Shinn the Writer

This month’s update of my website will be abbreviated. Some months are busier than others, and this is one of the others. I generally update five sections every month, six if I travel. This last month (basically November, 2024) nothing of significance happened, at least that warranted a full-page essay. So I’ll just give you a synopsis of the month that was:

 

Travel – I didn’t really go anywhere. I went up to visit family in Arcata for about a week and a half, but I took no detours or did any sight-seeing.

 

Scholarly Activities – A friend loaned me a most excellent book, “Sapiens” and I’m finishing it now. I ordered a book, “Secret Service Journals”, written by Bob Morris, a high school friend of mine whose first book “Built in Detroit” was very good. I’m looking forward to this one. I also bought the Rachel Maddow book “Drift” which concerns the American Military. It’s now behind Bob in my reading queue. Sorry, Rachel, I have my priorities.

 

Health – No injuries or maladies this last month. I discovered that non-alcohol beer can be very good, specifically the IPAs of Sierra Nevada. It’s great with spicy foods or if I just want something that isn’t sweet. For the entire month I was NOT in A-fib. This isn’t really special, more a matter of timing since my periods of being in A-fib last about 4-6 days, and being out of it last about 4-5 weeks. My knee and shoulder problems are now in my rear-view mirror. When the weather here got cold and wet, my walking was cut back, but as I write this, I’ve gone out the last three days and will hopefully continue. My weight is up to about 210 and needs to come down. I had an appointment with my cardiologist which went well.

 

Music – One gig as a substitute bass player for Void, and am preparing for the church holiday concert. The concert will entail multiple rehearsals even though (unlike last year) I’m not performing outside of the church band “Joyful Noise”. I continue to be a bass-only member of the band. For our November service we tried to rotate the drummer, the rhythm guitarist and me, but we got our signals crossed and there was no bass guitar (the instrument, not the player) so I played the bass lines on my Telecaster! It’s been was too wet and/or cold to play outdoors on my porch, and Blues Daddies only got together once. In short, I could use more music in my diet.

 

Homeowner – I finally got my back room cleaned up the way I’ve wanted for years. A thing of beauty and delight. Two months ago, I bemoaned the purchase of a small handsaw that simply didn’t cut. It turns out I’d assembled it wrong. The company (Wood Ranger) was very responsive. The video was very misleading but close inspection showed where things went awry, and after reassembling it works fine. I still have to figure out what to do with my bathroom. Most importantly, I need a handrail for safety entering and exiting my tub. I also have a venting chimney that needs reinforcing. My next-door neighbor pointed it out to me and the fix is easy. Climbing on the roof is the tricky part. Getting old sucks.​