2017
Putting A Bow On It
31/12/17 08:23
Well, here we are. It’s the end of a pretty good year all in all. Nancy, Evan, and I are hunkered down in upstate New York at a Marriot Courtyard where later today we’ll visit with relatives to celebrate the last vestiges of the 2017 Christmas holiday. Before I get too far over my skis, I should add that Evan may or may not join us for the festivities later this evening. His inclination, more often than not these days, is not to participate but it is what it is. It’s a frosty minus 7 degrees outside and we’re in the midst of a deep freeze without any relief in sight. I left the heat on 58 degrees give or take back at home and that should be sufficient unless there is a problem with the heat. I received an e-mail this morning that my backup had completed successfully so it would seem that things are in order. We’ve never had frozen pipes and I don’t fancy having to deal with them so I’ll have keeping my fingers crossed.
I have to give a round of applause to Nancy this holiday season. With everything going on in her life she took the time to take care of her family during the holiday season with activities ranging from present wrapping to food preparation. She never complained, she never whined, she pushed ahead doing what she does best. Evan and I are not by and large ungrateful but I can tell you unequivocally that Nancy does not do what she does because she expects a pat on the back from us at any point along the way. I was the one whining when it came to preparing a Christmas day meal and I was not wanting to make something when I wasn’t sure that Evan would eat it once served. That, my friends, is a whole other story.
Not sure if Nancy had any assurances from Evan that he would eat the BBQ pork that she planned to make but she worked diligently to assemble the ingredients with a minimum of assistance from either Evan or me. I was sent to the store with a shopping list which included a 3 lb pork shoulder, rump, loin, or some variation thereof. Keep in mind that Nancy doesn’t eat meat and I don’t know a pork loin from a pork butt so it was a little like the blind leading the blind. It was not a traditional meal by any stretch of the imagination and it was not a meal that I would ever guess that Nancy might tackle. She made a colorful coleslaw which was meant to be served atop the BBQ and it was, in a word, delightful. You couldn’t eat the coleslaw without the BBQ because it was too spicy but served atop the BBQ it was quite good.
One or more casualties from a meal of this magnitude is the collection of pots, pans, spatulas, measuring cups, opened bottles and cans, and dishes that go unwashed in the process of making the meal. Given that this was a meal out of proportion to one she might tackle on any given day, the dishes, pots, and pans grew exponentially up and down and along the countertop until you couldn’t find a spot to spare. I’m not complaining, mind you, and I fully expected to clean up after all was said and done but it had to be a mess of epic proportion if I do say so myself. I’m a little worried that the only memory I might walk away with after the meal itself is that I spent such a long time cleaning up after the fact. There is something alluring to me about restoring order after the fact that has me looking for opportunities to do just that. Whether it be a messy kitchen or a dropped ceiling that has collapsed, I’m wanting to be there to make things right.
I have to say that I’m feeling very satisfied about this here journal this year. If I can stay in it, stay engaged, be there when there is something to say that needs to be said then I will have done my job. I think it is not necessarily about the number of words or the number of times I get to sit down to write something but rather that I be there when there is something to say and maybe even something that I might want to return to at some point in the future. It’s all of a personal nature and not for general consumption generally speaking but if there is an insight or revelation of sorts that is meaningful to friends and family then that’s fine. That is quite separate and apart from what drives me to do what I do here but that too is a story for another day.
One little breakthrough in the journal this year is that I realized that I can do this stuff any time and any place. I used to think that my window of opportunity was that sliver of time in the morning before Nancy and or Evan got out of bed. If I misused the time to do something else or frittered it away with other mindless activities then that was that. Then, when we were staying in the house in Hampton during the renovation I found myself writing at different times throughout the day and night. The words came just as easily and sometimes more easily surprisingly enough when I was writing in those so-called off hours. It certainly helped that I had a lot on my mind in those days so that too is something to think about going forward. Finally, it goes without saying that when I get on my soapbox about things that annoy me I’m likely to go on and on to the point of distraction. Yes, it helps to be annoyed. Go figure.
Dare I tell the world that this was the first Christmas where Evan purchased presents for Nancy and I? Nancy prompted me this Christmas to work with him to buy her something and that is usually what I do in the days and weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday. More often than not I am doing the buying and he is doing the presenting. One would think that when you are being lavished with gifts year after year that it might make some sense to return the favor. Maybe it is a generational thing. It never even seems to concern him one way or another or not outwardly anyway. Funny thing is that we are used to it and don’t take issue with it one way or another. This year he decided to buy us books and he purchased a cookbook for Nancy and Michael Savage’s latest book for me. Seems a little sexist as I sit here thinking about it but that is what he did so needless to say it was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and he wanted Nancy to make one or more of the cookie recipes out of the book over the holidays. Thanks, Santa!
I don’t know what’s going on with the restaurant in this hotel. We dropped into the dining area a little after 7 last night and found the options disturbingly sparse. I suppose some of the items on the menu were okay but you couldn’t find a garden salad or a cup of soup if your life depended on it. We were the only ones in the place which should tell you something. Nancy noticed the bartender walking away from the bar with a couple of what appeared to be coffee drinks with a generous serving of whipped cream bobbing up and down with every stride. I raced to the bar hoping to find out what the dickens they were serving by way of coffee drinks and I was disappointed to hear that it was a couple of hot chocolates. Nancy settled for a beet salad and I ordered steak tips and potatoes served with a kind of horseradish aioli. We texted Evan pictures of their menu but he decided against ordering anything. We couldn’t even get him to bite at the chicken wing special. Smart boy.
Did you have to bring all of those anise cookies, Nancy? I couldn’t stop eating the darn things last night before we went down to the restaurant. They were as pretty as they were tasty with a glazed sugar coating and sprinkles of all sizes and colors. Did I mention that while we were eating at the restaurant we noticed a pizza delivery man making multiple trips in and out of the hotel lobby? I suppose the locals knew better than to bother with the restaurant when the local pizzeria offered far better food at more reasonable prices. How the out-of-towner's knew that I don’t know. Needless to say, we didn’t get the memo. But the cookies were exquisite and they came in handy when you needed something to put in your stomach to keep the demons away. Besides, there is always a new year around the corner in which to avoid such things for the betterment of one’s health and well being.
This is probably a good a time as any to comment on Trump’s first year in office. I can’t possibly go into everything that we’ve seen and experienced in his first year in office but needless to say the resistance is alive and well in our great country today. Some would say that the members of the resistance have not quite gotten over Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump. It is probably more accurate to say that the presidency of Barack Obama gave the progressive wing of the Democratic Party more power than they deserved during Obama’s eight years in office and they abused that power to the detriment of not only the American people but to our great nation. Anyone who wasn’t listening to Barack Obama when he stated unequivocally that he was going to “transform our country” wasn’t paying attention. They are paying attention now. The great unwashed stood up and voted for Donald J Trump in record numbers in almost every county in America to take our country back.
The Main Street Media (MSM) fully expected Trump to lose and he bucked the odds and walked away the winner on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, destroying ISIS, building the Wall on our southern border and making Mexico pay for it, renegotiating bad trade deals, putting an end to the Climate Change nonsense, getting out of TPP, reforming our tax system, restoring America to it’s rightful place in the global order as a nation deserving of its sovereignty and, yes, locking her (Hillary Clinton) up. We are still working on the locking her up part but everything else seems to be in order and on track after Trump’s first year. It has been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions and the media continues to deride and offend as they continue to tear down his presidency at every turn. The media is, for the most part, a wing of the Democratic Party and any semblance of fair and balanced has gone out the window with Trump’s win. He derisively refers to the MSM as “Fake News” and they live up to that mantle each and every day. They did their level best to get Hillary Clinton elected and they now seem to be doubling down in advance of the midterm elections to do what they could not in the 2016 elections.
The Russia collusion story, which began in 2016 prior to Trump being elected, and continues today with the investigation and assignment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, is now being revealed as a charade concocted by the very intelligence agencies that wanted Hillary Clinton to be our next president. How our intelligence agencies became corrupted and weaponized by the Obama administration is still an outstanding question but the republicans in congress are finding their footing and have come to realize that the democratic machine was doing its level best to deny a duly elected president of the opposition party the presidency. The fact that the democrats and their assigned stooges in the various intelligence agencies concocted a scheme to use a dossier to try and frame Donald Trump attacking the very legitimacy of his presidency is a crime never before experienced in the history of our country.
The so-called “deep state” has been hard at work criminalizing every thing Trump does but the end is hopefully in sight. With any luck, most will exposed and either fired or sent to jail when all is said and done. That would be a right and just end to this travesty we‘ve been experiencing for the last year and a half. As of Trump’s first year in office, it has been described by even the most ardent never Trumper’s as a terrific if not historic year in terms of what he has accomplished. In my opinion, this is what you get when you elect a business man to run our country. You get results. And when that businessman is one Donald J Trump, a fabulously successful builder who gave up everything to “Make our Country Great Again”, it should come as no surprise that he is doing precisely what he promised to do when he asked the American People to elect him as our next president.
It was good to see everyone again at Uncle Wally’s end-of-year celebration. It was a modest crowd compared to past years. It may have seemed that way if only because there were fewer children and the adults in attendance were older and more sedate. Moods ran from cheerful to subdued depending on your frame of reference but their house was welcoming and cheerful as it usually is when we visit during the holidays. There was plenty to eat and drink and everyone brought their favorite dishes as is the usual custom. Kathy brought her stuffed celery stalks; Denise brought a pan of her fabulous lasagna; Terry made a number of terrific main and side dishes that sat atop the island in their kitchen; and the anise cookies that Nancy made and the very same cookies that she hoped to bring to the party never made it out of our hotel room. Truth be told there simply weren’t enough cookies left after we ate them out of boredom or starvation (pick your poison) and that was that. Nancy and I debated bringing liquor to the celebration given the apparent proclivity of one or more members of the clan to drink to excess. My only frame of reference for such an allegation is the wedding we last attended where that was true and obviously so. I don’t think for a moment that people wouldn’t be prudent in such matters given the setting not to mention the fact that many would be leaving the party later that evening without the benefit of a designated driver. Nonetheless, better to be safe than sorry.
We decided long ago as a family that we would get together and celebrate the holiday but we would not be exchanging presents. Rather, we agreed that we would do a grab of sorts and that has been great fun over the years. The rules are adjusted from time to time to accommodate any weirdness or misunderstandings but at the end of the day it all works out. We still do the grab but the art of giving presents to all family members seems to have snuck back into the equation. We all agree it’s fine when and where children are involved but is it really necessary with the adults in attendance? I will admit that the bicycle coasters Lise gave us are pretty sweet but I really don’t want her spending money on us. She may feel obligated to do that but I wish she wouldn’t. The same is true for other sisters and brothers. We make an exception where Wally and Terri are involved since they effectively host the party and it is only appropriate that they receive a house warming gift of some kind. And it is true that brother Wally and I exchange little things for whatever reason.
I don’t know where the pink pig thing was this year but I didn’t miss it. I’m not even sure where that custom comes from but folks seemed to enjoy it in years past. That said, no one even made mention of it this year. The household was minus one cat and their dog, Prince, was more compliant and less uppity than past years possibly due to his recent health issues. Krissy brought her new boyfriend (Brando) for the first time and he was a decent sort of fella who had tales to tell about a recent accident involving black ice, generations of his family in law enforcement, his beloved but now totaled Dodge truck, and a nod to any and all guardian angels who saw fit to save him from what could have been a fateful night on a dark country road in the middle of a winter's night.
We marveled at stories Chrissy told about her enormous appetite going back to her days at Sienna and probably well before that and which more than likely continues even today. I wouldn’t have guessed that knowing what I know of Chrissy and her conspicuous absence of any issues related to weight. Kickboxing? Who knew? She laughed and giggled heartily when talking about buying a Home directly across the street from her twin sister. The one word that comes to mind when I think of Chrissy is “effervescent.” As for the arrangement in general, I think it works on a lot of different levels knowing what I know about Chrissy’s close relationship with her twin sister. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Chrissy gave Raylin a drone for Christmas. What does a 7th grade girl do with a drone? Raylin seemed delighted to receive it and she and Chrissy may have made an agreement beforehand where that is precisely what they planned to do. With a wink, a nod, and a quick embrace they both moved on to other gifts. When I think of drones I think of targeting jihadists and taking out targets in the sands of the deserts and mountains in remote places on the face of our planet like Afghanistan, Syria, etc.
We had lots of laughs about Kathy’s pending diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and while the comments exchanged are typically in jest I do think that Kathy has concerns about same given our family history. It’s good that we can laugh about it now since we won’t be laughing if and when that ever comes to be a reality. Speaking of Kathy, she brought me a cheese cake for the holidays and I had to tell her that despite her best intentions I was not wanting to eat cheesecake one way or another. It just isn’t my thing and while I don’t mind eating cheesecake, per se, it isn’t something that I have any real desire to do. It’s a bit too heavy for my tastes and I think I am not alone in that assessment at least as it concerns my immediate family. It was good to hear Carli’s plans for college and she seemed quite satisfied that she had made a good decision in that regard. Her mom tiptoed here and there around the decision-making process that led to the selection and entertained as moms are wanting to do from time to time viable alternatives in the event other options became available or necessary. Dad’s role in the decision making was less clear but mom had her opinions and I suspect they were dominant in the process. After all, moms typically know best and that should come as a surprise to no one.
Wally gave me a framed picture of a snapshot taken by a photographer he hired during the summer to work with him up at the lake. The picture is one and the same as the one I chose to post to my blog in 2016 so I thought that was interesting and said as much. The picture is delightful and I will have to find just the right spot for it once we’re home after the holidays. Chrissy’s twin, Katie, was not in attendance since she was away on a cruise. We missed her and said as much. We said the same about our missing brothers and about Jim in particular since we all came together on his birthday. Last but not least, it was good to get together with Nancy's family at RW's this Christmas over in Exeter. Mrs G was the perfect hostess and it was her wish that all of her children come visit the day after Christmas. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and casual accquaintances were optional.
The conversation was lively and it was good to see Nancy's brother and sister and their respective "spouses" again. We exchanged presents and pleasantries and talked about vacations taken, trips yet to be taken, and expectations for the new year. We laughed about animoji's sent and received, cringed at stories told about mice running rampant, lauded the efforts of one person in particular in building a ramp so Deb's dog, Ava, might have an easier time of getting in and out of the house, and at least in my case, found myself having to explain what I do all day to a group of folks some of whom whose predicament is not unlike my own. It was good to see Mrs G enjoying the company of her children and her children talking endlessly about their own lives which had to please her to no end. I thought she never looked better and attributed it to the moment in time where given her druthers there was no place else that she would rather have been then in that room on that day surrounded by her children. No one knows what the future holds so such opportunities should neither be overlooked or underestimated in terms of their value to both children and parent(s).
Nancy and I will brave the cold, which has been relentless this past week, and go into Portsmouth tonight for fireworks and a stroll around town. I'm not a drinker but if I had a flask I would be holding it close and sipping from it often tonight not only to ward off the cold but to gird myself against the reality that 2018 is just a day away. It's likely that we will not last until midnight to usher in the new year with our fellow revelers but we will have done our part by showing up. Showing up, after all, is half the battle.
I have to give a round of applause to Nancy this holiday season. With everything going on in her life she took the time to take care of her family during the holiday season with activities ranging from present wrapping to food preparation. She never complained, she never whined, she pushed ahead doing what she does best. Evan and I are not by and large ungrateful but I can tell you unequivocally that Nancy does not do what she does because she expects a pat on the back from us at any point along the way. I was the one whining when it came to preparing a Christmas day meal and I was not wanting to make something when I wasn’t sure that Evan would eat it once served. That, my friends, is a whole other story.
Not sure if Nancy had any assurances from Evan that he would eat the BBQ pork that she planned to make but she worked diligently to assemble the ingredients with a minimum of assistance from either Evan or me. I was sent to the store with a shopping list which included a 3 lb pork shoulder, rump, loin, or some variation thereof. Keep in mind that Nancy doesn’t eat meat and I don’t know a pork loin from a pork butt so it was a little like the blind leading the blind. It was not a traditional meal by any stretch of the imagination and it was not a meal that I would ever guess that Nancy might tackle. She made a colorful coleslaw which was meant to be served atop the BBQ and it was, in a word, delightful. You couldn’t eat the coleslaw without the BBQ because it was too spicy but served atop the BBQ it was quite good.
One or more casualties from a meal of this magnitude is the collection of pots, pans, spatulas, measuring cups, opened bottles and cans, and dishes that go unwashed in the process of making the meal. Given that this was a meal out of proportion to one she might tackle on any given day, the dishes, pots, and pans grew exponentially up and down and along the countertop until you couldn’t find a spot to spare. I’m not complaining, mind you, and I fully expected to clean up after all was said and done but it had to be a mess of epic proportion if I do say so myself. I’m a little worried that the only memory I might walk away with after the meal itself is that I spent such a long time cleaning up after the fact. There is something alluring to me about restoring order after the fact that has me looking for opportunities to do just that. Whether it be a messy kitchen or a dropped ceiling that has collapsed, I’m wanting to be there to make things right.
I have to say that I’m feeling very satisfied about this here journal this year. If I can stay in it, stay engaged, be there when there is something to say that needs to be said then I will have done my job. I think it is not necessarily about the number of words or the number of times I get to sit down to write something but rather that I be there when there is something to say and maybe even something that I might want to return to at some point in the future. It’s all of a personal nature and not for general consumption generally speaking but if there is an insight or revelation of sorts that is meaningful to friends and family then that’s fine. That is quite separate and apart from what drives me to do what I do here but that too is a story for another day.
One little breakthrough in the journal this year is that I realized that I can do this stuff any time and any place. I used to think that my window of opportunity was that sliver of time in the morning before Nancy and or Evan got out of bed. If I misused the time to do something else or frittered it away with other mindless activities then that was that. Then, when we were staying in the house in Hampton during the renovation I found myself writing at different times throughout the day and night. The words came just as easily and sometimes more easily surprisingly enough when I was writing in those so-called off hours. It certainly helped that I had a lot on my mind in those days so that too is something to think about going forward. Finally, it goes without saying that when I get on my soapbox about things that annoy me I’m likely to go on and on to the point of distraction. Yes, it helps to be annoyed. Go figure.
Dare I tell the world that this was the first Christmas where Evan purchased presents for Nancy and I? Nancy prompted me this Christmas to work with him to buy her something and that is usually what I do in the days and weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday. More often than not I am doing the buying and he is doing the presenting. One would think that when you are being lavished with gifts year after year that it might make some sense to return the favor. Maybe it is a generational thing. It never even seems to concern him one way or another or not outwardly anyway. Funny thing is that we are used to it and don’t take issue with it one way or another. This year he decided to buy us books and he purchased a cookbook for Nancy and Michael Savage’s latest book for me. Seems a little sexist as I sit here thinking about it but that is what he did so needless to say it was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and he wanted Nancy to make one or more of the cookie recipes out of the book over the holidays. Thanks, Santa!
I don’t know what’s going on with the restaurant in this hotel. We dropped into the dining area a little after 7 last night and found the options disturbingly sparse. I suppose some of the items on the menu were okay but you couldn’t find a garden salad or a cup of soup if your life depended on it. We were the only ones in the place which should tell you something. Nancy noticed the bartender walking away from the bar with a couple of what appeared to be coffee drinks with a generous serving of whipped cream bobbing up and down with every stride. I raced to the bar hoping to find out what the dickens they were serving by way of coffee drinks and I was disappointed to hear that it was a couple of hot chocolates. Nancy settled for a beet salad and I ordered steak tips and potatoes served with a kind of horseradish aioli. We texted Evan pictures of their menu but he decided against ordering anything. We couldn’t even get him to bite at the chicken wing special. Smart boy.
Did you have to bring all of those anise cookies, Nancy? I couldn’t stop eating the darn things last night before we went down to the restaurant. They were as pretty as they were tasty with a glazed sugar coating and sprinkles of all sizes and colors. Did I mention that while we were eating at the restaurant we noticed a pizza delivery man making multiple trips in and out of the hotel lobby? I suppose the locals knew better than to bother with the restaurant when the local pizzeria offered far better food at more reasonable prices. How the out-of-towner's knew that I don’t know. Needless to say, we didn’t get the memo. But the cookies were exquisite and they came in handy when you needed something to put in your stomach to keep the demons away. Besides, there is always a new year around the corner in which to avoid such things for the betterment of one’s health and well being.
This is probably a good a time as any to comment on Trump’s first year in office. I can’t possibly go into everything that we’ve seen and experienced in his first year in office but needless to say the resistance is alive and well in our great country today. Some would say that the members of the resistance have not quite gotten over Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump. It is probably more accurate to say that the presidency of Barack Obama gave the progressive wing of the Democratic Party more power than they deserved during Obama’s eight years in office and they abused that power to the detriment of not only the American people but to our great nation. Anyone who wasn’t listening to Barack Obama when he stated unequivocally that he was going to “transform our country” wasn’t paying attention. They are paying attention now. The great unwashed stood up and voted for Donald J Trump in record numbers in almost every county in America to take our country back.
The Main Street Media (MSM) fully expected Trump to lose and he bucked the odds and walked away the winner on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, destroying ISIS, building the Wall on our southern border and making Mexico pay for it, renegotiating bad trade deals, putting an end to the Climate Change nonsense, getting out of TPP, reforming our tax system, restoring America to it’s rightful place in the global order as a nation deserving of its sovereignty and, yes, locking her (Hillary Clinton) up. We are still working on the locking her up part but everything else seems to be in order and on track after Trump’s first year. It has been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions and the media continues to deride and offend as they continue to tear down his presidency at every turn. The media is, for the most part, a wing of the Democratic Party and any semblance of fair and balanced has gone out the window with Trump’s win. He derisively refers to the MSM as “Fake News” and they live up to that mantle each and every day. They did their level best to get Hillary Clinton elected and they now seem to be doubling down in advance of the midterm elections to do what they could not in the 2016 elections.
The Russia collusion story, which began in 2016 prior to Trump being elected, and continues today with the investigation and assignment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, is now being revealed as a charade concocted by the very intelligence agencies that wanted Hillary Clinton to be our next president. How our intelligence agencies became corrupted and weaponized by the Obama administration is still an outstanding question but the republicans in congress are finding their footing and have come to realize that the democratic machine was doing its level best to deny a duly elected president of the opposition party the presidency. The fact that the democrats and their assigned stooges in the various intelligence agencies concocted a scheme to use a dossier to try and frame Donald Trump attacking the very legitimacy of his presidency is a crime never before experienced in the history of our country.
The so-called “deep state” has been hard at work criminalizing every thing Trump does but the end is hopefully in sight. With any luck, most will exposed and either fired or sent to jail when all is said and done. That would be a right and just end to this travesty we‘ve been experiencing for the last year and a half. As of Trump’s first year in office, it has been described by even the most ardent never Trumper’s as a terrific if not historic year in terms of what he has accomplished. In my opinion, this is what you get when you elect a business man to run our country. You get results. And when that businessman is one Donald J Trump, a fabulously successful builder who gave up everything to “Make our Country Great Again”, it should come as no surprise that he is doing precisely what he promised to do when he asked the American People to elect him as our next president.
It was good to see everyone again at Uncle Wally’s end-of-year celebration. It was a modest crowd compared to past years. It may have seemed that way if only because there were fewer children and the adults in attendance were older and more sedate. Moods ran from cheerful to subdued depending on your frame of reference but their house was welcoming and cheerful as it usually is when we visit during the holidays. There was plenty to eat and drink and everyone brought their favorite dishes as is the usual custom. Kathy brought her stuffed celery stalks; Denise brought a pan of her fabulous lasagna; Terry made a number of terrific main and side dishes that sat atop the island in their kitchen; and the anise cookies that Nancy made and the very same cookies that she hoped to bring to the party never made it out of our hotel room. Truth be told there simply weren’t enough cookies left after we ate them out of boredom or starvation (pick your poison) and that was that. Nancy and I debated bringing liquor to the celebration given the apparent proclivity of one or more members of the clan to drink to excess. My only frame of reference for such an allegation is the wedding we last attended where that was true and obviously so. I don’t think for a moment that people wouldn’t be prudent in such matters given the setting not to mention the fact that many would be leaving the party later that evening without the benefit of a designated driver. Nonetheless, better to be safe than sorry.
We decided long ago as a family that we would get together and celebrate the holiday but we would not be exchanging presents. Rather, we agreed that we would do a grab of sorts and that has been great fun over the years. The rules are adjusted from time to time to accommodate any weirdness or misunderstandings but at the end of the day it all works out. We still do the grab but the art of giving presents to all family members seems to have snuck back into the equation. We all agree it’s fine when and where children are involved but is it really necessary with the adults in attendance? I will admit that the bicycle coasters Lise gave us are pretty sweet but I really don’t want her spending money on us. She may feel obligated to do that but I wish she wouldn’t. The same is true for other sisters and brothers. We make an exception where Wally and Terri are involved since they effectively host the party and it is only appropriate that they receive a house warming gift of some kind. And it is true that brother Wally and I exchange little things for whatever reason.
I don’t know where the pink pig thing was this year but I didn’t miss it. I’m not even sure where that custom comes from but folks seemed to enjoy it in years past. That said, no one even made mention of it this year. The household was minus one cat and their dog, Prince, was more compliant and less uppity than past years possibly due to his recent health issues. Krissy brought her new boyfriend (Brando) for the first time and he was a decent sort of fella who had tales to tell about a recent accident involving black ice, generations of his family in law enforcement, his beloved but now totaled Dodge truck, and a nod to any and all guardian angels who saw fit to save him from what could have been a fateful night on a dark country road in the middle of a winter's night.
We marveled at stories Chrissy told about her enormous appetite going back to her days at Sienna and probably well before that and which more than likely continues even today. I wouldn’t have guessed that knowing what I know of Chrissy and her conspicuous absence of any issues related to weight. Kickboxing? Who knew? She laughed and giggled heartily when talking about buying a Home directly across the street from her twin sister. The one word that comes to mind when I think of Chrissy is “effervescent.” As for the arrangement in general, I think it works on a lot of different levels knowing what I know about Chrissy’s close relationship with her twin sister. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Chrissy gave Raylin a drone for Christmas. What does a 7th grade girl do with a drone? Raylin seemed delighted to receive it and she and Chrissy may have made an agreement beforehand where that is precisely what they planned to do. With a wink, a nod, and a quick embrace they both moved on to other gifts. When I think of drones I think of targeting jihadists and taking out targets in the sands of the deserts and mountains in remote places on the face of our planet like Afghanistan, Syria, etc.
We had lots of laughs about Kathy’s pending diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and while the comments exchanged are typically in jest I do think that Kathy has concerns about same given our family history. It’s good that we can laugh about it now since we won’t be laughing if and when that ever comes to be a reality. Speaking of Kathy, she brought me a cheese cake for the holidays and I had to tell her that despite her best intentions I was not wanting to eat cheesecake one way or another. It just isn’t my thing and while I don’t mind eating cheesecake, per se, it isn’t something that I have any real desire to do. It’s a bit too heavy for my tastes and I think I am not alone in that assessment at least as it concerns my immediate family. It was good to hear Carli’s plans for college and she seemed quite satisfied that she had made a good decision in that regard. Her mom tiptoed here and there around the decision-making process that led to the selection and entertained as moms are wanting to do from time to time viable alternatives in the event other options became available or necessary. Dad’s role in the decision making was less clear but mom had her opinions and I suspect they were dominant in the process. After all, moms typically know best and that should come as a surprise to no one.
Wally gave me a framed picture of a snapshot taken by a photographer he hired during the summer to work with him up at the lake. The picture is one and the same as the one I chose to post to my blog in 2016 so I thought that was interesting and said as much. The picture is delightful and I will have to find just the right spot for it once we’re home after the holidays. Chrissy’s twin, Katie, was not in attendance since she was away on a cruise. We missed her and said as much. We said the same about our missing brothers and about Jim in particular since we all came together on his birthday. Last but not least, it was good to get together with Nancy's family at RW's this Christmas over in Exeter. Mrs G was the perfect hostess and it was her wish that all of her children come visit the day after Christmas. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and casual accquaintances were optional.
The conversation was lively and it was good to see Nancy's brother and sister and their respective "spouses" again. We exchanged presents and pleasantries and talked about vacations taken, trips yet to be taken, and expectations for the new year. We laughed about animoji's sent and received, cringed at stories told about mice running rampant, lauded the efforts of one person in particular in building a ramp so Deb's dog, Ava, might have an easier time of getting in and out of the house, and at least in my case, found myself having to explain what I do all day to a group of folks some of whom whose predicament is not unlike my own. It was good to see Mrs G enjoying the company of her children and her children talking endlessly about their own lives which had to please her to no end. I thought she never looked better and attributed it to the moment in time where given her druthers there was no place else that she would rather have been then in that room on that day surrounded by her children. No one knows what the future holds so such opportunities should neither be overlooked or underestimated in terms of their value to both children and parent(s).
Nancy and I will brave the cold, which has been relentless this past week, and go into Portsmouth tonight for fireworks and a stroll around town. I'm not a drinker but if I had a flask I would be holding it close and sipping from it often tonight not only to ward off the cold but to gird myself against the reality that 2018 is just a day away. It's likely that we will not last until midnight to usher in the new year with our fellow revelers but we will have done our part by showing up. Showing up, after all, is half the battle.
The Weather Outside is Frightful
15/12/17 08:55
Brrrr rabbit! It's a frigid 10 degrees here on the seacoast. It's a far cry from the minus 9 in upstate NY but that is to be expected. Uncle Wally sent me a text with a map of the temperatures in the region and I replied with an animoji. "Damn, Bro!" "Is it really minus 9 up there in the Falls?" I might have said something about throwing an extra log or two on the fire but probably not since I know for a fact that his fireplace is one of those gas operated doohickeys with fake logs. It looks nice and throws off a little bit of heat but it ain't designed to heat your house. It just ain't. Yes, as they say in the movies, the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful and since we have no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
I'm personally hoping for a bit of a thaw because I don't like the way the frost ridges have formed on our driveway and they are likely to be a problem if I have to run the snowblower anytime soon. It's bad enough that the end of our driveway is a horror show and if I've told Nancy once I've told her a million times we should have gotten the driveway repaved in 2017. How much of a price we pay for that indecision remains to be seen but we are not off to a good start. I gave some thought to running the hose out to the end of the driveway and creating a foundation of ice that will give me a flat surface to work with when removing snow in that section of the driveway with the snowblower. That idea works until the first thaw comes along and then I'm back to where I began. It becomes that much more unworkable when the town plow comes down our street so maybe getting out early and often is the key.
Does it surprise anyone that I have no ideas on what to buy for Nancy for Christmas? This is nothing new. I have this problem every year around this time. I just don't like buying things for the sake of buying things. That is what it feels like if I'm honest with myself. She can have anything she wants but she doesn't seem to want anything. We were talking about her iPhone this morning and all of the issues we've had with her phone since we purchased it with too little memory. I just don't know what we were thinking. I thought I could interest her in a new iPhone but that conversation went nowhere. I know if she had one she would love it, especially if it were a iPhone X, but she wasn't biting so where do you go with that? The right answer is, "nowhere." It is true that she has a hard time giving things up and if the phone that she has works then that is good enough for her. Not to worry, though, I'll think of something. I always do. If all else fails, she will buy what she wants and put it under the tree herself. Really?
We should be getting our tree today. It's on the list anyway. Evan was up and about shortly after Nancy left for her walk this morning. "How bout I make you some scrambled eggs and hash browns, Ev," I asked. "I'm not up yet," he responded. His hair was sticking out at odd angles and he still had sleep in his eyes as he poured himself a glass of water and headed back to his bedroom after taking a few sips. I should have known better than to engage him in conversation or anything else at this early hour being what it is. I mean, it's 9:30 am and for most of us the day is half over. I'm thinking about Christmas trees and he's wanting to go back to bed. Nothing more, nothing less. It's hard to tell how much longer he'll stay in bed since his door is typically closed and for all we know he could very well be awake and on his laptop. We've given up on expecting him to join us when we go looking for a tree and he may or may not call us when we're out to ask us to pick up something for him during our travels. That doesn't mean we won't ask him if he'd like to come along. He knows we know the answer to that question but we have to ask anyway. That's what parents do.
I'm very appreciative of the homemade strawberry jam and cinnamon raisin bread (right out of the oven) that our neighbor dropped off recently. I should e-mail her a note expressing my (our) appreciation. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I'm always quick to say "Thank you" when she delivers the bread so more often than not that seems sufficient. I have even offered to go over and pick up the bread if that would be easier for her. More often than not she declines which is fine with me - it's a short stroll so it doesn't matter one way or another. It also seems that I am the default point of contact when it comes to communicating with Betsi and Nancy relies on me to fulfill our obligations in that regard. In a funny sort of way it is a tit-for-tat kind of deal where I clear her driveway from time to time in the winter when we get just enough snow to have to clear but not so much where she needs to drag out her large Ariens snowblower to do the job. Neither of us has admitted as much but one is free to draw their own conclusions about this so-called faustian arrangement. Her bread, after all, is to die for.
My dilemma this time around is that I chipped the glass rim when opening up the container of jam and shards of glass went everywhere. I decided to throw away the container of jam rather than take a chance that someone would be swallowing glass when consuming the jam. Visions of either Nancy or Evan vomiting blood and convulsing or even lapsing into a coma after enjoying a slice of toasted cinnamon bread with strawberry jam was enough to move me without hesitation to toss the jam into the trash. So, do I thank her for the "delicious" jam or do I tell her the god's honest truth about the chipping thereby shaming her into giving me yet another jar of jam from her stash?
I know Betsi well enough to know that this is what she would be inclined to do and I don't want her to feel obligated to replace the jar that I threw away. I just don't. I've never been a good liar for better or worse and I'm hopeful that putting my note of thanks in writing will make whole ordeal less traumatic for all involved. Saying nothing is not an option. She will get the thanks she is so deserving of and my own words, while twisting and contorting in the wind where good lies go to die, will suffice as words are want to do. This may or may not be ironic, but I bought a jar of jam the day prior and didn't need the jar that she brought over but accepted it nonetheless without any mention of my "other" purchase. It was the neighborly thing to do. I'll do my best to be effusive in my praise of her bread while giving a mention but not much more of her jam. I'm willing to lie but not effusively so.
I'm personally hoping for a bit of a thaw because I don't like the way the frost ridges have formed on our driveway and they are likely to be a problem if I have to run the snowblower anytime soon. It's bad enough that the end of our driveway is a horror show and if I've told Nancy once I've told her a million times we should have gotten the driveway repaved in 2017. How much of a price we pay for that indecision remains to be seen but we are not off to a good start. I gave some thought to running the hose out to the end of the driveway and creating a foundation of ice that will give me a flat surface to work with when removing snow in that section of the driveway with the snowblower. That idea works until the first thaw comes along and then I'm back to where I began. It becomes that much more unworkable when the town plow comes down our street so maybe getting out early and often is the key.
Does it surprise anyone that I have no ideas on what to buy for Nancy for Christmas? This is nothing new. I have this problem every year around this time. I just don't like buying things for the sake of buying things. That is what it feels like if I'm honest with myself. She can have anything she wants but she doesn't seem to want anything. We were talking about her iPhone this morning and all of the issues we've had with her phone since we purchased it with too little memory. I just don't know what we were thinking. I thought I could interest her in a new iPhone but that conversation went nowhere. I know if she had one she would love it, especially if it were a iPhone X, but she wasn't biting so where do you go with that? The right answer is, "nowhere." It is true that she has a hard time giving things up and if the phone that she has works then that is good enough for her. Not to worry, though, I'll think of something. I always do. If all else fails, she will buy what she wants and put it under the tree herself. Really?
We should be getting our tree today. It's on the list anyway. Evan was up and about shortly after Nancy left for her walk this morning. "How bout I make you some scrambled eggs and hash browns, Ev," I asked. "I'm not up yet," he responded. His hair was sticking out at odd angles and he still had sleep in his eyes as he poured himself a glass of water and headed back to his bedroom after taking a few sips. I should have known better than to engage him in conversation or anything else at this early hour being what it is. I mean, it's 9:30 am and for most of us the day is half over. I'm thinking about Christmas trees and he's wanting to go back to bed. Nothing more, nothing less. It's hard to tell how much longer he'll stay in bed since his door is typically closed and for all we know he could very well be awake and on his laptop. We've given up on expecting him to join us when we go looking for a tree and he may or may not call us when we're out to ask us to pick up something for him during our travels. That doesn't mean we won't ask him if he'd like to come along. He knows we know the answer to that question but we have to ask anyway. That's what parents do.
I'm very appreciative of the homemade strawberry jam and cinnamon raisin bread (right out of the oven) that our neighbor dropped off recently. I should e-mail her a note expressing my (our) appreciation. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I'm always quick to say "Thank you" when she delivers the bread so more often than not that seems sufficient. I have even offered to go over and pick up the bread if that would be easier for her. More often than not she declines which is fine with me - it's a short stroll so it doesn't matter one way or another. It also seems that I am the default point of contact when it comes to communicating with Betsi and Nancy relies on me to fulfill our obligations in that regard. In a funny sort of way it is a tit-for-tat kind of deal where I clear her driveway from time to time in the winter when we get just enough snow to have to clear but not so much where she needs to drag out her large Ariens snowblower to do the job. Neither of us has admitted as much but one is free to draw their own conclusions about this so-called faustian arrangement. Her bread, after all, is to die for.
My dilemma this time around is that I chipped the glass rim when opening up the container of jam and shards of glass went everywhere. I decided to throw away the container of jam rather than take a chance that someone would be swallowing glass when consuming the jam. Visions of either Nancy or Evan vomiting blood and convulsing or even lapsing into a coma after enjoying a slice of toasted cinnamon bread with strawberry jam was enough to move me without hesitation to toss the jam into the trash. So, do I thank her for the "delicious" jam or do I tell her the god's honest truth about the chipping thereby shaming her into giving me yet another jar of jam from her stash?
I know Betsi well enough to know that this is what she would be inclined to do and I don't want her to feel obligated to replace the jar that I threw away. I just don't. I've never been a good liar for better or worse and I'm hopeful that putting my note of thanks in writing will make whole ordeal less traumatic for all involved. Saying nothing is not an option. She will get the thanks she is so deserving of and my own words, while twisting and contorting in the wind where good lies go to die, will suffice as words are want to do. This may or may not be ironic, but I bought a jar of jam the day prior and didn't need the jar that she brought over but accepted it nonetheless without any mention of my "other" purchase. It was the neighborly thing to do. I'll do my best to be effusive in my praise of her bread while giving a mention but not much more of her jam. I'm willing to lie but not effusively so.
A Day In The Life
12/12/17 17:15
It's going to cost us a fortune to figure out what is wrong with Nancy's car. We have one more stop and one more chance before donating the stupid thing to a half way decent charity like Vehicles for Vets or other. It has a lot of miles so it may be prudent to give some thought to just scuttling the damn thing without spending another penny. And isn't there something to be said for the thought process that says that if you can't diagnose the problem then you shouldn't be charging me a dime for a repair that didn't do a damn thing to fix the problem? How much is too much to pay for a repair at this stage in the vehicle's life cycle?
The larger picture is important to look at as well. Now that Nancy isn't traveling into Boston every day we really don't need two higher end vehicles so maybe a used car as a second car would do the trick. Nancy's car has served her well over the last eight years and it has survived eight long years of commuting into Boston and back and that is saying a lot. In laymen's terms, the car owes us nothing. I'm still trying to gauge Nancy's sentiment towards the car in light of the service that it has provided so that I can determine next steps.
I'm sitting here at 5:30 in the afternoon and it has been a nasty day weather-wise. It has been sleety, rainy, and icky the entire day and it continues unabated under the darkness of night. The roads are likely semi treacherous with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees and I'm happy that Nancy is now home after running errands the better part of the afternoon. Evan is out with friends so that will be a concern if he stays out too late and, as usual on a night where she has to get up for work the following morning, Nancy will sleep with one eye open until he arrives home safely. She might well ask the question: why does he always do this when I have to work the following day? I suppose if weather conditions weren't what they are she might be less concerned but that is speculation on my part. He is not out in one of our cars so our worries lie more with the designated driver than with Ev himself but as we know passengers are often at just as much risk as the driver when accidents occur.
I also have one eye on the senatorial race in Alabama today between Judge Roy Moore and Doug Jones. There is this psycho sexual sickness thing going round where the democrats think that if they can muck up allegations of sexual impropriety against the republican (Moore) then they can sway just enough voters to vote democrat or not vote at all thereby reducing the advantage the republicans have in the Senate to one seat instead of two. The good voters of Alabama are having none of it. You have to be careful about calling the women making the allegations liars in this highly politicized climate but when 6 or 7 of the women level these charges after nary a peep from them after 40-50 years then you have to wonder.
It goes beyond skullduggery and the democrats, as is their nature, think nothing of it and probably look forward to framing the entire republican party should Moore win as complicit in their harboring of the "child molester" Roy Moore in the upcoming 2018 house and senate elections. The liberals are literally licking their chops at the prospects of regaining control of the senate and the house and have thrown one or two of their own overboard just to regain the moral high ground ahead of the upcoming races.
It certainly helped that Senator Al Franken and Congressman John Conyers had either pictures or settled lawsuits to cement their expulsion but nothing was really lost since both are likely to be replaced by democrats and not republicans. We need to start by getting the judge elected and that will hopefully be the end result later this evening. I'd like to think that Trump's robocalls for Roy Moore over the weekend were not for naught. I'll be sure to tune into CNN (Fake News) after the polls close so I can watch the liberals spilling their tears and spewing their hatred of all things republican, and by extension, Trump.
Well, so much for the Republicans winning the senatorial seat in Alabama last night. I had my hopes up just a bit too high and I'm sad to say Moore did not prevail. The wave of external liberal forces in the deep south state of Alabama in this race were just too great. It didn't help that the sitting senior senator in the great state of Alabama went on television the Sunday before the election stating in no uncertain terms that he would not vote for Moore and had already written in a candidate ahead of the election.
Perhaps Moore's loss is a good thing in retrospect. The Dems will not be able to make that an issue in the months leading up to the 2018 elections and the republican party will not have Moore hanging around their neck like an albatross. We will give the devil his due this time around but this seat in Alabama is up again in a couple of years and it is unlikely that it will be retained by a democrat. In other words, the majority of Alabamians are not for open borders, late term abortions, anyone who is weak on the military and weak on crime. No sir. Now now. Not ever.
Uncle Wally has put out any number of documents on his server related to our family history. He is the keeper of the flame when and where it comes to historical matters and I think it a good thing that he has taken on that responsibility. Somebody has to. Right? There is seemingly no shortage of documents to work with but there are considerable lapses in time and somewhat thin threads of continuity that are not helpful when trying to construct a linear view of what has transpired over the last several decades. If you are looking for texture then there any number of handwritten letters that offer that and more. There are plenty of pictures dating back in some cases to the mid to late 19th century. There are references to businesses run in the mid 50's including balance sheets and income statements which seem to suggest that some but not all were reasonably successful. A family tree would be helpful to gain a better understanding of just how extensive the network is and was but that would surely be a herculean effort. For now, Uncle Wally done good.
The larger picture is important to look at as well. Now that Nancy isn't traveling into Boston every day we really don't need two higher end vehicles so maybe a used car as a second car would do the trick. Nancy's car has served her well over the last eight years and it has survived eight long years of commuting into Boston and back and that is saying a lot. In laymen's terms, the car owes us nothing. I'm still trying to gauge Nancy's sentiment towards the car in light of the service that it has provided so that I can determine next steps.
I'm sitting here at 5:30 in the afternoon and it has been a nasty day weather-wise. It has been sleety, rainy, and icky the entire day and it continues unabated under the darkness of night. The roads are likely semi treacherous with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees and I'm happy that Nancy is now home after running errands the better part of the afternoon. Evan is out with friends so that will be a concern if he stays out too late and, as usual on a night where she has to get up for work the following morning, Nancy will sleep with one eye open until he arrives home safely. She might well ask the question: why does he always do this when I have to work the following day? I suppose if weather conditions weren't what they are she might be less concerned but that is speculation on my part. He is not out in one of our cars so our worries lie more with the designated driver than with Ev himself but as we know passengers are often at just as much risk as the driver when accidents occur.
I also have one eye on the senatorial race in Alabama today between Judge Roy Moore and Doug Jones. There is this psycho sexual sickness thing going round where the democrats think that if they can muck up allegations of sexual impropriety against the republican (Moore) then they can sway just enough voters to vote democrat or not vote at all thereby reducing the advantage the republicans have in the Senate to one seat instead of two. The good voters of Alabama are having none of it. You have to be careful about calling the women making the allegations liars in this highly politicized climate but when 6 or 7 of the women level these charges after nary a peep from them after 40-50 years then you have to wonder.
It goes beyond skullduggery and the democrats, as is their nature, think nothing of it and probably look forward to framing the entire republican party should Moore win as complicit in their harboring of the "child molester" Roy Moore in the upcoming 2018 house and senate elections. The liberals are literally licking their chops at the prospects of regaining control of the senate and the house and have thrown one or two of their own overboard just to regain the moral high ground ahead of the upcoming races.
It certainly helped that Senator Al Franken and Congressman John Conyers had either pictures or settled lawsuits to cement their expulsion but nothing was really lost since both are likely to be replaced by democrats and not republicans. We need to start by getting the judge elected and that will hopefully be the end result later this evening. I'd like to think that Trump's robocalls for Roy Moore over the weekend were not for naught. I'll be sure to tune into CNN (Fake News) after the polls close so I can watch the liberals spilling their tears and spewing their hatred of all things republican, and by extension, Trump.
Well, so much for the Republicans winning the senatorial seat in Alabama last night. I had my hopes up just a bit too high and I'm sad to say Moore did not prevail. The wave of external liberal forces in the deep south state of Alabama in this race were just too great. It didn't help that the sitting senior senator in the great state of Alabama went on television the Sunday before the election stating in no uncertain terms that he would not vote for Moore and had already written in a candidate ahead of the election.
Perhaps Moore's loss is a good thing in retrospect. The Dems will not be able to make that an issue in the months leading up to the 2018 elections and the republican party will not have Moore hanging around their neck like an albatross. We will give the devil his due this time around but this seat in Alabama is up again in a couple of years and it is unlikely that it will be retained by a democrat. In other words, the majority of Alabamians are not for open borders, late term abortions, anyone who is weak on the military and weak on crime. No sir. Now now. Not ever.
Uncle Wally has put out any number of documents on his server related to our family history. He is the keeper of the flame when and where it comes to historical matters and I think it a good thing that he has taken on that responsibility. Somebody has to. Right? There is seemingly no shortage of documents to work with but there are considerable lapses in time and somewhat thin threads of continuity that are not helpful when trying to construct a linear view of what has transpired over the last several decades. If you are looking for texture then there any number of handwritten letters that offer that and more. There are plenty of pictures dating back in some cases to the mid to late 19th century. There are references to businesses run in the mid 50's including balance sheets and income statements which seem to suggest that some but not all were reasonably successful. A family tree would be helpful to gain a better understanding of just how extensive the network is and was but that would surely be a herculean effort. For now, Uncle Wally done good.
Spilling The Beans
08/12/17 09:13
I'm standing here in the kitchen a little after 6 in the morning watching as Nancy puts together her breakfast and lunch which she will be taking along with her in my car as she heads into Boston ahead of the morning rush hour. Her oatmeal is in the microwave; her fresh mango slices are sitting on the cutting board glistening with sweetness; the bag of flax seed is open and ready for pouring once she has her oatmeal and mango slices inside her 12 oz styrofoam cup; her organic black tea having steeped for precisely 4 minutes and now ready to go; her fresh turkey cubed and stuffed gently into a small but sturdy tupperware container; and a slightly soggy and ill formed plastic baggy sitting on the counter filled with balsamic vinegar which she plans to have on her turkey come lunch time.
All I can think of is that she is turning the inside of my new car into a luncheonette. She likes to eat while driving and there isn't a lot I can do about that short of offering her a bib and a damp cloth with the hopes that she will use them to clean any spills, etc. I want her to do whatever it is that she enjoys and far be it from me to rain on her parade if I happen to disagree with what she happens to be doing at any given moment in time. So I bite my tongue, bide my time, and hope for the best. Have a nice day darling. Hope your commute goes well (ugh.)
I promised to remind the Ev man that he has an appointment today with nurse Sarah. Maybe it's nurse Sara. Not sure. It's hard to know one minute to the next how Ev is going to feel when the time comes to go to this appointment or any other for that matter. He's already missed one appointment at this office so missing another would not be good. It's likely to be a quick session so I can't imagine he will be opposed to going but millennial moods can be mercurial and that is a description that fits the Ev man to a tee. He is upbeat and talkative one moment and withdrawn and moody the very next. As I understand it, he had a visit with the eye guy (ophthalmologist) yesterday and he asked that Nancy drive him to the appointment.
In retrospect, it was a good idea since he had his eyes dilated and I'm not sure that he was expecting to have that done. Nancy anticipated that possibility and brought along another pair of sunglasses for him to use. Good call, momma. Like most parents, we usually worry needlessly when it comes to their children. Does he know where this doctor's office is? Will he get there on time? Will he remember what he needs to remember with information given to him by the health care professionals? Will he get up in time to get to the appointment? Just to be safe, since he has not been to this particular office, I will offer to drive him since I've been there with Nancy any number of times. It's the least I can do?
We've not had any snow so far this season but that could change tomorrow. I need to make sure the wood pile is covered with the tarp before the snow starts falling and I need to bring in some wood just so we have it on hand should we want to fire up the wood stove. Evan has asked about having a wood stove a few times so I should probably get that going. He likes to camp out in the front room wth his laptop in the coziness that a wood stove brings especially in the early part of the winter season before things like wood stoves and snow storms become old hat.
We're between and betwixt when it comes to getting too comfortable in the front room since we plan to have wood flooring put in and the wood could arrive any day now. We had hoped to get that done sooner and regret to some extent not having the contractor who did our bathroom do our wood floors too. I think the timing of all of that just didn't work out although precisely where it fell apart is anyone's guess. We're looking in the rear view mirror and that mirror is just a bit foggy at the moment. And, it goes without saying that we can't put up our tree like the good christians that we are (tongue in cheek) until and unless we know for sure that the flooring guy isn't coming along to install the floor when we least expect it.
