What You Wish For

It all started with my great new low tech watch. I told everybody how wonderful it is and how much I liked the retro analog numbers and just one button to set the time. You get the idea--beauty in simplicity. I must have offended the technology gods, though. We are on vacation in Tucson now. I brought along my great new watch, of course, along with my Ipod I Touch and notebook computer. We got off the plane then picked up our rental car with Enterprise. They gave us an upgrade over the compact I had reserved--we were given a cute Mazda 3. I was happy. As we drove away, I tried to roll down the windows. I discovered the car had hand cranks. When we stopped at the store, I looked for the button to push to lock up. I discovered we had to lock each door separately. The car took me back 20 years! I began to worry that the technology gods were laughing at me.

When we got to our house in Tucson I discovered that my notebook computer screen would not light up. Apparently the inverter which provides power to the screen isn't working right. We had been planning on using it to stream Netflix with our fast internet connection. Instead of relying on a DVR, I was also planning on keeping up with my TV shows via Hulu. Fortunately, I have a service contract for my computer. Unfortunately, to get it serviced, I have to take it to the shop in Renton when we get back. When we discovered that my computer was sick, I thought I could easily make do with my I touch for internet browsing and e-mail. We discovered that my I touch was not working properly and would not stay logged on to our secure wifi. After numerous phone calls, I ended up taking it to the Apple store in Tucson. They very nicely helped me and reset my i touch. We couldn't test our Wifi until I got home, of course. We discovered that it still didn't work. I ended up going back to the Apple store. They very nicely traded my old I touch for a new one. This time the Wifi worked back at our house. The upside to this experience is that I got familiar with a fancy shopping mall I hadn't been to before, La Encantada. I also got to play with the I Pad in the Apple store, which was fun. I especially liked the astronomy app--being able to hold the screen up to the sky and see what constellations are visible. The people in the Apple store were very nice and made the frustrating technology experience as pleasant as possible. The down side was relatively minor. I just couldn't download any audio books to my I pod.

This whole experience made me feel like I'm hooked on modern technology more than I may want to admit to myself. I started chanting frequently, "technology is great, " with the hope that my luck with technology would change. It apparently did. Enterprise contacted me and asked to exchange our first rental with a newer model, a Kia compact that was loaded. I now have new appreciation for the automatic windows and the keyless entry. My I pod has been working well and helps me keep in touch, plus look up the movie times and other attractions here. I miss the ability to access media over a computer and to surf the web on a bigger screen. It's also hard to type--I have to hunt and peck with the I pod. At any rate, I am now careful what I wish for especially when it comes to technology!

Bellevue vs. Tucson, Part 2

A friend asked me the other day which place we liked better, Bellevue or Tucson. When I was in Tucson, the pluses there seemed to outweigh the minuses. The climate was lovely, the pace of life was easier, the neighbors very friendly, the opportunities for new adventure were numerous. Now that we're back in Bellevue, I'm remembering many pluses for being here. The big one is the history with and level of intimacy with friends and family here. Almost every day I go out and do things with friends that I've known at least for a few years. That makes a difference. I always have someone to talk to about anything. I work on volunteer projects and have status in those organizations (ASG and PCC Cooks). That feels good. I think that Larry and I are wise to seek out the best of both worlds--to spend part of the year in AZ and the rest in the Seattle area at least for the near future. We should be able to tell when we want to give up one home. I don't see a need right now to rush into that.

I don't mean to say that I don't want to sell our house in Bellevue. We still want to try to do that and rent nearby if we sell. Larry will be retiring before the year is up. That means we don't need to look for a rental just in downtown Bellevue. I've been looking in downtown Kirkland, which seems to have larger, less expensive units for rent. At any rate, the less-gray season is approaching, which is a wonderful time of year. I love the long days here.

Back in Class

I started Sew Lab again at Lake WA Tech. It's a great class led by master sewer, Jacque Goldsmith. About 12-18 students work on various sewing projects and have Jacque available to help and give advice. You might wonder why someone with 40 years of sewing experience needs help with sewing projects. In fact, most of us in class have at least that much sewing experience. That means there is at least 400 years of sewing experience in the room. We also are friends and freely give advice to one another. Jacque always seems to help us take our sewing up a notch. She gives us advice on fitting, style, and techniques that we wouldn't figure out without her.

Today I asked for her help in figuring out how to repurpose my cotton jacket from Thailand. It has some nice printed fabric and cross stitch trim on it, but is too big for me so I never wear it. I proposed making a Sandra Betzina shoulder bag from it, then using the lining for something else. She showed me the best way to take it apart, then use the pieces for the purse pattern I had. It would have taken me hours to figure out what she did in just a few minutes. When I'm done with the bag, I'll post a photo.

A Good Watch

I just got a new watch. For years I suffered with a digital watch that had a handy stopwatch built in, which I needed for giving psychological tests. The trouble with it was that I struggled resetting the time of day. There were buttons to push in a certain order whenever I changed time zones or to Daylight/Standard time. Even Larry had trouble setting it. The battery for that watch just ran out. I got to thinking that I no longer had the same needs. I longed for simplicity--for the days when there was only one button on a watch. I wanted a watch that I could read without my glasses but not one that was too big and wanted one that could light up in the movies. I also wanted a vegan one with a comfortable band (no leather). I searched and searched for a simple watch and almost gave up. Then I stumbled upon a pretty good solution--a child's watch. Here is a picture. It's even purple and pink. How cool is that!

Decisions, Decision once more

Today I took the family sterling silver flatware to a jewelry store that buys silver. They told me how much they'd pay for it. I was prepared for sticker shock because I had checked prices on e-bay. The prices were just high enough for me to have serious interest in selling. The jeweler said they'd polish it up, buff off the engravings, and sell it in Europe. Someone would buy it--it wouldn't just be melted down into metal like some patterns are. What is holding me back is the importance my mother put on passing the silver on to me. She paid a fair amount to have the plain steel knife blades changed to stainless steel and to add a couple of pieces to round out the set. It was important to her for me to have silver. Would she be disappointed if she knew that I didn't want the silver anymore? That is the question that is holding me back from selling. I actually especially like one of the two patterns I have, Gorham's Chantilly. As silver goes, it's beautiful. However, we never use it and I seriously doubt that our sons would care anymore about it than Larry and I do. I'm bound by memories from the past, not a desire to hold onto something beautiful. I have a creative out, though, if I can get past the guilt. There is a long tradition of "spoon rings" and jewelry. I have found one or two artisans who would do the custom jewelry for me. That way I could repurpose and appreciate the silver in a new form. I'll consult with more relative over the weekend, then make a final plan.

News

We sold our housefor over our asking price! I bought a Shun knife! Cliff got a new job at double his current salary! Larry retired!








Happy April Fools Day!