As we are often reminded, Memorial Day, celebrated today in the US anyway, is the “Unofficial Start of Summer” - yay. This year is likely to be one for the books in a lot of ways, but we won’t dwell on that.
Summer memories! Share yours!
I will as soon as I think of a good one.
Happy Moanday!!
Summer is usually my vacation months, I’m usually on the road somewhere for 2-3 weeks in June-July, since youth soccer ends in May and starts back in August. Was heading out West this year, but doesn’t look like I’ll make it, no reservations made and we don’t know what the second wave of the coronavirus is going to be like.
But yeah. China, Australia, S. Africa, Nova Scotia, S. Dakota, all in the last 5-6 years…going to miss getting away.
OK, enough. I am up early, and the 10-day forecast says it’ll be in the 80’sF for highs each day and a 20-50% Chance of rain for about half of them, so common may weather here in N. Ali-bama. Outside of the custom Monday Jersey Mike’s Sammich run, no major reason to be out today.
Take care all.
For my entire youth, summer meant going “down the shore” every Sunday. My maternal grandparents had a lot on the Magothy River, between Annapolis and Baltimore. At first there was just a small shack where they stored toys, tools, lawn furniture, spare swimsuits, the outboard for the boat, and a little bit of food. Eventually, my grandparents put in water and septic and built a 1-room cabin with a bathroom and a basement and electricity, so it was less rustic.
We would get up early, go to church early, then come home and make sammiches and pack the cooler(s), then load into the station wagon and head south. Once we arrived, we’d unload the car, rush to change, then get in the water. The day would be spent swimming or taking out the boat or lying in the hammock or playing in the sand. About the only time we wouldn’t go was when it rained.
It was a special treat when I was old enough to drive - I was allowed to go there alone and spend the night in the cabin - this was right before I left for bootcamp. During the night, I woke sweating like crazy, feeling awful. The only meds in the place was a bottle of baby aspirin, so I took a handful and went back to bed. The fever broke, and I was fine when I woke. It was the first time I had to handle something like that on my own. And this was waaaaaaay before cell phones existed - circa 1973. My grandparents sold the place in the late 70s or early 80s.
A couple of years back, my mom and sister and I were in that general area, so we drove down to see the area. The cabin had been replaced by a real house, but the shack that my grandfather had built in the 40s was still standing. It all looked so much smaller than I’d remembered. I wish I’d been able to buy the place myself, but I was in the Navy, living far away at the time.
I loved it there…
Why am I up so early??? To watch Where Eagles Dare of course. One of my favorite WWII movies. Lots of summer memories. My dad was a mason contractor and summer was his busiest so we didn’t take family vacations. We had a family cottage for about 8 years and spent most of summer in Michigan. Summers after that were spent at the community pool and when it got reaaaaly hot, I stayed in with a stack of library books. My favorite summer meal was and still is, burgers on the grill, fresh sweet corn, cantaloupe, and fresh maters.
Usual Moanday morning “donwannas” as far as going to irk. On the plus side, assuming I’m not late today or tomorrow, I get double pay for today (8hr pay for the holiday, 8hr for actually irking). Also, there’s at least a shred of hope that the call volume will be lower than it has been, since a lot of them don’t know that we’re 24/7 in my department.
Triple digits for the next 4 days, peak tomorrow at 104. Doesn’t usually do that until July or August. ICK!
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up, already caffeinated, purtified (been to :eek:Wally Jr.:eek: this mornin’ to gas up twuck and pick up a few needed items), so no YAWN. ‘Tis 77 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 87 with a fifty percent chance of rain/tstorms/apocalypse this afternoon, so I foresee a day of bein’ inside. We shall either N.O.L. or Sup on leftovers from yestiddy. I scored a used poke loin, so I foreesee that for tomorrow, mayhaps butterflied and grilled.
I am a Summer baby, born in July, so I lurves me some hawt and hyoooomid weather. As a kid we lived at the community pool, the liberry, and community center (both had a/c when most of the world didn’t) and the drug sto’ where one could get really good burgers, grilled cheese, and most of all, nummy lemon sours. This was all in short walkin’ distance of the homestead. We would go to the beach or the mountains for one week in July, usually around the fourth, which was fun, but the stuff I mentioned first was the best of Summer to me. OK, havin’ a Summer bday was fun as a kid. Got to run around all day doin’ what I wanted to do, then have ice cream and cake. A disadvantage of havin’ a Summer bday is that when one becomes an adult it is a shock, SHOCK, I say, to realize one must do such things as irk on one’s bday. How unfair! 
Now that I am retired, I can revert to my kid like Summer ways on my bday.
Anywho, 'tis Memorial Day in the USofA, so Happy Memorial Day and Happy Moanday. Y’all!
Happy Moonday!
Happy Memorial Day!
It’s a cloudy 64 degrees outside, supposed to get up to 79.
It was chilly at the park this morning, almost June and I need a hoody.
Of course now that the park finally opened, Echo has come in heat.
I took the morning off irk to try and get some stuff done around here.
Instead of getting something done I am wrapped up in a blanket and trying to stay awake.
MetalMouse
The baseball and softball teams have been given the OK to start up here as of June 1, but football and soccer have not yet been given the go ahead. One of the select soccer organizations have announced that they will not be scheduling games and that they had decided to just cancel the season. They also announced that they would not be refunding the fees that have been paid by the parents of the players.
As a prior board member of the local Little League, I know that the reason that the fees are marked as non refundable on the applications are meant for individual players that start a season and then quit. The president of this soccer organization is using that to refuse to refund everyone’s fees after he cancelled the season. The news reports said that there were about 1,000 kid affected.
I braved WalMart this morning, and it wasn’t too terrible. But I was surprised that they didn’t have any sherbet! How odd! Still, I got everything else on my list, plus a few more things as a bonus. Then I ran by Food Lion to get the sherbet, which ended up being free!
They have this program where if you buy a certain amount of certain things during the month using your MVP card, you get cash credit. I had $7 in credit, and the sherbet was just $4 - Huzzah!!
The ground beef at WalMart, tho, was obscenely expensive - over $5/lb!! But I got 2 packs - one will become a meatloaf and the other will be divided and frozen for whatever. And I scored some cukes which will become cuke-onion salad before the day is over. And I got **FCD **4 flavors of sugar-free gelatin, which is one of his preferred treats these days.
It’s a grey, dreary day, but the temps are mild and no rain threatened - guess I’ll accept it.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. It’s currently 65 and cloudy, with the forecast to be 30 degrees cooler than last Memorial Day. :dubious: But it might keep some of the idjits from gathering and infecting. Summer was just running about the neighborhood.
HAPPY TOWEL DAY!!!
So keep yours handy, and stay hoopy, froods.
Dishes are washing. I built a meatloaf and it’s in the freezer. I divided a pack of ground beef, vacu-sealed them, and put them in the freezer. I mixed up some FCOJ* for FCD. And now I’m taking a break before making a cuke-onion salad.
I think I’ll pull some chicken wings out of the freezer for supper.
*Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice
Hippy, our youth soccer league had the spring session cancelled, but the Commissioner has said fees paid for spring can be used in the Fall (along with the uniforms many had purchased). It’s hard refunding 1,000 players (about what we have), especially since the whole board is volunteers and really don’t have the time/expertise to write that many checks. Probably the best that can be done.
Sari, weren’t you going to get Echo ‘fixed’? Or is that on hold along with so many other things?
FCM, Kroger doesn’t give me any cash credit (well, the gas is usually .02/.03/gal cheaper) but I do get some bargains and money off when I use it).
Sub sammich acquired and eaten. Nappage is a possiblity in the near future.
Everyone have a good afternoon.
MM
This guy offered 50% credit on a future team membership. The way I see it, he collected,and is retaining, fees for a service that he will not provide. This adds up to fraud on my spreadsheet. I am aware of the difficulty in arranging refunds, but this guy didn’t even make the offer of 50% until the news media became involved.
Where does the money go then? I’d be pretty pissed, unless it was under about $20, which I’m sure it’s not.
Meanwhile, I booked a cruise for Feb from Tampa to the western Caribbean, including Key West (Hi, Butters!!!) I figure if RCCL cancels, we’ll get a 125% credit for a future booking. Plus we have trip insurance. And I booked a balcony room - we likes us balconies!
I wanted to wait until she was a year old, all kinds of studies now showing the benefits of letting a dog finish growing before spaying. I didn’t think she’d come in heat this soon, I thought I had another two months.
That said, I had considered getting her spayed during the quarentine, figuring she could get spayed and recover by the time the park opened, but the vets around here were only treating emergencies.
Now that they are open for routine visits, good luck getting an appointment. The line is constantly busy. Ripple is overdue for his bordetella vaccine and his heart worm test. I wanted to get him vaccinated two weeks before the day care opens on June 15, but since Echo is in heat, they won’t be going there either. No rush now. I was looking forward to a day a week without them so I can get some yard irk done without their help.
I could probably get away with taking her to the park. I am the first one there every morning, and the only dogs who come that early are Lily, Maia, and Jax. None of them will be a problem as Lily and Maia are females and Jax is neutered. During the week we are the only ones there, but even on the weekends other people don’t start showing up until 8:30 or 9. As long as I leave before 8, I shouldn’t see any other dogs. I don’t know if the other morning dogs don’t know the park is open, or if schedules have changed.
We’re the group that everybody likes, but nobody wants to get up that early. We hear horrible things about the afternoon and evening groups. I never had any trouble, but I went inbetween those two groups so not too many people at the park then. I know the evening group has quite a few aggressive dogs in it, and most of the owners are playing on their phones instead of watching their dogs.
I’ll think about going, I’m likely to be the only one there for the next few days. Everybody has to irk.
FCM, did you start basic in 1973 or 1974? You and I must be about the same age. I was 19 in 1974, and joined up (Army) at the end of July.
Moooom
The fees were around $325.00 a player. This organization banked $325,000.00 for a season they are not playing
I reported to Recruit Training Command (Women) on Aug 3, 1973. I was 19, but I was still required to get my parents to sign a permission slip. Boys could enlist at 17, but not girls. Yeah, different times.
And I’ve made the cuke salad, and **FCD **and I took a little walk. It’s lovely outside now - sunny and low 70s. I’m just too tired to do any outdoor chores, plus it’s too close to supper time to start any of the stuff I want to do. So I’m chilling inside.
There may be ongoing expenses such as field/facilities maintenance or rental contracts, concession contracts, etc. Granted, that may not need the entire “take” so maybe a partial refund should be offered.
The summer that stands out in my memory is from when I was twelve in 1959. It was the year that Alaska became a state, but what I remember most about it was the family trip we went on. We drove from Anchorage down the Alcan Highway, which was mostly dirt at that point. The scenery and wildlife was amazing, even for a 12-year-old. We drove all the way to Montana to visit my stepfather’s family and arrived just in time for a family reunion on the 4th of July. From there, we drove through Yellowstone Park, which was nowhere near as crowded then, except for the bear and elk. Again, awestruck kid.
From Yellowstone, we drove to Portland to visit my mother’s family. I got to see my SF yell at a motorcycle cop and get pulled over by same. We traded in our now thoroughly beaten-up '54 Ford and bought a used '57 Ford Fairlane 500 to drive back up the highway. Ran out of gas once and had several flat tires along the way. A great summer!