Today was my first day of vacation- my first week off since early December. Oh, I needed this.

I slept in a bit, did a few language lessons, went swimming with mom and had dinner at Tamr, one of my favorite local Mediterranean places. That was an unexpected detour- when I was on my way home, it started to POUR down rain. As in, you could barely see ( Read more... )

A day came I never thought I'd see. Got some amazing news at work Wednesday. Can't get into it now but let's just say I'm so happy and relieved.

Wednesday also was bittersweet. A longtime co-worker, someone I'd worked with for 24+ years, retired, officially on Thursday but we had a little party for him Wednesday. Happy for him, but I'll miss him.

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Late August. Doesn't seem possible.

All in all, we've had a fairly mild summer, especially when compared to the rest of the country. Well, excepting perhaps Thursday night's storms. Where I live was OK- I lost power for two, maybe three minutes. There was a small branch caught in my bush partially blocking my exit. That's it for me. But I've seen ( Read more... )

Looking forward to a nice weeklong break. I know when I get back to work it's going to be a busy rest of the month.

Saw the new Indiana Jones movie. Personally- I enjoyed it. It was a good summer popcorn flick. A couple scenes went on a bit long and the CGI a bit obvious in the opening scene but those are my only nits. It was a fun ride and well ( Read more... )

We had negative temperatures this past Friday. This Friday, we could see 50s.

Gotta love Northeast Ohio.

I'm very grateful my heat and electric worked throughout. A lot of people lost power during this time.

Today I just chilled; finished one book and started another.

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By yesterday, my overall thought was "stick a fork in me, I am DONE."

Mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo. Mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. At least two other major shooting events since then. The beating death locally of a 17-year-old.

What is the most frustrating thing? Nothing will change. Not. A. Thing.

Rinse ( Read more... )

You just never know.

My plans for tomorrow included going to see a friend of mine perform with his newish band. They usually perform in venues that were too remote but this one was nearby. Was so looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, it was around this time last Friday I first saw Mark's wife Lynn - also a good friend - post that he had had a ( Read more... )

Hard to tell. But Russia has invaded Ukraine. Early footage is grim. It's a total, all-out assault on several fronts.

It's hard not to cry.

Hopefully... hopefully, this will resolve in a couple weeks. But the fires have been building for a while. If this doesn't resolve quickly, I fear we will once again be pulled into a conflict with no real path ( Read more... )

... to a new year.

What roller-coaster of a year. It started out on a note of cautious optimisim and is ending with the realization that we may be under pandemic conditions at least through late spring.

Still very little seems to be known about omicron. Initial, tentative reports seem to indicate it's milder. One thing that is known is it's ( Read more... )

Ohio weather has gone a bit weird again. It was 30s and snowing Wednesday. Friday? Mid-50s with some sun and blue skies. I was out on the road all day both days. Wednesday wasn't bad, especially for December, but I couldn't believe how mild Friday was! I had my window down while driving and even had lunch outside. Wow.

Haven't been swimming lately ( Read more... )