kochleffel

Many of the best gardens here emphasize landscaping over flowers--indicating the people aren't gardeners but could afford to hire professionals! And many of them are in spots less subject to the depredations of deer. I have thought about fencing the entire back garden and planting the front only in plants that deer don't like. That's the way I'm heading with perennials, and also doing a bit more with flowering shrubs because so many herbaceous plants take until midsummer to flower. One new risk I'm taking is with Agastache 'Little Adder.' In a gardening forum where I inquired once, the result was a dire warning against any and all agastaches, because it's so wet here. 'Little Adder' has A. rugosa, which grows in East Asia in some places that are cold and wet, as one of its ancestors. The Missouri Botanical Garden says that A. foeniculum, native to North America--but to the northern plains, not this vale of summer humidity and winter thaws--is another of its ancestors. I'll plant it in a raised bed with some poultry grit added to the soil.

I'll pass on the meal and the drink, but might like the wine. I haven't been to Pulau Penang. In the kind of TV shows that I watch, they are always rescuing people trapped on ferris wheels, so I'm wary. I'm done with the Five Days of Paxlovid, and I hope that the side effects will end soon. According to the CDC I will be safe to go out (with a mask) beginning tomorrow, but I'm planning to isolate at least until Saturday. I was out of the house for the first time, only to take out the trash, and needed to rest after that. It's sunny and will reach 50° this afternoon. For the garden club: I'm struggling with seed and plant orders, not least because I don't know what spaces in the garden will need plants (that is, what will have decided that it doesn't like to live here). It would be prudent to order cautiously and fill in with bedding annuals if need be. In a general way I'm moving more toward native plants, but I'm not doctrinaire about it. The big project for this year is removing foundation shrubs that are about my age and in even worse condition.

Same here. The marrow registry drops you after age 60. I don't know whether that's because it wouldn't be beneficial to a recipient or because it would be too dangerous for the donor.

I have enough names already, but do you remember my comment a while ago about being addressed by cruise staff as "Mr. Paul"? On the last Bermuda Triangle cruise, the cabin steward promoted me to "Sir Paul." It's my office computer that most needs cleaning out, but I can't do that while quarantined at home. Today is my last day on Paxlovid. The folks at the RSV vaccine trail wanted swabs even though they knew I had covid, and are sending a courier to pick them up. My idea of a no-contact pickup was to tape the sealed bag containing the vials containing the swabs to the door, but theirs is that the driver isn't allowed to touch the bag, so I will have to go to the door and drop it into a container myself, which seems like more risk to the driver.

At this point it feels like a lingering cold. Paxlovid is working, and I'm experiencing the typical side effects: metallic taste, and gastrointestinal disturbance, of which the nausea is the worse part. It made me wary of food, but it turns out that eating relieves the nausea. I'm also experiencing "coronasomnia." It's very hard to get to sleep at all, but when I do, I sleep well. I cancelled the classes I was scheduled to teach this morning, but I'm going to attend an online class at 12:30. I'm also the Zoom host for a monthly discussion group late in the afternoon, but if anyone else who knows how to host Zoom attends, I may make them the host and sign out. To make jambalaya at home, I'd need to replace the principal ingredients. No on the cocktail but I never decline champagne. (I still haven't persuaded my doctor that I suffer from champagne deficiency.) I haven't been to Ireland. I grew up in a state where Lincoln's birthday was a legal holiday. It's not a federal holiday and in irks me when people think that it has been absorbed into so-called Presidents Day. The federal holiday in February, according to law, is the birthday of George Washington. It's sunny this morning with an expected high of 44°, although it will cloud over later. I would like to spend some time outdoors, but won't get farther than the mailbox.

