Well, I'll be

 I learned something but will soon forget it

    Why will I forget it?  Because it is not important to me.

    Why did I learn it?  Because I was curious.

    And since I am not a cat, curiosity did not kill me.

    Jackie ordered 2 tops from Nordstrom's, or a branch of Nordstrom's, I am not quite clear on that.

    The tops came today.  They were mailed from Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

     I thought that was a made up name used in comedy skits!  Like, "You should open that show in Rancho Cucamonga."  

    Or, "I'm gonna hit you so hard you will think you're  in Rancho Cucamonga."

    It doesn't sound like a place that really exits.

    But I was so wrong!

    It's a city of about 180,000 in California.  It ranks as the 28th largest city in the state.   As a comparison, it would be the third largest in Illinois.  

    The location makes it a great spot for the logistics industry.  Warehouses.  Shipping.  Manufacturing.

    It sounds like a pretty nice place to live, except it does not seem to have a downtown center.

    And it was named after a Native American who lived there when Mexico possessed it.  It even had what is believed to be the first winery in California, established in 1839.

    That is what I spent my time doing tonight.  Musing over a topic and settling on Rancho Cucamonga.

    Now, every time Jackie wears one of those tops, I will think of Rancho Cucamonga.

    And I probably will giggle a little and wonder why the name sounds familiar.

Peace and Love

    Especially Peace

story time

I'd like to talk about 2 things I read

    And no,  they were not in the Trib!

    One was in our AARP magazine and concerned a 70 year old woman who met a nice looking gentleman in a bar.  Not bar hopping, but a local spot.

    They hit it off immediately.

    He was an art dealer in New York.  Drove a luxury car.  He was suave, good looking, kind, and generous.  She fell in love.

    After several months they moved in together.  He often forgot his wallet, needed extra cash to pay a bill, was waiting on a commission.  He took frequent trips to New York.

    You can see where this is going, right?

    He conned her out of several thousand dollars.  When her family finally convinced her to go to the police, the investigator found several women the guy was dating.  The luxury car belonged to one of them.

    He eventually was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay back almost $2 million to the women he had conned.

    There is a special place in Hell for people like that.

    The other story is much sweeter.

    In 1893 the Century of Progress was held in Chicago.  The World's Fair drew a lot of people with it special displays and products. 

    A candy maker from Germany set up a chocolate making factory as a display and they made chocolate.

    Now, according to Neil Steinberg of Every G--damn Day, chocolate was not popular in the US.  Caramel was, but not chocolate.

    A caramel maker from Pennsylvania had a plant in Chicago to cut down on transportation and supply issues.  Chicago was the center for both.

    He visited his plant in Chicago and the fair.  He was impressed by the chocolate factory and when the fair closed on Oct. 30, he bought all the chocolate making machinery and moved it to Pennsylvania.

    Milton Hershey thought caramel was a fad and would soon die out.  His belief in chocolate seemed to pan out.

    I just thought that was a neat story.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

 

I don't know

 I have hit a brick wall

    Tonight I am mentally and physically tired.

    Jackie had a doc appointment in Sycamore, so we went to get our  toenails done afterward.  

    That is normally a relaxing experience, but not today. 

    I had a dream last night and a sensation I never experienced before.

    In the dream I was in an elevator, carrying a dog that had a paint can stuck on his hind end.   The elevator was on the outside of the building.

    We stopped on a floor and a woman wanted to get on, but she wasn't ready.  So I shut the door and she started yelling at me.

    Here's where it got weird.  As the elevator was descending, it was shaking.  I could feel the shaking!  In fact, it woke me up!

    I don't know if  I reached the ground floor or if I got the paint can off the dog's butt, because once you wake up from a dream, it is hard to go back.

    I think the experience has damaged my psyche!

(Catch that Wordle lovers?)

    I did sit on the porch to read and have a cup of tea.  Decaf, because it was 4 p.m.  It was a gray day, but I enjoyed my time out there.

    I admit I did get a little chilled.....so my porch blanket came in very handy.

    I look like a nun with a bad habit.

    Yuk.   Yuk.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Painless

 I did my least favorite activity today

    Flu shot.  And Covid shot.

    I am not anti vaccine.

    Luckily I had a person administering the shot that was well aware of my fear of needles.

    She was quick, kept talking to distract me, and shot me full of vaccine.

    She also did the same with Jackie.

    All I can think of is all the times we told Emily no for a pony.  She could have taken it out on me with a painful shot, but she was gentle.

    I highly recommend her.

    I did not get much of a nap in today.  Those damn little bugs were biting like crazy.  I read for a while, then covered up with a blanket from head to toe, but while it stopped the bugs, it got too hot.

    As yo know, Mother Nature is a little goofy right now.  Record highs Monday, then the temps drop after the cold front passes.  I put on the heat, then the AC, then the heat, then the AC......currently the AC is on because the house gets so hot in the afternoon and evening.  I can't sleep in the heat.

