I decided to skip the free feed, even the possibility of watching the beach clubs burn isn't enough to get me to a function that is likely to be chock full of political bullshit. I don't have anyone here I would consider a friend, so this is not a potential social outing (one of my mother's arguments for going). It is more a probable headache, so I stayed home. She went with one of her neighbors and/or friends. Hope they had fun.
I don't understand the American drive to remembrances and memorials. What's done is done, what happened last year happened and will likely never happen again, and I am not interested in re-living it ad nauseum, thank you very much.
Besides, if I ran into that fat-assed governator face to face, I would likely say something obnoxious to him, and get into trouble with the baby nazi impersonators we have for a police dept.
I made something Italian for dinner, ate it with a nice glass of ribera del duero, listened to some really good music on the Bose, and will have a nice sleep before I have to go back to the rat-race of work tomorrow. Or is that a rat's nest? Hard to tell.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sandy Anniversary Eve
I was going to make myself a second cup of tea, but decided to have a glass of wine instead. Why? Because I got asked one more time what I felt about the "recovery" from what happened here last year, tomorrow. Actually, if you go back in my posts, it started a few days before doomsday, but the official date Sandy made a mess of a lot of lives around here is October 29, which for me is still tomorrow, as I write this.
Here's how I responded to the question:
"If you don't have the money to fix things yourself, you're up the proverbial creek. Insurance is useless, the companies are only out to rip you off for a huge premium, then deny everything when you need them to pay for damage, then raise the premium for next year because you had a claim (which they of course didn't pay, but that doesn't matter). The fat idiot in the statehouse is running for president, he doesn't give a darn for anyone who isn't in the 1% and giving him huge campaign contributions. Everyone else assumes because we live at the shore, we're rich - well, guess what? I live here because it was the only house cheap enough for me to afford. And guess what else? This is the only home I have. Which I can't sell, I can't afford to raise to some standards noone has really determined yet, and I can't afford to walk away from, because of what that would do to the possibility of ever being able to buy another place to live (as in, totally wrecking my credit). Recovery effort? I haven't noticed any on a level other than my own sweat and money. And I'm trapped and f**ked over anyhow. Are we having fun yet?"
Hence the wine. I alternate between feeling remarkably self-sufficient and astoundingly depressed and trapped. The frequency of alternation is some days very slow, and some days moment to moment. Yes, I could get counseling. It is offered for free during times I need to be working to pay for the fixing of the house. If I go to a pay for service counselor, my lousy health insurance doesn't pay anything, because 1. nobody who can actually see me is in the network, and 2. anyone in the network can't see me for at least a few months, and 3. the ones I've called to maybe make an appointment some months into the future find out what plan my insurance is, and tell me, "oh, we're not accepting THAT plan," in spite of it being listed on the website that they DO accept it.
So the insurance system, be it homeowners or health, is totally screwed. I'd like to opt out, please.
I know, that's not an option. I have to pay thru the nose for insurance that does nothing for me at all.
No. I'll be the first to admit, my car insurance came thru when I needed them. And the premium on the new car is not unreasonable. And they gave me a discount when I moved my homeowner's insurance to their company. Which is a TON of bucks cheaper than the old homeowner's policy, which denied I had any damage, after their first assessor decided I actually had a LOT of damage.
Flood insurance was reasonably responsive, too. Unlike what I hear from a lot of the people who used to live around here and no longer do because their houses are still wrecked and they can't get money to fix them. And don't even mention that the house is not your primary residence - then you are required to have it, if you have a mortgage, but it doesn't cover ANYTHING because the house is not your primary residence. How do you figure that???? Who invented that scam????
Mind you, I'm just blowing off steam here, so I can maybe get some sleep tonite.
The flooring for upstairs is maybe I hope being delivered tomorrow, it actually came earlier than expected, so maybe I don't have to pay the handy dudes to sit around waiting for it on Saturday. And maybe they can get it installed and actually finish the bulk of the work in time for Thanksgiving and the following holiday events, which we have a chance of having this year, as compared to last.
Tomorrow evening there is a free feed down at the firehouse, I guess so we can all reminisce about eating free food at the firehouse for close to two months last year. Not exactly a memory I would be anxious to celebrate. If they are having loud rock music, I will skip it. I don't LIKE loud rock music.
