February 25, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: February 25, 2025, another generic day.
Five years ago today: February 25, 2021, need another shed.
Nine years ago today: February 25, 2017, Ford and Honda parts.
Random years ago today: February 25, 2007, country music, in French.

           Today’s big event? I was waxed at Battleship, the board game. Not the chintzy on-line version, the real plastic game. And, in the background, the kid to got me. It took nearly an hour, but defensive placement helps. You can see how well he has learned the search patterns. Oddly, at this late juncture, there are still no diagrams on the game piece to tell you which weapon the plastic icons represent unless you know the difference between battleships. Most players do not.

           Kudos to those who waited this out, it’s been nearly a month and I just pulled in the driveway. Some realistic thinking shows I cannot go six days without driving, much less the six months the med people are about. Seriously, the US is a society that revolves around the motor car and nobody but the ultra-rich or desperate poor can do without.
           As before, you get the highlights but there is no getting around the dominant event of this surgery. I was up early enough to make a big batch of Thai fried chicken for breakfast. Several of my creative meals have been firsts over here. My decision to not stay was spurred by an old issue. Antibiotic rinse. I’m not allergic but the application makes me smell of caramel, old popcorn and perspiration. And it gets into my clothes. So welcome back to the cabin where I worked long and to be let alone. Where it bothers nobody but myself.
Picture of the day.
Engineered wooden bridge.
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           Having time to think this through, when my next appointment was the middle of March, it was plain I wasn’t sticking around. For the record, the cursory examination today and the timing f the follow-up weeks down the line means there is nothing serious, nothing unexpected. I should still write down what is not up to measure and what I learned. Most important, the tingling numbness in my bass hand will diminish. It is already shrunk to just my ring and pinky fingertips, alas, at this rate it will be months to cure.

           Yes, I do have a mild infection and it is from the stay at extended care, the only place the bandages were ever removed at the time this occurred. Painless, but the scar is already bigger because of it. There is also a large patch on my left hip and upper thigh that is numb to the touch, I am told it is due to nerves pinched during harvesting my leg veins and it will fade.
           An unwelcome side-effect is the return of gout-like pain in small spots, say a toe or big knuckle. Nothing on the scale of an attack, but enough to make things go slow, like right now it is in my right heel, causing a small limp. Hate it.

           Here’s a nice one—the two boxes for Agt. M shown in this bookcase. It is some IKEA format, yet the two golden ratio boxes fit snugly into place. Can you spot how he has them in the lower left cubicle? How about that?

ADDENDUM
           The trip home was uneventful, a stop at Punto Rojo and the last hour in darkness. I’ve got a new audiobook, “Bullet”. The plot so far is this lady finds out she is adopted and is traumatized by the news, poor baby. The mystery is that her birth parents were murdered and she is on a quest. A good plot with two annoyances so far. One, her childlike reaction to the news and the old emerging theme that 37-year-old women still got it, yeah-yeah.

Last Laugh