Sure...no problem for you

 

This is a picture of the restaurant party room before 41 family members got there.  I make all arrangements for our family for our Christmas parties.  I think the restaurant staff really did a great job at decorating.  Towards the end of the evening my one (high on the Narcissistic scale) sister came over laughing and said that she and her daughter each took one of the decorations from the ceiling (I'm pretty sure she meant the smaller ones, at least I hope so).  I thought to myself "Sure. Go ahead. It's not a problem for you.  It's MY phone number they have."  

Dumb Cane

Certainly they could have come up with a better name?   Dumb cane? 

My most recent hobby is houseplants. I also found out that what once was the "Wandering Jew" is now the "Wandering Dude".  I love it!

 

Latest read

 I don't read a lot of fiction. I think this one was recommended to me through a magazine I read or similar. It seems to me like the last part was rushed and wrapped up quickly.  Like the author had to make the deadline and just rushed it out.  I don't know. It seems like the story was plodding along and then, wham, bam - it's over. I was left scratching my head and had to go back and read and re-read the last two pages to try to figure out exactly who was responsible and what happened afterwards.

Not for me

 I actually know a couple of people who would like eggnog flavored jelly beans. Maybe I'll get them some. With my daughter it would be dill pickle flavored.  She is everything dill pickle.  No, she isn't expecting.   I was shopping a couple of weeks ago and texted her to ask her if she needed anything and she replied back "Dill pickles!"  I put the phone away and said "At least she didn't add chocolate ice cream."  I searched to see if that combination was still associated with pregnancy and did not find anything. I did see lots of dill pickle flavored ice cream, though.  I had to quit reading.  I haven't had my coffee, yet.

Haven't doesn't look right.  Cripes, neither does doesn't!  Maybe I need to go back to bed.

I've been up for over 2 hours because of a coughing fit.  Well, I'm sure my daughter is going to be after me today to go to stat care. I'd much rather wait and contact my doctor tomorrow.  I thought I was getting better because the cough became productive instead of dry hacking but no - the coughing fits continue. In fact one is beginning right now.  I think I got overheated.  

In sickness and in death... oh wait - or is it health?

 I think I have only been prescribed an inhaler about four times in the past 30 years or so.  I always forget how to use them.  I was reading the instructions and it was telling me to prime the device. I kept trying but I never saw any mist. Meanwhile, the count ticker kept going down.  Finally, I moved on to the next step.  It was then the instructions informed me that I had to turn the device upside-down to inhale.  Why the hell didn't they tell me that I needed to do that to prime it?  I was spraying it like a room deodorizer.

I am sick. Very sick.  Not been this sick in years.  My cough is so bad I choke and can't breathe.  I had a follow up appointment at my doctor's office when this cough first began.  She prescribed Tessala pearls. They did absolutely nothing and my cough became much worse. I texted my doctor and she then prescribed an inhaler and prednisone.  That was last week.  I can't sleep.  Of course the holiday messed things up and I can't text the doctor any longer. It is all I can do to talk my daughter out of making me go to stat care.  I don't want to go to stat care.

If I am not coughing, I am fine. I can do anything (a bit tired, but that is every day all year long for me any more) that I normally do.  For some reason I don't feel like they want to prescribe an antibiotic. Which is fine by me but I keep hearing others are getting better a lot quicker with their scripts of an antibiotic. It's like my doctor and her associates just came back from a "How antibiotics are harming the human race" seminar or something.

Giving thanks. I am thankful that I have the ability to tell family that I choose NOT to go anywhere for Thanksgiving dinner.  I come from a super large family and I've had so many dinners and get togethers to last me 10 lifetimes.  I ate chicken noodle soup on bird day.  The prednisone is making me super hungry but I have not been grocery shopping in ages so I am working with canned food. I usually fix a turkey dinner on Friday or Saturday or even Sunday because I do like the traditional meal that is normally served during the holiday. Not this year.  I have not seen a grocery store in over 2 weeks. I've not left the house in a full week.

I did want to go to calling hours this evening. A good friend of mine's husband passed. I met him once or twice. She is one of the ladies I worked with 40 years ago and we still try to get together once a month or every other month. I called her and gave her my condolences and let her know I was unable to make it but wanted to visit her soon and wanted some good husband stories.

