Around midnight last night, our phone service went out. So did our Internet connection. Around 1:30 a.m. I decided that getting sleep was more important than waiting out the service interruption. ("No Phone, No Web, No Internet: Not a Single Webcam Live" (Small Town America: Minnesota (June 29, 2010))
I slept until almost noon.
Which brings up an interesting point: I've noticed lately that I don't bounce back from late hours and other stressors quite as fast as I used to. Maybe it's time for me to admit that I'm not a 40-year-old kid any more.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
A Disgustingly Perfect Day, a Grill, and Hummingbirds
I checked. It really is "room temperature" outside: 69° Fahrenheit.
There's enough of a breeze to discourage mosquitoes but not bother people, the sky is clear, bright blue - it gets a little better around here, but not by much, and not often.
My wife and #3 daughter are off, doing errands. I'm here, by the now-superfluous air conditioner, getting the day's work done.
Right next to the window where, if I lean back, I can see the birdbath and hummingbird feeder. (So can you: I've got a webcam looking out the window.)
Speaking of hummingbirds: I took the feeder in yesterday afternoon, for routine cleaning and refilling. While I was doing that, I looked across the kitchen and north room, and saw a hummingbird flit in from the east, turn back maybe a foot from where the feeder usually is, head eastwards maybe two feet, go through a horizontal loop, and flit back the way he/she came.
That motivated me to get the feeder read and in place in what may have been record time. Those hummers don't, I've read, work with a really big safety margin when it comes to food/fuel supply.
The critter, or one very much like it, was back within an hour. I think I've got regular clients now.
I ran out of propane/LP gas on the grill Saturday, just in time to get the burgers done. At least, I thought I was out of gas.
I was going to refill the tank Saturday afternoon - but took an all-afternoon nap instead. My body probably had the right idea about that, although I couldn't get to sleep that night until an insanely late hour.
Where was I? LP gas, right. Sunday, after Mass, I went to the Holiday station on the south side, to pick up a full LP gas cylinder. I found out, in the process, that at least one person in town knows the thing as "propane," but not as "LP gas" tanks. Interesting: I learned something new about the language.
So, I swap out the tanks, and find out that the grill still won't light. No grilled burgers on Sunday. And, as a bonus, I get to figure out how to dismantle and clean the grill. My hope is that there's a fairly straightforward job of unplugging a gas line ahead of me.
#1 daughter was here for the weekend, visiting her pet rabbit and us.
And I think that brings me more-or-less up to date. The day's tasks won't do themselves, so I'd better get to work.
Maybe there'll be time later, for a walk. Or something to get me outside.
There's enough of a breeze to discourage mosquitoes but not bother people, the sky is clear, bright blue - it gets a little better around here, but not by much, and not often.
My wife and #3 daughter are off, doing errands. I'm here, by the now-superfluous air conditioner, getting the day's work done.
Right next to the window where, if I lean back, I can see the birdbath and hummingbird feeder. (So can you: I've got a webcam looking out the window.)
Speaking of hummingbirds: I took the feeder in yesterday afternoon, for routine cleaning and refilling. While I was doing that, I looked across the kitchen and north room, and saw a hummingbird flit in from the east, turn back maybe a foot from where the feeder usually is, head eastwards maybe two feet, go through a horizontal loop, and flit back the way he/she came.
That motivated me to get the feeder read and in place in what may have been record time. Those hummers don't, I've read, work with a really big safety margin when it comes to food/fuel supply.
The critter, or one very much like it, was back within an hour. I think I've got regular clients now.
I ran out of propane/LP gas on the grill Saturday, just in time to get the burgers done. At least, I thought I was out of gas.
I was going to refill the tank Saturday afternoon - but took an all-afternoon nap instead. My body probably had the right idea about that, although I couldn't get to sleep that night until an insanely late hour.
Where was I? LP gas, right. Sunday, after Mass, I went to the Holiday station on the south side, to pick up a full LP gas cylinder. I found out, in the process, that at least one person in town knows the thing as "propane," but not as "LP gas" tanks. Interesting: I learned something new about the language.
So, I swap out the tanks, and find out that the grill still won't light. No grilled burgers on Sunday. And, as a bonus, I get to figure out how to dismantle and clean the grill. My hope is that there's a fairly straightforward job of unplugging a gas line ahead of me.
#1 daughter was here for the weekend, visiting her pet rabbit and us.
And I think that brings me more-or-less up to date. The day's tasks won't do themselves, so I'd better get to work.
Maybe there'll be time later, for a walk. Or something to get me outside.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Mostly Medical
Last week I had blood tests done - and got the results yesterday.
"It could be worse" is a pretty good summary. I wasn't surprised that the blood sugar levels were high - how high they were was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser.
Happily, that and the cholesterol levels can, in principle, be affected by my paying better attention to what I eat, moving around more, and thereby losing weight.
The bad news is that I'm now on yet another prescription - not a particularly inexpensive one, either.
Well, that's motivation.
Like I said, "it could be worse."
Now, it's time for me to sweat for about a half-hour.
"It could be worse" is a pretty good summary. I wasn't surprised that the blood sugar levels were high - how high they were was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser.
Happily, that and the cholesterol levels can, in principle, be affected by my paying better attention to what I eat, moving around more, and thereby losing weight.
The bad news is that I'm now on yet another prescription - not a particularly inexpensive one, either.
Well, that's motivation.
Like I said, "it could be worse."
Now, it's time for me to sweat for about a half-hour.
Monday, June 14, 2010
About a Trip, Age, and Burying the Cable
My wife and me, and #3 daughter, returned from a good visit with #2 daughter and her husband over the weekend. Also #1 daughter and our son. The latter is staying there for a month. They'll get some work out of him, and he will, I expect, have a good time. A win-win situation.
I'm definitely no longer 20 years old. Four decades back, a 170-mile trek on the Interstate didn't leave me feeling like this. It would have helped, I think, if I'd had the good sense to stretch my neck and shoulders on the trip - which I'll try to remember next time. The base joints of my right hand's first two fingers don't ache as much now, as they did when I woke up: for which I'm grateful.
This evening/afternoon, around 5:00, a couple guys came and buried our cable/telephone/Internet connection: bringing the deck/patio project to a conclusion. One of them was camera-shy, so I won't have a photo of that - but I do have pictures of the rest.
Which I really ought to get around to processing for this blog.
My wife & #3 daughter are playing Mario Kart in the next room: and I'm trying to get caught up with today's work. Which I should get back to, now.
I'm definitely no longer 20 years old. Four decades back, a 170-mile trek on the Interstate didn't leave me feeling like this. It would have helped, I think, if I'd had the good sense to stretch my neck and shoulders on the trip - which I'll try to remember next time. The base joints of my right hand's first two fingers don't ache as much now, as they did when I woke up: for which I'm grateful.
This evening/afternoon, around 5:00, a couple guys came and buried our cable/telephone/Internet connection: bringing the deck/patio project to a conclusion. One of them was camera-shy, so I won't have a photo of that - but I do have pictures of the rest.
Which I really ought to get around to processing for this blog.
My wife & #3 daughter are playing Mario Kart in the next room: and I'm trying to get caught up with today's work. Which I should get back to, now.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
That was a Nice Day
I woke up this morning: always a good thing, considering the alternative.
Aside from a brief struggle with some financial data - no crisis, just trying to get the right numbers in the right places - I had a productive day.
Then, after walking down to Coborn's pharmacy to pick up a prescription, I spent a few minutes out on the new patio/deck/thing, to read a book with my wife. Actually, she was reading one book and I was reading another. But we were doing it together.
Which brings up another point: we now, after about 20 years of planning & waiting, have a new deck out back. It's only fair to warn you: I've got photos.
Aside from a brief struggle with some financial data - no crisis, just trying to get the right numbers in the right places - I had a productive day.
Then, after walking down to Coborn's pharmacy to pick up a prescription, I spent a few minutes out on the new patio/deck/thing, to read a book with my wife. Actually, she was reading one book and I was reading another. But we were doing it together.
Which brings up another point: we now, after about 20 years of planning & waiting, have a new deck out back. It's only fair to warn you: I've got photos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Stumble it
