Scams

 We are awash in scams these days. Mysterious Docusign demands. Emails claiming to be from the Geek Squad or PayPal announcing that someone purchased a iPad in your name. Other emails that claim to be from the Lovely Bride, saying "Here are the pictures you wanted!" with emojis and an unknown link (and the sender has a Bulgarian email address).

In addition to the cybercrime, we recently had some physical burglary activity in the neighborhood, in an empty house across the street. Some folk in a white truck boosted a construction trailer from a site in the valley (They have videos of the theft), stashed it there overnight while they emptied the trailer of equipment, and for good measure, broke into a shed on the property and took some other, older tools. I saw the truck at the time but did not think twice, because the previous owners had a white truck and had been emptying the house, but since finding out about the break-in I've been keeping an eye out ever since (and chatting with the original owners whenever they WERE on the property).

That's all background for the new scam we encountered. The Lovely Bride got a phone call on her phone, asking for me, under my rarely-used first name (which I only use for official documents). The caller claimed to be Sgt. Jason Cooke of the King County Sheriff's office, and would I call back. She called back and after a rather suspicious phone tree, got ahold of that officer, who wanted me to call him back as soon as possible. The Lovely Bride had some very pointed questions and he was not forthcoming as to reasons.

And there were a buncha flags here, so the Lovely Bride called a friend of ours who IS a King County Sheriff, and he determined that no, there was no one on the force by that name. And he called the number in question and they hung up on him. Twice. So, yeah, it sounded extremely some scam we had not heard about yet. 

In any event, just in case it was legit, I did call the number back, got the sketchy phone tree (which identified itself as being the King's County Sheriff), went through another secretary and got ahold of Sgt. Cooke. And he said I had a federal affidavit in my name and I should have gotten a letter. I informed him I had received no such letter and pointed out that I had a colleague who was a REAL Sergeant in the King County Sheriffs, and that he would be interested in talking to him. And Sgt. Cooke explained that they were in different divisions and shifts, which sounded just barely credible to be true.

And we chatted some more and he asked if I would come downtown to provide a signature. Again, weird but just borderline credible. He gave me an address and an office number, and the address was the King County Courthouse (I checked while I talked to him). So took a long lunch and drove downtown, trying to go over in my mind any sin, crime, or misdemeanor which would require a federal affidavit and a visit to the police (and why King County was dealing with federal affidavits was yet another red flag, but there were more red flags here than May Day during the Khrushchev era). Oh, and I could come down anytime during the day - he'd be in (Ding! another red flag).

So I went downtown, paid too much for parking, and went through the metal detectors at the courthouse, and found the office, right there on the first floor by the entrance. Couldn't miss it. And rang the bell. No one answered, but one of the people on the front desk came by with lunch. And I explained the situation, and that person explained that no, there was no Sgt. Cooke there and yes, it probably was a scam. 

So I went to Pike Place Market, bought some Earl Grey tea from Market Spice and a loaf of sourdough from Three Sisters, and some hum bao from Meesum Pastries for lunch, so the trip wasn't a total loss. 

But I have to admit that Sgt. Cooke and company really committed to the bit. The fake phone tree, the waiting music, the conversation all sounded reasonable at first blush if you didn't have any interaction with the King County Sheriff's Office. And he was extremely calm and well-mannered when confronted with the fact that no one seemed to know him. Didn't spook him for a moment, and he gave himself a good escape from the conversation. 

AND after this is all said an done, I did an internet search on Sgt. Jason Cooke. And it looks like he's a very busy officer, with reports coming on all over the country of this scam, where the bogus officer named Jason Cooke calls up and says there is an arrest warrant out for you but you can avoid it by sending him a gift card. 

The only question in this case is ... why? I mean, it was a pretty elaborate setup, and nothing was ultimately asked of me other than to come downtown for a fictitious appointment. I wondered if the thieves wanted me out of the house when they came back to the empty property across the street. That sounds really Nero Wolfe, but when I returned, the shed door was open again, which I didn't notice it at the time when I left. I called the former property owners (they're local), and they found out that the NEW property owners had stopped by and left doors open. So, nope, no prob.

But still -  I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, and keeping my eyes even further open, but frustrated that this sort of thing is ongoing.

More later, 

At Home in the Storm

Yes, there was some flooding. We're doing OK. Thanks for asking. 

 I don't talk that much about my neighborhood in the blog these days. Grubb Street is located on the East Hill of Kent, in the most northernly part near Panther Lake. When we moved in (years and years ago), the area was a mix of small farms, orchards, and houses with big yards and a lot of trees. Since then we've seen much more development. The horse farm at the corner became a huge development, and smaller developments have shown up on a lot of the side roads. Next door was when we moved in a wooded lot with a small cottage, but that plot is being developed into 13 huge houses with very small yards.

And despite the neighborhood disruptions, that development has been doing generally OK by us. We have a lot more sunlight in the yard for the gardens. The developers hooked up to our water main badly and we got some nasty water bills (which they offered to cover, which is nice). And at one point they cut my internet connection (Wire from the house across the street to a main line) with a backhoe as they were re-digging the sewer line, and again, put it back in working order by the end of the day. They did take down two huge pine trees on the properly line, which provided shade for the house during the summer. Those, I really miss. 

Anyway,

We have a horseshoe driveway in the front of the house, which is good for access and parking when friends come over. And in the center of that horseshoe, we have a couple more big pines and a dead/dying maple. The maple has been dead/dying for years, had split into two large trunks, and one of the two looks like it had be struck by lightning somewhere along the way. At the base we have a number of rhododendrons (the property two lots over was a rhododendron garden, and these are descendants). But we like the level of separation between the house and that street the maple and the other trees in the front provides. 

Cue the atmospheric river. 

The atmospheric river (A term that thrown around a lot out here these days) is a steady, heavy stream of water-laden air that starts in the Philippines, crosses Hawaii (gaining another title of "Pineapple Express") and then makes landfall between Alaska and California. Usually we don't get hit that hard. This past month, the Seattle area got hit hard. Our rivers in King County tend to be short and shallow, and our valleys steep and narrow, so that when we get hit with rains, the rivers swell quickly, to flood stage and beyond.

You've seen the pictures. The Skagit and Snoqualmie Rivers in the northern parts of the county overtopped their banks with the first wave of storms, swamping farms and communities.  Then the Cedar River, which runs down Maple Valley and through Renton itself, hit well over flood stage. And then the Green and White Rivers, which broke levees and flooded entire housing developments and warehouses. Pumpkins from an inundated farm upstream have been spotted floating down the Green. Roads through the passes have been closed due the flooded streams undercutting and collapsing the road surfaces. So, yeah, that's pretty bad.

As I say, we're OK from the flooding, being on a hill. The nearby Panther lake overflowed, flooding the local fields but not coming up over the road (there was work on the drainage system there about ten years back). But we were hammered by the wind coming through with the variety of storm fronts. 

And one of the massive trunks of the dead/dying maple snapped about 20 feet up and toppled. The good news is that it did not take out the power line. The bad news is that it blocked one of the entrances to the horseshoe driveway and took out our Internet connection and the mailboxes.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the mailboxes. We had three mailboxes out front, which, like everything else out here, have a history. The original post was put in by the neighbor's father-in-law in the 60s, and was fashioned by convicts guilty of drunk and disorderly charges (the neighbor's father-in-law was a local sheriff). When we moved in, we had to adjust it, and the Lovely Bride and the neighbor built a flower box support for the three boxes, using tools the neighbor had gotten under the GI Bill. Like I said, everything here has a story. And this is what was splintered and crushed by the falling tree, the mailboxes smashed and buried under a tangle of branches.

