Addicts

    We've been watching Game of Thrones in recent weeks, starting from the beginning. For a while there, we were able to restrain ourselves and watch only one or two episodes per night. We've sort of lost our minds, though. Saturday night, we watched three episodes. This resulted in stiff necks and we swore we wouldn't do it again. That sure lasted! After Jackson Browne, we watched another three episodes, going past midnight for the first time. Last night, we did it again, but stopped before midnight at least. We're about halfway through season 4 (out of 6). So we'll be running out of episodes fairly soon, there being only ten to a season. We dream about it. We talk about it in the night. No doubt we'll be joining a 12-step program soon. (No we won't.) We do try to throw in a light comedy now and then. Game of Thrones is excellent on many levels, but zany it isn't. We're seldom bored with it, though.

Jackson Browne show

    Yesterday's blog post today! Before heading to the Jackson Browne show, we formally agreed that if the show was bad at all or if our fellow attendees were again obnoxious, we would bail and come home. No on one and yes on two, but we stayed all the way and enjoyed it all. It was odd how many of his big songs that he didn't do, such as "Here Come Those Tears Again," "Boulevard," "That Girl Could Sing," "Lawyers In Love." I would have liked to hear "The Fuse" as well. But everything he did was terrific. He did one song that isn't on any record, another that's on his most recent record but which he didn't write. It's by a singer/songwriter very popular in Cuba but unknown here. On the whole, he came across as a very decent guy, and perfectly willing to do requests called out from the crowd. We dug it.
    The Township is still not our favorite venue. We learned a valuable object lesson, though. The expensive seats for the Moodies offered a great view, but we couldn't hear them well. The cheap (actually free) seats offered ok sight lines and we could hear perfectly well. If we ever return, I think we'll go with the balcony. But I seriously doubt that we'll return.

Jackson Browne

    We're going to see Jackson Browne solo acoustic tonight and I'm excited, really, I swear I am. The only thing is that I won the tickets last year, picked them up in early January for a show that was initially supposed to be in January but was postponed due to illness. And the radio has been playing the same promos since January of Jackson singing solo and acoustic. And it sounds very, very, very downbeat and depressing. I know that Jackson has been touring for decades and must know by now how to include an upbeat number here and there. I'm sure it will be a great show and that we will enjoy every minute. But I tell you what: whoever made that promo did Jackson a real disservice. If I hadn't won the tickets, there'd be almost no way I would have bought them. That said, I reiterate: I expect to enjoy every minute. AND to call out my home town like at the start of Running On Empty. We are hoping and praying that the "ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER!!!" people from the Moodies show aren't seated behind us again. Cross all fingers and toes.

Chihuahua chatauqua

    You wouldn't think it would be fun. It isn't a very exciting place. An unpaved road running from nowhere to nowhere, flanked by not very scenic farms. But it's the best place ever for excitable chihuahuas to run, since there aren't other dogs (or people) there. We've gone three times now, and twice with both chihuahuas, and it's been crazy fun every time. We are hoping that Lucy (the older, more nervous traveler of the two) will eventually start to associate car trips with fun instead of vets and plane flights. But it's possible that she has motion sickness. Anyway, once we get there she has fun and absolutely refuses to admit that she's tired when she's obviously flagging. It was supposed to be crazy hot today, but a tropical depression coming this way depressed temperatures. (It also raised humidity, but you can't have everything.) So we got an extra fairly temperate day in what is normally already summer around here. So yay!

Wow!

    The array of presents beloved Tamara gave me for my birthday is just flat astonishing, but I'm not sure she wants me to talk about it. However, the most amazing ones must be mentioned. A tape player with a USB connection for turning songs on tape to MP3s and a turntable that does the same for my old singles and LPs. I'm just in awe, overwhelmed, and crazy grateful. It will take a long, long time for me to work my way through all of them, and I'm going to enjoy every minute! What a sweetheart she is! She also gave me a lot of other neat stuff and three books, always the best way to stay high in my esteem. She is a mind reader, as well as a wonderful person and a sweet darling. What a birthday! Yay!

It's my party and I'll fail to blog if I want to!

