Good Bye March, Hello April

 For almost the entirety of March, we were able to function with the heat and AC set to OFF.  We were even able to sleep with the windows open, and it was some of the best sleep I've had since the kiddos arrived!

There were 2 cold snap days, and a few mornings I needed to run the heat for an hour so the kids could defrost and get to school.  And toward the end of the month, we did have a few above-average hot days when AC was desired.  These were offset by us going out of town for a weekend and being able to leave the Nest set to ECO.  

Alas, the temps are steadily creeping up and I have a small window to do any outdoor/garage projects before the Southern Summer begins (in Mid-May). 

The Running Shoes  

As soon as I got home from dropping Moose and Squirrel off at school, I changed into my running clothes and went for what passes for me running these days.  It was my second run since buying the new shoes.  Anyway, I managed to eke out another 1-mile run, slightly faster than the first one.  More importantly, I ran longer than I walked.

Date Distance Pace Time

04-01-2026    1 mile 11:35   11:42 

03-23-2026    1 mile 12:04   12:22 

On the first run, it took a quantum of seconds to get the Strava App to pause, so the Time was probably at least 10 seconds faster. By the way I really hate the Strava app and website.  it is hard to navigate and it is constantly trying to sell you the pay version.  Since my data lives here, I'm stuck with it for a while.  If the running thing takes off and gets anywhere in the neighborhood of consistency, let alone what it once way, I'll look for a better tool.

Bedroom is now complete

Instead of sitting around the house all day doing nothing much, I got us to go to Memphis on Saturday.  The reason was twofold.  

First, I wanted to replace the last remnants of the sectional that the cats have destroyed with this:

Second, I wanted to get some new running shoes.  I'm past my glory days of running piles of miles, but I think I can start doing a mile or two after I drop the kids off at school.

I went for a 1-mile run on Monday, so if I use the Anne Landers School of Thought, it cost me $130 for that run.  When I run another mile, it will be $65.  And so-on and so-on.  

It's interesting to note that the chaise lounge cost less than the shoes.  It was listed at $75, but I got them to give me a $5 discount because there was some scuffs.  At the same time, I sold something for my in-laws and the buyers offered me $200 down from $250.  Ca sara sara.  

Some meal favorites

 On the Book of Faces, I shared a post from The Onion about substituting ingredients in a recipe. The first time I try a new recipe, I strive to use all the ingredients and follow directions to the letter.

An exception might be that it calls for an ingredient I don’t have and don’t want to invest in. For instance, earlier this week I made česnečka soup but didn’t have marjoram (actually, we did, I just didn’t see it in the cupboard) so I used oregano instead.

Last night I made crockpot shrimp scampi. I made this a few weeks ago, but didn’t have any cooking white wine, so i used vinegar wine. BIG mistake. This needs either cooking wine or real white wine.
I did use lime juice instead of lemon juice but otherwise followed the recipe and it was delicious.

https://lowcarbyum.com/crock-pot-shrimp-scampi-slow-cooker-recipe/

Last Week I made česnečka or Czech garlic soup.  Forgot to take a photo but it was delicious.  

The Aftermath of Still You Gotta Try

I wrote about three opportunities that arrived in my LinkedIn message box in early August.  

It should come as no surprise that none of them panned out.  I cannot say what legitimate shot I had at any of these but for a hot minute, it looked like either Big Bank or Consulting Gig would have hired me.  I was feeling a little randy so I emailed the guy who went on vacation 2 hours after contacting me and he said the position was still open.  We spoke and I sent him my resume but no news.  Not unexpectedly, he is not a follow-through guy, and for recruiters these days, right or wrong (it's definitely wrong), they cannot expend any more time on a candidate the client isn't interested in.

Jeepers Creepers

The recruiter for the consulting job did follow through and it feels like he was more upset than I was about not getting the job.  The reason, I suspect, is that it is hard to fill some roles and when you have a candidate that is good on paper, what is the reason for not going with them if they do okay on the interview?  The reality is this was a case of the recruiter didn't understand the assignment.  They were looking for someone with a skillset that included a range of software tools that the last place I worked produced.  But I only had skills in one of them.  

