oops, sorry about that

 I may have committed a social faux pas today

    Jackie had a doctor appointment in Rolling Meadows.

    It was about 1 year ago we missed the seat in the car and she slid softly to the ground.  A man  helped me get her up  only to pull her shirt and coat over her head.  So, happy anniversary, of sorts.

    No problem today.

    We went to the elevator bank, door opened, a gentleman said go ahead, and I pushed the wheelchair in and hit 7.  The man followed and hit 8.

    Jackie said, "I don't think we want 7.  We want 8."

    We probably have this conversation every time.  For some reason, I can't remember the floor and I never look at the directory posted by the elevator for people's convenience.

    Anyway, we get to 7, I get off, look around, and say loudly, "Wrong floor.  We want 8."

    At which point the man said, "Oh," and got off the elevator.  

    I said to him, "This is 7.  Sir, this is 7."

    He wandered away, the doors closed, and we went to 8.

    He was an older guy, maybe older than me.  And he had a piece of paper in his hand that he kept looking at.

    I hope he found the right room.  I did not intentionally lead him astray, but kind of feel it was my fault.

    Speaking of my fault, or not being my fault, I seem to have broken our cordless vaccuum

    I emptied the canister today and two parts fell off that have never fallen off before.

    I went to the Dyson website but found no answers or even hints.

    So I went to YouTube and typed in Dyson 11 canister  and found a video showing me how to fix it!

    All I have to do is use a hex wrench to remove a tiny, tiny, tiny screw and replace the two parts, then put the screw back in, assuming I have not lost it by then.

    The man in the video did it in less than 5 minutes.....so I figure a minimum of an hour for me.  That includes 20 minutes spent looking for the tiny screw I dropped.

    Wish me luck.

    And finally, had to get up around 4 for a pee break this morning.  I bundled up and went out to look for the green comet....no luck.  The sky was clear, but I saw nothing.

    I read that starting tomorrow, around 9 p.m. it should be visible almost straight overhead and to the west of Ursa Major.  

    Binoculars may help.

Peace and Love

loose screws

 I seem to have some loose screws

    I know!!!!  Most of you have been thinking that for years!

    I just have a few screws to put in to finish the tiles, but I ran out of screws!  Between the ones I stipped and the ones I dropped and can't find, I am short couple or more.

    So I need to go to the hardware store and buy 10 small screws.  Of course, I will check my drawers to see if I had any left over.  I just thought of that.  I bet there are some left from when we first hung tiles 8 years ago.

    Which brings to mind my spring garage project.

    I have lots of stuff in my garage.  Most of it I don't use.

    Therefore this spring I will have a garage sale of garage and other neat stuff.  I will check with the neighborhood people to see who is having garage sales and when, so I can do it the same day.

    For example:  I have 5 leaf rakes.  I also have 2 arms.  The numbers don't make sense.  Multiple shovels, some battery powered trimmers, and who knows what else is lurking in the corners don't seem to be of use to me anymore.

    I know!!!  I have said this for the past three years, but this time I am serious.  (One of my favorite Tuna lines is "I'm as serious as a stroke.")

    The Burpee Seed catalog came.  I only order 5 things: peas, 2 types of beans, cucumbers and carrots.  I think it is the most boring garden ever.  

    I had a big bag of frozen blue lake beans I figured would last through winter.

    They only made it to about Jan. 14.  Tip:  When you take stuff out of the freezer, be sure you put back in what you don't want.   My blue lake bean were black lake when I found them.  

    I still have bags of carrots and corn.  Jackie is tired of the carrots.  Tough.  We have a LOT of carrots so we will be eating them multiple times through the weeks ahead.

    Funny thing.  When I was a kid I hated carrots.  I would not eat them.  Now they are my favorite vegetable, cooked or raw.  I know!!  

    Told you I had loose screws.

Peace and Love

50/50

 I spent most of the day watching football

    The guy did come and plow my driveway, but I did have to go out and clear the sidewalk and the snow from in front of the garage doors.

    I also let Emily's dogs out because she had to work.

    And I moved our Christmas dishes to the pie safe and brought out our non-Christmas dishes.  

    Jackie and I sat in on a Zoom broadcast of our annual meeting at church.

    But mainly, I watched football.

    I had two teams I was rooting for, SanFrancisco and Kansas City.  Once the SF quarterback went out with an injury, it was over.  And Kansas City was not actually very impressive in its win, but a win is a win.

    I just don't seem them beating the Eagles.

    I avoided Julia as much as possible because she has a cold and I don't want it.  She has tested negative for Covid, so that is not a worry.  But she coughs a lot and is very tired.

    I did not do any clean up in the basement because I did not want to disturb her, so that will be a project for later on this week.

    I just have trouble sleeping again.  I fall asleep, then wake up an hour later and can't get back to sleep.  Sometimes I just walk around the house, other times I sit in my chair in the den and eventually fall asleep there.

    I am really tired tonight, but I bet I don't stay asleep for long.

    I seem to go in spurts....sleep well for 3-4 nights, then have 2-3 nights when I don't sleep well.  I hope I am going into a sleep well pattern.

    Stay warm.  Be careful the next few days.

Peace and Love

snow!!!!

 We finally got a snowstorm

    Sure, it is the end of Janary, but we finally got snow.  It looks to me like about 5 inches, but I am terrible when it comes to estimating sizes.

    I do have a problem.  We have a guy do our driveway, but as of 8:30 he has not been here.  I hope he is just running behind and nothing is wrong with him.  Two years ago he had a major medical issue.  

    Tomorrow I will take the snowblower and clear the driveway as best I can.  The thing is, I had a huge snowblower, but we traded with Emily because someone does our driveway and we did not need a big snowblower.  That bigger one would be handy if I have to do our drive tomorrow.

    When I went to Emily's to let the dogs out I was happy to see one of her neighbors had plowed her driveway.  That was nice of them.

    And no, I can't go over and get it because it is heavy and will not fit in any of the vehicles we own.

    I don't mind blowing the driveway.  I just don't want to do it and have the guy show up when I am done.