One last point I would make about contractors and such is that we've not had the final walk through on our bathroom which has been finished for a good month now. I'm guessing they don't want to be paid? They are too busy with all of their other jobs to follow up with us? For a group that was on the ball from a billing standpoint in the early to middle stages of the work scheduled, they now seem to have forgotten us now that the job is finished. But we're clearly pleased as punch with the work that they did do and that cannot be understated. So what if they still owe us a final bill not to mention that they also owe us an estimate on some other work that we had asked about.
I'm looking forward to my bike ride today. I've been riding with temps in the low forties and I have not been alone on the highway. November was a slow month for riding but I seem to be making up for that so far in December. I should start to take a few pictures to post in this here blog. It's gets a little inconvenient to say the least to take pictures during the ride since it means stopping and going and stopping and going. Not exactly what they doctor ordered so I plan to make exceptions if and when the opportunity presents itself. Maybe like this here blog, and when it comes to biking and the end of the year type tallies, I can finish strong. I love that expression. I can't say I like wearing all the cold weather gear when riding but it is a small price to pay for staying fit and feeling good about what I'm doing when I'm doing it. It also helps to crank up some tunes while riding. Maybe a little Led Zeppelin or Guess Who if I can catch the wind at my back. It's 36.3 degrees now and maybe, with any luck, we'll get to 40 degrees but I'm not counting on it. I'm off!
All I can think of is that she is turning the inside of my new car into a luncheonette. She likes to eat while driving and there isn't a lot I can do about that short of offering her a bib and a damp cloth with the hopes that she will use them to clean any spills, etc. I want her to do whatever it is that she enjoys and far be it from me to rain on her parade if I happen to disagree with what she happens to be doing at any given moment in time. So I bite my tongue, bide my time, and hope for the best. Have a nice day darling. Hope your commute goes well (ugh.)
I promised to remind the Ev man that he has an appointment today with nurse Sarah. Maybe it's nurse Sara. Not sure. It's hard to know one minute to the next how Ev is going to feel when the time comes to go to this appointment or any other for that matter. He's already missed one appointment at this office so missing another would not be good. It's likely to be a quick session so I can't imagine he will be opposed to going but millennial moods can be mercurial and that is a description that fits the Ev man to a tee. He is upbeat and talkative one moment and withdrawn and moody the very next. As I understand it, he had a visit with the eye guy (ophthalmologist) yesterday and he asked that Nancy drive him to the appointment.
In retrospect, it was a good idea since he had his eyes dilated and I'm not sure that he was expecting to have that done. Nancy anticipated that possibility and brought along another pair of sunglasses for him to use. Good call, momma. Like most parents, we usually worry needlessly when it comes to their children. Does he know where this doctor's office is? Will he get there on time? Will he remember what he needs to remember with information given to him by the health care professionals? Will he get up in time to get to the appointment? Just to be safe, since he has not been to this particular office, I will offer to drive him since I've been there with Nancy any number of times. It's the least I can do?
We've not had any snow so far this season but that could change tomorrow. I need to make sure the wood pile is covered with the tarp before the snow starts falling and I need to bring in some wood just so we have it on hand should we want to fire up the wood stove. Evan has asked about having a wood stove a few times so I should probably get that going. He likes to camp out in the front room wth his laptop in the coziness that a wood stove brings especially in the early part of the winter season before things like wood stoves and snow storms become old hat.
We're between and betwixt when it comes to getting too comfortable in the front room since we plan to have wood flooring put in and the wood could arrive any day now. We had hoped to get that done sooner and regret to some extent not having the contractor who did our bathroom do our wood floors too. I think the timing of all of that just didn't work out although precisely where it fell apart is anyone's guess. We're looking in the rear view mirror and that mirror is just a bit foggy at the moment. And, it goes without saying that we can't put up our tree like the good christians that we are (tongue in cheek) until and unless we know for sure that the flooring guy isn't coming along to install the floor when we least expect it.
One last point I would make about contractors and such is that we've not had the final walk through on our bathroom which has been finished for a good month now. I'm guessing they don't want to be paid? They are too busy with all of their other jobs to follow up with us? For a group that was on the ball from a billing standpoint in the early to middle stages of the work scheduled, they now seem to have forgotten us now that the job is finished. But we're clearly pleased as punch with the work that they did do and that cannot be understated. So what if they still owe us a final bill not to mention that they also owe us an estimate on some other work that we had asked about.
I'm looking forward to my bike ride today. I've been riding with temps in the low forties and I have not been alone on the highway. November was a slow month for riding but I seem to be making up for that so far in December. I should start to take a few pictures to post in this here blog. It's gets a little inconvenient to say the least to take pictures during the ride since it means stopping and going and stopping and going. Not exactly what they doctor ordered so I plan to make exceptions if and when the opportunity presents itself. Maybe like this here blog, and when it comes to biking and the end of the year type tallies, I can finish strong. I love that expression. I can't say I like wearing all the cold weather gear when riding but it is a small price to pay for staying fit and feeling good about what I'm doing when I'm doing it. It also helps to crank up some tunes while riding. Maybe a little Led Zeppelin or Guess Who if I can catch the wind at my back. It's 36.3 degrees now and maybe, with any luck, we'll get to 40 degrees but I'm not counting on it. I'm off!
Betcha By Golly Wow
07/12/17 09:01
It's just so weird. All these women coming out against men who have groped them in the past. Don't women know how to say "no" anymore? This was some years ago so that may explain why there are very few more recent examples of this behavior. Some say that if they (Democrats) can get the likes of Al Franken to step down from the Senate then they can go after Trump for all of his purported indiscretions with women. Franken will be speaking from the Senate floor today and it's anyone's guess as to whether he will be stepping down or not. The Democrats lost the moral high ground on the sexual abuse issue when any number of high profile democrats were charged by their accusers with crimes against women ranging from groping to out and out molestation.
There is an actual photo in circulation that shows Al Franken in his role as a comedian groping a woman's breasts who is asleep but fully clothed while sitting upright in her seat on air force flight returning from an engagement overseas. And then there is Judge Moore. He was the victim of a political hit job by the Democrats who decided that if they could cajole or pay enough women in the state of Alabama to say that Moore molested them then they could take just enough votes away from Moore to deprive him of a win on December 12th. A Moore loss to a Democrat would reduce the overall Republican advantage in the senate to just one seat. There is only one problem. The voters in Alabama are having none of it and Moore is likely to prevail yet faces any number of queries once in the Senate regarding the so-called allegations against him. In other words, Moore is likely to win the battle but the war is far from won.
I would wish for a little more consistency in my writing in this here journal but that seems to be my modus operandi when it comes to such things. It's just true of so many things in my life. I pick them up for a time only to drop them once again and then pick them up at a later date. It's true of my journal; it's true of my reading books; it's true in playing games such as Words with Friends; and the list goes on. Maybe it's like recharging my batteries or something like that. Bike riding, on the other hand, is a mainstay day in and day out and continues to be so even now in the month of December. As long as the roads are clear and temperatures remain above freezing I am good to go. Yeah, that's the ticket. It is a little less true when it comes to riding my bicycle. Going to the gym is different story.
Did I tell you that I bought a bird bath that keeps the water from freezing in the winter? I have to say, I think the birds are far more appreciative and desirous of having access to water than they are having access to food. By all accounts, the birds are likely to back up several deep on the birdbath during the winter months when access to water is almost non-existent. I'm delighted to provide such a refuge and a source of water and food for my fine feathered friends. The Hummingbirds are long gone but the hardier species like Bluebirds, Bluejays, Sparrows, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, etc are on site daily feeding at our feeders. Keeping the feeders filled can be a challenge but I embrace that challenge and do my best to stay on top of it.
I've been dragging my feet (pun intended) on doing business with Zappo's but finally bit the bullet after having little to no success in looking for a pair of shoes on my own. I was somewhat convinced that I knew what I was looking for having had some success over time with the Keen brand of sandals and hoping against hope that I could find similar success with their line of shoes. The stores I visited looking for same either had a poor selection of Keen's or a very good selection of Keen's making an appropriate determination more difficult than not. I would also note that my patience in such matters is not unlimited and it feeds into the stereotypical narrative about men and their natural disinclination to go shopping with the kind of ease demonstrated by women in a similar setting.
Nancy, on the other hand, uses Zappo's regularly and she finally convinced me to order a few pair of shoes which I did although somewhat reluctantly. Of the five pair that I ordered, I finally decided that the best of the lot were a pair of Dr Martens. The best I can say about any pair of shoes I would hope to own is that they are not too big, not too small, not too heavy, not too light, and just sturdy enough to hold up under what I might consider to be a light amount of ongoing abuse. Finally, while Dr Marten's are considered to be, or were once considered to be, worn by members of the counterculture, I am not now or have I ever been a member of that group. One or both of us have gone mainstream for better or worse.
There is an actual photo in circulation that shows Al Franken in his role as a comedian groping a woman's breasts who is asleep but fully clothed while sitting upright in her seat on air force flight returning from an engagement overseas. And then there is Judge Moore. He was the victim of a political hit job by the Democrats who decided that if they could cajole or pay enough women in the state of Alabama to say that Moore molested them then they could take just enough votes away from Moore to deprive him of a win on December 12th. A Moore loss to a Democrat would reduce the overall Republican advantage in the senate to just one seat. There is only one problem. The voters in Alabama are having none of it and Moore is likely to prevail yet faces any number of queries once in the Senate regarding the so-called allegations against him. In other words, Moore is likely to win the battle but the war is far from won.
I would wish for a little more consistency in my writing in this here journal but that seems to be my modus operandi when it comes to such things. It's just true of so many things in my life. I pick them up for a time only to drop them once again and then pick them up at a later date. It's true of my journal; it's true of my reading books; it's true in playing games such as Words with Friends; and the list goes on. Maybe it's like recharging my batteries or something like that. Bike riding, on the other hand, is a mainstay day in and day out and continues to be so even now in the month of December. As long as the roads are clear and temperatures remain above freezing I am good to go. Yeah, that's the ticket. It is a little less true when it comes to riding my bicycle. Going to the gym is different story.
Did I tell you that I bought a bird bath that keeps the water from freezing in the winter? I have to say, I think the birds are far more appreciative and desirous of having access to water than they are having access to food. By all accounts, the birds are likely to back up several deep on the birdbath during the winter months when access to water is almost non-existent. I'm delighted to provide such a refuge and a source of water and food for my fine feathered friends. The Hummingbirds are long gone but the hardier species like Bluebirds, Bluejays, Sparrows, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, etc are on site daily feeding at our feeders. Keeping the feeders filled can be a challenge but I embrace that challenge and do my best to stay on top of it.
I've been dragging my feet (pun intended) on doing business with Zappo's but finally bit the bullet after having little to no success in looking for a pair of shoes on my own. I was somewhat convinced that I knew what I was looking for having had some success over time with the Keen brand of sandals and hoping against hope that I could find similar success with their line of shoes. The stores I visited looking for same either had a poor selection of Keen's or a very good selection of Keen's making an appropriate determination more difficult than not. I would also note that my patience in such matters is not unlimited and it feeds into the stereotypical narrative about men and their natural disinclination to go shopping with the kind of ease demonstrated by women in a similar setting.
Nancy, on the other hand, uses Zappo's regularly and she finally convinced me to order a few pair of shoes which I did although somewhat reluctantly. Of the five pair that I ordered, I finally decided that the best of the lot were a pair of Dr Martens. The best I can say about any pair of shoes I would hope to own is that they are not too big, not too small, not too heavy, not too light, and just sturdy enough to hold up under what I might consider to be a light amount of ongoing abuse. Finally, while Dr Marten's are considered to be, or were once considered to be, worn by members of the counterculture, I am not now or have I ever been a member of that group. One or both of us have gone mainstream for better or worse.
Just Catching Up
11/11/17 05:46
Damn, it's getting cold outside. It was in the twenties yesterday and with a brisk wind to boot. It was just last week when we were outside with tee shirts on cleaning up around the yard. Nancy feels like the window to plant her bulbs is closing fast so we'll see where that takes her today. I am going to hold out hope that we'll have a few more days of moderating temperatures before winter's grip takes hold on the lot of us here in the Northeast. I think I have just enough wood stacked to get us through this winter with an occasional wood stove day but not a sliver more. I should probably call the chimney sweep guys and have them drop by for a cleaning and inspection before we start using the stove in earnest.
I picked up our new Toro snowblower yesterday and that puppy will come in handy for all but the more robust of storms. It replaces my reliable Toro of twenty years or so that died last year after spending really the last few years on life support. Nancy pitches in here and there in the winter with snow removal and her only request was that the machine have an electric start (it does). We picked up the machine midday and stopped by the Mac n' Cheese place next door to pick up some comfort food for dinner where they were having a 2 for 1 deal to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Nancy and I ordered two take-and-bakes: A regular mac and cheese for Nancy and I to split and a taco mac n cheese for Evan.
Believe it or not we are still in transition here at home. The bathroom renovation is done but the flooring in the living room has not yet been done and so things are, needless to say, askew. A lot depends on how quickly things get squared away in the garage since the contents of our living room will need to go into the garage while the flooring gets laid down. The garage, of course, is in a cocked hat as well and has been since I fixed the collapsed drop ceiling in the small room off the garage last week.
Once the ceiling was taken care of I took to cleaning out that little room like a man on a mission. It feels like I have a long way to go as I sit here this morning. I wouldn't say that it keeps me awake at night but I sure do get out of bed every morning thinking about what I can do that day to keep the ball moving. It's somewhat akin to cleaning out a storage room after years of inattention and neglect. All of a sudden, I can see the room in an entirely new light. There will be room to spare when all is said and done and with any luck I'll have space to store not only our bikes but Evan's boxes of starch and protein powder.
I have a large heavy oak desk in that room that needs to go to the recycling center so I'll need to figure out how to make that happen. It reminds me a little bit of my bringing our old treadmill to the Recycling Center not that long ago and the trepidation I felt in having to wrestle it not only into the back of the car but once at the center out of the car and into the bin. It turned out to be a piece of cake when all was said and done so I guess we'll see. There was a dusty old box of old liquor bottles sitting on the floor beneath that old oak desk for the longest time and now that it has been dug out that too will be going to the Center.
Nancy would have me put the bottles, contents and all, in a satchel and would have me throw them in the trash without any regard for the recycling rules in place at the center. The rules are quite clear: no bottles in the trash receptacle. They have bins set up for bottles broken down into categories: clear, brown, green, etc. I'll be emptying out the contents here at home and disposing of the bottles at the Center per the rules Nancy's preferences be damned. I guess it's easy thinking about breaking the rules when you are not the one breaking the rules. The last thing we need is to get banned from the Center for breaking the rules. Our collective gooses would be cooked. COOKED! And then there are the things that are heading to the Center without Nancy's blessing and under the cover of darkness. That is to say, I don't have the patience to have her sift through every piece of paper, every cardboard box, every this and that before she approves the disposal of same. Like I said, a man on a mission. She will just have to trust me to use my judgement in such matters.
The cold weather is coming on so fast that I suppose it's possible that some things will not get the attention they deserve in and around our yard. I need to tend to our back deck, the garden, and then there are a couple of piles of leaves in our front yard that need to get hauled across the street before the first snowfall. Before I forget, why is this damn curtain thing so difficult? We have a new window in our bathroom and we want to put up a shade of sorts but the window framing doesn't have the proper depth or something to allow for that so it is a real WTF moment. Did Nancy not discuss that with the contractor? We're running around in circles going here and there looking for solutions but slowly coming to the realization that what we were hoping to have is just not going to happen. I suppose curtains would be okay but we were really hoping for those shades that we could just pull up and down when needed.
I think I may have fixed this computer issue of mine. You know, the one where the computer screen is clear and bright one moment and has a blue tint and horizontal lines the very next moment. I ordered a video card thinking that was what I needed but when the card arrived the problem became infinitely more sporadic so I decided not to unpack the card in the event I wanted to return it. My Google searches came up empty or with references to the blue screen of death which was clearly not the same issue that I was experiencing. This has been going on for a couple of months now. The computer is usable when the screen turns a bluish tint and Nancy is surprisingly not put off by it so we have just tolerated it with a eye of course to having a fix in the near term.
It happened again yesterday when Nancy was sitting at the computer and I reached behind the computer to snug up the connection thinking that it could be a loose cord and the screen suddenly snapped back to normal. Was that it? Haven't had a problem since so we'll see. You can bet your bottom dollar that if it returns I will be snugging it up again and that will be the true test. This computer is 10 years old now so I will plan to replace it soon. Easy fixes between now and then would be a good thing.
On a more personal note, Mrs G got good news this past week so everyone is delighted to hear that. I told Nancy that we should take her out to dinner to celebrate the good news so we'll plan for that. Tomorrow is brother Wally's (pseudonym) birthday so I will plan to give him a holler and a big shout out on his 59th birthday. He is my brother from another mother but a brother nonetheless. Evan told me this past week that he was getting annoyed not being able to reach me by phone since I typically do not take my shitty Galaxy phone anywhere with me because I just don't like using the damn thing. That was just the impetus I needed to order the new iPhone X and that is precisely what I did. It will be good to have an Apple phone again. The Galaxy was an old phone that I had lying around and certainly one that came in handy after I destroyed my iPhone 6 Plus a couple of years ago by going swimming with it in my pants pocket (dumb shit).
I picked up our new Toro snowblower yesterday and that puppy will come in handy for all but the more robust of storms. It replaces my reliable Toro of twenty years or so that died last year after spending really the last few years on life support. Nancy pitches in here and there in the winter with snow removal and her only request was that the machine have an electric start (it does). We picked up the machine midday and stopped by the Mac n' Cheese place next door to pick up some comfort food for dinner where they were having a 2 for 1 deal to celebrate their one-year anniversary. Nancy and I ordered two take-and-bakes: A regular mac and cheese for Nancy and I to split and a taco mac n cheese for Evan.
Believe it or not we are still in transition here at home. The bathroom renovation is done but the flooring in the living room has not yet been done and so things are, needless to say, askew. A lot depends on how quickly things get squared away in the garage since the contents of our living room will need to go into the garage while the flooring gets laid down. The garage, of course, is in a cocked hat as well and has been since I fixed the collapsed drop ceiling in the small room off the garage last week.
Once the ceiling was taken care of I took to cleaning out that little room like a man on a mission. It feels like I have a long way to go as I sit here this morning. I wouldn't say that it keeps me awake at night but I sure do get out of bed every morning thinking about what I can do that day to keep the ball moving. It's somewhat akin to cleaning out a storage room after years of inattention and neglect. All of a sudden, I can see the room in an entirely new light. There will be room to spare when all is said and done and with any luck I'll have space to store not only our bikes but Evan's boxes of starch and protein powder.
I have a large heavy oak desk in that room that needs to go to the recycling center so I'll need to figure out how to make that happen. It reminds me a little bit of my bringing our old treadmill to the Recycling Center not that long ago and the trepidation I felt in having to wrestle it not only into the back of the car but once at the center out of the car and into the bin. It turned out to be a piece of cake when all was said and done so I guess we'll see. There was a dusty old box of old liquor bottles sitting on the floor beneath that old oak desk for the longest time and now that it has been dug out that too will be going to the Center.
Nancy would have me put the bottles, contents and all, in a satchel and would have me throw them in the trash without any regard for the recycling rules in place at the center. The rules are quite clear: no bottles in the trash receptacle. They have bins set up for bottles broken down into categories: clear, brown, green, etc. I'll be emptying out the contents here at home and disposing of the bottles at the Center per the rules Nancy's preferences be damned. I guess it's easy thinking about breaking the rules when you are not the one breaking the rules. The last thing we need is to get banned from the Center for breaking the rules. Our collective gooses would be cooked. COOKED! And then there are the things that are heading to the Center without Nancy's blessing and under the cover of darkness. That is to say, I don't have the patience to have her sift through every piece of paper, every cardboard box, every this and that before she approves the disposal of same. Like I said, a man on a mission. She will just have to trust me to use my judgement in such matters.
The cold weather is coming on so fast that I suppose it's possible that some things will not get the attention they deserve in and around our yard. I need to tend to our back deck, the garden, and then there are a couple of piles of leaves in our front yard that need to get hauled across the street before the first snowfall. Before I forget, why is this damn curtain thing so difficult? We have a new window in our bathroom and we want to put up a shade of sorts but the window framing doesn't have the proper depth or something to allow for that so it is a real WTF moment. Did Nancy not discuss that with the contractor? We're running around in circles going here and there looking for solutions but slowly coming to the realization that what we were hoping to have is just not going to happen. I suppose curtains would be okay but we were really hoping for those shades that we could just pull up and down when needed.
I think I may have fixed this computer issue of mine. You know, the one where the computer screen is clear and bright one moment and has a blue tint and horizontal lines the very next moment. I ordered a video card thinking that was what I needed but when the card arrived the problem became infinitely more sporadic so I decided not to unpack the card in the event I wanted to return it. My Google searches came up empty or with references to the blue screen of death which was clearly not the same issue that I was experiencing. This has been going on for a couple of months now. The computer is usable when the screen turns a bluish tint and Nancy is surprisingly not put off by it so we have just tolerated it with a eye of course to having a fix in the near term.
It happened again yesterday when Nancy was sitting at the computer and I reached behind the computer to snug up the connection thinking that it could be a loose cord and the screen suddenly snapped back to normal. Was that it? Haven't had a problem since so we'll see. You can bet your bottom dollar that if it returns I will be snugging it up again and that will be the true test. This computer is 10 years old now so I will plan to replace it soon. Easy fixes between now and then would be a good thing.
On a more personal note, Mrs G got good news this past week so everyone is delighted to hear that. I told Nancy that we should take her out to dinner to celebrate the good news so we'll plan for that. Tomorrow is brother Wally's (pseudonym) birthday so I will plan to give him a holler and a big shout out on his 59th birthday. He is my brother from another mother but a brother nonetheless. Evan told me this past week that he was getting annoyed not being able to reach me by phone since I typically do not take my shitty Galaxy phone anywhere with me because I just don't like using the damn thing. That was just the impetus I needed to order the new iPhone X and that is precisely what I did. It will be good to have an Apple phone again. The Galaxy was an old phone that I had lying around and certainly one that came in handy after I destroyed my iPhone 6 Plus a couple of years ago by going swimming with it in my pants pocket (dumb shit).
Harrowing Fixes
06/11/17 09:04
We have a small room in our garage that looks like it served as a workshop of sorts for the previous owner. We've managed over time to store all kinds of stuff in there both horizontally and vertically to the point where it is difficult if not impossible to even move around inside the now overly cramped space. As much as I push back on Nancy's hoarding tendencies from time to time I cannot win them all and I have clearly lost the battle in this room. I'm not sure that hoarding is the right word but she doesn't want to throw anything away so if there is a distinction it is a distinction without a difference. By contrast, I am a minimalist at heart but willing to make concessions here and there knowing what I know about what it takes to make Nancy happy.
Over time, the various items we've stored in boxes, bags, cartons, and other parcels in predictable fashion inside the room have been opened, left at odd angles, lost their original moorings, or have been simply forgotten beneath a sea of items piled atop them. My sensibilities are most at risk when spaces and the contents of this spaces lose order or lack of predictability. The scientific term, if I'm not mistaken, is entropy (gradual decline into disorder). I generally stop thinking about the space altogether after a certain point so as not to cause myself any further misery and to ensure with some success that I don't go willy nilly pointing fingers and holding Nancy responsible for my tortured psyche. In the recesses of my brain there is a solution to everything and storage space issues are typically relegated as one of the easier problems to manage in the scheme of all things that could and would go wrong as a result of this so-called entropy issue.
So, when Nancy mentioned to me a couple of weeks back that the drop ceiling inside the room had collapsed I just cringed. Apparently she had gone into the room looking for something and she noticed that the ceiling had come down. I preferred to think that her description was hyperbolic and imminently fixable so I remained calm telling myself that her version of the story was likely just that (overblown.) When I finally looked I realized that her description was apt and the reality was probably worse by a factor of two or more.
The frame holding up the panels had completely collapsed as though someone had fallen through the framing of the attic above the room itself. The metal frame holding up the ceiling panels was twisted at odd angles suggesting that a weight bearing subject and only a weight bearing subject could have caused this to happen. The ceiling panels themselves having lost their support fell into the room like a deck of cards scattered to the winds. I was at a loss to understand how this could have happened but knew all too well that the problem was mine and mine alone to fix. Some things register right away as being within my wheelhouse and I'm not sure why but this problem seemed to fit that description. Until I knew differently I was going to deconstruct and reconstruct this mangled mess until all the pieces were back in their original place.
Understanding full well that getting into the room was in and of itself a problem before I even started to consider the ceiling issue I set about clearing a path into the room. Did I mention that I left the door to the room closed for a few days after the ceiling collapsed in the event a raccoon or other creature caused this mess? Just long enough to deprive the animal of food and water such that I didn't have to deal with a rabid animal snapping at me and were it to expire during that time I would not as such minded that at all.
I gave some thought as well to asking the contractors doing our bathroom renovation at the time to take a look and give me an estimate but decided not to do that at the last minute. Some of the insulation between the floor boards directly above the ceiling panels had come down as well providing further proof that a weight bearing something had caused this to happen. There were no tears in the insulation so I just tucked that back up between the floor joists and used a broom to lift it into spaces out of my reach.
I have to say that I was rather proud of myself as I went about my task methodically and hesitated only long enough here and there to assess next steps or to enjoy a moments satisfaction with what I had already accomplished. In reviewing the metal framing and its attachment to the floor joists in the ceiling above it occurred to me that it had been constructed improperly at the outset and I took extra measures to reinforce the support from the joists above the framing.
I had all the necessary tools on hand and I had found a spool of wire earlier in the day that was just perfect for the task at hand. I worried, although not obsessively, that I might be inhaling fiberglass particles from manhandling the insulation or asbestos from the ceiling tiles in the course of my work. It didn't help that I had an occasional coughing fit either from the dislodged dust swirling deliriously in the cramped quarters or from the heretofore mentioned nastiness of asbestos or fiberglass that found its way into my lungs. When refitting some of the ceiling panels into the framing I found that some of the panels were bowed at the corners either from the accident or simply from the passage of time. I couldn't otherwise remember noticing this prior to the so-called accident so did my best to fit those panels with the least amount of bowing in places most visible upon entering the room. I can live with the possibility that the bowing might lessen over time now that the original structure and support systems are back in place.
With everything back in place I stood back and admired my handiwork just as day was turning into night. The last piece to go back into place was the fluorescent light fixture that was six feet in length and had come down along with everything else. Thankfully, it had not detached from the cord supplying the electricity so there was no need to call in the professionals. I'm not sure that I could have found replacement bulbs so am delighted that nothing broke and I managed to put the light back up with all the appropriate tethering.
My one regret as I sit here the day after is that I did not take a before and after picture. It's possible I suppose that putting it down on paper serves the same purpose at the end of the day but there really is no substitute for pictures when you get down to the nitty gritty. Nancy paid me faint praise upon seeing the work that I had done only to tell me this morning that she couldn't understand how I did it. That's like having a hot fudge sundae without the cherry on top so I'll take it but would rather have a cherry on top if you get my drift. Would I rather have taken a bike ride instead? You bet your bottom dollar. Maybe next time.
Over time, the various items we've stored in boxes, bags, cartons, and other parcels in predictable fashion inside the room have been opened, left at odd angles, lost their original moorings, or have been simply forgotten beneath a sea of items piled atop them. My sensibilities are most at risk when spaces and the contents of this spaces lose order or lack of predictability. The scientific term, if I'm not mistaken, is entropy (gradual decline into disorder). I generally stop thinking about the space altogether after a certain point so as not to cause myself any further misery and to ensure with some success that I don't go willy nilly pointing fingers and holding Nancy responsible for my tortured psyche. In the recesses of my brain there is a solution to everything and storage space issues are typically relegated as one of the easier problems to manage in the scheme of all things that could and would go wrong as a result of this so-called entropy issue.
So, when Nancy mentioned to me a couple of weeks back that the drop ceiling inside the room had collapsed I just cringed. Apparently she had gone into the room looking for something and she noticed that the ceiling had come down. I preferred to think that her description was hyperbolic and imminently fixable so I remained calm telling myself that her version of the story was likely just that (overblown.) When I finally looked I realized that her description was apt and the reality was probably worse by a factor of two or more.
The frame holding up the panels had completely collapsed as though someone had fallen through the framing of the attic above the room itself. The metal frame holding up the ceiling panels was twisted at odd angles suggesting that a weight bearing subject and only a weight bearing subject could have caused this to happen. The ceiling panels themselves having lost their support fell into the room like a deck of cards scattered to the winds. I was at a loss to understand how this could have happened but knew all too well that the problem was mine and mine alone to fix. Some things register right away as being within my wheelhouse and I'm not sure why but this problem seemed to fit that description. Until I knew differently I was going to deconstruct and reconstruct this mangled mess until all the pieces were back in their original place.
Understanding full well that getting into the room was in and of itself a problem before I even started to consider the ceiling issue I set about clearing a path into the room. Did I mention that I left the door to the room closed for a few days after the ceiling collapsed in the event a raccoon or other creature caused this mess? Just long enough to deprive the animal of food and water such that I didn't have to deal with a rabid animal snapping at me and were it to expire during that time I would not as such minded that at all.
I gave some thought as well to asking the contractors doing our bathroom renovation at the time to take a look and give me an estimate but decided not to do that at the last minute. Some of the insulation between the floor boards directly above the ceiling panels had come down as well providing further proof that a weight bearing something had caused this to happen. There were no tears in the insulation so I just tucked that back up between the floor joists and used a broom to lift it into spaces out of my reach.
I have to say that I was rather proud of myself as I went about my task methodically and hesitated only long enough here and there to assess next steps or to enjoy a moments satisfaction with what I had already accomplished. In reviewing the metal framing and its attachment to the floor joists in the ceiling above it occurred to me that it had been constructed improperly at the outset and I took extra measures to reinforce the support from the joists above the framing.
I had all the necessary tools on hand and I had found a spool of wire earlier in the day that was just perfect for the task at hand. I worried, although not obsessively, that I might be inhaling fiberglass particles from manhandling the insulation or asbestos from the ceiling tiles in the course of my work. It didn't help that I had an occasional coughing fit either from the dislodged dust swirling deliriously in the cramped quarters or from the heretofore mentioned nastiness of asbestos or fiberglass that found its way into my lungs. When refitting some of the ceiling panels into the framing I found that some of the panels were bowed at the corners either from the accident or simply from the passage of time. I couldn't otherwise remember noticing this prior to the so-called accident so did my best to fit those panels with the least amount of bowing in places most visible upon entering the room. I can live with the possibility that the bowing might lessen over time now that the original structure and support systems are back in place.
With everything back in place I stood back and admired my handiwork just as day was turning into night. The last piece to go back into place was the fluorescent light fixture that was six feet in length and had come down along with everything else. Thankfully, it had not detached from the cord supplying the electricity so there was no need to call in the professionals. I'm not sure that I could have found replacement bulbs so am delighted that nothing broke and I managed to put the light back up with all the appropriate tethering.
My one regret as I sit here the day after is that I did not take a before and after picture. It's possible I suppose that putting it down on paper serves the same purpose at the end of the day but there really is no substitute for pictures when you get down to the nitty gritty. Nancy paid me faint praise upon seeing the work that I had done only to tell me this morning that she couldn't understand how I did it. That's like having a hot fudge sundae without the cherry on top so I'll take it but would rather have a cherry on top if you get my drift. Would I rather have taken a bike ride instead? You bet your bottom dollar. Maybe next time.
Calm Before the Storm
31/10/17 07:53
We've gotten somewhat accustomed to watching television shows without commercials. All I will say about that is that the internet is a wonderful tool when it comes to certain things and obtaining television shows without commercials is one of them. Television viewing is by and large a late night activity for us and seldom if ever enjoyed during the daytime. Nonetheless, there are some good shows out there and watching them without commercials is a plus. In fact, when for some other reason or other we have to see a show with commercials it is a damnable chore to have to muddle through the commercials to be sure. Producers of same must know how distracting commercials can be when rolling out a storyline where continuity is key to holding the viewers attention. Building on previous scenes without interruption is more often than not critical to the shows success.
All they can hope for is that the commercials shown are fanciful and entertaining to the viewer. Whatever it takes to keep them in their recliners until the show resumes. The fact that commercials are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator when and where intelligence is concerned is not hard to understand. They want to appeal to your base instincts after all and would likely prefer you leave your intelligence at the door. The sexier, the sassier, the more subtle, and the more sensational the commercial the better. Persuasion is the name of the game. I think it's true as well that television watching has been on the decline for years and the constant barrage of senseless nonsense they throw at you in between scenes has to be a contributing factor. Millennials are having none of it, commercials included, and the rest of us are catching up slowly but surely.
I've decided that I'd better stay away from the whole Hollywood perversion thing with Weinstein and others including the likes of Dustin Hoffman. It doesn't stop there and there are numerous others inside and outside of Hollywood fessing up in the hopes that they too will be afforded a pass of sorts as they go off to therapy. And now I'm reading about companies who are thinking twice about hiring women given that they too might find the tip of the hat, a salacious wink, or a nod in the wrong direction as not just flirtatious but downright vulgar and blantantly offensive if not criminal. It didn't help that Bill O'Reilly paid his alleged victim a princely sum of some $22 million to keep her mouth shut. That just incentivizes women to be fast and loose with the truth in the hopes that they too can shake down anyone with a reputation and a 7 figure salary who thinks they have something of value that is ultimately worth salvaging.
O'Reilly may have surmised that his reputation with the FOX network and his viewers was so above board and beyond reproach as to warrant paying a princely ransom of $22 million for keeping his alleged sexual misdeeds out of the nightly headlines. I would tell you that he probably paid too much. Bill Cosby was one of the sicker bastards of the bunch and his victims made the mistake of thinking that a jury would rightly hold him responsible for his criminal acts. They were wrong. It only took one black juror to upset that apple cart. If Weinstein and his anglican counterparts have one thing working against them it is that they are not black so justice may well prevail if they end up facing their so-called victims in court. At the end of the day it isn't about money, morality, or common law. It's about who you know and who knows you.
All of a sudden it seems like there is a lot to do before the first snowfall and I feel like I am behind the eight ball before I even get started. I think I mowed the lawn for the last time this season just yesterday. If it doesn't start to get colder soon I may well have to cut it once more before Thanksgiving. I have no job to go to so I should think a bit about pacing myself a little better. Every day I will do a little of this and a little of that and, as they say in the funnies, the tortoise can beat the hare with persistence and perseverance.
The leaves are off the trees now so I can start raking and removing the leaves in earnest. I should probably clean the bird feeders before winter comes and it's probably not too early to start looking into buying a winter bird bath for the back deck. Our garage is a bit of a mess and has been since the bathroom renovation began in early September. With the renovation largely in the rear view mirror I can restore order to the space in our garage so as to make room for our two vehicles and a supply of sorts of cord wood for the wood stove. That reminds me: I need to get up on the roof and clean the chimney before too much more time passes. Like I said, lots to do.
I was hoping to get Evan to help me put our old treadmill in the back of the car for transport to the local recycling center. It has been sitting in our garage adding to the clutter for a few months now and finding just the right moment to get Evan's attention has been a challenge. I told myself that if he could help me get it in the car that I could manage myself once I arrived at the recycling center. Asking him to accompany me to the recycling center would surely be a bridge too far. I was feeling especially energetic yesterday and to say that I was on a roll would have been an understatement. I decided to take matters into my own hands and I backed the car up to the garage and tilted the treadmill into the rear of the car and slid it in without all that much fanfare or effort.
As is usually the case, Evan popped up after I was done and offered his services. I thanked him all the same and reassured him that it wasn't all that much trouble after all. Unloading the machine at the center was equally unexciting and then it was done. The one other chore that I usually ask Evan to help me with is taking the air conditioner out of the bedroom window in the Fall. I may have embarrassed him a bit by taking care of the treadmill without his help so he volunteered willingly with the air conditioner and that was that. Thanks, Ev! I couldn't have done it without you!
I swear! The closer they get to perfection in finishing our bathroom the more the flaws stand out. They installed a new window the other day and Nancy is beside herself that there doesn't seem to be a storm window that slides down on the outside of the window jamb. I reassured her that the window looks and feels super heavy duty, double pane, and all the rest. And, it is. But, there is a screen on the outside that one would think would have to come off during the winter months so that snow and ice do not accumulate between the window itself and the screen.
Here again, we need to go to the local Home Depot to look at comparable windows to get a better sense of what we're dealing with. Did the contractors forget to include a storm window when they did the installation? Is it still sitting in the back of someone's truck? If I've learned anything in dealing with these contractors it is that you need to verify the information they are giving you at any given moment. Yes, trust but verify. And I can't have my wife being hopping mad about this sort of stuff. It's enough to drive you to distraction. I've assured her that we'll follow up on this and will, in a word, git er done.
It seems like the longer we look into the wood flooring for the front room the more we find out and more it made sense all along not to make any hasty decisions at the outset. We've come full circle on the color and make of the wood but Nancy is still undecided when it comes to the color. Maple seems to offer the least amount of variability in terms of grain and texture and it is without doubt the kind of wood we chose for our kitchen a number of years ago. There is the type of wood and then there is the color of the stain. The cinnamon colored stain seems to be a perfect match with what we have in our kitchen. We had to visit three flooring joints to reach that conclusion but a conclusion it is. And now, since the kitchen is off our front room do we do the right thing from a feng shui point of view and extend cinnamon maple flooring into the living room or do we do a mix and match? That is the question that Nancy is wrestling with at the moment. I'm good with matching them up and letting the good times roll as it were. The good news is that we will not be putting any carpeting down. For now, anyway, the jury is out.
All they can hope for is that the commercials shown are fanciful and entertaining to the viewer. Whatever it takes to keep them in their recliners until the show resumes. The fact that commercials are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator when and where intelligence is concerned is not hard to understand. They want to appeal to your base instincts after all and would likely prefer you leave your intelligence at the door. The sexier, the sassier, the more subtle, and the more sensational the commercial the better. Persuasion is the name of the game. I think it's true as well that television watching has been on the decline for years and the constant barrage of senseless nonsense they throw at you in between scenes has to be a contributing factor. Millennials are having none of it, commercials included, and the rest of us are catching up slowly but surely.
I've decided that I'd better stay away from the whole Hollywood perversion thing with Weinstein and others including the likes of Dustin Hoffman. It doesn't stop there and there are numerous others inside and outside of Hollywood fessing up in the hopes that they too will be afforded a pass of sorts as they go off to therapy. And now I'm reading about companies who are thinking twice about hiring women given that they too might find the tip of the hat, a salacious wink, or a nod in the wrong direction as not just flirtatious but downright vulgar and blantantly offensive if not criminal. It didn't help that Bill O'Reilly paid his alleged victim a princely sum of some $22 million to keep her mouth shut. That just incentivizes women to be fast and loose with the truth in the hopes that they too can shake down anyone with a reputation and a 7 figure salary who thinks they have something of value that is ultimately worth salvaging.
O'Reilly may have surmised that his reputation with the FOX network and his viewers was so above board and beyond reproach as to warrant paying a princely ransom of $22 million for keeping his alleged sexual misdeeds out of the nightly headlines. I would tell you that he probably paid too much. Bill Cosby was one of the sicker bastards of the bunch and his victims made the mistake of thinking that a jury would rightly hold him responsible for his criminal acts. They were wrong. It only took one black juror to upset that apple cart. If Weinstein and his anglican counterparts have one thing working against them it is that they are not black so justice may well prevail if they end up facing their so-called victims in court. At the end of the day it isn't about money, morality, or common law. It's about who you know and who knows you.
All of a sudden it seems like there is a lot to do before the first snowfall and I feel like I am behind the eight ball before I even get started. I think I mowed the lawn for the last time this season just yesterday. If it doesn't start to get colder soon I may well have to cut it once more before Thanksgiving. I have no job to go to so I should think a bit about pacing myself a little better. Every day I will do a little of this and a little of that and, as they say in the funnies, the tortoise can beat the hare with persistence and perseverance.
The leaves are off the trees now so I can start raking and removing the leaves in earnest. I should probably clean the bird feeders before winter comes and it's probably not too early to start looking into buying a winter bird bath for the back deck. Our garage is a bit of a mess and has been since the bathroom renovation began in early September. With the renovation largely in the rear view mirror I can restore order to the space in our garage so as to make room for our two vehicles and a supply of sorts of cord wood for the wood stove. That reminds me: I need to get up on the roof and clean the chimney before too much more time passes. Like I said, lots to do.
I was hoping to get Evan to help me put our old treadmill in the back of the car for transport to the local recycling center. It has been sitting in our garage adding to the clutter for a few months now and finding just the right moment to get Evan's attention has been a challenge. I told myself that if he could help me get it in the car that I could manage myself once I arrived at the recycling center. Asking him to accompany me to the recycling center would surely be a bridge too far. I was feeling especially energetic yesterday and to say that I was on a roll would have been an understatement. I decided to take matters into my own hands and I backed the car up to the garage and tilted the treadmill into the rear of the car and slid it in without all that much fanfare or effort.
As is usually the case, Evan popped up after I was done and offered his services. I thanked him all the same and reassured him that it wasn't all that much trouble after all. Unloading the machine at the center was equally unexciting and then it was done. The one other chore that I usually ask Evan to help me with is taking the air conditioner out of the bedroom window in the Fall. I may have embarrassed him a bit by taking care of the treadmill without his help so he volunteered willingly with the air conditioner and that was that. Thanks, Ev! I couldn't have done it without you!
I swear! The closer they get to perfection in finishing our bathroom the more the flaws stand out. They installed a new window the other day and Nancy is beside herself that there doesn't seem to be a storm window that slides down on the outside of the window jamb. I reassured her that the window looks and feels super heavy duty, double pane, and all the rest. And, it is. But, there is a screen on the outside that one would think would have to come off during the winter months so that snow and ice do not accumulate between the window itself and the screen.
Here again, we need to go to the local Home Depot to look at comparable windows to get a better sense of what we're dealing with. Did the contractors forget to include a storm window when they did the installation? Is it still sitting in the back of someone's truck? If I've learned anything in dealing with these contractors it is that you need to verify the information they are giving you at any given moment. Yes, trust but verify. And I can't have my wife being hopping mad about this sort of stuff. It's enough to drive you to distraction. I've assured her that we'll follow up on this and will, in a word, git er done.
It seems like the longer we look into the wood flooring for the front room the more we find out and more it made sense all along not to make any hasty decisions at the outset. We've come full circle on the color and make of the wood but Nancy is still undecided when it comes to the color. Maple seems to offer the least amount of variability in terms of grain and texture and it is without doubt the kind of wood we chose for our kitchen a number of years ago. There is the type of wood and then there is the color of the stain. The cinnamon colored stain seems to be a perfect match with what we have in our kitchen. We had to visit three flooring joints to reach that conclusion but a conclusion it is. And now, since the kitchen is off our front room do we do the right thing from a feng shui point of view and extend cinnamon maple flooring into the living room or do we do a mix and match? That is the question that Nancy is wrestling with at the moment. I'm good with matching them up and letting the good times roll as it were. The good news is that we will not be putting any carpeting down. For now, anyway, the jury is out.
Blessed Are Those Who...
28/10/17 08:27
Can someone please explain to me why the price tag for our family health insurance plan in 2018 is $32k? Am I in the middle of some terrible dream and I just have to wake up to make it all go away? Thank the baby Jesus that I don't have to pay that much for reasons that I can't go into here but it is a travesty nonetheless. I have to imagine that most people cannot afford premiums this high and will go without insurance before they pony up the dough for an annual policy. I don't know that people coming off the insurance rolls left and right due to the exorbitant pricing helps the overall pool in any substantive way. It only serves to increase the premiums for those people remaining in the pool like you and me. So what happens to all those people without insurance? There are a lot of families who make a reasonable income but who cannot otherwise afford premiums this high and who would not otherwise qualify for subsidies of any kind due to their income levels. What do they do? Are those of us able to pay picking up the tab for the less fortunate in our society?
It's an unjust redistribution scheme if true and likely to go down in flames when picking up the tab becomes untenable for the average family in our great nation. I guess we have to blame the politicians, the insurance companies, and to some extent the medical industry for conspiring and colluding against we the American people when it comes to providing something as personal and necessary as health insurance. A comeuppance of sorts is in the offing and that may have started with Obama's drive for government run health insurance more commonly referred to as single payer. It is one step beyond the Obamacare nightmare that we are now mired in but thanks to Trump we will likely not go down the road to government run health care and that is a good thing. There is something to be said for operating in the free marketplace and insurance companies should be subject to the same forces just like every other business. If they charge unaffordable and unsustainable prices, then they deserve to go out of business. Let the marketplace determine prices and get government out of the mix and that should do the trick. It's a start anyway.
I'm feeling pretty good about this whole computer thing. I made a decision back in 2008 or so to pay a little more to get a higher end computer and here we are all these years later and she is still purring away not much differently than the day she first came into our lives. That said, she is getting a little long in the tooth. She no longer accepts software updates and the day will no doubt arrive when I want a piece of software that is not supported by earlier versions of my operating software. Operating software updates used to be something to look forward to, anticipate, and even salivate over from time to time and now they come and go and I watch wistfully as a non-participant in the process.
It is clearly something I would not and cannot tolerate given the complexities of the computing environment in which we live so planning is underway to update my system in the near future. I have been and will always be a big Mac guy so I don't expect that I'll be going over to the other side after all these years. It's not a learning thing but rather a preference thing and unless something changes sometime soon the replacement will be a Mac as well. It's fun to think about and all I'm waiting for now is to see Apple come out with an update to the model that I am interested in. Given that the last update was some three years ago it is overdue and I like to think imminent. I can only hope that the issues I'm now seeing with my computer ebb and flow without the need for any expensive resusitation measures by outside entities. My video card is on its last leg and I have issues with disappearing drives from time to time so they need to hang in there until I get my new machine. It won't be long now!
We'll be paying a visit to Mrs G later today. I was hoping that Nancys taking her mom here and there throughout the week might take the place of our weekly visit but Nancy was having none of it. So we'll carve out some time for the visit later in the day and do all the things we normally do on a Saturday between now and then. It will be a tight fit. I'd like to mow the lawn before the rain starts tomorrow as the rain is expected to go over into the Monday morning rush hour. We have things to bring to the local recycling center so that we don't otherwise leave them in the garage until Tuesday when the center opens again after a long weekend. And what is up with the estimates we requested of both the flooring center and the contractor who is still finishing up our bathroom renovation? It's perplexing to say the least. Do they not want the business? Do they not want our business? I know we're tough as nails when it comes to holding their feet to the fire but hey.
It's an unjust redistribution scheme if true and likely to go down in flames when picking up the tab becomes untenable for the average family in our great nation. I guess we have to blame the politicians, the insurance companies, and to some extent the medical industry for conspiring and colluding against we the American people when it comes to providing something as personal and necessary as health insurance. A comeuppance of sorts is in the offing and that may have started with Obama's drive for government run health insurance more commonly referred to as single payer. It is one step beyond the Obamacare nightmare that we are now mired in but thanks to Trump we will likely not go down the road to government run health care and that is a good thing. There is something to be said for operating in the free marketplace and insurance companies should be subject to the same forces just like every other business. If they charge unaffordable and unsustainable prices, then they deserve to go out of business. Let the marketplace determine prices and get government out of the mix and that should do the trick. It's a start anyway.
I'm feeling pretty good about this whole computer thing. I made a decision back in 2008 or so to pay a little more to get a higher end computer and here we are all these years later and she is still purring away not much differently than the day she first came into our lives. That said, she is getting a little long in the tooth. She no longer accepts software updates and the day will no doubt arrive when I want a piece of software that is not supported by earlier versions of my operating software. Operating software updates used to be something to look forward to, anticipate, and even salivate over from time to time and now they come and go and I watch wistfully as a non-participant in the process.
It is clearly something I would not and cannot tolerate given the complexities of the computing environment in which we live so planning is underway to update my system in the near future. I have been and will always be a big Mac guy so I don't expect that I'll be going over to the other side after all these years. It's not a learning thing but rather a preference thing and unless something changes sometime soon the replacement will be a Mac as well. It's fun to think about and all I'm waiting for now is to see Apple come out with an update to the model that I am interested in. Given that the last update was some three years ago it is overdue and I like to think imminent. I can only hope that the issues I'm now seeing with my computer ebb and flow without the need for any expensive resusitation measures by outside entities. My video card is on its last leg and I have issues with disappearing drives from time to time so they need to hang in there until I get my new machine. It won't be long now!
We'll be paying a visit to Mrs G later today. I was hoping that Nancys taking her mom here and there throughout the week might take the place of our weekly visit but Nancy was having none of it. So we'll carve out some time for the visit later in the day and do all the things we normally do on a Saturday between now and then. It will be a tight fit. I'd like to mow the lawn before the rain starts tomorrow as the rain is expected to go over into the Monday morning rush hour. We have things to bring to the local recycling center so that we don't otherwise leave them in the garage until Tuesday when the center opens again after a long weekend. And what is up with the estimates we requested of both the flooring center and the contractor who is still finishing up our bathroom renovation? It's perplexing to say the least. Do they not want the business? Do they not want our business? I know we're tough as nails when it comes to holding their feet to the fire but hey.
Better Days Ahead
20/10/17 06:28
We need to get out of the house this morning on the early side since the painter is coming to put a second coat of paint in the bathroom. We're getting close to having everything finished but it's been a struggle to say the least. It makes me not want to do business with this particular contractor again although many of the issues may have been beyond their control. Nonetheless, when things don't go right you have to hold someone responsible. I do appreciate the fact that when we have complaints of sorts that they work very hard to fix it, whatever it is, and they are about as responsive as you could hope for.
The plumbing work has been exceptional and I have nothing but good things to say for the work they've done. In terms of the electrical work, I guess I would give them a so-so grade. There is a new electrical outlet in the wall near the tub that is not an outlet you can plug something into and that is worrisome. The light fixtures on either side of the bathroom mirror are not level and rock back and forth if pushed in one direction or another. Did I mention that the contractor's employee who installed our slow-close shower door forgot to put silicone in the bottom section of the metal frame that rests on the tub? Consequently, water leaks onto the bathroom floor every time someone takes a shower. And, after a day or two of use the shower doors stopped working as they should. The door would stop a good inch or two short of the perfect close when given a nudge to employ the soft close feature. Did they think we wouldn't notice?