Many of the cruise promotions that I receive are off the beam, especially from HAL. The longest cruise that I've ever taken on HAL or any cruise line so far was 7 days; I have a 14-day booking on the Oosterdam but it's not until the fall. The latest is "Up to $4,110 Bonus on Grand Voyages." Now, $4,100 is the amount that I might spend on an entire trip, not one where the fare is such that they can offer that kind of bonus. (They know that I don't live in Houston.) I wish that I could have attended the synagogue in person last night and this morning. Last night was Religion and Science Shabbat, for which I was the organizer. I did introduce the speaker over Zoom, but fortunately the speaker couldn't take umbrage at my absence, because of being on pre-recorded video. And this morning one of my adult students was celebrating as a bat mitzvah.

I've been particularly happy with the Radiance class ships, which are comparable in size. I didn't like the Voyager as much.

Thank you. I couldn't get them to display correctly. Flannel led me in various directions, and no wonder: flannel noun flan·nel ˈfla-nᵊl 1a: a soft twilled wool or worsted fabric with a loose texture and a slightly napped surface b: a napped cotton fabric of soft yarns simulating the texture of wool flannel c: a stout cotton fabric usually napped on one side 2 flannels plural a: flannel underwear b: outer garments of flannel especially : men's trousers 3British : washcloth 4British : flattering or evasive talk also : nonsense, rubbish I think that I would like both the meal and the wine, but not together. Have not been to Gambia. I took the first dose of Paxlovid just before noon yesterday, and by early evening I could tell that it was working.

The Fleet Report and Daily for Friday February 10th, 2023 Today is Umbrella Day, National Flannel Day, and International Cribbage Day I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. - Lily Tomlin Meal Suggestion for today - Grilled Red Snapper with Green Beans and Lime Drink of the Day - Rye Squeeze Wine of the Day - Muga Rioja Seleccion Especial Reserva, Rioja, Spain Destination of the Day - Banjul, Gambia Eurodam At Sea Destination Panama Canal eta 2-11 Koningsdam Hilo, Hawaii Island 08:00 - 18:00 Nieuw Amsterdam Grand Turk Island, Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos 07:00 - 14:00 Nieuw Statendam Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 08:00 - 15:00 Oosterdam At Sea Destination Ushuaia, Argentina eta 2-17 Rotterdam Fort-de-France, Martinique 07:00 - 16:00 Volendam Punta del Este, Uruguay 08:00 - 15:00 Zaandam Puntarenas, Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica 07:00 - 17:00 Eastern Hemisphere Noordam Sydney, NSW Australia 07:00 - 16:00 Westerdam Pulau Penang Island, Georgetown, Malaysia Penang 07:00 - 15:00 Zuiderdam At Sea Destination Port Arthur, Tasmania Australia eta 2-12

When I was in graduate school in the 1970s, there was a pizza shop in Bloomington called First National Pizza. It was across the street from the First National Bank. I put a frozen, dairy-free, cauliflower-crust pizza on my grocery list. Maybe I'll bake it tomorrow.

The Nieuw Amsterdam had a propulsion problem in 2020! It resulted in substituting St. Croix for Sint Maarten.

That's what I did. I use the family room as a dining room, and the junction box is in a corner where the original owners might have had a game table. I had ordered the light fixture from an Internet retailer, but obtained the swag kit at the blue store.

I spent a lot of time in the Bliss Lounge on the Getaway next week. It was very rarely scheduled for anything during the day.

On my NCL cruise last week, I found the many sea days (all days of the cruise since we docked for only 6 hours, at night) disappointing. In general I don't enjoy the typical cruise-ship entertainments (trivia, bingo, weird and embarrassing games) and I really missed the Lincoln Center Stage.

In a packet in the produce department of a large supermarket, usually.

Me, too. There was a thread a while ago about the patches, beginning with a question of whether all the passengers with white dots behind their ears were members of the same cult.

I suppose that some doctors might think that it's not helpful or needed, or be concerned about rebound. There are also many contraindications for it, especially other drugs with which it would interact. I've arranged for someone to pick it up.

The e-visit is completed. Didn't require a video conference, just a questionnaire about symptoms and history.

