Inside The Perimeter

Another reason I am upgrading my iPhone this year, in addition to it being “old”, is that I am tired of doing the storage shuffle game in order to update the operating system. Starting sometime last year I never had enough free storage on my iPhone to download and install the latest iOS update, so I had to delete/offload apps, do the update, and then reinstall those apps. This happened again yesterday, and come Saturday I will feel relieved that it may never happen again.

Sadly yesterday I learned that my iPad Pro 10.5″ is not on the iPadOS update list, so it won’t receive the new OS. The budget currently doesn’t contain a line item for a new iPad, so I am just going to have to deal with this for a while.

On Tuesday I was “happy” to receive my Dekalb County property tax letter. Happy only in that the USPS delivered it, and I was the one who removed it from the mailbox. And then I opened it…
– I need to learn how to appeal my appraisal next year. No matter what you tell me, I find it hard to believe that someone would pay $430k for the ITP Estate.
– I know Cobb County gets this right, but at 59 years old and never sending a child to school, I think that I should be able to opt out of paying for schools. I’ve done more than my fair share, and the taxes I’m paying for schools this year consists of nearly half of my tax bill.

Weekend plans? None for me, well, other than getting my new iPhone.

Wordle: four, my starter was CRISP
Connections: fail, Blue > Yellow > X > X > X > X

Don’t read too much into this, but I’m starting to think about my legacy. On Tuesday I had the brilliant idea to collect some acorns from my oak tree and see how many I could germinate and grow into trees. The trees I grow could either be donated to Trees Atlanta (from whom I bought the source over twenty years ago, or ninja planted in places that hopefully don’t get mown). One problem arose when I launched this plan yesterday morning, this is not a mast year for acorns and I could only find three! I have sown these three acorns, but I don’t expect them to germinate. I thought about doing the same for the pecan tree, but the nuts are so high up only the squirrels benefit from them, and those that fall to the ground are too damaged to plant.

Four the past three years I’ve contemplated moving away. I keep looking for land on which I can have a smaller house and larger garden. Truth be told I don’t think I have the impetus to start again at nearly sixty.

I’ve found an affordable place to stay near Asheville in late October for the weekend I am considering taking one-day classes on cheesemaking and fermentation. The only hitch is that the Friday night before this weekend I have a ticket for the Bob Mould show at The EARL, so I’d have to wake very early and drive to Arden, NC in order to get there ahead of the class’s starting time of 12:00pm. I’m starting to think it’s too much to cram into my schedule.

Today I take a metaphorical couple of grains of sand from the beach that is my cluttered life by taking a small load of items to CHaRM. I’m hoping that this is the impetus to start my Fall Cleaning initiative, chipping away at the things which currently annoy me.

Wordle: three, my starter was REACH
Connections: perfect, Green > Blue > Yellow > Purple

The last couple of days I have been raking leaves. It seems too early in the season to be doing this task.

Amazon has announced Amazon Prime Days for October 8, and 9. Once again I will be away from home when they are having their sale. Once again this might be fortunate for my desires to spend less money and reduce the amount of things I own.

I’ve broken my iPhone case. Clearly it was time for me to order a new iPhone– so I did. 🙂 However, it was not without drama as I failed to realize that the default delivery was my home address, in the first week of October. I wanted to pick it up in store on Saturday. Even after “talking” with a chatbot which assured me that I could update the order once I followed the link it would send to me, I couldn’t figure out how to accomplish this, so I cancelled the first purchase and then ordered the same thing a second time. Now to wait to see if I get double charged for the sales tax. It’s never easy for me because I sometimes fail to pay attention to details in a timely fashion. I blame no one but myself, and boy do I blame myself…

I am glad that I went riding last night, even though my average speed was slower than normal, I struggled mightily on the last half, and my legs are sore this morning. Two out of three of those are good for me.

I might have hit a breaking point with Duolingo. Okay, not really. However I am struggling mightily with German’s placement of verbs in their sentences. In general verbs appear in the “second” position, but sometimes there are words which kick the verb to the end of the sentence, and sometimes there are words which look as if they start a dependent clause, but don’t.

Wordle: four, my starter was GLARE
Connections: perfect, Yellow > Green > Blue > Purple

Not much to report, spent all of yesterday puttering around WLF or sleeping. Last night I made a delicious dinner in which of noodles with vegetables topped with an Asian peanut sauce. In the dish I incorporated red bell pepper, hot banana pepper, and a some Chinese cabbage, all of which were grown in WLF. In fact, the only vegetable included which was not from WLF was baby bok choy, which I’ve previously grown, but don’t have any at the moment.

This morning will find me at the Waschsalon doing many weeks’ worth of dirty clothing.

I’m hoping that both my bike and body will be ready for my first bike ride since riding into Amsterdam almost two weeks ago. I also need to remember where Past Paulie put the cycling repair stuff that he took to Iowa. I know that I have things, I just can’t remember where I put them so I don’t want to rebuy them.

As I start to plan for my next journey, a car trip to New York next month to deliver my mother to her final resting place, I realize that I may get a bonus of seeing leaf color changes along the eastern coast. I’ve also discovered (?) in planning this trip, along with another hopefully return to western North Carolina after it, that hotels really love to rip you off for staying on a Saturday night. The same hotel in which I stayed last weekend is $50 more next month on Saturday night, and another local hotel near the Asheville airport is twice the price on Saturday night that it is for any other night during the week. Isn’t this the same “dynamic pricing” for which people spew hatred toward Uber and Ticketmaster? I’m trying to figure out how to limit my expenses on these future journeys. Unfortunately camping isn’t an option because while she may have done so during my brother’s youth, my mother never camped during my lifetime. Hell, because we never camped, my first camping trip occurred when I was 34 and did the Blue Ridge Adventure Race in 2000.

Wordle: four, my starter was GROWN
Connections: fail, Blue > X > X > X > X (I was bamboozled by the Yellow)

So why did I go to Asheville (really Hendersonville) North Carolina? Last March I was going to attend a conference put on by the Organic Growers School, but it was too much of a commitment after being in Florida for nearly a month. This past weekend the organization put on a small festival called “Sow & Grow” and I went up for it. I had a really good time, spending money like I’m employed, eating, drinking, and even buying a t-shirt.

While in the Asheville area I also popped into a cheese shop and bought a little cheese to eat with the baguette that I bought earlier in the day at a local market. It’s like I’m living in Europe! 🙂

I don’t know what has happened to me, but recently I have lost my sweet tooth. At the festival there was a pot luck buffet line and I didn’t even consider any of the dessert offerings, opting for a second helping of savory instead. Also, my engorged waistline has diminished my drive to go out for beer. I spent a lot of time in my hotel room because I didn’t want to go out to drink. I think I have also been spoiled by being able to walk everywhere in Europe, while in North Carolina I had to drive everywhere.

The M6 gave me a good scare when apparently either the key fob wasn’t close enough to the ignition button, or I didn’t put it completely into park, and absolutely nothing happened one time when I tried to start the car. I really thought “Shit, it wasn’t the battery, it was the alternator!” and then it started.

Today I am starting preparations for Wee Little Farm 2025. Since I will be gone a good portion of October I need to get a lot done during the next two weeks. I hope to put a lot more effort into WLF2025 in order to provide more, and varied, vegetables for my consumption.

Wordle: four, my starter was CLAIM
Connections: perfect, Green > Yellow > Purple > Blue

Happy Friday the 13th!

The bounty of (wild) food I saw on my European trip was mind boggling. In Belgium and Netherlands I saw many apple and pear trees, along with numerous fields of corn. In Rheine Germany I found horse chestnut and hazelnut trees. In all three countries I found wild hops growing alongside waterways!

Who are Jack & Jones and why is their clothing so popular? It seemed as if men of all ages and sizes were wearing Jack & Jones T-shirts all over Europe.

The M6 has a new battery and seems fine. Of course in this process the Bluetooth connection between my phone and the car got messed up. I can still play audio from my phone, but no information appears on the display. I’ll be getting a new iPhone next week, I’ll deal with this issue then since I will definitely want to have this set up for my road trip to New York in October.

Decided to see if post office delivers mail today. If not, I will go to them on Monday and ask WTF is happening. I didn’t ask anyone to check my mail since I was going away for such a long time.