And we recovered. I managed to hack away most of the medium-sized branches, and was pleased to discover that my electric chainsaw worked after all these years, and that I had enough extension cords to reach from the garage to the front. We called a tree service that hauled away the huge main trunk and got a bid to take down the rest of the dying/dead maple. I spent a week cyber-crashing at a friend's house, mooching his Internet to do the day job. Eventually we got the Internet service restored (after long discussions about which corner of the house they needed to hook it up to). The Lovely Bride purchased new mailboxes, built a new support for the boxes (using a perfectly good piece of cedar planking we had in the garage), and restored the mail service (which will need to be adjusted and cemented in once the rain finally stops). 

And like I said, we're doing OK. It was a bit more eventful than we would have liked, but a way to end the old year and begin the new. And we're just waiting for the next big storm.

More later, 

The Political Desk Pops Off

OK, I'm going to be 'that guy'. The grumpy old man complaining about the responsibilities of the modern world. Blame the killer head cold that has been kicking me around since Gary Con, but I'm going to vent a little.

This past week a packet arrived from the King County Department of Elections with a ballot. And the ballot had one measure on it. One. The official title is Proposition No. 1 Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Levy. Its to fund the King County Fingerprinting unit. Yep. Fingerprinting.

It's a replacement levy for the elapsing levy. It is a property tax increase, but at a lesser percentage than the previous one. Of course, your house is worth more at this point as well. but doing the numbers, it is an extra 20 bucks on top of everything else. And AFIS has done a pretty good job for the past few decades, has been really transparent about their work, and touts their successes on their site. And checking on the web, there is not even a statement AGAINST this measure.

But,

But,

But why are you asking US at this point? Shouldn't this be part of the rest of the budget? Is this worth sending out ballots for something like this?

Well, they're asking us because thems the rules. You want the county government to boost your property taxes (even by about a Jackson) without your OK? You want a chance to be a part of the decision -making process? Well, here it is. Being a separate item also protects it from being put on the chopping block for some closed-door budget cutting (like, say, the mounted police unit for Seattle itself, which met its end last year due to budgetary constraints). 

And the ballots have a lot more on them, just not stuff where I'm living. School levies on Mercer Island and in Enumclaw. Fire Protection issues in Renton, Duvall, and Woodinville. And some of this stuff can't really wait around for a November election. 

I'm actually an opponent of the proposals to bunch everything together in one mammoth ballot, and as a result am willing to put up with this "pecked by baby ducks" approach to government. And if it is a irritant, its the same sort of irritant as getting your oil changed at regular intervals, or separating your trash and recycling, or taking those two separate bins to the curb, even when it's been raining for hours and you're really rather be inside because you already have a nasty cold. AND hauling them back up the driveway. In the RAIN.

But I digress.

Anyway, go vote when you get your ballots. Its practically frictionless at the moment, and requires only a little effort on your part. It shows you're paying attention. Despite all my whining about the process, I'd say let's keep the AFIS, and vote Approved on this. 

S'allright? S'allright.

More later,

[UPDATE:] Proposition one passed, 58 to 42%. However, only 25% of the registered voters weighed in on the matter, which as always, a little sad. By the same token, a hotly-contested school bond issue on Mercer Island also passed, with 50% of the citizens weighing in. So, good going, Mercer!

The Political Desk: State Legislature

 This one is fairly short, in that there are no Republicans running here, and two out of the three positions don't even have competition. 

Legislative District 11 straddles I-5 and I-405 and stretches down to Panther Lake and Grubb Street - we're in the far SE corner. Bob Hasegawa is our incumbent State Senator and is running unopposed. David Hackney is the State Rep Position 1, and recently showed up in a Seattle Times article about crime (he's against it. He also supports Bob Ferguson's pitch to spend $100 million more on cops and public safety). He's also running unopposed. Steve Berquist is State Rep Position 2, has a secret identity as a school teacher, and is running against a Libertarian candidate. I'm recommending Berquist for the usual reasons (he's done a good job, particularly on education issues), but I'm pleased to see other parties running for office that are NOT the big tickets. Hey, they even have yard signs!

And that's it for local news. More later.

Happy Holidays

 Yes, I know, I'm tempting fate, but I miss snow in this season. May everyone have a safe, sane, and healthy holiday from Grubb Street.

 More later.

The Political Desk: All Together Now

 Literally, there is so little on the ballot this time, that I want to put everything down in one sitting. No Initiatives. No Advisory Votes. The EVEN numbered districts of King County are voting, but Grubb Street is in the 5th, so there is nothing there. The only state-level judicial positions are unopposed, as is the King County Assessor (which is not horrible). Now, nearby Seattle's got a LOT going on (Seven out of Nine council seats), but we're not in Seattle. But let's see what is on the rest of the ballot. 

King County Director of Elections - This is the largest King County position we have a race in. I've complained previously about this becoming an elected position, but in truth incumbent Julie Wise since that time, has done a primo job in her time in office, and has, in Amazon-speak "Earned Trust". Her opponent is a right-wing election-denier talk show hosts who runs for things, loses, and complains about the game being rigged against right-wing election-deniers. Yeah, I'm going with Julie Wise.

Port of Seattle Position 5 -  Position 2 had no competition, but we have two candidates for Position 5, and we there is even a scandal (being the Port and all). It's not much of one, but it was duly reported in the Seattle Times. Incumbent Fred Felleman used his position to try to gain admittance to a lobbying group meeting that he was not otherwise allowed to attend. Yep, that's it. Small potatoes in comparison to the Port's heyday, but perfectly fitting with this year's theme of low election expectations. I'm going to recommend Fred Felleman in any event, but we'll need to keep an eye on him.

City of Kent Council, Positions 1, 3, 5, and 7. I tend to favor incumbents and endorsements here. Not blowing things up is a major consideration, along with keeping your nose clean. I know, it feels like a lot to consider, but this year's crop is generally good at it.

• Position 1 - Marli Larimer - Ms. Larimer was appointed to the position in 2018, and hasn't made of mess of things. Her opponent didn't put anything in the voter's guide. 
• Position 3 - John Boyd - Former Navy, Former Boeing, now retired. has a fistful of endorsements. Sure, let's give that a shot.
• Position 5 - Bill Boyce versus no-one. Yeah, it is part of the trend. 
• Position 7 - Zandria Michaud. Her opponent has a Tacoma PO Box for a campaign address, and has a platform of "I dunno, what do YOU want me to do?" Politics is not about choosing a lunch place.

Kent School District No. 415 Director District 2 and 3 - Position 1 has no opposition (of course), and the one piece I've found on the candidates has them all discussing the importance of communication. And there is some frustration over the previous bond issue failing  (see below). Here's what I got.

• Director District 2 - Both candidates have a solid endorsements, but I am going with Andy Carter for this one.
• Director District 3 - I am leaning towards the incumbent Leslie Kae Hamada, but note that the WEA has endorsed Donald Cook.

Kent School District No. 415, Proposition 1 (Replacement of Expiring Educations and Operations Levy) and Proposition 2 (Capital Projects and Technology Levy). Last election, Kent voted down a bond issue for widespread capital improvements in the last election. These are more refined and targeted levies, broken into two chunks. The difference between a levy and bond is that a bond vote allows the district to raise money through taxation by guaranteeing the bonds, which are then sold of the open market, while a levy is a direct property tax. But the BIG difference as far as voters are concerned is that a bond requires a 60% approval, which a levy just has to make 50% (go figure).

