Raincharm’s Weblog

The last weeks seem to have been especially hectic.
Sure, the World Cup has not helped. But there seems to be a lack of time everywhere.
But since we don’t necessarily pay attention to that lack, what we end up lacking is sleep.
Yesterday I think it caught up with me.
First – it was in the 90’s, the high 90’s.
Then after a day at work I was dropped at the Mariners game.
Spent an hour in the sun before retiring to a shading picnic table.
But I could not get my feet back under me.
So Carl took me home (and then returned)
I spent some horizontal time, and felt much better in the morning.

Tonight it is hot once again, and I am tired, again.
Early night? We’ll see.

Summer officially started on June 21st.
In Seattle that month was called Junuary.
Our rainfall was way above normal, and temperatures low.
We kicked the soccer ball around last Saturday, July 3rd, and got quite warm. “My isn’t it time to cool off?” “Check it out, it’s 61 degrees out here!”

July 6th – started to really see the sun.
July 7th – reached 90 degrees.

4 days, 30 degrees difference.

Let’s call it summer.

WORLD CUP FINALS SET

Spain (Jay) vs. Netherlands (Ashlan)

I just watched the replay of the Spain v Germany semifinal.
What struck me most was the minimal number of fouls called.
This is what great soccer can be.

GO SPAIN!

Game for 3rd and 4th on Saturday. Finals on Sunday – something like 11:30 Pacific
Plus on Sunday we have a Mariners v Yankees game – 1:10 Pacific
(we I will be late – I am not missing the World Cup Final, and they will overlap)
Then Seattle Sounders soccer – 7:30 Pacific

If only we did not have to work Monday morning.
But Summer is definitely here.

Background Information
We go to a lot of Mariner games.
Our tickets are in right or right-center field.
The Mariner right-fielder and 9 time all-star selection is Ichiro.

We sit in the bleachers behind Ichiro.
We are Ichiro’s Bleacheros!

The Mariners have lost a lot of games this year

But it's my birthday.

No, I really am a natural blonde

See how my hair & eyebrows match

It's just always tangled

But Jay really likes long hair

So, I'm learning the "flip" move

Thank’s to Ashlan for the funniest idea ever.

It’s our 25th Anniversary.
It started out with breakfast and coffee with friends at home.
We are spending our day with a walk and a ballgame.
But first – a few memories (click on the pictures to see them larger)

Walking down the Aisle

Rev. Hutula (spelling is wrong), Kris, Jay, Carl & Dave

We do

The parents that provided great examples. Bob, Doris, Gene & Harry

The Families

Our own personal musician - Cousin Anne (-Emily, -Bananne)

Some have dancing. We had the lake.

Thanks to all that made that day happen so smoothly, and more to those that continue to support us into year 26. 

A concert, a birthday, breakfast, a ball, blue cheese, and more. 

Much has happened since the last blog. 

The concert. That would be Steve Earle with an opening act by Joe Eli.
The concert was in the zoo.
Carl made it on time.
Ashlan & I were coming from work, changing clothes & picking up food.
We were 6 or 7 songs late.
As we arrived Joe Eli was playing, “Looking for the Rainbow.”
[Regenstreif can be translated as rain-stripe or rainbow]
We thought it was appropriate.
Ashlan stayed for most of Steve Earle, but then left to play soccer.
Luckily the soccer game was almost next door to the zoo, so she was able to stay for most of the show and not miss the 2nd half of the soccer game. 

A Birthday. That would be Carl’s. (or Canada’s?)
It started with breakfast, as should each day.
Carl has given me breakfast in bed many times.
It was time for me (and Ashlan) to return the favor.
Fresh Raspberries out of the garden, coffee (Starbucks) and sweetrolls. 

There was also a chunk of blue cheese.
But then Ashlan noticed that it was one week beyond the sell-by date.
How do you tell if cheese is past its prime? Check for mold.
How do you do that with blue cheese?? 

Who ever knows what to get someone who likely has more than they really need to have stuff wise.
But this year we had an inspired idea – at least in our family, this year, this time of year.
The Ball. And here it is. 

The Jabulani

This is the official ball of the World Cup. The Jabulani.
It is a great ball.
I would never have thought I would be able to tell the difference in balls, but it really is nice. And it is really pretty. 

Speaking of Soccer – UPDATE on the Family Bracket for the World Cup:
Rey – No Teams Left
Carl – Uruguay Remains
Jay – Spain Remains
Ashlan – Germany & the Netherlands
It would seem that Ashlan still has the edge – and could have both teams in the Championship. But I am still hanging on to Spain, and Uruguay could come through in the end. 

