So what?

 I told my cat Moses that he was getting a little hefty in his mid section and he mumbled something back at me while looking at me like this.  I didn't catch all of it, but I did hear something about stones and glass houses.  Huh.  Whatever.

 As I mentioned in yesterday's comments I am tired of rude neighbors.  I drove to Columbus and back yesterday (250 miles in the pouring rain) and I was a bit tired and grumpy by the time I arrived home. I went to bed around 10:30 and was just drifting off to sleep when somebody lit a firecracker.  I jumped awake and sat up.  Then another one.  Very loud.  I got angry.  I went to my back door.  I turned on my back porch light and back yard light.  I saw my car keys. I grabbed them and hit the panic button.  My alarm started and I turned it back off.  Huh.  No more fireworks.  

 

Loud cars

 About the time I was learning to drive a car one of my brothers just started working in a steel mill and was making pretty good money.  He purchased a white AMC Hornet (I do not recommend) and a 1971 Mach 1 Fastback Ford Mustang.  Well, I guess I don't really recommend that one, either.  The above photo is the closest I could get to what his looked like, although his was dark blue and the tires were always bald  I am not positive his had the spoiler on the back but it might have.  You think I would remember since I washed that darn car so much.

I recall driving the Hornet in the summer of '76 to work at Ponderosa steak house.  And, the mustang in the summer of '77 when I worked at the local ice cream stand.  One time I started the mustang and realized I forgot something and ran back up to my bedroom.  The bedroom window was vibrating.  It was an old house but the car was loud.

I am 66.  The neighbors to my right are in their 50s.  Neighbors to the left, high 60's.  Neighbors across from me in their 70's and 80's.  Except one little house almost directly across from me.  A sweet old lady lived there until about a year ago.  A 26 year old man purchased the house.  Why in the hell he would want to live on a street with a bunch of retired folks - well, I don't know.

He has a loud car.  A very, loud car.  When he first starts it I jump out of my skin.  Then he let's it idle and he revs the engine.  Okay.  I get it.  How can I complain when we had a loud car when I was young? Actually, I never had a loud car. I only drove one a dozen or so times.  

I talked to one neighbor. She is directly to the left of his house.  She said she doesn't mind it, and as long as he doesn't sit and rev it.  I said "But, he does!"  The other day was too much.  It hasn't been hot enough to run the A/C so I've had windows and front door open letting fresh air in.  He started the car (about 3 in the afternoon) and I swear he was idling it in my front yard.  

I finally walked out on the porch and he was sitting in front of my neighbors house (they have a 16 year old teenage son).  He and his friend were outside and this 26 year old wanted to show off.  And, he did.  He squealed the tires and revved the engine.  All the way to the end of the street and then more when he turned onto the next street.  It was so, so loud!  

It might be the way the sound travels directly to my house.  I may talk to more neighbors before I talk to him.  I can tolerate it if he would start it up and go - then when he comes home, park it in the garage and shut it down.  No, he has to rev it four or five times.  Gah!

He drives a very quiet SUV during the colder months.

Two and two

 Our nest has been two and two for a few days.  Two babies and two eggs.  I do recall there was a few days between her laying two eggs and four.  I left things alone today.  I'll check tomorrow if I can.

Reading:  American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald

Where Are the Children by Mary Higgins Clark

Dinner With King Tut by Sam Kean

Worth their weight in gold

 Growing up I just never appreciated a good tasting, fresh out of the garden, tomato.  My Mom and Dad put a garden in every  year for a long time.  I don't recall the last year we had one.  I know it was a lot of work.  I hated to hoe the weeds.  Mosquitoes ate me alive.

I just can't find a good tomato.  I go to farmer's markets and they are selling the same hard, barely pink tomatoes you can get in the grocery store.  The other day I did get a real tomato at a local farm store in the area.  But, their bacon was gray when I fried it up.  That was the second "bad" item I had purchased from that store, so I won't be going back there.  Not even for a "real" tomato.

