almost

 I have  several things in the almost done stage

    And it is the little things that frustrate the hell out of me.

    For example:  I have a fountain on the porch.  Every time I connect the hose to the pump and lower it into the water, the hose disconnects.

    I found a tiny, tiny clamp I can put on it. but I can't hold the clamp and screw the tightener at the same time.  I tried several times before giving up.  I just need a third hand.

    My patio table is ready.  But I can't move it by myself.  Hopefully one of the girls will have about 10 to 15 minutes to finish both tasks.

    Emily said she would drop over tomorrow sometime, so I should be able to get those 2 things done.

    Took a whole bunch of stuff to shred day at a local bank.

    Surprisingly, there were not a lot of people there. One of the guys said they were busy earlier, but that had slacked off.

    They do this once a year,  Another bank is doing one in 2 weeks.

    Seems to me they need to coordinate better and spread the days farther apart.

    Not to get political, which I seldom do in this little missive.  

    But what is being done to the White House is simply outrageous!

    The People's House used to be a beautiful icon of our country.

    Now. the Rose Garden is gone, the East Wing is a pile of debris, and worst of the worst is whatever the hell is being built to host ultimate fighter matches.

    What an embarrassment.

    You know who is going to have to pay for all of this.....you, me and countless others who never wanted their White House desecrated in such a manner.

    End of my rant.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

It has begun

 The summer of our discontent

    Cubs playing terribly.  Dry, hot weather burning up yards and stressing trees. 

    The war at home.

    No, I am not talking about Iran.  I am talking about The Thermostat War.

    We have 2 settings for the AC:  Too hot or too cold.

    Set it at 74 she says.

    Too hot.

    Set it at 72 she says.

    Too cold.

    I like it at 72...she sits with a sweatshirt on and complains it is too cold.

    I think it is funny how our body reacts. 

    In the winter 72 is quite comfortable and at night sleep seems best at 68.

    But it is too cold in the summer with those temperatures.

    Jackie has allergies, so opening windows at night is not an option.  When she could still walk, I sometimes would go into the other bedroom, open the windows, and sleep in there.  That stopped when Julia came home.

    Now I can't because with my lousy hearing I would never be able to hear her in the middle of the night.  Or Beth either.

    The problem is the house gets so hot at about 4.......no setting seems to be the optimum at that time of day.

    At least no one gets hurt in The Thermostat War.  

    Just sometimes a little cold.  Or hot.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

A mental trip

We went to the South Pacific today 

    Well, not the South Pacific, but the musical currently at the Paramount Theater in Aurora.

    Jackie, Emily, Renee and I made the matinee after a nice lunch at a restaurant almost next to the theater.  I think it was the Art Box?  But maybe not.

    Anyway, South Pacific was written in 1949 and was a smash hit.  (Thanks, Wikipedia)  A movie was made in 1958 and I do believe my mom took me to see it at the Music Box.  I think.  I know I saw the movie and loved the music.

    In high school, I remember the chorus singing Some Enchanted Evening in concert.  

    And VCCT did the show in Atwood Park several years ago.  I was much younger and had a small role.  

    The Paramount production was great!  The set, lighting, performers.....I was pretty impressed.

    Two of the main characters were talking about the women they loved but marriage was not in the cards because of cultural issues, such as marrying someone not of your background even though you loved them.

    I copied the lyrics from one of the songs.

You've got to be taught

From year to Year

It's got to be drummed

in your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught

To be Afraid

Of people whose eyes

are oddly made

And people whose skin

Is a different shade

You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught

Before it's too late

Before you are 6 or 7 or 8

To hate all the people

your relatives hate

You've got to be carefully taught

    Written in 1949, the lyrics still run true today.

    Some things we need to stop teaching.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

Big Boy

Big Boy came to town today 

    No, not the hamburger chain from years past, but the gigantic steam locomotive on the UP line.

    Big Boy is over 130 feet long.  That is almost half a football field!  There were 41 of them produced in 1941, but this is the only one still operating.  It is billed as the largest operating steam engine in the world.

    No, it does not burn coal or wood.  It uses diesel fuel to heat the water to steam, which drives the engine.

    Last year Big Boy was in Rochelle for half a day.  It stopped at the intermodal yard west of town and drew a crowd estimated by some at over 50,000.

    But today it only made a whistle stop .  It stopped at a packed railroad park in town for 15 minutes, then continued on its journey.

    Julia went with.

    While waiting for the train, which was behind schedule, we struck up a conversation with a man from Racine Wisconsin.  He brought his young son to see this piece of history before it disappears.

    They stopped at Franklin Grove to see the train, then headed to Rochelle to see it again.

    It was pretty cool.

    Now for something not cool.

    I have been cutting up my old raised garden wood into 4 foot lengths.  

    For the past 3 weeks I have loaded them onto my yellow yard cart and put them out by the street for Tuesday's trash collection.

