I should probably drink less coffee, but I do love it. Sometimes I can feel it make my heart race. I have 2-3 cups in the moring and usually another one around 3pm to motivate me for the afternoon. I find if I drink coffee in the afternoon, I’m much more likely to close all three rings on my Apple Watch.
Are you tired of hearing about Paris yet? (Apologies in advance) Our hotel had an in-room espresso maker. Espresso is not satisfying for me. My husband enjoyed it, but I like to sip on hot coffee for an extended period of time. (That’s why I really like my Ember smart mug.) While in Paris, I took the tiny French elevator down to the lobby each morning for a “coffee long” from the fantastic machine they had there. It made everything from espresso to cappuccino, with “coffee long” being the closest thing to American coffee. I typically made two trips to the lobby each morning, as I need at least two cups of coffee to get out the door in the morning.
While sipping my coffee longs, I enjoyed these incredible views from our room – Room 802.
That’s the Sacré-Cœur in the distance on the left.
Although this pic is zoomed in quite a bit, here’s the view we had from the other side of Room 802.
Night version of the Sacré-Cœur view Night version of the Eiffel Tower view
Hello blogging friends. I’m back from Paris and it was definitely a highlight of the year! My husband was a real trouper and enthusiastically went “full tourist” with me. (I wasn’t sure if that would happen, but he really rose to the occasion, despite having bad knees. Thanks Mario!) I had been to Paris once during my semester abroad in Italy in the 80s, but I always wanted to return to Europe’sgreatestcity. I’m sorry Rome, London, Madrid…but Paris is just…PARIS. I’m extremely fortunate that this was my second bucket list trip of 2023. I also visited the Grand Canyon, for the first time ever, in June. (That trip was motivated by the passing of my dear friend from college in 2022. Carla loved the Grand Canyon and her ashes are spread there.)
But back to Paris. We bought six-day museum passes (at the recommendation of my new BFF Rick Steves) and saw a ton of stuff. Notre-Dame is still closed due to the horrific fire in 2019, but everything else was open and the entire city is gearing up for the 2024 Olympics. We had dinner in the Eiffel Tower, visited the Louvre, the Orsay, l’Orangerie, Sainte-Chappelle, Arc de Triomphe, Carnavalet Museum, Versailles, the Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, the Sacre-Coeur, and the St. Germain-des-Pres. We took ubers, taxis and the metro and visited many neighborhoods including the Marais (my favorite), Rue Cler, Montmartre, Rue Monorgueil, the Left Bank, and the Champs-Elysees, which was all lit up for Christmas!
We ate in cafes, fine restaurants, Bon Marché (Paris’ oldest department store) and one Burger King. I’m very jet-lagged at the moment, but cannot resist sharing a couple photos.
The Eiffel Tower is painted a mustard yellow and they light it beautifully at night.
OK guys, a series of events at work this week has led me to a realization.
The unhinged woman I’ve had to report to since the merger six years ago (let’s call her Suzanne) scolded me like a child in front of a colleague for doing something she specifically asked me to do two weeks ago. Actually, she scolded me for interrupting her while she was berating me for doing something she specifically asked me to do two weeks ago. “I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN OVER IN A MEETING. WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS ON THURSDAY.”
Following the meeting in which Suzanne wigged, the other colleague (let’s call her Kathy) and I requested a meeting with Suzanne’s boss (let’s call her Laura). Laura is new.
Kathy and I gave Laura the full rundown on Suzanne. Unhinged, irrational, disorganized. Other departments have started to avoid us because of her. Laura listened. I don’t think she was totally surprised, but I also don’t think she understood the extent of Suzanne’s shortcomings. She said she would “give it a think.” The organization is a bit of a mess right now, so I’m not sure if Laura will know what to do with this information, but she seems like she’ll try to do something.
But here’s the realization. I’m done reporting to Suzanne. For me, her latest outburst was the last straw, not the first offense. No matter what course of action upper management proposes, I’m not interested in any type of apology, or meeting of the minds, or negotiated peace. I’ve already been through that with her. I’m too old for this shit. She’s not good for my mental health.
I do love the organization and the job. I’ve been with them 18 years in all – consultant, part-time and now full-time. I’m going to tell Laura I’d love to stay, if I can report to someone else. If Laura can’t make that happen, I’m going to wrap-up my time there. I’m done with Suzanne as a supervisor. I don’t want the job badly enough to deal with her any longer.
We’ll see what happens next week. I think there’s a decent chance they’ll comply with my wishes, but who knows? They’re all new.
Early retirement here I come?
View from in front of our hotel in Grand Canyon Village, June 2023
One of the things about being an empty nester is that you’ve got a lot more time than you used to. Consequently, I’ve done most of the things on my “to do” list.
Since the weather has been good, I’ve also been getting out for a 2-3 walk mile almost every day. A couple days ago, I saw a hawk in a tree at about eye level. I struggled to figure out how to quickly open the camera on my new iPhone. Also, I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so I couldn’t exactly see what was in the frame. Still, I ended up getting a pretty cool photo of a Red-tailed hawk with prey. Just after this photo, the hawk flew away with the meal dangling from its talon. I guess he/she wanted to eat elsewhere, unobserved.
Sorry, I realize this post has almost nothing to do with the writing prompt.
