Category: Tally (Page 13 of 31)
Our third schnauzer
Just as Fridays were always good, Mondays never were, especially if it meant reporting to work. In retirement, they’re not so bad, just like when they were part of a three-day weekend. I’ve got it all – a comfortable lifestyle, a great marriage, grand-kids, Social Security, a pension, and good health. So, why am I so angry? Well, I’m missing my family & friends, gaining weight, losing my savings, worried about catching the virus, canceling travel plans, watching bad T.V., and not going to the theater. Shall I continue to count the ways? Sadly, the most exciting thing on today’s agenda is a new episode of Outlander, a program that has long lost it’s initial viewing interest.
I told my wife that I was feeling depressed, thinking there might get some sympathy. Instead, she asked what I was angry about and began to get philosophical. “Depression is Anger Inverted,” she explained. “Just uncover what you’re angry about and get over it,” was her solution. “I don’t care – it just doesn’t feel good,” was how I wanted to respond. However, she is facing the exact same difficult issues that I am, but somehow manages to stay positive. OK…I’ve now publicly confessed my anger issues, and just waiting until it all melts away. Who needs a therapist when you live with Sigmund Freud?
I spent Easter Sunday doing a puzzle and genealogy research, while trying to watch Below Deck on Bravo. Not my cup of tea, or maybe I’m just bored with watching TV in general? I also took to the time to make another payment on my Marriott Vacation Club timeshare, bemoaning that even though I wasn’t traveling, I was still paying the fare. This too, made me angry, but not as much as when I accidentally deleted everything that I had written to this point. Now I’m starting over, and back to lamenting about Marriott trips to San Francisco and Bali that will have to be rescheduled. Just get over it! Next, I find out there will likely be a meat shortage but plenty of toilet paper. “Try to balance the good with the bad,” my wife would say.
I saw a sign posted on a house yesterday. We were out for a walk in the sunshine and had just admired four of the five area mountain peaks in the distance. “April distance brings May existence.” I guess it’s just a matter of surviving until this eventually passes. Write about the anger, but maintain your sense of humor. We can only hope that Monday leads to Tuesday, another day of life. There’s lots of beauty surrounding us, even in isolation. It’s not like the circumstances faced by someone like Anne Frank, whose story was part of last year’s adventure to her hiding spot in Amsterdam. We will all travel again soon and the enjoyment of retirement will return. If depression is anger inverted, then it needs to be deserted.
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner wrote a song thirty years ago that could very well become the COVID-19 theme song. COVID-19 is really Corona (CO) Virus (VI) Disease (D), while Gordon is better known as Sting, the lead singer of The Police. He was once an English teacher and the song, “Don’t Stand So Close To Me,” is about a classroom affair. In these viral times, it’s now about “flattening the curve.”
Young teacher the subject
Of schoolgirl fantasy
She wants him so badly
Knows what she wants to be
Inside her there’s no room
This girl’s an open page
Book marking she’s so close now
This girl is half his age
Don’t stand so close to me
Her friends are so jealous
You know how bad girls get
Sometimes it’s not so easy
To be the teacher’s pet
Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry
Wet bus stop, she’s waiting
His car is warm and dry…
What was initially six feet is now ten feet, and no two people should ever stand close together. These are the basic rules of social distancing. The ironic thing is that in these times of distance learning, it’s difficult for a teacher and student to have a full blown affair via the computer. The “teacher’s pet” is also now being petted at home, sleeping at their feet while they work from the terminal. The student is also under the watchful eye of a parent, locked in isolation from any outside contact. Sadly, in another thirty years this country will be run by these home-schooled kids taught by day-drinkers.
I heard this song on the radio this morning as I was in the home stretch of my daily run. It’s the only extended time away from home that I get these days. However, yesterday, we did make what many would consider a risky visit to Costco. We wouldn’t have gone but the TV went out in the bedroom and the soonest we could get home delivery was at least two weeks. This was unacceptable to my wife who needs the background noise to fall asleep at night. We were also past-due on a new Dyson vacuum since the old one stopped working a week ago. As a result, I’ve been using our back-up hand-held version to sweep the floors of our apartment on my knees. If I didn’t know better, I could probably claim that the Coronavirus affects electronics as well as humans. While we were at the store, we also picked up a fresh supply of chocolate, so if we became infected we’d at least have sweets to feed the fever, and if we didn’t get sick…even better.
