Thursday night

Tired but stoked. My home-bound bus broke down at 54th Street, in the middle of my nap. Sounded like the transmission went out. Took the next express bus.

Instead of continuing with my nap when I got home, I called Comcast to get the cable box rebooted and the remote re-programmed. It turns out, the wiring diagram that came with the DVD recorder is wrong. The Comcast lady got that straightened out (and I corrected the diagram), got the box working and reprogrammed the remote for the new TV, including the volume control. So Comcast doesn't need to send somebody out here, which probably would have meant me having to take time off from work and wait around here. (Glad about that.)

Right when I got home, I let Lucky out onto the terrace and there was another one of those bugs. I took a picture of it (above). (I'd thought I'd taken a close-up but apparently not.) I swept the bug off the terrace before Lucky got too close to it (or it got too close to Lucky, since it crawling towards him). If I see any more of these out on the terrace, I'll try to take a better picture.

Having an Earl Grey tea with bergamot now.

That perked me up.

I've been happy with the weather so far this week. I wore a leather jacket to work on Monday, and a hoodie the next two days. It's supposed to be back up in the 90s over the weekend, however. Yuck.

[Later] So it looks like we'll be getting the public option. Been watching MSNBC. See here and here and here also.

All these months Baucus and the administration have been courting [Olympia Snowe] for this, she's waving her own veto pen. Presumably, it will be her trigger or nothing, but with momentum gaining behind a much stronger opt-out option, she's threatening to take her marbles and go home. Last week Tom Harkin asked whether 52 Democratic Senators should bend to the will of 5. But they should also be questioning whether the 52 Democratic Senators should be bending to the will of one Republican.

Amen. (From here.) Olympia Snowe is not for meaningful change. She's a tool of the insurance companies, planted into this scenario to thwart any meaningful change. She's not needed. (And Baucus is also largely a tool, poor guy.) ("Apoplectic"?)

Now I'll switch over the HGTV. So glad to have the program guide back. Also, for some reason, ABC only comes in clearly over the TV that's connected to the box (i.e., when the box is working). Last Sunday was a bitch trying to watch "Desperate Housewives" with the projection TV going out. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the old TV. I'll still call my friend. I haven't talked to him in a while anyway.

I had 2 1/4 lbs. of hamburger I'd bought last weekend that was turning brown but was still good, so I fried it up tonight. I'll make chili out of it but don't have chili fixings on hand. By the way, the cubed steaks simmered till tender in pasta sauce were excellent. Kind of super-easy Swiss Steak, which I love and which my mother used to make (and which I've also made, but not since B. left).

Enjoying "Property Virgins" now. Sandra Rinomato is in Toronto. I love this show.

Sounds like I'll have to watch "Disaster House" Tuesdays at 10:00.

I love my new TV. Now the programming has to spiff up to its standards.