keyboard woes & new underwear

[baratron]

I'm in a crap mood. It seems that the "spare" USB keyboard (that was originally intended to be the input device of the MythTV box which Richard started to build then gave up on) has finally broken. Now, it's not exactly surprising that it's broken, as I'm very clumsy and drop it on the floor several times per day - one of the reasons I have an external keyboard, as it's cheaper to buy a new keyboard than a new laptop - but it's bloody annoying timing - as it's way too hot to hold the laptop on my lap, and I'm too broke to buy another keyboard right now. So I guess I'll just have to not talk online much for a few days :/

Also went shopping for clothes today, and that always puts me in a bad mood due to all the looking at yourself in the mirror & resulting wrestling with body hatred that goes on. It transpires that although my breasts have lost huge amounts of stuffing and look all flappy in my old, stretched, 38DD bra, their new size is a 36D. I'd been putting off the inevitable "getting measured for a bra" thing because I was pretty sure they'd gone back to the size they were when I took a B cup, and I couldn't handle that emotionally. But apparently not. They actually look a lot bigger in the right size bra than they did in the saggy bra - I've no idea what the deal with that is, at all. I think even if you enjoy shopping for clothes, it sucks when you have no money and are putting it all on the credit card. Bah.

I hope that I will have money tomorrow. If not, I'll have a lovely three days at home on my own, without Richard, who's off somewhere "near Bournemouth" for the weekend, with £20 to my name. Oh yes, and I'm "supposed" to be getting some house work done. Meh!

Anyone want to do something on Saturday?

Comments

[kake]

I've got a dinner party space spare on Saturday evening if you're interested. Current people who've confirmed are rjw1, uon, julietk, vampwillow, and clkao WINOLJ; I'm still waiting for confirmation from other people. Everything is going to be vegan apart from one lamb dish; the rest of the menu will be based on vegetables, chickpeas and other beans, spices, and wheat. But I can change things about if necessary (I can't remember your dietary restrictions). Interested?

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... that might appeal. It's been a very long time since I've seen Bob for more than 2 minutes! I dunno, though, depends how easy your place is to get to by public transport and how scary the journey home would get on a Saturday night? (Croydon Tramlink isn't the nicest of things if you're on your own.)

I don't actually have a huge number of dietary restrictions right now - I don't care for mushrooms and need to do fairly low-fat, but things like salad without dressing and plain boiled rice work to lower the average fat content of a meal. The main thing that would be a problem is that I believe cilantro is icky and makes everything it touches taste of soap or washing up liquid, whereas I know you're keen on it. I also know that my chilli tolerance is much lower than yours from how I've adapted your black bean soup recipe. I like the taste of chilli, but very small quantities of it make my lips swell up. (I use somewhere between 1/10th & 1/5th of a teaspoon of chilli powder in the black bean soup when I make it.)

"Vegetables" I don't like: mushrooms, raw tomato, brussels sprouts, "stealth" onion (yes, I know tomato is technically a fruit)

Herbs/spices I don't like: lemongrass & coriander leaf (weirdly, I like coriander seed and carrot & coriander soup and so on)

"Fruits" I will not eat At All: rhubarb, gooseberry (yes, I know rhubarb is a vegetable!)

Most other fruit I will eat, although I don't hugely like raspberries or lychees. I tend to prefer vegetables cooked and fruit raw, but can be convinced otherwise.

"Stealth" onions are those horrible almost-raw onions that turn up in the middle of something soft and mushy like mince. I don't mind onion in onion soup or very soft, caramelised onions on hot dogs, but I hate barely-cooked onion hiding in things.

Carbohydrates are good :)

Does that help?

[bob]

as an added bonus i probably have a spare usb keyboard you could have. you could use it to beat off the other croydonites.
ive seen at least one bus which does croydon to kingston. i think
the other option is to do the trains in and out of clapham junction.
we have 3 buses to and from east croydon.

[kake]

I'm not planning to use any cilantro, so you're safe there. Some things will possibly have some chilli in, but I'll mainly be using the aromatic spices like coriander, ginger, etc. Are you OK with paprika? There'll be tomato in the tabbouleh, but there'll be pitta bread as well and I could always steam some couscous.

I'll forward the invite with more details to the address in your userinfo.

[syllopsium.livejournal.com]

1) lie on front, operate laptop from that position
2) When you have sufficient pennies, buy something indestructible such as an IBM Model M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Model_M_Keyboard). Advantage : it won't break Disadvantage: it might break your toes if you drop it.

Oh, and your boobs look bigger in the correct size of bra because they're being supported properly.

[bob]

buy something indestructible such as an IBM Model M.

or in my case find one in the bins at the back of your block of flats when taking the rubbish out.

ive not used it anger yet. but its nice to have.

work-- # i started writing this about 7 hours ago

[rhialto.livejournal.com]

I've got one. I love its real clickety-click sound. Much better against RSI than most other keyboards, I suspect. There is just one disadvantage: it has only Alt keys, no Meta/Super/Hyper, which my X terminal could really use.

[syllopsium.livejournal.com]

Well, you could buy a keyboard from PC keyboard (http://www.pckeyboard.com) - either the 105 key (with the two windows keys, you could remap?) or the 122 key 3270/5250 terminal keyboard. Not exactly cheap though.

[elfgeek.livejournal.com]

If you still need a keyboard, we have several you could choose from (how to get it to you though would be another question).

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

I had 'hotlap' as well. I also suffered a deep vein thrombosis in my leg, so HAD to keep stuff off it. I came across (on freecycle) a nifty little thingummy - a table for people who are bedbound. The wheels on the base slide under my chair, the support pole comes up the side, then the table adjusts to be just over my lap. It also means I have somewhere to park my mouse, tv remote and a cuppa - I use the optical mouse on my jeans leg. When I need to get up out of my chair, I dont have to struggle to find somewhere safe to put the laptop.