snap, crackle, poop

 I had a chiropractor appointment today

    My hip and legs are feeling much better.  He told me to take it easy for a few more days, so I followed his advice and sat on the porch reading.  Again.

    But I have a strange question.  I pick up Corki's droppings every other day.  Somedays there are several piles, today there were only 2.  Usually over 2 days I find more than 2...so what is happening to them?  Is my grass too long and hiding the dog's gifts to me?  Is an elf coming in at night to scoop them up?  

    Inquiriring minds want to know.

    It's a puzzle, much like the garden.  How often can I replant it before I just decide to give up?

    Sitting on the porch, swallows were putting on a show.  They came swooping over my head several times.  Usually they do that when I mow, but since I was sitting in a chair, I was not kicking up any bugs.  The birdies must have been finding them because they made several fly throughs.

    I also mailed my passport application.  Nice lady at the post office helped me with the envelope and said they were running about 12 weeks.......which is not good news.

    I can't make flight reservations because if the passport doesn't get back in time, I can't go.  I also can't finalize plans for Jackie because now my dates are uncertain.

    It's frustrating and my fault.  At some point prior to this week I should have checked to see when it expired, but that was never in my mind or on one of my many lists of things to do.

    My fate is now in the hands of a faceless bureaucrat.  And I don't know if that is spelled anyway near correctly.

    And in local news......there was a bank robbery in Rochelle yesterday!  In Rochelle!

    I could have lead with that, I know.  

    The news article said a man entered the bank, gave a teller a note demanding money and saying he had a weapon.  The teller gave him money and he left.

    But the story said the incident began at the drive up!

    I'm thinking the guy goes through drive up.  I have this mental image of him giving the note to the teller, they slide it back and tell him no, so he parks the car and goes into the bank.

    A silent alarm was sounded and he was arrested one block away, and no weapon was found.

    My guess is the guy is not the sharpest pencil in the box.  Luckily.

    Stay safe.

Peace and Love

not so simple

 Sometimes I make easy things difficult

    I am hoping to visit Julia in late September, early October.  Taking our friend to the airport yesterday, I jokingly asked if they had their passport, knowing  a passport wasn't needed.

    Friend said they had to renew their passport because they got it in 2011.

    That got me thinking.  We got our first passports in 01, then 11, so we need new ones in 21.......this year.

    My passport expires in November.  A Facebook friend mentioned it took them several months to get a new passport.  

    Today I filled out the form and will mail mine as an expedited request, which is an extra $60.  My fear is this will all get screwed up and I will be unable to book airplane tickets or anything else I need to do.

    Of course, I had trouble printing the forms.  Then I noticed I put down my birthday as 1848, which would put me in the Guiness Book of World Records.  Then I had trouble printing the forms, again.  But eventually, I got the job done.

    Tomorrow the forms get mailed and hopefully I get my new passport quickly.

    Then I think of the people in Surfside, Florida.  There are many families who fled their condos with the clothes on their backs and they could not go back due to the condition of the building.  And the families who lost loved ones possibly to never have them recovered from the rubble.

    Think of the documents....passports, insurance policies, bank statements, driver's licenses; and the computers with papers, novels, stories, work projects.....all gone.

    All the family photos, heirlooms, jewelry, personal artifacts....all gone in a cloud of dust.

    It makes my passport problem seem trivial, indeed.

    Everyday I count my blessings.

Peace and Love

to hot to day

I just don't seem to change 

    I am not talking about underwear or socks.   Those I change.  I am talking about paying attention to details.

    I made burgers for supper.  I think there was a subliminal message from Jimmy Buffet to have a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 but no french fried potatoes.

    I have been listening to the Margaritaville channel on Sirius a lot.  The music is summer music and seems fitting.

    Anyway, I had a mojito.  I mixed it a little on the strong side.  Cheeseburgers.  Mojito.  What could go wrong?

    Well, at 7 p.m. as I was halfway through both, people started showing up at my door because we had rehearsal for the play tonight at  our house!  Yes, I missed that on the calendar and I have not checked e mail today, otherwise I would have seen the reminder.

    So there I am, mojito on my table, tomato on my shirt, a burger on my plate....and a messy kitchen.  I was embarassed.

    The mojito helped.  

    I have always had a problem with details.  They seem to escape me.  Always have.  

    Earlier in the day I took a friend to the bus in Rockford for a ride to O'Hare, stopped at Starbucks, hit a store forlettuce and tomatoes for salads, picked up some safflower seed for the birds, had a chiropractor session, put an ice pack on my leg only to have it leak all over my chair and pants....but I did not take a nap.  So tonight, I should be able to sleep like a log...right?

    Time will tell.

    I don't think I will be flying the W tonight.  Again.

Peace and Love

not all quiet on the western front

 I am beginning to not like the Fourth of July

    Someone east of us is setting off huge amounts of fireworks...loud ones.  It's almost 11 p.m.  Don't they have any sense?

    Speaking of sense, I love Lawn Darts.  Remember those steel tipped darts you would toss at a circle?  They got banned because some people got hurt when they tips hit them.

    But fireworks?   Not banned, despite the number of stories that will appear about people losing fingers or hands because of them.  One person even died when he lit them on this head!

