Day 155, FBC and FOPAL and mixer

Monday, 5/6/2019

Started the day with a run, departing earlier than usual, 8am instead of my normal lazy 9am departure. That was so that I could get home, shower, and get back to the local coffee shop to meet with Harriet at 10am to talk about Steve’s idea for a

revived Fast Break Club.

This was an enlightening meeting. Harriet brought her friend Leslie who is a Stanford WBB alum as well as having worked in the WBB office.

We all agreed that Steve’s ideas were a complete non-starter unless there was real, enthusiastic buy-in and support from the WBB office, and Tara in particular. Leslie explained how, since the program is now completely funded from the Athletic department, there is no real concern about attendance. Steve’s strongest argument for a new fan organization is the slow decline in average attendance over the last decade, but the department and WBB coaches and staff really don’t care. Their job performance isn’t rated based on attendance. Only if we can find out what they do want, or what would help them with things that do count, like recruiting, would we get support. So job one, she thought, would be talk to the coaches and try to find out what would seem like a benefit to them.

After that, even with Office support, the problem remains of how to recruit new fans, especially younger parents with daughters. Here again Leslie knew something that I (nor I think Harriet) had known: that parents of high- and middle-school students, and the students, coaches, and teachers, all work off the school website and other social media these days. So if you can get any parent to post a fan-club event on their school’s site, that’s how to get things known.

We left it to Harriet to take these thoughts back to Bob and others in touch with Steve, and talked a little bit about Norway, where they want to tour next winter. My experience was only in the summer, and they’d read the blog, so there wasn’t much I could add, except to recommend Stockholm for a visit. Turns out Leslie has a relative in Helsinki, which is a reasonable ferry ride from Stockholm.

A bit later in the morning I found myself with

nothing to do,

and that’s a first! Almost nothing on the old to-do list. I’ve been expecting this time to come, but I thought it wouldn’t happen until I had moved in to CH. I pictured a day when I am moved in, all my furniture set up, I water the plants and then… nothing on the schedule.

That will be when I will have to start rearranging my days to apply time to three different long-term projects I’ve had on the back-burner for a year now, including two books. Well, fine, but not today. I decided to go down to

FOPAL

and make sure the Computer section was in good order. There were four boxes of books waiting. I went through them, sent ¾ on to the bargain room, and priced and shelved the rest. The section is looking quite good, if I do say so. I’ll hit it again Wednesday and Friday and it should be ready for the sale weekend. After an hour doing that, I spent another 90 minutes doing sorting, and had the sorting room almost tidy when the usual Monday volunteers showed up. So I came on home and actually played a computer game for an hour. Then I went over to CH to check the mail and for

supper,

which turned out to be a “mixer”. As you enter the dining room there’s a resident with a hat containing small numbers. If you are willing to participate you take a number, which is the number of a table. In this way you sit and eat with people you haven’t met before. I did it, although in fact I haven’t met anyone at all. But prior times I’ve eaten there, I’ve sat by myself and read a book. This time, I sat with — let me see — Carol, Julie, Betty, lady whose name I can’t pronounce, and Colin. Colin is a chatty guy with a bit of a British accent and wild bushy eyebrows. He just had a 90th birthday party last weekend; and he played tennis this morning. He said he always asked new residents some questions, I said go ahead, and asked if I play bridge (yes) but then he wanted me to play in his duplicate bridge group and I really don’t want to play duplicate. He asked if I sing, well, I can carry a tune, great, every Wednesday we have a sing-along over in the Lee Center, you must come. Do I play tennis? Sorry, no; this is where I found out he plays tennis regularly. Do I dance? Nope! I think I’m down as a poor quality recruit in his book.

And so home. Chuck messages that he has a potential buyer who wants to see the house, can I clear out around noon tomorrow? You betcha!

Day 154, Art and stuff

Sunday, 5/6/2019

Did the NYT puzzle at home in hopes of being late enough to the coffee shop to get an almond croissant, but had to settle for a cinnamon roll instead. Walked along as customary admiring the sky and thinking about being a widower, being consciously aware of being single and thus (a) free and (b) lacking a partner. The “free” part was underscored when, yesterday, I was reviewing the old Scandinavian travel blog. Its text does not mention health issues, but I remember how on that 2014 trip we were already somewhat handicapped by Marian’s lack of stamina; avoiding stairs and long walks. I swear I never felt the slightest resentment at how her declining strength limited our activities. Finding a minimum-stair route, or passing something up because it was too much walking, was just natural; we as a partnership did what we could do. But now, sometimes, I am aware of the release from those constraints, being able to climb stairs or walk up a hill without a second thought.

