Books & Things

 Let me update you before I go into the book details. My cat returned!  All of a sudden my neighbor said he saw him on his patio around midnight. The next night my daughter opened our door at midnight and in he ran. He was a lot lighter but his fur was clean and smooth - he did not seem to suffer out there. My daughter thinks somebody had him  and he escaped or they let him out or he was caught in a garage or shed somewhere.

The book I'm currently reading is about the insane blizzard that hit eastern Nebraska in 1888. Children are the main story here because the blizzard hit when the little one room school houses were just letting out and they were walking home. A mile to five miles for some.

It is a book of fiction but the author uses the factual events in her story. She just embellishes on them and mixes them up a bit.  I can tell you this much. I never want to go to Nebraska after reading this.

 

Other good reads in March. "Nomadland" by Jessica Bruder. This one has been made into a movie with the same name starring Frances McDormand. It is an eye opener for what is happening to a large group of senior citizens who have found themselves lacking in their senior years. Especially after the big economy hit of 2008.  Another good book was "The Hiroshima Cover Up" by Lesley M M Blume. I prefer non-fiction over fiction.  Still another - "90 Minutes at Entebbe" by William Stevenson.

The remodel is mostly done in the basement. Enough that they could move in. Carpet is down and the flooring on the "kitchen" side is complete. Bedroom and living area are set up and daughter's beau's music room is complete. Still needs a few touches.  Next we purchase a small refrigerator (already picked out) and order a grill and two burner set up. They have and love their air fryer and of course have a microwave. Currently they set everything on a large oak table I had in the basement, but my daughter wants to have cabinets installed eventually.

The dog situation did not get better. I purchased a muzzle for the pit bull but they have only had her wear it once. She has attacked both of my dogs (one of them twice) and so far the cat has avoided her because they keep both their dogs downstairs. It is not ideal but for now it works.

One of my sisters have moved into my town. She lost her license years ago and I will drive her here and there if I am available. She lives about three miles from me, maybe 5. She is big on walking. She walks and walks. I told her I would help her and for her to call me anytime EXCEPT when she is drunk or drinking. So far so good.

I have the green light from work to "work from home" permanently now. I have to pick up a few things from the office but I will get to that. I am re-arranging my upstairs (due to excess household items that moved in) and I have a work desk in the garage I need to have brought in and set up.

This water turtle my daughter brought with her is a yellow-bellied slider. I am fascinated. I am learning how to clean and take care of it's tank. But the best part is I can feed her!  I certainly must come from a long line of women who have to feed everyone and every living soul.  For the most part the bearded dragon turns his nose up at the greens I cut up for him but this turtle will eat everything!  Well, except carrot tops. She didn't like those. Previous owner named her Shelley (Shelly) and mostly abandoned her so when my daughter moved in a couple of years ago, she adopted her. The owner was neglecting the reptile and my daughter can't stand that.  The turtle is not friendly so I keep my fingers away from her sharp beak-like mouth.

I just read where they can live up to 40 years in captivity. Holy cow!

Life is Not Fair

 Life is not fair. We all have to learn that at some time or another. 

Growing up we lived close to a road. Several of our pets were hit by a car and rushed to a vet or died. Back in the 60's nobody cared if you chained a dog up to a barrel outside and fed them once a day. What a life!  I've become very aware of how important it is to care for your pets and act responsibly.

I am a sucker for a rescue. A couple of years ago my co-worker brought in this kitten she found on the road (cars were passing over it - it was just a matter of time).  It had no tail and was just a tiny kitten. I held him with me that night in bed and began feeding him goats milk (all I could find at the time). He promptly chewed the rubber nipple off the little tiny bottle. I had been trying to get him to eat top shelf canned and pouches of cat food. He turned up his nose. I tried dry food and we were off and running.

Later we did switch to wet food (urinary tract issues) so that he could get more water into his system. He was different than any cat I have ever owned. He certainly doles out attention on his terms. In the above photo he is in my bathroom destroying my trash I just bagged up from the bin.

Now, to the "not fair" part. I've been remodeling the basement for my daughter and her beau to move in. Due to some communication and weather issues the carpet did not get installed so they moved in with me upstairs. My daughter has a huge Pyraneese dog and her beau a medium sized pit bull. My cat went nuts. Moses (my cat) has been around Cheech and Chong for two years. I'd often say "He thinks he's a dog." Moses hid downstairs in the ceiling above the downstairs bathroom.

