Decisions, Decisions

Planning continues for my 50th birthday, which is in February.  Part of me feels a need to not pressure myself into doing something "big" or profound, so that I won't be disappointed by a trip to Ireland (how could I be?) or a skydive (forget it).  The closest I've come to a plan is to send myself to Chicago for a few days of grown-up fun, including a walk out onto one of the glass sky decks at the Willis Tower (yikes!) on the day, plus trips to a couple of museums.  Air fare is quite reasonable, and I love Chicago, so this is Choice One.

Choice Two is to send myself on the Downeaster to Boston.  To be at the Kennedy Library on my birthday would be significant to me, and I do love Boston.  Great museums are in place there as well, and I found the city's early history quite fascinating as a kid.  Train travel is dirt cheap, allowing me to spend more on dinner, entertainment, and exploration.

What to do, what to do?  More hand-wringing to come.

Trending ... stupid

People are exhibiting signs of a disorder that is becoming more and more common and, to me, quite alarming.  I'll have to figure out a name for it, but the afflicted seem to be incapable of walking at all, anywhere, without a paper cup in their hands.  Presumably the cup is filled with coffee, because it is almost invariably paper or styrofoam, sometimes with a recognizable brown paper band around it.  The practice defies logic, because they either try to sip the hot liquid while in motion, or they carry it prominently in front of them like it is the Olympic torch or a gift for the Christ child.  Worse still, they will almost always put it into the microwave the minute they reach their destination with the quickly cooling beverage.  And of course, in the end, much of the coffee will be dumped and the paper cup tossed into the trash.  It is multilayered stupidity at its worst.  Shouldn't coffee or tea be enjoyed at a quiet moment, while seated, and from a freshly brewed batch?  When did it become something you carry simply because everyone else seems to, or worse, something you drive to a building to get?  Would you drive through for a bowl of cereal or a toothbrush?

This is the Blog Where I Scream

It's Sunday night, and I'm listening to Lady Earthquake downstairs stomping around.  Yes, she lives BELOW me, and I feel like there is someone living above me here on the top floor.  A heavy walker can be forgiven, but add to it the fact that she has to slam EVERY door in the apartment, including cabinets, her wardrobes, closet doors, bathroom door, front door.  It's been 10 months of hell in what I thought would be one of my favorite apartments.  Dear God, why can't I afford to rent both apartments and get rid of the menace?