Accuweather predicts “patchy fog in the morning; otherwise, mostly sunny and very warm; a gorgeous day to be outside.” So I will be doing as my weather app suggests, and prioritizing a long walk or bike ride tomorrow.
This is when it’s great to work remotely. I used to always go to Boston on Tuesdays. Now I can take my commuter time and use it for whatever I want.
After all the rain we had in September, I’m hoping for a beautiful October.
Here’s what the last day of September looked like around here. The last few blooms of the season.
List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.
Three jobs that sound fun to me are fragrance tester, ice cream taster, and street photographer.
Perhaps I’ll pursue one of these when I retire, although I bet they want people with younger senses for the first two.
So maybe I’ll look into street photography. I recently attended a talk by Izzy Rodriguez, a Providence street photographer and it made me remember how I had liked it once.
I took a photography class for fun in the late 80s at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. I enjoyed going out on the streets of Boston with my camera. It was a 35mm Canon. I developed and printed the film in class. Here are some photos that I took. These people were all strangers to me, except the last one is my sister.
This one is my favorite. The girls were just pretending to talk on the phones – playing grownup.Boston’s famous “Make Way for Ducklings” ducks My sister
I traveled to Russia (then called the Soviet Union or USSR) in January 1987 with a group of students and professors from my college. It was a Winter Break trip. We left just after New Year’s Day 1987. It was led by two professors of Russian History with whom I had taken classes. We went to Moscow and St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad), as well as some smaller cities–Suzdal and Vladimir.
I’m sure it was a fascinating trip, but my main memory is of how cold it was. It was really F***ing COLD.
This is the United Press International archives (UPI.com) report from January 8, 1987:
MOSCOW — An Arctic cold snap with temperatures lower than minus 40 degrees has gripped most of central Russia, slowing life in Moscow to a frozen crawl. The daytime temperature in Moscow is now almost four times colder than the average home freezer. A record low of minus 45 degrees hit Leningrad overnight and Moscow recorded minus 39, close to the 1940 record of minus 44. The official Tass news agency said the first week of January 1987 was the coldest recorded in Moscow in 35 years. Auto traffic in Moscow was virtually non-existent as a frozen mist, triggered by the snow on the ground being warmer than the air, rolled over the city. Ice fishermen tried their luck in the frozen Moscow River, but few others ventured outside unless absolutely necessary.
I remember we were warned to keep every inch of skin covered while we were outdoors so as not to get frostbite. We kept bottles of vodka in our chilly hotel rooms which we slugged for warming purposes (mainly). Other memories include eating coarse brown bread with butter and caviar, the museum-like Moscow subway, and fur hats. We all bought fur hats.
Leningrad in the frozen mist on a frozen river The Moscow MetroOur group playing outside in Vladimir – very briefly!A bit of sun in Suzdal
GenXers will recognize “swimming pools, movie stars” as the last line of the theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies, a TV show that was popular when we were young children. Basically, some poor people find oil on their property in Appalachia, get rich, and move to “Cally-phonia” in a dilapidated truck. It was pretty dumb. The theme song was definitely the best part of the show.
From the Beverly Hillbillies to Downton Abby to the Kardashians, I’ll admit to being fascinated by the lifestyles of the very wealthy, particularly their homes. Honestly, most of them do not look that comfortable. They’re too big. Everything is so spread out. Kim Kardashian is basically living in the Louvre. She has to walk miles just to get to the back of her own closet.
BUT, it would really be cool to have a big swimming pool and a view. Those are the two features I would have, if money were no object.
Here are a few photos from a visit to Newport, Rhode Island in July. We toured Marble House, one of the Gilded Age mansions. And yes, of course I watched “The Gilded Age” on HBO and am eagerly awaiting Season 2 starting on October 29. My husband likes to count the number of times the word “luncheon” is said per episode.
Marble House (Newport) – one of the filming locations for Julian Fellows’ The Gilded AgeMarble House dining room – the very definition of “gilded”Lest you think Mrs. Vanderbilt and her friends didn’t discuss serious things at their luncheons, here are her Women’s Suffrage dishes.
These prompts are starting to feel repetitive. Here’s an old post I wrote called Why Blog?
We’ve had so many rainy weekends in New England this summer. It’s great that we’re ending on a high note!
Summers are short, but glorious in New England. I know some people really love autumn, but it does not hold a candle to summer. Winter is horrible (unless you like skiing) and “spring” is not a thing. There’s like one warm day in May (if we’re lucky, it’s Mothers Day).
So here’s to New England in the summer.
The “Farm Coast” – Rhode Island/Massachusetts border Quicksand Pond, RI
I’m glad it’s Friday. I work in Boston and things get hectic in late August when all the students move back to the city for the fall semester. We call this time of year “Allston Christmas,” when you can pick up anything from a toaster oven to a Bob Marley poster for free on the curb. Traffic gets MUCH worse. Occasionally, it comes to a complete standstill when some poor parent from the Midwest drives a too-tall rental truck under one of our too-low underpasses and gets stuck. This is called “getting Storrowed” and it happens every year.
Anyway, Labor Day weekend is the calm before the storm—or perhaps it’s the eye of the storm. I liked I.V. Greco’s post about sharing our super moon photos from Wednesday night. It’s so hard to get a good photo of the moon, but I like the sky in this one that I took. Peace.
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