Can You Smell It???

Hello 92 degrees!  Mother Nature is having a hot flash and I expect that won't change for a few months.  I'm still as tight as ever when it comes to electricity ($$$), but I had to turn on the air yesterday.  Even though I try to work only in the cool mornings, I was forced outside for way too long. 

This however ... this makes it all better.  Can you smell it?  Oh my goodness these chickens are just amazing.  This had to be at least a 6 pounder!!

I'm betting you know where I am!!  Yessirree ... Costco!!  I went because I needed a new pair of glasses.  Little did I know THAT part of the store did not open until 10:00.  I had all of three things on my list, so hanging around for an entire HOUR just wasn't going to happen.  

Right off the bat I spotted this crazy bright display.  There must have been a sale on SPAM.  I mean really, who eats this stuff ... and if you do, how in the world could you ever use up THIS many cans in one purchase?  Anyone wonder what they do with all the food that does not sell?  I have never seen a sale bin in Costco.

That's when I made the mistake.  Look at this beautiful jar of fire roasted Hatch chili sauce!!  Perfect for green enchiladas or chili verde.  I was so excited to get it home and start cooking.  Actually not cooking, the plan was to add the chili sauce to some of that roasted shredded chicken. 

What a surprise it was when I opened the jar to find it was ONLY chilis with NO sauce.  WHAT?  It was in the spaghetti sauce aisle, so I expected SAUCE.  Woohoo baby!!!  This stuff is HOT!!  I have no idea what I will do with the rest of the three quart jar!!  Just kidding, it's not that big, but it's at LEAST half a gallon!!

On to the second reason for going to Costco.  One of my friends said she got these GREAT peanut butter cups ... only 2 grams of sugar ... which have taken the place of candy and helped her lose 24 pounds.  DANG!!  I want some of THAT!!

Just look at the picture!!  It's like a mega Reeces peanut butter cup!  Well ... look at the bottom of the picture.  That's the REAL size ... barely a teaspoon full!!  All individually wrapped to make it even harder to get at when you are having a sugar attack.

But wait ... it gets even better!!  That chocolate is so dark when you take your first bite it sends shivers down your back.  Mamma Mia!!!  By the third bite it was better ... there were only three tiny bites ... but the peanut butter part missed me completely.  There was peanut butter in that?  Where is the "LOADS OF PEANUT BUTTER!!!  I called my friend to tell her I had a bag for her ... CHEAP!!  I'll try another or two, but truly, these come no where near satisfying a sweet tooth!!!

On to yesterday ... it was a good day in Cooperland.  He spotted the electrician WAY before I did.  A very nice looking guy in a starched white shirt ... I was impressed.  I had found five outlets that were not working.  One outside front, one inside, two outside patio and one in the garage.  

Doesn't sound like that would be on one circuit, does it?  He brought out all his expensive toys and went on the hunt.  It ended here in the garage.  Yes, I have reset this GFI a few times, including recently, but it didn't help.  

So for whoever said it was the GFI, you win the prize.  It would reset, and about four minutes later, pop off.  He installed a new one and everything came back on, with all the plugs working just fine.  Whoever wired this circuit must have been drunk.  At any rate, though it took over an hour to find the problem, we are all fixed up now!!  Yahoo!!  

That was quickly followed up by the landscape lighting guys showing up out of the blue.  He said he called me twice and left two messages, plus a text message.  I got nothing.  I'm struggling with my computer email and now my phone is acting up too?  

That turned into a long story, and I've no pictures to back it up, so I'll tell you about it tomorrow after the steam quits coming out of my ears!!  Gosh computers can be frustrating!!

Dinner was fast and not so tasty.  I had two of those frozen burgers in my fridge that needed to be cooked, so I made them into a mini meatloaf.  That was a mistake I won't make again.  I don't know why, but this was a bad idea.  I thought maybe adding taco stuff would make it all better.  I'm here to tell you, NOT SO MUCH.

