Good morning! Hello, sorry I’m late. So busy. Guess you should get used to the being late, time zones are gonna mess everythinng up for this week. I leave for Fairbanks in five hours or so, get in at midnight ish. Even if I don’t sleep much it’ll be after 11 before I get tomorrow’s issue out. I apologize to all of you religious morning GMHHAY readers. Maybe skip today and save it for tomorrow morning.
Been running around trying to finish all my chores before I leave for Alaska. I had loaded up the truck with these two giant file cabinets that the previous owners of the new house left in the garage. I mean they are huge. Big three-drawer wide ones. Beige, natch. I had gotten them in the truck by use of a ramp and dolly. I had checked in advance with the collection center that they would take them — gave their dimensions and everything. They said no problem. So I drove there this morning to drop them off and the bulk scrap metal dumpster was full. He directs me to the next-closest collection center, calls ahead and makes sure they have room for them. I am doing all this before Jane gets up, so I’m stressed about time. But I go, and I make it, and I shove the things out of the truck and flip them over into the dumpster. It was intense. And I made it home with sixteen minutes to spare. Got my Duolingo done.
I meant to take a photo of the truck with these things in it. It was very impressive. I forgot to take the photo.
So then I get home, get Jane out of bed, get breakfast going and the irrigation guys show up. Our backflow has been broken and they fixed it, but it now didn’t fit on the system correctly, so they have to bring all their tools and fix it on site. Then we went to the new house and the dude showed me how the whole irrigation system worked, since he installed it. Seventeen zones. Attached to a well. It is absurd. We turned most of it off, but he showed me how to turn on the zones one-by-one, and how to arrange my new gardening so that I can make use of the irrigation system that exists. It’s pretty cool. Jane spoke a lot of Spanish to his crew. They were impressed.
Then we got that done and got home just in time to get the groceries and show my ID, because they make me show my ID to buy fake booze, which really is something.
Weekend was lovely I got a ton of gardening done. Got two low birdies beds built for the new house, for strawberry patches. Got one installed, got all the strawberries planted, and the cardboard down to kill off the grass. One section at a time. Once its dead I think I will much little paths and then make the rest planting areas. Very excited about this whole no deer thing. No deer no grass edible landscaping it’s gonna take a few years but it’s gonna rule.
So I think at this point I have pretty much everything I would like planted, planted. Oh shit I forgot to plant the Luffa. Oh well, it’ll have to wait till I get back. They like heat anyway. And I do have a couple more bean plants and seed potatoes. But I have some planted, so that is a start.
Also I learned how to use Emma’s pressure washer and I am now a pressure washer convert. I washed up a Greenstalk planter that I had that I loved but am not really using anymore because I’m not really space constrained in my gardening anymore, and it was too heavy for our porch. So I washed it off and drove it into Chapel Hill and gave it to our friend Todd. Dropped it off at his house like I am a normal adult doing normal things in their truck and it felt so gloriously normal, so much better than stressing about whatever dumb thing is going on with Twitter.
Also when I went to Todd’s on Sunday I went to Schoolkids records because Liz had alerted me to the vinyl reissue of David J’s Uraban Urbane, which was released on Schoolkids records, the label branch of the local record store. So I decided I needed a copy, and even though it was a Record Store Day release they probably had some extras a day later since, you know, they put it out. And they did. And they also had the Taylor Long Pond Sessions record, so I picked that up, the Suede demos and the new Caroline Rose, none of which I needed man I buy too many records it really is insane.
We also had some visitors this weekend — Emma’s college friend Clara and her husband John and it was lovely. Clara is a GMHHAY reader so she marks the first GMHHAY reader to come to visit who got to both a) participate in Daddy Jane Dance Party and b) see the Care Bear sweater in person, so, you know, if I had a Patreon that would be the platinum level or something. I was supposed to go to the Mountain Goats but I was too tired from all of my home improvement work and I preferred to see my visitors, but that sucked because our friend Nora from Raleigh was at the show and I really wanted to see her. Also they played “International Small Arms Trafficking Blues” and I love that song, though I never would have managed to stay up until the encore even if I did go. What are you gonna do, maaaaan.
I do have to say Jane was amazing this weekend, she didn’t throw a fit once while Clara and John were here. When they left she threw a fit, Emma said something like “well, the guests are gone you held out as long as you could” and Jane explained that her “No A” (for argument) battery was low and it needed to be recharged and it could be recharged through hugs, kisses, playing, or laying down. And sure enough, we recharged that No A battery and she did not really throw anymore fits last night or this morning, so that was pretty great. Cyndi Lauper was the big new addition to dance party this weekend. Plus some Coachella live clips — she was very into Muna and Wet Leg, of course. Made me turn off the Chemical Bros. We did some Paula Abdul and she liked her. It was nice to have some dance party company this weekend.
Finally, I would like to wish Aug Stone a happy birthday. Hope it’s a good one.
Got a W Hotel Lobby in a Better, Alternate Universe mix for you today. All new stuff. All kinda sounds the same but I like the new EBTG a whole lot, the new Goomes, I like the new M83 even though it sounds like… M83. Of the Dan Deacon is old, been on a Dan Deacon kick lately. He is swell.
So yes. Off to Alaska. Wish me luck. It’s in the 30s still. Gah. I will miss my wife and daughter but I’m excited for sleeeeeeeep.