Happy Summer Solstice! Hard to believe that 2021 is nearly half over. The road beckons!

I really think it would be extremely interesting to be someplace where the Solstice has some significance, like Stonehenge. It would be so interesting to attend a Pagan celebration aty one of these places. I have now added that, along with Winter Solstice, to my list of life experiences I would like to have. Maybe next year will be the year to try that.

It was pretty warm here yesterday and I started today out in shorts, knowing that later it is going to be warmer than yesterday. It was pretty warm and I have no air conditioning. I am so glad it is not as bad as most of the rest of the country since I don’t do well in hot (or real humid) weather, but it is still way too hot for me. I like it around 60.

And, it lived up to the forecast. A high of 77 and that is just way too damn hot. But, it could be worse. Looks like the next few days will be cooer but starting Friday it will be getting warm again and be even hotter next week – into the low/mid-80s. I need to scoot outta here before that nonsense happens.

I have been looking at the trusty road atlas for new travel ideas but it is so hot everywhere I thought that I might as well just stay home for the time being. With the forecast, though, I just may need to go someplace; if it’s gonna be hot everywhere I might as well get some new scenery. I have been to most of Washington and the parts of Oregon that I want to go so I will probably have to wait until the heat calms down to make a longer trip. I really want to go hit the road with the trailer for two or three weeks but that won’t be happening yet. Gasoline here is around $4/gallon on average now so that doesn’t help. But, by now you know I am big on spur-of-the-moment adventures so you could be surprised along with me!

I cannot do any travel this week until I have my phone appointment on Wednesday morning. It was suggested that I go to cardiac rehab and I have no problem with doing so. The phone call is to talk about things and do an assessment to see if I need to do this fully or just work on a few areas since I have already changed my diet and lost a bunch of weight. I still feel great and actually have since a week after my surgery except for some chest pains when I sneezed (and has gotten better). I am really anxious to talk with them to see what needs done. Staying on top of my health is the main priority.

I went for Thai food for Father’s Day yesterday at my favorite bistro. I was in the mood for some more Spicy Basil Noodle with Chicken – my new Thai go-to dish. It was very busy in town for a Sunday afternoon and most weekends I have had to go to town it has been busy as well. Sometimes it has been slow getting my food there but I know it takes time. In Europe I was used to not getting fast service in. some places but got amazing food instead so I don’t mind the trade-off. This was a bit slower but when I got my bill the waitress took my main course off the tab to apologize. I was surprised, especially since I did not say anything about it. I did tip generously based on the whole bill with the entree.

I have heard that many restaurant workers have moved on and many places are short-staffed so I know it may take longer and that is fine. I do not eat out much anymore since I am on a restricted diet so it’s still a treat. In this area are many jobs but apparently no one wants to work. There are Help Wanted signs everywhere here and they cannot fill the positions. I think it would be interesting to work in a restaurant since I have really gotten into food, but I have worked in quite some so I don’t know how excited I would be about it. It would be interesting to learn what goes on behind the counter. I know it can get hectic.

Last night I watched a Simon Pegg/Rosamund Pike movie on Prime that I had watched originally a few months back. It is called Hector and the Search for Happiness. It is a pretty good movie and, for me, it was worth another view. Pegg is a psychiatrist and is married to Pike (tough gig there…). He decides he needs to find out the answer different people have to the question “What makes you happy?”. He travels all over and asks the question. It kind of makes you think about your own life a bit and ask yourself the same thing; I really enjoyed the movie and pondered a few things in my own life both times I watched it.

That’s all for today.