Good News ...Bad news... Good News... Bad News and Catsup

This is going to be a bit of a jumble as my thoughts are scattered and I'm expecting a call from Betsy's son Jay. We are buying a car from him later this AM, if all goes well.

Yesterday there was another Tunick installation, this one in the Swiss Alps at the behest of Greenpeace to bring attention to Global warming. A bit of irony there, eh?

Lindy just went out having been in last night for the first time in two days or so, as she has been doing all these last few weeks now.

The weekend of 03 August was a dull one. I was very over stressed from work-which is much worse and not improving at all. At some point we saw the movie "No Reservations" and I think it was after we went to the new Whole Foods supermarket to see what it was like. They have a fantastic array of fresh and organic products and it was truly an amazing place, compared to say an ordinary market or even Heinen's, up till now our fanciest place to shop. Very posh place. The have a small restaurant/cafe where we had spinach gnocchi with Gorgonzola and walnuts. WOW!

"No Reservations " was okay, a bit predictable but that's fine. Catherine Zeta- Jones seemed to be miscast in the role, but little Abigail Breslin was good as was Arron Eckhart. I loved the rare steak scene.

Much of the weekend found Betsy at the computer working on her camp photos and getting them on Flickr.

At some point we also saw "The Bourne Ultimatum" Whew-wow-zing! Non-stop action.

On Sunday, 05 Aug we went to see "Transformers" That one could have waited till it came to the cheap seats. I did call to thank Uncle Fred for the Kasaba concert tickets and he gave me lawn seats for Cathie Ryan at Cain Park for Wednesday 08 Aug.

Sometime during this week I noticed I was having more and more trouble reading, needing bright light and being unable to see fine print or low contrast. It was also difficult to see the computer at work or art home. And I began to be able to see my calendar at work or the tv at home without my glasses. I have been nearsighted all my life and when my vision didn't change in my forties or my early fifties I thought it never would, so this was a big surprise. Now I am farsighted.

For most of that week we alternated between tropical heat and tropical rain. Tuesday was a day of flooding for many in Cleveland.

Wednesday was great and we had a very good time at the concert, even having our lawn seats upgraded to pavilion seats. Cathie sang a lot of songs from her new CD and several songs in Gaelic, and was a very good storyteller as well.

Thursday's "Movie on the Mall" was a rain out, tried to head for an event in Akron, but got lost so we went to the cheapseats and saw "Surf's Up"

Friday the 10th we went to the "dive-in" for the second time. Not nearly as much fun and while it was a bit warmer it was hard to hear the movie, "Barnyard" Still for free it wasn't bad and the movie had some good bits, though it was odd too. Male cows with udders?

Saturday the 11th was our annual "BugFest" volunteer day at the Garfield Metropark, from about 0845 to 1700 and after that we went to the Cleveland Cinematheque for the first of their series of Laurel and Hardy shorts. They were fantastic but now it looks as if we will miss the next ones in the series.

Sunday we went to Betsy's church to hear a guest lecturer on "John of God" a spiritual healer in Brazil.

When that was over we left there and went to the Cuyahoga County Fair.

BLOGUS INTERRUPTUS- This blog entry was started early Saturday and it is now 2001 on Sunday so a lot has happened since I began. First the Tunick installation was Saturday not today, something I forgot. More on the forgetting thing later.

Monday 13 Aug Betsy went to the YMCA to swim but the pool was closed. Tuesday nothing was happening but we were tired. Wednesday we wanted to go to a WOW Concert(Wade Oval Wednesday) but we got caught in a 45 min traffic jam, headed to the cheap seats to see a movie but got there at the wrong time to see anything we wanted to see.

Thursday the 16th we went to the "Movie on the Mall" to see "Flushed Away" the movie that had been postponed from the 9th. I had forgotten how much I had really liked that movie.

BAD NEWS-But before we left Betsy told me there was a big leak somewhere in the pipes in the basement. I went downstairs and there was water everywhere. I cut it off at the main cutoff valve and we headed out, knowing there was nothing I could do right then. When we got home about 2230 or so I took another look in the basement and realized I was going to have to call off Friday to even make a dent in the mess.

