Carl won’t leave

Posted on by July 4, 2017

No I don’t have a house guest who has been here longer than three days. What we have is a marine layer – fog in the evening completely obscuring the sky. Since Berkeley can occasionally be thought of as a University town, a literary location you might have figured out the reference:

“The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on”

and thus is referred to as Carl.

It makes attempting to photograph the night sky impossible on this side of the hills (and Hayward Fault).

George and I went to the game and watched along with over 40,000 other fans the As manage to lose yet another game. They have younger players. They are learning; but those errors are costing way too much. I was sorry to see Cotton take the loss since the relief pitchers were the ones whose continual provision of wonderful pitches caused the White Sox batters to run up the numbers and make recovery impossible.

I was going to stay and take fireworks photos from the parking lot, but just got too cold and too tired. My excuse was that there was just too much light (grin).

You can’t stay

Posted on by July 4, 2017  

One of the guys from that photo class on the 26th and I were going to attempt to do night photography this evening. George had volunteered to be the chauffeur. The eldest begged off after having to work late. She turned out to be the smartest in the group.

(and yes, the As lost this afternoon).

Since it was completely socked in around the bay we thought to try the other side of the hills. Well Mt Diablo Park might be a good place to be. But the park gates are closed and locked at 2030 in the evening leaving you on one side of the divide or the other till morning. Since we hadn’t come prepared with sleeping bags or camping gear, this didn’t sound like a great idea.

Driving around, there didn’t seem to be any other decent place without either lights or trees obscuring the sky. Back over on our side, the fog was almost to the top of Grizzly Peak taking out that option as well. Seems like one needs a combination of good pre-trip scouting and a lot of luck with the weather. July is probably a better bet if the skies clear (meaning the weather needs to warm up a bit.).

It isn’t so much that

Posted on by July 1, 2017  

the As keep trying to lose. It is more a matter of fouling up a good thing. For example, an error by the shortstop in the first inning turned a routine out into a two base grab. Said runner later scored. And then there were the 2-3 innings including one with bases loaded that the As at bat managed to strike out, pop out or land themselves in a a double play instead of scoring a go ahead run.

Go figure – I can’t.

Meanwhile I am still playing with machine embroidery, working on a cross stitch and just finished Graphic Audio’s Mike Oberon – Hallow Point.

Not a No-Hitter

Posted on by July 1, 2017  

Is probably the best thing that can be said about tonight’s game. A solo home run by Matt Olson in the bottom of the ninth was the As only score. Next batter up hit a double but that, unfortunately was followed by a few too many swings and misses.

I otherwise slept in, messed around with my sewing machine and attempted to avoid screaming at people.

(grin – a good day all around. Except for the As…..)

Wonder Woman

Posted on by June 29, 2017  

I am not sure what I was expecting from this particular movie. I hadn’t seen any of the trailers and hadn’t looked at comic books for years.  Yes, they were definitely comic books when I was a kid. What the difference between a comic book and graphic novel is eludes me completely. Discounting the issue of length and cost. Those perhaps contribute to which category one might apply.

Anyway. Wonder Woman. The movie, what I saw of it was well done. Costuming, fight scenes and all the usual paraphernalia involving the imagining of an ancient but sophisticated culture. Otherwise – I hated it. I never, ever, ever go to fight, war, or violence movies and would not have gone to this one had I known.

I’ve done my time, seen enough death and weapons. Seen what they do to people and can’t see anyway to put heroics, a positive spin or to rewrite history for the sake of a plot. I certainly don’t read fiction related. And besides – this movie doesn’t match the original story of Wonder Woman which was true to the time period in which it was written….

Your mileage may very

Alameda County Fair

Posted on by June 28, 2017  

It is not that I go all that often to county fairs. The last one, if my memory serves me correctly was in 1988 where I was the weaver in a Sheep-to-Shawl team. Considering that I was pregnant with Daughter #2 at the time what I mostly remember were smells, heat and nausea.

I hadn’t even thought about such things for years. In fact, I had no idea that there were even such things as county fairs in this area of the country till I was given a free ticket at an As game a week or so ago. Since I had the ticket, it made sense (sort of) to use it. Canvasing the household, Alex was the only taker.

So off we went – Alameda County encompasses a huge portion of the East Bay (including, but not limited to Oakland, Dublin, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Berkeley, Emeryville). Rather large in population as such places go. The fairgrounds are in Pleasanton, which is just about as far from my house as you can get and still be in the county. We drove south and east….

Parking cost, of course. Fairgrounds entry didn’t. Alex took my free ticket and the fairground doesn’t charge either active military or veterans. There were the usual midway rides, games to separate you from your money with cheap prizes as a reward. There was junk food galore.

Of no surprise to me were the buildings containing vendors hawking knives, cookware, magic blenders, massage chairs, windows, siding, sports related souvenirs. Except for the teams which were most prominently displayed, I’d swear it was the same old guy from another state and decades ago. There has to be a fair circuit and things that are only and always sold there.

After an hour or so of wandering we finally found the buildings housing the hobbies, exhibits, small animals and other fun. The hobbies building turned out to have old people (whoops – folks of my age) demonstrating various crafts) while the rest of the hall was filled with cases featuring various “collections.” There is no way I can really put words to this strangeness so I will add in photos as soon as I track down the USB cable.

The small animal barn had bunnies, lots and lots of bunnies along with ducklings and chicks and a few other small birds. The Agriculture and Wine building had plants, bee keeping and one wine merchant. In the building labeled “Exhibits” I struck gold (for me). Not surprising, quilting seems to have taken over here much as it had 30 years ago in Maryland. There were a few entries in the knitting, spinning and weaving categories. More in the crochet (yes, the obligate baby stuff). Nothing in needlepoint, only one entry in cross-stitch. There was also a category which I found extremely strange – place settings. Like the hobby entries, these can only be seen and not well described or understood.

I never did find the large animals, but the hour was getting toward heavy traffic and we decided to skip both the rides and the late evening concert. There wasn’t any horse racing today, not that I minded at all.

Tomorrow’s plan? Wonder Woman.

Four eyes

Posted on by June 28, 2017  

The VA, as part of my benefits, provides me a new pair of glasses without cost every two years. That was Jan/Feb 2016. As glasses more complicated than those needed by the average 35 year old (i.e. bifocals, trifocals or progressives) are made in a central location it means something less than a few day turn around. I had a second pair made at a local Lens Crafters before I left for India last year.

Of course my pair from the VA arrived in the afternoon mail, the same day I was already at SFO on an outbound airplane…

So that made two pairs; except that I hadn’t dared travel with only one pair so I had found an older pair (see pink…. see the bifocal line…) which I think date back more than 10 years.

Fast forward to this year. Even with a scratch resistant coating, my VA haven’t survived all that well. The commercial pair was stepped on (not me) and, funny thing, there are no replacement frames to be had – would I like to order a completely new pair?

I don’t think so, not at that price.

So for $500 less than what Lens Crafter’s wanted, I ordered a new pair from the VA. Progressives, no photo grey and dark frames so I know which pair is the newest.

And, I now have four pairs of glasses to lose in the house….

glasses, so I can find at least one pair

Up from the depths

Posted on by June 24, 2017 2

the only way I can describe this past week is like a deep well. It has been a combination of the chemo hitting me, the house construction with the jack hammering and pounding to the point where it seems like my whole body vibrates to a complete lack of interest in people and/or food.

I think I am starting to get it together which means that I will release the last weeks worth of blog posts as soon as I have a chance to go back and clear out the worst of the evil thoughts and bad languages.

Tonight I am allegedly participating in a class over at Rodeo Beach on the Marin headlands on night photography. The only challenge, besides going completely manual on my camera is going to be if the fog – aka marine layer – doesn’t cooperate enough to let us see the sky. It is pretty hard to photo the night sky when all you see is a blur of white descending to the tips of the closest dunes and hills.

It is still noisy

Posted on by June 17, 2017

Both at home (where they are almost done blasting out the foundation. I will try to post the “completely hollow” pictures tomorrow and at the game.

It was a fireworks night. George came along, we drove and were able to escape the noise and madness actually rather easily. Unless going with a group that actually wants to see fireworks – it was a much better option than either leaving early before the BART overpass is closed or attempting to catch the shuttle busses which turn out to take longer than just staying for the fireworks. Of course, my decision might be easier if I wasn’t sitting in the bleachers which have to be cleared prior to the fireworks start.

Anyway – there were actually over 30k worth of fans, at least a third of which were rapid Yankees types. With the exception of one complete dick. Aaron Judge tossed a fly ball that he caught into our section of the RF Bleachers. An “adult” looking somewhere in is 30s grabbed it out of the hands of a young kid of about six who was looking just totally stunned with happiness. There was no question in our minds he took it away from the boy. His excuse that he wanted it for his son (aged 2) just didn’t fly. Security attempted to get him to give it back, then they invited him to leave when he refused.

Will, one of our regulars, had caught a ball during batting practice. He dug it out of his bag and gave it to the young man. It wan’t the same, but much better than going home without anything. Another ball tossed up, caught by a Yankees fan was traded for the batting practice ball. The Yankees fan was perfectly fine with the replacement ball for his nephew; it was fair to him that the boy who had actually caught a ball should have one that was thrown.

