I’m back in my hotel room, killing time until my uncle and his wife finish work and can meet me for dinner.
The early show at Birdland was terrific! It was the Count Basie Orchestra: I love a big band, and hadn’t heard one in person since before the pandemic. And I got to see/chat with their singer (who I know) a little bit both before and after the show. I wasn’t very hungry yet, so I just got hummus and pita chips and had a couple of beers. I figured if I was hungry later I could get something at the late show at the Village Vanguard; I had the idea of maybe getting some dessert there.
I got to the Vanguard shortly after 9pm: the doors didn’t open until 9:30, so I found the end of the (short) line and waited with everyone else. They wound up not opening the doors until almost 9:45, and it was nearly 10:00 by the time I went in and selected my seat (I chose to sit at the bar). I hadn’t planned on 45 minutes of standing! It was great to finally be at a Vanguard show, but I discovered that they don’t have a kitchen. It took a while to get everyone inside and seated (every indoor venue now requires proof of vaccination), and the show didn’t start until maybe 10:15-10:20. Within a half hour I was yawning repeatedly, and by 11:00 my back couldn’t take it any more (two bar stools + the standing), so I left a little early. My guess is that the band would have played until 11:30. The music was great, but not my favorite kind of jazz; mostly I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to hear the legends who were on stage. I’m really glad that I went, but I was also glad to head back to the hotel.
I slept in this morning, and moved pretty slowly once I got up. I spent a good three hours just catching up on email and Facebook, having my usual morning protein shake (I brought some with me; gotta love hotel room fridges!) and some water until I felt up to getting in the shower. Then I headed out to a small, easily overlooked poster museum that I’d read about a few weeks ago: the exhibit was great, and they had a small cafe where I had a late lunch of a beef empanada. And there was free admission today!
My uncle just texted me: we’re meeting at a Mexican place at 7pm, so I have just under an hour to kill. I haven’t seen them in two years (almost exactly), so it’ll be great to spend some time together over a casual dinner. Tomorrow we’re going to the Yankee game!
RAIN! GLORIOUS RAIN! A real soaker, and such a relief after months of drought.
Busy day here at Casa da Nella. Groceries delivered. And my dining room table arrived! The Not-Brown delivery service is going to name a hernia ward after me. The box is so heavy, I couldn’t slide it over the doorjamb, so I carefully turned it end-over-end.
Last evening, I started putting together the bookcase I also bought because I’d rather get another bookcase than get rid of any books. I couldn’t finish it because the back is secured with nails, and I didn’t want to disturb the neighbors. I was so proud when it was Only the finest furniture is good enough for me.) was facing front. The finishing nails were flush with the surface, so the claw end of the hammer wouldn’t work. I had to call my excellent-at-carpentry brother and get advice. Anyway, it’s done. Now I just have the behemoth to go.
I’d hire it out, but I’m already over-budget on all this.
flyboy, I had the same deal with Xfinity a few months ago: Surprise! Here’s your new modem! Then my internet was screwed up. I spent an hour on the phone with customer service before it got straightened out. Glad your ordeal is over.
Moooom, glad the potty training is going so well! If she keeps it up, her teacher will deserve a reward! And fingers crossed for no COVID in your daughter’s household.
Jane, hope the museum trip was fun!
I don’t miss meal planning. I mean, I plan my meals, but I’m easy, and I don’t mind eating the same thing three nights in a row.
We had that Mexican potluck at irk yesterday, so I brought my Trader Joe’s Cobb Salad home. Got home, and Mrs. L.A. had made acorn squash so I had that for dinner. I had the Cobb salad for lunch today. I wonder where we’re going for dinner?
Work was weird today. There’s some behind-the-scenes drama that, I think, doesn’t involve me. But Grandboss showed up, and there was much furtive conversation that paused whenever I needed to walk through.
If I had to guess, based on snippets, I think one of the long-timers was an @$$hole to one of the newbies, who promptly complained up the ladder.
Again, just a hunch, but not my circus, not my monkeys so I just held my hands up saying, “Sorry, just passin’ through!” and stayed the bleeeeep outta that nonsense.
But it meant half our crew - and the manager and asstnt. mngr-in-training - were tied up in these furtive conversations.
So guess who has two thumbs and ran that mother for half the afternoon?
{ points at self } This chick!
