life in the old lane

It was a do-nothing winter day for the old bat. Not going to apologize for that. Knocked a few things off my Shit2Do list. Got an outdoor walk. Didn’t kill anyone. That’s enough. 

 

Did some work today. It’s always reassuring that I can remember how to log into the systems. 

The Twilight Zone

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At the New Year’s Eve dinner, it was suggested that we should optimistically project how many more years we expected to live and act accordingly. I MOST optimistically give myself five years. If I am lucky I’ll see 2029. 2029 seems impossibly far away. But 5 years MAX seems far too short. 

I am working on this. It’s a mind game. I have 5 more summers. How am I going to use them? I have 260 more Friday Happy Hours. 60 more months to enjoy.  When do I stop rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?  

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After wrapping up work. I went for a “brisk” walk. And had cake for lunch. (5 years = 1,867 lunches) It was carrot cake. I have a friend who says “Carrot cake is a vegetable”. That’s what friends are for.

The first “normal” day since leaving Hawai’i. 

Dr Google and I diagnosed a problem I have had for 30 years. I always considered it a sinus issue. Since it frequently showed up when I was having a sinus infection. Trigeminal Neuralgia. I was able to diagnose it this time because the pain is worse than usual. And, I don’t have a sinus infection. So, what am I going to do with this information? Well, mostly I stopped treating the symptoms with ibuprofen and sudaphed. And, I will report my findings to my doctor. But, I have zero interest in the drug regimen or possible surgery at my age. Unless it gets a lot worse.  Trigeminal Neuralgia isn’t going to kill me. 

Had breakfast with friends, a nice walk, did some bookkeeping, just a regular old lady day. 

Started 2024 with a resolution and a trek to the bagel store. 

The Twilight Zone

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2024 Resolution: One Thing At A Time. Just do one thing. And if possible, do it to completion. And this extends to every activity. No more walking down the stairs while putting on mittens. I caught myself doing that this morning. The result could have been catastrophic. One Thing At A Time.

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Brunched lavishly with the accidental family. After years of complaining about the brunch bagels I finally learned to BYOB. 

Tomorrow, I will spring into action. Or not.

Alexa is just now giving her 2nd reminder about dinner. Guess I should spring into action. 

I tossed on some flashy accessories and went down to a very nice dinner with five friends. I had the least attractive choice on the menu. “Edamame & Sriracha-Lemongrass Dumpling Lotus Roots, Ginger Dumpling Sauce”. I figured that it would survive its time on the steam table with the least damage. It was good. Free wine again. That always helps.

Gratitude

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For me, personally, 2023 was a damn good year. Thank you.

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And another year ends without a good robotic cat. Come on people. It can’t be that hard.

Carlton didn’t do Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays etc. But, he did remember anniversaries. And, December 30 is the day that he considered our anniversary. 45 years ago. Spent some happy time today looking at Carlton photos. I have a lot of them. 

My sinuses are acting up. It started in Hawai’i and 5 days of travel in really dry planes and trains didn’t help one bit.  I fear I used my sinus issue as a reason to do very little today. 

I did a factory reset on my watch. It has been flakey for the last couple of months. And now it only lasts about 12 hours even in battery-saving mode. If this doesn’t fix it, it’s outta here. Not going to waste any more time fussing with it. I would like it to last another year. But, if it doesn’t. It doesn’t. I might not last another year either.

I may have mentioned that the food leaves much to be desired. I really am trying to not complain. It won’t get any better until people stop moving in because the food is so bad. But, just saying… this is one of the weekly “specials”.

Well,  Carlton would call this contempt prior to investigation. I should order it for dinner today. It might be fabulous. And, in any case, it’s free wine night.

My friends have keys to the Old Bat Cave. They put cookies and soup in my freezer when I am gone. And my menagerie of tiny pottery critters was expanded to include a great walrus. 

My collection of outrageous earrings reached a new level of kitsch. 

I have 6 orchid plants. When I left for Hawai’i there was one bloom stalk. And two of the orchids were on notice. If they didn’t bloom this year they were going to be compost. My friend took great care of them. When I returned yesterday two were blooming and the other four had flower stalks. 

The Twilight Zone

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I can not begin to tell you how important friends are to me in my old age. Friends make it all bearable. And we each know how hard it will be when…

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For the record. The food here is hideous. But we had a great dinner. Friends brought wine and fudge. That helped.

Uneventful trip on the Capital Limited from Chicago to DC and all the way back to the Old Bat’s Cave.

Auto, Plane, Bart, Bus, Train, Train, Metro, Metro, 16M Bus. 5 Days of travel adventures.

So. What did I learn over the last 2 months?

Back to NORMAL.

Train is on schedule. I slept all the way through Nebraska. 

Five hours to Chicago. Then five hours in Chicago. Then on the Capitol Limited and on to DC. 

13:35 CST. will be in Chicago at about 14:00. Next train doesn’t leave until 18:40. I have discovered an Ice Cream Museum and a Medieval Torture Museum as possible time killers. Or I could just slump in a chair for four hours. 

Went exploring. When you stumble upon a restaurant like this in a big city you have to stop for a bite. It was excellent. 

Wandered around for about an hour. It was windy and chilly so I made my way back to the station. Three hours to train time. Tonight’s train is also sold out. 

This is it for the train trip report. Nothing ever happens on the Capitol Limited. 

it’s dark and 16 degrees. But there is a wonderful full moon. 

More after the sun comes up as cell service permits 

Had a fine breakfast. Train running about one hour late now. Something is wrong with the track. So the train is going 3 miles per hour vice the 70 that it usually goes in this area. Not my problem. 

The train is all sold out again today.  

Small amount of snow falling.

0918 PST. San Francisco. Made it onto the train and it is underway.  More later.

While I was having Christmas lunch, snow showed up. I want lots of snow. Huge piles of the stuff. 

I believe it’s nap time. 

We are in high desert now. I napped from Truckee to Reno.  Reservations for dinner at 19:30. Then sleep through the rest of Nevada and Utah.  

Always wanted to go to Winnemucca. 

9:30 AM more or less ready to go. Sort of chilling on the lanai. My ride to the airport is scheduled for noon. Had a nice breakfast with friends. 

Gratitude

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Grateful for another stay in Kona. We started coming to Kona every winter in 1994. Only missed one year, 2020 The Covid Year.

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I may or may not update this from San Francisco tonight. I should have enough cell service to update along the way.