That was July 1st. (soccer games excepted)
Then there was July 2nd. I’m not sure what happened on that day. I assume we went to work. I’ll bet I did a lot of work. Then I am sure we came home and spent the evening watching soccer. Ashlan probably had fun with her friends. I really don’t remember much from that day. 

July 3rd – Saturday.
Oh yeah. Ashlan definitely hung out with her friends the evening before.
I got up reasonably early – to watch the first game.
Ok, it was not early enough to watch the game live (7 AM), but reasonably early (8 AM).
I started making coffee.
When Carl came downstairs I realized we had company.
Actually, I knew we had company – Dennis (film archivist) was staying here for the long weekend.
But this was different company. One of Ashlan’s friends.
Luckily she is also a soccer fan.
After pausing for a milk run, coffee making and breakfast preparation, the entire house sat down to watch the Germany-Argentina game. 

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent watching soccer, playing with the Jabulani, watching more soccer. 

Then it was off for a real birthday party (for Carl).
A barbeque with a few friends and a few more presents.
And films. 

Remember our friend Dennis. This is what he does when he is at our house, before he goes to wherever he is going to . 

Dennis creating a show

On this particular evening, the offerings were of sports through the ages. Baby races to kids workout films (1950s), all the way up to car races. Mostly from the 1930s to 1950s I believe. 

Dennis started the show with a clip just for me – a performance of Manhattan Serenade.
I took the sheet music for this song from my parents a few decades ago. I used to be able, and maybe still can, play it on the piano. But I had never heard it performed before last night.

One more offering from this gathering tomorrow – with pictures. 

Today – late start. Even later than the 3rd.
Spent trying to work my way through all of the things that have piled up from before we went to Tennessee.
Filing, sorting, putting things in order.
I actually feel much better for having spent the better part of the day putting things in order.
I would really like about a week to spread this order around. But I fear that will not be the case.

At the end of the Round of 16 the family positions are

Rey – Paraguay remains – beating Japan in penalty kicks

Carl – Uruguay remains – besting South Korea

Jay – Argentina & Spain – Spain won a good match against Portugal, and Argentina beat Mexico.

Ashlan – Ghana, Netherlands, Brazil and Germany – is positioned to have 3 of the 4 spots in the semi-finals, but will definitely lose either Netherlands or Brazil (they play each other.

Points during the game are the only ones that count. So we’re not counting the total scored (or not scored).
Two games a day is certainly easier to watch than three or four.

Monday is the day the trucks come to our house and remove the detritus that we put out next to the street. Most weeks it is yard waste, recycling and garbage. This week we had an extra ton of garbage. The old car was out there too. And was actually the first bit of trash to leave the curbside.

The tow truck driver was to come on Monday. And he did. We didn’t expect him before 7 AM. And he said if he had not been held up in traffic he would have been there 2 hours earlier. Since Carl had not put the keys in the glove box yet, it is good he was delayed. As the car was being pulled onto the truck, Carl realized the soccer ball hanging from the mirror was still there. When I cleaned out the car I was not looking up.

I called this our old car. To be truthful it was not that old. 10 years, just over 100,000 miles. I would consider it to be at midlife. Taken too early.

The last time I had to give up a car before I was ready to do so was in 1978. The car was my family’s (not mine) 1970 Ford Fairlane 500 Station Wagon (the Pucci Rustoli). Note I said give it up. As in leave it in Michigan when I moved to Colorado. Probably a wise decision by my parents, who knew better about taking care of cars.

But I was not ready to get a different car. Wasn’t even a blip in our financial horizon for another several years. But there you have it. Sometimes thing just happen. So I we have spent the last few weeks looking for a new car.

We had it down to Civic, Mazda 3 and Corolla. We usually are looking at the base model. Inexpensive, work horse, econo-box. [Yes, the Prius was our aberration.] Sunday was spent test driving the three, looking at costs, etc, etc, etc.

And today, as the broken car left, a new car replaced it.

We ended up with a Toyota Corolla. Recalls and all. Despite the calls for Honda out of Michigan (note that I think I may have had the first Honda in the bunch in 1980). The reason? It was the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise (thanks to the Grinch), and lack thereof in the Corolla. Especially on the highway. It also had more bells and electric whistles than the Civic, for basically the same price. The Mazda 3 was disappointingly lurchy when starting. When we started this journey, Carl really thought we would just get another Mazda. I had told people I did not want a Corolla. And there you go – don’t trust what I say.

