You may have noticed a paucity of news recently. That is because (1) the new little camera is dead and (2) the car is behaving badly and (3) even the coffeemaker and the oven are refusing to cooperate. There is only one thing to do under the circumstances.
OK, there are many things to do, and I have been doing them while the Duo slept. Package up the corpse of the new little camera to be sent off to its maker. Arrange the transport of the near-corpse of the car to Mike’s Urgent Care Center for Ailing Autos. Explore the limitations of the toaster oven. Make coffee the way they did in 1870. Spend the balance of the morning flossing away coffee grounds.
Experiment with the old little camera, which I have to shoot blind. Thus the Duo, caught in the act of snoozing on the sofa, Miss Sadie with her head on my very own reading pillow. (It was still warm. I just finished Pat Conroy’s My Reading Life, which is a beautifully made book filled with exactly the sort of stampede of language you’d expect.)
I can hear the pattering of little snowflakes on the deck. That is a very bad sign. Snowflakes are supposed to be silent. When they patter, they splatter. They freeze in a thin layer and pretend to be normal snow even though they are slipperier than a Wall Street financier slinking off with his bonus. Even YakTrax are hard put to master March Snowsplatter. I hate pattering snow.
We are “supposed” to have Unseasonably Cold Weather for the next couple of weeks, which is unfortunate, as the maples are all ready to give up their sweet sap. More about that if I get the car back. More Crankypants Reports if I am limited to walking distance in snowsplatter.
Torch Lake Views 
P.j. grath
March 4, 2011
I wasn’t already bummed enough about snow again this morning? Freezing drizzle-snow? Ugh! We junked a car the other day, and I’m experiencing the short-leash feeling, too. Thank heaven my coffee maker is still working! But you read a good book, Gerry, and that’s good news. I wonder if you’re still awash in Civil War research, too. Maybe this “unseasonably cold” will be a spur to research and/or writing projects. That’s how I’m going to look at it. I’ll also be thinking about more homemade soup, big pots of it. Hugs!
Gerry
March 4, 2011
Stinkin’ splattersnow.
Praying the car is, like me, merely old and not yet junk.
I should have gone ahead and filtered the coffee through my sock.
I am, as we comment, downloading page after page of the Union Provost Marshal Files of Individual Civilians, 1861-1866–over slooooow dialup. I am on page 15 of 1179, so my day is pretty well mapped out for me . . .
Worst of all, we are out of excellent treats and even of the means of making our own. We are morose, but intrepid. We will have beans for our lunch and beans for our supper, with a hardboiled egg for garnish. We may be forced to trudge to the Eastport Market on foot and paw.
Barbara Rodgers
March 4, 2011
Laughing trying to picture you flossing away coffee grounds! It helps to have a sense of humor when so many things are going wrong at the same time… I enjoyed reading your account and will have much more appreciation for the cup of coffee I’m about to have. 🙂 I hope things turn around soon!
Gerry
March 4, 2011
It isn’t a pretty picture, is it. Enjoy the coffee. Keep the floss handy. Things have already taken a turn for the better, as I discovered a treasure trove of Civil War documents online. I am humming to myself.
kiwidutch
March 4, 2011
This expressive sentence “They freeze in a thin layer and pretend to be normal snow even though they are slipperier than a Wall Street financier slinking off with his bonus.”
…gives me the EXACT idea of how slippery this is without having snow to experience it by LOL! Wall street financiers exude the same amount of warmth too methinks.
(The doggies all cuddled up together… sweet!)
Gerry
March 4, 2011
Sweet, eh? Opportunistic more likely. But warm. Much warmer than Wall Street financiers, which isn’t saying much, and more fragrant, which is saying a good deal.
Karma
March 4, 2011
Bad things seem to happen in three’s – by this count, you should surely have some good things headed your way soon!
Gerry
March 4, 2011
Good things have already begun arriving. Thank you for the thought.