The next day, Friday 17 Betsy went to work and I cleaned up wet clothes, wet ceiling tiles and other debris. My heart was not in it, and I really only got a bit done. I did figure out that the leak was most likely due to a hole in the intake hose to the washer, something we had dealt with many years past. The water fountains up and then rains down so it looks like a leak from above. When Betsy got home we checked this out. GOOD NEWS -I was right. I could buy the proper hose and change it no need for a plumber.

GOOD NEWS- The money came in from Betsy's retirement that she planned to use to get another car as Alice is on her last legs(wheels?) and her paycheck came as well.

BAD NEWS- When we got in the car i realized we had NO BRAKES!!!!. I asked Betsy if she had noticed. SHE HAD DRIVEN TO AND FROM WORK THAT WAY!!! ABOUT 15 MILES EACH WAY!!!

GOOD NEWS -She did not have an accident

BAD NEWS- There was no way I was driving the car up to the hardware store and it meant our going to the Three Stooges Film Festival and Pie Fight was out also. It had been postponed from July and Betsy was really looking forward to it. I was but less so.

GOOD NEWS- I checked the bus shedule. The RTA runs to Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd. the site of park where the outdoor movies were to be shown. We could go and bus back. Then I noticed that it was actually on Saturday the 18th. Okay, we could do that.

GOOD News- Jay, Betsy's middle son, wanted to sell his '90 Chrysler New Yorker to us and only wanted $500 for it. This car was the one we had borrowed back in 2003 to go to our first Tunick installation downtown and to the wedding of my friend's daughter that same day. So we had a connection so to speak. It has been sitting unused for most of the three years since. It leaks power steering fluid but we would have enough to repair that and maybe have enough to fix Alice as well. Jay said he would come over early on Saturday, take us to get the paperwork done to sell the car and get a temp plate so we could drive it home. It would leak but as long as we kept pouring more fluid in we could drive it.

Jay came about 1030 or so and we got back to his house about 1100.

BAD NEWS- We saw the car and liked it a lot. Jay went to drive it out of his driveway and found he had NO BRAKES!!!!

Jay took us to the hardware store to get the hose for the washer, and brought us back to our side of town to the supermarket for some shopping and so Betsy could do her banking and I could buy weekly bus passes. He then brought us home.

GOOD NEWS- I replaced the hose and we now have running water again.

GOOD NEWS- With the bus passes we decided we could go to the Three Stooges event anyway as the #7 bus would take us right there. We forgot something however.

GOOD NEWS- The Stooges films were funny and the pie fight took place about 2230 or so. We had a blast. Betsy was covered in pie, and I was hit a few times as well and we met Steve Presser who was behind the event and thanked him. Even the few sprinkles of rain were no problem as they never amounted to much.

BAD NEWS- We walked down to Mayfield to pick up the #9 bus as the #7 does not run that late. What we forgot was that neither does the #9 on Saturdays! The day we had looked at the time was a Friday, when the run till about 0100. So we sat from about 2300 to 2400 waiting on a bus that was not to come. Yikes! We set out walking about 0005.

GOOD NEWS-We got home about 0146 with both of us being very tired, but with not a blister or a problem. We had rested a lot along the way, maybe 30 min or more total.

We got to bed around 0200 or so, by which time it was softly raining which it has done all day today. We awoke about 1100.

BAD NEWS-Betsy's son Troy needs a place to stay as his apartment building had a fire a few weeks ago, and while his apartment was not damaged directly, the building was deemed not habitable so he has been living with Jay. His cat has been in a shelter. Now he need a place for the next two weeks so he can move into his new place. So he will be coming to live with us. Oh, and I just found out he will get here about 2200.

We spent today doing laundry, and doing a few minor repairs, still cleaning up the mess in the basement.

And that gets you up to the present. All but Thorissa are in and all are well.

Good grief and good night.

Tommy Makem

Tommy Makem, originally uploaded by rcoss2001.

Time to say farewell till we meet again. I was lucky to have been able to hear Tommy Makem preform many times, the last being at the Irish Cultural Festival of Cleveland in 2006.
What a gift he was to us.