They are also planning to have a bonfire on the beach, which I REALLY don't think is such a good idea, with all the things that have been burning down all along the shore. They might wind up burning down those ugly new bigger and bolder beach clubs that weren't going to be allowed to rebuild. Not that I'd particularly miss them, they're just for 1%-ers who don't work for a living, instead tying up traffic so the people who live here can't go anywhere on weekends in the summer. But maybe they in their enhanced sizes might shift a bit of the property tax burden off of our backs. So they might have a bit of redeeming social value, but someone needs to show me that so I can stop hating them so much.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch....I had a pair of cats fighting under my back deck a while ago. Screeching and hissing and thumping under the wooden floor. Probably ferals, we have a ton of those lately. Or maybe they're homeless cats abandoned here when their houses got wrecked and their people couldn't take them to the shelters with them. A lot of the locals are still living in Ft Monmouth and wherever else, they can't come home yet. A year later.
This all really sucks. And people who have been thru disasters, personal or regional, tell me it can take years to get over it. They're not talking about the physical recovery, they're referring to the mental processes. I can believe it. And it will take longer due to the panic-mongering that happens afterwards. Any time it gets cloudy, they predict doom and destruction. So of course, for people who are already traumatized, why not play on their fears and make them totally basket cases?
Meanwhile, we have a fat-assed governor creep who is using us as a stepping stool to being elected president. Folks, he hasn't done a damned thing for any of us, except blow hot air and posture. His wife and his cronies are raking in millions that they have yet to disburse to anyone who needs it (for whom it was supposedly intended). And he has the chutzpah to come here tomorrow so we can congratulate him on how great a job of "leadership" he has done in the past year. I think I'll need a serious barf bag to go to the party tomorrow. Or duct tape, to keep my opinions to myself.
On that note, and having drained my wine glass, to bed I go. It's chilly and cloudy outside, not much humidity, and the hurricane symptoms are dashing themselves on the other side of the puddle this year. I hope the folks over there have a better time of it than we have. I don't envy them a bit.
Here's how I responded to the question:
"If you don't have the money to fix things yourself, you're up the proverbial creek. Insurance is useless, the companies are only out to rip you off for a huge premium, then deny everything when you need them to pay for damage, then raise the premium for next year because you had a claim (which they of course didn't pay, but that doesn't matter). The fat idiot in the statehouse is running for president, he doesn't give a darn for anyone who isn't in the 1% and giving him huge campaign contributions. Everyone else assumes because we live at the shore, we're rich - well, guess what? I live here because it was the only house cheap enough for me to afford. And guess what else? This is the only home I have. Which I can't sell, I can't afford to raise to some standards noone has really determined yet, and I can't afford to walk away from, because of what that would do to the possibility of ever being able to buy another place to live (as in, totally wrecking my credit). Recovery effort? I haven't noticed any on a level other than my own sweat and money. And I'm trapped and f**ked over anyhow. Are we having fun yet?"
Hence the wine. I alternate between feeling remarkably self-sufficient and astoundingly depressed and trapped. The frequency of alternation is some days very slow, and some days moment to moment. Yes, I could get counseling. It is offered for free during times I need to be working to pay for the fixing of the house. If I go to a pay for service counselor, my lousy health insurance doesn't pay anything, because 1. nobody who can actually see me is in the network, and 2. anyone in the network can't see me for at least a few months, and 3. the ones I've called to maybe make an appointment some months into the future find out what plan my insurance is, and tell me, "oh, we're not accepting THAT plan," in spite of it being listed on the website that they DO accept it.
So the insurance system, be it homeowners or health, is totally screwed. I'd like to opt out, please.
I know, that's not an option. I have to pay thru the nose for insurance that does nothing for me at all.
No. I'll be the first to admit, my car insurance came thru when I needed them. And the premium on the new car is not unreasonable. And they gave me a discount when I moved my homeowner's insurance to their company. Which is a TON of bucks cheaper than the old homeowner's policy, which denied I had any damage, after their first assessor decided I actually had a LOT of damage.
Flood insurance was reasonably responsive, too. Unlike what I hear from a lot of the people who used to live around here and no longer do because their houses are still wrecked and they can't get money to fix them. And don't even mention that the house is not your primary residence - then you are required to have it, if you have a mortgage, but it doesn't cover ANYTHING because the house is not your primary residence. How do you figure that???? Who invented that scam????
Mind you, I'm just blowing off steam here, so I can maybe get some sleep tonite.
The flooring for upstairs is maybe I hope being delivered tomorrow, it actually came earlier than expected, so maybe I don't have to pay the handy dudes to sit around waiting for it on Saturday. And maybe they can get it installed and actually finish the bulk of the work in time for Thanksgiving and the following holiday events, which we have a chance of having this year, as compared to last.
