Sorry, this is a mundane day.
I woke late, after 5, rolled over, and could sleep until 7ish. I woke tired and coughing. It was not allergies, as I had told myself. I had the usual airplane cold and needed to slow down and just deal. I hate to cancel my attendance at gaming as this is my last chance to see some folks before my surgery. But it was the right thing to do. I also could tend to my right foot’s big toe. The blister was healing, but it would be good to just go slow.
So, I grounded myself at the house on Saturday and only did light work. No scrubbing, getting dust-covered, or making trips to GoodWill. Stay home, take lots of Airborne, and try to get better.
First, I wrote the blog and found myself coughing through the writing. Yes, it’s time to rest. I managed to take my time and write for hours. I did the dishes, took out all the recycling, and picked up the house. The new shower curtains arrived, as did the solo book games: Bismarck, Waterloo, and Gettysburg. These are from one of my favorite wargame companies (though I gave away all my copies of their games when I purged 2-person American Civil War games from my collection), Worthington. I installed the curtain in the master bathroom shower (the Volvo Cave has 1.5 baths) and cut it to go around the seat/shelf in the shower.
I made lunch. I cooked ground beef and added lots of garlic, oregano, bruised fennel seeds, crushed fire-roasted tomatoes (left over from an earlier cooked adventure), and a can of tomato sauce. I actually started by cooking mushrooms and green pepper in another pan in butter and adding that to the sauce (olive oil would have been fine, too, for those who avoid dairy). I added this to the sauce and let it cook on The Stove for twenty minutes. I boiled water. The Stove is faster and hotter than the previous one, and I managed to heat the pan for the water before the water was put in, and there was a reaction. Oops. No harm, just more steam than I was prepared for.
I took the leftover dried pasta from the previous adventures, combined them into little tubes and bowties, and cooked them the usual way in boiling salted water. I reserved less than a cup of water before straining the pasta. I then combined all the cooked pasta with the sauce and the reserved pasta water.
It was meaty from the mushrooms and ground beef, but the spices and tomatoes were in the background. But it’s still good. I had two bowls. If you are doing just ground beef, you can’t take this too far.
Still in my PJs and wearing my cooking apron over my PJs, I resolve to stay at the house. Corwin has new outfits that have a more Viking Retro look. Corwin loads up his friend’s truck with firewood and heads out. We looked at some of Ben, Susie’s father’s outdoorsman outfits (I recently found the box). One belt Corwin says is a sword belt (it used to carry an axe), and he uses that. We discovered that the powder horns (which I mailed to the house and have been in the closet for years) are actually full of black powder. Yikes! I will dump that in the flower beds (it is carbon, nitrate, and sulfur, all good for plants or blowing things up).
The house is quiet now, as it is just me and my laptop. I make iced tea, thinking of Susie and Leta, who both would make it and drink it all day. I clean up and dress. I take the iced tea, cookies, and laptop to the backyard. I move the deck furniture (and one wooden folding chair) and sit and write. I finish the basic editing of one of my longest Howard stories. This is my hero attending the SAP conference (though I never use those three letters in the story) and discovering a plot within the German software for world account; gasp! I wrote it after I did a speaker gig there in Orlando, and I also remembered another trip to Miami I took years ago. I think it is a salute to all my friends at SAP. Someday, I will have to look into publishing these.
By about 6, I was sleepy and tired, and I stopped writing. I undid the mess that I had made in the kitchen by using it. I ordered lots of Chinese-style food to be delivered, something I do when I am not well. This includes hot and sour soup. It arrived while I was reading the rules for the solo games. Waterloo and Gettysburg give you twelve plays for each challenge. Bismarck is different, as a naval WW2 game, and is designed around independent missions. I take too many plates of food to the backyard, sit in the shade, and eat and surf the internet. I ordered the lotus root and chicken with cashews. Nothing super calories and one veggie. The wontons were a different thing–cheese and deep-fried. I eat too much as I love the lotus. It reminds me of my travels in China with Susie and Mom Wild, where we would find it in everything while we cruised the Yangtze.
Sleepy and trying to stay awake, I shower and dress in my PJs. I force myself to read, but soon, I hold a book while dreaming of the words. Since it is an excellent history book by Eric Cline, one should not dream of new history! It is too early. I put away the book and slept, and I woke at 2 but managed to sleep again.
Thanks for reading.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 