How I spent my winter vacation

The irony of my current lifestyle is that I have a lot of free time, but very little free energy. As a result, my recreational activities are pretty undemanding. The lack of energy is mostly due to the all the surfing, of course - most days I spend a couple hours in the water in the morning and another couple in the afternoon (the exact times and durations of the sessions depend on the tide schedule and on how sleepy, sore, or lethargic I'm feeling). And don't forget the accumulated 40 minutes of walking with that 7'10" surfboard under my arm.

There's also the heat to consider. Between 11 AM and 3 PM, the sun is strong enough to send those of us from more northerly climes crawling to the sanctuary of a dark, air-conditioned bedroom. Especially following a foray into town for lunch or groceries - on foot, of course, so add another 20 minutes of commute time there.

Cooking anything also takes a long time. As in every rental apartment, the quality of the kitchen gear is abysmal, so chopping vegetables with the super-dull knife on the super-tiny cutting board takes forever, and the super-thin cooking pot distributes heat so poorly that everything has to be stirred constantly. And the super-crappy stove only has one full-size burner, so you have to cook things in stages and set them aside. And... you get the idea.

But when I'm not surfing, walking somewhere, eating, or cooking, I am totally free to use my tiny amount of remaining energy in any way I choose. I read books. I read the Internet. I usually Skype with Holly for a while around dinner time.

I don't have a TV (well, I do, but it only plays DVDs, and I don't have any) and my Internet connection is way too slow to stream video. So in lieu of watching TV, I've taken to listening to various old radio shows from the 1930s-1950s, many of which are available for free. When I was growing up outside of Washington, D.C., I used to listen to a bunch of these shows on WAMU every Sunday night on a program called The Big Broadcast, which apparently is still going after all these years. A lot of the shows are really corny, but also kind of fun, especially the advertisements. It's also fascinating to hear how WWII affects everyday life in the U.S. as it progresses. I can only imagine the uproar that would occur nowadays if the U.S. government imposed price controls and a ration coupon system on all food and consumer goods, and made public service announcements encouraging people to fight inflation by not buying new things. But hey, Kraft Dinner is only two ration points, ladies!