    It was a beautiful snowfall.  I loved watching it come down so softly.  Sigh......once upon a time I would have strapped on my snowshoes and gone for a walk in the park.  But I just don't have the energy to do that.  

    Oh well.  Life goes on.

Peace and Love

fini

 My tin ceiling is back up

    Thanks to friend Wendy, who came over today and screwed the panels back in place.

    I held, she screwed.  We worked to gether well.

    My arms got so sore doing this!  She can hold the drill, screws, and do it without dropping a lot of stuff.

    I still have to go back and put in screws in places.  But I don't have to hold the panels up and screw, just screw.

    I am confused.  Friends Dan and John helped put the panels up several years ago.  When I took them down, several of them were taped together. 

    But I don't remember doing that.  I don't think John or Dan remember using duct tape to hold them togehter.  And I don't see how we even did that!  We would have had to take them before we screwed them to the supports, but I don't remember that.

    Then again, if we didn't....who did?  

    Maybe a ghost came in and slithered under the floor and over the tiles and taped them.

    I don't know why it bothers me, but it does.

    While we were working today we saw two deer run across behind my yard, heading toward he park.  It is always neat to see them.

    We have some crows that visit the bird feeder.  They can't get on the feeder, but they can pick up seeds on the ground.  I love watching them waddle around and put their beaks into the snow and evidently come up with some seed.

    The other, smaller, birds seem intimidated by the crows.  Even the starlings disappear when the crows come.  I counted 4 crows today.  Hey, that might be the name of a cool rock band.     Counting Crows.

Peace and Love

    

weirdness

 I have been thinking weirder thoughts than normal lately

    I don't understand the fascination with Harry and the royals.  I don't care.  I wish they would just disappear.

    The same can be said for anybody with Kardashian as a last name, or the entertainer who used to be Kanye.  I wish they would be transported to a planet inhabited solely by people like them.  They can take all the TV preachers with them.

    The congressman from New York.  Now he clains he once played third base for the Cubs and was named Ron.

    I read an article where Sen Rick Scott downplayed the racist names the guy down in Florida has given people as nicknames.  Scott said they were harmless and he gave a lot of people nick names.  I think Scott should have  "The Big Dick" as a nickname.

    Sorry for the language.

    No I am not.

    I was driving behind a car in Sycamore and we came to an intersection with a green light.  The person came to a complete stop!  There was no traffic anywhere, and they stopped in the middle of the intersection with a green light.  That drives me insane.  I went around them.  They eventually turned left, with no signal.

    I'll give them a signal......

    We had our toes done today.  I told the girl my favorite part is when she puts lotion on my legs and massages them.  It seems she massaged me longer than normal.  I almost fell asleep.  I kept thinking I was on an island, with the ocean in front of me and a margarita in my hand.  Then I came back to reality.

    I like going there, but getting Jackie up into the chair is a pain.

    I have only walked at the REC once this week.  My goal was three times a week.  I am not meeting my goal.  Next week.

Peace and Love

boomerang

I had some items to return 

    I had three things to send back, and have dealt with 2 of them  (Notice my inconsistent use of numerals/words?)

    Jackie ordered some shoes through Amazon.  She ordered half a size larger  than she normally wears.  But I could not get them on her feet!  So we returned them via UPS.

    By the way, UPS is not USPS.  One is United Parcel Service the other is United States Postal System. (or is it Service?)   If you take a UPS package into the post office, they will not accept it and direct you to a UPS drop off, which was nice of them.

    I did not make that mistake today.  Let's say I am drawing on previous experiences.

    The other return was a little trickier.

    I ordered a DVD player sometime around Thanksgiving.  I think it was before Black Friday, but I don't remember and I am too lazy to look up the date.

    I ordered it from Best Buy.  It was highly rated and a good price.

    I placed the order on line, and got a confirmation.

    The next day I got an e-mail that said my order was cancelled.  No explanation given, just that it was cancelled.

    I went on line again and found the same DVD player through another supplier and ordered it from them.

    Got my confirmation and a notice the order was being processed for shipping.

    The next day I got an e-mail from Best Buy saying my order was shipped!

    I ended up with 2 DVD players, exactly the same.  I decided to return the Best Buy one because I could drop it at the store while I would have to pay to ship the other one back.

    I took it back today.  I also brought both e-mails.

    The young lady behind the counter said I was past the window for returning Christmas presents.  I pointed out it was purchased way  before Christmas and wasn't a present.  I gave her both e-mails and she was confused by the contradiction.  She called a supervisor over and they agreed that since the order was cancelled, then sent, they would accept the return.

    I thanked them and told them I am a procrastinator plus the package got caught up in all the Christmas doings and I just forgot about it.

    They credited my charge card, which is all I wanted.

    The 2 people were very nice about the whole thing.  I don't think they had ever run across this before, but the supervisor said they probably filled my order twice, realized the mistake, and cancelled one.

    My last return is a pair of jeans.  They are marked 38 waist, but I can't button them!  All my other 38 waists button with ease.  This one has to be mismarked.  That is tomorrow's chore.

    The best part is I can cross them off my list!

Peace and Love

Aha!!

 I saw the possible answer to my garden mystery

    I looked out the window this morning and saw a beautiful, large fox moseying across the back of my yard.  

    I called Julia and she saw it, but it was gone by the time I got my camera.

    Boring you for the third time about something inconsequential in your lives, I am going with a fox making a meal of the rabbit that once lived in my garden.

    Now we can all sleep at night.

    I brought a set of dishes down to the Pickin Station today.  Mary in Wisconsin, if you are reading this you may shed some light on these.  They are called Weil Ware  California and are hand decorated dishes.  

    They seem to be collectibles.  I saw lots of them on Etsy, but none of them were the pattern I have.  I don't know if that is good or bad.

    One of the tea pots was listed at over $100 on Etsy. 

    My set has a tea pot, creamer, sugar bowl, 3 cups, 4 saucers, 4 bowls, 4 small plates, 4 large plates, a platter and a divided serving bowl.

