Changing Tide

Here are a few “before and after” photos (or possibly, “after and before” photos) of the canal by the bike path. Half were taken when it was recently drained for the annual(?) inspections and repairs, the other half, either before or after

This was the first time Sam and I had seen the canal empty at the south end. Of course, before this year, (and maybe a little bit of last year), walking this section of the bike path was not something we normally (or even, abnormally) did - certainly not on a regular (or even irregular) basis. Kind of neat to see, though.

I was hoping to be around whenever they filled the canal back up. The canal must be five or six miles long and I've wondered about the logistics of letting the water back in. When it was drained, there were some kids exploring the puddles down near the power plant (throwing mud and swearing, natch) and further up, there were people standing on the mudflats, fishing in a few of the larger puddles(!). (Not sure I understand the logic of this puddle-fishing but, whatever. I guess it gets them out of the house.)

So, when they fill the canal, what do they do to make sure the people are out of the canal? Do they station volunteers along the sides, maybe with some old-tyme-type megaphones (think Rudy Vallee- look it up kids) - hopefully yelling something like, “Head’s up! Water’s a-comin’!". 

If so, to complete my fantasy, I would (and do) imagine said volunteers wearing those 1920’s style bathing suits - the kind with striped tank-tops and maybe even bathing caps (look that up, as well). Maybe all the town-folk come down from the hills to watch what must be the biggest event in town since, well, since they did the same thing last year.

Or maybe whoever lets the water back in doesn't give a hoot* (*insert any word you prefer). Maybe they just go ahead and release the water and whoever wasn’t observant enough to notice the oncoming rush of a tidal wave gets washed into the turbines at the power plant on the far end. Either way, I wonder how you get a job like that.

Anyway, here are the photos...

Tonight's Music Video

You can watch tonight's debate or ignore it, as I choose to. (Actually, I'm lying (since that is now a thing).  I watched about fifteen minutes of it. That was plenty.) 

Instead, since this song has been, for some reason, going through my mind lately, I'll share it here (assuming I can get it to format correctly in this new and improved Blogger). Maybe that will get it out of my head.

Here you go (maybe)...

Stay well.

Another Piece Not Quite in Place

I was going to write a post about calling SSI, getting put on hold for about fifteen minutes while their tinny, repetitive hold "music" plays - interrupted every two minutes or so with a recording that thanks me for my patience and that my call is important to them - before finally getting cut off ... five times in a row. 

I'm pretty sure I've written something like this before, so I guess I won't bother.

Another Piece in Place

Last week, I called the transit company to see what was going on with Sam's ADA bus pass application. After leaving a message, I eventually got a call back from an actual human being. Apparently, they're on a reduced staffing level so things are a little behind. I was assured that I (or rather, Sam) would be receiving a letter of notification "soon". 

Yesterday, Sam got the letter approving his bus pass... for the next three years. It's beyond me why they only approve this for three years at a time, especially with all the documentation I gave them. But hey, it's approved. That's what matters (for now... and the next three years). 

I could ask the transit company about the three years thing, but I think trying to understand whatever their rules are, and whatever the "logic" is in their decision making process, will only fill my head with things that my head is probably better off without. (Plus, my head is currently full anyway.)

Next up is calling SSI.

Changing of Seasons

 

Today's Brief Comment

 Some days, it's easier to ignore the news than others.

Harvest Season

Here's a very familiar view of the farm fields by the rail yard...

Last I mentioned this field, Sam and I were wondering what they were growing here. Several years ago, it was strawberries. The following year, it was pumpkins. Same with the year following. Then it went back to strawberries, then back to pumpkins. This year, I guess they split the difference. The eastern half of the field (on the left) is all strawberries, the western half, all pumpkins.

In (pumpkin) years past, it seemed like they never picked the pumpkins. The pumpkins would still be in the fields long after the first frost - maybe even beyond. This year, for the first time, we saw a couple of trucks in the distance riding slowly through the fields. There were folks walking on either side of the truck tossing pumpkins to the guys riding in the back of the truck. They, in turn, loaded the pumpkins into large boxes on the flatbed, the kind of boxes you see on display in supermarkets this time of year. 

I don't know when these guys started picking the pumpkins but they were still at it when Sam and I were on our way back. Judging by their speed and the size of the field, I'm guessing they might be done some time around mid-February.

A while back, Sam and I were also walking past the farm fields over in Neighboring Town #2. Back then, we were wondering what the crop was in those fields, as well (way back here). Hard to believe that was three months ago.

Turns out it was a mixture of yellow squash and zucchini...

I don't know anything about farming but it seems to me they've picked everything except the yellow squash and zucchini. Not sure what the plan is here but at least the mystery of what the crop was has been solved.

Forest Photos

 From our walk through the conservation area on Monday...

Today's Important Update

Whew! As of right now, Sam starts back to work October 5th. While this will be his usual 9:00 to 1:00, for now it will only be Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Hopefully it'll expand to full weeks but... I'm thrilled he still has a job (and more importantly, so is he). 

Now to get after the transit company to see what's going on with that ADA bus application (here and here, in case you needed a reminder)...

Blazing New Trails

 

Sam and I found a new place to go on our walks - thank goodness. 

We keep a list of possible locations for our walks and we refer to it mostly when we get bored with the places we've been and need ideas for a change of scenery. But the list is pretty limited and, with all our walking, we rotate through it pretty quickly. So finding a new place that's halfway interesting is a big deal. Finding a new place that's halfway interesting - and is close by - is an even bigger deal. 

This, it turns out, was both.

