Proper Supervision

We got a load of firewood. We have some doubts that it will ever be cold enough to have a fire, but we were almost out of wood for the barbecue. 

I told Handy I would help him stack it, but only in the morning when it was cool and cloudy. 

So he wheelbarrowed about half to the woodpile and in the morning I set to work. 

You can see I was quite well supervised. 

And the supervisor was closely watched by upper management. 

The next morning I was allowed to stack the other half with only minimal supervision from a distance. 

Easy to Spot Scams

These phishers can't even spell phishing correctly. Makes it really easy to spot a fraud!

Plus, I don't even have an American Express card. 

Then there are the scam phone calls, purportedly from Edison saying they are going to cut off our power if we don't make a payment through a special service. They don't realize Edison is not our electric provider here! 

So easy to spot. 

Some are more difficult, but I haven't had any of those lately. 

A Week in Photos

Homer has been exceptionally cuddly and purry. He likes Ruffles potato chips. 

Frank left on a trip to see Ernest! This is the traditional "Bye Mom" picture. He worked a morning shift before he left, hence his barista beret. 

Last week was so hot. And all I could think of was cold G&Ts. So....

Usually the paper arrives at work and a coworker and I challenge ourselves with the puzzle. Last week the paper was late! I had to do it by myself at home! Kinda cheaty, this one with all those blocked out spaces. This week's was much harder and we couldn't finish it. 

Signs of Summer

I am a little late with my seasonal post.

Barely 2 weeks after I picked up this delightful book for $1, the basselope reappeared in Berkeley Breathed's online strip. I got a bargain!

This is has been the hugest seller.  

Halloween decorations are already available. But when I think about it, Halloween is only 2ish months away.

And fire season is upon us.

Things I Am Happy About

Going to the theater with my niece tonight.

My BFF and her daughter are coming to visit at the end of the month.

Frank is going to visit Ernest. (I must BEG for a picture of the 2 of them together.)

Procrastination: my trash can was full of ants when I went to put it away after the pickup. So I left it out, thinking I would rinse the ants out a little later when it got shady. When I went back, the ants were gone!

My BOOKCASE!

Cat tested. 

Cat approved.

Things I Am Over With

Things I am over with. (I know, first world problems.)

Politics. Period.

Old farts thinking they are funny. To a grocery store clerk, "Oh, you want money for that?" To a person who gives them a cart, "Oh can you push it too?"

Neflix sending disc 2 before disc 1.

Police officer not stopping for pedestrian.

Jury duty summons. I've done my time.

This was just yesterday.

Tomorrow, things I am happy about.

Leeks

Frank likes leeks. We have had his Crispy Fried Leeks many times.

One night he had a vision of something he once ate in a now-closed restaurant. I'm not sure if he achieved his dream, since I never had the dish in question, but there is no question that what he achieved in our kitchen was delicious.

Frank's Potatoes and Leeks with Steamed Sea Bass.

And now that Pokemon is so popular again, Frank reminded me of Farfetch'd. I don't think this was one of the Pokemon Ermest made me memorize. He had a poster next to his bed and quizzed me on the Pokemon in numerical order with all their evolutions. 

I like the powers, the leek throw and the leek slap.

Frank is giving me so much information on leeks. I can't keep up. 

Bonnie Raitt

After a concert drought, when it rains, it pours. Two tickets for Bonnie Raitt literally fell in our laps.

I hadn't seen her live in years, so this was a real treat. 

We had dinner at a favorite Mexican seafood place. I have been eager to try the shrimp cocktail. (I did not have a picture, so I borrowed this from Sara K on yelp.) 

Mine looked more or less the same, but with a shrimp hanging over the side. It was like gazpacho full of shrimp. Very good, and enough for a full meal for me. Handy had an octopus cocktail and two tacos. I think he overdid. 

Then we hiked up the hill. The show was opened by Richard Thompson. I had heard of him for many years, but never heard him. Now I would like to hear more of him. 

Bonnie was just great, playing a mix of old and new. She finished the show just seconds before the 10 pm noise curfew. What a pro!

I didn't get a new best friend this time. My new seat mate arrived rather late. She did offer me a corner of her unnecessary seat padding but, not wanting to have lopsided hip alignment, I politely declined. Padding used to be helpful when the seats were metal benches, but now they are contoured plastic seats with backs and are actually comfortable. I didn't hear much more from her until the quiet songs, when she unfortunately decided to sing along. 

