well.......

 Sometimes life is pretty funny

    And not funny ha ha.  Or funny as in I would not eat that.

    Just funny,

    I bought a birthday card for Julia.  Came in the house with the card and envelope in a bag.  Took out the card and the envelope and gave the card to Jackie.

    The envelope has disappeared.  Vanished.  Gone.  Pfffft! Into thin air.

    I have extra envelopes, but not big enough for this card. 

    I guess we will lust put in in a brown clasp envelope.  then we will find the actual envelope

    Actually found an envelope!  But we can't write on it because then the card that was in the envelope will be without an envelope.

    I have a little Makita brand palm sander.  No, I don't sand my palms, but the sander fits the palm of my hand.

    Sanding the patio furniture  I wished I had the bag that attached to the sander.  It is black and I know I saw it in the basement.  I looked.  

    I have been sanding without the bag.  I realize now that may not be the smartest thing to do.

    First of all, there is sawdust everywhere. 

    Second of all, lots of times I turn it and it blows into my f ace.

    I looked up the model on the Makita webskite and went to parts, only to find this part is obsolete.

    OBSOLETE!!

    But they did show a picture of the RED bag that used to be on the sander.

    Tomorrow I will go back and look for a red bag.

    And I will start wearing a mask when I sand.

    Nov. 22...... a date of extreme happiness and extreme sadness.

    Julia was born this date.  That's the happiness.

    And our country forever changed when JFK was killed in Dallas.  Camelot was over.  The youth of the country was shattered, as were our hopes and dreams.

    Some dates should never be forgotten.  June 6, Dec. 7, Nov. 22, Jan.6, Nov. 11  are just a few that come to mind.

    But our country survived.  That's the good thought I am having tonight.

Peace and Love

OMG

 I had a bad experience today

    I made my daily trip to WallyWorld and in the course of my wandering, my back decided to do something that I can only describe as painful.

    It hurt to walk.  It hurt to not walk.  I found myself leaning over the handle of the cart to ease the pressure on my back.

    I was in the rear of the store, and I knew a bench was a long way away.

    After several minutes and painful steps, it went away!

    I was fine.  No pain.

    Maybe it was talking to Ken that did it, but the pain went away.

    Huh.

    When I got home I put a heating pad on my back, which may have been a mistake.  I should have iced it first.  Oh well.

    I finished sanding the patio table today.  I may start on chairs tomorrow.  Or I may not.  It all depends on my mood.  And my back.  Sometimes when I go to bed and have trouble sleeping I try to remember things.

    Like the  names of the 7 dwarves.

    Or the 8 reindeer.

    Or the characters on Modern Family.

    I'm beginning to think that is all counter productive.  I get so worked up on the names, I think I overstimulate my mind, making it harder to go to sleep.

    I  need to think of calming waters, beautiful sunsets, and having a glass of wine at Charlie's on the shores of Lake Geneva......those thoughts relax me.

    So tonight, no names.  

    By the way,  I only remember 5 dwarves and 7 reindeer.  And Modern Family?  Only about half of them.

    I may have to turn to Google for help.

Peace and Love

this and that

 Just some odds and ends from my mind

    Note to self:  No coffee after 3 p.m.  No Dr. Pepper  the same day you have coffee.  The world is quiet at 2 a.m.

    Made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving.  Jackie directed and I acted.  It looks good.  We froze it. 

    I can't find 2 gallon freezer bags at the store..

    I could not find my password notebook.  Looked everywhere.  Jackie said that maybe it fell behind the drawer.  So I pulled the bottom drawer out and looked.  this is what I found.

yikes


    Yes, this was all under the bottom drawer.  And yes, the password book was there.  By the time I found it I could not remember why I was looking for it.

    Anthony Rizzo was traded by the Cubs in 21, if I remember correctly.  He was one of my favorite players.

    Yup.  Still have it.  I guess we don't use much aluminum foil.At least it won't expire.

    

    Took a 90 minute nap before we made the pie.  It might have been 2 hours, I was tired.

    I hope I sleep tonight.  No coffee.  But the nap might keep me awake.

    I hated sitting on my back patio this summer.  Yes, it was hot.  Yes, it was humid.

    But the main reason was the table.  I did not clean it last year, or this year.  It just looked bad and felt bad, so I never wanted to sit out there.

    After the pie, and playing withe Beth, I did this.

    I sanded the table.  I finished the whole thing, but you get the idea on why I did not like sitting at it.  In the spring I will put some teak oil on it so it will look and feel great.

    I will also try sanding parts of the chairs.....the arms and backs especially.  

    For several years I have been working on a book.  I am almost finished.  I am starting to read through again to be sure all is in order.  It's a novelette.  

    

    The sun has not been out for 3 days. It is depressing.  And chilly.  And wet.

    At least there are no hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.  That's a bonus.

    Thank you for reading this.

Peace and Love

hell trip

 I had a terrible shopping day

    I went to DeKalb to pick up an order at Kohl's.

    I also had a problem with my new hearing aids.

    I replace the cones and wax filter every 3-4 weeks.  It's a fairly simple procedure, usually taking less than 5 minutes.

    Today I could not get the cones on one of the hearing aids.  I tried and tried but it would not go on.

    I figured now I had 2 reasons to go to DeKalb/Sycamore.  Throw in visiting the Hallmark store and HyVee and that is four.

    I told Jackie I would be back by 2:30, figuring 90 minutes would do the trick.

    First stop:  Audiologist.

    First problem:  Everyone is busy.  I need to make an appointment.  "How does 7 a.m. tom morrow work for you?"  she asked.  

