I’ve started my second season with Texas Performing Arts as a volunteer usher. I now have a name tag with my name on it! Moving on up. Yesterday I worked the show for Broadway in Austin’s performance of SIX – The Musical.
A bit of an unusual musical. It really didn’t have much dialog other than the songs that each of the six former wives of Henry VIII sang, giving a glimpse into each of their different situations before and after marrying the king. As they say in the show…”Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” There were no set changes. No intermission. Just 80 minutes of singing and dancing. All that is not bad, just different. I enjoyed it very much.
They have moved on from Austin, but the current US Tour runs through the end of July 2024. You can see the remaining tour schedule here
I wonder how Captain Kirk dealt with software updates on the Starship Enterprise. We experienced our first automatic “over-the-air” software update in the Subaru last week. It was not something we could opt out of. It was going to auto install if we deferred it more than twice. So it did. It said it completed successfully.
Oh yay, new firmware! (Not)
HOWEVER, after a couple days, the computer touch screen went into an endless reboot cycle every time we drove the car. And that’s a tad disconcerting in this day of smart cars.
So we took it into the dealer who said we didn’t have the most current level of software. So, they installed it.
Maybe THIS is the right level? (Pardon our dust)
I guess we’ll see if this one will work. New 1st World problems…
As Monte likes to say, every time we go to the boat to cross something off the todo list, we add 2 more things to the list.
On Monday we went to the marina to install 3 new halyards and new jib sheets on Nirvana. When we lowered the jib to change the halyard, I found a 2’ long tear along the edge of the sunbrella cover. So we rolled it up and brought it home.
No more over-sheeting the jib against the spreaders, please. It’s not the America’s Cup…
Yesterday I laid it out and mended it; should be good for a while. I ripped off the sunbrella cover, sandwiched the tear between 2 layers of new adhesive-backed 6 oz dacron, sewed it down several times, and then sewed the sunbrella back down.
It’s nice to be home. And, thankfully, the forecast for the next few days includes rain and lower temperatures.
We have been trying to keep our trees alive, but it is difficult with the extended, excruciating drought, and the water restrictions that come with it. We got a pretty good thunderstorm overnight. And in the morning, I was greeted with an amazing sight. The flowering plum tree that looked nearly dead, brown, and crispy the day before has pushed out some new green leaves and white blooms. A sign of the indomitable persistence of Mother Nature.
Fingers crossed we don’t lose this tree or any of our other struggling, stressed trees on the property.
Monte and I made a long weekend trip to Seattle to visit family – old and new. We have 3 new great-niece/nephew babies to meet, and my brother had a big birthday to celebrate.
The last time we were up in the Pacific Northwest together was 5 years ago. The last time all my siblings were together was over 4 years ago. So I was really ready for this trip 🙂
Mount Rainier viewed from the north
We visited the Museum of Flight just north of the SEA airport. This was my first visit, and I would recommend it. It has one of the largest collections of aircraft on display. We flew a flight simulator and did a barrel roll. We walked through a Concord, a 747, a 787, and one of the Air Force One planes from the Kennedy, Nixon, and LBJ administrations. The space flight exhibits are great, too.
So many planes
After the museum, we drove to southern Washington to meet Byron, Rachel and Matthew’s 4-month-old baby, and my great-nephew.
Sunrise at Rachel & Matthew’s home
The next day, we booked it back up to North Seattle and stayed with Patrick and Nga. We had a nice visit and a great dinner. And as a bonus, both their boys were home.
Sunset over the Olympic Mountains, the beautiful view from Pat & Nga’s home
Saturday morning we made it to Noreen and David’s. We took the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry, popped into Poulsbo for coffee and a walk along the waterfront.
Saturday evening we had a party for Brian. It was wonderful to have all 5 of us siblings together again after way too long. We laughed way too much and enjoyed our time together.
On Sunday we walked around the woods in the morning, and watched the Seahawks game in the afternoon. Jared and Cass came over with their new twins, Nora and Viola, my great-nieces. I got to hold each of them for a while. They are tiny and precious.
