Could I just have an empty glass?

Out with friends last night where, for dinner, one's three-year-old ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, hold the cheese. The chef came out of the kitchen, "What? He just wants toast?" The boy was emphatic, "Grilled cheese, no cheese!" Gotta love it.

Reminds me of a time when one of our kids ordered a mocktail - a virgin martini - which, as far as I can tell, is an empty glass. (Or maybe, just the olive.)

The Bathroom Rant

I know, I know. You've heard it before - the bathroom rant - but a poorly designed restroom I do not understand. A sink like this is very pretty but I fail to see how it is practical. It does a good job of wetting the side of the bowl (again, very pretty) but doesn't wet my hands past my fingertips. Maybe I'm missing something. Are we only supposed to wash our fingertips? If so, what is the rest of the bowl for?

Drying one's hands, says Dyson. They built the hand dryer right into a faucet - the Airblade Tap Hand Dryer (which you can purchase from Restroom Direct). It looks a little bit like a motorcycle handlebar mounted over a sink. OK, it doesn't look anything like a motorcycle handlebar but I can't think of any other way to describe it.

One of the things that drives me crazy about restroom design is that someone, somewhere, decided to change things up. I understand wanting to make things more efficient or more sanitary. What I don't understand is going into a restroom and not being able to perform the functions the room was designed for, namely flushing my bodily wastes and washing and drying my hands.

I'm sorry. Was that too much information? I should have warned your earlier.

My bad.

I haven't met a toilet that I couldn't figure out how to flush, eventually, but I have been stymied by sinks and dryers. You know the drill: waving, dancing, surreptitiously looking for the magic eye or handle to make a thing work, hoping no one else is looking, only to find out it was manual in the first place. You hope the soap will dispense, the water will flow, and, dripping, you will be able to blow or wipe your hands dry on something other than your clothing, all the while timing when you can reasonably give up and leave the restroom while still looking somewhat cool.

This one particular time, I came out of a bathroom stall and was confronted by a handlebar apparatus in the sink that made me think of a motorcycle handlebar - the Dyson Airblade Tap Hand Dryer. Luckily, another woman was working the device so I was able to proceed as if I was an expert. I washed my hands under the stem of the handlebar and later moved my hands out to the handles to dry them.

Brava! No dripping on the floor from sink to towel!

I walked out of the ladies room like I know what I was doing, cool as a cucumber, and just after I rejoined my husband at our table, he leaned over and whispered into my ear, "You forgot to zip your fly."

The Party's Over

Apparently, a shortage of helium is making things tough for party planners. It's making things tough for the medical industry as well. According to USA Today,

" As helium prices surge to new highs, some researchers and companies in the medical industry, which uses the gas as a coolant in magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance, are suggesting a ban on party balloons. "

No party for you!

But with smart balloon practices as recommended by The Balloon Council, we can get through this together. Wait, there's a Balloon Council?

Yes! They are here to protect the "consumer’s rights to obtain full enjoyment from balloons," Also, "affirming America's ongoing love affair with balloons" so there's that.

Can you imagine the board meetings? All those squeaky voices....

Psychotria Nervosa

. . . or what you feel like after four cups.

What happened to one a penny?

Surprise!

Stiffed

Pennsylvania’s worst turnpike toll evader to pay up | philly.com

" Jarrett Stiff, 36, of Trevose, didn’t pay for trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike 2,264 times between 2012 and 2017, more than anyone else in the state, according to turnpike records. He accumulated $127,967.40 in unpaid tolls and subsequent fines. "

Topper offer?

The only good thing about those coffee makers in hotel rooms that make single servings of coffee from a one-use-only plastic filter into a paper cup is that it's only a single serving. There's absolutely no reason to have more than one cup of that flavorless joe. (Come to think if it, there's no reason to have even one but what are you going to do?) 

However, when temporary accommodations provide coffee makers that make more than one cup, we will make a full pot regardless of how many people may be willing to drink it. Yet, it's no more flavorful than the single servings. Simply because it's there, we will continue to top off our cups until the whole pot is gone. 

At home, I make one cup of coffee at a time, Americano-style, with an espresso maker. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's pretty good and while I hate to see an empty cup, one is enough (until I indulge in my mid-morning latte).

Except, I've just returned home after traveling for eleven days. Eleven days of topping off my coffee cup until there's no more coffee to drink. Now I'm home drinking something rich and flavorful.

... and then it's gone.

I can have one more, right?

Tax Day

A few more hours and it'll be all over, kids.

Maybe I should do mine... :-\

1

It's getting serious now.

2

3!!!

Can I have chocolate for breakfast?

4

5

6

My garbage can is full of chocolate wrappers.

7

9

Get to Know VanWA

If you live here, you should get to know your Port of Vancouver. We live in an amazing place, alongside the Columbia River.

Columbia River seaports, especially the Ports of Vancouver, Kalama, and Longview, play major roles in the movement of exported agricultural products, including being the largest grain export gateway for wheat and second largest soybean export gateway. In 2011, these three ports had 861 vessel calls and shipped 20.2 million metric tons of commodities between them. (Washington State Legislature Transportation Resource Manual)

Eight million metric tons of that cargo moves in and out of the Port of Vancouver alone.

You can learn more about the Port of Vancouver by taking a free tour. I've taken it and it's fascinating. Julie Rawls led the tour and she was informative, knowledgeable, and entertaining. I not only recommend the tour highly, I would say it's worth doing a second time. The tour is an hour and a half long and very much worth your time.

Tours dates start in April and run through August. Reservations are required. For more information, see the Port Tours page on the Port of Vancouver USA website. Dates and times can also be found on the WUV calendar.

I don't think you'll regret your investment in getting to know VanWA.