Day One-hundred-and-twenty-five: Selecting from memory or forgetting?

On my long drive back home today, in between phone calls and listening to Queen's Greatest Hits, or maybe while listening to Queen, I was thinking about how I don't really include everything in my blog. Now mostly you should be glad for that, but sometimes it isn't because I have selected the best that has occurred for inclusion, it is my memory.

For example, while I was traveling down to Pasadena on Friday, I was enjoying the garlic smell as I drove through Gilroy. It wasn't until the one lane section of 152 where I found myself behind a semi and smelling diesel instead of garlic that I realized that my recirculate air was turned off. I hadn't noticed it earlier because the intermittent rain was keeping the air rather clean. (My windshield fogging up was also the cause of the air recirculation getting turned off. Whenever I turn on heat, the Prius automatically turns off recirculation.)

Driving back today was uneventful. Early on I needed to get gas and was passing exit after exit on I-210 West without seeing a gas station totem on the expressway or a tall gas station sign. Finally, just before I-5, I saw an Arco sign. Now I rarely buy gas from Arco because the debit card fee $0.45 makes the gas cost as much or more for me as the stations that take credit cards. But, I was down to one bar and there was a place to get gas. So, I stopped. After trying to pay with my debit card at the cash only terminal, which tells you how long it was since I bought gas at an Arco, I finally went back to the pump and did it correctly. At least I never let my debit card go when trying to put it in the cash slot. (The last time I bought gas at an Arco in Fremont, all the payments were made at a terminal.)

With a full tank of gas, I followed the Prius' navigation instructions to go 0.7 of a mile back along the surface street next to I-210, cross under the expressway and proceed 0.7 of a mile back along the surface street on the other side to enter I-210 at the exit I had used to stop and get gas. If I had only turned left exiting from the gas station, I could have saved almost a mile and a half. I'd say this is living and learning in my Life after Layoff, but I hope never to need this knowledge. I never intend to buy gas there again. But this may be a learning that I already put to use. On my way home, I chose a more direct route and saw the Prius guidance mileage drop. I guess I still don't understand its route selection algorithms.

I did make it to the Bay Area in time to stop in at an REI to pick up something I had ordered online and had delivered there. While there I bought a tent and an 85 liter internal frame backpack. I bought them for my dream motorcycle riding around North America, and may have to buy more, but these two items were bought with the intent for multiple uses. Still my rational is that I should buy stuff like this while I still have money so when it comes time to actually do a ride, I won't procrastinate because I don't have the right equipment or consider that the cost is frivolous. Among the items I may still want to buy are a mummy bag and thermorest.

While I am not a fan of changing off of Daylight Savings and even less of a fan for changing to it, the dark occurring an hour earlier may get me to bed earlier. But then it is still later in my body time and that may get me to bed earlier as well. I still want to go sit in the sky chair and meditate. The last couple of nights I did it laying down in bed, very late. It may have helped me sleep but I'm not sure it was successful meditation, not even trans-incidental.

One final memory. While drinking wine at The Nose last night, there was a moment of a strong memory of a Thanksgiving visit in 2004 with my son and Marilyn. While Marilyn and my daughter went shopping, my son and I saw "National Treasure." Then we had a brainstorm of meeting at the Yard House with its over 100 beers on tap. Eventually we collected everyone, Marilyn, my daughter, her husband, my son, and me. My son and I had a head start with him trying several different beers. I stuck with Pilsner, which Marilyn also drank when she arrived, her own, not mine. My daughter was the designated driver and everyone else, regardless of when they started had plenty of beer.


(I just looked down at my clothes and realized that I'm wearing the exact shirt that I'm wearing in this picture. It does look a little older today. At least I didn't wear it to The Nose yesterday.)