I have never had as difficult a time actually buying the car. I was close to tears several times, and couldn’t hold them off when Carl got in to drive it away and the dealer asked how the experience had been. When writing out the checks I believe I actually said, “I don’t want any thing to do with this.” That about sums it up. But sometimes you have no choice.

As I said above, I have only had a car pulled away from me one other time. Other changes:

• 1976 Mustang (bought in 1978) – burned oil like crazy. Last Ford I have owned.
• 1980 Honda Civic (new car – replaced Mustang) – lasted 20 years and 280,000 miles. It was old and had lived a long full like. Ready to rest, and not because of rust.
• 1988 Honda Civic (new car – 2nd car) – lasted 5 years. We needed a bigger car, and it had better resale potential than the 1980. Plus it was never as good a car as the 1980.
• 1992 Dodge Caravan (used car – replaced 1988 Civic) – lasted 11 years. Was our big car when we had 5 kids to haul around. It was unusual in that is was a manual shift on a mini-van. It was nice for vacations with lots of people too. But again, not the best car, and we were ready for a new car when the number of kids dropped.
• 2000 Mazda Protegé (new car – replaced 1980 Civic) – lasted 10 years and 102,065 miles. Bargain basement $10,000 car on the lot. Not an electronic piece of equipment to be found on this car. Not even a radio. A great deal, and a good little basic car. Too young.
• 1998 Toyota Corolla – used car for Rey. Still going.
• 2004 Toyota Prius (new car – replaced 1992 Caravan) – Still going, over 95,000 miles.
• 2010 Toyota Corolla (new car – replaced 2000 Mazda) – We’ll see.

In conclusion. This has been difficult. But in the end, we really have no problems. Everybody is OK, and basically healthy. It is only a car.

So we are now poised at the start of the World Cup knockout stage.
Actually, the first game is really almost over, but thanks to the DVR and a little extra rest this AM, the game is just starting for us. S Korea v Uruguay.S Korea is my team, Uruguay Carl’s.

Which brings us to our current statistics. Now I have no thought that this is of interest to anybody outside of our family. But this will memorialize it, and keep Rey in touch (if in fact he has the time to read this).

After the Round-Robin Stage (3 games for each team)
Points: (3 for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss)

Rey = 31 Pts, with 8 Wins, 7 Losses, 9 Ties;
Goals for = 27, Goals against = 29, Differential = -2

Carl = 26 Pts, with 7 Wins, 12 Losses, 5 Ties;
Goals for = 15, Goals against = 19, Differential = -4

Jay = 29 Pts, with 8 Wins,  11 Losses, 5 Ties;
Goals for = 29, Goals against = 38, Differential = -9

Ashlan = 42 Pts, with 11 Wins, 4 Losses, 9 Ties;
Goals for = 27, Goals against = 15, Differential = +12

Goal differential, as a whole, doesn’t mean much, but for individual teams it can be the difference between going on or going home. Two teams out of each group of 4 in the Round Robin go on, and tie-breakers are frequently necessary.

Teams that are still alive are: (Pre Post-first game anyway)

Rey: (3) Slovakia, Paraguay, Portugal
Carl: (3) Uruguay, Chile, Japan
Jay: (4 3) South Korea, Mexico, Argentina, Spain
Ashlan: (6) USA, Ghana, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, England

Note that Ashlan will lose at least 2 teams in the first set of knockout games because she plays herself. I will lose one as well when Mexico and Argentina meet.

The number of games per day has also been reduced to a maximum of 2. Entirely watchable.

I stayed home this morning for an hour and watched the Brazil v Portugal.

Then it was off to work.
Calm J today, more or less.
Picky little things – not much big getting done.
Called the insurance lady, we chatted, nicely.
She apologized for sending a letter that got me so upset.
And they offered the $ amount I had thought would be reasonable.

So, I will send off the paperwork tomorrow, but not the keys.
Those will go to the tow truck driver when they come to take the car away. Possibly as early as Monday.

Then for the main event. Glitter and Be Gay. The Seattle Mens and Womens Chorus’ performing together. 400 of them. On risers. It was spectacular. They did Bernstein and Sondheim pieces.

Then back home to finish up the Spain vs Chile game. Today’s games finish the roundrobin portion of the World Cup. I will provide the families totals tomorrow.

This is Calm J. Boring, but calm.