Stop and Smell the Soap

When one is single and lives alone, one needs to revel in sensual pleasures as they might be found. I've decided that enjoying refreshing scents of handmade soaps during morning showers is a small pleasure that can easily be afforded, especially with internet shopping and the rising cost of everything. And as every good Italian knows, olive oil is good for everything, especially aging skin. So why not enjoy some delightful scentsation every morning during the obligatory matin ablutions, and make the entire process beneficial beyond the social necessity of cleanliness. In the summer when the weeding tasks are furious, and sweat is more profuse, what a welcome antithesis to wash up with soothing gentle non-commercial and non-chemical soap with a favorite scent that is derived from herbal oil. What a pleasure the morning shower with the silky olive lather simultaneously exfoliating the skin and the bacteria of the night while not dessicating with preservative chemicals. The olfactory pleasure makes one want to waste some water and linger. Alas, the day is too soon hurtling onward.

Energy Star

Having to buy a new dishwasher opens one's eyes. My new dishwasher tells me it only costs $28 per year to operate if you run it 4 times per week (I run it once or twice) and your electric is 10.6 cents per kilowat hour - my electric rate is 11.69 cents per kilowat hour) (which begs the question of why Baltimore Gas & Electric has needed the rate increases it has been getting the past two years.) And that assumes the water heater is electric - mine is gas. Gas has gone up 40% in the last year, I just heard in the news today. Still, I am sure I can safely conclude that it only costs me a few pennies to run the dishwasher. BUT, I had to replace a light bulb in the ceiling light in the study. Now haven't we all replaced our incandescent lights with the new energy saving compact flourescent bulbs? I don't think one can even buy incandescent bulbs anymore, at least not in Home Depot. SO the point is, if I am consciously trying to be green and buy Energy Star appliances - my new refrigerator and new dishwasher - and I am using compact flourescent bulbs, what advantage am I getting over those who don't choose to think about these things because now, ALL the appliances are Energy Star rated and ALL the lightbulbs are compact flourescent. I know Energy Star ratings don't necessarily mean the best green option though I shop for it. But one has to wonder about the difference between making an effort and not.

The Year of New Appliances

I should have seen it coming. One reason I bought my house is because it had NO appliances which meant I would get everything new. I replaced my refrigerator just a few months ago and now the dishwasher. I now have a new bathroom sink and vanity. My laundry tub in the basement is only about 4 years old. I want to replace my stove simply because I want a more professional or industrial grade stove. And I've been threatening to replace the kitchen floor for about two years now. Funny how reality always brings plans to a stand still. And I am guessing that I'll have to go through this cycle at least once more given the odds of my longevity. My new dishwasher is all touch controls - AND not as quiet as I think it should be. I think the noise level is nearly the same as its predecessor. Perhaps Maytag hasn't really inproved the noise level in 23 years. I'd like to know what they mean when they say that a dishwasher is quiet. Do they measure the decibels??? I am sure a new washer and dryer will be in the not-too-distant future. It's only money! Only three more appliances to go. Oh, JOY!

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

I am quickly learning one of the most precious things one has especially as one ages is time. Where are the days when there was time for idleness? I am a lazy person and like to have lots of time for laziness, but life keeps getting in the way. I am of an age where everytime I try to do something, I create at least one other task besides that in which I am engaged. I sweep a floor then accidently drop part of the contents on a rug so that I have to vacuum. I clean the steps and knock a picture off the wall so glass shatters everywhere and I have to sweep up glass before I can finish the task at hand. I shake some spice into what I am cooking then knock over several bottles when I go to return the one I just used so that I have to straighten up the rack so everything will fit. Or I rearrange the freezer to fit some new groceries and then can't fit what I took out to assist with the rearrangement. All of these things take time. It takes me more time to do everything. I used to jump out of bed into the shower and be on my way to work in 15 minutes. I don't undertand why now it takes me 20 or 25 minutes to get out the door now! My introverted self needs more solitude time to re-charge the batteries, and I just keep going like the Energizer bunny. Yes, I think if I could save time in a bottle, I'd use it mostly when I just seem to run out of time - which with age, is just plain too often, if not daily.

Every Day a Little Death

The title is a song in my favorite musical - A Little Night Music. It's probably stating the obvious that aging brings the title into sharper focus. Last weekend it was visiting Dad in the hospital. This week-end it is shopping for a new dishwasher. In between there was the loss of yet another tooth. And the cycle continues. It doesn't matter whether or not something really dies, but it is a simple reality of this world that every day there is a little death. Even in our own bodies, we shed skin cells and filter out dead blood cells and brain cells stop functioning. And every day I'm pulling at least a few weeds to insure their certain death. And I get perturbed that certain little deaths cost me money. No, I don't want to pay the dentist who pulls the tooth that will eventually fall out on its own, I hope. No I don't want to pay for appliances when the end of their useful life happens upon me, regardless of their extended years of faithful service. My idealism is checked by my fiduciary protectionism. How can I accumulate wealth when I have to keep paying for a little death every day? Ah, there is the rub! I don't mind a little death so much; I just don't want to have to pay for it. Silly me! The Biblical words are essential to the philosophical system, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!" Hey, any one or combination thereof beats shopping for appliances! I've never minded grocery shopping. Heck, I do it at least three times a week now to maintain my walking routine and need to do it to keep the blood sugar where it is supposed to be. That brings me full circle to the beginning - "every day a little death." Not a conundrum - but how to live and react to the little death that comes our way daily - now, that's a conundrum - or at least, a cause for annoyance or introspection!

