Raincharm’s Weblog

Yesterday’s forecast for rain was apparently short sighted. It only lasted through part of the morning, so we took off on a jaunt in the early afternoon. Our destination was the Arboretum. The arboretum is fairly large and our target was the part that juts into the water on either side of highway 520. We found a shortcut we had not discovered previously. A short cut for those on bicycles or foot. A 6″ curb separates a nicer neighborhood from the Museum of History and Industry access that also contains the start of the wetland path.

The path had signs of recent activity, apparently aimed at keeping the path clear.

Beavers share the Arboretum apparently

Hwy 520 Ramps to Nowhere

It was a really busy week at work. Not so busy at home.
But at home there was no internet service, so no posting.
Actually, I could have plugged into the phone, but was too lazy to take that step.
Our internet provider was on vacation, and the service needed a call apparently.
Whatever, the birds have been fed and the service is back.

As I said, the week at work was busy, although not all strictly aimed at providing the best water and sewer service possible. It included:

• Learning that Blucher means glue in german. Think Young Frankenstein and Frau Blucher. Every time her name was said the horses whinney. Never got that joke before, although we did train a young Rey to whinney when ever we said Blue Car (the name of our younger Honda at that time).
• Taking a trip to the hospital. No, not for me, but following the medics transporting a co-worker. She was from swooning to the ground by another co-worker that leapt over our front counter in time to catch her, and several other co-workers leaping in to action to call 9-1-1, assist with chairs and coordinating the mayhem. I think the first aid training we do every year really paid off. Everybody reacted correctly. And everything is fine, just a mix-up in medication resulting in extreme sleepiness and low blood pressure. And nobody hit a fire hydrant.
• And other than the trip to the hospital a week in which I did hardly any driving to and from work. Actually feel a bit guilty about that since I have the great gas-mileage car, and my carpooler doesn’t.
• Rain, lots of it. The hard type that makes big puddles in the road and windshield wipers a true necessity.
• Dave Matthews, of the Dave Matthews Band, birthday celebration. A co-worker is a DMB super-fan. We had cupcakes and DMB Magic Brownies Ice Cream (Ben & Jerry’s). And t-shirts to wear. The birthday is actually today. Point, DM actually has a home in Seattle, not too far from ours. Maybe we’ll take a walk today.
• The W-2’s are ready, the W-2’s are ready! I am actually excited to get the information into the tax forms to see whether our finnagelling (sp?) of finances at the end of the year was successful in saving us from a huge tax bill.

Of course none of that is really work. But I was busy on work most of the time.

And the sun is out, about 22-hours ahead of schedule.

All kids home.
Saw 3/4 of Seahawks game, and then listened to them lose on the radio.
Border crossing north – 20 minutes.
Border crossing south – 5 minutes.
Who knew? I would have thought many more travellers heading south. Perhaps a 3-day weekend is all most can handle.

Now to hang the calendar and start work.

I like 4-day weekends.
Today feels like an extra day, but that is because yesterday was a day where I feel like I accomplished at least a few things.

1. Finished pinning out the critters (at least so far).
2. Found a calendar for Carl to use to keep track of his work hours. Not a big thing, just necessary. I plan to take the picture calendar supplied by the Marquis to work where it will be on display for others to marvel at.
3. Played Quirkle with Ashlan, and despite all appearances that she was winning, and the fact that I am a lousy scorekeeper, I prevailed. Ashlan was totalling up the score at the end, and discovered I had 3 more point totals listed than she did. Hmmmm. Well I started first and ended – which gives you an extra 6 points, so that accounted for 2 of the 3. Thankfully my winning margin was 11 points, which meant that unless I missed one of her Quirkles (unlikely) I would still have prevailed. If you like to play games at all, Quirkle is pretty fun. It is like Scrabble and Set combined.
4. Ate a really good dinner that Ashlan put together. A Greek salad and honey ginger chicken.
5. Did a jigsaw puzzle. Carl started it and he and I finished it, although not until the infomercials were on. It was a picture of a jumble of Christmas ornaments. Really quite challenging.

In retrospect, just an ordinary day, but it was nice to have an ordinary day without the prospect of having to arise early. Thanks for the extra weekend day.

Today’s goals. New shoes for walking. Watch a little Seahawks football with the girl. Drive the girl back north. Figure to spend a few hours at the crossing. Drive back south. Pray for a short crossing, but plan for a long one. Try to get to bed before the infomercials start.

I have not lost January 1st in several years, at least that I remember.
And I suppose for all that we did I really only lost the late afternoon.
And I only had one glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve, so it was not lost for the reason many lose January 1st.

I put it down to disrupted or different sleep patterns, coupled with high carbohydrate intake.

See the previous post for our start to the new year.
We did follow with second breakfast, that lasted until about 3 PM. A fun time visiting and noshing.
When we got home a nap soon followed, and basically consumed the rest of the day.

I am not a good napper, and this nap lasted about 5 hours I think.
I tried to eat something to resemble dinner, and watched a movie with Ashlan (Away We Go).
Then it was back to bed.

