A full week where the average temperatures are well above "ABSOLUTELY NOT" make me both grateful to live in a nation where air conditioning is a way of life, and miserable that I'm not in the Adirondaks where the average temperature is twenty degrees cooler.
I'm in the wrong part of the state.
My birthday is on June 14th - dangerously close to Father's Day. But being the 14th, it will never fall on Father's Day. Closest it will get is last year when it was one weekend (Saturday-Sunday), and the furthest it gets is this year, a full week apart.
What it means is that all the cool stuff I like suddenly gets propped up for Father's Day sales.
For my birthday this year I went to the Adirondacks again. This time I hiked Street and Nye. There is a river crossing, and I wasn't fully aware of what to expect. I brought a camp towel with the expectation that I would put my boots and socks in my bag, walk through, dry off, and continue on.
It was raining the entire day before, and some parts of the river were much, much deeper than it looked. And it was moving pretty fast.
The picture doesn't really show it, but they seldom do.
One of my companions learned the hard way how deep it was, and promptly took a bath. I found a few boulders I could jump to (trepidatiously, seeing that I refused to jump that distance barefoot, and failure meant landing in the water, boots and all). I successfully hopped across most of the river, while using trekking poles to gauge how deep it was the rest of the way.
Then I went up and back down. It was nice.
Getting back across the river, I figured I'd just go back across where I did before. Problem with that was, nobody could quite figure out where that was. My sopping wet companion just walked across while those of us that remained dry attempted to stay that way. I can say that I did just that.
Now as for the time it took... all the trail guides and apps said it took anywhere from 5 to 6 hours. It took us a fair bit longer than that. I'm positive these were written up by 18 year old freshman going for their degree in conservation or some other hippy diploma that can't fathom anyone not running full tilt up and down. Or maybe there was cocaine involved, either way these are not real people.
I had a good birthday.
Here in the state of high taxes and overregulation New York, school ends at the end of June. Like, after the official start of summer. It's a comedic waste of time because nothing of value is being taught at this point. K-8 are going on field trips to amusement parks (Both my youngest son and my daughter went to Seabreeze), having field days and other parties. The high schoolers are taking their useless regents exams.
What are regents exams, you might ask? Think of a ⭐special⭐ final exam that all the high school administrators think is important, but literally no college cares about. Not even NY state colleges care, it's just a final exam to them. They care more about your grades than the fact that you took the ⭐special⭐ exam.
New York schools have a week off in February called 'mid-winter recess'. More like midwit excuses. There's lore that says it was because heating the schools in the winter was expensive so they cut it for a week in the coldest part of the year, but that's the worst kind of nonsense I've heard in a long time. It's pointless and needs to go. Send them to school and bring up the end of the school year by a week. And ever since "Juneteenth" became a federal holiday, they don't have school that day, either. That just stretches it out another day, so if we bring it up a week we get to skip that entirely. Right now this year the last day of school is
June 25
Which is a crime as far as I'm concerned. Bringing it up a full five days would have it end on the 17th instead. And while we're at it, end spring break. Yea, I said it. The idea that the kids, and the teachers, need a break is a joke. Out here in the real world you don't get two months off, and the work time peppered with random half days, TWO WEEKS OFF FOR CHRISTMAS, and two other random weeks off.
End the school year earlier. The people whining about child care are already whining about it during February and April, they can whine about it in summer a little bit more instead.
Stop wasting June in a classroom waiting for the clock to run out.
My cat turned three. We have it on our joint calendar. I went through the contacts in my phone and counted out three people that had died since I last checked. The family members whose birthdays are in that calendar aren't going away, but I wonder how long the cat will linger. A friend of mine recently lost her dog of eight years, and I know I'm going to outlive this pet. I've lived in my house longer, which sounds odd to write out. It's weird to think about.
Back when my wife and I were engaged (a solid twenty years ago now, we're approaching a big anniversary), we were at that part of our lives where all of our friends were doing that. Wedding and baby announcements were as common as junk mail. It all slowed down after awhile, and the wedding announcement trickled in as the last holdouts found someone that could tolerate them.
Or, someone they could tolerate. Whoever is pickier, I suppose.
News of breakups never exploded outward like a wedding did. The latter was always met with fanfare and planning. The former was usually announced much quieter. He changes his profile picture to one of him and the kids. She changes hers to one with more cleavage. Sometimes the entire profile of one or the other disappeared. One time we got a wedding announcement in the mail that we were pretty sure wasn't her first. Nonetheless, these stealth announcements were much slower to make themselves known, but it happened far more than previously, but even those have slowed down now.
Now? I've been to more funerals in the past year than in the previous ten combined. Thankfully, most of them were elderly. I wish I didn't have to add that, but here I am.
At least it's finally nice out. I already have several hikes planned, and I need to knock out all 46 before my knees totally give out on me.
The school districts typically allot a certain number of days off due to weather, and for some reason during the school years of only my children (not me), they started giving the kids the day back if and when they didn't use them all. The 'snow day give back', which makes absolutely no sense to me. Especially since they do it on the Friday before Memorial Day. Who doesn't love a four-day weekend?
Oh, what's this?
Look at that right on the bottom. Memorial Day is a Monday, always has been. No school, always has been. SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT "MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVED" IS SUPPOSED TO BE. WE ALREADY OBSERVE MEMORIAL DAY, ON MEMORIAL DAY!
The bureaucrat responsible for this needs to be named.
It hasn't been rainy this spring. I recall last year it was raining every single Saturday until June. No morning bike rides, and I couldn't put the garden in. I haven't had that problem, no this year I have a different problem.
It's cold.
I can ride in the cold, rather well in fact. But the garden, that's an issue. The ground has a temperature threshold we haven't reached yet. My seedlings demand the dirt.
The first year I had a garden here at the house, it exceeded all my expectations. The second year, nature realized what I was doing and voles moved in, destroying everything. Year three was better as I had deterrents in place. It's been at that level ever since, but that's when, it would seem, the weather began to conspire against me.
Last week Monday it was 90 degrees (you know, while I was at work), but this Memorial Day, with all our outdoor festivities and free time? We're wearing sweaters.
My youngest son had a weekend trip with his middle school French class to Quebec City.
I never in my life expected to type out that sentence, but here I am.
He hopped on the bus Friday early in the morning, and off he went. Once he crossed the border, he switched his phone into airplane mode (because our cell provider thinks Canadian cell towers cost extra for some reason), and he disappeared. Like it was the 90's or something.
And the house was eerily quiet again. This has happened before, when a different boy left for a trip. It seems that removing one or another has this effect, but it doesn't matter which. I came home from work Friday afternoon and thought all the kids were gone.
Nope. Just one.
Saturday was just as quiet. I got a lot done, including my first sunburn of the year. It didn't even feel hot. Sunday was also quiet. In fact, his bus wasn't scheduled to return until 10PM.
My wife took that one for me. I'm the morning person.
I'm now trying to see if I can always have at least one gone at a time during the summer. Gonna see if I can use this new discovery.
NYS requires a yearly vehicle inspection. This is only a problem because people in NYC are worried about the cars they don't have to drive, so the entire state gets a law.
I could go on about that dynamic, but this isn't the time.
I like to drive older cars because I'm tired of needless bloat, feature creep, and they're cheap. (Not as cheap, thanks Obama) The problem is that, while they may last years longer, the inspection requirements don't. I had to get a new van a few years ago because the one I had - that was perfectly fine and would run several years longer - wouldn't pass the NYS inspection without a significant investment. It had to be sold to someone cheap out of state. They're still driving it.
So when I dropped off my car this morning, I waited in dread for the call. When it came, they politely asked me how I was doing.
"That depends entirely on what you're about to say about my car"
I got lucky this year.
So we've been doing overtime at work, and since I'm the lowest ranking person with a key, I get to come in on Saturdays. Much of the staff has come in as well (who doesn't like the extra money?), but Fridays have lost their spark. When you work on Saturdays, Fridays are just...
Friday
But when you don't work on the weekend, Fridays are
Friday!
It's more difficult to convey in text, just imagine the first is done with a business suit and a bar code, while the latter is done with jazz hands. Either way, we're switching it up from coming in on Saturdays, to staying late on weekdays. I can do that standing on my head, but I'm missing out on either the gym (gym opens late on weekends) or biking in the mornings.
I'm not quoting "The Goonies" with the title, but I did hear it in the actors voice as I typed it.
My chiropractor, who has been out of town since February 4, finally got back into town. When I walked in for my appointment today, half the lights were off and the office felt cleaned out. The radio was off, the TV in the lobby was off. The various medical pamphlets were emptied out. I was led to the only room with the lights on.
The atmosphere was forboding.
He's retiring. The office is getting stripped down. No longer taking insurance, and even his card reader was gone. It was either cash or check.
Who even carries a checkbook anymore? A little paper slip that pinky-swears you have money? Well, I don't carry much cash any more either, so he cleaned out my wallet.
I would have appreciated the warning.
This is the second time I retired a chiropractor. I'm actively looking for a replacement that is either my age or younger. I'm old enough that someone in the field would have a reasonable amount of experience. If you know of one - do not reach out to me that would be weird. How do you even know how to contact me?
Tax day was on Wednesday the 15th, but for some reason my wife was on the schedule today from 11-5. There aren't any taxes to do, are there? Are they throwing a secret party? (It doesn't have to be a secret, just do it)
My wife makes a paper chain that spans one of the walls in the living room with a link for each day of tax season. Each link has both that days date, and the number of days remaining. Well April 15 day 0 has been up by itself for two days. When she gets home I'm going to take it down and we'll rip it together.
My mother attends a convention every year down in Georgia that began around a popular book series. I lovingly call it her nerd fest, but I respect the hustle. It's grown quite a bit, and now my dear mother is in charge of part of the show.
Go mom.
But it also means she's gone for like, a week, and brings more and more of the family down with her every year. I haven't gone (I don't want to), and it's not like my life gets and more or less busy in her absence. But when she gets back, she's not really back for at least another week.
Yea she left this morning. Less than a week after my grandfather's calling hours, she needs to get out of her own head for a while.
I started the morning with a bike ride. Work was closed today, so I took advantage of a quiet park and rode the lake like I like to. I didn't have anything else to do really. My wife was at the office doing taxes, and the kids were all at school.
That hasn't happened in a very long time.
I haven't seen my aunt Rose in at least ten years, probably more. I have a pair of cousins I haven't seen in at least three, maybe four years. Another that I haven't seen since he was 12, and now he's 21. The last time I stepped into that funeral home was for my Omi's funeral, back in 2002.
He outlived her by a good stretch, completely defying the norm.
I saw a handful of former coworkers that had left the company years ago. There were a lot of pictures on display, most of which I'd already seen throughout my life (I was even in a few of them), but my mother and her siblings managed to dig pretty deep and pull out quite a handful of photos that even I hadn't seen before. Granted, I could tell you where each one was taken and roughly when, but the novelty wasn't lost on me.
Open casket. He didn't look anything at all like himself. I wonder why they do that. Every time I see an open casket at a funeral, what's left doesn't look like the one that departed. Honestly it would have hit me a lot harder if it did.
It was cloudy and a little rainy. My wife took the kids home partway through the calling hours. There wasn't a funeral proper - they're saving that for the graveside service. Wasn't today. I might have been stuck walking home in the rain (in my suit), but my sister offered me a ride. I can appreciate the poetry in the moment, but at my age I'd rather not catch a chill.
Or ruin my suit. Yikes, my Opa would have teased me for that.
The whole day went by and nobody really did anything 'pranky'. I remember for awhile every single website would do something until it got a little over the top and they all calmed down a bit. Out here in the meaty real life world the occasional bit of foolishness manifested, but today was just... lame.
Looks like it's on me next year.
Yesterday was my oldest sons 17th birthday. Ignoring the fact that I'm old enough to have a 17 year old - he wanted to go bowling. We booked a lane for him and his friends, and slowly throughout last week they all bailed on him. So we went as a family.
I can't remember how long it's been since I went bowling, but let me tell you the fact that the radial head fracture in my right elbow, which I was told was so small that any attempt to fix would result in more damage, absolutely made itself known about halfway through the night.
I still got the high score, but that's not the point.
A random Wednesday off school? That makes little sense.
Don't do that. Unless you're looking at a date specific holiday that requires celebration on the day of, then any other day off can easily be shuffled to the nearest Friday or Monday.
I mean, nobody's going to try to move Christmas.
My oldest is taking his five hour driving course this week. It's at the high school, so he only needs to stay and call for a pickup. I plan to play some horribly embarrassing song really loud with the windows down. Either Barbie Girl or Caramelldansen. We'll see how that goes.
It's not rare to have an unseasonably warm day somewhere in winter, but this is getting weird. I get the mail at work, and one day I'm in short sleeves soaking in the sun. The next day I have a hoodie on. The next day I need my coat and gloves just to get that far.
That's happened three times in the past month.
Doesn't matter what you wear - you're wrong.
You read that title correctly - today was the last day. It was a match in Oswego. It was a pretty short run, only two months long, but I watched as his skill improved dramatically.
Every single one of those seventh graders would benefit from some weight training, but I'm not going to go on about that.
He wants to do it again, but at his grade level that means next January. I'll see if I can get him some weights.
Today my wife turned... nothing. It's not her birthday. She doesn't get one this year. Last year she didn't get to go to the chinese place for dinner because that was the same day when the van had its unfortunate open-door problem. Now, after that issue was settled we could have gone at any time, but she never did.
Well she finally got to go. Happy un-birthday.
The only thing I'm gonna say is that my teeth are very close together, and I tend to shred floss that goes in. You ever have a piece of shredded floss stuck between your teeth? That's betrayal, and I won't stand for it.
Anyway I have another cavity.
My son had a wrestling match last night, hosted in my old Jr High. I haven't been there since I walked out of my last day of finals thirty years ago. The building has not had any major renovations or changes in that entire time. Sure a fresh coat of paint here and there, but WOW.
Felt like I was back in 1994.
I managed to sneak into the library. I spent half of my life in that library, so going back in was a treat. Sure it had been rearranged, but... ok let me describe this library. The building used to have a courtyard, decades before I even went there. They added a new wing, closing it off. They slapped up a ceiling and floor, and called that new space the library. The ceiling was cavernous, and when you looked up you could see windows into classrooms. The lighting was all downward, so the tall ceilings were dark and, dare I say, moody. If I can borrow a term from the kids - it was a vibe.
If I didn't show up early to absolutely nerd out, I might have missed the match.
I went to my chiropractor today. Say what you will of the profession, but I lose range of motion without semi regular visits. I typically schedule my next visit on my way out, but I'm informed that he'll be out of town for the next month or so.
Or so?
Apparently he's taking care of a sick relative, 'end of life' type care.
Props to the guy for basically shutting down his entire business for an indeterminate amount of time for that. Though I've been there when he wasn't, he had another chiropractor fill in during his absence. Kinda wonder why that guy couldn't keep the place running. Not gonna ask.
I haven't said much about my grandfather lately. It's not for lack of news, in fact there's entirely too much. He's been to the hospital numerous times since I last posted about him. He's fallen and hurt himself many times as well. Last week Monday he had a stroke and went to the hospital again. Since then they pulled a blood clot out of his brain. He was sedated and intubated most of the week. The tube came out on Friday and he's been awake but limp since then.
He can almost swallow.
He was adamant that he never be put on machines to keep him alive, and that's where he is right now. The doctors don't have much hope that he'll recover to the point he was even a week ago. As I type this, my mother, uncle, and two aunts are at the hospital discussing how to go forward.
On Saturday, we got a late email saying church was going to be cancelled due to the impending snowstorm. By the time we would have gotten home, the storm hadn't yet arrived.
Lame.
Then late Sunday, we got an email saying school was cancelled for today due to the impending snowstorm.
I swear my school busses were cutting a path for the plows, meanwhile the kids now get off school at the drop of a hat.
Any hat.
So a part of my church assignment has me traveling to other areas to speak to other congregations. I've only done it about three times, but seeing different people means I can use the same written talk more than once.
It's a bonus.
But yesterday, someone was taking pictures of me from the back of the room. I didn't notice (I only need my glasses for distance, so I kept them off so I could see my notes), but the bishop said something to me afterward, and when I asked this person, apparently I gesture and make funny faces when I'm up there. They sent me the pics, and honestly I'm kinda funny.
No, I'm not posting them here.
My son, who chose wrestling, was supposed to be getting a shuttle to the high school athletics wing where they could use the legit, purpose built wrestling room. But due to persistent schedule conflicts, their normal start time is delayed.
No shuttle. I have to go home, and 45 minutes later drive him to the high school. Practice is long enough that it's impractical to stay for it, so I go home for the duration. Of course I gotta pick him up again. Coach says this should last through January.
I still wish they had a proper room setup at the middle school. It's getting difficult to accomplish anything.
My youngest son has chosen to join 7th grade modified boys wrestling. Despite him being in middle school, this takes place in the high school after hours. Despite having a late bus, they won't put middle schoolers on the high school late bus.
Yes, I have to pick him up every single school day.
My daughter has chosen ski club, which also requires a parent pickup, but that's only one day a week and it's at the same middle school her brother attends. It's close enough to walk, but not at 8pm with no crossing guard, so I'll get her anyway.
Meanwhile my wife is doing taxes and won't be around to help with any of it. My younger self would have been bothered by having to run around so much, but honestly I'm glad my kids are taking advantage of these opportunities.
I can count on one hand the number of times that I decided to just go to sleep instead of staying up for new years. For the most part I just stay up, wherever that happens. Once I was extremely sick (that was 2003), and about 2 other times I was just too tired to bother.
So last night, opting to turn in at 9:30 was something of an anomaly.
