life in the old lane

There is a lot of America that I know nothing about, but I see it outside my train window.

Gratitude

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I am grateful that I know you nothing about working in a rusty smoking factory of some sort. And, I think that is part of the problem with America in 2024.

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Had a lovely chilly sunny Sunday morning in Chicago.

Breakfast options: Have the microwaved brekkie that came with my train ticket. Nope. Eat a granola bar. Nope. Eat fast food brekkie? Nope. Eat something real. Yes. So I head out on breakfast quest. And, this place looks promising. The line is out the door. At 8:30 on Sunday morning.

Breakfast was outstanding. Coffee. Fried egg sandwich. With bacon and cheese. Some hash browns. And a donut hole for lagnaippe.

Returned to the train station, where they seemed to be filming a movie today, to recharge. Recharge self and electronics. Also grabbed a nice hot shower at the station. I sure didn’t need lunch.

Pretty sure we will be leaving on time at 3 PM for Seattle. 

 

Posting this before we get out of cell range.

I had a fine day in Chicago. I could live in Chicago, if it wasn’t for winter. And besides, my friends are back at the Asylum I don’t think they would move to Chicago.

How committed are we? Much hate and discontent about The Washington Post’s decision to not endorse a candidate for president. Many announced intentions to drop their subscription to The Post.

The real question is: How many will give up Amazon, Whole Foods, and Kindle? I didn’t think so. (Full disclosure. I could give up Amazon—even Alexa. Whole Foods isn’t all that important at this point in my life.  But, give up my Kindle? You will have to pry my Kindle out of my cold dead hands.) And thus we continue to support the Gazillionaire Boys Club.

I think the train will be sort of on time.

First World Problem, I hate doing the blog on my phone.

On the train now. It’s not very full. Yet. 

Old person. I am no longer willing to run down the escalator with my luggage to catch a metro. I would rather wait for the next metro than wait for an ambulance.  

Exactly 8 years ago, I made this very same trip. Oct 26, 2016.

These days, by the time I am ready to go, I am almost too tired to go. This time tomorrow, I should be on the Capital Limited, just pulling out of Union Station.

The weather in Chicago is supposed to be sunny, and the weather in Seattle is supposed to be drizzly. Spaceweather doesn’t look promising for the Northern Lights. 

Happy Hour followed by a birthday dinner tonight.

The sun will not return until late February. Unfortunately, I will be back here long before the sun returns. Maybe we’ll have snow this winter. Haven’t had real snow in several years.

Gratitude

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Grateful I can still head out to Kona.

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I must pack. Well, maybe just undies, electronics, and meds. Buy everything else at the thrift shop. That’s is always my fantasy. And, I always take clothes.  I don’t need much clothing in Kona. Just something warm to wear back to The Asylum.

While on the subject of life lessons. Nobody is promised tomorrow. To that end, this morning I got a bag and wandered around the apartment picking up stuff that serves no apparent purpose. A vase, a pie server, 4 matching mugs, etc. Things that will, at best, end up at Goodwill when I don’t make it to tomorrow. So, why not get rid of them now?  Don’t leave a mess for others to clean up.

I have also been deleting unused apps from my phone and iPad. Unsubscribing from a lot of newsletters and advertising. Turning off some of my phone notifications. It’s a little bit of withdrawing from the world. Because I am not too sure about the world that I’ll wake up to on November 6.

Another lazy day. Well. Maybe not so lazy. My watch announced this morning that I had been slacking off with the aerobics and I should step it up today. I tried. Honest. I wondered if my watch knows that I am old. It said that it does. I am not sure. It seems to expect a lot out of this old woman.

Found a black squirrel on my walk this morning. In Arlington, we called these “Arlington Black Squirrels” but they are really “DC Black Squirrels”. The National Zoo got batches of black squirrels from Canada in 1902 and 1906. They were released on the zoo grounds and moved out from there.

We had a fashion show today. It’s the second one since I have been here. I wasn’t sure there would be any interest. But, this one, like the first one, had just the right number of participants and a packed audience. A good time was had by all.

