Barb has been assigned the task of bringing Jell-O to Thanksgiving dinner at Mark’s place. She didn’t have a Jell-O mold so she went to Goodwill and found one. Last night we put the test Jell-O and fruit in it. It spent the night in the refrigerator and when we got back from our walk she warmed the mold in some warm water then flipped the Jell-O and mold onto a plate. It turned out fairly well. She warmed it just a little bit too much though. It was good to do the trial run so she can have it turn out perfect for Thanksgiving.
A walk in the park
Bricks
When I worked on Windows Phone 7 for Microsoft there sometimes a risk you could load a new version of the O/S you had just built on the phone and it would fail so catastrophically that it couldn’t even boot up enough to load a new O/S to replace the broken one. We called this “bricking your phone”. You had turned your smart phone into an object that was about as useful as a brick.
A few days ago Barb L. decided she needed to use the self-cleaning feature on her oven. The oven is fairly new and she had always cleaned it by hand and sometimes with oven cleaner spray. But this time she “dinked around” with the controls and got it to do a self-clean. After about two hours she decided it was probably done and turned it off. She went back to the oven a while later and the door was still locked. The display was off and all the controls were dead. She went to breaker box and cycled the power. It was still dead. She left the power off over night and turned it back on. It was still dead with the door locked.
Barb is the only person I have ever heard of that is able to brick an oven. That takes some special talent. She’s a keeper.
Finishing up with Fred
Barb and I had lunch together today. We had some really nice hamburgers at Johnny Rockets in Pacific Place. We had finished eating and were just sitting around talking when Barb received a phone call.
It was about some papers that were supposed to be picked up at Fred’s lawyers office but somehow ended up at a messenger service in downtown Seattle a few blocks away. Barb had planned to pick them up at Fred’s lawyers office and take them to the King County Recorders Office on 4th Ave. But now they were in Seattle and it would save her a drive into Seattle if she picked them up and took car of them today.
We immediately walked to the messenger service, picked up the papers and headed to the King County Recorders Office. It was about 16 blocks away. It was raining and windy. Barb had to hold on to her hat several times and the umbrella was in danger of being damaged but she was in good spirits. She almost had another “bullet item” checked off on the path to being completely separated from Fred.
We arrived at the Recorders office and were thrilled to find there was no line. The person behind the counter was helpful enough but I’m certain she had her ability to smile, laugh, or show any evidence of friendliness surgically removed.
By the time we got back to our offices Barb had wet feet and pants up to her calves. My feet were dry but my pants were wet up to my mid-thigh. My coat and hat were soaked but it was good to have saved the extra hour plus of driving into town tomorrow and being one step closer to Finished with Fred.
BYSO concert
Barb is in Houston this weekend so I fixed Max dinner and took him to the concert tonight. I was first to buy my ticket and the first person with a ticket go into the theater. I got what I thought was a great seat but with Max in the last row he was frequently blocked because I was a bit low to see over some of the other people. I still got some pictures and sent one to Barb just before the concert started.![]()
Dinner is served. Roast beef, cornbread, sliced apples, and potatoes.![]()
Max is just about to walk out the door to go to the concert.
My concert ticket.
Max is in the rear on the left.
Warming up.
Fred was there. I didn’t see him until after the concert.
Barb goes to Houston
Halloween
The first Trick or Treaters showed up at 4:50. The last about 7:40. There were 15 total.
Barb and Max put out decorations and put orange bulbs in the outside lights:
Max had to be persuaded to let me take his picture with his ice machine but he finally relented:
Eventually Max got a little bored with his machine and put the dry ice in some soapy water:
It was a pretty quiet Halloween but quite pleasant.
Update on shirts
A fair number of people previously expressed some concern about Barb counting my shirts. As I said in an update to the post and in the comments I don’t really think there is anything to be worried about. A few days ago she gave me two coats, two sweaters, and a pair of pants for my birthday.
The only way I can resolve the present data in an adverse manner is if Barb is trying to get my closet rod to break due to excessive loading then suggest it was my fault for having so many clothes. That would be far too subtle and complicated for her personality. She is very direct.
Lunch
Halloween prep
Max and Barb have been doing a fair amount of preparation for Halloween. There were the meringue ghost cookies which are delicious sugar bombs and various lights and decorations being put up around the house.
But what impressed me (and I think Barb) the most was the fog machine Max built:
I haven’t seen it action yet and Max won’t let me take a picture of him with it until it is but it looks to me like it should work just fine.
