Reading

Friday

People are still pissing me off so I'm still trying to avoid them. But, that's becoming tough. Today we have a meeting at 11:30 that I want to get the info out of but not sit in on. But going is the only way. So I need to paint a pleasant expression on my face and zip my tongue down and go. It won't kill me. I hope.

Then the Mariner game is at 5. This is the deciding game. If they lose this one then, I'll get my life back. I'll be able to cancel the $100 a month Hulu live subscription. And I can start the annual wait for spring training. If they win, ARUGH. I saw posts last night from a couple of Phillies fans who were relieved when it was over for them. I totally get that. Post season baseball is stressful!

I think I'll get into my suit and go swim some stress away.

I've been playing around with my minimonster/robots - and I like the results so far.

Better

My across the hall neighbor is failing fast. He has some kind of inherited, degenerative, cognitive impairment which is impairing quickly. I had two conversations with him this morning. He's not going to last long in that apartment by himself.

Lunch with Martha was fun. It was actually fun to eat in the dining room again. And the food was good.

I got another email today from SteveTheLawyer. He's been handling the trust my cousin set up to commence upon his death for several years now. Or I should say mishandling. This year he's sent out maybe 4 emails saying he's working with he CPA to close out the trust and is waiting on information from the IRS. Today's email leads me to believe that he has royally fucked up this IRS business and is clueless how to wriggle out of his fuck up. In today's email he says that he will need to work directly with our (me and SamTheFriend) CPAs 'or tax professionals' and that they will have to file amended tax returns 'in order to trigger a response from the IRS'. And to let him know when the IRS responds 'I must have copies of any response.'

WHOA there, buster. No. I sent him a fast note back saying NO. I would not be hiring people to work with him. IF he has tax information for me, send it and I'll deal with it in a manner prudent for me. And if the IRS sends me information concerning the inheritance, I would provide him a copy. Otherwise, just no.

I did get a fast backpedaling apology. He's such a piece of work. Best I can tell, there is about another 40K or so that should come to me unless he eats it up with his and his CPA's billable hours. I no longer give a shit. He's an incompetent jerk. I've wasted enough cycles on him. No more.

The duvet cover for the ugly but otherwise fabulous comforter and while it was a bitch to get on, it's wonderful. It's pretty and feels luxurious. It's 100% cotton. I do hate duvet covers. I hate getting them on and I'm not wild about how sloppy they make the bed look but I'm Ok with this one.

There is peripheral baseball today. Nothing major til tomorrow at 5.

Not feeling people

It started night before last. Jan texted me that she was leaving Dick's room and could she drop off the laptop I'd taken over so he could watch the game. I was just getting ready to get into bed but stupidly said yes. Then, of course, she took 20 minutes to make the 4 minute walk. I wasn't happy with me or her.

And that might have carried over. Yesterday, I ventured out once to get my card keys fixed and ran into a couple of people who pissed me off so I stayed in my apartment after that.

Then this morning, all of volleyball pissed me off. The asshole was out assholing himself and another player was being a jerk and it was all I could do to keep a smile on my face and keep playing. oh and one guy hosts a charity breakfast every year and strong arms his friends to buy a table. He did this last year and I questioned his timing... A breakfast on any other day but Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday... So he did it again this year and strong armed half the volleyball players into going. But, this year he said 'I should have done lunch instead of breakfast.' well, yeah. Anyway, one of the other players just decided on her own that we won't be playing on Tuesday and called off the game. Of fuck the lot of you!

When I got home, I realized that this does actually free me up to go to the aqua exercise class next Tuesday so not a total tragedy.

I'm having lunch with Martha today in the dining room so I have approximately 2.5 hours to fix my attitude.

Oh and the Mariners lost. But so did the Yankees in front of their fans. It was sweet. No more Yankees this year. There is also a chance - very slim - that the Dodgers could still get eliminated. I'm holding on to the slim hope. The Mariners play again Friday night.

The next few weeks are full of events that I really would like to avoid but may not be able to. Fortunately they are spaced apart a bit but it's going to take a lot of work on my attitude. Ugh.

Yesterday I asked my doctor for a prescription for some steroid cream for a bad patch of skin. At 4, I got a note saying she would send the prescription to Amazon Pharmacy and within minutes I got a note from Amazon that they had a prescription. It was delivered here before 8 pm. Wild. Just wild.

