melshutterbug

The picking up of the sofa cushion was every bit the nightmare I though it would be. Driving around in a web of undermall parking surrounded by downtown one way streets and traffic looking for a really horribly identified place with no signage. Well, there was a sign, actually, once you got there. Not helpful. I was so pissed off. But, I got the cushion and got the fuck out of there. I do not ever have to go back. Well, maybe next time Scott and Julie come from New Zealand but that won't be for two years. I'll be recovered by then.

I did go to Uwajimaya after. It's a decent sized store. I couldn't find the sandos but I got my noodle salad and a few other goodies plus a few dinners worth of Mongolian beef. And a banana milk cake. The beef made the car quite aromatic. It was fun to see all the stuff again. They are, supposedly opening here a store here next year. Their poke is my favorite but I did not get any this time. Should have. The noodle salad was not nearly as good as I remember it. And the Mongolian beef was a fail. BUT I'm still glad I went.

Then I also stopped at Daiso on the way home to get a couple of things that I cannot get anywhere else. Then, uneventfully, home. I was going to stop and fill the tank but it's not yet below the halfway point so I didn't.

This morning's volleyball was cut short. Linda and Bob are in Canada, Cecil was missing (he's the asshole so it's hard to count this as anything but a win), Wally had to leave early and Tina always does so we had a great time and then called it at 8. This gave me enough time to run take my Amazon returns to UPS. Turns out there was also enough time to pop into Safeway but I didn't think of that last bit until I got home. I may go later.

The first baseball game is at 11 just after elbow coffee but it is the one, out of the four today, that I really don't care about. Maybe I'll pop out then and also pick up some lunch. Then the games at 1 and 3, I do care about and, of course, the Mariner game at 5. Full day.

And now I have a fully cushioned sofa to enjoy it on.

I've seen every one of the 23 scillion Great British Bake Off episodes but last week's (which I just watched) was the first time I was truly lost multiple times. It was Back to School week and clearly I did not go to school in England.

First was school cake. Everyone seemed to know what this was except the woman from Ukraine... and me. Turns out it's a vanilla cake (or sponge if you want to sound posh) with vanilla royal icing and sprinkles BUT - here's a massive twist. They make some kind of vanilla custard that is not set. It pours and they pour this over the cake AND icing. I'm all over vanilla cake and I like royal icing. and I love custard but all three is a bit of overkill, in my book. And I never ever went to a school that served any kind of regular cake.

Then there were flapjacks. Now, in my world, flap jacks are just another name for pancakes. Not so in Britainville. They all made some kind of dense, almost power bar dense, oat thing. No relation to pancakes at all.

Then they made Summer Fete stuff - cakes and cookies and stuff reminiscent of Summer Fete. Never heard of Summer Fete in my life. I couldn't even make out what they were saying until they said it a bunch of times.

But, apparently plastic ducks with rings on their backs are a big piece of summer Fete as they get 'fished' in something called Hook a Duck. There is also something called Quoits which involves maybe rings and sticks? Again. never heard of it but no on they show gave it even a question mark.

So weird that after all those episodes, I get all these questions marks in just the one.

I watched 3.2 baseball games yesterday. They were all good except the last one. The poor Cincinnati Reds got matched against the We'll Beat You Up Dodgers and they did. Boston beat the Yankees which was satisfying. The rest was yawnerville. I'd kinda rather we played the Guardians and they got beat yesterday by the Tigers. And I don't care one bit whether the Cubs beat the Pirates or vice versa.

Today is another round of same. Same games, same game times. I think I'll skip the noon game and the 6 pm game and just watch the 10 am and then 3 pm games. This set is 2 out of 3 so, likely, at least one of these teams will win their 2nd game today and tomorrow's schedule will be lighter. As long as the Yankees lose. With a Dodger kicker (which ain't gonna happen).

Otherwise, that's it for me for news. John's still dying - Hazel was wheeling him around yesterday. His mind is starting to leave. Dick is getting better but not fast enough for Jan. Yesterday, he had her running back and forth getting stuff. Happily, the nursing wing is on this floor so at least she didn't have to wait for elevators.

It's a rainy overcast day so I'm off to swim some laps.

I got my first DVR in 1980 (a beta max, since you asked). It has a wired remote. Yes, a wire strung across the room from the TV to the couch but this was 1980 and DVR was magic so I did not care who I tripped.

I learned to fast forward through commercials. My thumb hit >> without my even being aware of it for more than 40 years.

