Cable & Poetry Prattle

After running yesterday morning, while cleaning up and dressing for the U, I noticed a battalion of workers with a myriad of rolling tools, gauges, and a plethora of vehicles all milling about the sidewalks in our neighborhood.  I drove off to the U wondering what was going to happen, but didn't give it much thought overall.  

When I returned home in the very late afternoon yesterday, I saw that throughout the neighborhood, various blocks and sections of sidewalk had been crushed and dug up, and new cement squares poured in various locations across the entirety of the block.  Our home had two sidewalk squares replaced.  I have no idea why, as neither was cracked nor in disrepair.  But, again, I thought nothing much of it.... I figured it was some city and/or township initiative.  

My wife and I prepared our dinner together.  It was "Taco Tuesday"..... with my usual array of "taco salad bigger than my head" , two burritos, two tostadas, and one "Mexican Pizza" which was a baked corn tortilla with light cheese and vegetables on it... baked in the oven.  My wife had decided to procure her food this day from a take-out restaurant.... instead of fixing her usual..... because she was especially tired.   I declined the offer to bring me take-out too.....  and instead made my own versions.... to decrease fat and calorie levels to a better level for me..... and more importantly.... to allow me to increase the VOLUME to calorie ratio...  to fill me up.

We had decided yesterday, while fixing our plates.... since it was rather late in the day... that we would forgo eating at the dinner table as we were both rather tired... and instead would eat on the couch and watch television together.  

It was only then, when we were comfortably situated on the couch, our delectables in front of us..... that we discovered, when we tried to turn on the television...... that our cable...... and our Internet.... and our phone were all INOPERATIVE.  

I cussed up a storm under my breath.  I already had my SUSPICIONS.  But, my wife coaxed me into the "typical" protocol... of calling the service provider's 800 number and reporting the problem and seeking their guidance.  The service provider is annoying in that it has a very, very elaborate, robotic telephone queueing system, which took me about 15 minutes before I could get away from the computer generated voice asking me question upon question...... and my zillion time repeated plea of "Customer Service Representative" was finally acknowledged.... and I was placed into their "holding" queue.  Then the on-hold voice proclaimed "We are experiencing larger than normal call volumes, your wait time may be longer than desired."   But, I had been through this before.... that is always the line.  Sometimes a real person comes on in 5 minutes, sometimes 15.  

Last night, unfortunately, it was ~45 minutes of waiting.  I was mostly aggravated by having to hear the "elevator music" in their hold system.... and was further aggravated by the service provider inserting an ad for other parts of their services every minute or so.  

Eventually, I got to a fellow named "Michael" (who actually had what sounded like a very heavy Indian accent) and he did a whole bunch of things to try to re-establish our service.  All, to no avail, as I presumed.  He then proceeded to offer a repair appointment.  This appointment will occur Thursday (tomorrow).  My wife and I both have to figure out how to handle the 4 hour window we are supposed to be home to wait for them to show up.  It may need to be me, and this will mean no Retiree's Cigar Group which immediately made me feel more sad and aggravated.  My wife is looking into her schedule, so perhaps I will be lucky and she can be here for some or all of it instead.... but I do not know yet.  

SO.....

What I damn well expect has happened..... what my suspicions are..... is that the damnable sidewalk crew, when they bashed and dug out the concrete squares they were going to replace...... very likely severed or at least damaged the underground wiring of our service provider..... the wiring of our service provider DID happen to run from the road directly under one of the replaced concrete squares to get into our property.

So, we were both aggravated and have no services of that sort at all until at least sometime Thursday.  After eating, because I was still keyed up from the aggravation of the evening, after my wife went to bed, since I could not read my Kindle, and actually reading a book did not sound enjoyable in my "keyed up" state.... I went to my office.... and sans computer (no internet), took another stab at trying to do something that is sort of like poetry.  I based the poem on my thoughts from yesterday's post about the beautiful memories of when I used to ride home in my truck in the evenings with a pipe.  It actually became more about the "getting to my truck" stage, I guess:

Start of the Evening

The office dims as autumn twilight falls,

surrounded by the weight of heavy  books.

An old professor returns from campus halls,

to seek the quiet of his hidden nooks.

He strikes a match, a sudden amber spark,

chases shadows throughout the quiet room.

He ignites the leaf as he prepares to embark,

The bowl’s ember aglow, has banished the gloom

Swirling smoke ascends in gentle rings,

Akin to ideas drifting throughout the air.

A sweet and gentle release from what the daytime brings,

and heavy burdens slip beyond his care.

With pipe in hand, the world begins to slow,

he is content to watch the ember softly glow.

