Two Poached Eggs

Saturday, January 17, 2026
4:25 a.m.

Yesterday.

I simply wanted two poached eggs.

A friend gave me a microwavable ceramic container—
its only purpose was to poach eggs after 40 seconds.

I set it to cook for 40 seconds. Raw.
I poached another 40 seconds. Cooked. Beautiful.
The spoon touched the first egg—detonation!

Hot, hot, egg yolk scalded my eyelid, praise ye little gods.
Thank you, Big God, for fast reflexes!
Egg yolk everywhere—ceiling, countertop, secret hiding places.
The yolk was a cunning foe, revealing itself throughout the day.

Mischievous energy was not finished with me.

I slow-cooked chicken breasts. Simple. A task I do weekly.
I looked, poked—well, very carefully. Done.
Cleaned the cooker. Everything back in place.
An hour later, I started shredding.
Pink—Salmonella.
Back to the microwave. Problem solved.
The chicken? A little less tender. Still tasty.

A thump outside my door.
A small bag of garbage.
I knew the neighbor—confused at times.
She believes my door at the end of the hall is the dumpster.
Sweet lady. Sad, too, to see up close.

Of course, I took her garbage and mine out to the dumpster.
My heavy bag broke open on the pavement.

I laughed until I couldn’t breathe. A neighbor helped.

Ah, at last I settle into a writing session, still laughing.
I keep water far away from my desktop—all electronics.
I knocked the glass over.

Two eyes, yes! I could see, I could see, widened in terror.
A river flowed toward my keyboard.
Moving quickly, all was saved.

Ah, yes, I sat again. Relieved.
The call was legitimate. Not spam.
The company asked if I could pay the amount owed on my car.
I do not own a car.
We’re repossessing it tonight.

I started laughing, not at them.
I laughed at the absurdity of the day.

But the day was not finished with me yet.

Microsoft confiscates files, makes backups of backups.
Why, oh why? God help me!
No, thank you, Microsoft! I have my system, you fools.
You greedy fools. (Expletives deleted.)
And, stop, stop co-opting my Chrome browser for Bing.

I determined that OneDrive was the culprit behind the challenging day.
I yelled for 10 minutes. And then? I started laughing again.

The wrap-up is this:

I didn’t lose an eye from exploding eggs.
My keyboard was saved.
The neighbor was happy her garbage was dumped.
Microsoft? Well, I’ve reached an agreement to co-exist.
That’s it. No love. No gratitude.

The sweet part of the day was twofold:
I laughed. A lot.
And somehow, in the middle of it, my collaborator and I finished the first two-thirds of something that matters.

Today

My candles burn in the windows.
One stick of incense is done. I place another.

I listen to Debussy’s Clair de Lune.
A dusting of snow visited last night.
Showers on and off all day—my heaven.

Housekeeping Notes:

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