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15
Jul 26

Red and black antennae

I get the summers to myself. Oh, to be sure, we went to two conferences this summer, but we were fortunate to attach a vacation to them. Otherwise, aside from some email, there’s some time to decompress, to sleep, and to try to forget about work while simultaneously also thinking about the next semester.

And, look, before I get into this let me say two things. First, the time off is great, and I’m fortunate, and I know it. Second, the work isn’t hard or bad, it’s rather enjoyable, generally, but each semester is so immersive that the break feels necessary somehow. Third, see points one and two.

With that in mind my complaint is There’s always something, right? It’s not worth going into, and none of it is a real worry on a large scale, let alone a grand or cosmic scale. But the worrywart can always worry, I suppose. Part of it has to do with the next semester, and my utter inability to make myself totally mentally absent. It’s just funny is all.

But then, today, I think I have hit the mental midpoint of the summer. Probably I’m close to the calendar midpoint, too, but I’m not looking that up, that’d be too upsetting to contemplate, and, anyway, that’s not the point. The point is that I was sitting there, reading, and it occurred to me that I should go look through my coins. I have a dime jar and a nickel jar and I don’t even know why anymore. It isn’t like I get a lot of change, or have money. Anyway, I found myself remembering that we used to look at the dates on nickles for some reason. When I was a kid we kept nickels that were older than 1964 for reasons I forget. So I went through probably 15 bucks of nickels, because I could.

This was the oldest one I found in that collection. I looked it up. According to the web, a 1957 nickel could be worth a few thousand bucks, or about five or 10 cents. Guess which one I’ve got. They’re all worth a nickel, unless you find a sucker.

Jefferson’s war nickels, the ones produced between 1942-1945 can be worth a bit, depending on the specifics. Because of war rationing they were minted with 35 percent silver. When was the last time you saw a coin from the mid-40s? And are you prepared to say mid-nineteenforties? Guess we’ll be doing that soon.

I began to wonder if you can solder coins. Some of these could be some sort of art. (Turns out you can solder coins.) It’s not as if they are doing anything else, sitting in these little glass containers.

I was doing this because I had the time, I guess. My chief task for the day was keeping two electricians hydrated. These two guys came out today to do some electrical work, obviously. We are having a generator installed. The unit itself was brought in today and put on a little slab on the southwestern corner of the house, because that’s where the gas meter is. The electric comes in on the northeastern corner.

The problems are there are some tight spaces, some old DIYesque wiring, the solar panel configuration, incredibly hot temperatures, and horrible air quality. These poor guys, we invited them inside to cool off several times.

I kept them in ice water all day. I offered them giant umbrellas for shade. There’s no need to suffer, but theirs is outdoor work. Mostly, anyway. I think they’ve been taking refuge in the basement, where it is nice and cool, and where everything will be connected, gas to electric.

They’ll be back out to continue their work tomorrow. It’ll be just as hot or worse. They’ll have to disconnect the power for a while to finish their work.

Also the air quality will be poor. Also, they might not finish tomorrow. These poor depleted guys.

We saw the Dave Matthews Band Saturday night. Third summer in a row. I think this is the fifth or sixth time I’ve seen them over the years. We go to this show because my godsisters’-in-law (just go with it) do a DMB pilgrimage every summer. They invite us to the show closest to us. They tailgate with their old school buddies and friends and we get to tag along.

At some point the joke became that I don’t like Dave Matthews and I must have reacted just right, because that joke persisted. Later, I came up with a brilliant reply. I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me my favorite Dave Matthews song, so I can say “I like that Ants Running song.” As a joke it’ll work on several levels. I have the name wrong, and some of the longtime fans are over it, including one of my godsisters-in-law.

This isn’t that, but rather a bit of a meandering horn section, just for fun.

They played Ants Marching. I turned to my godsister-in-law at the end and said, “I like that song. They should put that on the radio. That’s got pep!”

She was not amused with my joke, but she had a great time at the concert, and so did all of the fans, even me. I like the band just fine.

cycling / memories / music / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
14
Jul 26

Evening sounds

Poison ivy update: today marks three weeks from my careless self-exposure. Tomorrow marks three weeks from the first itchy symptoms. I am much improved — which is to say healing, not healed. Eventually I worked it out to alternating between Calamine and cortisol. I also had a few very long oatmeal bath soaks. Now, my skin is mostly dry, itchy, flaky, or some combination.

Also, I found some on a tree while puttering about the yard. I dealt with that one in a much more sensible manner.

In short, I will survive, but the ivy probably will too.

The actual poison ivy vines I plucked, meanwhile, have surely returned by now.

Enjoy a nice little solo ride this evening. My lovely bride was off doing a workout elsewhere and that let me visit some lovely little roads at my own pace.

I made some new sheep friends. They couldn’t even be bothered to look up as I soft pedaled past their evening graze.

The corn is coming along nicely. Took me three tries to get this photo, and it wasn’t quite what I wanted.

