Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
It has rained for eleven days in a row. One of the nurses said it was like Europe without the good wine and cheese. I said it was like Portland without legal weed and assisted suicide.
Later today: happy hour, dinner, and a movie with “the girls”.
No, this is not for Cinco de Mayo. The Mariachi Rubber Ducks are always on display in the 6th floor of our building every day. I don’t know why. We don’t have rubber ducks on our floor. And what’s more – if you want your very own Mariachi Duckies – you can buy a flock of them from Amazon.Com – I wonder what other rubber ducks are available? Maybe, The Donald Rubber Ducks.
Who would have guessed that The Donald would be the Republican candidate for President? Was it only last June when we were all doing a happy dance because The Donald tossed this hair in the ring. We looked forward to a little summer of good theater until the serious candidates took center stage.
As bad as The Donald is. Ted Cruz is worse. He is a zealot. And zealots should be avoided. I remember being scared when Barry Goldwater said “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
Cold and rainy here today. I bussed half way home – and Ubered the rest of the way. Went to the pool for a nice swim. I am not very fond of swimming laps. BORING. Very BORING. I topped it off with a visit to the steamroom. Steam Rooms always seem a little sinister. They don’t seem to be 100% sanitary. And, there is always the question – will the door open? And, who is lurking over in the corner that you can not see… Too many B-Movies in my formative years, I guess. Saunas aren’t as spooky.
Long Long day at the office. I was out the door at 0600 and didn’t make it make until 1600. And, I missed breakfast and lunch. That made a long day for this Old Bat. And, I was really happy to be back “home” at the OBC.
The OBC is slowly becoming home. And, I am slowly hacking out an identity other as something other than Carlton’s Wife/Long Time Companion. I am happy to be included in a circle of “widow/single women” who are about my age and who have moved into the Asylum within the last couple of years. If nothing else, we all survived the downsizing and the move.
Did I mention it was a long day. And that I am looking forward to “Free Wine Night”. I might even get some dinner to go with the Free Wine.
This picture reminded me of a trip that Carlton and I made to Hapuna Beach. Mr C wanted to go body surfing. When we arrived at the beach, Carlton discovered that his swim trunks were back at the hotel. Being an ever loving wife – I gave up my shorts and spent the entire time sitting on the beach wrapped up in a towel. (I hadn’t planned on swimming – so I didn’t have a suit.) I wonder if I blogged about this? Yes, I did. Check it out.
I don’t think this photo will make it to Shamu the Phone. But, it was fun to remember.
This one from the vault is fun – It was taken in the “rotunda” of the very asylum where I am now ensconced. Carlton was a volunteer. I had to come along to a party and sing harmony. This one will make it to the phone.
I decided that I needed a picture frame. And, if it had an OK mat – all’s the better. So, I went off to the Goodwill in search of one this afternoon. Found one $2.99 that seemed to fill the bill. I notice that the program was signed. Figured it was someone in the company…
But, no – when I got it home and put on my glasses
It is signed by Hillary Rodham Clinton. And – a pretty hasty but nevertheless real – I think –
Bill Clinton signature. A quick internet search confirms that Bill and Hillary were in Vail Colorado on Aug 14, 1993 and they did attend a benefit by the Bolshoi with the Jerry and Betty Ford.
I think maybe I’ll not use this frame after all. Maybe I’ll hang it in my closet where it will not suffer any more light damage to the signatures. I suspect that something signed by both – especially assuming that Hillary wins in November – might be worth more than $2.99. And, in the frame – with the ticket – that sort of nails the provenance. It wasn’t signed by a machine.
Sort of cool, don’t you think?
And that is as close to a horse as Carlton ever got! I am still taking a little trip back in time selecting Carlton pictures for Shamu the Phone. I am reminded of how much Carlton loved our time in the Parks. And how much he loved Hawai’i. That about settles it – his ashes need to go back “home” to Hawai’i – like he wanted. I think he would really like to make a “Victory Lap” and get left off in Hot Springs, Harpers Ferry, Theodore Roosevelt, Yosemite, and Skagway with whatever was left ending up in Hawai’i… We might leave out Petersburg, Lowell and Volcano. But, I don’t see that happening. Like my friend from Iowa did with her hubby – I’ll just put him in a flat rate box and ship him to Kona.
Hey, remember last week I said I couldn’t get the back back on my Timex after changing the battery? Well, today, I was folding some paper down in the asylum art studio – they have good lighting – where a found a vice. Put my watch in the vice and squeezed real hard and the back snapped back on. Don’t think this Timex gets another battery change – even if I can get the back off again.
I had a fine rainy day, doing laundry, folding paper, walking the halls, looking at old pictures. And reading Auntie Mame. Which I found when I was putting my Kindle back to rights.
It is back to work tomorrow for another busy week.
Thinking about the Republican Convention. It is going to make “our” 1968 Convention look like a Sunday School Picnic. I don’t have a good feeling about this. And, John McCain – I blame you for this. If you hadn’t unleashed She Who Must Not Be Mentioned on us – this might not be happening. But, you there is no unringing the bell.
