“Shilly Shally”

Happy Saturday Morning – So, last week we ran out of Peet’s coffee. Then out of the clear blue a couple of pounds of Starbucks Pike Place medium roast was delivered to our front door. What a delight!

Thanks a lot M & D (not to be confused with D & M).

Now some breakfast.

Today is Vili’s birthday and this afternoon we’ll join the gathering. Happy birthday guy. Remember this Japanese proverb: “The soul of a 3-year-old stays with them until they are 100”.

This week’s been a bit of a shilly shally business, did much of what I expected to accomplish, but nothing in a straight line. I keep hearing comments regarding the disarray of my little office. OK, it’s not complete but, at least to my eyes, serious efforts at a cleanup have begun.

Following instructions, I’ll quickly clip a few of the blooming Iris in our front yard. We’re supposed to get some rain and wind over the next few hours. Marcia wanted me to snip some and I’d let it slip. Amazing what a weather report can do for a ‘memory’ lapse.

Spotting Watches – Thursday evening Jason spent a little time with Marcia while I made a dash out. A bit earlier I had tuned in on the “Ronde van Vlaanderen” (Tour de Flanders). It’s a very prestigious 278KM (172 miles) bicycle race, stretches are on cobblestones and climbs approaching 20-degrees (the Koppenberg actually has a short 22-degree climb). This year’s race had the winner, Croatian Tadej Pogacar. Me? I was rooting for the Dutch rider, Mathieu van der Poel who came in 2nd and had won this race in 2024.

That is when Jason arrived and when I had to leave for a bit. Jason loves watches. Jason collects watches of specific note and interest.

These major bicycle races have a number of motorcycles, each with a videographer sitting on back. They swarm around, in and out, and between the riders. This is where Jason, our watch guy, spotted what one of these motorbikes caught; a closeup of van der Poel’s wrist and hand on the handlebars of his bike. It also caught a very clear closeup of the watch he was wearing.

When I returned, I asked for a race update. Instead I got a bit of a history on the watch van der Poel was wearing. I forgot the name Jason told me (it was not a Rolex), but I do remember the price of the thing. Jason had already scoured the internet found it. This rider, van der Poel, was in the thick of a 278KM race complete with many crashes and tumbles by riders all around him including a big group in the 175-rider peloton and he was wearing a $300,000 US dollar watch!

Did you catch that, $300,000!

Dinner – Well, not so much the dinner but food in general especially when preoccupied with just how good it tastes. I enjoy gherkins as a snack. You’ll see what I mean.

Marcia says there is no such thing as a ‘gherkin’: “they are just small pickles which I dislike and can’t eat.”

Now comes the dinner. Mid-week I prepared a Tuna salad placed on a bed of fresh Power greens along with wedges of 21-grain toast. Aside from a couple of dollops of mayonnaise my Tuna concoction included turmeric, mustard powder, cayenne, a dash of wood-barrel aged soy sauce, finely chopped onion, and are you ready? Included were several finely chopped gherkins.

Marcia LOVED our dinner!

Liminal: her Word of the day; Her expression showed a liminal hint of doubt before she answered as she was asked how she liked dinner.

Hereis a picture from Vai’s Steel Band concert at Eden Park last weekend (I’ve shared it with some family members – so pardon the duplicates).

You should possibly take note that yesterday was End ALZ Day.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

This week I mentioned that our Jason collects watches. Building on the collecting theme, did you know that the Actor Tom Hanks collects typewriters? So, just how large is his collection? One answer is correct

1. 33
2. 250
3. 67
4. 118
5. 341

Last week answer – #3