With the weather so nice, Dad and I have been walking outside. Not very long distances by most standards, just around the block yesterday, and around the block plus up to the next intersection. Eyeballing it on Google Maps, I think we covered 1000 meters yesterday and 1200 today. Which isn't bad at all, for someone following major surgery.

We also talked to friendly neighbors both days. Yesterday it was a retired guy that Dad knew from the lab. That guy saw the ambulance and all, and was keeping up with Dad's health; when Dad got back from the hospital, the neighbor insisted that we post his telephone number on the wall, and to call anytime if there were any problems. He walked the circuit with us, as his doctor tells him he needs to be walking too. I expect he normally maintains a faster pace.

Today we bumped into a different neighbor as she was out jogging. She had just found out Dad was unwell this week; she'd been out on maternity leave, and just went back to work at Corning. They assigned her to a team working on a project Dad's involved with. When they were telling her who was on the project, when Dad's name came up she said "I know him, he lives right across the street!" Whereupon everyone asked how he was doing, to her confusion, as she'd been unaware anything was wrong. During our chat, she scoped out his food allergies, and offered to bring over a casserole on the weekend. I don't object.

Speaking of cooking, I'm enjoying that part of the job. For the last three years, I was unable to make anything very interesting, due to a lack of kitchen and a lack of time. It's nice to make stuff again.

Which is not to say I've been blessed with unalloyed success. Yesterday I was making split pea soup for dinner, which I haven't made in quite a few years. The package said to cook it for 20-30 minutes, so I laid my plans accordingly. The package was a stinking liar. I was getting hungry, everything else was cooked, and the soup wasn't even close. I whipped up some corn and let the soup keep cooking. Instead of 30 minutes, it took two hours. I cooled it off, put it in the fridge, and we had some for lunch today. Dinner was leftovers- the downside of cooking. Tomorrow I'm thinking pizza; commercial pizzas have lots of sodium and cholesterol, but a homemade one should be fine, as long as I use healthy cheese.

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Uncle Bob and Aunt Jean left this morning. It was very helpful having them here, especially for the first few days back from the hospital. They're going home now, and I guess are considering going out to Illinois next, to help out with Grandpa's broken arm. Too many medical disasters all in a row.

Poor Dad's worried sick about his parents, and is not happy that he's not able to go out and see them.

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The visiting nurse told us make Dad get more excercise, so we've been getting out the whip and the sarcasm. He's also regaining the ability to bend down as his abdominal incisions heal. That means he can put his compression socks on without help.

His increasing independance will make it easier for me to take off for weekends or whatever.

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I voted today, over in Owego. Tomkins County doesn't make it easy to find the correct polling place; I had to download a series of maps to determine the district and then the right spot to go to.

Arriving at the elementary school gym in mid-afternoon, there was no line. I walked in, signed the registration log, hit the booth, and was on my way.

We've turned on the TV a couple of times this evening. Journalistic canon law prohibits anchors from calling an election before all the voting is finished on the west coast, but there is some rather broad hinting going on.

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Dad was feeling well enough today to summon a work gang. So Uncle Bob cleaned the gutters while Aunt Jean and I raked the lawn. Dad sat in the easy chair inside and napped.

Uncle Bob noticed that the house's power wire had a branch rubbing it. After some discussion, Dad called the power company. At six-thirty I was just about done preparing dinner, when the doorbell rang. It was two workers from the power company with a bucket truck, ready to look at our lines. Seeing as how it was after dark and past normal working hours, I was surprised to see them. We decided that there must be an on-call crew, and as it was a quiet night, they were bored and ready to be dispatched to deal with non-emergency issues.

They cut our power off while they worked on the problem. It took them perhaps a half hour, as they decided that the wire was not as bad as they'd thought. From the ground with a flashlight, it looked like the insulation was worn off and the wire corroding, which would necessitate replacement. But when they got up there on a ladder to cut the branch away, they found the wire intact except for the outer insulating jacket, which they just "fixed". We suspect some variety of electrical tape was involved. Anyway, problem solved, and the power line is safe again.

The house still needs a new power line run inside; the existing one is 100 amps, which is small for a modern house. Dad would like to get at least 150 amps, but the power company guy said 200 would probably be cheaper, because it's the current standard. The majority of the cost is probably labor, even with copper getting more expensive these days.

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I went grocery shopping a few days ago, and got some wasabi peas. Yum! The only person willing to even try a few was Uncle Bob, who munched a few then allowed as how they were hotter than the snacks he normally partakes of. I suspect either one of my brothers-in-law would gobble them up, but for the moment, they're all mine.

Dad is doing relativly well. His shoulder is hurting, but then he's not supposed to be lifting things anyway. He tires very rapidly; he can't walk a hundred feet without resting. Still, his color is good, and his breathing is slowly improving, according to a inhalation flow rate device the hospital gave him.

In unrelated news, a flock of wild turkeys wandered through the backyard today. They seemed nervous: I wonder if they know Thanksgiving is coming? Dad rushed to a window to watch them, then just about keeled over. I managed to get my telephoto lens on and took some photos; if I can find what I did with my mini-USB cable, I might upload them. On second thought, it'd take forever on dialup, so you'll all just have to wait.

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