Wednesday

The 1 pm Mariner game finally started at 4. BUT because of the rain delay, after an hour, Fox switched coverage from FX1 (which the Timber Ridge TV system has) to FX2 (which, of course, we do not have) and put the BlueJay/Yankee game on FX1. It was fine for me because of my splurge on a month of Hulu Live. But, I was about 3 forks into dinner when Dick (of Dick and Jan) called me from the nursing unit where he is recovering from surgery. He couldn't find FX2. I did no research because I just wanted him to have the ballgame and me to have my dinner before it was stone cold.

So I grabbed an old Chromebook, fired up Hulu and the game and ran it over to him and then ran back. He, of course, wanted to know why he couldn't get it and what was going on and I finally just told him, I'd explain later. Turns out, I learned on my way back, they had the game on in the lounge outside his room (the group areas, apparently, have upgraded cable).

It was a fun and good game and the Mariners won. But still tense. I'm not sure I'm a fan of post season play. And either the camera people/editors are perfect or all of the Detroit fans have the most expressive faces in the history of faces. Disappointment, sadness, disgust. They just kept showing face after face. I almost felt sorry for them.

The BlueJays had the Yankees on the rail. Embarrassing them again. Those fans, I will NEVER feel sorry for. But, then, the BlueJays let them have a late game surge and they ended up winning. Curses! Foiled again!

Today the Mariners game is at noon. So after my swim, that will be my day.

I spent a lot of time yesterday researching air fryer situations. And how to use the big one I got and planned to return. And I've pretty much decided to keep it. I still have a few weeks to firm up my decision but I could not find another one that matched all my criteria and those that matched most didn't match enough for that kind of money. I could still change my mind but for now, it's staying.

I just read that one of my favorite authors - Thomas Perry - died last August. He did squeeze out, apparently, one last book that I pre-ordered this morning. I hate it when authors that I want more books from, die. It's just rude.

So now I think I'll suit up and go swim.

Rain out plus next to nothing

Stupid Detroit with their stupid roof-less stadium.

Jim across the hall offered to sell me his Tesla "for next to nothing". It's a smaller one and comes not only with a charger installed next to my parking space, but also free (to me) electricity. I do not know what "next to nothing" means but I suspect it means way less than I could get for my car. But, even putting the Elon Musk ness aside, I just don't trust the company. It's probably fine and I'd be fine owning it. And it's only 3 years old so far less likely to have a problem than my car. But insurance and stuff. And how often do I need extra room? Once or twice every year or so.

So. I told him I would think about it but I have and no.

Also no to the new air fryer. I wanted a bigger one and I went too big. The touch screen needs pounding as opposed to touching. You need massive arm muscles to get the damn drawer out and back in. Plus, it does not cook that well. Stuff that should be crisp is not that crisp. And the settings are way off. The frozen pizza setting burnt the sucker black but the bottom was soft. So back it goes. Sadly, I tossed the giant box. Now I have to find a new giant box.

I spent too much at Costco. But, they had my coffee on sale.

Housekeeping called this morning to say my house cleaner was not at work today. They offered a sub but I said nope. It's fine I pulled out the dirt devil and did the heavy lifting. Now I am waiting for the rain delayed Mariner game to un rain delay.

Rush job

I'm on a timeline. Bonny and I are going to Costco. Oh, wait, we're not going til 10:30 so I've got more time than I thought. She's out of vodka... again. She never drinks before 5 but ALWAYS drinks after. I've never seen her drunk but she does go through the stuff. She buys the big bottles at Costco. Two at at time and has a special bag so no one will see her but two bottles. Then she always waits until late at night to put the empties in the trash room so no one will see her. This alcohol subterfuge cracks me up. She's 85. No one knows her at Costco. No one on this hall cares how much she drinks. But she's not convinced. So... off we go to procure her vice.

Oh the up side, she can't walk far (bad hip which she could get fixed but doesn't want to fuck with) so we get to use handicapped parking.

The Mariner game is at 1. My cleaner comes at 1:40. Happily, I can watch the game on my laptop in the elbow while she cleans.

