Saturday, August 17, 2013

Volume X * Oct 19 - Oct 25 (days 64 - 70)

Day 64 Saturday 10/19 
Slept late again. 8 hours. I don't know if I like that or not. The day slips by so fast. Visiting the nursing home each day eats up 3 1/2 waking hours.  That's 3.5/16 = 22% of the waking day. I think if I bought an ipad or "notebook" that I used on the bus, I wouldn't begrudge the time. I probably will do it.

It's Saturday and I decided against going to the WPB Green Market which started up again last week. For a few years I was a true "regular", making weekly garden purchases, which accounts for the jungle around my house. I gotta get a ladder to trim those da,,,  never mind.

I used to perform death-defying maneuvers to pick starfruit (a.k.a. carambola) on many Saturday mornings.
 I traded for tomatoes from a Green Market vendor, Curtis. Ten to 12 starfruit per tomato. I just wanted them eaten and not trashed. Sadly, "my" starfruit were never as tasty as many others, though I think they've improved.
Nevertheless, they're a rarity at most fruit vendors because they're so delicate, and quickly go bad. 

They're probably best appreciated for their appearance when sliced. Very decorative and entirely edible.
Recipes abound on the internet.

Mostly to me, they're a hazard when they land on the sidewalk. I fear a lawsuit one day from someone slipping, falling, and getting hurt. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a ladde....   Never mind.
I thought I'd take my own photos for this blog, but these internet
finds are indistinguishable from those on my tree.

The sliced star-shapes make them tropical Christmas garnish. 
There are smoothies and other drinks made with them. I enjoy eating a few, and so do my cousins Debbie and Danny (her li'l  6'1" brother). Most people pass them up, even when freely offered.

Buses don't run as ...

YES BUSES!

YOU'RE GONNA READ MORE ABOUT BUSES! 

YOU DON'T LIKE BUSES?

THINK YOU'RE TOO GOOD FOR BUSES?


YOUR DAY IS COMING, PAL. BETTER WISE UP NOW!

WE STRAIGHT?

Ok, then.
I was saying, buses don't run as often on Saturday.

I thought I'd go to the gym again, and decided that, to spend an hour, I'd need the #43 leaving the bus station at 3:05. Problem is, on Saturday I'd have to leave my house around 2:15 to catch the #1, and then wait at the station about 25 minutes. That bugged me.

So I hoofed it.

I learned that with alternate walking and jogging I can get to the bus station in under 25 minutes. I think faster if I trespass across the tracks somewhere. I need to explore.

I consider it valuable knowledge, and accept the effort as aerobics.

At the gym, I put some of the machines to creative use. I looked though dozens (hundreds?) of images and only two resembled what's in my LA Fitness. Here's a "lateral raise" machine. 
<---lowered 
      raised--->
Notice that in the raised position it changes your sex.

Remarkable.

So, besides using this machine to exercise shoulders, I found that I could stand sideways and let the red-covered foam rest just below the inside of my right elbow. Then curl it to exercise biceps. Face the other direction for my left arm.

I also sat sideways and - with my butt sticking out of the photo towards the left, I rested the foam a little above the outside of my elbow. Moving my arm straight back sort of imitated a narrow-grip rowing machine for back muscles.

I also did some leg curls, on a leg curl machine.



Forgive me, but in the midst of the scores of shoulder machine images, I couldn't help but do a double-take at this peculiar instructional anatomical figure. It correctly highlights the shoulder muscles. 

It's source was a web site called Muscle & Strength. I guess it's their standard display of muscle groups, but it struck me as bizarrely cartoonish.

Anyway, I just wanted to note, this guy has a lot of outstanding features, and there's a lot of names people might call this guy, but least likely would be "Dickhead"


Yep. Definitely two groups he needs to target.

Wait! I'm being serious now. I just noticed. Look at his HANDS. Look at all the white stuff. All those tendons. That's what's f----d up about MY hands, especially the left. My left hand feels like metal handcuffs surround it from the knuckles to the wrist. Fingers all move, but not far either way, clenching nor opening. Doctor is confident that it's a matter of time.

My brother, Jody called this morning, asking about progress. 
"Can your thumb touch the tip of your pinky finger?"

Uh, it BARELY - I mean BARELY, with great effort - brushes the side of my index finger. Not the tip.

He advised applying different activities, including playing piano - something I had considered and shunned. But I knew he was right and so I sat at the piano. I have a tragic story related to this, but, later, if ever.

