Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
His wife, as she sometimes does, came in and said, “Just making sure you’re alive,” and then left for the gym.
It’s something she’s been doing for a few years. But he’d recently stayed with his mother, who twice told him that she was going to send someone down to his room to see if he was alive when he visited her.
Just what kind of vibe was he giving off to others that they wondered if he was still alive?
Dawn light cracked the night’s eastern flank apart at 7:28 AM. With sunlight alleviating the cold, we soon saw temperatures rise to the mid-fifties. Temperatures are expected to prance on up to 86 F today before night closes in at sunset, predicted to be at 6:23 this evening.
It’s Wednesday. Mid-week for many. Beer night for me. We celebrate Ron’s 75th birthday tonight. Per the beer group’s tradition, the individual reaching the milestone buys pizza and beer. Salute.
It’s also October 19, 2022. Just a normal day for me, but many will be celebrating, like Ron. To you, salud.
The Neurons are being cheeky today. I was out admiring the sky, breathing in and out, not thinking about anything specific. Cats were with me, checking it out. Tucker, our black and white long-haired enigma, was busy grooming. Papi the ginger blade was pretending to see things that he might attack. He rarely pulls the claw on his planned attacks; they go on in his mind, I imagine.
As I turned to head back in, The Neurons brought up a song called “Sky High”. While I knew the lyrics and melody – they’re quite simple and straightforward – I was like, who, when? I knew somewhere from the early seventies. Wikipedia fed me what seems like the correct answers: 1975 and Jigsaw. I don’t recall hearing any other music by Jigsaw. Watched the video after that and yeah, I’ve never seen the group. Thank you for the music, guys. I do appreciate it. In another surprise, I learned that the song was for a movie, The Man from Hong Kong, which my memory denies knowing. The movie starred George Lazenby, an actor who once played James Bond.
Here’s the music. I have coffee at hand. Maintain your positive attitude and do your best to test negative as COVID and other viruses and illnesses spread. Other than that, I encourage you to drink deeply and prosper.
Cheers
Everyone was worried about putting their trash cans out by the curb the night before pickup because of bears.
But most people’s trash cans are stored by the side of their house. Some are behind wooden fences, no doubt a robust protection against a bear (yeah, that’s snark). A bear can get these cans just as easily there as on the street, waiting for the trash collector. If they’re really concerned about bears getting into trash cans, they need to do a lot more than delay putting them out until the morning.
Floofbucks (floofinition) – 1. Money set aside to pay for things such as provisions, food, care, and toys planned for animals.
In use: “During an economy when inflation threatens spending plans and savings, many people become more mindful of their floofbucks because they need to keep their fur buddies healthy, fed, and happy.”
2. Black-market currency used by animals to buy favors and information from other animals.
In use: “Stray cats and dogs often scrounge for floofbucks by trading whatever they find to other animals, then using the floofbucks to buy information about houses where humans are known to be easy touches for animals.”
Snow had fallen but now a sun blazed in the sky, transforming roads into slushy paths. All very picturesque, though. I was inside the house, waiting for Mom to return with my sisters. As usual, I hid from them when they first came in, springing out and surprising them, making them laugh.
We were busy with a multitude of things simultaneously. I went out and walked on the slushy asphalt, testing my footing. It all seemed safe.
A sister called my name from the house door, telling me that Mom wanted my help. When I went in, Mom was struggling with papers and stuff on a table. “Help me figure out my transportation, Michael,” she said. “I need to know who to call and where I need to go when I need to go somewhere.”
Sisters were in the mess, reading things. I picked up a few items and realized after reading that she only needed to go two places to catch transportation. So I marked the phone with bold black letters and began explaining things to her.
She immediately began firing protests back. “But what if I want to — “
I kept explaining that it could all be done with what I’d figured out. Press the 1 one the phone where I’d marked it to go to these places. Press the two for these places. The telephone numbers were programmed into the phone. Then she just needed to go to the place corresponding to the one or the two to be picked up. 1’s pickup spot was her house, so she didn’t even need to leave.
We went on in that vein for a few minutes before the dream ended.
It reminded me so much of being home last month and helping Mom figure out her medications.
Looks like autumn is making progress in the area. More trees are choosing to change their leaves, as is their right. Their trunk, their leaves, their colors.
A mellow Tuesday morning has settled in the valley. The week is shaping up to be cooler. Rain is in the weekend forecast with high temperatures in the upper fifties. The air’s shimmer itself seems to have shifted at last, shaking off its summery flavors for autumnal accoutrements. Today, though, will be 80 F and it’s already 56. With that rich blue sky crowning trees becoming wealthy with golds, yellows, orange, and scarlets, it’ll be a fine day to take in the outside world.
Sunrise kicked off the daylight portion of October 18, 2022, aka as ‘today’, at 7:27 AM and will close out at 6:24 this evening.
My morning mental music stream is empty. Yeah, The Neutrons have let me down. Well, “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf was in there. I’d decided to make coffee before sitting down to the ‘puter and started singing, “Got your coffee brewing, and then make your breakfast,” all to the tune of BTBW. So you need to know the song for it to make sense. But I’ve featured the rebellion anthem a few times already and didn’t want to repeat it. So what to do instead, Neurons?
Crickets.
“The Crickets,” The Neurons instantly shouted. “We know The Crickets.”
“Yes, I know,” I answered. “That wasn’t an invitation, guys.”
But they were off. Before I’d even begun my reply, they’d kicked “Peggy Sue” into the morning mental music stream.
While I know the song, I needed to look up the year it was released. Yep, 1957, when I was one. It was an AM pop familiar for a looonnng time. Don’t hear it much any longer unless you’re on a ‘golden oldie’ station, it seems.
Well, I have my coffee and ate my breakfast, so all that’s left is to enjoy the song. Be like a proton and stay positive. Test negative like an electron. Sorry, that’s all I got. I would blame a lack of coffee but I’ve had some. Must just be Bad Neurons.
Here’s The Crickets. Oh, yeah, and Buddy Holly. He got all the credit for the song, but if, as Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the story…
Good day.
He finished reading an article on a Tampa Bay news site. At the end of the article was something he’d never before seen: a button to report typos.
Impressed, he nodded. Many sites would benefit from such a button. They could also use a button to report grammar and punctuation errors.
Hell, his own modest site would do with those buttons.
Michael Seidel, writer 