What. Ever.

 Don't you just get tired of dealing with it all?  It finally got above freezing and I made a car appointment. My battery had died about a month ago and I've been using my daughter's vehicle when I needed one. I was a little annoyed at my dealership because aren't their computers supposed to warn them of things like this - a battery going bad or a cell dying....something?  So I don't get stranded. I've had this car for 15 years and I don't recall ever having it give me a mechanical problem. 

I told them if my car started I would bring it in. It did (it didn't want to) and I sat there for two hours (I don't mind, I brought my puzzle book) while they kept it on some kind of machine to test the battery. She said it was under warranty and as soon as the machine gave them a code she would be able to get me a free replacement.  Unfortunately, the machine said my battery was good.

She said I could drive it home and if in a couple of days if it happened again, I could bring it back to them and they could try it on the machine again.  I looked at her and tried to establish if she was for real or not.  I said 'Just replace the damn thing.' I mean really. In two days I have a dentist appointment and I really didn't want to drive my daughter to school so I could get to my appointment and pick her up later. In case my car battery decided it wasn't "good".  Screw that. I wanted to ask her "And how exactly will I be bringing it in, if it doesn't start?'  She has no idea if I have Triple A or not (I do). I get three free tows a year (I have the regular Triple A) and I haven't needed it at all this year, yet. She did give me a 15% discount on my entire bill (oil change, rotate tires, replace rear tail light and the new battery) - so --- what. ever. Be done. Be gone.  Give me my car back and let me move on.

Oh, and Triple A?  You might be waiting 2 - 6 hours for them to get to you if you are lucky. 

On a side note - my neighbor worked for this dealership 26 years. A few years ago, he slipped and fell on the ice at work on a Thursday. He took Friday off to go to the doctor. They (the dealership) called him on Sunday and told him they decided to move on without him.  (This more or less happened to me except I did not fall and I had 29  years in. We have decided to move on without you. - What a crock! ). So since they got rid of him the service there has been sub par. Word has it the owner put his brother in charge of the dealership and the brother decided he wanted all his friends and family to work there and the regulars had to go.

And the matter of other things. Here is a good one. The other day my insurance decided that after two refills, I needed to get my prescriptions on line. I did not know this. I have a new insurance (since work tossed me away) and I am not eligible for Medicare, yet. Fun stuff, I can't tell you. Yes, I know the phrase is "I can tell you" but I really can't right now. But then again - I am going to go ahead and tell you. See?  This is driving me bonkers. I don't know if I am coming or going.

So, I am setting up my prescriptions with the lady on the telephone. It is taking so freaking long. I refill the first one, but when we got to the Vitamin D2 she said that one isn't on the list. She can't send me that one. She said there is Vitamin B(whatever number), Vitamin C, Vitamin E -  but no Vitamin D2.  I'm like 'Well, what in the hell do I do?'   She asked me if I was sure I was reading the prescription correctly because sometimes the doctor's writing is bad.  (Me, being sarcastic in my mind only - "You don't say?!")  I sighed and told her I was looking at a computer printout label on my prescription bottle from my pharmacy.  I told her my doctor had not written me a physical prescription in years  - they all do it electronically now. Then she said "Let me look at Vit D2".  I looked at my label. There it said Vit D2 generic for Vitamin D2.  She found it under Vit D2. How in the HELL am I supposed to know that Vit D2 is the generic code for Vitamin D2?  Evidently it isn't that way for Vitamin B(whatever number), Vitamin C or Vitamin E.  Who in their right mind is going to say "Vit D2" instead of Vitamin D2?  The entire process is set up to drive us all insane. And really - certainly she had to know it was listed under Vit or why else would she suggest it?  

So much of this type of annoying problems come up with all this asinine paperwork that needs to be completed for retirement, insurance, taxes - the list goes on.  How do you keep your sanity doing all this crap?