I'm glad Nancy decided to join her mother today for her visit to the doctors office. I'm not sure that she wouldn't have decided to do just that without my urging but she's going so everything is good. Even mothers, and maybe especially mothers, need a little hand holding and maybe even an occasional hug from time to time. Today is one of those days. Not one of those days, mind you, that her mother would admit to having a need for support given her independence and strength of spirit but there are benefits to having a shoulder to lean on in the best of times and the worst of times. Nancy is also in a position to be there when things are said that may not resonate with her mother one way or another and some of that may be intentional. You just tune out the bad news or otherwise hear what you want to hear for lack of a better characterization. The record must be absolutely clear when all is said and done.
There may be a sense of urgency required in the visit today or at the very least a seriousness of intent as it relates to obtaining an immediate diagnosis and, if necessary, scheduling treatments going forward. While deferring to your mother's better wishes, management of any diagnosis requires that you act decisively if and when necessary. That means not putting things off for an indefinite period of time hoping that "it will just go away on its own." Nancy will be there to support her mother while she navigates the decision making tightrope making sure that her feet are steady on the ground and her mind is focused on the task at hand. This is what daughters do. Her mother has been there for her all these years and now their roles are reversed. Make no mistake, though, that Nancy is there to support her and not make decisions for her. For the benefit of Mr Kite, there will be a show today on tight wire. The G's will all be there if mostly in spirit. (Mrs G will challenge the world!)
I promised Nancy that in her absence this afternoon that I would put her chicken wing concoction in the crock pot so we might all sit down to a nice diner tonight. I took a quick look at the sauce and could smell the hotness emanating from the dish. By her own admission, I think Nancy thinks that the dish might be too spicy for her. Hell, it might be too spicy for me. It can probably never be too spicy for Evan. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him douse the wings with an extra generous splash of tabasco just for good measure. And as I've said before, it's not about liking things hot. It's about waking up taste buds that have seen better days. Years of consuming copious amounts of cornstarch has left his taste buds in tatters at a time in his life when nutrition is key to his well being. He has a hankering for lo mein as well but we no longer buy that for him now that the one restaurant we frequented because they do not use peanuts has gone out of business. We found a suitable substitution at a local market so hope to surprise him with that in addition to the wings tonight. This is wishful thinking on my part but I think he might like to have lemon squares for dessert. That is probably not happening. Oh well.
The plumbing work has been exceptional and I have nothing but good things to say for the work they've done. In terms of the electrical work, I guess I would give them a so-so grade. There is a new electrical outlet in the wall near the tub that is not an outlet you can plug something into and that is worrisome. The light fixtures on either side of the bathroom mirror are not level and rock back and forth if pushed in one direction or another. Did I mention that the contractor's employee who installed our slow-close shower door forgot to put silicone in the bottom section of the metal frame that rests on the tub? Consequently, water leaks onto the bathroom floor every time someone takes a shower. And, after a day or two of use the shower doors stopped working as they should. The door would stop a good inch or two short of the perfect close when given a nudge to employ the soft close feature. Did they think we wouldn't notice?
I'm glad Nancy decided to join her mother today for her visit to the doctors office. I'm not sure that she wouldn't have decided to do just that without my urging but she's going so everything is good. Even mothers, and maybe especially mothers, need a little hand holding and maybe even an occasional hug from time to time. Today is one of those days. Not one of those days, mind you, that her mother would admit to having a need for support given her independence and strength of spirit but there are benefits to having a shoulder to lean on in the best of times and the worst of times. Nancy is also in a position to be there when things are said that may not resonate with her mother one way or another and some of that may be intentional. You just tune out the bad news or otherwise hear what you want to hear for lack of a better characterization. The record must be absolutely clear when all is said and done.
There may be a sense of urgency required in the visit today or at the very least a seriousness of intent as it relates to obtaining an immediate diagnosis and, if necessary, scheduling treatments going forward. While deferring to your mother's better wishes, management of any diagnosis requires that you act decisively if and when necessary. That means not putting things off for an indefinite period of time hoping that "it will just go away on its own." Nancy will be there to support her mother while she navigates the decision making tightrope making sure that her feet are steady on the ground and her mind is focused on the task at hand. This is what daughters do. Her mother has been there for her all these years and now their roles are reversed. Make no mistake, though, that Nancy is there to support her and not make decisions for her. For the benefit of Mr Kite, there will be a show today on tight wire. The G's will all be there if mostly in spirit. (Mrs G will challenge the world!)
I promised Nancy that in her absence this afternoon that I would put her chicken wing concoction in the crock pot so we might all sit down to a nice diner tonight. I took a quick look at the sauce and could smell the hotness emanating from the dish. By her own admission, I think Nancy thinks that the dish might be too spicy for her. Hell, it might be too spicy for me. It can probably never be too spicy for Evan. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him douse the wings with an extra generous splash of tabasco just for good measure. And as I've said before, it's not about liking things hot. It's about waking up taste buds that have seen better days. Years of consuming copious amounts of cornstarch has left his taste buds in tatters at a time in his life when nutrition is key to his well being. He has a hankering for lo mein as well but we no longer buy that for him now that the one restaurant we frequented because they do not use peanuts has gone out of business. We found a suitable substitution at a local market so hope to surprise him with that in addition to the wings tonight. This is wishful thinking on my part but I think he might like to have lemon squares for dessert. That is probably not happening. Oh well.
Renovate This
16/10/17 16:56
It doesn't look like I'll be getting in my bike ride today. There was just too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. Nancy packaged up all the return items that we had for Amazon and I brought them to the local UPS store for shipping. She mentioned to me in passing that not all of the packages were pre-paid in terms of the shipping so I brought along a few bucks to cover the anticipated expense. The store employee processed my packages and told me that all were pre-paid and that I owed nothing. Of course, I told him that I wasn't leaving the store until he charged me something since my wife sent me there with explicit instructions to pay for the packages that were not pre-paid.
It was all in jest, of course, and I happily left the store with receipt in hand which quite clearly showed that all items were indeed pre-paid. Nonetheless, when I visited with Nancy for our daily walk not even an hour later she was having none of it. That aside, the packages were en route to their destination pre-paid or not and there was simply nothing to be done about it one way or another. Receipts for some but not all have since come into our mailbox already with mere hours passing since my visit to the UPS store. Talk about remarkable.
It's quite amazing how having renovations done in your home can open your eyes to so many things. I suppose change for the sake of change can be good and yes, even eye opening. It makes you wonder where the time went. It makes you wonder what inertia with all of its faults has wrought yet you only need to open your eyes to see for yourself. Only now when you open your eyes you see glitter, glamour, and grandeur. It leaves you wondering why on god's good earth it took you so long to open your eyes. To open your eyes and see things that have faded over time, things that have lost their luster, things that no longer cry out to be noticed, things that function but just barely, things that no longer sing to you when you're down, things that don't want to hold you up anymore, and where mediocrity and malaise strangle your sensibilities until you become numb to your visual environment.
Everything not being renovated suddenly seems to beg for renovation. We can no longer walk a city block in nearby downtown Portsmouth, a lovely city by all accounts, without looking longingly at gutters that work, pristine paint jobs, new townhouses with 15 foot ceilings and recessed power lines, marble adorned entrances, properties seemingly sculpted elsewhere and placed on postage stamp sized lots that promise to change the skyline for the next hundred years and for the better to be sure. It is a macro example of what we're seeing in our own home when it comes to identifying opportunities for improvement. Fact of the matter is that you don't have to look too far to see the opportunities that until now were there but just not obvious. With the renovations done, whether it be in the city of Portsmouth or right here in our own home, examples of what can be provide a path to what is possible. You just have to open your eyes.
The replacement vanity top and sink finally arrived and it has been properly installed. Can't recall if I commented previously that they delivered the wrong size vanity top and sink. Good thing we noticed and good thing we got that squared away. I told Nancy that I've never seen her so excited about 4 inches before. I'm referring, of course, to the space between the edge of the sink and the actual sink. It should be 4 inches or so and not the nearly six inches that we took measure of when they delivered the original vanity top and sink.
Now if I can just get Nancy to stop splashing so much when she washes her face that will be a good thing. Water ends up everywhere and every inch of the 36 inch vanity top is splattered with water. I may have noticed this before but, like everything else, stuff just went unnoticed or tolerated before the renovations. And any thought of a smaller vanity short of the 36 inch vanity we now have would have been preposterously small especially in light of the splashing taking place daily. The shower door is not yet in place either so we had to put up a shower curtain. What a cluster that's been. Nancy tells me that we should have gotten one with magnets to make sure the fit was tight and to avoid water getting everywhere inside and outside the tub. It was never meant to be anything but temporary so you go cheap and hope for the best. All of that ends today when they put in the shower door. Nancy's only question is now, is it opaque enough?
It was all in jest, of course, and I happily left the store with receipt in hand which quite clearly showed that all items were indeed pre-paid. Nonetheless, when I visited with Nancy for our daily walk not even an hour later she was having none of it. That aside, the packages were en route to their destination pre-paid or not and there was simply nothing to be done about it one way or another. Receipts for some but not all have since come into our mailbox already with mere hours passing since my visit to the UPS store. Talk about remarkable.
It's quite amazing how having renovations done in your home can open your eyes to so many things. I suppose change for the sake of change can be good and yes, even eye opening. It makes you wonder where the time went. It makes you wonder what inertia with all of its faults has wrought yet you only need to open your eyes to see for yourself. Only now when you open your eyes you see glitter, glamour, and grandeur. It leaves you wondering why on god's good earth it took you so long to open your eyes. To open your eyes and see things that have faded over time, things that have lost their luster, things that no longer cry out to be noticed, things that function but just barely, things that no longer sing to you when you're down, things that don't want to hold you up anymore, and where mediocrity and malaise strangle your sensibilities until you become numb to your visual environment.
Everything not being renovated suddenly seems to beg for renovation. We can no longer walk a city block in nearby downtown Portsmouth, a lovely city by all accounts, without looking longingly at gutters that work, pristine paint jobs, new townhouses with 15 foot ceilings and recessed power lines, marble adorned entrances, properties seemingly sculpted elsewhere and placed on postage stamp sized lots that promise to change the skyline for the next hundred years and for the better to be sure. It is a macro example of what we're seeing in our own home when it comes to identifying opportunities for improvement. Fact of the matter is that you don't have to look too far to see the opportunities that until now were there but just not obvious. With the renovations done, whether it be in the city of Portsmouth or right here in our own home, examples of what can be provide a path to what is possible. You just have to open your eyes.
The replacement vanity top and sink finally arrived and it has been properly installed. Can't recall if I commented previously that they delivered the wrong size vanity top and sink. Good thing we noticed and good thing we got that squared away. I told Nancy that I've never seen her so excited about 4 inches before. I'm referring, of course, to the space between the edge of the sink and the actual sink. It should be 4 inches or so and not the nearly six inches that we took measure of when they delivered the original vanity top and sink.
Now if I can just get Nancy to stop splashing so much when she washes her face that will be a good thing. Water ends up everywhere and every inch of the 36 inch vanity top is splattered with water. I may have noticed this before but, like everything else, stuff just went unnoticed or tolerated before the renovations. And any thought of a smaller vanity short of the 36 inch vanity we now have would have been preposterously small especially in light of the splashing taking place daily. The shower door is not yet in place either so we had to put up a shower curtain. What a cluster that's been. Nancy tells me that we should have gotten one with magnets to make sure the fit was tight and to avoid water getting everywhere inside and outside the tub. It was never meant to be anything but temporary so you go cheap and hope for the best. All of that ends today when they put in the shower door. Nancy's only question is now, is it opaque enough?
Boating Not-So-Blue Blues
09/10/17 09:32
I'll need to get on over to walk with Nancy today for her noontime walk at work after a two week hiatus. We had a disagreement over something a couple of weeks ago and I decided that the prudent course of action at the time was to impose sanctions on her for what I perceived to be a slight of sorts. Sanctions were being discussed widely in the political and global sphere at the time so I decided to jump on that bandwagon and impose sanctions of my own. Sanctions were limited to having her walk alone for a two week period. That is to say, without the benefit of my company (barf alert.) Sanctions are typically a shopping list of items that are intended to send a message of disapproval and with any luck to have those very sanctions force a corrective course of action by the party against whom the sanctions are being levied.
Yes, I told myself, now she will understand what perhaps she failed to understand at the time she did what she did and with any luck she will think twice before doing it again. Interestingly, there has been no act of contrition overt or otherwise on her part in the last two weeks since I imposed this so-called sanction. I have to wonder if it mattered a hoot to her one way or another in the scheme of things. Her indifference is now a matter of concern whereas before it was not. As painful as it was for me to impose the sanctions I found other things to do wth my extra time. Nancy never gave me the satisfaction of telling me how much she missed our walks or even if she took her walk on any given day. I resisted the urge to inquire about same and the desire to pursue the subject ebbed and flowed until it ceased all together after a few days. We've both come full circle now and for better or worse we're walking again. Maybe it's true what they say about time healing all wounds.
I have to say, I'm quite happy for brother Wally and have been ever since he bought a restored 1952 Century Seamaid earlier this summer. After negotiating a reasonable price from the fella selling it he had it brought up from Texas and has been enjoying it ever since. He has made some terrific videos of his outings on Lake George, NY, and has posted same to Facebook. I'm not a big Facebook guy but signed on when I discovered that certain political events I wanted to follow only appeared on Facebook. As luck would have it, my family also has a considerable presence on Facebook so the decision to sign up was an easy one.
The boat is now out of the water for the winter and stored away in a garage up in the mountains north of Glens Falls. I don't think I can put into words the satisfaction that I think Wally gets out of his Seamaid. It is a smaller version of a boat our father owned back in the day and tops out at 30mph on calm waters. In a funny sort of way I think it was just as well that we didn't vacation in Lake George this summer since I think Wally and his Seamaid would have been inseparable thereby leaving us without a boat while on the lake. Wally has been good enough to share his boats with us over the years so we've always had one to use when vacationing there in late August and early September.
Owning this boat has been a dream come true for him and I understand his wanting to derive every bit of pleasure possible even to the point of sharing it with the world via social media. I would say that he is in his element or as close to being in his element as possible when getting behind the wheel of his Seamed. I'm equally enamored of boats of yesteryear so share his passion especially when it comes to resurrecting or replicating family treasures and memories of the past.
When Wally and I talk about boats we make constant comparisons to boats owned over the years by our family, memorable times recounted, and anecdotes that I can't share here without further research into certain crimes and related statutes of limitations. The other half of that equation when it comes to all things memorable is our history on Lake George. It is aptly and affectionately referred to as The Queen of American Lakes so having access to boats and the lake is a continuation of a long-lasting and loving relationship with both. I am happy to enjoy it knowing what I know about Wally's experiences even if it is a vicarious form of enjoyment. As for my first ride in his Seamaid, that will have to wait until next year.
Morning Glory picture above is from our backyard garden.
Yes, I told myself, now she will understand what perhaps she failed to understand at the time she did what she did and with any luck she will think twice before doing it again. Interestingly, there has been no act of contrition overt or otherwise on her part in the last two weeks since I imposed this so-called sanction. I have to wonder if it mattered a hoot to her one way or another in the scheme of things. Her indifference is now a matter of concern whereas before it was not. As painful as it was for me to impose the sanctions I found other things to do wth my extra time. Nancy never gave me the satisfaction of telling me how much she missed our walks or even if she took her walk on any given day. I resisted the urge to inquire about same and the desire to pursue the subject ebbed and flowed until it ceased all together after a few days. We've both come full circle now and for better or worse we're walking again. Maybe it's true what they say about time healing all wounds.
I have to say, I'm quite happy for brother Wally and have been ever since he bought a restored 1952 Century Seamaid earlier this summer. After negotiating a reasonable price from the fella selling it he had it brought up from Texas and has been enjoying it ever since. He has made some terrific videos of his outings on Lake George, NY, and has posted same to Facebook. I'm not a big Facebook guy but signed on when I discovered that certain political events I wanted to follow only appeared on Facebook. As luck would have it, my family also has a considerable presence on Facebook so the decision to sign up was an easy one.
The boat is now out of the water for the winter and stored away in a garage up in the mountains north of Glens Falls. I don't think I can put into words the satisfaction that I think Wally gets out of his Seamaid. It is a smaller version of a boat our father owned back in the day and tops out at 30mph on calm waters. In a funny sort of way I think it was just as well that we didn't vacation in Lake George this summer since I think Wally and his Seamaid would have been inseparable thereby leaving us without a boat while on the lake. Wally has been good enough to share his boats with us over the years so we've always had one to use when vacationing there in late August and early September.
Owning this boat has been a dream come true for him and I understand his wanting to derive every bit of pleasure possible even to the point of sharing it with the world via social media. I would say that he is in his element or as close to being in his element as possible when getting behind the wheel of his Seamed. I'm equally enamored of boats of yesteryear so share his passion especially when it comes to resurrecting or replicating family treasures and memories of the past.
When Wally and I talk about boats we make constant comparisons to boats owned over the years by our family, memorable times recounted, and anecdotes that I can't share here without further research into certain crimes and related statutes of limitations. The other half of that equation when it comes to all things memorable is our history on Lake George. It is aptly and affectionately referred to as The Queen of American Lakes so having access to boats and the lake is a continuation of a long-lasting and loving relationship with both. I am happy to enjoy it knowing what I know about Wally's experiences even if it is a vicarious form of enjoyment. As for my first ride in his Seamaid, that will have to wait until next year.
Morning Glory picture above is from our backyard garden.
Got a Bee in my Bonnet
07/10/17 08:13
Well. So that was that. The Airbnb is now history. Or, should I stay, our time at the Airbnb is history. It was a pretty good experience for the most part. We got acquainted with a section of Hampton that were it not for our experience with this renovation of ours we might never have discovered. The house itself was a delight and the hosts, Clair and Dave, couldn't have been more delightful. They were always two doors down and in a house that was visible if you stepped into the back room and looked across the back yards. While some might have considered that to be intrusive in and of itself we soon got over ourselves and went about our business as it were. I will admit that I didn't wash my car in the driveway, not even once, when the thought didn't occur to me that they might be watching me out their windows or from behind a curtain or two on the first floor of their two story home.
We always kept the blinds drawn on the east side of the Airbnb where the adjoining house was within spitting distance and whose blinds were also drawn 24 hours a day. Maybe it was my paranoia but the vehicles at that home rarely if ever moved one day to the next and I found myself wondering if anyone even lived there. Were it not for the fact that Nancy said that she had a conversation with the person staying there I might have considered dialing 911 to drop by for a wellness check. There was ample foot traffic in front of the house by people walking their dogs, having a walk down to the beach, or just stretching their legs in the nice weather. There were days during the month we were there when we used the air conditioning in the home unsparingly and we may have turned the heat on once when temperatures dipped into the fifties.
We went through the house with a fine toothed comb in our last 24 hours in the Airbnb. We asked Clair and Dave if we might stay until three that afternoon when check out time was otherwise posted as 10am knowing as we did that there were no other tenants scheduled to come that day. It helped in a funny sort of way that Evan had driven to Massachusetts the prior day and wasn't expected back until the day we were planning to move out. Moving the time to three in the afternoon gave him a chance to come back to the Airbnb and get some rest if for no other reason that to recalibrate his sleep clock. He had done a magnificent job cleaning his room before leaving on his trip and we told him as much. We've long given up trying to reinforce that type of behavior using compliments and bribes but thought it appropriate to give him a shout out for a job well done. Our job as parents is just never done. His job in resisting everything parental is also never done and, as such, I'm not sure that our compliment didn't fall on deaf ears. He may have even scoffed at us ever so slightly as is his practice every so often.
I certainly stayed on track with my bike rides and blog updates while at the Airbnb so that was good. I think I discovered that I can do the blogging thing pretty much anytime I set my mind to it. That scrunchy little window of time in the early morning that I coveted almost religiously for my writing has expanded to anywhere, any time, and any place. I think that's a good thing. It has me thinking overtime on topics to cover, anecdotes to share, personages to ply, and generally speaking, things to talk about.
Not to get off subject or anything but I came over here to the house the other day and no sooner was I through the door when a bee attacked me. I'm not usually irritated, annoyed, or even bothered by bees as such despite the fact that I had an allergic reaction to bee stings once upon a time. This little fella found his way down the back of my shirt in the time it took me to take three steps into the back room and I saw him coming and took certain precautions to head off the attack. In other words, I was flailing around like Donald Trump when he was mocking a disabled New York Times reporter during the 2016 presidential election timeframe. It would have been comical if I hadn't been ever so slightly hysterical but I wasn't about to let that little bastard have his way. I could tell by the way he attacked me that he was just a mean mother of a bee and he was going to get his pound of flesh come hell or high water.
By the time I flushed him out of my shirt I could feel the starting of a sting where at first blush it felt like he nicked me but nothing more. I almost thought I felt his stinger protruding from my skin as I reached behind my head to the spot where he stung me. Seeing me still standing, he was heading for the nearest door that was still ajar after my entrance. I tried to isolate him with a plastic cup once he hit the screen door but caught him instead between the lip of the cup and the screen. Not wanting to take any chances of getting bitten again, I pressed hard against the screen door with the lip of the cup and dispatched the little guy until he fell to the ground where against my better judgement I put the full weight of my body against him until I heard a muffled crunch.
The fact that I'm even writing about this tells you something about the residual guilt I'm feeling about ending his life. Part of me says that it was self defense and the other part says that I had the power of life and death over one of god's creatures and I acted with malice and forethought. The "forethought" piece suggests a certain premeditation and that would not be correct. It's like that instance when a homeowner is confronted by a burglar inside his home and has but a split second to decided whether he blows his head off with the shotgun he's holding or he lets him get the upper hand and jeopardizes the lives of everyone in the home. In other words, it was an easy decision. The baby Jesus may judge me differently but I'll take my chances when the time comes.
We always kept the blinds drawn on the east side of the Airbnb where the adjoining house was within spitting distance and whose blinds were also drawn 24 hours a day. Maybe it was my paranoia but the vehicles at that home rarely if ever moved one day to the next and I found myself wondering if anyone even lived there. Were it not for the fact that Nancy said that she had a conversation with the person staying there I might have considered dialing 911 to drop by for a wellness check. There was ample foot traffic in front of the house by people walking their dogs, having a walk down to the beach, or just stretching their legs in the nice weather. There were days during the month we were there when we used the air conditioning in the home unsparingly and we may have turned the heat on once when temperatures dipped into the fifties.
We went through the house with a fine toothed comb in our last 24 hours in the Airbnb. We asked Clair and Dave if we might stay until three that afternoon when check out time was otherwise posted as 10am knowing as we did that there were no other tenants scheduled to come that day. It helped in a funny sort of way that Evan had driven to Massachusetts the prior day and wasn't expected back until the day we were planning to move out. Moving the time to three in the afternoon gave him a chance to come back to the Airbnb and get some rest if for no other reason that to recalibrate his sleep clock. He had done a magnificent job cleaning his room before leaving on his trip and we told him as much. We've long given up trying to reinforce that type of behavior using compliments and bribes but thought it appropriate to give him a shout out for a job well done. Our job as parents is just never done. His job in resisting everything parental is also never done and, as such, I'm not sure that our compliment didn't fall on deaf ears. He may have even scoffed at us ever so slightly as is his practice every so often.
I certainly stayed on track with my bike rides and blog updates while at the Airbnb so that was good. I think I discovered that I can do the blogging thing pretty much anytime I set my mind to it. That scrunchy little window of time in the early morning that I coveted almost religiously for my writing has expanded to anywhere, any time, and any place. I think that's a good thing. It has me thinking overtime on topics to cover, anecdotes to share, personages to ply, and generally speaking, things to talk about.
Not to get off subject or anything but I came over here to the house the other day and no sooner was I through the door when a bee attacked me. I'm not usually irritated, annoyed, or even bothered by bees as such despite the fact that I had an allergic reaction to bee stings once upon a time. This little fella found his way down the back of my shirt in the time it took me to take three steps into the back room and I saw him coming and took certain precautions to head off the attack. In other words, I was flailing around like Donald Trump when he was mocking a disabled New York Times reporter during the 2016 presidential election timeframe. It would have been comical if I hadn't been ever so slightly hysterical but I wasn't about to let that little bastard have his way. I could tell by the way he attacked me that he was just a mean mother of a bee and he was going to get his pound of flesh come hell or high water.
By the time I flushed him out of my shirt I could feel the starting of a sting where at first blush it felt like he nicked me but nothing more. I almost thought I felt his stinger protruding from my skin as I reached behind my head to the spot where he stung me. Seeing me still standing, he was heading for the nearest door that was still ajar after my entrance. I tried to isolate him with a plastic cup once he hit the screen door but caught him instead between the lip of the cup and the screen. Not wanting to take any chances of getting bitten again, I pressed hard against the screen door with the lip of the cup and dispatched the little guy until he fell to the ground where against my better judgement I put the full weight of my body against him until I heard a muffled crunch.
The fact that I'm even writing about this tells you something about the residual guilt I'm feeling about ending his life. Part of me says that it was self defense and the other part says that I had the power of life and death over one of god's creatures and I acted with malice and forethought. The "forethought" piece suggests a certain premeditation and that would not be correct. It's like that instance when a homeowner is confronted by a burglar inside his home and has but a split second to decided whether he blows his head off with the shotgun he's holding or he lets him get the upper hand and jeopardizes the lives of everyone in the home. In other words, it was an easy decision. The baby Jesus may judge me differently but I'll take my chances when the time comes.
Employee of the Month
04/10/17 16:09
I turned the corner on my bike after taking an hours ride along Ocean Boulevard mid morning up to Rye Harbor and back and noticed that Evan was sitting on our porch at the Airbnb with Katie. I first noticed her car and then caught sight of the two of them sitting opposite each other having what appeared to be a normal conversation. Evan was probably not expecting me to return so soon and did not otherwise have a sense of when I was expecting to return from my ride. I slowed my bike but did not change direction and wheeled past the house with a surreptitious and half hearted wave to Evan and just keep pedaling. Katie's back was to the street so unless she noticed something in Evan's behavior she probably was unaware of my presence. I can tell you unequivocally that is what Evan would have preferred so knowing that to be the case I kept on keeping on.
I didn't look back, I didn't care one way or another if anyone saw me, and I then turned north once I reached Ocean Boulevard hoping to waste just enough time to allow them to finish their business before returning home. If Evan did see me then he knew I was giving him space while leaving him to his own business without interference or interruption. There is a chance Evan may find a place of his own and Katie will be instrumental in assisting with that process. Nancy and I are mostly on the outside looking in when it comes to Evan's personal business these days and giving him his own personal space is important to him so we do just that. It is with mixed emotions that we anticipate being empty nesters again for reasons I cannot go into here. Suffice it say that it is all about Evan. Even the best of parents take a back seat to the ambitions of their children sooner or later and we're no different.
We may want to consider asking the caretakers of the Airbnb if we can stay at the house until three on Friday to give the workers here at the house a chance to complete any unfinished tasks. The departure time in the contract we signed for the Airbnb is 10am if I'm not mistaken. The plumbing and electrical fixtures have not yet been installed so the last thing I want to do is to interfere with their work if they are doing their best to meet a deadline. I was here at 6:30 this morning to check a few things on the computer and the Dockham workers were hard at work. Arriving back home here as I did later in the day when they were gone I was a little disheartened to see how little they had accomplished. For all I know they finished up after a couple of hours of work and went on their way. We'll be sure to have a conversation with our contact tomorrow once Nancy has cleared her schedule of one or two planned activities. I don't care if they are not completely finished by the time we move back in but certain things we cannot live without. Not easily anyway.
Nancy is so funny. She came in second in the company football pool at her new job and you would have thought she won the lottery. She was also awarded a "best of" something that saw her coming home with a Mason jar filled with candy. It doesn't matter that she shared not a thing from that jar of candy with her better half. Did I tell you that football pool was a non-monetary event? And all of a sudden she gets out of bed the morning after football games have taken place and she looks up scores on the internet to see if her teams won. I don't know this Nancy. I just don't.
I'm not much help, of course, since I watch zero football and not just because of all the kneeling going on in the league. I think I'd rather watch paint dry. I used to watch the New England Patriots when I thought they might lose because I love to hate that team and seeing them lose gave me pleasure. A sick sort of pleasure but pleasure nonetheless. They don't lose much these days so I just stopped watching. But I'm reminded that there is much to be said for group dynamics in the corporate setting, individual participation in those dynamics, and an occasional boost in morale for employees like Nancy who always perform better when they are recognized for their efforts. I can say with some certainty that I didn't see much of this sort of thing when she worked in the medical field so it's nice to see it now. She makes a fraction of the money in her new job but she gets ten times the amount of job satisfaction forgetting if you will the monotony of her core duties. As an aside, Nancy doesn't think much of Management but I'll continue sing their praises as long as my wife comes home to me each night with a smile on her face and a jar of candy under her arm. Getting her to share is my problem.
I didn't look back, I didn't care one way or another if anyone saw me, and I then turned north once I reached Ocean Boulevard hoping to waste just enough time to allow them to finish their business before returning home. If Evan did see me then he knew I was giving him space while leaving him to his own business without interference or interruption. There is a chance Evan may find a place of his own and Katie will be instrumental in assisting with that process. Nancy and I are mostly on the outside looking in when it comes to Evan's personal business these days and giving him his own personal space is important to him so we do just that. It is with mixed emotions that we anticipate being empty nesters again for reasons I cannot go into here. Suffice it say that it is all about Evan. Even the best of parents take a back seat to the ambitions of their children sooner or later and we're no different.
We may want to consider asking the caretakers of the Airbnb if we can stay at the house until three on Friday to give the workers here at the house a chance to complete any unfinished tasks. The departure time in the contract we signed for the Airbnb is 10am if I'm not mistaken. The plumbing and electrical fixtures have not yet been installed so the last thing I want to do is to interfere with their work if they are doing their best to meet a deadline. I was here at 6:30 this morning to check a few things on the computer and the Dockham workers were hard at work. Arriving back home here as I did later in the day when they were gone I was a little disheartened to see how little they had accomplished. For all I know they finished up after a couple of hours of work and went on their way. We'll be sure to have a conversation with our contact tomorrow once Nancy has cleared her schedule of one or two planned activities. I don't care if they are not completely finished by the time we move back in but certain things we cannot live without. Not easily anyway.
Nancy is so funny. She came in second in the company football pool at her new job and you would have thought she won the lottery. She was also awarded a "best of" something that saw her coming home with a Mason jar filled with candy. It doesn't matter that she shared not a thing from that jar of candy with her better half. Did I tell you that football pool was a non-monetary event? And all of a sudden she gets out of bed the morning after football games have taken place and she looks up scores on the internet to see if her teams won. I don't know this Nancy. I just don't.
I'm not much help, of course, since I watch zero football and not just because of all the kneeling going on in the league. I think I'd rather watch paint dry. I used to watch the New England Patriots when I thought they might lose because I love to hate that team and seeing them lose gave me pleasure. A sick sort of pleasure but pleasure nonetheless. They don't lose much these days so I just stopped watching. But I'm reminded that there is much to be said for group dynamics in the corporate setting, individual participation in those dynamics, and an occasional boost in morale for employees like Nancy who always perform better when they are recognized for their efforts. I can say with some certainty that I didn't see much of this sort of thing when she worked in the medical field so it's nice to see it now. She makes a fraction of the money in her new job but she gets ten times the amount of job satisfaction forgetting if you will the monotony of her core duties. As an aside, Nancy doesn't think much of Management but I'll continue sing their praises as long as my wife comes home to me each night with a smile on her face and a jar of candy under her arm. Getting her to share is my problem.
Killer on the 32nd Floor
03/10/17 16:36
Fifty-nine people attending a country western concert in Las Vegas were killed the other night when an individual holed up on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Hotel opened fire with automatic weapons. While the number of people killed was tragic, the enigmatic story emerging of the individual responsible continues to morph with every news story reported by the main street media. Social media has appropriately pointed out that the targets were largely white, largely patriotic, and more than likely, Trump voters. Social media reports as well that when law enforcement finally gained entrance to the room they found numerous pieces of Antifa literature scattered throughout the suite. Few of the obvious incongruities are likely to be reconciled now that the perpetrator has taken his own life.
We may never know why this so-called gentle giant who enjoyed computer gambling, who once worked as an accountant but is now retired at the age of 64, whose brother openly admitted that he had no political or party affiliation whatsoever, who owned a few handguns, who by all accounts was a successful real estate dabbler, and who was known to send his mother boxes of cookies from time to time, would decide to plan and execute one of the more horrific crimes in american history. One post to social media mentioned that he was absent from one of his homes last year for a six month period. Was that long enough one way or another to travel somewhere to obtain the technical training required to perpetrate this crime with the precision and technical proficiency with which it was carried out?
Within 24 hours the FBI stated unequivocally that there was no link to terrorism. Is this the same FBI who has been investigating our president for alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election and has yet to come to any conclusions after the better part of a year has gone by? Did I mention that ISIS has already come forward and taken responsibility for this heinous act? Not once, but three times now. If we know one thing about ISIS, it is that they do not take responsibility for actions for which they are not responsible. Their admissions of complicity, of course, are being discounted out of hand and summarily dismissed by the FBI. Indeed, why are we now seeing pictures of the hotel suite, pictures of the guns used in the commission of the crime as they lay on the floor of the suite, actual pictures of the perpetrator after he took his own life lying on the floor face up with blood streaming from his mouth and with eyes wide open, and all posted to social media for the world to see. One picture even shows a possible note left by the killer on a stand of sorts.
This is a crime scene if I'm not mistaken. Is it their (law enforcement) modus operandi to allow photographs of the crime scene to leak to social media? Are they leaking the photos for a reason? Call me cynical but I can't say that I think we'll ever get the straight poop on what transpired in Las Vegas that night. Law enforcement, the media, and our Government simply can't and won't admit that this killer was a Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton supporter or even a card carrying member of the Antifa organization without inciting a riot within the ranks of the Trump supporters and to a lesser extent the American people. The "sheep" simply wouldn't stand for it. Rivers would run red with the blood of the opposition and the patriots would hastily and with overt precision extract their pound of flesh. Chaos would reign supreme and any illusions of unity in and amongst the body politic would be lost for generations to come. The truth about what happened may become as elusive as JFK and the grassy knoll, the moon landing, or even something as epic as the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. The American public deserves to know the truth even if it involves pitchforks and shovels.
We may never know why this so-called gentle giant who enjoyed computer gambling, who once worked as an accountant but is now retired at the age of 64, whose brother openly admitted that he had no political or party affiliation whatsoever, who owned a few handguns, who by all accounts was a successful real estate dabbler, and who was known to send his mother boxes of cookies from time to time, would decide to plan and execute one of the more horrific crimes in american history. One post to social media mentioned that he was absent from one of his homes last year for a six month period. Was that long enough one way or another to travel somewhere to obtain the technical training required to perpetrate this crime with the precision and technical proficiency with which it was carried out?
Within 24 hours the FBI stated unequivocally that there was no link to terrorism. Is this the same FBI who has been investigating our president for alleged collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election and has yet to come to any conclusions after the better part of a year has gone by? Did I mention that ISIS has already come forward and taken responsibility for this heinous act? Not once, but three times now. If we know one thing about ISIS, it is that they do not take responsibility for actions for which they are not responsible. Their admissions of complicity, of course, are being discounted out of hand and summarily dismissed by the FBI. Indeed, why are we now seeing pictures of the hotel suite, pictures of the guns used in the commission of the crime as they lay on the floor of the suite, actual pictures of the perpetrator after he took his own life lying on the floor face up with blood streaming from his mouth and with eyes wide open, and all posted to social media for the world to see. One picture even shows a possible note left by the killer on a stand of sorts.
This is a crime scene if I'm not mistaken. Is it their (law enforcement) modus operandi to allow photographs of the crime scene to leak to social media? Are they leaking the photos for a reason? Call me cynical but I can't say that I think we'll ever get the straight poop on what transpired in Las Vegas that night. Law enforcement, the media, and our Government simply can't and won't admit that this killer was a Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton supporter or even a card carrying member of the Antifa organization without inciting a riot within the ranks of the Trump supporters and to a lesser extent the American people. The "sheep" simply wouldn't stand for it. Rivers would run red with the blood of the opposition and the patriots would hastily and with overt precision extract their pound of flesh. Chaos would reign supreme and any illusions of unity in and amongst the body politic would be lost for generations to come. The truth about what happened may become as elusive as JFK and the grassy knoll, the moon landing, or even something as epic as the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. The American public deserves to know the truth even if it involves pitchforks and shovels.
Not A Cracker
01/10/17 10:04
Man, what a concert. When we bought tickets to go see Graham Nash in concert at the Portsmouth Music Hall a few months ago in anticipation of the concert last evening I wasn't sure what to expect. I think I was hoping that I might recognize a few of the songs and that with any luck he might play a few from his days with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. I was a little less concerned that Nancy may find the whole Graham Nash thing to be a bridge too far. I agreed to go see Chris Issak in this same theater back in July because she wanted to see him and when it came time for me to select a performer to see I pulled a proverbial rabbit out of the hat and said that I might like to see Graham Nash.
To say we were surprised at the performance we went to last night would be an understatement. Graham was on stage with a fellow performer who seemed to be more of a backup guitar player and someone who pitched in on an occasional harmony than anything else but he was astoundingly good and seemingly a perfect choice for the small venue. Nash looked every bit the aging rocker standing on stage rail thin and sporting a thick shock of white hair which only added to his mystique as a legendary and iconic band member of the historic group, CSNY. His light tenor voice gave no indication, not even once in the entire performance, that his 75 years was as issue or a distraction as he played various instruments and sang songs like Immigrant Man, Teach Your Children, Our House, OHIO, and he even performed Bus Stop from his days with the Hollies. There was no question that the voice we heard last night was the very same voice symbolic as it was of the great band, CSNY. Just magical!
He introduced certain songs with a discernible English accent and told stories of his days with David Crosby (stood with Crosby on his 75 foot yacht off the coast of Costa Rica watching 125 ft blue whales swimming off the bow), Joni Mitchell (she's getting better and better every day), and even referred to the genius of Stephen Sills relative to his song writing. He recounted a time in the 60's in England when he hired a Rolls Royce and a driver to take him to Stonehendge where he dropped acid and tripped over the head stone of soldier buried back in 1917 (his birthdate and that of the soldier were the same.) As it turned out, there were very few if any of songs during the performance that I hadn't heard before. Another thing that I didn't know but realized as I listened to this man speak is that he was and is still is a prolific songwriter. I whispered to Nancy at one point during the evening that this was the closest we would ever come to hearing a live performance of one of my favorite bands, CSNY.
I would hasten to add that he was a hard core Bernie Sanders supporter during the 2016 presidential campaign and with a social consciousness steeped in the tumultuous times during the 60's it came as no surprise to me that he would make occasional comments on the current political landscape. Of course, you can't go there without commenting on Trump and he went there willingly and at times with malice. There was additional garbage about wars, endless wars, etc but he didn't seem to connect a lot of dots other than to suggest that we all had a part to play or something to that effect. He even referred to items for sale in the foyer of the Music Hall which bore the trademark "Ivanka Trump" but were otherwise made in China. I was grateful that he didn't take a bended knee in solidarity with the clowns in the NFL. The thought occurred to me that he could have easily gone there without too much goading. I think it was all in good fun and at no time did I feel the impulse or need to leave the theater. Given the political leanings of the Portsmouth population in general, I think his taking a stand for Trump might have resulted in a few departures. Nonetheless, he received several standing ovations in the closing minutes with each one more energetic than the last. Yes, except for the fact that Nash is married to a woman half his age which Nancy was more than happy to bring to my attention, she enjoyed herself immensely. It was a good if not grand night.
To say we were surprised at the performance we went to last night would be an understatement. Graham was on stage with a fellow performer who seemed to be more of a backup guitar player and someone who pitched in on an occasional harmony than anything else but he was astoundingly good and seemingly a perfect choice for the small venue. Nash looked every bit the aging rocker standing on stage rail thin and sporting a thick shock of white hair which only added to his mystique as a legendary and iconic band member of the historic group, CSNY. His light tenor voice gave no indication, not even once in the entire performance, that his 75 years was as issue or a distraction as he played various instruments and sang songs like Immigrant Man, Teach Your Children, Our House, OHIO, and he even performed Bus Stop from his days with the Hollies. There was no question that the voice we heard last night was the very same voice symbolic as it was of the great band, CSNY. Just magical!
He introduced certain songs with a discernible English accent and told stories of his days with David Crosby (stood with Crosby on his 75 foot yacht off the coast of Costa Rica watching 125 ft blue whales swimming off the bow), Joni Mitchell (she's getting better and better every day), and even referred to the genius of Stephen Sills relative to his song writing. He recounted a time in the 60's in England when he hired a Rolls Royce and a driver to take him to Stonehendge where he dropped acid and tripped over the head stone of soldier buried back in 1917 (his birthdate and that of the soldier were the same.) As it turned out, there were very few if any of songs during the performance that I hadn't heard before. Another thing that I didn't know but realized as I listened to this man speak is that he was and is still is a prolific songwriter. I whispered to Nancy at one point during the evening that this was the closest we would ever come to hearing a live performance of one of my favorite bands, CSNY.
I would hasten to add that he was a hard core Bernie Sanders supporter during the 2016 presidential campaign and with a social consciousness steeped in the tumultuous times during the 60's it came as no surprise to me that he would make occasional comments on the current political landscape. Of course, you can't go there without commenting on Trump and he went there willingly and at times with malice. There was additional garbage about wars, endless wars, etc but he didn't seem to connect a lot of dots other than to suggest that we all had a part to play or something to that effect. He even referred to items for sale in the foyer of the Music Hall which bore the trademark "Ivanka Trump" but were otherwise made in China. I was grateful that he didn't take a bended knee in solidarity with the clowns in the NFL. The thought occurred to me that he could have easily gone there without too much goading. I think it was all in good fun and at no time did I feel the impulse or need to leave the theater. Given the political leanings of the Portsmouth population in general, I think his taking a stand for Trump might have resulted in a few departures. Nonetheless, he received several standing ovations in the closing minutes with each one more energetic than the last. Yes, except for the fact that Nash is married to a woman half his age which Nancy was more than happy to bring to my attention, she enjoyed herself immensely. It was a good if not grand night.
Not Enough Cooks In The Kitchen
30/09/17 11:02
And today, temperatures are barely out of the forties. It's raining too! What's a boy to do? One more thing I'll say about that Airbnb (I'm blogging from home today) is that it is easy to clean. You know I like tidying up so with most everything in one big room I can go on auto pilot and breeze through the place before anyone even wakes up. If I haven't said it before I'll say it now. I like to surprise Nancy with a clean kitchen now and then knowing what I know about her liking to wake up to a clean kitchen. She may find it more satisfying to go to bed with a clean kitchen but that would make it difficult for me to surprise her now wouldn't it? I also don't want her knowing what I'm doing in the kitchen first thing in the morning otherwise that would take all the fun out of it so I'm sure to do it early before she gets out of bed.
Washing the dishes quietly has its own challenges and keeping the clanging to a minimum is a high priority. I don't do breakfast in bed so I have to find other ways to ingratiate myself to my better half and sometimes doing it for the sake of doing is its own reward. She might even tell you that it is a shared responsibility but I won't ask since I know the answer already. There is one inescapable truism in this arrangement of ours and that is I will never ask her to do something for me that I can't do for myself. The other inescapable truism is that she wouldn't have it any other way. And yes, this includes washing dishes, washing clothes, ironing, making finger sandwiches, etc. Before I forget, the Airbnb has town water and when I wash the dishes by hand there is a discernible wafting of chlorine that emanates up from the sink as I stand over it and that is altogether unpleasant. I don't drink chlorinated water, I don't cook in it if possible, and I find it altogether egregious as chemicals go so certainly want nothing to do with it one way or the other. Ugh!
Nancy wants to make lentil soup tonight for dinner and I asked that she not use the tap water to do so and she agreed. I've lost interest in cooking as of late so appreciate Nancy picking up the slack. Yes, I can do it (make soup / dinner) for myself and Evan but would probably end up just making a sandwich or having a bowl of cereal given my disinterest in such things. Maybe the responsibility for preparing meals for someone other than myself is becoming too much. My culinary skills are passable at best but have served us reasonably well over the years and now they are becoming for better or worse increasingly suspect and notably absent. This may seem unfair to those wanting the continuation of my services but they are hard pressed to complain without bringing to light their own shortcomings in the kitchen. Nancy loves to have a good meal from time to time and certainly deserves one given her hectic schedule. Sitting down to a meal prepared by someone else is one of life's true pleasures. It is a pleasure that I understand as a provider of same but one that is now beyond my reach to now provide. How long it lasts I don't know. Lentil soup sounds good. Thank you, darling.
I wrote in my blog a bit ago about the football players in the NFL taking a knee during the singing out our National Anthem. I found it ugly then and I find it ugly now. They want to be social warriors they can do it on their own time. Get the hell off the stage and out of the national limelight if you want to pull that shit. President Trump called them out recently and referred to them as SOB's and called for the team owners to fire them. The owners, being the leftists that they are for the most part, and wanting to side with the head of the NFL, locked arms with their players against the better wishes of the fans and our president. The fans were and are having none of it. Attendance is falling off, revenues are taking a hit, sponsors are losing their shirts and are now threatening the NFL to get the players to stand during the singing of the anthem. Trump is nothing if not patriotic and has no tolerance for any American disrespecting our flag, our servicemen, our police, and our traditions. The owners underestimated the blowback of the American public and got on the wrong side of this issue. We'll see how much kneeling occurs this coming weekend with the commencement of the weekend games. If the owners and the players want to double down, they had better be prepared for fans to walk away and never come back. That is simply not a sustainable business model.
Washing the dishes quietly has its own challenges and keeping the clanging to a minimum is a high priority. I don't do breakfast in bed so I have to find other ways to ingratiate myself to my better half and sometimes doing it for the sake of doing is its own reward. She might even tell you that it is a shared responsibility but I won't ask since I know the answer already. There is one inescapable truism in this arrangement of ours and that is I will never ask her to do something for me that I can't do for myself. The other inescapable truism is that she wouldn't have it any other way. And yes, this includes washing dishes, washing clothes, ironing, making finger sandwiches, etc. Before I forget, the Airbnb has town water and when I wash the dishes by hand there is a discernible wafting of chlorine that emanates up from the sink as I stand over it and that is altogether unpleasant. I don't drink chlorinated water, I don't cook in it if possible, and I find it altogether egregious as chemicals go so certainly want nothing to do with it one way or the other. Ugh!
Nancy wants to make lentil soup tonight for dinner and I asked that she not use the tap water to do so and she agreed. I've lost interest in cooking as of late so appreciate Nancy picking up the slack. Yes, I can do it (make soup / dinner) for myself and Evan but would probably end up just making a sandwich or having a bowl of cereal given my disinterest in such things. Maybe the responsibility for preparing meals for someone other than myself is becoming too much. My culinary skills are passable at best but have served us reasonably well over the years and now they are becoming for better or worse increasingly suspect and notably absent. This may seem unfair to those wanting the continuation of my services but they are hard pressed to complain without bringing to light their own shortcomings in the kitchen. Nancy loves to have a good meal from time to time and certainly deserves one given her hectic schedule. Sitting down to a meal prepared by someone else is one of life's true pleasures. It is a pleasure that I understand as a provider of same but one that is now beyond my reach to now provide. How long it lasts I don't know. Lentil soup sounds good. Thank you, darling.
I wrote in my blog a bit ago about the football players in the NFL taking a knee during the singing out our National Anthem. I found it ugly then and I find it ugly now. They want to be social warriors they can do it on their own time. Get the hell off the stage and out of the national limelight if you want to pull that shit. President Trump called them out recently and referred to them as SOB's and called for the team owners to fire them. The owners, being the leftists that they are for the most part, and wanting to side with the head of the NFL, locked arms with their players against the better wishes of the fans and our president. The fans were and are having none of it. Attendance is falling off, revenues are taking a hit, sponsors are losing their shirts and are now threatening the NFL to get the players to stand during the singing of the anthem. Trump is nothing if not patriotic and has no tolerance for any American disrespecting our flag, our servicemen, our police, and our traditions. The owners underestimated the blowback of the American public and got on the wrong side of this issue. We'll see how much kneeling occurs this coming weekend with the commencement of the weekend games. If the owners and the players want to double down, they had better be prepared for fans to walk away and never come back. That is simply not a sustainable business model.
Season For Chilling
29/09/17 15:50
This bloody computer monitor is staring to bother me. I think I need a new video card so hope to order that soon. I keep expecting the noise to disappear or even get worse and it does occasionally go away but it always pops back up. There are these weird horizontal lines reminiscent of the early days in television where you fell asleep on the couch watching a late night show only to awaken to a screen filled with funky colors and static straight out of mushroom induced dreamscape. I guess I can see well enough to do what I need to do here today so I'll get on with it. Nancy has gone off to drop off payment to the contractor for some invoices recently billed so it will be good to have that squared away. It doesn't look like any of the workers were here today and I'm thinking that once we told the contractor that we would be out of the house another week he decided that there was no rush and no imminent need to make an appearance. Considering all the things that had to be returned and or fixed it seems as though that was the right call. The good news is that everything will be either fixed and or replaced so we can't complain.
We will return to the Music Hall in Portsmouth tomorrow night to catch Graham Nash of the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young group. Not sure what to expect but might enjoy hearing some of the classic CSNY tunes from yesteryear. I'm sure it will be a very different show than the Chris Issak performance we took in a couple of months back. Since we had a pretty good time the last time we took in a show Nancy asked if I might like to look at the schedule to see if there wasn't another opportunity this year to see another performance by someone else. The Graham Nash appearance was really the only one that caught my eye. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it was a coffeehouse type of performance because the theater surely lends itself to that kind of performance. These are seasoned performers with a strong track record of pleasing audiences for the last several decades although I might be well advised to read a review or two of a recent performance elsewhere if in fact I can put my hands on one. Not that a bad review would deter me from going but it might help frame my expectations just a bit. Youtube might be a good source for his performances as well so I can look at that when I have a free moment.
It's getting more and more difficult to get over to see Nancy's mother these days so if we slip to an every other week visitation then so be it. We said something to Evan the other day about going over to visit "nana" and he said something about not having gone over of quite some time because he didn't fancy going out to eat in a restaurant with us. We told him that more often than not we usually just pay her a visit and that's that. Our taking Mrs G (nana) and Debbie out to dinner at one of the local burger joints in Exeter when we last visited was unusual to say the least. Fun, but unusual. I can't say for sure that our reassuring Evan of that fact means that he will be popping over any time soon but certainly hope springs eternal. For now, he can turn his attention to putting together Thank You cards to those good folks who were kind enough to send him a card, a few dollars, or even just best wishes for his 23rd birthday. I noticed that he addressed the card to Mrs G as "Bernice Gardella" which struck me as odd. Then again, when you're sending something through the mail the Postal Service requires a certain level of formality just to get your item from point A to point B. I didn't look at the card that his aunt Debbie sent him but I'm hopeful that he'll send a similar thank you card to her. At his convenience, of course.
