Raincharm’s Weblog

Twilight at least.

On the drive home today there were high clouds, sweeping in, showing the high wind currents. What made them noteworthy was that I could not immediately recognize whether the clouds were the white or grey bands.

There is something invigorating about the return to ever so slightly longer days.

Last week there was a day when I almost turned out the porch light as I left for work. Not quite, but the thought crossed my mind. And we are supposed to be free from rain for at least the next few days. Cold, but not raining (snowing).

I have heard rumors of dumping snow in the midwest.
I have not confirmed whether these will be impacting relatives here and there.
If you are impacted, I hope you are well-provisioned.

We are well provisioned here, and the thought of dinner is starting to penetrate my thoughts.

Smile, ….
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile

Smile, originally written by Charlie Chaplin, John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons.
I knew it from Nat King Cole. We just heard it sung by a woman (on the Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio).

Apparently Chaplin wrote the tune for his film, Modern Times. I seem to remember seeing Modern Times at a theatre in downtown Ann Arbor, on Division or some nearby street (not the State or Michigan). It was a hot, hot summer day and Grandma R was visiting. We went to the theatre to have some fun and get out of the heat. I still vividly remember Charlie walking down the street with two wrenches in his hands, and a woman approaching from the other direction with nut-shaped buttons on her jacket. 

Smile, the days are getting longer.

This morning had a slow start – for me.
Started with a later than intended night – and not doing anything particularly inspiring either.

So, I finally got up – Carl was already well on his way and gone.
A bit of the newspaper and yogurt.

Then, somewhat inspired, OK really I just wanted to say I had done something this morning, I went and road the bike. Tried to Soduko and made it into a “Very Hard” puzzle. Think I have it figured now, but was getting too light-headed to think deeply, so I set it down for the last four minutes. A bit of stretching, but then the lure of coffee called.

But first – water and a nana. OK, stop by the computer to see if anything earth shattering has been sent my way. A blog comment – JOY – actually, they are fun to get, like a present you have no idea what it is until you open it up. (Maybe if I got a lot they would not hold the same feeling, so let’s just leave it at that.)

Another e-mail led me to fb, which I am on here and there. And low and behold, a link to the Tennessee Smokies site – for yet another video. Rey was actually on the still up front – so I must watch. I think these are fun. Not only do I get to see the boy, but it seems like they are a place that allows for some creativity. And most importantly, Rey is modeling some of Pooh’s handiwork.
I know it is hard work, and I think most minor league teams are marginal enterprises, so having a bit of fun can make the difference.

Off to coffee (coffee coming to me in truth – Carl is returning)
And this afternoon’s Harry Potter adventure. Maybe I should put in one of the movies to stoke the fire.

UPDATE: And so we went. It was an interesting exhibit, with props and costumes. When you enter they entertain the small group you enter with, with the selecting hat. After they have put a few folks into their proper group you walk to an area with several screens. They flash several scenes from the movies on a dozen screens. Then as the scenes end, the wall behind you has disappeared and the light from the front of the train filters into the room – and you are off into the exhibit. It really was a good start, very well done.

After the exhibit, we visited the Space Needle.

Jay+Carl

Last entry – I thought I just wrote it, but it was last weekend. And it is almost the weekend again.

A day at the beach - a great day

And it is almost February.

This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one, and I thought I had it off.
Baseball preview, Harry Potter (the exhibition), soccer dinner and one sad goodbye.

Picture from the King5TV Facebook page

I spent a good part of my day today at Weatherfest. This is an American Meteorological Society event. This year it is in Seattle. I was there with Wayne Drop. (No pictures yet – they are on another person’s camera) About 4 hours of fun and meeting and greeting kids and adults. I understand that the parents want a picture of their kid with Wayne Drop, but many, many adults do as well.