Yankee fan – terrific kudos. Will – always generous and long standing member of the Right Field Bleacher Die Hards. The As fan who grabbed the ball? Needs to find a moral compass. It is one thing to tussle with your peer group over a ball. And completely something else to steal from a child.

Oh – the As actually won 7-6! And Cassilo managed to actually hold off the Yankees in the top of the ninth.

Take away the gulls

Posted on by June 16, 2017  

For those who aren’t familiar with the location of the Oakland Coliseum let me just let you know that is is not all that far from the Oakland docks and water front. Which means there is a seagull problem on the occasional day.

Someone came up with a brilliant solution. It works, but they didn’t think it all the way through.

But first –

But first – this is NYC vs As with a guest appearance from the Quakes

Now, back to the gulls – or not –

up in the sky

and a closer look –

Besides the usual crew in RF149 – we were visited by Stomper & Q.

The challenge on the pest control front turned out to be a small amount of lack on understanding on the As part. Once it is dark, falcons normally don’t fly. But the presence of the Falcon kept away all the swallows. Now, moths are better than seagulls but still….

The As fielding was good, the batters were hitting. Frankly, the pitching sucked. The early lead was given away and it was a struggle after that. I was completely wiped and left after nine innings with the score tied. The next inning took forever. In fact I was almost at North Berkeley when the run scored by the Yankees in the top of the tenth was overcome by Khris Davis actually coming through and scoring two runs for a win. (you know Khris – the one who struck out in the top of the ninth in Florida with the bases loaded and two outs? The one who did the same earlier this game?)

It was time for sleep and planning on my escape after the game tomorrow to avoid the fireworks crowds…

Dinner with Daughters

Posted on by June 16, 2017

Two of my three are relatively local to me. Well, one is really local, living across the hall. The other lives just down the road in Richmond. Last week we got together for dinner. No fool, I buy the groceries and let them cook.

Dani picked the menu this week with an Asian flavor – there was spicy Thai beef salad –

on a bed of romaine

 

a lovely mushroom soup with Udon noodles

sprouts and a bit of tofu for protein

 

and quick grilled peppers because I thought they looked pretty in the bag and brought them along –

which turned out to be mild and nice

we made it an early evening. The As had already managed to loose to the Marlins..

and cycle 6

Posted on by June 16, 2017  

of just about all poisons but one. By mutual consent (my doc and me) we dropped the Vincristine this time around. I was just starting to get some symptoms that could be attributed to side effects. Or – I was willing to admit that I was having side effects from the drug and there was no good reason for me to risk them getting any worse.

It was a long day – George bailed me out and we stopped for supper on the way home. I was glad there wasn’t a home game tonight. OTOH, well the As are not exactly operating at the top of their abilities. On the rare time they win… oh never mind.

And what did I do while hanging out at the infusion center?

worked more on my fractal but forgot to take pictures….

 

No crash today

Posted on by June 12, 2017  

And the house is almost ringing with silence. I say almost because the dogs seemed to be honorbound to make up the difference in decibels with their barking.

I stood it for a while, then gave up. End result is that I took my audio book upstairs and hid out for most of the day.

Progress was made on the fractal

Just imagine that you are looking at it vertically.

Another day

Posted on by June 10, 2017  

and another pile of debris –

todays dig out

which provides a slightly different view than out and down from the living room window. The smeary glass is obviously the result of dog noses…

down on the right side toward the steps

toward the left and the debris pile

and lastly a bit more toward the middle featuring steel beams and the top of one of the stacks

I took it easy today, mostly reading but also back at the fractal-54 after organizing a few supplies –

10 June 2017

Gaping Hole

Posted on by June 9, 2017 1

We have this gaping hole where the lower level and foundation used to be.

From the driveway it doesn’t look that bad –

Upper level, bracers below

It is just when you get up close and personal –

and see the water and sewer lines

just sort of hanging free that a slight chill starts creeping up the back.

I guess it is comforting to know that there is plenty of bracing, altho it doesn’t look all that sturdy to me

the last of the foundation on the forward corner

I would not advise walking under the house –

unless you are comfortable with also seeing electrical connections reminiscent of the snarls one saw in Delhi or Kathmandu, just on a smaller scale.

but we do have lights and wifi!

 

You can also see the steel beams across the tops of the bracers. Me? I did play with Lincoln logs but still…

The noise is getting to me. Time to escape to the upper floor. I just try not to think about the house accidentally coming down….

