Forward Into the Past

White Rabbits, and the heat wave begins. Although I decided to make an English breakfast (lots of different breakfast meets plus eggs plus caramelized onions) I knew I'd be taking it easy the rest of the day. But I'd promised a work colleague that I'd send her a photo of all the old gum wrapper chains I'd made during my childhood and even into my young adult years, so I had to get out the five tin containers in which I've kept them lo these many decades, and while I was at it I dragged out the three or so jars of buttons I've kept for nearly that long. I even tried my hand at lengthening a couple chains with some wrappers still in the tins and, hey, I've still got it. I'm not crafty but by golly I can still chain gum wrappers! Anyway, Robin and I will devise a photo shoot tomorrow in the hopes that someone may want to give these sentimental treasures a good home. Meanwhile, more World Cup (England won, hoorah, USA winning at the moment but down to 10 men) and sending out of laundry (since put away!) and just not trying to move around too much in this heat. The living room blinds and shades are drawn closed until at least Saturday. Ugh...

Seeping In

We're starting to discover how extreme heat, even the onset of same, affects older people. Because, you know, we're Olds. I have various stomach and muscle ailments, Robin has been having trouble focusing, and we're not even going to try doing any more housework for the rest of the week. The living room blinds are drawn against the afternoon sun, I'm getting through my analog reading, and we're in a holding pattern watching the World Cup and baseball. Our downstairs neighbor Pablo volunteered to help us throw out our very old air conditioner, but we're not taking him up on his offer until the heat wave subsides. I'm just glad the kitchen trash is out. Whatever limited mail we get can wait until maybe Sunday; I'm content to have finally received notice that my $300/month pension from my first job will start coming in Any little bit helps!

Floor, Bored

Before the extreme heat descends upon the NYC area, I decided to get some minimal house cleaning done (the only kind of house cleaning I actually do), and scrubbed the microwave clean-er (it's a quarter century old, there's only so much I can do) as well as wet Swiffering the bathroom and kitchen floors. The latter will still need extensive mopping but, as I say, cleanER as opposed to clean, and that will have to do. Tomorrow we venture out to pick up my reupholstered orthotics and grab some sushi at our favorite place, and then we hunker down for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, the downstairs family continues to wait for their furniture to arrive, but they're so lovely and quiet and nice I'm still thrilled with them!

Won't You Be My Neighbor

The family downstairs seems to have begun moving in, although the folks coming and going don't seem to be the same ones we met earlier this month. Robin calls them "the advance guard," and assumes they're mainly there to install air conditioning and other necessities since we have yet to see a moving van either. They do seem to do it during the evenings though, which tends to be disruptive to a 9 PM bedtime or even, in some cases, an afternoon nap. Ah well, the noise isn't that excessive (I'm just hyper-sensitive) and it's not like I have to deal with getting up early this coming week so I presume my circadian rhythm will right itself eventually. In the meantime, only one World Cup game today, the first of the "gang of 32" lose-and-you're-out round. Mets won their first game under their new interim manager, Yanks seem to be winning but Boston has won the first three already and who knows what's going on with New York baseball?

Footie Foodie!

With the heat wave coming later this week, we decided to get our food shopping and my orthotic refurbishing out of the way today. I don't anticipate leaving the house any time in the next few days that would normally require the orthotics in my sneakers, so this was the best opportunity to get it done before I'll really need nice inserts for all that England walking in September. And it's nice to have a stocked fridge leading up to the 4th, again because we might not feel like going out much before that due to the heat. I started catching up on financial things, speaking with my brother about how to fill out my paperwork for the last of Mom's estate IRAs (it's all going to require sending out via FedEx from the office next week, but at least I know how to get everything ready for that) and organizing my receipts. And then it was on to World Cup watching, an activity I plan to do the most in the coming week.

Sports Rapports

I woke up to the news that the US did not win all three group stage games in the World Cup, which delighted me because I've found the Neanderthalish "oo-ess-eh" chant repulsive since its debut at the 1980 Olympics, and I think the fans and media needed taking down a peg or two. Who didn't need taking down? Carlos Mendoza, the victim of Steve Cohen's bad decisions to sell or give away the heart of the Mets during the off-season resulting in a lousy, injury-prone team with no cohesion. And as with all corporations, the folks at the top who bear ultimate responsibility for the debacle remain in their jobs and the managers or below get the axe. Mendoza's undoubtedly rich and will be sought after by another team, but I mean, really. So the Mets lost again. And the Yankees lost. And Uruguay just lost to Spain in the World Cup group stage and will be going home, just as well considering their dirty play towards the end of that game. Anything going on besides sports? Well, I've logged off work until July 6, although I will be peeping in next week to do a few things like 14-day advance seat bookings and grabbing weekly reports, but for the most part I'm now on a firm-mandated vacation week! And boy howdy do I need it.

The Last Manhattan Day for Awhile

As none of my medical practitioners have called me back regarding some low-level stuff (a rash here, a cyst there, pretty soon you're talking real money) I have no actual plans for next week beyond taking in my orthotics to be refurbished, which means I'll have a couple days when I really don't want to walk around, so I'm spending the week relaxing and catching up on estate stuff and other financial matters. But mostly relaxing! Today was my last in-office day until July 7, so I made the most of it and got lots of stuff out of the way in preparation for a shortened day tomorrow. Even the commute was easy... well, except for the very crowded subway on the way home, wherein I was squeezed in my seat from both sides until we were well into the Bronx. But all's well now, I have a lovely time ahead of me watching the World Cup and playing my online games and planning some house straightening (that microwave definitely needs a good scrub)...

Put It in The Books

Well, now we've done it. We're headed to England for reals in September. I expected the sticker shock from the airfare, but was not prepared for same from the car service. Robin did a bit of searching and other services cost more or less the same, given fuel prices and tolls and such, so I'm leaving things the way they are. The hotel had a few hidden costs as well, but we really haven't had a proper vacay (certainly not to England) since before COVID, and after all what have I saved up for, besides retirement? If I think of the airfare as less than a month's rent it somehow makes me feel better. But what really relieves the stress is knowing it's all been done, and we can now start planning!

Working Through It

A somewhat icky damp day but a good one in terms of forward movement at work. I met with all three partners I support who actually have designated offices at our HQ, two of whom I hadn't been able to chat with in way too long. The rash is still extant so I've written to my doc for advice and started on hydrocortisone and finger-crossing. And tomorrow, we book the flights, come hell or high water! 

A Rash Decision

Well, I tried to book our flights with our firm's travel agency, but they only do personal bookings on Tuesdays through Thursdays so I'll try again the day after tomorrow when I'm working from home again. In the meantime I got through my workday very productively, but freaked out after showering as I seem to have developed a bit of allergic contact dermatitis. Trying various ointments and such to cure it, but I'm sure it'll flare up again tomorrow when I go into The City. And if it doesn't improve by the end of the week, I have all next week off so I can do a telehealth visit or maybe even see my primary doc when Robin goes in next week for his annual physical. I'd just be happy at this point to have it stop itching.