TOILET DAY

Toilet replacement day, actually. A couple of years ago we replaced one of our toilets because it was beyond cleanable. Toilet number two met its same fate today. Not only are both new toilets clean, but both are about two inches taller than their predecessors. That's pretty important for tall people or for old people.

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Old toilet ready to go.

. Old tank gone. Check out the 40-year accumulation of built-up crud behind the old tank.

. Old bowl gone. .

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Old wax ring gone. .

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Uh-oh! New toilet in place, but new tank is narrower than old tank, showing unexpected area of wall that now needs painting.

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. On the way to buy paint, a Dutch Brothers store was inviting us to stop by for a brief visit.

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.. Armed with a handful of paint color cards, Debra tries to find a match.

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.. Matching paint needed behind new toilet.

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New primer and paint applied.

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New bowl and tank installed and new paint matches perfectly.

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The finished project.

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The height of the old toilet seat.

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The height of the new toilet seat. Geriatric friendly. I suppose the next project will be a bar installed on the wall for pulling ourselves up.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE

My Monday-through-Friday life is incredibly routine and very predictable. I'm in a rut but quite comfortable in that rut. Here's how it goes:

4:30 a.m.

My alarm goes off. I shave. Then I eat breakfast. I eat the same breakfast every morning: One banana, one boiled albumen and one bowl of uncooked oatmeal with raisins and cold milk. Every morning.

I shave before I do anything else. If I wait to shave, both bathrooms may be occupied when I'm ready.

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Hard boiled albumen minus the high-cholesterol yoke.

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5:00 a.m.

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After breakfast, I hydrate myself with about a quart of water before spending 30 minutes on an elliptical exerciser while watching the morning news. Actually, I flip channels between Fox News and ESPN while working out.

Hydration time.

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Thirty minutes on the elliptical exerciser while watching TV.

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6:00 a.m.

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After exercising and showering, I get dressed for work and then drink two cups of coffee and read one chapter in the Bible before leaving the house. Maybe I should drink only one cup and read two chapters, but I don't.

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Two cups of coffee and one chapter of the Bible.

The final intersection before reaching the hospital, which is shown in the background.

The parking structure where I park my pickup.

Among the first to arrive in the parking structure, I park my white pickup on the first ramp.

Walking from the parking structure to the Cancer Center.

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6:30 a.m.

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I arrive at the hospital where my job is treating cancer patients with radiation. The treatment machine is called a "linear accelerator". Before the first patient arrives, certain quality assurance tests must be completed to insure that the radiation beam is producing the correct energy, is flat and is symmetrical. Also, the machine must be checked for correct water level, water pressure, water temperature, air pressure and gas pressure.

One of two linear accelerators in our department.

Checking distances with a frontpointer.

Checking gauges for correct readings.

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4:30 p.m.

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The highlight of my day is clocking out of work and returning home. Debra and I have established a practice over the past nine years in which we spend my first 20 minutes home from work drinking decaf coffee and catching up with each other on how the day has gone. After our 20-minute visit, I do whatever chores I need to do before we eat dinner: check email, pay bills, work in the yard or help in the kitchen. Finally, we eat dinner while watching "The O'Reilly Factor".

Decaf coffee and 20 minutes of catching up on the day's activities.

Dinner and TV.

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And that's my day.