Daily Report: Middle-Aged Tuesday

I spent the morning blogging and working, while Epril spent the morning learning how to ride a bike. She pushes herself up and down the road, occasionally lifting up her feet and coasting for a while. Sometimes she can get in a tentative turn of the pedals before her balance gives way and she has to put her feet back down and start the process over again.

She has fallen over once, but after my urging her 3 or 4 times to wear a helmet, some gloves, and some shoes — as it was a 100% certainty that she would fall and hurt either head, hands, or feet in the process — she didn't come crying to me about it when she did. Life is rough. So is pavement apparently.

For lunch, we were out to Valentino's with Stan and Maid Lee. I had the spinach gnocchi in Gorgonzola cheese sauce, which was fantastic.

After that it was straight back home for some more work. Epril went back outside and gave the bike some more practice time... still without helmet, gloves, or shoes.

In the evening, Epril and I turned off the TV and just spent a quiet evening together, which was very nice. Asleep by 10:00... just the way my middle-aged self is starting to prefer it. (My 7:00 a.m. bedtime youthful self would cringe at the thought.) Saddest thing about it is that 10:00 p.m. in Pattaya is the about the peak hour for partying... although some would place it closer to midnight.

It is unsettling though: I was one of the biggest party people you'd ever meet 10 years ago, when I knew every nook, cranny, and character of the New York City nightlife... and now that I'm living in the midst of The World's Biggest Party™, I'm shutting out the lights at 10:00.

The first sign of maturity is the discovery that the volume knob also turns to the left.

Yes... and oh how I wish to be ignorant of that fact once again. Instead, now I'm the one who insists on gloves and shoes for bike riding. They might as well start sending me my Social Security check now.