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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Morning Update: 03/18/24
One could almost see the temperature falling yesterday. From 56 degrees when I woke up yesterday, to 32 when I went to bed last night, to 28 so far this morning, the chill has hit everyone’s bones to varying effects. When it gets cold all of a sudden, the dogs want to snuggle as close together as possible. They’ll have their bodies right up against mine to the point I almost don’t need any kind of cover. The cats, on the other hand, alternate between being curled up in a puddle and racing around the house making as much noise as possible. Unfortunately, they tend to choose the middle of the night to make the most noise.
There was one amusing moment yesterday when a poor little red squirrel happened to be in our tree when the dogs went out. The squirrel didn’t have a home in our tree. He didn’t want to stay there. He kept trying to come back down the trunk. But once the dogs saw him, Belvedere took point and Hamilton tried his best to climb the tree. The poor squirrel was stuck until I finally convinced the dogs to come back inside. I am constantly amazed at how the dogs’ hunting instincts come to the fore when faced with other animals. Domestication only goes so far.
I wanted to do a fair bit of writing yesterday but that was not to be. I got the first couple of pages done but then my brain gave out and I couldn’t get any serious cognition to return. I’m not sure I’ll have what it takes to get much done today, either. I woke up with my neck hurting and no small amount of nausea. I have meds for the nausea but the neck pain has to work itself out. Between that and the cold weather, keeping me out of bed doesn’t seem likely.
G is on spring break for the next two weeks. This could get interesting because when G gets bored he gets creative. A little bit of OCD kicks in and he starts cleaning and rearranging stuff. Fortunately, he has a talent for organizing things and does a great job of making things fit where you didn’t think they could go. So, what will he do in the next two weeks? I’m thinking that re-working the living room might be a prime target. Of course, there’s not much I can do but get in the way. I’ll retreat to the recovery room and let him do his thing.
Tipper grows all the more excited about Comic Con this weekend. Kat’s given her early birthday presents so that she has furry paws and furry feet to go with her costume. I’m still feeling a little nervous about the whole thing and am not above scoping out nearby coffee shops where I can hang out, “just in case.” While it’s easy to think of her as mature when it comes to her art and creativity, she’s still just a soon-to-be 14-year-old and I have an inherent distrust of people in any kind of crowd.
I’m not encouraged by the fact that the number of shootings went up across the nation this weekend. Eight were shot in DC, six in Jacksonville Beach, FL, and another seven here in Indy. This is a significant part of what fuels my distrust of crowds. Sure, most people are there having a good time but all it takes is one overly emotional idiot who gets their feelings hurt, and the next thing you know bodies are lying on the ground. One person who thinks that another has insulted them or done them wrong can inflict a large amount of damage in a short time in crowded atmospheres and they don’t care that the people being hurt are innocent. Making it worse, there seems to be no way to stop these types of events because everyone has a right to carry a gun and will do their best to find a way of doing so. I want Tipper and her friends to go and have fun, but it’s impossible to not worry.
I’m going to try to find a way to remove that big subscribe box that pops up as you scroll down the page. I know it’s a pain if you’re trying to read on your phone. Still, I would be so very pleased if you would subscribe. This helps me know that you’re at least aware of new posts without having to say anything on social media. Thank you.
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