2018 Life Logs, Day 59—Aftermath of Earlier Computer Issues
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Weather: Sunny; High 50, Low 40 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

As part of getting ready for my upcoming trip, I had to finally face the aftermath of the computer issues I had the first of February. At that time, I started finding photo and document files in the recycle bin and after days of trying to figure out what was happening, it turned out to be a Google Cloud issue. I fought with the problem for two weeks and when finally everything on my computer was uploaded to the ‘cloud’ I moved on to other things knowing I would have to come back to this at some point. Well, that point is now. I don’t want to leave without backing everything up on a new hard drive, but I don’t want to backup files and folders with things missing. My last backup was in August, so things before that date are on hard drives even if they aren’t on my computer. But it is the time period from August to now that I am dealing with. I got the missing Travel Logs on to my computer today and will continue to work on this until I feel confident that I have recovered as much as possible. Then I’ll back it up and continue my photo organization when I get back from Puerto Rico.

That is how I spent most of my day, but I did go to a class at the gym and I went to Corner Cycle to pick up bike. I took my bike in last week for a tune-up that was included in the purchase. I also ordered panniers (bags to carry things in) and I got the call yesterday afternoon that the bike was ready and that the panniers had arrived. My bike looks like I am ready for some serious travel. Actually, I just wanted the panniers to carry beach paraphernalia for myself and the Goldpebbles and for bike trip picnics. Obviously, I’m looking forward to summer!

2018 Life Logs, Day 58—Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico Bound
Date: Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Weather: Sunny; High 52, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I finally did it. I booked a flight to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for next Wednesday, March 7. I didn’t book a return flight as I’ll have to figure that out once I get to Puerto Rico. If, for weather reasons, Windbird’s arrival in Puerto Rico is delayed, I don’t want to be pressured by a set return flight. But back to arrival. Sam and Dawn of Windbird will meet me at the Santo Domingo airport and deliver me to Windbird in Samana. We will then pick the best time to sail the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico. This can be the most prickly part of the prickly path from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico, but I have wanted to do this since I researched it a few years ago. The Caribbean weather guru, Chris Parker, is saying that early to mid-March looks good for this passage, thus the quick decision to fly down next Wednesday. In the meantime, Sam and Dawn will do the overnight passage from where they are in Luperon to Samana. That gets 24 hours of possible nasty conditions out of the way. Then we will leave Samana to sail the 168 miles to Boqueron on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico, or fewer miles if we land in Mayaguez. Some say the Mona passage is the most dangerous passage in the Caribbean due to its shoals, currents, and building storms, but I’m betting on Sam’s choice in timing to assure that we have a safe traveling conditions. If it is rough, however, it will be good that there are three of us. I haven’t thought ahead as to what will happen once we reach Puerto Rico as it all depends on when we get there. But at some point, I will get off the boat and head to Justin and Jo’s for a few days before returning home. I am so excited about all aspects of this trip. But now I have to focus on getting ready to go. And you know how that is. Anytime you are leaving home for any period of time, you always feel like there are things that just must be done before you go. I’ll work on those things, but realistically my list is too long and I’ll probably leave without having completed half the tasks. Regardless, when I leave, I’ll leave the worry of those tasks behind and look forward to a wonderful visit on Windbird and with the Puerto Rico Handley-Hunts post Hurricane Maria. I was there in February last year, so it will be interesting to experience the contrast. But most of all, it will be wonderful to spend a few days just hanging out with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco.

I went to Tai Chi this morning and a 5 pm class at the gym this afternoon. So, I got my exercise in for the day. I also spent a couple of hours this afternoon skimming Dr. Mark Hyman’s new book, Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? It came out today and since I pre-ordered on Amazon, I received my copy with the morning mail. I certainly haven’t read it from cover to cover, but in my quick skim, I found it to be the clearest guide out there to help us make decisions about what to eat. I love the title and I highly recommend buying this book if you are looking for the latest information on how to make decisions about what to eat to stay healthy. Many things that have been recommended over the past 50 years have been found to be dead wrong and this book corrects that information in a clear and research-based manner. Quoting from Dr. Mark Hyman, “What you put on your fork is the most important thing you do every day.” Since you get the chance to make a positive difference in your life three times a day, he recommends making the healthiest choices possible. But because the people we trust to give us nutrition guidance keep changing their views, food decisions can be very confusing. Again quoting Dr. Hyman, “All of this is enough to make you give up and just eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and in whatever quantities you want.” But that is not the answer and that’s why he wrote his new book.

