Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in capplor's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
10:18 am	lots of stuff, already Did some errands this AM after dropping the kids off at school. Mindy has a field trip today (Tammy had one yesterday) so I had to make certain that she (a first grader) was suitably dressed to go poking around a working farm. The kids got to school a bit late. A few days ago I found, in the process of both getting ready to pack & looking for where I hid my external drive before we went house hunting, a couple of shoe boxes full of old postcards which my grandmother had collected back in the 1920's. These would just be taking up extra space in move & are a fascinating snapshot on the culture of California circa 1924 which deserve to stay here so I first tried to offer them to the local school district (they are educational!) but they had no idea with whom or where they would go. So next I tried the town library; did you know they don't open until Noon on Wednesdays & Thursdays? Then I remembered that the county library admin office is right up the way from where we live, so I went there. Today is the chief archivist's birthday & you would have thought that I'd long planned this in cahoots with the receptionist. I cannot remember making a complete stranger so completely happy as that lady was. Cake in one hand & postcard in the other & letting out whoops of excitement, She was very effusive in her appreciation. It was good cake too. Then I went home with intent aforethought to walk the dog & take care of a few other needs. Robin had called & she started the message with "I have keys!!" we should go celebrate. (Something else R told me last night, the house is three (3) miles from where she is working. Well, the after school program is planning on water play today & so I think I'll go pick up the kids with towels & swimsuits & sandals & otter pops in hand, celebrate the new house & appreciate the fact that it's being a hot day. Now I get to work on the garage, but the weather report is predicting 100º today (it's already in the upper 70's) So I may not do that for too long. But certainly we'll have dinner out tonight. Anybody care to join us? Call me if you do. I think we'll go to the Hobee's in the Pruneyard. Current Mood: hot (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
4:14 pm	We has gots move dates Fred here: I just spoke with the movers & they are going to start packing our gear on June 12, which is also the kid's last day of school, & actually load the truck on the 14th. Then we will have until June 20 to get to the new place with the trailer & the dog. Mapquest claims that to be a 20 hour drive so I think that we might be able to manage it in time. Maybe even have some time to stop & see a few sights along the way. If anybody has any suggestions of view worthy spots & campsites east of Yosemite, this is your chance to suggest them. Mono Lake - of course! I saw it before Pink Floyd made it famous. The Colorado Rockies - Why do you think I'm looking forward to this move? Anything else? (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
9:05 pm	I has got auto Though it wasn't easy. I was hoping it would be delivered to where I'm living, yesterday, before I needed it. But it was a day late, so I had to shell out more cash for a rental car, and drive to the center of a strange town to drop off the rental, before picking up my new car. I had to go around the block about 4 times, before I could get the right way down the one-way street to give the rental back. Next task -- pre-closing house walk-through. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
11:34 pm	Is this irony? Not all conventions are SF. In February, I went to a Photonics convention (very technical stuff, applications involving light and lasers). Today I went to an Alpaca convention. Somehow it seems inherently confusing that both these things exist in the same world. The animals were cute, though, for varying values of cute. (The "silky" ones looked like they were wearing dreadlocks, and the "wooly" ones looked like well groomed bichons.) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
8:49 pm	Dateline Denver Local time about 8:30, but I bet the blogging software just remembers home-of-record. Today was my first day off as a "swinging single". Wanted to take a nice long walk through the picturesque scenery, but the weather was a bit less than optimal for that. So I only walked for about 45 minutes or so. In the snow. The weather report kept saying "only a LITTLE chance of snow showers", but the whole day's worth concentrated on my walk. So I went for a drive. The rental car is a hybrid, so better I should do that on their tank than mine, anyway. I did my best to get lost, and then turned on the GPS, when I succeeded. Saw some lovely places in the Rockies. Then came "retail therapy". First I stopped in "The Ultimate Electronics" store. Bit of a disappointment, that; it was mostly flat-screen TVs, with some DVD players & phones & car stereos. Didn't see anything computer-like. Then wandered trying to find something I knew was around but didn't have an address to enter a bookstore called "The Tattered Cover" right next to a yarn store called "String". That was a bit more worthwhile. I could have started a whole new library from TTC, and bought enough yarn for the next 3 years from S. But I didn't. Current Mood: lonely (3 Comments |Comment on this)
