1. It was dark outside when I took Makayla for her morning stroll.
2. My favorite constellation, Orion, is creeping into the morning sky.
3. The outside temperature was 56 degrees.
4. The pool water is getting cold.
5. I had to use my poop-finder flashlight.
6. I turned the air conditioner off in the truck yesterday and was amazed at how much power that under-powered vehicle actually had.
7. Chris wore a sweater last evening as we ate dinner on the deck.
8. I haven't heard the house air conditioning come on in over 12 hours.
9. I'm heading off tis morning to risk life and limb playing racquetball again after the summertime hiatus.
10. The Maryland Renaissance Festival begins tis weekend.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Monday Musings - August 22, 2011
1. I had never been on a cruise ship before yesterday when I was treated to a three-hour tour and dinner. Now I am beginning to understand the reason why cruise ships are so popular.
2. Makayla is doing better. The antibiotic and anti-inflammatory are doing the job of helping her to heal that very sore and ugly spot on her back. The vet thought it was a small puncture wound--maybe from a cat when they were playing.
3. I can tell that football is back and that the O's are sliding into their season ending slump. They have managed two wins in their last ten games. So much for the hope we all had at the beginning of the season that something new and special was going to happen this season.
4. The thunderstorms of yesterday really eloped bring my pool to overflowing! Unfortunately, I could not swim in it yesterday due to the pace of the day.
5. Well, it is the beginning of another week. This week should be better than last week.
6. All of the rain sure is making the grass grow!
7. We discovered last week that the county school board wants to build an elementary school on the main street near our house. It is almost within sight of another elementary school. And all because the community didn't want a school at a site near train tracks we're toxic chemicals are carried. Talk about the ultimate knee-jerk. Oh yeah--they want to open the school for the 2013 school year.
8. To all off the teachers and staff of Howard County Public Schools--have a good year. I'm sorry the summer is over.
9. Smile. Some days are better and some not so much but a smile is like putting icing on the cupcake.
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2. Makayla is doing better. The antibiotic and anti-inflammatory are doing the job of helping her to heal that very sore and ugly spot on her back. The vet thought it was a small puncture wound--maybe from a cat when they were playing.
3. I can tell that football is back and that the O's are sliding into their season ending slump. They have managed two wins in their last ten games. So much for the hope we all had at the beginning of the season that something new and special was going to happen this season.
4. The thunderstorms of yesterday really eloped bring my pool to overflowing! Unfortunately, I could not swim in it yesterday due to the pace of the day.
5. Well, it is the beginning of another week. This week should be better than last week.
6. All of the rain sure is making the grass grow!
7. We discovered last week that the county school board wants to build an elementary school on the main street near our house. It is almost within sight of another elementary school. And all because the community didn't want a school at a site near train tracks we're toxic chemicals are carried. Talk about the ultimate knee-jerk. Oh yeah--they want to open the school for the 2013 school year.
8. To all off the teachers and staff of Howard County Public Schools--have a good year. I'm sorry the summer is over.
9. Smile. Some days are better and some not so much but a smile is like putting icing on the cupcake.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A Flash of Light and a Kaboom
And that is how I woke up this morning with a ferocious thunderstorm dancing on top of my house.
Another thunderstorm.
Fortunately there was no wind. So the pool survived.
What a way to start Sunday morning.
The cat even jumped out of the window through the shade--just to add some excitement to the storm, as if it needed additional excitement.
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Another thunderstorm.
Fortunately there was no wind. So the pool survived.
What a way to start Sunday morning.
The cat even jumped out of the window through the shade--just to add some excitement to the storm, as if it needed additional excitement.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Makayla at the Vet
I found a small lump on Makayla this morning and so we are at the vet having it checked out. Initial indications are a small infection. But she is being clipped for a better look.
I'm a wreck.
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I'm a wreck.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
After the Storms
Ugh. I looked out at the pool this morning after the week of rain and storms.
I've got a lot of work to do.
Leaves and debris in and around the pool that are going to take up a lot of my day.
Ah, the joys of owning a pool--standing tall against the storms that come against it to maintain a small piece of paradise.
Of course the cooler temperatures are having an impact of the water temperature, too.
And people wonder why I'm not a fan of August.
I just heard on the Today Show that Philadelphia is going to set an all time record for rain--and I am sure we are not far behind. According to the paper we are 2.3 inches above normal for the month of August to date.
But now it is time for breakfast--then to the pool, but not for enjoyment immediately.
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I've got a lot of work to do.
Leaves and debris in and around the pool that are going to take up a lot of my day.
Ah, the joys of owning a pool--standing tall against the storms that come against it to maintain a small piece of paradise.
Of course the cooler temperatures are having an impact of the water temperature, too.
And people wonder why I'm not a fan of August.
I just heard on the Today Show that Philadelphia is going to set an all time record for rain--and I am sure we are not far behind. According to the paper we are 2.3 inches above normal for the month of August to date.