PipeTobacco

Banana

 

My mind is not really well focused on the topic I started to write about yesterday early morning, so it still sits "stalled" in my queue to perhaps someday complete.  

I have eaten a banana nearly every day since childhood..... so that is a helluva lot of bananas.  And, I have noticed some things that are (to me) somewhat disconcerting about bananas in the last 8-10 years:

• Bananas do not seem as "good" as they used to be. I realize that this is very likely due to some of the issues globally that are affecting bananas.... things like disease (mostly fungal, I believe), and environmental challenges associated with global warming.  
• From what I understand, many "modern" bananas are either a) hybrids between different species/varieties, b) GMO bananas, or c) alternative species than what I have come to associate with bananas for decades.  
• Challenges I find in "modern" bananas include:
• Some bananas we now purchase have a strange (unpleasant to me) texture..... which is overly stiff (even when ripe) and sometimes the texture through the fruit even displays variations in the textures within one banana.... almost like part of the fruit is akin to almost a stalk...... to me very off-putting texture-wise.  
• Most bananas I tend to see these days have a less-than-uniform ripening scale associated with them
• In the above image, we see a non-parametric scale of banana "ripeness".  For me, my STRONG PREFERENCE is to eat a banana when it is between 4.5 and 5 on the above scale.  Before that, the banana is too "stiff" and often exhibits an "alkalinity" that is not pleasing.  And, above 5, the texture becomes overly soft, and the flavors more "old" and "muted" to me.  
• The thing is.... in earlier times.... bananas would gradually work through the non-parametric scale in a relatively uniform fashion from 1 - 7+.  BUT, the "modern" banana SEEMS TO ME to spend the majority of time at either ends of this scale.  It has become common now for us to get bananas that are somewhere in the 1-3 range.... and they STAY that way for often a week or more.  And then, the actual 4-5 range zone..... seems to "zip by" in perhaps 10-12 hours before it kerplunks into the nasty over 5 scores.  IT TRULY seems like the stage I actually enjoy.... now lasts for only a few brief hours.
• It has gotten to the point where when we purchase bananas, we now try to only buy 2-3 at a time (instead of a full bunch of 7-8), because the window of when they are "good" and "pleasant" seems so much more narrow than it used to be.

So, enough about bananas.  Other things:

• The concert last evening went well.  It was beautiful weather, and it was very enjoyable.  One of the things about the philosophy of our community band is that we like to try out a lot of alternative venues.... to get music to folks who would otherwise be unlikely to engage with such an event.  So, in addition to a few "traditional" theater stage venues we pepper through the year.... we actually tend to do more "traveling shows".... often to larger nursing homes and assisted living facilities.... and to some community food drives.... and some smaller craft shows and festivals.   Where we played yesterday was in a small field/park adjacent to the library in our "old town" region of the city.  This neighborhood is filled with (besides the library) a considerable number of smaller homes in in a series of tight-sized blocks in the urban center.  It was fun.... as we warmed up.... folks from numerous houses heard the honking and bleating of our horns and peeked out onto their porches.... and as we started to play actual music.... many folks sat down on their porches to watch and listen, and a lot of folks began to meander towards the library and the park.... including a lot of young elementary and middle school aged kids.  
• Until yesterday, when I wrote a bit about it, I had not really been focused on the TEMPORAL nature of when I ESPECIALLY would enjoy indulging in my pipes and pipe tobaccos.  But, it is rather true.  After thinking about it yesterday, I ended up spending most all the "daydream time" I had the rest of the evening and even as I fell asleep.... recalling how incredibly beautiful and.... SIMULTANEOUSLY invigorating AND relaxing it was when I would peacefully indulge in a pipe while I drove home each evening from the U with my friendly truck.  In looking back on it now, it seemed that the flavors of the pipe tobacco were always deeper, the aromas always sweeter, and the mental relaxation always more profound on that pipe-infused journey home.  I so truly miss that.

Unfortunately, I have eaten my banana and my yogurt now, and I really need to get back to work.  My banana was actually about a 5.5 today.... so that was good.  Probably the other one we have at home will drift into a 6 or more by morning, so I will probably have to eat it later this evening.... or freeze it with all the other ones to make cookies or bread with eventually.

PipeTobacco

Started But Curtailed

I tried very hard to get a post completed this morning... but I was unable to due to a plethora of EARLY interruptions.  The hallway doors to the office suite area (one set at each end)  are usually not opened until 8:00am, but, unbenounced to me, one of these sets of doors (not the one I entered from) was left open.... therefore students came in early.  So, I will try to continue and finish it tomorrow.

