I need a plumber

Posted on January 21, 2006 by ruthek

One of my constant worries, for all of the forty-some years I’ve been wearing contact lenses, is that a lens will go down the drain when I am cleaning it. So I am always super careful to close the drain, or in public washrooms where the basin has nothing but a big gaping hole, I put paper towels over the hole and run the water very slowly.

On Thursday I was getting ready to go to my Japanese Art class. I stood in front of the basin and didn’t think about the drain. I was just combing my hair; the contact lenses were in my eyes and I had my reading glasses on. (Combing your hair is actually closework.) The comb hit the stem of the glasses, which bumped my right eye, and I realized the lens had popped out. I removed the glasses to see what had happened. The lens was sitting on my lower lid. As I reached for it, it fell off, bounced and went right down the drain. I couldn’t believe it. I decided I had to remove the trap. I don’t like going around with only one lens. Getting a new one would take at least two days, probably four since it was Thursday, and cost about $150, including the panic shipping charge.

I got out my wrenches and couldn’t budge the trap. Sitting on the floor, which I hate, I was trying to decide whether to see if I could get a neighbor to help or just give up and I realized that the entire pipe leading from the basin to the wall was loose. I removed the part leading to the basin and dumped it into a large waste basket. No lens. Now I was really panicky. Could I have sent it past the trap when I turned the pipe? I finally got the other end loose and my lens appeared in the waste basket. What a relief. I left the mess, cleaned my hands and the lens very carefully in my second bathroom, which I thought I didn’t need, and went to class.

Friday morning I decided to try to deal with the problem. I quickly figured out why the trap is a separate pipe. Since I still couldn’t get the pipes separated there was nothing I could do. Steve said he’ll come tomorrow and try to fix it. Otherwise, I will need that plumber.

How Things Work, or DON’T

Posted on January 21, 2006 by ruthek

My friend Raja is taking a physics course called "How Things Work." I would like to take a course in how Verizon works. Since I moved most of my phone calls come in on my cell phone. So I usually keep it near me. This morning I noticed that I had a new message. I never heard the phone ring, but this wouldn’t be the first time it happened. To my amazement the message was one I had left on a friend’s cell phone on December 2o while I was in New York. I was canceling a date because of the transit strike. When I finally saw her three days later I had a strong suspicion she had never received the message, but it didn’t seem important. Now I would like to know where the message was for a month and how did it get delivered back to me. I keep looking at these ads that offer cell phones that do everything but cook for you. I would just like one that functioned properly as a telephone. Verizon, can you hear me?

Calculating

Posted on January 18, 2006 by ruthek

Did you know that Google will do calculations for you? For some reason, which I don’t fully understand although I have my suspicions, my computer no longer has the Calculator on it. You know, the one where you go to Start>All Programs>Accessories. Mine now says Command Prompt where it used to say Calculator. I have to confess that I don’t own one of those handy pocket calculators. Somehow they all stopped working for me.

So I went to Google, my tried and true friend. I did a search on calculator and found only offers to sell them. Then I noticed Google Help. There I found out you can type your equation, e.g., 2+2=, into the search field and you will get your answer. What a wonder! I also found out that Google will define Japanese words for me. Very useful for my Japanese Art class.

More sunshine

Posted on January 13, 2006 by ruthek

I can’t believe this weather: 65 degrees on January 13. I’m enjoying it, but deep down I don’t think it’s a good thing. Taking advantage of the sunshine I walked down to Frick Park this morning. Not having dogs with me I decided to walk in Homewood Cemetery, which is next to the park and doesn’t allow dogs. When I walked in the gate was open on Homewood Avenue and there was a workman nearby. I started to walk around enjoying the sunshine and looking at some of the headstones. After a while I realized the workman was gone and the gate was closed. I felt a little panicky but decided I could always call the police on my cell phone.

I was locked in a cemetery in Chicago a couple of years ago. Betty and I went to a Sunday matinee on the north side. We were going to meet her family for dinner nearby and had some time to kill, so we went to investigate Wunders Cemetery and Hebrew Benevolent at Clark and Irving Park across the street from Chicago’s famous Graceland Cemetery. Signs on the fences warned that the cemeteries closed at 4:45 and it was almost that time. However the sun was shining, the gates were open and we walked in. I kept an eye on the gates for awhile but as we walked further back I could no longer see them. I did see a man purposefully walking by. This was not an area where people strolled, and he wasn’t strolling, so we started walking back to the gate. We were locked in. I did not like the idea of calling the Chicago Police on my cell phone. I couldn’t envision a good outcome. Luckily some women walked by trying to get into the cemetery. We explained our predicament and asked them to try to find the caretaker. About fifteen minutes later we were rescued.

I thought about this as I walked back to Homewood Avenue. Fortunately the gate was easily opened and I was able to walk out, without meeting the Pittsburgh police.

