gone

 I actually got rid of things today

    Ogle County Solid Waste has an electronics recycling day the last Friday of each month.

    So I loaded the dead microwave and a bunch of other stuff into the car and hightailed it to Oregon.  Yes, you do need a permit and I actually requested one 2 weeks ago.  I was prepared, something not usual in my life.

    So they took the microwave, some extension cords, a walkie talkie set, and 2 radios.

    Now, none of the items were in working condition.  Some have been hanging around for years because I refuse to throw things out that can be recycled.

    But, and there is always a big butt, they did not take the toaster, hair drier, bread maker, or fan.  I guess these are not considered electronics.

    Well......Julia is building a house.  In front of her house there is a big dumpster for construction materials.

    Everything except the bread maker went into that dumpster.  I put the bread maker in our trash can.  I did that before Julia suggested using her gigantic dumpster.  Since she was heading out that way, we put it all in her ca and she dumped it.

    I really hated to toss the bread maker.  We had 2, and both are now gone.

    One of them was Julia's from before she went to Switzerland.  One of them was ours.

    I used one of them and it got really hot, and smelled, so I felt it was unsafe.  Trouble is, I don't remember which one it was.  So both are gone.

    Julia was in Switzerland for over 20 years, so those bread makers were not new   And we have not made bread since the unit went hot some 10 years ago.

    This is a break through for me. I tossed something away!!

    And yes, I do feel guilty.

    Nephew Jason, Niece Cindy, and SIL Ruth joined us tonight for supper.  We sat around the dining room table  talking and laughing and eating.  I wondered why we always end up sitting around the dining room table with its hard seats that hurt my. butt.

    It was a nice night and I really enjoyed all the food and laughs.

    That's my life.

Peace and Love

1 + 1 = 3

I have spotted shirts and Beth does happiness pees 

    Not that you care about either of those topics.  But I do.

    When I cam back fro Key West, Beth did little happy pee on the floor.  Julia got the urine odor eradicator and cleaned up t he small spot while I lugged in the suitcase.

    Beth has done that a couple of times when she gets excited.  Luckily, she does not have accidents in the house,  Funny to call it an accident.  Like the dog is thinking, "Oops...didn't mean to shit there."   But we call them accidents.

    My shirts seem to be a magnet for every greasy food on the planet.

    If I eat anything, parts  seem to plop on my chest and frequently my belly.  While my shirts get dirty, my pants stay clean.

    I am in charge of laundry.  In. the pre MS days, Jackie seemed to work on a schedule:.  We do these on Monday, these on Tuesday....you get the idea.

    I operate on the "oops, last pair of underwear" principle.  (Digression. I used principal and my computer underlined it to indicate the spelling was incorrect.   Or maybe that was my imagination.)

    When I washed my clothes yesterday, 6 of my shirts came out with spots.  6.  I don't think I ate six meals since I last did laundry.

    So I hauled them back to the washer and sprayed Oxi Clean Max Force on each spot on 5 of the shirts.  When I picked up the shirt number 6, I discovered  I was spraying them with the urine eradicator solution.

    They may not come out clean, but they shouldn't smell.

    Lesson learned:  Read the labels!!

    A big shout out to friend Carrie who replaced  the blind in our bedroom window.  It was nice because as easy as it looked, I would have screwed it up.

Peace and Love

making money

 I made some money today

    But like any good company, I had to spend more than the money I earned.  

    I am still declaring a dividend.

    I decided to return my coat.  Rather than mail it back, I opted to take it to a store in Naperville.

    I know, that's a long way to drive just to avoid paying $9 in postage to return a coat.  But, and here's the big butt, I still want a coat.  I figured I could return it and find another.

    When I gave the clerk the order she rang it up on the computer and.....surprise!  The computer said to give me more than I paid for the coat!!

    I told her I just wanted what I paid, and she said she can't do that.....whatever the computer authorizes is what I get.

    Bottom line:  I made $3.48!  Cha Ching!!!!

    Alas, I could only find one coat I liked.  But when I put on the XL coat, the sleeves were almost skin tight on my arms!  I saw several others that looked good, but they all had hoods that would not come off.  This whole process started when I decided I did not want a hood.  (Note to self:  Get over it!!!)

