Inside The Perimeter

There is one thing I miss since canceling Netflix, watching “The Great British Bake Off”. Yesterday I saw that the first two episodes of the newest season had been (illegally) uploaded to YouTube. I made it through one and one half of these before a copyright claim had been made, and the uploads removed. Dangen!

I have two major projects today:
– Contact cemetery and schedule mom’s move in date
– Gather everything I intend to put into the M6 for this journey

Countdown to Shutdown: T – 1

I would have had another Wordle ACE today had I not done the NYT Mini Crossword last night and decided to change my starting word for today. Ugh!

Wordle: three, my starter was ENTRY
Connections: two mistakes, Purple > X > Blue > X > Green > Yellow

It ends today, but for nearly two weeks it’s been Pizzamas. Pizzamas is a made up holiday created by the Green brothers — Hank and John — during which they sell merchandise and donate 100% of the profit to Partners in Health. I have been looking at the t-shirts, some of which I find to be cool, but unfortunately don’t need any more t-shirts in my life and can’t justify spending $29 + s/h for one.

Once again I talked myself out of cycling; thanks to my pain and all that hullabaloo. Instead, I hobbled up to the East Atlanta Farmers Market and purchased a loaf of bread and a small bag of apples. Sadly neither of the two farm stands which were selling vegetables had any carrots, potatoes, or cauliflower which I sought.

Perhaps it’s because one of my “hobbies” is to pick up litter, but as I contemplate the amount of trash created by the savage storms of last week I get sad. How much of it will be retrieved from nature? Where the fuck is it all going to go? How much more damage to the environment will we cause by replacing all of the things lost to the storms and flooding?

It appears that I should have paid attention to sports last night. The Mets scored four runs in the ninth inning to win 4-2, thus moving on in the playoffs. The Falcons beat the Buccaneers in overtime. Meh, my life is still the same…

Countdown to Shutdown: T – 4

Wordle: two, my starter was DAILY
Connections: perfect, Yellow > Green > Blue > Purple

Nothing much to report. Painful day, physically.

I made a tasty meatloaf for dinner. I forgot that Atlanta United played, which turned out to be a good thing as they lost 2-0; both of the opposing goals were scored by former Atlanta United star Josef Martinez.

Laundry today, pain levels will dictated rest of my agenda.

Countdown to Shutdown: T – 5

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

The biggest reason that I am contemplating shutting this down is because I don’t want to have a task while on my journey to deliver my mother north. This trip is about me and my family, and I intend to be offline (in regard to any social media) for it.

I have already written next Tuesday’s blog post.

I know that the EPA or whoever is checking the air quality post-bio-lab-fire says that the air is fine, but I have been outside a lot and can’t help but feel a nagging, slight irritation in my throat. Sure, it could be psychosomatic, but it also could be related. This irritation combined with hip pain kept me from riding last night.

Yesterday the silent auction put on by the Organic Grower’s School and which was to end last night was suspended. I’m not surprised, nor am I upset, but I was the leading bidder on a couple of items that I was hoping to win. I am also expecting to hear of the cancellation of the workshops which were the reason I was planning to head back to western North Carolina at the end of the month. I’m trying to decide if I will go elsewhere that weekend, or remain at the ITP Estate and save some money instead.

Countdown to Shutdown: T – 6

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

Well, I think that my roof repairs are done. I won’t really know until it rains again and I can get into the attic to check. What I do know is that people are shitheads. How do I know this? Because I found a bullet embedded in a shingle. Only shitheads would shoot bullets into the air.

I’m trying to avoid watching disaster porn, but I really want to know how western North Carolina is doing. One of the reasons I want to know is selfish as I am planning to revisit the area at the end of this month, assuming that the areas to which I intend to travel have returned to a normal life. From what I have seen, there is less than a 50/50 chance of this in a month’s time. We, the collective we, will be paying (financially) for the storm damage for a long time.

The cost of Disney+ (with Hulu and ESPN+) is going up again in two weeks, to $22/month. I am trying to figure out if I can justify the cost of dropping Disney, the one that I rarely watch, and keeping Hulu and ESPN+.

Today is a cleanup day, both inside and outside, and hopefully tonight I will make it to my last Tuesday night ride of the year.

A week from today, October 8, I will be departing on Mom’s Last Road Trip. The storms of last weekend have altered this plan, mainly the route that I will drive, since I would like to avoid areas which have been impacted.

That date may also mark the start of a new stage in my life, one which will impact this space greatly.
Countdown to Shutdown: T – 7

Wordle: five, my starter was STAGE
Connections: fail, X > X > Yellow > Blue > X > X

If I forget the fact that I was in pain all weekend, had some other health related concerns, my leaky roof (which I hope to help fix today), and other news which was relayed to me, I had an amazing weekend. The East Atlanta Strut was a success, and I got to see many people (hashers) who I don’t see any longer.

Yesterday I forgot about the Tasty China outing, so by the time Barb checked in with me, I had already committed to help move some furniture around my buddy Chip’s house.

All weekend I watched/read information about the damage caused by Helene, in conjunction with the rain which proceeded it. Devastating flooding and/or wind damage occurred in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. This might go down as one of the costliest storms of our time.

Wordle: three, my starter was DRAFT
Connections: one mistake, X > Yellow > Green > Blue > Purple

I am very thankful to not be a Florida homeowner. I don’t know what my mother’s neighborhood is like this morning, but from the news I’ve seen a lot of the area experienced flooding.

As I write this it’s nearly 6am and it appears Atlanta is being spared. Another 1.5″ of rain should fall this morning, however all WLF water buckets are filled to the brim so I can’t save any of it. I do have a few empty water bottles that I will fill from some buckets today, but by and large my water catchment is at 100%. Now I need to use this water in lieu of turning on my spigot, which costs me money.

Let’s talk about something other than the weather.

Fortunately I was able to get a haircut and visit the Total Wine on Cobb Parkway before learning of the dinner cancellation, so my trip was not for naught. I had intended to also purchase gas while up that way, but the traffic headed home was already getting snarled so I returned to the ITP Estate toot sweet. Upon returning home I reheated some tofu tikka masala I had in the refrigerator, and turned in for the evening.

In hindsight I should have filled up the tank of the M6 yesterday.

I have owned my new iPhone for about a week and each day something “new” arises. On Tuesday I had difficulty pairing it to the M6’s entertainment system. On Wednesday I discovered that Siri listening for my commands is not turned on by default. What?!?! And yesterday I was unable to pay for my beer purchase using my Apple Watch because apparently there is no seamless cutover when one buys a new iPhone, so I had to relearn how to add a credit card to my watch. What will happen today…

The East Atlanta Strut is tomorrow.

Wordle: two, my starter was SUITE
Connections: perfect, Yellow > Purple > Green > Blue

Hey, it’s raining!

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to get back into listening to music, both live and recorded. It’s been too long. I’ve let tv, books, and podcasts distract me, but now is the time!

This morning I am either on my trainer, or have completed my trainer session by the time you read this. I’m also trying to return to a life of exercise, you know since I have few time commitments, in an effort to slim back down to my 2020-2022 weight. The best I could do yesterday was an hour walk to pick up little, but hey, I also picked up litter. I’m weighing (no pun intended) the pros and cons of taking my bicycle and/or trainer on my trip north in a few weeks.

Looking forward to tonight’s TC birthday dinner for ITP-Reader Debbie.

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

Turns out my purchase of an E-ZPass may have been an unnecessary one, at least according to 11Alive who reported in January of this year that the Georgia Peach Pass is now valid in northeastern states. Oh well, it won’t be the last time that I make a financial mistake.

I have finished reading “We Solve Murders” in three days, which for me is lightning fast. I thought it was a good book, but paled in comparison to Osman’s work in the “Thursday Murder Club” series. I have started reading “Translation State” which is borrowed through the Dekalb Library System. On my journey next month I will be packing two physical books. I want to read these and then donate them to a Little Library in order to reduce the number of items, books in this case, in the ITP Estate.

With the rains predicted to arrive today I did some WLF preparation for water capture yesterday, mostly bucket cleansing and dumping the water in my large rain barrel which had turned green. WLF will appreciate this rain, though it may wish that it wouldn’t come in such large quantities in a short period of time, even the source is the tail of yet another hurricane/ tropical storm.

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

I’ve ordered an E-Z Pass for my trip to New York. I know E-Z Pass can be used in other states as well, but I was uncertain the same can be said for my Georgia Peach Pass in the northeast. So, $25 well spent (probably enough for two bridge crossings) assuming the transmitter arrives before my departure two weeks from today.

For dinner last night I used up a jar of tikka masala sauce that I had in the cupboard with a package of super firm tofu cut into cubes, stewed with some peanut butter, bell peppers, and a hot banana pepper; the last two were WLF contributions. I ate some of this over white rice that I prepared using the InstantPot. It was really tasty, if I do say so myself.

During the past couple of days I’ve been reading “We Solve Murders”, the latest novel by BBC personality Richard Osman, who has also penned the “Thursday Murder Club” series. This book is an ebook loan from the Dekalb County Library System so I am trying to knock it out quickly so that I can move onto another ebook that I have on loan from the library.

Tonight I hope to get in one of my last Tuesday night rides, as darkness starts to encroach on our riding times, for this year.

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