I went down several times trying to coax him out and I brought him cans of cat food. He barely ate. I also have a litter box downstairs. My daughter and I argued about this, about her beau's dog, but as a parent you probably know and understand that you pick your battles in this life. And I wanted peace. I felt that when they moved to the basement, Moses would come back upstairs and all would work itself out.

I was wrong. While letting Chong out one evening, Moses came upstairs (I did not expect this) and shot out the door. I tried to go get him - he took off. He has done this before (when it was just Cheech and Chong here with me) but he comes back. It was late and I went to bed. My daughter said she heard him outside later and tried to get him inside, but he was having none of it. He probably still smelled the pit bull. This is a very sweet and friendly dog if you know her. She adores you when you feed her and will follow you everywhere and lick you until you tell her to stop. She was curious about the cat and it was probably completely normal for the cat to freak out.

It has been a week and my Moses has not returned. I walked the neighborhood. I asked everybody I saw and they all said they would keep an eye out. Moses is afraid of everything. I doubt that he could have been caught by somebody and taken inside their house. I posted in our paper's lost and found. They posted it on their facebook page. I posted to my page. The last I looked, it had been shared over 30 times.

Of course my daughter is extra nice to me now. She and her beau feel awful. I grieve (but not in front of them). I say nothing because I know and understand that life is not fair. Why make them feel worse than they do? My daughter is getting flyers printed and wants to go door to door. I will when the weather warms up (today and tomorrow). This is just one of life's lessons that we all have to swallow sooner or later.

I want to tell Moses that I am sorry. I want to tell him that I did not mean to abandon him if that is how he felt. I worry - is he cold? Is he in pain? Where is he? Is he scared? I think of the old movie "Come Back little Sheba" and I play the song from the 2017 version of "Murder on the Orient Express"  titled "Never Forget". Sung by Michelle Pfeiffer, music by Patrick Doyle and lyrics by Kenneth Branagh. Yes, the Kenneth Branagh the actor who stars in this version of Agatha Christie's mystery. 

It starts out "Please, would you come home? Would you stay with me?"  If you know the story it is about a murder on the infamous train and the detective who solves it. The story takes you back in time when a young girl was kidnapped from her home and murdered and the people in the household that were suspect. There is a 1974 version, which I saw in the theater and this version with Michelle Pfeiffer and K Branagh. It is a haunting melody and one I hum and sing to myself often.

I was an Agatha Christie fan in middle school. My favorite of course was "And Then There Were None" aka "Ten Little Indians."  I've tried to watch every version of the story I can find. 

I won't elaborate on how I feel any more than I already have. Hope for the best and put one foot in front of the other. Life is not fair. Nobody said it would be. I never promised you a rose garden (which reminds me of another movie....) - oh, and a song.

Science Fiction

 This is a photo from May 2019. When I stopped at the light, I thought it was funny, so I took a picture. Computers. Now we can't live without them. Sneaky little devils, aren't they. Of course maybe it was intentional. A secret code between two lovers. Hmmmm...

The remodel is stalled; for the 3rd time Lowe's has canceled and rescheduled the team that is to come out and measure the floor.  This time I told them never mind -  if I wanted to reschedule I would call them. So, back to shopping for a flooring company. The very first one ticked us off because the sales lady was very prudish and talked down to us. Then she realized she was being a jerk and started to back pedal. I didn't bite. I let my daughter and her beau deal with it and I walked out. We never went back.

Tires on the car today.  A year ago Honda told me I needed two replaced. Then the pandemic hit and I barely drove anywhere so it was put off and put off.  Things are beginning to pick up a little and I need to travel a few places for work - so tires must be purchased.

Okay - reading. The last I spoke of my reading material was the Tom Hanks movie "News of the World" and the book by Paulette Jiles. Which led me to read "The Captured" by Scott Zesch. No fiction - the books were recorded history. And "The Great Influenza."

This month it is all fiction.  "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman and "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. I also found a movie from 2000 starring Matthew Modine "Flowers for Algernon". They did a pretty good job with the movie. The flowers book is considered Science Fiction. Both books were okay. I try to follow the Goodreads lists of what others are reading and suggesting.

I might just stick to my non fiction. I'm finding the fiction books listed there a bit off my liking. Or maybe it's me. I recall a few years back somebody talking to me about reading and I told them I couldn't stand fiction any longer, I only read non fiction. Perhaps that is still my deal.

