Toronto Vacation Part 4

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

MONDAY

The Butterfly Conservatory was a blast.  and we had lunch at a great local place called Corks where I had the best Lobster sandwich in my life (also my first Lobster sandwich in my life).  but honestly, Niagara on the Lake is not kid-friendly.  YES, there are stores where they can find cool stuff.  but otherwise, not kid-friendly.

and the rest of the day was spent getting back home.  For some god fucking reason, we had to fly past Memphis to Dallas and then come back.  our 2nd flight was delayed, and the AC couldn't be turned on until we lifted off, and we didn't land until after 11 pm (30 minutes delayed). By the time we got home, it was Tuesday.

we slept in and Tuesday was an easy day.  but now we are catching up.

As a reminder to Future Me, next time check your bags on the return trip.  On the way to our destination, having our bags with us in case of Lost Luggage made sense.  On the return trip, there was no reason to force ourselves and our kids to carry their suitcases when everything they needed was in their backpacks.  

One final note, the 7-11 pizza we ate at the airport was better than one-third of the meals we consumed on this trip.  

Toronto Vacation Part 3

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

SUNDAY

We got wet.  our tour guide seems questionable in her bone fides.  I guess we had to choose between Behind the Falls or Mist Boat Ride, but honestly, I would have skipped Floral Clock and Welland Ship Canal.

for lunch we stopped at a tourist trap.

I liked the Old Fort Niagara but was still stuffed from lunch.  so while we tried, we couldn't take full advantage of the Mandarin Buffet.

then we get to see Ripley's Believe it or Not museum and a wax museum NO ONE was interested in seeing.

the fireworks were nice.

I've obviously lost steam on these posts so I'm just publishing what I have with some photos.  Sorry to my handful of readers.

Toronto Vacation Part 2

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

SATURDAY

We had an amazing breakfast at the Delta Hotel (655 Dixon Road/Toronto) and the rooms were nice.  Then we were off to Casa Loma.  Because it was October, they were set up for Halloween with the basement and grounds decked out in scary display.  I could have stayed here all day, and I think Natasha could too.  Boris was tired but would have rallied.

The rest of the day sucked.  We went to city hall for a few minutes and managed to prove why Americans are assholes. We went to take a group photo in front of a fountain and most of our group failed to notice a queue of people lining up to take the same shot.

After the photo we went to a mall called the Eaton and hung out for an hour or two, having lunch at the food court.  We had Gyros and Greek salad. being Canada, they do it differently.  but it was still better than our dinner would turn out to be.

I had a decent Gyros pita and Nightingale got a Greek Salad with a side of Gyros.  I guess Gyros salads aren't a thing in Canada.  

The kids got McDonalds.  Our App wouldn't work so we had to use the kiosks.  No big deal, though we could have used what little savings the app might provide. 

After lunch we took walking tour of The Market Gallery and graffiti alley.  All this walking was too much for the children.  One kid had a massive breakdown and I think the parents had to signal an audiable and do something else until dinner time.  

The Market Gallery would have been a great spot to hang out under different conditions. It had a peminment Street Fest vibe.  For some reason, our tour guide dumped us off at the edge of an adjacent park that was filled with homeless tents.  That doesn't bother me and we were perfectly safe.  In fact, many of the kids played on the swingsets at the end.  

Still, it would have made more sense to drop us off at the other end of the park next to the Market.  And give us some suggestions and guidence like "the gallery goes a mile in this direction and a half mile in either direction at the cross street" or something like that.  

Because we didn't know the lay of the land and had been walking so much, we just wanted to sit down and have a drink.  The streets were very narrow and most places didn't have outdoor seating, so we went with a place called Amadeu's Restaurant.  Our waiter was fantastic.

Then the worst dinner of my life at Swiss Chalet.  I thought the meal at Canadian Denny's was bad, but this meal made that lunch look gourmet.  

WE get to the hotel sometime near 10 pm...but first..  Our tour guide makes the driver go to the liquor store across the street.  I'm okay with this but share with the group!  I spent 30 minutes earlier finding the same liquor chain when we where at the mall!

 I'm breaking this trip up into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.

Toronto Vacation Part 1

I'm breaking this trip post into smaller posts so the photos don't fill an entire page, or something like that.


We have just returned from a 4-day trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls.  It was technically a school field trip but limited to a few select students...probably those who could afford it.

