Wordless Wednesday: Flowers and Wildflowers

 

Saturday Evening Post

 

Speedwell, also known as spreadwell, has spread and sped its way around our yard this spring.  It's in the usual places at the edges of things, and now in places in the middle of things.  I believe this is considered low ground cover, so if it crowded out the grass and took over everything, I'd never have to mow again.  (Saying this while knowing full well that the dandelions have yet to appear.)  

But speedwell isn't the only wildflower that's appearing now.  Red dead nettle, shown above, usually shows up on the south side of the house in spring.  

My day:  groceries at the Lehigh Street Redner's, bananas and currants at the Emaus Avenue Giant... a Boss Hog from Wally's Hogs in Emmaus... Revolver and Can't Buy a Thrill streaming in the Toyota... baking hot cross buns with an orange-extract flavored icing for BB... losing interest in The Mouse on the Moon and walking away... Wisconsin-Penn State cancelled due to the pandemic, but Illinois-Indiana is still on... some more organization in the photo database.

Positive I'm not the first to think of this, but likely among the first to think of it while lying awake at 3:00 a.m.  Cleveland's old hockey team was the Barons.  For years, all the rest of their teams were just barren. 

Dirty money

Reelin' in the Years and Do It Again were the two hits from the first Steely Dan album, but now, nearly 50 years later, the song from that album with more visibility is Dirty Work.  

And more 21st-Century bankability, having been used also at the beginning of American Hustle.  But American Hustle was eight years ago, and back then the target audience for Suicide Squad 2 was probably still in elementary school.  So it's new to them!

Just imagining someone seeing the movie, loving the song, and looking for more music by Steely Dan... and learning the singer, David Palmer, sang lead on only one of the remaining nine songs on Can't Buy a Thrill.  

Edit:  maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how much SD music is being used nowadays.  So maybe they're not just the guys who stole the Grammy from Eminem twenty years ago? 

Someday I'll learn to resist these headlines

 So they still have ED, but they don't feel so bad about it now, amirite?

I know nothing

 ...but here's what I'm thinking.

I'm not inclined toward conspiracy theories.  Oswald probably acted alone, and probably so did Jack Ruby.  (I would be surprised if Epstein really killed himself.)

But on a smaller, much less important level, I feel like something funny is going on with Coca-Cola.  I'm old enough to remember New Coke (which reminded me of RC Cola, to tell the truth) and how Classic Coke was hurried onto the market and overtook it.  

So maybe the lesson they learned at Coke was not to make a big production out of a change in formula.  Maybe go the other way.  Change the formula to one that people preferred in taste tests, but don't tell anyone you're doing it.  Then for the percentage of folks who can tell the difference, make sure word gets around that Mexican Coke is made with real sugar, not corn syrup, and tastes like The Real Thing that's been their favorite since childhood.  It even comes in green-glass bottles. 

Results:  cost savings on the main brand, which I feel confident has removed some of the pricier ingredients, and for the old-timers they make what's now the boutique version that's more expensive to buy, but made in Mexico likely means less expensive to obtain ingredients and for labor.  

I asked BB to set up a blind taste test with the two versions of Coke.  She handed me a juice glass of soda, and as I brought it up to drink, I smelled Coca-Cola.  Didn't even need to taste it.  This was the glass-bottled, sugar-sweetened, cola-nut drink I've known all my life. 

The past couple of years, I've taken a chance on the yellow-capped Passover Coke available in limited quantities.  Time was, it tasted authentic, but since a year or two ago, it just tastes like carbonated molasses, as though they're using a ton of brown sugar and none of the flavorings that went into the Coke of my childhood, youth, young adulthood, middle age, and the beginning of the autumn of my years.  

So did Coca-Cola really plan it this way?  I'll never know and they'd never tell if they did.  It was nice while it lasted, and Pepsi's happy to have my business now.

...but first...

Time for bed, after a recap of the day.  Rain this morning, rain this afternoon.  I came downstairs for breakfast and BB and I agreed it was a good day.  We felt well and in good spirits.  

I did my job from 8:30 to 5:00 with a lunch break just after noon.  We played at the Spelling Bees (yes, plural, due to some technical difficulties at the Times).  We solved both before I went back to work at 1:00.  

At the game, she's good and I'm good.  Sometimes she gets the majority of the words and the pangram, and other times I take care of them.  It would be hard to say that one of us or the other is clearly better at the game.  

