random thoughts – Day 1,681 – (Thursday) – sunshine and ice cream

Things I didn’t think I would see – Halloween 2024 edition: Summer weather with a temperature of 78 degrees, blue skies, sunshine, and the birds singing their hearts out like a community chorus all afternoon. That was not on the month’s Bingo card. A snowstorm, however, would not have surprised me at all.

The puddle in the driveway has expanded and there was new information on the water situation. I saw the neighbor this morning and we had a chance to chat for the first time since we were both outside tending our front-yard flowers in the early summer. She said the water department came to check the problem and it’s a water main leak that they will be back to address, but no timeline was provided. I filled her in on the history of the puddle going back two owners of her home before her, and how it used to be in the middle of the street but magically relocated to our shared driveway after the paving project.

Ice cream and murder shows.

For the evening’s entertainment, instead of waiting for kids who have never come Trick or Treating here, it was porch lights out and snuggling up with Netflix, just like every other night. Netflix is my longest running relationship, extending back to the earliest days when you made a list and selections arrived as discs in the mail which had to be sent back to get more. I spent a lot less time in front of the screen in those days, but back then I also had a boyfriend and an active social scene, so everything was very different. 

Since returning to Massachusetts, streaming has replaced my dating life and most of my social life, which is probably the scariest thing happening at The BungaLowell this Halloween. The series on the screen tonight was Murder Mindfully, a murder comedy out of Germany, which is reasonably amusing as far as the murdering gangster shows go.

To accompany the murdering show there was a bowl of caramel swirl chocolate chip ice cream with pecans. Somehow, I had forgotten it was bought on Sunday, but it was most enjoyable tonight after having the windows open all day and feeling like it wasn't October at all. The ice cream likely cancelled any healthy effects of the roasted vegetables eaten for lunch. Or maybe the vegetables offset some of the negative aspects of the ice cream. It all averages out.

random thoughts – Day 1,680 – (Wednesday) – parking, pizza, time

I left the house late this morning, but the ride was quick, so I arrived at the garage at around the usual time. Even still, I couldn’t get into the garage without becoming annoyed. A driver was blocking the ramp just beyond the entrance, waiting for someone to exit a space, who did not seem quite ready to exit yet. When the driver was finally ready to back out of the coveted spot, they couldn’t, because the dummy blocking the ramp and waiting was too close. It took forever.

 The next challenge in the quest for a parking space was the construction taking place on levels four and five. The lower levels are packed full, and the ramps to four and above are half closed off with chain link fencing, as well as half of levels four and five.

Add to the mix the drivers who might possibly be psychologically self-centered but can’t manage to center their vehicles between the yellow painted lines marking the spaces. I passed three vehicles that were each straddling two spaces. One sporty vehicle looked to be parked at a deliberate angle across two spaces, one looked like an accidental encroachment of just enough of the second space to render it impossible for anything larger than a mini to fit, and the third involved a huge pickup that was backed into two spots, with near perfect symmetry and balance with the yellow line running beneath the center of the vehicle. 

I ended up on the fifth level, which was deserted, save for one already parked car and piles of construction materials. In the gloom of the cloudy or maybe smoky-from-some-wildfires burning not that far away morning, it looked like a movie set and I half expected some zombie-type creatures to appear at any moment. 

Level five, 10/30/24 at 5:13 pm.

In the whack-a-doodle way that time likes to mess with us mere humans, the pace of the day in the office started normal-ish, but then zipped by almost as quickly as a weekend day. And not just for me. Others in the office felt the same way. We had our monthly Sales and Marketing Team Meeting with a lunch. We ate pizza and salad and birthday cake like there was no tomorrow. 

Back at our desks, in the blink of an eye, suddenly it was 2:00. And then it was 5:00, and before I knew it I was back in the deserted fifth level of the garage with the low sun skimming the downtown rooftops and sliding in through the garage window to play over the construction materials. It looked prettier than it did in the morning, and was exactly the sort of scene I would have spent an hour exploring and photographing in my days of black and white film, but today, I kind of just wanted to get home, so I didn’t allow too much time for it.

In traffic on the Aiken Street bridge.

The drives home have been allowing for more flexible routing. Lately, if the traffic isn’t all piled up on Aiken Street, I take the right and head over that bridge instead of the one on University Avenue that causes me so much aggravation. Sitting on the Aiken Street bridge provides a view of a section of the river I haven’t spent much time staring at out the car window, so it’s a nice change of scenery.

random thoughts – Day 1,679 – (Tuesday) – wet when dry

The news in October featured many stories about how dry October was. Tonight, it’s raining, but not very hard. It might be a start towards remedying the dry conditions, but only if it continues.

Bone dry everywhere except for here (10-28-24).

One place that mysteriously hasn’t been dry for the past couple weeks of dry weather is the front of my neighbor’s house, and by proximity, our shared driveway. Since the street paving project of 2018, the puddle that used to collect in the middle of the street now collects at the foot of my driveway when it rains, then it goes away after a while. During a rainfall, the water flows down the street to the drain in front of the neighbor’s house the other side of mine. 

No water is flowing to the drain with this current wet neighbor situation. My half of the driveway has had a substantial puddle for the past two weeks of bone dry weather that has included daily warnings about dry conditions and fire hazards.

Fortunately, my basement is currently dry and water pressure is normal, so I don't think the source is something on my property, but the house next door seems to be having some issues. Their front yard has a stone retaining wall that abuts the street. One corner of the wall and the entire edge along the street have been recently patched with some light-colored concrete that contrasts with the color of the wall. It’s wet all along the length of the wall and their half of the shared driveway, but most of the water has pooled at the end of my driveway.

On Monday, I submitted a service ticket on the city website. Hopefully, the water department can check things and figure it out. My favorite part of reporting the weird, watery issue was that it’s all online, just like entering service tickets at work. I was able to describe the problem and upload a photo, unfettered by restraints like water department business hours or having to speak to someone. Not that I’m antisocial or hate talking on the phone to strangers or anything. Ok, I am, and I do. And hopefully the water department can figure out what is going on and make it stop.

random thoughts – Day 1,678 – (Monday) – snooze alarm

My two current favorite things as an adult are sleeping and eating. Luckily, there is almost always enough to eat at The BungaLowell, but sleep is a moving target. My simple bed is my favorite spot in the house. 

My “ideal” bedtime as a working person was determined years ago to be around 10:00. Eight hours of sleep were pretty certain, with the morning alarm set for 6:00 a.m. There was a stretch of years this schedule worked perfectly.

My favorite spot in the house.

Then, things began to shift. When the alarm went off, I would hit “snooze” two or three times before I got up. After many months of this, I wised up and changed the alarm to 6:15, and bounced out of bed. For a while, all was good. The alarm went off, I got out of bed, the day began. 

For the past couple months, we are back to the old snooze alarm game. The alarm goes off at 6:15. Snooze is hit once, maybe twice, sometimes even three times before finally dragging myself out of bed. It’s harder now that it’s dark in the mornings. 

Adding to the excitement, for many years, October and April were sleep problem seasons. I would wake up at all hours of the night and if I happened to be asleep, there were often nightmares. The sleep thing would last for about four to six weeks and then it would sort itself out.

In more recent years, the situation has shifted. There are far fewer nightmares and I don’t wake up 100 times a night. It’s mostly because I can’t get to sleep. It’s easier to not wake up if you aren’t actually sleeping. It now sometimes takes several hours to fall asleep, and then I wake up hourly. All night long. One would think the exertion of tossing and turning would be tiring, and maybe it is, but tired isn’t necessarily the same thing as sleepy. Lately, the best sleep happens around 5:30 a.m., right before it’s time to wake up. Thank goodness for the restorative effects of morning coffee. And weekends when I can sleep late in my favorite place in the house.

random thoughts – Day 1,677 – (Sunday) – birthday shortcake

Sunday dance group is back on the active calendar for the season. There was the usual lovely Sunday morning drive down routes 113 and 119. 

On 113 in Lowell, there was the fall season heavy volume of parked cars and trailers with the boats for another regatta on the Merrimack. Police were stationed at every crosswalk to facilitate pedestrian crossings, and the fields across the street from the river were filled with parked cars instead of players and the occasional flag football, soccer, and cricket matches.  

The building where we dance has been listed for sale, so we don’t know what that will mean for our future there. This morning, after parking the car, I looked up the listing on my phone and started fantasizing about selling The BungaLowell and buying the mixed-use building which has retail at street level, the second-floor yoga/fitness studio where we dance, and a residential unit.

In my parking space fantasy, the current tenants would want to remain. On Sundays from fall through spring, I could lounge around until right before dance class and never worry about being late. I could take the yoga classes held there. And twice a week, driving from Townsend to Lowell for the department’s in-office days, I could totally despise life, but only twice a day during the drive until I win the lottery and retire. Then I snapped back to reality, put away the phone, and entered the building for dance group, where we worked on the choreography for an event we’re performing at in December.

Strawberry shortcake for Mom's birthday.

After dance, the family met at my sister’s house for Mom’s birthday lunch. We had spaghetti and meatballs and strawberry shortcake, which was her favorite birthday meal as a kid. There was salad and fresh French bread and scali bread. We had a Facetime call with my niece and her husband in Vegas. As is our new usual protocol at family gatherings, we forgot to take any photos. It seems like once the kids grew up we all forgot about taking pictures.

Back in Lowell, the deal I tend to strike with myself when driving home is this – when passing Market Basket on Fletcher Street, if the parking lot isn’t packed, I go in to shop. At 5:00 tonight, the lot wasn’t full, so I went in. Produce, canned diced tomatoes, bananas, frozen mixed vegetables, and ice cream were gathered. Supper was caramel swirl chocolate chunk ice cream. The day is basically complete. 

random thoughts – Day 1,676 – (Saturday) – brightly colored balls

Mexican souvenirs.

When traveling, I don’t usually buy a lot of souvenirs. There might be one or two gifts and a few small items that I am drawn to. For several years, the preferred souvenir for myself was a shot glass, but after years of 20+ shot glasses living in a box in the laundry closet, the practice was stopped.

The random cheap tchotchkes I was drawn to in Mexico were a cheap plastic and black lace fan and several porcelain figurines – a purple painted cat, two small sugar skulls, a Mayan cross, and three brightly painted ornament balls that I thought might be cool on a Christmas tree, especially the black tinsel one. 

Today, while relaxing with coffee, I was looking around the living room and the Mexico souvenirs still on the side table and the dining room buffet visible from the couch. It seemed the painted ornaments might look cool in a bowl, but then I couldn’t figure out which bowl and where it might live. On the already crowded buffet, three bone china candle holders have lived with the tiny remnants of multicolored ball candles bought from Marshall’s or TJ Maxx. They went unburned for ages, and then I fell for that “don’t ‘save the pretty things’ enjoy them now, live for today” thinking. The candles were lit. 

Over time and several uses, the ball candles were burned down to small bits. Over the course of many years, new multicolored ball candles were searched for in shops and online, and never found again. Not a one. Burning the candles offered a smidge of enjoyment. Searching to replace them offered nothing but prolonged aggravation. So much for “enjoy the things today.”

This morning, the idea hit to put the painted ornament balls in the candle holders. Bam! Much better than the burned down nubs of irreplaceable candles, and no need to find a spot for a bowl of balls. Sometimes the impulse purchases work out perfectly and don't end up living in a box. And I can stop searching for the now extinct multicolored ball candles.

random thoughts – Day 1,675 – (Friday) – time, music, book

For some reason, the past two Fridays have dragged. There have been very few of us in the office and a few colleagues were off for the day, and for parts of the day it felt like time stood still. My slice of pizza lunch was devoured by 11:00, which felt like 3:00. A chunk of the afternoon was spent with earbuds in and the music of The Dresden Dolls playing while I reviewed and deleted duplicate files on our department server. The task was meditative, and perfect for an afternoon with nothing on a tight deadline, but the time passed slowly, even with the musical soundtrack.

Dizzy Dragons.

There was a quick early afternoon walk in the sunshine and cool air. The Bank parking lot had a few new features for an event on Saturday. There was a "Dizzy Dragons" ride next to a truck labeled "the Ultimate Illusion." Across the lot, a structure labeled "Dragon Wagon" was set up near the Quilt Museum. Tomorrow, the "Pumpkins and Pints" event will be underway with Navigation Brewing for the adult-types and the rides for the younger set. 

Over at Lala Books, there was a casual ramble through the shop. As I browsed the shop like a pinball bouncing around in a game, I hoped for a title or a cover design to leap off the shelf and grab my attention. This used to happen all the time in a different chapter of life, but it hasn’t happened lately.

Haunted Lowell.

I left the store empty-handed, but paused to look at the display in the window. That's where I saw the book that I intended to buy but forgot about while in the store. But the window display did its job and I went back inside to ask about the book. 

I left with the prize, Haunted Lowell – Ghosts, Goths, and Ghouls by Lowell writers Amy Roeder and Edward S. Read. The cover is fun and this is the perfect week of the year to read stories including those about a haunted restaurant and theater and Lowell-connected serial killers. And I know one of the authors, so that will add an element of fun. 

The house has been making weird noises lately, so that will add to the spooky ambiance. Between the weird creaks in the walls, the odd mechanical noises in the refrigerator, the random toilet tank noises, and a host of unidentified sounds, the setting is perfect for the new book.

The evening at home has not passed as slowly as the day at work. It never does. Why? So unfair.

random thoughts – Day 1,674 – (Thursday) – pizza love

For at least a week, I kept thinking there was pizza in the freezer. Last Tuesday night, last Friday night, last Saturday afternoon, there were searches made but no pizza found. Monday, as I thought about lunch, grabbing a foil-wrapped slice of pizza from the freezer crossed my mind. Rummaging through the freezer, it was still the same halved pita pockets stuffed with cheese, quart containers of soup, bags of cheese ends, rectangles of mac and cheese, and countless random slices and heels of bread saved for that magical day I finally get around to making a chocolate bread pudding. It was a prolonged and rare situation to have none, and a mystery as to why I kept thinking there was some.

Pizza love.

Monday night I nearly ordered a pizza. It was in the order cart from the pizza, seafood, and sub place, but for some mysterious reason it turned into an order for a steak and cheese sub with peppers, onions, and mushrooms instead. It was good, but not completely satisfying. There wasn’t enough cheese and the volume of onions, peppers, and mushrooms was practically non-existent. And most importantly, it wasn’t pizza.

Wednesday morning, while looking in the freezer for something to take to the office for lunch, it was pizza on my mind all over again, and there was still none. Funny how that works out. Buy none, have none. The lunch carried to work on Wednesday was a rectangle of frozen mac and cheese with a side of the last of the oven roasted brussels sprouts, broccoli, and carrots. Delicious, but not pizza. Wednesday’s dinner was all set with the work event, but when lunchtime rolled around again today, I was thinking about pizza. Again. Still.

An online delivery order was placed with the preferred neighborhood pizza purveyor. For a pizza this time. The beauty of online ordering is I don't have to deal with "eww, really?" when I place my order (yes, this used to happen in the call on the phone to order pizza days).

In about 40 minutes, I was lunching on a slab of fresh, hot, delicious pizza topped with the sweet and salty magic of pineapple and Kalamata olives. Supper was also a slice of pizza. Now there are foil-wrapped pizza slices in the freezer and for the next week or so, I can stop disappointing myself when I look for pizza. So easy. But why did I wait so long? It's like I hardly even know myself sometimes. Duh.

random thoughts – Day 1,673 – (Wednesday) – spirit

Foggy river morning.

It was a weirdly gray and foggy morning. Moody. Mysterious. It was a combination of perfectly spooky Halloween weather and a water color painting. 

Viewed from the Bridge Street bridge, the river was shrouded in fog and practically invisible. The smokestacks on the mill buildings were more like abstract suggestions than solid brick structures. The time spent sitting on on the bridge was a pleasant moment to enjoy the fog and mist. 

Fall colors.

By the afternoon, the temperature was in the high 70s and it was sunny. The weather practically demanded an afternoon walk. The chosen route was over by the canal and the new court center. The trees had multiple levels of fall color going on. There were bright reds and gold, faded and muted reds and gold, and totally bare. I stupidly wore my suit jacket outside and by the time I got back to my desk I was overheating.  

In addition to the fall colors and spooktacular Halloween events, October is the month of our regional spirit dinners for work. It’s spirit in the community, team camaraderie, company pride type of spirit, not the Halloween spooky haunted type spirit, although that would be on theme for October in general. I was on vacation the week the dinner for my work location was held, so tonight I attended the dinner for a different region.

At first, I was kind of nervous attending an event without the full entourage of my Marketing comrades. I was afraid I wouldn’t know many people at the dinner, but that was an unfounded source of nerves. I knew quite a lot of people and had a chance to chat with several of them over dinner in a relaxed setting. Of course I had a good time and all the insecurities about being there “alone” felt silly once I was there.

The event was at Salvatore’s in Lawrence, and opened with a cocktail hour with a cheese and cold cut board and bruschetta. The dinner buffet had salad, roasted veggies, mashed potato, butternut squash ravioli, chicken with mushrooms, and steak tips. The dessert table featured chocolate chip cookies, cannoli, and thick brownies. So yummy.

Buffet feast.

There were raffle prize drawings ranging from gift cards for stores and airline tickets to fancy coffee machines, a Roomba, Apple products, and the most popular item, a high-end sick vacuum. It’s amusing to me that the most popular raffle item for a couple years going is a vacuum. I didn’t win anything this year, even though I was eyeballing a beautiful hard-sided, dark blue carry-on bag and also the airline tickets.

The traffic heading in to Lawrence was on the heavy and horrible side, and twice I was stuck in the wrong lane to make the left turn that Waze waited too long to tell me about to plan correctly. No worries, I got there just fine, and was glad that I live close to the office and don't have a longer commute regularly. The ride home was a breeze, and maybe it’s not actually driving that I hate, it’s traffic. Good to know.

random thoughts – Day 1,672 – (Tuesday) – sick day

Normally, my stomach is tolerant. Rugged, even. Definitely not delicate. Except for today.

For whatever mysterious reason(s), today my stomach decided to be annoyingly, extra dainty. It was flipping and flopping and churning all morning and I just wanted to go lie down. I ended up taking sick time to retire to the couch, safely away from any danger of expelling my stomach's contents on the company-owned computer equipment. Of course, because my stomach is usually iron-clad, there are no antacids or stomach medications in the house.

Binge watching Season 7 of Love Is Blind was a great diversion from the unpleasant gymnastics competition taking place in my digestive system. Participants on the allegedly unscripted show try to find a love connection through conversational dates (sight unseen) in an attempt to find a love connection. Dates take place with each person segregated in a “pod” and talking “through the wall.” They finally meet in person for the first time after they become engaged, and the show moves into a vacation setting, then back home as the couples continue to learn about each other, meet the families, and move towards a wedding date six weeks away.