In any event, the two levies are pretty much what is on the tin. Both propositions are replacement levies for funding that is going away. There is some concerned opposition in the Voter's Guide on these. The stated argument against is that we don't do enough for the schools, so we should not give them more money without more oversight. I'm a fan of oversight and transparency, but it sounds like a meta-issue (What type of oversight? Beyond the School Board itself?) as opposed to something that shows up on the proposition itself.  At the same time, a different group has lodged official complaints against the school board for promoting the levies (like announcements at high school football games). So, the district is being simultaneously too transparent and not transparent enough. OK, then.

Regardless, I am a YES on both of these. I am willing to fund education, AND I think they that more communications is always good.

Special Purpose Districts - OK, we are FAR down in the weeds on this one, and barring any breaking scandals, I have to base it on their Voters' Guide statements and endorsements.

• Soos Creek Water and Sewer District Commissioner Position No. 1 -  Alice Marshall is listed on the District's site as being a Commissioner since 2010, and I have to say the District's done a good job - we had to drop a small bundle when our septic field finally failed and hooked up to to the district sewer, but I think that's a more responsible approach than increasing rates in the face of more development. 
• Public Hospital District No. 1 Commissioner District No. 1 - And I am a little torn on this one, Erin Smith Aboudara has been fighting the good fight in the ongoing relationship with UW Med, but Anthony R. Berkley comes in the door with a fistful of political and union endorsements. I'm going to go with Anthony R. Berkley but this is a race between two good candidates.

And that wraps the ballot from Grubb Street (and it WAS longer than anticipated). I'll tune in later with the results. 

More, as I usually say, later. 

A Change in the Life

 So, long-term readers (both of you) may have noticed that I rarely talk about my personal life up here on Grubb Street. Yeah, I talk about the effects of the recent pandemic on our daily lives, and often talk about the weather, the seasons, and local wildlife. Sometimes I talk about food. Sometimes I talk about adventures with the Lovely Bride But mostly it is book reviews, theater reviews, collectible quarters, and the ongoing saga that is local politics. I know, boring stuff.

However, it this is a good place to mention a major change in my life. As of last Friday, I am no longer with Amazon Games. It was a good run, and really like the people I was working with and the projects I have contributed to. I have great hopes that the current project I left will be a smashing success. You want any gossip, the deal is you have to buy me a beer. Several beers. 

As of today, I have joined Tempo Games, and am working on The Bazaar, and new game they have under development. I remain a Senior Narrative Designer, responsible for sorting out the lore and minimizing the typos. My new team includes a lot of new folk, but also a lot of veterans I have worked with before at ArenaNet and Amazon Games. I'm looking forward to it, and not just because I spent the bulk of the afternoon playing the game intensely. I like it, and I think a lot of other people will like it as well.

I am also serving as a design consultant on a new RPG called Everyday Heroes. A descendent of D20 Modern brought up to date for the 5th Edition, I serve as the "old guy" walking around behind the others and giving various warnings about how we used to do things. I am not the primary designer - those roles are Sig Trent and Chris "Goober" Ramslay, and they're doing a bang-up job. But beyond that, I will say nothing (OK, there's a Kickstarter coming. There. You happy?)

And that's about it for right now. I didn't have a lot to say about what I was working on before, and probably will not have a lot to say about it right now. And a big part of it is that most of what I am working on is "in process", which means it can change, evolve, revise and otherwise mutate between now and when it seems like the light of day, and I don't want to say things on Monday I will have to correct on Friday.

Back in the old days, before everyone carried a recording device in their pocket, the TSR gang could go to GenCon and say any number of things to small rooms of people, confident that we would not be called upon to make corrections when things changed. And often, things WOULD change after we talked about them, because our bosses would ALSO be at those conventions and listen to a lot of fans about what THEY would want us to do. Such things are a part of the past, since we live in a real-time world these days, so I will wait until the cake is done and iced before inviting everyone in for a slice.

That's about it. It's a new adventure, and I am looking forward to it.

More later,

Snowed In

As you may have heard, we've had a a bit of snow up here in the Pacific Northwest. It is not unusual to have snow once or twice a year, and by snow I mean snow-level-at-sea-level, lasts-more-than-a-day type of snow. We're used to snow with visiting rights - if we want snow, we can just go up to the passes, or to watch it at a respectful distance from the foothills. Rarely does it come to visit, squatting down in your driveway, and showing no intention of moving on.

After the first wave

This is one of those times. The there was a light set of flurries just before Christmas, and the main onslaught began that night. About 6 inches up here on Grubb Street, judging from the pile-up on the deck railings. Then a few days of flurries as the high
dropped into the 20s, then another wave of about 3 inches more. Currently it is hovering just around freezing, with most of the blacktops clear from melting.

So, enough to shut everything down - this level of snow is so rare that the local authorities are limited in response. King County has all of 14 plows. Kent itself has 8 de-icer or sander trucks that have snow blades on them. Kent does have a priority list of streets to plow. Odds are that your street is not on that list. Businesses are either shut down, running with reduced staffs, or closing early before the roads freeze. I haven't had a newspaper delivered to the house for a week, though the Post Office, Amazon delivery guys, and milk deliveries have been uninterrupted (thought one of them has lost his gloves in our driveway - if you're missing brown fur-lined gloves, they are on the bench out front).

Snow Halfling

Still, this is an opportune time, and not just because so many folk are still working from home. Hitting the Christmas break puts a lot of kids at home from school. Our department had already decided to take off between Christmas and New Year's. We managed in the break between storms to get out to the grocery store, and while the deli counter was shutting down (not enough workers that day) and the bread aisle was severely depleted, there were neither major shortages or panic in the aisles.

Swedish Snow Lantern

And the housemates have been playing in the snow, making both a snowman and a set of Swedish snow lanterns. The Lovely Bride and I have been keeping to the warmth of the house, and I have enough new books to tide me over.

We still have power and the Internet, so that puts us ahead of game, as opposed to several years back, when the power went out and we relied on the fireplace and wind-up emergency radio. So we are fortunate. Rumors (meaning the weather report) say that it should warm up in the next few days, then we get hit with another round of snow. Nothing is overheated, nothing is on fire, so we are doing well. And we at Grubb Street hope you're doing well, too, and have a safe and sane New Years.

More later.

Life in the Time of Virus - Changes

Office in a Small City, 1953

The world is frozen. The world is always in motion.

Month Seven has passed and change is in the offing. Still working from home, but I have changed positions. Crucible has been “sunset” (cancelled) and now I am working on a new project for Amazon, of which I cannot speak.

However, this has resulted in several changes. For the past 6 months I have been camped out in the basement library with two laptops and my personal monitor. My desk has been an old oak table purchased from Milt’s Woodshed in Walworth (Milt’s a character, yaknow), and my chair has been a straight-backed dining room chair. The table is littered with piles of games and vinyl record albums, and my monitor has been perched on a couple boxes of the Dominion game. And that’s OK, because I thought this was a temporary measure and we would be back in the office soon.

But there may no longer be an office for a cancelled project, and when my new team heard about the strength of my computers, the feeling was that I needed some real firepower. So I have a new desk chair, desk, laptop and tower, along with sundry additional things. I took down the drafting table I had in the corner of my personal office (I try to keep church and state separate as much as possible), and installed myself there, which will be warmer during the coming winter months. But it has been a weird feeling, sort of a permanent shift for me.

Oh. Also, got a haircut, finally.

