The Eclipse And Other Stuff

 You would know it, the one night insomnia would have actually been a boon, I didn't have it.  I didn't even take my melatonin before bed, but I fell right to sleep anyway.  Good thing I set my alarm.  I hadn't planned on watching the entire nearly 4 hour eclipse.  I was thinking I'd go out and check it from time to time, then come back in and lay down for a bit.  As it is, when the alarm went off at 2:30, I was sound asleep.  

I dragged my weary body out of bed, bundled up, and went outside to see the moon.  I managed to get a few somewhat blurry photos, but for some reason, none of my equipment wanted to cooperate.  Nothing ever wants to cooperate at 3:00 AM.  Trust me on this. 

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took:  

This one isn't the best, but shows the most totality.  I think they said it was 99.7% coverage of the moon.   Or 97.9%.  I can't remember which.  But it was still cool to see.  

Despite being up half the night, I was able to get up and have a reasonably productive day.  I think I've got everything I need for Thanksgiving dinner.  The plant gives us a gift card now, instead of a certificate for a turkey or ham.  The problem is, they give it to the most crowded, cluttered grocery store in town.  Spain's for you local folks.  I hate going into that store.  But I did it.  I went straight there after work yesterday and picked up two pounds of Gulf shrimp.  I figured, since the plant is paying for it, I'd get the good stuff instead of that cheap crap from Walmart. 

This morning, still charged up from the success of my trip to Spain's yesterday, I went...yes, I went to the  AT&T store and bought a new phone.  I'd been wanting one for a few weeks, because my old one is about shot.  The screen is cracked, and the battery won't hold a charge.  I figured that after paying to replace both of those, I might as well spring for a brand new phone.  I've been looking on the website, but haven't been able to buy one there.  I could get on and research and compare phones, but when I tried to add one to my shopping cart, I kept getting an error message.  I'd said for weeks now that I was going to go down to the AT&T store and get one there, but couldn't get my act together enough to do so.  I've even driven past the store several times, but couldn't managed to stop and go in.

Well, today, I did.  And to think, it all started with making that eye appointment.  That one little success lifted me out of the funk I've been in for weeks.  I still haven't called the plumber though.  Baby steps...

Back to phone shopping....they didn't have the model I wanted to buy in stock, so she had to order me one.  It's supposed to ship next week, and I should have it within the week.  I got the iPhone 13, but just the regular one.  Not the Pro or Pro Max.  It's the first time I've ever bought the newest model phone.  I usually go with an older model, because they're often cheaper.  Not so any more.  I was looking at both an 11 and a 12, but the ones I would have chosen were the same price as the 13 I ended up getting.  

  

After completing my in-town errands, the plan for the rest of the day was to get this house good and clean.  I started with the bathroom, which mostly involved scrubbing the grout between the floor tiles.  I hate scrubbing grout.  If I'm ever in the position I can get this house fixed up, that's the first thing that's going to go -- all that tile in the bathroom floor!  

Once the bathroom was reasonably clean, I turned my attention to this corner:

It needed a good cleaning, I'm telling you!  I still need to wipe the ash off the base under the wood stove, and I'll probably mop the whole house again before Thursday, but it looks soooo much better than it did. 

In the midst of all that cleaning, I managed to get my hat cast on again, and the ribbing done. 

Here is the cat reluctantly modeling it for you. 

Well, now my interrupted night is starting to catch up with me, so I'm going to close for now.  Tomorrow, I've got to clean out a space in my refrigerator to put my turkey in.  Right now, I'm going to finish watching this cheesy Hallmark movie and go to bed. 

'Night, all!