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Two interesting personal developments for me this week.

Almost a month ago I wrote about my less than thrilling or relaxing trip to the wonderful city of Seattle for this year’s World Science Fiction Convention. As I said, the convention itself was really good but losing my wallet and keys during the trip up cast a pall over the entire week that left me terribly stressed and unable to thoroughly enjoy my vacation.

Monday of this week, I arrived at my desk to begin another week at the day job and after pulling out my laptop from my backpack/computer bag I heard something shifting inside. I reached deep into the bag and the tips of my fingers touched …. leather?

I grabbed the leather object and pulled out my wallet. I reached in again and my fingers found my key ring with an assortment of keys.

Clearly what had happened was that at TSA in San Diego after passing through the check point, I had hastily grabbed everything, laptop, iPad, wallet and keys and shoved them all into the bag. The heightened stress and emotional stessors disrupted my memory formation just enough that I had and still do not have a memory of pushing the items into the bag.

It’s good to know that they were not lost and no one got ahold of them, but it is frustrating.

Yesterday, in a quest by my pulmonologist to quiet a persistent cough I have experienced since February of 2024 I underwent a bronchoscopy, a procedure where they put a camera down into your airways and lungs.

The nurses at Kaiser Zion Hospital were excellent but let me tell you having lidocaine sprayed into the back of your throat is a terrible, terrible experience. It prompted gagging and coughing and had a taste I would not wish upon my worst enemy. The procedure itself was hardly a bother, though apparently from the sedation I was out for about half of it. The test results indicated nothing abnormal in my airways or lungs and so the search for a solution to the coughing continues.