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Driving around in circles

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This was a day spent on wheels in either our car or Shana’s Fiat. I promised Dani I would give her a ride to work, I had to go into San Francisco which was car to BART and back; I needed to pick her up from work. Then there was getting Alex to and from work, picking George up at BART on his return from NYC and getting Shana’s car back to her house along with Noah and his stuff. George did a couple of runs before picking me up to take me back to Berkeley. Something about needing to get home and packing for tomorrow’s departure.

I managed to read a bit and finished my current audiobook – Simon Winchester’s Precision. For anyone interesting in science, engineering and/or the industrial revolution it is a great read. He does his own narration being one of the few authors who can pull that off. I think it might be one of those books which may well be more interesting in audio than written page since it has aspects of technical but it is really about the story. Winchester is an excellent raconteur.

All of this lead to my mind going in circles when I should have been sleeping

New BART Cars

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In general, BART needs a face lift. Badly. The current set of cars are old, clunky, difficult to keep clean and lacking in what has come to be routine in major cities as to signage and accessibility.

As it happens, there are new trains on the way. Not at all like the test cars which have been in the system for a couple of years; these new cars are sleek. The seats can’t be taken apart by any enterprising subway sleeper. They have significantly less seating but markedly better standing space. The handicap locations are clearly marked as are the bicycle areas. What is even more important is that there is electric signage. At the end of the car, the sign clearly states the current station. The electric boards in the cars have both station information and map with the current location clearly noted.

Gee! Just like a real subway that you would find in any International city!

new interior

The seats are suspended so that cleaning should be easy. There are no cushions to be pulled off or stolen. There is signage. Plus, none of the seats would be comfortable for sleepers.

I wonder how soon the homeless advocates are going to complain that these cars discriminate…..

Discussing the new cars was by far better that talking about today’s baseball game. Let me just leave it with – didn’t suck as badly as yesterday….

High Winds and grey skies

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We docked in Cobh promptly on time this morning after another night of rolling seas and various assorted complaints from passengers. I ignore them, but wonder what they would do if the seas became really rough. I figure as long as you can manage to walk down a corridor; in the evening not get tossed out of your bed – it just isn’t that bad.

Say that three times to the chandelier  that came down in Chops the other night. No one was sitting below it which was all to the good. There has been a toll on dishes and glassware in various locations.

Oh, yes. Docked. There wasn’t any rain for the morning and people headed off the ship in droves. On tours, on the train, on the bus, on foot. There were more than a few who got partway out, were blown sideways by the wind gusting up to an easy 50 knots and made their way back to the ship.   I have been here before, both walking around the local town and heading into Kinsdale, and into Cork. Those tours were lovely, but my idea today was a bit of exercise and no particular strain at all. 

The coffee machine is still working plus I have a kettle in the room. Could not ask for much more.

Meanwhile, they are working on a new driveway at home

Detour to the Driveway

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For the moment, imagine you are not with me on the Brilliance – rather you are back in Berkeley looking at what was – for about a year – a gravely, muddy mess filled with pickup trucks and construction debris. The fact that everything was picked up (without me getting yet another flat tire), ground prepped and base laid down is even more astonishing.

Admittedly, photos taken on a cell phone and passed over to be aren’t always outstanding, but this one does the job. You can see my new fence along the back line. No more worrying about someone backing up a few cm too far and getting dropped backwards down a hill. No worries about potholes in cement that was poured sometime before 1960. What I have are mostly grey pavers (manmade stone) with an occasional hint of some other color). Phots not taken at twilight don’t show the color variation as much.

But it is a definite improvement and the end is in sight!

Meanwhile, this is a sea day. Cross-stitch and audiobooks are the order of the day.

They might be moving

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downstairs yet this month.

a few things moved into the living room

 

The kids are working diligently on sorting out their stuff and figuring out what needs to be stored (seasonal), what needs to get relocated downstairs and what just might go the way of the recycling.

and a few more into the bedroom

 

Their furniture is mostly in, there is stuff on the wall.

