the DronesClub	the smackdown	Fierce Creatures	Little Blenheim	Barmy in Wonderland	the dernier cri

The unpleasant, acrid smell of burnt poetry.
Young Men in Spats, 1936

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Jan 2010	Feb 2010	Mar 2010	Apr 2010	May 2010	Jun 2010
July 2010	Aug 2010	Sep 2010	Oct 2010	Nov 2010	Dec 2010

 

August 31, 2010

8:33 p.m. - So the OHB Trustees dinner was not a smoker. Didn't really anticipate that, though one likes to imagine back in the day meeting in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Blackstone or Fontenelle in tuxedoes to celebrate the year, followed by one of those stuffy pictures of everyone sitting at their tables looking old-timey and formal. This was an informal indoor picnic with fried chicken, and I hobnobbed with friends and fellows, staff members and brothers. Good time had by all.

Good news to report: tomorrow's evening meeting has been cancelled, leaving me with one more 1-hour meeting after work on Thursday.

August 30, 2010

Arabella takes to her new bed. . . Or maybe not. She's lying next to it on the floor next to the A/C vent at present.

7:17 p.m. - My wife went out for sushi with Julie. . . without me! True, I had my first of numerous - and endless - meetings after work, but still to go out for fresh, tasty, delicious sushi without me is a mortal sin. I'm hurt.

Had my first Retention committee meeting at Scottish Rite. How do I get myself on yet another committee? I've got to learn to string together those two letters N and O. Ah well. Being an officer isn't all peach ice cream and deference from the rank and file members. It's earned through sweat and tears and equity. Tomorrow night: Home for Boys Trustees dinner. We'll see what that entails. I'm hoping seegars and Scotch but it is highly unlikely.

Little else to report, True Believers. Slept horribly last night, as I traditionally do on Sundays. Had the strangest dreams, probably due to having a late dinner. But on the plus side, the transition from TierOne to Great Western Bank is pretty much complete. Got to log on to the new online banking site today and balance my checkbook.

 

August 29, 2010

Gryffindor seems to like his new pillow.

Jennifer found this pop culture artist who renders classic artwork with Stars Warsy themes. Love it!

7:29 p.m. - Quiet weekend at Casa de Evans. Jennifer worked late on Friday, so I puttered around the house cleaning. On Saturday, she went to work around noon, so I puttered around the house doing more cleaning, laundry, and picking-up stuff. And on Sunday, she had the day off. We had lunch at Louis M's (or rather, I had a guacamole bacon cheddar burger for lunch and J had biscuits and gravy for breakfast). We stopped out at the garden store way out at 130th and Center, where we got a few odds and ends, including two new pillows for the dogs to replace some nasty old ones. (Gryffindor took to his reasonably quickly, but it will be a while before Percy or Arabella take to the one upstairs. Arabella likes sleeping on the floor by the vent but Percy may eventually take to it.) At any rate, then we looked in on Mom and Mike's for a while. I picked up Krispy Kremes on the way home - didn't need it, but they sure were good - and we've had a quiet evening. I had a late dinner of disgusting leftover rice and Jennifer is having an even more disgusting late dinner of hotdogs. I'll pay for that late night nom by being unable to sleep later, but I was feeling a mite peckish.

Meanwhile, looking at my calendar, it's going to be another long week of meetings post laborum. Retention committee on Monday, OHB Trustees Dinner on Tuesday, Development committee on Wednesday, and the Membership Committee on Thursday. Thankfully, none of these meetings (except the OHB dinner, which will probably not be a clubman's smoker) is longer than an hour. Whew! Looking forward to a long and hopefully quiet Labor Day weekend!

Meanwhile, it's about 10 minutes until Micah's not-to-be-interrupted TV time. Rubicon, followed by Mad Men on AMC. Yeah!