On the other hand, the absence of a partner shows up often. Whenever I notice some change in the neighborhood, or unusual garden item, I automatically think, must share that with… nope. That’s the the key thing about having a close partner: you validate your experiences by sharing them. Case in point: later today, driving on University Avenue, I notice a large, unusual sculpture in the front yard of a house. But there’s nobody to share this discovery with. Did I really see three, 8-foot tall crows, one perched on the garage roof? I think I did, but without anyone to tell it to, it isn’t quite real.

Did a couple of chores, including closing my YouTube channel. This is a task that has been moving from to-do list to to-do list for weeks. I have a modest channel where over the past two-plus years I’ve posted reviews of meal replacement products, Soylent, Huel, etc. Looking ahead, it just isn’t going to be practical to do this at C.H. But I feel a certain obligation to the 120 or so people who’ve subscribed to my channel. You subscribe to a channel in order to be notified when new content is posted. I won’t be posting any more, and I owe it to my tiny public to tell them so. So I recorded my 90-second farewell message and posted it. (Later in the day I got several “thanks and best wishes” comments on that video. Nice!)

Also paid a bill, and sent a form to the financial people.

About 10am I departed for Hunter’s Point in SF, for the Open Studios day. Over the next two hours I must have stepped into 75 or so studios and looked at, or at any rate glanced at, 300 images and objects. The studios are spread over several old administrative buildings for the former Naval Shipyard. I verified that I definitely prefer figurative art, although some of the abstract smooshes of color were pleasant to look at; and that I like whimsy.

I liked the work of Erik Joyner, whose thing is “robots and donuts” in every possible whimsical or satirical combination.

hair-cut-930x702 — Unlike most of his work this one lacks donuts.

I almost bought a miniature of that print but couldn’t quite bring myself to spend $30.

Joyner is just for laughs, really, but one artist whose work I really, really liked is Carol Aust. Her studio was in a basement and I might not have gone down the stairs to it, except that this huge (5-foot wide) painting was hanging in the hallway above.

eight-pelicans_30x60_0 — Carol Aust — “Eight Pelicans”

I really, really like that. To the point where the $4000 price tag does not seem impossible. After the house sells and I’m feeling flush again… and if I can find a suitable wall for a 5-foot painting… maybe…

Stopped at CH to check the mail and pick up a new garage fob (the first one quit working). Then came on home.

Day 153, Docenting

Well, that didn’t work out at all. I had planned to attend a concert at Dinkelspiel. This was an event I’d learned about from emails on the CH mailing list, promoted by a resident who is associated with the chamber group that would be performing. Fortunately (as it turned out) I didn’t buy a ticket in advance. It was only going to be $13 at the door, which seemed quite cheap compared to the $50+ for the Stanford Jazz Festival tickets I booked two weeks ago, so why not.

I left home at 7pm, and if things had worked they way they used to work, I’d have been sitting down in the hall well before start time. I got to the entrance to the nearest parking lot at 7:10. Times past, I’d have parked in a minute or so. I began circling, no space, several other cars circling. Went to the next further parking lot and circled. Now it was 7:20 and there was just nowhere to park. I knew that the next nearer parking was several blocks away; if I parked there I wouldn’t make it to the door in time to buy a ticket. Well, darn. I drove home.

I have no idea whether Friday nights are special, or maybe there were multiple things happening around that part of campus? Anyway, in July and August I will make it a point to arrive early. Or take a Lyft, one.

Saturday, 5/4/2019

Passed the morning deliberately not doing anything productive. Well, had an email from Harriet, passing on a document from Steve P, proposing a revival of the old Fast Break Club. Steve doesn’t live in the area now, but has been a SWBB fan for a long time, and for the last several years has been trying to promote a revival of the FBC. I read his document and don’t see anything new or workable, but we’ll see. Proposed meeting Harriet for coffee on Monday to talk it over.

Harriet is apparently planning a trip to Norway, and asked about my and Marian’s visit to Norway back in 2014. That prompted me to open up the old blog and I ended up reading the whole thing. A pleasant hour there.

Also had a friendly “how are you” email from neighbor Dan. Nice.

