dag nab it

 I goofed today

    The van was dirty.  I decided to go to the car wash for a quicky. (I am still talking about a car wash.)

    I had just dropped Beth off for a wash and trim, so I had plenty of time. 

    But I did not have any tokens for the car wash, so I decided to use the spray wand do it yourself section.

    I could get quarters and pay $4 for 4 minutes,  or use a  credit card.

    I am fascinated by the tap and pay feature credit cards offer.

    So when I read  "tap here to pay "I thought that was great.

    Tapped.  Sprayed the car.  Kept spraying the car.  Went to rinse.  Kept rinsing the car.

    No bell telling me I only had a minute left.

    Sprayed the car some more.

     I got tired and hung up the hose.  Hit the stop button on the timer.  I did that because I finally read the sign telling about credit card use. Then I used my phone to read the QR code telling me how much I spent.

    $14.  $14!!!!!  In the self wash!!!  The automatic is only $10 and it does a better job! 

    Jimmy Cricket.

    I bought tokens for the future.

    We have a white board on which  I write appointments.  We keep it in the kitchen.

    I wrote: 7 p.m. Good Friday service.

    Jackie has told me at least 3 times that this Friday is not Good Friday.

    3 times.

    Good grief.

    Took Beth  for a grooming.  Our girl gets a little stressed.  When I picked her up I asked how she did.  Andee looked at me and said, "I don't think she will need to poop for a while."

    The Rochelle paper has a crossword in the Wednesday paper.  The one last week gave me fits and I hoped for redemption with today's puzzle.

    Same one as last week. Go figure.  I mean, how does that happen!

    Opening day tomorrow IF Mother Nature agrees.

    Go Cubs!!

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

otis?

 This was a down then up day

    At 8 a.m. it was 32 degrees, at 4 it was 53!!!!

    That is quite a warm up.

    Imagine if the 21 degree warm up occurred in the summer.

    We could go from a 75 degree day to 96!

    I have read a couple of projections that we will have a hot, hot, hot summer.  And a dry one.

    Blame it on El Niño.

    I went outside to clean up doggie doo and took Beth with me.

    When she first came here, she would chase a tennis ball all over the yard.  One of us would throw it and she would tear after it.

    Now she won't go into the grass unless it is for bathroom purposes.

    I rolled the ball on the sidewalk today and she ran after it, caught it and brought it back.  We did that about 6 times then I threw it into the grass and she just looked at me.  Weird dog.

    It's time for me to start another to do list.

    Not that I finished the first one, I just can't find it.

    Most of what I need to do will take less than 5 minutes.  I just don't think about it, or have the desire to do it, so it doesn't get done.

    One. task will be burning off my grassy areas.  I will contact the fire department to see if they need to stand by or not.

    If not, I will recruit some people to watch the edges so the fire does not get away.  I'll have some garden hoses hooked up just in case.

    I need to pick a calm day, after a few days of sunshine to dry up everything, then I can  be a pyro for the day.

    I had a frustrating experience with AI today.  I wanted to find out when I needed a PSA test, but the AI chatbot could not understand my message.

    When I finally talked to a real person, they said I was not the only person to complain about the system.  I stressed I was not mad at the numan, but it was just a frustrating experience.

    Next time I will just ask for representative.

    I know Kathy, you told me that before.   

    And now, quick kitchen clean up then  maybe read a bit.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

winner, winner

I almost won a trivia contest tonight

    The museum held a trivia contest for its first night of the week long Chautauqua  events.

    In case you did not recognize the term, Chautauquas were  pretty common in the early 1900s and late 1890s.

    Usually, they were week long events staged in rural areas and offered  the local denizens talks on various topics.  This was in a day when there was no tv, radio.   Newspapers were active but a lot of the citizens could not read, so the Chautauqua offered learning experiences.

    I also think Chautauqua is one of the few words that has three combinations of a and u in the same word:  au, au, ua.  

    Anyway, I digress.

    Some of the questions I missed were hit yourself in the head questions.