A few rows ahead of us, a hairy toothless weather-beaten man was trying to be a NBF to many folks, except the venue staffer. He was berating her because she told him he couldn't stand in a fire safety area to watch the show. 

Walking back to the car we were nearly in a walking accident when the group in front of us stopped short in the middle of the sidewalk to moon at the cow.  (Photo from kqed.org.)

A Fair Experience

A couple things at the fair caught Handy's eye.

The Police Porsche. 

And the electric cigar box guitar!

I love to walk through the Home Arts displays at the fairgrounds. There was a definite superhero theme going on.

A crocheted Batman. This reminded me of our family heirloom crocheted ET, made by Handy's late grandma.

I always love the place settings. Ant-Man's picnic was a prize winner.

This Superman cake was feeling the heat, since the fair had been running for many days in 100+ degree heat, but I bet it looked terrific when it was first displayed.

On the animal side of the fair, the handwashing station was delightful. There was a bubble machine somewhere.

The giant burger drew us in, but we wished we'd walked further as there was better food elsewhere. 

Frank got a deep fried Twinkie. Bucket list. He feels he does not need another one ever. 

I had wine with a pink straw. That's a repeatable experience. 

Hollywood Vampires

Concerts have been few and far between the past few years.

Ernest reports he recently saw Dave Matthews Band and it was one of his top 3-4 concerts ever. (He says the others would be Primus, Steve Miller, Roger Waters.)

We had tickets for Hollywood Vampires and were quite worried to hear that Joe Perry had collapsed on stage a few weeks ago. Remember our experience with the Aerosmith cancellation? Although we finally did get to see them.

I am still navigating the world with an elderly iPhone4 which does its business just fine and survived a dip in Homer's water bowl. But its pictures are so bad compared to current standards. 

That's the best of a bad bunch. 

But the sweet sweet marketing peeps at the Mid-State Fair sent me an email afterwards. So these good pictures are from them:

Joe looked a little gaunt but seemed to have a lot of energy. Johnny did not look gaunt and acted like a regular musician. Alice had vampire bite marks on his neck.

If you've read some of my previous concert posts, you know I talk about my personal experience. The music is there, always, thanks to YouTube. I listened to two songs from the show I saw, but they really truly sounded better in person. 

It often happens that someone next to me decides to be my new best friend. And I sure had one this night. She apologized for the empty seat between us, saying it was probably her fault because she had a single ticket. Actually, we had the ticket for that seat as we couldn't find a person to use it. She was so disappointed that Cheap Trick wasn't opening, her sister had seen them open for the vamps in Michigan. Her sister bought her the ticket and she drove 2 and a half hours. She had pictures of Alice from a long ago meet and greet and waved around a blowup of one during the show. She eventually bonded with her other neighbor instead of me. I was surprised when she left towards the end of the show but I think she was making her way to the front in hopes of Alice spotting her and her picture.

We had a fun time.

Brain Fog

I was going to title this post Brain Farts, but imagine all the weirdos who would search it! Like me, googling brain fart for a picture or definition.

You know those senior moments when you are doing something you have done a hundred or a thousand times and all of a sudden you don't know what you're doing.

Clearly I worked a few too many days because the brain farts were multiplying. Although I am not the only one to have suffered!

I am still tired and in a bit of fog this weekend, but I have hopes of it clearing.

brain fart

noun

Popularity: Bottom 40% of words

Definition of brain fart

chiefly US informal

1. :  a mental lapse :  brain cramp < … she stumbled over remembering when Sam was born and even had a brief brain fart where she forgot his name. — Crushable, 26 Sept. 2012>

There and Back Again

Well, hello. 

Yes, I did go on an amazing road trip. I have tons of pictures. And I did take the sewing machine and hem Ernest's curtain. 

But since I returned I have been working a lot, covering for co-workers who are having their own vacations. 

I had a 5-day week, a 4-day week, and another 5-day week. It takes a lot out of me. 

Hopefully things will settle down soon. 

Mom Cave

The whole house is not my cave, just a room or two full of books, plus unused art, craft and sewing supplies.

I think I might prefer a Tiki Bar. Oh so coincidentally, there is a (wine) Tiki Bar in my small town!

Beloved Niece and I went there for my birthday. These are my own lousy cell phone pictures but I love the atmosphere. 

So. Anyone want to join me in the Tiki Bar Cave?  

Amazon has the classes and drink umbrellas and even straws that look like bamboo!