 Reading "The Faculty Lounge" by Jennifer Mathieu.  Most recommendations for fiction novels come from magazines I read such as 'This Week' or 'In Touch Weekly'.  A few I read because I watched the movie.  This one takes a teacher/administrator of a school and tells a little bit about them in each chapter.  It works for me because I worked in education (not in a school but in the environment). 

I also started "The Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison.   I've heard of it but never read it.  It is slow going.  I can't seem to get into it.  Not to be confused with the movie.  Whew!  Watched that a couple of years back. 2020.  Elizabeth Moss - Psychological Thriller.  It was a good one.  IMDB rated it 7.1 out of 10.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051906/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_the%2520invisible%2520man

Movie I watched recently "Flight Risk" with Michelle Dockery (from Downton Abbey), Mark Wahlberg and Topher Grace.   Another thriller.  It was okay.  The majority of the movie takes place in a small airplane with the three of them. IMDB gave it only a 5.3 rating out of 10. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10078772/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_flight%2520risk

Movies I want to watch:

Death of a Unicorn

Novocain

On TV - currently my fave is "History's Greatest Mysteries" with Laurence Fishburne. It is in it's sixth season and last week was about "The Valentine's Day Massacre".  This week is "What is the Yeti?"  

A great site for all you want to know about your favorite or any TV shows:

https://epguides.com/

For a fun trip down memory lane - check out the first edition of the theme song to 'Gilligan's Island'.  It is not AT ALL like the one they ran on the regular TV show!  In the pilot, Mary Ann, Ginger and The Professor were played by different characters than what the regular show aired.  The Professor was a High School Teacher, and Ginger/Mary Ann were secretaries.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpimVRP3EW4  (for the song - skip to 25 seconds in to miss the intro)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IkZ2neSamw   (for more detail on the pilot episode)

And in between all of my reading and watching, I am still painting my kitchen cabinets and drawers. I don't plan to stop there. I want to change the walls. 

Thank you for your service

 I know it isn't Veteran's day or Memorial day. Three of my family members have served in the Armed forces. The older ones had it pretty rough when they returned from Viet Nam in the 60's. They were treated poorly. It is encouraging to now see them wear a hat when we go out and are proud to be a Veteran. They get a lot of compliments and attention - as they should. 

It was a very real experience when the Wall Memorial came to my town and we went to visit. I remember assisting a couple of people with finding their loved one(s).  It has been a few years but it is something like you go to the information booth and give them the name of the person you are looking for. They give you a panel number that pertains to the section of the wall. Then you go down the side of the panel to find the line number and find the name. My brother-in-law had about four friends he lost. They were so young.

One of the amazing things is they have a person from the military guard the wall. That person stands there without moving for hours. I can't recall how long before they get relieved but it was pretty impressive. I remember they hold a gun but I can't remember if the gun gets to rest on the ground or on their shoulder. I could not find any information on this aspect of the tour.

I did see the "changing of the guards" in 1970 when my family visited DC. Such a remarkable ceremony.

Painting

 I started painting all my cabinet doors and drawers in the kitchen. I had purchased the above paint to freshen up my front door and realized it would work on my kitchen cabinets/cupboards. I only purchased a quart at the time because I was only thinking of the door.  I bought two more cans of the quart size because I like handling the smaller can. My cabinets/cupboards had begun to show little chips and I realized (horror of horrors) that at one previous time, the owner of the house had painted their kitchen turquoise blue. All those little nicks (and some surface cracking) are getting covered up nicely with this paint. It's a slow process but as they say - "I've got nowhere to go and all day to get there."   

I've kept in touch with some friends I worked with back in the 80's and 90's and we met for dinner last night. All but me live in the same vicinity. I live about 40 minutes away. We've been meeting for so long we know pretty much everything about each other. The past two years another from the workplace has been joining us so she gets to tell all her stories. She was busy raising her family before. The birthday girl chooses the restaurant. She chose the same Asian place as last year. Our next birthday get together is in April That birthday girl usually chooses Italian.

