I had my head in the fridge: not to cool down but for no reason at all. You see, my mind had gone a'wanderin, and a part of my brain had retained the reality that I needed to open a door. I, therefore, did open a door, but not the right door, for the rest of my brain was flitting about somewhere in space rather than with what I needed to do at that moment.
With my head in the fridge, a slight pause and adjusting of the woolly gray matter pulled me back into the the task at hand. That led me to pull my had out (as it were) and to open the cupboard door next to the fridge and take out the cereal bowl, which is what I was really after.
I do that sort of thing more frequently than I should, but it doesn’t lead to harm . . . until it does or almost does. This is what it did or almost did on Tuesday night: the night before I was to arise at 5:30 and drive to my out-of-town medical appointment
As is my custom, I was preparing the coffee ‘pot’ for morning I insert the grounds into one compartment, the water into the other, and place my mug accordingly to receive the elixir when morning comes.
Or at least that it was I was supposed to do and what I have done regularly for lo these many years. However, if you haven't guessed already, that is not what I did that night. No, what I did was to pour the coffee grounds into the water reservoir.
Then I made a bad decision, which was to add water and just run the machine through its cycle to clean out the grounds. After several repetitions of just running water though the machine, it was still emitting many coffee grounds, and then it refused to cooperate and just shut off.
"Oh no! Have I just blown the machine on this of all nights?"
I did what I should have done first. I took the machine to the bathtub and rinsed and rinsed. After that, in some trepidation, I decided to just run water through the machine again. There were still some coffee grounds spewing forth, but at least the machine was working again.
After a few attempts at running water through, the water seemed to be running clear, so I set up the machine properly with coffee and water in their proper compartments as I should have done in the first place and as I have always down before.
Come morning, the coffee-maker was ready to brew my needed pick-me-up, and the coffee did come out with very few extraneous grounds. Thank goodness, for I really needed it to work without hitch at 5:30 before our little trip.
The whole ordeal on the previous night kept me up longer than I would have liked, but my Sleepwatch app did record that I still managed to get 4 hours of sleep and that 3 of them were actually 'good' hours.
Three or four hours of sleep. Who could possibly ask for more? I guess it was all that I deserved.
It's such fun being of an age where we end up being somewhere facing doors, cars, etc and have no concept of what the purpose of being there might be. Sending ourselves hither and yon, we are! But of course we still watch both ways before crossing a street. So far... I jest about a terrible problem which does happen to so many of us! A friend's spouse has advanced dementia and is waiting for placement in a nursing care facility, but medicare problems are making it difficult somehow. What an awful way to disappear, the long goodbye it's called.
ReplyDeleteYour coffee conundrum does sound very frustrating!
Hey, we're still kicking, and doing the best we can, which is what I'm so grateful for!
I haven't done the coffee maker thing, but I am well acquainted with staring at an object wondering what I am doing or meant to do. I also have trouble with words. Me! Words were never my problem. Now I stumble all over the place. This is to say, you are not alone. I'm very glad you solved the problem and were able to have your coffee. That wasn't much sleep.
ReplyDeleteI think we all have moments like that. Which, I might add, doesn't make them any less frustrating. At least you know how to work the coffee marker. I have no skills on that zone. But more times than I wish, I've walked into a room and wondered "Why did I come here?" And if anyone can find my glasses in my house, it certainly isn't me. So, no, not alone. Good luck with the tests and all.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in this blogworld wrote once about "going through a door" syndrome which makes you lose your train of thought and forget what you were going for. Now I wonder what syndrome makes you put things in the wrong location or forget a step. The latter is what my husband does when making his coffee: no water or no coffee before turning the switch to on.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I sit reading blogs when I should be emptying the dishwasher and putting in the dirty dishes. It's an early laundry day too since we need to have the clothes for packing this afternoon. Departure to Switzerland coming up very soon.
I was expecting you to say that you forgot to put your mug under...been there and done that!
ReplyDeleteHope all goes well with your appointment. Can't imagine how you function 'cheerfully', on so little sleep!
There's nothing like a good cup of coffee. But then; coffee is not everyone's cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I can imagine that the air must have been a bit blue around your place during that.
ReplyDeleteYes, getting somewhere and not knowing why you're there becomes more common. It's frustrating when you're in the yard and have more territory to over.
ReplyDeleteHopefully your coffee was drinkable. I load I up the coffee maker the night before so I can just turn it one. This morning I discovered I got the filter and water in and I forgot the coffee grounds. Drat!
ReplyDeleteOh my! I can imagine what the situation with the coffee grounds was like. Let’s face it, we make mistakes! As long as they are not life threatening…we keep going.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone!
ReplyDeleteThis evokes so many thoughts and worries. I'll just say thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat is a little too little sleep. Doing core strength training during the day will help with sleep.
ReplyDeleteNope. You aren't alone! JB does this kind of thing all the time.
ReplyDeleteYou just have to laugh.
I would laugh, except this morning, I had a coffee incident myself. Of which I will not speak. Some mornings I need that coffee a little more desperately than other days.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is required in the morning. Good job you got the pot back in business.
ReplyDeleteI understand! How often have I poured boiling water in the coffee press, but forgot tonput in the coffee? More times than I'd like to tell. I am glad you got it going! As for sleep--that is far too little. I don't see how you even function on so little sleep. I know I would be a mess. I used to do that in my 30s, but impossible now.
ReplyDeleteJoin the club Darl - best thing about it is everyone is welcome and there’s no joining fee!
ReplyDeleteThe doors and compartments metaphor is quite relatable.
ReplyDeleteAlso this: if I could fed-ex you some sleep increments (8 hours uninterrupted each), I surely would.
I could not function at all with so little sleep, so I am impressed that you are doing so well! Good story, well told.
ReplyDelete"No, what I did was to pour the coffee grounds into the water reservoir."
ReplyDeleteHa! It's not just me, then!
I do that sort of absent-minded thing ALL THE TIME.
It's part of our charm, John.
Heh.
Reading about this incident and your solution had me wondering how you could take coffee unit to the bath tub to flush it out. But then if that did the trick then good for you. Ours was recently replaced as the hot plate wasn’t very keeping the coffee hot enough.
ReplyDeleteJohn has forgotten to put the carafe on the coffee maker several times and come downstairs to a mess. (he uses Alexa to command her to brew his coffee--LOL) I've forgotten to add water to the reservoir on numerous occasions, then thought my ancient espresso maker was broken. It's about 30 years old and doesn't owe me a thing!
ReplyDeleteOh AC this is horrible! Ugh I hate it when I make a wrong turn resulting in a big THING! The other day, Dagny was here and went to make herself a cup of coffee. It was morning and the Keurig had not been used since the day before. I went over to add water to the reservoir and thought I'd go ahead and take out the used Kcup while I was there. Only, Dagny had already put a new Kcup in, and the holes were punched, and when I removed it, and she said, Mamaw I just put that one in!!!! I put it back but the holes did not line up. So she made her coffee but when I opened it back up to make my coffee, there were wet grounds everywhere -- as in, spewed all around and NOT where they were supposed to be. It took me ten minutes to clean it all out and it's still not the way it was before I did that dumb thing. Oh what we go through for that morning cup! xoxo
ReplyDeleteAh, now have you ever poured liquid plant food into your coffee machine when you really meant to pour the stuff into the watering can? Let me tell you it is not to be recommended!
ReplyDelete