A seething mass of turgid drama.

I forgot my lunch today. It's my own fault; we have leftover roast chicken and sweet potatoes, but I didn't put together a container last night. I didn't want to deal before I went to bed, and told myself I'd quickly do it this morning.

The first time I thought about it today was on my way down the stairs. (The bus showed up within a minute today, so I would have missed it had I taken the time then.)

This is exactly why I normally put together my lunch the night before. Sigh.

I lost my footing on the bus this morning. Embarrassingly, as the bus lurched to my stop and I was (carefully!) moving forward, my feet slipped out from under me and I fell on my butt. And then slid so I was almost entirely horizontal.

It looked far worse than it was - mostly my pride was hurt. (I think I tore a fingernail on the landing.) The problem seems to be that the treads on this pair of work shoes are completely worn flat on the heels, so I have no traction on a smooth wet surface. Since these shoes are in fine shape otherwise, I wonder if rubber can be resoled?

I set off the too-sensitive smoke alarm while making breakfast. The wife was already somewhat awake, but this is not a good way to complete the process. (I'm sure the upstairs neighbors heard it too.)

Then the bus alert said 20 minutes. I walked to the backup bus stop, only to watch the first bus arrive a couple minutes later.

Work stuff is problematic due to month-end processing problems.

I don't want a do-over. Can I just go home and back to bed?

Morning commute buses continue their erratic service. Yesterday was in the regular time slot; today the notice, which flashes "service every 10 minutes or less" then said "Next arrival, 14 minutes."
...
Since this would get me to work late, I took a chance and walked across the street to the backup bus stop (which takes me to BART). I used to take this regularly in the before times, but this particular route is extremely erratic. It can be pulled if the brass decides they want another route backfilled. Plus, it goes by the driver union hall so they often pull over and take an unauthorized smoke break. It also doesn't list arrival times so I generally can't depend that it will ever show up. However, the last couple times the main bus has been late I have seen the backup bus go by, so I took a chance.

It showed up on time(ish), and I got into work right at 7. I ideally target 6:45 or so but that isn't possible with the way buses are currently not running. It was better than the 7:15 arrival that the main bus would have given me.

I took the bus this morning to work. First time in over a year. It was full (in the sense that I stood for a while, because people are still leaving empty seats between them).

I had to write a check for the car's yearly registration. It also needs to be smogged. We were hoping to avoid that with a new car, but for various reasons we haven't bought one yet. We could probably get away with letting the registration lapse for a few months, but that makes me itchy. Plus if we donate it somewhere they probably want the registration current. So... sigh.

The Plan: for a bunch of reasons I would work from the office today.

The Setback: somehow my alarm didn't go off. (Technically, it's possible - though highly improbable - that I slept through the entire 45 minutes. Possible I turned it off in my sleep, but I'm not usually that sound of a sleeper.) So instead of waking up at 5:10, I woke up at 5:55.
The Recovery: I can take a quick shower, skip coffee and breakfast by taking a pre-boiled egg and getting coffee around the office, and with a bit of rush get into the office around the usual time.
The Further Setback: I never changed the car around with the neighbors, so it's still blocked in. If it were an emergency, I'd wake them up. But I'd prefer to save that for an actual emergency.

So, working from home today. Hilde is currently happy with that, at least.

After taking three days off work, I planned to go into the office yesterday.
But I forgot to change the car around with the neighbors, and didn't remember until I was in bed. So I worked from home.

I had also reserved a lunch, which I forgot to cancel. I still have to pay for it, of course - it's not the restaurant's fault I spaced.

I got into the car to pick up our lockdown takeout last night and... nothing. No turnover, no lights, nuthin'. Presumably it's the battery. We have been driving the car more than around the block during the last eight weeks, but whatever. The wife will call AAA after her online workout - that's what we pay our membership fees for.

Update: Car battery restarted. The wife is driving the car around for a while. Hopefully this doesn't happen again soon...

( maundering )

Of course I keep looking out of the corner of my eye for him, and expecting him to show up at the top of the stairs when we come in the front door. That habit will take a while to fade.

In bond trading terms, I changed my age handle yesterday - that is, the leading digit of my age.
It's not a big deal. Nor does it particularly feel celebration-worthy. Frankly, staying married almost 20 years feels like far more of an accomplishment...

Along those lines I had a very low-key day yesterday. I made cotignac from Cariadoc's very ripe quinces. (Which took two days rather than the one I expected. Hence today is jelly and quince butter will have to wait until next weekend.) I spent some time with the wife and cat. I played a computer game.

We did go out to dinner; but it wasn't one of the very formal, high-end places that we've sometimes gone to. I just wasn't inspired for that. We tried Trestle, a small place that only serves a nightly prix-fixe dinner. That way they only make eight dishes all week (three courses, each with two alternates, and an optional add-on two-choice pasta course). That means they are at the low-end price-wise for their quality, and it's a regular industry hangout as well. This was pumpkin week: every single item used pumpkin. Not my favorite ingredient, but at least everything was different - it wasn't a one-note series of flavors. The dishes we had were all good. I wouldn't put it on my must-return list, but I don't regret trying it either.

The only down note was the cab we took to the restaurant. Not only was the car clearly in need of repair, but the cabbie was old and didn't know where and how he was going. We basically had to direct him via our phones. No tip for him. I blame Lubers for this: they have driven many cabs out of business, and many of those who were more competent have found other work. Not that Lubers are more competent, sadly.

I'm using the birthday as an excuse to take today off work.