The chores never end in farm country. I wonder what else this guy could be doing right now. I wonder if he’d rather be pedaling around, like me. I think most people would rather be riding a bike than doing evening work. Then again, combines aren’t connected to bikes.

Sometime after that I dropped a water bottle — a fate worse than dehydration. So I had to turn around and fetch it. Stop, put your foot down, wiggle the bike around and coast a few feet the other direction. Then bend waaaaay over to the ground without hurting yourself. And then you stab yourself with greasy gears.

I have joked that I should just get that as a tattoo and save myself some time. I won’t, but then again it has been a while since I gave myself the ol’ grease tattoo, too.

I wore a new jersey today, a loose fitting number, which was perfect for one of those days when it didn’t matter that everything clung to me. And on the back of the tag …

Sure, now you tell me. Good thing it fit.

It’s actually too big, but I took that tag off.

One last clip from the Guster show, last Friday. Their alt-breakthrough, now 28 years old (that was a great time to be listening to 99X), somehow, fell off the live show list for a long time. I guess you get tired of playing the same things every night at some point. Also, the ping pong balls were probably becoming a problem. (People used to throw them onto the stage at the end of the song. It makes sense with the song, moreso than having to bring the things into venues, I’m sure.) Also, you have other things you want to play. Or maybe you’re just looking for ways to do old things. I think they called this version Airport Song 2000 for a while. It has an entirely different feel.

I wonder if they’ll have another re-instrumentation for the 30th in 2028.

Anyway, great show Friday night. I’ll put up a little clip of a DMB song from Saturday’s show tomorrow. Also, we’ll be talking about generators.

memories / Monday / photo / safari / South Africa — Comments Off
6
Jul 26

How’s the weather up there?

There is no going outside. There is no doing of things. There is only making sure that the air keeps moving, and finding the sweet spot to sit in for optimal ceiling fan coverage.

The truly great thing is that this heatwave hasn’t even concluded yet — that temperature was on Saturday — and meteorologists are already confidently forecasting the next one. That’ll be the third of the season.

Also, this was the only cloud in the sky.

Poison ivy update: I have learned going outside is really uncomfortable now. All the places stressed by the blistery itchy irritated skin. It feels like the skin is being stretched apart and pulled together at the same time, somehow. Also, it just exacerbates the itching. This weekend I also graduated to oatmeal baths. They sounded silly, they still do, but also they seem helpful. Nice long soaks of the arms seem to give the Cortisone and Calamine a fighting chance at providing a little relief.

We are now approaching week two of poison ivy. Most people deal with this for two or three weeks. I bet I’ll be dealing with it for two weeks. Maybe three.

I have a complex relationship with giraffes. They are awesome. It is an unrequited appreciation. Few animals give off the same air of indifference, but that’s part of what makes them awesome. Here is a short clip of two we saw at Kruger National Park when we were on safari there last month.

The safari won me over on the first day. The views were lovely, the animals we encountered were outstanding and each one felt unique, and our guide was top notch. The entire experience was stress free, aside from early morning wake ups. If we ever find ourselves in South Africa again, and going on a safari again, it’ll be with Wild Wings. And if you’re considering doing such a thing, do it. And book it with Wild Wings. They were terrific.

cycling / memories / music / photo / Re-Listening / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
30
Jun 26

Everything about this post is a classic, even the cliches

I rode my 25-mile time trial route today. This is the 13th time I’ve done this route, and that doesn’t matter. My time today was right in the middle of the 13 times, and that doesn’t matter. Top half by 16 seconds, and that doesn’t mean anything. It could have been the wind or a little better fueling or I just sat up a few seconds earlier on one day than the other. It doesn’t matter.

Maybe I took one less photograph this day than that slightly slower day that separates the two halves of the sample.

That’s about halfway through the route. I just like the way the road dips into those trees, how they carve a bit of darkness out of the brightness of day. Each time I’m on that road I imagine the next little bit to be something like spelunking on wheels, but it’s just a patch of trees, a good canopy that will soon open back up to the sky. Too soon, on some days, like today.

It is official, heat is hot, and right now heat is bad. Also, it’s going to get hotter.

When your skin is under siege — and urushiol is a siege — heat isn’t especially pleasant. The cab of this tractor is air conditioned.

My bicycle is not. But maybe if I’d gone faster? Maybe if today’s ride had found its way to the top of the spreadsheet.

May as well start digging out from this stack of CDs I’m under. I was doing something here I called the Re-Listening Project, where I was playing all of my old CDs in the order of their acquisition. More or less. When last we did this I was in a batch of CDs that replaced some that had been stolen. It’s a weird bit of decades old nonsense that serves only to confuse me for something that only interests me, but, hey, my name is at the top of the site. Also, I’m probably way behind in this little effort which, again, is a singular indulgence. The point was to put a few songs from each disc here, maybe think up something interesting about them. This never was a review, because no one needs more of those.

