It rained again today. Ugh. This spring has been the rainiest ever. I miss the sun. When I was a kid, I saw a short film on HBO that was about a girl in a school on a planet where it rained all the time, except once in a decade (or so–I don’t remember the exact time frame), when the sun would come out. I am that girl now.
Or I am Johnny Cash, stuck in Folsom Prison and feeling blue, because “I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when.”
OK, it was yesterday. That’s when I last saw the sun. But it FEELS like at least a decade ago.
BTW, thanks to the Internet, I was able to look up the name of that film. The title was All Summer in a Day, and it was based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. I am not the only person who remembers it, as you can see from these nostalgia-filled reviews.
Livia accidentally dropped a paper into the piano a couple of days ago. It seemed prudent not to play the piano until it was removed, but removal presented a challenge. There was no easy way to reach the paper. With a flashlight, holding the keyboard lid halfway open, I could see the paper but my hands were just too big to fit into the space. Livia’s, too. The job required a tool, but it had to be something flexible that couldn’t possibly harm the piano.
Behold!
Piano Fishing Tool This tool was made from a pipe cleaner and three pieces of tape, one piece to grab the paper, and two pieces to secure the first piece to the pipe cleaner.See how well the tool grabs and holds the paper?
I triumphantly showed the fishing tool and retrieved piece of paper to my husband and he said, “You should blog about that. It’s the first time a woman ever invented a tool!” (Ha-ha. He’s not actually a sexist jerk. He just pretends to be for the sake of a joke.)
Anyway, I was quite proud of my solution until my friend sent me a link to a page that explained the professional way to remove things from inside the piano. Most modern grand pianos have keyboard lids (officially termed “fallboards”) that can be easily removed simply by opening them and lifting them off. I took mine off today just to see if it could be done, and it was indeed very easy. Had I known about it, that would have been the best way to retrieve the paper. Live and learn. But, had my piano been an older model, my solution would have been the best one (the other options being to go under the piano and actually unscrew things, or to call a piano tuner). So hooray for ingenuity!
We are nearly out of crackers. We are nearly out of a lot of things, but this impending shortage is especially upsetting. Cheese and crackers is one of my go-to snacks. I don’t know if I can manage the apocalypse without it.
Today’s big news is that Rhode Island schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year. Ugh. I also recently learned that our town has a funding shortfall for the 2020-2021 school year. As is always the case in such situations, art programs are first on the chopping block. That infuriates me. I was watching a TV show the other day, and in one scene there was a biology teacher explaining how mitosis works, and I thought to myself, “I remember learning that, but has it ever been of any practical use?” And the answer to that is, of course, no. Your average person has little use for information about cell division. I’m not saying that science isn’t important. It is important. But some aspects of science are less important than some aspects of art and music, and it’s foolish the way school boards always assume that anything labeled “science” or “math” is inherently worthier than anything labeled “art.” Art is important!
Last night my kids talked me into playing their favorite card game, Butts in Space. It turns out to be a fitting game to play during the pandemic. The whole point of the game is to hoard TP. The player who gets the most piles of TP wins the game.
I had an appointment to visit an ENT this week. The appointment has been canceled, though, for obvious reasons. That means it will be months before I can even hope to find out what’s causing my ears to ring so badly.
This morning I slept late, and it was wonderful, except that the power was out when I finally got up, so I couldn’t make coffee right away. After sitting around for 10 sad and sorry minutes, trying to figure out what to do with my headachy, caffeine-deprived self, the power came back on, and thank goodness! It’s hard to find things to do when the power is out and you haven’t cleared the sleepy cobwebs out of your brain yet.
The reason I was able to sleep late is that I finally finished my medication, which required me to stay on a stricter-than-usual schedule. I am so glad to be done taking it. I also really hope it worked, because I do not want to have to take a third round of medication!
Livia surprised me with a gift today. She took a picture of a bee on the Japanese andromeda, printed it, and framed it. Such a sweet gift!
I bought two pieces of art from Marshall today. The first one cost me $5 because Livia kept bidding the price higher. We both wanted it, because the scene contains a falling I-Ball Creature that says, “I believe I can fly!”
If I hadn’t written a post for every day since our self-isolation began and included a number in each post title, I would not believe it was Day 38. How could it have been that long? How did the time slip by so fast while we were doing so little?
Today the outside world is awash in splashy sounds as the snow melts away.
The daffodils have returned. Yesterday’s snow had dragged them down to the ground and covered them up. Once the weight of the snow was lifted today, they bounced back up, only a little worse for wear.
I went for a walk yesterday, as planned. It tired me out and left me feeling achy. I wasn’t in the best shape before the pandemic, and I’m in worse shape now. But I have been literally taking steps to get in better shape. I placed my step platform near the daybed in my office. Seeing it there reminds me to use it occasionally, like when I’m watching TV or folding the laundry.
I had a good workweek. I resisted the temptation to take time off. I was tired and didn’t feel like working, but I needed to work, because work keeps me busy and distracts me from the troubles of the outside world. Free from deadline pressure, I frittered away the whole week on things that seem frivolous now but that will come in handy later.
It’s snowing today, and cold. I hope I can find the energy to take a walk. It would be foolish to waste a low-tick-risk day.
At work we have a monthly contest. It usually involves punning with a combination of work-related words and pop culture references. I rarely take part. I felt unusually punny the other day, though, so I submitted several entries. And won! It was good to be clever for a moment. I’ve been feeling so slow-witted lately. Secretly I hope it’s just an aspect of the Dunning-Kruger effect and that the very fact that I feel stupid proves that I’m not.