We have recovered from the smoky days of previous month, and slipped effortlessly into fall, which in Seattle terms means rain, windstorms, and the occasional clap of thunder. The birds disappeared during the worst of the smoke, but seem to have returned, though I don’t know if they are the originals or migratory versions that are passing through. In any event, the hummingbirds are now at the feeder, and chickadees battle over the fountain.

The outer world continues. The Lovely Bride is wrapping up tax extensions from last year, already extended by the government once. Spot shortages continue – the latest is caffeine-free diet soda and shower cleaner. Also rubbing alcohol, which people are turning into hand sanitizer and shower cleaner. The Lovely B has gone to vodka for her mix. Which is OK, since I haven’t picked up any ginger beer lately.

I actually got sick the other week. It was probably a reaction to a shingles vaccine (I had gotten a flu shot at the same time - why not go for two?), and it left me achy and congested for a few days. The Lovely Bride had some back spasms and is now doing physical therapy. But I have been stunned to discover that there is more out there than just the virus. But at the same time, this has been the longest time without some cold, flu, or other physical illness. 

Not so for everyone in the outside. And we humans like stories, and stories of hubris are particularly appealing. The guy who swears there in no monster getting eaten by the monster - that's a story that resonates. And those who oppose masks, social distancing, and other measures while trying to live a life from before the coronovirus, who then come down with it in droves is that sort of story. And you know, despite the nature of such stories, I feel empathy for these folk, even though they will likely survive it (through the very actions they despised before) but learn nothing from the experience. Perhaps.

And so we row on.It is grey and cool and fall is starting roll in. But at least the birds are back.

More later. 

Life in the Time of Virus - Under the Smoke

Railroad Sunset by Hopper

Month Six, in which the outdoors has been taken away from me.

You have seen the news about California being on fire and San Francisco looking like a set from Bladerunner. The fires in California and Oregon (mostly brush, not forests, mostly lightning-started, not gender reveal parties) have pumped a lot of smoke into the air, which has drifted north into our neck of the woods, leaving the land consumed by an acrid-tinged fog. My neighbor has a smoker, and I would often return at night to the smell of alderwood or hickory in the air. This is nothing like that. It is the entire Puget Sound area in a toxic smoker, with relief tantalizingly offered by the weather report, then denied.

As a result, I am approaching full shut-in status. No longer can I spend the after-hours on the back porch, sipping Cuba Libres and reading the New Yorker. Well, I can still do all that indoors, but its not the same. Even checking the mailbox leaves me a little wheezing. Winter, I can tell, will be difficult.

As seclusion continues, my bad habits are slowly re-instituting themselves. I am reading five books at a time again, as opposed to finishing one, writing about it, then moving onto a new volume. Currently reading a collection of Hammett's Continental Op stories, a slender volume from Michael Chabon, a book of pirate fantasy short stories, something by Frederick Brown, a Nisi Shawl, and the occasional chapter of Mary Beard's book on Rome. Books are scattered through the house. Should any of those conclude I will post about them. 

Part of this recidivism has been the result of my latest COVID project - reorging the hardback shelves. When we moved in 20+ years ago I had them organized, but twenty years of pulling stuff out, and putting things back in the approximate location has taken its toll. Have actually taken a Marie Kondo approach to this. Does this book bring me joy? Does it feel like something I will go back to, either for research or for enjoyment? Does it spark a pleasant memory? A lot of big thick SF novels are meeting their demise this way, along with some of the lesser books by Hunter Thompson and other authors I have accumulated by habit. Could not get rid of all the Garrison Keillors - my Lovely Bride would not let me, and I still have way too many Stephen J Goulds still stacked on the shelf. But there is actually blank spaces on my shelf (awaiting more books, of course).

Look, Honey! Tile!

As far as Kate is concerned,  HER big project has been putting tile behind the stovetop. When we lived in Lake Geneva, we re-did the bathroom in tile, and she saved the remains of the tile and shipped them out here to eventually do something with them. So she found something to do with them. She still has to grout them

Our largest cat, Keckovar, has been scratching his face open, and as such is now being medicated and wearing a pink "Cone of Shame". He is not amused, but has forgotten that his head is now three times as wide as before. Kia, the small ninja kitty, is amused by this turn of events.

Despite the smoke, we are continuing our Plague Pod of six people, almost all (except the Lovely Bride) who work from home. We usually gather at Sacnoth's backyard, but with the smoke and shrinking daylight have moved the festivities to our living room, where we push the sofas back against the wall for social distancing.

I realize how important the Internet has been during our seclusion We lost it briefly over the weekend because of laundry. OK, let me explain. The Lovely Bride was folding laundry while watching Tivo. Tivo is not updating. In the process of trying to reset the Tivo, we brought down the entire wifi system, and spent four hours resetting it (ultimately - unplugging everything and plugging it back in). During that time I kept picking up my iPad, intent on checking something online, and realizing I was totally isolated. Surprisingly frustrating. So, yeah, the Internet should be a utility.

In the outside world, we are aware that there are still shortages and reductions of the variety of items. The latest short supply has been in canning lids (A neighbor ran out and could not find them, but we ALSO had a supply, brought from Wisconsin over 20 years ago). Cleaning supplies are also a case of not getting your preferred brand. The good news is that whenever I get to the local store, masks are aplenty and worn correctly. 

The local newspaper, the Seattle Times, is hitting its own challenges. I am very aware of the fact that the (two) sections are smaller, and the margins are larger. With Sunday, the area of the headlines is carrying a lot more whitespace. The good news is, with the return of soccer and pro football (both without crowds, the noise pumped in), they have other things to write about. 

And so we row on. Working from home continues. The browning grass is revealing exactly were the septic system runs. Pedestrian passing our frontage are fewer. And the smoky fog is with us, yet to dissipate.

More later,

The Political Desk: Repping the Rep

Let's start at the Federal Level: in our case, United States Representative Congressional District Number 9.  My home district.

District 9 runs from Tacoma up to Lake Washington, splitting with one spur heading up I-405 to Bellevue on the eastern side of Lake Washington, the other stretching up I-5 almost to Lake Union. It is small, compared to the other federal districts, but consists of a densely packed corridor.  It has four candidates running for US Representative - a democratic incumbent with two republicans and a libertarian challengers.

Incumbent Adam Smith in a mostly moderate Democrat who is the chair of the House Armed Services committee, and has done a good job over the years. He is usually primaried from the left from someone pushing for more radical activity, but in the present environment has done a lot, including getting parental leave for all government employees. Doesn't move fast ENOUGH for my desires, but I have to be honest, he does move, and for the benefit of all.

His chief opponent is Doug Basler,conservative talk-show host who lost to him last time. A strong supporter of the president regardless of how stupid that sounds right now. More power to him for standing his ground. His hope is that people are so tired of the government trying to do something about Coronavirus that they will put people in charge that won't do anything. Because freedom.

Also on the ticket is Joshua Campbell, who has the single weirdest combination of sentences in his  candidate statement ; "It's time for everyone to pick a side. The quicker we unite under one party, the quicker we can overcome the suffering and rebuild.". So, we pick as side, then all abandon those positions? I am still working my way through this one, and I've been drinking heavily in the hopes of enlightenment.

Liberatarian candidate Jorge Besada tuses his space to try to teach us a bit, with mixed results. He quotes extensively "the great intellecutal slayer of socialism" Ludwig Von Mises, which is a pity because people keep casting Raise Dead Fully on Socialism so it isn't going away. Also, he wants to transform "billions of free people into a global super-computer". So, the Borg, pretty much. Believes that freed of governmental shackles, corporations will inadvertently (his word) work for the common good. Good luck with that.

