Yesterday I had the day off and did some family things with my daughters. We leveled my wife’s parents’ refrigerator, which a friend and I had delivered to them recently and which had been rocking. I tipped it back and Beta screwed one leg (of the refrigerator) out until it was the right length to make the fridge level. I changed a lock at the inlaws’.
Stuff like that.
Then we drove to the girls’ place where I drilled holes in the concrete wall (in order to bracket a bookshelf to the wall) with my new impact drill, which I bought a while ago after my old drill died in a shower of sparks while trying to drill holes in a concrete wall.
We had lunch. Then we briefly strolled to the bookstore, which this year was voted (I don’t know by whom) the best bookstore in the country.
We went in and the manager either recognized us or is just a nice guy. We asked him for coffee and he made us some. We fanned out and started filling up on books. This is one of the family traditions the title of this post refers to. When we collectively visit a bookstore, it is more of a raid than shopping. We fan out and meet at the cash register at closing time, arms full, no two books the same.
I only planned to buy two books but the manager started telling me about good books so I got six, then I saw the new David Sedaris book so I got seven, then two for my wife, then I ordered another one for her, after consulting with the manager again. He didn’t ask my name when processing the order, so I suppose he really did recognize us. Since I stopped buying anything through Amazon I order all my books from him and Beta or Gamma pick them up for me.
Then we left and I carried my loot to the car, and my drilling gear, and forgot one more fatherly task I had planned to do, and went on a date with Alpha, to celebrate the 38th anniversary of our first kiss. Alpha wore a dirndl and we went to a Japanese restaurant that was okay. It has received good reviews but served modern sort of fusion food based on Japanese cuisine, too many spices and mayonnaise for our taste, and the service was a little too attentive in our opinion, but it’s always nice to go on a date with Alpha.
Then we went to bed early because we’re trying to sleep 8 hours at night. And we both had dreams, which is unusual for a work night.
Tag Archives: sleep
Family tradition(s)
Posted in Das Gehirn, Familie, Metamorphosism
Tags: alpha, beta, books, dirndl, dreaming, drilling, gamma, japanese food in vienna, seeseiten, sleep, tradition
Culture
Why do I even have to go? she said.
We have a subscription, he said. So we have two tickets to tonight’s concert and your mother is out of town. So you get to go. Yay!
She looked out the window.
We can get a drink at the hotel bar first, or go get something to eat or something, he said.
Have you ever been to the Konzerthaus already, he asked. It’s pretty awesome. Last time we went, we saw the president of Austria. He sat through the whole concert, too. Didn’t just show up and escape in the intermission or something.
Yeah, remember, that’s where I fell asleep, she said.
Oh, he said. I was going to ask you to keep me awake.
We can lean on each other, he said.
Lucky
I don’t want to jinx anything, but I have been somewhat happy lately. The German word for happiness is the same as that for luck: Glück. That feels right.
Not sure why. Maybe I’m sleeping better.
Maybe it’s the phase of the moon. Austrians are strongly affected by lunar phases. The moon is currently full, and the road to work was full of crazy asshats this morning. Either the full moon turns about 25% of Austrians into really bad drivers, or it makes me cranky, impatient and hypercritical.
I think it’s sleep, though. I have a phobia of going senile. After observing the process in two relatives, I have the feeling that there are aspects of the onset of senility that one notices about oneself and either accepts or denies, and there are (and this is maybe worse) aspects that one does not perceive. And I have noticed myself forgetting words and names. I tell myself that I have done this all my life and it is just the fact that I am 50 that I connect it with senile dementia, but one still worries. And I did get all flustered at the music store recently and buy a stack of sheet music that I had eliminated, and neglected to buy the notes I wanted, and had to go back the next day and exchange, but that can happen to anyone, right?
And now that I am sleeping, I feel less confused. So there’s that. And there is also the thought that maybe part of my problem is that I’m surrounded by so many sharp people. There are all you smart people reading this. There are all my smart friends. Many of you belong to both groups, of course. There are the women in my family who have been kicking ass lately. Gamma, who turns 13 in a few days, was at the doctor recently for a checkup with her sister and her mother, where the following conversation ensued:
Doctor: Und was hast du für Beschwerden, Gamma? (What complaints (symptoms) do you have, Gamma?)
Gamma: Ich kriege viel zu wenig Taschengeld! (My allowance is way too low!)
Anyhow. Maybe I need to watch Fox News for awhile until I start feeling smarter.
Posted in Das Gehirn, Familie, Metamorphosism
Tags: exhaustion, happiness, insomnia, music, senility, sleep
Chronology
3:00 AM – Wake up. Raining hard. The rain sounds nice. Everyone else is still sleeping, even the kittens. Go downstairs, let in the big cats, feed big cats and one kitten. Go looking throughout house for other kitten. FInd her, feed her too.
3:20 AM – It took 20 minutes to feed the cats?
3:25 AM – Start writing
4:30 AM – Update nanowrimo draft 1 word count. It’s over 50,000, yay. Far from finished, though. A mess, to be honest. Type a little more. Check email.
5:00 AM – Celebrate by going back to bed for an hour.
5:15 AM – Give up, go back downstairs to kitchen, hang out with Alpha.
6:00 AM – Pack lunch for Gamma.
6:15 AM – Shower, shave.
6:30 AM – Wake and feed Gamma. Empty dishwasher. Fill dishwasher. Clean litter boxes.
7:00 AM – Start nagging Gamma to get ready.
7:20 AM – Last call. We really have to leave now.
7:30 AM – Leave for school. Drop Gamma, continue on to work.
8:30 AM – 5:30 PM – Random shit. Maybe hit Apple store at lunch to look at xmas gifts for Beta.
7:00 PM – Run buffet at Beta’s harp concert, somehow.
8:00 PM – Lose all cognitive functioning, due to getting up at 3 AM.
9:00 PM – Go out for drinks with harp people after concert, etc.
10:00 PM – Go to bed or fall asleep in restaurant, depending on location.