    There's been a lot of these lately, haven't there? I was amused to dream last night about going to North Carolina and taking walks on golf courses which looked nothing like golf courses and everything like hiking trails. Sawgrass was mentioned, which I'm reasonably certain is not in North Carolina. A reminder of the Mark Twain quote about a good walk spoiled. There was also some business about a CD I have by Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt with only four cuts on it. In the dream, there was another cut I always left off that was 20 minutes long. Completely fictitious, but now I want to hear that imaginary cut. Have to go to Sawgrass I guess!

Ozone

    We were wondering why an hour of gardening kicked our butts so thoroughly yesterday. It turns out that today is an orange alert for ground level ozone locally. This suggests that levels yesterday were also high. Anyway it's likely. So no gardening will be happening today. I'll take my walk somewhere there's a lot of trees. I have a few such plays to choose from, and I can also seek out butterflies.
    At the moment, though, I'm imprisoned, because there's a plumber working under the house. I don't know why I have to be here since I have no kind of key to that crawlspace, but apparently it's part of the deal. Getting a request to flush from beneath my floor is a new experience for me. Hopefully it means we're coming close to the end of the problem. And I can get on with pre-birthday stuff. Or walking.

Real Estate

    Today we took Tamara's car to the dealership for much recall work. It's still there as of 5:30, but we're told we can pick it up at closing time at 7. So we wandered town and I showed her some of our cool neighborhoods (we have some, really!) and looked at hip houses. I don't think I'll be buying any time soon or ever, but it was fun to dream. It was fun even for me, a near lifelong resident, to see some neighborhoods I'm not so familiar with. And Zillow lets you see inside the houses which was also a bit of a revelation.
    We also finished up weeding her yard, or anyway made massive progress. Still have to pick up car. I'm on the porch enjoying the crazy beautiful weather with Amelia, who seems to be getting over her Great Explorer tendencies. At least for today.

Chihuahua joy

    This is yesterday's entry. Time got away from me and I never got a chance to make one. Tamara and I had another of those days that sound like little on paper but was pure joy in execution. We took her chihuahuas to the far end of (unpaved) Old State Road again, this time bringing both instead of just one. Man did they have fun! You would not believe how fast old, arthritic little dogs can run. We had pretty big fun, too. Also we saw good butterflies, like a very large yellow-form tiger swallowtail. So I was much relieved on that score.
    We brought along her stroller (bought on Craig's List for pet use), which didn't get a lot of use with the athletes we were with. However, we then took them to Grill Marks. It's a restaurant that welcomes dogs on the patio, but the chihuahuas had to be zipped away in the stroller or they would have run out into Gervais Street. But we gave them a selection of what we were eating. We think it made them pretty happy. It was a banner day for chihuahuas.
    We also went to Lowe's. She had already bought a push blade mower; this proved inadequate for the weeds in her yard when we put it together. So we got a cordless weed whacker, and this did the job nicely. So on the whole, a lively, fun, productive day. Aren't we good?

Worked out

    Well, the plan was to go to Charlotte for VegFest. On the way, we were going to look at the spider lilies at Landsford Canal State Park. That was more or less how it turned out. However, we had trouble finding parking for the festival. Went around some blocks and found-- ANOTHER Ethiopian-Eritrean restaurant! And it was great!
    So in short, the trip came out a little upside down. We dug the spider lilies. We dug the Ethiopian food. We were fairly bored with VegFest, although everyone was very nice. However, if we'd gone all the way to Charlotte just for that, we would have been sorely disappointed. But a great day we had, and know a new Ethiopian restaurant now. Yay!

Lilies!

    Today we're headed to VegFest in Charlotte, where we're hopeful of finding gluten- and soy-free treats but certain of dairy-free since it's actually a vegan festival. On the way, we're stopping at Landsford Canal State Park to see the Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies. I'm ridiculously pumped and best pleased to have the new phone/camera. The previous one had a 4X zoom, but by that it meant it cropped the picture to 4 times smaller. This one has an 8X zoom and the smaller picture has much more detail than one cropped to the same size. (I tried it out yesterday.) In other words, the old camera didn't really have a zoom, just an automatic cropping feature. This one has an actual zoom. Thanks Anne and Malcolm!
    Last night, for the first time in ages my feet weren't cold. Tamara had been feeding me arepas and tamales. We were joking about the vitamin C in Corn. But maybe there is something in there that I've been missing. "Ferulic acid, beta-carotene, vanillic acid, coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and syringic acid are other key phytonutrients provided by corn. Corn is a good source of pantothenic acid, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber, manganese, and vitamin B6." Who knew? Google suggests it may have been the mussels from the other day. Cool! We love mussels!

