Readings 2022 - Fiction

The novels of 2022. I read 29 novels this year and most of them were all recently released. Only one would be considered a classic which would be Edward Abbey's environmental activists novel The Monkey Wrench Gang from 1975.

I read a lot of amazing novels this year from across the spectrum of experiences. I also went back to several novelists of series that I've been enjoying over the past several years such as Cara Black, Adrian McKinty, Douglas Preston, John Sanford and James S. A. Corey. Some new detective series from Martin Walker, Michael Connelly and David Gordon. Of course there

were a few of my classic SF authors too such as Neal Stephenson, Kim Stanley Robinson and William Gibson.  Lots of new folks too. 

Some of my favorites this year was The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, This Is Happiness, Sea of Tranquility, Harlem Shuffle and so many others. Although I didn't do quite as much reading this year, because of the time I've spent writing instead, I have enjoyed my reading immensely.

 

• The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois – Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, 2021
• Termination Shock Pt. 2 – Neal Stephenson, 2021
• Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel, 2022
• This Is Happiness – Niall Williams, 2019
• All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr, 2014
• Harlem Shuffle – Colson Whitehead, 2021
• Mudbound – Hillary Jordan, 2008
• Barcelona Noir – Adriana V. Lopez, ed, 2011
• Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr, 2021
• Bruno, Chief of Police – Martin Walker, 2008
• New York 2140 – Kim Stanley Robinson, 2017
• Murder in Bel-Air – Cara Black, 2020
• Rain Dogs – Adrian McKinty, 2016
• Agency - William Gibson, 2020
• The Monkey Wrench Gang – Edward Abbey, 1975
• Chronic City – Jonathan Lethem, 2009
• Long Bright River – Liz Moore, 2020
• When She Woke – Hillary Jordan, 2011
• The Black Echo – Michael Connelly, 1992
• The Dark Vineyard – Martin Walker, 2009
• Murder in the Sentier – Cara Black, 2002
• The Bouncer – David Gordon, 2018
• Crimson Shore – Douglas Preston, 2015
• Broken Prey – John Sandord, 2005
• The Black Ice – Michael Connelly, 1993
• The Hard Stuff – David Gordon, 2019
• City of Endless Night – Douglas Preston, 2018
• Leviathan Falls – James S.A. Corey, 2021
• The Obsidian Chamber – Douglas Preston, 2016

Readings 2022 - Nonfiction

The books of nonfiction for 2022. I really didn't read as many nonfiction books as I usually do in a year. Just 17 this year and only two were music related. I only read one book that would be considered a traditional history book which was more of a social and psychological study of how the public dealt with World War II. There were thirteen books that were either political or race related that were actually both. I seemed to be obsessed this past year on threat to our democracy by the maga republican fascist which seem to be everywhere on the political landscape. The trump era has indeed become The Misinformation Age which was one of the best books I read this year. 

I read many fascinating political books including a couple of interesting books by Rachel Maddow. The Tim Miller book was infuriating because of the utter cowardness of him and so many other republicans as was the Adam Shiff lame explanation for how the democrats dealt with the trump insurrection.

 The Divider by Peter Becker was much better.

• The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread - Cailin O'Connor, 2019
• The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 – Peter Baker
• White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960’s – Joe Boyd, 2006
• Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House – Rachel Maddow, 2020
• White Fear: How the Browning of America is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds – Roland S. Martin, 2022
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents – Isabel Wilkerson, 2020
• Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975 – Richard Thompson, 2021
• The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Minds of America – Greg Grandlin
• Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial – Corban Addison, 2022
• Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence – Anita Hill, 2021
• Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500 Year History – Kurt Anderson, 2017
• This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future – Jonathan Martin, 2022
• Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth – Rachel Maddow, 2019
• Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell – Tim Miller, 2022
• The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream – David M. Rubenstein, 2021
• Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness – Elizabeth D. Samet, 2021
• Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could – Adam Schiff, 2021

The Misinformation Age

The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread by Cailin O'Connor and James Owen Weatherall, 2019 

I got this book out of the Canisius College Library. It was a small book but it took me awhile to get through it because I had it available to me for a long time. It wasn't like I had my usual 2 or 3 weeks e-book loan period. No matter how long it took me to read it this book was an intense and fascinating experience.

The authors are both philosophers of science and they apply scientific methods to determine the question of what we know and how we know. A lot of the book gets rather technical in their application of scientific models and they use a lot of philosophical jargon. There were times when I got bogged down in their methodology but the bottom line kept pointing out the fact that America has always been a country of fake news and alternative facts going back generations but has recently taken center stage in our national politics.

The book went into a lot of detail about various misinformation campaigns and methods of propaganda throughout our history including the ozone layer, tobacco industry, climate change, germ theory, assassination conspiracies, water fluoridation, vaccine issues and so on. 

Everything that we have been through in recent years has clearly illustrated the fact that we are in The Misinformation Age.

Digging Out

Digging our way out of the blizzard took several days. It had snowed a few times after the initial storm on the holiday weekend and the city took much longer than normal to respond with plowing this time. The city did a great job cleaning up a heavy snowfall last month during that Thanksgiving storm and we could drive around doing errands the following Monday morning. This time there was a driving ban almost all week because of the number of stuck cars on streets throughout the city. It was very helpful for me to have Todd here this week to do a lot of the shoveling. 

The driving ban was lifted today. Katie and Todd and the kids went downtown by subway yesterday and today Todd's father dropped him off here to pick up their car and take it downtown. That was good because I was able to move our car into the regular spot in the driveway and shovel out the rest of it. 

The snow plows and loaders came down the street yesterday and did a very thorough job clearing the street. They went up and down with the plows and

loaders at least a dozen times and loaded a lot of snow on to trucks. They also dumped a lot of the snow into very big piles that covered the sidewalk in some areas. There was just too much snow to move and the main objective was to clear the streets which they did but there is still a lot of work to do.

On my way back from walking the kids over to the subway station I came down our street as the city workers were digging out the street. One of the unusual activities this time was for the loaders to clear everyone's individual driveways too. I took a few pictures of that process as i came down the street.

A Family Walk to the Subway

Katie and Todd had booked three nights at the downtown hotel where his parents had their apartment. This is something they usually did each time they visited Buffalo. We kept Stella at our house while they were in the hotel. Their first night was Wednesday and they were planning to drive by home on Saturday morning after picking up the dog. The driving ban was still in effect on Wednesday so they packed some things up and decided to take the subway downtown that afternoon. They had several backpacks and Todd loaded them on a sled and the five of them would walk over to the subway station. I decided to go with them to help with the kids. 

So on Wednesday afternoon we got all the stuff on the sled and began the trek from our house over to the station on Main Street. It took us awhile getting through all the snow banks. We walked down our street, over Russell to Greenfield for a block and then on to Amherst. The first streets were no problem. Lots of people were on the blocks digging out there cars and driveways. We had a lot of comments and people asked us if we needed any help. Amherst Street was more of a problem because most of the houses were rental properties with sidewalks not shoveled. Except for Dave's house. We had to cross the street and make our way down Amherst. A pickup truck stopped and offered to take us all to where we had to go. We said thanks but we were just going another block to the subway station. 

We finally made it to the station after about a twenty minute trek which was about twice the normal walk there. I went in with them and we took the elevator down to the tracks. Once they were settled then I left the station. The train came about five minutes after they got there and they had no problem getting downtown. Their destination station was right in front of the hotel.

I walked back home but avoided Amherst St and went back Vernon and Fairfield to Greenfield then back to Crescent. It was a lot faster without the kids, sled and backpacks. 

I got home and went back to digging out.

Boxing Day and More Snow

The day after Christmas is known in Great Britain as Boxing Day which is some kind of class tradition where the servants received their gifts the day following Christmas in the left over boxes of their employers or something like that. The only reason I know about it is because it's a big day of English soccer and I like watching the Premier League games on Boxing Day which we did today. Henry was watching with me and he seemed to really enjoy it too as he was learning about the game.

It also snowed more again overnight with another coating on everything. This time it wasn't windy. No blizzard conditions. The snow was mostly light and fluffy but covered everything with a few inches. The plowing hasn't been happening and the driving ban has been extended. Todd's family postponed their holiday dinner another day.

We're all getting a little stir crazy and we're fortunate that the kids have their new Christmas toys and books to keep them busy. 

Keeping Busy @ Christmas

So I relaxed a little in the evening with some delicious Holiday Ale from Anchor Steam Brewing in California. Todd had some too. I get some of this special brew every year around Christmas. There were lots of Christmas cookies to eat too.

Henry and Clara were very busy were their new toys and books. Henry really loves his pokemon manual. Violet was very happy to explore our house and especially the Christmas tree.

Of course the other thing that kept us busy all day on Christmas was digging out of the snow. Todd did a lot in anticipation of getting out to see his family sometime but more snow was in the forecast.

Christmas Day 2022

We had a nice quiet Christmas Day. The kids got up at a reasonable time and opened presents which they enjoyed immensely. Henry especially loved his new Legos sets. It was still snowing too and we got a couple of feet or more on the ground. Actually more like three or four feet but it's hard to tell with the amount of wind blowing everything around. Lots of big drifts. This Christmas will certainly be remembered for the snow.

The driving ban has been extended for a couple of more days and Todd is disappointed that he can't get downtown to see hid parents or over to his aunt and uncle's house for their holiday dinner which is postponed again.

Lots of good braciole leftovers for dinner. Todd's

been working on getting the driveway somewhat cleared but no plows have been down the street yet but at least it stopped snowing and the sun is out.

Christmas 2022

Katie, Todd and the kids arrived in town on Thursday morning just ahead of the snowstorm which the media has been calling the Bomb Cyclone Blizzard of Christmas 2022. We had hoped to have finally gotten back to a normal Christmas this year but it didn't happen. 

Sean, Ashley and Andrew stayed at home this year and we missed them but it was a good decision seeing how the weather has turned out in the region. Last year we went to their house last year for the holidays since Katie was staying home being in the very late stages of her pregnancy. That was a very good decision in hindsight seeing that Violet came several weeks early. The year before was the beginning of the pandemic and we had Christmas home alone.

And now we have the Christmas Blizzard of 2022. On Friday the storm came roaring into Buffalo with lots of snow and wind. We were worried about branches coming down in the backyard knocking out our electric power but so far so good.  

We've been having some wonderful family time with the kids here a couple of days early. Becky has been making some nice family dinners and she made plenty of braciole as she always does for

Christmas. Unfortunately our traditional Christmas Eve braciole dinner was cut back this year because of the storm. Even though Dave, Donna and Mary only live a couple of blocks away the storm and blowing snow made it not possible for them to come over for dinner. The same for Val and Bobby although Becky had to convince Val not to attempt the trip from her place. 

So we had a small but very nice family dinner on Christmas Eve. Todd was

concerned with seeing his family on Christmas Day and they had planed to have Christmas dinner at his Aunt and Uncle's home in Elmwood Village but they had to postpone it because of the storm. Now it's scheduled for Monday but there is a driving ban in the city of Buffalo that looks like it will go into the upcoming week. We'll see how it goes. 

We also had their dog Stella in the house during the storm. Fortunately the snow drifted away from the side of the house

and the side door. The snow went to the front and buried the cars. There was a path to the backyard  and the snow actually drifted away from the back shed so there was a nice path to take the dog to do her business.

Henry wrote a nice not for Santa Claus and left it on the dining room table along with a snack including a carrot for the reindeer.

I'm also feeling much better now.

Lots of Christmas cookies for desert too.

Bomb Cyclone Blizzard

Just in time for the holidays. The local media is saying this is the biggest snowstorm blizzard since 1986 and they have been referring to it as a bomb cyclone blizzard. 

There have been many power outages all over the country and the biggest ones have been in Texas. I'm worried about losing power a little closer to home. There have been some outages this afternoon and evening in our Parkside neighborhood and throughout the Elmwood Village neighborhood that lasted about three hours. 

I'm more concerned with the high winds and the trees in our backyard knocking down a power line. One large branch came down this afternoon next to our house and could have very easily have hit our power line but so far so good. I have put flashlights around the house and we have some candles available but hopefully we won't need them. The high point of the wind is supposed to be happening early tonight.

It's snowing very hard and the wind is blowing much more than usual. It's hard to know how this will all play out over this holiday weekend. Lots of people have lots of plans for the holiday including us and the family. We're having people over for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow evening and Katie and Todd plan to go to a Christmas Day dinner at his Aunt and Uncle's house in Elmwood Village but right now there is a driving ban. We'll see but it's a little scary out.

Sick Day Again

Yesterday was a sick day. Again. There seems to be a pattern in these sudden short illnesses that come and go quickly. I was sick all day yesterday and Katie, Todd and the kids arrived around 10:30 in the morning after spending the night at a motel in Syracuse to beat the upcoming storm.

I was perfectly fine on Wednesday right up to bedtime. I woke up sometime in the middle of the night not feeling well. In the morning I knew everything was off and I was feeling bad. I went back to bed after doing a few chores to get ready for the kid's arrival. I thought they would be here around noon but they got on the road quickly and make very good time.

I took several long naps throughout the day and had one bout of vomiting. It felt like I was struggling with a stomach virus of some sort. I had been taking care of myself the past week or so and didn't go to a couple of social outings with friends in bars because I didn't want to take any chances getting sick with the upcoming holidays. A couple of weeks ago we cancelled our dinner reservations for my birthday when I got a slight cold with some coughing. On Wednesday Becky and I went to Wegman's and I wore a mask but something got me. That's the only place I have been and Becky wasn't sick. I guess I need to wash my hands more often.

It was hard to keep my distance from the kids yesterday especially Violet who so wanted me to pick her up. She seemed to sense that something was wrong. Henry and Clara had just recently had a stomach virus so they knew what I was going through and were concerned. 

Today I'm feeling better but still not 100%. I'm eating more but not back to normal. I took a couple of short naps today and of course there is the anxiety of the blizzard which started today but that is another story.

The Divider

The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 by Peter Baker & Susan Glasser, 2022.

It took me a little over a month to read this incredible book about Trump's presidency written by a couple of reporters who got the inside scoop on his four year debacle. There really wasn't a lot here I didn't know already but there were some really interesting details.

It's sort of amazing that Trump would sit down with these NY Times reporters for a book interview knowing that it was their intention to trash him but he is such a delusional narcissist that he really thinks anyone will believe his lies. Not these two. They show us that Trump has been the most divisive and dysfunctional president in the history of America and because of him the divide has only increased during his presidency and beyond.

12/22/22

Holiday Storm Coming

Last night Katie called us to express their concerns about the significant national winter storm that was scheduled to come through the northeast over the holiday weekend. Their original plans were to take Henry out of school on Friday and drive all day to arrive in Buffalo in the evening. They were also considering beginning the trip on Thursday after school, go part way, stay in a motel and then arrive in Buffalo Friday afternoon. The weather forecast for Friday through Sunday is very bad for traveling throughout the country and the weather service has been pounding the media with travel warnings. Katie and Todd told us they changed their plans to begin their trip after school today, drive for a few hours, get a motel room and then continue the trip tomorrow.

Becky and I were talking about their trip just a couple of hours before Kate called. We were thinking that it would be best for them to either come early or come early next week after the storm has passed. Either way would be fine with us. We just wanted them to be safe.

The weather predictions for Buffalo over the weekend was for rain to start later Thursday afternoon and then change to snow by mid morning on Friday then it will be scattered snow showers all day Saturday. Sunday they are saying occasional snow showers. The rest of the week is not too bad.

This evening we heard from on the road having a quick dinner at a McDonalds. She said the roads were clear but the weather was cold. Same here. Then around 8:30 we got a text that they were in a motel in Syracuse. That was a lot closer to us than I thought they would get. They sent a picture of Henry and Clara sitting on a motel bed eating snacks and watching TV. They were having an adventure.

So we will probably see them tomorrow around noon or so and they will be here in Buffalo for a week. They will be in our house for the first five or six nights and then go downtown and spend several nights at Todd's parent's hotel where they have their apartment up on the 16th floor. They plan to leave to go home on the 31st depending on the weather of course. We'll see. 

