If photo was found in that STI box of “his” then it must have been a favorite for him — that’s how I’m using “favorite.”
This is an STI box; this one via Helix Medical, late 1980s; 12″ rule for size comparison; approximately 13″ x 19″ x 8″ deep; volume 1.20 cubic feet.
Dad didn’t know about STI boxes, so I must have filled “his” STI box when sorting and boxing his stuff in my attic shortly after his death in 2000. I’m assuming most of the contents came from his dresser.
Sometimes I refer to him by his initials: Robert M. Lommen — RML.
In the descriptions of photos, below, our old house at 9250 East River Road is frequently mentioned.
Dad loved that place! He and Mom were forced to leave by the construction of Highway 610.
Brief description of his favorite photos
I chose the 19 photos featured in this post from approximately 100 found in the box, and separated them into groups. Photos that showed people or places I didn’t recognized are not among my favorites.
#1 Henrietta Jackson Hough and Norman Hough (Mom’s father), about1930; this was NOT in Dad’s STI box, I don’t know why I included it in this collection, but I ain’t gonna change it now.
#2 Prints and negatives of trip to Boln’s house near Milwaukee; 2 are of Grandma Fedders, 1952;
#3 Mid50s; around the house in Coon Rapids; 2 1/4 in. negatives; did I take these photos with my camera and develop the film myself?
#4 several old colored slides in envelope; Grandpa Fedders may have been involved; my mother and me at when I was a baby, June Sandy and I in mid 50s;
#4½ three prints from dad’s trip on Santa Fe engine testing Cutler Hammer controls; I was six or seven at the time, late 1940s; he brought home an engineer hat for each of us;
#5 famous old family photos, 5 x 7, mid-1940s; one of me on my birthday at age 8; Janet Wiborg (WEE-borg), sitter, was practically part of family; June at 5 or 6 was flower girl at her wedding; Dad produced the enlargements in his own darkroom.
#6 Three nearly identical prints of whole family in front of fireplace at 9250 East River Road, Coon Rapids, Minnesota; , Middle of my high school years 1958ish;
#7 three large old negatives, 2½x 4¼; Lanesboro? Dog, woman (Helen? Dad’s mother?), group with old car; 1920s?
#8 fuzzy photo of dog and boy; I don’t recognize house in photo; I don’t think that’s me (Dad?)
#9 Christmas card from June to daddy; June is about eight here so that’s early 50s;
#10 Slides mid60s; Mom Dad Bolns; June, Jack Nist, Sandy, maybe at my wedding in 1965; 9250;
#11 Bunch of Polaroids possibly after I graduated from high school;
#12 Old 828 format negatives; may go with other roll (eight photos per roll), same house more people; booklet of 3”x4” prints of negs;
#13 Old828 format negatives; 1952; mostly of a house that I don’t recognize;
#14 33 2¼ inch prints from 1960; personal features of 9250 E River Rd; have scanned favorite 8;
1940s
Mom looks 17!
Famous June/chair photo; chair is now with Andrea; probably early 1945;
Mid-1945
1950s
1960s
After the 1960s?
I have hundreds of slides he took in the 30 years before his death. They are still to be sorted and selected, but I didn’t find any of them in his special STI box.
The next post in this series will feature items in the STI box that are not photographs.
My memorable 1990 visit; memorable to me, not necessarily to anyone else!
This post was prompted by two factors: the catastrophic collapse of the 900 ton, suspended platform, on Dec 3, 2020; and finding the photos from my visit.
In August, 1990 I visited Andrea at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico where she had a summer fellowship. She was working on pulsars and this was the premier instrument in the world for finding and studying them.
This enormous instrument was completed in 1963, about the time I began graduate school in Rochester, New York. It was very relevant to my field of astrophysics. I heard about Arecibo this and Arecibo that throughout my 5 years in graduate school.
Two of the more notable speakers I remember at the Friday afternoon University of Rochester Physics Department Colloquia were Frank Drake, Director of the observatory, and Carl Sagan, well known popularizer of science. They were both professors at Cornell at the time, about 90 miles away from Rochester in Ithaca.
The telescope itself
I won’t be saying much about the telescope — there’s a lot out there available.
A radio telescope detects radio waves, not light rays as a “normal” telescope does. Radio waves are millions of times less energetic, and their wavelengths are millions of times longer. Many astronomical bodies emit radio waves.
It was big, very big: 1000 foot diameter reflector dish in a natural sinkhole. The world’s largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years (1963-2016), it comprised 39,000 perforated 3′ x 6′ panels — an area of about 20 acres (about 15 American football fields). It was a fixed, spherical (not parabolic) reflector. In collecting data from the source of interest, the receiver was moved, not the dish.
View of observatory from space; image acquired June 9, 2009, GeoEye-1 sensor
85 foot diameter Gregorian dome installed 1996, 6 years after visit
The current mechanical troubles began in August, 2020; an important cable broke in November; catastrophic cable failure in December. Consult internet for videos and other information. Sad.
The telescope, top to bottom:
triangular platform,
circular track,
328 foot-long azimuth arm,
1000 foot diameter reflector dish.
The snaky feature at upper left was a catwalk for humans servicing the telescope and for those wanting to save (or rule) the world.
The azimuth arm was 450 feet above the dish.
All the electronics and steel structures suspended over the dish were to get the detection point to the right place. I’m sure it was made as small and inconspicuous as possible because you really don’t want to block any more of the incoming radio waves than you have to. But you also want it to be rigid and stable and to ever so smoothly compensate for the rotating Earth as you collect data. The final design, all 900 tons of it, was approximately equivalent in weight to two, fully loaded, 747s. It was roughly the same size, too, depending on how you stack them.
The azimuth arm, the banana-shaped appendage hanging from the bottom of the triangular platform, was suspended on a circular track 450 feet above the dish and was 328 feet long. Various receivers (the Gregorian dome and that long pointy thing, e.g.) move along the track of the azimuth arm.
Thus, to point the telescope at your star or galaxy or pulsar you would rotate the azimuth arm around on its circular track and move the receiver along the azimuth arm until you were pointed correctly.
In the 1995 James Bond movie GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan was shot at when he was running up the catwalk on his way to save the world. Also, before he could complete his mission the entire dish was blown up. It has since been fully repaired.
More details on the platform, the reflective dish, 747s, my favorite peanut butter cake recipe, pulsars, and the Gregorian dome available on request.
Photos, impressions, comments
Andrea mentioned the Gregorian dome during my visit, and said it generated a lot of anticipation among scientists. It became reality 6 years later.
All photos in this post, except the first two, are from my 35mm film camera. (I wouldn’t own a digital camera for 12 more years.) Andrea and Owen (former boyfriend) took a couple of the shots.
Finding the observatory at night at end of looooonngg day was a challenge. Puerto Rico is 4 timezones east, so I left Santa Barbara probably around 5:30am my time, and by the time I got anywhere near the observatory it was very late and very dark and my brain was mostly oatmeal. I wonder how many times I drove by this sign that night!
I found it easy to imagine this freeway sign modification was made by some mischievous graduate students.
The three of us were allowed to go out on the platform one day during during a maintenance period. Our little trip up the catwalk was peaceful, unlike James Bond’s.