BUT ... any meal can be made GREAT again if you add a piece of lemon pie at the end of it.  This is my usual key lime pie recipe, but I didn't have any limes.  I DID have those lemons I bought from the kids, so I substituted and held my breath that it would be good. 

OH YEAH!!!  That made up for the price of fixing the electricity, the no peanut butter bites AND the bad meatloaf tacos.  

And so I'm off this morning to do yard work once again, and plant those two beauties I found at the nursery.  With a long sleeved SHIRT ... I'm wearing a SHIRT so I don't get burned any more!!

Kerbing, Chattering and Screaming

Good Morning on this sunny 90 degree California day!!  I'm trying to be cheerful, can you tell?  Nothing frustrates me more than computer and internet problems, and they have been getting to me every morning.  I don't know why, but my computer will NOT connect to my email address.  I'm thinking it must have contacted CoViD from someone in the Middle East.

My computer says it cannot verify the address or the password.  If I go to email from my browser, it works fine, but my computer will not download anything through MAIL.  I send all my pictures through email and download them to my computer ... so it's a problem!  I should probably delete the account from my computer and try to reload it.  That's scary ... what if it NEVER wants to come back?  Maybe it's time for a whole new email account.

So in the meantime, here's Jonathan to entertain you!  It works out good for me because my screaming over the email is covered by his chattering. 

The best news ever ... here's the Kwik Kerb crew of two that actually showed up on time.  The kid on the right is the boss ... and he is a KID.  Boy do I love seeing youngsters with initiative.  They dug out all the old curbing, leveled the line and hauled in sand for the base.

The guy on the left whipped up a concrete mixture in the trailer, then brought it over to the machine that lays it, conveniently hidden behind the wheel barrel.  This was not an easy job, and they only took ONE lunch break.  

I asked for some nice sexy curves, and even though I didn't get any, the LAWN did.  I can't tell you how much better this looks.  They went all the way down to the fence and around the corner of the house to the section of gravel NOT being held in place by a badly warped 2 x 4.  They even hauled the 2 x 4 off.

I suppose it's not really all that exciting, but I'm a happy camper.  It looks SO much nicer.  They moved and repaired sprinklers as they went ... a bonus!!  It took them eight hours to finish and I have not one single criticism.  It's perfect!!

Moving right along, look at THIS beauty.  No, not the flower ... my TRUCK!!  Yes, there are a lot of weeds in all the flower beds.  Yesterday I got out my small container of roundup and spent an entire TWO hours spraying.  I should have used my big sprayer ... next time for sure.  Mostly because I can spray a lot more area in less time and not get the really nice RED sunburn on my back because I wore the wrong top.  Hopefully the dying weeds will make me feel better!! 

Here's a hint of another thing I did yesterday.  I'm sure you can figure this one out.  Yessirree ... I went to Costco to get a new pair of glasses.  Little did I know, THAT section does NOT open at 9:00 when I was there.  

More on that tomorrow since I really need to slather my back in something to keep from shedding my skin ... you know, like a snake does??????

PLUS ... I need to do a quick house cleanup because the ELECTRICIAN is coming .. the ELECTRICIAN is coming!!!!  Who knew I would be so excited about mundane things!

Bingo Bingo Bingo!!

B I N ... G O,  B I N ... G O, anyone else remember singing that song on the bus?  I rarely EVER went to away games of any kind when I was in high school, but when the occasion arose, so did the awful songs we sang at the top of our lungs.  The poor bus drivers!!

At any rate, it was Bingo time again yesterday.  It wasn't a full moon, but close enough to cause some havoc in the building. 

But first ... while the landscape crew is working in the back yard, I decided it was time to get back to quilting.  Having finished the baby quilt top, I knew I would need a little practice before actually quilting it.  Luckily I had one in the closet to practice on.

Turn up your volume .... or maybe not.  This is one of the most obnoxious sounds on the planet I think.  Imagine listening to that for three hours!!  To be honest, I was just glad that it turned ON!  It's been some time and I was afraid there might be a glitch.  

