#206 - Smart Mug and Sunburns

My back decided I wasn’t going into work today even though I the company was buying us a pizza lunch and showing some sizzle reels of the work our studio has done in the last year or show.

Sleeping on the floor left me feeling great. I sprang up from the floor like it was twenty pounds lighter. The floor was surprisingly comfortable. I had no trouble lying on the hard floor at all.

It wasn’t until I sat down that my back started aching again. I stopped to do stretches throughout the day and even used my desk in it's standing mode for most of the workday.

But every time I sat down or turned the wrong way the twinge resurfaced. I’m hoping another night on the floor will provide my back with the time it needs to get better. I suspect it will take at least three days for things to get back to normal.

We took a great afternoon walk at lunch. The sun was shining, and it felt warm with a slight cool breeze. Buds were starting to emerge on the trees, and the birds were singing. Robyn thought it was too hot, and I thought it was perfect.

Work was mostly a hurry up and wait kind of day with a few meetings sprinkled in. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

I bought a smart mug a little while ago and have on multiple occasions waxed poetic about its brilliance. One thing it needed was an extra charging base, so I could have one at my desk and the other beside the bed, or at work, or down in the writing cave. I wrote the seller on Amazon requesting to buy one from them and they replied right away saying they would soon have one for sale.

Months went by and wrote them again.

Again, they said the charger base would be available to purchase separately very soon.

Another month went by and I get a message from Amazon saying they are going to close the message with the seller because so much time had passed. I jumped into the message center and sent them another request to buy a charger base.

The next day they replied to tell me that they would send me one all I had to do was give them my shipping address. I complied happily.

Today a brand-new smart mug and charger arrived free of charge. Boy was I a happy guy! All I wanted was to buy another charger and now I have two mugs. Life is giving me a little present. Thank-you Amazon Seller.

Robyn is out with her lady friends for dinner at Paramount this evening. I don’t want to eat their food anymore after the other nights Uber Eats order. She’s bringing me home a Baconator from Wendy’s. I should probably have something healthier than that, but I do enjoy a good burger.

We are into the studio tomorrow again. Robyn made us save the rest of the Ruby chicken for our lunch tomorrow. I was really jonesing for it at lunch after our walk, but it will make the day at the studio a little better.

I want to make another of Dishoom’s recipes this Sunday as I liked the Ruby Chicken so much. There are a couple that use crab that caught my attention and some lamb ones as well.

I’ve been watching an Australian tv show called, “Mr. Inbetween,” and have to say it’s pretty good. A little bit serious and a little bit off the wall. A criminal who balances his darker life with having a daughter. He seems like the kind of guy who prefers not to do anything illegal or cruel if he doesn’t have too but will do the unthinkable without a moments pause. The episodes are only about half an hour long. The irreverence the show exudes is part of its charm.

The main character just farted in front of his new girlfriend, proving my theory that people who flatulate in the same room as their partners is a sure sign of a healthy relationship.

I watched the premiere episode of Criminal Record’s second season. A fine offering from the Brits. A cop show that is gritty and dark, perfectly suited to an actor like Peter Capaldi.

I received a message from a friend asking if they could stop by and have us sign their passport renewals, which I, of course, said no problem. Robyn returned from her dinner out just before the friend arrived which was perfect timing. Unfortunately, she did not bring me back my dinner as she left in a rush.

I ordered the new MacDonalds Chicken Big Mac while we sat around the kitchen table signing documents and catching up. I have to say the chicken Big Mac isn’t anything to write home about. I prefer the beef option of the original. But in all fairness, I was always more of a quarter-pounder with cheese kinda guy. The Big Mac never impressed me.

And the chicken patties were thin and small as well. The patty size at Mac Donalds gets a little smaller each year it seems. Soon the quarter-pounder will be the size of quarter.

I’ve managed to keep my reading streak going for the last four days. I think the kindle is helping with that. Being able to adjust the text size and the backlighting are huge pluses for me.

The kiddos Facetimed me from Halifax tonight to ask if a wooden gun they had purchased that fires elastics would be allowed in their checked luggage at the airport. After a quick chuckle, I told them it would be fine in their suitcase, but best not to take directly on the plane.

Later, while Facetiming Robyn, the kiddo was complaining about the lack of milk in his sister’s fridge and his dislike for all the healthy food she had in the house. He admonished them for not having a minifridge to keep extra things in the house. His sister shares the house with three other friends and sometimes their significant others as well. It’s good for the kiddo to get out into the real world and see how people live. It sounded like he was already missing being here at home where his life is luxurious and his cares are all met. And the food is free and often made for him.

I was reading one of my writing teacher’s short stories tonight in his Poker Boy series. They are about a bunch of unlikely superheroes and gods that all mill about Las Vegas. His girlfriend is the superhero called Front Desk Girl. They are usually fun little mysteries that require the hero’s unique set of skills to solve them.

I’ve read a few of these Poker Boy stories now and enjoy how short they are and how they are fun. He has another series with a character named Doc Hill. I like that he has other series that get spun out of them. From the Doc Hill series came the Cold Poker Gang mystery series as well. And often these characters make appearances in each others’ stories. Which is always fun.

I’d like to have a pantheon of characters and worlds where I could do that myself. Maybe one day if I keep at it. I wrote a private investigator mystery not too long ago and I could see it as an entire series of books. And maybe even have them make appearances here and there in something I write down the road.

While walking down the road today over the lunch hour, I must have got some sun because my face is rosie red except where my sunglasses were over my eyes. I’ll end up looking like a reverse racoon tomorrow. I have started taking my astaxanthin pills a week ago, but it takes at least two weeks for it to get absorbed into your skin to get the sun blocking benefits.

I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it did my any good against the sun. I have very fair skin and I burn incredibly easy. Five minutes in the full sun is usually enough for me to get a burn. So, finding something that prolonged my ability to stay out in the sun a bit longer and not get a burn has been a game changer. I no longer am on the constant hunt for a shady spot.

I did spend some time at the end of the workday sitting on the front porch in the shade. I played a couple of games of chess and did a little reading. It felt good to be outside and not freeze my ass off. Plenty of people out taking a stroll or walking their dogs.

Even the grass already looks like it could use a trim. I’ll likely need to get the lawnmower out this weekend and do a bit of gardening as well. Getting back into the garden is something I am looking forward to. I like to putter a bit everyday for just a ten or more minutes.

Well, as stated above, tomorrow is another studio day and that means a train ride and an early wakeup. I am hitting the hay; it’s just coming up on eleven and I need the full eight hours of sleep.

So, goodnight, all!