An Absence Note

Updated: Weds. May 16, 10 AM.

About 20 days ago the google counter, operating since July 2009 topped one million page views. Other counters from the early days of the blog in 2006 show different results based on numbers of "unique" visitors, a term that might indicate "weirdos."

Anyway, who's counting? One think I know it that when you don't post, readership drops. When I broke my wrist last July 14 and could only do minimal blogging for weeks, there was a major drop that lasted for months. I guess once unique weirdos get in the habit of going to certain blogs is lost it is easy to forget.

Well, this is probably the longest stretch of my non-blogging since I started in August 2006. Four days. Even during vacations, including New Zealand with little internet access, I managed to schedule something go up at least every two days. This time I even received some emails and phone calls of concern from some readers wondering if Unity Caucus or their sometimes cohort, WalBloom, had not bumped me off. But it seems the last 4 days have been either crammed with things to do or I've just been avoiding it. Maybe a sign of sorts that I should lay off more often before this becomes a chore rather than fun.

I guess one of the reasons for the reluctance to jump back in were the number of choices of issues to post about. Don't tell WalBloom and the ed deformers, but too many choices paralyze me. I've tried to keep up and often don't get to blogging because I am reading all the other great blogs and twitter feeds. There is so much information that I can't make up my mind what to share.

So instead of writing about all the enormous issues out there, I'll leave you to peruse the Daily Blogs on the blogroll. Instead I'll ignore them all and just give you facts, ma'am, just the facts.

Bernie at 5 weeks when she thought she was a he.

One of the shocks of the last 2 weeks was the discovery that Bernie the cat was really Bernice. Two independent vets had told us he was a boy but I kept telling my wife that at 7 months of age there were still no signs of the expected male flotsam and jetsam. Two weeks ago we finally took Bernie to the vet and confirmed the news and Bernie underwent a hysterectomy. I think he is handling her new status pretty well, though we are still adjusting.

I guess I feel a need to make this into an absence note of sorts. We have been busy with projects around the house with a focus on finding a contractor for redoing our 1960 era pink bathroom. Since my dad claims he is feeling so good at 94 due to the daily one hour hot baths he takes, one of my main goals is one of those air jet bathtubs where I can sit for hours blogging on a waterproof  ipad.

And then there is the intense gardening over the last two weeks starting with my annual stint at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens plant sale - I think I've been doing that for 30 years. There has been lots of work to do in the garden at my house and I'm amazed I can walk around upright after scratching around in the dirt after buying loads of plants at the sale and at a few visits to garden centers.

My wife keeps reminding me that I owe her for taking care of me when I smashed up my wrist last July (this week is 10 months and I am still not back to normal without some pain) so I have lots of chores. And a pretty large garden for a city plot. (I have some pics but an too lazy to go up and get the cable to hook up my phone.)

Last Friday afternoon there was an ICE meeting which started at 4:30 at the diner but for some reason I didn't get home until after 10:30. How did that happen? Well, we sat around talking for hours. ICE meetings never officially end. The conversation just keeps flowing until I'm the only one left, talking to myself. Oh, and I had to stop by my 94 year old dad's apartment on the way home to make sure he was doing his training for the triathlon.

Despite a short night's sleep I woke up early on Saturday intending to go to the teacher data report seminar where Leonie Haimson was on a panel at Bank Street College from 8:30-12, but just couldn't get that together, especially with a MORE Caucus meeting at noon which I did attend. I want to do a separate post on what has been going on with MORE. The meeting, unlike ICE meetings, actually ends on time so I was home before 5, in time to once again lament the passing of Pete Fornatale whose Mixed Bag ran between 4 and 8PM.

Sunday was a hot yoga morning, after which I feel like doing nothing -- mentally and physically but did do some gardening for the entire afternoon. I bought a large Knockout Rose with yellow/white flowers --- the only knockout that has fragrance. It was a bit of a chore planting that sucker. I only had time for a quick shower before we headed out to Long Island for take-out Chinese dinner at our best friends' house. Then back for Sunday night TV with The Killing and Madmen.

Monday was back to my dad where I spend a good part of the day fixing some lamps for him. We were supposed to go to the retina specialist for our twice a year visit but when I got there he wasn't feeling up to the trip. So it was home in the afternoon to work in a light drizzle on one of the planting boxes which was falling apart and I had to use a sawzall to cut some spike-like nails down to size before I could start fixing it up. A prize crape myrtle was planted in the box last year so I want to make this spot look as good as that baby, which last year bloomed for 2 months with white flowers on purple leaves. Nothing like working with power tools in the rain. I still have to go back and cut a 6x6 beam to size with the sawzall, one of the best tools ever. I can''t wait to turn that sucker loose on some thick branches. I think a Sawzall can cut Tweed down to size.

So, here we are on Tuesday. My wife had a minor medical procedure this morning and I am told I sill have a lot of ground to make up for her care during my wristology adventure. I have a whole lot of owing, so I may not be back for months. Honey, what is it you want? Sorry, gotta go.