Today

Around the house

 I straightened and organized all the rooms on the ground floor.   I’m listening to jazz, reading my economist, barefoot.  My feet stink.  I took a shower yesterday.  I think you’re supposed to take your shoes off, inside.  I can’t believe I only brought the one pair of socks…it might get pretty funky around here!  They have a cool lamp that changes luminosity at the simple touch of the pole - it’s on the low (romantic?) setting, and I have my kindle and computer, which are of course both fine in dim light.  I ate the leftover pizza, today (5 slices?), and a couple mini-oranges, and had 2 cups of regular coffee, and 2 cups of my mushroom coffee that I brought with me.  There’s peanut butter and apples.  I like the crunchy ice water, too.   They have an ice machine.  I'm told to drink 3 kombuchas, max.  And not to clean them out of Kind bars.  I chased Banh Mi around the house.   She pooped on both walks.  I changed my Amtrak ticket reservation to two days later (from the 11th to the 13th), because they’re returning on the 11th (not the 9th, like Sara said, in error).   The change cost $23.  I paid for it with my Visa card, over the phone (1-800-USA-RAIL).  The Amtrak guy on the phone was named Sadat.  I asked him if he was Egyptian, like Anwar, and he said yes.  Anyway, I fed Felix his 8 daily (alive!) mealworms, and turned his light off around sunset (5:20p).  I got a new Economist, today.  And there’s a Newbery book here I want to read, too (A Wish in the Dark).  The gang left around 5a, and I got up around 7a, this morning.  I found the key to a U lock and a pump to firm up the tires on Pierre’s bike.   So now I’m mobile.  Pierre offered me use of the car, last time, but I won’t do that.   There must be 40 different nerf blasters scattered around the house and backyard.  Tons of guns, you could say.  Banh found a bone.   I have to turn on and off the lizard light, each morning and night.   I accidentally dropped the mealworm tweezers into Felix’s cage.  I got it out without being bitten (!).  I got an offer to sit Kaleb, again.  It starts on Vicki’s birthday, however, so maybe I’ll both sit K and go to dinner in SF for V.   Peter’s apartment is vacant…I could stay up here in Portland for months, if I wanted.  I’m looking forward to tossing the frisbee back and forth with Augustus, when they get back, in any case.   And Vallarta doesn’t mean anything in Spanish, it’s just some guy’s name.  I have my bike waiting at the Trek shop in Berkeley (around $300, I think: my ebike needs a new back rim, the front wheel trued, new brakes, lubrication, maybe a computer update, etc.).  And I’m doing taxes at the branch library with the AARP volunteers, again.  KP psych is  scheduled for a phone appointment like an hour after my train gets back to Emeryville.  And then I sit Kaleb, resume walking Snoopy and Shelby, and buy Vicki a gift (no idea what, yet).  Augie and Hugo have a similar toy to the Hajimari I bought for Ben and Declan.   Fun little thing.   Augs showed me his collection of Pokemon cards, and talked my ear off about them.  It’s 77 degrees in PV, 13 in Boston, last I checked.   Sara got a pizza oven for her birthday, too.  It goes outside.   Their hot tub doesn’t work.   I’m not touching the thermostat: it’s perfect.   I brought a hat with earflaps, gloves, and a scarf.   I also have a long sleeve for over my T, 2 sweaters and a jacket, if I really want to sport 5 layers.   I thought it might snow or something.   And I have my Frogg Toggs waterproof pants, too.  There’s not enough worms for 7 days of 8/day, I think, so I’m gonna have to go to the nearby store for that, at some point.   Same with BM’s dog food.  Today was a nice day.   Yummy pizza, didn’t get wet, adjusted to their lovely home, and my blog got 76 views.