Just coasting my way out of town. The weather has been splendid. It seems a pity to leave. Hoping to see some nice autumn colors out my train window. The sun seems to be taking a rest. So, the chances of Northern Lights seems very low. Maybe a trip to Norway in February? Or Fairbanks? Yellowknife? Maybe Ulukhaktok in the Inuvik Territories? I think they had a hotel. Or Churchill? It’s possible to get to Churchill by train. Or I could just stay home and work on my taxes like a civilized old woman.

Another look at N Jackson Street.

Supposed to go out to dinner tonight. Missing a chance to eat with the CEO of The Asylum. But, old friends are more important.

The printer needed some attention this morning. Did I just bend over/squat down like a normal person? NO. I got out my little stool so I could have a seat while tweaking the printer. I have never done that. This was a first. Not a good sign.

Ray the Rosemary and the sage did great. The new stuff – not good at all. I get another chance to do better next spring. Hope Ray and the sage make it through the winter. Hope I make it too! Ray and the sage have outlived one owner already.

Used ONCE in two years.

I was there. The only time the pit was fired up. And we didn’t even have marshmallows. But I do remember cocktails.

 

Gratitude

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Grateful for 3 wonderful moonrises. Specifically the 2024 Hunter’s Supermoon.

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It was time for chores today. I either had to wash or buy more undies. Some of my food stocks were running low. The orchids needed water and fertilizer. And the old bat needed a wee bit of aerobic exercise. 

And this time next week, I should be getting ready to get on the Empire Builder, Amtrak Train 7, in Chicago, heading to Seattle. With Amtrak and especially the Empire Builder, anything can happen. Since I booked the trip back on September 11, the price has dropped by almost half. So, I got a sweet cash refund and a large credit.  (Of course, now I will have to take another train trip.)

What? My tasteful shark-eating-swimmer earrings. I guess repairs are called for. The shark regurgitated the swimmer. The swimmer looks a lot like Donald the Demented. Well not fat enough. 

I know Carlton, I know. The election of 1860 wasn’t so hot shit great either. 

And Carlton, you know what happened after the election of 1860. It wasn’t great.

On his last day, Carlton played tennis and won. His opponent put a sign on the court fence to commemorate Carlton’s final victory. Every year, I return to visit the courts, which we could see from our apartment. I’m always surprised that the sign is still there. 

Then, in Lousianna Second Line fashion, I wander over to check out the N. Jackson Street Halloween decorations.

Last night – moonrise was even better because it was darker.

 

Gratitude

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Grateful for my splendid view to the east.

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Today’s elderly lady adventure was a trip to vote. I walked about a mile and got lunch.  After a leisurely lunch,  I bussed it the rest of the way to the polling place. I waited in line for 50 minutes.  I checked in, they printed out a ballot for me. I filled in the circles. And scanned my ballot into the machine. All done in less than 5 minutes.  After I got to the check-in people. Then I bussed home. 

The wait was long because many people were voting, not because there was a shortage of poll workers and machines.

They said over 1,000 people voted at this location yesterday. Yesterday was the first day for in-person voting in Virginia.

Happy Hour soon. 

It might be time for a hair trim. But, that’s a project for another day.

Today, I was going to do a new government report for Employee Health. But I couldn’t get logged into the system. We only have a limited number of logins, and they were all busy. So, what did I do? Well, I gathered up the clothes I plan to take to Kona. And then put ½ of them back. 

And I still couldn’t get logged in. SO. What did I do? Totally old-school. I got out a notebook and a pen and wrote down the needed information and what extracts I thought I would need to run to get that information. And guess what? I think that was actually faster than my usual way of just diving right into the data.

I do love data.

Wine is good too. 

Stuck my head out the window and picked up the sun reflecting on the building along the Ballston Corridor. Where Carlton and I lived for many years.

I did not venture out of the building except for a walk today. So, I didn’t mess anything up. YET. As long as I am awake I can get things totally FUBAR.

At this instant, I am updating my phone to Andriod 15. I liked Android better when Google named the versions after desserts.  Think they stopped doing that about COVID Time. Version 15 seems to be installed and ready for a test drive. Not too smart of me to install it less than 24 hours after release. 

Did I mention that 2 of our 4 elevators were broken yesterday?  Marketing’s new slogan is “It’s Worth The Wait”.  It should be painted on the elevator doors.