Category: The DayBook

Here it is Tuesday, and no new images. So, how about one from last January in Kona?

Thanks Steve. Now we know that the Electric Fork was indeed a joke, but from the 70’s not the 60’s.

Today, I worked at work. And I worked from home this afternoon. And, I swam laps for 30 minutes. That’s about it.

And this evening – I am so proud of my fellow inmates here at the Asylum. I made it to dinner a little before 7PM. One hour before closing. Well, they were out of beef tenderloin, out of grilled sea bass, out of white wine, out of red wine. Do my housemates know how to eat or what? They were not out of catfish. Nor were they out of pink wine. I settled for souvlaki, fries and beer.

I am pretty sure that the majority of the people who live here are much classier than I am. I know they are more intellectual. They sure know more about wine. But, I got street cred.

Started out the day in the OBC – working from home. Did some “advertising layouts” for our upcoming annual flu shot fest at the hospital. Then, in the afternoon, I did something that you would think I would know not to do – I helped a friend move. (Back in the day that was one of the major don’ts. Right up there with “ordering the seafood combo”, “playing cards with a man named Doc”, etc. etc.)

 

I think that this little dog deserves to win the Mark Twain award, as in: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

I am not a fan of yeppy little dogs. But, hey, someone buy this guy a small steak.

I was a card carrying member of the Longshoremen’s Union in the late 1960s and early 70s. ILWU Local 142. We didn’t cross picket lines. We “Looked for the Union Label”. And we never ate California table grapes. Wine grapes were OK. But, we mostly drank really crappy local beer, Primo, or San Miguel not wine.

The kapuna did the heavy lifting – the 177 day strike etc. Mahalo Brothers and Sisters. “An injury to one is an injury to all.”

Had the windows open all day. Wore long pants to breakfast. Walked around outside. Now, over 90° weather returns next week. But, today was a treat.

Yesterday, I reviewed my taxes. For the first time in 50+ years I had a CPA do my taxes. I always did my own taxes. In recent years, I have had more than a little help from TurboTax. Carlton always checked the taxes. Figured that some year in the not too distant future – my taxes will be more than I can handle. So, I decided to line up a “guy” to do my taxes and learn to trust the process – before I have to.

So, how did he do? His federal taxes due number was within $22 of mine. His Virginia number saved me $252. There is a part of VA taxes that was just too hard for me to figure out and I always knew I was paying more – so I figured VA wouldn’t care. Well, Dave filled in that blank. “Saving” me $252. (I am sure his bill will be way more than $252).

Note to Carlton: I am pretty sure you don’t approve of me spending money on a tax guy, when I can still do it myself. But, Nobody is promised tomorrow… or that their brain will work tomorrow.

Walked around neighborhood this morning. I decided that it really isn’t so bad. Our Starbucks is like a trip to Kabul in the 1960s. Well, except the men are not allowed to smoke. But, it is a lot like The Raven Saloon in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

And then across the street – The Babylon Futbol Cafe.

This really isn’t a Donald Trump kind of place! Which is a good thing. You can get a damn good bowl of pho and the signs in the Target are in Spanish.

Don’t know what to make of the “electric fork”.  I suspect it is a 60’s era joke. But, it is in with the housewares. The box says it is the “perfect companion for your electric knife”.

No, I wouldn’t spend a buck for it and I didn’t try plugging it in. All I did was take a picture

Weatherwise, it was cloudy, cool and windy today. The long range impact of an offshore hurricane. And for me, it is 9pm and for no apparent reason, I am really sleepy. I may stay awake long enough to move across the room to my bed.

Night Night…

 

Cool enough to keep the windows open. And wear long sleeved t-shirt for dinner on the patio. Speaking of dinner on the patio – grilled sea bass

Three day weekend starting. I don’t have any plans. And, that is OK. Because, Carlton and I never had any holiday weekend plans.

The Trump Sandwich: 2 slices of white bread, a lot of baloney, a schmear of Russian dressing and a very small pickle.

(I am still loving the new Bose bluetooth earmuffs. Battery seems to last about 20 hours.)

In two months, it will be November and I will be safely back home in Kona. Time to start thinking about what camera gear to take.

In two months the election will almost be over. Except I don’t think this mess will be over for a long time. Not within my lifetime. Even if I live a really long time. May you live in interesting times.

Note to Carlton: You wouldn’t believe how the country has gone to hell since you did your celestial change of address. You are not missing anything. You got outta Dodge just in time.

According to Facebook, the granddaughter made it to Africa. She did one of those “checked in” things. The one where the map shows up. Well on her map there is nothing except the little red “here I am people” thing. Don’t think that would be my kind of place.

Speaking of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg recently said: “There is an elegance to writing code that I miss. The code always does what you want — and people don’t.” That is so true. My starter husband would say that I spent all day talking to computers that did exactly what I told them to do and then came home and expected him to respond in the same manner.

Went back to work as planned today. Don’t think I had my A-Game. But, they get what they pay for.

Wish I had my camera time. Saw a Coors Light delivery truck today. (I was on the bus) The truck was painted up all nice and patriotic. It had jet fighters and a tank or two. And said “Coors Light Supports Our Troops”. Well, IMHO, Coors Light is about the world’s sorriest excuse for beer. If they want to “Support Our Troops” – couldn’t they find a better beer?