    When I told the clerk I wanted to return it she asked if there was a problem.  I said no, and she said."It's just more coat than you wanted, ish't it?"  And it was.  I already have a down filled parka that is good when it is 30 below.  What I want is a coat good in the 20s, like my current coat.

    Then she gave me a nugget of wisdom:  She always tells people to buy coats in the store, not on line. Now I understand why.

    I looked at 4 stores today and no coat  jumped at me.  Maybe I'm just too particular.  (I hear you saying, 'You think?')

    Friend Todd sent me a present!  I have a set of .9 pencils with some extra led and erasers.   I won't use the erasers though, because I never make mistakes.  Thank you, Todd!

    And Camryn stopped by and gave Jackie and me Northern Grandparent t shirts!  They are really neat looking.

    And with the weather the way it is, we can wear them pretty soon.  

    Unless it snows.

Peace and Love

damn 3.14

 Numbers , unlike people, just don't lie

    If you have 20 of something, you can count them.  When you are done counting you either have 20 or you don't.

    So here is a math problem for you to not solve.

    192 + 7 or 8 = 197

    No it's not new math.

    It's Terry math.

    Before going to Key West I was doing a Wednesday weigh in.  I was at about 192 or 3 for several months.  I started at 204, so the 192 was a nice loss.

    I had to wear suspenders because my pants were loose and falling down.

    Then came Key West.  And key lime pie.

    I weighed  in today and I was 197.  I am blaming it on the pie.

    Yes, I have been eating more fries than normal.  Yes, I have been drinking more pop than normal.  And yes, I have been snacking more than normal.

    No, I am not happy about the 197.  And no, I don't need suspenders, but I am going to keep wearing them as a reminder.

    It's all my fault.  I just can't control my eating.  Like tonight I am having a red velvet cupcake when I am done with this.  Should I ?  No, but I am going to anyway.

    Hopefully I can increase my activity level by walking more.  I did Monday.  I walked enough to work off the vanilla latte I had afterwards.  So the walking was a 0.  But I liked the coffee.

    And the key lime pie was awfully delicious.

    But it is clear to me I have to change my ways, again.

    And updating everyone on my  ongoing mental waffling:

        Coat is being returned tomorrow

        Pencils with #9 lead ordered on prime

    And that's all I know.

Peace and Love

    

toss em?

 I already know the answer, but I can't

    When I taught, I used mechanical pencils for entering grades in my grade book.  Grades and grade book are 2 words some new teachers might not even know.

    Anyway, the mechanical pencils were better than the standard #2 Ticonderoga because you never had to sharpen them.  If you ran out of lead, refill the lead.

    After teaching I continued to use these when I did crossword puzzles. 

    Here' my problem. I have 4 containers of .9 mechanical pencil refills.  I have3 containers of .5 refills.  

    All my pencils take .7 lead.

    I have looked in stores for .9 pencils, but have not found any.  

    A normal person would shrug their shoulders and say,  "Oh well."  And then they would toss the .9 and .5 leads.

    Not me.  I am determined to find a .9 mechanical pencil in a store in this lifetime!

     I will leave no store unturned until I find the elusive .9.  It is now my life's goal.  But I will not do a Google search because, well, shipping might be outrageous for a cheap mechanical pencil.

    Sad, right?

    Something else that is sad.  I was upset when cucumbers went from 62 cents to 72 cents.  Today I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to pay 97 cents for a cucumber!!  97!!

    We ordered some veggie seeds tonight.  I hope I have better luck than I did last year. Sticking to basics for the seeds;  carrots, cucumbers, peas, 2 kinds of beans.  Peas are always a problem.  I wait to long to plant them.  So maybe I will go out next week and put the seeds in the ground.

    Just kidding.

    Although pitchers and catchers  do report Feb. 9 for the Cubs.  That is less than 2 weeks away!  I can already feel the excitement of training camp and the optimism a new season brings.  Granted, that doesn't last very long, but it's a good feeling for the first week or two.

    This year they open in Japan, where they will lose  2  to the Dodgers.

    Reality always trumps optimism.

Peace and Love

ripped it, again

 I did not eat breakfast today

    When you get up at 11, it makes more sense to just have lunch.

    Not sure what happened, but we spent a long time in bed.  

    And then I pretty much watched football.

    I did hang 2 pictures, far below the number I have to hang.  But there is always tomorrow.

    Last October I was in a play.  One of the people who came to the play enjoyed it and made cookies for the cast.

    I grabbed the Earl cookie, because I was Earl. 

    Every day I look at the cookie and think, "I should eat that."

    Well, yesterday I did.

    It was very good.

    A little hard, but good.  Actually a lot hard, but good.

    And a final qtopic  I am not a cat person.  But at Hemingway's house in Florida they have cats.  59 cats.  Some have 6 toes.

    I will be damned if I can tell how many toes a cat has!

    Emily keeps telling me how to id a 6 toed cat, but my inability to notice details has prevented me from telling which cat is, or is not, 6 toed.

    Maybe you can help.

Peace and Love

I was sad to eat my 3 month old cookie.

How many toes??

How many toes?

fini!!!

 I actually accomplished something today

    Months ago I bought a storage cart for the kitchen.

    We seem to have a lot of "things" that don't have a place to go, and I thought a cart would make it easier to find those "things" a home.

    So I bought a cart. 

    It has been sitting in a box in the garage since....maybe July?

    My only excuse for not assembling it before was, well, I don't know.  Every time I looked at the box I told myself, "I'm going to put it together today...tomorrow at the latest."  Then I would walk right past the box.

    I figured it came all the way from China, so waiting was not a big deal in the life of the cart.

    It only took me 2 hours to put together.

    It would have been shorter if I had paid closer attention to the pictures and noticed part C had an extra hole on the bottom side.  I discovered that after I attempted to mount the door and could not find the hole in part C because I had it upside down.

    And it might have been even shorter if the middle shelf was not installed upside down.  I had to basically. take apart one side of the cart.  That isn't easy with the Ikea type construction.

    And sitting on the floor with any legs crossed made it almost impossible to stand after about 25 minutes.  Unfortunately 25 minutes was also the time limit for sitting on the floor with my legs crossed, which made getting up quite the challenge.

    Julia was gone, Jackie was not in a position to help, but Beth tried by licking my face at every opportunity.

Any way, it is done.  Completed.  Fini!

    And yes, I do have some extra pieces but I could not find anywhere on the directions where they would be used.

    I guess if it falls apart in the middle of the night the mystery will  be revealed.

    To. top off the evening, Emily and I went to see Philip Johnson, AKA MoonIe, as he performed a stand up routine in Rochelle.  He was funny, as usual, and we had a great time visiting with him after the show.  There were about 20 of  us who bought back stage passes to meet and greet with him.

    So on the whole, a pretty darn good day.

    Now, about the pictures I have to hang.......

Peace and Love

dab it!

I tink I hab a hed code 

    My noss id running.  

    Wade a minit.  I don have to ride  like I sound.

    Well, that will make it easier to communicate!

    I don't have a fever, just sniffles and cough.  And I am tired.

    But me being tired is like saying popes are Catholic.  Every day I say that.  I'm tired, not popes are Catholic.  

    Last night I took a Mucinex, HBP Coriciden for cough and cold, some Delsym, and a couple of cups of lemon tea with some honey added in.  And I know most of that sentence was spelled incorrectly, but I don't really care.

    We did change out our Christmas dishes for our everyday plates.  I hate doing that.  It means 10 months until Halloween, which kicks off the Christmas season.  Then we can get out the Christmas dishes again.

    I only broke one item today.  I dropped a thing you put dirty stirrers on when you are cooking.  I know it must have a name, but I have no idea what that name is.

    I did not make my step count for the last 3 days.  My phone tells me how many steps I take, but I have no idea how that is computed.  If I walk in place does that count?  I did walk a little over a mile today, which is weird since I only left the house to walk into a restaurant to pick up food. 

    I have a dilemma.

    I need a new winter coat.  I ordered one and misread the description.  I thought it had a removable hood, but it only has removable fake fur on the hood.  None of my coats have hoods.  I am a hat guy.  Do I keep it or send it back?  Can I wear it with the hood and not get pissed at myself for ordering something I don't like?  Why is it so hard for me to decide?

    I figure by the time I do decide it will be summer and I won't need it.  Problem solved.  Until next December.

    Maybe by then I will figure out why I don't like hoods in the first place.

    Life can be a struggle.

Peace and Love

slippery slopes

 Our winter has been pretty mild

    Not a lot of snow, not terribly cold for long stretches of time.

    Friends wintering in Alabama had 10 inches of snow.  Florida has snow.  So does New Orleans and Houston.  But not us.

    That is not a bad thing, less heart attacks of older guys shoveling heavy snow.  But farmers could do with the moisture.

    At least we don't have ice.

    Years ago, and I mean years.  Julia must have been 3 or 4 ,   I worked at the News Leader when the offices were on Fourth and Main.  Across the street is a city parking lot and beyond that  row of stores.

   There was one icy spot in the parking lot.

    It being a slow day, a coworker (Jean, I believe) and I were watching out the front window and saw a person fall on the ice.  Then a second person fell.  Then a third.

    All in the same spot on the far side of the parking lot.

    Then we saw Jackie, pulling little Julia along.

    Jean and I looked at each other with that "should we warn them or laugh" look.

    Well, we didn't warn them.

    Jackie hit the ice and flew about 30 feet into the air, arms flapping like she was trying to fly.... her scarf acting like a tail on a kite.   She made a perfect 1 point landing on her butt, with little Julia ending up in the snow.

    Jean and I were hysterical. Jackie was a bit miffed, we could tell, and was pulling Julia across the snowy, slushy lot.

    She got to the newspaper door and Julia was crying like mad.  Jackie looked at the 2 hyenas in front of her and that made her even madder.

    "And I don't know why this kid  is crying so much!" Jackie said.  "I'm the one who fell."

    "Maybe she is crying because her foot is cold,"  I said.  "Her boot is on the other side of the parking lot! You have been dragging her barefoot through snow and slush."

    Yes, it was hard to get that out through the laughter that 2 of us were enjoying.

    And yes, I did go across the lot to get the boot for our little girl, who had one soaked and wet foot.

    I like to think I would have done things differently now, but I am not sure I would.  Part of me is still looking for pratfalls.

    And yes, I have fallen on the ice.  But no one was around.  If no one is around when you fall on the ice, is it funny? 

    The answer is NO!

    Be safe out there.

Peace and Love

ho, ho, snow

 We are in the middle of a major snowstorm

    It has been snowing off and on all day and I bet we have 1 tenth of an inch on the ground.

    I hope they don't cancel school tomorrow because of the snow.

    It is a little late for Christmas, but then I am a little late too.

    I still have my train ornament tree up in the den.  I was going to put that away. before I left for Key West, where the temperature is a chilly 64, it's raining, and the margaritas are smooth.

    My mind is getting old.  I don't think right.

    We went on a Buffett tour.  At the end of the tour Jessica, the tour guide, gave us little bottles of margaritas.   As we were packing to come home, Emily asked me if I had put the bottles in my suitcase.

    I told her yes, I put the daiquiris in. the suitcase.

    She looked at me and said, "What daiquiris?"

    I said the ones they gave us at the end of the tour.

    She looked at me and said, "Those are margaritas.  We were in Margartiaville.  Why would they give us daiquiris?" 

    How could I make that mistake.

    I bought some tissues in little packs when we were there.  They are a product called NoooTrees.  And they are not from trees.  These are from sustainable bamboo forests.  Pretty dang cool.

    And I learned you can't have bird feeders in Key West.  The wild chickens will not benefit from bird seed, so no feeders.

    Speaking of billionaires, I wonder what Musk and the  other broligarchs who sat with the prez will be getting out of this administration.  I mean, you don't donate $270 million to a guy and expect nothing in return, do you?

    Time will tell.

Peace and Love

Cold, eh?

 Namby pamby kids these days

    School was cancelled today because it was cold.

    Kids today are too soft!

    I remember going to school when the temperature was -17.  My mother bundled me up in a quilt and put bread wrappers around my feet and sent me out to school.

    I had to walk 3 miles.  Into the wind.  Snow slashing at my face.  At one point an ear fell off but I stuck it back on and when I got inside the building it reattached itself.

    It was so cold that year polar bears were shivering in the zoo.  

    And the snow was deep.  But school was open. 

    Sleds pulled by huge horses went down the streets and we kids would jump on board, me in my quilt and bread wrapper boots.  We were happy when the horses farted because the driver always smoked a cigar and the gas ignited, creating small  bursts  of warmth for us but causing the driver to go prematurely bald.

    Now, look at us.

    -15 and a wind chill of -22 and kids stay home.  

    Snowbirds head south to avoid 3 months of freezing temperatures, ice, snow, possible broken limbs from falling down their frozen steps, probable heart a tracks from shoveling heavy, wet snow.

    Our forefathers didn't skip winter. They hunkered down in their sod houses and covered themselves with buffalo hides. Most of them survived.

    Hopefully we will too. But  I think the cold will be with us a long time.

Peace and Love

    

odds and ends

Getting back to "normal" is not easy 

    Just some odds and ends about my trip with Emily to Key West.

    I learned my phone tracks my steps.  Here is how many miles I walked:  W 6.3; Th 1.9; F 3.2; SA 5.2; Su 3.  Today? .9

    I was wearing my Cubs sweatshirt.  Some guy yelled "Go Cubbies!" as I walked past.  It was outside a marijuana store, and I thought he yelled "Go Gummies," so I did not answer.

    We walked a little an Emily pointed out he said, "Go Cubbies."

    On the way back he was still there and I said to him, "I'm sorry for ignoring you.  I thought you said, Go Gummies".

    That lead to a highly disjointed (pun intended) conversation about a lot of things from a guy who was really willing to talk while abandoning his job of weaving hats from palm  leaves  After about 10 minutes Emily dragged me away and asked me not to engage with homeless people again.

    We went to a pizza place called Onlywood.  Nice Italian lady seated us.  I said I needed some time to look at the menu.  When. I decided she came back and asked what I wanted.  I told her I would have the wood fired pepperoni pizza.

    "We don't have any pepperoni,"  she said.  "No pepperoni. Pick something else."

    So I picked the cheese and she laughed and said, "Of course we have pepperoni!  I figured you for a pepperoni guy!"

    We had a good laugh and a great pizza.

    At another place I wanted sausage and peppers, but I misread the menu.  That only came on a pizza that also included mushrooms and eggplant.  It was pretty darn good.

    When in Key West, why would you eat at a McDonald's or Wendy's?

    Almost every place we ate had grouper.  I had never had grouper and was afraid to try it.  I finally Googled grouper and it was described as a light, flaky sweet tasting fish.  So I decided to order it at the next restaurant we went to.

    They did not have it on the menu.  That was Saturday and we left Sunday.

    My balance was an issue.  I walked like a drunk at 11 a.m.  I think people wondered about the old man.

    I ate more key lime pie in a 5 days than I ate in my lifetime.  I now love key lime pie if it is well made.

    I felt guilty and overtipped in a couple of places.  But I did not tip at the t shirt shop.  Really? A tip jar in a retail shop?

    90 miles from Cuba and I did not have any Cuban food.  Emily did.  Nor did I have fish tacos.

    I went to the Cuban Coffee Queen for coffee and it was great.  We got Dan and Linda 2 bags cause he loves it.  Today Julia asked why I didn't buy some for me since I liked it.  Good question.

    I had to bet warned to get out of the street a few times.  For some reason, I just stopped in the roadway and looked around. One time I stepped in front of a bicycle and the biker behind him almost hit the ground.  In my defense, they blew their stop sign and I had the right of way.

    We should have had a drink at The Green Parrot.  Looked like a fun spot.

    Back in Chicago I did not have gloves so I put dirty socks on my hands for warmth.

    I have a gazillion pictures to go thru.

      It may be cold here, but it is only 64 there.  Still, I'd take the 64.

Peace and Love

Home again, home again

 We arrived home safe and sound

    Our flight out of Key West was delayed by almost an hour.

    And I have to say, I flew out of Havana airport once and it was much better than Key West!

    That airport is under reconstruction, and the plans look nice.  But it is a nightmare to fly out of.

    Enough complaining for the night.

Peace and Love

75 to 2?

 I am not looking forward to tomorrow

    I am flying.  I am nice and warm here.  It is very cold there.  My coat and hat and gloves are in Emily's car.  We did not look to see where we parked, except it is in Lot G.

    Lot G is one hell of a big lot!!

    Oh well.  If we don't show up tomorrow night, check area hospitals for frost bite victims!

    We finally got to Mallory Park for the sunset celebration.  It was pretty darn cool!

    It had been rainy and cloudy on the two previous nights, but tonight was perfect.

    We also spent time wandering around Fort Zachary Taylor.  Not as neat as the Dry Tortugas Ft. Jefferson, but we could get to this one.

    I admit I was pretty worn after the fort.  We went back to the condo and I rested for a while.  Emily went to the pool, and I joined her for about 10 minutes.  I realized I had not been in a pool in forever.  I got down the steps and into the 4 ft. end, but I still had my hearing aids in so I did not swim.

    I just stood there and held onto the side.

    Anyway, good food, good margaritas, great time, great company......but all things must come to an end.

Peace and Love

and more pictures. not in order

The end of the sunset watch

Some of the crowd

more of the crowd

Emily got me a margarita while we wanted

Mailboxes at our condo place

does anyone else see an angel?

I really am next to a big shot!

As the fort was changed, the canon were just thrown into the marsh around the fort.  They were discovered years later by a local historian digging around

Gotta look close to see this one

Holy crap that's a big ship!

blacksmith at the fort.....not a lot of fun in July and August I would guess

Dry Tortugas?

 In every life, a little rain must fall

    Why did it have to fall today?

    I got up at 6 AM so I would be ready for our day trip via seaplane to the Dry Tortugas.  The plane was leaving at 8 and we had to be there at 7:30.  

    I had just brushed my teeth and walked out of the bathroom when Emily said they cancelled.

    Storms were popping up all over the place and the pilot did not think it was safe enough to go.

    I think he made a wise choice.  It rained all day.

    Of course, I did not bring my rain jacket.

    We went to  Truman's Little  White House.  

    I was sitting in the waiting room next to a wax figure of Harry Truman when this guy walked in and started to take a picture of me. I turned and he said, 'Oh!  I thought it was a statue of Truman sitting in a chair!"

    We both laughed about it, but look at the picture of me and Harry.  Do you see a slight resemblance?

    Truman visited here 11 times when president and several times after he was out of office.  Things were sure different.

    He would often hop in the car and drive around Key West.  I can't imagine a president doing that now.

    The most interesting thing to me was the attic area contained cisterns.  When it rained, the cisterns collected waster.  The water was used to flush toilets since there was no running water in the house.  By the time Truman came, that had been changed.

    We wandered around Key West after that, stopping at Caroline's for lunch.  I had the biggest and best fish sandwich I have ever had!

    We went back to the unit to dry out, and listen to the Navy flying routes over the town.

    We have eaten at several restaurants and I do have my favorites.  But all of the food has been pretty darn tasty and the key lime pie is awesome.

    We still have not made the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Park because it has been rainy and cloudy for 2 nights.  But tomorrow will be clear, so here's hoping.

Peace and Love

And pictures, not in any special order

Yes, that is a hair drier in my shoe.  It worked!

Darn this was good!

Just a fountain

There were weird trees everywhere!

Look familiar?   We used to have this as a house plant, but without the roots!

Living room at the Little White House

I love the Whitman's Sampler box

Secret Service post

The porch was the place where all the fun was

Twins, right?

This is Sadaklo.  She survived Hiroshima but contracted radiation sickness.  Custom at the time held that if you folded 1,000 paper cranes, you would bet cured of any illness. 

A crown of cranes

Just a house I liked

woof, woof

I was standing under a tree and something hit me in the head!

I had to put a lime in it and shake it all up.