All you who suffered (or enjoyed) a year or more of piano lessons will identify with THIS reference: Hanon Exercises.
This photo from on-line images
looks AMAZINGLY like my hand
I tried for several minutes, using an exercise where you sort of trill the thumb and index finger. OMG. My left thumb failed or else barely sounded a note, and tingled when pressing the key. And my hand soon felt cramped.

And I'll do it again tomorrow.


Where was I?

Oh, the gym.
OK, the #33 bus to Pollo Tropical. Got mojo pork over lettuce and some rice with onions and peppers. To go.
Two block walk to Darcy Nursing Home.
Fed mom, including the banana. They gave her lettuce again. I ate my Pollo food.
Pepperidge Farm Milano chocolate cookie in her room.

#43 bus 15 minutes late. I was fearing it had passed early and I would wait much longer. They run hourly on Saturday.

#1 bus all the way to Belvedere Road. Tried to buy a carton of Phillies cigarettes again for Jean at the nursing home, but they had no cartons. I bought 3 packs for $4.74 with tax.

Walked 3/4 of a mile home.

Day 65 Sunday 10/20 
8 hours sleep. I STILL don't know if I like that. I used to teach on 5 or 6.
Lox and cream cheese on 1/3 of a bagel. 
"One third?"
It's one slice of a bagel, with a bunch of it scooped out and tossed.

Computer stuff, newspaper, shower (still slow), lunch.
Jog/walk 1.5 miles to bus station
Shop at "Green's Market" for future bananas. 
Workout next door at LA Fitness. Chest, triceps, leg press, leg extensions.
Go to nursing home. 
This unflattering photo of Jean
makes plain my conflict about
buying cigarettes. Look at
the color of that finger! Those teeth!
My biggest problem with cigarettes
 is that they're legal.

Give yesterday's purchase of 3 packs of Phillies cigarettes to Jean. 

I googled phonetic spelling for this French name, Jean. I didn't get an authentic spelling. One website gave me "Zhahn". More entertaining are pronunciation sound bytes. I liked Forvo,com which allows viewers to submit their pronunciations.

A message pops up when you volunteer, warning they will no longer accept anonymous pronunciations, and they want an email address. I can only imagine what words may have been put up in the past.

Reminds me - years ago of an 11th grader whose name I noticed on my roster, first day of school. Teachers always stumble through roll call on the first day with students exasperated that we're unclear how to pronounce names spelled something like "Jakwique".

Fortunately, the student whose name I was dreading was in 5th period, after lunch. I got to ask if any teacher knew what I should say for Phuc, Dang.
Naturally, I would call his first name first. "Dang Phuc."

I was saved by someone who knew to pronounce his last name "Foo". 
Dang Phuc didn't get to humiliate me that day.



WAY back in 1976 one of the team debaters was a Star Trek fan. 
Except Lloyd Dugan - loyal fan - called the show "Star Track" and was bull-headed enough to defend that, despite the spelling. If you think about it, no one on the show ever used the word, so who's to say?

None of them Floridians appreciated my mom's appellation for the show: "Star Drek". It's a sophomoric low-blow; "drek" means "shit" in  Jewish.

Anyway, Lloyd asserted that he could pronounce it anyway that he wanted to, and he wanted to pronounce it "Star Track."

Whereupon Barry Mann (later to score a 1600 SAT and go to Harvard) replied, "If you can pronounce it anyway that you want to, then we can pronounce it any way that we want to. And we want to pronounce it 'Stupid Show.'"

I always admired how such a radical change could be labeled merely a different pronunciation. Opens up a whole new world.



Completing Sunday's trivia:
Feed Mom, including banana.
Take sugar packets from table to give Greg (not yet explained in blog)
Go to Walgreens across street to buy cigarettes for Emily, a wheelchair-bound 30 year old.
Milano cookie for mom.

Since buses stop around 5 on Sundays, I called Yellow Cab inquiring price to get me 3.5 miles home.
"$10 to $20." 

Richard, a computer savvy,  wheelchair-bound 50+ year old told me to call "my guy, Freddy".
Freddy drives Richard for shopping and for getting to one of the County Libraries where he volunteers, assisting people with computers.

Freddy quoted me $15 and I said okay. He was there in 15 minutes, as promised. He took a longer (4.8 mile) route, but fewer traffic lights. No effect on the price. There was no meter. Freddy just drove his own car.

I won't do this again. $15 is a lot. I'll either arrange for a ride or not go on Sunday's until I can drive.

I only did it so I could describe transportation without referencing a bus number. 

