What are you doing today?

[lizkat]

Preparing to batten down the hatches for some threatened t'storms and a possible tornado later on this evening. My Instacart grocery shopper got a leg up on all that by making a fast start to Monday chores, with my list apparently among the first to be dispatched. So well before 11am I had acquired fresh fruits and veggies... plenty to eat on hand now even if we lose electrical power. Meanwhile drying some quarter-yards of quilting fabric on the deck, with one eye out the window for whenever the sky starts to darken.

Laughing to remember a time when I thought it would be a great idea to have some cold pasta on hand to mix in some celery, tuna, mayo etc for dinner if we lost electrical power, when a line of storms was to move through here one August afternoon. Well it raced along much faster than predicted, tore out a bunch of utility poles and I ended up with half-cooked ditalini and nothing but to fish out a camp stove to complete the process or else just toss the whole mess... and we had no power for 2 days. Since then I don't count on more than peanut butter and crackers aside from tinned foods when a storm like that is threatening!

 

[tranceking26]

Preparing to batten down the hatches for some threatened t'storms and a possible tornado later on this evening.

Hopefully it passes without much trouble! I often wonder how I'd react to the severe weather the US can have. Haven't had a good thunderstorm here for years, although a random bit of lightning bricked my old router once.

 

[lizkat]

Usually lightning strikes right around here happen quite far up on the ridge behind me. But I learned to stick little wedges of paper in between meeting of the top and bottom of my old windows because they occasionally get a rattling from close-by thunder that's enough to crack a pane otherwise.. Apparently conditions for a rip roaring collision of warm and cold fronts will provide the entertainment here later on. Hailstones also "promised". I could do without those...

 

[Pumbaa]

Today (besides work) was hanging a shade sail above the garden that used to have a bunch of natural shade from trees, and re-hanging the suspended lights above said garden.

Some may have seen this shot before from when I replaced the carport gutters. I circled the trees in question. Yes, they are (or were) significantly taller than the pitched roof of our 2-storey house. Oodles of shade. We spent ages finding plants that specifically thrive in shady conditions, because nothing else would grow there.


Smother in Law decided the trees needed to be "trimmed", and hired a guy. They are now literally 2-storey high sticks in the ground, and provide zero shade to anything. The vast majority of the plants that we specifically bought because they'll do well in shade, are some shade of brown now (1-2 days after the shock of their lives). I forgot to get some photos of said sticks, I'll try to remember tomorrow and post back.

Yeah, what’s the saying? Sticks or it didn’t happen?

Seriously, that sucks. I love shade.

 

[tranceking26]

Hailstones also "promised". I could do without those...

Hopefully not those golfball sized ones!

 

[Pumbaa]

Hopefully not those golfball sized ones!

Ah, you prefer the baseball sized ones?

 

[Apple fanboy]

The joy of living in a single story building. Any lightning strikes are likely to take out the neighbours rather than us.

 

[tranceking26]

Ah, you prefer the baseball sized ones?

We only get tiny ones here.

 

[DT]

Hailstones also "promised". I could do without those...

Yeah, the weather here is __still__ shitty, haven't even driven the new ride since bringing it home, but at least it's in the garage. There was a long period where a previous car was relegated to the side driveway, and my car was the only one in the garage (like one person on a King bed, hahahaha ....), well, with the exception of one H-word concern where we crammed both of them in (I had to exit the DD through the rear hatch like an astronaut through an airlock)

Anyway, the new Jeep kind of forced my hand to get the garage into "Two Car Mode", so have both cars inside now, and it's pretty decent (the Mustang replacement is touch narrower so it fits even batter).

Er, my point - I have this fear of hail decimating one of our cars (it happened in the past), so knowing they're locked down is great

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My French class has finished, and, having seen my brother yesterday, he phoned and suggested meeting again today, so, cue another coffee (almost three hours) and chat.

My second meeting with him (in two days, having not seen him for ten months).

As he said, thinking - reminiscing, in a meditative and thoughtful tone, an almost elegiac tone - about our parents, (and Other Brother had also remarked on this), "all we have now are the memories, but, luckily, they are good ones."

And we thought about those (friends, class-mates, people) - some of whom we know - for whom such memories are not "good ones."

We also discussed how you never think that a time will come when they won't be here; for, even as they aged (and now, even as we also age), you somehow think that they are immortal and will be there (here?) forever.

And yes, we discussed football, and the passage of time. "Imagine", said Decent Brother, in a tone of disbelief, "Italia 90 was thirty years ago".

Actually, I had to cut it short, - after three hours - so that I could revise stuff for my French class.

Decent Brother & I discussed how we could describe his visit for my French class - his recall of the French language was surprisingly good.

