You know those jokes about trimming toenails of those of advancing age? They’re not all jokes.
I am not to the hedge clipper stage, yet, or even close, I think. But between the initial stages and my being less limber than I once was, toenail trimming has turned into a chore. One I have to make a little extra time for.
Being a weekend, I had a little extra time available. The fact that the Mariners didn’t make the playoffs weighs heavily on that fact. So, let’s check this off of the chore list. Does having a glass of wine first, along with an afternoon smakeral help or hinder?
Smakeral
Who knows, but I forged ahead. I don’t think I will really know the full answer for a few days (socks snagging on rough edges) or weeks (I need to cut them again already?!). What I can say is I finished the chore faster than normal. At least it seemed like I did.
On a slightly related topic, it is fungus among us season. Mushrooms are popping up everywhere.
Back yard variety Front yard variety
It’s also spider time. Walking into our backyard to look at mushrooms, I went through at least one web. Luckily this doesn’t phase me. I got used to having to clear a path if I were the first one on the path to the outhouse for many a summer morning. Being at the cabin, with the outhouse, was my favorite place, so it was just part of life and now a treasured memory.
Note the meal this spider is holding
In other news from the past week, I successfully made a keynote presentation to the Washington Association of Boundary Review Boards. It was a short presentation, with examples of projects over the past 2 years. My closing points: Communicating with your neighboring purveyors makes for smoother boundary decisions; political boundaries do not always make good service boundaries (water and sewer service); and I really am turning into a bureaucrat or at least a person who appreciates a good one.
In other, other news, two more baby boys have joined our circle. A neighbor two doors away welcomed their second boy, Adrian. He’s adorable and they’re exhausted. Our daughter’s sister-in-law had her first, just last night, Alex. He’s a cutie too. But really, there must be somebody having girls! Our immediate family’s next generation is all boys at this point, 4 of them. Cousins have added girls, but it just seems very heavily weighted tothe male scale.
I think it’s time for me to stop going on. Blame the wine … it’s as good an excuse as any.
Arsen Wenger was the coach of Manchester United for several years. A few years ago I was pointed to the link in Arsen’s name. It just made me laugh, and still does. It’s a series of pictures comparing the coach to a bald eagle.
This memory came to my mind while watching a Man U vs. Galatasaray game (soccer) tonight. And aided by a glass of wine after a day that included driving to Puyallup to give the keynote address at a State Boundary Review Board conference. There were some nerves and low-level adrenaline, which has now dissipated.
In any event, I am exhausted and maybe I laugh easily tonight. We’re watching soccer because there is no baseball tonight. Certainly not Mariners baseball, but because all of the Wild Card series only took 2 games to move on to the next round.
The last Mariners game on Sunday was fun, although too little too late. The Ms won, and we had the opportunity to chat with several different friends and fellow fans. We actually just about closed the joint. They were starting to clear the stands, as the players’ kids ran around on the field.
With Kevin and Dave NiehausElizabeth, Aaron, Oliver, Jen, Maggie. Caitlin, Carl, Kevin and Mark.
Thursday night’s game … different because we weren’t in our regular seats.
Also different because the Mariners pulled out a win in the bottom of the 9th. Bases loaded. 2 outs. 1 strike.
And a BASE HIT! Scores 2.
The score had been 1-2, Rangers in front.
We live to see another day in contention
Now on my way to that next day. Almost didn’t get a seat. Actually, I didn’t get a seat, which is just fine. I walked to the back of the raised seat section, which is sometimes ignored, but allows comfortable standing room for several people. A young man in the last row was using 2 seats, one for his backpack. I didn’t say anything, but after a moment he consolidated himself to make a seat available. And a stop later, there are 4 more folks standing in the raised seat walkway.
Rey found this today on a Twitter X site he follows. I guess that means Carl and friends are old and should be studied. Like dinosaurs.
It did brighten the morning after the dismal game yesterday. And in spite of the Mariners dwindling hopes of making the playoffs, I spent a good part of the morning shifting money to MLB for playoff tickets, so we can receive a refund next month for games not played. All of them?
On the train again to tonight’s game. Carl just texted it was cold at our seats for the night. 3rd deck behind home plate instead of the outfield. And he’s the warm one. If they perform poorly early, I predict an early exit.
Carl is reading a book by that title. Oops, wrong title. Winning Fixes Everything. Emphasis on “Fixes”. It is about the Houston Astros and may explain why they resorted to cheating so obviously.
The snippets I have heard make me want the Mariners to make the playoffs. Not so we’re in the playoffs, but to keep the Astros out.
That said, last night’s game was quite fun. If you saw the game or any highlights, Teoscar Hernandez’s catch at/in the wall was right in front of our seats. So close the wall blocked my view of the actual catch.
I have one today. On my way to the next Mariners game loss, carrying our dinner. Most of a rotisserie chicken, bones removed. I left the wings and legs home. Always looking for something a little different to eat for dinner at the park. I did bring napkins and even a few hand wipes. We’ll see how it works out. If the Mariners manage a win, we may have to do this a few days more.
In other news, the atmospheric river arrived in all of its wetness yesterday. Just rain to absolutely pouring intermittently yesterday and today. Timing is everything. When we left the game yesterday it was pouring. Driving down the hill from work today the road looked like a slip-n-slide. Getting to the train today, almost nothing.
I hear it may be not rainy this weekend, and that is different than sunny.
I had planned to post more often. I blame a confluence of at least two factors.
