Tuesday morning brain dump

I'm most certainly fighting some kind of bug. Not only am I easily tired (which may simply be me being still-lazy from my long break), but I have an annoying tickle in the throat that is kind of sore.

And I'm having the weirdest goddamn dreams. They're like Nyquil/fever dreams only without the Nyquil or the fever.

And they're vivid ones, so I can remember them when I wake up the next morning.

They're too weird for me to want to put in writing. Ever.

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I've been getting a ridiculous amount of wrong number calls for someone who:

a) doesn't live at my place

b) has my landline phone number

I've had the same phone number for... five or six years now, I guess. All I can think is that some idiot is going around most of the greater Bay Area and giving out the wrong phone number to a lot of people.

I've changed my answering machine message accordingly. I suspect this is really just some kind of elaborate prank (possibly related to my missing flash drive), but who knows?

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I'm re-reading Stephen King's "Firestarter". It occurred to me that if the character of Charlie McGee were a real person, she'd be in her late 30's/early 40's by now. In that world, her hypothetical pyrokinetic potential would be such that she'd be able to vaporize buildings with a thought or be a walking nuke.

I get into some novels a bit too much. Thank you, Mr. King. I really needed more issues to add to my list.

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One of my buddies handed me more episodes of "Naruto: Shippuden" and "Bleach". Lordy but I do love those animes. "Naruto" is actually getting a lot better. A shame the fansubbers will soon stop offering it. "Bleach" is my favorite, but some of these battles take a ridiculously long-time to resolve.

Anime is an acquired taste.

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Yesterday I had another revelation while interacting with a neighbor. An awful lot of communication is nonverbal. Some of my neighbors have English as a second language. At least one has spotty fluency. While her daughter was off talking with some maintenance guys, I briefly was exchanging pleasantries with my neighbor. Basic stuff like "Happy New Year" and the like.

I'm pretty sure she has no freaking idea what I said. She repeated my words three times, as if parsing out exactly what I said. We've had verbal misunderstandings before, but I always have tried to make sure she doesn't get the impression I'm being insulting (I like all my neighbors and wouldn't insult any of them intentionally).

I think she got it. With luck, she repeated it to her daughter later for clarification. Her daughter gets it, since I exchanged the exact same pleasantries earlier.

Yes, I obsess about being on good terms with my neighbors. Part of that is OCD. Part of that is just a need for harmony at home.

I've had conflicts with neighbors at a prior apartment. That was not fun. I'm a fan of harmony.