The 43

I was so looking forward to a nice evening, sitting on the porch, writing, enjoying the first real warm but cool night we've had this year. Nope, didn't happen. A fire came up at work, and it took me more than an hour to sort it out. I should know better than to rage-message after 9 p.m. (though I think I was rather restrained). But at least I'm pounding this out late. Today was gorgeous, a bit warm -- we turned the air conditioning on for a few hours. Michael took over the patio table with some home repair work he's doing, so I worked inside for some of the day. Later, I went to Starbucks, where I didn't get done the thing I wanted to get done because of another fire. I grilled drumsticks and pork chops, which turned out great (at least for the chicken, I was told it turned out great), walked the dogs, hung out with Lori for a little while and watched an episode of "Benson," and then made the mistake of looking at my emails. Holidays are great, but holida

Summer 2024 hasn't started the way I hoped. Benji graduated high school last weekend, and then I departed for Vancouver for my company's annual work retreat. I missed the first evening, so it already felt abbreviated, but I was happy to see my coworkers and enjoy Canada for the first time.  Unfortunately, I think I brought something with me to Canada besides my carry-on suitcase. After more than four years of avoiding it, I caught COVID-19. I started feeling symptoms Monday afternoon and passed it off as allergies, but by Tuesday evening I was wiped out. I managed a feverish six hours of sleep before leaving the hotel for an early flight, got home and slept for three and two hours. By that time, I figured it was just a cold, and an expired COVID test didn't indicate anything. I took Thursday off and slept some more, and Friday discovered two of my co-workers tested positive. I took a new test, and sure enough, it came up positive. It hit so quickly Monday that I don't e