Details are sketchy but we got an email earlier this year when the kids were still in 3rd grade.  it occurred the weekend before Fall Break so they only had to miss one day of school.  There was not a lot of communication throughout the year and Nightingale was the contact because down here it is assumed only the Mom is in charge of the children.  We didn't get an itinerary until Sept 23rd.

I don't know why the trip wasn't planned better.  We left at the buttcrack of dawn on Friday (10/4) and returned just before midnight (10/7).  The trip was so expensive as it was that I cannot imagine that a more convenient flight would have added too much to the total.

FRIDAY

Our first day was such a clusterF.  We arrive in Toronto around 11 am local time.  We find our tour guide and she offers lunch at either Tim Horton's at the airport or a Denny's near our next destination.  They don't have Dennys' in the South so most of our crew didn't have an idea that we would be eating at the Love Child of IHOP and Waffle House.  We chose Denny's because we thought it would be cheaper than Airport Horton's.  Boy were we wrong.  

This would have been fine had it not taken so long to get everyone together.  By the time we got to Denny's, it was mid-afternoon and we would be eating our free* dinner 3 hours later.  I don't expect a lot from Denny's.  It's the cheap place to goto after a night of drinking and you just need to soak up last night's sins.  But this Denny's failed to achieve even that much.  The food was expensive, terrible and expensive.

And because we ate lunch so late in the day, even with walking around the ROM, most of us were not hungry when we got to Hot House.

Hot House has a great menu but for a tour group, it is understandable that they would limit the menu to quick, easy, and cheap items because they aren't getting much profit off us.  Still, they failed to meet this minimal standard.  

BTW, ignore the estimated time stamps on the itinerary.  Even Island Time is more accurate than this.  We did get to our next destination, the Observatory Deck of the C.N. Building in time to see the skyline at dusk.  For some reason, in my old age, I no longer like heights.  

We got to our hotel late and all we want to do is sleep. We are next to the airport but we are so exhausted it doesn't matter.  also the planes stopped around 11 pm.

Cashing it out

I've been carrying this box of coins and bills around for as long as I can remember from apartment to apartment, to condo, to house, to house.  The best I've managed to do was combine them all into one container.  

Well, today I finally took them to a local coin collector and he confirmed what I always suspected.  99% of them are just worth the currency as printed.  I sold twelve $2 bills for $3 a piece and a silver half dollar for $7.50, bringing my grand total to $43.50.  

People hold onto coins and other collectibles way longer than they should, believing that there might be that one item that will fetch a high price.  It doesn't help that a story comes out every few months where someone found a rare piece of art worth money.

The coin collector told me I might want to hold on to some of my silver certificate dollar bills (he didn't specify which ones).  He agreed that I'm just as well off either taking everything to my bank and depositing it or reintroducing everything back into circulation.  And that's what I will do.  There is no point in passing these coins on to Moose and Squirrel, hoping they will be worth something more one day.  If they only increased 1% in 30+ years, there is no need to keep them around.  Is it possible they could become more valuable in a Twilight Zone screenplay sort of way?  Perhaps, but that would be such a strange set of circumstances that it isn't even worth entertaining.

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.

Last Day of September

To say September was a busy month is an understatement.  We had birthdays for the twins and Nightingale.  NG also had a girls' weekend in Anne Arbor.  Our anniversary is this week and this weekend we travel to Ontario to visit Niagra Falls.  I tried several times and failed to hammer out this post.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

The weather is averaging in the 70s and I can wear long pants again without feeling uncomfortable.  I have a lot of projects to get to and the cooler weather makes it easier.  However, Boris has been home sick since Wednesday with a bad cough.  

This weekend my BIL Confederate Jethro wanted a kid-free weekend for his 50th birthday.  My in-laws agreed and the kids were divided between Nightingale's parents and his.  But my MIL had an online class Saturday afternoon so we had to watch the 3 yr old for a few hours.  In other words, my FIL couldn't take care of his grandchild for a few hours.  

I honestly don't think Grandpa Cartwright ever wanted children or grandchildren, at least not in a longing sense of the word.  He was taught that a man gets married, raises a family and that's that.  But he wasn't taught that a man is involved with his family beyond bringing home a paycheck and caring for children is woman's work.  Confederate Jethro is of the same cloth.

And the net effect of that is we had to help a guy who won't lift a finger to help us or anyone else.  I'm just writing this here to remember in a few months when my 55-year-old brain has filed this one away.

2024 Bears Playoff Prediction: Anything can happen

I forgot to do this back in March because I was waiting to see if the Bears kept Fields and drafted talent around him, or picked the best QB in the draft with the number one pick.  Without knowing any of the behind the scenes goings on, I would have wanted them to trade the number one pick for a haul of "lottery tickets" and beef up every position they could.  

Alas, they decided to go the other direction.  On a side note, I'm not getting any younger and I hate that every time we get a new GM or Coach, they need to replace the current GM or QB because it wasn't their guy.  WTF did this not come up during the interview?

Anyway here is my 2024 prediction.  two games have already been played and the Bears are 1-1 but I'm 2 and 0.  The Chicago Bears have two ways to make the playoffs: Win the Division or via WildCard.

Winning the Division:

Currently, in the NFC North, the Lions are trending up, the Vikings are trending up and the Packers aren't going away.  This could be the year that the NFC has four teams that finish with winning records.

Through a fluke of scheduling, the Bears don't have any division games until after the bye week and later in the season and what on paper looked like a soft schedule beforehand.  They also have 1 more home game though it is in Europe so it doesn't really count.  

I'm gonna take a stand and say the Bears will not Win their Division this year.  At best, they will split with each division opponent.

Also, there is no way the League is gonna let a rookie quarterback win a Super Bowl, so they won't go deep in the playoffs no matter how good Caleb Williams turns out to be.

WildCard:

To make it to the post-season, this is their path.  The Bears went 7-10 last year, mostly because their defense improved at the end.  They also lost 4 games they were leading by double digits.  If they win two of those, they might have made the playoffs.

So this year they need their Defense to keep them in games and for the offense to execute.  Through 2 games so far, the D has kept opponents under 20 points.  If the Offense can show up, they will win a lot of close games.

Summer is nearly over down here

I cannot, and I assume most other people, cannot discern any noticeable difference between 87, 89, and 92 degrees.  Or any temperature difference of just a few degrees.  I acknowledge that an 87-degree day can be miserable if there is humidity while a 92-degree day could feel just fine.

We are in the high 80s this week and although we can still get temps in the 90s throughout October, I would say that Summer is nearly over down here.  The mornings are cool and crisp and the evenings are completely bearable.  In another week or so, I'll be back to wearing long pants.  

It's been 7 months since I've earned a paycheck.  The week before Labor Day 4 Recruiters reached out to me.  Five if you count the one who cleared did a very lazy search and thought I'd be a perfect match for a skillset I do not possess.

In no particular order, Recruiter #1 was for a consulting gig I did not want, so I didn't even bother filling out the online app.  He faded away.

Recruiter #2 wrote up a cover letter for me but has also disappeared.  He felt that some of the gaps in my resume indicated I was having trouble finding a job.  While technically true, the idea that maybe a person would take time off from Corporate America wasn't even considered.

Recruiter #3 reached out to me the Tuesday after Labor Day and I handed off my resume but I haven't heard back.  They took a copy of the resume I had on LinkedIn and pasted into their template.

Recruiter #4 is arranging for a video call this week but hasn't confirmed if it will be tomorrow or Thursday.

Note: I'm not doing backflips following up with any of them because I know it is futile.  But I did realize something.  Gaps in your resume aren't so much about you not being able to get a job.  It's about you being able to exist without having a job.  Because if you can do it once, you can do it again.  And our Corporate America Overlord do not want a workforce that doesn't rely on them.

Tastes of Chicago

Now that it's the 2nd week of September, the mornings are starting to be a bit chilly.  It still gets up to 80s and 90s in the afternoon but soon we will be swapping shorts for long pants.  I'm looking forward to the consistently cooler weather because I have a lot of projects that are just too uncomfortable to do in the heat.

I haven't been able to watch a Cubs game down here lately, but I keep up with them via the web.  They are 9 games back in the division with 19 games left in the season (magic number 29, tragic number 10).  Winning the division isn't gonna happen.  We knew this by July.  They didn't get hot again until August and by then Milwaukee built up a double-digit lead.

