IN MY DAY

Inescapable conclusion: I kind of overdid it. Schlepping groceries including a bag of crystal pears (水晶梨 'seuit jing lei'), some of which were for the old Indonesian Chinese neighbor lady downstairs, as well as everything else, while trekking all over hell and gone, was, just perhaps, rather much. My upper back hurts like bejayzus. Fortunately I've now got a new container of acetominophen (autistic foetus, yay) as well as more latanoprost (eye stuff).
So medical disasters are postponed. At a safe distance. Not likely.

And I got to say magic words well over a score of times. San nin faai lok (新年快樂), san tai kin hong (身體健康), maan si yu yi (萬事如意), nin nin yau yu (年年有餘), seui seui peng on (歲歲平安), cheung meng paak seui (長命百歲). And all that jazz.
So the proprieties have been observed.

[Translation: Happy New Year, be healthy, may everything be as you wish, surplus every year, peace and safety all of your years, a long life to a hundred years.]

And, of course, lottery tickets. To see if this year will be my lucky day. Yesterday and today were drawing days. Test the water, so to speak. See if it works.

When I returned home, my apartment mate sounded a lot better. She may be finally getting over the flu. Yes, she got jabbed, but the strain that rose to dominance is NOT what was predicted. Subclade K instead. Oopsie. Whacks you for a week or so.

On the other hand, Russell, who had peumonia a year ago, seems to have finally gotten his vigour back. He's in his eighties so it hit him hard. Robert, in his nineties, got it three years ago and is still not entirely one hundred percent.

It rained this morning before I left the house, and started again after I returned nearly five hours later. But in between I enjoyed two smokes, the last one in the pipe show above, which I've had for nearly two decades. Which gave me great pleasure with several tins of Esoterica during the last three years at the toy company before the Canadians bought it. I remember particularly autumn and early spring bouts, wandering around the alleys of the Financial District. A Hardcastle sandblast poker, decorative silver band.

Had it going with a mostly red Virginia blend, touches of aged blonde, Turkish, and Perique. Kind of like some of the Esotericas or GLPease Fog City Collection. Very nice.
Almost demands a cup of strong hot Hong Kong Milk Tea.



At the pharmacy the helpful staff person went ahead and arranged refills of four medications, two of which I shan't need till the end of the month beginning of next. That way I won't have to come down then. But honestly, that wouldn't be a problem. I locomote quite well, and I'm down in Chinatown every day off anyway. I like the neighborhood.
It's a small village with a big city feel.



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