There are things in life that should be easy, but just aren’t. Danita wants to consolidate Bud’s 3 checking accounts into one. Bud’s primary checking account is at PNC, which has two branches right in Riderwood, and a branch less than a mile from us.

She started by closing Bud’s account at Wells Fargo. Danita is a signatory on both accounts, so this should be an easy deal for her to do without bothering Bud. She got it done, but ended up making two extra trips this week, both of which required using the gas car. She discovered at the last minute that the Wells Fargo account had a safe deposit box. It wasn’t a total shock. After all, there were two extra keys that looked a lot like safe deposit box keys but nobody knew anything about. Of course, the only way to return the keys and make sure the box was empty was to drive to Rockville. Danita called ahead to make sure she would be able to get into the safe deposit box. The branch manager assured her that everything would be set up and ready for her. I volunteered to be the driver. When we got there, everything was not set up, and the manager was no where to be found. I finally got bored and went next door to grab a hamburger at 5 Guys. I had plenty of time to enjoy the hamburger plus a bowl of peanuts before Danita was done. We drove to our PNC branch, where Danita presented a completed deposit ticket and a certified check. PNC agreed that Danita was a signatory, but insisted that only Bud could deposit the money into his account. Who would think it’s easier to take money out of a checking account than it is to put it in? So it was back to Riderwood the next day for Danita, where she met Bud and finally got the deed done.

Yesterday, Danita went downstairs to watch Ben Cartwright in “Bonanza” and tool around on her PC. She plugged her PC into the charger. Smoke came out, and the PC got very hot (melting some of the case). The PC is under warranty. Dell wisely decided not to ask us to turn the computer back on for remote diagnostics. Danita will be without her computer for at least a week.

All this made us re-evaluate the warranty on my PC. My computer is a year older than Danita’s. The warranty expires at the end of this month. It’s a way-cool warranty that covers anything, even accidental damage. If I accidentally drop the computer in the ocean, and I can retrieve it, I can get it fixed for free. Dell offered me a 20% discount on a 2 year warranty extension if I would be willing to part with $580. I have a very nice computer and it’s not cheap. But I couldn’t see spending that much on a 2-year warranty. So Dell offered me a second discount, then a third. I turned them all down, and hung up. Less than 5 minutes later, Dell called me back and offered the warranty for $330, still including the accidental damage coverage. That made sense. I won’t be replacing my computer for at least two more years. I was amazed how much the warranty came down simply by saying, “Sorry, it costs too much”.

My week was considerably less stressful than Danita’s. (Other than driving in the DC area, that is.) I finished reading two very good books recently. The first is “Rocket Men” by Robert Kurson. This is the story of Apollo 8 — the first manned mission to leave the Earth, and the first to orbit the moon. According to Kurson, this was the mission where the US beat the USSR to the moon. Russia could have beat us by launching a week before we did, but they didn’t think we would be crazy enough to leave earth orbit on the first manned mission using the Atlas rocket, plus the first mission to use the lunar orbiter. It’s a great story that explains the risks NASA took, and why Apollo 8 is just as important as Apollo 11 in the history of deep space manned exploration.

The other great book is “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. This is a fictional account of a Russian “non-person” who is sentenced to house arrest in a luxury hotel in Moscow. I don’t know if there was ever a similar situation in reality. Probably not. But the story is extremely well told. The book is absolutely worth reading.

We have a SOCA dinner party this evening. Danita is especially looking forward to kicking back tonight.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

It was a Laid-back week. I got some good rides in. I’m close to meeting my goals. I did a little work on the WiFi for our clubhouse. I went with Danita to visit Bud Friday. He was getting his carpet cleaned. We had to move furniture out of the way. The carpet came out looking very good. I gave blood before Church this morning. I wasn’t able to give blood while I was on Plavix, and got out of the habit. This was right at the Church. They took me as a walk-in right away.

The Emile Fischer vase was auctioned off this week. I listed it for shipping in the US only. A guy from Hungary told me he wanted it and asked my permission to bid. We traded jokes about paying import taxes on a vase that was made in Hungary, but had made its way to the US. I told him I thought shipping would be too expensive, but he could bid if he wanted. (I set this up so the buyer pays shipping.) He was the only bidder, and bought the vase for $1. He hasn’t paid his $1 yet. I wrote to him, but haven’t heard back. He hasn’t said, but I think $100 to $400 is a lot of money for shipping the vase.

After a week of chilling, we enjoyed the “Chill and Grill” party at the clubhouse Friday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

This was a week of small accomplishments.