Today's temperature is almost 60º F today. I am actually colder in my house when the weather is like this than if the weather is 2º or so. The furnace does not run when it is warmer outside but the cold and wet seeps into the house and I freeze. I sat here at my computer and looked at my bearded dragon for so long with his heat lamp, I set one up under my desk to keep my feet warm.

I have to get a new drivers license. I did get mine renewed last summer but I don't know what the hell happened to it!  I can't even remember if I actually got it in the mail or not. I suppose I did. I still have my old one but it does nothing - they shot it full of holes. LOL! That's what they do to the old ones I guess. My daughter worked at the DMV for a while, she told me. I looked at my old one - sure enough. There are a few holes punched into it.

My poor cat was left outside all night. At least it wasn't below freezing. Usually I do a head count before I retire but I guess I didn't last night. He sure was ready to come inside this morning.

I have been reading a few stories about the residents of Texas. How horrible it all is. I've had pipes freeze before. We never got a flood, though. I think we knew to turn the water off. I don't know. I remember our furnace quitting and drinking tea by the fireplace all day so of course I had to get up to use the restroom in the middle of the night and as my sleepy eyes looked at the stream of water (we left running in the bathtub so it wouldn't freeze) I saw that it was a frozen strand of ice from faucet to bathtub floor. Ah...good times.

"Dumpster's full"

 I had no trouble (or the guys had no trouble) filling that dumpster up. And still I have stuff that needs to go. I told Mr. Dumpster guy maybe in the Spring. We are all burnt out with this re-modeling right now.

I may not have had much trouble filling the dumpster, but Mr. Dumpster guy had a hell of a time pulling the "filled-to-the-brim" unit out of my yard.

It took him over 2 hours but he stayed with it. I guess he had no choice.

Say "hello" to my little friend!

 I've had cats. I've had dogs. I've never had a creature like this one before. He is the Devil incarnate. Never before have I had a cat that did not want to just curl up and let me pet him and hold him. This cat wants attention and plenty of it. It's just that he wants to tear my hands and arms up with his claws as he grabs hold and bites me - hard. So hard I have to place my finger through his teeth to get him to break the bite. And as he does this his eyes are black as coal and his ears are flat back onto his head. He hates it when I pet him. He grumbles and thrusts his head away and runs away from me.

I beat him at his own game and he hates it. I slather lotion on my arms and hands and he turns away in disgust. Poor baby.

I am struggling reading a book. No, it's vocabulary is not above my intelligence. I've had books where I had to keep a dictionary handy (I am embarrassed to say, but it is what it is). This one is very plainly written. After watching "News of the World" with Tom Hanks and getting the book and reading it (the book is better) I am reading a book the author, Paulette Jiles, recommends at the end. 

It is a non-fiction book by Scott Zesch titled, "The Captured." It tells the collected stories, newspaper clippings and tales from folks whose ancestors had been captured by various tribes (Comanche, Lipan Apache, Kiowa)  in 1870's Texas and returned to their family after months living with the tribe that captured them.

Never again (okay, I am probably exaggerating) will I complain if my car tire is low on air, or even a flat tire, or I am stuck in traffic or if my gas bill is sky high. I have asked the constellation "Why is life so hard?!" at various times in my life and I am not proud of that remark. Especially after reading this book. Well, I'm not finished yet. In fact, I am only 33% through it. Sometimes I have to stop reading, especially when I find my fingers are clutched to something so hard they are turning white. And last night for the first time (in maybe - ever) I had trouble sleeping because of reading a book. Movies -   yes, but a book - no. This one is getting to me. Harsh.

The thing is, it isn't what happened to the individual who was returned. It was the information they shared about the white hostages who did NOT make it back. And how the abductors dealt with the family members they did not take with them or murdered during their journey back to their clan's settlement.   What they witnessed during their ordeal of being taken. 

Yeah. Sometimes I have had to stop and take a breather with this one.

Lost Closet

 I have Monday (MLK day) off from work.  Guess what I get to do?  I call it a lost closet.  My daughter will be 30 this year.  My niece moved out over 10 years ago. My nephew married about 7 years ago and sometime after that I stopped celebrating Christmas.  

The dumpster outside is empty. This closet is full.  Can I overcome nostalgia? Will my back hold out?

Don't even try it.

 If this image doesn't convey the message "Don't mess with me" I don't know what does. And not a weapon in sight. Reminds me of the song (family favorite) titled "The Ballad of the Green Berets" by Sgt. Barry Sadler.  The line:  "Trained in combat hand to hand."

Narcissism is our ego on a scale. If you imagine a scale of 1 to 100 and all the people you know fall somewhere on that scale. Some are more "self-centered" than others. That was the word we used in the 70's "Self-centered."  It meant rude and selfish.  If you look back through history you can probably guess where some people fall on the Narcissistic scale. I can think of one individual that might just be pushing the needle as far as it can go.

Abhorrent

 

Sweed

 One of the quirks of watching your favorite Christmas movies over and over again each year, is you start to pay attention and research the little things. One of my favorite scenes in "A Christmas Story 1983) is when the neighbors join in while Ralph's father (Old Man Parker) is checking out his prize leg lamp in the window of his living room.

I turned closed-caption on so I could get it right. The above character is Sweed. (I would have spelled it Swede, but whatever).  He says "Damn hell, you won it, you say?"

Trivia:  He is Bob Clark - the director of the movie.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?  Mine is "Christmas with the Kranks 2004." based on the novel "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham.

Next phase

 Basement is ready for drywall.  Worker said call him after the holidays.  I need to get the electrician in for a couple of outlets (like the one just hanging there) and get those cleaned up.

Moving along. One dumpster full of paneling, carpet, old flooring, and junk has been removed.  I could not believe I had 7 old PC towers. Seven!  I think 3 were mine. The rest were systems that family/friends brought to me but could not be saved and were never picked up.

I removed the hard drives and placed the rest in the dumpster. I'm looking at the old EIDE Hard drives. They aren't even SATA for crying out loud. I have a device that can read SATA. I think I have a device that will read the older EIDE, just have to find it.

It is mid December and there is too much chocolate!  As you get older, for some reason, people seem to think you need more sweets. Somebody brought a torte and it had not been touched during the visit and they left it! It is about six inches round and six inches tall. It tastes like a fudgy (what fudge cannot be used as an adjective?) chocolate brownie with cream filling on the inside and iced with a gooey chocolate icing. It is much too rich and will end up in the trash or the garbage disposal.

Petit fours! Next time I want petit fours!

Years ago when I was young and living in Virginia we (my beau and I) did not have much money. I had not eaten all day and a co-worker/friend had gifted me a box of petit fours.  Well, I'd never eaten those before. On the way home I ate a few. I swear I was drunk on sugar by the time I got home. Now I can order or eat petit fours all day long if I want to. I don't. The only place I've seen them served is at the Holiday Inn where we would have our Thanksgiving dinner buffet. 

Edit:  I almost forgot the reading.  I finished two fiction stories so far this month. "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig and "The Family Upstairs" by Lisa Jewell.  I enjoyed both of them.

And movies.  This week I watched "Christmas with the Kranks" a favorite of mine. I'm not sure I will get all the Christmas movies watched by Christmas but I suppose there is nothing to stop me from watching them into the New Year.

I am still blessed with being able to work from home. There is not much reason to go to any schools because most of them are working remotely and the equipment has been humming along. Hah! Which does not mean I have nothing to do. Far from it. I have a lot to do - I just enjoy it more because I can do it in the warmth and comfort of my own living room.

Oh, how about that snow storm?  Eastern Ohio got a bit. But with the "working from home" there goes the once in a great while "Snow day" where you could go sledding with your kids or bake cookies.

Moses my "tail-less" cat

 Not all tail-less cats are Manx. I don't think he is a Manx. He sure is something, though.  He is not like any cat I have had before. He is a biter.  He does not like me to touch him, he ducks his head away when I reach over or down to pet him.  Maybe he's autistic?

What he really wants to do is wrap his legs around my arm, bite somewhere on me as hard as he can (I have to pry his mouth away by sticking my fingers between his teeth). I am thinking it might be a long ingrained urge in felines. I do spay/neuter all my animals as soon as I possibly can after I get them. I make sure I put a lot of lotion on my hands and arm if I am going to be holding him. He doesn't like to bite me or lick me then. Especially if I use a medicated lotion. And he doesn't stay long.

But he craves and tries to get my attention. He comes over and grabs my leg with his claws and meows as if saying "Play with me!"  If I am busy and he wants attention, he gets on the kitchen counter and knocks something off of it.  Or somewhere else - just like an ornery child he will take negative attention - as long as he gets me to get up or focus on him. He is a brat!

