Tag: dancing

Welcome to the new routine

It’s not exactly Ovaltine
But welcome to the new routine
Whatja have to do to get a drink here?

—Bob Geldof, “The New Routine”

I’d sometimes feel a little prickly when people would ask what I planned to do when I retired. For one thing, how do I know, really, until I actually have that extra 37.5 hours per week? For another thing, I figured some of the things I expected I’d be doing wouldn’t sound interesting to other people.

Some things I’ve done:

  • Made a tiny apple pie (just as much work as a full-size pie, fyi)
  • Tried out Jean’s ebike to see whether I like certain features for myself
  • Finally switched out my Windows 10 PC for a Windows 11 one
  • Researched a suitable cat food substitute for a flavor that’s been discontinued

Are you not entertained?

I have a habit of overthinking regardless, but I hadn’t quite realized that so many things could be re-thought. Like, what time should I set the alarm? Does doing groceries once a week still make sense? How long should my workouts be? Do I have French press coffee every day now? (Answers so far: I’ll try adjusting it every three weeks or so to roughly match sunrise; no, every six days works better; slightly longer than before, unless I’m too busy or tired that day; and no, on busier mornings I’ll go with filtered coffee.)

We aren’t planning a big trip yet; just some small trips.

But, I have done a few local things that are more interesting to describe.

Fun with physics

Waterloo is home to the Perimeter Institute (PI) for Theoretical Physics, which Jean likes to take pictures of. They periodically have free public lectures. I hadn’t been in years, but decided to sign up for one called “How the Universe Ends”, by Dr. Katie Mack, both because that sounded interesting, and because I follow Dr. Mack on Bluesky (where she’s astrokatie), and I think she’s cool.

The Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in winter
Not a recent shot of the Perimeter Institute; it’s been quite nice and warm here lately!

The talks are now held at the nearby Centre for International Governance rather than at PI, which allows for more attendants. They also livestream them. Nevertheless, the event was still sold out.

It’s always mind-blowing (for me, anyway) to be reminded that our planet is just one of several big rocks rotating around one star among billions of stars in one galaxy among billions of galaxies that comprise an ever-expanding universe—and we’re not sure whether there’s only one of those.

The talk wasn’t about when and how the Earth will end (as that isn’t too much of a mystery), but the universe. There are several theories about that. Dr. Mack outlined four of them, all in a very entertaining fashion. (And for public health fans wondering, yes, she gave her talk while wearing an N95 mask.)

About a week after that, Jean and I went to the Princess Cinema to see a free movie sponsored by PI that Dr. Mack had mentioned in her talk: Particle Fever. This documentary was about the development of the Hadron Collider, which led to the discovery of the Bose Hickson particle. That might sound dry, but in fact, it was so fascinating! Even the woman introducing it (who was from PI, I assume?) commented that she was so surprised how good this movie was.

We knew that two people were going to be available to take questions afterward, but I hadn’t realized that the two people would be the film director and one of the physicists featured in the documentary. (I had thought it would just be generic physicists from PI.) Getting their insights into the making of this film was really cool as well. It took four years and, going in, they had no idea if the Collider would even work and, if it did, what it might uncover. The Hickson particle was discovered three years into filming, requiring a complete re-edit of the whole thing and another year of footage.

Feeding the world

Or, feeding a few beings in my little corner of the world, anyway.

I’m still doing cat shelter volunteering, at slightly increased frequency, though I haven’t picked a regular day per week, preferring to select based on what else is going on that week crossed with when they seem to need people most. Going there more often makes it easier to keep up with the kitty population and any changes in the care routine. I’m also getting to know a few of the other volunteers.

In the foreground is Shawnie, my little buddy. She used to be considered un-adoptable as she was so grouchy. Turns out she just had really sore teeth. Now she’s toothless and an absolute sweetheart.

Continue for more cat pictures…

Continue reading “Welcome to the new routine” →

You say it’s your birthday

I’d like to begin by wishing the man who almost shares my birth date (his is one day and many years prior) a belated happy 66th. Thanks for taking care of yourself, dude, so that you’re not only still with us, but still look pretty damn good. Glad the tour with Eric Clapton is going so well.

Roger Daltrey with his shirt open, at the mic with a guitar.

I could say more, but I don’t want Jean to disown me.

As for my own birthday, it was pretty low-key. We were just back from Timmins and Jean spent the day and night before in London (ON) on business, so not much time for grand celebrations. I did get myself a pie, and we did go dancing that night—our regular ballroom dance class. But I finally mastered—or at least, stopped freaking out over—the previously dreaded “fan and hockey stick” step. (Actually, not that hard.) We even got through a new step, the big top, and at least made an attempt at the more complex sliding door step. Whew.

We are planning a joint birthday dinner next weekend at Peller Estates. They’ve discounted their five-course dinner from $80 to $50 for  most of March, so that’s not a bad deal. We just have to find a place to stay now.

As for presents, I’m pondering a new iPod. Just because I’m getting a bit low on space, and I don’t like to do the swapping out thing; I want all the music in one place. And I know there are devices—cheaper ones—other than iPods, but I have invested rather a lot of time in iTunes-specific playlist-building in the past five years. Don’t relish trying to re-create that elsewhere.

All that said, there’s no big rush, though, as I still have slightly over 2 GB of space left—Jean would point out that’s half the total space available on his nano. And I think I’m going to explore the refurbished / eBay market. Classics are up to 120 GB now; I really don’t need that much space. Plus, there’s a freakin’ waiting list for them at the moment, which is just irritating. I’d rather get 80 GB now (or whenever I decide to go ahead) than sit around waiting for 120.