2023 was eventful. It seems easiest to just make a list...
1. I lost 2 cats but gained 2 new ones. Sadness and happiness at the same time.
2. I got my flu, covid, and RSV shots. On separate visits to Safeway because they are free and they give me a 10% discount each visit.
3. Speaking of Safeway, they give me a 10 cent gas credit at their pumps for every $100 I spend there. I got 80 cents per gallon off a couple days ago!
4. I'm slowly getting better after the 2021 ladder fall. 2021 was bad. But sometimes this year, I noticed a few odd pains vanished. The separated right clavicle remains, but as the doctor said "you can get used to it". He has one himself and he was right. I hardly notice it. The body adjusts...
5. My knees are still a problem. I have velcro braces for both. After a few weeks of wearing them, things are good. But they are annoying. The knees issue predates the ladder fall.
6. Spring was horrible for the garden. Kept staying too cold for my transplants randomly. And then we had a minor drought. So planting my heirloom tomatoes were delayed. They never caught up. I got like 6 good tomatoes from 10 plants. The cherry tomatoes did well though.
7. I receive checks sometimes. Odd stuff. My Government Thrift Savings Program (TSP) says I have to start cashing out gradually, but I always forget, so they send one anyway. My electric co-op sent a check for reducing my usage and another as a rebate to all customers. The Maryland State Government sent me one to correct a tax error. I stuck them on the refrigerator and then put something on top and forgot about them. Now I have to call about getting some reissued (some are still depositable).
8. The Subaru Forester I bought in 2020 has 2,400 miles on it ( don't drive much). So gas prices don't bother me.
9. In the Spring, the 30' diameter daffodil bed bloomed nicely. The deck flowerpots bloomed well all Summer and Fall. And I have a 10'x6' bed of pansies that will bloom all Winter. It is good to have colors in the yard all year.
10. I bought a lot of stuff in 2023. Some of it useful and some of it whimsy. Useful means a good new kitchen or gardening tool or new high-sided cat litter boxes (Loki pees standing up and overshoots the old ones).
Whimsey means "just cool".
That's a plush tardigrade (aka Water bear). They are the size of pinpoints, but can't be killed easily. They can be frozen, heated, exposed to the vacuum and cosmic rays of outer space and recover. This one is 8" long and sits on my car dashboard. Hey, some people have bobbleheads, I have a tardigrade. LOL!
I bought 2 cat jigsaw puzzles made of real wood. If I ever put them together, I will mount them in a frame.
I also bought a bomber jacket. But it has too much specific unit identity on it. I will return it. I don't want people thinking I served in those units. I never served at all.
11. I think I finally learned how to make a decent pizza at home. My own dough. In a small sheet pan sprinkled with cornflour (for automatic raised edges) ON a baking stone at 500F (highest the oven will go).
12. Got better at discussion forums. Ignore the angry fanatics, respond to rational people, give facts...
The older I get, the more tolerant I become. By the time I die, I will have things just about right. 👌
