It’s starting to get cold enough that the mold is being suppressed, so I woke up with clear sinuses to a sunny but partially cloudy fall day, about 35 degrees, and feeling pretty good. I didn’t have much on the schedule, so I called up Gerald and told him to tell Breyana to get dressed because we were going to go get some grub.
Picked her up, and neither of us had any firm idea what we wanted, so we just drove around a bit talking and trying to figure out what we wanted. We decided on Italian, and tried to go to a place she had never been before, but it was not open. So we hit up a little Italian market that has all the imported cheeses and meats and tins of italian products, and I got some prosciutto and cheese for her to try, and we then headed to another Italian place she had never been to.
She just loved alfredo, so she ordered that with chicken and broccoli, and she inhaled it:
Looking at this picture I am reminded how much she has grown up in just the past couple of years. Crazy. She’s becoming less a kid and more of a fledgling person, and it is fun to watch. She’s still goofy, of course, and is completely and totally unimpacted by social media and other things that mature kids too early, and I like that.
At any rate, she finished her meal, and I boxed up the other half the lasagne they gave me that was the size of my head, and we stopped for hot chocolate and went home. Next week we are doing a lot of cooking because I am going to their house for Thanksgiving. This will be the first year where I haven’t even pretended that I was going to cook at home, which is weird.
Currently watching wheel of time, sipping on mulled cider I made, and eat pistachios. Not an altogether bad day.
Chetan Murthy
That’s so great, John! Today I went down to a bodega and bought a can of tomatoes, came home and made some dinner. All day, I had tiny little aches in my upper back and arms, from swimming all week. The first sore muscles in TWO YEARS! Huzzah!
patrick II
I am watching the graphic series “Arcane” on Netflix. It is based on a storyline from “League of Legends”. Though not as finely rendered as a theatre release from Pixel, the artwork is absolutely beautiful. Highly recommended.
Yutsano
I haven’t done too much today. Mom made two different things tonight: a beef stir-fry with rice and her version of stroganoff. I decided to whip up some noodles with butter and green onions (it was the only thing like an herb in the house) and I have all the lunches I need for work next week. It’s also convinced me to start looking for my own place starting next year. I’m down three weeks of pay right now* but hopefully I can start building back up some more soon.
*There might be a way to get that leave restored. I participate in a leave bank, where we kick in some leave so we can get some back. I took some after my ulcer but now I can get up to 140 hours more. I asked for 120 so hopefully that will work out!
zeecube
That does sound like a great time to pass the day. For us, we endured hell to fly to Washington, D.C. to visit ZC Jr. If Louis Armstrong Airport is any indication of the crowded masses flying this holiday weekend, get to the airport 3 hrs before your flight is scheduled to leave if you plan to park and fly. Staying at the Willard. Have not found the war room, but the bartender downstairs makes a good pisco sour.
Xantar
My friend just informed me that the Wheel of Time tv series invents a female character who doesn’t appear in the books just to fridge her in the first episode and make one of the main characters sad. That doesn’t seem like a great start.
dmsilev
@Xantar: That is, sadly, an accurate description.
That poor decision aside, it’s pretty good so far (I’ve watched all three of the released episodes). It’s been a long time since I’ve read the books, and I dropped out at what ended up being roughly the halfway mark (by word count), so I’m hardly a purist.
Steeplejack
Sounds like a nice day, Cole. Mine was peaceful. I did my usual Trader Joe’s run in the late afternoon to pick up my friend who works there. I drove her to and from work every day during the worst of the pandemic, when the D.C. Metro was on a severely reduced schedule. Once things returned to semi-normal, we dialed it back to picking her up after her Saturday shift, the one day she can’t get a ride with a coworker who lives near her. She could take the Metro now, of course, but it’s a hassle. And she shops for my “only at T.J.’s” items, so it’s a win-win. Usually we get takeout on the way home. Today it was Wendy’s—kind of down-market, but it hit the spot.
This evening I’ve been catching up on Web stuff and watching various things on TV. I was surprised but delighted to see that my Mizzou Tigers went for a two-point conversion in overtime and squeaked by Betty Cracker’s Gators. There was a Phryne Fisher episode that I didn’t remember very well, so that was the highlight of the evening. Now I’m on HGTV with Love It or List It. Waiting for the Washington Post’s three big Sunday crosswords to drop at midnight, or I might do another session of The Venture Bros., which I have been binge-watching in chronological order on HBO Max. Somehow I managed to miss almost all of the third season when it first came out. It holds up well, and I’m looking forward to the later seasons, where I have a lot more gaps.
