day....OMG.....389

 I tried to clean our den today

    If you know anything about me, you know cleaning and tossing are not my strengths.  But neither is my memory.

    Emily and John came over with a new dog today.  Corki did not bark, growl or anything.  She even sat next to Becky for a few minutes.

    The funny thing is.......Corki has some chews.  She never actually chews them.  So Becky picked up the chew and was gnawing away.  But Becky went for water, Corki went over, picked up the chew and sat under the table, just holding it in her mouth.

    We got Becky another chew, and Corki actually chewed the one she has never shown interest in at all.  Funny dog.

    Anyway, I asked Emily how to download music to my phone and she looked at me and said she had already explained that to me.  Also, she gave me a CD player that I could connect to the computer, download a CD, then transfer it to my phone.  

    I did not remember any of that.  I went into a panic because I have never seen the device she described.  So I looked in my desk drawers....there it was.  And in my wire paper holder is a list of directions she told me that I wrote down.  How could I forget something like that?

    Jiminy Cricket.

    But I digress.

Found some pictures in the closet.  Thought I would share them with you.

Renee....I still have mine!

Vera Carp  and Aunt Pearl.  Two of the sweetest ladies in Tuna.

I believe this is from the mid 80s.  I had gone to Alaska with a friend.  Was gone 5 weeks and this is what my beard looked like.  I think I am pretty damn good looking!

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day.....Terry, Terry quite contrary.....388

 I spent some time in the dirt today

    I have the majority of weeding around the house done.  I still have two areas to go, but they do not look too bad.

    My problem is getting rid of the waste.

    Some I can pile on my old Christmas tree and burn, hopefully burning the tree at the same time.

    But some I can't.  I put it in bags in the garage and then take it into town and drop it in a friend's driveway.

    I feel sometimes I should diversify and use other people......then I think who cares?  Nobody is keeping count.  Are they?

    One thing I noticed is how sore my hands are tonight.  It's hard to bend them and type.  I guess a couple of ibuprofin, or however it is spelled, before bed may help.

    If you ever see me out weeding or working in the garden, make sure you create plenty of noise when you approach.  I often have very vigorous debates with myself while gardening.  I talk to the worms.  I curse the weeds. I rhyme words.  It is definitely a free flowing time for me as I dig around in the dirt.

    What I need to do is download some more music and charge my little speakers.  Then I can sing along while I work.

    I do that when I am mowing, and sometimes I turn off the mower and continue singing, but since the mower was on I am more or less yelling the words, or what I think the words are, which may be why more neighbors are avoiding me each year.

    Oh well.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day...got the worm.....387

 The early bird does get the worm

    We were up at 6 a.m. today!  I saw the sun rise.  I can't tell you the last time I saw the sun rise.  The sky was deep red, and I kept thinking of the old saying:  Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.  

    I believe that  had to do with the idea that the red morning sky indicated wind.  Well, based on today, I have to agree with the saying.  It has been windy as heck all day long.

    Anyway, we had a closing today.  

    Yes, a closing.  Jackie and I bought a lot near Oregon, IL.  It's wooded and just over an acre in size.

    It is not for us.  We bought it for Julia, who can not own property in the US without paying some sort of tax on it in Switzerland.  So, we bought it.  We own it.

    Todd Burghardt of Team Advantage Plus Realty handled our end of the bargaining.  Todd put in a lot of work on this and even brought us this delicious cake as a thank you for doing business with him!  It should have been the other way around!  The cake is great....shared it with Emily and John and Sheri, but we still have plenty left!

    My Christmas tree is on the move!  (I am using too many exclamation points tonight!)

    A couple of weeks ago it walked down to the retention pond and I had to go get it and bring it home.

    Today it walked from the compost bin, to the garden, back to the bin and is now headed back to the retention pond.  Something tells me it will meet a firey end sometime this week.  Hopefully.

    I just hope the wind dies down for tomorrow.  Honestly, I don't like the noise at night.  I have enough trouble sleeping without Maria making noise all night.

    And...yesterday I mention the pooh covers.  Those are officially a prank gift.  I went to the website and learned that.  Sorry.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day......eh......386

 A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

    And unfortunately, I come equipped with a little knowledge.

    You should feel blessed I am sharing some of that with you.

    The cicadas will be returning this summer.  These are 17 year ones and will be most common in eastern counties in the central part of the state.

    That's not the information you need.  In addition to natural predators, there is a fungus that attacks the cicadas.  It eats away at their butts.  I just hope it isn't transferrable to humans.  We'd have to rewrite the lyrics to I like big butts.

    You learned something, right?

    There is a product advertised on line called Hide a Pooh.  I hope it is a joke.  It looks like a rock and you drop it over the dog pooh.  I guess you leave it or pick it up later.  The ad was unclear.

    I read things and make notes.  But, I often can't understand the notes.  For example, I am looking at a paper with 350/100 ; Funderburg Easy; You Tube and a name thqt looks like Debby Circuses.  I wrote them, but have no idea whay or what they mean.

    The Chicago Bulls basketball team at the start of this season averaged 21.8 years of age.  That was younger than the University of Wisconsin men's team.  But the Bulls pulled a big trade, so that may no longer be true.

    There.  Now you have information you will never need to know.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day....birthday.....385

Today is Jackie's birthday 

    This is the second year she has celebrated during a pandemic.  As we all have.  It is not fun.

    We had pizza last night and tonight we are having Flight Deck.  We have kept the "crowd" down to 5 last night and 4 tonight.  