Andrea and me at end of azimuth arm
Blowup from previous photo; twerpy daughter
Owen and me on azimuth arm
Andrea & Owen on top of fixed, triangular platform; parts of circular track and azimuth arm are visible
I remember Owen asking me how could you let her do that? He meant the waving both arms while sitting on the railing stunt. (As if I had any control!)
View from under the reflective dish
Suspended platform as seen looking up from under the center of the reflective dish; partly through the small, permanent rectangular opening, partly right through the reflecting surface;
31 year-old tee shirt from gift shop; another pre-Gregorian dome relic
Fourteen and a half years after my Arecibo visit, in early 2005, I was visiting Andrea again, this time in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when her twin girls were only a few months old. She’d been allocated some observation time on the Arecibo telescope that fell during my visit. She didn’t need to go to Puerto Rico — with appropriate passwords and software she could do it remotely from home.
I have photo in my deep archives of her, in her own house, controlling the movement of the 328 foot-long azimuth arm and data collection point along it, from her 5 or 10 pound laptop 1600 miles away, all while nursing one of the girls.
You should not be surprised to hear the photo will not be available on request.
The 5th post in this sporadic series featuring the pandemic — 6th if you count the Christmas post.
Life continues to continue — no complaints from me. Like the Christmas post there is generally upbeat sentiment in here. My internet usually works just fine. The sun usually shines … and so on. The Washington Post header from Dec 15, 2020, as the first COVID-19 vaccinations were happening, is even more appropriate: “We interrupt your doomscrolling to bring you a glimpse of hope.”
One year on I still say my cataract surgery has left me with spectacular vision (i.e., my vision without glasses is “normal”). I use low cost drug store cheaters/readers for close up. My hearing aids, also about a year old, also are still wonderful. Excluding my house, they are the most valuable items I own. (Actually, now that you ask, more valuable than my car PLUS my computer!) It’s nice to know what I’m getting for my money. They bring my overall hearing up to mediocre, a big improvement.
Two additional huge improvements recently. (We’re using a plethora of big words today, aren’t we Paul?) My guys won the election in November, and I’m now two weeks past my second COVID-19 vaccination. Life looks better.
ABOUT IMAGESIf I’ve followed my intentions completely, every image in this post can be enlarged by clicking on it. If the image is part of a gallery, what at first displays as a collection of thumbnails, then clicking on it enlarges it and puts you in slideshow mode. If there’s a caption for the image, it will appear or disappear when you click anywhere in the image.
I barely followed news for the last 4 years — too many knotted stomachs and clenched sphincters. I’m ready to pay attention again.
Vaccinations — Michelle 2, Paul 2, Chris 1
her hospital work put Michelle high on priority list for vaccination; this is January 11 in Seattle
my appointment, the hardest part of the whole process! a common experience as I understand things
entrance to the drive-through vaccination; VERY efficient! paperwork, verification, the actual vaccination, 15 minute wait, all happened within 25-30 minute period
local newspaper photo gives some flavor of event
my 1st shot; I was choked up through most of the event and barely able to answer questions
Chris’s 1st, in Santa Maria, a 75 minute drive; she has appointment for 2nd on March 12, same place
my 2nd, Feb 18, in same hospital parking lot in Goleta
… and finally:
face mask of the week; guy who did it drove up as I was admiring the installation; he liked his work being appreciated;
when Kate saw this photo she said it made her feel like a 3-legged robot!
this non-stick pan was no longer providing joy; we are improving our lives in many little ways;
ABOUT IMAGESIf I’ve followed my intentions completely, every image in this post can be enlarged by clicking on it. If the image is part of a gallery, what at first displays as a collection of thumbnails, then clicking on it enlarges it and puts you in slideshow mode. If there’s a caption for the image, it will appear or disappear when you click anywhere in the image.
Translated into a different direction, this grandfatherly comment may apply to my stuff in the attic:
There’s a lot of good stuff and memories in my attic; especially memories …
… only you don’t remember whether that item came from that little restaurant on a side street in Barcelona, or you found it near the beach in Santa Barbara …
… and actually, its origin is neither Barcelona nor Santa Barbara …
… and you’re close to throwing it out anyway and none of kids have any interest in it.
Messages from Marie Kondo and Ann Patchett
With a little translation some of Marie Kondo’s key ideas are useful to us, especially: does it spark joy? and thank you for your service.
Ann Patchett’s article in the New Yorker has some good suggestions. She says, “Making sure that the right person got the right things was no longer the point. The point was that those things were gone.”
That’s me! I’ve been paralyzed if I don’t want something but: I can’t find anyone to take it, it’s somehow too good to throw in the trash, no thrift store will take it, and it’s not recyclable.
Overview
Many boxes have been removed from our attic already: 16 for Chris; 3 for Paul. Our parlor is more cluttered than usual but 5 boxes are about to be dropped off at a thrift shop, and 3 more will soon be shipped to children.
Attic inventory is completed for now — see previous post. There will be updates but it’s good for now.
having inventory list feels good and may actually be useful;
lot of stuff will go to recycling center;
small mountain of styrofoam;
unwanted cardboard;
thrift stores? Catholic Charities is very close; Alphas now accept donations only in at headquarters on Cathedral Oaks;
check with children to see what they might want; e.g., all those rackets are earmarked for transfer to Melrose (maybe even leaving here today);
make Zoom calls for boxes marked with each girl’s name; go through contents over Zoom;
Paul, do you really need to hang on to those old Valiant seat covers? You think any of the girls might want them?
I’ve learned those 2 mattresses can be dropped off at MarBorg Industries waste site just a few blocks from here;
We’ve come across very few items to sell:
chandelier;
that cat tee shirt (!);
C’s futon
we’re NOT doing this for the money anyway (so that’s fine);
Specific items
2 squash, 2 tennis; I bought the tennis racket on the right in Minneapolis in 1956 or 1957
squash racket bought in Rochester, NY in 1964 or 1965
I already forget what the story is here
birthday present from high school girlfriend in 1958; patched, stained, repaired, buttons replaced, worn, worn, worn
bear that will be reunited with Andrea sometime
Items whose dispositions have been decided, whose fates have been decided, whose woeful moons have risen (you get the idea)
Kate’s prom dress from Spring 1990
Kate wearing the dress in 1990
Guy on the right holding the flashlight with the roll of duct tape around his wrist has just emerged from the crawlspace under the house where he was doing something that must have been important.
Still more specifics
Chris emptied this column of boxes
before Chris emptied the column
Anyone out there want this rugby shirt? I do … ehhh did. Too small. And that big window’s on the wrong side of the walll.
window looks much better now
Red cowboy boots! They’re in good shape — did I ever see Chris wear these?
Other clothing items daughters can thumb wrestle over
Some boxes have been marked pretty well
Only item I saved. Part of a cup holder.
