Pineapple and Traffic - Nothing In Common Except They Both Happened Wednesday

A short post today, because I'm tight on time at 3:45 am. Yeah ... short on time. But I had to get the dehydrator that I had working all night back up to the kitchen, downloaded, cleaned and put away before I could settle down to write this (and of course I had to do my daily meditation before doing anything else). It was a good thing I awakened at 2:00 am and simply wasn't in the mood for more sleep - LOL. 

Just look at these beauties! They were beautifully golden, 
which is ripe, but not quite over-ripe. They were absolutely 
perfect for my dehydrator and I'll be enjoying snacking 
on them for a couple of weeks. 

So, after a delightful meditation, I followed my nose to the basement area where I use my dehydrator on top of my clothes dryer (it's a flat surface, has a convenient outlet on the wall, and is easy to clean if needed). Gabbing the dehydrator, I carried it up to the kitchen where I unloaded it into two large containers of lovely, dried pineapple to nosh on for the next couple of weeks. So yummy! 

I cut off the rough skin, and the tops and bottoms. Then 
I slice into pieces, and each slice gets cut up into 
smaller pieces. Two pineapples can make a load that 
will happily last me for several weeks. Yum! 

I really didn't need any pineapple, but when I saw these two beautifully ripe fruit at the grocer yesterday, I simply couldn't resist. Dried pineapple is one of my absolutely favorite snacks, and they dry up beautifully in the larger dehydrator that I purchased 2-3 years ago. That's been a good investment. I've actually used it quite a bit (for one of those appliances that often gather dust in the corner of a kitchen cabinet). 

I wasn't cutting itsy-bitsy pieces, they were reasonable 
pieces for munching (and a couple of them didn't make 
it into the dehydrator at all - LOL). This is one pineapple 
cored, sliced and cut, and I had two pineapples, so it 
was a nice amount of lovely fruit to eat. 

Yesterday started out with a bang for me. I had a great swim, then went home quickly with about 30 minutes to eat breakfast and leave for the shop. I had to get the computers up for Chickie since both DH and I needed to meet with our financial attorney at 8:00 am. Traffic was a DISASTER - slow, lots of road construction, etc. So when Google Maps suggested I pull off onto Normandale Blvd. I obeyed, over the objections of DH. Google led me south and then west. It was a slower route than the freeway (lots more traffic lights), but the traffic was light, and we were able to be at the meeting on time. 

I think that EVERY freeway heading East to West in or 
around the Metro area is under road construction right 
now. It's a MESS. I refuse to drive to Minneapolis for any 
reason if I can skip it. Unfortunately, this was an important 
meeting so the traffic had to be tackled. 

We were joined by our stockbroker who is still recovering from foot surgery. He wrecked himself up on the ski slopes last winter and is still paying the price. He says he'll be back up on the skis this coming winter, but not on that particular slope. Probably a good idea - LOL. It was wonderful to see Tom, though. I've known him for decades now and he's a sharp guy - a good person to have in your financial corner. The meeting was good, and I even got DH back to the store shortly after opening, so it was a win. Then I treated myself with my weekly run to the grocery store where I found the pineapples - LOL. See? It all comes together in the end. 

I'm off to the swimming pool. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

The Traffic Was Harder than The Cognitive Testing

Yesterday's cognitive memory test started with a test through traffic. It's "any season except Winter" in Minnesota, and road construction is in full swing. The main freeway joining the downtown areas of Minneapolis and St Paul is under construction - MAJOR construction. So, what should have been a quick and easy drive of 20-30 minutes, even in "rush hour" turned into a drive of almost an hour. 

Although this photo is from the St Paul construction, 
it's the same in Minneapolis, maybe even worse. There 
are only two seasons in Minnesota - Winter and 
Road Construction. It doubles your time on the freeway. 

Then we had to find the Purple parking ramp - a task in itself because the hospital complex is ALSO undergoing major construction and road changes. Once we found the Purple ramp, and got the car parked, we needed to find the correct building in a maze of buildings. We were directed here and there, and actually arrived at the appropriate receptionist within two minutes or so of the scheduled appointment time. A miracle! 

There are Sister Kenny Institute locations 
in or near most of the major hospitals in 
this country. I'm not sure about world-wide. 
She was quite the woman - didn't let much 
stop her from helping people to walk again. 

