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Potpourri for $500, Alex!

[Originally posted last Friday.]

1. I was a bit irked when I discovered the offspring had not set the alarm properly and was still asleep when I headed downstairs. I provided a poke, only to be informed fifteen seconds later (and quickly validated) that apparently either my alarm clock was screwed up, or else I had spontaneously awakened about half an hour early, thinking my alarm had gone off.

2. The offspring could have been forgiven for being a bit off, since she was in her first auto accident last night, driving home from a swim/dive meet in unexpectedly snowy/icy conditions, coming to a gentle (yet still ABS-invoking) stop at a signal, and getting rear-ended by another car whose ABS was not quite effective enough. NO INJURIES. Just a lot of jangled nerves (and a badly damaged rear bumper).

3. I actually served as announcer at said swim/dive meet, which was a first for me. It involved a lot less improv than I had been afraid of (which is good, since it was my first swim/dive meet, and I was unfamiliar with the cadence or what, specifically, I should be announcing). But it was a lot of fun, people asked if I did it for a living (!), and, to relate to No. 2 above, the girl who did the rear-ending was one of the competitors at the meet, and her mom (who drove up about five minutes after I returned to the scene) had been there, and both recognized my voice.

4. It turns out the Hulu app on our Blu-Ray player is no longer supported by Sony or Hulu, so we can’t watch Marvel’s Runaways that way. However, the Hulu phone app (but not the web page, as far as I can see) supports Chromecast, so that should work out well. Which is good, because we watched the first ep. and it was excellent.

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NaNoWriMo Victory!

Most of my posting about National Novel Writing Month this year has ended up over on my writing blog, but I do want to report here Victory as far as NaNoWriMo 2017, both for myself and for Kay (who stretched this year to a full 50K word target).

More details here, but the bottom line is, lots of fun, many thanks to Margie, creative juices stirred, and thank God it’s over for the year!

Time for a Victory Walk!

The Fine China Conundrum

(See also the “Fine Crystal” “Sterling Silver Utensil” Conundrum.)

It seems like there is something of a weather change in American generations, driven in part by economics (and associated reduction in sizes of homes), culture (what is considered “special” and how do we celebrate it), and aesthetics (“OMG, those are hideous!”). The fine china (et al.) of previous generations is coming available as those generations pass on (or even just move into smaller dwellings themselves), and their successors really don’t have much interest.

We’re seeing this ourselves, though we’re just on the other side of that cusp. We did the whole china / crystal pattern wedding register thing when we got married in the mid-90s (both of us brought inherited silver to the marriage). Having those sorts of place settings for special occasions was just part of the tradition of each of our families.

(I also have a set of china from my first marriage, which, for some reason, I don’t think we’ve ever used.)

As Margie’s folks downsized to move into a retirement community, we ended up with an additional set of china (which is good, because our wedding-purchased one really does not work with Thanksgiving colors), but as my Mom gets ready to do the same thing, she’s faced with figuring out what she is going to do with hers.

She has two sets of china. One was the wedding gift set, the other was a set of Noritake Dad picked up for cheap in Japan when he was in the Navy. She almost (?) never uses them any more, and is even less likely to do so at her new home. My brother isn’t interested. I’m not interested enough in those particular patterns to want them, either.

On the other hand, just getting rid of them seems an awful waste.

And there will be the next generation. Like I said, we have two (three) sets. Will our kid want any of them? I don’t know. Possibly, as we’ve not been the sorts that Never Ever Use the China Because If You Use It It Might Get Broken. As the article notes, family heirlooms are valued when they actually have memories associated with them. I enjoy pulling out the china and crystal and silver if we’re having a holiday dinner, or a special occasion dinner, or just plain old people over. That celebratory association might stick with the offspring.

Or it might not, and we’ll eventually need to figure out what local charity to send it off to (whether Replacements.com is offering enough money to be worth it).

Interesting thoughts.




