means having fun. You aren't superficial or easily impressed. Someone has to be the real deal if they're going to impress you.

What Kind of Fast Food Are You?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Red Hot & Senile

My dog has lost her mind. Seriously. I think she's getting senile. She's just doing ... bizarre stuff. She's old -- a hell of a lot older than I am (in dog years, of course), so I suspect that's the crux of it right there. Schedules, for example, are becoming impossible. She sleeps all day -- until she decides not to. She refuses to adhere to her normal potty schedule, forcing me to take her out in the dark at night. After sleeping all day, she paces all evening and refuses to lie down 'til I go to bed. And she won't sleep in her bed; instead, she's sleeping on the floor in front of the front door. I'm about to lose my mind, too, trying to figure out her increasingly bizarre behavior, not to mention the mountain of other bizarre stuff I have to deal with. Life is just -- bizarre.  Including my new upstairs neighbor, who I'm probably going to end up throwing a hissy fit at.  And not just because he looks like Charlie Manson.

You don't want to know the last time I had a red hot anything, but it's still Hump Day. Enjoy!

The Friday Thingonmyblog

I have a case of the blues, so I don't really care that it's Friday. You might, though, so for your benefit -- TGIF.

Here's your Friday quiz. Do with it what you will. 

You Are 70% Pure

You're pretty pure, and you have no plans on changing that. You do have a devilish side though... and it will probably get the better of you.

The 100 Question Purity Test

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

Hump Day News

From the news:

On a deathbed tip, Michigan cops dug up a driveway last week looking for Jimmy Hoffa's body. Nada. It wasn't there. It's nowhere that anybody has looked. Wherever he is, I doubt anyone will ever find him -- which is surely what whoever put him wherever he is intended.

Anybody have the new Apple iPhone 5? They seem to be riddled with bugs and problems. I don't have one. Don't want one. My little Android is just fine for my needs. If I shelled out the big bucks for an iPhone, though, I'd certainly expect better than what customers have gotten so far.

By the way, there's a free app that lets you use your phone to connect your iPad, laptop, Kindle, etc., to the Internet without tethering; info here.  Wouldn't you know it, after I downloaded it and tried to set it up, I got a message saying my carrier doesn't allow use of this app.

A 69-year-old Oregon farmer was eaten by his own hogs last week. I know pigs are called pigs for a reason, but -- geez! I like little pink piglets, but big huge hogs scare me. And apparently, rightly so!

Joe Biden puts foot in mouth. Again.

I spent all day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday. I wasn't enlightened 'til I e-mailed my sister about an appointment she has Thursday, thinking that it was the next day. Duh. I'm right about it today, though. Today is Wednesday. Happy Hump Day!