Although my first day back at school was last week, today is the first day for most staff and faculty. This week's orientation and planning meetings, divisional retreats and other events run roughly 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. So Dave and I are competing for bathroom time and trying to get out the door roughly at the same moment. I'll be happy when the kids are back (next week) and I slip into my later schedule of roughly 9 to 5 -- that lets him get ready and leave ahead of me.
We had a pretty nice weekend, though once again somewhat chilly. Sally and Mike came over yesterday for lunch -- we put out some sandwich stuff and salads, and sat in the garden nibbling. Ideally I'd have liked for it to be a bit warmer, but it wasn't unpleasant at all. As Mike said, "We're British, remember?" We wound up talking, as we so often do, about sixties television -- after we exhausted our rage at the current political climate on both sides of the Atlantic.
This has been the chilliest August I've ever experienced. Just lots of gray, rainy sweatshirt weather. I feel like we had about a month of real summer in June, and from there it went to hell.
Remember how I'm on an anti-litter campaign against the person dumping bags of meat wrappers on the next street over? It happened again yesterday -- I rounded the corner with Olga and there were about six bags of bloody rubbish torn open and spread across the street. (Olga, of course, was lunging forward in a desperate bid to eat/roll in it.) So once again I reported it to the council. I keep waiting for them to take action against (i.e. fine/arrest/otherwise penalize) the dumper, but if they have, it hasn't helped. Maybe this will just be our new normal -- the dumper dumping, me complaining about it, Olga lunging hungrily.
About two weeks ago, someone left a pub glass sitting on a garden wall a few doors down -- obviously someone who carried it away from a pub and abandoned it when they finished their pint en route. (Happens all the time.) I passed that glass every morning and no one ever did a thing about it. Finally, on Saturday, I brought it home, ran it through the dishwasher and returned it to the pub. Am I becoming the neighborhood busybody?
(Photo: A tattoo shop in Kilburn. Why does the fox look so fierce?)
Perhaps the fox looks so fierce because he's a wolf and fed up of people referring to him as a fox. Being rolled up every day on that metal shutter will also do little to placate his lupine temper.
ReplyDeleteNo - you are the community minded person that every neighbourhood needs but very rarely finds.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
washing the glass and taking it back is SO endearing. Picking up litter- you are a champion and Olga is trying her best! I got up very early in the PNW to hear the last chiming of Big Ben- over there live on facebook, became sad. Four years seems a long time to not know what time it is.
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteI believe you may be conscience of your neighborhood. I was expecting you to say that you brought the glass home, ran it through the dishwasher and put it in your cabinet!
ReplyDeleteYou're a better human being than I am, Steve Reed.
And if you're wondering where your summer went- look no farther than Lloyd. We've melted.
For picking things up and reporting you are a fine example. If the slobs didn't leave garbage around things would be much better.
ReplyDeletethey were probably shocked into speechlessness when you brought the glass back. you may be having a chilly summer but we are having a oppressively hot one.
ReplyDeleteWe had the young fox visit last night as usual and his face is the sweetest. Why do people insist on making foxes look evil I wonder?
ReplyDeleteAs for the rubbish, it would never have been like this years ago (she said giving her age away) for a start there wasn't the take away shops and people respected others property. I remember my Mum making me wait to eat a cake she had bought for me until I got home, eating in the street wasn't proper. lol
Briony
x
I think the fox hates tattoos so he's not very happy about being used to advertise them. HA!
ReplyDeleteI would call you a good citizen, not a busybody.
The best kind of busybody, observant and conscious of the neighborhood. It's always good to pay attention, that's how you get great photos and return a glass to the pub. Keep looking around!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, the San Carlos is still a hotel but it is far from swanky. I think people stay there for the historic aspect. I toured it once a few years ago and they showed us the room Marilyn Monroe always used. It was just your standard room in an old hotel, small, freshly painted but very simple.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if YP is right and that's a wolf, not a fox. Foxes have smaller, pointed muzzles and larger ears.
ReplyDeleteEither that or it's a vampire fox!
Good for you for looking after the neighbourhood. There aren't many people willing to do it.
You took it back to the pub? you should teach good citizen classes.
ReplyDelete