Put on my docent clothes (official red shirt, chino pants) and went to the museum. Led the 12:00 tour, about 17 people, went well. Afterward, talking to two other docents and they talked about how this is the weekend of Open Studios, when artists all around the area put up signs and invite people to stop in. Mike said that rather than driving around his neighborhood, he likes to go to Hunters Point where there are a bunch of artists in a single building. That sounds like a neat idea.

Bought a few groceries on the way home. Quiet afternoon.

Day 152, shopping, fitness, paperwork

Friday, 5/3/2019

First thing, I called Angela’s number at CH and to my surprise, got her live. Arranged for her to leave the upgrade estimates at the desk for me to sign. Then went on a a run. Then headed out on a shopping expedition.

First stop was Stanford Federal Credit Union. Back story: in April I used the SFCU website bill-pay system to pay a medical bill, $504 to Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Early in May I got a note in the PAMF messaging system asking if I’d please pay my $504 bill. So I replied that I had, $504 on 4/9. They replied, we don’t see it, but send us some proof, email to blah blah include account number, etc., and we’ll try to find it. Grump grump grump, off I go to SFCU. Nice guy opens up the account and prints off a couple pages showing indeed, $504 went out from my account to PAMF’s account on 4/9.

So later in the day I scan this and start to append it to an email to the given address when I have a thought. The SFCU bill-pay app was set up by Marian, with a menu of known recipients; for each one, an account number etc. Looking at the summary of recent payments I see that in fact that payment of 4/9 went to the recipient named “PAMF-M”.

Uh-oh.

Yup, in the menu of recipients is another named “PAMF-D”. Looking at the details, the one I paid to had Marian’s PAMF account number, not my PAMF account number.

So that led to a considerable change in the tone and content of the email to Sutter Health billing department. From “Look how wrong you are,” to “Can you straighten out my stupid goof?”

From SFCU I drove to Wegman’s Nursery, and then more or less on a whim, to another nursery on Ralston Ave. in Belmont. Neither had anything like hanging plant post I need.

Now on to Stanford shopping center, Macy’s Men’s store. I had various clothes that need upgrading or replacing. One, my Jockey shorts are wearing out, not surprising they’d have holes being at least ten years old. Easy enough to buy a dozen of those. Two, I need a couple of pairs of jeans. I tried on a bunch and finally didn’t choose any. I did confirm that despite having lost over 10 pounds in the past year, my correct size is still 36W30L exactly as it has been for ever. But I couldn’t find the right combination of color and fit, and decided to go home, check what I had, and order exact replacements online.

Three, polo shirts. My standard summer shirt is a Lands End Supima cotton polo. Sadly Land’s End isn’t selling the one of their colors that I like and looks good on me, a deep brown. Maybe I could find a nice polo shirt at Macy’s? I looked at a bunch and didn’t like any. Not even actual Polo ones, the kind with a little polo player embroidered on them. Or the ones with an alligator. No good colors and all felt crude to the hand. Back to the internet.

So I zipped home with my bundle of tighty-whiteys and quickly changed to shorts and a t-shirt and drove back to CH for my Fitness Evaluation with Clark. Clark (his last name is not Kent, despite his definite mild manner) had me do six or seven things while he timed me. How many times can I stand up and sit down again in 30 seconds, and so on. He promises in a few days a consultation and a fitness program.

Signed Angela’s forms so work can start on my unit, then back home again to start the laundry, send that email to PAMF Billing, order the wax plant poles from Amazon, order two pairs of jeans from Levi’s, order one black and one dark gray polo from Land’s End. Also waiting at home, the statement for my next six month’s of car insurance. I note that I am protected at $1M for bodily injury, but $100K for property damage. Catherine the insurance agent had suggested upping it to $1M for property damage also, but on consideration, I don’t see it. I wrote to her saying I would leave it as-is.

Throughout the day I’d been hoping for a call-back from Poppy, the tour organizer at CHM, and it never came. That’s very disappointing and I am going to take myself off that tour… done.

At 7:30 there is a concert at Dinkelspiel I want to attend. Time for a quick supper and a nap first.

Day 151, Yosemite and email

Thursday, 5/2/2019

First thing this morning I found in my email, a message from Angela saying that I could move in to CH in May as scheduled, if I was willing to put off the kitchenette and bathroom remodels until after I had moved out again in August. That’s a tough choice! I really don’t like the old stuff; it looks…old. It would be galling to have to live with it for several months. Big issue would be: if I hang around in the old house until mid-June, does that impact the process of selling?

