chicago '08

I have been Hugsband-less since saturday morning. in his absense, I have spent an inordinate amount of time with our landlord, Abe. (Abe is an elderly polish man, who came to the u.s. after avoiding concentration camps by fighting in the resistance in russia. he killed a wolf with his bare hands while hiding in the russian forests.) yesterday Abe and I moved the bird feeders from the side of the yard to the middle. the hope was that the squirrels would not be able to continue their practice of eating all of the bird food by climbing up the fence and leaping onto the feeders, and we would more easily be able watch the birds from inside the house.

Abe and I have a rather shaky relationship. at times, he seems to really like me. at other times, he says rude things and makes no secret of the fact that he disapproves of the amount of housework that Hugsband does. when Abe sees him doing laundry or washing the floor, he asks, "where's your wife?" as if I am shirking my wifely duties. usually, Hugsband can honestly answer that I am at work.

after we moved the bird feeders, Abe asked to look in my mouth. since he makes dental appliances and false teeth for a living, I let him look. I wish I hadn't. he immediately noticed my bridge and spent 15 minutes telling me what an awful color it was. then, consistent with his long-standing pattern of finding the lowest possible price on sundry items-- even if it means he makes enemies in the process, Abe insisted that I get no further dental work without his prior consent. "I want know how much they tell you to pay, and then you don't pay it. you come to me, and I tell them how much you pay." the worst part is, I really need a new bridge and I don't want him to negotiate with my dentist. I just want to get my teeth fixed. Abe will certainly notice when I have new teeth, and he will undoubtedly be very angry that he wasn't consulted. just like he was mad when I bought potting soil and didn't just dig up the yard to replant my bromeliads. "americans are so stupid wasting money."

on the kind of plus side, the feeder move was a mixed success. we can see the birds much more easily than before, but those sneaky squirrels have already figured out how to scale the pole to get to the goods. another plus, the new feeder arrangement lured an escaped parakeet into the yard. she's taken up with a bunch of house sparrows, and I am determined to catch her before the summer is over and she freezes to death. if I could just figure out how...

by the way, Hugsband didn't divorce me or anything. he's visiting family in illinois. I think he should come home now, though. enough is enough! I have laundry that needs washing.

here's a fruit of Hugsband's summer labor. one plankton. plankti? apparently, they're called zooplankton to distinguish them, as animals, from the other kind of plankton that are categorized as plants. annoyingly, the first syllable of "zooplankton" is not pronounced the same way as the place where animals are displayed in captivity, which is how I tend to say it. rather, it's pronounced "zooh-plankton". I think that sounds way dumber. what the heck is a "zooh"? Hugsband says sometimes you can see what they have been eating, and usually it's something orange. I can't believe that some people look at these things for a living. I prefer to operate on the macro level.

we spent a wonderful, tiring long weekend in northern california and enjoyed seeing many friends. the food, scenery, weather, and birds were amazing. I forgot how great the left coast can be.

before











after

I haven't actually died or anything, in case anybody's worried. I don't have the mental energy or organization to generate a coherent paragraph, so here's a fragmented perspective of my recent goings-on.

I went to the berkshires this past weekend with Hugsband and friends from work. while there, we came across the best ice cream EVER- mexican chocolate. it was spicy. Hugsband has been working 10-12 hours a day on a boat measuring plankton or something since we got back. I got a psych testing referral that said "suicidle". I love that. is the kid so bored that he wants to kill himself? it's a gazillion degrees in the shade. we got cable because our dsl was messed up, and now we watch tv again. I like to call the on demand stuff "encore" to bother Hugsband, and he gets really perturbed about it. I don't remember how that started. there's a whole new bunch of psychiatry fellows I work with, and some of them are pretty cool. I finally narrowed down my job search area to include only chicago and the greater chicago area. (no, that does not include the 60901/15/14 zip codes.) Hugsband and I miss Chris Clark, but he's too stubborn to come and visit. or poor. with the exception of the jaunt to the berkshires, I have been working straight through the weekends like I don't even realize it isn't a weekday. then on sunday, I get really pissed that the weekend is gone. I can't complain too much, though, because I get to go to napa at the end of next week. the end. love, rachel