Friday Randomness
It’s been a busy week around here. We celebrated Ted’s stepdad’s birthday last Saturday – no pictures, but we had a lovely time. We had bbq ribs and chicken, green salad, potato salad, watermelon, hibiscus tea mixed with lemonade, wine, and chocolate raspberry cake. The weather was perfect, not too hot, but warm enough that you could sit outside if you wanted.
Speaking of weather, it seems from your posts like it’s full on fall for some of you. I remember fall coming in August when I was a kid in Alaska, and when Ted and I lived in Philadelphia, it felt like a switch was flipped in mid September and suddenly it was lovely and no longer humid and hot. We were only there for 2 autumns, so maybe it’s not always like that. Here, we still have heat waves, sometimes well into October. It has mostly been a mild year for us, for which I am thankful. Looks like at least one more heat wave next week, and then it will cool down a bit.
Boomer
When we bought our new car, Beezus, we considered selling our old car, Boomer, as a trade in. The salesman said they would likely sell him at auction, or maybe for parts, which made us sad. He’s a good car and has a lot of life left in him. Also, the offer was very low. Instead, Ted’s brother helped us find a buyer (via Facebook marketplace) who really wanted the car, already has another Scion xB (same year even), and offered us about 3x what the dealership offered. They even said they were going to keep his name Boomer. I love that. This is an old picture of Boomer, with our darling girl Genevieve, back when he was pretty new in 2008.
Mid-week Music
On Tuesday, Ted and I ventured to San Francisco to see a concert by Steven Wilson. I’m not very familiar with his music. It’s ’prog rock’, or what one might call ‘math rock’, or as Wilson described it at one point, ‘long, complicated songs’. The musicians were all amazingly talented, and it was fun, but the music wasn’t really my jam, and I only knew one song, Pariah (which I do like quite a bit). Ted knew more than I did, but there were a lot he wasn’t familiar with as well.
Photos were not allowed during the performance, but Ted took this picture of the stage beforehand – I love the light fixtures. Don’t they look like meringue?
I did take some pictures during intermission, of the long line for the men’s room, no line for the women’s room. That doesn’t happen often. This was a mostly male, mostly white audience.
This is looking back the other way – that’s a long line for the men’s room.
Movie Afternoon
I took the day after the concert off from work, so I could take it easy after getting home late. Instead of sleeping in, I started off with a boring work meeting, and then Ted and I went to a nearby town to deliver Boomer to his new people. Then Ted went to work, and I ran a bunch of errands and took care of the kittens at the rescue. When I got home, I considered diving into my decluttering project (my ‘Grandma file’ – from when I was managing her ‘estate’ – was on the agenda), but decided that my ‘one thing a day’ was Boomer, and relaxed and watched a movie instead. Ted watched ‘The Friend’ a few weeks ago, but I fell asleep on the sofa, as is my way, so I decided to give it another go during daylight hours. I’m glad I did, because it was a lovely film. In it, Naomi Watts is left a 150+ lb Great Dane by her friend, Bill Murray, who has committed suicide. She has her own grief to deal with, and lives in a tiny NYC apartment that does not allow pets. Too bad, Apollo is hers until she can find him a new home. I read the book a few months ago and loved it, and I loved this film almost as much. Now streaming, I watched on Paramount+.
One Thing a Day
I haven’t gotten rid of these yet, but they are waiting their turn. When I was going through my box of my mom’s things, I found this pen and little box. The ink in the pen was long dried up (or empty, who knows), so I went to Staples on Wednesday and found a refill. I was pretty happy about finding one that fit, it’s an irregularly shaped pen, or at least seems so to me. I decided that when I send my box of Christmas gifts to Juneau in a few months, I’m going to send the pen for Richard and the box for Kathy. In the meantime they are on my desk and I’m enjoying them.
Other items I got rid of this week included a few books that I am unlikely to read again, and a cooling mat that we bought for Mulder back when he was in a crate.