Tomorrow evening there is a free feed down at the firehouse, I guess so we can all reminisce about eating free food at the firehouse for close to two months last year. Not exactly a memory I would be anxious to celebrate. If they are having loud rock music, I will skip it. I don't LIKE loud rock music.
They are also planning to have a bonfire on the beach, which I REALLY don't think is such a good idea, with all the things that have been burning down all along the shore. They might wind up burning down those ugly new bigger and bolder beach clubs that weren't going to be allowed to rebuild. Not that I'd particularly miss them, they're just for 1%-ers who don't work for a living, instead tying up traffic so the people who live here can't go anywhere on weekends in the summer. But maybe they in their enhanced sizes might shift a bit of the property tax burden off of our backs. So they might have a bit of redeeming social value, but someone needs to show me that so I can stop hating them so much.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch....I had a pair of cats fighting under my back deck a while ago. Screeching and hissing and thumping under the wooden floor. Probably ferals, we have a ton of those lately. Or maybe they're homeless cats abandoned here when their houses got wrecked and their people couldn't take them to the shelters with them. A lot of the locals are still living in Ft Monmouth and wherever else, they can't come home yet. A year later.
This all really sucks. And people who have been thru disasters, personal or regional, tell me it can take years to get over it. They're not talking about the physical recovery, they're referring to the mental processes. I can believe it. And it will take longer due to the panic-mongering that happens afterwards. Any time it gets cloudy, they predict doom and destruction. So of course, for people who are already traumatized, why not play on their fears and make them totally basket cases?
Meanwhile, we have a fat-assed governor creep who is using us as a stepping stool to being elected president. Folks, he hasn't done a damned thing for any of us, except blow hot air and posture. His wife and his cronies are raking in millions that they have yet to disburse to anyone who needs it (for whom it was supposedly intended). And he has the chutzpah to come here tomorrow so we can congratulate him on how great a job of "leadership" he has done in the past year. I think I'll need a serious barf bag to go to the party tomorrow. Or duct tape, to keep my opinions to myself.
On that note, and having drained my wine glass, to bed I go. It's chilly and cloudy outside, not much humidity, and the hurricane symptoms are dashing themselves on the other side of the puddle this year. I hope the folks over there have a better time of it than we have. I don't envy them a bit.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Mike Richter
I never knew about Mike's career before he became the opera recordings king of the world. Here's what one who knew him better than I ever did had to say:
Michael D. Richter, who died today (Oct 21, 2013, so actually yesterday) in Glenview, Illinois following a brief illness, gained international recognition in two unrelated fields in his 74 year lifetime: computer applications in space technology, and the preservation of opera recordings.
With only a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago as academic training, in 1969 he was one of 100 civilian recipients of the Presidential Medal recognizing “those who made Apollo fly”, for his work at M.I.T. Labs in designing micro-computer applications in the Apollo guidance systems, largely done before the first micro-computers had been built. After a brief stop at Commodore Corporation, where he designed proprietary software including the first letter-merging program and the first practical word processor for the Commodore 64 (the first widely marketed home computer), he moved on to the TRW Corporation’s aerospace division in Los Angeles, where his work included theoretical computer applications that later became known as digital photography – which began when he used his own Commodore computer to correct over-exposed photos he had taken as a semi-professional photographer.
After a viral infection of the heart forced him to take permanent disability while still in his 40’s, Mike began what he called his “second life”, immersing himself the world of opera. Having been active on the internet since its inception as a link between the handful of universities and labs working on Apollo, he established “Opera-L”, which soon became the second most active web site for opera enthusiasts – second only to the site sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. He soon established a second web site as a means of information exchange between the most knowledgeable opera supporters, performers and behind the scenes professionals. Already well on the way to accumulating what would become one of the largest privately-held opera recording collections in the world, in the 1980s, Mike turned his computer skills to the preservation of opera recordings. Mike’s computer enhanced Edison cylinders, otherwise unrecorded live performances made during World War II for servicemen in isolated posts onto CD’s, and rare vintage recordings to clarify the sound to a level better than the original. As rights to these obscure and often illicit recordings could never be obtained, he then distributed a handful of copies at cost to a few serious collectors, with copies available to the public at the Library of Congress, The University of Pittsburg and at music evenings he often hosted at his home in Los Angeles. Although he never claimed the credit, more than one member of the opera community believes that his transcription of a secret wire recording of a class taught in the 1950s at the Met by Maria Callas was the inspiration for the Tony Award winning musical “The Master Class”.
