Raincharm’s Weblog

Saturday started dry. And I went to class. Four Saturday mornings are to be spent learning how to better use Project software. It appears to be a good class, a professor from UW spending extra credit time, relatively small size with folks that know how to use programs, and a good pace. And it was raining when class ended.

Three of us carpooled to class and Carl had the car running when we pulled up to the house for adventure number 2.

We are being trusted with Carl’s two charges overnight. As I noted, it was raining so Lego dominated the early afternoon. When the sun finally made an appearance Audrey suggested we should be outside,  and so we went. To their neighborhood school’s playgrounds. 

It was windy, which helped to dry things up a bit. Audrey collected about 15 pieces of dropped clothing that they hung on the play structures to dry and be refund.

We finally retired to the house for pizza and some books. 

Dean was stacking hats on top of Carl, and we recalled the book Caps for Sale. I found it via the internet on my phone. Oh those silly monkeys. 

(It’s Sunday morning now and Carl and the kids are outside once more. I am drinking coffee in the relative warmth of the house. I think the kids view me as the alternative playmate to Carl, there when THEY decide I can be entertaining. Which works out well for all of us. )

It’s spring and not supposed to rain today. The younger neighbors have arranged an occasional front porch gathering. Sort of a mini block party. And it appears the weather may cooperate for the block 2017 opener. 

And it was a dry fun gathering. I didn’t realize how many kids lived on our block! And 2 or 3 that appeared over the winter. Aside from chatting with the adults Carl had four toddlers chasing and throwing balls. 

No pictures. Busy being part of it all.

I went to work yesterday. 

I did not go to the final game of the Mariner homestand. It was a day game. 

Ichiro says he will be back, but it might be his last game in Seattle. 

First pitch of the 9th inning and he hits a home run to our seats.

Kevin caught it. The stadium was rocking, “Ichiro, Ichiro, …”

And Ichiro wanted the ball, so Kevin traded up.

So much fun!

Sometimes I start a sentence with, “I think we should  …”. To which Carl will respond, “Uh oh,” before I even get my thought out.

On this ride to work my thoughts were leaning towards 1) how can I squeeze in some work this weekend when I have a class on Saturday and we have an overnight gig with Carl’s kids, 2) I really should get some plants in if we want a crop this year, and 3) my project to really get the basement cleaned and organized needs a kickoff. Then we drove on to the bridge and it changed to 4) how can I arrange a walk through a wetland or along a shoreline. 

Maybe I should try for a lunchtime walk by the storm detention pond. If the rain breaks at the right time. 

That’s Lake Sammamish, not the storm pond, but it’s more picturesque. 

Since April 10th about all I have done is work and go to baseball games. 

Work has been continuously continuous. 

The games have gotten better on the whole. There was the Griffey game. 

[I’m not certain who won that game. But I think it was the Mariners. The games tend to blend together. ]

Saturday was early entrance after working the first part of the day. It was also Jackie Robinson day. And Paxton was pitching. I’m not going to explain Robinson,  but all of the players wear his number, which makes keeping score just a little more challenging. 

Paxton is a Canada born pitcher for the Mariners. He seems to be coming into his own this year.  

A little background to set the stage. When Felix Hernandez (the King) pitches they have a “K” section where the fans have placards with a K on them. When Felix gets 2 strikes on a batter they wave their cards and chant “K, K, K, K”.

Some time last year we made smaller cards for Paxton,  except they bore a maple leaf and the letters EH. (Think the end of many phrases spoken by a Canadian,  Eh?) We resurrected them for the game and Paxton pitched a great game, 9 strikeouts in all. We ended up with a bit of airtime. The more fun part was getting others in the area to join in on the “EH, EH, EH, EH” chants.

Sunday was an Easter day game. We got to sit in a suite. Fun to have a different view, and we met some very nice people. 

And the Mariners won. As they did yesterday. I have not been as cold since I pulled out my big double jacket. This used to be reserved for kids November soccer games. 

Time for work…

The best part of opening day was having friends around the table.

Okay. That was Monday and it’s Friday now. The mariners are 2 and 8. The night games have been quite chilly. 

And yet we just keep going.

They unveiled a statue of Griffey yesterday and he will be at the game. (They didn’t lose yesterday. But they didn’t play either.)

Work continues to take all of the time I will give. It remains to be seen who will win in 2017, me or my office. I have installed a stand up desk, so I am expending some energy. But I have not pulled in one of the cots so I can extend my hours. 

It’s pouring,  the Mariners lost their first two games, and Gonzaga lost the final NCAA men’s basketball game. 

Okay, enough of that. It is wet,  but I work inside.  There are at least 160 more games this year for the Mariners, and Gonzaga got further than they ever have before. 

Work continues to ramp up. Managing last week’s scheduling miracle means moving forward on the next steps, right away. And I got assigned a Thursday night meeting. 

Oops. Sounds like complaining again. 

We had an overnight guest last night and I don’t need to change the sheets because he’s coming back for the Mariner’s home opener,  and bringing a few friends. 

And, sometime recently I was at work,  and came back to my office to this sight.

I was so taken by the deer, that I shared the photo with my dear, who responded…

Baseball is back!

We seem to be settling into a pattern where the weekends are rainy and the weekdays may be sunny. This morning for example. 

Note the sun on the vegetation. The mountain is not out, so who knows what the afternoon will bring. 

I got flowers yesterday. From a work mate, not Carl. 

Speaking of work, which I do frequently, I did manage to pull off a scheduling miracle yesterday. By the normal rules I should have turned in my agenda item on Monday. I did turn in two on time, but not the most important piece. I finally got the final bit of information yesterday, rushed to get a memo completed, went over it with my boss and then pleaded for the Monday meeting late agenda addition. The alternative was the following Monday and missing the Mariner home opener or three weeks later, a schedule destroyer.

Just noticed the background is shaded. Interesting. 

And I woke up this morning thinking about work.  Not about my scheduling victory, but about two customers that appear to be illegally connected to our water system. One says he is using rainwater, not a midnight connection to the main so he can live in a house that doesn’t have occupancy yet.  Or the guy connected to his neighbors house with a hose. We found him because her meter showed use of 142 gallons per minute for 5 straight days. We think he’s recharging his well. The concern is cross connection, his neighbors bill will be a bit higher than normal. 

Powering up for a busy day  (coffee)

Feels like siesta time. 

Nothing is lonelier than a boarding ramp without a plane. 

Okay. That was now 4 days ago. I am back hard at work and it has been constant. I am thinking I may be back to treading water after this weekend. 

Carpooler is here and I’m driving.