    After we got our shots, I got gas and pulled out onto 38.  We just missed a horrible accident in front o Arby's.  There were motorcycle parts all over the road.   I read that a car turned in front of the motorcycle.  It did not look good.  The police were just arriving at the scene.  I made a u-turn and went through the shopping center parking lot.

    Stopped at the Foundation office for donuts, the bank for cash, and Cypress House f or a coffee.  Our little trip into town took 2 1/2 hours!!!  

    Time does fly when you are having fun.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Thanks for the shot!!!  I do not know who this woman is but she said it was ok to use her picture.

almost

 I almost finished a project!

    Since June, I have had  a pile of steel frames and attached wood from my raised gardens.  I want to take the woo out of the frame. and take the screws out, then offer the steel frames to anyone who wants a raised garden.

    Notice, I said June.  

    I am down to 2 pieces with wood and 1 piece with just the screws.  I knocked the wood out.

    Two problems:   I am not really motivated to do it.  And second, my wrist hurts.  It makes it hard to take out the screws and use my hand to grab stuff.  

    I usually wear a wrist brace, but did not put it on tonight when I went into the garage.  The brace would have helped.  In fact, I probably would have finished.

    Our niece connected to us from her house in Michigan.  We were on What's Ap, or something like that.  it took me some time to figure it all out.  She took us on a video tour of what they have been working on since 2010, if I heard her right.

    Her and her husband have done more work than I have done in my  life and their efforts show that.  Thoughtful and beautiful interior and layout.    And looking from heir back porch you can see the vivid colors of the trees turning. 

    Even when I was young and able, I could not do what they have done.

    Hell, it has taken me     almost 4 months to take apart the garden frames!

    I keep hearing that Facebook is for us older folks.  Younger ones prefer Tic Tok and Instagram.

    My learning curve is running low, so I am sticking to what I know.    

    It ain't much, but I get it.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Oh my!!

 I very seldom record a football game

    Or a baseball game, for that matter.

    But I had a function at the junction today and had Jackie record the Bears game.

    After I was done, I got in the car and turned on the radio.  It was 31-7 in favor of the Packers.

    I texted her and told her to stop the recording.

    I am torn about the NLDS.  I rooted for the Cubs and they lost.   Rooted for the White Sox and they lost.   Rooted for the Bears and they lost.  I have a feeling whatever team I root for will lose.,

    Joe Martin is a cartoonist.  He draws a couple of different strips, one of which  is Mr,. Boffo and his underdog Weiderman, which runs in the Tribune

    In there first panel there is usually some kind of saying, usually funny or nonsensical.

    But today's hit the nail on the head.

    According to Morey the Mosquito, "What is it that makes the world so wonderful and the people in it so rotten?"

    How sad and how true

    We have a house being built kiddycorner from us.  I see the son to the people building it and one day

the lad said to me, "Mr. D, want a job?  My dad's hiring."

    Over the course of a week these were  my responses.

    I was going to sign on as a carpenter, but we could not hammer out an agreement.

    I would be shocked if he hired me as an electrician.

    I tried landscaping, but I did not make the grade.

    My offer to work as a plumber just went down the drain.

    I could not work on the roof because I had a shingles shot.

    He would not let me install windows because he saw through my work.  (Actually, contributed by someone in on the conversation.)

      I can't work with drywall because I am always plastered.

    I think I am done.By the way, did you know there was a b in plumber?  Most people don't know that.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace

Jackie ordered 2 night gowns.  Could they find a larger box?

If I don't sell more museum 50/50  tickets, I could end up in jail.  Again!!

bumpity bump

 I mowed today

    I bounced like a rubber check. 

    I had more ups and downs than an Otis elevator.

    I found more low spots than a depressed psychiatrist.

    Yes, I do complain about mowing a lot.  Our yard looks fairly level, but there are some low spots that seem to be getting lower.

      After 3 hours, I was finished.  And the lawn was cut.  

    I told Jackie I want a bigger mower and she said no.  Emphatically no.

    We'll see about that next spring.

    Went to a friend's 80th birthday party.  That seems really old, but hell, I am 78, so I guess it is not that old.

    Stopped at Cypress House for a coffee.  Called the young girl the wrong name and realized it immediately and corrected it with the right name.  

    I drank my coffee while mowing.  It was an iced coffee since it was 82 when I put on shorts to mow.

    I was sitting perfectly still when I took a sip and spilled it over my shirt and shorts.  Luckily I was wearing my yard mowing gear.  And truthfully, I was a bit chilly toward the end.

    Made BLTs for supper.  I made sure the bread was not moldy this. time.  And I had to buy a tomato.

    In the not too distant future I will dig up my carrots.  Something is eating the tops and I hope my little ground squirrels are not eating the bottoms.

    This was a nice fall day, but it is going to be near 90 this week.  90!  Dang, that is July/August weather, not October.  I hope that is the last hot one for the year.

    It's not looking good for the White Sox.

Peace and Love

        Especially Peace