    Beth was barking like mad at 4:30 or 5, so I got up to let her out.

    My yard cart was gone!

    I checked the trash can and it was still full.  So the trash people did not take it.

    I guess someone just assumed I was getting rid of the cart.

    I got in my van and drove the neighborhood, looking for the wood or cart but to no luck.

    Those carts are not cheap, either.

    And when I get a new one, I sure as hell won't put it out by the street!

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

take this job

 I was drifting back in time today

    For some reason, I started thinking about all the jobs I have had in life.

    Newsboy, 2 grocery stores, deli worker, postman, pharmacy tech, day laborer, reporter, editor, seed corn plant laborer, pea picker,  food service worker, and finally teacher.

    True, most of them were summer or fill in jobs until a real job came along.

    Newspapers and teaching involved the bulk of my work years.

    All of the jobs provided me with some positive moments.  And truthfully, I did not hate any of them.  Some I did not like as much, but I did not hate them.

    I even learned some things.

    At Funks I learned to play a game of euchre in 15 minutes.

    At Jewel I learned Sparkle glass cleaner looks a lot like grape Nehi, but does not have. the same taste.

    While picking peas for DelMonte, I learned putting a tractor towing a combine in neutral while going downhill is not a smart idea.

    As a postal person, I learned the importance of carrying dog spray on you, not leaving it hanging on your mail cart 15 feet away.

    I also think about dream jobs I wish I had had, but am glad I did not.  Baseball announcer, actor, lawyer, politician to name a few.

    I would have loved to host a talk show like Johnny Carson.  Or a game show like Pat Sajack.

    I think of kids today an d wonder what they consider dream jobs.  Computer game designer, computer programmer, writer, artist, musician, ball player?

    I always chuckled when I asked fifth  grade boys what they wanted to do in life and most of them picked a sport.  The shortest ones always picked basketball for some reason.  I always told them that was great, but have a back up plan in case sports does not work out.

    Girls were nurses, teachers, attorneys, doctors and one girl told me she wanted to be a truck driver.

    Of all, truck driver seemed the most stable because so much moves by truck.   But it is a hard life, being on the road for hours and days at a time, eating fast food, not seeing family, dealing with crazy drivers.

    Anyway, yesteryear bounced out of nowhere today.

    It was kind of nice to remember the times and a lot of the people that filled them.

   

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

well.....

The garden is planted and watered

    I  planted 2 types of beans, 2 types of cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and a pepper plant.

    I figure these will be one darn expensive batch of vegetables!

    I have some area left.  Thought about planting lettuce of some type, but have not really decided.  I mean we will have carrots, tomatoes, cucumber....all we need for a salad is lettuce.

    The birds were watching me intently.  I imagine they will be pecking out the seeds as we speak.

    Sigh.

    We have itty bitty black flies in the bathroom.

    I read on line they come from the shower drain, and I should clean it out.

    I absolutely hate doing that.  All the hair the is stuck in there.....that is one thing  that makes me sick.

    We have never had them before and now I feel like we are dirty people.  

    That's on tomorrow's schedule.

    Also on the schedule is the possibility of rain!

    That would be very welcome.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

\

The wooden bins were starting to fall apart

I still have some clean up to do in the yard.  Hopefully these do the trick!

not diggity dog

 I need to focus on the positives in life

    The beautiful day.  My family.  My friends. Our dog.

    Sometimes the negatives just get in the way.

    Like when I went out to plant today. 

    I laid out the stakes, strung the string, and realized it was almost 2 and we had a graduation party in DeKalb at 3.

    I decided to hold off on the planting until we got back.

    Then I could put up the sprinklers, attach the timer, plant everything, test the system and watch it grow.

        We got home a little after 6.  By. the time I fed the dog, got Jackie settled, and was ready to venture out it was a little before 7.

    We had a nice time at the party.  We saw church friends we have not seen for a while and had some awesome brisket and pulled pork.  The food was cooked by friend Jamie and it was great.  I did not get to enjoy all my macaroni and cheese because a big gust of wind sent my plate flying.

    As soon as we rolled up, people asked if we  needed help.  I looked at the slight hill into the party area and said yes, and a nice man pushed Jackie up and then a couple of long girls gave up their seats so she could pull up to a table.

    When we left, a lady helped wheel her down the hill.  I said we could just let her go and catch her at the bottom, but Jackie said no.

    I have a digital watering timer.  Uses Bluetooth.  I can sit in the house and control the timer.  I usually set 2 watering devices to run in the morning.  

    I can't find the timer.

    I looked high and low, but no timer.

    I went to Ace, where I bought it last year, but they did not have any.

    So I ordered one on Amazon. 

    I just got a little pissed at myself and got out of the planting mood.

    But tomorrow is another day.  

    And it will get done.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace