31 july 2010 (s)

woke up at 4:00 this morning. it got cold over night. pulled a blanket out of the closet and went back to sleep. woke up at 6:10 after that.

checked mail when i first got up in the morning.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
coffee
iced tea
oj

e went to tudor place early. i decided to watch a few sketches from the beyond the fringe dvd. pretty good. some very dated stuff but some pretty funny material. you can certainly see the influence on the pythons and fry and laurie.

went to planet fitness at about 10:30. tried a different route that i thought would be shorter. it came out about the same. seems like a lot of serious weight lifters come out on the weekend. not very busy. treadmill, bicycle, about 8 nautilus style machines. trying to build gradually.

definitely feel better on the days when i work out.

lunch

bacon cheese burger
spicy fries
coke

at checkers in warrenton. tasty.

i watched forest gump and part of barbershop 2 when i got home. barbershop is better than b2 but b2 is pretty enjoyable. couldn't really get into beauty shop.

dinner

pizza (4 sl)
coke

had my pizza fix for the month. wish i could find a good pizza place that delivers.

we watched an episode of wodehouse playhouse from dvd. wodehouse is usually tons of fun but when he crashes and burns, he really crashes and burns. really, really, really appalling little episode. the rise of minna nordstrom. so bad it is unspeakable. we watched part of a league of their own after the wodehouse disaster just to get the taste out of our mouths.

dessert

strawberry short cake

watched the first group of songs from the pretenders concert on pbs. they sounded great. a real knack for great guitar riffs. watching chrissie on stage i had the fleeting impression that she is the female tom petty. just one of those ideas that forms somewhere down deep, bubbles up, and then confuses the hell out of you. sort of an immediate "i can see that" followed by a "huh?"

can't believe tomorrow is the first of august.

30 july 2010 (f)

woke up at about 4:15. v hot in the room. decided to go down and watch up again since i slept though part of it last night.

watched most of up this time. not as good as toy story or the incredibles but enjoyable. little kid in the movie reminded me of the fat kid on the roof in roxanne.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
iced tea

e running late this am. got to the light at vint hill and 28 just as it changed. if we'd been a minute later we would have missed it. weather v nice this am.

2nd breakfast

sausage mcmuffin
iced tea

at mcdonalds

opened up the front of the house when i got home. sun's on the back of the house. have to switch around in the afternoon.

lunch

pastrami, bologna, & cheese sandwich
iced tea
fig newtons (4)

I watched conair during lunch. i had never seen the movie from the beginning before. it made a little more sense when you see the whole thing. some very silly stuff in that movie.

picked up e at the vre at 6:20. stopped at caribou on the way home

snack

milk chocolate mocha

dinner

turkey reuben
pickle spears (2)
potato salad
iced tea

beefsteak rye is sliced a little too thin to make a reuben.

ifc was showing the full monty. we have it on dvd but ended up watching the end on cable. serendipity i guess.

after the full monty, we watched the shorts and features on the up dvd. i laughed like crazy at the dog short on the dvd. like a really funny road runner / coyote cartoon.

the james taylor and carol king concert was on pbs after that. really nice concert. the performance of fire and rain is a tour de force. really moving, really beautiful.

29 july 2010 (th)

wokr up at about 3:00 am. very stuffy in the room. opened the window to get some cooler air from outside. much more comfortable.

woke up at 6:00. karma came in petitioning for food. went down and fed cats.

installed new toaster and made toast.

breakfast

rye toast w/ butter (2)
banana
oj
iced tea

went to the gym at around 10:15. intended to go earlier but got bogged down in emails.

watched the germans demonlishing the koreans in the fifa u20 women's world cup. it was 5-1 when i stopped watching. koreans were still game though. impressed that they kept up a very high level of effort even though they were so far behind. one of the german women had a beautiful goal. she later had a pk as well. couldn't read her name though. good player.

went home and checked mail. lots of chores in the afternoon.

bank first. just started to drizzle as i turned down the road to get to the bank. as i parked it turned into a deluge. had to make deposit before 2 so i ran through the poring rain. coming out of the bank it slowed to a drizzle again. amazing.

lunch

meatball sub
chips
iced tea

at wegmans

wegmans then hair cut, then harris teeter.

the lady who cut my hair did a really good job. very chatty and nice. did not having anything good to say about the new restaurant in the mall. expensive bad food with bad service. winning combo.

came back home and got e to go to the library. checked out drood on dvd and a somerset maugham book.

dinner

waffles, eggs and bacon
coffee
iced tea

pretty good

we finally watched up this evening. i slept through part but i liked what i saw. the talking dogs really cracked me up.

before we started watching up, i watched the first 20 minutes of the commitments. i'll have to add that to netflix. haven't seen it in ages. the shots of dublin are just remarkable. the people. the apparent poverty. the old fashioned mixed with the modern. cool.