August 26, 2010

9:23 p.m. - I reckon I ought to put down a few lines, to keep your interest levels waxing full. So what has our intrepid hero been up to since last I checked in? I haven't had a night's reprieve this week thus far. Monday, Florence Lodge. Tuesday, OHB House committee. Wednesday, dental appointment. And tonight, the Scottish Rite centennial committee met to continue our cunning plans for the Scottish Rite's 100th anniversary in our beautiful neo-classical building designed by the great John Latenser. I won't divulge what we have in store for you, but trust me, you're going to be reveling in local history by the time I'm done with you.

Jennifer had Frosted Flakes for dinner, and when I got home at 7, I had a small bowl of the same, chased with leftover Chinese takeout from the night before. Apparently, Percy barked in his kennel during the night watches, and I didn't hear him (those ear plugs are worth every bit of discomfort) and she took him out at 5 a.m. So in retaliation for my malfeasance and non-feasance, she retired on the early side leaving me to potter around the old homestead until bed time. I've spent the last few hours watching TV or playing on the computer and listening to music. Percy is asleep under the desk and Arabella is napping by the air conditioning vent.

August 24, 2010

7:15 a.m. - We join our hero exhausted again at 7 in the morning. Slept utterly poorly and had a very long evening last night. As soon as I got home from work and cooled off, I lugged the garbage out to the curb and headed off to Florence Lodge. We conducted an FC last night, and fortunately I only had to serve as Chaplain which required little work (though what little work I did have, I managed to flub horrendously). Got home at about 9:15, lugged the rest of the garbage to the curb, and went to bed, at which point I immediately got my second wind and couldn't fall asleep. Go figure.

Oh yeah, and while cleaning a pot in the sink last night, I managed to splatter spaghetti sauce all over my shirt. Smooth. Very smooth. My dry cleaner loves the challenges I bring her.

August 23, 2010

7:30 a.m. - Another quiet Sunday at Chez Evans. We had lunch at in•grē•di•ent at Midtown Crossing. I had the portobello mushroom sammich, most of which I managed to get all over my shirt (suave, really suave), and the rest spiked my purine levels into the stratosphere. For once I can say it was probably not worth it, in spite of how tasty it was. I went to the store and picked up a few Krispy Kremes and recycle bags, but otherwise we had a quiet afternoon. In the evening right before the sun went down, we spent about 20 minutes bagging up the branches Jennifer cut from the trees along the street and weeds. I was utterly sweaty and filthy, and she had barely broken a bead of sweat. Afterwards, I watched Rubicon and Mad Men, both really strong episodes this week.

Unfortunately, I slept really badly last night, waking up at 3 a.m. and having a hard time getting back to sleep. It's going to be a long day and a hot 'un.

August 22, 2010

8:38 a.m. - It's already been an adventuresome morning. Cat mewing at the crack of dawn for attention, which means I'm up and taking the dogs out. Percy has had a horrible accident in his kennel, and I'm cleaning up unimaginable filth. Shower for me, followed by continued clean up of dog's kennel. And it's not even 9 a.m. yet.

I had a fun time talking to people at a fundraiser yesterday and enjoyed the morning. On my way out, someone had a flat and I stopped to help (Jennifer: "you know how to change a tire?"). We figured out how to get the spare tire out of this Rube Goldberg contraption which tethered it to the bottom of the car. With a false start or two, we got the car jacked up. Using my brute strength, I got four of the five lug nuts off. Finally, the fifth lug nut was one of those locking ones, and during the exercise of removing it (brute force; standing on the tire iron until it rotated), I sheared a chunk of it off. I feel absolutely rotten about it because now the lug nut won't come off at all, the car has to be towed and the nut chiseled off, before replacing the tire which wasn't really rocket science. I feel bad about it, but I did do my best.

Got home and took a nap afterwards with Arabella snoring at my side, followed by a shower. In the evening, Jennifer and I had pizza and did a bit of yard work. Quiet evening. I zonked out by 10:00 or so.

August 21, 2010

7:57 a.m. - Slept reasonably well last night, though I had the absolute weirdest dreams (danged if I can remember what they were, though). I'm up, dressed, showered, and off to an event for work.

