Ten-Finger Exercises

presents of mind

Sure enough, my sweet Bill came in with a dozen red roses and a card. He always makes the cards extra good by crossing out and adding on words and drawings in the margins.

So what did I give him?

While we ate our steak and drank nearly two bottles of good merlot, I asked him to explain the difference between a turbo-jet and a plane with a turbo-charger. So, with much ado, he gave me a lengthy and ingenious explanation, complete with props. The patty pan squash and an 8-grain dinner roll fit in somehow, but I can't really remember. I think the squash was the prop compressor and the roll was the carburetor power recovery turbine. I did understand it at the time, and could ask decent questions, but I can't quite remember it now. I caught onto the pressurized air idea, which I'd never understood before. Thankfully, I remembered about carb heat from another instructional session.

This took well over an hour, and he had a great time. I actually did too. Wasn't that kind of a gift? (I also bought him some new slippers today.)

I have a cold today. I thought it was just allergies yesterday, like it was one day last week, but this time it's just gotten worse. My rate of Kleenexes per minute has decreased slightly, but still, if I had to leave a trail to find my way out of a maze, there'd be enough wadded up tissues to lead me back out easily.