While going through some of my accumulated crap I’ve encountered a mix tape from 1989, courtesy of my boyfriend at the time:

• The Fall: Dog Is Life
• Joy Division: She’s Lost Control
• Soft Cell: Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go?
• Bauhaus: Of Lilies And Remains
• My Bloody Valentine: Soft As Snow But Warm Inside
• Jesus And Mary Chain: Mushroom
• Joy Division: Insight
• Pixies: Monkey Gone To Heaven
• Die Ärzte: Sweet Sweet Gwendoline
• Flipper: Brainwash
• Siouxie And The Banshees: Strange Fruit
• Bauhaus: Mask
• Sex Pistols: Bodies
• The Cramps: Don’t Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk
• Soft Cell: Memorabilia
• Love And Rockets: God And Mr. Smith
• Camper Van Beethoven: Take The Skinheads Bowling
• Soft Cell: Tainted Love
• The Doors: People Are Strange
• The Velvet Underground: The Gift

Thanks for the flashback, Asa.

Friends from Ohio are in town for a few days, staying with C&M in Old Town. We wandered to Duval to check out the scene, but the crowd waiting for Sushi to drop at 801 Bourbon was ridiculous and we had just enough time to get back to C&M’s for midnight champagne.

Chris broke his fibula just above the ankle around 2am by attempting to not step on or trip over the Sirius antenna cord at C&M’s house, tripping over the small side table it was on instead, and crumpling to the ground. Of course he blew it off at the time but by 7am the pain was kicking in, by 9am I’d trekked to Walgreen’s for an Ace bandage and crutches*, and by 11am we were in the Key West ER* testing out our fresh new health plan (hello, BCBS! buh-bye UHC - your network coverage here blows). Two and a half hours later we were out with Chris sporting a stylish black compression boot with instructions from the nurse practitioner to consult an orthopedist over the next few days.

My not-so-subtle plan for Chris’ winter of bike-as-exercise has been foiled.

* Once again, Walgreens rocks! They have a crutch loaner program where you pay the full $42 and change for a set of adjustable aluminum crutches but you bring back your receipt and the crutches when you’re done for a full refund. What a practical idea! And they are the very same brand and model the ER tried to sell us - the ER nurse was impressed by this deal which she’d never heard of before.

* At the ambulance entrance to the ER there is a large outdoor shower with seating area. One can only imagine why.

If you’re not (yet) a fan of Weather Underground, then you are likely not familiar with their resident hurricane expert, Dr. Jeff Masters. As we’ve been closely tracking the weather and it’s potential impact on our new home, his blog has been very informative and insightful about hurricanes and weather in general.

Today I’ve learned that “The brown bears at the Moscow zoo have refused to hibernate for the first time ever, thanks to the record warmth.” Granted, the data humans have compiled to this point is but a small sliver of planetary time, but we’re also populating and polluting at an inordinate rate. In my relatively short lifetime, the “normal” snowfall in southeast PA has drastically dropped - my nephews have never been able to create tunnels in the snow like I did 25-30 years ago. What do you think?