A Year in Review
2019 seems to have gone by in a flash - and it isn't until I sit down and try to list out the many things that happened that I get any kind of sense of time passing.
Thus, I present a month-by-month review of 2019. I pored through the pictures on my phone to remind myself of the many experiences I had, which is why this is rather jerky rather than transitional.
January was a quiet month; we had probably our latest visit to The Sloppy Waffle, where we met our good friend Gerard for lunch.
In February, I installed a new, second sump pump in the basement in effort to stop the flooding near the furnace. I found out that some portion of the flooding was definitely due to the leaky downspouts where they connect to the pipe going out to the street. Weird to be digging a hole in the floor of the basement in the winter (or any other time).
I found a Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clock at Goodwill for $10. Score! It even works! We babysat Lumen for Jared & Nicole.
March was a busy month of travel to New York - first for training, during which trip I spent an afternoon/evening with my old high school friend Bill Hubner and attended a cast party for his multimedia show "Pip's Island," which is a hit. Three days later it was back to New York to see the legendary Billy Joel in concert, courtesy of college friendJim Paresi. The seats were FANTASTIC and we had an awesome time! A week later (still March) I was on a train to Baltimore, where I attended my mentor's son Jackson's 17th birthday party, and a couple of fabulous evenings of artistic expression in the Baltimore art scene.
Come April, on the 3rd, it was back to NYC to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the tickets for which were purchased mid-2018. It was breath-taking. Mid-month, I got the FlyMo lawnmower I'd purchased over the winter out of the garage, rebuilt the carburetor (which quickly devolved into "replacing the carburetor") and fired it up. It is a truly wild thing to use. My birthday was spent out at Cape Cod at my cousin's house, also corresponding with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Tilly had a bad bout of kennel cough, though where she got it we don't know.
At the start of May, our 1963 Shasta Compact travel trailer went to her new home. There was a nest of baby bunnies in the yard, which the dogs were obsessed with, and of the 5 or 6 babies that were there, I believe one is still running around as of this writing. The mother created a nest in a fenced-off part of the yard, where the grass was left long while patches of new grass slowly came in. The day I took the temporary fence down, the dogs discovered the nest and pulled several of the babies from it. Their eyes weren't even open yet. I put them back, put the fence back up (this was after having cut the lawn, right over the nest!) and waited. Research showed that once a nest had been thus disturbed (by lawnmower and dogs) the mother would not return to it, so I feared the worst. After almost a week, I figured they had to be all dead, so I dug a hole elsewhere in the yard (outside the fence) in preparation to receive the contents of the nest, which I then went to dig up. I moved aside the grass plug over the top of the nest, just to make sure, and BOOM! Baby bunnies ran everywhere! I gathered what I could back into the nest and covered it again. It took several more weeks (and the discovery of several dead babies) before the nest was finally vacated. The remaining bunnies still live near; the dogs have a field day chasing them occasionally.
Also in May, my company sent me to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a workshop on management given by our German parent company. It was a beautiful trip. Of note was the experience of RUNNING through several airports to catch planes after delays at customs.
At the end of May, I took down and disassembled the pergola over the side gate, which was erected in 2003, for repair and painting. The years had not been kind to it.
In early June we dog-sat Lumen again. She is always a perfect guest!
In mid-June, Clay was diagnosed with pneumonia, after waking up in the middle of the night with horrible chills. He had just had an infected tooth removed a day or two before, so the initial supposition was that the infection had gotten into his bloodstream, but pneumonia was the diagnosis.
Mid-June also saw us visit the Gay Pride Parade and cultural festival in Middletown, where we connected with our friend Gerard, who had a tent devoted to his real-estate business.
In late June I met my mentor Chick and his husband Mike (and children Jackson and Samantha) in New Jersey for a weekend of strangeness and cosplay at the Steampunk Convention. Clay and I made a vest, shirt and cravat for the occasion, and I once again decorated my green top hat. I bought a completely awesome leather top hat while there, that I wear during the cold months. It gets a lot of notice, with 99% good comments.
On June 28, Clay and I hosted the annual Design Team Barbecue at our house, which was a great time. I love showing off the place, and treating people to some of the fabulousness that is my life and love. Clay made churros to order, and I managed to flood the deck with (mercifully cold) cooking oil.
I took the week of July 4th off, and started the basement remodeling project with emptying the basement into the garage (a day of people helping schlep stuff), followed by a scrubbing, washing and painting of the foundation walls down there. This turned into a several-month-long project in which partner-in-crime Matt and I built walls enough for three rooms down there (laundry, utility and workshop), and featured plenty of rewiring some of the horrible mess down there. We also replaced and made working the maid's toilet in the basement - which was not a necessity, but definitely a nice-to-have.
In late July Clay and I spent five days in Provincetown Massachusetts, guests of our friend Jim, who rented a hotel suite there for a week. It was a fabulous time, but I'm not sure how soon we will go again. It's kind of one-note after a couple of years of Bear Week!
Basement work continued through August.
In late August, I went to the New York International Air Show with former-roomie Brian and work-friend John Holchin (it was John's idea). It was great fun and I took lots of pictures and movies of the planes flying around. Pilots are nuts. We also started a low-carb, keto-style diet, that so far has reduced my weight by 20 pounds. Score!
In September, I harvested the first (and last) of the corn from the garden, and finished the walls and other improvements (like lighting) in the basement, and embarked on building a work bench of the ages. Friend Erica's 1979 Dodge Little Red Express pickup came to live with us, and I had fun driving and fixing its electrical bugaboos. Clay came up with an interesting project: make a completely luxurious and decadent bath robe, which turned into "make TWO completely luxurious and decadent bath robes," though the second one has yet to be finished. The first one makes letting the dogs out in the morning a moment of fabulousness for the neighborhood!
Mid-September there was a car show on the Meriden green that I took the Dodge to, and friend Rob and his son Ryan joined me peering at the cars. Around the same time, Lumen-puppy came to us once more.
Late in the month, we ventured back to Cape Cod to cousin Dawn & Lou's for a party/barbecue that defied the laws of reason and temperance. They cooked SEVENTY-FIVE LOBSTERS for the occasion, and roasted a whole pig.
In October I finally finished the work bench and installed an exhaust fan in the basement workshop, so I can paint and do other stinky things down there without polluting the whole house. Work-friend Tyler, a 3D printing enthusiast, printed a plenum for me that I modeled to connect the fan to a duct leading outside.
In late October we finally had my mother's headstone engraved, and had a small ceremony followed by lunch at my mom's favorite Chinese restaurant. It could only have been made more appropriate for her if we'd shopped at Trader Joe's afterward. She loved going there.
Also in late October, we hosted Ryan (15 years old) for dinner in which we taught him how to cook Ham & Potato soup. It came out great! That weekend I dug a trench in the floor leading to the sump pump so that the lowest spot in the floor would drain. We'd had another flood, despite all the water-control steps taken (including a damn second sump pump!) and drastic measures needed to be taken.
On Hallowe'en, I tied for first place in the office costume contest with my Steampunk attire!
On November 2nd, Clay and Becky and I attended "Indiana Jones Live in Concert" at the Bushnell, where a live orchestra played the music along with a showing of the film.
Mid-month, we decided to turn the guest room into an exercise room, and forego the gym memberships for working out at home. Clay got a "Total Gym" and the plan is to whip ourselves into shape. I'll let you know how it goes. This meant parting with the antique bed and dresser in there, which went by way of Craigslist.
3D printer adventures (courtesy of work-friend Tyler) continued with the detail painting of a model of the Nautilus, from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," (the Disney movie with Kirk Douglas) and the acquisition of a 3D printed model of a Pulse Rifle from the movie Aliens.
Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, with a late visit to Rob & Laura for feeding and commiseration. Alternate Thanksgiving was a relatively small affair with just 10 of us and a roasted prime rib. The Saturday after Thanksgiving included a visit to Conspiracy, a speakeasy type bar in Middletown, where I experienced the Miracle Berry, which makes lemons taste like lemon-drops.
December was a pretty quiet month; the tree went up December 1st, and much of the month was spent doing low-key things, like painting a model for Tyler of a 3D printed gun from the game Destiny. It is very relaxing to zone out and paint intricate details.
Christmas week was spent mostly relaxing, though in the last days of the vacation I trekked to Baltimore for the annual Archaic Beverages party, and we went to Dawn and Lou's on the Cape for New Years.
It seems, at first glance, that it was a fairly quiet year. Taking a real look back, though, there was a lot going on. Lots of travel (albeit not to many far-away places) and a good amount of creativity was put forth. It seems like it will not be the most memorable year (not being filled with personal tragedies), which makes a restrospective like this a worthwhile thing to keep.
