The first selfie

 I may have started a movement  and not known it

    Years ago, in my other life, I was a journalism major at NIU.

    I was going to win a Pulitzer Prize.  Problem is, I was never "pushy" enough to be a heavy hitter in the world of journalism.  Maybe pushy isn't the right word.  But I could not go up to someone in distress, trouble, or in the center of a conflict and ask the right questions.  Good journalists, prize winning journalists, can do that and dig out the facts that may be hidden.  I could not.

    While at NIU, I took several photo classes.    

    Those worlds came together the other night.  I was looking for something in the myriad basement boxes and found this.

    It's a selfy!  (I really don't know how to spell it, so whatever seems to be in my mind is what I am going with at that moment)

    Julia said it may have been the first selfie ever taken in the history of  the world!

    So, here is your chance.

    You can own this amazing trend beginning picture for the low price of $499!

    The first person to give me cash will even get an autograph for free!!!

    Now, there are tape marks and a couple of pin holes.  I think I may have given this to Jackie when we were dating so she could hang it on her bulletin board and worship it every night before going to bed.

    Also, I may not have "fixed" this long enough, as it seems to be a bit yellow.  But I prefer to think of it as golden, and therefore worth the price.

    Just think....you could own a piece of photo history......and believe me, this is a one of a kind photo.   You can tell I am  young; there are no nose hairs snaking out of my nostrils.

    Don't wait!  Act today!!!

Peace and Love

 

end of an era

I grew up with WGN TV 

    Of course, back when I was a kid there were only 5 stations to watch.  But WGN carried the Cubs and Jack Brickhouse was the first person I heard doing baseball. on TV.    

    Yes, I watched other channels for other personalities....but for the past who knows how long, it has been WGN for the 9 p.m. news.

    Understand, because of some non sensical law, we can't watch it on a regular TV channel.  We have to stream it.   That makes it a little harder to watch it sometimes, but Jackie has figured out how to do it on her I Pad and up until about 2 weeks ago, she could beam her pad's reception to the TV and it was like a real channel.

    But I digress.

    Tom Skilling did his last weather segment tonight.

    He was been with the station 45 years, and we have always loved Tom.  He was funny, insightful, and provided a detailed forecast.

    One the past few weeks the station has been doing tributes to him.  What was amazing was what he had to do before computers and satellite imagery to produce a forecast.  

    Graphics were hand drawn by him before the green screen.  

    Weather forecasting has changed a lot since he started.

    We will miss him.  

    Time causes change.  Sometimes that change is good, but sometimes it means faces you have known for years are not there anymore.  

    And that's a sad thing.

Peace and Love

26 steps

 It is about 26 steps from couch to weather radio

    On the third trip, I decided to count tsteps.  Sometimes it was 26, sometimes 27.

    We have the wether radio in our bedroom, because if there is a storm at night we need to know that.

    But it also sounds alerts for all the counties around us.  Tornado watches, warnings, thunderstorms, gargantuan floods.

    Tonight was a n night it sounded lots of times.  I lost count.

    Tom Skilling on WGN said there were numerous reports of tornado touchdowns.  Hopefully no one was hurt or had major property damage.

    While all this was going on, I decided to cure some cast iron pans.  I washed them, sanded down the rust, dried them, oiled them and put them in the oven to bake for an hour.

    The problem is, the house smells.  Really smells.  I have the back door open and bathroom exhaust  fans on, but it has not helped yet.

    After Jackie goes to bed I will open the front door and maybe get a cross breeze to draw out the smell.

    I made pork chops tonight.  They turned out kind of dry, so I must have overcooked them.. And the beans were mushy.  It was not one of my better attempts at supper.

    But none of us died or got sick, so  that is a bonus.

    Today it hit 71, right now it is 51, and tomorrow the high will be 33 with some snow flurries overnight a possibility.

    Spring is not my favorite season.

Peace and Love

again?

 I am going to complain about sleep.....again!

    Actually, I have been sleeping pretty well.  

    I cut down my evening liquids, I go to bed earlier, I am watching my caffeine intake and it has all been pretty good.

    Then there was last night.

    I had to use the bathroom at 1:30.  Went back to bed.

    Jackie had to use the bathroom at 1:50.  Took care of that, went back to bed.

    Beth decided that was a good time to make her second trip ever out of her kennel at night.  She went to the front door and sat, her signal that she has to go out.

    Took her out and proceeded to watch her stare at the bushes my plants, look around the neighborhood and do everything except go to the bathroom.

    By now it is about 2:15, because Beth takes her darn sweet time.  I finally got her back in, and back in her kennel, and went back to bed.

    Sometime around 4 I was informed a certain person was having trouble sleeping.  It was NOT me.

    Somehow, I fell asleep quickly after every interruption.  And yes, I did get up at 9:30, but I was very refreshed.

    I have a problem, though.  Way back when, when my feet were itching so badly at night, I started sleeping on top of the sheet and  blanket but under a throw.

    Last night I tried under the blanket, but could not sleep.  I felt trapped.  Constricted.  Caught.  Bound.

    I am so used to sleeping under the throw, I just can't adjust.

    That could be a problem when it warms up, because I am very comfortable on cold nights with just the throw.  

    Yes, I can get a lighter one, and probably have one tucked away someplace.  Lord knows I have a lot of stuff.

    I took Beth on a walk today.  It was beautiful and she is now responding to the word walk.  

    I think the dog is actually training me.

