sill alive

I faced death today, and lived

     Ok, I actually ate one of the burgers that thawed, was cooked, and refrozen.
I think I was off a little on the freezer incident.  I came home from rehearsal Tuesday night and grabbed a small cup of frozen custard out of the freezer.  That would have been about 9:30 or so.  That means the freezer door was only open about 15 hours.
     The freezer is fine.  It works.  Everything in it is frozen.  Again.
     None of the meat smelled or looked bad.  And all of it was cool, but I don't know how cool.
     I nuked a burger today and it tasted fine.  I did not get the shits, so I assume all is ok.
     My friends in the medical fields will tell me if I am  a wishful muncher, lucky eater,   or a culinary dare devil.
     We had 5 trick or treaters this year!  I thought we had 7, but Jackie said I was counting two twice. 
     Figures, I have reached the age where I can not count to 10. 
     We also had taco pizza, some wine, and a great visit with SK.  All in all, a snowy day and a good night.
Peace and Love

awwww.....crap

Today was a disaster

     I went downstairs for something and heard a high pitched whine.  Now, I had my   hearing aids in.  I have been downstairs several times without my hearing aids.  I don't hear high pitched noises without them.
     Today I heard the noise.  I kept going around the basement until I found the source.
     The freezer door was open.  I was down Sunday or Monday for some beef stew meat and must not have shut it all the way.
    Every piece of meat was thawed.  It was cool, but thawed.
     So I called Headon's and asked their professional opinion, which was if it smells ok, it is ok to cook.
     I cooked 3 seasoned butterfly pork chops, 2 unseasoned chops, 8 hamburgers, 2 cube steaks, 2 pork cutlets, and seven steaks.  MK and S came out to help and they took 7 one pound packs of ground beef home and cooked them for us.
After we cooked the meat, we wrapped it up and put it in the freezer.
     But.....after 4 hours, the freezer was only cool, not cold.  I am worried about  that.
     I ended up tossing out 2 Butter Braid coffee cakes, a bag of spatzel, or however you spell it, some raclette cheese and some fondue cheese, and some spaghetti sauce.
     We had three frozen apple pies, which thawed, so we cooked them, along with 2 dozen cookies.
     The vegetables we put up thawed, but I did not toss them because we thought they would ok.......will they be?
     And what happens tomorrow if the freezer is still not freezing?  Do I toss all the food I cooked, or if it is cool will that be ok.
     Any advice you have would be appreciated.
     By the way...we do have a roast in the crock pot.
      If I had my hearing aids in Monday when I was down watching the football game after supper, or Tuesday when I went to ride the bike, I would have heard it.
      But I didn't.....and it cost me.
      I just don't know how much.  Yet.
     Hope the freezer freezes tonight.
Peace and Love

two minute drill

I have little time left to......

Mow the grass one last time
Pull carrots from garden
Burn pile
Store golf cart
Clean out garage
Ride 5 more miles on my bike

     It sure would be nice if we did not get the 3-6 inches of snow some sources are predicting for tomorrow into Thursday.  At least it should not stick.  I hope.
Once it melts, I can still do the items on my list, but it needs to be a little warmer for some of them.
     Why 5 miles on my bike?  Because I am at 295 for the year.  I keep track using a Map my Ride app on the phone....tells me the date, route, distance, and then I record them in my old fashioned paper calendar, adding up weekly totals.
     I never ride enough, and then get mad at the end of summer.
     So New Year's Resolution One:  Ride some bike trails and get over the 600 mile mark in 2020.  Sure I may be 72, but that means I ride slower.  But I need to get a group organized to ride with, because that will keep me riding.
     But I digress.
     Tomorrow I will try to gas up the snowblower.....just in case I can't reach the guy who plowed my drive last year.
     It was a short fall....and I missed Native American Summer.  That just does not sound right to me, so I will never say that again.
Peace and Love

oddities in life

I have noticed some odd things lately

      In the World Series, the home team has yet to win a game.  Weird.
      Two women flashed the Houston pitcher and I missed it!  At my age, that would certainly be a thrill.
     I've never heard a president booed at a baseball game so lustily. 
      I don't know whether I will mow the grass or blow the driveway next.  It will have to be one or the other.
     Why are Impossible Burgers more expensive than beef burgers?
     Why do flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?
     Do they make Halloween Peeps?  I have not seen them in the store.
     How do you pronounce cacao?
      How do you break a pattern of eating because you are angry, anxious, or bored.  Asking for a friend.
     I have not seen Ghost Dog for several months......maybe Curt has, but I have not.  That worries me.  Maybe Halloween?
     My morning hair always looks odd.
     I will probably dream about these all night.
Peace and Love

did ya miss me?

