1. The day flew by today. A while back I ordered a couple acrostic puzzle books and the first one arrived this morning and I got so absorbed in the book's first puzzle that I lost all sense of time. These puzzles are difficult for me. I go as long as I can without consulting the World Wide Web, but I inevitably reach a point where if I don't look things up, I can't progress. I spent several hours working this one out. It was fun and relaxing.
2. There's a second reason this day flew by. When I took breaks from working the acrostic puzzle, I started reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens, and kept at it after completing the puzzle. I have started Bleak House several times, but not since I retired and definitely not while sheltering in place. Before, each time I started it, I got pulled away by other things in my life -- mainly work -- and never got back to it. Yesterday, after I finished The Secret Man, I thought to myself that this would be the perfect time to read a thick Dickens novel, especially because I'm in the reading habit right now. So I bought it as an e-book, printed myself a list of the novel's characters, got going, and I have a wee bit of confidence that I'll make it all the way through this time. I know I sure enjoyed every word I read today.
3. The evening also whizzed by. Debbie turned last night's curry sauce into a delicious soup by steaming broccoli in chicken bouillon, adding the broccoli and bouillon to the curry sauce, and adding the leftover rice from last night. It was superb.
After dinner, Debbie and I retired to the living room and resumed learning more about the history of the last 50-60 years. Almost a year ago to the day, I listened to Rachel Maddow's seven episode podcast chronicling Spiro Agnew's meteoric rise to national prominence as vice-president under Richard Nixon and his dizzying fall from power as his criminal deeds both in Maryland and as vice-president came under investigation and he was indicted. The podcast is called Bag Man. We made it through five episodes this evening and will finish it out before long.
As a footnote, I hadn't thought much about it until this week, but the investigations that uncovered the criminal activity in the Nixon Administration was spearheaded by guys in their late twenties and early thirties. The three assistant U.S. Attorneys who dug into the Maryland corruption, and, eventually, Spiro Agnew, were all just 30-32 years old and their boss, George Beall, was 35. Woodward and Bernstein were also around 30 years old. Young guys. Lots of energy. Lots of stamina. Idealistic. Hungry. Like I said, a footnote. It might not mean much, but it struck me as interesting.
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