TSO

Last night was one where everything just went right.
Months ago I bought five tickets to Trans Siberian Orchestra. I am a big fan. This is the fourth time in the last fiver years we have gone to see them. I belong to the TSO fan club, and got pre-sale tickets. Five rows up from the floor stage right seats eleven through 15, I think those are the best seats in Key Arena.
It was me, Carol, my cousin Lynn and our friends Steve and Donna.
We got there early so we could have a drink before the show, and stopped into the EMP.  We got to our seats about fifteen minutes before the beginning, just enough time to settle in.
What can I say about TSO? Screaming electric guitar laser light show pyrotechnic Christmas extravaganza. An experience. The talent level of the performers, the quality of the presentation, the incredible complexity of the set, the lights and pyrotechnics are overwhelming. Sit down and hang on for the ride.
Afterward it was on to The Palisades, an upper tier restaraunt  The filet was great, The waitstaff very good, the drinks well made.
So many times you set out to have a special occasion and stuff just goes wrong, but last night everything was according to plan.
A night I will store away in memory to be taken out, turned over examined and put away many times in the future.

Awesome Bike

I came across this the other day. I have featured a bunch of streamlind art deco cars here in the last couple of months. Here is a modern interpretation, Smooth-Ness, by Arlen Ness. Incredible vision and execution. The paint alone has to be worth 20K. 

About the Caulking

Got up this morning with the best of intentions. After breakfast I went upstairs to start on the bathroom. I spent a couple of hours stripping the old caulking out of the seams for the tub. It was old and gunky and cracked., and some of it was very hard to get out. But I persisted.
The decaulking done, I was ready to recaulk.
Now, where was the caulking I bought yesterday?
Not in he bag with the rest of the stuff from Lowes. Not on the kitchen counter. Not in the bathroom. Not on the stairs. Not downstairs. not upstairs.
Well, some tile I bought wasn't quite right, so we went back to Lowes to return the tile and buy some more caulking.
Mrs A says as we walk into the sore "You know as soon as we get home the other tube of caulking will show up?"
"Of course it will dear, it's inevitable"
So we did our business and went home.
As Mrs A walked in the front door and into the kitchen, there on the cabinet was the original tube of caulking.

Growing old makes every day an adventure.

Hey Dear have you seen my caulk? I seem to have misplaced it and can't find it anywhere.

Not lately dear. Did you check in your coveralls?

Droll, very droll.

Home Improvement

Sitting here on a quiet Saturday night. Mrs. A. is upstairs taking a shower, the pellet stove is going, casting that orangish glow on the room. The dogs are curled up on the floor. No drama, no problems to speak of. Nice and quiet.
Things have been a bit chaotic lately. We are having friends come over Nov. 23rd to see TSO in concert and spend the night, since they are driving from Yakima. It is always great to see TSO screaming electric guitar pyrotechnic laser light show extravaganza Christmas show.
But nothing happens in a vacuum. This becomes a stimulus for doing a lot of things we have put off for a while. I am perfectly happy with the way things are, but Mrs. A. always sees ways to improve things.
Of course this requires my participation. As it well should. But I don't always agree with what needs to be done.  Or when it needs to be done. This leads to some lively discussion. I readily admit to my share of blame. I have been known to be stubborn and opinionated.
But when all is said and done there is nothing I like better than sitting in the quiet of the evening in my own home, warm and dry, fed and comfortable, and at peace for the moment.
Tomorrow there is another project. Tomorrow I tackle the upstairs bathroom. The tub needs recaulking.

Genetics 101

Some times things do not turn out the way you want them to. Whenever someone starts out doing genealogy, they have dreams of finding out that they are descended from royalty. But the other alternative is equally possible. You might be descended from roguery.
I my search for my genetic history I came across Pope Alvey. Do a google search on him some time.
Sentenced to death not once, but twice, but never executed. Under bond for his life they decided that he would make a good hangman.
I guess the logic was that no good man would want the onus of being the hangman, so the good state of Maryland came to the conclusion that since he was a convicted murderer and thief and seemed to have no remorse, he would make an excellent hangman.
Don't worry, he was many generations back on the female side of my family tree, and the male DNA follows the father, so very little of his DNA has passed to me.
But it does remind me of an incident in High school........
I was bored out of my mind, It was between classes. I pulled down the blind on the window next to my desk, and fooling around, made a noose.
What to do next?
I tossed it around the neck of the guy in front of me (sorry roadrunner) and pulled the blind down and let go.
It sprung back up and roadrunner jumped up out of his desk clawing at his neck.
That was about the time the teacher came in the classroom and demanded to know what was going on.
He didn't seem surprised.
Maybe I can blame it on genetics.