Month: June 2025
3
Nothing really to say. Nothing to write about. Taking something of a break before the storm of pictures and thoughts in Greece and Poland. But we need the number...
Which isn't formatting correctly on the main page. I could track down the problem and fix it, but who really cares?
5
The wind came so suddenly, seemingly instantaneously, and it was so immediately intense, that we were sure it had to be some kind of mini-tornado. What's a F1 tornado's wind speeds again? The news report later classified it as only a thunderstorm, but I'm not convinced. It came up suddenly, the whole thing lasting no more a minute, then disappeared almost as quickly. There were lingering gusts, but nothing like what the main storm was like. According to the news:
Thunderstorms accompanied with wind gusts as high as 71 mph have caused power outages in areas of the Upstate and Western North Carolina.
As of 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, at least 25,000 customers are without power in the Upstate. More than 10,000 are without power in Western North Carolina.
WYFF News
Still, gusts of 71 miles an hour classify it as a EF0 tornado according to the Enhanced Fujita Scale. What would a EF0 tornado be? Isn't that just a not-tornado? Strong thunderstorm?
Whatever it was, it knocked out our power. K's phone only had 5% battery left, so we plugged it into L's computer to get a bit of a charge.
Fortunately, it's not a terribly hot or humid night, for the power company estimates getting the power restored some time early tomorrow morning.
The Boy took the opportunity to go to bed early, as did K. And the GIrl? She's not here. She's in Gainesville for orientation at the University of Florida. Yes, we looked at our finances, looked at the possibility of getting in-state tuition (do-able, but not this year), and decided it was the better option for our girl. A six-hour drive away, so she's close enough to be relatively quickly reached in an emergency and far enough for her to feel she's on her own.
She and I texted extensively this afternoon when she was making decisions about her class load for the fall semester. She's done AP Calc 1 and AP Calc 2, so her plan was to take Calc 3. She was getting advice from her advisor (because that's what they do) that she might consider re-taking Calc 2. "There's some stuff they go over that most AP classes don't cover" he/she (not sure) explained. "I looked at the Calc 2 syllabus," she texted me, "and I feel confident in everything on it." What to do? I explained that it's up to her: "If you feel you need to re-take it, re-take it. If you want to go for Calc 3 but are a little nervous about it, all universities have programs for assistance in subjects like math and English. You can go there and get help from some grad student, I'm sure."
That she was asking for advice was a little surprising. She's so strong-willed, so confident (she planned her entire high school academic course with no input from us, and she never really asked either of us for help or advice) that I took this to be another sign of her maturing. She's independent, yes. But independence doesn't mean doing everything solo.
If she comes hope during Thanksgiving break asking for help in Calc 3, it won't be me helping her. I'm no good in math. Truth be told, I never even took Calc 1. I tried it in college (liberal arts -- one or two math courses required for all), but I just got lost. It didn't help that the professor would fill a whole board with an equation and then stop and erase it all, mumbling "I don't think that will show what I want it to show," just when I was thinking, "Hey, I think I'm getting this..." That help will have to come from K. And since she won't be taking any humanities, I'll be out of the loop.
Also out of the loop has been the Polska countdown I always do. I have been taking a break from writing, posting only pictures because frankly I had nothing to say. And with a bunch of pictures, my countdown wouldn't format properly. But we leave in five days. I guess I should update the flag: we're going to Greece first, but I'm not too worried about that: it's still, first and foremost, a trip to family in Polska.
Our pup is not a fan of baths.
The Boy has gone through several hairstyles over the years. When he was little (i.e., when we made the decisions), it was quite short. Given his violent cowlicks, it seemed the safest bet.
As he grew older, his hairstyle preference grew longer. A couple of years ago, he kept his hair almost down to his chin all the way around.
Today, we went to a new barber shop for a haircut. Despite E's protests, I showed the barber a picture of the long-hair phase: "It was Lord Farquaad style!" the barber said. E just laughed.
Today's cut was about the best he's ever gotten. K loved it. "Approved" was L's verdict.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone ever goes more than a few days without something somewhere breaking. Usually it's small things that we can almost ignore, I think, but the medium and large issues seem to cluster up and hit all at once.
K's car required some work (issue 1), so yesterday I drove it to our Polish friend who's also a mechanic. He lives in the north of the county, right off the rails-to-trail project that runs through the county, so I usually drive the car up there and ride my bike back.
But issues never come alone: they always bring company. On the way back, I got a flat (issue 2). In the same tire that I'd just repaired. Or didn't repair -- what's the difference?
But issues never come alone: they always bring company. The ramp to Papa's room (it will always be "Papa's room") needs to be repainted (issue 3), which means it needs to be cleaned, which E remedied this morning. Upon returning home from Lowe's with the appropriate paint, I noticed a bit of wood sticking up from one of the knot holes. I bent down and dug it out with my finger only to discover that the entire knot hole had somehow rotted out.
Which meant I had to get a new 1x6 to replace it. Which meant a trip to Lowe's. Which is where we had just been.
Fixing the board was one of those projects for which the prep and cleanup took longer than the actual project.
But issues never come alone: they always bring company. While I working on this, L returned and informed me that her car stalled three times while driving home.
"And there's a weird emoji on the dash," she said.
"Probably the 'check engine' light," I thought.
I checked; indeed, I was right. I cranked the car. It started stalling immediately. It was as if it weren't getting enough fuel. Fuel pump? Clogged fuel filter? Not sure -- and of course I couldn't find the error reader that would have given me a little more information on the nebulous "check engine" light.
Who could have seen it coming? Surely two rich megalomaniacal narcissists should be able to get along if they have the same goal: make themselves richer at the expense of the rest of us.
Who am I kidding: we all saw it coming. What we didn't anticipate was how fast everything would escalate. Trump remained uncharacteristically calm and approached the border of magnanimity at first, but then the cliche gloves came off:
All this within a few hours.
There's a part of me that's absolutely gleeful about this. But most of me finds this just as horrifying as everything else Trump does. Think of what Putin and Xi are saying about this. Sure, Putin lost a lot of bombers this week, but he's looking at the long game, and a civil war within the MAGA party that could further destablize America -- what a gift for him.