    Hopefully next year we will just have these past 14 months as a bad memory.  Too much time has been lost, too many friends missed, too many events gone.

    Such is life.

    I went into the yard to pull weeds today.  Figured I would be out there an hour or less, but it was over 90 minutes.  It felt good.  Last year we paid for a clean up because I just wasn't up to doing it, but like I said, it felt good.

    Aside from that ...... just some pictures to share.

Anyone else see a man smoking a cigar?

There's a fungus among us

This just seemed so much faster and easier than cutting the grasses back.

    WTH!!!!  I must be sick!  What is up with my tongue?  Oh wait.....black jelly beans.  I remember.

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day...huh?.....384

 I always hate learning something new about myself

    Yesterday my hearing doctor told me I had lost a little hearing since our last visit in 2018.  Not a major loss, but a loss.

    She said that was just a part of aging and I probably would not go deaf before I die.

    I had noticed in the last few months that even with hearing aids I was losing bits of conversation.  Now my aids have been adjusted and there should be some improvement.

    But if you are around me, you might want to say my name or get my attention before you ask or say anthing important.

    For instance, if an elephant is about to step on me you may want to speak up.  If I am about to stop on an ant, a whisper would be ok.  (In grade school I wrote about my Aunt Betty.  But I was not always aware of spelling.  I called her Anut Betty throughout the paper.  My teacher asked if my aunt was a nut and I was puzzled until I got my paper back.  EOD)   (I decided to use the abbreviation EOD to say End of Digression.  EOD.)

    I often wonder what it would be like to lose a sense.  I talked to a guy today whose wife had Covid.  It was a mild case, but she lost her sense of taste and smell and her sense of taste has not yet come back completly.

    If I went deaf, would I still hear the music in my head?  If I go blind, will I still be able to see the images in my mind?  Would I miss the taste of pizza or the smell of applewood burning?  Would I be able to feel my dog when I pet her?

    A curious mind wonders...and I don't want to have a personal experience with losing any of the senses.  Well, I have lost my sense of style, but that was long ago.

    tay healthy.  Stay safe.  Stay full of senses.

Peace and Love

day.....oh oh.......383

 I have a guilty conscience tonight

    I got something I don't think I deserved.

    Let me explain.

    Last Christmas, Dec. 18 to be exact, we placed a take out order with a chain restaurant in Sycamore.

    When we got home, everybody but John got their order.  His was not in the bag.  I called the place and explained what happened.  I talked to Reuben, the shift manager, and he said next time I come in tell them what I was short and add Ruben said it was ok and they would give it to me.   (Coincidentally, the next time we ordered, from a different place, I got home and found John's order was wrong again!  WTH.)

    I put it off, and put it off, and put it off.  Until today.

    I went back today because Jackie wanted ribs recently and could not get them.  So I figured for a birthday present, I would get her a rib dinner.

    Before you complain, she has plenty of clothes, does not wear a lot of jewelry, has minimal needs at this point but she can always eat.  So ribs, something she wanted, sounded like a great gift.

    Anyway...I went back to the restaurant and explained the situation to the Pretty Young Thing taking orders.  I said if they could not do anything I was ok with that because I had waited so long.  She radioed in the question, then had to go talk to the shift manager.  I stressed, the ribs order was separate from the missing salad.  She said she understood

    I get up to the window to pay and the PYT said they misunderstood what she said and they are not charging me for anything.  

    So I got a full slab rib dinner and a chef's salad for free.  And I feel guilty about it.

    I told her that was not right, I should not get the ribs for free.  She said I "seemed like a nice man and had waited long enough. So enjoy."

    Then I was told to pull off to the side.  I sat there, thinking police were going to show up and arrest me for running some sort of scam.  Or they changed their mind and were not going to give me the ribs. But eventually a guy cam out with two huge bags.

    But I feel guilty.  Should I go back and explain again?  Do I just go in, order some ribs, pay for them and leave?  Then what would they do with the order?

    Do I just go in and say I am paying for a rib dinner but I don't want it?

    Or, do I just assume that is the company policy for an order that gets messed up?

    Trust me...I will debate this for the next month or two because I won't be able to let it go....which was one of my New Year's Resolutions.  Let it go.  We;ll see.

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day.......holy crow.....382

I have so many questions tonight 

    Some of them have to do with t.  Not tea, or tee, but t.

    You know what I am talking about.  Which word does not belong in this list:  snot, cot, pot, sot, depot,  slot, knot......... if you picked depot, you win.  If you picked sot, you drink too much.

    Why is that t silent?  They are all ot at the end!

    And we all have used the word but.  Or butt.  He has a big butt.  But he is from Mars.  

    What happens to the t in debut?  It freaking disappears!

    So question one, why does the t disappear?

    Question 2:  Why do the worms come on my porch?  There were hundreds of them following the rain last night.  I had planned to go out and scrape them carefully up and put them in my garden, but they were all shriveled and dried this morning.  How do they find the sidewalk?

    Question 3:  Why does Ollie's taste so darn good?  We had our first of the year today following a doctor visit for Jackie.  We even brought home some frozen custard for later.

    Question 4:  What is the noise that Jackie keeps hearing that I don't hear even when wearing my hearing aids?  It's a squeak.  From where??

    Question 5:  Why can't I find jeans that fit?  I wear 38-32 and they are too long, I walk on the bottoms.   I try 38-30 and they are too short.  I can't find 38-31.  I am particular about the brand and style......but I may have to (gasp) change.