Day 66 Monday 10/21 
I've started seeing a podiatrist... initially b/c I couldn't cut my toe nails with these lovely wrists. But now a 2nd visit was scheduled in order for Dr. Hansen to see how the Ciclopirox was affecting toe fungus, and to bill my insurance provider. (Is this "win-win"?)

I should have simply gone to the bus station and taken the same bus that Ariel uses twice a week to get to PB State College, the #2. I'd never been on that.

Oh! Ex-patriots of PB County: PB State College used to be Palm Beach Community College which used to be Palm Beach Junior College. It now offers 4 year degrees. 

And FAU in Boca is getting a med school!

And PB Atlantic College, the Christian college associated with 1st Baptist Church, is now PB Atlantic UNIVERSITY and - compliments of lots of Rinker money - will soon have a TREMENDOUS athletic area between Belvedere and Southern.

More power to them. 
On the other hand, I feel betrayed by 1st Baptist over their decision to sell the Chapel by the Lake land, possibly opening for hi-rises. I expect lots of legal maneuvers first.

Betrayed because I remember a promise when adding fill into the lake that this land would be kept a simple, low-profile joyous  place of worship.  I doubt it said so on  paper, but that was the general understanding in allowing the fill. Probably the developer will retreat from his 25 story plan, but commissioners like the tax dollars...and who knows what other perks.

Anyway. Back to serious stuff!
Ariel takes the #2 bus that mostly follows Congress to get to PBSC. He has to go to Tamarind to the bus station to get it.

I'm convinced from maps and schedules that he's doing it wrong so I took a round-about way to my podiatrist in Palm Springs, starting out with MY idea of how to get to PB State: 
#1 South Dixie Highway to Lake Ave in Lake Worth
#62 bus west to PBSC CAMPUS!

I think I'm right and have to convince him. Like all of us humans, he'll resist change.

I got to the doctor. My toes are ok.
I waited too long again for a bus (#2) back to bus station. Then out to Darcy Hall (after Chick-Fil-A coleslaw run).
After feeding Mom, took bus to Belvedere Rd to try again for carton of cigarettes for Jean ("Zhahn").

They had no cartons. 

Walked home. 

This failed cigarette quest cost me 1.5 miles of walking. 
Does that make cigarettes healthful?


Humor is funny.

By "funny" I mean "odd,"  And complex.
For example, Anthony recently told me this joke:


A Cuban man new to America is walking through the  Miami airport. It's August. He's been outside and he's pretty thirsty.

Happily, in the distance he spots a universally recognized logo.

He puzzles a bit over the choices and words and pricing information on the Coke machine. 
Finally, he fumbles through his American currency and drops some coins into the slot and he pushes the bright, familiar Coca•Cola button. 

The display by the coin slot starts flashing "Dime".

A bit surprised, the man steps closer to the machine, and softly says to it,
"I want a Coca Cola."


Well, I hope you laughed, or at least smiled.

If you're lost, perhaps you need to know that "Dime" means "Tell me" or "Say it to me" in Spanish. (Pronounced "Dee-may") 

So now you UNDERSTAND the joke, but you're unlikely to laugh. Because humor is complex. It's timing, and surprise, and the delight of discovering on one's own a twist in a story.

Sadly, I didn't laugh either. Because Anthony prefaced the joke explaining that it was funny only to people who understood Spanish. The instant he spoke the word "Dime", I thought of the Spanish, and the punchline was merely the appropriate thing for the man to do.


This all comes up because I'm upset about my last Sam Joke. If you're intrigued about where I'm headed with this, and you never read the joke, here's the link to "Volume IX". The joke is in the middle in a reddish-brown font. Next paragraph will definitely spoil it.

It's not a great joke, and it rests on the similarity in sound between "  coffin  " and " coughin'  ". When told, its presumed that the set-up of pharmacist and the familiarity of the request ("stop this damn coughing") will cause the listener to first get the meaning of "coughing", then the brain realizes it's "coffin". Haha.

I had already found photos and committed myself to print when I was faced with that punchline. I decided that to make any sense, I HAD to spell it "coffin".  I tinkered with it today ("...cold season...") to steer the reader towards THINKING about coughing, even while reading "coffin ."

Mostly, I think it's a lost cause in print.

AND I'm in no position to JUDGE because there is no chance that I can be surprised. 

Amazing how fast and complex human thought is, that a foreshadow of Spanish, or a printed vs. oral delivery can ruin a joke. Someone recently sent me an article about how people presented with problems in a non-native language will make less emotional decisions. The experiments were wonderful. 


