Freedom Rally in my town

 I knew the weather was rainy but I had to go.  My first protest rally.  I lost my voice several times yelling. I was at a point in the sidewalk where if the light was red, traffic stopped.  Some folks had their windows down. Most of them cheered us on and gave us the thumbs up sign and honked their horns.  But once in a while I would see a man sitting in the drivers seat (usually a big four-wheel drive truck) and I could tell by his face he was not happy to see us.  That's when I would do it.  I  hollered "Hi Ho! Trump must go!"  One guy in particular really took offense.  As soon as I started, my comrades around me joined in and he went ballistic shaking his fist at us and yelling something.  We could not hear him. Traffic moved on.

I only saw one person I knew. She and I talked a bit afterwards and it was nice to catch up.  Prior to the protest I made a couple of new friends with a couple of ladies there. We talked and listened to each other.  The signs on display were interesting to read.  One guy walked around with his homemade sign that read "Muck Fusk".   

I finished reading "The Penguin Lessons".  It was a quick and easy read.  I have a couple more biographies lined up and a couple of true stories about serial killers  (two of my favorite subjects).  

I am working on the last two kitchen cabinet drawers to paint and I need to put another coat on the back door. I can't do that one until it is warm enough to keep the door open.  It's getting there and Spring is  taking it's sweet time.  A lot of flooding in the surrounding area.  A lot of puddling and mud in my yard that makes it fun when the dogs come back inside. I have a stack of rags by the back door and they love it when they get wet and we rub them down.  They dance around and arch their backs and you can tell it feels so good.  Funny - I ordered a garden stool (to help me get back up when  I kneel down outside to work in the ground) and it came with this glove that has serious digging claws at the end of it. This is the right hand only (sucks to be left handed - I'm not but I do have 2 siblings who are).  I scratch the dog's backs with the glove. I make sure I don't press too hard.  They love it and when they have had enough they walk away.  I looked them up and you can get them on Amazon for about $6 (both gloves have claws). 

Visiting family on Tuesday.  One year from the eclipse (my great niece's birthday - she will be 2).  This one is our newest addition to the family.  My niece had her at 48 so she was a long time coming.  I am taking cheesecakes that I special ordered.  There is a lady in a nearby town that makes these cheesecakes to die for.  They area  bit pricey but heavy as a brick and so delicious. They should be illegal.

Could not wait

 Waiting for the movie to become available, I downloaded the book to read.  It's a story about a teacher in 1976 who went to Uruguay to teach and saved a dying penguin from an oil slick. 

I was a bit shocked when I read more about Gene Hackman and his wife's death. It was kind of a strange situation. Makes you consider what might happen if you or a loved one develops a form of dementia or Alzheimer's and what the circumstances could be.

Mysterious like a book or a movie. 

Sierra, not foxtrot

 Sigh. Working with technology, I memorized the Phonetic Alphabet  years ago. I would cringe if somebody used David or Nancy or elephant.  Although I have to admit, I have mistakenly used yellow for yankee and umbrella for uniform and quarter for quebec when I was in a hurry and just could not think of the damn corresponding word.

So. My health insurance changed in July. I get 90 day supplies. Come to find out I only get two refills at the Pharmacy then I have to get them sent via the US Postal Mail. I guess I didn't read the fine print. I've not had meds delivered in the mail (I'm not against it, I was just in our pharmacy store quite frequently, picking them up worked for me.). 

Of course I am completely out of medication when I discover this. I was just going about my business ordering my meds and the Pharmacy let me know they were ready. When I go in to pick them up, they then tell me - Can't give them to you through insurance but we can give your our Pharmacy discount. Due to the limit of 2 refills and then I have to go through the mail. At the time I turned this offer down.

So. I call my health insurance on Feb 21st to set it up. It took forever. Remember the Vitamin D2 was under Vit2 and she couldn't find it? (Feb 26th What Ever post).  Nightmare. I patiently wait. I am out of the medication but I know how this stuff works and I waited. Nothing. I have no idea how long it takes to send/get medication in the mail as I have not gone that route before.

Finally, I call them back. For some reason I get the automated answering rigamarole and nothing they offer is what I need to have. I would chose "refill" and they would come back with "You do not have any refills available" - finally I got a live person.  You know how it is.

