oi

bryan pointed this out to me: 42nd Mersenne Prime (Probably) Discovered

that's the happy news, along with that leigh, ben, and i celebrated being done with a crappy week (for totally different reasons for each of us) by being vegetables and watching two silly movies: "the importance of being ernest" and "around the world in 80 days") it was quality time for all 3 of us, each of which have been too stressed lately to have any down time, and just needed some non-being-around-happy-people time for a bit too :-P

upon reflection, i have a few more categories to add to the list on the last entry, but i won't add that so that the whole world doesn't start wondering if i'm mad at them :-P (i'm not mad at most people, there's just a few getting to me lately :-P)

called mom to ask her impression on the grandma thing, and she commented "i really am hoping she goes before tuesday... i remember how hard it was for grandpa (dad's dad) to lose his leg, even knowing he'd get a prosthetic leg and be mobile after... grandma (mom's mom, subject of the last post) won't have that option, and i can't imagine the mental stress of it... then again your great grandma (dad's dad's mom, who died when i was 2) was scheduled for an amputation and died just days before so we'll see"

at first that bothered me, but then, upon reflection, i remembered that throughout the rollercoaster of g-ma's initial strokes sophomore and junior year of undergrad, mom would report what was up with a "i doubt she'll make it to (thanksigiving/christmas/spring break/whatever my next holiday was) -- be prepared for a trip to pitt any time", so i don't know how much her commentary holds water. what DOES bother me is priscilla's and roy's (roy is my step-gpa) reports of grandma's oblivion to the world.

i guess it's also weird because grandma's been behind a mental wall of sorts for the past going on 5 years... but besides that, she has been the grandparent of the 4 that i've gotten to know most as a friend, and who has been most supportive of what i'm doing with my life... both my grandfathers died when i was 15, so while i remember them well, and loved them dearly, i only knew them through my teenage years and not into my adult years... my other grandma and i have gotten to be much closer since i went to undergrad just over an hour from her house and i saw her multiple times a year on my drives home and back... but she doesn't understand why i need more education that my dad (who has an associates degree), or why i'm not married with 2-3 kids by now like she was at my age.... this grandma's first stroke wasn't until i was 19, and even since then, she's been interested in what i'm up to and hearing about my work, my travels, and my friends... before her strokes she was my best pen pal.... so like i said, the grandparent i've gotten to know most as a friend. while she's not nearly as able to communicate and interact as she was 5 years ago, still having her there in some form has been a kinda gradual letting go process instead of suddenly... and i'm not sure how prepared i am for the last bit, whenever it comes... i guess that's all i can do.. (i.e. take it as it comes)... oi...

switching tracks completely, tomorrow is the joyfilled fun of taking my car in for an oil change, and hoping it doesn't need any other work... we'll see; there are a few things i'm wondering about before i go roadtripping again for spring break.

on that note, i should be asleep

night y'all