OMG

Well,  that was short lived

    Our land line was working fine last Sunday.

    Jackie could call me on it.  I could call on it.  We could use it.

    Last night we could not use it.

    So I called my XFinity friend and explained what happened.  She transferred me to Russell in their tech department, because she could not see any problem with the line.

    I talked to Russell for over an hour.  He eventually said he was passing the issue of our land line up the ladder to a higher tech person.

    He said the process should take about an hour, and then my land line would be restored.

    After an hour, I called our home line.  I got a message that our message box was full.

    OK, so I called Jackie's mobile and asked her to call me on the house phone.

    She did, and the call went through.

    But then I looked at the screen that gives the number of the caller, it was not our number!

    I called that number, the one that came up on the phone, and was given a message that that number was no longer in service and I should call the company's main number.

    What the hell??

    When we call from our home phone number, it shows as a different. number!

    I was just too tired and frustrated to call again.

    We started work on the new raised gardens.  Julia, Emily, Sheri and I moved one garden bed to another.  It was not fun.

    We had pizza and wine to mark the finish of one bed being filled.   3 more to go,

    Beth came in from the back yard today with a bone in her mouth.  Don't know where it came from.  Looks like part of a rib.  She was very proud of her find.  She was not happy I took it from her.

    I scoured the back yard but did not find any other bones.  

    Weird.

    But that seems to be going around lately.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

phase 1

Phase 1 of my Top Secret Project is done 

    Friend Sheri came over today and we put together the final 3 planters.

    Phase 2 starts tomorrow.

    We are going to take one of the planters, put it in position, and see how hard it is to fill it from another planter.

    Anyone with an hour or 2 and an extra shovel is welcome to stop over  after 4:30 and toss some dirt.

    Of course, that all depends on the weather.

    The pit of my brain is telling me, "This is nuts.    You are almost 78.  You should not be expanding your work, you should be contracting it.  What were you thinking?"

    What I am thinking is these are going to be the most expensive tomatoes and carrots ever grown in this universe.

    But when it is done, all I will have to do is go out every other day and spend countless hours weeding.  

    But it is too late now.  I have crossed the Rubicon.

    We have a cleaning lady every other week.  We pay her.  She did not come today because she was sick, so I started cleaning the house.  I asked Jackie if I get the money for cleaning.

    Long and short answer: NO!

    Oh well.  

    One of the gas stations in town is at  $4.49..........holy crappers, Batman!  

    I have a feeling that is going to be considered cheap by next fall.

    Hope I am wrong.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

dominoes

 Sometimes one thing leads to another

    Back in the day, that was a belief held by  the political leadership.  The belief was. that if a country fell to communism, the countries next to it would also fall.  Like dominoes.

    Ain't necessarily so.

    I have an unopened set of dominoes.  I bought it because it has been years since I played, and I. thought Jackie and I could play sometime.  But I never opened them.

    I never found my thrill on Blueberry Hill, but Fats did.  He was a successful Domino.

    I have always marveled at people who set up elaborate domino configurations, either made of dominoes, cereal boxes, bricks, whatever.  Then they hit one and the rest go racing around the design, falling perfectly from one to another.

    I finished mowing the yard today and boy, was I cold!

    Temperature was in the lower 50s, and in the fall that would have been pleasant.  But today it was cold and raw.  I may have windburn on my face.

    I thought the yard needed sweeping because there is a lot of cut grass.  I got out the catcher, then the dominoes started falling.

    To reach the actual sweeper that tows behind the mower,  I had to move the car.  Then I had to move the pieces to my Secret Project.  Then I had to move a sample of my secret project.

    I realized that before doing anything, which explains why the dead grass is still on the lawn.  Plus, I was cold and did not feel like riding the mower around any more than I already did.

    It also partially explains why I have not used my battery powered mower to mow between the existing planters, because that was behind the pull behind sweeper.

    Thus the first domino did not fall.

    Everything is still in its place.  I am still chilly, a full 5 hours after getting off the mower.

    I just put my morning load of laundry into the washer, which means at 9:30 it should be ready to go into the dryer.

    That means I will not be folding towels tonight, instead I will wait until tomorrow night to fold them, which means I will delay doing something tomorrow night involving laundry.

    Why?  Because that is the way I roll.

    And that's how the dominoes fall.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

busy, busy, busy

We had quite the day today 

    A crew from the landscaping company was here about 8.  

    The took apart the stones on the deck.

    When I signed the contract, one of the requirements was that there be no dog doo in the work zone.  I discovered why today.

    The guys took the pavers out and laid them in the grass in the same pattern that they took them out.  When it came time to relay the pavers, the operation was simple because they just put them back where they originally were.

    The soil was compacted, and gravel and sand were spread and leveled.  Then the pavers were put back, the joints filled with sand, and the job was done.

    They were finished by 3!  The foreman called me to tell me they were done, but we were coming back from Jackie's doctor appointment in Sycamore.  He told me to stay off the deck for at least 1 day, preferably 2, to give the joint compound time to set.

    Later the office manager called to make sure I was satisfied with the job and that the work area was ship shape.

    With Jackie's appointment, we combined 4 other errands to make the trip worthwhile.

    We had Julia pick up Beth because I was not sure how she would react in the house by herself with the guys working on the patio.  So I went to pick up  Beth and grab some cardboard for the new planters.

    When I got home I decided to mow.  Mistake.