4:54 pm	Mindy's party, & the aftermath Fred here: As was noted here earlier Mindy has done the incredibly silly thing of turning herself into a seven year old. Since that was a Tuesday & since getting a party together on a Tuesday is not an easy thing to do we decided to have the party on the following Saturday. That Saturday managed to be today. Things were scheduled to get rolling around 1:30 but last night I realized I had not been doing a very good job of keeping track of who was coming & who was not. So we wandered into the Jungle (indoor play structure & arcade place) around oneish to check in, get settled & find out what they expected of me. They take care of everything, except buying the presents. They also asked that I should pass out the wrist bands to everybody & this is how I know that we went from a scheduled 10 kids to an unscheduled 15. Some of those who showed up were not expected, either because I was certain that they had RSVPed with a negatory, or had not RSVPed at all. Some of those I was expecting I never saw. Mindy's friend Sasha showed up with her family when we were cleaning out the room in preparation for the next party to be held there. It was a bit bizarre watching the interactions of the different parents & kids as people who otherwise had no apparent connection whatsoever suddenly were finding some. Maya Bohnhoff & Charity Silkibakken (who had met once, briefly, previously) were discussing music & the performance & instruction to their children thereof. Saachi's mother & Aleshia's mother were discussing Girl Scouts (Saachi wants in & her mother, being from foreign parts, is unclear on what they are; Aleshia [sp?] is a GS) etc. I ran around for a bit making certain that eveything was where it needed to be & every time I was away from the front desk I got paged which made the kids think that it was time to go party now. I'm not going to attempt to mount any of the pictures here but a great time was had by all & sundry. Including the little boy who waltzed in as if he belonged there, took a piece of cake & a glass of root beer as if it was a birthright & then was found by his exasperated mother whom none of us recognized. I should list Mindy's haul here, but I'm tired enough that it sounds like work right now. We stayed until after four o'clock when Tammy started expressing, in her endearingly tactless but totally honest manner, that she was also tired, could we go home so she could nap. So, here we are & there's my bed & Mindy is back from the neighbors who had a bounce house/water slide up. So I don't expect to get any nap for a while yet. And I miss Robin. Current Music: Silence, blessed silence (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
6:54 am	Hippo Birdies to MINDY!!!! Mindy turns 7 today! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 21st, 2008
1:55 pm	Charlie Blacklock 02/15/17 04/18/08 Charlie was THE giant amongst those of us who play (or play at) the musical saw. A man with an international reputation, but apparently only known to those whose interests took them into some esoteric directions, musically. Charlie died last Friday morning at the age of 91. He had led a full life, had three children, several grandchildren & far too many great-grandchildren. He invented an harmonica holder, for which he received a pittance when he sold the patent in 1934. He founded the International Musical Saw Association in 1991. He sold his own line of saws (still available through Lark In the Morning & Elderly Instruments). He was a member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He was a good man whom I'm proud to have known, however tangentially. Saws at salute, our hats are off to ye. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
4:25 pm	iPod amusement I don't recall the name of the Seanan McGuire song about Dorothy Gale, I believe that it's just named "Dorothy" but having it bracketed by two different versions of "Over the Rainbow" was just too funny. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
10:34 pm	And it's a keeper. Picture & stuff here. Take note, that might be our new address. What the link doesn't tell you is about the hot tub, sun room, mostly finished basement, or the views. It has everything we'd been asking for, at the low end of our price range. We're also about ten minutes from where Robin is working & near elementary schools & a small library with picture windows looking out on pretty much the same view. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, April 4th, 2008
9:39 pm	All our bags are packed, we're ready to go ... The Taxi will be waiting outside our door at noon. Then the Plane to Denver leaves a bit after 2:00 &, if all goes to plan, we will be on it. Anybody know the right size of firearm to bag a house? They seem to grow them big in those parts. After about a week I (Fred) will be back here to herd the Cappettes through the rest of the school year. R & I will only be talking via e-mail, phone & possibly LJ. I know I'm going to miss that woman. Current Mood: melancholy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
6:35 pm	Tammy adopted a manatee. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
8:45 pm	Tammy's post (typed by R.) Hi. I'm the oldest Capplor kid. I'm just wondering if you could help me get tips on how to make new friends. It's in a place I've never been so I sort of need help. Any suggestions? Current Mood: anxious (2 Comments |Comment on this)
8:43 pm	Some things don't change I have a new tech toy. They engineer these things, allegedly, to be simple to use. And so they are, really, except they always seem to miss something fundimental. In this case, it was a new kind of plug. It's in two pieces, so the prongs don't get bent. There was nothing in any of the documentation, paper or file, to tell how to use it. --R (Comment on this)
8:39 pm	Mindy's post -- a joke (typed by R.) So, there are many things in life. I'd like to tell a joke about one. Why did the metal chicken cross the road? ( Read more... ) Current Mood: full (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 29th, 2008
11:28 pm	Took the caffeine test Came out "insanely high, a vibrating crackhead". Haven't had anything since noon local, but did have a margarita at dinner out with relatives. Maybe I've just got high manual dexterity. Or does it make a difference that I'm working on the laptop, which, technically doesn't have a mouse? However, I backed out of the window with the results, having forgotten to save the HTML. (Comment on this)
10:53 pm	About torture, I said all I have to say in earlier posts http://capplor.livejournal.com/2006/10/28/ http://capplor.livejournal.com/2007/07/05/ (Comment on this)
Friday, March 28th, 2008
9:48 am	Somehow, the universe KNOWS when you might be having extra money come in, and spends it for you. This time, it's the microwave. Not that a 20 year old microwave dying is that unusual. Heck, that it lasted for 20 years is impressive. But we figured that a microwave without the ability to choose '1' or '2' on the control pad just isn't acceptable in a rental property, which this is due to become by July, and we did have this "spiffy" insurance policy on everything ... Well, no surprise, the single part that would have fixed it is out of production. (Repairman said, from that company, half the product were crap, and half lasted forever. Neither state being good for repeat business, that is why they didn't last.) Ok, so the spiffy insurance company said, just go anywhere and see if you like this model that we're willing to replace your microwave with. Mistake #1 -- we actually bought it.Obviously, the insurance would have to deal with someone local, anyway, isn't that how it goes? Then we get back and call and get told, "Oh, no. WE were supposed to arrange everything. Of course, that will take about 2 weeks (of children whining that hot chocolate, fixed by other means is the wrong temperature and doesn't taste the same). Or we'll give you a lesser amount of money & you can do what you wish." Well the lesser amount is about $200 less than the price of the unit & installation, and we don't get it until about 6 weeks after documenting the installation. Well, ok, grit teeth & pay. (Meanwhile, I'm noticing a $65 little microwave that could have kept us in hot chocolate. Mistake #2 was not calling the whole thing off, and throwing it back to the insurance company. So the repairman is here now and guess what? An extra $95 charge because the original installation was hardwired in. (I think we all know who did that, don't we? If not, look up old posts about the dishwasher.) Oh, and mistake #3? Well, perhaps not, but the repairman says, "For a rental? Nobody includes an installed microwave. You should have just bought a hood." My only hope is to deduct all of this from rental "profits" on next year's taxes. Man that job in Denver better be as stable as they told me it was! Current Mood: frustrated Current Music: Recession Rhapsody, one of Fred's (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
4:06 pm	Update the state map I did this once before ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Monday, February 25th, 2008
10:58 am	It's official The job is in Denver. I'll be moving some time by early Summer. Probably be at WorldCon. I will miss many people in the bay area, but between the last two raises and living in a lower cost of living area, hope to have a much larger budget to visit folk. The new adventure begins. (11 Comments |Comment on this)