The tree out back.

Observation on the show: All the 20- and 30-something year old participants are attractive, basically a nine or a ten, with one or two outlier eights. A couple of the participants seemed stiff, like they had been coached to behave a certain way that possibly went against their true nature for the sake of “good TV.” That reminded me of UnReal, a drama series available on Netflix that is set behind the scenes of a reality show.

I stepped outside the cocoon of the house for a minute to check the mail and visit the back yard. Out back, I looked at the big tree which is finally changing colors. The outermost leaves had begun to turn red, but now they are more gold and orange with still some green. I took a minute to  reset the fence post caps that the squirrels keep knocking off the posts. 

There was also a close-up look at the neighbor’s pop-up shade tent, still in my yard and looking like a bug on its back since I returned from Mexico. The neighbor’s cars move in and out of the driveway daily, but I rarely see the occupants of the house to talk with them. 

Not my canopy dead in my yard.

Maybe they haven’t looked in their back yard for the past couple weeks to notice the relocation of their canopy. Maybe they are waiting for me to deliver either the canopy to their yard or an engraved invitation to come and collect it from my yard. No idea, but the only thing I’m sure of is being tired of seeing it every day when I open the curtain in the window over the sink. If it wasn’t so awkward, and/or if I had some upper body strength, I would heave it over the fence myself.

Then it was back to the couch, still feeling kind of icky. 

random thoughts – Day 1,671 – (Monday) – vacation did and didn't

Riviera Maya.

It has been more than a week since returning from vacation in Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya. There has been time to reflect on the things done and not done during the week away.

The week included photo-worthy casual and fine dining prepared by professional cooks. Live entertainment performed by professionals. The jungle setting afforded opportunities to see the local critters including croati, capybara, iguana, flamingoes and lots of birds. There was light shopping, done for fun. There was a tequila tasting (coffee tequila is magic).  

Vacation decisions.

The weather included sunshine, clouds, high temperatures, humidity, thunder, and brief periods of rain. There were early mornings with sunrises. And days of sleeping late. Pool and beach in the same day. There was relaxing in a lounge chair with a book. Floating in the Gulf of Mexico on an inflatable float. 

The things not done while on vacation were equally amazing. There was minimal decision-making. The toughest decisions during vacation were: Do I want a drink? (usually) Oh, that drink is pretty, should I get that? (it was good) Should I have more desserts? (always).

Email was ignored for most of the week, except to check for airline updates. There was not a single thought about work. No concerns about Wordle streaks or Words with Friends. No driving. No traffic. No stress about what to wear to the office-office. No sunburn (thank you SPF 50!). 

Desserts!

Perhaps the biggest and best omission during vacation was avoiding the news. The closest thing to acknowledging life outside the resort was a glance at the TVs in the sports bar to watch a few minutes of women's wrestling and to see which football and soccer games were on. 

The things done and the things not done on vacation were wonderful, welcome, and necessary. Now the next big things to think about are Where am I going next? (it's a big world of adventure) And how soon can I go? (not soon enough).

random thoughts – Day 1,670 – (Sunday) – ice age

Things at The BungaLowell were much calmer today. Kiki has been curled up and hiding in the corner at the top of the stairs and mostly avoiding me since we got home yesterday. She might still be feeling poorly from the Gabapentin “chill protocol” and the two shots, because all the treats I set in the usual treat spots last night before I went to bed were still in place this morning. 

Stuffed fish snack platter.

She came downstairs once today and was approaching the stuffed fish toy she ignores except when she's eating the treats I put on it. She saw me approach, and turned around and walked away from her beloved Temptations Treats snacks. She is as subtle as a train wreck. 

The napping may be a sign that Keeks is still nursing the sting of my human betrayal. In any event, she is not my top fan this weekend and I can understand that.

She will let me come up the stairs and stroke her head, but there are very definite limits and she backs away after about 30 seconds. I can take a hint. Now, I’ll be groveling and trying to worm my way back into her good graces while waiting to see just how long she can hold a grudge. If it’s anything like some people I know, it could be a long, frosty stretch of time like a new Ice Age.

On the bright side, Kiki doesn’t have to go to the vet for any routine stuff for another year, so the deep freeze will have time to thaw. It also allows a year for me to work on getting her into the carrier and taking her on short rides with a reward at the end. Maybe I’ll get all kinds of brave and try to get her collar on her. And a cute Santa hat. There are so many potential ways for me to annoy my beloved pet.

random thoughts – Day 1,669 – (Saturday) – drama, art, and music

The day was full. There was drama, terror, music, and art.

The drama today was a follow-up to the Friday night terrorization of Kiki to give her Gabapentin for her vet visit this morning. The dosing took an hour of me trying to psych myself up, then another hour of cajoling, begging, and chasing her around the house. It was midnight when I finally caught her when she tried to hide behind the couch. As she meowed in anger, stress, fear, or whatever it was, I pointed the syringe thingy into her mouth and pushed the plunger. Then I apologized. Profusely.

The dosing ordeal was repeated this morning. She was a bit slower from the dose the night before, but still crafty and on high alert. I finally caught her in the litter box cabinet and stuck the syringe into her mouth while she meowed. Round Two of the morning's battle of wits involved me trying to get her into the carrier. There was bloodshed (mine). There were histrionics with crying and screaming (Kiki).

Kiki at the vet.

The medicated version of Kiki at the vet was much calmer than the wildcat version seen in March's visit. She had her wellness exam and received her rabies and distemper shots and we were on our way. The whole time in the car and part of the time in the vet office all were serenaded with the operatic musical stylings of Miss Kiki. When we were in the car, I sang along with her, but I couldn’t tell if it helped the situation or not.

Once home, Kiki vacated her carrier, climbed to the top of the stairs, and hunkered down in the corner. I discovered she had been sick in the carrier, which the vet said was a possible side effect of the shots. Poor Kiki. She stayed in the corner at the top of the stairs all day and into the night.

There was a new festival in town this weekend. It celebrated Edgar Allan Poe and his visits to Lowell in 1848 and 1849. Around noon, while avoiding housework and attending various afternoon events, I had decided to attend the “Dream Within a Dream” event at Gallery Z at 7 p.m. An RSVP was done on their Eventbrite site. By 3:00 I was debating the merits of having a nap. At 4:30, brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms were being sautéed in the cast iron fry pan to toss over rice and dress with Kalamata olives. By 5:15, the afternoon nap not taken was sounding mighty appealing.

