I have the coolest friends. nanila sent me a model of the NASA Apollo capsule and a replica of the patch that all of the Apollo astronauts wore. How cool is that? I'm shameless about my NASA love, and the capsule reminds me of the model spaceships I built with my father when I was young. (Yes, we did. How do you think I became such a space buff?) Thank you! Picture of Apollo capsule on desk to follow.

Adventures in electricity. This is the rule: thou shalt not run the microwave and the air conditioner at the same time, else shalt thy circuit breaker trip and force thee to reset every clock in the apartment.

What did I do to my back this time? It's not my SI joints, for a change. I rolled over in bed and something gave, right in the arch. At first, I couldn't really stand up. Now I can stand and walk, but it hurts. It feels like my back is broken, which is unlikely. Ibuprofen is my friend.

Thanks for the tips on tape-adhesive removal. I can say definitively that Clinique facial toner does not remove it, but it gives my ankles such a healthy glow. The soap-and-dish-towel method works, if I'm willing to rub off some of my skin along with the adhesive. So I'll try the alcohol and the eucalyptus oil.

Time to break in the PowerBook. I'm learning OS X as I go. I'm trying to figure out how to use one DSL modem for two computers. I want to run a long line from this room to the bedroom, so I can use the laptop in there. Is there such a thing as a splitter for an ethernet cable? Do I need to set up a router?

mood: mostly sunny

I plugged in the PowerBook. My apartment did not go dark and quiet. This is good.

The first thing I did was get rid of the stock background and replace it with plain gray, then switch the appearance color from blue to graphite. Much nicer. Eventually, I'll move some desktop pictures over there, but for now, I have a machine I can face.

Because I'm new to OS X, I'm actually Reading The (Fucking) Manual. It's terrible to switch from a system I know so well (Classic) to a system I don't know at all (OS X). And I still don't know what Jaguar and Bluetooth and all the other OS X nicknames are. I'll get there.

Anyway. When I looked up from the manual, the PowerBook screen had gone black with a sleek Apple logo and a message: Elizabeth's Computer. Christ. I sagged for a moment. How many times will I be confronted with this before I have the machine set to my own specs?

I woke the system up and added myself to the user group. Then I rolled my chair back to the desk and went back to reading.

When I looked up again, the black screen was back. With her name. I woke the system up, hunted around in the preferences, and took away Liz's admin status. Then I rolled back over here.

Guess what's on the screen now? Uh-huh.

mood: stymied
music: Liz laughing at me in my head