adventure

Summer semester officially ends today. As such, I'm in a lull for about two to three weeks, and I'm not complaining. I'm doing some tidying and reorganizing - mostly digitally. I still have a couple of short shifts in the testing center each week, so it's not a total slugfest. 

With the tuting, I don't blog as much as I used to. This blog has served to help me recall the whats and whens of different happenings, so a few bullets from recent.

• A couple of weeks ago, we went out with Wolfgang and Meego to celebrate Wolfgang's recent birthday. He chose a Korean BBQ place, and we put away much food. The restaurant brings all the dishes out along with raw meats that we cooked at table top, built-in grills. Intereactive!

At one point I was enjoying tearing into a seafood pancake and noticed some soft little white ring things. I had no idea what they were, and later I happened to come across a video of a chef cooking up some squid and realized that's what I was eating. So I've eaten squid, cool.

• Our little brush with nature last week, in the form of a rattlesnake, sent me down a snake infested rabbit hole of learning about rattlesnakes. They are actually pretty cool critters, but I still don't want to ever ever get bitten by one. 
  
  
• We've been pondering the idea of getting some nearby recreational land, but haven't gotten very far beyond the pondering stage. We'd like to kick things up and get more active on that "project" before we're too old to enjoy it.
  
  
• 
  This morning, I was leaving the gym when a shiny new Mercedez-Benz G-wagon pulled into the parking lot. I'd only ever seen one from afar, and never really took much notice. Up close, it was obviously quite the adventure toy. 

 

I realized that, for the price of one G-wagon, we could get about 35 acres of rural land and all the rattlesnakes it would hold. 

chutes and rattlers

 We played some hooky this morning. Both Magnum and I had a light workload today, and Magnum suggested "a hike or something".

Okay.

We took advantage of the fact that it's not the weekend and went to a popular local hiking trail: [Arthur's Rock]. The hike is about 3.5 miles, round trip, and gains about 1100 feet of elevation. We got to the trailhead around 8am, and the heat was already kicking in. It would be a "heat training" kinda day.

As expected, we saw only a handful of other hikers since it's Monday. The final push to the summit is this gratifying chute scramble.

We hung out atop Arthur for several minutes, taking in the views, trying to figure out different landmarks.

Magnum utilized his trekking poles for his sketchy knees and wobbly ankles, needed mostly for the descent.

At one point, as we navigated the trail under the full on sun, we heard what at first, to me, sounded like a horny grasshopper stridulation. Upon closer inspection, it was a frickin' rattlesnake giving us a fair warning!

Snake was right next to the trail, within easy striking distance of our naked shins, poised at the ready.  Magnum looked at it and said, "oh hey, it's a rattlesnake" then made like he was just gonna keep on a-walking.

I said, "hold the phone!" or something like that. We decided we should back off and consider our next move as the trail was quite narrow at that point. As we did so, Snake backed off and slithered off away from the trail.  We proceeded on by, "thanks for the warning, Snake!" Nice of him/ her.

We made it back to the trailhead without further incident, passing a few other hikers headed upwards.  All in all, a good use of hooky morning.

Now for some unabashed product placement:

Not-weed gummies = quick energy snack

"Thirsty for Justice" bike-to-work day Law Firm freebie water bottle = expendable in case I fell off a cliff or was taken out by a rattler

that's cool

I worked this morning at the testing center. Pretty uneventful day, and I'm not complaining. 

Then I bicycled home. It was a hot one, but nothing unbearable. In "new stuff" news, we bought a second portable AC unit. Our house doesn't have central air, and we've just suffered through it until now. A couple of years ago, we got a unit for the bedroom, which is on the second floor, while the rest of the house melted.

Our house has a pretty open floorplan, so we hooked up the new unit on the main floor and Aaah, shoulda done it sooner!

It's the type of unit that has an exhaust hose that blows out the window, so I did a bit of rearranging to the front room to accommodate it. I rather like the new layout, it's good to switch things up once in a while.

We had this old evaporative cooler. We bought it when Meego was about a month old and we lived in hot, dry Utah. It worked great in Utah, then it worked okay in Colo. Springs. Now in Fort Collins, where it's a bit more humid, it worked so-so. After getting the new PinguinoⓇ, I so-so-sold the old cooler.

Marketplace is one of the main reasons I still have a f4cebook account. I listed the cooler, not caring about the money. But I've heard that if you list things for free on Marketplace, all kinda weirdos respond. So I listed it for cheap and got just a good handful of weirdos.

Glammin' it up for Marketplace

I arranged to meet the buyer at the nearby HS parking lot, and when he showed up, I learned he didn't speak a lick of English. He also wanted to pay with the Zelle app which I don't have, and he had no cash. 

We conversed over google translate:

"Puedes tener el enfriador gratis" (You can just have the cooler for free)

He was gracious and a little apologetic, but I figured I

1. didn't want the money, just wanted to be rid of the old cooler
2. didn't care to fart around uploading yet another questionable app
3. was the one who didn't clarify cash or venmo only
4. saw he was driving a POS Prius and could probably use a free 25-year-old cooler

I tried to communicate how to fill it with water ("AGUA  EN  AQUI" plus flagrant gesticulating) and preferrably place it in front of an open window. Welp, his now.

In other comforts, I was at work yesterday with Blossom and Kitty. A woman stopped by and said there was a going-away luncheon for one of the advisors with much leftover cake at the conference room around the corner.

Not ones to ever turn down cake be party poopers, we partook.

There were two sheet cakes, one of them had the message "Best Wishes in your New Adventures"

My portion puts the "ew" in New.

po po, I dunno

 At the college on Thursday, I worked testing in the morning and had tutoring in the afternoon. I had a little break in between and sat outside the student center for a little sun and sandwich as it was a relatively cool day for July. 

A couple of our security guards walked by, which in itself was not strange. They do frequent walk-arounds to various campus buildings throughout the day. I saw them convene with a couple of other law enforcement types and then the four of them headed to a nearby building. 

A few minutes later, I packed up and headed into that same building, which houses a computer lab, to check off a few tasks before tutoring. Inside, I found many campus security guards and city policemen huddled in a hallway. One of them spotted me and politely asked me to "go around" the building.

