kochleffel

Meanwhile: A semi-spam email (from a company I've done business with, but not related to that) seems to be telling me that I have beri-beri. The reasoning is that I drink more than a small amount of coffee, which depletes thiamine, deficiency of which causes beri-beri. If this were true, almost everyone in Scandinavia would have it.The most peculiar part is that the company doesn't seem to be trying to sell me anything to prevent or cure the beri-beri.

Oh, Jacqui! I hope that you will be able to do the other things that you've planned, most if not all. My town's police department issued a warning today about Trick or Treat. Not the kind you'd expect, but that holes for new street trees have been dug along many streets, but the trees haven't been planted, so there are holes here and there. The town has street lights but most streets have few.

I would probably like chicken provolone if it were on a menu, but I couldn't make it at home. I have no psychic powers -- rather the opposite -- but a former boss who understood nothing about my work accused me of making recommendations based on intuition. I thought that he wanted me to make them on the basis of his wishful thinking. Last night I found that I had no vegetables in the house except carrots, but I had a lot of them. I ate some raw with dinner and then roasted more for tonight. I have no idea what else I'll have.

Mischief Night is also known in some places in the U.S., but in Detroit it took a much nastier form. From Wikipedia: Devil's Night made its way to Detroit in the 1930s and 1940s. Traditionally, city youths engaged in a night of mischievous or petty criminal behavior, usually consisting of minor pranks or acts of mild vandalism (such as egging, soaping or waxing windows and doors, leaving rotten vegetables or flaming bags of canine feces on stoops, or toilet papering trees and shrubs) which caused little or no property damage. However, in the early 1970s, the vandalism escalated to more destructive acts such as arson. This primarily took place in the inner city, but surrounding suburbs were often affected as well. The crimes became more destructive in Detroit's inner-city neighborhoods, and included hundreds of acts of arson and vandalism every year. The destruction was worst in the mid- to late-1980s, with more than 800 fires set in 1984, and a number in the hundreds for each subsequent year until 2011. In 1995, the city and as many as 50,000 (!) volunteers collaborated to stop it, with conspicuous all-night patrols, and the practice was gradually suppressed. I'm not a fan of tilapia either. It seems to be more popular with people who don't like fish in general, than with those who do.

I may have posted this before, but this morning's Torah reading included the story of Noah and the Flood.

With the troubles that so many here are enduring this week, I'm not sure that I should admit that the most exciting thing in my life lately was taking my car for services -- oil change, alignment, and state inspection. My acupuncturist says that my stress level is lower, but still too high. I suppose that finishing some projects has helped, but there is a base layer of uproar that I can do nothing about other than taking my scheduled days off really off.

Two of my cats, littermates, were mostly black, but with some white. Actually, they both had tabby markings, one striped and one blotched, but their fur was so long that the tabby markings were concealed. Here's a later picture of the one on the right, the Senior Cat in Charge, with the Junior Cat, who is almost, but not quite entirely, white.

I'm looking forward to traveling vicariously with you. I'm booked to do it for real in 2023.

Yup. While the only YF vaccine formally approved in the U.S. was unavailable, an emergency authorization was given for a different one that was approved in France but not here.

If I were trying to get one, the nearest place is a bit over 20 miles away, and it's the pediatric department of a hospital. I was surprised that my county's health department wasn't listed; that's where I had to go for Hep A and B vaccinations. "Howl at the Moon" is the name of a show on NCL ships, but I don't think that it's what the day represents. Two musicians. Two pianos. Too much fun to experience by yourself. Bring your friends and your favorite song requests. This is Howl at the Moon, the world’s greatest dueling piano show at Headliners, which is exclusively on Norwegian Cruise Line. Come sing and dance the night away as our talented musicians jam out and perform your favorite songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s and today. Want to hear a Billy Joel classic? What about Lady Gaga? Our versatile musicians are up for anything. So get ready for a howlin’ good time. This morning I'm updating a list of churches and clergy, needed for an event next month. It's tedious and irritating, partly because even the denominational websites aren't entirely current. When I mentioned cruises that call at Ashdod to an Israeli friend, he asked, "Why? It's just like [name of a dreary town near here]." It didn't occur to him that it would be the port for Jerusalem, because he grew up in metro Tel Aviv and the route to Jerusalem from there is inland.

There is a small Hindu ashram about two blocks away. I've visited recently, but I don't know what they do for Diwali. They are oriented toward Vishnu, not Lakshmi, but Wikipedia says that some strains of Hinduism associate Diwali with Vishnu, too. Dinner tonight will be sautéed cod with leftover sweet potato and radicchio, plus maybe watermelon since I seem to have a seedless mini one.

The expiration dates of many test kits were extended. There is a website where they can be looked up, but I don't have the URL handy.

Emed requires using the Binax AG test (not the Binax Now that you can buy at a pharmacy), purchased either from them or from Optum. Optum sells them in smaller quantities, but I recommend having at least one extra test in case one is defective, which happened to me in Greece this year (Emed replaced it, after I got home). There are online services that will proctor and certify tests from kits that you already have.