My other big activity of the day was talking to good friend Linda Stuart. Much of our conversation centered around what to eat. She and Mike are bingeing on good food now that they are in California. Linda explained what a challenge it has been for them while in South America to get healthy food. They have both had gut issues, but after just a few days in California, they are feeling great. They are visiting with their son Garrett right now, but between now and October, they will bike around California, seek out house sitting gigs as a way of getting free housing for some of that time, bike to Canada and back, and in between all of that, attend Garrett and Katie’s wedding in July and then a cousin’s wedding in New York in late August. They will fly, not bike, to New York and will visit with family there before they head back to California and then fly to New Zealand to continue their ‘round the world biking adventure.

2018 Life Logs, Day 57—Busy Monday
Date: Monday, February 26, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 50, Low 32 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

It was a busy day here—exercise at the gym, research into flights to the Dominican Republic and back from Puerto Rico, a trip to Hyannis to get new eye glasses and do some food shopping, a stop at the Cooperative Extension Service to get information on soil testing, listening to episodes from two different online docuseries I am following, texting back and forth with friends on various issues. Yep. That’s how my day went.

Just before I went to Heather’s yesterday, I got an email from Sam on Windbird saying that they are planning to cross from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico on March 8 or as soon after as weather allows. So, if I want to do the passage with them, and I do, I need to arrive on March 7. After I got home from the gym this morning, I researched flights and found that I can make this work. I won’t book my flight until I hear from Justin and Jo that this timing will work for them. But hopefully sometime tomorrow I’ll have this nailed down. I then had an hour long wait on my phone while my bank was trying to figure out how I can make a payment to my bank credit card via transfer. I’ve done this every month for a year and a half. But the bank updated its online site this month and it is obviously not working. I have been getting daily emails apologizing for the problems, but I had not encountered them until today. While I was on hold, I got a call from my “biking around the world” friends Linda and Mike Stuart, but I couldn’t answer it for fear that I would lose connection with the bank after waiting for a full hour to talk to them. And as soon as I got off the phone with the bank, I had to leave for an eye appointment in Hyannis. Linda and Mike flew from Argentina to California, arriving on Friday, for a break in their ‘round the world trip. Their son Garrett is getting married in July, so after reaching the tip of South America and spending some time in Argentina and Uruguay, Linda and Mike decided to fly to California and spend some time just hanging out and biking up and down the coast until the wedding. After that, they will get back to the trip. But now that they are back in the states and have a phone, I can call to talk to them, and even text. Today just didn’t work out, but hopefully we will connect tomorrow. I raced to Hyannis, did some Trader Joe’s shopping, ordered a new pair of glasses to replace the new ones that I think caused the allergic reaction I had, and went to the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension office to get information about soil testing for Heather’s garden. I got the information, headed back to Heather’s to deliver it, and got a text from her tonight that that Sam and Ollie helped her get the garden soil for testing this afternoon. Once it is dry, we can send it to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for evaluation. It is the time of year when you really want to think about summer warmth and gardening. And it is time to make preparations.
I didn’t get home until almost 5 pm and then it was time for me to watch today’s episodes of two different online docuseries I am following. I also listened to Heather’s Monday 9 am radio program that is repeated at 7 pm. Heather interviewed Clifford Johnson, a professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Southern California, about the new movie, “Black Panther”. The question in my mind was, “Why is she interviewing someone about a movie. Living Lab is a science program.” Well, as it turns out, this movie is not only making headlines as a box office superhero movie starring black actors, it could also be the biggest science movie of the year. Clifford Johnson, the scientist being interviewed, pointed out that the Black Panther, King T’Challa (in the movie), is a scientist himself, “his whole culture is based on accomplished black people doing scientific breakthroughs to make their world work so well.” Sounds like an interesting movie to put on the list of “must sees”.

