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Friday / IU / photo / site / television / video — Comments Off
9
Apr 21

Easing into a springtime weekend

Here are the sports shows from last night. First, the highlights from Sports Nite. Big stories are about postseason play in soccer. And basketball. Always basketball. Basketball never ends here. The sport needs a shot clock.

And here’s The Toss Up, which is where they talked about The Masters. A fun time was had by all.

Today I gave two tours. First time I’ve had guests in the building since, I don’t know, maybe February of last year. The first was for a young man who’ll be joining us as a freshman in the fall. The other is a guy who’ll be joining us for grad school. He is also from Alabama. Two new people from home in the same week.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him about the barbecue situation.

I have made a new look for the front page. I rather like it, and I think you will too. Just click the image below and, via the magic technology of hyperlinks, you will be effortlessly transported to it. Tell me what you think.

And then effortlessly transport yourself to the weekend. I’m starting mine relaxing on the deck. How you are beginning your weekend? You’ve earned it, after all. Enjoy it!

photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
7
Apr 21

And some two hours later … the job was done

Drip, drip, drip into the sink. And so I replaced the little bit of rubber inside the kitchen faucet. And then, later, drip, drip, drip again. I replaced that little washer. And again. Now, the first time it seemed like user error. And then, after that, maybe just bad water. Or bad water and user error. I suppose it could be a faulty bit of rubber. But when the dripping started for a fourth time I knew it was definitely anything but user error.

Which was when I stripped the little screw that holds the whole faucet together. And, after a day of trying to overcome that difficulty, decided to hang the whole thing and start anew.

So my lovely bride bought a new faucet this week, which she’s been hoping to do for some time.

Home ownership, by the way, is just an exercise in doing something you are asked, and learning some skill that gives you a bit of confidence, but really genuinely sincerely hope you never have to use again.

This is where I was this evening, going through the stages of self-confidence and doubt.

She picked up the faucet on Monday. We did outdoors work that day. Last night I didn’t get in until late. All of this, and the paragraphs above, have left me plenty of time to psyche myself up for the chore. And so, this evening, when I got to the house at a regular hour, I was ready to take on the task.

Super excited! Pep rally ready! Let’s rip out the old! Drop in the new! Make it appear as if nothing ever happened here!

That’s the self-confidence part.

Getting the old faucet out was the hard part. Well, maybe just reaching it. This is the kind of space I’m working in.

Oh that’s pretty standard, you say. Two sinks, sure, one larger than the other and both a fair size. Sure. Nothing but the best, right? And also the garbage disposal, who’s inner workings are in no way inconvenient to the cause. To say nothing of that random PVC vent in the center, which is precisely where I need to go.

And if you think I pondered trying to remove one of the sink tubs or uncoupling the disposal, you’re right.

The thing about the countertop is that the hole cut out of it is precisely as large as it needs to be and not a micron wider. The thing about the old faucet is that there are some copper components to it. And the thing about that vent in the back is that it took some considerable and destructive ingenuity to get out the old stuff. And the old equipment
is starting to get a bit of rust to it.

And somewhere in there, in that already tiny and almost unworkable space, is where the doubt part starts crowding in.

Things got destroyed. Well, it was all going away anyway, so that was the point of no return. The new stuff was just fine. So long as it worked when it got installed.

And if you’ve ever worked on more than any one thing on a house before you’ve come to realize that there is nothing standard about standard sizes or techniques or anything. I mean, the plumber could have been having a bad day the day he was in this house. And seeing some of the other stuff in here, it wouldn’t surprise.

Well, the old stuff got out, and once you get into the cabinet, under the sink and immediately beneath the not-at-all obstructive disposal unit and reminded yourself that you don’t have claustrophobia issues, it looks like this.

Seriously, what’s up with that vent? Does anyone here know what that does?

That bit of orange is from the new faucet install. It dropped in without a problem because the new sink uses rubber components and not copper. Once it was in place there was just the matter of reaching two hands, a screwdriver and a custom spanner into a space big enough for precisely one hand to tighten it down to the counter. And then you connect the supply lines, and pet the cat.

Poseidon was an excellent helper. And we are a safety first house.

Here he is looking over the tools and instructions.

Connect the faucet head. Imagine in your mind the part of the instructions that Moen just got too lazy to write and figure out the final parts with some trial and error.

And congratulate the cat on being very helpful.

Now, because of the difficulty of removing the old one, and the time that took, both cats were interested in the box and the plastic inside. But it took so long they both lost interest in the plastic and the box. They went somewhere else. And then Poseidon remembered it anew.

Really, looking back on it even now I’m not sure why it took so long. It’s a fairly simple procedure, a faucet installation. A faucet extraction, however, might be its own specialty.

Anyway, we have a new faucet:

And it works and everything! Water comes out of it! Hot and cold! And it stops coming out when you ask it to stop! We better love this faucet for a long time.

Most importantly, no injuries, save the wrench I dropped on my face. No wicked oaths uttered under my breath. Times I had to move a cat out of the way, uncountable. A successful new skill learned. Basic plumber 101 skill achieved. Hopefully I won’t have to do this again for a good long while.

cycling / Monday / photo / video — Comments Off
5
Apr 21

Welcome to the new week

Well, Easter was lovely, and quiet. The weather was perfect and we spent the afternoon in the backyard, relaxing in the shade. We had lasagna for dinner, which was delicious. And it was all very calm and productive in it’s own way.

On Saturday we went for a bike ride in the wind.

Not pictured: the wind.

The gusts were gusty, and could push you around. There were two hills and a lot of wind. Did I mention the breeze? I did set eight PRs over the 25 Strava segments on the day’s route. Even my shadow was tired.

