Everybody look

For this Friday’s musical interlude, I’m giving you several performances from the Democratic National Convention.

First, John Legend singing “Never Break”:

And Jennifer Hudson promising “A Change Is Gonna Come”:

And finally, Billy Porter teaming with Stephen Stills on the old Buffalo Springfield classic, “For What It’s Worth”:

This one is still so painfully true after all these decades.

Getting around

My 19-year-old car passed both mechanical and emissions inspection yesterday. Which means I can renew registration here in the Old Dominion.

That’s because I can do that online. Getting a driver’s license, now—that’s a whole other thing. I have to get one because my California license expires at month’s end. (Turns out that California has automatically extended licenses for anyone due for expiration until the end of the year, but I have no confidence that local LEOs will listen to that if I’m stopped for anything.)

With no indication at all on their website, the Virginia DMV has moved to an appointment-only system. And you have to check each of the [open—because at least half the ones in Northern Virginia have been closed] offices for availability. You can’t just search for openings across the site; you have to do each one. Individually. And let me assure you that most of them have no availability until November.

Also—the one, single non-tollfree number for the entire state is basically answered by a recording stating that they’re too busy to talk with you. Last Monday I finally got through and talked with a chick called Emily, who could only give me information about how the appointment system worked; she couldn’t tell me anything about documentation required or even verify an appointment. She did put me on hold to check with a supervisor about my expiring California license.

According to Emily’s supervisor, the Old Dominion will view any out-of-state license as valid for one year after expiration “during these challenging times”.

Well, I’m going with that, then.

I have an appointment for 28 September, in Arlington. If you don’t hear from me after that, check the news for “incidents” in the environs.

Fauna

It’s not all flora out here in the People’s Republic. Viz:

A somewhat sizable bird left this token of passage:

This guy was taking kind of a snooze before metamorphosis:

And I liked his coral tips.

And then there’s this:

I do not know what that is, but he got crabby when I poked him a little.

Not peonies

Lordy, I was thinking that “a couple of weeks ago” I posted about a shrub I mistakenly posited was a peony, which I subsequently learned was hydrangea. Turns out it was more than two months ago, and where did that time go?

Anyway, I was enchanted by all the color variations; I couldn’t get enough of them.

Well, this week I rediscovered them again, and marveled at how beautiful they are even in the later stages of blooming.

Whaddaya think?

Gratitude Monday: back to school

For the first time in about forever, yesterday was not stinkin’ hot, as a friend of mine says. It was in the upper 60s when I made my 0800 Trader Joe’s run, so after I got the groceries put away, I decided to take a real, actual walk.

You know—#homework.

Dang, but it was grand to get out and take a look at what Mother Nature’s been up to in the heat and humidity. Here are a few waterlily-related shots from the pond at the corporate HQ behind my house:

  

 

 I don’t recall seeing water lilies so tall before; these were at least four feet out of the water:

Here’s a lily thing on the hoof:

And one decomposing:

A pond snail shell:

Some other water plants:

And a bee attending to them:

And I just liked this:

That’s my gratitude for today: back into homework.

Mmmmm...

As a part of launching this new product, we’re rebranding one of the elements. This means that the previous acronym—FNA—will henceforth be known as MNA.

So of course I thought of this immortal Muppets song, which I believe is entirely suitable for a Dog Day Friday in the Year of the Pandemic. We need more Muppets!

You’re welcome.

Twofer

It’s been a while since I posted any of my vanity plate oddities. So here’s one I found at the local Trader Joe’s:

  

I mean, seems appropriate for a blue car.

The story here is that I was walking past this car to get to mine, and just as I was leaning down to shoot the plate, I noticed there was a woman behind the wheel. You do feel a little foolish when caught in the act, so I waited until she got out before saying that I just collect vanity plate pix and try to figure out the stories behind them.

We agreed that people who just have their initials are sorely lacking in imagination. And we were equally frustrated when we couldn’t figure out some plate content.

As it happens, the day before I’d been coming out of the Harris-Teeter and noticed a Mini Cooper idling by the barrier (grocery stores in Virginia frequently block off the pavement around their entrances so you can’t take your shopping cart to your car; I get it that shopping cart theft is a thing, but I have never fancied leaving my groceries unattended while fetching my car. You never know who’s going to spit in the bags). The plate was ‘N AVANT”.

I did not shoot a picture, but verified with the driver if the meaning was “en avant”, which is “let’s go”, or “forward” in French. It was.

The blue car lady and I both approved.

Actually, as long as I’m talking blue cars, here’s another:

Pairing

I have found that IKEA is an excellent source for candles. Their selection is not particularly broad, but it’s the only place I know where you can get 50 tealights for well under a fiver.

Some time ago—meaning possibly a couple of years—I bought these two candles and they’ve been sat on a shelf ever since.

Having run low on my non-tealights, I finally pulled them out last week. Only then did I realize how much they resemble a pair of…

Whatevs. They burn just fine.

Domestic affairs

We are indeed living in crazy times. Cadet Bonespurs spent the weekend playing golf and pretending to president while Republicans abdicated all responsibility for doing their jobs. Several shit-tons (sorry, not sorry) of ammonium nitrate blew away a goodly chunk of Beirut (a city in some country to which Bonespurs couldn’t quite put a name, even as he was insisting it was a bomb). Schools across the country have opened despite insufficient precautions against COVID-19, and cases are unsurprisingly spiking.

Me? I had the day off yesterday, and I decided to clean around my washer and dryer. I pulled out several hundred plastic carrier bags and several score of paper grocery bags. Dunno what I’ll do with the latter, but the latter are my trash bags. I don’t see why I should pay for “plastic trash bags”, when supermarkets used to give these away for free. (I wasn’t sorry to see that stop—I have several score of cloth tote bags from every tech conference and street fair I’ve ever been to. But now grocery stores have reverted to plastic and paper bags, so my collections are expanding again.)

But here’s the STOP PRESS news: I also found several articles of clothing that had fallen around and between the appliances. Here I was blaming the dryer for eating them, but that which was lost has now been restored. Time for the fatted calf.

Gratitude Monday: self care

Friday was my employer’s first company-wide “Self-Care” day. Meaning—except for essential staff (like some IT)—the entire company took the day off. No answering emails, no meetings, just step-away-from-the-device and take care of yourself.

My self care was the splendid joy of my yoga instructor coming to my house in person instead of via Zoom, and showing me a new pose where it’s possible to hurt yourself. (Half Moon, if you’re asking.) This way she could prevent me from doing same.

We wore masks, did not hug and stayed across the room from one another. (And if I can wear a mask during an hour of yoga, y’all can wear one to dart into the Piggly-Wiggly or wait for Jiffy Lube to change the oil.) I’m getting to like the Sun Salutation.

And then…we had lunch. Sitting at the far ends of my dining table, we ate salads and chatted about this and that. (I ran all the dishes and the cutlery through the dishwasher just before she got there, and I used gloves when I made the fruit salad.) It was the first time since March that I’ve spoken with someone in the same room not involving giving them my credit card for groceries.

Dear Lord—the sheer joy of carrying on a conversation face-to-face (across a distance, but still). Absolute heaven.

That’s my gratitude today—yoga lesson and lunch with a friend. It don’t get much better than this these days.