September 4, 2020
Dear Everyone:
Back (way back!) when I was a college student,
I was too busy studying to have much time to read just for enjoyment.
I “promised” myself that, when I was old and retired, and had
“all the time in the world”, I would go back and reread some of the
books that I had enjoyed when I was younger.
Not quite so far back, when I was diligently working for a
living, and squirrelling away 2% or more of my salary for retirement, I
also “promised” myself that, when I was old and retired, and had “all
the time in the world”, (and the money I had put aside) I would spend
time rereading those favorite authors.
And I have.
Dorothy L. Sayers, Anne McCaffrey, Robert A. Heinlein, Mary
Stewart, Tom Clancy. These
days, I purchase their books as eBooks, which I can read from a
lightweight Kindle. So much
easier to fit into a purse.
More recently, I have availed myself of audio
versions of the same books.
In fact, I discovered that, if I already had the digital version of a
book, I could buy the same audible book at a substantial discount.
I listen to them while I’m doing my physical
therapy exercises. Listening
to a well-known book means I don’t have to worry about missing some
crucial piece of information while considering where I am in a course of
a certain procedure (was that the left foot or the right one last?)
I recently finished a novel and realized that I
had not yet downloaded another.
I was right in the middle of the session and had another
half-hour or so yet to go. I
consulted the library on the tablet and began listening yet again to one
that I have used before.
Later, I found another and downloaded it.
But that brought up the question of just how many of these books
did I have now in audible version.
The answer was about two dozen.
Bear in mind that I’ve listened to more than one of them at least
twice.
Any way you stack it, that’s a lot of sit-ups.
In other news…
I’m still getting used to my new dishwasher.
Everything is so different.
The dishes used to go this way, now they
go that way. Not that
there’s anything wrong with going that way.
It’s just different.
We humans are such creatures of habit.
Once we settle on something, we’re very set against doing it any
other way, even if it could be a better way.
Just look at politics.
And then there’s the cutlery basket.
Which is to say, there isn’t one.
Instead, there is a very shallow shelf at the top to hold
flatware and such things.
I’m sure a great deal of thinking went into designing it.
It just feels wrong.
Just as it seems as if this dishwasher doesn’t
hold as much as the old one.
I can’t prove it, of course; it just seems that way.
Does it make any real difference?
No, of course not. I
never have the total complement of my dishes all in the washer at the
same time anyway. When it
looks “full”, I add detergent and set it off.
The new machine takes about 2-½ hours to run.
Much longer than the old one.
Is there some reason that I need the dishes washed more quickly?
No, of course not. It
just takes a little planning on my part to decide the best time to run
it.
Rest assured, in a few weeks, I won’t be able
to remember how the old machine ran, or how the dishes used to go.
On the plus side, I really do like seeing the little clock in the
door that tells me exactly how much longer it has to run.
And, needless to say, the dishes are at least as clean, if not
more so than before. Isn’t
that lovely?
Love, as always,
Pete
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