Having gotten a serious case of poison ivy a couple of years ago, I heartily second this.
God. That was a horrible coupla weeks.
I didn’t know about separation, so one of my half-done older projects is … chunky, let’s say.
It’s my Cheshire cat face; I oughta pick that one up again. I had to set it down for a while.
I told my daughter she needed to send her cookies! And a tiara!!
Waiting for CVS to call to say FCD’s pain meds are ready to be picked up. They close at 9, so I hope they get it filled tonight. Poor guy NEEDS sleep! It’s been months since he had a solid, uninterrupted night.
OK, back to my recliner. I just came to my computer to check on CVS. For some reason, the app wasn’t working on my tablet.
Oh, I forgot to say this earlier. It’s supposed to be bad luck to smoosh a cricket. This message brought to you by Crickets for a Squooshless Planet, Jiminy Q. Cricket, President.
These are black walnuts. They come down it something that looks kinda like a tennis ball that promptly turns to black goo. The nuts inside are really difficult to extract from the shells, once you’ve gotten them out of the staining black goo. So using them in anything is not gonna happen.
sunny Definitely get the glasses. I’m almost legally blind in one eye. When I was a kid, my parents thought I was just clumsy, kept banging my left shoulder into doorframes. Turns out I just couldn’t see. Did great things to my schoolwork, too. Being able to see the board properly tends to help.
Good luck to all dealing with house issues, plumbing and roof-wise. I need to do something about the roof of the garage. Ugh.
And now the dog is staring at me like I should know what he wants. (I do, he wants the treat ball filled.)
Howdy Y’all! I did church janitor JW things and then spent the rest of the day in sloth. BLISS! OYKW went and swiped The General’s Sup for us. The promised big rain was not so much. Looks the same way for tomorrow.
Talky yikes! Tequila is definitely needed.
Nellie hope the furniture puttin’ together continues to go well.
oopsie glad you are enjoyin’ your trip.
flyboy all houses are moneypits. Hope you get the roof woes figured out soonest.
wordy, that was a heck of a way to start the day. Hope it got better.
Moooooooom, it’s amazing what the power of stickers can do. Back when I was a quality auditor in the auto industry, I tended to put a silly sticker on the audit sheet of any perfect harness. It quickly became a badge of honor for the different lines to have one of those displayed on their line’s bulletin board. If you like history and stream, try any of the seasons of Absolute History. It’s a BBC series that goes anywhere from Roman occupation to agriculture during WWII.
Glad you’re having a good time oopsie.
VanGo, growing up, we’d run the walnuts needing husked through an antique hand cranked corn sheller, then use a hammer on a piece of angle iron to crack them and pick out the meat. Of course, that was a buncha kids in the seventies looking for pocket money.
The floors have been vacuumed / swept / mopped, laundry folded / put away and groceries bought. Rain postponed the dog park, but I took Nelson with me to pick up supper. I got a cheesesteak, salad and tea. They gave me five cups of dressing for a side salad. I put four of them in the fridge for other salads.
Glasses have been picked up and boy refuses to put them on yet.
I’ve been researching and I found a vet-approved recipe online for kidney food for Pixel. I’m going to try that, since he is completely unimpressed with the store-bought versions. Fingers crossed, this will work.
Well I thought it was bedtime, but apparently Cinnamon needed one more trip outside. Gotta listen to the old dog’s wisdom. Just hope he doesn’t meet any skunks.
Evening all. Soccer got practiced and now we’re waiting to see if the promised rain shows up tonight or tomorrow morning to spoil the soccer games. Weather Wizards say there is a 70% chance, but they’re revising it hourly, so no idea. First game is at 8am, so I’ll be up early for that.
Have read all but absorbed little. Everyone take care now.
I got the dining table put together with a minimum of cussing. The hardest part was turning it right side up. Yikes, that thing is heavy! I kind of lifted and tilted it, and it slammed to the floor so loudly, the downstairs neighbors probably did the ol’ Duck and Cover… Luckily, the table was OK. This concludes the final chapter of All Thumbs: My Life as a Klutz.
We got some heavy rain a bit ago, and the lights flickered. Blessings upon all utilities workers!