Treasures from 2004, eh? Lots of old keys; white glove for left hand — I think that was from my 1st wedding in 1965; baggie of turkey wishbones; and on it goes … The Pickles comic strip was saved originally because several years earlier I’d use C’s colonoscopy pictures in the Christmas card I sent out. All those treasures are now gone save for the funky-looking item in the right-hand photo. I used 3 short, fat, sheet metal screws to fasten this goodie over a shallow tray-like spot in my early 1980s Toyota Tercel; it’s part of a funky cup holder (that worked very well for me) using left-over insulated 12 gauge copper wiring, some of my favorite construction material;
How ’bout that Special Graph from 1986?
In the last 20 years I hadn’t admired the graph that Bob ???? so carefully printed out and taped together (hadn’t even looked at it). Last week I took the photos, thanked the graph for its service and politely threw it away. (I hope I put it in the recycling.)
24 pieces of U.S. standard letter-sized paper taped together; wavenumber range from 600 to 1080 cm-1 (16.67 to 9.26 micro-meters); abscissa is brightness temperature; comparing predicted spectrum from Air Force Atmospheric transmission model FASCODE with experimental results of U. Wisconsin Fourier transform spectrometer instrument; … anybody care?
This question keeps coming up: what will we do with the things we keep?
I’ll let you know.
Just plain indisputable progress — stuff actually leaving our house
Photo of Catholic Charities drop off and entrance. Not pretentious — my kind of place.
Just this afternoon Chris and I dropped off 4 boxes of donations here. I have the feeling we’ll be back before long.
A few minutes later the first 3 boxes of goodies were shipped to the girls via USPS; there’ll be more of these shipments, too.
Of course shipping is way more expensive than we expected!
Would our children want to inherit a large (huge) attic filled with treasures (junk)? And a garage in a similar state?
Our commitment is at least an hour every Tuesday. We don’t want to emphasize finding items to remove from our lives, we want to emphasize finding the items to keep. Feels like there’s a big difference. And another thing: maybe think about what we’d be keeping them for?
The 50+ photos in this post give a pretty good idea of how the attic looks as we begin the project. I expect this collection mainly to be of use to Chris and me for comparison purposes. You know, in a couple of months, when it feels like we’re not getting anywhere, we can compare current state with the beginning state.
Our children, currently also our heirs, may glance through these photos and think SHIT! I’m not gonna have to go through all that stuff some day am I? I hope they’re also wondering if there’s anything they can do to gently encourage us. Actually, they’ve done pretty well so far.
Chris is able to pile in and start emptying boxes. I seem to need to mostly start organizing, taking photos, scratching my head, and documenting. I still think we’re heading ultimately in the same direction. Maybe we’ll be getting rid of half or three-quarters of this stuff.
ABOUT IMAGES If I’ve followed my intentions completely, every image in this post can be enlarged by clicking on it. If the image is part of a gallery, what at first displays as a collection of thumbnails, then clicking on it enlarges it and puts you in slideshow mode. If there’s a caption for the image, it will appear or disappear when you click anywhere in the image.
Attic floor plan — 25ft x 45ft
Red rectangle near center is folding stairway.
Shaded areas are plywood-covered walkways and areas to store some boxes. Porch area is not covered with plywood and one must walk carefully and step only on 2″x4″s of ceiling below.
Weight of most stored items is concentrated in areas over walls between rooms.
Darker patterned area is chimney.
OVERVIEW #1 — This is the view you get as you’re coming up the steps into the attic
looking toward “front” of attic. i.e., toward top of attic diagram
OVERVIEW #2 — Looking forward again, this time from way in the back
looking forward from the way back
Lots of details from here on. Lots. If you’ve seen enough already I’m not surprised.
Stuff at the back yard end of the attic, over C’s room and kitchen
Need a pair of crutches? No? How about two pair?
This area has been neatened up since this photo was taken
Last photo in gallery
Around the middle of the attic — Living Room side
Our nearby recycling center claims they take styrofoam now but I have yet to see for myself. I was saving all this stuff in hopes that it could be recycled some day, and maybe that’s gonna happen!
We begin on a positive note. Actually, this whole post is on the positive side. We’re still here; the sun is usually shining; 2020 is almost over; vaccinations for COVID-19 are happening. Christmas movies aren’t all bad! Chris and I have been mostly sticking to HEA movies (I’ll wait if you need to look that up) and we actually own disks of two universally regarded as among the best ever made: Love Actually and The Princess Bride.
A day or two before Christmas. Quiet, low key days; semi-annual shot of Chris, book, chair, cat, and sometimes fire, and Christmas tree.
Our first big Christmas movie.
Ornament was part of BluRay package
Proposals in a foreign language are tough
Christmas day arrives. What’s with the chair and bookcase, you ask? Well, it actually was part of a very pleasant beginning to the day. Our new best friends Catalina and Oscar …
The photo is for Craig’s List. We’re hoping to give the bookcase (made by friend Rick Coe many years ago for himself and then gave it to us) to someone who can provide a good home. The chair shows scale — it’s not part of the deal.
During the loading into Oscar’s big SUV he asks if by any chance I have some wood he could make more shelves from. Oh yes, I do! He and Catalina leave with about a hundred more pounds of shelf boards and plywood and particle board sheets I’d been saving for years, unable to throw away.
All four of us are delighted!
Excited kitties, happy C & P with all their Christmas loot, and what toilet paper shortage?
Nice beach walk on Christmas Day.
One can tell times are pretty quiet if a photo of a parked car seems to be a major event of the day. (First time for me that parking at his beach is not parallel but angled facing out from curb. Exciting, no?) The old pilings in photo #2 only show themselves like this at low tide. Wading like this (in photo#4) is ok, but not fine. I’m not the least bit tempted to get my wetsuit and go swimming.
Movie #2.
The Princess Bride. These are just a couple of the many famous quotes (well, they’re famous to big fans of the movie!). That’s a special kiss at the close of the movie, alright. Peter Falk, as the grandfather reading the story to his grandson, explained to us that of the five most passionate and pure kisses in the history of mankind, the kiss that’s about to happen in photo #2 far exceeds them all. Phew!
Some of the items in this post seem significant to me.
My previous blog post was April 24, three months ago, and the saga of the mystery computer had just begun.
It didn’t turn out well.
As you may remember, on April 18 Chris and I discovered we’d apparently bought a $1525.99 computer for someone in Santa Clara. We explained our situation to Amazon, and cancelled the credit card.
In a couple of days our credit card company cancelled their payment to Amazon, so we think everything is gonna be OK and we aren’t gonna be out any money. OK? Good. What could go wrong?
We couldn’t convince Amazon to stop delivery. Not a good sign. (More later.)
I spend some time on phone and iPad getting an iPad class-member up and running on Zoom. Could tell we’ve succeeded when she compliments me on my nice red sneakers.
Rosie and I social distancing Susan Cochran photo; used without permission
Peggy sends out swimming message, as in OK, gang, time to begin our ocean swims for another year. Feels very good to have this weekly event to look forward to, surprisingly good, actually. No problem keeping social distance.
Amazon hires 175,000 additional people. Instacart grocery shopping and delivery hires about 300,000.
=====May 2020
Amazon locks Chris’s account. This takes us a while to understand. They know fraud’s involved, but they still expect to be paid for the computer. Our Prime Video TV watching is connected to this account — that’s about ¾ of our viewing — and Chris has NO access to hundreds of Kindle books she’s bought. We’re hurting. Andrea loans us her Amazon account for the nonce.
