Morning Update: 07/24/24

When yesterday started, I wasn’t expecting much from the day. My legs were feeling a bit worn from Monday’s adventures around Lake Ogle. I was expecting a low-key day with maybe some photo processing in the afternoon. I had discussed with Tipper the possibility of going on the bus to familiarize her with the route she would need to take to go downtown and she seemed to dismiss the idea rather flatly. Then, around 11:00, she comes in and asks, “If we go on the bus today, what time would we need to leave?” I checked the schedule, made sure the bus was on time (always an issue), and told her we needed to catch the 12:38 bus. She said, “Okay, let’s do that. We’ll leave around noon?”

And that was that. We had another adventure scheduled for the day. The first question was whether she could wear her furry head on the bus. I told her no, that the head would be too large. I was also thinking that it might frighten any small children we encountered and I’m not 100% sure what the bus rules are on such things. She was disappointed but optioned to wear the furry paws instead. That was still a questionable choice in Dad’s opinion, but what does Dad know? I finished what I was doing and got ready to go.

Of course, with Tipper being much like her mother in matters of timing, we were at the bus stop early. A young man who was sitting there immediately engaged us in conversation. His first question to me was, “Are you Mexican?” I shook my head no. I wasn’t interested in starting down that road. He then asked if Tipper was my granddaughter. I stifled the laugh and tried to keep my voice stern when answering, “No, she’s my daughter.” He turned to Tipper and started chatting with her, dumping fragments of his life story in a barrage that didn’t end even after we got on the bus. She was pleasant and polite to him, but I was glad she didn’t have an open seat next to her. I’m going to be concerned any time she has to take the bus by herself.

We got to the Transit Center downtown. I showed her where her connecting bus would normally be waiting, and then we discussed an alternative bus in the event the first bus was delayed (because that, too, is an issue). We decided to ride the alternative bus to the school, which was interesting. That bus took us down through Fountain Square before turning up past the Justice Center (jail and related courts), before turning back West and going past the school. The trip was long enough that we agreed that the route should only be used if the original bus route was running more than 20 minutes late.

Getting off across the street from the school, the bus for the normal route she would take came up almost immediately to take us back to the Transit Center. The brevity of that ride emphasized the importance of taking that route over the alternative.

By the time we arrived at the Transit Center, it was past 2:30 and we had neither one had lunch. Downtown is as good a place as any to find something to eat, so I asked Tipper what type of food she wanted and her response was, “soup.” No problem. There’s a little locally-owned soup shop just off the Circle on Market Street, a brief three-block stroll. Tipper’s not been downtown much since she was younger, so this was a good chance to familiarize her with the area, specifically the City/County building and other places that should be safe to duck into if something was wrong or out of the ordinary. Again, her being alone is my biggest concern.

The soup was great, we walked back to the Transit Center and got on the bus to bring us home. We were about 20 minutes into the ride when the bus broke down. Hydraulics failure. Once again, this happens far too often and is one of the reasons people who live here can’t depend on the bus for critical back-and-forth-to-work transportation. We waited over 30 minutes for another bus to pick us up and complete the route. G told us that this sort of thing happened quite a bit last year, so Tipper will have to be ready for those delays.

By the time we got home, I was beyond exhausted. I had a coupon for KFC, so we used that for dinner. There was no way I was cooking. KFC was a severe disappointment, though, and G reminded me, rather sternly, that both he and his sister can cook. He would have rather they take care of dinner than suffer through the disaster we had just eaten. I’ll take note of that.

I forced myself to stay awake long enough to ensure that I’d sleep through the night, though it didn’t feel as though that was going to be an issue. The kids are both still asleep, despite the animals and me bumping around, taking out trash, making coffee, and all the other morning noises. In a way, this is sort of our last “open” day before school starts on Monday. Tomorrow is their back-to-school events. Friday will be making final preparations. Saturday will be getting all the chores done for the next week. I want to say there’s some obligation on Sunday but I don’t remember at the moment what it is.

Personally, I’m looking forward to a nap. Maybe two. We’ve pushed against the chemo pretty hard the past two days. Yesterday afternoon was significantly more difficult for me than Monday. It’s probably best to take a break.

Speaking of Monday, did you know that was the hottest day on record? I know, Sunday broke the record as well, but Monday topped it. I’ve not heard about yesterday. This is a good time to remind people that there’s a difference between weather and climate. Just because it’s not steaming hot right where you’re standing doesn’t mean the planet as a whole isn’t melting. Don’t risk opening your mouth and being stupid.

Whales are capsizing boats again. No one will ever convince me that aquatic mammals are not more evolved than we give them credit. Just because we don’t understand how they communicate doesn’t mean that they’re not doing so. I firmly believe they’re trying to send us a warning, proven by the fact they’re not eating the people from the boats they capsize. Perhaps we should pay attention.

There was a video circulating on social media of a geyser exploding in Biscuit Basin at Yellowstone Park. In some instances, it came with a caption saying that this particular explosion was a first for that geyser. That statement would be incorrect. These explosions happen, usually when there aren’t a lot of tourists around. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it reminds us that our planet is still a dangerous place and that a big chunk of North America could explode at any time.

Speaking of misinformation, along with Kamala Harris taking control of the Democratic Party nomination for President has come a significant amount of misinformation about her and some of the things she’s done. AP corrects some of the most frequent errors, something I encourage you to read before jousting with anyone.

Speaking of errors, boy have Southern Baptists stumbled into a new one. At this point, the denomination has become an embarrassment to all of Christianity. Can we not cancel them completely? They had a chance and they blew it.

And, just in case you missed the news, Mattel has finally introduced a blind Barbie (video). The company is well-known for championing women in sports, women of color, and other differently-abled women. That they haven’t had a blind doll before now seems something of an oversight (no pun intended). We’re glad they have corrected that error.

We should also mention that there’s a new HIV shot, administered twice a year, that seems to be 100% effective in preventing HIV, at least in African women. While it may still be too early to consider the injection universally fool-proof, those of us who remember the horrors of the HIV/AIDS outbreak in the 1980s should be amazed at how far medicine has come in treating the disease.

There are a couple of other little stories running around, but I don’t think they’re fully developed yet so we’ll wait before commenting.

It’s almost 8:30 AM in Indianapolis. I need to start laundry and eat breakfast. Is it too early to take a nap?