Yesterday was a more than a bit stochastic. When Lefty died, he left us with fleas. The vet cleaned up Dusty, the other cat and told us to bomb the house. That’s bug bomb. I have wanted to set off a bug bomb since I was a kid. Don’t look at me that way; it’s not like I want to bomb people. For some strange reason that did not appeal to my roommate, so it was my job. I set up the cannisters throughout the apartment and set them off while she got the car. We needed to vacate the premises. She went to her place upstate, and I went to election worker training at Monroe college. She gave me a ride. I carefully read and followed the instructions that ended with, GET OUT! As I was leaving, I realized that I forgot my phone in my room, the first room bombed. I ran in to get the phone and discovered that the bomb was a dud. Lefty was not allowed in my room, so it is probably OK. I left the door open so the chemicals could get in from the other bombs.
We of course hit traffic and I was afraid I’d be late to training. They expect that, the instructions said, “don’t come more than 15 minutes late. I was only five minutes late because I got out of the car and walked the rest of the way. I got there, walked in, talked to the security person at the entrance, and she told me, “It’s been canceled; there’s been a sewage problem!” It would have been nice if they had told me in advance. I had to stay away from home for at least two hours, open the windows, and come back in another two hours. My plan was to go shopping for the second two hours so did that first. I walked to Aldi, a considerably longer walk than from home and it was when it was earlier, hotter, and sunnier than when I usually go out. Fortunately, I had sunblock and shopping bags in my backpack. I got home closer to three hours after I set the bombs off rather than two. I turned on the exhaust fan to speed up clearing out the chemicals. Then I did something perhaps stupid. Instead of going out again I stayed in my room, the one with the smallest amount of bug bomb with the windows wide open. The room didn’t smell so I thought it couldn’t be that bad. I was very tired and had no place convenient to spend the next few hours. It’s not like there’s a nearby coffeeshop with internet where I could sit with my computer. Instead, I stayed in my room and prepared Gord’s Gold. By the time I emerged it was well more than four hours since the bombs were set off. I’m alive and have had no respiratory problems. I think I’ll live.
While doing that I got a call from the Board of Elections. The woman I talked to said she wasn’t sure if I were told that the training had been canceled. I told her only after I got there. She gave me a sincere apology. That’s all I every want. Everyone gets the COVID-19 pass and they get a bonus sewage pass. I have decided that God knows what’s been going on too, so we all get a COVID-19 pass, and don’t have to atone on Yom Kippur. Don’t let the fact that I’m an atheist doubt me on this. If God existed, it’s what she’d do; I feel confident about that. My training is rescheduled for tomorrow.
Then I cleaned up much of the kitchen. I put the dishes in plastic bags to protect them and took them out. I washed things that had been left out. I also took food out of the protective bags. Then I made dinner, Philly cheesesteak with my special secret ingredient, diced garlic sauteed with the beef. That’s one of the dishes when each time I eat it I can’t believe how good it was. I had fried plantains with it. I have not had that in a long time. I ate the plantain after eating the cheesesteak. I cooked in in the same skillet so it could pick up the flavor from the beef and garlic. That’s often a good idea with a cast iron skillet.
Then I recorded Gord’s Gold. Every week I think this week’s show is the best yet. What I play varies quite a bit, each show follows its own path. I don’t try to balance each show out. I’m doing a study of the gender and ethnic diversity. I have not finished coding all the songs, that’s going to take a long time, but looking at it makes me feel I’m doing fine overall. I have no idea what an unbiased ethnic breakdown would look like. The folk world is not the general population, I’ve never seen the ethnic demographics. This will take even longer but I can compare my results to the Folk DJ list. I will probably not do that as I am unfamiliar with so many artists that I don’t play that I’d have to research to find their ethnicity.
I finished watching the last season of Lucifer. I love the show, but I’ve never been sure if it’s great or if it has substance. Now I’m not sure if the final season worked great or was just OK. I felt after last season it was ridiculous to continue the show. It had a satisfying ending. There seemed to be no way to go on from there, but they found one. It would have been better if they cut out the filler episodes and made only six or seven episodes instead of ten. The ending did make me think and it explored questions and problems I had with last season’s resolution. It did make me think which speaks for substance. In some ways it wrapped everything up in a nice tidy package; with everything ending up where it belonged.
Now it’s time to make breakfast. If I die from the bug bomb, I’ll make sure to let you know. Tonight is the first in person John Platt’s On Your Radar since March 2020. I’m excited. It’s vaccinated only and I think we are required to wear a mask. I know I’ll be wearing one. The artists are Jefferson Berry and the UAC, Heather Aubrey Lloyd, and Bob Bradshaw. If you are vaccinated come join us at Rockwood Music Hall at 7 PM. We are at Stage 3, the one with you enter from Orchard Street.
Wise Madness 