Reading, reading more reading

 

I've read a couple chapters of the above book, but have not returned to it.  It bothers me too much. So, I got an autobiography of a celebrity - Sissy Spacek and am reading that instead. Much lighter reading.

Then I found a real time waster.  A jigsaw puzzle site.  jigsawplanet.com   It has replaced the Christmas Hangman game.  I mentioned before I can't just watch a TV show or a movie or video.  I end up putting a jigsaw puzzle together and just listening to a show.  Currently, there are not many tv shows on that I am interested in and I can't remember the last time I was on Netflix.  

Years ago I recall watching the original pilot of "Gilligan's Island" on YouTube.  Characters for the Professor, Ginger and Mary Ann were not the same ones they had on the show.  And the theme song was quite different - (with a Spanish accented singer).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx7A4sxJi7c

I'll keep reading bits of the above book until I get upset and then go to something lighter again just to even my mood out.  

I am also trying to get through "Endless Love" by Scott Spencer.  After I read the Lionel Ritchie autobiography I came across his famous song he wrote for the movie.  I don't recall reading if he read the book or not.  It is a bit of a different read.  Written in the late 60's I believe.  No, wait.  The story line is in the 60's but I think it was written in the 70's.  

I also have Apollo 13 online to read.  I am juggling 4 books.  My Mom was always reading 4 books at a time.  I also have a few magazines that I plan to read or browse through.  I'll probably ditch Endless Love and Apollo 13.  I don't seem to be going to them very often.

We saw a few spits of snow this evening.  Kind of a rain mix.  It was gray and dreary all day. I did my usual Sunday ritual.  Cleaning my plants and looking them over for white mold.  I started turning my desk fan so it blows over them to dry up the soil.  I read that the dampness can cause that white mold and to keep the air flowing around them.  Found absolutely nothing today.  

Taking Cheech to the vet tomorrow for an x-ray.  I think this might be all for him. He is not enjoying his life at all right now. Scratch that.  We are having him put to sleep tomorrow.  He is sixteen years old and he is miserable.  His new medication keeps him from crying in pain but he has no quality of life. He can't move. We have to turn him and prop him up to eat and drink.  He is still eating and drinking and usually I say if they are doing that then....sigh.  We have to carry him outside to do his business. Which today he did neither.  He was still urinating as of this morning. No BM for two days. I think he may be shutting down.

A very sweet dog

 This is our dog, Cheech.  The date on the photo is May 2015. I brought he and his brother Chong, home in the summer of 2009.  Some degenerate had left four puppies in a box at the end of a farmer's long driveway.  He had two left (both males).  When I went to pick them up, they were running around the patio at my sister's house and dodging in and out of the lawn chairs.  They were so darn tiny, we thought for sure they must be chihuahuas.  Even the vet when she first saw them said how tiny they were.  They grew to about knee high on me.  I almost called them Thing 1 and Thing 2 but Cheech and Chong popped into my head and over the past 16 years we have received several chuckles when we said their names.

Chong passed in 2024. Cheech isn't doing so well.  He was stiff a year or so ago and the vet prescribed carprofen.  That helped for a year as I have wooden floors and a tiled kitchen floor and he had trouble getting up.  He took a turn for the worse about a week ago.  The doctor added gabapentin. That just wiped him out so that he didn't even get up to go to the bathroom he just pooped in his dog bed.  Then he was in the kitchen getting a drink of water, turned around and fell. Then peed all over the floor as he lay there. My daughter and I gently cleaned him up and we have had to carry him outside three times a day to do his business.  He can stand for short periods and I have noticed he will move about 3 feet to another dog bed.  He will cry in pain if he can't turn over. He is eating and drinking water.

I have a message in to the vet and waiting for her answer.  She told my daughter if the gabapentin didn't work, she had one more thing to try but he would need to go off the carprofen.  If she needs me to bring him in, I will have to prepare myself for the worse.  Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.  She might just say there is nothing more that can be done.  At his age any surgery on his back would not benefit.  We are at the "quality of life" decision. My daughter pointed out that when it gets snowy and icy outside we will have a hell of a time carrying him outside to do his business. Sigh.  