By law, if one acts quickly enough, there is a $50 maximum liability if this is credit card fraud. Chris acts quickly enough but this isn’t credit card fraud. Huh? Howz that? To Amazon the perp, e.g., could be a family member who’s savvy enough to have slimed their way into her account and bought a computer for their niece in Santa Clara. The perp didn’t even need Chris’s credit card number.
We proceed on the basis of there must be something we can do to avoid being slimed for $1500.
Our group swims another day. Water temperature in Santa Barbara is 59°F/15°C, close to the long-term monthly average for April. Long-term data show March and April to be the coldest water temperatures here. Not winter months?! Where my wetsuit covered I was OK but exposed hands and feet went numb and my face always stung. Just 3° or 4° F more and the temperature is much easier to adjust to. But even if the temperature were benign I’m probably not in good enough physical shape to cover the 500 yards we aim for.
Trader Joe’s continues to make my weekly pickup of flower donations for the Breast Cancer Resource Center very convenient and safe. I call ahead and they have them waiting by their back door. If I need any sort if interaction with an employee I try to remember to remove the sunglasses — I don’t want to be completely unrecognizable!
For me!
Unrecognizable?
Bad dad jokes are order of the day: What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef (Tom Schruben, in Washington Post).
Chris answers a call from a male person who identifies himself as a grandson. He’d been in car crash … at this point Chris says she doesn’t think he’s her grandson and hangs up. The scammers and slime-balls are out in force.
Chris is aware that our black cat Inigo is in the house with a squeaking creature in his mouth. Yikes! A minute later she sees them leave together, so not to worry, I guess. The great gopher hunt in the living room last October was a golden opportunity for Inigo and his dad (me) to bond, but we don’t need a repeat!
Jamile is released from Honolulu jail to a treatment center run by the Salvation Army. Her life is not going well, and it’s a lot more costly in many ways than a paltry $1500 computer.
A pickup from Gelson’s grocery and Chaucer’s bookstore in one quick trip is our big field trip of the day. We don’t enter either store — on arrival Chris calls the number they gave her and items are brought out. These days ya gotta grab your excitement where ya can.
Are those Covid toes I see down there at the end of my right leg?
Guess not. We compare with pictures on the web but can’t rule out Covid toes for several more days. Looks like a nasty bruise but I never figure out its origin.
COVID toes? After a couple of days I start taking photos
Guess not
Late in May we give in and pay the ransom of $1525.99 to Amazon, but getting Amazon to accept our payment is yet another story. Please don’t ask. This has not been a happy event for us. Much eye-rolling, head-shaking, grumbling, and even a few naughty words.
If I ever do use Amazon Web Services to store my hundreds of GB of photos in the future — and it’s possible — I definitively want to use a separate account.
C and I get tested for COVID-19. We have no symptoms, the opportunity presents itself so we take it. Two or three days later, as advertised, we get letters showing negative results.
=====June 2020
Cannibal Women in the Avocado jungle of Death — ya gotta love that movie title. Well, at least I do. Big stars: Bill Maher, Adrienne Barbeau. IMDB gives it resounding, well earned, 4.8 of 10 (i.e., pathetic).
The character of Bunny and her cute little pink outfits is terrific — well cast and well played! Despite that highlight, this is a low budget movie, with poor acting, cheesy sets, and a lame story. All in all, the movie is wonderfull! (For some strange reason, no one else wants to watch it with me?)
I do a rare check of my spam mailbox. Whoo! Have you checked yours lately?
We start watching ER again — all 318 episodes now available on Hulu (15 seasons beginning in 1994). A New York Times critic strongly encourages us.
On June 21st grandson Mason gets his high school diploma in a drive-by; Nathan Hale High School, Seattle.
My Spam mailbox—Only one legitimate email in here
Mason at the big moment
Can’t bear following national news closely, but am pleased to catch news about how various high schools perform their graduations. At Santa Barbara High, about a mile from my house, graduates walk all alone across the main quadrangle, past faculty who greet them, and receive their diploma on the other side. (One of the faculty flashes each student with a sign, “You were my favorite student!”) During the entire 9 hours this whole process lasts to get all the graduates graduated, honking and cheerfully festooned cars are driving around the area, even past our house and through the nearby Trader Joe’s parking lot.
=====July 2020
We create list of known HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN movies we’d like to see (have already seen most of them years ago). Not just any HEA will do (the movies we watch are always very carefully selected!). When we’re in a movie mood we randomly choose from the list with the assistance of random.com. By July 26 we’ve we’ve watched 6 of them.
Our list of HEAs
Gratuitous photo
File our income tax return file July 14 (didn’t want to wait till the last minute!). Before filing I must have thought that it would feel special, almost as if I were getting away with something, or it would be an interesting experience because of the unusually late deadline or just the crazy times we’re in. But no, I of course wasn’t doing anything the least bit clever by waiting, and I was left with the same old feeling of relief and grumpiness that I always feel right after filing!
Mosaic of individual Day/Night band images
Gratifying to see image from sensor I’d worked on in 2005 and 2006, my last years before retirement. This is from the Day/Night band that is a feature of VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite). First copy launched in 2011, 2nd in 2017, another planned for 2021. It’s an extremely sensitive panchromatic band instrument (dishwasher size) that greatly improves nighttime images of the Earth. These new images are sharper and more frequent than current satellite images (740m resolution, and full coverage almost daily).
In mid-July a 20 yr-old niece of son-in-law Peter flies from Boston to North Carolina to party. She returns infected and proceeds to infect her brother who promptly exposed his HS football team. This alarms the town of Melrose, MA and, Kate says, makes the Hickey name mud (it’s a large, well known family in a small town). And what about the other people in airports and on her plane she exposed?
Three years ago to the week Inigo came to live here. Within a few days we saw more and more scenes like the 1st of these 4 photos. Then for the next couple of years we kept them almost entirely separated. The next 3 photos, all within the last few weeks, show some recent progress.
July 2017
Note to teller
Replacement of my crown on tooth #14 (an upper left molar) is an interesting, enjoyable experience, far more enjoyable than is reasonable.
I’m told beforehand it’ll cost between $1500 and $1700 and I’ll get 10% off if I pay in cash. Ok, I’ll pay in cash but it means the first trip to my credit union in several years. In the credit union lobby I’m the only customer I see. I slip the teller a note detailing to her what denominations and how many of each. I’m glad I remembered to remove sunglasses! I keep telling myself to play this straight, Paul! Yes, you’re a masked guy standing at the counter in a bank slipping the teller a note (at left) and expecting cash back but this isn’t a robbery or a Saturday Night Live skit. I keep hearing this little voice reminding me that this is like bank robbery scenes in movies where at the bottom of the note I would have written “Just do what I say and nobody gets hurt.”
Next day, at dentist’s office, assistant Wendy asks me to move my bangs out of the way so her thermometer gun can have a clear view of my forehead. A first! She flinches when I tell her no one has ever asked me to move my bangs before but I’m quick to assure her I liked that a lot. She looks relieved. Good.
We’re all pretty well masked and covered. Six feet apart is not one of the choices, though!
