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Quick Post about my Grandma

My grandmother was quite the rabble-rouser in her day, and I thought it would be nice to include a bit of her life story here especially, since my cousin recently found an article about her on the National Park Service website.

Portrait of Tye Leung Schulze. Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library

Tye Leung Schulze

SIGNIFICANCE:   First Chinese voter; community activist
PLACE OF BIRTH:   San Francisco, California
DATE OF BIRTH:    August 24, 1887

Tye Leung was a civil rights and community activist born in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1887. Continue reading “Quick Post about my Grandma”

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Angel Island – A Journey Through Some of Our Family History

During my trip out to California, a bunch of us cousins and my sister did a day trip to Angel Island.  Angel Island has a lot of historical significance for us as our grandma, Tye Leung Schulze, worked there as an interpreter.  With that job she became the first Chinese woman to become a Federal Civil Service Worker. Continue reading “Angel Island – A Journey Through Some of Our Family History”

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Some Music-y Things

For those that can read my Facebook posts, this will be a repeat.  I’m just pasting it here verbatim:

OMG. I’m listening to the Light Classical station and the song they’re playing is the song my washer and dryer play when they’re done! Liszt “Die Forelle/The Trout.” I was sitting here thinking ‘that sounds so familiar …’ That is so hilarious! Who knew?

I just couldn’t get over that!  And if you’re wondering what the tune is, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjJrM36w9RM

Anyway, I’ve heard a couple of outstanding and brand new to me songs that aren’t new at all.

First is ‘Continental Drift’ by the Rolling Stones.  Wow!  Take a listen when you have time to just sit and listen – don’t listen if you’re going to be distracted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z5kjqJSV1Y

Here’s more info about the song.  The harmonies are so cool!
In 1989, The Rolling Stones went to Tangier, Morocco for 3 days to record this song with the Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar for the Stones’ album Steel Wheels. After the recording sessions, Mick Jagger visited the village of Jajouka, which Brian Jones had visited in 1968. This song marked a return to the world music The Stones experimented with in the ’60s.
The squeal at the beginning is Keith Richards scraping a knife against a bicycle wheel.

Second is ‘Daydream’ by Robin Trower.  Wow again!  Again, listen when you’re not going to be distracted.

That’s all for now people!

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Rent A Friend?

I’m not sure how I came across this, but there is a website called ‘Rent A Friend’ where you can, indeed, rent a friend.

Here is the link: https://rentafriend.com/

It is not a dating site – it’s a site for you to find somebody to do stuff with.  Like if you have an extra ticket for an event and can’t find somebody to go, or you’re travelling and in a town you’re not familiar with.

I think I might give it a try when I’m in a ‘stopover’ city on my travels.  You can look up people for free.  I did some trial searches in Fargo ND, Truth or Consequences, and Devizes UK just for kicks.  There were friends available at all of those locations!

Anyway, I will update you if and when I do Rent A Friend somewhere.  But it seems kind of a cool idea.

And, I added two paintings to the My Artwork page.  Check ’em out!

In the meantime, I am planning my next trip.  I’m tentatively thinking it will be a trip to the Bay Area, then South Lake Tahoe (that’s the only part cast in stone at the moment), up to Portland, OR and then maybe catching the Empire Builder Train to Chicago, then home.  Starting to try to fit the puzzle pieces together now.

Until next time!  (oh, and by the way – I am still coughing and still a little bit hoarse from my yucky illness!  Sheesh!)

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A Year of Reterriment

Hard to believe but it’s been a year since I retired!  I started thinking about what I’ve done over the past year, and decided it would be fun to do a summary of the past year here.  So, lucky you, you get to read it!

My last day of work was July 28, 2017.  The next week I had visitors for about a week.  Later in August I flew to Reno and then drove to Bend OR to see the total eclipse.

Over Labor Day weekend I took my first road trip, to McMinnville TN via Roanoke.  Saw the Coffee Pot House, Dinosaurland, Natural Bridge.

Later in September I flew to Boise, stayed there for a week, then rented a car and drove through Reno and Truckee on the way to the Bay Area.  Stayed in the Bay Area for a bit, then up to Truckee for 2 nights, then back to the Bay Area where I caught a flight to Phoenix.  Got home in October.

November did the Hike Across Delaware.

The rest of November-December, did stuff around the house.

