My granddaughter helped her class win an contest at school by coming up with a clever name for a cart that holds containers of fluoride solution: “Swish Utility Vehicle”, or SUV.
Guess they won toothbrushes or something equally utilitarian.
Well, the dental hygiene people at her school wouldn’t have given them candy, would they now?
Feed ‘Em Early
Occasionally, I get drafted to stay with my grandkids at supper time, especially when Peter and Bonnie have early evening meetings.
Last night was one such occasion, so I dragged out my little slow cooker earlier in the day to make stew.
I’d also picked up some bread and defrosted brownies for dessert, and had supper on the table by 6.
My son has figured out how to get his crew organized for late dinners, but I haven’t mastered the knack. I’ve found it’s easier to feed them earlier than later because it gives them time to take their showers, do their homework and (most importantly) play their gaming type before they go to bed.
I haven’t used the slow cooker much, but was pleased with its performance and shall plan to put it to work more often. I bought it at a very deep discount years ago; in fact, I had to seize it before a well-meaning friend, who wished to curry favor with a mutual acquaintance, tried to grab it, excusing my capture of the appliance with a condescending smile that after all, I needed it more because her other friend was married (and, thus, had more money).
Rub it in, skank*.
The kids are fussy eaters, and I tried to engage their interest by telling them the stew had a secret ingredient: wine. They started giggling and their eyes widened to the size of silver dollars: “Does Daddy know you are trying to get us drunk?!”
We finished off with hot mulled cider; thus, a reasonably pleasant evening was enjoyed by all.
*I absolutely love this word, which has its origins in the mid-70’s, and am sorry in a way that “byotch” seems to have replaced it as a female pejorative. It’s a thoroughly nasty word, and I’ve applied it here to my friend with affectionate chagrin.
First Frost
Last year it was November 12, so we are about on the same schedule.
That means Indian Summer is on the way.
Seems like the foliage around here turned very late. We still have a lot of Fall color.
Trees
The property on Edgewater is only about 1/3 of an acre, but in the last four years, I’ve had at least thirteen trees removed, about half of which were quite large, some 50-60 feet high.
The last two trees to be taken down were so severely damaged in last weekend’s storm that they were left with maybe 30% of a normal crown.
The arborist told me that he’s seen a lot of sick oaks this year, a combination of attacks over the last couple of years by moth caterpillars and a cold spell this past February following a mild early winter.
The Exploding Comet
Comet Holmes has been creating a stir, but it’s been tough to spot because of vague references to “the northern sky”.
This page on one of NASA’s websites is the best explanation I’ve seen so far of how to find it:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=24015
The Redemption of Randy Moss
I’ve been both fascinated and gratified by the incredible performance of Randy Moss, the wide receiver who was traded to the New England Patriots this past April.
In the words of Tom Brady:
“I think everything that has been written and said about him is the complete opposite of what we’ve experienced,” Brady said. “He’s a great teammate, a great player. He’s very coachable. He’s selfless. He’s a great worker. He leads by example. He’s got a bunch of great qualities.”
Creating Bad Customers
Once, I saw a warning in some career advice blog or other advising HR people to be kind to job applicants because they could be customers some day.
Funny thing about that. Today, I sat through a presentation from a local company that wanted to sell me a $47,000+ timeshare package.
That is not a typo: 47 thousand dollars.
Poison Darts, To Go
To keep my mind off the storm, I watched Mel Gibson’s film “Apocalypto” the other night.
It’s an entertaining film, although historically inaccurate, but what struck me the most is the constancy of Mel’s thematic obsession with the superhero.
In the film, a young man with a wife and child is captured and almost becomes a human sacrifice. He escapes, getting lanced in the process, and in spite of his weakened condition, manages to outrun a jaguar, leap down a fifty foot waterfall and kill off his multiple pursuers one by one, even though he’s unarmed.
One of his devices is to make poison darts on the fly from thorns, a frog and a rolled up leaf for a blower.
His pregnant wife is no less heroic. Having been lowered by our hero to safety in a deep well-like cave, she and her little boy find themselves inundated to the point of drowning when a rainstorm starts to fill the cave. While she’s treading water and keeping her son afloat, she manages to give birth. This is after she uses a makeshift club to kill a wild animal that fell into the cave.
The hero and his family are reunited, the bad guys are defeated and the conquistadors land. Now, can you ask for more than that?
Storm Wrap-Up
We were lucky, kept power the whole time and only lost Comcast for a few hours this morning. At Peter’s, they didn’t lose any of their services.
One tree on Dixon was topped, but the back yard at Edgewater has a lot of big branches. Fortunately, no damage to vehicles or to the house, aside from a slightly bent gutter. The shed and the swing set were untouched.
I left messages for a couple of arborists and bought an electric chainsaw. Tomorrow, I’ll see if Peter, who is on a plane from Rekyavik at this hour, is up for some yardwork. Patriots game with “the girls” for me later this afternoon.
It’s Over
The latest report from the superb Cape Cod Today blogger Tim Caldwell is that the worst remaining power outages are in Mashpee and Yarmouth.
Tim also reports that “the peak wind gust reported so far on Cape is 63 MPH in Eastham, Highest overall is 72 at Nantucket. Nantucket reported a barometer reading about 5 p.m. of 29.11 or 985 mb. The storm is expected to bottom out at 965 mb.”
According to NASA, air pressure at sea level is around 1013.25mb. In hurricanes, the pressure can drop anywhere from 30-70 mb. The pressure drop in this atmospheric event was 48.25 – well within range for a hurricane.
Based on wind speed, if this storm was slightly less than a Category 1 (74-95 mph), I’d hate like h-e-double l to be in a Category 5.
For even more excitment, we set the clocks back tonight.