August 20, 2010

Justin Bateman and Jennifer Anniston in The Switch

9:13 p.m. - We went to see The Switch this evening. It's standard Hollywood romantic comedy nowadays, gimmicky and trite. Kassie, single New York girl, played by professional single New York girl Rachel, aka Jennifer Anniston, wants a baby. So she gets Night Owl from The Watchmen to donate his ummm. . . seed. But loveable best friend nice guy Justin Batemen accidentally on purpose spills it and has to replace it with his own. Flash forward seven years. Kassie and little Sebastian move back to New York, and Justin Batemen finds that Sebastian, for all his weird neuroses is a good kid who needs a father figure.

Night Owl is all plastic smiles and there is about as much romance between the two as between a pepper shaker and a salt shaker. The movie quickly falls into Hollywood's version of routine sentimentality: shots of them in coffee shops with giant oversized mugs or sitting in Central Park. At any rate, father and son bond as Kassie falls for Roland, who is - deus ex machina - back on the singles market and ready to propose. But then Justin divulges his secret that Sebastian is really his kid, and Kassie, Sebastian, and Justin head off into the sunset. Like I said, gimmicky Hollywood fare. Sure, it had a few laughs and was sweet with the nutritional value of cotton candy, but to me it was the product of Hollywood-think. All the bad guys are square-jawed, wavy-haired, good looking, and they look better in baggy clothes than you do in your Sunday finest. Which means they are shallow people, if not exactly bad. And the good people are rough around the edges and have imperfect teeth and the cut of the their suits leaves something to be desired. This means, in Hollywood-think, that they are not shallow and self-centered. The bad people have their fake kiddie birthday parties at the place with a giant climbing wall because they are artificial themselves. The good people have kiddie birthday parties at home and everyone wears funny hats and eats off earthenware plates because they are real and genuine. It's all a lot of Hollywood bull but it looks good on a movie screen. Bottom line: it's a nice date-night movie and there are a lot of good laughs, but you won't remember much about The Switch in the morning.

7:11 a.m. - HUGE lightning crack just now! Scared the heck out of Percy and Arabella. It was beginning to rain when we went outside 10 minutes ago, and now the thunder and lightning are deafening. I slept really badly last night, and I'm utterly dragging this morning. I could have fallen asleep just standing in the shower, and I could easily fall asleep right now in spite of the thunder.

August 19, 2010

Monday's Scottish Rite picnic at Cooper Farm

9:45 p.m. Quiet p.m. at Casa de Evans. Jennifer is down among the wines and spirits, so I fended for myself. Looked in on Mom & Mike's house to see about a really nice shelf. I couldn't get it apart with my mallet, and it would have been too big to simply lower into the basement stairwell. I hate to let a really nice $100+ shelf go, which we could use, but there is no way to convey and transport it home without it coming apart. Sigh. . . Stopped at Walgreen's on the way home. They had Tide detergent for high efficiency washers on sale for $10.99, down from about $15.99, which was a great deal. Jennifer bought a 64 oz bottle yesterday and I bought another one. Might as well save money when and where you can nowadays. Funny that buying detergent on a steep discount is the highlight of my day. I'm convinced I'm getting old.

7:13 a.m. - Busy week here, True Believers. I kicked off the week with the Scottish Rite annual picnic at Cooper's Farm, which is always a fantastic event. We had about 60 or so families come. Sadly, it's down from the 100+ that used to come. I asked about it, and people came when it was free, but now that there is a reasonable charge of $5 (for pretty much all you can eat burgers, chips, drinks, sides, and s'mores), that turned a number of people off. I really don't believe it myself, but there it is. They'll spend $7 on a fancy coffee at Starbucks for themselves, but $5 is too much for a dinner in the company of friends and Brothers. At any rate, I had a grand time and sat with friends and ambled around greeting others. Good time had by all.

Last night, we looked in on Mom and Mike and picked up some stuff they were getting rid of, before moving to Santa Fe later this year/early next. Jennifer took some antique apothecary bottles. I took a couple of old vases that are that cobalt-y/rusty looking metal, the process by which they make it momentarily eluding me. Raku? Is that the word I want? I also relieved them of a Darth Vader mask, which I shall wear this Halloween with a Hawaiian shirt as Chad Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith's ne'er-do-well nephew. We'll go back tonight and get a metal shelf for the basement.

August 16, 2010

Clean office. We'll see how long this lasts. . .

7:16 a.m. - Another quiet weekend come and gone. Jennifer worked all day yesterday, and I went in to the office yesterday from 9 until slightly before 4, catching up on a few projects (but not nearly all). I put in a few hours of yeoman's work cleaning, and managed to unearth 2 bags of recycled paper that have accumulated since whenever it was I cleaned last. Yikes!

After I got home, I needed another shower. Jennifer got home around six with some groceries, and in the meantime I tackled a bit more cleaning including another round of laundry. We had hot dogs for dinner - her favorite, not mine - and enjoyed some well-earned quietude. J retired after two very long days of work, and I watched Rubicon and Mad Men last night. Nothing new on Mad Men, though it is interesting that we continue to see Don Draper as a man not in the same level of control as he used to be. The times, they are a-changin', as the fellow said, and Don has not kept apace.

Again, I didn't sleep too soundly last night and my eyes popped open at 5 a.m. sharp. Ugh. At least tonight is the Scottish Rite picnic, which is always a fun event.

August 14, 2010

8:22 p.m. - Busy day at Casa de Evans. J worked all day, and I was at the Scottish Rite by 8:30ish for a KSA meeting, which seemed to stretch on forever. 90 minutes. When I was VM, they lasted an hour. That's not to say the current VM isn't good - he's very good, very thorough, a true leader and a great guy. But I really do hate long meetings, no matter how they are run. And of course, after the meeting, there is yet another 30 minutes of impromptu meetings.

Afterwards I got a haircut - unfortunately, a horrible one. The girl was more interested in babbling than in paying attention, and it looks like she simply ran the clippers over my noggin and snip-snipped here and there. Oh well. It grows back.

Got home around noon and talked to my brother for a brief while, followed by a brief nap. Since 2:00ish, I've been feverishly cleaning the house. I've tackled mountains of laundry, removed that feculent, horrible rug from beneath the cat's litter box and vacuumed up horrible, horrible things, mopped downstairs, vacuumed dust tumbleweeds from the stairs, scrubbed my bathtub and sink, mopped the bathroom floor, washed dishes. . . . In spite of two showers today, I'm still dripping with sweat and may need yet another scrub before bed time.

Quiet around here this evening. Jennifer had me pick up Time Out Chicken, quite possibly the best fried chicken ever devised. Since J had a long day at work with the Art In Bloom festival at the Gardens, we've had a quiet evening. No hot tub tonight, though last night we enjoyed a good three hour soak in the neighbor's tub. I could live in that thing - how do mere mortals live without neighbor's hot tubs? A feller comes out so relaxed, you could simply float off to sleep. At any rate, I'm watching movies on cable, and J is watching TV in the other room.

August 13, 2010

7:21 a.m. - No good deed goes unpunished. Or something like that anyway. After a wonderful evening soaking in a hot tub (I don't think I've ever done that before), I woke up this morning, had a luxurious stretch, and wrenched a muscle in my shoulder and neck.

August 12, 2010

10:29 p.m. - Yet again, peace reigns in my valley. I made rib-eye steaks for dinner (cooked in the oven; a trifle overdone), roasted potatoes, and carrots for dinner. Took me a good 90 minutes to recover - I was utterly stuffed after dinner and darn near fell asleep.

Since our neighbors are out of town, we hopped in their hot tub around 8:30ish (Jennifer's idea - brilliant!) and enjoyed a nice soak in the warm weather for about an hour and a half. I wants a hot tub now. That was relaxing with a capital T! I had hoped we'd catch the Perseid meteor shower, but they didn't start until 1 a.m., and even then it may not have been dark enough. Oh well. Maybe next time.