Damn, I still love that man. He was serious high maintenance – but worth it. That picture is from 2009. I occurred to me that I have over 1,000 pictures of Carlton in Lightroom but none in Shamu the Phone. So, I am picking out a few to put in my phone.
Oh, what was unpleasant. First the weather today. But, that isn’t the issue. The issue is… My Kindle. My Kindle was on the bed. Where it is almost all of the time. I must have put something on top of the Kindle and accidently hit the on/off button. The button was kept pushed in too long and the Kindle did a factory reset. It was all setup and the books organized just like I wanted them. And, it wasn’t backed up to “the cloud”. The books are still safe “in the cloud”. But, the organization is lost. Sort of like all your dead tree books fell off the shelves…
I took a meeting this afternoon. A wine committee meeting. That is enough wine to end me under the table. So, I was moderate and restained. I did not laugh when they talked about the “coconut vanilla undertones” and a “hint of green pepper”. Not to mention “pencil lead”. Not sure if “pencil lead” is a good taste or not. I am a total wine philistine. But, the cheese was good. After the meeting – I went to the bar and had a Guinness. To cleanse the palate.
BTW – if you decide to move to an old folks asylum – I recommend a not for profit one run by the Episcopalians. Maybe they will let us have individual “medical” marijuana plots. At dinner tonight, I heard that a couple of years ago the asylum had a party on the grounds and one of the neighboring buildings called the police because the party was too rowdy. Apparently the police showed up. And the fearless leader of the asylum thought it was a fabulous that the police came to break up this out-of-bounds old folks party.
Note to Carlton: Looks like the bison, Tatanka, is going to be our “national mammal”. There are a half million of them now.
Worked from 0630 to 1500. That is a bunch of work for a “senior”.
There was a party at 1630 at the asylum. It was cold and rainy. I was going to hail Uber. But surge pricing was on at 2.4X. Decided to Bus It. Got home fine.
Spent an hour at the party. Drank wine. Ate cheese. Came back to the OBC and crashed.
Note to self: I can not change a Timex snap back watch battery. I have changed dozens of watch batteries. But, I guess I never tried to change a Timex snap back battery. At least not since I moved out of my house over 10 years ago. At that time, I had a nice vice in the garage. Snapped the back off – no problem. Replaced the battery. And then – it was time to “snap” the back back on. I tried using my handy opposable thumbs. Tried a trusty hammer. A pair of pliers. Put a lid on back and stood on it. If a first you don’t succeed: try, try, and try again. Then stop. Don’t make an ass of yourself. It is just a Timex. I bought a bunch of them on WOOT some years ago.
And that is what I did but – did not accomplish – this afternoon.
Politics continues. Ted Cruz seems to think that a novice female Veep candidate will enhance his chances. That didn’t work too good for John McCain. IMHO Teddy just gave up a big bargaining chip if comes to a contested convention. It also sends a strange message. And why would Carly want the position? She used to be the CEO of HP. I had an HP laptop that melted it’s motherboard during her tenure. I hold that (among other things) against her.
Note to self: When it comes to ice coffee – “Tall” doesn’t work. Back in the old apartment – Starbucks was in the lobby. Starbucks is .5 mile round trip from the OBC.
Work was not really fun today. I didn’t get home until 1530. And, I missed yoga. But, one good thing – we had a fine little office brunch. I got leftovers and will definitely be dining in the OBC tonight.
The asylum is having a scholarly lecture about the situation in the Middle East this evening. Don’t know if I am up for a scholarly lecture about something that I can not be anything about. Think I’d rather curl up with a nice trashy novel. In many ways, the Asylum is too classy for me.
Note to Carlton: I got a great big hug from Leila today. She is as old as you would be and still works at VHC. I am honored to have her as a friend.
Found a couple of insects on today’s wanderings around the grounds. This one is kinda cute.
Just an ordinary day. There are worse things than ordinary.
Maybe I should fold something.
After breakfast, after a folding session, after the rain stopped – I headed out for far distant Sandy Spring, Maryland. It is about 45 miles away as the car drives.
The 4.3 mile walk is out into the country. There are “Beware of Deer” signs, horses, big fat chickens, all manner of rural stuffs. About an hour into the walk, I am hoping like hell that Google knows what it is talking about. There aren’t even cars anymore. I might as well be in Minot North Dakota. Then – a white Lexus SUV slows down and the driver asks “Do you know where Celebration Lane is?” – you bet I know. Well, at least Google knows. SO – figure they are going to the same place I am going – They have a car. I have the knowledge. A deal is made and I ride the rest of the way. Thank you Google.
It was a grand adventure. And, the occupants of the Lexus and I got a story to tell.
And, it was a nice 85th birthday surprise for a dear friend.
I mostly took it easy today. (Found these white bleeding hearts blooming in the Asylum garden.)
