Archive for October, 2013

I don’t know where to start (or what photo to post). I’ll start with fog. Or maybe Bigfoot…

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

bigfootPatchy fog in southeast Michigan? How about driving in and out of dense fog for 45 miles or so. Fortunately, US23 is more than well-traveled in the morning and I could actually see taillights ahead of me. After an hour or so, the sun came up and the fog dissipated and I skated along up into the Great Not-at-all White North. In fact, the North is absolutely gorgeous this weekend. And it is *hot*. Not at all like last year when we arrived to find a light dusting of snow on the beach just below the bank. Today? All I can say is that it was HOT on the beach today (why did I not pack a bathing suit?) and it was Bug City down there. Biting flies. Bees / stinging insects (I think I was actually stung once but no big deal since I am NOT allergic to that kind of stuff). And then, when the sun went down, the moe-skee-toes came out! Yes. Moe-skee-toes in OCTOBER!!! Fer kee-reist!

I want to stay here all weekend but [alas] it is not to be. We are heading over to Tahquamenon tomorrow. We’re gonna camp in the Lyme Lounge the next two nights. With the North Country Trail folks. I want to do this camping trip and hike with our friends but I am soooo conflicted about not being here on the beach during what looks to be one of the best weekends ever. Last year when we were up here to close the cabin, we had the damn propane stove going 24-7 and I don’t think I sat on the beach at all. I do remember taking an uber-long shower after a long wet hike on the North Country Trail. To warm up…

We are going to camp this weekend in a place that has no internet access at all. The campground at the mouth of the Tahquamenon River. If you don’t hear from me for a couple days, that’s because I can’t post. Love y’all anyway.

When dogs ran free

Wednesday, October 9th, 2013

beachurchinsThe Ann Arbor Public School administrators, in their infinite wisdom, are considering whether or not dogs should be allowed on school property*.

Boy oh boy, do I have mixed feelings about this. Overall, I think YES! In my neighborhood, if you want to get from Carbeck Street (my street) to Duncan Street, you either walk through the school yard or go “around the universe” (a mile or so) to get to the other side. On the other hand, dogs have been a problem at the schools forever. I will never forget the morning that Mrs. W. [1st-grade teacher] called me to ask if I knew who owned the [insert dog breed here] that pooped in the schoolyard that morning. I did not know the owner! I didn’t even recognize the breed! What are you talking about? You’re calling meeeee about this? What?

Once upon a time, a former Haisley principal PADLOCKED THE WOODS! Why? Because dogs go in there and poop. IT IS A DAMN WOODS, FER KEEREIST! ALL KINDS OF AMINALS POOP IN THERE! That was long enough ago that I actually knew somebody on the Haisley PTO that I could email and they managed to get the damn woods un-padlocked again. The funny thing about that is that I fergit how many years ago, a tree fell on the fence into the woods and there would be no point in having a padlock on the woods at all now. It’s wide open to people, dogs, raccoons, skunks, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, whatever, and has been for years.

Okay. Once again folks. I suppose there are dogs that are problems but more often than not, it is the OWNER who is the problem. For not controlling their dog. Again. I like dogs. But when I am out walking, I am solving the problems of the universe [not that anyone else cares] and I do NOT want your dog to run up to me and jump up on me. I don’t care how “friendly” he/she is. When I am in that space, I am not interested in interacting with your dog.

We’ll see what happens in the school district but I am conflicted. That loverly blurry dog in the photooo (from the Sherman Archives) is my dog Tigger. She is blurry because she always ran like the wind. Dan and I were a bit slower. You may have had a childhood dog or two or three or whatever but you didn’t have Tigger. I am kind of a one-dog person and Tigger was it. She got me over a horrific fear of dogs in very short order. We tied her up at our house in Sault Ste. Siberia but, at the moomincabin, she was allowed to run free. I don’t think she was necessarily the best behaved dog, at least not in her early years but she mellowed out quite well later on. Oh, strange people on the beach? “I’ll just slowly walk up to those strangers with a “smile” on my face and my tail wagging like crazy and maybe they will pet me!” And yes, those strangers usually did. Oh, what a nice doggie. Tigger loved it. My parents put her down when I was 19 and Tigger was 13.