Back to school

Posted on January 13, 2006 by ruthek

I always thought the best thing I did was go to school. So I’m back in school again. The University of Pittsburgh has a program for seniors, which offers classes geared strictly to seniors and also the opportunity to audit undergraduate classes. I signed up to audit 2 classes: Japanese Art in the Edo Period and Reading Poetry. I also signed up for 3 of the senior classes. My 2 audit classes have begun meeting; the others don’t start until next month. I really enjoy the Japanese Art class. We are looking at art from both Kyoto and Edo. I am familiar with a lot of this, but the class is giving me a much broader appreciation. I tend to look at the composition, color, technique and emotion evoked by each piece without thinking about the purpose, the artist’s intent, and the broader context in which the piece was created.

The class began with the history of the political and governmental occurrences in the sixteenth century, the beginning of the Edo period, a time when the power of the emperor, who remained in Kyoto, was eclipsed by the power of the Shogunate, which ruled from Edo. We are looking at several different art forms with the idea that they came out of these political events.

When I came out of the class it was starting to get dark. This is a picture of the Cathedral of Learning, the biggest building on the Pitt campus.

Sunshine

Posted on January 9, 2006 by ruthek

I was very lazy this morning and almost couldn’t get out of bed. It was gray out and didn’t look very promising. As I finally finished my tea over the computer Sari called and said it was nice out. I agreed to meet her in an hour, and I proceeded to shower and dress. The sun came out to greet me and I decided to take some pictures of my house. Here is the outside:

This is one view of my living room:

In addition to my alligator who sits on the front porch I have another house guardian who lives under the bushes in front of the house:

Sari and I took advantage of the sunshine and took her dogs for a walk in Frick Park. By the time we got back home at noon the sun was gone.

Calliope

Posted on January 8, 2006 by ruthek

Last night the entire family sampled another Pittsburgh institution: Calliope. This was a Three Penny Opry night, folk music presented by local artists. When we first arrived we were almost the only people there not performing. The MC asked if we were musicians and we pointed to Eli who got up and performed. I’m very proud of him, that he could do this with no prior notice or preparation. He’s a great kid. There were some other artists who really impressed me, my favorites being John Wells and Jack Erdie. I would have liked to photograph Wells. He was marvelous to look at: a real character. He has a full head of gray hair worn shoulder length, a slight beard, handlebar mustache and glasses at the tip of his nose. He’s probably my age and twice my size. His jeans, held up by suspenders, looked like they had room for him to grow into. He played two different guitars. One of them had a lot of fancy metalwork on it and he had a metal tube on his little finger. I’m sure this kind of playing has a name, but I don’t know it. His sound reminded me a little of Junior Wells, a Chicago bluesman.

Television

Posted on January 6, 2006 by ruthek

It’s been about 10 weeks since I have been connected to most television outlets. When I first moved here I was too busy to care. After six weeks I investigated getting myself connected to cable or a dish. For several reasons I’ve done nothing about it. I finally plugged in the set and found out I get poor reception on NBC, PBS and some Christian channel. I don’t miss television, and I have decided, at least for now, not to pay for any kind of better reception. I tend to use the TV as background noise and found I can get the same effect by using the VCR. I’ve been getting movies from the library, and thanks to my previous employer, I own about a dozen films I’ve never watched.

I got Breakfast at Tiffany’s from the library and watched it for the first time. Not all old films hold up equally well. I had trouble getting through that one. I also watched City Lights. I thought I was getting the second version Chaplin made, which I had seen when it came out. I was surprised to find I had a reissue of his first version. The bad part was that I couldn’t treat it as background noise. But I loved it. The visual jokes are just wonderful. I never fully appreciated Chaplin until I saw this one. He certainly puts our present day comedians to shame.

A sense of history

Posted on January 4, 2006 by ruthek

My apartment is located on land previously owned by H. J. Heinz. His mansion was torn down in the 1920’s, but the coach house still exists. Nearby is Westinghouse Park, once the location of the George Westinghouse mansion. Within walking distance is Clayton (left), the home of Henry Clay Frick. This house is open for tours and gives a wonderful picture of Victorian life among the wealthy. At this time of year the house is open to visitors without taking a tour. I spent several hours this afternoon looking at the rooms and talking to the docents. I was the only visitor at the time and felt very privileged.

I don’t recall ever feeling so close to history in Chicago. The very rich here in Pittsburgh seem to have left much more to the public than the Swifts or Armours, McCormicks or Palmers. Or is it that Chicago has done a better job of destroying its past. My feeling about the past in Chicago is best exemplified by the plaque identifying Fort Dearborn. It is located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive. Of course neither street existed at the time and the fort was actually located about 30 or 40 feet below at the point where the Chicago River then flowed into Lake Michigan, which happens today about a half mile further east.

100 Books Before I Die

Ruthe Karlin