Promising Break

One of Few Photos I was Able to Coax

I re-learned an important lesson a couple days ago. It is not smart to launder your wallet. When I finished work on the back hill terrace I was, as usual, covered in mud and dirt. Since the laundry room is conveniently next to my garage door entry point I divested myself of the unacceptable (to a certain Panamanian) clothes there and threw them into the washing machine before heading upstairs. In order to preserve the sanity of the neighbors the blinds were previously lowered on all windows. What I’d failed to note was my wallet was in the back pocket of the work pants now sloshing around tin the washing machine.

Wallet and Contents Drying

I discovered this later when I was moving the mass into the dryer when I found an unexplained object in the bottom of the washing machine. We’ve all had these moments (although I seem to be singularly blessed in this department) when it becomes startlingly obvious you’ve done something incredibly stupid. My wife, to her credit, kept her mirth at my predicament to tolerable limits, mainly because I was so pissed at myself. Everything dried overnight but we’ll have to see how all the credit cards with these new magic chips fared through the storm.

I Know Grampa - Hang in There

I’m suffering through some minor withdrawal symptoms in terms of granddaughter exposure. My daughter, because she has a challenging job, hasn’t posted any new pictures for the past few days and last night she was so late home from work that our nightly FaceTime call didn’t happen. I was able to coax today’s three photos out of her after protracted negotiations. It’s a sign of how spoiled we have become with nearly constant access to the First Blog Reader.

View from Condo Front

We’re getting closer and closer to realizing our dream of the beachfront condo down in Panama. We’ll be flying down in a couple weeks for the first homeowners’ association meeting of fellow condo owners. The landscaping looks to be finished and just a few remaining items seem to be needed, like balcony barriers. We should sign for the keys in another trip to Panama in August.

Beachside

From the Other Side - Showing Picnic Area

Front Hallway

I took the night off from the back yard terrace project last night due to constant rain. I hadn’t realized the toll the work had been taking on me physically until I woke up this morning feeling better than I had since before I started probing into the earth a couple weeks ago. I’m not ready to perform any Olympic level gymnastic events but the change was notable. I hate getting old.

We went to see The Promise last night on date night. A very long movie that tries to tell an important historical story – the Armenian genocide. I know the proud Turks try to deny it but the last days of the Ottoman Empire were scary times in Anatolia, especially if you were Greek or especially Armenian. This film reminded me of some of the old time epics trying to capture the sweeping events of a major world event. The only problem was inserting a fairly silly love triangle that adds unneeded angst to an already anxiety prone situation. The actors were awesome throughout, with Isaac once again dominating, real screen presence despite his tragically poor luck with women in this one.

I Shall Return!