WTF

Public Art Project?

Last Friday’s walk and latte morning was around my favorite walking trail. So was today’s. On last Friday’s, I walked by something that looked like an 8″-9″ red and copper striped yam-shaped Christmas tree ornament. It was hanging from a tree branch, sitting at eye-level a few feet off the trail. I snapped a photo and posted it on Instagram a few days ago.

On today’s walk the red-striped ornament was gone. Poof! But about 3/4 mile further along the trail, another colorful object was dangling a few feet off the trail. This one was a 12″x14″, and at first glance I thought it was a banana, but it could be a summer squash. Tonight on Instagram I posted this one as well. Here’s both because the first one didn’t make the blog:

I wonder what I’ll find next week. Edited to add the 3rd photo, which I found on July 30th

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 69.1%

 

Hump Day

Photo from July 2016; it was our “Epic Sunrise” for that year’s Moss Motoring Challenge.

It finally came to an end. The Red Sox lost the afternoon game of a double header today. They did win the early game for a club tying 15 in a row. They are off tomorrow, and now we’ll see how many they lose in a row starting Friday.

I made an appointment at U-Haul to get a trailer hitch put on the GTI. Because of the wrap I can’t use a roof rack or the foldable trunk rack that works on the Miata. The appointment is next Thursday, I think. When I left, they texted me a link to the reservation, but when I clicked on the link, it took me to the U-Haul website. There were no details on the page I landed on, just the words, “This feature is only available in the U-Haul App.” So I downloaded the app and clicked on the text link again. It didn’t open the app; it just dumped me on the same web page. There wasn’t any way I could see in the app to type in a reservation number, so I uninstalled the app.

I ordered a Kuat Sherpa 2 rack from Amazon yesterday, and this afternoon I put it together. I’m going to have to be careful and check my clearance going in and out of the driveway because of the steep drop at the end. I may have to pull the car out and then put the rack on.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 71.9%

 

Piano Man

For those of you who saw yesterday’s Instagram photo, nothing happened. Dodged a bullet.

I am halfway through “And So It Goes” the HBO documentary on Billy Joel. It’s broken down into almost equal-length two-and-a-half-hour episodes. I was a big fan of his first album, and that is the only one I have a copy of. If I go look at the titles of the tracks, I guarantee I’d hear the chorus in my head. The rest, at least in my memory, had only one or two songs on every subsequent one of his albums/CDs, so I never bought them. So maybe that is why I was surprised that I knew a whole bunch of his songs. I wonder how many I’ll tap my feet to in the second…

Nice Kitty

I’ve got to get off Instagram; I am too much of a sucker for the ads they run…

Cottage Parking

Here is the outside of the place I’m staying at here in Mount Vernon, WA. Here is where I have been parking. There are two parking signs in the picture; one is a small, official-looking one with a big P and the word ‘parking’ underneath, and the second one is an obviously hand-painted one. That second one is in the center of the two-wide driveway.

The parking instructions from the VRBO owner say, “Park in designated Country Cottage parking stall.”

So where should I be parking? Left or right? I chose the left side for a couple of reasons; the first being that the ’70s pickup truck right in front of the GTI is there for display, and the concrete stops right in front of my car, and secondly, there is a small house next to me, and maybe that side is for them. But if that wasn’t correct, the house doesn’t really look occupied, and there hasn’t been another car there.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 19.2%

 

Thanks WordPress

I keep getting a 403 Forbidden ever since they implemented their authentication scheme. I’m using a VPN in the browser to type this post and I’m afraid to hit publish…here we go…

Creepy AF

BottleDrop Redemption Center

When I got in the car this morning to run some errands, this is what Google Maps unbidden offered up for directions. Now, I have been to this redemption center numerous times since moving here in 2023, and maybe I asked Maps to tell me where the closest one was back then, but it is 3 turns away. I haven’t needed directions to it for 2 years. Before I got in the car on the driver’s side, I had opened the passenger door and placed something on that seat.

Green Bag to take to the BottleDrop

How did Maps know I placed a bag full of cans on the seat? That is just creepy as fuck.