EdipisReks1

Fancy coffee (and fancy kitty litter) purchased. Coffee roasted on August 26th. No idea when the cat litter was made.

That was it!: Trinity Sessions. I just couldn’t remember the title (too many albums in my brain list). I will listen to the other albums you listed. Thanks Jim!

Sure I am! Holding back on electricity…

Heather (my partner) and I are seeing Cowboy Junkies in an intimate space in October, here I’m Cinci. I know the one album: Jim sent it to me during one of the gift exchanges. But what should I listen to other than that? We are both fully, fully vaxxed and we will be wearing good masks. I dunno if this is the right thread.

I just ordered a Lido OG with 53mm funnel. I'll report back from my way too many manual grinders.

Had to go to my storage unit anyway, so I grabbed my old Breville 830xl. Apparently I put it away wet, or maybe it was dripped on for two years. I have it cleaned up as best I can, and it works great after pushing a couple liters of water through. It’s not quite as good as a Gaggia classic (it’s just a 54mm thermoblock, afterall), but I think it’ll work fine at my partner’s place, if the Encore with M2 burr upgrade and recalibration works okay (she’ll never use it so it won’t matter).

Replacement Flair Royal arrived (doesn’t have the slip issue; it was apparently a washer that was not the correct thickness, which doesn’t give me a lot of confidence for longevity). Option-O Remi with contemporary burrs, slightly modified to suit my needs. Orphan Espresso Lido ET here soon. If anybody wants a comparison of three higher end hand grinders, I would be happy to (I’ve had a Commandante, but it was the second version: I’m sure I remember it fairly well). The modded Option-O Remi (minor mods were just for ergonomics for me in particular, and don’t affect grind at all) is dialed in, and produces incredibly good coffee (the even fluff!!) for pour-over and manual espresso. I’ll dial in the other two first before comparing, as I’m not an asshole, but I’m sure I’m biased towards the Option-O. I’m traveling soon, a few weeks from now, and I will take all three in their travel cases with my Flair Pro2 (V60 is already there, where I will end up). I might drop off a Breville thermoblock machine too (think Gaggia classic-ish), so I would test a variety of grinds.

I bought the green Omega strap as a gag, basically: I love it, though. I feel like I’m on a sailboat.

I have an APR stage one* flash on the Tiguan. It would beat the snot out of this “sportline” at a stoplight, and I can also figure out how to adjust the climate control in it. *not gonna go further on a car that sometimes has a booster seat. Also it’s a Tiguan.

They have gone back to stepped dials. My 1861 doesn’t have that (pre-moon obviously does). Exact same dimensions, more or less, but it has a certain subjective effect. I dunno if you can see the difference in this pic. The new version is marginally thinner, too. The stepped dial breaks up the monolith of dial Anyway: All Speedy Pros wear like a 40mm Rolex. The big non-pros, which I don’t have experience with, probably wear bigger (since they are bigger).

I’ll be wearing a bright watch too, when G gets his Parchie Pal School Time in green and teal. Planned birthday is a pool party (end of the season). Maybe I should swap the pre-moon for the 1861, but the pre-moon passed it’s tests under a year ago. 8 is a big birthday, and I’ll know.

Does anybody else not give a flying fuck that it sounds “artificial?” I’ve had Max for a while (and I adore them), but my shitty Ankers that I used for exercise gave up the ghost (they were good enough until they didn’t work anymore), so I bought a pair of AirPods Pro (my backup “Letscom” weren’t doing it for me). This pair had the non-spatial firmware out of the box. Took a day for it to update (Apple seriously needs to fix the firmware update situation). Spatial on the Pro sounds nothing like “natural.” It sounds fucking great on the Esther Phillips I’m currently listening to, though. I could listen to my JH on the go, but then I have to deal with a cable, and what not, and I don’t even know if they would sound better. They would sound more “natural,” though, I’m sure. This isn’t even the future.

