Still Life
15:42 Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 78.49°F Pressure: 1011hPa Humidity: 79% Wind: 4.32mphWords: 258
I was a bit bored this afternoon. We did some more yard work this morning, which kind of put me off my plan to work in the garage. But after some time in the recliner, I seemed to rally and managed to get out to the garage and put up a couple of shelves.
I've been deleting images from my Photos library, and that had me looking at shots I took with the tiny Olympus E-PM1, which was my first micro-four thirds camera. I don't know why, but I find those images appealing somehow. It's the last iteration of Panasonic's LiveMOS 12MP sensor, at least in an Olympus body. I believe it's the same sensor that was in the E-5 and E-30 DSLRs. Panasonic's earlier 8MP and 10MP LiveMOS sensors were known for somewhat high levels of chroma noise at any ISO above base. The 12MP sensors were much better controlled in that respect.
Anyway, it's probably just something subjective, but I do like those sensors paired with the Olympus jpeg engine, so I pulled out an E-PM1 I bought some time ago, specifically to have a body with one of those sensors on hand. I don't shoot with it a lot, so I got the tiny E-PM1 so it didn't take up much space.
I bought some flowers yesterday, and I thought this looked nice. It's unedited, straight out of the camera. Something that afforded me a few minutes of diversion this afternoon.
And gave me something to blog about too.
✍️ Reply by emailBuckaroo Banzai
07:06 Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 67.1°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 80% Wind: 6.06mph
Words: 400
We finished a re-watch of Season 4 of Only Murders In the Building the other night, and browsing around Hulu for something else to watch I noticed Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which I'd never seen before. So, into the queue it went, and we watched it last night.
I'm not a huge Wes Anderson fan. I'm conscious that I'm watching a Wes Anderson film the entire time, I never really get into the movie. I feel like I'm just watching a Wes Anderson performance, and he doesn't seem that interesting because it's always the same schtick. I never have that problem with Quentin Tarantino. I know I'm watching a Quentin Tarantino movie, but it's not intrusive the way Wes Anderson's style just sort of screams, "LOOK AT ME! I'M WES FUCKING ANDERSON!"
At some point in the movie, there's a clip from an old Steve Zissou documentary where he's in the Antarctic or someplace and everyone's kind of partying and he tells everyone to be quiet. He hears an animal crying somewhere out there in the ice.
And that's when it twigged for me. I was watching a Buckaroo Banzai remake by Wes Anderson. I mean, Earl Mac Rauch should've received a writing credit, or at least an "inspired by."
When the end credits rolled, it was just overt. It didn't feel like homage so much as appropriation. "Great artists steal," and all that.
I don't know. I liked parts of the movie, especially the sets. But once I was aware of the Banzai ripoff, I was even less into the movie as I kept looking for more ways Anderson ripped off Banzai, and did it in a way that seemed disrespectful to the original.
It's a shame too, because I love all the actors, and the sets were cool. The scene near the end in the mini-sub was pretty interesting in the post-TITAN era. "Are we safe in this?"
"Probably not."
I did a quick search this morning, and the similarity hasn't gone unnoticed. But the web sites that seem to have any writing about it are just ad-infested assaults on the eyes, so I didn't pursue it any further.
Anyway, disappointed. Wes Anderson movies often make me laugh, which is, I suppose, their point. But this one just made me a little mad, and I felt bad when I laughed.
✍️ Reply by emailCorrection
14:54 Monday, 11 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 88.29°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 36% Wind: 7.31mph
Words: 37
The photograph in the preceding post was not from last night. Shame on me for not deleting old photos from the SD card!
We strive for editorial accuracy here at the marmot. We'll try to do better.
✍️ Reply by emailLast Night's Sky 8-10-25
Current Wx: Temp: 68.95°F Pressure: 1023hPa Humidity: 68% Wind: 7.07mphWords: 573
It got warm over the weekend, and we ended up turning on the AC in the evening. Nice sunset last night.
It was a lazy weekend for me, but Mitzi worked on cutting back some vines. I'm going to spend some time in the garage I think, trying to get a few things organized.
Interesting Tinderbox Meetup on Sunday. Mark Bernstein talked about using Git for version control with Tinderbox, a new spatial view for Tinderbox using a building metaphor, and a version in development that allows an AI app like Claude to interact with Tinderbox.
