What are you doing today?

[Clix Pix]

What am I doing -- or rather, have I done -- today? Well.... it's all about cars..... Took my fifteen-year-old Acura RSX in to the car place for her annual safety inspection, which thankfully she passed, but.... She needs four new tires as all of the ones she has now are showing signs of dry rot due to the fact that I haven't been driving her much and she's been sitting around a lot the last several months. She also needs an oil change which because the shop was really busy today I didn't get done this afternoon, figured that it can come later while the annual safety inspection was paramount, required by the end of the month. My lovely blue beauty also could benefit from a fresh paint job, as on some external parts of her, the years of sitting outdoors under the harsh sun without any overhead shelter or other means of protection having taken their toll.... Nothing urgent (except replacement of all four tires and oil change, which will need to be done sooner rather than later in any case), but it all adds up and there IS the realization this is a fifteen-year-old car, so it is not unlikely that something could go drastically wrong at any time anyway.

So I came home from the car place relieved that at least for the moment everything is reasonably fine and she passed State Safety Inspection, but nonetheless there are things which do need to be attended to fairly soon and more worrisome, there is still the concern that given her age, something very expensive could abruptly, unexpectedly, go wrong and I'd be looking at a grim $$$$$ situation which needs to be resolved immediately, an action which does not necessarily involve repairing the fifteen-year-old car. Not a good idea to go out new-car shopping in a fairly crisis-mode situation. Sigh....

So I'm mulling over the idea of one day in the not-too-distant future (amid tears) kissing my sweet Acura RSX goodbye -- she's been such a wonderful part of my life for fifteen years -- and going with something which has more of the current safety features and all that -- not a bad idea for someone who is an older driver already -- and which is newer and which could bring me equal joy and happiness for a few years each time I get behind the wheel to drive somewhere.....

Wow, things have sure changed in fifteen years with regard to the automobile industry and its offerings, and of course COVID-19 has added its own special touch with additional changes.... At the moment, only in the early stages of exploring everything now in terms of what's out there at this point, figuring out what's something that would work well for me and my needs/desires, and, uh, yeah, it's all a bit overwhelming!! I've already quickly realized that this really IS the best time to do this kind of thing before I find myself in some sort of crisis/emergency situation and have to try and make decisions instantly. At least right now I have some time to figure things out and to make decisions calmly and reasonably......

 

[Alli]

What am I doing -- or rather, have I done -- today? Well.... it's all about cars.....

Here’s a theme. This morning I took my husband to pick up his truck. He inherited it from his father 7 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!), and it has been sitting in the yard making us look very redneck. For a long time he couldn’t even get it cranked. When he retired he did what he could, but he’s not a car guy. He finally decided to just let a professional do whatever needed to be done. We still look like a redneck house. But at least the truck runs now. Even the a/c works!

Tomorrow we are going on an adventure. I‘m sure I’ll have photos. We’re meeting friends for breakfast downtown and then going to the season opener for the downtown farmers’ market. Should be a lot of fun.

 

[Arkitect]

Pfeffel the Oven-Ready?

I must remember that, what a lovely expression; for, he is truly, a quite horrible man and a perfectly ghastly and spectacularly incompetent and self-serving Prime Minister.

I heard it a while back… works so well, Æthelred the Unready, then using one of Johnson's many names, de Pfeffel, and adding his promise of an "oven ready" Brexit deal.

Goodness knows I loathe that man and his coterie.

The UK (and indeed, the US) should be giving good example on such matters, not sorry, tawdry, dismal and pathetic lying, cheating, incompetence, criminal irresponsibility, instead of proper government with integrity, intelligence, good judgment, infused and informed by a bit of decency and compassion, and competence.

Well said!

 

[Arkitect]

Couldn't agree more. But I'm afraid we can (either of us) be described as the shinning light for democracy. Instead we are an embarrassment. As someone who travels to Europe a bit (well not this year!), you feel almost ashamed to say you are British. Brexit is an embarrassment for us all. Even those that didn't vote for it.

This!
Since 2016 talking to people you meet on the Continent is often spent trying to explain… why?

I think supporting Brexit takes a special mindset. And I for one will never understand why this country felt obliged to leave.

The UK has frittered away so much goodwill because they just cannot let go of the past. A very rose tinted and mostly fake version of history.

 

[Apple fanboy]

This!
Since 2016 talking to people you meet on the Continent is often spent trying to explain… why?

I think supporting Brexit takes a special mindset. And I for one will never understand why this country felt obliged to leave.

The UK has frittered away so much goodwill because they just cannot let go of the past. A very rose tinted and mostly fake version of history.

Indeed. My parents are both very pro Brexit. I took great delight how we have now diverted about 100K a month worth of business from our UK hub to our German one in readiness. Thats no tax for the UK, or British warehouse and delivery drivers needed. Of course they just see £350,000,000 and fall for it hook line and sinker!

 

[Alli]

Went for a loverly breakfast with our dearest friends. I had the seafood omelette. I think that’s the main reason I still live here - best seafood in the world.

The farmer’s market was not very well attended. But they did have an amazing selection of pepper jellies. I got 6 so that my mother could pick 3. I probably should have just gotten 2 of each flavor, since the only ones I didn’t get were plain pepper jelly and mango pepper jelly. I forgot how much she likes mango. The first pic are her choices. I keep the 3 from the lower (right-hand) photo.

 

[Clix Pix]

Ooh, those jellies look goooood! I"ll venture to guess that I'd love that raspberry jalapeño one. Bet it has a delightful "kick" to it!

So far today I haven't accomplished much; got a late start as I slept in longer than usual, and since then have been puttering around and of course spending time on the computer, too. It's a really nice day with ample sunshine although a bit on the cool side; pretty soon I'm going to grab the camera, stick a lens on it, and go out there for a nice walk around the lake....

I really feel for you guys in the UK and the whole Brexit mess! Makes everything so uncertain in your lives right now, doesn't it? Your country and this one (US) are both dealing with messes, aren't we?!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Went for a loverly breakfast with our dearest friends. I had the seafood omelette. I think that’s the main reason I still live here - best seafood in the world.

The farmer’s market was not very well attended. But they did have an amazing selection of pepper jellies. I got 6 so that my mother could pick 3. I probably should have just gotten 2 of each flavor, since the only ones I didn’t get were plain pepper jelly and mango pepper jelly. I forgot how much she likes mango. The first pic are her choices. I keep the 3 from the lower (right-hand) photo.

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Those spiced jellies look amazing; hope you and your mother both enjoy them.

I held off visiting the farmers' market this week, but shall certainly pay them a visit next week-end.

 

[Clix Pix]

Our farmers' markets are getting ready to shut down for the winter..... They run between May and October, if I recall correctly.

ETA: correcting myself -- I got to thinking about this and just checked; it turns out that now they are open all year-round, but with reduced hours between January and March. They're only open on Saturdays, anyway -- that has not changed. There are two fairly close to where I live, in opposite directions. My problem is that I usually am not up and ready to go out-and-about in the mornings, which is when their hours are.

 

[Alli]

Our farmers' markets are getting ready to shut down for the winter..... They run between May and October, if I recall correctly.

ETA: correcting myself -- I got to thinking about this and just checked; it turns out that now they are open all year-round, but with reduced hours between January and March. They're only open on Saturdays, anyway -- that has not changed. There are two fairly close to where I live, in opposite directions. My problem is that I usually am not up and ready to go out-and-about in the mornings, which is when their hours are.

We have a fabulous flea market in town that has great produce all year round. More importantly, they sell roasted corn by the ear. You pay, they dip it in butter, and then they have a large selection of spices to sprinkle on from salt to cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, garlic...you name it. We often go just for the corn. But it’s usually a crowded mess, so we haven’t been in months.

 

[Eric]

Going to get up at 3:30 AM and drive 3 hours one way to try and get a photo on a mountain above the cloud line at sunrise, it's a crapshoot and chances are slim that I'll get what I'm after but if I don't try it will never happen.

 

[Clix Pix]

Go for it, Eric! I hope that everything works out for you and that you get the shot you want!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Sipping coffee, and reading the Sunday papers.