    I have no idea what to price it at in Rochelle.  We started (Julia, Jackie and me) thinking $20 for the set, but after seeing the price of the tea pot, I reassessed the price.

    Anyway, hoping it sells.  Soon.

    Supposed to get some snow tomorrow.  Jackie has a doctor appointment in DeKalb at 1, so I hope it is not an early snowfall.  We are supposed to get somewhere between 1 and 96 inches.  I know, that joke has been told at least a million times.

    I can't believe January is almost over....seems like yesterday was New Year's Day.

Peace and Love

aaarrrgh!!!!!!

Sometimes I forget how old I am 

    When I was younger, things were so much easier to do.

    For instance:  I could open cups of yogurt with ease.  Take the caps off bottles.  Screw in a screw.

    Now, it is never as easy as it used to be.

    I called it quits on a ceiling tile tin today.  Gonna call in reinforcements.  My fingers can't seem to manipulate the screws and my eyes can't seem to see the holes very well.  The tile I put up in 20 minutes today is off about an eighth of an inch.  Julia asked if that mattered and I said yes, because the next one will be off a quarter of an inch...then a half...and before long, it will look terrible.

    The tin has to come down and get repositioned.  The tin before it is fine, so who knows.

    We had an Exit 99 meeting tonight.  It was nice to sit with the others and just chat, joke, and relax.  Friend Carrie has some nice digs to chill out in, especially the porch, which I loved.

    We are an improv comedy group.  We meet to plan out the show, figure out who is hosting the various games, and just socialize.  Socializing is the best part.

    Our show in February is selling fast.  If you are planning on coming, get tickets now!

    End of commercial.

    Foolish me.....I bragged about the muffins from Bakers Street in Dixon but never posted a picture!  Fixing that tonight.

    Friend Todd said their cupcakes were awesome also, and they have a selection of cakes that they sell by the slice. 

    End of commercial.

Peace and Love

Why can't I lose weight?   Hmmmmm

how much you wanna bet?

 Odds are you have seen some betting commercials

    It seems there are a lot of them on the stations carrying football games.  If I watched  college or pro basketball on tv, I bet I would see them there too.

    During the Cubs season between every inning there seemed to be a commercial.  No surprise, since a gambling den is being stuck on the right field corner of Wrigley.  Nothing like ruining the iconic appearance of a beautiful ball park in order to make a buck or two.

    Slots are every where.  Stop at a restaurant?  Play the slots.  Gas up your car?  Play the slots.  I imagine some grocery stores even have them.

    In a few years people are going to realize the high rate of poverty caused by people unable to control their gambling urges.

    I just find the commericals annoying.

    Almost as annoying as the auto and truck commercials that show cars speeding down dirt roads, through creeks, in the desert, up mountains.  Who needs nature anyway.

    Wow.  Guess I am grumpy.

    I am putting the tin ceiling tiles back in place in the basement.  I had to take down some of them when the power line for the generator was installed.

    I had a hard time with one today.  After dropping the screws, then my drill, then the screwdriver, then  the screws again I finally lined up two of the holes.  So I screwed in the screws.

    One was really hard to get in for some reason.

    Anyway, when I was done I ran my hand across the tin and discovered I put it in upside down!  The damn screw that was hard to get in was even harder to get out.

    In my defense, the tins look the same on both sides.  The difference is only one side is finished.

    My biggest problem is my arms get so tired.  I can only do one or two tiles then I have to quit for a while.  Another problem today was the SanFrancisco-Dallas game.

    I wanted to watch that and am rooting for the 49ers to get to the Super Bowl and then win it.

    Why?

    Robbie Gould, for one reason.  Best kicker the Bears ever had and they were too cheap to keep him.  At least he is kicking in meaningful games.

    Jimmie Ward, for a second reason.  He played his college ball at NIU and has been with SanFrancisco since 2014.  

    But the main  reason is Brock Purdy.  His is an amazing story.  Last player drafted, earning him the title Mr. Irrelevant.  Third string on SanFrancisco.  Hardly played.  Injuries come along and boom!  He is the starting QB and is doing an awesome job.  Great throws, good decisions on the field, and he keeps cool under pressure.

    There.  But as much as I like SF, I am not making any bets on the games.

    I lose enough on lottery tickets.

Peace and Love

bow wow

 We went to a meet and greet today

    We traveled to Dixon to get information on dogs that are up for adoption.

    We talked to a nice lady who listened to our concerns:  older dog, female, house broken, able to have an invisible fence. cute. and likes to cuddle.

    They have a couple of dogs that fit the bill, so I am going to fill out the application.

    We'll see.

    You may have heard about Dixon a few years ago.  One of the nonelected city officials managed to embezzle  over $53 million in city funds. 

    Dixon is not a big city and does not have a budget big enough not to notice $53 was missing.  Granted, Rita Crundwell did it over several years, but still.  If I remember, she went on vacation and her vacation replacement became suspicious when she ran across hidden bank accounts.  I guess that's another reason not to ever take a vacation.

    You know those signs they have posted going into a town?  The brown ones that say things like, "Home of Peter Pinum, state wrestling champion," or, "home of the 1972 semi sectional qualifying horseshoe pitching team."  You nave seen them.

    Dixon should put one up saying, "Home of Rita Grundwell, biggest embezzler of municipal funds in the US."

    We stopped at Bakers Street, a coffee shop downtown.  Not affiliated with Sherlock Holmes.  They have the world's biggest muffins!  I bought some for breakfast tomorrow.  It's a great little place.

    On the way over to Dixon we went through a stretch of road that had snow alongside it.  No snow before, none after, but just a mile or two with snow along the road.  I keep thinking of Mr. Torres from grade school saying it has to start and stop someplace.  But it is still weird

    Friend Sheri came over last night and we had pizza and wine.  Julia, Emily, Jackie and I had a great time visiting and talking.  

    When the man hooked up the generator he said it will automatically start once a month as a test.  He set it up to go at 12 noon on the third Saturday of the month.