Is it evil of me to say that I am looking forward to them, and most especially the dogs, having their own space?

Two for one

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Sunshine + an As win. Ssveral home runs and a pitching staff that msnaged to keep its act together.

The Cub’s fans were stalwart and, with one exception, really nice people. Several were on break from Illinois bad weather while others were able to combine being snowbirds with supporting their team. I can’t say the peobkem person was anything other tgan oblivious. Otherwise why would you think it was alright to stand at the lawn railing directly in front of fans sitting on blankets?

Also in the mix were a couple of Diamondback fans, a guy with an LA Dodgers cap and an avowed Padres fanatic.

Otherwise, it is relax and finish the latest small cross stitch time.

Meanwhile- back in Berkeley

Inspection tomorrow

New Window

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As it turns out, there was dry rot in the framing around our main living room window resulting in a serious additional expensive as this sucker had to be custom made…

But it looks nice

now and will be better once the wood is stained to match the beams….

and the stairs leading to the lower level….

DWS

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and then there is DWA.

When I was young and first had my driver’s license there weren’t many older women driving. This was the 60s and male prerogative was alive and well. Men drove (and managed to get lost because they didn’t navigate) while women sat in the passenger seat, dealt with extraneous issues like offspring, pets and meal service while on the more long distance hauls that were common family vacations in the 1950s and 60s. In fact, when I think about my grandmothers, I am really not certain if either of them had a driver’s license. Certainly, born around the turn of the century both, neither would have been too old to drive. Not if you looked at what the men were doing.

I can remembering driving in certain areas while in Med School and shuddering each and every time I saw the top of a grey head with eyes peering out the windshield through the steering wheel. It didn’t matter the sex of the driver (mostly women) or the ethnic group. In fact, in the eyes of a young person everyone over a certain age seemed to be small, grey, wrinkled and, while worthy of respect, should not be behind the wheel of a car. Ever.

So – Driving While Aged. Also known in German as “Sontags Fahrer” which translates directly to “Sunday Driver.”

If only they would restrict themselves to Sundays. I could deal with that. I would simply avoid driving anywhere on the weekend. I certainly don’t see them on the road at 0500 in the morning when dropping Dani off at work. The deer, as I mentioned yesterday seem more than willing to fill that particular role.

Today I added DWS – which is either Driving While Stupid or Driving While Sleeping. The first includes putting on make-up, fighting, brushing hair, shaving and messing around with a cell phone in any manner (texting, taking fotos, talking on said cell phone). Kind of like “Slug Bug” which we played when young (be the first one to see a VW Beetle and you got a free hit on a sibling), I decided to start counting the idiots on the way back from Martinez this afternoon.

By the time I hit I-80 South from the Cal 4 entry I was out of both fingers and toes. It simply is not safe to be out on the road where there are idiots, large trucks, debris scattered in the road and rubberneckers looking for their own accident. Somehow I was sorry I turned down George’s offer to drive me. No, it would not be independence, but I could knit, read, cross-stitch or play computer games all of which are much more comforting that following a car with no visible driver.

Finally sliding past and seeing a wizened face peering through the gap in the steering wheel, grey hair in no particular style, gender indeterminate, ethnicity the same. But crawling down the road at under 50 km in the second lane from the left (Continental and North American Rules) it seemed to me that DWS = Driving While Senile. Call me evil, but I reported the license plate number to DMV. I don’t want this older person (older than me which is now referred to as longevity challenged….) to kill themselves or take anyone else with them. Hopefully, if I get to that point, someone will do me the same favor.

Dark of the Moon

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It is that time, a scant few hours before down that is absent most life. The vampires are headed quietly to bed. The werewolves are tucked snuggly in their human forms with the full moon a distant future. This only leaves the idiot deer out for a stroll down from the hills. They wander down through Codornices Park and out into our neighborhood at Eunice and Euclid. Not completely stupid, they are trading the hills, picked over vegetation and mountain lions for groomed lawns and gardens.