And the livin' is easy

When? Summertime? I am beginning to think there is no such thing. Murphy's Law - just when you have absolutely no time for anything, extras that need attention work their way into life. Why does the bathroom sink have to stop up so I have no choice but to call my favorite plumber. And of course, why does this happen on Friday when I can't get the plumber to answer any calls because it is the week-end? And didn't I just have all the pipes replaced under the sink? I should complain about my dishwasher going up after some 20 years of faithful service? (Wasn't it just last month I replaced the refrigerator - not June a year ago?) And I should complain that after 20 years one can no longer get parts, even for a Maytag? And I should complain about spending money to replace it? And I should complain about using my talents and doing arrangements for church? THAT kind of work makes me obsessed - I can't stop until it is done - which means something else in line stays in line on the TO DO list. And I wonder why I'm not feeling the easy living ambiance of summertime? Maybe this is the Providential rendering of " slow down, you move to fast, gotta make the morning last..." Maybe I should learn from the dogs. It's just too hot for any effort. Just kick back and adopt a French attitude " un de ces jours" (one of these days). I am just NOT amused! I spent too many years as a student and a teacher and summer is NOT supposed to be the least bit dramatic or inconvenient. Give me those lazy,hazy,crazy days of summer... PLEASE!

Racking up days

Or how many sick days can you use in one month a still keep your job? Good grief Charlie Brown. Another birthday and what do I have to show for it? Today I lost another tooth. I'm now calling it my 9 year torture. It was not really until July 2001 when I lost my first tooth in the front for everyone to see that the denture saga began, but I remember I was in denial having lost two or three back teeth prior to that. SO for 9 years now, I've lost my teeth one by one, and it never gets any easier. Having a tooth pulled hurts every single time. It's rather like death, no matter what I do, I know where the story ends; it's just that between two dentists, I don't know the specific twists of the plot development, except the next and last step. I now have only two natural teeth left in my mouth. I told the dentist today, that when the next one goes, I don't care what he says, they both go so I am finished with this nonsense. I'll be a full dentured old man. Today I also had a regular physical with my internist. Gosh, it was downright boring, given all the medical excitement I've had for the first six months of this year. Lets see, there was the great picnic of the radical prostatectomy (and don't let anyone tell you there is nothing radical about it!) (and truth be known, mine was better than most - I am an outstanding singular succes story), electrocution treatments for tennis elbow, another vocal chord trauma, and the truly revelatory findings of allergies. My big conundrum of my 58th year is what would it be like if I had something really wrong - though I guess I have to admit prostate cancer would probably rank way up there in the serious ratings, but remember, that was discovered last year. I just didn't go for surgery until January. I can't complain about the tooth. The dentist took the denture yesterday and sent it to the lab for the new tooth and then pulled the nearly unanchored perfectly good tooth today and re-inserted my denture with its new tooth. Luckily, I didn't need to be seen too much in my West Virginia mode. A little interesting note - the dentist tells me the teeth he pulls are sent to the dental school for teaching and research purposes. Since my teeth are all in good shape when they are pulled, I hope the students learn alot with my teeth! Oh those rotten gum genes!!! I actually don't mind becoming a dentured person. However, I find the endless torture of pulling one by one just incomprehensibl to say nothing of the hurt to my vanity to walk around with no teeth in my mouth for any number of days since 2001. Had I not used so much sick time this year, I might have stayed home yesterday, but I went to work yesterday and today, only using the necessary time to get done what had to be done. And tomorrow I will sing at church and all will be right with the world. Well, I have lots of vacation days racked up. The state increased the amount of time we are allowed to carry, so I just keep racking up those vacation days. I'll need them in case I need any other kind of surgery two years from now. I truly hope I am not setting a precedent for my golden years. Gosh, if I keep this up, I'll never have time to write my guide book for embarking upon the golden years. Another best seller bites the dust, and alas all possibility of ever becoming independently wealthy. I guess it's better for me to be average - HAH!! Not in MY lifetime!!! There must be a cruise or an extended tour of Eurpoe in my future. Why else would I be racking up days - NOT sick days?!?!?!

Stars and Stripes

OK I have to admit, I'm a sap for patriotic schlock. I like seeing flags and red, white and blue, bunting festooning everything that someone wants to festoon. I love fireworks! A real estate agent stuck flags in front of every house in my nieghborhood. I thought it really looked neat for my little 2-block street of Eas' Bal'more row houses to be lined with flags stuck in the ground lined in rows along the pa'ment. You really have to appreciate the local dialect, too. Wednesday Sarah and I sang an early American anthem by William Billings and this Sunday at church is the annual Independence day week-end extravaganza sending the choir off for it's two-month summer vacation - all American music. Yes, with my major in American literature, I'm also partial to American music. Why else would I know the lyrics of so many show tunes? Hey, they come in handy, often. And if you want to know what I think about the woman who sang alternate words to the Star Spangled Banner, claiming she was expressing her artistic understanding... well, bah humbug would be the polite version of my reaction. And it might be an instance where a societal return to public humiliation might be in order. A simple dunce cap or perhaps a sequined (making allowance for celebrity, gag) S for stupid might be in order. But I'm supposed to be too enlightened and liberal for such thoughts.