Well there was!!  After the first row that went GREAT, I forgot one teeny tiny little step that messed me up for the rest of the quilt.  Needle down when I was moving it.  Good grief!  It's GPS went out completely and it didn't know where it was.  

Add to that the fact that I read ONE small word wrong in my instructions and it kept trying to stitch the first row over and over again.  I struggled row after row until I had one left.  It's a good thing this quilt wasn't tagged for someone's couch!  At long last I was at the bottom, but I then didn't have enough room for the last row.  

Cropping in Photography I get.  Cropping in quilting is another whole animal.  

I almost had it until I ran out of thread while running outside to the call of the landscape guys!  By sheer luck, I got it to start back in the ALMOST right spot, but then had to hold the fabric to keep the needle going along the same holes it had already punched because the thread broke!  ARGHHHHH!!!

Amazingly, and I truly don't know how, I got the cropping to work for the first time since I've had the machine.  At least it all reminded me of how it is supposed to work and how to get UN-lost before tackling the baby quilt.  Hopefully that goes a little better.

At last ... I was off to the wonderland of Bingo at the Magic Castle.  Little did I know what was about to raise its ugly head.  There I was minding my own business BEFORE the games even started, when there was a ruckus in the room.  

Apparently someone has been talking about someone else in bad terms of which my mouth does not want to repeat.  Someone took offense.  Oh the yelling and screaming that ensued.  I was sure it was going to come to fisticuffs ... Castle style ... so I went out to see if I could stop it.  

Like a Referree in the ring with Mohammed Ali and George Patterson, I sent both of them to their corners.  Ooooweeeee tempers did flare!!  I felt bad because it was totally uncalled for, but as any good Ref would, I kept my distance so as not to get a slammer in the jaw.  An hour later, they all played nice as Bingo commenced, although I could see the daggers flying across the room.  

Suddenly all the workers bailed on us around 8:30, leaving only three of us to handle the crowd of 107.  Thankfully cool heads prevailed and I was ALSO able to get out of Dodge before any more problems arose.  Well almost anyway ..... there was one, okay two more ..... but those will have to be addressed next week.  I don't know why folks just can't play nice and get along.  Name calling only gets you suspended.  

At any rate, it was a good day.  I will start on the REAL quilt today, with my fingers crossed that it does not turn into a doggy blanket.  The Landscape guys finished up and I'll have pictures tomorrow.  I even found an electrician.  Turns out they are good friends with the landscape guys!  Wow ... I'm on a roll with good handymen getting the jobs done.  

I'll be on the couch for a couple of hours recouping and practicing my "I'M SORRY, BUT NO I CAN'T" speech ... you know, just in case!!

HERE HERE ... CHEERS!!!

Good news!  My flag is still hanging on the wall.  I did try to get a cool picture with it lit up at night, but it appears the yard light guy didn't turn the lights back on after his visit.  He gets ten lashes!!  I'll try again tonight. 

I really had nothing on my schedule ... I'm so busy you know ... so when my friend Kathy invited me to her house for lunch, I responded with a resounding YES!  She and her husband ran a catering business for years, so I knew the food would be good.

This was actually a meeting of the Elks Honor Guard that held a very nice ceremony at a local cemetery early in the morning.  Afterwards, they all met at her house to toast those who did not return from the war ... ALL the wars.  

There were lots of stories ... both sad and funny!!  These guys ... they do know how to tell stories and had us in stitches most of the time.

Lunch was a combination of the weird and delicious.  We had chili beans, barbecued tri-tip, Italian macaroni salad, potato salad (that came from a store ... it was delicious), jambalaya (hot and spicy) and cupcakes, along with anything and everything you might want to drink.  Lucky for us, no one fell or got thrown in the pool.

We did however, have STRICT instructions NOT to feed Charlie, who promptly fell asleep on the couch.  After eating all that food, I wanted to join him.

Several hours later, I wandered on home, but not until I stopped off on the way to buy a lemonade at a roadside stand.  They also had lemons and cherries.  In my book there's not much better than three kids out trying to make a few bucks.  Not playing video games and not staring at their phones ... but out having fun selling stuff on the side of the road.  

I dropped a quick $20 because they didn't have any change, and wiped out half their stock.  They deserve every dollar.  Besides, cherry pie sounded quite nice.

Once home, I lit my dirty barbecue and let it self clean.  Time for a little pork loin in my diet ... and Cooper's.  He loves this stuff, no surprise!!  It was quite tasty, but I was too full from lunch.  

That's it for today because very early this morning the Kwik Kerb guys will be here to gussy up my back yard.  Yes you are right ... I thought it was LAST week, and now it's THIS week ... the same day as my gardener shows up.  At least the front yard will look nice!!!  

And THEN it's on to B I N G O!!!

Memorial Day 2024

It's hard to believe it's already 2024 when just last week the country was in an uproar over the internet and all computers worldwide falling off the Y2K cliff.  That was Year 2000.  Luckily we survived to honor our servicemen who have kept our freedom intact for so many years.

Unlike Happy Veterans Day, or Thank A Veteran, this is a somber reminder of the lives lost in maintaining our way of life.

With that in mind, I grabbed my ladder, my drill and my big girl pants so I could get my flag hung on the house.  I spent two whole hours trying to find a flagpole installation company, with no results.  Time to do it myself.  

The good news is that when the landscape lighting guy comes to repair all the lines, I'm going to have him put in a light that shines on the flag so I don't have to take it down every night.  I'm pretty proud of this project!

Here's to all the men and women that died in the pursuit of freedom for this country.  May we remember them always .........

Unfinished Projects .....

 We are looking at a gorgeous 79 degree high in Central California on this Memorial Day Weekend.  That sure makes it nice for barbecue!!  I didn't realize until yesterday that I have nothing in the fridge or freezer TO barbecue.  I should have thought this out a little better.  Actually I'm hoping most people remember WHY they have three days off.  We are blessed by the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.

And so I decided it was WAY past time for me to fly our flag.  I would love to have a flagpole, but installing one is beyond my skills.  Why not hang one outside the front door?  So I bought this beautiful flag ... extra sturdy for years of service.

It was then I realized I had no place to hang it.  No kidding ... the front of my house is rock and plaster.  I tried drilling a hole to hang something on the patio.  What a disaster.  I ended up with a big hole that cannot be used.

No problem I thought ... I'll use the facia board.  Well that won't work either because the gutter attached to it sticks out too far.  Good grief!!  My only alternative at this point is to attach the holder to the wood piece between these two windows, as high as I can get it.  I'm still contemplating that.  Maybe I'll just have to stand outside all day Monday and hold it!!  

You would be proud though ... I was out early in the day to dig up this flowerbed.  I had asked the gardeners (two ago) to dig out all the grassy stuff here so I could plant something else.  While I wasn't looking, they cut it down with weed eaters and sprayed roundup.  

Here I am a year later digging up all the roots, hoping that the roundup doesn't still work, killing my new shrubs.  That brought up ANOTHER problem ... there's a landscape light fixture right in the way.  While seeing if I could move it, I found one more spot (I think this is four now) where they cut the lighting wires.  Big sigh!!  As much as I wanted to get those planted, they will have to wait until the light is moved ... maybe in two weeks??

All my plans and nothing is getting done.  BUT ... in anticipation of my new blower showing up, I headed out to the garage to charge up my battery.  The plug didn't work.  This time I grabbed the little gizzy from the RV to check the plug.  I'm not an electrician, but I'm sure OPEN HOT is not a good thing.  What the heck is going on?    

Putting on my electrician's hat resulted in NO magic solution, so I'll have to call an electrician.  I wonder if they can put up a flag pole?  Yes I googled it, and NO I don't want to mess with it.

