day....OMG.....389

 I tried to clean our den today

    If you know anything about me, you know cleaning and tossing are not my strengths.  But neither is my memory.

    Emily and John came over with a new dog today.  Corki did not bark, growl or anything.  She even sat next to Becky for a few minutes.

    The funny thing is.......Corki has some chews.  She never actually chews them.  So Becky picked up the chew and was gnawing away.  But Becky went for water, Corki went over, picked up the chew and sat under the table, just holding it in her mouth.

    We got Becky another chew, and Corki actually chewed the one she has never shown interest in at all.  Funny dog.

    Anyway, I asked Emily how to download music to my phone and she looked at me and said she had already explained that to me.  Also, she gave me a CD player that I could connect to the computer, download a CD, then transfer it to my phone.  

    I did not remember any of that.  I went into a panic because I have never seen the device she described.  So I looked in my desk drawers....there it was.  And in my wire paper holder is a list of directions she told me that I wrote down.  How could I forget something like that?

    Jiminy Cricket.

    But I digress.

Found some pictures in the closet.  Thought I would share them with you.

Renee....I still have mine!

Vera Carp  and Aunt Pearl.  Two of the sweetest ladies in Tuna.

I believe this is from the mid 80s.  I had gone to Alaska with a friend.  Was gone 5 weeks and this is what my beard looked like.  I think I am pretty damn good looking!

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day.....Terry, Terry quite contrary.....388

 I spent some time in the dirt today

    I have the majority of weeding around the house done.  I still have two areas to go, but they do not look too bad.

    My problem is getting rid of the waste.

    Some I can pile on my old Christmas tree and burn, hopefully burning the tree at the same time.

    But some I can't.  I put it in bags in the garage and then take it into town and drop it in a friend's driveway.

    I feel sometimes I should diversify and use other people......then I think who cares?  Nobody is keeping count.  Are they?

    One thing I noticed is how sore my hands are tonight.  It's hard to bend them and type.  I guess a couple of ibuprofin, or however it is spelled, before bed may help.

    If you ever see me out weeding or working in the garden, make sure you create plenty of noise when you approach.  I often have very vigorous debates with myself while gardening.  I talk to the worms.  I curse the weeds. I rhyme words.  It is definitely a free flowing time for me as I dig around in the dirt.

    What I need to do is download some more music and charge my little speakers.  Then I can sing along while I work.

    I do that when I am mowing, and sometimes I turn off the mower and continue singing, but since the mower was on I am more or less yelling the words, or what I think the words are, which may be why more neighbors are avoiding me each year.

    Oh well.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day...got the worm.....387

 The early bird does get the worm

    We were up at 6 a.m. today!  I saw the sun rise.  I can't tell you the last time I saw the sun rise.  The sky was deep red, and I kept thinking of the old saying:  Red sky at night, sailors' delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.  

    I believe that  had to do with the idea that the red morning sky indicated wind.  Well, based on today, I have to agree with the saying.  It has been windy as heck all day long.

    Anyway, we had a closing today.  

    Yes, a closing.  Jackie and I bought a lot near Oregon, IL.  It's wooded and just over an acre in size.

    It is not for us.  We bought it for Julia, who can not own property in the US without paying some sort of tax on it in Switzerland.  So, we bought it.  We own it.

    Todd Burghardt of Team Advantage Plus Realty handled our end of the bargaining.  Todd put in a lot of work on this and even brought us this delicious cake as a thank you for doing business with him!  It should have been the other way around!  The cake is great....shared it with Emily and John and Sheri, but we still have plenty left!

    My Christmas tree is on the move!  (I am using too many exclamation points tonight!)

    A couple of weeks ago it walked down to the retention pond and I had to go get it and bring it home.

    Today it walked from the compost bin, to the garden, back to the bin and is now headed back to the retention pond.  Something tells me it will meet a firey end sometime this week.  Hopefully.

    I just hope the wind dies down for tomorrow.  Honestly, I don't like the noise at night.  I have enough trouble sleeping without Maria making noise all night.

    And...yesterday I mention the pooh covers.  Those are officially a prank gift.  I went to the website and learned that.  Sorry.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day......eh......386

 A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

    And unfortunately, I come equipped with a little knowledge.

    You should feel blessed I am sharing some of that with you.

    The cicadas will be returning this summer.  These are 17 year ones and will be most common in eastern counties in the central part of the state.

    That's not the information you need.  In addition to natural predators, there is a fungus that attacks the cicadas.  It eats away at their butts.  I just hope it isn't transferrable to humans.  We'd have to rewrite the lyrics to I like big butts.

    You learned something, right?

    There is a product advertised on line called Hide a Pooh.  I hope it is a joke.  It looks like a rock and you drop it over the dog pooh.  I guess you leave it or pick it up later.  The ad was unclear.