Positive covid test this morning. I've sent my doctor a message about Paxlovid. I was in Piraeus and Athens in May and posted photos then, many of them of street cats. Mushroom Barley Soup is considered a Jewish specialty but most people don't include dried mushrooms, as my grandmother did, and without them it has little flavor. Three minutes later: doc is sending the prescription but also wants me to have an e-visit. Because the government pays for Paxlovid, they want to do everything by the book in case of audit.

I believe it's just one shot of each type. I received Prevnar-13 as soon as it was in stock here, and Pneumovax-23 later. Prevnar has now advanced to Prevnar-20, and the CDC says that if you received that and don't have specific medical conditions, you may not need Pneumovax-23. Shingrix, which I've also received, requires two doses. I'm definitely in favor of Opera Day and have already ordered tickets for the Glimmerglass Festival this summer. Honey Mustard Chicken would suit me, if anyone wants to bring some over, along with Sauvignon Blanc (doesn't even have to be the chosen one). I'd try the cocktail, but probably only once. I haven't been to Angola. I've been coughing since last night, and I'm a bit concerned because that can be an early symptom of covid. Yesterday's test was negative and I'll repeat the test tomorrow. The RSV vaccine trial will probably also want a swab and would send a courier to pick it up. I don't have to go out today.

Am I going to regret this? A few weeks ago we were discussing Funchal and Daniel's Madeira Taxis. In the roll calls for the Spanish Farewell, I offered to organize a private tour there. There has been a little interest and there may be more when I have more to say. Meanwhile, in the roll call for the B2B Ancient Empires and Spanish Farewell, someone has proposed a lot of private tours, so far all for the first segment, which I won't be on. The person comes across as a martinet who demands that applicants for their tours meet exacting standards: We have a firm idea of the type of person with whom we shall share a tour: non-smoking; mobile; on time; relaxed about the day and any extra costs; interesting, interested and fun. Needless to say, if this person organizes any tours for the Spanish Farewell segment, I won't be applying. I am nonsmoking and mobile, but no one would call me fun and these people would probably not call me interesting. As for interested, that depends on the subject. I can imagine being kicked off the tour because they decided that I wasn't fun. On other cruise lines, both for tours that I organized and for those that I joined, I've always found people to be fairly easygoing. But this feeds my paranoia about HAL passengers and now I'm wondering if the Madeira tour is going to attract people who are rigid and censorious.

I'm not an aficionado of ballet, but at least Ballet Day makes sense. The other two sound ridiculous. Wedding soup or married soup or whatever would be OK with me. Pass on the cocktail but I like Cabot Trail maple cream liqueur. Pinor Noir would be OK. Have not been to Madagascar. I intended to buy a bottle of Gosling's rum in Bermuda, but the closest I got to either (rum or Bermuda) was in a bar on the ship. I showed up at the Shabbat service on Friday evening with a half-drunk glass of it still in my hand, which was not exactly the right thing to do. One of the platinum benefits on NCL is a bottle of wine in one of the specialty restaurants. The theory was that you'd drink it with the specialty dinner, but since almost everyone has a beverage plan that includes wine by the glass, most people now bring the bottle home. I brought back a bottle of Lindeman's Shiraz from Australia. Vinho Verde was popular when I was in college. I came in a round bottle like Mateus, which was also popular. I probably haven't had it since, and there are probably much better versions of it than that. A covid test this morning was negative. It is too early for testing after travel, but I have to go out today and it seemed better to test than not.

When I got home this afternoon, I changed into pajamas and got into bed. It wasn't a difficult or especially long drive, but I was awake past midnight last night--loud packing in nearby cabins after the end of the late show in the theater--and up at 6:00 a.m. in order to be at the MDR when it opened for breakfast at 6:30. The drive did take about an hour longer than usual because I stopped more frequently, with two pairs of stops that were less than an hour apart when I felt that I needed to get out of the car for a bit, and a longer lunch break than I would usually take.

Of course I had to stop.