Last week in Boston, this week out west

So I went up to my nest on the third floor of Bonnie's
and found that there was a leak around the cold tap of
the bathroom sink, so I jiggled the handle, which was a
big mistake, because the thing popped off altogether and
a geyser erupted from the socket. I squeezed down on the
stream like the little Dutch boy and shouted down to
Bonnie, who is pretty deaf, so I kept shouting, and the
next door neighbor Jim heard and came in (he has the
keys) and shut the valve while I kept pressure on the
broken joint. All was well, sort of, except that it
turned out that the leak had been going on for a bit
before being discovered, so the towels in the cupboard
were soaked, and the ones that weren't got that way for
mopping up the mess, plus the paper goods, plus the soap
supply, plus some but thankfully not all of my medicine.
The water had also migrated to the laundry room on the
second floor, causing minor damage and much extra wetness.
The plumber did come and rebuild the faucet apparatus and
gave it a clean bill of health for just a couple hundred
smackers.

Next amusement on the third floor - big flying ants.

Amusement on the first floor - tiny tiny ants that
Bonnie claimed bit her. This coincided with her spate of
cookie baking.

Bonnie has had an arthritic condition in her lower back, or
so she hoped - the alternative was big C - and the MRI read
came back, no cancer, but there was an area of degeneration
in the rib attachments, most likely not life-threatening
but worthy of treatment, more rounds of tests and many bucks
down the tube, but if that's all it is, well worth the cost.
But. A subsequent read showed something suspicious in the
lower thoracic section (the first MRI was just of the L area,
but a bit of the T area was included by accident, and some
bright person noticed the anomaly, so there was another MRI
at 5:45 in the morning ... which was inconclusive anyway,
so more tests yet are indicated after her return from Turkey.

Lilli - well, she claims that she's been given a relatively
clean bill of health. Nonetheless, walking a quarter mile to
the train station we had to stop twice for legs not working..

My keyboard, which often is so unresponsive that some typed
letters don't show up. It's as though a particularly outdated
keystroke logger were working, which is a distinct possibility.

My quartet session got cancelled. Sadly, we'd wangled an old
friend who was in her day one of the most sought-after
musicians in town, and I hadn't seen her in quite some while.

And I discover that the Market Basket has altered its formula
and supplier of the formerly incredible bargain dark chocolate.

Market Basket Dark & smooth Premium Dark Chocolate 70% cocoa
Ingredients: chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin
(emulsifier), natural vanilla flavoring
Product of Poland
Nutrition per 10g
Calories 52.5
Fat 4 g
Saturated fat 2.75 g
Sodium 2.5 mg
Carbs 3.25 g
Dietary fiber 1.25 g
Sugars 3.75 g
Protein .75 g
Calcium 0.5%
Iron 2.5%

Rather good; hard melt, fruity with dried fruit, a bit of
coffee aroma, pleasant bittersweetness, long rich finish.
Actually close in flavor and quality to the big boys.

vs. the new version

Market Basket 70% cacao Premium Dark Chocolate
Ingredients: chocolate liquor, sugar, chocolate liquor
(processed with alkali). cocoa butter, milk fat, soy
lecithin, vanilla
Made in USA
Nutrition per 10g
Calories 50
Fat 4 g
Saturated fat 3 g
Sodium 0
Carbs 4.8 g
Dietary fiber 1 g
Sugars 3 g
Protein .8 g
Calcium 0.4%
Iron 7%

whoops. Caramelly sweet aroma. Not as hard melt,
Very sweet, kind of cloying on the palate.
Cardboardy finish. A disappointment - I'm as happy
buying Made in USA products as anybody, but this just
didn't add up. Poop on you, Market Basket and on you
too, anonymous chocolate manufacturer.
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