I've been keeping tabs in a spreadsheet of the deaths in Ohio from Covid. The average daily death rate in May (highest until now) of this year was 37.  November just barely beat that by 1 with 38.  A daily "average".

About a week ago I noticed that I am getting a little bit of cabin fever.  As I have told my co-workers and friends before me - I don't mind staying home. I don't mind being alone. But I know it is not healthy so I try to get out. I have a big family and I love getting together with them but that has been curtailed quite a bit for months. You know why. Some family members aren't sheltering as much as the others. Their choice. I wish the best for them. I have one sister who has type O blood. I've read a few times that people with this blood type seem to be immune from the virus.  I don't have that type. I am A positive.

This recent surge of covid spread is just as bad (if not worse) than what we were having in May. And there may be a lot more to come. I do like some of the newer practices that have come to fruition since the virus began. Such as curbside pick-up for groceries. Ordering on line.  WalMart here does it, but I really don't care much for that place.  I have a local store that just started it. The fact that I have shopped there for over 20 years helps me choose and know what products I want.

Still, there are errors.  They do call if they are out of something and suggest an alternative.  You have to be careful - live and learn. I wanted a beef roast that was on sale for $3.99 a pound. She called and said they were out, but they had another roast - I don't recall what. I said "Okay - that's fine."  Of course that one was not on sale and I had forgotten.  So I paid a lot more than I wanted to.  Like I say - live and learn.  I also ordered 1 gallon of spring water and 1 of distilled.  I got 2 gallons of spring.  

A crew is coming in tomorrow to rip my basement apart.  Of course snow is in the forecast. On Saturday me, my daughter and her beau cleared a bunch of stuff out of it and put it in the garage. We are hoping we can put it in the dumpster that the crew is bringing for the stuff they rip out. I have mentioned before that I do have a hoarding problem. I was happy to note that most of the stuff was from a previous beau of my daughters.  And at certain times we had his brother staying with us. He filled my basement up with his stuff - he left it. So - out it goes.

We are getting the carpet pulled up and this time I am getting linoleum on the floor and will purchase a big rug.  And the dark paneling is going.  If there is moisture behind it this crew can fix that. Yay! If I like them (I have not met them  yet - my daughter set this up) - I will see if they will do the remodeling for us.  If they don't mind I'll get some pictures of the basement as they work.  I am a bit afraid that there may be mold behind the paneling. If there is, I hope it is not the bad kind.  I really don't want to go live in a motel room. I read that is what they do. If it is the bad mold you have to leave pronto until they come in hazmat suits and clean it up.  If that does happen, I hope to God my insurance covers it.

My dryer stopped heating (the little t-shirt icon stays on that reads "Cool-down") and I can't get it to turn off.  I researched this on line and it seems this is a very common problem for this model of dryer. Many say - just replace it. It is cheaper. Great. I was going to call in a repairman. What I have read is they replace this, and then that, and then the control board and pretty soon - bingo!  You have paid enough to replace the damn thing.

Or, if they replace the correct part - it just quits again in a year. 

This is the set that the washer had to have something fixed. I read about this recall on a washing machine that looked a lot like mine. I went down and checked the serial number. Sure enough - mine was in the recall. But it was funny.  The article said when washing large bedding the machine tub could possibly break away from the dryer and crash through the outside. It also said the dryer may vibrate, spin and levitate.  It DID!  It said LEVITATE!  I was laughing. I said "About the time my washing machine levitates - I am heading for the hills!"

Anyway, Samsung (I wonder if they are affiliated with Samsonite?) contracted the fix out to Fed Ex or something. I know - weird, right? That's what I said when my daughter told me.  When the repairman came, he said he has to break the tub and replace a part. He said ours was very close to breaking. Most of the time he has to pull really hard, he said ours snapped apart with not much effort at all. Figures.  My daughter told him that was weird. She said we rarely wash the bedding. When she told me that (I was at work when it was repaired) I said - Excuse me. I clean my bedding all the time!  Down Comforters create a lot of air pockets and I guess this was creating a problem in the machine. He had to re-label the controls and now we are to use "Delicate cycle" for bedding. It's been fine since then, but now the dryer.

Samsonite and Samsung are not related. Interesting tidbit - Samsonite's founder was very religious and he named his suitcase "Samson" - then the company became Samsonite.  We used to have a set. I still have one of them.  It is not used for luggage. I have other things (nostalgia) stored in it.

