Category: Adjust

Mapping a smaller horizon

I find lists calming. An item written down no longer demands constant recall; it sits waiting to be grouped, sequenced, or prioritized. This morning, I started two to-do lists: Medical and Everyday Living. At the top of Everyday Living is to progressively build up my walking. Today, arm-in-arm and steady with a hiking pole, we walked from home to a bench in Gold Medal Park, about 700 steps each way, where we took in this view. By Thursday, my goal is to walk to a medical appointment opposite the far end of the park.

The Future of Work

On my walk home from a medical appointment, I passed food delivery robots idly waiting for their next gig. I opted to dine in and enjoy a lunch I’d ordered through an app, as in-person ordering wasn’t an option. Meanwhile, back at our building, a drone was conducting an exterior inspection, scanning for any maintenance issues.

Categorized as Eat, Adjust

12 Months of Microposts: 2020

Most days I post something about my day in a microblog. Without over-thinking, I’ve selected one post from each month of 2020. January Looking back from today, January 2020 seems like an alternate reality where we could sit in theater audiences, eat in restaurants, and ride public transport. The Minneapolis Guthrie Theater’s artistic director, Joseph…… Continue reading 12 Months of Microposts: 2020

Balancing Coronavirus Risks

Every morning we read the New York Times, the Washington Post, and our local paper, the Star Tribune. We took out subscriptions to all three newspapers within days of the 2016 presidential election because we need to support good journalism to hold the US Administration accountable. Today, the news is uniquely disturbing. Most of us…… Continue reading Balancing Coronavirus Risks

The Consequences of Being Too Paperless

A few years ago we decided we would eliminate as much paper as possible. Eliminating paper has been a satisfying but imperfect journey. Our records are available to us when we travel, we no longer have a filing cabinet. 100% of our tax records, including receipts, are electronic and meet Internal Revenue Service standards. However, along the…… Continue reading The Consequences of Being Too Paperless

Destination Medicine

The Plummer Library at the Mayo Clinic. This is not a museum: staff and students study here. A couple days ago I took the light rail to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. I walked past destination boards, trying to avert my eyes from the Tokyo/Haneda departure. My destination, Rochester Minnesota, was not on those airport boards.…… Continue reading Destination Medicine

The Time I Was Denied Entry to China and How I Got In

I’m in Shanghai’s Pudong Airport about to board a Korean Airlines flight to Seoul. It’s not my choice to go to South Korea today. I would rather go to Japan. I actually have a ticket to Japan (Fukuoka), leaving at about the same time as my Seoul flight. But if I try to board the…… Continue reading The Time I Was Denied Entry to China and How I Got In

An Indoor 9-Mile Urban Hike

   A fierce rainstorm had hit California. People had died, a reservoir was bursting at the seams, evacuations had been ordered in several counties. The storm weakened as it crossed the Rockies on its way to Minneapolis and points east. On Monday, Presidents’ Day, the storm finally hit Minneapolis, dropping 0.6 inches of rain. This…… Continue reading An Indoor 9-Mile Urban Hike

A Place Where Two Seas Collide

  Getting to Rishiri Island via Wakkanai  (northern Hokkaido) from Minneapolis is straightforward, with a few perturbations. A place where the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk collide is bound to have perturbations. An agent at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport warned me the flight to Wakkanai might have to turn back. I was sure…… Continue reading A Place Where Two Seas Collide