Woke up around 2:30, cleaned up after Mr. Fluffles who had thrown up in a couple of spots for the second time this week. Fed him and made coffee. Went back to sleep around 4.
Wanted to do some software dev today. I will, but this morning, finished up some little outdoor tasks: swept the deck, which was covered with leaf detritus from the gypsy moth caterpillers, propped up the asparagus with tomato cages, finished pruning the Summer Sweet and did some dead-heading and watering of the window boxes. Planted a little heliotrope that I’d purchased Saturday from a young man at the Waquoit Congregational church who is raising money for his Eagle Scout project.
Ron swept the driveway and is washing the vehicles.
Enjoyed a neighborhood cookout last evening. Would have stayed but the bugs were eating me. Got to catch up with the Winslows. We did the transfer station run and an inventory of wind damage at Edgewater.
I was hoping to sit outside but as soon as I put up the umbrella, the neighbor next door starting mowing her lawn. The fact that she is home all week and could do it then evidently has never occurred to her.
Yanked out the stiches today from the tick removal two weeks ago. Ron couldn’t focus well enough close-up so I did it myself. I didn’t see the point of paying $30 for an office visit and losing an hour or more of work. Let’s hope I did a good job; the suture was very fine, but it wasn’t that deep so I think I got it all.
We went to the Bourne veterans’ cemetery to plant flags today. It seemed that everywhere we went, though, someone had already decorated the graves. As Ron said, it was good this was done, even if we hadn’t been able to participate.
Waiting to board at South StationOpening of the bar after Middleboro
Greeted by a cheerful crowd at Buzzards Bay
The first public Cape Flyer trip had its ups and downs.
Astonishingly, there was no inspection of carry-ons. I would have expected that following the Marathon bombings. On the other hand, I’m guessing one could smuggle in one’s own provisions without detection; not a bad idea, considering that the price of a beer is $7 on the train!
It took far too long to board; normally as soon as the commuter rail trains are in the station, passengers are permitted to board. They kept us waiting interminably on the platform and once we were aboard, they had stupidly shut off the ventilation so it was uncomfortably warm. Not something to look forward to in the summer. The cars did cool off once we were moving, though.
The train crew shooed everyone bound for the Cape into the first three cars: a mistake, since there really aren’t enough seats to accommodate people comfortably. One of the Cape Flyer organizers suggested to me that I could sit wherever I wanted in the future. I would guess that they detach the commuter cars at Middleboro; I’m guessing that was the reason for a long delay there.
Their wifi is better than the bus. The club car provisions are not as good as the commuter boats and pathetic compared to the Steamship Authority ferries.
Imagine a club car with no tables and half the number of possible seats; they emptied half the club car to accommodate bikes, of which there was only one.
The train was late getting in to Buzzards Bay by about half an hour, due to some problems with the track or maybe a switch in Wareham. My door-to-door using the bus to work is about 2 hours. The train trip was over 3, but then again, it was a Friday night before a long weekend.
The great majority of passengers were college-age or people in their twenties, kids whose parents own property here, who were down for the long weekend or who maybe were showing up for summer jobs, not sure. I was flabbergasted by the fact that there were so few commuters.
The club car served alcoholic beverages, but only after Middleboro, and at that point, as you can imagine, there was a rush. Tragedy struck when the purveyors lost their wireless connection and couldn’t process credit cards!
The CCRTA bus that connects with the train in Buzzards Bay was great, though. I appreciated the train as we entered the onramp to the Bourne bridge and saw the line of traffic. Reports were of the usual 5-6 mile backups on route 25.
At South Station, they only sell tickets at the highest price. It’s only a $2 difference, but still, vexing to frugal Cape Codders. That was not an error on the part of the clerk, it’s by design. To get the proper fare, one can buy a ticket on the train or use the MBTA’s online application, which works with various devices, including iPhones and iPads.
Then again, they never collected tickets, so I can either use mine again or keep it as a souvenir!
It was fun to see the greeters at Buzzards Bay station, including some people with balloons and others dressed as sea creatures from the NMLC.
One of the organizers said that they will keep the service if they get an average of 200 or more passengers per trip. Let’s hope.
Planted the tomatoes and fed with Tomato Tone. Finally planted the Swiss chard in one of the Earth Boxes.
Planted the little rhodie and azalea. Added some 5-10-5 to the planting mix for the azalea.
Fed the peony and wisteria with Neptune’s.
Cleaned out some strawberries. Did the transfer station run and a little weeding at Edgewater.
Pruned the St. Johnswort, the Endless Summers and some of the Summersweet.
On Saturday, the reference librarian at Falmouth Main branch helped me load iPad software for downloading ebooks.
We went to a nice potluck with the WHFMS. Brought a cake. Joined.
It occurred to me that we live exactly as Jeanette and Bill and Mildred and Johnny did when they retired, something I never thought I’d be able to do. Ron agreed.
Thank goodness for competent payroll specialists and direct deposit.
Took the late bus last night. Would have been fine except that I grabbed the wrong power cord, so laptop was crawling on low power mode.
Asked Ron to see if the Wareham Walmart had one in stock and what time they closed. He did great, he’s getting a handle on how to surf for practical items.
I like the idea of having an extra power cord, and this iGo seems to be working just fine. It has eight or so adapters to fit almost any Windows laptop.
As soon as I finish with Preferred Customer, I’ll be using the iPad again.
I’m on the 8:40 from Bourne and seated ahead of me is a babbling idiot with a grating voice. I can hear him 4 rows away.
I met with a couple of docs yesterday at the Tufts Dermatology department. They excised a tick and gave me a couple of prescriptions. I was pretty much out of it for the rest of the day and didn’t really start to feel better until about 7:50 this morning.
Took the train from Middleboro yesterday. Even with the babbling idiot, I like the bus better. A person sitting next to me yesterday smelled so bad that I ended up standing in the aisle, there being no seats. A nice woman moved her stuff so I could sit. She reminded me of Alison Layton, a lady I used to work with in California: one of a very few memories worth keeping.
Made two transfer station runs – one for us, one with leaves and brush for the Winslows. Did three loads of laundry. Changed the sheets and emptied the dishwasher. Did a very small amount of weeding and dead-heading.
First paycheck. We went shopping today. I insisted that Ron buy the chain saw we’ve been wanting. We are still at a minor deficit compared to his old place, but definitely getting close.
Put more Chickadee on the lawn, selectively. Transplanted the poor Jacob’s Ladder, again.
Work was good this week. The commute yesterday (Friday) morning was beyond belief: about an hour and seven minutes.
I have grown to hate those selfish, stupid people who take their cars into town with no passengers. It’s absurd for everyone else to suffer because of their neurotic fear of germs or other people or mass transportation or whatever it is.
