surfin USA

 Watching voting results.....pretty interesting

    Unless Repedocans steal the election, I. think a blue wave is approaching the shore.

    And that is my last political comment.  Usually I don't make any, conserving my space to entertain, and perhaps inform my many readers.

    Or, the 5 or 6 who do read this.

    There is a company in SanFrancisco hiring dog walkers for $20 an hour.  

    The catch?  They are robotic dogs!

    They have to be trained to recognize hazards, like fire hydrants and lamp posts.  

    I have no idea why.  Is someone going to release a pack of robotic dogs with AI that will eventually devour mankind?

    And when I was a kid, we called them fire plugs.  Not hydrants.  

    In any case, the walkers won't have to pick up doggy waste.  And the hydrants won't be constantly wet.

    Speaking of waste, the Bears traded for a defensive lineman, who proved to be a game changer in their Monday night win.

    What was most endearing to me was the report of Jeffrey Simmons  alone in the locker room, picking up plastic bottles team mates had left behind.  

    He helped clean the locker room!

    I have only seen him play one game, but I am a fan for life.

    I burned some Italian sausage for dinner tonight.  No, I. really burned it.  To a crisp. 

    I served it with spaghetti and green peppers and the meal left me totally unfulfilled.

    Such is life.

    Rainy days are terrible.  Jackie and I both fell asleep around 3:30 for an hour or so.  Now I am fully awake.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

carrot blues

I dealt with carrots this afternoon 

    I set up a little work area in the garage and trimmed the ends off the carrots, then peeled them.

    Tomorrow will cut them, blanch them, and freeze them.

    I did get a chill sitting in the garage.  I had one door open a nd the wind must have changed toward the end.

    I took all the trimmings and shavings out to my compost bin.  In the dark.  On foot.

    I did not  fall.

    I also threw $30 away today.  I mean, I bought seed to fill in the bare spots in the yard.  I have done this several times and the bare spots persist.  I don't get why I have areas that just don't grow grass.

    We had a helper this morning, so at 10:30 I settled into my chair to take a 45 minute nap.  Then I was going to get up, fold the sheets, fold my clothes, do the carrots, seed the lawn.

    My alarm went off.......but I did not.  I slept until 12:45. 

    By the time I got dressed, it was already 2 and I was running out of daylight.  

    This time change is tricky for me.

    Going to bed at 11:30 is like going to bed at 12:30. so you'd think I would fall asleep.  Not so.

    I asked Jackie last night if she heard the basement detector chirping.  She said no.

   When I finally woke up, she said I had to change the battery because the chirping kept her awake last night.

Without my hearing aids, I did not hear a thing.

    I fixed it today.  I just did not have the batteries in correctly.  Now I do and the chirping has stopped.

    Mission accomplished.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

chirp....chirp

 I replaced batteries in our smoke detectors

    I try to do that during Fire Prevention Week, but somehow it slipped past.

    I always have trouble with  1 detector. 

    It's never the same one.  But one always gives me fits.

    All but 2 take 9 volt batteries.  The ones that detect carbon monoxide and talk take AA batteries, 2 of them.

    For some reason this year, I can't get the basement one to stop chirping.  

    I can hear it.  Jackie can't.  So either it is stuck in my head and not chirping in real life, or Jackie just can't hear it.

    This is how my mind works.

    I was changing the one in our bedroom.  I have to use a ladder because we have a trey ceiling, or something like that.

    I noticed the tops of the fan blades were really dusty, so in the middle of changing batteries I got a wet cloth and wiped off the fan blades.  My reasoning was I had the ladder, I was there, why not do it?

    Now I am thinking I should have done the 3 other fans in the house.

    Funny, we were so set on having ceiling fans when we built the house.  We hardly ever use them.

    Go figure.

    I read about an Englishman who started walking around the world on Nov. 1, 1998.  He started at the tip of South America and expected the journey to take 12 years.  It took 28. He is weeks away from returning home to see his mom.  He currently plans to live in the basement of her house.

    He pushes a cart with his camping supplies and has been amazed by the kindness of strangers he has met.

    28 years.  

    I really don't know how to react to that.

    But tomorrow I will celebrate by walking to the mailbox.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Ob La Di

 How does caffeine affect my mind?

    I admit, I have difficulty focusing.

    Friend Beth had been over for a visit and to pick up a script.  We had a nice talk and some laughs.  

    Julia stopped by and helped me move the grill into the garage along with the table from the patio.

    Aside from tripping on my untied shoelace, that all went fine.  (Last night on the walk 2 people told me my shoe was untied and I should tie it before I tripped.  I am 78 and people are still  telling me to tie my shoes. )

     After Julia and Beth, I went to drop off last night's walk donations at the museum.

    And I got a coffee.

    When I got home I finished the Trib, and my coffee and at 4 decided I should go outside and do something.  Anything.

    I think the caffeine had kicked in.

    I thought edging the walk and driveway would be a good idea.  So I edged for about 1 foot and decided I better pull the carrots out of the he ground instead.

    But before I did that I had to walk the back yard picking up dog dirt.

    Then I started spading up the carrots.

    At some point I thought I should check the peppers and found several nicely formed green peppers.  

    I also noticed the tomato plants were huge so I started trimming them.  But the carrots needed to be dug.

    So I finished digging up the carrots and was carrying pepperss to the cart when I tripped over ...... no, not my shoelaces, but a hose.

    As I lie sprawled out in the back yard, I wondered how long it would be before someone missed me.

    Luckily I missed the golf cart by a foot.  Lucky for 2 reasons, I did not damage the cart and I could use it to pick myself up.

    Nothing is broken.  I do have a headache and a backache and my knees hurt....but otherwise all is fine.