I took the night out...I mean off

     Actually both.
     Went camping with friends John and Dave, guys I have known since elementary school.
     Date was picked months ago...for retired guys, we seem to be pretty busy.
     I love the day....lunch at the Rafters in Lena with it's haystack burger and a local brew was great.
     Apple River  Canyon is a small state park, but it is a  pretty state park.  We were surprised there were so many campers there!  It was the first weekend of trout season, and maybe some of them were fishing and camping.
     The rain held off until 5, then it just misted for a while.  Then it stopped.  Then it misted.  By 7 our tents were up, it was raining; the fire was still burning so it was not a heavy rain.
     I went to tent about 8.  I was cold and tired.  I slept a long time, but when  nature called sometime in the middle of the night, I stepped out in a cold but star filled night.
     This morning was cold...had to scrape my windshield.
    And then we had an unexpected surprise.
     Normally we go to a restaurant in Lena, but the place was closed last year.  Dave found a place in Stockton called Stella's Cafe....and it was amazing.
     They had a breakfast bar with a made to order omelette station, and offerings of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, broasted potatoes, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage and a bunch of desserts and fruits.
     And the building?  An 1887 brick with a beautiful tin ceiling, shelves for books, and a lot of seating.  We walked in and there were not a lot of people, but soon it was packed.
     It was all pretty darn good....highly recommend stopping there on your way back from Galena
     And Stella?  Evidently that is the 10 year old daughter of the owner.
     Thanks Dave for finding Stella's and thanks both of you for going.
     Some pictures from the days.
Love and Peace

Coming back up was the hard part

canopy proved to be a great idea

That's a leaf!  Sycamore, I believe

Frosty morning

Stella's

I think the saddest part of this picture is the sign in the lower left.....no town is left untouched

louch

It hurt, but I smelled good

     I ran out of deodorant this morning.
     Luckily, I had a spare in the closet.
     I was confused, because it was a scent I would not buy....actually it was called Whitewater.  And no, I don't think it was connected to the Clintons.
     Ok, maybe that is a stretch of a joke.
Anyway, I put it on and within minutes my pits felt like they were on fire!        Burning, itching, burning, stinging......I thought it would pass, but it only got worse.
     I eventually washed my armpits...twice....and they stopped burning.  But the skin was really red.
     I picked up the deodorant to look at the ingredients and none were listed.  It was made in Poland for Old Spice, and that's when I remembered how I got it.
     Last year I went biking.  I discovered I forgot deodorant, and went and bought this one at a drugstore in Amsterdam.
     I must have used it, but I don't recall any burning sensation.
     Go figure.
     I tossed it out.  And bought new.  I don't want to be THAT person stepping up to a counter for customer service.
Peace and love and good scents

finally

Took a short road trip today

     I have never been to Morton Arboretum.  It is just a little over an hour from us, but I have never gone.
     Never seen the Christmas lights.
     Never seen the fall colors.
     Never seen the trolls.
      Until now.
     Christmas lights were being hung, so I am counting them.
     Somehow I missed the huge troll towering over I 88.......which means I have to go back.
     That will be easier, because I joined.  So ..... gotta go to make it pay.
     Next spring I will take my bike and cruise through the grounds....I think that would be pretty.  Maybe even next fall, if it is not too cold.
     Some pictures from the day.

sounds like .....

I have been thinking of noise today

I have tinnitus.  And I have hearing aids.  Hearing is an issue.
But there are things I can hear that I love.
Rain falling.
Thunder in  the distance.
Train whistles as they fade into the distance.  (I hate to use distance twice, but hey.....could say afar.)
Children laughing.
Owls.
Morning doves.
The pop of a wine cork.
It may be, it could be, it is!  Home run!
Prairie grass blowing in the wind.
Waves hitting a shore or the side of a boat.
Bicycle bells in Holland.
Cow bells in Switzerland.
Alpine horns in Switzerland.
Laughter.
I  used to love hearing cicadas ..... but with the tinnitus, I hear them year round and now they just bug me.  (No pun intended.)
Someone typing on an old manual typewriter.
Music.
Snow falling.
Just some observations on this cool, rainy night.
     Peace and Love