About 45 minutes later, the old crown has been cut off and the stub of the molar is made ready for the new crown. The dentist then mills my new crown on the spot (well, in the next room) out of a small block of porcelain very close to the color of the waiting tooth. Somehow he got the idea I’d like to watch the actual milling operation — don’t think he charges me extra for allowing me to watch the 13 minute milling show. Two milling heads at once — it’s a good show.
To mill my crown he has to get the 3D image data of my mouth to the milling machine. The 3D data are acquired with a scanner about size of small, hand-held grinding tool and he waves the tip of it around in my mouth for about 10 seconds. (That’s actually the way it seems to happen. Once these images appear on the monitor near me I realize the recent waving must have been the scanning operation.) Accuracy of scanning and milling operations is 20 𝜇m (a little less than 1/1000 of an inch), or about half the thickness of typical human hair.
Remains of old gold crown
Molar ready for crown
This is how the mill will cut the block of porcelain
How the new crown will fit on the old tooth; dark blue shows sufficient thickness between old tooth and outer surface of crown
When I ask for pictures from this cool imagery he says well, not exactly but I can produce screen captures for you. So he rotates each of these 3D objects until I like the view and then does the screen capture and emails it to me. He knows the technology and he wants to make this customer happy. What a deal!
All during my appointment Wendy provides excellent play-by-play of whatever is going on. Very nice. Go out of my way on leaving to thank her for that.
During the various waits of the appointment I have several short periods to admire the woman-running-on-the-beach-at-sunset screensaver familiar to Windows 10 users. New BFF Wendy wants to know where it was taken. The next day at home searching with Google turns up the answ …
Paul! Are you still blathering on about your dental appointment? High point of 2020 so far?! Is there a serious lack of excitement in your life?
It’s in New Zealand, on the very northern tip of the South Island. The big rocks are called the Archway Islands, and the beach she’s running on is Wharariki Beach. (No — I don’t know the pronunciation.) The images show the familiar photo, the backside of the Archway Islands (from the NW), location on a map of the southwestern Pacific, and a detailed map of the northern end of the South Island, New Zealand.
Still haven’t got to finishing up my Christmas cards from last December. Again I ask, where’s all this time I’m spozed to have on my hands?
Spend huge bunch of time on 2019 computer files (two weeks?), and I was just basically pulling all files together into one folder. Spend couple more days trying to bend iCloud and the Photos app library to my will (current score: about 8 to 5, not in Paul’s favor). At the moment I’m syncing photographs via Google Photos, a much simpler solution that may be enough.
Back side of tiny library
Obverse
Back side (left) and obverse (right) of a very nice, very small, outdoor library. It’s right beside Chris’s personal branch (Eastside Branch) of the Santa Barbara Public Library, a block from our house. Righthand photo shows Chris calling someone inside so they can bring her the book she ordered online.
More and more feel like I’m looking over my shoulder at a cloud (a small cloud) of memory loss, physical loss, cognitive loss gaining on me. I can’t really be sure. But what about that time last week when I couldn’t … and what is that guy’s name who used to … ? My ex-wife is dealing with dementia issues right now. Her dementia is a big deal for me, and of course, it’s a big deal for our children.
Swimming again — mustache definitely interfering with breathing! This terrible situation is probably adding seconds to my time in our 500 yard swim! Shave off beard and mustache?! If I do, gotta get before and after photos.
Finally figure out my photos app difficulty on Mac/iPad/iPhone. Finally! Do I want to assign blame/explanation for this protracted struggle? Any benefit to that? Or would I just get pissed off and frustrated all over again?
I’ll pass on the pissoffedness and frustration. Readers are spared the trouble of reading or even skipping a paragraph. (And thanks anyway Google Photos.) A few naughty words were probably emitted, though.
Digital body armor
Digital body armor. Wrist brace, elbow brace on left arm (shown), and similar bracing worn on right arm. I need this armor to ward off wrist and arm injuries when doing a lot of photo editing and manipulation such as what I’m doing right now in this blog post. I have both a mouse and a programmable trackball, one on each side of my keyboard and I switch sides from time to time.
Headline from Santa Barbara Independent, July 24, 2020, “Daily COVID-19 Case Counts Continue to Soar in Santa Barbara County.”
Subheading: “County’s Daily Averages Remain More Than 15 Times State Requirement.” The requirement referred to is a reopening requirement. We’re not doing well.
As of July 31, Santa Barbara County, population about 450,000, has 6167 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 60 deaths. Three months ago these key numbers were 440 cases and 5 deaths. Current doubling time is about 30 days.
Finally trimmed beard a bit. And yes, I miss being called Santa Claus but it’s nice to feel breezes on my face, to eat and drink without nearly constantly wiping off beard and mustache, and to breath much more smoothly while swimming.
I email happy birthday wishes to ex-wife on her 80th. It’s a milestone for me, too. I’ll hit 80 in a year and a half. It’s the 2nd email message I remember sending her since we split in 1980. The first was five years ago on the 50th anniversary of the day we were married.
Both messages to ex were friendly (in case anyone had a question about that).
Our volleyball group (that hasn’t played volleyball in at least two years) has been meeting for dinner once a week for most weeks. One couple of us brings take-out for all 6 of us and we eat on Bonny and Jim’s patio on 3 nicely spaced tables.
Our clothes dryer is not working. The drive belt is probably broken — motor sounds like it’s still turning and humming but drum is NOT making those too familiar thumping and screeching noises. We bought it used in 1990, when we moved here. We must have got a defective machine.
Chris and I buy a new dryer at Best Buy. We also buy beer, gas and groceries. Uhh, not at Best Buy. BIG expedition! Feels pretty good to do ordinary stuff; the establishments are uncrowded, and I feel safe enough. Even introverts like me appreciate (need?) some interactions with others.
New dryer
Ok, so this is Home Depot, not Best Buy, but that’s Chris’s hand and she’s showing you a new dryer. Close enough.
While gassing up C says this is her 2nd purchase of gas since lockdown began, which for us means mid-March, right after returning from Solana Beach. Say 300-330 miles per tank, and 2 tanks in 4½ months means …
Wait!
How full was tank at start of lockdown? If full, then Chris has burned 3 tanks, if empty then only 2. It’s an N or N+1 situation! My favorite computer programming issue! (You probably don’t want to ask.) This suggests she’s driving at rate of 1800 to 2400 miles per year. Not a lot! (Calculation details supplied on request.)
I continue to be wowed by my new eyes (from intraocular lenses inserted during cataract surgery). For example, without glasses, I can see, in focus, all corners of my computer monitor just by moving my eyes without moving my head! Wow!
My previous post, the 2nd one, begins with a nice graphic. Chris says it’s never been seen again! I thought it would be easy for them to replicate and update from day-to-day. I suppose it’s possible I don’t thoroughly understand the graphic and what goes into it, but what are the chances?
Here’s the (non)graphic for April 22: From 111 cases and 1 death in Santa Barbara County as of April 1, we have 440 cases and 5 deaths as of today, April 22 — a quadrupling of our cases in 21 days! That doesn’t sound like a cheerful way to put it!
