We made a couple of interesting purchases today.

At the University District Street Fair, Phillip bought a custom-made belt. I never saw anyone buy a custom-made belt before. Phillip picked out the belt and a buckle. A couple of craftsmen cut it size, punched holes, attached the pieces, and handed Phillip a belt built to his specifications. Amazing.

On the way home, we stopped by the grocery store. We needed almonds and fruit for the sugar gliders. We also bought a box of bread machine mix, on a impulse, or maybe for the novelty of it. That's an interesting marketing niche, I think. In-between the simplicity of buying a loaf of bread and the labor of baking bread, there is the bread machine. We love ours. Now, somewhere between baking bread and the bread machine is instant bread machine mix. It's sort of a labor saving product for a labor saving device, I guess. No need to measure anything except the water. How cool! I'm being sarcastic, but maybe there is a need for such a product. I guess that if you own a bread machine and use it only once every two months, a box of mix makes more sense than storing flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

My 2004 Tea/Tisane Log (10 more to go)

1. yerba maté, 1 January
2. genmaicha, 9 January
3. South African Rooibos (with honey crystals), 10 January
4. chamomile lemon herb, 15 January
5. Northwest blackberry, 17-19 January
6. lime herbal teasan, 6 February
7. aged Earl Grey, 17 February
8. black cherry tea (organic Ceylon tea with black cherry flavor), 5 March
9. black tea blend (organic), iced, 17 March
10. oolong, 19 March
11. iced green tea with apple, peach, ginger, and elderberry juices, 21 March
12. artificially flavored "raspberry tea", iced, packed with dyes, preservatives, and possibly tea, 24 March
13. True Blueberry™ herb tea, 19 April
14. raspberry yerba maté (iced), 6 May
15. white (with orange blosson and ginger), iced, 14 May

I think we may be close to finally achieving Phillip's dream of 500 miles on a tank of gas.

Currently, the fuel gauge on our Prius is showing 6/10 of a tank of gas. (Not that I completely trust that funky thing - see September 20.) The trip odometer is showing 224 miles, and the average (of averages) consumption is showing 43.3 MPG.

The Kindly Ones, the ninth volume in the ten-part "Sandman" collection, arrived the day before yesterday. I'm about half way through it already, and it is the thickest volume yet.

I wish I hadn't read the introduction by Frank McConnell. It told me how this volume ends. It told me some key plot points. I didn't finish reading the introduction. I didn't want to be told the story before I read it. I thought introductions were supposed to be about the story, or about the author, not the story itself. I want to discover how the story ends on my own.

So far, this volume certainly feels like it's wrapping up. Characters from the previous eight volumes are showing up, or are mentioned. (These are stories you have to pay attention to.)

There's a Tori Amos reference in Part 4, page 12.

I am enjoying this series a lot. I wouldn't mind owning the collection someday.

After I finish The Kindly Ones comes The Wake.

I saw my ex-wife today. I can't remember how many years it's been since I last saw her - it might be two, or it could even be five or more. I really don't think about her. Maybe that's a bad thing to admit, or maybe it's a healthy thing, but it's the truth. Just yesterday, I walked past one of the apartment buildings I used to live in and noticed that it had been converted into condominiums. That's exactly how I thought of it: I used to live there. I didn't even visualize two of us living there.

My ex-wife lives in my neighborhood, somewhere. She told me that some time ago. We never run into each other, though. I don't know where she lives, and I don't wonder about it, either. There are some things I don't want to know. Today, I was reminded that she probably still lives in my neighborhood. I was also reminded that I never think about that. My former life really is another life, separate from this one.

She saw me first. She was exiting the bus I was waiting to board. We hugged, we asked how each were doing, and went our different ways. We smiled and waved at each other as the bus passed her. That was exactly the right amount of time for that encounter - just enough time for hellos, but no time for awkwardness. That's one more reason I like public transit.

My friend Pet is an intelligent and wise person. I've been working on translating El conejo. I ran into some difficulty translating the name of a chapter: "¿Cómo son los conejos?" The closest translation I could come up with was "How are rabbits?" - but that didn't make much sense. It was obvious to me what the chapter was about. With statements like "La mayoría de los conejos son de color café o gris." (Most rabbits are brown or grey.), the chapter is about what rabbits look like, but I couldn't make sense of that title. "Cómo" must have some other meaning I wasn't aware of. So, I turned to Pet for help.

Pets advice: "Let it happen." I'm reading a book, not working as a translator, she pointed out, so it doesn't have to be exactly right. I know what the chapter was about, so a direct translation isn't necessary. All I need is the meaning.

I like taking surveys. It's a chance to help someone, somewhere to produce better goods or services, which in turn, helps me. Plus, it's fun - it's an opportunity for self-inquiry, which I always enjoy.

The thing about surveys, though, is there always seems to be a question I can't accurately answer. Maybe this reflects poorly worded surveys. Maybe I am, as friends have commented, a person difficult to classify, Maybe I'm just too picky.

Our church handed out a survey yesterday, about its Adult Forums. The first question is giving me difficulty. "Do you attend Adult Forums? Yes or No" I have attended Adult Forums in the past, if the subject attracts me. I go to, on average, 3 or 4 forums a year. (Adult Forums are scheduled for every Sunday, except in the summer.) So I guess that's a "yes." Answering "yes," however indicates that people are likely to see me there, and that's not correct.