Singing in Gallery Z.

The next hour was spent trying to talk myself either into or out of actually attending the event.  Arguments against attending included being tired and I was snuggled under blanket, and there were lots of new shows on Netflix. The main argument in favor of attending was that I had voluntarily signed up on the site to attend, and I hate to not keep my word. In the end, I combed my hair, got in the car, drove downtown, and went.

The event was in an art gallery/café with walls filled with art by local artists. It opened with a reading of Poe’s poem “A Dream Within a Dream” and a brief talk about his visits to Lowell. Local singer songwriter Amy Beauregard entertained with her guitar. There was a goth fashion show. There were many donated raffle items and lots of art reception food. It was fun, and I was glad to have gone. It almost always works out that way. All I have to do is take that step out the door.

random thoughts – Day 1,668 – (Friday) – hard work

It was another one of those short holiday weeks that felt extra-long. It wasn’t that it was especially busy or slow or stressful, it was just one of those time warp weeks that felt forever long. Especially today.

The ride downtown was preceded by a visit to the vet office which opened at 8:00 to pick up Kiki’s medicine that was prescribed to calm her before her appointment tomorrow. The drive to work was easy, but at the still under repair garage, the first three levels were packed full. I took the ramp that was bisected with plastic sheeting to the the fourth level. It was mostly vacant and eerie and half the floor, including the side with the elevator and the stairwell to John Street. I was trying to figure out how I would get myself out of there at 8:30 and then the car after 5:00.

In the office, I was the only person on my side of the suite, which always feels eerie. There were two people on the other side and we saw each other only briefly. I had already met the two-day in-office requirement on Thursday and could have been remote. I had erroneously assumed, with no information whatsoever, that there would be more people onsite. This morning had a moment of reflection and questioning what possessed me to get dressed, drive downtown, park, and work on-site.

At the office, I needed to commandeer my manager’s computer for a Zoom meeting because only certain desktop computers on the floor have cameras. It took 17 minutes to log out the email on my computer and log into the other computer, then another six minutes for Zoom to load. Once in the program, the audio was screwy and we couldn’t hear each other. It took another five minutes of pantomime, an in-meeting chat, clicking various buttons and audio settings, and relaunching the online meeting to finally be able to hold our meeting. 

Being in-office wasn’t a total disaster. There was a project that needed test printing and I was able to get it tested, printed on the office machine, and packaged to go to a branch. There were some vinyl graphics I needed to prepare and bring to the mail room for delivery back to the vendor for recycling.

Under her eye.

After work was the real hard work. The meds I’m supposed to give to Kiki are a liquid administered orally, and the vet tech said it tastes bad. (I didn’t ask if she knew this firsthand.) Kiki is supposed to have a dose tonight and another two hours before her appointment on Saturday. This is the cat that won’t let me touch her with two hands. She's been keeping an eye on me from the chair all night. 

I’ve already tried luring her with the usual evening treats and she is smart enough to know something is up. She ran under the dining room table. 

I have no idea how I will pull off administering the doses tonight and again tomorrow. And if the veterinary world knows the stuff tastes bad to the animals that need to receive it, why have they not added a flavor? And the real questions – how late will I be up chasing the cat around the house trying to squirt some nasty tasting stuff in her mouth. How much furniture will need to be moved? Who will cry first, Kiki or me?

random thoughts – Day 1,667 – (Thursday) – casual fun

Today was an office day, because I had plans to attend an event after work. There was an event with DIY Lowell hosted by a law office a block away from the office. The venue is a historic building that was once the Lowell Gas & Light Company, and later, the Revolving Museum. It features a colorful garden at street level, a rooftop deck, and some interesting views of downtown.

View from a downtown rooftop deck.

On the deck, it was slightly chilly, but comfortable. A musician sang and played guitar while the guests mingled and chatted on the deck. Leaning over the deck rail and looking between some buildings, it was possible to see the setting sun. Later, evening light reflected off downtown apartment windows and soon, lights began to glow from within.

Inside, there was a spread of amazing food catered by Fork Included, an Asian fusion restaurant in town. I had heard of Fork, but not had their food yet, so I was glad for the opportunity to check it out. It was delicious. There was fried rice, spring rolls, garlic tofu, cauliflower, and two chicken dishes. There were desserts including homemade apple crisp, cookies, cupcakes, and more.

In addition to a casual, pleasant setting and fabulous food, the event was an opportunity to hear about the projects DIY Lowell has nurtured and leave ideas for potential future projects. It was a chance to catch up with some folks I haven’t seen in a while, socialize with a couple colleagues, and meet a few new people. And I was home by 7:30, so it was winning night all around.

When I left the event to go home, I was handed a cardboard takeaway box and invited to take some of the food. Yes, please. I left with a box of delicousness and now lunch is settled for tomorrow. Perfect!

random thoughts – Day 1,666 – (Wednesday) – driving and listening

The garage was a horror show this morning. The first several levels were packed full, then there was a plastic sheeting bisecting the ramp to the remaining upper levels and it wasn’t clear to what degree they were accessible or not. A guy in a truck left his spot and I nabbed it without further wondering or stress.

After work there was a plan to attend the New Hampshire Humanities event beginning at 6:30 at Tupelo Music Hall. The guest speaker was Gregory Maguire, author of the book Wicked,(and many other books). Wicked became a Broadway hit and is soon to be released as a movie. There was no time to go home first and I stayed at the office, waiting for the Lowell traffic to calm down and facilitate the journey. 

Where are the cars? Oops, wrong floor.

When I arrived at the garage, I trotted up to the fourth level upon which I usually park and was met with a desolate scene. The floor was deserted. It inspired a moment of panic as I wondered where all the cars had gone, and most importantly, where my car had gone. I took a deep breath, swallowed the panic, and I went down to the third level, which was as packed with cars as at 8:30 a.m. and was where I had parked today.

During the drive, the sky was pale sky-blue pink and the round, bloated, silver moon was inching upward in the sky. It was beautiful. I have seen few full moons this year, due to forgetting to look or being in the wrong place/wrong time to see it. I was glad to see it tonight.

My friend from work and I arrived in the parking lot at the same time and entered the building to check in and get our table assignments. She knew several people working at the event and introductions were made. Two people were already seated at the table, which featured a centerpiece of a black box with an array of snacks. The two ladies at the table were deep into chomping on bags of popcorn.

The eldest lady, decked out in a bright red jacket with 1980s-era puffy sleeves, allowed for quick introductions, then launched into a tale of her time living in Rome for seven years and teaching at US Department of the Military schools, and blah, blah, blah. And she continued yapping about herself, not allowing anyone else a chance to get a word in.

When two new people joined to complete the table set for six, she asked them a question and used it to launch into her dissertation all over again. She dominated the conversation about what seemed to be her favorite subject – herself – until the lights were dimmed for the presentation. It was kind of terrifying in the sense that it reminded me of myself. Sometimes, but not all the time, thank gawd. Then I hoped I was being paranoid and just imagining I’m like that. Then I was scared all over again that probably I am like the lady in the red jacket.

Red jacket lady also singlehandedly proceeded to eat most of the contents of the snack box intended for the whole table. She was crinkling the bags and chomping her Chex Mix which sounded as loud as rocks once the program had begun. Her friend even leaned over once or twice and shushed her. She was writing notes with a pencil on yellow paper and they were the loudest notes I’ve ever heard scratched out.

Gregory Maguire and Jaed Coffin.

In and around the noise of the lady to my right, the presentation took place on the stage with two writers seated in armchairs and talking. Jaed Coffin, journalist, memoirist, lecturer, and associate professor of English at University of New Hampshire asked keynote speaker and author Gregory Maguire questions about his life and his work and what inspires it. 

Maguire coped with his childhood, which began with his mother dying during his birth and had some rough spots for a while after, by reading fairy tales. Eventually, he invented his own worlds in his writing, which began at an early age and which he still has stored in a box. It was interesting, entertaining, and inspiring. Maybe I'll finally get to reading some of the Maguire volumes sitting on my shelf for years.

random thoughts – Day 1,665 – (Tuesday) – back in the saddle

It was the first day "back in the saddle" at work after vacation and it had a slightly rough start, like the 100 grit on my new emery boards. As I sat sipping coffee before work, I heard a familiar and wretched  sound from the neighbor’s driveway. They were scraping the car windshield. I wanted to cry. It feels too early for that crap! I wished I was still in Mexico where the temperature is in the 80s.

It was a remote day, so I was spared windshield clearing, but the system log-in was rough. The first system alert screaming at me was that my password had expired on Sunday the 13th. That’s when I remembered the email notifying me of the upcoming expiration about two weeks ago and that I had intended to change it before vacation. Then I forgot about it, and that meant calling the help desk this morning. It took multiple efforts and a half-hour to get it reset. So much for logging on 30 minutes early to get a jump on things.

Once finally logged in, the email inbox had only 279 emails, which was much better than expected. There were times when there were 100 emails for each day out of the office. One was the shared email with the link for the daily newspaper. I got an error message that the login was locked out, so catching up on the local news was out of the question. There was a voice mail from the print shop to which I sent an order at the end of August that was to be delivered directly to another department.

At the end of September, I learned it hadn’t been delivered. It seems the print shop forgot to do it, but they didn’t say that, exactly. What they said was, “we’ll look into it.” On Monday the 7^th, they left a voice mail that it was ready for pickup, which would be great, but the instructions asked for delivery, meaning that once they finally got around to printing it (a month late), it sat in their shop for another week because they failed to consult the print instructions that accompanied the artwork file. I hope they don’t spend too much time wondering why I don’t send them many projects, because this isn’t the first screw up.

By 9:00, I was ready to run away. Fortunately, the day sorted itself out and was less annoying, more like the 180 grit side of the emery board. At 10:00 I was in a webinar about a new time card process which didn’t run as long as scheduled and I could get back to business. Soon, I had several new ads set up in the graphics queue.

After work, it was soup for supper then off to dance class. I hoped to see the comet on the drive, but I didn’t. I missed class last week because I was on vacation and tonight I was totally lost. It’s amazing how much is covered in a one-hour class and how far behind I was from missing just one session. Yikes. The new dance we are working on has some fast footwork and really cool moves, and once I master them it will be great, but tonight I was a bumbling doofus without a clue. Hopefully, next week I’ll be better.

Soup season in full swing.

And just like that, everything is back to the ordinary. Kiki is back to mostly ignoring me and the affection bestowed upon my return was shirt-lived. The morning kicked off with the usual granola bar and work annoyances for breakfast, leftover sweet potato fries for lunch, and soup topped with cheese for supper because I was chilly and I also love cheese. 

The weekend will likely see a pot of vegetable stock simmering on the stove with all the onion skins and ends and broccoli stems accumulated in the freezer over the summer. Unless it's suddenly and miraculously hot, in which case, I may be at the beach pretending it's still summer.

random thoughts – Day 1,664 – (Monday) – back in the real world

Welcome back to the real world.

Things are easing back into the usual at-home holiday day-off routine after the excitement of packing, traveling, and unpacking. Even the TV welcomed me back to the real-world routine (in three languages) after the pretty-much-on-schedule reboot of the cable box, which has been required roughly every three or four weeks for the past eight years. 

There was a brief respite after the box was replaced a couple years ago, but the problem is back and is so annoying. The app troubleshooter never detects a problem, and neither do the reps at Comcast, who take about 30 minutes to deliver no solution, so now I just turn it off and turn it back on all by myself and cut out the time consuming middleman.

This time of year generally includes the usual seasonal wardrobe changeover from summer to fall/winter. The holiday morning provided time for packing away the freshly laundered clothing taken on vacation with the other summer clothes pulled from the closet during the trip packing process.

For decades, my seasonal clothing storage philosophy has been “like things together.” Dresses are in one space bag, pants in another, tee shirts in another, and so on. There are always a few rogue items that are jammed into a bag with a different clothing category very late in the process, so the favorite shorts might end up with a few favorite shirts, a random swim suit, an office jacket, and a dress.

 As I was nearly finished the day’s wardrobe effort, a new idea struck. The altered concept would be to group items as outfits, such as shorts, capris, and skirts packed with coordinating tops. This way, if my imaginary life took an exciting turn with another warm-weather trip, I could toss a space bag or two into a suitcase and be on my way, spared the agony, overthinking, and gathering that came with packing for Mexico.

Everything was packed into a compression bags for the trip anyway, so this concept could really simplify things. Too bad I didn’t think of it until after the tee shirts, summer pants, skirts, and dresses were all already sorted and categorized into bags with the air sucked out. Maybe when I pack up the fall/winter stuff I’ll think of it in time.

After the wardrobe changeover work, it was back to the couch under a blanket half-watching Black Sails while reading social media feeds, news, and playing Words with Friends and other phone games. A grocery list was scratched out with butter, rice, the Tajin spice we had on pineapple at Tulum, and broccoli. At 3:15 a trip was made to Market Basket where the list of four things magically turned into a cart with 19 things. I often overachieve at Market Basket.

Had I stuck to the list, the total would have been about $12, but it came to $44 with the extras. For some reason, I can’t resist the dates when I enter the store and see them displayed near the dairy department (not on the list). There was a two-pound package of a variety of cheese ends (not on the list). My favorite flavor of the often-scarce creamy chicken brick ramen and the even rarer savory herb and garlic soup and dip mix were in stock (not on the list). I finally found where they keep the Gardein vegetarian meat substitute in this particular store location and bought the scrambled pretend meat (not on the list).

Rice and beans dinner.

Supper had a bit of a Mexican flair to it. A few minutes in the kitchen yielded rice with onions, black beans, vegetarian meat crumbles, Tajin seasoning, salsa, cheddar cheese, and a side of corn chips. It was delicious, even if I had to make it myself. 

And suddenly, it’s nearly 8:00 p.m. and tomorrow is a work day. Vacation and leisure happy time is officially over.

random thoughts – Day 1,663 – (Sunday) – crashing back into reality

DIY Breakfast.

The last day of the vacation trip was filled with travel. The first few hours at home were filled with laundry before going to bed. There was a decent night's sleep with some crazy dreams featuring cameo appearances by some of my travel friends. 

Today was needed to recover from all the activity of travel, because, despite the eight hours of sleep, I was still tired and sometimes regular life can be an exhausting letdown. Thank goodness it’s Sunday with a Monday holiday because I really need the cushion to adjust to the crash landing back into reality. 

The resort had buffets and cooked to order menu items all day and night long. The BungaLowell (my house) had six eggs, some black olives, a few slices of American cheese, and a jar of sweet relish in the fridge and not much more. Two eggs were used to make a cheese omelet. By me. I had to do it myself. Nobody poured my coffee and added the cream. The toast was underdone. The butter was too cold to spread. And nobody cleaned up the egg pan afterward. Talk about a two-bit operation.

The vacation resort had juice.

There is no fresh fruit, no muffins, and no pastries. No colorful array of juices lined up on a counter, two pitchers deep. I never even got to find out what the Palladium resort "green juice" at breakfast tastes like because I ran out of days. I almost stayed an extra couple days and now I wish I had. This new hellhole has no juice at all, except for a can of frozen lemonade concentrate bought for a summer recipe I never got around to making. 

Home life is nothing like an all-inclusive vacation. the only “all-inclusive” here is that all the chores are included in my life's responsibilities. Trash, recycling, and yard waste day are tomorrow, so the team (once again, me) better get busy because the pickups are often early. Yuck.

The grounds are a mess.

At the resort, there were countless workers swinging machetes to trim trees. Workers walked the property to pick up trash and set everything right. I could use the services of a couple of them here. At present, The BungaLowell is hosting the neighbor’s pop-up shade tent which seems to have blown over the four-foot picket fence to rest upside down in my back yard. Two of the post caps from the six-foot fence on the back property line are laying in the yard, knocked off by either the squirrels or wind. There are probably more little surprises, but I never went outside today.

Humidity makes my
hair extra fluffy. 

The staff at The BungaLowell (me) was tired and slept late today. I didn’t go to dance class, which was stupid. It would likely have helped work out the upper body soreness from the foreign vacation activities of swimming and water aerobics and the mild leg soreness from all the walking. Instead of logging the 8,000 to 17,000 steps recorded daily with vacation activity, I was a lump on the couch huddled under a blanket. At 8:25 p.m., the fitness watch showed 668 steps. Regular home life could kill me.

My laptop seems to still think it’s still in Playa del Carmen and is showing the temperature at 83 degrees. I get it laptop, I wish we were still in that weather, too, instead of swathed in fleece, sitting under a blanket with the home thermostat showing 65 degrees with the heat on and the gas bill increasing with each passing minute. 

The only part of me that is finding the dry, cool, New England air beneficial is my hair. It has dropped its slightly wild, voluminous, bushy, humidity-induced look and has returned to its mostly flatter, calmer state. It didn't help that I forgot to pack my everyday comb and brush so styling was extra challenging with just finger combing and the small pick in my travel bag.

Beyond Burger Dinner.

For dinner tonight, I had to order an a la carte delivery (at an additional cost), because apparently The BungaLowell food service staff has gone on strike. At least the "Beyond Burger Dinner" was delivered quickly and still hot. The sweet potato fries were extra tasty. The salad and more than half the fries were saved for Monday's lunch, to delay grocery shopping until the afternoon in case of another slow moving morning.

If I were leaving a review of today's accommodations, most of the categories would get zero stars. The service stinks, the food prepared onsite was mediocre, the weather is not so great, and the grounds are unattended. There is laundry drying all over the bathroom and laundry closet. The only interesting feature of the facility is the performance art entertainment provided by a sweet little cat which sometimes appears to meow and then hides. The entertainment would get five stars. The rest of the staff should be dismissed.

random thoughts – Day 1,662 – (Saturday) – home again

The travel days are probably the worst days of a vacation. There is the rushing to and then and waiting around in queues for shuttles and in the airport, and the crowds. After landing, there is the waiting for baggage, which felt especially long at Logan today. Then there was a wait for the Logan Express bus to Woburn, which wasn’t too bad, and the ride home, which was also not bad.

Today’s 14-hour travel day began at 6:00 a.m. to finish off the packing with the pajamas worn Friday night and the toiletries used this morning, and confirm the screenshots of the digital documents because wi-fi is often spotty or not always available. 

The bags were scheduled to be picked up and brought to the lobby at 7:00, followed by breakfast at the buffet restaurant off the lobby, where I finally scored some of the French toast I wanted on Friday but couldn't get to. There was time for a quick stop back at the room for a final check and to use the bathroom before checking out and boarding the shuttle to the airport to arrive the recommended three hours before the 12:40 pm flight time.

The Cancun airport is nice – clean, modern, and filled with shops and food places. The check-in and bag drop were quick, which left lots of time to leave some more money in Mexico. I’m sure this is by design.