Fireflies!

    This is yesterday's entry, meaning that today's follows momentarily. I took Tamara to Congaree National Park at sunset last night to see the synchronized firefly show. There were many many many more visitors than when I went last year. Much to my joy (not at all sarcastic), there was a car in front of us in both directions. So no chance of hitting a cat this time. So our visit was much more joyous than was mine last year. The fireflies put on a brilliant show even though all the photographs came out black. Just because the new phone camera works great in low light doesn't mean it will pick up points of light in VERY low light. That said, they did show up in a couple of pictures; just not well.
    In case you haven't heard, synchronized fireflies only appear in a few places in the world. The nearest (not counting yards in Columbia) is apparently Southeast Asia. So pretty cool stuff and we're very lucky. Very talented bugs we got up in here.

Oh just rain

    It's the peak period for the Catawba River Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies and I'd really like to take Tamara to see them, but we have rain pretty nearly statewide pretty nearly every day. This stinks and everything, but after last fall, it's kind of nice to have days of rain without any sense of fear. Mind you, we didn't have any fear last time until the actual floods happened. But as I've mentioned, I at least had a touch of panic for several months after the flood any time it rained. It's nice that that has passed. It will be even nicer to be able to take Tamara to see the lilies. Hoping for Saturday. It could happen!
    Beloved brother Malcolm and sister Anne sent me a new high-end phone. I have to drop by T-Mobile to get it activated. There may be a gap in service and in blogging. I'm sure the world is deeply worried.

El Mariachi

    We are probably the only people you know who would make a quarter-year together celebration out of a visit to a Mexican grocery. But what a Mexican grocery! I mention it, though, because anyone who might be surfing in from our hometown Columbia SC might have a little trouble finding it, even online. El Mariachi as far as the Internet is concerned is a store on US 378. It's a fine store, too, but a little small. Their newer location on Decker is still listed under its former name. This one, though, is vast. Described in the one article about it we found online as "larger than Trader Joe's." Tamara called it the Whole Foods of Mexican stores, although I think she did it in Spanish. She was looking for some fairly obscure ingredients, popular in Latin America but impossible to find here. They were all in this El Mariachi, none in the other one nor in the other store I searched. So if you're in the 803, take the Decker Boulevard exit from I-77 and look out on your left. What a place!
    We also found authentic Latin food very nearby at Taqueria Jalisco I think it was. El Mariachi also had a restaurant but it was a little weird since no one was there. The checker said you walk up and tell the lady (whom we hadn't seen when we were back there) what you want and they cook it. Might be great, but we went with the better-reviewed place. Tonight, we go swanky. Hey, you only have one quarter-year together celebration!

Good sign

    No, literally! One of the candidates for county council has a very well designed yard design. I could of course describe it or post a photo, but that isn't the point. The point is that I'm considering voting for him or her (it's a non gender determinative first name) exclusively based on the design quality of a yard sign. I'm not going to do it, of course. I'll look up the candidates and read up on the issues and all that between now and the election in June. I'm just mildly disturbed that I'm tempted to vote on that basis. Mildly, though.
    This is the day Tamara and I hit the quarter-year mark. We were going to go to a swanky restaurant for supper but after we had gone to a diner for breakfast and a taqueria for lunch, we figured we might not have room for supper. So we'll do that another day. We did go to the best Hispanic grocery in town (El Mariachi on Decker if you're interested) where Tamara, who used to live in Central America and grew up visiting Mexico frequently, was in heaven. So a good day so far!

End of an error

    So I'm shuttering Columbia's chapter of Drinking Liberally. I should have done so years ago because it went out of business even before I became the host, but for sentimental reasons I soldiered on. However, we've gotten to the point where it's just Tamara and I being in a specific space at a specific time, fielding one or two Facebook messages asking who is there. This is hardly fair to Tamara and hardly fun for me either. If people wanted to come, they would have done so by now. So it's the end. I feel mostly relieved. Oh and I suppose am waiting to be begged to carry on with promises of frequent future attendance. Not. Holding. My. Breath.

