At Starbucks Waiting for Auto Repair

Here I am, at this writing (at  9:30 AM, although it will be posted later in the day), sitting in my favorite spot at my most frequented Starbucks in Magnolia Parke on 39th Avenue.  I'm here, and not at home rousing myself out of bed, because one of our cars has some air conditioning issues and is getting a look-over at the auto shop on the other end of the complex.  I have a number of little routines that I try to get in on a daily basis; I'm knocking off a few of these while waiting for the verdict on the car...

First, I like to practice temporarily memorizing sentences in certain foreign languages...Chinese, German, Spanish, and Russian...that I use various books for and whose meanings I make sure I understand...and then write each one down on paper from memory.  Daily I do this with ten Chinese sentences and four each for German, Spanish, and Russian.  It obviously isn't the same as being immersed in a foreign language environment, but it does keep me thinking in each language, albeit to a limited degree...

I am currently engaged in another daily routine: writing an article for this blog of mine!  Sometimes it's hard to come up with a topic, and sometimes it's easy...this morning's circumstances automatically furnished me with one...

After finishing this entry, I will embark on another routine, which is daily reading.  Currently, I am nearing the end of Jules Verne's adventure story The Mysterious Island and just finished the second book in Madeleine L'Engle's Time quintet, titled A Wind in the Door.  And I'm about to start on Voltaire's short novel Candide (translated into English, of course).  For now,  I'll read some of Jules Verne's tale...

Hopefully, this auto repair today won't take too long and I'll get back home in time to perform another daily routine of mine...running!