About that time I realized I'm pretty allergic to something in the yard.  After having dug up and cleaned around the purple fountain grass, my arms felt like they were on fire.  What's up with this getting old and getting allergic stuff?

Slathered in cream after a good washing and I was back at it.  After numerous phone calls, Amazon gave me a credit for the dove food and told me to keep it.  Okay then ... I plopped a bunch in the water feature (that has no water to it) to see if anyone would eat it.  I have my doubts.

After a long day of getting nothing done, I decided to give it up.  I found some ground turkey in the freezer, not exactly barbecue material.  I fried it up, threw in way too much ginger and garlic, along with a big handful of Cole slaw and Chinese spicy things.  It didn't look the least bit appetizing, but it tasted pretty good.  It's diet material ... what can I say.

At 7:00 pm, Mr. Cooper went crazy.  There must be someone at the door.  They used to knock, or at least ring the doorbell.  Now they just dump and run.  Sure enough ... there was my NEW BLOWER!!  You guys know the feeling ... I got a new GADGET!!

At least it was pretty easy to put two pieces together and slap in a battery.  It works like a charm.  I was outside in a flash, blowing five year old dust off my patio.  WOW ... this thing is a BLAST!!  The best part?  It even blew the cobwebs off the walls and the ceiling.  How cool is THAT??

And so ended another non-productive day.  I have no idea who I might call to put in a flagpole, or should I just hang my flag between the windows?  I have at least another week (maybe more) before the lighting can be fixed and can't call in an electrician until Tuesday.

I'm dead in the water.  Let's see what OTHER project I can begin and not get finished!!

A Big Surprise!

 You never know what's going to happen to the weather.  We used to be able to predict if it was going to be hot or cold.  Now it's like ... start with shorts and a t-shirt, but cover up with a long sleeve shirt, a coat, your earmuffs and a nice Russian Fur Hat!!  We are back into the 40's at night.  I can't complain really, since that means it's only in the low 70's during the day.  I feel like Mother Nature says "let's spin the wheel and see what we get for today"!!

It was a very NICE day ... one that changed the number of candles on my cake.  Why don't I advertise that?  It's a SECRET ... because everything out there has my OFFICIAL date as January 1.  That's the way I want to keep it so scammers have a harder time hacking my credit cards!!  Did I do anything exciting?  No .. nope .. nada .. nothing.

I did dream of a HUGE chocolate cake, or at least a HUGE donut, but alas, there are no donut shops or bakeries around here.

I did however sit on the couch and snuggle with this guy.  We had quite the party, throwing the ball and eating snacks and treats!!

My present to myself was to head on out to the nursery far North of me and find one of these plants.  I've no idea what it is, but it's colorful, doesn't get too big and has pretty pink flowers on occasion.

I have a love/hate relationship with that nursery.  I want to buy everything there.  Can you imagine the beautiful garden?  The hate part involves the prices.  Hoochy Mama ... they are expensive ... but everything is guaranteed, so I guess there's that.  

They had two very nice ones that came home to live with me.  Hopefully they don't die in the process.  Today I'll plant them out front of the house and say a little prayer that they don't go to Heaven, or the garbage bin as the case may be.

I came home starving.  I haven't been this hungry in a long time, mostly because I eat too much.  I was thinking I would have a fabulous celebration lunch AND dinner.  The problem with that was I had nothing fabulous in the fridge!  I settled for an old stale FROZEN too-thick piece of homemade bread made into a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was awful.  I really couldn't even taste the cheese.  What's up with that?

I may (or may not) have mentioned that I was hit up by a Bingo Gal to make a baby quilt.  TWO actually.  It's been a struggle since I seem to have lost some of my motivation.  A quick stop at the fabric store where shockingly I didn't even LOOK at any of the new fabric ... resulted in the border material.  Hard to see, but it's a very cute polka dot fabric.  I whipped this out in about three hours.  

Don't cringe too much ... the fabric alone was $75.  It will be up to $100 by the time I add batting and quilt it, not even charging for my time.  That's why I tell folks it's so much cheaper to just go buy one online for $30.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.  I never have visitors, so I was a little surprised.  I wasn't expecting any deliveries either.   In fact, I was pretty suspicious ... a guy standing at the door with flowers covering his face.  

Lookie here!!  Aren't these just gorgeous?  I can't tell you how surprised I was.  

Good friend Cyndae from Sacramento had stopped by the day before after an appointment in town.  It's a long tiring drive, so I offered her the spare bedroom for an hours nap before driving all the way back.  It worked ... she felt much better and made the drive with no problems.  This was her thank you and my present.  How sweet is that!!  

And so ended another day that I'm very thankful for.  Happy to still be here breathing in the lovely scent of cow pasture air.  Remember the real reason for this holiday weekend ... our soldiers who gave their lives that we could live in a country of freedom and peace. 

Return Return Return

 It's a beautiful COOL but still dark day in California.  It's probably a good thing I can't sleep in, because then I'd feel guilty about not getting anything done.  Not that I actually DO anything!!  You would think that someone without really great hearing at this old age would be able to sleep through anything.  

I started the day off with this!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!  I usually spend the first hour trying to tidy up.  That includes all the dog toys and the six balls that now grace my floor.  They must all be available for play at any time because you never know exactly WHICH one is the designated ball-o-the-day.

Time to get to work!!  I had one of these blowers in Arizona.  Mostly I used it to clean the patio and the garage.  I didn't need one here since I had a gardening service that took care of that.  Well you know what happened to them.  Suddenly it dawned on me I had an even BIGGER patio and garage here.  Why not make it easier on myself?  Off to Home Depot I went.

I picked up the first blower I saw that looked like my old one.  This is NOT it.  This is the OLD one.  Notice the shape of the battery ... which fits in the charger (along with several other batteries) for the drills and other tools I already have.

Then I picked up this hedge trimmer.  Perfect for the roses.  Notice the battery and charger are completely different.  The box for this was pretty destroyed.  No problem they said ... it's all there and we will give you $20 off.  Both of these tools will work with the one battery and charger in the box.  I bought both and headed home, only to find out the battery would not charge.  

So apparently it didn't work for the first buyer and they put it BACK on the shelf to be sold again?  When it didn't work?  All I got was error messages from the charger.  Is it a FULL MOON?

Yup I had to put it all back, tape up the box and return it.  Obviously I was not a very happy gardener.  I had planned that this battery and charger would be used for BOTH tools.  Now I have a blower and NO battery.  

I walked over and asked for help in finding what I needed.  She stood there talking to her cohort for five minutes before wandering over to tell me that they didn't have a batter and a charger to be sold together.  I had to buy them separately at TWICE the cost.  I think she saw the steam coming from my ears.  I said no thank you.  I will return the blower and go to Lowes!  I spent all day and three trips that resulted in nothing.  Oh yes ... that's the full moon in action!

It didn't stop there.  Big sigh!!  I ordered TWO bags of parrot food for Jonathan, which by the way has become almost double the price that it was.  

Wasn't I surprised when I opened the box to find THIS!  Dove food????????  I double checked my order.  Yessirree ... it said two packages of PARROT food.  This was an Amazon purchase, and lucky for me way back when, I kept their service phone number.  

After several tries working through PRESS TWO NOW, I finally got a real person.  Too bad they couldn't speak English well enough to be understood.  I think they were in India somewhere.  She tried to get the seller on the phone (which I later discovered was Petco) ... but it never happened.  Geez ... another full moon ray of madness hit my house.  How could you make THIS mistake?

No one ever answered the phone, so I THINK the lady said she would leave a call-back message on their FRAUD department phone.  WHAT???  We'll see how far that goes!!

