“Home Alone 2”
Monday saw us heading outside for a run together for the first time in a few months – it’s just been too hot and humid. The first part was fine but then it started to heat up and became hard work. Good running weather will be coming soon.
After the run, we put the top down on Penelope and had an excursion to Filtered in downtown McKinney for coffee and quiche (actually Diana had a veggie Galette.)
Finn joined us for burgers, potato salad and grilled vegetables for the traditional Labor day cookout. He’s looking well and doing great things at work. His department was number 2 in a district of around 30 stores last month. Finn enjoyed seeing the pictures and videos from our trip to Scotland.
We watched the end of Tiafoe’s amazing defeat of Nadal in the U.S. Open. Lots of upsets in that tournament so far.
Tuesday was a quiet day overall. We watched a new (to us) series on Apple TV called “Surface.” This is a promising mystery series about a lady in San Francisco who loses her memory and is trying to piece together what happened to her.
After that I tried, and failed in the fourth set, to stay awake to watch the Kyrgios tennis match. Why do they have them start so late? Checking in the morning I saw that Kyrgios couldn’t control his emotions and ended up losing in five sets. It’s exciting to see the next generation of players coming up.
We had another swim together on Wednesday – maybe this is going to become a regular thing. I’m going to have to swim much faster to keep up with Diana. I watched Tiafoe play again in the afternoon – he really destroyed Rublev. Such an exciting player! As I was watching the tennis, it occurred to me that I didn’t see any line judges. Some Googling revealed that’s because they don’t have them anymore – it’s all done with the Hawkeye computer system. The voices volume and tone is adjusted based on the situation – loud for very close calls so that they players can hear above potential crowd noise. The only time live people are involved is with foot faults – apparently the computer can’t do that yet.
I dropped Diana at the airport on Thursday afternoon – she’s back out to California to spend time with her Mom and Marco. Since then things have been pretty quiet. I fell asleep before the first game of the NFL season on Thursday night. I did have a nice FaceTime with Vince and Lori at their lake house in the Adirondacks. Their daughter, Alex, was married last weekend. I love this picture – such a happy Dad and daughter:
The football season continued in earnest today. I’m watching the Eagles and Lions just now – close game. The Cowboys play tonight and I’m hoping to stay awake and watch it. They play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by the un-retired Tom Brady and it should be a good game.
I really enjoyed my book this week – “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus. This was a very entertaining read and reminded me a bit of the humour in “Eleanor Oliphant is Just Fine”. Here’s the GoodReads summary:
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.”
Elizabeth Zott is a wonderful character – has me thinking of a combination between Julia Child and Margaret Thatcher. Her daughter, Madeline, and dog, Six-Thirty, are also very well done – isn’t it strange that a dog is a believable character? He really is. The book did drag a bit in the last quarter, before the conclusion, but highly recommended overall.
I love Chris Rea and totally missed the massive set of “Blue Guitars” albums that he released in 2005. A full history of the Blues over many albums – lots for me to listen to.
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings was another new find this week – they have a lot of good tunes:
Coexist Peacefully with kindness and compassion for all!