    And here I sit.  

    Two buckets full of dirty carrots that have to be washed, peeled, and cut.  My ratchet set is spread out all over the bed because I could not find the little blue box that has the ratchet I always use on the table legs but could not find until I did not need it; towels in the dryer that need to be folded; another load to put in; dishes to do;  and I am really tired.  And I don't know if I used ; correctly.

    Jackie just asked if I had finished changing batteries in the smoke alarms.  I have not.

    When I go to bed it will be an hour earlier than I go to bed because we change clocks.

    I guess I will lose an hour of sleep.  Maybe more.

    For sure, this is a pastis night.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

    

Liar, Liar

I lied about yesterday's post

    It was not a true story.  But I hoped you laughed.

    We had trick or treat in our subdivision tonight.  

    It was amazing!!

    So many cute costumes.......I had no idea so many kids lived out here!

    I took pictures of some of them, but I won't post. them.  I feel odd taking pictures of kids and posting them without a parent's permission.

    But the boy in the chicken inflatable was pretty cool.  His partner was a little girl dressed as Michael Jackson.  I asked her if she could moon walk, and she did!

    I was at the museum twice today.

    I stopped in the afternoon just as trick or treating downtown started.  There were hundreds of kids!

    I held the door at the museum and let too many in.....so I had to stop the line until the t rex could get out and the cow could get in.

    I was impressed at how well behaved they all were.  I heard plenty of thank you at home and at the museum.

    Julia came over because I had to leave at 6 for my second museum visit.

    I did a short walk with dark stories as the theme.  Last year when I did the walk 8 people showed up.

    This year......not 8.  I counted 30!

    Sometimes my math is a little off, and I may have counted people twice.  But it was a nice crowd.

    One lady told me her name and I knew her.  I told her I did not recognize her with her head on.

    I said that twice.  I could not get the word hat out.   

    We laughed, we talked, we walked......it was a nice night and I am thankful for all the people who came.

    What did the mummy movie director say at the end of the day?

     That's a wrap.

    I thought it was funny.

Peace and Love,

    Especially Peace

         

true story

 I am going to tell you a true story

One day a bear was chasing a rabbit through the woods.  

The rabbit hopped fast, but the big, male bear was gaining.

The rabbit saw a tree with a huge hole in the trunk and dashed into it, finding safety.

The bear growled and growled and the rabbit finally said, "Why are you always chasing me?  I have never hurt you."

The bear said, "You are food.  I am hungry.  That is why I chase."

As the rabbit was looking around the hole, he saw an object in the dirt.  He moved the dirt and behold!  There was a lantern!

"Hey." the rabbit yelled.  "there is a lantern in here.  I bet it's a magic lantern.  If you promise not to eat me, I will drag it out."

Now, bear was pretty hungry, but he was also curious.

"I promise.  Bring it out."

The rabbit tugged and pulled the lantern through the opening.  Sitting with bear, the rabbit said, "We should both rub it.  That way we both get wishes."

The bear was an agreeable sort and said, "Whatever."

The bear placed his huge, hairy claw filled paw on one side, and the rabbit placed his dainty, tiny paw on the other side.  And they rubbed.

Poof!  A genie came out!

"Thank you for freeing me from that prison.  I have been trapped in there for 400 years!   You will each get 3 wishes for your kind deed."

Bear went first.

Now, bear was not exactly a good looking guy.  In fact, female bears were repulsed by his appearance and slovenly habits.

"I wish all he bears in this county were females,"  he wished, thinking his horny days would soon be gone.

Poof... .and it was so.

The rabbit said, "I wish I had all the carrots and other foods I ever need and will never go hungry."

Poof.....  and it was so.

The bear thought, then he said, "I wish for all the bears in the country to be female and I am the only male."

Poof....  and it was so.

The rabbit said,  "I wish all my enemies were failures at catching me."

Poof.....  and it was so.

The bear had one more wish.  He thought, then grinned.  "I wish all the bears in the world were female!"  

Poof,..... and it was so.

The genie turned to the rabbit and asked,   "What is your final wish?"

The rabbit grinned and said, "I wish bear here was gay."

Poof....and it was so.

And rabbit hopped happily away.

Peahen Love

   Especially Peace

PHD in PT

Now, all I have to do is do it 

    I finished my physical therapy sessions today.

    They called it graduation day.

    I expected doughnuts (or donuts, Kim) and punch, but  I just got a  t-shirt.

    I am not complaining.  The sessions have helped with the pain in my legs.  I have worked on flexibility, stretching, and strengthening my hamstrings  and calf muscles.

    Now the challenge is to keep doing the exercises! 

    I have 2 different sets, and plan to alternate the sets.  But plans often go astray in my mind, so here's hoping.

    I have to remember that doing them will ease the pain.  That should be motivation enough.

    So no pain means gain.   Huh.

    Looking at my list of 13 tasks, I got ....2 done, 3 half done, and 2 pending.

    Not a great start.

    I also added a couple as I was doing the one I finished.  Go figure.

    Today was a beautiful day.  Warm, a little breezy, sunny......just great for the end of October.

    At our house on Skare Court, we planted 2 sugar maples in front.  Every tall they would turn a brilliant orange and drop a ton of leaves.  We drove passed yesterday a nd the trees are beautiful, and there are a lot of leaves on the ground.

    Sometimes I would rake them into piles and wait for the wind to blow them away.

    We have been in this house 14 years next month.  

    We planted 2 sugar maples in the front, but 1 did not survive.  The survivor is a brilliant orange at the top and turning rapidly.

    I also planted a couple of sugar maples in the lot next door, but they are not big enough to give much color.

    In 14 years maybe they will be.

    And I still won't be picking up leaves.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Our sugar maple