Tryptophan and Glucose, The Digestive Duo

So, these two characters figured prominently in my Thanksgiving day celebrations. It is late and there is a lot to say so I will be brief.

I slept in really late and zombied around the kitchen struggling to be coherent, let alone communicable. I had some peanut butter on bread and finally made some tea and slowly, oh so slowly, came to life. With two adorable little girls wanting to play with me it was a struggle to tell them “No” while I became functional. But after an hour or so I was semi-human again and it was time to play.

Lots of good stuff happened. We played airplane and built a fort—and then I read them some books in the fort—and sat in the recliner and watched some Disney cartoons and the highlight of the day, for me anyway, was introducing my nieces to the Couch Monster. He lurks in every couch and with all the talk today about food he decided to come out and “eat two little girls with a side of mashed potatoes”. And really, when all it takes to make a Couch Monster is to put two girls on the couch, cover them with pillows and cushions, and then smoosh them around under the pillows while making loud chewing sounds, how can you not make a Couch Monster? Oh yeah, and the wagon rides around the neighborhood, that was lots of fun. I got the wagon going “super-duper fast” on the sidewalks and convinced the girls that they were going so fast they were passing me. (When all I was doing was slowing my pace so as to let the wagon be a little forward of me.)

We paused for the Thanksgiving gorging meal and then I loaded the dishwasher and went for a walk. My regular route is 2.5 miles and I was fighting both my enemies above on the walk. (I felt like I was fighting gravity as well but if I didn’t go for a walk I would have been in sorry shape.) After my walk there was a nice snooze on the couch—I have vague memories of another Disney cartoon playing on the television—then it was bath-time for the girls and movie time for the adults. Tonight it was Star Trek-First Contact, my favorite movie from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series. I think I got some secret nerd props from my brother-in-law when I casually mentioned that this was the movie where Zephraim Cochran invents the warp drive. Good Times!

Then it was time for another 2.5 mile walk, to have a pipe or three and to further facilitate the post-gorging digestion process. I have absolutely NO control when it comes to the Thanksgiving meal. It is my favorite holiday meal. And if you think I am kidding I will just say that as dinner was finished and we paused before dessert, my niece Lilly looks over at me and say, “Why is Uncle Dennis eating all the food?” HA! But come on, there was just a little bit of mashed potatoes left, and one spoonful of stuffing, and just barely enough gravy to cover it all; Why bother putting it away in the fridge when it could go in my belly? : -)

Tomorrow will be leftovers, lots more playing with the girls, and maybe a trip to the park. We will NOT be shopping under any circumstances, though. No one here is crazy enough or demented enough to want to go to the stores to do holiday shopping; It’s not worth it.

 

As for the two characters in my post title, I think of them as a gastronomic duo fighting alertness and coherency wherever they go. Tryptophan is the suave, smooth member of the duo who sidles up to you and makes you sleepy before you know it. Whereas Glucose is the rougher one who sorta just sneaks up to you and hits you over the head with sleepy-time. Glucose is a little rough and tumble companion to Tryptophan’s subtle ways. But they make an invincible team on Thanksgiving.

My Cool School Stool

I’ve been looking for a stool or small chair to keep in the kitchen so I can sit down when I put on my shoes.* I was thinking I would need my buddy Eric to find something for me as he is the king of discount/bargain shopping. Alas, I was at a church-run thrift store yesterday in search of a floor lamp and came across this awesome little chair from an old elementary school right by the cash register just inside the entrance to the establishment. In the store I sat down on it and felt quite comfortable, surprised at the amount of leg room it gave me. I put it back and wandered around the store looking for a floor lamp. I found an awesome floor lamp—It will get its own blog post soon—and meandered throughout the store checking out the variety of items they had.
(For all my searching—I have been to numerous second-hand/thrift stores in the Madison area—I have not been able to find any used Pyrex pie pans. I want the older plain-rimmed kind that are 8″ – 8.5″ in diameter instead of the newer, fluted pie pans that are 9.5″ in diameter.)

I picked up an old Kenny Rogers LP as a Christmas present for my buddy Eric and a small crocheted snowflake doily for Harriet to go along with her birthday chocolates. As I was approaching the checkout there was a small line so I stopped to look at this chair again. I took it down and set it on the floor and sat in it again, imagining myself taking off my shoes. I found it to be quite comfortable and sturdy. (Is there anything sturdier than an old school chair made of wood and steel? I doubt it. Those things were designed to take abuse and last a lifetime.) Not seeing a price tag I decided to take a chance that it would not be expensive.

The cashier said she would charge me $3.99 for it as that is how they priced all their other chairs. I got a good deal on the chair and a complete steal on the floor lamp. I wanted to offer to pay more for the floor lamp but there were people in line behind me and I felt awkward. But, seeing how this store is a fundraiser for charities, it didn’t seem right to buy a brass floor lamp for $7.99 when I could have easily paid $12 – $15 for it and still had a bargain. Anyway, below are a couple pics of my new shoe-putting-on-chair for the kitchen. (And yes, I know it is not a stool but that word rhymed perfectly with the rest of my post and I like alliteration more than I like precise use of nominal descriptors.)

