Journeys 3.1

Picked up this haul from an Asian supermarket: Japanese snack mix, Japanese mayo, Asian broccoli, Japanese curry cubes, and Japanese KitKats. Japanese egg salad sandwiches are the best, thanks to that mayo. The slightly bitter Asian broccoli nicely offsets a sweeter dish. I’ve read that over 90% of Japanese homes use curry cubes to make a curry base: just add leftover veggies, spoon some rice on the side from the rice cooker, and you have a satisfying, quick meal.

It wasn’t a protest as I cycled past people outside the U’s ice arena holding signs. It’s Welcome Week for new students, and the signs were meant to group everyone by department. Looking at them, I find it hard to believe I was ever that young when I was a fresher back in the UK.

I’m the mysterious gentleman lurking in the grimy Pedicord Apartments, part of the permanent collection at the U’s Weisman Art Museum. If you lean in to any apartment door, you can eavesdrop on what’s going on inside. ​I’m between appointments. I’ve just had the most thorough eye exam ever, including a 3D digital model of the inside of my eyes ordered by the study, hence the dark glasses.

Dinner at Forgotten Star Brewing Co., beer and burgers, sitting outside at a picnic table with friends. Life’s good.

Cycled in to the U for week six of the study. Being in the study means receiving an unsustainable level of healthcare: extensive lab workup up to three times a week, time with a physician or PA up to three times a week, blood pressure checked up to ten times a day, weekly ECGs, and scans every 8 weeks.

My nephews would’ve enjoyed scrambling on the climbing net at the foot of the beacon… maybe a dozen years ago. The beacon leans out over the Mississippi at this overlook in North Minneapolis, a short ride from our home. This was my first outing in three days: the study treatment has kept me laid low, which means it’s doing something! It felt good to be out among people clearly enjoying the beautiful day.

Perhaps this is why most people do not automate their homes! Today, I fixed a few glitches in our “smart home.” For example, when a particular scene (a group of lights) was selected, it turned on, shut back off, and then turned back on again. Generally, the smarts are hidden; light switches, for example, look and operate just like regular switches. We do like the extra layers of control, such as turning off all the lights by voice command as we leave our home.