I did a quick 180 outta there. Campus is relatively quiet since it's summer semester, and I didn't see any other people who I might ask, "what's up?" There were just a couple of policemen stationed outside the building in question.

So I headed to the library, where I saw seven or eight police vehicles parked, with a couple of others arriving. Curiouser and curiouser.

Exiting the library a while later, I saw one policeman retrieve another policeman from a freshly parked patrol car. The retriever was clearly toting a large rifle, and the retrievee was carrying a hefty riot shield.

And I'm thinking, "does anyone care that I'm just walkin' around out here?" I did see one of our maintenance guys out driving around in his golf cart/ truck, and I asked him if he knew what was going on.

"Everyone I ask says, 'I dunno'. I asked one of the cops, and he just gave me a dirty look", end of story.

On my way to the tutoring center, I asked my testing coworkers if they knew what was up. Boss said, "Security came by, said they were looking for someone. That's all I know". Then he joked, "We didn't tell them where you were."

And that was that. The campus was never put on lock-down. I don't know how long "the incident" lasted, but it was cleared up by the time I'd finished with tutoring. Later that evening, we got an email acknowledging "police activity" with links to mental health services for anyone who might've been freaked out by it, but no explanation.

Yesterday afternoon, we got a follow-up email saying that a student was suspected of having a firearm on campus, so police were contacted, but nothing was substantiated. 

So was it all a prank or what?  Seems like there's more to the story,

That's all my excitement for the week. That and this Bon-Sai that was added to the scratch paper wall-of-fame

No kiss cams to see here.

Trash

 A good declutter, how I love thee.

One of this week's highlights: we went to the dump. We had a few items that we'd gathered over the years that needed the heave-ho. They weren't useful to donate and were too big for the weekly trash bin. It was time.

The last time we'd been to the dump was probably about 5 years ago after we'd lived here for a few months. Back then, the fee was 9 or 10 dollars. The current fee is $35, so the price has increased, but it's still bargained-priced therapy if you ask me!

We backed the truck up to the designated spot and tossed that garbage with reckless abandon. Afterwards, I felt like Nicole Kidman in that famously supposed "divorce photo" after her divorce from Tom Cruise.

On a side note, I learned that Ex Mrs. Tom Cruise denies the photo is her celebrating the divorce, but I didn't care enough to dig further. 

Speaking of Nicole Kidman, we've been watching the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. Anyone else? 

I gotta say, it's not doing much for me. We watched the first season, which was okay, but pretty forgetable - as I realized I'd mostly forgotten it. But so far, I'm finding the second season almost embarrassingly bad. A f&cebook friend says it gets better after episode 4. Well, we watched episode 5 last night, and it's still not doing much for me.

Heading into the week ahead, there are only 3 weeks remaining for summer classes. It's a densely packed timeline, and the tutees are feeling it. Hopefully, they'll all be celebrating like Nicole soon.

something's brewing

Magnum and I had a nice Sunday morning bike ride today. Once again, we cycled passed a [fave local brewery], and once again, there was some sort of outdoor exercise class going on. I recall coming across this for the first time last summer, and here it was again: [Cycle Sips and Lifts].

The mood seemed quite festive. I doubt that anyone who attends a workout event at a brewery is going to be too hardcore about the fitness aspects.

Speaking of local breweries, Chaco talked us into going to a different one earlier this week for dinner while he was here. He figured he "had to" go to a brewery while in Fort Collins, it's what you do. Apparently.

So we went to [Odell Brewery]. Chaco and Wolfgang could not believe! we'd never been there before. 

What can we say, we don't think to go to breweries. I'll admit that it was a nice experience on the patio on a pleasant summer evening. The food truck on site was an Italian flatbread truck. Nothing to write home about, but it was fine. 

As I perused the menu, the vegan option sounded interesting. I wondered how they would pull off the vegan mozzarella. I chickened out on ordering it, however because of the name: Vegana.

I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, and it looked so much like "vagina", so I ordered the Marinara lest I say vegana incorrectly. ( I have since learned how it's properly pronounced...)

Our 4th of July was lowkey. We were dogsitting Chaco's dog Ella, and she is NOT a fan of loud noises. Our dogs, Penny and Merlin, couldn't care less when it comes to fireworks, thunder, etc. Ella is more typical.

"What was that?!"

It was nice having the day off from work as I'm typically scheduled to work at the testing center on Fridays. I've decided to have a sit-down with Boss to discuss my future there. 

On one hand, I like my coworkers, and it's pretty decent pay as far as part-time jobs go. On the other, the work tasks are pretty mundane after four years. Because of tutoring, my availability for testing is really not flexible  - for when someone is out sick or on vacation. So I'm going to straight up ask Boss if it would be easier for him if I left and he hires a replacement (impossible!) with more flexibility.

I'm not sure what answer I'm hoping for. 

terms of endearment

"Well, I thought I should've used that approach, and got too far into it before I realized I was f*cked"

I was having a tutor sesh yesterday. The student had recently taken an exam and wanted to go over some of the questions that had tripped her up. 

She was explaining her thought process when she nonchalantly dropped the F-bomb.

Now, I personally speak quite cleanly, but often in my mind, I'm saying all kinds of nasty sh*t. 

I happily welcome the introduction of "the f-word" or its various cousins from tutees, however. It's an indication to me that the tutees are comfortable around me. Yesterday was this particulary student's first F-bomb. It was followed by a couple of others later on, while she maintained her typically cheerful demeanor. It made me happy inside.

In other totally unrelated thoughts, I'm considering getting an Instant Pot. Is it worth it? Would I use it that much?

I certainly don't cook as much as I used to since the nest emptied, but I've heard good things about the ease and versatility of Instant Pots. 

Plus Best Buy is teasing me by sending me random $5 coupons - spit in the ocean for an Instant Pot, but still...

grumpy cat, trashy green, pros and cons

First of all, I will elaborate a bit on Party Girl's dress that I mentioned in my last post.As she explained, the dress required neither bra nor underpants, so it was desirable to wear on a hot day when she had various errands to run.