What should young people do with Grandma’s china?
I call my Oma, who lives in Florida, to ask how her Thanksgiving was. We talk only for 15 minutes because she needs to get back to the lebkuchen she’s baking for a church Christmas fundraiser. She tells me her Thanksgiving was small but nice; she made Cornish hens for everyone instead of a huge turkey. She’s like this, traditional at times but flexible and pragmatic at others.

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Spooky!

+Kay Hill carved our Halloween pumpkin. And a fine job she did!

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Burning memories

So this Anaheim Hills fire in California is taking place about a 10 minute surface street drive from my in-laws’ old house. Nohl Ranch Road … Santiago … I’ve driven those streets. My wife went camping in the regional park where the fire is burning most fiercely. I’ve been along all those freeways shown.

It’s very weird seeing this going on in places I know. And my best wishes for the folk I know who still live there. Be safe.




Canyon fire No. 2 in Anaheim Hills

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There’s No Place Like Home

As my wife and daughter insist on reminding me.

I look forward to being there soon.

 

In Album 9/29/17

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We Know Where You Are

Actually looks like a reasonable app to download amidst the family. Might be useful when wandering about separately shopping or at an amusement park, too.




Google’s new “Trusted Contacts” app lets you keep tabs on family
New “personal safety app” another way to share location with friends and family.

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On Being an Only Child

This one's for +Kay Hill. Also +Mary Oswell.

(Click through for the full comic.)




7 Truths About Being the Only Child
You’ll always be your parents’ favorite.

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Wisdom Teeth and the removal thereof

If you told me that the expansion of dental coverage has led to an expansion of dental operations, including wisdom teeth removal, I wouldn't be surprised.

My daughter just had her wisdom teeth removed a week ago, and it's a non-trivial operation (both financially and physically). That said, there are some dividing lines between "medically necessary" and "orthodontally necessary" and "unnecessary" that the article sort of elides over.




Why You Might Want to Think Twice About Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Removed
It is well known that this is now an epidemic: By one count, Americans waste $750 billion a year on unproductive care.

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Cleaning and Tidying at Mom's

So I've spent the week at my mom's house (one of the few bright sides of being unemployed is that I can take a lot of time off), helping her with some major tidying and cleaning out efforts. She knows that she won't be in this house forever — maybe no more than a few years — and the task of getting it ready to eventually move out is daunting after living here since 1978.

I had some ideas before I came out, but one thing I did was buy her a copy of Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. While the KonMari Method isn't wholly my cuppa, some basic principles she espouses are invaluable:

1. Does object X bring you joy to have? (If not, why are you keeping it? Really? Can you say that with a straight face?)
2. Do you actually want to keep object X? (Not, do you want to get rid of it — approach it in a positive manner, as selecting the things you want to keep, and letting the other things fall away.)

A lot of what we tackled was stuff that was there because it was there — books that had been picked up but never read, gifts that had been received but were tucked in bags or boxes in a closet, objects that might be useful some day but probably not. Stuff that others might find of use, but was not of any use here except to occupy cubic space. And it was all stuff that was, not-so-figuratively weighing Mom down, producing a paralysis about being able to do anything about it.

The office closet was the biggest thing, followed by smaller tasks of gift boxes in another closet and the office book shelf.

I can't show you the "before" pictures, under injunction of disinheritance, but the "after" pictures are what's amazingly cool. Mom did a hell of a job culling down what she wanted to keep in these contexts, and committing to some future activities to follow up. We took four decent-sized boxes of books down to the library today to donate to the book shop there, and another box that Mom's donating to her church. We have a half-dozen bags of hazarai going to a local charity tomorrow morning. We have a ton of paper, cardboard, etc., that will be recycled. There's a box of targeted items to give to others. I'm bringing a few things home in my carry-on, and my brother took a few things home with him.

And, yes, I cracked the whip a lot during this, but only with honesty and a spirit of being helpful. And, also, no, this wasn't my long-planned revenge for all the times Mom told me to clean my room when I was growing up. (No, really!)

