fun day

 We had a fun day today

    Jackie and I went to a Red Barn Theater production of Annie Jr. that starred our friend Sam!  It was a great show and Sam did a super job as Annie.

    There were about 20 kids in the cast.....it is children's theater.  I think ages were 11-18, but I am not super positive on that.

    The Red Barn is actually a red barn, retrofitted to be a theater.  It seats about 100 people and performances are free with a donation box for those wanting to give.  It's located in the country just east of Sycamore.

    Sam has been in a show there before, but we could not make that one.  I am glad we got to this one.

    Tonight friends came over and we munched and talked a lot about theater days, plays, and life in general.  We laughed, avoided politics for the most part, and caught glimpses of game 7 of the World Series.

    After folks left, we watched the last inning, but the Blue Jays could not pull it off.  Dang it!

    I am pretty tired, but it is only about 10:30.  Wait....folks left at 10:30.  

    What gives?

    Oh.....I changed clocks already.

    Fall back....spring ahead.

    It will take me weeks. to adjust.

Peace an Love

Boo!!

 Another Halloween has come and gone

    I remember as a kid in Chicago trick or treating from the time school let out until after 7.

    I loved the candy, especially M & Ms.  Plain ones.

    M & Ms are made at a plant in Topeka, Kansas.  I read the other day they produce 30 million  M & Ms every day!

    That's a lot of chocolate!

    When I taught science we used to do an activity with the fun size packets.  We would list the at the different colors. We would make a bar graph listing each color.  I would also ask if each pack had the same number of candies.

    Then I would give each student a pack.  I would ask the students to predict which color was most common.  

    Then I would have 1 student open theirs, sort. them, and count the colors.  I would put this information on the board.

    I would ask the question about which color is most common again.

    Another student would then open their pack and count the colors.  I would list it on the board and ask if we should change our opinion on which one is more common.

    Then I would have all of them open, sort by colors, count them all, write down the info so they didn't forget, and then eat them as I collected their data.

    I would list all the results on the board and then they would made a bar graph.

    Hopefully they  discovered ideas can change as data is collected and shared.

    The same plant makes Snickers.  The article  said it was 1,245 miles from Topeka to New York  and the plant produced enough Snickers that if you laid them end to end it would cover that distance 7 times.

    Pretty impressive.

    Last year we had over 30 trick o treaters, so I made plans for 40 this year because the weather was nicer.

    We had 8.

    Jackie suggested freezing the candy instead of having me eat it all over the next few days.

    I may do that, but I will hide a couple just for emergencies.

Peace and Love

A ffirst

 I did a history walk tonight

    The museum folk gathered the information and I semi organized it.  

    I thought it went pretty well for the first time.  The 8 people on the walk seemed to enjoy it.

    We actually had a nice time talking, visiting,  and hearing stories about cemeteries and headstones.

    All week I was telling Jackie I have to be at the museum at 5:30.    I told her I was leaving at 5 so I would be there in plenty of time for the 5:30 walk.

    I got to the museum at 5:10......only to discover I had done it again!  The walk was at 6:30, not 5:30.

    In the mean. time I had offered to go feed Emily's dogs at about 7, but I did not know how long the walk would take, so I asked Julia to go instead.  And it was lucky she did, because I did not get home until about 8.

    I had thought it would be about 45 minutes, but with all the talk we enjoyed, the time stretched.  Funny, some of the people on the walk knew more about cemeteries than I ever imagined!

    My walk topic was dark stories.  Not necessarily scary stories, but dark.  Macabre, if you are a Poe fan.  There was also some humor, including one joke someone described as "older than the hills."  But they laughed.

    It was also bath and trim day for Beth.

    She hates going to the groomers.

    Luckily, this time she did not drop a bomb when they ran the dryer on her hair, but she did as soon as we got into the parking lot.

    I hated to leave it there for someone to step in, so I grabbed a plastic bag from my car, scooped t up, tied it and put it in the car.

    I had to drive with the windows open.  I should have put it in a garbage can at the groomers..

    Beth  was so upset, when she got home she spent about 15 minutes in the back yard, squatting and moving, squatting and moving.

    Poor pup.

    Anyway, I am tired and feeling a little bit ill myself. We had takeout and I might have eaten too much.

    I will never learn.

Peace and Love

damn them

 We got burned on an on line order

    Jackie saw an ad and went to the website.  She ordered 4 items from Astoria Jewelry.

    When she got the items they were not as shown.

    So I asked about a refund.

    They said to send a picture.

    I did.

    They responded that the picture did not match the order, there was a "minor  deviation."

    Then silence.

    I e-mailed again.

    Silence

    I e-mailed again.

    This time they said I had to send a picture.  I. told them that was done and I wanted to return the items and have my credit card credited.

    Today they said all I have to do is fill out a form, submit the form, once it is submitted they notify me and I can return the items to China.  Not to their store.  To China.

    I replied that I don't see how they can sleep at night running a business like that, knowing that it is going to be super expensive to return the items to China.

    I also told them I wished the Bird of Happiness crapped on their heads.

    I will contact Capital One, but my guess is there is not much that can be done since the return    wwindow has now closed.  But I will try.

    Lesson learned.  Don't buy stuff from Astoria Jewelry.

    Aside from that, my day was pretty ok.  Had a hearing aid check up, in Sycamore and sometime I replaced smoke detector batteries, although I am so tired right now I don't know if I did that yesterday or today.

    I stopped in Walgreen's and there was a sign:  Buy 2 Dr. Pepper products and get 3 free.  The 12 packs were $11 each.  I checked to make sure the sign was correct, and it was.  So I bought 5 cartons of pop for $22, which is less than $5 a carton.

    Now that would not be a problem except there was similar deal at Hy-Vee last week on Pepsi products.

    Due to my inability to pass up a bargain, we now have 13 cartons of pop!

    And at Target they had buy 2 Tides, get one free.  Each one was $12, so I actually got 3 for $24, which was a great deal.

    When I die the kids are going to go, "What the hell??"

    Hopefully we will use it all before then.

Peace and Love

flexible

 If nothing else, I am flexible

    And no, I don't mean bending over to pick something up flexible.

    Or downward dog or butterfly yoga  positions flexible.

    I mean able to adjust my plans quickly.

    Emily had a dog issue today.  One of her dogs was playing too rough and ended up with a cut on its foot.  Emily took the pup to the vet, but she had to be at work.

    Someone was needed to pick up Fiona, so I offered.  That way Julia did not have to take off work.

    Jackie was feeling better, so I wasn't too worried.

    All went well.  Fiona is a good van rider!

    When I got home I texted friend Kevin to see if he had 5 or 10 minutes to move Tyson the Bison and also the grill.

    And yes, I renamed the bison.  He is now to be known as Tyson, or at least until I forget what I named him and decide to call him Todd.

    Before I left to get the dog, I ran the dishwasher.

    I had to run it because I started it last night but the soap packet did not dissolve.

    Imagine my surprise, and vexation, when I opened it to empty it and the soap packet had not dissolved.  Again.

    So I put a new packet in and ran it again.

    In the meantime I stacked breakfast and lunch dishes on the counter.

    When I opened the machine again at about 6:30 the new soap packet had not dissolved.

    I am not one for excessive water use.  But I also don't think that rinsing dishes 3 times is as good as washing them.

    So I stacked upper dishes on the counter and ran it again.  

    I said it had better work because I was not going to wash all those dishes by hand!

    The fourth time was a charm.  This time I just tossed the soap packet into the bottom of the washing bin.  I just opened it and the soap packet was nowhere to be found.

    It has to be the packets, right?  Twice the soap drawer opened and the packet fell to the bottom at some point.  One time the packet never left the soap tray.

    Are my hands wet when I touch them, causing them to stick in the drawer?  Are the packets bad?

    Is the world really round?

    I guess from now on I will just toss them into the bin.  