28 july 2010 (w)

woke up at 5:15. checked mail etc.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
iced tea
banana

drove e to the vre. made the train in plenty of time this time. very low on gas.

snack

milk chocolate mocha

from caribou coffee. excellent.

9:00 am concall. very hard to hear.

foot still sore.

lunch

pastrami, bologna, and cheese on sub roll
mac salad
pickle
chips
iced tea

really good sandwich. reading the paper and watching that 70's show. channel lost the feed. the show froze. switched around until i found the big gay sketch show. if you haven't seen it, DON'T! really obvious jokes that straight people would be condemned. like a really bad episode of mad tv. ok. even worse than a really bad episode of mad tv. started to watch love, valor, compassion! (or whatever) but the fruity flaminess was too much. went back to work.

had to head back to the train early so i could get some gas. v hot in the arternoon. oddly, though, my foot stopped hurting just after I got out of the shower. throbbing one minute. quite comfortable the next. i think an invisible person must have treated it with a tricorder. nice relief.

steaming as i waited at the train station. had to get pet food after that.

dinner

asian chicken salad
french fries
iced tea

at red robin. fries were excellent. salad could have used more asian-ness and more chicken but was fresh and pretty tasty.

we watched the paul mccartney gershwin prize special on pbs. good concert. i think dave grohl may have brought down the house with band on the run. nice to see stevie and paul perform together. a little too much hey jude / let it be. really liked the herbie hancock number as well.

27 july 2010 (t)

woke up when the alarm went off this morning. 5:45. haven't slept until the alarm in a long time. cool in the house with the windows open. get sleeping weather for the first time in several weeks.

concall at 6:30. so cold in the office that i've got a towel over my head to keep my head warm. wrapped a blanket around me. still had to turn off all of the fans to get comfortable.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
coffee
iced tea
banana

no lunch

meeting in alexandria in the afternoon. v interesting but a lot of driving!

dinner

bacon cheese omelette
hash browns
toast
onion rings
iced tea

at the barnside diner in annandale. should have had a cheese omelette. bacon wasn't very good. toast was very tasty. who knew?

got home around 7:30

watched two episodes of doc martin. odd town but very beautiful. makes you want to go to cornwall.

dessert

klondike bar

26 july 2010 (m)

woke up at 5:30. drank all my water over night. v thirsty again. went downstairs at 5:40.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
banana
coffee
iced tea

watched a little of clifford the big red dog again. clifford's friends are a little too needy. t-bone ran into a bedroom in this episode. really looked the layout of the room. bed was on an higher level than the rest of the room with a ramp leading up. something appeals to me about that. i remember sleeping in the little beds on the train from berlin to hamburg. probably a womb thing. have to talk to old man freud about it.

had to go to walmart to get a prescription refilled.

lunch

double cheese burger
fries
iced tea

at wendy's. i ordered a single but they gave me a double. much prefer the single. double is way too much.

wegmans after wendy's for regular groceries. lots of chatty people at the store today. kind of nice.

didn't get back from the store until about 5:30.

dinner

bagel w/ butter
cole slaw
iced tea

wasn't feeling hungry. bagel was just right

dessert

klondike bar (dark chocolate)

we watched an episode of foyle's war. war games. good episode. lots of nasty people. many got their come-uppance.

25 july 2010 (su)

woke up at around 5:30. went downstairs. felt like watching the bourne identity so i plugged in the dvd.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
iced tea

watched part of the today show and part of cbs sunday morning. both included a lot of repeats. i guess they get lazy in the summer.

2nd breakfast

oatmeal
coffee
iced tea

kept busy with house work in the morning and afternoon.

lunch

hot dogs w/ pickles (2)
iced tea

kept threatening to rain in the afternoon. we just got very short bursts of rain.

watched part of the two towers with commercials. way too many commercials.

dinner

ravioli
salad
iced tea

dessert

fig newtons (4)

watched the first half of appointment with death. got very sleepy. went to bed.

24 july 2010 (sa)

woke up around 6:00 in the morning. very thirsty.

breakfast

toast
iced tea
oj

second breakfast

oatmeal
coffee

went to the bank to get my passport.

lunch

steak and cheese sub
iced tea

at ledo's. v good. waitress had the oddest eye makeup i've ever seen.

staples and wegmans on the way home.

feeling really drained by the heat. read email. watched tv. did some chores.

e went to the big flea in the afternoon. got a magazine with lots of poster style pictures. pretty neat.

dinner

chili dog (2)
slaw
french fries
tomato / onion / pepper salad

we watched two episodes of as time goes by. getting close to the series finale. followed that with the special features on the frasier dvd.

still 86 at 10:33 at night.

23 july 2010 (f)

woke up at about 5:30. checked email, etc. early since we'd be gone for the whole day.

went downstairs at about 6:30.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
iced tea
coffee

we meant to leave around 9:00 on the way down to richmond. both dawdled a bit. watched the today show while eating. had a 2nd cuppa.

finally got on the road at 9:30. traffic was not bad until we reached the intersection of 17 and 95. slow also for the first 3-4 miles on 95 and then it picked up again. switched drivers at around mile 90 on 95. stopped at dq to go to the bathroom and get a snack.

snack

cheese burger
iced tea

e. did not get a snack.

temp was about 105 when we got to richmond.

arrived at virginia museum of fine art at around 12:45. bought tickets for the tiffany show at 2:00. went to the cafe to eat.

new cafe is not nearly as nice as the old one though food was tasty and staff is very nice.

lunch

eggplant paninni sandwich
cherry coke
chips
caffe mocha

all v tasty.

exhibition was too crowded for my taste. i liked the paintings and some of the windows. didn't much care for the glass objects. i went through in about 20 minutes. e spent about an hour.

headed back north at about 3:45. for some silly reason i directed e on to 95 s instead of n. nuts. got turned around fairly quickly. traffic was not too heavy.

stopped at the pancho villa restaurant on route 17 for dinner.

dinner

chips and salsa
chicken, steak, and shrimp fajitas
rice
refried beans
iced tea
shared churros for dessert

very good but way too much food. i drove the rest of the way home. got home at around 7:15.

we watched the last two episodes of frasier in the evening. the final episode was really well done. i don't remember seeing it before. frasier gets a new job in san francisco. roz becomes station manager. niles and daphne have the baby. martin and ronnie get married. frasier flies to chicago to try to persuade charlotte to come with him to sf but they don't let you know the outcome. enjoyed it.

many people say seinfeld is the best sitcom ever. i much prefer frasier and wings to seinfeld in the same period.

22 july 2010 (th)

woke up around 5:00 thinking it was friday. v hungry first thing.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
green tea
coffee
iced tea

watched two episodes of the simpsons at breakfast. season 11 episodes. simpsons house sit for c. m. burns. simpsons get a horse. burns is at the mayo clinic. he's filling out medical history forms. question: what was the cause of your parents' deaths. answer: they got in my way. laughed and laughed and laughed.

had to get gas for the lawn mower to cut the grass. chatted with a cat at the shell station about his merc. suv. it looked maybe 3 yrs old but it was a '99 model approaching 300k. amazing.

started cutting the grass around 9:00. trying to use alternative patterns to get rid of the swirlies i've been imprinting on the lawn. already starting to get hot at 9:00.

took the recycling to the center after cutting the grass. sprayed the lawn mower down as well.

lunch

hot roast beef and cheese sub
cole slaw
cherry coke
iced tea

my traditional post-mowing head ache hit hard in the afternoon. wish there was a catalytic converter on this kind of engine.

dinner

egg salad sandwich (2)
cukes, onions, and peppers

very tasty. best egg salad i've had in ages.

we watched the end of the john adams program. really well done. i wonder if paul giamatti watched this before he made his series. v. touching when abbie died. really well crafted program.

we watched two episodes of frasier after adams. one of them that i had never seen with stephen root and todd louiso and the father and son in a family almost nutty enough to murder stray travelers but not quite that nutty. pretty funny. we are down to the last two episodes in the series.

21 july 2010 (w)

woke up at about 5:00 this morning. read a little more in the lost symbol. went downstairs at about 5:30.

took a tylenol because my mouth was sore. there's a sore place in the roof of my mouth. been giving me problems.

e made green tea this morning. drank the green tea and felt like my sinuses had cleared. between the tea and tylenol i fell asleep at about 6:10 or so and woke up at 7:10 jumped up at that time to drive e to the vre.

went to the gym. knee did well for about 10 minutes and then locked up on the elliptical. stiff and sore all day since then.

breakfast

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage burrito
iced tea

from mcdonalds. v hungry since i had only had green tea before. group of gents discussing the prince william republican party at a neighboring table.

phone interview in the morning. publishing job with an association. position opens on 1 sep. hope to hear back for follow up.

lunch

bologna, cheese on a toasted bagel
macaroni salad
chips
iced tea

i almost always like a sandwich better if it is on a bagel. sue me.

they are showing the day after tomorrow yet again on fx. i have a huge affection for that movie and i'm not sure why. reminds me of old-fashioned movies. good cast. some of the scenes of people nesting against the freezing weather must be comforting.

picked up e at the vre. listening to r.e. heinlein, the door into summer in the car. odd book. fun but odd. heinlein was an engineer by training. book is full of inventions that are created as mechanical devices. a lot of the inventions actually came to be but as digital devices.

idea of the door into summer is pretty cool.

pool actually looks swimmable today. may go in tomorrow.

dinner

roast beef, pastrami, provolone sub w/ slaw
slaw
iced tea
cherry coke

not very hungry this evening. going from ac to heat and back affects my digestion.

we watched most of an american experience episode on dvd. john and abigail adams. v interesting. simon russell beale who played charles musgrove in the 1995 version of persuasion plays adams. remarkable how recognizable he is even though persuasion is the only other time i've seen him. voice and posture / movement are very distinct. calls to mind martin clunes of doc martin and william and mary etc. a sort of insularity about each of them.

don't know much about adams, adams, and more adams but learning more. abigail seems to have been a gem. been following jqa on twitter.

