This his week started off slowly and was light with activity, or lack thereof. Saturday and Sunday we stayed home, except for Nancy going to Taize’ Sunday night, and going ahead of time to Safeway to pick up some strawberries for our neighbor. Two friends were there, one a former student who left in 2006 and has returned to finish her Resource Management (REM) thesis and degree. She is a Native American from Montana, and it was great to see her. She came along to the Taize’ evening and had dinner with us. The next day was light too, pretty much. John took off in the middle of the day for Yakima to have his Subaru serviced. I went to exercise class and to the grocery.
Today, Tuesday, is another light day for me. John left to prune wine grapes and I slept in. Continued working to make a list of REM grads and their job titles and connections to be used to invite folks to an Earth Day fundraiser for scholarships. I’m getting tired of spending so much time as it is taking and keeping me away from the chores around the house I should be doing.
Wednesday awoke to a sick day, with some intestinal bug. I could have gone a long time without this. Better now, however, than away from home. Heard from a good friend her mom is in Virginia Mason with a suspected stroke. We surely have her and the family in our thoughts and prayers. John went to prune again today and it rained here and the wind blew all morning and still is howling. I will skip my exercise class today and try to get better. John got home and we ate a couple of cookies and he is napping. I might do that too and then will hit the taxes again later. Maybe I should do them while he is napping and not on the computer. Yeah. I did and completed an extension form to send in for 2010. Now I have to do more data entry.
Thursday began early sending John off to prune again. I managed to unload the dishwasher and clean up all the sinks and counters. Never had lunch till after I got home from playing music with my “group” at Mt. View. Worked all morning with my laptop, trying to get it to recharge the battery. It has been acting odd for two weeks and is now mostly not charging. I will take it to the computer doctor tomorrow.
I spent the rest of the time on filing and organizing. It seems like an endless task. I’m on John’s computer now, having sent some important files here, to deal with. John just finished writing a series of “Google Earth” steps to show his sister how he configures the maps and user-placed photos to learn about places when news reports are incomplete. Now it’s late, so I will have some ice cream and hit the hay, I think.
Friday, all day, and April Fool’s Day at that. I didn’t get anything pulled on me, however. It was a GOOD day and full. Nice to hear that for a change from me, eh? I’m still very behind, and am writing this from “John’s computer,” our house one, in the back “bedroom” that has been a computer room forever. I call it “John’s computer” because a few years ago we bought a name brand desktop one via their web site, dealt with their poor documentation, poor tech support, their cheap components, and bloated installed “crap-ware.” A week after it arrived, we shipped it all back. John next ordered quality parts from 4 or 5 different vendors and cobbled them together to make a computer. Two minor components have had to be replaced during four years of considerable use, so out they came, in went new ones, and “John’s computer” whirls on. The computer room acquired bunk beds for daughters of our friend’s visiting from New Zealand, about a year before the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics came undone – about 20 years ago. The beds are covered with 3 feet or more of dusty stuff. John blows the dust out of the computer tower but has refused to touch the (his words) 3 feet of dust on the stuff on the beds. I’ll get to it some day.. ha ha, but there are many other flat surfaces to hit first. Good I’m retired. Perhaps I will have time to finish this in my lifetime.
So, here’s the good news. I took my computer into the guys on my way to exercise class, and guru-Chuck called me it was the power cord that had burned itself out. He ordered a part before 2:00 pm and figures they get one day service and will have it in on Monday, and I will get it back then. That is SUCH good news, but not as great as what he said next. “It was still under warranty.” Wow, I would never have thought that and would have just ordered a new power cord (John found one on line for $79.95, plus shipping), but we decided to get a professional opinion from people we have dealt with for YEARS. This is the computer I helped pay for in 2007 with service award funds I had access to and when I retired, it became my “gold watch.” But it is like a watch without hands as I long ago wore the printed symbols off of about 20% of the keys. I’m its custodian until it crashes, then they can toss it on their great slag heap of other dead tech equipment. It was good to have the laptop in ICU and the Rehab center. I couldn’t have it the first ICU when I was so sick, but the subsequent two times, I could. (John says: Note she calls this good news. Consider – when it totally fails we’ll buy a new spiffy one. That would be good news!)
Next good news was having a great April Fool’s Day potluck. They provided ham and scalloped potatoes, and people brought veggies and salads, bread, and desserts. Very yummy. Then I played and sang with Karen (accordionist)–springtime songs from the 1930s. I must admit there were a few that I had never heard, but I just listened and picked ’em up. Then there were some I knew well, such as Springtime in the Rockies, and I played the harmony, and yodeled at appropriate places. Had fun.
Then it was exercise class. Have I worn you out yet ? Then off to school to pick up a few bottles of our wine leftover from our (my) retirement party. There were still almost two cases left. Much has disappeared since we donated it, but I needed some Merlot to repay the gal who did some map work for me with images rectifying them to the ground surface and a coordinate system known to the other layer that I needed to overlay. It’s for the NCGE meeting I’m going to in Portland, in August, and presenting a workshop on the Urban Heat Island there with my friend from NY who we’ve known since 1965. Paul and I have presented stuff together over the past 20 years, at professional meetings. Pretty interesting.
Then called John but he hadn’t gotten to the Conservation District to pick up his “trees” (5 Rocky Mountain Maples and 5 Blue Spruce), for which I had written a check for $15.14 this morning. I called from exercise class and left a message with the District to leave a note on his order to pick up donuts before coming home. A lady had called me this morning from the bakery saying the Apple Fritters were especially nice today, and they could fix me a full dozen. He didn’t get the message, but was home when I called later, and so I went down to pick them up on my way home, also getting some ground beef for us to have nachos tonight.
I went to the art gallery (we have several)–but I went to Gallery One (its name); it has been here since 1960! There was a write up of a couple from Seattle in night before last’s paper, front page, about their cat, Cooper, an orange tabby, who is a photographer. They were putting on his show at Gallery One, so I went and viewed it. It is fantastic. They bought a special small camera to put around his collar, and it takes pictures every two minutes. They wondered what he did during the day on his outings, and now they know. Some of them are really quite good. I will tell you the sites to check out, but seeing the large framed pictures in person was awesome and better. I have some favorites, but you can look at the sites below and see what yours are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GzpwrJjtHU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGrXmA6ewY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CQwh_v1hDg
I guess if I’m tired, it’s understandable.
Okay– I must leave this computer. Annie just came and asked to go out. Sunshine just jumped on the stool in front of me, and will be getting up in the window soon. She just gently stepped across my knees and got on the books (flat space) on the partially pulled out filing drawer and is looking out the window at John working in the yard. It’s Friday night.
John is back in from doing yard chores on Saturday. I will stop this and give my chair to John to put this report on the blog.
We hope you all have another good week and we send our best regards to all our faithful readers. We are surprised every so often to hear that people are still followers.
Nancy and John in Ellensburg, WA