what now?

 I already miss baseball

    I know!  The Cubs ended their season about 4 months ago, but the regular season just ended with the World Series.

    I was rooting for the Yankees.  Not necessarily because I like the Yankees, but I wanted to see Rizzo get another ring.  

    I read somewhere that there is a Cub factor in World Series games.  The team with the most former Cubs loses.  The Yankees had 5 former Cubs on their team, although I don't know if all of them were on the post season roster.  

    The Dodgers had a former White Sox player in their bullpen.  I bet he was glad he had been traded from a 120+ loss team to one that was in the World Series. And won.

    I was glad to see the kids go trick or treating on Halloween in our area.  In years past they have gone on nonHalloween dates, which seems to take away from the day.

    I pity the teachers tomorrow, though.  I can remember when we had school the next day and kids were just a little weird because of all the candy and the late night. 

    Our local elementary district had an early dismissal today and I just wonder whey they didn't have it tomorrow, when every one will be needing a day of rest.

    Speaking of rest, last night was terrible!  No caffeine in the afternoon, but I could not sleep. I was a bit dragging today.

    Hopefully tonight will be different. 

    We were supposed to get rain and we did, but it was so little it did not register in my rain gauge.  I hope we get some soon because it is really dry.  I have cracks in my lawn!

    Hope your day was spooky good.

Peace and Love

no mas

 I wish I could figure it out

    Some days I can have a coffee  and sleep like a baby

    Some days,I can't.

    Yesterday was one of those days.

    Jackie had an appointment and I got a half caf latte in DeKalb after the appointment.

    I could not sleep last night.  I heard the cuckoo at 1 and at 2.  I just could not sleep.

    I was not the only one.  Jackie could not sleep so at 4 a.m. she had me move her to her chair.

    At 7 she had me move her back to bed.

    At 11:15, Julia came into the room and poked me awake!  11:15!!!!!

    We didn't bother with breakfast.  

    Why does caffeine bother me some days and not others?  Are the servers giving me full car instead of half?  How can I tell?  Is there a caf-o-meter somewhere?

    Despite the short afternoon, I did manage to clean up my veggie gardens.  I had hoped to get more done, but that took me until 5:30 and it was getting dark.

    On the up side, I did not take a nap and am tired tonight.  I had a pop at 1 for lunch, but no other caffeine, so maybe that will help.

    Sometimes I take a little pill to help me sleep.  But often I am a zombie in the morning. I hate doing that unless it is absolutely necessary.

    So for a while I will not be having a caffeinated coffee in the afternoon.  For a while.  Hopefully I can figure out the rhyme and reason why it bothers me so.

    And I fell into the rabbit hole on Facebook again.....looking at the flooding that happened in Spain yesterday.  Valencia was hit terribly hard by floods.  Torrential rains hit he area.

    We keep witnessing those events.  Yet people don't seem to agree on why the weather has gone crazy.

    I believe our global climate is changing.  I just hope we are not too late to do something about it for future generations.

    

Peace and Love

good intentions

Really, I had good intentions for today 

    Jackie had an ultrasound scheduled for 1:15 in DeKalb, but I figured we would be home by 2:30  at the latest and I could get a few minutes working on cleaning up the garden.

    Well, I took a little longer than we thought.  Getting her from the wheelchair to the hospital slab was a project!

    It took 4 people to move her and I tell you, the staff at Kishwaukee Hospital is amazing in their kindness, patience, humor, and efficiency.  

    This was a yearly check on her for the urologist.  Nothing wrong, no problems, just a routine check.

    By the time we got home, it was a little after 3, 81 degrees, and I did not feel like doing anything.

    Realize, once we get home it takes 10-20 minutes to get her into the house and settled in her chair.  Since I had rehearsal at 6:30, and it was now past 3:30, I opted to not go outside.

    Good thing too.  Power went out a couple of times, we lost internet several times, our generator kicked on and it was all because of the wind.

    I ended up out on the porch with Beth, enjoying the warm afternoon.  I don't think we will have too many more of these in the next few weeks.

    Tomorrow will be the day to clean up the gardens, pull in some yard ornaments, and maybe put my kitchen kart  unit together that I bought 2 months ago.

    Tomorrow night, it seems to be a time of change.  Cooler, wetter, less windy.

    We'll see.

Peace and Love

I repeat

 Sometimes commercials really bother me

    I mean, really bother me.  Commercials in general bother me, but some really, really bother me.

    For example:  People with coffee cups that obviously have no coffee or anything in them.  At least put water in so it looks real.  It is not only commercials where I see that and I cringe every time.  Jackie gets tired of hearing me complain.

    The one that really got to me lately was a Tide commercial.  A woman comes into her house carrying a paper bag full of  groceries and there is a huge container of Tide at the top.

    Really?

    What kind of idiot packs a grocery bag with heavy items on the top?

    For that matter, who puts a big container of detergent in a bag?  Use the freakin handle!

    I am not up to date on modern culture.