The group skips March (nobody born that month).  I'm so glad, though. My family has 11 March birthdays. Two of them are extended family members. We are meeting at a winery this year in the middle of the month. For some reason we get together this month to celebrate (but not any of the other months).  LOL - whatever.

My brother and sisters have all stopped smoking. The three (out of 8) who did smoke. The one brother didn't even start to smoke until he was 50.  I see less of the vaping than I used to. Or I should say "smell less" because that is the part that gets me. The smells.  Even though my migraines have all but dissipated, I still get annoyed by strong odors.

I meet up with another group of former co-workers once a month. They are ladies I worked with at the Educational office. There were about 10 of us but after Covid, we only have a regular 6 - 8 that show up. All but one is retired and she works only part time. A new one came last month and it was SO nice to catch up with her. I send out the invites and while dining, we choose the next restaurant and date.  We used to drive a lot farther than we do these days. With good weather, we may venture out more as we tire of the places close to home.

I make certain to keep up with the get togethers as my family has a tendency to shut ourselves off from the world and gather only with family. We have a large family so that keeps us hopping. Through therapy and reading I realize that it is very important to do this - for mental health. Large families who get together often are probably fine for getting their socialization. Especially as members marry or change partners (bringing in fresh people to get to know) and have children. And sprinkle in a friend or two here and there.

I only read two books in January. Getting a slow start this year. I think this was due to me watching a marathon of "Call the Midwife".  I've caught up to the current season so I'll probably read more. I discovered that the actor Gene Hackman wrote a couple of novels. I am going to give them a go. And puzzles (not jigsaw). Crosswords, kryptograms...etc.. I get the variety puzzle books and I'll go through and do all my favorites first. Alphabet Plus, Codeword, Syl" La-cros'tic, Crostics, and Flower Power.

The Amazing Horse

 I read a book a couple of months ago (surprise, surprise) titled "The Horse: A Galloping History" by Timothy C. Winegard. It made me realize how humans would not have evolved as much as we have without this wonderful creature. In war, the advantage goes to the side with the newest weapons. When certain armies began using horses their advantage was substantial to win a war. 

I average about 4 books a month. I like to read autobiographies and biographies and true-life stories. One is "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" by Donn Fendler. When he was 12 he got lost while hiking with his family in July 1939. He was lost for 9 days.

And yet, another one. "The Ride of Her Life" by Elizabeth Yetts. Tells the story of a 64 year old woman who rode a horse across America in the 50's. Yetts also wrote "The Eighty-Dollar Champion" about a horse named Snowman who was rescued from a trip to the slaughterhouse and became a champion jumper in the late 50's.

I guess I like to read about rescues. True that. I do like books, movies/tv shows about the cave rescue in 2018 in Thailand. And a big subject I've done a lot of reading on wildfires, also. The firefighters who train for that kind of work is phenomenal. Not to mention the risk they take and their bravery. One that really hit me in the feels is the notorious Camp fire or Paradise fire in 2018.

Gosh, I could go on and on. Besides reading I have been doing a re-watch of "Call the Midwife" on TV. Another non-fiction story.  I relate a lot to the borough of Poplar in London and how the families lived in squalor. 

After I retired, I started out really well with getting things done. I've sort of stalled. I guess that is due to the winter season. I hope I pick back up in the Spring and do not procrastinate. I have about four major house projects I need to do. 

Keeping busy

 I'm looking at the above color/theme for my kitchen. Trying to stay busy and not feel guilty about not working. My last day was one year ago in mid-March. However I was paid until June 30th and that was my actual retirement date.

 I guess I'm too depressed to say anything about the state of the nation. I try not to read too much of the news because I get anxious. I already can't sleep well. 

This is the year I get to start Medicare. I am bombarded with paperwork. Again. Nobody said retirement was so much paperwork. Sheesh. Non stop.

