Halloween Welcome --- Day 7/235

Walk: Hood with big bag of papers to be shredded, mail in ballot, spca cat food donation
Distance: 1 mile, Pedal, yoga

Maybe there are new owners with children on and near Ciwt's block.  She doesn't remember so many Halloween decorations, and she was enjoying deciding trying to which she likes best.

Colorful?

Black and White?

Happy?

                               

Then she got to her Wells Fargo and saw this sign: 

                                                             

Do You feel welcome?  At first she thought, "How cute of Wells Fargo to get into the Halloween spirit."  Then she realized they were 'dead' serious. 

"Give us all the money in your drawer."

Fifties Bye, Bye --- Day 7/234

Walk:  AMC Kabuki (Wildlife) and errands
Distance: 4 miles, Pedal, wee yoga

Wildlife: The Mother, The Father, The Watching Son

So how did Ciwt take advantage of this perfect weather day?  By going to an indie of course.  And is she guilty or sorry?  Absolutely not!

Wildlife is all an indie should be - and more. Excellent screenplay from an excellent novel, beautifully shot and directed.  And then there is the outstanding acting. Carey Mulligan as the wife/mother may get an Academy Award nod, but all the actors and the characters they play are on her level.  Those would be Jake Gyllenhaal as the father/husband, Ed Oxenboule as the son and Bill Camp as the rich car dealership owner.  

Any director that can make Gyllenhall ordinary, unnoticable in a crowd must be a good one.  That would be the seasoned actor Paul Dano directing his first film (and co-adapting the screenplay from a Richard Ford book).  

If you like indies with uniformly glowing reviews (and an unfortunate trailer), go. And be very, very glad the 50's are a thing of the past.

Dog Days of Fall --- 7/233

Walk: Monday Hood Errands (So easy in SF Fall weather weather)
Distance: 2 miles, Pedal, Yoga

             

Dogs agree with Ciwt that this is the most glorious time of year to be in San Francisco.

Norway Across the Bridge --- Day 232

Walk: No, Another Marin Driving Day 
Distance: 0, Yoga

So today Ciwt drives her becoming beloved A4 back to Marin for a play.  It is long - 2.5 hours - but friends say it is good, so we'll see.  Stay tuned...

*Back now:  Ciwt says very good But...hard to hear sometimes, probably too long.

Happish Again - Days 230, 231

Walks: Hood, Lots of trips to Marin in Loaner Car
Distance:  Miles and Miles and some Yoga.  No Golf.

So, another good piece of car news that no one cares about except Ciwt.  Oh well, it is her CIWT.

You may remember (if she told you) last January her beloved 18 year old Audi A4 finally reached the point of being 'completely unhighway worthy."  So, since she couldn't drive from dealership to dealership to scout out new models, she picked out one on line, drove to the dealership and did the deed.

Her new car, being simply the newer version of her wonderful A4, would of course be nearly identical except newer.  That was her reasoning until she got home, drove into her garage and nearly totalled her 1/2 hour old car.  It was Much! bigger.  Longer and Wider, which she later learned Audi and all the reviewers considered a selling point.

Ciwt is omitting all the new news about the car being completely computerized and an utter mystery to her for months and, for many things, still.  (Along with many Audi mechanics she might add).  

Anyway, she learned that in the intervening 18 years, an Audi A3 had come into production.  Almost the same cost and most of the same features but smaller and zippier like her 💗👄💘old car.  So she actually considered just losing money and trading for it.  Until her mechanic and other mechanics she asked said No Way!!  Don't be stupid, (old lady).

Still Ciwt was secretly planning to make that move.  Until, luckily, mercifully, etc., etc.  she was given an A3 as a loaner while her Big new car was in the shop the other day.  Well, it is tinnier, tinier, (cramped actually), brittle, uncomfortable and not half as luxurious, smooth riding, comfortable and who knows what else as her new A4.  So, let the love begin....Sorry to doubt you, mechanics and nice new car.

Dangerous Too (?!) --- Day 7/229

Walk: No, Marin Driving Day
Distance: 0ish, Long Yoga, Pedal

So, Ciwt is seriously reconsidering her comeback to terrible golf playing.  Did she tell you she got hit by a golf ball the other day?  That's like being struck by lightening, and she may use it as her omen that it is okay to finally let go of that sport which is so fraught for her.  

Ciwt, Technician --- Day 7/228

Walk: Marin Audi, PGCC (putting, lunch, bridge)
Distance: 1/2 mile maybe

Ciwt had to take her newish car into a warranty dealer today.  Here were the problems she was encountering: tripmeter randomly reset itself back to zero, back up screen randomly refused to turn on, car wouldn't let her shift gears at random times, and a few more.  Not one about ye olde mechanical problems.

Her tech specialist was polite but clearly thought Ciwt was a crazyish lady of a certain age since nobody at the dealership had ever heard of such issues.

Well, .. at the end of the day he called to report that All of Ciwt's car issues were in fact known to the manufacturer, and fixes had been created by their technicians.  Her specialist now had a tone of respect in his voice and said he would like to keep her car longer 'to really make sure.'  Ie, maybe his client was a more reliable source of information than his manual.

Bird Obscured by Museum Goers --- Day 7/227

Walk: SFMOMA, PGCC
Distance: 4.5 miles, small yoga

 Detail: Morris Graves (American 1910-2001), Bird Maddened by the Sound of Machinery in the Air, 
1944, watercolor on rice paper

Here is why dark art can be difficult to display.  (Ie, reflection).  The full work (below) was even more difficult to capture.


Too bad because Ciwt is very drawn to Morris's art as is Wayne Thiebaud who chose this painting to be in the thoughtful, educational and intimate show of his personal selections from the SFMOMA collection now up until next spring.*

*(Wayne Thiebaud: Artist’s Choice: September 29, 2018–March 10, 2019)