At the north end of town, there's a large conservation area. How this place never turned up in my previous searches, I don't know. But yesterday it did, so we headed over for a quick afternoon walk - to explore and see if it was worthy of our list of where-to-walk possibilities. 

When we got there, I wasn't sure we had the right place. There was a sign at the small dirt parking lot but there were no other cars in sight. Getting out of the car and looking around, it was hard to see anything more than tall trees and thick, overgrown brush. 

Not wanting to have made the eight minute drive for nothing, I got out to look for signs of a possible path while Sam waited in the car for my verdict.

After a few minutes of exploring, I waved him over. Slightly deeper in the woods, past a hedge of overgrown brush, were a couple of paths which led in distinctly opposite directions. We picked one of them (the one on the left) and started walking.

It turned out to be a lovely setting. Root-covered paths strewn with leaves and pine needles, winding through tall trees and fern-covered fields. It was a setting made even more enjoyable by the fact that, in the entire time we were there, we only came across one other person - plus his dog. (Both were friendly.)

The walk was definitely list-worthy and I'm sure we'll be heading back again. But it'll have to wait for the weekend. With autumn fast approaching, there isn't enough light at the end of the day for a walk like this. Oh, the forest was bright enough - at least in spots - but we'll need the extra daylight for when we inevitably get lost  - as we almost did yesterday. (Though Sam doesn't know it... yet.)

Email Alerts

Not counting work, I have three email accounts. One account is from way back in the almost-no-internet days. It languishes nearly neglected, except for my occasional visits to either delete the mountain of “special offers” building up, or when I revisit one of the very few very old, emails sent to me many years ago. 

(I just checked. The oldest email in there is from me to me, sent on August 5th, 2002. It concerns parents and their special needs student's legal rights in dealing with their schools. What a shock!)

The other two email accounts are accounts I use daily. One is my Gmail account. I guess this would be my primary account. The other email account is through my Internet Service Provider. I’ve had this ISP account longer than my Gmail account. In fact, I think I’ve had the ISP account even before there was a Gmail. 

There are a lot of things tied to this ISP account - things like my bank(s) contact information, my (seldom used) Ebay account, my (too often used) Amazon account- along with a bunch of other stuff I signed onto when this was the only email address I had (other than my, even back then, obsolete older email).

The thing about my ISP account is, I get an inordinate amount of junk mail at this account. Way, way more than what I get with my Gmail account. I’m not talking about “special offers” for things I have no interest in, I’m talking about the "we're-trying-to-scam-you" type of emails - stuff like the “Prince of Nigeria”-type emails (though admittedly, it’s been quite a while since I’ve heard from my friend, the Prince). Even my old, neglected email account doesn’t get the amount of spam I get with this account.

The email scams I get seem to run in spells - but when I get them, most of them fall into three main groups: 1) The "There is a Problem With Your Amazon Account and it is Now Locked Until You Provide Certain Confidential Information" group, 2) The "There is a Problem With Your Apple Account and it is Now Locked Until You Provide Certain Confidential Information" group, and the most popular group of all, 3) The "There is a Problem With Your Credit Card Account and it is Now Locked Until You Provide Certain Confidential Information" group. This one is so popular that sometimes I get emails from "banks" I don't even deal with.

Often, these emails go directly to my spam folder. But more often than not, they don’t. Usually, I don’t even bother to open these emails - I just hold my cursor over the sender’s name to see the email address of the sender - and it usually shows up as something like, “ix37txeitWxxAPy1111sai23@payme.com” or “ivanwantstoscrewyou@somewherein.ru” or whatever - senders which make it pretty obvious that the email was not, in fact, sent from the desk of the dedicated Account Manager at my friendly credit card company.

Sometimes though, I do open them. When I do, it’s never because I feel like, Oh my god! I better reply to this important email right away and confirm all of my personal account information before this obviously grave error goes on any longer, and while I'm at it, I better make sure they have my correct Social Security number - along with any other personal information I can think of.

No, if I open the email at all, it’s almost always because I want to see how “clever” the email is. How blatant are they in asking for information? How well written is the email? Are there any misspellings? Is their grammar even worse than mine? 

I got another one of these emails just the other day, on September 1st. Here it is:

I’ve since deleted the actual email so I can’t tell you whether it was sent from my friend Ivan or from the Prince, but whoever sent it, man, they need to up their game. 

Really? There’s a possible problem with a couple of transactions from back in ... January? And not only that, but apparently I need to “verify the following reason transaction(s)” (whatever that means), so I can "continue to use" my card - a card I’ve probably used close to a thousand times since January (sadly). 

Why is this important notice so late in getting to me? Come on, you guys! It’s the US Mail that’s being screwed over by getting slowed down (and sabotaged through what used to be viewed as criminal behavior - but I digress) - not our electronic mail (yet). If you’re going to scam me, at least do your research.

Brief Observations

 

It occurred to me on tonight's walk that students will soon be moving back to the area for the fall semester. Or maybe not. Who knows, with the way things are going. If they do move back, the nature of our walks is sure to change - or at least some of the locations will. 

Sam and I regularly go for walks at a couple of different local colleges, as well as through the campus and adjoining farm fields of a nearby boarding school. I'm not sure how this is going to work out if and when the students return.

Last night, I noticed once again that our walks through the town forest have become more crowded. When we first started walking the paths back in the spring, if we passed one or two other people, that was a lot. The last several times Sam and I have gone for walks over there, we've passed no less than a dozen people throughout, many with dogs, some with masks (the people, that is).

I feel some amount of resentment towards these people (and dogs) as if they're trespassing on my property. I have to remind myself that the forest belongs to the town, not me.

But even still, my resentment lingers.

I'm not going to like it when those students return.