Matching Tracksuits

fun in fours

g

Dice

Friday 17 June 2022

For whatever reason, the Boy has become interested in dice -- as in, the game. As in the gambling game. I'm not sure where this came from. He just came back from a trip to Target with K (or some other store) with a pack of six dice.

He learned how to play by watching a video after he bought the dice.

"How do you even play?" he'd asked.

"I've no idea," I admitted.

So he's learned and been playing betting with Monopoly money.

It's been entertaining watching him celebrate when he wins and get playfully frustrated when he loses. We're glad to see he's not really taking it too seriously -- that might be problematic for all kinds of reasons.

Today, I picked up where K left off in their game and promptly lost all my stash of $500 bills I'd inherited from K. "It's not real betting: why not just go crazy?" I thought.

And then I promptly won them all back. And then all his $100s. And his $50s. And his $20s. In short, all his money. His response: "Well, happy Father's Day!" with a smile.

Thursday

Thursday 16 June 2022

We're approaching our departure of nationals -- the biggest volleyball tournament of the year. We'll be going to Orlando for almost a week. So I'm trying to get the last bits of the to-do list completed.

Sunset While Walking the Dog

Wednesday 15 June 2022

First, this, of course -- two weeks to go. We're all getting excited.

Then this -- a simple image from this evening's walk with the dog.

The List Updated

Tuesday 14 June 2022

"Those trees really kicked my ass," I texted our neighbor, "but I finally finished them today." I was letting him know that I'd returned his beast trimmer that's a holdover from his lawn care business. It's a Husqvarna 525HE3:

That is to say, it's an expensive, heavy hedge trimmer that is great for reaching high places. And our neighbor G is kind enough to let me borrow it whenever I need it. And when I'm trimming the Leyland Cypresses, I really need it. At first. Once I beat back all the smaller branches, I have to top the trees -- or at least I had to this time. And lacking a pole saw, which costs about as much as the 525HE3, I have to use a reciprocating saw (I am not going up there with my chainsaw -- no way I could hold it with one hand as needed) to cut out the thicker branches that have grown into mini-trunks.

So today, I finally finished trimming the trees. They look awful -- they always do because I assault them. But they always grow back and everything is fine.

So now the list looks like this:

  • Trim the Leyland cypresses (a two-day job in and of itself)
  • Clean the outside of the house
  • Pressure-wash the deck
  • Apply ample coats of water-proofing to the deck
  • Pressure-wash the concrete portion of the drive
  • Complete the furniture assembly for the remodeled basement

And that's a good feeling.

The Boys in the Creek

Monday 13 June 2022

E's best friend came over for the afternoon today. At first, they did what boys these days do: play video games. However, we have no gaming console in our house at all. No Xbox, no Play Station, no Nintendo Switch. In fact, I only know those things exist because I hear students and teachers talking about them at school. And of course, E brings them up occasionally.

And it's a little surprising, to be honest, how many adults with no children or with grown children still invest time and money into gaming systems. To each his own, I suppose, but I always thought there was a time when people outgrew video games.

Not having a gaming system has several advantages, not the least of which is the simple fact that since we don't buy games for our PC either, E's gaming options are severely curtailed. Which means he and his friend grow tired of them eventually and head outside to find other things to do.

Like catching minnows in the creek behind our house.

As for the Girl today, she was out of the house for most of the day: physical therapy, volleyball strength training, and driving instruction took almost all her day.

Berries and Corn

Sunday 12 June 2022

First, there's this -- always this. We're closing in on the two-weeks-to-go mark.

A Day in the Yard

Saturday 11 June 2022

My to-do list from earlier had a lot of outside chores -- mostly outside chores. Trimming things. Painting things. And that's why I spent the vast majority of the day outside today. I worked on the Leyland cypresses, which, truth be told, are just kicking my ass. I have to cut the top 10 feet or so out of them, which means cutting branches that are several inches in diameter. I topped the main trunks years ago: these are simply additional branches coming off of where I topped them initially. And I know, I know -- it will happen again.

Today, I also trimmed several other things that needed it -- I can only work so long in the cypresses since have to wear long pants and long sleeves to keep from getting scratched to pieces.

It wasn't until after 10 that I thought to take a picture of the day's work...

And I mowed. And K and I finished sealing the deck, with a little help from E while L was at work. And K collapsed into bed, and I cleaned up the kitchen a bit, poured, some scotch, lit a cigar, and wrote this.

Messing and Swimming

Friday 10 June 2022

Oh, and this

Around the Yard

Thursday 09 June 2022

Before
Before
Before
Almost after
Almost after
Almost after

Oh and this

Off the Rails

Wednesday 08 June 2022

I've been listening to some of Herbert Armstrong's sermons the last couple of days, and it's been a fascinatingly awful experience. I knew what was coming: I grew up listening to this shit, but I still had forgotten about just how awful he was. Just how misogynistic he was. Just how much he liked to yell during sermons to impress upon congregants just how serious his words (and thus God's words) were.

I made a mental note about a couple of the passages because they just stood out so drastically. In this one, for example, he goes from talking about the fall of Lucifer and his resulting transformation into Satan to the evils of women wearing makeup -- without any kind of transition at all. None.

By the end of the sermon, he turns his attention to men and the inappropriate clothing some of them are wearing to church -- shirts with no jacket!

What's most interesting is he suggests that not everyone has to be dressed up just wearing the best clothes they've got without even thinking that perhaps the men who aren't wearing suits are doing just that -- wearing the best they've got. And then, of course, there's the misogynistic double standard: women aren't to worry about their appearance but men had better be dressed smart!

Beginning to cross yet another item off the list

As I've listened to these three or four sermons (how many more will I put myself through?!), I've come to re-learn the man's cadences: I can predict with dreadful accuracy when he's about to ramp up, go off the rails, and start yelling.