We saw this beautiful bit of scenery somewhere between here and there.

I was only able to manage that composition because of the headwind.

The cats were unimpressed by the breeze, housed as they are. They probably slept through it all.

Phoebe was doubly insulated in her little box fortress. (If the cats don’t take over the joint their boxes surely will.)

Poseidon was sitting on my lap the other night and stuck his head through the side of the rocking chair for some reason and it makes sense because you see him staring at the camera, but that’s the wrong takeaway. My phone wasn’t there when he put his head through the rails. The phone was a reaction to his more spontaneous action. The real conclusion, then, is that he’s a weirdo.

And here you can see the rare moment where they are getting along nicely.

That’s how serious naps are around here.

photo / television / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
31
Mar 21

Back to the ol’ grindstone today

I woke up feeling much better today than I did yesterday, to be sure. Yesterday, waking up was exhausting and a little painful. The aches and pains got better as the day progressed, and I rested a lot. Today I put my feet on the floor feeling normal and almost refreshed.

And then I walked the block-and-a-half into my building on campus and was utterly wiped out. Winded. Hands-on-my-knees just finished a sprint sort of condition. But it passed. And by the end of a day at the office I felt much better. I guess that’s what work will do for you sometimes.

By the time I took this photo, standing in the backyard and looking to the south-southwest at 8:10 p.m., I felt as normal as any other day.

And just like that sunset, he said poetically, my side effects with my second dose of the Covid vaccine are already fading into memory.

Now bring on those super powers.

Here are two shows I didn’t see produced last night, so we can watch them for the first time together. And it looks like they’re trying something a little new here. I could spell it out for you, but I don’t want to spoil your fun.

And from one masked up, socially distant show to another, here’s what’s up this week, with What’s Up Weekly. (It stinks that they have to do this in masks, but I’m proud of how they’ve gone along with that since they came back to campus, and how they’ve adapted to all the other things put before them. “You need a suggestion for how to talk about yourself in a job interview, talk about rolling with the punches and continuing to put your best foot forward, no matter what the old guy insists to foist on you as safety precautions,” that’s what I tell them.)

That was a fast show this week. I guess there’s not a lot going on. Good! It’s not just me …

More here in this, a no April Fools’ joke zone, tomorrow.

IU / photo / television / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
30
Mar 21

The only thing I didn’t phone in today was this post

Took off from work today. Called in sick, by which I mean I woke up at about 7 a.m. and wrote a message in the Slack app and went back to sleep.

Here’s the bottom line. If you’ve ever been sick in your life you’ve felt worse than I do today. I almost have a headache. I almost feel like I have a sore throat. I have the mildest fever modern technology can observe. I am supremely tired. In fact, I’ve spent much of the day in bed. My chief complaint, then, doing my part to stay safe and help ensure the safety of the people around me, is general fatigue.

Well, I’m tired a lot anyway, so a long nap is a nice treat. And so long as I don’t have to move around a lot I can forget how weary I feel. Tomorrow will be a bit better, I’m sure. And the next day, too. And we’re already counting down the days to full vaccination, two weeks from yesterday.

After that we look forward to safely, carefully, seeing vaccinated family. My in-laws are already considering dates to visit, and that’s great! They’re vaccinated and outside their own two-week window, and so we can soon have a nice reunion soon, after some 17 months apart.

That’s what it will take, pragmatic choices, careful decisions. We’ve done that for a year. We’re comfortable continuing in that way. There won’t be any big crowded events or restaurants or exotic travel in our near future, but that’s OK. I appreciate the idea that we’re all a part of the field study. Experts are trying to determine how the vaccines and the real world are working together. And when you think of it in that light a slow and careful transition to more conventional behavior seems like obviously the right choice.

For the immediate future, then, my vaccine will feel a lot like a mental relief. The efficacy data of all of the shots are incredibly promising. People that have devoted their life to this work are very encouraged about what they’re coming to understand and what it will mean for us. And, until that’s written in stone, I can behave cautiously. I’ll be wearing masks at work for the foreseeable future anyway, but in two weeks I’ll feel better about our prospects in general. Some weight may be lifted. Perhaps I’ll lesson the decontamination procedures at the door of the house. Personal Space Guy won’t feel as invasive, eventually.

I’m still going to be mystified by Can’t Cover My Nose Man, though.

Now we’ve just got to get the rest of the populace on board. The concern has to be in the laggard adopters of the vaccine. We are all just treading water until everyone gets a bandaid on their arm.

I saved the cats until today, because it seemed like there wouldn’t be much more going on here. They are doing great, of course. Mostly because they did not get shots this week.

Phoebe has the serve.

She looks as tired as I feel, here.

I’m not sure what Poseidon was doing under the table, to be honest. Maybe he’s practicing to become a repair cat. Who can tell with him.

He seldom explains himself, after all.

Probably he spends most of his time wondering why we think he should feel compelled to explain himself. That’s a cat thing, surely.

There is a podcast to share. This is the one I recorded and edited last Friday. I referred to it vaguely in this space, as well. And now you can listen to it. It was a delightful conversation about children and teens and a year of Covid. There’s a fair amount of “Kids are resilient, but …” And it’s a fine conversation about a fascinating topic with, unfortunately, few definitive answers at the moment.

I came to find, after the fact, an old feature story about Jerry Wilde, the professor I’m talking with there. Some years back he received an organ transplant from a former student. What an impression one person must have made on the other, to inspire them to do so in kind.

And to wrap up a day where I’ve done nothing but sleep and have all of this to show for it, this is a show the late night crew shot in Studio 5. It’s getting meta and awkward, but that’s all in character.

I think.