I taught a Hebrew class for adults this morning, then went to the grocery store, had lunch, and napped with the Junior Cat. I slept very soundly and when she woke me at 2:30 I thought it was 2:30 AM. Now I'm baking sweet potatoes for a version of the stuffed sweet potatoes we had in the Daily not very long ago. Radicchio salad with it. I'm still planning the visit to Canyonlands and Arches in the spring. There is no shuttle required or offered at those parks, but this year Arches had timed tickets for most of the season. Bryce Canyon and Zion, which I don't plan to visit in the same trip, have shuttles -- optional but recommended at Bryce Canyon for hikers who would park all day at a trailhead, and required at Zion on the Scenic Drive. Zion and Bryce are too far from Moab to visit from there, and I don't imagine making this a long enough trip to shift base.

Fran's memorial service was yesterday afternoon at her church. I was ill and didn't attend; I also missed the service in the synagogue yesterday morning. According to reports, it was a shock: the pastor delivered a long, fire-and-brimstone sermon, condemning the listeners for sin. I don't know the custom of that church or whether that is typical at a funeral, although I've never heard of it anywhere else. About 25 people from the synagogue attended and some wondered whether it was special for them. Fran was an exceptionally kind and generous person, which made it even more unexpected. To my taste, Oregon produces the best red Pinot Noir in the world, and I don't think I've ever drunk a white Pinot Noir from Oregon.

I had a great time on the Norwegian Jade in May.

The acupuncturist thought that I needed treatment today more for stress than for my foot, and proceeded accordingly. It seems to have helped. A lot of the stress is from uproar at work, about things that I can't change (really, no one can). There's also some healthier stress from things that I can deal with and I'm making progress on them, just not as quickly as is needed. If I go to Canyonlands, it can't be until the last week in April. Until July I can never travel during the middle of the month, and Passover is in April. We may also hold a large public event at the end of April or beginning of May, which could delay it further, or derail it altogether. That uncertainty is not helping the stress and the volunteer leadership is not hurrying to resolve the question.

With so many Dailyites affected by severe storms or fires, I thought I'd post an article about provisioning your pantry for such emergencies: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-stock-pantry-for-emergency-hurricane_l_634ec33de4b0b7f89f5b173e. This is probably common knowledge in the most vulnerable areas. When I lived in Los Angeles I was always prepared for 3 or 4 days, as is recommended in case of an earthquake, and I took care to use everything after a few months and restock. Where I live now, prolonged electrical outage isn't as likely, but I have a propane stove and a way to charge my phone (but not run appliances -- it's the portable jump-starter for the car). What I most need to stock up for is heavy snow, since ordinarily I don't have a lot of food in the house.

A second antigen test was negative, needed because of an acupuncture appointment later today. I would try kaldereta in a restaurant but would be unlikely to make it at home. Washington Chardonnay is always OK with me although I slightly prefer Sauvignon Blanc. I don't think I would enjoy the cocktail.

Thanks! But I can't find anything on the NPS websites indicating that buses are ever required, or available, at Canyonlands or Arches. Arches does use timed tickets for most of the season, but says that shuttles were considered and rejected. The Canyonlands website warns that when Arches closes the entrance, it increases crowding at Canyonlands. Might you have been thinking of Zion or Bryce Canyon? I'm ordering a hiking guidebook. By spring I should be OK for moderate hiking, but more difficult trails are in the past for me.

Thanks. The park websites mention crowds, apparently starting as soon in the spring as the weather isn't freezing.

Tested myself today at noon, negative. Others who could have been exposed at the same time have also tested negative. Yesterday's Misfits order included chard again, so I'll probably cook it this evening. No idea what I'll have with it. As usual, pears weren't ripe, so fruit for now is mandarins or watermelon. Maybe tomorrow I can buy apples, which are an important crop in New York. I'm still thinking about a winter vacation--I didn't have one in 2021 or 2022, for the obvious reason, and missed it a lot. I was in the Caribbean on the Nieuw Amsterdam in January 2020, before the shutdown. It seems likely, however, that there will be a covid upsurge during the winter, likely peaking right after Christmas and New Year's, which puts me off travel then. One area I do want to visit is Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, but not at that time of year; the end of April would be better.

When I was getting a test at a pharmacy in Greece this spring, after we completed the paperwork at the counter, the clerk took me outside and swabbed my nose in the street so that I wouldn't be unmasked indoors.

I'm sort of surprised that it did anything at all. When I was a kid, our old-fashioned family doctor gave a paper packet of so-called muscle relaxers -- actually sugar pills -- to any patient who reported back pain or a musculoskeletal problem. This wasn't because he suspected drug-seeking, but because he suspected malingering. I come from a family of hypochrondriacs, some of whom were actually sick but not in the ways that they thought, so I saw plenty of this. Thank you. The reason for testing tomorrow is that I have an acupuncture appointment on Thursday that I would need to cancel.

That combination would be fine for breakfast, imo.