well

All quiet on the western front

     At least it is now.
     Jackie called me a little before 1 and said there was a strange noise coming from the basement.
     I told Emily, ( we were at a meeting) and headed home.  She called John and he came over to investigate.
     Jackie and John both heard the noise, but could not ID the source.
     By the time I got home, it had stopped.
     Since then,  nothing.  Must have been the wind.
     I did find a popped serving of apple sauce in the pantry.  It was one of those individual cartons.  I tasted it and it was pretty terrible.  Don't ask me why I would taste an apple sauce that had popped and was sitting for how long I don't know on the shelf. 
     But that could not have been the source because they both heard multiple noises.
     Anyway, no noise is good, right?
     We did make 3 apple pies today.  I told you about the pie tins yesterday.  Next year I am going to buy the more expensive ones, because the cheap ones have a tendency to bend when you pick them up.  We may have some strange looking frozen pies.
Peace and Love and apple pie

guy talk

I went to the store to buy pie pans today

     If I was organize a store, I would put all the pie baking related items in one area during peak pie baking season.  But, all that was with the rest of the goods were the graham cracker ones and I wanted plain, simple pie pans.
     I found some about 864 aisles over.  But they did not look right.  And they were labeled cake pans.
     Now to me, there is no difference. 
     As I was walking toward another section, I ran into an old friend.  He asked if I was making blueberry cake,  because I had blueberries and cake pans.  I told him we were making apple pies.  Then he told me I had the wrong pans
Pie pans have sloped sides so you can lap the crust over the edges.  Cake pans are straight up and down.
      I said they only had these, but he walked me back 967 aisles to where the pans were,
     My friend, being considerably taller than me, saw some on the space next to the cake pans.  I reached up and found a pack of 3 pie pans.  Exactly what I was supposed to get.
     Now, if I can only convince him to come over and peel apples.
     For the second day in a row, I learned something  ....you can't use cake pans for pie.
     And that sums up my lesson for the day.
Peace an Love

Brain farts and other oddities

I wonder sometimes about my mental health

     Short story.  Names have been changed to protect the Innocent.
     I get a request from Sue.  I forward the request to Nancy, asking Nancy to call Sue at this number.  Except, I don't give Sue's name, I give her mother in law's name....let's say Jill.
     Nancy calls Sue  asks for Jill.  Sue says that Jill is her MIL, and gives her the correct number.  Nancy calls Jill, explains she got the number from Sue, and tells her we are good to go with the project.
     This confuses Jill, because she has no idea what Nancy is talking about!  Nancy runs through the whole scenario, and Jill says talk to my daughter in law, Sue.
     The whole circle started because I talked to Sue and gave her number to Nancy, but I gave her Jill's name.
     Confused?  That sums up me.
     Every time I get in my car and drive I am surprised at how long it takes me.
I left the house at 9:40 today.  It takes about 5 minutes to drive into town.
I got in town and the clock radio read 9:52.  That meant I was going to be late.
     So I hurried up and as I drove through Creston, I noticed my car clock said 10:07.  But the bank clock said 10.......which explains why it always takes me so long!  My car clock was off by 7 minutes!
     I have not fixed it yet.
     At church I was pouring coffee and moved my cup over to put cream in and forgot to flip the spigot up.  Coffee all over.  Flipped over a plate as I was cleaning it up.
     Went to grill and discovered my two tanks of propane are both empty.
     Watched the Bears.
     Luckily, I watched the Bears after my bike ride.  My mind was relaxed plus I missed the first half, which ended up being a blessing.
     Finally, sitting at the computer I got bit by something black.  Spider?  Mosquito?  Fly?  It stings.  And itches.  I smacked it, but could not tell what it was because it was pretty flat.
     Like my arches.
Peace and Love
     And some TREE men dous photos from my little ride today.

whew.....

I am a tired little boy tonight

     I mowed, did three loads of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the bathroom fan, reset the under counter lights, took a mile walk with Corki and rode my bike 8 miles.
     I am tired, but happy.
     Why?  A successful hunt.

     These are kuchen.  One tray is peach, the other cherry.  I was hoping for apple, but there was none.
     Jackie asked me why I liked kuchen  and I had no answer.  She asked if my German grandmother (the one whose terms of endearment  for me translated into little shithead and pants full of shit....but I did not know that until many years later) made them when I was young.
     I think she must have, else I would not have developed a desire to have some.
I bought these at a church bazaar in a Ashton, which is a hotbed of kuchen cookers.
     We both thought they were very good.  I had one for breakfast and one with an afternoon coffee.  So much for watching my weight.
Now, Bob and Diane, I have found a recipe for apple cake made traditionally, the Dutch way.  Hopefully I will make some that I would be willing to share.

