Somebody in our neighborhood Facebook group posted a silly question that said more or less “how come everybody around here is driving a blue Suzuki Swift?”

That post got a lot of comments, mostly people trying to make funny jokes, but some people seriously trying to come up with reasons why, such as pointing out that one of the car repair shops has a few of them for its loaner fleet.

But a few commenters pointed out that this is an example of the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon (more prosaically known as Frequency Illusion). I’ve read enough popular neuroscience / cognition stuff that I’m sure I must’ve learned about this at some point, but if so I’d completely forgotten. Basically, if you find your attention drawn to something unusual like the Baader-Meinhof gang or a blue Suzuki Swift, you’ll suddenly see it everywhere. The illusion is the belief that there are actually more of the thing… probably not, it’s just that you’re noticing what was there all along.

And it’s true! We now can’t leave the house without seeing one or more of these little gems. There are at least three different blues on the road, and a shade of green that could be counted in a pinch. I’ve seen two simultaneously on the freeway, and three in a parking lot.

Plus, it’s kinda fun to say: blue Suzuki, blue Suzuki, blue Suzuki Swift!

After the storms passed, we stayed out of the water for a couple of weeks to let the pollution dissipate… all the sewer lines overflowed, and whole hillsides full of 150 years of modern life’s byproducts washed into the bay.

But eventually it seemed safe enough, and our little band of sea swimmers got back in to enjoy paddling around in what’s left of summer. Now, we’re eagerly awaiting daylight savings time next week (or the week after? I know when Flag Day is, but somehow the beginning and end of DST is something I have to look up every single year) because we can get a swim in before work for a few more weeks.

How many years ago did we play Sim City on our PC? Maybe 25? However long ago, there’s a piece of that game that has become part of the family lexicon… if you needed to build more roads, the little news helicopter would fly across the screen and give you a burst of static that sounded like “Grzbd crizzdr traffic.”

And that’s what I’ve said to myself a few times lately, as in the picture here. I’m only driving in commute traffic a couple days per week to go to swim squad. If I leave at 6:20, I’m golden, but by 6:30 the road between home and the freeway is backed up a mile or more.

Since we moved to this house during COVID and it’s aftermath of working from home, we don’t know what to expect long term. I’ve heard other people say that February is the worst traffic month, because it’s back to school time after the summer holidays. But there’s really only one way out of the neighborhood, which only has one lane for cars — the other lane was changed to 3+ carpools and buses only some years ago. And the population is growing, soooo… expect delays or take the bus.

And what about the bus? It’s pretty convenient actually, and cheap. But it’s still a longer trip than the car on any but the very worst traffic day, let’s say an extra 20 minutes each way. When I’m trying to squeeze in a swim before work, those 40 minutes feel like a real burden. So for now I’ll just try to leave on time and every so often I’ll say “Grzbd crizzdr traffic.”

It’s been five weeks plus since my last post. I think that’s the longest gap in blogging in the more than a decade I’ve been doing this.

Life is a gentle whirlwind these days… work, including more trips to Wellington, has been busy. Work-related extracurriculars like HL7 are also occupying some time. We’ve done some weekend projects around the house, gone to a couple of shows, had some dinners out. Pétanque! Swimming! Lee’s got a Tuesday yoga group and has just started volunteering at the library. I’ll catch up with some thoughts about those things in separate posts.

It does seem a bit privileged to be writing in my diary about how I’ve been too fully occupied with basically fun things to write in my diary. We read and hear so much about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and no doubt it is. Just not here, yet.

Fairy houses everywhere! This little treehouse has a ladder to get in.

This volunteer vine suggests that while the worm farm does a great job of turning our food scraps into good looking black stuff to put on the garden, it doesn’t necessarily kill every seed! Unlike a traditional compost pile, the worm farm never gets hot.

But all good! We’re looking forward to enjoying some pumpkin this fall 😀.

January 18… We are very proud great-aunts/uncles to Miss Austin Clark Robertson.

After a wonderful visit with cousin-in-law Elizabeth (during which I completely failed to take any pictures), it’s back home again.

This friendly jackrabbit sits in the airport terminal as you head toward your flight. Legions of kids pass by it every day. It struck me as somehow wrong that in this metropolis so singularly devoted to pleasuring visitors you can’t climb on the rabbit. That rabbit is exactly the right size to be climbed on! My favorite memory of visiting the La Brea tar pits is of climbing on the giant sloth statues outside. Kids want to climb on statues! #climbtherabbit could become the rallying cry for a whole generation of kids who want to break the bonds of xBox. Or not.

Goodbye Strip! And PS, it was way easier to crop this picture to show you the RUMP hotel than to photoshop in something like FASCIST ASSHOLE, so I did. Maybe not quite as impactful, but still.

I don’t know exactly how many times I’ve been to Vegas… maybe a dozen? It’s spectacular, no question. But these days it takes a real effort for me to actually get excited about the pleasures on offer. Gambling in particular has lost its appeal for me… I used to really look forward to an hour at the slot machines. But these days, meh. Even though it’s legal and convenient to go to the casino in Auckland, I never do. Which I guess is a good thing for the possibility of retiring some day… it sure is easy to lose your money quickly!

The giant lily got so fragrant that it had to go outside.

Gardening supervisor.