*Disclaimer: We have a new Superwoman in the district this year and even though she was the district’s second choice, I am cautiously optimistic that she will work out better than the Walled-in Office Gal we had the last time.

My own personal parking spot

Tuesday, October 8th, 2013

egretEgret or great blue? Not sure.

When I was a child, my dad had his own parking place at the bank, with a sign with his name (Jack Finlayson) on it. The First National Bank of Sault Ste. Marie was a very small-town bank and it really wasn’t a big deal to find a parking place there. There were usually tons of spaces. …aaannnnd… my dad used to walk to work a lot of the time.

Parking place? I don’t need no stinkin’ parking place. But it was kind of a fun little perk, although I doubt that he ever let the fact that he had his own personal parking spot go to his head. He probably made jokes about it. Like the time my parents hosted a bank party at the cabin. Lyndon Johnson was the president and the parents and their friends all voted for Republicans (!) in those days. All the grown-ups got drunk and elected Jack president and the rather glamorous Harriet dubbed herself Harriet Bird, etc. My dad did not have political aspirations and neither do most of the folks in my family so that’s about as far as that went.

I wish I could walk to work but my commute is eight miles so I can’t. But I have my own personal parking place at my work and my dad would’ve loved it. I do not have a sign saying “Kayak Woman” on my parking place. It’s just that we have an under-utilized parking lot and I am the only person who ever parks in my spot. When some outsider parks there, I cannot believe how far my nose gets outta joint. Except when I can tell that the interloper is a birder. Birders can park in my spot if they want. It has a curved crack in it in case anyone wants to know…

My dad’s parking place, in the parking lot of a small downtown bank in Michigan’s upper peninsula, was not as scenic as mine. But he, like me, loved the great outdoors and I think he would have approved of my parking place.

Getting the business rules straight

Monday, October 7th, 2013

redleavesI could blather on and on about the damn government shutdown but I think even those of us who are living in it front and center are sick of hearing about it, well, except for those who are having trouble paying their rent and putting food on the table, of course… 70% of the people disapprove of how the Republicans are handling this. Oh wait. It’s 38%. Or 44%. Or… Too many polls. Too much “information”. I admit that I don’t have a full understanding of the issues but I don’t think most other people do either. At least I’m not sharing every single blasted polly-tickal meme I see on facebook whether it’s been fact-checked or not (or I understand what it says).

I am not generally a polly-tickal aminal. On the job, this has probably impeded my progress toward becoming some high-powered CEO or whatever. I don’t care. I would rather slave away in the trenches doing something that actually makes even a small difference in the world. I can’t stand office politics. “Why did this happen?” “Why didn’t this work?” “Who made this horrible mistake?” Finger pointing often ensues. Instead of that, let’s do the research and get the facts! A long time ago in my “childhood” career, I learned that when you get the facts straight and figure out what the business rules are, you can educate people and once everyone is educated, mistakes don’t happen as often and a lot of the finger-pointing stops. Yes, there will still be “problem” personalities but if you know the business rules and can articulate them in a friendly manner, those folks are often easy to disarm and can even turn into allies. Often they just want someone to listen to them…

If you know me in life, you know how high-strung I am and you are thinking something like, “Whaaaaaaaat???” I am far from perfect but I pretty much nailed workplace relationships early in my “childhood” career. Unfortunately, family relationships still often flummox the hell out of me. But there are different things at stake with family than in the workplace and the rules are often emotionally driven.

Anyway, I spent the whole day trying to nail down the uber-complicated business rules for the prodject I am currently working on at work. I have narrowed theoe those [theoe?] down from thousands a couple weeks ago to hundreds now. I have a living, breathing functional spec going with some concrete business rules and hundreds of questions. We will nail down the answers to those questions before we implement the functionality my spec spells out and we will do it politely and with respect for all of the stakeholders, most of whom are folks who use our online banking product and not us! Sheesh!

