Raincharm’s Weblog

As much of the rest of the country preps for the huge storm, we are basking in the sunshine. It is winter, so it’s cold, only low 40s, but sunny.

So we walked, again.

I also noticed a sign in a front yard I hadn’t seen before, although it has probably been there for 20 years. In my defense this area is on a steep hill and we’re usually going uphill on this stretch. But today was downhill and I spent more time looking around instead of at my feet.

Our first crocuses.

The basement work for today included building the last of the shelving units we bought. Moving some things onto said shelves. The things today were mostly emergency supplies. Food, fire starters, stove, etc. And finally cleaning a mat that is going to the giveaway pile. It wasn’t too dirty, just surface dirt.

All for today, until tomorrow’s sun shines again.

Living in a big city there are several post office branches that we can use. Which one is visited depends on the task at hand, and how much time can be used for the trip.

Many times there is an associated walk. It can be a mile or two or more. So that’s a factor. And almost always the post office trip is because we are taking something there to mail, or perhaps buying stamps. Carl sends a lot of mail. He is single handedly trying to keep the post office in business, so there are frequent trips.

Today’s trip was for a pickup.

An order had been placed a while ago. And the order was delivered to our house, but one of the items didn’t work out and so the company sent a replacement.

Instead of the normal tracking number and estimated delivery date we got an  email telling us the package is at a USPS Parcel Shop for pickup, with an address. This was unexpected as we assumed a home delivery.

We walked to the address provided, but it was nothing to do with a post office. It was a business that makes light switches. They were very nice but no packages.

I clicked on a different Track Your Package link and it brought up a map showing a Post Office a few blocks away.

This is the Post Office we would not choose for an efficient trip, but not our choice. There were about 6 people in line in front of us. Not a great sign with only one counter person, but there we were.

We got to the front of the line and told them our story. She requested a tracking number.  I hadn’t seen one yet, so I started clicking on anything that looked like a link. Finally the post office tracking number appeared and I wrote it out for the one counter person. She disappeared into the back, and was gone. And continued to be gone while the line grew, and grew, and grew. It felt like an hour but was probably less than 10 minutes before she showed up with our package. Provided ID and we were on our way, apologizing to the 10 or so now in line as we left.

Questions for this interlude: 1) Why didn’t they deliver it to our house as they did before; and 2) Where did they come up with the address the email directed us to initially?

One bonus for this adventure, other than just taking a walk, was finding a pocket park we hadn’t seen before.

$25, $2 for train fare, and a cup of coffee.

My payments for 2 hours of my time, not including travel, for jury duty in the City of Seattle Municipal Court.

During orientation they indicated there were 6 or 7 cases that were ready for trial this week, and so they could be paneling 2 juries. They said some of the 6 could request a delay, or indicate they had settled. In the end there were zero cases moving forward. Jurors dismissed!

Positive note: The jury room is on the 12th floor of the Seattle Courthouse.

Funny note: There were two parts to the orientation. 1) In person information about the areas the jurors hang out in, and some basic expectations. 2) A video about the jury selection and trial process. The video wouldn’t load, the computer was restarted a few times, turned off and on, your basic efforts to make it work. We could see most of this on the screen where the video would play. So IT was called. As soon as the IT guy walks up to the computer, it works. TYPICAL!

Because it was a sunny day, and now free, we took a walk with a few groceries picked up along the way.

My word for the day is slower.

I just didn’t get as much done, but picked at things here and there.

Got my old typewriter into it’s case. I found a strap to secure it. I cleaned the dust off of 2 pairs of cross-country skis that haven’t been used in two decades. If we still have boots for them I haven’t found them. Also 3 sets of ski poles and a ski bag. All of these have been moved into the garage for the eventual garage giveaway.

And there were calls to both Medicare and UW Medicine to clear up a few bills Medicare denied because they thought we still had other coverage. One was just 3 days post retirement, so records had not been updated.

And I ended my day with a call from one of my former co-workers looking for recollections of another co-worker who is being put up for some recognition. I am one of the few who remember work details from when I started 38 years ago. The worker in question has been there 40 years, but started so young that I don’t think he’s even at retirement age yet.

Another day, another walk. 

It has been sunny for several days. That lack of clouds means it’s been cold in the mornings, around freezing. Frosty! I’ve managed to have enough things to do in the house to delay the walks until the sun warmed the air a bit.

Today’s walk had a grocery store stop and breakfast for lunch. We went east on the way out and west on the way home. If you know Seattle that means going up and down over significant ridges. There were two peaks to summit each way. I don’t know the elevation gain/loss, but several roads were steep enough that there are ridges in the sidewalks.

From the web, “These are called corrugated concrete sidewalks and were likely installed between about 1910 and 1944. Like others have said you can find them all over the city.”

There was also work in the basement, mostly moving things around. The Christmas decorations were put away. But the grand idea to put the tree stand on the floor level under the decorations did not work. The stands legs are too wide for the area.