After he goes, that leaves me with just my old dog Milton.  My daughter brought him home to me. He is an older rescue.  No idea how old he is but he has a lot of gray/white on his muzzle.  He has very short hair so I have sweaters for him to wear during the colder months.  Cheech and Chong had a super double coat of heavy fur.  My daughter and her husband have two big dogs downstairs.  And my cat Moses who I believe has always thought of himself as a dog.  Yesterday after caring for Cheech, Moses walked over and started making biscuits next to Cheech on the dog bed.  My cat has NEVER done this since I got him in 2018 as a baby kitten.  It was sad.  He always lays with Cheech or Milton and is very attached to them. 

*Making biscuits is a term used for when a cat kneads his paws onto something and looks as if he is kneading dough for bread or biscuits.  (From when they nursed off their mother and had to knead the area around where they suckled to keep the milk flowing). In 1982 I had a cat that would knead on my head. That just felt weird.

So, it won't be long now for Cheech.  I dream of having no pets so I can be free and come and go without worrying about feeding them or letting them out.  But, when I am in the house alone with no pets, I will hear all kinds of noises.  A dog will bark if somebody is close so I always knew if the dogs were sleeping and quiet everything was alright.  My imagination gets the better of me. 

They call it Crack

 This stuff is nick-named crack corn.  Because you are addicted from your first bite. The flavors are crazy.  Sweet and savory choices.  Mr. Pickle to S'mores and back.  My favorite is the original and sweet cheese.  I had the above Iced Lemon Loaf over the week-end.  It is not one of my favorites but it is good. I want them to make a white chocolate. I gave my daughter and her husband the Crazy Onion, Sweet Chili, Bangin' BBQ and French Toast. I kept the salty caramel, the above lemon, original and Sweet cheese. So, so good!  And they talk about not being able to stop at one when eating Lay's Potato chips.  Don't try this stuff if you don't want to get addicted.  I always suggest starting out with the original first.  I don't like S'mores, so if I started with that one, I'd probably say "Eww...I tried them and don't like them."

The factory is a bit too close to me.

https://puffy-pop.com/

What do you call it?

 I grew up with my Mom calling this a spider plant.  I've also heard airplane plant.  I am trying to start new ones from the original.  This is one of  the new starting attempts.  I have several.  I have over 30 inside plants and I have more in water trying to start them (waiting for their roots to sprout or as I call it - growing legs).

My new pots come from Amazon tomorrow so I'll get that peanut plant in the dirt.  I'll post a picture of it.  I may need to run out and get more potting soil, though. I have a full week of nothing!  No doctor, dentist or other appointments.  I should call a family member and go visit.  

I also have two new plants that need to be re-potted.  I was doing really well not purchasing any more plants but our dog cable snapped and I went to Rural King to get a new one.  And they had about a hundred small plants for $5.  I did just buy one, though.  And the cable - Rural King didn't have them and can't get them.  They are not made in America. I automatically thought of Rural King because that is where we bought the last one. It has to be heavy duty for one of my daughter's dogs.

Wal-Mart was close and I figure their inventory would be larger. They had them. Made in Vietnam. I will go to Wal Mart on occasion.  I used to about once a year - close to holidays to stock up on baking supplies.  I go more often, now.  I saw fresh cranberries and HAD to buy them because I made (and we have already eaten and given the rest away) my cranberry nut bread.  So good!  The kids like banana bread and I am like - eh.  But, give me the cranberry nut bread warm with butter with my coffee in the morning. I still have a bag of cranberries.  I may make more bread and freeze it in small loaves.

I also did the cookies with white chocolate chips and craisins.  I used up all the craisins I had and when I went to purchase more I was in a bit of sticker shock.  It had been a while since I purchased them.

Speaking of dogs, Cheech was getting really bad.  My daughter had one of her dogs at our vet's office and she mentioned it and she gave my daughter another medicine to give Cheech along with the Carprofen. I went to look to see what it was and had to laugh. Gabapentin.  Yep.  Everybody and their brother and all their pets are on Gabapentin.  Wish I'd bought stock in it ten  years ago.

I was given Gabapentin years ago to help thwart migraines.  I went off of it when the migraines stopped.  My daughter's dog is on it.  I talk to people - everybody seems to be on it and all for different reasons.  Cracks me up.  

The 1889 one

 Currently reading the book "The Johnstown Flood" by David McCullough.  I think it was a Facebook post that started me on this journey.  Doing a little research I see they also had a flood there in 1939 and 1977.  But the one in 1889 was a big one.  