Change our website calendar – done! The board asked me to make a change to our website calendar. That’s fine, but before making the change, I needed agreement not only on what we were removing, but what we would do to replace the old. I went through a long chain of Emails with no agreement. I have not been successful presenting plans to the board in the past, so I asked an ally to do the presentation. We all agreeded on a new plan. The changes are done.

Kitchen faucet — fixed! Moen sent some cool parts, but the only part I needed, the faucet handle, wasn’t included. When I called back, they sent the handle express at no charge. Thanks for the first class service, Moen.

Bike adjustment — done! The bike chain was rattling against the side of the derailleur cage. A decent bike mechanic could fix this in a couple of minutes. It took me a couple of hours. But the bike rides fine.

Rear porch trim boards — fixed! I spent about 90 seconds trimming the boards with my new small circular saw. One could say I spent $66/minute for the repair. Or one could say I saved a bunch of money on a contractor and had the satisfaction of fixing it myself. Thanks to Mark for being an excellent ladder holder. And thanks to the guy at Lowe’s who recommended the correct screws.

Rear porch cleaning — done! The porch was filthy, but I wanted to fix the trim boards before wielding the pressure washer.

Paint the rear porch — deferred. I probably should paint it this year, but it’s just not in the cards.

Nail down the details of our trip to France (tickets, etc.) — done! Actually we did this last week, but it fits on this list rather nicely.

Nail down the details of our Thanksgiving cruise — almost done. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite holiday. This year, it was going to be just 3. Even Danita would have difficulty preparing a proper Thanksgiving dinner for 3, so we decided to have Thanksgiving dinner on a cruise ship. Danita found a deal on a cruise leaving Baltimore, using a travel agent Bud and Leona had used for most of their cruises. Bud was talking about wanting to take a cruise. We invited him to cruise with us. He thought that was a great idea. Unfortunately, by the time we got home and called the agent, it was too late on Friday afternoon. I expect to get this done tomorrow.

Nail down a winter cruise with Mom — Done, and with more excitement to come! I wanted to visit Mom in February. Danita found a great price on a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale, and asked Mom if she was interested. She was. The tickets are purchased. We will take the car-train to FL, visit Mom for a couple of days, then drive to the cruise ship. When we come back, we’ll drop Mom off and take a car tour of Texas. Our first stop will be the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This is a very popular destination because it is also a popular cruise port. That Cape Canaveral hotel ticket is done. (It was one of the last rooms available.) We have a rough outline for the rest of the trip. It looks to be a fun and interesting tour.  On the way home we’ll visit Danita’s cousin Darlene in Atlanta. The trip topper will be a visit with Julia.

If that’s not enough excitement, we also have a neighborhood party coming up this weekend. The good times just keep on rolling in.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

We had a nice week. Now that we’re all retired, Circle can meet any day we want. This time, we wanted Monday. Danita and I hosted lunch. Here you see Tony and Donna Sochurek, Tina and Bill Bauman, Claire McCaig, Dwain Sabiston, and Rose Bertch. The last three are all widowed. It’s a sign of our time of life. I guess.

The trim boards on our deck need attention. I had a contractor I trust take a look. He said he would call back with an estimate. He also said his schedule was pretty full. He didn’t call, so I guess the full schedule won out. I decided I could do the repair myself, if I bought a new tool. It should be in tomorrow! (Hey, even chores can be fun sometimes!)

Danita and I spent several days nailing down the last details of our vacation in France. The only thing left is the ride to Dulles airport and packing our bags. We got a really great air fare to Paris on Air France. I checked it out pretty carefully before buying tickets. I verified the fare included a meal, a carry-on bag, and a checked bag. But I failed to check out the seats. It cost $25 each for us to reserve seats. All in all, it’s still a very good deal.

We had neighborhood parties Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a concert — three women singing tight harmony plus a pianist. They were very good. Sunday was an ice cream social and bingo. We ate the ice cream and did the socializing, then skipped the bingo.

Our board wanted a change to our website calendar. I proposed a solution that would meet the needs of the board while also meeting the needs of the majority of residents who use our website. (Web statistics are pretty amazing.) After a month of Emails, we were at a stalemate. When we got back, I sent an ally into the board meeting to explain my plan, which was finally accepted. You can see the results if you want. Go to https://www.snowdenoverlook.com/calendar/. It’s simple and lets people do what they want — get a quick answer and move on. I can’t believe how hard it was to get the board to agree to something this simple. A couple of residents have good ideas about how the web  page can be reorganized. I plan to remain neutral and implement changes after the battles have been fought.