There are some good things (for the GG and I) about the damn government shutdown. Yesterday we drove my cute little Ninja up to the Highland State Rec Area and the loverly little scheduled maintenance light lit. Since the GG has been idled for the time being, he was able to take it over to Howard Cooper Germain Honda and get the oil changed or whatever it needed. Because he did that, I got to drive the Frog Hopper over to work today, which randomly had the purple kayak up on the roof rack and that generated some fun. “Are you going to kayak at lunch?” Etc. I park next to a pond.

Not to end on a gloomy note but, whatever your polly-tickal persuasion, please consider whether you think a good way to run the government is to abruptly furlough 800,000 people, not to mention all of the contractors and grantees and peripheral businesses (breakfast cafes, anyone?) to make a point. Government employees will receive back pay (for not working). Contractors and other businesses who serve lots of government employees most certainly will not. If you prefer a smaller government, there has to be a better way to negotiate one. If you care, please contact your representatives and tell them to put federal workers back to work and negotiate in good faith with business rules in hand.

Good night,
KW

Weekend theme? Git down off that damn ledge KW!

Sunday, October 6th, 2013

turtleIt was a weekend where things didn’t conform to plan and yer fav-o-rite blahgger had to use every ounce of strength she possessed to make that be okay. I can go with the flow but I do better at going with the flow when I *expect* ahead of time that I’m gonna have to go with the flow. It helps if I have my own vee-hickle at my disposal just in case going with the flow starts going south in some weird way.

Anyway, if you are one of my five regulars, you already know that I had to shift my expectations for Friday night a bit and that it turned out just fine. (Disclaimer: I KNOW that these are first world problems!)

Saturday? Well, if you are one of my five regulars, you may know that, when we are at our primary residence here on The Planet Ann Arbor, I usually drag the GG out of whatever sleep cycle he’s in at 0-skunk-30 and we walk down to the farmer’s market. This Saturday? Thunderstorms rolled through just about the time I usually get up. I will walk in rain. I will not walk in lightning. We waited them out and eventually got there about a half hour later than usual. All the way downtown, I had to keep telling myself it was okay. And it was. Of course!!! Bonus! Lizard Breath dragged herself off the couch in the back room at 7:30 AM(!) and drove down to meet up with us. We had coffee (from our fave Roos Roast) and a donut and I could buy more stuff than I usually do because Liz had Ruby down there to schlep all of it (and us) home. It wasn’t what we “always” do on Saturday when we’re here on The Planet but it was just fine! Oh plus, I loaded Liz up with a bunch of our windfall apples and she has made an apple crisp with *bourbon* in it and is planning on a leek / apple soup. (I suggested adding bourbon to that too but maybe white wine would be a better choice.)

Today? I read about Haven Hill on the Damn Arbor blahg. I love the Damn Arbor blahg but often the young whippersnappers [wink] who write it talk about events that happen when I am sleeping. Occasionally they post about things I can wrap my brain around though. Like hiking out in the woods.

I have never been to the Highland Rec Area (so close but yet so faaaaar away) and I was geared up for getting up early and heading out. The GG? Not so much. It was a gray, humid morning and *IIIIII* didn’t even get up when I wanted to (I forced myself skyward at 6:30) so I let him sleep a while and make himself a little breakfast and slodge around on the internet and generally drag ass. I figured our hiking trips for the day would be limited to our usual Ann Arbor type hikes. But then he mobilized. Let’s go to Haven Hill. I grumbled like crazy. I’d had to change my expectations several times already and it was late and yada yada.

Can I just say we had the best time? (Even when we weren’t (aka I wasn’t) having fun because, despite the decent signage and all of our technology, we got LOST on the hiking trails a couple times!) Anyway, we did not take 23 and 59 to get to the Haven Hill. We went up (and back) via Pontiac Trail and through Kensington Metropark and other various little roads (yes, the GG frivolously paid for a metropark day pass just to *drive thru* the park and back — a furloughed government employee no less). It rained lightly almost the whole time we hiked. It wasn’t enough for me to need my bumbershoot but the GG put his up. On the way home, we stopped at The Bar in Milford. A stout for the GG and a cab for me and an appetizer order of sweet potato fries to split. It ended up being a perfect outing and I think we’ll be hitting up both Haven Hill and The Bar again.

I loved this little turtle. It wasn’t until I looked at the photoooo (click and click again) I took that I realized how intricate the markings around the edge of his shell are. It kind of reminds me of one of The Commander’s favorite patterns, the Greek Key. I know this turtle’s pattern is not really like the Greek Key but that was the first thing that came to mind. Eternity at any rate.

Next weekend? I will have to go with the flow a lot of the time. But I will have my own damn vee-hickle, thanks to the damn government shutdown.

G’night from your *finally* hiked out and second-showered friend, Kayak Woman.

Dahlia? Dahlia? Dahlia? Please Mother Nature?

Saturday, October 5th, 2013

dahliaIf this poor little mistreated plant actually gets a chance to flower in the next week or so…, it is going to be a gorgeous dark red. I can see that much.

This dahlia plant is from a tuber from the beautiful dahlias that were grown for my cousin Uber Kayak Woman’s son’s wedding (that would make him my 1st cuzzint once removed but we won’t go there tonight). The bride and groom chose the colors red and orange for their wedding and I fergit why but I did love the idea that they actually chose colors for their wedding. I’m not sure that everyone does. I certainly didn’t. Why the heck did I not think of that? I’d’ve probably picked rainbow, of course.

I could not describe UKW’s area of Lopez Island if I tried but an adjacent neighbor grows dahlias (more successfully than I do) and one of the things the beach urchins were tasked to do while out there was to help harvest flowers for the wedding. The flowers were absolutely to die for.

To make a long story short, UKW emailed to ask if I wanted some dahlia tubers. With much trepidation, I accepted the offer. I have a damn black thumb. I think UKW knows that but nevertheless, she sent me six tubers. I was scared to death to plant them and looked online, etc. Maybe four of them germinated (is that the word?). We did not have the warmest spring or summer here in the Great Lake State and we were often deluged with water. I am guessing that our weather conditions weren’t helpful for dahlias especially for a neophyte. But… One of them (out of six) has been a trooper since the beginning. And here it is. Will it bloom? If our Indian Summer weather continues for a couple more days, maybe so.

I think it will be dark red if the weather does hold out a few more days. Thank you god for Indian Summer. Please make it continue a few more days.

In which KW needs to de-brief herself a bit

Friday, October 4th, 2013

fallfoliageI was soooo cranky at the end of today. I walked downtown as usual but the destination got switched more or less without my permission or maybe blessing would be a better word. It was switched to a restaurant that I really like but the service is a bit slooooowwww for me sometimes. And tonight it was HOT in there and so between that and the fact that it took something like 15 minutes for my first glass of whine to arrive and then it was about 1/3 full (c’mon people), I was not a happy camper.

But how can I complain. We were with the Uncly Uncle and The Beautiful Gay and we were having a wonderful time toasting the government (I know, you had to be there) and The Commander’s house and whatever. And then, Lizard Breath and Mouse and the newest Cfam newlyweds arrived (the last from a trip to Ikea, of course). And eventually I got them to actually give me more like a HALF glass of whine and I got a bit more mellowed out. Thank you god. For reasons I can’t even begin to fathom, the government shutdown seems to be harder on MEEEEE than it is on the GG, even though I am happily and gainfully employed waaaayyy over there in the online banking industry, an industry currently untouched by massive furloughs. Oh, maybe that’s it? That I am envious of the time off?

Anyway, our restaurant fed the gluten-free member of our party well and in a friendly manner. Got to love it when the waitress conspires with a customer, “We have gluten-free bread and I understand because I’m vegan”. This *is* the Planet Ann Arbor and plenty (but not all) of the restaurants have decent options for those who follow particular diets. And that got me over my crankiness even more than the whine.

In the end, family is the most important thing in life and we spent a wonderful couple of hours with some close (and fun) members of our family. And now Lizard Breath is spending the night here at the Landfill doing laundry. She gave us a ride home in Ruby. I was hoping that her new and cute little Civic 5-speed would acquire a name and so she has [happy face here]. I guess Liz was envious enough of Mouse doing laundry here a few nights ago to want to do her own here. I’m kidding of course but I don’t care. I love operating a laundromat and my washer and dryer don’t even have a slot for quarters.

Eating snozzcumbers with the BFG

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013

rosesOf course, that’s mostly because I don’t have all that much to say. Although I have a lot on my plate at work right now, I didn’t expect to be in the Hot Seat an hour after I got there this morning. In fact, MMCB and I were engrossed in animated conversation over at Barry Bagels this morning when she looked at the time and exclaimed, “You need to get to work!” (Yes, my own personal Jewish mother [grin].) Although we did break off our coffee date then, I kind of pooh-poohed the idea. Naw, I don’t have any reason to go hucklety-buck to get to work. But then… When I got there, The Queen Bee made a surprise move to usurp the LSCHP’s meeting (one that I am not regularly invited to) so we could discuss one of my specs. One that I haven’t looked at in about three weeks. Oh dear… It was okay. We got a lot done and my little area of Cube Land was buzzing around the whole rest of the day about SWIFT files. You do not want to know.

Day Three: Terrorism? Naw. (Of course, I’m referring to the bizarre incident on the mall [yes that mall, not Briarwood] this afternoon.) Random person not taking her happy pills? More likely. Or was it some furloughed mom wondering how the heck she was going to pay the mortgage, car payment, utilities, buy food for her child, whatever (and not taking her happy pills). I am purely speculating here. There are plenty of furloughed folks who are not storming DC and crashing barricades with weapons drawn. Most of us who are directly affected by this if not personally furloughed are annoyed and angry though. Would that some of these “representatives” walk a mile in the shoes of a woman who cannot go to her low-paying job because she can’t take her child to Head Start and doesn’t have another safe place to leave her child. Just for example. Or as the GG says in the comments, is it just that someone got confused and parked in the wrong place and the poleeese went nuts and shot an innocent mom for bad parking? eeeee… eeeee… What have we come to in this country?

It sounds my speculations were indeed wrong about the mall incident today but I can understand the anger that many people feel about being thrown out of their jobs because a small faction of folks will not agree to fund the government while ironing out the details about Obamacare. I think furloughed folks ought to protest everywhere they can. I am a coward, I guess. I have a job. My response to this crap is to 1) throw a few 4-letter words around The Landfill Chitchen (which only makes the people I live with unhappy) or 2) fantasize about the BFG materializing to pick up some of these “representatives” and shake them. Note that, unlike other giants, the BFG does not eat PEOPLE, he is a vegetarian who eats SNOZZCUMBERS. He is a Good Guy but he doesn’t put up with any BS, at least that’s how I remember the story. We need the BFG in D.C.

Boy oh boy, does the BFG ever bring back memories. Like when Grandroobly read the book (as an older adult) and gnoffed and gnoffed all the way through it. Right out loud in front of his grandchildren. And then there was the time Pengo rather belligerently told The Engineer he was the Big Ugly Giant. She was about five and he was giving her crap, albeit good-natured dad-type crap. Maybe he was calling her “Foghorn” or something. Actually my brother was anything bug but ugly [grin]. Nevertheless I thought something like, “You go, girl!”

I had a really cool title for about five seconds when we were at the Grizzly a few hours ago.

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

laceleavesI got home this afternoon to find all kinds of frantic ACK/NAK texts from the GG. He was gallivanting around in campus town somewhere and wanted me to walk downtown to meet for dinner. Well. 1: I was driving home from work when he was texting me and my phone ringer was off (and he knows about what time I drive home from work). 2: I cannot text and drive stick at the same time. 3: Not to mention that it’s illegal to text and drive in the god-forsaken Great Lake State.

But it was a beautiful afternoon and I didn’t have enough leftovers to cobble together into a reasonable meal so I thought what the heck? What about the Grizzly? And so that’s where we met. I love the Grizzly but tonight it just seemed a bit off. Our waiter was uber-attentive at first when we wanted to just chill and sip our ‘hattans and then when we were ready to get going, he was nowhere to be seen. I can’t complain too much though because I can’t even imagine what it takes to be a waiter. I’ve done plenty of customer service in my time but I think food service has to be harder than running a cash register or working behind an operations window at the EPA handing out printouts and sorting out all of the esoteric, tangled errors people created by filling out data sheets inaccurately or illegibly. ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! FORTRAN BOMB! ERROR! IT DOES NOT COMPUTE! Anyway, there were various text messages going back and forth between various members of the Fin Fam and then Mouse texted that she would be coming “over”. Well, that’s fine but we are at the Grizzly. Next thing we knew, *she* was at the Grizzly with us (which probably confused our poor waiter even more). And now we are all here at the Landfill and Mouse is washing aprons. But not folding them. Oh, no. She does not get paid to fold aprons (and neither do I [wink])…

This is day two of you know what. But I don’t think I will enumerate days because I am afraid we are in this government shutdown mess for the long haul. It’s still kind of fun for the GG but he’ll get bored with it soon enough. If you care about honest working people who just happen to work for the government (many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck) not to mention all of the contractors and other businesses who depend on government business, you will contact your elected representatives and tell them to end the madness. And no, all of these furloughed folks cannot just go and start collecting “unemployment”. Not only are there rules surrounding that, most of them do not WANT to sit around collecting unemployment benefits. They want their JOBS back.

Okay, KW, get down off the ledge. People do not want to read your wild rantings and ravings. Good night.

Oh, and listening to Tuff Signals.

Pick-a-pundit

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013

foggyI’ve grazed about a billion pundits ranging throughout the polly-tickal spectrum. I don’t tend to stick around with anyone too far right or left. I’m polly-tickally complex but in this day and age, my personal echo chamber tends to be liberal with COMMON SENSE (!). Something like that anyway.

Here’s the thing. This gubmint shutdown thingy? It affects my household DIRECTLY! As in, the GG went to work for exactly one hour this morning to close things up for the duration. So, no paycheck for him for now. Last time this happened, he did eventually end up up getting back pay for all of his furlough days. That’s right, he got paid for not working (except for all the time he was futzing around with orthogonal polynomials or whatever because that’s the kind of thing computer scientists do and that’s what he had been working on at work). We’ll see what happens this time.

Am I panicking about this? No, I am not. We are definitely okay and do not need any money (not that anyone out there was planning to send us any). Because what did I do today? I went to work like I always do. I didn’t even mention the damn shutdown to anyone. Why bother? The sun will still rise and set over the Landfill and the bills will get paid (assuming Froggy doesn’t EAT any of them). Anyway, I am NOT a damn drama queen.

Am I angry about this? Of course I am! Who are these cray-zee people? I certainly didn’t elect any of them. Who did? Why am I angry? Because there are a lot of furloughed folks out there who do NOT have the financial security that my household has achieved (after many many years of hard work). Like the mom who commented on a TV 9&10 facebook story this morning — family of five, furloughed dad works at the Soo Locks. Take a note Cray-zees: people who work at the Soo Locks are hard-working, honest laborers who are working to feed their families. They probably share the “family values” that your party is always promoting. In fact, I’ll bet that some of those folks vote for Republicans now and I will bet that they may change their tune after this. How does furloughing folks like this help the economy or reduce the deficit? I think that this family *should* be paid for their dad’s furlough days. I think the GG should be paid for his furlough days but if he isn’t, we will suck it up. The Soo Locks family needs back pay.

What did the GG do today? Well, for one thing, when I got home this afternoon, he was NOT HOME!!! YAYYY! I am accustomed to having a wee bit of space when I get home from work. Where was he? He was out on the river in the purple kayak! (He texted a pic.) It was a gorgeous Indian Summer day here on The Planet and he did yard work and gardening and things that we struggle to get done on the weekends we are not gallivanting around in the Great White North or wherever.

Those are my opinions. I have no predictions except that I don’t think this shutdown will be short. If you care about those who have less than you, this may be the time to make some donations to help those folks, the ones who had regular paychecks and could provide for their families until today. I know I am planning on doing that. And please contact your national representatives to tell them that this shutdown is a reeeaaallly bad idea.

Good night,
KW