Countdown

18 days of work to go.  Not handling it consistently well, either.  About what?  Pretty much what you'd expect.  Do I have enough money (probably not) and what if I run out.  Sometimes I feel like I have enough going on that I won't miss the old job, except every other Thursday when the paycheck no longer gets direct-deposited.  My last planned splurge was a Steely Dan t-shirt, high-priced to begin with, and larded with a heavy shipping-and-handling fee before tax.  But the 1996 Art Crimes shirt is worn out, and the 2003 shirt from the Borgata concert is showing its age as well.  

But I have my essentials:  someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to.  Even the virus that laid me low for a few weeks has receded, leaving only an occasional hacking cough.  

Just for my memory, here's the day in a few words:  woke up alone at around 7:30.  PG had already gone downstairs.  I reported for work, booting up and logging in, then walked downstairs for a bowl of cereal and glass of juice.  The workday started slowly and by noon, I had showered, dressed and was ready to drive to Wegmans.  We got everything on the list and took it home, then I made a sandwich, poured a glass of lemonade with seltzer, picked out a half-dozen small pretzels, and went back to work.

Several more hours passed.  I had a bowl of chili for supper, and after that a small serving of homemade vanilla pudding with the last of the canned whipped cream.  Reclined in the recliner and listened to part of Kaleidoscope (subject:  the radio Green Hornet) before Mike Whorf's voice made me nod off.  Watched 15 minutes of "Madison Avenue" and the 15-minute Seinfeld speech at Duke.  Then went upstairs to practice.  

There, short but with enough detail to be interesting to me somewhere down the road.  

Five of everything

Common Cinquefoil, New Jersey, 19 May 2024.  Five-parted leaves and flowers with five petals.  In a pleasant surprise, I learned this is not considered a noxious weed.  The Wikipedia entry says "Pollinators include mason bees, small carpenter bees, cuckoo bees, halictid bees, syrphid flies, tachinid flies, blow flies, and others. Less common pollinators are wasps and butterflies. Rabbits and groundhogs eat the foliage."  While I saw no pollinators at all in the few minutes I was observing the wildflower section behind Tabby's Place, as far as I'm concerned, if it's good for the bunnies, say no more.

 

All kinds of life

Taken yesterday in the same unlandscaped location as the prior photo.  Multiflora Rose is (and I'll bet you guessed this) another invasive plant, unwelcomed by the authorities, although birds and insects appear to be appreciative.  

 

Uncommon

Black Swallowtail butterfly on Dame's Rocket, 19 May 2024

 

Wildflower and beneficiary

From the unlandscaped section of Tabby's Place, 19 May 2024.  Varied carpet beetle on Philadelphia Fleabane.

 

Things work out, I guess

Lingering URI and a night without sleep last night.  Steroid, benzo perles, Vicks in steam, hot tea with honey, and Ricola wild cherry drops, and in spite of everything I coughed instead of slept.  Turns out that being awake at sunrise was the right thing on this particular morning.

Around 5:30, I checked the email from Home Depot and saw that the toilet was going to be picked up by a gig driver for a UPS company and delivered soon after.  Hitting refresh again and again, I saw the completion of each step as Juan drove to the nearest store, picked up the product at 6:15, and began the drive west along the four-lane highway.  I followed the moving icon as it took the exit nearest home and steadily proceeded toward us.  When it reached the final turnoff into the development, I opened the garage door and watched a pair of headlights approaching on our street, right on cue.

Juan stopped his dark red Acura 4x4 some 20-25 feet short of the garage, ignoring my invitation to park closer, and opened the back end.  Picking up the box containing the toilet, he carried it into the garage and set it down next to the township trash receptacle.  I leaned hard against the box to create a little more space between them, and barely budged it.  

We paid the deposit to the flooring company and were told they'd have to order the product and fit us in their schedule, estimating 4 to 6 weeks before they could get started and another week before completion.  Later in the day, a local company notified us of their estimate to fix the crack in our driveway plus resurfacing it.  Five more paychecks to go in my working career, and each looks like they'll be easy come and easy go.  But we can't let the house look like it's falling apart, so we spend for the lawn, the landscaping, the driveway, the external signs that people who care live there.  

Progress report

Still coughing, but more energy.  

What's happening now?

Bought a new toilet for the downstairs powder room.  Well rated, yet marked down $30, plus another $15 off out of the goodness of Home Depot's heart.  Delivery fee brought down by all the discounts.  Should be here tomorrow.  Do I dare attempt to play Handyman?  Well, I've learned from YouTube videos before.

Volunteer butterfly bush in the back, and a tiny volunteer arborvitae next to the garage.  Up the road, dame's rocket in the same spots as last year, next to a telephone pole.  Cultivating the strong greenery that has survived to the point of becoming visible.

Some music, a little of Kaleidoscope before I lost consciousness.  Something about that show that eases me into slumber.

A good result in Immaculate Grid.  I believe every player I input was a major league regular sixty seasons ago.  1955-1985 is my strongest area, and especially the mid-1960's.  

Now after midnight, so enough writing.  Time to check out the Times games and inhale some more Vicks steam before closing my eyes for a few hours.