Thus, I present a month-by-month review of 2019. I pored through the pictures on my phone to remind myself of the many experiences I had, which is why this is rather jerky rather than transitional.
January was a quiet month; we had probably our latest visit to The Sloppy Waffle, where we met our good friend Gerard for lunch.
In February, I installed a new, second sump pump in the basement in effort to stop the flooding near the furnace. I found out that some portion of the flooding was definitely due to the leaky downspouts where they connect to the pipe going out to the street. Weird to be digging a hole in the floor of the basement in the winter (or any other time).
I found a Jaeger-LeCoultre Atmos clock at Goodwill for $10. Score! It even works! We babysat Lumen for Jared & Nicole.
March was a busy month of travel to New York - first for training, during which trip I spent an afternoon/evening with my old high school friend Bill Hubner and attended a cast party for his multimedia show "Pip's Island," which is a hit. Three days later it was back to New York to see the legendary Billy Joel in concert, courtesy of college friendJim Paresi. The seats were FANTASTIC and we had an awesome time! A week later (still March) I was on a train to Baltimore, where I attended my mentor's son Jackson's 17th birthday party, and a couple of fabulous evenings of artistic expression in the Baltimore art scene.
Come April, on the 3rd, it was back to NYC to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the tickets for which were purchased mid-2018. It was breath-taking. Mid-month, I got the FlyMo lawnmower I'd purchased over the winter out of the garage, rebuilt the carburetor (which quickly devolved into "replacing the carburetor") and fired it up. It is a truly wild thing to use. My birthday was spent out at Cape Cod at my cousin's house, also corresponding with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Tilly had a bad bout of kennel cough, though where she got it we don't know.
At the start of May, our 1963 Shasta Compact travel trailer went to her new home. There was a nest of baby bunnies in the yard, which the dogs were obsessed with, and of the 5 or 6 babies that were there, I believe one is still running around as of this writing. The mother created a nest in a fenced-off part of the yard, where the grass was left long while patches of new grass slowly came in. The day I took the temporary fence down, the dogs discovered the nest and pulled several of the babies from it. Their eyes weren't even open yet. I put them back, put the fence back up (this was after having cut the lawn, right over the nest!) and waited. Research showed that once a nest had been thus disturbed (by lawnmower and dogs) the mother would not return to it, so I feared the worst. After almost a week, I figured they had to be all dead, so I dug a hole elsewhere in the yard (outside the fence) in preparation to receive the contents of the nest, which I then went to dig up. I moved aside the grass plug over the top of the nest, just to make sure, and BOOM! Baby bunnies ran everywhere! I gathered what I could back into the nest and covered it again. It took several more weeks (and the discovery of several dead babies) before the nest was finally vacated. The remaining bunnies still live near; the dogs have a field day chasing them occasionally.
Also in May, my company sent me to Vancouver, British Columbia, for a workshop on management given by our German parent company. It was a beautiful trip. Of note was the experience of RUNNING through several airports to catch planes after delays at customs.
At the end of May, I took down and disassembled the pergola over the side gate, which was erected in 2003, for repair and painting. The years had not been kind to it.
In early June we dog-sat Lumen again. She is always a perfect guest!
In mid-June, Clay was diagnosed with pneumonia, after waking up in the middle of the night with horrible chills. He had just had an infected tooth removed a day or two before, so the initial supposition was that the infection had gotten into his bloodstream, but pneumonia was the diagnosis.
Mid-June also saw us visit the Gay Pride Parade and cultural festival in Middletown, where we connected with our friend Gerard, who had a tent devoted to his real-estate business.
In late June I met my mentor Chick and his husband Mike (and children Jackson and Samantha) in New Jersey for a weekend of strangeness and cosplay at the Steampunk Convention. Clay and I made a vest, shirt and cravat for the occasion, and I once again decorated my green top hat. I bought a completely awesome leather top hat while there, that I wear during the cold months. It gets a lot of notice, with 99% good comments.
On June 28, Clay and I hosted the annual Design Team Barbecue at our house, which was a great time. I love showing off the place, and treating people to some of the fabulousness that is my life and love. Clay made churros to order, and I managed to flood the deck with (mercifully cold) cooking oil.