A heart attack in 2009 forced Mike to give up these activities, transfer his opera recordings to a distributer who is still in the process of cataloging and transcribing them for public release, and relocate to Glenview, to be near his brother’s family in Deerfield and Highland Park. Over the last four years, while a resident at the Seasons of Brookdale, he has conducted both opera evenings and a weekly movie night for residents, even though his voice had been reduced in the last year to little more than a whisper. Just before his death, arrangements were made that his last collection of commercially available opera videos and recordings – numbering about 200 titles – will be put in circulation at the Northbrook Public Library.
- Maxim de Winter
Had to record that somehow. I'm amazed, stunned (I thought Mike was immortal - well, he is, in some ways). But he was one of those people one could never associate with the idea of death. He seemed always to be one step (at least) ahead of fate.
Ok. So how to memorialize him? I barely knew him, yet he shared so much with me and others. I suppose I could listen to all of my recordings, in his honor....but that would probably take years. So I'll do it piecemeal, and think of Mike, the encyclopedia of operatic knowledge, every time I listen to any opera. Started with Dutchman this evening, plenty more to go. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
Michael D. Richter, who died today (Oct 21, 2013, so actually yesterday) in Glenview, Illinois following a brief illness, gained international recognition in two unrelated fields in his 74 year lifetime: computer applications in space technology, and the preservation of opera recordings.
With only a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago as academic training, in 1969 he was one of 100 civilian recipients of the Presidential Medal recognizing “those who made Apollo fly”, for his work at M.I.T. Labs in designing micro-computer applications in the Apollo guidance systems, largely done before the first micro-computers had been built. After a brief stop at Commodore Corporation, where he designed proprietary software including the first letter-merging program and the first practical word processor for the Commodore 64 (the first widely marketed home computer), he moved on to the TRW Corporation’s aerospace division in Los Angeles, where his work included theoretical computer applications that later became known as digital photography – which began when he used his own Commodore computer to correct over-exposed photos he had taken as a semi-professional photographer.
After a viral infection of the heart forced him to take permanent disability while still in his 40’s, Mike began what he called his “second life”, immersing himself the world of opera. Having been active on the internet since its inception as a link between the handful of universities and labs working on Apollo, he established “Opera-L”, which soon became the second most active web site for opera enthusiasts – second only to the site sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. He soon established a second web site as a means of information exchange between the most knowledgeable opera supporters, performers and behind the scenes professionals. Already well on the way to accumulating what would become one of the largest privately-held opera recording collections in the world, in the 1980s, Mike turned his computer skills to the preservation of opera recordings. Mike’s computer enhanced Edison cylinders, otherwise unrecorded live performances made during World War II for servicemen in isolated posts onto CD’s, and rare vintage recordings to clarify the sound to a level better than the original. As rights to these obscure and often illicit recordings could never be obtained, he then distributed a handful of copies at cost to a few serious collectors, with copies available to the public at the Library of Congress, The University of Pittsburg and at music evenings he often hosted at his home in Los Angeles. Although he never claimed the credit, more than one member of the opera community believes that his transcription of a secret wire recording of a class taught in the 1950s at the Met by Maria Callas was the inspiration for the Tony Award winning musical “The Master Class”.
A heart attack in 2009 forced Mike to give up these activities, transfer his opera recordings to a distributer who is still in the process of cataloging and transcribing them for public release, and relocate to Glenview, to be near his brother’s family in Deerfield and Highland Park. Over the last four years, while a resident at the Seasons of Brookdale, he has conducted both opera evenings and a weekly movie night for residents, even though his voice had been reduced in the last year to little more than a whisper. Just before his death, arrangements were made that his last collection of commercially available opera videos and recordings – numbering about 200 titles – will be put in circulation at the Northbrook Public Library.
- Maxim de Winter
Had to record that somehow. I'm amazed, stunned (I thought Mike was immortal - well, he is, in some ways). But he was one of those people one could never associate with the idea of death. He seemed always to be one step (at least) ahead of fate.
Ok. So how to memorialize him? I barely knew him, yet he shared so much with me and others. I suppose I could listen to all of my recordings, in his honor....but that would probably take years. So I'll do it piecemeal, and think of Mike, the encyclopedia of operatic knowledge, every time I listen to any opera. Started with Dutchman this evening, plenty more to go. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
There's something about Norma
I'm back. Been a rough month, between traveling for Carmen (LA) and seeing Norma and just plain work, Oct 15 was the last chance to file individual tax returns in the US for 2012, so of course everybody late had to get done, and phew, what a load of stuff to do all at once.