I usually get into a baking mood around October. Since I was retired this year, I did a bit more than I normally do. My son-in-law and daughter gave me a stand mixer. I hated to tell them by the time I got it, I was kind of out of the phase.  Our favorite cookie this year (or mine, anyway) was white chocolate chip with craisins and white chocolate chip with maraschino cherries.  Sorry, no pictures.  No...wait. I did get pics of the white chocolate craisin ones:

Holiday Family dinner

 I plan our family holiday party/dinner each year. This year I made the children's saran wrap ball. If you have not heard of this before it is a game the kids play by unwrapping the saran wrap ball and getting the prizes they unwrap before it is the next person's turn. Here is a link to see how it can be played:

https://www.partygameideas.com/saran-wrap-games-rules-and-party-ideas/

We also do an adult version. My niece takes care of this one. I spent plenty for the kids I can only imagine what she spent on her ball. It is crazy fun! 

At the party I was telling some of the younger family about playing spoons. Have you ever played that one? We broke a kitchen table playing that game. Here is a link to that game:

https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Spoons-(Card-Game)

We didn't play it exactly like this article says. The loser got a letter (like one on one basketball) and we spelled out horse or pig etc...Actually, I'm not sure we even kept score. I think we just played it over and over.

 Well, I figured it would happen sooner or later. I have my bank account balance sent to me via email every morning. In the back of my mind, I was thinking - okay, yesterday we used my card to cancel our cable Internet (we went with fiber Internet). 

I look at the balance and say to myself...no. Something is not right. I log in and see there are three charges from that morning I did not make.  I immediately called my bank and had the card locked. (not frozen, locked).  When it's locked, you are able to unlock it yourself online and any refunds and automatic deductions can still go through.

The purchases had the last four digits of my bankcard attached to them. I had the cable company charge on my statement (I needed to pay the last few days of the old internet) and then the three charges all had two letters in front of them which just happened to be the first two letters of the cable company. I'm not sure they have anything to do with each other but I'm just investigating at this time.

The other three purchase - two were a Quilt store and one was a medical something or other. I do not care for quilts. I admire the people that make them but I would never purchase one. I am a down comforter sort of gal.

The bank employee said he could not do anything while the charges were still in a pending state but if they were still there today to come in and get a replacement card. I checked. The two quilt ones are still there but the medical one has dropped off.

The bank will remove the charges (I'm sure) but it is the hassle. How many online sites do I use my bank card?  Too many.  I have AV on my computer but say no to all the other security crap as it really slows the computer down.

Oh, and a month or so back my daughter and I both received information that our cards had been compromised. I recently retired so I went through a medical program to see what coverage I would obtain between my retirement date and when I turn 65 and go on Medicare. My daughter had also filled out information for health care with the same establishment, I guess. They sent both of us a letter and information. I will take all of that in to the bank with me this morning.

Oops...my cat is letting me know that it is feeding time. On the hour. They don't like time change but have adjusted by now. 

 $240,000 dollars.  At this time I cannot recall how I ended up looking at this vintage butterfly brooch. I was following a thread and then stumbled on this site and (not much of a jewelry wearer but I do like to look) began perusing.

Oh, I know. I was browsing through an Antique magazine of my sister's and saw the website 1stdibs. It had a United States location to choose from.

Sigh. I've made myself lists and am trying to keep myself busy and focused now that I am retired. One thing I always hated was baking. Well, not now. I am baking up a storm. I quickly burned (ha, no pun intended!) through all my flour and sugar (even though I did not bake often, I would stock up at Christmas time just in case the spirit moved me). Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bars (that came out more like cake), pumpkin-butterscotch pie, cranberry nut bread (my all-time favorite), snickerdoodles, ginger molasses cookies (came out horrible) and last but certainly not least, a new one I found.  White chocolate cookies with craisins.  

Yeah. And in the middle of all that I had a doctor's six month regular check up. My new hobby betrayed me. I did notice the pants fitting a bit snug. Drat! I'd freeze them but all three of my freezers are full. When I make food, I still cook for an army. I guess that comes from living in a large family. So I freeze the leftovers thinking that I will defrost them and eat them someday.  Sometimes I do and sometimes they get pitched because they were frozen for over a year. I did finally go through my upstairs freezer and toss old food to make room for my cranberry bread. 