    When we were at the pet shop in Dixon Julia called and said the generator was running.  I told her to call the electrician and ask him what to do.

    After I hung up I remembered the test runs and called her back.  I told her not to worry, and she said it was already off.

    I should have told her, "Run like hell before it blows!"

    Jackie said not to.  I think it would have been funny.

Peace and Love

re do

I had to redo part of my post last night

    It seems I used a word that is a vulgarity in the slang world.  I think I knew that, but I think I know a lot of things I don't.

    So.....quick redo to please some of my more perverted followers.  And I mean that in a good way.

    You may not have even noticed....which is ok.

    I flunked one course in high school.  Typing.  I might have been the only boy in the class, because then girls were often steered into the secretarial type classes:  typing, shorthand, and whatever else seemed to fit.

    This was a semester class.  We were expected to type 40 words a minute with 5 or less mistakes.  This was in the days when you had to really be careful because White Out wasn't even invented.  I think we had something like a typewriter ribbon that was white that we could overstrike the mistake.

    But I digress.

    We could only make 5 mistakes.

    I had no trouble typing the 40 wpm.  It was the mistakes that hurt.  I would have 7 or 8, which wasn't good enough.

    I think it was the last week of class I hit 44 wpm with 6 mistakes.  The teacher was really sweet about it.  She said I didn't meet the goals and could not pass the course.

    It was one of the most valuable classes I have ever taken.  I can type without looking at the keys.  I can type when someone is talking to me or when listening to music.  Using a computer is a lot easier, because I can backspace.  But I still don't make a lot of mistakes.

    So explain to me how I sat down to work on something and was typing away, looking at the words I was copying, and I looked up to find gibberish on the screen.

    I had my right handed fingers on the wrong keys!  I wasn't on the home keys, I was one off. All my h letters came out as g, and my k came out an l. and on and on.  I deleted and started again. I looked up and my left hand was off the home keys!  More gibberish. 

    I slowed down and made sure my fingers were in the right place, my feet flat on the floor, and my back straight.

    But I also notice there are somewords I just can't remember how to spell.  Vaccuum or vacuum or vaccum?  Embarassment or enbarrassment?  Calendar, calander or calandar?  I need to develop a cheat sheet for those words.  I know there are others, but I can't think of them now.  And yes, spell check helps.  But for some reason, spell check does not work on my blog.

    Go figure.

Peace and Love

my mouff hurz

 We buy a lot of stuff from kids in school

    A young man came to our door months ago selling a frozen pastry product.

    Hoping they were like Butter Braids (they are not) I bought a package of Cherry bites.

    They are not bad.  They are about 2 inches square and bake in about 16 minutes. There is a generous cherry filling, which attracted me because I love cherry.

    That was about 4 months ago.

    There were 12 in a package.  Julia didn't like then, so Jackie and I were the consumers.

    We finished the package this morning and it caused a bit of a physical problem for me.

    They baked at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.  There were 4 of them.

    I frosted them.  Put them on plates.  Gave Jackie 2.  I kept 2.

    I sat down with my tea and bit into the first one.

    Hotter than hell!!!!  The cherry filling was like lava from a volcano!

    I grabbed for the first thing I could think of, which was my hot tea.

    THAT WAS NO HELP!!!

    I put a spoon full of yogurt in my mouth, mixing it with the tea and pastry and that seemed to cool it down.

    "Don't eat yours right away," I croaked to Jackie.  "It's pretty hot."

    Now the roof of my mouth is blistered.  I had some crackers at lunch and it hurt to chew.  I felt like a toddler, mashing them up with my teeth carefully.  Come to think of it, that is how I eat now.

    Last night I was playing spider solitaire and there was a commotion on the porch.  Jackie heard it too.

    I went out and Julia's snowman had blown over in the wind and was rolling around like it had been tased.  I brought him in for the night

    Today I went out and plastic flowers in my planter were scattered all over the porch, my snow measuring stick was pulled out of the ground and my rain guage was sideways. And when you think of that, I don't think my rain guage and snow measuring stick have ever been in the yard at one time.

    The wind was pretty strong.  

    Luckily there was no real damage to anything, just a lot of noise.

    That's it!

    Peace and Love

list? who needs a stinkin list?

 Me for one; I need a list

    I sat down two days ago and made a list of all the things I need to get done.  I think there were 18 or so items on the list.

    Some of them were pretty small.....write a letter, send an e mail....but some of them were larger, like finish taking down the tiles in the basement.

    On Friday our generator will be hooked up.  The guy has to run a wire from the gas meter to the electric box.  They are on opposite ends of the basement.

    I needed to take down the tin ceiling because that is where the wires and pipes are.  

    Hard to explain, but that part of the ceiling is about 10 inches lower than the rest.  I guess you could call it a soffit, if that is a word that applies.

    Anyway, years ago friends Dan and John came out and helped me put the tins up.  Actually, they did all the work.  I had a bad shoulder and could not lift my arm.  I delegated.

    We were extremely careful in making sure everything was aligned.  All the tiles were screwed up (I should say attached with screws)  because I knew there was a possibility of them having to come down someday.

    I took the first five or six down by myself, but it was hard.  Julia helped tonight and we got about 8 down in less then 30 minutes.  The trick will be getting them back up.

    The upside is I have had to do a little straightening up in the basement.  I found lots of stuff I had forgotten about...and it will eventually end up at Pickin Station.  I collected lots of cool stuff and now my treasures can become someone elses.

    Here we are in mid January and it is pouring outside.  Plus the wind is howling, again.  If it was 10 degrees colder I am sure we would be having a blizzard.

    And I don't mean one from DQ!

Peace and Love

go figure

 I spent the last two days flummoxed

    Yes, I am goingto talk about my train tree, again.

    Many of the engines look the same.  They are mostly black, with wheels.

    So when I put them away, I try my darndest to get the right piece in the right box.

    Two nights ago I had an engine and a box that did not match.

    So, I went through and double checked all the engines.  I actually found two more in the wrong boxes, but at the end, I still had an engine and a box that did not match.

    Last night I went through them again.  I ended up with an engine and a box that did not match.

    Now, most people would say the heck with it.  But I am a little OC on some things.  For example, I always check our doors at night.  Twice.  Sometimes three times.

    Once, when I was teaching, I got halfway home and thought I did not lock the gym door.  So I went back to school and found that I did lock the door.  So I got back in the car, got half way home and thought:  what if I unlocked the gm door when I went back.  So I turned around again.  It was still locked.

    That's why I wanted to be sure the parts were all in the same box.  I went through them all again today and still had a box and engine that did not match.

    I gave up.

    I started putting them into a storage container and the third package I picked up was......you guessed it, the package for the engine.  Inside that box was the wrong engine.  Now, I checked 3 times and it was just serendipity that led to the fourth check.

    The parts are  now all packed away, in the correct boxes, and stored in the basement.

    I have also noticed we have more boxes of Christmas stuff than we used to have.  The stuff multiplies.

    This year I convinced Jackie to leave out the snowmen decorations because they are winter, which we should be having but are not, yet.

    Speaking of that, usually at this time of the year I get so tired of the snow, and cold, and anxious for spring training to start.  We have not had a major snow, and pitchers and catchers report in about 4 weeks.

    Mother Nature is not happy with us.

Peace and Love

just thoughts

The answer is blowin in the wind 

    When I walk at the REC, I listen to a Bob Dylan album.  Or whatever it is called these days.

    I always listen attentively to the lyrics of The Answer is Blowing in the Wind and wish the world knew.

    Lyrics like, "How many years can a people exist before they're allowed to be free?" or "how many ears does one person need before he can hear people cry?"

    The answer has been blowing in the wind.  For centuries.

    During the 60s and 70s I honestly thought we would get the answers.  Dr. Martin Luther King certainly caused us to think about civil rights, peace, equality, and justice.

    Yet here we are, 60 years later, still asking the same question:  "How many years can a people exist before they're allowed to be free?"

    The 60s and most of the 70s were the peace and love generation.  What happened?  How did we all close our eyes to the injustices in our world?  Why  have we cso many of us closed our hearts to love?  And whatever happened to the concept of peace?

    The sad thing....I don't see the amount of progress I thought I would see.  

    It's an imperfect world, but it doesn't have to be.  We can do better.

Peace and Love

what happened?

Today was a lost, lost day 

    For starters, we did not get up until after 10!  Once we get up, it takes about 2 hours to get Jackie to the point where she can eat breakfast.  Or in today's case, lunch.

    I actually made coffee with beans from the 5 lb pound bag I won at Cypress House.  I used 4 tablespoons.  I don't know how many tablespoons are in a pound, but it will take  me a lifetime to use it all.

    So....if you would like a plastic baggie filled with coffee beans, let me know....I can hook you up with one.  Or two.  Seriously.  By the way, it is great coffee.  It has a wonderful smell and taste.

    I read the Trib, watched a football game and before I knew it, I was cooking supper and cleaning up the mess I made cooking.  The Trib had a fascinating article about stores that sell live chickens and other fowl.  It was a flashback article and I learned lots of things I never realized about life in  the city.

    I did go out to the garden where the rabbit was killed  because I saw some new holes and some sort of path.  I took a rake to rake it all smooth and as I was doing that I realized I made the holes and the path when I filled in the first hole.  What I thought was an infestation of animals turned out to be an example of forgetting what I had done 2 days ago.

    The most disappointing thing about me and this weekend was I made a list of 4 relatively easy and quick tasks.  I did one of them .  Now I have to add a coouple of not so easy and not so quick tasks because I dilly-dallied my day away.

    But on a positive spin, I did toss out my old compost bin.  The G-men took it away on Friday.  It had been sitting in my garage for about 2 months before I tossed it.

    Small steps.  Small steps.

Peace and Love

Old friends

We went to a social gathering tonight

    The theatere group had its culminating event, and Jackie and I went.

    It was the first time in a long while we met with a large group of people in a social event.

    It felt real good.

    Of course, I called someone by the wrong name.  It is Sarah.  Not Cheryl.  And no,  that is not the first time I called her the wrong name.  I believe I called her Cheryl last time too......but next time I see her, I will call her Sarah.  Book it!

    Each table played a game.  3 clues were given about a show, and the table had to come up with the correct name.  Our table got 22 of 25 correct, by far the most.  Of course, I think our table has been involved in almost every show, so we had an advantage.  TC  said one of the clues matched a show I was in....but I did not remember that show at all.  I should make a list of all the shows I have been in, if I can remember them.  Can't remember names, so that should be a challenge.

    When we got home I turned onto a football game. 

    Now, I don't remember who was supposed to be playing, so I was watching a Miami vs Buffalo game, played in Buffalo.  It was in the third quarter, which I thought was strange because it was already 9:30 here so it would be 10:30 there.

    I watched while folding towels.  It was an interesting game.  At the start of the fourth quarter, they went over the upcoming schedules, including one team's  Monday night game with Green Bay.

    I was watching a replay.

    What got me was, I clicked on the guide and it said it was live!  Otherwise I would not have watched it.

    I just wanted to see how SanFrancisco did  today.  Normally, I would not care.  But the fact that the last player drafted in the NFL draft is their starting quarterback is a fascinating story to me.  He went from Iowa State last fall to the NFL playoffs.  What an amazing trip.

    SanFran won.  Another step forward.

    And another day done.

Peace and Love

 

trimmed up

 I got a hair cut today

    I know...so many times I have said "I got my hairs cut" and thought it was funny.  But I will stick with hair as a collective noun and not a singular.

    What bugs me is the hair in my ears and nose grows faster than the hair on my head.  But at least I still have hair, as thin as it is.

    Speaking of thin.....I am not!  I got on the scale last week and I think I was at  my highest weight ever.  It was a Christmas filled with cookies and candy.

    But I am trying.  I went walking today, again, my third time this week.  I do a mile at a time.

    I am thinking if I lose an eighth of a pound every time I walk, then in 3 weeks I will have lost a pound.  I need to walk about 35 weeks to lose the weight I need to lose.

    Hell, might as well give up now.

    Of course biking season will soon be here and if I ride regularly that will help.  But I do have to ride more than last year, which was pathetic.

    I could also cut down on the food I eat, but I need to be realistic.  Realistic means I won't cut down eating, won't walk 30 weeks, won't bike 400 miles. and I won't lose 10 pounds.

    But, and there is always a big butt,  I am going to try.

    There were several people walking today.  Most of us were over 70.  The exception was young Chris who passed me three times.

    I started laughing because all of us old folks are going in circles and I think maybe God is sitting up in heaven watching us go around and around, much like we watch hamsters going around and around on their wheel.  For some reason, I thought it was funny.

    Also watched Glass Onion on Netflix.  That was a pretty good movie, a little hard to follow in the beginning, but good.  I just can't get used to Daniel Craig doing a Southern accent.  It is off putting.

    I still give it a thumbs up.

Peace and Love

more evidence

I found evidence  about a murder

And it might explain the garden situation.

    These look like the back legs of a rabbit.  They did not seem to have pads like a fox, but the legs are pretty long.  Lots of gray and white fur, but I could not find any other body parts....just tufts of hair around the yard.

    My guess is a coyote got the rabbit.  Or maybe a fox got the rabbit, or a coyote got the fox.  In any case, somebody got supper.

    Pretty quiet day around the place.  I did get in a walk at the REC, but not without some level of embarassment.

    I saw a group of three gents sitting at a table and talking.  They are all in their 80s, and I have known 2 of them for probably close the to 50 years we have been in Rochelle.

    (Note:  Names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

    I said,"Hi, Mr. Smith,"  to Mr. Smith.  Then I said, "Hi, Mr. Jones," to someone who was not Mr. Jones.  I looked at him and said, "I called you Mr. Jones, but Bob, I know your last name.  It is Johnson.  Johnson."

    He laughed and said it was alright.

    Oh well.  It could have been worse.

    Started taking down my train  tree today.  Here are some pictures of my collection.  By the way, I believe I got the first one in 1996, and have received some every Christmas since.  

I should have taken a picture before I took down half the ornaments.....

    That's it!

    Have a great night.

Peace and Love

Whew Wednesday

Today was a fairly busy day for me 

    I had an eye exam.  Now, that is not the problem.  The problem is picking out frames  I like.

    It used to be I would look for brown frames to match my hair.  Well,  those days are long gone.  Now I look for silver or gray.  

    I  tried some on today that made me look like a raccoon!  

    I guarantee I will not like whatever I picked out.

    Then I went to get my tooth fixed.  Simple fix.  Some Bondo, super glue, a palm sander with a variety of sandpapers and I am good to go.

    I had a Foundation meeting at 5:30.  So, I did not get my walk in today.  Nor did a I get an afternoon coffee or tea because it was after 4 when I finally got home from the dentist.  Caffeine that late is not good for me.

    I finally got most of  Christmas put away.  Julia helped me move Billy Bison out to the garage until it gets warm enough to clear coat him to prevent rust.  I think it will take more than one can.

    I still have my train tree to take down, but I will do that tomorrow.  Jackie will help me because I have to put them away in order, by year, which is really more trouble than it's worth.  But it keeps the ornaments together.  Maybe I should just put them away by year but not put them in order by year.  That could save a lot of yelling.

    But it was all for the good.  My glasses are so scratched up I have trouble seeing through certain parts of the lenses.  My tooth held up to supper and some more popcorn.  My Foundation meeting was less than an hour.

    And the cornbread I made to go with the chili turned out pretty darn good.

    So I guess overall,  today was a win.

Peace and Love

mysteries, unsolved

 Sometimes I am at a loss for explaining things

    Take my garden, for instance.

    I have 2 raised beds that are 2 feet high, and one that is 1 foot high.   I grow vegetables in them

    Julia pointed out an oddity in the garden today.

    There is a hole in the ground in one of the 2 foot high raised beds.  Something has burrowed into the ground.

    And there are footprints leading to the burrow.

    They could be deer prints, but they look more like a large dog's prints.

    And there is fur and grass around the entrance to the burrow, similar to what a rabbit's hole would have.

    Would a rabbit jump 2 feet high to get onto the bed?  I know they jump lengthwise, but I wondered about how high they could go.  When I was at the zoo we had a rabbit enclosure and it was not 2 fet high and they never made it over.  Of course, they were starting on a concrete floor, so there was no traction.

    I discounted the large dog idea because in my mind, we would have seen the dog our during the day.  And we haven't.

    Which leaves a coyote.  Or a wolf.  Just kidding, Little Red Riding Hood, it would not be a wolf.

    So two mysteries:  What is the animal in the hole?  Is it still there?  What has been creeping around the house at night?

    I realize that is 3.

    So here is a fourth.

    How do I chip a tooth eating something soft?  It's one in front and now there is a rough edge hitting my tongue and I am worried the rest of the tooth will break, crumble and fall out and I will have to have a root canal and a cap and I will be in constant pain for weeks on end and won't ever be able to eat anything except pureed foods  ever again.

    Hopefully tcan squeeze me in tomorrow to smooth down the edge and inspect the damage.

    And believe me, the dentist is the last person I want to see.  I am nervous thinking about it.

    That's it.  A day of mystery.

Peace and Love

Clues to the mysteries!

GOOOOOOOAL

 I am not a soccer player

    Never have been.  I am not even a fan, having watched only one or two matches.  Yes, I do watch Ted Lasso, and have learned most of what I know about soccer from that show.

    I walked at the REC today.  One of my NY resolutions is to walk 2 or 3 times a week.  Last week I walked twice, getting in 1 mile both times.  Today I also got a mile in, but caused a minor stir.

    Some young guys were playing soccer 1 on 1.  They had a designated goalie, but the two older guys would try to score against each other.

    They were pretty good, from what I know.

    Anyway, a ball came gently rolling toward me during one of their duels.

    I attempted to kick the ball back to them, using my instep instead of my toe.

    I kicked the ball into the back of the net, which was about a foot to my left.  Nothing in front of me, by the way.

    That was not the worst part.

    I went to pick up the ball and my shoe got caught on the turf.  I went sprawling face down onto the turf.  Grabbing the goal post did not help, but I did manage to move it.

    The guys were stunned.

    I started laughing and told them I was just not very coordinated.  Then I picked up the ball and tossed it to them.

    Maybe not coordinated, but highly embarassed at that point.

    They asked me if I was allright.  The only thing bruised was me ego.

    But I did notice whenever I got near them  again they kept tight control of the ball.

    I bought my winning lottery ticket tonight.

    I buy it at a gas station and I know the clerk.  

    When I went in, I said, "If I buy something that is not good, can I return it for a refund?"

    He said I could not return my losing lottery tickets.

    We also talked about insanity being when you do the same thing over hoping the outcome will change, but it doesn't.  That is what my buying lottery tickets amounts to.

    If I don't buy  them, I am afraid my numbers will win.  But I buy them knowing they won't win.

    Crazy, huh?

    I told Jeff that Jackie doesn't think I could ever win.  I told him when I do, I am going to stand in front of her and do a dance while I burn hundred dollar bills.

    I could hear him laughing all the way out the door.

    

Peace and Love

z z z z z z z z

 I had a rough night of sleep

    I had some coffee in the afternoon.  Usually that does not bother me, but last night I was just unsettled.

    I was like Goldilocks.....my bed didn't work, Jackie's chair didn't work, my chair in the den worked for a while.  But the pill I took worked best.  I just wish I had taken it earlier, like 9.

    I did get to see 2 deer grazing on the grass in my back yard.  I used my binoculars to watch them.  The moon reflected just enough light so that I could see them.

    Today, I was dragging...in more ways than one.

    We took down Christmas, which meant packing up all the ornaments, decorations, lights, and the tree.  

    Now the house looks like hell and I don't give a damn.  I will vacuum tomorrow,  hopefully after a good night's sleep.

    I tried to relax.  I tried deep breathing, putting my legs to sleep and then going up muy body, remembering casts and characters of old tv shows....but nothing seemed to work.

    I even thought about how I would spend the $600 million I will win the in lottery this week, but that didn't work either.  (I know the jackpot is over $1 billion, but I would be happy to split with another winner.  Then there are taxes.....how could I live on only $600 million?)

    That's when I opted for the little white pill that relaxes me.  But even that took a while to take affect.

    Today I avoided coffee and caffeine in general in the afternoon.  I hope that makes a big difference.

    Enjoy your rest.

Peace and Love

ends and odds

Lots of thoughts running through my mind 

    Christmas decorations are coming down.  Slowly.  I hate to see the lights go dark.

    We have a lot of knick knacky type stuff.  Most  of it is Christmas related but some are snowmen.  I told Jackie we should leave the snowmen stuff out, because the winter is not over.

    Then we pack it all in one or two tubs and then we can put it out after Christmas, leaving more room and flexibility for our Christmas stuff.  The jury is out.

    We don't have enough electrical outlets.

    I think the standard for how many outlets a house has needs to be updated. 

    For example:  We have two outlets behind our bed.  We have two lamps, a weather radio, charging station for our cell phones, our land line,  and Siri.  That is 5, but we only have 4 outlets.

    Same behind our couch.  Two outlets.  Jackie's chair plugs in, plus two lamps, Siri, our land line and that is 5 for 4 outlets. 

    Behind our tv we have one two plug outlet.  But, the tv, cable box, sound bar, and dvd player all plug in.  See the problem?   Modern houses need more outlets.

    I am still organizing our pantry.   I started before Christmas.  I think I have an idea that will be better than what we are doing now.  

    Why don't I get a variety of birds at my feeders?  I have saffflower seed, thistle, a mix, a sunflower feeder and two suet feeders.  All I seem to get are sparrows.  And crows.  I'd love to see a cardinal or oriole. 

    Everytime we get a service person in the basement or garage, I apologize for the mess.  I do get embarrassed  just not enough to get rid of stuff.

    I miss snow.  Just doesn't seem like winter.

Peace and Love

winner, winner, chicken dinner

 Gosh, this was a good day for me

    I go to Cypress House often for coffee.

    They have a punch card, every 10 coffees you  buy you get a free one.  This year after you get the free one, you could put your name on the back of the card and enter a drawing.

    I walked in today to get a coffee and I hear my name mentioned.  Four of the Cypress House girls came marching out and Emily showed me a video of the drawing. 

    I won!  The Grand Prize!!

    They had just finished the drawing a couple of minutes before I entered.  Talk about great timing!

    I received a very nice gift card and a 5 pound bag of coffee. 

    This was totally unexpected because I never win anything!

    Tonight Renee and Wendy came over and we had raclette.

    This is pretty popular in Switzerland.  There is a heating element and a granite stone about 2 inches above the heating element.  We cook bacon and beef on the stone, but you can also cook chicken or veggies.  On the bottom of the set up are spaces to put a little triangular tray.  We fill the tray with cheese, which melts in the heat.  Then you scrape the cheese over potatoes.

    We have cornishons, onion, tomato, and green pepper to add onto the pile.

    It is delicious.

    It is also a very social meal.  You are constantly interacting with the other diners, which makes for greag conversation.

    Thanks for coming over and thanks for the delicious peach cobbler dessert!  It was a fun time for all of us.

    Tomorrow I think I will get a chicken dinner, because today I am a winner!

Peace and Love

Oh, shit!

I want a new toilet for our master bath 

    We don't need one, but I want one.  Ours has some scratches on it that look unsightly.

    I want one of the new Kohler toilets.  This one comes with hands free operation and is chair high.  But I also like the toilet with the built in bidet.

    My favorite is the one also has hands free operation.  The lid rises and closes automatically and there is a built in bidet.  If you want to be extra clean, there is an ultra violet light  included. But most importantly, this state of the art toilet has a heated seat!