This happened years before whe No-Name Software Company was acquired by a bigger company.  I'd get calls from recruiters saying I'm perfect for a role but if they had just spent 5 seconds reading my profile, they would see it was for the other side of the business.  Think Samsung TVs vs Samsung Washing Machines.

I have absolutely no way of knowing but I suspect the position at Big Bank went to a candidate who lived in one of the preferred cities.  

McDonald's hates it when you do this

In an effort that can only be described as the laziest kid in the classroom attempting to show effort, McDonald's has come up with some(what) cheaper meal deals.

As I want and need to lower my cholesterol, I wanted an Egg McMuffin.  However, it costs $2 more than the Sausage McMuffin with Egg.  The Sausage McMuffin w/out egg costs $4.99.  So to be clear: with everything, it costs $5.  Without the Egg, you save a penny, but get only the Egg McMuffin and you have to pay $2 more!

I was hungry and about to cave when an idea hit me.  I ordered the SME but then customized it to hold the sausage.  Customizing sandwiches is meant to get you to order extras so the sandwich costs more but I gamed the system.  I wondered if the workers would give me a SME and remove the meat but no they did the obviously smart thing and just gave me an Egg McMuffin.  

Apologies to those who will suffer when McD Corporate finds out what I did and writes code to prevent it in the future.  And by the way, an Egg McMuffin without the sausage tastes like ass.  

Easy Come, Easy Go

Today was the last visit for the Research Study at the Eye Clinic.  It went quickly enough and was fun.  I've built up a rapport with the Researcher, who replaced the first Researcher a few sessions into this study. The first Researcher was very clinical.  The second one was more [word that means human].

When I started the study, I knew it would be for a year, but I didn't realize how long that truly was.  Every night for 462 days I had to put drops in my eyes.  It helped that I could set an Alexa reminder but it was still annoying to have to keep a log on a sheet of paper with small fields to enter information.

my blood pressure is doing better too

Also, when I started the study, I decided to use the $1550 for something either fun or to help pay existing expenses.  However, in November, our refrigerator and dishwasher went kaput, so the money was allocated to paying off the Home Depot bill that was on an 18-month interest-free charge.

That's how my luck work.  If I happen to come into some money, something happens that spends that money faster than I can enjoy it.  If I won a scratch-off lottery ticket for $1000, I'd come home and find out we need a $990 repair to our furnace.  So it goes.  

Anyway, they had my $1550 check waiting for me.  I thought it would be sent in the mail and I didn't realize I'd be paying taxes on it, but what can you do?  I have already scheduled the payment to pay off the charge card and since we have paid the balance down a bit since November (while modestly adding to it each month for those dam water cooler jugs) we actually have about $350 left.

We can splurge and get a couple of Five Guys cheeseburgers!

They keep stringing me along

 Yesterday at 4:49 pm  Call-Center Recruiter reached out to me to tell me that Big Bank client wanted to do a 2nd interview.  He said I was shortlisted.  But when I pressed him, he said the other two candidates were also shortlisted.  

The available spots were today at 10:30 am or Thursday.  I didn't want to drag this out.  I also have a crew here working on the bathroom, and an HVAC guy coming to look at my AC, which is not behaving correctly.  Because that's how my life works.

As far as interviews go, this one went well.  We figured out the solution to the technical issues (log in as a guest).  That doesn't mean i have the job.  The primary person who was supposed to be on the call didn't make it.  And the techy who interviewed me had better things to do and was quite happy when half our time was over.  He did say I did well, and I think he was being genuine.

But here's the thing.  the job spec is for a hybrid with 3 days in a Big Bank Office.  If any of the other candidates live in a city where just one member of the existing team lives, that is an advantage because in in-person meetings.  

And I just checked.  Memphis has Big Bank locations, but I'm not sure they have offices for back office staff.  That could be a problem...for a fucking job that does not require being on site for any good reason!

kids extracurricular activities

 With the exception of Tuesdays and Fridays, our schedule is busy with kids' extracurricular activities.  They are both in martial arts twice a week but in different classes.  Natasha also has soccer practice twice a week: Mondays at 7:30 and Thursdays at 5:30 pm.

