Monday, September 1, 2025

2020 Diary: Try to Remember a Time in September


9/1/2020: September at last. Weather this morning simply beautiful, overcast, windy, and if not cool then at least mild. Went out early to take glass jar to recycle bin but they’d already come, so wheeled it in. Andy came out with the $20 for when they’re at the beach, so I could go and get stuff tomorrow, especially a TX Lotto, which is at the highest it’s been in years, but also tea, soap, and sweetener. Kam came over at 9 AM and I made him sandwiches for breakfast, and we watched a MST3K after I had posted. Took a nap. Up at 1 PM. About 2 PM Kam went in. About 3 PM I went in and got taters to peel while watching Peter O’Toole and Orson Welles discussing Hamlet. Going in soon (3:45 PM) to start supper. Oh, got my casino winnings up to 490,000 at Baccarat in DQ8 [Dragon Quest 8]. Such an accomplishment! [Sarcasm] Reading in Connecticut Yankee now. Made supper (sausages, taters and cabbage). Went on a hunt through DQ8 to get all the Notorious Monsters. Went in a little after 8 PM to wash up. More DQ8. The thought struck me: do I mean to just fiddle away until I die? At 10 PM prayed rosary. Probably more DQ8 until I go to bed.

 

9/2/2020: Got up a little before 6 AM. Bible and prayers, then got dressed to go to town. Left about 7:40 AM; got almost to the end of the driveway and found out Ginger had followed me, so that was that much more mileage taking her back, and S&A knew what I was doing. At the park fountain there was a big old fat duck (goose?), black and white with black legs and red/orange eyes, just standing on the rim. Got my TX Lottery ticket, then at DG got tea, sweetener, bar soap, 3 bags of hard candy, two cherry pies, lemon pepper, and some hand sanitizer. Oh, and some sugar wafers. Walked home (stopping to sanitize my hands) and got back just pouring sweat and shaking legs. Showered, posted NOT, then collapsed till 10 AM, when I went in and got ramen/eggs/bread. Still reading CY through the day. Napped from about 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Gathered pictures for my Charles Shulz books. About 2:30 started the chicken, rice, and broccoli process. Got it in the oven at 3:45 PM. Came back and posted Schulz books. Finished cooking at about 4:50 PM. Came back out. Played DQ8. Rosary at 7:05 PM. Muscles still shaky but doing okay. Posted on NOT one more time.

 

9/3/2020: up about 6:30 AM. Prayers, Bible. Posted on NOT. At 9 AM made Kam bacon and eggs, then my ramen. Looks like it might have rained a bit over night. No-one won the TX Lotto, so there’s that. Caught up diary at 10 AM. Right leg hurting already.

Kam came in after lunch; he is trying hard to stay awake all day, to get back on a regular sleeping schedule. We watched the end of “Devilfish” MST3K. About 3:30 PM I went in to make supper (chili, corn, noodles).

Reading CY all day and playing DQ8: I now have half a million casino tokens and half a million gold pieces in the bank. Hi-ho. I need to try another Dragovian Trial, I guess. Now almost 8:00 PM, and I hear rumbles of thunder. Perhaps I should pray rosary and then go in to wash up.

Started rosary, but thunder and lightning made me think I should go in and wash up right away. While there, Susan went over the vacation routine with me and had me look at Kam’s application for SSI (or whatever) with her; I could add nothing, it seems she covered it admirably. Came back about 8:35 PM and it hadn’t rained yet. Finished rosary. Now 9 PM. Bed at midnight.

 

9/4/2020: Up at 6:30 AM. Prayers, Bible. Perry Mason. Ramen at 9:30 AM. Conceived a new plan to free up the kitchen window; involved moving the grandmother clock and Stack One of the bins, which throws off my “What’s In the Box” list, but not by much. The little TV/DVD player is now in the kitchen, and I can see the calendar. Big post on NOT, “Lore Galore”, which took almost an hour to set up. Mel Brooks movies on this morning (High Anxiety, Spaceballs). Now almost 1 PM and I think the Shanafelts have left for the beach without saying good-bye, but it is raining, which would make it difficult. Posted Babel family pictures on Seguin, TX Old Photos.

Went in, and yep, they had left. Had ramen for lunch. More house shuffling, including washing bed covering, which obviated some sweeping after I moved the bed. It’s stopped raining. Now a little after 3 PM. At 4 PM made 18 fish sticks for supper. Let the big dogs out, with a little trouble getting Jade out the door.

At 8 PM turned the safety lights on and brought Ginger into the guest house. After wandering about a bit, she settled down onto an old black towel in the bathroom. Dusted the top of the ‘bridge’. Rosary at 10 PM, and then bed. Up at 12:30 AM to go to the bathroom. Ginger looks awful still. Could she have passed? I don’t want to poke her in case she’s just sleeping. I guess I’ll find out in the morning. Ah. After I twiddled around on the computer for about 20 minutes, she had turned around, so still alive! Don’t know if it’s my unusual activity or what, but right leg has a lot of vascular pain. Fala –I mean Jade– barking quite a bit (or is it the neighbor’s dog?). Back to bed. Want to go to TX Cooler early tomorrow.

 

9/5/2020: Up at 6:30 AM, prayers, and out the door at 6:45 AM. Home again about 7:45 AM, fed the cats, saw there was a raccoon in the trap, fed Babes and Ginger (who is in the guest house with me), and now making breakfast (8:20 AM). Have to call Andy, but when?

Started a load of wash, watched a Popeye cartoon at 9 AM, then called Andy. They told me to just let the raccoon go. I did so; at first it wouldn’t be roused, then I propped the cage open and lured it forward with a little cat food. Once it saw what was going on it snuck out of the trap and streaked off into the bushes. “What do I do now, Wainwright?” For the rest of the day, after my wash is done, I mean.

As it turned out, I kept finding little tasks to keep me going. Like putting the electronics from the kitchen closet into a half-full bin with other electronics, then updating the “What’s Where” list, watching a thing on FB of a guy reading “Till We Have Faces”, eating an extra meal of ramen and eggs, doing a big post on NOT of kids’ books, and seeing the likes rack up on the photo of the Babel Family on Seguin, Texas Old Photos. When I let Ginger out to grass in the late afternoon, the air and trees were full of swarming “bumbling maggots” buzzing around and running heedlessly into everything. Then at about 5:30 PM (just when I had determined to let the dogs back out, having caged the Rotts for the afternoon) it started to rain. Not too long or too bad. A little after 8 PM I put the safety lights on and locked up for the night. Watched parts of a show on Father Bosco. Rosary about 9:30 PM. Probably bed soon, but maybe some DQ8 first. When is Ginger going to poop?

 

9/6/2020: Up at 5:30 AM from dreams of bussing the back room of Gatti’s (old-style) and finding money and toys while I did so. Realized I wasn’t going to get back to sleep, so got up. Prayers, Bible. Decided to work on a thing I had conceived of as using Omi’s rug as a ‘runner’ on top of the Archives, and in doing so figured out why the drawers on ‘Kelsey’s dresser’ wouldn’t close: I had put them in backwards! It certainly looks better now, but I feel somewhat of a fool for not realizing it. BUT the ‘What’s Where’ guide certainly helped me go straight to Omi’s rug. Going to take a shower now, and then YT church. Afterwards: Check mail, get paper, feed cat.

Also fed and watered the big dogs. Had breakfast. Looks like the El Rey Channel is now off, so no more Sunday morning martial arts films. Blogged for POB, then Shadow Library on NOT. Played DQ8 and beat the Gold Dragon. Only a little after 10 AM, and the day looms.

Did a NOT post on Cabell. At 1 PM I penned up the Rotts, then fed Jade (whom I keep wanting to call Fala) separately. Straightened up the back-yard toys. E-mailed John. It’s now a little after 3 PM.

Raised the DQ8ers a couple of levels. Went in about 5 PM and made fish sticks. Let the Rotts out. Fed the cat. Reading “Tom Sawyer Abroad” and it’s – strange. I think Twain let down his characters: they’re just going on adventures, and there’s nothing deeper behind it.

Set up the dogs and the big house for the night, then rosary at 8 PM. Finished Tom Sawyer Abroad; what a weak ending. And he has tigers and lions live in the same area. Is it just a huge shaggy dog story? The balloon is rather science-fictiony; a jab at being Jules Verne? Made a new playlist: “Labor Day Weekend 2020”. Now almost 10 PM so I’m going to try and sleep.

 

9/7/2020: Woke up at 5 AM. It is now 9 AM, and I feel like I’ve had an entire day already. Prayers and Bible. Fed animals and penned up Rotts, walked down to the end of the driveway to make sure no paper today, made sign to warn the pool man, made ramen for breakfast, cleaned and sorted the (Nanny) desk top drawer, swiffered Ginger’s pee (and wiped up a huge puddle later), watched Perry Mason, posted on NOT, and did a dozen other small adjustments. Feeling sleepy but should watch for the pool guy. Have the AC off and windows open, and it’s not bad yet; rather pleasant, really.

And Ginger finally pooped too, in the ‘kitchen’. Started reading some of my old Morg stories to stay awake, and Delphine. Pool guy got here about 11:40 AM, and I sat outside to be sure Jade would behave, and she did, even getting closer to the guy than she ever lets me come, the fickle wench. I could close up and turn the AC on now, but it’s not too bad yet and Ginger looks so cute curled up in the sunbeam in front of the door. With the windows open, it finally seems seasonal, like I can catch a glimpse of real (and not too burning) summer.

The rest of the day I pecked away at little chores, like sweeping the kitchen porch. There was an unknown-to-me picture of Pop and Uncle Bobby on Old Photos today.  But mostly played DQ8, raising the character levels up a notch and then winning over a million casino tokens. Went out at 6 PM to discover Kaitlyn and Ryan had dropped off Kia and never poked their head in to tell me. Started some potato soup for supper, fed the animals, took out the trash. Ate supper. Washed all the dishes in the dishwasher, then set the lights and locks for the night. Now for the rosary, and the slow march to bed. It’s 8:30 PM. Tomorrow morning I mean to go to DG for bread and cookies, at least. And a Lotto at TX Cooler. About 10:15 PM Susan and Andy called to be sure I knew that Kia was here and advised me to pen her up for the night or she’d just keep barking. She went very sweetly into her pen. While I was away, Ginger made a HUGE puddle that took up all my paper towels. Almost 11 PM now, and I think I’ll try to hit the hay. Now I’m thinking about going to Family Dollar tomorrow, and TX Cooler Wednesday.

 

Notes

I would probably still be playing DQ8 if I had a working PS2. Poor old Ginger has since passed away, but Jade and Kia are still going strong. The lottery was going up this season as well, and sometimes I wonder if they somehow manage that on purpose. I don’t play the lottery a whole lot these days, only if it gets up to some phenomenal number. I guess if I couldn't win real money, at least I could rack up video game winnings. I played the slots so much I started having names for various configurations, like 'broken moons ascending' and 'minor sevens'.  

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