Made some  new friends in LaGrange when I stopped for coffee......they were kind of quiet.

     The Rochelle Rotary Club sponsors a calendar.  A cash winner is drawn for every day of the year.  Sometimes the prize is $25, sometimes $50 and 4 times a year $1,000.  If your name is drawn on Jan  1, it goes back in the pot and could be drawn again.
     Technically, each day you have a 1 in 2,700 chance of winning, because we only sell 2,700 calendars.
     Where does the money go?
     Glad you asked.  Rotary uses a part of it for projects and scholarships.  But the bulk goes to agencies that help people who need help.  A domestic violence shelter, child protection agencies, senior citizens center, center for troubled teens, child care center.......all good causes.
     So, if you would like a calendar, let me know.  I can mail, deliver, or dance the polka to make a sale.
Peace and Love
     PS...Julia and Emily....like the socks????  Just for you!

tally ho

I am going hunting tomorrow

     Seriously.  Up early, out into the cold.  Keeping my eyes peeled for that one sot to bag a kuchen.
     In some cases, it will be easy.  They will be cornered in a building in Ashton.  but in other cases, it will be hard because they are in high demand.  The kuchen are quickly snapped up by sharp hunters of German cakes.
     I hope to capture an apple....but if not that, then any flavor would be acceptable.
     Last year they sold out in minutes.......I expect the same tomorrow.
     So I will be up early, wearing my camo gear so I can slip in undetected and zero in on a plump kuchen that will keep Jackie and me well fed for several days.
     Wish me luck.
Peace and Love

ouch

I have a bit of a sore throat tonight

     Blame it on stupidity.
     I opted to have some butternut squash soup for lunch today.  No, it is not home made, but it is a high sodium mass processed canned soup item that tastes pretty good.
     I heated it for 45 seconds, sipped it, stirred it, and put it on for another 30.
     I got my cup of hot water, two small chunks of cheese, a couple of crackers and sat down to sip my soup and work a crossword puzzle.
     The first spoonful was fine.  Granted, it was on the small size.
     I took a full soup spoon on the second offering and put it in my mouth.
     That's when it became apparent that I heated it too long.
     I started to swallow and it just burned the hell out of my throat and mouth.  I reached for the water, and realized it was hot water and would not be any help.
     I honestly thought I was going to drown in my own soup because it was so hot, I could not swallow.
     I finally got it down but it hurt.
     I was more shocked than anything because the first taste wasn't hot.  Well, it wasn't that hot.
     Suffice it to say, I learned my lesson about small sips.
Peace and Love

plans? who needs 'em

Nothing seems to go as planned for me

     Simple things....easy things....just get flummoxed up.
     We drove around looking at hay bales today. 
     For those of you not from Rochelle, this is a pretty cool event.  Round hay bales are offered for a price.  They are at least 8 feet , if not bigger.  The bale gets dropped off and groups or businesses then decorate the bales.
     As part of Hay Day, a competition is held with people voting for their favorite hay bales.
     Now would be a good time to share some pictures, but alas!  I did not take any this year.  Don't know why, just didn't.
     Hay Day was last weekend, so we opted to go today to view the bales.  It was sunny, fairly cool, but otherwise a nice day.
     Then I had four things on my to do list for today.
     One of them was hang some pictures.  (Exit 99ers....they ARE up.  For now.)
     One picture needed two hooks.  So I got my laser level out to make sure the nails were on the same level.
     I went into the part of the basement where I keep tools, and noticed a very strong dog urine smell.  I spent 15 minutes sniffing and feeling the carpet remnants, , but I found nothing.  Corki was not even down there today, but it seemed strong.
     Not finding anything, I went to get my level and found out the batteries were dead.  Went upstairs to get two batteries, found out the ones in the laser level and erupted.  Went back upstairs to toss the batteries.  Got some sandpaper to try to clean up the terminals and put new batteries in the level.  It did not work.  Went back upstairs to get two different batteries.  Cleaned the terminals again and tried it and it worked.  Took the unused batteries back upstairs.
     Went to put the first nail in, could not find my pencil.  Went upstairs to get a pencil and let the dog out.  When doggie came in,  l went back downstairs and put two fairly level nails in the wall to hang one picture.
     Then I hung three more and felt pretty happy.
     I also had ride the bike on the list, so I plugged in my exercise bike,  complements of John and Kathy, and turned on the tv.  Once the tv was on, I could not change channels or get the guide or adjust the volume because the remote batteries were  dead.
     Instead of going up, I just took the batteries from the level.
     What should have been two easy tasks...hang pictures, ride bike.....took nearly 2 hours plus 8, 533 trips up and down the stairs.
     Now I am just waiting for a huge crash at 3 a.m.
Peace and Love

