Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Monday, Monday

Monday, June 02, 2025

Monday, Monday

COVID

Missed Kevin's graduation, Megan's visit, yes, all of it.

Who gets Covid a week after recovering from the flu? That red line shot up in a second.

But tell me about you.

22 comments:

Jerry House said...: So sorry for the COVID and the missed opportunities, Patti. Heal fast, Heal well.

No more homework, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks...at least for ten weeks. Thursday was the last day of school and Jack is now a tising eigth grader. How did that happen?

The skies opened up on Wednesday and early Thursday morning with the heavy thunder andm lightning centered just above our house. The National Weather Service warned of an immense storm with 60 mph winds to hit us just as school was being let out. Didn't happen. Was it luck, or was is because a DOGE-infected NOAA is no longer able to put out predictions with great accuracy? As with every other feces-storm in the country today, I blame TACO Don...

This is going to be a play it by ear summer. With Walt's father not doing well in Virginia and my borther in California, we may have to book a few unexpected trips. Walt also has half a dozen business trips booked and Christina and he had hoped to get away for a few weekends. My summer (sans any potential emergency trips) looks to basically the front patio swing, a good book, and an occasional cold beer. Could be worse,

Tomorrow they are starting the free, twice a week kids movie summer program. This is probably the last time Jack will go. Christina gets very frustrated because Jack and I spend much of the time throwing popcorn at each other, and she keeps telling us to grow up. Maybe we will.

The Finnish-Swedish actress Taina Elg died this week at age 95. When the kids were younger, Kitty and I were house managers for an Actors Equity threater and Taina appeared there one Fall. She was very sweet person and we shared a Thankgiving pot luck dinner with her and the rest of the cast. When Taina first saw Christina, she thought it was the acress Jacqueline Bisset; Christina, at fourteen, did not realize what a compliment that was. RIP, Taina.

Still binging on BERGERAC and am now on the final (ninth) season. I enjoy the show despite the many jumpcuts; they try to sqeeze too much into a single episode and sacrifice continuity to do that; and often throw in extraneous plots that really have business in that episode...I started watching DEATH VALLEY on Britbox. Set in Wales, it's about a rather bouncy police woman who teams up with a retired television detective (Timothy Spall) to solve murders. It's cute and watchable, mainly because of the interaction of the characters and of the Welsh scenery. The firs two episodes (of six) have aired. I think my next bingining series (later this week) will be THE BARON, the mid-Sixties series based on (but not really faithful to) the John Creasy character.

A very quiet reading week. The only novel I've finished was Steve Fisher's NO HOUSE LIMIT, in which a gambling syndicate attempts to take over an independent Vegas casino in the mid 50s; the author;s intimate knowledge of Vegas helped make this one work..I also read SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN, VOLUME SEVEN by James Tynion IV, a rather bizarre graphic novel..The prremise is confusing and the artwork perhaps more so. At this point, I read the book more out of habit than anything else. Currently reading EASY GO, an early Michael Crichton writing as "John Lange" story of an attempt to rob an Egyptian tomb back in the days of the UAR; the book has also been published as THE LAST TOMB. Also reading comic crime novel LOWDOWN ROAD by Scott von Doviak -- two hapless and hopeless good ol' boys steal 250 pounds of marijuana and travel in a stolen taco truck from Texas to Snake River for Evel Kneivel's motocycle jump, while being pursued by police, a corrupt sheriff, and an angry dope dealer. The two protagonists provide the book with much of its four Bs -- Blood, Bodies, Babes, and Basci stupidity. A good, enjoyable romp.

Get a lot of rest this week, Patti, and kick that COVID to the ground.; 5:57 AM
Margot Kinberg said...: Oh, Patti, I am so sorry you got COVID! Terrible timing, too! Thinking of you...; 7:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Diane is packing us up for our return trip back to Western NY. The Ohio trip went well. The High School Graduation Party was outside. Last year we got Covid at a Graduation Party here in Ohio...hopefully that won't happen again this year. Today looks like a good day for driving: cool, clear, no rain.