 

*Why are my shoes in the kitchen, you ask? Because I am trying to keep my apartment shoe-free so I keep them in the kitchen which has a linoleum floor. Thus, any mud/dirt/debris I track in will be easier to clean up and not get tracked through the apartment.

 

Have A Seat

My Footwear Throne

Another Reason To Love Wisconsin

Earlier today I went to the Wisconsin DMV office on Madison’s east side. I had a little trouble finding it at first but when I got there I was bemused by the size of the facility. It is not much bigger than a modern, suburban tract-home, maybe in the 4000 square foot range. I parked and went inside.

What an awesome experience I had. From the time I went to the information counter to get my little paper slip until the time I had my picture taken took only 15 MINUTES. That’s right, 15 minutes from start to finish. I got in line, was assigned a form to fill out, filled out it and got back in line, and then received my number. Within about two seconds of receiving my number it was announced over the in-house PA system. No joke! (In New York City I would have spent an half-hour in line just to get my little paper slip, before waiting to get called. Whereas in DC . . . well forget about DMV in DC. To get a driver’s license in DC took a whole day.)

With my little paper slip in hand, I went over to the counter and worked with a somewhat dour individual that seemed completely uninterested in small talk apart from commenting that I was from “the great state of New York” and inquiring as to why my passport had no stamps in it. (I explained it was a renewal and that I hadn’t traveled overseas since I received it. He sounded surprised when I mentioned having traveled over much of Western Europe.) I gave him my filled-out form, old license, two pre-printed utility bills, and passport and he got to work on getting me entered into their system. (Even though the Wisconsin DMV website said I needed to provide my Social Security card as well he never asked for it.)

After a few minutes I was handed a sheet of paper with my temporary driver’s license info and was told my actual license would arrive in 5-10 days. Then it was off to the photo station. My longest wait of the day occurred there where I had to sit and wait just about three minutes to get my picture taken. After signing the driver’s license signature-entry pad (and making a quick check in the mirror) my pic was snapped and I was on my way out the door at 12:21 PM.

So, I am now officially a citizen of “the great state of Wisconsin” and the DMV facilities in Wisconsin—or at least at this one particular location in Madison—are fast, efficient and rather serviceable. On Wisconsin!

 

Wisconsin State Song
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Grand old Badger State!
We, your loyal sons and daughters,
Hail thee, good and great.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Champion of the right,
“Forward”, our motto,
God will give thee might!

Air-Dried Underwear

I did some laundry yesterday and it was on the rinse cycle when I left to meet up with a friend for dinner*. When I returned home my laundry was sitting in my basket on the floor. Apparently, someone else in my building needed to do laundry during dinner hours on a Saturday night. Odd, right!? My laundry was done but I was too lazy/tired to take it to the laundromat to put it in the dryer. (My landlord provides a washing machine but no dryer.) So this morning I see my laundry sitting there and I see the sun shining and figure, why not put it out on the clothes-line.

Right now, I’ve got my pajamas, a fleece hat, and a short-sleeve shirt hanging on the line and my boxers draped around the edge of my laundry basket sitting off to the side of my back steps. (I need to buy some of my own clothes-pins to be able to hang up more than a few items using the old rusty clothes-pins always on the line.) So we’ll see what happens with air-dried underwear. Like other stuff I air dry they will be stiff. But I hope they can be soft as well. Who knows, though. I generally use a fabric softener sheet in the dryer as opposed to liquid fabric softener in the washing machine. I’ve got a loaf of heavier stuff to wash now (wool socks, heavy shirts). I am sure I can get the shirts up on the clothes-line but I don’t know about the socks. They might need some heat drying to get them fully dry and to keep from getting mildewy. Nothing is worse than the smell of damp wool socks. Except for maybe the smell of a damp sheep. : -)

 

*We went to The Old Fashioned in downtown Madison on Capital Square. There was a long wait but we got a free beer and I had an awesome burger with smoked bacon and Wisconsin cheddar cheese.

Beating My . . .

blankets, people. Blankets! (Ha. Ha. Ha. Get your minds out of the gutter.)

I woke up this morning around 7:40AM to sun pouring into my apartment. This is the second of three days of unusually warm, and unusually gorgeous, weather in Madison. So, with a clothes drying line less than 10 feet from my back door I took the two wool blankets off my cot and hung them up outside in the sun to air out. It’s pretty windy today so I am letting them stay out there a while. I don’t have an official/authentic fabric beater like you would find in an 18th- or 19th-century home but the side of my broom seems to work just fine. I might just leave the blankets outside all day. They are made of thick, tightly woven wool so the chance to air out them is nice to have before they go back on the cot for the rest of the Fall/Winter season.

 

Below are some pics in case you don’t believe me.

View From My Back Door

Blowing in the Wind

Blankets Getting Mooned