At this point, I’m just trying to take some discs out of the Re-Listen To Do pile and put them back in the old books. It’s a big stack.

Daylight was Duncan Sheik’s third studio album. (He’s up to nine, now.) It was released in 2002, and I probably bought this soon after. (Shame on me for not clearly remembering that detail.)

This was a single, and found its way into a movie, a teen comedy few remember.

This one sounds romantic. Has great imagery. And even the narrator knows that it is in no way true. It was, and remains, my favorite song on the album.

For a long time I played this CD on my way into the studio, because singing along, I thought, might just lower my speaking tone a bit for the day. And during that time part of this song fit the vibe. A sarcastic sing-along was, I thought, just one of the most clever things you could do in a deep cut.

There might have been a breakup right around that time.

The next one is Deuces Wild, B.B. King’s thirty-fifth studio album, which was released in 1997. Each song features a second musician, and so this was one those homage-slash-gimmick records. Also, it is quite good. With appearances by Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Mick Hucknall, Bonnie Raitt, D’Angelo, Jools Holland, Dr. John, Marty Stuart, Dionne Warwick, Paul Carrack, The Rolling Stones, Zucchero, and David Gilmour how could it not be great?

Also, it had these three tracks, which are automatic favorites for a variety of reasons. The first being Tracy Chapman, because Tracy Chapman is absolute dynamite in everything she does.

And this one, because the idea of Heavy D seducing Lucille is too hilarious to overlook. Plus, the entire concept is fun. There’s just enough mirth in King’s voice to allow this to be nearly timeless.

Speaking of. This song was released in 1960. King played it as far back as 1967, at least. King and Willie Nelson did it way back in 1984, at least. As a duet, the two of them have had it in their repertoire since 1984 at the very least.

I remember hearing this track for the first time and thinking it felt like something as a sad dirge. This could be the last time and all of that. But King played for another 17 glorious years after this was released. I’d been in crowds at concerts where the audience had serenaded Willie Nelson on his birthday. More than once, as I recall. And he marked his 90th birthday, in 2023, with two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl. He’s timeless, so is King. So is this. Enjoy the man hailed as the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century and one of the greatest troubadours and musician of his, this, or any generation.

That song is 66 years old, and a timeless treasure. Willie Nelson was just 26 or 27 when he wrote it on the road. Looking back, I don’t even think I could understand, truly understand, the song at that age. While it is amazing that he could right something that would persist as this has, we’re all just fortunate that it has stuck around for each of us, when we’re ready.

And, with that, I am something like 35 discs behind.

adventures / cycling / memories / Monday / photo / safari / South Africa / video — Comments Off
29
Jun 26

It’s an itch

Poison ivy status: The backs of my hands have blistered up. My arms are terribly itchy. But it’s all there on hands and arms. No fever, no real additional spreading. Just a painful inconvenience. I have been applying Neosporin and Cortisone and some other lotion that we have that has the magic words on the label. Extra Cortisone has been acquired. Calamine lotion, too. I wake up itching, of course. More accurately: I wake up scratching, which is when I’m doing the most of it. Will power only gets you so far and not that far at all when you’re unconscious.

It doesn’t feel nice in the heat. It is about to get terribly hot. We are approaching the end of week one of this by the book consequence to hasty and stupidity.

You know what else doesn’t feel good just now are my cycling gloves. Fingerless gloves are meant to be a protective bit of accessory, but the worse of my blisters are on the backs of my hands and … ouch.

Anyway, we went out for a short ride today. Just long enough to get in some posed photos.

There is a Strava segment near our house and it seems to me that I should be offended that I don’t own the best time on the Strava segment that is near our house. It is a .8 mile stretch that starts with a downhill and then comes back up. It’s nothing, but, then, neither am I. Also, I usually try this on those days when my legs feel good, but always at the end of a ride, when “good” is a relative term, anyway. (You wouldn’t do it at the beginning of a ride, because you aren’t warmed up, but I should try that sometime, just to see.)

Anyway, we only rode for a half hour and so my legs were basically warmed up but I was not tired, so i gave it a go.

And now I have the second fastest time of that Strava segment, improving my best by three seconds, and now just seven seconds off the overall.

I’m, also, almost out of tricks for improving my time. Not sure where I can find eight more seconds.

Here’s another little video from earlier this month at Kruger National Park. This elephant was, momentarily, not happy that we were there. I was characteristically thrilled he was running right to me. I took out the audio because mostly you can hear our guide try to warn him off, and then begin to move his truck as a precaution. But the elephant was running a bluff, and we’re all still here of course.

I was, initially, a bit ambivalent about the idea of a safari, but found myself won over on the first day. The views were lovely, the animals we encountered were outstanding and each one felt unique, and our guide was top notch. The entire experience was stress free, aside from early morning wake ups. If we ever find ourselves in South Africa again, and going on a safari again, it’ll be with Wild Wings. And if you’re considering doing such a thing, do it. And book it with Wild Wings. They were terrific.