Most likely my tenant Jason sent it, because the source is Wired Magazine, to which he subscribes. You can click that link or you can read my attempt to shorten the discussion.

Psychologists say human reasoning is shaped by two distinct modes of thought: 
     1. systematic, analytical and cognition-intensive
     2. fast, unconscious and emotionally charged

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman in 2002 won a Nobel Prize in economics for his work on prospect theory, which describes how people intuitively perceive risk.

In one famous example, Kahneman showed that, given the hypothetical option of 
      saving 200 out of 600 lives, or 
      taking a chance that would either save all 600 lives or none at all,
      people prefer to save the 200 ("risk-averse")

— yet when the problem is framed in terms of losing 400 lives, many more people prefer the all-or-nothing chance.

It's the same problem expressed in a different way. And people decide differently.

Researchers conclude that people are instinctively 
          risk-averse when considering gain and 
          risk-taking when faced with loss
even when the essential decision is the same. 

Psychologists led by Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago speculated that posing the question in a foreign language would change the results. Communicating in a learned language forces people to be deliberate, reducing the role of potentially unreliable instinct. Research also shows that immediate emotional reactions to emotively charged words are muted in non-native languages, further hinting at deliberation.


To investigate these possibilities, Keysar’s team developed
several tests based on Kahneman 's scenarios. They first tried with Americans who had studied Japanese. Later they tested Koreans who had learned English. For both groups, posing the questions in a foreign language produces deliberations that varied less on the saving or losing emotion. 

If trying to interpret graphs at the right, realize that ALL of the bars are measuring the same thing: What percentage of people choose the guarantee of saving 200 lives. The difference is, was the question posed as saving 200 (black), or of losing 400 (gray). And, each question is asked in a native and a secondary language. Emphasis is on the EVENNESS of the black and white bars for the secondary language.

Keysar's group went on to hand money to participants, which they could keep or could gamble with. For this experiment, participants were told they had a 50/50 chance each bet to take in $2.25 each time they won a bet that cost $1. THOSE ARE FAVORABLE ODDS! 

More of them gambled when all was conducted in a foreign language. They were less risk-averse.

There were suggestions that financial decisions might be better made in a foreign language. Less emotion.

All this to validate how complex our brain works, and how nuances in  humor can change the reaction.



Day 67 Tuesday 10/22 

LA Fitness.
Nursing home.

You can have the rest of the day off.

If you want details on transportation or food, slip me an email.



Day 68 Wednesday 10/23 

Tried again to buy a carton of cheap Phillies "cigarettes." Still none. But I bought two packs for $2.50. And the guy put in an order for cartons while I was there. He also gave me a phone number after I commented how I walked a mile and a half on Saturday and on Monday trying to get a carton. I think he took pity watching me trying to open the plastic baggie that I keep bills ($) in.

The use of my left thumb is what I miss most. Big milestone yesterday when I could use left thumb and index finger to hold on to a sheet of toilet paper while my right hand ripped off a few sheets from the roll.

Today I tried cutting an apple with a small serated knife. I first stabbed into the apple, figuring I would then angle downward to cut. No, couldn't do that. Funnier were the contortions required to remove the knife. I guess a larger knife would work better.

Good thing I bought some cheap cigarettes because later at the nursing home Jean showed me how desperate he had become: he had bought a $4.30 pack of Pall Mall.

I went to the gym again. Did back, biceps, shoulders, calves and hams. Can't do a great job exercising, but better than nothing. 

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My father's "bread joke"
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Sam Joke #7 


Sam was upset when he ran into Al in the Sunny Vale game room.

“Hey! I thought you told me that Don’s Diner  down the road was known for its seafood.”


“Yeah. So?”


“There was no fish, no clams, no shrimp, no crab. And the damn steak I got was awful.”


“I don’t know why you ate there,” shrugged Al.


“You told me I should go there if I wanted seafood.”


“Oh,” replied Al, a little red-faced. “I thought I explained it better. You didn't see posted right on the wall from the Board of Health: ‘C - Food’ ”.


Sam contained himself, not sure WHAT he remembered Al saying. “Ah, what do you know from food?” he dismissed.


Al smiled. “You should try that new restaurant they
opened on the moon.”


Sam was in no mood for jokes.


“Great food. No atmosphere.”


“Enough!” replied Sam. “I don’t need your jokes about restaurants. You know I ran a diner for 15 years in Queens. It’s hard work, and serious business.”


“So nothing funny ever happened in 15 years?” Al coaxed. “Did you ever have a tough customer?”