In the meantime, this guy right here ... he keeps me sane.  Sort of.  He puts the ball on the chair so you can flick it off on the floor for him to retrieve.  Over and over again.  The shaved patch on his back?  That's a little growth that cannot be removed.  It's been itching a lot, so they shaved it to make it easier to apply anti-itch cream.  Poor baby ....... hopefully it stops soon.  It definitely doesn't keep him from playing the ball game.

And so what's going on today?  My SECOND blower should be delivered around noon.  I haven't decided whether to get the hedge trimmer.  I feel like that was an omen ... maybe I'm not supposed to have one.  And so it goes in sunny California!!

Full Moon Strikes Again

 It's flower moon time.  I'm betting you can guess why it's called that.  It's the time of flowering things, springtime in the Rockies so to speak, when everything is in bloom.  That also accounts for all the sneezing going on around here.  It's also known as the planting moon.  Yes, as we all know, it's time to plant those veggies in your garden.  

Patty Chance and I used to do that every spring.  We planted purple potatoes, eggplant, loads of tomatoes (which were the best EVER) and crazy things like peanuts and watermelons.  I have no idea where we got all that energy while working full time.

The full moon also affects my brain.  I was SURE the backyard mowing curb guys were going to show up yesterday morning.  They didn't.  At least I got the Wednesday part right, but it's NEXT Wednesday.  That left things wide open for Harbor Freight and Home Depot.  

My mistake was sitting down on the couch.  I promptly fell asleep.  It seems Bingo and the full moon took their toll.  Back at it, the next big problem raised its ugly head.  My gate opener decided to go on strike.  It happened twice before and I was able to fix it.  This time, not so much.

I hit the phone lines looking for a repairman.  There is only one, about 45 miles away.  They charge $325 to drive to your house and $100 an hour to fix it.  That's a minimum of $425!!!!!!!  YIKES!!!  It's a Powermaster, with a zillion wires and connections in the box.  Maybe I should just get an entire new control box.  I called another outfit.

So here's the thing ... I can't replace it with a reasonably priced one because those only slide sideways.  There's no room for that here.  And so the call was made for another guy to come out and give me an estimate that I'm sure will be WAY above my pay grade.  

His name was Alex ... a salesman extraordinaire.  No kidding ... that kid could talk you into anything.  Of course it's not going to work on me unless the price is right.  I have my doubts.  He will let me know next week.

SO ... I went back outside in the 89 degree heat and sat there trying to figure out the problem.  It took about 30 minutes, but I was finally able to get it to reset and open.  I don't know ... it's 20 years old, but Alex said these commercial boxes should last much longer than that.  I guess I'll wait and see what the price is.

The only alternative I can think of is drilling a big hole through the rock pillar (or the wall) in order to run a chain through and just use a padlock.  What to do ... what to do!!

THEN .... it was time to take my little buddy to the Vet for a checkup.  He needs some meds for arthritis (which isn't bad) and heart worm medicine.  Poor guy is full of lumps and bumps like his Mom, and chewing on one foot has become a pastime.  

Here's a new one for the books ... the Vet said to put hair spray on his foot.  It tastes bad and they won't chew. Otherwise, he's in tip top shape for an old man his age.  Thank the Good Lord for good Vets.  This one is a keeper!!

I'm laughing at the moment because Cooper can't figure out why one foot tastes just fine and the other tastes TERRIBLE!!  He's such a funny kid.  

Today I'm DETERMINED to get to Home Depot and pick up a Ryobi hedge trimmer.  It's time for me to quit being lazy and do some of the yard work myself.  Maybe if I work a little harder, I can eat more CAKE!!!!!

Is It A full Moon???

 I just love it when I have computer problems.  Especially when I'm still half asleep.  On this lovely morning, it would not let me TYPE.  I could add pictures all I wanted, but it would not type.  I shut down, I rebooted ... with a swift kick in the butt ... and now it types, but won't publish.  Is it a full moon?

Here's one for you OLD folks like me ... anyone remember Black Sambo's restaurant?  We had one in our small town that had the best pancakes.  We rarely got to go there, other than the once a year trip after church.  Do you remember these wooden nickels?