The weather here along the coast has given way to more seasonal temperatures after a few days of temperatures the eighties. Nancy and I had a nice bike ride this morning even though the temperature were barely out of the fifties. Our strategy in taking a ride from our Airbnb involves riding a half hour in one direction only to turn around at that point for the return ride. I think today we didn't realize how windy the return trip was going to be and it was certainly a slog getting back to the house. I was half tempted a couple of times along the way to get off the coastal route and take the back roads where it might be less windy. The air was incredibly cool, crisp, and clear so I was hard pressed to take something other than the scenic route which afforded me terrific ocean views so I pressed on. At times, I lost sight of Nancy on the curves and finally convinced myself that she would come along in time and that she did. I usually stop short of my final destination so I can walk off the ride as it were just a bit before I get home only to sit down again. Before I reached the house on foot I could hear the spokes on Nancy's bike clacking up a storm and coming up behind me. It was a good ride and one that took us a good hour. Not a bad way to start the day I'd say. Not a bad way at all.
We will return to the Music Hall in Portsmouth tomorrow night to catch Graham Nash of the Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young group. Not sure what to expect but might enjoy hearing some of the classic CSNY tunes from yesteryear. I'm sure it will be a very different show than the Chris Issak performance we took in a couple of months back. Since we had a pretty good time the last time we took in a show Nancy asked if I might like to look at the schedule to see if there wasn't another opportunity this year to see another performance by someone else. The Graham Nash appearance was really the only one that caught my eye. It wouldn't be the end of the world if it was a coffeehouse type of performance because the theater surely lends itself to that kind of performance. These are seasoned performers with a strong track record of pleasing audiences for the last several decades although I might be well advised to read a review or two of a recent performance elsewhere if in fact I can put my hands on one. Not that a bad review would deter me from going but it might help frame my expectations just a bit. Youtube might be a good source for his performances as well so I can look at that when I have a free moment.
It's getting more and more difficult to get over to see Nancy's mother these days so if we slip to an every other week visitation then so be it. We said something to Evan the other day about going over to visit "nana" and he said something about not having gone over of quite some time because he didn't fancy going out to eat in a restaurant with us. We told him that more often than not we usually just pay her a visit and that's that. Our taking Mrs G (nana) and Debbie out to dinner at one of the local burger joints in Exeter when we last visited was unusual to say the least. Fun, but unusual. I can't say for sure that our reassuring Evan of that fact means that he will be popping over any time soon but certainly hope springs eternal. For now, he can turn his attention to putting together Thank You cards to those good folks who were kind enough to send him a card, a few dollars, or even just best wishes for his 23rd birthday. I noticed that he addressed the card to Mrs G as "Bernice Gardella" which struck me as odd. Then again, when you're sending something through the mail the Postal Service requires a certain level of formality just to get your item from point A to point B. I didn't look at the card that his aunt Debbie sent him but I'm hopeful that he'll send a similar thank you card to her. At his convenience, of course.
The weather here along the coast has given way to more seasonal temperatures after a few days of temperatures the eighties. Nancy and I had a nice bike ride this morning even though the temperature were barely out of the fifties. Our strategy in taking a ride from our Airbnb involves riding a half hour in one direction only to turn around at that point for the return ride. I think today we didn't realize how windy the return trip was going to be and it was certainly a slog getting back to the house. I was half tempted a couple of times along the way to get off the coastal route and take the back roads where it might be less windy. The air was incredibly cool, crisp, and clear so I was hard pressed to take something other than the scenic route which afforded me terrific ocean views so I pressed on. At times, I lost sight of Nancy on the curves and finally convinced myself that she would come along in time and that she did. I usually stop short of my final destination so I can walk off the ride as it were just a bit before I get home only to sit down again. Before I reached the house on foot I could hear the spokes on Nancy's bike clacking up a storm and coming up behind me. It was a good ride and one that took us a good hour. Not a bad way to start the day I'd say. Not a bad way at all.
Quality Be Damned
28/09/17 16:38
It seems like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Let's just recount for the record: The drain plug arrived and was not brushed nickel as purchased; the subway wall covering for the tub was late in arriving so the contractor opted to use the subway wall planned for another job they were on; The contractor tells us this morning that the replacement subway wall was cracked so had to return it and will replace it with the one that we originally ordered - I have a sneaky suspicion that since I was at the house yesterday and they said nothing about a cracked wall that they cracked it when they cut it to conform to our specifications; The Kohler lights that we ordered through Amazon arrived with a broken glass bulb on one of the three light fixtures and had to be reordered; The shower door that we ordered through FW Webb was unpacked yesterday and the framing was chrome and not brushed nickel when the overall theme in our bathroom is brushed nickel - The sales person at FW Webb from day one seemed incompetent at worst and uninterested at best in assisting us in making our purchases through them.
Nancy says that the medicine cabinet we ordered ended up being too tall and was seemingly not right for the space it occupied - not to mention the fact that the height of the mirror made placing lights above the mirror a no-go as they were clearly too close to the ceiling; The top of the vanity arrived yesterday and at first glance appeared odd as it sat atop the vanity - the sink was too small and the space between the edge of the quartz top and the edge of the sink was not standard - it was some 6 inches when the standard is 4 inches. I'm not sure why the contractor didn't bring this to my attention. I'm guessing he thought that doing so would compromise one thing or another and he was under a deadline so it was better not to mention it. He was wrong.
He did admit when we called him this morning that he thought it looked a bit odd but only after we brought it to his attention; The vanity delivered had a defect in the front of the unit on one of the bottom drawers and the contractor contacted the dealer to have that replaced - I told Nancy that the contractor should also work with the dealer on the sink top but she seems to want to do that so we'll leave well enough alone; I disagree with Nancy on this but she seems to think that the flooring tile in a couple of places is not flush and has reached out to the flooring folks to have someone come and look at it - She has not received a call back from the installer.
It just makes me wonder what the hell is going on. Is it us? Is it the contractor? Is it the way things roll when you do renovations? There is a limit to the amount of incompetence that one should have to endure in such situations. And these are just the things we know about. What electrical and or plumbing nightmares await us down the road? I had a good mind at one point to get a marble and place it in the center of our new bathroom floor just to see if it would roll one way or another without any prompting. That said, if there is one thing that I like a lot so far it is the bathroom floor. Did we pay too much? Possibly.
We went to Home Depot last night to measure the distances on several if not all the vanity tops within reach to see if what they had delivered to our house was anomalous or just average. Add to that the time we spent searching the web for associated articles and it's safe to say we're fully armed with the necessary information now so that taking this issue up with the store will be that much easier. How accommodating they will be remains to be seen. We topped off the night with a soft serve at the local ice cream shop on Ocean Boulevard. Not a celebration, mind you, but rather the keeping of a long held promise to have at least one ice cream cone during the summer season. It was a dark sultry evening with temperatures in the eighties but cooler along the shore. Thankfully.
If there is one thing I won't miss about staying at this Airbnb it is that I have to wash the cars all the time because of the sap that comes off the trees here at the house. I haven't figured out whether or not this is a temporary problem and remain optimistic but our time here is running short so not sure being optimistic is going to help me one way or another. How do you own a place like this and not do something about the problem? I'm not exaggerating when I say that literally every morning I go out to the cars I have to wash the windshields with soap and water just to have a clear windshield with which to drive. Turning on the windshield wipers tends to smear the sap rather than clear it so that is not a solution. Not an easy one anyway. The entire car is coated with a sticky substance after a day or two and then things start sticking to the stickiness like twigs, leaves, pine needles, road dirt, etc. It's just disgusting. I can live with a lot of things but this drives me to distraction. I wash the windshields as well because I'm not sure that Evan would and that might interfere with his ability to see clearly. I won't have him driving with any form or impairment natural or other. That's just me - his dad.
I leave my new car at home because of this particular sap problem. Until I made that decision I actually bought a cover for my car to protect it. It works pretty well so I'm glad I did it. It's just easier parking it at home. One thing about this house I also like is the garden hose they have on the property. It is one of those hoses you see that expand when the water runs thought it. Never mind the fact that it has every appearance of an undulating black snake when the water moves through it. It may even be one of those as-seen-on-tv kinds of hoses. All I know is that it is lightweight, easy to maneuver, easy to store, and it just works. It is a breath of fresh air compared to the ordinary run of the mill hoses that you pick up at your local ACE hardware store or Walmart. They are typically cheap and flimsy and prone to kinking every time you move it or hard, heavy, and difficult to haul around from place to another. So, I ordered myself one from Amazon. What Johnny wants, Johnny gets. Did I tell you that I think the owners of this Airbnb are republicans? Their bookshelves are replete with books that suggest as much and each of their two homes has an American flag having out front. You need to be careful in tipping your hand when discussing politics these days but these folks seem not to care one hoot. I'm with them.
Nancy says that the medicine cabinet we ordered ended up being too tall and was seemingly not right for the space it occupied - not to mention the fact that the height of the mirror made placing lights above the mirror a no-go as they were clearly too close to the ceiling; The top of the vanity arrived yesterday and at first glance appeared odd as it sat atop the vanity - the sink was too small and the space between the edge of the quartz top and the edge of the sink was not standard - it was some 6 inches when the standard is 4 inches. I'm not sure why the contractor didn't bring this to my attention. I'm guessing he thought that doing so would compromise one thing or another and he was under a deadline so it was better not to mention it. He was wrong.
He did admit when we called him this morning that he thought it looked a bit odd but only after we brought it to his attention; The vanity delivered had a defect in the front of the unit on one of the bottom drawers and the contractor contacted the dealer to have that replaced - I told Nancy that the contractor should also work with the dealer on the sink top but she seems to want to do that so we'll leave well enough alone; I disagree with Nancy on this but she seems to think that the flooring tile in a couple of places is not flush and has reached out to the flooring folks to have someone come and look at it - She has not received a call back from the installer.
It just makes me wonder what the hell is going on. Is it us? Is it the contractor? Is it the way things roll when you do renovations? There is a limit to the amount of incompetence that one should have to endure in such situations. And these are just the things we know about. What electrical and or plumbing nightmares await us down the road? I had a good mind at one point to get a marble and place it in the center of our new bathroom floor just to see if it would roll one way or another without any prompting. That said, if there is one thing that I like a lot so far it is the bathroom floor. Did we pay too much? Possibly.
We went to Home Depot last night to measure the distances on several if not all the vanity tops within reach to see if what they had delivered to our house was anomalous or just average. Add to that the time we spent searching the web for associated articles and it's safe to say we're fully armed with the necessary information now so that taking this issue up with the store will be that much easier. How accommodating they will be remains to be seen. We topped off the night with a soft serve at the local ice cream shop on Ocean Boulevard. Not a celebration, mind you, but rather the keeping of a long held promise to have at least one ice cream cone during the summer season. It was a dark sultry evening with temperatures in the eighties but cooler along the shore. Thankfully.
If there is one thing I won't miss about staying at this Airbnb it is that I have to wash the cars all the time because of the sap that comes off the trees here at the house. I haven't figured out whether or not this is a temporary problem and remain optimistic but our time here is running short so not sure being optimistic is going to help me one way or another. How do you own a place like this and not do something about the problem? I'm not exaggerating when I say that literally every morning I go out to the cars I have to wash the windshields with soap and water just to have a clear windshield with which to drive. Turning on the windshield wipers tends to smear the sap rather than clear it so that is not a solution. Not an easy one anyway. The entire car is coated with a sticky substance after a day or two and then things start sticking to the stickiness like twigs, leaves, pine needles, road dirt, etc. It's just disgusting. I can live with a lot of things but this drives me to distraction. I wash the windshields as well because I'm not sure that Evan would and that might interfere with his ability to see clearly. I won't have him driving with any form or impairment natural or other. That's just me - his dad.
I leave my new car at home because of this particular sap problem. Until I made that decision I actually bought a cover for my car to protect it. It works pretty well so I'm glad I did it. It's just easier parking it at home. One thing about this house I also like is the garden hose they have on the property. It is one of those hoses you see that expand when the water runs thought it. Never mind the fact that it has every appearance of an undulating black snake when the water moves through it. It may even be one of those as-seen-on-tv kinds of hoses. All I know is that it is lightweight, easy to maneuver, easy to store, and it just works. It is a breath of fresh air compared to the ordinary run of the mill hoses that you pick up at your local ACE hardware store or Walmart. They are typically cheap and flimsy and prone to kinking every time you move it or hard, heavy, and difficult to haul around from place to another. So, I ordered myself one from Amazon. What Johnny wants, Johnny gets. Did I tell you that I think the owners of this Airbnb are republicans? Their bookshelves are replete with books that suggest as much and each of their two homes has an American flag having out front. You need to be careful in tipping your hand when discussing politics these days but these folks seem not to care one hoot. I'm with them.
Throw The Bums Out
26/09/17 15:11
Looks like the Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, will be a "no" vote on the Graham Cassidy healthcare bill scheduled for this week. Her vote means that the bill will not pass, Obamacare will continue to live another day, and we Americans who are not receiving subsidies on the various exchanges will continue to see unaffordable increases in our annual premiums. In practical terms, it means that people who can barely afford their premiums up to now will be forced out of their insurance plans due to anticipated increases with nowhere to go. Families who up till now relied on the insurance provided through the exchanges will no longer have access to healthcare for themselves and their children. Obamacare was destined to fail and the republicans in Congress cannot seem to muster the support within their own ranks to both repeal and replace the program. Sad.
It is true that once the government creates an entitlement it is almost impossible to take it away. In the case of Obamacare, you can bet that President Trump will find a way if Congress can't. He now says that they have the votes but won't be able to bring it to a vote until early next year. And, he's looking at working with Rand Paul on implementing an executive action that will further erode the asset base required to support the Obamacare behemoth. In the meantime, Trump's base will be working on replacing those congressmen and congresswomen who are not willing to work day in and day out to implement the Presidents agenda. This includes the likes of Susan Collins and her ilk. Getting rid of Paul Ryan and Mitch O'Connell has to be the first order of business on everyone's agenda.
I'm sitting here at 17 Meadow thinking that they should have gotten a little more done today then they did. I was hoping to see the subway wall up inside the shower and the vanity installed. Neither was done today as promised. Jeremy promised to have our bathroom up and running if not complete by this coming Friday. We're at the rental for another week so no great shakes if that doesn't happen. It is true that once things start to slide there is no telling where it stops. They inserted the mirror in the wall above where the sink will be so Nancy will have something to look at when she arrives after leaving work a little after 5. That's a good thing.
I've already told her that putting lights above the mirror was a non-starter since it places them up snug to the ceiling and that wouldn't look quite right. Jeremy placed the fixture above the mirror this morning just to show me and he was quite right. So, I raced around town looking for replacement light fixtures before coming home here this morning but ended up ordering them on Amazon to be delivered Friday. We also discussed the height of the subway wall and just how far above the shower door it should go. We agreed on the Goldilocks version: not too high and not too low - Just right.
Evan seems to be settling in quite nicely at the new place across town. So much so, in fact, that he may be reluctant to leave. He does complain here and there and that to go anywhere from the house is a bit of a hike so he is less inclined to go out for a sandwich or an errand without doubling up on what he expects to accomplish on any single outing. On occasion, he'll come back to the house by himself just to hang out in his bedroom for a couple of hours. I can't say I blame him. I'm not sure that that is precisely what I am doing here this very moment. I have more things to be preoccupied with when I'm here than does he but that is probably neither here nor there.
On a day like today when it's hot and in the eighties somewhere thereabouts I can't blame him for staying back at the rental which has central air conditioning. I'm thinking more and more about having that installed here next year and that idea seems to be garnering universal support. It may also provide a bulwark against unwanted noise from an adjoining property where once the land was undeveloped but now sports what appears to be a new pool under construction. It is within hollering distance of our property and the children living there are young so not an imminent threat. Nonetheless, an irksome development that has not gone unnoticed. Truth be told, I rather fancy the sounds of children playing and doing what children do so this latest development doesn't much bother me. I can't speak for Nancy, but I think she would not use the word "fanciful." We'll hope for the best.
It is true that once the government creates an entitlement it is almost impossible to take it away. In the case of Obamacare, you can bet that President Trump will find a way if Congress can't. He now says that they have the votes but won't be able to bring it to a vote until early next year. And, he's looking at working with Rand Paul on implementing an executive action that will further erode the asset base required to support the Obamacare behemoth. In the meantime, Trump's base will be working on replacing those congressmen and congresswomen who are not willing to work day in and day out to implement the Presidents agenda. This includes the likes of Susan Collins and her ilk. Getting rid of Paul Ryan and Mitch O'Connell has to be the first order of business on everyone's agenda.
I'm sitting here at 17 Meadow thinking that they should have gotten a little more done today then they did. I was hoping to see the subway wall up inside the shower and the vanity installed. Neither was done today as promised. Jeremy promised to have our bathroom up and running if not complete by this coming Friday. We're at the rental for another week so no great shakes if that doesn't happen. It is true that once things start to slide there is no telling where it stops. They inserted the mirror in the wall above where the sink will be so Nancy will have something to look at when she arrives after leaving work a little after 5. That's a good thing.
I've already told her that putting lights above the mirror was a non-starter since it places them up snug to the ceiling and that wouldn't look quite right. Jeremy placed the fixture above the mirror this morning just to show me and he was quite right. So, I raced around town looking for replacement light fixtures before coming home here this morning but ended up ordering them on Amazon to be delivered Friday. We also discussed the height of the subway wall and just how far above the shower door it should go. We agreed on the Goldilocks version: not too high and not too low - Just right.
Evan seems to be settling in quite nicely at the new place across town. So much so, in fact, that he may be reluctant to leave. He does complain here and there and that to go anywhere from the house is a bit of a hike so he is less inclined to go out for a sandwich or an errand without doubling up on what he expects to accomplish on any single outing. On occasion, he'll come back to the house by himself just to hang out in his bedroom for a couple of hours. I can't say I blame him. I'm not sure that that is precisely what I am doing here this very moment. I have more things to be preoccupied with when I'm here than does he but that is probably neither here nor there.
On a day like today when it's hot and in the eighties somewhere thereabouts I can't blame him for staying back at the rental which has central air conditioning. I'm thinking more and more about having that installed here next year and that idea seems to be garnering universal support. It may also provide a bulwark against unwanted noise from an adjoining property where once the land was undeveloped but now sports what appears to be a new pool under construction. It is within hollering distance of our property and the children living there are young so not an imminent threat. Nonetheless, an irksome development that has not gone unnoticed. Truth be told, I rather fancy the sounds of children playing and doing what children do so this latest development doesn't much bother me. I can't speak for Nancy, but I think she would not use the word "fanciful." We'll hope for the best.
One Busy Week
25/09/17 16:14
This is a big week. I'm listening to CSPAN right now where they are holding hearings in the Senate on the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill. A vote is expected by the 30th (this coming Saturday) so we'll see if this passes. If it does, then Obamacare will be dead in the water. Well, almost. Close enough for government work is what I say. It is going to be close. Again, if it passes it will be one more piece of Obama's legacy that will go away (thank the baby Jesus.) My fingers are crossed. Mrs G has an appointment for a few tests this week which will determine the trajectory of her life in the short term for better or worse so the implications of that are significant. She is otherwise satisfied that she either will or will not do certain things depending on the outcome and that is as it should be. Our collective fingers are crossed. Nancy and I both have appointments with Dr. Joslow tomorrow but neither appointment warrants concern one way or another and both were previously scheduled. In other words, there is no impending crisis.
Our bathroom should be nearing completion and has been promised at least partially by this coming Friday. As I sit here today on Monday that appears doubtful. The walls have been painted and the flooring is down so I can envision a completed project whereas before I could not. Trump commented on NFL players in a rally in Alabama over the weekend and the fallout of those remarks seem to be resonating in the news cycle with no end in sight. I have to believe his remarks were intentional and may even be yet another shiny object for the press to chase while his administration pursues their busy agenda. And then there is the Senatorial runoff in Alabama tomorrow between Judge Roy Moore and Luther Strange. Trump's appearance at the rally in Alabama was intended to show his support for Strange but his comments were half hearted at best so he was perhaps sending a message to his supporters that it was ok to vote for the "other" guy. Odds are that Moore will win and that would be a good thing. Not good for McConnell and the Establishment, but good for America.
The histrionics of the democrats on the issue of Obamacare and the defeat of same is deafening. It has nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with Obama's legacy. Let that sink in. If Congress can't get the job done then Trump will see to it that the three legs of the three-legged stool of Obamacare will be shortened and ultimately removed thereby rendering the act obsolete. If you haven't looked at the price of your healthcare package as of late then you should. You would realize that something has to be done before it becomes all but unaffordable, if it isn't already, for everyone except those receiving subsidies. Did I mention that North Korea threatened to shoot down any US planes even if they were not in North Korea air space? This was in direct response to Trump's remarks at the UN which they admittedly accepted as a declaration of war. It was not, of course, and the rhetoric and the ratcheting up of same continues unabated. My advice to Kim Jung-Un would be to think twice before taking any hostile actions towards the United Sates or our allies. We are not currently on a war footing with North Korea but that can change very quickly. Very quickly indeed.
Our bathroom should be nearing completion and has been promised at least partially by this coming Friday. As I sit here today on Monday that appears doubtful. The walls have been painted and the flooring is down so I can envision a completed project whereas before I could not. Trump commented on NFL players in a rally in Alabama over the weekend and the fallout of those remarks seem to be resonating in the news cycle with no end in sight. I have to believe his remarks were intentional and may even be yet another shiny object for the press to chase while his administration pursues their busy agenda. And then there is the Senatorial runoff in Alabama tomorrow between Judge Roy Moore and Luther Strange. Trump's appearance at the rally in Alabama was intended to show his support for Strange but his comments were half hearted at best so he was perhaps sending a message to his supporters that it was ok to vote for the "other" guy. Odds are that Moore will win and that would be a good thing. Not good for McConnell and the Establishment, but good for America.
The histrionics of the democrats on the issue of Obamacare and the defeat of same is deafening. It has nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with Obama's legacy. Let that sink in. If Congress can't get the job done then Trump will see to it that the three legs of the three-legged stool of Obamacare will be shortened and ultimately removed thereby rendering the act obsolete. If you haven't looked at the price of your healthcare package as of late then you should. You would realize that something has to be done before it becomes all but unaffordable, if it isn't already, for everyone except those receiving subsidies. Did I mention that North Korea threatened to shoot down any US planes even if they were not in North Korea air space? This was in direct response to Trump's remarks at the UN which they admittedly accepted as a declaration of war. It was not, of course, and the rhetoric and the ratcheting up of same continues unabated. My advice to Kim Jung-Un would be to think twice before taking any hostile actions towards the United Sates or our allies. We are not currently on a war footing with North Korea but that can change very quickly. Very quickly indeed.
The Elusive Grout Man
23/09/17 15:49
Where is the grout man? I was so looking forward to seeing the bathroom floor finished today. I don't think I misunderstood him when he told us yesterday that he was coming today to finish the job. You should have seen Nancy poring over the tiles that they planned to put down in our bathroom. This was yesterday of course when the tiles and the two men planning to put down the tiles arrived a little after 9am. She was hunched over on the garage floor taking the tiles out of the boxes tile by tile looking for patterns, fissures, anything that might catch the eye and detract from the overall look of the flooring once it was in place. God help us if she were to step out of the shower every day to a veritable Shroud of Turin looking up at her from the floor. If something was found she would want it to go under the vanity where it would never see the light of day. I wouldn't allow myself to obsess over such things but Nancy has no such compunctions so she went about her task with a sense of purpose disproportionate to the task at hand. No doubt the tile men had seen this sort of thing before and they were accommodating and agreeable insofar as we knew. Once the tiles were in place and the men long gone it was hard to know for sure whether they followed her explicit instructions. The patterns are, after all, a swirling and swishing of grays, blues, and whites, and all mottled and whirling. In a twisted psychopathic way it is whatever you want it to be. To those of us living in the real world, it is what it is.
I have to admit that any and all plans I had for writing my blog in the Airbnb never materialized. It's one of those things where you get to bring the things you need to do the things you want to do and maybe you end up doing them and maybe you don't. I've never had any issues writing while on the road staying in hotels and other short term stays while on vacation etc so not sure why I can't find my groove in this new place. I just know that it isn't going to happen so I'll have to do what I'm doing today which is to do it at home from time to time and that should work out okay. Sometimes I need events, feelings, sensations, worries, thoughts, and aspirations to stew for a while to the point where I can't contain them anymore and then it is time to get them down on "paper." That so-called news cycle is at times a 24-hour cycle and sometimes it is just longer for whatever reason.
I've been waiting for Evan to say something about the queen sized bed he has been sleeping in at the Airbnb. At home, he sleeps on a twin and has never had anything larger or longer. You might think that having exposure to something more generous might be more appealing to him to the point where it was worth mentioning. Crickets. Living in alternative housing forces all kinds of comparisons, some for the better and some for the worse.
For example, I like their silverware arrangement better than ours. There is more of it for one thing; there is a silverware drawer that seems to accommodate the silverware better than does ours; the windows and accompanying sills are newer and function better than some of ours; The house is roughly the same size as our home in terms of square footage but the feng shui in the Airbnb is undeniably better - you sense it the minute you walk in the front door; Their driveway only accommodates two cars so we're constantly jockeying around the vehicles to meet our demanding schedules; and while the Airbnb is clean as whistle and up to date in terms of all the niceties, there is a certain "on the cheap" feel to this place that makes one think that it serves more of a vacation home than someones primary residence. I doubt that it was built to be an Airbnb as Airbnb is new to the temporary housing market. Now that I think of it there is a mishmash of this kind of housing in this particular neighborhood and environs so we'll just leave it at that.
Believe it or not we're down to looking at various shades of honey colored wood for our front room flooring. I can't tell you how excited Nancy is about getting a hardwood floor put down. I haven't seen her this excited since I don't know when. We've been in and out of the flooring place more times than I can count. We're most definitely on a first name basis with the good folks at Portsmouth Quality Flooring. They see us coming and they just ignore us as we make our way to the back of the store where we restock our samples with different colors. I've talked about this kind of obsession so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Nancy is going to take her time to get it right. I should be thankful that someone is paying the kind of attention that this sort of task deserves especially in light of my previous comments about doing things on the cheap.
I'm that doting husband whose sole purpose is to tag along and carry the necessary materials from one place to another until the Mrs makes up her mind. In the drug trade, I would be referred to more affectionately as the "mule." I might need some good drugs before all is said and done so I'll hold my cards close to the vest lest they upset an applecart or two along the way. This is Nancy's time to shine and she seems to be in her element so that I like. It makes me wonder if her doing what she's been doing for the last number of years has all been a mistake. Maybe her real passion is, was, and should have been elsewhere. It's no time for recriminations. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing for better or worse. I'm sure she'll tell me when it's been for the worse.
I have to admit that any and all plans I had for writing my blog in the Airbnb never materialized. It's one of those things where you get to bring the things you need to do the things you want to do and maybe you end up doing them and maybe you don't. I've never had any issues writing while on the road staying in hotels and other short term stays while on vacation etc so not sure why I can't find my groove in this new place. I just know that it isn't going to happen so I'll have to do what I'm doing today which is to do it at home from time to time and that should work out okay. Sometimes I need events, feelings, sensations, worries, thoughts, and aspirations to stew for a while to the point where I can't contain them anymore and then it is time to get them down on "paper." That so-called news cycle is at times a 24-hour cycle and sometimes it is just longer for whatever reason.
I've been waiting for Evan to say something about the queen sized bed he has been sleeping in at the Airbnb. At home, he sleeps on a twin and has never had anything larger or longer. You might think that having exposure to something more generous might be more appealing to him to the point where it was worth mentioning. Crickets. Living in alternative housing forces all kinds of comparisons, some for the better and some for the worse.
For example, I like their silverware arrangement better than ours. There is more of it for one thing; there is a silverware drawer that seems to accommodate the silverware better than does ours; the windows and accompanying sills are newer and function better than some of ours; The house is roughly the same size as our home in terms of square footage but the feng shui in the Airbnb is undeniably better - you sense it the minute you walk in the front door; Their driveway only accommodates two cars so we're constantly jockeying around the vehicles to meet our demanding schedules; and while the Airbnb is clean as whistle and up to date in terms of all the niceties, there is a certain "on the cheap" feel to this place that makes one think that it serves more of a vacation home than someones primary residence. I doubt that it was built to be an Airbnb as Airbnb is new to the temporary housing market. Now that I think of it there is a mishmash of this kind of housing in this particular neighborhood and environs so we'll just leave it at that.
Believe it or not we're down to looking at various shades of honey colored wood for our front room flooring. I can't tell you how excited Nancy is about getting a hardwood floor put down. I haven't seen her this excited since I don't know when. We've been in and out of the flooring place more times than I can count. We're most definitely on a first name basis with the good folks at Portsmouth Quality Flooring. They see us coming and they just ignore us as we make our way to the back of the store where we restock our samples with different colors. I've talked about this kind of obsession so it shouldn't surprise anyone that Nancy is going to take her time to get it right. I should be thankful that someone is paying the kind of attention that this sort of task deserves especially in light of my previous comments about doing things on the cheap.
I'm that doting husband whose sole purpose is to tag along and carry the necessary materials from one place to another until the Mrs makes up her mind. In the drug trade, I would be referred to more affectionately as the "mule." I might need some good drugs before all is said and done so I'll hold my cards close to the vest lest they upset an applecart or two along the way. This is Nancy's time to shine and she seems to be in her element so that I like. It makes me wonder if her doing what she's been doing for the last number of years has all been a mistake. Maybe her real passion is, was, and should have been elsewhere. It's no time for recriminations. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing for better or worse. I'm sure she'll tell me when it's been for the worse.
One-Ringy-Dingey
19/09/17 16:31
The new iPhones are out. I'm not sure if I'll be getting one or not. Part of me wants to be anonymous and out of reach for those wanting to reach out and touch me. With all due respect, I don't want to be touched. Not here, not there, not anywhere. All kidding aside, I'm contemplating getting one of the phones if only because I've always had Apple products and anything less is just unacceptable. I got into a lease deal with Sprint when I last purchased iPhone 6's for the family and man was that a mistake. I recall very clearly asking how many payments were required after the expiration of the lease in order to purchase the phone as my own. The salesperson made reference to something like "a few" and so I went ahead with the deal. As it turns out it was more than a few and the final price was significantly more than it would have been had I purchased the phones outright. I won't make that mistake again. If I do buy one again, it will be for cash currency. Yes, that is a da-ism (Tribute to Mr G.)
The price is not important at the end of the day but when you get a funny feeling that you've been sold a bill of goods which is how I felt that is never good. The thought of buying a phone and keeping the phone for generations into the future is something that also appeals to me. Like the cars that I've owned, I like to keep them as long as I can. With cars, it's easy peasy. With phones, not so much. Case in point: I went swimming with my iPhone 6 Plus within a year of getting it and today it barely serves as a paper weight. Do I have a plan for not making that mistake again? I most certainly do not. Is such a plan readily available? Not to my knowledge. And then there is the issue of usage. Do I spend up to $1,000 for a device that I would barely use? Do I spend that kind of money to send an occasional text, e-mail, or phone message?
I take heart when I see that Nancy has done well to keep and protect her phone even though it is getting a little long in the tooth. It is also admittedly somewhat less responsive after having had the glass replaced a year or two ago. The Sir Galahad in me says that I should buy Nancy a new phone and I would take her phone for my own use. Accruing goodwill is never a bad idea even in the best of marriages so that is currently under consideration. Nancy might well be offended if I get a nice new phone with all the bells and whistles leaving her in the proverbial dustbin of technological history. I'm just saying. I'm also hard pressed to admit that I have been using a Galaxy phone since I lost my iPhone 6 Plus and that has been a living hell. Replacing that phone and getting one that actually works has great appeal to me. So, we'll see. There is no hurry one way or the other. The phone that interests me, the iPhone X isn't available until October and even then it might be hard to get hold of due to supply shortages. I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer. I know, I know. What about Nancy? What about Nancy.
Was Trump's speech before the UN just great today or what? As a brief aside, I get a little worried when I see him working with the Democrats but understand that he is a transactional president. If his party denies him then he will do what he needs to do for the American people even if that means reaching across the aisle. Or, as Trump tells it, to Chuck and Nancy. Ultimately, I want what he promised: Tax cuts, repeal and replace of Obamacare, a wall on our southern border, a strong defense and obliteration of Islamic Radicals, restoration of law and order, and a leader of our country who doesn't go around the globe apologizing for American exceptionalism. The UN is a den of globalists so you can imagine how Trump selling sovereignty went over. But, as an American I stand proud and assured after his speech today before the General Assembly where he railed against the evil forces of North Korea by referring to their president as "Rocket Man" and referred to the deal struck with Iran by the Obama Administration which Trump referred to as "the worst deal in American history" that my vote counted and it was the right vote. Still lots to do but we have to thank the baby Jesus that Hillary Clinton lost that election to Donald J Trump. Yes, still lots to do.
The price is not important at the end of the day but when you get a funny feeling that you've been sold a bill of goods which is how I felt that is never good. The thought of buying a phone and keeping the phone for generations into the future is something that also appeals to me. Like the cars that I've owned, I like to keep them as long as I can. With cars, it's easy peasy. With phones, not so much. Case in point: I went swimming with my iPhone 6 Plus within a year of getting it and today it barely serves as a paper weight. Do I have a plan for not making that mistake again? I most certainly do not. Is such a plan readily available? Not to my knowledge. And then there is the issue of usage. Do I spend up to $1,000 for a device that I would barely use? Do I spend that kind of money to send an occasional text, e-mail, or phone message?
I take heart when I see that Nancy has done well to keep and protect her phone even though it is getting a little long in the tooth. It is also admittedly somewhat less responsive after having had the glass replaced a year or two ago. The Sir Galahad in me says that I should buy Nancy a new phone and I would take her phone for my own use. Accruing goodwill is never a bad idea even in the best of marriages so that is currently under consideration. Nancy might well be offended if I get a nice new phone with all the bells and whistles leaving her in the proverbial dustbin of technological history. I'm just saying. I'm also hard pressed to admit that I have been using a Galaxy phone since I lost my iPhone 6 Plus and that has been a living hell. Replacing that phone and getting one that actually works has great appeal to me. So, we'll see. There is no hurry one way or the other. The phone that interests me, the iPhone X isn't available until October and even then it might be hard to get hold of due to supply shortages. I've waited this long, I can wait a little longer. I know, I know. What about Nancy? What about Nancy.
Was Trump's speech before the UN just great today or what? As a brief aside, I get a little worried when I see him working with the Democrats but understand that he is a transactional president. If his party denies him then he will do what he needs to do for the American people even if that means reaching across the aisle. Or, as Trump tells it, to Chuck and Nancy. Ultimately, I want what he promised: Tax cuts, repeal and replace of Obamacare, a wall on our southern border, a strong defense and obliteration of Islamic Radicals, restoration of law and order, and a leader of our country who doesn't go around the globe apologizing for American exceptionalism. The UN is a den of globalists so you can imagine how Trump selling sovereignty went over. But, as an American I stand proud and assured after his speech today before the General Assembly where he railed against the evil forces of North Korea by referring to their president as "Rocket Man" and referred to the deal struck with Iran by the Obama Administration which Trump referred to as "the worst deal in American history" that my vote counted and it was the right vote. Still lots to do but we have to thank the baby Jesus that Hillary Clinton lost that election to Donald J Trump. Yes, still lots to do.
The Big 2-3
18/09/17 16:37
The Ev man turned the big 2-3 yesterday. He started the day out by complaining to his mother that she was trying to kill him. It was, even by his standards, hyperbolic and uncalled for especially in light of all the work that his momma did to make his birthday as special as possible. Turns out that she had bought a hot sauce for him that was made in a facility where peanuts and tree nuts were present. He feigned tasting the sauce while fidgeting in his seat and grimacing distastefully as though there was something about the sauce that wasn't right. And then he told us about having read the ingredients after the fact only to find the comments about being made in a facility, etc. He may have even said that he thought he tasted peanut butter while sampling the sauce. I wonder sometimes given his life long allergy whether or not he has had sufficient exposure to peanut butter over time such that he would know it if he came into contact with it however briefly.
Peanut butter and allergies aside, he has taken to hot sauces as of late like a Mexican to hot tamales. It seems he can't eat anything these day without a good dousing of Tabasco or similar. Is it a phase or is there something more sinister going on? Is it telltale of some other illness or self inflicted? I know coke heads tend to destroy their nostrils and all the fine hairs inside the nose that decipher scents but I'm pretty sure that isn't it. It may well have something to do with all the corn starch he consumes. It may keep his blood sugars afloat but it probably doesn't do him much good otherwise. Maybe he has a calcified coating of the starch on the inside of his mouth and palate that prevents his taste buds from doing their job. I'm making this up as I go along so I may or may not be on the right track. There are aspects of his diet and his eating habits that perhaps support this starchy theory of mine. He no longer seems to enjoy the things he used to enjoy and when it comes to those things that he does enjoy he partakes only rarely. You would think that he might return to the things that work for him and leave aside those that don't. Imagine our frustration as parents. We simply don't know what to have on hand for him, make for him, or even suggest to him. Even the lemon squares that his mom made for his birthday went untouched after he had a square or two. And he LOVES lemon squares.
I'm going back and forth from our rental to our house to take care of a few things that require my attention each and every day. The construction seems to be going well and there haven't been a lot of surprises so that's good. One issue that came up had to do with smoke alarms and a code added by the building inspector back in 2009 requiring this that and the other thing when it comes to alarms in homes. Bottom line is that it was costly to get up to code and it wasn't as easy as going to Walmart and buying a few detectors. It was so costly, in fact, that I went down to have a word with the building inspector just to get additional information before signing off on the work order to have our house updated. As I sit here today, and now that we are two weeks into our rental, the bathroom has been ripped out and the drywall is up with the tub and electrical done. We're just waiting on the vanity and the toilet as well as the new flooring and skylight which we're hoping come along quickly now that our rental is winding down. The one thing we haven't done is to buy the lighting fixtures for the bathroom so that is next on our to-do list. Not to worry, we know what we want. Or, do we?
Peanut butter and allergies aside, he has taken to hot sauces as of late like a Mexican to hot tamales. It seems he can't eat anything these day without a good dousing of Tabasco or similar. Is it a phase or is there something more sinister going on? Is it telltale of some other illness or self inflicted? I know coke heads tend to destroy their nostrils and all the fine hairs inside the nose that decipher scents but I'm pretty sure that isn't it. It may well have something to do with all the corn starch he consumes. It may keep his blood sugars afloat but it probably doesn't do him much good otherwise. Maybe he has a calcified coating of the starch on the inside of his mouth and palate that prevents his taste buds from doing their job. I'm making this up as I go along so I may or may not be on the right track. There are aspects of his diet and his eating habits that perhaps support this starchy theory of mine. He no longer seems to enjoy the things he used to enjoy and when it comes to those things that he does enjoy he partakes only rarely. You would think that he might return to the things that work for him and leave aside those that don't. Imagine our frustration as parents. We simply don't know what to have on hand for him, make for him, or even suggest to him. Even the lemon squares that his mom made for his birthday went untouched after he had a square or two. And he LOVES lemon squares.
I'm going back and forth from our rental to our house to take care of a few things that require my attention each and every day. The construction seems to be going well and there haven't been a lot of surprises so that's good. One issue that came up had to do with smoke alarms and a code added by the building inspector back in 2009 requiring this that and the other thing when it comes to alarms in homes. Bottom line is that it was costly to get up to code and it wasn't as easy as going to Walmart and buying a few detectors. It was so costly, in fact, that I went down to have a word with the building inspector just to get additional information before signing off on the work order to have our house updated. As I sit here today, and now that we are two weeks into our rental, the bathroom has been ripped out and the drywall is up with the tub and electrical done. We're just waiting on the vanity and the toilet as well as the new flooring and skylight which we're hoping come along quickly now that our rental is winding down. The one thing we haven't done is to buy the lighting fixtures for the bathroom so that is next on our to-do list. Not to worry, we know what we want. Or, do we?
Movin' and Groovin'
05/09/17 08:11
My darling put me on notice last night following dinner when she said, "it would be nice if we could wake up tomorrow morning to a clean kitchen." That's Nancy-ese for clean the kitchen before you go to bed and do a good job or else. Since I place even more value on waking up to a clean kitchen than she does I took her admonition with a grain of salt and set about the task once she was out of sight with my usual sense of purpose. The task itself requires that she be done with whatever it is she is doing in the kitchen and leave me to do my job in peace. I work best without distraction, where the business of cleaning the kitchen is apparent and manageable, and where I have the time and inclination to complete the job. If she happens to wander in and out while I am otherwise occupied, I might well ask the question: "Am I in your way?" That's Johnny-ese for do what you're doing and be on your way or call me when you're finished so I can come back into the kitchen to finish my work. Truth be told, I am better at cleaning up than she is. I am faster, more efficient, more thorough, and better suited generally speaking to the task at hand. I am less tolerant of clutter and disorganization and fastidious in a way about cleanliness that Nancy is not, never was, and never will be. To be fair, Nancy is a lot of things that I am not so there you have it. The yin and yang of marriage. When she gets her own blog she can sing her own praises. You go, girl.
The Trump Administration will announce their decision today on DACA. DACA is an acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It was an unconstitutional act by a rogue president (Obama) designed to garner votes from the illegal immigrant population ahead of the 2012 national elections. It provided refuge in our country to the children of illegal aliens, affectionately referred to as "dreamers" by Obama, based on certain criteria. Obama had a democratic congress but couldn't get the votes to pass a law that would provide amnesty of sorts to this specific population of illegal immigrants. In the absence of same he signed off on an executive action that did the same thing. Executive actions are not law and can be undone by other executive actions in the future. Donald Trump called it for what it is in stump speeches throughout the 2016 presidential election cycle and threatened to cancel or undo Obama's unconstitutional executive action if elected. Trump's platform was replete with immigration reforms ranging from building a wall on the southern border to deporting unlawful illegal aliens that threatened the safety and security of everyday americans. He put M-13 and their ilk on notice that, if elected, he would round them up and get them out of the country.
The republicans in congress were up in arms when Obama's executive action was put in place and called it for what it was - unconstitutional. Now that Trump is expected to cancel it, a handful of ne'er-do-well republicans who came out against it when Obama signed it into law have their knickers in a bunch and don't have the testicular fortitude to support Trump in reversing Obama's executive action. Trump is expected to give congress 6 months to deal with it before deportations begin. He's far more generous than I would be but I'm quite certain that congress will fail at this task as amnesty is not reconcilable one way or another in the republican playbook. Trump tells us that he has a big heart when it comes to the 800,000 or so "kids" that are in our country through no fault of their own. That said, anyone who knows Trump knows that he believes in the American "dreamers" first and foremost. My suggestion to the dreamers is that they pack their bags and start to self-deport before ICE does what they do best.
So far so good with the new digs. Nancy seems to think that had we tried a little harder we might have found something on the beach for the same price. Next time, I told her, you do the looking. Some people are never happy. We told ourselves that we would come home on the weekends for a bit just for a break and to see how things are going with the construction. Everything seems to be on schedule now that we're here at the house. Our bathroom is down to the studs and the demo portion of the job is now complete. Nancy was sure that they would find that the sub floor in the bathroom was either moldy or otherwise compromised and they did find a little something but nothing that couldn't be easily repaired or replaced. We also asked them to put some insulation in the walls where none was found but otherwise expected. Now that the demo is done our next payment is due based on the schedule provided to us up front by the builder. We'll be sure to pay them promptly first thing Monday morning. Replacement parts for the bathroom are lying in boxes small and large in our garage and while not everything has been delivered they have what they need to get started first thing on Monday.
Nancy is lying in on our bed resting, reading, or maybe a little bit of both. Our refrigerator is empty of everything but things we elected not to take with us and if we get hungry or thirsty in the middle of our short stay here today we are SOL. Did I mention that the rug person didn't follow through as expected on the carpet we had expected to put in the living room? That is just as well. We'll go with hardwood floors and Nancy can ease her mind when it comes to chemicals emitting from the carpet. We will need to look for some area rugs and that can be a very iffy proposition. What you like one day may not strike your fancy the very next day. And when you have more than one person trying to make that decision it only complicates matters further.
Evan is bouncing back and forth along with us albeit on a very different schedule. There is not room enough for our three cars at the interim joint so we jockey around the cars to meet our needs and it has worked out as well as can be expected. I mentioned to Nancy that we're in something of a vacation mode with the new place in that we're not really unpacked and the stuff that is unpacked is not really put away. I liken it to our more traditional week long vacations to Lake George this time of the year where the week is almost up by the time we get everything unpacked and starting to feel at home. We need to get over that. We're there for a month.
The Trump Administration will announce their decision today on DACA. DACA is an acronym for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It was an unconstitutional act by a rogue president (Obama) designed to garner votes from the illegal immigrant population ahead of the 2012 national elections. It provided refuge in our country to the children of illegal aliens, affectionately referred to as "dreamers" by Obama, based on certain criteria. Obama had a democratic congress but couldn't get the votes to pass a law that would provide amnesty of sorts to this specific population of illegal immigrants. In the absence of same he signed off on an executive action that did the same thing. Executive actions are not law and can be undone by other executive actions in the future. Donald Trump called it for what it is in stump speeches throughout the 2016 presidential election cycle and threatened to cancel or undo Obama's unconstitutional executive action if elected. Trump's platform was replete with immigration reforms ranging from building a wall on the southern border to deporting unlawful illegal aliens that threatened the safety and security of everyday americans. He put M-13 and their ilk on notice that, if elected, he would round them up and get them out of the country.
The republicans in congress were up in arms when Obama's executive action was put in place and called it for what it was - unconstitutional. Now that Trump is expected to cancel it, a handful of ne'er-do-well republicans who came out against it when Obama signed it into law have their knickers in a bunch and don't have the testicular fortitude to support Trump in reversing Obama's executive action. Trump is expected to give congress 6 months to deal with it before deportations begin. He's far more generous than I would be but I'm quite certain that congress will fail at this task as amnesty is not reconcilable one way or another in the republican playbook. Trump tells us that he has a big heart when it comes to the 800,000 or so "kids" that are in our country through no fault of their own. That said, anyone who knows Trump knows that he believes in the American "dreamers" first and foremost. My suggestion to the dreamers is that they pack their bags and start to self-deport before ICE does what they do best.
So far so good with the new digs. Nancy seems to think that had we tried a little harder we might have found something on the beach for the same price. Next time, I told her, you do the looking. Some people are never happy. We told ourselves that we would come home on the weekends for a bit just for a break and to see how things are going with the construction. Everything seems to be on schedule now that we're here at the house. Our bathroom is down to the studs and the demo portion of the job is now complete. Nancy was sure that they would find that the sub floor in the bathroom was either moldy or otherwise compromised and they did find a little something but nothing that couldn't be easily repaired or replaced. We also asked them to put some insulation in the walls where none was found but otherwise expected. Now that the demo is done our next payment is due based on the schedule provided to us up front by the builder. We'll be sure to pay them promptly first thing Monday morning. Replacement parts for the bathroom are lying in boxes small and large in our garage and while not everything has been delivered they have what they need to get started first thing on Monday.
Nancy is lying in on our bed resting, reading, or maybe a little bit of both. Our refrigerator is empty of everything but things we elected not to take with us and if we get hungry or thirsty in the middle of our short stay here today we are SOL. Did I mention that the rug person didn't follow through as expected on the carpet we had expected to put in the living room? That is just as well. We'll go with hardwood floors and Nancy can ease her mind when it comes to chemicals emitting from the carpet. We will need to look for some area rugs and that can be a very iffy proposition. What you like one day may not strike your fancy the very next day. And when you have more than one person trying to make that decision it only complicates matters further.
Evan is bouncing back and forth along with us albeit on a very different schedule. There is not room enough for our three cars at the interim joint so we jockey around the cars to meet our needs and it has worked out as well as can be expected. I mentioned to Nancy that we're in something of a vacation mode with the new place in that we're not really unpacked and the stuff that is unpacked is not really put away. I liken it to our more traditional week long vacations to Lake George this time of the year where the week is almost up by the time we get everything unpacked and starting to feel at home. We need to get over that. We're there for a month.
Purple Haze
02/09/17 07:59
On September 16th here in NH the law concerning the decriminalization of marijuana takes effect. That also happens to be Ev's birthday so I'll throw that out there for good measure. I think the law is a good one and long overdue for sure. No longer will young men and women be arrested for possession of small amounts of the weed. Using it in public or driving under the influence is not legal so you could be arrested if caught and prosecuted. Otherwise, possession will get you a fine and that's reasonable. We will not have to worry about getting a call from the county jail in the middle of the night requesting that we come down and bail out our son. We won't have to worry that he may not get hired because of a conviction on his record although that is what you typically hire attorneys to avoid. The expense associated with these matters is not insignificant either. All in all, just a hassle and one no parents would ever want to experience.
So I applaud the state for seeing the merit in pursuing decriminalization and it eliminates one more thing to worry about when it comes to our children. Using the drug is another story and while I would not recommend it to my child I might prefer that he use marijuana instead of alcohol or other. Personally, I have no particular desire one way or another to light up but I come from a time and place where such a thing was not altogether uncommon so cannot rule it out. Recreational marijuana is legal in two adjoining states but retail sales have yet to begin. When they do I might like to do a little shopping just to see what that looks like. I would prefer that government not be involved in the regulation and sale of the substance but understand their desire to further fatten their coffers with tax proceeds. There is also the matter of putting a lid on the toxicity by keeping THC levels within reason much in the same way you cannot buy 100% proof alcohol. If every toke produced an unwanted psychotic episode requiring hospitalization then that would be a bad thing from the governments point of view. Maybe not so much from the end users point of view but it is nonetheless variable and unpredictable so why take the chance. And no, I will not be lighting up with the Ev man anytime soon. It would just be too weird.
