1/29/2017

Weekly Update 1/29/2017

I attended some great talks this week. Donna and I went to the Massie School lecture by Dr Robin Williams to hear him speak about streets and sidewalks in Savannah, from Colonial times to today. We will never walk in Savannah and look down at our feet in the same way! Wednesday, as part of TLC series on notable Savannah Architects in the 19^th century, there was a tour of the Green-Meldrim House, designed by John Norris and built in the 1850s. I'd been there before, but to oh and ah about the furnishings and photos, not so much the architecture. This was wonderful. It also had the added benefit that my friend, Kathryn, was with me, and she's a docent at G-M, and was able to tell stories about some of the things that I didn't know. (We also met at The Tap House for burgers before the site visit – even more benefits!) Thursday, I went to the Armstrong House for a lecture by two professors at Armstrong State University about how history has helped define the roles of women. 

Dr Williams at Massie School

Tania Sammons at the Green-Meldrim House

the staircase inside with the come window

wine and cheese on the steps of Armstrong House

I participated in a book club discussion about The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Not only is this a best seller that seems to have many people talking, but the author is a scheduled speaker at the book fest month. One thing that interested me during the discussion, was the wide variety of interpretations. Some read one thing into the story; others saw something entire different. Some found parallels to future events; others saw it as an antebellum tale. I thought it was an interesting read, but a brutal one in the violence, and at times difficult to read. I'm not sure if I would recommend this to other readers. 

 Friday was a Lunch Bunch day. Since it was the Chinese New Year, Connie made our reservations for the Asian River. It was really good. I haven't had Chinese food for a while, and the sesame chicken was very tasty.

lunch bunch at the Asian River

Jan and Fred arrived Saturday at noon. It was great to have them come visit. Fred had made plans with some friends to go to a brewery (it was Georgia Beer Day – very fortuitous!) so Jan and I went to Lulu's Chocolate bar and had chocolate martinis. Better than beer any day! We played games in the evening, and visited. Sunday, they had tickets for a concert at the Johnny Mercer Theater, but that wasn't until the evening. We went to the Ships of the Sea Museum, and then for a late lunch at Crystal Beer Parlor. That's where I always take visitors to Savannah, because it's my favorite. Donna had invited us over for drink in the late afternoon, and it was nice for us to have a chance to visit with her. Then we went to the concert. The group that played was the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a blues rock group that is a favorite of Fred's. My ears will never be the same!

chocolate martinis

outside the Ships of the Sea Museum

the concert - you can't see how loud it was!

1/22/2017

Weekly Update 1/22/2017

Monday, I Got Things Done. I had already promised to meet Jane at The UGA Aquarium and Marine Center to walk. Just because I had a flat tire, I didn't see a reason to cancel that. It was a another nice day for a walk, and we wandered down the trail (and actually saw a shark in the river!) and around the former Roebling estate. I haven't been there in a while, and it was grand. Then, since I was out that way, I went to the deli to stock up on bagels. I never like to make a special trip there, and always try to combine it with another errand (this is the only place in Savannah that I will buy bagels from). Then, I went to the Hyundai dealership. They wouldn't do anything for me because I had not purchased the tire replacement warranty – it's a brand new car, why would I? Then I went to Lenscrafters and made an eye appointment. Finally to the Goodyear place where they have been so good to me for all the years I've been here. I bought a new tire, but now I'm good to go again. Lastly, I grocery shopped at Publix. Now, I have no errands to run for a few days. 

hiking at the Marine trail

Tuesday I got up early to join other BHS members at the Tattnall plot at BC for a clean up. Since it was the crack of dawn, and since I now live in a condo, and since gardening was never a favorite activity of mine, this was a sacrifice for me. It was a foggy morning, which added to the ambiance of an eerie Gothic cemetery. I raked and gathered leaves for about about an hour. Then, there was dirt under my fingernails, and I had to call it quits. At least I tried.  

not grave robbers, BHS cleanup crew

There was another lecture at TLC this week. The architect of note that was discussed was John Norris. Some of the notable buildings he designed that are in Savannah in the 1840s and 1850s include the Cockspur Lighthouse, The Customs House, the Green-Meldrim House, the Andrew Low House, the Unitarian Universalist Church, Massie School, The Stoddard Range buildings (warehouses) on Bay Street, and the Mercer-Williams House. Next week we have a site visit to the Green-Meldrim House.  

