We took a quick trip to Florida with my mother and sister to visit my other sister. My other sister is a Floridian and she moved to a new town.
We walked down this pier:
Eventually finding this:
This guy was hanging out in town:
No trip to Florida is complete without walking on the beach. It was really windy and so it was a quick visit to the Atlantic:
For a brief moment, I thought both cats were going to hang out with me on the sofa this morning. Simon got his jodhpurs in a knot when Lucy joined us.
This week at work was a bit tough. I’m still working on a project with the person who is chronically unprepared. We recorded system training, multiple times, and I edited the heck out of those sessions so we have two training recordings to offer learners next week. My boss and the director of our department thanked me for my hard work. That meant a lot.
Coming up, I’ll be taking one of our existing modules and laying in text and audio that has been translated into Spanish. A first for me. The translation service has been great so far so I’m looking forward to what they send me.
Train travel is kind of cool:
So is seeing Fleetwood Mac, even if the seats were in nosebleed:
We ate at Lincoln and how cool was the serving dish for the deviled eggs?
When we got home, someone showed us how displeased she was that we left her alone with Simon:
I was planting bulbs this afternoon and dug this up:
The sweet potato that sprouted and we planted into our garden trough has been blooming this week:
And, finally, the lantana is still kicking it:
We went by the neighborhood garden center, family owned, to buy some bulk mulch and we bonded a bit with them because I was wearing my Black Kow t-shirt. Good taste in manure will get you far.
Well, the last week has been full of crap. It included the worst concert experience we’ve ever had. We keep a list of shows we’ve seen and the one last Wednesday was #136. I feel like we’re missing some, but that’s still a lot of shows.
The headlining act, Earth, Wind and Fire, were an hour late coming out to perform. Seriously, was this some bar band that’s waiting for people to drink more because they are making their cash out of how many beers purchased? The venue clearly oversold the space and that meant 1000s were crammed into a tiny outdoor space. The sound system was atrocious. At one point, someone was speaking on stage and every person around me complained that they had no idea what was said. Then the band came out and the sound was no better.
We weren’t the only ones who walked out. We walked away from an Earth, Wind and Fire show. I never thought I’d do that, but at least we had a surprisingly great meal at a Mexican restaurant. Our friend suggested going there for margaritas and to commiserate over our bad experience. It was a damn fine chile relleno.
We went to a concert last night. We were tired when we got there because we’d spent the weekend either cleaning out the MIL’s room or hacking back the stupid privet hedge that lines the sidewalk. Behold, people of the neighborhood! Your sidewalk is back.
The opening act was forgettable. The better-half was rooting for him to get better and I was just “meh” about his entire performance.
Then the Broken Bells came out with a great set and an outstanding lights/video show. We didn’t leave the venue tired.
The site was down for several days because of a vulnerability in the server. We are back to the regular and lazy trickle of posts.
The MIL passed away and I’m grateful she is no longer cursed by Parkinson’s. The better-half and I talked about all of the things she could do now that she’s free from that nasty disease (assuming you believe in an afterlife). All of the things we came up with had to do with movement which has been in short supply for her in recent years.
A few reflections on the aftermath of having a loved one die:
I upgraded my phone and iPad to iOS8 and aside from it taking a really long time (for the iPad it was an overnight job), I noticed that the Apple ID (or is that aPPle iD–seriously who cares about your stupid abbreviations Apple) was attached to an email address I no longer have. Considering I changed my Apple account ages ago, it was puzzling to see the wrong address on the screen.
As pretty as Apple products are and as solid as their hardware, some things are just dumb. So, hey Apple, knife.
Last week was an impossible work week and then on Thursday the MIL went into the hospital. She’s still there fighting off pneumonia and a UTI. The MIL is better, but not entirely out of the woods. She’s old/frail and has Parkinson’s. Pneumonia is not a joke and for that matter neither is the persistent UTI.
So, this weekend didn’t really go as planned. My hope for the weekend was to relax and sit outside staring at nothing. Perhaps some reading and music listening would have been involved.
Today we went by to visit with the MIL for a bit and then we came home. It was 2-ish and we had plans to sit outside, vegetate and smoke a chicken* for dinner. Instead, 20+ kids and their parents showed up next door for a brownie/girl scout extravaganza. It looks like recess at an elementary school in the neighbor’s backyard. The chicken is on the smoker and we are not sitting outside enjoying this beautiful afternoon. C’est la vie.
In other news, I ripped out most of the garden. I left the herbs, naturally, and one grape tomato plant. I plan on planting some lettuce and spinach. If I get crazy, perhaps a chard plant or two. The success of the garden is mixed. We did well with peppers and the tomatoes were so-so.
