The Patio

[PessOptimist]

Low 100s here on my patio. Dropped off SO at the airport a while ago so now I have time to be goofy tonight. I also will have time this week to work on work projects at home since I won’t have a to do list every evening when I get home.

So, how did I get to Arlo Guthrie from this or why did I post songs in golden oldies? I was stalking tracking her flight which is actually to Long Beach but Los Angeles Center took over control so my brain remembered the Coming in to Los Angeles song which led me to Arlo songs. I like a lot of Arlo songs. The Farm Aid stuff wasn’t rehearsed so it is lacking technically but it is great seeing how those people looked in the 80s.

The Joe McDonald song I like because it says “America wake up and take a look” and while some perceived it was belittling veterans of said war it was actually questioning the objective. The objective I remember was something like “let’s send a few hundred thousand people and see what we can do”. Then we left.

Yeah, keep dominos from tipping over.

The McDonald song is also memorable to me because a rare gathering of siblings and their current SOs occurred in a bar in a NH seacoast town many years ago and after a few rounds for some reason we started singing that song. One of the singers was a SEA brown water sailor. Some of us were active or guard/reserve military. I thought we did a pretty good job of singing with some harmony. Immediately after our song, we were “shut off” as they say in NH and invited to leave. Were we that bad?

Ancient history to many of you but though we may have questioned the lack of objective in the Viet Nam conflict, most people I know served if called. Maybe it’s out parent’s fault since most were WWII vets. As time went on some of those WWII vets questioned the objective and reason for the combat in SEA and became opposed to our involvement and asked “what did they die for?”.

Enough ancient history. Enjoy the vids in golden oldies or not.

Memorial day May 28th. Remember it is about those who were killed in service and not about those serving. Your day comes Nov 11th, observed Nov 12th.

PO

 

[PessOptimist]

Thanks nnuut for posting the Joni Mitchell/Judi Collins cover in oldies.

Clouds are something you look at with interest here in the desert because you see them so seldom. Clear sky horizon to horizon most days.

Now that I am older and no longer afraid to admit I enjoy listening to Judi Collins singing a Joni Mitchell song lest I be branded a commie pinko whatever, I do enjoy.

I am posting on the patio because I am rambling as usual. Anything about Mr Fielder makes me remember a Sesame Street episode where Big Bird kept calling him “Mr Fiddler” This was back when PBS owned Sesame Street and Boston Pops was likely to be aired only on WGBH, WENH and close by PBS stations.

Joni and Judi (why the hatred of the letter Y?) did what they did, made money at it and are who they are.

Other patio stuff, SO is in CA visiting doctors, apparently her cell phone is dead due to low battery so I get all calls about appointments. My bad, I should have made sure it was charged before she left.

I crawled up in to the attic and changed the whole house air filter after 6 months. It appeared not dirty at all but what can I see about microparticles. Reset the thermostat to bug me in three months.

Got a hook and shelf to replace this weekend. Can’t seem to explain grab handles are for supporting oneself and shelves, hooks and towel racks may not. Gotta get with that to OSHA compliance.

Have a great weekend everyone.
PO

 

[nnuut]

Joni was the best but enjoyed Judi, guitar and all. I lived in the desert when was a kid and don't miss it a bit because it's a desert. Enjoy your patio over the weekend.

 

[PessOptimist]

Running around done for the day. I am a slacker these days, sleep 12 or more hours every Thursday night which is end of work week night. Get up Friday and just don't feel like doing anything except sitting/sleeping in recliner chair. Saturday I do running around that I can't get done during the week. Can't seem to get stuff done during the week. Something about leaving the house at 0515 and arriving back at 1715. That 1715 is if I am lucky with traffic and UPRR train switching.

Have I mentioned lately that retirement is going to be good?

PO

 

[nnuut]

Running around done for the day. I am a slacker these days, sleep 12 or more hours every Thursday night which is end of work week night. Get up Friday and just don't feel like doing anything except sitting/sleeping in recliner chair. Saturday I do running around that I can't get done during the week. Can't seem to get stuff done during the week. Something about leaving the house at 0515 and arriving back at 1715. That 1715 is if I am lucky with traffic and UPRR train switching.

Have I mentioned lately that retirement is going to be good?

PO

Retirement is GREAT, Retired Jan 2010 and still enjoy not getting up early and coming back late!

 

[PessOptimist]

Retirement is GREAT, Retired Jan 2010 and still enjoy not getting up early and coming back late!

Hard to believe it's been that long since you retired. Tempus Fugit or whatever. May your body gain the texture of a prune from too much pool and your smoked delicacies be as concrete.:suspicious:

 

[nnuut]

Hard to believe it's been that long since you retired. Tempus Fugit or whatever. May your body gain the texture of a prune from too much pool and your smoked delicacies be as concrete.:suspicious:

I'm well on my way to being a Concrete Prune.

 

[PessOptimist]

Concrete prune. Good one.

While driving home on my 15 mile 50-60 minute commute I grew bored with the radio offerings and started looking for a CD. Not to worry, there is plenty of stopped time to look for stuff. All I could find was Willy Nelson. Where are all my CDs? Oh yeah, car had its bimonthly bath last weekend so I took a lot of stuff out so they would clean areas normally full of stuff. So, I listened to Willy. City of New Orleans played and I was thinking that I liked Arlo’s version better. Then thought of Steve Goodman, the person who wrote the song. Arlo’s version is the best I think. So, when I got home I listened to Steve Goodman’s version of his song and found that he also wrote “You Never Even Called Me by My Name”. which was released by David Allan Coe. One song led to another so I decided to share.

This is the version Coe released. Goodman does it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TZPt2Iin0I.
Interesting stuff about this guy who died at 33 from Leukemia. Interesting people talking about him.
Somehow this led me to an oldie I remembered by Red Sovine. Prepare to cry. Unless you are really cold hearted.

Time to go to bed and face another day doing stuff not in my PD. My new boss has been complaining about this lately (mostly about him having to do stuff not in his PD) but has realized if the projects need to get done, we need to “step up”. My calculations show 118 work days left. I am trying to get people up to speed on the non PD stuff I do but they are always busy doing stuff that is in their PD. This agency will survive my departure. Think of the bucket of water theory but make the water very viscous and slow to fill the hole.

PO

 

[LongShot]

One of my favorites. The first version I heard of this song was David Allan Coe's...I laughed out loud so hard I had tears in my eyes..."Damn 'ole train". Good stuff and thanks for sharing.

LongShot

 

[RazorCat]

Happy 4th of July ladies and gentlemen. We live in the most amazing country on earth. Relish it.
:usa2: To all who have served this great country and protected the freedoms we enjoy.
Cranking up the BGE early tomorrow morning and smoking up dry rubbed ribs, pork and venison sausage, and Jalapeño stuffed Cornish hens. Low and slow for about 6 hours. Also have a request for some grilled cedar plank Alaskan Firecracker Salmon while I’ve got the Egg fired up. Going to trade in the Miller Lite for some Ziegenbocks and Sweetwater 420s to celebrate. We’ve got a party of about ten showing up for the celebration. Cranking up the Klipsch Horns for some good music, and good times.
Enjoy the day everybody.

 

[nasa1974]

Happy 4th of July ladies and gentlemen. We live in the most amazing country on earth. Relish it.
:usa2: To all who have served this great country and protected the freedoms we enjoy.
Cranking up the BGE early tomorrow morning and smoking up dry rubbed ribs, pork and venison sausage, and Jalapeño stuffed Cornish hens. Low and slow for about 6 hours. Also have a request for some grilled cedar plank Alaskan Firecracker Salmon while I’ve got the Egg fired up. Going to trade in the Miller Lite for some Ziegenbocks and Sweetwater 420s to celebrate. We’ve got a party of about ten showing up for the celebration. Cranking up the Klipsch Horns for some good music, and good times.
Enjoy the day everybody.

Thanks RC. Have a great time and be safe.

 

[PessOptimist]

Happy Sunday everyone. Sitting here on the patio in the balmy 100+ temperature. It’s not really a dry heat either the last few weeks. Dew point is only 51 but that is sticky enough for me.

Chores that I am going to do done.

Spent a short time watching reality shows on Velocity and Discovery. I enjoy the “car” reality shows as I enjoy watching some of them take stuff apart and actually repair stuff. The drama is amusing. “If it won’t start we are going to have to pull it and rebuild it” or “IF it won’t start we will buy a crate engine and send it out to get it started”. Whatever. “We had to pull the engine and rebuild it because the gas tank was empty” Yeah I know it’s just drama. I was just passing by the TV and could have sworn the shop foreman said “this 69 Valiant” and showed a 61 Impala. Then they showed removal of a chrome plated alternator and said “the original electric system must be replaced”. Never saw a factory ’61 chevy with an alternator much less a chrome plated one. I love it. Then I see some of the crappy work the lower end shows do and wonder how it looked in two years. Other things I like are revving it up to see if the oil pressure comes up. Taking something that has been sitting for a few years and beating the snot out of it without apparently changing fluids. The best part is when the show’s star does the reveal. “Customer, lets take your five-figure restoration, see if we can destroy the tires, break the drive train, blow the engine and maybe wrap it around a light pole”. Customer replies “let’s do it man”.

So much for my amusements for the day. What else can I complain about?

Refrigerator malfunctioned for the third time in four years. Part under warranty, labor not. Plus you have to defrost the refrigerator compartment so might as well rent a fridge for a few days. Minimum rental time two weeks. Yeah, I suggested coolers and dry ice but was overruled. Guess that’s what I get for buying an American product made in Juarez.

