Author: Michael Seidel

Science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. Singer (sorry, no shows) & nudist (in my home). Beer, cat, cheese, coffee, pie and wine friend. Left IBM and Silicon Valley for the southern Oregon life but I miss the ocean. We're too far inland. Gotta move.

Thursday’s Theme Music

We reached the corner of sun and rise at 5:42 this morning. And guess what? Sunset will come at…8:49 PM. It’s finally moved off the 8:50 hook but now the sun’s impact will begin to grow shorter and shorter until it disappears altogether, leaving us to ask, “Hey, has anyone seen the sun lately?” To which people will reply, “Well, where’d you see it last? Maybe if you retrace your steps…”

It’s Thursday, 7/7/22 and 18 C. Should strike 82 F today, an altogether comfortable-sounding day. A cloud-free sky has been declared. The back door is open to let cool air drift through. Do this every morning and then shut the door, trapping the cool air. The house will slowly heat up but doesn’t usually get to A/C temperatures until it tops 100 F outside (about 38 C). The gingerbread cat known as Papi (or Meep) loves the open door, racing in from the back patio, speeding through the living and dining rooms, streaking past the kitchen and office and down the hall to the guest room and then catapulting back out on the reverse course. The thunder of murder mittens on hardwood floors and carpeting is hilarious. This was executed four times this morning. He’s now sacked out on the sofa.

A deer ate most of our front flowers this week. It’s like, oh, well, it’s a healthy deer and has every right. But now there’s new bear scat where the deer has been eating. Makes us wonder about the situation… Appears the deer might have a stalker.

The Neurons inserted “Lucky Man” by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer into the morning mental music stream. Lake wrote the song when he was twelve and learning chords. Quite impressive.

I asked The Neurons why this song from the 1970s was being played. They shrugged. “What’s it to ya?” Such attitude.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, etc. Four friends tested pos this week. Three of them work at the emergency food bank as volunteers. There might be a pattern here. Think I’ll get some coffee and ponder it. Here’s the tune. Cheers

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A Traveling Dream

I’d met some people on the road. We were going in the same direction, so we traveled together. I was about my current age, it seemed. It was a dark night. We were in a car that felt and seemed like a Jeep but I was sitting the back and another person sat behind me. This was a woman. The ride was rough and we bounced around a great deal.

I seemed to know the woman behind me slightly more than the rest. She said, “You seem like you’re very stressed.”

Laughing, I replied, “That’s an optical illusion.”

Saying, “Let me give you a massage,” she began massaging my shoulders and neck.

It felt so good. After a minute, I told her that. She leaned forward, pressing herself against my back, comforting me. Warmth flowed from her into me. I leaned back into it and turned my head. I wanted to kiss her but stopped myself.

Then she and I were walking together in an airport. She said something about her flight being changed. I reminisced about how I used to travel so frequently, I was often upgraded and never bumped because my travels were a priority. She said, “I bet your travels used to be a high priority, especially the ones in the military.” I shrugged that off because I couldn’t say that was true. Priority was always a complicated matrix in those days.

I was looking at our clothes. Very tall and my age, she was dressed in a light grey suit. I was in a charcoal gray suit. It was an unusual style, almost pseudo-military, and very wrinkled. I said something about needing to upgrade my suit or at least iron it.

We reached the gates. My flight was already boarding, so we hugged and said good-bye. The agent took my ticket and waved me in.

Dream end

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

The sun lifted over the planet’s turn at 5:41 AM. It’s 18 C on this Wednesday in July, 2022. The 6th finds us expecting a high of 80 F, a few showers, and a sunset of 8:50 PM. Again. Hotter weather is on the way, and a surge into the nineties is in the projections for next week. An archipelago of white clouds are hanging out. Humidity is up to 76%. Feels a little muggy to me.

Another night of dreams rocked my sleep. The Neurons dragged “Everything You Want” out of the technicolor mire into the morning mental music stream. I can’t peg which dream or scene it relates to, but The Neurons insist that they do. Who am I to argue with them? The Vertical Horizon song from 1999 is firmly staked to the Bay area commute from that year. The first two thirds of the year had me driving from Mountain View to Redwood City and back and the last third’s commute was Half Moon Bay to Redwood City and back. Not far by car in mileage, the trip home was generally an hour to an hour and a half. I had a lot of music and talk radio. Pity the people that go yet further.

Stay positive and test negative, etc. Anyone up for coffee? I know I am. Here’s the music. Enjoy. Cheers

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Floofmouth

Floofmouth (floofinition) – Human condition caused by animal fur in the mouth.

In use: “After his cat rubbed his head all over Michael’s face to wake Michael and get his attention, Michael had a bad case of floofmouth throughout the morning.”

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The Glasses

I broke down. It was time. I knew it – I’ve known it for years. I needed new glasses.

The issues aren’t costs or worries about my eyes. I dislike taking time out of the day to go somewhere, wait for a person to see me, etc. I’m an impatient person who tries protecting my writing time and routines. I’m like a grizzly mama about those things. Writing time and routines are my cubs, to beat that simile to a final death. This is due to a lifetime of giving and serving others, what people call ‘employment’. I sacrificed my writing dream for others’ worries and concerns. This is now my time.

COVID did play a role. So did changing insurance coverage. I no longer had any vision plan. That went away when I left IBM in 2015. Putting a year to it and doing the math is a thump on the head; that much time has already passed. It is not conceivable. Seems like just yesterday that I was dragging my ass out of bed before the sunrise and logging in, calling in, and doing all the other things to ensure I was electronically tied to the company. My work for them had been remote for the final eight years. The final three, visits to company facilities were cut to nil due to slashes in travel funding.

A new optometrist was required, too, as the other one had disappeared. My wife’s friends raved about the one at Costco. I was skeptical but they said she was great. “Make sure you go to her, though, and not her father.” Okay. An appointment was made, and they were right. She was good, as far as I know. $69 for a new prescription. In and out in twenty minutes. I liked those elements.

“Well,” she said. “You have very healthy eyes and your vision has improved. You’re probably having problems with your old glasses, aren’t you?”

Yup.

“They’re way too strong for you.”

Well, that was great news. I told my wife. She seemed stunned. “Your vision is getting better?”

Yup.

She turned away, muttering something about fairness. I didn’t press. I had some idea of her comment.

I found and ordered new prescription sunglasses from Costco. Didn’t really need normal glasses, I felt. Don’t use them often. My wife muttered something else.

The glasses would cost $129, I was told after I’d gone through the process. Whoa, wait. “What about protective lenses and the reflective coating, and all that?”

“It’s all included.”

I can see so much better now with my new sunglasses, and they’re much more stylish. They’re relatively large, making my big head look a little smaller.

We all need whatever edge we can find.

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