busy, busy, busy

I did a ton of errands t today

    In addition to people coming in 4 mornings a week, we have someone coming in for 4 hours on the second Tuesday of the month.

    That was to give me a little relax time, where I could ride my bike, climb a mountain, or have a cameo in the latest movie being filmed in Rochelle.

    So today I ventured to Rockford. I took Jackie's ankle sport boot in for repairs and waited 45 minutes. 

    I took the treadmill in for recycling and waited about 15 minutes.  This place had stacks and stacks of tvs, microwaves, dehumidifiers, air conditioners....... and that is not even talking about the mountains of computer parts! I was truly stunned by how much was there.  A vehicle in front of me had 3 humongous tv sets.  These were not the ultra thin ones, but the huge behemoths that take 2 men and a fork lift to handle.  And most of the stuff you drop off is free, except for microwaves, tvs, and anything with a refrigerant in it.  Even then the prices were $20 at the most.

    I stopped at the dealership where bought our van to ask what can be done about the update available message I get every time I start the car.  Turns out, nothing.  Seems to me a young lady was presented the same problem at the same dealership a few months ago  and within 10 minutes had fixed the problem.  I should have asked for her.

    Next I stopped at a nursery to buy a butterfly bush.  I had 3 in one space, but 2  did not come back this year.  I opted to only plant 1 since I have gone through about 5 of them now, with only one surviving.  And the leaves on the survivor look nothing like the leaves on the one I just planted.  We'll see,

    By this  tine it was past 3.  I still had a grocery store stop, but I wasn't buying a lot so that was a quick run in.  20 minutes later, I ran out.

    And yes, I did get a coffee....although I may regret that at 2 am. tomorrow.

    Jackie then asked me to bring home supper, a good move since I had nothing planned and it was late.   I went to Portillo's.

    So my day to do relaxing stuff never actually materialized,  But in a sense, that was ok.  I got some errands done without having to worry about Jackie being at home alone, and that in itself was a vacation.

    But a weird thing may have happened.  When I entered the recycling center, the nice lady asked me what I had and my zip code.  After she wrote it down, she told me where I should go, then  I THOUGHT she said, "Terry, go behind that truck."

    But I don't hear too clearly with background noise.  And I did not ask her to repeat because there was a line behind me and honestly, it did not hit me until I drove about 15 feet.  I would have had to get out of the van and ask her what she said, which seemed a bit weird.

    That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Peace and Love

whew!!

 That old treadmill gave me quite a workout today

    I really worked up a sweat!

    We have not used it for at least 12 years, but today I got a lot of exercise.

    I loaded the damn thing in the van.  By myself.

    "Call someone."  she said.

    I can do it, I replied.

    "Call Kevin!" she said.

    I can do it, I replied.

    15 minutes later, I got it into the van.  

    Yes, I should have called someone.

    Yes, I am 77 and can't do stuff like that anymore and I should be smarter.  But it is in the van.

    My plan for unloading it is to drag it towards the back, make sure no one is in front of me, and hit the gas so the damn things is propelled from the van.

    I was at Julia's to help with a couple of things. today.  As we were standing in t he driveway, a huge bug came buzzing by.  It landed on my pants and crawled into my pocket!

    I was hoping it was not a stinging insect, because that was an area of the body that I would not like to be stung in.

    I pulled out my phone, a piece of paper, and then the bug, which was some kind of beetle, and not  the kind that play music.

    He dropped to the ground and took off again.

    But I am wondering why attracted him to my pocket.....it did not hesitate, just crawled right in.

    Hmph.

Peace and Love

On of the presents for Father's Day

left overs

 There are left overs I do not like

    Such as the ones the person is firing off on July 6.  

    I assume they are left overs from July 4, and I guess if you have driven all the way to Wisconsin and bought them, you have to use them.

    I wonder if they are the same people who complain about the high cost of gas.  

    I have had left overs a couple of times.  Friday and tonight, to be specific.  

    We went out for Chinese Thursday night and I had some cashew chicken and Szechuan chicken left.  I know that is not spelled correctly, but I am hoping no one reading this knows how it is spelled and will think I am super good at spelling.  And if it is spelled correctly then give me a star!)

    Jackie also had left overs, but hers was half a burger from last night.

    I am just about at my limit of things I can make that are edible.

    Tomorrow night I am making a hamburger over noodles dish, which I like and Jackie tolerates. 

    I need to find easy dishes, with little clean up, that I can do.  If that sounds like I am lazy, well, partly I am.  But I have a lot to do around here.  The easier it is to can make my life, the happier I will be.

    Speaking of happy, we had 1.4 inches of rain!  I won't have to water for a couple of days.  Plus the temp is down, although the humidity still seems to be up.  

    Little Beth slept with us last night.  She does not like to go out when it is dark and she can hear fireworks.

    Makes me wonder what her previous life involved.

    But she is safe with us.

Peace and Love

finally!!!

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain 

    I think we've got it!

    By Jove we got it!!!

    We are having a steady rain right about now, which is probably creating havoc for the city fireworks.  They usually start around 9, but it has been raining for a few minutes.  I suppose that means they will shoot them off tomorrow night.

    Beth slept with us last night.  Right now she is sticking close by one of us.  She is not shaking, but I know she is scared.  Last night when we went out at about 10 she took 2 steps, heard a couple of bangs, went right back into the house and jumped on the bed by Jackie.

