I wrote about the “hedonic treadmill” last summer, a concept dealing with how we adapt to pleasure, especially as that pleasure relates to possessions.  So, for example, when I first poked my head into the entryway of our house I thought I was going to pass out from excitement.  When I come in the front door now do I have that same almost-unbearable sense of pleasure and anticipation?  Of course not.  My friend Clover said once when she had come upstairs with me and was going back down, “Wow, this is such a wide-open vista from up here!” And she was right.  Coming down those stairs does indeed open up a beautiful view.  I try to remind myself of her comment when I’m coming downstairs, but most of the time, let’s face it:  I don’t pay any attention.

​I am so, so sorry for the hackneyed image.  I could have used a clock or the old rocks-in-a-jar, but I figured that an hourglass was the clearest illustration of what I was trying to say.  So, to answer the question:  Yes, it does matter.  I like to think that, as long as I get everything on the list done for that day then I can do the tasks in any order and it doesn’t make any difference, but it does.  For me to look at the difference between yesterday (when I worked through the day roughly according to schedule) and today (when I allowed myself, chose to allow myself, to get distracted by watching a “Frontline” episode online during breakfast and then started working my schedule around it) is a perfect illustration of the principle.  So here I sit, writing this post at 3:00 in the afternoon instead of 9:00 in the morning. The sand for this day has run out big time.  I can still get lots done and plan to do so, but how much better it would have been if I had gotten going this morning.  Yes, I did the rest of the ironing and got on my exercise bike while watching, but then I got interested in some other stories, including one about Lee Harvey Oswald and another about some convicted arsonist, both of which I had already watched, ​and totally lost my momentum.

I was so pleased last night to see that Season 3’s first episode of “A Chef’s Life” was airing on our local PBS station. (The actual season started back in August; not sure why Denver’s so behind, or maybe I just missed the premier.)  I had written about Vivian Howard back in June, pointing out that fame and success are always a two-edged sword, hardly an original insight.  So how are things going for Vivian in the new season?  Not so hot.  Which is to say, she’s hotter than ever, and she’s also burning out.  (Sorry.)

I am avid reader of two blogs that deal with money and lifestyles:  Mr. Money Mustache and Happy Simple Living:  The Art of Less.  (The authors of both blogs live in Colorado.  A coincidence?  I think not.)  Eliza Cross, the author of HSL, hosts a January Money Diet series every . . . January.  The idea is for readers to commit to spending only for essentials during this month.  She issues periodic challenges, of which there have been three so far:  make an extra $25, give away 31 things during the month, and figure out your net worth.  MMM, on the other hand, would say, “And why should you spend money only on essentials just during January?  That’s how you should spend your money all the time.”  I must say that my perspective on money has been radically changed by reading these two bloggers, especially MMM, whom I wrote about previously in this July 2015 post and in which I recommended especially “You Can’t Cure Obesity With Bigger Pants.”

I am shamelessly borrowing from an excellent sermon preached on the first Sunday of this year by my pastor, Josh Waltz.  (I’ve done this borrowing before and will certainly do so again.)  He started out by referencing Stephen Covey’s classic ​The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People:  “Begin with the end in mind.”  Covey asks his readers to ponder what they’d want to have said about them at their own funerals, listing four groups who might give eulogies:  family members, friends, co-workers, and fellow volunteers in some organization.  Each group would have a different perspective. 

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Back on the first Friday in September Gideon had a followup visit at his oncologist’s office after his PET scan.  We got there well in time for his 11:45 appointment, only to be told that we had come too early.  His appointment was at 3:45.  There was really nothing we wanted to do for four hours, so we turned around and went home.  A total waste of around two hours.