I saw last night that my former neighbor who has been a TV reporter here for 30 years is retiring. She lived a few doors down from me in the condo for all of those 30 years. My only interaction with her, other than, 'hi!' when we passed in the hallway was during the first weeks of COVID. We passed in the hallway and she stopped me. She told me that she was going to be out and about regardless, every day, for her job and she figured I was not. "Let me give you my number. Then if there is anything you need, any day, just text me. I'll pick it up and bring it to you." That was it. So sweet and so kind. I sent her the first text last night urging her to enjoy the heck out of her retirement.

I took two giant bundles down to the clothes donation bin. One bag was that comforter. I love the look of it. I hate the sleep of it. So gone. I bought another one last spring at Goodwill, that I never tried. It's kind of weighted. I slept under it last night. Perfect. BUT butt ugly. It's gray. Just gray. So just now, I ordered a duvet cover for it.

Ok. Time to get dressed and get organized.

Post Season baseball is hard

In yesterday's first game, the Bluejays, again, humiliated the Yankees. They Yankees finally scored a few runs in the later innings but the damage had already been done. So sweet.

The Mariner game was not so sweet. It was tough. Every single inning. They won. But it was tough. But at least they won. Against, arguably, the game's current best pitcher. So that was lovely. So now we have at least two more games in this series. The next one is tomorrow.

Today are national league games and I really don't care. I'd like the Phillies not to lose but I'm not invested.

Yesterday I culled out some clothes and have a bag for the donation box. The bag is actually too heavy to carry so I need to get the cart out. For now I stashed the bag in the storage locker.

Night before last, I was too hot. The comforter - a pretty one - I got for real cheap from the charity shop is of a fabric that just doesn't sleep well. I swapped it yesterday for another one that turned out to be too light weight. So. Today, I'm going to swap it out for yet another one. I need to get rid of those that don't work. Even if I love them.

No big plans today. The sun is out but I'm going to swim anyway. I need to learn to live with the stupid fucking sun in my eyes when I swim. (And yes, I do have dark - really dark - goggles.)

In between ballgames yesterday, I got the next puzzle going in the elbow. I got all the pieces upright and they edges separated. Today, I'll probably go out there and at least get the framing done. And then I have TV to catch up on. This baseball has interrupted our regular programming. Thank goodness for on demand streaming!

I'm about to be interrupted...

The dryer is going to BING any minute and I'll be interrupted. So I'll need to go fold. But, I'll come back.

The good news. The Bluejays totally embarrassed the Yankees yesterday. It was so sweet. 10 to 1. I am a 100% Bluejay fan until they face the Mariners and then, of course, I'm a 0%. But... when they humiliate the Yankees, I'm 110%.

The bad news. The Mariners got beat in extra innings. They played fine and Detroit played fine. It was a good game but Detroit played just a smidge finer.

We all know how picky I am about baseball broadcasters. These post season ones range from OMG NO! to eh, ok. At least they don't spend 3 innings discussing footwear or mustaches. They actually follow the game. They do seem to favor the opposition, tho. The Bluejay game had all Yankee announcers. The Mariner game leaned toward Detroit but not so much that I hit mute. And there are only about 5 commercials that they repeated until your brain just screams. Do not take any drugs you are allergic to. There was one - I think it's a cancer drug - that listed so many horrible side effects, that I am sure their only customers are people with only 2 days to live who don't care how miserable those 2 days are.

Maybe that's what led to my dream, last night, that fire was coming up the lawn and would engulf the structure I was in. My big problem was that I had already lost internet so I couldn't Google the best way to die in a fire. I never did find out.

Today's first baseball game is at 1 and then the Mariners at 5 and that's all for today. Tomorrow are the National League games.

I ordered brunch for pickup and then went to swim first. The swim was good and the pick up was smooth. French toast again. Delicious. I came home and fried and egg and ate half the French toast and one of the two sausages. So now I can repeat for lunch or dinner. Yum.

First I need to fold and hang the laundry and put the clean sheets on the bed. Then I can take the rest of the day off.

I did bale (again) from aqua stretch. I told the director that I wasn't going any more. I'll swim on Monday mornings now instead of having to wait until 2. I was so dreading Mondays but no more! There were only two of us who showed up more than once a month. My friend, Martha, is the other one and we both decided we were done.