And two friends with whom I had served in Afghanistan - and haven't seen in an absolute age - phoned me, one last night, and the other today.

Bizarrely, and paradoxically, it seems that I may be getting a year's worth of social activity, engagements and encounters compressed into the space of a single week in June........

 

[Pumbaa]

An eventful day.

Went out for an early lunch, chased a store at least 1.5 laps around a mall (darn interactive map forgot to tell me it was on another level) to buy a cooler, got two fans delivered to my door, watched two Euro 2020 groups conclude nicely enough to advance Sweden to 1/8 final, and last but not least: survived the scorching (I think that was the British word for it) heat one more day. Pretty productive.

On a less productive note, the Swedish prime minister failed the no-confidence vote (first time in Swedish history that a no-confidence vote is successful I’m told). People are celebrating on both left and right flanks, all declaring victory. Fucking idiots. Ah, well. Could be worse. Like US politics for example.

Encountered this reasonably accurate illustration of the no-confidence vote on Reddit:

 

[Scepticalscribe]

An eventful day.

Went out for an early lunch, chased a store at least 1.5 laps around a mall (darn interactive map forgot to tell me it was on another level) to buy a cooler, got two fans delivered to my door, watched two Euro 2020 groups conclude nicely enough to advance Sweden to 1/8 final, and last but not least: survived the scorching (I think that was the British word for it) heat one more day. Pretty productive.

On a less productive note, the Swedish prime minister failed the no-confidence vote (first time in Swedish history that a no-confidence vote is successful I’m told). People are celebrating on both left and right flanks, all declaring victory. Fucking idiots. Ah, well. Could be worse. Like US politics for example.

Encountered this reasonably accurate illustration of the no-confidence vote on Reddit:

I read about that no confidence vote.

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Stockholm (okay, in summer, as I have small taste and less tolerance for winter, least of all in Scandinavia), and Sweden?

 

[Pumbaa]

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Stockholm (okay, in summer, I have small taste and less tolerance for winter, least of all in Scandinavia), and Sweden?

Not that I recall. Feel free to mention it!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Not that I recall. Feel free to mention it!

I spent a full day - yes, a full day - in the Vasa museum; sigh. Brilliant.

And stayed - at the recommendation of a Swedish colleague, with whom I had worked (and dined) in (Caucasus) Georgia for the best part of two years, (who subsequently placed himself at my disposal as tour guide, drinking and dining companion, for almost all of my fortnight's stay a decade ago) - at the splendid (and antique) Sven Vintappare hotel.

Crooked stairs, ancient rooms, city centre location.....

And the museums, sigh. Bliss.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Not that I recall. Feel free to mention it!

And the restaurants....and fish dishes....

 

[JamesMike]

I read about that no confidence vote.

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Stockholm (okay, in summer, as I have small taste and less tolerance for winter, least of all in Scandinavia), and Sweden?

I too have enjoyed Stockholm's spring and summer weather, a great time to visit, I do not recommend their winters.

 

[DT]

I hear I have a few "goodies" coming too, I didn't want anything, I suspect one thing is a replacement for something I lost on our last trip to Universal/Hard Rock (it was a Bubba tumbler ...)

It was a tumbler! Made by Green Steel (they do really top notch, 18/8 SS, all recycled packaging, it's a big green monster 30oz monster called the Beast

Also got a black with red logo Tesla T

 

[hulugu]

Spent the last several days along the borderlands, trying not to die from the heat. One day, I went hiking and burned through my entire water supply in just a few miles. It sucks here.

On the return trip, I found a BP agent who'd tried to track a group in the heat and found himself out of water. So, we shared a couple of ice-waters and a Mexican coke before another agent rolled up. I bought a COHO cooler from Costco a couple of weeks ago, and that sucker packed with drinks and snacks has been my favorite piece of gear of late.

This weekend was my son's birthday, so we spent most of one day in the pool, getting out for snacks and the brace of pies my son decided he'd have rather than cake. He's decided that Key Lime pie is far better than sheet cake, and so we ordered eight pies and split them up among our guests.

I'm also trying to hunt down a PS5 for the boy, and will probably bolt for the (relative) cool air of Colorado here soon.

 

[Alli]

This weekend was my son's birthday, so we spent most of one day in the pool, getting out for snacks and the brace of pies my son decided he'd have rather than cake. He's decided that Key Lime pie is far better than sheet cake, and so we ordered eight pies and split them up among our guests.

No law saying you have to have cake for your birthday. My husband always gets cherry pie. He doesn’t care for cake of any kind, but ohhhhh does he like that cherry pie.

 

[hulugu]

We went to see the Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife today. OMG! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. If I laughed any harder I might have hurt myself. Selma Hayek is just amazing.

I have such a thing for Selma Hayek.