Barbara Is Right Again!

 Oh my gosh ... it's the last day of AUGUST.  How can that be?  I had all these plans to do all these things, and the month just disappeared in a puff of smoke!!  Literally .... but I'll get to that.  

First off, I don't know what happened.  At 8:15 I looked at my watch and said I NEED TO GO TO COSTCO.  If it's going to be a holiday weekend, I should have some holiday food.  I walked in their door at 9:03.  (We are one of the few that open at 9:00 every morning).  The line to get in was long, and around the corner!

I grabbed one of their HUGE baskets and headed for the MEAT.  Time for some smoking to be going on around here.  Just look at that triple rack of ribs!  It is almost as long as the basket.  This is a two-handed project.  I almost choked when I saw the price of $45.00, but that's not bad for 3 thick racks.  

A big package of stew meat ... some of the best I've seen in awhile ... and of course TWO roasted chickens (in the box) ... some eggs for cheap and a plaid shirt I snagged on the way in the door.  I don't think I've EVER gotten out of Costco for $104.00.  I left at 9:22.  NICE!!

What's this you ask?  S'mores she said.  When it comes to food, Barbara Westerfield is NEVER wrong.  She mentioned previously that I should try these delicious chocolate caramel clusters.  This was probably a bad idea, because now I have to go back to Costco and get TWO MORE BAGS!!!  Oh my gosh they are GOOD!!  Thank you Barbara!!!

It took all morning to process that little bit of food.  I divided the stew meat up into much smaller ziplok bags and stuck it in the freezer, along with half the ribs.  Then I took the chicken meat off the bones, packaging some for Mr. Cooper because he loves it, and some for me for chicken salad at some point.  I even plunked the carcasses in a big pot for chicken broth.  We'll talk ribs later.

On to the next problem.  I received my DishTV bill which went up $50 a month.  It's just ridiculous that you have to deal with this stuff.  I guess most people don't realize it and just pay the piper.  I'm not one of them.  In case you didn't know, I have several personalities I can call on at any given moment.  I thought about it for a bit, then made the phone call.

It used to be that a little threat of I'M SWITCHING TO DIRECT TV would get the balance lowered.  That really didn't work so well, so this time I tried something different.  I mean really ... I've been a good customer for FOURTEEN years.  They should give me a break ... but NO .........

I know the game ... I asked to speak to a Supervisor, who are the ones who can actually LOWER your bill.  Gosh, oh gee, I'm an old lady who has to stay home all day long.  I've no family and I can't drive, so TV is EVERYTHING to me.  (sniff sniff).  It's my only company ... please, I'm on a fixed income and food is just TOO expensive.  What will I ever do?  (sniff sniff).  Please PLEASE can you lower my bill back to what it was?  I almost cried I felt so bad for myself.

Oh don't worry hon, we'll get you fixed right up.  AHA ... then you really do NOT need that extra $600 a year now DO YOU?  Oh honey ... that would be SO helpful ... bless you, bless you ... 

And so my bill ended up $5.00 more a month, mostly due to all the taxes crap they add on.  Old lady Nancy worked.  Do I feel bad about that little charade?  Not when it coms to dealing with these big companies that seem to be ripping people off!

Next up .... get Photoshop, a photography editing program, BACK on my computer.  There was no bartering for price on this one, but I had a subscription for the program and I could NOT get it to work on the new computer.  

Sadly, this did not have the outcome I hoped for.  One phone call and I got a nice man from India.  You know how hard it is to understand them?  I kept asking him to repeat, repeat, repeat.  After much ado, I got it downloaded to my computer, only to find it would not run.

This computer has some new revolutionary chip that doesn't work with anything else.  I had to download two other programs to get it to like my computer.  At long last ..... IT OPENED!!!  After I said the magic words of course.

Sadly, absolutely NOTHING is like the old Photoshop.  Good grief ... it took me two full years of college to learn this program.  I'm WAY too old for this now!!  I'll probably never be able to figure it out.  I see many more phone calls in my future.

That's when something weird happened.  Mr. Cooper, sitting at my feet, began to growl.  In a few seconds, it became a growl like I've never heard from him before.  I looked down, and he was staring at my fireplace.  I got a cold chill up my spine.  I saw nothing.  

I heard once that dogs can sense and see ghosts or spirits.  Cooper's growl got even louder and more ferocious as he stood up and took a step back.  Uh oh ... I made ready to RUN!  What does he see?  Finally, he looked at me, laid down and never made another peep.  What the heck?  Did he chase something or someone off??  Ohhweeeee ... I turned off my computer and left the room.  That was the end of that!!  We walked back through the room later with no barking or growling.

At last, it was time to start on those ribs, though I kept an eye on the living room fireplace!!  There were three huge racks, so I cut them in half, stashing most of it in the freezer.  

Smoking takes time and attention, so I'll wait until tomorrow to show you how I do it.  It is definitely worth the effort!  

Because right now, I need a S'more or two ... or maybe three!!!!!