Spilled Coffee, Reality, and a Wind Chill Advisory

Musing after spilling coffee on my lap, this thought crossed my mind: I didn't design reality; my job is accepting reality as it is, and making small modifications.

My son and I are about where we should be in recovering from appendicitis and an unpleasant infection. More good news: over a week has not passed with no medical emergencies in the family.

Today's wind chill advisory was extended to 6:00 p.m. - probably not by popular demand. It got almost up to zero Fahrenheit today, which made this winter scene much easier to enjoy from inside my house:



Half-past noon. October 20, 2013.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Back from the Hospital"
  (December 1, 2013)
• "Appendicitis and All That"
  (November 30, 2013)
• "Good News, Bad News, and an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection"
  (November 22, 2013)
• "First Snowfall"
  (October 20, 2013)
• "I Got What I Asked For"
  (September 29, 2013)

Another Dim Spring Day

Make no mistake: We can use the rain here in Minnesota.

But the dull overcast, and wondering if I should turn on a light, here by a window, is - dreary, I suppose.

We had fog last night - and it seems to have moved into my head. I've got 'creative' tasks to get done, and no clue what to do about them.

Time for some concentration, and maybe coffee.

Rain, Coffee, Family and Scrabble

I'm caught up, in another blog (Apathetic Lemming of the North), from that trip to Chicago - about a month after our return. The skies wouldn't fall if I didn't keep up that 'three posts a day' quota I set for that blog: but it doesn't hurt to maintain the flow, either.

#2 daughter and her husband are still here - playing Scrabble with my wife and #3 daughter this evening. The newly-married couple were out during quite a bit of the middle part of the day. At least part of the time was spent having lunch with the Sauk Centre grandfather.

I picked up meds at the Melrose clinic this afternoon, and passed a pleasant hour at Jitters Java when I got back to Sauk Centre. It was a good day to stay inside and drink coffee: not warm, overcast and, while I was out, raining.

My son and I, as usual, ended his day with Garfield and a song.

#2 daughter and my new son-in-law have been taping here in the north room and elsewhere - again, for that documentary. And they're at it again, reading from the "Screwtape Letters" and discussing the day.

Us Guys on Our Own: Day 1 - We're Not Alone

My wife is taking no chances this weekend. She sent #1 daughter here, presumably to do some more organizing. I think it was to keep an eye on us guys.

She may have a point.

I asked #1 daughter to get me some coffee: a sensible request, since she'd just then blocked me in with a pile of books to sort through. I told her that she'd find the coffee cup on a temporary table, next to my son's invention, and a spoon on the arm of the couch.

That's right: just a little over 18 hours on our own, and this place is already starting to look like a bachelor pad.

My Wife Washed My Coffee Cup!

When I got back from the weekend trip that I wrote about earlier, I discovered that my coffee cup was no longer in its usual position. After several minutes of searching, a thought hit me.

Moments later, I was checking the dishwasher. There, near the front of a clean load, was my coffee cup.

Clean. Outside and inside.

Holding the now-white cup in my hand, I showed my wife the now characterless container.

She acknowledged that my coffee would taste different now, but observed that it should be back to normal in a few weeks.

Friday: Two Weeks to St. Valentine's Day

Yesterday wasn't one of my banner days.

When I got to Fitness Guru, the place where I exercise, the towel that (I thought) I'd packed wasn't in the duffel. Going back to recover the towel, or get another, would take time that I didn't want to spend.

Besides, I had an idea. Over a month ago, I accidentally put a T-shirt in that duffel: and kept it there. Yesterday, I discovered that a T-shirt and a recently-worn polo shirt, used judiciously, are an adequate substitute for a conventional towel.

I can't say that I'd recommend that substitution, though.

Then, I went to the place I get my glasses. About two and a half weeks ago, the eye doctor confirmed that I needed new glasses. After a minor snafu, involving a re-ordering of the lenses, and another week's wait, I learned that the new glasses were ready.

On my way in, acting on an impulse, I tried on my old glasses. I'd left them in the van, to be sure that they'd be on hand.

When I put them on, every twig on every tree snapped into sharp focus.

In contrast to the new glasses, that don't do as good a job at correcting my vision.

Spiffy.

The focus issue is almost certainly connected to my efforts to get my blood sugar level stable. I'm still learning how to do that.

I don't think we appreciate how effectively our bodies monitor and maintain the interacting chemical processes that keep us alive - until we have to do some of the monitoring and maintenance ourselves.

That, a quiet evening with my wife, our son, and #3 daughter at Soo Bahk Do, followed by reading "Garfield."

Which brings us up to today.

I did my first (in a while) tutoring session today. It went rather well, I think: It's good to get back to this sort of task. I've done tutoring for English and a few other subjects, and did some ESL work: but that was years ago. We'll see how my current tutoring works out.

Another exercise session this afternoon, after which I went to Jitters Java, a specialty coffee shop downtown. That was a treat. Family finances being what they are, I haven't been there as often as I like. (It's those recurring expenses that can really drain a budget.)

Our son talked me into letting him download and install (free) online game software from Disney. I wrote about that on another blog. Sounds coming from the north room told me that he's thoroughly enjoying the game. He's been asking me when I'll set up an account. That'll probably happen tomorrow.

That, and reading "Garfield," again, wrapped up the day.