Fee
March 5, 2011
I can relate to days when if it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all. Tail end of last year, the boiler broke down, the TV decided to show nothing but snow, and the kettle fizzled out completely. I was most upset about the kettle – I’m British, having access to hot tea is an absolute requirement of life. I very grumpily resorted to boiling pans of water on the stove, muttering crossly about rubbish modern appliances. Thankfully, the boiler was an easy (and fairly cheap) fix and the TV problem turned out to be the satellite dish (for which we have a maintenance plan, so fixed for free). The kettle was binned and a replacement sought – though I will never again shop in haste – who thought a shiny kettle was a good idea? I’m never done rubbing marks off the dang thing.
Gerry
March 5, 2011
It’s the little things that get you, isn’t it though? I think I was meant to be born in the 19th century when life was lived more on the edge and the lack of coffee was the least of it. Of course, people died young of horrible things, including suicidal depression, so it’s clear it was no bed of roses. Guess I’ll settle for 21st century stresses as long as I can have 21st century pleasures. I have a thought about the shiny kettle. Etch a pattern into the surface with sandpaper or steel wool or acid compounds or a hammer and nails. (I’m in an odd mood this morning–probably best you ignore me.)
Wendi
March 5, 2011
Hey Gerry, I am headed to Eastport at around 10:35 today (Saturday). Would you like a ride to the Market? I have tried calling you, but of course you are busy downloading. Will try email too. Good luck!
Gerry
March 5, 2011
Thank you! I emailed you, too, but decided to leave the comment here because it makes me feel happy. I have been downloading pages of 1870 newspapers and planning to call Mike’s at 11 because he said it was possible the car will be done and they’ll come get me–how great is that? Things are looking up around here.
Anna
March 5, 2011
LOL “Make coffee the way they did in 1870. Spend the balance of the morning flossing away coffee grounds.” That really made me laugh! “Crankypants”… I haven’t heard that phrase in a good long while. LOL LOL I sure can understand, though. Yeah, the cold is clinging and the trees want to bud. I hope my lilac bush survives. Enjoyed the post and great photo of the snoozing Duo. 🙂
Gerry
March 6, 2011
Thanks, Anna. My vocabulary is full of things no one has heard in a good long while. Ah well. I hope, too, that your lilac bush survives. I love them, but there’s not enough sun for them on my little patch of ground.
margie
March 6, 2011
Flossing out the coffee grounds: avoid this by investing in a fine sieve. Probably pick one up at Good Samaritan in Ellsworth for 50 cents. Need a ride?
Gerry
March 6, 2011
When you are right, you are right. There are probably a lot of domestic insufficiencies that I could take care of over at Good Sam. I do have my car back, and so far so good, but I truly appreciate the offer of a ride!
uphilldowndale
March 6, 2011
The good thing about being behind with my blog reading is that you’ve just about fixed everything by the time I show up to offer tea and sympathy!!
Blugh, don’t like the sound of that ice glaze.
Fee, I’ll send Spud the dog around and you won’t have time to worry about the shininess of your kettle
Gerry
March 6, 2011
I will accept a deposit of tea and sympathy against the next disastrous week! You’ve left me with an image of Spud making noseprints on Fee’s shiny kettle. I’d best go over and see what he’s really been up to.
flandrumhill
March 8, 2011
Gerry, those icy snow crystals look so thick. No wonder they were pattering.
Whenever machines and technology break down it’s such a challenge to do our everyday tasks without them. After reading your more recent posts it looks like you are managing quite well without them. Nothing like a little pull out of our comfort zones to give us a new perspective on life.
Gerry
March 8, 2011
Boy am I well supplied with new perspectives. 🙂
Nye
March 8, 2011
Instead of snow we have rains, and lots of it during this time of the year. We had a power outage for several hours one day last week and it wasn’t fun at all. So much that we rely on electricity and gadgets these days.
Gerry
March 9, 2011
I suppose it’s good to have water coming our way, whether in snow or rain. All things in moderation of course! It sounds like you had a real gully-washer. Nice, gentle, warm rains are what’s called for, eh? Followed by some sunshine.