Oh, here is an image of my kitchen fan. It was dirty so I decided to remove the blades and clean them. Then I decided while I had them down, to re-paint them. When I went to put the last blade back on the fan, I realized I was missing a nut for the last screw. I wondered if the blade would be okay with two screws instead of three and I glanced up at the fan.  Oh...

It's a Pow Wow

 Last month I spent a week in Akron house/pet sitting for my niece.  Above are the critters I watched sans baby of course. My sister's family went to Belize.  They took the baby with them.  I wanted her to stay with me but (sigh) I'm sure this was all for the best. (Don't tell my daughter because she thinks I pine for a grand child and she would proceed to tell me why she decided not to have children. I just shrug and say - saves me money.) 

The white cat  is 16 years old and is diabetic. He needed two shots a day.  I got the job done but I hated having to poke/pinch him. He would yowl at me (sometimes). Then I would rub the spot and he would start to purr which made me feel even worse. So forgiving.

Right before I went to Akron my beloved Chong passed away. 15 years old. I brought Cheech and his brother Chong into my home in  August of 2009.  Cheech is still with me.  He is a bit needier than he used to be or it could be that Chong did not let him come to me very much.

I still have old Milton (a rescue we've had 18 months) my daughter brought to me. And my obnoxious cat who thinks he is a dog - Moses. Oh, and the bearded dragon - Bolt is still hanging in there.  Poor Milton had his first (and so far only) seizure one morning during my pet/house sitting job and my daughter had to deal with it. She was traumatized to say the least. I think I worried more about her than the dog. It is possible that he choked on his food that triggered the episode. I drove back home for the day to watch over him while she went on to work.  He was fine, and is fine.  His bouncy goofy self! (Typing that made me smile).

I am adjusting to my "forced" retirement.  I am doing all positive things I should be doing when you feel that you have been treated unjustly.  Getting on with my life, being positive and living well. Okay, okay - now and again I still grit my teeth when I think about work and wish fire and brimstone to rain down on them as they get scorched from the burning wind. Did I say I was over it?  LOL!

Put Out to Pasture

I have been "put out to pasture".  Not by my choice.  

Retirement starts

All the paperwork, phone calls, scheduling appointments, internet lookups, research, comparing insurance packages. Sigh.  Retirement starts out busy busy.  I am the youngest of 8 children.  

My siblings are all still living (thankful).  They have all retired.  Two were teachers in the education system.  I was in Technology in the education system so I was able to pay into that retirement program instead of Social Security. 

I started in the education industry when I was 35 so I had 15 years in private industry with 15 years of contributing to social security.  

In the state of Ohio (one of the few states) we lose 60%  (or thereabouts) of our social security check because we paid into the education retirement program. Why?  I have no idea. Do I have the energy to research this?  Not right now. My brain is fried from just filling out applications, paperwork, phone calls appointments, researching insurance...
 

Moses is not real happy

 The image is dated January 2019.  I wrapped him up in left over paper and was able to obtain a picture. he is perturbed, I can tell.

My Moses thinks he is a dog. I was telling some friends about him this evening. I came to the conclusion that he is a bully. He is just a big old bully to my dogs. He bosses them around and blocks them from walking. I yell at him and he moves, but what a little shit.

Do you ever look at a date and wish you could go back to then? And try to think about how you would handle things differently if you had to do over?

I've had a setback. I'm retiring a bit earlier than I intended. I was pushed out. Not a great feeling, I have to say. 

Eclipse is coming...

 Okay, so I just read an autobiography of one of the singers from Three Dog Night.  The song Eli's Coming... came to mind when I wrote the title to this post.  And so the big eclipse is coming April 8th. My home is just a sliver away from full totality but my niece is having her daughter's first birthday party that day and she decided to host the family eclipse party. My issue will be getting to her house because from past experiences (my sister sat in bumper to bumper traffic on an Interstate in KY in August 2017 and that wasn't even a total eclipse) the roads might be gridlocked. Both of us have purchased several glasses for safe viewing.

