A Hash at Home is Better Than a Roast Among Strangers

I had the week off from work (though I did some work most days) and was able to catch up a bit on chores and sleep. I saw my optometrist, who confirmed that my prescription has changed, which is probably why I can't read for more than an hour without getting a headache. I scheduled an appointment with a new dentist. I took three bags of clothing and shoes to our local recycling center and donated a trunk full of household items to a thrift store. I think one sign of a tougher economy is the selection at thrift stores--there really wasn't much that tempted me, and it was easy to leave empty handed. I left my garden shears at the small engine repair place to be sharpened (gotta pick 'em up tomorrow). 

I napped every day but yesterday. We have a mouse problem, so I finally scheduled to have someone give an estimate for work to seal the house against entry. [The previous vendor put down snap traps but never seemed to completely seal the entry points.] Then in the afternoon I had a work call and spent some time cleaning items to donate. 

It's been a while since my last visit to a thrift store. I still like seeing what people are giving away; e.g., "smores makers" are still taking up shelf space, and most of the kitchen utensils were black plastic, probably from that study claiming that black plastic kitchen utensils cause cancer. I did a lot of shopping this week, and one thing I still believe is that there's entirely too much stuff in the world. If we stopped manufacturing mugs (beer, coffee, soup), I bet we wouldn't notice for a couple of years. Same thing for flimsy but ostensibly reusable tote/shopping bags and costume jewelry. 

The other work call I attended this week was for our next alt-text pilot. This time we have a blind scientist who uses screen readers helping us evaluate the vendor's work, and the call was to meet her. She was very nice and kept thanking us for doing the pilot, which was a little embarrassing. It's only a step up from the least we could do. Still, it was nice to see a real reminder of why we should be making our content more accessible. 

We also booked an actual vacation: we're going to Memphis in May for three days. We want to see Sun Studios and Stax Studios and possibly one of the music museums. We're staying at a hotel that has a vinyl lounge; we're hoping it's like the Tokyo record bar we visited, where talking is discouraged and the jacket of the album that's playing is displayed on the bar.