There is a farmer's market in my town every week.  Rarely do I get a real tomato.  Most stands are run by the Amish and it isn't their produce.  They just get up early, go to a huge market miles away and bring it to our town.  The produce is not picked out of their garden that morning.  Years ago, I did come across a little produce stand.  The lady was Vietnamese or similar and she said she had just picked the tomatoes that morning.  They were delicious.  But, I can't find any of those stands any longer.  People are probably canning or freezing any tomatoes they grow.  

My Mom would can (not sure why the call it can because we used mason jars).  Towards the last  years, she only canned tomatoes and that is the only produce I know how to can.  She rarely let any of us help out in the kitchen.  I think we just got in the way and she didn't have the patience to teach us. She would get mad and preferred to do it herself.

We even have a few "honor system" produce stands here and there.  Not many, as they are getting ripped off and will stop eventually.  I stopped at one a few years back and left my money in a box where the sign said to place it.  I'm sure they got ripped off as they were near a busy highway and some degenerate certainly stopped and helped themselves to either produce or the money box or both.

The deer eat everything we grow in my neighborhood.  My neighbors have become very creative as they continue to grow produce in their back yard.  I have to sprinkle a powder (ox blood) around my flowers to keep the deer away.  After it rains, I have to reapply.  My sister planted 25 tomato plants when she first moved into her most recent house and the deer ate every one.  A few years back she and her daughter had a big garden and the groundhogs went through and took a bite out of each tomato, leaving the rest on the vine.  All that work.

I can remember one year we had SO many tomatoes that my brother, his friend and I had a tomato fight in the garden.  It was the end of the season.  The stalks were all brown and dried.  We threw them at each other.  They were rotting on the vine.  I was a teenager.  I didn't appreciate our garden fresh produce back then.  I remember  another year, my Mom made me take a big brown paper bag of vegetables and leave it on our neighbor's doorstep.  Just to get rid of some of it.

My Mom never grew lettuce, onions, peas, radish or broccoli. I think those are the early  plants?  We had plenty of cucumbers, corn, tomatoes and green beans.  I figure most young adults and children have no idea that a cucumber has prickly little bumps on it when first picked.  I can still remember how it felt to pick a cucumber and rub the dirt and prickles off of it before putting it in the basket.

We never had a fence around our garden.  It was huge compared to our neighbors. In fact most of our neighbors didn't even put in a garden (this would have been late 60s through the 70s).  I only remember one time my dad was taking a gun down to the garden to shoot a pesky rabbit and I cried and asked him not to.  If he did shoot the rascal, it wasn't when I was around.  

One year we grew pumpkins.  We never did that again.  We had pumpkins coming out of our ears. I can remember them in our house lining up and down the upstairs hallway.  They were everywhere.  I'll probably go out and about today searching for a real tomato.  Mayonnaise in the fridge ?  Well, Miracle Whip.  I grew up on Miracle Whip.  Check.  Bread in the cupboard?  Check - fresh from the grocery store bakery (not the commercial loaf).  Salt and pepper?  Check.  It probably won't happen.  But, I can dream.  I got lucky a few weeks ago but like I said - the other products in that store are questionable.

Update on bird nest

 I just checked.  We now have four eggs for this third clutch.  I hope the fourth one doesn't get pushed out of the nest like the last one did.  Or, I think he did.  After all four were born, one disappeared before the others got really big before they began to fly.  She should have added on to her house before laying that fourth egg.  I could have helped but I know her. She wouldn't ask.

No stranger things here

 I take Milton (old dog) outside to do his business.  I sweep the back porch (pine tree in neighbor's yard, I always have needles on the porch) while he is busy.  All probably less than 3 minutes.

I return to my desk and I see this.  I keep a glass of ice water on my desk at all times.  I drink from it often as I am always in the kitchen refilling it.  I know that I probably took a sip not long before taking the dog out.

I stare at the toy on my yeti cup for a minute.  I go to the basement stairs and holler down to my daughter. "Did you put the plastic toy lizard on my water?"  She walks over to the bottom of the stairs and looks up at me.  "What?"   I repeat my question.  She says "I have no idea what you're talking about."

I walk back to my desk and look at my cat sleeping in the dog's bed.  (He thinks he is a dog).  I had Milton outside with me.  Currently, nobody else in the house.