2018 Life Logs, Day 56—A Day at the Goldstones
Date: Sunday, February 25, 2018
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 44, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I went to Heather’s at just before noon to deliver her seed catalogs that I had borrowed and to say hello after their week away. I hadn’t intended to stay all afternoon and evening, but that is what happened. Heather helped me with my phone, we talked about gardening, and I got to see the boys and hear about their week in DC. Sam and Jed had soccer practice and while they were gone, Heather took Ollie and Jonah to the toy store to buy some Playskool figures so they could play Olympics. They each got a figure on skies and when they got home, they set up a cardboard ski jump in the basement and invited Heather and I down for the competition. Heather scored each jump and the boys took this so seriously. We ended up with a tie for the Gold, first time in history, and then had an elaborate awards ceremony in the kitchen. Too cute. I stayed for dinner and we had artichokes and mushroom risotto. Yummy! It was a fun day.

2018 Life Logs, Day 55—Just a Thought
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2018
Weather: Blue Sky,Sunny AM, Mostly Cloudy PM, Rain; High 50, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

Just a thought . . . I am “borrowing” the following from someone who posted this on Sam Weigel’s Facebook page. I don’t know the original source, but I have a feeling that whomever thought of this won’t mind that I am passing it along. If you have any common sense, the answer is obvious.

If your child hits another child with a stick, do you:
A. Give everybody sticks.
B. Give certain kids sticks who are adept with sticks to defend everyone else
C. Take the stick away

Someone replied to this by adding, “Depends on the influence and donations of the NSA (National Stick Association).”

2018 Life Logs, Day 54—Farewell Lulu
Date: Friday, February 23, 2018
Weather: Wintry Mix Overnight, Partly Sunny AM, Cloudy PM; High 45, Low 37 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

My morning check-in on my phone led me to a Facebook post that brought sad news. Justin and Jo fully include their pets as members of their family and one of those pets is no longer with us. Justin came home after dark last night and ran over Lulu, Jo’s faithful dog. Thankfully Lulu was dead instantly, but that doesn’t erase the sadness. Lulu has been Jo’s companion for eleven years since she rescued her from an abusive situation. It took a while for Jo to gain Lulu’s total trust, but since then, they have been inseparable. When Justin and Jo moved from New Mexico to Puerto Rico, Lulu and Alfie, their two dogs, were flown to Puerto Rico with them. I know Justin must feel terrible, but he assured me that he and Jo and kids are all okay. I am sending love to Justin and the kids, but especially to Jo, who loved that dog so much. Farewell Lulu.

Although there was a little sun today, it was still most cloudy. But that is better than overcast and foggy, so I’ll take it. I started my day by heading to Heather’s to feed the guinea pigs and stopped at the AT&T store on the way home to deal with some of my phone issues. That was frustrating. A very nice woman was able to get my contacts transferred correctly, I thought, but when I got home I again discovered missing people. I will just have to rebuild the contact list. The woman couldn’t figure out why I can’t answer phone calls. I think I have discovered that if the call if from someone with an AT&T phone, I can answer, but when anyone else calls, I just can’t accept. When Heather and Jed get home, we will experiment as they are not with AT&T. If my suspicion is correct, I will go back to AT&T and hope they can figure this out. So, the phone saga continues. Then I headed home and had a nice day doing the things everybody does like cooking and cleaning, and I added watching a couple of health-related programs. Then this evening I went to a mandolin concert. I read about this concert earlier in the week and it peeked my interest as I love the mandolin. A local mandolin ensemble group called l’Esperance with the visiting New York Mandolin Ensemble played tonight at the Falmouth Congregational Church in downtown Falmouth. The local group has 22 members and the New York group has 8. The visitors played first, then the locals, and then they combined. I never knew there were so many different types of mandolins. The program stated that the musical selections ranged from celtic, folk, jazz, “downtown” (whatever that is), and classical and some of the pieces were written by the performers. As with any concert, there were some pieces that I loved and others that I just found interesting. It was a three-hour long concert which was a bit long, but I am so glad I went. I sat with good friends, Terry and Olivia White, so it was a plus to get to see them. And the proceeds from the concert go to the Falmouth Service Center’s project to bring fresh food to those in need which was another plus. No Olympics for me tonight, but a most enjoyable evening.