So, yeah, Adam Smith this time out. Because he sounds like the grown-up.

More later, 

The Political Desk: Washington Primary 2020

Whelp, here we are again.

For people that just stop by for the book reviews, I do local politics here. I got into it many, many years ago, and now fives if not tens of people look to this blog for well-reasoned, rational advice on upcoming elections. 

Hah! I kid. I get as snarky as any Twitter-er, but in a longer format and more links.

But for those who do not live in Washington State, here's how things work:

1) We're only talking about state and local offices here - we had a national primary a while back.The usual suspects won.

2) Washington State is a top-two, open primary state. That means that the top-two vote-getters go on to the main event. It is an open primary, which means you don't have to declare a particular party. While that potentially opens up the possibilities of mischief (Dems voting for a weak GOP candidate in order to have a weaker opponent in the general), I haven't seen it.

3) Washington State is a mail-in ballot state, which is suddenly controversial. Mail-in ballots are pretty good, leave a paper trail, gives the voters the luxury of actually looking up the candidates before they make a decision, and does not require them to deal with long lines at the polls. Downsides? I do miss the small-town feel of going to the local school where retired poll-workers validate my existence for voting. And, worst of all, we often don't get to find out who won at one minute after the polls close. For a lot of races, the results are obvious, but every election, there is one race that hangs fire - so close as that it cannot be called, or where an initiative that loses on the inital count wins as the late results come in. Just get it postmarked before August 4 (you don't event need a stamp). Worried about someone taking you ballot out of the mailbox or intercepting it at the post office? They have drop boxes all over the place to you can hand in your work from the comfort of your car.

4) We also don't have political parties per se on the ballot. No one runs officially as a Democrat or a Republican, but rather as "preferring" a particular party. And it is self-selecting, so you get hardened party operatives running as "Prefers Democratic Party", as if they chose it because it has a cute mascot.  You also end up with people running as "True American Party" or "No, Karen, Your Foxgloves are Overrunning my Tomato Beds Party".

5) For that reason, check out the endorsements. Look who the establishment orgs are pushing, and who gets the nod of interest groups you support/oppose. If someone has the endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce, proceed carefully. If it is someone who wants to "run government like a business", head for the exits.

6)  And I am not recommending Republicans this time out. Sorry, "Prefers Republicans". This should not be a horrible surprise to anyone reading this blog. The fish rots from the head, and while the current occupant of the White House is a Dorian-Grey-level of sun-bleached salmon, the decay goes deep. Our state-wide GOP includes a state senator whose day job is as a lobbyist for a foreign government, a noted on-camera chair thief, and a guy who has been investigated as a supporter of domestic terrorist operations (he's not running for re-election, but is still "active in local politics" and most recently was fined for vandalism of the state capitol building).  So, the Republican brand is not a winner here, and the few moderate/centrist/sane GOP candidates are running on the platform that "ideas,  not parties, are important." Which means they are kinda embarrassed by their party. I understand. I am, too.

7) Washington elects its ENTIRE state executive branch every four years, lining up with the presidential elections. So everyone from Governor to Superintendent of Public Lands is up for re-election. That means that there will be a lot to vote for and lot of voters, since Presidential elections attract a lot of attention. So we have a lot to talk about. i am going to try to blitz through this.

8) That said, I am going to only talk in this round about those races where there are more than two candidates. In a two-person race, both are going through to the main election. Ditto with races that have no opposition (and yeah, that happens). There are no judgeships or initiatives on my ballot, so you a spared that as well.

9) I also tend to just talk about my ballot, which showed up in the mail about a week ago.. That means City of Kent, King County, District 9 for the House of Representatives and the 11th State Legislative district. I may go off on tangents, like recommending Pat Sullivan for the 47 district, since he USED to represent my district before they moved the lines around, but I will keep that to a minimum.

10) AND I will recommend other sources to check out. The Stranger has released their bunches, and the Seattle Times is dribbling their out in bits and pieces, summarizing at the end..  Progressive Voters Guide here. Washington Conservation Voters here. As others show up I will patch them in here.

And with that, stay tuned and I will run through these as painlessly as possible.

More later,

Life in the Time of Coronavirus, the Mini-Series

Cape Cod Morning by Hopper

Our fourth month of solitude has passed. The wisteria and the rhododendrons have faded, and the foxgloves and the salmon berries have bloomed and withered. The short thick dandelions in the yard have given way to taller, thinner variety that I find pretty but the Lovely Bride does not care for. We have moved from the overcast of "June-uary" (yes, it is a thing with a name out here) to the cool dampness of "July-bruary" be which is not a thing, but hey, I'm trying to start something, here.

The situation beyond the walls has gotten better in some places, much, much worse in others. Seattle, one of the original hot spots, has stabilized, and has improved marginally. We have pounded on the curve, but are still seeing the occasional spike. Lest we feel too proud of ourselves, other parts of the state and the country have tried to return to the previous age, only to discover that the corona virus has been waiting patiently outside the doors for them. As I write this, particular states in the south and west are seeing their hospitals overloaded with new patients, and other countries, who have been isolating and mask-wearing and have leveled off, look at the US with puzzlement - how could we blow this? We were supposed to be the smart kids.

It has been a failure at the highest levels, supported by ignorance at the lowest. Both have been afflicted by denialism and a feeling of personal exemption. The literal persecution of those with the knowledge of the virus has be nothing short of amazing - something that shows up in a heavy-handed Sci-Fi thriller where the scientist is dragged out of the room shouting "You fools! It's a cookbook!". The latest is the pitch that hospitals should not share their information with the CDC, which would, you know, just share it with anybody. Meanwhile, the Facebooks are full of stories about people who declare loudly they won't wear masks, followed by an announcement of them being admitted to the hospital or, worse yet, their obituaries. I take those stories with a grain of salt, since they fit way too neatly to a preferred narrative that such foolishness will be punished, but they are there. I never expected instant karma to be so ... instantaneous.

Similarly, I am surprised that the recent BLM protests have not moved the needle much. Again, it fits with a comforting narrative that people trying to do good are somehow spared the worst effects of this virus, but this seems to be the general case. I marched in Kent (most diverse city in Washington, so we had a good turnout), and the day was sunny, the marchers were suitably masked and moving, and the gatherings were socially distanced when we stopped. Still, this was the largest gathering of people I had been with in months, and was relieved when two weeks passed without any ill effects.

And my outside life is rebounding. We had a Fourth of July "All-Is-Forgiven"* tea party in the back yard with strawberry shortcake, salmon, and tea. We meet every Wednesday afternoon on a friend's back patio for a socially distanced meal. A friend celebrated her birthday with a gathering at a local park. And I took a PTO day to venture indoors into a game store with another friend. But most of my contacts have been outside the house since, well, forever.

No theatre yet, though there are things on the net, they are not quite the same as being in the room where it happens. Yes, I saw Hamilton streaming on the computer, and don't know what to add that has not been said a bijillion times already. It did have an interesting slow burn on me. After watching it, I felt the songs were good but not memorable. Within twenty-four hours I could quote most of them verbatim. Intriguing.

My beard has gone from "grizzled" to "Jeremiah Johnson"

I still work from home, and the larger of the two cats is very needy. When I am on conference calls he demands to be held, so most of the rest of the team knows him very well. while I look like a mildly-discomforted Blofield. I zoom writers groups and tai chi, and play RPGs over the discord. The Lovely Bride has been in tax hell as the three-month extension to taxes comes due this week, and she is still going into her office, which is slowly returning to a lite-version of normal.

