Getaway

Oh yes, we did. And now I need a vacation where I can split the time doing my kinds of things and relaxing. All in all, this little getaway of the three gals wasn't as disastrous as it had the potential of being. We all managed to get along and we did have some fun times. I'd just like to get beyond the whining when something doesn't work out exactly as someone anticipated, or the bored looks when there is the slightest moment of inactivity. Sometimes it's just nice to sit and look around, or aimlessly wander and maybe discover an interesting tidbit. Ah well, two and a half days of "what are we doing next?" can tire a person.

What we did do next involved a lot of shopping and very little buying...at least on my part. 'A' managed to spend the most, of course. On clothes - the gal could clothe an entire small country. Mom only spent some change on a cookie cutter and I bought a few postcards. Our biggest expenditures were on accommodations and a major outing by train.

Seems the North Conway area is extremely overbooked no matter the time of year. The last few weeks before the school year begins brings new meaning to "no room at the inn". We did finally find a suite that was considerably overpriced, but weighing spending half a day looking for the potentially non-existent something better, grabbed it and settled in. After some afternoon shopping, Amanda and I played 18 holes of miniature golf at Pirate's Cove. We chose the 'Blackbeard's Challenge', having tried the other course a couple years ago. Neither of us approach the play with any type of competitive attitude...just fun. I did beat her by 13 points, though!

Our next biggest expense was a super cool trip on the 'Notch Train' from North Conway to Crawford Notch. An outstanding trip in my book, mom thought it was okay, 'A' came in third with a not enjoying it so much. Anyway, there was beautiful scenery, interesting towns, historic sites, and generally just lots to look at.

Some of the pictures in this post are taken from the train ride. Including this one of our train personnel relaxing at the Crawford Depot before the return trip.

How Much

...am I suppose to put up with?

This week is 'A's vacation week. Mom and 'A' want to do something so, per the norm, I must be involved as official driver, organizer, and (duck quickly) ...go between.

They decided, once again, despite the fact there could be upteen places other than 'the same old place' to go to the White Mountains.

I HAVE to be here Monday morning to ship some keys. Then 'A' decides that she wants to be here Tuesday, for some TV show grand finale marathon airing. What can I say? The stuff is important to her. Mom watches the weather (for here, not the destination) and decides that the weather will not be good enough for a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday trip. She wants to leave on Tuesday.

See what's going to happen?

'A' says she won't go then. Or maybe even not at all. Mom's mad because she doesn't understand the importance of 'A's TV plans. Honestly, I'm not thrilled about that taking precedence, either, but it is her vacation time.

So today works out like this: 'A' is in a bad mood. Sulking. Hardly a word to say to anyone, never mind making it a pleasant word. I finished the kitchen tiling for Mom, just to work off some of the anger I was building up. Mom spends the latter part of the afternoon and dinnertime not speaking to me.

Fool that I seem to be in all this, I decide to try one more time. First I approach 'A'. And she agrees to a Wed. through Fri trip. Weather pending. Then I go to Mom, who denies giving me the silent treatment and starts arguing about 'A's behavior (even manages to dredge up everything she can think of to throw in the mix). Mom wouldn't give me a definitive answer so I pushed it a little. Managed to get her to say that she would go Wed. through Fri. weather being good enough. Then she adds...but it won't be and that's the only reason I'm agreeing.

Since then, they have both approached me with argumentative overtones. I'm not biting. 'A' came close to giving up her Tuesday, then came in to tell me that the weather didn't look bad for the end of the week. Who knows?

What I do know is that, once again, both of them have shoved all blame, evidently, in my direction. At the very least I am being punished for trying to please each of them. Both say that I do more for the other. I say...

I'm going to start saving for my own trip. And as soon as it's possible, I'm going. Without them.

Have You Missed Me?

Mmmm, that's what I thought.

Oh well.

I've been busy. Most of the stuff I've been enjoying. There has been other stuff, too. Like tiling the backsplash in my mom's kitchen. It's almost done with just the grouting to do. Not today. Probably not tomorrow, either. While I was using a rented wet saw on Tuesday, to cut all the partial tiles that were needed, this flew over.Nearly a couple dozen times. Looked military. I haven't heard anything explaining it and, as I predicted, nothing was written up in the local paper about it. I think they were just practicing right turns (that's all they did until they left). Hahaha!I like the clouds better in this picture.

I had a set of keys come in to the shop. The customer wanted something very yellow to match the discolored keys that the customer had become used to seeing. I called in a special order, they sent the wrong thing. I called and explained, returned the wrong ones and waited for the correct shipment. It arrived. It wasn't correct. It was the same as the previous wrong item. Bleck, called the supplier again and got told I was wrong...even though I had a supplier sample sitting right in front of me and it was different than what they sent. I gave up. I worked it out with my customer.

Our neighbor is finally getting a new fence. This is the same neighbor that got a 'new' drive put in last year. The drive that is slowly washing away and growing weeds in it. Anyway, this is a good thing because their fence has been falling apart, piece by piece, on to our property...or leaning so far over I've had to be careful backing out of my parking area.

'A' and I have been doing a lot of walking. The weather has been a bit uncooperative with high temps and humidity, but we've managed at least an hour each day. Sometimes two.Here's some determined squash growing over shrubbery on Pleasant Street.And an evening beach view from the end of the walk alongside the Toad Hall Bookstore.

So that's what I can tell you about what I've been up to.

And if you didn't miss me...I'll admit, I...

Out the Side

The morning ritual has become coffee and toast at Mom's end of the house AND feeding the Bubbas, our bluejay family, peanuts. More recently the Bubbas have been joined by a distant relative, a blackbird. Squirt no longer visits as we have spent some weeks trying to discourage him. He got far too demanding. In his place, however, is Chip our garden chipmunk. Chip has been taking every opportunity he's found to sneak through the fence and 'steal' peanuts from the Bubbas.

This morning we had a new visitor. Another squirrel, definitely NOT Squirt, as this little guy wasn't at all interested in the handful of peanuts that I had just thrown out on the deck.This straggly one looked like he had gotten into some bad berries.He staggered along a bit and then stretched out for a nap.5 minutes later, a scratching episode, nearly tumbling off the fence, then settled down for more napping.Moved along the top of the fence, scratched, more napping.Came right up to the corner and peered at me through the ficus tree, (can you find him back there?) turned around and scratched, then more napping. This went on for the better part of a half hour before mom had decided enough is enough and scared him off. The rest of our morning crew needed time to get more peanuts.

Today was a gorgeous day. Breezy, warm not hot, and sunny. A perfect day NOT to do work. And I didn't. Well, no work, but I can't do nothing without someone to do nothing with, so...I did something. I baked cookies. Peanut butter ones. And just this moment it has occurred to me how weird that is considering this post.

The stained glass window at the top is located in a door at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Rockport.

Yesterday's Outing

We decided that it had been too long since paying a visit to Hammond Castle in Gloucester. John Hays Hammond was a wealthy inventor with over 400 patents to his name. Most of the patents involved instruments relevant to wartime maneuvers, but some were of a different line of instruments. Of particular interest to JHH was the massive pipe organ that was installed in the Great Hall of his home, Hammond Castle. He spent ten years working on the 8200 pipe Skinner organ. Unfortunately, after many decades of superior operation, being performed on by the tops in the world, and subsequent to JHH's death still being a sought after venue for well attended concerts, the organ no longer works. While we visited the Great Hall had been turned into a trade show, of sorts, for area psychics. I would rather have seen the Hall, thank you. The psychic fair tackied-up an already dismal presentation of the museum home. (you can see the organ console in the far right corner of the Hall.) A shame that discount store gargoyles and furniture-in-a-box are intermixed with the true heirlooms that were JHH's. Even the gift shop could not offer up anything Hammond. Not a decent postcard (there were a few not so interesting views), nor even a book or pamphlet on JHH. Just a couple mugs interspersed with Egyptian dog statues (huh?) and fairy wands and plastic crowns, a couple plastic kiddie swords, and not much more. We did tour the entire place, inside and out, and I took a variety of pictures.This one seemed appropriate for the psychic fair day with 'A' resting her head against JHH as he tempts two of his cats with a morsel.JHH's inventions included this development for the television industry.Even though much of the museum has seen far better days, there are still many unique treasures to be found and much to be learned about an extraordinary man, his home, and his life.Just look past the trash and there is a fortune in treasures.

