Playing Catch Up

Thursday evening we had dinner with our old "Dental Show" friends, Wilma and Paul Pinkney.  I first met them at least 15 years ago at the Atlanta Meeting Dental show.  Their booth, Theta Corp, was near mine and we struck up a friendship that has continued through the years.   Now that I don't go to the shows anymore, we see each other when they come to Chicago for the Chicago Dental Society Mid-winter Meeting.  People come from all around the world for this meeting.  They come from places that are warm and sunny to be in Chicago in February.  The mind boggles.

Dinner was at Salerno's on Grand at Racine, one of my favorites.  The food is always great, we caught up on the news and had a good time.  The only drawback was that, unknown to us when we got there, it was Thursday Trivia Contest night.  That would not have been bad except that the director of the game felt that he needed to use an amplifier to reach all the players.  There were only four teams playing and they were within 15 feet of him.  TOO LOUD.  And the questions were dumb.  OK, they were obscure.  Picky baseball stats, minor players on old TV shows.  I'm much better at Jeopardy.

Boy and his Toy / Girl and her Group

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My brother got creative with his power washer.  

Tonight I met Georgia at the monthly meeting of the Windy City Knitting Guild.  A great group.  There were at least 100 knitters there to enjoy a presentation about Orenburg Lace Knitting.  A very intricate style of knitting from the steppes of Russia, in the Urals on the border between Europe and Asia.  Orenburg lace is made with hair of the native goats. The hair is combed, not cut, spun and then knit into spectacular shawls.  The goat hair yarn is called down and is frequently plied with silk.  The  shawls are so fine they can slide through a wedding ring.  So they did.  Amazing. 

Sunday musings

Well it is Sunday.  The first episode of the new season of The Amazing Race is over.  The usual interesting collection of teams.  Don't have a favorite team yet.  I would love to see a show about how they plan the season, what ideas they have to throw out and why.  How many tasks prove to be too easy, or looked good on paper but can't be done or just don't photograph well.

Our new neighbors have moved in.  They are a really nice couple.  I have heard that they are retired teachers.  They saw our book shelves in the our back hallway and were glad to see that we a "book people". That is a good start.  He even recommended "Middlemarch".  He said he thinks it is the best book of that period that he has ever read.  It is worth a look. I've put it on my Android.

A fish for a cat

A few months ago, I knit a blue hexapuff with a tail, filled with catnip for Oliver, a friend's cat.  He was quite enthralled by it. Unfortunately, he would not share it with his buddy and roommate, Tom.The problem was solved with the creation of The Fish.  I hope that Tom likes it.  (What's not to like)

Third generation vacuum

Today we had to take our reliable, sturdy Hoover vacuum to the repair shop.  This isn't any old machine, we suspect that it is about 50 years old. It belonged to my grandmother, then me, and now Abraham.  It has served us well.  The shop says it is the bearings.  They will try to pull it through, but can not make any promises.

Confession:  This photo is off the web, it is not a photo of our actual vacuum.  The resemblance is uncanny.

Four for Four

Good news about Gene's new phone.  Unlike the old one, this one works in the Daley Center.  That is, it is able to send and receive calls, not that it is a county employee.  The cheap line would be something about it works and they don't, but I won't stoop to that. Too easy.

Chinese on Tuesday.  We had carry out from our favorite "Midwestern Cantonese" restaurant, Orange Garden on Irving east of Damen and Lincoln.  Good, cheap and very traditional.  The pressed duck is great.  Their sign and decor are a blast from the past.

Oh yes, I almost forgot...

Have a loving Valentine’s Day.

Another day, Another post

Monday night is "Banjo Night" at the nearby Lincoln Restaurant.  We spent the evening there with three other couples.  It is the music equivalent of a pick up basketball game.  There was an unlikely mix of banjos, guitars, washboard, accordion, clarinet, and trombone. They all had a good time playing "Old Tunes" and we had a good time catching up and listening to the music.  A relaxing time was had by all.

Today we went shopping for a new phone for Gene.  We had a grand plan to get a G4 Android that I would use and pass my G3 on to him.  Adding another smart phone to our account would add $30/month to the bill and seeing that Gene was only going to use it as a phone, it seemed wasteful.  So I  am still using the G3 and not able to do flash.  Not a big loss, but it would have been nice. Sigh and shoulder shrug.

Two Days in a a Row

Don't faint. I'm trying to reform.

Today was investment club. It meets here once a month so straightening up can't fall to far behind. It was a good meeting, we have a new member and I got the tax info out before they could complain. Why yes, we do continue to do well.

Much progress is happening on the Hexapuffs. They are all the rage in the knitting world. Puffs are small (about 2.5 inches per side) hexagons made from sock weight yarn and the like. My goal is to make a "quilt" about 2 1/2' by 7 1/2' for the foot of the bed. It will need about 400 puffs. So far, I have about 180.




I'll try for better photos.

I'm Back

Okay, so it has been a while. Stuff happens. Nothing exciting enough to post. Or maybe I just couldn't get around to it.

This time I'll try harder.

Let's start with a play I recently saw. It is "Clutter: The True Story of the Collyer Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out" Well written, cleverly staged and creatively acted. It is the work of Mark Saltzman, who also writes for the Muppets. I am sure that the set designer had a grand time assembling the props that make up the brothers hoard.

After seeing the play, I searched the web (read Googled) for more about the Collyers. A strange family. The parents were first cousins, the father an eccentric ob/gyn, the mother a singer of opera. The filled house was possibly more packed than some that are shown on "Hoarders". Here are some photos of the actual Collyer NYC townhouse.








See the play if you can, and in the meantime, I'm going to throw out a few things.