Peace and Love

Sleepy Sunday

 Well, this was a relaxed day

    I did not do a thing.  Well, not quite true.  I read the paper, read one of my books, took a nap, ran the dishwasher....but nothing very taxing.

    I may have over indulged a bit these past two days.  Too much wine and food took a toll on the old guy today.

    I did try to do one simple job.  One.

    I bought a door stop to put on the hinge of our front door.

    When Beth is out, she some times runs up to the closed door and rams into it, forcing it open.  When it swings open it hits the print hanging behind the door.  One day,  that print is going to fall.

    So I bought a door stopper.

    I have used these many times.  Very simple.  Drive the hinge pin out, insert the door stop, drive the hinge pin in.

    Easy Peasy.

    Except when the hinge pin does not come out.  I goes up about an inch and then doesn't move.  I guess tomorrow I will try again.  Usually I drive it out an inch then use a screwdriver, put it under the head of the pin, and drive it the rest of the way.  

    I don't remember this hinge pin having a head.  Otherwise I would have done it.  Now I have to try again in case it does and I just didn't think of it at that time.

    Again, something that should take a minute or two took me 15 minutes of pounding and repounding with nothing to show for it.

    That's when I took my nap.

    And I deserved it.

    So there.

Peace and Love

family time

 We had family over today

    My nephew from Pennsylvania and my sister in law from Rockford cane down for supper.  Jason was visiting his mom,  Ruth, who had a birthday today.  So they came to our house for supper.

    That makes 2 nights in a row of entertaining for us!  That is very unusual.

    But it was a fun time because we don't get to see Jason very often. 

    I miss my nieces and nephews.  They are all grown up and have families of their own, but I mss the times we would get together and talk, laugh, and eat.  Those times just went by too fast.  Of course, my brothers and parents are no longer here, but my memories are.

    Aside from that, today was just a ho hum day.

    I sat and read for about 90 minutes, but I think I only got through 10 pages.  No, I did not fall asleep, although a nap would have been nice.

    It just seemed like there was interruption after interruption.  Dog out, dog in, lunch, dog out, dog in, and on and on.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better for reading.

    I am reading 2 books....Miss Buncle's Book and Tune In.

    The first was written in 1934!  Last night I got to a part and was laughing, it was pretty funny. It is set in a small town in England and revolves around a woman who writes a book about her  village and the people in it.  The book turns into a best seller, but the townspeople are livid at their lives being exposed.  I got it through Hoopla and am reading it on my electronic reader, which is great because I can adjust the type size.

    Tune In is about the Beatles.  It is about 2 inches thick, and I do have a problem reading it because I can not make the print bigger.  But it is an interesting look into the lives of the Fab Four.

    At my current rate of progress, I should finish the Beatles book when I am 94.

    My seed order came in the mail today.  I hope I don't lose it before planting time.

Peace and Love

Sno fun

 Well, that was not nice, Mother Nature

    I took Beth for a walk about 2 today.  We made our way down to the end of the block, leaving a trail of blue bags along the way in case we got lost.

    By the time we started back, it had gotten noticably colder.  And windier.   Later  I went to the store and on the way home it began a cold rain, which turned to snow about 6 or so.

    Yesterday I was complaining it was so warm now I am complaining it is cold and crappy.  Mother Nature can't win when it comes to making me happy.

    Sheri and Camryn came for dinner, along with Emily.  I felt like the old rooster with all those women in the house.  Even Beth is a female.  I was outnumbered.

    We had a great time talking and laughing.  We covered almost every topic under the sun and did not seem to bore anyone.  

    A funny thing happened last night....or rather this morning.

    About 1:30 I smelled smoke.  It smelled like a campfire smell.  I checked the house and all was well.  I figured Julia may have a window open and someone was burning brush.  I know, at 1:30?

    Beth came out of her crate and went to the front door.  I put her collar on and went out with her, but I could not smell anything outside.  Beth did her business and came right back in.

    I say that because what usually happens is she goes out, sniffs, then sits on the sidewalk and looks around for 10 minutes before I bring her in.

    After she comes in, she sits by the door waiting to go out again.  I usually take her out right before bed, and she usually sniffs and sits, watching the dark world go past.

    But I digress.

    When Emily was over tonight, I mentioned this and she also was awakened at about 1:30 by the same kind of smell!  She also checked her house, but all was well.

    And Julia did not have a window open, nor did Emily..  Another mystery, eh?

    It reminded me of the time the smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted our way.  

    Wonder what tomorrow will bring.....warmth/ rain?  snow?  sun? cold?

    Time will tell.

Peace and Love

59??? Feb. 22???

 The last three days have been pretty darn nice

    At one point, the temperature today was 59.  In February!!  Usually we have muddy looking snow on the ground and cold temps.

    But that seems to have changed this year.

    I am going to be all over the place tonight.......bear with me.  Bear with me? Whatever.

    There is a full moon, or almost full moon.  Which leads me to the question:  Does anyone have a dog that bays at the full moon?

    It seems in cartoons with dogs, they are always baying at the full moon.  I never hear it.

    As I mentioned recently I passed the memory cognition test the doctor gave me.

    We had a couple of stops today, and after my last one I told Jackie I was going to get a decaf at Starbucks.  It was late, and I could not remember if Cypress House was still open.

    As we pulled out of the bank parking lot, I turned right and went to Walmart!

    We are driving down 38, Jackie reminded me I ordered a coffee at Starbucks.  How could I forget?  I went to Wally World, then doubled back to pick up the coffee.  So much for memory skills.