When I moved here in 2023, I gave up all recording services.

Today I splurged on Hulu+Live for the playoffs and now I have recording again. I tuned into the first baseball game recording 30 minutes after it started but it was a good 30 minutes before I remembered I could fast forward through the commercials! My thumb has forgotten its main purpose in life.

These announcers are not remotely interesting but they are not spending whole innings discussing the players' mustaches. They are following the game. Shocking. They also have twice now used 'fewer' instead of 'less' correctly so I'm a happy camper. Also the game is a good one so far.

I've had mayo and peanut butter on my grocery list since forever. Last week I added some other stuff. This morning, I got everything on my list except, you guessed it, mayo and peanut butter. Sigh. Fortunately neither is critical. I'm just replacing backups.

A couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a very small bag of mellowcreme pumpkins. My fav. Only when I got home, I discovered they were not Brach's. ECK!! Did that stop me from finishing the bag, no. But, it did increase my desire for Brach's. At least I did not forget that on the list. I need a container with a combination lock on it, to keep them in... And then forget the combination.

Last week Bonny had some deli thick slicked turkey that she could not finish so she gave me the last slice. When she offered, I thought she was talking real turkey not pressed faux turkey. But, it was fine. When she gave it to me, she gave me a box of stove top stuffing, too. Which was weird but ok. It's getting close to the season. Then I discovered I have no cranberry jelly left in the cupboard. Got some today. Whew. And another box of stuffing. And a container of chopped up onion and celery.

When I got home I added the onion and celery to a pan of butter and them threw in the stuffing mixes and some chicken broth. DAMN, does that taste good. The two boxes together only made me about 5 servings so I know there will have to be more. I would have said that I preferred Peperidge Farm stuffing mix but this boxed shit is pretty damn good!

And I made another batch of chopped up cukes and onions - just salt, pepper and sugar. It's getting good in the fridge. Tonight's menu includes pork chops in a peach glaze. Usually their pork chops are horrible but whenever they have them on the menu, I try them once, in hope. (And then fill out yet another dining room feedback card... WHY THE FUCK CAN'T YOU PEOPLE DO A DECENT PORK CHOP??!! They have been ignoring me for 23 months now, but I still hope.

I'm still wallowing in the wonderfulness of finding the prize in Biggie's shit yesterday. Also, had I not been eagle eyeing his ever elimination, it's a little freaky to me how easily I could have missed it. And I then wonder how much junk he's eaten over the years and just shit out and I never knew anything about it. That cat!

Hazel came back yesterday afternoon, with John! She wheeled him right in. He was in good spirits but looks like death is way sooner than later. He's shrunken down so his teeth are now way too big for his face. I notarized their signatures and we visited a little and then she wheeled him out. I hope he does not have to last much longer.

I got the computer work all finished for Bonny and helped out the guy who made up the spreadsheet. He's pretty good at Excel but is clueless to most every other computer nuance. It's really interesting. BUT he's a great example of 'only answer his questions. do not offer up any other info.' He's happy in his little Excel world and I am happy that I had the restraint enough to leave him there.

I get a daily newsletter from a kid who covers mostly American Politics. He's a great writer and has kept me up to speed for years now with his Wake Up To Politics newsletter. But this morning's issue describes in numbers and text how I am not up to speed at all. He explains where everyone younger than me is getting their news. (Tiktok, Youtube, podcasts) He describes people, on the left and the right, who those younger than me are getting their political information from - vast and impressive numbers of those people - and I have only heard of one of the 20 or so people and programs he mentions. Holy fuck. Now I feel clueless but I can also live with that. I've tried to latch onto Tiktok more than once and just don't have the juju.

Regardless of what happens in the rest of the MLB, the Mariners first post season game will be Saturday, October 4. (That's also the day of the first post season Phillies game.) Somehow I had it in my head that I would need to buy a Hulu Live or YouTube.TV service to get the playoff games, but no. All the Mariners and Phillies games will be on Fox or TBS both of which I get with Timber Ridge free cable. I might buy a month of Hulu Live so I can watch the games in the bedroom. And watch some other stuff I want to watch but maybe not. I cannot tell if I can watch any of the wildcard series that precedes October 4 but I don't really care about those games much anyway.

I skipped swimming laps on Wednesday and my elbow felt so much better. I think maybe I'll skip today as well and start in again on Sunday. Today I plan to do a little puzzling, a lot of knitting and watching TV.