While I was thinking and killing time for my 9:15 departure to the East Bay, Chuck stopped by pick up those pesky forms. He sat to chat for a few minutes, and reassured me that it should make no difference to selling the house, if I move to CH in May or in June. That was the only real consideration, so I decided that I’d take the later date. Among other things, that means that the delivery of my last couple of pieces of furniture, scheduled for the first week of June, can come here, and I’ll have all that I ordered for moving in.

So, off to Yosemite for a day of cataloging. Fun: we cataloged a robot, a big one, over 6 feet tall, called “Baxter”. The cute eyes aren’t there, it’s just an LCD screen. rethink-robotics-closing-down-3

I rode to lunch with Toni and asked her opinion about a problem I’m having with the museum. The manager of docents is Katherina, and Katherina doesn’t seem to communicate well. I have signed up to lead a tour for a group of computer science students from UCSC on 5/11, and I really want to make sure they get a 1401 demo. I emailed Katherina about this last week, and left her a voice mail on Monday. No reply to either. What did Toni think? She thought, call the front desk, find out which person was in charge of booking that tour, and talk to them. So I did that; turned out the person responsible is Poppy. So I called Poppy: not in. I left a voice mail explaining my concern. She didn’t call back this afternoon. Maybe she will tomorrow. If she doesn’t, I’m going to cancel out of that tour. Let them find another docent for it.

51nxkcatq4l On the way home I stopped at Westwinds nursery to see if they have any solution to The Wax Plant Problem. I want to keep the two wax plants; they hang from hooks in windows; there is no hanging place at CH. I have this hook-stand in my Amazon shopping cart but would like to buy locally. Westwinds didn’t have anything like it. I think I’ll check Wegman’s tomorrow

At home I sat down with the intention of chilling out for an hour. But first I sent an email to Angela confirming that I wanted the work done now with the later move-in. I also questioned the cost of one item in the quotes she’d sent me. Late in the afternoon she acknowledged that she’d miscalculated, and sent updated quotes for a couple of items. Hah, glad I checked. But she says I need to sign the quotes for work to start. Tomorrow first thing I need to call her and find out when to meet. I also replied to an email from my insurance agent, and to Darlene about a date to see an exhibit in Oakland. And my hour of chilling-out was gone.

Day 150.1 grief bits

Just a bit of finishing up on this day. I mentioned I went to the pharmacy. When I said, “There should be a prescription ready for me,” John, the regular clerk who knows me by name, said, “For you, or for Mrs. Cortesi?” and I realized they didn’t know.

Thing was, I was in there picking up something for Marian, it seemed like every single week from May to December last year. Well, maybe not quite that often, but her prescriptions were many. Cancer is like that. Anyway, I realized that John didn’t know she was gone. So I said, “You ought to know, she passed away, in December.” And damned if my throat didn’t close up on me. I still can’t say that sentence out loud to another person without my voice breaking. Not like it’s fresh news.

Day 150, documents and delays

Wednesday, 5/1/2019

Started with a run. Then killed time, basically, until noon. Well, I did do the a few remaining change-of-address entries online. After all, it’s only a couple of weeks now to move-in. (Hah! see below!) Then ran out to get the antibiotics that I ordered at the pharmacy back on day 142, and then forgot about.

At 1pm I drove up to San Mateo, an office park just off highway 92 and 101, to meet with my

lawyer.

She was recommended several years ago by the financial advisor to handle routine paperwork, but that time we only corresponded by email and real mail. This time we met so she could notarize everything I needed to sign: a revised family trust, a new durable power of attorney, new living will, and a number of other documents needed to document to the State of California and the County of Santa Clara that I was now the sole trustee owning this property.

She also advised having my tax persons file a form 760 or 706 or something so that I could continue to claim Marian’s half of the estate tax exclusion. I don’t know. I guess.

Also I have a new will, which I need to sign in the presence of two witnesses. Unfortunately she couldn’t procure a second witness from the rent-an-office space, so I had to take the will home and need to get two witnesses together to sign saying they saw me sign it.

Chuck called to say that the forms I gave him are unreadable. Wut? Also, that

Nancy, the divorcee

that he mentioned in passing a few weeks ago, was the person to whom he showed the house yesterday, and she liked it, and did not audibly snicker when he said “three million”. However, her financial situation isn’t clear. The divorce court has ordered that her house — not many blocks from mine, it would appear — must be sold as part of the settlement. However, Chuck thinks she and her ex have inflated ideas of its value, so it may take some time to sell. In the meantime, would I be interested in “carrying back” some part of the purchase price, in the event she wanted to buy now and finish paying when that deal went through. Hmmmmm.

Shortly after I got home, Andrew, Chuck’s son and office manager, dropped off the packet of forms I’d filled out and handed in. Indeed, all my signatures and other marks (checkboxes, explanations) were almost invisible! Immediately I deduced what had happened. I had filled out these complicated forms with my favorite

erasable pen

because I did keep going back and changing stuff. Very, very bad idea. I know that the pen is erased by heat, you rub its hard little eraser nub rapidly and the friction heat makes it disappear. Well, I am guessing that Chuck tossed the envelope of forms on the seat of his car, or a desk by a window, and they got cooked by the sun, bleaching all the marks.

I quickly sat down with the copy I’d made of the forms (my copy is perfectly legible) and re-did all the marks and signatures with a real ballpoint. So that’s ready when Chuck comes by later.

Next thing was an email from

Angela the move-in manager,

with the news that, owing the delays getting cabinetry made and blah blah blah, my new target move-in at Channing House is… June 16th. Shit. I have serious hopes of getting this house sold by then. If necessary, I will move out to a motel. I put a higher priority on selling the house. The moving company I am trying to contact does storage as well. I can have my goods moved out on one day, and moved in many days later, if necessary.

I texted Deborah the estate sale person with this news. And will tell Chuck when he appears. But my message to him is still, full speed ahead.

Here, have a wax plant:

Day 149, iPhone, fitness, showing

Tuesday, 4/30/2019

After breakfast I tidied the house, partly because the cleaning lady is coming, and partly because some stranger will be looking at it with Chuck at noon. I left Suli’s check with a note warning her that Chuck would be coming by at noon.

At 10am I had a date with the fitness director at CH, to be given an orientation to the fitness center and sign a waiver so I can have a key to the place, so I can use it. Beforehand I loaded several items in the car destined for my storage cage in the basement: my toolbox that I had out for the Repair Cafe; my old IBM CE toolbag which now contains my cordless drill and an assortment of attachments and bits; a backpack I found in the garage and want to keep.

Oh, and five large plastic bags of cables: USB, HDMI, Cat-5, digital optical, and audio cables. They had been neatly sorted in the Red Chest and I was pretty sure they wouldn’t sell in an estate sale, and would get trashed. I had emailed Craig asking if the Tech Committee at CH had a stock of cables, and he said they did, in “the tenth floor computer room”. I must check that place out.

Anyway, parked in the underground garage (for the second time) and schlepped all that stuff to the storage unit in two trips. There is an amazing long winding path from the new underground garage, down a short flight of stairs, through four doors (one which has a camera and has to be opened by the desk person) and around several corners, to reach the Resident Storage Area in the basement of the older building. Well, that’s conveniently close to the Fitness Center, so fine.

I was disappointed in the Fitness Center. It has a rather thin assortment of machines. In particular the two pieces of apparatus I like to use at the YMCA are not there. I had expected I could drop my YMCA membership, but now I’m wondering.

My iPhone battery has been a concern for some time. It’s showing that annoying trait of failing batteries, making a sudden, unpredictable drop in power. It was fully charged at 10pm last night, and was only 15% at 6am. OK. So from CH I went to the iPhone fixer guy I’ve used before on El Camino near California. He could do it by 1pm. Good. I left it and walked to California avenue and found some lunch.

After lunch I went to pick up the phone with its new battery, and got a reminder of just how deeply that little device works its way into your life. I’m walking along and realize, Oh No, I’m making all these steps and they aren’t being recorded in the Health App! I won’t get credit for this walking.

Phone comfortably back in pocket, I went off for another deferred errand. It’s already past the time of year when I (we) have traditionally changed over from a feather duvet, to a blanket and a knitted bedspread. The duvet cover has needed laundering but I’ve been putting the change-over off, because we had only one blanket, and I had long disliked it, and that blanket was one of the first things I discarded as part of the cleanup right after Marian’s death. (I see I didn’t mention it, but it went in the trash early on.)

So today I drove down to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a simple queen-size beige blanket. Back to the house. Suli was just finishing up, she said Chuck and someone (she didn’t describe who or how many) had come and gone. I made up the bed with clean sheets, a blanket, and our colorful crocheted bedspread. That makes it properly summer.

I spent an hour continuing the project of printing pictures and putting them in frames. Here’s the one I worked on today:

I’m really pleased that I’ve got my cheap little Epson printer tuned so that it produces very nearly that depth of color, when printing at best quality on good paper. The rose really jumps out of the frame. I am not quite sure how I’ll make use of these at CH but most other residents have art on their walls and I will also.