How did that toy get there?  It didn't help that I was currently reading an article about quantum physics and how it may be related to a form of after life.  (I don't know how I get down these rabbit holes. I just read something and I have to follow it up and pretty soon....I'm in way over my head.)

A few minutes later it hits me.  I had JUST wiped my monitor down with a dust rag before taking the dog outside.   The little toy must have been on the top of my monitor or somewhere that the cloth could catch it and deposit it right on the top of my cup.

I don't need any mysteries in my life.  I'll spend all day until I get to the logical reasoning for it.  If I don't figure it out, I'll lay awake at night wondering what the what.

On a lighter note.  For the past 2 days I have had to put drops in my left eye. Pataday.  I haven't used this medicine for months.  My eye hurt.  It didn't itch.  It was blurry.  But, instant relief.  It gives relief for hours.  My right eye is a bit dry (because I keep fans on me at all times, probably) but it does not ache like my left one is.  Eye appt next month.  I'll ask the doctor about it if I am still having issues.

I was always missing my eye when I put drops in.  I don't do it often enough to do better.  I have found out that NOT closing the other eye helps my aim.

Clutch number 3

 Three new eggs.  This is the third clutch.  Not sure if it is the same mama or a different one.  They all look alike.

I grabbed a  photo just after the rain, once I made sure Mama was not in there.

Polka dot plant

I have great luck with the pink polka dot plant.  I have at least six of them.  I started with one.  I like it.  It may be my favorite.  I am struggling with getting my spider/airplane plant to propagate.  I still have the rubber tree quarantined.  I got that one May 24th.  He looks good - I've not seen any issues/pests with him.  He has some new growth.

I also have about six umbrella plants started from one original plant. 

I have started with the golden ivy.  It is not taking off,  yet.  

I have my outside flowers planted.  I'll make sure I get a photo of them.  I've spread the ox blood dust around in an effort to keep the deer from eating them.

I am so happy - my peach/orange lilies are blooming this year!  I purchased them two years ago, neglected them that winter.  Green plants came up last summer, but never bloomed.  This year - beautiful!  I'll get a  photo of them, also.

Currently reading:

 still, - the Viking book.  

A biography of Zsa Zsa Gabor 

and a book about Krakatoa.  

The Viking and Krakatoa books are dry and detailed and hard to not fall asleep while reading them.

Cut back on what, now?

 I was reading an article on retirement the other day and it listed a few things retirees should cut back on.  One was eating out.  What?  It is getting expensive.  But, that is all everybody wants to do.  Let's meet for lunch, let's meet for dinner.  I really don't want to go anywhere else, either.  

So, I only drink water when I order in a restaurant.  I rarely order dessert or an appetizer.  I also have started looking at the less expensive items on the menu instead of going for the filet mignon or fancy fish.  Chicken is just as good and so is meatloaf.  I always take cash - screw that plastic card charge.

I meet a group of women I worked with back in the late 80's to mid-90's.  We average about once a month (mostly on a birthday, or holiday).  I also meet with a group of retired ladies (from most recent job mid-90's to 2024).  Once a month with them, also.

Family -  always somebody wants to meet.  About two times a month.  Then my son-in-law's band plays at wineries, bars, craft brew houses and festivals.  That is about three times a month.  I do purchase bottles of wine, but that is for gift giving later at the holidays or special occasions.

So, dining out - is between five and seven times a month.  That seems like a lot!  I've started to keep a running tab of it and will start to make some changes where I can.  I am not currently in dire straits, far from it.  But, you never know what is right around the corner.  

What do you do with yours?

 Jars.  Do you recycle them?  My city gives us a hard plastic bin to use to place our recyclables in. But, do they make it into the bin?  I was using them to prop new plants but I got tired of that and now I just shove the prop into the dirt and say "Good luck".  (Prop is a quick way of saying a plant propagation - the growing of new plant from seeds or an off-shoot).

A few of them I use for doggy treats.  I hate trying to re-zip dog treat bags (they never line up for me after I open them).  If I can even get them open.  I place the dog treats into a jar with a lid.  Then, I can't get the lid off the jar.  Big sigh.

