Tommy and I cleaned out the garage yesterday, and I’m surprised we managed to get it all done in a single day. I don’t think the garage was that bad. Mostly, the trash needed to be taken out, and items were being put back into their place. The best part is that now, with those days off next week, we can finally turn our attention to the desk project.

The weather is certainly cooperating. It’s warm enough outside now that the polyurethane should dry pretty quickly, which will make the whole process go much more smoothly. I’m excited to start working at my desk again. It’s one of those projects that I’ve been looking forward to getting back to, and it feels good knowing that the garage is no longer standing in the way.

Speaking of the warmer weather, summer is right around the corner. And with summer comes my birthday. This year is a big one; I’m turning 50. I can hardly believe it. In my head, 50 always sounded so much older than I feel. The funny thing is that I don’t feel 50 at all. Maybe that’s a good sign. I don’t think I look 50 either. At least, according to the kids, I look like I’m 30. I’m not sure how accurate that assessment is, but I’ll happily accept the compliment and move on.

As I’m sitting here writing this, I keep glancing down at my keyboard and realizing that it desperately needs to be cleaned. That’s a bit of a random transition, but a messy keyboard drives me crazy. Dust and crumbs somehow find their way into every little space between the keys. Now that I’m noticing it, it’s becoming difficult to ignore. Maybe before I settle in to study, I should spend a few minutes tidying up my desk and giving the keyboard a good cleaning. A clean workspace always makes it a little easier to focus, and it would be nice to start studying without that distraction staring me in the face.

Back to my birthday. Here’s a snapshot of what the world was like around when I was born:

Prices in 1976
* Average new house in the U.S.: about $43,000
* Average annual salary: about $16,000
* First-class postage stamp: 13¢
* Gallon of milk: about $1.70
* Loaf of bread: about 30–35¢
* Movie ticket: about $2.25

Popular Movies
* Rocky
* All the President’s Men
* The Omen
* Taxi Driver

On Television
* Happy Days
* Laverne & Shirley
* M*A*S*H
* The Six Million Dollar Man

Music of the Summer
* Silly Love Songs by Wings
* Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
* 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
* Love Hangover

Technology
* Personal computers were just beginning to emerge.
* Apple had been founded only a few months earlier, on April 1, 1976.
* Most people had never touched a computer.
* Video game arcades were becoming popular, but home gaming was still in its infancy.

World Events
* The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was ongoing.
* The U.S. was celebrating its Bicentennial year, with huge festivities leading up to July 4.
* Commercial air travel was becoming more common, though still more formal and expensive than today.

It’s crazy to think that I have lived through the rise of personal computers, the internet, smartphones, social media, streaming services, and AI.

I made myself some matcha pancakes this afternoon. I don’t eat breakfast; I wait until noon to eat. But breakfast is my favorite meal, so I would have breakfast for lunch. They turned out pretty good, although the matcha flavor was much more subtle than I expected. You can tell it’s there if you’re looking for it, but it definitely doesn’t overpower the pancakes. Once I poured syrup on top, the matcha flavor almost completely disappeared, and it just tasted like a good homemade pancake.

I’ve been wanting to bake something, and while pancakes aren’t exactly baking, making them from scratch felt close enough. It was a nice break from studying.

Now that I’ve had my pancakes and my brief baking adventure, it’s time to get back to studying.

Tommy’s birthday is tomorrow, which means that for ten days, we’ll be the exact same age. It’s a brief and magical period that ends as soon as my birthday arrives and I reclaim my position of being one year older than him.

Last night, Tommy, Kel, and I played Fate of the Fellowship, and somehow managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. We were down to one hope, had no draw cards left, and were basically preparing ourselves for a noble and inevitable loss. But then the dice gods smiled upon us. We got the roll we needed and actually won the game!

Considering how hard Fate of the Fellowship is to beat, I’m pretty sure this means we’re heroes now. Or at the very least, we’ve used up all our luck for the week.

I’m having my iced coffee without ice. I guess that technically makes it “formerly iced coffee.” Except I’ve never had any ice to begin with.

It’s like ordering a snow cone in July and finding out you’ve just been handed fruit soup. I’m not upset, though. I’m choosing to see this as coffee in its natural habitat, free-range and unsupervised.

We’re having spinach and mozzarella ravioli tonight, and I need to start the water soon. It takes forever for water to boil up here!

Oh, speaking of high elevations, Tommy and I went to the Caldera on Friday night to take pictures of the stars. I could definitely feel the elevation a little, but it was a lot of fun. We listened to the guest speaker and took some photos. I used my phone while Tommy used his camera. He said he’s going to edit one of the pictures I took with my phone, and I’d really like to see how it turns out.