    But it does kind of irritate me.

    Not as much as gold plated ballrooms, but still......

Peace and Love

 

plan?

 Our lives have to be flexible

    For example:  I changed my ear appointment to Wednesday because we had help coming this afternoon  Because we had help, I was going to Rockford with a list of errands and items to purchase.

    The Fickle Finger of Fate intervened.

    Jackie has had a slight stomach issue and I did not feel comfortable going away.

    So I washed flower pots, picked up yard stuff, and damn near froze my ample butt off.

    My hands feel like sandpaper.  It must have been the water and cold that affected them, but they do feel awful.

    I tried to bring Bill the bison in, but he is too awkward to lift by myself.  I also have the grill to bring in for the winter, which is a 2 person job.  Otherwise almost all the summer stuff is in the garage.  Almost.

    The bad news is I have a huge problem with my raised bed gardens

    I used 2 2 x 12 boards for each side, making the garden 24 inches high.  One of the boards has bowed, and it is a top board, so now there is a half inch gap where the soil can "leak" out.

    And my bigger garden is bowing at the side.  No dirt comes out, but it is just a matter of time before the side collapses.

    My winter project will be one of thought.  Do I want to remove the dirt and rebuild the planters or do I just take them apart ad hot have a garden. 

    Sadly either option is a lot of work, work that this 77 year old may not be able to do.

    There is a lot of dirt that would have to be moved.  I wonder if a landscaper would be willing to do that, if they haven't all be rounded up and deported by spring.

    I took the handle off my yard sweeper to make it easier to store for winter.  There is a cotter pin that holds the handle on to the frame.  I figured to put the pin back in the bolt and leave it in the handle so I don't lose it.

    I dropped the little SOB 7 times before I finally got it in!

    At least I won't lose it until spring.

    Geez.....winter isn't even here and I am thinking spring.

    Time flies.  So do ducks.

Peace and Love

who knew?

 Sometimes I am just surprised

    Not like when I find a dusty M & M buried in the couch.  

    Or when the Bears score a touchdown.

    I am not even surprised when someone says they are not going to rip down part of a national treasure and then they rip it down.

    But I am surprised at people who buy......well, I am not sure what to call it.

    Remember Rosebud?  The sled in Citizen Kane?  The sled thrown into the fire a the end of the movie?  That Rosebud?

    It seems there are 3 surviving Rosebuds in the world and one of them sold for $14.75 million.  For a prop in a movie.  

    It doesn't seem to have any historical significance, but it does have a cultural significance.  I guess.

    Much like a pair of Dorothy's ruby red slippers that sold for about $30 million.

    Darth Vader's light saber used in the battle with Luke sold for $3.6 million.

    What??

    Can you imagine the buyers having kids? 

    Halloween is coming and junior is out with his Darth Vader costume and his dad's light saber.  (I say dad's because I don't think a woman would be inclined to spend that much money on a light saber.)

    I hesitate to guess what happens to the person who puts Dorothy's slippers on as part of their Halloween costume. 

    Winter finally comes and  little Ian wrecks his granddad's sled going down a super steep hill, only to have granddad have a massive heart attack upon seeing the wreckage of Rosebud.

    The rich are sure different from us, aren't they?

    Speaking of movies, I went to bed last night with a vision stuck in my brain. 

    It was from a movie, or book, maybe both.

    A man goes into a gypsy camp to get some help in a plot.  Two women get in an argument and they are bound at the wrists and given knives to fight to the death.  As they woman juke around each other, gunfire opens and the gypsy camp comes under attack

    The man, who I thought might be Bogart but not John Wayne, grabs the girls and saves them.  The gypsies fight off the attack and the plot continues.

    That was all I remember.

    You would think that I would not be bothered, but I was. 

    So at 2:30 this morning I Googled gypsies in movies.

    From Russia With Love with Sean Connery was on the list.

    I have seen the movie, and read the book, but I have no idea what the context was for him to be in the gypsy camp.

    But it sure kept me awake!

Peace and Love