God's going to set this world on fire some of these days

Early yesterday, I went to my grandmother's house for a visit. As I pulled in the driveway, my sister and her kids were just leaving. I was hoping I'd be able to spend some time with them, but I got off to a later start than I wanted to because of that dastardly daylight savings. I did manage to see my mother, however, who stuck around to help out with some chores.

It was a relief to see my grandmother in better health than she had been in recently. Though she still has back spasms, they're less frequent and, consequently, she has more freedom of movement. Her hearing is just as poor as it had been, though; I nearly went hoarse trying to converse with her. It was nice seeing seeing her.
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Got together with Spira when I came home and we went to Yoshi's for dinner. It was the best meal I've had in the last month. For appetizers, we ordered some Miso soup, Edamame, and Tuna Tartar. The tuna was incredible! I lack the means to give it an apt description, save that I was transported directly to the ocean with every bite. And of course we ordered some Black Dragon. Amazing as always. And there was more, but I fear if I continue with this, I'll run over to Yoshi's and demand they open their doors and make me some food. That would be pathetic, so I'll move on.

We were going to watch Across the Universe when we got back to my house, but it was getting late and Spira had work in the morning, so it'll have to wait until another day. I started watching Planet of the Apes after she left, but I kept nodding off, so I shut it off. Maybe today I'll revisit Charlton and the chimps.

After Spira left, I went to the grocery store and upon my return, Rich, who was making a sandwich in the kitchen, asked me if I was angry with him. He said for the last week he had felt tension between us and he wanted to clear the air. He was fairly wound up and I could tell he was trying to keep himself in check. I thought back to the turd on the floor incident and wondered if I my irritation concerning it had lasted longer than I thought it had. After giving it a few seconds thought, I resolved that it hadn't, and even if it had, I had seen Rich maybe twice since the incident, and those encounters lasted about minute combined. I asked him if there was anything specific that made him think I was upset with him.

"Well, I don't know, I mean.... well, there were a couple of times you left the door unlocked and I thought you might have been sending me a message. You know, like 'Fuck you, Rich. I'm not locking the doors because I'm pissed at you'. That type of thing".

I was a bit incredulous. There had been a couple of occasions when I didn't lock the door. The first one was when I went for a run. It was in the afternoon and it was sunny out. Rich was home. I figured the chances of Rich being the victim of a home invasion during the half hour that I was out running were slim. I don't know, maybe I was blanketed by a false sense of security with all the people out walking their dogs and the sun shining kindly. And Rich being home.

The second time was similar to the first, except it was dark out and there weren't as many people out walking their dogs. I remember it well: I had gone out the back door and paused in the driveway by the front of my car so I could adjust my Ipod's earbuds. As I did this, I looked up at the window by our pantry, counting down the seconds before Rich took a peak through it. I anticipated this action, which, by the way, he took, because I knew he'd been in his room listening carefully for the click of the lock, which he never heard because I didn't have my key with me. Once alerted to the fact that our apartment's defenses could be breached, and that we were now in Defcon 5, I knew he'd rush to the door to lock it, which he did, and then take a peak through the window to see where I was headed or, perhaps more likely, look out for any cat burglars lurking about .

I make light of his concern, but in reality I'd rather live with someone like Rich than with someone who constantly leaves doors unlocked. Erring on the side of caution is fine with me, but I'm not ready to take it to the next level, the one where I'm constantly paranoid about a home invasion and drawing up blueprints for a moat around the house. Sometimes I wonder if Rich is nearing that mindset. Anyway, I explained to him I wasn't angry with him.

"Rich, I did leave the door unlocked but it wasn't because I was pissed at you. It was because I'm not used to locking the door when someone is home and, though I'm fine with doing it, I'm prone to forget sometimes."

"I'm probably just being paranoid, I guess. Your explanation makes sense. I've just been really stressed out, lately."

I could tell. Like I said, he was pretty wound up. He calmed down after we talked for a bit and all was well. I didn't tell him about the turd on the floor. No need for that. I just pray it doesn't happen again, because then I'll have to address the matter with him, which I predict would be an uncomfortable, but necessary, exchange.

On a somewhat related note, I've taken myself out of the toilet paper sweepstakes. We've all been taking turns buying toilet paper and overall, it's worked out ok. However, Rich just bought some tp from CVS that feels like you're wiping your ass with a bird's nest, and after using it once, I concluded that I couldn't disrespect my body any longer with that stuff. So, I went out and got some Wet Ones, which are a little more expensive, but much kinder and gentler than anything else out there. I made the right decision.

Ok, I'm off to other things. I'm listening to some Bluegrass from the Smithsonian Folkways collection and I'm aiming to lay back and listen to the rest with my eyes closed. Sounds like a plan.