I start day 16 of self-quarantine fresh with a new Vizio 32″ TV, Dyson v11 Animal Plus, a bag of assorted Kit Kat bars, and the Sting warning of, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” Tally, our schnauzer, would be glad to be any teacher’s pet. She’ll need to go outside a couple of times today, but otherwise I plan to stay inside watching TV, snacking and vacuuming (as if life these days doesn’t suck enough). I might even add to the excitement by taking the trash and recycling out. There will not be much chance for anyone, other than my wife, to stand too close to me. However, if someone does, I guess I should call the Police!
A big surge in the Dow Jones Index this morning is a pleasant greeting, once again topping the 20,000 mark. As the economic roller coaster continues, it will undoubtedly be a different story this afternoon. Is there consolation in knowing that you only lost half of what you thought? A call to my financial adviser yesterday brought this temporary relief, but still a big chuck on savings have disappeared. Today I’ll make some more cancellation calls for upcoming travel plans. The good news is that someday I’ll get the thrill of re-booking these dream adventures. Even the Olympics have now been postponed for a year so that will eliminate the Trials date on my shrinking calendar of things to anticipate. Tomorrow, I will have a new episode of Curse of Oak Island to watch and then Ozark starts a new season. Watching TV is about the only thing left to do.
Oregon Governor, Kate Brown, issued the “stay at home order” yesterday as expected. Traffic on the streets this morning workday was spotty, making my run less of a challenge. The blossoming cherry trees lining the Willamette River at the half-way point are a welcome sight after avoiding the growing number of homeless camps surrounded by trash. Other than a couple of quick outings with our schnauzer Tally, it will be my only exposure to the outdoors today, with the expectation of rain. To ease the not-so-unpleasant boredom, I’ll do some work on my Ancestry.com tree, as I continue to look for DNA connections with the Ban(n)ister family that brought me into the world. With the current COVID-19 situation, that’s not such a good thing!
My son has managed to hold on to his restaurant job despite the difficulties in that industry, but his wife has lost some crucial paycheck hours. It’s a reminder of how lucky I am to no longer be in the workforce. I can’t imagine trying to sell advertising to businesses that are being discouraged from generating traffic. Although, it has been proven that maintaining a presence will help them recover quicker once things get back to normal. By the opposite extreme, my wife’s youngest daughter in healthcare is overwhelmed by the demands of her job. The money we planned to spend on travel this year will probably go to support our struggling families.
It’s hard to maintain the sense of humor that was my initial goal in writing this blog every day. Toilet paper jokes have already lost their appeal. Facebook posts show the desperation of those stuck at home. Watching the news and political upheaval only adds to the depression, so many have turned to music, uninterrupted by Coronavirus updates. Fortunately, I’m not yet aware of a single person in my circles that has been affected by the virus, although several have reported being exposed. This just makes the whole situation seem unrealistic, as we stay home and wait for the invisible enemy to show itself.
The world has drastically changed since we left home a week ago. The plan was to go to Spring Training and soak-up some Arizona sunshine. Our Oregon and California travel partners were more responsible and decided not to join us, but we were also joining friends who lived here. While we were on the plane to Phoenix, the games were canceled followed by everything else, and I began to feel guilty about being here. Although we found alternative things to do and visited with the people we had originally planned, there was still a disturbing sense of being socially irresponsible.
We are not doing our part in flattening the curve of infection risk. We could easily be exposed on the way home, a risk that should have probably been avoided in the first place. Obviously, our travel partners had a better sense of what could happen by venturing away from home. We’re also lucky that our route back to Portland is still open. More flights will soon be canceled and airports closed. Once we finally arrive, it will be a welcome homecoming filled with relief. Our dog-sitter can return to her home and Tally will be back in our arms. At that point, we’ll make some decisions on future travel plans.