Happy Winter Solstice.

Cookie Making Christmas 2022

As always, Becky made her array of Christmas cookies again this year. She made her cut outs, almond biscotti, chocolate balls, and ginger cookies. She did them earlier than usual this year and it was before the kids were in town so I helped her with decorating the cut outs. She started working on them about a week before Christmas. It was fun hanging out in the kitchen, listening to Christmas music and decorating cookies like we've done so many times over so many years.

The kids will soon be on their way and coming in a little early because of the projected storm coming this weekend. They should be here on Thursday and there will be some Christmas cookies for them. Todd will like the biscotti cookies to dip in his coffee too.

Snowballs & The Bills

Last night the Buffalo Bills won a very exciting close game against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday national prime time TV 32 - 29 and the snowballs were flying.

It was snowing all day in the Southtowns and the game was expected to be played during heavy snow squalls. The media was all geared up for game in winter blizzard conditions but it didn't happen that way. The snow belts moved north to the city and beyond. It was snowing here the whole time the game was being played but nothing fell on the field.

Early in the game the fans began throwing snowballs on the field and pelting opposing players after they scored. The game was stopped for about fifteen minutes and the officials assessed a fifteen yard penalty to the Bills. After that the fans limited their snowball throwing to straight up in the air celebrations or occasionally throwing them at each other.

Usually the stands are shoveled and cleared before a game but that wasn't possible yesterday as the snow kept falling heavily until just before game time. They were lucky enough just to clear the field in time.

The End of the Myth

The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America by Greg Grandin, 2019

I started reading this book when I downloaded it from the library back in August. I didn't get through it during the allotted two weeks and then there was a long waiting list to get it again. Luckily I found it in the Canisius College library and checked it out for six months as a former staff member. 

I just recently finished it. I would read a chapter or so at a time and then read other things for awhile before going back to it. I really did enjoy this book but liked reading it is small doses. It really was a fascinating interpretation of the meaning of the frontier in American history and psyche. It was about the westward expansion of the nation and it's impact on American identity... good and bad. The author, Greg Grandin, is a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and his work shines throughout this book as he explore the concept of the frontier throughout U.S. history.

He explores and explains the current rise of reactionary populism, racist nationalism, anger and polarization that resulted in the rise of Trump and MAGA extremism focused on immigrants, people of color and the so called border wall. 

I've read a lot of American history over the last decade or so that the maga folks would call woke and I find it refreshing to see America as we really are instead of through the lens of the racist oligarchs that have written and disseminated a distorted history of our republic. We see now that they would rather destroy our democracy than teach our people what our nation really has done to itself over the past couple of centuries. 

Rainy December Breakfast

It's a cold rainy December morning and I'm fortunate that Becky did some food shopping yesterday so I'm having one of my favorite breakfast meals. A very fresh toasted and buttered sesame bagel and then spread with a nice layer of sunflower seed butter. I have a pot brewing of delicious English breakfast tea that I drink with a dash of milk. I'm also craving a banana from the bunch sitting across the room.

While I'm enjoying this breakfast I have nice playlist of assorted classical music on the stereo in the kitchen. I especially like cello music in the morning.

Over the years my breakfast eating habits have not changed much. Most of the time these days I have a couple of pieces of toast and if I'm lucky we will have some raisin bread in the house. I'll eat that with some butter on it but if it is regular bread for toast then I will sometimes have some raspberry jam on it or some nut butter that is usually almond butter or sunflower seed butter. Occasionally I will have a bowl of cereal. My favorite is usually an oats & honey granola type cereal with a little crunch. I've never been one to have a big breakfast of eggs and meat, etc. Well, sometimes on special occasions or on the road.