20 july 2010 (t)

up early for a concall. v interesting call today.

breakfast

toast w/ butter
coffee
iced tea

snack

fig newtons

went to the grocery store around 2:00. pretty crowded today.

lunch

assorted chinese dishes from food bar
iced tea

at wegmans

dinner

rotisserie chicken
green beans
corn on cob
iced tea

dessert

2 fresh baked cookies

watched 2 episodes of doc martin on pbs. didn't care much for 1st episode. very good 2nd episode. doc martin's aversion to blood is revealed to the town and tricks are played on him.

19 july 2010 (m)

woke up at about 4:30. too hot. decided to catch up on computer. struggled with the keyboard. couldn't get it to connect. finally realized that the brand new batteries i put in were dead.

got batteries from a diffferent package and all was well.

75 deg at 6:00 am. going to be hot again.

last summer we probably ran the ac a total of 3-4 weeks over the whole summer. this year, we've already been running it for about 4 wks consecutively.

breakfast

toast
hot tea
oj
iced tea

drove e to the vre. did not feel well on the way back. had to stop at chik-fil-a and use the bathroom. bought an iced tea. hoped it would settle my stomach.

sick again as soon as i got home. very odd though. i felt intensely ill for two brief intervals but as soon as the 2nd one passed, i felt ok. i think i may have just been having a reaction to the heat.

the guy came to service the ac at 10:30. he was a little early but that was fine. usually they say between 12 and 4 and the guy arrives at 3:48. nice guy. didn't try to sell any extras.

lunch

bologna and cheese sandwich
tortilla chips
coke
iced tea

feeling fine at this point. strange. staying in the cool.

got to the vre about 5 min late this afternoon. need to remember to leave by 5:55 at latest.

dinner

blt sandwiches (2)
potato salad
iced tea

seems like a blt is just the right thing on a hot day.

we watched a lovejoy episode after dinner. last one on the dvd ok episode. always seems odd that lovejoy never learns. in this episode he takes a loan (from a loan shark) using the house he bought for his daughter as security. i still miss lady jane.

18 july 2010 (su)

hot again in the morning. went downstairs and watched jay and silent bob. very silly but shannon elizabeth looks good.

breakfast

bagel w/butter
banana
iced tea
oj
coffee

finished mopping the basement. those stairs are steep!

lunch

chili
white bread (3 sl)
cherry coke

e went to tudor place at about 10:30. back at about 4:30. mostly melted.

dinner

amy's lasagna
crusty bread
salad

all really good.

tried to watch the poirot episode on pbs. fell asleep on part of it so i couldn't follow the plot.

17 july 2010 (sa)

woke up around 5:30. very thirsty. way too hot. went downstairs to aim two fans at me.

started watching jay and silent bob strike back. watched the first 45 minutes dozing off and waking up. very surreal.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
iced tea
coffee
banana

i really wish they showed this old house at 9:00 instead of 10:00.

started working on a project i've been putting off. cleaning the basement. did the first half this morning/early afternoon. 2nd half tomorrow.

lunch

bologna and cheddar on a toasted bagel
chips
iced tea

very good sandwich

we were planning to go to the library. realised we had to rush to make it. got there at about 3:30. it's nice to spend a little time at the library. the warrenton branch of the library reminds me of the old virgil i grissom branch in newport news. the one in the little 4 room building. the warrenton library is much larger but it has that same make the best use of space quality.

we went to walmart after that. then home.

there's a little booth at the corner of beverly church rd and rt. 29. it was probably the atm of the tfb at one point. about a yr or two ago someone tried to open a take out coffee shop in the booth. i think it lated about 9 mo. now it's a little shop that sells cheese cake. we stopped by to get the menu today. wonder when it will go under. can't imagine a huge cheese cake trade at that location.

dinner

quesadillas (2)
spanish rice
refried beans
iced tea

really hit the spot. feeling like mexican for a little while.

dessert

raisin bran

we watched another lovejoy after dinner. pretty good episode. lovejoy and tink have a falling out.

16 july 2010 (f)

woke up around 5:30. couldn't remember what day it was.

breakfast

cinnamon roll
hot tea
iced tea

way too much cinnamon in the cinnamon roll. overpowering.

drove e to the vre. parking lot was pretty empty today.

concall at 9:00. v hard to hear.

another concall scheduled for 11:30. actually connected at 12:30.

lunch

bologna sandwich
pickle spear
cherry coke

watched a few episodes of the first season of big bang theory during breakfast and lunch. enjoy the show. wonder if sheldon realizes he's living in california. he looks like he'd be perfectly snug in boston in january.

picked up e at the vre.

dinner

grilled ham and cheese sandwich
chicken noodle soup
iced tea

dessert

cinnamon roll (still bad)

lovejoy episode in the evening.

constant ac in the hot weather is really bringing me down. head is swimming by the end of the day.

