Autumn in the Air

After weeks of sweltering, humid temperatures which often left me slipping wet from perspiration after just walking to the car after work, the past two days have definitely been harbingers of autumn.

I first noticed it yesterday afternoon while I was enjoying an extremely slow playing round of golf at The Timbers at Troy. The temperature was comfortable and the humidity was low. It was obvious that many other golfers also wanted to enjoy the pleasant afternoon because the course was full--and it was slow. It took 4 hours and 12 minutes to play 18 holes on the same course where a few weeks ago I played 2 hours and 58 minutes. I made my last putt with just enough visible light to line up my shot. But it was beautiful weather and I thoroughly enjoyed the outing.

The coolness of the impending autumn was far more noticeable this morning as I took the dogs out for their morning activity. The 63 degree temperature was a true slap in the face. It was, to use a word, crisp. I could imagine apples on the trees and leaves collecting in piles on my lawn. I went back out to look for the Persieds meteor shower and it was just cold.

But please, not for two more months!

I want to enjoy summer until October. Already the daylight has begun to fade all too soon. Sunset last evening was at 8:05 PM. Two short weeks ago it was 8:22 PM. We are losing over 2 minutes of daylight per day!

Enjoy the day! 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Sunset to Sunrise Vacation

Sunset July 22, 2015
from the Square Grouper, Jupiter, Florida

In reviewing the images we captured during our vacation, it was surprising that even though the weather was great most of the days, Chris and I only captured one sunset and one sunrise that provided the classic images of which memories are made.

I enjoy sunrises and sunsets. The color saturation and the transition of the hues provide a constant stream of changing color.

Sunrise August 2, 2015
Port Everglades, Florida
aboard the Carnival Conquest

Even more interesting than realizing that we only captured one of each, was the fact that the sunset was imaged on the very first night of our vacation while in Jupiter, Florida, with friends and that the sunrise was taken from the balcony of our stateroom on the ship on the morning that we docked signifying the ending of our vacation. 

The setting and rising of the sun bookended our vacation, and nothing in between was nearly as spectacular.

I just found it very interesting--and I remember we watched for the sunsets every evening and I was awake for many of the sunrises--but none were as stunning as the sunset that started our vacation the sunrise that woke the world as we began our last day and traveled back to our day-to-day lives.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Going to the Dogs

Every so often we have the opportunity to dog sit for canines in the family.

Chris with Florence and Arthur

This week, we are watching not one, but two excitable, cute, adorable dogs. Florence and Arthur have rapidly become part of the family while they are staying with us. 

It is amazing how quickly they assimilate into the household. The funniest part is that Riordin, one of our cats, now considers them playmates and likes to join into their antics.

Makayla often just looks at them as if to say, "Really?"

It is all good, however. 

We have a great family dynamic in that we all share dog sitting duties when other members are out of town and all of the animals get along very well. 

Just another member of the pack!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - August 10, 2015

Any Questions?

1. Thanks Chris, for putting up with me for 40 years!

2. Wouldn't it be great if signage was as clear as what we saw yesterday while visiting a winery in Western Maryland. Doesn't leave much doubt about which way to go. Frankly, it was hard to actually go the right way, the wrong way looked so inviting.

3. I want to go on another vacation where someone needs to poke me to assess that I am just relaxed.

4. Chaos--now that can be a lot of fun! Just add kids and dogs for the complete package.

Chris receiving a surprise Anniversary gift

5. I still have it! I was able to surprise Chris with a special anniversary gift last evening. And, I caught the response on camera!

6. I saw the new Misson Impossible movie over the weekend. It was good, but not great. Nice plot twists, but that is what I have come to expect.

7. Do you know what is better than spending Friday evening with friends drinking wine? Not much!

8. August seems determined to set the stage for another winter. The temperatures have already begun to cool. 

9. Shopping for new lights is hard work. There are too many choices and none are exactly right. 

10. Who wants to trust their lives to a self-driving car, especially in D.C. rush-hour traffic?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Weekend Repairs

Looking into the Garage Door Opener
Broken parts--the gears should be covered

When Chris and I returned from our vacation, one of the major mechanical devices which had suffered a catastrophic failure during our time away was the garage door opener.

Over the course of the week, we came to realize just how much we depend upon the garage door opener, partly because when I had the new garage door installed two years ago, I did not provide a mechanism for manually opening it from outside!

Broken gear cover part

That may have been a mistake. It is easy enough to open and lock from the inside, but from outside it is not possible. That meant that once the car was driven from the garage we had secure the garage door from inside and walk back through the house to return to the car and drive away.

It wasn't fun. 

I was able to repair, not replace, but repair, the garage door opener yesterday. I had ordered the parts and they arrived. Parts were a concern because the Stanley model 6500 garage door opener is not made any more and I was on the secondary market for them. Many of the potentially required repair parts are "no longer stocked." Fortunately, the one that I thought I needed was available!

Completed and repaired

It was not a simple repair. The biggest problem was that no instructions were provided and there was one part that caused me to perform one aspect of the repair three times before I was satisfied that I had it correctly. 

I knew it was going to be a multi-hour project. And it was.

But it works!

Once I applied the power and adjusted the travel of the garage door, it actually worked!

I was pleased. Chris later told me that she gave the project only about a 50 percent chance of success. I was a bit higher thinking I had a 70 percent chance of success. It really depended upon whether any critical collateral damage had occurred as the gear cover was chattering and flinging itself around the enclosed space.

Weekends are great times to get repairs accomplished. It is just too hard to attempt a multi-hour project after working all day.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Remodeling Surprise

View of the Old-looking Bath

Looking in from the Door

It happens every few years when we head out on vacation. We return to find that Patrick and Tina have surprised us by updating or remodeling a room in our house.

This year it was the master bath! 

Our master bath was somewhat dated. Yes, Chris and I had added ceramic tile some years ago and removed the even more dated vinyl flooring, but the room just screamed "old!" 

New Bath View

The cabinet over the toilet (yes, the very same toilet that I repaired a leak in earlier this week) and the colors give the appearance of dated. I believe that too many of my family have been watching HGTV! I am constantly besieged with updating and remodeling ideas.

Looking in from the Door

But I have to admit, the new and improved room really "pops!" The crown moulding was a really nice touch and the removal of the cabinet over to toilet opens up the room. The swap out of the lights for daylight brightens the room and the new color scheme is one that is currently in vogue! 

New Bath and the Color Scheme

We can't forget the new mirror. The old one, which apparently had already been removed before the pictures were taken, was big and just hung there on the wall with no style. The new mirror has style and class. Even the cabinet supporting the sink was painted.

The removal of the window shelf and rebuilding the frame was a very nice touch.

It was a nice surprise to return home and have such a great anniversary gift waiting. Thanks to all who participated in the project.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Weird Animal Activities

Yesterday was an incredibly busy day. Too busy in many regards. 

Monarch Butterfly at Picnic

But, during the course of the day I observed two very different animals doing funny things.

The first animal encounter occurred during my office's picnic. The person cooking the burgers and dogs was visited by a very persistent monarch butterfly. The butterfly fluttered around for quite a few minutes before deciding that he was not the milkweed plant for which it was looking. 

Riordin Tries on a New Box

During its time at the picnic the monarch butterfly even posed for a picture perched on the cook's hand which was holding a paper plate.

And then , there was Riordin! The cat likes boxes of all shapes and sizes. The parts arrived to repair the broken garage door opener and Riordin just had to try the box they came in on for size--even though clearly it was too small for him. 

He arranged himself in the box and sat there for a few minutes in the most undignified pose trying to decide whether this was the box for him. It wasn't and I was finally able to add it to the recycling pile.

Animals do the strangest things and sometimes the encounters add spice to my days.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Tales of the Toilet

It seems that my house is revolting against me for being gone almost two weeks.

Every evening this week I have been in the "fix and repair" mode to  get everything back into working order.

Yesterday it was a toilet. Not your usual problem of a clogged toilet, or one that won fill or flush properly. No, my toilet decided it needed to leak around the bolts that secure the tank to the bowl!

I had never considered that toilets could leak in that place. It was ugly. I am glad that at least the toilet waited to revolt until I had returned--it could have been catastrophic had it sprung a leak while we were away. I can imagine water soaking through everything! Ugh. Maybe I should start closing the water supply valves to the toilets when we go away.

Toilet repairs are not particularly difficult, but they are also not a lot of fun. And, as it turned out my toilet required the use of the "alternate" instructions for the kit. Of course it did! And I didn't recognize it until it was all back together and leaking worse than before.


I did not enjoy taking the toilet all apart, again, to reconfigure the parts. I also did not enjoy driving to Lowe's during rush hour traffic to obtain the parts which cost a whopping $4.95. I probably spent more on gas than the parts cost.

But, the toilet is fixed!

So the repair was a stunning success!

I wonder why there are so many different types of toilets?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Are You Cold?

Temperature challenged people are everywhere.

I am possibly becoming a temperature challenged person, although after reading Chilly at Work? Office Formula Was Devised for Men, I should be in the group that is comfortable since I am a guy.

I have noted that Chris gets colder, faster, and in more places than I seem to be.

Despite that, during our recent vacation, I found places that were cold, even for me.

The Fort Lauderdale airport Southwest Terminal area is one of those places--it is just cold. We knew that it was going to be cold because that terminal is always cold and we were not disappointed. I remember arriving there from Baltimore, walking off the cool but comfortable Boeing 737 through the sweltering jetway into the terminal to be greeted by the sensation of walking out the front door of the house during the coldest days of winter.

Even I was chilled.

It goes further. Chris and I are always discussing the temperature in the areas where we spend time. We never could get the temperature in our stateroom on the ship just right--we were constantly adjusting it and never fully satisfied.

At home, we often have the same discussions, with the exception that Chris is often too hot while I am comfortable.

And then I learn the algorithm to determine optimal work place temperatures is inherently biased towards men.

Temperature challenged! I wonder what it would be like to live somewhere that air conditioning is not widely employed--like Europe? Perhaps we have taken a good invention too far? 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

What did I do on my first day back after vacation?

I remember going back to school after summer vacation when I was in elementary school. It seemed that the first ice breaker of the year was something about what did I do during my summer vacation? 

Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge
Willemstad, Curacao

The corollary is, What did I do on my first day back at work after my vacation?

With the vacation rapidly passing from reality to memory, I returned to the daily grind. I was enthused to see my work-mates and regale them with tales from my cruise adventure. But there was a lot of work that needed to be accomplished as well. I worked a full day, plus a bit. 

As a reward for my exertions at work, I treated myself to a much needed massage to shake off the stress of returning from the cruise--but then it was home and into the breech to get the house back into shape after being gone for almost two weeks.

First up was the yard! It was mowed and looks really good. Then the pool was brought back into shape by replenishing the chemicals that keep it clean and sparkling. This morning's thunderstorm rendered the cleaning that I did pointless, but the pool was pristine last evening when I went to bed. 

But wait, there's more! 

Most Awesome Piece of Cheesecake
Ever!

A door handle needed to be tightened, I ordered parts for the broken garage door opener, got gas for the leaf blower, purchased spray to kill the tent webworms that appeared in a couple of trees while I was gone, and also bought and installed a new shower head for one of the bathrooms because the old one had become clogged and really needed to be replaced.

Somewhere in there I took a timeout for dinner. By the time I was done it was 9 PM.

Wow, what a day. Of course as I reflected on the week gone by, I knew that one the cruise 9 PM was in the middle of our dinner hour. Alas, now it was shortly before bedtime. 

And just like that, the day was gone. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD