Monday, October 17, 2016

Sunday Business


I must be having problems with time management these days. Dave has been at school all weekend, recording auditions for students who are competing to get into honor band. So you'd think, with me at home by myself, that I could be getting a lot done.

And I guess I am -- I did laundry yesterday, read the newspaper (online), worked on my journal transcriptions for the first time in about a month, and finally started "Swamplandia!" (It looks promising, I'm happy to report.) I also walked Olga in the afternoon, when most of the day's rain had passed.

But there's still so much else! For example, blogs. I am so behind on blogs. Sorry, everybody. I will get there, I promise!

(By the way, a side note: If you've been reading my blog regularly and you keep one too, and I'm not already visiting your blog, would you please leave the link in your comments? Sometimes when I click a commenter's profile it just gives me a Google-Plus page with no link back to a blog, so I can't tell whether you have one or not.)

One thing I always try to do on the rare evenings when Dave is gone is watch a movie or TV show that I know he wouldn't want to see -- usually something old. Last night I dredged up two old TV movies that I remember from the late '70s -- "A Circle of Children" with Jane Alexander and "The Children of An Lac" with Shirley Jones. I remember watching both of them when I was a kid, and now they're on YouTube! So I watched the former, about a school for autistic and special-needs kids, and got halfway through the latter, about the evacuation of a Vietnamese orphanage during the Fall of Saigon. I'll finish it off tonight. Nostalgia overload.

I was supposed to Skype with my mom yesterday, but she couldn't get her computer to work. I haven't yet heard her first-hand account of the Hurricane Matthew drama! So I'm hoping we can come up with an alternate method of communication. Or that she'll get a new computer, which she sorely needs.

(Photo: A fallen leaf on Hampstead Heath Extension, on Saturday.)

15 comments:

e said...

Maybe you can take your Mom shopping for a new computer when you come back. I hate dealing with pushy sales people and always try to take someone with me if I go out to look at something. Shopping online is easier but sometimes I need to look and try before I buy...

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I don't understand Google+ at all. This is especially concerning with regard to the impending shutdown of Panoramio to which I have contributed 5000 photos. Apparently these photos will be accessible through Google+ but as I say I am lost with Google+. I didn't ask for it and I don't want it. There are features in it that repel me.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful photo, I love autumn leaves.

I have a blog but it is in German and about my genealogy, so I think it's not worth to be mentioned here. I wished, I would be as courageous as you and others but I'm too cowardly to publish stuff about my life in the web, presumably because we Germans hear to often how dangerous this is.

Hope your mum can fix the computer problem soon!

Ms. Moon said...

I'm with Mr. Pud about Google + .
What the HELL is that all about?
I went into Swamplandia with great expectations too. I was sorely disappointed. I'll be interested to know what you think.

ellen abbott said...

I had great plans for Sunday but an hour whacking at the tall grass in the steep sided ditch did me in.

Sharon said...

I think it sounds like you got a lot done on Sunday. I actually got out and went to a movie. When I was in London, I saw signs for the new movie "The Girl on the Train" and I knew I wanted to see it because I enjoyed the book. I love a mystery where you don't know who did it until the end. The movie has been getting mixed reviews so I wasn't sure how I'd feel. I actually liked it. The only thing I didn't like was that it was filmed in New York rather than England. I wonder why that decision was made.

37paddington said...

Does your mom have an iPhone. I find FaceTime so much more reliable than Skype. just a thought.

Blondi Blathers said...

I'm a regular reader now; do you know how rare it is to find daily blogs anymore?
I have had trouble leaving a comment but have tried to let you know I was here, just one more among the many sets of eyes!
-Kate, http://goldengrainfarm.blogspot.com

The Bug said...

I was two weeks behind on blogs until last week when I finally caught up. I don't know why I won't check every day - it would be easier to keep up. Probably for the same reason that I never dust, or vacuum, or mop - I'm working a jigsaw puzzle or crocheting. Ha!

Lesley UK said...

I love your fallen leaf. A few years ago I wrote a short story about finding Fallen Angels in the aisles at Tesco. Someone was mad enough to publish it. Jus' saying.

jenny_o said...

For me, time management skills improve the more I have to do. When my day is unstructured I can while it away and accomplish very little, especially if I'm by myself. Although the things that make a person feel guilty - like reading or watching movies - could be considered productive, too. And should.

Sarah said...

Hi,
I think sometimes we are not meant to get too much done, but just to relax! Not heard of either of those films but they both sound interesting. I hope your Mum is ok and you can be in touch soon. We are lucky to avoid those terrible storms.
Just popped in to let you know the cafe. It was The Tea House in Mistley. I put a link at the end of my post. Meant to do that last night and forgot. Not only was the tea delicious but you get a view out over the estuary too. There was a train station in Wrabness and in Mistley. Mistley is just up the road from Manningtree but I don't think we drove through there. Not sure where the trains would go from but you could at least get there.

Red said...

I have to be the worst person around for time management so don't ask me for any help. I've been having problems with not being able to add blogs I want to follow.

Catalyst said...

Nice to hear of your life, Steve, and I love the photo of the leaf. I have a Red Maple in front of our house that is beginning to turn red. It will look like a fire engine before it loses all of its leaves.

Alphie Soup said...

Time management? A foreign language as far as I am concerned.

Maybe your Mom could write a letter? Do I know how to live in the past? I sure do!

Alphie