random thoughts – Day 1,487 – (Friday) – rain and torment

The Friday morning awakening was accompanied by the all-too-familiar rain soundtrack. Not a gentle rain like in the noise machine in a spa or that in a commercial with soft-focus foggy scenes for something romantic and lovely. No, this was an aggressive rain that meant business. Business like pelting and drowning all the new shoots that have come up in the past couple week. Business like invading a basement and causing the big puddle to fill at the end of the driveway and the end of the street.

Hydromassage command center.

The weather that made going outside less desirable was perfect for sleeping a bit later than usual, sitting around with coffee, and being thankful to have scheduled the day as a vacation day just yesterday. The rain let up by the time of a late-morning trip to the gym with another fast-paced (four mph) walk on the treadmill and a visit with my old friend the Hydromassage table because the two massage chairs were occupied. The slow speed on a pressure level 10 is divine, and at least the water in the machine is contained.

After the gym, there was a visit to Family Dollar for coffee creamers (caramel macchiato flavor) and greeting cards. I have not made an extensive national or even regional tour of Family Dollar stores. However, I can confidently say that of all the ones I’ve been to, the one nearest The BungaLowell is the absolute worst. It’s never been great, but it’s become even more horrible in recent months.

Today, even more u-boats than usual, loaded with product waiting to be put onto the half-empty shelves, clogged most of the aisles, rendering them impassable. The greeting card display hasn’t been tidied in weeks. A handful of cards dotted the nearly empty Easter endcap which should probably have been swapped for Mother’s Day cards by now. The main display running the length of the aisle looks like a cyclone hit it.

The guy that I think is the manager was talking loudly on a cell phone the entire time I was there. He pulled beverages from an aisle and put them into a refrigerated case with one hand, while the other held the phone. He arrived at the register to ring me out, still talking on the phone and tossing in the occasional bone of recognition to me and my transaction. He seemed overly excited about the Easter jelly beans on sale for 62-cents. For dollar store jelly beans, they are very tasty. The best by date is in October and I may need to brave the mess to buy all the rest of them.

The regular morning lessons were done – Duolingo (a 1,370-day streak, and working on French lately, because Finnish has gotten on my last nerve) and Wordle, which isn’t a course per se, but is a daily exercise in word puzzle solving so I’m counting it as a learning opportunity. It's only a 48-day streak in Wordle. Don't ask.

Kiki keeps an eye on me
from her command center.

Kiki continues her preferred activity, which happens to be tormenting me. The current manifestation is running away when I get anywhere hear her. She isn’t hostile and doesn’t seem skittish or anxious, it’s more like she has a highly developed level of psychological warfare. Command headquarters is located in her private quarters under the buffet.

After I returned from dance rehearsal tonight, Keeks let me sit three-quarters of the way up the stairs and stroke her head and face as she reclined on the landing. The scenario with her reminds of a line in the movie Barbie. “Barbie has a great day every day, but Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.” I’ll let you guess who is playing which of those characters in the Kiki-Tam dynamic. It won’t be hard.