And tomorrow I might summon the energy to take a run at Dune, which is leaving HBO Max tomorrow night.
Xantar
@dmsilev: if they make more seasons, I’m expecting season 4 to consist of Books 4-7 and season 5 to consist of Books 8-11. It was pretty painful to read through, and I only stuck with it to see how it all ends.
Chetan Murthy
@Steeplejack: You’re a kind and good friend.
TheOtherHank
I grabbed kid #1, we drove to San Luis Obispo, grabbed kid #2, kept going to Santa Barbara and caught up with Mrs Hank who drove down yesterday. Most of the anticipated weirdness with the in-laws was sidestepped and we had Thai food for dinner. We just finished playing dominoes with my mom. All in all a better day than I was planning on.
Steeplejack
@Chetan Murthy:
Pshaw. It was ridiculous. My friend doesn’t have a car, but she lives close to a Metro train station. Her commute went from a 10-minute train ride to 45-60 minutes on multiple buses on the severely reduced schedule. And of course with much more exposure to COVID-19 at a time when surface transmission was thought to be a big deal.
I was nervous, but I felt like I had to do it. And it was almost my only point of exposure, aside from going to the store once a week or so. It worked out all right in the end.
MisterForkbeard
@patrick II: I hate league of legends, but this show is very good. And the art style is excellent – it sometimes looks almost painterly.
Sister Golden Bear
What is best in life. Watching Cal (UC Berkeley) crush Stanford 41-11, seeing them driven before us, and hearing the lamentations of their student body.
CaseyL
I started the day off sleeping in until past 9:00 AM, which was WONDERFUL.
Finished Invisible Sun; a very worthy wrap of Charlie Stross’ “Empire Games” series.
Also finished the latest iteration of the call schedule I dreaded doing, and sent that off for review. Fully on vacay now for the next week.
A perfectly fine day!
James E Powell
Basking the glow of My Beloved Buckeyes’ 56-7 stomping of Michigan State. Tomorrow, the anxiety associated with Michigan week will set in.
Also, just finished the season finale of Foundation. Didn’t read the books. Not sure how I feel about the series. Some good performances, but I’m not sure what it’s all about.
Steeplejack
@James E Powell:
Oh, dear. I didn’t check the score, and now I’ll have to do a wellness check tomorrow on my RWNJ Spartan brother. I didn’t think they’d win, but I didn’t think it would be a bloodbath.
Thor Heyerdahl
Went and got three vaccination jabs – booster for tetanus/diphtheria/polio, measles/mumps/rubella, and typhoid. First two were covered by healthcare in Ontario. Two shots in the left arm and one in the right. Let’s see how sore I am on Sunday. Including the flu it’s four shots in under 10 days.
I want to travel again to some interesting off the track places, and I last had these shots ranging from one to three decades ago.
trollhattan
Sportsball morning with NCAA XC championships then NWSL championships. Then attacking overgrown yard. That should only take another four, seven months.
Chetan Murthy
@Thor Heyerdahl: How do you stand it, living under the oppressive boot of socialism?
HumboldtBlue
It’s cold, down into the 30s and the shepherd’s pie I make came in like a wrecking ball on the scale of needed good warm late autumn food.
It’s gonna be hocks and greens tomorrow.
Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-0, college football is a proper mosh pit as we head into the final two weeks with a slate of delicious rivalries set for next week and the beer is cold.
Thinking of watching Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd in The Shrink Next Door, anyone tried it yet?
Benw
It’s relaxing to read about everyone who had a nice day. Thanks everyone.
In case anyone is interested in exactly what day was the canonical Good Day:
https://murkavenue.tumblr.com/post/16553509655/i-found-ice-cubes-good-day
Anyway
I had a nice afternoon sitting around a fire pit with some friends sipping on mulled wine chewing the fat … perfect weather for it.
eclare
@Benw: How interesting! Now we know…
Benw
@trollhattan: your daughter’s a XC runner yes? Was her team in the champs?
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
Haven’t seen it. From the trailers, it looks like it could be really good or really bad.
Thor Heyerdahl
@Chetan Murthy: The boot of socialism is manageable in Torontostan. The idiocy and corruption of Rob Ford’s premier brother hopefully will be excised next spring and we vote him out.
Chetan Murthy
@Thor Heyerdahl: *grin* Hasten the day! Hasten the day!
Chetan Murthy
@Thor Heyerdahl: Yesterday a Canadian friend told me two heartwarming stories of Canadians helping refugees in need. The second story was particularly so. I don’t recount them here, b/c ….. well, the obvious reason. I know there are certainly not-so-nice Canadians, but you and your country have lots to be proud of.