Yesterday and today

The picking up of the sofa cushion was every bit the nightmare I though it would be. Driving around in a web of undermall parking surrounded by downtown one way streets and traffic looking for a really horribly identified place with no signage. Well, there was a sign, actually, once you got there. Not helpful. I was so pissed off. But, I got the cushion and got the fuck out of there. I do not ever have to go back. Well, maybe next time Scott and Julie come from New Zealand but that won't be for two years. I'll be recovered by then.

I did go to Uwajimaya after. It's a decent sized store. I couldn't find the sandos but I got my noodle salad and a few other goodies plus a few dinners worth of Mongolian beef. And a banana milk cake. The beef made the car quite aromatic. It was fun to see all the stuff again. They are, supposedly opening here a store here next year. Their poke is my favorite but I did not get any this time. Should have. The noodle salad was not nearly as good as I remember it. And the Mongolian beef was a fail. BUT I'm still glad I went.

Then I also stopped at Daiso on the way home to get a couple of things that I cannot get anywhere else. Then, uneventfully, home. I was going to stop and fill the tank but it's not yet below the halfway point so I didn't.

This morning's volleyball was cut short. Linda and Bob are in Canada, Cecil was missing (he's the asshole so it's hard to count this as anything but a win), Wally had to leave early and Tina always does so we had a great time and then called it at 8. This gave me enough time to run take my Amazon returns to UPS. Turns out there was also enough time to pop into Safeway but I didn't think of that last bit until I got home. I may go later.

The first baseball game is at 11 just after elbow coffee but it is the one, out of the four today, that I really don't care about. Maybe I'll pop out then and also pick up some lunch. Then the games at 1 and 3, I do care about and, of course, the Mariner game at 5. Full day.

And now I have a fully cushioned sofa to enjoy it on.

Road Trip

So, apparently, my sofa cushion has been ready for pickup for a week but no one bothered to let me know. I was beginning to worry that my constant emails asking for updates were annoying. Now I don't care who I annoy at that stupid Crate and Barrel.

They are in the heart of downtown Bellevue in a gynormous old timey multi floor walkyoufuckingfeet off mall. But, they do have a spot where you can pull in and call them and they will bring your goods to your car. Supposedly. We'll find out today. I'm going in. I'm not looking forward to it.

But, it's not far, and a kind of straight shot from there to Uwajimaya and a stop there might be worth the pain.

The Yankees did not lose last night which is such a shame on many levels. The baseball schedule is now flushed out with times (the days have been set for a while). There is baseball all day long every day for as far as the calendar can see. It's exhausting to consider. It starts tomorrow. The Mariner game is the last of four games tomorrow.

More fun in tech support... Yesterday Noelle rang my doorbell and came in full of frantic. "This is David's (her husband) phone and it's not an iPhone and I don't know how to work it and USAA says we we have to have a 6 digit code and it's supposed to be in here and we can't find it and we have to have it for my car that goes way back years ago and is so complicated..." This was one long run-on sentence. But, she's the best to support because if you can get through her trauma, she knows what she wants and she's ready. So I told her to take a deep breath. "All you want is a code they just sent?" "Yes, please." I clicked on the text app he had on his home screen and found it immediately. I looked up and she has pen ready to write on paper. I gave her the code and handed her the phone and she raced off in a puff of gratitude. She makes it so easy.

I'm enjoying the re-read of Project Hail Mary. It's still an amazing story but this time I'm struck by how poorly written it is. Ach. Sometimes I feel like I'm reading an 8th grade short story. But the story is so good.

Yesterday, Julio and Biggie were cuddled on the couch. So here's a free cat pic.

Time to go get dressed and hit the road.

English to English translation needed

I've seen every one of the 23 scillion Great British Bake Off episodes but last week's (which I just watched) was the first time I was truly lost multiple times. It was Back to School week and clearly I did not go to school in England.

First was school cake. Everyone seemed to know what this was except the woman from Ukraine... and me. Turns out it's a vanilla cake (or sponge if you want to sound posh) with vanilla royal icing and sprinkles BUT - here's a massive twist. They make some kind of vanilla custard that is not set. It pours and they pour this over the cake AND icing. I'm all over vanilla cake and I like royal icing. and I love custard but all three is a bit of overkill, in my book. And I never ever went to a school that served any kind of regular cake.

