Raincharm’s Weblog

I was listening to the radio driving in to work this morning.
A DJ asked what people did to celebrate President’s Day.
I guess we don’t have any traditions here. I remember when there were both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays to celebrate, and figuring out at some point that the calendar changed after Washington was born, so what was the “real date” of his birth.

I celebrated today by going to work. I am a government employee, but my wonderful employer has designated four of the holidays as “floaters”. You can choose to take them off as holidays, or you can save them to take at a later date – but it has to be in the same calendar year. Initially most people focused on the week between Christmas and New Years Day. Some still do, but it is really all over the board.

I did come home in a bit of a celebratory mood because

• Traffic was very light going to work this morning.
• I had a total of 2 phone calls at work today – both from my hubby.
• Traffic was very light coming home this evening. Basically no traffic (second work day in a row).

Tonight we are going to eat dinner and then do some more house measuring.
It is really time to get it done and off of the to-do list. It needs to be to-done.
I know this because the architect we are working with e-mailed me and offered to do it himself.

Dinner’s cooking and I’ve got to run.

How did you celebrate?

Yesterday was SUNNY and WINDY!

We took a walk on the windy day. Blown hither and yon, but not into the drink as we skirted Green Lake. Playing later with a few of Carl’s tykes. It was the kind of day where you feel as though you had been skiing. Ruddy cheeks.

Today we took a drive. North and back.
Sunny again, and not so windy.
Ashlan, two friends and Jay.
In three different places, 2 in the US and 1 in Canada, there were large flocks of swans.

Sitting, flying, generally hanging about.
I am thinking that they may be mid-migration, or perhaps they have arrived.

Border waits – 10 minutes northbound, and a rather abrupt border guard.
20 minutes southbound (really about 15, but the sign said 20). A nice guard who said, “Welcome Home”

Traffic was busy, but not too busy – except in a few places.
A basically uneventful trip, just like I like ’em.

Up, off to work, work, home, cook dinner, eat, sleep, repeat. Try to find some time to play.

Such is the life of us 40 hour a week sloggers.
The off to work – work – home bit can vary a lot – and the “40-hour” week can become 50, 60, 100 hour weeks.
Then you try to cut out or slim down on the other bits.

The boy was trying to decide how to prepare a dinner dish the other day, and was leaning toward the faster, but possibly less satisfying option one night – because it was late when he got home.

I know many people that have solved this problem by use of a crock pot. One of those that can whip up a tasty day-long cook-fest is my car-pooler. He was telling me about a crock pot cook book that he enjoyed.

The first time he told me I only remembered the  “Slow Cooker” joke that went along with the present to his niece. (Remember, the name is not about you.)

Today I asked him for the title again. I heard “Aggressive Peas for the Slow Cooker.” When I repeated what I heard he busted out laughing. (Correct title = the title Recipes for the Slow Cooker.

So now I have to consider my choices.

I have a job – for 23 years now.
I really do like my job.
I can’t quite imagine moving to another job, at least not right now.

Jobs that have paychecks result in taxes to be paid.
I have no problem with that particular theory.

I do know that it took me FAR TOO LONG to get our taxes done this year.
Self employment and a car that disappeared from our life halfway through the year. Who would have thought it would be such a problem for me to follow all of those helpful little directions.
I did get through the education deduction bit with little delay. I guess after 6 years of kids in school I figured it out. Of course the last is almost out. (of school that is)

I also know a lot of people that are not working.
I am not complaining. I just spent many more hours staring at a computer screen and papers than I needed to. And what the heck is MACR depreciation?

First (and foremost) – or maybe thirdmost

JANE! Not plain.

Jane (and Dave, Rey, Mouse & Mom)

It is also the birthday of my friend Sherry – from grade school on.

One of them is older than me, and the other is younger. Sorry I am not in Michigan to celebrate, with either of you.

That’s the question – the answer in Seattle is, “Monday.”
The weather forecasters had predicted yet another wet and rainy Seattle weekend.
But when my eyes opened this morning they detected a certain brightness. Maybe even sun.
So I raced downstairs and declared we needed to walk. (Carl got up with the first brightness in the room.)
After taking a bit to coffee, clean a bit, make a bed, and determine that it was still dry, we headed out.

I wanted to go to the University Farmer’s Market to get some root vegetables to try roasting. The market is a year-round Saturday happening, located about 1/2 mile southeast from our house. So we headed east, and 4 miles later made it to the market.

Along our route we went through the Cowin-Ravenna park ravine, and up a trail that comes to the main trail. Carl said he had been up it once previously with on of the kids, just exploring. It turned out to be quite steep at the end, but the payoff was a pedestrian bridge that crossed a side-ravine tying too neighborhoods together. After determining that to play pooh-sticks from this bridge would also entail considering the wind direction and speed – and then just hoping your stick would hit the creek. Mine was in the watercourse, but hung up on a branch in the stream. Carl hit more in the center and declared himself the winner, although I am not sure his stick really traversed under the bridge.

We then struck out through some other neighborhoods, intending to make the University Village our turn back point. However, the rain drops started to appear so we decided to slingshot around a cemetery instead, and start the trek back west. Saw many shoots poking through the ground. Crocus with hints of color, and daffodil leaves, maybe some tulip leaves too. Instead of heading back to the ravine, or the adjacent winding road (Ravenna), we went up the NE 52nd stairs. 233 stairs by Carl’s count. And we discovered that there were actually a few more stairs to the east that we had cut off by our decision on which low road to find the stairs from.

