Raincharm’s Weblog

Not me! Perish the thought. Carl! By virtue of being on both Medicare (for a while now) and now receiving Social Security benefits.

He applied in February, taking advantage of requesting 6 months prior and then moving forward. We should have done this earlier, but were so focused on me waiting to be 70 to maximize my benefits we overlooked his ability to start getting benefits based on his earnings. When I finally start getting benefits, and officially become a senior, we’ll switch him to spousal benefits. Daycare just doesn’t pay as much as engineering. Although perhaps it should.

Other activities today: Pruning the laurel. Managed to get our side finished. Walking to the grocery store for a few essentials like bananas and ice cream. Trying to give blood.

Once again I failed to reach the required 12.5 on the iron test. I’ve been taking iron supplements for a bit over a week and was sure I would pass. 😕 The phlebotomist suggested I wait at least 2 more weeks before trying again.

So I have no excuse for being tired.

As reported yesterday, I did not go to yesterday’s Mariners game. Carl and our seatmates Kevin and Mark did. They did a double-header, Mariners day game and an Everett Aquasox (Ms single-A) night game.

The Mariners beat the As 5-4, including a Cal Raleigh Big Dumper home run. But for the, “You don’t see this everyday,” factor there was a play with Ms pitcher Gilbert in the first inning. The batter hit the ball right back at Gilbert with a velocity of just under 110 mph. Gilbert didn’t catch the ball, exactly. It went between two buttons of his jersey, hitting him in the stomach and going around his torso. He couldn’t find it at first, finally extracting it between the buttons. For those keeping score, it was considered a dead ball once it was in the jersey. The runner on third stayed there (he had not tried to advance to home), the runner on first advanced to second, and the batter got first base. No outs. The video linked above is about 1 minute long and worth a view.

The Aquasox won as well. It was a Silver Slugger night. They have less expensive tickets for seniors (are we really seniors) for several midweek games throughout the season. They gave out a hat to the Silver Sluggers.

This morning’s recap of yesterday’s doubleheader sounded like a fun day.

MORNING

I am not going to the Mariner’s game today. That will literally make it a quieter day. And it’s raining, at least in the morning, so I am planning to take care of some computer based stuff. If the weather clears this afternoon, as predicted, I will hopefully get myself out for a walk.

AFTERNOON

After dropping Carl and Kevin at the Light Rail I continued on to the neighborhood hardware store. My quarry was two small batteries for my step counter.

Putting the batteries in was easy. The real talent is getting the gasket (light blue on the top piece) in place and then screwing the 4 micro-screws in to hold it all in place. That’s a size 00 Phillips head screwdriver.

EVENING

I finally got through bills and receipts but it was too late to walk to the post office to mail the one being paid by snail mail.

After a dinner of leftovers I put together a marinade for flank steak to have tomorrow night.

And it’s time for bed.

All I managed today was watering the clover and raspberries, and getting myself to the Mariners game (they lost, again).

Carl, on the other hand, mowed both front and back yards, made lunch and a portable dinner for the game, did the dishes,  went early and interacted with other baseball fans. Lunch was roasted potatoes, turkey burger, and yogurt with strawberries. Dinner today was a salad with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, green olives, sweet pickles, turkey kielbasa, and feta. It was quite tasty and filling.

I was just tired, and couldn’t seem to get myself going, until I needed to be somewhere. I almost took a nap, and I am not a napper.

When I did get out to water I encountered a bunch of bees. They were small, around 1/2″ long, flying around near the ground. They didn’t check me out or try to go elsewhere, and I couldn’t see an obvious nest. So I took some pictures, or tried to. They didn’t sit still and were hard to pick out among the detritus where they were congregating. I finally got one and fed the picture into Google.

I’m sure there is likely a fuller name, but the description fit. They are a native insect, non aggressive and not harmful to lawns. So I plan to do nothing.

Hopefully tomorrow I will do more than nothing.

It was nice once again. I actually got dressed to work on the laurel bushes but was convinced to change and go for a walk instead. The turnaround point was a Key Bank in Wedgewood where a Mariner player was turning out. It turned out to be just a picture opportunity, no autographs, with Randy Arozarena.

