(travel, cooking, work, health)

Sep 20, 2022 19:09

I am in Ohio.

The weekend after my flu + COVID bivalent jabs was rainy. I posted that Saturday morning (though the post is dated the night before). The appointment at the dealer was ... pointless? ... as we had to wait nearly an hour as the dealer wrapped up another sale. Fortunately, all our paperwork was pretty quick. We ate out at a rundown Chinese restaurant near our old university haunts. The pictures of dishes might have been from thirty years ago, but the food was delicious.

I read... web comics i think the rest of that day, and i can't really remember what i did on the 9/11 Sunday.

Monday I was jabbed by the venomous saddleback caterpillar, which turns out to create comparable discomfort to a yellow jacket sting. Fortunately for me, while both are painful, after a few hours it was a memory. I now know that there are a number of venomous fuzzy caterpillars, and will no longer roll my eyes when someone expresses alarm at woolly bear caterpillars (which are not venomous).

We've signed a contract to install solar on our roof.

The work week was intense; i didn't stay on top of exercise, and by Thursday i felt i was not getting enough sleep. I've no idea where the time went.

Friday i took the afternoon off as comp for the time traveling on Monday. I got some good work done in the yard then and on Saturday. I also was a bit of a state over packing for this trip. It felt like i hadn't been away so long before, but i had the two trips to Florida to be at my grandmother's. Dressing a whole week to see people in the office was intimidating, i think.

The travel to Ohio was lovely -- just like the June trip there were lovely roadside flowers in West Virgina. I stopped at a different water fall -- i can't decide if this trip's waterfall, deserted, is a better choice (no one is going to find me if i slip and crack my head open), or one where there are people. Because, people. Either way, the woodland wildflowers and the lovely rush of a creek over stones is a wonderful break from the road.

I made it to the Ohio river at dinner time. This trip's choice of dinner restaurant was a winner. I ordered a sushi roll, salad, and spring rolls and ate at a the tiny Tu-Endie-Wei state park watching the sun set over the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers as towboats pushed barges up stream. (Why are they not pushboats??)

I'm staying at a hotel with a kitchen. I had imagined the other colleague staying here and i concocting dinner plans together and eating together, but so far i'm on my own. Which is OK -- there is an abundance of things for me to do (like journal, and exercise, and....). I brought food from home that i'd picked (basil, figs, tomatoes, okra), impulse purchased asparagus that was approaching a week old, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, parchment paper and a sheet pan.

When i got in last night i asked the internet what to make with asparagus, figs, and basil, and was rewarded with an image of a pizza. I picked up the needful at the grocery next door, and made pizza with asparagus, figs, basil, and smoked salmon with a blend of shredded cheeses, ricotta, and balsamic vinegar. It was incredibly good! It's an odd combination, because the asparagus is a spring veg (and from Peru) and the figs an autumn fruit -- but it worked really well.

I was going to go visit a friend tonight, but she's been caring for her mother in the hospital since midday Monday. Her mom's blood sucrose and body temperatures have both dropped, recovered, dropped. It's over 24 hours later, and there's still no bed for her mom to be admitted to hospital (even considering other hospitals in the area).

I'd bought blueberries to be fresh fruit desert, but they had that mealy quality old apples have after being in the fridge for far too long. I've raided the free coffee supplies and used a packet of sugar, of artificial sweetener, and of "creamer" (first ingredient is corn syrup), balsamic vinegar and basil to make a compote that i've eaten as is (the point was not to indulge in a big desert). The basil and balsamic with the berries worked quite well. I probably should have added pepper.

Three more days. Well, two and a half. One long meeting tomorrow, the anxiety producing one. Thursday some random meetings but most folks will be working from home. Friday meetings all morning then drive home.

cooking, health, travel, work

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