A Very Good Day

So what constitutes a "very good day" in retirement? Saturday, September 17th, 2011.

I slept reasonably well - but with the assistance of a quarter of a pill. Had breakfast and switched on the TV for early morning news but happily found a soccer game. I watched Blackbury defeat Arsenal 4-3 in a great match (except for the defense). Next I did my weekly computer calculation of my finances and noted with bankster satisfaction that a small pile of equities had added significant digits of value. Then for exercise at 11:00 AM I went over to the Humane Society and worked with Tango, a one year old Chow/Bulldog mix (he had diarrhea), then Honey a Pit mix, "dog aggressive" but with an outstanding repertoire of "tricks". Finally Tara, a brown and white Australian cattle dog, easily upset and a tad mouthy - handled by "K-9 Coaches only". In any event I generously offered Tara and my services to Jay if he needed another dog for his agility course demonstrations - this was Adoptathon Day on campus and there were guests wandering about. Not only was our offer rejected but I was told to "get Tara away from the agility yard".  I felt that Tara and I had been "dissed". But Tara did not seem to notice let alone care - so we walked, I brushed her out, we shared some snacks and soon I didn't care either. Tara is a wise dog. Returned home at 1:30 PM and ate left over Chinese food - absolutely great - then napped briefly. Next I drove downtown to the Hollywood 20 complex and saw Contagion, a fine movie. At home again I immediately scrubbed my hands in hot, soapy water - twice. Drank two vodkas slowly (Russian Standard, a fairly ordinary vodka but the bottle is dramatic) preparing dinner - more leftover Chinese food - and the truth is it was even better than at lunch. I complimented it with a bottle of Modello especial. That evening I watched Notre Dame football beating up Michigan State briefly, couldn't stand it. So I shifted channels and watched some soccer from Estadio Technilogico - Monterey verse Cruz Azul - but it failed to hold my attention. So at 10:00 PM I went to bed to read. There I continued Absolute Monarchs, an overwhelming history of the papacy (i.e. too many characters for my old brain to track, remember and digest.
Occasionally things just all seem to come together and it's a very good day.