They are 5 games back in the Wild Card and while it's more realistic, they will need some help from the teams in front of them.  Too little, too late.  Too many blown leads.  I don't know if it's better to miss it by 5 games or miss it by 1-2 games like last year (I don't want to look it up, suffice it to say they collapsed last year in Epic Cubs Fashion.  

Because it was against the Tennessee Titans, I was able to watch the Bears game yesterday.  The Defense bailed out the offense for the win.  Next week is Sunday Night Football so I will be able to watch that game as well.  After that, I must decide if I want to pay for the Sunday Ticket to continue watching the games.  Yesterday's game was fun to watch despite the anemic offense.  

The problem is most of the games are at noon.  This is smack dab in the middle of the day when Nightingale is trying to food prep for the week and the kids need lunch.  It is not hyperbole when I say that everyone is calm and chill until 11:59 am and then the minute the game starts, I'm suddenly needed.

There's no point paying all that money to not be able to enjoy the little joys I get down here and watch them lose.  I have about two weeks to decide.

NightStands have improved this room

 At the end of 1996, the beginning of 1997, I invested in a grown-up bedroom set. I was living in Berwyn and had some extra money since my rent was cheap, and I needed a bigger bed than the twin I grew up with.  

I honestly don't remember where I bought the set from but I think it was Polk Brothers.  In the late 90s, there were three popular bed styles:  The Sleigh bed.  The Mary Poppins bed. The Four Poster bed (what I call the Alister Scrooge bed.)

Even though I had cheap rent I was still not earning big bucks and always looking for a bargain.  The salespeople talked me into buying the store model of the four-poster bed along with a matching dresser. 

 I declined the nightstands because 1) I couldn't imagine any bedroom in Chicago (or even Berwyn) that could accommodate two nighttables 2) I'm cheap and 3) I figured I could always add them on later.

Flash forward to my Albany Park Condo.  That bedroom could have accommodated a couple of side tables but it wasn't a priority and I think by then Polk Brothers had gone out of business.

When we moved into our Portage Park home, we didn't have enough space for a king bed and large nightstands, which would never have worked.

But it was cozy

Our Mississippi house has a master bedroom that is the biggest bedroom I have ever lived in.  We have a king bed, two dressers, and a sofa (the remnants of the Costco sectional we bought and the kids and cats destroyed)

We have been looking for good but inexpensive nightstands for a while now.  We also could use a set of matching end tables for the living room.  My FIL sent me a link to a yard sale that was going on near my kids' school.  In fact it was on the 2nd day of school (Friday) that it started and went through the weekend.  I decided to check it out and I was not disappointed.  

I found these and sent the picture to NG.  She immediately liked them and I asked the Proprietess how much.  Let me back up.  She was ready to sell everything she could but she didn't have everything ready by the start of the sale.  These were in the garage attached to the main house.  That's right main house.  They own a small walking horse ranch and most of the garage sale was out of the Pole Barn.  

I'm gonna skip ahead because this is getting long in the tooth.  She asked for $250 for the set and my cheap self felt that was fair.  These are good quality, mostly wood not cheap pressboard nightstands.  Yeah, there might be some veneer instead of pure stain but these are the perfect fit for our space.  Could I have talked her down to $200? maybe but why not give her her asking price as I can still afford to do so.

Sheet Pan Recipes to the Rescue

As the primary cook at House Icarus, my job is feeding the family.  It's not easy because Boris is very picky and really only eats a handful of things.  Currently, that list is:

• Hot Dogs*
• Chicken Nuggets
• Pasta
• Fish Sticks* 
• Scrambled Eggs
• Bacon.  all the bacon.
• PBJ*
• Popcorn (don't judge)

Between his dairy allergy (which he has finally grown out of) and his textual issues, it's hard to come up with things to feed him.  To his credit, the other day he did try a piece of broccoli.  He didn't like it but I'm proud that he tried it.

* he's currently bored with these but I'm hoping to eventually get them back in the rotation.

Luckily, I subscribe to several recipe blogs that have given me some great options.  My favorite is The Food Charlatan.  I found her years ago when I was trying to figure out the best way to cook some different types of steaks my FIL had in his freezer.  This was before we moved down here and were visiting for Christmas.  

What I like about her blog/email is she offers alternative options.  Like if you don't have *this specific item* you can use *plain old this item*.