The image in my mind was not a favorable one, but she explained that the dress had built-in underthings. Like a tennis dress, yes? 

I have some shorts and also a skirt with built-in liners. Hers was a complete dress.

So she wasn't just flapping in the wind, so to speak. *ahem*

Anyhoo, Chaco's in town, visiting from Virginia. So it's nice to have him here. Not a full vacation as he's working from his Colorado office. And he's brought his dog, Ella.

Ella is good friends with our dogs. Not so much with the cat. So the dogs are happy while the cat is holed up and grumbling in my office/the cat room when the dogs are inside.

Wednesday was bike-to-work day around the country. I've mentioned in previous years that it's a well attended event here.

SOURCE

So happens, Magnum was out of town for work this past week, but Chaco attended with me and picked up some food and loot. It was a nice day for it, and as is typical, people were out in droves.

There are some very generous vendors at bike-to-work. One tent was offering up SO much stuff. I got to the end of the table, and the woman working the tent said,

"How did you get this far down the line and not take anything yet!?"

"I'm just agog at what all you're offering up, I'm partially paralyzed", I replied

Well, that, and I honestly don't "need" much of the giveaways - water bottles, little accessory bags, individual first aid kits, reflective bands - being a minimalist and all. I was also not hungry at that point as we'd loaded up on burritos, coffee, and trail mix at an earlier stop. 

I mainly enjoy watching the spectacle of it all.

As I was in observation mode, I realized that, ironically, bike-to-work day isn't all that environmentally friendly. A lot of the freebies are pre-packaged items in individual plastic containers and such. To be honest, a lot of trash is generated on bike-to-work day. 

But hey, at least we attended via bicycles!

Speaking of work, I'm still contemplating my future in the testing center - weighing the pluses and minuses of staying there vs. fully switching over to JUST tutoring. 

Work at the testing center is administrative/ customer service with a teeny bit of IT thrown in once in a while. It provides a needed service, but it's not very creative from an employee point of view. I'm down to just a handful of hours there each week, with no real wiggle room in my schedule, because I fill my other available hours with tutoring.

But I enjoy my coworkers for the most part. Heck, that's half the reason I keep working. Gets me out of the house. Ever time a semester ends and a new one begins, I contemplate staying or going. It's hard to decide, so I've ended up staying. 

Decisions.

water fowl

 Coworker Sarge was out of town for a couple of weeks. That, in itself, is not noteworthy. However, a few months ago, Sarge and his family decided to get and raise some ducks. Three ducklings arrived and joined the family. Ducks need daily maintenance.

A neighbor girl cared for the ducks a few days, and then the duty switched to coworker Blossom whose truck broke down. So coworker Party Girl took over duck duty, and Party Girl didn't like taking care of the ducks by herself.

All this to say, that I did a bit of ducking around with Party Girl yesterday. Sarge lives close to the college, and Party Girl and I both ended our shifts at the same time yesterday. As such, she raked me in as her partner in duck care for the day. She'd already taken her dad, her husband, and Boss. My turn, I suppose.

She said we'd zip over there, do our duck duty, then she'd swing back around and drop me back off at the college since I'd ridden my bicycle to work. Easy enough. 

I changed into my sneakers and my UVB top for the ride home. Party girl changed into a loose dress that "needs neither a bra nor underpants". It was really hot out yesterday...

It was actually quite cute and fun. The three ducks travel around the yard like a single unit. Sarge says they've done that since the day they arrived from the post office - yes, that's one way to get you some ducks.

They're not quite fully grown yet. The family expects them to start their periods laying eggs around October.

I expect an omelette as compensation.

eyeballs

We've had lots of rain the last several weeks. We typically welcome the moisture, but now the new fear is that all the rain has produced piles of fire fuel for when/if Mother Nature turns off the faucet.

Oh well, one day at a time. I did get caught in a major downpour bicycling home from work recently. As I was heading out, the clouds were moving in and rumbling a bit, but I thought I could beat it. Wrong!

Once the drops started, I quickly became drenched - DUH-WRENCHED - as that drenching deserved two all-caps syllables. As I soakingly approached our house, next door neighbor guy was also in the midst of his bicycle commute home, seemingly without a care. In fact, I think he was enjoying it. 

"He's got the right attitude", I reflected, "at least it's not hailing"

...just as hail started smacking us in the helmets. Thankfully I was in the driveway by that point.

Coworker Blossom had recently returned from a work conference. She brought little gifts for each of us upon her return. For me, she bestowed two sturdy, attractive bookmarks. 

"You like to read, right?", as she held the little paper bag out for me.

Shortly afterwards, I was enjoying a bike ride while not getting drenched. I decided to swing by the library and play Staff-Picks-Shelf roulette. I often read books on my Kindle, but since I had two virgin bookmarks, I thought I'd get an actual physical book.

Our libraries, like many, have a "Staff Picks" shelf where rudderless patrons like myself can check books out without having to put much thought into it. I've had good luck in the past, and I'm not one that HAS to finish a book once I start it. If it's a dud for me, it goes in the DNF pile.

[Hench] is the book I ended up choosing.  It's science fiction with superheroes and villains and regular people employed by superheroes and villains - not my usual thing, I'm not sure I have a usual thing.

But it's so good! Smart and witty and strangely deep at times.

Another win at Staff-Picks-Shelf roulette!

Thank you, library staff member Leah.

I am trying to read more - fiction and non-fiction both. Social media gets old, too much news is not good for the soul. I'll listen to audio books as well. I often feel, "this could be a good book with a different narrator". It's me, not them.

My libby app tells me I've checked out 34 books this year. PFFFT - proof that I have no qualms about DNF-ing, as I've not read nor listened to anything close to 34 books. 

This morning, I'm off to the optometrist to pick up some new specs. At my recent eye exam, the dr. told me my prescription had actually gotten a little weaker. I contemplated just continuing to strain my neck with the glasses I have, forever searching for the "sweet spot" in my old-lady progressive lenses. But then my spare pair decided to retire by dramatically severing a hinge. 