    So when they have celebrities in ads, I have to ask, "Who's is that person?"

    Some I do know, John Legend, Patrick Mahomes, Shaq,  but there are a lot I don't know.  I think they should put the performers' names in commercials.  Like in a movie.  The part of the guy jumping over grocery bags is played by Patrick Mahomes.  The part of the spokesman in the State Farm commercials is Patrick Mahomes.  And on and on.

    Yes, I would like to try the Papa John's Shaq attack pizza, but we don't have one in town and I don't want to drive to DeKalb for a pizza.

    Don't get me started on car commercials where smug looking people drive polluting cars through pristine streams, across fragile dessert ecosystems, or up to mountain tops where they joyfully laugh as if they were better than the rest of us.

    I guess they are though.  They are in the commercial, raking in the big bucks, while I am complaining about empty coffee cups.

    But somebody's got to do it!

Peace and Love

We shall return

 We went to church today

    For many of you, attending church is no big deal.  But for us, it is.

    It takes a little over 2 hours for Jackie to get up, dressed and ready for the day.

    When our priest at St. Paul Episcopal retired, it proved difficult to find an interim priest, so they have been relying on visiting clergy.

    That is part of the reason we went from 2 services to one service, with the service being at 9:30.

    Working backwards, that means we have to leave at 8:45.  Which means Jackie has to get up at 6:45 at the latest.  And if we run a little slow, well, we will not make a 9:30 service.

    Today the Bishop came to visit and church was at 10:30 because she could not make it out from Chicago for a 9:30 service.

    We got up about 7:15, had a little breakfast, hit the. road and got to church at 10:20.

    It just felt good to be there.

    I don't talk religion a lot.  This will probably one of a very few times I even mention church in my little updates on my boring life.

    Aside from the spiritual aspect, we do have friends there.  It was great to visit and talk with those we normally have been seeing on Christmas Eve.  

   There is a search on going for a new priest, but there is also a shortage of Episcopal priests.  Hopefully we find   one sooner than later and we can go back to being church goers.

    I watched the Bears.  At one point I thought they had it lost.  Then it seemed they had it won with 5 seconds on the clock and Washington at midfield or so.  Then the Hail Mary pass landed in the arms of a Washington receiver.  Game over.  Bears lose.

    Tough, tough loss but an amazing win for Washington.

Peace and Love

Gah

 I did a fix it today

    We have a cordless vac that hangs on a charger.  The charger was coming off the wall.

    I used metal anchors that expand to anchor it into the drywall but the upper anchor gave way.

    Of course, I could not find another anchor ( first trip to the basement) at home.  Then I wondered why I didn't screw it into a 2 x 4 in the first place.

    I made a second trip downstairs and got my stud finder.  No jokes, please.  It is a simple stud finder.

    Found the stud but realized I needed a pilot hole to put the screw in.

    Went downstairs (third trip) and got my stud finder and drill bits.

    By this time I have been "at it" for a couple of hours.  First, my battery was dead in the drill and had to be recharged/. Then I discovered I did not have it plugged all the way in and it was not recharging.

    So while it was recharging I took a short nap at about 1:15.  Wok up really refreshed at 3:30!!!

    At least the battery was charged for the drill.

    I finally got it remounted, into a stud. 

    Then it hit me.

    I did not go into the stud originally because the vacuum is in an awkward place, one where people could hit it.

    With that realization came the "piss on it I am done" moment.

    If I hit it, so be it.  I will remount it again.  

    And again.

    And again.

    For the first time in I don't remember how long we went an entire weekend without ordering take out food!  We had some frozen Malnati pizza for supper and it was pretty good.

Peace and Love

This little plant is not ready to give up!

Our maple gets prettier every day

early?

 We have been trying to get up earlier

    The alarm is set for about 8:20.  It forces me to get up and at least turn it off.  If I hear the radio going.

    Today was a little out of schedule.

    Jackie had to go to the bathroom at about 7.  We were both tired.  Normally she would shower and get dressed, but decided to go back to bed.  So we did.  I turned the alarm off.

    I got up a little while later and was shocked to see it was after 11!!

    It takes Jackie a little over 2 hours to get ready....so at a little after 1, she finally sat down for lunch. 

    I had a couple of errands to run and found myself at Cypress House about 3.  I ordered an apple cider- caramel drink, and it was yummy.

    I consider myself an introvert.  I don't go out of my way to talk to people I don't know.  At parties, I usually sit off to the side unless there are a lot of people I know.  Then I can mix.

    I was sitting outside having my drink when a lady exited and said, "Have a nice afternoon."

    That led to a 10 minute conversation! I was engaged, she was engaged we were communicating.

    Why can't I do that in groups?

    And now a weird story.

    In the 1970s a guy in Batavia was renovating his house.  He found a skull in the wall.

    Police were called, but there was no identification of the skull, or any hint where it came from.

    Fast forward to 2021.  Employees at the Batavia Depot Museum were going through boxes to inventory the collection and they found the skull!  No one knows how it got there or when, or why.

    Technology is now so advanced, police took a DNA sample from the skull and eventually traced it to a relative in the west.  

    The belief is the skull belonged to a 21 year old girl from Indiana who died in 1865 following childbirth.

    The speculation is grave robbers harvested the skull and sold it to one of the early owners of the house, which was built around the time of the woman's death.

    Science and technology are truly incredible today.  I wonder what the future holds.

Peace and Love

Oh my

I am on my soapbox again tonight

    A tech tycoon in California is selling his beachfront house.

    That in itself is not a big thing.  Happens every day.

    This house has 13,000 square feet and features 10 bedrooms, outdoor pool, patio, private beach and  it looks very much like a French chateau named Versailles.

    Asking price?

    $108 million.  Million!!!

    And get this:  It isn't even his primary residence!  He uses it as a private vacation getaway!

    The palace is right on the edge of a cliff and has amazing ocean views.  I guess for a hundred mill you    would expect that.

    Our house is not worth anywhere near that amount, but here is the oddly weird thing to me.  Our house sits on a little more than an acre.  This 100 million palace with 10 bedrooms and all the outside niceties you want sits on .8 acres!  Not even an acre!

    And people wonder why I support a wealth tax.

    Imagine how many houses or homeless shelters could be built with 100 million.

    I met me today.

    I was in line behind a guy at a store, about my age, my size, wearing hearing aids.

    The clerk asked him if he had rewards with the store.  He replied he did and gave his phone number, as requested.

    That number was not in the system.

    Gave another phone number.  

    Not in the system.

    Finally, on the fourth or fifth try there was success.

    When he paid the bill, he asked the clerk if the $7 price was correct because the sign said $2.

    She assured him that the price was right because it was in the system.

    Then he hemmed and hawed about buying the 2 items.

    Finally he said he would buy them, but was going to go back to the display and see the price.

    A couple of minutes later he came back and said she was right, he read the wrong sign.

    I can't tell you how many times that same scenario has played out with me as that customer. 

    It's thundering and lightning.   We have a 100 % chance of rain tonight.

    We shall see.

    Meanwhile, I may put a bid in on the place in California.  I would not mind having a vacation house.

Peace and Love

road trip

 We took a short road trip today

    We went to Morton Arboretum to look at the fall colors.   We were not disappointed.

    My favorite parts were the oak and beech areas on the east side.  The colors were amazing.  In fact, no matter where you looked you saw beauty,

    There are 5 sculptures in the park, but we only got to 3 of them.

    To be honest, my legs were killing me on the short walks to the 3!  Don't think I could have handled much walking after that.

    Jackie stayed in the car, which is one downside to having MS.  One?  Hell, there are dozens. But not walking is a big one.

    The sun was shining, the air crisp, the colors sharp......and I did not see any political signs while in the arboretum.

    I did have one problem.  Had some trash to get rid of and could not figure out how to open the garbage can.  A lady stopped, she couldn't figure it out, and a man stopped and said the latch was inside the handle.  He opened it for me in a snap.

    I felt a little foolish.

    Besides that, it was a good day.

    We stopped at a place called The Dump.  It's a discount furniture store near the arboretum.  I was so turned around direction-wise, Thought north was west and east was south.....lucky Jackie was along because I was just goofy.

    That's it.

Peace and Love

hear no evil

 I don't always accept reality

    Had a nice session with the audiologist today.

    We covered a lot of issues concerning my loss of hearing.  Nothing was said that has not been said before.  There is a very, very, very, small chance of my hearing returning.  Based on the odds, I could win several lotteries before that happened.

    She added a program to my hearing aids which may help when listening to music.  Frequently I only hear parts of the music.  Beatles tunes start without lyrics, even though I know the words are there.  I go back in 6 months for a recheck of everything.

    I got there at 1:15 for my appointment and the young girl behind the counter said I would be called when my appointment time came.

    I was confused, because I thought 1:15 was my appointment.

    At 1:30 I went back and asked when my appointment was and she said 1:30.  She added that they like people to be 15 minutes early, so that's probably why I thought 1:15.

    I told her dates and times sometimes get mixed up in my head and her reply was, "Yes, we know."  I did not know if I should be offended or happy that she remembered my missed times.

    I got the cart emptied of compost today.  It took 10 minutes!  I put this off for 4 days and it only took 10 minutes.

    Why today?  It started to rain!  Rain!!  Rain!!!  We have not had rain for almost 3 weeks.

    I did not want the compost to get soaked in the cart, so I quickly moved it to a raised bed.

    The rain lasted a good 30 to 40 seconds.  There was not enough to show in the rain gauge.

    But at least the cart is empty.

Peace and Love

After

Before

smile

 I have my smile back

    And I am not drooling any more.  Well, not that anyone would notice.

    I have screwed up priorities.

    Every day I get my breakfast, get Jackie breakfast, go into the den and read the Trib on line.