Git seems interesting, but there's a learning curve, and it's kind of an intrusive process. What it does point out is the failure of MacOS's Time Machine and the "versioning" feature of the application API. Now, I recognize the differences between Time Machine snapshots, "versions," and "version control" in Git, but if "versions" (as in "Revert to..." from the File menu) worked as intended, then at least half of the utility of Git would be covered.
I've tried using "Revert to..." many times, and it seldom worked as expected and almost always involved a Tinderbox crash immediately after. The problem probably has something to do with having the Documents folder in iCloud and working on the same file (not at the same time) in two different Macs. I don't know how Git would behave with having the repository stored in iCloud, but the architecture seems a little more robust anyway, from my decidedly uninformed point of view.
I didn't know that Git was built into MacOS, and perhaps there are some automations I could work out using Run Command with a stamp that would make the process less intrusive. I understand that Git is intended to be "intrusive," as in "deliberate," and that one would wish to record certain "meta-data" with a commit to aid in recall as to why you made a certain change, but that only makes sense in the context of your platform architecture, which isn't something you do every day (Unless you're Jack Baty.). But the only reason I've ever had for wanting to restore to a previous version of the marmot, was because I'd added posts on a different machine, opened the marmot on another machine where the local snapshot of the file was opened, which for reasons only Apple knows, hadn't updated to the most recent version stored in iCloud.
I'm only using one machine these days, so I don't think it even matters anymore. Maybe if I was into tinkering with how the marmot works or the CSS or something, it might be more valuable. But I have little talent for tinkering, which is why this blog has changed so little in format and presentation over so many years.
The new view was interesting. But I don't do that much thinking anymore. If thinking made more of a difference, I suppose I'd be inclined to do more of it. (I jest. But jest barely. Heh.)
What's most intriguing is the MCP facility to allow an AI to interact with Tinderbox. I'll be watching that closely because I think it may give me a way to leverage the content of my old blog, Groundhog Day into some new posts. Not to "recycle" that material, but to kind of gather it, distill it and polish it into something coherent.
More to follow, I suppose.
Until then, you know how it goes...
✍️ Reply by emailThese Are Better Days
09:11 Sunday, 10 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 72.68°F Pressure: 1024hPa Humidity: 68% Wind: 5.59mph
Words: 312
A close friend sent me a text yesterday, saying she read this in The NY Times and thought of me. I asked her to gift me the link because I'd unsubscribed to the Times many years ago for its dereliction of journalistic duty.
If you can't, or won't, click through, it's a piece by John McWhorter about his newfound appreciation for Bruce Springsteen as a poet.
My friend mentioned the comments, and so I read some of them (there are over a thousand). Familiar sentiments, similar views. Nothing to complain about.
It's hard for me to describe the place that the Boss holds in my heart. While little of my biography could be said to be reflected in his lyrics, so much of my inner experience was. Enduring that experience, surviving it, and ultimately transcending it was a journey with Bruce as a companion and often a guide.
Bruce has written and spoken of his father's struggle with depression and his own. Been there, done that. Still encounter it from time to time, but not so much anymore. Doesn't seem to find any purchase. No ghosts that haunt me these days. Maybe they'll be back someday, but I don't think so.
I think that's probably one of the few gifts of getting old.
Therapy was undoubtedly more valuable than the CD player, but the music was more accessible. More available. In the car, in the parking lot, in tears before going to work.
Everything was so everything back then.
Now everything is just everything. And that's okay. It leaves space. Admits grace?
Everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be.
Do your best, the rest is not up to you.
We're all in this together.
We only have moments to live, and none of us is getting out of here alive.
So just breathe.
Because these are better days, baby.
✍️ Reply by emailI Can See Clearly Now
08:17 Saturday, 9 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 66.09°F Pressure: 1024hPa Humidity: 75% Wind: 5.26mph
Words: 121
The smoke has cleared! The far hills are visible in the beautiful morning light. Nature's canvas has been restored. AQI sensor shows 15, which is pretty much normal around here.
We spent yesterday morning completing the liberation of a tree (probably a maple). Took several loads of vines, dead limbs, grass and weeds over to the neighbor's place and deposited them in the gully that serves as a yard waste repository. There's another tree I want to liberate, but I'm giving my back a break instead of breaking my back.
We're off to a walking history tour of Watkins Glen. It's a beautiful day, but it's also NASCAR race day in Watkins so maybe it'll be crowded?
The beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailBriefly
08:19 Friday, 8 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 65.91°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 85% Wind: 6.8mph
Words: 352
After writing about a "pause" yesterday, I went out and did a lot more work! And kind of "suffered" for the rest of the day. I'd intended to just do some raking, but you know how it goes... Mitzi helped out and we loaded a lot of the debris into the bed of the Mav and drove it over to the neighbor's house where they've said we could deposit it.
I liberated a tree from a canopy of grape vines and we can now see the road through a gap in that overgrowth.
We'll be back out there this morning.
I always enjoy Jack Baty's blogging, regardless of platform, and his photography. He's been writing a bit lately about AI, a topic that isn't especially compelling for me. After having tried that Chinese knock-off on a local model with the iMac, I've pretty much confined myself to using ChatGPT from time to time. It's been helpful and not especially misleading. I think it correctly identified a type of rock I submitted to it in a photograph (gneiss). A book I ordered seems to suggest the same thing.
As to the larger social and economic effects, I think they're less pressing than the unfolding climate catastrophe, and may actually be useful in attempting to forestall it, albeit ironically. Here in the US, we're pressing hard for leadership in AI, but we're building these massive data centers that stress an aging electric grid infrastructure, encouraging people like Elon Musk to use fossil fuels to power them.
Of the things I worry about, it's the rise of authoritarianism and the climate catastrophe that are forefront in my mind. AI might be disastrous as well, but if it is, the first two are way out in front of it. Our civilization will collapse with or without AI. If a truly intelligent, self-aware AI results at some point, assuming they don't all fight each other and kill the remnants of humanity in the process, maybe they'll keep us as pets.
The far hills are still murky, but the moon was yellowish last night, not orange.
✍️ Reply by emailMeta-Me
09:59 Thursday, 7 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 70.07°F Pressure: 1028hPa Humidity: 76% Wind: 6.29mph
Words: 126
The past few days I've been looking in on the On This Day in the Marmot page. I was somewhat horrified to discover that there were glitches in some of the markup for earlier posts. Easy to fix, but I'm not sure how they crept in in the first place.
Anyway, I checked today's page and it had a glitch in the first post, so I went back and fixed it.
Then I read the post.
Wow. I could write like that?
Seems like I don't write like that very much anymore. Maybe because it never seemed to matter very much. Didn't seem to make any kind of a difference.
But I liked reading it this morning; and I wish to commend it to your attention.
✍️ Reply by emailPause
09:06 Thursday, 7 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 65.62°F Pressure: 1028hPa Humidity: 88% Wind: 5.66mph
Words: 552
Taking a bit of a break today. Between wielding the telescoping hedge trimmer, weed-whacker and rake, and getting two jabs yesterday, I've got a bit of any achey-breaky back (and a sore shoulder). I hope to at least get the stuff I've cut down and raked bagged up today. We'll see how I feel later.
It's still smokey here. The moon was reddish last night, but I didn't feel motivated enough to get the camera out. I haven't looked at the weather discussion, but I'm guessing this is more of that "blocking" that sets in when the jet stream gets all wonky because we've overheated the atmosphere. My AQI sensor shows a bit of improvement though, down to 35 just in the last few hours, so maybe some air is moving. Plus I can make out the far hills, but they're still murky.
I've been reading Colossus: Bletchley Park's Greatest Secret by Paul Gannon. It's slow going because Gannon insists on a thorough treatment of Germany's encrypted radio teletype networks, which were something of an innovation back then. It's a bit tedious, and doesn't seem to really have that much to do with developing the first electronic computer. But I'm only a third of the way through the book, so hopefully it'll pick up soon.
One thing that surprised me, despite feeling as though I've read a lot about Hitler and Germany under the Nazis, was that Hitler had thrice-daily meetings with his generals, where he micro-managed the war. He'd get so pissed off when things didn't go his way, he'd blame his generals for not following his orders. So he had stenographers attend every meeting to record everything that was discussed, so he'd have the receipts when things went sideways. (I wonder how that worked out for him?)
Anyway, just before the surrender, they tried to burn the archive, but some of it survived and they were eventually collated, translated and published in book form in 2002, Hitler and His Generals: Military Conferences 1942-1945, by Helmut Heiber and David Glantz. There are excerpts from them in Gannon's book. It's 1158 pages, and weighs a pound and I'm wondering how useful it might be? Apparently most of the stuff is pretty mundane. Still, I'm curious. Haven't decided yet.