    Like....A.G.B. invested this device in 1876 (I don't remember the exact year, you get the point) and we still use it today.

    Anheiser Gustav Busch was not the answer, but Alexander Graham Bell was.  

    The answer to another question was Marilyn Moore. and the follow up question was what was her real name?

    Hating to leave any answers blank, Wilma Flintstone was my guess.  I was wrong.  I could not remember Norma Jean whatever.  And why would I?  I can't even remember the name of a person I have known for years!

    It was a lot of fun.  Jackie did not go because the museum is tight for space and getting in and out is no picnic in a wheelchair.

    I did know what 2 former presidents died on July 4, 1826....Jefferson and an Adams.  Just don't. remember which Adams.

    There were 50 possible points, I had a 32.  I am looking at the score as 32 out of 40, because a 10 point question was;  The first computer was UNIAC.  What does that stand for? 

    Two of us had 32.  I conceded the tie breaker.

    And if you want to know, you will have to Google it.  I think I spelled it correctly, but maybe not.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

 

repeat after me

 We went to see Gilligan's Island the Musical 

    VCCT staged the show and it was good.  The house was packed!  Extra chairs were brought in for the crowd, which was a decidedly older group.

    To be honest, I never liked the TV show.  I felt Gilligan was just too stupid to be believable.

    I know, it was not a believe it type sit com.  

    The folks today did a very good job.  They nailed down certain mannerisms from the tv show and that was a nice touch.

    Friend Dan and I had our own 3 hour tour once upon a time.

    I think I already told this story, but I am old and tend to repeat things.

    In 2011 Dan and I spent a month in France.  We stayed in a small town, St Chamas, in the southern part of the country.

    Close to where we stayed was the Camargue, an area that had lots of salt flats, flamingoes, wild horses and I think  wild cattle, although that seems a little fuzzy.

    We booked a 3 hour tour of this natural area.

    There were several of us on the tour.  We boarded the Land Rover open sided vehicle to see the sights.

    Our first main stop was at a small pond, or river, where we got out to look at something.  Yeah, I know.  But his was 15 years ago.  Give me a break!

    As we started to re board, I heard the guide yell, "Merde!!!"  (Roughly translated that means shit,)

    The vehicle had a flat tire.

    One would think if you are driving tourists out into a wilderness area for a 3 hour tour on a very hot day that a spare tire would be an item to have on board.

    Mai non!

    No spare.  The closest spare was in London evidently because we sat there for a long time, in the heat.  No shade.

    Eventually a replacement vehicle arrived.  The spare tire never did.

    I think we sat there for an hour.  We were all hot and a bit grumpy.  Ok, I was hot and a bit grumpy.

    How in the hell could they not have a spare?

    Anyway, the replacement vehicle did not look safe enough to be driven on highway, let along through a natural preserve.

    But on we went.

    We stopped at a water hole where there were dozens of flamingos.  

    The guide  got out and said, "Be careful and follow me."

    I was careful to walk in his footsteps out to near the water where I got some neat pictures.

    As we walked back to the hulk I asked him why we had to be so careful.

    He answered, "Poisonous snakes."

    All in all it was a nice tour, although I don't know what parts we missed because of the tire.

    I was just glad he mentioned the poisonous snakes on the way back, because I would have turned around and not gotten some photos.

    So, lesson is:  Be careful of 3 hour tours.  And always have a spare.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

    

fondue, baby

 I had fondue for the first time in a while today

    Julia had Jackie, Emily, me, Dan and Linda for fondue.

    I had a great time visiting with Dan and Linda.  Have not seen them for a few months and it was great to see them.

    Fondue was excellent, as always.  Plus, we had some raclette too because Jackie is not a fondue person.

    We even took Beth with.....and she enjoyed all the attention.

    For the first time in a long while I slept like a log last night!  Beth did not wake me, but Jackie did when the cuckoo hit 10.  I guess the long walk yesterday tired out Beth and me.