Since we have retired our daily breakfast has been a very relaxing start to our day most of the time and especially during these pandemic years. Becky goes to her studio every day but that happens sometime between 10 and 10:30 so before that we sit around together and enjoy our breakfast. It certainly wasn't always like that especially when the kids were in school. There was a period when one or both of them needed to be at the bus stop by 7:15 am each morning. We would be happy if some year it changed to 7:30. Later when I was working at Canisius College I would often drop them off at City Honors and then get to work a little after 8 am. I usually started at 8:30. Sometimes I would get a little breakfast at the Tim Horton's on campus which was actually in the library building where I worked. I would try to limit myself to a muffin and no donuts.

Back when I was a kid we mostly ate hot cereal every morning during the school year. We would all be sitting around the kitchen table while our mom frantically cooked up the cereal. Dad had already left for work earlier. We ate these Gerber breakfast cereals in small boxes with a baby on the front cover. There were different flavors and each one had a separate color box. I'm talking very early grade school here and later we would eat regular sweet cereal as we got older. There was always a sugar bowl nearby for dumping more sugar on these already pre-sweetened kids cereals. That certainly revved us up for school.

On Sunday mornings mom slept in and Dad took us to church for Sunday Mass. During the school year we had to attend mass with our class. Then he made us pancakes. It was a Sunday ritual for many years.

So now in my old age it's bagels or toast but mostly toast.

Eliane Elias

Before heading up to bed Becky and I often watch a few PBS Tiny Desk concerts on YouTube. Last night we watched a segment by Brazilian jazz pianist/vocalist Eliane Elias. She put on a great performance that we both loved and she has a wonderful unique voice when she sings.

I've been following her music for a number of years and have always enjoyed her albums. I have seven of them in my collection but she has recorded 31 records between 1985 and 2022 as a band leader and many more as a guest musician.

So this morning she is my Morning Kitchen Listening pick and she sounds great over tea and toast. I could listen to her all day...  I will.

And today we had a group of her albums playing throughout the day and even at dinner. There is something so nice about her Brazilian singing and her Latin jazz piano playing. It was a great day for music in our house.

Eliane Elias albums in my collection:

• Eliane Elias Plays Jobim, 1989
• Fantasia, 1992
• Solos and Duets with Herbie Hancock, 1999
• Something For You: Eliane Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans, 2007
• I Thought About You: A Tribute to Chet Baker, 2013
• Made in Brazil, 2015
• Dance of Time, 2017

Wearing Jewelry

For men that is. I was reading a novel today and their was a description of a man in the book wearing lots jewelry including gold chains around his neck, bracelets, rings and a fancy watch. The main detective character said he doesn't like it when men wear jewelry. Me neither. 

I started thinking about the times in my life when I wore something that might be considered men's jewelry. Not very often. I do wear my wedding ring and haven't taken it off in decades. Probably the thing I wore around my neck more than anything else was my military dog tags. Not exactly jewelry. Then I wore a medic alert bracelet for a few years. OK, I wore a watch off and on over the years but generally tried to avoid it when I could. I haven't worn one at all since I retired and overall didn't wear one much when I worked in libraries because there were wall clocks on the walls everywhere you looked.

Back in the late 1960's I briefly wore a peace sign on a chain. I still have it but I haven't wore it in over 50 years. I also still have my high school class ring from North Catholic class of 1969. Never wore that very much. Sometime in the late 70's or very early 80's my mom gave me a ring that belonged to my grandfather. I wore that for a couple of years and then stopped. I should pass that on to a grandson.

So that's about it. No gold chains around my neck. No ear rings either. I never got an ear pierced. No religious stuff. I never did wear a cross although for maybe a week or so as a kid I did wear a scapula when a nun at school told us that anyone who died while wearing one would go directly to heaven regardless of whatever they had done in their life. The scapula was awkward to wear but I knew some kids who wore them all through grade school. Not exactly jewelry.

I always found it amusing to see sports guys with lots of jewelry or musicians for that matter but then of course rappers took it all to a whole other level.

Maybe I should mention tie clips. I've always worn a tie clip when I was wearing a tie so I guess you could call that men's jewelry and I wore it regularly. I'm surprised I had all this stuff in the photo stashed away in my bedroom drawer.

Coughing Again

So I started coughing again. And a runny nose and congestion again.  It has been a few months but I'm sick again. Back to taking cough syrup. 

