Category: The DayBook

Aug 24 is today – Sep 24 is MOVING DAY. I think it is 4 weeks from this Thursday. Don’t worry, I’ll panic soon. But, I have people to take care of everything.

Speaking of panic. I am considerably poorer than I was this morning. Thank you stock market “correction”. The talking heads are telling us to stay the course and not panic. I would say – don’t try to catch a falling knife.

Report on the new computer gear:

The $26 Printer: I got an $11 coupon off my next purchase coupon. Which turns it into $15 printer. It prints. It even prints envelops. It is really ugly. But, for 15 bucks, what’s not to love.

The anti-personnel mine UE-Roll bluetooth speaker: we have only been together for 24 hours. But, so far so good. And, it is cute. Apparently, if I buy another one I can have a pretty good stereo effect. But, that is what headphones are for.

I wonder, when will I get too old to buy new techno toys?

The last year of Carlton’s life – we operated in “enjoy every sandwich mode” with a nod to Warren Zevon. We did not concern ourselves with the future, which looked pretty bleak. We did enjoy every sandwich – and almost all of every day.

I have been sort of moping around. Leaving my much loved apartment. Moving to the rather bleak future of life in the old folks asylum. Well, screw it. I am going to enjoy every single photo op out my windows during my last month at the apartment.

Note to self: You are not getting any younger. Stop wasting time mopping.

That blue thing – looks like a anti-personnel mine – will be the “sound system” in the Old Bat Cave. I was going to get something bigger and more “Bose-like”. Also more expensive. But the kid at the Apple store more of less convinced me to buy this thing. It sounds pretty good for the size. Bass is a little wimpy. No surprise there. But, when I really want to seriously listen to music, I will use the headphones. This thing is for casual listening. It is waterproof. They say it can go in the shower or in the pool. Not sure what that buys me. But, I think I will take it to Hawai’i with me.

None of my audio gear is going to the Old Bat Cave. I am all digital. And, that is good enough for my elderly ears.

Anyone want a small Denon receiver/CD player and a couple of small speakers? It is about 10 years old.

Now I have one more thing to keep charged up. Will have to come up with a killer charging station. Everything from the handvac to the toothbrush needs charging.

My goldfinch hunt was a bust – but – a katydid provided ample amusement. Damn, I love making pictures.

News flash – our local panda seems to have given birth to a little panda. She has two living cubs and has had several cubs that lived less than a month. Carlton was always really sad when one of her cubs died. Carlton didn’t approve of zoos. I don’t think he ever went to the National Zoo. He accepted the fact that pandas might well go extinct without zoos. But, he still didn’t approve of them. It didn’t help matters that the National Zoo went through a period of pretty lousy zoo practices.

On the other hand, I am rather fond of zoos. It is horse racing – which Carlton was OK with – that I object to. Especially cross country and steep chase. But, there is no excuse for any horse racing.

It is Friday. Went down to the asylum for dinner. The tuna was a little overcooked. But, there was plenty of belly lox on the salad bar. Plus yummie chocolate/raspberry/cheesecake.

This dog photo is for Melissa – click on it girl friend.

Jimmy Carter is living Carlton’s note in his little book. “Calmness is faith in action”. Carlton was referring to his faith in his radiologist. President Carter’s calmness comes from his faith in his god.

 

What would Betsy do? Betsy is my lawyer. I stalked into Carlton’s room and looked a a big pile of stuff. If I drop dead tonight, Betsy will not have to pay someone to take that pile of stuff to the dumpster. I took it to the dumpster. Sorry landfill. Sometimes I am not a perfect recycler. And, anyhow, the future archeologists need middens to excavate. That is my new mantra – What would Betsy do? Because, she is the one who is going to end up dealing with all this stuff.

I am going to seriously think about my stuff. Figure that the next month will be make or break for me and the stuff. I feel sort of happier with less stuff. So, I should get rid of more stuff. Maybe including some of the stuff that is already boxed. Maybe the boxes could just be diverted to Goodwill. The asylum has a little “what not shop”. They sell excess stuff. The proceeds go to the asylum charitable foundation. Old people have lots of stuff.

And this would be a good time to listen to George Carlin’s great take on “Stuff”

Note to Carlton: Preseason Football is underway. The ‘Skins don’t seem to be any better than in recent years. The controversy over their name continues. And the Nats started the season strong. But, they had best kick it into gear as the season really starts.

Here we have a strange photo of Carlton and his good friend Cal – from Iowa – They are on the deck of our “old” hotel. Overlooking the main drag in exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. Cal always enjoyed pointing out “widow women down on the street spending the old man’s money”… Well, boys – that is just what Sharon (Cal’s widow)  and I are doing. Deal with it.

And this interest image was next to the Carlton and Cal photo:

Which all sort of make me wonder what was on my blog way back then. Feb 19, 2005

If I really cared – I’d figure out what happened to the links to the header images. The blog has made several moves since then.

Cooking emergency tip: I cut into an avocado too soon this evening. No way near ready to eat. I do that from time to time. I made a fairly successful “rescue”. Quartered the thing. Dosed it with lemon. Put it in a covered microwave container and nuked it for 2 minutes. Not great. But eatable. Better than pitching a two buck avocado.

I am trying to convince the asylum to make my closet and bathroom doors – which are right next to each other – just like these – open into the room. The asylum thinks it will be a safety issue. Like maybe when I get really old – I’ll walk into a door. (it is really a de minimis issue. if that is all I have to complain about I am one lucky old lady.)

An altogether fine day. Wonderful cake, strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast, yoga for lunch, dinner with friends – Negra Modelo and green chili enchiladas at restaurant with Univision on the TV. Now enjoying a tall Americano from Starbucks. Fortunately, I walked to and from the restaurant – clocking 6.5 miles on the fitbit.

And, I snagged a free trashy chick lit Kindle novel for winter beach reading and for no apparent reason, Ford Motor company sent me a free audiobook of the vampire genre. As, I said a fine day. And it wasn’t as hot as yesterday. 89° vice 99° yesterday.

 

Just a normal day today. Didn’t go down to the asylum to eat. too hot. Couldn’t even go to the pool. The pool is closed on Monday. Just being grateful to the guy who invented air conditioning. In case you want to say thanks – it was Willis Carrier.

Willis Carrier: The Inventor of Modern Air Conditioning. Genius can strike anywhere. For Willis Carrier, it was a foggy Pittsburgh train platform in 1902. Carrier stared through the mist and realized that he could dry air by passing it through water to create fog.

I have packed 18 boxes. I am seriously thinking about what is in those 18 boxes. Why exactly am I taking 18 boxes of stuff I can apparently do without for 6+ weeks? I don’t have a good answer to that question.

Remember that $26 ugly printer I bought? Well, today for no apparent reason those nice Jewish boys in NYC sent me $15 coupon off of my next purchase because of my purchase of the ugly printer. Since I will always buy something else from BH Photo – that makes my ugly printer cost $11. And, I used the ugly printer today. It still works.

The apartment management told me I don’t have to have the carpet cleaned or super clean my unit. I’ll just roll the dust bunnies out. They are more like dust kangaroos. Well, actually, my people will do that.

I need little more depth of field on this shot. (In case you are interested – milkweed bugs live about 6 weeks.)

Just finished up a turkey, bacon, avocado and tomato wrap. Some guys are playing golf on the tv. Just like Carlton was still here and we were still “enjoying every sandwich”… Grief has smoothed out, mellowed out. The memory of Carlton is like comfy old levis. Or a much loved cashmere sweater.

Went into the office today to knock out some scanning. Then, I took a couple of busses down to the asylum directly from the hospital. Had a lovely late lunch. I had the patio all to myself. Stomped around the strip mall next door. Came back to the asylum and snagged an ice cream cone. (Carlton would so love living in a place with ice cream on demand 24/7.) And bussed it back home.

They were having a memorial service at the asylum. As you might imagine – they have LOTS of memorial services. This one was for the lady who lived in the Old Bat Cave before me. She was still alive when I “bought” the unit – she had transitioned to the nursing unit. Now, she has transitioned to the next level. No, I didn’t go to the memorial service.

Old people, myself included, are pretty philosophical about being dead. Hey, it’s going to happen. Nobody gets out of here alive. However, we are not so very happy about the end game. When we consider how far how fast and successfully the millennials drove the gay marriage issue, seems to me the boomers could drive assisted suicide. Enlightened self interest.

Time to swap out the macro lens for longer glass – the goldfinches are back in action. This one seems to be molting. But, he is doing a great job on the cone flower.

Glad it is Friday. Hard week at work. Glad it is over. Decided not to go down to dinner at the asylum tonight. Going to have a simple dinner at home. Put a nature show on TV and pretend that Carlton is watching it. And after dinner, maybe read a while. Then tomorrow, attack some additional moving paper tasks.

But, it is kinda pretty.

Spent less than 15 minutes selecting kitchen cabinets (dark wood), countertops (black marble), floor (wood – mid-dark), appliances (stainless “steel”) and wall color (medium grey) for the old bat cave. I have the interior decorating skills of a snapping turtle. I nixed having an oven. Who I am I kidding – I am not going to bake anything. I am having a dishwasher.

The Zen of Bus Riding. Riding the bus. You give up all illusion of control as a bus rider. You make only 3 choices. You decide to take the bus, you select a bus to get on, you decide when to pull the cord and get off. That is all there is to riding the bus. You have zero control over when the bus will come by, which bus will come by, you don’t control who is on the bus, who is next to you, you have nothing to say about how fast the bus goes, you can only hope the driver is watching where the bus is going. When you want off the bus you pull the cord and most of the time “stop requested” shows up and the bus stops. You get off and once again have the illusion of control over your life. But, for the time that you are a bus rider – you are given a little vacation from being in charge of anything. And, for 90 cents – that isn’t a bad deal.