15 july 2010 (th)

woke up at about 5:15. felt very hot and sweaty. took a shower at about 5:30. felt much better.

breakfast

toast
banana
oj
cofffee
iced tea

scheduled for 9:00 o'clock concall. once again had to be rescheduled.

e. is going to lunch with liz and some pals in purcellville.

lunch

chicken club sandwich
fries
iced tea
"snack size" m&m mcflurry

chicken sandwich was not so good. bread was sweet and a little stale. fries were good. mcflurry was ok.

lots of chores at lunch time. lowes, petsmart, wachovia, wegmans, harris teeter. melting by the time i got home.

unpacked groceries, did dishes, etc.

snack

roast beef sandwich
iced tea
donut

roast beef, cream cheese, mustard, cole slaw on a toasted bagel. really quite good.

e. got home from leesburg later than expected. bad back up on route 15. she just about melted sitting still in the traffic. must have hit 98 or so today. poor kid. said the restaurant was just ok.

dinner

chicken a la bear
iced tea

chicken a la bear is baked chicken cooked with spaghetti sauce and served over pasta. it was invented by my sister claire who is affectionately called claire the bear. she used to have about 8 million teddy bears when she was a slip of a girl.

watched an episode of lovejoy after dinner. i'd say a b- episode. plot was a little weak but characters had a lot of fun.

14 july 2010 (w)

bastille day

alarm was set for 5:45. i woke up at 5:43. i know i'm going to sleep through the alarm one day or forgot to turn it on just because i keep waking up early.

breakfast

banana
oj
hot tea
iced tea

drove e to the vre. it looked like we were about 10 min early but we got stopped by a trash truck. still made it on time.

scheduled for a 10 o'clock concall but it had to be rescheduled for friday.

lunch

sushi (veg roll)
cole slaw
iced tea
coke

concall at 1:00. interesting.

picked up e at the vre. train has been late every day this week. found a parking spot in the shade. very pleasant.

dinner

veg. burger
pickle spear
potato chips
iced tea

pretty good. boca burgers. i guess we've been eating these burgers for more than 5 yrs. i like the flame-grilled kind. annie makes a veg burger but it's pretty expensive.

we watched a rick sebak special on pbs after dinner. a breakfast show. a little disappointed. i think he spent too long in the same places. entertaining as usual but not quite as much fun as his better outings.

13 july 2010

conference call this morning. got up at 5:15 to finish my notes.

breakfast

bagel (plain)
oj
hot tea

had to break off the concall a little early to drive e to the vre. rushed out the door and actually got going about 10 minutes early. stuck behind a car on vint hill, though. we ended up being about 4 minutes early.

very hungry when i left the station

2nd breakfast

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage burrito
iced tea

at mcdonald's

shocked the pool and added chorine before work.

lunch

sweet and sour chicken dish
bagel w/ cream cheese
banana
iced tea

more sweet than sour in the chicken.

i watched eastern promises during the course of the day. trailers made it look like a very violent movie. much more talky than violent. good to see viggo mortenson.

rain came down in sheets on the way to the vre station.

dinner

mac cheese
fish fillets
iced tea
cookies (2)

two episodes of doc martin on pbs tonight. cornwall cost is beautiful.

12 july 2010

woke up at 5:15 in the morning. knee felt much better. easier to get up and down the stairs.

watched the other boleyn girl, bbc version with natascha mcelhone, in the morning. slow starting but pretty solid by the end of the movie.

took e to the vre

breakfast

bagel (plain)
hot tea
iced tea

drove e to the vre. traffic is lighter lately because school is out. i'm guessing we'll get spoiled and then be upset when september rolls around.

lunch

hot dog sandwich
sauerkraut
iced tea

hot dog sandwich is made with two grilled hot dogs (sliced down the middle and grilled) w/ swiss melted on top and sauerkraut added on top to warm up. put all the ingredients on a toasted bagel with mustard. just invented it today. really quite good. probably should be made with one dog but i wanted to use up the dogs.

e's train was about 30 min late at the station this evening. a new company has taken over running the vre so apparently they are required to do some testing that slows down the train.

dinner

chicken soup
bagel w/ cream cheese
pickles
iced tea

dessert

donut

we watched antiques roadshow from salt lake city and then part of a biography of the rockefeller family.

cool in the evening but damp.