It plays on our competitive instinct, and that makes it more fun.  If BB reels off several words in a row, I feel like I'm not holding up my end.  Actually, though, we have different tactics.  I'm looking for home runs, high-value long words, and she's looking for any words.  

One strategy I've used is to get halfway to genius level and leave the rest for her.  I've also looked only for words of five letters or more, which produce point values equal to the number of letters.  Finding a four-letter word is only worth one point.

...dot dot dot... Good Queen Schwirley on my lap during the Rutgers-Maryland volleyball match... playing Fishdom while listening to game 2 of the 1982 World Series with Vin Scully and Sparky Anderson... the all-day rain left multiple puddles in the back yard, and BB wants a French drain to move excess water to the big drain at the back of the property... the little black pooshka still comes to us for meals, but not the big ol' creampuff, the poor guy.  Pretty sure he's not in pain anymore.

Stimulus checks for thousands of dollars -- what a country!

Time for a change

Ten and a half months of a cliffside by the sea, and tonight I decided to do something different with the look of this thing.  Dark blue and white are a reasonable change.  For now, anyway.

Easy Come, Easy Go

Today's local adventure:  BB taking in her 2014 Subaru Outback for state inspection.  The first thing they did was find that the front tires have some areas that are close to the bare minimum of tread.  How, after only 15,000 miles?  Well, the guy said, it's probably out of alignment from the roads in the area.  They can rotate the tires and do an alignment and that should get it through today and awhile longer.  

(Won't bite on the 4 new tires?  Then pivot to the rotation and the alignment.)

By the end of the day, after all that plus emissions testing, and replacing the air filter in the cabin (I looked up this one - $14 for the filter at Walmart, and a 60-second video says replacement consists of getting to the filter by simply unhooking and removing the glove box, then unlatching the filter cover.  The dealer charged $71.  BB said that she could afford it, and it's true that the last two presidents have put extra cash in all our pockets.  But it bugged me that they'd ask that much.) the final bill was for just over $300.  Yowie.

Winter is gone, Spring is here

The humble, hardy chicory gets a moment in the spotlight of the New York Times.  

The image below was taken far from New York, and a couple of hundred yards from the house.  Give me a chicory flower in the summer sun anytime.

I also learned that "hedge bindweed" is another name for the flower I know as "morning glory."  That might be the ultimate test of "a rose by any other name."

Sunday night

Time for bed, back to work tomorrow.  What happened today?

Sunny spring day, mid-sixties, and we got out of the house.

Fillup with gas at Costco for $2.98 a gallon.  BB bought cat food at PetSmart.  Then to the ShopRite in Bethlehem for something different.  Ben & Jerry's for $2.88 a pint, San Marzano tomatoes for $1.99 a can, but everything else was full price.  She got Martin bacon, I got Breakstone sour cream, we got this, that and the other, all told $69.  Drove there via I-78, came home via Route 22.  Passed the office where I used to report every weekday, and the Cigna sign is down.

BB won a one-day tourney in WordScapes, 1800+ points compared to 1300+ for 2nd place.  We also hit genius level in Spelling Bee.  (My turn today to get the pangram, "opulent.")

And finally, Big Ten volleyball, Wisconsin over Minnesota in 4 sets.

Work for hire

According to a story repeated by Music Radar, Microsoft commissioned Brian Eno to compose the startup sound for Windows 95.  I seem to recall seeing Eno's description of the requirements of the job, something like "it has to be like *this*, it has to be like *that*... and it has to be six seconds long."  

For those six seconds, Mr. Eno pocketed a fee of $35,000.  Let me see, $350,000 a minute, and $350K X 60 per hour... I'm guessing he got a flat fee instead of royalties.  

And, according to the composer, he created it on a Mac.  And now you know... the rrrrrest of the story.

Keep Smiling

Many people post nature photographs on Twitter, and on impulse one afternoon I decided to take one photographer up on his offer to "buy him a coffee."  

In the comment section, I wrote that a rabbit image of his is the wallpaper on my phone.  Also, that I am always happy when he posts pictures of Tits.  (I could have added that it is a pleasure to see an image of a couple of Great Tits.)  

Guess I had his sense of humour read wrong, because the comment was taken down, and he didn't send a thank-you note either.  He kept the money, though.  

Friday night

Couldn't write last night because Good Queen Swirly was on my lap for a couple of hours.  

What happened worth writing about?  BB's first of two Pfizer Covid-19 vaccinations at LVH.  She was nervous all the way there, but relaxed when we saw the queue of people waiting their turn.  I dropped her off at the entrance and parked the car on the protected level because it was raining (a rain that continued all day).  

We had our temps taken at the door, but didn't get the sticker they've handed out in the past to signify we've passed.  BB didn't want to use a wheelchair until she saw the length of the line, stretching to the cafeteria.  I walked up ahead to see where the beginning of the line was, finding it about halfway down the hall at the far west end of the ground floor.  

So, back to the front entrance, where I asked for a wheelchair and rolled it back down the hall where BB was standing uncomfortably.  

The line moved slowly and intermittently, and we reached the western block of elevators several minutes later.  That's when a woman from the hospital picked out BB and a woman using a cane, pulled them out of line and led them to someone who was giving out shots.

There were no immediate side effects, although later in the evening BB reported her shoulder was stiff and sore where the needle had gone in.  One down, one to go; the 2nd of 2 shots is scheduled for April 8.

Accomplishment:  resisted temptation to photograph the line, the wheelchair, the nurse and the shot.

More of the same

Trying to keep the days from blending into each other.  Yesterday at noon, BB & I went first to Bell Hardware for bird seed, then to Dollar Tree for this, that and the other.  

Today, after BB's podiatrist appointment, we continued to Wegmans for a few things.

Last night, I had a little lap kitty for 2 1/2 hours.  Tonight, after 90 minutes I gave up and moved my legs.  

And now Nebraska is finishing off Iowa.  

FIFY

 3/19:  upon further review

As predicted

 

When it snowed on February 15, I told myself that no matter how bad it looks and feels now, by this time next month the snow will be gone and it'll be the beginning of spring.  I saw my first robin of 2021 yesterday, and the speedwell flowers are popping up right on time.  Here's just one of many in a 3' x 3' space.

My day:  credit union (external HD containing everything in Dropbox now in safe-deposit box), Walmart, home, Wegmans, home, PetSmart, home.  Baked mini-M&M cookies.  Watched The Ohio State eke past Nebraska in five sets. Enjoyed Quality Time with my little girl, Good Queen Swirly.  A good day.  And so, good night...

The cat came back

Just as the The Ohio State - Nebraska game was getting started, the motion detector light on the deck went on.  The little black pooshka had returned.  BB opened a can of her favorite Stinky Goodness and I told the little cat how happy we were to see her.  She was alone, to no one's surprise.  I suspect she stayed with the creampuff cat until he didn't need her anymore.  A good mother, and a loyal friend.  She deserves good things.  

Snapped photos of speedwell and more this afternoon.  Might post something tomorrow if it's any good.

But...

Getting more spring-like every day.  Mid-sixties today and lots of sun.  A walk outside and a good day at work.  Daffodils are sprouting and speedwells are flowering in our back yard.  But...

...where are the little black pooshka and her big ol' creampuff boyfriend?  The day Swirly rested on my lap for 90 minutes, the sensor light on the deck went on 3 or 4 times, but I didn't turn around to see the visitor.  And since then, no sign of the cats who have sheltered and eaten here for going on five years.  

We know the puffy cat is not well, not grooming himself, but the last time he was here, he ate heartily in spite of his wounds.  Is the pooshka with him, wherever that is?    

Tuesday night

A good day at work.  Got to work on what I enjoy doing much more than on the parts I don't enjoy.  Spreadsheets si, conference calls with strangers no.

The thermometer in the kitchen put the outside temperature at 63 degrees, and in mid-afternoon BB and I took our first outdoor walk in weeks.  Still piles of snow here and there, but with a couple more days ahead also in the sixties, there'll be a lot less of it by the end of the week. 

Finished copying the data in Dropbox over to the external drive.  It took several days just to make the copies of the 200+ GB of photos from the past 22 years.  Next stop, the safe-deposit box.

Some more forward steps:  watched the Tivo recording of Friday's Nebraska-Illinois match and kept track of six consecutive rotations of offense.  For the first time, I could see the order the players were supposed to be in; the way they lined up to nominally achieve that and stay within the rules; and their actual positions on the court during play.  I learned something, and nothing even went wrong.

Random question:  has anyone ever tried a slide to the left with a lefty player?  All the slides I've seen in 2 years have had the setter go over her head and behind her to a RH player.  I guess the setter always sets up facing that way in the opposite direction of the slide-er.

Also read a few more paragraphs from a long article in Le Monde about street kids.  Learned some more things that should be useful:  Pieces jaunes = spare change   Passer une tête = dropped by     Se lever d'un bond = leaped up    Une laverie = laundromat     I didn't need any translation for "un joint."  

At times like these

I've already listened to all the available WWII newscasts via YouTube, but lately I've felt like going through them all again.  This war against Covid-19 seems to have turned in the favor of the good guys, like late 1944-early 1945.  I just need a reminder that these days of semi-quarantine are much closer to the end than to the beginning a year ago.  

A new personal record tonight.  Good Queen Swirly climbed into my lap around 8:00.  An hour and a half later, my legs twitching from self-imposed immobility, I stood up and she jumped down.   

Another chilly day today, but sunny. Forecast is calling for spring-like conditions, especially on Thursday, when it's expected to be 70 degrees.  Time to take the cover off the Weber and grill some Whole Foods pork chops.   

Saturday Evening Post

 My day:  for the first time in a long time, I fed the cats at 4:30 instead of BB.  Didn't get everything right, but that's understandable and forgivable.  And she got more rest.

Arranged to receive mail-in ballots every year from the county, and renewed my license plates.  

Went to Wegmans for this and that, totaling about $80.  Meat and ice cream, mostly.  Graeter's and Dove bars, specifically.

Back home,  I baked M&M cookies.  BB likes crisp cookies, so this time I used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour (less gluten) and melted the butter completely so the cookies would spread.  

Then in the Toyota... first intending to pick up bird seed from the Ace Hardware down the street.  But BB noticed that if we waited until tomorrow, we could get another $5 off.  So I turned it into a nice long ride in the countryside.  West on 222 until the former Farmer Brown's (where we reminisced about seeing a newborn calf in the field by the side of the driveway) and saw the new traffic circle for the first time.  

Then north on some 3-digit road, knowing that eventually I'd reach Old Route 22 and I-78.  On the way, we had to detour around a bridge under reconstruction, but that allowed us to see a, um, well, a cow-like creature, but with longer hair.  (Back home, I searched for "shaggy cow" and sure enough, it was a Highland.)   Also saw either llamas or alpacas well off the road on Old 22.  Plus, plenty of cattle.  BB said they'd better be careful, because lately there have been a lot of stolen cattle-lytic converters.

All in all, about 40 miles in about an hour.  Good Quality Time together, you could call it.  

Watched Nebraska sweep Illinois for the 2nd straight night.

Friday post

I woke up.  Nelson joined me on the bed.  I petted him for several minutes before he jumped off.

I walked down the hall, booted my work laptop and home PC, and went to work.

At 12:30, I ate something.

A little after 1:15, back to work.  The 1:30 call went off as scheduled, but the 3:00 call had to be rescheduled.  I used the time to keep on top of things in the mailboxes and work ahead on tool maintenance.

Logged off just after 5:00.  Went downstairs, finished what BB started with patting out the pizza dough, loaded it with sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella, and slid it into the 500-degree oven for 10 minutes.

Caught up on the news, then watched most of Purdue-Penn State before switching to Nebraska-Illinois at 9:00.  A pair of 3-0 sweeps.

A few words to document an ordinary day.  But really, it wouldn't have been any different if there were no pandemic.  

How the days fly by

Writing is far from the top of my to-do list.  Listening to David Suchet read Blott on the Landscape is much higher.  Listening to Frank Muller read The Great Gatsby isn't far behind.

Good Queen Swirly was on my lap for 40 minutes, and could have stayed even longer, but I needed to get up and take fresh pizza dough out of the Hitachi bread maker and put it in an oiled bowl, and put all that in the refrigerator.  Also made sauce earlier this evening.

BB and I got out of the house at noontime today.  First, to PetSmart for a big bag of dry and a very few cans of Fancy Feast, plucked from more-than-half-empty shelves.   It's been in the news, how stores are running short of pet food.  There are plenty of paper products nowadays, and bags of flour and containers of yeast are plentiful.  Except for the masks, if you're looking for the right set of goods, you could almost forget there's a pandemic going on.  

Then a few hundred feet to the Costco gas station, and even there the price per gallon has gone up recent days.  $2.79 today, filling up BB's Subaru Outback for about $34.

And then on impulse to the Lehigh Street Redner's.  Since the Trexlertown store closed, it's been many months since we shopped at any Redner's.  But they carry some things we couldn't find elsewhere, like Hanover brand frozen corn and Tropicana red grapefruit juice.  

Then back home, and back to work for the rest of the afternoon.