Then there were flapjacks. Now, in my world, flap jacks are just another name for pancakes. Not so in Britainville. They all made some kind of dense, almost power bar dense, oat thing. No relation to pancakes at all.

Then they made Summer Fete stuff - cakes and cookies and stuff reminiscent of Summer Fete. Never heard of Summer Fete in my life. I couldn't even make out what they were saying until they said it a bunch of times.

But, apparently plastic ducks with rings on their backs are a big piece of summer Fete as they get 'fished' in something called Hook a Duck. There is also something called Quoits which involves maybe rings and sticks? Again. never heard of it but no on they show gave it even a question mark.

So weird that after all those episodes, I get all these questions marks in just the one.

Waiting

Amazon has taught me that I can order stuff and not wait weeks for it. Now waiting those weeks is a lot harder than it was. Thanks, Amazon. I ordered a cat puzzle/toy that I should not have (they don't need and too expensive) and it's taking forever to get here. I ordered the new cushion for my couch eons ago. Last Friday, the sales guy said it just arrived and I will get an email when it is ready for pick up... waiting... waiting...

So that and baseball is my day. Most wildcard playoffs (best out of 3) take 2 games to decide. MLB has four wild card series. Only one was decided in 2 games this year. So today I do not have 4 games to watch. Only 3. Geesh. The Yankees have not been totally humiliated but they have been bruised a little and, with any luck, they will be gone after today.

I was texting with my nephew about the game and my phone's keyboard suggestions for words to follow 'stupid' included 'Yankees'. This cracks me up. I'm glad my phone is on my side.

I think I want an air fryer with more 'fryer' real estate. But still a proper single use air fryer. (not a toaster oven) There are way too many options and, honestly, I cannot decide if I actually do want it or not. My little one works great and I love it, I just want a bigger boat. I think. But Amazon is getting ready to have a sale next week so I'll likely hold off at least til then if not forever.

I will likely finish off the Elbow puzzle today. We can start a new one on Saturday (after elbow coffee is over). Bonny's kids gave us a good one to do next.

It's laundry day. So baseball, laundry, puzzle - three things? OMG I'm outta control here.

2 of 2+?

I watched 3.2 baseball games yesterday. They were all good except the last one. The poor Cincinnati Reds got matched against the We'll Beat You Up Dodgers and they did. Boston beat the Yankees which was satisfying. The rest was yawnerville. I'd kinda rather we played the Guardians and they got beat yesterday by the Tigers. And I don't care one bit whether the Cubs beat the Pirates or vice versa.

Today is another round of same. Same games, same game times. I think I'll skip the noon game and the 6 pm game and just watch the 10 am and then 3 pm games. This set is 2 out of 3 so, likely, at least one of these teams will win their 2nd game today and tomorrow's schedule will be lighter. As long as the Yankees lose. With a Dodger kicker (which ain't gonna happen).

Otherwise, that's it for me for news. John's still dying - Hazel was wheeling him around yesterday. His mind is starting to leave. Dick is getting better but not fast enough for Jan. Yesterday, he had her running back and forth getting stuff. Happily, the nursing wing is on this floor so at least she didn't have to wait for elevators.

It's a rainy overcast day so I'm off to swim some laps.

Muscle amnesia

I got my first DVR in 1980 (a beta max, since you asked). It has a wired remote. Yes, a wire strung across the room from the TV to the couch but this was 1980 and DVR was magic so I did not care who I tripped.

I learned to fast forward through commercials. My thumb hit >> without my even being aware of it for more than 40 years.

When I moved here in 2023, I gave up all recording services.

Today I splurged on Hulu+Live for the playoffs and now I have recording again. I tuned into the first baseball game recording 30 minutes after it started but it was a good 30 minutes before I remembered I could fast forward through the commercials! My thumb has forgotten its main purpose in life.

These announcers are not remotely interesting but they are not spending whole innings discussing the players' mustaches. They are following the game. Shocking. They also have twice now used 'fewer' instead of 'less' correctly so I'm a happy camper. Also the game is a good one so far.

Playball!!

I am far more interested/invested in the baseball playoffs than I expected to be. Even the wild card games that the Mariners are not a part of. So that will be my day today.