We went back and forth and (since I am off my meds, I was a bit testy) she was apologizing all over the place. Come to find out my doctor would not grant the insurance company any refills because according to them I had refills waiting at my Pharmacy.  You can't make this stuff up! She said they tried three times with the doctor and they never responded.

I said "Tell me this. Were you just going to leave me out here with no meds? Never letting me know?" She said 'Oh, we emailed you ...'  and she rattled off three separate dates. I immediately checked my SPAM folder. Nothing.  I said "I have nothing from you."  She repeated the name of the health insurance.  I said "Nope."  

Then, I said "Let's go over the email address....."  Yep. That's where it went wrong. s and f sound alike over the telephone and my email had an S as in Sierra in it and they had it listed as F as in foxtrot.

Now, I have to call my doctor's office because they are still refusing refills. I have to tell my doctor to transfer my medications to the new health insurance. Even though this doctor has all my updated health information, copies of my insurance card etc... and should know all of this.

 Everything is taking four times longer than it used to. Why is everything such a hassle? Where did it all go sideways?  If it isn't matters such as this, it is security on top of security. I make a list (most days) and if I have to call or fill out any forms/paperwork online, there goes my entire day.

Wait, I just looked at the image again.  ALFA?  I thought it was Alpha. Well, bust my buttons! It is ALFA and looks like it always has been! 

Never on a Saturday

 Hah. So the winery we went to didn't take reservations on a Saturday anyway.  About 17 of my family showed up and we had a blast. I asked the bakery for lots and lots of icing.  This is what I got. That is a full sheet cake and it just happens to be the least amount of icing I have ever received on a cake from them.  

I almost said something when I picked it up, but for some reason I did not.  I was pumped for the get together they were astronomically busy and I knew there was not much I could do about it anyway. I did not want to say anything negative at that time because I was going to have a great time come hell or high water.  I guess I will just have to spell it out next time.  I had also ordered 7 cookie kits from them and I told myself I could always put the cookie kit icing on it.  Of course I am kidding.  

That cake was consumed like an out of control wild fire. I was cutting as fast as I could.  I was more than half a bottle of wine in and I was being quite generous with the piece sizes. I did manage to bring some back to my daughter and son-in-law (they had stayed home sick).  I got about two bites of left over cake this morning. 

When I take a cake like this, I always share with the staff.  I figure if they were nice enough to let me bring this in to their establishment (where they serve desserts) then I can at least give them all a piece. I also handed out pieces to family to take home to those who could not make it. I had it all under control until the waitress came out and said "Can the kitchen staff have some?"  Of course they can!  I shoved a couple of pieces in a container for my daughter and gave the rest of the cake to the kitchen.  What did I care?  I had more wine to drink!  

My favorite wines from this place were "Coal Miners Daughter, Blackberry and Han's Favorite Blend."  We just mixed them all together. A little from that bottle, a little from this one.

A Lost Art - RSVP

 I've mentioned before that I come from a large family. I am the youngest of eight. All my siblings are still living and tomorrow is our March/Spring get together. I usually plan these things.  I am good at it and everybody seems to look to me to see what is going on in the family, etc...

We have 11 birthdays in our family in March. It just seems weird to celebrate March birthdays but no other months. So I think I am going to start a Seasonal family get together. We get together in December for a family Christmas bash.  March will be for Spring, June for summer and September for the fall. That should space them out.

My son-in-law came down with a very bad sinus infection so the band he plays in had to cancel for tomorrow so we moved our get together to another winery.  The problem is getting people to R.S.V.P.  I like to give the restaurant a "heads up" as to how many of us rascals are going to show up.  

I tried to get answers the past couple of days but then I just threw up my hands and say 'Whoever shows up, shows up.'  If there is room to fit us all in the same area, great - if not ... we will all just sit where we can. And it is not just the younger generation.  I can't seem to get a solid yes or no from a few here and there. 

Before my SIL had to cancel his gigs (he had 3 this week-end) I planned to add three more bottles to my stash. That is all my home-made wine rack will hold. He was going to play at 2 wineries and one bar. But now I'll be visiting a different place. Which is okay because I only have one bottle from there in the above photo.  They sell a "Coal Miners Daughter" and I'll grab one of those for certain.  Recently on Facebook they advertised that they are selling a treat where they will mix vanilla bean ice cream with any wine in their inventory.  We've had a beautiful couple of "starting to feel like Spring" days but it looks like rain tomorrow. Maybe no patio, but I'll still give that ice cream treat a try.

One evening while listening to my Son-in-law's band at a winery a friend of my daughter's decided to pay our bill without telling me in advance. Well, I like to keep my wine stashed (I give them away, I'm not a big wine drinker) so I added 3 bottles of wine to my tab.  Not knowing he was picking it up. I did this up at the bar and he did not overhear this as he was sitting at our table.  Towards the end of the evening the waitress asked if there was anything else and I mentioned "My tab". She said "Oh, he got it." And she tilted her head toward my daughter's friend.  I said "Oh no! You are NOT paying for my wine!"  I laughed and fortunately had cash on me enough to cover the wine. I gave him the cash and we still laugh to this day when I could only imagine what he thought when he got the bill.  He comes often to the gigs and I told him he gave me a great story to tell at gatherings.  I always think to myself "What must he have thought when he got our bill?  'Why that leech...she added 3 bottles of wine'..."  LOL!  And I got him an Amazon gift card to cover our food bill.  He goes to Florida for the winter months, can't wait for him to return to the North so we can meet up with him again at the gigs.

I'll try to get some photos tomorrow at the bash.  A lot of times, I just enjoy the time and don't even think about taking pictures. I need to take more.  I am slowly getting older pictures from our family albums and scanning them into a digital format and sharing them on Facebook with our Family group. So many great memories.  A lot of times I'll ask various questions such as:  "Who drove that beat up station wagon in this picture?"  Sometimes I get an answer, other times crickets.  I asked recently on our group chat - if anybody recalled us having a pinball machine in our kitchen one winter by our back door.  Two people recalled but nobody remembered getting it and bringing it into the house. I know my Mom didn't do it (and my Dad had passed, I think).  It is fun for me to hear their answers. 

What is that funny saying the Royal Family started using?  "Recollections may vary."

Where will we go?

 When my daughter was young we made several trips to the Cleveland area.  The Art museum and our favorite the History museum.  The Cleveland zoo offered a section called The Rainforest.  (Doing research for this post, I realized they just closed it and are opening a Primate section).

At the time, I recall seeing a countdown clock (like the ones you would see for how many days, hours minutes left until the year 2000, etc...).  It was counting down how many acres or hectares of rainforest were disappearing.  I was astounded and it made me nervous.  I was ignorant of just how vast and huge the actual size of the rainforest was but it still gave me anxiety.

While perusing the news this morning I came across an article that just made me shake my head.  I'm too old to be surprised by this nonsense any longer. Here is a quotation:

"A new four-lane highway cutting through tens of thousands of acres of protected Amazon rainforest is being built for the COP30 climate summit ..."

One family has had their livelihood destroyed by this deforestation. He said "Where will we go?"  I'd like to know where humans will go after we have destroyed our earth.  How about it Musk? Build us a rainforest on the Moon or Mars? I forget. Which one are you going to colonize?  

Now, where is that satire magazine I so enjoy reading?

I was just talking (thinking) about him.

 You know how it is. You read something. A headline story/the death of a celebrity and say to yourself "Whoa...I was just talking to so and so about him."  Or "I was just thinking about them."

Gene Hackman.  On Feb 7th I downloaded a couple of his books to read. I didn't get around to reading them yet, but for some reason I had been reading (Oh, I recall - I was reading about it being his 95th birthday on January 30th) about him and saw that he wrote a couple of books. Westerns are not my favorite genre but I'll give them a go. Just because it's Gene.  If somebody like say - Al Pacino wrote a book, I probably wouldn't bother. I don't care much for AP.  (As an actor, I don't know him of course). 

I've caught a talk show or two with a celebrity on it and funny - it seems like the actors I don't care for, I end up liking them on the talk show and actors I did like ended up looking like a total ass.  So - there you go. I might like Al if I ever saw him in person.  

Please wait 5 minutes....

 Most of my employment history was working with computers. The last two years of my last job, security was getting so ridiculous I spent half of my day recovering, securing, double-locking my logins and the other half of the day assisting customers/end users recover their login/passwords. I got nothing else done. Of course I am exaggerating but I'm not that far off.

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...