Can we just talk about how Fucking Insane that is?  One is too early the other is too late.  We have more flexibility with the Martial Arts, but Boris wanted to switch to Jiu-Jitsu instead of Tae Kwon Do (to be fair, he wanted that from the beginning, but we pushed him to do TKD with his sister so it would be easier...on us).  Unfortunately, Ju-Jitsu is only offered Mon and Wed at 7 pm.

The good news is he has found his people in that class.  There are at least two other kids who are just like him.

Natasha wanted one free day a week so we let her drop the second class.  She opts to go on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm when her cousin is there, along with Confederate Jethro.  We have great conversations.

The hardest night is Thursday because I have to have Natasha ready for her 530 practice by the time Nightingale comes home so she can put Natasha's hair in a French braid.  

And this is just practice...next month, the games begin.  

Saving some Java

 We waste a lot of coffee in this household.  many a morning, I pour myself a cup of coffee that gets cold before I can drink it.

Nightingale has decided that we should save the coffee since the cost has gone up so much (thanks Trump).  This works for me because that means setting the pot every other day.

We have an Alexa-enabled coffeemaker because I didn't want to go through the trouble of setting a timer once for the weekdays and once for the weekend.

Eleven down, one to go

Today I went for my 11th visit for the Clinical Eye Study.  This means I only have one left, and we are scheduled for 42 days from today: September 16th.  

I had, unrealistically, hoped to encounter a particular kind of conflict since I began this study.  I hoped I would either have a job that made it difficult to keep the appointment or that I would be back in Chicago.  Alas, neither occurred.  

On the It's a Small World After All scale, it is kinda ironic interesting that the place we bought our Bathroom tile from is literally around the corner.

***************

The Claw

In Chicago, if you needed to get rid of a mattress or sofa, or other such items, you put it on the alley and it would disappear within the week.  The garbage trucks would take it even though sometimes the item wasn't on the approved list.  As a good citizen, you would leave a case of beer out around the holidays.

Down here they have a vehicle called the Claw that comes around and picks up things that cannot go into ordinary trash bins.  The thing is, no one knows when it will come.  
It might come Monday afternoon, or Wednesday Morning or alternating Thursdays.  

Nightingale really wanted me to trim the tree branches that were practically touching the ground so they wouldn't slap our lawn crew in the face when they ride their lawn mowers.  That she wanted it done during the hottest part of the summer (yet) annoyed me, but to be fair I could have done it earlier in the year.   

So I did a little bit each day and Natasha helped me trim them into smaller manageable pieces to put out for The Claw, which didn't show up for a week.

Selling money for money

 Two collectors told me essentially the same thing.  These silver certificates aren't worth more than $1 each but I should hold onto them or sell them on Facebook Marketplace.  I did the latter and got some quick responses.  I took an offer for $20 for the fifteen of them.  (Some knucklehead offered me $14, probably as a joke and I quickly insulted him before the post got archived after the sale).

What this tells me is that One Dollar Silver Certificates, especially in the condition these were in, are not worth a professional collector's time and effort.  But perhaps an amateur collector can sell enough on volume to make a difference.

I asked the guy who bought them what he was gonna do with them and he said he just likes to collect old coins.  That's probably it.  

I'm now free of those dollars.  I will slowly reintroduce the coins back in the currency population and empty that box out.  The foreign coins and bills will go to the donation box the next time I'm at a museum.  Go Me.  

These Eyes have seen a lot of things

Since writing about the clinical trial for eye drops, I've made 3 more visits, the 9th one this morning.  It was probably the shortest I've ever been there.  My blood pressure was better than last time because I've gotten a little exercise in.  My diary/log sheet didn't have the usual re-writes since I took my time filling it out over the last six weeks.

The bad news is that I was hoping to get some lunch at Mr Rusty's Real Taste of Chicago.  It's about a 20-minute drive from the clinic, so I figured I'd be first in line.  Unfortunately, they changed their hours and didn't open until 10:30 am.  I couldn't wait another half hour, plus the wait time for food, so I headed home.  

