Thank you for the Valentine Heart!

Three weeks into my dry (God, I need a drink!) fitness program,

and Mrs. Aristus swears she’s starting to notice some weight loss. That’s incentive enough to keep going. I’ve given up sweets and snacking, along with the booze.

I’m up to three days a week of cardio and weight-lifting. Hoping to get my delts and pecs back. And, of course, wanting to fit back into my closet full of tailored clothing.

I miss drinking with my Lounge friends. But in a couple of more months, maybe we can all hoist a few to celebrate losing my COVID weight.

I love you all…

Any recommendation for small console stereo kits?

The stereo I bought while I was in the Army a zillion years ago, finally died on me a while back. It had served me faithfully, and without a hitch for decades. iGadgets are great for travel and all that. But I want a plain old, old-fashioned console stereo with turntable, CD, cassette, and MP3 capability. Amazon doesn't have exactly what I need. Any retailers that might?

I need something kind of 14x14x14 inches to fit my stereo cabinet.

Our clinic today did nine patient visits for STD evaluation/treatment.

I can only conclude that Tacoma is having a massive orgy to which I was not invited.

I'm happily married, but it's the thought that counts.

Sheesh! NINE STD checks! Wear a condom, guys!

Facebook isn't allowing me to change my profile pic unless I allow them full access to all my photos.

I don’t see why I should. More horseshit from Zuck.

Anyone know a workaround?

For the first time in three years, I'm surfing DU from my reading chair in my library.

Finally got the last of my grandson's stuff out of here. We had to use my library as a storage space while he was here. I finally get to sit among my bookshelves, admiring my books, reveling in my literary retreat from the world. This has been so long coming. It's like returning from exile.

Friday Night No-Buzz Thread. Starting my weight loss program tomorrow.

No alcohol for the next three months, starting tonight.

I can’t believe how much I miss my Friday night drink. I look forward to it all week. I guess I was more dependent on it than I thought.

It’s lovely here in the Evergreen State. Mount Rainier is almost pure white. The Puyallup River is at a low ebb. All the water is locked up in the glaciers on the mountain.

Looking forward to a great weekend.

I love you all…

To all Friday Night Buzz Thread Loungers:

My Friday Night drinking threads will be suspended for a little while, as I start my post-COVID, post-grandson moving out weight loss program. I intend to give up alcohol for around three months or so, which should decrease my caloric intake enough to see some progress as I re-start my prior exercise program.

I went through my closet this weekend, and tried on all of my favorite suits and sport coats to see what kind of damage my COVID-era weight gain caused. Good news: it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Bad news: it's bad enough.

Some of my suits are too expensive to give up on, and having my tailor let them out would be a disincentive to lose the weight in the first place.

I want to thank all of you for showing up on Friday nights, and for being such good friends to me. I love you all. I plan on resuming the Friday Night threads as soon as I show some progress in my weight loss efforts. I won't be going away anywhere, and you may still see me in other threads. Catch you later.

Curled up nice and warm in pajamas and bathrobe with a Mamie Taylor.

Whiskey, lime juice, and ginger beer stirred together with ice in a highball glass.

My favorite part of brutally cold weather is not being out in it.

Hope everyone is staying warm…

Friday Night Bourbon Buzz. Ask me anything.

Enjoying a Perfect Manhattan tonight. Bourbon, equal parts sweet and dry vermouth, and a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters. Yum!

I feel like Nonno, the old poet in Tennessee Williams’ “Night Of The Iguana”.

“I like two cherries with my Manhattan. I say ‘yum’ for one cherry, and ‘yum again’ for the other!”

Have the house to myself tonight. Mrs. Aristus is out to dinner with her knitting group.

I love you all…