Started Typing: 1:32 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 3:04 PM ET
On this day in (my personal) history, in 1998 I saw Grant Lee Buffalo at the 9:30 Club…and in 2023 I saw Cyrus Chestnut at Blues Alley. 
I can’t get over how nice is it today. It’s currently 81°F and sunny, but breezy and not humid at all: I’ve had the windows and front door open all day, and the house is still comfortable! Aaaahh!
I had every intention of Mumping last week – and the week before – but work was super busy and the few times I was able to start drafting a post something would come up and I’d have to discard (I rarely post in the evenings, because I don’t like the interface when I’m on my iPad; at most, I might write a quick reply to something). I skimmed the last MMP, though, so a couple things up front:
Cookie: I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful cat. 
FCM and Sticky: " 
! " about your respective car wrecks! I’m glad no one was seriously hurt. I hope FCD’s bumps and bruises heal quickly.
The last time I posted was two weeks ago yesterday; I was planning to go to a local jazz jam session that afternoon. It was a blast! Three other singer friends also went, and it was great to hang out with them while listening to the music. I sang “Mercy Mercy Mercy,” which bands tend to enjoy playing (it was originally written/recorded as a jazz instrumental). That venue hosts jam sessions on the fourth Sunday of every month; I’m planning to go back in a couple of weeks.
Other highlights:
On 08/03, I went to my 35-year HS reunion. There were 126 people in my graduating class, and the organizer told us that the school had contact info for less than 60 of us – and only 17 alumni showed up. But, it was nice to see a couple of those classmates. It was 50 miles away and I had to drive through a big thunderstorm on the way there, but ultimately I’m glad I went. Maybe the alumni office will be able to track more of us down before our 40-year.
On 08/04, I went to a Lego expo with my 22-year-old “nephew” and his GF. There were two huge expo halls filled with fan-designed builds – nothing that simply followed Lego’s instructions was on display/would have been allowed. When you design a build it’s called a “MOC,” which stands for “my own creation.” There were MOCs from all over the region…there are some seriously talented and creative Lego fans out there. And, I knew one of them: a guy who I used to see at the dog park 12-13 years ago! He and his wife had several MOCs on display (I actually met his wife at the dog park first, before they even started dating). Turns out they and their kids got way into Legos during the pandemic. At some point we’d stopped being FB friends, but I reconnected with both of them after the expo. There were also several vendors selling Lego sets, and my nephew found a collectible that he’d been looking for: it was $100 and he was hesitant to spend that much, but his birthday is at the end of the month so I told him his aunt would get it for him as an early present. He said he was already going to love me forever, but now he will love me forever and ever. 
On 08/01, near the end of my work day, the Bluetooth on my corporate laptop suddenly stopped working…the adapter/functionality actually seemed to disappear. Multiple reboots and checking all kinds of settings didn’t help, and I quickly ran into “you must be an admin to do this” blocks when trying to troubleshoot on my own. So I called the help desk the next day, and IT was stumped! Then the guy asked how long I’d had the laptop, and when I said “at least 4.5 years” he actually laughed out loud and said, “holy crap, you should have gotten a new one years ago.” The company switched from HP to Dell a while back, but I never got contacted about upgrading – and I hadn’t had any issues until the Bluetooth thing. I was already planning to go to the office on 08/07 for a customer meeting, so I made arrangements to pick up a new laptop that afternoon. Of course, on 08/06 the Bluetooth functionality returned as suddenly as it had disappeared. 
But I was getting a new laptop regardless, which means I spent a lot of time on Wed/Thu configuring the new computer. My backup was easily restored, so it was mostly dealing with all the fiddly little settings that you forget you changed until they get reset. I’m happy with the new machine, and the few days of having to use separate keyboards and mice for my corporate and customer laptops – vs the set I have that switches between devices – reminded me of how useful Bluetooth is!
