Morning all:

Here is your short morning trivia lesson. As some of you know I love my morning coffee, and along with that some morning music to accompany the early songbirds. So, currently playing is Beethoven’s Fur Elise and my White Castle mug is filled to the brim. Now for the trivia, did you know that in parts of Taiwan, Iran, Brazil, Turkey and most likely other places this tune is played by garbage and other delivery trucks such as those selling household propane gas cylinders? Before we all yell in unison, “that’s nuts”; remember the neighborhood ice cream guy?

I live in the strangest of neighborhoods. Aside from a very diversified and eclectic mix of people [the Pastoors versus them] in our neighborhood no one ever becomes the king of their castle. Let me explain. We have lived here for nearly eighteen years, placing us in the top percentile of long-term residents. This week it happened again. At the community pool Marcia overheard a neighbor saying to their visiting adult child, “that’s Marcia, she lives in the Ellis house.” Now, I ask you, how many places do you know of where after eighteen long years your home is still known as belonging to a long-dead previous owner? If any of you happen to drive by in, oh say, the year 2085, just ask where the Pastoor house would be, you just might have success.

The good news is that Marcia rented the upstairs apartment unit. Since Adrianne will be moving in downstairs upon her return, it means she’ll have a neighbor. It also means that the “Thermostat Wars” [from the Dilbert comics] will start up again. This is because even though the building is a two-family the heat and AC is controlled by a single thermostat.

There is a solution though. I read where an office building maintenance guy got so totally fed up with requests to constantly adjust to the specific heating needs of everyone that he placed a dummy thermostat in each cubicle. He then advised the occupant that this would manage only their little world. I just might have to go on Ebay to see if I can snag a batch of malfunctioning old Honeywell thermostats, you remember, the little round ones with only a dial and off/on switch.

Last week the sailing was wonderful with a steady 10 knot wind. Since the sail club had a steak fry after the races Marcia came along. Sitting under a tree on a bit of a knoll she did needle-point and with binoculars watched the boats. Afterwards she jumped aboard and we took her out for an hour and a half. She did enjoy it although later on there was a bit of whining about sore calves from bracing herself on the heeling boat.

However, Marcia’s mental image of sailing is vastly different from reality. Her vision is more of one that includes a deck chair, a stem glass with an olive floating in it. All of which is delivered by some tanned guy with a tight little keister scurrying around in white shorts.

Tomorrow I will be racing sans Marcia. I don’t own a pair of white shorts.

Make it a great week everyone; remember to keep the wind in your sails.

Cheers,
Dirk