Busy-ness

On Wednesday it rained. I told the guys at the tire company that's why I was ready to change out my regular tires for my snow tires. That's not really the reason, I was just trying to make them laugh--and succeeded. The sky did have the "incoming snow" appearance, and the air was raw, but we were well above the freezing stage. Being the earliest bird has it advantages, I was in and out in about 20 minutes.

The real reason is that by the time we return from London, it might be snow season...and there would be a long wait.

Yesterday was packed with activity. My first mandolin lesson. It went extremely well, I really, really like the instructor, who is personable and encouraging and a good teacher. I learnt tuning techniques, chord variations, and enough individual notes to play the G-major scale. Not bad for 1/2 hour!

The music studio is a convenient 3 minutes from the legislative parking garage, my next stop. I headed over to the State House to meet up with a small 4th grade class from a Christian academy in my town, who were having their tour. It was a nice group, and best of all I didn't have to flounce away to a committee meeting as I did last week, so I tagged along for the entire tour. Very informative.

After all the kids had a chance to sit in the Governor's chair at the head of the table in the Executive Council Chamber, the Gov himself stepped out of his office to greet the visitors. We had a group photo with him. He asked if they'd learned how much money a legislator makes in a year, and they chimed, "$100!" In a somewhat pitying voice. In this era, that doesn't sound like much to a 10-year old. At their age, I'd have considered it a bloody fortune. With a glance at me, the Governor asked if they thought that was a sufficient salary. (There's an LSR in the coming session proposing a rise in salary to a munificent $125 per week. Fat chance!)

Back at the Lodge, the chicken curry was burbling in the slow cooker. I whipped up a quick apple crisp. The Chap arrived home about an hour before our dinner guest turned up.

Today was absolutely gorgeous. The trees have reached that late-October richness, deep, warm oranges, with accents of yellow late-changing foliage. Driving down-state, I admired the landscape.

Met my former office associates for a nice, long lunch at a Bedford restaurant. I predicted to the Chap this morning that I'd have crab cakes. The menu featured crab cakes and a crab melt sandwich. I ordered the calamari. I'm so unpredictable I can't correctly predict my own behaviour.

Two of us shared a disgustingly oozy and decadently delicious molten chocolate cake with maple ice cream.

It was my first time on the tollways since the Gov and Exec. Council raised the tolls from 75 cents to $1.00. But due to my legislatrix status, I don't pay.

I noticed an improvement in my mileage since putting the snow tires on, which seems counter-intuitive to me. Normally I average 28.3 mph non-notorway, and close to 30 mph motorway. Now I'm getting 30 mph non- and between 31.8 and 32 mph motorway. I know, it's not exactly in the Prius range, but not bad for a big black Saab. (Mind you, it's only "big" by comparison to our smaller Saab. Big Car People we're not!)

Inspiration for an episode of Mythbusters perhaps?

I've avoided blogging on the World Series because frankly, I'm slightly--ever so slightly--conflicted. There. I said it.

I lived in Colorado when the Rockies came into being. I watched their very first home game on telly--during the debut season they were playing on Broncos' Stadium.

Bottom of the first, first batter up, very first (I think) pitch...Eric Young rips it out of the park. Solo home run. The crowd leaps to its feet. "Team of destiny," I murmur.

It took a while, but apparently there was truth in the observation.

We attended a memorable game at Broncos' Stadium. They were playing the Braves. I was conflicted then, too--the Braves have always been My Team. The Chap later saw them play at Coors Field.

Usually in the Series, I cheer on the National League team, out of habit--I learnt about baseball in a National League universe. Unless the NL Champs are playing the blessed Red Sox.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm rooting against the blessed Red Sox. I value my life too much. And I do love them--how could I not, after decades of praying that they'd break that Curse. How I cried over Bill Buckner...if I think about it, I'll start up again.

But...I can't help being fond of the Rockies. It made me sad--although I didn't cry over it--to see their very impressive winning streak come to an end.

So I'll just say...

Go Team!