Road Trip!

 Another thing I was supposed to do on my week off and I have not:  calling food pantries and other help locations across the area -- hell, even our service zip codes -- to see if they are still operating and when they do business.  How many have I called?  Not a one!  Oi.  Today, of course, I did nothing at all!  Ok, not really; I slept in slightly, did some paperwork, and then hit the gym.  Came home, showered, and then decided to go to Medina and check out Black Cat Books and Oddities, the newish bookstore there.

First... when did Medina become so built up?  Used to be the ride on 18 was fairly rural, and now... sort of reminded me of the stretch of 23 (or OH-36) south of OWU.  Back in the day, it was all grass, and now... n0thing but stores and homes.  Now... the entire stretch of 18 until you get into town is built up.  Impressive but... sad, in a way.  Also, it seems downtown Medina is a thing; I tried to park close to the bookstore, could not, and ended up parking about a mile away in the public garage (at least it is free).  On the way to the store I walked around the square there, and it was... quite charming!  Lots of little stores, coffee shops, restaurants, that sort of thing.  I am quite the hardass, but this was... heartwarming.

Similarly, Black Cat Books and Oddities was a real treasure!  The rooms are roughly themed -- Poe, for instance -- but there is a decided bent towards mysteries and fiction.  Lots of good stuff there (even if a bit too many tarot cards and the occult), and I even took a picture of the "Banned Books" shelf, though I really don't think that keeping stuff from kids until they reach high school constitutes banning.  Anyways, I picked up a book from my list that I remembered and a Sherlock Holmes game (one cannot have enough Sherlockania) which I will maybe crack open this weekend, when I am again not doing what I should be doing.  Then I walked around downtown, developed low blood sugar, stopped for a coffee and muffin, and recalled the vignette from The Guns of August when Henry Campbell-Bannerman loved France so much that he took the Channel steamer there and back for lunch.  I thought, hmm...I could certainly do that once in a while.  Then, as I so often do, I thought to myself "this is why you are single, Mattie."

After my meander, I then hopped in the Behemoth (which was not so big down there; lots of bigger pickups than my own!) and drove up 71 to Fathead, where I met a friend, had an IPA (fruity but good) and even ordered a half-dozen of their wings.  Not really a wing guy, but... these were pretty good.  They are yuuuggge, with each one equivalent to two normal wings.  Anyways, it was nice, but by the time I got to my car... I just felt craptastic.  I mean, my stomach was rumbly and I was feeling the air constrict in my windpipe.  Never really felt that way before, so... odd.  I opened the windows, drank some water, began breathing deeply, and eventually felt a little better.  I must have laid the seat back and nodded off, because I woke up about 45 minutes later.  At least I felt incredibly kickass then.  So off to the gym for leg day and a killer bike ride; so much so that I finished the book I was reading (65) about the takeover of New World biota by Old World crops.  Interesting!

Watched "We're Alive," a documentary from the 70s, and a new entrant to the National Film Registry.  It was... ok?  It is about women who are incarcerated, and while there are some things that are relevant now, as I like to say, there is a reason why people get sent there in the first place.  At least it clocked in at under an hour.  824!

How Mayim Bialik Lost Her Role as the Main Host of ‘Jeopardy!’ - The Ringer
Interesting.  Not sure how I feel about this; never really loved Mayim as a host, but I thought she was fine.  On the other hand, I think Ken does have more of a rapport with the contestants and as the article notes, has become stronger.  He was also... there, if you will, during the strike, and attendance counts for something.  I still think they could rotate guest hosts in, and it's not like the door is fully closed on Mayim.  And that is probably fine.