A busy couple of days, as far as Ahmic goes. The five of us took the boat to echo rock yesterday. It’s a cliff over in Lake Cecebe where people can jump into incredibly deep water from heights of 15-30 … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Life
More from the lake
And so we’ve come to Wednesday.
It’s about 11:30 right now and a beautiful Ahmic day. A bit nippy out of the sun (probably low 60s), but I’m sure that the docks are in the 70s. I couldn’t make myself jump in the lake when I woke up 5 hours ago when it felt like about 55 degrees. Pathetic, I know. Jamie – who arrived yesterday afternoon – and Cy both said that the water temperature was perfect. I opted for a hot shower instead, though I’m sure I’ll hit the lake within an hour – after which I’ll take a nap on my screened-in porch.
I made jambalaya for dinner last night, and thought that it was pretty good. In addition to chorizo sausage and all the “regular” stuff (onion, peppers, garlic, etc.), I included bacon, ham, and scallops. Made a lot of the stuff, which was good because Patrick and his wife (a Canadian couple who’s last name I cannot recall) showed up. Got some nice compliments on the slop, and there’s enough left over for lunch today. I always like the stuff better after it’s had a day to marinate in the fridge.
Had a bit of a scare – or at least an uneasy feeling – yesterday morning. I got a text message from my neighbor asking if I’d left yet and saying, “The house looks occupied!” I forwarded that to Jenny, who replied that she thought that she’d heard water running the last time she went to check on the cats.
After grilling the neighbor a bit, I learned that she was just referring to the lights going on and off (they’re on a fairly complex schedule), and Jenny and I decided that the running water was probably the refrigerator. Heard from her last night that all is well, all doors are locked, etc.
A bit freaky. Had me on the verge of heading home after only two days here!
I also drove down to Huntsville yesterday – mainly to get ingredients for the jambalaya, but also to look for souvenirs for a few friends in Atlanta. Wasn’t able to find anything that wasn’t stupid, so I guess I’ll try Parry Sound this weekend. We’d planned to go there on Friday, but realized that Friday, being Canada Day, won’t be good. The whole town will be closed.
So what to do Friday? I hear that there will be a Canada Day parade in downtown Magnetawan, which should be fun. I’ve been here for at least one of those, and it was so much like a July 4th parade in Shoreham….
God’s Country
After two years away, I’m finally back at the Mag. Joined Dianne, Cy and “T” at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon after a fairly pleasant drive from Lima, OH, in which I’d spent Saturday night.
The drive from Atlanta to Ohio was uneventful – once I actually managed to get out of Atlanta. Seems like the west-side traffic gets worse down there every day. It took me close to an hour to make it from Duluth to Kennesaw. After that, it was smooth all the way to Lima, and I arrived there at around 7:30 Saturday night. Woke up early and hit the road by 7 :00 in order to get to Magnetawan before dinner.
After said dinner (dirty bird (a.k.a. bastard bbq)), the four of us played Oh Hell until 10:30. CY was the big winner, followed closely by “T”. I, as usual, got my ass kicked. Never have been good at cards.
We got a couple of brief showers on the lake last night – enough to hatch some mosquitoes – but the sun is out today, and it’s absolutely beautiful weather. When I woke up this morning (at 5:30 – ugh), it was about 68 degrees in my cabin. I’d estimate that it’s currently in the low 70’s, and there’s a perfect western breeze coming in off of the lake as I sit on the porch this morning.
No plans for today at the moment. I’m sure that napping will be involved, and maybe some tennis. There is also a decent chance that I’ll go into town, as I need both Vodka and a mosquito/deerfly net for my hat. I took a walk this morning, and the flies were terrible.
V-3!
I’m at home this morning. Not for long. It’s about 9:20 now and I expect that I’ll be in the office by 10:00. Going in late because the heating & air guy is here doing whatever it is that they do twice a year. Mainly change the filter in the furnace. Truth be told, that is such a pain in the ass that I’ll gladly write the annual $150 check just so I don’t have to do it. I’m not sure who the genius was who designed the filter holder in my furnace, but getting a new one in without either destroying it or cutting your hands and arms or both is nearly impossible.
He tells me that my air conditioner is blowing out 52-degree air, however. That’s nice. It’s apparently supposed to blow 55-degree air, and the unit is nearly 30 years old, so bully for me.
Should you be wondering, my thermostat is generally set at around 83 in the summer, so I’m not overly concerned about the cost of the difference between 52 and 55 degrees when the air conditioner is actually running. It doesn’t run much.
As noted in the title, I’m three days away from starting my first real vacation in about two years. Last year’s had to be juggled all over the place because I had possible strike duty and couldn’t go anywhere out of cellphone range. Also couldn’t go to Canada – the dates just didn’t work out. I ended up taking a week in October to visit Lake Superior (and I’ll do that again this year, I think). Not having strike duty looming over me this year, I’m headed to Magnetawan this weekend and will spend at least a week and a half there before heading back. Maybe even two weeks.
This will be a great thing, in spite of the bugs, because it is bloody hot in Georgia. The temperatures have been climbing well into the 90s for the last few weeks, and when there’s a breeze, it feels more like that which would come from an electric heater. No relief at all. I generally start my morning walks at about 5:40. Even at that time, I’m covered in sweat before I’ve gone half a mile. Incessant heat basically sucks the life out of me.
I’m also looking forward to finding out if a week in clean air will clear up this stupid allergy/sinus infection/whatever, which is still making me sneeze regularly.
No. I’m not going to a doctor for sniffles.
Work has been work. Really not much going on, though I did do a bit of coding last week. I’ve also managed to move most of the call center televisions away from a (very expensive) series of broadcast boxes that are painfully inefficient, difficult to troubleshoot, and completely unnecessary. All of the center’s 43 televisions, save 2, are now being fed over Ethernet from three laptops and two u-verse set-top boxes. My boss (and his boss) are pleased with this effort, since we currently pay something like $2500 annually for “support” on the broadcast boxes. Said support is generally not good, and I’ve never understood why they were set up in the first place.
Got a document from Dad yesterday – the rough draft of his memoirs. I’m up to 1942-1946, and am already fascinated and thinking of all of the various things that I can google to fill in some of the blank (to me) spots in his childhood. A map of where he lived, more about my grandmother, etc. Would also like to look up some of the songs that he sang as a very young child, as I have never heard of most of them. Maybe I’ll bring a digital recorder to his house sometime and make him sing them.
Sort of like the guy who wandered around the Appalachian mountains to record folk songs, right?
The heating/air guy seems to be about done, so I’ll wrap this up and write a check to him. Next entry will probably be from Canada!
Jury Duty
I’d dared to hope that, after 50 years without having ever been summoned for jury duty, I’d make it through life as a jury virgin.
Three weeks ago, I – for lack of a better g-rated phrase – got laid by the Superior Court of Gwinnett County.
To say that I was not pleased by the county’s new interest in me would be a bit of an understatement. Sure, it’s my civic duty. Yes, it’s an honor and a privilege (I’m required to say that). And I even get $30 for participating in this incredibly boring endeavor. But the simple facts are these: I don’t want to do this, I’ve never wanted to do this, I have virtually no trust or respect for any aspect of our legal system, and I’ve done what I thought was necessary to avoid being in the jury pool – namely, giving up my right to vote.
Turns out that Gwinnett County started using DMV records to fill the pool…
To clarify one of the above statements, I should say that I think the idea of American jurisprudence is a fine one, and it might have been great at some point. Unfortunately, it’s turned into just another business, in my opinion.
The police are a revenue arm of the local government, not a force driven to “serve and protect.”
Lawyers have very little interest in “justice” out “finding the truth,” but are deeply concerned about their win/loss record, about how far they can climb politically, and about cashing in.
Judges used to be lawyers – enough said.
Prisons are more private concerns, with a financial stake in staying filled to capacity (or beyond it), cutting costs wherever possible, and using prisoners for what amounts to slave labor – road crews, for example.
In short, I think our legal system is a joke and a shadow of what it was meant to be.
Yet here I am…. Sitting in a big, hot, room, on an unbelievably uncomfortable chair, waiting for my little pod to be called. And I’ve been doing so for the last two hours.
Call me a cynic. Call me a bad American. Call me unpatriotic. Call me all the bad names you can think of.
But please – don’t call me for jury duty again.