The Doc was great - younger, but not too young, and sincerely interested in whatever we wanted to say. He offered to allow us individual interview time with him, but both DH and I opted to just stay together in the room and say whatever we needed to say. I was given the choice of returning for the advanced memory test at a later date, or taking it right away. "Right away, please", was my immediate response. So within 10 minutes or so I was in a smaller room with a lovely young woman. 

My advanced cognitive test covered all of these 
areas and it was rather like playing a lot of games 
similar to games I played with my Mother while 
I was growing up. I actually surprised myself by 
thoroughly enjoying the exam. 

I loved the test. I mean, there were certainly parts that I stumbled over - like remembering a two sentence complex story word for word, (we tried that twice, I muddled the first time and totally wrecked the second). But so many of the tasks took me back to my childhood games that Mom and I used to play on rainy afternoons. Just pencil and paper games. I don't think you can truly pass or fail a test like this. It encompasses a lot of different actions and activities. But I know I had some excellent results, and some not so great ones. I'll be very interested to talk to the Doc (I'm opting for a virtual visit because NO - don't want to be dealing with that road construction again!). I think he said 2-3 weeks, but it isn't in my calendar yet. 

I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the various exams 
in my cognitive testing session. There were definitely some 
stumbles, but a lot of serious successes as well. I'm looking 
forward to seeing the results. 

So, if you're even called upon for an advanced memory screening test, don't sweat it. It's just a lot of games and I loved almost every bit of it. Now if only our estate planning was going as smoothly, but that's mostly up to DH, and he's a harder nut to crack. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini

The Woes of Road Construction - Will I Have a YMCA This Morning?

For those of you sending positive thoughts out to my friend Claire, it seems like the surgery was successful. The pathologist at Mayo contacted her yesterday via email and said it seemed that they managed to get all of the cancer removed. It's a relief for everyone, and I'm sure all those positive thoughts helped. Thank you, everyone. 

Thanks for your positive thoughts. The prognosis for 
Claire is quite good and she's very relieved. 

As of last night, my YMCA was still closed, although they were hoping to reopen at 5:00 am today. Well, I'm hoping for that too, since I made a quick reservation for today after yesterday's unexpected shut-down because of water issues. It's been a real mess all year - the main road in front of my Y is being completely torn down and rebuilt and while they're at it, the County is also redoing all of the water pipes and utility stuff that goes on below the surface structure. Getting all of the various departments onto similar schedules has been a nightmare for everyone, and it's September. We're running out of summer. 

Summer is ending and autumn is here. Soon we'll be 
dealing with winter's cold and snow. It's a guarantee 
that the road construction will pull into a second year 
of mess, but it would be really nice if the water is 
finally fixed for the YMCA and businesses along the street. 

I expect the road will continue to be a two-lane road through the winter. It's usually a four-lane road with turn lanes added, so this is a considerable downgrade for a major North/South roadway. People have gotten used to their chosen alternatives, but for those of us needing to get to buildings that face the road, there are limited choices. Everything is accessible, but not always very easily. 

Sometimes getting to the YMCA over this summer 
of road construction has seemed like the path 
drawn above. I'm just grateful I'm dealing with 
the road at 4:45 am. The traffic is light at that 
time of the day. During the regular day, it's got 
to be a nightmare for anyone trying to get from 
Point A to Point B. 

Nonetheless, I'm hopeful that the Y will be open again at 5:00 am this morning because I really want my three swims for the week. I'll know in a bit more than an hour. 

I was able to track down the correct phone number and 
contact the Leaf Guard people regarding my unknown 
appointment. I got that confirmation, then contacted my 
car people who said there should be no problem having 
my car back in plenty of time. So ... I'm counting on all 
things to fall into place for next week Wednesday. 

Regarding that appointment I forgot to write down, I tracked down the phone number and contacted them. My appointment is scheduled for 11:00 am, my car appointment is scheduled for 7:45 am that same day. That should (all things being normal) be sufficient time for me to be back home in time for my gutter people to walk around the house and give me a quotation for Leaf Guards on my gutters. Everything has to work smoothly for success, but I'm hoping for the best. I also got my ColoGuard completed and sent back off yesterday, so one more thing on my "to do" list accomplished. So, I'm off to the Y. Afterward, I have a quick grocery shop and then my usual Friday "off" which means a lot of work here, but not at the shop. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Today Will Be A Waiting Game

The old saying goes something like this: "When opportunity knocks, open the door". I had asked my primary physician for a referral to a dermatologist because it makes for a faster appointment in a very busy department. I also wanted to see an M.D. instead of the Physician's Assistant I have been seeing for the past few years. She went ahead and wrote the orders and I spent quite a while with the receptionist before getting to the next stage. No appointment yet, but pending. 

Waiting can be annoying. I don't wait well, but I always have
something I can read or a game I can play on my phone. Before
the days of cell phones, I always had a paperback book with
me at all times. If I have to wait, I might as well read the next
chapter or six ... LOL. 

Yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from Dr Farhat's office. They had a cancellation on Friday mid-day, would I be able to make that? No, I had to work, so I had to pass. My only day off is Wednesday, so that's the only day I can get out to their location (in one of the southern suburbs). Her receptionist checked Wednesday appointments and there was an opening at 1:15 pm today. How about that one? I jumped on it. 

There's something quite sad about this Bansky wall
decal named "Waiting in Vain". I feel very sorry for
the man who has obviously been stood up. I can only
hope the delay was due to circumstances beyond
his control. 

So today my day is filled with my usual things - laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, etc., but also with labs at 8:15 am this morning at my local clinic and an appointment with Dr Farhat at 1:15 pm at the Bloomington clinic. Normally it would be a 30 minute drive to her clinic ... but EVERY road I would usually use to get there is either closed or constricted because of road construction. I've spent more than half-an-hour just trying to figure out an alternative way to her office that will avoid the worst of the construction. It's going to be a total PITA, but it's necessary. She rarely comes to my clinic, although I did have a consult with her almost two years ago about my alopecia. 

This chair/bench looks very uncomfortable for a long
wait. Fortunately, the chairs in the clinic are much
easier on the back, and easy to clean and sanitize, too. 

So, my "day off" has suddenly gotten extremely busy. I'm exhausted already, just thinking about it - LOL. I hope you have a more relaxing Wednesday than mine will be. Have an excellent day and I'll be back tomorrow, and don't forget - Be Well, Stay Safe and Wear a Mask! 

Goals and Pretty Rocks - A Crazy Juxtaposition In My Thoughts

This weekend is the annual Minnesota Mineral Club show and sale. It's a long drive, but always at a beautiful time of the year. We've been there in snow, rain, cold and heat over the years. It's always fun and we always end up with something, even if it's only a single stone or slab. There's just something addictive about looking at pretty rocks. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I can't seem to break its' hold on me. 

Last year the MN Mineral Club hosted an event called a
"Celebration of Agates". Even though I'm fonder of
jaspers than agates, I thought I'd share some agate
photos with all of you today. 

I'm hoping the drive out to the location won't be too fraught with construction. Yes, it's October and yes, we're in the midst of Autumn weather guessing games, but the road construction continues onward until sometime in mid to late November. Every day the workers can get out there is a win for next year's schedule. I keep hoping that construction will be over, but know that's an impossibility. There's always another project on the horizon. 

Agates can be stunning, especially those with colorful banding. Here
in the Frozen Northlands, we have agates flung onto the beaches
of Lake Superior in the far north of the state. Maybe that's one
reason why people here love agates so much. 

That's rather like life and personal goals for most of us. We set them - some goals small, other goals large, and a few set for life. Then we start focusing on accomplishing them. My small goals can be as little as getting that one pound from the weekend's indulgence back off - relatively easy if I can keep to my exercise schedule and eat sensibly. Larger goals can be things like getting my holiday cards banged into shape and into the mail on time. That;s a two-month goal since my absolute deadline is having things in the mail no later than Solstice. The life goals - those are the harder ones. 

This agate is one that I do love, though. This is a fire agate - similar in
fire to opal, but different stone. I've always loved fire agate - the
shift of warm colors that catch the light. 

Life goals are the big ones - buying houses, saving for education, helping children grow up and become wonderful adults, taking care of things like wills so that heirs and others won't be bothered in future. These are goals that can take a lifetime to achieve, and that are always shifting their scope but that never truly end. These are goals that merge and meld, one into the other, a long and sinuous pathway. 

Here's a lovely banded agate in bright and happy coloring. I especially
like the top and bottom of the stone where all of the colors jumble
together into a mish-mash of happy. 

But, right now I'm looking at my life goals and saying "Meh". I think I need to focus on those mid-range goals instead for a while because those large goals can be a bit frightening at times. On that note, I'll sign off for the day and wish all of you a wonderful Friday. The plan is to return tomorrow, so there you have it - a small goal for the next 24-hour period. Have a great day! 

Not A Lazy Sunday!

My Sunday was both wonderful and annoying, at the same time. What a day! We headed out to the Art Museum on time, plenty of time to get there. Then things started to go South a bit. The exit we had been told to take was blocked, pushing me way to the South and West through massive roadblocks and traffic jams. Still, we finally got to the "right" part of town. Then I turned West instead of East and we wasted a half-hour going the wrong direction, then turning back around to get headed correctly. After one way streets and blocked roadways, we finally ended up at the museum on time - 15 minutes before they opened. It was a mess. 

As an example of our frustration, these five robes. They supposedly
are from five courtiers, all of different rank. We are told they are
displayed in order and that only the emperor could wear yellow
and have nine dragons. But all of them had eight dragons. The
changing spotlights could have indicated their order, but the lights
were random, not in a pattern. It was annoying. 

The exhibition I had been longing to see was plainly - "meh". The items displayed were wonderful, but the "sensory experience" aspect of the exhibit actually took away from the items, instead of enhancing them by emphasizing the thousand years of history that occurred before their construction. In many ways it was quite disappointing. Fortunately we had the rest of the museum to go through afterward, and we spent several hours exploring. I took a lot of photos, so that was fun. 

Lake Street is extremely multi-cultural. It'l been "Little Mexico" for
more than two decades, but it's also Native American and
Somali. It's ever changing, and the traffic is horrendous since
it's one of the few East/West streets that isn't closed by
construction. 

After leaving the museum, heading back East was a bit easier ... except we were driving down a street that is always a bit of a nightmare to get down, and a portion of it was blocked off for a weekend street party celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Yet another detour, more one-way streets, and some more guessing games about whether or not we would end up where we wanted to go. Finally we got back to our side of the Mississippi River, and we felt as if we could breathe once more. What a nightmare! I suspect I'll be using the southern route to get to and from Renaissance Festival in a few months. My usual route is completely torn apart! 

I ended up with Chili's grilled chicken and grilled steak
fajitas along with a lovely Patron margarita for dinner.
DH had cheese enchiladas. We figured we'd just
celebrate Cinco de Seis instead of Cinco de Mayo. 

DH took me out for a lovely dinner to celebrate my birthday (early) and Cinco (a day late), and we declared ourselves exhausted. Sunday turned into such a positive/negative kind of a day, but I had a great time spending a day in a museum with DH, so it was a good day all around, despite the traffic issues. So, I declare the weekend a win! Here's hoping yours was good too. 

Happy Monday. I'm back on normal schedule and dealing with road construction that's not as directly impacting. Huzzah! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

It's A Weekend, So Why Am I Rushed?

I awakened on time, which should have left me with all kinds of time to post. Then I got caught up in emails and other assorted computer stuff, and now I have 15 minutes to put something together in a post. This will be short and sweet - well ... short, at least. 

'Tis the season - we only have two seasons here in the Frozen
Northlands - winter and road construction. 

Tomorrow we'll be heading out into the construction zone. The snow is gone and the orange cones are out. Major road construction seems to be taking place along every road I need to use to travel to Minneapolis tomorrow morning. I'm building in a LOT of time and hope I'll be able to manage through the mess. I really feel sorry for anyone who needs to commute through this every day until the end of November. Some of these projects are scheduled to go on through 2021! I'd be looking at changing jobs or moving to a different house/apartment if I had to deal with that twice a day. 

Road construction is the hidden monster of urban
(and some rural) living. What used to be a pleasant
drive is now an orange mess. 

It seems that food is the gift of choice for e-gifts. Fortunately I have a bit of time to use the ones I really want to indulge in, but I won't be able to kick off a day from the pool. No, if I want to keep any kind of even keel, I'll have to ration my food gifts and make sure I swim every day no matter what. It's a good thing I like swimming, because I'm usually really happy once I'm in the pool. 

I really like our outdoor pool, both to swim in, and to watch
others swim in while I take advantage of the indoor pool to
practice various strokes and techniques. 

Speaking of the pool, the scuzzy water that resided in the outdoor pool over the winter has now been drained and they will be starting to refill the pool in time for its' May 26th opening. I'm just hoping the water won't be too cold, since I have no options about which pool I'll swim in on the weekends. During the week, both the indoor and outdoor pools are open (weather permitting) so my indoor pool is a great place to practice. This year I'll be continuing to practice my swimmers turns. I started working on that last year and still need a lot of practice before it becomes a standard. On the weekends and holidays, however, the only open pool is the outdoor one. 

On that note, time to head out. Like I said - short and sweet. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning. 

Final Day of Prep

My topsy-turvy week continues today with a visit to my Chiropractor followed by a day at work. I didn't get as much accomplished yesterday on my day off and I wanted, but it could have been worse, and I did get the major points hit, including a lovely conversation with Aearwen. However, I won't be back on any kind of regular schedule until Friday, and it's driving me a bit crazy.

The goal of prep for a colonoscopy is to eliminate
feces from the color to allow visibility for the
examination. The prep work eventually results in
the far right if it is done properly. 

Today is DH's starving/fasting day before tomorrow's colonoscopy. He's already complaining that he'll waste away to nothing and trying to think about what he'll want to eat on Thursday night. In fact, he has all sorts of plans for Thursday after his procedure. I keep telling him he'll be really tired and be sleeping for most of the day, but what do I know? I've only done this twice before *sigh*.

Today he'll be doing this prep work. He'll actually be starting the second 
section at 4:00 pm according to his instruction sheet. He'll 
survive it - I guarantee it. I'll be glad he finally gets the exam. He's been 
promising me he would have it for ten years. 

Still, he gets a day at home today to do the final cleanout preparations and he's generally very obedient with written instructions. Everything is set out for him and he'll be good. I have to phone or text him to remind him about taking his meds, but that's relatively minor. Tomorrow we finally come to an end of this and I will breathe a sigh of relief when I wake up Friday morning and realize I have two days of work on a normal schedule.

My relief will be quite short-lived. Two days and then
I'm working a nine-day shift and taking care of
Chickie's cats while she's out of town. Ugh! 

Of course, then Chickie leaves for Spain ....

Once more into the fray. The road construction projects I have to
navigate to get to and from my Chiropractor won't be complete
until late fall in 2017 and the traffic is horrible. 

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Wednesday. I'm off to the gym and then the Chiropractor. I hope the traffic isn't too horrible, I haven't had to drive through the construction zones since before the State Fair! It seems like forever ago.

Busy? Moi?

Wednesday. Today my day off equals - (1) Taking the garbage cans out to the curb, (2) swimming,  (3) breakfast, (4) getting everything ready at the store for the day's work, (5) driving through rush hour traffic to get to the eye doctor for a check-up and either a pat on the back or surgery, (6) driving back through city traffic to my own little neighborhood to go to ...

Here's an ad from the 1950's for drugs to help women cope. I suspect
the women were finding it harder to cope with societal norms and
expectations. Drugs certainly could help. Maybe I need some for
today's crazy schedule? Nah ... too easy. 

(7) the office supply store - desperately need staples, (8) check to see if there's a punch I can use for a store project at Michael's, (9) grocery shopping, (10) home. At home, I'll be doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and trying to make some decisions about wall paper. Along the way I'll have a nice afternoon chat with Aearwen.

The entire schedule depends on how long things will take at the eye
doctor's and how the traffic is coming and going. *sigh* I hate my life
depending on things outside of my own control. 

They say the life of a housewife is boring and that she sits around all day. They know NOTHING! Hmmm.....

The newly poured square of concrete is DIRECTLY in front
of my door. The first five calls I got after we were open
were from people wondering how they could get it. There is a
passageway to get to where I'm standing, but it's not
super obvious. Fortunately they pulled the blockade down
around noon. 

The concrete on the far side of the open area was also poured today, and shaped
by hand yet again. I suspect the center section along with the grey piping I see
there is on today's agenda. 

We now have sidewalk at the shop, and we have curb. The center area between them is still open, that's where they're putting new piping for the water department. The sidewalks have been poured for most of the block, but the cement trucks will still be rolling by today. The guys were already hard at work when I showed up around 7:00 am, and they were just wrapping up when I was leaving at 6:00 pm. I applaud their work ethic. Happy Wednesday to all!

