Raincharm’s Weblog

From Friday at approximately 3:30 until about 12:40 this afternoon I, and others at work, have been in response mode.

I am essentially exhausted. More mentally than physically.
Friday afternoon I took a call from the lab where we send our water samples for testing. We take 60-70 samples per month, so nothing strange at the call. Except they were reporting one sample showed EColi.

This is bad.

Luckily I was able to grab two of our water crew as they were driving away. In short, we took more samples that evening, called a planning meeting for the morning, and notified about two dozen folks to either report on Sunday morning, or be on standby. If the new samples also showed problems we would be in a boil water situation. (We re-test because there are reasons you can get false positives, and that is what’s usually found.)

The lab results were supposed to be available on the new samples between 10-11 am Sunday.
The minutes ticked away. 10, 11, 12 noon.
The lab is not answering their phone.

We finally resorted to sleuthing on the internet. Identified the owner of the lab, got his home phone number from whitepages.com. And called. He finally went to the lab to get our results.
NEGATIVE ALL

A huge sight of relief.
In retrospect the past 48 hours were excellent training, and more than a few employees earned some overtime.

Me, I would have preferred to take a few walks in our balmy 50 degree weather.

(The lab results were delayed because their worker was at church.)

I think I may have a drink.
No, not water. But coffee made with water, and a little something extra added.

Yeah

My most frequent decision today may be whether to wear my glasses near the bridge of my nose or on the tip of my nose.

I had enough old lady comments from Carl yesterday to last a year. (Tip of the nose predominated.) And it seems to be developing a bit of a scab now.

Or

Potential for neck problems exacerbated by multi- focals.

Definitely self-inflicted problems.

We had one family birthday last week. And now another – how time marches on.

Carl was saying how old his brother is getting to be, until I pointed out that I am only a few months behind his brother.

Today is as spectacular as yesterday was weatherwise. I am sitting in the sun on a bench at a schoolyard, reading about health care choices, while Carl throws batting practice to high school kids.
We walked here, about 4 miles. This was our second sojourn of the day. The first was about 2 miles, and included purchasing a new pair of walking shoes. The second walk was to check out the new kicks.
Yesterday was great fun except for a small incident with a soccer ball and eyeglasses and a nose. My nose to be specific.

Still trying to put together a good story where I don’t look the total fool.

Carl is the romantic in our family. So I have been treated to notes in my lunchbox all week.

Monday on the right, Friday to the left.

And a candy bar on Friday.
(It was supposed to be in the picture,but my carpooler was itching to leave so I compromised my idea.) ((It was certainly not because I had finished it already.))

We are celebrating the day by starting at the acupuncturist. Then we will find breakfast, and hopefully a nice walk to work off breakfast.

After that the day will unfold however it does. But no work. I have to balance out for Carl’s whole week.

It is possible to drive a car without its key!

It is a lesson I learned yesterday.
Actually today is when I figured it out for sure. Yesterday I only suspected.

So – fairly regular morning in the Seattle not quite fog.
Windows need wiping down before driving.
I started the car, key safely in my pocket.
Got out of the car to squeegee off the windows.
Noticed the dome light on in our neighbors car.

I did not want the car to stop if the key was too far away, so I put it on the rear of the car.
Turned off the dome light.
Finished the window chore.
Got in the car and drove to work.

Several hours later, went to leave work.
We had tickets to see Carouse-al at the 5th Avenue Theater, and thought we would get a bite first.

First sign of trouble.
The door did not unlock at my touch.
And that’s when I noticed that the key was not in my pocket.

I had managed to drive to work, and just assumed that the key had to be with me as I drove. So I emptied my backpack, purse, searched the ground around the car, searched my office, retraced my steps through the office.

And remembered putting the key on the back of the car 25 miles earlier.

Lesson:
The key is required to start the car.
Not to drive the car.

LUCKILY, my carpooler was still at work and we each had a car that day.

So we missed the bite out, made the show, and drove around the neighborhood searching for a lost key fob.
No luck. Took the second key to the office today so I could retrieve the car.

So tonight we got to drop the car and remaining key off at the dealer, so they can program a new key – and reprogram the remaining key. That way if somebody found the key – it won’t work anymore.

And my carpooler gets to drive again.
I think I may need to drive every day next week.

AND – since it is Friday the 13th, it must be someone’s birthday.

Definitely the Evil Sister

And, no, it is not my mother’s birthday.

Spoke briefly with the Girl today.
She is moving soon – to a new place.
In Hell’s Kitchen.

And yes, into the penthouse.

The Penthouse View

So, it has only taken her 4 years in the working world to make it to the penthouse.
I have been working for over 30 years, and have only made it to the second floor.

Well, there was a brief stint on the 5th floor, but we managed to sink down a bit since then.

Looking at other pictures from the new place I noticed a spiral staircase. She has one in her current apartment as well. I don’t know if that is how you access her room in the new place, but it seems to be a trend for her.

We did take advantage of the lack of precipitation today and went for a 7-mile walk.
With a brunch stop. Always a plus.
Stopped by two friend’s houses along the way, but it seems as though everyone was out enjoying the day.

Or perhaps February 6th is 3 Kings Day.

But that would be 1 King’s Day – Babe Ruth’s 120th birthday.

Thanks Pooh

Or maybe this is Santa on vacation.

Yesterday Carl & I went for a walk.

Nothing new there, but there was a 15 minute stretch when we felt we had taken our lives in our hands feet. All of the drivers seemed very intent, and not patient at all. I put this all down to SUPER angst.

I know many people who are confident, those that are not, and there is just a fair amount of trepidation waiting for the game to start. Almost all offices seemed to have Seahawk day/celebrations. Pictures of office groups abound.

12 flag 95 feet up (in front of our office)

We had our work pot-luck on Wednesday.
That may seem a bit early, but 3 of our 50 were leaving the next day to drive on down.
Given the ticket prices (I heard from 2 people going $2600 and $3000) this game is not likely to ever be in our future.

I am on the nervous nelly side of the fence, and really want this game to get underway.

So I have put together a list of chores that will probably take longer than the 5 hours I have left before the game.

GO HAWKS

Space Needle with 12 flag

(The crane in the background is near our house – for perspective)

I got home before it was dark out today due to a slightly shorter than normal day.

We took advantage of the fading sunlight to exercise my sore back.
The back has been sore for several days and I was in search of a heating patch.
So we set off for Bartell’s Drugstore – not the closest one, but the larger one in University Village.

It is between 1-1/2 to 2 miles from our house, and generally downhill to the shopping center.
Reaching our destination, they did not have the type of back patch we were looking for, or postcard backs, or LEGO figures or anything else we were looking for. We did manage to pick up TURBO Tax (ready for your W-2s Rey).

Heading through the mall on the way out we happened by a store that had LARGE bottles of the shampoo and conditioner I like that are very difficult to find in the large size. What’s another $100 or so. (But we did get 2 free travel sizes with the gigantic ones.)

Bumble & Bumble

Finally took a turn for home.

We headed up the 45th Street incline. (For those that know Seattle). This is a route that rises from the near lake level to the heights of the University. About a 200 foot gain in about 1/3 of a mile. That is really a hill, not an incline. It is a bit of a Seattle thing to differentiate between the various grades of hill. Sort of like twenty different varieties of precipitation.

Finally passed by another version of a drug store – but no back patches to my liking.
Home again, home again.

Almost $200 lighter (or heavier for the person carrying the bag) and despite no back patches, I think the walk may have helped.