“Deer in the headlights” is not just an expression. When hit suddenly with light in the pre-dawn hours they freeze followed by a mad dash in a random direction. That direction can and does include straight into whatever car startled them in the first place. Not being a fan of deer as hood ornaments or grill decorations my instinct was to slam on the brakes while hitting the horn. Normally I am not a fan of disturbing my neighbors before 0515 in the morning. But cleaning deer guts off the car is not exactly something I had scheduled into my plans for the day.

Luck was with me. The lead deer veered off at the last minute with the rest of the thundering pests right on his tail. I was left with an excess of adrenalin. Making it the last few blocks up the hill to the house, I parked and climbed out on trembling legs.

I have finally found a positive thing about living on a hill. By the time I had climbed the hill followed by the stairs to the house my shakes had completely worn off. Going back to bed looked really good about then.

Bathroom Progress

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The tiling in the new bathroom is almost complete –

with the glass to go in last

The floor is done, the cabinet is in. We have the fixtures. All that will remain after the next day or so is the glass for the one section. As this is close to an accessible shower, the floor is slanted toward the back wall. There isn’t a door, making entrance and egress easier.

Neither Dani or I are thrilled with the colors, but they are neutral and inoffensive.

Entry way

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While I was in Sweden, George sent me this picture:

corner bench unit

So, as you imagine, I came home expecting to see it …

and it wasn’t there.

Now to figure out how much longer it is going to be….

Pizza Moda

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Construction is proceeding on the house. This week’s inspection which included the plumbing in the shower and the chicken wire base on the outside house passed without issue. Chicken wire you ask? Yes, one of the layers in the house skin is chicken wire. It helps hold the stucco in place till it sets. Lathe, plus chicken wire plus stucco. Meanwhile there is plastic covering all the flashings and window/door openings…

Doesn’t make for much of an exciting day, just bash, crash and various electrical machines roaring along the whole day.

It was enough that George and I were more than happy to meet friends at Pizza Moda which turns out to be a lovely Italian type place on University Ave in Berkeley. Early it is families with small children. Later it is adults.

Now let me define early = 1730. Later = 2000. What it really comes down to is that the doors close at 2130. Heading home at 2145, we closed the place down. Berkeley obviously goes for early dining. Not terribly Italian is it? Not just having experienced late dining being defined as starting around 2100 just in December.

It made me interested enough to take a look at restaurant opening and closing times. Sure enough – most open around 1730 give or take 30 minutes and seem to be lights out no later than 2230. Then I thought about NYC. Definitely a later operating schedule. San Francisco runs later hours.

Gee – you would think I was living in the MidWest!

Arriving Stockholm

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This is one of those trips where the hours add up to days en route. It was early afternoon on arrival in Copenhagen followed by a rest (SAS has a wonderful lounge at the Copenhagen Airport) before my connecting flight to Stockholm. From there it was the Airport connector bus to the Central Station followed by a taxi to the hotel. My driver was from Turkey. He has family in Germany. We had a lovely chat on the short drive to the hotel.

Taxis are expensive, won’t be doing that again. Excuse is that I was really, really tired and I just didn’t want to deal with finding the “T” and then walking a ways to the hotel.

It is time to sleep.

Before I forget – It feels like progress on the house –

bench in the entry way upstairs

will be shelves next to the utility room down

Open Window

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Through the open window I can hear the rain, leaves rustling and the distant sound of an train traveling down the coast. The air is cool. It is January and I am more than comfortable with my duvet and sheepskin. But then I am not on the East Coast dealing with sub-zero weather, high wind chill and general beastliness.

We have fog and rain. The workers put up plastic sheeting to protect the downstairs entryway so that they can continue to work. The tile has been laid in the first room and the sunroom flooring has been started.  Meanwhile, I am reading….