Asheville!

    We had just about the perfect day in Asheville. The food, the shopping, the sights-- it could hardly have been better. Unfortunately, after early rising and a lot of driving, I'm pretty nearly exhausted, so you'll just have to take my word. If anyone wants details and or restaurant tips, just comment below and I'll gladly share them tomorrow. But, damn, dang, wow, what a day we had! It was windy so the temperate weather meant that I should have worn one of my 19 too many blazers, but jumping into shops and galleries on every block solved that problem readily. Zowie we had fun! And our animals even more or less behaved while we were gone. Will the miracles never cease?

Please sign and return

    When I was buying the car, the finance guy at the dealership tried a number of lenders to swing me a car loan and I tried USAA. All turned me down, which I understood. Now all are sending me written notice that they turned me down, which I could easily live without. USAA told me at the time that I didn't need to have insurance with them to get a loan, which I didn't particularly need to know since I do in fact have insurance with them. Now they've sent me a letter which they want me to sign and return acknowledging that they have informed me that I don't have to buy insurance from them (which I do anyway) to get a loan from them (which they've already turned down). And you know? I think I'm going to make an administrative decision and not bother signing and returning. I'm sure it's required by some law; I'm sure all the unnecessary and unwanted notifications from the assorted unwilling lenders were required by some law. I'm just saying I could live without it.

Open again!

    After two years, three months, the elevated boardwalk at Congaree National Park is AT LAST open again! Just in time for fly season, when it's really needed! I'm so thrilled it's ridiculous. Saw it on Facebook and (invited Tamara first then) immediately set out to hike it. It still has that new boardwalk smell!
    Bad news is that all the roads southeast of Columbia are being worked on at the same time. I wasn't aware that we're Duluth, but apparently it all has to be done at once to beat these brutal winters. So Bluff Road is closed and you're shunted on to Old Bluff Road. That isn't a problem because that's the normal route to the national park. Unfortunately, it's being worked on, too, to the extent that half the road is dirt for a significant distance and the speed limit is 10 mph. Ouch. I got out again via a circuitous route involving more road work of course. Still glad I made the trip, and can't wait to bring Tamara. As I say often in these situations, it was good to be home.

Prepared to live off banana chips

    I keep thinking up great blog entries, which I then forget by the time I get to the keyboard. Maybe you've noticed. So in the meantime, I'd like to note that Tamara and I again ate at Cabanas on US 378 (Sunset Blvd., West Columbia), a fun, charming Honduran place. The first time was a little nerve-inducing since they didn't seem to know what gluten is. This second time was, too, but all my fault. I ordered something that included (breaded) fried chicken. I was willing to try cutting off the skin and breading, but it was somewhat too dry for that to work. Tamara asked if they would substitute something not fried and they did! Chicken breast no breading.
    Point to all this is that the basic dish was fried banana chips, very much like mofongo from my favorite Puerto Rican place on the other side of town. Fried banana chips, cabbage and chicken. I just loved the fried banana chips, very much like potatoes. I just don't know how good an idea eating banana chips (or plantain for that matter) at every meal would be. But I might be willing to try. Other point is that Cabanas was just like visiting out Honduran cousins if we had any. Most recommended for people without food sensitivities, but highly recommended nevertheless.

Abbreviation contest

    My bank sent a second debit card. The last I heard, one had been sent a month and a half ago but I never received it. So a new one was sent to my branch. Nobody mentioned sending an extra; the invisible one sent all those weeks ago supposedly had been canceled. This one has exactly the same number as the one sent to the branch. In short, the one competent bank employee turns out not to be either. Everyone is welcome to play in the new contest to rename NBSC, more usually the National Bank of South Carolina. I'm open to any suggestion, but lean toward anything starting with Numbskulls.
    Meanwhile on day 2, Tamara is still house-hunting in Savannah. Virtually, but still. Still thrilled that she loved it as much as I do!

WE WENT TO SAVANNAH! WE WENT TO SAVANNAH!

