pity day

I woke up this morning feeling sorry for myself 

    MS is a bitch.  Telling you that right now.  Again.  I'll say it over and over.

    That's how my day started.

    But it did get better.

    I went to the market at Cypress House, got a coffee and brisket sandwiches, visited with people I had not seen in months, and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful weather.  Jackie was going to go, but at the last minute decided against it.

    This afternoon I went to the theater and did a little painting.  Again, that felt good.  And normal.

    While I was painting my phone went off.  I fully expected Jackie to be on the line saying "Come home!"  But it was an old friend from high school, Joe.  He and his wife were visiting in the Chicago area and he gave me a call just to say hi.  That was really nice.

    Normally when I am gone I ask Emily or John to be available if needed to let out the dog, or pick up something Jackie dropped, or if she needs something.  But neither of them were feeling well today, and we vowed not to bother them.

    I am very anxious when Jackie is alone.  But today all was fine.

    I did two little projects at home tonight, right after our delicious brisket sandwiches from Hicks' Barbecue! 

     And I even got to watch a Cubs win, something I did not expect to see.  Yes,  my flag is out!

Peace and Love

Same old, same old

 The news out of the Cubs got worse

    I thought trading Rizzo hurt....but Baez and Bryant too?  Probably the three most favorite players among Cubs fans.  Gone, but not forgotten.

    Nice to see Rizzo homer in his Yankee debut.  I hope all three do well.

    I faced a major economc decision today.  After several hous of pondering, I passed on taking any action.

    Postage goes up to 58 cents from 55 cents starting Aug. 1.  I had debated going into town and buying 100 stamps, but the savings would not even cover the cost of gas, so I really would not have saved any money.   I will now rue that decision every time I mail a letter.

    Mowed and trimmed today.  Weather was nice for doing that.  The partly cloudy forecast got a little wet, but nothing major.  I also finished my mulch.  The pile is almost gone, but I do have to clean it up a little.  I should have ordered more mulch,  some areas did not get any.

    We ordered  pizza tonight.  They said it would be an hour because they were really busy.  We called at 6:30.  I figured if I left the house at 7:20 I would be there right on time.

    So I set the kitchen timer for 7:20.

    The thought was to maybe leave a couple of minutes early, because we were not sure of the exact time we ordered.  So I did.

    As I sat waiting at 7:25 Jackie called and said, "There's a timer going off.   What is it for?"  I told her what I had done.

    The pizza was ready at 8:05.  By then, Jackie was almost insane from the constant beep of the timer.  She was really relieved when I shut it off.

    Busy may have been an understatement.  They were also a little disorganized.  You pull up, call them, tell them you are here and they bring the pizza out.  However, when there are 7 or 8 cars in the parking lot, the kids run from car to car asking what your name is.  They brought me 3 different orders, none of which were mine.  But I really was considering just taking one because I was getting hungry.

    I don't know why they don't number the spaces and when you get there you call and say what space you are in so they know where to bring the order.

    But nobody asked for my advice.

Peace and Love

that old gang of mine

 Well, it's hard to be a Cub fan tonight

    I really liked Andrew Chafin.  I really liked Ryan Tepara.  But I loved Anthony Rizzo.

    To me he was the face of the Cubs.  Liked to have fun, play the game, interact with the fans......I hope New York appreciates him, though I doubt they will.

    I suppose Kris Bryant will be the next to go.  It seems like yesterday when Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras. Baez and Schwarber were the young core, the core that the team could build around.

    It's a business.  I understand that.

    But I think fans follow players, not just teams.  It's the players that give the team its character.  (English instructors please note the correct use of its and it's.  Your welcome.)

    And Rizzo had character.  From his remarkable go in the stands catches, to his work with young kids with cancer, to his laughter in the dugout...he showed a lot of character.  I will miss him.

    I am drowning my sorrows with a mojito.  So please excuse any mistakes you may find.

    And....in the (    ) comment earlier, I intentionally used the wrong your.  It should be you're.  It was right their in front of you and you missed it, right?

Peace and Love

Oh snap......

Don't let old people or idiots near computers 

    It all started innocently enough.  I opened e mail.  I saw a message from friend Vickie and I answered it.  

    Next I saw a message from Apple that our Apple TV account was being billed.  We bought something in 2020 and received a 1 year subscription to Apple TV.  We watched a couple of shows, but not many.  Then Apple sent us a notice that the subscription was being extended 6 months  because of the pandemic.  We still didn't watch anything.

    So today, when we received the notice, I decided to go into our Apple account and end the subscription.  I looked at the on-line directions....and everything went to hell.