I wonder sometimes if the people who file late are the same people who buy a seat for a show in the middle of a row, then are the last ones to arrive at the theatre. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.
Carmen was a ton of fun, saw all the different permutations and combinations of cast members, plus two conductors, and all were great. Carmen is one of my all time favorites, and it's hard for me to not help everyone sing....duct tape works pretty well.
Then there's Norma. I've not yet gotten over Bartoli's recording of Norma, which is from another planet, we can't even go there. Norma as Baroque opera. Yeah, and I love it.
It's Norma year around here. The Met has Sondra Radvanovsky singing it. I've been to two performances so far, got one more, couldn't resist. Sondra can out-sing just about anybody who has ever sung the role, and I've heard a lot of really great Normas. What a gorgeous voice, coming from a beautiful woman who is a real person, not some untouchable diva like a real live Turandot. And now that she's grown into her voice fully (that type of voice takes until the owner is 40-something to be all there), WOW. Just WOW. It's like a vocal laser, it zaps you and goes into your bones and rattles everything you've ever heard or liked about Norma and replaces it with Sondra. Some kind of religious experience.
Yes, for the Angela Meade fans out there, Angela is good, too, but I don't think she's old enough yet, the voice is coming but not all here quite yet. Give it time, it ought to come. Meanwhile, I'll take Sondra.
And this is coming from me, a tenor/baritone person. I don't normally rave about soprani.
Then there's the plot, or what passes for a plot. I found myself getting annoyed that these two gorgeous women should (a) fight over this schmuck of a Roman, Pollione, who was crummy at the high notes anyway, and so had no redeeming aural value to make them swoon over him, and (b) be willing to die with or for him.
Bad enough it takes Norma till the last act to figure out she is the one causing her people's bad karma. Casta diva doesn't include having two kids with a leader of the enemy forces. What part of casta did she not understand? Duh. And the kids are probably 5 and 7 or so, so it sure has taken her a while to figure it out, ya' think???
But it could come out better. If you just make a couple of changes right after the Puerto Rican aria/duet (Mira, oh Norma), the two gals, Norma and Adalgesia (aka Analgesic in my sicko reinterpretive opera world) who are getting along like gangbusters at that point, ought to get together and take Pollione to the cleaners, get lifetime alimony/palimony and child support out of the jerk, ship him back to Rome, and live together happily ever after. Call it the post-women's-lib version of Norma. Then to even the score (no pun intended), send good old Dad (Oroveso) and his armies over to Rome to wipe out the rest of the Romans (leaving Pollione alive so he can continue to pay support to the ladies). End the story on a happy chord.
Sigh. If only I could be a director when I grow up.
I also saw Midsummer Night's Dream (the Britten one). Highly recommend you see it if you can. Great singing, cool funky production, fabulous conductor! Yeah James! Glad to see you back in NY!
As for the house....the last parts are under way, I think (unless I find more things that need to be done). Insulation is in under the house, just in time for colder weather to be arriving. One of my handy dudes is upstairs painting the sky cave as I write this - they call it a man cave, but as I don't keep one of those around the house anymore, I prefer sky cave. Maybe an aerie. I'll think about it.
The upstairs bathroom is almost done, we're waiting for Lowe's to actually come up with the medicine cabinet I ordered about 3 - 4 weeks ago which has supposedly been shipped twice now. Would not surprise me if I eventually get two of them, but I'd settle for the one I ordered. At least it's not a bath tub - my handy dude ordered one for his bathroom remodel and two were delivered to his house, about a week apart. What on earth can you do with two bath tubs???? Make a planter in the yard???? Or a very large wine cooler, maybe....
Then the last issue I can think of right now, getting window coverings for upstairs. Weird size windows, so it could be a challenge. We'll see.
Of course, if I think too hard, I can come up with a lot more things that need to be fixed/replaced/otherwise worked on. My handy dudes are threatening to move in, but they want the aerie, and I'm not sure I want loud male tenants up there. Dilemmas 'r us.
And so it goes. Pablo is having an occasional lesson in beach walks sans leash, and he did pretty well this morning, not racing away too far from me. I miss my beach walks with Cid, he could amble along on his own, leaving my hands free to work the cameras....it's time Pablo learns to do the same. He's starting to get the idea - Mom can't walk as fast as he can run (especially in sand), and when Mom calls or whistles (usually the Queen of the Night's aria), that means come back. Need plenty of practice, but we'll get there.