January flew to England.  Early February flew to Norway and took a 6 day cruise in the fjords.  Flew back to England.  Flew home in mid-February.

March FINALLY replaced the original upstairs carpet!

April had a visitor.

May trip out to Cali.

July – well, you probably just read about that trip …

Sorry – I got tired of putting the summary together, which is why it ended up so terse at the end.  You can always go back and re-read previous posts if you want more details! Ha ha!

Anyway, I just learned about something so I’m going to tell you about it – Tesloop – https://www.tesloop.com/.

With Tesloop, you ride in a Tesla like a shuttle.  They are driven by ‘Tesloop Pilots.’  Right now the rides cover the areas around Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs.  You either pay for a seat in the car, or for the entire car.  There are quite a few pick up / drop off locations.  I might have to try this when I am out in Long Beach next year!

I think that is all for this post.  Talk to you soon!

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On The Road Again … soon

I have some non-travel stuff to write about before I get into my next trip.

One is, don’t take any day, or moment, for granted.  I went to a funeral last Saturday.   It was a guy I was acquainted with – played music with him a few times at parties.  Didn’t know him well but he was very likable.  The previous weekend he was playing at a gig with one of his bands (he’s a bass player), and at the end of the last song of their last set, he dropped dead.  Right on stage.  Age 49.  He didn’t mention feeling ill or anything.   His band mate said it was like lightning struck it was so fast. Video showing him playing up to the seconds before he died didn’t show anything ‘unusual.’  Needless to say, his family, his band mates, his friends, the music community were/are in shock.  His teenage daughter spoke, talking about how she had been pushing him away (‘cuz that’s what teens do) and now she can’t tell her dad she’s sorry.  Heart wrenching!  Hug your friends and fam every chance you get!

On a lighter, though irritating note, I have developed a trigger thumb.  It seems to be getting better, but here is a link to exercises you can do to stop it from developing.  Apparently it is mostly seen with women between the ages of 40 and 60.
https://www.braceability.com/blogs/articles/trigger-finger-exercises

But on to the subject topic – my next trip.  I have purchased a one-way ticket to Long Beach, CA, where I will be visiting friends Jon and Tina.  There is a big block party for 4th of July, and one of the guys from the band Sublime (Santeria is one song) lives around the corner from them.  Sounds like a lot of fun!  I am also the officiant for their son Chase’s wedding next year, so hoping to catch up with him so I can get an idea of what they’re thinking of for their ceremony.  Plus, there is a Hash out there, and, I am hoping to reconnect with my friend Edd who moved to San Diego a few years ago!

After Long Beach, I am still trying to figure out what exactly I am going to do, but I have it narrowed down pretty much, except for which days what will happen and where.

I’ve been feeling like I’ve been wanting to go to a Resort Spa.  I think I must’ve read about one somewhere and then I started looking at a bunch of them.  I think I have settled on Miraval, which is outside of Tucson.  I originally was thinking I would fly there but now I’m thinking I may rent a car and drive there.  I can go through Joshua Tree and stop in to see my friend Derek in Phoenix, on my way there.  Besides the requisite facials and massages, there are lots of opportunities there to do spirit and energy work (naysayers hold your tongues!)  There’s even a shamanistic treatment that I’m thinking of doing!  So, thinking I’ll spend 3-4 nights there.

After that, I’m thinking I’ll be driving to visit my friends Brian and Stacey, in Santa Fe NM.  There’s a Folk Art fair the following weekend.  Not sure how long I will stay there yet.

And not sure where I’m going after that yet.  Home?  Take a train?  Still gotta figure it out! (Read on to see how I maybe figured it out when I took a little break from writing this post)

Before I started this post, I read in the Sunday NY Times about an outfit called ‘Under Canvas’ that operates seasonal glamping resorts near national parks.  I’ve been wanting to go to Mount Rushmore and lo and behold there is one there!  And I took a 10 minute break from blogging to see how far it is from Santa Fe NM to Mount Rushmore.  It’s only like 12 hours (I would do it in 2 days, not one).  I just talked to them and they have availability for the time stretch I’m thinking about going (mid-July ish).  I think I’m going to do the Expedition Package – check it out!
https://www.undercanvas.com/camps/mount-rushmore/

Well, this day of travel planning took a surprise turn.  I still need to figure out what I’ll do after Mount Rushmore, and see if Miraval has availability, but, things seem to be starting to come together.

Stay tuned to see what I end up with!

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Being Productive

I finally took the time to refinish the vanity in my first floor bathroom, and I must say I’m pretty excited at how it turned out!  I also feel like I’m getting a little bit more ‘handy’ – I replaced the old rusty hinges, but the new hinges had different screw hole locations, so I had to make sure I put them on the doors in the right place so they would hang right.  And I did!

Here is the ‘before’ – this vanity is original to the 1986 house:

Originally it had white ceramic door pulls.  I had replaced them a while ago with brushed nickel ones.

And here is the update:

Can’t believe how much better it looks!  And a shout out to Home Depot paint – this was pretty much just one coat!

Here is what I used:

Another way I got ‘handier’ is – I have a fairly new toilet in my master bath (less than 2 years old).  It started ‘running’ for a long time, so I’d have to take the top off and pull the valve shut off bar to get it to stop.  Finally, it dawned on me to go to the manufacturer’s (Kohler) website and see what I could do about it.  All I had to do with turn a little knob on top of the valve bar, and now it works great!

And in the product placement department, I have started using these silicone bowl sealers.  They replace plastic wrap, and they work great!  They seal so well that you can pick up the bowl by the handle (see photo on the packaging) although of course they don’t recommend that you do that.  Go get these!

So yesterday I was close to my old work location so I went for a walk around the parking lot with my friend Steve (this walk was a usual lunchtime walk when I worked there).

We came across this lovely scene:

Yikes!  I think it was a raccoon.

Anyway, that’s it for today.  Headed to the beach later today to check on the beach house.

‘Til next time, readers!

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Dress Code, and BMA

Well well well, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of comments I received on my ‘Oh No’ post.  I had thought about marking it as ‘For the Ladies Only’ but I didn’t.  And surprisingly, most of the comments were from guys!  And a couple of them mentioned this clip from SNL.   Enjoy!  (And FYI I do not sit on the couch in my leggings, eating bon bons!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU55auqDD28

Anyway, my artist friend John came to visit for a few days and we ended up going to the Baltimore Museum of Art one day.  I hadn’t been there before.  It’s free, and it has a lot of great stuff.  Here are some photos.  And for fun, two of these are not art installations.  Can you tell which two?

The one below was really interesting, particularly because, when you looked at it with the naked eye, your eyes could not ‘see’ the head and face – the painting just looked like a green/orange blobby thing.  I wasn’t that impressed, but John took a photo and we discovered the hidden prize.  Pretty cool!

The photo below was a lucky shot – in the second shot of the neon art, you can see that is says “FACE ME I FACE YOU.”  I thought it would be funny to take the photo with John facing away from me looking at it, but I didn’t realize the neon would be so bright that you can’t really read it (without editing the photo to be darker).  And then I realized I had captured a reflection of some of the words on the other art in the room.  I like how it turned out!


I think I’m going to try to do a painting similar to this one.  When I’m done I’ll post this one and the one I do:

This photo is interesting because the top light is actually RED, but the camera can’t pick it up.

This photo is actually looking down into a sculpture which I unfortunately didn’t photograph from the front.  From this angle it looks like an alien!

And below is a Van Gogh.  I like it because it shows a style of his painting that you don’t see as often.

I had fun taking several photos of the same piece, from further to closer:


There is a sculpture garden outside as well.  John was taking a bunch of photos of each piece since he does sculpture and is always interested in how things are formed/put together.  This guy that was also there started talking to him, and then asked us if we were artists.   We both said yes.  I asked him why he asked us that and he mentioned that we both were staying clear of getting into each other’s photos.  And then the guy just wouldn’t stop talking to me!  But anyway …

The first piece below, if you put them together, make up a round solid circle / pie.

All right, I think that’s it for now.  ‘Til next time!

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Something Else I Learned

Yes, I know.  Some of you are complaining that you don’t read my blog to ‘learn things.’  Tough doo doo.  Ha ha!  When I first typed the last sentence, I accidentally typed “touch doo doo” – Freudian slip??

Anyway, I was talking to Jim the other day and we started talking about the Ides of March.  I thought it was March 4, but, March 4 is “march forth.”  Jim thought the Ides of March was the middle of March – March 15.

So, today I Googled it.  Here’s the scoop:

The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to March 15. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar. 

Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “The Ides of March are come”, implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.”  The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.

Although March was the third month of the Julian calendar, in the oldest Roman calendar it was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new-year celebrations.

So, there you go.  I’m planning on doing more trip updates next.  Enough learning for one week!

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European Union (EU), Schengen, and Euros

Before I left on my trip, I got some Norwegian Kroner and some British Pounds in cash, so I’d have it ready.  That prompted a question from a few friends about whether Norway was on the Euro or not.

I had done some research about it previously, and thought it was something interesting to know, so, here’s some info about the EU, Schengen Agreement, and who is using Euros.  You learn something new every day!

What Countries Are EU Members
The EU’s 28 member countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

That will drop to 27 when Brexit causes the UK to leave the EU.

The EU eliminates all border controls between members. That allows the free flow of goods and people, except for random spot checks for crime and drugs.

The Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Area guarantees free movement to those legally residing within its boundaries. Residents and visitors can cross borders without getting visas or showing their passports. In total, there are 26 members of the Schengen Area. They are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Two EU countries (Ireland and the UK) have declined the Schengen benefits. Four non-EU countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) have adopted the Schengen Agreement.

The Eurozone
The eurozone, created in 2005, consists of all countries that use the euro. All EU members pledge to convert to the euro, but only 19 have so far. They are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

Here is a table showing which country belongs to what:

There you have it.  Your lesson for today!

(I’m still working on trip updates)

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I Made Butter!

In my seemingly unending quest to try new stuff, I made butter today!  Chive butter.  Here’s the photo:

I ordered the ‘butter jar’ from Amazon.  Basically, you add 1 Cup of heavy whipping cream.  Let it sit for at least 8 hours so it gets to room temperature.  Add whatever you want, and then shake the jar until you get butter!  The strainer top allows you to pour off the buttermilk.  I haven’t had it on bread yet, but I did taste it and it is delicious!  Much more flavorful than store butter.  I think I have a new ‘obsession’ !

I drove down to the beach house on Friday.  Left home and it was 65oF.  Drove through rain, fog, and sun.  Today it is 24oF at the beach, 16oF at home.  Sheesh!

I ran into my neighbors on Friday and they let me know that the neighborhood wine group was meeting that evening.  So, I decided to go so I could meet more of my neighbors.  I met a bunch of nice people, so now I know a few more peeps in the ‘hood.

I’ve also been wanting to try a restaurant in town – it’s very small so sometimes difficult to get in.  La Fable (pronounced ‘fah-blah’ – French you know).  I managed to score a reservation for Friday evening (left the wine thing a little early).  Got into town, walked in and there was a guy just ahead of me checking in with the hostess.  When I walked in, he turned around and gave me a friendly ‘Hi!’  He was seated, alone, and then I was seated.  I decided to ask him if he wanted to join me, and he did.  So, we dined together.  His name is Craig and he works for John Deere.  No romance there, but we had great conversation (foodie stuff and travel mostly, and some work stuff).  It was a great evening.  I had the best caesar salad I think that I’ve ever had.  And Trout Amandine that was also outstanding.  Had a nice martini and a glass of wine too.  http://www.bonjourfable.com/fable-menu.pdf if you want to check out the menu.

And, I’m leaving for England and Norway in less than 2 weeks!  I’ll probably repeat this link, but if you want to follow my Norway travel, the boat I will be on has webcams so you can see where it is.  Here’s the link:
https://www.hurtigruten.us/our-ships/ms-nordnorge/ .  We got an Expedition Suite – it’s on Level 5, Room 502 so you can see where our suite is, and an idea of what it looks like, if you’re curious.

Anyway, I think that’s it for now.  Stay warm people!

 

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If You Want Notifications When I Update The Blog …

A few people have asked about getting notified when I update the blog.  Thanks to Nina, I did what she told me and I jotted notes down, so if you want the notification, this is what you do:

Go to Feedly.com

Create an account

Type in www.reterriment.com as the source you want to follow

Create a New Feed, and give it a name (I used Reterriment)

This is the first post I’ve added since I did that, so I can’t guarantee that it works.  But, Nina wouldn’t have steered me wrong!  Good luck!

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PS

I thought of a few things I forgot to mention in my last post, so, here I am, back again!

First up:  I went to see ‘The Shape of Water.’  Really, really, enjoyed it.  Seemed as an homage to the old Creature From The Black Lagoon movie(s).  Guillermo Del Toro wrote and directed.  If you are fans of his, then you probably have seen Pan’s Labyrinth.  If so, the creature was played by the same guy who played Pan, and the thing with his eyes on the palms of his hands.  Definitely 4 out of 4 stars for that movie!  Years ago I also saw The Orphanage by GDT.  I’m not a fan of horror movies because I get too scared, but, it was also very good.  I guess I need to try watching Crimson Peak …

I just got done watching ‘By The Sea’ written and directed by Angelina Jolie, and starred her and Brad Pitt.  Stupid.  Don’t bother.

In other news, I tried the too-tight Edgeness Pants on a walk at the park today (I can button them and zip them up, and they’re stretchy, so …).  Those are the winners so far.  I wore an older reversible down jacket that I have, rather than my fancier, newer one.  Between the Edgeness pants and the older jacket, I was very warm.  I had on one less layer under the jacket too!  Legs never got cold.  Took the hood off.  Had very thin gloves, and though my hands were cold, they warmed up quickly.  And it was 20oF out!  And snow on the ground!

The (almost) last thing I wanted to mention is, a few weeks ago my friend Woody told me about a book that has exercises in it that are associated with potential issues you may have with your body’s alignment.  I have been doing the exercises for about 8 days in a row now.  My posture feels better.  The issues I’ve been having with my IT band have improved, and I am sold on these exercises.

So, this book has you evaluate your body type and what issues you may have, and then you do issues based on what potential issues you have.  The theory is, many of your muscles overfunction, making up for other muscles that are weaker than they should be.  These exercises help your muscles come back into balance.

Here is the book if you’re interested:

OK.  This snowy afternoon the next movie is up – “Get Out.”  I’ll let you know what I think!

Keep warm, people!

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I HAD

Yes, I HAD.  Hiked Across Delaware!  15-ish miles!

This was a walk organized by the Wilmington Trail Club.  We met in Delaware City DE and were bussed to Chesapeake City MD and walked back to Delaware City along the C&D (Chesapeake and Delaware) canal, on the north side.  I did this with my friend Priscilla.

You can see the canal below:

It goes from the Delaware Bay to the Chesapeake Bay (or vice versa)

We began on the Ben Cardin (Senator in MD) Trail:

Most of the walk was right along the canal, and this entire trail is paved.  There aren’t a lot of ‘get on /get off’ spots so the path is used more by bicyclists than walkers.

The Ben Cardin Trail turns into the Michael N. Castle Trail when it passes into Delaware (previous governor of DE)

 Beautiful Trees

 Rest stop location

  Nice Pasture

The bridge in this photo is for trains.  The lattice-y part raises up when tall ships need to pass thru.  It’s raised up in this photo – but we saw a train go over the bridge earlier in our walk!

The Summit Bridge (DE Rt 896).  About 4 miles in. (Actually, now that I look at it, I think this is the Roth Bridge (see more below).  I guess I didn’t take photos of the Summit Bridge.   And, I didn’t take a lot of photos on the hike – we were trying to not let anybody pass us so I didn’t want to stop too much!

The Roth Bridge (DE Rt 1).  I think this was around 8.5 miles in.

The St. Georges Bridge, DE Rt 13 (you can also see it in the background of the Roth Bridge photo).  The Roth Bridge is now the main way people go when they are headed to lower Delaware, where there are a lot of beaches – St. Georges bridge used to be the way to go,.  The Roth Bridge isn’t all that old, and is named after William V. Roth Jr, who was a DE Senator.
By this point we had walked a little over 10 miles.  Our legs were aching and we wanted to be done!  We stopped here for lunch, so we able to sit down and get off our feet for a little bit.

A few miles later, we knew we were getting close now – we were heading away from the canal and into Delaware City.  This is about 13.5 miles in.

The African Union Church Cemetery – you can see it fenced in, in the background

Beautiful fall colors!

15-ish miles later, we made it back to Delaware City!

Our post-hike feast!  Smoked mussels, smoked shrimp, chips, popcorn, and, of course, WINE (both Red, and White)!

Until the next adventure …