But this morning, middle son, Robby, who is 16 and normally blessed with discriminating taste, passed on this marvelous dish in favor of a package of Rice a Roni.

“Are you kidding!” I pleaded. “This Parmesan dish is delicious!”

“This is good too, Dad!” he said matter-of-factly.

Egad! His generation will soon be in charge!

This flu sucks. Ask anyone who has had it, which is nearly everyone I know. Lenie was up last night between 1 and 3 am with a coughing jag, although she denies she has the flu, but “only a cold.” I’m hopefully getting over it. I’ve got a lot of work to do, especially promoting the upcoming special issue. I’ll play golf tomorrow. That will cure me.

I’m glad I have this upcoming Issue No. 111 to delve into. Losing is painful! Congratulations Giants! You played a terrific game, especially on defense. Brady hasn’t been pressured like that all year. I’ve always wanted Eli Manning to succeed, but I sure didn’t expect it would be at the expense of my team.

So much for predictions. I made no bets on the game, except with my heart. Silveira always calls me after these big games, but there’ll be no call tonight. He’ll busy himself in writing or in studying poker. Funny how men, especially, pour their soul into their team. It is total war without the bloodshed. Well, I’m the vanquished tonight, and it feels like a form of death. But luckily, I’ll live to fight another day.
 

Lasik surgery

First, after more than 15 years of painstaking mental consideration, I had made the decision a week ago to get Lasik surgery  on my eyes. I’ve wanted the surgery for all that time, but held off because of the very small risk of something going wrong. After all, one of the small, but possible, outcomes is that you lose your vision.

A week ago I finally made the decision that the risks were now so low that I would go ahead and get Lasik so I could dispense with my bifocals and computer glasses and all the cleaning and care they required. I have been unlucky over the years in the number of times I have sat on or stepped on my glasses. So I got all the eye exam prep work done last week, only to learn yesterday that I am not a good candidate for Lasik because I am so far-sighted. A better option for me would be to have a lens implant, like they do for people who have cataracts. The doctor recommended against it unless I really couldn’t stand wearing glasses. I could always have such surgery in my 70s, when and if I do get cataracts. But why risk any kind of surgery now if it’s not necessary, the doctor said. My doctor, John Rush, won a Bronze Star in Vietnam and I had a lot of respect for his opinion.

I realized immediately that I really didn’t mind wearing glasses that much. It had never before occurred to me that Lasik, which is a relatively simple procedure lasting 5-10 minutes per eye, might not be an option for me. I had not bothered to have the necessary eye exam to see if I was a candidate. I somehow assumed that anyone was a candidate. So I ordered a new pair of glasses since I had had already gone through all the eye exams. It was an amazing release of tension for me to realize that all my mental anguish about having surgery on my eyes was finally at rest.

The best computer keyboard ever

The second amazing discovery of the day occurred just before midnight. I couldn’t sleep, even though I had volunteered to go to bed early so I could get up early and take the kids to school, thus relieving my wife of that task. Lenie has been very tired lately, due primarily to overwork, so I thought I should let her sleep in for a day. So I reluctantly got out of bed, poured a hot toddy, and tried out a new computer contraption Eric Ragsdale, our local Gold Beach computer geek, had sold me earlier in the day. It was a “USB to PS/2” cable that he said would allow me to use my old IBM keyboard with my new Toshiba Tecra laptop. Like all laptops, the keyboard is not so good for a fast heavy-handed typist like me.

My IBM keyboards have been retired in my garage for years, and I have never found a device that would make them work with the USB ports that are standard on most laptops. I pulled out the new cable, then went to the garage and retrieved an IBM keyboard. It worked flawlessly. Wow! You have to type as much as I do, and pound the keys with the big heavy hands I have, to realize what an amazing discovery this is. It will make me far more efficient writing because I won’t make as many typing errors. I am so delighted at this discovery I’m going to buy Eric the Subway sandwich of his choice tomorrow when he comes to the office to work on an ailing database desktop computer.

It has occurred to me that these amazing discoveries for me may not be so amazing for other people. I guess it’s a matter of perspective. I’ve just had two significant long-standing issues in my life resolved.

Now to get back to sleep! It’s 1:17 am. The alarm is set for 6:15 am. I’ll make it, then I’ll take a nap at the office. I’m the boss. I can nap at the office!