I am a handler. That means I linger in the background, and take a picture or two. Today one of the TV stations gave us a load of shopping bags to had out as well. We did cause more than 1 clot for people trying to get around. (Note that it was KIRO 7 with the bags, not the same as the picture above)

In addition to the area’s TV station’s weather folks, there were lots of national level people. The Weather Channel, Discovery, the Tornado chaser guides, NOAA, glider pilots, and some classroom based folks. Okemos High School had a booth.

In other words, a little educational bit today with a big fuzzy rain drop. And I am exhausted. [There were two other mascots there. One, and eagle, was from a school. The other was Doppler – the Seattle Storm mascot (WNBA). But Doppler cut the ribbon, and then cut out about a half hour later. Professional mascots just don’t have the passion.]

Yes, it was a day for another quick trip up and back.
A loner trip, but luckily the drive up was interesting, and the drive back ended just in time.

But first, yesterday I stumbled on another glimpse of the boy, this time with a speaking role.

I measure my trips to Canada by birds and bears. The bears (Smokies) were in great evidence for the first half of the trip. Probably 6 or 7, some with paying customers. Then the birds came into view.

I got to see the Snow Geese while passing through the Skagit Valley. Next there were Swans. And after we got out of the States the Bald Eagles made their entrance. I put the count at about a dozen today, but there were a few spectacular views. First I saw an eagle soaring low over the freeway in front, with one wingtip pointed down, and the other up – great profile. Then when I reached this spot, the eagle flew over, about 10 feet above the car, clutching nesting material in his (her?) talons.

And of course, there was the girl sighting. We had lunch at Aphrodite, an organic restaurant, specializing in pies. We have brunch, and then shared a piece of pie. Ashlan had a walk to get in (like mother, like daughter) before dark, so I took off. It is nicer to drive before dark as well – so better for me as well. On the way up I had about a 5 car wait. The way down was a bit longer wait, and I chose the slowest line. I took all of about 20 seconds to get out of the border police clutches, once I got to the head of the line. But I had been cleared by the dog prior to reaching the booth. And I guess I just don’t look menacing. I am not complaining – the last trip had an hour wait, and this was not even close.

It’s Friday night. Home from work, work out and a bit of TV.
Tonight’s offerings? Jeopardy, an Olympic memory film and onto a crime show.

It is interesting how the shows that I have watched have changed over the years.
Cartoons, variety shows, sit-coms, dramas, crime shows and now reality shows.

I either tend to like them or not want to give them (reality shows) the time of day. The ones I like are the Amazing Race, Survivor and WipeOut. I like the Amazing Race because it shows me places I have never been. Survivor started as a chance to chat with others around the water cooler.  I did not watch it for the first few years, but I do find it intriguing. WipeOut is not really a reality show. Most contestants get about 2 seconds of screen time, and you probably don’t really see their face. This is what my father would call a “guilty pleasure.” I watch it because it makes me laugh.

This sounds as though I watch TV all the time. Not quite true. I know this because I do not know the TV schedule by heart – like I did in high school. And I can go months without. Well at least weeks (still no TV at the cabin). Even after the digital age arrived with a vengeance, we live with an antenna. We only get cable when the World Cup is on.

Mostly TV is used to unwind from work. Unlike the past few days, which were a fury of things here and there, and everywhere, today I decided to just try to get two things done. Finish an incident report and get an annexation notice out the door. Mostly done. Oh and I have to contact somebody to destroy our old flag. Other duties as assigned.

I just realized how lame my life can be.

The tortured artist, and his exhibition

Sorry Dan – I know this is your big day, but I don’t think you have been tortured enough. I believe this effort was inspired by the Picasso exhibit, which closed today.

You know how people say things happen in 3s?
I think today’s tonight’s full moon has put this number through some astronomical mathematical sequence – because today has been very, very strange.