    In the process I seem to have deleted every e-mail we have ever sent or received.  Every one.  I even deleted the 10 e mails I had not read, and I do not know who they were from.  All gone.

    How the hell did I do that?

    Plus, I still can't figure out how to cancel the subscription.  The directions given don't seem to work for me.  

    I guess they will cancel it at some point because the credit card expired.    I hope.  

    Seriously, I am a bit pissed.  

    If you e mailed me in the past, and we were having a discussion, that is all gone from my computer.  If I don't respond to an e mail from you, you may want to resend it.  

    Now I have a headache.  Time for a mojito to kill the pain.

Peace and Love    

like a kid

 Sometimes I am just a grown up child

    Jackie had a doctor's appointment in Rolling Meadows today.  We were there on time, surprise!  But the good doctor was running a bit late. Jackie was the last patient of th day, and as soon as we went out, so did the lights and most of the staff.

    She has spasms in her legs.  This doctor specializes in Botox shoots, which should relieve the spasms.  This was Jackie's first treatment and we have a follow up visit in 6 weeks to see if the shots help.  In three months, she can get more shots, either the same dosage or higher, depending on what we find in six weeks.

    Jackie's brother Bob and wife Anita are up from Florida and staying about 10 minutes away from where we were.  So we all met up at a nearby Portillo's, which was nice because we don't see them very often and they leave Thursday.  Also, we could avoid some of the rush hour.  Sister Judy joined us, so it was a mini reunion.

    Now, Jackie has a problem with fully loaded hot dogs.  Especially the mustard.  Let's just say she dribbled a few times (more than MJ ever did in a game!) which caused a great deal of hilarity among the non dribblers.

    And for trhe second time, I could not get her in the car!  This happened last time we were at this Portillo's....Jackie just seems to miss the seat.  Luckily I got  her in despite our laugher.

    On the way home someone in the car not driving suggested stopping at Oberweiss in Aurora.  So we did.

    I will no longer make fun of her for dribbling.

    For some reason I forgot to hit post last night, so there are two entries for today.  I am calling it senioritis.

Peace and Love

I had a chocolate malt!!!

    This may have been the same frog that jumped on my head a few weeks ago.  He was under the light, catching bugs.

whine, whine, whine

 Ever get bothered by really little things?

    I'm talking about the lettering on tv ads about banks, credit cards, cars, and drugs, among other advertisers.

    The lettering is so small you need a microscope to read it.  What purpose does it serve? 

    I imagine somebody said, "Hey, we need to tell people that they will pay high interest rates for the next 200 years on their loans, so lets put all that information in print that no one could read."

    I actually took a picture of one of those screens and magnified it.

    This is what it said.

Interest rate is .09 percent for the first 12 months, then climbs to 1.8 percent plus your first born child and half of your household possessions.  Should you fail to pay on time, we will send Frank over to bust your kneecaps and paint your house purple.

    Really!  That's what it said!  I would not lie to you!

    Another little thing that drove me nuts.  I have a few lines in a play and I get confused on two of them.  One of them I forgot to highlight, so I never knew I had to say it.  Now I know, and I can't remember it.

    The line?  See you later, gorgeous.

    Really.....four little words and I can't for the life of me get them out.

    Like I said, it's the little things that bother me.

Peace and Love

Yummy!! And Honored!!!!

We had a great visit today 

    Jackie's brothers came for lunch.  We had Bob  and Anita, Joe and his son Brian, Emily, John, Jackie, me, Oberon.....  Oh, wait.  Oberon is the dog and he left before we ate.

    It turns out two and a half hamburger buns was more than enough.  Way more.  Way, way, more.

    And I forgot to put out the chips and dip.  Even MORE food.  

    Bob and Anita are living in Florida, so we have not seen them in 2 years.  Jackie "talks" to him during Cubs games, and we Facetime, but this is our first in person visit in a while.  Same with Joe.  He lives in the suburbs, but we just never seem to get together.

    My day started with a super nice surprise.  Two of our friends, Lauren and John, are doing the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or the Ragbrai.  Lauren dedicated their first day ride to me!  

    I was truly honored.  And to be honest, a bit emotional.  Just a bit.

    I have always wanted to do the ride, but never thought I could.  Now I know I couldn't.  They go something like 460 miles in 7 days.  When we went to the Netherlands to bike we rode about 20 miles a day and I was pretty tired. I was younger then too.  

    Now I can do the ride vicariously through my friends.  

    I can't tell you how much I appreciate being thought of in that way.

Peace and Love