ends and odds

I wonder how people create things

     Years ago Jackie and I tried freezing corn.  Getting it off the cob was a pain in the butt.  So we stopped freezing corn and bought it.
     We like Rainwater's super sweet corn.
     So, when I saw this item on Facebook one night, I thought why not?
     Here it is:

    It's yellow ring is plastic.  The jagged edges jam into the cob, then you twist it back and forth.  It works like a charm!
    The two little wings are blades that scrape/cut the kernels off the cob.
     It is pure genius.
     I wonder what the inspiration was for this.
     By the way, I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Sycamore.  It was $7.49, if I remember correctly.  I plan to buy a second.
     I was that impressed.
     Now, for some pictures.

Over DeKalb....not sure if this is a sun dog or something else

This guy was resting on the mulch in my yard.  Not sure what kind...polyphemous does not fit

holy cow

I have passed the 86,000 mark

     Yowzer!!  86,069 visits to my blog!
     I am always amazed that people read it.
     I know there are some who read it everyday, and some once in a while.  But 86,000 visits?  Wow, I am very humbled.
     I still have some from Russia and I think it is because tdinteh is a Russian site.  I have not gone to it, but maybe I should.  With my luck, it's a site to match up lonely Russian women with lonely Russian men.  Or it could be a site dissing Putin, but I doubt that would last long.
     It would be funny if there was some guy in Russia wondering why Americans are visiting his site, which is a blog some guy started doing as a way to accomplish something.  Maybe he sits around drinking vodka and complaining about people who dump trash on the road or don't use their turn signals.
     My mirror image, only with a thick accent and a limp.
     But I digress.
     Anyway, if I could give 86,089 thanks, I would.
     Everyone will have to settle for one big one.

Thank you!!

covfeek .

I sometimes even embarrass myself

     Had a great time at the market by Cypress House today.  Of course, I only bought food.
     And then I didn't buy food.
     Here's how the conversation went.
     "I really like your breads.  My daughter likes your breads."
     She said, "Thank you."
     "I really like the sourdough, but you don't have any left.  I guess I won't buy any."
     She said, "The sourdough sold out fast today."
     "I should get some bread for my daughter, she likes your breads.  But I don't know what flavor she likes."
     Yes, I used flavor.  I looked at the two types of breads left.  At that point I should have just shut up and moved on.
     "I don't think she likes these.  So I won't buy any bread."
     She said, "We are here every Saturday, maybe next week."
    "Sorry, but I won't buy any bread today.  Sorry, but I am not buying bread."
     At this point she understood that I was not buying any bread today.
    "So thank you, but I am not buying any bread."
     She started hiding behind her chair.  I must have sounded a little demented.
     Ran into a a friend and one of her daughters.  Promptly asked where her other daughter was, but I used the name of her niece.  She was confused about why I was asking about her niece, who is in high school.
     So now I am demented and a little pervy.
     I walked past two vendors with tomatoes, and tomatoes were on my list of things to buy.  But I did not buy tomatoes.  I bought a coffee cake and some cupcakes.  But not tomatoes.
     Later on I made a second trip into town with the idea of getting tomatoes and plastic tubing.
     But I went two other places and forgot about the tubing and the tomatoes.
     But we did get super sweet corn, which was great with the burgers on the grill.
    Fresh tomato would have been a nice touch.
    Maybe next week.

I don't get it

I get sorely confused some days

     Example:  My cruise is set.  I am going a steady speed.  A car passes me, moves in front of me, then slows down.  There are no other cars ahead of him.  I tap the brakes, then move over to the left and pass him.  Why pass someone and then slow down?
     Example:  I have no other cars behind me.  A car passes me on the left, then turns right.  Why not just go behind me and turn?
     Example:  My favorite summer beverage is no longer available.  Really?? It's not even August!
     Example:  Why when I am typing and I accidentally hit the wrong key does typing disappear?  I don't know if I am hitting the up arrow, the shift, or the return because I do type fast.  For a guy.  Not accurate, but fast.
     Example:  I set the alarm for 7.  I wake up at 6:30.  I set the alarm for 8.  I wake up at 7:30.  Why do I always wake up before the damn alarm?  The alarm is supposed to awaken me, not the anticipation!
     Example:  I show up and someone asks me, "Are you here today?"  And I think, I am standing here, what the hell do you think?
     Example:  Why do I have trouble spelling certain words ALL THE TIME!  Accidentally, calendar, and ubiquitous always come out wrong.   And why does learned always get identified as a misspelling on this blog?  Option is learn ed.  Makes no sense.
     Example:  How the hell did we elect that clown?  Enough said.  Apply it to as many people as you want, but it is aimed at the chief clown.  Or clown chief.
     Example:  Why do the Cubs suddenly seem not able to hit?  Last couple of games have made me wonder about hitting with runners in scoring position.  When will the kids stop trying to kill the ball and just make contact?
     Example:  Why do parents give kids names no one can spell?  Just sayin'.
     Example:  It is 11:55.  Parents, do you know where your children are at?  I don't think mine ever did.
     Thanks for letting me vent.
     Good night.