Still reading, not writing enough. Health good, and even may be better because I don't commute two hours each day. Taking it a day at a time, and spending the warm(ish) summer afternoons on the patio beneath my unfinished porch, drinking. And for the moment, that's OK.

More later,

*The "All-Is-.Forgiven" Tea Party is the creation of Janice Coulter, who is also the person who originally described D&D as "twenty minutes of excitement packed into four hours".

Life in the Time of the Virus, Still Continued

I close out our third month of seclusion, and we are fine. A little tired of it all. A little worn out. A little grumpy. But fine.

In this period I helped ship a computer game. Call it my COVID project. Our entire team was working from home, and that in itself is amazing. But with shipping, even though there are about a bajillion things that still need to be done to support/evolve/fix the game, I feel that one of the great pressures on me has passed, and feel a little exhausted as a result.

Part of the recent tasks as we moved to release involved recording voices for future content. So I and my writers were all in our homes, my producer in HIS home in Southern California, our actors in THEIR homes, and our poor audio engineer in the studio in Burbank by himself pulling it all together. My audio guy says the result sounds pretty good. Yeah, I remain amazed that we managed it all.

In the larger medical world the curve is flattening, but our part of the state is not at Phase 2 yet (we are at a modified Phase 1.5, which is what happens when nerds do planning - we break things down into smaller and smaller components). We are getting there - new cases have dropped, death toll is down (but still with us). The whole point of flattening the curve has been not to avoid all risk of infection, but to not overload the medical system with everyone getting sick at once. We have succeeded, yet there remains more to do.

I hear reports that there is herd immunity. I'm not sure about that. COVID-19 is a corona virus, like the common cold. I haven't seen much in the way of herd immunity to that over the years. I am dubious.

I hear reports that the there are mutations that are making the disease weaker, primarily reports from Italy. While that appeals to me in a conclusion to The Andromeda Strain sort of way, I don't see enough movement to support the concept. I remain dubious.

And I have a nervousness that stems from the tendency to admit COVID-19 deaths only when they are absolutely sure that it was COVID-19. So a lot of deaths are now recorded as from pneumonia, with the result that we now have a PNEUMONIA epidemic as the yearly totals are now 3 and 4 times what they normally are. This echoes the AIDS epidemic of my youth, where a lot of deaths of young men were hidden under the guise of "pneumonia".

But we are finally getting the point of wide-spread testing, which is a good thing. We've been guessing for a while now, but of this I am not dubious about.

My plague beard has graduated from "scraggly" to "grizzled".

The robocalls are returning to their natural habitat. One woman keeps calling to tell me there is nothing wrong with my credit. That's nice.

The Lovely Bride and I have succumbed to baking. She has been trying to refine a Kaiser roll recipe that has been kinda of weird on her.  We are making pizza dough, the type that rises overnight, using a recipe from the newspaper. This recipe is clearly meant to just be read, but not implemented. The LB disagrees with about every step of the recipe, so discussion result. Fortunately, after it is all said and done, we get to eat the evidence (and, after all the prep, it really wasn't bad at all).

But people are tired of all this. I get it. I'm not particularly happy myself, and I've got it really easy. I still have my work and talk to my co-workers continually over the 'net. Shortages have been spotty (the latest - shower cleaner and mushroom soup). People have been distancing. Masks are more common than not, particularly at the farmers' markets that are slowly coming back. Less so at the Fred Meyers.

And yet I feel this low-level irritation and agitation. I have less patience on the road, going out for sundries, even though there is less traffic. I have less patience behind the inevitable person at the grocery store paying in loose change. And while I am sure no one has turned the traffic lights to red longer just to peeve me off, but peeve me off they do.

I feel a little bad feeling this way - as I say, I got it easy. No, I've got it REALLY easy. While I was in the basement recording voices long distance, workmen peeled off my back balcony and replaced it with a larger, wider, sturdier, non-rotting version (our other COVID project). Two weeks to get it to the present state, where a base coat is drying. We are delayed because the flooring guy disagrees with what the engineer had put down on his drawing for flashing, while the local municipality agrees but will only authorize doing it the contractor's way if the engineer buys off on it. So we are stalled for the moment. But seriously, this is the worst thing happening? We have it as dead easy.

We endure and we continue and we thrive.We row on.

More later,

Car Theft

So, I just had a brief encounter with a car prowler in my front driveway.

This happened maybe an hour ago. I was sitting in the living room, and someone drove into our horseshoe driveway and parked. A guy got out and ran towards the side of the house, where we park the cars. People sometimes use our driveway as a turnaround, and the Lovely Bride sometimes has clients dropping off stuff, so I wasn't panicked. When he didn't come directly to the door, I walked out.

And found him sitting in the driver's seat of the Lovely B's car. When he saw me approach, he got out.

I said "Can I help you?" (sorry, not a tough guy).

He said something like "Don't worry about it," and ran back to his car, got in, and drove off, heading east. I got the license plate number, wrote it down, then went looking for my L Bride, who was in the side yard (away from the vehicles). She had seen nothing, but after a quick consult, we decided to call 911.

And I did and gave them the details. Very polite, asked all the right questions. They asked if I had taken a picture of the other vehicle, WHICH I HAD NOT EVEN CONSIDERED but was a good protip for the future. Took down all the data, and told me an officer would be in contact with me.

Which happened about, say, twenty minutes later. A Kent police officer called, confirmed the information I had given before, and asked for some personal information. Apparently a number of other calls came in on this guy, who was driving around, getting into cars and houses, and taking stuff.

Which makes a bit of sense, because if he was STEALING the car, he would be leaving HIS car behind, which was, frankly, a newer car. Unless he stole THAT car, but the officer didn't say anything about it.

In any event, they caught the guy, and that's where matters lay at the moment. At no time during the encounter did I feel threatened - the guy didn't have a weapon, or even address me other than a quick comment as he ran back to his vehicle. After the fact, realizing what went down and going through the list of what COULD have gone down, well, I'm a little rattled.

Glad they got the guy, though. Good job, Kent Police.

More later,

Political Desk: What, Another One?

A new ballot popped up a few weeks ago for the citizens/denizens of Kent, and is due this coming Tuesday. I've been putting it off because I needed to check my facts, and even after doing so, I'm a little confused and a bit tepid on recommendations.

It is a slender thing of a ballot, just two items, but has been getting the full-court press from the local powers. Mailers, robo-calls, yard signs, even recommended posts on the Facebooks. Add to this a relatively tight timeline, and I have to be honest, I'm giving the whole thing a real big side-eye right now.

And it should be easy - its about more funding for police and for fire departments. You value our police, right? And our fire department? Public safety and all that. So what's the prob?

Proposition A is a 2% Utility Tax Increase for Police and Criminal Justice, and the big thrust is to be able to hire and equip more officers and support staff. The reason that its on a ballot in the first place is that, according to state law, if you juice the utility taxes over 6%, you have to put it to a vote. This will put it to 8%, so that's why we're here.

And the mailers and robocalls have been stressing that local police have been over-extended, that we're spending a lot of money on overtime, crime is up, and the locality is losing upcoming funding from King County no longer paying for the Panther Lake annexation (which the local government knew was coming) and a change in how distribution of sales tax was made (which was also apparently in the works since 2008). Now, on the annexation, yep, its more territory to cover, but it is also more housing and development to tax, which should make for more tax income as a result. Plus, as the land itself becomes more valuable, that increases the property tax assessment. But apparently not enough to expand the services to the degree we need.