2018 Life Logs, Day 53—Off-task and Happy
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2018
Weather: Overcast with Rain and Fog; High 53, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

It was yet another overcast, dreary day with a little rain and a little fog. I went to the gym for a class and it was a tough one. It was an hour-long upper and lower body workout with weights. When I started going to the gym I could barely use 2-pound weights and certainly not for a full hour. Then I worked up to 3-pound weights and now 4. Some people use 5-pounds, but I would not have made it through this morning’s class with 5’s. Maybe I’ll get there by this time next year. After class, I went to Heather’s to feed the guinea pigs. Then I came home to start checking tasks off the list I made earlier in the week, but in typical style, I immediately got side-tracked. I made the mistake of checking my email and there was a link to a couple of short videos on how to maximize your vegetable garden output. Well, I couldn’t resist watching and that took a big chunk of my day. Actually, two of the things on my ‘to do’ list are garden related, so I guess I wasn’t totally off-task. But I was happy. I will help Heather with her garden this season and I am planning to do some deck gardening here, so the videos on how to get the best yield in a small space were perfect.

Next, I had a battle with my phone. I simply can’t accept phone calls and this afternoon I couldn’t call out. AT&T swears it was not my phone but that it was the number I was calling that wouldn’t accept calls. I had called them earlier and gotten voice mail, so I don’t know what changed. Whatever, it was frustrating, and I had to abandon the task that involved the phone call and go on to other things. I did some cooking and watched another episode of an online series about autoimmune diseases. One thing that was pointed out is how much all of the wireless devices in our lives is producing intense electromagnetic fields in our homes. The natural world and even our bodies produce EMFs but they are low intensity. There is mounting evidence that the wireless world we love could be causing all sorts of health issues. Just carrying your cell phone in your back pocket, as I do, is really not a good idea. All of this is something I have given too much thought to, but in today’s program one physician was recommending that you put your router on a timer so it is off overnight and go back to being hard-wired with your computer connection and even your mouse. We all love the ease of movement that wireless affords, but we have to weigh that against evidence about how it is affecting our health and adjust accordingly. I’ll certainly be paying closer attention to this from now on. Before I turned on the Olympics for the evening, I saw on Facebook that Windbird had an adventure during the night. Sam said he woke up to Windbird bumping against something. When he got to the cockpit he saw it was another boat Windbird was rubbing against, but the most disconcerting thing was that he didn’t recognize where he was. Windbird had broken away from her mooring and drifted about a third of mile during the night. Luckily, there was no real damage. There’s always an adventure when aboard a sailboat!