Nancy is positively possessed when it comes to rugs, the odors new rugs emit, and the health risks associated with the prolonged inhalation of the chemical in question, 40phenylcyclohexene. I've written before that the prospects of replacing our carpet has not been an easy thought process for Nancy. Not because it is a difficult thing to do but rather because Nancy has such strong feelings about the smell and potential health risks associated with new rugs. Now that we're on the precipice of getting a new rug, Nancy's concerns have been elevated to Defcon-5 status. The questions are endless. Can we leave it in the garage for a few weeks before putting it in? Can the manufacturer unroll it and let it air out before shipping it? Can we somehow seal off that room so the odor doesn't permeate the rest of the house?
The plan at present is to have it installed the day before the bathroom renovations begin. That will give it time to air out before we move back into our home in four weeks time. We've selected the carpet and have requested that the merchant place the order. The carpet is to be installed tomorrow and we've heard nothing from the merchant. Not a word. Not a confirmation, not a word of a delay, not a word about when they might want to begin the job, nothing. We've also paid nothing. I'm thinking now that since the carpet is coming from down in the Carolina's that any and all carpet production and sales have been diverted to satisfy the needs of the Texans who have lost everything due to the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. I can't explain the absence of communication by the merchant but if there an opportunity to pass on the carpet and install hardwood flooring instead now is the time to communicate that message. If it's too late I guess we'll find out in short order. I've rejected the installation of hardwood floors in the past since we have more than enough hardwood floors here and there in our house already. It is a pacifying alternative and one that Nancy should embrace. I'll leave a message with the merchant today and we'll see how it goes. If nothing else it should get the merchant's attention.
All of this handwringing may be for naught if we find ourselves on the losing end of some kind of thermonuclear confrontation with the pinhead dictator in North Korea. No one knows for sure what he can and cannot do or even what he does or does not have in the way of nuclear weaponry. If he can only reach the west coast of our country with his devices then I would say we here on the east coast can order bulbs for planting this Fall without fear of total destruction before we have a chance to put them in the ground. That is the best case scenario. One thing is for sure if the pinhead lobs one our way. His country will be reduced to carbon in short order. The Korean Peninsula will be radioactive for the next ten thousand years. It will be a good and just end for the tin pot dictator with an affinity for American basketball and all things Samsung. Ironically, everyone who feared the likes of Donald J Trump having access to the nuclear codes will find themselves soiling their drawers in a rush to have his little hands on the codes for an immediate launching of our nuclear missiles. Knowing Trump as I do, I'm guessing he will take the opportunity to negotiate yet another something or other which will benefit the American people before pulling the trigger. That is what he does. That is who he is.
So I applaud the state for seeing the merit in pursuing decriminalization and it eliminates one more thing to worry about when it comes to our children. Using the drug is another story and while I would not recommend it to my child I might prefer that he use marijuana instead of alcohol or other. Personally, I have no particular desire one way or another to light up but I come from a time and place where such a thing was not altogether uncommon so cannot rule it out. Recreational marijuana is legal in two adjoining states but retail sales have yet to begin. When they do I might like to do a little shopping just to see what that looks like. I would prefer that government not be involved in the regulation and sale of the substance but understand their desire to further fatten their coffers with tax proceeds. There is also the matter of putting a lid on the toxicity by keeping THC levels within reason much in the same way you cannot buy 100% proof alcohol. If every toke produced an unwanted psychotic episode requiring hospitalization then that would be a bad thing from the governments point of view. Maybe not so much from the end users point of view but it is nonetheless variable and unpredictable so why take the chance. And no, I will not be lighting up with the Ev man anytime soon. It would just be too weird.
Nancy is positively possessed when it comes to rugs, the odors new rugs emit, and the health risks associated with the prolonged inhalation of the chemical in question, 40phenylcyclohexene. I've written before that the prospects of replacing our carpet has not been an easy thought process for Nancy. Not because it is a difficult thing to do but rather because Nancy has such strong feelings about the smell and potential health risks associated with new rugs. Now that we're on the precipice of getting a new rug, Nancy's concerns have been elevated to Defcon-5 status. The questions are endless. Can we leave it in the garage for a few weeks before putting it in? Can the manufacturer unroll it and let it air out before shipping it? Can we somehow seal off that room so the odor doesn't permeate the rest of the house?
The plan at present is to have it installed the day before the bathroom renovations begin. That will give it time to air out before we move back into our home in four weeks time. We've selected the carpet and have requested that the merchant place the order. The carpet is to be installed tomorrow and we've heard nothing from the merchant. Not a word. Not a confirmation, not a word of a delay, not a word about when they might want to begin the job, nothing. We've also paid nothing. I'm thinking now that since the carpet is coming from down in the Carolina's that any and all carpet production and sales have been diverted to satisfy the needs of the Texans who have lost everything due to the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. I can't explain the absence of communication by the merchant but if there an opportunity to pass on the carpet and install hardwood flooring instead now is the time to communicate that message. If it's too late I guess we'll find out in short order. I've rejected the installation of hardwood floors in the past since we have more than enough hardwood floors here and there in our house already. It is a pacifying alternative and one that Nancy should embrace. I'll leave a message with the merchant today and we'll see how it goes. If nothing else it should get the merchant's attention.
All of this handwringing may be for naught if we find ourselves on the losing end of some kind of thermonuclear confrontation with the pinhead dictator in North Korea. No one knows for sure what he can and cannot do or even what he does or does not have in the way of nuclear weaponry. If he can only reach the west coast of our country with his devices then I would say we here on the east coast can order bulbs for planting this Fall without fear of total destruction before we have a chance to put them in the ground. That is the best case scenario. One thing is for sure if the pinhead lobs one our way. His country will be reduced to carbon in short order. The Korean Peninsula will be radioactive for the next ten thousand years. It will be a good and just end for the tin pot dictator with an affinity for American basketball and all things Samsung. Ironically, everyone who feared the likes of Donald J Trump having access to the nuclear codes will find themselves soiling their drawers in a rush to have his little hands on the codes for an immediate launching of our nuclear missiles. Knowing Trump as I do, I'm guessing he will take the opportunity to negotiate yet another something or other which will benefit the American people before pulling the trigger. That is what he does. That is who he is.
Cornbread and Callouses
31/08/17 07:14
And now it seems that we will be moving out of our home for the better part of a month while the renovation takes place. To say that this Airbnb thing fell into place is an understatement. We waited until a week before the renovation was scheduled to take place to even start looking. It didn't make any sense to do it any sooner since things sometimes don't come together for one reason or another and the next thing you know you are losing a deposit that you put down to stay in a place that you no longer need. We thought as well that once the summer was over that finding a place might be easier and cheaper here on the Seacoast and to some extent that is still true. We were but a day or two into our search when I looked on the internet after Evan mentioned the rental website, Airbnb. There amongst the few properties available was a gem of a joint that is close by, affordable, and after a blip on the radar screen regarding a potential tenant that decided not to take it at the last minute, is now available. We expect to go see the place tomorrow and if everything works out we will be on our way. More than likely I will be back home every day doing things I usually do but early in the morning and I will be gone by the time the workers arrive. We may even plan to spend weekends at home after the initial work is done which involves ripping out our old bathroom before putting in a new one. It was a piece of good news and one less thing we need to concern ourselves with as things get going. Hallelujah!
Nancy seems to think that this contractor we're working wth is a little bit of a sly one in that they gave us a budget to work with but sent us to a plumbing wholesaler where fixtures and the like were expensive to the point of putting us over budget with every decision made. To make matters worse, the wholesaler never discussed prices with us since their relationship and loyalty was to the contractor and not we the end users. We pressed the wholesaler from time to time on prices for vanities, tubs, etc., and they divulged them only reluctantly. Whether or not that was intentional on the part of the contractor is hard to say but it seems somewhat obvious at first blush.
It certainly bolsters their case for a job well done if in the final analysis we're more than pleased with not only the way things look but with how they function day in and day out. Inferior products invariably feel cheap, look cheap, and have failure rates that simply don't warrant trying to save nickels and dimes on the margins. Besides, most renovation projects end up being over budget by 10 - 20% anyway so you suck it up and move on. The budget issue to me is simply a pretense anyway and not worthy of consideration one way or another. While it is possible to overspend where those allocations are not otherwise worthwhile or retrievable in a resale situation, I tell Nancy to get what she wants and stop with the concerns about cost. Enough already.
Evan has been talking a lot lately about getting more protein in his diet. That makes perfect sense and it comes as no surprise to us that when he doesn't get enough protein he feels overall less well. He is doing a better job at not eating sweets and loading up on carbs that wreak havoc with his blood sugars. He seems to know and understand which foods are good for him and which ones aren't and that is otherwise critical to the proper management of his disease. For him, it is all about feeling good or not feeling good and the many gradations in between. He certainly could eat more vegetables but couldn't we all. His doctor told him once that fruits were not a good choice and he deliberately avoids them. I think it is something that he enjoys and I don't think having an apple or a handful of blueberries every now and then is the end of the world for him. In fact, he's had an apple and a peach this very week and while I don't know for sure I would probably say that he enjoyed them both.
I wouldn't recommend that he follow his mother's lead and gorge himself on seasonal watermelon and corn on the cob since both are high on the glycemic index but other seasonal fruits and vegetables may be okay in moderation. Since he has vocalized a hankering for protein as of late, and to coincide with the coming of the cooler temperatures and what appears to be a premature Fall season, I made a nice batch of chili yesterday. I didn't want to but I scratched together a meatless version for Nancy out of the ingredients I had assembled and she enjoyed that for dinner. Parsing out the various components of that dish is and has always felt odd to me so I avoid it like the plague but relent if and when Nancy makes a request. By the time Nancy and I got back to the house from our late-day bike ride Evan had ladled out a sizable dish of the chili for his enjoyment. It is just so good. I like mine with chopped onion, a mishmash of Mexican cheeses, maybe a little avocado, and all served with a piece of hot corn bread and a glass of cold milk. You haven't lived until…
Nancy seems to think that this contractor we're working wth is a little bit of a sly one in that they gave us a budget to work with but sent us to a plumbing wholesaler where fixtures and the like were expensive to the point of putting us over budget with every decision made. To make matters worse, the wholesaler never discussed prices with us since their relationship and loyalty was to the contractor and not we the end users. We pressed the wholesaler from time to time on prices for vanities, tubs, etc., and they divulged them only reluctantly. Whether or not that was intentional on the part of the contractor is hard to say but it seems somewhat obvious at first blush.
It certainly bolsters their case for a job well done if in the final analysis we're more than pleased with not only the way things look but with how they function day in and day out. Inferior products invariably feel cheap, look cheap, and have failure rates that simply don't warrant trying to save nickels and dimes on the margins. Besides, most renovation projects end up being over budget by 10 - 20% anyway so you suck it up and move on. The budget issue to me is simply a pretense anyway and not worthy of consideration one way or another. While it is possible to overspend where those allocations are not otherwise worthwhile or retrievable in a resale situation, I tell Nancy to get what she wants and stop with the concerns about cost. Enough already.
Evan has been talking a lot lately about getting more protein in his diet. That makes perfect sense and it comes as no surprise to us that when he doesn't get enough protein he feels overall less well. He is doing a better job at not eating sweets and loading up on carbs that wreak havoc with his blood sugars. He seems to know and understand which foods are good for him and which ones aren't and that is otherwise critical to the proper management of his disease. For him, it is all about feeling good or not feeling good and the many gradations in between. He certainly could eat more vegetables but couldn't we all. His doctor told him once that fruits were not a good choice and he deliberately avoids them. I think it is something that he enjoys and I don't think having an apple or a handful of blueberries every now and then is the end of the world for him. In fact, he's had an apple and a peach this very week and while I don't know for sure I would probably say that he enjoyed them both.
I wouldn't recommend that he follow his mother's lead and gorge himself on seasonal watermelon and corn on the cob since both are high on the glycemic index but other seasonal fruits and vegetables may be okay in moderation. Since he has vocalized a hankering for protein as of late, and to coincide with the coming of the cooler temperatures and what appears to be a premature Fall season, I made a nice batch of chili yesterday. I didn't want to but I scratched together a meatless version for Nancy out of the ingredients I had assembled and she enjoyed that for dinner. Parsing out the various components of that dish is and has always felt odd to me so I avoid it like the plague but relent if and when Nancy makes a request. By the time Nancy and I got back to the house from our late-day bike ride Evan had ladled out a sizable dish of the chili for his enjoyment. It is just so good. I like mine with chopped onion, a mishmash of Mexican cheeses, maybe a little avocado, and all served with a piece of hot corn bread and a glass of cold milk. You haven't lived until…
Winners and Losers
26/08/17 08:11
Holy cow, Goldman Sachs! Did you hear about the woman in Massachusetts who won close to $800 million last week in the lottery? That is a cool $400+ million after taxes if you take the dough in one lump sum (which she did.) Can you imagine? That had to be a WTF moment for that family. We didn't even play the lottery in anticipation of the drawing so we were not invested one way or another. Not in the dreams, not in the money that we could have won, not in the things we might have done had we won. Nothing. I feel bad for the folks who did play and won nothing. Granted, if you only put down a dollar or two hoping for a windfall to come your way it couldn't have been too surprising that you didn't win. The odds are stacked against you from the moment you even think you have a chance to win. But you have to play to lose and you have to play to win. More importantly, you have to play to dream. That's how the game is played. Folks who live in close proximity to the winner or even in that very same state who thought to themselves when they heard that someone from their state won that for the sake of one thing or another it could have been them. The truth of the matter is that the ticket sold in California and the ticket sold in Massachusetts have the same odds of winning. Can someone get me a calculator, please?
But dreams die hard when it comes to cashing in on the big one. I read in the Boston papers today that the police are now patrolling the woman's home after she came forward the other day. It's no wonder. Every nut job, every con man, and every cousin you never knew you had who now think they are entitled to a piece of the action will be coming around. Some of that attraction has to do with celebrity and wanting to snuggle up to the glitter of all that represents. Tabloids will send crews to hound the family, television stations will be looking for their lead story of the week, and the family will go into semi-reclusion to escape it all. I wish them well. One more piece of advice; Keep your wits about you and stay out of the limelight until things quiet down a bit.
The winner is a nurse who has worked the better part of her 30-plus year career in one hospital and who is still young enough to enjoy the fruits of the money she's won. Maybe it's just me but there are winners who are entitled to be winners and then there are others who maybe are less deserving when it comes to cashing in. Certainly, wealthy people who don't need the money probably don't play so don't care one way or another. Then there are folks who have scraped along in a ho-hum job the better part of their lives who for better or worse take a chance now and then and occasionally win a little something. I'm okay with these folks taking home the big prize. Maybe it's small of me to think that some types simply don't deserve to be monumentally lucky. I'm talking about the ne'er do well types who prefer to feed at the public trough rather than take a job and contribute to society in some way. The drug dealers who peddle opiates and sicken or kill those already too weak to compete. The con men and women who play their zero sum game which says that for every winner their must be a loser. They roll the dice with human emotions and cash in on the weak and dispirited. So I'm satisfied as an armchair arbiter in all things lottery related that the baby Jesus picked the right winner this time around. For what it's worth, I agree with him. And, for what it's worth, I'm happy for her.
Now that Nancy has gorged herself on Little League Baseball for the last week and a half it's Evan's turn to use the clicker. Like most others in his generation he is not a television watcher and I know this because I never see him watching television. Whatever he does he does on his cell phone so I suspect he visits some of the more popular venues like YouTube, Netflix, etc to see what he wants to see. As such, he shares nothing and we know nothing. That suits him just fine I suspect. Living under our roof is one thing; maintaining a private life while doing that is quite another. He does his own thing. He is his own man. So it surprised me to hear him talk about the McGregor fight which was planned as a pay-per-view gig on Showtime and which took place last night. I've not known Evan to show any interest in boxing, mixed martial arts, or anything of the sort so I'm guessing he bought into the hype. Maybe his friends were taking it in and he simply got caught up in the excitement. Nonetheless, we know now how it turned out so will plan to watch it today. The fight went 10 rounds so fighting enthusiasts around the globe who paid a pretty penny to watch the event got their money's worth. I told Nancy that it was unlikely to end too soon and each of the fighters probably had explicit instructions from on high to bob and weave their way into later rounds before commencing with the real fighting. Yes, that is what I'm saying. It was fixed. Anyone think for a moment that it wasn't? I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in.
But dreams die hard when it comes to cashing in on the big one. I read in the Boston papers today that the police are now patrolling the woman's home after she came forward the other day. It's no wonder. Every nut job, every con man, and every cousin you never knew you had who now think they are entitled to a piece of the action will be coming around. Some of that attraction has to do with celebrity and wanting to snuggle up to the glitter of all that represents. Tabloids will send crews to hound the family, television stations will be looking for their lead story of the week, and the family will go into semi-reclusion to escape it all. I wish them well. One more piece of advice; Keep your wits about you and stay out of the limelight until things quiet down a bit.
The winner is a nurse who has worked the better part of her 30-plus year career in one hospital and who is still young enough to enjoy the fruits of the money she's won. Maybe it's just me but there are winners who are entitled to be winners and then there are others who maybe are less deserving when it comes to cashing in. Certainly, wealthy people who don't need the money probably don't play so don't care one way or another. Then there are folks who have scraped along in a ho-hum job the better part of their lives who for better or worse take a chance now and then and occasionally win a little something. I'm okay with these folks taking home the big prize. Maybe it's small of me to think that some types simply don't deserve to be monumentally lucky. I'm talking about the ne'er do well types who prefer to feed at the public trough rather than take a job and contribute to society in some way. The drug dealers who peddle opiates and sicken or kill those already too weak to compete. The con men and women who play their zero sum game which says that for every winner their must be a loser. They roll the dice with human emotions and cash in on the weak and dispirited. So I'm satisfied as an armchair arbiter in all things lottery related that the baby Jesus picked the right winner this time around. For what it's worth, I agree with him. And, for what it's worth, I'm happy for her.
Now that Nancy has gorged herself on Little League Baseball for the last week and a half it's Evan's turn to use the clicker. Like most others in his generation he is not a television watcher and I know this because I never see him watching television. Whatever he does he does on his cell phone so I suspect he visits some of the more popular venues like YouTube, Netflix, etc to see what he wants to see. As such, he shares nothing and we know nothing. That suits him just fine I suspect. Living under our roof is one thing; maintaining a private life while doing that is quite another. He does his own thing. He is his own man. So it surprised me to hear him talk about the McGregor fight which was planned as a pay-per-view gig on Showtime and which took place last night. I've not known Evan to show any interest in boxing, mixed martial arts, or anything of the sort so I'm guessing he bought into the hype. Maybe his friends were taking it in and he simply got caught up in the excitement. Nonetheless, we know now how it turned out so will plan to watch it today. The fight went 10 rounds so fighting enthusiasts around the globe who paid a pretty penny to watch the event got their money's worth. I told Nancy that it was unlikely to end too soon and each of the fighters probably had explicit instructions from on high to bob and weave their way into later rounds before commencing with the real fighting. Yes, that is what I'm saying. It was fixed. Anyone think for a moment that it wasn't? I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in.
Transitions and Treadmills
22/08/17 07:37
I'm not a big football watcher but I get a little irked when I see players in the NFL acting not as footballers which is what they get paid to do but rather social warrior activists. This business about taking a knee during the singing of the national anthem is getting out of hand. These are black players predominately not wanting to celebrate or participate in something that they perceive to have racists roots. I think it's a good thing when the likes of Colin Kaepernick who may have been the first asshat to indulge in such nonsense is now and has been for a while looking for a team that is willing to hire him for the 2017 season. Admittedly, he was off to a good start as a star quarterback with a first rate team in the NFL. I'm not sure when his performance started to wane or whether or not the degradation in his performance coincided with his decision to take up arms, so to speak, wth his brethren in the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee during the singing of the national anthem. Fans of the game are for the most part patriotic and god loving americans who want nothing more than to either attend the games in person or sit back in their recliners in the privacy of their homes to forget their worries, indulge in their fantasies, and watch an afternoon of football. It is all about the teams and their fans and that is all it has ever been about. It is up to the teams to temper the idealism of their players for the sake of the game and its fans. If they are either incapable or unwilling to do that then the fans should vote with their feet. There is something to be said for the common good and that is, like it or not, the American way.
I think I'm quite satisfied with how everything is going this summer when it comes to the hummingbirds that have taken up residence in our neighborhood. That may be casting the net too far and too wide. That is to say I think the birds have taken up residence in our yard just as they do every year. I've not seen those telltale red hummingbird feeders in the yards of our neighbors so there would be no reason for the birds to stray. Were it not for the three feeders we have hanging on three sides of our home I think it's safe to say we might actually not even know they are around. Taking that one step further, I cannot for the life of me identify the birds by sight nor can I tell how many hummingbirds there are. They are simply too small, too fleeting, and too similar to get a proper bead on them. I know there are at least two because I see them dive bombing and performing other seemingly amazing aerial feats in what appear to be either mating rituals or in competition of sorts to access the feeders. Very rarely have I ever seen two of them at once sitting on any one or more of our three feeders. I have also done a better job this year compared to past years in ensuring that the feeders are cleaned and filled at least weekly. Now that I have the recipe down pat I'm making a new brew once a week and putting the excess in the fridge. They arrive right on schedule in May and leave sometime in mid September. In late Spring I wrote down on a yellow sticky the date when they first appeared this year and stuck it on the wall in the kitchen as a reminder to watch for them next year around the same time. These wonderful birds are, if nothing else, predictable creatures. This is a good thing.
It's just as well that no one knows about Nancy's new job. It's nobody's business for one thing. She prefers it that way for another. This includes family members on both sides truth be told. It's a part time job to keep her busy a day or two a week and that suits her just fine. If that is what she wants to do then I am there to support her. Getting off that damn Boston treadmill after so many years delights me to no end. Gone are the fatigued looks, the dreaded commutes, the black ice alerts, the traffic jams from hell, and the terrors of it all. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see all of that going by the boards. Poof! See you later, mother fucker! If you detect a hint of anger then you would be correct. Nancy was and is loyal to a fault and that was true about her schtick in Boston. She was unlikely to leave that job short of her boss retiring so when the time came for him to call it quits she was in with both feet. Getting off the treadmill of life requires more that a boss retiring so she set about looking for something closer to home just to keep one foot in the game. Her new schtick may not be the ideal job and had she her druthers she might have been more discerning in her search. I do my part and thank her from time to time for bringing home the bacon. It is altogether unnecessary from my point of view but I defer to Nancy on such issues as I always have. That is what a dutiful husband does. The good news is that I get to join my darling for lunch time walks on each of the two days she works given that her new place of business is close by and not otherwise out of my way. She gets to complain about her new job and I get to listen. Some things never change. Neither of us would have it any other way.
I think I'm quite satisfied with how everything is going this summer when it comes to the hummingbirds that have taken up residence in our neighborhood. That may be casting the net too far and too wide. That is to say I think the birds have taken up residence in our yard just as they do every year. I've not seen those telltale red hummingbird feeders in the yards of our neighbors so there would be no reason for the birds to stray. Were it not for the three feeders we have hanging on three sides of our home I think it's safe to say we might actually not even know they are around. Taking that one step further, I cannot for the life of me identify the birds by sight nor can I tell how many hummingbirds there are. They are simply too small, too fleeting, and too similar to get a proper bead on them. I know there are at least two because I see them dive bombing and performing other seemingly amazing aerial feats in what appear to be either mating rituals or in competition of sorts to access the feeders. Very rarely have I ever seen two of them at once sitting on any one or more of our three feeders. I have also done a better job this year compared to past years in ensuring that the feeders are cleaned and filled at least weekly. Now that I have the recipe down pat I'm making a new brew once a week and putting the excess in the fridge. They arrive right on schedule in May and leave sometime in mid September. In late Spring I wrote down on a yellow sticky the date when they first appeared this year and stuck it on the wall in the kitchen as a reminder to watch for them next year around the same time. These wonderful birds are, if nothing else, predictable creatures. This is a good thing.
It's just as well that no one knows about Nancy's new job. It's nobody's business for one thing. She prefers it that way for another. This includes family members on both sides truth be told. It's a part time job to keep her busy a day or two a week and that suits her just fine. If that is what she wants to do then I am there to support her. Getting off that damn Boston treadmill after so many years delights me to no end. Gone are the fatigued looks, the dreaded commutes, the black ice alerts, the traffic jams from hell, and the terrors of it all. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see all of that going by the boards. Poof! See you later, mother fucker! If you detect a hint of anger then you would be correct. Nancy was and is loyal to a fault and that was true about her schtick in Boston. She was unlikely to leave that job short of her boss retiring so when the time came for him to call it quits she was in with both feet. Getting off the treadmill of life requires more that a boss retiring so she set about looking for something closer to home just to keep one foot in the game. Her new schtick may not be the ideal job and had she her druthers she might have been more discerning in her search. I do my part and thank her from time to time for bringing home the bacon. It is altogether unnecessary from my point of view but I defer to Nancy on such issues as I always have. That is what a dutiful husband does. The good news is that I get to join my darling for lunch time walks on each of the two days she works given that her new place of business is close by and not otherwise out of my way. She gets to complain about her new job and I get to listen. Some things never change. Neither of us would have it any other way.
Two Seats for the Crooner Please
20/08/17 07:46
When Nancy told me that we were going to see Chris Isaak in Portsmouth on Saturday night I thought to myself I think I know one or two of his songs that date back to the nineties. They were good tunes to be sure but can I sit through an hour or two of stuff I'm not even familiar with? I was dubious to say the least. I even listened to a few other tunes he's done and thought to myself I can't say I'm a big fan of these songs I've not heard before and now that I'm hearing them for the first time I'm still not on board. Nancy tells me that she bought these tickets some three months ago and I have to say that was a little surprising to me. Why would she want to surprise me with a concert performed by a guy I hardly know, whose tunes I hardly care for, and whose prospects for turning the music industry on its ear are a long shot at what appears to be the twilight of his career. What does she know that I don't about this Chris Isaak fella? What is her fascination with his music that would drive her to buy tickets three months in advance to go see him on a Saturday night in Portsmouth in the month of August?
All of that said, the show was outstanding! The guy is a rockabilly crooner and an entertainer of the first order. Who knew? On stage, he conjured up images of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Listening to his music without the benefit of his showmanship was a mistake. I now have a newfound respect for the man and his music and will gladly see him if and when he returns to the Seacoast for another show. As to what Nancy sees in the guy and his music it may well have less to do with the music and more to do with the man. While his crooning ways were somewhat lost on me, I think maybe they were not lost on the Mrs. His glittering suits, his boyish good looks, and his strutting ways on stage had a certain allure to the women in the audience and keeping women in their seats during his performance was difficult if not impossible. His music at times was better suited to a raucous dance hall and not the staid assigned seats of the Music Hall in Portsmouth. The fact that the man and his music was clearly at home in a place so far away from the heart and soul of rockabilly is a testament to the power of his performance and the nature of his craft. I've never been to Nashville but if Chris Isaak and his band is any indication of what I might find there I'm all in.
There is a lot to consider when you come to the point in time in your collective married lives when you realize it's now or never. I'm talking about renovations here. Renovations long overdue. Renovations long discussed but not planned. So now we're going to do it. We're jumping in with both feet. Before we cast that net too far and too wide just understand that we're talking about a bathroom here. Nothing more. Nothing less. I'm not even doing the work and it's overwhelming to me. I think it's overwhelming to Nancy too but she seems to be taking a methodical approach to things and that seems to be working for her. I'm getting hung up on silly things like choosing certain plumbing fixtures and not feeling comfortable that either I can't find a review or there are too few reviews or maybe there are no reviews at all which really gives me the heebie jeebies. In a day and age when you make no decisions without first referencing Yelp, Amazon, etc., for reviews before pulling the trigger there is clearly a case to be made for the value of such things.
The party gets started in earnest in September so we're tidying up now in anticipation of everything coming down the pike. We'll most likely move out for a few weeks just for simplicity sake and to clear the decks for the men coming in while they tear things down and then build things up again. Alternative accommodations haven't yet been nailed down so that is one more thing to add to our already very long and getting longer list of to-do's. I think this is all survivable but I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.
All of that said, the show was outstanding! The guy is a rockabilly crooner and an entertainer of the first order. Who knew? On stage, he conjured up images of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Listening to his music without the benefit of his showmanship was a mistake. I now have a newfound respect for the man and his music and will gladly see him if and when he returns to the Seacoast for another show. As to what Nancy sees in the guy and his music it may well have less to do with the music and more to do with the man. While his crooning ways were somewhat lost on me, I think maybe they were not lost on the Mrs. His glittering suits, his boyish good looks, and his strutting ways on stage had a certain allure to the women in the audience and keeping women in their seats during his performance was difficult if not impossible. His music at times was better suited to a raucous dance hall and not the staid assigned seats of the Music Hall in Portsmouth. The fact that the man and his music was clearly at home in a place so far away from the heart and soul of rockabilly is a testament to the power of his performance and the nature of his craft. I've never been to Nashville but if Chris Isaak and his band is any indication of what I might find there I'm all in.
There is a lot to consider when you come to the point in time in your collective married lives when you realize it's now or never. I'm talking about renovations here. Renovations long overdue. Renovations long discussed but not planned. So now we're going to do it. We're jumping in with both feet. Before we cast that net too far and too wide just understand that we're talking about a bathroom here. Nothing more. Nothing less. I'm not even doing the work and it's overwhelming to me. I think it's overwhelming to Nancy too but she seems to be taking a methodical approach to things and that seems to be working for her. I'm getting hung up on silly things like choosing certain plumbing fixtures and not feeling comfortable that either I can't find a review or there are too few reviews or maybe there are no reviews at all which really gives me the heebie jeebies. In a day and age when you make no decisions without first referencing Yelp, Amazon, etc., for reviews before pulling the trigger there is clearly a case to be made for the value of such things.
The party gets started in earnest in September so we're tidying up now in anticipation of everything coming down the pike. We'll most likely move out for a few weeks just for simplicity sake and to clear the decks for the men coming in while they tear things down and then build things up again. Alternative accommodations haven't yet been nailed down so that is one more thing to add to our already very long and getting longer list of to-do's. I think this is all survivable but I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.
Snowflakes and Truncheons
16/08/17 17:49
It's just sad. President Trump made a good faith effort to explain what he knew about the incident in Charlottesville, VA, and the media still couldn't get it right. Not only could they not get it right but they twisted and contorted his words until the words no longer resembled anything that he actually said. They are so intent on hanging the "racist" label around his neck that they will do anything to push the narrative with the hopes of alienating the very people who voted for him and who still support him even in the face of blatant lies and fabrications pushed by the media. What the press doesn't get is that we Trump supporters actually follow the news and are generally more than capable of parsing reality from the bullshit that the media is serving up. We see, know, and understand the leftist ANTIFA group showing up at the rally in Virginia with their balloons filled with feces and urine and with baseball bats and brass knuckles ready to go at the slightest provocation. There was no shortage of provocation on that deadly day in Charlottesville.
Trump was right to point out that there were both white supremacist (Neo-Nazi) groups as well as ANTIFA groups but there were also god fearing Americans on hand protesting the planned destruction by the left of statutes and other cultural artifacts which members of ANTIFA and their ilk find offensive and intolerable. Trump asked precisely the right question for which the media had no answer: Where does all of this end? Who's next? Statutes of George Washington? Thomas Jefferson? All slave owners and all American icons in our cultural past? If Trump does one thing and one thing right he exposes the left for the frauds that they are. "You can only defeat your enemy when you call them by name." Donald Trump - November 2016. His reference at the time was to radical Islamic terrorism but the goals of ISIS and the goals of ATIFA seem indistinguishable when and where the destruction of cultural icons are concerned.
Every year Nancy plants a number of Morning Glorys in and around our yard and they generally do pretty well. She has less success with Sunflowers and they end up either not growing at all or end up as stunted plants never realizing their full potential. We seem to be coming up short in one or more areas including sun exposure, soil acidity, plant placement, or something as ill defined as bad genes. When the Morning Glory plants climb as high as they can on the trestle Nancy has constructed it is my job to jury rig something so that the plants can continue to climb until it is finished climbing typically by late August or early September.
Year in and year out for too many years to count I come up with an extender of sorts that works and this year is no different. Why I don't add this in the beginning is probably worthy of discussion but it is what it is so that's that. I had a couple stretches of nylon rope lying around that seemed to be the perfect length for the extension I had in mind. One rope was bright yellow and the other a popsicle blue. Both attach to tree limbs some five feet or more from the top of each of the two plants. It helps to get them started on their way up the new trellis when I twirl them in what appears to be a natural corkscrew direction and attached here and there to the rope with flexible ties that come in every family pack of 25 or more garage bags. I'm doing all of this at the top of a six foot ladder and with the sun shining in my eyes so if the baby Jesus sees this as my time to go then I'm there for the taking. Easy pickings as they say. As for the plants, so far, so good.
But none of this matters if I don't get the eggs cooked just right for the Ev man. He likes them slightly runny and, as of late, he's voiced a preference for real bacon instead of the turkey bacon that we tend to buy more often than not. It's only when you have real bacon after eating turkey bacon for a spell that you appreciate the real thing. Getting Ev to voice a preference can be difficult and sometimes it's a shot in the dark as to what he wants and what he doesn't want. You would think that a fella with the kinds of food issues that he has had all his life might have perfected a vocabulary around his preferences be they healthy or not by now. He is quite good about staying away from sugary foods but less discerning when it comes to choosing meals that make good sense from a nutritional standpoint. In other words, he is a typical 20-something when it comes to eating and is more inclined to eat fast food than sit down to a homemade meal consisting of 3 or 4 of the food groups recommended by the American Medical Association. All I can say is that we continue to work on it with him. More accurately stated, we work on it and he ignores us.
Trump was right to point out that there were both white supremacist (Neo-Nazi) groups as well as ANTIFA groups but there were also god fearing Americans on hand protesting the planned destruction by the left of statutes and other cultural artifacts which members of ANTIFA and their ilk find offensive and intolerable. Trump asked precisely the right question for which the media had no answer: Where does all of this end? Who's next? Statutes of George Washington? Thomas Jefferson? All slave owners and all American icons in our cultural past? If Trump does one thing and one thing right he exposes the left for the frauds that they are. "You can only defeat your enemy when you call them by name." Donald Trump - November 2016. His reference at the time was to radical Islamic terrorism but the goals of ISIS and the goals of ATIFA seem indistinguishable when and where the destruction of cultural icons are concerned.
Every year Nancy plants a number of Morning Glorys in and around our yard and they generally do pretty well. She has less success with Sunflowers and they end up either not growing at all or end up as stunted plants never realizing their full potential. We seem to be coming up short in one or more areas including sun exposure, soil acidity, plant placement, or something as ill defined as bad genes. When the Morning Glory plants climb as high as they can on the trestle Nancy has constructed it is my job to jury rig something so that the plants can continue to climb until it is finished climbing typically by late August or early September.
Year in and year out for too many years to count I come up with an extender of sorts that works and this year is no different. Why I don't add this in the beginning is probably worthy of discussion but it is what it is so that's that. I had a couple stretches of nylon rope lying around that seemed to be the perfect length for the extension I had in mind. One rope was bright yellow and the other a popsicle blue. Both attach to tree limbs some five feet or more from the top of each of the two plants. It helps to get them started on their way up the new trellis when I twirl them in what appears to be a natural corkscrew direction and attached here and there to the rope with flexible ties that come in every family pack of 25 or more garage bags. I'm doing all of this at the top of a six foot ladder and with the sun shining in my eyes so if the baby Jesus sees this as my time to go then I'm there for the taking. Easy pickings as they say. As for the plants, so far, so good.
But none of this matters if I don't get the eggs cooked just right for the Ev man. He likes them slightly runny and, as of late, he's voiced a preference for real bacon instead of the turkey bacon that we tend to buy more often than not. It's only when you have real bacon after eating turkey bacon for a spell that you appreciate the real thing. Getting Ev to voice a preference can be difficult and sometimes it's a shot in the dark as to what he wants and what he doesn't want. You would think that a fella with the kinds of food issues that he has had all his life might have perfected a vocabulary around his preferences be they healthy or not by now. He is quite good about staying away from sugary foods but less discerning when it comes to choosing meals that make good sense from a nutritional standpoint. In other words, he is a typical 20-something when it comes to eating and is more inclined to eat fast food than sit down to a homemade meal consisting of 3 or 4 of the food groups recommended by the American Medical Association. All I can say is that we continue to work on it with him. More accurately stated, we work on it and he ignores us.
Open for Business
13/08/17 07:33
I'm getting a bit of a late start this morning so we'll see how far I get. Nancy should be emerging soon from her salacious slumber or wherever she goes when she sleeps. It's a place I can't follow so she is on her own. That said, I know she is awake at the moment if only because I see notifications popping up on my computer screen where she is sending herself e-mails or forwarding articles of interest to follow up on later. I don't know that she cares if I know she is awake or whether or not I see the things she's wanting to save for future reference. Were it not happening in the present I might not care one way or another that she is doing what she's doing. She put me on notice last night though that we needed to get started own our bike ride early today. I think she thought yesterday's ride was less than optimal given that our ride started later than usual and exposed us to more of everything along the way including traffic, heat, congestion, and maybe some other things that I just can't think of at the moment. I can't and won't disagree with that and given my druthers we might have gotten off to an earlier start as well. Not that anyone cares about my druthers.
Nancy and I were under the impression that Miss Marples farm stand was not going to open for business this year after watching with great but waning interest as Spring turned into Summer and the roadside stand that has been nothing if not a cornucopia of wonderfulness stood silent. The owner has always, as had his mother before him, had the best fruits and vegetables on the seacoast bar none. When blueberries were scarcer than hens teeth after the long summer and when the season was long over you could find pint after pint of plump sweet berries at his stand. The same could be said for apples, strawberries, corn, melons, and an occasional bunch of wild flowers that kept the joint looking festive and gay. The flowers were, no doubt, a holdover from a more gentile time when his mother held sway over the operation while her son worked quietly in the background. You never asked and they never revealed just how they came to possess such delicacies when their produce was otherwise out of season and nowhere to be found elsewhere on the Seacoast.
Miss Marple passed away a number of years ago and her son took over responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the farm stand. I once inquired about a certain apple on display known as a Mutsu which I have used for years when making apple pies and which he had just a few on hand as early as mid August. The apple, a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Granny Smith apple, is perfect for every occasion but typically not available before the first frost. Yet, there they were sitting in a basket and available for purchase. To my utter amazement this man who was usually stoic in the long tradition of farm hands turned proprietor after the death of a parent or guardian responded in great detail about the specific apple known as the Mutsu, its origins, characteristics, uses, and various related species. His tee shirt and trousers from head to toe were tattered and dirty, his body oversized and not a good fit for the enclosure in which he stood hunched behind the counter, yet the words coming out of his mouth were telltale of a learned man well versed in his product and his craft, and perhaps more importantly, seemingly content with his station in life. "Those apples are selling for $2.25 a pound today", he muttered as I leaned closer hoping to hear his every word.
The farm stand itself is a small wooden shack with barely enough space for one full grown man to stand behind the counter and is just off the main intersection where two small towns come together. A chapel sits at the top of the hill to the north and an oversized stop sign within eyeshot of the farm stand gives ample warning to motorists driving into the intersection that the intersection just beyond the stand is fraught with danger and to proceed with caution. No doubt, the owner of the stand has seen and heard his share of accidents fatal and otherwise and as such makes little effort to get to know his patrons. His demeanor says as much. But, contrary to expectations, the farm stand did open after a considerable delay and for that we're grateful. The stand, left to its own devices over yet another New Hampshire winter, is more suspect than ever, and the owner is as infirm as ever going into another season where every season now threatens to be his last. We've never tried his homemade chocolate fudge but we might well give it a try this year. There may not be a "next year."
Nancy and I were under the impression that Miss Marples farm stand was not going to open for business this year after watching with great but waning interest as Spring turned into Summer and the roadside stand that has been nothing if not a cornucopia of wonderfulness stood silent. The owner has always, as had his mother before him, had the best fruits and vegetables on the seacoast bar none. When blueberries were scarcer than hens teeth after the long summer and when the season was long over you could find pint after pint of plump sweet berries at his stand. The same could be said for apples, strawberries, corn, melons, and an occasional bunch of wild flowers that kept the joint looking festive and gay. The flowers were, no doubt, a holdover from a more gentile time when his mother held sway over the operation while her son worked quietly in the background. You never asked and they never revealed just how they came to possess such delicacies when their produce was otherwise out of season and nowhere to be found elsewhere on the Seacoast.
Miss Marple passed away a number of years ago and her son took over responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the farm stand. I once inquired about a certain apple on display known as a Mutsu which I have used for years when making apple pies and which he had just a few on hand as early as mid August. The apple, a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Granny Smith apple, is perfect for every occasion but typically not available before the first frost. Yet, there they were sitting in a basket and available for purchase. To my utter amazement this man who was usually stoic in the long tradition of farm hands turned proprietor after the death of a parent or guardian responded in great detail about the specific apple known as the Mutsu, its origins, characteristics, uses, and various related species. His tee shirt and trousers from head to toe were tattered and dirty, his body oversized and not a good fit for the enclosure in which he stood hunched behind the counter, yet the words coming out of his mouth were telltale of a learned man well versed in his product and his craft, and perhaps more importantly, seemingly content with his station in life. "Those apples are selling for $2.25 a pound today", he muttered as I leaned closer hoping to hear his every word.
The farm stand itself is a small wooden shack with barely enough space for one full grown man to stand behind the counter and is just off the main intersection where two small towns come together. A chapel sits at the top of the hill to the north and an oversized stop sign within eyeshot of the farm stand gives ample warning to motorists driving into the intersection that the intersection just beyond the stand is fraught with danger and to proceed with caution. No doubt, the owner of the stand has seen and heard his share of accidents fatal and otherwise and as such makes little effort to get to know his patrons. His demeanor says as much. But, contrary to expectations, the farm stand did open after a considerable delay and for that we're grateful. The stand, left to its own devices over yet another New Hampshire winter, is more suspect than ever, and the owner is as infirm as ever going into another season where every season now threatens to be his last. We've never tried his homemade chocolate fudge but we might well give it a try this year. There may not be a "next year."
Back in the Thick of Things
11/08/17 19:37
Welcome back, Johnny boy. You're there now so you have to say something. Anything. Anything at all. All sabbaticals come to an end sooner or later until they don't. This sabbatical is no different. Self imposed I might add. I just walk away. And then, for no particular reason, I'm back in the thick of things. I wonder sometimes if it has anything to do with the changing of seasons. There might be some merit to that. It energizes me. It welcomes me. Maybe it should concern me that it has nothing to do with what is happening around me. In other words, it has more to do with the passing of time, or in this case the seasons, than it does with the passing of life itself. In a way, that's good. I'm not here, after all, to chronicle anything and I don't feel the need to put everything under the sun in writing for posterity sake or any other such reason. That's just nonsense. I feel like I should be have a qualifier in this here so called journal like they do in the movies or in books I've read. For example, "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental." That should do the trick.
That might be a slight exaggeration. I make plenty of references to people that I know or who know me and that's just fine. I doubt if any one or more of them bothers to see what if anything I've said about them and you can clearly see in how I write about those people that I don't care what they think. You can't be bothered with such things if you are going to write honestly and from the heart.
Speaking of which, Mrs G was asking about Evan last week when we visited her in Exeter. She wondered when she might see him if at all. It was a wistful wonder and it was hard to say one way or another if that was in the cards anytime soon. Nancy may have replied, "it's up to Evan." You know how it is with kids his age. They are so busy with their own lives that they seldom think of others sometimes and as unfair as that seems it is nonetheless true. Evan is back home after being away the better part of the week with friends. He never told us where he was going, how long he was going to be gone, or whether or not we should leave the porch light on for him in the event he decided to come home without letting us know ahead of time. So, we mentioned that his grandmother was asking for him and he acknowledged the comment but said little else. Just so you know, this is all in character for Evan. This anonymity thing seems to have a certain appeal to him that is quite frankly maybe a little odd and for the most part pretty darn unshakeable. We'll have to see where this goes. He's his own man now.
I would hasten to add that before he left for the week he tweaked his neck while taking a shower and complained vociferously that it was not a pleasant sensation and might need some attention at some point. Being away for the week did nothing to change that and he is as uncomfortable as ever. We'll be off to see a specialist today to see one way or another if this requires further treatment or if it is just taking longer than usual to mend on its own. He is walking like he has a neck brace on but he doesn't so mobility seems to be an issue. So much so in fact that he is probably incapable of driving the car. If you can't look to the right and then to the left you may be a danger to both yourself and those around you on road. And all of this happened in the shower? Say what? I noticed that he wasn't up during the night to take his starch so I hope it is nothing more than he was just sleeping soundly after a week of maybe not getting much sleep and he was just catching up. We'll know soon enough.
That might be a slight exaggeration. I make plenty of references to people that I know or who know me and that's just fine. I doubt if any one or more of them bothers to see what if anything I've said about them and you can clearly see in how I write about those people that I don't care what they think. You can't be bothered with such things if you are going to write honestly and from the heart.
Speaking of which, Mrs G was asking about Evan last week when we visited her in Exeter. She wondered when she might see him if at all. It was a wistful wonder and it was hard to say one way or another if that was in the cards anytime soon. Nancy may have replied, "it's up to Evan." You know how it is with kids his age. They are so busy with their own lives that they seldom think of others sometimes and as unfair as that seems it is nonetheless true. Evan is back home after being away the better part of the week with friends. He never told us where he was going, how long he was going to be gone, or whether or not we should leave the porch light on for him in the event he decided to come home without letting us know ahead of time. So, we mentioned that his grandmother was asking for him and he acknowledged the comment but said little else. Just so you know, this is all in character for Evan. This anonymity thing seems to have a certain appeal to him that is quite frankly maybe a little odd and for the most part pretty darn unshakeable. We'll have to see where this goes. He's his own man now.
I would hasten to add that before he left for the week he tweaked his neck while taking a shower and complained vociferously that it was not a pleasant sensation and might need some attention at some point. Being away for the week did nothing to change that and he is as uncomfortable as ever. We'll be off to see a specialist today to see one way or another if this requires further treatment or if it is just taking longer than usual to mend on its own. He is walking like he has a neck brace on but he doesn't so mobility seems to be an issue. So much so in fact that he is probably incapable of driving the car. If you can't look to the right and then to the left you may be a danger to both yourself and those around you on road. And all of this happened in the shower? Say what? I noticed that he wasn't up during the night to take his starch so I hope it is nothing more than he was just sleeping soundly after a week of maybe not getting much sleep and he was just catching up. We'll know soon enough.
Scallops & Fiddleheads
25/05/17 17:12
Sometimes it's just nice to get out of town for a time to clear your head. Maybe it's a day, maybe it's a week, maybe it's more. Nancy and I drove up to Portland, Maine the other day for a couple of reasons. We had been planning to take a ride but we didn't have any particular agenda in mind. When the time came to get away we put the cooler in the car, filled the tank with gas, and drove north to Portland. There is a great little fish store sitting in an alleyway near the docks that has just about anything you could want if you are in the mood for fish (and we were in the mood.) We thought we might like to get some lobster and make a few lobster rolls back at home with toasted buns and a smattering of mayonnaise. That option was less inviting once we had a chance to look at the lobster on display. We expected to see a well defined pan full of tails and claws. What we saw instead was a pile of shredded, discolored, and somewhat unappetizing lobster. Maybe our expectations were too high. At $50 a pound it was a bit expensive so we quickly pivoted to other more spectacular species that were infinitely more appetizing.
Ultimately, we bought a pound of scallops, a half pound of fiddleheads, and a little over a quarter pound of shucked oysters. I'm not the biggest fan of oysters but I do like a half dozen now and then just to cleanse the palate. If you slurp them down fast enough, and you have enough horseradish and cocktail sauce with a little lemon on hand, you can dine with the gods and never look back. That is precisely what I did. And, if you've never had fiddleheads you haven't lived. Just don't forget to boil them before throwing them into the saute' pan with a little olive oil and fresh garlic. I think Nancy was surprised at how much she enjoyed them.
I'm still very much in the "getting to know you" phase with my new car. I think I've absorbed about as much as is humanely possible for now in reading the manual. I know enough to get to where I'm going and back and that's as good a place as any to start. Driving the car to Maine was the first real extended drive we've taken since buying the car a month ago or so. She just purred the entire way. I almost hit 30 MPG when cruising at 75 miles per hour and my foot was barely on the gas pedal. Acceleration was seamless and I hit 80 MPH a couple of times without any effort at all. If I hadn't looked at the speedometer I would have never guessed I was going that fast. Even Nancy, always willing to weigh in on my excesses, didn't notice how fast we were going. Road noise from my 20 inch tires was reasonable and the highfalutin stereo muted out any excess road noise that had infiltrated the cabin.
I need to work on getting the seat presets squared away since Nancy has her own preferences and I need to get a better understanding of how the navigation system works so I don't have to think about it while traveling in areas unfamiliar to me. The system responds to voice commands so all I have to do is figure out what to say when the time comes. You know, how do I get HOME and that sort of thing. I'm still adjusting as well to what I guess I would call a different orientation compared to my old car. It's most apparent when I'm parallel parking and find myself further away from the curb than I would otherwise be were I in my old Volvo. While the car has a screen on the dash which shows me video of what I might be backing into, I tend not to use it very much. That probably says more about me than it does the technology that makes it possible. I'll admit it. I'm still catching up. If you're good at multi-tasking this car will take you to the moon and back. If not, going back and forth to the corner store can still be quite pleasurable. Nancy finally figured out that the light above her visor came on only after she pulled back the cover on the mirror and not before. Oh. So that's how that works.
The scallops would have to wait another day. The hour was getting late and we stopped in to Whole Foods in Portland to get a bite to eat before driving the hour and a half back to Portsmouth. I don't think we realized how hungry we were until Nancy suggested we stop at Whole Foods to do just that. She enjoys her cookies from time to time when on the road but chose to eat chocolates instead out of deference to me and my preference that she not eat in my new car. Crumbling cookies are one thing. Chocolates are quite another. It was good to get home at a reasonable hour and the ride home was otherwise uneventful. We are looking forward to a long Memorial Day weekend. Lots to do.
Added picture of brother's new boat to blog. Ain't she a beauty? I think she's a refurbished 18' 1952 Century.
Ultimately, we bought a pound of scallops, a half pound of fiddleheads, and a little over a quarter pound of shucked oysters. I'm not the biggest fan of oysters but I do like a half dozen now and then just to cleanse the palate. If you slurp them down fast enough, and you have enough horseradish and cocktail sauce with a little lemon on hand, you can dine with the gods and never look back. That is precisely what I did. And, if you've never had fiddleheads you haven't lived. Just don't forget to boil them before throwing them into the saute' pan with a little olive oil and fresh garlic. I think Nancy was surprised at how much she enjoyed them.