11 july 2010

woke up at about 5:30 with a sore knee. left knee was feeling fine. right was stiff and sore. went downstairs and took some aspirin and watched the news and cash in the attic on tv.

breakfast

scrambled eggs (3)
toast
coffee
iced tea
banana

worked on the computer for a short while in the morning.

came down to watch the world cup final at about 1:00.

lunch

hot dogs (2)
cole slaw
potato salad

watched the final. seemed a very messy game. 12 yellow cards total. 7 for holland, 5 for spain. spain won 1-0 near the end of the 2nd extra time. i'm happy for the spanish but it was an unsatisfactory match to say the least. espn's coverage was ridiculous. kept going on about how the spanish were the better side. probably true in an esoteric sense but on that pitch on the day it was a fairly equal match and neither team played particularly attractive soccer.

must say that south africa managed the event beautifully. really first class from what i could see.

dinner

pasta w/ butter and parmesan
salad
iced tea

v good. just the right thing for a warm day.

dessert

small dish of vanilla ice cream

we watched an episode of st:tng about data. episode called thine own self. solid episode of the series in general. judging against data episodes i'd vote it as one of my fave data episodes. none of that pinocchio crap they are usually hung up on.

after st:tng, we watched poirot on mystery. the david suchet adaptation of probably the most famous poirot mystery murder on the orient express. while the albert finney version of 1974 is a delight it isn't very true to the poirot character. this version was far darker and far more serious. really a great deal of discussion about the nature of justice. really enjoyed it.

10 july 2010

slept in to about 6:30.

watched two episodes of andy griffith in the morning.

breakfast

bagel
iced tea
banana
coffee

going down to around stafford to bowl with claire, matthew, scott, mary, amanda, glenn, susan. we also met a friend of matt's at the bowling alley and susan's nephew.

traffic was very bad around the intersection of rt 17 and i-95. took more than 30 min to cover 4-5 miles. finally got to the bowling alley a little late.

it was nice to see everyone and to do a little bowling. i bowled part of one game. took a mis-step on the last bowl and popped my knee. dumb. dumb. dumb. watched the bowling from that point on.

lunch

cheese burger
fries
dr. pepper

at the bowling alley. surprisingly good. my parents always said the you can rely on the snack bar in a bowling alley for a good burger. i've found that it isn't always true. however, even the fries were tasty at this bowling alley.

huge place. not too many serious bowlers on a saturday afternoon.

after bowling claire to the young gents home and the rest of us went to appleby's for a snack and a chat. it was good to have some extra time and catch up a little bit. scott mentioned that he's been at the same organization for 25 yrs. hard to believe. he's only 11.

snack

chicken wonton tacos (4)
iced tea

very tasty. just enough asian spiciness.

amanda was driving scott and mary home. bravo!

felt very tired on the ride back. stopped in morrisville to get something to drink and catch my 2nd wind

snack

snickers ice cream bar
gold leaf tea

really like a snickers ice cream bar. must avoid them.

observed the saturday night tradition of watching two episodes of as time goes by. we must have seen every episode a dozen times but it is strangely comforting to watch the series each time channel 26 replays it.

late dinner

microwave ravioli dinner
toast (2 sl)
cherry coke
iced tea

ravioli was fairly good for a shelf stable meal.

we watched an episode of st:tng called lower decks. quite a good episode. rather touching to see the response of the crew to the death of a colleague in the line of duty. probably one of my favorite episodes.

9 july 2010

my knees were sore in a brand new way this morning when i woke up at about 4:30. i did some leg exercises on the cybex machines yesterday. i used low weights. i thought that would help me ease in. knees were sore anyway. went downstairs and took some tylenol.

i watched two episodes of andy griffith while waiting for the tylenol to kick in. one of the episodes is the one where goober builds a car in the court house. carter from hogan's heroes is in that episode. another one where floyd is the highlight.

breakfast

bagel plain
iced tea
hot tea

e was ready for the train early. she drove herself today and made it on time.

snack

tortilla chips
iced tea

i took karma to the vet for her 11:50 appointment. her blood sugar as 111. since she has checked out in the normal range three weeks in a row without insulin she is now considered clear of diabetes. we need to look out of signs and she needs a follow up test in three months. big relief. we hope to be able to get the other cats up-to-date on their shots now that we don't have to take karma to the vet every week.

lunch

cheese burger
hot dog
french fries

from five guys. i have not eaten at five guys since november of 2006. i got profoundly sick that time. i was pretty sure that the bacon was the culprit. i really wanted a cheeseburger today so i thought i would try five guys. burger was good. fries are always good. dog was ok. i should probably just get a burger when i go there. food is very heavy.

watched part of pineapple express while doing the dishes. such an odd movie. quite funny. the relationship between the three dudes is very funny. the violence in the movie is pretty extreme but you still laugh at it. can't believe i saw the movie twice before the freaks and geeks connection occurred to me.

dinner

turkey reuben
potato chips
pickles
iced tea

we watched an st:tng episode about dr. crusher and her family on dvd. a ghost episode. must have been howl-o-ween. very dark shadowy. entertaining episode but not among the best.

british antiques roadshow after star trek. much prefer the brits.

