In my attempts to prepare for a six-month absence from home and familiar amenities and services, I have been having check-ups - like getting a car ready for a long trip, or like getting married, that is, in the old days (my time) when a young woman was told she should get everything checked and have her appendix out, too, so as not to incur any unforeseen expenses after she was wed. So I'm having a lot of repair work done, teeth mainly. Even though I have check-ups every six months, I've been blind-sided by a couple of biggies (read: expensive). Ah well. At least, I'm not disposable, not yet.

A few years ago I bought an e-reader because I was going to Johannesburg, flying time over 13 hours, and I couldn't carry that many books. So I bought a Kobo. Did you know that Kobo is an anagram for book? It never occurred to me; I just read that a few days ago. Anyway, Book was useful for the trip. I read several books, and kept on using it until it stopped working. After two or three trips to the store "experts", and several online attempts, nothing seemed to help it recover. Finally, the store guru asked me how old it was. A year and a half.

"Oh, well," she said,dismissing it. That old!!

We live in a disposable society where it's easier to throw something away and get a new version. So far, I am not disposable. I still have some shelf life. But I'm beginning to feel like the city of Toronto: my infrastructure is crumbling.

Yesterday was a horrible, no-good, very hard, tiring, difficult day, full of stones but with one sparkling diamond.

Diamond first: my older son dropped in with a couple of things I needed and stayed for coffee and talked. That was rare and delightful. (I looked up synonyms, but delightful is best, and accurate).

The rest of the day went downhill from there. But I talked to a number of people and that's always interesting. I love to know what people are reading, That's always good. The events of the day elicit interesting attitudes, also prejudices. I sat for some time, over an hour, needlessly. (I could have been put in a different category.) I noted, as usual, how patient and polite people are in - maybe especially in - flocks. I got lost, as usual, finding my way to a new destination, by subway. Only one person snarled at me for sitting beside her and I apologized. On the other hand, another one shared her seat (I like to go forward), and we talked about what she was reading (Cormac McCarthy, "The Road".) As usual, most people are very helpful. I'm glad most of us speak the same language so I can communicate my bewilderment and receive some useful information. And say thank you.

But I'm still tired.