And it's housecleaning day. My hardwood floors are a mess. I have hardwood in the entry and the kitchen (carpet everywhere else). It's lovely but ugh what a mess all the time. It shows every single little thing plus, I think, for the edges and corners, it goes to other parts of the apartment and gathered dust and debris. Ugh. The house cleaner sweeps and washes it and it looks fab again.

I got Julio in the summer of 2022. He was always meant to be Biggie's cat and he always has been. He's always run from me. He gets close sometimes when he's starving and I'm feeding. He will sleep on the bed at night but only if Biggie is there. But, a few months ago, he ran into the room and onto my lap. He then realized where he was and ran away. Yesterday, he hopped into my lap and let me pet him, not once, not twice, but THREE times!! So weird. I'll be interested to see if he repeats today.

My elbow is very much improved. I felt a twinge yesterday while swimming but that may have been my imagination. No problem with volleyball this morning at all. I'm still wearing the brace for both activities but no other time.

And, in other health related news... I remember last January when I had my annual doctor visit, we were discussing my COPD (which I am now sure that I do not have). I had been off the high priced inhaler for six months then and was fine. My lungs sounded fine. I still had coughing fits and was using the Albuterol (inhaler) and Benzonatate (pills) every once in a while. It dawned on me yesterday that I have not had a coughing fits or used either one of them in months. They are going to expire before I get to them. Pretty cool.

Drive bys - the food version

I've had mayo and peanut butter on my grocery list since forever. Last week I added some other stuff. This morning, I got everything on my list except, you guessed it, mayo and peanut butter. Sigh. Fortunately neither is critical. I'm just replacing backups.

A couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a very small bag of mellowcreme pumpkins. My fav. Only when I got home, I discovered they were not Brach's. ECK!! Did that stop me from finishing the bag, no. But, it did increase my desire for Brach's. At least I did not forget that on the list. I need a container with a combination lock on it, to keep them in... And then forget the combination.

Last week Bonny had some deli thick slicked turkey that she could not finish so she gave me the last slice. When she offered, I thought she was talking real turkey not pressed faux turkey. But, it was fine. When she gave it to me, she gave me a box of stove top stuffing, too. Which was weird but ok. It's getting close to the season. Then I discovered I have no cranberry jelly left in the cupboard. Got some today. Whew. And another box of stuffing. And a container of chopped up onion and celery.

When I got home I added the onion and celery to a pan of butter and them threw in the stuffing mixes and some chicken broth. DAMN, does that taste good. The two boxes together only made me about 5 servings so I know there will have to be more. I would have said that I preferred Peperidge Farm stuffing mix but this boxed shit is pretty damn good!

And I made another batch of chopped up cukes and onions - just salt, pepper and sugar. It's getting good in the fridge. Tonight's menu includes pork chops in a peach glaze. Usually their pork chops are horrible but whenever they have them on the menu, I try them once, in hope. (And then fill out yet another dining room feedback card... WHY THE FUCK CAN'T YOU PEOPLE DO A DECENT PORK CHOP??!! They have been ignoring me for 23 months now, but I still hope.

Monday

Tomorrow there are four baseball games - here they are at 10, noon, 3 and 6. I'm not going to watch all of them but do want to check in. Today there are none.

So I think my now long put off trip to Safeway will happen today. Nothing else on the calendar so the perfect day for it. Plus, I think I might stop in at Hobby Lobby. As much as I hate to shop there... I need yarn. Yes. I have a house full of yarn but no more baby pink and blue which are perfect doll colors. I only need a skein of each and that's not enough to justify shipping charges. So shopping with Jesus it is.

But I think first I'll swim. It's a nice, rainy day - no sun threatening.

I watch a fair amount of YouTube. It's kind of my go-to on the TV when I have 10-15 mins to spare. I've had an annual Premium subscription ($140) for the past few years because I have no tolerance for the ads. Last year they announced a cheaper hybrid. $8 a month (no annual but it would be, of course, sub $100). It's billed as 'fewer' ads. But the ads, apparently are only on some shorts, which I never watch and some music, which I also never watch. My idea was to try it out for a month. I set it up a few weeks ago and it kicked in last week and I forgot about it. Until yesterday, when I was watching some YouTube and realized my experience had not changed - only the price. Woot. It's rare that I save money on a TV subscription. But, I really hate it when there's no way to play annually. So much easier to keep up with.

