a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
I ran outside a few times today to catch a glimpse of the Blue Angels performing for the 2022 Seafair Festival.
It was toasty today— 90 °F (32 °C)— but it will cool down by Tuesday.
Here’s a Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) that I had found on Kitsap Peninsula yesterday.
Here are pictures of my roundtrip on the Kingston water taxi today.
Kingston lies north and west from Seattle, across Puget Sound on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Get aboard the silver bird, departing gate nineteen
Satisfy your Walter Mitty mind, tryin’ out a dream
Your sign is Capricorn and every corner of your mind
Says you’ll remain my friend, my friend until you’re mine
Silver bird, fly my lady away
Silver bird, take her over the bay
Silver bird, give my lady a ride
And let her go see what’s on the other side
Silver bird, fly my lady away
Pretty bird, today is the day
Lone rangers and strangers will knock at her door
But I know my baby’s no baby no more
Silver bird, fly my lady away
Pretty bird, today is the day
When you come home my crazy heart will greet those silver wings
Your pet dog will remember you, and I’ll carry your things
We’ll catch a runnin’ make-up, and you will look just fine
And you’ll remain my friend, my friend until you’re mine
Silver bird, fly my lady away
Silver bird, take her over the bay
Silver bird, give my lady a ride
And let her go see what’s on the other side
Silver bird, fly my lady away
Pretty bird, today is the day
These are the lyrics for a rousing song called ‘Silver Bird’, recorded by Mark Lindsay in 1970.
It features in the recent Netflix movie The Gray Man. (Look it up on YouTube).
‘Walter Mitty’ mind is no doubt a reference to the “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (1939) — a short story by James Thurber, about a daydreaming office worker that fantasizes about traveling to far-away locales for heroic pursuits.
There was a red Ford Mustang Mach-E on 15th Avenue at the No 10 bus stop, and then a blue one as I stepped off the bus in downtown.
These new electric vehicles are in their second model year, but Ford’s 2022 inventory has all been sold out.
The Mach-E is considered a crossover SUV.
Car and Driver (magazine) writes very highly of the Mach-E, but notes that it is ‘not as fun to drive as a real* Mustang’ and has uneven ride quality.
*An interesting use of the word real.
Russian troops are using parts from dishwashers and refrigerators to fix their broken military equipment in Ukraine, a top U.S. official has said.
– Fortune magazine, May 12, 2022
It’s now a year later after I had last attempted— and failed— to procure the dishwasher of my choice.
I have now set my sights on a Bosch dishwasher. The web page of the Lowe’s hardware store on Rainier Ave reported that they had several models in stock, and off we went. (Shout-out to B. who’s invaluable help I had enlisted).
We checked them out, and the quiet Series 800 one with the outside handle bar and hidden controls on top of the door, is definitely the one to get.
‘No. There is one on display, but none for sale anymore’, said the appliance person at Rainier Lowe’s. Six to 12 months lead time, and they have stopped taking orders for now. We should check other Lowe’s stores for stock, and pounce on any we find. It looked like the store in Issaquah might have inventory. We gave them a call, but no luck. They have black ones, but my whole kitchen is stainless steel and the black will really look out of place).
Right then a guy with a Bosch logo on his shirt walked by (a Bosch representative). ‘Yes, these Series 800 machines are selling like hot cakes’, said the Bosch guy. They are made in North Carolina, but the stainless steel linings come from Ukraine. So: supply chain troubles.
He checked the Lowe’s website, said there seemed to be five machines at the North Seattle store on Aurora Avenue. I jumped on my phone, logged onto the North Seattle Lowe’s store website and ordered one on the spot.
Sure enough, it charged my credit card, and promised delivery on Thursday.
I should know by Thursday if I had ordered a phantom item or not!
Today saw one more 95 °F/ 35°C high— and made for a record stretch of 6 days with >90 °F highs.
Monday will be a little cooler, and we may even see rain on Thursday.
Fancy that.
We logged another 95 °F (35 °C) for the day’s high here in Seattle.
Just for fun, here are some Afrikaans expressions and idioms that use ‘butter’.
Ek het met my gat in die botter geval.
Translation: I have stumbled, with my butt stuck in the butter.
Meaning: I lucked out, in a big way.
My brood is aan altwee kante gebotter.
Translation: My bread is buttered both sides.
Meaning: I have the best of both worlds.
Dis botter tot die boom.
Translation: It is butter to the bottom.
Meaning: Said of a friendship that is thick as thieves.
Goed, beter, botter.
Translation: Good, better, butter.
Meaning: Slogan from a ’70s ad campaign for butter in South Africa. Butter is better than margarine, and is actually best of all.
Our stretch of warm weather continues, with a high of 95 °F (35 °C) today.
The meteorologists assure us we will have much cooler weather on Monday— something civilized like 79°F (26 °C).
The GDP number for Q2 is out: -0.2%.
So technically, we’re in a recession (two quarters of negative GDP), but per the New York Times: declaring a recession falls to a private, nonprofit research organization, the National Bureau of Economic Research. The group defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months,” and it bases its decisions on a variety of indicators — usually only months after the fact.
A high of 92 °F (33 °C) today.
Al lê die berge nog so blou*,
al lê die berge nog so blou,
al lê die berge nog so blou,
haar woorde sal ek steeds onthou.
– Afrikaans folk song
*A rough translation:
Even as the mountains lie there blue
Even as the mountains lie there blue
Even as the mountains lie there blue
Her words I’ll hark back to
There are reports from elsewhere in the USA that gas prices have started to come down the last few weeks.
The gas price posted at the Shell station by Trader Joe’s on Madison Avenue is not budging, though.
You’d better go out today— while you can, I told myself this morning.
We’re heading into hot weather for the whole week, with 93°F / 34 °C forecast for Wednesday.
Here’s what happens when you leave your reading glasses in the car, and you grab a pair of ‘marmelade’ jam tins (at the British Pantry store on Thursday).
It turns out it was apricot jam.
No matter: it’s good stuff— one of the most popular jams in South Africa.
Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, not far from Seattle. It is played on a hard surface with paddles and a hard plastic ball.
The game has seen a surge in popularity here in the city, with many tennis courts used for pickleball sessions.
I picked up my notebook computer today in Redmond— and stopped by the British Pantry store to replenish the South African marmalade and chutney in my own pantry.
There is ATP Tennis in Hamburg, Germany, and in Gstaad, Switzerland, this week.
On Tuesday, Aslan Karatsev (28, from a country that shall not be named) played against Nikoloz Basilashvili (30, Georgia 🇬🇪) in Hamburg, in a wild outfit made by clothier Hydrogen from Italy.
Karatsev won 6-4 6-0.
The British media, never happier than when the weather goes awry, responded with barely concealed relish.
– British journalist Moya Lothian-McLean writing in the New York Times
So it did get to 40 °C (104 °F) in London, today. Here is a pair of front pages, reporting about the heat apocalypse.