Carl had brought a scorecard to get signed,  but made do with a picture instead.

The real fun was before the picture opportunity. The Starbucks next door kept bringing samples around to share. We shared stories with those around us.  They brought the Mariner Trident around to pose with. We took pictures for one of those near us who didn’t have a phone.

The Mariner Photographer, Ben VanHouten, stopped to chat. We have run into him many times over the last 30 plus years. While we were walking home Ben passed us and offered us a ride. We declined as it was a nice day and we were headed downhill at that particular moment.

The walk was good.

The evening was, of course, watching Arozarena and the rest of the Mariners play the Athletics. Unfortunately the Ms lost.

Tomorrow, more of some of the same.

Mariners win again in the sunshine. Today was a true day game, not late afternoon like yesterday. That also means little work was done before the game.

For the first time I wore the Mariner jersey I was given upon retirement. No more gold watches.

It was warm enough again for just a shirt. I did have 2 other layers with me, a cardigan and jacket. They were helpful on the trip to the stadium.

And post game we met with friends for dinner at the Tipsy Cow. This is the second Tipsy restaurant we have been to this year, the other being the Tipsy Putt in Monterey, CA. It was a chance to catch up after months of cancelations due to illness, weather, vacations, etc.

Janet and I also discussed work rumblings that we had heard, good and bad. Janet and I were heavy into conservation, school programs, and community outreach. We got the Wayne Drop mascot used at fairs and parades for many years. However for a bevy of reasons these had fallen off in recent years and there was no obvious champion after we left (Janet retired a year before I did.) But recently I saw this from the District, and I have hope.

It was good food and a great time. And we get to see them next weekend when they perform with their chorus in Resist.

Nice day. Perfect for some yard work.

So we took a walk instead. Probably 5 miles, heading towards the ballpark. We did light rail through downtown, shaving the walk from 6 miles. The time we saved with light rail we spent waiting in line. That was fine, and in the sun.

After many cold games, today’s was warm. Even hot for a while. T-shirt and jeans hot. Hot enough that when the clouds came in we breathed a sigh of comfort. The temperature was only in the 60s, but so much better than the 40s.

And the Mariners managed a win.

On the clear out the house scorecard:

Brought 3 baseballs from home to giveaway. 2 were distributed. Obtained 2 new baseballs during batting practice and gave 1 away. So returned home with 2 baseballs, net loss of 1 baseball.

Obtained 2 new Raleigh jerseys (t-shirts) in the Mariner’s 1970s style. These will be sent to Raleigh fans in Clarksville, TN, so only a temporary gain.

Tomorrow, again, is another day, and another day game with reasonable weather predicted.

Some days that’s about all there is to say. 

Well, the Mariners lost today. Seems like a common refrain.

But here are some things I saw.

As they say, tomorrow is another day. And another chance to win.

Catching up today. Visitor drop-off, laundry, yard work, packaging bobbleheads, and eating leftovers.

There’s actually a fair amount in that short description. And tomorrow will be another day.

In addition tomorrow the Mariners return to Seattle. As good as the last few home games were the away games were dismal. Ah well, not that we haven’t been here before.

The plan had been to go to a Tacoma Rainiers game to celebrate at a game. But it’s raining and would have been about 35 degrees at the end of the game.

Instead Carl and Chris played a bit between raindrops.

There was an hour or so of not rain before the thunderstorm hit. We went for a walk, including a portion in a park.

We also stopped in at a few local shops along the way. Re-Animated Music, a replacement for the Trading Musician store buying, selling, and trading instruments and accessories. And Seattle Records, selling used records, CDs, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, etc. The store has some Henry art as well, and used to be a main Henry outlet. Henry is a local Seattle artist with murals all over the area. The store is an example of his art.

And then the thunder came and we moved inside. Dinner with friends to spend our final night (this trip) with Chris before he returns to California. If only the Mariners and/or Sounders had won tonight it would have been even better.