Raincharm’s Weblog

Woo hoo. I got my first raise in 6 years or so. I really have not done anything different, but they reviewed ranges and paired me with the engineering manager. I am appreciative, but feel I  should be more excited. 

On the other hand a large project I am trying to get out of the starting blocks is in danger of stalling. I only slept about 3 hours Tuesday night, largely because I was fretting. But in true basic optimist fashion I spent yesterday trying to pull together information that could support  (or not) continuing forward at my pace for presentation at a meeting this afternoon. There is a regulatory deadline involved, but we only got one response to our request for consultants. So the question is whether they are the correct company. 

Enough about work. 

About the only snow left on our block is the reclining snowman. Temperatures are in the 40s and it is pouring.  Hard rain. 

Next natural phenomenon for the region should be flooding.  Melting snow and now an inch or two of rain. 

But as I sit in the car while my carpooler gets coffee I am reminded how much I like the sound of rain on the roof. 

Nude reclining on the lawn 

But on my way to work. 

Payroll and a few meetings. I could VPN for payroll, but the meetings would be more difficult. One is a Board meeting with an interesting hydrogeologic topic. 

And the more mundane work product as well. 

We had some company last night. A friend from Eugene OR drove up for a meeting with REI. Kind of ironic that REI called him to cancel this morning due to the snow. (Most schools are closed so it could be a child care thing.) He didn’t hit Seattle until about 6:30 last night. We had taped the Super Bowl to watch after he arrived, and another friend came over after he got off work. A small gathering with the game in the background. [I would have preferred Atlanta  to win, but the momentum shift was impressive. ]

Time for baseball and other distractions.

Day something less than 7.

I don’t want to count. I am torn between trying to stay current and trying to keep not mad. 

Our next move will be making the planned donation to PP.  This was supposed to happen on Inauguration (side note: when I started typing ina… the phone suggested “inappropriate”) day but we were both ill. Is it ironic that we were too sick to get to a health care provider?

And my big job now is to decide between an HSA or an HRA. Prescription costs may be a big part of the equation. Trying to figure out the actual cost of these is proving to be very difficult. I thought it was an easy question. 

On a fun note, the distraction of the  baseball season is getting closer. Fan Fest is this weekend, providing an opportunity to reconnect with folks we only see at the ballpark. 

Yesterday’s moment of serenity. 

We had our hats (paid a papasan to obtain). We know we can walk.

And then the flu. Yesterday was spent at home, much of it in a prone position. And then there were the back spasms that hit about mid-day. All of this put our walking in jeopardy.

In the end we both made the dentist appointment in the early morning.
We were trying to figure out how to  get to the start of the walk. Two neighbors said they were going – so let’s go together.

Drive? No
Bus? Most likely
Uber? – this was suggested by our neighbor.

As the four of us gathered, it became clear that this was one of those events that Uber drivers use to make an entire day’s fare in one ride. So we started toward the bus. That was when Carl declared he thought he should take the Ted route (another neighbor) and stay home to nurse his remaining flu symptoms. But he would be our Uber. In the end that was probably better than the bus. The bus stops we passed were packed, and the buses were filling up before they got to many of the stops.

Carl did manage to get us to Garfield High School, a half mile away from the proposed start of the walk. So we set off on foot, following the crowd walking to the walk.

The three of us hung out with the 130,000 or so others in a generally congenial mall-walk speed 3-mile effort. One news outlet reported the entire route was filled at one point. It was nice to get out. And the signs – oh my gosh. They were funny, heart-felt, long, short and everything in-between. (sorry that no signs really showed up in this shot, and I kept the phone in my pocket to better absorb the moments.) There were lots of families, young and old. My favorite – I am marching so my grandkids won’t have to.

I honestly think walking was good for the back, although getting in and out of the car was challenging. And in the end we wandered an extra half mile to a less crowded locale for our new Uber-like driver pick-up.

Thanks to all other like-minded individuals that made their own walks, in person or in spirit. Remember – it is not just about today.

The weekend was cold but gorgeous. We managed to get two bundled walks in. These were sandwiched around various football and futbol games. 

It would have been nice to continue the pattern into a third day, but alas, I had a full day meeting. It’s tough to find a day when 9 people are free, so use of a holiday (floating for us) is attractive. We have done this for 5 or 6 years now, and it feels assumed. This morning as I read about the local MLK March, I had a thought about trying to mix it up next year. My own little rebellion. 

When I returned from work my family work began. Looking over our last year’s health costs.  The reason was two-fold. 1. Our plan year end is coming up and I needed to understand how much use it or lose it self supplied health care money was left. (Looks like I’m getting a new pair of glasses.) 2. Next year’s plan is either going to be a HSA or HRA. Something starting with “High”. Not the PPOs I have known my entire working life, and I want to be prepared to understand how the change will look for us. But we will still have coverage, better or worse. For those on ACA plans the uncertainty must be unsettling.  I know it would be for me.

And now for a moment of serenity. 

I had the privilege of hanging out with Carl while he worked for a few hours.  That rarely happens because 1) he does not work out of our house and 2) he usually does not work on weekends. But he worked Saturday and picked me up to join him and Dean at the zoo. 

It was a chilly day so time was focused on the indoor exhibits. Most time was spent in the aviary, where the birds fly free, or in the zoomasium, where the kids run free.

Dean always kept an eye on Carl.  Me? He did not really care, and when I picked him up, he was not always content.  So to a casual observer it may have appeared that I was not very involved. What kind of a mother/aunt/grandmother is she!

Finally heading to work in the passenger seat.  It’s been a few weeks. Here are the morning sights that have been here all week, but I have only been able to give them limited attention. Driving and all.

I  really enjoy seeing the tree’s skeleton with the winter light. (The last one just looks confused, or how my desk looks at times.)

And the horizons. 

Slept in a bit, but won’t claim uninterrupted wakefulness to midnight.  Our new year was welcomed by light snowfall  (or rain or hail depending on your specific locale). It remains in places not touched by the sun.

And it is sunny, so we are out on a walk.  And at this moment in time I am on a blog, and Carl is on a play. 

We both spent some time in our home gym this morning, but I would not refer to this as a resolution.  More like an opportunity. 

One of the prettier sights today. 

And one of the more frustrating. 

Enterprise apparently can’t distinguish their parking area from the sidewalk. (If you enlarge the sign above the No Parking sign, it is trying to educate folks from not parking in the new bike lane.)

Time to head back towards home. 

Christmas 2016 – Our day started at a relatively reasonable hour. As with many families the youngest member got us up and moving – even though she was in NYC. She had people to see and places to be, so we got on Skype to say our Merry Christmas. It was a bit reminiscent of when the kids were very young and would literally take most of the day to open their presents. [They would stop and play with each as it was opened.] We had several phone calls with grandparents that included statements like, “We don’t know whether they like it, we have not opened it yet.”]

After breakfast, coffee and presents, we made contact with other far-flung family members, had a snack and set out into the fairly deserted streets. The percentage of walkers to drivers was definitely higher than normal. We figured some were walking off their dinner. We, on the other hand, were building up our appetites. Our path meandered a bit, but generally headed downhill to the Fremont Troll.

Carl wanted to go look at the Patches Pal (and Gertrude) picture. [They were a kids TV show duo local to Seattle. Too early for our kids, but right in time for many of our friends that grew up in the area.] Carl got down on the ground and verified there is a hidden message under Gertrude’s skirt. “Caught you peeking”

It was a great walk down, cool temperatures, but no rain.
Of course, what goes down must come back up. That meant a long uphill to get back home. Not anything too steep, just a constant up hill incline.

The Inuit have many different words for snow. Seattle  has many different terms for precipitation; fog, mist, drizzle, showers, rain, downpour, wintery mix and of course snow. The showers and rain differential is start and stop versus constant. When somebody says it is being Seattle outside, they are normally referring to the 30-day drizzle that is sometimes called November. [We once had an out of town visitor that was considering a move to Seattle. They visited in November, and left after a bit, saying they could not take the constant grey.]

We also managed to get a few chores done during the holiday break.
The house is a bit lighter as we reduced our TV count from 4 to 2. 1 had been waiting for about a year as the 27-inch behemoth had been replaced last Christmas by a beautiful flat screen (thanks to the kids). The second was actually a bit harder to part with – my original TV. A black and white set purchased from Sears in 1978. It still worked, but just was not used any longer. It moved from Colorado to Seattle, buckled into the front seat of the little brown Honda. It was our only TV until we went for a small color set sometime in 1985 or 86, so Carl could more easily tell which team was which (color and all). The B&W was never connected to cable, but did successfully transition to digital TV when forced.

We did get to spend a few more days with Rey, and that was fun, but we all had to get back to work. (At least I did. Carl had the week off and Rey got an extra vacation day on his return.)

And in case you have 10 minutes to spare and want to see one of my work bits from 2016, here is a link to my Groundwater talk. This is a group that puts together short videos that teachers can use to support their classroom work. Another co-worker volunteered that we would participate, but then suggested I knew more about the subject than he did. I did, but relied heavily on our Groundwater Hydrologist consultant for pictures and details.

Since it is New Years Eve – don’t do anything too crazy. Let’s get 2017 off to a great start, and maybe we can coast through the rest of the year. [We are going to pick up some friends at the airport (no snow, no snow, no snow please), and then be cozy and warm at our house while we try to make it to midnight to toast the new year.]