just make life better.
It is near the end of the season. If it wasn’t by time, it certainly would have been by the strangeness of the weather.
I had extremely sour home grown cherries from Alison that didn’t last long at all.
Then there are the Rainier Cherries and the Washington sweet cherries –
my last of the year
and I don’t think I will buy any more till spring, next year.
Can mean a number of things, including a song by Madonna (amazingly extensive article in Wiki.)
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
1: delayed or detained for a time
2 : anxiously nervous
3 : having great or excessive interest in or preoccupation with someone or something —usually used with on –
they broke up but he’s still hung up on her
hung up on winning
Then there are the much more prosaic uses of the expression – as in “I hung up on …” when referring to telemarketers. Or – “She hung up her clothes…” said in amazement by a parent.
In the following simple case – it is with joy that after three attempts to find hardware that would work on a 1930s door – and with skill from Noah –
Ironing Board and Iron now off the floor when not. in use
is a first world problem. Both George and I have more than enough clothes to make it through a couple of weeks. We have several changes of bed linens. We have plenty of towels (hello? perhaps I should say bath sheets as those I brought home from RCCL cruises never seem to die).
So the basket fills up with clothes needing a wash. Then a second basket fills up. This morning I decided that it probably was my turn and started hauling both baskets toward the downstairs utility room. Especially as I took a look at the linens and towels.
——–>8—— three hours later ———-
The last load is in the dryer – mostly towels and jeans. I now have clean clothes stacked on the bed. Mine fall into five neat piles. There are leggings, Uniqlo support tanks, underwear, socks, and pullover tops (most of which have hoods). That is it. Nothing fancy. Nothing that needs a hanger. Absolutely certainly nothing that would ever, under any circumstances require ironing.
It is now back to stitching….
with pretty much the called for DMC in 16ct Sprite by PTP
And then I realized that there was still a load in the dryer. At least it is towels and jeans. Nothing that can’t get wrinkled.
After spending decades in the military where schedule was a given (and not a dirty word) I more or less successfully transitioned to a life of travel where schedule is something you make up yourself. Then on to graduate school where you have little to no control over where and when you have to be.
[side note, if you have forgotten, I can refer you back to my rants of 2018-2019 about the Bar and its requirement for schools to take attendance. That is right, law schools take attendance (which means you have to physically be there. Not watch a video later or get notes). And expect you to participate in class which really doesn’t make up anything as part of the grade unless you are really on a borderline. There are also rules about what percentage of a class can receive what grades…. That part of the whole experience felt like somewhere between elementary school and undergrad @ university].
Like everyone else – we are now going on more than 18 months of a “schedule” being mostly dictated by outside agencies scheduling Zoom/WebiNex/GoToMeeting/etc meetings. Add in the challenges associated time zones and consistency just didn’t exist.
I added in working at Alameda County Vaccination clinics in the end of January (1-3/week) with shifts being 10hrs+travel time. Those particular locations are being phased out as the demand simply isn’t there anymore. At least here in California, anyone who wants to be vaccinated can be (no charge). The only limits for some anymore are transportation or hours of the clinics. (evening and weekend clinics were added in May).
So here I am, the clinics where I worked are shutting down. The new ones are more than an hour’s drive which really isn’t worth it. Many of the organizations which were running weekly conferences have dropped back to monthly or bi-monthly. Zoom times are less and less applicable. Other than 3x week exercise class, my time should be my own?
except for a seemingly never ending list of errands that puts me behind the wheel of the car.
Of course, this may be preferable to sorting and organizing the contents of the garage
of not exercising, doing much of anything physical, I have really run out of excuses.
BC = Before Covid in the 2011eg2018 time frame I spent probably more than a fair amount of time on various cruise ships. It was relatively easy to get up in the morning and be in the fitness center when it opened. Most of the rest of the passengers seemed to be completely on vacation (re: eating, drinking, and lying around in various deck chairs) so that it wasn’t hard to get 30-60 minutes of treadmill time.