Slip Sliding

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

Would you believe it is raining? Here in California where we never see rain between early in the year and Nov/Dec? When someone yesterday told me the forecast, I had a tough time believing it. To tell you the truth while the rain might be good for the plants and gardens the reality is appalling.

You remember me talking about construction right?

We have this gaping hole where the lower level/basement used to be. The guys have been good about hauling away dirt and debris on a regular basis. Nevertheless, the local version of dirt which turns out to have a moderate amount of clay has taken to hanging out on the drive way. Wet, it becomes extremely slippery.

Alex and I carefully made our way down it this morning proving that not fun is a more than apt saying. I have more errands to run (post office for packages going on, weaving supplies to drop off, library books to return, socks to exchange, BART pickups x2 plus used books to sell).

I may wind up putting off all but the BART runs till tomorrow….

Defeat from

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

the jaws of potential victory.

It seems like the As pitchers just can’t stand to have a winning streak. After the previous two good games, the As pitching left a bit to be desired. Of course, the starting pitcher didn’t get hung with the loss because he was not the idiot who proceeded to deliver balls that turned into Blue Jay home runs.

I didn’t see the end of the game. For Oakland it was cold and the wind was blowing. For once common sense applied and I left after 8 innings when the score was tied. I didn’t have to watch the As lose and I didn’t spend money on another sweatshirt or jacket since I had stupidly left mine at home.

Had a lovely evening spent with The Eldest and Ms Runner where they tried out three recipes from a new cookbook and I had a chance to haul the Spiral Fractal from where it was languishing and add a few stitches.

no t-shirt needed

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

seriously. I am not whining that badly. I don’t need a t-shirt that says “my husband went to Vienna and all I got was….”

Instead, I spent a day running errands before heading to the Coliseum for the game. For a change I decided not to even think about the Food Truck Mafia  and both ate a late lunch and packed munchies.  The game was great, our section made more than enough noise for the rest of the stadium (Canadian Fans are polite – what can I say?) and Healy hit two home runs – responsible for all five of the As runs.  The As pulled off a win, in spite of the closing pitcher managing to turn batters into base runners before finally getting the last out.

I forgot the baseball tonight – which explains why I ran into the Toronto couple on my way back to BART. Where were they tonight? Oh – they attempted to sit up on Deck 3 to get an overview, but nothing was accessible. The box office said the seats were, so they spent the first couple of innings getting back down and getting seated else where. Everyone was so embarrassed  that they comp’d them tickets for tomorrow game.

Oh! Where can I find you?

Section 105 – or if that doesn’t work – 111.

Ok – and I explained about wanting to pass on the baseball.

I was pretty tired by the time I arrived back at North Berkeley complete with my armload of banners.*

*RF 149 usually puts up banners. We also use them to block off seats for the flag wavers. Most of the rest of the crew won’t be able to arrive till right before the 1235 start tomorrow. I can come early.

He goes to Vienna

Posted on by June 8, 2017  

and all I get is a baseball game.

It could be worse, much worse.  I am thinking a four day turnaround involving plane changes in both directions and a nine hour time zone difference would be more challenge that I really want.  Now, if I could stay a couple of weeks and travel around…..

Never mind.

Instead, I entertained myself my going to the game.  I have taken to going in the ADA gate since it is the closest to where I sit, easily found from BART and has the advantage of avoiding completely both ramps and steps. On those days where I am short of breath going down ramps is fine, it is coming back up that is the …..

Anyway, there are a number of us hanging out in line waiting for the security people to decide that it is ok to check us in while the lines at both main gates have been entering for the last few minutes. Next to me in line is a couple from Toronto.  As I understood, they were on vacation the location of which just happened to be San Francisco. And they just happened to go to the Blue Jays games at AT&T Park over the weekend and have planned to come to the Coliseum for today and the next couple of days. I think I see a pattern here. Perhaps the vacation days just happened to be when they could catch their home team in two stadiums? In any case, they were going to be headed up to Section 221 to catch the game.

Hanging out early and watching in the Jay’s batting practice a few balls were tossed up into our section. One landed on the overhang just below where we sit. There is an engineering minded guy in the group. When he come back from finding food he takes out his lightbulb changer, fixes the basket to the end of his flag and easily collects the errant ball. I figure – why not? Taking off to find the Blue Jay’s fan – I check in 221. Nope, not accessible. Not in 220 or 210 – the two areas on second level where you can wheel in. While I was at it, I checked 111 figuring that as the sensible alternative. Nada, and no one claimed to have seen an avid Blue Jays middle aged male fan wheeling along like mad.

Took the ball home and am planning on trying the next couple of games.

Oh – the As actually managed to win it! 4:1 in spite of the Blue Jays by far out hitting the As.