The author did a great job researching.  The dam started out as a reservoir for the local vicinity (including Johnstown) for the usual droughts that they experienced during the hot summers.  The reservoir was part of a canal that connected Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The state decided to build a dam, it took over 15 years, they ran out of money.  It was finally completed in 1853. By then there was no use for it.

A new RR line was created, the canal was not used any longer so the dam and the surrounding land was sold a few times with nobody taking any care of the dam.  A group of wealthy millionaires purchased the land to create a posh country club retreat where they could escape to from the city.  They increased the water area of the dam to make a lake so they could boat and fish.  The dam did break a little in 1862 and they cheaply repaired it. It was during a drought so no damage was done, but this began the rumors every year about the dam breaking. This was the running joke every summer until people just laughed it off and ignored it.

The original dam had two spillways built into it - one on each side. Over the years, the locals stole the metal and the spillways collapsed and were not any use.  The water's only way to escape was through holes in the rocks and splits or over the top of the dam.

In May of 1889 it had rained a deluge for several hours and days. There were people who checked on the dam and they tried to warn the town, but almost everybody laughed it off. "Never happen" they said. Until it did.  

The flood was devastating.  A flood of this magnitude is not only water.  It had crashed through bridges, trees, rocks, mud and some little towns along the way (add houses and timber to the pile) before hitting Johnstown so the front of the flood was solid debris.  The water was pushing with a horrendous force behind it.  The debris grew to include pieces and whole parts of animals and humans. Some did heed the warning and ran up the hill to safety.  Others did not make it out.  Some were rescued out of the water by others and some rode beds, planks, trees or the roof of a  house until they were long out of sight. Some were never seen again. A few survived when they were given the opportunity, most perished. People were found drowned several miles downstream.

And during all of this the rain was pelting down and it was freezing cold. The force of the water ripped most or all of the clothing off the poor souls so if they did survive on top of something or in their attic they had to wait it out overnight in the icy cold exposed to the rain.  Some managed to get pulled into a house or building that managed to remain standing by other survivors.  They did the best they could to cover the people but there was very little that had not been washed away. Others were stranded in a tree overnight exposed to the cold.  Fires broke out due to natural gas leaks and bridges that did survive also caught fire. The smell was horrible. Burning oil, muck, timber, human bodies and animals and every kind of household item.

After the flood the survivors (a lot of them were in shock) started to gather the bodies and nurse the injured.  They had nothing.  No paper, no pencils, no bandages - they ripped up clothes or bed sheets from places that had survived but there was not near enough.  The outside world could not get there but by foot until the RR rebuilt the train tracks that had been washed away.  Then help poured in from all over.  Money, supplies and humans came to help via the RR.  It did not stop.  The military was called in to keep the order.  Clara Barton (red cross) brought her crew in and did an amazing job.  Of course there were false stories in the printed papers - it was just chaos.

Most of the blame was put on the millionaire's resort building the lake up and neglecting to take proper care of the dam.  A poem appeared:

Many thousand human lives—

Butchered husbands, slaughtered wives,

Mangled daughters, bleeding sons,

Hosts of martyred little ones,

(Worse than Herod’s awful crime)

Sent to heaven before their time;

Lovers burnt and sweethearts drowned,

Darlings lost but never found!

All the horrors that hell could wish,

Such was the price that was paid for—fish!

The lake was for boating and fishing. There were several law suits but really - the survivors of Johnstown with nothing left against millionaires and their lawyers?  Get real.

The author wrote a paragraph that just really hit home. He wrote the book in 1968 but it just feels like this paragraph is fitting for today's world.  The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Here is what he wrote:

Was it not the likes of them (rich men) that were bringing in the hunkies, buying legislatures, cutting wages, and getting a great deal richer than was right or good for any mortal man in a free, democratic country? Old-timers said that with every gain they made people were losing something. If that was so, people were beginning to think a little more about just what it was they might be losing, and to whom. And the more they thought about it, and especially the workingmen, the less they liked it.

Since time immemorial, right?  

