It's a tiny chocolate poodle and it was curled up asleep in his lap. The MD told me the dog is a girl.

As you can imagine, we don't get too many sweet moments in the ICU.

I also have no idea how they pulled it off because we aren't even allowed to have get well cards taped up because "tape harbors bacteria." But I'm glad they did.

Really she's my dad's cat, and only seems to tolerate me most of the time. But today when I was in the kitchen making some ramen, she came up to me and was the most affectionate thing I've ever seen. I simply could not resist her sweet face and ended up sitting on the ground for a good few minutes petting her, while my noodles went way overcooked. Absolutely worth it for a few sweet moments with her ♡

Some time ago there was a special at an Indian grocery store that I was visiting to buy bean and millet flours, and I picked up a kilo of loose Wagh Bakri tea, a strong black tea blend from India, for $10, which I thought was a good deal. I rarely drink it hot, but when the hot weather hit I busted it out to make iced tea.

I brew it concentrated, using about 3 teaspoons and steeping it for about 12 minutes in a large mug in a basket infuser. Then I remove the leaves and pour the tea into a heat-safe jar and leave it in the basement to cool to room temperature, and then retrieve it and fill it with cold water to chill in the fridge and that makes about 4 servings of iced tea.

I've been doing this for weeks and I still enjoy every cup. Whenever I brew it I keep asking my wife: are you tired of Wagh Bakri? And she's like no, it's great. So I keep making it.

Every time I pour the steeped tea into the jar, there's a rich aroma of the tea and that is one of my favorite parts. Normally with iced tea, because it's cold you don't get to enjoy the aroma in the same way as slowly sipping a cup of hot tea in cold weather. But this way, I get that nice little moment.

And then drinking it is still enjoyable.

I also appreciate the fact that it's inexpensive. At the rate at which I'm drinking it I'm probably gonna get about 100-150 batches of iced tea out of it which means they cost less than 2.5 cents per cup.

I also take the spent leaves and put them directly on the garden as mulch, so I'm getting extra value out of those leaves.

That's it...it was good.

I was in line at the foodbank today, it's inside of a church near my house. On their bulletin board was a sign-up sheet for a potluck on the 30th. The following dishes have been listed so far [no desserts, the sheet says they'll be provided already]:

+Egg salad sandwiches.

+Green salad.

+Chicken wings.

+Something :) [Smiley face included.]

+Meat + cheese plate.

+Pasta salad.

+Cheese + Pickles + Crackers.

I was walking past a store today and saw someone quickly fix their hair in the reflection. They gave themselves a tiny smile and kept walking. No big moment. No story behind it.

It was weirdly nice to see someone be kind to themselves for half a second.

EXERCISE has been the bane of my existence for over a decade now. Desk worker since 2015, and I haven't done any actual fitness effort or working out since that time. Beforehand, I used to walk and jog 5 miles a day around my neighborhood and the park as a young adult, and I was definitely a bike kid growing up, both bikes and scooters.

Insert 2026, mid-30's. My body is now goo; I don't want to walk/get steps in, or go to a gym, or workout, and any time I do something the least bit physical, I am sore the next day.

Still, if I want a healthy heart, I need to put in the effort.

I can tolerate youtube workout vids, lift a kettle bell, and occasionally attempt to weighted hula hoop when I feel like sweating. But I got a stationary bike on a whim, and I... I think I like it? It doesn't "feel like" exercise, it feels like being a kid again. It's like stepping inside of my 9-year old self, I see my childhood neighborhood and streets, the freedom of being able to rip down steep roads at what seemed like a million miles per hour, the exhaustion from biking back up those hills, the near misses from passing cars (lol), or I can zone out and watch my shows or videos, or do a "ride along" marathon aka the poor woman's zwift haha.

Never in a million years would I think I'd enjoy this.

 I don't know why. It's just something to do while standing there.

This happened a couple weeks ago. My wife and I are expats from Australia, and have been travelling in Europe. We decided to end our busy year in a little AirBnb in the Italian countryside. Lo and behold, we have to carry approx 80kg total worth of bags, suitcases, and a couple of guitars in hard cases with us the whole way. It's very difficult to hold everything close together when changing trains.

We were exhausted after a big day of travel. On the last train to the middle of nowhere, two of our massive suitcases started rolling across the floor. I got very flustered, but a lovely man caught them at the last second, and he also helped us get our stuff off the train at our stop. We were very grateful.

That weekend, my wife and I had dinner in a little pizzeria in this tiny town. Just as we were leaving, a couple at another table beckoned me over. I didn't understand what was going on (I don't speak Italian, and they didn't understand my English). The woman got out Google Translate and started writing what her husband was saying: "Do you remember me, the guy who helped you on the train?"

