Category: The DayBook

And how exactly did it get to be September already? When you are old sometimes the days and especially the nights are incredibly long, but the months and years zip by all too quickly.

Gratitude

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Grateful for my orchids. 

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The Old Bat’s Cave is much friendly with orchids. (The orchids were in the kitchen getting their weekly watering.) 

Wandering around miscellaneous folders on my computer today. Found this crappy scanned snapshot.

Damn, we had a great life. I think that was about 40 years ago. We bummed around French Polynesia and Cook Islands for a winter. That is when Carlton decided that he really didn’t want to work any more. (Now, I never thought that he worked. Programmers worked. Senior Management just got in the way.)

I had my earplugs in last night, so I didn’t heard any police activity or crash. But, when I look out the window there were cops and flashing lights. It could have been someone leaving our building who ran into the fence. But the elderly aren’t usually in their cars between dusk and dawn.

Gratitude

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Grateful for the Old Bat’s Cave. Coming up on my 9th year in residence.

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It’s not all wonderful at The Asylum. The grounds, the part that management maintains, has never looked worse. The residents maintain some of the grounds and that part looks great. But the part that is management’s responsibility is overrun with weeds.  

The long waiting list for The Asylum (over 900 people) may explain why management is less attentive to details like weeds. 

On a happier note. Planning my trip to Kona. Thinking about taking the train to Seattle. And flying from there.  Seems like riding the train is about all that my elderly body is up to these days. I know Seattle pretty well. I would enjoy a few days just chilling. 

 

I gave myself the day off. And once again I am reminded of the telegram that President Lincoln sent to General McClellan on October 25, 1862: I have just read your dispatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?

Just what have I done to deserve a “day off”? Aren’t all of my days “off”? 

I am trying not to think about the upcoming election. Frankly, I am terrified.  If the good guys win, all hell breaks loose. And if the other side wins, totalitarianism reigns. Things have been this bad before in our history. I just didn’t think it would happen again in my lifetime.  And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.  I am not sure there is anything anyone can do. The current insanity will burn itself out. With considerable damage, I fear.  

At least my old age isn’t boring.  I am boring.  My life is boring. But, outside of my self-imposed bubble, it isn’t boring. It’s terrifying. 

Gratitude

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Grateful that my brain can still use VLOOKUP and AVERAGEIFS in Excel. This is not to say that my brain can remember the names of my next-door neighbors.

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Happy Hour. Soon.

I decided on a longer slower walk this morning. (Since my trip to Urgent Care, I have been faithful about getting in a good cardio walk every morning before breakfast.)

Yesterday’s weather was all about Hot Hot Hot. It is a cool and balmy 91° this afternoon. All of my devices started warning me about thunderstorms and flooding. I don’t worry much about flooding since the Old Bat’s Cave is on the 11th floor.  And thunderstorms happen in the summer. 

Gratitude

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Grateful to Willis Haviland Carrier (1876 – 1950) who invented the first electrical air conditioning unit in 1902.

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Mostly stayed inside today. Did a couple of hours of work for my hospital. Nothing too hard. It didn’t interfere with nap time.

How about some food pictures from Hakodate?

Wish I were back in Hakodate.

No complaints. Wouldn’t do any good to complain anyhow.

Decided to fold some paper during a meeting this afternoon. I consider it advertising. It’s not easy to sell scraps of paper. Even for a good cause.

Mostly I folded and refolded paper today. I got the 30-unit version together.

Glad that I didn’t have to put it in the recycle bin. But, I can not imagine that anyone will actually buy it. Or any of them for that matter. I paid $4.95 Canadian for that paper last fall. And the paper did make an interesting 30-unit  Sonobe. 

Here are 3,6 and 12-unit models. There are also 90, 120, and 270-unit models. But the 30-unit model is the largest I have attempted. And I think that’s enough. 

And, I think the 12-unit balls will do very nicely for the sale. 

The Twilight Zone

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White Space. I need a lot more white space than I used to. Mental white space. And also white space in my physical space. Enough already. Slow down. 

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Enough already with this 30-unit Sonobe. I think that my initial fold on 15 of the units was wrong. I may or may not be able to refold. It’s cheap paper and cheap paper doesn’t refold well. 

I should just recycle this mess. But. I am still stubborn.

Finally got around to looking out the window at the correct time to see the super blue moon. Only 3 days late. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for hot water. Yesterday morning there was no hot water. This morning there was. What a miracle! Turn a tap and clean hot water comes gushing out. On the 11th floor no less. The wonders that we take for granted. 

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Maybe I’ll get it assembled tomorrow. Or not.

 

Every day, the sun gets a little closer to disappearing around the East Wing of my building. For about 10 weeks in winter, the sun never shines in my room. Until Covid-time, I didn’t know this. I spent the dark months in Kona. I didn’t even know there were dark months.

But, there is a hint of fall. Maybe not in the air. But in my spirit. So, it’s time for “fall cleaning”. I started with the fridge and came up with a fine pot of “garbage” soup.

I bought a small onion and a couple of plum tomatoes. Everything else came out of my freezer.  Leftover steak, frozen peas, pasta, chicken stock. Onion and tomato added. A little chili powder. Pepper. Some herbs. It will be returned to the freezer. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for Elizabeth, who, every Friday for the last 8 years has cleaned my room, changed my sheets, scrubbed my bathroom, provided fluffy clean white towels, and policed the kitchen.

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The day started with a nice pink sunrise and a walk. Breakfast was eaten, laundry was done,  books were read, and paper was folded.

Great big paper was folded. I don’t imagine that anyone will buy this big ball. It’s sort of an attention-getter. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for naps. The older I get the more wonderful naps become. 

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This rose bush is trying to tell me something. Acceptance, grace, endurance? I don’t know.

But a couple of old women got it done. But it took most of the day.