   It's funny.  It is after 9 and I can not remember doing anything today.  I did drive to Julia's to make sure her garage was shut.  The girls had a shopping trip to an antique mall, but I can't imagine any of them buying something more.  But that is me.

    Anyway, she got up there and did not remember if she closed her garage door.  So I went over to check.  It was closed.  Not wanting it to be a wasted trip, I went to the Village Bakery in Oregon and got a coffee and some cookies.

    I let Emily's dogs out, came home, watched part of the Cubs game and. that was about it.  I just finished folding the towels I washed this morning, but I have not yet emptied the dishwasher.  I went to do that this morning, but for the second time in a week, the soap dis not dissolve.  Damn it.

    I did spend A LOT of time on the Texas flooding situation.  That is so tragic.

    I believe I saw or read the city manager say they had investigated putting in a flood warning system, like our tornado warning system, but it was deemed too expensive.  That decision backfired.

    Seems to me if a river often floods with a heavy rain, stone sort of warning for a 10 inch. rain would be prudent.  

    But that does nothing to comfort families who have lost children, parents, or  others. 

    Beth is in bed with Jackie and the city seems to be setting off  the fireworks.

Peace and Love

    

progress

 I did 2 things today!

    I know...big deal!!  But they kind of were.

    I downloaded an app. to my phone!  All by myself!!  

    I used to have Map My Ride on my phone, but it wasn't there anymore.  So I went to the App Store, found it, and downloaded it.  Then I used my e mail and password to get into th app!  

    I am excited!  You can tell by all the exclamation marks!!

    I rode my bike today, again.

    I just rode down to the end of the street and back.  It is only a mile, but I did not ride very much last year and my legs are not in great shape yet.

    On the way back I turned around at our corner and said to myself:  Don't ride off the road.l. Don't ride off the road.

    As I headed to the grass, I kept saying:  Steer toward the road.

    And. then I went farther into the grass.  By now I was about 6 feet from the road so I just got off my bike and walked it back to the pavement.

     To recap:  downloaded an app.  Went off the road but did not crash.

    Huzzah!!!!

    Hope you all had a great Fourth of July.  It was strange here because it was only Jackie and me.  And no-one has called us, despite the weather service telling people to check up on the elderly when it is hot.

    Dog Beth is frightened by the fireworks.  It is 11 now and she is up in bed with Jackie.  I took her out about 30 minutes ago and as soon as she got out the door, there were some bangs and she turned around and went straight to our bedroom.

    I hope tomorrow night is quieter.

Peace and Love

left vs right

 I was truly perplexed today

    Jackie, Julia and I were going out to eat, meeting friends in DeKalb for Chinese.  (If you know  the area, you know the restaurant.)

    I put my hearing aids in and said to Julia, "What is that noise?'

    I swear, it sounded like a giant fan, like one of those used in animal barns to keep the air circulating and the animals cooler.

    She looked at me like I was nuts.  (I look I often get from people.).   The only noise she heard was the AC running.  (Hell, to be honest, it was galloping, not  just running.  Can't wait until 96 on Saturday. )

    I went to a different part of the house, the noise was even louder!

    Jackie did not her it.  Julia did not hear it.  Was I going crazy?  The noise was deafening!

    In search of an answer, I took out my hearing aids.

    I discovered I put the right aid in my left ear.

    Now, that is a big deal because the right one is programmed differently.  It magnify sounds much more that the left one.

    Once I put the thingies in their correct ears, the noise disappeared.  All I was hearing was the AC running, but at a much louder volume than I should have heard it.

    And dinner was great.

    Plus the Cubs won.  Whoever came up with the idea of selling big W flags sure hit the nail on the head.  Every game, there seems to be more and more coming out.

Peace and Love

dis and dat

Kind of a WTH day today

    We have help coming in 4 days a week from 8 to around 11.

    Today I had planned to get on the old bike and ride around the block, which I have not done in over a year.

    But I had such a hard tine getting to sleep last night, I laid down in my recliner.....and slept until 11.

    I did ride after supper.  Granted, it was only 1 mile, but at least I got on the bike.  Last year I barely rode because I was constantly dizzy and did not want to fall off.  This year I am constantly lazy.  Hoping that changes.

    I went to the store today.  I go a lot, because it seems if I buy fruit on Monday, by Wednesday it is no good.  So I go every other day, mainly for fruit.  I have the darndest time with raspberries....they seem to spoil on the way home.  At one point in my life I was so fed up with that I started buying frozen raspberries, but they just do't taste the same.

    Replaced the batteries in my sensors for the security system.  I keep getting a message that one window needs a new battery, even though I just put it in.  I know I have to reset the system. so tomorrow's challenge will be figuring out how to do that.

    I mowed  the field today.  While the grass in my yard has not grown, the weeds in the field have, so I spent an hour doing that.  

    I watered the new trees and part of the slope, where there are lots of flowers.

    I keep reading advice about watering and you are not supposed to do it at night.  The logic just does not hit me, because it rains at night.  I don't see the difference between watering and raining at night.

    We are at the beginning of a warming trend.  Temps should be in the 90s by Saturday.  One forecast says rain Saturday, another forecast says no rain.

    We have a friend in Colorado and they experienced a hail storm last week.  They told me Colorado was the hail capital of the states.  Sounds like a good reason to move there and become a roofer.

    I'd rather have heat  than hail.

    With that, hail and farewell!

Peace and Love