    I read things and make notes.  But, I often can't understand the notes.  For example, I am looking at a paper with 350/100 ; Funderburg Easy; You Tube and a name thqt looks like Debby Circuses.  I wrote them, but have no idea whay or what they mean.

    The Chicago Bulls basketball team at the start of this season averaged 21.8 years of age.  That was younger than the University of Wisconsin men's team.  But the Bulls pulled a big trade, so that may no longer be true.

    There.  Now you have information you will never need to know.

    Stay safe.  Stay healthy.

Peace and Love

day....birthday.....385

Today is Jackie's birthday 

    This is the second year she has celebrated during a pandemic.  As we all have.  It is not fun.

    We had pizza last night and tonight we are having Flight Deck.  We have kept the "crowd" down to 5 last night and 4 tonight.  

    Hopefully next year we will just have these past 14 months as a bad memory.  Too much time has been lost, too many friends missed, too many events gone.

    Such is life.

    I went into the yard to pull weeds today.  Figured I would be out there an hour or less, but it was over 90 minutes.  It felt good.  Last year we paid for a clean up because I just wasn't up to doing it, but like I said, it felt good.

    Aside from that ...... just some pictures to share.

Anyone else see a man smoking a cigar?

There's a fungus among us

This just seemed so much faster and easier than cutting the grasses back.

    WTH!!!!  I must be sick!  What is up with my tongue?  Oh wait.....black jelly beans.  I remember.

    Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love

day...huh?.....384

 I always hate learning something new about myself

    Yesterday my hearing doctor told me I had lost a little hearing since our last visit in 2018.  Not a major loss, but a loss.

    She said that was just a part of aging and I probably would not go deaf before I die.

    I had noticed in the last few months that even with hearing aids I was losing bits of conversation.  Now my aids have been adjusted and there should be some improvement.

    But if you are around me, you might want to say my name or get my attention before you ask or say anthing important.

    For instance, if an elephant is about to step on me you may want to speak up.  If I am about to stop on an ant, a whisper would be ok.  (In grade school I wrote about my Aunt Betty.  But I was not always aware of spelling.  I called her Anut Betty throughout the paper.  My teacher asked if my aunt was a nut and I was puzzled until I got my paper back.  EOD)   (I decided to use the abbreviation EOD to say End of Digression.  EOD.)

    I often wonder what it would be like to lose a sense.  I talked to a guy today whose wife had Covid.  It was a mild case, but she lost her sense of taste and smell and her sense of taste has not yet come back completly.

    If I went deaf, would I still hear the music in my head?  If I go blind, will I still be able to see the images in my mind?  Would I miss the taste of pizza or the smell of applewood burning?  Would I be able to feel my dog when I pet her?

    A curious mind wonders...and I don't want to have a personal experience with losing any of the senses.  Well, I have lost my sense of style, but that was long ago.

    tay healthy.  Stay safe.  Stay full of senses.

Peace and Love

day.....oh oh.......383

 I have a guilty conscience tonight

    I got something I don't think I deserved.

    Let me explain.

    Last Christmas, Dec. 18 to be exact, we placed a take out order with a chain restaurant in Sycamore.

    When we got home, everybody but John got their order.  His was not in the bag.  I called the place and explained what happened.  I talked to Reuben, the shift manager, and he said next time I come in tell them what I was short and add Ruben said it was ok and they would give it to me.   (Coincidentally, the next time we ordered, from a different place, I got home and found John's order was wrong again!  WTH.)

    I put it off, and put it off, and put it off.  Until today.

    I went back today because Jackie wanted ribs recently and could not get them.  So I figured for a birthday present, I would get her a rib dinner.

    Before you complain, she has plenty of clothes, does not wear a lot of jewelry, has minimal needs at this point but she can always eat.  So ribs, something she wanted, sounded like a great gift.

    Anyway...I went back to the restaurant and explained the situation to the Pretty Young Thing taking orders.  I said if they could not do anything I was ok with that because I had waited so long.  She radioed in the question, then had to go talk to the shift manager.  I stressed, the ribs order was separate from the missing salad.  She said she understood

    I get up to the window to pay and the PYT said they misunderstood what she said and they are not charging me for anything.  

    So I got a full slab rib dinner and a chef's salad for free.  And I feel guilty about it.

    I told her that was not right, I should not get the ribs for free.  She said I "seemed like a nice man and had waited long enough. So enjoy."

    Then I was told to pull off to the side.  I sat there, thinking police were going to show up and arrest me for running some sort of scam.  Or they changed their mind and were not going to give me the ribs. But eventually a guy cam out with two huge bags.

    But I feel guilty.  Should I go back and explain again?  Do I just go in, order some ribs, pay for them and leave?  Then what would they do with the order?

    Do I just go in and say I am paying for a rib dinner but I don't want it?

    Or, do I just assume that is the company policy for an order that gets messed up?

    Trust me...I will debate this for the next month or two because I won't be able to let it go....which was one of my New Year's Resolutions.  Let it go.  We;ll see.

Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

Peace and Love