    Qeuestion 6:  How can I find more hours in the day?  Finding it tough to get everything done lately.

    Question 7: Is it too late to consider a career as a rapper?

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day....blah, blah , blah.....381

 I am still reeling over yesterday

    I just can't get over two mass shootings in what seems a blink of an eye.

    It seems we are not safe anywhere, grocery stores, spas, massage parlors, movie theaters, university lecture halls, high schools, grade schools, college campuses.

    And all I hear is blah....blah....blah.

    You have heard all the crap too, I am sure.  If the victims were armed, if teachers were armed, if armed security guards were present, if... if. ... if.

    What I am not hearing is what are we going to do as a nation to prevent more mass shootings?

    Stricter background checks?  Longer waiting periods?  Preventing private sales to circumvent laws?  Stricter prison terms? Banning certain types of weapons and ammuntion?  Better mental health care for distraught people?

    Columbine weas 23 years ago.  What has changed?

    We can't keep lining up on one side of this or the other.  We need brave leaders from both parties to come up with solutions and to implement those solutions.

    But all I am hearing is blah....blah .... blah.

    It makes me sick to my stomach.

Peace....more than ever....and Love.....more than ever.

day.....wish I was smarter.....380

 Days like this make me wish I had answers

I wish I knew why people go on mass shooting sprees.  Six dead in Colorado, eight in Georgia.  How do we stop it?

Twelve and 13 year old kids carjacking people in Chicago, often using guns.  How do we stop it?

Lawmakers proposing legislation in some states to make it ok for drivers to run down demonstrators with their car if the demonstrators are blocking the road.  How do we stop it?

Hatred of people because of their skin color, religion, nationality, language, sexuality.  How do we stop it?

People hoping to overthrow the government because their candidate lost.  How do we stop it?

There is just too much hatred, too much ugliness in the world.  How do we stop it?

Like I said.  I wish I was smarter.  I wish I had answers. But all I get is a feeling of disgust with humans.

Peace and Love....now, more than ever.

day......tater tots.....379

 I have a half baked blog tonight

    Or maybe it is not baked at all.  You be the judge.

Cojoined taters?

Mama tater at nude beach

Platypus tater

circus clown tater with a plastic nose

Dog head tater....or something else

Pacman tater

Tater lips

Father and son tater burying their upeer bodies at a nude beach

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.  Eat  a potato.

Peace and Love

day....Rip......378

 I think I was tired today

    I had some reports to read today for groups of which I am a member.  Short reports. but I have to get them done and I tend to put things off as much as possible.

    I told Jackie today that I was only working on the reports.  Nothing else.  Well, once I had breakfast and read the paper anyway.

    I sat down at 1 to read reports.  I worked for an hour, but was tired and decided to take a break from that reading and read  a book for a few minutes.

    I woke up at 5.  I napped for 3 hours!

    Other people are out hiking, walking, exploring the day and enjoying the sunshine.  I slept in a chair for three hours.

    I actually felt pretty good when I woke up, but I am still tired.

    I always seem to learn something when I read the Trib.  For example, there was a picture in the homes section that looked exactly like a picture I took of my front yard!  Lots of trails through the grass that appeared after the snow melted.

    I thought they were ground squirrels, but I was wrong.

    Voles.

    Not Vols, that is Tennessee.  Voles.

    According to the article, voles don't hibernate during the winter.  They tunnel under ths snow and eat the grass, creating trails trough the yard.

    Trapping them was suggested, which I suppose I can do once the weather warms up.  Until then, they will just feast on the grass.  At least they won't have to create tunnels to do it.

    Sleep tight.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day.....yowser....377

I had a pretty busy day today 

    Walking at the rec center, shopping, writing, picking up dog pooh.......and catching a run a way.

    Seriously.  I caught a run a way near my back yard.

    After Christmas, actually Epiphany, we took down our Christmas tree and I dragged it out to the back yard.  There it stayed until the 50 mph winds over the past 2 days.

    First it moved to the ditch between our house and the neighbor's.  Then it moved down the ditch.  Finally it ended up in the retention pond.

    Since the winds have died down, I figured it was safe to recover it.

    Unfortunately, the pond was not completely dry.   There was a rather large puddle and the tree was in the middle of it.

    I carefully stepped toward it, only to have the water seep over my chuka boot and soak my sock.  Then my foot got stuck in the mud, and since I don't really tie my shoes, my foot came out of the shoe.

    There I was.  Balanced on one foot while trying to put my soaking wet sock into the soaking wet shoe.

    Eventually I was able to do that and grab the tree, dragging it back up to my yard, where it is now laying in peace.  I changed into dry socks, and went out into the world a new man.   Not really.

    But tonight and great pizza with Sheri, along with a wonderful bottle of wine, and I am in pretty good spiritss.  (Or are the spirits in me?)  Anyway, this was a pretty darn good day.

    Hope yours was too.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day.....maybe again......376

 I just finished a book......and am befuddled

    This book, Augustus Carp by himself, Being the Autobiography of a Very Good Man, was first published in 1924 in England.

    At times I found it confusing and funny.  (Ha Ha funny) Caonfusing, because this person was such a pious prig and totally unaware of the world around him, yet he thought his life interesting.  I found it funny because, well, it was funny.  It mocked so much of society then, and even now.

