Hi, again, Dear Reader. It’s mid-afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida, where it’s 81˚F (27˚C) under mostly cloudy skies. With the wind blowing from the east-southeast at 8 MPH (13 KM/H) and humidity at 58%, the feels-like temperature is a bit warmer: 82˚F (28˚C). As the afternoon progresses, we will see the temperature drop gradually to the 70s (lower 20s) and eventually reach the forecast low for tonight of 67˚F (20˚C).
Well, as I said in my previous post, we in the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S, are watching as the clock winds down on 2020, a year that I’m sure not many people will look back at with fondness. The COVID-19 pandemic (including the 1,813,087 worldwide deaths and the social disruptions caused by the impact of the virus)…a defeated U.S. President who refuses to concede the recent election….political division and social unrest in the U.S. and other countries…the rise of disruptive populist leaders in Brazil, the Philippines, and elsewhere…. Truly, 2020 will not be remembered as a very good year.
My December 31 has been a dull, frustrating, and altogether unhappy one. I woke up early – as is my habit – with the family dog happily curled up next to me. I waited for the Caregiver to get up and make breakfast for everyone – not just me – as is her habit on her days off from work. Alas, the wait was in vain; apparently she and her new boyfriend got drunk last night and she – at least – woke up with a hangover. I can’t cook in this house – it has a gas stove, and I can’t use it, at least not very well – so if she doesn’t make breakfast, I have to make do with a bowl of cold cereal, toast – I can still use a toaster! – and several cups of coffee.
And that, Dear Reader, is what I did, albeit a bit later than usual; the Caregiver’s daughter made breakfast for herself and her boyfriend, so I had to wait till they were both out of the kitchen so I could make my coffee and toast and grab a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles.
Now I’m in my bedroom, listening to Pops in Love, nursing a mild headache, and trying to figure out how to spend the rest of New Year’s Eve 2020. I don’t want to spend any time with the Caregiver and the guy she dumped me for, so I think I’ll just stay in my room and either watch TV or read a book while I play classical music on Amazon Music.
(If I had Roku in my room I could binge-watch The Mandalorian on Disney+. I don’t have Roku, though, so I can’t do that. The next best thing I have is Netflix, so if I can’t make up my mind about what movie to watch from my stash of Blu-rays and DVDs, I’ll probably try to find something on either Amazon Prime or Netflix.)
I could also game for a while; I already started a session of Strategic Command WWII: World at War – the campaign titled Triumph & Tragedy 1944 – as the Soviet Union. So far the war is going all right for the Allies, but the Germans did give my forces a bloody nose on Turn Two – I lost several armies to German counterattacks in south Ukraine, and even though I purchased replacement units, they will not be ready for another couple of months – in game time. I saved the game in case I feel like resuming it later.
Other than that, I don’t have anything to report. I don’t know what the Caregiver has in store for dinner; I don’t see either anyone in the kitchen cooking, nor do I have any clue if someone will order pizzas or if we’ll have to eat leftovers from last night.
So, on that note, I will close this last post for 2020, wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and better New Year in 2021.
