MFO - Mental Fragmentation Occurring

Haven't gotten on the blooging lately (I like that better than blogging, and seems suitable) due to Other Things. Not sure where I left off, but I know where my mind's blapping now (combination belch and flap, which is a pretty good description of what is going on in my head, all the little cells bursting steam from too much pressure -- which explains the foggy state).

What's good around here... Hm. My odd bed, made out of a door on wheels, hasn't collapsed. That's good. No, I haven't tried gymnastics on it and the weight limit has not been determined. I did have to remove the dogs from the bed when it shrunk. They weren't happy, but when they're all in my room - "this bed ain't big enough for the five of us'. Actually, it's only big enough for the one of us.

I did paperwork. Some durn fool (yours truly) accidentally paid bills and shorted herself on the banking end. You'd think I'd know better by now! But the heat, lights, and 'net are on a bit longer. And I had to do paperwork - had to sort out records for taxes. Problem was, I'd taken all the little piles of paper when I worked on my room and made one big pile of papers. Then I did what I do best with paperwork and procrastinated, while also tossing all new mail on top of it. I know, bad plan, and if I ever win 'the Powerball'... I fantasize about hiring an account. I bet other people have better fantasies, but my first goal would be to 'wipe out the evil in my life' - which includes paperwork!

I made the President's List last semester (yay) with a GPA of 3.96 or better (yay). It doesn't seem to affect my life much, though - nor do I know the President. However... I banged my head around considering ways to put storage on the porch after tearing out the old cupboards. I seriously didn't want to be sawing and hammering or re-creating, and had other priorities -- including Paperwork. So I scouted around, and my eye was caught, and I did some thinking, and I came home with some 'really big' vents. They're the construction kind, about 14 inches round, and 4 feet tall. You wouldn't believe how much junk you can cram in 5 or 6 of them!

All the Christmas is in one, one holds the broom and mops, and one... I cut in half, slapped 3 same-sized boards together that used to be shelving as sides and top, and plopped the sewing machine on it -- thus creating sewing, mending, fabric storage underneath in 'bins'. Or vents, if a person wants to be technical. Slapped a board on a two of the taller ones, instant shelf for the pet-products and spray paints and such.

It looks a little strange, but they were lightweight to move, easy to stuff, and non-boring. Had Val with me, and I taught her a new lesson: If you have a choice between being normal or being odd, choose odd. Life will be a lot more interesting. If I get to it, they can be gussied up with some paint and labels, which would look pretty cool. Being aluminum (I think), they shouldn't rust.

I was pretty tired of all the clutter in the living room while I resolved this storage issue, so I'll leave you to imagine how fast I stuffed these up! I found it's an excellent place for the bags I have labeled "Dead Papers - 2007" and so on, which I hope to never need again but can't quite throw out yet.

Of course... it rained and rained and somebody did not properly seal the furnace vent roof-side late last-fall because of pushing the season. Of course this ran the rain into the roof and created leaks (bathroom light is almost predictable, 4 feet away from the furnace) but it kept raining so... I tried the handyman's remedy of foil, but there's too much slope (ha! not enough for snow, but enough to funnel rain) so once we had a dry moment, I used the "canned gap insulating foam" - and bought more duct tape as back up. Hasn't leaked since.

But... the ground being frozen, the run-off was getting slightly deep outside my bedroom door, which found me outside in the downpour, trying to redirect the melt-off across the driveway via crushed tarp & rocks. Luckily, I'd put the tarp over the rocks so they weren't frozen.

Then it all froze again, and that worry was put on hold. So I got back on with classes and web work and God-knows-what.

Now we're supposed to get 8 - 10 inches of snow. So... I went out today to figure out if there was anything I didn't want buried again, and to beef up my 'run-off dam'. I see the neighbor has 4 tires outside his garage - if he doesn't want them, I'll add them to my pile for landscaping purposes this spring. :)

So... I got the website for Lynne's business reworked and approved, caught up in one class just in time to worry about the midterms due tomorrow. Actually got my taxes done and submitted online, awaiting approval. Found some excellent sites about cool things - like using a plant to light a light bulb. No idea how long it stays lit, but pretty interesting! For those of curious mind, it's here - http://www.metacafe.com/watch/448138/electricity_from_plants/ -- aside from metacafe.com, I joined http://www.instructables.com/ ... I know you're asking yourself why I'd do that...

Found some idea-generating concepts, one being aeroponics (spelling?) and one that used humidifiers to 'mist'. Found a lot of other interesting things, like how to make a smoke bomb, which would have interested my sons -- oh, probably still would, male genetics being what it is. And electricity from phone jacks and a 'water bike' that bounces under people-power across the water (too energetic for me). Now if one of videos was a generator attached to a treadmill with dogs on it and a piece of road-kill inspiring them....

Great suggestions for searches: Tesla, aeroponics, free energy, solar, generators, gardening (saw a 'wall' planter, made sense too), colored fire, smoke bombs (hmmm... what if you added mosquito killer to it? -- best not try it!), electro-magnets, static electricity --- NOW, I may be nuts, but they said the same thing about the Wright brothers. From the History channel during the Dust Bowl, the blowing sand would generate enough static electricity to zap folks.

That makes me curious - if a person had a rotating wind tunnel with sand in it, would it or would it not create static electricity? What if you wrapped it in a Tesla coil? Then what if you stood on it in a lightening storm with a kite and a key.... :)

Regrouping my mental pieces, I'm supposed to have my mind wrapped around Religion (class) or MS Access (class, databases) or filling out Paperwork to mail tomorrow or finishing up the new survey download or finalizing the website to spec. I'd rather wrap a Tesla coil around a plant and try to light a bulb, know what I mean?

And, for the skeptics in my household (Sera, I mean you), when it comes to foil and reflecting sunlight -- Val built a 'solar hot dog cooker' last summer at day camp. No, I won't string foil around the yard, but I do have a stack of old windows - seems to me, covered in foil, with or without screens, they'd do some reflecting. Stir it into the mental pot with aeroponics and humidifiers, and given time - I may do something interesting this spring. Or I may just wrap myself in Tesla coils to see what the effect is, and if anything, should be a pretty unique look.

Wonder if I wrapped a coil around my head if it'd help? Maybe it explains Cleopatra's headgear?

We see I haven't been sitting idle these past weeks. Obviously my mind is exploring other avenues, and today while I 'meditated' I tried to figure out the concept of how toasters and hair-dryers and electric blankets work - how they turn electricity into heat. Just curious!