1. I open the phone and look for the W app (WordPress). But I open Weight Watchers instead. And since I should track, I get diverted.
2. The WordPress app is now accessed through Jetpack, not a W at all.
OK, there are more reasons, but those are the most immediate when I open up the new phone.
Speaking of the new phone, still so much to do to get it set up properly. But the biggest noticeable benefit has been how long it holds a charge.
Currently on my way to the Mariners game. They are in a bit of a losing skid since they left Oakland. And just when they really need to win, if they want to make the playoffs that is.
I am trying to just take it as it comes. It is up to the players to want it more than the other teams. They are playing head to head with their competition, so it is truly in their hands.
On our front, Carl still doesn’t have pneumonia, or Covid. The boys had a fun time on their trip, and came back in roughly the same shape as they left, healthwise anyway. Which meant Carl was still having coughing fits. Tiring and aggravating. They have now decided to try antibiotics after 9 weeks of not getting better. Here’s hoping.
Dealing with the new phones is probably the most stressful right now. I give it a few weeks at least before the phone is my friend again.
And now WordPress wants me to use JetPack. Why? I don’t know.
On the vacation front, Carl, Kevin, and Mark made it to Oakland for the Mariner’s series against the A’s. They also managed to get some screen time, although they were not really aware.
The foul ballThe call out by name
You know you’re spending a lot of time at the ballpark when the announcers know you.
Tomorrow, they are going out to lunch with a distant relative by marriage. I don’t even know the specifics, but family none the less.
And another ball game, of course.
It should be less hectic than today because they are in town already.
This is about yesterday. I had plans, you know the, I would like to get X done today, list. Some of this focused on Carl and friend’s upcoming trip to Oakland, with a side of Mariners.
The plans didn’t even last until I got out of bed. I heard “my phone isn’t charging and won’t hold a charge.”
The knowledge of charging issues was a few days old when the charging port was irreparably damaged (it had been in poor condition for a few years), and a charging puck had been purchased until the problem could be dealt with.
Initially, that plan was to use the puck and embark on a phone replacement after Carl’s trip. About 1 week was all.
But the inability to hold a charge meant that most phone uses, like maps and tickets, would be delegated to traveling companions. We were prepared to copy down a few important contacts, but that’s when Plan B was put into action.
Step 1: Make an appointment as early as possible. Ms game later … We did get a 10 AM appointment, but not at the store closest to our house, but reasonable.
Step 2: Either fix the charging issue or acquire a new phone. The new phone quickly became where we were headed.
And not 1 phone, but 2. My phone works fine, but it has a display issues with odd shading. The writing was on the wall that the 7 year old phone’s useful life was limited. And having the same phone makes supporting each other easier.
A bit of time to get to step 2 and identify the likely replacement phones. Samsung S22s, replacing S7s.
Then, the more arduous part of the experience began. Not really the payment part, but the transfer of all of our stuff on our old phones to the new phones.
A few issues that meant that this lasted until about 3 PM.
1. The old phones had to be charged, and stay charged during the transfer. Recall Carl’s phone‘s charging issues, but in the end it was my phone that had problems here because nobody was paying attention to it’s charge.
2. The old phone’s storage was a limiting factor on how much could be transferred by wireless connection at a time. Our old phones had something like 32 gigs compared to 128 in the new phones. This also explains our continual battle with not enough storage messages. It wasn’t our nominal number of pictures, but the space that apps use now compared with 7 years ago.
It took 3 separate transfer actions to transfer from each old to new phone. And 3 tries to get the messages from my old to new phone.
Another weird result is that some Apps that were only on my phone now show up on Carl’s as well. I think the reason may be a setting that allows devices in proximity to each other to share, and especially since most of our apps use the same email address.
This and all of the Apps that come with the phone that we don’t want or need, there is now the phone maintenance to be undertaken. At a minimum this meant changing the ring tone chosen as the default for alarms. More later, especially since Carl’s phone has left the station.
As noted before from beginning to end this lasted at least 5 hours. Because it was clear the transfer was going to take some time we could leave and return. This allowed us to finish a task that had been delayed until Carl’s return, a Costco run. As it happens, there was a Costco across the parking lot.
A few hundred dollars later the provisions were in the trunk and the transfers were still underway. And, because phones time out and need to be unlocked, we left our passcode with the phones and headed home to unload.
The provisions and Carl stayed home and I returned to our phones. I think Carl’s phone was done, but mine was in the midst of its travails with messages. About an hour or two later I was finally released to go home, again.
It was almost time for the rest of the day to begin. And we were off to the Mariner’s game. For those not following, the Mariner’s march to a potential post season is precarious. There are 4 teams fighting for 3 spots in the AL, including the AL West winner. And we are playing the Dodgers, who have a firm lock on the post season, because they’re a really good team.
Carl figured it might be a blowout early, with a top pitcher going for the Dodgers, and we could leave early to go home and try to finish some of those items on our Plan A list that was derailed earlier.
To the Mariner’s credit, they hung in through 10 innings. It was a good game. But in the 11th it got out of hand. So we left early, but not early enough for task completion.
On the plus side, we ran into friends we had not seen for a while on the train ride home.
Most of the Plan A chores were delayed until this morning. And most have been completed.
Carl and friends have departed, heading to tonight’s stop in Eugene, OR. I am almost at loose ends because the pressure of yesterday has been released, and I am mentally done.
As a final note, I want to share a fantastic picture taken by my sister. It’s much better than anything I have to offer today.
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