Sam caved in to reminiscing. And he relates this story:


One day a gentleman walks into my diner, sits alone at a table. He orders a full meal, chicken I think. And he’s paying the bill and I ask him how he enjoyed it.

“Good,” he says. “But just two pieces of bread.”

Okay, I think to myself. I’ll remember that.


A few days later, he comes in again and sits at the same table. I tell the waiter "Look, I know it's just one man, but put 4 or 5 slices of bread at that table." We were proud of our bread, Fink bread. Whole fresh loaves delivered every day. We sliced it right in the store so it was fresh for the customers.


So now he comes up to pay the check, and I’m smiling, 
“You enjoyed the meal tonight?”

“The food is good,” he complimented. “But not enough bread.”


He didn’t seem upset, but now I was up for a challenge. Next time.


The next time the waiter filled a bread basket with fresh-cut slices of bread. You could feed a whole family. For sure I had the guy and was ready for the full congratulations.


“The brisket was really excellent tonight”, he volunteered as he paid the bill. Then he hesitated.


“And…?” I prompted him.


“Not enough bread,” he tells me.

I nod politely while my insides are churning. What kind of wise-guy is this? He wasn’t a very big man, but the waiter says he finished everything at the table. So I guess he was just being honest.


It became a matter of professional pride for me. No customer is gonna walk out of my diner not satisfied!


So the guy comes in a few days later and I tell the waiter, “You get a whole loaf of bread. Put it on a big serving dish. Just cut it half and set it on his table.” 

I’m talking about a restaurant loaf, not like those little things you get at the grocery. Restaurant loaves are monster-size.


The guy orders his meal, eats everything, coffee and
dessert. Then he comes up to me to pay. I’m rubbing my hands and beaming. No human could complain about the amount of food sent to that table.


I ask him, “So, how was your meal tonight?”


“Good,” he says. “I enjoyed.”  

Then he pauses, looking a little sad, and he says quietly “But your back to just two pieces of bread.”



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Day 69 Thursday 10/24 

Finally the day to be "evaluated" by physical therapy. I walked to the bus station through Howard Park. Snapped this photo of the "turning basin" between Parker Avenue and the new PB County Convention center. It has an aerating spray. 
The taller building to the left of the convention center (and actually across the very wide Okeechobee Road) is City Place Tower Condos where Brad Hunter lived before buying his home in the "Old Northwood" section of WPB. There is a heron in this photo.

This "turning basin"  was once much larger and was used between 1918 and 1925, mostly to bring produce into WPB from the Everglades. There were docks, and this is where barges could turn around for the return trip. Flagler's railroads and them new-fangled cars and trucks made it obsolete. 

The main channel from the Everglades built by the state was the WPB canal that runs along Southern Boulevard until it gets to the Seaboard (Amtrak) railroad tracks, then heads south, finally turning east again to drain into the Intracoastal ("Lake Worth"). There it separates WPB from the Town of Lake Worth.

WPB businessmen were upset by the route and helped raise funds for the "Stub Canal" that turned northward from Southern Blvd and allowed barges to get to the turning basin. The big lake by the Airport Hilton along that route.

Across the street from the turning basin I was surprised to discover two small restaurants that had escaped me before, because I hardly ever drove that way.

Thai Bay Restaurant   adjoined   Chicago Food Shack  in an old building that had seen many food places and markets come and go. I thought the building was deserted.  I decided that after Physical Therapy I would come back to try lunch there.

Physical Therapy Institute and Aquatic Rehabilitation has a fancier name than office. Dr. White (a woman) took history, made some measurements about bending, flexing, gripping. She advised me (common sensibly) to manipulate hand, wrist, fingers as often and as many ways as I could think about. "You'll look fidgety," she admitted. No actual therapy... this was "evaluation."

Best part is... Next week I'm scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 4 pm to 5 pm......AND... it's a 2 minute walk to Darcy Hall where Mom's dinner begins at 5:15. I even have time to run down to Chick-Fil-A for coleslaw.

It was only a little past noon. Bus back to bus station. I finally - in the light of day - discovered a minor shortcut to walk home. But first I went to nearby Thai Bay. I had incorrectly believed it was a hole in the wall, perhaps take-out only. Instead, it had a nice clientele and I felt too much like a street-bum to eat inside. 