Speaking of Hitler, I was amused to see Tim Cook debasing himself before the Mad Orange King. So much of Apple's reputation, such as it is these days, was built around the hero-worship of Steve Jobs. I wonder if Jobs would have kissed Trump's ass as much as Cook has. Maybe. He was a bit of a pragmatist, "Microsoft doesn't have to lose in order for Apple to win," or words to that effect, back when he took that $100M investment from Microsoft shortly after returning to Apple.
From the earliest days up until it became clear that the iPhone was going to be a paradigm shift, I took some pleasure in calling myself an Apple user. Kind of in the "Crazy Ones" spirit. Then things started to get screwy as Apple developed more market power, starting with the app stores I guess. Now it's just another corporate behemoth, beholden to "creating shareholder value," and defending its position in the (anti-)competitive marketplace.
Depressing.
But so it goes...
✍️ Reply by emailMore Progress
16:10 Wednesday, 6 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 77.76°F Pressure: 1028hPa Humidity: 60% Wind: 4.36mph
Words: 591
Well, I got a couple of jabs, a haircut and a rake! Oh, and lunch. Holy Cow deli is right across the street from the barber. I figured for a $25 sandwich (chips, cookie and a canned soda), the Mav could stay in their lot while I got my ears lowered.
Came home and figured I'd try out the rake and one thing led to another and I got the hedge trimmer and the weed whacker out and kept telling myself, "Now, don't overdo it again, Dave." But you know how it goes, get to a point where you think you might quit and then you see another spot that looks pretty easy. Now I have a pretty nasty blister on my left thumb. My back isn't as jacked up, but it's complaining. I've got a bunch of debris to dispose of, but hopefully my neighbor is going to give me a hand with that.
And I've only put a dent in the amount of weeds and vines and overgrowth down there along the road. Our other neighbor offered to give me a quote to come over with a piece of equipment he has and mow the whole thing down, but I figure I can use the exercise and I need to know what's going on in there anyway. There are some black caps down there and I want to keep those and try to encourage them. They've got berries on them now and I've been eating some as I've been cutting. Not sure there's enough for jelly or anything, but there are a few and they taste good.
We haven't had the AC on since last week. It can get a little warm in the afternoon, but with the windows open and the ceiling fans on, it's comfortable. In fact, as I was sitting in here yesterday, it brought to mind being a kid up here. We didn't have air conditioning, and in the summer we just opened the windows. Of course, it wasn't humid very often, but there were some hot days when I'd just lay on my bed and read science fiction paperbacks with their covers torn off that I'd bought for $.10 down at the Clockville Superette. Too hot to do anything else. The mornings and evenings were usually cool though.
There was no air conditioning at Bancroft Hall at the Naval Academy either, though all the academic buildings were air conditioned. That was uncomfortable, because Annapolis is both hotter than upstate New York, and way more humid.
But ever since I graduated, I've always lived in a climate-controlled environment. It's kind of nice just having the windows open, listening to the birds chirping and singing. That seems to come and go through the day. They seem pretty quiet now, but there's usually something singing nearby. In Florida, I can only recall them being vocal in the morning, and then mostly silent throughout the day. Of course, you seldom have your windows open in Florida, so who knows?
I've enjoyed listening to the crickets the last couple of nights. I hadn't really noticed them before, but they've been pretty hard to miss the last two nights. And Mitzi heard the coyotes again the night before last.
I think there's a lot to be said for having your windows open to the outside. Of course, the air quality isn't the best right now. Still can't see the far hills for the smoke and haze in the air. (Just heard a bird sing.)
And the beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailProgress
06:57 Wednesday, 6 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 62.47°F Pressure: 1028hPa Humidity: 83% Wind: 5.12mph
Words: 1130
Got a few things accomplished yesterday. HVAC at the Florida house is fixed. Condensate line was clogged. I'd forgotten to tell Mitzi to remove the cap to the drain line at the air handler to allow air to enter as condensate was evacuated. Only charged me $110 for the service call because they'd just performed the semi-annual service in May.
Next chore was to install a water line from beneath the kitchen sink to the refrigerator. Watched a YouTube video or two and went to the local hardware store, Watkins Supply. Found the necessary items and returned home. $51 for a 3/8" and 1/4" t-connector and 10 feet of steel-jacketed tubing seemed a bit pricey.
None of these little DIY jobs ever goes very smoothly for me. The shut-off valve is connected to PEX, and the valve itself was really stiff. So I had to hold the valve body with pliers while I tried to turn the handle. Success. Removed the cold water line to the faucet, added the t-adapter, reconnected the cold water and the water line.
Next step was to get the dishwasher out from under the counter. The house originally had a polished concrete floor, later tiled over, but not wall-to-wall. Makes for some interesting challenges with appliances. I had to spin the adjustable feet at the front of the dishwasher up to be able to get them over the tile. One turned easily, the other required some WD-40.
All of this is being performed by an overweight, mostly out of shape, 68-year-old, lying on his side on the floor.
I should mention that once we'd gotten the kick-plate removed and looked under the dishwasher, the array of spider webs was somewhat disconcerting. Spent a little time with a hand vac and hopefully removed any potential problems.
With the dishwasher out from under the counter (Don't forget the two screws at the top, screwed into a metal grid epoxied to the counter.), I was kind of relieved to see a hole already drilled into the adjacent cabinet, above the floor of the cabinet. I was thinking I might try to run the water line below the floor of the cabinet, but that meant much tighter confines, trying to get back behind the dishwasher. Since there was already an enormous hole drilled into the wall of the cabinet to permit the plug to get to the electrical outlet, I just ran the line through that, below the wire and over to the other wall of the cabinet, where I drilled a much smaller hole to get to the refrigerator.
Let me say this about LG refrigerators: Their documentation sucks. The owner's manual purportedly explains how to connect the water line, but I couldn't figure it out. Thankfully, there was a video on YouTube. The water line connection is covered by a rubbery, silicone nipple that gave me the impression it was some kind of refrigerant connection. Would it have been too much trouble to put a sticker on there that said "H2O"? Probably.
Anyway, got everything connected, the filter installed and tested everything. So far, no leaks. Fridge dispenses water. It has not made ice yet. Not quite certain why that's the case and again, the documentation sucks. I had the app installed on my phone and toggled it on and off from the app.
Later yesterday, Mitzi installed the app on her phone. After she got it installed she said it asked her if she wanted to "share" the device with me. I told her no because I already had the app installed and the fridge added to it.
This morning, with no ice still, I went to consult the app and the fridge was gone! Apparently, Mitzi adding it to her phone deleted it from mine. She "shared" it with me again, and I have it back but boy is that a shitty interface/user experience.
I've since gone into the control panel in the refrigerator and held the ice-maker button down for three seconds until something beeped and flashed. Then there was some clicking from the vicinity of the ice-maker. No sound of water filling it, but more activity than before and the light is on. We'll see what happens. So far, no good.
After I finished installing the water line and checking for leaks (none, amazingly), I figured I'd spend some time in the recliner. But just then Fedex showed up with the Makita telescoping hedge trimmer I'd ordered. So of course I had to go play with that.
I mainly wanted it to cut down overgrown areas that the string-trimmer either struggled with, or was really too small to be efficient. This hedge trimmer has an 18-inch blade, so I can get a swath of weeds at a time. It's heavier than I expected, but manageable. I spent an hour outside trying it out, which was probably about a half-hour longer than I should have. Between getting up and down off the floor repeatedly, contorting myself to get under the sink and behind the dishwasher, and then wielding that hedge trimmer, I managed to get my back into the same condition it was after moving all those boxes into and around in storage. Plus, I have this enormous bruise on my right arm, which I have no idea how I acquired.
Was planning to go to the gym this morning, but another "recovery" day is in order.
Still plenty to do. I've got an appointment for my flu and COVD shots later this morning, then a haircut at noon, maybe some lunch in between, depending on how long the shots takes. On my way home I'll stop by Walmart and pick up a rake. The hedge trimmer does a good job knocking growth down, now I need an efficient way to pick it up and dispose of it.
I've downloaded all of my medical history from the two portals I'd been in, and I still have to complete the medical history for the dermatologist to get that appointment scheduled. Still haven't finished the breaker panel documentation project. I need to add another entry for the dishwasher outlet in the kitchen, I managed to omit it the first time, even though I'd included all the other appliances. And I need to call a guy about a generator. Power went out for 10 minutes on Monday. I managed to get all the networking stuff plugged into the Bluetti AC70 and got the Internet back up before the power came back on.
So, still plenty to do around here. Likely to be that way for the foreseeable future.
La-dee-da-dee-dee
La-dee-da-dee-da...
✍️ Reply by emailStill Smokey
06:44 Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 57.36°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 92% Wind: 2.53mph
Words: 486
Still can't see the far hills. I suppose I should look at the news and figure out where these Canadian wildfires are.
But it reminds me that we watched The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout on Prime Sunday evening. If you have Prime, it's worth seeing. Even if you don't have Prime, I suppose you can find it somewhere.
It's about atomic testing in the Nevada desert, and fallout contamination at the St. George, Utah shooting location. It's an awful story, and the kind of story that helped sow the seeds for the "conspiracy theory" culture that thrives in social media today.
One of the things mentioned in the film that struck me was that Howard Hughes was only 70 years old when he died. I had the (false) impression that he was much older. Crazy, but much older. I can't help but think of Elon Musk when I think of Howard Hughes now. Both ego-maniacs. "Spruce Goose" and Starship? I don't know. Seems like there's some similarity there. Someone keep an eye on Elon's fingernails.
There was a fascinating article in The Guardian the other day about the collapse of civilizations, including this one. One of the causes of the collapse of prior civilizations is inequality and the rise of "elites." Howard Hughes and Elon Musk being examples of such, along with the members of the Atomic Energy Commission, filled with a distorted sense of their own importance and responsibility by their proximity to power, both nuclear and political. Makes sense. It's spot-on with how I think events are unspooling today.
The article is about the book, Goliath's Curse, by Luke Kemp, which you have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find. I guess linking to Amazon is bad now, so I'm confident you can copy and paste and search with the best of them.
Great quote from the piece:
“History is best told as a story of organised crime,” Kemp says. “It is one group creating a monopoly on resources through the use of violence over a certain territory and population.”
What's taking place in America, well, specifically, the Trump administration and late-stage capitalism, is certainly a story of organized crime. (American spelling.)
There is no such thing as "power" when it comes to politics or society. There is only "authority." Money is a liquid form of authority, and the more money you have, the more people you can bend to your will.
Coercion is not "power," it's violence. The illegitimate use of authority is violence. Authority without responsibility and accountability is an error, a bug in the code. But it's not "power." (See: ICE.)
The only power that exists in anyone's life is the power to choose. And it's an exceedingly weak power, and it's seldom exercised consciously.
But we've been over all that before. For all the good it ever did.
The beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailAmong the Living
09:38 Monday, 4 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 69.89°F Pressure: 1023hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 2.51mph
Words: 684
Made it to the gym this morning. There was a bit of fog, and some condensation on the windshield, so I drove slowly when I left the house at 0515. This is also prime deer time, which is another reason for caution heading down the hill.
And, sure enough, a deer was standing by the side of the road, looking at me as I neared the bottom of the hill. I slowed and, as feared/expected, it stepped out into the road and proceeded to cross into the opposite field. I don't know if I'm manifesting these guys by thinking about them or not; but I'm reluctant to drive much over 35mph around here early in the morning or the evening.
Got to the gym at about 0530 as elliptical guy was lacing up his shoes. May have been my imagination, but it seemed like he tried to speed up as I dropped my stuff in a cubby, because he's seen me on the elliptical and I'm sure he didn't want his routine disrupted by some stranger getting on "his" machine.
Probably my imagination.
I got on the recumbent and did 10 minutes on the bike as a warm-up, partly because I hadn't been in the gym in over a week, and partly hoping it would act as some kind of physical therapy for my achilles. It's relatively quiet this morning, stiff and a little sore, but not burning.
I looked at my training plan and made some adjustments because another old guy was there and he was on the lat pull-down machine, so I went over and did some squats. This is a lower body and back day. So I'm alternating between sets of squats and reverse-flies, and I hear this grunting and groaning behind me. Both of the old guys are on machines, and it's like a competition to see who can audibly strain the most.
Which probably explains why the young guy who'd walked in after me went over and turned on the music.
Had to figure out two new machines, leg extensions and back extensions, but it wasn't too difficult. Went conservative on all the weights, partly because I tended to overdo it last time I was in the gym, and partly because I'm probably still recovering from moving boxes and furniture last week.
Between pairs of exercises, I spent four minutes on the bike, which gave me over twenty minutes of cardio for the hour I was there.
Sun was up when I left and it was a big red meatball. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is in the area and affecting the air quality. Can't see across to the hills on the far side of the lake this morning. My weather station PM2.5 air quality sensor is showing 82, which is supposedly in the unhealthy region. But I'll take this over hurricanes.
Last night we chatted over FaceTime with a friend of ours from Florida who also moved at just about the same time we did. She moved to Ohio, where she still has family. She's in her 70s and is doing this all on her own; but she bought a very charming house and we exchanged video tours. Before we signed off she said that she missed her landlord but she didn't miss Florida at all. We told her we didn't either, and I sent her a link to the Dixie Chicks performing Patti Griffin's Please Don't Let Me Die In Florida.
My next chore is crawling under the kitchen sink to figure out what I need to buy to hook up the ice maker on the refrigerator. I'm going to have to drill some holes though cabinets to run the line to the fridge, but I don't think that's going to be too tough a challenge. Pulling the dishwasher out from under the counter might be a little tricky, but hopefully not. The biggest obstacle is working under the sink, but it should be doable. ("He said, confidently.") More to follow.
As perhaps not "always," but for now any, the beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailAmong the Dead
Current Wx: Temp: 50.61°F Pressure: 1024hPa Humidity: 89% Wind: 3.58mphWords: 776
We did head out to Elmira yesterday morning, to visit Mark Twain's grave. The weather was just beautiful. He's buried in Wood Lawn Cemetery, about 22 miles from here. His headstone is modest, but there's a small monument on the site as well.
The cemetery is beautiful, and apparently accustomed to a lot of visitors. I saw a lot of people just walking their dogs, or strolling along, as well as people like us, visiting the graves of some of the notable and distinguished people interred there.
Along with Twain, we visited the graves of Hal Roach, John W. Jones (an enslaved man who escaped from bondage and made a successful life for himself in Elmira), and Ernie Davis, the first Black winner of the Heisman Trophy, and a tragic story as well.
There were a few more we would have liked to have visited, but my achilles was not cooperating. As I was hobbling over to catch up to Mitzi who found John Jones' grave before I did, a gentleman came up the path, waving and calling after me. I thought perhaps I had done something wrong, and was about to be chastised or rebuked, but no.
It was Steve Schecter, whose acquaintance we were about to make, and who became our companion as we walked among the dead. Steve is a character. He was calling after me because he thought I might be a local, he being from Cleveland, and might know where Ernie Davis's site was.
I allowed that I was not a local, and did not know where exactly he was buried, but that he was among the graves we intended to visit as well. Mitzi had a web site open on her phone that gave the latitude and longitude of particular sites, so off we went looking for Ernie Davis, as his was the next on our list.
Well, it became quite a trek. We had to walk down a hill and I knew I wasn't going to enjoy walking back up it. But Steve kept up a steady conversation, mostly with Mitzi because I couldn't keep up. We had a photo to go by, but many of the monuments looked the same. Happily, Mitzi spotted the football and basketball left on top of it, which saved a lot of time.
Steve likes to visit graves, as I do, and now Mitzi does. Our first one in this region was Rod Serling's, and his was a bit difficult to find. It's very modest, and the cemetery makes little effort to point it out. But I've been to it twice now. We've also visited Carl Sagan's grave in Ithaca, and Glenn Curtiss's in Hammondsport.
We visited several in the Congressional Cemetery when we were staying with Mitzi's daughter in DC. I have the impression that Wood Lawn is better maintained, even though it is far larger than the Congressional Cemetery.
Steve's family wondered where he might have wandered off to, and we met his son and daughter at Ernie Davis's grave as they had been following us from some distance. Steve wanted to visit Hal Roach's grave before they left, which we had already visited, and as we were about to leave in the car I noticed he was about to head off down the wrong path, the same one I had taken, and gave him a vector in the right direction. He then gave us his URL and asked us to look him up, so I did.
It really made for a very interesting morning!
From the cemetery we went to visit the Chemung Valley Museum. There is a lot of history in this region, and it's kind of inspiring that they seem to value it. Perhaps because, in some respects, the past represents better times, at least economically. Part of the museum is in an old bank, and a vault is incorporated in the display. It's rather small and modest, but well worth visiting.
After spending some time learning about Elmira's past, we decided to find some lunch. We settled on the Ill Eagle Taphouse. Good reviews in Yelp, but they had an event yesterday and so our experience may not be representative. But it served its purpose, and the venue was certainly unique. It's in an enormous old federal building, so we enjoyed looking at the architecture and finishings as we waited for our food.
It was a lovely drive back home, though I did enjoy getting into the recliner. Achilles is stiff and sore this morning, but not too bad. We walked about 2.5 miles in the cemetery, but I think it's the uphill efforts that irritate it.
✍️ Reply by emailBlaugust?
07:01 Saturday, 2 August 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 48.72°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 1.74mph
Words: 396
Note the temperature. It's a bit warmer here, though. 52°F, and I'm not complaining. I love it. (Ask me again when it gets down into the 40s.)
I saw someone refer to this month as "Blaugust," though I don't know if that's supposed to be some tag or meme or something. I don't keep up with the meta-sphere as much anymore, though a lot of the blogs I follow post mainly about blogging, which is pretty meta.
Achilles is stiff this morning, but not on fire, which is a relief. Put some pics up at Flickr from yesterday's walk down the hill. They're not art, but I think they capture some of the beauty of this place.
Mitzi wants to head into Elmira this morning and check out Mark Twain's grave, so I guess we'll do that once I take care of the trash. Means I'll miss the Tinderbox Meetup, but we haven't done much exploring lately, so I guess we should get out of the house and do some and it's a nice day today.
The Florida house is having a glitch with the thermostat. Last time this happened, I had to use the shop-vac to clear a clog in the condensate line. A float switch in the condensate pan cuts power to the thermostat when it doesn't drain properly to prevent it from overflowing and causing water damage. It started acting up while Mitzi was down there for her conference, and I had her go out and try and clear it, but she didn't get any water. It's possible I didn't explain it right.
Anyway, our realtor scheduled a visit from our HVAC company on Tuesday and they should get it sorted. Seems weird because they were just out there for the summer service while I was up here at the end of May. And of course I declined to pay to renew the maintenance agreement, so I'm sure this visit is going to be extra expensive.
Such is life.
I'd comment on the corruption and malfeasance taking place in the highest halls of government, but it just depresses me; more so because it seems like somewhere between thirty to forty percent of my fellow citizens happen to think it represents "good government."
Or "owning the libs," which probably amounts to the same thing for them.
Anyway, the beat goes on...
✍️ Reply by emailOh, hay!
Current Wx: Temp: 70.45°F Pressure: 1025hPa Humidity: 56% Wind: 10.27mphWords: 543
I was feeling pretty good this morning, my back is almost back to normal. My achilles seemed to have been improving and it was like 57°F outside. So I decided to go for a walk.
Everything seemed to be going really well, so I walked all the way to the bottom of the hill, about a mile. Got some shots of an old 19th century church falling into ruin down there.
Then I had to walk back up the hill.
Likewise, it seemed to go okay. Got a good sweat worked up, and my heart rate got up to 154, which is about where it is when I'm working out pretty hard. I could feel my achilles kind of complaining, but there was nothing for it because I had to get home.
Well, now it's screaming at me. I have no idea what it's going to take for this thing to resolve itself. Obviously I tried to do too much, after a few days of minimal pain and stiffness. Live and learn, I guess. It's just frustrating and disappointing.
The clouds off in the distance are above Seneca Lake. Happens pretty often, though I couldn't name the phenomenon that causes it.
Beautiful day today, high 60s. Rained all day yesterday, got nearly an inch, but today is just gorgeous.
The Schuyler County Historical Society had an event at the fire station yesterday evening, Geology, Geography and Glaciers, and Mitzi and I attended. I was surprised by the number of people in the room, more than 50 I'd guess. Maybe a lot more. The speaker was a retired school teacher who has an interest in the subject, and he gave a marvelous talk, very entertaining and informative. Explained what made a lake a part of the Finger Lakes, and it has to do with a terminal moraine dam.
We learned about erratics, or I guess more commonly, glacial erratics. Large stones that aren't original to the area. There may be a small one outside the back door, it's a large rock that I thought might be granite, but ChatGPT suspects sandstone. Sandstone wouldn't be an erratic. We mostly have shale, limestone and sandstone around here. But there are rocks everywhere. When they dig the foundation for the new house, we'll no doubt have a lot of them. When I was a kid, helping out on my uncle's farm, one thing we'd do after a field was plowed was "pick stone." A large sledge called a "stone boat" would be hauled behind the tractor, and we'd have to pick up any large rocks and toss them on it. They'd wind up at the edge of the field, which was typically a hedgerow, usually of cedar. We'd play there and build forts out of the rocks. I guess kind of prehistoric Minecraft.
You'd pick stone so that when you ran the disc harrow over the plowed soil, you wouldn't bang up the discs so much.
Over the years, most of the big stones had been picked out already. So we were only getting ones about the size of a brick or maybe a football. Nothing a 12-year-old couldn't handle.
I guess that's enough about all that. I'm going to go elevate my foot.
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