Bearshorty's musings

Tanya and I were visiting my parents from last Wednesday to today. My Dad came home from work at 5 today and we got ready to drive back. It started raining but we figured it would be fine. We got very, very lucky as the rain eased in the 30 minutes it took to get to my place and we unloaded the car. But when Papa went to park the car, lighting and thunder came crushing down. Bear was still driving home from work on the highway and my Dad ended up sitting in the car, once he parked, for a while for a torrential rain came down. There was lightning every two seconds and thunder and sheets of rain. The street in front of our building, a big street too, turned into a river for a while. I don't think I have ever seen the rain like this, with so much lightning. I was mainly worried about my Dad and Bear but they are fine. Bear really enjoyed all the lightning, since he is weird like that, and was able to stop by the grocery store and do the weekly shopping too. My Dad sat in the car and when rain eased was able to cross the street river. And in another half an hour my parents were able to go home.

The giant thunderstorm is not really going to easy the really hot July we've been having. Friday looks better with 83F. But it has been hovering in the 90s for the last few weeks. I had to go to the bank this afternoon and I was chugging water. It was humid and very, very hot. The morning at least had a little wind.

On Thursday to Sunday, in the mornings we would go to the beach. My Dad had off Friday so he came too and on the weekend. We would go from 8 to 10:30 before it got very hot. At least there was a nice breeze by the beach. The water was not too warm to great to wet the feet and walk along it, although Tanya loved being dipped in the water and "swimming". In Florida, it was a hassle to drag her into the water, but here, even with the water much cooler, she just wanted to play by the shore! I didn't really go swimming, but on Sunday when the water was a tad warmer I did dip in. I do prefer warmer water. But otherwise it was nice to be by the beach. It felt like a vacation. Tanya also got to enjoy a shallow baby pool in the backyard in the afternoons to get out of the house just a little when it was hot.

I finally backed up all my photos (my Dad has a back up hard drive) so it was time to finally give in and update to Windows 10. The free update is expiring on July 29 so it was time. I wish I done it sooner. I love it so far! It loads and shuts down super fast, it doesn't have the annoying "tablet" screen, and everything is familiar but slick. So great so far. I did have to opt out of bunch of scary "share all the browsing and calendar and your whole life with Microsoft for better performance" things. Those are personal preference. I do find that creepy though.

And my Dad got me "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell" miniseries, which I started watching when I had a bit of time. I watched two and a half episodes so far. I'm loving it very much. I think this is a fantastic adaptation. I love that it introduces both magicians together. And it makes the pacing work more. Norell is more likable in the TV version too, at least in the first two episodes, and I continue to relate to his love of books. The actors are great. And the tension works well especially the creaking music when the gentleman appears. Great visuals on magic. And I love seeing Arabella and Lady Pole more. From almost the first scene I realized that I have been mispronouncing Norell, or rather pronouncing it like Drawlight in the miniseries. I would put the stress on the second syllable and not the first. Well, at least I can say it properly now. (It was the same for Hermione when I read the first book. It was the movies that taught me how to pronounce it properly and then 4th book). My Dad started to read JSMN but I think he is going to just watch the miniseries because he finds language a hindrance. For me, since I'm used to 19th century style, the language was pretty easy but I can see that others can find it difficult. I told him that the miniseries is really good at capturing the books (at least so far) so he might just watch it first.

I also finished "Master and Margarita" and I'm about to finish "Hothouse." My feelings about both books are complicated. I liked "Master and Margarita" for example but there was a lot of bizarre and weird in there. I'm going to do a separate book post this week once I'm done with "Hothouse."