I'm still very much in the "getting to know you" phase with my new car. I think I've absorbed about as much as is humanely possible for now in reading the manual. I know enough to get to where I'm going and back and that's as good a place as any to start. Driving the car to Maine was the first real extended drive we've taken since buying the car a month ago or so. She just purred the entire way. I almost hit 30 MPG when cruising at 75 miles per hour and my foot was barely on the gas pedal. Acceleration was seamless and I hit 80 MPH a couple of times without any effort at all. If I hadn't looked at the speedometer I would have never guessed I was going that fast. Even Nancy, always willing to weigh in on my excesses, didn't notice how fast we were going. Road noise from my 20 inch tires was reasonable and the highfalutin stereo muted out any excess road noise that had infiltrated the cabin.
I need to work on getting the seat presets squared away since Nancy has her own preferences and I need to get a better understanding of how the navigation system works so I don't have to think about it while traveling in areas unfamiliar to me. The system responds to voice commands so all I have to do is figure out what to say when the time comes. You know, how do I get HOME and that sort of thing. I'm still adjusting as well to what I guess I would call a different orientation compared to my old car. It's most apparent when I'm parallel parking and find myself further away from the curb than I would otherwise be were I in my old Volvo. While the car has a screen on the dash which shows me video of what I might be backing into, I tend not to use it very much. That probably says more about me than it does the technology that makes it possible. I'll admit it. I'm still catching up. If you're good at multi-tasking this car will take you to the moon and back. If not, going back and forth to the corner store can still be quite pleasurable. Nancy finally figured out that the light above her visor came on only after she pulled back the cover on the mirror and not before. Oh. So that's how that works.
The scallops would have to wait another day. The hour was getting late and we stopped in to Whole Foods in Portland to get a bite to eat before driving the hour and a half back to Portsmouth. I don't think we realized how hungry we were until Nancy suggested we stop at Whole Foods to do just that. She enjoys her cookies from time to time when on the road but chose to eat chocolates instead out of deference to me and my preference that she not eat in my new car. Crumbling cookies are one thing. Chocolates are quite another. It was good to get home at a reasonable hour and the ride home was otherwise uneventful. We are looking forward to a long Memorial Day weekend. Lots to do.
Added picture of brother's new boat to blog. Ain't she a beauty? I think she's a refurbished 18' 1952 Century.
Bits and Pieces
12/05/17 07:50
Nancy, darling, you know I love you. Would you mind terribly if I asked that you not to eat food in my new car? I don't think I realized just how much she eats in the car. She's eating Kind bars one day and apples and peanut butter the next. I don't think I much cared when we were in her car and may have even asked that she take me to the nearest drive-thru so I could pick something up for myself. I'm also not usually overly fastidious about making sure that we have bags for trash, rags for spills, etc but all that has changed now that I have a new car. I'm all of a sudden hyper-sensitive to situations that that are routine in nature but alarmingly dire when it comes to exposing my car to actions that threaten to chip away at the veneer of perfection that my new car tends to exude. In spades, I might add.
I worry sometimes that my words embarrass her but I can't help myself. I am bad to the bone. And honestly, I can't tell half the time if she is ignoring me when I talk to her or simply humoring me by shuffling her snacks from one hand to another, putting them away until I am otherwise distracted, or looking out the window on her side of the car so I can't see the smirk forming on her face. Did you wash your hands, darling? You aren't going to eat THAT in my car, are you? Can you wait until we get home to eat that cheeseburger? There are days when I wish I had bought a used Volkswagen instead of an Audi. Not many, but there are days.
This business with the rug is driving me over the edge. We have a rug that needs to be replaced and Nancy has a problem with the "new rug" smell which probably has more to do with the glue they use to put the rug down. Believe me, this is one of those long overdue things that keeps me up at night. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that we probably have things living in our carpet that have gotten comfortable there over the years and have now raised generations of their offspring in what can only be considered "high cotton." It isn't pretty.
So we endure this squalor yet another year with the hopes that Nancy will relent or otherwise see her way to doing the right thing. We are beyond putting our health at risk. We are now endangering our mental health. It's doubtful we would come to blows over such a thing but the subtle ferocity of her resistance would no doubt win the day. I learned long ago that challenging her obsessions is something better left alone so I just don't. We opened the door ever so slightly this past week when we visited a place or two looking at new carpet. Whether or not we will ever make an actual purchase depends on Nancy. Spring is here so we can leave windows open while the smells gradually fades. Like I said, the door is open ever so slightly. Now all we have to do is walk through it. We can do it. Yes, we can. Maybe hardwood floors would be a better option.
Did I tell you that Nancy is looking at a part time schtick once her hospital gig ends this July? Yes, one closer to home with less money but also with less drive time and maybe even less pressure. She is not ready to retire or so she says. Not sure why she equates working with not being retired. They are mutually exclusive as you know. You can be retired and still work. Most people work because they need the extra income but that is not the case with Nancy. Not even close. She is accustomed to being out of the house a couple of days a week and I suppose that is a tradition that suits her for one reason or another. I suppose if we were world travelers she might think twice about her plans to do this but we are not so there you have it. You work all your life so you can finally take that part time job when you no longer have to work? It is a bit harebrained but who am I to question her decisions. A man encourages his wife to do as she pleases or should if he is of sound mind. I tell her that if it is her intention to simply get out of the house she is perhaps better off doing something she likes and that may mean taking a volunteering schtick instead of a paid schtick. We still have a couple of months to see how this plays out so stay tuned.
I worry sometimes that my words embarrass her but I can't help myself. I am bad to the bone. And honestly, I can't tell half the time if she is ignoring me when I talk to her or simply humoring me by shuffling her snacks from one hand to another, putting them away until I am otherwise distracted, or looking out the window on her side of the car so I can't see the smirk forming on her face. Did you wash your hands, darling? You aren't going to eat THAT in my car, are you? Can you wait until we get home to eat that cheeseburger? There are days when I wish I had bought a used Volkswagen instead of an Audi. Not many, but there are days.
This business with the rug is driving me over the edge. We have a rug that needs to be replaced and Nancy has a problem with the "new rug" smell which probably has more to do with the glue they use to put the rug down. Believe me, this is one of those long overdue things that keeps me up at night. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that we probably have things living in our carpet that have gotten comfortable there over the years and have now raised generations of their offspring in what can only be considered "high cotton." It isn't pretty.
So we endure this squalor yet another year with the hopes that Nancy will relent or otherwise see her way to doing the right thing. We are beyond putting our health at risk. We are now endangering our mental health. It's doubtful we would come to blows over such a thing but the subtle ferocity of her resistance would no doubt win the day. I learned long ago that challenging her obsessions is something better left alone so I just don't. We opened the door ever so slightly this past week when we visited a place or two looking at new carpet. Whether or not we will ever make an actual purchase depends on Nancy. Spring is here so we can leave windows open while the smells gradually fades. Like I said, the door is open ever so slightly. Now all we have to do is walk through it. We can do it. Yes, we can. Maybe hardwood floors would be a better option.
Did I tell you that Nancy is looking at a part time schtick once her hospital gig ends this July? Yes, one closer to home with less money but also with less drive time and maybe even less pressure. She is not ready to retire or so she says. Not sure why she equates working with not being retired. They are mutually exclusive as you know. You can be retired and still work. Most people work because they need the extra income but that is not the case with Nancy. Not even close. She is accustomed to being out of the house a couple of days a week and I suppose that is a tradition that suits her for one reason or another. I suppose if we were world travelers she might think twice about her plans to do this but we are not so there you have it. You work all your life so you can finally take that part time job when you no longer have to work? It is a bit harebrained but who am I to question her decisions. A man encourages his wife to do as she pleases or should if he is of sound mind. I tell her that if it is her intention to simply get out of the house she is perhaps better off doing something she likes and that may mean taking a volunteering schtick instead of a paid schtick. We still have a couple of months to see how this plays out so stay tuned.
Beware the Sandman
28/04/17 07:44
It just never works when Evan decides he wants to go out with his friends on the night before Nancy has to go to work the following day. This is especially true when he wants to use her car. She worries about him doing this and that and getting himself in trouble one way or another or, worse yet, putting himself in a position where his health is compromised. Maybe that means drinking to excess, smoking to excess, partying to excess, etc. All the things that young men and women do at his age. But you know that your mama sleeps with one eye open until you arrive home. That means she has a restless night and she needs her rest if she is to survive not only a grueling commute but a long day ahead in the office with a demanding but otherwise congenial octogenarian for a boss. It goes without saying that when Nancy sleeps with one eye open I also sleep with one eye open. I looked at the clock across the room when I heard him come through the door and it was a little after 1am. He seemed no worse for wear based on how he moved through the house so I stopped paying attention and soon drifted off. Somewhere in the deep recesses of Nancy's mind her son was still out and unaccounted for. I wanted nothing more than to assure her that he had arrived home safely but that would have to wait. The sandman was still in charge at least for the time being.
I had planned to go to the local Starbucks and park my birthday boy butt down for a spell this morning after Nancy went to work. I wanted to spend a little time jotting down a few notes in my journal. The new Starbucks store was close, the hour was early, and I would soon be sufficiently caffienated so that even the most reluctant of thoughts would come spilling out. It is a travel mode of sorts that I have come to enjoy over the years. When on vacation, I would go off by myself to the local Starbucks and write in my journal. I wouldn't say that the words came out any more easily while in my "travel" mode but I can say that I was perhaps a bit more focused given that I had fewer distractions.
But it was not to be. Not for lack of trying but rather Nancy turned her car on this morning and the engine light indicator came on. Not good. And you know that her problems are always my problems (go figure.) The best I could offer under the circumstances was to check a few things under the hood and then be on call in the event she needed my assistance. That meant being home by the phone and not off galavanting in the local Starbucks where she may or may not be able to reach me in an emergency. I've since checked in and everything is fine so I'm doing here at home what I had planned to do at Starbucks. I made one small compromise - I drove to the store to get my coffee this morning. That was different and enjoyable. I'll take a rain check on all the other stuff.
There are intended consequences and unintended consequences for one's actions in life. It's true. I bought a new car recently replacing a 17-year old vehicle which blended into the scenery hereabouts like an old but well known quantity. There was simply nothing about my old car that stood out. Nothing that would garner the attention of anyone one way or another. In fact, that is one reason I liked it so much. Anonymous is good. You are in essence saying, I am not interested in competing, I do not want to compete, leave me to my own devices. Oh, and thank you very much. I did not buy a new car because I was wanting back in the game. I bought a new car because I needed one. And it just so happens that the car I bought is conspicuous in its own right. By virtue of its make, model, and year, it is conspicuous consumption in all its glory. If not by everyone's standards then certainly by mine. So much so, in fact, that I chose not to take it to the local recycling enter thinking that there were employees working there making minimum wage and my driving up in my new ride would make them feel inadequate one way or another. I just wasn't willing to go there.
It's all in my head, of course. In time I will get over it and get on with things. It's true as well that my community has more BMW's per square mile than Ford F-100's. Most of those BMW's I would venture to say are current model BMW's. Mine is not a BMW, thank the baby Jesus (I would never be able to live with myself) but I'm just saying. And this sentiment of mine may very well be true of everyone but the most jaded and the only difference is how long it takes to get over it. It is not easy having a proletarian mindset and a little counseling might go a long towards getting me over this hump. Is it Popeye who so astutely stated "I yam who I yam"?
I had planned to go to the local Starbucks and park my birthday boy butt down for a spell this morning after Nancy went to work. I wanted to spend a little time jotting down a few notes in my journal. The new Starbucks store was close, the hour was early, and I would soon be sufficiently caffienated so that even the most reluctant of thoughts would come spilling out. It is a travel mode of sorts that I have come to enjoy over the years. When on vacation, I would go off by myself to the local Starbucks and write in my journal. I wouldn't say that the words came out any more easily while in my "travel" mode but I can say that I was perhaps a bit more focused given that I had fewer distractions.
But it was not to be. Not for lack of trying but rather Nancy turned her car on this morning and the engine light indicator came on. Not good. And you know that her problems are always my problems (go figure.) The best I could offer under the circumstances was to check a few things under the hood and then be on call in the event she needed my assistance. That meant being home by the phone and not off galavanting in the local Starbucks where she may or may not be able to reach me in an emergency. I've since checked in and everything is fine so I'm doing here at home what I had planned to do at Starbucks. I made one small compromise - I drove to the store to get my coffee this morning. That was different and enjoyable. I'll take a rain check on all the other stuff.
There are intended consequences and unintended consequences for one's actions in life. It's true. I bought a new car recently replacing a 17-year old vehicle which blended into the scenery hereabouts like an old but well known quantity. There was simply nothing about my old car that stood out. Nothing that would garner the attention of anyone one way or another. In fact, that is one reason I liked it so much. Anonymous is good. You are in essence saying, I am not interested in competing, I do not want to compete, leave me to my own devices. Oh, and thank you very much. I did not buy a new car because I was wanting back in the game. I bought a new car because I needed one. And it just so happens that the car I bought is conspicuous in its own right. By virtue of its make, model, and year, it is conspicuous consumption in all its glory. If not by everyone's standards then certainly by mine. So much so, in fact, that I chose not to take it to the local recycling enter thinking that there were employees working there making minimum wage and my driving up in my new ride would make them feel inadequate one way or another. I just wasn't willing to go there.
It's all in my head, of course. In time I will get over it and get on with things. It's true as well that my community has more BMW's per square mile than Ford F-100's. Most of those BMW's I would venture to say are current model BMW's. Mine is not a BMW, thank the baby Jesus (I would never be able to live with myself) but I'm just saying. And this sentiment of mine may very well be true of everyone but the most jaded and the only difference is how long it takes to get over it. It is not easy having a proletarian mindset and a little counseling might go a long towards getting me over this hump. Is it Popeye who so astutely stated "I yam who I yam"?
W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r
23/04/17 07:43
Seems like it took forever to get the new Starbucks up and running here in Portsmouth. Thee were weeks on end when we saw no activity in and around the work site. If we didn't know better we would have thought that there was a work stoppage, a funding issue, something out of the ordinary that was contributing to the slow pace of development on the site. There were times when we thought that work had stopped because they had found a more suitable site. In fact, the site seemed odd in that access and egress points were not designed to deal with the volume of traffic expected once the business opened. Now that they have opened, our guess is that it is only a matter of time before there are one or more fatal accidents stemming from the flawed planning.
Our first visit on Friday raised concerns about questionable acoustics, the lack of interior seating, the absence of a defined access point/flow to the ordering area, and the flow of traffic beyond the drive through area. In other words, customers don't know where the lines to the ordering area begin and that could prove problematic during peak hours. Liken it to your banking experience without the ropes. A free for all where it's survival of the fittest and only those truly up to the task get to conduct business with the teller. Add caffeine to the chaos and that only fuels the madness. They may well be trying to discourage customers from staying too long. Whatever. As for me, I'm happy to have a Starbuckss closer to my home and I'm planning to go there often. Did I mention that opening at 5am is a plus?
It's nice to see the sun out after a rainy and dark few days. If your inclination is to stay in bed in the morning then you probably like the kind of weather that we've had over the last few days. But you can't do that forever. Now I'm just waiting for the temperatures to climb a bit, get out of the forties, and get on with shaking off the winter blues. My neighbor is already talking to me about her sweet pea plants that have begun to sprout after having planted the little buggers just a few days ago. My little gardening area remains unchanged since last Fall and is on my calendar for a good sprucing. Not a task that requires a lot of effort but is demanding of my attention nonetheless.
I think I might like to concentrate on tomatoes this year and not much else. That would be fine. I've also decided that I am going to dedicate an hour a day, or a tarp a day, of raked leaves just to stay on track with keeping the yard tidy. It might even be time to get the hummingbird feeders up before they start coming around for the 2017 season. There is nothing worse than having them appear in a fluttering floozy half dead from their migration north without so much as a single serving of fructose available for the taking. One would hope that Evan and Nancy might lend a hand doing these things but if history is any indication it appears that I will be on my own. Oh, Nancy will dilly-dally with her bulbs and may want to divide and replant an occasional hosta or two and she may even want to have some say in where the hummingbird feeders get hung. I would hasten to add that it will behoove me to get these tasks done before the temperatures get too warm. Tiime is a wastin' as they say down in the bayou. Might as well get cracking today while Nancy is hard at work in town. Somebody has to bring home the bacon.
You are going to want to be in the stock market today if the futures hold any promise for what's to come. It will be an old fashioned POP in the indices thanks to the first of two elections to be held in France for their next president. The fact that the centrist candidate, Macron, won the first round over the far right candidate, Marie Le Pen, means that the EU will remain intact, immigration will remain uninterrupted, and the march of the globalists agenda will go forward unabated. It's a little like an anti-brexit vote where the well intentioned folks in Great Britain thought they could buck the trend of their fellow Londoners and keep Great Britain in the EU. The Markets took considerable umbrage when the commoners decided that they wanted their country back and the indices swayed and swooned for the better part of two days before reaching equilibrium of sorts. I suspect that even though Macron won the first round that Le Pen and her followers will get the last laugh. The French people are one terrorist act away from saying "no" to the natty globalists. That may have already occurred this past week or so when one Mohammed somebody started shooting police officers while yelling allah akbar. Say that ten times fast.
Our first visit on Friday raised concerns about questionable acoustics, the lack of interior seating, the absence of a defined access point/flow to the ordering area, and the flow of traffic beyond the drive through area. In other words, customers don't know where the lines to the ordering area begin and that could prove problematic during peak hours. Liken it to your banking experience without the ropes. A free for all where it's survival of the fittest and only those truly up to the task get to conduct business with the teller. Add caffeine to the chaos and that only fuels the madness. They may well be trying to discourage customers from staying too long. Whatever. As for me, I'm happy to have a Starbuckss closer to my home and I'm planning to go there often. Did I mention that opening at 5am is a plus?
It's nice to see the sun out after a rainy and dark few days. If your inclination is to stay in bed in the morning then you probably like the kind of weather that we've had over the last few days. But you can't do that forever. Now I'm just waiting for the temperatures to climb a bit, get out of the forties, and get on with shaking off the winter blues. My neighbor is already talking to me about her sweet pea plants that have begun to sprout after having planted the little buggers just a few days ago. My little gardening area remains unchanged since last Fall and is on my calendar for a good sprucing. Not a task that requires a lot of effort but is demanding of my attention nonetheless.
I think I might like to concentrate on tomatoes this year and not much else. That would be fine. I've also decided that I am going to dedicate an hour a day, or a tarp a day, of raked leaves just to stay on track with keeping the yard tidy. It might even be time to get the hummingbird feeders up before they start coming around for the 2017 season. There is nothing worse than having them appear in a fluttering floozy half dead from their migration north without so much as a single serving of fructose available for the taking. One would hope that Evan and Nancy might lend a hand doing these things but if history is any indication it appears that I will be on my own. Oh, Nancy will dilly-dally with her bulbs and may want to divide and replant an occasional hosta or two and she may even want to have some say in where the hummingbird feeders get hung. I would hasten to add that it will behoove me to get these tasks done before the temperatures get too warm. Tiime is a wastin' as they say down in the bayou. Might as well get cracking today while Nancy is hard at work in town. Somebody has to bring home the bacon.
You are going to want to be in the stock market today if the futures hold any promise for what's to come. It will be an old fashioned POP in the indices thanks to the first of two elections to be held in France for their next president. The fact that the centrist candidate, Macron, won the first round over the far right candidate, Marie Le Pen, means that the EU will remain intact, immigration will remain uninterrupted, and the march of the globalists agenda will go forward unabated. It's a little like an anti-brexit vote where the well intentioned folks in Great Britain thought they could buck the trend of their fellow Londoners and keep Great Britain in the EU. The Markets took considerable umbrage when the commoners decided that they wanted their country back and the indices swayed and swooned for the better part of two days before reaching equilibrium of sorts. I suspect that even though Macron won the first round that Le Pen and her followers will get the last laugh. The French people are one terrorist act away from saying "no" to the natty globalists. That may have already occurred this past week or so when one Mohammed somebody started shooting police officers while yelling allah akbar. Say that ten times fast.
Fine Feathered Friends
19/04/17 07:58
I admit to being a sucker for high tech gadgetry. The bigger, the better, the more resounding the bells and whistles, the happier I am. Voice controls, interactive screens, consistent feedback, it's all there for the taking. I'm talking about my new car. The new car that in all likelihood Nancy may end up driving more than me but that's a discussion for another day. Or, is it? We're going to the dealership today not to buy the car but rather so that Nancy can have another test drive. How many test drives do you need? For the record, this will be her second test drive. I'm more than satisfied with the one test drive I took but understand Nancy's desire to take another spin. Why she is so interested in the car that I've already decided I want is another question.
When you move up the dollar scale in terms of what you are willing to pay for a car it goes without saying that it becomes more about aesthetics than utility. This particular vehicle passes every conceivable threshold when and where it comes to utility and aesthetics. It lacks the pretentiousness of some of the higher end models like the BMW's, Mercedes, and Jaguars, but is a capable competitor nonetheless. I'm less interested in how quickly the car goes from zero to sixty mph than I am on how it feels getting to that speed. Is it going to piss and moan the entire time or is it going to whisper sweet somethings in my ear every inch of the way. It has to feel right and this car feels right. Then again, other cars I've bought in the past have felt right and others I've been interested in have felt right. In retrospect, I'm glad I never bought one or more of them. Maybe I want my fascination to be an enduring one in a world that is otherwise sadly ephemeral at its core. Love interests come and go and I suspect this one will lose its luster over time as well. For now, both Nancy and I are in the get-to-know you phase with this car. Where she and I are on that continuum varies widely on any given day and at any given moment. That should surprise no one.
We had our eye on this little birdbath of sorts in the last month or so and thought that it might be a nice complement to our many bird feeders here and there on our property. It would provide a source of fresh water to our fine feathered friends year round. We would need a model with a heater for the winter months and we would have to stay on top of providing fresh cool water during the hot summer months. The one store we visited had a few different baths varying in size, color, cost, and capability. All were reasonably priced and any one or more of them would be a nice addition to that which already have on hand.
With that in mind, I've begun to pay more attention to the sources of water currently available to the birds and I am perhaps not surprised that they are rather resourceful when it comes finding a drink when they need one. I saw one little fella drinking from the handle on a plastic tub sitting on our back porch where rain water had accumulated. I wouldn't have even noticed that water had accumulated there had I not seen the bird sipping generously from the handle. I found yet another bird sipping from the water accumulating in my gutters which have been clogged since last Fall with leaves that have no doubt since turned to sludge. How they determine which sources of water hold the most promise and least amount of risk I'll never know. Bugs or other invertebrates either seen or unseen may be a plus and part of the allure depending on which nutrient is most in demand. In other words, these bird are more resourceful that we can probably ever imagine so wanting to add to that array of sources may be an exercise that benefits me more than it does the birds. Nonetheless, it is an admirable goal and will not be shirked for lack of a good rationale. In the interim, I've placed a ceramic pie plate out on the back porch and, not surprisingly, have seen birds here and there enjoying a sip or two. Just what the doctor ordered!
When you move up the dollar scale in terms of what you are willing to pay for a car it goes without saying that it becomes more about aesthetics than utility. This particular vehicle passes every conceivable threshold when and where it comes to utility and aesthetics. It lacks the pretentiousness of some of the higher end models like the BMW's, Mercedes, and Jaguars, but is a capable competitor nonetheless. I'm less interested in how quickly the car goes from zero to sixty mph than I am on how it feels getting to that speed. Is it going to piss and moan the entire time or is it going to whisper sweet somethings in my ear every inch of the way. It has to feel right and this car feels right. Then again, other cars I've bought in the past have felt right and others I've been interested in have felt right. In retrospect, I'm glad I never bought one or more of them. Maybe I want my fascination to be an enduring one in a world that is otherwise sadly ephemeral at its core. Love interests come and go and I suspect this one will lose its luster over time as well. For now, both Nancy and I are in the get-to-know you phase with this car. Where she and I are on that continuum varies widely on any given day and at any given moment. That should surprise no one.
We had our eye on this little birdbath of sorts in the last month or so and thought that it might be a nice complement to our many bird feeders here and there on our property. It would provide a source of fresh water to our fine feathered friends year round. We would need a model with a heater for the winter months and we would have to stay on top of providing fresh cool water during the hot summer months. The one store we visited had a few different baths varying in size, color, cost, and capability. All were reasonably priced and any one or more of them would be a nice addition to that which already have on hand.
With that in mind, I've begun to pay more attention to the sources of water currently available to the birds and I am perhaps not surprised that they are rather resourceful when it comes finding a drink when they need one. I saw one little fella drinking from the handle on a plastic tub sitting on our back porch where rain water had accumulated. I wouldn't have even noticed that water had accumulated there had I not seen the bird sipping generously from the handle. I found yet another bird sipping from the water accumulating in my gutters which have been clogged since last Fall with leaves that have no doubt since turned to sludge. How they determine which sources of water hold the most promise and least amount of risk I'll never know. Bugs or other invertebrates either seen or unseen may be a plus and part of the allure depending on which nutrient is most in demand. In other words, these bird are more resourceful that we can probably ever imagine so wanting to add to that array of sources may be an exercise that benefits me more than it does the birds. Nonetheless, it is an admirable goal and will not be shirked for lack of a good rationale. In the interim, I've placed a ceramic pie plate out on the back porch and, not surprisingly, have seen birds here and there enjoying a sip or two. Just what the doctor ordered!
Time to Move On.
17/04/17 08:04
Another day, another rally by the Trump haters insisting that he release his taxes. It's just so laughable. One of these days Sean Spicer is going to step up to the podium in the West Wing press room and tell the first reporter who asks about the release of Trump's returns to just fuck off. Fuck off. The dems are so desperate to get traction on any issue that they trip all over themselves looking for the holy grail of issues that will bring the Trumpster down. Good luck with that is what I say. The Dems have taken a beating at the polls since and even before their Kenyan born and raised icon, Barack Hussein Obama, and his hand picked successor, Hillary Clinton, went down in flames when Donald J Trump won the election in 2016. Their stable of leading progressives now includes the likes of Liz "Hiawatha" Warren, Bernie "Depends" Sanders, and that old hag congresswoman from California, Maxine Waters. Good ole Maxie in her James Brown wig can't quite accept that her girl Hillary lost the election to the likes of Trump so calls every day for his impeachment and has devoted her remaining days in Congress to making sure that he is hauled in front of Congress and properly impeached. It's the closest thing to a white lynching as she and her black caucasians in Congress can hope for. Ain't going to happen, folks.
As the Donald continues his winning streak on the world stage cleaning up after 8 years of a feckless Obama administration, the dems can only watch in abject horror as they see their prospects for any wins in the near future diminish to the point of no return. How sweet it is! And this latest hoo-ha in North Korea is one for the books. If it's true what they say about our jamming their electronics causing the collapse of their missile coming off the launch pad then we're in for some serious fun times ahead. I'm reminded of those scenes in any one of the Tom and Jerry cartoons from the sixties where the gun is aimed, the barrel of the gun is inexplicably tied in a knot, and BAM, it explodes in the face of the character firing the weapon. Now, just add a nuclear warhead to that weapon, place it in downtown Pyongyang, and let the fireworks begin. Are we tired of winning yet? You might pose that question to the pot bellied little dictator with the funny haircut but finding him in the rubble might prove difficult. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Halla-Fucking-Lujah!
Not sure why but yesterday was, in retrospect, and bit of a chore. For the first time this year the heat was seriously oppressive and temps were pushing 90 on the thermometer in my car. It was just uncomfortable and it was one of those days you wanted to hang out in an air conditioned room until the heat wave passed. We still have winter covers over our air conditioning units for chrissakes so I will have to take care of that today. It's 67 degrees with a cool breeze blowing as I sit here at 8:31 in the morning so better times are ahead. Our mid afternoon Easter meal at Tuscan Kitchen yesterday was pretty good with just a couple of misfires that are hardly worthy mentioning. Nancy and I took her mother out for the afternoon and were it not for the road detours in and around Exeter the trip itself was also not notable. Nancy said something about the fact that it might have been better had we planned to meet her there but then again that wouldn't have been taking her out in the real sense of the word. So you pick her up, take her out for dinner and a trip down to the beach afterward to see her rental property, and then return her to her home. That's what you do (and that is what we did.)
I might mention that Mrs G seemed a little preoccupied with flowers she had ordered to be sent to her sister down in Maryland. I think it's Maryland anyway. She wanted someone in Maryland to send her a picture of the flowers that had been delivered. Something about the quality of flowers worrying perhaps that they were not up to snuff after making the long trip. That's my two cents any way. It wasn't clear to me either as to why Mrs G was asking Nancy to contact them with a request for the picture when she was certainly capable of sending her own e-mail but that's fine. They obliged by sending a picture later that day not of the flowers but of her aunt (Mr's G's sister) sitting down to Easter dinner. The flowers were nowhere in sight. That wasn't good enough. Mrs G responded to Nancy asking once again about the flowers. I'm thinking to myself, enough about the flowers already. Her aunt looked fit and comfortable in one of the few photos we've seen of her as of late and that by all accounts should have been reassuring knowing what we all know about her recent bout with ill health. Maybe there is a tendency to obsess about such things when you get on in years, trivial as they are, but no less important in the scheme of ones existence. That picture is probably not forthcoming if I had to guess so Mrs G will have to let sleeping dogs lie as it were. Easier said than done, me thinks.
Time for me to wrap this up but if I had more time I would certainly chime in on a story in the news about a business establishment putting a tampon dispenser in their men's room. It is ostensibly for those female patrons who identify as male and need access to gender appropriate supplies. Have we completely lost our fucking minds? Oh, and the picture of the boat above, more on that later.
As the Donald continues his winning streak on the world stage cleaning up after 8 years of a feckless Obama administration, the dems can only watch in abject horror as they see their prospects for any wins in the near future diminish to the point of no return. How sweet it is! And this latest hoo-ha in North Korea is one for the books. If it's true what they say about our jamming their electronics causing the collapse of their missile coming off the launch pad then we're in for some serious fun times ahead. I'm reminded of those scenes in any one of the Tom and Jerry cartoons from the sixties where the gun is aimed, the barrel of the gun is inexplicably tied in a knot, and BAM, it explodes in the face of the character firing the weapon. Now, just add a nuclear warhead to that weapon, place it in downtown Pyongyang, and let the fireworks begin. Are we tired of winning yet? You might pose that question to the pot bellied little dictator with the funny haircut but finding him in the rubble might prove difficult. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Halla-Fucking-Lujah!
Not sure why but yesterday was, in retrospect, and bit of a chore. For the first time this year the heat was seriously oppressive and temps were pushing 90 on the thermometer in my car. It was just uncomfortable and it was one of those days you wanted to hang out in an air conditioned room until the heat wave passed. We still have winter covers over our air conditioning units for chrissakes so I will have to take care of that today. It's 67 degrees with a cool breeze blowing as I sit here at 8:31 in the morning so better times are ahead. Our mid afternoon Easter meal at Tuscan Kitchen yesterday was pretty good with just a couple of misfires that are hardly worthy mentioning. Nancy and I took her mother out for the afternoon and were it not for the road detours in and around Exeter the trip itself was also not notable. Nancy said something about the fact that it might have been better had we planned to meet her there but then again that wouldn't have been taking her out in the real sense of the word. So you pick her up, take her out for dinner and a trip down to the beach afterward to see her rental property, and then return her to her home. That's what you do (and that is what we did.)
I might mention that Mrs G seemed a little preoccupied with flowers she had ordered to be sent to her sister down in Maryland. I think it's Maryland anyway. She wanted someone in Maryland to send her a picture of the flowers that had been delivered. Something about the quality of flowers worrying perhaps that they were not up to snuff after making the long trip. That's my two cents any way. It wasn't clear to me either as to why Mrs G was asking Nancy to contact them with a request for the picture when she was certainly capable of sending her own e-mail but that's fine. They obliged by sending a picture later that day not of the flowers but of her aunt (Mr's G's sister) sitting down to Easter dinner. The flowers were nowhere in sight. That wasn't good enough. Mrs G responded to Nancy asking once again about the flowers. I'm thinking to myself, enough about the flowers already. Her aunt looked fit and comfortable in one of the few photos we've seen of her as of late and that by all accounts should have been reassuring knowing what we all know about her recent bout with ill health. Maybe there is a tendency to obsess about such things when you get on in years, trivial as they are, but no less important in the scheme of ones existence. That picture is probably not forthcoming if I had to guess so Mrs G will have to let sleeping dogs lie as it were. Easier said than done, me thinks.
Time for me to wrap this up but if I had more time I would certainly chime in on a story in the news about a business establishment putting a tampon dispenser in their men's room. It is ostensibly for those female patrons who identify as male and need access to gender appropriate supplies. Have we completely lost our fucking minds? Oh, and the picture of the boat above, more on that later.
Good God
16/04/17 07:32
I just caught a headline in the news about some protestor whining about a politician taking away their right to choose. I don't know why, and maybe it's my catholic upbringing, but the idea of extinguishing a human life strikes me as, well, sinful. If I take someone's life with or without a weapon I should be summarily removed from society and punished in predictable fashion. Despite the fact that most murders are conducted in the heat of the moment there is value to knowing that long prison sentences await those who commit such crimes. It is called deterrence. Yet, our society seems to have cultivated a particular taste for the taking of a life in the womb that in many cultures might otherwise be considered heinous at best. To make matters worse, the decision to take that life is left to the woman bearing the child without whose nurturing and sustenance would not otherwise survive. It seems that no rationale or explanation is even required other than the desire of the person involved to rid herself of the life growing inside of her. Our laws have somehow contorted over time to allow this grievance against the gods but that makes it no less hideous. Our society needs a higher watermark when it comes to the value of life and the rights of any individual must not eclipse the greater good. The greater good in this case is that all life is magnificent in the eyes of god and no one individual regardless of gender should be allowed to take a life be it inside or outside the womb. So tell that whiny bitch in the back row to sit down and shut the fuck up (only kidding.)
Oh my. It seems I've opened a bit of Pandora's box this morning. While we're on the subject of murder I have to say that if I had to do it all over again I might like to be a detective. What other reason would there be for my apparent and sometimes occasional interest when it comes to murder, crime, and everything cold-case. Yes, there is even a television station dedicated to such things and I do enjoy taking those shows in from time to time. At the end of the day, I want to know who did it, why they did it, and where it was done. If I told you that I won a murder mystery once with approximately 150 people in attendance would that start to paint the proper picture for you? Serial murderers have provided just the right combination of disgust, horror, revulsion, and all of that sort of thing going back to the days of Jack the Ripper. Maniacal mass murderers the likes of Hitler provide even more gruesome evidence of man's inhumanity to man but there is murder and then there is wholesale genocide. As a detective wannabe, and a purveyor of all things twisted and tangled, I'll need to stay focused on crimes on a scale that I can digest and understand. The forensics side of the equation is interesting too but I'm not overly clinical in my understanding of such things so typically confine my interests to matters as they arise in the public forum. One has to be careful when admitting to such things but who doesn't like the thrill of the chase when and where criminal behavior is involved? We all have our own particular peccadillos after all. Do we not?
There was a slight hint of fecal residue on the blueberries that I put on my shredded wheat this morning. It was a pungent aftertaste that had me shaking my head like a dog with a bad bone that had been lying in the sun far too long. I could taste the Peruvian fields in which the berries were picked but I could also taste the fermented fecal matter from the migrant farm hands who presumably had little or no access to sanitation facilities in the course of their daily work. I expect more certainly from fruits and produce for which I pay a premium and to date I have not experienced this sort of thing when buying organic. It is a small price to pay when wishing only to enjoy the deliciousness of blueberries and their brethren long beyond the normal growing season here in the Northeast.
I amuse myself to no end with the delusion as well that buying organic also means that I can avoid the usual poisons and pesticides (not mutually exclusive) and that add measurably to my enjoyment. It's possible as well, I suppose, that my endless consumption of organic berries over time has so over sensitized my palate that I can now taste or detect things that I had heretofore become accustomed to for better or worse when eating non-organic. If these were, in fact, non-organic berries masquerading as organic berries that might explain everything. I prefer to think that this was not the result of an intentional act by one or more migrant workers in the course of discharging their duties on the organic berry farm on the outskirts of Lima. Then again, who knows.
Oh my. It seems I've opened a bit of Pandora's box this morning. While we're on the subject of murder I have to say that if I had to do it all over again I might like to be a detective. What other reason would there be for my apparent and sometimes occasional interest when it comes to murder, crime, and everything cold-case. Yes, there is even a television station dedicated to such things and I do enjoy taking those shows in from time to time. At the end of the day, I want to know who did it, why they did it, and where it was done. If I told you that I won a murder mystery once with approximately 150 people in attendance would that start to paint the proper picture for you? Serial murderers have provided just the right combination of disgust, horror, revulsion, and all of that sort of thing going back to the days of Jack the Ripper. Maniacal mass murderers the likes of Hitler provide even more gruesome evidence of man's inhumanity to man but there is murder and then there is wholesale genocide. As a detective wannabe, and a purveyor of all things twisted and tangled, I'll need to stay focused on crimes on a scale that I can digest and understand. The forensics side of the equation is interesting too but I'm not overly clinical in my understanding of such things so typically confine my interests to matters as they arise in the public forum. One has to be careful when admitting to such things but who doesn't like the thrill of the chase when and where criminal behavior is involved? We all have our own particular peccadillos after all. Do we not?
There was a slight hint of fecal residue on the blueberries that I put on my shredded wheat this morning. It was a pungent aftertaste that had me shaking my head like a dog with a bad bone that had been lying in the sun far too long. I could taste the Peruvian fields in which the berries were picked but I could also taste the fermented fecal matter from the migrant farm hands who presumably had little or no access to sanitation facilities in the course of their daily work. I expect more certainly from fruits and produce for which I pay a premium and to date I have not experienced this sort of thing when buying organic. It is a small price to pay when wishing only to enjoy the deliciousness of blueberries and their brethren long beyond the normal growing season here in the Northeast.
I amuse myself to no end with the delusion as well that buying organic also means that I can avoid the usual poisons and pesticides (not mutually exclusive) and that add measurably to my enjoyment. It's possible as well, I suppose, that my endless consumption of organic berries over time has so over sensitized my palate that I can now taste or detect things that I had heretofore become accustomed to for better or worse when eating non-organic. If these were, in fact, non-organic berries masquerading as organic berries that might explain everything. I prefer to think that this was not the result of an intentional act by one or more migrant workers in the course of discharging their duties on the organic berry farm on the outskirts of Lima. Then again, who knows.
Tomorrow is 416
15/04/17 07:47
As I was saying, Evan finally bought himself a laptop. He's been such a gaming hound that getting his own device only made sense. To say that he was thrilled with his purchase is an understatement. In recounting our experience at the Apple reseller Nancy lamented the fact that she couldn't be there with Evan and I when we made the purchase. Who doesn't want to see children experience happiness in life? I think Evan's desire for a laptop was greater than the reluctance he felt about getting this done so he relented and off we went. There wasn't a lot of finagling once all was said and done since discounts on Apple products are few and far between. We did a little research online and noticed that he could have bought last years model at a discount but I've never been one to chase discounts when it comes to technology and that was ultimately my counsel to Evan. When it comes to Apple products, it just makes sense. And so now Nancy and I have our computer back. Evan is going to miss his "sauna" as he puts it which is a reference of course to just how warm this particular room gets compared to other rooms in the house during the winter months when the heat is on. Nancy and I worry that he will disappear into his room and we'll never see him again. I guess time will tell. If that is what makes him happy then that will be that. Stay tuned.
I made reservations at a local restaurant for Easter dinner. I will accompany Nancy and her mother and it should be fun. As fun as it can be I suppose when having dinner with the in-laws. Mrs G had her sights set on another restaurant if I'm not mistaken but I had the opportunity to make reservations at another place so I went ahead and did just that. It's not the quality of the meal or even the location at the end of the day that matters. It's all about traditions and spending time with your loved ones on those oh-so-special holidays. As for me, I'm just along for the ride. Given her druthers, Mrs G might have liked to have had her meal at the dining room at Riverwoods but that was the least attractive option to Nancy and I so we turned our attention elsewhere. Nancy and her mom can reschedule something at Riverwoods at their convenience.
Truth be told, I have the heebie jeebies about having dinner at Riverwoods so won't be joining in. There is something about institutional dining that makes my skin crawl and whether it be hospital food, cafeteria food, or communal dining halls for senior citizens it's all the same. I'll have hot dogs with Mrs G at the drive-up window at Burger King before stepping foot inside Riverwoods or like establishments. It reminds me a little bit of one of my people at work back in the day who would never partake of food brought in from home by his co-workers. Not a slight one way or another but you knew that about him so you took it in stride. One is entitled after all to his or her own predilections. When and where I have the choice you can expect me to follow the voices in my head and sometimes that works for other people and sometimes it doesn't. It is what it is.
Our test drive yesterday was fun! Sitting here a day later my thoughts revolve more around the buying experience than the vehicle we were looking to buy. Why certain things were presented the way they were, why they didn't push back when they should have pushed back during the negotiations stage, why now after 24 hours has passed that we haven't received a follow-up e-mail from the sales guy saying thanks for the visit and attaching a picture of the car we were interested in, is beyond me. I shouldn't have to tell the sales guy as I did that they stood to make more money if the car was financed and that should be taken into consideration during the negotiations phase.
Our sales guy was nice enough but couldn't close the door behind him much less a deal that was there for the taking. It's all about relationships after all. Cars come and go but relationships are forever. Well, almost forever. Forever looking for an edge in the process, I looked up the dealership in Yelp before heading over there and there were plenty of bad reviews. Perfect. I presented myself as someone who wanted to do business with them despite the horrible reviews and that was their opportunity to prove to me that they were worthy of my attention. That had to be worth something. I think I'm one of those guys who enjoys the game and wants to play caring less about the financials and more about "winning." In other words, I'm happy to pay full price but would rather not given half a chance. These guys were amateurs. They need to do better. We're heading down to Massachusetts today to a dealership where we hope to see a wider variety of colors and combinations for this particular model. Don't need another test drive. Wish us luck!
I made reservations at a local restaurant for Easter dinner. I will accompany Nancy and her mother and it should be fun. As fun as it can be I suppose when having dinner with the in-laws. Mrs G had her sights set on another restaurant if I'm not mistaken but I had the opportunity to make reservations at another place so I went ahead and did just that. It's not the quality of the meal or even the location at the end of the day that matters. It's all about traditions and spending time with your loved ones on those oh-so-special holidays. As for me, I'm just along for the ride. Given her druthers, Mrs G might have liked to have had her meal at the dining room at Riverwoods but that was the least attractive option to Nancy and I so we turned our attention elsewhere. Nancy and her mom can reschedule something at Riverwoods at their convenience.
Truth be told, I have the heebie jeebies about having dinner at Riverwoods so won't be joining in. There is something about institutional dining that makes my skin crawl and whether it be hospital food, cafeteria food, or communal dining halls for senior citizens it's all the same. I'll have hot dogs with Mrs G at the drive-up window at Burger King before stepping foot inside Riverwoods or like establishments. It reminds me a little bit of one of my people at work back in the day who would never partake of food brought in from home by his co-workers. Not a slight one way or another but you knew that about him so you took it in stride. One is entitled after all to his or her own predilections. When and where I have the choice you can expect me to follow the voices in my head and sometimes that works for other people and sometimes it doesn't. It is what it is.
Our test drive yesterday was fun! Sitting here a day later my thoughts revolve more around the buying experience than the vehicle we were looking to buy. Why certain things were presented the way they were, why they didn't push back when they should have pushed back during the negotiations stage, why now after 24 hours has passed that we haven't received a follow-up e-mail from the sales guy saying thanks for the visit and attaching a picture of the car we were interested in, is beyond me. I shouldn't have to tell the sales guy as I did that they stood to make more money if the car was financed and that should be taken into consideration during the negotiations phase.
Our sales guy was nice enough but couldn't close the door behind him much less a deal that was there for the taking. It's all about relationships after all. Cars come and go but relationships are forever. Well, almost forever. Forever looking for an edge in the process, I looked up the dealership in Yelp before heading over there and there were plenty of bad reviews. Perfect. I presented myself as someone who wanted to do business with them despite the horrible reviews and that was their opportunity to prove to me that they were worthy of my attention. That had to be worth something. I think I'm one of those guys who enjoys the game and wants to play caring less about the financials and more about "winning." In other words, I'm happy to pay full price but would rather not given half a chance. These guys were amateurs. They need to do better. We're heading down to Massachusetts today to a dealership where we hope to see a wider variety of colors and combinations for this particular model. Don't need another test drive. Wish us luck!
The Art of the Deal
14/04/17 08:00
I'm hearing on the radio that today is Good Friday. I'll need to brush off my second grade catechism to know what that means precisely but I think there might be something in there about not eating meat today. If I learned anything at the gnarly hands of the hunchbacked nuns it was that it was always more fun not to do what they were espousing at any given time. If they told me to go home and say 10 Hail Mary's I would go home and say maybe half that number. I was willing to dance with the devil even then but selling my soul was out of the question. I also won too many spelling bees back in those days to be considered a real rebel and surely there were brothers from other mothers in my class that were far more deserving of their attention than I. They didn't hole up the nuns in a convent without access to the natural affections of their male counterparts for nothing. Nor did the good Lord spare the rod when expelling the merchants and money makers from the temple thereby preventing them from turning the temple into a den of thieves and neither would his disciples. I'm not sure the baby Jesus had old hags with furrowed brows and starched habits in mind when considering how to discipline the masses in the 20th century nor I think had the wooden 12 inch ruler been invented as yet. Nonetheless, fast forward to Good Friday in the 21st century and I'm thinking not much has changed. Because of my rebellious nature which is still intact all these years later I'll probably have a cheeseburger or two just to spite them. If they could only see me now. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Just a word or two about Trump if I might. I very much approve of his bombing the airstrip in Syria in retaliation for their using chemical weapons on their population. Can you imagine? Who does that? It's a quagmire over there in terms of all the factions involved in their seven year civil war but that didn't seem to make much difference to Trump when he instructed our Navy to launch 59 missiles at the airbase. His actions were roundly applauded both domestically and internationally. It sent a message that Trump was not Obama and that was good. Good for our country and good for our allies. And yesterday, he signed off on dropping the MOAB (Mother of all bombs) bomb in Afghanistan which by all reports killed up to 100 ISIS fighters burrowed in an extensive underground network of tunnels beneath the surface of the earth. Good.
Once again, a message to those bad actors across the globe that threaten to do bad things . Trump has enlisted the assistance of the Chinese president in depriving North Korea of their ability to develop and deliver nuclear weapons and that is a good thing. Trump's predecessors had no such luck. They had apparently not read Trump's treatise on "The Art of The Deal." It took a non-politician to get the job done right. And pundits looking to punch holes in his seemingly impenetrable facade rant and rave across the various leftist networks about the fact that he "has no policy." All of this against the backdrop of what the lunatic leader of North Korea may or may not do this weekend to celebrate "The Day of the Sun." Typically, he detonates some kind of nuclear device. Whether that happens now that we have missiles aimed in their direction and now that China has troops amassed on their border remains to be seen. My take is that the "crazy fat kid", as John McCain describes him, will blink. If he doesn't, his nation will be turned into a charcoal briquet in short order. Trump was right when he said we were going to get so tired of winning. And if Trump wants to play a round of golf to celebrate this win he has my approval. Tee time is in 23 hours and counting. Tick, Tick, Tick….
Maybe today will be the day. Today will be the day I make up my mind on what kind of car to buy. So many choices to consider. So many flavors as it were. I've decided that I don't want anything too conspicuous. Nothing that would suggest even an iota of pretentiousness if that is the right word. Then again, it's not all about utility either. If I want to eat my chocolate cake with a plastic utensil then that is my choice. Is sterling silver better? Is the magnificence of the cake diminished by the shape, form, or substance of the utensil used to devour it? All good questions. It may come down to having some things that I simply cannot live without. Sirius radio perhaps. Back seats for the pets, groceries, and children? Space to store bags going off to the local recycling center once or more a week? And then there are things that I never knew I wanted but most certainly do now that I know they exist.
For example, safety features that warn you when you are straying outside your lane; automatic braking when large objects appear unexpectedly; and a monitor that displays the area behind your car when in reverse. Cool. I want cool. Do I care that it requires premium gas? No. Do I care that it is a bit more expensive than the garden variety everyday kind of vehicle? No. "Expensive" is a relative term after all. Sometimes, it isn't even about what I like at all. Would I buy it if Nancy didn't like it? Maybe. I don't think she knows what she wants any more than I do. But, I need the car and she doesn't. We're planning to go for a test drive today in a car that has all the bells and whistles one could ever want in a car so we'll see how it goes. Now that I now what I want I just need to see how she feels on the road, if she lives up to expectations, and I need to see if I can get a decent deal from the dealership. It's a lot to think about. Exciting too.
With more time I might like to chime in about Evan's new laptop and the planned Easter dinner at the local Tuscan Kitchen. I need to get out on the road for my morning bike ride so Evan and Mrs G will have to wait.
Just a word or two about Trump if I might. I very much approve of his bombing the airstrip in Syria in retaliation for their using chemical weapons on their population. Can you imagine? Who does that? It's a quagmire over there in terms of all the factions involved in their seven year civil war but that didn't seem to make much difference to Trump when he instructed our Navy to launch 59 missiles at the airbase. His actions were roundly applauded both domestically and internationally. It sent a message that Trump was not Obama and that was good. Good for our country and good for our allies. And yesterday, he signed off on dropping the MOAB (Mother of all bombs) bomb in Afghanistan which by all reports killed up to 100 ISIS fighters burrowed in an extensive underground network of tunnels beneath the surface of the earth. Good.
Once again, a message to those bad actors across the globe that threaten to do bad things . Trump has enlisted the assistance of the Chinese president in depriving North Korea of their ability to develop and deliver nuclear weapons and that is a good thing. Trump's predecessors had no such luck. They had apparently not read Trump's treatise on "The Art of The Deal." It took a non-politician to get the job done right. And pundits looking to punch holes in his seemingly impenetrable facade rant and rave across the various leftist networks about the fact that he "has no policy." All of this against the backdrop of what the lunatic leader of North Korea may or may not do this weekend to celebrate "The Day of the Sun." Typically, he detonates some kind of nuclear device. Whether that happens now that we have missiles aimed in their direction and now that China has troops amassed on their border remains to be seen. My take is that the "crazy fat kid", as John McCain describes him, will blink. If he doesn't, his nation will be turned into a charcoal briquet in short order. Trump was right when he said we were going to get so tired of winning. And if Trump wants to play a round of golf to celebrate this win he has my approval. Tee time is in 23 hours and counting. Tick, Tick, Tick….
