Teach Me To Enjoy Monday!

I was enjoying my Monday evening off -- forking around on the computer and watching Ken Burns' National Parks on tv when my internet went down at 8:15pm. It had been doing so fairly frequently lately so I was not too alarmed - just more irritated in a here we go again kinda way. After an hour passed... and then two... and then four... and the tubes were still down.. I was starting to get .... uh ... mmmmm ... well a polite term would be tic'd off. Tubes were still down when I went to bed.

Unfortunately they were still down when I got up Tuesday. I stopped by the Charter office in Tillamook (since they do not have a local telephone number -- only an 800 number to an office in Michigan) but they were of no help since I am not the account holder (my landlord is). The clerk said they would have a tech call me between 4pm and 5pm.

Sigh. No one called.

Coming up on 24 hours without an internet connection, I was not a happy camper. Tis a good thing I live alone considering the mood I was in. There was a forking tsunami advisory on the Oregon Coast last night due to the Samoan earthquake and I had to rely on forking tv news stations for updates. Blerg.

Had to call FDL and arrange coverage of my mod shift for the evening and have an admin publish my Tuesday Late Late Night post (which was ready to go but still in drafts). Thankfully, Lurk de-lurked and let the readers know that I wasn't there because my tubes were down. I owe Lurk a buncha dark chocolate with pecans.

I let my landlord know Tuesday the Charter tech had not called and he very kindly came out from Portland very early this morning. He arrived at Charter as their office opened, obtained a replacement for the defective cable modem the lady at Charter refused to test yesterday when i took it it, and showed up on my doorstep to replace it. He did so and then discovered the router was also down.

Lets just say I was up before the crack of noon and did not complain. Not once.

After 3 almost 4 hours of working on it, including 3 calls to tech support, the problems were finally resolved, my landlord headed back to Portland, and I'm surfing the innertubes again trying to madly catch up.

I have to say the new cable modem and entirely wireless setup is significantly faster than the old cable modem/router system was. I can take my laptop out on the deck and even out to the picnic table and still be connected. Way kewl :)

Here Comes The Rain

Here comes the rain - with apologies to the Beatles' Here Comes The Sun (that's a great video - do click on the link). The wind drove it ashore shortly after I took this picture.

Weather dood said we may have some thunderstorms late this afternoon and evening here at the coast. I love watching the bands of rain coming across the bay during the day and the light show the thunderstorms provide at night. Fingers and toes crossed for some excellent entertainment tonight, courtesy of Mother Nature.

The rain currently is just the early drizzle but the wind makes it feel like rain since it is blowing sideways onto the windows. Am glad Token and I walked down to the mailbox earlier today. Have a fire going in the stove and plan on staying inside -- and doing nothing other than putzing around the house.

Equal Time

Bailey Cat is demanding equal face time* here at TwoTon. As you can see, she has been vigilant in keeping an eye on the bird feeder on the deck. I think she thinks she is keeping Token and I safe from marauding birds or something. Her gaze is pretty intense but she doesn't fool me. Tonight, I caught her and Token sleeping together in my bed. Both of them curled up around each other like a ying-yang symbol. Under the covers.

Mouth is still healing. I started eating semi-soft food instead of just soft foods - was getting dayam tired of Cream of Wheat. Last night, I had a slice of peach cobbler slathered with whipped cream. Chewing on just the right side of my mouth feels funny - especially since I am missing some teeth on that side. The new hole from the pulled molar on the right certainly lets me know if I bite down wrong -- I'm not ready to test the gums on the left.

*today must be caturday

What A Difference A Day Makes

Yesterday, Tillamook got up to 95 and it was hot here on the bay - 91 was the official temp for Netarts but my gauge showed it was 94. Today - well today it is 65 and gray outside. A perfect day for running around in long sleeves and fleece.

Drove into town to get critter food. Luckily, the feed store also sells local milk and eggs so I did not have to head to the megamart. I'm still embarrassed - what if I smile (or am talking) and the clerk and/or other customers see I have no teeth on the upper left? I know it is just me - when I stopped at the coffee shack, there were no shocked faces or other outward indication that I look like a freak or anything. I know that in a few days, I'll be thinking how silly I was but I'm not there - yet. Today it was reassuring to go into the feed store and leave feeling like I had proved something to myself.

Chance of rain according to the weather dood. Probably more of a chance of drizzle rather a good soaking. My poor fuchsias got too hot and too much sun these past couple days. The just opening buds fared the worst. I'm hoping the good soaking I gave them yesterday coupled with the cooler weather today provided enough recovery that I don't lose all the flowers.

Summer Moonset

The last sunset of summer was closely followed by the last summer moonset.

Last Day Of Summer

Today is the last day of summer. Was warm here - we got up to 91 - warmer than Portland who was only in the 80's. Tomorrow they are supposed to get more of the heat and I should be about the same.

Bird Rescue on the bay today. My landlord saw a brown pelican with a very badly broken wing in the first cove and called Bird Rescue. When they arrived, the bird spooked further out into the water and on the other side of the first point. He grabbed his canoe and paddled over to where rescue was, and then paddled over to the other side of the point. He said the bird was netted quickly and did not put up any struggle. Rescue will call him and let him know if the bird survives.

Token always puts on his happy face when visiting so many have not seen his grumpy face. This is why I call him a grumpy old man:


Of course as soon as he realized I had the camera out, he put on his happy face:

The happy face was, of course, before he had his vet appointment this afternoon - the second shot of the doggie dental vaccine. He was a trooper!

Post Toofs

Am ok - minus 5 teeth - not 4 - and am thanking the pharma researcher who invented vicodin. Besides the 4 teeth on the upper left, the traveling dentist also took the far back upper right molar since it had an abcess. My dentist (at whose office this was done) only charged me for 4 extractions (he called it a cash discount). He knows I am paying cash, have a fixed income, and have to save up in order to do what needs to be done.

The traveling dentist was very kind and skilled. Other than the extraction of the eye tooth (oy), the entire process was faster and easier than I had dreamed possible. He was funny, and reassuring and now I know that the rest of the extractions (6 to go) will not cause me to be as nervous as I was about these.

Photo is the view of Cape Lookout looking southwest from the deck.

Any and all errors in this post are the fault of the pharmaceutical industry and not the author :)

Kayaks

Kayaks on the bay today.

Tomorrow, I see the traveling dentist - who is going to do some of the complicated extractions of my upper teeth. If I have enough pennies saved up, when I leave tomorrow, I will have no teeth on the upper left except the left front tooth.

Am so not looking forward to this -- but I am looking forward to not having sharp broken teeth poking the inside of my cheek - and no more toothaches.

Wish I Wudda Been There

Featured this video over at the lake tonight. It's so good I had to bring it over here.



The Manhattans vs The Cadillacs vs The Drifters vs The Temptations vs The Four Tops in The Battle Of The Groups. If for some reason the video doesn't play here, click on the battle of the groups link and open up the video in another tab.

Sure wudda loved to have been in the audience that night.

82

82 today and not a cloud in the sky. The ocean started kicking up a lot of mist on the other side of the spit that got worse as the afternoon progressed. If you click on the photo, you can see the mist rising clearer on the larger image. Towards sunset the spit was barely visible from my vantage point.

Clear skies tonight and it is 64 outside - I'm headed to the deck to check out the stars. One of these days, I'm gonna have to get my telescope out of the pod - among other things (laughing).

Tonight

Today it drizzled all day. Could not see the spit and could barely see the far cove.


Then I was rewarded with this at the end of the day.



Nature's eye candy soothed my soul after spending a chunk of the afternoon sitting in the hygienist's chair at the dentist. My mom drilled into my head when I was a kid that I was to never put sharp metal objects in my mouth and there I was, sitting in a chair letting a total stranger put sharp metal objects in my mouth. I dayam near killed the National Geographic magazine I was clutching and twisting with both hands.

Color Returns

The sunsets are starting to color up again now the seasons are changing. Soon the sunsets will again be in my line of sight instead of hidden behind the grove of trees and other points north.


The green around me isn't as green - leaves are starting to show a wee bit of color. Not like it will be in October and November when the maples turn blazing reds and rusts but still a change.

Haven't seen the chipmunks nor any hummingbirds recently. They must have headed south when the barn swallows took off. The goldfinches are missing but the jays are still around as are the little russet backed chickadees. I'm not having to refill the bird feeder as often.

In Between

In between storms according to the weather dood. Picked up one quarter of an inch overnight. Portland got three quarters of an inch (a record!). I woke up to sunny skies and blustery wind gusts and not the predicted rainy day. Weather dood says that tomorrow is going to be a wild weather day with thunder, lightning, hail, rain, and winds - looking forward to it.

California weather was so boring. Oregon offers all four seasons and life on the coast is constantly changing.

In between storms - a metaphor for my life.

Whatcha Gonna Do?

Tis the last official weekend of summer - Labor Day Weekend. Lotsa birds gathering on the bay today before the rain hits tonight. Storm coming in this weekend that is forecast to bring us some well needed rain.


The flocks of birds were swooping and swerving, jockying with other flocks for their desired prime spots.


Have a fire going with a nice stack of wood next to the stove. The first bands of rain are offshore just south of Lincoln City (about an hour south of me).

Weather dood says the cold front will move onshore about 0430 Saturday morning and there could be some lightning. *big ole smile on my face* Guess I'll be staying inside this Labor Day Weekend. Oh crap, I just remembered - Token and Bailey both need food -- tomorrow I have to head into Tillamook and do some shopping. But once I get home...I'm in for the duration.

Whatcha gonna do...



Salt N Pepper - Shoop

Dog Days?

September has arrived. Still plenty of birds in the bay but the barn swallows have left for the year. Their babies have left the nest and the deck seems very quiet now.
Bob the cat (my landlords cat) was chilling on the stairs under the rose that tries to eat the deck. Token has been making friendship overtures to Bob who tends to ignore him (and not swat at him too often). Token is lounging in the sunshine on the deck - we are forecast to have rain this weekend. The weather dood was joking on tv that if it is Labor Day it must be raining.

Hooked up with my best friend forever from when I was a wayward youth via Facebook. Ami was my co-conspirator and partner in creating ruckus in the very boring Pleasant Hill days. We lost track of each other shortly after Stephanie was born and have a couple of decades to catch up on.