ahh....love

I think I have fallen in love

     Don't tell Jackie.  She will tell me I am nuts eventually.  She will say it's absurd, and I may have to agree with her.
     At my age...falling in love with..... a house.
     Not just a house, my friends.  A stately house.  An old house.  One that I visit in my dreams and hope one day to see.
     Highclere Castle.
     That is where Downton Abbey is filmed and as far as I am concerned, the real star of the series and movie.
     I saw the movie tonight....and seeing the castle and the grounds on the big screen is simply amazing.
     The great hall....the library....the kitchen....all of these rooms just came alive on the big screen.
     I can't imagine how much it costs to maintain a home like that.  In the series, and movie, they allude to the farms making a profit....but they have to have a lot of farms and a lot of profit to maintain a house and staff of 10 or so people.
     I plan to go to watch the Cubs next June in London.  I had hoped to visit Highclere when we were there, to sip some tea in one of the rooms and to walk the grounds.
     But it is not open to the public until sometime in July, and I don't think Jackie would be happy with me hanging around in Europe for a couple of weeks just to see a castle.  And that may be folly, except it is not just a castle, it is Highclere Castle.
     Just looking at the castle on those long distance shots makes my heart skip a beat.
     It's love, I tell you.
Peace and Love

Once upon a time

I could actually proofread copy

     I could find mistakes and correct them.  Now, I type as best I can, do all the corrections I see, and then notice a huge spelling mistake.
     My skills are slipping.
     Someday I'll tell you of my role as a bag man......and it is not what you think.
     I had a dental appointment today.  Impressions and measurements were made for my soon to be installed implant.  I don't know, do you install them?  Insert them?  Affix them?
     At one point today my mouth was full of some gel like substance for an impression.
     I had a mini panic attack.
     My mind was racing:  What if he made a mistake and grabbed glue?  What if my mouth can't open again?  What if I choke to death in the chair?
     I got a little panicky...it was the longest three minutes of my highly paranoid life.
     Anyway.....tired.  Going to bed.
Sweet dreams and......
Peace and Love.

Wehre's Linus??

We got into fall mode today

     Our ghosts and witches are up and now the pumpkins are on the porch!
     I still have to buy some candy that I will eat because we never get more than one or two trick or treaters.  Maybe this year......
     I was busy for doing nothing.
     Picked the remaining beans and 2 green peppers, dug some carrots, went to a program at the library and cooked two steaks on the grill.  It was cold.  I shivered.  Red wine helped, but not enough.
     The program was a cooperative venture between the museum, library and newspaper.
     The newspaper had stacks of bound copies of the local paper.  All they were doing was gathering dust.  They gave them to the museum.  We at the museum don't have a place to store them, but the library does.  So....new cabinets were purchased, the books were hauled to the library and put in cabinets in correct order and everybody is happy.
    Which made for a good day.
Peace and Love

Whose a spoiled girl?

One of these might be the Great Pumpkin!

There's always one......

Hay Day!!

I had a busy day today

     It was Hay Day in Rochelle.  For those of you who do not live here, it is a fun celebration in the downtown parking lot with activities for kids, food, and some booths from local groups.
     VCCT did an "Advice from the Old Coots" booth.  And due to my doddering age, I was one of the old coots, along with TC and Carol.   To be fair, TC is not yet an old coot, but he is getting closer every year.   We had a fun time, sitting in the 46 degree temperature with the 90 mile out of the frozen north wind.  We were there for 6 hours, starting at noon and ending at 2.  At least it seemed 6 hours.
     We had a lot of people stop and visit, but only four or five who asked for advice.  It was a fun time anyway.
     Curt the Fireman gave us hot dogs because they were cooking and passing out free dogs.....I even took one home for Jackie and it did make it home.
     The highlight was a little girl visiting her grandparents.  She attends Ravenswood Elementary in Chicago, the same school I went to!  I told her I was her size once and went there....she looked at me like I was a raving old coot.
     The morning didn't start off swell.  I am a new member in a local organization and there was a planning session at 8 a.m. today.
     I got to the location at 8......and nobody was there.  I looked in a couple of other potential meeting sites, and they were not there either.  So, I put air in my tires and got a coffee.  Jackie texted me and said she thought I told her it was a 9 a.m. start. 
      I went back to the office and at 8:55 no one had showed, so I went home.      Now I could have called someone, but I did not have the numbers with me.
     I called from home and was told they started at 8:15 and were meeting at a site I did not even know existed!
     I got there by 9:40, and it ended at 11, so I was there for half the meeting.
Somehow they did not put me on their e mail list.....so everybody else got notified except me.  That happens a lot to me.   Hmmmm..........
     I think that has been fixed.
     A thank you to Emily for mom sitting, and I am paying them back by dog watching tonight and tomorrow morning while John runs the Chicago Marathon.
     He is running for Ronald McDonald House.....and if you want to make a donation, you can still do that.
     Now for some pictures
Peace and Love