Minor Tremors

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or maybe a bit more. But a 4.6 earthquake rolled through here at 0239 in the morning.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one awake as Noah told me this morning. Since he is on the top floor, he didn’t hear it coming where as I heard a rumble approaching before the rolling and rattling hit. The Epi Center has been identified as deep under the Claremont Hotel (less than 5 km from our house).

Borrowed from the News

 

The responsible entity is the Hayward fault with all the usual discussions about us being 10 years overdue for another big one.

A big one that I think will not drop my house into the Pacific (yes, I am immediately west of the fault and I do mean very very close) but rather there will once more be a lovely inland sea from the Rockies to the Appalachian Range.  Just think – new ports for cruise ships…..

and speaking of local insanity – here is a post about a dozen garage doors of Berkeley of which I really appreciate the one with the deer since I see somewhere between 2-7 of the stupid creatures every morning just looking to be hood ornaments.

there was that

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Reindeer hide that I didn’t buy the last time I was in Copenhagen. There they were in the airport at a lower price than I saw anywhere in either Greenland or Iceland complete with packing container and import certificates.

But I didn’t buy one.

In fact I forgot all about it till I was wandering through Costco several months later. No, they didn’t have reindeer hides. But they did have quad sheepskins (origin Australia/New Zealand where we know there are more sheep than people). I looked at them, felt them. The price was seriously lower than I had paid for a single one more than a decade ago at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

And I bought one for me.

(and if I can get a file to upload – I will even show you my warm and fuzzy comfort)

 

Tiling in the New Year

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The break is over. Today we have workman on the foundation downstairs.

getting ready to pour again

Yes the foundation is complete, but they are adding the steps/skirting at the entrances. We looked at ramps, and they can still be added in the future but at this point would take up so much ground space as to eliminate all the green outside the kids front door.

with dump truck out on the main road

At the same time, the large pile of slippery clay is being removed and tile is being laid in the downstairs. I think I mentioned that we put in radiant heat? The subfloor is finished and the gentlemen who did the tiling upstairs in the 2014 renovations are doing the downstairs. Their tile work is amazing.

Back to the floor. We are being simple, attractive and extremely easy to clean. The tiles when laid give you the appearance of a wooded plank floor without the upkeep or scratching that is going to occur with two rather good size dogs living in the place. Not quite drain in the floor – hose it down, but easy to sweep, mop or vacuum.

looking like aged wooden planks

 

meanwhile, today has been busy – Dani to work at 0500 and bailed out at 1230 – Alex dropped off at 1300, run to the lighting store for a fixture for the front entry and cabinet hardware. Dani had asked a reasonable question this morning – how am I going to get the drawers open. Answer? We need to by handles. Only took two stops – those at the first were lovely but extremely overpriced so we went to the main hardware store used by our contractor, found something just as nice and 1/2 the price (before builder’s discount.)

otherwise, I am cranking away on my version of Illumine knit from two alternating balls of Katia Infinity

up to row 78

Packing

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It was the usual day before fleeing town. There is the suitcase, there is the backpack. And then there are all the errands which have to be run.

I actually had packed everything last night. This morning after going upstairs to the studio and finding things that should have been in the suitcase I had to unpack and repack. It is always a challenge to figure out what I might want to wear vs what I will actually wear knowing that I am ignoring all dress up evenings and fancy stuff.

Remember – I wore a uniform for years. I am perfectly happy wearing the same thing every day. Being a civilian doesn’t mean that I can’t essentially create an equivalent of a uniform with a slight bit of style and color variation. So that means leggings plus tops.  And socks (Stance and other bright things) and sandals. Slightly heavier weight if it happens to be cold and lighter when it isn’t. Since ships always have A/C running I can plan on cool (for me) which translates to long sleeves and covered legs.

My flight is insanely early in the morning. Now perhaps 0700 doesn’t seem that bad to you, but remember I am headed out of SFO (almost an hour on BART which doesn’t start running till 0425) and the cut off time for baggage drop is 0600. I might try Lyft if any drivers are actually out and willing to go anywhere at that time.

Now, if it was George leaving – I would be offering to drive him to the airport.