Has our curve tipped over, flattened, etc.? (Population of Santa Barbara County is about 450,000.) If I post again in this series we’ll have a much better idea.
Grandson Mason’s high school graduation is now cancelled. Chris and I are not surprised but we feel for Mason. We’d made hotel reservations and looked into air fares — so no big deal for us.
=====March 25th This item should have been in the previous post. Oh well. We offer baking supplies to friends, some of whom, unlike Chris and me, bake. The items are pictured below: flour, large mystery jar, corn meal, and pancake mix all at least several years old. The only dates I find on original packaging are 2010 and 2012. All but the sugar are politely declined (even after I check to a depth of several inches for wildlife). There’s more space in our pantry now and (less in our compost bin).
Chris and Paul’s baking supplies available for the asking March 25.
=====Friday April 3rd A drive-by parade! Teachers from Franklin School, one block from here, drive slowly past our house in 10 or 15 cars in mid-day honking, yelling, and waving signs. Some of the signs identify them as Franklin teachers. Very noisy, nice, and friendly.
=====Sat 4th Friend John suggests we’ll probably see uptick in pregnancies and divorces before long. Both he and Chris tell me that Santa Barbara County officials have recorded an uptick in reports of child and spousal abuse. Pregnancy and divorce make some sense but I’m really sorry to hear of abuse reports. I’m afraid that makes sense, too, but I don’t wanna hear it.
No doubt you’re all dying to hear what Melrose DPW did with the chemicals from Devil’s own workshop abandoned on their doorstep. If strong reader demand develops I’ll post 10-year-old Jamey’s Japanese toolbox video.
Yeah, what happened to all that nasty-looking stuff?
=====Sun 5th
Zoom with Andrea
Seattle group walk couple blocks to serenade Terina on her birthday
Formal portrait.How ’bout that guy in the chicken suit? 15 year old Lucas baked and decorated the cake he’s holding.
Patient kitty (Inigo)
Cheeky gopher — teasing Inigo like this
It may have been sunny in Seattle but not in Santa Barbara. Besides gloom here our temperatures aren’t even above 70 F. Time for a fire in our fireplace.
Good, gloomy day for a fire. Inigo feels he needs to keep that 6 ft. separation, apparently
Hendry’s Beach. Looks like at least 6 ft separation to me.
Chopped-off, funky serving spoon from my mother’s kitchen works well to separate nested buckets I use in flower donations from Trader Joe’s.
Buckets nest very nicely, but they share much surface area and don’t always un-nest very well. A twist of this spoon after it’s been gently but firmly jammed between adjacent nested buckets usually does the trick
=====Mon 6th Trader Joe’s is very cooperative about getting their flower donations to me and still allowing us all to keep our distance. This is the first time for me to wear a face mask in public. I think Chris and I got this small box of 10 face masks from Direct Relief International a few years ago during a big wildfire. I finally admit to myself I feel self-conscious wearing mask. Not surprisingly, the selfconsciousosity doesn’t last long.
Take short walk on Hendry’s Beach on way home from Breast Cancer Resource Center. Sunshine, some beach walkers, naked tiny kid playing in puddle, dogs chasing tennis balls, and paragliders landing. Good normal stuff.
Chris helps me take series of photos showing a good use for that funky spoon from my mother’s kitchen. I’m happy to find a use for it: good for prying apart stuck, nested flower buckets. Mother died only 15 years ago — can’t throw it yet. Must say, though, ultimately I expect it’ll wind up in a 25¢ bin at thrift store! Maybe even the 10¢ bin.
=====Tue 7th A one hour and 40 minute zoom with Sandy! Now that I think of it, I Zoomed June, too. Good for us!
Chris is out getting cashiers checks for Jamile and her cellmate Nicole to send to the Oh-triple-C (OCCC — Oahu Community Correctional Center) (i.e., jail) for commissary funds ($80 each). Nicole has never had anyone send her money. When Jamile told her what Chris was going to do Nicole apparently ran out of wherever they were yelling “I’ve got a new white mom, I’ve got a new white mom!”
My kind of guy
I’ve seen it three times!
A seasonal beer and the season is over!
=====Wed Apr 8 I pay our property tax. Barely remembered! Even after my big public announcement in previous post!
=====Thu Apr 9 Box Tunnel entrance, Box, England I would like to think he knew what he was doing, he’d done it correctly, and that was enough for him. My kind of guy.
Lake Cachuma, Santa Barbara’s main source of water, is at 78.5% full.
I discover True Memoirs of an International Assassin is on some reviewer’s list of the worst Netflix films ever so don’t even think of watching. Hey! That’s one of my favorites! To borrow some words from a review of a Jack Reacher/Lee Child novel: Totally unrealistic — loved every minute.
My annual purchase of Stone Brewing’s Xocovesa has run out. Very sad.
=====Fri Apr 10 Graphs appear on Edhat site. A little hard to explain — it’s sort of like the sun is shining somewhere so don’t give up.
In today’s grocery run Isaac scored 14 of 14 (he finds all 14 items on our list).
Now the milk story. It reminds me of the I-thought-you-made-a-yummy-sound gag from the movie Young Frankenstein. Isaac had plunked a gallon plastic jug of milk on our front porch along with the other groceries he’d just bought for us. C & I both saw it and each assumed the other must have had some reason for putting it on the list at the last minute because we seldom deal with cow milk. As we were putting items away we pretty quickly got to the I-thought-you-ordered-a gallon-of-milk routine.
We smile, too, roll our eyes, and call Isaac who returns within a couple minutes and then presumably takes it to the appropriate party.
Grocery delivery is more expensive than doing it yourself, it’s gotta be. We expect that. We’re not considering changing from using Isaac. I’m not sure it saves much time because the list we send to Isaac is pretty carefully spelled out (1st choice of an item, 2nd choice, or no other brand will do …). Maybe after 5 or 10 times you’ve got a good, useful list worked out that Isaac can work with.
But how do you tell the Isaacs of the world tricky things like get the cheapest kind but only if …, and only …; Or those items you spot in the store that didn’t make it to the list; Or what about that item that’s usually out of your price-range or is in season suddenly to your surprise; Or you see something that looks good and you’re in the mood for a little experiment.
We Zoom with our volleyball group. Nice. At some point Chris & I are asked what we’d be having for dinner. I pipe up up and calmly describe a typical “browse” dinner I assemble for myself: frozen chicken breast, handful of peeled, ready to eat baby carrots, piece of bread. I think I see our group flinch?! Did I forget to mention I was gonna thaw the chicken breast? Someone (not to mention any names) in each of the other groups actually cooks! Imagine.
=====Mon Apr 13 The Daily Extra — Pun of the week from the Non-sequitor calendar: A four-foot-tall fortune teller escaped from prison. He was a small medium at large.
Keep feeling we’re friendlier than we’re used to being. By “we” I mean myself and all the other random folk I interact with (at socially acceptable distance, of course) — seems to be a we’re all in this together feeling, which I like.
After Roasting Company delivery and my beer-to-go pickup at BevMo I feel like a wealthy man.
=====14th Tue Zoom with B; Nice surprise how much difference the video makes on the communication. During the Zoom more Xocoveza arrives! Nice surprise! Thank you Chris!