    Dang if it wasn't a lovely day today, too.

    Hopefully this is the start of nice, warmish, moderate, some rainfall, season.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace.

spring

 I enjoyed the first day of spring

    In keeping with traditions long ago established, I danced in my underwear at 9:36 this morning.

    Yes, I was on the patio, but I don't think anyone saw me.  

    I picked that time because that is when  the equinox occurred. .  I think.  

    Butt  I used the occasion to dance.

    I think it was coincidence that a car ran off the road, and the squirrel that normally raids my bird feeder dropped dead right in front of me..  

    I say they were unrelated to my dance.

    You may or may not see it on tick box, or whatever it is called.  If someone recorded it, you will see it.

   I took Beth on a walk down to the end of the block and back.  I thought it ws important to say and back lest anyone think I left her at the end of the block.

    Now, on walks Beth has a tendency to drop a load.  Or 2.  Sometimes 3.

    I carry bags and I never let her do it in a yard with a house....only empty lots.

    Those are getting fewer and fewer,

    Anyway, she kept pulling toward grass and I kept saying wait until we pass the houses. 

    Evidently she could not wait and dropped a load in the middle of the road.

    Yes, I cleaned it up.

    We did get to  a field and she dropped another load.

    I picked that up too.

    We met Howie, who was out for a walk with his owner.  Howie and Beth spent several minutes sniffing each other as the humans talked.  She behaved very nicely.  We humans did not sniff each other.

    As I was walking 2 girls, about 12 or 13, whizzed past me on their bikes.

    It bothered me because they were e bikes and neither girl was pedaling.   Bikes for young people should be for exercise.  

    Maybe I'll get mine down this weekend and show them how it's done.

        I am sort of on Ancestry.  I stopped my subscription, but they keep sending me notifications about hints.

    Today the e-mail said "You have a hint about your fat......"

    Hell, I don't need hint about my fat!!  I know about my fat!!!  It's from potato chips, French fries, chocolate, ice cream, cookies and cupcakes.  

    Hint about my fat.  How dare they?

    Spring has sprung.  Warm weather is in the air.  Baseball season is about to begin. Optimism is filling the air.

    I need to take advantage of all of it.  Maybe I can lose some of the fat Ancestry is obsessed about.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

Learning something new

 WNIJ Radio is the place to learn something new every day

    I learned several things today. Sort of.

    Going back to Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad, the last chapter  I read has him in Milan.  He visited the cathedral and the painting of the Last Supper.

    The book was written in 1869, so obviously things have changed.

    In the cathedral he was impressed by all the statues and glass windows and the viewing of the riches held by the church.

    But he was not impressed by the Last Supper.

    He said the figures were lifeless, faded, chipped and scuffed by horses that were stabled in the building.

    I think we visited in 2011 and I honestly have no recollection of the cathedral!  I remember standing in front of it, but can't remember going into it.

    But the Last Supper was amazing.  I think in the past 100+ years it had been restored.

    I don't know what a "life skills university "is, but High Point is and it beat Wisconsin in the NCAA madness.  The school has lots of graduate degree programs, offering doctorates in pharmacy, dentistry, education, leadership and other areas.

    But what makes it a "life skills university"?  

    I learned it is in High Point SC, and the campus looks very nice. But I am clueless on the life skills description.  

    A woman at the University of Minnesota was part of a study and produced a paper.  She had a hyphenated last name, which is not unusual.  But the name was Wrigley-Field.  

    Now I did not Google her name, and the study seemed rather believable.  Just strange.

    I don't  remember what the study was about.  

    Jackie and I had hair appointments today.

    She also had a library board meeting tonight.

    She did not feel right, and I suggested Zooming the meeting.

    But she said no, so we went.

    No quorum.  No meeting.  

    Getting her in and out of the van is a lot of work.  I am pretty tired tonight.

    If I  had read the e-mail sent this afternoon we probably would have zoomed it.

    Check e -mail during the day.  

    Lesson learned.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace