NOTE: There are two (2) photos with captions in this post. Photos taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.
MONDAY 22 – TUESDAY 30 April 2024 — The end of April
During the 4th week of April, we might have started working on pruning trees and bushes, and pulling weeds, but we tend not to record these kinds of work days on our calendar, and I did not capture that information in real time. As of Wednesday, June 5, however, I think the burn pile had been lit at least twice, and maybe three times. We are trying to not accumulate numerous/large piles of stuff for the burn pile, like we have in the past. We do wait, however, until we have enough to justify lighting it, a bit more to add to, and have decided to work in the yard and create even more material to add to it. So far, it seems to be working out for us fairly well. Some highlights of specific days of the week were as follows:
Monday 22 …
Nothing of note, apparently.
Tuesday 23 …
I had a note on the calendar to call the University of Michigan Health (UofMH) Travel Clinic so see about getting additional vaccinations in advance of some of our planned international travel. I was told that the clinic currently only services faculty, staff, and students and was referred to a private clinic in town. I might have called that clinic as well, but I don’t recall specifically. HFHS Columbus Center also has a travel clinic, so I called them. Linda still has here primary care physician there, but I do not. No matter, as it turned out, they will still see me. We will need to send them our itineraries in advance of an appointment, which we have deferred until later in the summer.
The new cat tree, fully assembled and positioned in the library near the doorwall to the living room. Only time will tell if Cabela deems it interesting enough to be worthy of her use.
Wednesday 24 …
Linda had a mid-morning appointment with her ENT, and we both had early afternoon appointments for eye examinations with an optometrist in the Kellogg Eye Institute at the UofMH Brighton Center for Specialty Care. I got a new prescription for glasses, but Linda got a referral to an ophthalmologist at the Institute for possible cataract surgery. We met our friend, Kate, at 17:30 for dinner. We dined somewhere in the Ypsilanti / Ann Arbor area, but I did not record where we went.
Thursday 25 …
Linda met Diane at Kensington Metropark for their weekly walk. Boondockers Welcome guest Woosch32 arrived for a 1-night stay.
Friday 26 …
Sometime earlier in the week I had scheduled a used furniture pickup with the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore for 9 AM this morning. ABIR, they showed up right on time, and shortly thereafter all of the living room furniture that had been in our Rec Room was out of the garage and on its way to the ReStore. This was the second batch of this furniture we have donated. The first batch found a new home (or homes) very quickly (so we were told) so we hoped this batch would as well.
Saturday 27 …
I took a photo of the boxes for the pigment ink refills (that I needed to order) for our Epson EcoTank 16650 multi-function wide-format inkjet printer. The photo was not worth displaying, but apparently I ordered the refills today. This printer uses Epson’s 542 series pigment inks (CMYB) which come in reasonably large volume bottles; 70 ml for C, Y, and M, and 120 ml for B. The special bottles are keyed to match the refill ports on the printer’s built-in ink tanks, making it essentially impossible to put the wrong in a tank. It’s a very economical way to buy ink (thus the ecoTank branding), and the system is very easy and clean to use.
Sunday 28 …
Nothing of note, again.
Monday 29 …
After an exchange of e-mails over the last month or so, I was able to set a date to get together with Ken Schramm, founder of Schramm’s Meadery. Ken and I both worked at Wayne RESA at the same time, and became friends as well as colleagues. Linda and I, with Paul and Nancy, had been to his retail shop and tasting room in Ferndale, Michigan just before the CoVID-19 pandemic, but he wasn’t there that day, and they ultimately had to close the storefront due to the loss of retail business. The meadery, however, survived the economic difficulties of the time. It was located just around the corner, in a housing area just off the main commercial street. I met Ken there and got a personal tour of the operation before we went to a local Thai restaurant for lunch and a prolonged, and much overdue, conversation.
Back at the meadery, I bought bottle several bottles of mead, including a “Patty Fay.” Patrica Faye was Ken’s mother’s name, but Patricia is also my sister’s name, her last name is still “Fay,” and she has always gone by “Patty.” She does not drink alcohol, however (to the best of my knowledge), so the bottle is for us, in her honor. Here’s to you, Sis.
Tuesday 30 …
A picture of the new Hisense wine refrigerator (taken in early July 2024).. I pulled the wine racks out, which is more obvious in the reflection in the door window. The fabric artwork on the wall (partial view) is a hooked rug I made in the late 1970’s. The pattern was inspired by a pseudo-colored X-ray radio telescope image of the Milky Way galaxy. The various colors indicate portions of the galaxy that are moving towards our position or away from it, and how fast. The complete piece is about 4’ x 6’ in size.
Sometime in the past few days I ordered a new Hisense wine refrigerator from the local Lowe’s store. It was delivered today mid-afternoon. They had them in stock at the store, but with delivery and take-away service, it was easier to do it this way. In advance of its arrival, I moved the dining room table to make room, and emptied the old wine fridge, putting the bottles out of the way.
The new wine fridge looked good, although I did have to figure out how to attach handle. I had to partially remove the door gasket to get the holes in the door frame for the handle bolts. One of the things I really liked about this unit at the store was that the bottle racks each slide out, making it much more convenient to access the bottles.
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