Various late afternoon thoughts:

• As always, a wonderful pipe would be such a beautiful way to end the day while in my beast of burden going home.  Although I miss all my typical pipes I would enjoy through the day.... the "drive home pipe" was one of my absolute favorites.  
• My SIL was shipped home (against my wife and my ardent suggestions).  She is now sitting around, tepidly "awaiting" physical therapy.  My wife and I fear the worse.
• I need to skeedattle quickly if I am going to get to swim..... I have our first Fall performance of our community band to play at tonight.  And, it is an outdoor concert.... fortunately it is actually SUNNY here and around 70 degrees (~21 C).
• My run was pleasant and needed this morning.

PipeTobacco

SIL

Friday morning, around 4:00am, my wife's phone started ringing.  This, of course, startled us both immediately into awakening.  We both have had a variety of "bad news" calls over the years, and a large percentage of them have occurred during the middle of the night. So, we both immediately had surges of stress hormones course throughout our body.

It was my sister-in-law (my wife's sister, the one with kidney failure).  She was calling to try to tell us that she was being taken to the hospital via ambulance.  Her voice was very quiet and weak, extremely slow, and slurred.  

After a bit, her husband (my BIL) came onto the phone and explained that she was weak,  could not stand, and was disoriented, only minimally responsive, and was an ashen grey color, was systemically endemic, and her arms and legs were darkening. 

* * * * *

My wife immediately rushed to the hospital and into the emergency room.  Even at that hour, there were too many people and too few clinicians for the workload.  Mostly, the nurses were attempting to conduct cursory triage of the folks.  My SIL was deemed at significant enough risk, that within a little over an hour after she arrived, she was wheeled into one of the slotted "rooms"  (one wall is simply a curtain) that lined the emergency room.  Other than a few checks of vitals (her blood pressure was 250/125 at admittance, and her heart rate was ~120) not a lot transpired for another hour or more.  A call had been placed and a message left, for her kidney specialist.   She eventually called back and ordered a dialysis treatment for my SIL, and she was wheeled away for roughly four hours for that treatment.

* * * * * 

When she was eventually returned from dialysis, she was still minimally responsive, displayed slurred and very slow speak when purposefully coaxed to talk, and was still massively endemic.  From the time she arrived at the hospital she was for all intents, minimally responsive for over 14 hours at the hospital.  No physicians came to see her/us, but of course a clinician did supervise her dialysis while she slept through the proceedure.

* * * * *

By about 16 hours, she started to talk slightly more, but all the other symptoms remained, including hallucinations.  But, the increase in talking... we were taking it as a good sign.  

* * * * *

Eventually, around 18 hours after admittance, a clinician came and talked to us.  It appears that my SIL's primary care physician, who my SIL had visited about a week ago, had prescribed to my SIL a pain medication due to her continued extreme pain from her neck fusion surgery several weeks ago.  This primary care physician knows (of course) that my SIL is a dialysis patient.  Apparently, when my SIL's kidney specialist eventually read my SIL's current (very long) list of prescriptions, the pain medication the primary care physician had prescribed was completely contraindicated for patients with kidney failure.  

* * * * *

My SIL has had two additional dialyses thus far.  She is mentally more aware and talkative, so it appears a corner has been turned, and things are getting more satisfactory.  Unfortunately, if current protocols for American medicine are followed, my SIL will likely be eligible for discharge perhaps as early as tomorrow.  My wife is with my SIL now, trying to convince my SIL to ask/beg to be (instead of discharged) transferred to a rehabilitation facility so that she can build her strength back up with physical therapy, have supervised (instead of home) dialysis, and have the tests done to look at her spinal fusion (they are out-patient procedures, which the way the damnable American healthcare (more accurately the damnable American insurance system) operates, "cannot" be done while ADMITTED to the hospital due to (insurance) "rules" no matter how ass-backwards the whole notion is in terms of actual patient care.  

But, my SIL dreads the idea of going to a rehabilitation facility, because she would rather just be in her home.... but there she does NOT have the things she needs to get herself back to where she needs to be as a baseline.  Home physical therapy.... if provided at all, takes several days to establish.... her home (due to dialysis equipment and other things) does not have adequate space for her to safely practice the walking (with a walker that she needs) she needs to do to regain strength.  She SHOULD be automatically in a rehabilitation facility, but now-a-days, the "first step" is to ask the patient if they would "rather go home" or perhaps "go to a rehabilitation facility" because the majority of hurting, sick folks will CHOOSE to go home, rather than to rehab.... and the insurance companies save a lot of money.

It is disgusting all around, IMO.

