An uneven night's sleep then, up with the alarm and off to breakfast and back on a clear morning, the weather people saying it will get quite warm. OK. The gas prices had gone from the $3.97 they'd been yesterday when I entered the café to the $4.01 shown when I left for home, so we're about half way to the $4.20 they were projecting within a week of the fire. Just noting the damned thing as I've been noting all along. Not sure why with the amount of driving I do or, more accurately, don't do.

Anyway, feel pretty whole at the moment with a full day ahead and I feel like taking some pictures, although I'm not quite sure of what yet. So we'll see. Probably by the next paragraph.

Later. A walk over by the lake to bump into what I assume is the same pelican I photographed yesterday, not quite catching it as well as I did yesterday. OK, we'll come prepared the next time, bring something evil in the way of a telephoto lens.

A walk back to the bus stop to catch a bus downtown because, well, it seemed like a good idea. Into the City Center to have a cup of coffee out at a table to watch the people walking by. Old man sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, his head buzzing in a pleasant old man reverie. Or whatever. No complaints.

A walk then back home taking a little different route, taking my time, taking the odd photograph. Nothing special, but then no complaints about the photographs either, we're in a good mood. Especially after last night.

It's now approaching noon, some thought to go out and get something to eat, although I did go by the supermarket yesterday and there are somewhat edible things now sitting in the kitchen. Good for about an hour's debate, I'd think: eat here, go there, fish or cut bait.

We shall see what our recent thinking on guitar chords brings forth later. An odd thing to be thinking about? Not if you're wrestling with barre chords day in and day out. I'm seeing the learning progression involved. For the starter set of chords - A, B, C, D, E & F - I no longer think about fingering, which finger goes where, nor do I look at the strings and frets when I'm playing them, I just play them and that's the way they're supposed to be played. An obvious truth? Well, for those of us who don't ask enough questions, they're learned one small lesson at a time whenever the magic happens. In my case it can take years.

What do you mean by that?

It's a simple thought, but it's not a logical a to be to c kind of thing. You move your hand and play the chord, but you learn by placing that first finger and then the other three in order - one, two, three, four - and, with enough iterations, the hand starts moving by itself. Interesting to experience, but boy does it seem to take time. I'm on the edge of learning a bunch of them now and I'm up for seeing them finally fall into place. (please???)

Which means?

I might be able to play the guitar one of these days.

Later still. A walk by the lake and over to the morning café for ice cream and a cranberry scone out at a patio table (to watch the people walking by), a bus then, as it came by, back to the apartment. I'm done for the day's out and abouts, time now for guitar and the various news broadcasts I listen to in the afternoons. Why all the news broadcasts? Who knows, who cares, if it seems to keep me content? Or something similarly disingenuous.

Evening. Another interesting experience, different than the one last night, but unpleasant. Just after I ate that instant microwave meal I bought on sale at Safeway (did they know something they weren't telling?). An instant meal like the one I had last night before yesterdays interesting (but different) experience. An hour's nap took care of it, but I was in the middle of updating the firmware on my Pocket Wizard radio slaves when it came on and I'm going to go through the process again to be sure I didn't screw them up. Hup.

A decent evening, otherwise, watched an episode of Foyle's War, which I found interesting, nice to see there's still one or two British things I find interesting. Sad, perhaps, to have lost interest in those as I've liked in the past. Then again I may have to watch one or two of the new ones that seem to be doing so well. Then again, maybe not.