A garden wall at the zoo

Like I said, Peace and Love!  Found by Blaine Elementary in Chicago.

Old Coots ....pardon my thumb

whew!

This was not a nice day

     Cold, windy, wet.  Fall seems to have arrived.
     On the positive side, no falls today.  All went well on the home front.
     I had my final downtown history walk today.  Imagine my surprise when no one showed up for the 5 p.m. walk.  Maybe it was the biting wind, or the penetrating cold. or the dark clouds and damp atmosphere.....but I waited until almost 5:10 before heading off.  And yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition.
     For you gardeners out there, I have a question or two.  I have some potted lemongrass and some citronella geraniums.  I thought I read earlier this year that if I cut them back and put them in the basement, there is a good chance they will overwinter and come back in the spring.
     But I read several  articles today and no mention of cutting back either plant in any of the articles.
     They are in the basement, in a fairly sunny location, and I will water them weekly.  But it is the cutting back that concerns me.
     And since it is lemongrass, it appears to be useful in Asian type dishes.  I have no clue, or recipe, but I will be glad to share some if you would like.
     Now about tomorrow.....I have an early morning meeting, Emily is mom sitting, then my friends TC, Carol and I will be staffing a booth at the Hay Day event.
     We are doing Old Coots advice.......although TC is not an old coot.
     It will either be funny and entertaining, or it will be so freaking cold no one will want any advice at all.
     I am fine either way.
Peace and Love

call me crazy

I am beginning to hate reality tv house shows

     Jackie likes Flip or Flop, with Tarek and his incredibly beautiful ex wife, Christina.  That actually may be the only reason I watch.  Christina, just to clarify.
     Tonight they bought a house for $570,000.  It had three bedrooms, two baths, and was 1200 square feet.  Of course, it's in California where storage lockers in the bus station rent for $625 a month.
     Our house is about 2400 square feet.  And3 bedrooms.  I can't imagine taking half of our house and creating 3 bedrooms in the space.
     It's not uncommon for them to pay $700,000 and put $90,000 in it and sell it for a $900,000 price.  That is insane.
     After redoing this house, they sold it for a $10,000 profit and I think they were just glad to make that because the house was a mess.
     A thank you again to John....two nights in a row he has come over to help get someone up off the floor.  Tonight she went to sit on her walker and missed.  I still have not figured that out.
     MS is not a nice disease.  It robs the person of a quality of life and it robs the people around them.  To be honest, it scares the hell out of me.  But enough of that.
Peace and Love

oops...again

My life can be somewhat confusing

     Or a subtitle:  The case of the missing poop.
     Let's just say this was one weird day.
     I did not sleep well last night....I could not find Uncle Henry's ashes and the search led me down some very bizarre dream sequences.  Very.  Bizarre.
     I went to DeKalb in the afternoon for a final check up on the dental implant.  I was given the go ahead to get the fake tooth and resume chewing somewhat naturally.
     When I got home I walked the dog.
     When I walk Corki, I carry blue bags for her solid waste.  (Poop may be an indelicate word, so I used solid waste instead.  Smart, huh?)  Corki always, I mean always, emits solid waste in an empty field across from the second house down from us.  I always pick up the solid waste material  and put it in the bag, then leave the bag for collection on the walk back.  That way I don't have to carry a bag of poo.....er solid waste for the next mile.
     Today Corki evacuated some solid waste several houses down.  Now, I don't know the person who lives across the road from the evacuation.  I wave to him, but he never waves back.  I tried to talk to him in his driveway once, but he ignored me.  One time he saw me walking down the street toward him and made a bee line through a vacant field, away from me.
     I picked up the solid waste material and tied the bag closed and dropped it on the side of the road.
     Then Corkie shit again. ( Sorry, solid waste is a lot to type.)  Again, I picked it up up and left the blue bag to pick up on the way home.
     When we got back, the bags were gone.  The man was in his garage and when I turned toward his house to explain,  the garage door closed.
     I feel bad that he thinks I am the sort of person to leave bags of dog shit laying around, I am not.  It was just weird.
     After the walk, I still had some daylight so I decided to edge the driveway and sidewalk.  I have not done it in a couple of years.  After getting it almost done, John pulled in the driveway. 
     John came because somebody fell in the bathroom and somebody else did not have a phone on them.  You can probably figure out which role I played.
     Jackie is not hurt, and honestly I needed John to get her up off the floor.
     I do need someone who can repair drywall however, as the walker put a half dollar sized hole in the wall.  Hole.  Not dent.  Hole.
     Like I said, it was a weird day.  And I never found Uncle Henry's ashes.
Peace and Love

what the heck

I think something is wrong with me

     Every time I do a play, I have trouble saying the lines correctly.
     If I am supposed to say,  "You look weird an d you look fat."  It comes out, "You look fat and you look weird."
     I reverse a lot of lines!
     I don't get it.  I did not learn them reversed, but it happens.
     It has always happened, so it is not an age thing.
     And there is always one line that screws me up.
     TC and I were doing a Tuna show and my line was, "I've had it up to my ass with this sorry excuse for a town  and some body's going to pay."
     I had the line memorized.  Knew it.  For all the rehearsals I was confident.
Get on stage, and I could not say that line correctly for the life of me.
      Sometimes it came out, "I've had it up to my neck and some body's going to pay."
     Sometimes it was my head, my face....everywhere but my ass.  Sometimes somebody was going to pay, other night's they would be sorry.  Once I may have said heads would roll.
     My eyes would roll up into my head and my face would go blank when I got to the part.....it was all quite amusing.
     Tonight I learned I have been saying a line wrong for the past two weeks because I memorized it wrong.   But it should be an easy fix.
     Like I said, I have always reversed...so it is not an age thing.  But it is confounding.
Love and Peace

ride 'em cowboy

I have not been a good biker this year

     I keep track of my miles.   And it is not good.
     As of today, I have ridden about 248 miles this summer.  That may seem like a lot, and in a way it is.
     But last year I rode 609 miles.  Granted....over 100 of those were in the Netherlands on our biking trip, but that still makes almost 500 miles of riding in the states.
     In 2017 I rode 349 miles.  No trips, just riding.
     So....I have a ways to go to even match 2017 and no way I can match last year, unless I ride to DesMoines in the next month or so.
     I need a riding group.  And not young, thin guys in their super tight spandex.  Older folks.  A couple of people who regularly ride, whether it is the bike path or a bike trail.  A biking club that rides.  I know there are clubs in DeKalb and Rockford, but I really don't want to cart my bike up there to ride.
     My annual goal is always 500 miles.  Someday I would like to hit 1,000 in one summer.  I think I better get serious about that because I am not getting any younger.
     Biking is good exercise plus it gives me a mental release.  I am relaxed when I ride and when I am done.  I have great conversations, out loud, because no one else is around. 
     I have solved many problems out there on the bike.
     Summer is rapidly running out......so I better get riding.
Peace and Love

always look on the bright side of life

Everybody whistle!  de do, de de.......

     Pardon me...went to see Spamalot today with Emily and John.
     It brought me back to the old neighborhood.  Seriously.
     Spamalot was at the Mercury Theater, about 4 blocks from where I grew up.     It is very close to the Music Box, a movie palace that I have been to many times as a kid.
     My mom took me there to see My Fair Lady and Oklahoma.  I remember that distinctly, although My Fair Lady came out in 1956, so I must have been about 8 years old.
     During one rowdy matinee, I threw a Milk Dud at the screen.  Every time there was a close up of John Wayne, it looked like he had a mole on his face!  Good times.......
     But I digress.  The Mercury Theater is relatively new...within the last 20 years or so. 
     It has a professional troupe in residence, at least that is what it seems.
     The performers were very good.  I sometimes don't watch the main characters, but I watch the faces of the people in the background, and their body language.  The characters in this show were alive and involved with the production.
     I also watch the feet of the dancers.  I know that is strange, but that is what I do.
     The male dancers in this show did a variety of tap routines and sequences and their feet were flying in all directions.
     These are professionals.  Yet, they are not on Broadway, or off Broadway, or a touring company.  It reminded me of why I could never have been a professional actor.  The talent level they had was amazing....yet they were not first teamers, more like single A ball in baseball.
     Some of them have not yet been "discovered" but I would bet the majority of them would not have a problem filling a role on Broadway.
     It was a neat experience and I am glad Emily and John asked me to go.  Too bad I didn't get a picture by the marquee!
     As we drove through the old neighborhood, I kept expecting to see faces I knew...John, Frank, Billy, Larry, Connie, Sandy, Richie, Joe, Mark......but everyone was a stranger.
     I guess that happens after 50 years.
Peace and Love

that's unusual

Not much to say tonight

     It was cold and damp today.  I  took a nap.  I  read my four inch thick book for about 15 minutes.  Went to the high school play.
     I am having a glass of Rum Chata because I had to check it to be sure it was ok.  It is.
     Jackie was cold, so we put the fireplace on for a while until it got too hot.
     In short....pretty boring day.
     So, I'm calling it a day.  Or night.  You decide.
Peace and Love

damn GPS

So much for a 12 hour day

     I had a zoo day today.  I set the alarm for 6:30.  When I got up at 3 I assumed I would be able to go back to sleep.
     No luck.  I put peaceful thoughts in my head.....Dewey Lake, Lake Geneva, Lake Superior, Mackinac Island......nothing helped.
     I know it was after 4...possibly 4:30....when I did fall asleep, only to awaken a short time later.
     I forgot to shut off the security system.  When I opened the door to the garage  to finally leave, it was pretty loud.  Jackie and Corki were now awake.
     After the zoo, (which started with a note saying Happy Anniversary!  I started volunteering in October, 2008) I wanted to go to a Dyson service center in Bollingbrook.
     I got the directions, studied the map, and had little problem getting there.
I had a frayed cord on our cordless vac.  I asked for a replacement on line, and was told the $29.95 one was replaced by the $129 unit, so I did not order one.  The man at the service center took my cord, found a replacement unit and told me there was NO CHARGE because he has seen this on several vacs.
     That was great.
     I got in the car and headed out.
     I wrote down the directions, and entered them in my phone.  To get to the Dyson place, I turned on a northbound street.  So I turned northbound on the same street.
     First off, I thought my phone would tell me the directions.  It did not.  I only had the map, and since it is illegal to even touch your phone while driving, I assumed I was heading north.  I was not.  I was going south.  I ended up in Romeoville.
     I called Jackie thinking she could point me in the right direction, but since I did not at the time know I was in Romeoville, I could not give her a starting point.
     Finally I pulled into a shopping center, took  out the paper map, and discovered I had to turn around and go back the way I had just come until I hit 55, and then take that north to 355, then to I 88, then home.  Easy.  Seems I was heading south.
     Except.......no delicate way to put it, by now the Starbucks had worked it's way through my system and my bladder was yelling for help.  I was in a construction zone and spotted a McDonald's.  I pulled in, used the can, got back on the road.....and because the signs were down for 55 due to construction, I drove past the entrance.
     I decided to turn left at the next light, go into the shopping center, and come back out.
     Except.....it was a construction zone and the traffic in the other direction managed to block the intersection.  For three lights.  Finally some fairly intelligent people realized they should not block and intersection and a bunch of us were able to turn.
     I eventually got on 55 and for a while motored along at the incredible speed of 15 mph.  Although irritated, later I became thankful because on I 88 we rolled along at the mind boggling speed of 8 for about 10 minutes, then everything was clear.
     I had a stop to make for groceries so after leaving the house at 8:16, I pulled in at about 8:10.
     I just made a hot chocolate with Run Chatta and it seemed off.  Does that stuff spoil?  And I just discovered I am bleeding between two fingers, in the webbing on my left hand.
     I do think I will sleep tonight.
Peace and Love

I'm prepared

There are some things I won't live without

     Chocolate.  Tea.  Coffee.  Pizza.  Good hamburgers.  Great hot dogs.
     Toilet paper.
     I may have a problem there.
     What do you think?

     This should last me for a while.   If ever there is a shortage, I will gladly sell some of my stock, for a significant price.
     I had a nice day today, with coffee with Dan and Linda, a trip to an open house, rehearsal......sometimes I forget to stop and breathe.  This helped me.
     Hope it helps you too.

Peace and Love