Guilty Creatures

 Just finished the book "Guilty Creatures" by Mikita Brottman.  A man was murdered in Tallahassee FL in December 2000 by his best friend.  His best friend was having an affair with his wife and he had recently sold him a large life insurance policy.  Mike (the man murdered) was unaware of the affair. The death of Mike was considered accidental for 17 years or so, by the law (there were several people who suspected foul play).  His friend (Brian) divorced his wife (Kathy) and married Mike's widow, Denise.  After a few years they eventually had a falling out and Brian sort of went haywire until he was arrested and he started talking and implicating Denise for a plea bargain.  If I researched correctly it looks like Mike may get released in 2035 and the widow in 2047.  He has less time because he made a deal for turning in the widow, Denise.

Mike had done nothing to Brian that I am aware of.  He considered him a friend and they went duck hunting and other activities together.  I can't imagine going somewhere with my best friend only to have them murder me.  And Mike was aware that Brian was killing him.  He didn't drown like Brian thought he would, he was in the water hanging on to a tree stump after Brian pushed him out of the boat.  Brian then circled Mike and shot him in the head.  Mike saw it coming.  Denise told Brian she would not divorce Mike because that would affect her social status in the community. Brian and Denise saw this (murdering Mike) as the only way they could be together.  Kathy got the hell out of Dodge, remarried and moved to North Carolina.

Mike and Denise had a daughter. Brian and Kathy had a son.  The son still has Kathy but Denise's daughter had nobody. Unless she turned to her paternal grandmother who was the moving force behind finding out the truth about the death of her son. Shortly after Mike was murdered, his mother began questioning the situation and Denise got mad and stopped letting her have any contact with her grand daughter.   You have to wonder if Denise gets any visits from her daughter or Brian from his son.

It is a shame that the two murderers were free for such a long period of time and were able to enjoy the insurance money and their attraction for each other and just live the high life while Mike lay in a hole in the swamp. This is the time I would want Mike's ghost to come and haunt Brian and Denise.  Maybe it took it's toll on them but they sure did get a lot of good life in before they were incarcerated.  Is it horrible of me to wish that evil things happened to them in prison?  I didn't go that far. I just wanted them to have bad dreams, I guess.

I'm a Peanut Farmer now

 I brought all my outside plants inside.  I now have 30 plants and 5 I am trying to start (they are each in a jar of water. When they sprout legs, I plant them and hope for the best).  While cleaning up my outside plants, (and hoping nothing like a snake or squirrel decides to exit any of them) I found a strange/odd plant all by itself and didn't really match the rest. I thought to myself "I need to replant that one into another pot." 

I carefully dug all the soil around it and I could feel/hear the roots breaking but I managed to get it out of there and then I saw the peanut. I laughed. At first I thought one of my regular plants had grown through the peanut.  (I find several peanuts in my flower gardens and plants. My daughter said a lady up the alley is always putting them out for the squirrels and birds).  I put the plant in water and told my daughter. She looked at it and said "Is that a peanut plant?"  I said "What?  I think it is!"  

So, I'm a peanut farmer now.  I'll let you know how it goes.  If it lives.  I do pretty good but I do have one issue.  I cannot for the life of me keep chrysanthemums alive!  I don't know what it is but about a week or 2 after I get them, poof they are dead.

I have been to all the local stores in my area looking for pots.  I refuse to pay big dollars on them.  A few of them don't have drainage, so I poke holes in the bottom.  Most of them, I try to fill the bottom with gravel or rocks of some sort to help drainage.  I keep puppy pee pads under all the plants for any messes. I do have trays for them, but I tend to spill dirt, or drip water when I water them.  My cat ignores them.  He does fuss at me when he wants to sit in the sun in the window, so I move a couple of plants for him.

My Mom always had plants in her house.  I don't think any of my sisters do.  We all seem to pick up certain things of hers.  One sister does jigsaw puzzles like Mom (I can't stand those).  Three of the five of us go to yard sales (not me, I have enough junk).  I do the crosswords and fill-ins plus a lot more puzzles I have found.  My favorites are the variety books from:   https://www.pennydellpuzzles.com/variety-puzzles/.  

He's my cat

                                             He ain't heavy!    He's my brother!   My cat, Moses. 

Reading, reading, reading

 It is not very often that I find a book I like that has been recommended by the magazines I read.  I don't recall what magazine suggested this book "The Witch's Orchard" by Archer Sullivan but I like the book and can't stop reading it.  Then I had to research Archer Sullivan.  Is that a man or a woman?  It's a woman. I figured.  The book's main character is a woman.  

