Done

Well, my first night shift rotation in over fifteen years is over. I stopped on the way home to get gas - Sam's Club has its pumps open before 7:00 in the morning! - and then headed the rest of the way home. Made coffee (something I haven't done these past four days, not in the morning, at least), got a slice of pie, and sat down to listen to NPR's Morning Edition on the computer while checking out everybody's blog and Facebook updates. After a while my reading became woolgathering became hypnagogic experiences, and I'm now thinking maybe I should take a nap.

Friends on Facebook may recall my complaint the other day about headaches caused by the extremely bright blue LED indicator light on my right speaker. I want to have an indicator light, I just don't want it to burn through the back of my skull by way of my eyes. Various methods of dimming or masking this light were discussed. Then I came up with a simple and elegant solution...


...block the light with the tail of a Euoplocephalus! Why didn't I think of that sooner?

You'll notice a few other things in this photo: the right half of my new widescreen monitor, with a desktop background from The Stained Glass Project (see here for the specific image). Desk lamp with compact fluorescent light bulb - almost all of our lights are now CFL's; the light does not look as green as it photographs. Stapler. Ankylosaurus (labeled Euoplocephalus, though I'm pretty sure this is one of the more lightly-armored Ankylosauridae) and Triceratops, both dollar store dinosaurs (see here for another photo of these miniatures, and see here for the definitive online report on "Dollar Dinos.") Van Gogh's Fourteen Sunflowers. Part of a "bumper sticker" I made back in 2004 that reads "SAVE HUBBLE, SCRAP BUSH." The speaker, dinosaurs, and stapler are all on top of my HP DeskJet 842c printer. In the shadows in the foreground are a kitchen timer shaped like a chrome coffee pot (great for when you're cooking or baking while online - another dollar store item) and a coffee cup with a reproduction of a vintage ad for Yokohl Brand oranges featuring an old-style Donald Duck.

Update, 3/21/09: Out of the shadows

Now, I think I'll check a few more things online and then have a little lie down.