    Matt made coffee today.  (In case you missed it, Matt is a friend of Julia's from Switzerland.  He is spending a few days with us.  I am really happy to see him again.)

    There was extra, so I poured a cup  and went and sat on the patio.  It was gorgeous!  Why haven't I been doing that?  Just sitting, watching the birds, sipping coffee....it was nice.

    This afternoon Julia was out on the front porch.  I went out there to talk to her and same thing!  It was beautiful out there!  Why have I been sitting inside instead of sitting on the porch and reading?

    Then the little black no see-ums started biting me and I remembered why.

    And no, the garden cart did not get touched today.  Maybe tomorrow.

    I watered my ginkgo.  As I turned the water on, I got caught up in the hose and went down hard.  I landed in the grass, but my back and one arm hurt.  Guess I am lucky I did not break anything.

    Matt grilled supper tonight.

    It was a veritable feast!  We had steak and pork chops, salad, corn on the cob, tomato and mozzarella and a few glasses of wine.

    He loves to grill.  The first thing he did was spend a few minutes cleaning off my grill.  I told him I clean it once in a while, but he said to clean it after every grilling.

    He also told me I can't just put meat on the grill and walk away.  That is my grilling style!  He suggested I watch it carefully to avoid burning the meat, which is also my grilling style.

    All in all it was a nice day.

    But I still have not touched the garden cart.

    Maybe tomorrow.  Or maybe not.

Peace and Love

Ready to eat

The grill master at work

The view from my porch

leaf me alone

 I think I am missing fall

    I told Jackie about 2 weeks ago that we should go to Morton Arboretum to look at fall colors.

    But it seems fall colors are here already and I am afraid we are missing them.

    We moved into our Skare Court house in 1992.  One of the first things we did was plant trees, a lot of trees.

    We planted white pines along Fowler Road, and a bunch of other trees in the back yard.

    In front, we had 2 sugar maples planted.  They were not very big .  We lived in that house for 20 years, and it is my favorite house of all the ones we have inhabited.

    One of the reasons it's my favorite is the sugar maples.

    Here they are as of today.

     Just look at the color!

    The trees are now in the ground there for over 20 years.  The color of the leaves is brilliant.

    I miss that.

    We had 2 sugar maples planted at this house, but one of them had a disease and died in year 3.  We were told not to plant another in the same area because of the disease.

    The one sugar maple we have left has not produced the colors of the older trees yet, I think it is just a matter of time.

    Maybe this week we can take a drive and see some color, but I fear we may be too late.

    I did very little today.  Just did not feel like doing anything.  So I did little.

    There is always tomorrow.

Peace and Love

trouble ahead

I have had better days

     I used to have tooth there.  This morning I bit into something and I didn't have tooth there.

    It does not look nice, so why am I showing a picture?

    Geez....TMI again.

    I don't have pain, but teeth sort of act like a dam to keep saliva in your mouth.  I have been drooling most of the day.

    And I am afraid to eat anything hard. So I had plain spaghetti for supper.  Well, not plain, butter and cheese on it, but no sauce.

    Switzerland Matt got here last night, and we made a stop at Headon's today for some meat.  Matt loves to barbecue, so he is taking care of dinner tomorrow night.  

    I might have to puree my food.  (I almost said meat, but realized some perverts out there would take that the wrong way.)

    I am afraid to bite with the front choppers because I don't want to break it.  Although looking at the picture, that does not seem a likely happening.

    I do have an appointment Monday with the dentist.  Hope it can be fixed and doesn't hurt.

    I finally got my compost bin half emptied!  I worked on it for half an hour, but my back was beginning to bark, so I will attack it again tomorrow.  Next I will spread the harvested compost in one of my raised beds.

    I keep seeing an ad on FB for an in home composter that turns all food waste into tiny bits that you can spread in your garden or yard.  It looks really neat, but it is almost $900!!  My bin in the back does the same thing, it just takes a little longer.

    I had Beth out tonight and caught the moon!

    Seriously!!

    It's not really that big after all!!

Peace and Love

busy, busy, busy

 I had a full day today

    At least as full a day as this 76 year old can handle.

    Julia's car and our car had the low tire pressure warnings on.  This happens whenever the weather turns cool.

    So I filled up the tires today.

    Our pantry was a disaster.  I made it a less of a disaster by rearranging and sorting things.  We have a lot of food in there.....I need to pay closer attention to my shopping lists in the future.

    Julia and I gave Beth a bath.  That is not as easy as it sounds, because pup dog does not like a bath.  She was shivering like crazy as I hosed her down in the shower.

    My main goal over the next three days is to get compost out of my composter bin in the back of the yard.  That is not easy for me  and it is time consuming.

    I shovel out the bottom, but it on a wire mesh screen stretched over my yard cart, and sift the compost to remove rocks, twigs, body parts....the usual items.

    Then I have to unload it into one of my raised bed gardens.  

    I also have a small pile of yard debris I should burn, but it is so dry I am a little concerned about doing that.  

