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post-pandemic parent visit
Saturday, May 22 2021
We did our usual Saturday morning thing out on the east deck as usual. One of several panagrams for the New York Times Spelling Bee was "drawing" (with "w" in the center). Not long after my Chromebook's battery was exhausted, I carried out some more chores, planting the pepper seedlings and a row of sunflower seeds along the north edge of the main garden plot (as I've done every year since 2004 or 2005). Later I did some vacuuming in the living room and then scrubbing of grime from various long-neglected surfaces. The outside of the door between the dining room and the east deck was spotted with black mold that easily scrubbed away and there was the usual gunk on the pet door that results from Ramona rolling in gross stuff and then rubbing it on the pet door as she passes through it.
Meanwhile Gretchen's parents had been attending the bat mitzvah of Grethen's first cousin once removed somewhere in northern New Jersey. They arrived a little after 4:30pm, and parked their all-electric Hyundai Kona in the spot where we normally keep our Nissan Leaf so it could charge its big 380-mile-capable battery. We spent most of the remaining daylight hours out on the east deck nibbling on snacks (including a quichelike pie) Gretchen had prepared as a sort of light dinner. Nobody was drinking alcohol except me; I'd spiked my SporTea with gin. Conversation kept coming around to the subject of the dumbasses and conspriacy theorists who won't get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
At some point Neville stole my cushioned outdoor seat, so I grabbed a green plastic chair off a stack in the northwest corner of the deck. It wasn't long before the top of the back suddenly cracked. I immediately went upstairs to get some wire, a pair of needle-nose pliers, and my MAPP-gas torch. I then proceeded to mend the chair with square-cornered staples I'd made from the wire, which I heated with the torch, plunged through the plastic, and then twisted together on the other side. This made for a surprisingly good show, as I managed to do this quickly and competently while Gretchen took pictures.
Later, after it got dark and the insects came out, we went inside, where we all tried to find a few more words in the morning's Spelling Bee. I managed to find a couple, such as "awing."
Heating a wire staple to fix the plastic chair while Gretchen's mother looks on.
Inserting the hot staple in the cracked chair.
Three staples seemed to fix it.
Testing the chair; it seems solid.
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