What made you smile today?

wpray paint the bench, it gives much cleaner results. JUST place a good drop cloth or the Sunday Register on the floor.

Finally got everything moved out of the kitchen down to the basement for
the kitchen renovation. Lots of up-and-down the stairs. My legs are so
glad it's over!

Demo starts today.

Sozlet, on a friend who is in perpetual mooning-over-a-girl mode: "He needs to be more of a strong, independent woman."

Diane/good conversation, some of it funny ha ha, some serious. Also, the place's onion poppy seed bialy was starting to approach my own bialy making efforts (not mine, really, a recipe from: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/27/black-olive-bialy-recipe-baking)
The url shudda mentioned the poppy seeds and onions, mine caramelized.
For anyone interested, it's a pretty easy recipe.

Also, I finally got my absentee ballot in the mail. Ok then.

Yep, was just a gastroscopy to try to figure out the throat closing thing. Gotta wait for the biopsies etc but am not expecting anything.

Meanwhile this made me smile:

Sedation is crazy, nothing like falling asleep, each time I don't remember nodding off or waking up, it's just confusing and involves some memory loss (the anesthesiologist said hi the next day and asked if I remembered him, I didn't at all).

But I'm a huge fan and get why some famous people have abused it, it's like teleporting past something uncomfortable.

I loved the sedation I had for back surgeries. I had to be awake and I do remember everything, but I just didn't give a damn. The anesthetist told me after that he had put me to sleep by mistake at one point. I quailed and asked if I snored. He said no, but I had told some very dirty jokes. I was a bit worried and asked him what they were about? When he told me I was reassured because I actually don't KNOW any dirty jokes about this topic. That made me smile.

It is weird, because normally, if you sleep to REM stage you KNOW in the morning that you have been asleep. Anaesthetic is total oblivion. As you say, like teleporting.

First day of demo.

Kitchen is now bare to the walls, ceiling and floor. No unpleasant surprises
yet. (Yay.) Maybe I've watched too many home-improvement shows.

There's a big dumpster in our driveway. I spent last night tossing a lot of
stuff I've been meaning to get rid of for decades. Great fun!

For sure! Don't know what it was but the sedative the doctor gave me for preparing me for traction after shattering my hip and pelvis was amazing. I calmly watched as he drilled a 1/4 inch hole through my shin bone an put a dowel pin through it.

Anesthesia is as you and Robert said. I imagine it is probably like dying. Hopefully with the waking up after included

On my second and more serious breast cancer surgery, the one with general anesthesia, I felt the scraping and commented; well, hey, I commented. Well, I would, you know me, always the talker. More gas, or whatever.

The news that Rafael Benitez is staying with Newcastle United until 2019 despite them being relegated - hurrah!

That is very cute. Or moving, rather.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

At 96, Dr. Heimlich Uses His Own Maneuver on Choking Victim
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/us/dr-heimlich-uses-his-own-maneuver-on-choking-victim.html

I may need photos.. have mildly or heavily renovated a bunch of places, some more than others, with some help (concrete contractor friends, structural engineer friend to review my designs, electrican friends).

I remember having some early stupid ideas..

Two things re today's smiles:

1) I mailed my absentee ballot, primary vote done.

2) I emailed my ex of twenty plus years with a Happy Birthday message, and he followed it up with a phone call that lasted about an hour, mostly about his newer projects but also about me, as his new projects relate to Los Angeles history, which I have been involved in on my own over a couple of decades - it was a pretty jolly exchange of interests on all that, and he had been through some of that with me at the same time he was doing his own writing stuff.

As anyone can figure, we are no longer married but respect each other. Then there were some sad things, worry for both of us re a friend we both know (he more than me, but a neat guy I have liked, now with a heart emergency), and some wider family and friends stuff.

Summary - proud of what he is involved with; worried re some family matters.

worthy of smiles Id say, probably a few tears too.

Last week, in that heat,I was driving along White Oak road that went by the old"Nickel Mines Amish school". The school has been totally demolished by the Amish ed committee of this bishopric. (It was a school where, about 10 years ago, seven kids were murdered by some gun happy lunatic just because they were little girls.)

The school site is now a farmers pasture wherein were grazing a herd of 7 heifer Guernsey cows. They were all full of piss and vinegar and were gambolling around the field like some school kids. I was beginning to think some nice thoughts like maybe these little heifers were the spirits of the slain kids . I stopped and watched them for a few minutes then some youngish (recently married)Amishman came by in his buggy (He was probably on his way to the gas-lantern shop up the road). He slowed and asked if I needed directions or anything.
"No, I just was watching the little cows and thought about the little kids who died at the old school" Isaid to him

" two of them were my little sisters" he said

" Oh, Im sorry if Ive given you any pain" I said to him. I know a bunch of the Georgetown and Nickel Mines Amish families but theres actually a lot more than youd think.

"No, Ill tell mom tonight that you thought of the cows and the kids together. That'll give her a smile" He said to me with a little nod and a smile

That thought of "mom" being amused made me smile too.

We waved, I went west, and he east.

Mostly good in the long run, but I'm scared re the friend.

That is a truly lovely story. Thank you.