PipeTobacco 

Rodents

After writing about the "Fage" yogurt situation yesterday, I can happily report that TODAY, I did remember to take the odd parchment paper layer off BEFORE adding my little bit of brown sugar.  I believe the purposeful writing helped me remember this task more easily.  

I also wanted to mention that I am (surprisingly and happily) able to report that this morning, my tally for my Wordle "streak" is now at 115 days.  I have to admit, however, that back on Tuesday, I almost LOST my streak!  I believe it is now safe to talk about the word, since it was the word for Tuesday, September 22nd..... and could not be NOW construed as a "spoiler" or an inappropriate "reveal" today.  So.... if I am incorrect and it is still not appropriate to talk about a past Wordle... please let me know and I will try to remove the below portion and not talk about it again:

* * * * * * * * * * *

On Tuesday, the Wordle word of the day was "STOKE" which I thought was a bit odd and a bit on the "too esoteric" side to be a "Wordle Word".  I actually DID think of the word "stoke" early in my work to solve the puzzle... and had it in my mind as a choice at my guess #3.  But, I kept dismissing using the word "stoke" as it seemed so UNLIKELY especially since I had many OTHER, seemingly more likely options..... like STOLE, STOVE and STONE.   I truly think STOKE was a strange word to have in Wordle.  You can of course "stoke" a fire, like folks do with a campfire..... and I have often used the word in a more colloquial and euphemistic sense when I would often say (or perhaps mutter under my breath) that I needed to "stoke" my pipe.  I would say this when I was smoking my pipe and I would notice that the ember in the bowl would start to prematurely "go out" and there would be a noticable decline in the beautiful, flavorful pipe smoke. 

So.... I think stoke was not a really good choice for a Wordle word.  The only other time I felt the Wordle word was inappropriate was now perhaps about two months ago, when the Wordle word of that day was "OVATE" which I did try at guess #3..... NOT because I ever thought it would BE the Wordle word of the day, but because it used a lot of new letters I had not yet tried that day.  I think "ovate" was too sciency a word for the broad public and really think it was unfortunate as a choice.  Ovate has two relatively related meanings..... it a) describes an oval shaped (egg shaped) object in biology, and also b) it is used to indicate the release of eggs (especially in insects).   I was of course happy I picked this word and did so soon my stream of guesses..... but I thought it was unfair for most folks.  

* * * * * * * * * * *

So, I am going to go to the Retiree's Cigar Group this afternoon.  I hope it is as fun and enjoyable as always!  I may ask the fellows if any of them remembers Union Leader pipe tobacco and see what they may know.  Last night, I took a quarter and gentle pried up the lid on the can again.  I smelled the leaf's aroma again.... and to ME it smelled extremely enticing.  To me, there is a definite "molasses" type of aroma, which I think seems rather wonderful to me.  I wish I could ask my Dad why he seemingly did not like Union Leader. 

I ran my miles in a rather chilly, mildly rainy environment this morning.  It was 48 degrees F (~8.5 C) at 5:15am this morning, and it was continually misting in terms of rain.  I wish I would have worn gloves.  

I better go to work with my rodents.  I have quite a bit of weaning to accomplish before heading to class.  

PipeTobacco  

Yogurt Mishaps & More

I have routinely eaten yogurt virtually every weekday for several decades.  While I like most every yogurt.... I do have some PREFERENCES of what I would much prefer: 

• I have grown to greatly prefer "Greek" yogurt more so than other styles.  I like its generally thicker texture, the more "realistic" tart profile of the yogurt, and that it offers the greatest variety of no-fat versions.
• I have eaten many of virtually all yogurts.... but I am not particularly fond of "fruit on the bottom" yogurts as they a) tend to be sloppier for me (either through mixing or through "dripping" if I do not mix the yogurt and fruit), and b) they tend to be (to my tongue) excessively sweet.  
• The flavors I have ESPECIALLY liked over the years have been 
• Honey Greek
• Vanilla
• Lemon
• Lime
• Unfortunately..... Honey Greek (which was only very mildly sweet) was discontinued many years ago.
• Unfortunately..... Lemon and Lime seem to also now have been discontinued (for roughly a year or so)
• Unfortunately..... Vanilla is available in a hit-or-miss fashion and I am fearful it is also on its way to be discontinued
• So..... as of late.... I have been having more and more often.... PLAIN Greek Yogurt
• Sometimes I eat it plain.... but PLAIN is an apt phrase.... when all alone, it is a tad dull
• Sometimes I bring a tiny bit of honey and/or a tiny bit of brown sugar in a zip-lock type bag to add to my yogurt.....but that a) tends to be rather messy.... and when I am working and eating.... this is not a good thing... as I do not need to dribble/drop more things onto my clothes or my beard than I already do..... and b) it involves more "steps" to get ready than just grabbing a yogurt from the fridge to dump in my lunch box.

But the reality is.... I do not understand why any of those four flavors would be discontinued.... they each are great flavors.... it is both perplexing and frustrating.

Now.... during the past two weeks my wife has been buying a particular brand of yogurt that is quite atypical in our rotation (I encourage her to buy me the cheapest kinds she can find).  The brand is called "Fage" which I have no idea how the company wishes me to pronounce their name, but in my pronunciation, I say [using old-school phonetics..... ˈfāj ....or via "sounds"..... ph...AAA.... z......yah and it makes me think of a "bacteriophage" like the image at the top of this post.... I talk about bacteriophages in class frequently.... as they are viruses that infect bacteria (common knowledge).... but they are being used more-and-more frequently as vectors to help in a variety of aspects of research medicine to help in developing vaccines and other treatments.  

But, this "Fage" yogurt, which normally is rather pricey (but was on DEEP discount the last two weeks).... has a very weird aspect to their packaging.  Like virtually all single serving yogurt, there is a foil covering over the container that you peel off before consuming.  BUT.... the Fage, which has the foil covering as well..... ALSO has specifically resting directly ON TOP OF THE YOGURT, a small disk of what I would describe as "parchment paper" (people often bake things on this type of paper product).  

I have absolutely no idea WHY they add this little disk of parchment paper.... but I can attest that it is not to my liking.  EVERY SINGLE DAY, when I open my plain, Greek Fage yogurt these past two weeks, and I go to add my honey and/or brown sugar..... I end up dumping it onto that damnable parchment paper disk..... because it blends in perfectly with the yogurt.... and I forget (every time so far) that they do this weird addition to their packaging.  With my forgetting about this disk.... I then have to fish it off the surface of my yogurt... and try to also scrape off the honey and/or brown sugar that is ON THE PARCHMENT PAPER (not in my yogurt).... so that I can get it actually into the yogurt.  

Every day I end up WITH MORE MESS because of this.

It is interesting to note that while I am ENTHUSIASTIC about potentially trying out my Dad's Union Leader.... I am not feeling a sense of longing to try it.  I think it may be that I fear I will perhaps find it "hum-drum" like my Dad apparently did, having it last so long.  But, in an equally interesting way.... my PCS score is hovering around a "9" the last several days..... but in my dreams and in my longings, I am imagining re-indulging in the many pipe tobaccos I KNOW I relish.  I do not know if there is an actual term for this or not.... but.... as I have stated before..... sometimes.... if I try VERY, VERY HARD.... I can almost conjure up the experience to such a degree where I can almost taste the flavors and aromas of the various pipe tobaccos.... and almost feel the way these beloved pipe tobaccos will gently massage and quiet the neurons of my mind. 

PipeTobacco 

PipeTobacco  

Fall is Here.... Whether We Are Ready Or Not

With the HIGH temperature today expected to be only 61 degrees F (~16 C), it already feels cool and fall-like.  It was only 43 degrees F (~6 C) when I did my run at 5am today so I had on sweat pants and a sweat shirt.  

It is always interesting to me that I am ALREADY feeling COLD at the above temperatures when they occur in September.  Yet, when they happen again in late April/early May.... the same temperatures feel rather "balmy" and I can even wear shorts.  

If we can muster up the ability to do so, I personally think it would be wonderful to adopt a "snowbird" type lifestyle in retirement.  "Snowbirds" in my region, will "overwinter" down South where it is warmer in Georgia or Florida or some similar area, but return to the North during the Spring/Summer/Fall.  

I have been thinking a great deal about my surprise find of the Union Leader pipe tobacco.  Some thoughts though.... since it was not a particular favorite of my Dad's.... I am wondering if I would find it disappointing?  Or, would the shear fact that it WAS my Dad's and I had this amazing discovery 30+ years after his passing.... make it a monumental and very special event for me to try?  And, it is also curious to me that since it is also hovering ~ 60+ years old itself.... that has me very curious for the "time machine" aspect of sampling said.  I will keep trying to figure out the best course of action I should take (if at all).

My wife is extremely busy this week at work (somewhat unexpectedly.... but somewhat because she forgot about several things).  This has me feeling a bit lonely.  Our plans to drive together at least some of the time this week have been discarded, and several of our typical evening routines have now been usurped in a variety of fashions.  

But, I will persevere, I guess.

PipeTobacco