Then to the U District Starbucks and market. We got both a batch of potatoes (small mixture of reds, whites and blues) and a 5-lb bag of root vegetables (including a few more potatoes).

Sounds like part of a dinner tonight. Hopefully one we get to share with the girl. She is riding down with a friend, so the timing is less sure than a train or bus. And the rain has still not hit in earnest, although there are dark clouds on the horizon.

Carl’s job usually includes ferrying small children around.
This morning it had a bit of a diversion, to ferry a child’s parent to work.

They are a one-car family still, and the other parent had a need for the car today (later).
Since there is also a smallish child involved, with school schedules, the path of least resistance was to get a ride. So I tagged along, let my carpooler sleep late (if he chose to).

So I am here about 1-1/2 hours earlier than normal.
I used to be a frequent early joiner, but not so much lately.
More like about 15 minutes before the starting bell.
(Really, it is a bit hard to discern our working hours, as we have people start at 5:30, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 and 8:00)

One of the bridges that connects the City of Seattle to the eastern suburbs is going to get tolls, starting this spring. This will be the second round of tolling for the bridge. It was tolled when it first opened, I think in the 60’s. It needs to be replaced now, and this is how they intend to raise the money, or at least part of it. The tolls are planned to be on a sliding scale, with the highest range starting at 7 AM (for the morning commute). So I am considering whether a 6-6:30 AM crossing would be better. My carpooler heartily disagrees, and doesn’t think that he would be able to make that switch. His choice would be to opt for the other, un-tolled bridge (I-90). I think the traffic on I-90 is going to go from OK to really bad, as other toll-dodgers make the switch. I think they should toll both bridges.

These tolls are going to be collected electronically. No toll booths. None.
If you get a transponder, it will pick up the signal, and debit your pre-paid account.
If you have a transponder, but no pre-paid, it will send you a bill (at a slightly higher rate).
If; you don’t have a transponder, it will take a picture of your plate, and send you a bill (at an even slightly higher rate – I think).
Out of state plate? No problem. They have agreements for data sharing with other states.

Last week I saw some folks on one of the overpasses with traffic type cameras mounted on tripods. I think they were testing the cameras for speed, legibility, etc. This morning I think I saw the cameras in action mounted on a sign bridge. I wasn’t driving, so I could look, and it was dark enough to see the lights associated with the cameras.

If I were to drive every work day, both ways, with a transponder, it would cost me $1800 per year. That’s an amount worth considering in your budget. But I am not likely to decide to change my job, just to avoid tolls. I may consider changing my schedule, or maybe just changing bridges.

I hope all of you were rooting for the Packers. – I DID!
For those that follow football, or at least the Super Bowls.
A few years ago the Seattle Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl.
They were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers won – on a touchdown that was not – clearly.

Hard feelings? Only once a year when it is Super Bowl time.
Other than that, not so close to the surface.

But I was rooting for Green Bay, all the way.
And best of all – the $5 I put into our little Super Bowl pool – won the final score!
A gain of $35. First time ever for me.

Joining the pool and following my numbers is one of the things that keeps me following the game until the end. In all of the years I have purchased my meager amount of numbers, I have never won. This year at the 3rd quarter I did not see how I was likely to come out on top this year. [The two point conversion was not foreseen, at least by me.]

OK – enough of that.
What is really going on is more filing and finding papers to shred.
And learning what a Billiken is.
And, now taxes.

A few days ago I noted that Carl got to go the beach for work. He went on a ferry boat ride the other day. No, their cheeks are not full of gummy bears, they are full of Jet’s hot air of an idea. [Jet does not like having his picture taken, but Carl has told him it is OK to make a face, as long as he looks up.]

On the boat to Bainbridge Island

This weekend is forecast to be overcast and wet. I looked at the hourly predictions and it was 60% chance of precipitation the entire day. So even though I slept in and missed 3 hours of non-rainy window, we decided to set out.

We had the post office destination in mind, carrying a package. So we also carried an umbrella – just in case it started dumping. Instead we were greeted with a mist. Not terribly unpleasant.

After the post office it started misting harder, but we still did not break out the umbrella. [I tend to not like using umbrellas too much, but we do have one or two around, just not used very frequently.] We passed by the zoo, on the fenced in side, and went through an infrequently used part of Green Lake (at least in the winter). Finally reached the lake path and continued around until we hit a commercial area.

Decided to have lunch out, and split a cinnamon roll (hot out of the oven), corned beef hash and apple-something sausages. And coffee. A rather mixed bag of food, but really good, and hot. We will have the vegetables for dinner to balance out the daily diet.

Finally on the homeward path. It may have been warmer but it felt colder to me. The damp clothes were probably a contributing factor.

Now it is time to get some house work done. Carl has done grocery shopping, some laundry and the dishes. I guess it is my turn.

As I drove to work this morning, I thought about the giant snow storm happening in the mid states, home to many friends and relatives. To you – stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy the winter.

What I was privileged to experience instead was listening to Charles Bradley and viewing

The Cascade mountains, silhouetted against the pastel palette of the sunrise.
As we moved east, the colors brightened.
The eagle, perched on the northern sculpture, more intent on fish than colors in the sky.
To the south The Mountain loomed, showing more detail as the sun reached its heights first.

[And closer to work, a corner that was once covered in trees, now a mess of stumps.]