    It was cold.  I did not finish.

    The grass is long.  I should have run the lawn sweeper to pick up the cut grass. But I didn't.

    I have not trimmed anywhere yet and it shows.

    After an hour of mowing I quit, made supper, and had a hot tea.  

    I am just now warming up....it's been almost 2 hours.

    If it doesn't rain tomorrow I will finish and sweep the yard, but the forecast is calling for showers.

    We'll see.

    And yes, I am tired.

    Hopefully we can get to bed earlier than last night and watch/listen to the Cubs in bed.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

awww. stop!

Jackie gets 2 "scam" alls a day on her mobile 

    Same number.  She does not know the number so she does not pick up.  The caller does not leave a message.

    Twice a day.

    I am not sure how to block the number.  I mean, I know how to do it, but I am not sure that I know.  I don't want to screw up her phone.  When one of the girls comes over we will have them do it.

    I thought I should answer it and start saying how glad I was to get your call and then talk non stop until they hung up.  I think I could do that.  But why risk saying something that could be used against me in a court of law.

    Our forecast for today was rain in the morning, followed by storms and possibly severe storms in the afternoon.

    The guys redoing our patio called about 8 and said based on the forecast, they would not be coming today but will come tomorrow instead.

    I said I understand totally.  

    We had thunder, lightning and rain about 11 but nothing this afternoon.  In fact, the sun was out for a while.

    Isn't that how it always works?

    If they had come, it would have poured.  

    Mother Nature is a fickle creature.

    I often ask our home pod for the forecast.  If the pod says rain, I always ask what time will rain.  The pod answers "there is no rain today."  Every time.

    If that is a sample of AI, we are in big trouble.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

behind door number 3

Our land line is back in service 

    No longer will people get a message that the Verizon customer has been disconnected.

    I got a call from a Comcast person this morning.  The call went to voicemail because I did not know the number and my phone screens calls.  I know, it is a pain.

    Anyway she told me her name was Sol (pronounced Soul) and she was calling to try to resolve my land line cancellation/reactivation issue.

    In sum:  I went to the store in DeKalb and dropped my home land line for a mobile line.  Julia and Emily and Jackie said no, so I returned the phone.

    I was told it took 4 days for the mobile line to be activated and they could not do anything until the line was activated.  So I went back later, returned the cell phone, and was told it takes about 4 days for the land line to be activated.

    That was about a month ago.

    I called twice, and was told the land line had not yet gone through the portal.  11 days ago they told me 48 hours and it would work.  It didn't

    The lady today took a lot of time working on this.

    What it came down to, in terms I can understand, the land line office handles land lines, the mobile office handles mobiles.

    There is a door between the offices.  

    My initial activity saw the land line info go through the door to the mobile people.  The transfer back from the mobile to the land line seemed to hit a closed door that was locked on one side.

    Sol today was able to unlock the door and allow the info to move back to the land line office.  She even called me on the land line and I could answer!

    I then asked her if I was going to be charged for the month I could not use the phone.  She said that was a billing issue.

    Just hope that door opens.

    We had a  big dog on our porch today!

    It was being walked and broke the leash an d took off.

    The dog was in our back yard and finally came to the people calling it.  

    At one point it came towards me and I reached out to pet it and the lady said not to, because the dog has been biting lately.  She showed my the bite marks on her hand.

    So I put my hands behind my bak and let the dog smell me.

    I believe it was a Rottweiler.  I am not sure, but I was going to be safe.

    They got the dog into a car and took it back home, wherever that was.

    Possible severe weather tomorrow.....time to hunker down.  Our weather radio will be busy!

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

scene one

We went to a play this afternoon

    Our friend Sam was in the Matilda cast in a children's theater production.

    The show was good.  I did have a hard time hearing the young performers.  I tried turning up my hearing aids but all that did was make the air circulation system sound like a freight train coming straight at me.

    Actually, I love plays that are all kids.  You can see exuberance, excitement, fright, uncertainty... and that's just the cast's family members in the audience!

    Seriously, it takes a lot of huztzpa to go on stage at any age.  Youngsters who do it are building self confidence,  pride, and are developing a skill that will benefit them in life.  Standing in front of strangers and performing is a skill.  In this age of screens, being able to do this in front of real people is a plus.

    Jackie just turned off the Cubs.  Last I heard it was 13-4, which means their 10 game winning streak is over. Tomorrow they can start a new one.

    I showed Jackie my Top Secret project today.  I had to.  It is sitting in the middle of one side of the garage.  I have to take the car 1/3 of the way out to get Jackie in the front seat.

    I ordered 4 metal 4 x 8 raised garden containers.  

    Friend Sheri and I assembled the first one Thursday, and it took a while.  But now that one is done, I can put the lessons learned toward making the others a little quicker.

    The problem is storing them until it is time to load them with dirt. 

    I am afraid to leave them in the yard empty because with the storms we have had recently they could become airborne and take out a couple of houses.  

    I had hoped to stack. them one across another, but I don't think that is going to work either.  Maybe I will have to put one out, move dirt into it, then move another.

    What started out to be a great idea has morphed into a "What the hell was I thinking" project.

    Heck, I am almost 78.  I should have no business doing something that should last a long time.  Yes I love the food we get, but gardens are a lot of work and attention.  

    Maybe I bit off more carrot than I can chew this time.

    I guess we'll see.

Peace and Love

        

        Especially Peace