    It didn't , I said. Then I said I would just go back home and try again.  I went out to the car and as I was sitting there, the other receptionist came out and asked, "Are you Terry?  Dr. H sent me to get you.  She will see you now."

    Seems the good doctor recognized my voice!

    She took about 5 seconds to pop the cone on.  Easy Peasy.

    Nest stop:  Kohl's to pick up my on line order.

    Evidently I deleted the e mail that said come to the store and do this.

    So I tried opening our account.

    Invalid password.

    Huh...maybe it's this. hyadayadayada

    Invalid passrod.

    This?  yadayadayada

    Invalid password.  Your account is now locked.

    Damn.  I go back to the Kohl's site and try to reset my password after supplying the needed information.

    I don't have a keypad on the phone.  Try again.  No keypad.

    By now it is 15 minutes of me trying.

    So I get in line at the check out and a young woman calls me over.  I explain what is going on and within seconds she has my keyboard up on the phone and has accessed my account.  Then she took me over to where my on line order was and made sure I got it.

    She was super!!!!

    But now I was behind.

    Opted to go to Lowe's for driveway markers.  To save time, I ask the first person I see where they are.  Turns out they are in aisle 15, bin 24 which is a 3 mile walk from where I am standing.  I don't get why they are not with the snowshvels and other winter stuff.

    I buy 10, for me and for Julia, and Emily if she needs them, check out and the guy charges me for 11.

    I tell him he is wrong, he apologizes, and says I have to go to the customer service desk, which is 1 mile from where I am standing.

    Get there, wait for the person ahead of me to finish, then get my cc credit.

    Stopped at the Hallmark store to buy 2 boxes of Christmas cards.  None of the boxed cards are printed in the US.  They all come from Vietnam.  

    By the time I left HyVee for home it was almost 4.  

    My 90 minute trip was now approaching 3 . 5 hours, which it was by the time I got home.

    Luckily Jackie was fine the entire time.

    Luckily we had leftovers for supper.

    Luckily we watched Only Murders in the Building, following the same steps we did last night but ended up with the podcast.

    Luckily this missive is done.

Peace and Love

tech times

 Damn technology has vexed me again

    Sat down to watch Only Murders in the Building.  Hit the correct episode, and the show's podcast came on.  

    Tried it again.  Hit the correct episode.  Again, the podcast telling us about the episode we have not seen.

    The third time was not the charm.

    I don't understand how we get a program that we did not want.  I gave up.

    We placed an on line order.  As I was filling in the boxes, I could only type Ja.  The keyboard did not work on the rest of the letters.

    Ok, figured the keyboard needed to be charged.

    But no! Worked for our last name.  I plugged it in anyway.

    Still did Ja.  So I  tried my name.  It did Te.  Nothing else.

    Huh.

    Finished the order and made sure all the info was correct and hit submit.  Nothing.  Hit submit again.  Nothing.

    Now I am not sure if I placed 2 orders or 1.

    Called customer service.  Talked to a nice woman who took all the information and then told me to enter Jackie's cc number, which is not heard by any human, then hit pound.  I did.

    The number dd not work.

    Did it again.

    Did not work.

    Used my cc and she said I would be called to verify the information. 

    I got the call.  I had to enter the cc number 3 more times before it was accepted.  Then the security code was not accepted.  I finally all worked, but it was vexing.

    Who knows where my cc numbers went, or to whom they went.  I assume the callers were all legitimate people and not bastards.  

    So there.

    Don't tell me how easy computers make our lives....I won't believe you!

Peace and Love

social studies part 2

 I have a funny story about social studies

    This goes back to my teaching days, when the internet was a new field for all of us.

    During inside recess during the winter, lunch ladies would allow students to play games like Oregon Trail on the computer as long as the classroom teacher did not mind.

    I said I was fine with it.

    We were also working on social studies reports of some kind.

    A principal found me and told me to get to my room and get the kids off the computers.

    I went to the room and found 3 of the 4 computers were on a porn site!!

    Two boys, really nice kids and good students, were working on the last computer and I asked them what they were doing.  They told me they typed in social studies and images of barely dressed ladies came n the screen, so they went to the next computerl

    The funny thing is....they were spelling social studies wrong!

    I quickly shut off the computers and that was the end of unrestricted use during lunch.

    I tried spelling social studies every different way possible and I could not get to the same site they did.  Research.

    The district had software to block offensive sites, but evidently whatever they typed was not deemed offensive.

    Hard to believe why last class of students will be at least 26 years old.   Time flies too quickly.

Peace and Love

    

Social studies

 WEehad a pretty social day today!

    Friends John and Kathy came out for lunch, conversation, and some wonderful desserts from a German bakery in Chicago.

    Julia joined us, but Emily was busy driving from Omaha with 2 dogs.  More on that later

    We watched the Bears pull out another one, but the Cardiac Kids are causing my BP to rise a little.

    Emily went to Denver to adopt a dog.  She flew out from the Quad Cities, rented a van and brought 2 dogs back with her.

    I went over and helped her introduce them to the rest of the group.  I hope they all get along. 

    She didn't intend to bring 2 back, but when she saw how the dogs were living she opted for both.   They are brother and sister and seemed pretty attached.

    Then Kevin, Jen and Sam came over bearing wassail!  Kevin brought a little rum for ours, but the ladies preferred it straight.  After 2 glasses I am feeling tired.

    In summary:  I did a lot of eating, talking, watching football and not walking.  My fitness tracker has reminded me of that twice this evening.

    I guess I still have time to hit my goal.  Nothing like a late stroll down a dark street.  

    Who knows, maybe I will see a meteor.

Peace and love