Her last meal had several Sheet Pan recipes that coincidentally had a lot of overlapping ingredients.  As it turns out, I had most of them in stock and didn't need to run to the grocery store for anything if I didn't want to.  I opted too because I needed to hit the store anyway for my salmon cream cheese spread which I can only find at the Walmart in neighboring South Haven.  

So this week we have had or will have:

Sheet Pan Rosemary Lime Chicken

Not only does Natasha eat it, she helped prepare it

Sheet Pan Asian Salmon with Broccoli, Carrots and Rice Noodles​

Sheet Pan Chicken Fried Rice

​

Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes

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.  

We have 4th graders

School starts early down here, August 1st to be precise. I don't know why since it doesn't seem like we get out of school significantly before other regions, nor do we have more days off.  But to be honest, I still need to do the maths to be certain.

Now I'm back to having my days free from 8:15 to 3:15 pm.  By free I mean I can work on things that weren't easy to do while also taking care of two/three kids all summer.

When we started First Grade, I used to go wait in the car pickup line at 2:30 pm.  They release the kids at 3:15 so there I sat listening to podcasts, or talking to the recruiter who would ghost me the next week.  With my last contract gig keeping me busy and not respecting my calendar -- I negotiated that my lunch would be 2:30 - 3:30 so i could pick up my kids.  I discovered that getting in the queue at 3:15 is better because it only takes 15-30 minutes at most to get to the front of the line.  So it's better all round while we get home closer to dinner.

This elementary school is from kindergarten to 5th grade.  That gives us roughly two years to figure out our next move.  Housing prices are skyrocketing and returning to Chicago doesn't not seem to be on the table.  

I'm Not Lovin It

It will come as no surprise to anyone with small children that we visit McDonalds an average of once a week.  Usually, it's because we are on a road trip, or we want to burn their energy so we go to one with a playroom.  Sometimes there's a playdate involved or it's a reward bribe for good behavior.

In any event, we use the McDonald's App because it's easier to order Natasha's special cheeseburger (ketchup, pickle only) than to trust a drive-through window order.  And in theory, there are some rewards and deals.

In Theory

As you might expect with a points system, the amount of points you need to purchase any item is high.  something like 4500 for medium fries, 6000 for large.  And you can only redeem one item per order.  So even if you have enough points to get a sandwich and fries, tough.  You have to pick one.  This seems like Bullshit because I've already paid for those points, I should be able to buy as much as my points allow.

And they don't let you redeem points on the same order you are using a Deal.  Also Bullshit.  I only put up with it because we do it frequently enough and it's better than nothing.  

Oh and the app defaults to the closest McDonald's, which is 2.2 miles away in neighboring South Haven.  But the one with the playroom is 4.6 miles away in Olive Branch.  [We live practically on the border of South Haven and OB].  So even though I explicitly selected the OB one today, it flipped back to the SH and I had to cancel the order (the cancel button is buried within the app) and re-order.  

I have found some workarounds that I'm sure McD's Headquarters is working on fixing.  

When the kids were younger, Boris wanted the chicken nugget Happy Meal and Natasha wanted the cheeseburger one (it's a burger and you have to pay for the cheese upgrade!).  

When we visit to play at the playpen in person, I will place the kids' order and usually get the Happy Meal with points for one of the kids and pay for the rest.  This earns me more points.

After their food comes, I will place my order.  Often I have enough for a free sandwich myself.  So I just get a free sandwich and pay for my fries.  Now that they are older, using some of the Deals is advantageous instead of getting two Happy Meals.  Especially since Boris's appetite is larger.  

Case in point: today I used their $5 bundle to get the cheeseburger for Natasha -- the McDouble is essentially a double cheeseburger and I could customize it.  I still got Boris his 6 PC McNugget Meal which then gives him 10 total McNuggets.  Natasha got both the small fries with her order and the medium I got for the Happy Meal, so I ordered Boris a large fries.  I also got to use a 20% off Deal on the meal because none of those items are Deals themselves.

Together this cost $14.45 with tax.

After their food arrived, I had to wait a few minutes to place my next order since I wanted to use a deal.  I think the default is 15 minutes.  They had a Deal where you can get 30% off ANY Quarter pounder.  The assumption is you're gonna grab one of the cheaper ones but I opted for the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe.  This normally sets you back $6.99 but I got it for $5.33 after tax.  