But now it is time for breakfast--then to the pool, but not for enjoyment immediately.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday and the promise of the Weekend
We all do it.
That irrational belief that Friday is the last day of the work week and that all we need to do is suffer through it to find relaxation a sanity on the other side. And then we find out that the weekend is even more crazy than the work week.
This past week--coming off a short vacation, has been especially trying. I'm still in my summer mode, yet the work load has soared to full bore with the start of the post-summer activities. I wasn't mentally prepared for the change occurring so soon and so it took me too long to ramp up and I felt as if I was drowning in administrivia all week.
So, as I cruise into the weekend--the next to last weekend of August, I too am hoping for a sane Friday and I harbor the thought of even bolting through the door a bit early to use some of the extra ours I've accumulated this week.
I can imagine it even now: a deep breath as I charge the door coupled with the wish for blue skies so I can ride with the top down and the wind racing through my thinning hair as I drive up the parkway and begin the weekend wit my friends recounting the fun we had together last weekend while alsovcelebrating the last weekend before Howard County School teachers report for duty on Monday morning and summer vacation officially ends.
So today is really special.
It marks another one of those endings--the lasts I wrote about earlier in the week.
And it will be followed by a first--the first day of the start of another school year.
Friday.
Who knew?
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That irrational belief that Friday is the last day of the work week and that all we need to do is suffer through it to find relaxation a sanity on the other side. And then we find out that the weekend is even more crazy than the work week.
This past week--coming off a short vacation, has been especially trying. I'm still in my summer mode, yet the work load has soared to full bore with the start of the post-summer activities. I wasn't mentally prepared for the change occurring so soon and so it took me too long to ramp up and I felt as if I was drowning in administrivia all week.
So, as I cruise into the weekend--the next to last weekend of August, I too am hoping for a sane Friday and I harbor the thought of even bolting through the door a bit early to use some of the extra ours I've accumulated this week.
I can imagine it even now: a deep breath as I charge the door coupled with the wish for blue skies so I can ride with the top down and the wind racing through my thinning hair as I drive up the parkway and begin the weekend wit my friends recounting the fun we had together last weekend while alsovcelebrating the last weekend before Howard County School teachers report for duty on Monday morning and summer vacation officially ends.
So today is really special.
It marks another one of those endings--the lasts I wrote about earlier in the week.
And it will be followed by a first--the first day of the start of another school year.
Friday.
Who knew?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Newspapers and news
Do you read a newspaper everyday?
I don't mean online--but actual newsprint with the ink smudging off onto your hands. The unique smell of paper and ink chock full of words and images of what is happening around the world.
I do read the paper--my choice is the Baltimore Sun because it haas a lot of local news and coverage of the Orioles as well. I also read other papers on-line, for instance I get the NY Times delivered to my email--so I get that perspective on the news, too.
I had an interesting discussion the other day though about reading the paper.
When I say I'm reading the paper, I mean sitting somewhere with the physical paper in my hands poring over the words and stories contained within.
Generationally, though, that interpretation/vision has changed. I was conversing with the twenty-something crown and realized that when they said they were reading the paper, they were referring to the online approach only--and their dainty hands never tough the real article.
Check it out. The simple phrase "reading the paper" has two very different visual images associated with it depending upon the generation of the reader/speaker.
My version has someone at a desk or in an easy chair reading a physical document; while the other is of a person at a computer somewhere reading the electronic media.
Does it matter? I guess not.
But we need to wonder, what other common references do we have that have fundamentally changed with the advent of the information technology age?
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I don't mean online--but actual newsprint with the ink smudging off onto your hands. The unique smell of paper and ink chock full of words and images of what is happening around the world.
I do read the paper--my choice is the Baltimore Sun because it haas a lot of local news and coverage of the Orioles as well. I also read other papers on-line, for instance I get the NY Times delivered to my email--so I get that perspective on the news, too.
I had an interesting discussion the other day though about reading the paper.
When I say I'm reading the paper, I mean sitting somewhere with the physical paper in my hands poring over the words and stories contained within.
Generationally, though, that interpretation/vision has changed. I was conversing with the twenty-something crown and realized that when they said they were reading the paper, they were referring to the online approach only--and their dainty hands never tough the real article.
Check it out. The simple phrase "reading the paper" has two very different visual images associated with it depending upon the generation of the reader/speaker.
My version has someone at a desk or in an easy chair reading a physical document; while the other is of a person at a computer somewhere reading the electronic media.
Does it matter? I guess not.
But we need to wonder, what other common references do we have that have fundamentally changed with the advent of the information technology age?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday's Trauma portends a Wild Wednesday
Life this week has been off on an incredibly fast pace.
In addition to recovering from a four-day weekend it seems that as this is the last week before the school year begins, everything everywhere must be done.
