Raincharm’s Weblog

The primary focus of our day away from home was the Greek Festival at St. Demetrious. On Boyer. This annual festival is just the right distance for an easy walk. You have enough energy to enjoy the festival, and feel like you may have worked off some of the food. Today we had gyros, souvlaki, Greek fries and loukoumades. There was more we did not have, but we weren’t trying to spend the entire afternoon.

The festival was quite crowded. I think this probably reflected a slow Saturday when it rained hard off and on. This contrasted with the roads that were empty. Everyone was watching the Seahawks. It was even on at the festival.

We did see the new pedestrian overpass from the UW stadium and new light rail station to the campus side of a major intersection.

And there was this (for all of my Michigan car buffs)

I could not figure out the make until we found this.

A lovely fall day. I hope yours was too.

I missed game 1, and Carl missed most of the game. Work. What are we on the west coast to do.

We are enjoying game two with the Handleys. At least we are trying. St. Louis just hit a home run. (I am the only one in the room that did not spend part of my youth in the Chicago area.)

And while it is not politically correct to have a favorite child. I guess today it would be Ashlan. Sorry Rey.

It’s a nice afternoon to watch a game inside as it’s pouring here. A very Seattle thing to happen in October.

Hoping for better weather tomorrow so we can walk to the Greek Festival.

We left for Safeco field at about 9:20 this morning. We should leave Century Link field at about 9:00 PM. A long day, but so far so good.

Mariners won their last game 3-2, over the Athletics. We did a fair amount of scoreboard watching during the game.
Before the game we wandered and said so long to seat hosts, alcohol enforcement, coaches and a few players. Carl got four more baseballs, for a season total of 197. Just a few shy of a milestone.
And ichiro pitched an inning for Miami. Makes me wonder whether he is ready to retire.
A few years ago Ashlan went to six Mariner and one Sounder game. All were wins, and one was Felix Hernandez’s perfect game.
This week I have been to six Mariner games and am awaiting the Sounders. My record is 2-4, so far. I guess I don’t have the touch.

Again the weather has been remarkably nice for October. And I have been able to spend time with Carl and friends.

Go Sounders. And don’t let 6 AM come too early tomorrow morning.

We are in the 13th inning of the second to last day of the season for the Mariners. It is not raining, and not too cold, although the marine layer has descended.
The As are winning by two runs, courtesy of a home run.
Now is the Mariners last chance to come back.
Do we want a 14th inning?

Remember when you listened to your grandparents or parents complain about their health and ailments? We should have listened a little closer – it was probably more about their healthcare provider and working the insurance maze/scams etc. I have officially become old this past half year.

Having a kidney stone out of state has made the jumping thru hoops to get payment ten-fold difficult. Doctors tell you they’re going to do something, and just don’t.

Is it the gray hair?

Is it just elder abuse and all the fun they get from that?

Are they just trying to find the worst HOLD music of all time?

Trying to not cover procedures or just making the process so drawn out that you forget must be the motive. Maybe my heart will rupture with stress while on hold and it’ll all be over.

Where’s the fun in that?

[This is a guest post. Or rather a guest rant.]

Baseball season is drawing to a close. At least here in Seattle. And because the only thing Seattle can do is spoil another teams playoff dreams, we have tickets to all of the games ( nobody else wants them ).

I don’t know whether I have been to a full home stand all year. It is work.in addition to work.

That said, the weather has been remarkably nice for many days in a row. High in the 60s, lower by the end of the game – requiring a warm jacket. Unless you are Carl of course. And the others attending the game tend to be interested in baseball rather than just making the scene. The guys have been hauling in the balls during batting practice, and making friends giving their prizes away.

Morning comes early.

And the moon has been bright enough to wake me up every night this week.

I am taking off Friday to celebrate fan appreciation day. And of course there is now a chance of rain.

Saturday we will be joined by friends from out of town for the final weekend, and Carl just pointed out that the Mariners game on Sunday is followed by a Sounders game that evening.

Perhaps I should have taken Monday off instead.

This is the Silver Foxes. Their season ended last Sunday with a double-header. They finished second in their division.

I am sitting on the couch, watching bits and pieces of movies. The end of my day and the weekend.

Yesterday Carl had a game. We were disappointed to miss the Mariners honoring Jamie Moyer, pitcher extraordinaire, but we were fine with missing the Mariners dissolving in the 11th inning, losing 11-3. Today several people told Carl they saw him on the big screen yesterday. It took us a few times to figure out they were showing a bit of an interview from a few days earlier, since he was not even at the stadium.

Today we did make the game, and sat in the K section for Felix.

And the Mariners won. Even with Rodney pitching the 8th inning. (And for those not familiar with all things baseball, Rodney is our cross to bear. No lead is safe when he is on the mound.)

Carl felt so good he suggested we walk home. This was after walking to the game as well. And sitting in the sun for nine innings.

The morning started with a short walk of about a mile for breakfast. We met Dan (nephew out of LA) and his friends Michael and Valerie (out of St. Louis) at the Portage Bay Cafe, home of steel cut oats and eggs benedict. Good food and stories.

Yes, pictures of food.

Then back on the road, or sidewalk, for the 5-1/2 miles to reach the stadium. We were entertained by counting bikes participating in the Obliteride fund raising ride. We saw almost 150 riders on the 10 mile route.

I was really not sure about the wisdom of the walk home. I had not taken a long walk for well over a month. Starting with a loonng version …. Well we did survive.

As I said earlier, I am sitting on the couch.

Bonus for today: picking up a new used baseball mitt for Carl to replace the one that blew out again yesterday. We were browsing in the Play it Again Sports store. I pointed out a Wilson A2000 model. Apparently it is a reasonably good glove, with the right price. I only mentioned it because it reminded me of the Nimbus 3000 of Harry Potter game.

That’s the new mitt.
And now it’s time to stand up.

We spent the last four days sleeping in a hotel. It was a good hotel. Close to the center of our activities, relatively roomy, and wi-fi enabled. There was a game room with foosball that provided a few moments of fun, frequently at my expense. And then there was the continental breakfast. Best I have experienced in quite a while. Between the breakfast and all of the other eateries we came up with a new scorecard. The Bacon Scale. There was bacon everywhere and in everything. Burgers, eggs, salads, and of course solo.
It really should be the Bacon and Sausage Scale, as we tried many different types of sausage to go with the bacon.

We managed to see a baseball game while out and about. Imagine that. And a Mariner win to boot. (I have no idea where that saying comes from, but it sounds right.) Felix Hernandez was good but not great. It was fun to be in a different ballpark and share some time with other fans of both teams. (And Carl got four baseballs.)

The main reason for visiting was to see Bob. The kids came too so it was a real family vacation.

three generations

Steve in his environment

And now it’s back to the grind. Coming home with no further plans over the next month it feels like summer is already passing into fall.

Please be kind. This was written on my phone on the plane.

So we have been back home, rather briefly in fact. But a few notes on interesting bits along the way.

Do you know that when you fly out of the Chippewa County International Airport you have to remove your fudge from your carry-on baggage for inspection. Like it was your computer, or C-pap machine, or shoes. Even as a TSA pre-check I had to dig through all of the stuff above the fudge in the backpack to pull it out. And yes, many, many people at this airport would be carrying fudge back home. [This is the Chippewa County Airport of, “Boarding at Gate 1,” fame.

Voting – there is an election on Tuesday, we have to vote by Friday. I have all but one figured out. I like these early preliminary races because it lets you read the statements of the less than likely to be elected. Goodspaceguy has been in several races over the years. And yes, I believe he legally changed his name.

Work has been excessively busy. A side effect of taking a few weeks off. And today I learned that there is apparently an, “Appropriate amount of crap.” Being in the sewer business, I have now been tasked with determining what that amount might be.

The Mariners can’t win consistently – still. They won two games in a row a few games ago and that was news!  But that doesn’t mean they can’t put on a good show. (WAIT FOR THE END)

Camera phones – can’t ever get it quite straight.

That’s the Blue Angels if you couldn’t figure it out.

THE GRAND HOTEL

Approximately 30 years ago Carl & I spent a night in this wondrous place. Slightly to the right of the center portico, on the 2nd or 3rd floor, in the Honeymoon Suite. It was glorious.

I could try to describe this place, but I will let their sign do the basic work. (To see the hotel in action, watch the movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves.

It has the longest porch in the world – and some rocking chairs to enjoy while relaxing and taking in the scenery.

We did take in the scenery. There is a small airport on the island, but almost everybody arrives by boat.
Pooh & Mark took a boat that was included with their bicycle tour – along with their bikes.

Ready to Ride

Carl & I took the slow boat named the Huron to Mackinac Island. It really did seem to just sort of putter along. Not un-enjoyable, as we were not in any particular hurry. Just slow.

On the island we continued in the slow vein, by walking. No bicycles and no horses or carriages.
[For any that do not know, this island does not use motorized vehicles. Except maybe the ambulance and fire engine.]
We met Pooh and Mark for lunch, including an appropriate beverage.

All-in-all we probably did 3 miles, including a Seattlesque hill and over 200 stairs back down to lake level.

Since we are in the recovery mode right now we decided that was probably quite enough, and quite probably more than should have been attempted. [We see the doctor again on Tuesday and will find out what level of tongue lashing we will receive.]

The boat we took on the return voyage was the Mackinac Strait II. This boat seemed much faster than the first, and included a tour guide of sorts. One of the tidbits of information provided was that their other boat (the Huron) was an ice-breaker. So perhaps this was part of the reason for the slow and steady ride over, sans ice.

We also learned a bit about the Mackinac Bridge. 5 miles of the safest freeway in America. (Longer than the Golden Gate)
[A Yugo went off once, but other than that a really good safety record.]
The towers do not hold up the road. They hold up the cables. The cables hold the road, which can move as much as 15 feet side to side within the towers. The road can also stretch and move as much as 40 feet vertically if heavily loaded. Back when the bridge was built (after I was born, but before Carl) a semi-truck weighed about 15,000 pounds. Now they weigh 80,000. This is why their speed is limited to 25 mph, and their spacing is at least 200 feet apart. A lake freighter did hit one of the towers once, and did about $20,000 damage to the bridge. Fixing the boat cost $250,000. [The bridge crosses the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet – just so you know. In case you did not.]

Back at the cabin for dinner, tired after a full day.