All in all, it was a really successful trip, in terms of being able to help my mom here. And it was really neat being able to spend a week with her, both the going through of old stuff (e.g., boxes and envelopes full of photos) and just hanging out at night watching TV.

Not sure if I'll be able to make it back here any time soon to help with other problematic locales in the house (I hope to be otherwise employed), but she's made a great start and will, I trust, carry on.

Bravo, Mom.

[Note: Any resemblance between Dave the Hard-Hearted and Cut-Throat Tidier at His Mom's House and Dave the Inveterate Pack Rat at His Own House is purely coincidental, and should not be used for purposes of mockery, I'm looking at you, Mom!]

  

In Album 1/29/16

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Closet Project Day 3: Contents reloaded, floor clear, boxes labeled, donations bagged, mischief managed

Closet Project Day 3: Contents reloaded, floor clear, boxes labeled, donations bagged, mischief managed #whatnext

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Cleaning Project Day 2: Stacks of photos reviewed, sifted, sorted: many Photos discarded: quite a few Glasses of wine shared: multiple

Cleaning Project Day 2:
Stacks of photos reviewed, sifted, sorted: many
Photos discarded: quite a few
Glasses of wine shared: multiple

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Cleaning Day 1 Tally: Big bags going away: 3 Stacks for sale: 1 Trash cans full: 1 Refs as “hard-hearted”: 4 Glasses of wine after: a few

Cleaning Day 1 Tally:
Big bags going away: 3
Stacks for sale: 1
Trash cans full: 1
Refs as “hard-hearted”: 4
Glasses of wine after: a few

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Cleaning Project, Day 1:
ME: You can already tell, Mom, I’m going to be a nag

Cleaning Project, Day 1:
ME: You can already tell, Mom, I’m going to be a nag MOM: That’s okay, you come by it honestly.

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As Dave Hill, International Man of Mystery, sets off on the adventure we call “The Case of the Crowded Closets”!

As Dave Hill, International Man of Mystery, sets off on the adventure we call “The Case of the Crowded Closets”!

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Why we have no spare time in our lives

Things We're Watching via the DVR (because we watch nothing on live TV where we have to watch those awful commercial):

Marvel's Agent Carter
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Arrow
The Flash
Supergirl
iZombie
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy [animated]
Gotham [recording, not watching this season yet]
Star Wars: Rebels

Galavant
Blindspot [recording, not watching yet]
Sleepy Hollow [recording, not watching this season yet]

The Expanse [recording, not watching yet]
Childhood's End [beginning to watch]
Into the Badlands

Face Off
The Profit
Shark Tank
Hell's Kitchen
Bar Rescue
Penn & Teller: Fool Us
Booze Traveler
Chopped

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

WAITING FOR THE NEW SEASONS OF …

Doctor Who
Sherlock (on Masterpiece)

The Musketeers
Killjoys

Forged in Fire
Battlebots
Food Network Star

PLUS …

On Netflix:
Jessica Jones [watching]
Sense8 [watching, but need to rewatch]
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries [only starting to watch]

And many DVDs/other:
Babylon 5 [mid-4th season]
Fairy Tail [caught up with what's been dubbed … for the moment]

AND, COMING UP …

Lucifer
Daredevil [season 2]

AND, OF COURSE …

Well, family. And homework. And high school extracurricular support. And friends. And church stuff. And, um, jobs. And the rest of our lives.

 

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And now, officially lacking in wisdom

Kay had her wisdom teeth out today. She was a bit … woozy when she got home, but got plenty of ice cream to make up for it.

 

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Christmas Eve, nine years back

Yeah, a few memories there …




Christmas Eve – 2006-12-24

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One of the nicest things about staying with Mom at the holidays

Her bolognese. Mmmmm. I night never leave.

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Tickling the Familial Ivories

It seems the +Kay Hill​ is doing keyboard work with her school Winter Percussion group, so while we're out in California for the holidays, she getting some piano lessoning from +Gloria Hill​.

 

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