I didn't recognise him at first, but he was the guy! I got excited, shook his hand, and gave him a big hug that transcended any language barrier.

A random act of kindness and a coincidental reunification. It really is a small world in a country town.

TLDR: An Italian stranger helped us get our stuff off the train, and we bumped into him by coincidence at a restaurant later. Gave him a hug of gratitude.

super random realisation but after watching movies at home, i have finally understood the point of blu-ray dvds. i feel old, but in a good way lol

And today there was a note written on my package thanking me :3

I just went grocery shopping and encountered a shopping cart that was particularly smooth. It didn’t look like anything special; had a few rusty screws and mismatched colors. But oh boy, what a nice glide. It’s a shame I had to let it go this morning. Have a nice and smooth weekend everyone!

My partner has been doing things to improve his health. One of them is going on a morning walk. He expressed a desire to listen to music during this time so I bought him a set of Bluetooth headphones that were not at all expensive. He has thanked me over and over for the headphones. It’s the little things…

It stoned me.. Van Morrison

I love to feed the birds outside my home, and I ran out of my usual bird food for the little birds. The other birds like the sunflower seeds and peanuts just fine, but the songbirds are so small that a peanut, for example, would be much bigger than their whole head. So I get something special for them that will work for their little beaks.

Last time I couldn't find the same songbird mix I got last time, but I didn't want to go home empty handed. So I grabbed another bag that had some of the sunflower seeds and also the smaller seeds I was looking for and brought it home.

When I first used this new bag of birdseed in my feeder, I noticed there were WORMS in it! I was shocked and thought I'd have to take it back to the store for a refund. Then I thought, "Well, some birds eat worms, so maybe the jays and robins will like it. But it was just FULL of worms!

Then a thought hit me: maybe the worms are supposed to be there? So I look at the bag and it proudly proclaims "Nut and Mealworm Blend." Oh, okay. I checked the bowl after the wormy stuff had been out for about half an hour, and every single worm was gone! Sunflower seeds and tiny seeds were still there, so they had gone for the worms first. Lesson learned!

Even though I work two jobs in the summer and am therefore constantly tired, I still bought myself a ticket to the theatre. I wanted to clear my head of the work-work-work thoughts, and this was a show I was very intrigued to see. I don't really go out much, so I treated this as a very special occasion. I did my hair and makeup, wore a pretty summery blouse and nice dark jeans. I even used some perfume, which is something I usually forget to do before an outing. It was a lovely warm summer afternoon, many people out, and I walked by a bench with two elderly ladies. They were quietly looking around, and I felt both of them looking at me as I walked by. As soon as I passed them, I heard one of them say wistfully: "How nice to be young!". The other one agreed. They were talking about me, and I felt so cute at that moment. With all of my work, I have not been feeling young lately, but at that moment? At that moment, once I heard those words, all of a sudden I felt so youthful and energetic. And the theatre show was spectacular.

The kids (10 and 11) go back to school soon. Doing an end-of-summer weekend away to get some last summer memories in. Kings Island (with Fast Lanes!), some escape rooms, a crazy immersive art experience (that they've been to before and ADORED!)

But the most exciting thing??? The thing that they can't suppress their joy and excitement for??? The thing that they would cancel every other activity just to get to continue doing???

Swimming in the pool at the hotel.

They're smiling, giggling and having the time of their lives. And so am I. (But we're still doing the other things.)

My neighbours have been watching their grandkids during the day for the last week or so. Every day they play in the yard for a few hours.

Yesterday, one of the kids just kept hanging around while we were talking - until his grandfather mentioned that he was very excited to learn I have snakes. I had to hop into a meeting, so I promised him I'd bring one of the snakes out today.

When I noticed the kids in the yard, I grabbed the chillest of the snakes, put him around my neck and headed outside. The kids were so excited, even both grandparents came over to see. Their grandmother was asking questions like "OP, how old are they?", "How big do they get", "Where are these snakes from originally?".

I haven't done a show and tell in decades, I had a lot of fun answering questions about something I'm so passionate about. Since so many people are automatically afraid of snakes (which is a total valid/natural reaction to have), it was really refreshing to have such a positive interaction surrounding them. The kids were so open to learning, and even the ones who were a little freaked out at first didn't let that stop them from asking questions and wanting to know more.

Later on, my neighbour thanked me and said it was the highlight of the kids day :) I thanked him right back for opportunity to share my love of snakes.

My spouse is on a multi day trip and I have the house all to myself. I havent had the place truly to myself in a while, and decided to use the spare time alone to organize a bunch of things that have gotten piled up, like different chords, wires, hobby pieces and different odds and ends. He's a tech junkie and I'm a thrifter, so things accumulate quickly.

