Goines On: Stress junkie

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Goines told Bic he needed to finish the flyer that he was helping Bic with because the Goineses were going out of town for a week. Bic told him not to “stress himself” – if he didn’t finish before they left, it was okay. But the phrase brought Goines the realization that he wanted to get the job done before they left. Bic had just triggered the insight that when it comes to positive, creative stress, Goines was a junkie. He loved creative stress, he needed it!
    But first he had to accompany Mrs. Goines to Chapel Hill for a lengthy appointment. Maybe he could work on the flyer on his iPad while he was waiting.....
    On the drive home, Goines told Mrs. Goines how he had passed the time. He had, “among other things,” revived his 12-consonant mnemonic device for calculating the day of the week that a date fell on. His mnemonic for their year 2021 was

“Mi Ki Ko Ranch” rattles Miguel

    And he had refreshed his mind how annual calendars recycle and can be reused, for “scrolling” backward or forward mentally to find the day of the week a given date had fallen, – or would fall – on. (Though he had worked the leap-year problem out, he hadn’t explained how matters were complicated by Pope Gregory XIII’s stipulation that years ending in 00 that weren’t divisible by 400 weren’t leap years...Maybe he could work that out on the airplane....)

    “The calendar we are using this year we can reuse in six years, in 2027,” he said. “That’s another reason for us to stay alive!” They laughed.

     “But we won’t be able to reuse the 2023 calendar for eleven years, in 2034.... I’m not sure I want to be alive at 91; I’d probably feel miserable.” He laughed. “Of course, if I am alive for my 91st birthday and don’t feel miserable, I’ll be delighted!” Mrs. Goines laughed too.

    They were both still having fun.

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