Something's not quite right . . .

and I don't know what it is. A tension in the air (I don't mean between people in this house, although daughter is awfully quiet since coming home from school) -- as if something's about to happen.

Of course, could just be my imagination, and the fact that I'm not feeling very well. Stuffed up and tired. Fell back into bed after the school bus left, and only got up again because I was supposed to interview a doctor by telephone at 11 a.m. No one answered at his office! Tried repeatedly, still no one. Left a message, of course. The doctor called me later to apologize -- he'd been "stuck in surgery" at 11 a.m. Plus, his secretary had broken her arm this morning and gone to the Emergency Department! I'm to call her later this week and reschedule the interview for next Tuesday.

So instead of that, I've spent the day loading software and transferring files onto my new Gateway. And damn! It *is* a lot faster than the HP, just as the little Best Buy geek said. (I never considered the HP slow.) I don't care for the action on the keyboard it came with -- just need to get used to it, I guess.

Officially spring is here, and bulbs coming out of the ground vouch for it, but it is unusually COLD. I went down to the Village Co-op (nearest place to shop) to buy cat food (we were OUT! CRISIS!), and there's still ice on the lake.

Sort of a re-run

This was originally a reply to a comment, but I know at least one of you (starlitemoon) likes to read about the acts of good-hearted people, and probably would not have seen it in the thread. (Disclaimer: "good-hearted people" does not refer to me -- although I like to think I'm one!) So here it is again, more or less.

On Saturday I spent 2 1/2 hours outside a supermarket collecting food for the Survival Center. The center, founded by one of our church members years ago, started out as a food pantry and place to get emergency help in other areas. It has grown to include a number of programs, including a free lunch and a clothing closet.

I've volunteered for its food drives before, but always had someone else from the church with me to talk to. It was lonely, windy and very cold. It was warm in another way, though -- toward the very end, several people were extremely generous in their donations of food. I'm used to people coming up to add a jar of peanut butter or some tuna . . . but three people astounded me. A woman came out with a shopping cart full of plastic grocery bags. She put one bag full of canned goods into the collection cart. I thanked her, and then -- she proceeded to put four more bags (with rice, cereal, beans, soup...) into the cart! Only one bag in her cart was her *own* stuff! It was really touching. Then an older gentleman came out and did the same thing. And finally, a lawyer I know put some money in the cash collection jar (the center can buy a pound of food from the food bank out here for 18 cents). I peeked, and it was a twenty dollar bill. (Most folks put in a dollar or two, if at all.)

I don't know how much food or cash we collected in all (our volunteers were out there Friday and Saturday). I'm glad I diud it, and glad I saw it.