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.
Friday, March 20, 2020, Santa Barbara, California.
This blog post collects photos, impressions, news of the period from Wednesday, March 11 to Friday, March 20. These impressions are mine and mine alone. This is not a news report. This is not comprehensive. This is not scientific.
The situation is changing fast. A few days ago our Governor Newsom said if we were over 65 then he really wanted us to stay home. It didn’t apply to those younger.
Last evening, the San Jose Mercury News reported, “Marking the most sweeping measure taken by a state to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered all of the state’s 40 million residents to stay at home with exceptions for essential work, food or other needs.”
We plan to simply abide by the order, and not second guess it or flaunt it.
Solana Beach Trip Wed, March 11 to Sat, March 14
On Wednesday, March 11th, Chris and I took Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner to Solana Beach (San Diego area, 5½ hours each way). There were only 6 – 8 people in the whole car — about the same number on the return on Saturday, March 14th.
It was a friendly, low key visit with friends Kim and Marty at their condo there. Solana Beach felt very normal, not very different from pre-coronavirus times. Our hosts thought tables in at least one brewpub were spaced farther apart than normal, but at Pizza Port we had just the normal crowding, noise, and good beer.
Last Friday, still in Solana Beach, I was told my iPad class was cancelled for now. No real surprise there, but it helped me realize how much I enjoy conducting it.
Cancellations were being inflicted on Kim and Marty, too, and Kim immediately started looking forward to using her newly cleared schedule to do some good things she hadn’t had a chance to do yet. This immediate positive spin was very nice to see.
More detailed events and thoughts; all about me, me, me!
It’s nice not to be alone through this.
Unless one or both of us is clobbered by Covid-19 we’re gonna be OK.
Acquiring food will take more thought and time and money, but so far we’ve seen we can order and then pickup sushi with no trouble. We’ve ordered groceries from two organizations who send individuals out to grocery stores to pickup items for us, and we were very pleased with how that worked out.
Financially? I’ve been able to avoid checking on our retirement accounts. I know they’ve taken big hits but I don’t know how big. I do know I don’t have to worry about keeping our lights on or paying for groceries next month and I’m not worried about being furloughed. I also know not all are so fortunate.
Our internet, water, trash, gas, cell phones, and electricity services all seem to be operating normally. Phew!
The same day we got back from almost normal Solana Beach I was off to Vons and Trader Joe’s for what I thought would be an almost normal grocery run.
I was shocked by the empty shelves!
After doing the best I could at Vons, I remember thinking TJ’s might be better. I wonder why I thought that?
No peanut butter butter or almond butter at Trader Joe’s
Supply of bottled water at Vons is severely depleted
Crackers?! There were only three boxes of Chris’s second choice available at Vons
If we’re stocking up I guess a run on eggs shouldn’t be a surprise. This is Vons’ egg case — Trader Joe’s egg case was slightly better.
No acceptable yoghurt for me
Jars of peaches and pears at Trader Joe’s are all out
I shouldn’t have been surprised here
This is the list I brought to Vons and Trader Joe’s Saturday — just normal weekly items for us. The shortages are not our fault! No! No! No!
The list comprises 16 blue handwritten items on this piece of cardboard.
Of the 16: 5 — normal supply; 4 — severely limited; 7 — all out.
Orange text points out items missing or barely acceptable.
Green text says situation is not hopeless.
Would like to think folk less fearful than this. Oh well.
I would like to believe we don’t really don’t have toilet paper or peanut butter shortages in this country. But I hope as we get more accustomed to these various restrictions people will start thinking we’ve got enough peanut butter at home and we can actually buy some more without too much trouble so maybe we don’t need to keep stocking up any more.
To me this means the distribution of goods may be adjusted just enough so shelves will fill back up in about a week? Several weeks? Am I smoking something? It gets better from here? Or are these the last of the good days?
This morning Andrea wrote that she thought the groceries situation in Lancaster, PA was relatively normal. She was able to get 13 of 14 items on her list. Have they been hunkering longer than we have?
I’ve seen some signs of serious cooperation, innovation, flexibility, and altruism and it’s heartening.
The peanut butter “shortage” seems to be hitting me hardest! Surprise! Well, small surprise. Just saw a few cases of the stuff on the lawn at the Franklin Center as part of normal free food distribution on Tuesday. There seemed to be fewer people and they weren’t so close together. (And I felt a twinge of how come they can get peanut butter and I can’t?) (I’m trying to rise above that, but not really doing very well, am I?)
Chris and I tested the library’s new delivery system Wednesday. First you telephone to schedule a time slot at our Eastside Library branch to pick up that book they’ve told you they now hold. Then you show up at the right time and knock loudly on the locked outer door. This guy then shows up carrying a book and holds it up so you can see it’s the right one. You nod and hold up your ID and he nods and then opens the door about 4 inches and hands you the book. I was about 15 feet back and exchanged waves with him. Then we turn around and walk all the way home (all one and a half blocks) wearing a goofy grin. I’m not really sure what was so enjoyable about that.
Just a few minutes ago Chris told me it looks like the library isn’t gonna continue to do the hand-the-books-through-the-crack-in-the-door delivery scheme. Too labor intensive? Too much fun? Sure was fun while it lasted.
Yesterday we tried to get CVS to deliver our three prescriptions that were ready. They tout this free service a lot. Should be easy to get it to happen, right? WRONG!
We finally figured out that CVS requires you to pay a membership fee of $60/year for some sort of exalted status that allows you to call and talk to a human being to arrange final details. Let’s say I am not impressed. Sometime before final figuringitoutness Chris just went down there and picked up the prescriptions the old-fashioned way.
Because we’re both well past the threshold for being vulnerable older folk, I expect to check into senior hours soon at several local supermarkets.
One of our volleyball friends gave me one of their 4 large jars of peanut butter! I’m still smiling about that one. I’m set for weeks!
In Lancaster, PA daughter Andrea felt grocery shopping was almost normal — got 13 of the 14 items on her list.
Nine known Covid-19 cases in Santa Barbara County now; six in North county (Santa Maria area), three in South (Santa Barbara area).