One item I have decided to part with is my manual typewriter, an Adler J5. It was my high school graduation present and heavily used through college. I did continue to use it occasionally even after we got a computer. But now it has been several years and it can go. The only wrinkle is the case is broken, the hinge at the bottom is essentially gone, two separate halves. I’m trying to fashion a duct tape hinge. Attempt 1 was not successful. Attempt 2 is scheduled for tomorrow.

On the positive cleaning side, a bench I made many years ago has been free-cycled from the front yard. Actually our neighbor’s front yard.

Steps for the day, 13,000 plus.

I started the day removing some slats that made up a base for some old basement shelves. I figure maybe 80 years old.

I heard the prior owners, Bill and Neva, had a victory garden. These shelves appear to be for canned goods and whatever else. Bill and Neva lived here for 50 years. I believe before that it was Neva’s parents, who bought from the builder. We’ve been in this house since 1993, about 35 years. And the house turns 100 this year.

But the bottom shelf slats on the concrete floor were very wet during the flood and the stuff on them was ruined. I’m not trusting their dry out, and removed them.

I now have to decide whether these can go in yard waste or garbage. I’m not sure they are really raw wood, so leaning to garbage.

The empty shelves are where Christmas stuff is stored. It’s still upstairs, but I think I’m safe to move it back as long as it’s not on the floor. The floor slat level used to have Halloween stuff in boxes. All of that left with the junk hauler. I think this will be the new home for our Christmas Tree stand. It’s heavy and should be on the ground, not on a closet shelf above head height where it used to be stored.

And, unlike my thoughts this morning, we did take a long walk this afternoon.

Our biggest activity today was a long walk. We essentially went north, and then south to go home. North is uphill and south is downhill.

There were a few motives for this walk. Getting some furniture slides for the newest, yet to be built shelving units, from Maple Leaf Ace Hardware, and seeing if the Mountain was visible from the Maple Leaf reservoir. We were successful on both counts.

The route was  2-1/2 miles each way. There is a Macrina bakery very near the turnaround. Since it had been uphill to get there, we felt we deserved a treat. Yum.

Over 12,000 steps for the day, but not much else was accomplished. Watching both futbol and football, and working on a jigsaw puzzle. Bit of a lazy day.

It was sort of nice outside today. So I decided it was time to prune the raspberry patch.

I am not all confident that we will have a crop this summer. Probably some, but not a lot. I wonder if I can plant some new canes now, for the future. And the plants that are growing are confused.

There were only a few fruiting, but I just don’t know.

On the house plant side, this amarylys is blooming. It is doing pretty well. I have a history of killing plants, not intentionally. I always feel guilty. My mother was the exact opposite. She loved plants, spent hours working with them, volunteered at the botanical gardens, and had a greenhouse included with the house my parents built.

Working towards the future, we bought two more shelving units. Not quite as wide as the first two, to fit into spaces where a wider shelf wouldn’t work.

Part of me feels we need the shelves for better organization. Another part of me says having more will make it easier to retain things we don’t really need.

Today started with sleeping in. I had a hard time falling asleep. And the rest of the day I kept saying, “It’s X o’clock already?”

The first order of the day was a trip to Costco. It had been since before Christmas, and maybe Thanksgiving when we last graced the establishment. Part of our Costco runs includes food bank donations, so the second order was a stop at the food bank.

And then it was lunch, already.

In the afternoon I finally made it back to the basement, or more specifically, the garage.

Rearranging a lot of stuff at first, swept and vacuumed, and then built the second set of shelves.

The second set of brown shelves is a set we have had for some time. It lived in the kitchen for several years. Then it was relegated to the basement, where it was subjected to our recent flood. The darkness on the bottom shelf shows how much the particle-board soaked up. It is dry now. .

My first use for these sets of shelves is to collect stuff that we want to get rid of. And then get rid of it through a free garage sale. And whatever doesn’t “sell” will be taken to wherever that’s not our house. The particle board shelves will be departing is amoung the pieces free to any interested party.

The tools on the wall to the right, are not leaving. There is still much to clean and go through in the basement, and finding a home for all, at least temporarily, will be a challenge.

I’m pretty sure there’s at least one more set of shelves in our near future.

As noted in an earlier post we take walks and Carl keeps his eyes peeled for coins. This afternoon we set out yet again.  A 10,000 step walk in the end although that was not a goal when we started.

Carl spotted 7 coins, all pennies. 

One required a repeat visit to an intersection because it was too busy when it was first spotted. It was just as busy on the return trip, but there was a swoop during the crosswalk passage planned, and it went off flawlessly.

“One of these things is not like the others.”

Can you spot the oddball?

One is a wheatback.

Wheatbacks are relatively rare nowadays. Produced from 1909 to 1958.

The date on this particular penny is 1943, which means it’s a Steel Penny. They changed to steel in 1943, with only dated 1944, because they needed the copper for the war effort.

The Lincoln Memorial was added to the backside of the coin in 1959, on the 50th anniversary of the Lincoln penny.

This is all to avoid talking about work in the basement, that just didn’t happen today