It took me a few minutes to remember the link to my blog and then I had to look up my password. Fortunately, I had it written down.  I don't write my passwords right out - I use a code. Like the first two numbers of childhood land line plus OS of the mainframe I worked on in 1988 and then a dot and then how old I was when I first moved to VA or the year I lived in TX.  Things like that.

Have recently read:

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

The Heat will Kill you First by Jeff Goodell

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote  (I can't believe I'd never read this one)

The Great Fire by Jim Murphy  (Chicago fire - where they blamed it on the cow)

An American Plague (Yellow Fever) by Jim Murphy

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (and watched the movie, Netflix I believe?)

...and autobiographies of Madonna, Lillian Roth, Barbra Streisand, Elliot Page, David Cassidy and Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night).

Oh, and I can't forget "Leave the World Behind" by Rumaan Alam.  I had watched the Netflix showing with Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.  

Fiction to Me

 I've seen so many advertisements about the movie "House of Gucky" coming out, that I had to look into the book it was based on. I am currently reading it.  It may as well be fiction for all I know. That lifestyle is so far out of my world, it might even be science fiction. Or how about Fiscal Fiction? 

I was never one to wear "names".  I could care less. I guess it does bring it all together for me to read about their horrible fighting and greed. One of the hardest parts for me is keeping the names straight. The book does give you a little family tree to keep track of who was married to whom and what children they had, etc.

Still, I find myself seething at the loopholes the rich and famous use/have to evade what the law requires from them. I've heard folks say "I wish I had his money!"  No, you don't.  Unless you are a Narcissist with no empathy for others - you don't want that lifestyle.  Even worse, if you are a person with morals and empathy - having that volume of money and wealth fall into your lap creates in you a monster.

Now, I am not a total idiot. I like a little extra money every now and again to smooth things over when appliances break down or the car does. It keeps me real. But the lifestyle of this family is beyond my imagination.  And, I am not a socialist. There may be certain aspects of the philosophy I can lean towards but I'm not sure there is any overall answer for anybody.

I picture a caveman bringing home a Gucky pocketbook for his mate that he has found. I suppose they would burn it or try to eat it. Yucky Gucky.

Currently Reading

 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.  Slow going. Busy doing other things. Sometimes when I get in the mood to read, I'll read and read and read. Only about 2 books at a time but I just finish one and go right to the next one.

The same happened with the New York Times and The Washington Post. I read them for about a year and then - nothing. I stopped. Didn't get back to it.

This story is hard. It is about her life. Sometimes I have to close the computer screen and either walk away or go to another web site like Facebook or Reddit to try to erase the image(s) that have entered into my mind.

I'd like to say we have progressed and it doesn't happen anymore. But it does. Somewhere somebody or somebody(s) are enslaved and suffering. At the hands of their fellow man.

I am not sure why I am attracted to books like this. I do like non-fiction and I do like autobiographies so I guess they fall perfectly into that category.  I don't want to be somebody who does not care about what happened (and still happens) to others. A story such as this reminds me of how hard it was for some.

And how easy I have it. It makes me appreciate my life a bit more. To scoff at what was bothering me yesterday or last week. Small potatoes!

 I went to a school today to replace a piece of equipment. The wiring closet it on the 3rd floor. No elevator in this building. I had to haul the equipment up three flights of stairs. I was a sweaty mess even before we started. The tech guy was late so I could not access the closet as it was locked.

When we did enter we were hit by a wave of heat that just slayed me. Looks as though the A/C had quit working quite some time ago. The tech said he never goes in here. I guess nobody does. The custodian was right there and he found something and fixed it. 

It was a rough hour in that hot box. Heavy equipment, screwing it into a wiring rack, following cables, watching lights blink, blink, blink.

By the time we were finished the A/C was barely blowing any cold air.