This made me laugh

 Reading the book on Vikings, I discovered that ancient notes (post-it notes) written in the old language from the times was a way the Vikings communicated with one another.  Bathroom humor was common even back then.  The one that made me laugh was one a wife would use and give to a clansman to give to her husband down at the local watering hole.  It said something like "Grog, you come home now."

Reminds me of the old Andy Capp comic strip.

And then there was one

 I know this image shows three of them, I have not taken any photos since this set.  But, I peeked this morning and there is only one baby bird left.  He is so big.  He looked at me and I just backed away and wished him luck.

I was lucky in the area of allergies growing up.  But, I think I'm having some issues now.  I was outside most of the evening at an event and my eyeballs hurt.  They feel scratchy, swelled and I have some blurred vision.  I've taken ibuprofen twice today for a headache so I'm just going to skip any meds, drink some water and go to bed.  We'll see when I wake up.

I believe the first Agatha Christie book I was introduced to was "Ten Little Indians" or "And Then There Were None".  I was hooked.

Pink Polka Dot

 I am having lots of luck with the pink polka dot plant.  I have quite a few started and I will be giving them away to friends and family if they are interested.  My daughter got me the cute little planter.  She gave me a set of 5 of them (different colors) and when I line them up they look like one of those trains for children to ride made out of big barrels.  I'll be moving the plant soon as it will outgrow this planter very fast.

And three of the second batch of baby birds are still in the nest.  I am keeping my distance because they are so big (I think the fourth one was pushed out to make room) I am worried they may try to fly to get away from me if I move any of the branches to get a picture.  I will just peek at them through the branches and wish them well.

The Viking book is going slow.  It is very detail oriented and my mind wanders.  I have to keep going back and re-reading.  I copied the map from the book so I can reference it and I also get on Google maps and look at the locations (well, how they look today anyway).  Denmark, Sweden, Norway. 

 Priya Parmar.  She wrote a book (novel, part fiction) about Kate Hepburn.  The story was okay.  I think she followed Kate's life from what she read in news articles, interviews and books.  The book was okay.  I read a few things that I did not know about other celebrities of that time.   After researching online I believe them to be true.

So, I watched a couple of her old movies from the late 30s.  Ugh.  No thanks. 

The book only went up to 1940 when she became a star again with the movie "The Philadelphia Story".  She went through a rough patch after the controversial Sylvia Scarlett where she portrayed a young girl passing herself off as a boy to help her father stay anonymous.  Silly movie, really.  I did like Julie Andrews though when she did it - Victor/Victoria.  Perhaps it was James Garner that I liked.  Ha!

In May I read the two that I have mentioned:

The Original by Priya Parmar

Esperance by Adam Oyebanji  (posted about this one yesterday)

and:

Going There by Katie Couric

Remarkably Bright Creatures  by Shelby Van Pelt  (movie on Netflix with Sally Field currently)

John and Paul by Ian Leslie

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (saw the movie years ago. It upset me so much I went outside and just went to town on my hedges with the clippers.)

and this one was interesting, had not heard of this person/story:

The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel.  This guy lived out in the woods by himself for over 25 years in the state of Maine (bitter cold winters and all).  He stole supplies and food from a nearby camp site that housed over 100 cabins.  The campers in the area who lived there for years all knew that somebody was stealing their food and stuff but he eluded capture for a long time.  They all claim he had to have had help somehow, there was no way he survived without ever having a fire (because of the smoke would give him away).  

I've cracked one open about Vikings.  Only in a few pages, but it seems enjoyable.  I have to keep re-reading as I get distracted since it is a history/fact-based book and my mind can wander on about every day stuff and I get mad at myself.

Most of my TV shows are finished for the season or have been canceled.  I finished the season of 'Animal Control' but I won't be watching any more.  I think it is going to be the same with 'Dark Winds'.  Have lost interest.  Bad Monkey was canceled as was 'The Last Frontier'.  That one got silly anyway.  Bad Monkey was different and the author had other books that I think the series could have continued - they weren't the same story line but who cares?  One book a season.  Dark Winds is just too dark for me.  I liked it at first but it just got weird.

I have nothing new in movies except for the 'Remarkably Bright Creatures' on Netflix (book above).  The movie was different in places than the book (of course).  As was The Lovely Bones - movie wrapped things up quicker as expected.