7:06 a.m. - Another quiet evening at Casa de Evans. Neither of us wanted to cook last night, so Jennifer ordered Papa John's pizza. Mom and Mike stopped by afterward, and I talked to Dad on the phone for a while after that. Afterward, I looked in on Jennifer and Julie to see her new living room furniture, and then came back home to work on a project. I keep waking up at 5 a.m., which is less than ideal. Six hours of sleep last night - not near enough. I wonder if I'll take up on time when we set the clocks back in the Fall, or will I wake up at 4 a.m.? Meanwhile, it's already humid outside.

August 11, 2010

9:19 a.m. - Perfectly broiled steaks, corn on the cob, carrots, and potatoes for dinner, with a bowl of ice cream afterward. My kind of evening.

August 10, 2010

7:15 a.m. - Dogs out at 7:00 a.m., and it's already as hot and humid as if it were mid day! 80 degrees, says you, big deal. Yeah, but about 125% humidity, says I. Hot as a sauna, and it's projected to rise to a heat index of 104°, fit for neither man nor beast. Consider the 'dislike' button pressed.

August 9, 2010

Just for fun: here's J & I looking fantastic at the Florence Lodge Installation back in January, 2003. I was Senior Steward then.

8:51 p.m. - So it's hot outside. Someone said the heat index was 111° earlier today, and weather.com insists the heat index right now is 102°. I believe it. It feels hotter than a Bessemer furnace, even spending less than 5 minutes taking the trash outside to the curb. Just a few moments outside, and I'm sweating, drenched, and wet. Probably lost 5 pounds out there. Another 20 more trips outside, and I may be halfway toward being in shape. Well, maybe not, but by damme it's hot!

7:12 a.m. - Yeah, that went well. Here we are on the sunny side of the week. Monday again.

Nice weekend in spite of blast furnace temperatures - the kind where you work up a sweat and lose 4 pounds walking twixt the door and the car. Friday, as always, is a quiet evening at Casa de Evans. I forget if we had King Kong on Friday, or if that was Thursday? Either way, it was reasonably quiet.

Saturday was the same as Friday, except more so. We lazed around in the morning, though I went out at some point and picked up bagels from Panera's. Crookshanks mewed for attention at 5:30 a.m., so having gone to bed after midnight and got up before six, I spent the entire day hurting for sleep. I tried napping at some point, but every time I'd fall asleep, I'd snore myself awake. Jennifer left for work around noon, and I went out to take my shoes to the cobbler for repair followed by a trip to the grocery. Afterwards, I tried being lazy but it wasn't taking, so I spent the afternoon cleaning up, whittling through papers, and vacuuming downstairs. Finally managed to vacuum inside the intake grate in the front hallway - horrible! - and vacuumed up bird seeds which spilled some months back in the kitchen A/C vent. In the evening, we had Chinese food delivered.

Sunday was fairly quiet as well. Did nothing in the morning other than have a bagel and watch Leverage on FX, a ridiculous show about an all-star team of ex-thieves, headed "use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on common citizens." It's kind of like the A-Team, but makes less sense. Case in point, this fellow is driving along in his truck, gets pulled over, and arrested for grand theft. But he claims he bought the truck fair-and-square, though the prosecutors show a forged VIN. Enter our heroes, all ex-cons making good by helping people. For apparently no fee other than altruism, they go down to some generic southern state, open up a rival used car lot next to the used car lot accused of having stolen the guy's truck in the first place, infiltrate a ring of car thieves, and use cool high tech toys Uncle Sam would love to get his hands on, and in the end, bust the ring and the crooked auto dealer, thereby vindicating the first guy. So either they do it for the warm fuzzy feeling of having done right, or they send the first guy a bill for about $900,000 for their troubles. And of course, each member of the team is one of those archetype characters only Hollywood can come up with: the hacker/sci-fi geek, the British grifter with a taste for fine art, the martial artist/soldier-of-fortune, and the expert thief, safe-cracker, and pickpocket. Of course, they are pursued by one of the leader's former co-workers, now an Interpol agent (yes, just like Major Decker from the A-Team). "If you have a problem, if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can hire. . . " well, you've heard it before.

We went to see Dinner for Schmucks at Marcus Theater in the afternoon. I'm not saying it was a brilliant movie, but it delivered a great deal of laughs throughout. Steve Carrell is talented enough to carry himself without the Idiot's Tool kit, i.e., the bowl cut, fake teeth, and wire rim glasses, but Hollywood does feel the need to reduce each person to some kind of common denominator. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, and a good time was had by all. Well, almost. In a HUGE empty theater, Mom brought in her two small boys (waaay too young for this movie, mind you) and sat across from us. She had a grand time, but the boys swiveled around in their squeaky chairs, chattered, and ran around in spite of a lot of shushing from me. I really can't stand selfish parents who imagine that the movie theater is an easy babysitter.

Afterward, we looked in on Mom and Mike to say hello. I broiled pork ribs for dinner with potatoes and creamed spinach. Watched  a great episode of Rubicon and Mad Men in the evening and finally went to bed (way too late) at 11:00.

August 5, 2010

7:15 a.m. - Exhausted already. Woke up at 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. This has been a busy week - Florence Lodge on Monday, an event in Fremont on Tuesday, an executive committee meeting at the Neighborhood Center last night after work, and the Scottish Rite membership/retention committee this evening. Tomorrow, fortunately is not only Friday, but I have nothing planned!

Jennifer made bacon and eggs (or rather, I made bacon and she made eggs), and we had a quiet evening otherwise.

August 3, 2010

7:15 a.m. - Feel much better. The weekend finally caught up with me yesterday, and I had to leave work early to rest. I am just not in any shape to stand in the hot sun in long pants, long shirt, boots, and a helmet for 12 hours. This summer humidity is no fun at all!

August 1, 2010

8:16 p.m. - We find our hero so tired, I can barely stay awake. It has been a LONG weekend. I started my Basic Rider Course at the NE Safety Council so I can - finally - get my endorsement to ride motorcycles. Or more accurately, my scooter. Class was from 6 to 9 on Friday. And then on the motorcycle range from 7:30 - 12:30 on Saturday, followed by class from 1:30 to 4:30. And then motorcycle range again from 7:30 to 12:30 today. Besides being tired after work, 5 hours in the hot sun in long pants and a long shirt and Timberland boots (which are utterly worn out by the way) pushed me to the exhaustion point. I got home yesterday around 5:30 or 6:00 and was in bed by 8:30. Got home at 1:30 today and took a shower. I could go to bed right now. But, says you, did you pass? Well, says I, thereby hangs a tale. I have never ridden a motorcycle before, so it's a new skill to me. I can't say I took to motorcycle riding like a fish to water. I am not that great at giving the bike gas and then easing off the clutch. I seem to just release the clutch and the motorcycle engine poops out. Or I release the gas, and the machine takes off like a bronco out of the gate. I picked up greater confidence as the day wore on, and if I had a motorbike, I'd pick up the skill with practice. As it is, I did, in fact, pass. But just barely. If I do get a bike - not likely, according to She Who Must Be Obeyed - I'd take the class again to keep up my skills. Regardless, I am rather proud of having passed and I really do hope to get my motorcycle endorsement, followed by properly licensing my scooter so I can take it to work on occasion, or elsewhere about town as Life my dictate.

The humorous part is that who knew being outside, learning to ride a motorcycle could be so physically punishing. I was so exhausted yesterday after 5 hours on the range, I needed two hours to cool down and then crashed when I got home. Today, I drank more water, a huge bottle of Gatorade, and took a cold shower. Fortunately, it was not quite as hot and humid as yesterday, or I'd've passed out. When I got home, we looked in on Mom and Mike's, followed by a well-earned dinner at in•grē•di•ent at Midtown Crossing. I hadn't had anything all day, since a late dinner the night before, and I was utterly famished!

I am watching Rubicon on AMC, which promises to be an interesting show, but I simply don't have the raw energy to watch the second episode. Need to save my waning strength for Mad Men at 9:00. Then bedtime. Can't wait for bedtime!