A compendium of adventures and other nonsense
Another update – I painted a rock and left it in the rock garden of the Faery Village, and I also painted a piece of wood I found into a shark but I forgot to take a picture of it! Darn!
Just a short update – I dropped off the Junk Journal I found on a trail along 17-Mile drive: Continue reading “Follow Up on the Art Abandonment”
I posted this on FB and thought I should add it here too:
Yeah, welp, it’s been quite a while since I posted here. Sorry about that! I guess I really didn’t feel like I had much to post about. I have done some paintings in between and perhaps I will post about them later, but, I do want to document my road trip before I forget more things.
So, in a previous post or two I’ve mentioned River, with whom I had a Tarot reading back in October. As it turns out, he became my Spiritual Coach and we’ve been working together on that since October, meeting once a week via Zoom. A few months ago we talked about meeting up in person, and in the last month or so we decided that the latter part of May would be a good time to do so. My 2 weeks after being fully vaccinated was up on May 3 so the timing felt right. Continue reading “Road Trip Spring 2021 – Part 1 – Home to Warren OH”
About a month ago I cashed in some of my Discover Cashback money to get an e-certificate for Lululemon – I am a big fan of their leggings, and they have a style I like that has pockets – I had the shorts and capris already, but wanted to get full length ones for when it’s cold out. Continue reading “Saga of the Leggings”
I decided to spend a few days at the beach, which is about 2 hours away by car. Packed up and headed out. About an hour into the drive my car said it sensed low air pressure in one of the tires. I’ve gotten this ‘alarm’ if the tires are just low (like with temp changes). I took my hands off the wheel to check if the car was veering at all and it wasn’t, so I figured I’d wait til I got to the beach to check the air in the tires. Continue reading “Nail in my Tire!”
If you’re looking to try something new, I came across this video that has himalayan singing bowls. Try it!
Make sure to either sit where both of your ears are equidistant from your speakers, or, better yet, wear headphones.
It’s about 11 minutes long.
Breathe deep, relax, and enjoy!
A few years ago I saw this recipe in the Sunday NY Times
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018041-a-very-updated-vegetable-chartreuse. Continue reading “A Very Updated Vegetable Chartreuse”
A couple weeks ago a very strong wind storm blew through. My phone, and the TV, were both broadcasting tornado warnings (one step more serious than a tornado watch: https://www.weather.gov/safety/tornado-ww). I didn’t go down to the basement, but stayed on the first floor ready to run to the basement if I needed to. In the meantime, I had the front door open so I could see out through the storm door. The rain was literally horizontal and I have never seen wind like that before! It was a miracle that I didn’t lose power!
Here are some photos of what I woke up to the next morning:
The wind was so loud that I didn’t hear any of the trees come down!
A few days later, this happened:
I lost 2 maples and 1 oak. Very lucky that none of the downed trees hit anything!
Seems like lately I’ve been encountering some weird animal stuff. I’ve had more deer in my yard than ever, including very cute little spotted babies. That’s not all that weird, just seeing them more than usual.
But the other day, I was sitting on the couch, and all of sudden I noticed a face peering through my storm door. A groundhog! He had walked up the walkway, and up the steps to take a look! I had to leave soon and was worried about him being near my car when I left, so I went to the storm door and started clapping my hands and telling him to move on. He stopped at my planter with flowers and looked like he was going to eat them. I yelled at him again, and then he politely took off.
And then, the other day I went down to the basement and was startled by the sight of a dead mouse. (of course I screamed) I decided I couldn’t face moving it that day, but that I would do it the next day. So, the next day I put on my thick, high gardening boots and walked down to the basement. Lo and behold, the mouse was gone! I posted this on FB and I think the consensus is that I have a snake friend living in the basement. It’s probably a black snake. I’m not afraid of snakes so that’s OK. But, if I come across him unexpectedly I’ll still probably scream. We’ll see.
And, this isn’t a weird animal thing, but I stopped to get gas today. I was just putting the pump back on the holder, and this guy pulls up on the other side of the pump and says ‘Hola’ to me. I am learning Spanish but I didn’t really feel like I was dressed in a Hispanic way (whatever that means – ha ha). He wasn’t hispanic. But, he seemed a bit creepy. Things like this are why I don’t buy gas at night anymore.
Anyway, just a quick check in. I’m still planning my next trip. So far I have a one-way ticket to SFO, a hotel booked in South Lake Tahoe, and confirmation from my cousin Beanie that I can stay with her again. Trying to see if I can fit Mount Rushmore in somewhere. Again, we’ll see.
Until then!
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!
Got another funny comment, so I thought I’d share it. Ha ha!
When someone writes an post he/she mzintains the thought off a userr in his/her brajn that how a user can understand it.
So that’s why this article is amazing. Thanks!
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!
Well well well! I hadn’t found the 1987 calendar book and was thinking I was going to have to skip to 1988, but today I was cleaning up stuff in my spare room and lo and behold, in the bottom of a box with mostly travel stuff in it, there was 1987!
For some reason I have a bunch of dates with ‘ICA’ and a time on them. Times are in the morning and the evening and sometimes more than once a week. Hm. I wonder what it is?? Maybe therapy … I remember I was trying to ‘find myself’ around this time of my life.
March 31: Saw Yo Yo Ma!
April 9 to 12: Went to Wilmington NC for a long weekend
April 15: Saw a dance troupe called MOMIX. Played golf – shot a 58 for 9 holes.
May 14-17: Went on a yoga retreat. To say it was life-changing is an understatement!
June 18-20: Took Reiki I Training
June 25-28: Went on a chartered sailboat weekend out of Annapolis
Sept 12-13: Took Reiki II Training
October 3-4: Took Polarity Healing Training
October 28: Saw Ferrante and Teicher
November 16: Saw Kagemusha
November 25: Saw Rodney Dangerfield
All right. Enough indulging myself for now.
I have a couple songs I wanted to bring to your attention.
The first one is by Arcade Fire – “Everything Now” – LOVE this song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC30BYR3CUk
The second one, well, I’ve seen Cardi B on a couple shows – Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon. She actually co-hosted with JF. She comes across oddly – kinda wifty, but not. I hadn’t heard her music so I thought I’d give it a listen. She was on Saturday Night Live fairly recently. This song is from her second song on the show. I was pretty impressed. Take a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Klc0KPNbU
I’m doing a juice cleanse this week. Today is Day 1. Wish me luck!
Til next time!
OK. I have the 1986 datebook in front of me. A sample page, again from CP&L:
January 1: NYC. If I remember correctly I spent New Year’s Eve in Spanish Harlem. What a trip!
Feb 10: I left NC to move to DE – from Wilmington to Wilmington! New job!
Mar 12: I saw Bella Davidovitch and Dmitry Sitkovetsky (piano and violin) at the Grand Opera House
April 5: Echo and the Bunnymen concert
May 24: Simple Minds concert
May 28: ZZ Top concert
Aug 15: Andreas Vollenweider concert (Mann Music Center)
Sept 27: Bought tape deck (still have it!)
Oct 27: Bought my baby grand piano (still have it!)
For some reason there are a lot of “Drag Parties” in the datebook. Not sure what they were, or if they were any fun?!
And again, a lot of stuff with people I don’t remember. And a bunch of times I did a run that day (e.g. 16:36 minutes). And days I played Golf (e.g. score of 74). That was probably for 9 holes 🙂
Now, on a completely different topic, here are some other things of interest. First off, some photos from Longwood Gardens:
And lastly, this rose bush in my yard EXPLODED today. I saw nothing yesterday. And today, this! (and I see a bunch more buds waiting to open!)
OK people. Carry on. Remember those who gave their lives for our country. After all, this is Memorial Day weekend.
Until next time …
OH! One more thing! I was made aware of this video today (in today’s Sunday New York Times). I found it very compelling. See what you think… (and if you feel like commenting, let me know)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
One second thing! I forgot that I wanted to add some learning stuff in this post. I’ve learned a couple new words over the past couple weeks:
GERUND: a form that is derived from a verb but that functions as a noun, in English ending in -ing, e.g., Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion. (I learned this from my Duolingo app – it is a grouping in my Spanish lessons)
SPOONERISM: a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures, accidentally spoken instead of the intended sentence you have missed the history lectures. (I learned this from doing Sunday Washington Post crosswords)
I think in a previous post that I had mentioned that I found all of my monthly pocket calendars, starting in 1984 and going up through 2016 (after which, presumably, I started just putting stuff on my phone. So much for record keeping).
Because I’m not travelling but I want to keep the blog going, I have decided to go through each year and provide one or two entries per year that I find funny. Listen people, I am baring my life to you! Hopefully you’ll find it at least mildly amusing. I will try to include some comical banter to make it more interesting…
Here is a photo of the inside page of 1984. CP&L is where I worked then – Carolina Power & Light – at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant near Wilmington, NC. No, I am NOT a hoarder!
For 1984 it seems that a lot of things happened. For the most part, I will not provide any further explanations of these entries. You can try to fill in the blanks. May be more intriguing that way 🙂
July 11: Bert moved. Sean confused.
July 18: Flat tire
July 23: Dinner with Sean
July 24: CAR TOTALLED. 29,441 miles. (okay, here is an explanation – it was my 1983 Rabbit GTI. My first new car. I LOVED that car! The weird thing is, I got in that accident on my way home from work, and the guy I had the accident with never wore his seat belt. Until that day. Had a pretty much head-on crash with him. His wife, that morning, went out to him while he was getting in his car, and told him to put his seat belt on. The guy never wore his seat belt until that day – oo ee oo. After hitting his car, my car went up on two wheels, spun around, and I hit a tree with the back side of the car. People were shocked that I walked away from the accident – though I was mighty sore the next day I must say. )
October 23-30: I went to London (visiting my friend Bill)!
December 6-9: I played a ‘daughter’ in The Pirates of Penzance in Thalian Hall!
1985. I did a lot of stuff with people I don’t remember anymore. And I did a big trip!
10/24-27: In Honolulu – stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki where my cousin Audrey worked and she got me a deal.
10/27-10/30: In Fiji – Beachcomber Island (wow – I just checked – they are still in business! http://www.beachcomberfiji.com/
10/30-11/6: In Sydney, Australia, visiting my friend Anne who I met while I was backpacking through England back in 1980
11/6-10: In New Zealand (south island). I got a rental car and pretty much drove the perimeter of the island. I remember being in Timaru and feeling very lonely.
11/10: In California. Due to time changes, I got to California before I left New Zealand! ha ha!
11/11: Back in North Carolina
OK. As I’m writing this it feels a bit self-indulgent. But I’m enjoying it. You decide whether you want to keep reading. This will take a bit of time. Hopefully I can add some other stuff I’m doing in-between these memories, so you don’t get too bored!
Until next time!