Everything is topsy-turvy...

The time stamp on this post is mute evidence of that. What the heck am I doing up at this hour? Well, like most chronologically ordered stories, it started yesterday...

My visit to the cardiologist's office caused almost no stir at all, which attests to a complete lack of resemblance between myself and any male heart-throb you may care to mention, on the one hand, and to my not being downchecked for my upcoming Kazakhstan trip, on the other.

On the way home, I stopped by Feht's and we caught up for a bit, over lunch. Mostly the same old stuff.

Someone who does not know us that well would be surprised that we get on together as well as we do, but we do. From my perspective, he is one of the few people who will tolerate my excursions to places even I am not aware I am traveling to, from time to time. Case in point: Maria purchased a cute holiday ornament that consists of a little house festooned with bright points of light that change color merrily. Feht challenged me to guess how it worked.

I looked at it and began with something along the lines of: "Inside that little structure, there is a group of Indonesian pygmy hamsters, led by a charismatic but quite mad mouse who is a refugee from Santa's North Pole workshop..."

I mean, the man did ask me to guess...

From his perspective, I guess, I don't ever take him very seriously in the sense that I might become offended by whatever he says, which more often than not is exactly what he thinks. Which is not to say that I go along with everything he says, not by a long shot.

Anyway, along about 3:30 pm, after a wonderful recharge and a look at some photos of his recent trip to Turkey, I hied myself back the rest of the way to Pagosa, where I took over the reins to the store. Galina went home to get ready to drive to Albuquerque tonight, as the overnight forecast says there may well be snow on the ground in the early morning hours. She came back later and we almost talked ourselves into both going to pick up Natalie, but I need to chase some serious paper before I leave Sunday.

Once I got home, I basically fell asleep upon lying down to watch a little news, even without having had anything to eat. I woke up a little after midnight, so of course I'm perfectly good to go and not in the least sleepy right now, so I am taking care of some of the stuff I should have been working on when I got home.

I think, however, it may be time for me to try to hit the hay once more.

Cheers...

Back to normal, or so...

I went back to bed around 4:45 am this morning, and by that time the bedroom had turned freezing cold (because I, through force of habit, had foolishly turned down the thermostat upon arising). I managed to get only a little sleep before the phone started to ring.

The first call I remember was from Natalie, who hung up the phone before I could get to it. The next was from Galina, who in the course of the conversation called me a "security freak" for having a passcode on my cell phone's voice mail (she had borrowed the unit for her trip to pick up Natalie). Then Drew called to say he was running late opening the store.

I thought about getting back under the warm covers, but instead pulled on some clothes and went to open the store. I had assembled everything -- pretty much -- that Angela, our accountant, had asked me to, and figured I may as well go by the store and deliver it.

I had forgotten that the driver's side door didn't work on the Honda, the result either of freezing or of a mechanical malfunction; the door hadn't warmed up enough since I detected the problem last night to let me determine which. So I again crawled in the passenger's side, and scooted over to the driver's side, deftly avoiding the hand brake and the stick shift.

I did what I could do at the store and after a breakfast that scored 15 on a greasiness scale (of 1 to 10), I hied back to the house and caught up on my missed winks. After a shower, I feel almost human. The elixir of life -- a.k.a. coffee -- is brewing upstairs, and should complete my restoration in short order.

At any rate, it turns out that through the miracle of modern technology, something happened (yes, I know, very technical) and Natalie -- who was to arrive shortly after 9 am this morning in Albuquerque -- instead became someone who was to arrive around 7 pm this evening. After another turn of the airline dice, Natalie was scheduled to arrive around... well... now.

I can't wait to see the family all together at once!

Cheers...

Not just a soulmate...

I happened across the following online ad while scanning an article noting that the city fathers (and mothers) of the thriving metropolis of Villahermosa, capital of the state of Tabasco in the southeastern part of Mexico, have adopted a law banning indoor -- as in: walking-around-your-house -- nudity (Newsday). [Hat tip to LJ friend amanda42!]

Forgetting about the story for a moment, you have to hand it to the advertiser! What a great service! How many other such outfits can claim to match you to your life's partner a whole 6 months after you marry them? (The photo has not been retouched, BTW, and yes, I know it's a typo.)

Getting back to the accompanying article, it was not make clear how the new law banning indoor nudity would mesh with established regulations designed to put peeping Toms in jail. A councilwoman for the Revolutionary Institutional Party, however, was confident that violators of the nudity ban would be reported.

It's pretty obvious my heart is not into chasing paper right now, eh?

Cheers...