Springtime! Hummingbirds!

Please tip the writer. Whatever amount you like-every little bit helps, and I’ll do a shoutout. We are always short of cash, especially with a big mortgage. Let me know if you or someone you know needs web design/development-my rates aren’t bad, and I’m more than pretty good at it. Java/database/AWS/UI too. ThankYouVeryMuch!

The Pope died. R.I.P. Not much else-I’m trying to keep myself calm, but failing a bit. Everyone is trying hard, but it’s not easy. I’m focusing on, well, nothing. At least some people are stepping up-I don’t know if we can. I think the best thing is to just stay afloat. And watch the hummingbirds feed as I work.

Monday afternoon (3/17). Haven’t picked this up since the last one was posted, a week and a half ago…nothing striking has happened. Got a ladder from the neighbors’ and trimmed our front porch bush, tidied and blew out the leaves on the porch too. There was a bunch of shells, fluff and poop under the couch, so mice. Erika’s working through her stuff. Matt got his new desktop working-the new power supply did it, then bios, Windows, apps. Other than that, working, workouts-still with an achy hip and tightness. Tried running-not yet. We’re totally out of money-did something to fix that-yuck. Did my taxes-owe the feds almost what I’m getting back from the state. Paid some bills.

Tuesday noon, yesterday was St. Pat’s. By chance, I was wearing green. This was a big holiday in college-I met one of my shortlived girlfriends at the Balcony one St. Pats. They started early with green beer for a nickel, then a dime, then a quarter. There were a lot of extremely drunk kids that day. Not much else-had to take pick up Claire last night from the train station, and take Salem to school this morning.

Tuesday, April Fool’s day. The usual has been going on. Got a call from my mom panicking about one of those scam virus things you get when you click on a dodgy link. I told her to close it and restart. Her computer guy took care of it. Our washer’s drain pump is failing-warranty service, here it comes. Not much else-got the bonus. The usual work, workout, shopping, chauffeur, etc. Cut the grass-need to do it again.

Saturday morning-up early to change a password-East Coast company, changing at “7 am” Well, it’s 7:45, and no change. Got the washer fixed-there was a piece of plastic blocking the inlet. Not much else-I upset Claire yesterday because Erika was late and made her miss her bus, I got upset and the feeling multiplies. I thought we were ok, but no. Not much else-going to cut the grass, need to get a doc notarized and get my birth certificate for real id. Work, workouts, laundry, gamelan.

Thursday (4/10), listening to an all hands. Not much, except all the chaos. Fine workouts, except for cutting things short because chauffeur duty. Went all around Sunday-Scottish bar for brunch-meh, then driving around-got a better extension cord for the spa, and an edge bracket for the dead door. Cut the grass, edge trimmed, and blew leaves from porches Saturday. The buds are beginning to open, and there’s a hummingbird at the feeder. A huge ring around the moon last night after gamelan. Got eggs from Vera too-had one on a bagel for lunch. My bonang on the one lancaran is improving-learning flowers.

Monday morning (4/14). Pretty quiet, though it is mostly that all the time. Worked out the usual. Went to an “estate sale” yesterday at a pretty cool house. A bit further removed from the busy streets, which is nice, but less convenient. Also needs a lot more work than this one does. Matt cut the grass, I put the front gate back up, and it actually latches now!

Another week gone-4/21. Pretty quiet, day off Friday-took Claire to the train station, breakfast, Powell’s, messed my back up working out-hard to sleep well, fine gamelan Weds., blew out the dryer vent Sat., cut the driveway strip. That’s it. Got my birth certificate. Think I’ll call this.

Page 23, sentence 5: “If you don’t make any then you won’t jump at all.”, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?.

April 20th, 2025

In a break room, going to set up the espresso machine. It’s complicated, do some things, get it working.

Skiing, there’s a slope that’s untouched, but you have to climb. Start up it, fast. Get to the top, go over and down a bumpy run, then back up for a smooth one. Go to the base and get a trail map.

April 13th 2025

In Long Beach, going down Ocean towards home. Have to go out to the store. Make my way down PCH, but have to park in a structure and take a bus. Meet Jim K at the bottom of the structure and he hugs me. I wriggle out and leave, saying I have to go to the store. Get back on the bus, then off as he parks it and gets cars.

April 7th, 2025

In a park, getting ready to do some sort of sports test. It’s batting, and they’re hitting pretty well. One very tall guy hits a huge fly ball, then walks past. Get ready to go up, but it’s over ad they didn’t call my name. Walk over to say something, pick up the tall guy’s bat-it’s a flat sword sort of thing. Hit one not well, then another line drive that goes pretty far.

April 4th, 2025

On a hill at school-looking at some memorial for sporting successes. Wishing I was there. Walk back inside thinking about making websites and changing stuff. Get into a hall and sit down, thinking about the stuff I could write. Brian Fossa starts tearing at the walls and the whole thing comes down. I walk outside through the rubble, raise my fist, start walking down the middle of the street and yell, “Vive the revolution!” Keep walking up to the square, yelling slogans, but no one is following. Get to the square, stop, and walk back. Some girl says she got arrested, and a man starts following me and asking questions. I say I can’t hear, and he keeps asking. I duck down an alley and through a kitchen, and out the back. I start back, and a girl in a car comes by and I flag her down. We get along, and she takes me to a meeting room where they’re planning something with the credit card mag strip. I start filing it down. Get worried that I’m going to demagnetize it.

March 18th, 2025

Sitting at a picnic table in a park. Some people with dogs come past and the dogs hop onto the table. We pet them and they continue on. A boy comes past looking for his mom. I say I haven’t seen her. He goes down an alley, then comes back. Tam points him back and goes through a door.

In a college’s plant area. There’s a big machine that we have a machine attached to. It’s making water and running a couple of generators. They’re complicated, and the water is dripping down. I look for something to pipe it to. Some guy says there’s no money and do it myself. I walk around and the girl is getting it together. Walk into a parking lot and get ready to leave. Have to back out and it’s crowded. Get on the road.

In a meeting room, it’s the new year and we all get new scheduler books. Mine isn’t there so I go out to get one. Walk around and don’t find them. Go back and there are different people in there. Someone comes and it’s the same meeting.

Fly into a dentist office in Cleveland through the window. It’s old and messy, and the dentist is sleeping there. Walk out and there’s a cleaner there too.

March 17th, 2025

Going around a playground. There are kids everywhere, and we’re playing with stuff.

Walking through Vegas. It’s very crowded and we turn to get to a casino. Turn around and go the other way.

March 16th, 2025

Hanging out with Diane. Her dogs are there, and they’ve got spots of missing fur and worse. She says they’re going to get treated. We sit next to each other and start kissing.

Recipe: Bread machine bagels

I got a bread machine last year. My normal weekend breakfast during the summer is bagels, so I figured I needed to make my own. These turn out nicely, once you figure out that the hole needs to be a lot bigger than you would think.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup water
3 3/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Fill machine as per normal bread and run dough cycle.

Remove and let rest 10-15 min.

Cut dough into 8-10 pieces, roll into balls.

Flatten and shape by putting a hole in the middle. Stretch so it’s pretty big.

Cover with a towel and rest 10 mins.

Put 3 quarts of water in a large pot, bring to medium boil. Add 3 tbsp of sugar.

Boil each for 30 secs each side.

Drain on a wire rack.

Mix an egg white with 1 tbsp of water.

Wash boiled bagels with egg mix, top with what ever you like (bagel mix, salt, etc.)

Preheat oven to 375.

Sprinkle baking sheet with corn meal, place bagels.

Bake for 20-25 mins.

Springtime flies when you’re old

Please tip the writer. Whatever amount you like-every little bit helps, and I’ll do a shoutout. We are always short of cash, especially with a big mortgage. Let me know if you or someone you know needs web design/development-my rates aren’t bad, and I’m more than pretty good at it. Java/database/AWS/UI too. ThankYouVeryMuch!

And another month has passed. Time flies when you’re old. No idea if I’m having fun yet. Spring is starting to make its way here-I cut the grass and trimmed some bushes-that’s a sure sign. I really don’t want to bring up anything else-I have this unbearable feeling of impending doom. I just cycle through work, working out, driving kids, cooking, cleaning and shopping, with occasional forays into yard work.

Tuesday, end of day. Fine workout last night, picked up Claire after. Still need to get more consistent on balance.

Thursday noon. Gamelan last night, pretty quiet otherwise. Some shuffling at work. A big miss by another team. It’s been cold, but not it’s going to be cold and rainy. Yuck.

Friday morning. Noon. Pulled back the reps last night, second day of level up on elliptical, sped up tai chi. My left hip is sore, and it makes the middle monkey unstable. Also had a glitch on the last fair lady.

Monday (2/3) afternoon. We’re again out of $$$-until Thursday. Quiet weekend. Messed up my hip Friday night sliding on the porch. Fine workout Sat., except for the whole hip thing. Some older woman started trying to mirror tai chi at about the start of the second section, which means monkeys. Naturally she stopped as soon as she tried one-it’s definitely not easy unless you’re used to doing those one leg stands, and even then it requires focus. Didn’t get dressed Sunday.

Friday afternoon (2/7), not really motivated. Truncated workout Monday, took Salem to PT Weds. AM., their play last night-12 Angry Jurors, and she’s the angriest. Just did so well. Erika was in Ridgefield Tues., so I made curry chicken. Otherwise, work, home. It’s been cold. Trying to ignore the news.

Saturday night-pretty quiet-paid bills, went to replenish oatmeal stuff, picked up Salem, that’s about it. Restarted the Darden routines-the 30-10-30 is pretty static, I think I’ll use it instead of negatives…I’m a little sore today.

Tuesday (2/11) Pretty quiet, again. Lazy Sunday, worked out early. Feel fine today.

Wednesday morning. Negatives last night-swapped in 30-10-30. A couple were a little light, had to skip tai chi to take Claire to a show.

Thursday afternoon-my Friday! It’s snowy, but has stopped-about 2-3 inches. No school, Claire’s shop closed. It’s going to be icy and bad tomorrow too. Pretty quiet otherwise. Salem went out and played in the snow with a school friend who lives close.

Wednesday afternoon. Pretty quiet, busy working. Erika killed the battery picking me up from the gym-had to get a jump from AAA. Not much else-worked out Friday/Sunday/Tuesday-messed up my hip last night on the leg curl trying to get the last rep in-heard/felt it go pop! Very painful, that-did it on a tai chi kick last time. The usual otherwise-driving around-shopping-binz.

Friday morning. My hip still hurts, but not as much. Worked out last night, gamelan Wednesday. Been hard to sleep, and upset stomach in the morning. Trying to tune out the mess.

Monday morning (2/24), trying to fix a problem that’s not us that’s broken. Quiet weekend, rainy. Made yummy milligatawny soup Saturday, skipped working out. Not much else, shopping, driving around-to Beaverton. Thinking about stuff. A thing?

Friday noon (2/28). Erika and Salem are going to Breitenbush for the weekend. Trying to decide what to cook. I’m thinking curry chicken and sweet and sour pork. And I think I’ll make the soup again-it’s like a nice hug. Been a messy week-messed up my hip again Weds. dodging the vacuum. Truncated workout on Monday, skipped yesterday because hip. Went into town Tuesday for a pep talk. Had to do a late work session last night for a prod deploy-the team that deploys AWS policies had an all day offsite meeting with no laptops, so it finally got done at 9:30. Nice gamelan, pretty quiet otherwise. It’s moving towards Spring-sunny and warm, though we had a lot of rain last weekend. Erika’s watching Brit TV shows.

Saturday night. watching Reacher. Worked out last night, picked up Claire, made curry chicken. Today, drove Claire to work early, cut the grass, trimmed a little, got Claire, made sweet and sour pork.

Wednesday evening (3/5). This app is such a pain. Not much else-Erika and Salem came home, made the soup too spicy, worked out Monday, not much else.

Thursday noon. I think I’ll call this. Helped Matt to put together his desktop last night-got everything in place, turned it on-nothing-not even the fan on the power supply. He’s returning the power supply to see-I can’t think of anything else offhand that would cause the power supply to not start. Plus there’s no 110/220 switch-it even wouldn’t start when everything was unplugged. We’ll see when a new one comes. If no go, it’s “pull everything and try super barebones”.

Page 23, sentence 5: “You never heard such a racket.”, A Second Chance, “My face throbbed with the pain of returning blood.”, A Trail Through Time, “Her needlework lay where it had been hurriedly discarded.”, No Time Like the Past, “Our brains play a ridiculously big role in regulating many of the systems in our bodies, though they’re not the whole story when it comes to understanding how and why we respond to the world”, A Field Guide to the Apocalypse.

March 5th, 2025

In a room, a guy is waving a gun around. I don’t like it. We go outside and up a hill, into a church. I grab the gun and hang it behind me, walk around, some guy has a rifle and starts following. Duck around the building and down the hill.

At 30700, trying to clean my room, a bunch of stuff needs to go. Go into Holly’s room to get something-start brushing my teeth. Put stuff away and she comes in and is mad.

With some girl, try to help her put up stuff on the wall. Go back and she’s all over me. Walk outside and she falls over. Go to help her-she pulled on the key rack I hung up.

In a room, they’re trying to get a big HP printer to work-the colors are spotty. Some guy comes and does a demo and it’s fine. The person who needs the printer gets mad and demands that I get a big roll of paper. I say I’ll try, but it will take time. I say I know someone. There’s an email address from the guy I know, and a card with an award. Someone says they know him because his wife carpools with him.

March 4th, 2025

At home, outside. Some kids run through and into the backyard. I chase them and grab 2, take them to the gate and tell them never to come back. Follow them up to a bar, hang out, then go back home.

Walk up to a house and talk to Allan Holdsworth. Look in a back hall at some guitars.

Driving through a tunnel with Mike K. The light is all orange as we come out the other side.

March 2nd, 2025

In a plane, taking off. The pilot aborts because one of the generators is out. We get back and park, and I’m looking out the window at a park. I ask the pilot if I can go there, and he says it’s just for airline personnel.

Digging up a tree. I want to be very careful not to injure the tree, so we’re digging out between the roots. Go over to the other side of the tree and dig there.

Recipe: Mulligatawny soup

Just found this-yummy. Brings back memories of London and delicious soups. And it’s very close to that.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 red serrano, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1 1/2 cups split red lentils
6 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 (14.5-oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Juice from half a lemon

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt butter until it stops foaming, Add onions, carrot, celery, and red chile, and season with ½ tsp of salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook for about 6 to 7 minutes, or until onions are translucent and the vegetables are starting to brown lightly on the edges.

Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in spices and ½ teaspoon salt and cook for another 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium and stir in apple until completely coated.

Rinse lentils in a fine mesh strainer and shake off excess water. Stir in lentils, vegetable stock, and bay leaves. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30 minutes.

Add chickpeas and 2 ½ tsp of salt, and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until chickpeas are heated through and completely tender.

Combine yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Temper the yogurt with some of the soup. When chickpeas are done simmering, stir in yogurt mixture a little at a time until no more streaks of white remain.

February 20th, 2025

Hanging out with some people. I walk outside and notice that the sliding glass door frame is leaning in. Look at it more closely and the whole wall collapses inward, on to of some famous person.

Talk about living in the Cayman Islands. Look at some documents from the banks to see if I’m in there.

February 16th, 2025

Walk onto a tennis court-there’s an odd rectangular chute at the side that they’re throwing trash in. I say that it could be used to collect dead balls. They don’t like that and kick me out. Go downstairs, they’re playing a song that has “tear me on” as the chorus, 4 chords, was popular. Look at the cassettes and cd’s in a rack by the stairs.

February 13th, 2025

Looking for a place to park, turn into a tiny lot behind a building. Go down the stairs and into the lower floor where the gamelan is. Someone asks me about how to open the mousetrap-I tell them. Walk around to the recording studio and there’s a seminar in the main hall. Look in and say hi to Loren.

February 12th, 2025

At 1023, looking out the window. There are a ton of jets flying low down 1st St. Look the other way, and there are a bunch of people coming with a big plane on the ground right behind them. I know it’s the aliens, and 4 appear in the kitchen, but in human form. They thank me for being able to see them. We chat a little.

Sitting the back of a helicopter with 2 girls. We’re hanging out the door because we’re going to do a rescue. One starts down the winch and stops with one hand on the door. I tell the other I love her and she leans against me.