48

 I turned 48 this week.

Had to get a license renewed, because of it.  Wandered to the DMV in Athens a few minutes before it opened.  Had time to eat a biscuit sandwich and drink my coffee while listening to a little bit of the audiobook I was listening to.  It was a cold morning....we've had a stretch of those this week.  I watched people begin to line up at the door.  Such behavior was always an annoyance when I worked at the grocery store.  What's so important that you have to stand at the door to get it, like you're rope dropping at Disney, when the store opens?  Same for the DMV.  Are you going to sprint for the counter?

Like I said, it was cold.  I was enjoying the warmth of my vehicle, and the short stories of Ben Shattuck, The History of Sound.  I was going for a license renewal, and had only a couple other chores that weren't that pressing.  I figured I'd wait until they unlocked the doors. 

Which I did.  At about 8:29, I saw the inner doors unlock and open.  I got out of my car and walked the 20 feet to the outer door on my side of the lot.  I should mention that there were two doors on opposite sides of a small vestibule, at my DMV.  The line was about 8 people deep on the other side of the vestibule from where I parked.  The lady who unlocked the inside doors saw me walking up to that door.  She met me, and unlocked the door to let me in first.

Like I said, that behavior always mystified me at the grocery store.  What was keeping you from sitting in your car for a few minutes, listening to the radio, or enjoying a moment of quiet?  Is a can of Bruce's Yams that important?  Are you on that tight a timetable?  Will Jack Bauer fail in keeping the country safe if you can't get your Real ID by 7:04?

Maybe some people are that rushed.  I should remember not to judge.

I am not.  Yet I got to wander in and out of the DMV in about 13 minutes.

And that was because the self-service kiosk wouldn't take an acceptable new photo for my license.

The lady at the desk who had to take a new photo told me not to worry about it, as the kiosk only works about 40% of the time.

Joke's on it, I say.  It's nigh impossible to take an acceptable photo of me.....

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The birthday was uneventful.  It was cold.  We had to load up trucks with a temperature dipping toward 13, with a wind chill around 5.  Which isn't a lot of fun when you're dipping your hands into water.  It's a job I love, but that's probably my least favorite part of it.  I used to love the cold.  But ever since I was put onto blood pressure meds a couple years back....I don't like it as much.

I got a little cash from my mother for the day--something she doesn't have to do, but something I'll use to maybe buy those concert tickets I'd mentioned a post or two back.   Go take ourselves out to go do something fun.  Maybe hit a hockey game, or something.  That's something she and I commented:  we were usually good for at least a half dozen Knoxville Ice Bears games, but our last was in February of 2020, about 2 weeks before everything shut down for Covid.  For whatever reason, we just haven't made time to wander back.  (Pricing, is part of it....they're pricing is a little beyond what I think the value is).  But maybe I'll spring for a game with mom's birthday money.

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Speaking of the cold being a pain, I also have psoriasis, which makes me just charming as hell, I know.  The only time it really bothers me is if I have to spend a lot of time outside in the cold, dry air.  I try to drink as much water as I can, and moisturize, but it only goes so far.  There have been a few nights where lying on it at night becomes torturous.  I know I've made Shyam aggravated with tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position.

Temperatures were only slightly warmer on Friday, when I ran my route.  I did have one customer do me a solid, and save me about 50 minutes on my day, when he called to ask if I was delivering to him.  I told him I was, and he told me he didn't need anything....the snow earlier in the week had killed fishing business.  I was thankful to him for saving me the trip.  It gave me time to go wandering looking in a couple shops for Shyam's birthday, which is coming next week.

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My New Year's Resolution, such as it was, was to watch something new, flick-wise, at least once every 7 days.

Of the last 7 days:

Love Hurts  (2025)   A Dumb but enjoyable gun-fu flick starring Ke Huy Quan.  A couple of Goonies Easter Eggs in there, with Sean Astin's casting as his boss.  Dumb, but fun.  Won't bear the weight of much thought.  This was our Valentine's Date movie.

Captain America: Brave New World   (2025)   I liked it.  The folks who start hatebombing MCU flicks even before they come out mystify me.  Look, Superhero fatigue is alright.  I get it.  But molding that into a carapace of indignation about the State of Cinema is tiresome.  Again, it was what I wanted it to be.  There've been a couple MCU flicks that have really stretched the envelope of what these movies can be (Winter Soldier; Black Panther....maybe Ragnarok), but for the most part, they're just fun SF/Action flicks.  That's what Brave New World is.  It's something of a sequel to the much maligned Incredible Hulk (which is an ugly flick that I still kinda like).  

Midsummer Night's Dream   (1935)    Damn, what a busy flick.  I know it's a busy play, and I guess they need to be applauded for translating that much frenetic stage energy to screen.

Elevation  (2024)    Interesting concept.  14-year-old me might have been all over this flick.  But 48-year-old me felt like the world didn't feel enough lived in, and that middle aged man is also aggravated when a car that's been sitting for 3 years starts up, let alone a car sitting in an area like Boulder, Colorado, with higher altitude and 3 winters of cold weather, doesn't have deflated tires and just starts right up with a battery that hasn't gone dead and gas that has stayed vital and hasn't had too much condensation from water in it.....