Weekly Ephemera #156

• This week's highlights were visits from family and friends.  On Tuesday the MoH and BM dropped by on the way to their vacation.  We spent the evening digesting the superb steak dinner the Wife prepared while engaging in spirited conversation.  It is fair to say that none of the world's problems were solved.  Our guests treated us to breakfast the next day before they traveled on.
  
  Today, the Wife's best friend since high school is visiting.  Craziness will ensue.
• The HVAC guy came by this week and checked out our furnace.  Except for a dirty temperature sensor, everything is in good order.  We are now ready for the winter, though the weather for the next ten days or so is more summer-like than fall-like.
• This week I will be turning off our sprinkler system.  They will be blowing out the system in a week or so while we are traveling.  Potted plants and patio furniture will be brought in and the deck will be power washed.  Everything will be ready for winter when we leave.
• I did not walk this week and I will not walk next week.  I'm taking a break from walking until we return from our travels.
• I haven't really watched anything good on television.  But, I did watch some "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".  It's some easy background noise and it's fun seeing some of the old actors when they were young and new.  The writing is a bit hit and miss but my favorite part is Hitchcock introducing commercial and station identification breaks.  It is obvious he is not fond of the breaks interrupting his storytelling.  (For those who do not know, Station identification breaks allowed stations to let you know what station you were watching.  You don't see them much today because of the invention of the station's logo bug in the corner of the screen.)
• We are both getting ready for our trip.  We will be leaving on Thursday.  I hope the tropical storms off the coast of Georgia are gone by then, since our flight to Athens is through Atlanta.

Our Next Adventure: Greece, Albania, Macedonia, And Malta

A week from today, we are leaving the country on our next adventure.  We will be visiting Greece, Albania, Macedonia, and Malta.  Here is a brief overview of what we will be doing:

• We start our travels in Athens where we will be taking three day-tours of Athens, Delphi, and Corinth.
• Our travels continue as we fly to Tirana, Albania, to join a small group tour that visits several cities in Albania with side trips to northern Greece (including Meteora) and Macedonia.
• Lastly, we will fly to Malta.  We will be taking a private four-day tour of the island nation.

We will be doing all of this over twenty-two days.  We will be immersed in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman history and architecture.  There will be castles, churches, and monasteries built in beautiful locations.  There are boat rides on rivers, lakes, and seas.  There will be amazing views.

I will document the trip when I return and I hope to have some good pictures to post, not to mention several new magnets for our collection.

Has It Happened Yet?

Has the Rapture happened yet?

Happy Autumn!

Today summer comes to an end in the northern hemisphere and Autumn begins.  It's been a hot summer here in the middle of America and I'm looking forward to some cooler temperatures.

Happy Fall Everyone!

Weekly Ephemera #155

• Forgot to mention last week that I got my Covid and Flu shots.  Take that, RFK jr!
• The Wife and I went to see "The Long Walk".  It is an interesting movie based on a Stephen King novel (writing as Richard Bachman).  It was good and felt ... relevant to our times.
• As for TV, I watched season thirteen of "Futurama" and I soaked in cheesy horror anthologies.
• I had a tough time walking this week.  After two 30 miles (48 km) plus weeks, my body just didn't want to walk.  I forced myself to walk twice, but they were shorter than what I have been doing.  I ended up walking a total of 16.6 miles (26.7 km).  I can already feel that next week won't be much different.

Music: Rilo Kiley W/ Dean Johnson At The Astro

On Wednesday night I went to see the Rilo Kiley reunion tour.  I've seen them before back in October 2007 when they were promoting their "Under the Black Light" album.  I liked that concert, but I was not as fond of the album.  I'd also seen lead singer Jenny Lewis solo a couple of times: first in 2006 at a fundraising show and again at the showdown in 2014.

The warm-up act: Dean Johnson.

The warm-up act was Dean Johnson.  I'd never heard of him before.  He was promoting his second album.  His music doesn't quite fit in any genre though it did have an edge of country and a dash of weirdness.  For example, one of the songs was about forgetting his ex-girlfriend after getting electroshock therapy.  I can't say I liked it and I can't say it was bad either.  It was just some middle of the road quirky music.

Rilo Kiley and a rather minimalist stage lighting.

Rilo Kiley was fun.  Since they weren't promoting new music, and were just having fun playing their greatest hits, I enjoyed the show more.  I knew most of the songs and was pleasantly surprised hearing some older songs I'd missed the first time around.  I had a good time.

The only part of all this that I didn't like was the fact there were no seats.  The venue was the outdoor amphitheater and only VIPs got to sit.  I ended up standing for two hours and forty minutes. It wasn't really that bad, but I am an old man – I was definitely the oldest man in the audience.  It could have been worse.  Rain was in the forecast but we had only a short period of mist.  It did start pouring a half hour after I got home so I dodged a bullet.

You can see a few blurry photos  I took in my 2025-09-17 Rilo Kiley w/ Dean Johnson, The Astro, La Vista, NE Google Photos album.

The Wife's Camino 2025 - Magnet Edition

We purchased eleven magnets during the second part of the Wife's Camino.  Some were from places we already had magnets for but they all caught our eye.  Here are a few of the best:

"Soy Peregrino" = I am a pilgrim.

Galicia, Celtic land.

The end of the Camino, Fisterra.

Who doesn't like a witch on a broomstick?

You can see all seven hundred and eighty six of our travel magnets in my 2006-2025 Travel Magnets Google Photos album.

Weekly Ephemera #154

• Last Thursday was the anniversary of 9/11.  My feelings haven't changed since I wrote about it in 2023.  Based on the other news that occurred this week, it feels like our nation isn't getting any closer to regaining its sanity.
• I walked three times this week.  I've kept pushing myself, though I did shorten my third walk this week.  I walked a total of 31.5 miles (50.7 km) which was very satisfying.
• I finished the last three episodes of "Foundation" season 3 today.  Other than that, the Wife and I have found a safe place in the "Great Canadian Baking Show" on the Roku Channel.
• I re-read some of my posts that I'd written in 2006.  My writing sounded so much happier then.  I do not write as much as before.  I do not take as many pictures.  *sigh*

Book: Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Service Model"

 Book eleven for the year was Adrian Tcaikovky's "Service Model".  I've read a few of this author's books and I like his writing.  This book follows the adventures of an unemployed valet robot as it navigates the decline and destruction of the human race.

The cause of humanity's decline is left vague until the end, but it becomes obvious, as the valet robot goes from one job opportunity to the next, that humanity's destruction is self-inflicted.

The book flowed well and held my interest.  I could see how humanity's dependence on technology could eventually result in our demise.  The book is not uplifting but it was entertaining.

I gave the book four out of five stars on Goodreads.  I enjoyed its portrayal of our bleak future.

Weekly Ephemera #153

• Had a urology appointment this week.  Nothing new to report.  Will be getting an MRI and biopsy in the Spring.
• I watched season two of "Silo".  I like how it's going.  While we have a couple more weeks of Apple TV+ left, I'm kind of burnt out on streaming.  I have a couple things ("Invasion" and "Dark Matter") I could start but they will have to wait until the next time we subscribe.
• Weather, and a need for a short break, resulted in only two walks this week.  I did push those two walks to over eleven miles which I'm happy about.  My total distance this week was 22.6 miles (36.3 km).