Well, they'd had several years of service. These were the frames I had during my middle school lunch lady days [when that cart fell on my face, and my glasses took the bullet for me]. Good times.

Whacha reading?

June parade, and Grinch no more

Last weekend, I volunteered at a happy/sad event. Happy/sad because it was well attended fun meant to raise awareness after tragedy.

[Ollie's Bike Parade] is a charity organization that grew out of the death of 10-year-old Oliver Stratton. Ollie was killed after he was hit, while riding his bicycle, by a woman who was texting while driving. She received the maximum penalty of...drum roll... one year of work release. Talk about salt on a wound.

This was the second annual Ollie's Bike Parade. It was a beautiful day featuring lots of vendors, food trucks, lots of cute kids and their families, and yes, a cute and colorful bike parade around the CSU campus. The organization is about raising awareness and advocating for stiffer penalties for those who choose to text while driving.

And of course, there were somber reminders

Fifty-five ghost bikes representing 55 traffic related deaths of bicyclists in Colorado in 2024. Those children's bikes are the hardest to fathom. Sheesh, there was a tricycle among them!

Another large tent featured stories and mementos of several victims. It included pedestrians and motorcyclists as well. Ollie's ghost bike was in that tent.

Now, I've driven in the area where Ollie was hit. It's a residential area with wide streets, high visibility, and homes of young families. It's almost like one would have to go out of their way to collide with anything, let alone a person.

Yeah, don't text and drive. Please.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of advocates, Grandboss is on my A-list now.

In the past, I've whined here about Grandboss. He's the biggest sufferer of Main Character Syndrome I think I've ever known. Woe to anyone who gets caught in one of his super boring stories about himself.

Apparently, I started working for him in June of 2021. I don't work as much in testing as I used to as I've gone more over to the tutoring side of things, but I'm still a "valued employee" of the testing center according to Greatgrandboss - my boss's boss's boss - Grandboss's boss.

Each month Greatgrandboss sends out emails to our organization, recognizing anyone with work anniversaries, so I made the June announcement... kinda.

Yeah, he totally misspelled my name. Both first AND last. He closed with:

"This group of employees brings so much positive energy in our spaces! We appreciate you and we’re glad you are here!"

So all of us in the testing center are having a good laugh at Greatgrandboss's blunder (because really, who makes a big deal about these anniversary emails?) when Grandboss chimes in on our team chat

Fully making fun of Greatgrandboss, but more importantly... he noticed.

Admittedly, my last name is often misread. 

My last name is Barker

Okay, be honest. What did you read?  Did you read Baker? Look again.

I've had this problem my whole married life.

Greatgrandboss went above and beyond, however, by mispelling my first name too! Yet, not only did Grandboss catch the error right away, he quickly informed Greatgrandboss about the mistake, and Greatgrandboss sent me a follow-up email, dripping with apology. 

Afterwards, I felt toward Grandboss like the grinch. You know the scene...

We'll see how many boring stories it takes to shrink my heart back, but I'm not holding my breath.

from where I sit

Woo, disappeared from blogger for a bit there. I had to open my own blog to see when I last was here - over a week ago.

Well, summer semester kicked off, and I've got an almost full slate of summer tutees. So it's been busy with the figuring out of logistics and getting schedules meshed. Now we should all settle in for a raucous time that is the world of densely packed summer classes. The semester's nearly a third of the way complete!

But recall, a few months ago, I mentioned that our library was renovating the bathrooms - going from traditional men's/ women's to one big all-gender bathroom? It is done. I took it for a test drive

It's not really one big room. It's a big space with a partition wall down the middle. I've attempted a crude top-down diagram...

The thick lines represent the walls. The larger stalls in back are for disabilities. 

The first thing I noticed is how big the doorless entrance is. It's possible to see people at the sinks from the hallway entrance. 

I support the all-genderedness as it will also be helpful for people accompanying their opposite gendered young children or elderly, but it was admittedly weird. Not the cultural norm.

The stalls have floor-to-ceiling doors - something we Americans are not used to (except for at Buc-ee's).

Here's the view from within:

The big metal thing on the right, I believe, is an alternative hook for purses, backpacks, etc. along with a shelf thing for tablets, laptops...

I found it a bit claustrophobic, but certainly sturdy and certainly private.

Good enough, gets the job done. I didn't notice a diaper changing table, but surely they're in there. I guess I don't really look for those these days.

There were "feminine hygiene" dispensers on both sides - more noticeable I guess, but also things I no longer look for *ahem*

Anyway, that's my quick update. I'm headed out for a volunteer event this morning. Should be a lovely day for it. 

Not sure of the bathroom facilities for that, I'll report back.

scratchlings

I was working at the testing center earlier today. We had a tester call us from the parking lot, saying she didn't think she'd make it in for her test. Apparently her back had seized up, and she couldn't move. 

As she stood, inert, bracing against her car, the head of the nursing department happened by. The nursing school doesn't have a summer session, but luckily "Angie" was there for the rescue. Angie alerted security who contacted paramedics. Our tester was taken to the hospital. 

I've noticed similar on previous occassions. Once, while out running errands, an elderly woman tripped on a curb and couldn't get up. As I contemplated what to do, a woman approached, "I'm a nurse..."

Recall that I recently came upon a [collision between a car and a bicyclist] while on my way to work. Then again, "I'm a nurse..." appeared within seconds. Nurses. Seemingly everywhere when you need them. Thankfully.

I thought I'd share some testy artwork here. Most testers are allowed scratchpaper or whiteboards for scratchwork while testing. We collect it all before they leave us, and some of their "scratchwork" seems too fun to throw away, and lives on a while longer, tacked to a corkboard in the breakroom:

Hmm, what's that there above? Toaster Pastry Kitty?

I also enjoy the notes they often leave for themselves. Some recent ones I recall...

"She believes in you"

"Here we go, one team one fight"

"I can do hard things"

"Don't be dumb"

Then there was [that one guy] who'd written 

"F**k you b*tch  MotherF***ing b*tch..."

