i have been seemingly bombarded by a slew of challenges this week: my computer has once again decided to lay it's head down for the last time. i'm a bit shocked by my sadness over this. sure, its possibly the most inconvenient thing that could happen to me at this juncture in my life, but i never would have anticipated the odd affection i have developed for a machine. & it has acquired that stereotypical machine-personality that is ubiquitous in 60s sci-fi
novels (or perhaps sci-fi novels in general). & it has developed human-like quirks over time, like an aging grandparent. i never had a name for it, so i can't attest to being quite that crazy. little ibook, RIP.
as the temperature drops day by day, new issues surrounding the functionality of our oil furnace present themselves. no oil, faulty start-up, bad electrical connection, & so on. but none was quite so devastating as last night when, after the service man left at eleven after finally getting it to work, we realized that the thermostat was not functioning. without any control, we resolved to sleep in our underwear, sprawled on top of all the sheets, the windows cracked with a crisp winter breeze cutting through the stifling 85 degree indoor temperature. i awoke three times in the night, my body soaked in perspiration, unpeeling the little clothing i had off & gulping down glasses of cool water. without any resolution from the heating & cooling folks in the morning, we considered a grand plan to have a summertime beach party in the house, complete with margaritas in the blender & some rockin' tropicalia on the turntable. (un?)fortunately, we were told to trip the breaker for the furnace to turn it off, which we did. & now, again, we are without warmth, bundled in funny layers of sweaterleggingmukluks for the rest of our winter days. or maybe just 'til tomorrow.
i was in bed for the past three days, consumed with what i'm calling "the worst cold i've EVER had", though in retrospect, i've probably been way more sick as a child. i recall being small, carried outside in the cold desert air to shock my throat into opening so that i'd not choke-- what's that thing called? croup i think. something that children mostly get, right?
anyway, this illness was pretty debilitating. i watched some movies & drank an entire box of tea, consumed every possible drop of soup in the house, no matter who's it was, & lia also made me some miracle concoctions of cayenne, meyer lemon, honey, ginger & garlic, steeped with some wellness tinctures she has in her collection of miracles from the tucson herb shop. it was magical. i had one pseudo hallucination after taking some cough medicine & not sleeping, where it looked like someone was shading in the paint on my walls with frantic pencil marks. not so bad, magical too, but more so in retrospect than at the time.
oh. it's late...
goodnight.
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