Inside The Perimeter

I took the Federal Holiday to finish my latest jigsaw puzzle, as well as meet my buddies at The Whelan for a few beers. I wanted to eat dinner at The Whelan too, but wasn’t hungry while I was there.

Today I may be going to the Waschsalon, and will be hunkering down and cooking dinner at home. Who knows, I may also dip my toes back into the world of software development again since I have become frightened by the quick and continual demise of my savings.

Wordle: six, my starter was CLAIM
Connections: FAIL, Blue > Yellow > X > X

Apparently my brain has taken a Federal Holiday today.

Not much has changed in my life since Friday. I have become a YouTube Premium subscriber, opting for the monthly subscription so that I could cancel it immediately if it didn’t work as desired on my AppleTV. I am glad to announce that it does, and I am loving watching without annoying ads.

On Saturday morning I walked with Betsy and later in the afternoon hung out with my friends Hank and Chip at Chips’s house.

Yesterday I stayed at home all day. I should have been extremely productive, and done some exercising and cleaning/organizing/decluttering, but instead I read and worked on a jigsaw puzzle for most of the day.

My back still bothers me, but at least it’s back to bothering me the way is has for the past six month instead of the way it did last Monday.

There is not much on my Federal Holiday agenda today. I may drive somewhere since traffic should be lighter than a normal Monday.

In local news, I heard the Taco Mac group has purchased The Vortex locations.

Wordle: four, my starter was PROSE
Connections: three mistakes, Blue > Yellow > Purple > Green (Green killed me today)

The YouTube Premium conundrum. The other day I decided that I could afford YouTube Premium and it would be worth my while since the constant ad breaks aggravate me. On the web I found that I could sign up for $13.99/month, or $139.99/year. Given that I watch YouTube mostly through an AppleTV box, I went to sign up for a year through the YouTube app on my iPad. On my iPad the only subscription option I was presented was for $18.99/month. WTF? My initial thought was this was a 30% “Apple Tax” for signing up using an iOS device, but the math doesn’t work and I am certain that Google doesn’t pay Apple 30% for subscriptions which occur using iOS devices. So, I balked because I feared that I wouldn’t be able to use the feature via my AppleTV box if I signed up via the web, and $18.99/month is more than I am willing to pay. I think that I will sign up for the monthly subscription via the web, and cancel immediately if I am unable to watch the videos without ads on my iPad and AppleTV.

Not too much going on. My back still hurts. I think the next step will be a doctor visit, perhaps followed up by a chiropractor? Mo money. Mo money. Mo money. Perhaps I can’t afford YouTube Premium after all…

I finally cleared off the dining room table and have started a new, and admittedly relatively easy, jigsaw puzzle.

Yesterday I tried to check out a book from the Dekalb Library System. By the way, if you have a library card and a digital device, you must check out the Libby app. The book I wanted is written by a Scottish comedian named Fern Brady (Steve, any relation? Haha). To my happy surprise the library has it. To my unhappy surprise it will be approximately six weeks before my turn to check it arrives as there is a queue waiting to read it. Who knew?

Have a great weekend everyone.

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

I think that I have mentioned that a couple of months ago I started reading the “Hamish Macbeth” series written by MC Beaton; I have been doing so on my iPad. I am currently reading the seventh book in the series, having checked each out digitally from the Dekalb library system. Last night I dusted off the olde Kindle, plugged it in since the battery was spent, and started using it to read. I had forgotten what a great device a Kindle is for books which do not have accompanying pictures.

Things that I cannot locate in my house currently
– flat cheese grater
– ice pack holder
– pill box, you know the type in which you put a day’s worth of pills

I’m struggling with a choice. Do I continue to feed the Amazon beast by purchasing some books, the type which cannot be checked out of a library, or do I support the local bookseller? There are three puzzle books in the Murdle series, which if purchased from Amazon would cost me $35, and if purchased from the local bookseller would cost me $47. If I were earning my old salary I’d definitely throw the local shop a bone, but $12 is $12, and is nothing at which to sneeze when your income is $0.

It was my turn to provide food last night. Even though I have been doing a lot of cooking of late, I wasn’t in the mood yesterday so Betsy and I had Aldi pizza and salad.

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

Prior to Christmas I mentioned that I bought bags of dried spaetzle at Aldi for 35¢/bag. Yesterday I made an interesting side dish using one half of a bag, Baked Cheezy German Spätzle Pasta with Caramelized Onion, which turned out pretty good. Admittedly I didn’t follow the receipt 100%, because I substituted white cheddar cheese for some of the Jarlsberg. If I ever make this recipe again I will also add more spice than the scant salt and pepper instructed.

The back still hurts; it seems to be recovering very slowly. I have tried multiple times to get a time slot for a massage with the woman I visited a month or so ago, but all of her time slots are filled until Sunday. I’m contemplating visiting another masseuse at Tiny House, just to see if I can eliminate the pain. Oh wait, I just booked a deep tissue massage for early tomorrow morning! Woot!

Thanks to Betsy’s need to pick up a library book on Saturday I was reminded that I wanted to renew my Fulton County library card. I did so the other day! Since I am a resident of Dekalb county inside the City of Atlanta, hence paying taxes to each, I also qualify to hold a library card in both Dekalb and Fulton counties.

Last night I also got around to watching the “Detectorists” special episode that I purchased for rental prior to the new year. It was pretty good, and I’m glad that I watched it, being a completionist and all.

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

I don’t know about the rest of you who have lost parents and had to clean out their house(s), but I am learning things about my parents that I have never before known. (Wait, that is the definition of “learn”, isn’t it?) Most of my findings are from documents that have been long stored away, only to be unearthed as I fastidiously pore through folders and envelopes. I will expose some of these findings in the future.

This back problem has thrown a huge monkey wrench into my life, and honestly has made me depressed. I was looking forward to exercising in order to start losing weight and now I am sidelined for an undetermined amount of time.

Wordle: six, my starter was SPINE
Connections: perfect, Green > Yellow > Blue > Purple

I think I made it to all but one of Dunedin’s breweries on this last trip, and two of the Clearwater ones as well! In Dunedin I visited Cueni, Caledonia, Soggy Bottom, Dunedin, House of Beer, and Woodwright (finally!); I missed 7venth Sun. In Clearwater I visited Grindhaus Brew Lab, and Southern Lights. Since my summer Florida trip two breweries — Clearwater, Beach Island — have shuttered. Even though I was a little underwhelmed by the one beer I had at Woodwright, I will attempt to return at sometime because their food truck The Duneatery specializes in German-type food.

I had a weird experience yesterday, I had to reboot my iPhone because, get this, I couldn’t make nor receive calls. While using it as a phone is admittedly one of the features I use least, it is right there in the name so it should always work.

Yesterday was a day of cooking. In the morning I started a pot of baked beans that remained in the oven for eight hours. Later in the afternoon I made an amazing batch of French onion soup. While not a natural combination, I had some of each for dinner. Both meals used kitchen equipment I inherited from my parents; the beans were baked in the bean pot I received years ago, and the soup was eaten out of a French onion soup crock I brought back last week. Given that it was constantly cold yesterday I didn’t mind having the oven on at 250°F all day, venting some of its heat into the house.

Now if I had only gotten some exercise…

It’s come time for me to make a decision. I need to either pay for YouTube Premium, or stop watching YouTube because the length and frequency of ad breaks has gotten to a point where I cannot stand it. Do I want to spend $140/year for YouTube content?

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

I expect to arrive home today to dead seedlings that received no care since before Christmas.

While not a Monumental Decision, or perhaps it is, I think that WLF is going to be highly diminished in 2024. Why? My travel schedule, mainly. I am certainly no Jenka, but I intend to travel to Florida again for at least two weeks of February, drive to New York to bury my mother sometime in the spring or summer, spend a week away for BRAG, and travel to Europe for at least two weeks. And these are the trips on the calendar as of now! When will I have sufficient time to plant, care for, and harvest? Hell, I might not be employable with that schedule either, though I could certainly use the salary…

I spent my last night walking up to “Downtown” Dunedin to hit a few breweries. At my first stop a woman offered to buy me a Sierra Nevada, because she’s a rep for them. Turned out she lived in Atlanta once, working for Terrapin, until they sold out. She also knew Sani’s grandson in law Chris, who is also a Sierra Nevada rep. Before I left the brewery Chris had texted that she met “Paul Little Nut” at the brewery to the Raleigh Royalty. Hahahahaha.

Happy birthday Steve. Enjoy your lunch.

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

No great shakes on the house front. I wish I could have had the tub fixed prior to my brother’s and sister in law’s arrival, but that’s not going to happen. I did (finally) set up the air mattress I bought and brought, I slept well.

Steve, I will unfortunately miss the birthday gathering tomorrow since I will not get out of Florida before tomorrow morning. I will spend today cleaning and getting the house in shape for my brother, have lunch with an aunt, pack the car tonight, and hit the sack early.

Wordle: two, my starter was CREST
Connections: one mistake, Yellow > Green > Blue > Purple

Color me not surprised that my attempt to fix the bathroom faucets hit snags, which may mean I don’t have the tools nor talent to do the job. The faucet stems are sunk behind the wall tiles and the holes cut into to the tiles are too small to get a wrench into them. If I can find the proper socket to turn the faucet stem, I might be able to file the holes larger without cracking the tile. There is a possibility that I can attack the nuts from the access panel on the backside of the bathroom wall, but that’s a Hail Mary. Then, if I can’t simply replace the washers/gaskets, I have to find matching stems at the hardware store. I’m so frustrated.

Wordle: six, my starter was REIGN
Connections: perfect, Yellow > Blue > Green > Purple