Cloudburst

Timing is everything and this morning, my TV seems to have decided that NOW is the time for the picture tube to go bye-bye.

Granted the 21" Toshiba is at least 12 years old, so I'm not really surprised, it having originally started out at my sister's home, before being given to my mom, who after a few years offered it to me in 2002. So really, it's served our family well and faithfully for quite a long time.

However, when the screen looks like this, but the audio still works, and TiVo still works (I can see glimpses of the menu faintly, behind all of the snow) well, I'm guessing it's time for me figure out how to legally dispose of a big hunk of electronic equipment (environmental issues, ya know).

All of this is pretty ironic, given that my friends Jackie and Sam have been yearning to upgrade their sets to flat panel nirvana, while I was perfectly content to use my old big butt, cathode ray TV.

My engineer, however (did I mention he's an electrical engineer by training?) did help me with various product reviews and pricing comparisons, so I am contemplating a 37" Panasonic Viera TC37LZ85 1080p LCD HDTV which got very favorable (there's that word again) ratings from Consumer Reports.

All of this is easier to think about than my upcoming surgery. While I have every confidence in the surgeon and the follow-up treatment, this whole situation has apparently stressed me out, as the unfortunately placed zit (I almost never get zits!) on my forehead can attest. And since my cancer is estrogen positive, the doctor wants me off birth control for the moment, with the result that my cycle is now HAYWIRE, a/k/a the reason I started using it in the first place. Crazy cycle = crazy mood swings.

So tonight, I watered my poor engineer's shirt and shoulder copiously before we ate our tasty delivery from Thai Market for dinner. He was calm and understanding (I am very grateful to have met such a mensch), practical (where was my box of kleenex?) and gently teasing (to make me laugh a little, not to be dismissive) -- all examples of why I find it easy to love him.

I guess today's administrative paperwork at the office so that I will officially be on short term disability, plus starting to pack up my desk, has left a little emotional residue. Bleh.

(Okay, semi-off topic complaint: why does my company consider 8 calendar days off work to be the threshhold? I mean, it's not like we normally count weekends as vacation days! Plus they will unenroll me from various minor services such as...direct deposit! Is this their way of encouraging an early return to work??)

Enough blathering for now -- I need to go pack for an indefinite stay my mom's. I may haul this gigantic (i.e., heavy) 17" laptop with me but since I am not sure whether I'll be able to mooch any free wifi from her neighbors -- everyone has a secure network these days -- I may be offline for a few days.

In any case, I will update my Facebook status using my cellphone, as in: "...is now enjoying her mom's chicken soup."