Fun and Games Dept

We decided to go for a ride this afternoon. We headed toward Fort Huachuca and Sierra Vista to get a feel for the landscape in that direction. It’s a beautiful day, so we were riding with the windows down. We stopped for a cold drink at a drive thru in Benson. The car in front of us ordered over $100 in food with special requests for each of the burgers. These things happen.

We were smiling on the inside.

We had dinner with Homer and Matt tonight. They introduced us to a small Mexican restaurant on the other side of the 10. I had vegetarian Cuban Tacos that were excellent. The conversation was a delight. It was nice to be out and about to and visit with Homer and Matt for a little while. We have common friends in the blogosphere. It’s funny to think that we’ve both met people that maintained blogs at one time, even though we’re all from different corners of the country.

The more I get to know Tucson the more I like it. I already knew I liked this big little town, but getting better acquainted with our surroundings is a good feeling. Even if we have to maintain our social distance or make sure we’re all vaccinated.

I didn’t take any photos. I’m deficient at my attempts at being a social media influencer. I don’t even know if people still read this blog as I never look at the traffic stats, but it’s still fun to write in it like it’s 2009.

It’s finally happened! ABBA as announced a new album, “Voyage”, due out in November. Going along with the new album, “ABBA” will be performing in a specially constructed venue in London. I put ABBA in quotes because the performance will actually be by ABBAtars, holographic representations of the group with younger looking features. They’re wearing their motion capture suits in the picture at the top of this page.

I would love to go to London to see this show!

Two songs of the upcoming “Voyage” album were released today. The first, “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down”. I enjoy both songs and even though it’s been 39 years since the release of their last single, “Under Attack”, these new tracks solidly sound like ABBA. They sound as great as ever.

I can’t wait for the entire album to drop.

During our travels yesterday, we stopped at the Sunset Point Rest Area on Interstate 17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff. We did the same thing 18 1/2 years ago in March 2003.

So, we’ve lived in Arizona for five or so months and I finally found my “favorite road” to drive (thus far). We’ve been around a good portion of the southeast corner of the state, and State Route 188 has been deemed my favorite.

When we lived in New York, it was NY Route 177. When we lived in Chicago, it was Illinois 26 (especially south of Interstate 80).

State Route 188 here in Arizona runs from US 60 just west of Globe to State Route 87 south of Payson. The road is wide and open, with the speed limit as high as 65. Like favorite NY Route 177, Arizona State Route 188 runs through very few towns; one basically has to slow down to pass through Roosevelt and to go over the bridge near Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Much of the route passes alongside the Roosevelt Reservoir.

It’s open, with gentle curves, interesting desert scenery, and I find it a pleasure to drive. I look forward to doing it again soon.

I don’t know if it can be attributed to middle age or if it’s a result of pandemic and the general chaos of society, but I have really lost track of time. Moving from the Midwest to the Desert Southwest probably contributed to this as well. When I was in North Carolina last week I was surprised to see some maple trees starting to change their leaves; in my mind it’s somewhere between January 2020 and May 2021 and I’ve found it very hard to discern the current season living here in the desert.

This morning I was in the mood to throw on a t-shirt and a pair of camo shorts for work. Even though I’ve worked from home for over a decade, I still like to put on fairly decent clothes when in “work mode”. Today’s agenda involves writing a bunch of code and doing a few end of the week odds and ends. In a swing of incredible events, my calendar today was clear of calls. Hence, an Atari t-shirt and camo shorts. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m also in my bare feet while working today.

My work week flew by but I’m still ready for the weekend. I need to relax from this jumbled up timeline.

I like humor. I like funny people. I enjoy people that laugh and I enjoy making people laugh. I’m kind of good at it, but there’s a whole bunch of people funnier than me.

Growing up, I was a fan of humorist and newspaper columnist Erma Bombeck. I was a teenage young lad living in the Central New York countryside, but there I was laughing at “If Life Is A Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing In The Pits”? I giggled at Erma’s spin on life as a modern housewife and mother. Her take on life was funny, and more importantly, charming and I enjoyed her.

Fast forward twenty years to the 21st century and I discovered humorist and speaker Jeanne Robertson of Graham, North Carolina. I first heard a clip of one of her “speeches”, as she called them, on Sirius/XM radio. It was the channel next to Rawdog. She had a southern twang that was charming, she could tell a story like the best of them, and most importantly, the point of her speeches was to show people how to find the humor in any situation. Life gets better than way. Life is more manageable that way.

I’ve listened to Jeanne’s stories for the past 15 years.Back when they started featuring her on Sirius/XM the headlines read, “Grandma Goes Viral”. She’s a delight. Today I learned she passed (shaking my head in a gesture of respect) this weekend. She was 77 years old.

When work gets crazy, I have a small Post-It note near my computer or up by my webcam that simply says “Baton”. It’s a reminder to keep things light and to find the humor, even in the most stressful situations. It’s what Jeanne spoke about and keeping this in the back of my mind has helped me get through the workday on more than one occasion.

I’ll miss new stories from Jeanne. She had such a delightful way of conveying something to an audience. May she rest in peace.

For your enjoyment, here’s a clip from YouTube. It’s her Baton story.

I am aboard flight UA6321 from RDU (Raleigh-Durham) to IAH (Houston). I’ll have about an hour layover in Houston before heading home to Tucson. I’ll be arriving home at lunch time. I love the time change when headed west. My body didn’t really adjust to Eastern time over the 48 hours I was in North Carolina.

I’m in First Class, as per my spoiled self, aboard this E175 regional jet. This flight is Mesa Airlines as United. The two flight attendants are very nice, Mark with the very deep voice at the gate at RDU was very friendly, and the two pilots up front seem friendly over the Public Address system. They also appear to be know this aircraft well and so far it’s one of the smoothest flights I’ve been on in a long while.

Like the rest of the airlines, United has modified their service and amenities on flights. On Thursday’s flight I opted for the “Take Off” snack box on the flight to Houston, today I’ve opted for the “Tapas Box” snack box. I just ate a pack of olives and they were delicious. During my last visit with my family doctor in Chicago, he suggested I start eating more of a Mediterranean diet. This is a step in the right direction.

The visit to North Carolina was a fun adventure. I did a little work while I was there but it wasn’t too much of a distraction; it was just a couple of calls.

Even though I work in technology and I’m well aware of the advances in this space, I’m still fully amazed with being able to write a blog entry and post it on the Internet while flying in a metal tube 32K feet above the planet. It’s a little slow but fully functional.

Now I’m going to sit back, relax, and enjoy my Tapas Box.

I can’t imagine my parents dancing like this back around the time I was born, but apparently this was the style. At least in the movies. From 1968’s “With Six You Get Eggroll”, I believe this is the Grass Roots and “Feelings”.

I’m on my first commercial flight since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As usual, I’m flying United and all is well. I’m visiting our friends Jeff and Mark near Durham, N.C. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them and it’s always an adventure when we visit. I’m on this trip solo with my husband and family’s blessing. They know I like little solo adventures once in a while. Since I had a ticket from pre-COVID days that was going to expire, I thought I might as well use it for this little jaunt. If this trip goes well, we’ll probably travel back East before the end of the year.

I feel a little rusty when it comes to being an airline passenger. Things have changed but things are the same. There’s a few extra announcements, folks are wearing masks like they’re suppose to, and so far there has been nothing worthy of the hype we often see in the media and on social media. We need to stop glorifying the outliers. Things are fine. Let’s hope I didn’t jinx this trip by saying that.

You may have noticed I have not been talking about my private pilot adventures. After a few prospects fell through earlier this summer, I decided to hold off on getting back into the air until after Monsoon Season. I’d rather start when the weather is a little cooler and the skies a little calmer. I’m still assessing my opportunities; there are two airfields relatively close to our home: Tucson Int’l and Ryan Airfield, the latter being the smaller of the two. We’re actually closest to Davis Monthan Air Force Base, but I doubt they’d like me fly a private flight from their busy runways.

I really miss flying, both as a private pilot and on commercial flights. I think this sense of normality in my life has disrupted my psyche a little bit, not to mention the disruption of COVID-19 and the associated idiocy around the behavior of too many people in our “civilized society”. I’ve been pulling back from social media a bit without making drastic moves and the change has helped.

When I was walking through TUS en route to this flight, I realized that Tucson, Arizona is our home and it feels right. In some ways this is the first time I’ve felt settled and this is the first time it’s clicked since moving here at the end of March. I don’t miss Chicago as much as I thought I would; I miss family and friends in Central New York. Thank goodness for FaceTime and the like for communicating with those we miss. While we had a lovely time living in Chicago for three and a half years, and we took advantage of all that we could while we were there, looking back it feels a little more transitory and frenetic than what I probably need in this stage of my life.

The house has been an adventure this Monsoon Season. We’re getting through it but there’s definitely been some challenges with leaky roofs and bad decisions of the previous owners. We’re still quite happy, just a little wetter than we should be when we stand in certain places throughout the house. We’re finally getting the homeowner insurance company under control and understanding of what’s actually going on. They seem overwhelmed with a lot of folks having the same issue in the desert Southwest.

It’s time for our snack box here in First Class, and I’m going to fully enjoy the treat.

Enjoy the friendly skies. Do your part to keep them friendly.