    I am throwing out one of my older garbage cans.  I put it in my new VW sized container so there is no mistaking why intent.

    Jackie said we need to clean off the closet shelves in our room.  I agree.

    I have sweaters I have not worn in 10 years.  But I like them.  My daughters and wife gave them to me.  How can I get rid of them?

    I have a shelf of old clothes to wear when I am doing projects.  I have at least 5 pairs of pants and 15-T-shirts.  How many do I need?

    We have a bag of info from when we built this house.  I think we can jettison some of that, but that involves sittng down and looking at it.  That takes time.  And patience.  I s have the time, but not the patience.

    I just need to start getting rid of stuff.  

    But how?  Everything has a memory or a story....it's all part of my life.

    And hard to get rid of.

Peace and Love

hot time

 I set fire to the back yard today

    Actually, not the entire back yard.  I burned off part of my native garden.

    Fire is important to prairies.  It kills off unwanted plants and provides nutrients for the soil for new growth.  I burned for the first time in 3 years, so hopefully the fire will do its job and get rid of unwanted grasses.

    I only burned half, because the other half was just planted last year and I don't think there is enough "fuel" to warrant a burning.

    I have a small patch.  But when it burns, there is a lot of popping and a roar. I can almost imagine the horror pioneer families experienced when the prairie started burning.  

    I also took Beth for a walk.  We go down to the end of the road, which is about a 1 mile round trip.

    I always carry poop bags, because even if she does her business in an empty lot, I pick it up.  I also leave the bags on the side of the road and pick them up on my way back.

    I picked it up twice today.

    On the way home we stopped to talk to a young friend, then finished the walk.

    When I got home, I only had one bag.  The other bag was at the end of the block.It was right across from where my young friend lives and I just got distracted.

    Not willing to walk another mile, I took the golf cart.  Call me lazy, I don't mind.

    I may have mentioned a picture I found of the Honey Bears from 1978.  I sent it to my friend, who was a Honey Bear and yes, she is in the picture.

    When I showed it to Jackie, Jackie said the girl I pointed to was the one I thought it was in the first place!  I also thought if my friend had come out instead of one of the other girls, our paths would have crossed some 30 years before they did.

    It truly is a small world.

Peace and Love

Before

During

After

doctor, doctor

 I had my annual check up doctor's visit today

    I was almost late because I could not find my car keys.  Or my wallet.  I looked everywhere.  Under the bed, behind the dresser.  Julia went out and looked in the car.  I checked all the coats I have worn in the past week, nothing.

    This is not the first time this has happened to me and it won't be the last.  But it is very frustrating.

    Julia asked me when I had them last.  I said when I went to Emily's to let out the dogs yesterday.

    She asked if I checked my jeans.

    There they were.  I had changed pants and left all of it in my jeans.

    Now, setting the stage for the doctor; exam went well, got some direction to help my thumb situation, generally a good discussion.  Yes, my BP is higher than it should be.  I will be monitoring at home more consistently and I do have a new prescription that addresses that issue.

    She made the mistake of asking if I had any other concerns.

    I told her yes.  I am afraid I am developing, or showing early signs, of Ahlzimers because of all the stuff I forget.

    So, she did a screening, asking a bunch of questions, and totaled up my score.

    I had a 39 out of 40, which means no problem with the memory.

    We then talked about the life of a caretaker and how that increases stress and can cause me to forget things.  It's not a disease or illness, it's just being overloaded with details.

    Honestly, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

    I have had 3 friends who have lately been concerned with memory loss.  All are about my age.  It just scares me, which is why I brought it up.

    Now, if I can just remember where I put those damn car keys I would be one happy camper.

    And yes, I have a basket to put them in.  When I remember.

Peace and Love

positive

 I am in an optimistic mood

    I just placed my Burpee seed order.

    I know, it's still cold and the ground is not ready for planting.  Come to think of it, I am not ready for planting either.  But I digress.

    My garden will look a little different this year.

    I ordered sweet corn.

    Now, I know nothing about growing sweet corn.  I figure you put the corn in the soil, stand back, pick the ears.  The corn ears, not my ears.  Keep your fingers out of my ears.  Please.

    Will I need to put up a scarecrow?  Will the deer eat the corn?  Is this a mistake?

    Time will tell.

    Of course, this is all because no super sweet corn was available last summer....so we are trying our own.

    I also got beans, peas, carrots and cucumbers.  I don't have any luck with peas or cucumbers, but I keep planting them.  I think that is the definition of insanity, keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.  This year will be different.

    We will buy tomato plants and pepper plants later.  Last year I made the mistake of buying 2 tomato plants that were the same.  The tomatoes all came ripe at one time.  This year I will buy 2 different ones, an early producer and a later producer.  But by the time I buy them, I will have forgotten that.

    Right now I am optimistic.  I can almost taste those carrots and fresh tomatoes....almost.

    Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for warmer weather.  Then, let the planting begin!

Peace and Love

    

Gotcha!!

 Beth came into our lives 1 year ago

    We had met her at a meet and greet before she came. She was already spoken for,  so we were put on a list for another dog.

    A few days later we got the call that the previous people changed their minds.  Beth was coming for a visit.

    Well, she walked in the house like she owned it and never left.

    She is not a perfect dog, by any means.  

    She slops water on the floor when she drinks, she always wants attention, she does not like to be held or picked up, and she goes out 600 times at night.  At least it seems 600 times.