Of course I also read online - news stories.  I was reading one about how several of the world's billionaires are building doomsday bunkers.  It's the new thing I guess.  And for some odd reason - in New Zealand?  Not any that I know.  I think Bezos picked Hawaii and Zuckerberg picked Texas.  idk. Sometimes my memory is not accurate.  Anyway, I read further and it quoted a "former" body guard of a billionaire. He said that he and the other body guards had an agreement.  If something happened where they needed to take their boss (a billionaire) to the bunker that they would do away with him and live in the bunker themselves.  Huh.  I guess that might explain why he is a "former".

The reason for the article was AI.  I guess a lot of 'people in the know' feel that AI is going to ruin society or the world as we know it.  Well, I don't think there is much we can do at this point.  Unless I become a bodyguard for a millionaire I don't think I can do much.  At this point in my life, I'm not sure if it would be easier for me to be the bodyguard or the billionaire.  I'm fairly certain I don't need to ponder any more on it (as in it ain't gonna happen).  Me becoming a bodyguard or billionaire, that is.  The AI doomsday - now that one could happen.

Another AI article I was reading gave me a chuckle.  They are creating laws (somebody somewhere, I don't recall) where you will not be able to leave your money/estate/property to AI after you pass away.  I laugh.  Years ago I read where a man in India legally married his dog.  Sometimes, I tell you. What next?  

I don't read the NYTimes but I read an article that named that magazine as the source of this item:

 YouTube agreed to pay a $24.5 million settlement to President Trump and others who were suspended by the video streaming platform in the wake of the Jan 6th 2021 riot. The bulk of the settlement - $22 million - will go to Trump.

Moses watches YouTube

 Here I have the bird and chipmunk channel on for Moses.  I have 2 monitors so he can watch a show while I peruse news/social media.  He got bored with the fish swimming in the river show, and it wasn't long before he became bored with this one.  

A show was suggested to me called "The Girlfriend."  I have only watched the first episode so far. Not sure it is my kind of show. But, she has a cat named Moses.  I think the cat is dead though.  Her son's girlfriend put the cat outside and it was said earlier that the cat would not survive if it were outside.

This girlfriend is a manipulative Narcissist as far as I can tell.  I don't seem to be interested enough to watch the other five episodes.

The Entertainment Center

 I got rid of a TV years ago.  I watch everything on my computer. I read everything on my computer. I have an entire desk area set up (office remote area when I worked). I call it "The Bridge".  Star Trek fan. 

I mentioned in my last post that I went to a Mission store in town - a new one. I wasn't looking but I found a nice entertainment center for $20.  Perfect condition. Not a scratch, glass in tact. I paid for it and told them I couldn't take it home today, how long do they hold it. This was Friday  morning. He said they can't hold longer than 2 days. They are closed on Sunday.

I called Monday morning (now there was  a female cashier) and told her I would be in to pick up the entertainment center that afternoon.  She didn't ask any questions, just said okay.  My brother and I went to pick it up.  I walked around it and saw a sticker on it that said $10.  What the hell! I had forgotten my receipt so I quickly had my daughter take a picture and message it to me.  I told one of the guys there I had purchased it Friday and showed him the image of the receipt. I said "And now it's $10. Can I have $10 back?"  He looked so confused. I said "Never mind. Let's just get it loaded."  

We did and I got the heck out of there. I will have to re-do the wall art as the center is taller than what I had there previously.  Which was a bearded dragon tank.  He died and I have moved the tank out along with all his stuff.  Heat lamps, UVB bulbs, feed dishes, hammocks, hides (boxes and logs where they can go to hide from the heat, anybody looking at them and for their brumation period). 

I guess I'll get a TV again.  I did this a few years ago.  I think I want a TV (so I can sit in an easy chair instead of my office chair) to watch a movie, documentary or a show.  Then I don't watch anything on the TV. I continue to watch everything on my computer. The last one went to my daughter for her bedroom.  I don't like a TV in the bedroom.  I have a new easy chair so maybe this time it will stick.  

