Monthly Archives: February 2019

A Simple Sign

R&H Market Sign

One item per line

I don’t know if R&H Market plans to change its readerboard anytime soon. In case it does, the photo documents the content the sign has displayed since the Obama administration. Despite the simplicity of the message, I was reading it incorrectly. I learned that yesterday when I was in the store buying Mega Millions tickets.
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Opting Out of Catalogs

Recycle Bin

No more please, I’m trying to quit.

I get too many catalogs in the mail. Don’t need them, don’t read them, don’t look at them. They all go straight into the recycle bin (see photo). Is there a way to fight back against this waste? Since there’s no unsubscribe link for catalogs, I’m trying a different approach toward reducing my recycling footprint a few shoe sizes.
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The Closest Fire Station

Former Fire Station

Site of the former Westgate Fire Station

I felt a certain degree of safety when the old Westgate Fire Station operated out of the building at 1550 Rocky Point Road. The photo shows the cinder-block structure as it looked before the new tenant, Olympic Mountain Rescue, painted and reroofed it last summer. Although I have never made a 9-1-1 call in my life, living a mile from a fire station was reassuring, even one staffed by volunteers.
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The Mystery Man

Including a photo would make him less of a mystery.

I haven’t seen the mystery man recently. So I’m going to rely on memory in an attempt to describe him. My last sighting was at least a couple of weeks ago—before a series of February snowstorms buried Bremerton and put bike rides on hold. I’m sure he’s fine though and will become part of my morning routine again soon.
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Found on Road—Useful

Kitchen Shears

Betty Crocker kitchen shears

A number of choices could replace the fourth word in this post’s title and still make sense. For example, missing, lost, broken, trashed, injured, and dead (if the item was a Ford). Useful seems to fit best in the case of an item (see photo) I found while on a bike ride last month, although that raises the question of why someone would leave it on the road. I mean, who doesn’t need a pair of scissors?
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Battling a Rat Part II

This is Part II of the battle, which took place in January 2017 and ended in a draw.

Link to Part I

When you fail to think things through, to consider various possibilities, things don’t always go as planned. That’s obvious, I know, but it’s my best explanation for the outcome of the rat battle.
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Battling a Rat Part I

Shower Rat

Standoff in the Shower

This is Part I of the battle, which took place in January 2017 and ended in a draw.

You got a rat problem, you get a cat, right? In my case, I already had Trek, a Bengal cat, on retainer (see photo), so I figured the problem was solved. But I wasn’t battling just any rat, and Trek apparently thought of the rat more as a housemate than an enemy.
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Richardson’s Law

I think most people have heard of Richardson’s Law, probably not by name but surely by sentiment as there are other ways of stating the same idea. The problem is that the law is easy to break, intentionally or not. In need of a continuing reminder, I had it printed on a small plastic sign that I attached to the sun visor of my daily driver. When I’m traveling and the driving gets stressful, I glance at it for some relief.
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Last Summer’s Project

Cabinets Before

Replace, resurface, or transform?

Is it a good time to be thinking about last summer given that I’m snowed in with more snow on the way? The answer is yes—if nothing else, to relive the memories of warm weather and easy travel. But there’s another reason. The results from a project at Treasure Island (see “before” photo above) easily beat my expectations.
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Changing the Date

Tivoli Satellite Radio

Clock mode and Sirius mode

The day doesn’t start, or more accurately, the date doesn’t change, until the Mud Cat returns. The behavior that enables this ritual originated at the intersection of superstition and faith. But it seems to be effective.
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