The desert is so beautiful. I’m still getting used to the aviation experience in the desert heat. The desert is beautiful, but her airspace is quite bumpy.
Tassels.
I’ve been watching episodes of the 1970s version of “Match Game”. I do not remember Penny Marshall being on the panel, but there she was in 1974. She was in a show called “Friends and Lovers”.
Neighbors.
I noticed the neighbors moved their flag to half staff this morning. I believe this is the first time they’ve done this since we’ve moved to the area a little over a year ago.
Few Words.
I wrote this on Facebook this morning. I don’t do much on Facebook these days, but it had to be said.
When I was a kid, at this time of year the side doors at Lura Sharp Elementary School near the gym and auditorium were often wide open to let the breezes blow through that majestic building as students and teachers made their way to the end of the school year. Inviting the spring weather into the building reminded us that summer vacation was just a few weeks away and it added that special element necessary to get us through the last chapters of our books and our final exams.
I understand that Lura Sharp Elementary is configured a bit differently today, and that gates and buzzers and ID badges and reinforced walls and bulletproof glass and all that are necessary because our schools are no longer safe for our students, teachers, and administrative personnel. I keep hearing “times are different”. Yes they are, and it makes my heart ache.
I hope the time comes when we start addressing the actual issues and not just the symptoms. Children should never feel unsafe. Our elected officials, on all sides of the aisle, are failing us. When nothing was done after Sandy Hook is when they gave up. We knew this would happen again. And I can’t even begin to count the number of times we’ve lost children to an active shooter in a school. No one wants to talk about solutions. “More guards!” “More barbed wire!” “More gates and buzzers!” Again, addressing the symptoms, not the problem. Oh don’t worry, there’s always tweets of condolences but in a few days time the politicians will start grandstanding and blustering about something idiotic again. Then it’ll be more students in another school, rinse and repeat.
Our children should never feel unsafe.
Jinx!
Jinx has decided that my eccentricity is a good eccentricity and now actually comes up and socializes with me from time to time. She made this decision over the weekend. Her brother Lucky has always been quite friendly and always has a dog smile on his face when he sees me. It’s good to see Jinx warming up to me a bit.
Electrical.
Our Jenn-Air cooktop is served by a 30 amp circuit. The range requires a 45 amp circuit, but we confirmed the circuit breaker is rated for 30 amps and the wiring that runs under the kitchen marble tile and through the foundation pad is rated at 30 amps. Whatever cooktop resides in our current configuration will have 30 amps.
Chris decided to invest in a new cooktop and went with a glass topped induction cooktop by Frigidaire. It’s part of their Gallery collection. Chris and Mike installed it over the weekend. As an induction cooktop it doesn’t draw as much power so we can use more than one or two burners at any given time without fear of burning the house down. The Jenn-Air cooktop was 45-inches, but they’re not in style or not really available anymore, so the new cooktop is a 36-inch model. Chris fashioned a work area cutting board/utensils rest area for one side, stained it to match the cabinets, and installed it with great success.
I’ll have to share a picture later in the week.
Cinema.
It’s been over two years and at least two time zones since we stepped foot in a movie theatre. Our favorite theatre chain in Chicago, Arclight, has closed. We always liked Arclight.
Not too far from us here in Tucson in Galaxy Luxury+ Theatres. Many rating apps in Tucson rate the Luxury+ experience as the best theatres in the city, so we decided to venture down to the movies to see “Downton Abbey: A New Era”.
The theatre is very comfortable. Reserved seating. Reasonably priced tickets. Moderately priced concessions. Barcalounger style seats with plenty of room and a convenient tray that swings aside. And most importantly, Maria Menunos!
We haven’t seen Maria Menunos in the pre-movie clips in a long while. In fact, I thought she’d given up the silver screen and was now only to be found on our gas pumps, but there she was looking lovely and bright and cheerful during the pre-movie clips.
I have been very much looking forward to this second “Downton Abbey” movie and I was not disappointed. Seeing the Crawleys and their staff do their thing on the big screen felt very comfortable. I shan’t give away any of the details of the story; I rated the experience a 9/10 and I liked this movie a slight bit more than the first movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I may go back and see it again.
In Luxury+.
Caturday.
Truman continues to monitor the activities from strategic points throughout the house. The puppies are still quite exuberant to play, but Truman keeps them in line with a swipe or two of the paw to the nose, claws are usually retracted. He hisses for effect.
Memories
Jamie found an older roll of film and had the pictures developed earlier this week. This may be one of my favorite photos of recent times. My best guess for the date is right around when we moved to Chicago in 2017.
Impediment.
Last night I discovered that my large mustache has a habit of pushing down the mic on my headset when I’m flying an airplane. Not being able to talk to Air Traffic Control can be a problem. So, I need to figure this out.