First, a good friend’s father passed away. Tough times, and we wish their family peace, strength and tranquility.
Next, a co-worker is having some issues due to an accident – would like to have him back, perhaps tomorrow. And another is having a chronic issue flare up. [I appreciate my health more and more.]
And then we had a visitor at work. Known by many, and allowed to come in and visit. Rethinking that decision, as it appeared he had injested a little something extra and was not always making appropriate comments or taking appropriate actions. Finally managed to escort him away (not me). This incident showed our vulnerabilities and our support of each other at work as the effort to take control coalesced. So now time to re-examine our procedures. Many opportunities to figure better ways to react.

And finally – in the midst of visitor time the home water heater decided it had worked hard for 20+years, and was done. It started spitting its contents onto the basement floor. Several calls and mini-conferences later – we are getting a new water heater – tomorrow. A tad bit overpriced, but at this point I was to the, “You can do it tomorrow, with a direct vent, match our round hole with your square peg, and get rid of the 20+ year creature?” Fine – just do it.

There are certainly those that counsel us that replacing a water heater is not that hard, but I just don’t need that level of figuring it out added to the plate right now. Especially since it would be at least the weekend before it would be attacked, borrowing trucks, finding the correct dump (or recycle) area, and then worrying about working with natural gas lines. And I could have gone for at least one more quote, but  –  I just didn’t want to. Head was spinning already.

I needed some spice in my life yesterday – at least during the work day.

Meetings:
8-9:30+
9:30-1:00
3:00-6:00

Yeah – I had a two hour bit to get work done.
Lunch happened about 6, but it was really good.

Fruititarian. There were kiwi, pomegranate seeds, orange slices and grapes.

Home – finally, and sweat out a bit of the day.
Then dinner. Stuffed peppers with ground pork, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and what ever else was in there. Mmmmmmm. What a nice way to close the day.

And so today begins – meeting at 8.

I have been looking at papers all day.
Medical papers mostly.
It is rather interesting to go back through your medical life.
I have found a few things I had forgotten.
I have been astounded at how much they list things cost, and by how little we pay.

I guess that is what is meant by having good health insurance.
Don’t we wish we all had that.

And – the Seahawks lost – but life will go on.

No – we are not grandparents yet.
But Carl is often mistaken for a grandparent when out with his young charges.

He was at the Seattle Center with one, playing with a ball in the Center House.
A few other youngsters approached (balls and kids often attract each other) and he shared the 3-4 balls that he brought. He had 4 small children running around (exercise) and playing together, or at least in the same vicinity. Carl felt this was a good outing, a positive experience.

After they were done, he and his charge sat down to have lunch. While they were sitting there a woman, probably a street person, walked past shaking her head, interpreted, “tsk, tsk, tsk.” So Carl asked her if there was a problem, and she responded, “You are a pathetic Grandpa.”

Needless to say, this stung a bit. Good times to bad times.

There has been much talk about civility in government recently.
Perhaps that should extend to the general populace.

On to today.
We took a walk this morning – finding the hours when rain was least likely to fall.

We also took a breakfast out at the Portage Bay Cafe. We have passed this location many times, and there is frequently a line out the door. The only previous time I had been inside was to borrow their bathroom on a long walk. This time we took the plunge and had breakfast. Although it is very close to the UW, the prices were slightly above what I would expect a student to want to pay, but not horrible. Generally focused on organic, local, low impact food. And the food was really good. We will visit here again.

So sated and caffeinated we continued on to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). They had an exhibit called Clutch it, the Purse and the Person. It was fun. A travelling exhibit with some local additions. There were insights onto why the size of purses changed through time, and what was carried about. From the information provided, modern purses came into being in the 1790’s when the fashion was tighter dresses, without the pockets used to carry necessities. They were called reticules at that time. [I did not take notes, so this could be wrong.] There are some women I work with that would truly enjoy this exhibit. I am going to try and schedule an outing for the one remaining evening when it will be on exhibit. (Usually closes at 5 PM, and there is no way we would get there on time.)

And then we continued on toward home, stopping at the evil empire for coffee, the Farmer’s Market for potatoes, and the corner organic store for a pomegranate.

Football anyone? The afternoon of watching grown men pummel each other into oblivion awaits.