All of that stopped in fall 2018 when I, perhaps foolishly – perhaps not, decided to take advantage of Uncle Sam’s willingness to pay for further education. Hence the Master’s Program because – why not? Tuition and books were paid, SF netted a more than reasonable subsistence allowance and I turned to attempting to exercise my brain rather than my legs.
[Queue George becoming ill partway through that year followed by more hospital trips followed by COVID]
The end result is that I found, while I actually prefer attending educational material via zoom, that mode doesn’t work for me when it comes to exercise classes. When the center where I had been sporadically taking classes reopened last month, as I said, I really ran out of excuses.
I admit, while waiting for class to start this morning, that I am not thrilled at how much stamina, flexibility, and strength I have lost. As I look across the studio at the mirrored wall, my reflection falls on one of the seams. It is just a bit cracked…..
As anyone who lives in the US knows, today is the 4th of July, Independence Day. It is also a week out from when I was going to be heading with a number of friends on a seven day journey around the western Caribbean. The trip had originally been planned for last year, but we all know what happened to those plans.
This morning the following appears in my email in-box:
Thank you for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line. Your sail date is quickly approaching and your online check in is now open. To expedite your time at the pier and select your embarkation time, we urge all guests to complete their online check in to provide the necessary documentation required to board the ship.
I just stare. I am having trouble believing that any cruise line would not have fixed their automatic email reminder system by now. In exactly WHICH universe am I am able to take a cruise in a week. A cruise for which I received a cancellation notice, a credit on my account, and several apology letters.
Now, I have been sailing NCL for years and never before had any reason to doubt their dedication, organizational, or safety abilities. But this email simply should not have happened.
NCL has an on-line chat. I checked the box. Sure enough, the person who answered (and I really don’t think it was a bot) replied that she had already received a number of inquiries this morning and the IT people were working on the problem. Apologies and all of that.
On the world weather front – it is cool and overcast here. The Pacific Northwest finally has had the hot air inversion breakup and temperatures drop back down to normal for the area. (Trust me, you do not want temps of 40-48*C in an area which normally runs 30*C in the summer. Not when people lack climate control in their homes). Much of a world away, Edinburg had a major storm today with flash flooding. Beverly sent me a couple of local news links. Trust the Brits to understate – just warning people to be careful. With streets knee deep in water? Seriously, just tell everyone to stay home unless it is an emergency..
Anyway, I am not going anywhere. Absolutely no interest in crowding on to public transportation or into a baseball park. I will watch from the comfort of a nice stitching chair and note the increased risk of disease transmission.
Or a bit later. Or earlier. I am rather foggy on the details.
It was mid-day when I surfaced enough to contemplate getting out of bed.
Since there were packages which had arrived during my week absence – there was an excellent reason for giving up on sleep for the moment. That alertness didn’t last. I admired the books which had arrived from BookOutlet, some floss from Forbidden Fiber and a puzzle.d
After attempting to be coherent – I gave it up as a bad idea and headed back to sleep figuring that I am still down about 20 hours…
writing every day when it seems that we are enmeshed in Ground Hog’s Day.
Yes, I know that I have frequently, often, etc. as well as loudly made this complaint before – but it is still holding. When I first started daily notes as an email list all those many years ago – there was reason to write. And different things happening every day.
Now, it is the same family (well – plus Lev), the same activities, the same locations. Really, not much to say and a limited ability to explain the ordinary in terms that are interesting to me, much less anyone else.
Ah, well. And to reassure you. This is not depression – this is just total and complete boredom with being stuck in Berkeley…..
Sorry, been spending entirely too much time around bad puns. And some are so much worse than others.
It wasn’t a day for anything too complicated. I hadn’t signed up for any shifts at either place I normally work. Instead, I ran errands. Now Joanns is within about 3 miles of the house in one direction. Michaels about the same in the other. JoAnns, as it turns out, was missing several colors of DMC floss so I had to add the Michaels run. As it turns out, I should have just gone there in the first place. They have a new manager. Instead of total chaos in the embroidery section, it is now neatly and accurately laid out complete with signage and labels. Who knew?
I made it home with my floss (and a few other things that jumped into my basket) and spent the afternoon fighting with a couple of CD drives in a desperate attempt to play a couple of MP3 audiobooks… Ah, well. It looks like it is time to haul out the old MAC. I did manage some stitching, then we took dinner over to Shana’s.
It is still before 2200, but I am wiped and headed to bed.
(and now you know why I am not emailing everyone and boring them to tears…)
This has been perhaps the longest month for me since the start of the Pandemic. I am not really sure why. I could point to a myriad of factors, but in truth, it feels like all the waves over my head came crashing down at once.
It wasn’t just that I had a lot of conferences on my schedule, some of which have the audacity to start at insane times in the morning. Admittedly, those times are not insane – if you happen to live in Tel Aviv, Geneva, or Glasgow. But since my time zone happens to be GMT-8 while on daylight savings time, it is really early in the morning. Trust me on that.
Then there have also been the two courses at Cal which I have been participating in, some for my own interest and some as a guest lecturer. That pretty much wiped out all day Mon + Wed afternoon.
Add in working 2-3 days a week at one of two immunization sites (shifts are 10 hours + travel….)
Did I mention dental work?
Ok, all of that is probably more than enough whining out of me.
I will start fresh in the morning and perhaps have it together a bit more this coming month.
Given that I was offered slave labor by one of my daughters late this morning, I could hardly procrastinate any further on cleaning/organizing in the garage.
The end count was three huge boxes completely emptied. A pile of clothes to be charity donated. A large number of lose items folded and packed. Contents of previously unknown two boxes identified. A very large duffle bag with various family treasures packed by Maus (and taken home by her). The dear girl also claimed two completed cross stitches as “hers” and will do the finishing. A third will make an ideal present for a friend of hers – so that went out the door as well.
There is now a nice, clear, open space at the front of the middle section of the garage which can be turned into a metal stamping area by Daughter #2 who needs some place to pound other than her kitchen counter. One of the old sheepskins is now decorating the floor and will make a great and comfortable nesting location for which ever of her dogs needs to accompany her.
Back to the thing –
Sansa Nano
It was in the sleeve pocket of one of my uniform shirts. I am forgetting the exact name – I was issued three that last tour in Afghanistan. They were designed as essentially a long sleeve pullover which could be comfortably worn under kevlar. I think I remember someone calling them “tanker’s shirts” but I could be wrong. The zippered sleeve pocket was great, and not to be confused with the various other velcro closure pouches and pockets. It has a standard port as well as a location for a micro chip (not that I think I have a reader for anything that small anymore) and a regular port for ear buds. (Yes, my dears – this was long before blue tooth…
I am going to charge it and see what happens. If nothing else – I could find a card and load one of the dozens of audio books I found in the garage still sealed in our original household goods shipment boxes.
Tree Hugger #1
On Tuesday mornings, I have been meeting one of my neighbors for coffee and a walk. The coffee is picked up from Peet’s and we have been hiking around various streets and neighborhoods here in the Berkeley Hills. The variety of houses is just amazing. Many of the streets are winding and, as you might have guessed from the name – it can be pretty hilly. Not as in up and down but as in UP or DOWN.
When you get to the other side of Marin from where we live, it gets interesting from a geological perspective. I will insert some pictures of Indian Rock (huge rock formation) probably next week since I don’t have any good ones from today. But back to the terrain. There are a lot of huge chucks of rock. As in protruding from the ground in front of people’s houses taking out a large chunk of their front garden. Large enough to obstruct the view from main floor windows.
I don’t think today that the city would even permit to build in this area, but the first half of the last century, I don’t think any one was quite as fussy.
The residents of one house have a sense of humor. What do you do when you have a huge outcropping in your front yard?
actually, not doing a dumpster dive
why, you place a statue of a golden bear. Not a small one nor light weight being solid metal and bolted on.
In case you need to see something that has not changed in spite of the pandemic – it looks like the falcon pair at UCBerkeley has returned to their tower and are getting ready to settle in for another year.
Here are the links for the various live cams…
Grinnell just watching… 
I started out thinking today was going to be pretty much of a loss. Not in terms of family, but in the realm of getting progress on any of my cross stitch projects.
There was the 0500 broadcast from WHO re: Neglected Tropical Diseases (leprosy among others) and the next in a series of occupational medicine broadcasts re: the construction industry at 0900. From there I made a mad dash over to the Eldest’s house (meeting up with the youngest for errand running) in order to make the 1100-1200 & 1200-1300 schedule. Even tho all were not “Zoom” since Cisco’s Webinex was in the mix – I was totally & completed zoomed out.
So anyway – Maus wanted to cruise the thrift (charity) stores for some household items and used furniture. Over the next few hours, we stopped at four (or was it five?) Goodwill locations, a consignment furniture store, and Out of the Closet. She made out like a bandit. Found some picture frames, candle sticks, a most excellent tea kettle, serving bowls, and a couple of vases.
I purchased one picture frame at a Goodwill – then found this lovely thing –
my new cabinet
Obviously (grin) it is a jewelry cabinet – a top that lifts up for precious storage on top, four draws with dividers inside, two draws below.
Now, I don’t have jewelry. But I have floss, beads, and lots of notions. This lovely little cabinet is going to replace a number of cheap, plastic containers and look elegant in doing so. Price? $25US. After it airs out a bit, I will move it to a place of honor in my sewing room.
There is this old expression that says – “It never rains, but it pours.” Said saying was also co-opted by Morton Salt, but I see no reason to go there this morning.
After all, the Bay Area has had enough disasters this year without going and hunting for me.
SAR-COV2
Wildfires
drought
unemployment
school closures
hunger
Need I go on?
Well, yesterday – Tuesday 26 January 2021 to be precise, we just added torrential rain to our growing list of disbelief. It rained and rained. Plus the wind blew, rather important as this tale proceeds. This morning – we woke to the following on our back deck:
on the lower deck
buried inches into the decking
Just so you know, that second picture was taken after I hauled this huge branch off the deck and tossed it over the edge.
We have cleared the cars off the parking pad (which involved heading to Dani’s work and getting her keys) and are now waiting for PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) because an additional branch or three has taken the power line which runs along our property line down. So far, we haven’t lost power, I think this line mostly supports the two houses just south of ours and up another one of the typical long, twisty driveways.
and it is almost time for yet another Zoom session (YAZS?)
You can be so accustomed to having something in a particular place that you just don’t see it anymore. Or, if you “see” it, the significance doesn’t register.
So it was with the 19 month calendar hanging on the wall in our kitchen.
check the date …
Traditionally, I have liked having a physical calendar hanging on the wall. This particular location is in among the car/house/shed/whatever keys for this location and several others. Thus it is in front of everyone’s eyes multiple times a week, if not every day. With this many people living in a household, it forms a “obligation at a glance” for anything that might affect others in the household.
What? Oh, let us say medical appointments, travel, baseball games, or invitations.
And now we come to 2020. The medical appointments have slacken off to the point where just using our phone calendars work for George and I. There aren’t any baseball games or soccer matches. Travel? What is that? A trip down the hill for take-a-away? Invitations are a thing of the past, conferences are on-line.