Maybe today will be the day. Today will be the day I make up my mind on what kind of car to buy. So many choices to consider. So many flavors as it were. I've decided that I don't want anything too conspicuous. Nothing that would suggest even an iota of pretentiousness if that is the right word. Then again, it's not all about utility either. If I want to eat my chocolate cake with a plastic utensil then that is my choice. Is sterling silver better? Is the magnificence of the cake diminished by the shape, form, or substance of the utensil used to devour it? All good questions. It may come down to having some things that I simply cannot live without. Sirius radio perhaps. Back seats for the pets, groceries, and children? Space to store bags going off to the local recycling center once or more a week? And then there are things that I never knew I wanted but most certainly do now that I know they exist.
For example, safety features that warn you when you are straying outside your lane; automatic braking when large objects appear unexpectedly; and a monitor that displays the area behind your car when in reverse. Cool. I want cool. Do I care that it requires premium gas? No. Do I care that it is a bit more expensive than the garden variety everyday kind of vehicle? No. "Expensive" is a relative term after all. Sometimes, it isn't even about what I like at all. Would I buy it if Nancy didn't like it? Maybe. I don't think she knows what she wants any more than I do. But, I need the car and she doesn't. We're planning to go for a test drive today in a car that has all the bells and whistles one could ever want in a car so we'll see how it goes. Now that I now what I want I just need to see how she feels on the road, if she lives up to expectations, and I need to see if I can get a decent deal from the dealership. It's a lot to think about. Exciting too.
With more time I might like to chime in about Evan's new laptop and the planned Easter dinner at the local Tuscan Kitchen. I need to get out on the road for my morning bike ride so Evan and Mrs G will have to wait.
Dawn Breaks on Marblehead
09/03/17 07:18
I knew this day was coming but I didn't expect it to come so soon. It represents a glacial shift in my thinking when it comes to giving advice, answering questions, and in general being helpful to Nancy. What could go wrong, you ask yourself? She asks and I respond. It's that simple. Or, is it? What I've come to realize is that she will ask for my advice then turn around at once and ignore it. As you can imagine, this has been somewhat frustrating for me being as I am her better half or so I thought. I've often said to her that I don't know why she asks since she never follows my advice anyway. "Does this blouse look good on me?", she would inquire. "Should I buy one gallon or two since we don't come here often?", she asked. "Which car should I take?", she asked as if though she already knew the answer but wanted my input anyway. Whenever she failed to follow my advice one way or another I took it in stride since it was not unusual for her to ignore my feedback. Nancy certainly has a mind of her own and one I encourage her to use and use often especially when it comes to decision making. What I am now realizing is that the advice she has been taking from me all along is not the advice I have been giving her but rather the opposite of that with I have been giving. This epiphany being what it is, I would ask the inevitable question given half a chance, "how is that working out for you?" Knowing what I now know about Nancy's contrarian mindset, I may well refrain from asking that question. In my now upsidedown world, assurances are few and far between. Just one more thing to get used to I suppose.
I don't think I quite get International Women's Day. In fact, the battle of the sexes is a little lost on me. I've never bought into the leftist's narrative that women are an oppressed group and incapable of achieving the same level of societal and financial success enjoyed by their male counterparts. Every societal change involving women going back to the industrial revolution has had its heroines and villains and political parties of all persuasions have never been shy about embracing those movements to advance their own causes. That is one possible explanation. This is otherwise a battle in search of a cause. It is true that without these disparate interest groups squarely in their camp the democrats would hardly qualify as a major opposition party. As such, they look to lock down certain constituencies with all too often unfulfilled promises of social justice, restitution for past grievances, and power in the halls of Congress to effect change going forward. I prefer to think that women are capable of seeing through these false promises but the throngs of women in attendance across the globe at these types of rallies suggests to me that we Conservatives still have work to do. When I see pictures on television of men in attendance at these rallies dressed up as vaginas with their children in tow I suspect that we as men have more work to do. In any movement worth its salt there is bound to be collateral damage. If that collateral damage involves the emasculation of the male species then it may well be a battle worth fighting. As a potential piñata in that fight, maybe the battle of the sexes isn't lost on me after all.
The snow storm this past week was nasty. The winds were seemingly hurricane force, the snow arrived on time just as forecasted, and the projected accumulations fell short by just a few inches. A couple of takeaways that are worth noting: We lost electricity for several hours and the town plow left a wall of snow at the end of our driveway the likes of which we've not seen in all the years that we've lived here. The temperatures hovered around freezing the entire day and the resulting snow was heavy and lay across the landscape like a wet blanket. Branches and debris of all kinds were violently ripped from their moorings by the winds which blew everything in sight horizontally at times. I had planned to take down the bird feeders with every expectation that not a one of god's creatures would wish to get caught up in this maelstrom of a storm heading our way.
There is usually an uptick of animal activity just prior to storms where the animals have not only the good sense to know a storm is coming but to adjust their dietary intake to compensate for leaner times. You can imagine my surprise when I saw birds flocking to the feeders during the height of the storm. As animated as they were, it was almost as though they delighted in being out in the storm. I was never happier that my instincts were wrong and my decision to leave the feeders up during the storm turned out to be providential indeed. Our power was out some 6 or 7 hours but our generator kicked in for the duration and we were not without lights, refrigeration, or heat. Our neighbor gave us a tankful of gas to use when getting out to a local gas station was not possible so that was great. Lastly, the town plow came down our street the following morning when we were hard at work chiseling away at the Mount Everest sitting at the end our driveway. He was good enough to clear the snow away and he saved us several hours of work. Yes, the big guy works in mysterious ways. Indeed he does.
I don't think I quite get International Women's Day. In fact, the battle of the sexes is a little lost on me. I've never bought into the leftist's narrative that women are an oppressed group and incapable of achieving the same level of societal and financial success enjoyed by their male counterparts. Every societal change involving women going back to the industrial revolution has had its heroines and villains and political parties of all persuasions have never been shy about embracing those movements to advance their own causes. That is one possible explanation. This is otherwise a battle in search of a cause. It is true that without these disparate interest groups squarely in their camp the democrats would hardly qualify as a major opposition party. As such, they look to lock down certain constituencies with all too often unfulfilled promises of social justice, restitution for past grievances, and power in the halls of Congress to effect change going forward. I prefer to think that women are capable of seeing through these false promises but the throngs of women in attendance across the globe at these types of rallies suggests to me that we Conservatives still have work to do. When I see pictures on television of men in attendance at these rallies dressed up as vaginas with their children in tow I suspect that we as men have more work to do. In any movement worth its salt there is bound to be collateral damage. If that collateral damage involves the emasculation of the male species then it may well be a battle worth fighting. As a potential piñata in that fight, maybe the battle of the sexes isn't lost on me after all.
The snow storm this past week was nasty. The winds were seemingly hurricane force, the snow arrived on time just as forecasted, and the projected accumulations fell short by just a few inches. A couple of takeaways that are worth noting: We lost electricity for several hours and the town plow left a wall of snow at the end of our driveway the likes of which we've not seen in all the years that we've lived here. The temperatures hovered around freezing the entire day and the resulting snow was heavy and lay across the landscape like a wet blanket. Branches and debris of all kinds were violently ripped from their moorings by the winds which blew everything in sight horizontally at times. I had planned to take down the bird feeders with every expectation that not a one of god's creatures would wish to get caught up in this maelstrom of a storm heading our way.
There is usually an uptick of animal activity just prior to storms where the animals have not only the good sense to know a storm is coming but to adjust their dietary intake to compensate for leaner times. You can imagine my surprise when I saw birds flocking to the feeders during the height of the storm. As animated as they were, it was almost as though they delighted in being out in the storm. I was never happier that my instincts were wrong and my decision to leave the feeders up during the storm turned out to be providential indeed. Our power was out some 6 or 7 hours but our generator kicked in for the duration and we were not without lights, refrigeration, or heat. Our neighbor gave us a tankful of gas to use when getting out to a local gas station was not possible so that was great. Lastly, the town plow came down our street the following morning when we were hard at work chiseling away at the Mount Everest sitting at the end our driveway. He was good enough to clear the snow away and he saved us several hours of work. Yes, the big guy works in mysterious ways. Indeed he does.
And the Oscar goes to...
04/03/17 07:11
I nearly choked on my last sip of my espresso this morning when I read Trump's tweet at 6:40 am about Obama tapping his phones at Trump Tower prior to the election. To quote, "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarythism!" I am outraged! Every american should be outraged! Who the fuck does this despot think he is? Is this not a jailable offense? How does our democracy withstand such assaults? This is the kind of stuff that you see in Russia or other hellholes across the planet. Not surprising really given the eight years of Obama's tenure in office and the many things we've seen and heard but have never been accurately reported, investigated, or even speculated upon by the media. Yes, the media is culpable in this rampage of irreverence and irresponsible if not unlawful behavior on the part of our 44th president. Trump should marshal all of the forces at his disposal, and they are considerable now that he is president, to bring those in the Obama administration including Obama himself to justice. The many leaks that continue even now in the Trump administration are evidence of a larger cabal that is overseen if not led by the former president and they must be ferreted out and destroyed. Their aim is clear: To delegitimize and, if possible, bring down the presidency of one Donald J. Trump. We, the american people, must insist that no stones go unturned in our defense of Donald J. Trump and our sacred democracy. If taking to the streets is what is required of us as god fearing americans then that is what we must do. The dark state must be destroyed!
It's funny how you learn to tolerate things over time and how you turn your attention away from things that otherwise deserve your attention. If you are a home owner you know what I mean. Cracks come and go in the driveway and you just learn to avoid or ignore them. Fence rails fall in disrepair and you do your best to prop them up or lodge them just so so they don't fall again. The color of your rugs fade with time and you are none the wiser until you happen to move a piece of furniture where the original color of the rug is revealed. Bathrooms go out of fashion and decades of indifference come into focus time and time again only to be ignored. Your tolerance for such things knows no bounds until such a time that the desire for change and the slow and steady realization that such a change is needed becomes a clarion call that can no longer be ignored. It makes me wonder if this is the natural order of things. More insidiously, it makes me wonder if this says something about me. Am I more or less tolerant than others of my species? Do I take comfort in the same old same old or do I insist on change for change's sake? I think I'm a middle of the roader if that makes sense. But now it's time to change things up. Spring is on tap and a renovation or two is in order. In no particular order, we're looking to replace or renovate rugs, bathrooms, and driveways in the coming months. It's a come-to-Jesus moment for us and not a moment too soon. Some might say it's about time. They would be right.
I only caught pieces of the Oscars here and there on TV this past week but it seemed to me that there were a disproportionate number of black actors receiving awards. Consider the fact that the Oscars took a hit last year because there were few if any black actors receiving awards it seemed only right that they would look to correct that this time around. Had it not been so apparent that that was what they were looking to accomplish one might get the impression that there were black actors who actually deserved the awards. I saw one or two of the movies involved and I can tell you from personal experience that the performances were good but not "Oscar" good if you know what I mean. The fact that these awards were token awards at best it was perhaps refreshing to see that the recipients received their awards with the requisite grace and good sense one would expect of an actor receiving such an award that was otherwise underserved. They praised their benefactors, their family's, their gods, and the institution that put them in the spotlight and gave them voices that had heretofore been silenced or ignored. They wisely chose not to challenge their white "slaveholders" for previous misdeeds or racial injustices and accepted their roles and designated safe spaces on the Hollywood plantation. They were indeed in high cotton that evening and it was about damn time.
It's funny how you learn to tolerate things over time and how you turn your attention away from things that otherwise deserve your attention. If you are a home owner you know what I mean. Cracks come and go in the driveway and you just learn to avoid or ignore them. Fence rails fall in disrepair and you do your best to prop them up or lodge them just so so they don't fall again. The color of your rugs fade with time and you are none the wiser until you happen to move a piece of furniture where the original color of the rug is revealed. Bathrooms go out of fashion and decades of indifference come into focus time and time again only to be ignored. Your tolerance for such things knows no bounds until such a time that the desire for change and the slow and steady realization that such a change is needed becomes a clarion call that can no longer be ignored. It makes me wonder if this is the natural order of things. More insidiously, it makes me wonder if this says something about me. Am I more or less tolerant than others of my species? Do I take comfort in the same old same old or do I insist on change for change's sake? I think I'm a middle of the roader if that makes sense. But now it's time to change things up. Spring is on tap and a renovation or two is in order. In no particular order, we're looking to replace or renovate rugs, bathrooms, and driveways in the coming months. It's a come-to-Jesus moment for us and not a moment too soon. Some might say it's about time. They would be right.
I only caught pieces of the Oscars here and there on TV this past week but it seemed to me that there were a disproportionate number of black actors receiving awards. Consider the fact that the Oscars took a hit last year because there were few if any black actors receiving awards it seemed only right that they would look to correct that this time around. Had it not been so apparent that that was what they were looking to accomplish one might get the impression that there were black actors who actually deserved the awards. I saw one or two of the movies involved and I can tell you from personal experience that the performances were good but not "Oscar" good if you know what I mean. The fact that these awards were token awards at best it was perhaps refreshing to see that the recipients received their awards with the requisite grace and good sense one would expect of an actor receiving such an award that was otherwise underserved. They praised their benefactors, their family's, their gods, and the institution that put them in the spotlight and gave them voices that had heretofore been silenced or ignored. They wisely chose not to challenge their white "slaveholders" for previous misdeeds or racial injustices and accepted their roles and designated safe spaces on the Hollywood plantation. They were indeed in high cotton that evening and it was about damn time.
Babbling Barristas
28/02/17 07:32
Seasons come and seasons go. That's just the way things work around here. It seems like we've had a somewhat uneventful winter judging from the snowfall thus far this winter. Maybe a better way to look at it is that we've only had the chance to go snowshoeing once. Just to put a little definition around that, I like to go snowshoeing after we get a pretty good storm that gives us something to walk on as opposed to walking around on snow that has settled and may even support someone walking around on the snow pack without snowshoes. I was commenting to Nancy just yesterday that the snow has really receded and it is looking very springlike here in town with the beginning of Spring just two or three weeks away. The temperatures have been in the upper forties and occasionally in the fifties. Warm enough to go biking and this past week I think I rode six out of seven days. Nancy's bike is in the shop for her annual servicing and will be available for pick-up this week I expect. She is less likely to ride given the cool temperatures so not a big deal if her bike is in the shop for an extra day or two. As much as I'd like Evan to get out for a bike ride it is just not in the cards. Offers to take my bike for a ride are declined and I have long stopped asking him so that is that. Like any good card player, and as Kenny Rogers used to say, "you need to know when to hold em and when to fold em."
We've made no plans to vacation at the lake this year and I feel no compulsion one way or another to arrange for same. There is a general sense of complacency and even disinterest about such things so not sure what to make of that. Maybe it just seems like it requires too much effort and is not worth it anymore. Maybe it will force us to be a little more spontaneous and we can take day trips here and there or maybe not at all. It does make me wonder if this disinterest extends to other things that we usually do like gardening, etc. It's all about continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Keep moving, keep grooving. You stop, you die. You slow down, you die. Maybe in Spring, we see renewal and with renewal comes hope. Hope to do better, hope to do more, hope to embrace and effect change in a world that is largely resistant to change but otherwise resigned to its fate and direction. It's a little like a merry-go-round I suppose. You stay on that pony even if that means just going around in circles. You grab those reins and straddle that porcelain beast and laugh aloud like life matters because it does when you live in the moment. In this past week I have seen the emergence of plants and animals alike signaling the coming of Spring. The birdhouse I just raised in the back yard near our still-dormant garden immediately attracted both bluebirds and finches because they too hear the clarion call of nature and want nothing more than to participate in all its glory.
It's a funny thing this business about coffee. Just when you think you have it down you find that there is more to it than you thought. For the longest time I thought I had found the coffee that met my needs. A brew so dark and so deep that there was no reason one way or another to look any further than my local Starbucks. I might well deviate from time to time and go somewhere other than Starbucks if I felt like having an iced coffee or a cup of cuban coffee which is not otherwise available at Starbucks. But even then I rarely ventured out of my comfort zone so stuck with that which was always satisfying, always intoxicating, and rarely any different than the cup that came before it. That all changed when on a fluke I decided to have a latte. Let's spruce things up, I thought to myself.
I'm going to splurge and have the best that they have to offer and not look back, not regret my decision to do something impulsive, and certainly not care one way or another how much the darn thing cost. In an odd turn of events, I decided to stop going to Starbucks for my lattes' because they were inconsistent in how they frothed their milk. I'm not at all sure how I became a connoisseur about such things but I knew immediately what I liked and I knew what I didn't like. It was an epiphany of monumental proportions and my preference for a lather-like head on my coffee would not and could not be ignored. I've also discovered that latte's are widely available and more establishments than not offer consistency in how they prepare their latte's so I am no longer a slave to Starbucks. Now the challenge for me is to be able to replicate the drink at home. Spare the soy, use whole milk when frothing, and be careful not to boil the milk when frothing. The type of coffee used in the process is almost secondary it seems. I will say that I wonder if what I've been making is more of an espresso given the ratio of coffee to water used. It's a work in process to be sure. I get to drink my mistakes too. What can go wrong?
We've made no plans to vacation at the lake this year and I feel no compulsion one way or another to arrange for same. There is a general sense of complacency and even disinterest about such things so not sure what to make of that. Maybe it just seems like it requires too much effort and is not worth it anymore. Maybe it will force us to be a little more spontaneous and we can take day trips here and there or maybe not at all. It does make me wonder if this disinterest extends to other things that we usually do like gardening, etc. It's all about continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Keep moving, keep grooving. You stop, you die. You slow down, you die. Maybe in Spring, we see renewal and with renewal comes hope. Hope to do better, hope to do more, hope to embrace and effect change in a world that is largely resistant to change but otherwise resigned to its fate and direction. It's a little like a merry-go-round I suppose. You stay on that pony even if that means just going around in circles. You grab those reins and straddle that porcelain beast and laugh aloud like life matters because it does when you live in the moment. In this past week I have seen the emergence of plants and animals alike signaling the coming of Spring. The birdhouse I just raised in the back yard near our still-dormant garden immediately attracted both bluebirds and finches because they too hear the clarion call of nature and want nothing more than to participate in all its glory.
It's a funny thing this business about coffee. Just when you think you have it down you find that there is more to it than you thought. For the longest time I thought I had found the coffee that met my needs. A brew so dark and so deep that there was no reason one way or another to look any further than my local Starbucks. I might well deviate from time to time and go somewhere other than Starbucks if I felt like having an iced coffee or a cup of cuban coffee which is not otherwise available at Starbucks. But even then I rarely ventured out of my comfort zone so stuck with that which was always satisfying, always intoxicating, and rarely any different than the cup that came before it. That all changed when on a fluke I decided to have a latte. Let's spruce things up, I thought to myself.
I'm going to splurge and have the best that they have to offer and not look back, not regret my decision to do something impulsive, and certainly not care one way or another how much the darn thing cost. In an odd turn of events, I decided to stop going to Starbucks for my lattes' because they were inconsistent in how they frothed their milk. I'm not at all sure how I became a connoisseur about such things but I knew immediately what I liked and I knew what I didn't like. It was an epiphany of monumental proportions and my preference for a lather-like head on my coffee would not and could not be ignored. I've also discovered that latte's are widely available and more establishments than not offer consistency in how they prepare their latte's so I am no longer a slave to Starbucks. Now the challenge for me is to be able to replicate the drink at home. Spare the soy, use whole milk when frothing, and be careful not to boil the milk when frothing. The type of coffee used in the process is almost secondary it seems. I will say that I wonder if what I've been making is more of an espresso given the ratio of coffee to water used. It's a work in process to be sure. I get to drink my mistakes too. What can go wrong?
Nurse Nancy
18/02/17 08:21
A scream laced with profanity came out of nowhere just as I was lying down for the night and just after Nancy had arrived home from her long commute into Boston. She was standing just feet away from me in the bedroom and seemingly so numbingly tired that she was stumbling while kicking off her shoes and taking off her clothes when we heard Evan's voice calling out to us. Before we had a chance to respond to his voice he came rushing into our bedroom with blood spurting everywhere from his hand or wrist area while mumbling unintelligibly. It was a plea for help; a painful and horrifying admission that he wasn't fully comprehending what had just happened to him. I don't know why but I wasn't convinced at that very moment that his injury wasn't self inflicted. I just wasn't understanding how he could otherwise sustain such a serious injury in an otherwise happenstance fashion. I could hear water running in the sink in the bathroom. Presumably, whatever occurred in the bathroom occurred while Evan was standing at the sink. My mind was focused on two things as I stood there with him: I wanted to stop the bleeding by applying pressure to the affected area and I needed verbal and visual assurance that Nancy was on the phone to call for help. I had instructed Nancy in no uncertain terms to call 911 but things were happening so fast that I needed to see or hear for myself that she was doing precisely that. The trail of blood leading into our bedroom and now covering certain sections of the carpet was frighteningly deep red and arterial in appearance. It wasn't looking good.
I walked Evan out of our room and into the kitchen while still applying pressure to his wrist area. What I didn't know but soon ascertained was that he had gone to turn off the water after washing his hands in the sink and the porcelain handle had broken into two pieces exposing a very sharp edge. The piece of the porcelain handle remaining attached to the sink drove into the palm of his hand cutting into his flesh missing tendons in its path but severing minor arteries along the way. After walking him around in the kitchen for a moment or two he started to complain about feeling dizzy so we did a slow walk to the kitchen table where he dropped into the kitchen chair. I could hear the water still running in the kitchen sink and I had visions of it overflowing and flooding in the area and wanted to attend to it but could not since Nancy was still on the phone with the 911 folks. Or, was she? NANCY! NANCY! I'm standing over my son holding his hand above his head while water is gushing god only knows where in the bathroom and I'm calling out to my wife but getting no response. Has she fallen off the face of the earth? Is the ambulance coming? Where the bejesus is she? Before I had the chance to give that much more thought I saw lights coming down the street so help was on the way. Thank the baby Jesus.
I'm only guessing but I think Nancy's hysterical call to 911 gave the responders pause to consider that what they were walking into might be more than a simple accident. Every 911 call is a potential crime scene and this 911 call was no different. I had visions of Nancy curled up in a fetal position in the snow drift behind the house still holding the phone in her hand hoping against hope that what she thought was happening wasn't actually happening. Her inclination in such situations is somewhat predictable and to say that she becomes fragile and distant is an understatement. I think sometimes about the comment she has made in the past about going into nursing like her mother before her but connecting the dots on that reality knowing what I know about how she responds to such things is really difficult. It's possible that her hysteria was made even worse having endured a hellish commute after a long hard day at work. My role as a potential culprit in the scheme of things was quite possibly in question but if I came across as anything more than a well reasoned adult and caring father it was in the dark recesses of the minds of those observers standing in the shadows. Is it at all beyond the realm of possibility that they thought Evan had gone to great lengths to protect his mother from his father and had been injured in the process? No such conclusions were reached and rightly so.
There is no question that the police accompanying the first responders were doing their best to make sense of it all and Nancy's emotional unraveling sent them down rabbit holes that just didn't exist. Our individual accounts of what transpired were no doubt in synch and it was no surprise to me that before they had the chance to put it all together that they may have thought it was a suicide attempt. "Were there any disagreements", they inquired. "Can you tell us what happened?" "Show us where this happened if you don't mind." One of the officers said to me, "I'm not familiar with your name." I responded, "That's a good thing." "Right?" They even took a picture of the area around the sink where the accident occurred. A little levity wasn't a bad thing and it was good to be acquitted of something, anything. In the midst of it all, there was Evan. He was holding his own and complying as best he could with the instructions given to him by the first responders. He was not otherwise hysterical or upset and did not give the impression one way or the other that he was depressed, despondent, or at odds with his family or his environment. His affect may have seemed particularly odd to the first responders in that his demeanor in such situations is predictably, for those of us who know him anyway, always calm and composed. Eerily so, some might say. As a child, he would look on with interest when getting shots or giving blood. Not the normal reaction by any stretch so it gives one pause when seeing it for the first time. Is he in shock? No. A bit weary given the late hour and unhappy with his particular circumstance but neither alarmed or apoplectic.
He went off in the ambulance and we followed shortly thereafter. Having received a few stitches he was summarily released and we returned hime to pick up where we left off. Nancy kicked off her shoes once again, I did the same, and Evan closed his bedroom door behind him for the night. That's all she wrote, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.
I walked Evan out of our room and into the kitchen while still applying pressure to his wrist area. What I didn't know but soon ascertained was that he had gone to turn off the water after washing his hands in the sink and the porcelain handle had broken into two pieces exposing a very sharp edge. The piece of the porcelain handle remaining attached to the sink drove into the palm of his hand cutting into his flesh missing tendons in its path but severing minor arteries along the way. After walking him around in the kitchen for a moment or two he started to complain about feeling dizzy so we did a slow walk to the kitchen table where he dropped into the kitchen chair. I could hear the water still running in the kitchen sink and I had visions of it overflowing and flooding in the area and wanted to attend to it but could not since Nancy was still on the phone with the 911 folks. Or, was she? NANCY! NANCY! I'm standing over my son holding his hand above his head while water is gushing god only knows where in the bathroom and I'm calling out to my wife but getting no response. Has she fallen off the face of the earth? Is the ambulance coming? Where the bejesus is she? Before I had the chance to give that much more thought I saw lights coming down the street so help was on the way. Thank the baby Jesus.
I'm only guessing but I think Nancy's hysterical call to 911 gave the responders pause to consider that what they were walking into might be more than a simple accident. Every 911 call is a potential crime scene and this 911 call was no different. I had visions of Nancy curled up in a fetal position in the snow drift behind the house still holding the phone in her hand hoping against hope that what she thought was happening wasn't actually happening. Her inclination in such situations is somewhat predictable and to say that she becomes fragile and distant is an understatement. I think sometimes about the comment she has made in the past about going into nursing like her mother before her but connecting the dots on that reality knowing what I know about how she responds to such things is really difficult. It's possible that her hysteria was made even worse having endured a hellish commute after a long hard day at work. My role as a potential culprit in the scheme of things was quite possibly in question but if I came across as anything more than a well reasoned adult and caring father it was in the dark recesses of the minds of those observers standing in the shadows. Is it at all beyond the realm of possibility that they thought Evan had gone to great lengths to protect his mother from his father and had been injured in the process? No such conclusions were reached and rightly so.
There is no question that the police accompanying the first responders were doing their best to make sense of it all and Nancy's emotional unraveling sent them down rabbit holes that just didn't exist. Our individual accounts of what transpired were no doubt in synch and it was no surprise to me that before they had the chance to put it all together that they may have thought it was a suicide attempt. "Were there any disagreements", they inquired. "Can you tell us what happened?" "Show us where this happened if you don't mind." One of the officers said to me, "I'm not familiar with your name." I responded, "That's a good thing." "Right?" They even took a picture of the area around the sink where the accident occurred. A little levity wasn't a bad thing and it was good to be acquitted of something, anything. In the midst of it all, there was Evan. He was holding his own and complying as best he could with the instructions given to him by the first responders. He was not otherwise hysterical or upset and did not give the impression one way or the other that he was depressed, despondent, or at odds with his family or his environment. His affect may have seemed particularly odd to the first responders in that his demeanor in such situations is predictably, for those of us who know him anyway, always calm and composed. Eerily so, some might say. As a child, he would look on with interest when getting shots or giving blood. Not the normal reaction by any stretch so it gives one pause when seeing it for the first time. Is he in shock? No. A bit weary given the late hour and unhappy with his particular circumstance but neither alarmed or apoplectic.
He went off in the ambulance and we followed shortly thereafter. Having received a few stitches he was summarily released and we returned hime to pick up where we left off. Nancy kicked off her shoes once again, I did the same, and Evan closed his bedroom door behind him for the night. That's all she wrote, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Feets Don't Fail Us Now
13/02/17 08:27
On a day when I had a dentist appointment to attend to; on a day when Evan had his own appointments and Nancy had hers with work in Boston; we sit here on a Monday morning largely snowed in. The storm was forecasted well in advance so that was no surprise. It is a nice reprieve actually since most of us might rather have the day off than to have to go to the appointments we had scheduled. What was a little surprising was that along about 8 or 9 last evening when we were wanting to go clear a few inches of snow from our driveway ahead of the larger storm expected overnight, we found precipitation in the form of rain. The temperatures had warmed up just enough to turn the snow to rain and it made the few inches that we had on the ground a very heavy few inches to move even with the machinery we use to do such things. It was a slog but we got the job done. It was a strangely sultry and tranquil night in an odd sort of way with subdued winds and a moonless sky and we did what we always do after busying ourselves for the better part of an hour clearing and removing snow around our property.
We walked down our snow covered street hand in hand so as to have support if and when one or both of us slipped on ice unseen beneath the several inches of unplowed snow underfoot. Power lines and tree limbs glistened with wetness appearing icy and treacherous ahead of colder temperatures moving in over night. It was the kind of night you want to have an extra blanket and maybe even a bucket of water should the electricity go by the boards. On this night in particular, I cleaned the kitchen not knowing what we might wake up to. We did not lose power but we did get more snow. The worst is yet to come or so they say. The day after was almost anticlimactic in that there was more snow but little else to suggest that a storm had passed through. There were no high winds, no impassable roads, no ice storms, no power outages, none off it really. I made the usual passes up and down our driveway with the snowblower before taking a second look at the end of our neighbors driveway just in case she had not yet gotten around to doing the same. No sense in not going the extra distance knowing that she would have to do the same. Just being neighborly, really. Besides, we are currently on her short list when it comes delivering home made bread, jams, and jellies. I'd like to keep it that way.
With any luck and maybe a bit of encouragement Nancy and I can get out and about on our snowshoes today. We've been sitting on them for the better part of two winters now and just haven't had the chance to use them. Our patience is about to be rewarded. There is probably about two feet of snow on the ground so that will work one way or another. I warned Nancy that planning any cross country treks before getting a little experience under our belts was probably ill advised. She wants to head out on the local trails through the woods out beyond the town cemetery and I'm all about seeing what we can do in our back yard before going any further. Are we in sufficiently good shape for this kind of exercise? Do we know what the hell we're doing? How do we get them on our feet? All good questions. I see in my minds eye that we get a little experience and then build on that experience just like the professionals do. Hikers don't start out on Mt. Everest. They grab their Sherpa guides and do the back trails first. I might even like to try some winter camping sometime. Really rough it. The sun is out in all of its glory this morning so everything is on the table. Feets don't fail us now.
We walked down our snow covered street hand in hand so as to have support if and when one or both of us slipped on ice unseen beneath the several inches of unplowed snow underfoot. Power lines and tree limbs glistened with wetness appearing icy and treacherous ahead of colder temperatures moving in over night. It was the kind of night you want to have an extra blanket and maybe even a bucket of water should the electricity go by the boards. On this night in particular, I cleaned the kitchen not knowing what we might wake up to. We did not lose power but we did get more snow. The worst is yet to come or so they say. The day after was almost anticlimactic in that there was more snow but little else to suggest that a storm had passed through. There were no high winds, no impassable roads, no ice storms, no power outages, none off it really. I made the usual passes up and down our driveway with the snowblower before taking a second look at the end of our neighbors driveway just in case she had not yet gotten around to doing the same. No sense in not going the extra distance knowing that she would have to do the same. Just being neighborly, really. Besides, we are currently on her short list when it comes delivering home made bread, jams, and jellies. I'd like to keep it that way.
With any luck and maybe a bit of encouragement Nancy and I can get out and about on our snowshoes today. We've been sitting on them for the better part of two winters now and just haven't had the chance to use them. Our patience is about to be rewarded. There is probably about two feet of snow on the ground so that will work one way or another. I warned Nancy that planning any cross country treks before getting a little experience under our belts was probably ill advised. She wants to head out on the local trails through the woods out beyond the town cemetery and I'm all about seeing what we can do in our back yard before going any further. Are we in sufficiently good shape for this kind of exercise? Do we know what the hell we're doing? How do we get them on our feet? All good questions. I see in my minds eye that we get a little experience and then build on that experience just like the professionals do. Hikers don't start out on Mt. Everest. They grab their Sherpa guides and do the back trails first. I might even like to try some winter camping sometime. Really rough it. The sun is out in all of its glory this morning so everything is on the table. Feets don't fail us now.
New Sheriff in Town
10/02/17 14:20
I don't know much about the Federal Appeals Courts as it relates to presidential powers but it seems to me when a president has been given with the statutory authority by Congress to bar certain parties from entering our country for the safety and security of our people that the courts ought not to try and second guess the president when he chooses to exercise that authority. When President Trump tried to suspend or ban non-citizens from certain countries to prevent the alleged import of terrorism he was roundly criticized by his democratic rivals, not unexpectedly, and lawsuits followed looking to preempt the President from following through on his plans to implement same. It is true that the appeals court hearing the case has had roughly 85% of their decisions overturned by the nations highest court so to say they are an activist court is an understatement. It is also true that the appeals court relied heavily on certain statements made by candidate Trump during the campaign to conclude that his propose ban was in fact a ban against Muslims when that was not true. This is unprecedented. The ruling from the leftist 9th Circuit (Circus) Court made no mention of the law that gives the president the power to do what he did and that in and of itself invalidates their decision in the minds of the american people. If you need one more example of what an activist court looks like and what allowing such a court to run roughshod over our system would do for our democracy you need not look any further than this example. Congress should take immediate steps to disqualify the 9th Circuit Court of California. Absent that, a civil war may be the only other option.
I was happy to see recently that certain protesters who had raised hell during Trump's inaugural ceremony in Washington DC on January 20th were given jail time (up to ten years), steep fines, and other penalties in holding with the crimes committed. Protests against Trump nationwide have taken on a sinister tone and appearance since his inaugural and seem largely organized and coordinated in order to justify the express narrative of the left wing media that Trump is not a legitimate president. The gnashing of teeth has barely begun but the media, distraught from its inability to elect their candidate (Hillary Clinton), continue their relentless campaigns individually and collectively to tear down a democratically elected president. Candidate town hall forums coast to coast are now held hostage not by right-minded citizens wanting a constructive dialogue with their elected representatives but rather by bandanna wearing agitators wanting nothing more than to wreak havoc and dominate the headlines on any given day.
Illegal aliens found guilty of felonious activity are being summarily rounded up and deported. Pictures in the press show their distressed family members lying down in front of the ICE vans hoping that their antics will somehow result in the release of their loved ones. The anguish is palpable. For those who voted for Mr. Trump, these are promises made and promises kept. For the leftists, this is tantamount to interference with the march toward globalism that had begun under Bush, has been fully funded by George Soros, and has only accelerated during the eight years under Obama. One only has to look at Merkel's Germany to see that this is a recipe for disaster on a global scale. The ensuing chaos is part and parcel of the overall plan. On the issue of healthcare, those indigent recipients of Obamacare who have paid nothing for insurance under Obama's plan are now squealing like stuck pigs at the prospects of having this government funded program replaced or repealed. I would not replace it; our constitution makes no reference to providing insurance to our populace. We have a safety net for the more needy of our citizens and that should suffice. A word of warning to those would-be anarchists who march in our streets, participate in the destruction of personal property, cause irreparable harm to our existing social order, and believe that anarchy is now an acceptable form of protest, be advised that there is a new sheriff in town. He goes by the name of Jefferson Sessions.
Is it me or does the left wing of the Democratic party in Washington look and act like what can only be described as a bunch of leftist nut jobs? With the coming to power of Donald J. Trump, the democrats stand alone in their madness and it is indeed stark in contrast to the their members across the aisle. Anyone representing Massachusetts in the US Senate, for example, has always been an outlier going back to the days of Barney Frank. He was about as queer as you can get but no one held that against him since he was more eloquent than most when compared to his party equals. Even Ted Kennedy, who was never held responsible for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, enjoyed many years in the senate despite his scandalous and murderous past.
For a brief period it seemed like Massachusetts had seen the error of their ways when they sent a republican, Scott Brown, to the Senate in 2010. He lost re-election to a democrat by the name of Elizabeth Warren whose claim to fame was that she lied about her heritage to gain admission to Harvard University. As proof of her Indian heritage, she offered what she described as her "high cheek bones" as evidence of her lineage to an astonished but compliant media. A media who was more than willing to accept her foibles and fibs being what they were given that she was a woman, a democrat, a minority (native American indian), and last but not least, from Massachusetts. This goes to the very moral depravity that is the democratic party in 2017. As president Trump stated yesterday in a meeting with democrats and republicans at the White House and in a reference to Elizabeth Warren, "Pocahontas is now the face of your party." It was a subtle reminder at just how far left the left has gone and was willing to go to appeal to the Bernie (Bern) Sanders wing of the party.
I was happy to see recently that certain protesters who had raised hell during Trump's inaugural ceremony in Washington DC on January 20th were given jail time (up to ten years), steep fines, and other penalties in holding with the crimes committed. Protests against Trump nationwide have taken on a sinister tone and appearance since his inaugural and seem largely organized and coordinated in order to justify the express narrative of the left wing media that Trump is not a legitimate president. The gnashing of teeth has barely begun but the media, distraught from its inability to elect their candidate (Hillary Clinton), continue their relentless campaigns individually and collectively to tear down a democratically elected president. Candidate town hall forums coast to coast are now held hostage not by right-minded citizens wanting a constructive dialogue with their elected representatives but rather by bandanna wearing agitators wanting nothing more than to wreak havoc and dominate the headlines on any given day.
Illegal aliens found guilty of felonious activity are being summarily rounded up and deported. Pictures in the press show their distressed family members lying down in front of the ICE vans hoping that their antics will somehow result in the release of their loved ones. The anguish is palpable. For those who voted for Mr. Trump, these are promises made and promises kept. For the leftists, this is tantamount to interference with the march toward globalism that had begun under Bush, has been fully funded by George Soros, and has only accelerated during the eight years under Obama. One only has to look at Merkel's Germany to see that this is a recipe for disaster on a global scale. The ensuing chaos is part and parcel of the overall plan. On the issue of healthcare, those indigent recipients of Obamacare who have paid nothing for insurance under Obama's plan are now squealing like stuck pigs at the prospects of having this government funded program replaced or repealed. I would not replace it; our constitution makes no reference to providing insurance to our populace. We have a safety net for the more needy of our citizens and that should suffice. A word of warning to those would-be anarchists who march in our streets, participate in the destruction of personal property, cause irreparable harm to our existing social order, and believe that anarchy is now an acceptable form of protest, be advised that there is a new sheriff in town. He goes by the name of Jefferson Sessions.
Is it me or does the left wing of the Democratic party in Washington look and act like what can only be described as a bunch of leftist nut jobs? With the coming to power of Donald J. Trump, the democrats stand alone in their madness and it is indeed stark in contrast to the their members across the aisle. Anyone representing Massachusetts in the US Senate, for example, has always been an outlier going back to the days of Barney Frank. He was about as queer as you can get but no one held that against him since he was more eloquent than most when compared to his party equals. Even Ted Kennedy, who was never held responsible for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, enjoyed many years in the senate despite his scandalous and murderous past.
For a brief period it seemed like Massachusetts had seen the error of their ways when they sent a republican, Scott Brown, to the Senate in 2010. He lost re-election to a democrat by the name of Elizabeth Warren whose claim to fame was that she lied about her heritage to gain admission to Harvard University. As proof of her Indian heritage, she offered what she described as her "high cheek bones" as evidence of her lineage to an astonished but compliant media. A media who was more than willing to accept her foibles and fibs being what they were given that she was a woman, a democrat, a minority (native American indian), and last but not least, from Massachusetts. This goes to the very moral depravity that is the democratic party in 2017. As president Trump stated yesterday in a meeting with democrats and republicans at the White House and in a reference to Elizabeth Warren, "Pocahontas is now the face of your party." It was a subtle reminder at just how far left the left has gone and was willing to go to appeal to the Bernie (Bern) Sanders wing of the party.
Get it right! Please.
09/02/17 07:43
My cold may be on the wane but I need to get my mojo back. I am just not feeling the love so let's hope that gets better soon. In the meantime, we are going to get us an old fashioned snow storm today. Yep, a solid 10-16 inches of the fluffy white stuff. I need gas for the big snowblower so told Nancy that I would go to the station at the first hint of snow to get the gas I need. Needless to say, she is a little uncomfortable with that. My god, woman, the station is not that far away and the snow is not going to come down that fast that I can't manage my way there and back. Ev took care of the snow left over from the last snowfall on the back porch yesterday so with any luck we can get a hand from him once the storm hits. We'll see how that goes. He can be a little fickle one when it comes to pitching in around the house so we'll just have to play that by ear. I just don't know how that boy is going to manage on his own when the day comes where he has to do just that. The good news is that we're working on it. Believe me, we're working on it.
It may even be a good day to have a wood stove. Crank that puppy up and get er going for the long haul. The prospects of losing our electricity are also very real but not to worry. One of these days, and it may come sooner rather than later, we'll have a chance to use the generator we purchased some years ago. We've used it once or twice so we know it works. What I worry about is that it is hardly used so we may either forget how to use it or it may come up short when we really need it. It is probably useless fretting about it so I'm better off just moving on. I will say that now that Nancy's mom doesn't live in the hood anymore we have one less responsibility when it comes to cleaning up after these nuisance weather patterns involving snow, her sidewalks, and her car. Her car is now tended to by the management team of her new residence so that's great. It was never a big deal rather it was just one more thing to think about when storms passed through. Not that she was going anywhere anytime soon given the conditions of the roads but I think it gave her and Nancy a particular peace of mind to eliminate any and all worries one way or another.
I don't know why the good folks at the dentist office don't get the whole insurance thing. They always calculate an incorrect co-insurance rate and they invariably ask for more money than they are otherwise entitled to. And when they take more money, do they go out of their way to reimburse me? No. I had to give them a hard time last year when I had to insist that they not hold on to my money even though chances were good that I would end up owing them if and when I had to pay them another visit. When you do the calculations on something like a crown, for example, the monies involved are not insignificant. Anyway, I have an appointment with them on Monday of next week so I'm giving a little bit of thought to their pre-estimates, the estimate I received from my insurance company, and the difference between the two numbers. What a pain in the ass. I shouldn't have to do this. In fact, they assured me last year that the dentist's wife would review future billings herself and I can see how well that is working out. Promises promises. Now I'm a little worried that they will close their offices today due to the snow and since they are closed tomorrow I will not have a chance to advise them one way or another until Monday morning when I am due to pay them a visit to have some work done. It's always something.
It may even be a good day to have a wood stove. Crank that puppy up and get er going for the long haul. The prospects of losing our electricity are also very real but not to worry. One of these days, and it may come sooner rather than later, we'll have a chance to use the generator we purchased some years ago. We've used it once or twice so we know it works. What I worry about is that it is hardly used so we may either forget how to use it or it may come up short when we really need it. It is probably useless fretting about it so I'm better off just moving on. I will say that now that Nancy's mom doesn't live in the hood anymore we have one less responsibility when it comes to cleaning up after these nuisance weather patterns involving snow, her sidewalks, and her car. Her car is now tended to by the management team of her new residence so that's great. It was never a big deal rather it was just one more thing to think about when storms passed through. Not that she was going anywhere anytime soon given the conditions of the roads but I think it gave her and Nancy a particular peace of mind to eliminate any and all worries one way or another.
I don't know why the good folks at the dentist office don't get the whole insurance thing. They always calculate an incorrect co-insurance rate and they invariably ask for more money than they are otherwise entitled to. And when they take more money, do they go out of their way to reimburse me? No. I had to give them a hard time last year when I had to insist that they not hold on to my money even though chances were good that I would end up owing them if and when I had to pay them another visit. When you do the calculations on something like a crown, for example, the monies involved are not insignificant. Anyway, I have an appointment with them on Monday of next week so I'm giving a little bit of thought to their pre-estimates, the estimate I received from my insurance company, and the difference between the two numbers. What a pain in the ass. I shouldn't have to do this. In fact, they assured me last year that the dentist's wife would review future billings herself and I can see how well that is working out. Promises promises. Now I'm a little worried that they will close their offices today due to the snow and since they are closed tomorrow I will not have a chance to advise them one way or another until Monday morning when I am due to pay them a visit to have some work done. It's always something.
Colds and Soufflés
07/02/17 07:26
This damn cold won't seem to go away. A fitting epitaph perhaps but I won't let it get the best of me. I won't, I won't. It's been a week today and the hacking has been endless. Night and day. Day and night. I've tried my best to quell the beast with NyQuil, endless afternoon naps and hour after hour resting on the couch, other medicines too numerous to mention, and even that time old elixir that is allegedly even better than mother's milk when it comes to putting colds out of their misery, chicken soup. To say this cold is persistent is an understatement. It makes me wonder if there isn't an underlying condition that is otherwise masked by this cold. Were it not for other people I've heard hacking in a similar fashion I might allow myself to go down that road. It is funny, not in the comical sense mind you, when you hear someone with an identical cold. It may even be comforting in a sense when you see them battling the beast much in the same way you do. The coughing that you try to avoid but in the end is necessary so you cough anyway. The stacatto rattling of the throat, the retching of the body with each cough, looking here and there before each hack so as not to offend or infect, and the deception with each cough that that cough is the last one. The last one indeed.
The family has been supportive yet oddly more scarce over this last week. I can't say I blame them. I know they wish me well but I also know they want to keep their distance so as not to contract this cold of mine. That has been more difficult for Nancy since we share the same bed. What I worry about more than anything else is keeping her awake with my coughing. I figure that our proximity being what it is she will either get the cold or she won't. If she doesn't, the least I can do is to do my best to cough less at night so she can get a good nights sleep. This is especially true on those nights when she has to work the following day. In the latter instance, I might well consider spending the night on the couch. Visiting her mother is, of course, is out of the question. As for Evan, I think about the computer keyboard, and countless other points where our activities intersect throughout the day so I can take the necessary precautions when and where possible. You just don't want to give something this nasty to anyone much less your immediate family if it at all can be avoided. I owe this much to them and would expect the same from them were the shoe on the other foot. Maybe this is nothing more than the usual nonsense that I experience every year around this time of the year. It is a little late in the season but not altogether unexpected.
It looks like our 2-5 inches of snow is arriving right on schedule. I'm happy to not have to go anywhere today although I'm feeling well enough to spend a little time at the gym so we'll see how that works out. There is not a lot on my plate otherwise but I should spend a bit of time looking at the taxes, cleaning the kitchen, and maybe even getting a fire going in the wood stove. There is nothing like a nice wood stove and the penetrating heat it offers to keep the weather blues at bay. Nancy made some egg concoctions yesterday in a newly purchased muffin tin and they were both visually impressive and tasty. They came out of the oven all puffed up like a lovely french soufflé but quickly deflated much to her chagrin. Nonetheless. they were quite good and I had one for breakfast just now. A little bit of change from the usual breakfast items so that is always good. Something you can stick in the microwave for a few seconds and you are good to go. Did I mention that she added some scallions and peppers to the egg concoction before baking? I might have suggested that she add some cheese and perhaps diced ham or even a little bacon to spice things up. I suppose you could throw in the kitchen sink without going to far astray.
The family has been supportive yet oddly more scarce over this last week. I can't say I blame them. I know they wish me well but I also know they want to keep their distance so as not to contract this cold of mine. That has been more difficult for Nancy since we share the same bed. What I worry about more than anything else is keeping her awake with my coughing. I figure that our proximity being what it is she will either get the cold or she won't. If she doesn't, the least I can do is to do my best to cough less at night so she can get a good nights sleep. This is especially true on those nights when she has to work the following day. In the latter instance, I might well consider spending the night on the couch. Visiting her mother is, of course, is out of the question. As for Evan, I think about the computer keyboard, and countless other points where our activities intersect throughout the day so I can take the necessary precautions when and where possible. You just don't want to give something this nasty to anyone much less your immediate family if it at all can be avoided. I owe this much to them and would expect the same from them were the shoe on the other foot. Maybe this is nothing more than the usual nonsense that I experience every year around this time of the year. It is a little late in the season but not altogether unexpected.
It looks like our 2-5 inches of snow is arriving right on schedule. I'm happy to not have to go anywhere today although I'm feeling well enough to spend a little time at the gym so we'll see how that works out. There is not a lot on my plate otherwise but I should spend a bit of time looking at the taxes, cleaning the kitchen, and maybe even getting a fire going in the wood stove. There is nothing like a nice wood stove and the penetrating heat it offers to keep the weather blues at bay. Nancy made some egg concoctions yesterday in a newly purchased muffin tin and they were both visually impressive and tasty. They came out of the oven all puffed up like a lovely french soufflé but quickly deflated much to her chagrin. Nonetheless. they were quite good and I had one for breakfast just now. A little bit of change from the usual breakfast items so that is always good. Something you can stick in the microwave for a few seconds and you are good to go. Did I mention that she added some scallions and peppers to the egg concoction before baking? I might have suggested that she add some cheese and perhaps diced ham or even a little bacon to spice things up. I suppose you could throw in the kitchen sink without going to far astray.
On the Road Again
05/02/17 11:07
Welcome to Hartford, CT! It's a beautiful, brisk, and sunny late January morning here in the city. I've already been up, had something to eat, and walked down to the Blue State Coffee store which is a 5 minute walk. We are in downtown Hartford, CT. No mistaking that. The busses started rolling down the main boulevard here in Hartford starting at 5:30 am or so. The stopping and starting of the behemoths, the hissing of the their brakes, the squealing of their tires as they brushed up against the curb time and time again, were part and parcel of the inner city sights and sounds. I felt happy not to be one of the masses going off to a job and my gait probably betrayed that but the early morning temperatures kept me going just fast enough so as not to impede the flow of humanity going about their business. On my way back upstairs I stopped briefly to ask the desk attendant at the front desk why they didn't do a better job washing the windows in our suite. His response was measured but polite. Now that I think of it, I think he wasn't sure if my comments were a real complaint or just an observation. People routinely stopped by the front desk making idle chatter so it was important to be able to tease out the real complaints from idle chatter which was just that. He promised to pass along my comments to upper management and I continued on my journey.