We're not sure if that was a calming affirmation or... something else.

picnic, puzzle, pudgy pet

 I'm heading into work at the testing center in a bit. Full timers Boss and Blossom will be attending a division picnic of sorts, and Boss has left Party Girl and me in charge for the day. Let the games begin.

The campus is relatively quiet these days since spring semester ended. Summer session starts next week. A few services are around like security, the library, and us in testing. Advising, maybe?

A couple of weeks ago, during finals, we ran out of space in testing and overflowed a few students to the advising area. Boss was manning the place, and I took some students over. A couple of advisors were in the area... working on a jigsaw puzzle?

Boss later said that they worked on that puzzle the whole time he was there. "I shoulda been an advisor!", he joked.

Okay, maybe not many students are meeting with advisors during finals week? But a couple stayed around just in case of drop-ins? It was a good sized puzzle. A 1000-piecer at least.

Meanwhile, Wolfgang returned from a fun getaway with a friend this week. I had been seeing to Wolfgang's cat during his adventures. Ideally, we would have the cat "board" with us, but that wouldn't work with our feisty cat Napolion.

So I'm now off the hook from cat duty. Wolfgang's cat is a big fluff. It's hard to tell if she's fat or just has SO much hair.

"Does this fur make me look fat?"

She lets me pet her, but in general, is not big on being touched. So I can't really "grope" her to see how much is chub and how much is hair. 

After she'd eat, she would lay on the floor like this, belly exposed. I've heard that's an animal's way of showing their trust in you.

Or maybe she was just baiting me.

checkup and chopping

Last week, I was feeling rather without purpose after the abrupt end of the semester. Now, one week later, I'm all, "I could get used to this!"

I do still have a couple of shifts per week in the testing center, so I'm not a total slug.

I've checked off many of the things I had back-burnered until this point. For one, I had my annual eye exam last week. Eyes haven't changed all that much, so no need for new glasses.

Eye doctor did confirm that cataracts are still stalking me. "You've got a few years", she says. I recall when she first told me I had signs of cataracts forming, and I was thinking, "B-b-but cataracts are for old people". Oh... yeah.

Meego and I went for a nice hike over the weekend. Wolfgang is out of town and Magnum had a case of what I deemed the "Oompah Loompah Virus" because, whatever it was, it made his voice all gravelly. Maybe the latest iteration of covid? So anyway, Meego and I had an enjoyable time - sort of a Meego's birthday/ Mother's day thing. 

And I've checked off two tasks from my list this week. (1) give my mountain bike some TLC and a good cleaning - not because it's dirty from riding, but because it's dirty from sitting around doing nothing - and (2) chop up an old crappy mattress. Ugh, that was a task.

We have a futon in the living room, which naturally has a futon mattress. When the old one wore out, I bought the crappy one off amazon. It was NOT as advertised and was this big thick lumpy thing that didn't work well with a futon frame. 

After dealing with it for a few months, I gave up and ordered a more suitable replacement. Meanwhile, I'd chucked the lumpy thing out to our back porch, a.k.a "catio". 

Well, the cat loved it. This full sized big cushy lump. I finally got around to unstuffing it and bagging the remains. Really, I hate sending it to the landfill, but it was truly unfit for human consumption.

As expected, the cat was a bit miffed and went all Karen on me upon inspection of the now spacious floor, insisting on speaking with the manager.

I suppose we'll get some peace offering for him, but good riddance to that lumpy POS mattress.

And I did finish "reading" an audio book while butchering the mattress. The book was Small Game. Coworker Kitty was reading it for her book club, and it sounded interesting.

It was okay. I'll give it 3.5 stars out of 5. It made the tedious mattress work go faster. Audiobooks are handy for such things.

Makes me wonder. Will there come a time where people no longer read? It seems to have already begun.

nerds, netflix

School's out. Monday was the last day of spring semester. I had a final meeting with a tutee, because nothing like a last minute cram sesh. 

So, after a whirlwind of tuting and testing - the two areas where I work - the tuting's come to an abrupt halt. Not gonna lie, I feel a bit rutterless. At least testing is still hopping. We typically get a wave of testers at semester's end. Newly pinned EMT's getting their certifications, educators getting their licenses, etc.

On Tuesday...

Magnum: No more tutoring?

Me: *SIGH*, not until summer session starts... but in the meantime... (gesturing to the whiteboard, because, yes, we have a whiteboard).

I'd put up a thought provoking math problem, to keep our brains exercised, nerd that I am. Nerd that he is, he couldn't wait to try to solve it.

Since that, there've been more brain teasers appearing on the whiteboard. Some from me, some from him. I had to get more markers, we'd expended the others.

So this is what happens when nerds collide, get hitched. This, and that offspring who liked to do experiments and once blew stuff up and melted a poop bucket - but at least it was outside the house - and that's another story.

Meanwhile, we finished the Netflix series Four Seasons since it was getting a lot of hype. 

It was... all right. It's about a group of friends, 3 married couples, who take regular vacations together. One of the husbands asks for and gets a divorce, then takes up with a much younger "girlfriend", thus changing the vacation group dynamic. It's based on the 1981 movie, which I've never seen.

It was entertaining enough. I didn't always relate to the characters as I found them too neurotic in general. But it did remind me of a couple I met years ago. 

J and A were good friends with Magnum's dad and stepmom. The four of them went on vacations together, etc. Then it turned out that husband J was having an affair on wife A with a younger woman. 

J and A got divorced, and J eventually married the other woman. I remember FIL telling us they'd received an invitation to J's wedding.

"I threw it in the trash!", he said with a chuckle.

I didn't know my FIL that well yet at the time, and I remember him moving up a few rungs on the moral ladder in my mind with that remark. 

But really, I think I may have gotten more into that other viral Netflix series - Tiger King. 

This concerns me a little. 

moms

Happy Mother's Day😊 I'm not a "Hallmark Holiday" person, so I don't like or want a big to-do on the day. BUT, I do definitely appreciate my own loving mom.

I have this photo from the ancient times that, presumably, my dad or older brother took on the spur of the moment.

Me in the coziness of Mom's lap, my brother "Guano" (appropriately attired in a batman cape), the three of us sitting way too close and engrossed in something on the black-and-white Motorola TV. Loooong before google, so there are printed materials strewn about.