Actually, I can't just watch a show. I have to play a mindless game on my other computer monitor while I have the show run with closed caption on (I have to have closed caption). Most of the time I cannot tell what they are saying or the sound is too low because when the scene changes and there is music it blasts out of the speakers. It drives me nuts just to sit and watch the show.  I don't like to browse my phone and a tablet or laptop is just not comfortable for me if I am sitting in an easy chair or sofa.  Sigh. Such problems. Somebody suggested I take up crochet, knitting or cross stitch.  Uh...no thanks.

I don't browse social media or check email or look at the news while I am watching a show.  If I do, then I have not heard or seen anything from the show and I have to go back and re-watch that part over.  That's where the mindless game comes in.  Mahjong, Solitaire, Bookworm, Bejeweled, Chuzzle. I have to do something else when I watch TV , a movie or a video.

More worn out

 A couple of weeks ago I had a brake caliper repaired in my car.  I didn't notice right away, but eventually I used the e-brake when I parked on a small slant.  Actually, I use my e-brake a lot, whether on a slant or not. The handle pulled up really easy and smoothly.  At first I thought "Wow. My e-brake must have been messed up along with the rear caliper."  Then I thought - wait.  I pulled the e-brake and pressed the gas.  The car moved forward and backward with no issue whatsoever.  Hmmm.... I called the garage. I was busy for a week or two but had my appointment yesterday.

My daughter picked me up and we went out for breakfast and to a thrift store. She dropped me back off at the dealership and I waited another hour.  No charge.  The brake caliper they repaired had failed.  I asked "If I had not noticed my e-brake not working, how would I have known the rear caliper repair had failed?"  She said "You wouldn't."  Yeah.  Certified or not - I think I'm done with the dealership.  I've been taking my (total of 2) cars there since 1996.  They changed hands a couple of years ago.  I think it's time to move on. Besides my car is too old for anybody to care if it is certified with manufacturer parts or not.

This time every year we go to a Swiss festival in an Amish town near us.  There is a wine and cheese tasting event in the fire station. My Son-in-Law's band plays there every year.  After Covid they stopped providing chairs. Now it's just tall tables placed around the station with the establishments set up against the walls. My daughter and I said this year we were bringing our camping chairs. A couple of others did also.  For some reason this year they would not open the big garage doors to let air in. It was so hot, I had to go outside several times to cool down.  It took me a while before I realized it may have been the samples of wine that were making me so warm.  Oops.

There is just something about a small town carnival/festival. With those carnival rides and noises. But, it's the lights after it starts to get dark.  You have the lights, the familiar noises, the smell of deep fried foods, children laughing (or crying, depending on the issue) and running around making their parents wonder why do they do this to themselves each and every year?

And, back home, I continue to prepare for the family get together tomorrow at yet another winery. I am exhausted.  But still, I only sleep 3 - 4 hours.  I thought I was getting better when I did a couple of 6 - 7 hours but it went right back to 4 or so.  My Mom had horrible early morning insomnia.  My daughter and I both have it.  I get up at 3 (or 4 if I try to go back to sleep and fail) and read or browse the news on the Internet.  After two hours or so I am ready to go back to bed.  I can also go back to bed even if I drink coffee.  It is pretty much okay now that I am retired but when I worked it was a bit of a problem. Some say don't go to bed before 11 p.m. or Midnight.  That's okay if I am interested in something and I don't notice the time.  Other times I fall asleep right at my desk while I am reading on my computer.

I do nap if I need to.  Maybe once a year I nap more than an hour, but mostly it's an hour. Sometimes I am just too busy to nap with going places.  I don't want to ask my doctor for anything. I don't want to get addicted to anything or depend on anything. After all these  years I finally started noticing some allergy symptoms creeping in. I have to admit, I've been lucky in that area.  I take Benadryl and that helps me sleep but I don't have a reason to take it all year long when the allergies just happen a couple of weeks out of the year. I remember years ago taking Tylenol-PM or one of the same.  I remember sitting on the couch watching TV when this overwhelming sleepiness came over me.  How nice that was, but I stopped that right quick.  It just didn't seem right. And how long before  you need more and more to get the same effect?  I might pick some up if I decide to go on a vacation where it is really hard for me to sleep somewhere else in a strange bed.  But, I know me.  If it is in the medicine cabinet and I can't sleep, I'll just take it.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow at the winery.