    After I deal with the compost I can start moving outdoor items in....like unused hoses, yard ornaments, the bird bath.  I use the yard cart to store most of the outdoor stuff, so it's like a domino effect.....one thing has to be done for the next to be done.

    I don't want to do that when it is freezing cold outside.   That is usually when I do it, but I want to get ahead of the game this year.

    Now, heating pad on my back for a while, I am ready to sleep.

Peace and Love

One of those streaks may be a comet...or not.

Soybeans are almost all done

loverly

 Today was a beautiful day

    Ok, it was a little dry outside, but the temperatures were great!

    I even did a little fall arranging on the porch.

    I stopped at Starbucks for a coffee today.  Normally I go to Cypress House, but I thought I would change up my life a little.

    Ran into a friend, who was with a friend, and the next thing I knew we had spent an hour sitting there and yakking.

    It was a fun time.  I am glad we had a chance to chat.

    Rehearsal tonight was a bit weird.

    I sit on a stool for part of the play.  Have been doing that for several nights.

    Tonight I sat on the stool and it sounds like someone farted!  People looked at me, and I looked at people, but I seemed to be the prime suspect.

    I got up, sat down again, and again the fart noise came!  Every time I sat down hard, the chair farted.  And of course, I had to sit down hard every time to make the chair fart.

    Hopefully a little tape will cure the farts for the chair.

    Get jealous every time I see photos of the Northern Lights or the comet.  Today friend Kim had both and I have not even seen the comet!  I have looked for 3 nights but nothing.  I must be looking in the wrong spot, at the wrong time, or  both.

    But I did see the harvest moon, which was a super moon of incredible color.

    I pulled over to take some pictures, which made me a couple of minutes late for rehearsal, but honestly, I could have just sat there and watched the moon, it was that lovely.

    And no, my pictures don't do it justice.

    Tomorrow a friend of Julia's is coming from Switzerland.  Matt will be at our house for a few days and I am looking forward to having him visit.

    That's it!

Peace and Love

fall fell

 Boy was it cold out there last night

        I do believe it got down into the lower  or mid 20s.  And it is not even Halloween!

    Friend John said there was some snow on the ground in Chicago yesterday.   Not a lot, but enough to show white on the grass.

    I picked my 4 last tomatoes today.   I also watered my new trees and disconnected the hoses so they don't freeze and cause a problem.

    But my big experience of the day was buying pumpkins.

    Now, normally I go into Flagg Center and buy them.  But this year I heard of a place out in the country but near our house, so I went there.

    I bought 3 pumpkins for $10.  Total!!  I bought a huge one for $5, a medium for $3 and a small for $2, and the small was about the size of a basketball!  I felt like I was stealing them, the prices were so reasonable.

    I have  thought about planting pumpkins on the lot next door, but I don't know what I would do with them.  Besides, these were a lot less expensive than all the time I would have put in on my own.

    Reflecting on my garden this year, it is clear I made major mistakes.

    No corn attempt next year and better watering methods. Those were the main lessons.  

    I am saving this for last, thinking Jackie does not always read the whole blog.

    I got gas.  Filled it up.  There was a car in front of me and the driver was talking on the phone.  So I went around them on the right to get out of the gas station.

    I did not know there was a curb.  Kind of like those concrete parking barriers, but it was a curb.  It looked like a n, with grass and pavement on the bottom of the sides.

    I bounced over the curb and stopped.  My front wheel was over the curb.  I could either continue forward and bounce the back wheel over the curb or back up.

    I chose to back up.

    It is not easy backing over a curb.

    I did check for damage and did not see any, but there was one hell of a thump!

    It was just a stupid place for a curb, in my humble opinion.

    But next time I will be a little more vigilant.

Peace and Love

My gingko has lost most of its leaves over the past  2 days!

lucky?

 Sometimes I run into really nice people

    Jackie had a medical appointment in Rockford today.

    There was valet parking, but I opted just to drop her off and then go park.

    The valet attendant came out, held the car door open in the 90 mph winds, and then wheeled her into the medical center while I went to park.

    The funny thing was, when we were leaving, he came out to help again.  I put the wheelchair behind the car and was getting Jackie in when I noticed the wheelchair being taken into the building by some lady.  Almost as soon as it went in, the attendant came out with it and said the employee thought it belonged to the medical center.

    We stopped at Kohl's and while I was getting her out, a lady came up and asked if we needed help.

    It's those kinds of little things that make life a little brighter and maybe make me a little more optimistic about our world.

    Of course at Kohl's, and I imagine other retailers, Christmas displays are up.  It's not even Halloween!  I could shop all 3 holidays in 1 stop!

     I stopped to buy birdseed and the topic of weather came up.  The lady in charge said they had not had rain for 20 days.....and I believe her.  It is so dry out there.

    I understand there was a fire call for a corn field fire east of town and as the fire trucks arrived, they got sent to a second field fire!  

    We could use rain.

    That is what makes all these kooks who think the government is manipulating the weather  look like kooks!  If the government could manipulate the weather, there would be no droughts in blue states.

    But people think someone is controlling the weather.  And stealing the election.  And all sorts of other crazy things.

    PT Barnum was right...there is a sucker born every minute.

Peace and Love

huh

 It is cold out there tonight

    We have a freeze warning!  I still have tomatoes on the vine..... so hopefully it will not get terribly cold.

    The heat did kick on this morning... it was 67 in the house.  It is much more comfortable tonight.

    I had to buy a new pill container.  Actually, I had to buy 2. 

    No it is not because of the 348 medications I take every day.  Well, it could be.  I broke a part of my current container, so I needed a new one.

    Went to Wallyworld last Friday found one I liked, checked out with a real person, and went home.

    Today I went to wash it and I could not find it.  Anywhere.

    I know I bought it because it says so on the receipt.

    And I am pretty sure I took it out of the bag.  But where it went from there, well, that's anybody's guess.

    I did go back to the store and asked if by chance it was put in a separate bag.  They seem to keep a list of all items bought and not taken by customers.  They have a book listing the items and the price.  My pill container was not on it.

    It was only $3, so I am not that upset about the cost.  I am just upset I can't find it.

    Today was Native American Day, Indigenous Peoples Day, and Columbus Day.  But in South America, I  believe in Peru, they call it Day of the Meeting of Two Worlds.  I kind of like that the most, although  it is hard to say and won't fit on most sale banners.

    The last one really sums up the event.  Europeans with their culture come here to connect with the Native American cultures, bringing 2 worlds together.

    When I was a kid we were taught that Columbus discovered America.  It never dawned on us that he landed at a place where people already existed, therefor he really did not discover anything.  But I. think we have to give him some credit for sailing across an ocean he knew nothing about. And we have to give him credit, or blame, for introducing smallpox and other diseases to the New World.

    And really,  if it wasn't Columbus it would have been someone else.

    What the Native Americans needed was a strong immigration policy.

Peace and Love

to heat, or not to heat

I hate turning on the heat this early in the fall 

    I don't think furnaces should go on until there is 4 feet of snow and a howling wind.

    But today, I gave in to peer pressure.

    We have a Nest thermostat.  We run the fan constantly because we were told by an HVAC person once that running the fan all the time smoothes out the temperature in the house.  

    But we can't run the fan unless we are in a mode.  Mode, not mood.  

    Anyway, I have been running the AC until today.  I put it in the heart/cool mode which means the heat goes on at 68 and the AC goes on at 75.  

    I like it cold at night and cool during the day.  But I am not the only one in the house and it seemed that since the temps are going to be lower, I should turn off the AC.

    Darn voice recognition.

    A friend is on vacation and I texted them the other day and wanted to say, "And you're in....."  It came out Adrienne. Of course, I did not check it before I hit send, so my message was a little loopy.

    And then there was today.

    Emily was somewhere  buying cupcakes.

    Emily texted "Want any cupcakes?"

    I replied using voice recognition, "Just six." 

    But I guess I did not speak clearly because it said, "Just sex."

    Julia replied, "Oh lord."

    Emily texted, "Pretty sure that is not on the menu."

    I typed it out the next time.  While bad, it was not as bad as Jackie's text to her brother during the Cubs season.

    By the way, my cupcake was delicious!

Peace and Love

    

changes

 I think fall started today

    When I went to the store at about 3:30, it was 67 degrees.  Now it is 57. And breezy.

    This was a "what happened" day.  We were up by 8:30, but it's now after 9 p.m. and I don't think I did anything today.

    Yes, I did 2 loads of laundry and emptied the dishwasher.  We made and froze 2 apple pies.  Jackie nd I talked to Bob and Anita for a while.  I went to the store.

    That was it.

    No nap.  No feeding the birds.  No projects done.

    Yet, it is almost bed time.

    Not sure what happened to the day.

    We did order Chinese for tonight.  (Yes, we spend too much on take out.)

    She told me it was $21.25 for our order.  This was over the phone.  I thought that was strange, so I started adding things up from their menu and it was more than that.

    When I went in to pick it up, I asked how much and they said $21.25.  I said that was wrong and gave them the orders and the prices from their menu.  The lady was checking it, thinking I said that was too much.  Her son was there and finally said, "41.25."

    I said that made more sense and we all had a good laugh about it.  I think.  Maybe they were just laughing at me.

    I think we have enough for 3 meals, so that makes the cost a little more reasonable.

    Hopefully tomorrow will not be a day that goes past so quickly with nothing done.  Not that I have anything to be done except feed the birds and assemble a cabinet that has been in the box in the garage for 5 weeks now.  

    Time to get it done.,

Peace and Love

why did I?

Sometimes my judgement is clouded 

    My Northern Lights photos from last night, for example.  Looked like 4 black pictures.

    They may not be visible in my area tonight, but there will be another chance.  I hope.

    I spent way too long watching videos of Milton's effect on Florida.

    There was humor, such as the port a potty blowing down the street...upright.  I kept wondering if someone was in it.

    There was fright.  The tornadoes were incredible in their size and shape.  Watching them gave me goosebumps.

    There was surprise, as one homeowner found a large alligator in his house, calmly lolling in the flood waters.

    There was sadness as people surveyed the wreckage that was once their home, or business.

    There was heroism as rescuers got people out of flooding cars or out of flooding houses.

    That was not the only thing I did all day, but it was a rabbit hole for sure.

    We went out to see Julia's house.  Progress is good!  Septic field went in and dirt is being moved around the area.

    Jackie went with and when we got home, Jackie and I went for a drive to look at the hay bales around town.  When we were done I texted Julia and she ordered from Teca.  I went to pick it up and found I did not have my wallet, again!  I had to drive home and get it.  I should have had Julia drive in, it would have saved us 10 minutes.

    But all was well that ended well.

    I ate too much... but the burrito was yummy!

    Again, cloudy judgement.

Peace and Love

busy, busy

I had quite the busy day today 

    We had a home health assessment through our insurance carrier.

    All was fine, except........ The nice lady said there was a directive for her to put a heart monitor on me for the next 14 days.

    So I am wearing a monitor.  

    If I feel any strange sensations, like rapid hear beat, shortness of breath, dizziness, I am supposed to press a button on the monitor.  That will tell the readers when I felt a problem and they can compare that with the readings.

    After 2 weeks I put it in a box and mail it.  A cardiologist will review it and send results to my primary care physician.

    By the way, we used to call that person our family doctor.  Now they are a PCP.

    After that person left, the Home Instead people came for a visit and to assess our needs.

    We are going to have someone come in 2 mornings a week to get Jackie up and ready for the day.  This is long overdue.  

    Eventually we will go to more days per week, but right now we are starting at 2.  The person will be here from 8 a.m. to noon and one day a month will be here from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. so I can have a day for myself.

    This is not easy for us.  A stranger will be coming in and taking care of my wife.  That's what I am supposed to do, but I am finding it harder and harder.  And with Julia eventually moving, I won't have a readily available helper when I need it.

    The Home Instead people brought a sit and stand unit that lifts patients up into a standing position.  I volunteered to be the guinea pig so Jackie could see how it worked.  Then Jackie tried it, but it hurt her back to stand.

    Plus the unit is pretty big.  I am not sure how much of a help it would be.

    I let Emily's dogs out at 5:15, went to Walmart for a prescription, and at 6 I had a museum board meeting.

    I got home a little after 7 and people were posting pictures of the Northern Lights.  So Julia and I took a little drive out into the country, but did not see the lights.

    We got home and Emily posted a picture she took from her driveway, so we hopped back into the car and headed back out into the country.

    It is clear I have no idea how to take a picture of the Northern Lights.  

    We could see them, or at least hints of them, but they were not as spectacular as people's pictures.

    And that's that!

Peace and Love

    These are my attempts

olio night

 Just a few random thoughts 

    People should not feed wildlife, unless they are birds.  The wildlife, not the people.

    There was a Yahoo story about a woman who fed a raccoon in her back yard.  She had to call 911 because there were about 100 of the little creatures hanging around her door.  She was afraid to go out.

    Once upon a time, friends John and Kathy and Jackie and I went out for pizza.  We went to a place near Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

    I had seen a story somewhere about the raccoons in the cemetery.  So Kathy brought a couple of slices of bread that we planned to toss over the fence and watch some raccoons.

    Well, the plan morphed into something bigger and we cleared out a 7 11 of bread and headed back to the cemetery.  

    Standing near the fence and the sign that clearly said "Do not feed the raccoons," we made little dough balls and tossed them over the fence.

    A raccoon came.  Then another.  And another.  Pretty soon the ground was swarming with them!  You could not even see the grass, just a moving brown carpet of snarling, chirping beasts.

    John held out a ball in his hand and a paw came through the fence and grabbed it.

    Jackie got back in the car.  I said not to worry, the fence would protect us.

    Then one of us looked and here comes an army of raccoons down the sidewalk.  We tossed the bread and fled.

    It was like a scene out of a horror movie.

    Funny, but a little scary.

    Rochelle schools are having an all school fund raiser.  Kids are selling Fannie May candy.

    I was talking to a friend today and she said her neighbor 's girl came to her door to sell candy.  Friend said, "I have a child in the same school you go to.  I already bought candy."

    The sales girl said that people can always buy one more box.

    So friend relented and was filling out the order form.

    The sales girl commented,":It seems most older people buy the Mint Melt-Aways."

    Friend is in her mid to early 40s.  She bought the mints.  Is she now considered old by the salesgirl?

    By the way, I bought the mints.  But I am old.

    Who is Sabrina Carpenter and why are her concert tickets going for $500 and up to a couple of thousand?  I am not of this culture.

    Praying for Florida tonight.  Hang on tight down there.

