October 2024 Prompts - Part 2

I am back to trying to get things done, so have the rest of my answers to prompts from last October.


1 OCT: World Vegetarian Day: What’s your favorite vegetarian meal? A hearty vegetable soup with homemade bread.

2 OCT: Audiophile Day: If you listen to audiobooks, who is/are your favorite narrator(s)? No idea. I don’t listen to audiobooks very often. Once in a while I listen to plays, but those don’t generally have a single narrator.

3 OCT: Techies Day: Are you a techie? I’m somewhat of a techie.

4 OCT: World Smile Day: Do you like your smile? How many different smiles do you have? I don’t really like my smile. There’s a long story of childhood trauma associated with this. The short version is that I had extra teeth in my upper jaw, which kept one of my front baby teeth from falling out and I had to have surgery to remove the extra teeth and then have the front tooth pulled into place. But it never really ended up straight.

5 OCT: Frugal Fun Day: What’s the best fun thing to do that’s free? Listening to music.

6 OCT: Mad Hatter Day: What’s your favorite Alice in Wonderland character? I’ll go with the white Rabbit.

7 OCT: Forgiveness Day: Who (including yourself) do you need to forgive most and why? I need to stop beating myself up for being lazy.

8 OCT: International Face your Fears Day: What fear do you need to face most? I’m somewhat afraid of confronting people who I’m angry with.

9 OCT: World Post Card Day: When’s the last time you sent or received a postcard? I’ve sent postcards advertising events to several friends within the past month or so. I need to do more this month.

10 OCT: Cake Decorating Day: What’s the prettiest or most interesting cake you’ve ever seen (or made)? I have no skill at cake decorating. I’ve admired some cakes I’ve seen, e.g. one shaped like a book.

11 OCT: World Egg Day: If you found a bird egg on the ground, what would you do? Probably just leave it there, since I have no idea what else to do.

12 OCT: International Migratory Bird Day: If you had to fly south for the winter, where would you go? Probably Uruguay. Although there are also some cool birds in South Africa.

13 OCT: Silly Sayings: What’s a common saying or axiom or proverb that you just don’t believe? What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.

14 OCT: Indigenous Peoples’ Day: What book or film or series about or created by indigenous peoples do you enjoy? Greenlandic people count as indigenous, right? I really liked Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg.

15 OCT: Global Handwashing Day: How many times a day do you wash your hands? A lot. At least a dozen.

16 OCT: Dictionary Day: When’s the last time you looked up the definition of a word? I look up the definition of something at least weekly.

17 OCT: Pasta Day: What’s your favorite pasta shape and/or favorite way to eat pasta? I am partial to rotelli.

18 OCT: International Necktie Day: Do you know how to tie a Windsor knot? Yes.

19 OCT: International Gin and Tonic Day: What two things do you always associate together? Gin and tonic is a perfect answer to that. But if you want to cite me for lack of originality, strawberries and sour cream.

20 OCT: Croc Day: Do you own a pair of Crocs? I think I own two pairs of crocs.

21 OCT: Reptile Awareness Day: When’s the last time you saw a live snake? What was your reaction? I see snakes from time to time on the paths in our local park, but not often. So probably at least a year ago.

22 OCT: INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY: How often do you write/text in all caps? What emotion does it signify usually? I rarely write anything in all caps and, when I do, it’s usually by accident.

23 OCT: TV Talk Show Host Day: Who’s your favorite TV talk show host? I don’t generally watch talk shows. Do you count John Oliver? If not, I’d probably have to go back to Dick Cavett.

24 OCT: United Nations Day: If you had to represent your country at the United Nations, what would you include in your first speech/address? An apology to the rest of the world.

25 OCT: Global Champagne Day: Champagne. Yay or nay? It’s okay but I won’t go out of my way for it. I’m more likely to drink prosecco.

26 OCT: Howl at the Moon Night: Do you like werewolves? Well, I do like hairy guys.

27 OCT: Visit a Cemetery: When’s the last time you visited a cemetery? I’ve been known to visit historic cemeteries when traveling. I actually semi-visit a couple rather regularly, since there are a couple of family cemeteries I pass by on my regular walking routes. In fact, there is a tiny one in the corner of a nearby shopping center.

28 OCT: Saint Jude’s Day: What do you consider a lost cause? Getting my den (a.k.a. the Black Hole of Vienna) organized.

29 OCT: Hermit Day: Does the hermit lifestyle appeal to you, why or why not? There re definitely days when I want to be left alone.

30 OCT: Candy Corn Day: Candy Corn. Yay or nay? I like it but only once a year.

31 OCT: Halloween: What’s your favorite Halloween tradition? Telling scary stories.

What I Did in November

November was another month in which I didn’t do much. We did have a book club meeting to talk about The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, which had some interesting things early on, mostly having to do with the 8-year-old brother, Billy, and the adventure book he admires. But it completely fell apart in the last 60 or so pages, with an ending that didn’t hold together. I also had my Litvak genealogy group and my needlework group.

Getting my water heater tune-up for winter proved to be extremely annoying because they sent me both a text and an email telling me I’d be notified of what time the technician would show up by 11 a.m., but I didn’t hear a word and when I called back, they told me that was an old message and I just needed to wait. He eventually showed up at almost 3 in the afternoon. Still, it’s one of those things that has to get done.

Of course, there was also the election. I did early voting at the community center near me. Both that and the elementary school where my normal polling place is are easy walking distance from where I live and I would normally walk, but not with my knee problems. At any rate, there was almost no wait to vote. There was really nothing contentious in my district since, as I have said before, VA-11 is so blue that it is practically indie. (Gerry Connolly got about 67% of the vote. Interestingly, I hadn’t gotten any mail or any phone calls from his Republican opponent.) There were also a couple of bits of good news. First, Eugene Vindman squeaked out a victory in VA-07. This is important because it suggests that Abigail Spanberger has a decent chance in her run for governor. (Note that Virginia has its gubernatorial and other state / local races in odd years. I am fairly sure that this is Thomas Jefferson’s fault as is everything I find weird about Virginia.) The other bit of good news was from NY-04, where Anthony D’Esposito lost. For those who don’t recognize the name, he replaced George Santos in the House of Representatives and had already gotten in trouble over hiring a woman he was having an affair with. Though, to be fair, the main reason I paid any attention to him at all was that he is from my home town.

The most annoying thing that happened in November was falling in my kitchen and being unable to get up. I called my friend, Kim, who rescued me and took me to urgent care, where I got examined and x-rayed. Bottom line was: 1) nothing broken, 2) a diagnosis of osteoarthritis, 3) advice re: painkillers (including an injection into my shoulder, 4) coming home with a knee sleeve, a cane, a sheet of exercises, and general advice. The doctor said I will eventually need knee replacement surgery but “not for a long time.” I am doing better and have been pretty much pain free for a while now. I do need to work on exercises more, however.