I suspect this will be quietly coded such that you cannot select certain quarter-pounder options the same way my free breakfast sandwich won't show me the Steak Biscuit option anymore.  

 Immediately after placing it, I ordered a medium french fries using points.  The girl behind the counter knew what I was doing and gave me a smile since Gaming the System is the War Cry of the working class.  

Between the three orders, I got to feed two kids and myself for $19.78.  Go me.  

Last Sleep in Day for a While

The kids go back to school on Thursday.  Tomorrow is Boris' OT appointment so we get up at 7 to be out the door by 7:50 for a 30-minute session that begins at 8.  And Saturday at 8:30 is Natasha's soccer practice.  

One of the problems with living in the South is the summers are just too hot to really be outside.  And almost everything we can do inside costs money.  it's not that we cannot afford it, but like a lot of things, it has its limits.  We can only do so much bowling, arcade, Urban Air, and swimming pool (that one is free) before the kids get tired of it.  

The seasons down here kinda work like this:   

• From the end of May to the middle of September it is too hot to do much outside and it doesn't really cool off in the evenings.
  
  
• From the middle of Sept to mid-November it's nice and you can get things done.  Even on the hotter days, there is a morning window and an evening window.
  
  
• mid-November to the end of February is what is considered winter here. And it might snow or you might need some warmer clothes but it's great for being outside.
  
  
• March to Mid-May is spring and it's the opposite of Fall.

Wild, Wild, Week Review

 Last week Katniss and her boys came down to visit.  They were supposed to fly in late Friday night, July 12 but one of the kid's softball team made the playoffs, so they rescheduled for late Saturday night.  This had advantages and disadvantages but it is what it is.  We were more distraught that our cleaning lady had to cancel so we didn't have a spotless house.  Reminder to the future: it takes 20 minutes to get to the airport from here and usually incoming flights are delayed.

We had enrolled our kids and hers in a day camp because she and Nightingale had to work, or at least so no need to consume too much PTO, thus stretching vacation time.  This meant I got to drive them to and from camp, which is only 25 minutes away.  

We bought more food than we could eat.  We also went out for Pizza on Tuesday because we found a place where the kids eat free if you order a large or extra large pizza for the adults.  The kids get to build their own pizza, while the adults try to compromise on the toppings.  Katniss is a picky eater.  

On Thursday the weather broke and we decided to go out to eat and later watch the bridge change colors.  We went to our newly discovered haunt, the Overton Square area.  

At the end of the week, we left for Hot Springs to visit the Magic Springs, the water park that our kids love so much (and we have season passes for).  It was just a 2-night stay but even so, with seven people, the trunk was full and the seats were up.

We stayed at the same motel as the first time we visited and though we got a non-smoking room, since people go outside to smoke, the room smells a little smokey.  however, it is only 6 minutes from downtown and Magic Springs (in the other direction), and it costs less than half what the higher-end hotels cost this time of year, we dealt with it.  That's easy enough to do when all you do is use the room to sleep.  The hotel pool was open so we took advantage of that too.  

Unfortunately, the restaurant we went to Friday night had a kitchen fire so our food was delayed getting to us.  They did the best they could and gave us a 20% discount on the food (not the expensive drinks) but it was still tough because we were getting hangry.

For the most part, this was a fun visit.  There were some tense moments scattered here and there.  Katniss parents different than we do.  A lot of times we'd be in a shop and she'd get something her kids were asking for, so we had to do the same with ours, whereas we'd normally either skip the gift shop or not get anything.  She also manages to find something wrong with any restaurant we go to but that is just her nature.

We will next see her and the boys in November when we visit my mom for her birthday and Thanksgiving.

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.

Happy Birthday to our 4 year old Cats

 Ryder and Elsa turned four on July 11th.  Although we don't know their exact birthday, it was around this time and Seven-Eleven is as good as any other way to remember it.

We got these cuties the weekend after the twins' birthday when the kittens were about three months old.  The kids named them Elsa and Ryder and Boris was highly allergic.  But as it turns out, if you are allergic to cats, often you will become not allergic to your own cat.  As is the case with Boris, Ryder, and Elsa.

This gives me pause over how many people got rid of a cat because of a relationship.  

Boris is also mostly over his dairy allergy.  He can eat pizza with cheese, ice cream, and a few other dairy-infused items.  He hasn't tried milk yet, but I don't blame him for that one.  

