Inside The Perimeter

Good News: I’ve not seen nor heard the chipmunk since last Thursday. The trap I put in place has not been touched. I am hoping that it ran out when I went to buy the trap.

Bad News: I’ve not seen nor heard the robin since last Thursday. I am afraid that she saw me as a threat and has abandoned her nest.

I made a really good batch of fried tofu in the air fryer last night. I ate some tofu with noodles, and bitter greens that I harvested from WLF. Even though I continue to have setbacks and failures, I have had a fairly successful spring harvesting greens.

I solved today’s Wordle in two attempts; my starter today was CRUSH

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 193.2 pounds (-1.0 from last week’s weigh-in); good news: progress, bad news: slow progress

I will be interested to see how much rain WLF has received over the past 24 hours. Steve and Debbie, I hope all is well down by you, as it appears you received much more severe weather than I did.

After looking in the mirror this morning and being depressed by what I saw, I am going to make a concerted effort to lose the fifteen pounds I have allowed myself to gain over the past six months. I was so much more content with my appearance last summer.

I solved today’s Wordle in four attempts; my starter today was GRAIN

I spent the lion’s share of yesterday out in WLF. It was a really good morning and afternoon, almost perfect; almost. In addition to generating some ash by burning wood, I had a tree guy come over and give me a quote to do one thing in the yard that could open up a new area for growing, and I tested my watering system.

If I ever talk about buying another magically collapsing/expanding garden hose, please stop me. Another one has sprung a leak, and because they expand and collapse, they are impossible to patch. After two identical failures I now consider this “innovation” to be useless.

While working (ok, sitting) outside yesterday I watched a robin enter and leave a bush multiple times. As I expected, there is a nest in the bush, and at one point I even saw the robin sitting in her nest. At least one creature living at the ITP Estate is getting some action…

And then my day went from very good to angrily bad as I prepared to go to my group bike ride. I had placed some tomato plants outside, and wanted to bring them back inside. As I approached the house I saw a chipmunk near the open basement door, and wouldn’t you know that stupid piece of shit ran into my house. I chased it around the basement with a shovel, twice getting it toward the open door through which it entered, but instead of running outside it ran into other rooms. I lost it in the utility closet. Leaving the door wide open I drove to Lowe’s and bought a trap, which is now loaded with peanuts hoping that, if the chipmunk is still in the house, it will get hungry. What a fucking pain in the ass. Needless to say that I have been in a foul mood since.

I solved today’s Wordle in three attempts; my starter today was CURSE

Oh hi! I got sidetracked this morning starting a new jigsaw puzzle and forgot to blog.

Other than a quick run to Stockbridge to hit up an Ollie’s and Lowe’s, it was a fairly normal Wednesday. I worked in WLF, and made a polenta and sausage meal for dinner.

I solved today’s Wordle in four attempts; my starter today was SPARE

It has been a busy week. Yesterday I made a trip up to Cobb County to visit my dentist for X-rays and cleaning, thankfully all checked out.

Last night I made my return to group bike riding by joining the Melton’s App & Tap twenty-mile ride. As to be expected due to my lack of riding since December I struggled, but at least I did it.

I solved today’s Wordle in three attempts; my starter today was DRAFT

Welcome to Spring!

I spent the day avoiding the cold, and then doing a lot of choring in the mysterious outskirts of Atlanta known as “Cobb Country”. My ultimate destination was Barb’s and Allan’s house where Barb, Sal, and I watched many hours of Survivor and ate a delicious dinner of pot roast with mashed potatoes.

Oddly I must return to that region this afternoon for my semi-annual dental checkup.

If the planets align I will also be making a return trip to the world of group cycling. The clocks have changed, the ride will be mostly in the light, and with any luck it won’t be too cold (hard to fathom given that it’s below 32°F currently). It will be a game time decision today.

I solved today’s Wordle in six attempts; my starter today was CLAIM; another close call today.

Tuesday Tale of the Tape: 194.2 pounds (-2.8 from last week’s weigh-in); my weight moves in mysterious ways.

Depending on how you look at it, being alone can either be great or detrimental to doing things. On Saturday I really wanted to go to Avondale Estates for Frühlingsfest, but I got a late start on the morning due to the cold temperatures and by the time I returned home I still had to shower before considering going back out. Though sunny it was still chilly outside, and when I thought about the things I liked doing at Frühlingsfest they revolved around hanging with someone drinking beer while wandering the festival. Not only was I flying solo on Saturday but I was in no mood to drink (shocking, I know), and as you probably guessed sentences ago, I did not attend. I’m a little verklempt that I skipped, because I still wish to support Goethe, but I just couldn’t convince myself to go.

I know that I whine a lot about price increases, especially since I am earning no money, but I am getting worn out by them. This weekend I received an email alerting me that the service behind RoadID will go from $9.99/year to $19.99/year, a 100% increase. While $20/year is affordable, I am miffed at such a significant increase with no explanation of what I will get for the additional fee.

Recall that I whined about the 11% increase in my homeowners insurance recently? It seems that I was whining about a rise last year as well; this was a comment I made on March 14, 2022:

It’s been a (scheduled) expensive day already. I paid my house insurance today, and in reviewing this process see that my policy went up $150 for the same coverage. Argh!

Same as it ever was…

I solved today’s Wordle in four attempts; my starter today was FETCH

Happy St Patrick’s Day, or St Patty’s Day, or St Paddy’s Day, whatever. I expect that I will be headed out this afternoon to celebrate, maybe even at a Mexican restaurant to avoid the crowds. I remember going out to Buckhead in the 1990s, specifically one year going to Ri O’Bravos (their spelling of the restaurant name that day) wanting to be amongst the crowds in hopes of meeting a woman. Oh young(er) Paulie…

Tomorrow I may go to Avondale Estates for the Goethe Institute’s Frühlingsfest, a small celebration of German culture, and a short lived tradition that I’d like to reclaim.

I solved today’s Wordle in three attempts; my starter today was ROAST, mainly because GUINNESS, POTATO, and CORNEDBEEF have too many letters.

Welcome to the unintentional “Media Edition” of Inside The Perimeter.

I’ve come to learn that Brendan Fraser has won an Oscar for his performance in the movie “The Whale”. Had he not been a guest on some podcasts to which I listen I’d never known about the movie at all. The fact that I am now considering watching this film is problematic, for it will violate my rule created for Fraser, the “Never watch anything with Brandan Fraser” rule. This rule was created many years ago because I didn’t think Fraser was a good actor, and yet he was cast in nearly virtually everything. The rule was expanded to include Melissa McCarthy, who I don’t find the least bit funny, about a decade ago.

Last night I jumped back into the Ted Lasso bandwagon to ride it to its series finale this year.

Another bandwagon I hopped onto yesterday was something I just discovered yesterday, Alan Alda’s podcast “Clear+Vivid”. Apparently Alda has been doing this podcast since 2018, so I have clearly not done a good job keeping tabs on one of my favorite actors. With over two hundred episodes in the can I have a lot of catching up to do.

I solved today’s Wordle in four attempts; my starter today was GLARE

I’m struggling a bit to ensure that the crops in WLF from getting damaged from the frost. Of course, I as I continue to kill seedlings it may be 95°F outside before I fill the raised beds with plants.

As you read this I should be sitting in front of my laptop relearning how to code apps. I somehow pissed away Monday and Tuesday, and don’t want to do the same today.

I solved today’s Wordle in six attempts; my starter today was CUMIN