A neighbor and friend moved and left an Emil Fischer vase behind. This was made in Hungary over 100 years ago. It’s an authentic antique. I was asked to place it on Ebay. It’s easy to post the base, but impossible to meet their expectations for what they think the vase is worth. There’s waiting and indecision. I finally announced that lacking a decision, I will post it Friday and, if necessary, donate the proceeds to charity. That at least does something good with the money and places the vase in the hands of somebody who wants it. I was able to get spectacular pictures for the posting. I used a very sophisticated photo technique. I used a blue fleece as a background and a point-and-shoot camera. The fleece was given to me for working at Assateague park. The results were not so bad, I think.

Mark returned from Physics Olympics Sunday evening. The US team did pretty well. He’ll be here a week, then fly out to San Diego for his new job next Sunday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

It is a cool and rainy day.

This morning, we saw the movie “Incredibles 2”. It was a great hit, even if the kids had already seen it. We went back to the house for lunch, then went out in the afternoon for some frozen yogurt with candy toppings. Our meals today are breakfast bar leftovers, lunch bar leftovers, and dinner bar leftovers. The kids must have liked the Disney Nature movies we’ve been watching. They picked “Disney Earth” for tonight.

We’ll be leaving for the airport early tomorrow morning. Assuming there’s no problems checking in and getting through security, we’ll have a nice breakfast at the Silver Diner. If getting to the secure area is slow, we have the option of a quicker breakfast.

The movie last evening was Cats of Africa. It was good, but not as good as the Chimp movie we saw earlier.

It was another day of spectacularly good weather. We opted for a walk in the park and time at the playground. It didn’t go over very well. But the pool went swimmingly well. Dinner also went well. We went to Pie Five to get customized individual pizzas. We wrote down the ingredients we wanted on each pizza, which made us a big hit with the pizza staff. And of course the ice cream / sherbet with chocolate chips was well received when we got home.

Tonight we’ll be watching a movie about the oceans. Turning the WiFi off was only partially successful last night. I will be collecting tablets at bedtime.

Tomorrow is the last full day together. The forecast is for a cool and rainy day.

The dinner last night was a big hit. The kids weren’t very hungry this morning. Maybe it was the rather large cup of ice cream included with the kids meals at BGR. We watched “Despicable Me 3”. The kids had already seen it, but they enjoyed watching it again.

We went to the Museum of Industry this morning. The museum has improved tremendously since we were last there. B & E spent most of the morning making a video game. You can play the games they made, but you have to really want to. Start Internet Explorer or Firefox. (Edge and Chrome won’t work.) Go to http://videogamewizards.org/. In the search box, type “Bryon”. Scroll down, download, and install the required add-on. Select “Keyboard” game play, and you’re good to go. More than one Elizabeth has created a game. Select the game from July 19.

We went out to a shaded picnic table right next to the harbor and had a bag lunch. Then we went back into the museum for another hour and a half. I enjoyed the antique engines, radios, and TVs. The picture below is of a White and Middleton engine, made here in Baltimore. It was quiet, simple, rugged, reliable, and burned anything from kerosene to natural gas. In other words, it was darn near perfect, and very popular for all manner of industry. I also enjoyed charging our E-car for free while parking for fee in the museum parking lot. Danita enjoyed information about an old factory where her grandmother used to work, information about Bendix (where she used to work), and many of the displays that reminded her of her early childhood in Baltimore. The kids really enjoyed a 1950 sedan that they could climb into and “drive”. It had a 2-speed automatic transmission, heater, steering that really worked, and all manor of old stuff, like window cranks. The car was at a Crown station “gas pump”. They had gas attendant uniform jackets, rags for wiping windows, and in general it was the most fun anybody has had since Jack Benny was on TV.

We came back home in time for two hours of swimming at the pool. After all this, decompression was called for (AKA screen time). The kids went to sleep reasonably early last night, but I plan to start turning the WiFi off at night, just so we don’t start developing some undesirable habits. Dinner tonight will be a burrito buffet.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Bryon and Elizabeth arrived at BWI airport just a few minutes late yesterday morning. They really enjoyed the flight and, according to the stewardess, behaved themselves wonderfully. The stewardess carefully checked my ID against the designated pickup person on record and had me sign for both. I was favorably impressed with her friendly attitude and her attention to security. It was an unusually hot and humid day, and our air conditioning had failed the day before. We went home, had a sandwich bar for lunch in our very hot house. Food bars work really well with B & E, because they have different tastes in what they want to eat. With a bar, they take whatever they want and there’s no fussing about eating.

Bryon, Lynne, Suzanne, Addy, Danita, Elizabeth

After lunch, Danita took them to the pool while I waited for the A/C repairman. We had one clap of thunder, which closes the pool for 30 minutes. But the sun was shining, so Danita and the kids played with some other things at the clubhouse. Twenty-eight minutes later, there was a second clap of thunder. Danita decided to come home. That was a good thing, because shortly after that we had a short but heavy rain squall. By this time the A/C was working, but the squall dropped outdoor temperatures faster than our inside temperature dropped. The kids were tired and a little fussy. It wasn’t time for dinner. That’s when we found the true power of screen time (when kids are permitted to use their tablets). Both went to their rooms, were totally silent, and entertained themselves until they felt more social. We had a baked potato bar for dinner, and retired to the basement for a Disney Nature movie about chimpanzees. The movie was unexpectedly good. We all enjoyed the evening.

E & B at the nature center

Today the A/C works, but it’s shut off because the weather is so delightful. We had a breakfast bar and were about to leave for Ed & Lynne’s house when the handle on the kitchen faucet came off in my hands. It could have broken a couple of weeks ago when we had a plumber repairing the garbage disposal. Lynne was home with Suzanne and Addy. The girls were quite excited. Lynne was relieved when we finally arrived. Lynne was prepared with extra bikes, helmets, and rules so they could go bike riding. We were prepared with swimsuits so they could play in a sprinkler. None of that was relevant. The kids had a good time among themselves without any adult supervision or input. After Lynne served a burrito bar for lunch, we all went to the Oregon Ridge Nature Center in Hunt Valley. This got us out of the house and in the direction that Lynne needed to go to take the girls home, and the direction we needed to go to take ourselves home. It was a lot excitement for the kids. They were cranky, but screen time saved the day again. We plan to go out to BGR for dinner. They serve the best hamburgers in town. They have kids meals with hot dogs optional for those who prefer.

We’ve had a pleasant couple of weeks with Mark. The lease on Mark’s apartment expired June 30. He came to live with us for a few weeks before heading out to his new job in San Diego.

We’ve had plenty of activities. The Columbia fireworks on July 4th were spectacular. We met the Chaprnkas at a rock & roll concert at Lurman Woods in Catonsville. Those concerts are always good. We had a neighborhood party, with hamburgers and hot dogs. Mark cooked a couple of fabulous meals for us. Mark is an accomplished cook, plus he used some very good meats that Ryn gave him when he visited her at Mace Chasm shortly before he came to Columbia. The house needed some attention. The garage and deck are spruced up. I still have the back porch to clean and paint. We also have some minor repairs, but that will have to wait until my contractor gets back in town. I have been riding and Danita has been swimming.

Mark is leaving this afternoon to go to Europe for 2 weeks. He and Jiajia are coaching the US Physics Olympics team. That’s convenient, because Bryon and Elizabeth are coming on Tuesday. They’ll be with us through next Sunday.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

I escorted Mom from WPB to Columbia. Dani had already arrived by the time Mom and I got home. We had a lot of fun relaxing from our travels and catching up. Danita’s food was amazing. We visited Charlestown, a senior independent living community run by Erickson. The visit went well. The next day we had lunch at Gertrude’s, the restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Then we took a tour of some of the sculptures in the museum. We were hoping to visit the outdoor sculpture garden, but the rain dictated we focus on the pieces that are indoors.

Then we moved up the coast to Bangor / Hermon. Southwest has direct flights from Baltimore to Maine, but they use the airport in Portsmouth, about two hours from Dani’s. Dani and Gail graciously offered to make two round trips to Portsmouth. We enjoyed more amazing food, including an excellent lobster dinner. We visited Solstice, an elderly independent living facility in Hermon. Solstice’s building was beautiful — bright and cheerful. Unfortunately, the rooms were small, they did not have kitchens, and the food at lunch wasn’t very good. We tried to visit a couple of elderly apartments, but they had waiting lists and the owners weren’t willing to show us an apartment.

But we had lots of fun in Maine. The ladies did some shopping while I sat in the “man chairs” and read or played with my phone. We ate at some very nice restaurants. We visited the cabin (very nice!). There was a good amount of rain, but it was mostly at night — just like in Camelot. Mom needed a sun hat and mud boots to make it up and down the trail to the cabin.And Dani and Gayle took delivery of a brand new Kubota tractor. Everybody got to drive the tractor except Mom.

Sunday, it was time to go home. We left Dani’s at 7:30 AM; Mom got home sometime after 7:30 PM. But the travel was all uneventful and everybody arrived safely at their destinations.

There’s plenty of pics below. I hope this finds everybody doing well.