I took the week of July 4th off, and started the basement remodeling project with emptying the basement into the garage (a day of people helping schlep stuff), followed by a scrubbing, washing and painting of the foundation walls down there. This turned into a several-month-long project in which partner-in-crime Matt and I built walls enough for three rooms down there (laundry, utility and workshop), and featured plenty of rewiring some of the horrible mess down there. We also replaced and made working the maid's toilet in the basement - which was not a necessity, but definitely a nice-to-have.
In late July Clay and I spent five days in Provincetown Massachusetts, guests of our friend Jim, who rented a hotel suite there for a week. It was a fabulous time, but I'm not sure how soon we will go again. It's kind of one-note after a couple of years of Bear Week!
Basement work continued through August.
In late August, I went to the New York International Air Show with former-roomie Brian and work-friend John Holchin (it was John's idea). It was great fun and I took lots of pictures and movies of the planes flying around. Pilots are nuts. We also started a low-carb, keto-style diet, that so far has reduced my weight by 20 pounds. Score!
In September, I harvested the first (and last) of the corn from the garden, and finished the walls and other improvements (like lighting) in the basement, and embarked on building a work bench of the ages. Friend Erica's 1979 Dodge Little Red Express pickup came to live with us, and I had fun driving and fixing its electrical bugaboos. Clay came up with an interesting project: make a completely luxurious and decadent bath robe, which turned into "make TWO completely luxurious and decadent bath robes," though the second one has yet to be finished. The first one makes letting the dogs out in the morning a moment of fabulousness for the neighborhood!
Mid-September there was a car show on the Meriden green that I took the Dodge to, and friend Rob and his son Ryan joined me peering at the cars. Around the same time, Lumen-puppy came to us once more.
Late in the month, we ventured back to Cape Cod to cousin Dawn & Lou's for a party/barbecue that defied the laws of reason and temperance. They cooked SEVENTY-FIVE LOBSTERS for the occasion, and roasted a whole pig.
In October I finally finished the work bench and installed an exhaust fan in the basement workshop, so I can paint and do other stinky things down there without polluting the whole house. Work-friend Tyler, a 3D printing enthusiast, printed a plenum for me that I modeled to connect the fan to a duct leading outside.
In late October we finally had my mother's headstone engraved, and had a small ceremony followed by lunch at my mom's favorite Chinese restaurant. It could only have been made more appropriate for her if we'd shopped at Trader Joe's afterward. She loved going there.
Also in late October, we hosted Ryan (15 years old) for dinner in which we taught him how to cook Ham & Potato soup. It came out great! That weekend I dug a trench in the floor leading to the sump pump so that the lowest spot in the floor would drain. We'd had another flood, despite all the water-control steps taken (including a damn second sump pump!) and drastic measures needed to be taken.
On Hallowe'en, I tied for first place in the office costume contest with my Steampunk attire!
On November 2nd, Clay and Becky and I attended "Indiana Jones Live in Concert" at the Bushnell, where a live orchestra played the music along with a showing of the film.
Mid-month, we decided to turn the guest room into an exercise room, and forego the gym memberships for working out at home. Clay got a "Total Gym" and the plan is to whip ourselves into shape. I'll let you know how it goes. This meant parting with the antique bed and dresser in there, which went by way of Craigslist.
3D printer adventures (courtesy of work-friend Tyler) continued with the detail painting of a model of the Nautilus, from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," (the Disney movie with Kirk Douglas) and the acquisition of a 3D printed model of a Pulse Rifle from the movie Aliens.
Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, with a late visit to Rob & Laura for feeding and commiseration. Alternate Thanksgiving was a relatively small affair with just 10 of us and a roasted prime rib. The Saturday after Thanksgiving included a visit to Conspiracy, a speakeasy type bar in Middletown, where I experienced the Miracle Berry, which makes lemons taste like lemon-drops.
December was a pretty quiet month; the tree went up December 1st, and much of the month was spent doing low-key things, like painting a model for Tyler of a 3D printed gun from the game Destiny. It is very relaxing to zone out and paint intricate details.
Christmas week was spent mostly relaxing, though in the last days of the vacation I trekked to Baltimore for the annual Archaic Beverages party, and we went to Dawn and Lou's on the Cape for New Years.
It seems, at first glance, that it was a fairly quiet year. Taking a real look back, though, there was a lot going on. Lots of travel (albeit not to many far-away places) and a good amount of creativity was put forth. It seems like it will not be the most memorable year (not being filled with personal tragedies), which makes a restrospective like this a worthwhile thing to keep.