November 18, 2025

how it’s going **

Rod, explaining the BTUs needed for a new heat pump, says the price
of an electrical hookup is not included. I’m thinking about potato chowder
for dinner, but am absent a bag of frozen corn. The nail file on my desk gives me
three options: “Fine,” “Medium Fine,” and “Coarse,” and it’s hard to tell
the difference. Last week, I installed a trio of ceiling fans in an apartment
I will never live in. Outside, it is cold enough for snow, only there is no snow.
Certain days, an engine inside me whirrs on high. Others, a tiny patter,
barely discernible. Mostly, I’m aware no one is keeping tabs, which means
I have a choice to be more or less forgiving. In the meantime, I paid a bill
early and got a $14 discount. My inbox is down to seventy-one unread messages.
This morning, the cat crept to my chest and stayed there. I had not yet
put my contact lenses in, and everything around me was still blurry.