I Spy

Posted on July 19, 2004 by Frog

Yesterday I saw a raccoon in the backyard. We don’t see it very often but when I walked out on the porch yesterday it looked straight at me and then vanished into the woods. The better-half said at least it wasn’t rabid. I guess if it were rabid it would have flipped me the bird and raced up to the porch with a toothy grin.

We took our old decrepit lawn mower to the “see it, take it” area of the landfill and by the time we looped around someone had spotted the lawn mower and was loading it into his truck. I left a note on the machine that said “runs, needs work”. If you are picking up equipment at the dump, I suppose you are prepared to fix things, but I felt it necessary to leave that note.

I talked to my mother yesterday and found out my sister in Florida is planning on driving to Portland, Oregon in 2 1/2 days. That’s approximately 3055 miles. I don’t see that trip only taking 2 1/2 days but they do like to drive so if anyone can do it, I’m sure they can.

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Epoisses

Posted on July 17, 2004 by Frog

Last night we cut into the stinky cheese we bought last Monday morning at the Whole Foods in Vienna, Va. Every time we opened the refrigerator door this week, we’ve commented on the stink o’ the cheese.

I let the cheese come up to room temperature as I had read something about how that would help the cheese become softer. When I took the cheese out of the wooden container, I was a little skeptical about the stink. It really wasn’t stinky any more but truly stanky. We decided to go ahead and eat it since one of the descriptions we’d read was that it had a barnyard aroma. I volunteered to eat the first piece since it was my brilliant idea to buy the stinkiest cheese ever.

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I found something worse

Posted on July 16, 2004 by Frog

I found something worse than waiting around the screw aisle at Home Depot while the better-half paws through the bins. Going to the Ashland hardware store so we could paw around the brass plumbing connector display. Three trips in one afternoon.

We arrived at the MIL’s with the new dishwasher at 12:30pm. We left there at 5:30pm. Remember that I mentioned the plumbing was jack-legged in the other entry about this damned dishwasher? What should have taken a half hour expanded into the whole afternoon.

We’re both tired and ready to pop open a cold one. I just need to stop at the store on the way home to acquire the cold one (or two or three).

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Damn Dirty Dishes

Posted on July 16, 2004 by Frog

This is the story of why no deed goes unpunished.

Two weeks ago the MIL’s dishwasher stopped working. Luckily, it didn’t explode and flood her kitchen. That is about the only good thing to come out of this ordeal. The better-half took her to a doctor’s appointment shortly thereafter and on their way home they planned to stop at Sears to order up a dishwasher. A huge storm hit and the power was knocked out. So much for that idea.

Last Saturday, the better-half went to Sears and ordered one up by himself (there are only so many features available in a certain price range–and really who cares as long as the plates come out clean). The sales person assured him the machine would be at that location on Thursday.

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To the Yard

Posted on July 15, 2004 by Frog

Last night I was grooving in one of the porch chairs and the better-half asked me if my milkshakes bring all the boys to the yard. Well, if there were boys anywhere near us, I’m sure they’d come running but that’s not really the point of this post. The point of this post is either I’ve been hiding out in a spider hole or there really doesn’t seem to be a HOT SUMMER POP HIT yet. Am I missing something?

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Party Like it is 1999

Posted on July 15, 2004 by Frog

I read an article in the NYTimes this morning about Martha Stewart (you have to have a membership to read it). And I paused at this paragraph:

Martha Stewart is everywhere, it seems. At what might seem to be the worst of times for her – the rapidly disappearing interlude between her March 5 conviction on federal criminal charges and her sentencing tomorrow – she is looking more like a carefree socialite than a woman on the edge of incarceration.

If I thought for a minute that I was about to go to the Big House for any amount of time, I’d be out there shaking my groove thing too. Hello, she could be locked up for months. Why shouldn’t she live it up until the gate slams shut behind her?

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A Long Day Yesterday

Posted on July 14, 2004 by Frog

Yesterday morning I had to wake up in the early part of the 5 o’clock hour so that I could leave around 5:45 to meet my boss at the commuter lot in Lee Hall. Let me tell you that is just plain crazy early and I didn’t like it one bit. Not surprising the trip to the interstate had me seeing exactly no cars.

We picked up a co-worker in Newport News and made our way to Portsmouth. Portsmouth, for those of you not familiar with Virginia, is down in the Tidewater area which means it is very close to the Atlantic ocean. The thing is you can’t actually see the ocean from Portsmouth but there is lots and lots of water in the area. There are actually shipyards where they build massive ships and, of course, the military has a large presence in the area. Unfortunately, Portsmouth also suffers from poverty, crime and more than a fair share of rundown buildings.

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When It Is Easy

Posted on July 12, 2004 by Frog

Last night, while we were sitting on our blanket listening to the Shawn Colvin/Cowboy Junkies concert at Wolf Trap, I thought about how easy everything felt. Do you ever get that feeling where everything has converged nicely and you just aren’t bothered? Not by the heat, not by the mass of people, not by the case of “man, I’m old” that is brought on by the girl sitting one blanket over who has no idea what’s so funny about a Freebird joke? I had that feeling last night. I liked it just fine.

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Moths

Posted on July 11, 2004 by Frog

On Friday, while entering the post office, I saw a pink moth on the stairs. I’ve never seen one of those before and I don’t have any idea what kind of moth it was. My insect guide book doesn’t offer many clues. It was one of the prettiest moths I’ve ever seen.

Yesterday, the better-half and I found a very cool moth on our front sidewalk. I came across it again this morning. It was probably dead yesterday too. Even in death, it is still pretty amazing.

cool

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Big Plans for the Weekend

Posted on July 9, 2004 by Frog

On Monday if you took a peek at my calendar for the weekend, you would’ve told me to get a life. Today you may wonder how come I’m so busy.

Lots of extraordinary things are happening this weekend but the one that I’m currently most excited about is the fact that I’m getting my haircut on Saturday. Ever get to that point of having to get your haircut or you’ll grab the Flowbee and take care of it yourself (who even knew those things were still available)? I seriously could have hacked off my hair today with nail clippers but decided that one more day wasn’t that long to wait.

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