cars, cookin', and c-c-c-cold

 This past week ended up being rather productive.  It was my last official week working at the hospital.  I was - as had become customary - scheduled to work one shift, but since everyone's working low hours, I "donated" my shift.  I would have worked if no one was interested, but not surprisingly, someone else happily worked it.

As far as the productivity time:

I had a handful of tutor sessions
I haven't wanted to add new students to the fray in a while, but I've had a couple return for additional help, and I also took on a younger sibling of a past student.  All nice kids and about the right amount of tutor time for me.  Speaking of staying educated, 

We are no longer criminals
Recall that we recently realized that all three of our vehicles were overdue for registration renewal?  Got 'em all done.   I was able to renew two of them online, but the third had lagged just over two months, so I had to go to the dreaded DMV.  But all went very smoothly - everyone was masked and social distancing measures were in place.  Took me all of about 15 minutes.  Speaking of vehicle ownership, 

Got that pesky lock repaired
When I swung by Meego's to give him the registration sticker, his key got stuck in the door lock.  He's had trouble with that lock for a while, but it was stuck good this time.  I was able to take the car to a locksmith I'd talked to pre-covid about the issue, and they were able to make the repair.  I was able to take care of it since Meego had classes and this was my week of no-worky.  Speaking of kid time, 

Fired up our new grill
We recently bought this gas griddle, and I finally got around to getting it seasoned and cooking.

Chaco came over for the day on Friday since he's working remotely and wanted to get himself and the dog out of the house.  His dog Ella got in some playtime with our two pooches, and I cooked some burgers with which we were able to get Wolfgang and Meego over for an impromptu family gathering.  And speaking of family, 

Happy birthday to the FIL
Yesterday was Magnum's dad's 86th birthday, and we had a Zoom celebratory family gathering to toast the occasion.  He's been a good father-in-law to me and a good Opa to our kids. 

Meanwhile, the state continues to burn
The wildfire smoke has returned.  I think prevailing winds had given us a break for a few days, but the smoke returned with an almost eerie vengeance.  The sun was a dull orange, and ash was falling like snow yesterday afternoon and evening.  Here's a patch of our uncovered concrete patio with a dusting of little burnt pine needles.

The silver lining is that the area of this particular fire is in need of a good clearing anyway, and there are very few structures/people in the path.  The fire will make way for good healthy forest growth. 

Of course, things could take a turn for the worst with such a large blaze (about 25,000 acres) and air quality is in the gutter.  So we watch and wait... and cough... and sniffle... Speaking of fresh air, 

The days are getting, uhm, cooler?
Talk of the weather is typically considered small talk, but people around town are feeling a little flabbergasted at the forecast for this upcoming week:

What the heck's with Tuesday??  100 percent chance of  whaaaaaat?!

"High" of 35 whaaaaaat?!

Well, this year already feels kind of like an Alice-in-Wonderland rabbit hole.  Monday into Tuesday looks to be just another side trip.