Sitting on the counter right next to the register in the coffee joint was a small chalkboard with the inscription, "Yes we can." The author's name was hand written clearly and plainly at the bottom of the board: "Obama." I weighed the wisdom of asking the largely minority service staff, yes, we can what? There are a lot ways one can construe such a question and I finally decided against it. If I were to get an inferior cup of coffee I would prefer it be something other than a deliberate act on their part. That question coming from a Caucasian could be considered an incitement so I was not one wanting to start a race riot or kick off a Black Lives Matter revival in my hastily put together stroll down to the local coffee shop for a quick latte. We were all off to a good start as I placed my order and I had no intentions of wanting to veer from that place by asking such a "racist" question. They were no doubt still smarting from Trump's victory so pouring salt in their wounds would would likely prove counterproductive.
It's almost funny if it weren't so sad. We ended up at a restaurant called "Trumbull Kitchen" last night after a long drive from the rural backroads of New Hampshire to the city streets of Hartford CT some three hours away. Once at the hotel, we left Evan behind at his request and set out on foot through the dark city streets in search of food and drink. I grabbed a latte at a local Starbucks after which Nancy and I crossed the street to the aforementioned restaurant. It had all the requisite characteristics that we typically look for in a restaurant: Clientele looking unceremoniously middle class; service staff appearing sufficiently attendant; a hustle bustle hinting "local hotspot"; and a menu with prices neither too low nor too high. In other words, I wasn't looking for a $35 Reuben but a clean table might have been nice. If the staff was polite, or even friendly, all the better.
Problem was, they wouldn't seat us since I brought my own beverage into the restaurant. I wasn't wearing a hat, sandals, or shorts all of which would have likely disqualified me from stepping inside the front door. But the coffee was a show stopper. A night that had started with such promise was spiraling out of control and we were just not in the mood to fight city hall so we left. Not spitting and seething, mind you, but in good humor all of which suggests to me that we were the very types they not only wanted as customers but ones they hoped would come back again and again. They lost out on a chance to wow us with their panache, dazzle us with their culinary skills, serenade us with a well crafted ambiance, and with any luck have us come back again as devoted patrons. Our second choice of the evening was a disaster on too many levels to count. It was a sports bar of sorts where the service was horrible, the food even worse, and it didn't help that we were just not in the mood after a long long day. There are better days ahead I told myself. There just are.
Sitting on the counter right next to the register in the coffee joint was a small chalkboard with the inscription, "Yes we can." The author's name was hand written clearly and plainly at the bottom of the board: "Obama." I weighed the wisdom of asking the largely minority service staff, yes, we can what? There are a lot ways one can construe such a question and I finally decided against it. If I were to get an inferior cup of coffee I would prefer it be something other than a deliberate act on their part. That question coming from a Caucasian could be considered an incitement so I was not one wanting to start a race riot or kick off a Black Lives Matter revival in my hastily put together stroll down to the local coffee shop for a quick latte. We were all off to a good start as I placed my order and I had no intentions of wanting to veer from that place by asking such a "racist" question. They were no doubt still smarting from Trump's victory so pouring salt in their wounds would would likely prove counterproductive.
It's almost funny if it weren't so sad. We ended up at a restaurant called "Trumbull Kitchen" last night after a long drive from the rural backroads of New Hampshire to the city streets of Hartford CT some three hours away. Once at the hotel, we left Evan behind at his request and set out on foot through the dark city streets in search of food and drink. I grabbed a latte at a local Starbucks after which Nancy and I crossed the street to the aforementioned restaurant. It had all the requisite characteristics that we typically look for in a restaurant: Clientele looking unceremoniously middle class; service staff appearing sufficiently attendant; a hustle bustle hinting "local hotspot"; and a menu with prices neither too low nor too high. In other words, I wasn't looking for a $35 Reuben but a clean table might have been nice. If the staff was polite, or even friendly, all the better.
Problem was, they wouldn't seat us since I brought my own beverage into the restaurant. I wasn't wearing a hat, sandals, or shorts all of which would have likely disqualified me from stepping inside the front door. But the coffee was a show stopper. A night that had started with such promise was spiraling out of control and we were just not in the mood to fight city hall so we left. Not spitting and seething, mind you, but in good humor all of which suggests to me that we were the very types they not only wanted as customers but ones they hoped would come back again and again. They lost out on a chance to wow us with their panache, dazzle us with their culinary skills, serenade us with a well crafted ambiance, and with any luck have us come back again as devoted patrons. Our second choice of the evening was a disaster on too many levels to count. It was a sports bar of sorts where the service was horrible, the food even worse, and it didn't help that we were just not in the mood after a long long day. There are better days ahead I told myself. There just are.
Off to see the Wizard
28/01/17 05:57
We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of OZ. Well, not really. We're off, yes, but not to see a wizard. Not one with a pointy hat anyway. Evan's appointment with his doctor was moved up on the calendar so we'll be traveling to Connecticut shortly to take care of business. As far as visits to this particular doctor go, it is business as usual. Evan stays overnight, they monitor his blood sugars throughout the night, and he is summarily discharged the following day. He will no doubt receive revised instructions on dosage and lifestyle changes thanks to updates in treatment methodologies around this particular disease.
There are no downsides to these visits so Evan is not otherwise disinclined to go and is as prepared for the trip and overnight stay as he can be. The weather forecast portends little or no precipitation so no worries there. Since this will be our first visit to Connecticut, I have been charged with finding suitable accommodations for our planned two-night stay. "Suitable" meaning not on the outskirts of the local ghetto where safety is of concern. I should think that if we stay within a 30 mile radius or so that should give us appropriate leeway in finding lodging that meets our needs. As a final cautionary note, I would say that we would be well served as would our son were we as parents to take a step back and allow Evan to take responsibility for his own care when it comes to managing this disease. Is there any reason why he can't make this trip alone?
I have this ongoing struggle with myself about buying a new car, not wanting to abandon my old car, and all the decision making that goes on when it comes to such things. When my old car runs fine I am hard pressed to think about new cars so I go with the status quo. When things go awry and something needs to be fixed I generally have it taken care of without delay. Why not? I love my older car. It has been reliable and, generally speaking, low maintenance. Lately though, I have had a funny sort of problem affecting acceleration and this has been perplexing to me. It looks and feels strangely electronic since my speedometer and odometer stop working intermittently. It is unsettling at a minimum and potentially dangerous if and when the desire and act of accelerating into ongoing traffic falls flat as it has on several occasions.
These are problems outside my comfort zone so rely on the professionals to diagnose and repair the problem. When they misdiagnose and charge me for services that fail to fix the problem I lose any and all faith in the their ability to get me and my vehicle back on the right track. I know their intentions are good but the end result is no less disappointing. Do I bring it back to them as I have? How many times do I have to do that before they get it right? Do they charge me every time? If the problem is intermittent how do they experience what I experience first hand? As a last resort, I turned to the internet to do a little research and quickly discovered several references to my very problem. It was NOT the problem as diagnosed by my mechanic but something altogether different. The fix itself which seemed to work for most in the forum was quite simple. Insert a clothespin or something similar between two objects beneath the hood of my car right below the fuse box. I know it sounds terribly homespun but I can't argue with the results thus far. It just works. There was even a pictorial showing precisely where to insert the object so it was easy to follow. Perfect. Not sure I want to share this piece of good news with my mechanic but I was happy to inform my family that the car was safe to drive once again. As for now, so far, so good.
There are no downsides to these visits so Evan is not otherwise disinclined to go and is as prepared for the trip and overnight stay as he can be. The weather forecast portends little or no precipitation so no worries there. Since this will be our first visit to Connecticut, I have been charged with finding suitable accommodations for our planned two-night stay. "Suitable" meaning not on the outskirts of the local ghetto where safety is of concern. I should think that if we stay within a 30 mile radius or so that should give us appropriate leeway in finding lodging that meets our needs. As a final cautionary note, I would say that we would be well served as would our son were we as parents to take a step back and allow Evan to take responsibility for his own care when it comes to managing this disease. Is there any reason why he can't make this trip alone?
I have this ongoing struggle with myself about buying a new car, not wanting to abandon my old car, and all the decision making that goes on when it comes to such things. When my old car runs fine I am hard pressed to think about new cars so I go with the status quo. When things go awry and something needs to be fixed I generally have it taken care of without delay. Why not? I love my older car. It has been reliable and, generally speaking, low maintenance. Lately though, I have had a funny sort of problem affecting acceleration and this has been perplexing to me. It looks and feels strangely electronic since my speedometer and odometer stop working intermittently. It is unsettling at a minimum and potentially dangerous if and when the desire and act of accelerating into ongoing traffic falls flat as it has on several occasions.
These are problems outside my comfort zone so rely on the professionals to diagnose and repair the problem. When they misdiagnose and charge me for services that fail to fix the problem I lose any and all faith in the their ability to get me and my vehicle back on the right track. I know their intentions are good but the end result is no less disappointing. Do I bring it back to them as I have? How many times do I have to do that before they get it right? Do they charge me every time? If the problem is intermittent how do they experience what I experience first hand? As a last resort, I turned to the internet to do a little research and quickly discovered several references to my very problem. It was NOT the problem as diagnosed by my mechanic but something altogether different. The fix itself which seemed to work for most in the forum was quite simple. Insert a clothespin or something similar between two objects beneath the hood of my car right below the fuse box. I know it sounds terribly homespun but I can't argue with the results thus far. It just works. There was even a pictorial showing precisely where to insert the object so it was easy to follow. Perfect. Not sure I want to share this piece of good news with my mechanic but I was happy to inform my family that the car was safe to drive once again. As for now, so far, so good.
Bowls and Balls
24/01/17 07:00
I was happy to see that Trump directed his people to take down the Spanish version of the WhiteHoue.org website. We have one official language (English) in this country of ours and we should not continue to accommodate the multitude of languages and cultures that exist across the face of the planet just to prove that we have bought into multi-culturism and globalism hook, line, and sinker. Can you say, ASSIMILATION? That is precisely the message we now need to communicate to those planning to come to our country illegally whether they get here by swimming across the Rio Grande or they attempt to break the law by overstaying their visas. We sure as hell do not want to be sending the wrong message to our spanish speaking neighbors on our southern border that the policies under Obama will continue unabated and that they can continue to flow across our borders unmolested. By now, I'm assuming we've armed the drones and equipped our forces at the southern border in order to enforce our laws as a nation. No more of this catch and release nonsense as constructed under Obama. As Trump said over and over again during the course of his campaign, they can come to our country but they will have to come LEGALLY. Enough is enough.
Sean Spicer, Trump's spokesman, gave some mamby pamby explanation yesterday at his first full news conference when asked about removing the Spanish version of WhiteHouse.Org website. He should have stated unequivocally that we are an english speaking nation and that is precisely what we intend to communicate by having an english-only website in our nations capitol. Any vestiges of political correctness around this issue only plays into the hands of the leftists who typically rely on such subterfuge to perpetuate what they view or wish to portray as cultural or mainstream norms. Trump continuously denounced political correctness on the campaign trail so it is a little surprising to see his people using it when they speak on his behalf. It's possible that stating it in such unequivocal terms would likely unleash a shit storm of criticism from the leftist press corps and he was looking to avoid any such thing in his first news conference. There is likely a delicate balance between defense and offense when going head to head with an unfriendly press. Were Trump speaking about such things, the headline would likely read "Trump being Trump." "Spicer being Spicer" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
I don't watch football by and large so have no interest in it one way or another. I do love to hate the the New England Patriots though and if there is a remote chance that they will lose on any given Sunday during the season I will try to tune in. Since the Patriots are usually favored to win I never actually watch televised games. I do so love to see them get spanked when it does happen but these things are hard to predict so I have to savor any and all highlights shown after the fact. Better yet, there is a sports radio station in the greater Boston area that I listen to after any loss where they have breathless pom-pom boys who love to sing the teams praises but who are otherwise useless and pouty if and when the team loses. Tom can do no wrong (he's the best.) Bill can do no wrong (he's the best.) If things go awry on the field of play resulting in a loss for the team, it's always someone else's fault. The pom-pom boys stiffen their resolve and mount a defense in order to further savor any shred off man-love they can muster. These men (Tom and Bill) are not mere mortals in any event. Just ask them. They'll tell you.
Two weeks from this past Sunday the Patriots will be going to the Super Bowl to play the Atlanta Falcons. Here's hoping that the Falcons hand them their asses and expose them for the frauds that they are. I want to watch as they sack Tommy time and time again only to see Tommy scream at his teammates with tears in his eyes for not protecting him as they've been hired and trained to do. His on-field hissy fits are legendary and girly-like. He is not a man's man. He is, well truth be told, a pussy. There, I said it. When he and his band of New England pussies go up against the weaponized Falcon team it will be a spectacle for the ages. This is one game I don't want to miss. The look on Billy and Tommy's face as Billy fumes from the sidelines and Tommy sulks back to the bench after the last play of the season will be well worth the price of admission. Go Falcons!
Sean Spicer, Trump's spokesman, gave some mamby pamby explanation yesterday at his first full news conference when asked about removing the Spanish version of WhiteHouse.Org website. He should have stated unequivocally that we are an english speaking nation and that is precisely what we intend to communicate by having an english-only website in our nations capitol. Any vestiges of political correctness around this issue only plays into the hands of the leftists who typically rely on such subterfuge to perpetuate what they view or wish to portray as cultural or mainstream norms. Trump continuously denounced political correctness on the campaign trail so it is a little surprising to see his people using it when they speak on his behalf. It's possible that stating it in such unequivocal terms would likely unleash a shit storm of criticism from the leftist press corps and he was looking to avoid any such thing in his first news conference. There is likely a delicate balance between defense and offense when going head to head with an unfriendly press. Were Trump speaking about such things, the headline would likely read "Trump being Trump." "Spicer being Spicer" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
I don't watch football by and large so have no interest in it one way or another. I do love to hate the the New England Patriots though and if there is a remote chance that they will lose on any given Sunday during the season I will try to tune in. Since the Patriots are usually favored to win I never actually watch televised games. I do so love to see them get spanked when it does happen but these things are hard to predict so I have to savor any and all highlights shown after the fact. Better yet, there is a sports radio station in the greater Boston area that I listen to after any loss where they have breathless pom-pom boys who love to sing the teams praises but who are otherwise useless and pouty if and when the team loses. Tom can do no wrong (he's the best.) Bill can do no wrong (he's the best.) If things go awry on the field of play resulting in a loss for the team, it's always someone else's fault. The pom-pom boys stiffen their resolve and mount a defense in order to further savor any shred off man-love they can muster. These men (Tom and Bill) are not mere mortals in any event. Just ask them. They'll tell you.
Two weeks from this past Sunday the Patriots will be going to the Super Bowl to play the Atlanta Falcons. Here's hoping that the Falcons hand them their asses and expose them for the frauds that they are. I want to watch as they sack Tommy time and time again only to see Tommy scream at his teammates with tears in his eyes for not protecting him as they've been hired and trained to do. His on-field hissy fits are legendary and girly-like. He is not a man's man. He is, well truth be told, a pussy. There, I said it. When he and his band of New England pussies go up against the weaponized Falcon team it will be a spectacle for the ages. This is one game I don't want to miss. The look on Billy and Tommy's face as Billy fumes from the sidelines and Tommy sulks back to the bench after the last play of the season will be well worth the price of admission. Go Falcons!
Grabbing some Pussy
22/01/17 07:17
Millions of women across the nation marched in the streets of America yesterday giving voice to their concerns about life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness under the new administration of President Donald J. Trump. They fear losing LGBT rights amongst others that were highlighted and thrust upon the public during the administration of Trump's predecessor, Barack Hussein Obama. They are clearly victims of the left wing dogma perpetuated by the leftists in our great country, including the whores in the media, but they have the right to march and they have the right to voice their opinions as Americans. One might question the authenticity and agendas of some given their antics, including Madonna who stood on a stage and proudly professed that she "has given thought to blowing up the White House" but all in all they did their thing and that was that. Those women deciding that violence was the best way to express themselves sit in jail cells today facing 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines. And I'm still a little unclear as to exactly what rights they think they are going to lose under Trump. It is true that one of Trump's first official acts was to remove any and all references to LGBT rights and climate change on the White House web site. That doesn't mean he doesn't want them to have rights or that he is not willing to protect their rights. Fact of the matter is that they have the same rights as all Americans under the constitution. They are not and should not be a protected class.
CNN had their knickers in a bunch yesterday in a big way. Trump was giving a speech at the CIA and he was being himself, doing what a CEO does best in managing and setting expectations for his people. He received several standing ovations from the elite crowd attended the gathering and as a casual onlooker you might well think that his speech was well received. No sooner had he finished his speech than the previous head of the CIA was all over the media expressing his outrage over Trump's behavior. Apparently, his speech was not dignified enough for this asshole. Trump's words, according to Brennan, did not pay sufficient respect to those who died in their service to our great nation and whose names were etched in stone in the monument that stood solemnly behind Trump as he spoke. CNN jumped on the outrage bandwagon and breathlessly vilified Trump as only they could.
Since they failed so miserably in stopping him from getting elected they now do their level best to take every occasion to tear him down, prove him wrong, and to show the nation that we erred in electing him to the highest office in the land. Truth of the matter is, we Americans who voted for him did so not in spite of the press but because of the press and their predilection for distorting the truth in favor of the agendas espoused by the liberal establishment. It was one of many reasons we voted for Trump. And CNN's distortion of the news about crowd size at the inauguration and the pictures depicting same were also egregious. It was critical to them that any and all pictures splashed across the television sets of America of Trump's crowds not eclipse that of their hero, Barack Hussein Obama, some four years prior. They are entirely full throated in their disdain for Donald Trump and everything he represents. Put another way, they are now in full campaign mode for the upcoming presidential election in 2020. All they need now is a candidate.
President Donald J Trump tweeted this morning, "Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago." I'm a little curious in reading this tweet as to how many of the 11 million viewers were Americans. Not that it matters but this phenom known as the Brexit effect is a planet-wide rejection of globalism and liberalism so the rump swabs on the left better get on board or they will quickly and themselves adrift in the dark seas of politics and power. Not that Trump hasn't already thrust this reality upon them with his electoral college win but that is not the way the opposition views it. Where were these media whores when their leftist hero, Barrack Hussein Obama, was wreaking havoc with his socialist policies warmly embracing the mullahs in Iran and the communist leaders of the Cuban nation while tying the hands of our military around the world so that not one ounce of jihadist blood be spilled unnecessarily. Dare I say that Donald J. Trump was within his rights as a red blooded american to question the authenticity of this mans heritage. His actions in office over the course of eight years brought our nation to the brink of disaster, closer than ever to losing any vestiges of morale authority we as a nation have established over the last 200 years, and we dipped our collective toes into the waters of the socialism thanks to the leftist and strident views of one Kenyan born dictator wannabe.
Good riddens.
CNN had their knickers in a bunch yesterday in a big way. Trump was giving a speech at the CIA and he was being himself, doing what a CEO does best in managing and setting expectations for his people. He received several standing ovations from the elite crowd attended the gathering and as a casual onlooker you might well think that his speech was well received. No sooner had he finished his speech than the previous head of the CIA was all over the media expressing his outrage over Trump's behavior. Apparently, his speech was not dignified enough for this asshole. Trump's words, according to Brennan, did not pay sufficient respect to those who died in their service to our great nation and whose names were etched in stone in the monument that stood solemnly behind Trump as he spoke. CNN jumped on the outrage bandwagon and breathlessly vilified Trump as only they could.
Since they failed so miserably in stopping him from getting elected they now do their level best to take every occasion to tear him down, prove him wrong, and to show the nation that we erred in electing him to the highest office in the land. Truth of the matter is, we Americans who voted for him did so not in spite of the press but because of the press and their predilection for distorting the truth in favor of the agendas espoused by the liberal establishment. It was one of many reasons we voted for Trump. And CNN's distortion of the news about crowd size at the inauguration and the pictures depicting same were also egregious. It was critical to them that any and all pictures splashed across the television sets of America of Trump's crowds not eclipse that of their hero, Barack Hussein Obama, some four years prior. They are entirely full throated in their disdain for Donald Trump and everything he represents. Put another way, they are now in full campaign mode for the upcoming presidential election in 2020. All they need now is a candidate.
President Donald J Trump tweeted this morning, "Wow, television ratings just out: 31 million people watched the Inauguration, 11 million more than the very good ratings from 4 years ago." I'm a little curious in reading this tweet as to how many of the 11 million viewers were Americans. Not that it matters but this phenom known as the Brexit effect is a planet-wide rejection of globalism and liberalism so the rump swabs on the left better get on board or they will quickly and themselves adrift in the dark seas of politics and power. Not that Trump hasn't already thrust this reality upon them with his electoral college win but that is not the way the opposition views it. Where were these media whores when their leftist hero, Barrack Hussein Obama, was wreaking havoc with his socialist policies warmly embracing the mullahs in Iran and the communist leaders of the Cuban nation while tying the hands of our military around the world so that not one ounce of jihadist blood be spilled unnecessarily. Dare I say that Donald J. Trump was within his rights as a red blooded american to question the authenticity of this mans heritage. His actions in office over the course of eight years brought our nation to the brink of disaster, closer than ever to losing any vestiges of morale authority we as a nation have established over the last 200 years, and we dipped our collective toes into the waters of the socialism thanks to the leftist and strident views of one Kenyan born dictator wannabe.
Good riddens.
Sugaree
21/01/17 07:27
That was so nice of Betsi. She gave me two containers. Once with homemade salsa and the other with homemade strawberry jam. Both were sensational and delicious even. Were I pushed for something more descriptive I might even add that they were better than store bought salsa and jam and that would not be an exaggeration. She asked that I let her know how they were and I fully intend to do just that. She may have been feeling generous and maybe even downright neighborly after I picked up some chocolate cookies at Trader Joes for her grand children that she planned on visiting over the weekend. Its was an impromptu thought on my part but I wanted to make sure that she was receptive to the idea before I bought the cookies during my visit to the store. I'm sure it is always a delicate balance between winding them up with sugar before laying them down for the night and otherwise having the satisfaction of seeing their smiling little faces expand exponentially when she unexpectedly whips out the batch of cookies. I trust that she kept a few for herself and I was sure to caution her about peanuts and traces of same in the event that one or more of the kids had an allergy to peanuts. She reported back that the cookies were a huge hit so it was a good thing. She was happy, the kids were happy, and I was tickled to do the good deed. Balance has been restored in the universe.
I warned the Ev man that the salsa might be on the spicy side even though I didn't find it to be particularly spicy when I added it to my egg concoction that I made for breakfast. If you've never had salsa on eggs you might want to give it a try. It's quite good. Think of it as a breakfast burrito without the burrito and you'll off to a good start. Eggs can be a little bland so add-ins are always a good idea. I even like mustard on eggs as hideous as that might seem to most people. Ev went through a good portion of the jar of salsa with a bag of chips he had on hand so I am sad to say that the salsa didn't last very long. Not that I thought it would. I'll be careful in how I give Betsi feedback so as not to infer that I'm now out and she should bring over more at her earliest convenience. I can see Betsi now going down to her cellar where she stores these homemade delicacies for future consumption. I could be wrong but if she is living on a limited budget and relies on these stocks for sustenance over the course of the winter I am hard pressed to express any glee whatsoever about those goodies since I don't want her feeling any obligation one way or another to give them up. I know it gives her pleasure to do so and we all know that giving is sometimes more important that getting so we'll leave it at that. At least now I know why she tends to her garden so painstakingly during the spring and summer months. I've both seen and now tasted the fruits of her labor and it is good. Very good indeed.
I'm between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Nancy and her love of sugary things. I'm not sure how we got to this place. I suspect that we came here together but I feel that I can step back from the precipice whereas she jumps in with both feet and shows little reluctance to give any of it up anytime soon. That is not to say that she doesn't have any remorse for her indulgences especially when they are excessive. If it's a box of chocolates, she's all in. It satisfies her at some level that is hard to explain. All I know that is that if I don't have something on hand for her when the time comes she is one unhappy camper. I'm now at the point where I'll be on the lookout during my travels for something good be it a cookie, a whoopie pie, or maybe a small box of chocolates. I sometimes find myself going out to the store in the early evening to pick something up so as not to see the disappointment on her face when I otherwise have to tell her that we have nothing on hand. Using street parlance, I'm out there lurking in the shadows looking for a dime bag to give my honey a hit.
I think portion control seems to be the key. It is true that her daily commute wears her down and when she is tired her resistance to such things is practically non-existent. Her enjoyment of such things is understandably ramped up when she is run down and having little or no ability to resist such things can lead to overindulgence and self loathing the likes of which you can't fully appreciate unless you've been there yourself. It is also true that after a good workout when you're feeling fit as a fiddle you feel as though you can treat yourself to something sweet. Something small. Something insignificant. But that little treat, that insignificant little treat, will seem innocuous at first bite but it will trigger a desire for more sugar and therein lies the deceit and deception that takes place in your brain. It's best to keep the analysis to a minimum so that is what I'll do. We'll step back from the precipice together and as resolutions go we'll try to have less of everything sweet for the time being and see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, maybe we can find a support group to help us over the rough spots. Or maybe we'll just break out the SnowCones and go whole hog. Life is full of choices. Let's hope we make the right ones when and where it comes to sugar.
I warned the Ev man that the salsa might be on the spicy side even though I didn't find it to be particularly spicy when I added it to my egg concoction that I made for breakfast. If you've never had salsa on eggs you might want to give it a try. It's quite good. Think of it as a breakfast burrito without the burrito and you'll off to a good start. Eggs can be a little bland so add-ins are always a good idea. I even like mustard on eggs as hideous as that might seem to most people. Ev went through a good portion of the jar of salsa with a bag of chips he had on hand so I am sad to say that the salsa didn't last very long. Not that I thought it would. I'll be careful in how I give Betsi feedback so as not to infer that I'm now out and she should bring over more at her earliest convenience. I can see Betsi now going down to her cellar where she stores these homemade delicacies for future consumption. I could be wrong but if she is living on a limited budget and relies on these stocks for sustenance over the course of the winter I am hard pressed to express any glee whatsoever about those goodies since I don't want her feeling any obligation one way or another to give them up. I know it gives her pleasure to do so and we all know that giving is sometimes more important that getting so we'll leave it at that. At least now I know why she tends to her garden so painstakingly during the spring and summer months. I've both seen and now tasted the fruits of her labor and it is good. Very good indeed.
I'm between a rock and a hard place when it comes to Nancy and her love of sugary things. I'm not sure how we got to this place. I suspect that we came here together but I feel that I can step back from the precipice whereas she jumps in with both feet and shows little reluctance to give any of it up anytime soon. That is not to say that she doesn't have any remorse for her indulgences especially when they are excessive. If it's a box of chocolates, she's all in. It satisfies her at some level that is hard to explain. All I know that is that if I don't have something on hand for her when the time comes she is one unhappy camper. I'm now at the point where I'll be on the lookout during my travels for something good be it a cookie, a whoopie pie, or maybe a small box of chocolates. I sometimes find myself going out to the store in the early evening to pick something up so as not to see the disappointment on her face when I otherwise have to tell her that we have nothing on hand. Using street parlance, I'm out there lurking in the shadows looking for a dime bag to give my honey a hit.
I think portion control seems to be the key. It is true that her daily commute wears her down and when she is tired her resistance to such things is practically non-existent. Her enjoyment of such things is understandably ramped up when she is run down and having little or no ability to resist such things can lead to overindulgence and self loathing the likes of which you can't fully appreciate unless you've been there yourself. It is also true that after a good workout when you're feeling fit as a fiddle you feel as though you can treat yourself to something sweet. Something small. Something insignificant. But that little treat, that insignificant little treat, will seem innocuous at first bite but it will trigger a desire for more sugar and therein lies the deceit and deception that takes place in your brain. It's best to keep the analysis to a minimum so that is what I'll do. We'll step back from the precipice together and as resolutions go we'll try to have less of everything sweet for the time being and see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, maybe we can find a support group to help us over the rough spots. Or maybe we'll just break out the SnowCones and go whole hog. Life is full of choices. Let's hope we make the right ones when and where it comes to sugar.
Inauguration Day - Trump 2017
20/01/17 07:46
This has been a long time coming. Thank the baby Jesus that that wretched prevaricator Hillary Clinton did not win the election. Thank the baby Jesus that our great nation saw the writing on the wall early on in this battle between Clinton and Trump for the highest office in our land. We had the choice between going with the status quo for another 4 years (Clinton) or "Making America Great Again" with Donald J. Trump. One was an alleged felon who ran a slush fund selling influence from her position as Secretary of State and the other a self-made billionaire with international interests and a bombastic pomposity that was refreshing and surprisingly honest in the eyes and hearts of his followers. And follow him they did. By the tens of thousands in state after state in the months leading up to the election they attended his rallies with their red hats, banners, and hopes held high. It certainly helped that he was not a politician and he will be the first non-politician and non-military person to ever hold the office of President of the United States. While the democratic party licks their wounds and indulges their lackey's in whatever shenanigans they can dream up to deny Trump a hard earned and well deserved victory, Donald J. Trump readies himself at this very hour to take the oath of office for the highest office in the land today at noon in our nation's capitol. God bless him and god bless our great nation. This is a new beginning.
While the liberal press rages in their editorials coast to coast that there is not one hispanic in his cabinet, the millions upon millions who voted him into office are quick to remind them that Trump hires people based on their qualifications and their proven track record of success. He couldn't care less about perspectives. Another common lament from the liberal press is that his cabinet is stacked with millionaires and billionaires. Trump is quick to remind anyone paying attention that having achieved success in life is a plus and not a minus. They would rather he hire losers without a track record of success? If they have learned nothing else they should also know by now that this man is not a slave to political correctness. He does not buy into the mainstream bullshit when it comes to globalism and climate change and he stands squarely behind our men in blue and those who would protect our great country from domestic and foreign foes alike. Perhaps more importantly, he is simply not ideological and that is difficult if not impossible to grasp or comprehend by those who operate in the halls of power in Washington, DC.
There will be no tsar of social change in the Trump administration and transgender issues will fade to black as the Donald does what he does for all Americans. There are rumors afloat that Trump will have a dance with Kaitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner - Olympian) at one of the many inaugural balls today in Washington DC. That should surprise nobody who knows anything about the real Donald J. Trump. He is neither a racist, a xenophobe, a misogynist, or a member of the Klu Klux Klan. Just ask him - he'll tell you.
It's no wonder that so many people on both sides of the political aisles don't like and likely mistrust this man who would be our president. The media has been and continues to be rabid in their negative coverage of Trump from the moment he announced his candidacy coming down the escalator in Trump Tower in NYC in 2015. The fourth estate had their candidate and it was not Donald J. Trump. Trump had but one newspaper endorsement during the general election while his opponent had many. Many members (Never Trumpers) of the Republican party vowed to vote for his opponent and against him. He was simply unfit in the eyes of many on both sides. The Amercian people saw it differently. His detractors now wish aloud for his failure to justify their hateful prognostications. It should surprise no one in the months to come when the economy get squarely back on track that the media will portray these positive changes as a continuation of Obama's progress rather than attributing it Trump and his administration. That is who they are; that is what they do.
My hope is that Donald J. Trump will be one of our most successful presidents and that he will restore honor and love of country that has been under attack during the eight years of Barrack Hussein Obama's presidency. He will restore dignity to a country that has lost her way in the world thanks to the apologist in chief, Barrack Obama. He will restore faith in her institutions that have otherwise been used as a cudgel to bludgeon their political opponents. He will rid the various departments within our government that have been politicized and will right-size her culture once again where we can rely on the words of those representing us in the hallowed halls of congress. Perhaps most importantly, he can and will speak openly and honestly with the people of our country and that his honesty will be rewarded by a passionate and loving public. Should he make our government smaller, that will be a bonus. Should he make it smarter, that will be a bonus. That's a lot to hope for but this is what inaugurations represent by and large. Here's hoping.
While the liberal press rages in their editorials coast to coast that there is not one hispanic in his cabinet, the millions upon millions who voted him into office are quick to remind them that Trump hires people based on their qualifications and their proven track record of success. He couldn't care less about perspectives. Another common lament from the liberal press is that his cabinet is stacked with millionaires and billionaires. Trump is quick to remind anyone paying attention that having achieved success in life is a plus and not a minus. They would rather he hire losers without a track record of success? If they have learned nothing else they should also know by now that this man is not a slave to political correctness. He does not buy into the mainstream bullshit when it comes to globalism and climate change and he stands squarely behind our men in blue and those who would protect our great country from domestic and foreign foes alike. Perhaps more importantly, he is simply not ideological and that is difficult if not impossible to grasp or comprehend by those who operate in the halls of power in Washington, DC.
There will be no tsar of social change in the Trump administration and transgender issues will fade to black as the Donald does what he does for all Americans. There are rumors afloat that Trump will have a dance with Kaitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner - Olympian) at one of the many inaugural balls today in Washington DC. That should surprise nobody who knows anything about the real Donald J. Trump. He is neither a racist, a xenophobe, a misogynist, or a member of the Klu Klux Klan. Just ask him - he'll tell you.
It's no wonder that so many people on both sides of the political aisles don't like and likely mistrust this man who would be our president. The media has been and continues to be rabid in their negative coverage of Trump from the moment he announced his candidacy coming down the escalator in Trump Tower in NYC in 2015. The fourth estate had their candidate and it was not Donald J. Trump. Trump had but one newspaper endorsement during the general election while his opponent had many. Many members (Never Trumpers) of the Republican party vowed to vote for his opponent and against him. He was simply unfit in the eyes of many on both sides. The Amercian people saw it differently. His detractors now wish aloud for his failure to justify their hateful prognostications. It should surprise no one in the months to come when the economy get squarely back on track that the media will portray these positive changes as a continuation of Obama's progress rather than attributing it Trump and his administration. That is who they are; that is what they do.
My hope is that Donald J. Trump will be one of our most successful presidents and that he will restore honor and love of country that has been under attack during the eight years of Barrack Hussein Obama's presidency. He will restore dignity to a country that has lost her way in the world thanks to the apologist in chief, Barrack Obama. He will restore faith in her institutions that have otherwise been used as a cudgel to bludgeon their political opponents. He will rid the various departments within our government that have been politicized and will right-size her culture once again where we can rely on the words of those representing us in the hallowed halls of congress. Perhaps most importantly, he can and will speak openly and honestly with the people of our country and that his honesty will be rewarded by a passionate and loving public. Should he make our government smaller, that will be a bonus. Should he make it smarter, that will be a bonus. That's a lot to hope for but this is what inaugurations represent by and large. Here's hoping.
Knickers in a Bunch
17/01/17 08:15
Maybe I shouldn't attach any importance to today at all. Not much going on and no one is getting their knickers in a bunch one way or another. Ms Betsi has sent along an e-mail telling us that she will be gone a fortnight and expects to return tomorrow after tending to her grandchildren. She is pretty good about letting us know when she plans to be away. There is usually a warning implied or otherwise that if anyone comes around that they are not otherwise expected and I should take the necessary steps to alert the local officials of the impending trespass. We are less disciplined about such things so don't always let her know in kind but it's always good to know that she is there should we wish her to keep an eye on things in our absence. I suppose that makes for good neighbors. We are expecting a little snow this afternoon so I will be happy to clear her driveway while doing our own. She made no such request but she doesn't have to. I'll get er done and that will be that. I'm half tempted to fill her bird feeders but want to be careful about assuming they are empty because she can't afford to fill them. She may just not want the added responsibility of taking care of the feeders in the winter. And I say, if not in the winter, then when?
I make it a point in the morning not to listen to my political shows on Sirius radio before writing in this here journal. Listening to music is infinitely more conducive to getting off on the right foot so that is what I do. That isn't to say that politics doesn't play a part in my thinking one way or another but listening to it carries me off in a direction I may not want to go. Then again, there is a lot going on this week in particular with the inauguration of Donald J Trump coming on Friday. The number of congressman not attending the inaugural is growing after Rep. John Lewis referred to Trump as illegitimate earlier in the week. They are largely progressives and not important one way or another so not a big deal. In fact, as the day draws near the outrage grows that they would not put aside their politics and celebrate the more symbolic transition of power as Obama leaves office and Trump is installed as our 45th president. What is more American than celebrating this day without the fanfare of party or person? The partisan politics is poisonous for our nation and the liberals should be careful not to further ostracize the voting public. Have they learned nothing from the rise of Trump? Oh yes, we can't forget, Russia's hacking was responsible for Clinton losing the election. Really?
The only problem with riding my bike when the temps fall into the thirties is that I have to wear so many things just to keep warm that I end up feeling constrained by the clothes I'm wearing. That's no fun. There is such a thing as the right combination of clothing and I can find that balance in most cases but it gets increasingly difficult the colder it gets. On an altogether different matter, remind me if you will that I need to return Rollie's iPhone 6 plus to him. While I appreciate his "giving" me the darn thing over the holidays I knew I might run into problems with the difference in carriers and that is precisely what happened. I don't know why I fret so much with the darn phone business. It just annoys me to no end when things go awry one way or another and I end up without an iPhone and I have to settle for something less like the stupid Galaxy I'm using at present. It is just so unnecessary. It's like I punish myself for getting into predicaments of my own making and I'm far too stubborn to extricate myself when I otherwise have the means to do so. Ever been there? And to think that Rollie asked that I negotiate the right price for the phone with his lovely wife. The only question remaining in my mind, were I to keep the phone and have to enter such negotiations, is whether or not she would honor the family discount. I could just take it and send her a check without dickering but that might come across as not dealing in good faith. Probably not a good idea. I guess I better get the phone back to him before the next version comes out so he has a chance to sell it on the open market. Going once, going twice…
"…If the press were honest - which it's not - I would absolutely not use Twitter. I wouldn't have to." President elect Trump.
I make it a point in the morning not to listen to my political shows on Sirius radio before writing in this here journal. Listening to music is infinitely more conducive to getting off on the right foot so that is what I do. That isn't to say that politics doesn't play a part in my thinking one way or another but listening to it carries me off in a direction I may not want to go. Then again, there is a lot going on this week in particular with the inauguration of Donald J Trump coming on Friday. The number of congressman not attending the inaugural is growing after Rep. John Lewis referred to Trump as illegitimate earlier in the week. They are largely progressives and not important one way or another so not a big deal. In fact, as the day draws near the outrage grows that they would not put aside their politics and celebrate the more symbolic transition of power as Obama leaves office and Trump is installed as our 45th president. What is more American than celebrating this day without the fanfare of party or person? The partisan politics is poisonous for our nation and the liberals should be careful not to further ostracize the voting public. Have they learned nothing from the rise of Trump? Oh yes, we can't forget, Russia's hacking was responsible for Clinton losing the election. Really?
The only problem with riding my bike when the temps fall into the thirties is that I have to wear so many things just to keep warm that I end up feeling constrained by the clothes I'm wearing. That's no fun. There is such a thing as the right combination of clothing and I can find that balance in most cases but it gets increasingly difficult the colder it gets. On an altogether different matter, remind me if you will that I need to return Rollie's iPhone 6 plus to him. While I appreciate his "giving" me the darn thing over the holidays I knew I might run into problems with the difference in carriers and that is precisely what happened. I don't know why I fret so much with the darn phone business. It just annoys me to no end when things go awry one way or another and I end up without an iPhone and I have to settle for something less like the stupid Galaxy I'm using at present. It is just so unnecessary. It's like I punish myself for getting into predicaments of my own making and I'm far too stubborn to extricate myself when I otherwise have the means to do so. Ever been there? And to think that Rollie asked that I negotiate the right price for the phone with his lovely wife. The only question remaining in my mind, were I to keep the phone and have to enter such negotiations, is whether or not she would honor the family discount. I could just take it and send her a check without dickering but that might come across as not dealing in good faith. Probably not a good idea. I guess I better get the phone back to him before the next version comes out so he has a chance to sell it on the open market. Going once, going twice…
"…If the press were honest - which it's not - I would absolutely not use Twitter. I wouldn't have to." President elect Trump.
Bzzzzzzzz!
16/01/17 07:27
No one said it was going to be easy. Getting Evan to do much of anything has always been something of a challenge but getting him to write thank you notes to those good folks who gave him something nice for Christmas is and can be an uphill battle. Not because he doesn't want to write the notes but rather it has more to do with getting him to just do it. God only knows that his mother has worked on this with him since he learned to write trying everything from pleading to coercion in flavors one can just imagine. I think it's a boy thing. Not that Nancy hasn't tried to whip that fanciful notion clear out of his noggin but genes will be genes and you can't fool mother nature when it comes to this sort of thing. When he does do it he does it without hesitation, without excessive clutter, and when push comes to shove, he writes a pretty good note. They are short, sweet, and to the point. Nothing excessive, sappy, silly, or seductive. They are, in a word, sincere. It's really the least he can do since as of late anyway he has been otherwise occupied during the holidays depriving even the closest of family a gracing of his presence. Yes, showing up can be a challenge too. We're working on that and so is he. We keep telling ourselves that next Christmas will be different but I'm not so sure. It's one more thing to work on. Always one more thing.
I don't know why all of a sudden I'm beginning to use my cappuccino machine. The damn thing has been sitting around for a decade or two collecting dust. It's been so long since I used it that I can hardly remember what prompted me to buy the darn thing way back when. I have to imagine that I was wanting to make such a beverage or I wouldn't have bought it. Maybe it was a gift. No matter, I'm using it now and the results are just spectacular. It gives me the caffeine boost that my body so dearly loves and it just makes the entire process so much more efficient. I'm now out of the melior pot business which means I don't have to worry about cleaning up the muddy grinds anymore. There are still grinds to be sure but they can now be swept from the metallic cap into the trash without fuss or muss. I'm using just the right amount of coffee with every brew so there is no longer any eyeballing the scoop of grinds when making my coffee and the coffee I do buy will last longer. Boiling water for both my cup and the melior pot has over time resulted in using more water than was necessary so we're done with that. And the frothed milk, oh the frothed milk! I meant to purchase some regular milk for steaming since skim milk falls a little flat. It still froths but the density of the froth is, well, a little limp truth be told. I'm still in search of the perfect cup but the machinery involved has taken me in a different direction. It's a good thing. Bzzzzz!
I am so looking forward watching the presidential inaugural for Donald Trump this coming Friday in our nations capitol. On election night back in November 2016, I watched with some trepidation as the returns came in throughout the night. All of the polls suggested a win for Hillary Clinton but that just didn't square in my mind with the crowds attending his rallies in the days and months leading up to election day. I stayed on twitter for the longest time that evening not wanting to watch the breathless media types fawning endlessly over their candidate. It was a clear and malicious violation of the public trust it was. The media just never reported anything negative about their candidate no matter how nasty or how pervasive the injustice. She was continually under investigation by the FBI for christ sakes! When I finally did start to tune in to the media types it became clear that the numbers were just not there for her.
The Obama coalition apparently took a pass on Hillary Clinton and the votes never materialized in the numbers required for her to win. Trump not only threaded the proverbial needle but he tore down the blue wall of states that have historically gone democratic in presidential elections. Our country is ready for a female president just not this female. It should be noted that Trump will be the first president elected to have never held public office. That, in large part, is why he won. He had a winning message and she had none other than "it's my turn." Trump's detractors and Hillary's leftist followers, one in the same I might add, will do their best to foil the biggest and most important day in Donald J Trump's life. The 5,000 bikers converging on the nations capitol to celebrate his win will see to it that their shenanigans will be kept to a minimum. If only the media will do their job now and report on the pomp and circumstance rather than the belligerence and naysaying of the leftists attending the ceremony. We are one country and we are one people and we have one president at a time. As simple a concept that is, I'm not convinced the media will do their job. They have an agenda after all and that comes before god and country. God help us all.
I don't know why all of a sudden I'm beginning to use my cappuccino machine. The damn thing has been sitting around for a decade or two collecting dust. It's been so long since I used it that I can hardly remember what prompted me to buy the darn thing way back when. I have to imagine that I was wanting to make such a beverage or I wouldn't have bought it. Maybe it was a gift. No matter, I'm using it now and the results are just spectacular. It gives me the caffeine boost that my body so dearly loves and it just makes the entire process so much more efficient. I'm now out of the melior pot business which means I don't have to worry about cleaning up the muddy grinds anymore. There are still grinds to be sure but they can now be swept from the metallic cap into the trash without fuss or muss. I'm using just the right amount of coffee with every brew so there is no longer any eyeballing the scoop of grinds when making my coffee and the coffee I do buy will last longer. Boiling water for both my cup and the melior pot has over time resulted in using more water than was necessary so we're done with that. And the frothed milk, oh the frothed milk! I meant to purchase some regular milk for steaming since skim milk falls a little flat. It still froths but the density of the froth is, well, a little limp truth be told. I'm still in search of the perfect cup but the machinery involved has taken me in a different direction. It's a good thing. Bzzzzz!
I am so looking forward watching the presidential inaugural for Donald Trump this coming Friday in our nations capitol. On election night back in November 2016, I watched with some trepidation as the returns came in throughout the night. All of the polls suggested a win for Hillary Clinton but that just didn't square in my mind with the crowds attending his rallies in the days and months leading up to election day. I stayed on twitter for the longest time that evening not wanting to watch the breathless media types fawning endlessly over their candidate. It was a clear and malicious violation of the public trust it was. The media just never reported anything negative about their candidate no matter how nasty or how pervasive the injustice. She was continually under investigation by the FBI for christ sakes! When I finally did start to tune in to the media types it became clear that the numbers were just not there for her.
The Obama coalition apparently took a pass on Hillary Clinton and the votes never materialized in the numbers required for her to win. Trump not only threaded the proverbial needle but he tore down the blue wall of states that have historically gone democratic in presidential elections. Our country is ready for a female president just not this female. It should be noted that Trump will be the first president elected to have never held public office. That, in large part, is why he won. He had a winning message and she had none other than "it's my turn." Trump's detractors and Hillary's leftist followers, one in the same I might add, will do their best to foil the biggest and most important day in Donald J Trump's life. The 5,000 bikers converging on the nations capitol to celebrate his win will see to it that their shenanigans will be kept to a minimum. If only the media will do their job now and report on the pomp and circumstance rather than the belligerence and naysaying of the leftists attending the ceremony. We are one country and we are one people and we have one president at a time. As simple a concept that is, I'm not convinced the media will do their job. They have an agenda after all and that comes before god and country. God help us all.
Make America Great Again!
15/01/17 08:03
If I hear one more story about a disenfranchised transgender or other minority who has been traumatized by the Trump ascendency I think I'm going to puke. Ben Carson was right. We're talking about the rights of all Americans and not some subgroup that thinks they are entitled to special treatment due to their status. Identity politics must be decried as a danger to our republic and multiculturalism is just one of many manifestations that cannot and should not be tolerated. If you come to America, and you damn well better do that LEGALLY, you will follow the rules of our society. You will assimilate. Our laws will become your laws and you will follow the laws faithfully and in accordance with local statutes. In other words, get the fuck with the program or get the fuck out. We will respect your voice when you decide to raise it in objection to things you find objectionable but you must respect the law of the land.
What's with all these pussies wanting to avoid the limelight of the Trump inauguration for fear of retaliation by the left? The dancers, the singers, the prancers, the ringers, all threatened with blacklisting and even bodily harm if they show up and show off their many talents at the Trump inauguration this coming Friday. Who the fuck does the left think they are threatening anyone? This has got to stop. It may be that this is one of many steps in the grieving process for the liberals who cannot believe their beloved Hillary Clinton lost the election. They may never come around and that may well marginalize their hopes for the future since the Trump train is leaving the station with or without them. They will no doubt benefit from the many jobs he creates, the opportunities that his presidency is likely to foster, so they would be well advised to stop being obstructionist and start working to get this country of ours back on track after 8 years of Barack Hussein Obama. Can we get the party started please?
I want to be careful about using this here journal as an echo chamber of the Trump followers but will happily devote a paragraph or two to that very sort of thing in this first of several paragraphs in early 2017 if that is acceptable. I do look forward to Trump, once he is sworn into office on the 20th of this month, overturning many if not all of Obama's executive orders. Get rid of that fucking albatross called Obamacare that has been hung around the necks of decent god fearing Americans and I say NO to replacing it. Where, I ask you, in the Constitution does it say anything about providing health insurance? The answer is simple. It doesn't. If you can't afford insurance then you don't get insurance. If you are destitute then you walk into the emergency room with your so-called ailments and no hospital can refuse you treatment. And then there are the many thousands of regulations that Obama has imposed on the country at the behest of his leftist followers but to the clear detriment of our many industries, small businesses, and other interested parties. I think it goes without saying that once Trump proves his mettle as a businessman with the Amercian public it is quite likely that our great country will never again install a politician in the office of the presidency. hat, my friends, is a good thing. Special interests and lobbyists will no longer have a place at the table when it comes to leading our country to greatness. As Trump would tell you himself, it's all about the Amercian people. All of the Amercian people.
What's with all these pussies wanting to avoid the limelight of the Trump inauguration for fear of retaliation by the left? The dancers, the singers, the prancers, the ringers, all threatened with blacklisting and even bodily harm if they show up and show off their many talents at the Trump inauguration this coming Friday. Who the fuck does the left think they are threatening anyone? This has got to stop. It may be that this is one of many steps in the grieving process for the liberals who cannot believe their beloved Hillary Clinton lost the election. They may never come around and that may well marginalize their hopes for the future since the Trump train is leaving the station with or without them. They will no doubt benefit from the many jobs he creates, the opportunities that his presidency is likely to foster, so they would be well advised to stop being obstructionist and start working to get this country of ours back on track after 8 years of Barack Hussein Obama. Can we get the party started please?
I want to be careful about using this here journal as an echo chamber of the Trump followers but will happily devote a paragraph or two to that very sort of thing in this first of several paragraphs in early 2017 if that is acceptable. I do look forward to Trump, once he is sworn into office on the 20th of this month, overturning many if not all of Obama's executive orders. Get rid of that fucking albatross called Obamacare that has been hung around the necks of decent god fearing Americans and I say NO to replacing it. Where, I ask you, in the Constitution does it say anything about providing health insurance? The answer is simple. It doesn't. If you can't afford insurance then you don't get insurance. If you are destitute then you walk into the emergency room with your so-called ailments and no hospital can refuse you treatment. And then there are the many thousands of regulations that Obama has imposed on the country at the behest of his leftist followers but to the clear detriment of our many industries, small businesses, and other interested parties. I think it goes without saying that once Trump proves his mettle as a businessman with the Amercian public it is quite likely that our great country will never again install a politician in the office of the presidency. hat, my friends, is a good thing. Special interests and lobbyists will no longer have a place at the table when it comes to leading our country to greatness. As Trump would tell you himself, it's all about the Amercian people. All of the Amercian people.