Shoreline Park. A sun-is-shining-somewhere shot. Downtown Santa Barbara is the white splotch in the distance.
Photos of Michelle Higa and kids with note from me
Bobby announces Frog Box meals. He’s shed his chicken suit for appropriate executive chef duds
=====16th Thu Get letter from Michelle Higa thanking me for sending the pictures of her kids I pulled off her Facebook page. We of the older generation (or MUCH older generation!) really appreciate thank-you notes. A couple days earlier I actually speak to her for a couple sentences during a Jamile call to Chris. She calls me uncle (typical Asian way of showing respect, C reminds me) and thanks me enthusiastically.
=====18th Sat First thing today Chris finds email from Amazon saying her item will be delivered on the 28th. Her computer made by Acer will be delivered to an address in Santa Clara, California on the 28th. WHAT COMPUTER? This turns today into sudden headshaking and gut-clenching round of phone calls and computer logins: which credit card; cancel card; cancel order? Call Amazon and ask what they can do and so forth. Chris changes her Amazon password.
Used in the headshaking: 2 cell phones and a land line; pair of hearing aids (with Bluetooth); 2 tablets; 2 computers; 2 sleepy, empty, stomachs; and 2 awake, reasonable, competent, human beings (Amazon rep in India, C thinks, and credit card person in U.S.).
I mention hearing aids among all those 2s because Chris had set up an Amazon person to call but C’s phone wasn’t fully awake yet, so she’d given Amazon my number and I gave Chris my phone. Amazon did indeed call but the sound was directed straight to my spiffy new hearing aids so Chris couldn’t couldn’t hear a thing! So we straightened a couple things out and Chris had Amazon try again.
Music teacher creates a song to address online teaching issues related to Covid-19 changes. If you can’t commit to watch for all 27 seconds, it’s probably best not to click!
Some things don’t change
=====19th Sunday
Lake Cachuma is now over 80% full. This assures water for us for at least several more years. A couple years ago level was 7% (yes, SEVEN PER CENT).
Chris’s Catalina blog starts today. This is her imagined blog of our cancelled trip. We’ve done a Catalina trip with this group 5 or 6 times in the last 10 years and she has hundreds of photos to choose from to construct an imagined trip.
As soon as she tells me she’s gonna do it it sounds like a terrific idea to me — you know, an idea so good you wish you had thought of it yourself! As I expect, her blog is a big success!
Here are Chris’s Catalina posts. Click on thumbnail to be transported to Chris’s post for that day.
Catalina, first day
Catalina day 4
Catalina, day 2
Catalina, day 5; home again
Catalina day 3
=====21st Tue Our Trader, Joe’s 3 blocks away, is the photo of the day on our hometown website. Well yeah, you don’t actually see the store but I immediately recognize the sidewalk and wall. Yes, it’s a beat up sidewalk and boring wall but it’s MY beat up sidewalk and boring wall. The queue shown represents about a 10 minute wait. The point Edhat intends to illustrate is that we Santa Barbarians are doing pretty well in our social distancing.
We encounter a drive-by birthday party on our block for Laura (maybe Leslie)! I actually have what it takes to ask if any of the young women participating is Laura! I’m promptly told and I even wish Laura a happy birthday. That is so not like the Paul I usually know!
=====22nd Wed Amazon email tells Chris that the ill-gotten computer is delivered, and our credit union website tells us they’ve charged us for it. I call credit union again and are told their fraud department is working on it. At this point we don’t know for sure if we’ll get our money back. They didn’t exactly tell us that.
In another email, to me, some <pejorativenounofyourchoice> is trying to blackmail me! Phony looking but still disturbing! The perp has my email address obviously and prominently displays my password (from at least 5 years ago) and will be releasing video of me watching porn or masturbating (or both?) unless I pay him/her/them $2000 in bitcoin by tomorrow. If no bitcoin then him/her/them will be randomly choosing 3 entries in my email address book as lucky recipients.
A friend tells me he’s received many of them in the last few years. I feel better.
=====And so it goes
On return to more normal life, I will miss driving on empty streets.
Breaking news: Credit union website informs me of “adjustment” (dated April 19th) and won’t charge us for that computer delivered in Santa Clara.
To me, the sun still shining somewhere is a useful meme or trope or metaphor (maybe Chris can explain those terms to me): things are normal somewhere right now, some people are able to run around in chicken suits, the sun is actually shining somewhere, there are occasional graphs on Edhat, I can build a fire in my fireplace if I want, we’re all being friendlier, paragliders takeoff and land, dogs chase tennis balls, many of us find good reasons to smile.
If there is another post in this series it may include comments about a self-inflicted haircut (using fingernail clippers?), a grandson and his switch plates, stats updates, Japanese toolbox video, …
Our internet connection? Our TV streaming, email, web use is all smooth, and trouble free — haven’t really thought about it for a couple of weeks. For me it’s been like water from the tap and electricity from the wall — it’s just there, however much I want, and I don’t even think about it. Just the way it should be. Wonder what Chris would say?
Where’s all this extra time I’m ‘spozed to have on my hands?
Compared to much of what’s going on around me, I still feel fortunate that life has changed as little for me as it has.
I surprise myself — there are almost 2000 words in this post, 14 images, and 2 videos. This is my view of the main items on my mind this week and it’s written for my benefit. There is some organization to topics covered but it’s possible there’s some rambling, also. If you like this post or at least you’re not sorry you looked at it that’d be fine with me.
I highly recommend the 2 videos, and I can shamelessly recommend them because I had no part in creating them. They’re both near the bottom of this post.
Santa Barbara County Statistics
Here are the most recent statistics from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (SBCPHD): April 1, 2020, 6:30 pm PDT. Ummmm … thanks for asking. For those who want more than a glance, the graphic is much more readable if you click on it.
# Positive Results
111
Recovery Status
Recovering at home
65
Recovered
23
Pending
6
In the hospital
17 *
*In the ICU
13
The short table on the left is also from our SBCPHD yesterday, breaking down the 111 total number of cases.
We’re into our 2nd fortnight of isolation, 2 weeks and a few days after 1st post in this series. CLICK HERE TO SEE FIRST POST
On March 14, we learned we had 9 cases in SB county, apparently based on professional judgements. Next day we had our first confirmed case — because we finally got some tests available? This doesn’t really contradict stats from day before? Situation is changing fairly rapidly.
Our first confirmed death in Santa Barbara County occurred just last night.
How do things look today in your life, Paul, around home, say?
Well, Paul, here are some smallish things, Paul.
Our cats are needier: they follow us around a little more closely, and they jump into laps more readily.
We’re washing clothes more. One of us is anyway.
The internet seems troubled and we’re contributing. The TV kept updating or showing us a black screen for a while. Then we roll eyes, yell naughty words, and display obscene gestures, as needed. (Whadyamean, does it help?) And then whenever I did a speed test our download speed seemed fine (image below). Last night we saw smooth TV operation for about 3 steady hours of streaming. So they’ve completely fixed whatever might have been going on, right?
We’ve learned to use two new video apps this last week to do our share of bumping up the demand on internet bandwidth: Zoom, Marco Polo.