Pool cleaning system is showing its age. Good news is I tracked down my life time warranty and they will honor it if I pay money. Bad news is my pool service seems mystified by the system. When I retire it will be time to take over care and nurturing myself as long as I am able.

Other stuff that just adds to everything, the bank changed their on-line software and it tells me my account doesn’t exist. Tech support hours are M-F 0900-1500. SO bought a new exercise bike so I opened the carton and was told not to touch it as she had paid for assembly. Claims she told me. Dog knows what warranty I have violated now.

Life is good. That has nothing to do with LG products that I own and are not good, mainly due to the vendors that “service” them.

Happy Sunday.

PO

 

[PessOptimist]

Heads up for all of you. I tried to log in to my ebay account for the first time in many years. Couldn't so clicked the "forgot password" link. An email came back immediately in Cyrillic. Translated it said "Michael" in the reply which was pretty easy to pick out as it was written in roman letters. A surprisingly short 35 minutes with tech support got me the answer the account was suspended in 2016. Unassociating my email address with that account seemed more difficult and may take four days. Suggestion from tech support was to deactivate the email account.

PO

 

[alevin]

holeeee. I haven't logged into my ebay account in years either. looks like I'll be dealing with same thing when I do. hmm, nice of them to let us know they intended to suspend due to inactivity.

 

[Stoplight]

I, too, hadn't logged in to eBay in a long time...."old" info did not work !

I was trying to buy something...it gave me the option of paying using my PayPal creds, which I HAVE used....that went through just fine. Hmmmm....maybe there is no reason to HAVE an eBay account ??!! The only downside I found was eBay would not let me leave feedback on the seller...I wanted to do that, because it was a good transaction...ended up sending a "thank you" email direct to them instead....


Stoplight...

 

[PessOptimist]

I hope everyone in the Pha-hon-icks area is OK tonight. Big dust storm/downburst blew through here. Stuff moved all over and no real damage, SO was worried about her new treeus expensivus in the front yard but it did fine. Potted plantus overpricedus on the front patio blew over. Had about 3 inches of dirt in the pot so inevitable. I scooped the spilled dirt back in and said I could put more dirt in. Was told it must be Amazon dirt. Whatever, dirt being delivered soon.

PO

 

[nnuut]

Dust storms! I remember one when I was a kid, I helped apply masking tape around all of the windows to keep the dust out. It didn't work in Boron CA!

 

[PessOptimist]

Short update, dirt and rocks were ordered via Amazon. Free shipping I guess? Dirt and rocks? Never mind, these were special. An interesting thing that happened during the 70 mph wind. The access to the "attic" crawlspace was sucked up and set down in a dislodged position. I got a call Monday morning stating it was hanging down in the house and we were cooling the attic. I could not get away and suggested closing the bathroom door and using the other bathroom. When I got home the situation had been greatly exaggerated. It was askew. Amazing what a 70 mph gust through the peak vents will do.

PO

 

[PessOptimist]

Well gee golly wiz. SO just laid on me she needs to upgrade to a smart phone. Not just any smart phone, Apple iPhone 8 plus. $800. I better try to work some OT this year. Glad she didn’t wait until I am retired.
It will be about $1000 since she will want insurance since she will immediately drop it and run over it with her walker. I bet it will also include a call a day because she can’t figure out how to make calls, answer calls, get voice mail or view texts. It will take her to the internet and offer a new service for $29.99 per month. She will buy it but not tell me who the provider is when it doesn’t work.
This is going to be so much fun. She can’t even figure out how to answer calls on her current phone.
Anyone got one of these overpriced things and want to tell me why it was worth $1k?

PO

 

[RazorCat]

Well gee golly wiz. SO just laid on me she needs to upgrade to a smart phone. Not just any smart phone, Apple iPhone 8 plus. $800. I better try to work some OT this year. Glad she didn’t wait until I am retired.
It will be about $1000 since she will want insurance since she will immediately drop it and run over it with her walker. I bet it will also include a call a day because she can’t figure out how to make calls, answer calls, get voice mail or view texts. It will take her to the internet and offer a new service for $29.99 per month. She will buy it but not tell me who the provider is when it doesn’t work.
This is going to be so much fun. She can’t even figure out how to answer calls on her current phone.
Anyone got one of these overpriced things and want to tell me why it was worth $1k?

PO

My wife has the 8+ and loves it. Siri makes some things much easier, some not so much. But, overall, Siri is worth setting up, and learning to use. Especially for a new user. I’m still using a 6S, but will upgrade to the X or X+ by year’s end. Buy her a LifeProof Fre case to protect the phone. At the very least have her get a good designer case (lady bling) and install a protective cover over the glass. Amazon has a ton of them at reasonable prices. My wife prefers that setup to a LifeProof case. Yeah, they’re high, but we keep our phones for 3-4 years, and eliminated our land line long ago. Worth every dime IMHO.