    Really, some day there will be a real blog entry. Right now I'm very tired. The drive down and back was actually pretty relaxing, but still made for a long day. A wonderfully long day, but a little fatiguing. All we did in Savannah was walk around a bit, eat lunch, walk around a lot, sit in a bar and cool down and come home. This I'm sure sounds totally unexciting. It was the awesomest! Tamara loves Savannah if anything even more than I do. I think she started house-hunting. So we had just the most wonderful time even though we did nothing but take what amounted to a self-guided walking tour. (We like their cathedral, too.) It was about as hot as we could have managed though, which is a bit of a bringdown considering what the weather is like there for half of the year. But hey! If we lived there, we'd know where to find air conditioning breaks. Anyway, marvelous day with my marvelous girlfriend. And the new car performed a little better than the old one. We might go back soon. But first: Asheville!

Oh hi, summer!

    Mind you, the forecast has already changed. But for a minute there, the five-day forecast was for 90s every day this week. Up until lately, this would not have affected me much, since I live in a world of air conditioning. However, since Amelia has decided that "I get to be an outside cat, too," 90 degrees outside is where I will be more of the time than I would strictly speaking prefer.
    I am hoping that she notices pretty soon that she is a Norwegian forest cat and much too darn furry for this sort of nonsense. But so far, she's all about the nonsense. Tamara and I are more or less planning to go to Savannah tomorrow on the grounds that that was supposed to be the one non-90-degree day. Since the forecast got a little less hot and bothersome, there's a little less weather-related pressure. Also, it's still May ffs; there should still be cool days. Still, I'm hoping that we go all the same. She's never been, and I love Savannah. And it would be nice to give the new car a good shakedown cruise. I'm hoping.

Blessed relief

    Tamara has finished her long, long, long difficult semester. She is immensely relieved and I am on her behalf. We are out to catch up on fun stuff, hoping for instance to hit Savannah on Tuesday, the one cool day predicted for the week. I'm not trying to do another brief entry, but I'd rather be with my sweetheart than writing this. So here's another short one. Fun thing was I was bringing her takeout for supper last night and she submitted her last paper just as I was about to pull in her driveway. Pretty darn neat! We are the king and queen of timing!

A NOTHER moral question

    I've been at this for five years. It seems likely that I've used the topic "A moral question" by now. But if not, this way is still interesting if not funny. Anyway...
    So my friendly used car salesman Dave tried to get a little slick. Twice. The Carfax report available online said, as I mentioned, that the car had been in an accident. Dave gave me a printed report that had that information deleted. I showed him the one saved on my phone, but I guess he didn't take detailed notes. He produced another one that showed an accident but this one after the car was on their lot. (This would also mean that they called the police for an accident involving one of their own used cars, which seems a little excessive, but still.) Dave also went on and on about their 160-point inspection. He gave me a copy of it in fact. It mentioned which day the car had come into the dealership's possession-- a month after the accident date on Dave's Carfax report.
    The question is should I do anything about it? The mechanic looked over the car (my mechanic, I mean, not 160 point man) and said that if there had been any damage it had been repaired perfectly. It didn't affect me particularly then. Still, one doesn't like to see dishonesty, nor used car dealers living up to their reputation. I doubt I'll do anything. I did more or less like the guy. But it was a little skeevy, I think.

Mr. Hamlet's bank also indecisive

    For future ref, line up the bank loan first. Then select the car. Picking the car first pretty much means paying for it all. Oh! Only if you have no credit record. Not so much to say. I was told to come in after noon to finish up the transaction. I tried to get a loan through USAA over the phone, but the guy I talked to didn't get the part about me opening an account first and so it was turned down. I stopped by my bank to see if they would do me a loan; the personal banker was very encouraging.
    To make a long story short, they were busy and she didn't get back to me until roughly now. I had long since gotten fed up and just wrote the check. The whole point to the enterprise was to GET me a credit record. I can still do a title loan (from the bank, not one of the skeevy storefront operations) but I'm fairly fed up. However, I have a kicky almost new car belonging entirely to me with quite low mileage. So there's that.
    Last fun thing was the business guy Jim trying to sell me an extended warranty. I told him I was sure it was a great idea, but I couldn't write a bigger check and I just. had. to. be. out of there. Ironic when they're trying to hammer more money out of you by running down the reliability of their own product. I think I can live with the decision.