8 july 2010

woke up about 10 min before the alarm. thought about going back to sleep but decided not. put away some clean laundry and went downstairs.

watched an episode of andy griffith on dvd during breakfast. otis sues the county. a favorite. floyd is excellent in that episode.

breakfast

donut
hot tea
iced tea

drove e to the vre in the morning. we actually got there before the train for once. went to the gym from the vre station. treadmill. bicycle. first line of weight machines. did not use the elliptical walkers this time.

second breakfast

bacon, egg, and cheese sour dough
potato wedges
iced tea

from arby's. the potato wedges are not very good.

lunch

mexican dinner from annie's
cole slaw
iced tea

snack

bagel
club soda

i've been listening to an orson scott card story on cd in the car for the last few days. finished the story today. can't say i really liked it. actually hated it at first. i was just starting to warm to it when i found out that the characters in the story are supposed to be 8 yr olds. just too dumb. story had two readers. one of them was so mannered that he was really off-putting. generally disappointing.

dinner

blt sandwiches (2)
potato salad
iced tea

we watched a star trek:tng episode from the seventh season. worf episode in which paul sorvino is worf's brother. lots of prime directive blather but an interesting story on the whole.

we watched the last half of chariots of fire after that. great cast. wonderful costumes. gorgeous locations. and that nutty soundtrack. had a good time watching it but the sound drove us nuts. if you made it loud enough to hear the dialog, the music blew your head off. if you adjusted to make the music comfortable you could barely make out the conversations.

7 july 2010

e's last vacation day. hope she enjoys it.

woke up at about 5:30. already feeling hot. gonna be a hot day.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
oj
iced tea
hot tea

went to get groceries in the morning

lunch

meetball sub
potato chips
iced tea

at wegmans

so hot outside. watched soccer in the afternoon.

dinner

salad
bread and butter
iced tea

watched a show on pbs about david suchet and the orient express. lots of fun.

6 july 2010

woke up at 5:45 to prepare for concall at 6:30. chatted with a few people on fb before the concall. lots of people up in the early ack emma.

tummy was ok overnight

spent a lot of time in the concall talking about football. kolkata very disappointed that brazil and argentina are out. very anti-europe as far as football goes. big fans of s.a. style football.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
oj
banana
hot tea
iced tea

queen elizabeth in nyc today.

went to the library in the early afternoon. checked out a book by wodehouse, a book by rushdie and a book on tape by orson scott card. so hot!

lunch

spicy chicken sandwich
fries
iced tea
chocolate shake

at chik-fil-a in warrenton. tasty but i think it was a mistake to eat spicy food. my stomach is not quite back to normal.

i was planning to go to the grocery store on the way back home but the combination of the heat (99 according to my car) and the spicy food had my stomach turning flips. i came home instead.

there was a deer in the shade on the hill of the brilliant green jade when i drove up. it didn't see me but i watched as it noticed the dog next door coming over to the fence. the deer pawed the ground a few times and then as the dog got closer run off to the woods at the back of the yard. that also spooked the other deer that i didn't see. it was on the slope of the hill near the shed.

got to see the end of the holland v. uruguay match. pretty exciting.

dinner

egg and cheese sandwich
pickles
iced tea

i should have skipped the pickles. didn't really feel like eating so an egg sandwich was a bit of a compromise.

we watched two episodes of doc martin on pbs. fairly enjoyable. certainly not all creatures great and small!!

87 deg at 10:15 pm. very hot. supposed to be hotter tomorrow.

5 july 2010

felt much better this morning. already warm when i woke up at 6:00. it is going to be a hot day!

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
oj
hot tea
iced tea

lunch

ham and cheese sandwich
iced tea

snack

chinese noodles (simply oriental)
iced tea

started reading my life in france by julia child.

dinner

chili dogs (2)
fries

dessert

sorbet

we watched notting hill for the first time in a long time. still a favorite.

felt a few rumbles in the gut as i went to bed. hope it will be ok. hope i didn't eat real food too quickly.

4 july 2010

slept in until a little after 7:00. feeling much better in the morning but achy and sore. stomach feels much better and i'm hungry but i'm a little reluctant to eat.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
hot tea
iced tea

afraid to drink coffee or oj because of the acid.

4th of july today. the last few years the 4th has crept up and gone. every year we think we should do something on the fourth. see a parade. go to the fireworks. then every year we wimp out. in ffx city we used to be able to walk down to the 4th of july festivities. here its a pretty good hike.

anyway, e is still not fully recovered from her illness a few weeks ago. feels tired all the time. i'm still iffy from friday/saturday tussle with some kind of bug. so we aren't really up to the trek to dc and hours in the sun and then throngs on the metro.

we decided to go see toy story 3 as a holiday treat. bought tickets on line. almost $20 for two people to see a matinee. crazy.

lunch

turkey and swiss sandwich
iced tea

didn't want to eat much. worried that i'll have a relapse in the theater.

ts3 was pretty good. that little baby doll creeped me out big time. the plot and several of the set pieces seemed to rehash elements of toy story 2. lotso srongly resembled stinky pete. besides that, though, the barbie/ken story was very funny and javier fernandez pena did a great job as spanish buzz lightyear.