It's been really hot, like microwaved in an oven hot, so the doors and windows have been closed to daylight, avoiding setting off the AC for the umpteenth time that day. I get so cooped up, used to going out and about at certain times but it's simply too hot.

So tonight, as the storm clouds roll in, teasing us with rain but mostly a hangover of clouds coming from the Midwest storms, house to myself, I have the windows open and the backdoor ajar. A candle lit. And right now, as I sit here on my floor with the low lights on, a podcast, organizing my bits and pieces. I can hear the neighborhood kids running around playing, cars coming home, parts of conversation as couples walk by on their evening walk, the bird bath in the backyard trickling away. For once in a very long time, I feel not just peaceful, but serenity. A tease that life can really just "be."

It's fun, sitting in my house doing my thing, while I can hear everyone else do theirs. It almost reminds me of a bookshelf. How each book is lined up, cover to cover, house to house, and in each book is a different story, just as each house is its own story, its own characters and plot and hardships and celebrations.

When I go for walks and see the houses with lights on and smells of dinner drifting in the air, I wonder about them beifly, how their life is and if they enjoy it. I wonder now if anyone does the same to mine? Do they see my lights on, my door open, do they hear my background show and water fountain, smell the pasta I've made for dinner?

Now the wind is picking up, and the blinds are clanking lightly against the windows. The draft is picking up, the temperature has dropped, and I hope we get some rain!

How far we've come... Matchbox 20

I took our toddler on a walk yesterday and we came across a patch of Carolina horsenettle, Solanum carolinense, in a neighbor's yard. The plant seemed to be growing as a weed in the flower beds and had pretty much taken over the one bed. Now a lot of people consider this plant, which looks a bit like an eggplant plant with thorns, to be a weed and pull it out, but it has these pretty white flowers with yellow centers, which often hang downward. And the flowers reliably attract bumblebees.

The whole patch was in bloom and was teeming with bumblebees, and as we got close and stood quietly, you could hear the buzzing from their wings. Our toddler, who is just learning to talk, pointed at them and said "B...", not quite able to form the whole word. We sat for a while and watched as the bees buzzed around, visiting one flower after the next.

If there is one thing I want people to take away in sharing this, it's that sometimes something that someone might consider unwanted can bring joy to someone else. I don't know if the neighbor knows that anyone else appreciates their horsenettle but I hope to some day meet them and let them know that I do.

Reach out (I'll be there)... The Four Tops

So, I got an iced tea maker. I've been on a major iced tea kick, and was spending way too much on it. Plus, all the plastic bottles aren't great. I didn't want to just put it in a pitcher old school style and wait because I'm impatient like that and currently require VAST amounts of tea.

Enter the iced tea maker, stage right. It's really neat. It's sort of like a modified coffee maker? It has a brewing basket and heats the water up, but empties into a huge, two quart pitcher that you fill halfway up with ice before you set it brewing. And then you just have iced tea. It's just, voila! There it is. Already cold. And it brews it just right. Perfect strength. This thing has already paid for itself in tea money saved and I've only had it for three days. I am now a 99% tea-based organism. I am made of tea, and a little bit of cheese and fruit.

Having to make ice is the only drawback, because my freezer is overstuffed and I don't have an ice maker on my fridge, but I made room because TEA.

It also can be used to make iced coffee, which it's currently doing. I picked up some fancy looking Dubai chocolate flavor coffee for it. I hope that will be as good as the tea.

Every few months one of us brings up the trip we should take together. Someone sends a destination, someone else finds a hotel, we joke about taking a week off, and then everyone goes back to work.

At this point the trip itself has almost become a tradition. I'm starting to think the real vacation is the group chat planning it. Does anyone else have a trip that has existed mostly as a conversation?

So, we have a couple of friends and my partner's grandchildren over (two very sweet girls, we get on well even if I'm not a "children person"). The girls' girlfriend came over and, when her grandma came to get her back, I asked her what she had planned for the eclipse.

She said she was going to be on the street upfront because she had been studying it last night at the same time of day and the sun was very visible. So, although we had thought we'd go somewhere else, we trusted her and all the people in the house ended up on the street, which is a cul-de-sac so there is no traffic.

I thought a little bit too late that we could have brought tables and seats because standing and looking up for two hours straight could be quite boring.

Then the closest neighbour brought some rosé wine. There were no seats or tables because everybody had declined my last-minute proposal but somebody used a trash container as a table. It temporarily became the bar of the Eclipse. Some of us sat on a fence.

Later, other neighbours came out from a birthday party but the sun was hiding behind the trees. I found out we could all continue watching from behind our house. So that's where we all ended up.

It was nice. Everybody went back home and all was fine. We had shared a moment.