Some of my weekly routine has remained intact despite the viral disruption. I’ve been able to run every day and watch my regular programs like Outlander and Curse of Oak Island. It will be great to get back home and settle into full retirement mode. By the same token, it will just be eerie to see the deserted streets of downtown Portland where even the movie theaters are closed. Thankfully, they are still doing carry-out at the Chinese restaurant at the entrance to our apartment building. Shortly, I will finish packing and we’ll head to the airport for what hopefully will be an uneventful trip home.
In the words of the Rolling Stones, we’re living in troubled times:
“When all I hear is doom and gloom
And all is darkness in my room
Through the light your face I see
Baby take a chance
Baby won’t you dance with me”
My baby and I are dancin’ off to Phoenix, despite viral threats, stock market woes, earthquakes, and travel advisories. “The Show Must Go On,” although there are rumors that the upcoming Rolling Stones tour could fall victim to COVID-19, as has Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, South by SXSW, Coachella, and the Pearl Jam tour – just to name a few big events. Many of my friends decided not to join us in Arizona, so I’m feeling the risk of leaving home. However, I’m just getting over a terrible cold and the sunshine is what I need. I’ve been foolish before!
It’s Curse of Oak Island Day, following an evening of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. I know what day it is only by the show I’m watching. It’s called boredom, that needs an occasional dose of travel. We have plans to be gone at least a week of every month this upcoming year. This of course is subject to the “doom and gloom” that surrounds us. Can you escape by living your life in a bubble? I’m already in the retirement bubble, enjoying the luxury of not reporting to the office every day. I’ve earned the right to be lazy when I want and adventurous when I’m not a couch potato.
I fulfilled my cooking obligation last night with a dinner of duck and cream corn. It was simply a matter of baking our Hoosier-state-based Maple Farms favorite that we frequently have shipped. Even I can’t screw that up! I’ll get next week off from what is typically the most stressful thing I do in retirement. After all, I’ve managed to stay out of the kitchen most of my life, so it’s both foreign and intimidating. Wine helps take the edge off before, during, and after the preparation process. It pairs well with duck!
Today will be spent printing boarding passes and packing, along with a couple of follow-up visits with vets. Our schnauzer Tally has a heart murmur and has hopefully fought-off some parasites. Pet.Vet. Debt. She’ll spend the week with a new dog sitter here in the apartment, still adapting to being an only dog after the loss of Tinker a few months ago. She’s now surpassed me in age at 70 dog years, while age naturally leads to more medical bills. Tinker lived to be well over 100 and was a constant drain on the pocketbook. Since canines age faster than we do, seven years for every one of ours, they become a reality check on mortality. I would like to think that I have a lot more to look forward to than “doom and gloom!”
I’m feeling my age today as every breath seems painful. Yesterday, I wrote of “my last breath” (See Post #1241) that I hope is a long time in the future. I’m back on the hot seat, a heating pad that will hopefully loosen the stiffness in my hip. I still think that it’s the remnants of my cold, having settled in my muscles. I’ve complained of “Banister Butt” (See Post #619) after hours of sitting in one place and searching through the genealogy records of my ancestors. In this case, it’s “Burning Butt,” referring to the inflammation in my hip. I really need to see my chiropractor, but that would require the energy to drive to his office.
With the exception of my morning run (now at 4,084 consecutive days), I did not leave the apartment yesterday until the final 10 p.m. dog outing. My energy levels are low, but did somehow manage to cook dinner for us last night. I went with one of my go-to recipes for pan-roasted brined pork chops. My wife picked-out some 3″ thick monsters at the store that got immediate approval from our dog Tally. She ignores her meal until we’re done cooking in anticipation of some samples. In her opinion, human food is far superior to what’s in her bowl. I agreed to cook once a week in retirement, but my wife still enjoys doing the shopping, so I’m really only doing half the job. Working in the kitchen is still the most stressful thing I now do.
I also did some travel agent work yesterday, ordering our airline tickets for Florida in June and adjusting my wife’s hotel accommodations for a “girls only” side-trip to Savannah and Hilton Head. Before we head back home separately, the goal is to make arrangements to build our retirement home somewhere near the Gulf. We also mapped out plans for a cross-country car trip in August to my son’s house in Florida. We will ultimately leave our car at his place and fly home, the first step in the overall move from Portland. In the process, we’ll make stops in California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. This will include overnights in San Francisco, Cambia, Desert Springs, Marana, Marfa, Austin, New Orleans, Mobile, and Tampa. This will keep us busy between trips to Bali and Egypt. We’ll then be down to only one car for our final six months in Oregon.
I’m still too lazy to make the drive for this morning’s “coffee club” gathering, but will get to Buffalo Wild Wings for I.U. basketball later this afternoon. Hopefully, I can get my Blazin’ Rewards points dilemma resolved (See Post #1240), and watch a much-needed basketball victory. The “Leadership Group” will include our recently absent friend who originally inspired regular Friday meetings. He’s involved in a new job that doesn’t allow much lunch flexibility anymore, so it will be great to catch-up on his plans to build a country home and unload his Portland property. As a fellow baseball fan and card collector, my other buddies and I will get him up-to-date on our upcoming Spring Training reunion trip that now dates back 21-years. Play Ball!
I needed to get this off my aging chest. Why is it that when a senior has a computer problem it’s assumed that it must be user error? I’m a frequent visitor to Buffalo Wild Wings, hardly a renowned senior hangout. In fact, they don’t even offer a senior discount, but they do have a rewards program. I’m in charge of accumulating points from our once weekly “Leadership Meetings.” The way this works is that our entire order is put through on my account and we split the check equally. All the points then go to one central point – my Buffalo Wild Wings app. We get points for checking-in, ordering food & drinks, and participating in store promotions. At the end of the year, we initially agreed to use all the points to pay for our group holiday luncheon.
I have always refused to clip coupons but for some reason have always loved points. In fact, my wife claims that I love my Marriott points more than her. I also have the Landry restaurant app, along with Outback, Starbucks, and Open Table to further accumulate dining-out credits. There are also the airline mileage programs that operate through an app that I take advantage of using. What’s the point? Points! They get you free stuff with little effort other than sometimes providing a phone number when you order. In most cases, it’s mostly hassle-free and can save a few bucks on a retirement budget.
“Leadership Meetings” of late have not been as regular. One member now lives near the coast, while another has a new job that does not allow lunch flexibility. As a result, our Wild Wing meetings have shifted more to late afternoon to watch basketball games and drink beer. This now happens only every couple weeks, rather than on Fridays like clockwork as they used to be. We had a lot of points sitting in the app bank with no plans for a holiday party and uncertainty on when the next get-together would be. We decided to splurge his past week for the Indiana vs. Purdue game.
I checked in on the app and placed an appetizer order for Ultimate Nachos. The game was not going well so our mood at the table was impatience coupled with frustration. We had close to 15,000 points to use, a majority of which was intended for our dinner order. The company had updated their app so I had trouble both logging-in and placing the order. Keep in mind, I’ve used it hundreds of times through the past couple years. I mention this because what happened next was not a “Senior Moment.” I placed the single order and then noticed that most all the points had disappeared. The app had quadrupled my order. I called the familiar manager over and explained the problem, so he immediately sent an e-mail to the corporate webmaster asking them to reinstate our points. However, it would take some time to correct the problem, so we had no points to use for dinner.
I’d had a few drinks and proceeded to remain calm, but just knew that this was going to be a hassle. The score of the game only added to my anger as I read his e-mail. “A guest of ours accidentally redeemed four ultimate nachos when he meant to redeem one.” Why was it suddenly the old guy’s fault? I didn’t do anything accidentally! In my mind, there was clearly a glitch in their program. Isn’t the customer always right? Instead, I’m now trying to communicate with a computer geek thousands of miles away, while having paid for our meal that was supposed to be free. This morning, I finally got a follow-up e-mail from the webmaster (wingmaster). It was nothing more than canned instructions on how to “log-on’ properly to correct my “log-on” issue. I could in no way blame this on age discrimination or elderly incompetence since there’s no way he could know that I’m retired with a feeble mind. He was just trying to get an e-mail off his desk and blew me off with a form letter, while I’m no closer to getting my points reinstated.
I wonder how long it will be before I get my points back and the associated free meals? I do know that the manager will eventually take care of us, but I’m not sure when we’ll be back for the next Leadership Meeting? Whatever happens, I’m sure it won’t be worth the hassle. In the meantime, I’m still wearing the label of elderly incompetence and hungry for free wings.
Like a true masochist, I’m back in front of the television for another chapter in the “Season on the Stink.” The Season on the Brink was the John Feinstein book about Coach Bob Knight and the 1985-86 I.U. basketball team that lost to Cleveland State in the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 21-8 record. The 2019-2020 version of the team has played some really bad basketball but could still get to that respectable 20-win mark. They’ve been particularly bad on the road, with a trip to Illinois today. Fortunately, my wife and Tally are not here to witness the frustration that is sure to overcome me. Tally will not have to cower in fear as I scream about turnovers, missed lay-ups, poor free throw shooting, and off-balance bricks. I’ve already documented about how much they “stink” this year. (See Post #1237).
It’s been a build-up of tension that began with the dismissal of Coach Bobby Knight 20-years ago. Twenty seems to be the magic number in this sequence of events that began in 2000. It wasn’t until 2020 that he returned to the court. Twenty regular season wins this year would be remarkable considering double losses to a mediocre Purdue team that foiled Knight’s big day. Instead, it was arch-rival Gene Keady that left with a smile on both occasions. There are three games left to get two victories, but today’s game at Illinois is the biggest opportunity to return to tournament glory. The team lacks confidence in a hostile environment, so “winning ugly” is their only chance. Otherwise, it will be another blowout loss, adding to the stink that already prevails.
The Illini are 13-3 at home this year, so our chances are slim. In fact, IU only has 33% chance for victory, while it’s closer to 90% that the visiting Hoosiers will stink up the place and retired Chief Illiniwek will dance on their tournament grave. I’ve sat in only five different BIG venues in my lifetime, including I.U., Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, and Illinois. Illinois is by far the most hostile, with memories of Eric Gordon’s rude reception after flipping his commitment across the border. He thrived on the controversy and it will take a similar performance from someone like senior Devonte Green to keep us in the ballgame. We can only hope.
it was the most consistent half of basketball that the Hoosiers have played all year. I kept waiting for the wheels to fall off – but they never did! Does this mean that it will all catch up with us the second half? Can struggling coach Archie Miller lead his team to a strong first five minutes out of the locker room, or will they come out flat like they did in West Lafayette a few days ago? Then came the 7-0 Illini run, but IU countered with threes and got to 50 first. The race to get to the key 60-point milestone would determine the winner. Unfortunately, back-to-back turnovers destroyed any chance for Hoosier momentum, failing miserably to get us there first, while giving up one of our devastating 9-0 trademark runs. It was all seven feet of Kofi Cockburn down the stretch, as Trayce Jackson-Davis faded in comparison. Indiana played well and hit back-to-back threes before the broadcast signal went out and the screen turned to black. I had to quickly switch to my phone to watch the final :30 seconds. It came down to free throws and Indiana missing their first two of the game, as Trayce blew the chance to tie. From what I could see on the small screen, IU guard Rob Phinisee somehow muscled-away the rebound but slipped in the process, and Chief Illiniwek & Company put the game away at the charity stripe 67-66.
The only thing that “stunk” today was the outcome, although it was a valiant effort. Indiana has lost heartbreaking one-point games to both highly-ranked Maryland and Illinois, while nipping non-conference foe Notre Dame by a bucket earlier in the year. The other games haven’t really been competitive win or lose, while they are certainly overdue for a last second break. It’s tough to be both bad and unlucky in the same season. Also, TJ-D not only missed the clutch free throws, but also the head-to-head battle with Kofi for BIG Freshman of the Year. Will he come back another year? More importantly, will team fate change as they go into tournament play or does The Chief come back to haunt us on Selection Sunday?