    Now some people might balk at the $11,000 price tag, but the heated seat makes it worth it!  The first two toilets I mentioned were about $4,500 and $5,773 respectively, but I did not see where they had heated seats.

    Good grief.  Don't rich people have enough stuff to spend money on already?

    Then again, I do stuff like that.

    Some of us are going to London this year to watch the Cubs play the Cardinals.  I bought business  class tickets for the flight and am having second thoughts about that.  Then again, I am pretty conservative in my spending and I think I deserve it.

    Therefore, I am letting it go.  Fly away!  Disappear!! 

    At least until the charge comes through and has to be paid.

Peace and Love

eh.....

 Some days are just....eh!

    The only interesting thing I did was to go down to Pickin' Station and restock some items. 

    Linda and I have some neat stuff down there, so if you have a minute or two why not check us out?  There are a lot of other booths with interesting items, including Renee and Wendy's.  There is always an item or two of interest.

    I have been trying to go to bed earlier.  I made by 11:30 last night and fell right to sleep.

    Unfortunately I was up at 1:30, but I fell back asleep almost immediately.  Unfortunately, I was up at 2:30 and that is when I took a pill to relax me and help me sleep.

    Problem is, I always feel so groggy after that. Today I have been dragging and I actually fell asleep playing Spider Solitaire on the computer.  I was sitting in my chair, my eyes got real heavy, and I closed them.  But I woke with a start when my head began to go forward.  I thought i was falling off a ledge.

    Anyway, hoping to get to bed even earlier tonight.  My goal is 11, but that will be hard for me.

    I do have to take out recycling tonight.  

    We play a game.  I take it out early, they come late.  I take it out late, they come early.  Sometimes I wonder if it is worth it.

    I also cleaned up the computer area.  I got my new credit/debit card and activated it last week.  However, when I went to the store today I discovered I was still carrying my temporary card....which I thought I cut up.

    My fear was I cut up the new card!  But, I eventually found my new card and all is well.  

    For now.

Peace and Love

old friends

I have run into a couple of old friends recently 

    I have known Steve for a long time.  He is a self employed entertainer for children's parties.

    He had a party in Sycamore yesterday, called us, and came out.  We had a wonderful supper and a good visit.

    Then today I was at the REC in Rochelle, putting on my walking shoes for my first trip  this year around the indoor track.

    A guy walked past me, then stopped and said, "Is that Terry Dickow? World famous actor and entertainer?"

    I had no idea who it was.  I asked him is name, and still did not know who he was.  Turns out years ago we met at some political events and he remembered me.   

   He also said he went to an Exit 99 show years ago, and asked if we were still performing.

    I said I think so, with maybe a show this spring.  Maybe.  Hopefully, because I need to laugh.  I think we all do.

    Taking advantage of the somewhat warm weather, I took down the outdoor lights today.  They are drying out because they were a little wet.  I will test them and put them away sometime this week.

    The tree is up, still.  I don't know when that will come down, but for sure not before Jan. 6.  Who knows.......I just may leave it up and decorate it with hearts.

    Time will tell.

Peace and Love

wait for it

 This seems to be a winter without snow

    But wait for it.

    Of the 10 biggest snowstorms in Chicago in the last 120 years, 7 have been in January, including the 1967 storm that dumped 23 inches of snow on the city.

    I was home on break from NIU at that time and ended up working at the National grocery store on Ashland.  The place was a madhouse and the manager paid me cash to bag groceries.  I remember it was extremely busy.

    The city was buried.  People just abandoned their cars in the middle of the streets.  Irving Park was full of empty cars and buses.

    Of the other 3 storms, one was in December and the other 2 in mid to late March. 

    None of the top 10 were in April, but I remember the Cubs being postponed because of a storm.  I think I recall  seeing pictures of the outfielders throwing snowballs into the empty bleachers.

    Now, memory and the mind are funny things. 

    Some events I remember clearly, others not at all.

    We had hamburgers and beans for supper last Thursday night.  I cooked our home grown beans and we had burgers on the grill.

    So....explain this.

    I went into the pantry today for something and found the beans on the floor!  The gallon bag had held, but the beans were in non salvageable shape.  After all, they had been defrosting for 4 days!

    What is it about the mind that causes me to do things like that?

    I seriously asked Jackie if she noticed a problem with my mental abilities.  I know the beans are an isolated incident, but the missing nightgown, my missing hammers, and the things I forget really do worry me.

    Is it having too much on my small plate, or do I have a problem?  

    I kind of think it is the former and not the latter.  If it was the latter I would not have remembered my one line:   duck em all! (edited for the sake of the children out there.)

Peace and Love

Holy cow!

 Welcome to 2023

    I am a little tired tonight.  We had people over for New Year's Eve.  We ate, played games, laughed, talked and did it all over again.

    Actually, played games might not describe the night.  Once the bell tolled 12, we played  Taboo.  In Taboo a person is given a word and they must get their teammates to say the word.  But there are words you can't use.  For example, if the word is ball, you might not be able to use base, basket, toes, or other words that can be associated with ball.  Those words are "taboo."  If you use the word, your opponents get the point.

    I stink at reading the words and checking my opponent to be sure he/she does not use taboo words.  I just can't see them.  So I used a magnifying glass, which was not an improvement.

    Our team lost, by the way.

    Then we played "Catch Phrase" and that eventually dissolved into people just yelling out the answers, no matter what team you were on.

    It was fun.  We laughed a lot.

    But along about 3, I said, "Hey....you have to go." And they did.

    I did have to take a nap  this afternoon.  And I am kind of tired tonight.

    The weird thing was I grilled out today!  Jan.1, and I used the grill in the driveway!

    Emily came over and we had bratwurst. They cooked up great and for once I did not burn them.

    Now comes the hard part; working on my resolutions.  I just hope to make ones I can actuallu keep.  That has always been the hardest task for me.

    I hope you have a truly fantastic and healthy 2023.

Peace and Love