Netflix and Hulu would get far more of my money if they would offer annual plans (with no ads). So now they get a month or so in rotation and then a few months or more off, lather, rinse, repeat.

Ok, time to get moving.

Hispanic Heritage Month

Many of our workers are of Hispanic heritage. Lots and lots of them have very little English (But, even those, have way more English than I have Any Other Language At all.) Most, I believe, have Spanish as their native tongue but that covers a lot of politicals. So this month Timber Ridge put up a giant poster of Hispanic countries. They put little yellow rectangles of paper with pins and pens on the table next to the poster. Then they asked everyone to put their names on their country's flag. It's the coolest thing!!!

Turns out my house cleaner is from Ecuador(this is corrected the next day - i'm blaming the original misspelling on autocorrect). I just wikipedia'd the shit out of Equator and found out I didn't know shit about it. Tatania (my house cleaner) is the only one here from Equator. Anyway, the map is amazing and it's great fun to see where everyone is from.

This morning, I did my new swim+brunch thing. The swim was great. The brunch was not spectacular BUT it was definitely OK and I did not have to cook it or clean up any dishes other than my fork so that is a win in my book. Turns out there is no aqua stretch class tomorrow so I'll probably lap in the morning but no brunch.

Today is the last day of regular season baseball. All games start at the same time which is always kind of freaky. Next week is a round of playoffs to secure the teams who will view for the respective divisions. We get to skip that round. So the next Mariners game (and the next Phillies game) is next Saturday. There are still playoff decisions being decided today - one in each division of each league. Very symmetrical. Once those games have been decided then they will, hopefully, publish the times of all the various playoff games.

In former years, this is the day that starts my winter life. I go back to watching episodic TV and put off thinking about baseball until February. This year is sure different.

Last night, I was stumbling around the Google Photo app trying to make today's collage and I hit the wrong button and discovered something called Remix. It applies AI to a photo of your choice with astonishing results. I used a couple of photos of me with a couple of their options and pretty much got a drawings of Hillary Clinton.

This one came the closest to me but is not me.

I paid $10 for the drawing of me that is my profile pic and it is still the closest to the real me. But this remix stuff is sure fun. I finally did it so many times that google says I have to upgrade my AI or wait until 8 pm tonight to try again. Maybe tonight, I'll take one of the new ones and the old one and see if I can get Mr. AI to morph them into something.

Saturday

The Mariners lost last night which means they will not be seeded which means they will not get home field advantage automatically. Which is not a big deal. BUT it also means that tonight's game and tomorrow's game do not matter one little bit. I will likely watch on mute. I'm so over these broadcasters. Happily, tomorrow is their last Mariner game this year. We get network yahoos from here on out.

But the big Mariner news is the network. The network they have used to televise their games for the past 15ish years is being dissolved. The Mariners own the network and it sucks so dissolving it is a tragedy really only for the 25 people it puts out of work. Hopefully, they can find jobs elsewhere. It will probably mean that I can pay a little less to get the games on TV. It will not change the horrible broadcaster situation, more's the pity.

Elbow coffee was Bonny's National Shake Iut Day preparedness. It's not until October 16 but Timber Ridge has a whole Todo about it. Bonny and Dick are in charge of us but Dick is still recuperating so Bonny's doing it all (and it's kind of a heavy lift). She did a great job. Ingrid showed up early and quickly had a table pounding meltdown when Bonny asked her to move over a chair to make room for Joan. "If Joan wants me to move she can ask me herself!!! I am not an old person!!!" And then she left so the whole meeting was very cordial and productive since she wasn't there to complicate the situation.

Volleyball was good and I just folded up the laundry that I put in before Elbow coffee. So I'm pretty much all caught up except for lunch. I do want to go to Safeway but I'm too hungry to do it now. Maybe later or tomorrow.

I have TV to watch and I'm listening to Mary Roach's latest and it's about replacing body parts - Replaceable You. It's really good but complicated. I'm going to have to listen to the whole thing again. Also I want to listen to Project Hail Mary again. I read it when it first came out but I think I need a re-read.

But first... lunch. I am starving.