This is the second school I've been to where they are not cooling their computer equipment properly. It is hard on the equipment to run at this temperature for a long period of time.

It was hard for me to run at that temperature for a short period of time. I was ready to get out of there!

On a side note, I watched a documentary about female scientists and what they had to put up with while working in a "mostly" men's field. As I waited for the tech to arrive, I asked the custodian if he had a key to that room. He said "Oh, that's only the server room."  I said "I know. That's what I do. I need to get into the server room."

I guess since I was female, he figured I had no business in there. Eh, he didn't have a key after all.

Meet Rudy

No, I did not get another critter. This one (a blue and gold macaw) belongs to a former co-worker. A few of us had dinner at her house last week. Macaws can live for 65 - 70 years. She said when they got Rudy (about 15 years ago) they believe he was 8 or 9. When they got him, she was working full time but her husband was retired so Rudy bonded more with him. Rudy was not comfortable enough with us to come very close to him. He has an entire sun room for his "cage".  Then he has a big cage in the sun room for his bedroom at night. He is a very spoiled bird.

For work today, I am going to an "Attention Center" (not detention any longer). I am replacing equipment. It is for students who misbehave. More security at this location, but I made sure they are well aware that I am coming and what I am doing there. I'm taking their Internet down. Yep. That's what I do. LOL!

 

Like a Ghost town.

 I had an Amazon return and I have a Kohl's only 2 miles away. It is so easy to return something, now. No more packaging the item. No more arranging for a pick up. I am horrible. I would just keep the damn thing. Well, this one I could not keep. It was from work, for work. A shelving unit - too small. I guess I was supposed to measure. I don't care. I have a bit of work equipment in my garage, but not enough where it is a nuisance. And it usually doesn't stay long. We are installing new firepower devices at the districts. And UPSs. UPSes. Whatever.  Heavy suckers, they are. 

Oh, the picture. I always get sidetracked. The mall was like a Ghost town. I never, ever, EVER liked shopping. Well, electronics and paper products,yet - but clothes, perfume, stuff like that - No thank you. I do sort of like purses and totes and some jewelry. Even though I never wear it.  If all the malls closed down it wouldn't bother me one bit.

Did you lose touch with some friends over the pandemic time period?  I did. I just don't feel like starting back up again. They seem a little miffed. Some curt responses in e-mail and on Facebook. Could be and probably is my imagination. I'll wish them a Happy Birthday and comment on a post once in a while. But getting together as often as we did - I just can't.

Shelly

 I did not name her. I did not obtain her. She came to my house when my daughter moved back in. She had adopted Shelly (a yellow bellied slider water turtle) from her beau's friend who was neglecting the poor thing. My daughter read up on the critter and took over her (his) care.

Now it's kind of my thing. This little bugger is ornery to say the least. While cleaning out her tank the other day, I found something under the filter of the air pump. It happened to be the end of the thermometer. I looked over at the cable dangling in the water with no end to it. Just some frayed wire. She had bitten clean through it. Sigh. I threw it away.

She is constantly knocking the filter over. She tries to get to the suction cups so she can eat them or chew them up. I check on her quite often to make sure all is as it should be.

Tonight I am sitting here reading blogs and can see her out of the corner of my eye. She does a quick flick of her front left foot and splashes water upwards. I clean her glass in her tank after I add water because it splashes all over. Well, it is covered with splashes again - from Shelly flicking her water up .  

I then noticed that the water was aimed straight up and into her heat lamp. The top of the tank is wire mesh and I have a heat lamp and a sun lamp both that shine down on her 14 hours a day or so. I know that the sun lamp is splash proof, but I'm not so sure about the heat lamp. I'll make sure the next ones I order for her are splash proof. The little imp.

I walked over and turned both lamps off. Who knows? Maybe this is her way of saying "Hey lady!  It's past my bedtime - turn the lamps off!"  Well, she isn't flicking the water any longer. Sometimes these creatures are a bit uncanny and make me rub my chin and go 'hmmmm.....'