we went to borders after the movie. we didn't really feel like coffee. e has been avoiding it and i have not felt like coffee for the last few days. we were both pretty hungry and thought that cracker barrel might not be crowded so we went to c.b. for an early dinner.

dinner

scrambled eggs (2)
sausage pattie
bacon strip
small ham slice
hash brown casserole
biscuits (2) w/ sawmill gravy
apples
iced tea

i probably should have skipped about half of this chow. i had not eaten real food in a couple of days so it tasted very good. i did feel a bit overloaded for about 90 minutes after eating and then again about midnight.

i watched the rerun of germany vs. argentina when we got home. e was on the phone and checking e mail for a while. we watched an ok lovejoy episode about a samurai sword in the evening.

dessert

a few spoonfuls of sorbet

finished down and out in paris and london before bed. interesting book. somewhere between fiction and biography. the difference between the way of life of the impoverished in paris and in london is remarkable. orwell asserts that the uk vagrancy laws have a lot to do with the situation. orwell calls the people he lives among vagrants or tramps. we'd call them homeless people today. it is interesting to see the way british society dealt with homeless people in the 30s and compare it to what we do today. orwell certainly seems to be a socialist in this book but not a strident one. he seems to be the inheritor of dicken's criticism of the british treatment of the poor.

3 july 2010

woke up at about 5:00. went back to bed. slept in until about 7:00. felt fairly well. went downstairs and had a lovely bout of illness at about 8:30. just when i thought i was over whatever the hell i had.

fasted most of the day. ate some jello. drank soda, tea, and water.

watched soccer. read a little. watched some movies.

felt well enough in the evening to eat dinner

dinner

bowl of soup
buttered toast

watched an episode of lovejoy that included tinker's sister.

went to bed early.

2 july 2010

woke up at about 4:30 and couldn't go to sleep.

watched an episode of house. last episode of the 5th season. really excellent.

fell asleep after house and e. woke me up when it was time to go to the vre. very unusual.

bad accident on vint hill. they had the whole road closed down. we had to turn around and were clearly not going to catch the train at broad run. we went to the metro at vienna instead. traffic was very light so it was actually kind of a pleasant drive.

breakfast

bacon, egg, and cheese bagel
sausage burrito
iced tea
cappacino

at mcdonald's in ffx city. v hungry so it tasted good.

took karma to the vet at 11:45. blood sugar is still registering in the good range. if she's ok next week we can go 3 mo before the next check.

e got off early for the 4th of july so i went to pick her up at about 2:00.

lunch

pizza (2 sl)
salad (half)
french fries
iced tea

i should have had either one slice or no fries. got to remember.

we were so full from lunch that we didn't really have dinner. i remember eating something small like toast but i don't remember what it was. i was starting to feel ill on friday evening.

over night i had several episodes of illness. different than anything i've felt before. abysmally rotten for 10 or 15 minutes at a spell and then ok. didn't sleep much so when fatigue got mixed in i felt worse.

1 july 2010

woke up very early. around 4:00. decided to start working since concall is at 6:30.

breakfast

bagel w/ cream cheese
oj
iced tea
coffee
banana

we're having a dreadful time with the pool. it's absolutely green after several days of filtering. checking the pool in the morning i ran into a swarm of wasps stepped onto the lid of the skimmer basket which shattered. twisted my knee and almost fell in the pool. right now i think the pool is about as toxic as the sludge pit that guy falls into in the first robocop. glad i didn't fall in.

knee was sore all day. got up and stretched it about every 30-45 minutes.

lunch

plain bagel w/ no topping
iced tea

upset stomach to go with my sore knee!

dinner

ravioli
salad
iced tea

stomach a little better at dinner.

we watched a lovejoy from the last season. pretty good episode. postumus from i, claudius (john castle) was the villain. great villain.

30 june 2010

woke up early again. watched two episodes of house from the 5th season. in one house was arranging the bachelor party for chase. v good episode. great scene where house seems to show actual affection for chase.

breakfast

bagel w/ butter
banana
iced tea
hot tea

tazo awake with splenda and half and half. really good.

just barely made it to yon vre this morning. babysat the pool a good part of the day. didn't see a lot of improvement.

lunch

chicken sandwich
double cheese burger
iced tea

at burger king. not very good.

snack

caramel macchiato (tall, no whipped cream)
lemon pound cake

at starbuck's near denny's. good coffee. really good pound cake. pound cake is a great invention.

dinner

veg. burgers (boca, 2) w/ cheese and salsa
cole slaw
iced tea

tasty. cole slaw was from the deli section at wegmans. good. not sweet like a lot of cole slaw.

watched an episode from the 6th season of lovejoy. fairly good plot. i'm getting used to the new characters, i guess.

a lot of the series we've been watching are winding down. just finished flight of the conchords. frasier, lovejoy, st:tng are all in their last season.