I am looking forward to Monday, June 1st.  My Mom's birthday.  She would have been 106.  All siblings and spouses are meeting at an Inn for lunch.  My siblings range from Brother 1942 to me 1960.  

 I was never a big fan of science fiction.  My sister 1949 and brother-in-law 1944 are.  (Not her husband). Husband of sister 1944.  He is a big Jack Reacher fan also.

This one pulled me in because it was a murder mystery.  My morbid brain loves anything about murder, unsolved mysteries and serial killers.  And biographies, autobiographies.

This author has written other books and I might have a go at them, hoping they hold my interest the same way.  I couldn't stop reading this one.  

I was resting the day after a huge family cook-out. Sister 1944 had 41 family members (six from her husband's side, three friends and the rest our family) at her house in the pouring rain.  The ground was so saturated the swampy mud was sucking our shoes in.  My "going visiting" tennis shoes now look worse than my outside only PUP (picking up "dog" poop) shoes.

My dog and cat are behind me being very vocal.  Funny, they have exactly a whole other hour before it's feeding time but they do know when time is on the "hour".  I guess time change will do that.  Make them wonder is it this hour or that hour we get fed?  

I had to break down and get my water squirt bottle back out because my cat is being SO annoying and vocal the past couple of weeks about his unhappiness.  We gate off certain rooms and he keeps pawing at (rattling) the gate to the kitchen.  I figure he wants a drink of water (even though there is water right next to him).  I open the gate, he walks into the kitchen and just wanders around meowing, like "How about a treat, lady?  This is the treat room, right?"  Grrrrr.

My (old) dog, Milton stands behind my chair and shifts his weight from leg to leg (on a wooden floor his nails click).  Bugs the hell out of me and he knows it!  I let him outside to do his business.  Back to standing behind my chair.  I see if he wants water.  Sure, always drinks water.  Back to standing behind my chair.  He wants a treat and he is not getting one.  They have me trained so well!   Grrrr.

Curler casualty

 Fall of 1970 I believe.  5th grade.  I slept in curlers.  The night before picture day.  Why would anybody think that sleeping (actually, not sleeping) in curlers would make you look fresh and rested on picture day?  I was 10.  I did not have much control over it.  I had straight, stringy, fine hair.  It tangled easily.  The curlers left weird mis-shaped dents in the front part of my hair.  I hated not having bangs.  I had them through fourth grade and had bangs again in 8th grade.  Fifth through seventh - no bangs.  I hated every school picture from that time.

Speaking of curlers, my nephew was an extra in the movie Super 8.  When I watched the movie I laughed at the part where a Mom was talking to a police officer about her missing daughter. She told him her daughter had curlers in her hair.  She asked the policeman "Do you know what curlers are?"  He said "Yes! I know what curlers are!"  The movie was written to take place in 1979 in Weirton WV.  I laughed. I loved that little piece of dialogue.

Update on Batch 2

 The four are coming along very nicely.  A bit crowded, but they keep one another warm I suppose.

2nd batch of eggs

 Mama Robin has been busy.  It is hard to say if this is the same robin or a different one.  Probably the same one as my daughter looked it up and they can have 3 - 4 clutches a season.  The first batch had 3 eggs.  Now, I am watching the 2nd batch develop.  They are not out in the open as this image makes them look.  I pull the branches away and stick my phone up as close as I can to get the picture.  I make sure mama is out and about before I take photos.  I leave the nest there at the end of summer so that a mama bird can use it the next season, but I think this one is newly created.  Maybe it's the same bird each year. Oh, I just looked it up. The average lifespan of a robin bird is 16 months but some can live up to 8 years if conditions are ideal.  

I think I've only seen robin's eggs in real life.  Other eggs I've seen have only been images. Hold up.  Looking on line the Northern cardinal eggs look familiar.  I believe I have seen them in real life.

Insubordination

Just shut up and do as you're told.

Well, okay.  Mostly I was a "just do as your told" keep your head down,

shut up and do the job worker.  No questions asked.  Until it doesn't 

make sense.  And no explanation is offered.

Back in the 80s I was working an afternoon shift in the tech department where we used

reels of tape to store data in a vault off to the side of the main computer room.

One day I come in (about 3 in the afternoon) and there is a small rack in the

computer room.  My manager instructed me that one of my evening chores was to

take several reels of tape out of the vault and hang them on the smaller rack

in the main computer room.  Any of the reels, it didn't matter, just pick some

and fill the rack up.  Didn't make much sense to me, but whatever.

What pissed me off was the very next night, he instructed me to put them all back.

What the actual fuck?  Shut up and do the job, right?  I took a big breath and

put them all back.  The next day the rack was gone.

No big deal, right?  Yes, a big deal.  I thought less and less of this manager.

This wasn't the only thing about him that irked me.  I had little respect for him.

Over the years, my lack of respect grew until I was ready to leave.

Before I left, I had seen somewhere along the line a picture had been taken of the 

computer room. And, there in all it's glory was the small rack with the data reels 

hanging from it.  It was aesthetics.  All he wanted was for reels of tape to be seen 

when somebody was coming to take pictures.  But, he never told me this. He probably

thought I would have told him to shove it if I knew the real reason he wanted

me to do this stupid, pointless task.

In the long run, I still think little of that (man)ager today.

Years before that, one of my jobs was to return defective toys to their manufacturer

for a refund.  It was a tedious and time consuming job.  The toys were tossed into a back room.  This

 was an Automotive/Hardware store and the owner would sell toys around Christmas time.  He told me

 once since his religion did not celebrate Christmas that he considered staying open on

 Christmas eve just to sell batteries.  As far as I know, he never did.

 One day I went through all the defective toys and organized them in an area that was not being used.  I

 may have even labeled some of the area, I can't recall.

The owner (my boss) came in one day and began kicking them all out of the way.  I don't

recall why.  He was pissed about something.  I had spent a lot of work on that task so

that I could be more efficient about returning them in a timely manner.

Well, that showed me he did not have respect for my time or work.  I neglected the toys

after that, much to his chagrin.  He even made a remark or two months later about my

"mental block" in sending the toys back.  I was young then and did not yet speak up 

for myself.  Mostly because I don't think I realized why I was upset with the task of

returning the toys until years later I recalled that he had done this and it clicked for

me - yes, I had a mental block about it and that was why.

For the most part, I did respect this owner/boss.  But, eventually I left and he was a bit

upset with me.  But hey,  I've come to realize that some people don't leave jobs, they 

leave people (managers and co-workers).

A Florida Jaunt

A couple siblings and I traveled to Florida in 2003 to assist our half-uncle back to his home in West Palm Beach after he suffered a heart attack on my front door step.  Yep.  We were having a family get together to welcome him and as he arrived at my house, brother 1953 and his wife did also.  My half-uncle told my brother his arm hurt, his chest hurt and he felt like he was going to throw up.  My brother and his wife (both EMTs) recognized he was having a heart attack.  We took him to the ER, they put a stent in and he stayed a week at my house to recover and a few of us took a weeks vacation and drove his car back to Florida.

Back to my regularly schedule program - one day at the beach I happened to look up and there in front of me was a lady with no top on.  Hmm...I didn't think I was on a beach that allowed that.  Sure enough, eventually a couple of gentlemen came and spoke to her.  I didn't watch, I figured she had enough problems. She did have a fellow with her but he was out in the water at the time.  She was sun bathing.  She did look a bit foreign but I really couldn't swear to that.

I think she put her top on, I don't believe they left. Like I said, I didn't want to stare at her so I don't recall what she did.  I just went on about my business.

I have no idea why this memory came to me today, but I was curious so I looked up topless beaches in the United States.   I couldn't find topless, only nude.  A handful in Florida, California and Hawaii.  Two in Texas and one each in Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

When I lived in Virginia in the mid-80s, the locals told us there was a nude beach in North Carolina. I believe they said in Nags Head. Or what they call the Outer Banks (OBX).  I found a site that said there were several nude beaches in both Carolinas but they were not mentioned in the other sites I read.

Well, it's not my cup of tea.  I don't even feel comfortable wearing low-cut tops.