Despite sleeping a lot during the day, I managed to sleep in until 9 in the morning.

It just feels like I lost a day.
In retrospect, we got to eat some good food and do a lot of visiting with friends.
So a good day after all.

Other reports:
Rey got back to Tennessee with a pat down, but no other additional overt security measures.
There was one piece of sod turned up this morning by critters. But only one, and in one of the small areas not covered by bird netting. One of today’s chores has been to finish covering the bits left uncovered during the previous net adventure. Hopefully this will be all we have to do until the grass gets rooted in. Of course mowing is impossible at this time, so we will have to be judicious about fertilizing. It is all a guessing game for me. I did start looking for plastic wood planters to put at one side of the yard. If I work at it I should be able to plant some vegetables this spring.

Happy New Year.

A & A sparkle brightly and fiercely (it's a tiger)

Always the opportunity to start new traditions.

We had the unusual pleasure of opening a restaurant this morning.
And I don’t just mean being the first customers of the morning, which we were.
But the first customers that the restaurant has had since it burned down 5 years ago.
[Technically the first BREAKFAST customers. They have been open for at least a few nighttime music shows, including a New Year’s Eve bash.]

For those familiar with Seattle, and particularly the Roosevelt neighborhood, the Scarlet Tree is back!

Our plans for this morning had involved a family breakfast, followed by taking Rey to the airport. So we needed a venue that was open early enough to have a leisurely eat, and still get off in time for unknown security lines. Just a few days ago it became clear that the Scarlet Tree was opening, and a search of the internet indicated their first breakfast would be served on New Year’s Day. Called and the opening time of 7 AM was a perfect fit.

The day started early. All of us in the house needed to be awakened by something other than our eyes deciding it was time to open. But all up and ready by 7 AM. Since nobody went to bed before midnight, and 4 of the 7 in the house were up until at least 2 AM, this was no small feat. Out the door, and we actually drove the 6 blocks, due to the need to be time conscious. It was also raining rather steadily. Parked in the Park & Ride lot, and tried to figure if the restaurant was indeed open as promised. There were some red lights through the window, and as we approached a person on the interior waved at us. Still unsure, we opened the door and they said they were open. We could choose our seats, including the upstairs loft area. We ascended. A good choice, because it looked as though they were still finishing the residual cleaning from the night before. Of course there were no place settings upstairs, but we sat anyway.

One of the first things to be noticed just after 7 AM on New Year’s Day in the Pacific Northwest is that it is dark. As it turns out it was not only dark out, it was dark in. This was part of the reason that it was not really clear whether they were open when we looked from the outside. The lighting was probably good as a nighttime music and dance venue, but it was going to be really difficult to read a menu. So, as any good mother would do, I totally embarrassed my daughter by pulling out my headlamp. The waitress said she had daughters, and understood. [And really, I could not have read the menu without additional light.]

Soon enough they brought up silverware and coffee mugs. And then an entire pot of coffee, which they just left at our table. Water followed. Then the morning took on a, “We really are just opening, and still trying to find where they stashed everything,” feel.

Our waitress was obviously seasoned, but not at this venue. Turned out that she had served the last hamburger at the Atlas restaurant in University Village the previous evening, as they were closing their doors. The next morning she is opening up a new/old restaurant with at least a few others from the Atlas crew. She was very happy to have been able to move right into a new gig, especially in these times.

Creamer was the first item to be located, then sugars. They took our order and we sat, drank coffee and chatted. The food was delivered, well 5 of the 6, but they got mine in after a bit. (Issue with reading the order apparently.) Food, lots of it  And even though we were the only patrons in the loft (at least two other parties had arrived after our initial entrance), we were well attended. I could not come close to finishing my potatoes, and asked for a to-go box. This initiated yet another search, which was eventually successful.

We had some nice chats with the waitress, and then one of the owners came up and sat with us for a bit. We talked of the old restaurant, and their hopes for the newer version. Dennis, our friend on sabbatical from his writing spouse (she needed writing focus for a few days), got contact information for a friend of his  that plays 20’s jazz. He used to perform at the old venue, and is always looking for new gigs.

A really fine time, and the first time I have ever been the first customer to a brand new establishment. It was fun.

It was really fun for the time to sit and chat as a family one more time before we are again distanced from each other. Unfortunately our time at the Scarlet Tree had to end, and we took Rey to the airport.

Post New Year's Breakfast Bunch

We are now going to head off for second breakfast at a friends’ house. I believe Ashlan has an invitation to a third breakfast as well. The next thing you know we will all have hair growing on our feet.

We hope to net some critters tonight. Really, we don’t. We want no critters in the net. We want the net to discourage critters and have them go quietly elsewhere.

We put down sod this late fall. Critters, some suspect squirrels, I am currently suspecting raccoons, have been carefully lifting the corners of the sod pieces to dine on grubs and worms. But they are not putting the corners, and in some cases large pieces, of the sod back down. I just don’t see how the sod is ever going to extend roots into the soil if it is constantly being disturbed.

I tried landscape pins at the corners of the sod.
They were pulled out of the ground. (This is when I changed from squirrels to raccoons.)

Frosty nights discourages activity, but this is not the great WHITE north, just the great northWET.

Last night  they went on a feast. The sod was turned up in 16 to 20 places.
I went shopping. This time for “bird” netting. I had considered deer fencing, but the openings in the deer fence are pretty large.  I found some bird netting at a local nursery, and bought two packages that said they covered 28 feet by 28 feet. This works out to around 300 square feet. Our yard is a bit under 800 square feet.

Ashlan and I set about unrolling the first net. We found that it was actually a “double” net in that one side was sewn together, the other not. I assume this is to ease draping over trees and bushes. Since we were going to be short on square footage and didn’t need to drape, we set about ripping the seam out. My, what seemed like a good idea ended up adding at least an hour to unrolling the first net. Ashlan left me to my net. The sun went down. I got out my headlamp. FINALLY finished unseaming the first net, and 1/2 of this split net covered all but 4 feet of 1/2 of the lawn. Since the second 1/2 of the first net would easily cover the last four feet, I decided there was no need to unseam the second net. I retrieved Ashlan to help with this easier task and we got it unrolled and pinned.

The last four feet did not get netted because; 1) Trying to make sense of a 28′ x 28′ net in the dark is not easy, and 2) we were out of landscape pins.

But I did not want ot just leave the extra netting out blowing around the backyard, so we brought it inside to fold. Added Carl to the mix for an extra set of hands. The only bird that our bird netting caught was a Jay. Several times it tried to trip me. I understand why the birds try to keep their feet away from the netting. I only hope the raccoons/squirrels feel the same way.

I almost want the uncovered 4 feet to be disturbed tonight to indicate that they stayed away from the netting. But not really. If they go around pulling up the pins or biting through the netting I am not sure what my next step will be.

After 4 or 5 years (2 years too long) it is time to get new spectacles.
I don’t really mind my existing frames, but they have been beat to a pulp and pulled back into shape, so I figure it is time to get new frames.

That always gets me into the truest catch 22 situation in which I have had the pleasure to participate.
You want to try on frames to see how they look on your face.
When you take off your existing glasses you can’t really see how things look.
If you try to hold your existing glasses in front of your face to catch a glimpse in the mirror, you are now looking at your old glasses in front of the new frames. [Note: This may not apply to the young, or those that just barely need glasses.]

So I took an advocate, Ashlan, my fashion consultant.
We/I tried on lots of frames.
I at least knew a few points to have her check, other than the general look.
We spent a long time, but eventually were ready to be moved to the front of the line.
[Our turn had long since come and gone, so they put us at the front for whenever the next spot opened.]

We ended up taking four frames to the table, and inviting opinions from the glasses technician as well.
Finally chose THE PAIR. Added a prescription insert pair for safety glasses as well.
What I had forgotten to bring was my sunglasses. I was going to get the prescription updated, but keep the same frames. I think I will wait for a few months now since glasses are SO EXPENSIVE. At least mine are, expensive that is.

Coming home the next step is to try to recover some of said cash, and have the rest covered by our wonderful 125 plan. Got on-line. Got scolded for using an “out of program provider.” Filled out forms. Printed said forms. Put said forms into an envelope. Now will need to wait however long the Vision program to determine how much of my millions they will cover. Ah, paperwork. But I will be happy when I actually have the new specs and can once again read the fine print.

I had expectations for today, and only a very few actually came to pass.

• Going to get up and into work early. – Got up almost late, to work at normal start time.
• Going to get some hanging projects done – First thing into work am told that phones are not working, about a 1-hour diversion. They were out for 1-1/2 days. Totally unacceptable. The service provider is being slightly helpful in trying to find a solution.
• Going to leave work early to spend time with the kids. – Left right on time, which really means early.
• Going to drive home on I-90, as usual – Checked traffic and chanced travelling on 520, shorter, but usually much more congested. Went OK.
• Going to finish up the paperwork Carl needs to work on a 401(k) – This one was done, as planned more or less.
• Going to go to bed early, so we can try getting up early tomorrow – It’s 11:11 now, not sure this is “early”

I honestly cannot remember where I read the above quote, and I don’t know if I’m prodigal. Also we had ham, so nothing above is really accurate. I am home from Tennessee however.

For those who don’t know I spent last summer as a Concessions Intern with the Tennessee Smokies Baseball Club, and after spending a month in St. Louis with my gracious hosts of Regenaxe fame, I was hired by the Smokies full-time as a Group Sales Representative.

Smokies Park, where I work is located east of Knoxville in the Great Smoky Mountains. I’m having a great time in Tennessee, but I’m very glad to be back here in Seattle, even if it’s just for a short time. Time is flying here with family and friends, and soon I’ll be back in the mountains. I’ll enjoy Seattle while I can and hopefully get some visitors in TN this summer.

Go Smokies!

-Rey