    If you are going to ban Lawn Darts, then why not fireworks?  Or better yet, limit the amount of bang they provide.  Only allow professionals, or licensed, people to shoot the more powerful ones off.  

    Celebrate America by doing something good.  Take the money you spent on fireworks and donate it to a homeless shelter, or an agency that helps veterans.

    That's my rant for the day.

    Got mulch spread.  Friend Sheri came and helped.  But I paid for it in the afternoon when my back and legs started hurting again.  I have a feeling yard work will grind to a halt over the next two days as the temps hit the low 90s.  I am too old to be out in the heat.

Peace and Love

Like a dog, man

I got a ton of yard work done today 

    I had help....Sheri K. came over and cleaned up my slope area.  It was a mess.  Over the past four weeks I have given up on weeding.  Frist it was hot.  Then dry.   Then wet.  Then hot.  Then I hurt myself.

    Actually, I feel better today than I have in a couple of weeks.  The yard work seemed to have a positive effect, even though I am now icing my lower back.

    I replanted my beans...again.  I guess I rereplanted them.  I may have discovered what the problem was.  The soil was very dry, dry down several inches.  I honestly thought with the rain and my watering it had plenty of moisture, but I may have been wrong.  Tomorrow I will start watering again.

    Tomorrow, before it gets too hot, I also hope to get mulch spread in a few places.  But if I wake up sore, that won't happen.

    Meanwhile, WW III seems to have broken out.  I think the allies are shelling the enemy and small arms fire keeps echoing.  I don't like the Fourth of July as much as other holidays because the noise drives me crazy.  I like the city fireworks, but all these people who think they are providing entertainment are idiots.  Sorry if I offended anyone.

    You may have noticed I have stopped putting the days at the top.  480 was my last one.  Those where the number of days since the pandemic started affecting us, at least by my count.  I hope I don't have to start it again.

Peace and Love and Happy Fourth of July

Oh happy day

I forgot to celebrate Bobby Bonilla Day 

    I might have spelled his name wrong.  Oops.

    Bobby Bonilla was a baseball star who renegotiated a huge contract with the Mets back in the 1990s.  Well, it was almost a $6 million contract, but that was huge then.  The Mets renegotiated  a longer payout instead of paying the money to him.  So,  he agreed to take a yearly paycheck of albout $1.2 million starting in 2010 or so..  There is interest figured in, so the check is closer to $1.9 million.

    Every year on July 1 in baseball land it becomes Bobby Bonilla Day.  Bonilla is now 58 and will continue receiving the money uintil 2035.

    Not a bad deal!

    Tomorrow I will replant my beans and cucumbers for the third, and final, time.  I just don't get what happened this year.  It's frustrating that I have gotten so little from my garden.  Last year we had enough green beans, Italian beans, peas, carrots and peppers to provide us with vegetables through the winter.  We actually still have some beans left, but not many.

    This year......pffft!  I have one cucumberr shoot, and two bean plants.  So tomorrow I will replant the beans.  Dang frustrating.

    I sent a birthday card to a lady celebrating her 90th next week.  But, she probably won't get it.  

    You know my tendency to reverse numbers.....well, I wrote the address on a piece of paper and forgot the paper  at home.  I bought a card, went to the post office and wrote down the address as I remembered it because if I didn't mail it today, it would not get here on time.

    I may have had the street wrong, and I know the number is wrong.....so I  bet that card comes back to me instead of to the person it should go to.

    I should have driven to her house and dropped it in her mailbox....would have violated federal law, but would have been a sure fire delivery.

    Oh well....just another day in my life.

Peace and Love

I hate shopping

 Today was grocery day

    I try to buy locally as much as possible, but big grocery stores have so much more from which to choose.

    So I went to a big store today and spent a bit over $200.  I was shocked.

    I noticed some things that were strange.  Kraft Mac and Cheese was .99  each  or 4 for $4.  Tea was discounted with a coupon, but there were no coupons.  1 item was 3.29 or 2 for $5.  I got 2, whether I wanted 2 or not.

    I always laugh when prices are 79 or 89 cents.  Why not just round it to the nearest 10 and make it easier for people to mentally compute prices.  I know, there is a psychological element to making it end in a 9, somehow it seems cheaper.

    I usually get very tired toward the end and wish I could lie down in the frozen food case and cool off.  But I discovered that is frowned upon.

    This store is allowing reusable bags again, which is great.  Next time I go I will bring mine because I hate all hose bags.  

    The hardest part is putting all the stuff away.  I must have had 15 bags to carry in, then put away.  I was fatigued, to say the least.

    Driving up to Rockford, I had to pull over and get out of the car.  My left leg cramped up.  I got on 39 at 72, after the work zone, and pulled over on the entrance ramp. Stretching it really helps.  The same thing happened on the way home, and I had to pull over on 64 by 251.  

    I am going to a chiropractor to see if he can give me some relief from my hip pain, and he said the leg cramping is a  result of my hips being out of alingment. When he does a treatment it feels fine for a while, but eventually I am back in pain.

    Here's hoping he is right when he said it would be a couple of weeks, then I would be better.  

    Oh my gosh, this was a pretty run of the mill post.  Hope you stayed awake!

Peace and Love