I wonder sometimes if the people who file late are the same people who buy a seat for a show in the middle of a row, then are the last ones to arrive at the theatre. Wouldn't surprise me a bit.
Carmen was a ton of fun, saw all the different permutations and combinations of cast members, plus two conductors, and all were great. Carmen is one of my all time favorites, and it's hard for me to not help everyone sing....duct tape works pretty well.
Then there's Norma. I've not yet gotten over Bartoli's recording of Norma, which is from another planet, we can't even go there. Norma as Baroque opera. Yeah, and I love it.
It's Norma year around here. The Met has Sondra Radvanovsky singing it. I've been to two performances so far, got one more, couldn't resist. Sondra can out-sing just about anybody who has ever sung the role, and I've heard a lot of really great Normas. What a gorgeous voice, coming from a beautiful woman who is a real person, not some untouchable diva like a real live Turandot. And now that she's grown into her voice fully (that type of voice takes until the owner is 40-something to be all there), WOW. Just WOW. It's like a vocal laser, it zaps you and goes into your bones and rattles everything you've ever heard or liked about Norma and replaces it with Sondra. Some kind of religious experience.
Yes, for the Angela Meade fans out there, Angela is good, too, but I don't think she's old enough yet, the voice is coming but not all here quite yet. Give it time, it ought to come. Meanwhile, I'll take Sondra.
And this is coming from me, a tenor/baritone person. I don't normally rave about soprani.
Then there's the plot, or what passes for a plot. I found myself getting annoyed that these two gorgeous women should (a) fight over this schmuck of a Roman, Pollione, who was crummy at the high notes anyway, and so had no redeeming aural value to make them swoon over him, and (b) be willing to die with or for him.
Bad enough it takes Norma till the last act to figure out she is the one causing her people's bad karma. Casta diva doesn't include having two kids with a leader of the enemy forces. What part of casta did she not understand? Duh. And the kids are probably 5 and 7 or so, so it sure has taken her a while to figure it out, ya' think???
But it could come out better. If you just make a couple of changes right after the Puerto Rican aria/duet (Mira, oh Norma), the two gals, Norma and Adalgesia (aka Analgesic in my sicko reinterpretive opera world) who are getting along like gangbusters at that point, ought to get together and take Pollione to the cleaners, get lifetime alimony/palimony and child support out of the jerk, ship him back to Rome, and live together happily ever after. Call it the post-women's-lib version of Norma. Then to even the score (no pun intended), send good old Dad (Oroveso) and his armies over to Rome to wipe out the rest of the Romans (leaving Pollione alive so he can continue to pay support to the ladies). End the story on a happy chord.
Sigh. If only I could be a director when I grow up.
I also saw Midsummer Night's Dream (the Britten one). Highly recommend you see it if you can. Great singing, cool funky production, fabulous conductor! Yeah James! Glad to see you back in NY!
As for the house....the last parts are under way, I think (unless I find more things that need to be done). Insulation is in under the house, just in time for colder weather to be arriving. One of my handy dudes is upstairs painting the sky cave as I write this - they call it a man cave, but as I don't keep one of those around the house anymore, I prefer sky cave. Maybe an aerie. I'll think about it.
The upstairs bathroom is almost done, we're waiting for Lowe's to actually come up with the medicine cabinet I ordered about 3 - 4 weeks ago which has supposedly been shipped twice now. Would not surprise me if I eventually get two of them, but I'd settle for the one I ordered. At least it's not a bath tub - my handy dude ordered one for his bathroom remodel and two were delivered to his house, about a week apart. What on earth can you do with two bath tubs???? Make a planter in the yard???? Or a very large wine cooler, maybe....
Then the last issue I can think of right now, getting window coverings for upstairs. Weird size windows, so it could be a challenge. We'll see.
Of course, if I think too hard, I can come up with a lot more things that need to be fixed/replaced/otherwise worked on. My handy dudes are threatening to move in, but they want the aerie, and I'm not sure I want loud male tenants up there. Dilemmas 'r us.
And so it goes. Pablo is having an occasional lesson in beach walks sans leash, and he did pretty well this morning, not racing away too far from me. I miss my beach walks with Cid, he could amble along on his own, leaving my hands free to work the cameras....it's time Pablo learns to do the same. He's starting to get the idea - Mom can't walk as fast as he can run (especially in sand), and when Mom calls or whistles (usually the Queen of the Night's aria), that means come back. Need plenty of practice, but we'll get there.
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