Halloween Pumpkins

Happy Halloween, courtesy of the pumpkins outside of Trader Joe's!

Happy Halloween, courtesy of my daughter's adorable banana/peanut butter and chocolate chip with buttercream frosting critters with googley eyes and fangs!

Cost of Cable

One of the question we had about getting cable last year was asking Time Warner Cable what our cost would be after our introductory price ended a year later. They said, "We don't know." That mystified me, but we had decided that we wanted to watch sports, and we already had internet and phone with TW, so we'd take it one year at a time.

An internet search could not answer the question either, but now I have some information direct from TW. We got this letter in the mail a few days ago:

"We hope you've been enjoying your special monthly promotional rate. Currently you pay a total of $108.97 per month, which includes your promotion and any additional services and equipment you've orders. As this promotion is set to end soon, your next bill would reflect the current standard rate of $175. 46 per month.

As a thank you for your continued business, we'd like to extend you another special offer on your services.

When your promotional rate comes to an end on November 13, 2013, you'll keep enjoying the services you love for a total of $125.47 per month - that's still a savings of $49.99 per month off of the standard rate. Your new monthly price includes a promotion that will expire on October 11, 2014."

There you have it, folks. If you were wondering the true cost, here it is. Of course, this does not include taxes, which means that our current bill is closer to $120/month, not $109.

For the Record

This year, we turned on the furnace on October 29, a few days before my arbitrary goal of November 1. It will warm up later this week, but since I have people coming over to play instruments today, I didn't want to chill them (and me) out.

Cloudy Monday in Claremont

For your viewing pleasure, pictures of our luscious cumulous clouds from throughout the day.

Old World Deli

Out shopping around noon today, we started thinking about lunch, and we walked by the Old World Delicatessen in the Kohl's/Trader Joe's/Michael's complex and thought we'd give it a try. For years we have seen it, but never been in. Besides a restaurant/take out, it really does look like a German deli with all kinds of meats and cheeses and more behind a counter case.

Of the six kinds of soup, we chose the sausage and pepper soup to accompany a Reuben style Corned Beef sandwich. While both tasted good, we may not make a special trip back here. But if you are feeling peckish while shopping in the neighborhood, it makes a fine stop.

FOCL Fall Book Sale

This year the used book sale at the Claremont Library, hosted by the Friends of the Claremont Library features free tote bags for members as well as a $2 coupon for books that they sell during the regularly scheduled hours. Not a member? No problem. Just join at the door!

Pacific University

Our daughter is teaching biology this year at Pacific University in Forest Grove, just west of Portland. It was great to wander the campus and enjoy brick buildings, fall colors and sunny days. Here are a few shots of the school.

The original building

Art in the library

More art in the library

The school mascot is a boxer - part dog, part dragon

The J-Term course my daughter will be teaching (two weeks in January)

Carcassonne

Among other fun things we did in Oregon this weekend was learn to play the board game, Carcassonne. Back in the summer of 2009, L and C taught us how to play Settlers of Catan, and knowing that we like that game, they knew we'd like this one, too. And we did. I had played this game in a video game version a few years ago, but this one is more fun, mostly because you play with other people sitting around the kitchen table.

Fall Break

Every once in awhile I get a hankering to get out of town, and although the CUSD does not have a fall break, the Claremont Colleges do. We took advantage of the weekend to take a very quick trip up to Oregon to visit our daughter and son-in-law. She has a one-year position teaching biology at Pacific University in Forest Grove, and we didn't know if we would have a chance to see them in their new surroundings. So we made the opportunity happen. 

This photo shows the blue, blue, blue of the Pacific near Tillamook, but the colors we mostly saw were the lovely fall leaves. We lucked out with fabulous weather - sunny and warm. We kid around that the weather is always perfect in Oregon since we always experience it that way. That's much easier to do when we can choose the time to visit.

Carleton Alums, Convo, and Schiller

I have blogged in the past about Carleton College and our strange history with a bust of the German poet philosopher Friedrich Schiller. This morning while I was streaming the Carleton Convocation (the speaker was our classmate, Bob Daily who I've also blogged about), but I learned something about Schiller today that I hadn't known.

The poet used to keep rotting apples in his desk drawer, and when he needed a little inspiration, he would sniff the putrid odor. Apparently, rotting apples give off methane gas which can give a powerful elevating effect, or, in other words, can give you a buzz. And this is the icon my alma mater has elevated to some kind of godlike status. Yup. It's a quirky school. (I've always known that.)

Bob's talk was about his road from Carleton to Hollywood and also about creativity. You can watch an archived stream of this talk (and others) at this site. It might take a day or two to be archived.