Partial success

I now have a lower cable bill

    It only took about 90 minutes, but I was able to chop $60 off the bill, and now I wonder if I should have done more.

    At one point the guy asked for my id.  I gave him my driver's license and asked, "Do you need my birth certificate?"  He chuckled and said no.  He confessed to being a fellow Democrat and I urged him to vote in November.

    Oh well.

    We can still watch the Cubs, which is important.

    Not meaning to be catty, but there were 2 customers ahead of me at the  Xfinity place.  

    The person ahead of me was about my age, balding, with a beard.......and a long tail. I was tempted to ask "What the hell?" but decided it was best not to.  People should just be able to do their own thing, right?

    But a tail?

    While in DeKalb I bought more towels and stopped at Portillo's to pick up supper.

    Sometimes I think it is me, other times I know it isn't. First off, I did not know you could buy bread at Portillo's  I was told to buy a loaf of bread.

    I got to the counter (No, I will not use the kiosks to place my order, thank you.  Do you know how germy those things are?  People using the bathroom and not washing hands then ordering on the kiosk, or people who just have filthy hands in the first place.  Nope, not me.)

    Anyway, I had a request to buy a loaf of bread.  So I said to the lady, "I did not know you sold loaves of bread.  What kind is it?"  She explained that had 2 different types of bread, and described Bread 1 and then Bead 2.  

    Not knowing which, and based on her description, I said Bread 2.

    "We don't sell that." was her reply. "We only use that in the store."  What the hell??

    So I bought Bread 1.

    Julia and Emily came over for Jackie's  birthday, bringing presents and a darn great cake from Jewel. (Or The Jewels if you are from Chicago.)  

    The cake was delicious but we have a lot left.  A lot.  

    Tomorrow I hope to burn the field around 4 or so.  Cake will be served afterward to all fire stewards who attend.  Just sayin.

    The Cubs did not lose today.  It was sunny.  I had cake.  Jackie had a birthday.   Talked to Bob and Anita in Florida, and John in Chicago. All I all it was a pretty great day.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

sharks!!!

Sometimes I take on the mindset of a shark 

    I am referring to how they are voracious eaters!

    I am in binge mode right now.

    I made grilled cheese sandwiches of supper and that has left me hungry.  I feel like I need to eat something, anything, sweet, salty, sour, soft, hard, cold, hot.......anything.

    I am trying to control myself.  My friend TC has motivated me to lose a couple of pounds.  I know I can't do that and stuff my face with potato chips and cookies!  Can I?

    But it is so hard to have a lifetime of eating too much of the wrong stuff to suddenly try to eat better.  But I am trying.

    Weird weather today.  Lots of wind, a little rain, temps up, temps down.

    You know how I am in unsettled weather.  I am as jumpy as a frog on a hot lily pad.

    Changing the subject now.

    Somebody posted on Facebook that they had seen a mountain lion in DeKalb, near Annie Glidden  Road and the Tollway.

    A few years ago a mountain lion was hit and killed by a car on the tollway east of DeKalb.

    Between mountain lions and coyotes, I am now a little more nervous about taking Beth out at night.

    If this whole thing seems disjointed, I am writing on time outs during the Illini game.  

    That idea got waylaid, so I watched the game.

    At least 1 team from Illinois won today!!

    Go Illini!!

    And that's all I know.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

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.