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s my Firday. I made chilie lime salmon, with saffron rice, and corn with tomatoes and colantro. And since there was no grease to dips his cookies in, somebody decided to riot by slamming his dish of kibble against the applinces in the kitchen.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 72 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 88 with rain showers expected, but not until later in the afternoon. Thus, who knows! I have visions of mowage this mornin’ as it has been almost two weeks. Other than that, sloth and nappage are on the agenda. 'Tis a no cook day, so any need to feed will be via forage. Never fear, we have plenty of sammich makin’s, chips, and such.
doggio how dare you not have any grease to dip cookies! Of course Gordie is in riot mode! How else can he keep up the strength needed to fend off The Invisible Mole People.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Well, sorta. Daughter and RoxStar are coming for lunch and a visit. The three of them (including SIL) are going to Waldorf to watch nephew play football. Then SIL will drop the two wimminfolk off here for aforementioned lunch and visit. I’ll take them home when they wear out their welcome.
Lunch will be easy - I’m going to pick up a fried chicken meal deal from the local deli. But in a bit, I’ll head down to the Amish market for some cukes so I can make a salad for lunch. It won’t be able to marinate nearly as long as it should, but it’ll still have a few hours.
If the long-range forecast is to be believed, we have achieved fall! YAY!! Windows will open maybe tomorrow, since it’s still humid today. But YAY!!! And I think FCD’s pain killers did the trick - I think he got some decent sleep last night, so more YAY!!
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and ready to do KP. The big goals today are to install a new printer (yes, I broke down and sprung for a brand new one when I couldn’t get the one from MP to scan), install the new Roku (the old one’s remote is going through batteries at a rapid pace and the remote costs almost as much as the whole unit), hang a watercolor project that I recently completed and try to clean up the patio and take Nelson to the dog park before we get a bunch more rain.
It was a dark and stormy night! It started raining not long after 4:00 am yesterday. Later a little bit of breeziness arrived, but it wasn’t a big deal. Last night, however, was a bit wild. It was like a good ol’ November storm. The wind was roaring, and the skies just dumped rain. Our power blinked on and off several times during the wildest part of the storm. I heard some very loud thumps on my roof, so I am guessing the giant fir tree in the yard behind mine shed some more branches. I will have to take a good look at my backyard when it’s not dark.
This morning, we’re back to regular rain, but there are supposed to be some big wind gusts that might cause trees and branches to come down.
Today’s goals include cleaning up the house and going to the store to get the ingredients for a good autumn-style meal for tomorrow. I think a delicious stew might be the ticket—a stew with some good, crusty bread and maybe a salad. The kids are coming tomorrow, and this meal would give me the time to hang out with them and the grandkids instead of the kitchen.
I am pleased to say I got all the “must-dos” completed for work yesterday. It was a huge weight off my chest. Although I couldn’t submit the actual award packet (forms and manifest), I was able to submit the ticket with the names and amounts. HR was expecting this because of the Adobe debacle up at the field operations chief office. We’re expecting to hear about the workaround next week, and then I can email the entire packet to HR. I also finished all the other big and little ankle-biters.
There is only one more thing to take care of on Monday, and then I can do some admin clean-up until I travel on Wednesday. I told my boss I was taking Tuesday as RDO since I have to travel to Yakima on Wednesday and won’t be returning until late Friday.
It took a while to get everyone inside and seated (every indoor venue now requires proof of vaccination), and the show didn’t start until maybe 10:15-10:20. Within a half hour I was yawning repeatedly, and by 11:00 my back couldn’t take it any more (two bar stools + the standing), so I left a little early. My guess is that the band would have played until 11:30. The music was great, but not my favorite kind of jazz; mostly I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to hear the legends who were on stage. I’m really glad that I went, but I was also glad to head back to the hotel.
I spent a good three hours just catching up on email and Facebook, having my usual morning protein shake (I brought some with me; gotta love hotel room fridges!) and some water until I felt up to getting in the shower. Then I headed out to a small, easily overlooked poster museum that I’d read about a few weeks ago: the exhibit was great, and they had a small cafe where I had a late lunch of a beef empanada. And there was free admission today!
Back when I was a quality auditor in the auto industry, I tended to put a silly sticker on the audit sheet of any perfect harness. It quickly became a badge of honor for the different lines to have one of those displayed on their line’s bulletin board. If you like history and stream, try any of the seasons of Absolute History. It’s a BBC series that goes anywhere from Roman occupation to agriculture during WWII.
I put four of them in the fridge for other salads.