Mr. Hamlet buys his car

    Tamara really needed to finish her schoolwork today, but nevertheless agreed to come with me to look at my prospective new ride. It proved to be a very long afternoon. However, everything went well. We took our test drive basically to a mechanic. We were dismayed when he said the examination would take an hour and were more so when nobody came to get the car for ten minutes or so. But they actually finished in a half hour and issued a buy recommendation.
    We didn't actually test drive it much longer. I would have liked to take it on the highway, but we wanted to get the deal done soon. That did not actually happen. Much paperwork had to be done. The fact that I had literally no credit record was marveled at. In the end, I gave them a down payment and we agreed to settle up tomorrow afternoon. So I am 39% or so owner of a 2014 Toyota Avalon XLE hybrid. I'm reasonably thrilled about it, but my main reaction is relief not to be driving that crappy car anymore. Not that I felt any shame; just the sense that it might blow up (or otherwise fail) at any moment. I was also tickled that the lady at USAA told me that my premiums would be going up due to trading in for a 20-year newer car. NO!

Mr. Hamlet and his car

    My friend Walt found me a couple of used Toyota Avalon hybrids on cars.com. One was very very low mileage; that one has since sold. The other one also has quite low mileage. The Carfax report also says it had an accident just before being traded in to the dealership. The report offers no details. It does say that there was no major damage. Presumably it was a fender-bender and the person just traded it in rather than deal with it. But I would be more comfortable with more information. I'll probably follow up on trying to get a mechanic to look at it tomorrow. I'm still pretty confident that it's the car that I want. Just not as confident as I was before looking at Carfax.

Where do I know your face from?

    I was at Stepping Stones thrift store on Two Notch when a shorter grey-bearded black gentleman passed me, turned, and said, "Where do I know your face from?" I told him that I had been about to ask him the same. I asked if he played jazz anywhere, since most of the people I know tangentially seem to be musicians of some kind or another, but he said no. So I said, "Dialysis place?" and he said yes. It was funny to find myself being a little nostalgic about that place. It wasn't really an awful place, and people were generally friendly and uniformly supportive. But it was dreadfully boring. Nevertheless, it was nice to see one of the nicer people there.

Numb

    My lips and tongue have gone numb. I am hoping that this is due to changing supplements from a B-vitamin complex only one to Publix' imitation of Centrum Silver. The latter lists all ingredients, none of which should contain gluten. But nowhere on the package does it say "gluten-free" (like my B complex does). Also the problem dates from a couple of days after I started the new vitamins. So I've switched back, and most sincerely hope that sensation returns very very soon. On the whole, I'm very tired of having a body that lets me down almost every day. I swear I didn't used to be this old. Oh yea-eah.

Perfect game!

    I think I mentioned that a month ago, we were in Charlotte where a restaurant somehow failed to return me my debit card. The next day I called the bank and asked them to cancel my card and send me a new one. They assured me that they would. Weeks later (after the requisite 7-10 business days), I asked at my nearest branch and the Personal Banker told me that nothing had happened. Not to worry, though, HE would cancel the card and have a new one sent. After another 7-10, I got sore annoyed and called the bank again. Turns out, they HAD sent the card when I asked the first time; it just went missing in the mail. Personal Banker had done nothing he had said he would, or at least nothing on my account. This is the same guy who mislaid my telephone number when I was trying to get a fax to be able to do my taxes, eventually causing me to have to pay Office Depot $5 for the same service when it turned out to be the wrong fax. (Not his fault that time.)
    I don't want to say the Personal Banker's name; it might be unfair and ageist to someone as young as Andrew. (Oops!) The lady at the help number is overnighting the card to my other nearest branch (not Andrew's) and also put my correct phone number in the records so they won't have to write it on a fugitive piece of paper next time. I was glad to find one competent person in the bank hierarchy. It won't be enough to make me stay, but it was nice to find one.
    Meanwhile, Tamara is feeling much better. I hope it is long before she has migraines again and hope even more that it's never. Crossing all fingers and toes.