ahhh... the old days

I am thinking of the end of summer today

     I know, it is only July 27.  We have not even hit August yet, traditionally the dog days.
     It seems in my memory August was always Dewey Lake time in my family.   My aunt and uncle had a couple of cottages on the lake, which is near Dowagiac,  Michigan.
     We would usually go up and spend a couple of weeks, with my mom and the kids staying while my dad would go back to Chicago and work, coming up on weekends.
     Sleeping out on the porch, listening to the raccoons under the cottage, taking a bath in the lake with Ivory soap (because it floats) and reading comic books.   Sometimes a cousin would join us, sometimes a friend.  It seemed there was always family around.
     Just three cottages away was an Irish family from the south side of Chicago.   They had seven or eight girls and one boy.  Of course, three of the girls were around my age and the boy was barely one.
     Long games of Monopoly, afternoons playing in the water, sometimes a fire on the beach at night, and going fishing....although I don't think I ever caught a fish.  And I don't think we ever knocked....they would just come in our cottage, I would just go in theirs.  In a way, we too were family.
     We kids would walk down to the corner store, which was maybe a mile away.       We could play some pinball, buy candy bars, get a soda, which our parents never had in the house.
     A milkman named Stubby would stop in the morning.  If I was lucky, my mom would get an orange drink that was so amazing on a hot day....I don't think I have ever tasted anything like it since.
     My memory has us spending most of August there, but it could have been less.
     As the end approached, all of us knew that Chicago kids would be going to school the Wednesday after Labor Day, which was too fast approaching.
     To be honest, I miss those days.  If I could go back to one particular time in life, I would pick one of those halcyon stays at Dewey Lake.

strange thoughts

We have had a lot of rain lately

     So I was a little surprised to see a corn field being irrigated Tuesday.  I guess 4 inches of rain doesn't go very far these days.
     I was coming back from DeKalb Sunday, doing a little above the speed limit, when some guy came up and sat on my tail.  In Malta, with me doing 40, he passed.  I kept hoping the local Mountie was out, but no.  Karma did not strike that day.
     Picked up the Tuesday paper and wondered why my column was not in it....then realized my column runs on Sunday.
     Should have asked John and Emily how Jackie can turn off the weather warnings on her watch.  Several times, in the middle of the night, a nice, soothing voice has told me there is lightening a mile a way, or rain, or whatever.    What I would like is sleep.
     And at my age, sleep is not guaranteed.  Lots of things keep me awake at night, worries I should not have.
     Luckily I can self medicate with rosé or Rum chata.
     It's hell to drink alone.

Aug. 1, Aug. 1, Aug. 1

I changed the batteries in our smoke detectors today

     Now all I have to do is remember Aug. 1 next year so I can change them again.
     Yes, I am aware it is not Aug. 1 yet.
     But we have been in the house almost 5 years and I have never changed the batteries!  Never!!
     I was reminded of that during the Cub game today when an alarm suddenly went off and stopped.  Figured it was telling me, "Help, my battery is dead and I can't sound off."
     And yes, I could have picked a more memorable date.  Emily's birthday, man landing on the moon, Fourth of July.  But I changed them today, July 25.  Nothing memorable about that, so we are claiming Aug. 1 as the date to change them in the future.
     It was difficult getting it down from the ceiling.   After carefully working it loose, I discovered there is a little tray that slides out and holds the battery.  No need to remove it from the base or the ceiling, just open the tray, take out the old battery, put in the new.  So, the first one was difficult, the others were as easy as pie.
     Corki hated it.  Whenever I put a new battery in, I tested it.  Whenever one goes off upstairs, the one in the basement sounds too.  Weird.   We have 7 smoke detectors.  After the third one she just stood at the door to go out.
     None in the garage though.  To me that is the most logical place to put a smoke and carbon monoxide detector.  So either the electrician goofed or there is no requirement to place one in the garage, where gasoline, paint, unexploded fireworks, still hot barbecue grills and all sorts of dangers lurk.  I'm ok with that, I guess.
     And when I went into town this morning, I planned to stop to get gas for the lawn mower.  Got there are realized I did not bring the cans.
     By the way, who ever invented these new gas cans should be drawn and quartered.  It's hard to open them, pour them, handle them.  I hate them.
     I long for the good old days sometimes.
     And I long for the day they invent a battery powered riding lawn mower...that will cut down on a lot of pollution.
     And lessen the risk of  fire in my garage.