At first I was seeing $12, $14, $24 prices, but then realized I would be happy trying appetizers. I bought three for a total bill of  $7. With tax and tip that $9:


They have a very nice menu. I'll definitely go again. Interesting is this excerpt from the website and menu:

Over an astonishing 100 menu items are available at Thai Bay. Stir fry, noodles, curries, soups, salads, appetizers and specialties. 15 sauces alone including ginger, garlic, basil, plum, peanut salad dressing and our own signature spicy sauce.

Enjoy crunchy-fresh vegetables as part of your recommended daily serving 
for a healthy diet.

All meals cooked to order and you may also order a meal custom prepared.
Choose your vegetables
Low salt
Low/no sugar
Low/no fat
Decide your own spice level
80% of menu items not spicy



They do offer beef, chicken, and seafood.

The adjoining  Chicago Food Shack  advertises Chicago Style Hot Dogs and Italian Beef, Burgers, Subs, Salads, Pasta.

Leaving, I took another urban nature photo.
Between the split trunk of a gumbo limbo tree is an ibis.
 Ducks are in the "Stub Canal" that runs between Parker Avenue and the Amtrak tracks.
"Thai Bay" is visible above the right-hand tree trunk

Went home and showered.
Bused out again for LA Fitness. Chest, triceps, quads, calves.
Nursing home.

Back home, Ariel got me, Jason (my garage apartment tenant) and Morgan (his girl-friend) into Muvico to see Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. It was in 3-D. Jason didn't like it, Morgan did, and I was in the middle. Something dull about escaping space debris 3 times in different settings (on a space shuttle, then Int'l Space Station, then Chinese Space Station.)

I know that while watching, I was upset at the science of George Clooney breaking away. Sure enough the imdb website makes a reference to that scene:
"Goof
There was no need for Matt to cast himself adrift. A slight tug on his tether would have brought him back to the ISS. Even the recoil from him reaching the end of his tether would have returned him."

There is also a well-written page dedicated to scientific integrity in the film. Spoiler alert: Many of the comments I suspected, and accepted for sake of a movie. What REALLY surprised me was the comment about opening a hatch when Bullock has no space helmet on. Lots of explanation is provided about consequences of such an occurrence. Click the link for more info. In fact it would be possible for her to survive, if such a thing had occurred. Good thing I didn't bet anyone on that.

I marveled at so many weightless scenes, remembering how Tom Hanks and others had to film Apollo 13 in a "vomit comet". In the US, this was usually a Boeing 737 that will at times fly in a parabolic path that imitates free-fall - leaving its occupants feeling true weightlessness. Nausea and vomiting is a common side-effect.
Graph stolen from Wikipedia

You can see in the graph that they get about 25 seconds of 0 gravity, preceded and followed by 1.8 G's - which is why the cabin needs padding all around!  I calculated 1.8 G is like going from 0 to nearly 200 mph in 5 seconds.

Bullock didn't fly to film. Instead, she was hooked up for many hours to a device in a studio that satisfactorily (to the directors and budget and actors) gave an illusion of 0 gravity.

Day 70 Friday 10/25

Carried a full laundry basket downstairs, did laundry. Hung it on a clothesline. No small effort for recently broken wrists.

Finally got Jean's carton of Phillies (cigarettes) at 7-11. I phoned the store first. I showed the clerk (owner's nephew?) part of my blog where I mention and map his store.

Walked to the bus station along Parker Ave, bus route 44, figuring I'd hop on when it showed. I got to the station and was leaving on a different bus when #44 was late-arriving. That walk saved me half-an-hour.

LA Fitness for back, biceps, shoulders, hams, stomach.

Ate Pollo Tropical rib dinner with rice and beans and small salad.
Nursing home.

Two different buses stop where I wait every night when leaving the nursing home. As a bus approached tonight, I looked at its number, and then stepped back, waving it on.

Then realized I was wrong.

A red light two blocks stopped it behind a block-long line of cars. I started running, waving, wondering if the driver would see me in a mirror and if he would care. They're not supposed to admit people at non-designated places.

Hell. Lots of them leave people banging on the windows even at a regular stop!

He waited! It was Brian. I gave you his name in a previous blog. It sure paid to exchange names with him! I blamed senility for my mixing up bus numbers. I hope I can figure something to buy him.



I walked quickly from the bus station to shop Publix, then another two blocks to catch the #1 bus home. A woman looked at me surprised asking, had I run AGAIN to catch a bus? She had been on my previous one, and simply waited to catch this #1 at the bus station. Pretty cool that shopping cost me zero time.

Oh...I started carrying a small rubber ball today that I squeeze FREQUENTLY. Feels aggravating. I hope it pays.

Have a good weekend.
And happy Halloween.

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