For no apparent reason – The Republican Candidate went to Mexico today. I hoped they would keep him. But, they sent him back to torment us some more.

And, why I am not a person on faith. Michele Bachmann – Donald Trump’s Evangelical Advisor – says that God “raised up” Donald Trump to be The Republican Candidate. Come on now, does anybody really think that there is some sort of divine being behind our current political circular firing squad? If there is a divine being behind this – they dropped the ball.

May you live in interesting times.

Decided I over processed the rose. Try this one

Ok, this is my last day of “mini vacation”. Back to the office tomorrow. Gee, I didn’t even check my work email or login to see if the system was working. Guess I am not a very devoted worker bee.

Had a nice, for me at least, visit with the young people. I hope they come back sometime. Sometime before I start drooling in my beer. As Pres. Clinton put it so nicely, …more yesterdays than tomorrows…

And, a most impressive bee is he. At least I hope it is a he. Because males don’t bite.

Just got a message – the grandkid and her “in a relationship with” person are heading this way from the ZOO. Hope this works out OK, because goodness knows I have wrecked more than my share of family relationships. I’ll do my very bestest. Which will either be good enough or it will not.

Went to the senior exercise class. It was OK. I wouldn’t pay for it – but it is bundled into my monthly fee. Speaking of monthly fees. Going up 3.25% next year. That isn’t outrageous. And they promised to improve the internet.

Time to go down and set in the lobby and wait for my guests. That is what us old people do.

Still shooting with the wonderful old Leica glass. I really didn’t go out to take pictures. I was just carrying my camera around. With the Leica glass – that passes for weight training at my age.

And, what’s this with No Work Til Wednesday. Well, I just noticed that the Asylum’s annual budget meeting is tomorrow morning. Now, Carlton would come back from the dead – just bust right out of that little black box he is in – if I miss that meeting. We both agreed that the most important things that are said at such presentations are the things that are not said. And, you can not figure out what wasn’t said from transcripts, notes, or copies of Powerpoint Presentations. So, I must go to the meeting to hear what they don’t say. And, I can not go to the office late – because the granddaughter and her “in a relationship with” are coming to visit. And stay here in the Asylum, until Tuesday.

So, I could actually go to one of the Asylum exercise classes before the meeting tomorrow. We’ll see about that.

A couple of weeks ago, the breakfast cook couldn’t figure out how to make french toast. Today the same cook seemed to be completely baffled by pancakes. He must have left something out. The pancakes looked OK, but when people tried to eat them they sort of disintegrated into sawdust like crumbs. I ordered poached eggs and got hard boiled eggs. I like hard boiled eggs ok – so I just ate them and watched the theater as order after order went back to the kitchen for a do over. (It wasn’t just pancakes that were going back.) Running a short order breakfast grill is an art – but it ain’t rocket science. Tomorrow, I’ll check and so who is behind the grill. If it is the same guy as today – I’ll get oatmeal!

 

 

Sort of a do nothing day. I need one (or two) of them from time to time.

Major accomplishment – I force marched myself far enough to knock out 10,000 steps on the fitbit. Since it has been so hot – I have slacked off on my insane quest for 10,000 steps a day. That might have something to do with the incredible shrinking jeans problem?

The jeans problem notwithstanding it is time for my annual wardrobe assessment. I looked at my clothes. Are these little dresses too short? Most likely. Am I going to give them up. Most likely NOT. And what about my no-color scheme. Most everything is black, khaki, or denim. Any chance that is going to change? Nope.

If I tried harder, I could dress like my cohorts here at the Asylum. I know where they shop. I am sure I would look better. But, I wouldn’t look like me. Of course, I don’t look like me anymore anyhow.

So, no radical changes to the wardrobe this winter. Assuming the diet is a success

Cross words at the Asylum this evening. An old man rolled his walker into the elevator to block the door so as to hold the elevator. The lady he was holding the elevator for also had a walker. She couldn’t get on the elevator because the guy was holding the elevator with this walker. Heated words are exchanged. I called for another elevator.

Only 8PM, but I am getting a little sleepy. That’s OK.

I am pretty fond of the “large” milkweed bug. It doesn’t bite – unless you happen to be a milkweed plant. It is slow and easy to sneak up on. And, when it shows up in great number – it means that the dog days of summer are coming to an end. And, it is orange and black – reminding us that Halloween (and my annual migration to Hawai’i) is coming soon.

I have a really mind numbingly boring job at work. Scanning all 3,200+ of our employee files. I would love to have the job done before I head out to Hawai’i. I can scan about 50 files and then my brain turns to complete mush. I can do about 10 files per hour. Some are as few as 6 or 7 pages. Others are 200+ pages. So, I might go in and knock out another 50 this weekend. Depends on the weather. And, what else I decide to do.

I listen to music while I do this boring job. I alternate between The Dead and Slack Key. With the occasional detour to Bob Marley. But The Dead is the best for this mind sucking job.

What was I doing on August 26, 2001 – well – go back and see And remember bandwidth, browsers, everything was different then. I coded the pages in HTML – no WordPress then. BTW, Carlton and I were in Skagway, Alaska.