Our gophers seem to be more active. Maybe the higher anxiety levels of humans around them are inducing increased gopher anxiety and activity. They may be also thinking that that black cat that spends sooooo much time near their recent work is up to no good — he might be increasing their anxiety. Yeah, whatever, unless that cat brings a gopher into the house we’re not getting involved with the little guys. Actually last summer he did bring a gopher into the house! The gopher was very dead and we think the cat did this to show his mom what a good boy he was!
Ooooops! Property tax. Almost forgot. Even under normal conditions I’ve been known to forget! Delinquent if not paid by April 10.
Toward the end of a day I’ve been known to say where’s all this time that’s spozed to be on my hands? Where did today go?
A perfectly respectable download speed as long as it doesn’t vary much
Lotsa gopher activity; lots. That’s my shadow in the lower right. Left arm gives you an idea of scale. Crumby photo but I had to try. Without all these anxious, active gophers our “lawn” woulda been greener; even our lawn. Maybe they’re hungry after hibernating through the harsh Southern California winter.
On a rational level it’s obvious to me that for various reasons I’m in a much more comfortable and much less risky position than many, many others.
Yes, at 78, I’m in a high risk category simply based on age, but aside from that I really have little to worry about or fuss over.
So much for being rational. I also can tell I’ve got a general, low level, anxiety cloud over me.
Awfully droopy tulips. This pandemic gets me down a bit but not this much.
Life is different now for sure. There are many, many loose ends — maybe I dislike loose ends more than I think I do. Except when I’m making a grocery list, I’m not accustomed to even thinking about TP, favorite food items, drinking water, to name a few. The iPad class I lead is cancelled for now, there are still a couple of loose ends with TJ’s flower donations, a group trip to Catalina Island has been cancelled, our May trip to Las Vegas and June trip to Seattle probably won’t happen, and there’s no word on what Mason’s high school is gonna do about his graduation.
Yes, I’ve been affected but it just doesn’t feel as significant as what others are dealing with. It still feels like my day-to-day life hasn’t changed much.
I’m not worried about a job or keeping the lights on next month, not just because I’ve been able to avoid checking on my retirement accounts. Grocery delivery is more expensive than shopping ourselves but that seems minor. I’m not concerned about a compromised respiratory system unlike friends dealing with asthma, chemotherapy, or COPD. There are no additional people around the house. I don’t have small children (or medium or large) to entertain, keep sanitized, threaten my sanity, or provide for.
This could be a bit depressing, but so far I haven’t been lower than gloomy. (Wonder what Chris would say?)
Good water still is available at our taps, electrical service is just fine, gas is nicely supplied to our stove, clothes dryer, and wall heaters, trash is picked up on its usual schedule, internet is at least pretty good, the sun still shines, and someday we’re all gonna realize our toilet paper supply is adequate.
My general health is pretty good. In December and February we spent a bundle on new eyes and ears for me — actually, cataract surgery and hearing aids. Together, though, they cost about half as much as a new car and they’re more significant and useful than a new car.
I keep coming back to the feeling that I’m fortunate.
Interesting events
Jamile’s lawyer called Chris last week and discussed the possibility of her release. As in many states, Hawaii has released many of its incarcerated residents. We didn’t get a sense of how likely this is for Jamile. Jail or prison is not a good place to be during this pandemic.
We’ve heard from Jamile that some of the items we’ve sent have reached her and at least one of her buddies. The photos I picked off her friend’s Facebook site and printed had arrived, and several books Chris sent via Amazon had also arrived.
Well, I’m not exactly interested in dying right now for any reason, but I don’t want to die without my affairs in better order. In addition, if I die in the next few months I will not have gotten our money’s worth out of my new eyes and ears. We’ve both received great benefit and pleasure in the couple of months I’ve had them, but, as Kathleen Turner so famously said in The Jewel of the Nile, “I want more!”
To help me think about this better I calculated two rough estimates of my chances of dying in the next six months.
First, from the coronavirus: (30% chance I’ll contract Covid-19) X (4% death rate if I contract disease) = About 1.2% chance I’ll die of Covid-19 during this pandemic)
This is about 1 chance in 83. If there’s a factor of 2 uncertainty here, which is entirely possible, then this estimate suggests chances from 1 in 40 to 1 in 200 that I’ll die from Covid-19.
Second, from “natural causes”: Using the 2016 CDC mortality tables (most recent easily available tables) for an average U.S. 78 yr-old white male (my age group): 9.5 year life expectancy (half of us in this category will be dead by 2029), and 4.6% chance of dying during year from 78 to 79, = about 2.3% chance of my dying in next six months, which is about 1 in 43.
Looks to me as though those estimates have come out about the same, given the uncertainties. There is about same chance for me dying from Covid-19 as from just being an old white guy!
I’m still working on what I’m gonna do with these estimates.
Abandoned at Melrose, MA DPW; The Devil’s own workshop said Peter. Wonder what DPW did with the stuff? Gotta ask Peter.
Groceries: list of March 14 Of the 16 items on list: 5 — normal supply; 4 — severely limited; 7 — all out.
Latest order arrived about 7 pm last night March 31; 25 items on list 20 got just what I requested (or very close) 3 good substitutes 2 Nada (no disinfecting wipes and no hand sanitizer; no surprise there) => Situation may be improving
Day brighteners and where would we be without senses of humor?
Peter’s visual puns
This is a pandemic isolation video. If you watch it I suggest you watch all 20 seconds. It won’t make sense otherwise, and you’ll roll your eyes and chalk it up to my annoying, head-shaking sense of humor, or just my general lack of character. The video has brightened several of my recent days.
The three photos below:
Chris is ready! Gonna do a little shopping.
Memorable scene for both of us from Sydney Harbor Bridge, Australia. Shutterfly was pleased to remind me of all the photos I uploaded of the event in hopes I might buy more prints or even another copy of the photo book I made.
Deliveries here are real bright spots, especially the coffee! It arrived one morning last week just as I was getting up — very nice way to start day. I hope all these delivery people are being properly cautious. Yeah, how safe are those guys? I’m sure we’ll see some statistics soon.
She’s ready!
Thirteen years ago, March 2007, Chris and I were among the thousands who walked across the Sydney, Australia, Harbor Bridge wearing a neon yellow hat. The occasion was the bridge’s 75th anniversary.
Renactment of home deliveries
This is a link to the Atlas Obscura video about a scrotum. Yes, a scrotum. It definitely brightened my day. It’s a couple of minutes long, which might be more of a commitment than you were looking for.
BFF Laura from TJ’s called at 8:15am this morning. Turns out I’m the only volunteer from various charitable organizations still collecting flower donations from TJ’s. How ’bout that?! The pickup should be OK for me — by the time I arrive the grocery carts holding the flowers have been processed and are all ready to go, I can keep the 6 foot distance, and then leave out their way-back door. Shouldn’t be any riskier than senior hours. Must say I’m still not completely comfortable with the operation.
Well, I’m not really completely comfortable interacting with anyone, anymore. Chris is still OK, though.
Final three recent images: Ballet in Times Square Ebola handshake (screen capture showing I didn’t make this up!) Fart humor