Get well soon.; 7:36 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: I can't believe you got Covid again. I must admit that after our last sojourn to the city on Wednesday, I suddenly started thinking, maybe we should have used masks? But we didn't and we didn't get sick, so...lucky. Wednesday was John Fogerty's 80th birthday, so he started a Celebration Tour that night (and the next) at the Beacon. We'd seen him in concert in 2006 (with Willie Nelson at Jones Beach), 2007 (Hammerstein Ballroom, release of a new album), 2011 (Beacon), 2013 (ditto), 2014 (Jones Beach, with Jackson Browne), 2015 (Radio City Music Hall), 2018 (Jones Beach, with ZZ Top), and 2019 (Radio City again), so this was the ninth time. Good show. We stayed at a Marriott on 37th Street, and met my cousin for dinner, which was nice. Took the express bus there and back, and the only downside was the rain. May was a pretty damp and dreary month, with occasional days of 80 degrees.

Jackie has been interested in seeing HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD since it first opened as a two-part show running five plus hours, but we ended up waiting until the better received, abridged single three hour version. We both read the book adaptation, and frankly were not that impressed, which did not make us want to see it sooner. But, for some reason, when I checked out the TDF website for offerings a few days ago, I found an unusual Friday 1:00 matinee for this week, so was able to get tickets for $51.50 each. Will let you know how it was next week.

Back after breakfast.; 8:00 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: Jerry, Jackie has been complaining about the same thing. They forecast all day rains and we get nothing, we get the 7 day forecast that bears almost no resemblance to the actual weather. In addition, if you watch the local weather in New York, they are covering a large area - the five boroughs, the close suburbs (Long Island, New Jersey), and up to the Catskills and even as far as parts of New England. Yet, the difference between their weather, which might be accurate for Central Park, and ours, much closer to the weather in Staten Island, can be hugely different.

I missed the Taina Elg death. I still remember her from LES GIRLS in 1957, a movie I liked a lot as a child.; 8:47 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: Some good reading lately. I raced through the latest Cara Hunter mystery set in North Oxford - MAKING A KILLING - but you absolutely HAVE to read her first book (CLOSE TO HOME) first, as this follows the end of that book 8 years later.

Currently reading HEARTWOOD by Amity Gaige, apparently a Jenna's Book Club pick, and so far it is excellent. A woman is lost hiking the Appalachian Trail in Maine, and they know they have to find her in a few days if she is to survive. Her portion is told in (unsent, of course) letters written to her mother, but the other main character is Lt. Bev Miller, the woman in charge of the search. It definitely has elements that will remind you (strongly) of Cheryl Strayed's book about hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, as well as Paul Doiron's series about Mike Bowditch, the Maine game warden. (I just discovered the Doiron has a collection of Bowditch stories out, SKIN AND BONES.) Good so far.; 9:09 AM
Kevin R. Tipple said...: So sorry, Patti. What happened to you is not uncommon now. I have seen several folks reporting the same thing in recent weeks.

They are missing a lot on the weather forecasting here in North Texas as well. DVD sized hail is also becoming more common. I think some of it is climate change. I think the bulk of it is lack of info caused by TACO Don and crew.

By the way, we stumbled across THE RESIDENCE on Netflix. Pretty sure somebody watched Only Murders In the Building and thought--we could do that and throw in politics--and went with it. I think we have two episodes left. Have enjoyed it.; 10:51 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: I loved that series, Kevin. Maybe the last episode went over things a bit too much but other than that an A.; 10:59 AM
Gerard Saylor said...: That blows. Sorry you missed everything. Congratulations to your grandson.

I missed last week's posting. I was busy.
I took vacation last Thursday and Friday and did a fair amount of walking. I was able to walk longer and without interruption because the dog could not join me. The dog could not join me because she got (slightly) run over by a car.

The dog loves laying in the sun on the back driveway apron. My wife checked the dog's favorite spots as she drove back to the garage and did not see the dog in a new location. Lots of dog howling and screaming, veterinarian living across the street came over, a visit to an emergency vet outside of town, and a big bill. Dog was extremely lucky and came away with some stitches and no broken bones. Dog now has to wear a cone on her head for another week. She consistently bonks the edge of the cone into doorways and furniture as she goes along.

Meanwhile, I read a Ray Banks novel and liked it a fair amount. Listened to a Michael Koryta which was OK. Listened to a compilation of Barry Gifford film essays that I enjoyed but had me regularly searching to look up the films.
Also finished watching CISCO PIKE on TUBI. TUBI has a collection of neat stuff and no fees.; 11:17 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: I know some loved it, but THE RESIDENCE wore out its welcome here by the third episode. Way too self-congratulatory and way too much birdwatching.

We've been trying to keep up with shows but it's hard. On Peacock, we're watching WOLF LIKE ME and POKER FACE. On MAX, we finished the latest STRIKE but it was definitely skippable. I know the book (IN BLACK HEART) got bad reviews, but the show wasn't good either. Who cares about any of these people? Not me. HACKS has finally improved and we have two episodes left of the latest series.

We finished the latest ARCTIC CIRCLE (Finland) series on MHz Choice. We're watching LANDMAN, several French series (THE DOC & THE VET, CASSANDRE, 13P). We started DEPT. Q on Netflix. I don't remember him being quite that unlikeable in the Danish original, but it's been a while. There are others, many others I'm sure. SILENT WITNESS was particularly dark, but a good twist ending. (Series 14 #3/4).; 11:30 AM
TracyK said...: Patti, I am very sorry that you have Covid but most of all sorry that you missed Kevin's graduation and being with Megan. I hope your recovery is swift. Not much going on here.

We have been enjoying some new (to us) shows. We have watched one episode of MURDERBOT and liked it. We also tried DEATH VALLEY (on BritBox, set in Wales) and a new version of THE LIBRARIANS ... THE LIBRARIANS: THE NEXT CHAPTER. Almost all new characters, but at least the first episode featured my favorite, Christian Kane. We plan to start watching OUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS soonish.

Glen finished reading OFF THE MAP: THE CURIOUS HISTORIES OF PLACE-NAMES by Derek Nelson. He is now closer to finishing IN THE DARK by E. Nesbit, a short story book. Initially he had mixed reactions to the the stories but he has now read several more stories that he has liked, so he thinks it will be a keeper.

I finished two books this week and both were very good. STAR OF THE NORTH by D.B. John is a 400 page thriller, published in 2018, that mostly takes place in North Korea. The story revolves around a young Korean American woman whose sister went missing when she was spending her gap year in South Korea, but also features Colonel Cho, a highly placed official in North Korea, and Mrs. Moon, an older peasant woman who is living and barely surviving in a North Korean penal colony. I was very pleased with this book and I learned much about North Korea.

Then I read the fourth Murderbot novella, EXIT STRATEGY by Martha Wells, which I also enjoyed. I won't say much about that because it is like the first four books are one long story.

Now I am reading DEATH BY ACCIDENT by Bill Crider, #9 in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. I am about half way in, and enjoying it, of course. There have been several accidental deaths lately in the area of Clearview, and Rhodes does not think that they are really accidental.; 12:22 PM
Gerard Saylor said...: Oh, yeah. Boy #2 was in the Dean's List again. Boy #1 also drove home from Minneapolis last night for a visit. So, the house will be full and people thumping around as I try to sleep.; 1:03 PM
Jerry House said...: Gerard, poor puppy! Wishing her the best. Hopefully she will soon be able to interrupt you on walks again.; 3:19 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Terrifying story, Gerard. Always worried about hitting low objects-like kids on the big wheels of the seventies. Will always miss Bill. I saw the Danish movies and could not ascertain if he was likable or not with captioning.; 4:42 PM
Jerry House said...: Kevin looks proud. And tall.; 7:18 PM
Todd Mason said...: And weather is, if anything, more chaotic than it used to be. The massive irresponsibility of this admin, vs. somewhat lesser irresponsibility of some previous ones, can still get too many of us killed by insufficiently countered means.; 5:01 AM
Todd Mason said...: Better luck to your dog and your efforts to watch out for her creative placements...; 5:05 AM
Todd Mason said...: Further condolence on getting Covid (again?) just after shaking the flu...having gotten my mildish case of Covid post-inoculation and rather late in the first wave, I've been a die-hard masker...until recently, when it seems like it might be the best time to mask up again since lockdown. May your current case pass quickly and uneventfully (as it made you miss these events).

Less than an hour after our mail exchange inspired by the analysis of dementia in writers article, I caught voices outside the open windows of the house saying "We should call 911" as a small cluster of adults were gathered near a car parked about half in front of the next door neighbors' driveway and our own. As I wondered if someone had run over a dog or something similar, I walked out (pausing for a few minutes as there was a wild rabbit standing watching me as I walked out the front door, and I didn't want to spook it into running into the street if I could help it. Still couldn't see what the cluster of adults of varying ages were looking at and discussing, till the rabbit scampered off in the direction of our backyard...it wasn't a dog, but an elderly man, who apparently had collapsed on the sidewalk about ten minutes before I came upstairs (from purging the water in the heating system in the basement), and the various folks were attempting to encourage the older man to see if he could stand at all, and asking him if he wanted a lift to his house. It became evident, as he shakily stood by grabbing the parked car, that the fall had led to him soiling himself, and a few minutes after I walked up, EMTs with Collingswood Fire Dept arrived and asked him if he wanted to come to the hospital to get checked out (he was in no mood to do so, and they weren't authorized to compel him, even if some of the mental acuity questions they asked him received some dodgy answers)...one of the EMTs remembered picking him up a year ago. Eventually, between the EMTs, the cop who came along a few minutes later, and particularly an older woman named Lourdes (not as old as he, but closer to his age. apparently 77, than any of the rest of us) with a Hispanic accent of one stripe or another, who was part of the knot of people who'd gathered around him by the time they caught my attention. He is apparently a widower who lives in the house he shared with his late wife alone. He said he was walking from his house to pick up some pizza from a shop on Collingswood's main drag, which our street intersects with. The EMTs, thanks particularly to Lourdes reasoning with him and the cop standing with the EMTs, were able to get him to grumpily agree to being checked out, and we said our goodbyes and dispersed. The neighbors and Alice both returned home about twenty minutes later.My slight limp, as a 60yo who recently has had some sort of swelling irritation in my left ankle and foot, sticks with me. Always food for anxiety, and looking at how things might go for those near and dear, and me, too.; 5:43 AM
Todd Mason said...: I continue to watch HOMICIDE and THIRD WATCH episodes, and the better later night series (ignoring Fallon's and Maher's), including catching LAST WEEK TONIGHT's Sunday episode on air traffic control in the US, something my father worked with as an airway facilities engineer and manager through nearly all his FAA career, and how he'd reached the national policy level just in time to have to deal with the massively irresponsible Reagan Admin appointees who would mostly disapprove of his more proactive proposals. The most frustrating part of his career, and he eventually took his retirement options when they all matured.; 6:00 AM
Todd Mason said...: And finally saw the last two episodes of Fox's DOC's first season, having forgotten I'd missed them when they aired. Fox does like adapting foreign telenovelas, whether the Italian source for DOC or the Argentine one for THE CLEANING LADY, both good in their US versions.; 6:10 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...: Living on the 11th floor, I seldom know what is going on street-level.; 7:43 AM
Kevin R. Tipple said...: Finally finished THE RESIDENCE last night. I agree with you, Patti, that the final episode recapped way too much. We were deep into the episode when I paused for a moment and realized that it was almost double the normal length.

Was a but surprised at the identity of the killer. Neither Scott nor I was sure who had done the deed, but never thought much about the one identified as said killer.; 11:11 AM