Kayla Rudbek
Mr. Rudbek and I finally picked up our new dishwasher, and Notre Dame rolled over Georgia Tech so I think that he won his bet.
He got a promotion at work, starting next month and he’ll still be teleworking for at least six months. I will be starting a new job by April at the latest, same employer as current but way, way different side of the house so hopefully way less stressful for me. And I will most likely be teleworking for at least that long, so we don’t have to make any decision about whether we need to move for a while. They actually don’t have space for him to move into at the new job in Baltimore yet, and he could very easily get authorization for full-time teleworking.
Steeplejack
@Kayla Rudbek:
That sounds like good news all the way around.
JCJ
@Benw: Thanks for the link! Amazing where a story like that can go.
HumboldtBlue
A good day deserves some Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers.
@Steeplejack:
I may give it a go. Tom Hanks also does Greyhound, and that may get a look too.
Benw
@eclare: @JCJ: it’s such a fun little bit of story!
Ms. Deranged in AZ
I started on a new antidepressant in addition to the one I am already on and started ADD medication yesterday. So today was actually a very good day. The first day I have felt any hope at all in probably years. I was able to get a good night’s sleep last night and spend a good part of the day working in my woodwork shop and cleaning and detailing my truck. I got a little sunburned because it was about 80° here. I wish I could have 30° weather though. I miss Thanksgiving and Christmas that actually feels like it is that time of year. Still a good day for me.
MagdaInBlack
I had my Moderna booster yesterday and the result is I slept all day today. This is not a bad thing because sleep may well be my favorite thing in the whole world.
MagdaInBlack
I had my Moderna booster yesterday and the result is I slept all day today. This is not a bad thing because sleep may well be my favorite thing in the whole world.
MagdaInBlack
I had my Moderna booster yesterday and the result is I slept all day today. This is not a bad thing because sleep may well be my favorite thing in the whole world.
MagdaInBlack
I had my Moderna booster yesterday and the result is I slept all day today. This is not a bad thing because sleep may well be my favorite thing in the whole world.
HumboldtBlue
Just between me, you and the lamp post, I’m pretty sure MagdaInBlack got the booster.
I may be going out on a limb, but still.
MagdaInBlack
@HumboldtBlue: omg Im so sorry. It was just sitting loading so i went for coffee…and viola, 3 posts. Ugh.
NotMax
@MagdaInBlack
Third time’s the charm.
And viola beats out sackbut most any day of the week.
:)
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: I had an Aunt who said viola instead of voila, and it stuck ?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sister Golden Bear: The Bruins beat the tar out of SC as well.
NotMax
@MagdaInBlack
One grandmother thought she was being oh so sophisticated pronouncing gauche as gowchee.
;)
Mary G
I spent the day doing laundry, moving shit around on the driveway and in the garage as I triage things that are really nice for the thrift shop my mom helped start in 1964, the not as nice but still useful stuff to the Vietnam Veterans group who will pick it up, the utter crap that a group that claims to recycle everything that I will pay to take whatever is left, and what I suspect will be a mountain of paint cans, motor oil, spray cans, mysterious containers without labels, light bulbs, and batteries which are all hazardous waste that I can take to the dump to dispose of safely and free, but over many times because their limit is low.
Getting new windows on the five my mom didn’t update – the two in her bedroom she didn’t think she deserved, my bathroom window which opens out onto the narrow path next to the house and offers an excellent opportunity for a cracked head, a small one in my bathroom that hasn’t been open since 1968, and a broken one in my room. The teen has my mom’s room now – she gave me the master when we moved in. He absolutely lit up today when I told him why we were moving my potting bench and shelves under a window in his room out of the way and said it would be a great thing to get for Christmas this year. Teens are weird. But fun and great for a completely different view of the world.
HumboldtBlue
@MagdaInBlack:
You got the booster!
Three cheers!
MagdaInBlack
@HumboldtBlue: ???
HumboldtBlue
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
They did.
HumboldtBlue
@Mary G:
Just dawned in me, there is a clutch of grand-preteens about to turn the corner 1-2-3 in the coming years.
I think it’s time to come clean on the story of Elvis Elfington and the Xmas Eve phone call from the North Pole.
frosty
@Kayla Rudbek: I remember you talking about moving to Silver Spring to ease the Baltimore commute. It’s not a great choice. You want to be near I95 or the MARC Penn line. I did the opposite run from Bo to Arlington for many years.
JustRuss
@Xantar: Thank you. I watched the first three WoT episodes last night, and I didn’t recall that character being in the book…which I read over 30 years ago, so it’s kinda fuzzy. I got through 5 or 6 of the books when I realized that bastard Jordan was just going to keep churning them out til he died, which he indeed did. I think the series is pretty good so far.