I have been confronted with a lot of "the lasts" as I call them.
The last week of freedom for teachers.
The last week of vacation--and it seems that everyone is beginning to return from where ever they have been hiding out all summer.
The last weekend of freedom is upon us.
The last month of summer.
And the list goes on.
It is a bit sad that there are so many lasts and so few firsts.
There are a few, but they are more traumatic than memorable.
The first day of school for the school year comes to mind.
We need more memorable firsts--but then, we have had a whole summer already to accomplish the firsts.
And then there is the pace--more requirements, shorter turn around times all complicated by malfunctioning or ineptly deployed IT equipment.
Ugh!
I never really used to look at Wednesday as hump day--except this week, it truly is the day to get over the hump and start the downward slide into the weekend.
I guess I should stop comparing last week to this week, because last week Wednesday was the equivalent of my Friday as I went off on my FIRST trip to Newport, RI.
Hey--there was a positive first near the end of summer.
Maybe I can find other firsts hidden in the agenda of today and then I can change the day from Wild Wednesday to Wonderful Wednesday.
Why don't you help me look?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
In addition to recovering from a four-day weekend it seems that as this is the last week before the school year begins, everything everywhere must be done.
I have been confronted with a lot of "the lasts" as I call them.
The last week of freedom for teachers.
The last week of vacation--and it seems that everyone is beginning to return from where ever they have been hiding out all summer.
The last weekend of freedom is upon us.
The last month of summer.
And the list goes on.
It is a bit sad that there are so many lasts and so few firsts.
There are a few, but they are more traumatic than memorable.
The first day of school for the school year comes to mind.
We need more memorable firsts--but then, we have had a whole summer already to accomplish the firsts.
And then there is the pace--more requirements, shorter turn around times all complicated by malfunctioning or ineptly deployed IT equipment.
Ugh!
I never really used to look at Wednesday as hump day--except this week, it truly is the day to get over the hump and start the downward slide into the weekend.
I guess I should stop comparing last week to this week, because last week Wednesday was the equivalent of my Friday as I went off on my FIRST trip to Newport, RI.
Hey--there was a positive first near the end of summer.
Maybe I can find other firsts hidden in the agenda of today and then I can change the day from Wild Wednesday to Wonderful Wednesday.
Why don't you help me look?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Rhode Island Wines - Newport Vineyards
It was bound to happen. I love visiting wineries. Rhode Island has vineyards and a winery in Newport.
Therefore, while we were in Rhode Island last weekend, we had to visit the winery--Newport Vineyards which was less than a mile from our hotel.
The tasting room and winery are in a small strip mall with a very nice deli (which served us well for lunch).
For some strange reason, I continue to look for nice red wines in northeastern wineries. It usually doesn't happen. And Newport Vineyard was much the same. The reds were uniformly thin, lacking both body and complexity. I sampled five different reds and afterwards I felt they should have refunded my tasting fee. At one point the pourer asked what I was looking for in a red, and after I explained my perfect red wine he remarked that I should try Napa Valley wines exclusively.
So I was left with the question in my mind--if the winemakers knows the reds are inferior, why grow the grapes and produce red wine?
But hold the presses--because the white wines, and there must be at least twelve of them, were really special. The whites had body, complexity, and varied across much of the white spectrum from light easy drinking Pinot Grigio to the darker and more complex Gewürztraminer with a couple of nicely done Rieslings added in for fun.
So, I heartily recommend stopping at the winery for a tasting, should you happen through Newport. But avoid the reds--drink the whites. And oh yes, we did buy a few wines to bring home with us, too. Don't miss the Hard Apple Cider, either.
Happy drinking!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Therefore, while we were in Rhode Island last weekend, we had to visit the winery--Newport Vineyards which was less than a mile from our hotel.
The tasting room and winery are in a small strip mall with a very nice deli (which served us well for lunch).
For some strange reason, I continue to look for nice red wines in northeastern wineries. It usually doesn't happen. And Newport Vineyard was much the same. The reds were uniformly thin, lacking both body and complexity. I sampled five different reds and afterwards I felt they should have refunded my tasting fee. At one point the pourer asked what I was looking for in a red, and after I explained my perfect red wine he remarked that I should try Napa Valley wines exclusively.
So I was left with the question in my mind--if the winemakers knows the reds are inferior, why grow the grapes and produce red wine?
But hold the presses--because the white wines, and there must be at least twelve of them, were really special. The whites had body, complexity, and varied across much of the white spectrum from light easy drinking Pinot Grigio to the darker and more complex Gewürztraminer with a couple of nicely done Rieslings added in for fun.
So, I heartily recommend stopping at the winery for a tasting, should you happen through Newport. But avoid the reds--drink the whites. And oh yes, we did buy a few wines to bring home with us, too. Don't miss the Hard Apple Cider, either.
Happy drinking!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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