    But when she goes to bed in her kennel, she stays.  I leave the door open, and only twice has she left the kennel and both tines she had to go to the bathroom.

    After Corki, I never thought I would have another dog.  I still mourn her.  

    Beth is not Corki.  In many ways she is better, in many ways she is not.  She is her own self.

    And we love her for it.

    Ahhh....

    We have been in the house almost 12 years.  Within the past month doors have started to slowly close or slowly open, all by themselves.  Of course, we could have a ghost.  Maybe 2. 

    Our bedroom door is driving me nuts.

    So I went to Walmart and found little round Velcro tabs.  I put one on the door stop, and one on the door so they would match and the door would be held open by the Velcro.

    That worked for a week or so, then the Velcro on the door stop got bent.

    Now, I had put the rest of the Velcro closures in a place that made sense and where they would be easy to find.

    I looked for at least half an hour and could not find. them!  They were not in any of the logical places.

    Today I was cleaning off the kitchen counter and there they were.  I had not put them away.  I had left them right out in the open in plain sight.  I could not see the forest through the trees.

    Julia made fondue tonight.  Dan and Linda joined the 4 of us and we had a nice visit, some good wine, and some awesome fondue.

   Beth even got a doggie cupcake!

    Now, I have to go.  She is at the door waiting to go out.  Again.

Peace and Love

Our first day

She always looks so sad

This week....she does not like being held

Oh boys

 I saw the Liverpool Legends last night

    Friend Dan and I went to DeKalb to catch this Beatles tribute band last night.

    The group was put together by George Harrison's sister to keep the memory of the boys alive.   And boy, was it alive.

    The place was packed.  Young people, old people, middle aged people....all coming to enjoy a tribute to the greatest rock group ever.

    Not much else to say, except ran into friends Barb and Rick and Bill and Joan, although Bill had to tell me his name because normally I only see him when TC is around.  Actually, I never talked to Joan, but I know she was there.

    And a follow up to my dryer vent repair.

    No smell, the closet does not feel warm, so the repair was good.

    After the guy left, Julia  looked at me and said, "Do you always have your belt not in the loops, just hanging there?"

    So I fastened my belt.

    Then she said, "And your zipper is down."

    No wonder the guy avoided eye contact!

Peace and Love

This is the Cavern in Liverpool....note the back wall.

The Beatles in their Cavern Club days.....

Name that tune

Sgt.  Pepper's Lonely Hearts  Club Band

Imagine

All we are saying........

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

 I am going to a Beatles concert tonight

    60 years after the band made its debut in America, I am finally going to see the Beatles.

    Well, actually, it is. the Liverpool Legends, a Beatles tribute band.

    But I an using the option to suspend belief (like some supporters of you know who) and pretend these are the real Beatles!

    Friend Dan is going with.  The nice thing is we will not be the only older folks in the house....a lot of people  our age will be there.

    Jackie originally said she wanted to go, but the show starts too late for her.  She does not think she can stay awake.

    I'm thinking.....not stay awake when the Beatles play?

    Anyway.

   We put Beth in a crate at night, but don't close the door.  She is very comfortable in there.

    Sometime this morning, maybe 1 ish or 2 ish, I heard a thump, like something hitting a wall.

    I got up and Beth was at the back door, trying to get out.  The back door is off limits after dark, so I got her to the front door, put on her flashing red collar, and let her out.

    She immediately took a squat and then turned to come back in the house.

    She went back to her crate, I went to bed, and we all fell right asleep.

    For the past couple of weeks I have smelled our dryer exhaust, especially in the little bathroom.  In addition, when the dryer runs, that bathroom gets warm.

    So I called the plumber today and someone came out to look at it.

    As he was examining the exhaust vent in th basement, which is right next to some PVC waste lines, I heard an "Uh Oh."

    I asked how bad was it?

    He said he didn't know because his head was stuck between the water lines!

    It took him a minute or so to get his head free.  I was afraid I would have to call 911 to report a man with his head stuck between water lines on a ladder in my basement.  But I didn't.

    Whenever I have said the smell and the heat are not normal, the other people in the house kind of thought I was nutty.  Well, I am.  But not this time.

    Guy found an elbow had come apart and was letting exhaust escape into the space between the walls.

    My fear was exactly that.  I also worried that if left for long, it may cause mold to appear.  

    Luckily he was able to get it fixed and the dryer back in working order.

    We'll see tomorrow, which is towel and sheet day in the Dickow household.

    Thinking of the Beatles, I remember the song they did about our House of Representatives and t heir leadership.........Fool on the Hill.  Except now it is fools on the hill.

Peace and Love

not a winner. not a winner

 I started a long put off task today

    When the lottery goes over 300 million, I generally buy a ticket or two.  Not a lot, just one or two.

    If there is no winner, or the winner is not from Rochelle, I just toss the tickets in a pile.

    Realize, there are multiple winners.  All you have to do is match a couple of numbers and the lucky number and you could win.  I never check those numbers.

    I took a bunch up to a gas station to check them today.

    Ticket after ticket gave me the not a winner message.  Geez, talk about making me feel bad!

    As I scanned the tickets, I thought, "How does this work?"  How does the scanner know that my ticket is not a winner?  What if the scanners are just programmed to say that so the state doesn't have to pay out money?  What if aliens used magnetic space rays to nullify my winning tickets?

    I know I won money !  I know I did.

    But the machine said I was a loser.

    So, being the OCD person I am, I took the tickets home and looked them up on the computer!