And of course, now I remember the popular commercial for Samsonite, where they have a gorilla in a cage at a zoo jump up and down on Samsonite luggage to show how durable it is. Remember that? Oh no. It was not Samsonite. It was American Tourister!  LOL!  I guess that advertising didn't stick with me. Or did it?  I bought a huge set in 1979 of American Tourister. That set is no longer around.

Oh, don't get started on old commercials. While typing this, I let the youtube videos run after the gorilla video. Samsonite had the commercial with the blackbelt guy hitting it and he cannot damage it. Duh.

I am so tired I am rambling.

 

I miss him.

 I miss him more than the others.  I have three boxes of ashes, now. We still have Cheech and Chong - they are 11 years old or so.  I found the above dog (Slade) just after I adopted Cheech and Chong. Slade was difficult at times but my, he was a big baby. So sweet and just so happy. I did not dock his tail. I can't tell if the ears were clipped - I don't think they were. If they were - it didn't take. I would not do either to a dog. I had a purebred Labrador one time, but had to re-home him. I always worry that I did the right thing. I usually get the animals that are abandoned or nobody wants. 

He (Slade - above) was running the streets and almost got hit by a car when I picked him up. He was panting heavily - he had been running a while. I tried to find his owner(s) and advertised. No chip.

Don't think that the short hair dogs don't shed. He did. Little short reddish-brown hairs. And they get all over your clothes, too. My animals all hated when I took their picture. They have trouble looking at the camera/phone.  This is very rare that I was able to get a shot of him looking at the camera.

I have finished reading  "Hillbilly Elegy" - there is also a movie coming out on Netflix on Nov 24th or so. I am keeping an eye out for that.  I finished "The Thursday Murder Club" .  I like the style of writing and the way the author portrayed the older women and their little nuances.

Oh - and Alex Trebek's autobiography "The Answer Is..."  It is an easy read. It was interesting to learn some things about the guy. I think he was somebody people would enjoy talking to. "Shoot the breeze" so to say.  Now you know I had to go and search the origin of the phrase, excuse me "idiom" 'Shoot the Breeze'.  I read that the word breeze was at one time a slang term for rumor.

Another site states shooting the breeze (idle chit chat, easy relaxed gossip) - is as easy as shooting air (the breeze).

Had to

 I had to throw this picture up here. My niece has a 15 year old daughter and the above 3 boys. I thought she did an awfully creative get up for Halloween.  She gave them all names that start with "R".  The girl, too. If that isn't asking for confusion, I don't know what is.

It has become chilly in NE Ohio. That wind. Is that from Zeka? Zulu? Crap. Who is Eta? Eh- Central America. Can't find any news on the most recent hurricane that went through. Old news. And a typhoon. Why don't they name typhoons?  Too few of them? I guess that's a good thing.

Looks like we are going to get a little warmer by the week-end.

I dropped my ballot off at the courthouse. I saw all those people standing in line in this cold. I also saw a friend and her daughter posted they stood in line for 4 hours on Saturday.

I am a procrastinator. I finally requested an Absentee ballot on Tuesday of this week. I received it Saturday and dropped it off today. 

I don't think I could handle standing in line for more than an hour. An hour would be hard enough.

I had a back-up plan. If I did not receive the ballot by Tuesday, I was going to my voting spot as early as possible and deal with whatever was going on.

Started reading "Hillbilly Effigy - whoops Elegy." I see where Netflix made a movie from the book. Opens in select theaters on Nov 11th and airs on Netflix on Nov 24th. Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

I like Glenn and Amy.  I looked at some pics (I won't watch a trailer if given the opportunity. I want to read the book first). I am pleased with the look of the characters. Glenn looks similar to relatives I have in WV and in one picture Amy's hair is out of control.  

Speaking of November 11th - that's Veteran's Day.  It has only happened once before but this year my work organization is taking that day off as a holiday. Now, I don't mean any disrespect to veterans but most schools are in session that day.  Some do take the day off but most are in session.

And I certainly don't want to come across as whining about a paid day off from work (I'd rather it be at Thanksgiving, Christmas or in the Spring - but whatever. Beggars, choosers - you know.)

Since I am trying to stay home as much as possible, I will be home all of that day. Probably. You know I am going to log into work and take a peek at the Helpdesk ticket queue.  I can't help it. I worry about my districts and if they are not able to work - they are unable to ask for help until the next day. 

If any of you know how technology has changed our world, you probably understand that like heat, electricity and water - the Internet is a "must have" in the classroom, now.  Hey - I see why people are talking about making it a utility. Huh.  Anyway, I will try not to work but if I can resolve an issue easily, I'm going to do it.

I forgot about Trick or Treat. I think it was Saturday in my area. I did have candy (a big bowl from a while back) but when I looked in there today I see that somebody has been helping themselves and the dogs can't reach that high. Moses, (the cat) do you think?  Hmmm...

I guess I'm glad I did not turn my porch light on. The first group would have come to the door and I would have grabbed the bowl and  ....."Uh oh..."  I had apples - but I don't want to be THAT lady.  I suppose they would notice if I dropped a cat in the bag.  How about a bearded dragon?  Pop tarts?  A used pencil?  Ibuprofen?

Eating fresh during the Quarantine/Pandemic

On a good day, I am able to offer the bearded dragons plenty of fresh vegetables and a bit of fruit. The female (now passed) ate her greens very well. My daughter raised her from when she was a tiny baby. But the male we obtained after he was almost a year old. He is quite persnickety when it comes to greens. Well, green he won't eat. He will eat blueberries. He was doing very well with squash, carrots and sweet red peppers but recently I am lucky if I can get him to eat a blueberry or two. When I do offer him the blueberries I put them in a tiny container of water so I can get some water into him.

It is difficult to keep fresh greens during the pandemic. I try not to go out very often, but if I want fresh greens then I have to stay vigilant.  But then he hasn't been eating. I wonder if he is in a sort of semi brumation stage. When the female brumated, she went inside her "hide" (a small cave kept dark and she felt safe in there) and slept for a month.

The male will crawl in his "hide" every once in a while, but mostly just plops himself into the corner of the tank and sleeps there. Barely moving for about 3 days. Then he comes out, eats a blueberry or two, eats a handful of dubia roaches and back to his corner. I try to get him into a bath on the days that he moves around. My daughter told me to add a bit of calcium into the bath water. A way to get calcium into him - absorbs it through the water. He also gets water this way. He won't drink it outright like the female did.

He is about six feet away from my computer desk and I look over at him often. He used to be VERY active when the female was alive. After she passed he lost his zing. She was kept in a separate tank and we blocked the glass so they could not see one another. I guess he could smell her. But he watches me and I glance at him. They can just stare for hours without moving. I guess I'm kind of used to him over there and since I am working from home I have had time to study his changes and the way he does things. 

They really are quite remarkable creatures. He loves it when I softly pet the top of his head with my finger. I know I've hit the right spot when his eyes close. Mostly I use a soft make-up brush. My daughter and I went through a phase a couple of years back when for some reason or another, we bought a bunch of make up brushes. Naturally, the ones I use for the dragon I do not use for me. A large one with the bristles fanned out is the cat's favorite toy. He loves that thing. I haven't seen it in a while, so he must have pushed it under something. I'll have to look for it.

I Want to Stay Home

I ventured north to work on a family member's computer Friday. I hesitated because all three people in the house are over 75. And my county just went to a higher level this week. Sigh.

 I am back home and staying home. I have no plans to leave for at least a week, I am hoping longer. I am going to try to do a job remotely. They want me to come to them on Friday the 30th. I have all this week to remote into their computers and get what I need to get done finished. I don't want to go there.

I don't want to go there even when there is no pandemic going on. They are what we call "End users who we need to hold their hand."   Which basically translates to they can't do or think for themselves (as far as technology goes). Whether they can't or won't is debatable, but they do not move forward unless I go there and do it for them or walk them through it.

Next book up:  "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman.

I may also start " Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis."

I want to stay home. I love to stay home. I don't need to socialize. Well, not much.

 

Drained

 Totally. Drained. I awoke with a migraine this morning. I went to bed with this little nagging headache. I had a migraine last week also. Rats. I was having them so rarely, I thought - yay.  When I got out of bed, I immediately took my sumatriptan and ibuprofen. 

Now, I am drained. Completely void of any mental or physical energy. I am able to work but not exuberantly. If I ever did work exuberantly. I'm pretty sure I have. But certainly not today.

I always described a migraine or a post-migraine as feeling like a wet, limp dish rag. My Mom always used the thinnest dish rags she could find so she could fit her hand inside of glasses. After finishing the dishes, I would squeeze the water out of the dish rag and there was barely anything to the poor, wet thing.

I wanted to tell you about the book "Sonya". It was difficult starting out, but it picked up and I liked it later on. And, the old British show "Upstairs Downstairs".  I am watching that - the 70's version. 

But right now all I want to do is sleep. I may take the rest of the afternoon off from work and just do that. Except I took a vacation day tomorrow. You know that looks fishy when you do that and then take off sick the day or afternoon before a vacation day. Like you are starting your vacation early. 

Not in this case. I really just want to sleep.

It could also be that I only had a half cup of coffee this morning instead of my usual 2 cups. That was all I could manage to drink.

Screw it. Screw what co-workers think. I'm going to bed.

Yowza

 I think I know where they came up with the idea for the scary Halloween characters we see in movies, in costumes and in our nightmares.

At first I thought that was her hair, but on a closer look, it is a hat/scarf or head covering of sorts and she had white/gray or blond hair.

I kind of like the head covering. I wonder if it was significant to a religion or her nationality. It reminds me of the scarves I would wear when all my hair fell out. I never did order a wig. I hate wigs. I can't even wear one on Halloween without sweating so much my hair is soaked. But the scarves and I got along just fine. Even if one made me look like a gypsy. Maybe I'll get brave enough and post a picture of me with no hair. Some people look good bald. I don't happen to be one of them.

Oh, and I think she is an ancestor of mine. A first cousin passed away and my brother ended up being the executor of his estate. He had been an only child and had his mother's huge chest of photographs and memorabilia. The above image is from this collection.  My brother painstakingly scanned all of the images (there were hundreds) and shared them with our other cousins. 

This guy had no will. No siblings. Parents long gone. Between both sides of his parents family he had eighty-some cousins. My brother got the job of tracking them all down and notifying them to see where they wanted their check sent, etc...  You read about this happening in books or in movies and you think "How does somebody not have a will?"  But it happens. 

Divvied up between eighty-some cousins it was nothing to crow about - but it would buy somebody a nice TV or new furniture set or even a laptop or computer.  The guy was a hermit. Through the years, my brother and sister (the older ones that played with him when they were small) tried reaching out to him several times as he lived only an hour away from where they live. He never answered the door, the phone or any letters.

Like I said, you hear about these people. I just never thought I would actually know one.

 

Little Blue Car

 Dug into my archives to do more posting of photos I have taken instead of finding ones on the Internet.    I believe the car is a 1963 Austin Wagon.  The date is June 2016.  I have no memory of where this was taken.  The Image properties option tells you a lot about the photo, but I thought I recall reading about a camera that would record the longitude and latitude of where the image was taken. That would be kind of nifty. Then 200 years from now, if by some chance an image survives - our future ancestors would know.

Take the Long Way Home

 After work Friday, I took the long way home.  The last few weeks have been a chaotic blur at work. I don't have to go often to a school physically, but I did on Friday.  Afterward, it was such a pretty afternoon, I slipped into the back (back) roads and headed home. Not for long. I didn't want to get lost.

Life in the year 1000

 The statue is a memorial to Byrhtnoth. He was the leader of the English (Anglo-Saxon) forces at the Battle of Maldon  in 991 AD.

Records declare he was six feet 9 inches tall.  Holy wow!

During this period in time, Vikings were coming from north to plunder the English country. It was customary for the English army to dismount and have their horses taken away from the battleground for safe keeping.

A cad stole By's trusty steed and rode away. Several men witnessed the horse galloping away and thought that it was the leader retreating, so they ran, too.

Poor By was not retreating and he perished at the Battle of Maldon. It does not specify where he was first buried but he was dug up and moved several times.  It was during one of these moves (1769) that the bones were measured and it was determined he was 6 feet 9 inches tall.

Fun fact (well not fun exactly) - the reason a sword has that long groove down the complete body of the weapon is to create an air pocket in the victim so it is easier to pull the sword back out. I wonder if this is what happens when you read where somebody twisted the knife after they stab them. Are they creating a pocket of air so they can pull the blade back out?

The book I was reading was "The Year 1000" by Robert Lacey. I had been looking for material to find out what kind of clothing/dress was available in that time frame. The book has so much more, though.

Next up:  "Agent Sonya" by Ben MacIntyre. I've been waiting to be able to check this one out. I am getting restless like the rest of the world is. Tired of the quarantine. Going places I probably should not be going. Sigh. It's just that I love the fall weather. All the area festivals have been canceled this year. I don't really go to them anymore, anyway. Too much walking for me. 

Once the cold weather really sets in, it will be easier to hibernate.