Microblog

Made peanut butter ice cream. For the last 5 minutes of churning I’ve just added chopped-up miniature peanut butter cups. I’m reminded by this exercise that ice cream is to be enjoyed in moderation. 2 cups of heavy cream, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of peanut butter, way too much sugar, vanilla extract.

Walked with a friend who was visiting from the UK. Crossed the Mississippi, still swollen with snowmelt.

On my random cycle ride, the popular Giant Slide at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds was about to get a fresh coat of paint. At $3 per ride, it generates about $600,000 in revenue during the twelve days of the annual fair.

This week I’ve been stuck with needles several times. Decided I may as well have one more stick, a COVID bivalent booster. Rewarded myself with a caramel sundae at DQ. My CDC card is beyond maxed out on both sides.

On Tuesdays I’ve been missing my good friend Dave who’s laid up waiting for surgery. Instead, I was an ESL classroom assistant then a one-on-one tutor. People have tough lives, but their great attitudes and desire to learn are inspiring.

Cycled over to the university for a CT scan and a PET/Bone scan. The whole process takes about four hours and I do this every six weeks for the study. Within a few hours, reports for both scans popped up in my phone app, with nothing new to report, which is good.

Cooked for multiple meals. In the foreground: slow-baked beans, carnitas, and pan gravy. In the background: sides for this evening (polenta and steamed broccoli).

Sausage, ice cream, and a movie are key ingredients for Sausage Saturday. Dwight usually researches movies, then sends me links to reviews of three movies. Tonight’s winner: Living. The screenplay is by British author, Kazuo Ishiguro; the writing will be good.

It was time to adjust leveling screws to fix a wobble with the help of a spirit level my dad gave me when I was a kid.

Fair weather prompts cycling, not walking, and allows me to rediscover faraway cafes. Carma Cafe is across the road from Good Carma Auto Repair.

Walked over to Zen Box Izakaya to pick up the charge card I’d left behind last Saturday, so of course we had to have ramen. I’d canceled the card, but wanted to hold onto it. It includes a layer of aluminum from a Northwest Airlines/Delta 747. I like to think I flew on it to… Continue reading Piece of a 747

Today I received my monthly stipend for participating in the clinical trial. I feel uncomfortable being paid for receiving great healthcare, so the payments will go to a University of Minnesota Medical School scholarship fund.

Today, I realized I’d probably left my Amex card in a restaurant that’s closed today. A couple taps in the Amex app delivered an immediate digital replacement to Google Wallet. A physical card will arrive tomorrow morning. Pretty neat, I thought.

We’d been doing this wrong for 35 years! While making coffee this morning, used a tip we recently learned: add one drop of water before grinding. This reduces static which causes coffee grounds to clump and stick to the grinder. The grinder only needs a quick wipe with a sponge.

Met with two members of our building’s garden club to plan improvements we’d like to the irrigation on a roof deck. Updated a document that will be part of a request for quote. We were treated to delicious home-made scones, and I left with three more for later.

Today was chilly, windy, and damp, a good day to go through a heap of papers, scanning what I want to retain, then shredding every last sheet.