Nothing scripted, no prepping. I imagine Guano having food stains on his face... So happy good moms appreciation day!

Speaking of appreciation, I showed up to meet with a tutee one day last week, and she appeared, saying, "I want to give you something". She reached into her tote bag and pulled out this lovely pot o' succulents!

Is that so sweet or what?

She found out earlier in the week that she's been awarded a transfer scholarship to the university's engineering program.

This is "the mom" I've mentioned here before - juggling strenuous coursework while raising two young daughters.

She says she wants to get her degree before she turns 40. I think she just might make it.

I brought the plants home and put them on a shelf in Magnum's work-from-home office which happens to be of the most sunshiney rooms in the house. There are shelves in there that are the home of the only houseplants we have, because anywhere else is not safe from attack from the cat.

The cat doesn't necessarily want to eat the plants, he's just a jerk.

...but I bet his mom was nice.

nature, Mexican beers, and a cult

Happy May, y'all! Spring continues to spring.

Last weekend, we got together with Meego and Wolfgang for a little hike-about in nearby Lyons, CO. Lyons is a small town - population of about 2,000. The main industries appear to be weed dispensing and catering to outdoor recreators, not necessarily mutally exclusive. Beautiful day for it.

We stopped at a favorite Mexican restaurant post-hike, where we FINALLY learned that Sundays are "men's day". I say we finally learned this because every other time we'd gone had also been on Sundays. The guys would each order a beer and get two instead of one for reasons unbeknownst to us. Turns out, it's a "men's day thing".  Who knew?

We didn't learn this until after ordering, however, so once again, we had double beers at the table.

Switching gears now... Okay, I have this friend, we'll call her Rosemary. She moved to another state about a year ago or so. We're friends on f4cebook, and she's starting to post things that clearly indicate she's joined a cult MLM.

I'm not sure which MLM she's involved with, as she's being vague - as is tradition, it seems. But signs are that she's selling (trying to sell) ridiculously expensive water filters.

Now, I've had other friends get roped in - usually other moms I know - and I just ignore their pitches, and eventually, they see the light. Confession: I myself got roped into an MLM in the early 2000's before I knew anything about them. But I soon experienced the creepy / cult-like atmosphere and got the heck out before losing money and becoming a weirdo... well, an MLM weirdo anyway.

And now, Rosemary. She's early- to mid-thirties, no kids, no college degree. A ripe target. I'm seeing these type things from her on the regular -->

...and I cringe inwardly.

So I contemplate. Should I DM her like she prompts in order to

(1) try to talk her out of it - to which she probably wouldn't listen?

(2) pretend to be interested, infiltrate the cult, and then try to talk her out of it?

or do what I'll probably do in the end,

(3) ignore it, and watch painfully from afar.

Hopefully, she'll learn sooner rather than later.

fake blood and a weird haircut

Well this week, she was a busy one. Nothing specific, just into the homestretch of the semester at work and the beginning of a new PEO year. But my head's still above water. 

I worked last weekend and there was  law enforcement/ EMS training event going on on campus. One those things with "trauma victims" and various simulations. We were told a flight-for-life helicopter would be making an appearance, but by the end of our shift, we realized, no helicopter. We were promised a helicopter!

Also this week, I went in for a haircut. I've been going to the same stylist for a couple of years now. She does a good job and is reasonably priced. The salon is pretty laid back - professional but not snobby.

Each stylist has their own little cubby, partitioned off from the others. And it's not uncommon for the stylists to chat with each other across partitions. Sometimes, my stylist's college age daughter drops by and catches up for a while.

But this last time - tell me if this is weird. I'm there in the chair getting my haircut. Daughter comes by with a friend and shares greetings with my stylist while going to the breakroom. Then they come back out and some other dude comes in - not a college dude, but an older guy. Someone's husband? I dunno. He wasn't there to get a cut or anything, just stops in to shoot the shit.

So it's me in the chair, my stylist is working. Her daughter, daughter's friend, and weird older dude are just hanging around. Stylist is dropping hints now and then like, "Sorry, I can't visit much today, my schedule got backed up a bit..." And I'm there like I'm having my haircut at someone's backyard barbecue.

The trio isn't taking the hint, just keeps hanging around and visiting. I still have no idea why older dude is there. Honestly, I'm not sure why the 19-year-old daughter with a car hangs out at her mom's work either. Stylist says something like, "Sheesh, I feel like I'm being graded - everyone just watching me work, heh heh" *hint*hint*nudge*nudge*, and still they stick around.

In hindsight, I should've glommed onto that and said, "How do you think I feel?!" but I just remained there feeling awkward. They probably still wouldn't have gotten it anyway.

When she finished up, and I paid, she seemed to be giving me apologetic vibes with her eyes.

But it was weird. Was that weird?

springing

Well, so much for birds chirping and sun shining. It's currently snowing. Welp, that's April for us. It's okay, as always. We need the moisture.

It feels like this week flew by and zipped right to Friday. The end of the semester is nigh, and student panic mixed with exhaustion is palpable. Despite today's winterness, the spring fever is hitting hard as well. As such, I've noticed much more crowding at the bicycle racks at work now that the fair weather commuters have joined in.

As I was securing my trusty commuter, Daisy, I couldn't help but notice this stranger at the end of the rack

"Big Weird Red" - that's gotta be a custom job, right? 

Eye catching and artistic? Yes. 

Ridable? Doubtful. 

pelican briefly

It's a beautiful morning here. Birds chirping, trees budding, sun shining... Can winter hibernation be over?

It felt like a productive enough week, and I think spirits, in generally, are lifted by our nice weather. Soon, it will be hot, and people will be at each others' throats again, so we'll enjoy this bit while we can.

I came across some visiting pelicans on a recent weekday morning

Up until about 25 years ago, I thought pelicans were strictly sea birds, hanging about the coasts. But one day when we lived in Utah, we were entertaining the in-laws - who at the time were avid birders - at a local bird refuge where we saw all kinds of bird friends, including *gasp* pelicans?