Late yesterday afternoon I felt those familiar symptoms again and we had 6:30 pm reservations for dinner at Tappo downtown and plans to stop by Big Ditch Brewery across the street. By about 4:30 I called the restaurant and sadly canceled our reservations. 

By around 7 pm I was hacking and sniffling. I was in no shape to be sitting in a restaurant around other people. We were looking forward to having a nice dinner at Tappo again which is one of our favorite restaurants. I told the person on the phone that we would make reservations again for next week.

Since we are still somewhat living in a pandemic bubble my immune system is still compromised for not being regularly exposed to people with colds. I just seem to be very susceptible these days.

So I felt better today but have been doing my meds. In the evening I started coughing and sniffling again so I'm going to bed early.

Legoland Bug

The grandkids got sick with a stomach virus this week following an afternoon play outing and lunch with friends at Legoland.

They got what we used to call the 24 hour virus. It was usually one day of very intense stomach illness with lots of vomiting. I got it a lot when I was a kid and I was usually home from school for one day. 

This is what happened to the grandkids too. Henry described it as "the worst day of my life". He was throwing up all through the night and Katie said they had to change the sheets on his bed three times. I told him about the time when me and my brother Tom took turns throwing up in our shared bed one night when we were about his age.

Clara was also sick for a day and then Violet but not as bad as Henry. The adults got some of that stomach virus too. It just passed through the house. Everyone is better now.

@ 71

Today is my birthday and now I'm 71 years old. Now it's no big deal about another birthday except I will be seventy something for the next nine years until I turn 80 in 2031. Now that really seems far away. In the meantime Becky got some cupcakes for my birthday and tomorrow night we will go out to Tappo for dinner. In the meantime I'll have a Guinness tonight and play with the new portable wireless speaker I got myself this week.

We just met with our financial advisor on Zoom recently and we discussed how to make our retirement income last us into our 90's. Really? I'm happy to have made it to my 70's and now I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll make it to my 80's. I'm not even thinking about my 90's although I am because two of my uncles made it to their 90's and Uncle Jack is out there although in a nursing home.

I've spent most of my life thinking that my aneurysms would get me long before old age. That always seemed to be a given... until it wasn't. I've been very fortunate to have lived long enough to meet four grandchildren. It makes me very happy and also motivates to keep writing. They will read this someday.

But it is getting harder with so many new aches and pains. Harder to bend over, to carry laundry upstairs, and lots of other chores. That being said we are still doing a lot better than many other people around our age that we know including both family and friends. I really can't complain. 

Now I get to relive the 70's again which was a lot of fun the first time.

Star Wars & Disney

I recently started watching the Disney + Channel. When Katie and the family were visiting us last August we had a conversation about watching all the Star Wars movies and series that were being shown on Disney. She was excited about watching them and knew I would too and she was urging me to subscribe. I balked about adding another service and suddenly she had gone into her account and added a profile for me. Then she added it to our TV. She was offering to add the whole bundled package of Disney, Hulu and ESPN but I politely declined and just accepted the Disney because of the Star Wars stuff. I didn't jump in right away but eventually I decided to reexperience Star Wars again and this time I would follow the timeline of all the films and shows. I went on to Wikipedia to get that timeline right.

 

Then I started watching... in order but I still got a ways to go.

• The Phantom Menace
• Attack of the Clones
• Revenge of the Sith
• Rogue One
• Solo
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Andor

I'm watching the TV series Andor right now and then I will go back to viewing the films again. The other new series Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi were a lot of fun too.

• Star Wars
• The Empire Strikes Back
• The Return of the Jedi
• The Force Awakens
• The Last Jedi
• The Rise of Skywalker
• The Mandalorian
• The Book of Boba Fett

There are also many animated Star Wars television series. Close to 20 of them that take place in various times within the Star Wars time-line. I may take a look at a couple of them at some time.

And then there are the books. Dozens and dozens of them. Adult and children's novels. Now there is a Disney Lucasfilms Press dedicated to them. Many years ago I read the novelization of the first film but I think that was the only one. Although I constantly read science fiction novels I have not had the urge to jump into the Star Wars world of related books. Yet.