Yesterday I met two friends for a long lunch. I first met them in 2001, when I became their co-worker: the three of us were on the same team – Friend A was a software tester and my officemate; Friend B and I were both tech writers – and I stayed in touch with them after leaving the company in 2006. Friend A and I are both single and childless theater lovers, and we became “culture buddies”: we go to 1-2 theater/music shows a year, plus two years ago I got her started going to the annual local jazz festival that I’ve attended every February for the past decade. Friend B and I meet for lunch once a year or so, and we’re Facebook friends (Friend A isn’t on any kind of social media). Friend A and I had these plans first, and when I realized I was overdue for a lunch with Friend B I had the idea of getting the three of us together. They hadn’t seen each other in almost 10 years; it was a good catch-up. I’ll be seeing Friend A again in December, when we have tickets for a Nutcracker performance; I might not see Friend B again until sometime next year.
It was nearly 4pm by the time I got home from the restaurant, took care of the dog, and was able to settle down. I turned on the Olympics closing ceremony, and finished Lego build #18 (which I’d started on Friday evening, when it was delivered). Ladies and gentleman, the Lamborgini Countach 5000 Quattrovalvole:
It’s 13.5" long and 7" wide. I’m displaying it on my home office bookcase, next to the '61 Corvette. 
On Wed-Fri, I’ll be working from my BFFs’ dining room table. Every summer, Husband BFF, Wife BFF, and my “nephew” drive to Michigan for a few days to visit Husband BFF’s oldest friend and stay on the friend’s family farm. Husband BFF and my nephew are leaving tomorrow, but Wife BFF has mobility issues and has been battling weird recurring infections and has opted to skip this year’s trip. She’s mostly alright on her own, but I’ll be working from her place just in case she falls, needs something, or has to go somewhere during the day (she can’t drive). It will help all of us feel better, and she and I will get some quality time together. I did the same thing once before, either last year or in 2022. And, it’s a good excuse to take Friday afternoon off: if she’s feeling up to it, we’ll go to a long lunch and maybe do some shopping that day. Tomorrow evening I’ll take all of my stuff to her place – laptops, monitors, power strips, etc. – and get set up. I’ll also pick up some dinner for us. Then Wed-Fri my commute will go from 15 feet to 15 miles. The guys will come home over the weekend.
Speaking of taking time off, I’m starting to plan for a week-long “staycation” in September: I’m aiming for the week of the 15th. I have more than enough leave, and I can tell that I’m on the verge of being burned out. In the past 1.5 years I haven’t taken a day off that wasn’t for a funeral (or to visit a dying relative). My boss is OOO most of this week and all of next week, then the following week one of my direct reports will be OOO for a while, so this month isn’t a good time for any significant time off. Mid-September should work out. 
Part of me thinks I should go somewhere/do something, but these days I really want to kennel Bailey as infrequently as possible (due to her age and health issues). So I’ll just load up on new Lego sets, and maybe go to a DC museum or two one day.
As if this post isn’t long enough already, here are some replies to last week’s MMP before I get to quotes from today:
There is a new chicken salad place near me! It opened on Wednesday, and I haven’t tried it yet but I’m planning to go soon. It’s called Chicken Salad Chick. I think I will be all over the “Classic Carol” flavor.
Wow. I know you’re still deciding whether/how to respond (or whether to even put him on “read”), but I have real trouble with grown people who can’t/won’t use their words.
Reason #78893897482396 why I won’t ever share a ceiling/floor again (or at least for as long as I can afford not to).
Actually it’s two fancy words, makin’ each of 'em worth about $2.50. 
LOL!
Wow! I can’t decide whether I like that or not…I think the flower/petal shape wouldn’t be for me, but I might love the idea of the dimmable LED lighting!
That’s how I wound up in a semester of 'Roaring ‘20s’ English instead of ‘Science Fiction’ English (to this day, I dislike F. Scott Fitzgerald), and how I got pulled from a speculative fiction coarse because nobody wanted to sign up for an unpopular teacher’s English class. (TBF, it wasn’t that bad. We read Alas, Babylon. I got an A in each of the classes I didn’t want.)