Impatient Idealist

I posted several times when Cory Booker was in the midst of his long talking streak in the senate. I didn't do the same thing the other day when Jeff Merkley did 16 hours.



The easily distracted woman (me) wonders how many shift changes there were for the stenographer, hands seen lower right.

I can't find the discussion, but sometime in the past year, kshandra and nosrednayduj suggested that I buy an electric mattress warmer. I considered it, but since I don't like buying things online, especially not from Amazon (1) I didn't get it. This fall I decided to start looking earlier. I read reviews. A member of the knitting group said that as long as it's UL listed, the differences aren't big, so buy whatever was available. I called around. I looked physically. I heard that Kohl's might have them. On the phone they said no, but when I was in the area yesterday anyway, I stopped by. They had one Serta brand version for each bed size. One was enough, so I bought it. I didn't start early enough in the evening getting everything set up, so it was at least an hour later than I planned before I went to bed. The directions were clear that it had to be plugged directly into the wall, so I had rummage around behind the desk instead of just plugging it into the surge-protector extension cord. I read that much of the instructions, but apparently missed the part where you're supposed to push not just the power button but also the "preheat" button. I spent a long time wondering whether I'd bought a defective one, but caught the error eventually. I probably should have put on my reading glasses. I had it on long enough to warm things up, then turned it off. I spent a while being the princess and the pea, convinced that I could feel the little wires, but got used to it and slept warmly, under only three layers of covers instead of four. Sample size of one night, but it does seem to be a quality of life improvement.

I had never had an inflatable yard decoration until this year. Over time, I admired a large dragon that used to be in Lowes in the fall, but never invested. Last year I saw a BT21 (2) decoration and decided that if I could find one this year, I'd buy it. I got it on Ebay for $106. More directions to be followed. I immediately lost one of the little tent stakes, but I had all the others and it seems fine.



The large outdoor-rated extension cord is plugged into the socket on the screened-in part of the porch, so the screen door is propped open. I have a timer somewhere, but haven't looked for it. Maybe I should, because I keep forgetting to turn it off, and it has had two overnights on. Last night may have just as well. It seems to cope OK with the rain, but when it was deflated during the day on Monday, puddles formed all over it.Possibly last night's rain just rain off the inflated item.

(1) I was unaffected by the Amazon outage, but know someone who teaches CPR classes. He couldn't register people through the American Heart Association page because it was down.

(2) Each BTS member made up creatures for some sort of promotion. Merch is available. See icon above, with Koya on my backpack. It's the same Koya that is on my lawn inflatable.