kochleffel

Some daffodils are blooming in this area, but none in my garden. They'll require a few more warm days, which are not what we are having. I don't think that any cake is "healthy" (should be "healthful" unless they mean that the raspberries mustn't be diseased, which should be obvious) as a meal, and I don't particularly like coconut. I would prefer a Linzertorte: raspberry jam in a hazelnut pastry. No pineapple drinks for me, please. For a Cabernet Sauvignon, I'm sure I would like the McGregor 2017 Library Selection if someone else is paying for it ($80).

Maybe you didn't have to do anything with that part! When I lived in Boston, I found the Massachusetts forms especially difficult, and longer than the Federal forms (for me, at least). As a certified tax preparer in New York, I once prepared a return for Massachusetts and three other states. The taxpayer had thought they needed to file as a New York resident, because New York was "home," but they hadn't lived or worked in New York at all that year. Doing so would have meant five returns instead of four, and would have resulted in higher total taxes.

Peet's has a blend of coffee called Big Bang, I think. I wouldn't mind the menu suggestion, but isn't it pot roast again? Would not bother with the cocktail. For the wine, Sparkling Pinot Noir Brut Rosé from Goose Watch Winery. It's colder today, but no likelihood of s-n-o-w. Acupuncture at 12:45, class from 4:00 to 7:00.

Although Jews in the first and second centuries considered the signs of the zodiac as analogous to the Twelve Tribes, the conventional rabbinic opinion is that horoscopes don't apply to us. Ezra Pound wrote, "The yellow dogs cry portent in vain," but I don't think he meant actual dogs. The broccoli-cheddar crustless quiche would be nice tonight and I would make it if I had broccoli. Probably pass on the drink. The wine is made entirely from the Sangiovese grape, which doesn't grow here, so I might substitute the McGregor Vineyards 2016 Black Russian Red, made from Saperavi and Sereksiya Charni, except that it's $135. We had a little s-n-o-w around suppertime last night and it's still on the ground. There could be more, but it will all melt. Or there might be r-a-i-n. The class last night on Lamentations and Daniel went well. I don't teach again until May 14. I will be too busy preparing a presentation on ethical issues in alternative energy, writing an essay on my personal environmental ethic, and appreciating natural beauty (the latter is an actual course assignment). The river in my town gets its name from the Lenape language, referring to a mammoth tusk found downstream. The tusk is in the county historical museum.

I applaud certified nurses; they have achieved a higher level of qualification, like a doctor's being board-certified. The chicken would be OK, but I think that LI iced tea can only be consumed at poolside, even though the amount of alcohol would make swimming iffy. For a Chardonnay, not one of the best grapes for the FL, Cayuga Ridge Estate 2016. I took today's cloud observation from the other side of the house, so as not to excite the very excitable dogs. The Weather Channel said that s-n-o-w was falling but I didn't see any. Teaching Lamentations and Daniel tonight, mostly Daniel. It will be my last class until May--April will be too busy with Passover and I will be too busy with school.

Because of that, I rarely read posts on the board of aNother Cruise Line where I have platinum status and two open bookings.

I'd be happy with either pot roast or Roy's alternative, but dinner will probably be fish. I wouldn't enjoy the cocktail. For the wine, the 2019 Maximilien from Ravines. Cruise passengers don't visit Ashdod for its own sake; it's a transit point for Jerusalem, which is not all that near. I have some interesting photos of Jerusalem archaeological sites that most people never visit, but the pictures are pre-digital. There may have been a little snow overnight, but it was gone by the time I was up. There could be a little late in the afternoon, not sticking, or overnight.

When I broke my humerus near the shoulder in 2017, in the week of U.S. Thanksgiving, the ortho doc said that there was no alternative to surgery if I wanted the arm to be functional. Pro surgery: the arm was functional, the morning after the surgery, even if initially too painful and stiff to do much. Con: the tissue damage from the surgery required many weeks of physical therapy. That was indirectly responsible for my first cruise. PT started at the end of December and I had to cancel a January vacation. A cruise in the spring seemed like the best and least stressful replacement.

Just back from Aldi, where I bought some Irish cheese made with Irish whiskey. Behind me in the checkout line was a man buying 12 jars of sauerkraut.

On the Alaska ferries, people pitch tents on the open deck. It's also allowed to sleep on loungers in the solarium where there is infrared heating. I took a non-cruise on the AMHS in 2021. The schedules typically require staying several days in each port, and there may be gaps that aren't feasible by ferry. I boarded in Bellingham, stayed three days in Ketchikan, and then boarded a different ship to Juneau.

I have a little Irish ancestry but it's from the North so we won't talk about it today. My mother was a Camp Fire Girl. Corned beef and cabbage are probably not in my immediate future. I think that the punch needs more rum, or something. For the wine, Fulkerson's Bourbon Barrel Syrah. I have been at St. John's but did not set foot on Antigua--that was in January when I was ill and didn't leave the ship. I was awake for several hours in the middle of the night, so I'm not functioning well.

