While driving through Northwest Illinois, I took a couple of snaps of “Americana”.
Drive.
Sabbatical.
The timing of our “big” vacation in 2020 was perfect. We were able to scoot over to O’ahu and back before the COVID-19 hit the United States in full force. I haven’t taken time off since.
I’ve decided to take the rest of this week off from work as a mini-sabbatical. I have a few plans; I’ll probably do some flying, I’m going on a long road trip, I’m going to relax. Tomorrow I shall drive through the Prairie State alone with my husband’s blessing. He knows I occasionally like exploring on these long drives alone and we have no qualms in giving each other the space we need once in a while. We’re not getting away from one another, I am simply recharging. Mrs. Mosher wrote in my first kindergarten report card that I was a loner, opting to amuse myself instead of playing with the other kids during “play time”. A young girl by the name of Michelle wanted to ride the see saw with me; I recall jumping on it until she was flung off. I wasn’t allowed near the see saw for a while after that and Mrs. Mosher told my mother I was developmentally disabled.
I believe her philosophy was, “no child is really any different from any other child”. She didn’t know what to make of me. Not only did I not think inside the box, I had a different box, it was oblong, and it was probably glitzed out with glitter.
If I was in kindergarten today, Mrs. Mosher would probably recommend me for some pharmaceutical assistance.
Instead, I love my life and have a husband who supports my day long road trips across the Prairie State. It’s all good.
Balcony.
These days I spend a lot of time on the balcony. The weather is decent (albeit a bit humid and hot, even at 9:30 PM at night) but the view is nice and there’s few bugs here in the city.
I never thought I would get sick of watching television but sometimes I feel the need to just sit on the balcony and do very little. As I remind my team at work from time to time, we may all be used to working from home but we’re still working under unusual circumstances. There’s a subtle increase in stress levels; COVID-19, politics, riots, all of the angst in the country. It all adds up.
I sit on the balcony and I watch the flights into O’Hare follow a shorter than usually approach because of the lower amount of air traffic these days. Watching airplanes always makes me smile.
I’m taking some time off later this week because I haven’t used vacation time since February and I have a lot of time left. It’ll be our first “staycation” in maybe forever. I’ll probably spend time on the balcony when I’m not flying airplanes or chasing thunderstorms.
We all need to chill.
Struggles.
I’ve been trying really hard not to complain about the pandemic, or Trump, or the riots, or the idiots that are cheering on Nazi-like activity from our Department of Homeland Security.
My mood jumps up and down, a lot. These swings are much more frequent than they used to be. I can’t comprehend how people can still be “on the fence” about who to vote for. I can’t comprehend how people can still support the worst president in the history of the United States. Children in cages, mayors of major cities being tear gassed, a non-existent response to a global pandemic. And these idiots still think Trump was sent by God.
It’s hard to continue to maintain this blog but I continue to do it. It will soon be 19 years old. I’ve been blathering on about life for 19 years!
Who’s the crazy one?
I told Earl I should write my autobiography just to do it. While the main title would be “Trip The Moment Fantastic”, it’d have a subtitle that says, “You Really Have No Reason To Buy This Book”. As the Abba song goes, “I’m nothing special, in fact, I’m a bit of a bore”. But here I am still writing in a blog for 19 years.
Eccentric? Yes.
Caturday.
Truman has pretty much adjusted to his required harness when out on the balcony. Curiously, when he has the harness on he always sits or lies down out there he always does it so he can bring his paws together.
He then gives me a look.
Music.
I’ve never liked the quality of music coming from the family Spotify account. I’m not talking about the selection of tracks or the app experience (the former being good, the latter being less good), but I’ve always thought the sound quality of the music sounds way too compressed. Songs I remember having outstanding nuance in the mix (when listening on vinyl and my really good Bose headphones) sound muddy to me on Spotify. The same tracks on Apple Music sound good, sometimes remarkably so, but there’s still a warmth found on vinyl that is lacking on their digital counterparts.
I stumbled across the Tidal Music service a month or so ago. We have a Plex server that stores all of our music and videos for consumption on our various devices and an introduction to Tidal Music came along with my Plex account. I was intrigued by the service, as it advertises “Master Quality” tracks, as well as using FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) as the default file format, instead of MP3s or Apple’s AAC.
The distance is quite noticeable and enjoyable.
I use music by The Carpenters to make the comparison, usually “Superstar”, “Only Yesterday”, and “All You Get From Love Is A Love Song”. First of all, Karen Carpenter may be one of the greatest female pop vocalists of all times. Secondly, Richard Carpenter’s arrangements are very thorough and nuanced. I feel much closer to their music when listening to the Master and “HiFi” (FLAC) offerings from Tidal.
My only pause with Tidal is that it’s quite pricey. As a Plex user, Tidal is $18.99 a month, almost double what an individual user subscription costs on Spotify or Apple Music.
Earl and I talked about it and because I listen to so much music when I’m working, we were able to justify or rationalize the expense.
I’m building a nice selection of Master clock tracks in “My Collection” on Tidal and thoroughly enjoying the experience. My ears are quite pleased.
Deserve.
This is still one of my favorite songs of all time. From 1987, here is Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield and “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”.
Humbled.
I won an award at work today. I was one of three recipients of a Quarterly Leadership Award. The announcement was made during an All-Hands Call today. I had no idea my name would be included on the PowerPoint presented through the Zoom interface.
I am only as strong as the team I lead. I thanked my team for their support in accomplishing our goals together. I have a great team with hard workers and a lot of brains.
Today was a good day.
Inspection.
Truman inspects the hallway every morning. We have a daily routine; I scoop his business out of his litter box, take it down to the trash chute, and he follows along and sniffs at the doorways where we knows other cats and dogs live. He’s silent as he walks from door to door, though if you get really close one can hear him purring.
He goes around the corner and then I kneel down. He sees me kneel down and comes over and rubs my outstretched hand, then I get up and walk to our front door. He follows along, taking his time, glancing about in transit. He then runs through the front door and goes to the kitchen cabinet where he knows he’ll get two treats.
We do this every day. It’s not a day unless we’ve done this together. He enjoys the routine as much as I do.
