Good morning!
Missy, sendin ya the mojo for a nice time tonight!
For all of those wondering where spring went, its my fault and I’m sorry
I had the pool scheduled to be opened this week, which inevitably seems to cause snow in Michigan
It is so cold my robot is just drunkenly wandering around the pool half-stunned. Hi ho. I don’t really blame it, wouldn’t want to work in these conditions either.
The second rule of spring at the mchome is that if you have one worker scheduled to do something, something else will break that will stop the scheduled work and require a different worker. True to form, our outdoor faucet split right before said pool opening, necessitating some fancy plumbing
Nonetheless, these shenanigans do mean its spring, so I’ll happily sit in my parka and stare at the pretty water
Took mcgf for an end-of-term celebratory pedicure last night while mch and mcson tore apart the home entertainment system to accommodate mch’s new toys. He bought this crazy receiver that both talks to all his old analogue gear circa '77 and yet has 8 hdmi ports and is blue tooth.
As you migh expect, getting the thing to work right is like outfitting the international space station with a hyperdrive. I may never get back to catching up on Outander! Meanwhile, he decided a new hd projector was in order, but due to the layout of the room, we now have to upgrade to a 142" screen because my old screen isn’t wide enough to accommodate the only reasonable placement of the projector.
Lets just say work on the entertainment center has been “entertaining.”
Very first-world problems so I’m not complaining, but sometimes I feel like I live in a sitcom!
KMC - got a good chuckle when I read your post. One of my professors from college and also my college advisor moved into the same neighborhood as us 6 months after we did. We have been fast friends ever since. He retired a few years ago and decided that they needed a new sound system. Well by the time that they were done with getting the sound system the ENTIRE first floor of their house was redone. It was a comedy to watch. First they needed shelves but didn’t want to put shelves on the old 70’s paneling that the houses had in our family rooms so - replace the paneling with dry wall. Then their carpet looked old… you get it. Lovely what they did for their new sound system.
Sad night last night for the females in our family. We have always watched Grey’s Anatomy together for years. Tough to say farewell to one of our favorites.
I have to laugh about the audio system/home entertainment upgrades. H does a serious upgrade just about every 15 years… This latest one has been going on since January 2014.
He has adapted some fiberoptic cable from Corning Glass to go in the stereo and apparently the sound is terrific. (I’m afraid I don’t have quite the ear for it. Is it a guy thing??) He posted his technique and results on a forum. Well, some guy from Corning found it and came down to listen to the stereo. It may be a whole new market for Corning…or so H says!
Back from 3 weeks in the UK, Turkey, and Greece; woke at 2:30 this a.m. so catching up on mail and posts here. Great trip, great weather most of the time. Looking forward to getting on the right schedule …
Too funny about a guy from Corning coming over to listen, woody. I’m scared to step foot in the audiophile’s heaven in town here. Scary, scary prices. But this week I’ve got to bite the bullet and figure out why my Sonos systems can’t seem to latch on to the new WiFi setup. It was on their list of approved options, but we clearly didn’t mutter the correct incantations.
And the reason I really noticed the absence of the Sonos feed was that I was madly cleaning to get ready for some houseguests we only found out were coming a few days before. I’m one of those folks who is energized by music while I clean, but I had to retreat to earbuds. Ah well. I think we really need to arrange for monthly houseguests – it would keep the guest suite a lot less subject to getting cluttered up.
Prom is tonight for all the area high schools…and as is typical, the weather has turned nasty and cold. I hope the rain holds off. We had gorgeous weather earlier in the week.
We spent this week in California, looking for a place for ShawWife to work next winter. We found a building of artist studios near the water, in a building with quite a few artists, and found a studio for her to sublet. Now, we’ll have to find a place for us to rent. Today, we met ShawSon in the early afternoon and he walked us around campus to the places where he eats, works, has classes, etc. Such a beautiful (and huge) campus. Then we took him out for sushi and went back to the condo we rented through Airbnb. Alas, ShawWife is allergic to the condo (plus the fumes in the underground parking garage made her instantly sick). Otherwise, it is a perfectly pleasant place.
Hope the party was a success, mp. I’d be making a “big deal” over having 20 people, too – so I, for one, would also have been somewhat stressed.
Well, the last few days I HAVE been wondering where spring went – so thanks for that, kmc!
NMinn – a friend and I watched the episode on Friday morning. We were bummed all day. So not liking this turn of events.
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip, Zetesis.
So next winter the bus will be going to CA, shaw? Sounds like in-person inspections will be required before you rent a place to live.
Had friends visiting for a couple days here at the beach. As mentioned above, it was definitely not spring at the beach, at least in terms of temperatures. The days were lovely and sunny, but very cold. After the winter we’ve had in this area, we’re desperate for warm weather. Today we head back to MA for a week – H has an overnight trip and several meetings; I have various appointments, including another blood test to check on my platelet count; even the dog has a vet appointment. Then we’ll “move” to the beach for the season. Oh, the repair guy did get here – the motor on the central vac had blown.
So, trying to get over jet lag, I’ve been cleaning – light fixtures, floors, etc. (I do not hire out; sorry). And this frenzy of activity has reinforced the point that we need to get a new/different housecleaner. Ours has been with us 10 years or more. But she just doesn’t see dirt unless it’s what she usually cleans (sinks, stove top, etc). She sometimes does windows, but they are more smudged when she is done that when she started. Some of this is our fault for not instructing her sooner. But my house looks okay; my mother’s house – much bigger – always sparkles and glistens. (I want her house cleaner.)
So, what’s the appropriate way to let ours go? She isn’t supposed to come again for about 10 days (after our vacation). Is it chicken to write her a note instead of talking to her in person? I was thinking that we don’t want her to come and clean when she’s regularly scheduled, and then let her go after that. Should we give her a couple of weeks “severance”? All advice for this cowardly couple welcome.
Zetesis, I totally hear you about the housekeeper. I always think ours is perfect for self conscious middle class folks like us who are not entirely comfortable with having household help…because it sure doesn’t look like we have household help!
So I left work after lunch on Friday…everything was terrific except the weather forecast. The weatherman didn’t say “expect really heavy rain for about 25 minutes.” He said, “DONT GO OUT TONIGHT! POSSIBLE TORNADOES! POSSIBLE HAIL! DON’T GO OUT TONIGHT! WOLF! WOLF!”
So instead of 22 people we had 10. The party was due to start at 7 pm. The monsoon started at about 6:50 and lasted until about 7:20. Then there were just a few sprinkles. After that, the few hardy folks came. I image that the others hadn’t even bothered to get ready because of the dire forecast. It ticked me off a bit that of the no-shows, only one texted her regrets, the rest have remained silent.
The food was good. We had plenty of room and time to really get caught up.
I was disappointed that the friend for whom I planned the event was also a no show. I called her the next morning and offered to bring over party leftovers. H and I had a nice visit - stayed about an hour. She said she was just too exhausted to come visit the night before. I hope the others from the party will make an effort to visit her.
Anyway, I was out and/or being social and/or drinking three nights in a row. Today I went to church, took a long nap, put away the rest of the stuff from the party and read the entire Sunday NY Times. It’s all good!
Zetesis, unfortunately I don’t have any expertise in either hiring or firing household help, but it definitely sounds like a change is in order.
In fact, I’m anxious over a report I feel I must make today. I use a car service to get to/from the airport, and coming home Friday, I had a driver who made the drive very unpleasant. I am a very easy going person, but it was bad enough I wrote down the driver’s name, license #, and noted the 5 out of 12 items on the passenger bill of rights the driver violated. There’s a process to make a complaint and as bad as my experience was, I still feel like I’m going to ruin the driver’s life by reporting him.
missypie, glad you survived the big event and sorry the weather did not cooperate. Sounds like it was a nice time for those who braved the weather.
MP - sorry about the weather and the no shows. I too, would be annoyed at the no responses, although I don’t think that is unusual. Glad it went well otherwise.
Count me as another who does not like to speak out about service unless it is really bad, but zetesis and c_q I think in both cases this is called for.
We had friends over for dinner out on the deck last night. That’s the sort of thing we used to do a lot, but got out of the habit during the years we spent running around with the kids’ activities. It was also good because it was H who suggested this and I am usually the social chairman in our house.
I have 24 descending on me Sunday. Not real worried other than this is to make awards for a race that the team my H is on (running team) so I have to feed them. Doing a New Orleans theme - H picked it. Problem is is that I have to have food ready when ever they are ready to wind down from making the awards. Okay - - I can deal with that as I can look at how things are going and make a decision on when to cook somethings. Problem is is that a few are vegan. Cooking anything vegan is a pain but New Orleans theme seems really difficult. I think I’m doing a vegan version of red beans and rice along with a couple of salads for them. Crawfish etouffee along with some muffulettas and po’boys for everyone else. Should be run. Just need to get through this work week. I know that I shouldn’t wish away my life but I’m looking forward to the day when I do what I want when I want.
^Sounds like a great meal, although I am put myself on a diet – I don’t eat starch or added sugar.
It was so great to see ShawSon doing so well. He is in such good shape – from playing basketball 2+ hours a day. He seems health and happy. He’s working intensely hard and now seems himself as an engineer. He now knows how to succeed at his program and is both apprehensive about switching to the first year MBA curriculum but he is also eager to do so. He took us around the engineering quad, which is magnificent. So much money went into these buildings. Terrific architectural coherence between the new and the old. We saw one of his study groups. We ran into one of his friends. Apparently he tells them how great I am (he wants me to give this kid some career advice) and I tell my friends how great he is. Life must be good (although ShawWife felt a little left out of this). We took him out for sushi and then he went off to admitted students weekend at the business school to meet more of his future classmates. On Sunday, we went to Half Moon Bay for a hike and lunch and then met him to just talk. Then the three of us met with the magnetically beautiful one for dinner. It turns out she’s ten years older than he is, although she looks at most 5 and probably less. She’s delightful and she may be like a big sister – she tells him where to take his dates.
On the dinner before we went out to see him, we got together with a college friend of mine who is seriously into philanthropy these days. At the next table were two young women. When one of the two left, the other asked ShawWife a question and my friend’s wife and ShawWife starting talking to her. She apparently had just moved to town and was eager to meet men so ShawWife volunteered ShawSon. The young woman volunteered her phone number and ShawWife took her picture and we sent it on to ShawSon. When her friend came back and was telling us a story (this at a very fancy restaurant) that was a little racy, the young woman said, “You can’t tell stories like that to my future in-laws.” Stranger things have happened, but ShawSon is still going out on dates.
One thing that is interesting. ShawWife asked who pays when ShawSon and young woman go out on a date. Here’s what we learned. Somehow in this era of desired equality between men and women, the norm on a date between a male and a female grad student is that the man pays. Typically, the woman offers to pay, but the man knows to decline. Why aren’t things split from the start? With at least some online dating apps, the men put out feelers and the women accept or reject but typically don’t move first. It feels like raw sociobiology in action. This seems like regression to me. Why are the men initiating and paying these days?
Shaw, too funny about the girl/prospect in the restaurant…wouldn’t it be a hoot if they connected
Re: guys paying…my hunch is that guys are hard wired biologically to caretake in one form or the other and feeding someone is one of the few ways left available to meet that biological impulse Perhaps that’s a madcap notion, but its a hunch. I’ve come to notice that for people to be able to emotionally engage, there has to be a little vulnerability on the woman’s part, and buying someone a meal builds a bit of faux vulnerability into the equation.
I think allowing a man to pay also is a subtle differential indication between romantic interest and platonic or casual interest, which is otherwise complicated to distinguish these days
Missy, glad you enjoyed your social time but sorry for the no shows and errant guest of honor!
Z – I harbor the same thoughts about our cleaning person and have no good advice because I realize in part that she has to hold something back unless I give her more hours, which I don’t want to do. In her books my house takes longer to clean than I think it does (I’m fast at everything). So any time I ask for something extra, she seems to be sure to leave something else undone; perhaps this is fair and my expectations are unrealistic. Obviously, if I knew the answer, my house would be cleaner
kmc – yes, that’s the problem: in order to get her to do more, we need to pay her for more hours, I think. And there’s the rub: if we don’t think she’s doing a great job now, why pay her more to do what we think she needs to be doing? Maybe it does take longer to clean our house than we think (but not sure that’s the basic issue).
D2 turns 24 today. She’s coming up for breakfast. Funny, though she lives a stone’s throw away, we don’t see her all that often: life in grad school keeps her pretty occupied. Also, she must be doing aerial 8 hours a week or more: not only does it keep her amazingly fit/strong (don’t arm wrestle that girl!), but she says it helps keep her mentally sane in a culture where grad students are in the lab almost 24/7. While we were gone she participated in a dance show at her institution (who knew?); sorry to have missed it.
Also: there’s a guy in her life. And so he gets the birthday dinner.
Shaw, I wonder the same thing about dating and paying – guess some habits die hard?