Cockspur lighthouse

Mercer Williams House

Having my eyes checked was something I should have done long ago. It would have been nice to have up-to-date glasses when I was in Europe, so as to embarrass Allen as little as possible with my frumpiness. But, as with so many things, I just kept putting it off. I was having trouble with reading (see last week post about a purchase at the Dollar Store), it had been 7 years since I've had my eyes checked, and since glaucoma and cataracts can be a worry, I decided not to put it off any longer. I had hoped to be able to think about getting new glasses (or not) for a few days, but I found a pair of frames that were not too bad (let's face it – I've seen myself in the same glasses for more than 10 years; anything different will seem very strange). I was told it would only take an hour for my prescription lenses to be ready. I went to Starbucks for a cappuccino to waste an hour, and went home that day with new glasses. This seems to be a trend with me – see it that day and buy it! A car, glasses, what's next? 

bifocals with no lines

The Lenscrafters center is in a small strip plaza on Abercorn. There's also kitchen store in the same plaza. Shopping at a kitchen store rates just ahead of shopping for swimsuits with me, but I had been in that one a few times. It was pretty good. I noticed that it was closed, and when I checked out the door, this was the sign. How cool is this?  

Friday, after meeting Kay at The 90, I went to the SCT production of The Secret Garden. It was ok, but not the best. I was glad to see Brandon Kaufman in the audience. He is the musical director for SCT, and was severely injured in an auto accident during the holidays. He is not yet able to continue with all the work he does for not only SCT, but also other performance groups in Savannah, but it was really great to see him.  

the curtain call for Secret Garden

We had beautiful weather throughout much of the week, but the weekend was less than perfect. It stormed all Saturday night, and rained all day Sunday. There were reports of tornado warnings, but farther inland than Savannah. I hadn't planned to do anything but sit inside and watch football, so the weather didn't bother me. The football, however, was not worth watching. Luckily, I could change to the tennis. I hope the Super Bowl is exciting, but so far, he playoffs have been real duds.  

1/15/2017

Weekly Update 1/15/2017

Well, the bloom is off the Elantra rose. Coming back from BC on Saturday morning, a light began to flash on my dashboard. I pulled over, and read the manual. I thought it said that my brake fluid was low. But when some walker knocked on my window at the stop light and told me I had a flat tire, I guess I was looking in the wrong section of the manual. Being not far from the condo, I drove there, and the AAA man came and fixed it. But how can that be? The car is 5 weeks old! It's got 400 miles on it! I bought it partly because I didn't want to have think about something happening to the car when I was driving. Well, that didn't take long, and now I don't know if I should trust this new car. I called the dealer, but they are short staffed on the weekend, and suggested that I bring it in some day next week. How about Monday?

a temp tire on the car

I started this week with a little physical activity and some mental stimulation. I met Jane at Daffin Park for a walk. I haven't done that since before the holidays, and although it was brisk (temps in the 40s), it was good weather for walking. The “meeting” of the library book club was a little strange. The librarian who generally leads the discussion was unavailable, so who volunteered to lead? That's right- me. How do I let myself get talked into these things? I think I did ok, but it was not exceptional. The book to read was anything by James Patterson, who will be a keynote speaker at next month's Savannah Book Fest. I had read an Alex Cross mystery long ago, but did not read another book for this meeting. There was a new member of the group, and she recently moved to MP. I met her again at the mailboxes one afternoon.

I've been in denial about my vision. But it's becoming more difficult for me to do crossword puzzles and tell which is 53 across or 55 across. So, I went to the Dollar Store to see if magnifying glasses might help. They do, a little.  

reading in my chair with my "new" glasses

Wednesday was TLC continuing series about 19^th architects in Savannah. We had a site visit to the Ships of the Sea Museum, which was designed as a private home the wealthy Scarborough family by William Jay in 1818. It's not another house museum, like so many in Savannah are, but a museum that showcases models, paintings, and memorabilia of ships that were related in some way to Savannah. But you can still see the architectural details of when this was a home.

  

Remember last month when I baked a lot of holiday cookies and complained about not having many tools for baking? Well, Jimmy liked my cookies a lot, and I think he's hoping that I'll do more baking to share. He bought me measuring spoons and measuring cups to help! Wasn't that sweet? At least it wasn't a Kitchenaid mixer, or then I'd really feel obligated!

Sarah sent me a whole photo album of when she was in Disney to run in the Marathon. She and her mom completed the entire 26.2 mile course. I think this was Sarah's first marathon, and she did it! You Go, Girl! In a related story, Sarah's birthday was Friday. How can it be that I have a granddaughter who's 20 years old?  

1/8/2017

Weekly Update 1/8/2017

It was another boring week, but I like boring. I AM boring.

I waited until after New Year's Day to take all the Christmas decorations down and pack them away in the closet for another year. I have a very large collection of snowmen that are now spread around the condo – a few knickknacks on the book shelves and end tables, a fleece throw, a pillow. The best part of having all these snow objects around is that when I go outside, there's none of that out there! Georgia, and most of the South, had unprecedented storms at the end of the week, but the worst that Savannah endured was some colder temps. 

snowmen inside the condo

On the down side, I also needed to clean a lot out of the office on January 1 – old utility invoices and bank statements were taken out of the file cabinets and stored in a box in the closet. New ledgers were set up for tracking expenditures. Old check book registers were closed while new ones were started. A new calendar for trying to remember birthdays was posted on the wall. It feels good to have that done, but it took almost a whole day.

I'm loving my new toys more and more. They make it harder for me to do housework, or work in the office, or even read a book now. I'm getting caught up on tv shows now that I can watch any episodes, not just current ones, with the new tv update, which includes voice remote. I face timed with Marcia and I chatted with Lisa. And I'm becoming a huge fan of Netflix. I've watched almost every episode of Grace and Frankie (which is very funny, but also can be painful, as much of what they go through is what I've been though because I, too, was dumped and need to start a new life, one that I didn't know I would need; they make it seem funny), a few movies, and now I'm watching The Crown. There are other programs in my queue – some that I've already watched and want to see again, and some that I want to see for the first time. I still need to investigate PBS.com, but I think I may be able to watch some series there that I enjoy. One thing that is really nice for me is I can watch on the tv, or the iPad. And if I want, I can watch the iPad in any room. I don't need to watch DVDs in my bedroom, but can see something on the iPad. This is eye-opening, and I love it. I fear I may never read another book!

watching Netflix in the living room...

...and huddled under a warm blanket in my bedroom. 

I was upset when I checked my pension deposit, and it was not what I expected. Since I signed up to switch health care effective January 1, I expected a larger check because they would no longer be deducting for the premium for the old company. But there was no change. In an effort to continue my “taking care of myself” policy, I immediately emailed and telephoned, and got it straightened out. I should have a slightly larger check month, which will be a huge help with all the new technology I'm going to have to pay for monthly.

Some lecture series have started again. I was at The Learning Center at the Senior Center twice this week. TLC celebrates it's 10^th birthday on January 7, so there was a little retrospective of the first ten years that was very interesting to attend. Since I've been going there for about six years, I guess I'm one of the Oldies. That was a one time lecture, but I also attended the first of a series on architects in Savannah in the 19^th Century. The first talk was on William Jay, who designed homes such as Owens-Thomas house, Scarborough House, the Telfair mansion which is now the Academy Museum, and the Archibald Bulloch house, which was torn down. Next week, we have a visit to the Scarborough house, which now houses the Ships of the Sea museum.

I asked to have the month of January off at DH. I'm burning out there, and not enjoying it as much. I think a few weeks off would be good for me. January is typically a slow month, and the slow times are when I least like being there – waiting to see if anyone shows up, twiddling my thumbs if no one does, giving a tour for only one or two – so this might be a good time to step back. I did, however, go to The 90, as I usually do on Friday afternoons.

Facebook reported on Friday that there would be no free tours of BC on the weekend because of the expected cold weather. Then, I received a call Sunday morning that said we would be offering the tours as usual, but I should dress warmly. Well, I don't own a winter coat, or boots, and the mittens that I used to have apparently are still in the VW, someplace in a junkyard. I put on two sweaters, a windbreaker, and warm socks and headed off to give one of my famous tours. It's been since last September that I've been a guide at the cemetery, and I haven't forgotten all that I ever knew.

The play off games were spectacular in their boredom. It was almost like watching the Bills.

1/1/2017

1/1/2017

Welcome to the New Year.! I hope it's good for us all!

In a never-ending battle to pull myself into the 21st century, I signed up for wifi in the condo this week. I've been getting along with the meager cellular data that Verizon allots me for my phone and ipad. With the car, and it's added gadgets that can use up data at an amazing rate, I am nearing my limit. I thought about just adding GBs to that service, but for about the same amount of money, I can hook up inside my condo, share when I have guests staying with me, and have unlimited access through Comcast. I hate Comcast, but I have few options, so this is it. They installed it Saturday, and now I spent even more time on my devices, wasting time. Because the “deal” came from Comcast with an upgrade to my DVR, I now have an enhanced recorder, and an advanced remote control. I only have to speak to the remote, and it finds the program or station that I'm looking for. I also signed up for a 1-month free Netflix trial and have been watching Grace and Frankie, but I can't seem to get it on my tv; I watch on the iPad. Now I have even more confusing things for me to learn.

On New Year's Eve, I picked neighbors John and Dave up at the airport. They had spent the holidays in Connecticut with their families. Donna had invited us all to her condo for a small gathering, and it was very nice. I enjoyed visiting with some neighbors. I was home by 10:30, and didn't even look at the clock again until after midnight. I missed the change to 2017.

Other than that, I did almost nothing all week. I hope to be less boring next week, but there's not a lot on the calendar, so this may be what 2017 will be like – just continuing to struggle with technology and muddling through. And watching the Bills each week in the season only to be disappointed.