So I just have three more visits to go.  I've earned $1175 but won't get paid until the end of the trail.  I'm hoping there isn't some loophole or something I've missed that will allow them to not pay me.  And I'd be happy if something happened like a job or relocation back to Chicagoland would make me have to quit the trial but with only three more to go, I think it will happen as planned.

Jerk in the truck made it hard to take this photo

The kids are finished with 4th grade next Friday.  The weekend after Memorial Day we are headed to Michigan for a high school graduation/big celebration which I am not looking forward to.  I do not like how the Adamas treat me in my own home, it's gonna suck even more on their terf.

On the return trip, we will swing through Chicago to check on my mom.  She isn't doing well and actually had a fall the other week.  We cannot manage her from here and she won't move down here.  Not that we have the space for her.  IF she would just sell her house, we could find a way to buy a better home in Chicago and take care of her.  

Winter is Leaving (eventually)

It is wintertime in Mississippi and the rest of the South. Usually, what passes for winter down here is a few below-30-degree days and maybe one snowfall. Since we moved here, and even a few Christmas visits before, there has been bigger-than-standard snowfall and colder-than-record temperatures.  

kids attempt at making us breakfast

The good news is that winter is usually just mid-December to mid-February, give or take a week. Typically, it will be biting cold in the AM, but by 1 pm, the sun will be out, and it will be anywhere from 45 to 60 or even 70 F.  

This year, Winter seems to want to stick around into March according to the weather forecast.  We might actually get more snow next week.  

Finally got the chicken right for the Alfredo

Every January I wonder what I should do with this space.  I've been blogging here for 15 years with 922 posts to show for it.  While blogging isn't dead, it definitely has taken a back seat to other forms of social interaction.

I could go over to SubStack and revive my ChicagoNow blog in hopes of growing an audience, but I don't think I want that anymore.  Writing, running, and playing volleyball were my passions in my teenage and early 20s.  But each one eventually became "work" and thus not as much fun.  

Beyond that, by the time I can make words about something it turns out that other people already said what needs to be said much better than I could ever say it.  

The reality is that I'm not gonna be a viral influencer or pundit and I'm never gonna write that great American novel.  And I'm okay with that.  Having a space where I can write my occasional this happened to me and here are my thinky-thoughts about it is fine.  

2024 Bears Predication Update: First Quarter Results

The NFL season is 1/4 over and the Chicago Bears are 2-2.  This is where I predicted them but not how.  They managed to lose games they should have won and win games they should have lost.  That's the NFL and the Bears in a nutshell.

For their next four games, I predicted the following:

Panthers W

Jaguars W

Bye Week

at Commanders W

at Cardinals L

I'm sticking with it but the Commanders are playing well and the other three teams aren't as bad as their record indicates.  And any team with a losing record is dangerous because they really want that next win.

For instance, the Bears play the 1-3 Panthers next week.  We will be in Ontario so I likely won't get to watch that game until we get back (and I'll only watch if we win).  

The Jaguars are looking for their first win and I hope they get it against Indianapolis so that when we play them in London, we aren't playing a desperate 0--5 team looking for their first win of the season.  While this counts as a home game, it's on the road.  Far, far away.  But they do have the Bye week next so it resets.

Then the next two games are on the road where we have lost all season.  My prediction had them going 3-1, making them 5 - 3 overall.  I'm worried this might have been too optimistic.  Anything less than 2-2 makes their playoff hopes a little tougher.

Slow Cooker Basil Chicken Coconut Curry Recipe

Whenever I try a new recipe, I do my best to use all the ingredients and follow directions to the letter.  For this Slow Cooker Basil Chicken Coconut Curry Recipe, I found that I had most of the ingredients at home already.  I was out of Chile powder, so I used this Mexican Adobe seasoning we got from Fresh Farms in Grosse Pointe.  I also didn't brown the chicken thighs first as I read a comment that it works fine either way and the point of Slow Cooker/Crockpot recipes is less work.