Peace and Love

dem people nuts

I am beginning to hate driving a car 

I would feel much safer in some other type of vehicle, or some other type of culture.

I was on my way to DeKalb today.  Had a dentist follow up.

    There is construction on Ill. 38.  There are 2 lanes each direction just east of I 39, but the two lanes merge into one when heading east.

    Some of the construction was right where it merged to one lane, so the road was only one lane, with crews directing traffic.

    Well.....I don't know if you have heard of the zipper approach to road construction.

    Some traffic experts say it is safer and more efficient to fill both lanes when one lane is closed ahead.  At the one lane section, cars would alternate to move ahead, like a zipper.  That's the best way I can explain it.  Google it.

    I was waiting in the right lane.  The left lane was open.  A car started coming up the left lane and. the person behind me pulled half way out to block them.  When the car tried to get around the blocking car, that car moved another 2 feet and the driver got out and yelled at the other driver.

    I was waiting for the gunfire to start, or the fists to fly, but luckily nothing happened.

    This is where the culture clash enters.

    If you are a driver educated about using the zipper, the move was perfectly logical.  But if you are a driver not exposed to the zipper, it appears to be someone trying to get ahead.

    On my way home I was rolling through Malta when I noticed a semi passing another car in Malta!  Now, Malta has a reputation of being strict enforcers of a 40 mph speed limit and this semi was doing a lot more than 40.

    I know, because it caught up to me at the stoplight and I was doing 55 at that point.  The light was clearly red, I was stopping and that semi just got bigger and bigger in my mirror.  I braced, but luckily was not hit.

    The light changed and I hit the gas, wanting to make a good distance between the semi and me.  

    I did a little over 60 but it caught up to me just outside Creston.

    Again, there was construction, so I took Woodlawn Road and used backroads to get home.  I had fears of the truck plowing into a line of stopped cars, starting with me.

    And in DeKalb, some guy got on my tail on Heuber Road and stayed there.  I could not see the grill, they were that close.  Once the road turned into 2 lanes, he switched lanes and tailgated that person.

    And at 6:30, if you are riding a bike on the road maybe you should wear light colored clothing and have lights on your bike.  You scared the bejeebees out of me.

    Maybe I am just cranky today.  But man, the traffic just seemed pretty weird all over.

    Hope all the folks in Florida are safe and secure tonight.  Hold on!

Peace and Love

crazy? me?

I thought I was losing my mind yesterday 

    I know!  How can anyone tell?

    I was watching the Bears.  Sitting on the couch, hearing aids in, sound pretty good in my right ear.

    Bears are playing well.

    It was almost halftime and I said to Jackie, "Doesn't that music bother you?"

    I was talking about the music with the heavy thump, thump ,thump that I had been hearing since the beginning of the game.

    I had never heard music playing at Soldier Field except between quarters, during time outs, when ever there was a stoppage of play.  And that has not been often because of commercials.

    This was a constant beat.  It played when the teams played, which I thought was very odd.

    At half time the music was playing while the talking heads were on, but I figured they are at Soldier Field and the sound must really be pumped up.

    So I posted the question on Facebook and went back to my seat.

    It must have been at that point a commercial came on and the music was still playing.

    I got up, went back to the computer, and noticed my Siri in the den was lit up like it was playing.....music.

    Somehow, and believe me, I have no idea how, Siri connected to my hearing aids and was playing music that only I could hear!

    I was not crazy after all.

    I told Siri to turn off the music and it did.  I enjoyed the rest of the game in quiet.

    I just don't get electronics.

    But I get the music.

Peace and Love

WTH

Why can't I sleep at night? 

    Ok, maybe I had a glass of Coke about 5, but holy cow!  I went to bed at 11:15 and I was really tired.

    I read somewhere that you should not lay in bed longer than 20 minutes waiting for sleep.  So when the cuckoo hit 12, I got up, wandered the house,  and took a Benadryl.  Next, I sat down to read for a while.

    I think I went to bed about 1:30, although I do remember the cuckoo chiming 2 before I fell asleep.

    The morning came quickly and the Benadryl was still making me want to sleep, so the day started in slow motion.

    I missed going to DeKalb to see out of state e friends who were at church today.  If I could have, I would have, but Jackie had an MS day and I had the slows.

       Jackie talked with her brother.  Bb and Anita should be arriving back home sometime Monday, just in time for the next hurricane.  I hope they stay safe and dry.  They are near Ft. Myers and it looks like that might be in the path of this storm.  I hope not.

     Aside from watching a full Bears game and reading the Sunday Trib, I really did nothing.

    I glanced at the review of the new Lamborghini that had a $600,000 price tag and again wondered why they even run reviews of cars this expensive.  Giving it credit, it was a hybrid.

    I have some pictures from the past week or so.....

    That's about it.

Peace and Love

Any idea what this is?  I think it is an orange peeler, but I am nt sure

There is a sharp point....

Our new Gingko tree

I can see how wires get crossed.