There's an Elephant on the Veranda!

We have felt the need to take the time for some little trips. Stuff that has been around, just waiting for us to take a teeny bit of effort. The next several posts will give you a glimpse what we have been up to over the last week or so.

Last week I took my mom (and 'A') on a nostalgia trip to Hampton Beach, NH. We went later in the day, missing the swarms of sun worshipers, and left soon enough to avoid the party-ers at night. We walked the length of the strip, swerving in and out of tacky gift shops and stopping to watch game players at the arcades.Here at the shooting gallery, the piano played a honky-tonk tune under the skillful hands of the 'gentlemen' automatons.

We strolled along the beach, letting the tide wash against our feet and legs. The water was too cold! Straight out North Atlantic! Back at the car we sat and used a towel to brush the sand from our toes. As I waited for 'A' and my mom to finish, I looked up the strip.There's an elephant on the veranda!

Nearly Perfect Day, Part III

Please scroll down and read Parts I and II, if you haven't read them.

The scarecrow sent us further into the park on our journey. Next on our list of okay-we'll-try-it was the Psycho Dome. No pictures of that because the ride was enclosed in a pretty ugly geodesic dome structure. The Canobie Lake Park web site touts it as the ultimate in a Scrambler ride. I've ridden the Scrambler many times. Most carnivals have them. We approached the doorway where there was a sign posted. Caution, this ride uses strobe lights. Any persons with heart conditions or epilepsy should not ride the Psycho Dome. Okay, this is getting interesting. Not so sure that I know what I'm getting into here. Did it really say Scrambler on the web site? Well, not so great on the strobes, folks. It was dimly lit inside the dome and it lost all strobe effect. But I do have to say, the Scrambler, inside a structure, is one thrill of a speed ride! Being flung toward a wall does something that exaggerates velocity perception. I loved it! Except that slightly disturbing clunk of a worn bearing every time our 'car' abruptly changed direction.

We wandered the park for a bit, down by the old dance hall and roller skating rinks. The huge swimming pool has been replaced by a small water park. Way too crowded to be fun for an adult. 'A' and mom posed in front of a rather large statue of Michael Jackson. The two theater performances for the season would be impersonators of Michael Jackson and Elvis. Pass on that.

We found a giant rocket!I made 'A' and mom pose as astronauts!

Then we rode the giant ferris wheel. It's a new four-seater and just doesn't do the over-the-top stomach flipping like the old ones. Drat. We passed the Dodgem. No takers. We finished as we began (at my insistence), with a carousel ride.

We love Canobie Lake Park! I could go and just ride the carousel. I could go and just watch all the rides and the people.

Nearly Perfect Day, Part II

Scroll down to Part I (previous post) if you have not already read it.

We decided to watch this ride. Another that I chose to avoid.The name says it all. Zero Gravity No, won't be doing that, ever. It's fun to watch, though.

We took a leisurely ride on the Sky Ride. From up there we could see the Caterpillar.'A' and I planned to go on that. It's not a fast as The Himalaya that used to be at Salisbury Beach, nor does it play music like The Himalaya did - Wipe Out! It is amazing that when the green canvas cover closes over the 'caterpillar' the temperature drops at least 5 degrees.

After the Caterpillar, 'A' wanted to try the Skateboard. It didn't look too bad watching it from a park bench so I said I'd give it a try.Ahemmmm. I could do it again. If I had to. Slightly more disorienting than I like to be made to feel.

As we headed for a leisurely 20 minute pontoon boat tour of Canobie Lake, we passed the original, old, flying swings.Really cool looking. A definite maybe that we eventually decided against. But maybe next time.

Passed by this guy on our way to get a cold drink and head for more rides.

The next post will end our visit to the amusement park. See you then.

Nearly Perfect Day, Part I

Thursday was a nearly perfect day. It was one of the few times, when attempting to do things together, that no one in this household was grumpy, cranky, or sulking at some point during the day. I'm never any of those things, of course. Okay...sometimes I can get cranky. I admit it.

The three of us spent the majority of the day at Canobie Lake Park, in Salem NH. And just to rub in what a fantastic place it is - I took pictures. Y'all are going to have to endure several posts, I expect, that include Canobie Lake pictures.

So off we go..........the first ride ALWAYS is the 1903 carousel equipped with the 1922 Wurlitzer organ. We all rode. roundandroundandroundandroundHere's mom just ahead of me.And here's the Wurlitzer.Straight from the horse's...rump.

Our second stop was at the Yankee Cannonball.We did not ride this wooden roller coaster.Been on it three times, never to do a fourth. Nope, not me. I don't mind speed. I don't like being dropped from extreme heights!

Canobie Lake Park has some cool food joints like the hot dog stand (mom and 'A' sitting and posing). and the popcorn hut.

In my next post you get to see more of the rides that we did and didn't. And later, still, the bizarre ending of our day.

All Systems Go!

Today the rocket was rolled to the launch pad!I'm so pleased when careful measuring pays off. Not only did it fit effortlessly up the bulkhead, it had 4 inches to spare in the Rav4. I drove and my mom kept a check on softening any jars when manhole covers were unavoidable. "I'm truly sorry officer. I didn't intend on causing a head-on collision. But you see, I have this rocket on board and I didn't want it to bang around!"

Wouldn't have wanted that to happen, would I?

Mom and I transported the rocket into the sanctuary and parked it out of the way of setting up ladders. All the help (A, S, C, M, J, E, M, and even G and D) did a fantastic job in seeing that the rocket made it from the cellar 'space center' to flying.Houston, we have lift-off!Of course I just had to sprawl on my back underneath the Cosmicventure as it flew overhead.

Several hours have passed. The rocket is soaring, I hope. Will I be able to sleep tonight wondering if those hooks that the wire is strung between are holding? Not a chance. I better go check it out.The rocket is speeding through the universe!

It's been a blast!

It Comes, It Goes

Mostly it goes. (photo is Tucker (now deceased) holding down his favorite paper product)

Money. What a tease. Just when it seems that after the bills there might be enough left over for, say, buying a book or a burger or, well, anything under twenty bucks that might provide a few moments of enjoyment, it is swiftly taken away.

All because of a teeny warning light that reads CHECK ENGINE. I'm beginning to hate those two words (unless, of course, 'check' means more money to me - as in "in the mail"). They were first noticed as I was driving 'A' home from work on Friday night. Just fantastic, a long holiday weekend. I was nice to the truck, driving it as little as possible until I could get it to my mechanic on Tuesday. Nothing seemed to be dangerously wrong. No big puddles (or little drips), engine sounded just the same, no billowing smoke, just the two words lit up brilliantly on the dashboard reminding me that something was indeed amiss.

I dropped the truck off at my mechanic on Tuesday morning. They hooked it up to their computer, reset the CHECK ENGINE light, declared it safe to drive for the moment, and sent me on my way with, "If the warning light comes back on, bring it right in, we'll hook the computer up again and see if the code is confirmed (or something equivalent).

Well, just as my mind sort of put those lurking two words aside, they came back. Drat. Off to the mechanic. I left the truck with them and got a ride home from my mom. The mechanic called. Bad news. The catalytic converter. Worse news. California emissions system. Toughest standards in the US meant the darn truck has a double converter. Mega bucks considering the limited funds I possess. Thankfully, I have a super intelligent friend who immediately got to thinking about solutions for me. He gave me two different words and I latched on to them.

EMISSIONS WARRANTY

I am forever indebted (and very happily so).

I called my mechanic who said, "Yeah, maybe, it's certainly worth a call to the dealership." I called the dealership where the manager said, "No, you're not covered. You didn't buy extended coverage." I checked online where I found indications of federally mandated emissions coverages. I called the toll free number the dealership manager had given me and it was a number to be accessed by dealers only. I got mad and called the dealer back for a usable number. Got one and called and Stacey at the company said, "Of course you are covered! But...the work has to be done at the dealership."

So, to finish up here...I've got my truck and I've been driving it. I've got a Monday noontime appointment at the dealership. I'll just bet that they'll find a way to make it something that is not covered by the emissions warranty. But I guarantee that it won't amount to as much money as I first thought it could be. There are always those fine print kind of items with vague descriptions. I can be kind of insistent and difficult when those types try to push me around that way.

I'll be glad when it's done with.

(A private message: Okay, so I didn't make it through the weekend without thinking about it)