Nighingale stocks up on sales and we had a ton of chicken thighs in our deep freeze.  The boneless/skinless package I used was just under 3 lbs so I tinkered with the spice ratios a little.  also, Natasha loves mixing ingredients so it was easier to round up on some of them.

Finally, I didn't understand that seeded meant taking the seeds out.  Luckily, this recipe has enough Coconut Milk that it wasn't too hot to handle.

Fan Fiction

I know, as well as anyone else, that the virtual spaces on Facebook are not a healthy substitute for getting out in the sunlight and interacting with real people.  As it so happens, I don't have the option to do that with any regularity right now.

For a brief time, I enjoyed a few FB groups/Pages I joined.  Specifically, a Battlestar Galactica page, A Logan's Run page/group, and a Halloween franchise group.

Alas, it didn't take long for them to devolve into derivative posts and repetitive arguments.

This MEME gets posted weekly

Logan's Run:  The original was fine, no need for a reboot.

BSG:  Only the original, the reboot sUXs.  Starbuck cannot be a woman, etc.

Halloween:  My favorite movie in order is the correct one.  Or they keep posting the same MEMEs over and over.

It is exhausting.  And a bit disheartening.  I thought that I had found a fun place to waste time and focus my Adult ADHD.  Luckily, FB has taken the effort to only show me the Halloween pages at the moment.  I might have unfollowed or snoozed the other ones.  And in time something else will come along.

Bonus material:

BattleStar Galactica 1978 Bingo Card

1)  Why Only One Season

2)  I hate the reboot

3)  I hate BSG 1980

4) Who was your crush

5) comparison of actor/plot to some obscure B movie

6) Reference to Richard Hatch's failed attempt at reboot

7) Points out an obvious plot hole

In all fairness, I like #7.  Pointing out plotholes and trying to come up with In-Universe explanations is fun for me.  

Edit from the future;  I want to flesh this out more but I'm just not feeling it.  

Salt Shaker and Baseball Games

This isn't a Living in the South Thing:  Even back in Chicago, even before the World Series run in 2015, it was getting harder and harder to watch Cubs games.  

Pay Us! 

I'm too lazy to look it all up but it might have started with the 2015 playoff games and only being able to watch those on streaming services.  

I don't like the Cubs, let alone baseball enough to pay for a subscription.  But i do like the Bears and football.  It was worth it to buy the YouTube TV Sunday package (or whatever they call it) so I could watch my terrible Bears games.

I have to make a decision on whether to renew the package this year in the hopes that Caleb Williams elevates the Bears and they are at least exciting to watch, or save the money and do something else on Sundays.  

What a waste of a perfectly good power cord:  For Christmas last year, at Nightingale's request, I got her this electronic salt and pepper shaker set.  it came with a warranty and I actually remembered to register the product.  

One of the shakers broke, in that you couldn't lock it closed because the glass was broken.  I contacted Cuisinart support via telephone and they told me they don't replace individual shakers and would have to send me a new unit.

Wasteful, but okay.  But the catch was, I had to cut the power cord and send them a picture.  I asked why and the support person agreed this was wasteful, but policy.  Also, while she took all my info, she did not send me any email with instructions or confirmation.  She said that the email address was just to send me tracking information after I sent the picture.

So I do as instructed, which admittedly is a rarity for me when something doesn't make any sense.  I get a confirmation "we got your email" message.  After a bit of time goes but I contacted them again, via the website online form (I should have done this in the first place).

They claimed they never got my email with the picture of the severed cord.  Oh no, now you've done it.  I emailed back attaching the email with my picture and the "We got your email" message attached.  They respond that they cannot open/read the attachments.  I copy and paste the picture within the email and they tell me they will expedite sending me the shaker.  It still took another week or two before it arrived but I did get it.

Since the warranty is now completely over and I don't want to go through this again, I've saved the working shaker and power station although I really would have liked to have a second working cord.

Double Nickels

I turned 55 last week.  Nightingale tells me stories about her dad and it might be true that girls marry a guy who is like their father, for better or worse.  He is 79 and his body started betraying him long ago.  He

can't really do much and what he can do takes 3x longer because of his physical limitations.  and I am scared shitless this will happen to me too.