I drove to CH to eat supper and check out two things. First, my apartment. It still pleases me to walk into it; it is just a pleasant, welcoming space. However, it doesn’t have what I was hoping for, a place to hang the two wax plants that are thriving in hanging pots, one in the kitchen and one in the living room. They are just coming into bloom, tiny star-shaped white flowers with little translucent amethyst gems in the center. Really. I’ll post a picture soon. Anyway, how to keep them over there? I need some kind of plant hanger. I think I’ve seen such things, but…

The other thing was to check the tenth floor computer room. Yes, the tech committee has a stock of cables, a few, on a couple of shallow shelves. I guess my collection will stay in the basement for now. But there was a sign up that gave me a chuckle:

Day 148, first missed post

Monday, 4/29/2019

This is the first post where I didn’t write the post until late the next day. I’ve done some in the morning of the next day, but this is the first where I just forgot entirely. So sorry, Dere Diary.

There’s nothing in the Google Calendar for the day, either. I recall I went for a run, and afterward… oh, right! Afterward I sat down to begin the process of changing my address with various organizations, the credit card, the DMV, and so on.

I also finished cleaning out all the drawers of “the red chest”. This is an old, six-drawer, school file cabinet, sturdily built in fumed oak. My sister Joyce acquired it at some point. Then it went to my Mother who, in her inimitable fashion, brush-painted it in a deep red enamel. When my parents closed up their home to move to an elder facility, the red chest came to us. I recall that Marian and I spent quite a bit of time stripping the red paint off it to reveal the old finish. Then we stuck it in the garage where it has been used for miscellaneous storage ever since. Sunday and this day I spent time going through all the stuff in it, throwing stuff into the garbage, or setting it aside for the sale.

Some things in it might be use to a future owner of the house. There’s a plastic tub with miscellaneous hardware bits, the unique brass door hardware off a couple of the original doors, matching glass knobs for cabinets, etc.

After a couple of hours of that I realized that, owing to the planned visit to The Lawyer on Wednesday I wouldn’t be able to do the usual sorting at FOPAL, so instead I went down there for the afternoon. Priced and shelved some books in the Computer section, and did some sorting.

Chuck texted me to ask if it would be alright to bring a client to view the house at noon. Sure!

Day 147, repair cafe

Sunday, 4/28/2019

Woke up early, too early to go to the coffee shop. They bake their own pastries and the good stuff doesn’t start coming out of the oven until 7:30 and later. So I did the NYT crossword puzzle at home, as in the old days. Then to coffee and read the rest of the paper.

Back home it was soon time to head out to a day of work at the Palo Alto Repair Cafe, one of my favorite volunteer activities. I and my apprentice, Ritchie, had some quick successes. Box fan that doesn’t work: take off the grille so we can see the inside and very obviously one wire of the power cord was dangling free of the switch. That was easy.

I must say, Ritchie has a degree from Stanford, a doctorate in astrophysics from CMU, and is working at NASA, yet he was ridiculously deferential to me and my vaunted repair knowledge. A couple of other easy fixes seemed to cement my reputation, but then we got the microwave from hell that used up two hours with no fix.

The youngish client had picked this microwave up where it had been abandoned in a school dormitory. It behaved oddly in the following way: plug it in and all seems fine, it beeps and the clock waits to be set. But now, open the door. The interior light comes on, that’s ok, but also the rotator motor in the base, that rotates the glass plate inside, starts when the door opens, as does the cooling fan in the back that cools the thyratron or whatever that tube is. When you close the door the light goes out and the rotator dish stops and so does the cooling fan — and they remain off, even if you start the oven heating. So they are just backwards, on when they should be off, and off when they should be on.

We screwed around with it and then I called in Lawrence who is the main organizer of the event and a veritable God of appliance repair. He fiddled with it for half an hour, which is a lot because he is in constant demand for consultations during these events, and didn’t make any progress. Finally we decided that very likely, somebody had messed with the wiring, there was a wiring error somewhere, and nobody wanted to take on the job of finding a wiring diagram online and tracing all the connections to see what was wrong. So button it up and give it back.

When I got home at 4pm I texted Chuck to see when I needed to vacate so he could show the house as he thought he would, and he texted back, not today, they didn’t call back to confirm.

So I relaxed, made a little food — my eating habits are getting more and more casual, this time it was bacon and an egg and a protein shake — and chilled.