2018 Life Logs, Day 52—Taking Care of Business
Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Weather: Overcast and Foggy AGAIN; High 54, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I persisted and stayed up last night until the last woman skated (and fell) in the short program. If you did the same, then you know that was well after mid-night. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, but then for some inexplicable reason, I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I kept my eyes shut until the alarm went off at 8 am and have been on the move since. It was a day for taking care of business. First, it was off to Heather’s to feed the guinea pigs. Then it was on to a 10 am appointment with my primary care physician. He insists on twice yearly blood tests to check my cholesterol and glucose numbers. I join the ranks of too many Americans with a slightly elevated glucose level. I also join the ranks of too many Americans who need to watch their cholesterol. My total cholesterol number has been high, yet stable, over 25 years. Thankfully my ratio is excellent, so I don’t have to be on meds. I just have to have twice yearly check-ins with this doctor. The doctor appointment was in Sandwich, about 30 minutes from here, on a road that runs along the north shore of the Cape. I drove that little two-lane road from Sandwich to Hyannis today so I could drive through the salt marsh. It was foggy again today, but a drive through the salt marsh on an overcast, misty winter day was beautiful. I was driving to Hyannis to have my new eye glasses (new the first of January) adjusted. I’ve never had so much trouble with glasses, and in trying to make an adjustment, the woman actually broke off one of the arms. I had to wait to have that replaced and to have the lens attachments tightened. The new glasses are rimless, so the lenses are drilled where they attach to the bridge and held together with little plastic tabs that don’t do the job. I think I chose a frame that is too narrow and the plastic attachments pop out of the drilled holes about once a week. I can get them back together, but I have to carry my old glasses with me all the time in case reassembly is not easy. And then there is the problem that I seem to be allergic to them! They make my eye lids extremely sensitive. So much so, that after wearing them for a little over a week, I have to take them off for a few days to give my eye lids a break. A very nice gentleman came out to talk to me today and suggested I give them another week. If things are not better, then I should return and choose another frame. The current frame has a rubber coating. I’ve always had just medal, so that’s what I’ll get if these need to be replaced. I was going to stop at the AT&T shop to have them deal with a number of issues that have arisen when I switched from my phone to Mark’s phone on Sunday. But I just didn’t have the stamina to deal with another problem. I’ll go there tomorrow. After a late lunch, I did take my bike to the bike shop for an “almost spring” tune-up. I also bought a tire pump and ordered some panniers. Finally, it was home for the evening where I have been watching the Olympics alternately with watching some health-related episodes online. It seems there is always an informative series running and I try to take advantage of them when I can. No matter what the topic of the series, there are certain life style recommendations that are made for all, and one of those is getting quality sleep. So, I am going to bed and skip watching the Gold Medal women’s hockey game between Canada and the US. Hopefully I can watch it On Demand tomorrow.

2018 Life Logs, Day 51—More Helping Out and Catching Up
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Weather: Overcast and Foggy; High 48, Low 44 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

I have been so dedicated to getting up and going to the gym for 9:15 classes, but this morning, I skipped Tai Chi and fixed a nice breakfast before heading to Heather’s. I needed to get there for the morning feeding of the guinea pigs and to then can the apple sauce I made yesterday for Jonah and Ollie (Sam doesn’t eat ‘wet’ fruit) yesterday. I got a bit side-tracked when I decided to take advantage of almost empty veggie drawers in the refrigerator and clean the bottom half of the refrigerator. It’s just what moms do. Then I headed home and started working on the to do list I generated yesterday. I didn’t make a huge amount of progress, but I got started. Then it was time to stop and head to the gym. I continue to watch Olympic ice skating tonight, but somehow it hasn’t captured my interest. But I will persevere.

2018 Life Logs, Day 50—Helping Out and Catching Up
Date: Monday, February 19, 2018
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Drizzle Forecast for Overnight; High 51, Low 46 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA

When I sent my log last night, I had not yet heard from Windbird. But just after sending the log, I got a Spot report showing that they had arrived in the Domincan Republic. Sam contacted me via Facebook messaging today to check in. They want to get a Sailrite sewing machine to Puerto Rico, so we messaged back and forth about the best way to do that. It now looks like I will be headed to either the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico sometime around mid-March.

After my morning class at the gym, I spent the rest of the day helping out and catching up. The helping out was going to Heather’s to feed the guinea pigs and to wash and dry the sofa cushion covers. Heather had done half of the cushions before leaving for DC but wasn’t going to have time to complete the job. So, I offered to do that for her. I also offered to make apple sauce with the all the over ripe apples, so I did that and will pressure can it tomorrow. I will return to Heather’s after Tai Chi in the morning and complete the jobs. When I got home late this afternoon, I made a To Do List of all the things I need to do here to catch up on this and that. And then there is watching the Olympics. I love the ice skating, but more than the Olympics, the one thing that has captivated by attention and my heart in the past few days are the actions being taken by the high school students in Parkland, Florida, as well as students all over the country. The Parkland students have taken the tragedy that happened in their high school last week to a national movement against gun violence. I am in awe of their resilience, their determination, and their view of a better America. I am behind them all the way and I truly hope you are as well. They are not only the strength of the here and now, they are our future.