My exciting noos is that the calendar is ticking down to DaDrive to Da99YearOleMomInLaw's pad with DaBunner in DaBack. I gett to see DaSquaw and MomInLaw for awhile and soak up some of that nifty humidity whilst I work down the HoneyDoo list that awaits me. I will, as usual, bring my tools and gear.
This time, thanks to my arrangment for a high-speed internet connection at MomInLaw's lily pad, and my upgrading of IT/comms gear, my mobile office there will me almost indistinguishable from all other office locations I have set up. Other than face-to-face in-person meetings (I can videoCONference from there in many formats now), it should appear to the ~OUTTside observer that I am in any of the office spots I use.
And still, no need to resort to smartphones!!!
Internetz service in that smallische city is now bubbling along at 50M or sometimes up to 70M, pretty good for a sleepy backwater town. I had to have the ISP/carrier rewire everything from their junction box/central office/local hub to and into DaMomInLaw's abode. Butt that is done and with new wiring/coax/whatever the speed is plenny fast for anything that lowly I must do. In fack, prolly 6-10Mbps wood prolly suffice, butthay I'll take the 50-70 range.
Da99YearOleMomInLaw thinks anything below 80F inna howse is 'cold', so the thermostat is set at 80F - which is a bit warm for my liking. So I will use the den as DaOffice and put a window air CONditioner in there to gett the room down to sub-80F temperatures. 80F is no prollem in Cali - where the air is usually dry (excepting the marine layer), butt in the humidity of DaPuppaMidwess, even in a howse with an integral dehumidifier in the whole howse forced air system, it just getts sticky. We have a window unit upstairs in the CONverted attic where the forced air AC doesn't do the full pull on really hot daze, so the window unit up there keeps the attic bedrooms cool. A cheap 5,000 BTU unit for the den should do the yobb nicely, The upstairs window unit is 10,000 BTU butt the floorspace is at leased twice that of the first floor den area, and heat is rumoured to rise (up the stairwell). Maybe I'll get an 8,000 BTU unit just to be safe.
We are also gonna take the 99YearOleMomInLaw on a small 2-day vacation. She can only handle about 2 days - and we have to take her very fancy CPAP machine (she has two separate sleep apnea prollems and so she was upgraded twice to increasingly complex CPAP machines, which have sensors and gizmos to deal with her combo obstructive and neurological sleep apnea issues. We will overnight at a resort I know where we can use it as a daytime hang~OUTT too so she can recover between activities. She's usually good for 2-3 hours and then needs a nap to recharge. We have a nifty portable wheelchair for any walking more than a hunnert yards or so and because her back getts tired of standing for longer than it takes her to do the dishes (which is her rice bowl yobb that she refuses to surrender except for when she's 'snackered'.)
I look forward to revisiting the billiard hall/tavern that is just two-anna-haff blox from MommInLaw's howse. I grew up playing pool (long story how may dad was able to snag a primo slate bed table for nearly nuthin') and since the Blue Chalk joynt closed down about a decade back, I have no CONvenient local billiard halls to practice on. Regular tavernas and bars have shitty, low-quality tables with worn~OUTT felt and crappy balls and cues. Blue Chalk had and this place at the MomInLaw's has quality tables and equipment. Plus many of DaRegulars are fairly good players, so the level of competition is decent. Plus the tap beers are quite cheap and fresh. They also have professional level British dart boards and equipment; a lot of the regulars have their own personal dart sets that they bring with them or leave in their personalized cubby holes behind DaBar. I have none, so I either use a house set or more often use loaners from one of the regulars or another tosser's set. I kinda stink at darts, butt after a few pops I seem to do better for awhile - still gett skunked by the dudes with their own personal sets of precision weighted darts who play there every week (they have a little league set up for darts there - like a bowling league - certain nights of the week are reserved for league play at certain time periods.
My DeceasedBroInLaw used to hang ~OUTT there a lott, so I am kinda his replacement when I am ~OUTT there. The regulars knew him well, so they accepted me in his stead when he died - many of them came to his celebration of life get-together so I recognized them and they me at the billiard hall taverna. Same with the little dive bar that is only a half-block behind DaMomInLaw's palatial estate - just walk across the back alley and half of a short block (mebbe 120 feet?) and across the street and you're there. Tiny place - everybuddy there knows everbuddy else there. It's where we had a 'going away party' for him while he was still alive (butt only about 12 days from death) - just wheeled him the short distance and his frenns were all invited and the tiny bar was jam-packed. Because the tiny bar is so stone's throw close, the patrons wood often wander over to DaMomInLaw's howse to Czech on how he was doing and visit with him as a break from DaBar in the evenings. I think he enjoyed that and the visits from old frenns.
We just really don't seem to have places like those in urban/suburban Cali. Heck, many people don't even know their next door neighbors.
The cultural difference is staggering.
Plus, where else can you find $2 tap beers ($1 PBRs on specials sometimes).
The vibe of the area is like walking into the 1950s and being in a rerun of Leave It to Beaver. "Geeze, Wally, did you see him call that shot caromed off two rails and into the side pocket?"
"Ah, shut up, Beav, and go gett us another pitcher before dad comes and finds us and then we're in trouble."