Part of my skeptical side-eye is that in the midst of this the city gave the developers who bought the old Par 3 golf course a 8-year property tax holiday so we would add MORE population to the city, which seems to put us even deeper in the revenue hole. So should we punish the police department for city hall giveaways to developers? I dunno.

Part of me is also resistant because this is one of the "Cute Puppy" funding issues - we get to vote on things we find to be useful functions on government, but don't get to confer on more mundane matters (like the Showare Center, now in its third year of not losing as much money as we expected). We like our parks, schools, and municipal services, and when asked, yeah, we want to make sure they are funded. Other stuff, like giving businesses or real estate developers breaks, not so much direct democracy.

Hence the full-court press across major media. I'll be honest, I'm going with Approved on this, but I am concerned and cannot firmly recommend anyone follow me. The Kent Reporter has been curiously uninterested in this (A search turned up a couple editorials pro and con), and the statement in opposition in the voter's guide is more hung up on the Regional Fire Authority than in the ultimate needs. Read the online voter's pamphlet - and your mileage may vary.

Speaking of the RFA, we also have Proposition No. 1, which provides more funding for Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority. A few years back, Kent folded its fire department into the RFA as a money-saving measure. The RFA is funded by property tax collection (which can only go up 1% per year) and a fire benefit charge (FBC), which is uncapped but arcane in its explanation (square footage plus estimated resources to deal with a blaze). FBC, not limited, has gone up as a percentage of the total contribution, and this is measure is supposed to bring balance back to the force by resetting ("restoring") the earlier property tax setting.

And I'm a little bollixed by the figures, to be frank, which opens the door to reacting with emotional responses. Like the fire department (and who doesn't?), vote approved. Worried about property taxes going up after earlier ballot measures? Reject it. The folks writing the statement in opposition have a web site, where they throw up a lot of concerns, while a member of the RFD responds in the Kent Reporter. As with previous proposal, I am going approved, but I need to know more about this as it is happening, and feel uncomfortable making any definite recommendations.

Sorry, folks, I'll try to be more resolute in the future.

More later,

[Update: And both measures got shellacked, to the tune of 58-41. Supporters blame the fact that we have to pay our schools. Or ... we could be a little more cautious on giving freebies to developers. Oh, and check out the FBC. That still doesn't sound right.]

[[Update Update: Part of what I'm talking about is this. After complaining about poverty and the need of the voters to kick in, the choice to renovate the Council Chambers is just announced.]]

[[[Update Update Update: And then we have this, followed quickly by THIS. Remember, part of the absolutely necessary tax increase was because we don't have the money to buy new police vehicles. Sigh.]]]

Political Desk: Local Funding

Some very, very few of you who read this in King County received ballots a few weeks back, which, like solicitations for public radio, you promptly put aside to be addressed/considered/recycled. Like the charity solicitations, they are asking for money. Unlike them, they are not offering a stylish tote bag. But dig it out anyway.

In our case, up on Grubbstreet, we have two things on the agenda. Oen is for approving bonds for Kent School District #415. The other is for re-authorizing an existing benefit charge to help pay for fire services for the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority, which covers Kent and Covington.

And here's the regular complaint I have about such measures - we don't get to vote on tax breaks on large aerospace firms or legislator pay, but on things that you or I would consider basic services, the purpose of taxes in the first place, THAT we get to vote on.

But you've heard those complaints before. Let's get to the meat of the situation.

Kent School District No. 415 Proposition No. 1 Capital Improvement and School Construction General Obligations Bonds - $252,000,000 puts about everything in the title. This replaces retiring bond issues, and won't result in an increase in tax rate - you're voting for status quo. Its got a big list of improvements - two new schools, 20 additional rooms, new facilities and parking. A full list can be found here and here.

The problem is that this measure requires not just a majority, but a super-majority to pass. Thanks to the weirdness of our current casters-up tax law, this measure must pass with 60% of the vote. Let the court note that if a CANDIDATE gets 53%, people talk about a landslide victory. I think I can get 40% of the voting population to vote against anything, particularly if it involves taxes.

In any event, I will recommend voting Approved on this sucker, even though it doesn't talk about replacing the temporary school rooms at Glenridge, which have been there since I moved into the neighborhood over 15 years ago.

The other matter is Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority Proposition No. 1 Continuation of Benefit Charge, which continues an existing tax (so yes, keeping the status quo). This is not a bond but a benefit charge, supplementing the normal budget (but not exceeding 60% of the total budget (currently it is at 46%, down from the previous year)), and assigned based upon building use, floor space, hazardous materials, and the like (pretty much how much an effort it is going to be to put out a fire at that location).

It is, according to the Kent Reporter, ANOTHER one of those super-majority situations, where it doesn't just have to win, you have to win with 60% of the vote. And yeah, it is to keep doing what it's been doing. So YES on this authorization.

And finally, while I was writing this, the Voter's Pamphlet for the May primary showed up in my mailbox. So even when I get ahead, I get sucked back in.

In meantime, vote by this Tuesday. Here are the details.

More later,

The Case of the Missing Dragon

I don't often talk about what happens at a personal level here at Grubb Street, and when I do its about the positive things (holidays, parties and gatherings). But in this case I'm making an exception.

Lockheed, in happier times.

You see, someone has stolen our dragon.

We had a dragon gargoyle, about two feet tall and about 60 pounds heavy, that for several years has guarded our front stoop. And right before Christmas, the Lovely Bride went out with a Santa hat to put on the dragon, and found it gone.

And it was very concern-making, in part because we don't know exactly WHEN the statue disappeared. It was there for Thanksgiving, but in the rainstorms that followed we were not paying attention and it could have happened up to a few days previously. 

Possible means and motive are equally wonky. Our driveway isn't particularly obvious to people driving by, and someone stealing it on-foot would have to lug off a sixty-pound concrete statue. In could have been a prank, but there was an uncarved pumpkin right next to it, a remnant of Halloween kept on to T-Giving, that was unscathed. Stealing it for sale it is equally wonky, since there were other things in the area that could have been scarpered just as easily that were untouched.

It is not the first time this sort of thing has happened. Our area is rural turning to suburban, but we have had thefts over the years. The gargoyle itself was a replacement for a light-weight lawn ornament sea serpent that mysteriously vanished one afternoon (AFTER we were visited by Mormon Missionaries, who probably were not at fault, but could have just been Stalking Horses, I suppose). We were outright burgled many years ago (they got old computers, a TV, our CDs, and a skull-shaped pin made from a prop of the Terminator movie; We responded by getting a security system and training the cats in Akido). And in a case that continues to confound me to this day, someone stole our garbage one year (for what, information? Sorry, we shred).

The LB and I are concerned and little uncomfortable that someone came up to the house and pirated our dragon off. On one hand, it is just stuff, but on the other it is stuff that we had a direct connection with (it was named Lockheed. Now you can feel REALLY bad). We reported it, of course, not because we expect an APB on a concrete dragon, but in case there has been a spate of lawn ornament thefts, and if, after long investigation, the Kent police find it with a thousand garden gnomes down in a warehouse in the valley.

Well, there's hope at least.

More later,

Leonarda Obarski: 1934-2015

Leonarda Obarski, Kate's mom, passed away this past Tuesday. Here is her obituary:

Leonarda Obarski, aka Nardi Novak, age 80, recently of Kent, Washington, passed away April 14, 2014. “Nardi” was born August 15, 1934 in Camden, New Jersey to Herbert and Stephanie Obarski, and lived many years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is survived by her daughters, Catherine Grubb, Sharon Novak, Elizabeth Thorpe, her grandson John Michael Thorpe, and her sons-in-law John Jeffrey Grubb, Michael Weiss, and John Thorpe. 