I haven't even tried to go for a run in 2 years.  There are so many paths that are now closed to me.  The best I can do is focus on the ones still open, such as being the best parent I can be.  

My Current Existential Crisis

I've never been very good at setting boundaries and putting my foot down when it comes to the people I call friends.  I mean I eventually do it but by the time I do, it's too late.  They are like hey when I kicked you in the stomach last week you didn't say anything, why are you making a big deal about it now?

I wrote about this last year.

We talked in January for her birthday but not since.  I figured time just moved quickly for her and she was waiting for my birthday for our next live talk.    Her text didn't mention calling to chat, but her card did, so a few days later I texted about it.  She said she's on a crazy schedule for the next few weeks and would let me know when she catches a break.  

I got a birthday text and a card from Jewel last week.  In the card she wrote that it has been way too long since we talked and wants to catch up in 3 weeks after her daughter's wedding.  So let's unpack this.  She couldn't find a few minutes in the last 49 weeks to chat with me for 20-30 minutes and now is too busy for the next three weeks.  And then she will want to talk about her daughter's wedding.  

seems appropriate

A few years ago, when I lost my job at Big Audit, I sent an email to a small group of friends I thought gave a shit.  Most responded.  One person didn't.  But a month later I was on Gmail at the same time and she said "Sorry you lost your job."  if I hadn't been online at the exact same time I might never have heard from her.  

I get that email isn't her thing, though she works in Corporate America and certainly works with email.    She could reply with a "Hey sorry this happened, you know I'm not a big emailer but if you want to jump on Gchat, I'm available. "  But her way has to carry the day. 

Our friendship was damaged (technically a 2nd time but I won't go into that). 

Back to Jewel.  Chances are good it will slip her mind.  She's not big on Social Maintenance and perhaps once enough time passes, she will forget like last year.  On the other hand, she keeps the number of friends around her small because she's not big on Social Maintenance and Friendship Obligations.  She likely has bored to death anyone she interacts with Tales of Wedding Planning.  

And this is where I have to decide what I want to do.  I could take the call and the crumbs she throws me occasionally so that I have someone to talk to in my Southern Isolation.  Or I could punt it away with my own unavailability.  I could tell her how she hurt me but all that will happen is she might acknowledge, apologize, promise and then never reach out again.  

Passport Missconnection

We need to get passports for our children.  We are going to Niagra Falls in the fall for a school field trip and because of the way things are, Passports are needed for entry to Canada.  Because our kids are minors,  both parents have to apply in person (or sign an affidavit).  

The post office here in Olive Branch only does that on weekdays.  Because Nightingale doesn't have a lot of PTO accrued yet, we don't want to spend it on something like this.  The hours are 10 - 3 so we also would have to take the kids out of school.  

We scheduled an appointment for last Saturday with a PO in Memphis because they had Saturday hours.  Obviously, they were booked a month out.  

Apparently, since we crossed State Lines to do this, we needed two forms of ID.  Nightingale read the instructions 4 times.  It didn't say anything about 2 pieces of ID.  Our trip was wasted because I only had my driver's license.  Spoiler Alert: it does say two forms are needed if you cross state lines.

We are so used to OB and Memphis being "one place" that we sometimes forget we are crossing state lines and subject to different rules.  Alcohol for instance is still not sold in Mississippi on Sundays.

I've never seen this anywhere else

And the thing is, I had a feeling I should just bring my passport along.  But I didn't.  Because I don't trust the little voices in my head anymore.  

We did have the option of submitting the form but the lady said it might come back asking for more proof.  She didn't suggest we run home, get my passport, and come back and I didn't ask if that was an option.  our appointment was at 12 and they close at 1 pm, so it would have been tight anyway.  But next time I will ask.

Olive Branch and South Haven Post Offices do take walk-ins and appointments during the week.  Nightingale doesn't want to use up her PTO on this but we are off next week for a trip anyway.  We think we can hit the PO on the way home and get this done.