When I look back at my Facebook history from 13-15 years ago, I see statements like “Up early for a 6 AM shoot,” and “10:00 and two shoots in the can.” I might have complained about aches and pains from time to time, but I was up, active, and doing a lot of shooting. My biggest frustration was the models who didn’t show up and roommates who drove me nuts. I’m happy not to have roommate problems anymore (Kat and the kids are pretty cool for humans). But I miss having people in front of my camera, visitors dropping by at all hours, and moms calling to ask if I can take pictures of their babies. I really miss the babies a lot more than I thought I would.
Most of yesterday was as quiet as I had anticipated. The kids stayed in their rooms with their individual projects. I moved little more than between my chair and the bed. I did take the dogs out when they asked, but that was the most adventurous thing that I did. By 6:00 pm, even cognizant thought was gone. Rain moved in, causing an increase in the pain level to about an 8. Thankfully, the kids are old enough and capable enough to take care of their own dinner. I managed to get down a little of the rice that Tipper made but that was it.
I want to do more. I want to have a camera again. I want to invite people to shoot. While this morning wouldn’t have necessarily been the best day for a sunrise adventure, I’m sure we could have found somewhere interesting to create memorable photographs. I need a camera in my hand. I need to feel useful.
What have I done this morning? I have ham and beans in the slow cooker for dinner tonight. I’ve taken the dogs out. All 11 pets have been fed. All that took about 30 minutes. I am keeping up with the rescue efforts in Baltimore after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but that’s not exactly the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done. My pain level is still sitting around a 7. I’m having just enough difficulty breathing that I notice it when I’m completely still. This needs to be another quiet day.
Our kids have the least exciting spring breaks ever. Consistently. I hope no teachers require a creative writing paper on “what I did over spring break.”
Morning Update: 03/16/24
Everyone slept. Both kids came in from school, went straight to bed, and didn’t wake up until late. No one had dinner. No one did chores. They just slept. I’m not complaining. I had a 16+ hour sleeping day myself. I can’t explain why yesterday was more tiresome than others, but we were all caught by the plague and I’m not hearing anyone complain about it this morning. Will that translate to increased activity today? That’s doubtful, but we’ll see. Tipper is motivated to finish up her costume for ComicCon next weekend, so that may keep her awake for a while. G, though, is still dragging a bit this morning.
I’m still kinda bummed that we don’t have corned beef to cook for tomorrow. The prices are too high. We can’t get a small amount, either. The kids plow through a three-pound slab without raising their heads. Meat, in general, has gotten too expensive for modest budgets. We have plenty of beans if I remember to put them on to soak the night before, but again, there’s that problem of falling asleep and not waking up in time.
One of my former babysitters (understand, she babysat me and my brother) posted last night that she was making cinnamon rolls from scratch and I swear I can smell them coming out of the oven. Of course, 500 miles is too great a distance to even think about having her send me a pan. Plenty of bakeries make cinnamon rolls, but there’s nothing like the texture, flavor, and smell of those fresh out of someone’s home oven. Do I need them? No, of course not. They sure would make me feel good while I was eating them, though.
Food is a critical element for anyone, but the combination of chemo and diabetes makes it a critical matter. Not eating isn’t an option and could potentially have deadly results. Eating comfort food, like cinnamon rolls, doesn’t help my sugar intake. I have to eat something when taking the chemo, but if it’s too heavy I get indigestion. In fact, eating too much blocks the effects of the chemo, so that’s not a helpful path. Trying to keep everything in balance is a daily challenge. We know lean meats and veggies are best, but for breakfast? Who wants green beans for breakfast?
The State of Indiana is getting its Happy Hour back. 40 years ago, the state banned the practice of Happy Hour at bars and restaurants out of concern that it encouraged people to over-consume alcohol within a short period of time, leading to more drunk driving. As of July 1, it’s back. The state legislature passed the bill earlier this year and Gov. Holcomb signed it yesterday at one of the city’s oldest bars.
Here’s the catch: Happy Hour cannot extend beyond 9:00 PM. That sets the stage for a number of hypothetical situations. One would be that people might be encouraged to get their drunk on earlier, releasing them into the wild during rush hour. Another might be that bars that offer Happy Hour could see a significant downturn in business after 9:00 PM. A third possibility is that it could bring back the after-hours office drinking that was once a regular part of any business.
Are those concerns still applicable, though? With so much work being done remotely, there aren’t as many people in offices who want to get together after work. They have children and pets to get home to. They have errands to try and run. And younger employees simply aren’t interested.
Bars and restaurants are still not the late-night draw that they were before COVID. Kat came out of a performance venue last night to nearly empty streets in one of the most fashionable areas of town. Bars struggle to pull people in late because young people especially are interested in things other than drinking until they puke. That doesn’t mean you won’t find a party here or there, but ask almost any bar owner and they’ll tell you that they’re struggling to attract and keep people very late, especially during the week.
As for the drunk driving concerns, rates of drunk driving fatalities have been steadily on the downturn since 1985. Sure, even one death is devastating, but once again, that 21-35-year-old demographic that was previously responsible for so many tragedies is more responsible for their drinking than their parents’ generation.
The proof is in the pudding and it seems natural that there could be an uptick in public drunkenness and drunk driving during the latter part of the summer. But overall, I don’t think there’s much danger of returning to the levels that existed all the way back when I was in college. We were the generation that defined rowdy drunken parties. I’m hopeful our children learned to not make the same mistakes.
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