Day 1 of being an at-home caregiver. Good thing I have a day job because this really sucks.

When I was little there were occasions when my parents would have an after-dinner drink. I don't remember what these occasions were - maybe a party or a celebration of some sort. The drink of choice was green Creme de Menthe, a sickly sweet minty liqueur that was always served over crushed ice in a tiny glass. I would beg for a sip and imagined being able to drink it whenever I wanted when I was a grown-up. Well, I've been a grown-up for some time and have never drunk Creme de Menthe again, much less owned a bottle of my own. Funny, those things from childhood that seemed so important at the time but completely evaporate as you age. (I did, however, become memorably ill from drinking green beer once in college, but that's another story.)

Books: Mind Changer, by James White. Apparently a well-known science fiction author whose stories about a space station/hospital are widely read, although I had never read him before seeing his name on another journal I read. This is why I love my library - I can order any book they have in the entire system and have it delivered to my little library. This is why I love library books in general, and, more specifically, using the library to try out books by authors I've heard of before - you can read the first couple of pages, realize they hold no interest for you, take it back to the library and not have committed yourself to anything. Sort of like a literary one-night stand.