Steeplejack
@Ms. Deranged in AZ:
Good news! I hope you have many more good days.
Origuy
Saw Randy Rainbow at the Masonic in SF with some friends. Then went around the block to an izakaya that’s open late. The show started late because they were checking vaccination cards and searching bags. That was ok, though, because we got there late but were able to jump the line since my housemate needs a wheelchair for more than a few yards. I was only able to get seats way at the side with an obstructed view, but a woman there found better seats for my housemates, then my other friend and I grabbed better seats just before the show started.
Randy was great, of course.
oldster
John, you’re a good man to be mentoring this kid, and she’s lucky to have a non-parental adult that she can talk with when things with the parents (inevitably) get fraught.
Could you also at some point warn her that most older guys taking teenage girls out for meals are not as well-intentioned as you are?
I worry that her interactions with you are going to give her the false impression that most men are decent and trustworthy.
satby
I had a good but hectic day at the market (now) yesterday, but I was wiped out when I got home. The foster dog had gotten through the barriers that kept him in the basement, making friends and liberating old geezer dog Clayton from the kitchen in the process. Clayton stayed downstairs because he’s just too old and achy, but enjoyed digging around for treats in the downstairs litter boxes, which is why he was confined to the kitchen in the first place. The foster dog, Dexter, explored upstairs. After ripping up the bath mat, playing in the bathroom litter box, and opening the bedroom door to the isolation room where the newest outdoor cat is acclimating to the indoors, he ate her food, dug around in those litter boxes, and as a grand finale pooped all down the upstairs hall. Many swear words were spoken at top volume.
Josie
@satby:
Well, at least Dexter seems to be very cheerful and non-threatening to the others in the house. Small mercies.
satby
@Josie: He’s really a good boy who wants very much to please, but he’s got too much energy to be cooped up all day while I work and only go out on a leash. He likes his kennel and sits patiently waiting for his treats when we come in. Now that we know more about him I’m going today to get a 30′ long rope and horse lead clip so he has some space to move around separate from me. He’s a runner, so he needs a fully fenced yard to be off leash. I like him, and I call him CK Dexter Haven.
JML
They did some unfortunate things in the pilot of WoT where they made up some new things out of whole cloth…and the only reason I can think of for some of them is they didn’t trust the audience to figure out the motivations for some of the characters and understand who they were as people by watching them on screen. It was very clumsily done in the pilot…but they did better in episodes 2 & 3, IMHO.
Kayla Rudbek
@frosty: yeah, with the likelihood that Mr. Rudbek will be full-time teleworking we probably don’t have to move. We bought our townhouse so that it’s a convenient commute for me, and since it looks like I’m staying at my current location for work, we wouldn’t have to move.
Mathguy
@JML: I figure a series like WoT will always have a clunker of a first episode then take off. Sure enough….
I do think some of the decisions made by the show runners are wise (e.g., one thing that drove me crazy is how easy it was to defeat a trolloc in battle in the books) and have high hopes for the series.
J R in WV
@MagdaInBlack:
I love sleep also too!
How many booster shots did you get, anyhoo?
;~)
PaulB
In my weekly weigh-in Saturday morning, I had lost over 130 lbs. I now weigh less than 190 lbs. for the first time in my adult life.
I signed up online for a vaccine booster appointment, so I’ll get my 3rd Moderna shot next week.
I waded through dozens of options on the health care exchange and picked my insurance plan for the coming year.
I went out walking three times, covering a little over 5 miles.
I treated myself to a good relaxing bubble bath soak in the tub, with the lights off and a scented candle providing visual and olfactory ambiance, reading a good book on my Kindle.
All in all, a good day.
marcopolo
@PaulB: Wow! Way to go. I bet you feel so much, yes, lighter now. I began working on my pandemic padding March 1 and have shed maybe a little more than half of your loss (never weighed myself till my first dr appt in 6 years in late Oct so it might be more). I too would love to come in at under 200 at some point but the doc said based on my build that 220 would be more reasonable–we’ll see. At the rate I’m losing, I’ll be at the doctor’s goal for me sometime in Jan. just prior to my second visit. I think she might be a little surprised–in a good way
Edited to add: happy our curmudgeonly blog father had a lovely day as well as all the other commenters in this thread.
Madeleine
@oldster: This is to second oldster’s request that you talk to Breyonna about the fact that older men may not be safe. Please.
PaulB
@marcopolo: Thank you, and congratulations on your own success.