Yep, I know better than to take pictures of birds with my telephone. But, it’s better than no picture of a male American Gold Finch. The female was nearby. There may be more Gold Finches soon!

This is a pretty good taco truck and I hadn’t seen it in almost 2 years.  Normal is happening. Sure hope it sticks. 

Had a little “senior moment” today. I decided that some exercise was in order – so I would briskly walk the 1.25 miles to my preferred grocery store. And then, with my pack fully loaded with coffee, yogurt, granola, avocadoes, cheese, and ahi poke, I would bus back home. It was a good plan. Except. When I got to the bus stop I discovered that my bus pass was in my purse back in the Old Bat Cave. And all I had for money was a twenty.  (There is no change on the bus.)  So, I got an extra 1.25 miles of exercise today.  That is most likely a good thing. 

I just discovered that my phone will check my heart rate. That is mildly curious. Also, checked and my wall switches do have a neutral wire – so – next stop ZigBee wall switches. 

The very first peony. Inside, too windy to photography anything outside. Even the crows that keep me company when I am working from home were absent today.  

Nothing interesting today. Just nerdy working. Everyone seems to have dinner plans. However, our Bistro has been turning out awesome wagyu burgers all week and there is beer in the fridge. Dinner will be just fine. 

Gratitude

---

Grateful: A dear friend got a “don’t worry” from her new cardiologist this afternoon.

---

A totally fine day.

Another summery day. I decided to see if the A/C still works. It does. I am not a fan of A/C, but it’s nice to have. Especially when you aren’t paying the electric bill. 

Sort of a normal day. Exercise class, hang out with friends, rest/nap, actually do some work, and finally dinner with friends, now wrap up the work so I’ll remember where I am tomorrow morning. (this is new, I used to be able to stop a project and restart it later without any hiccups. no more.) Then time to read. Just a normal old lady day.

Management is redecorating our halls. We need lots more than new wallpaper to make our halls look anything other than “old folks asylum”.

Oh yeah, The Blog was 20 years old  yesterday. I had been making websites for the National Park Service since the mid 90s. This was my first totally personal effort. Who knew the 20 years later, I would still have it going. I wrote my own HTML until sometime in 2009 when I switched to WordPress.

Another toasty day. Ended with another nice DIY outdoor dinner with 5 friends. Only one missing. Someday soon, we will get everyone together outside for an Asylum Sisters Family meal.  

I deployed the little fan today. Of course, Alexa has to control it. Fortunately, it is easy to rename plugs. So, “The Heating Pad” plug became “The Fan” plug. Not sure how or even if renaming devices carries through to routines. Something to experiment with I guess. 

Speaking of experiments. I have been feeding data into the Virginia Immunization Information System about Covid vaccines since December. Well, today I discovered that I could get my own data out of that very system. I was sure that it would not work. But, I filled out the online form, and less than an hour later, I had my data.

I was impressed. One, that they could find me. Two, that the data were there, lots of it. Three, that they sent it to me. I had some shots in Hawai’i. Now I am wondering if they have a system and if they do – am I in it? Another experiment.

Normal busy Tuesday. Less exercise today but more work. Still, it is a lovely almost summery afternoon and some of us will be having a DIY outdoor dinner. Others will be braving the crush at our barely reopened Bistro. 

And CDC says we can go outside without our masks. 

The Mac has been fussing all day “Update me to 11.3”. It didn’t seem so very responsible to update it during the workday. I don’t think this update will buy me anything anyhow. But, I just said “OK, knock yourself out”. 

The jackrabbits in my boots are bouncing around. That could be dangerous.

The spring flowers are fading away. But, the big fat peony buds promise more blooms soon.

Management seems to be “circling back” to a project that they “hit the pause button” on back in January. (I do LOVE management-speak!) It’s going to take a couple of hours tomorrow for me to get my elderly brain cells to remember what it was that I was doing. 

And, here at The Asylum, except for wearing masks, things seem to be back to almost normal this week. And, they have a pretty good beer on sale in the bar plus wagyu beef burgers on the menu. Now, if they cook it properly… 

Hayfever remains. That wasn’t an issue last spring when we were too scared to leave our apartments. All things considered, I’ll take hayfever.

Hayfever

Had a sneezy, nappy, Sunday. Benadryl helps with the hayfever. But, it puts me right to sleep. 

Tomorrow, our food service is supposed to return to “normal”. We will see. The service might return to normal. The food; that remains to be seen. 

This is the first rose. That means that summer can not be far behind. 

On March 8, 2020, salt shakers vanished from our tables.

This morning the salt, pepper, and sugar returned! Does this meaning that it is almost over? I hope so. I really hope so. But, there are all those “variants”.  For the moment, I am going to live in the moment. 

Just a normal Friday. But still a little chilly.  For spring. 

Thinking about adding some Zigbee light switches to my system. Well, actually just one – the kitchen overhead lights. But, that’s more complicated than sticking a  plug in a wall outlet. A light switch takes commitment to the next level. 

• • Not sure I can still install a switch. Fortunately, it isn’t a two-way switch.
  • Not sure that our in-house crew can be trusted with the task.
  • What if it gets installed and will not pair with Alexa’s Zigbee radio.
  • What if it works and then dies.  Next month? Next year?

So, I have to resolve all these “issues” before I take the screwdriver to my wall plate. Once again, I am amazed at my moderation and prudence. 

After all these years – I still like Fridays and The Week-End. Never mind that the days are all more or less alike.

A busy day. Where nothing much happened but I had two desserts. SO, that has to be a good day.  (Raspberry pie and coffee gelato with hot fudge). Tomorrow – diet.

I was supposed to meet with the head of our dining services on this patio this morning. (Where I was happy to see my garden box looking good.) It was 45° or thereabout at meeting time. Now, it would have been a very Machiavellian move for the dining services guy to actually go through with meeting on this patio. SO, I dressed warmly. I wasn’t going to be frozen out. But, he moved the meeting inside. Management is being made aware of the issues on many fronts. Will see what happens next.

A chilly and windy day. 

The Asylum has sunk to a new low where food is concerned. 

Some random rumors and thoughts about the state of Dining Services at The Asylum.

1. 1. What you order (take-out) isn’t what you get.
   2. The take-out ordering process isn’t all that great. Have to call numerous times to get an answer.
   3. Way too much cilantro considering how many people hate cilantro.
   4. Overcooking – especially the meat and fish. And the sauces are strange. 
   5. Undercooking – the veggies.
   6. The food is boring/weird. 
   7. The food is a secret diet plan.
   8. Dining Services is trying to rebalance its budget by using cheaper ingredients. 
   9. They seem to have forgotten how to cook.
   10. The proposed lunch service plan, i.e., by reservation only with no take-out isn’t going to fly with the residents.
   11. Soups resemble dishwater. And the soups used to be reliably good. 
   12. Even the mac and cheese is suffering. 
   13. We might be old, but we remember before COVID, the food was mostly good. We were happy to invite our friends to eat here. Some of them even wanted to eat here. That is no longer the case. (Even if it were allowed.) 
   14. A resident said that she would never recommend The Asylum to friends until the food improves. 
   15. It is not just the usual suspects complaining about the food. Seldom is heard an encouraging word where Dining Services are concerned. 
   16. The Knit of Kids Group was heard to say “Now they are feeding us prison food”. 

And why am I complaining about the food here?  Because twice a day I get reminded about how bad the food is. Breakfast is OK. And I can still cook.

Busy day today. But a good day. We celebrated a 2nd Covid Birthday. Last year it was a Zoom Birthday. This year it was a nice in-person celebration. With cake and ice cream and illegal candles on the cake. We are working our way back to normal. 

Gratitude

---

Grateful that everyone who was at last year’s Zoom Birthday made it to tonight’s in-person celebration.

---

Got my hospital Windows 10, my personal email on Big Sur 11.2.3, my iPad is waiting for a zoom to start, and I am working on an origami. My phone, which is taking the photo, would be in the mix, keeping up with incoming text messages. Fortunately, the brain was firing on most of the neurons today.