This weekend’s weather forecast is all over the place. I can’t tell if it’s going to rain all weekend where I will be headed, or if it’s just going to be cloudy and cool. I suppose this morning I will pack clothing for each possibility.

Wordle: five, my starter was GRAIN
Connections: one mistake, X > Purple > Green > Yellow > Blue

I hate being in limbo, which is exactly where I sit regarding the M6 today. When I got in to drive to Betsy’s last night it didn’t start at first, but then I got it to start. I drove around a little while and returned home. Betsy picked me up, and brought me home. This morning it cranked slowly and started. I’ve just returned from about an hour’s drive. I don’t know whether to call AAA and buy a battery, see if it will start again and drive down to the dealership in Morrow and let them tell me if I need a battery, alternator, or both, or see if I can drive it to an AutoZone and get the battery checked (or buy a new one) there. The more hem and haw, and wait, the less likely it seems as if I am headed out of town again tomorrow. Unfortunately this means that I will be pissing away two nights for a hotel room for which I have already paid.

And I have a splitting headache.

Things could be much worse, I realize that.

Wordle: five, my starter was FLORA
Connections: perfect, Blue > Yellow > Green > Purple

“Anniversary” always feels like the wrong word when mentioning 9/11/2001, the most horrific day I’ve ever witnessed, and hope that I ever witness.

If you ever want to know your station in life, fly. From the onset Delta has no qualms with informing us peons that we are less than valued customers. My boarding zone was six, which since I had only a small carryon that could fit under the seat ahead of me was of little consequence. However Delta loaded zones 1-4 in the “SkyMiles Priority” lane, and the rest of us were ushered to our cramped seats via the “General Boarding” lane, informing me that for the next nine hours I was clearly not their priority. My flight home was long and stressful. Flying westward we encountered headwinds which bobbed our plane around a little. But worse than that, was the woman in front of me who reclined her seat within an inch of its life. In response to this I leaned my seat back as well. The man behind me tapped me on the arm and started the conversation with “I don’t appreciate you sitting in my lap.” Well pal, I don’t appreciate you being an asshole. I was already angry because I did a stupid thing by choosing a middle seat and was flanked by to adult men whose bodies encroached my space, so I had little empathy for a person who requests something with such a statement. I essentially told him that my action was caused by the row ahead of me and that I required space as well, and at which time I put on my headphones. Because getting in and out of my seat required Cirque du Soleil dexterity I passed on all beverages so that I wouldn’t have to pee. Not having much hunger either, I ate the initial meal and passed on every other food offering. This flight has put me off long distance travel to Europe until I can afford sitting in a better class, so I doubt that I will be returning to Europe any time soon.

I should apologize to WLF for this year because my travels have caused me to ignore it for far too long. I will say that I was surprised to see how sad WLF looked when I arrived home yesterday, even though I knew it hardly rained at all over the past three weeks. I did something that may have worsened this; I changed the watering schedule at the last minute and was unable to test my new schedule to ensure that my settings were correct. So, it’s possible WLF received water every other day, but it’s also possible that it received none at all. Of course rain is coming later this week, perhaps too late for WLF, when I am driving to south of Asheville to attend an outdoor event– more on this Friday. I also need to figure out how to protect the brassicas (cabbage, kale, broccoli, etc) from the caterpillars which devastated the ones I have in the ground. Ahead of the predicted rain I will go out into WLF and do some cleanup of dead and dying plants. I intended to mow the lawn today, but it doesn’t need to be mown!

My plan to stay awake long enough to resynchronize my body clock failed miserably. I must have passed out before 7:15pm based on the messages I received but never saw until I awoke at 1:15am.

Wordle: five, my starter was CHORE (going to be a lot of Wordle aces today!)
Connections: perfect, Green > Purple > Blue > Yellow

A non-travel aside: I watched Apple’s iPhone Event last night. I was completely bored by the video, since it was another pre-recorded slick presentation done by an array of Apple employees of all shapes, sizes, and color, each trained to use the same exact hand gestures during his/her/their segment. And once again Apple’s products are getting larger in size. Why, Apple? Why? From what I saw about the Apple Watch it now looks like the Garmin Watch I have mocked for trying to look like an Apple Watch!

And now back to travel…

I completely overpacked. Were the temperatures the ones this part of the world will experience later this week I’d be singing a slightly different tune because my hoodie and jeans, assuming they still fit, would have been useful additions and justified their weight and bulk. Because I am who I am, I packed too many shirts, in part because I ended up wearing a couple a few more days than is socially acceptable. The only item I could have used more were underwear since I was unable to wash/dry as I expected: this caused me to buy three more pair in Amsterdam, €20 well spent.

Overall I have had a good time on this trip. Do I wish some things had gone differently? Of course. Would I do it again? Definitely not 100% the same. As you may have gathered from yesterday’s post I have had my fill of Amsterdam.

My flight today is scheduled for 7:00EDT. After deplaning, clearing customs, baggage claim, and Lyfting home, I hope to be at the ITP Estate around 18:30EDT. I also hope to stave off sleep for at least two hours and will happily crash in my own bed around sundown.

Wordle: six, my starter was REACH
Connections: FAIL, Green > X > Purple > X > X > X

Saturday Morning:
I’ve come to the conclusion that Amsterdam is New Orleans, or New Orleans is Amsterdam. Both cities embrace excess, both are dirty, and both have side streets which are littered and smell of piss in the morning. When I am in good health I can handle either for about three days. On this trip I have unfortunately not been in good health, so my tolerance for the lifestyle conducted is much lower. I have either been fighting the Cruise Crud, allergies, or some other ailment which my body is finding difficult to defend. I sneezed a lot Friday, and woke Saturday morning with a runny nose and unsettled stomach.

I’ve also discovered Amsterdam to be a late-starting city on the weekends, finding it hard to locate a breakfast restaurant open before 9am. As I type this I am having coffee and apple pie in the shop in which I did the same thing a few weeks ago. This is also an attempt to kill the two hours I have before I board my train to Rheine, Germany. I will have left this destination by the time you read this heading back to Amsterdam where I will overnight before flying out tomorrow “afternoon”.

Destination: Rheine, Germany
Reason: none
Imposed Motto: “The Quiet City That Never Sleeps”

Saturday Post-Morning:
My train rolled into the small city of Rheine a little before 1:00pm. Luckily for me I caught the tail end of their Saturday market and bought some cheese and rolls for lunch. Score!

To add to my luck on Saturday afternoon there was some parade whose theme I didn’t understand. Something about shooting clubs coming together as explained to me by a young man whose English was marginally better than my German.

Because I didn’t follow my own rule to make sure every room you book has a goddamn air conditioner! I nearly purchased a 23cm desk fan for €15 to use in my hotel room. Were it slightly smaller I would have purchased it because it would then have fit into my backpack for the walk back to the hotel.

When I chose to come here I had no idea that little Rheine, Germany was also having a street party on Saturday night. Music stages were erected and bands played different styles of music. Of course I gravitated to the stage nearest Scum Bar (you know I had to drink there) which was rock music. I felt like a complete fish out of water as everyone else belted out lyrics in German and I could not; oddly I knew all of the music played behind the lead singer, but wondered if completely different lyrics were sung to the familiar tune.

Sadly my gimpy hip reared its ugly head and limited my mobility on Saturday. From the sounds I heard through my open window until 2am this quiet little city knows how to party.

Sunday:
Rheine in the 2020s reminds me of Queens in the 1970s.

Yesterday I discovered that the local soccer, um Fußball, team was playing a home match in the afternoon. A little research told me that FC Eintracht Rheine is currently in the fourth division of German Soccer and that the stadium in which they play is within walking distance (1.9km) from the town center. Guess what I did next! Spoiler: I went to the game. It was as much fun as could be expected for a fan with no rooting interest, even though I caused a bit of an incident as I tried to look around the seating area and was stopped by “security” and asked for my ticket. In broken German and English explained that I bought the ticket at the window this morning, two other “security” agents were consulted about my ticket and all was okay. Out of concern that I’d have to explain myself again I wound up sitting in a different area. The beer I bought was €3, the Coke €3.50.

After the game I walked back to town, went out to eat dinner, and bought two beers at a liquor store for my wild night in of packing and doing research. I fell asleep after finishing the first bottle, it may have been 9:00pm.

Wordle: four, my starter was CHASE
Connections: perfect, Blue > Green > Purple > Yellow