Dinos Running Rampant

Yesterday morning the dinos lying in wait were loosed and the challenge for my customers increased. My poor ladies - trying to get into the shop. My Manager thought we wouldn't have any customers all day. Fortunately he was quite wrong. But those who braved the machines and the lack of sidewalk were certainly determined to get their beading supplies (except for one b___h who was determined to complain about how I was shadowing her. Live with it, b___h!).

This is how things were left for the weekend. The dinos looked so benign, but
they were merely waiting their time to pounce! 

You'll recall how I had the Blue Velociraptor and two of the yellow T-Rex machines waiting when the weekend started. Monday morning they were brought to life once again. The Velociraptor and one T-Rex were moved to other areas, but one T-Rex took up position directly in front of my door and began destroying old concrete immediately, starting with my store and moving up the block throughout the day By the end of the day he was at the far end of the block.

Look at the brick corner of my building in the first picture
and compare it to what the T-Rex has done to me in this
photo of what existed when I unlocked my door yesterday.
The blue Velociraptor can be seen in the far distance at
the end of the block.  

Finally, concrete was poured late in the afternoon. We were receiving concrete as we were locking up to go home at 6:00 pm. A bare pathway was left for our customers to walk through today while yellow "caution" tape will block off the newly-poured sections. It's a real mess.

Here's a photo of Sasha kitty a few years ago when she was feeling
much better and was much more feisty. Chickie will miss her
little cow kitty. 

Finally, Chickie had a difficult day yesterday, having Sasha-kitty put to sleep. Sasha was going into renal failure. She was very old and her mobility and ability to get around the apartment was quite compromised, so Chickie decided it was time to send her on. She arranged for a vet to come to her home and take care of it there to minimize stress for the cat. I know it was very difficult for her.

So there you have it - a Tuesday update telling about an eventful Monday. Here's hoping today will be a bit less filled with machines, noise and dust.

Busy Bees - My Weekend Construction Catchup

It was a busy weekend in road construction, so I wanted to catch up before the next phase starts. On Friday they were working across the street, so nothing much happened by me. I went out to explore in the early morning.

The new concrete at the corner is complete. They did a really nice
job and it slopes down in wide pathways for strollers and wheelchairs. 

I saw the finished street curb at my next door neighbor's. It now extends much farther into the intersection, eliminating a turn lane that had been there, replacing it with a broader pedestrian crosswalk. Out intersection is quite busy between the college bookstore and pharmacy across the street, and the coffee shop and my own store. Passage back and forth is frequent. One goal of this project had been to increase pedestrian safety when they were crossing.

I'm more and more impressed with the skill of the various
construction workers that I see on this project. It's hard
to form the sidewalk perfectly and even it out, but this guy
made it look easy. 

On the side of my neighbor's shop, they had poured a last bit of concrete and one guy was shaping and smoothing it out. The upper curves of the curb are shaped by hand without a mold or form. There's some real skill being demonstrated by the various construction workers on this project.

The dinos are lurking. Beginning with the blue Velociraptor directly in
front of my store, there are two yellow T-Rex machines patiently
waiting a bit farther down the block. 

Looking down the street on Saturday, Directly in front of my door was the blue Velociraptor followed by two of the big yellow T-Rex machines standing in wait for this week's work. It's a bit intimidating.

Look at that new white concrete, and then look
at the new dark black just behind it. That's the
new bituminous roadway they put in on Saturday.
It's almost a foot thick! 

Saturday's work, however, turned out to be a different company laying and compressing almost a foot of bituminous roadway to connect the new sidewalk to the roadway. It's quite beautiful now.

This was what we wanted to order - crab linguine, split king crab and a snow
crab claw. They were sold out of the king crab and told us we could substitute
anything we wanted, so we substituted Maine lobster tails. Yummy! I also
indulged with mashed potatoes and lobster for my side. So yummy! AND, I lost
a pound. Call me happy - LOL. 

I hope you had a great weekend. DH and I finished the pantry (well - at least 95% worth of finished) and went out to Red Lobster to celebrate. It's crab fest time, and we indulged in snow crab, a Maine lobster tail and Crab linguine. I took my linguine home in a box. It'll be a great dinner for tonight. Have a wonderful Monday - I'm off to swim.

Finally A Day Off!

Chickie is back and I have today off. Maybe. Chickie is sick - apparently both she and her mother, as well as other family members visiting for the reunion, developed serious illnesses after breathing the smoke from the forest fires currently burning in Montana. Chickie phoned me yesterday to ask about cough syrups and expectorants and I didn't even recognize her voice. She sounded horrible. I'm crossing my fingers that I actually do get the day off because I really need it, but she may end up calling me in. If she does, I won't be happy, but I'll understand.

The Montana forest fires are around and in Glacier National Park. Since
Chickie was around the park for her vacation and reunion, she was
breathing in the smoke for days. 

Because of the "maybe off, maybe not off" nature of my day today, I'm going to try and get all of my outside errands completed this morning so that I'm just on laundry this afternoon. Then, if I get called in to work, I'll at least have fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge, staples, ink and assorted other office supplies ready to take to the shop tomorrow, and a quick stop by Target completed. My lists have been getting longer over the past almost two weeks, so I have to get things like toilet paper before the need becomes urgent.

There's just something I like about Target. I've never been
much of a Walmart fan, though, so even though they are
closer, I'd rather go to Target. 

When I arrived at the shop yesterday morning in pouring rain, the metal T-Rex was gone from my block and nothing was happening. Of course, considering that the parking lot was an ocean, the skies were spitting out lightning strikes and sheets of water, and the weather radar looked like the stormfront would be around for a while probably all played into an unexpected day off for the construction workers. But the day cleared up and the only people I saw outside were the city inspectors looking over the concrete work from two days ago and giving their approval for the work to continue. I suspect that the boys will be busy with the next phase as soon as the concrete has dried enough to do the next thing on the schedule. It's interesting, though.

High Five to the Boy Scouts of America for finally lifting their ban
on gay leaders. Equality, baby! Equality! 

And finally just a few quick thoughts. (1) The Boy Scouts of America have finally agreed to lift their ban on gay adult leaders, causing great joy and some expected grumbles. I think it's about time they woke up and applaud their decision, even though it was slow in coming. (2) Lion kill - apparently a Minnesota dentist (NOT my dentist) paid guides more than $50,000 for the dubious privilege of killing an African lion, ending up killing one who is known as Cedric - a GPS-collared pride leader. The backlash against this idiot is extensive and vitriolic. I'm just grateful that I don't know the idiot. (3) Bobbi Kristina Brown died. Am I the only one who feels a deep relief that she finally was allowed to die with some dignity?

Why would anyone want to kill such a beautiful creature as this? 

And so I'm off - trash and recycling day, swimming, and then hitting the ground running. A day off! A busy day. Have a great Wednesday.

Progress - Baby Steps of Construction

One thing I'm learning by watching the construction outside of my store, is how large things get accomplished in smaller stages. The actual project is huge - taking up more than a mile of total road including pulling down and rebuilding a major bridge. My little corner of the construction world is quite small, but even that is being tackled in stages.

T-Rex directly in front of my door. You can
see the bare bit of my awning in the upper left. 

Last week we had metallic T-Rex in front of the door, breaking the asphalt and concrete to uncover the storm drains, pulling the old pipes, and digging placement and trenches for new piping. I thought T-Rex would continue past my door to go down the remainder of the block for a ways, and the lumbering monster was parked in front of my door for the weekend. On Saturday I noticed a truck from the City Water Department parked behind T-Rex, and official-looking people examining the placement and height of the new drains.

Naked storm drains with their grates in place. 

They must have received approvals, because Monday morning came and T-Rex was gone (I later found it two blocks north of my location, but he wasn't lurking at my doorway to threaten my customers. Huzzah!

Starting to place the forms for the concrete around the storm drains. 

Instead of T-Rex, we had a large truck filled with boards and dividers and a different group of guys unloaded these, placed them, and hammered them into location.

Pouring and spreading the concrete as the cement truck delivers it. 

Later in the afternoon a cement truck arrived and concrete was poured into the forms, and two hours later or so, the forms were removed, repacked on the truck, and the new curb was allowed to dry. Given our heat, it should dry quickly. Given our humidity - maybe not so fast. At least it gave us something to watch on and off all day between assisting customers with their craft supply needs.

Concrete is set and forms are ready to be pulled
and returned to the truck. One more stage finished.
I wonder what will happen today? 

Happy Tuesday to all. Yesterday's refreshing Guppy Day is now Tuesday's Hot and Sweaty Machine Day. But, it's all good!