My final financial contribution to the Cancun-area economy was the purchase of a $17 veggie burrito filled with rice, beans, roasted peppers, guacamole, salsa, corn, and hot sauce. I was already getting hungry and knew there wouldn't be much available o eat on the plane. On the walk from the food court back to the gate, the burrito felt heavy enough to qualify for a weight lifting program. It was fresh and delicious and the second breakfast/early-ish lunch was devoured at the gate. Now I’ll spend the rest of forever trying to find another one just as good and closer to home. 

My friend bought an adorable Mexican blanket coat for her dog at a shop with nothing but pet tee shirts, dresses, coats, and collars, but I was pretty sure Kiki would have no part of such garments. She got her regular, everyday treats when I arrived home.

I was cold in the airport, then cold on the plane. A friend’s fleece jacket became the lap blanket that helped me endure the flight. The airline "snack," presented as if it was a gourmet meal, was a bag of plantain chips, which are delicious but not substantial and I was glad to have had the burrito earlier. 

I felt less cold at the Logan Express lot in Woburn than on the plane, but the best part of being in my car was blasting the heater. I miss the Mexican heat and humidity, even though my hair looked like a tumbleweed most of the week.

Not so many souvenirs.

Finally home at around 8:00, after the journey by van, plane, bus, and car, there were greetings to Kiki, and the suitcase was abandoned in the kitchen, right outside the laundry closet. Kiki was very vocal, and I couldn’t tell if she was happy to see me or was delivery a lecture. My friend checked on her a couple times while I was away, so I knew her food and water had been taken care of, and new treats had been planted, but I wondered how she would be feeling.

The clothes went straight from the suitcase into the washer. Hot laundry, fresh from the dryer, was folded on the couch. The few souvenirs were liberated from the gift shop brown paper that the clerks had taped securely for packing. It seemed to be norm across shops to use generous amounts of packing paper and excessive amounts of tape.

Kiki is watching me closely.

The laundry and tchotchke unwrapping was done under the very watchful eye of Kiki. Sometimes she was observing from the dining room, sometimes from very nearby in the living room, but her gaze was constant. Maybe she was taking inventory of the few items brought back, some of which are intended as gifts.

Kiki approached for head rubs every few minutes. I dare say she may have missed me. Maybe she’ll let me pick her up, but I'm afraid to press my luck with that. 

random thoughts – Day 1,661 – (Friday) – more food, more leisure

It was another day in paradise. The sky was blue and the sun was out. There was a sort-of plan to catch the sunrise, but when the alarm went off at 6:15, I just couldn’t get up and slept for another couple hours. I guess the 17,110 steps logged during the adventure day at Tulum had caught up with me. Today was a little easier at only 11,344 steps. I barely log 4,00 on an in-office day, and about 1,200 on a home office day.

Breakfast eggs and bagel.

Breakfast was eggs, a bagel with cream cheese and salmon, three pineapple chunks and three prunes. Why prunes? I've always liked them. Why three? No idea, it just looked nice on the plate. Mexican resort bagels are nothing like New England or New York bagels. They were small, light, and delicate. Not bad, just different. I really wanted some French toast, but the line for the made-to-order omelets was blocking access. 

The critters were active today. A dozen or so croati were on the walkway to the beach. Iguanas were lounging in the sun and walking around everywhere, including the open air beach restaurant where we ate lunch.  

Flamingos.

After an afternoon at the beach where the toughest decisions were whether or not to take the rafts in the water and if another beverage was wanted when the server appeared, we went in search of the resort's resident flamingos. It was a quick walk over where they reside and we gawked at them while they stood in the water minding their own business.

Fried banana dessert.

Dinner was at the hibachi restaurant. The food was great, but I’ve never been a fan of the interactive performance art dinner. No thank you, I don’t want to sit there with my mouth open and catch the broccoli you are going to toss at me. The dessert was fried banana with ice cream and it was a tasty treat. I'm definitely a fan of dessert, especially when I'm not asked to perform stupid human tricks for it.

I wonder how long it would take for me to grow tired or bored of this lifestyle of leisure and fun. No grocery shopping or cooking. Decision-making limited to where to lounge and for how long, and where and what to eat. It was never a question, but just in case a job is available for hopping from beach to pool to restaurants, I can make myself available. Not that it is likely to happen, except in my wildest dreams.

random thoughts – Day 1,660 – (Thursday) – adventures

Another morning, another sunrise, with a new show daily. There were no clouds, and it was different than the Wednesday sunrise. The colors in the sky were more muted than Wednesday. The waves were a bit more active and the water seemed more rippley and less shimmery. It was still beautiful, just different. 

From the beach, the next stop was the breakfast buffet where there was a line of early risers waiting for the restaurant to open. There was a timetable to adhere to this morning, with a pickup scheduled at 8:30 for a trip off the resort.

At Tulum ruins.

Today’s excursion was as advertised. A large van/small bus picked us up exactly on time from the front of the hotel and whisked us off to Tulum to see Mayan ruins. As bad as Massachusetts roads are, some of the ones we’ve traversed this week are far worse. The tour guide today said we were getting the “free Mayan massage” as we bumped along official paved roads and dirt roads to our destination.

The ruins were interesting. We learned about the orientation of the buildings and how the sun shines through the openings at very specific times of the year to note planting season and harvest. The coastline and water beyond were beautiful. We were one of the first groups of the day to go through, and when we left, hot and sweaty, the line to enter extended for what the tour guide said was one kilometer. 

There was a tequila tasting in the very large souvenir/tequila shop/ meeting spot. It was sunny and hot with a most welcome breeze. By the time we got to the second part of the excursion, a swim in a cenote, we were more than ready to cool off. Before the swimming, we got to make tortillas and eat pineapple with possibly my new favorite seasoning, Tajin Classico, a blend of chili pepper and sea salt, with a touch of dehydrated lime juice. Delicious! 

The cenote water was refreshing.

At the cenote, the water felt chilly at first, then refreshing. There were minnows swimming with us in the fresh, clear water. In just a few minutes we were revived and ready for the bus ride back.

When we returned to the hotel, we headed to the pool. That’s when the showers rolled in. It was sunny and raining. We went into the pool, because why not. There was no thunder or lightning. We had dinner at the buffet and then walked around for a while.

There was a surprise at the resort – the lobby theater had been enclosed in plywood since breakfast. The evening’s show took place in the open area of the lobby, which made seeing it difficult. I watched a lot of it through the decorative partition that separated areas of the lobby.  It’s all good – I like a challenge now and then.