Last Weekend for August 31-September 2 with Bonus Labor Day Action: Early to Bed
Last weekend was apparently so exhausting that it took most of this weekend just to write this recap!
Friday night M and I used a gift card for Sweet Melissa that I had won in an a raffle late in 2017. The restaurant was nearly completely empty, which was totally at odds with how it was when I went there back in 2016. My salad was still good, but not so great that I'd go out of my way to go there sans gift card. We were both tired and went to bed early.
Saturday I ran the usual errands, including working out. That was a nice warm up for the main event, getting rid of the piano from my house. I should note that I never actually bought a piano, it was left in my house when I purchased it. pianodan had evaluated it at some point and determined that it dated from circa 1925 or so (my house was built in 1921) and would be very expensive to repair enough that it could hold tune. Since I don't play piano, this wasn't a big priority. Recently M had dropped some gentle hints that perhaps that space could be used more productively.
I assumed I'd have to pay someone to haul the piano away. I even left messages with a firm that advertised this service, but like every other contractor I ever contact, they never called me back. In the meantime, I posted it on the internal classifieds at my office. Despite my being extremely clear about the pianos many shortcomings (the ad said "it's broken, it will be more expensive to fix than it's worth, only take this if you are in a noise rock band that is into untuned pianos or if you've ever wanted to light a piano on fire"), one of my coworkers claimed it. He showed on Saturday with his father, two big strong friends, a pickup and a motorcycle trailer. We were with minimal fuss able to back the trailer up near my front porch, and the five of us were collectively able to carry the piano down to the trailer. I moved the bench out, and at that point it wasn't my problem anymore. My coworker thinks that either he'll fix it himself OR he'll turn the piano into a bar, which is an idea my friend Rowan suggested to. More power to him.
At this point M had left to attend the Geauga County Fair with a friend and the friend's two children. I briefly considered joining them, but I was utterly exhausted. I instead finished reading "Retreat With Stillwell" by Jack Belden Belden was mentioned in John Steinbeck's war correspodence collection Once There Was a War, and I hadn't read much about the Burma campaign so I snagged this one. I'm pretty sure the library copy dated from the original 1943 publication, and hadn't been checked out in a good 20 years. That's a shame, but it was a very good piece of writing that to the extent possible talks about the chaos of a fighting retreat. I'll read more of Belden's books.
That night, M got home and found me basically asleep at 8pm. She asked if I wanted to join her for dinner with some friends, but I went to sleep and don't regret it at all.
Sunday morning I did some yard work. That day's radio show marked the start of the fall radio semester. I did another fine edition of Soul Delirium with no particular theme. After radio M and I went over to John & Danita's for their annual Labor Day BBQ. Then we went home... and fell asleep early again.
On Monday morning I spent several hours putting together my latest concert calendar while M went birdwatching. That afternoon, M and I went to the 4:10pm Indians game against the Royals. For only the second time this season, the Indians watched while I was in the park. It was a very boring game. The Indians didn't play well, and except for a brief tease in the bottom of the ninth never looked like they had a chance to win, or even a pulse.
After the game we went to Buckeye Beer Engine. M doesn't eat red meat typically, but on the big three "grilling holidays" (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day), she sometimes will have a cheeseburger. This time we both indulged and then we again (you guesssed it) went to bed early.
Friday night M and I used a gift card for Sweet Melissa that I had won in an a raffle late in 2017. The restaurant was nearly completely empty, which was totally at odds with how it was when I went there back in 2016. My salad was still good, but not so great that I'd go out of my way to go there sans gift card. We were both tired and went to bed early.
Saturday I ran the usual errands, including working out. That was a nice warm up for the main event, getting rid of the piano from my house. I should note that I never actually bought a piano, it was left in my house when I purchased it. pianodan had evaluated it at some point and determined that it dated from circa 1925 or so (my house was built in 1921) and would be very expensive to repair enough that it could hold tune. Since I don't play piano, this wasn't a big priority. Recently M had dropped some gentle hints that perhaps that space could be used more productively.
I assumed I'd have to pay someone to haul the piano away. I even left messages with a firm that advertised this service, but like every other contractor I ever contact, they never called me back. In the meantime, I posted it on the internal classifieds at my office. Despite my being extremely clear about the pianos many shortcomings (the ad said "it's broken, it will be more expensive to fix than it's worth, only take this if you are in a noise rock band that is into untuned pianos or if you've ever wanted to light a piano on fire"), one of my coworkers claimed it. He showed on Saturday with his father, two big strong friends, a pickup and a motorcycle trailer. We were with minimal fuss able to back the trailer up near my front porch, and the five of us were collectively able to carry the piano down to the trailer. I moved the bench out, and at that point it wasn't my problem anymore. My coworker thinks that either he'll fix it himself OR he'll turn the piano into a bar, which is an idea my friend Rowan suggested to. More power to him.
At this point M had left to attend the Geauga County Fair with a friend and the friend's two children. I briefly considered joining them, but I was utterly exhausted. I instead finished reading "Retreat With Stillwell" by Jack Belden Belden was mentioned in John Steinbeck's war correspodence collection Once There Was a War, and I hadn't read much about the Burma campaign so I snagged this one. I'm pretty sure the library copy dated from the original 1943 publication, and hadn't been checked out in a good 20 years. That's a shame, but it was a very good piece of writing that to the extent possible talks about the chaos of a fighting retreat. I'll read more of Belden's books.
That night, M got home and found me basically asleep at 8pm. She asked if I wanted to join her for dinner with some friends, but I went to sleep and don't regret it at all.
Sunday morning I did some yard work. That day's radio show marked the start of the fall radio semester. I did another fine edition of Soul Delirium with no particular theme. After radio M and I went over to John & Danita's for their annual Labor Day BBQ. Then we went home... and fell asleep early again.
On Monday morning I spent several hours putting together my latest concert calendar while M went birdwatching. That afternoon, M and I went to the 4:10pm Indians game against the Royals. For only the second time this season, the Indians watched while I was in the park. It was a very boring game. The Indians didn't play well, and except for a brief tease in the bottom of the ninth never looked like they had a chance to win, or even a pulse.
After the game we went to Buckeye Beer Engine. M doesn't eat red meat typically, but on the big three "grilling holidays" (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day), she sometimes will have a cheeseburger. This time we both indulged and then we again (you guesssed it) went to bed early.