In scrounging through more of my "stuff", I found six of these.  I think I have mentioned I'm giving a lot of things away to a fellow Bingo volunteer who owns an antique shop.  Better to have these things sold to someone who will appreciate them than to have them end up in the trash.  Here was a shocker ... his father actually OWNED the Sambo's Restaurant in our town.  He went crazy ... and said his Mom will steal these from him the second she sees them.  How fun is that?

Before heading out to the Dungeon of the Magic Kingdom, I finished off the last of the hamburger patties. this one I just fried, smoking up the house quite nicely.  I really have to get that barbecue cleaned up.  This time I put Thai sweet chili sauce on it.  What a difference in flavor.  I have to admit though, this is probably the last lettuce burger you will ever see.  It took 15 minutes to clean up the mess left on the floor.

And so ended my calm quiet morning as I headed out to the Magic Kingdom of Bingo.  That's weird ... there was a truck parked in the middle of the widest road in town.  It looked like he was making a deliver to the Elks Lodge ... blocking my entrance.  What's up with that?

Well here's the full moon doing it's thing right in front of us.  This is a big tractor trailer rig, just driving down the street minding his own business when CRASH!!!!  His trailer caught a low hanging branch.  Not a small branch, but one over 15 inches across.  It broke off the tree and came down between the cab of the truck and the front of the trailer.  The other end caught up on the electrical lines just above.  

This is just the craziest thing I've ever seen.  He couldn't move, nor could six men move the branch.  Obviously the City needs to prune their trees a bit more.  When I got there the truck driver had been sitting for 30 minutes waiting for someone to help.  And so my calling for help began.

I called the Police Department.  No answer.  I called the Fire Department.  No answer.  I really didn't want to call 911 because it wasn't like it was an emergency, but they were blocking the street at close to 5:00 traffic hour.  Nothing ... I got nothing.

After six tries, I finally got the County Fire Department who said they could not help.  Could you at least give me a City Fire phone number?  Nope .. not happening.

Like six more calls and another 30 minutes later, I finally got an operator who took down the info and said it had been called in.  GREAT!  It's been an hour.  When do you think they might show up?

No kidding ... another 45 minutes it was before the City Police Department showed up.  So what are THEY going to do?  Nothing except sit here for ANOTHER 30 minutes waiting for the Fire Department to bring a chainsaw.  Good grief ... good thing it wasn't an emergency!

That certainly didn't bode well for Bingo!!  For the most part it went okay as we whipped those folks through the line like wildfire.  Amazingly, we saw nothing but happy faces.  Maybe all the bad JuJu went away with the truck.  Here's the extremely rare RED TICKETS that cause so much trouble.  

There will be a hiccup with these since the company that produces the pull tabs we give away if your ticket number is called, will stop making them next month.  At this point we really have no idea what we will replace them with.  Maybe a ticket for a free hamburger?  

Even more changes are coming down the pike.  Our Speed Coverall games are being discontinued also.  It's not one, but TWO of our games, so I guess we will have to pick two NEW games from the supplier.  That should be fun ... changing up the program for 133 folks who don't like change!!

Here I am keeping track of the games played and PAID.  We had six new players on this night who thought it was the old fashioned Kids Bingo.  It's so hard to explain these are how your cards have to look in order to win.

The rest of the night went well.  I had the chicken tenders for dinner that caused instant indigestion.  Those things are like dynamite!!  They go down so good and then BAM!!!  They hit you like you swallowed some TNT!

Sadly the Infernal Machine pulled one on me this time ... full moon and all.  I couldn't balance to save me.  No worries though, I was only $3.00 off and I'm sure it was all that change that hit my table.  This time of the month is Piggy Bank Breaking time.  We already spent all our money and don't get paid until the first.

Landscapers are due to show up this morning for the edging project.  I'm hoping the full moon tonight will wait to share it's full force of mayhem.  Wish me luck!!