All of which explains why this lovely, cheerful calendar is claiming that we are in August. Certainly there is nothing of import noted on the calendar. I took it down. I haven’t purchased a new one for this coming year. By the time I might need one, they all should be on sale…..
and unable to go anywhere.
garage on Spruce St
In keeping with long standing tradition – the monkey frieze is decorated for the holiday. Otherwise, there isn’t much house decoration, lights, or action along the route from our house to the Package Sending station that is across the street from my local Peet’s. I had two packages to toss in the mail and had no interest in standing inside the official post office in line with rude people for however long it took. Instead, I could grab a coffee and wait outside in pleasant, cooperative, and socially respectful company. When my turn came, it was all of three minutes to handover, verify, and pay for the packages.
Which just left me the trudge back up the hill….
Not much happened and little to report.
I stitched, George got some work accomplished. We took out the trash. One of those kind of weekends. Then there were the Tampa Bay Rays who slid past the Yankees. That was a positive. The Minnesota Vikings who, as a result of really stupid coaching, lost their game on Sunday.
There was minimal organizing and cleaning other wise –
I have a lot of Zoom on the schedule for this coming week, along with a run to the Apple store since I need to replace my phone. I have had it for a number of years (replacement for the one that went down the waterfall in Iceland – or perhaps the one that was stolen in Nepal). In any case, the battery lasts 3-4 hours which is enough to drive any reasonable person totally and completely nuts. George has conference calls most of the week as well.
Bleh – it feels like ground hog’s day…. *the movie.
Stitching –
It was a lovely day – completely free of TV ads. The great thing about watching baseball was seeing the action – the downside was having to watch the same ad over and over and over again. For whatever reason, I seem to be able to tune them out when listening to the radio more easily than when watching.
Baseball games? The ads are fast food, cars, insurance, with occasional detours into mortgage companies. We will NOT talk about Ronan.
Unless. of course, the game involves the Yankees. The total focus of the advertising change. Instead of pickup trucks, it is convertibles and high end SUVs (why do you even need a car in NYC?) Obviously, there will be investment brokers and high end vacations. (Note, the fanciest the As get are Toyotas, Ford pick-ups, and the local casino “resort”).
Ah, well – it was time to watch the Oakland Roots – and hear from the community instead.
and on the stitching front –
This is a discussion that will not interest many. Inside the world of crafts (not Minecraft, or Witchcraft or whomever craft) meaning stitchers, knitters, crocheters, sewers and the like about whether someone is a process person or a product person.
This battle often rages fiercely with each side putting forth arguments and claims about the validity of their stance.
All of which is pretty silly when you really think of it. Other than when dealing with digital – very little in life is binary. Certainly, most crafting is not binary. It is more than “I do this or I don’t do this,” Why? Because there are stages of doing. One can collect the materials needed and just have a stash (the fancy name for a hoard). Or, supplies can be put together ready to be made into something or another. In cross-stitch it is often referred to as kitting up a project.
From there you can move on to starting things. One thing, several things, a dozen things. If you are a serial starter – obviously your pleasure comes from starting something new and when that particular project gets to be difficult/repetitive/boring you just move on to something else.
Then there is the discussion which centers around those who have dozens of projects and those who are monogamous and finish each project before stating the next.
I because seriously tired of listening to the arguments. I am a progress person. It isn’t quite loving the process for me, it is seeing that I am accomplishing something. The product? Meh, it may sit without final finishing for months. What I have also noticed is that having too many things underway starts to make me nuts. It means that no progress is made, or the progress is so glacially slow that it hardly counts. I actually like having things organized, but I hate keeping notes.
End result?
These two projects are excellent –
The first being Stitchonomy’s Halloween 2020 and the second pattern is from Tiny Modernist – Halloween Calendar. I am happily stitching a square on each every day. Nice, bite size piece, each complete in its own and not overwhelming.
However – there is also
Baba Yaga
Pattern by WitchyStitcher that I am attempting to put in at least two thread lengths a day. The great thing about this one is that, altho there might be seven or so colors, it is really almost all black which provides large solid areas to stitch.
and the fourth and final project for today was Halloween Sampler (also by Tiny Modernist) –
starting on the second row
yes – progress is being made