Speaking of cooking, I really like this video that Julia Child made years ago for the Smithsonian. https://youtu.be/PHJDQY4mWFg?feature=shared

I hadn't realized that the Daily came into being after, not before, my first HAL cruise in January 2020 -- but now I understand that I was conflating it with the fleet report, which already existed. I think that rotisserie chicken needs to be made in a rotisserie, not some other kitchen appliance. Maybe I will write a cookbook with recipes like Mixmaster rotisserie chicken or air-fryer mayonnaise. Just thinking about the cocktail makes my head ache. Pleased to see a cardboardeaux even though it's not my favorite brand. Not much Finger Lakes wine makes its way into boxes, and the boxed reds are all sweet. Nevertheless, I would have liked so-called rotisserie chicken tonight. What I actually had was roasted Brussels sprouts, made yesterday; hard-boiled eggs, the last in the carton; and chickpea pasta, which I won't buy again. I was going to post the Okeedokee Corrall cartoon, but got skunked. Today when I was making the cloud observation, the neighbor's dogs came over and barked loudly and for a long time (through a fence). They're very excitable but they ought to recognize me by now.

Internet was good every time I used it on the Oosterdam in November, even in the middle of the Atlantic -- and I needed it for classes on Zoom. My cabin was midship. I've found wifi to be very poor in cabins on other ships that were all the way forward or all the way aft.

If anyone is concerned, the feast of St. Patricia is August 25.

Pass on the menu suggestion but would try the drink. There is nothing Chianti-like grown in the Finger Lakes, so I'll suggest the 2020 Teroldego from Red Tail Ridge. I filed my income tax returns this morning. I had done the preparation a month ago, but I've learned not to file in February: every time I've done that, I've received a corrected document soon after. This year it wasn't a corrected document, but a missing one. Well, not actually missing, but not on the company's website when I checked on the morning of February 15, which was the deadline for it. It could have been posted later the same day. I also made a projection for 2024, using the 2023 software. I'm just in from taking a cloud observation for NASA's Globe Observer project. They are particularly interested in having them from now until after the eclipse, which will be 98% total here (but there is a 74% chance of cloud cover, according to the weather records). The project will accept observations taken at any time of the day, but especially wants reports from the times when a weather satellite was overhead, which today was at 12:07 p.m. There will be another one this afternoon, at a time that isn't convenient for me. I received notices from the main library and from a restaurant that they were closed because of a transformer explosion downtown. A television station in the affected area reported that it was caused by a squirrel.

I asked a nursing assistant why she drew blood at 4:00 a.m. She said she didn't wake anyone then, but patients on pain medication often wake up around then and so a nurse checked to see if they needed more. She followed the nurse, and if a patient was awake, she drew the blood while the nurse brought the medication. The reason was that blood draws needed to go to the lab by 7:00, and so if she was able to get the blood while the patient was awake at 4:00 or so, she wouldn't have to wake the patient at 6:00.

Report from the checkout line: People is having another go at the troubles of the Royal family, and according to the Star, Tom Cruise has been dumped by someone or other and declared "undatable." None of this matches up to the greeting card I received years ago, imitating one of the tabloids with "Aliens land, reveal amazing 7-day diet plan!"

Like any normal person, I fill my stapler when I notice that it's empty, not on an arbitrary day. I like bran muffins and wish that I had one now. I would probably like the drink. As already noted, Pinot Noir is a temperamental grape, even more so here, but most of the wineries produce it. For one that I haven't mentioned before, Ravines 2020. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night after teaching Job and Jonah, and this morning I seemed to ache all over. Nevertheless, I went to the nature center to do one of my class assignments, since it was 71° and mostly sunny. This was #3 of the 10 experiences in nature required by April 28. I had hoped with the temperature and sun that I might see a timber rattler, but if they were out they were avoiding me. All the trails were muddy, and the main trail, which connects the others, was extremely muddy. The small pond is used for teaching aquatic biology. There's a bigger pond where there were Canada geese today. The main trail is named for Mark Twain. His wife was from here and they spent many summers here; they're also buried here, in her family's plot. This is the beginning of what's officially called the President's Trail, but most people would call the Ernie Davis Trail, because it has placards about his life, each of which also recommends an outdoor exercise (like a parcours, but without fixtures). He grew up here and, as a player for Syracuse, was the first Black athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. He died before playing professionally. The trail rejoins the Twain trail at the treehouse. I still need to go to a grocery store.

One year, before Yom Kippur, I asked a rabbi whether I was required to forgive people who didn't want to be forgiven. She said it wasn't, but might be good for my mental health. "Move on" is an essential component, though. Sometimes it's best not to bear a grudge, but also not to get involved with them again.

I've only had forward-facing oceanview cabins (on some other ships) but I'll mention one thing that may or may not matter to you: in cabins all the way forward, or all the way aft, wi-fi tends to be weak and spotty.

Riverbank path (attributed to Native Americans) in my town park, and view across the river.

Here it is.

No pork anything, please, not even zuppified. Skip the drink. I have a New Zealand SB, not that one, open now. For a Finger Lakes SB that I haven't mentioned before, Bravery Wines 2771 Series. The forecast is for intermittent s-n-o-w today. Mona Lisa woke me at 5:50 a.m., apparently because she wanted company.