Worn out

 Went to Berlin (Amish country) today.  The above photo of my front porch has nothing to do with our trip.  I did see the barn planter (one the same size and a smaller one) but not as much white on them.  

The above image I did over the week-end. I purchased some colorful mums and the orange decoration I made last year after visiting Jo-Ann's shop.  Which is now gone.  I guess a Hobby Lobby is coming to our town.

Berlin is only an hour away from me and honestly, a lot of food items there are stocked at my local grocery stores and small markets in my town. As are the many cheese options.  So much cheese!

Today we went to browse the crafts.  Wow!  So much out there.  A couple of bus loads came in today and there were quite a few shoppers walking around town.  I've seen it a lot busier.  

I'm planning a family camp fire this week-end at Maize Valley in Hartville, OH.  I'm trying to get a family event four times a year.  Christmas we have done for years.  My oldest sister has hosted Memorial day for years (we consider that the summer one).  I think she said it was a bit much for them so they are stopping it.  It is an awful lot. Years ago I used to host the 4th of July (I think if you go back far enough in my posts, you will see pics of some of the parties).  I would get about 40 people. I stopped them when a family member would ruin it each year with her drunken escapades and nobody needs to have their children around that. She had been in prison for years and family get togethers were stress free and so fun.  Sigh.  I have to add this - she is great fun when she is sober.

Anyway, this week-end it looks like mid-70s and hopefully no rain. I reserved the pavilion so we will be under a roof.  I would imagine the campfire will be outside, though.  I am bringing hot dogs and buns, condiments and calico beans.  Everybody loves the calico beans, here is my recipe (some folks call them cowboy beans).

Calico Beans

1 large can of baked beans (with juice)

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can kidney beans (drained)

1 can butter beans (drained)

1 can green lima beans (drained)

2 tiny cans of the small green baby limas (they are too cute not to add in, but sometimes hard to find)

3/4  cup brown sugar (adjust to your desire of sweetness)

14 oz catsup (I get the cheapest brand for this)

1 Tbsp dijon mustard - adjust for taste (or honey mustard, or dried mustard powder)

1/2  lb cooked and crumbled bacon

1 lb ground beef, browned, broken up and drained

1 small onion diced (I use yellow cooking onion or sweet white.  I think red/purple is too strong)

But you do you.

You can add any other beans you want, also save some of the drained juices in the refrigerator in case the beans become too dry and they need liquid.

You can adjust amounts to your liking after you make it for a while and family members tell you they like it this way or that way.  The above way is how I make it for my crew. You can add Worcestershire sauce, I don't as my daughter is sensitive to it and usually has a skin reaction when she eats it.

I brown the ground beef and fry the bacon on the stove but then add everything to a crock pot on low for 4 - 6 hours. I usually make everything the day before and refrigerate the beans in the crock overnight and fire them up early the next morning (make sure you have the time to cook them all the way through before your get together) and take them to the event in a crock pot that travels well.  

Now, this next part is V-E-R-Y important. Get a crock pot with the lock-down lid. And even with a lock-down lid, put them in a cardboard box so they fit snug and cannot move around.  Pad with old dish towels if you need to. You do not want spilled beans of any kind in your car.  Trust me on this. No matter how much you clean it, you will be reminded of the spillage each and every time it rains.

Greed, cheating in horseracing

 Surprised?  Nope. Me neither.  It is so disheartening, though.  I just finished a book titled "Death of a racehorse."  by  Katie Bo Lillis.  The doping of the horses to make them run and perform faster.  Getting caught whether guilty or not.  Lying and paying off people to get out of it.  Horses dying left and right because the strain is too hard (drugs or not).  And after the race they have to service (stud) mares twice a day and if they can't perform they are dosed up on vitamins and who knows what else and this also kills them sometimes.  I loved to watch the Kentucky Derby/Preakness and Belmont.  I also love to watch the trotters at the county fair.  A few years ago I started to wonder.  Is this abuse?  I know that some are treated very well, but it is barbaric to me.  I no longer watch them live or on television. 

Yes, but blackberry?

 One of the first guys I dated was a Jack Daniels fan.  So, I picked up a liking for the whiskey.  It did not serve me well.  I think one of the major reasons I have stopped drinking is because how sick I would get the next day(s).  I can't even imagine how that blackberry would taste coming back up.  I'll tell you one thing.  I never will know because - Hell to the No!