Brainless. As in brains of a carrot. That's me.

When I found out I could check out e-books from the New York Public Library, it was like ... I dunno. Discovering coffee's addictiveness for the first time. Or something. Just having that freedom was wonderful, and it worked even when I was in Athens.

I forgot my library card back in my Athens apartment when I came back here, but that was okay, because my browser's autocomplete forms had the number and my PIN stored.

Until last night, when something glitched in my laptop and the autocomplete forms got blanked. So now, the only way to get my number is to go back to that apartment to find the card laying on top of my desk, which requires a nine-hour airplane flight, which I can't take for at least another month.

And to think, if I'd bothered to copy down my library card number at any time during the entire month of November, I wouldn't be jonesing for the e-book catalog right now.

On the other hand, good things happening

Earlier this week, I went to the Greek Consulate and found that the request for a translator at a law firm had arrived. I put in my very simple application, which they said should go back to Athens later in the week (i.e. it should have been faxed back to Athens yesterday). Once it gets back through the bureaucracy in Athens to the firm, they'll put together a formal contract and send it over, and there should also be permission for me to get a work entry visa. Residence permit should be forthcoming once I'm in Athens, if I recall right.

In the meantime, I've got to get some sort of certificate that I'm in good standing legally here in the US of A, plus get a certificate that I'm free of infectious diseases. Which means a trip to a general practicioner, plus some contact with either the NYPD or the FBI. Plus a dentist's appointment for a cleaning (they couldn't fit me into their schedule until after New Year's; depending on the paperwork, I may have to ask if they can move it up). Plus a visit to an eye doctor to make sure my eyes haven't deteriorated further after the whole Graves' disease thing, and get a new glasses scrip. (Probably have to get new frames if I need new lenses; dynamic obsolescence seems to be in play even more with eyeglasses than with cars.)

Oh, one other bright note. My MP3 player went *pffzt* sometime around the time I came back to New York; I finally had to send it back to SanDisk for RMA. I was supposed to get back the exact same model as what I sent in.

What came back was better. Same memory capacity, same general design, but they apparently improved the software enough to make it a better device. So I'm happy.