More Car Trouble

During our vacation, we had to replace the battery in the Minivan.  Less than a week later, I had to replace the thermostat.  On Wednesday of this week, the car wouldn't start while I was at Boris' OT.  I got a jump and made it back home, but then the car died again.

When this light comes on, it's serious

Since Thursday was July 4th, no auto shops were open.  For fun, I tried jumping the car again and had mixed results.  The car did power up but I accidentally crossed the streams of the jumper cables when I took them off the car providing the recharge.  This caused the car to turn off and a red dot to appear on the dashboard.  Uncle Google said this is a security feature that supposedly makes your car inoperable in case...it's not clear why this would help.

Working on your car in the South be like

There was no power to anything else.  Which means car doors don't work.  The trunk door won't open.  The driver and passenger have manual door openers but you really need to be able to open side doors and trunks.  

I didn't spend too much time on it because it was so Fucking Hot yesterday I couldn't be outside without breaking into a sweat even just standing still, let alone trying to troubleshoot a vehicle.

This morning, for grins and giggles, I decided to try again.  The red dot was still there.  I put my jumper cables on my battery and purposely cross the other set to see if I get a spark.  A spark would mean the battery has power.  I did get a spark.  But only one.  the second time I tried, there was nothing.  I removed the cables and checked the cab.  This time, the lower-level things did work, but the car didn't start.

I went back and attempted to put the cables back on.  when I put the red on the positive side of the battery, the battery shook, and the car simulated the sounds it makes when you try to start it up.  

I tried to start the car and it powered up.  Yes!  And then I put on my Bad Decision Jeans.  I told the kids that they had to come with me or go over to Kendra's house.  They chose the latter and wisely so, as it would turn out.

For some reason, I was locked into the idea that the car didn't have enough charge.  So I decided to drive it around for 30 minutes.  But about 15-20 minutes into that, the dashboard display and other electrical systems started to flicker.  I decided that I should turn around and go straight to the automotive place I had tried calling all morning with no answer.  I was about 2 miles away when the car went dead while driving.  I didn't have the smarts to pull over because Missippippi Road shoulders don't really exit.  I was trying to make it to a cutout to a subdivision but was stopped 50 yards short.  While driving, I put the car in Neutral and tried to restart, no luck.  So I put it in Park, which was good and bad.  Bad in that there was now no way to push it. But good in that it wouldn't get into an accident by suddenly moving on its own.

So there I am dead in the water at Pleasant Hill, between Goodman Rd and Nall Rd.  At the moment I decided to enact a U-turn and head toward the auto shop, I was also talking to my FIL.  I would need a ride home.  At his bequest, I called Triple-A again because we would need a tow.  I wanted desperately to avoid that because it is such a painful process to get them to send anyone (feature, not bug), but I did so.  

Because I wasn't completely off the road -- not even close -- all the cars going North had to go around me in a No-Passing Zone when it was clear to do so.  Many good samaritans wanted to give me a jump but I explained that was not the problem.  And because I was in Park, there was no way to move the car.  

While we were waiting for the Tow Truck, I tried to repeat my earlier steps to see if I could get the car started.  My FIL felt it was futile but I've learned to go against his recommendations and once again I was right.  I got the car started and was able to drive it to the Autoshop, where I learned why they weren't answering their phone.  They were closed.

It makes sense.  Nobody wants to work anymore.  They are closed on the weekends and were obviously closed for the 4th.  Why not give your crew a 4-day weekend, especially since it likely doesn't cost the shop owner since the mechanics probably get paid only when they are working.  

Triple-A called at that exact moment to tell me they were on the way so I was able to cancel the tow.  The options were to leave the car there or find an open place.  The risk was driving a car that might become disabled at any moment.  A quick call to Nightingale confirmed the right decision was to leave the car.  

Next week Natasha starts Soccer Camp.  We could technically walk there but the heat will still be terrible.  So we will rely on the In-Laws to get her there and back, while I deal with the car.

Update from the Future: The problem with the battery was the connection.  Between the plastic pads I was required to buy with my new battery and the existing corrosion on the battery terminals, it was causing the battery to "act as if it were not attached to the vehicle".  The Autoshop charged me $40 cash (aka under the table, off the books) and we have been good to go ever since.