    Yes, that's right.  I spent 30 minutes looking up lottery tickets from last summer.

    And guess what?

    I am not a winner.

    Damn aliens.

    I still have a bunch left.  Do I trust the scanners?  Or should I say scammers???

Peace and Love

holey cow

 Happy Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day

    I don't know if I will ever use that sentence again in my life.

    All I know is Ash Wednesday was early this year.

    Easter is a floating holiday.  There is no set date.  It all depends on the full moons after March 21, but it seems too complex an issue for me to grasp. 

    For example, this from Wikipedia:  Even if calculated on the basis of the Gregorian calendar, the date of that  ecclesiastical full moon sometimes differs from that of the astronomical first full moon after the March equinox.^[17]

    As you can see, for me to understand that I have to learn what an ecclesiastical full moon is, and since I have made it 75 + years without that knowledge, I don't see why I should learn it now.

    There.  Now you know.

    We did not get ashes this year.  

    I had a meeting at 5 and we would not be able to make it to DeKalb in time for the service, so no ashes.  We  could have gone to a local church. but  chose not to.

    I picked up a couple of shrimp dinners for Jackie and me.  Julia asked me to get a roast beef sandwich with Swiss cheese.  She texted me and said "The Swiss cheese with holes."  I thought that was an odd statement to add.

    I ordered a sandwich and told the young man I wanted the Swiss cheese with holes.

    He looked at me like I was nutty.

    "Our Swiss cheese doesn't have holes," he said, which I thought was odd.  All Swiss cheese has holes, right?

    So, they went and made the sandwich and another employee asked the young man what I wanted, and he said the "Swiss cheese with holes but we don't have that".

    The lady said, yes....she showed the young man how to ring it up with the "Big eye cheese." as they called it.

    Several tasks were thus accomplished.  Jackie and I got supper, Julia get her supper, and the young man learned that real Swiss cheese has holes.

    Such a deal!

Peace and Love

not again

 It was not me this time

    I went to Walmart today and saw this in the parking lot.

    No, these are not mine.

    But how in heaven's name does a pair of underwear end up in the parking lot?  

    The possibilities are endless.

    A guy wearing baggy pants had them fall off.

    They fell out from a laundry basket

    A streaker made an appearance

    Somebody bougth new ones and changed in the parking lot

    Somebody stuffed them down their pants in an attempt to steal them and they fell out

    A passenger plane went overhead, a door opened, and these flew out.

    UFOs sucked a guy up

    If you have a theory, please feel free to share it.

    I have no idea if they were clean or dirty because I was not that curious.

    Jackie and I had blood tests today.  I passed.  No crying, yelling, screaming or fainting.  I did ok too.

    Now my big question for Lent:

    What is the difference between aPaczki and a Bismarck?  I know Paczkis are big today, but they seem to be the same as a jelly filled product called a Bismarck. Please enlighten me, if you can.  And I did not buy Paczkis today because I bought some cream filled Bismarcks at Dunkin' after our blood tests.

    I brought the recycling cans in about 2,  It is now about 8:30 and I just closed the garage door.

    How did I leave it open again?

    And last night the coyotes were howling so loud....seemed right across the street.  It actually rattled me a little.  Ok, a lot.  It's nice to her them in a distance, but not up close.

Peace and Love

Huh?

 Sometimes I just have to laugh

    For example.

    We like to buy fresh ground beef and make our own burgers.  At least I do.

    So one of the girl got us a hamburger press.  You take meat, put it in a metal dish, , and press t he top part down, making a patty.

    Pretty simple.

    But it has to be put together.

    I followed the directions, which is not always easy.

    For example, step 2:  Put screw go down through wood handle.

    Or the caution at the end: Please don't put washer to screw first and go down through handle. It may cause screw too short, and can't attach to press handle.

    Now, I am not to criticize the product, but if foreign manufacturers want to sell in the US market why don't they hire qualified people to write simple English sentences?

    Speaking of English, I had to look up a phrase that appeared in a comic strip.  The adult accused the youngster of not doing anything, the youngster said he was "faffing about."  The adult said glad you are busy with something.

    I had never heard faffing about, so thanks to the wonderful world of Google I found out I faff a lot! The British phrase means doing something in an unorganized way and not accomplishing anything.

    That fits me to a T!

    I am not disorganized, I am faffing!  Sounds like I am actually doing something when I am just my usual disorganized self.

    However sometimes I do manage to get something done.

    Last week the wheels came off my garbage can.  I can't find one of them.

    So I called the disposal company and asked about their garbage cans.  The nice lady told me they were free, but there was a $60 delivery charge.  Holy crap!!!  I asked her if I could just drive somewhere and pick one up and she said their facilities were not equipped for that.

    I bit the bullet and ordered one.

    It arrived today.

    It's about the size of a VW bug, but with 2 wheels!  Holy cow, it is big!

    The guy who delivered it said if I want to get rid of the old one, put it into the new one.  I could do that and still fit in a a small family.

    Emily  could use one or two of those, especially for dog waste.  I should have asked for one for her and just had it delivered here.  I should have thought of that before they delivered mine.

    That's it for me.  I've got som faffing to do.

    Peace and Love

Our  driveway over the past 3 weeks or so

I grew a mustache for the Super Bowl.

caught!

 I don't always understand our dog

    Our morning routine is pretty regular.

    Julia gets up around 7 and gets Beth, lets her outside, then starts work.

    Jackie and I get up later, recently at 9 a.m. but sometimes later than that.

    Today, I was up at 7.  Beth came over and sat on the floor by the bed.  I dangled my arm off the side of the bed and was petting her.  I think I fell back asleep.  

    Then I heard this rustling and scratching.   I looked around and could not find Beth or Julia.

    I looked own and there is Beth's nose sticking out from under the bed.

    She was stuck!  She could not get out  from under our bed!

    I tried pulling her but her back kept getting caught on the bed. 

    I figured Julia would need to come and I would have to get Jackie out of bed, hen I could lift the side of the bed and Julia could pull Beth out.

    But we never made it that far.

    I went to get Jackie and there was a continued scrambling and finally Beth crawled out from under the bed.

    I let her out, Julia was up and said she'd let her back in, and I went back to bed.

    That was the highlight of the day.

    We did watch the Super Bowl.  We had a big gathering at the house, so many people I can't name them all.  Some people had to sit out on the patio because there was no room in the house!  I served prime rib, filet mignon, lobster and potato chips.  It was a fun time.

    And an exciting game.  I sort of wish it could have ended in a tie.

    Someday I will have the Bears to root for in the big game, right?

Peace and Love

snow?

 I have many insecurities in life

    I try to think positively, but sometimes that does not work vey well for me.

    I often think bridges will collapse under me.  Or the elevator I am in will suddenly start a free fall. My car will break down in a desolate area late a night, even in the daytime.  That tall building or tower will collapse with me on the top floor.

    And those insecurities were why it snowed at my house today.

    Specifically, it snowed in the laundry area.

    Here's where Too Much Information gets divulged.

    Almost 4 years ago I had prostate cancer.  My prostate was removed.  For a while after the surgery, shall we say my plumbing did not always function correctly.  Like a kitchen sink faucet, I dripped.  Sometimes a lot.

    To prevent any damage to bedding, I got into the habit of putting an absorbent pad under the sheets on my side of the bed.  

    To be clear, in the past 3 plus years, the pad has never gotten wet.  Yes, I replaced them from time to time because they just got worn out from me sleeping on them.  They were never exposed to water.

    Until today.l. When it got tangled in the sheets and I washed it.

    Trust me, absorbent pads are not meant to be washed.

    When I open the dryer door, a cloud of dust emerged.  When I took out the sheets, tiny pieces of fabric fluttered to the  ground.  A lot of it.  It was like a blizzard!

    It was all over the place!  Stuck to the sheets. my clothes, on the floor.

    And the dryer filter was clogged.

    I wiped out the washer, and the dryer, and tried to vacuum out the dryer.  

    I remembered I once bought a kit for vacuuming out a dryer vent.  Now all I had to do was find it.

    I knew it was in a yellow box. 

    I looked high and low for that yellow box.

    Jackie said she was surprised I didn't store it in the cabinet by the dryer.  I was too.

    But I looked there and no yellow box.

    On my third search of the cabinet, and actually moving some things, I found a plastic bag with the vent cleaning stuff....it was not in a yellow box after all.

    Twenty minutes later I had it all cleaned out.  There were a lot of little pieces.

    Julia came in the back door and asked what I did to create such a mess on the floor.

    I cleaned it all up.

    And one of my insecurities is gone.....no more pad where I sleep.  I am positive it will never be needed again.

Tomorrow?  49ers 35, KC 31.

Peace and Love

Where were you?

 Some of you will no relate to this

    Sixty years ago tonight I was a 15 year old acne faced kid watching the Ed Sullivan show.

    Four lads from Liverpool were making their first North American singing appearance.

    I was not impressed.  

    They sang 5 songs. Google tells me they played All My Loving, Till there was You and She Loves You in the first set and I Saw Her Standing There and I Want to Hold Your Hand in the second set later in the show.

    The audience was composed of mostly teen aged girls, who screamed every time one of the lads looked their way or even moved.

    I found it all a bit silly, at the time.

    I was a Rolling Stones fan.  The album Aftermath was always playing in my room, much to my dad's disproval.  I especially liked Paint it Black with its opening guitar work and the amazing driving beat.  The Stones were bluesy and rock while the Beatles were not.

    The next day at school a boy showed up with his hair like the Beatles and everyone said he was being paid as a publicity stunt.  Even then we had conspiracy theories.

    But John, Paul, George and Ringo grew on me, and they grew on America and the world.

    I love the Beatles.  I still like the Stones, but I love the Beatles.

    I've been to Liverpool and the Cavern, where they played 300 times.  Actually, it is a recreated Cavern because the original was torn down.  But the new club is just like the old.  Staring at the stage I could almost see them playing to packed crowds towards the end of their Cavern days.  What a thrill that must have been to see them!

    They were funny, irreverent, good looking and incredibly talented.  They were so good, their music is still played by lots of artists.  And Paul and Ringo still tour. 

    Looking back at clips from the Sullivan show, it's hard to imagine Paul and Ringo in their 80s.  And it's hard to believe John and George gone.

    One of my favorite Beatles tunes is one from that first night.  I love I Saw Her Standing There.  Every time I hear it I can picture a 23 year old Ringo drumming away at the back of the group.  For some reason, I think that is some of his best drum work, but I know others will have plenty of examples of better drumming.

    Whenever I hear it, I picture the 4 of them at the Cavern, having the time of their lives. 

    Now, it's time to say goodnight.

Peace and Love

    

not me....no siree!

 I got phished today

    I did not take the bait.

    I got an e-mil from Pay Pal telling me that a charge for $888.88 was being made to my account.  If I did not this charge, I should click o the link below.

    Well, I did not make the charge and I did not click on the link below.

    But here is where it gets scary for me.

    I went to Safari and typed pay pal in the search box.

    A message came upon that essentially said my account was suspended due to inactivity and I could reinstate it by logging on to the merchant's website.

    I did not do that either.

    What I did do was go back to Safari and type in PayPal.com, which took me to the official PP page. Eventually I talked to an AI thing which could not answer my question and I get transferred over to a real human.

    I explained to her what happened and she checked my account.  The last purchase was one I recognized, so I felt safe. 

    We then had a nice conversation about phishing and how good some crooks are at doing it.  She also said I followed all the right steps in not answering, not clicking, and checking the real company.

    She sent me an address to send the phony e-mail to so the fraud division could dig into it.  But she could not explain why I got the message about a suspended account.

    The phising e-mail was very convincing.....had our name and came from customer service at pay pal.  

    Just another reason to be wary folks.

    And here's another reason to be wary.

    Ran into a friend at Walmart and she was very embarrassed.

    Seems she saw a woman she thought was her mother.  The lady was bending over one of the produce bins.  So my friend bumped her in the back end and said, "Oh, I am so sorry."

    Then the woman turned around and it was not my friend's mother.  

    Now she really was sorry and apologized a lot.

    I guess I am not the only person who does silly things.

Peace and Love

curtains

I went to see a play last night with Emily 

    We saw Come From Away at the Coronado in Rockford.

    It was a dang good show!

    Emily said this was her favorite  show and I can see why.

    It was upbeat, with somber moments, and lots of singing and dancing.

    But there were things I did not understand. Like the Irish accents and music, and the accents of some of the performers.

    Emily said Gander, Newfoundland, had a large Irish influence and it showed in. their language and music.  And the captain of one of the airplanes was from Texas, so that character always has a Texas twang.

    The story is basically set around 9-11 when thousands of flights were diverted to all sorts of airfields.  Gander had a large airfield and took in 32 planes with 7,000 passengers.  The town welcomed the people and provided food, shelter, and clothing during the time airplanes were grounded, which was 5 days or so.

    I have gone with Emily to a couple of shows up there, and this was the only one where I have seen a standing ovation.

    Again, the show brings out the curiousness of me.  These people travel, perform one night, then travel. to another town.  It has to be a hard life.  This cast reflected the passengers on the airplanes.....some people were older and had larger bodies than a typical cast.  I watched ass they danced and sang and was thinking  of all the times I have had to dance and could never quite get the moves down.  They truly are professionals.  How do they handle that type of life?  Do they have families?  Do they make enough money?  At the end of the tour, what happens to them?

    There were a whole bunch of Rochelle area folks there also, some I spoke to, some I waved to, and some I missed entirely but I knew they were there.  One friend I ran into has seen the show 4 times!  She also loves it.  Emily has now seen it twice.

    My only complaint is the Coronado needs to find a way to get people into the theater faster.  They wand everyone and check each purse.  With a huge crowd like last night, the show was about 10 minutes late starting and people were still coming in after the start because they had just gotten through security.

    Of course, people could get there  earlier too.  

    Let me tell you about dinner tonight.

    Went to Headon's, bought some Iowa pork chops and other meat.  

    Iowas chops are about 1 inch thick.  I brown them 4 minutes each side in a cast iron pan then put the in the oven.

    Julia had a work meeting.  She was downstairs

    During the browning period, the smoke detectors started going off!  Beth was running around, the alarms were ringing, I was scrambling from door to door getting them open, the alarms were still going off, I was turning on fans, I removed the chops from the heat and the alarms finally got quiet.

    I could just imagine what the folks in Julia's meeting thought.  She told them no big deal, dad was cooking supper.

   FYI,. they were very tasty.

Peace and Love

There was a large crowd going in

I love the details inside the theater....can't build them like that today!

After the show.....we talked to much!

Pig Butchering?

 No, this is not about meat or hog farming

    I know a little about both though.  Hog farming has a distinct odor about it.

    Once upon I time I was a pea picker for DelMonte.  Yes, me.  Ol pea pickin' Terry. 

    I would rouse myself out of bed, say goodbye to the wife, and ride off before sunrise.  We would all pile in a van and be driven out to the work area for the day.

    When we would pass a pig farm,  the driver would yell out, "You know what that's the smell of, boys?  MONEY!"  And then he would laugh.

    I also know pigs produce pork chops, bacon, sausage, and roasts.  Like I said, I know about pig farming.

    I also know the best tasting meat does not come from a lab, but from a black Angus steer.  I can taste the beef melting in my mouth as I write.

    But I digress.

    Pig butchering is the term being used for a swindle.  Con.  Fraud.  Scam.

    The FBI said citizens lost about $3,5 billion in this type of con last year.

    One buy, who was brave enough to have his name and photo used in the article, explained what happened.

    He met a woman on line.  The talked and had lots in common.  Over time, he decided he was in love with her and she with him.

    But.....and here is the big butt.....her grandmother was holding all her assets and would not release them.  Granny needed money in advance to free up the millions the love interest had.

    So she asks for money.  He sends her $10,000.

    Next, the love of his life asks that he invest money in a crypto currency web site to convince granny he was not interested in her for her money.

    So he cashes in his retirement account and  invests it in crypto currency.  $500,000.

    Not enough

    When he goes to his bank for a loan, the bank people say, "Wait a minute......this does not sound right."

    Then the FBI contacted him and said he had been scammed. The crypto currency website was a front, the business did not exist, and he was out his life savings.

    The guy is 62 years old.  He researched the crypto site and it looked legit, so he trusted it.  

    Pig butchering.

    I often get friend requests from attractive women that I don't know.  I don't accept them.  

    I often see comments on friends posts that say, "You sound like a very intelligent/nice/interesting person.  I would like to be your friend."

    Hopefully we are all smart enough, aware enough, cautious enough to ignore them.  

    My guess is it is all another form of pig butchering.

    The internet and Facebook can be great fun.  But there are dangers lurking in the water.  Swim safely.

Peace and Love

oh say can you see

 At this moment, not really

    This may be hard to read, at least it is sure as hell hard to type.

    I went to the eye doctor today for a 6 month check up.  My eyes are fine, maybe even better than last time, which is good news.

    But I had to have them dilated and right now, everything is bright and blurry.  Any spelling mistakes may not be caught by my superior proof reading skills....everything is a blur.

    Plus, I have a headache.  Maybe from too much light, I don't know.

    It was not a great time.  Julia drove me because I should not drive with dilated eyes.  I don't see that well to begin with.

    The appointment usually takes 45  - 60 minutes.  Today?  I left my 3 p.m. appointment at about 4:30.  They were fairly busy.  The waiting room was full of older folks, like me, all with a driver.  Julia used the time to run multiple errands and still had to wait for me.

    I do not eavesdrop.  

    But, sometimes you overhear things.

    I was sitting in the lobby, which was also pretty full, and there were 2 guys next to me.  Younger than me, but I don't know by how much.

    I really was not listening, but my ears perked up when the words "climate change" came out of the younger of the 2.  He said the polar ice caps were going to melt, end game a little chuckle.   Then he said "global worming.'

    But it was what he said next that gave me a fit.

    According to him, the hole in the ozone layer was not caused by chlorofluorocarbons in spray cans.  The government got rid of those, and the ozone hole has filled in.

    Nope...that is wrong.  The ozone layer was created when a chemical company launched a rockedt loaded with dangerous chemicals to dispose of  in space.

    Yup.

    He also said that he knows the world is going to erupt in war/famine/flooding/ or something else so he is thinking of buying a sailboat and going out onto the ocean to live.

    His friend said, "You know, there are pretty big waves out on the ocean."  The guy replied that was not a problem.

    Food and fresh water may be, but the monstrous waves will be ok.

    I was tempted to ask him who won the last election, but he had a cane.

Peace and Love

  

a short day

 This was kind of a short day for us

    I did not get to bed until a little after 1.  When the alarm went off at about 9, I turned it off.

    At 10:30 Jackie said it was time to get up.

    Now, that sounds like a luxury of sleep.  But it is not.

    It takes me about 2 hours to get Jackie up and ready for breakfast.  Do the time warp folks.  She was ready to eat about 12:45.

    By the time I ate,  read the paper on line,  and did 2 loads of laundry it was almost 3.  The sun goes down at 5:30, so there was little time for action on my part.

    Things I need:

    My printer to work.  Julia tried today, but had no luck.

    My basement to get organized.  I need to put away stuff I have just stacked.

    Better sleep.  Today I did not have much caffeine.  Last night at From the Heart I had a cup of coffee at about 9.  That was a mistake.

    Temperatures in the 70s.

    Last n night was an interesting night for a couple of reasons.

    I always say I don't know a lot of people.  I was shocked at how many people came up to me and said hi and I knew most of their names!

    What did my heart good was the number of former students who said hello.  Six of them visited with me, and they were all pretty successful in their fields.  I like to feel I had a small part of that.

    I cooked some steaks on the grill tonight.  Once again I forgot to bring the grill back into the garage and lower the garage doors.  But neighbor Eileen contacted me to let me know the doors were open. That was nice of her!  Keeps the rodents out of the garage.

    While I was cooking, I could hear the howling of coyotes and I did not have my hearing aids in!  They had to be pretty close for me to hear them.  They sounded like they were north of me, and there is wooded land there.  The howling and yipping is a cool, yet somewhat disconcerting, sound.  

    Aside from my little comments, not much is going on.

    Tonight:  To sleep, perchance to dream.

Peace and Love

Late night

 I think I missed Feb. 3!

    Jackie, Emily and I attended From the Heart in Rochelle.

    This is a fund raising night, with proceeds going to 8 organizations serving our community.

    There are silent auction items, raffles, drawings, live auctions and other fund raising activities.

    The grand finale of the night is a drawing for a really expensive necklace.  

    We have been going to this event for years and have never. qualified for the drawing.

    How it works is you buy tickets, you put the tickets in a jar on one of the tables, if your name gets drawn out of that jar you win the centerpiece plus a ping pong ball with the number of the table where the jar is.  Confused?  Wait.

    All the winners of the jar draws, I think there were 42, go to the front and the final winner is drawn.

    Well, well.....look at me!

    Not only did I win a ball, so did Emily!

    We were both in the running for the huge prize.

    Sad to say, I was eliminated pretty early.

    Emily made it almost to the end, but no winners in the Dickow clan.

    But it was a fun time.

    Speaking of winners, our own hedgehog made its appearance on Hedge Hog Day Feb. 3.

As you can see, the huge sun in the upper left caused the hedge hog to see his shadow and proclaim 13 days till spring training!

    I think he is right.

Peace and Love