Nardi and Me, many years ago.

Nardi graduated from Collingswood High School in New Jersey and attended Temple University for 1 year. While raising her 3 daughters, and serving as a Girl Scout leader, Nardi went back to school and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English Writing and a Masters in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Before retirement Nardi worked as a teacher at University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris College, Dusquesne University and Pennsylvania’s Edinboro University and as a trainer at the Center for Victims of Violent Crime in Pittsburgh, PA, but her first love was acting and the theatre. 

Nardi studied acting from childhood and she appeared and directed on many stages in the Pittsburgh area, had small roles in a few movies and a soap opera, and later worked with the Haddonfield Plays & Players. She was a founding member of the South Park Conservatory Theatre and of the New Works Festival in Pittsburgh. She also worked as a patient simulator, helping medical professionals craft their skills. She was a member of AFTRA/SAG.  

 In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your local theater.

Leonarda was a wonderful human being, and we will miss her dearly.

More later, 

Play: Love among the MFAs

Dear Elizabeth, but Sarah Ruhl, Directed by Allison Narver. Seattle Rep through 8 March.

I will get to the play in a moment, but let me whine (and whine way too much) about Seattle traffic. This is the first time I have ever been late for the theater, despite living some 20 miles south of the Seattle Center, where the Rep is based. Yet that particular day, I failed to make it before the door shut. I had to see the first act after the play had begun, in (duh-duh-DUM) late seating.

Here's the story: The Lovely Bride was busy in the city in the morning, practicing for a Tai Chi demo, and I told her I would meet her at the theater and bring the LB's mom up (who, I may have mentioned, is an actress). Given the fact that the LB's mom has just celebrated her 80th birthday, we left early to get there with plenty of time, and made it down off Panther Lake to the major highways by 1 PM for a 2 PM show.

So, 20 miles, an hour to do so, should be OK. What I did not know about was road work in the proverbial Mercer Mess, which is the exit that leads from the highway to the Seattle Center (a couple miles). The first warning was when there was a dead-stop backup a mile from the exit itself, at which point it was too late to change plans. Finally making the exit, one could only see a packed road leading ahead off to the horizon. It was that sort of treacherous mess where the lights turn green but no one moves because there is no place to move. A motor vehicle mosh pit.

I mention to the LB's mom that with a mess this bad, there HAS to be a police officer directed traffic at the other end. And indeed, after taking an alternate route that sent us back into the town, rejoining the backup at the very end, there were not one but THREE police officers directing traffic on Denny and doing their part to contribute to a forty-minute snarl between I-5 and the Space Needle.

We worked though the worst of it with (relative) patience and grace, and I manage to deliver the LB's mom at the theater with five full minutes to spare (huzzah). Then I find out that my usual parking lot, which normally is cheap and pretty darn empty, is today full, including a mobile crane. And that all parking was twenty bucks for some event of which I had no idea. AND the parking spot I eventually found was presided over by a machine that obvious served a very long and very hard life, and was bitter about it and moving with the speed similar to that of the Mercer Mess.

And then in the middle of it all, a Seattle moment. Which I was standing there waiting with several other would-be parons for the parking machine to decide if its electronic life was worth continuing, a Dixieland band came down the street. No, I'm not kidding. Bass drum mounted on the chest, some horns, a trombone, a clarinet or two, and a sousaphone (or maybe a fluegelhorn). They bounced there way down Mercer, hooked a right in front of the theater, and were gone. It was just something I never thought I would see in Seattle, and there it was. And it really took the edge off all the rush.

In any event, while I got the Lovely Bride's Mom to the theater in time, the doors were closed before I got there. I was given (duh-duh-DUM) late seating, which meant that I and a few others who had been caught in the Mess had to wait, hearing the play in low tones but like Tantalus, barred from actually witnessing it. Then we were parked in the balcony boxes for the first act, which in the Leo K theater were actually not that bad, though I lost a chunk of the stage that was stage right/house left. It is not a play that moved around a lot, so that worked out.

And while I cannot blame the theater for the traffic, I will note that there is a concierge function in their promotions, which has in the past reminded us that a play starts an hour early or some big event was happening. This time, not so much. So yeah, an email saying "MY GOD, it will be quicker for you to drive around the Sound and take the ferry in from Bainbridge!" would have been appreciated.

Anyway, what all this means is that I didn't get the opening of the play, and was forced to cross-examine the Lovely Bride at intermission about what I had missed. "I got there by the time he came up to Maine to see her." "OK, so when they were exchanging poems?" "I caught the reference to Celluloid Bird." "No, there was stuff before that." So I don't know how the two main characters met, which I feel is a wee bit of a problem when you want to evaluate their relationship.

More than enough whining. Dear Elizabeth is a presentation of the correspondence between Elizabeth Bishop (played by Suzanne Bouchard, and it is nice to actually see actors onstage at the Rep who have been there before), and Robert Lowell (Stephen Barker Turner, his hair in the continual upsweep of a man who often combs it with his hand in moments of frustration). Now, about 85% of the readers here will say WHO?. And that's part of the prob. These two are noted postwar poets, and the story talks about their long distance, mostly platonic relationship between 1947 and 1977.

And in many ways it is like attending someone else's high school reunion. I am not a poet and find poetry one of the harder things to get through - I find myself lulled by cadence and stop I paying attention to the words.. [Important digression however - one poet I particular like is Lester Smith, who has the benefit of being both very good and still alive. Lester's stuff I can read all day, though I would be hard-pressed to categorize him as either "raw" or "cooked" (which is a Lowell quote). But back to the play.] I don't know either of Bishop or Lowell or their work, and instead of the play opening new doors for me I found myself at the wrong booth in the cafe, overhearing things I know about only tangentially at best.

So, Ruhl has compressed the written correspondence into a dialog, filled with starts and stops and parts of life - marriage and lovers and suicides both potential and realized and stays in the mental hospital. And mixed with it are bits they are working on, ranging from getting published to reviewing other works. And as a word-cruncher by trade, the concept of fretting about the perfect choice of a phrase for weeks at a time seems like an alien concept. I fret about the right words,but I live in a world where deadlines loom like ogres with clubs, just waiting to pick off the slow ones.

And through it all, I was stunned by the idea that these folk are poets, yet get to go to Europe and Brazil. How the heck does that work, financially? Checking the wiki (the play gives us little clue) part of it is through teaching and grants, but also Lowell is listed in the wikipedia as being a Boston Brahmin (which means money in the family) while Bishop is mentioned as having an inheritance. Still, their presence in the greater world seems to not matter as they fight with their own creations, which in turn are mentioned only in passing.

That may be the biggest problem with this play - I'm not sure if it about the authors' work or their struggle or just a very polite relationship. It shows an affection between the two but doesn't really engage. Passions reserved for the work, which, like polite children, remain offstage. The closest thing to a conflict is case where Lowell converts his second wife's correspondence into a series of poems, which Bishop finds scandalous, which is very meta since Ruhl is turning THEIR correspondence into a play.

The actors are just fine, but the play itself is pretty flaccid, neither raw nor fully cooked. I cross-examined the Lovely B and the LB's Mom for further enlightenment, in case there was a central thesis put forth early on that I missed, but no, there was no early statement apparently that bound it all together. It was what it was, and getting there on time was no rescue.

Would I recommend it? Let me damn it by saying that if you like this sort of stuff (as in "the lives of post-war poets"), then you will like the play. After three strong courses of LBJ and August Wilson, anything would be a let-down, but this one made me wonder where that Dixieland band was heading.

More later.