Errands
One satisfaction (for me) of running errands, especially on a really busy day, is to have a paper list and check things off. Last Friday was a particularly busy day, getting ready to celebrate Ted’s stepfather’s birthday on Saturday, and I lost my list. I LOST MY LIST. I dropped it somewhere at the final stop, the grocery store, so I didn’t get to check off the items that I bought or the store itself. And since I lost my list, I forgot to buy a couple of things, which meant more errands on Saturday. Sigh. The picture above is clearly not the aforementioned list, because duh, this one says Wednesday and also is not lost at the grocery store, but here’s your visual of what a day off often looks like for me. Grandma’s file got moved to Thursday.
Memories
My Facebook memory yesterday takes me back to 2014, when I had my first Rheumatoid Arthritis flair. My world went from fine, to pain in one toe, to barely able to walk, afraid of the pain of turning a doorknob or brushing my hair or shaking someone’s hand. I could do no yoga, it was too hard on my hands to be on all fours. Every day, when I do yoga, I remember this time and am thankful for the relief I have gotten from modern medicine.
Now it’s Friday, and the weekend ahead doesn’t look too busy so far. There’s a new season of The Great British Baking Show (Bake Off) on Netflix tonight, and we’re hoping to go see the new Downton Abbey film this weekend. Anglophiles, unite! I hope you have a relaxing weekend, that all is well where you are, and that you have perfect weather.
34 Comments
AC
We’ve had early fall weather although, oddly enough, at least the first half of our real fall is predicted to be warmer than average.
I understand being attached to a car. I felt a bit that way with Corrie the Corolla who took us on a long western road trip when she was an old girl already.
J
Oh, Corrie the Corolla! Yeah, i get attached. Maybe if we just called them ‘The Camry’ and ‘The XB’, it would be easier. Or maybe not.
Ally Bean
The pen and little box are beautiful. For me a small remembrance is often more evocative than a whole photo album. I adore the photo of men waiting in line for the restroom while woman are not waiting in line. It does my heart good to see it.
J
I know, I couldn’t not get both sides of that line, it was awesome.
Elisabeth
What? The new season of GBBO is TONIGHT. I am SO excited. Wait, Birchie arrives in a few hours. I don’t care about GBBO. But I am so excited. I haven’t been tracking the release date, but I knew there’d be one soon. Cannot wait to watch this.
And that movie looks utterly charming!
J
Elisabeth, it started last Friday! Tonight is the secnod episode. Aren’t you glad that it’s not the old old days before VCRs even, and it will just be there waiting for you when you are ready?
HAVE FUN WITH BIRCHIE!
nance
It was good to see dear Genevieve again!
I’m glad you got a good price for Boomer. I’ve never named my cars, but when we traded in our Explorer for our first Prius, I did get a bit choked up and sad to see it sitting there all forlorn and lonely. We had so many fun jaunts and memories in that car. It surprised me to become so emotional.
THAT PEN! I love it. I’m so glad you went the extra mile and got a refill for it. It’s wonderful. I am crazy about pens, and that one would have become a treasure, for sure.
Lists are my life–and always on paper, too. I have an actual little black book that contains everything important. Whatever I need to remember or list goes on a page in that book. Thankfully, I have a few more once it runs out.
J
That’s the thing, right? Seeing your car forlorn and lonely…likely it was neither, it’s a car. BUT STILL I T FEELS THAT WAY.
I hope Richard loves the pen, and I’m so glad that I found a refill for it. It would be difficult to do in Juneau, and maybe difficult to do online if you didn’t have a brand or anything. I’m going to keep track of the brand and size, in case he wants a refill in the future. Or maybe I’ll send a couple up with the pen.
I was truly upset about losing that list. I walked all over the grocery store looking for it, but they are far too efficient I guess, because it was well and truly gone.
Genevieve was the best girl, wasn’t she? <3
Lisa's Yarns
I was dx’d with RA in August of 2013 so our RA starting points are very similar. I was on pred for months and it really was a wonder drug! I am glad to be off it now, though! Perimenopause makes me cranky enough as is!!
I’m glad you got a good price for Boomer! Car dealerships really seem to rip you off. We opted not to sell our Camry to the dealership and instead got a much better offer from some company that came to our house to get the car – I’m blanking on the name. Phil handled it and it was so incrediby easy.
Oof that weather is HOT! We had chilly weather last week, now this week has been perfect with temps in the 70s. It’s actually going to be in the 80s for the next several days. But it’s not humid so it’s pretty comfortable! I do wish it was a bit cooler as I have my 10 mile race tomorrow morning. But oh well!
J
Prednisone is SO WONDERFUL and yeah, so dangerous long term. I’m glad we’re both off of it now.
I checked out one of those places that picks up your car, maybe Carvana, but they were offering us about the same as the dealership. Likely because our car was so old.
I hope your race went well!
Margaret
It’s mid for us–warm during the day and cool at night, neither summer or fall. That’s wonderful about Boomer going to a good home. I get very attached to my cars and loyal to them. (silly, I know)
J
Agree, it’s neither summer nor fall mostly, except for the upcoming mid 90s coming up.
San
Definitely not quite fall over here in the CV… but it has been a pretty mild summer (comparatively speaking).
I am so glad you found a new home for Boomer. I am not a car person at all, but I do get attached and was pretty sad when we sold our Jetta (which we had for 9 years) last year. I hope she went to a good home 🙂
J
I’ve enjoyed having a mild summer!
Jenny
No perfect weather here!!! It does seem like everyone else has been enjoying an early fall- I was surprised to see 90s in your forecast!
i love Beezus as a car name- now you also need a Ramona.
i’m glad you lost your list at the last stop and not earlier! You might have forgotten an entire errand. And, yes- that is often what my “days off” look like. And- you have very elegant hand writing!
J
Gosh, if I had lost my list earlier, that would have been horrible! OR MAYBE I DID, AND OTHER THINGS DIDN’T GET DONE. Can you imagine? LOL.
StephLove
Are you in Walnut Creek, CA? My sister used to work in a health food store there, back in the 90s.
I grew up in and near Philadephia and now live in the DC area and you’re right about that mid-September pivot, most years anyway. This year it cooled down at the end of August, then we had a few hot, muggy days about a week ago and it seems to be over.
J
What a small world! I mean, we lived on City Line, you lived a few blocks away (though we lived across from Lower Marion, near Overbook Station) – and now your sister used to work in our current town! Funny, I almost said my hometown, which I should, we’ve lived here for 29 years. But I don’t think of it that way, since I was 30 when we moved here.
I’m trying to remember health food stores here…I think there used to be one that is now a Sprouts, but I’m not positive.
Nicole MacPherson
I love the book The Friend but I don’t think I can bring myself to see the movie. Too sad! I tend to really dislike screen adaptations unless they are REALLY true to the book, to be honest.
Here’s a salty little confession: I HATE when people take photos/ film concerts. Hate it. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT? The answer seems to be “put clips on facebook.” But why? It takes you out of the moment. For whatever reason – and I so rarely go to concerts, so I don’t know why I’m so hepped up about this – it makes me insane.
J
The good thing about the movie is that the actor dog wasn’t actually aging, so you didn’t see any of that. And the ending was different. I think they know that people can’t take too much, you know?
OMG on the pictures. I will confess that I often do take some, and generally they suck and it is better to be in the moment. We went to see Peter Gabrial last year, and the idiot on the other side of Ted was low key shoving into him so he could record it. A picture, to say, ‘I was here!’ Is one thing. Video? I agree, not good.
Daria
That movie… I don’t think I can do it. I was sobbing during “my octopus teacher” and that was an octopus. This is a dog!!!
I had a red Toyota Yaris for years and it was my baby, named “peanut”. After Lyra was born, Tony kiiiiind of pressured me to get a new car because “Yaris is not safe for a baby.” I mean it was ageing car. Then the engine was cooked.
I sold it to a dealer that picked it up at the house.
But I think about the Yaris sometimes- it is probably still driving somewhere in Central America, maybe even as a taxi cab!
J
Oh, Peanut! I sometimes think about my little red VW Bug, Jelly. It was the same age as me, and I loved that car. Not safe at all though. Well, it was metal, not plastic, so it was safe in that way.
Allison McCaskill
Me trying to comment without having to go back to the post a million times – yes! They look like meringue! I don’t think I love prog rock, but a new experience is always positive. Boomer! Great solution!
I haven’t heard of that movie, but it is now on my list.
I am all in for stories of how modern medicine improves life – there should be more of them to balance out all the idiotic Big Pharma conspiracy theories.
How perfect to have two people in mind for getting rid of two things – not just not having them in the house anymore, but sending them where they can be used and loved again.
J
Yay on painless commenting! It’s such a trial when it doesn’t work, isn’t it?
coco
I really need to give Great British Baking Show a try, so many of you seem to like it!
You’ve had a busy week, balancing with fun activities within the week, something that I never managed to do. The movie trailer looks interesting, I wish the friend is a cat. ehhehe…
I didn’t know you had/have RA, is that what Lisa has?
J
Great British Baking Show is comfort TV at its best. The contestants are so kind and charming, and the big prize at the end is a cake stand, so pretty low stakes. WE LOVE IT.
Regarding The Friend – a cat would be lovely for sure, but a big part of the tension is that the apartment building does not accept pets, and it’s impossible to hide a 150+ pound dog. Easier with a cat I think.
Yes, Lisa and I both have RA. We can both tell you how shocking it is to come down with something like this, how horrible and painful it is, and how wonderful when you find a treatment that works for you. There are a lot of different treatments, and as far as I know, none work for everyone.
ernie
I love a paper list and a lost list is such a bummer. I write things to do in my notebook and if I ever do something that wasn’t listed – I write it down just so I can cross it off. So satisfying. Hooray for getting so much more money for Boomer than the dealer was offering. I love that they are keeping the name. The long line of the men’s restroom is shocking. What alternate universe was that. I assume mostly men attend those concerts, but still.
J
The audience was almost all white men, some Asians, some women.
Yeah, I wrote things on that list just so I could check them off. Sigh.
NGS
This is the best television time of year because there are new episodes of GBBO AND Taskmaster. Every Friday is a true treat for me.
GBBO has only had two episodes and I’m already getting grumpy about the challenges, though. Why make them so hard in the first couple weeks. I just want to know if they can do basics! A landscape cake? Bisuits that are a pattern or scene? WTF? What about just knowing if they can make a Victorian sponge or a shortbread?!
J
I’ve never seen Taskmaster, maybe I should check it out…
Suzanne
My husband and I started the new GBBO season this weekend — I love it so much!
The pen and box you found are lovely.
The Friend is one of my all-time favorite books and yet I am so wary of seeing the movie! What if it doesn’t live up to the book? Or, perhaps worse, what if it makes me cry the way the book did?
Is it mean that I feel smugly satisfied, looking at that men’s room line? Men should have to endure long bathroom lines at least SOME of the time!
J
I really liked The Friend, the movie. They did an excellent job. I didn’t cry, but maybe I’m heartless.
Laura
I’m trying not to be weirdly fixated on the bathroom piece but WHAT ON EARTH. I’ve never in my 55 years seen this sort of thing happen. NEVER. I would have taken photos too and maybe danced a joyful jig just for the chance to pee without waiting forever in a line first.
I’m also a list girlie and when I say I gasped out loud at your I LOST MY LIST…well. It was secondhand traumatizing for me. Sounds like you were much more chill about it. ?
J
Laura, welcome! Regarding that line, that’s when you know the audience is at least 75% male, right? There was no line for the ladies, but wow, that gent’s line was long.
LOL on the list. I searched that store TWICE for it.