    And no, Augustus Carp was not a real person.  Well, not real as in he actually wrote the book, but real in a way that we all know someone like him.  

    Anyway, I borrowed  it on Hoopla, which is a free lending program to which our library subscribes.  If you want a lesson on writing satire, I suggest you read it.

    I may even read it again some day because I know I missed a lot of the humor.  

    One of the things I noticed was the language was much more flowery in 1924 than it is now.  And since he was British, some of the references just went by me.  

    I have started another book, a Bill Bryson one about traveling in Europe.  Coincidentally, since I like to write, I have begun a travel book.  But my mind works like this.  I start writing about a place and .......SQUIRREL..... I am writing about somthing different.  It is all over the place.

    I have decided my dark comedy about death is done.  I have read, revised, read, revised, read, revised....time to move on.  Now I have to figure out what to do with it.  Self publish?  Do an e book?  Submit to a publisher?  Put it away?  

    The only one I am familiar with is the last.  Time will tell.

    Stay warm.  Stay healthy.  Read a new book.

Peace and Love

day......food!!......375

 Today was a food day....maybe too much

    Jackie had a hair appointment at noon.  Right across the street is a fairly new restaurant in town called Acres Bistro.

    When Jackie had her hair done 7 weeks ago, I stopped in for a coffee and creme brulee.  It was very good.  I say stopped in because she has her hair restored to her natural color and after about an hour has to move from the chair to a rinse station.  Since she can't get up by herself, I have to help her.  And with Covid, I don't like haging around the salon, so I go for coffee.

    I stopped in today to see what they had for St. Pat's Day.  I ordered a coffee and  Irish potato soup, plus two desserts to go.  The soup was amazing!!  In fact, it was so good, I ordered a bowl to go!

    I had a slice of chess pie and a piece of grasshopper pie for dessert tonight.

    Again, because it is the wearing of the green day, we ordered Reuben's from the Flight Deck.  I also picked up a couple of Shamrock Shakes.

    We had a $25 voucher for the Flight Deck.  I put the voucher next to my phone so I would remember it....and you know where this is going.  Took the phone, not the voucher,  Guess we'll be going back in a couple of weeks, which is good because we both like the food.

    I could only eat half my Reuben and drink a third of my shake because I was still full from lunch!  Forget the desserts, neither of us could cram another morsel of food in our mouths if you paid us.

    I  bet I gained 10 pounds today. 

    Bonus to the day....no dishes to do for supper, plus we have leftovers plus dessert for tomorrow.

    I guess it was just the luck of the Irish, eh?

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  

Peace and Love

day.......learning......374

 I learned a couple new things today

    First, I learned how to access my FB page from 2013.  I had done a blog on our travel experiences that year but could not remember the name of the blog.  Turns out it was Cara Mia, Oh My!...... go figure.  Someone had asked about a place I visited and I thought the blog would answer some of their questions.

    I also learned I don't have the pictures anymore.  I think they are on my back up disk from when the computer died, but I have not taken the time to search for them.  I have been doing travel photo books for almost all of our trips, but I missed that one for some reason.

    I also learned never to answer the phone.  Somebody called, and the caller ID said "City of Rochelle."  I answered, and a man with a heavy accent asked if I was Terry Dickow.  I asked who wants to know.  He told me his name and said he was calling on behalf of a medicare supplement plan.

    I broke into his sentence and told him I could not talk long because I only had 6 minutes to live and I did not want to spend it talking to him.  He was stunned.  So I hung up.

    I also learned the bolt I found by my car one day actually holds the seat together on Jackie's wheelchair.  Now, if I only had the nut I would be in good shape.  Maybe the helpful folks at Ace will be able to help me on that.  I just have to go in and ask them to help me find my nuts.

    So....learn a little, learn a lot. Just learn, baby, learn.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day.....yucky.....373

 Today's snow was a little interesting

    It was blowing horizontally across the yard!  My bird feeder flap flew open a couple of times, letting snow into the seed.  I closed it the first time, but not the second.

    I went out with Corki about 8:30 and damn near broke my neck on the ice that had formed on the porch.  Yes, I know it will be gone in a day or two, but right now it is a hazard.

    Had an e-mail from Kathy in Colorado and she had 18 inches......so I guess the 2 or 3 we had was not so bad.

    I have not gone anywhere for two days.  Have not left the house, except to fill the bird feeders and get the mail.  For some reason, the low 30s today felt like below zero to me.  Just freaking cold out there.

    I guess I am socially distancing....or being antisocial, not sure.  I looked at the snow and decided not to walk today, which is a walking day for me.  I am glad because it just looked terrible out there.

    I have family in Florida. (You know who you are!)  I always ask about gators, because those things give me nightmares.

    Today I read about another nightmare found in the Sunshine State.  

    Ever hear of an arapaima?

    It is a fish in South America but someone found a dead one in Florida waters.

    The arapaima is a voracious eater.  It will eat game fish and anything else it can catch.

    Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

    The arapaima grows to 10 feet long, can weigh several hundred pounds, and has the ability to leap out of the water and catch birds, lizards and small mammals!  It also has scales that are like armor.

    I was ok until the leaps out of the water part.  

    Hopefully the one they found is an isolated case, because fish like that can change an entire ecosystem.

    Plus they can scare the bejeebers out of you.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Avoid the water.

Peace and Love

day.......times they are a changin.....372

 Sorry Bob Dylan, I don't like time changes

    My circadian rhythm gets all messed up.  

    Talking about messed up, take our the r in circadian and you get cicadian, a Latin term relating to "of or about a bug,  the common cicada."

    I made that up.

    My horrendous sleep habits are about get worse because of the time change.  Now when I go to bed at 10 it is actually 11, which means when I get up at 8 it's really 9 and sometimes I sleep until 10, which is 11.  If I don't get to sleep till 1, it's really 2 but 9, which is really 8, still comes along and there I am.

    Understand?

    So....to get a head start on going to bed at 10 (9) I am showing pictures for the rest of this entry.

    Enjoy.

I found a hummingbird nest at Nachusa Grasslands.

I have taken up a new hobby......wildlife drawing....he does have ears.  (It's an elephant.)

This is not an elephant.

    This roadway was made by mice or ground squirrels during the winter.  I guess I better get out the traps early this year.

Stay safe.  Stay healthy

Peace and Love

day....yum.....371

 We had a "normal" night !

    Friends came over bearing pizza and brownies, and for a few hours we acted pretty normal.  I believe all of us have had our shots, but we did maintain social distancing. It was a great evening.

    So thanks Kevin, Jen, Sandy and Samantha, who provided much of the entertainment for the night.  Where do kids get the energy and how can I tap into that?

    I spent some time raking in the front yard today.  I have contacted the high school for some Interact students to rake the front yard in early May, but I have some grass seed to spread so I raked a part of the yard today.

    Dogs and grass do not mix.  Corki has left several "dead" spots in the yard.  I bought a seed mixture that is designed for areas where dogs do their duty.  I figured get it down now so when the snow hits this week, it will be in place and ready to sprout.  I read somewhere that it was good to spread seed before a snow...we'll see.

    I was surprised how tired I got after raking about a 5 foot by 10 foot area.  My arms were sore and I was physically exhausted.  I guess I am not that youngster I imagine I am.

    Here's another strange thing.

    Caffiene keeps you awake, right?

    Thursday at 3 had a Starbucks....slept well.

    Friday at 3 had a vanilla latte from Cypress House.  Slept like a log.

    I don't get it.

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day......going, going.....370

A picture says 1,000 words

Or something like that.

A metaphore for life?  Or just this year?

Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

 

day.......Otis??.......369

Sometimes my life, and emotions, are like an elevator 

    Hell, they ARE an elevator.

    Today was no different, except in how fast the ride was.

    I had a nice conversation with a neighbor about the little shrine that has been erected in the park across the street.  It came after the tornado and was in the hollow of a tree taken down by the storm.

    That was 2015.  Age caught up to it, so it apparently is going away.

    I was thinking it would be a neat story for the paper, (up)  but the man did not want his picture or his name mentioned. (down) 

    Then he said he only read one newspaper regularly, the Wall Street Journal, because it was balanced, and only watched Fox News because they were fair and unbiased.  He was serious.  (down)

    I took my bike to a bike shop for a tune up.  Walked the bike in and the man said something and turned around.  I followed and he stopped and looked at me and said, "I guess you did not hear me when I said wait there."  I told him I had a hearing loss and was not wearing my hearing aids, so no, I did not hear him.  (down)

    I then attempted to back up to where he wanted me.

    Ever see dominoes fall?

    He had about 20 bikes lined up and I hit the third one, (down)  which knocked over the second one (down), which knocked over the first one (down) which almost took out his counter but missed. (up)

    To his credit, he did not yell.

    I went to Target and ran into two former coteachers.  We had a brief but great exchange and I was glad to learn they and their families are doing well.  I had their children in school, and they were great kids.  Sounds like they still are. (up 3 floors)

Went to a grocery store because they sell Mighty Vine tomatoes, the locally grown tomato that is so good it makes other vine ripened products blush.  Saw a display of daffodils, bought some, used my list to buy yogurt, cottage cheese and headed for Starbucks. (UP)

Used my app, ordered ahead, picked up quickly, (up) headed for home and realized I never bought the freakin tomatoes! (down)

Driving home, doing 45 in a 45, the light on Flagg Road at 20th Street turned yellow and I was too close to stop, so I think I went through a red. (down)  Luckily the person on 20th did not pull out, otherwise I would be in huge trouble, maybe even in the hospital (Up)

Got home, worked on my writing, started supper so we could eat before my 7 p.m. musuem meeting, was almost ready to make a BLT with a not so good vine ripened in Canada tomato when the phone rang at 6:02.

People were wondereing where I was, since as VP I was running the meeting tonight and it does start at 6. (down)

Finished meeting with only one person being able to hear me and relaying the conversation (down), had a great supper, even though it was late, (up) listened to the president, (up) and hear I am.

I am not sure if I am in the penthouse, basement or ground floor.

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day.....tv.....368

 Sometimes I am perplexed by television

    My vexation this month is our cable bill,  which now is north of the $300 line...which I think is outrageous.

    I plan on calling and complaining and asking how it can be cut.  We have tv, telephone, internet and home security.  When we signed up for the home security they told me it was cheaper to keep the land line because a bundle of four is cheaper than a bundle of three. And they gave me a special rate, which has now expired.

    But $300 is a lot of moolah.

    I am one of those people who like to record shows to watch later.  I have about 20 recorded episodes of shows.....and I never watch them.  I thought Zoey's Incredible Playlist would be good to watch so I record that....but never watched it. Underground Chicago?  Been recorded for about a year.  

    These are shows Jackie probably would not like, which is why I recorded them.  I honestly thought this winter I would watch them, plus sort pictures, go through slides, lose 20 pounds. learn to play the piano, speak fluent French....but winter is over and I have not done any of that.

    I have been watching a couple of British shows:  Miranda and Mrs. Brown's Boys.

    Miranda is the basis for Kat on American TV.  To be honest, I watched one episode of Kat and vowed never to watch another.  But Miranda?  Brilliantly funny and well written.

    Julia said Mrs. Brown's Boys was sophomoric, but funny.  I laugh a lot during that show, so I don't know if it's my maturity level or something else.  By the way, if certain words that rhyme with duck and luck offend you, I don't suggest you watch.

    It is filmed live, and sometimes things go wrong and ..... they don't edit it out!  The cameras just keep rolling.  Sometimes Mrs. Brown will be waxing philosophically about something and in the middle of her speech a character will enter early.  Mrs. Brown will say something like, "Ain't ya supposed to be upstairs"? or "Wait for the cue for cryin sakes."

    She did a particularly poignant speech and the audience went "awww" and she looked at them and said, "It's a tv show and I'm a man in a skirt for f----in sake."

    I thought it was funny.  Even us sophomores need to laugh.

    Stay healthy.  Stay happy.  Hang on tight, it's windy out there.

Peace and Love

day....oops II.........367

I did not realize oops was a transmissable condition 

    I discovered today it was.  First someone dropped a hair care product.  Then someone dropped another hair care product.  Then someone dropped a mirror.

    I won't mention names, but my hair needs no care.

    And the mirror did break.  Actually, that is a good sign because it means we have 7 more years.  Yes, they will be years of bad luck, but at this age I will take any extra days offered.

    Writing this blog is fairly easy.  Writing my weekly column for the local paper is fairly easy.

    I have been writing a book for about 7 years.  I have finished it, sort of.  Every time I read it I think of something to add, so in essence it may never get finished and I won't wint a Pulitzer Prize for Nonsensical Fiction.

    I truly admire people like Molly and Judy who have published multiple books. I wish I had their grit.

    The other problem is, I get bored.  So I do something else.  I have started 2 other books, and I forsee the same problem.....I will be 110 and still revising.

    Today I told Jackie I am taking 90 minutes a day for writing.  I will edit, revise, develop, read, research.....but I will do that for 90 minutes a day.    I know 90 minutes is not much, but it is a start.  Maybe that will focus me, and motivate me, to finish one of the books.

    Or not.  I just don't want to let it go, you know?  It's a dream, and I hate giving up on those.

    So....that's all I got!

    Stay healthy.  Stay happy.  Stay focused.

Peace and Love

oops

 Let's just say this was an oops day

    First off, I slept well last night.  I knew you were all on the edge of your seats wondering.

    My little friend Xanax helped.  I went to bed before 11, but at 12:30 I broke down and took the pill.  (Rolling Stones kept going through my mind....go running for the shelter of her mother's little helper and it helps her ease the way gets her through her busy day, or something like that)  I slept well after that.

    But today was kind of an oops day.  And Corki benefited.

    I spilled granola all over the floor.  By the time I got the broom, Princess Croki had pretty much cleaned up all but the very little pieces.

    Then I dropped a cup of yogurt on the floor, and it squirted in several directions.  Dogs like yogurt!   Who knew.

    I went into the pantry to get Jackie's cottage cheese for lunch.

    I went into the little bathroom to get her purse, which hangs in the closet in our bedroom.

    I went into town to walk and return the video to the library, but I didn't bring the video.

    I looked in the refrigerator for the cutting board.

    I'm thinking my mind might not have been  crystal clear today.

    I did manage to grill hamburgers outside.  It felt good to stand in the driveway, in the brisk spring like air, sipping a wine and listening to the quiet while smelling burning cow. 

    Burgers tasted great, Rainwater corn from last summer was great, wine was great..... not a bad way to cap off an oops day.

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.  Avoid the oops.

Peace and Love

day......sad anniversary....365

 One year ago today I first mentioned Covid in this blog

    Technically, it would be tomorrow for one year because 2020 had a Leap Year.  But I don't always believe in facts, so I am celebrating 365 days today.

    Now, you may have noticed I do have a problem with numbers.  I did day 1 on March 16.....so somehow, I have lost a few days.  But it was on March 7 I first mentioned the virus.

    We were not calling it Covid 19.....it was still a coronovirus, and I bet I spelled that wrong.  We did not know a lot about it, other than it was going to disappear tomorrow and we should not worry about it.

    Masks?  I don't think they were being pushed at the time, although social distancing and handwashing was.  I remember bringing home groceries and wiping all of them down with sanitary wipes...even the fruit.

    Toilet paper was flying off the shelves, as were paper towels and disinfectant sprays.

    Without a lot of help from the people who were supposed to be our protectors, we have managed to survive a full year of this.  No one is happy, no one is comfortable, and I bet no one truly feels safe.

    But we have made it this far.....and we will make it another year if we have to.

    Jackie and I have had our second dose of Moderna.  She was fine, but last night I felt queasy, very tired, was sweating and had chills.  I went to bed at 11 and listened as the cuckoo squawked every 30 minutes until 3.  After that, I don't remember much until 7:30, so it's possible I had a little over 4 hours of sleep.

    Today....no caffeine in the afternoon, going to bed early, and hoping to sleep.  

    I will do my nightly talk with the Big Guy and I'll say a prayer for the 500,000 Americans whose deaths are attributed to Covid.

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.  Stay smart.

Peace and Love

day......Lara......364

 I watched Dr. Zhivago today

    No, I am not a peeping Tom spying on my neighbor!  Dr. Zhivago is a movie.

    For some reason, I always wanted to watch it in the middle of winter, sitting in a cold room, huddled under a blanket, icicles dripping from my nose, my fingers too numb to grip the controller.  Why?  Well, to put me in the mood of the film.

    If you have not seen this classic from 1965, raise your hand.

    Really?  That many!  Wow.

    I saw it in the theater many years ago.  The movie had everything you would want in a show:  romance, war, philisophical debates, moral debates, beautiful women, and the enduring stuggle of how to handle your life when fate leads you in a different direction.

    It is long....almost 4 hours.  Jackie did not want to watch it because she figured she would fall asleep in the middle.

    It was strange watching it after all these years. 

    For some reason, I could not grasp why all the Russians had English accents and why one character was around in 1917 and also in the 1940s and did not seem to age a bit.  But, enough about my critical opinions.

    One of my favorite scenes in the film was after Lara leaves, Yuri goes after her, using the sleigh and horse to catch up to the stopped train where he whisks Lara off and takes her away.

    I remember that scene vividly.

    Maybe too vividly, because it never happens in the film!  Never!!  How did that get in my mind?

    I tell you, the mind remembers what you want it to remember sometines, not what actually happened.

    Speaking of old movies, it is almost time for me to pop Casablanca into the DVD player.  If I had to rank movies by favorites, that would be number one.     I confess, I had a man crush on Bogart, to the point I had a large poster of him in my bedroom.  I also had one of Ingred Berman, who to me is still the most beautiful woman to grace the screen.  From Casablanca, the poster was her face when she was at the airport, her hat pulled down and a single tear running down her face.  Movie magic.

    Here's lookin' at you, kid.

    Stay halthy.  Stay happy. 

Peace and Love

PS.....second shot yesterday, a little headache and a sore arm, but nothing major for either of us.

day.....$$$$$......363

 Cars can be expensive little necessities

    I took my Honda in for an oil change and tire rotation this week.

    I have a gauge (or is it guage? OMG...I am losing my ability to spell!)  that tells me the life of the oil.  I don't change every 5,000 miles like I used to, because the sensors measure how good the oil is and whether I should change or not.

    Well, it was at 50% life.  I usually change at 15%.  In other words, I had plenty of life yet on the oil and did not really need to change it.  But my gut said it has been over a year and a half since I had it changed!  I just have not been driving as much.

    For instance, I went to the zoo twice a month, sometimes 3 times, depending on the number of Fridays or special events.  In 52 weeks, I would have gone about 26 or 27 times, maybe even 30, At 160 miles round trip, that is almost 5,000 miles that I did not put on the car.

    Plus I have not driven to ball games, or anyplace other than Rockford, DeKalb and locally.

    So I figured to be safe, I'll get a change.

    I got out of the car and the tech said, "There are some other items that need attention."

    He then rattled off changing transmission oil, changeing brake fluid, flush and change coolant, a carburetor carbon cleaning and the $$$ signs flashed through my mind.

    I had just read somewhere that it was recommended to change the transmission fluid at a certain point.  I could not remember the point or where I read it, so I said to go ahead.

    But I also wanted new floor mats for the front.....$$$$$ because the car is 7 years old and those mats are no longer made.

    If I had done everything, it would have been over $1,000!!

    I did go home and look through the owner's manual for guidance on when to change all that stuff....none was given.  Just to use the car monitoring system to determine when to do it.

    That is my project for tomorrow....maybe.

    Jackie and I did get our second dose of Moderna today and as of 9 p.m. we are both feeling fine, although I did not eat my entire supper.  That is not normal, believe me!

    Hopefully tomorrow will be a day of answers....and nothing else.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Get a shot.

Peace and Love

day....slogans.....362

 I think Covid 19 needs better PR

    As we approach (March 11) the one year anniversary of Covid being declared a pandemic by WHO, maybe it's time to consider getting a PR firm for the disease.

    After all, cigarette companies hired PR firms when it became known to them that cigarettes were killers.  Good PR enabled companies to shield (or hide) smokers from the truth,

    So we got cowboys astride horses in beautiful, rugged western scenery.  We got mint flavored smokes, not to encourage young people to take up the habit, but so older adults could have a smooth, refreshing smoking sensation.  We got cartoon camels on packages and brands that may have been born in bowling alleys.  How lucky is a strike, when it leads to lung cancer and heart attack.

    And who can forget the stunning, emaciated career gal lighting up her slim cigarette, showing her independence and individuality by smoking like everyone else.  They even named a tennis tournament after that brand.

    In Europe, I found an empty pack of smokes on the ground.  There was a skull and crossbones on it and the warning, in huge type:  Causes death!  It was also in French and Italian.  Since it was empty, my guess was the user just did not get the message.

    Not to make light of Covid, but maybe it already has a PR firm.  

    That firm has done a good job of convincing people Covid is no worse than the flu, will eventually go away, the vaccine has a chip that can track us, masks are a violation of our personal liberties, social distancing does not apply to weddings, birthday parties or large family reunions, telling people the truth about the disease might cause a panic, and other assorted BS.

    I'd say the Covid PR people are doing a much better job than the cigarette people.

    But I wonder if the families and friends of the 500,000 in the US who have died would agree.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Get the shot.

Peace and Love

day.......16 tons......361

 This was a beautiful day today

    Temperatures were in the 40s, which is great.

    Snow is melting...I can see the top of my lilac tree, which a few days ago was hidden by the snow mountain in my driveway.  By the way, I have a couple of huge scratches on my Honda rear bumper area.  I wonder if the other day when I backed into the snow mountain I may have done that, or if someone with a cart in a grocery lot did it.  It frustrates me, cause the car looks pretty good outside of that.

     I took advantage of the nice weather to do a yard and garage pick up.

    I crushed cans in the garage and bagged up the plethora of plastic bags that have accumlated in the past year.  What is the policy on reusable bags?  At one point they were not allowed, but I think I can use them anywhere I bag my own grocereies.  I think.

    I had a lot of aluminum cans.  I have not crushed them since pre surgery in November.  Remember a picture I posted of 12 cases of pop?  That represented 144 cans and I bet I crushed 136 today.  My foot is sore.

    But the big pick up was the yard.

    How can a little dog shit so much?  Seriously, I had to double bag the crap.  And I only did part of the front yard!  She hardly went out in the back yard, so that was an easy clean up.  My back hurt so much from stooping over I had to quit for the day.

    Corki.  I think she has mental problems.  She follows me around and sits fairly close to me whenever I sit.  She will sit by Jackie when I am out, but if I am in the house....Jackie might as well be gone.

    Then I was on the phone today on a fairly important call and she barfed.  Corki, not Jackie.  Why does she throw up on the rug and not on the wood floor?  Just another shade added to the den rug.

    Oh well.....

    Hope you had a chance to enjoy the nice day.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace an Love

day......what the hell......360

 I sometimes think we have a huge problem

    Actually, I think it most of the time lately.

    Maybe it's the Covid thing.  Maybe it is the election.

    But I am begining to think people are freakin' nuts, to be polite, or just incredibly stupid.

    Some examples.

    A guy is running for governor in Illinois.  Earlier in the pandemic he was removed from the legislative floor in Springfield for refusing to wear a mask when there was a mandate to wear one.  He also believes Chicago should be its own state so they don't inflict their values and culture on the rest of the state.

    A representative from the same area in Illinois drove his pick up truck to D.C. for the Jan. 6 riot.  He has a decal for a far right military group on his truck, but insists he did not know what the decal stood for and his trip to D.C. was just to see what was going on.

    A congressman believes Jewish bankers used space lasers to start the devastating California wildfires that killed almost 100 people.  Plus she mocks people who identify as transgender because there are only two sexes...male and female. She says that is based on science, but global warning, pandemics, and rising sea levels are just conjecture.

    A governor is accused of improper asexual dvances, including touching and kissing his female aids, and explains it all by saying he was flirting in a joking way.

    A woman is running for Congress in our district and she not only does not live in the district, she has no plans of moving here.

    The youngest member of Congress, who was in a horrific automobile accident that left him paralized, told everyone his friend left him to die in the accident.  His friend says he went into the burning car and pulled him to safety.  Now it turns out the congressman also lied about the accident preventing him from attending a military academy while the military academy said he was never accepted to attend in the first place.

    We have a guy running around yelling the election was stolen from him, while there has been no proof of massive voter fraud, 60 court cases were tossed and the Supreme Court he appointed, plus his justice department and his FBI and every state elections commission has said no massive fraud existed......and people still believe the election was stolen.

    If the United States of America was a third world country, this would all be funny stuff.  But we are not.  And it isn't.

    And I honestly don't know who is dumber....the politicians or the people electing them.

    I actually started out thinking I would write a funny post tonight.    And in a sense, each entry is a comedy if you subscribe to the belief that out of tragedy comes laughter.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Peace and Love

day....open wide.....359

 I don't have good teeth

    Lots of fillings, a couple of crowns, one implant.....I did not take care of my teeth when I was younger.  To much candy and soda and not enough brushing always earned my a "talk" by the dentist.

    But the last few years have been pretty good.  Sure, a couple have chipped and a cuspid even broke off one, but I have all my teeth except one, and that spot is filled by an implant.

    Going to the dentist is not my favorite activity.  I hate the poking, the drilling, the probing......I really don't like my mouth being invaded.

    But I went today and everything is hunky dorey.  No problems, no issues.

    My hope is to make it through the rest of my life without any dental issues.  Now, that could be one day or 20 years, but I will have that hope every day I am still here.

    I have probably told this story....that is a problem with doing a blog every day.  I forget what I have told about my past.

    So maybe you have heard how I became the hero of the family at the tender age of four or five.

    My family and two of my cousins, all went to a "children's " dentist.  He had neat little plaques of nursery rhyme characters on the walls  and the parents loved him.  But the kids?  He was not gentle.  He hurt us.  Constantly.

    One day I had enough.  He was doing something to me and it hurt.  So I bit him.  Hard.  

    He finished and took me to the wating room and said he would never work on me again because I was a monster  for biting him.

    So we were forced to find a new dentist.  Instead of being in trouble, my two brothers and my two cousins thanked me for years because I spared them a lot of anguish.

    And the new dentist that we went to was kind, patient, and nice.  So nice, I was still going to him when I was married and he took care of Julia and I believe Emily too until he retired sometime in the early 1980s.  

    And I never had to bite him, not even once.

    Stay happy.  Stay safe.  Floss and brush.

Peace and Love