My poor old 2017 Tiguan got hit at night in a hit and run a few weeks ago. It creased the fillets and crushed chunks into the “character lines.” I finally got high enough up on the food chain to get the fix that should have been done to begin with started. During the first work they had me in an Atlas. Huge, but really a joy to drive, once you got used to how big it is (and you learn to avoid the circumstances where lane assist tries to kill you). Once I move I might get one, since whatever you call the son of your partner is gonna need soccer shit ferried back and forth, or whatever (he should be my “step son,” by then, but North Carolina courts don’t give a shit about putting a final imprimatur on divorce papers). This time they have me in a 2020 Sportsline 530. I’ve never driven a more underpowered barge with “sport” in the name. It’s also so complicated to run in the cabin that I wish I were dealing with somebody else's regular expressions in Perl. There is a reason I bought a 2017 Tiguan instead of the 2018 when I traded in sporty for practical At least it’s pretty.

It’s barely after noon, and my sleep has been fragmented due to a trip, so a 30 gram to 200 ice to 300 boiling of some very nice coffee. Ground finer than you might think.

That was the one for my partner. She loved it and was delighted by the whole experience of opening it and putting it on. The one for her son hopefully elicits a similar response.

I called the vet and the determination is that as long as he doesn’t seem to be in discomfort he is fine.

Parchie Pal.

Getting ready for a trip tomorrow. That wine carrier will have 4 bottles. I don’t have the beer cooler fitted out yet.

Today’s wrist check: GRUT with CF strap. Let’s see if it gives me a rash today (I’ve soaked it in alcohol, let it dry and out-gas, and sealed the backside of it with resolene).

Dunhill has broken a tooth. The tip of a canine. He has always had prominent canines (one of his nicknames is “snags”). He has had to have teeth pulled, and he was just seen by the vet a couple weeks ago for shots and a checkup. This clearly happened since then. He HATES the vet. I’m reluctant to drag his ass into the car, especially since he and Silver will be going with me to North Carolina in September when we spend a month with my partner. But I haven’t had a cat snap a fang. I don’t think the pulp is even close to being exposed, and he doesn’t seem to be in distress or discomfort (he sure fucking eats likes normal). I don’t care what it costs to be looked at, I just would prefer to save him the trip for nothing, if it’s nothing. He hates traveling. I’m not the most experienced cat owner (I’ve only been lucky enough to share my space with 5, to this point).

I figured that if almost-8-year-old and almost-8-year-old’s mom are going to be wearing bright and colorful watches on bright NATO-ish straps, on his birthday (and green is almost-8-year-old’s favorite color, in various shades, which is part of why he gets the School-Time Parchie), it’s only fair for me to join in. And if I’m going to get a NATO for a lark I might as well get one that somebody will be wearing in 5 generations when the guzzolene is unavailable and people are eating lizards, hand to mouth, off the sand to survive. Should look good on a Speedy with a polo shirt once a year at the end of September. I have a plum and orange merino polo by Icebreaker that would be perfectly non-matching.

I guess it’s sort of late in the year, but first wear of a NATO for 2021.

I’d honestly been waiting for somebody else to give the watch to. Previous nieces and nephews: too young. Previous stepson: not his thing. This one? Jackpot. The new Parchie Pals, by Cara Barrett, formerly of HODINKEE, are super cool. Perfect for a child or just anybody who wants a colorful and inexpensive but functional and well designed (don’t know about build yet!) small casual watch.

No worries! And looking back, I think my reply came out as snippy. It wasn’t intended to be that way. My apologies! I don’t think there is really any extra capacity, though: Tudor watches are hard to get too. In new watch news: my partner’s son received my Lorus Mickey Mouse watch when he turned 7. It was the watch I wore when I was his age: I refurbished it. New strap, polished crystal, new gasket on the battery compartment, a light buff of the case. He had been fascinated by why I always had something on my wrist I looked at (not a watch family). He takes it off every night and puts it on every morning. Treats it like something precious. It is austere and elegant with a black case, black dial, and black alligator embossed strap. He has the dress watch for his collection resolved for the time being. He can even usually read the time reliably. He turns 8 soon. He’ll be getting a Switch and games, but I bet he’ll be just as excited by the School-Time Parchie he will also be getting. A fine young ruffian needs a rough and tumble dive watch that they can wear in puddles and pools and general mischief without worrying about it. 8 is a big one. His mother was jealous and she will be getting a Party-Time Parchie: maybe she’ll actually wear this one.

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