And I remember thinking, "What the frick are pelicans doing in Utah?". Well, migrating. Hello.

Since we've moved to Fort Collins, I can remember seeing pods of pelicans every spring - like an annual pelican convention. Lovely things.

Speaking of wildlife, Boss acquired a new-to-him cat. Recall that a few weeks ago, his beloved cat, Biscuit, went belly up from a stroke. Since then, Boss had been on the prowl for a suitable replacement. The yet-to-be-named newcomer is slowly getting used to his new life, which started out by biting Boss in the hand and henceforth being quarantined.

New Cat is recently released from cat jail, and Boss says he doesn't meow, doesn't purr, but eats like a champ. 

The rescue shelter didn't have a whole lot of information on "Little Dude Bob" (temporary emergent name), and it seems like he wasn't very well socialized to humans. 

Boss'll break him in, one hand at a time.

bicycles, birds, baddies

It was a beautiful morning for a bicycle ride today, and that's exactly what we did. Really feels like spring has sprung. While tooling through a particulary ritzy neighborhood - visiting how the other half lives - we came upon 4 or 5 wild turkeys.

Although rare, I've come across wild turkeys within the city limits before, but this particular "rafter" (had to look that up) of turkeys included comparatively large and quite lovely birds. Others have seemed scraggly and weak looking. 

I slowed a bit to take in this healthy bird crew as a pickup came up behind us. So I moved on along to not block the pickup, but then pickup guy pulled alongside of us and asked, 

"Didja see the turkeys?! They're HUUUUGE!"

The group let out a good gobble-gobble, just to show off, as we carried on our way. 

Shortly afterward, a lone blue heron gave us a flyby, and a while later, a pod (google again) of pelicans gracefully circled overhead. A morning of bicycles and birds it was.

I have no photos of these majestic bird sightings. Know that I at least momentarily considered pulling over and getting pics, but talked myself out of it. 

I didn't experience the local "Hands Off" rally first hand yesterday, but heard that it was peaceful. However, later in the afternoon, we got several news reports of a "possible gang-associated" shooting at the local mall with a suspect on the run. 

So that was news for our sleepy, relatively low-crime city. Authorities were still looking for a suspect when we went to bed.

Around 4:30 this morning, I was awakened by what sounded like someone knocking on our glass door or one of our windows. About 6 knocks, followed by a pause and 4 more knocks followed by a pause and 2 more knocks in quick succession. 

A disconcerting sound, certainly. But then I figured if someone was knocking on one of our windows or doors, the dogs would be going bananas, which they most certainly were not.

"Hmmm, it's probably gun shots or fireworks", I figured, which made it strangely seem less disconcerting. 

No news of it today other than from Ring neighbors and Nextdoor people who were similarly awakened and wondering, so it was likely fireworks.

Fireworks are illegal in Colorado, but not so in Wyoming, which is about a 45-minute drive from here. So we get firework shooters year-round and learn to just go back to sleep.

Anyway, we learned that the police identified and arrested a suspect in the mall murders - yes, both victims died. Some teenager. Under 18. WTF.

on track

It was good to be back to the "normal" schedule this week, with students back after spring break. Catching up with tutees, many stuck around and just enjoyed the break, while others took advantage and went somewhere fun. 

• I've been wondering about Thor this week. He is not one of my tutor students as I am just his designated scribe, but I typically see him every day in the tutoring center. I haven't seen him at all this week, nor have I heard anything about scheduling his next math test.

• Another of my students is currently battling cancer. She's one of the nicest people you'd meet, intelligent and hard working too. Always has a smile and positive temperment. Makes my minor gripes seem silly.

• Another student has a neurological "condition". I'm curious to know more, and he'd probably tell me if I asked, but it feels wrong to ask. He often reports to me about recent seizures - "about one every coupla weeks" - and yesterday, he showed me his new watch. It's meant to alert him, and others around him, when he's about to have a seizure.

I've considered what I'd do if a seizure comes on during tutoring, and I think I'll be able to react appropriately. So far, so good. I will say that his math skills are sharp as a tack. I think his parents chose to sign him up for tutoring mainly to keep him on track with his assignments, but once we get passed the chit chat, our sessions are mostly me just watching him do everything correctly. 

Speaking of smart watches, I'm liking my new toy purchase from last weekend.  It's a little too "Mother Hen", though, a la:

What is this "harder training up ahead"? What does it know that I don't??

And speaking of coaching, there's a shakeup at the nearby high school. Ten of the twelve track and field coaches (why were there so many to begin with?) were abruptly fired earlier this week.

The only explanation so far is that they "violated district policy". And the official statement also included "no students were involved". 

Piecing together from the rumor mill, it sounds to me that all ten were drinking, most likely during a track event/meet. If so, then yeah, I can see the abrupt canning of the bunch. Student safety is the coach's responsibility during an out-of-school activity.

I feel bad for the track kids, though. Their season JUST started. C'mon, adults, actions have consequences. I wonder how they were found out?

I'm sure more details will come out eventually. 

carriers and ducks

On Saturday, we went to that big honkin' sporting goods store, SCHEELS. Apparently, it's so big, we're supposed to write it in all caps.  

I'd only been there once before, and that was mainly a field trip of sorts to check out the big honkin' sporting good store "everyone" was talking about. We spent a good amount of time there on that visit, just gawking. Didn't purchase anything.

Saturday, I was there to pick up an activity tracker/ fitness watch I purchased online for store pickup. I've never had one, hadn't felt the need. I still don't really feel the need, but I was talking to Chaco last week, and he was telling me about the one he recently got and how much he liked it. I was sold. Mine is not as fancy as his, but good enough for my old lady years.

I got a new phone a little while back. It's bigger than the old phone. Bulky when "fitnessing" about. The watch is a very nice alternative. 

I happen to belong to a running group on facebook. A question that often (sadly) comes up is for women runners - how to protect yourself when running alone on a remote trail or after dark/ before sunrise? 

I've been somewhat surprised to see that a good 80% or more of the women who respond claim they have a concealed carry permit, and carry their gun while running. 

My first thought is, "sheesh, talk about bulky". 

While at SCHEELS, out of curiosity, I searched and checked out the wall of gun toting holsters, belts, belly bands and such - mainly geared toward women. I'm not in the market. 

FYI, most of the other respondents who aren't toting a gun say they run with their big dogs. The last category would be women like me who stick to safe routes, don't wear earbuds, and rely on their wits. I've never had any trouble *knocks on wood*. I think there are plenty others in that group as well who, like me, don't bother to respond.

Speaking of safe places, I snapped these ducks during a recent run when I still carried my big bulky phone. Spring looks to be springing, and there will be baby ducks soon.

chewing

I've cleaned our floors, washed the car, and laundered the winter jackets. Short of sacrificing a virgin, I don't know of other strategies to help bring on some precipitation, so now we wait.

I'm enjoying this taste of spring break, which will come to an end for me Thursday as I'm scheduled to work a shift at the testing center. One of my more dedicated tutees still wants to meet online this afternoon, while the rest of the bunch has opted for the week off. I'm not complaining about the light schedule.

I'm assuming the testing center will be quieter than usual with the students out this week. As such, maybe I'll get a chance to have that talk with Boss about my future employment there. 

My testing schedule now is pretty sparse and inflexible. When Buzz transferred over from a different campus and then Kitty returned from family leave, I took that opportunity to increase my tutoring and decrease the testing. Once the tutoring schedule is set, it's set for the semester.

Now after Star has moved on to a better place, Boss is feeling the void she left. Let's just say that neither Buzz nor Kitty are the most robust of workers. That, along with Blossom's frequent absences, leaves Boss overworked and stressed.

He'd be justified in hiring another part-timer, but with me and my skimpy schedule, can he offer someone else enough hours to make it worth their while? We've had others with skimpy schedules before, again, because of outside obligations. So, I'm pretty sure he'll continue with me if I want to, but I don't want to if it's more of a hindrance than a help, y'know?

Then there's Thor. 

As of now, I'm the only amensui...  emenuens... amensui... scribe on tap for his (lengthy, exhausting...) exams. As much as I'm opposed to there not being a plan B and other easily available scribes, if I jump ship before the semester's end, that would leave Thor and the disability support team scrambling to get someone else. Doable, but unsavory.

Oh well, just ruminating 

Meanwhile, doesn't look like there'll be any rain today. 

if you leave

Happy spring break! One week off for the college kids. The testing center is still open , though, so I'm expected for my two shifts. Fine.

This week, we felt the effects of Star's leaving the testing center. We have just enough staff now, so if someone is out sick (happened Monday) or if someone is off scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student (me, yesterday), the void is quite obvious.

Boss was rather frazzled when I returned from Thor's test yesterday. He and Kitty were the sole holders down of the fort for most of the afternoon. I was a bit frazzled after scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student. Kitty was frazzled because she's still getting back up to speed after her recent return from family leave. In short, the frazzled three stayed late to get everything caught up.

I haven't yet had the "should I stay or should I go?" discussion with Boss because it's been... well, too busy.

On a related note, I learned a new word this week: amenuensis

"a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority.

In some academic contexts, an amanuensis can assist an injured or disabled person in taking written examinations.

Hmm, our documentation shows "scribe". Does an amenuensis make better pay? Syllable based pay?

No epic plans for the break at my end. Maybe do some spring cleaning, as that's always a good time. 

Last night, we watched the movie, [Metal Lords]. Typical plot of high school outcasts banding (literally) together and finding meaningful relationships. 

Not bad, often cute. About an hour and a half of not having to think too much. It's humorous, but also touches upon bullying, rebellion, and mental illness.

One of my tutees this week told me she's looking forward to her psychiatrist appointment on Monday. 

"I haven't taken any meds for two months!", she excitedly revealed.

"Oh? And you're feeling good?", I asked.

"No, not at all!", she replied, wide-eyed and smiling.

ADHD, not for me.

shooting star and a limp biscuit

Lately, I've been contemplating how much longer I wish to stay on working at the testing center. I've been slowly increasing my tuting while simultaneously decreasing the testing. They are two distinct positions at the college - two different bosses, two different pay buckets. 

I'm now down to two short shifts per week in testing plus the Saturday rotations. I enjoy tutoring more, which does coincidentally pay a little better. I'm coming up on four years at the testing center. It was the job that got me in the door at the college, and I picked up the math tutoring later, after getting to know some of the "math people". 

I'm actually a bit surprised at how many students sign up for in-person tutoring with all the other resources at their disposal. But there seems to be no shortage of requests, and I can seemingly add more hours at any time.

Test administration is fine, but truth be told, there is little to no creativity in that job. I do enjoy my coworkers. All of us part timers are similar in that we have other things going on, and don't wish to work in testing full time. All of us except for Star.

Star, as I've mentioned before, is young, intelligent, hard-working, without many obligations outside of work. It was a mystery to me as to why she was languishing at this part-time job, and now I get it. I get it, because she's announced she's leaving to accept a full time admin offer from a nearby medical research center. I realize she was building up her administrative experience to enable her to move on to bigger and better things.

So, good for her! Her last day working with us was yesterday, and it was certainly bittersweet. I'll miss her but I'm super happy for her. 

Thursday morning, I arrived for my short shift to find Sarge running around, still getting things set up while testers were starting to show up.

"You opened by yourself?", I asked

"Yeah, Boss texted", he explained, "Biscuit (Boss's cat) lost the use of his back legs. Boss is taking him to the kitty ER"

Well, that didn't sound good. Sure enough, Boss texted us a short time later. Biscuit had a big ol' stroke, so Boss had him put down and sent for aquamation, a process I was unfamiliar with before Biscuit.

Bottom line, it's probably not the best time to tell Boss I'm gonna leave.

In other news, the PEO year came to a close and the new year has begun. I agreed to stay on as Prez for one more year. ONE more. Magnum and I visited the big greenhouse down the road last weekend, and I picked up these little plants of appreciation for the other officers from the past year.

They are drought resistant, we'll see how long we can keep them alive.

New slate of officers heading back to the philanthropy trenches: