Sometimes you feel like you have to do it twice or more
ITEM: Last Tuesday evening, my wife, daughter, and I went to a Moth-type event at Cindy B’s. It is a new cafe on the former campus of the College of St. Rose. We had a nice time.
A few days later, my wife said we should go back for breakfast on Friday morning, and I agreed. But a bit later, she said she couldn’t because she had to pick up some shoes for her mother at the podiatrist’s office. I felt a bit melancholy that we weren’t going on a date. We don’t do that that often enough.
But a little while later, she said she couldn’t figure out which of the doctor’s offices she was supposed to pick up the shoes from. Apparently, the doctor’s office couldn’t give her the info either, so she canceled that, and we rescheduled our date.
We had a nice sandwich. As we walked back home, I noticed it was kind of chilly. A couple hours later, one of the organizers of the Moth talk, who I had known for years, said Cindy B. texted her to ask whether I had left my coat; sure enough, it was me.
Later on that day, I had to go back and get the coat.
ITEM: I had an oral surgery in mid-October, and then on Thursday the 29th, I went back to the surgeon’s office. They looked at the fixture, and it seemed fine.
When I went out to lunch with my wife on Sunday afternoon, the piece came out. I’ll have to go back there. Oy. Oh, and though it wasn’t immediate, the pain turned out to be quite exhausting.
It’s a gas, gas, gas
ITEM: Our First Presbyterian church choir was starting our regular Thursday night rehearsal on October 29. The choir director wasn’t there because he was working on casting a musical for next semester at the University of Albany. So the organist was going to run the rehearsal, which had happened before.
When we entered the church, we heard a beeping noise, but it wasn’t loud or annoying, and one couldn’t hear it in the sanctuary. We completed our warm-ups and then were going to go to the music for Sunday. About 7:15 p.m., a couple of people from the fire department came in and said we had to evacuate the building. After a time, the building was deemed likely safe, but the FD was waiting for the power company, National Grid, to give the all-clear.
A couple of us had a nice chat in the church parking lot with a neighbor who wondered what was going on; we really didn’t know. We encouraged one of the neighbors who had been curious about the goings-on to attend the First Friday events this week and in December, the latter, the Benjamin Britten Ceremony of Carols. At this point, about 7:45, the organist decided (correctly) that we would cancel rehearsal.
Change music
On Saturday, the choir director explained that the CO2 issue on Thursday was due to an external piece of equipment being used by the folks working on the building (see Updates). We’re in the midst of some renovation. Everything was checked thoroughly on Friday and is back to normal for Sunday. The choir director swapped out the most difficult piece for a simpler one; we got a music track to listen to and a copy of the music.
But on Sunday, the cello accompanist brought their instrument. So we went back to plan A. It seemed to have worked well enough.
Songs:
Do It Again – Steely Dan
Do It Again – The Beach Boys
It’s Selection Day, and I’m not taking anything for granted. Here’s the Weekly Sift’s 2026 election-watching 
As someone who doesn’t drive, I recognize the variables drivers face when getting out of the car. They have to watch for cars, bicycles, and the occasional jaywalking pedestrian.
The Hot R&B Singles for 1996, formerly Hot Black Singles and so many other categories I can barely keep track of, has some crossover with the pop charts, but here are plenty of other songs.