Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

I always build in a buffer after some time off, especially if it involves travel. There’s always something that needs to get done afterward, like laundry, grocery shopping, etc. This trip was no different. The day after the anniversary trip we had the ground floor of the townhouse power washed, and had our handyman over to finish fixing the owner’s suite bathroom ceiling and wall.* And, naturally, laundry and grocery shopping.

The trip itself was wonderful. While the forecast called for constant rain, that didn’t materialize. There was a lot of rain, but it generally held off to mid-morning, allowing me to get in some morning walks. Only one day did it impinge on the front porch with some wind creating a small lake there. Otherwise was perfect, and I got four and a half books read.

Went into the office Friday for a day of email catch up while it was still the holiday week. Mostly caught up and I know the projects I’ll have to get to this upcoming week. Not that it’s going to be a full week – I’m taking tomorrow off for a doctor’s appointment, and Thursday to see the new Masters of the Universe film with the husband. He’s a HUGE fan, as is his sister – they have matching tattoos of He-Man’s and She-Ra’s swords. So the movie is a big deal, hence the day off.

* Some time last year a bird got into a vent on the front of our townhouse. Called a trapping company, they confirmed there was evidence a bird had gotten in, was no longer there, and they put a new vent cover on. Around the same time we had some water damage on the wall toward where the vent was. I had surmised that the bird had broken the duct when it got in and we were pumping moist air into the wall when we ran the exhaust fan. Finally got someone in to fix the duct, they put a hole in the ceiling to get at it and discovered … there was no duct. As in, the vent cover didn’t connect to anything. Apparently on the other models that’s where the clothes dryer vents out, but on ours the dryer vents to the back. The builder put the hole and cover in the wall for the vent, but didn’t connect it to anything. The exhaust fan piping goes up to the roof. Oy. The water damage was from something else, but wasn’t anything active, just a coincidence with the bird intrusion. Hence the need to get the ceiling patched and painted and the water damage cleaned up and painted.

Left work as the winds picked up for what were supposed to be thunderstorms (they never materialized over my route). Turned off the work phone on the Metro, as I am officially off the clock until next Friday. The husband and I are headed to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for our annual anniversary trip (actual anniversary is the 26th). Looks like the weather is going to be cool (65-75F/18-23C) and rainy, which is not so good for tourism for the town, but is fantastic for us, since we spend a good chunk of the time sitting on the porch and reading.

A couple of errands tomorrow (pharmacy, library, ATM; cleaning and re-coating the car windows with Rain-X; packing), then finalizing which books and knitting projects I’m taking, and packing. We’ll see the Mandalorian and Grogu movie on the way there, per tradition – we stop halfway to the Bed and Breakfast and see a movie to break up the drive. The car is good to go from an oil change and annual maintenance last week, and as luck would have it they didn’t find anything extra (e.g., tires, alignment, etc.) that needed doing.

So ready to get out of town.

For some reason today I remembered something I noticed when we were in London – none of the sinks had faucet aerators on them. Perhaps because I once worked with the folks who helped develop energy and water efficiency standards for the US I tend to pay attention to details they used to talk about, so took note that none of the faucets over there had them. In the States they’re a water and energy conservation tool. Less water through with more pressure means you get the impression of more force, but use less water overall, and if you’re talking about heated water, less energy usage because you’re using less hot water. Nowhere near as exciting or visible as, say, driving on the opposite side of the road, but just something unusual that struck me from the trip.

When last I posted I was getting ready to head to Texas to visit my family back in early March.

Got to the airport (BWI – Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International airport), got parked, got through TSA without a hitch. Then apparently sometime between sitting down and boarding it began to snow. So they had to de-ice the plane. Then it began snowing harder, which meant they needed to re-de-ice the plane using a different, stronger de-icing treatment. Sat on the plane while they did all that, then finally got in the air. Flight itself was fine, but as we were approaching it became clear there was no way in hell we were going to make our connection. United rebooked us to a later flight while we were still trying to get off the first one, because our original flight finalized boarding while we were still deplaning.

Then somehow we wandered through two terminals at the Houston airport that were … rough. The first looked like the basement of an old municipal buildings: concrete, cinderblock walls, scuffed up earth tones, etc. Caught a shuttle from that one one to the other, which looked slightly better, but still in desperate need of a refresh. Caught some lunch from a no-name sports bar, and halfway through the meal we got told we were being moved to yet a third terminal. Thankfully it was an easy rail ride to that one, which was okay, but still nothing to write home about. In the air for one of the smoothest rides I’ve had on a small plane, and down to McAllen.

Visited, enjoyed seeing people. Took the three nieces to lunch one day with just them and us so we could talk to them without their parents or mine. Parents were okay. Did get my Dad set up with the hearing aid function on the air pods I’d gotten him for Xmas, which definitely helped his level of involvement, since he could finally hear people. On the other hand, he’s also managed to alienate all three of his granddaughters by being a jerk to live with (my brother, his wife, and their three girls all live in a 5 bedroom house with my parents). *sigh* What a mess. But, overall, a nice visit over the long weekend.

The Sunday before we were scheduled to leave it got up to 102F/38.6C (!!!!!). A bit warm, especially since it was snowing when we left Maryland. We were supposed to fly out Monday, then the weather people got themselves all up in a lather over spring thunderstorms and tornado warnings, and air travel turned into a disaster. They got so worked up that schools back in Maryland were closing at 2 or 3 in the afternoon to get everyone home, which meant that workplaces had to do the same. Before we even got to the airport Monday morning we’d gotten an alert that our flight was delayed from 9:30 to 10:50. At the airport it was further delayed to noon, then quickly cancelled altogether. Apparently things were backing up in Houston, with nothing being able to go further east, so they started limiting what could come in. We rebooked as soon as we got the cancellation, but couldn’t get out until Wednesday. Two extra days with the family.

With the rebooked flights we gave ourselves a lot of extra time in Houston to make sure we could make the connection. Early, early morning flight, which went off without a hitch, including the TSA process. We were a bit worried because it was the beginning of all the news reports about hours long delays at the major airports. McAllen is so small we sailed right through. When we arrived in Houston this time, though, we were convinced we’d been punked the last time – the C and D terminals have been renovated, very nicely, with good food choices, plenty of clean bathrooms, etc. Was a totally different experience than the first trip through. Was also glad we gave ourselves more time between flights – didn’t feel as rushed/stressed about making the next batch, even if it meant more time in the terminal.

London was lovely. Didn’t quite sleep on the plane. Rested with my eyes closed (under a mask, with ear plugs in), but didn’t really sleep. Not for lack of trying. Got in easily. Took a very expensive taxi ride to the hotel (we would not have been in a position to figure out the tube right then, though we used it a lot aside from that), got settled, then took off to wander the city. So much walking, which I loved. I miss that from living in SW DC.

Saw most of the main touristy stuff with the husband before he had to do his work stuff. On the days when I was solo I had a massive headache (migraine?), but managed to hit a couple of museums on my own. Did not realize that folks dine there at later hours than we tend to in the states. Several times I was the first person in a restaurant before it filled up completely, because I hit them too early.

When we left, it had snowed just a day or two before, though it melted before noon. We still had large piles of snow left from the previous big snow storm. London was a delightful early spring (mid-50s-F/low teens-C), with daffodils and cherry blossoms going everywhere, and very lush grass. Then we came back to late spring temperatures (it got up to 86F/30C here today). And now we’re leaving tomorrow for what we consider summer weather in deep southern Texas, aka North Mexico, where it’s going to get up to 97F/36C on Sunday. Cultural and weather whiplash, for sure.

Worked for one day yesterday, catching up on email and what not, and now I’m off until next Friday. Unfortunately the time off when we’re back will be spent getting the shelving in our owner’s suite closet fixed because one of them collapsed after we got back from London. Ah well.

I think work is not quite prepared for me to be gone for much of the next month, but gone I shall be. The husband has a work thing in London week after next and I am tagging along this time (unlike his New Zealand trip). I’ll have a couple of days to myself to play tourist while he’s busy with work, and we’re taking a couple of days on either side of the work stuff to play tourist together. First time in Europe for both of us, though of course I’ve lived in Asia (Taiwan), and he’s been to NZ. Looking forward to the trip, but tired of all of the prep work at this point (cat care, shopping for different chargers, etc.).

Then a few days after we get back we’re back on the road, this time down to southern Texas where my parents settled around the start of the pandemic. I haven’t been to see them since they moved, and dragged my brother and his family with them. I did get a chance to see my brother’s family before they moved, but the parents (who were already snowbirds, traveling each winter) had settled already. And of course when the pandemic hit I couldn’t fly down, or even drive down, and momentum and resentment of them moving to the middle of bloody nowhere has meant it’s been far too long since I’ve seen them all. While I’m looking forward to seeing them, I’m not looking forward to the plane trips, since the last and first legs will be on puddle jumpers to the tiny airport where they live. That and that the whole Texas trip is more expensive than flying to and staying in London (because they live in the middle of nowhere). But hey, the place was/is cheap for their cost of living, so you suck it up. Even as you resents the fact that they used to live within driving distance for a day/weekend trip.

Cultural whiplash, for certain.

I’ve been slacking off on my PT exercises for the repaired knee, with the (expected) result that it’s been more sore lately. Splurged for a squat wedge, which is a lot easier to use for heel elevated squats. I can get a lot deeper into a squat than on flat feet, and that was one of the things they had me doing a lot when I was going to PT on the regular. Between that and the slack block my knee is feeling better.

Was back to work today, teleworking. Relatively quiet, so mostly cleaned out email and read a longish memo from justice that pertains to my small gubm’nt agency’s work, though it was written for a different agency. We’ll have to change some of our programs, and cancel some others, under this new guidance. But that’s a problem for next week.

The husband and I are going to take some trips via airplane next year so I’m applying for TSA’s PreCheck clearance. He’s already got it, and I consider it worth the cash to not deal with as much security nonsense at the actual airport. Less valuable in the DC area where it’s well known and so well subscribed, but for flying back I understand it cuts out a lot of hassle.

The drive back home was cold and uneventful. We stopped at the Annapolis mothership branch of our local comic shop since we were driving by, to do some stocking stuffer shopping before the rest of the family gets here next weekend. Unpacked, dealt with cat messes, fed myself some plain and boring Moose’s-gut-friendly food (he wasn’t hungry), then took a nap with a cat on my legs for a bit.

Realized as I was trying to find homes for things that I hadn’t yet unpacked all of the stuff I brought home from work, but that’s a tomorrow problem. Or maybe an all-this-week problem. I’m definitely not dealing with it tonight.

Picked up the key from our neighbors, a lesbian couple who watched our cats for us, and dropped off a tea towel we bought them, embroidered with “My favorite season is the fall of the patriarchy.” Saw that at the Con and could not resist it. They got a good chuckle out of it, which was the hope.

I don’t know that I was expecting the OC comic con to be so well attended, but well attended it has been thus far. Got in some good stocking stuffer shopping, and checking out the fun cosplay and art. Back tomorrow for day two for more wandering around, but not until after lunch I think. It’s supposed to snow in the morning, so we’ll see how Ocean City handles that. They’ve been pretreating roads since Friday, so I’m hoping the short drive on the main strip should be okay.

We also wandered out to a little town (Berlin, MD) that had an adorable downtown shopping area. Reminded us a lot of Cape Charles. But in a shocking twist it had not one but two men’s clothing stores, a far cry from other beach towns we’ve been to, which tend to skew female in their shopping.

Then before a later dinner we hit the OC Winterfest of Lights, a fun holiday light set up in a local park. Quite fun wandering through the displays, seeing what was animated, and the husband was looking for things to do to our townhouse next year. Heh.

Overall we’re enjoying the trip a lot. I’d do the event again, and we think we’ll have to pop back out sometime over the summer to see how this place is when it’s hopping with summer tourists.

Was in my office building today for our holiday open house, and cleaning up the last of the stuff in my office before they kick us out. Was glad to see people, but I am looking forward to the several months of full time telework that we’ll have while they fix up the new building. Here’s hoping it’s a disaster inside so it takes longer to arrange. In the meantime, I just want to sleep for more than 7 hours tonight.

The husband and I are taking off for Ocean City tomorrow for their winter Comic Con. It’s a small affair, but it looks like it’ll be fun. And this will be a nice respite before his sister and her husband and daughter come down the following weekend for Xmas week. I’m actually looking forward to seeing the niece since she was so chatty the last time we saw her in October (which is a pleasant change from her previous quiet self). I’m looking forward to seeing her parents, too, but the teenager promises to be more fun to watch and interact with this time around.