The next day it was time to head back to the furnace that Austin is. On the way to the airport, we stopped in Port Orchard to see Fran’s kids, Rebecca and Aaron. They are 20 and 18 and each has a good plan for their futures. It was great to see them.
The only faces I didn’t get to see were Neil, who is working 12-hour days, 7 days a week for the next few months, and Julie, who is in Denver. But other than missing them, it was a perfect visit. ❤
Since the beginning of the year, I’m having an issue with my right knee. It has gotten steadily worse. I have an orthopedic specialist. I met with him again a few days ago, to get his interpretation of an MRI and a prognosis/diagnosis.
This is the actual dumbed-down drawing he made to illustrate for me what an ideal, ‘healthy’ knee should look like on the left, compared to the current situation in my knee on the right. I was initially taken aback by the jagged, bumpy, withering bits on the right vs the bit on the left. Not ideal. And, apparently, it’s not going to get any better. I have an angry knee.
So, I’m going to have to get used to a popping, crackling, unstable, inflamed, and swollen knee for the long haul. A compression brace can help with stability. Injections may alleviate symptoms a bit, but only a replacement would get me back to ideal, and I’m definitely not ready to do that.
I really wish I could have afforded better shoes when I spent so many years running back in college.
Monte and I are both truly sad to hear that Jimmy Buffet died last night. Like millions of other people, we spent time talking this morning about the times we saw him live in concert, when, where, and what great shows they were.
We went to the boat this morning to do a few chores. Afterward, we walked up the hill to the marina’s restaurant and ordered cheeseburgers and margaritas to toast his passing.
After being hounded mercilessly by SiriusXM for a few months by email, text, and phone to renew our trial subscriptions from the new cars, which have both expired, I reactivated it today just to listen to Radio Margaritaville. 🍔🍹🌅⛵️🏴☠️
I have a bunch of cousins in Ireland. We’ve met in the decades-old past. We’ve had eachother’s addresses tucked away. But I’ve recently connected with them on some internet chat platforms, which has been a much more lively, and quite lovely, connection.
One of my cousins, on my father’s side, posted a photo of an undated aerial photo that was taken of the family farm and homestead from the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. This is where my dad grew up, in County Limerick. The house is on the left. The farm buildings on the right.
You can see workmen on ladders in front of the house, and some other people walking between the buildings. My dad had emigrated to the States by then. But I wonder if my grandfather and or uncles are some of those people…
My cousin, Devitt, visited us last weekend. He brought a woodworking project that he and Monte knocked out in the shop. We had a fun visit. He gifted us some very nice 14-year aged Barbados rum.
A month ago, the Universe reached out to remind me that “things are just things.” I was rear-ended in our brand new Subaru Outback (sniffle). The other guy was very remorseful; and uninsured.
Anywho… repairs are now complete, and the Subie is fixed and back home.
At the end of July, I flew up to Portland, Maine, to join Lori, Mike, and Louie aboard S/V Trident. They have been on board together since June, making their way from the Chesapeake up to Maine. I joined them for the two-week cruise along the coast and islands of beautiful Maine, ending up with a visit to Acadia National Park (’cause, you know, goals).
Friday & Saturday – Austin to Portland to Boothbay Harbor
I flew into the Portland airport. After several unsuccessful tries, I finally found an UBER driver that agreed to take me the 90-minute drive to Boothbay Harbor. Mohammed was at first reluctant but finally agreed to drive me, and we had a great talk along the way.
Boothbay sidestreet
The first night in Boothbay, we dinghied to the Lobsterman’s Wharf for the first of many lobster dinners I indulged in during my stay. In the morning we taxied to and from the grocery for provisions, loaded everything up, ready to head out the next day.
Sunday – Boothbay Harbor to Monhegan Island
We sailed to Monhegan Island. Its beautiful, sheltered harbor has only a few visitor mooring balls, available on a first-come-first-serve basis. We snagged one and enjoyed a great hike up each of the two hills – one led to the Monhegan Lighthouse, and the other to the Monhegan Brewing Company. I logged a geocache along the way, earning my Maine badge! 🙂 (’cause, you know, goals…) I even found a few pieces of sea glass where we beached the dinghy.
View of Monhegan Island from the lighthouse hill\
Monday – Monhegan Island to Matinicus Rock to Camden
Lori & Mike raised the dinghy and we dropped the mooring line early the next morning. Lori graciously added a long side trip out east to visit the remote Matinicus Rock, home to the largest colony of Atlantic Puffins in Maine, and Razorbills and Arctic Terns as well. We didn’t stay long, but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these rare birds. Mike saw a shark, we think it was a blue shark, along the way.
They’re blurry, but they’re puffins!
After seeing the Puffins, we headed back to the northwest to the vibrant harbor of Camden and grabbed a mooring ball before sunset, for two nights.
Sunset from our mooring in Camden Harbor
Tuesday & Wednesday – Camden to Rockport to Isle au Haut
Camden Harbor has hundreds of moorings. We explored both sides of the harbor, checking out their wine bars, and bakeries. On our second day there we went ashore for a short walk, and ended up walking the 2 miles or so to neighboring Rockport. Along the way we stopped in to the Camden-Rockport Historical Museum. We grabbed a taxi back to Camden in time to clean up for a nice dinner ashore. The next morning we left Camden, and headed to the southernmost portion of Acadia National Park, an island called Isle au Haut. We anchored there for one night. We took a long dinghy ride to their town dock, and walked down the road to the Acadia National Park Ranger Station for our first official park visit. We visited the lovely Shore Shop Gifts store and bought some ditties, and then picked out 3 big lobsters from the local lobsterman to boil on the boat for dinner.
Isle au Haut anchorage
Thursday – Isle au Haut to Seal Cove to Burnt Island
Bad weather was in the forecast for the next few nights, so we all took one last dinghy ride to shore for a morning walk along the rocky beach and then we said goodbye to Isle au Haut and made our way to a sheltered anchorage. Along the way, we stopped and anchored in Seal Cove for lunch, a beautiful undeveloped place, but we didn’t spy any seals. After lunch, we headed to and anchored off of Burnt Island (near North Haven) for two nights. We were the only boat there, so we had the entire island, its trails and coastline, and a pair of osprey and bald eagle nests, to ourselves. We explored the island at the end of the first day, and spent a rainy second day aboard the boat, doing boat chores.
Osprey guarding its nest
Friday & Saturday – Burnt Island to Southwest Harbor
After the storm passed, we moved farther up the coast, to Southwest Harbor, one of several harbors on the biggest island in Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island. After we grabbed a mooring ball for the night, we headed to shore for dinner. We ended up at Beal’s Lobster Pier for my third lobster of the trip!
Southwest Harbor mooring field
Sunday – Southwest Harbor to Somesville
The next morning, we moved on, exploring the Somes Sound, which cuts up the middle of Mount Desert Island. Somes Sound was formed by glaciers many years ago and the sea filled it in when the glaciers melted. It is a rare US coastal fjard, which is like a fjord, but not as deep or mineral-rich as those found in Scandinavia. Regardless, it was beautiful, and we made our way up to the top of the sound to anchor overnight outside of Somesville.
Looking north into the mouth of the Somes Sound. The 140 yacht to the left is the S/V Rebecca, owned by the CEO of H-E-B
It was a peaceful, beautiful spot. We got there early in the day, and we took the opportunity to go ashore and hop on the Island Explorer free Acadia Park Shuttle for a ride into Bar Harbor for some more provisions. The bus is a fantastic way to explore the entire park. It’s a well-run outfit with 11 different routes that you can take to visit different spots in the park.
View from carriage trail near Hulls Cove Visitor Center @ Acadia NP
Monday – Somesville to Northwest Harbor
The next day we headed back down Somes Sound, this time going into a slip at a marina, as there were some strong storms expected for the next few nights. Lori and I explored the downtown area, and for dinner we all walked over to the Nor’Easter Pound and Market for dinner. I had my fourth lobster of the trip!
Tuesday & Wednesday – Northwest Harbor to Winter Harbor
The next day was a rainy lay day, so we got up early to shower and do laundry. Then Lori and I donned our rain jackets and boots and took the Island Explorer bus to Sand Beach, hoping to find some sea glass. Sadly, we only found one jagged piece of recently broken brown glass. Oh, and a sand dollar! We walked the Ocean Path from Sand Beach to Otter Cliff, catching the bus to Jordan Pond, and then back to Northeast Harbor. We made the most of a rainy day and saw more of the beautiful Acadia park.
A view from the Ocean Path, Otter Cliff in the way back
We all walked back up to mainstreet and enjoyed some beverages at the bar at Colonel’s Restaurant, then had another fine meal aboard the boat for the evening.
Thursday – Winter Harbor to Bar Harbor
The next morning, we had a lumpy sail over to the Schoodic Peninsula, getting a ball at the Winter Harbor Yacht Club. This area is home to the only portion of Acadia National Park that lies on the mainland of Maine. We went ashore, walked into town and caught the Island Explorer one more time for a ride around that portion of the park.
Sunset in Winter Harbor
In the morning, Lori and I took Louie on a lovely walk down to the end of Grindstone Point and enjoyed the views. Back on the boat, we dropped the mooring and headed to Bar Harbor for the night, where we got one of the 5 mooring balls that the city of Bar Harbor maintains.
We went ashore, and I walked along the shore path and back to take in more of the beautiful sea views. We had drinks at Paddy’s Irish Pub and then went back to the boat for dinner aboard – my last night of the trip.
Friday –Bar Harbor to Bangor to Austin
Friday morning, Lori dinghied me over to the dock and we hugged goodbye. Another adventure come to a close. I grabbed a taxi & a bus to the Bangor airport, and then made it home at the end of a long travel day.
Maine calls itself ‘Vacationland.’ After spending 2 weeks there, I can see why. The Maine coastline is huge and full of rustic islands to explore. Acadia National Park is the 3rd most visited US National Park. The scenery is amazing. The free shuttles make it easy to get around without a car. The seafood is delicious. There is a nice mix of remote destinations and tourist destinations to explore. The summer weather is pleasant. The wildlife is abundant. I’ve never seen so many beautiful b0ats. This is definitely a must-see sailing destination.
Lori, Mike, and Louie were very gracious to let me join them on this part of their summer cruise. I had a really wonderful time. ❤
S/V Trident (left of center) moored in Bar Harbor. S/V Margaret Todd on the right.
Many years ago I was gifted a small book called “Who Moved My Cheese,” by Dr Spencer Johnson. It’s a quick read, and I recommend it. It delivers the message that change happens, and when it does, it’s not the end of the world, just keep looking for new cheese.
I’ve recently received impersonal emails regarding changes for two different apps that have become a mainstay for me – my podcaster app, Stitcher, and the My Photo Stream integration which made it easy to wirelessly sync photos between the Photos app on my Macbook and my iPhone. I use both of these capabilities daily.
The free Stitcher app is going away at the end of August, to become a monetized asset for its owner SiriusXM. I think I’ve found a replacement piece of free cheese for Stitcher. My Photo Stream is going away at the end of July. I’m still working on finding a new kind of cheese for that, as I’m not fond of using iCloud.
Regarding Stitcher, I found a nice article by PCMag on the top podcast player apps in 2023 and gave it a quick read. I picked one of them to try and installed it today, the Pocket Casts app. It was easy to export the set of podcasts I currently subscribe to on Stitcher in OPML format, and import it to Pocket Casts. My initial impression is thumbs up. It’s free, and it has most of the features I have become accustomed to. If you’re on Android, read the PCMag article to find a candidate for you there.
If your cheese has moved, give the book a quick read. 🙂
I’m enjoying our Chevrolet Bolt EV. It’s an unassuming electric vehicle that is roomier than it looks, holds everything we need, well appointed in features, and fun to drive.
The other day, while on a trip to the post office, I encountered a couple who had a flat tire in the parking lot. They had the car already up on a jack but were standing around on their phones. I asked if they needed help, and they said yes. They asked if they could borrow my lug wrench as the one they had was too large for the lug bolts on their wheel.
I said sure, and upon opening up the spare tire well in the back of the Bolt, I was surprised to find that there was no jack. No spare. No lug wrench. This car didn’t come with a spare?!
Is there a spare tire under here?No, there is NOT!
Anyway, I drove home, grabbed a lug wrench, and brought it back to them. They finished the job and went on their way.
After getting home I hit up Google and learned that Chevrolet Bolts, VW ID.4, Teslas, Ford’s Mach-E, and most other EVs don’t come with spares, not even as an option. I did not know this. So now Monte and I are doing some research on what we want to do about it.
We can buy a spare – either a temporary donut spare – or a full sized spare. But a fully inflated one doesn’t fit in the wheel well in the back of the car, so it would have to sit in the cargo space in the back. What is cleverly disguised as the wheel well for a spare tire is actually the place that they install high-end stereo systems if someone ordered the car with one. It is neither round nor big enough for even a donut spare. We could probably fit an under-inflated spare down there, but would need to be able to inflate it to 50 PSI when needed.
We can buy a jack – but one needs to be very careful about where to place a jack under an EV, given that that is where the batteries are.
We can buy a small, portable air compressor, which we probably will do at a minimum.
I have learned that spray-type fix-a-flats are not desirable to use, as they will foul the Tire Pressure Monitor gadgets that are inside each of the tires.
So why is this becoming the new norm? I have to assume it’s a combination of cost savings, weight savings for maximum efficiency/range, space saving, eco-friendly (for those who say it keeps rubber tires out of the landfill). But I suspect it is also related to the target demographic of EV owners, many of whom have probably never changed a tire in their lives.
If I think back to the many times I had a flat tire and changed it, it was due to running over a nail, or something else that led to a slow leak, for which I guess an air compressor would be a temporary fix. I’ve never had a total blowout. So, maybe an air compressor is all we need for now. Perhaps a spare in the boot for longer trips. Our Chevy Bolt EV has self-sealing Michelin Energy Saver All Season tires, which is even more re-assuring.
Anyhow, I’m sure my dad would have something to say about this, were he still around. 🙂
According to Consumer Reports, over a third of all new cars (gas or electric or hybrid) have no spare. It’s a thing. Needless to say, I was pleased to see a spare, jack, and lug wrench when I finally looked in the back of the Subaru.
If you are shopping for an EV and a spare tire is a deal breaker for you, check out this article I found that outlines a dozen or so EVs that come with a spare in the base package or as an option.
And make sure your roadside assistance plan and/or auto insurance covers towing your EV, properly (which generally means putting it on a flatbed tow truck).
I headed down to the University of Texas campus today to meet up with a bunch of friends to celebrate Laura’s birthday. Not all the ladies could make it, but we had a great lunch at Gabriel’s Cafe in the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, just down the street from the UT Tower. We all enjoyed catching up with eachother. Afterwards, we walked the few blocks to the Blanton Museum. Tuesday’s are free!
UT Tower – funny story… I was down here a month ago in May, right before graduation…the groundskeepers were spraying the grass on the medians with green spray paint. 🙂
I haven’t been down to the museum district since before COVID. And things sure have changed! There is a new pedestrian-only mall that goes all the way from the Capitol Building, up to the Blanton – and huge new office buildings where there used to be only a surface parking lot.
This is a pretty cool feature – the new Capitol Mall. The Bullock Museum is on the right.
The Blanton has done much work on their grounds, and this pretty awesome feature consists of a dozen 3-story tall structures that they call Petals. They provide much needed shade.
The new Petals architectural feature at the Blanton Museum. I LOVE this.
I need to come down more often to enjoy the exhibits.
Sheila365 