Tuesday - Another Year

A very late and leisurely rise this morning. Not too crazy on the festivities last night, though it was the first time in a very long time that we have gone and stayed out for New Year's. A good time at our friends Don and Jean's house, with a few other folks. One person there was a former Bayer person as well, though from a time before I arrived. We still knew many people and were able to share updates.

Begin the day in the limbs in a new configuration, per Victor's request. A little different, but I'm sensing that I can make the adjustment easier now that this exercise has been going on for a while. Still, it's good to intentionally shake things up on occasion.

A tough day staying focused. I've always had issues focusing, but lately I'm like a magpie in a field of costume jewelry. I begin one thing, only to uncover another and drift on to that, and so on. If I manage to stay focused on the thing I began, I completely lose the other and never come back to it. I'm also irritable and cranky. I have a sense of some of the reason why this is, but the person I need help from is essentially unavailable.

The house struck again today, twice. First, I went to replace the occasionally leaky kitchen faucet. As it turns out, the unit is plumbed with 3/8" copper directly to the assembly. The current faucet has inlets set at the sides of the unit, and the new one has both inlets in the center. I can either cut the copper, re-cap the lines and put in flexi-hose, or return the current faucet and see if I can find a faucet (naturally more expensive) that has the wide set. So much for a quick fix. Second, there was a strong smell of fuel in the entryway. We have natural gas heat, so it wasn't fuel oil, and you could only smell it at the bottom of the stairs near the half-bath that is rarely used. In a rare flash of insight, I went into the bathroom (where the smell was stronger) and flushed the toilet. About 30 minutes later, all better. Your lesson for the day: make sure that you periodically flush all the toilets, lest the sewer gases find their way into your home. (And these things in addition to the pinhole leak I found at random on the furnace water intake. I still need to permanently fix that.)

Shopping in the afternoon (two trips, due to more inattentiveness), and pick up stocks of food for the week. The vacuum sealer is getting more of a workout now that we've got the freezer downstairs. Make up some salmon for the week to try cooking sous vide (one olive oil and spices, one lemon pepper), hard boil some eggs, and prep some tofu for lunch this week.