 

[Clix Pix]

Seeing as how I have not yet been up that long, haven't done anything more than get online with my OJ and my coffee. It's another nice day out there so will spend a little time outdoors this afternoon. I'm enjoying it while I can, as I know that once winter sets in I'll be staying indoors much, much more of the time.

 

[Alli]

Still sitting on the deck in my nightgown. Watching my husband clean out the garage. I do so enjoy watching men at work! It’s not altogether altruistic though. He finally got his truck back in working order and now he needs somewhere to keep it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Still sitting on the deck in my nightgown. Watching my husband clean out the garage. I do so enjoy watching men at work! It’s not altogether altruistic though. He finally got his truck back in working order and now he needs somewhere to keep it.

Amen to that.

Ah, yes, there are times when I do love to see a man wield an iron.

My father, bless him, who had such things sussed, used to wield an iron, pipe in mouth, whisky or wine nearby, and classic music or jazz playing softly in the background.

 

[lizkat]

Amen to that.

Ah, yes, there are times when I do love to see a man wield an iron.

My father, bless him, who had such things sussed, used to wield an iron, pipe in mouth, whisky or wine nearby, and classic music or jazz playing softly in the background.

My dad taught me how to iron a shirt... not an altruistic thing either, but it was way better than how I'd been pressing my own shirts with just a steam iron (my grandma had taught me how to use a mangle on both bed linens and shirts, once I was old enough to respect the dangers, but we didn't have one of those machines back home). So I ended up being grateful to my dad for the extra time I netted on all my ironing chores, on balance. Best of all, he still actually preferred to iron his own shirts, thanks god.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My dad taught me how to iron a shirt... not an altruistic thing either, but it was way better than how I'd been pressing my own shirts with just a steam iron (my grandma had taught me how to use a mangle on both bed linens and shirts, once I was old enough to respect the dangers, but we didn't have one of those machines back home). So I ended up being grateful to my dad for the extra time I netted on all my ironing chores, on balance. Best of all, he still actually preferred to iron his own shirts, thanks god.

Within a short space of time, when I was in my late teens, each of my parents received a major promotion at work, the upshot of which was that my mother no longer had time to do those household chores, - and ironing was something that the lady who came in to clean once a week didn't always have time to do - while my father still wore a shirt and tie to work, and needed freshly pressed shirts.

So, out of necessity, he started doing his own shirts, and then, one thing led to another, and, bless him, he started to do mine as well, and my mother's. And, sometimes, those belonging to both brothers as well.

That continued until long after he retired; actually, it continued until he was diagnosed with the cancer that killed him, - his ironing routine included whisky, wine, pipe, classical music, and the ironing board - whereupon my mother and I decided to mostly dispense with matters related to ironing.

 

[Clix Pix]

I can't recall the last time I ironed anything! In fact, I disposed of the iron a year or so back and then a few weeks ago when doing a bunch of sorting-out and disposing of items that had been in my second bedroom, I discovered the ironing board still lurking silently behind a door. It promptly made a trip to the recycling area here in our condo complex. No idea if someone may have come along and eagerly rescued it or if it indeed actually did get picked up by the recycling company on the scheduled day.

Back when both my late husband and I were working, he always sent out his shirts to be laundered and pressed, as I just did not have really good skills, time or motivation to do them. I did our usual basic laundry, of course, and when I had something which needed dry-cleaning or laundering and pressing, I'd put my item(s) in with his to send off each time, and that worked out nicely. When permanent press items came along some of them were handy for weekends and casual wear, but for work we both needed to dress appropriately.

Never did get outdoors to enjoy the weather today, but do have the sliding door and the windows open. Instead I wanted to experiment with one of the new backdrops/photo surface boards that I bought a little while ago in preparation for doing a lot of indoor shooting this winter. Sometimes these experiments come out really well, other times not so much so, but they're definitely a learning experience anyway!

 

[Eric]

Go for it, Eric! I hope that everything works out for you and that you get the shot you want!

Sadly it was not to be, I was going for a long exposure of the fog rolling in over the hills but it didn't show (even though it was predicted to) it's still a beautiful drive either way so never a true loss.